Be Careful Making Wishes in the Dark- Cycle 5
Title: Be Careful Making Wishes in the Dark
Fandom: Young Avengers, Loki: Agent of Asgard
Rating: T+
Pairing: Billy/Teddy, Loki/Teddy, Billy/Loki
Warnings: suicide, temporary character death
Summary: Billy has lived this morning too many times. At least he's not alone.
cycle 1 and 2 - cycle 3 - cycle 4 - cycle 5- cycle 6- cycle 7 - cycle 8 - cycle 8 (part 2) - cycle 9 - cycle 9 (part 2) - epilogue
Last Time:
Mother’s power engulfs him one more, draining him of everything that he is.
Billy’s body went limp and falls
falls
falls
CYCLE 5: DAY ONE
Billy’s body hits the ground. His head bounces against the floor and his eyes open in surprise.
He is alive. He has eyes to open. He-
Billy clenches his fists. He was so close.
But lying here on the floor begins to make his back hurt, so Billy climbs back into bed and goes to sleep.
This looping problem is obviously not going to be fixed immediately. He might as well get some sleep. Hell, maybe he can even gulp down some breakfast before Mother attacks…
He doesn’t. He oversleeps and wakes to a distant crash and Teddy’s voice screaming “YOU’RE NOT MY REAL MOM!”
“Shit,” Billy mutters as he trips over his sheets in an effort to get to Teddy. “Shit shit shit,” he continues as he stumbles down the stairs, still groggy and trying to convince his eyes to focus on anything for more than half a second. “Teddy!” Billy calls, hoping his boyfriend hasn’t yet been devoured by a trans-dimensional monster-thing.
Teddy roars in response, sounding like the real Hulk for once. Billy is trying to figure out what’s going on, but for some reason his adrenaline hasn’t kicked in and instead he’s left rubbernecking at Teddy as he careens around the kitchen, trying to avoid Mother’s gooey grasp.
Before he knows it, Teddy is grabbing Billy and crashing through the window that always seems to get wrecked in every cycle.
“You ok?” Teddy asks, green scaly arms holding Billy tight as he flies down the New York avenue away from the Kaplans’ home.
“I’m sorry about your mom,” Billy blurts out instead. He wonders how many times he’ll apologize for this. He wonders if reliving this day over and over might be karmic punishment for hurting Teddy like this.
“It wasn’t my mom,” Teddy says shortly.
“Yeah, I accidentally summoned a goo-monster from between dimensions... or something,” Billy explains apologetically, “And uh, as long as we’re running away, do you want to get brunch?”
Teddy is silent for a moment.
“It’s just that I’m really hungry,” Billy says awkwardly, hoping he isn’t being incredibly insensitive.
“Yeah. Yeah let’s do that.”
They’re caught by Mother half-way through a grand slam at Denny’s (Teddy secretly loves Denny, even though Billy is pretty sure everyone else who frequents the place is stoned.), which was convenient because Billy is still in his pajamas and thus does not have this wallet. He realized this half-way to the restaurant, but was hoping a supervillain attack would get him out of paying. It’s possible that Loki is a bad influence in previously-undiscovered ways.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” Billy says shortly before Loki kicks in the ceiling of his cell. Loki offers him a hand up and says in a deliberately casual manner,
“I don’t know what you mean,” which probably means he’s up to something. Big surprise. It’s Loki.
As they climb through what Billy thinks of as “Mother’s dungeon” he finally asks the question that’s been weighing on him since his not-suicide.
“Why did you help me?” Loki glances back and puts on a wry grin.
“Haven’t you heard?” he asks, “I’m really good now.” He seems aware of how ridiculous that sounds.
“Yeah, maybe,” Billy mutters under his breath.
Once Teddy is with them, Loki teleports them back to Joe’s Diner, where Teddy has to pick up Loki’s tab due to Billy’s lack of wallet. “If you don’t have your wallet, how were you going to-“
“Do you have your phone with you?” Billy asks suddenly.
“Yeah, why?”
“Gimme,” Billy says, but it’s really only for effect, because he’s already taking the phone out of Teddy’s back pocket and flipping through his contacts.
“What- who are you calling?”
“Not sure yet. Do you have contact info for the Runaways?” Billy asks, flipping through Teddy’s contacts for anything like “Runaways” “Nico” or “Chase”.
“Well they try to keep off the grid, but I have Xavin’s email address in there.” Teddy takes back the phone to show Billy the listing under “Skrull Buddy.”
Billy bites his lip, “But no phone number, huh?”
“They’re in LA, not parents, not adults. You’re thinking they aren’t affected by Mother. Makes sense,” Teddy responds, “Hey Loki, can you teleport us to LA?”
“If I were a horse you’d have to shoot me,” Loki deadpans.
“That’s a no,” Billy mutters with an eyeroll. Seriously, Loki is such a drama queen.
“But couldn’t we just try-“
“The Avengers are a bust. We tried them in cycle one,” Billy sighs. Loki looks curious, but Billy makes no move to explain.
“X-men? At least some of them are our age, right?”
“Uh…” Billy responded, mentally tallying the mutants who hadn’t been de-powered, “No idea. Maybe?”
It turns out no, because their current base is also in California, and the trio doesn’t even make it out of the city before they’re inundated with parents. Luckily, they’re all mundane human parents, albeit infected with Mother’s magic, so they’re only dangerous in their numbers, not in their intrinsic abilities.
Miss America shows up shortly after.
“Sorry,” she says through gritted teeth as she punches through a group of parents swarming Billy, “Been busy!”
“Yeah, brainwashed parents will do that to ya,” Billy throws back.
America’s parents arrive from the sky, hovering and serene and reminding Billy oddly of the new Captain Marvel. The one who’s not Teddy’s dad.
“We need out of here, fast,” America warns the boys.
“How’s your magic!” Teddy calls to Billy, who is throwing lightening around instead of relying on his other powers.
“Crappy!” Billy calls back, “How ‘bout you, Loki?”
“Don’t trust him!” America snarls while dodging her mothers’ attacks.
“Significantly better!” Loki chirps, “Ready to go?”
“America, stop this foolishness,” one of America’s mom’s says, “You have a decade of studies to catch up on,” the other adds.
America has just enough time to tell her parents exactly what she thinks of that before Loki’s spell takes hold.
MJ’S NIGHT CLUB, NEW YORK CITY
Four teenagers settle into a booth as Billy begins to explain his situation.
“-I’ve lived through this day like five times now and I am officially out of ideas. Nothing I do ever allows us to defeat Mother or, you know, survive- no, Loki, not even letting you borrow my powers.”
“But there must be a way, right? We can’t just be doomed to be murdered by a goo-copy of my mom!” Teddy argues.
“Well maybe, but I don’t even know why time is looping in the first place!”
“Is time really looping, though?” Loki asks, “It’s my understanding that changing the past just sends you into an alternate timeline.”
“What, so Billy might be actually hopping universes?” Teddy asks.
“He’s not,” says America, “I’d know.”
“Why?” Billy says.
America answers, “Cause I’d know. Now what do we do about it?”
“Running doesn’t work, we can’t get far enough away without my magic or Loki’s magic or Noh-Varr’s ship-“
“Who’s Noh-Varr?”
“-and fighting doesn’t work, she just traps us in her creepy nothing-dimension and eats my soul or whatever happened in that cycle.”
“Wait, she did what now?”
“Let’s review what we know,” suggests Loki, “what is the trigger that restarts the loop? Is it a particular action? A particular time?”
“As far as I can tell, it restarts when I die. We never defeat Mother. We never make it past tonight. I have tried everything up to and including KILLING MYSELF, but nothing ever works.”
“You did WHAT?” Teddy demands.
Loki looks shattered for a moment. He recovers quickly. “You killed yourself?” he asks thoughtfully.
“Yeah. It was supposed to stop Mother. My spell brought her here, my death should’ve stopped her, right?” Billy asks rhetorically.
The look on Loki’s face is familiar- he saw it just last night, right before he would’ve pulled the trigger.
“I told you that,” Loki guesses. “Well I’m sorry, Billy. I lied. Your death won’t solve anything.”
America stands up suddenly and grabs Loki by the front of his shirt. Loki is speaking fast, something about “notintheeyes!” and America is reaming him out about how “what is wrong with you!” and “people aren’t your playthings!” and “he could have died!”
Teddy is looking at Billy with that look in his eyes, like he understands and is disappointed.
”Why would you think that suicide is an acceptable solution?” Teddy asks. Billy doesn’t answer. Teddy pulls him in for a full-body hug, which is a bit awkward while they’re still sitting in a booth, but totally worth it.
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re a murderer.” America warns as she and Loki sit back down. Loki is nursing a split lip, but he doesn’t seem to be complaining, which Billy notices as odd but doesn’t comment on.
“So, ideas?” Teddy reminds the group.
“I got one,” America says, “We get the hell out of Dodge.”
In an action completely unparalleled in any of the cycles Billy has lived through, Loki agrees with her. “We should fall back, find those super-friends of yours. If I couldn’t stop Mother with your power, we’ll have to take the time to train you to do it yourself. Or-“ Loki looked thoughtful, “I don’t have the power in this body. You don’t have the skill to handle the power. But if I was an adult, I’d have my full power and then maybe-“
“Chico, if you think we’re lifting a finger to help you after you just admitted to driving Billy to suicide,-“
“-It’s not a trick this time!” Loki snarls in irritation, “What would be the point of that? By all accounts any selfish goal I accomplish will be ret-conned by tonight if we don’t break out of this loop and-“
“What if-“ Teddy begins to say.
“ALRIGHT,” Billy yells, standing up and slamming his hands on the table for emphasis, “If we survive the night, we’ll try Loki’s plan. Until then, how are we getting out of here? My magic is acting wonky, Loki’s out of juice and Teddy can’t fly fast enough to outrace Mother’s goo-people. I’m open to suggestions at this point.”
“I’ve got-“ America begins to say.
“I know this is embarrassing,” interrupts a bald muscular man with an earpiece - presumably nightclub security- “but your parents are here to pick you up.” He gestures to the entrance, where Mother, the Ameri-moms, and the Kaplans are giving the group disapproving looks.
Everything is happening too fast, Billy thinks, there isn’t time!
Teddy and America lunge over the table rather than try to squeeze past Loki and Billy, who are sitting in their way.
Loki and Billy lock eyes. Loki opens his mouth to attempt a spell, but Billy already knows how that ends, and they can’t afford it if they want to survive this cycle.
“Loki,” Billy says. He repeats it, imbuing the name with power and meaning, “Lokilokilokilokilokilokiloki-“
The tiny god catches fire. He stands up and tries to pat it out, “No! It isn’t-“
Then he explodes. Billy isn’t afraid or regretful; he’s just dazzled by something new happening.
From the ashes of Loki, Loki is born.
This Loki is taller, better looking, and completely naked. Billy, who is a Professional Superhero and knows to only ogle his teammates when they aren’t in mortal danger, makes a judgment call.
“That enough power?” he asks New Loki. This Loki frowns, studies his hands as if they are arcane fortune-telling instruments, and shakes his head. “It’s not there.”
“Great.”
Lured by the show of magic, Mother saunters toward the two boys.
“You two are out past curfew,” she scolds, “and Loki, you’re indecent. You can’t come into an establishment like this wearing that.” She smiles, because she’s caught them.
A bolt of green energy bursts from Loki’s hands into Mother’s stomach. The force of it pushes her back several feet.
“At least I’m not completely useless,” Loki quips, and wow, that smile looks very different on an older face.
He’s right. They manage to hold off Mother’s forces until the cavalry arrives, stylish as ever with their mood music and getaway vehicle.
Noh-Varr touches the ship down in Central Park, because some things apparently never change.
Billy avoids being kidnapped this time by luck- he’s sitting in a different seat, and manages to lunge out of the way before Noh-Varr’s father can grab him.
The Young Avengers look out at Mother’s accumulated forces.
“Now or never,” Kate mutters, and Billy snorts, because actually, no.
“Ready, Loki?” Billy asks. Loki, who has magic’d himself an outfit that makes him look somewhat like a Renn Faire character and somewhat like a Slytherin, nods.
“Juice me up,” he says with a smirk that should really not be allowed.
Billy complies, the way he has three times before. Ice-cold energy drains out of Billy, and he shivers at the reminder of several deaths.
“Wow thanks,” Loki grins, “Now I don’t have to die with all of you!” he gives them a little jaunty wave and disappears.
“Jesus Christ,” Kate groans, “Who didn’t see that coming? Show of hands.”
“Billy, are you-“ Teddy reaches out to comfort him. Billy shrugs him off.
“Stand your ground and get ready,” Billy demands, “He’ll be back.”
But the thing is, Billy’s not sure. He’s not sure if the last cycle was a fluke, or if Loki knows more than he’s letting on about time loops. Maybe he won’t be back, maybe he knows a way out of the loop without them, maybe-
Less dwelling, more doing. Billy may not have his magic, but he has lightning. It’ll be just like the old days when he was Asgardian.
Billy breathes in in in in out out out.
He can do this.
Mother’s parent army slowly grows as more infected humans trickle in from the city. Noh-Varr’s parents and America’s moms have stopped attacking for the moment, possibly waiting for Mother’s signal- oh, there it is.
Noh-Varr has a gun in each hand, blasting parents before they can get close to the group. America is off flying, dodging and distracting the flying Amerimoms and occasionally Noh-Varr’s dad, when he gets close enough. Teddy hasn’t actually changed from his Hulkling form since the night club, but he gains a few inches as the crowd of parents approaches.
Instead of joining America in the sky, Teddy stays grounded and fights at Billy’s side.
Kate’s got- what is that, that is not Hawkeye’s bow. Kate’s got some sort of bow that shoots energy instead of arrows, which is admittedly awesome and incredibly practical, especially for an enemy this numerous.
The crowd of parents reaches the teens. Teddy pivots on a giant green heel and punches through several heads. Billy summons lightning and begins to zap, but it’s hard to keep track of where all his allies are in the crowd, to keep from hitting them.
Usually by this time Billy is inside the Kree ship, flirting with death.
This is the first major battle Billy’s been a part of since Cassie died.
All the habits and muscle-memories are still there, but that doesn’t stop Billy’s heart from racing or his palms from sweating.
He’s done this a dozen times. Massive super-powered clashes were practically commonplace when the Young Avengers were still an official team instead of a loosely-connected group of friends.
Wiccan could always fly, though. Without his magic he has lightning, but not flight. Fighting on the ground, Wiccan is discovering, is entirely different. You can’t escape up.
An icy wave of adrenaline washes through him- or, no, that’s magic!
Loki is back, as Billy knew (hoped) he would be. He’s sitting in mid-air on top of a glowing pentagram (spell circle, Loki calls it). Five tethers of magic reach out from the circle to each of the Young Avengers. This Loki doesn’t look as strained as he did last cycle. This Loki looks vengeful.
“Miss me?” Loki asks with less enthusiasm than usual.
“Bite me!” America calls back, which is as good as he’s going to get.
“Plan?” Teddy grunts out as his punches take out several parents at once.
“Prioritize Marvel Boy and Miss America’s parents- hit them as hard as you can to break the spell-“
And really, that is all they need.
It doesn’t take ten minutes, which is good because Loki already wasted four of them running off.
As it is, they barely make it, America’s fist finally catching up to Noh-Varr’s father just moments before the blue sparks fade and disperse, leaving Loki lightheaded but conscious.
They make it back to the ship.
“The engines are empty,” Noh-Varr warns, “It won’t fly.”
It’s America who asks this time: “How do we refuel?”
“They’re Kirby engines. Imagination engines. They’re sparked by belief.”
“Great. And us: a pile of cynics,” Kate mentions, “Good thing Speed’s not here.”
Teddy squeezes Billy’s hand.
Billy breathes in in in in out out out.
“We’re going to make it.”
They do.
The Kree spacecraft cruises away from the city, and with no parents left who can fly, Mother is left in the dust.
END OF PART ONE
“We did it,” Billy breaths as New York becomes more distant. “WE DID IT!” he yells, throwing his hands in the air, then throwing them around Teddy for an impromptu we-didn’t-die makeout.
“It’s over,” Billy sighs into Teddy’s lips.
“You know, except for the whole ‘Mother still being active and lying in wait for us’ thing,” Loki agrees.
As flippant as Loki is, the rest agree that he’s right. It isn’t over, even if Billy’s made it further than ever before. It won’t be over until they can go home.
Although it is unanimously agreed that Loki is the actual worst and not to be trusted, they decide not to throw him out of the airlock or ditch him at a rest stop bathroom (Teddy’s idea). Kate says bitterly that it’s a hero thing, that they’re contractually obligated to give him a chance because that’s what being a Young Avenger is about. Teddy says Loki reminds him of the Runaways, who turned out to be a lot better than anyone would have expected them to be- then Kate suggests ditching Loki with them, but ohmygod Billy can’t imagine the trouble Loki could cause with a team of super-powered kids with dubious morality and terrible role models. Noh-Varr doesn’t seem to care either way beyond showing off his record collection.
Despite his best judgment, Billy is starting to like Loki, in a ‘worst friend ever’ kind of way. Anyway, since Speed isn’t with them, they have an opening for a token evil teammate.
Billy tries to stay awake, but nods off in his chair while they’re flying over Ontario.
When he wakes up, they’ve landed the ship somewhere in rural Canada, where Kate says “there are absolutely no parents around for miles- or, you know, people of any kind.”
It actually works out for awhile. Billy begins to calm down.
Cycle 5: Day Two
The danger seems to have passed. Loki is teaching him some meditation and basic spellcrafting (often muttering about “complete travesties of nature”, but only when Billy can hear), Kate is having entirely too much fun practicing trick shots with an alien energy bow, and America periodically sulks off to do mysterious savior things. Noh-Varr apparently likes to dance to 60s music in his underwear. Who knew?
Despite the relative safety, Billy has a bad day.
He’s actually pretty amazed that he’s been able to keep it together so long. It’s been something like a week since he first brought Mother to this dimension, and he’s been mostly functional that entire time.
He guesses he was probably due for an anxiety attack, given that.
This is the longest period of calm he’s experienced in the past week, and Billy can’t help but worry when the other shoe will drop. No, worry is the wrong word. Worry is sneaking into his boyfriend’s room at night to find him gone. Worry is wondering what Loki has up his sleeve, because there’s always something.
Billy is terrified. Billy is obsessed. Billy finds that he can’t think of anything else at all.
Mother must be planning something, mustn’t she? When will she strike? How will she do it? How long does Billy have before he wakes up on the floor of his bedroom again?
Billy tries to do his breathing exercises, but he can’t catch his breath. His heart is racing, and he gulps at the air, desperate for oxygen.
He stands up and stumbles away from the others. They can’t see, they can’t see, Kate will worry and Teddy will be inconvenienced and who knows what Loki will do with this weakness of his? Better to get away, to deal with this alone.
Billy sways on his feet, lightheaded. He presses one hand against a tree for balance. Ok. One foot in front of the other. Get away.
Loki spots him. The small god makes eye contact and makes a move toward him. Billy tries to walk faster, turning away from the group.
A hand grabs his shoulder. Billy flinches away.
“Billy,” Teddy says, concern written clearly in his blue eyes.
‘No,’ Billy thinks, ‘this is exactly what I wanted to avoid.’
“Are you ok?” Teddy asks, “Do you want to sit down? Can I get you some water?” Teddy is an absolute sweetheart, and he’s gotten Billy through a million panic attacks since Cassie and Jonas died. He knows just what to do and say at this point, but it doesn’t make Billy feel any better. He doesn’t want to need help. He doesn’t want to ask any more of Teddy than he already has.
‘I don’t deserve this, after I let the parasite in and ruined everything in the first place!’
Billy’s eyes slide past Teddy to Loki, who is approaching the couple curiously. No.
“I need to-“ go, he doesn’t say, but Teddy understands anyway.
Billy makes his escape.
AT BASECAMP
Teddy watches his fiancé retreat. His heart urges him to follow, to wrap Billy in a giant hug and make everything better. Teddy’s head knows that isn’t how things work anymore.
“Don’t,” he tells Loki when he tries to follow Billy.
Loki shakes his head in annoyance. “We don’t have time for him to sulk. Mother will find us here eventually.”
Teddy stomps the urge to smack Loki. “He’s not sulking. Leave him alone. He just -needs to be alone.”
Loki gives him a considering look. “How bad must it be if not even his True Love can snap him out of his funk?”
Teddy snaps.
“He’s not in a funk! Billy’s been through a lot. Some people have actual feelings and can’t just turn them off when it’s convenient. Don’t talk about shit you don’t understand. “ Loki is taken aback.
“But we’re relatively safe, for now. If I just tell him-“ Loki tries to say.
“There aren’t any magic words you can say that will fix him. If you care about his feelings at all, just give him some time.”
Cycle 5: Day Three
On the third day, lake monsters attack.
They look like something out of a bad B movie- humanoid with a body like a rubber suit and heads like a love child of Cuthuhlu and an Ood. It’s not that they’re strong, but their pond-scum bodies let off some kind of vapor that smells like shit and makes everyone but Noh-Varr and Teddy cough up a lung (alien bastards). The lake monsters catch the Young Avengers off-guard, which is why Billy doesn’t realize he’s being grabbed until it’s too late.
Before he knows it, he’s being dragged back into the lake with them. Magic still inconsistent, he reaches for lightning, only to electrocute himself in the process.
He can’t even scream. There’s pain and more pain and the smell of ozone and burnt flesh. The world is out of focus- his hearing is fading in and out-
Right. Water. Conducts electricity. God Billy, any third grader with a Pokemon game could tell you that, he mentally berates himself.
He struggles. He kicks and screams.
He sees Teddy flying through the air, reaching for him and he tries to reach back-
He’s pulled under before they make contact.
As the water rushes into Billy’s lungs, as he coughs and sputters to no avail, he thinks desperately,
No! I don’t want to be alone again!
He fades from consciousness.
Billy’s body falls
falls
falls
Cycle 6: Day One
Teddy’s room in the Kaplan’s house has a textured plaster ceiling, and that is the first thing he sees when he wakes up.
“What?” He bolts upright in bed, going from groggy half-awake to ‘omg-wtf is going on’ in the three seconds it took to recognize ‘this is not where I was’.
Teddy stares blankly at the Fantastic Four poster across from his bed. Sue Storm’s smiling face stares back at him threateningly.
“What?” he repeats.
Fandom: Young Avengers, Loki: Agent of Asgard
Rating: T+
Pairing: Billy/Teddy, Loki/Teddy, Billy/Loki
Warnings: suicide, temporary character death
Summary: Billy has lived this morning too many times. At least he's not alone.
cycle 1 and 2 - cycle 3 - cycle 4 - cycle 5- cycle 6- cycle 7 - cycle 8 - cycle 8 (part 2) - cycle 9 - cycle 9 (part 2) - epilogue
Last Time:
Mother’s power engulfs him one more, draining him of everything that he is.
Billy’s body went limp and falls
falls
falls
CYCLE 5: DAY ONE
Billy’s body hits the ground. His head bounces against the floor and his eyes open in surprise.
He is alive. He has eyes to open. He-
Billy clenches his fists. He was so close.
But lying here on the floor begins to make his back hurt, so Billy climbs back into bed and goes to sleep.
This looping problem is obviously not going to be fixed immediately. He might as well get some sleep. Hell, maybe he can even gulp down some breakfast before Mother attacks…
He doesn’t. He oversleeps and wakes to a distant crash and Teddy’s voice screaming “YOU’RE NOT MY REAL MOM!”
“Shit,” Billy mutters as he trips over his sheets in an effort to get to Teddy. “Shit shit shit,” he continues as he stumbles down the stairs, still groggy and trying to convince his eyes to focus on anything for more than half a second. “Teddy!” Billy calls, hoping his boyfriend hasn’t yet been devoured by a trans-dimensional monster-thing.
Teddy roars in response, sounding like the real Hulk for once. Billy is trying to figure out what’s going on, but for some reason his adrenaline hasn’t kicked in and instead he’s left rubbernecking at Teddy as he careens around the kitchen, trying to avoid Mother’s gooey grasp.
Before he knows it, Teddy is grabbing Billy and crashing through the window that always seems to get wrecked in every cycle.
“You ok?” Teddy asks, green scaly arms holding Billy tight as he flies down the New York avenue away from the Kaplans’ home.
“I’m sorry about your mom,” Billy blurts out instead. He wonders how many times he’ll apologize for this. He wonders if reliving this day over and over might be karmic punishment for hurting Teddy like this.
“It wasn’t my mom,” Teddy says shortly.
“Yeah, I accidentally summoned a goo-monster from between dimensions... or something,” Billy explains apologetically, “And uh, as long as we’re running away, do you want to get brunch?”
Teddy is silent for a moment.
“It’s just that I’m really hungry,” Billy says awkwardly, hoping he isn’t being incredibly insensitive.
“Yeah. Yeah let’s do that.”
They’re caught by Mother half-way through a grand slam at Denny’s (Teddy secretly loves Denny, even though Billy is pretty sure everyone else who frequents the place is stoned.), which was convenient because Billy is still in his pajamas and thus does not have this wallet. He realized this half-way to the restaurant, but was hoping a supervillain attack would get him out of paying. It’s possible that Loki is a bad influence in previously-undiscovered ways.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” Billy says shortly before Loki kicks in the ceiling of his cell. Loki offers him a hand up and says in a deliberately casual manner,
“I don’t know what you mean,” which probably means he’s up to something. Big surprise. It’s Loki.
As they climb through what Billy thinks of as “Mother’s dungeon” he finally asks the question that’s been weighing on him since his not-suicide.
“Why did you help me?” Loki glances back and puts on a wry grin.
“Haven’t you heard?” he asks, “I’m really good now.” He seems aware of how ridiculous that sounds.
“Yeah, maybe,” Billy mutters under his breath.
Once Teddy is with them, Loki teleports them back to Joe’s Diner, where Teddy has to pick up Loki’s tab due to Billy’s lack of wallet. “If you don’t have your wallet, how were you going to-“
“Do you have your phone with you?” Billy asks suddenly.
“Yeah, why?”
“Gimme,” Billy says, but it’s really only for effect, because he’s already taking the phone out of Teddy’s back pocket and flipping through his contacts.
“What- who are you calling?”
“Not sure yet. Do you have contact info for the Runaways?” Billy asks, flipping through Teddy’s contacts for anything like “Runaways” “Nico” or “Chase”.
“Well they try to keep off the grid, but I have Xavin’s email address in there.” Teddy takes back the phone to show Billy the listing under “Skrull Buddy.”
Billy bites his lip, “But no phone number, huh?”
“They’re in LA, not parents, not adults. You’re thinking they aren’t affected by Mother. Makes sense,” Teddy responds, “Hey Loki, can you teleport us to LA?”
“If I were a horse you’d have to shoot me,” Loki deadpans.
“That’s a no,” Billy mutters with an eyeroll. Seriously, Loki is such a drama queen.
“But couldn’t we just try-“
“The Avengers are a bust. We tried them in cycle one,” Billy sighs. Loki looks curious, but Billy makes no move to explain.
“X-men? At least some of them are our age, right?”
“Uh…” Billy responded, mentally tallying the mutants who hadn’t been de-powered, “No idea. Maybe?”
It turns out no, because their current base is also in California, and the trio doesn’t even make it out of the city before they’re inundated with parents. Luckily, they’re all mundane human parents, albeit infected with Mother’s magic, so they’re only dangerous in their numbers, not in their intrinsic abilities.
Miss America shows up shortly after.
“Sorry,” she says through gritted teeth as she punches through a group of parents swarming Billy, “Been busy!”
“Yeah, brainwashed parents will do that to ya,” Billy throws back.
America’s parents arrive from the sky, hovering and serene and reminding Billy oddly of the new Captain Marvel. The one who’s not Teddy’s dad.
“We need out of here, fast,” America warns the boys.
“How’s your magic!” Teddy calls to Billy, who is throwing lightening around instead of relying on his other powers.
“Crappy!” Billy calls back, “How ‘bout you, Loki?”
“Don’t trust him!” America snarls while dodging her mothers’ attacks.
“Significantly better!” Loki chirps, “Ready to go?”
“America, stop this foolishness,” one of America’s mom’s says, “You have a decade of studies to catch up on,” the other adds.
America has just enough time to tell her parents exactly what she thinks of that before Loki’s spell takes hold.
MJ’S NIGHT CLUB, NEW YORK CITY
Four teenagers settle into a booth as Billy begins to explain his situation.
“-I’ve lived through this day like five times now and I am officially out of ideas. Nothing I do ever allows us to defeat Mother or, you know, survive- no, Loki, not even letting you borrow my powers.”
“But there must be a way, right? We can’t just be doomed to be murdered by a goo-copy of my mom!” Teddy argues.
“Well maybe, but I don’t even know why time is looping in the first place!”
“Is time really looping, though?” Loki asks, “It’s my understanding that changing the past just sends you into an alternate timeline.”
“What, so Billy might be actually hopping universes?” Teddy asks.
“He’s not,” says America, “I’d know.”
“Why?” Billy says.
America answers, “Cause I’d know. Now what do we do about it?”
“Running doesn’t work, we can’t get far enough away without my magic or Loki’s magic or Noh-Varr’s ship-“
“Who’s Noh-Varr?”
“-and fighting doesn’t work, she just traps us in her creepy nothing-dimension and eats my soul or whatever happened in that cycle.”
“Wait, she did what now?”
“Let’s review what we know,” suggests Loki, “what is the trigger that restarts the loop? Is it a particular action? A particular time?”
“As far as I can tell, it restarts when I die. We never defeat Mother. We never make it past tonight. I have tried everything up to and including KILLING MYSELF, but nothing ever works.”
“You did WHAT?” Teddy demands.
Loki looks shattered for a moment. He recovers quickly. “You killed yourself?” he asks thoughtfully.
“Yeah. It was supposed to stop Mother. My spell brought her here, my death should’ve stopped her, right?” Billy asks rhetorically.
The look on Loki’s face is familiar- he saw it just last night, right before he would’ve pulled the trigger.
“I told you that,” Loki guesses. “Well I’m sorry, Billy. I lied. Your death won’t solve anything.”
America stands up suddenly and grabs Loki by the front of his shirt. Loki is speaking fast, something about “notintheeyes!” and America is reaming him out about how “what is wrong with you!” and “people aren’t your playthings!” and “he could have died!”
Teddy is looking at Billy with that look in his eyes, like he understands and is disappointed.
”Why would you think that suicide is an acceptable solution?” Teddy asks. Billy doesn’t answer. Teddy pulls him in for a full-body hug, which is a bit awkward while they’re still sitting in a booth, but totally worth it.
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re a murderer.” America warns as she and Loki sit back down. Loki is nursing a split lip, but he doesn’t seem to be complaining, which Billy notices as odd but doesn’t comment on.
“So, ideas?” Teddy reminds the group.
“I got one,” America says, “We get the hell out of Dodge.”
In an action completely unparalleled in any of the cycles Billy has lived through, Loki agrees with her. “We should fall back, find those super-friends of yours. If I couldn’t stop Mother with your power, we’ll have to take the time to train you to do it yourself. Or-“ Loki looked thoughtful, “I don’t have the power in this body. You don’t have the skill to handle the power. But if I was an adult, I’d have my full power and then maybe-“
“Chico, if you think we’re lifting a finger to help you after you just admitted to driving Billy to suicide,-“
“-It’s not a trick this time!” Loki snarls in irritation, “What would be the point of that? By all accounts any selfish goal I accomplish will be ret-conned by tonight if we don’t break out of this loop and-“
“What if-“ Teddy begins to say.
“ALRIGHT,” Billy yells, standing up and slamming his hands on the table for emphasis, “If we survive the night, we’ll try Loki’s plan. Until then, how are we getting out of here? My magic is acting wonky, Loki’s out of juice and Teddy can’t fly fast enough to outrace Mother’s goo-people. I’m open to suggestions at this point.”
“I’ve got-“ America begins to say.
“I know this is embarrassing,” interrupts a bald muscular man with an earpiece - presumably nightclub security- “but your parents are here to pick you up.” He gestures to the entrance, where Mother, the Ameri-moms, and the Kaplans are giving the group disapproving looks.
Everything is happening too fast, Billy thinks, there isn’t time!
Teddy and America lunge over the table rather than try to squeeze past Loki and Billy, who are sitting in their way.
Loki and Billy lock eyes. Loki opens his mouth to attempt a spell, but Billy already knows how that ends, and they can’t afford it if they want to survive this cycle.
“Loki,” Billy says. He repeats it, imbuing the name with power and meaning, “Lokilokilokilokilokilokiloki-“
The tiny god catches fire. He stands up and tries to pat it out, “No! It isn’t-“
Then he explodes. Billy isn’t afraid or regretful; he’s just dazzled by something new happening.
From the ashes of Loki, Loki is born.
This Loki is taller, better looking, and completely naked. Billy, who is a Professional Superhero and knows to only ogle his teammates when they aren’t in mortal danger, makes a judgment call.
“That enough power?” he asks New Loki. This Loki frowns, studies his hands as if they are arcane fortune-telling instruments, and shakes his head. “It’s not there.”
“Great.”
Lured by the show of magic, Mother saunters toward the two boys.
“You two are out past curfew,” she scolds, “and Loki, you’re indecent. You can’t come into an establishment like this wearing that.” She smiles, because she’s caught them.
A bolt of green energy bursts from Loki’s hands into Mother’s stomach. The force of it pushes her back several feet.
“At least I’m not completely useless,” Loki quips, and wow, that smile looks very different on an older face.
He’s right. They manage to hold off Mother’s forces until the cavalry arrives, stylish as ever with their mood music and getaway vehicle.
Noh-Varr touches the ship down in Central Park, because some things apparently never change.
Billy avoids being kidnapped this time by luck- he’s sitting in a different seat, and manages to lunge out of the way before Noh-Varr’s father can grab him.
The Young Avengers look out at Mother’s accumulated forces.
“Now or never,” Kate mutters, and Billy snorts, because actually, no.
“Ready, Loki?” Billy asks. Loki, who has magic’d himself an outfit that makes him look somewhat like a Renn Faire character and somewhat like a Slytherin, nods.
“Juice me up,” he says with a smirk that should really not be allowed.
Billy complies, the way he has three times before. Ice-cold energy drains out of Billy, and he shivers at the reminder of several deaths.
“Wow thanks,” Loki grins, “Now I don’t have to die with all of you!” he gives them a little jaunty wave and disappears.
“Jesus Christ,” Kate groans, “Who didn’t see that coming? Show of hands.”
“Billy, are you-“ Teddy reaches out to comfort him. Billy shrugs him off.
“Stand your ground and get ready,” Billy demands, “He’ll be back.”
But the thing is, Billy’s not sure. He’s not sure if the last cycle was a fluke, or if Loki knows more than he’s letting on about time loops. Maybe he won’t be back, maybe he knows a way out of the loop without them, maybe-
Less dwelling, more doing. Billy may not have his magic, but he has lightning. It’ll be just like the old days when he was Asgardian.
Billy breathes in in in in out out out.
He can do this.
Mother’s parent army slowly grows as more infected humans trickle in from the city. Noh-Varr’s parents and America’s moms have stopped attacking for the moment, possibly waiting for Mother’s signal- oh, there it is.
Noh-Varr has a gun in each hand, blasting parents before they can get close to the group. America is off flying, dodging and distracting the flying Amerimoms and occasionally Noh-Varr’s dad, when he gets close enough. Teddy hasn’t actually changed from his Hulkling form since the night club, but he gains a few inches as the crowd of parents approaches.
Instead of joining America in the sky, Teddy stays grounded and fights at Billy’s side.
Kate’s got- what is that, that is not Hawkeye’s bow. Kate’s got some sort of bow that shoots energy instead of arrows, which is admittedly awesome and incredibly practical, especially for an enemy this numerous.
The crowd of parents reaches the teens. Teddy pivots on a giant green heel and punches through several heads. Billy summons lightning and begins to zap, but it’s hard to keep track of where all his allies are in the crowd, to keep from hitting them.
Usually by this time Billy is inside the Kree ship, flirting with death.
This is the first major battle Billy’s been a part of since Cassie died.
All the habits and muscle-memories are still there, but that doesn’t stop Billy’s heart from racing or his palms from sweating.
He’s done this a dozen times. Massive super-powered clashes were practically commonplace when the Young Avengers were still an official team instead of a loosely-connected group of friends.
Wiccan could always fly, though. Without his magic he has lightning, but not flight. Fighting on the ground, Wiccan is discovering, is entirely different. You can’t escape up.
An icy wave of adrenaline washes through him- or, no, that’s magic!
Loki is back, as Billy knew (hoped) he would be. He’s sitting in mid-air on top of a glowing pentagram (spell circle, Loki calls it). Five tethers of magic reach out from the circle to each of the Young Avengers. This Loki doesn’t look as strained as he did last cycle. This Loki looks vengeful.
“Miss me?” Loki asks with less enthusiasm than usual.
“Bite me!” America calls back, which is as good as he’s going to get.
“Plan?” Teddy grunts out as his punches take out several parents at once.
“Prioritize Marvel Boy and Miss America’s parents- hit them as hard as you can to break the spell-“
And really, that is all they need.
It doesn’t take ten minutes, which is good because Loki already wasted four of them running off.
As it is, they barely make it, America’s fist finally catching up to Noh-Varr’s father just moments before the blue sparks fade and disperse, leaving Loki lightheaded but conscious.
They make it back to the ship.
“The engines are empty,” Noh-Varr warns, “It won’t fly.”
It’s America who asks this time: “How do we refuel?”
“They’re Kirby engines. Imagination engines. They’re sparked by belief.”
“Great. And us: a pile of cynics,” Kate mentions, “Good thing Speed’s not here.”
Teddy squeezes Billy’s hand.
Billy breathes in in in in out out out.
“We’re going to make it.”
They do.
The Kree spacecraft cruises away from the city, and with no parents left who can fly, Mother is left in the dust.
END OF PART ONE
“We did it,” Billy breaths as New York becomes more distant. “WE DID IT!” he yells, throwing his hands in the air, then throwing them around Teddy for an impromptu we-didn’t-die makeout.
“It’s over,” Billy sighs into Teddy’s lips.
“You know, except for the whole ‘Mother still being active and lying in wait for us’ thing,” Loki agrees.
As flippant as Loki is, the rest agree that he’s right. It isn’t over, even if Billy’s made it further than ever before. It won’t be over until they can go home.
Although it is unanimously agreed that Loki is the actual worst and not to be trusted, they decide not to throw him out of the airlock or ditch him at a rest stop bathroom (Teddy’s idea). Kate says bitterly that it’s a hero thing, that they’re contractually obligated to give him a chance because that’s what being a Young Avenger is about. Teddy says Loki reminds him of the Runaways, who turned out to be a lot better than anyone would have expected them to be- then Kate suggests ditching Loki with them, but ohmygod Billy can’t imagine the trouble Loki could cause with a team of super-powered kids with dubious morality and terrible role models. Noh-Varr doesn’t seem to care either way beyond showing off his record collection.
Despite his best judgment, Billy is starting to like Loki, in a ‘worst friend ever’ kind of way. Anyway, since Speed isn’t with them, they have an opening for a token evil teammate.
Billy tries to stay awake, but nods off in his chair while they’re flying over Ontario.
When he wakes up, they’ve landed the ship somewhere in rural Canada, where Kate says “there are absolutely no parents around for miles- or, you know, people of any kind.”
It actually works out for awhile. Billy begins to calm down.
Cycle 5: Day Two
The danger seems to have passed. Loki is teaching him some meditation and basic spellcrafting (often muttering about “complete travesties of nature”, but only when Billy can hear), Kate is having entirely too much fun practicing trick shots with an alien energy bow, and America periodically sulks off to do mysterious savior things. Noh-Varr apparently likes to dance to 60s music in his underwear. Who knew?
Despite the relative safety, Billy has a bad day.
He’s actually pretty amazed that he’s been able to keep it together so long. It’s been something like a week since he first brought Mother to this dimension, and he’s been mostly functional that entire time.
He guesses he was probably due for an anxiety attack, given that.
This is the longest period of calm he’s experienced in the past week, and Billy can’t help but worry when the other shoe will drop. No, worry is the wrong word. Worry is sneaking into his boyfriend’s room at night to find him gone. Worry is wondering what Loki has up his sleeve, because there’s always something.
Billy is terrified. Billy is obsessed. Billy finds that he can’t think of anything else at all.
Mother must be planning something, mustn’t she? When will she strike? How will she do it? How long does Billy have before he wakes up on the floor of his bedroom again?
Billy tries to do his breathing exercises, but he can’t catch his breath. His heart is racing, and he gulps at the air, desperate for oxygen.
He stands up and stumbles away from the others. They can’t see, they can’t see, Kate will worry and Teddy will be inconvenienced and who knows what Loki will do with this weakness of his? Better to get away, to deal with this alone.
Billy sways on his feet, lightheaded. He presses one hand against a tree for balance. Ok. One foot in front of the other. Get away.
Loki spots him. The small god makes eye contact and makes a move toward him. Billy tries to walk faster, turning away from the group.
A hand grabs his shoulder. Billy flinches away.
“Billy,” Teddy says, concern written clearly in his blue eyes.
‘No,’ Billy thinks, ‘this is exactly what I wanted to avoid.’
“Are you ok?” Teddy asks, “Do you want to sit down? Can I get you some water?” Teddy is an absolute sweetheart, and he’s gotten Billy through a million panic attacks since Cassie and Jonas died. He knows just what to do and say at this point, but it doesn’t make Billy feel any better. He doesn’t want to need help. He doesn’t want to ask any more of Teddy than he already has.
‘I don’t deserve this, after I let the parasite in and ruined everything in the first place!’
Billy’s eyes slide past Teddy to Loki, who is approaching the couple curiously. No.
“I need to-“ go, he doesn’t say, but Teddy understands anyway.
Billy makes his escape.
AT BASECAMP
Teddy watches his fiancé retreat. His heart urges him to follow, to wrap Billy in a giant hug and make everything better. Teddy’s head knows that isn’t how things work anymore.
“Don’t,” he tells Loki when he tries to follow Billy.
Loki shakes his head in annoyance. “We don’t have time for him to sulk. Mother will find us here eventually.”
Teddy stomps the urge to smack Loki. “He’s not sulking. Leave him alone. He just -needs to be alone.”
Loki gives him a considering look. “How bad must it be if not even his True Love can snap him out of his funk?”
Teddy snaps.
“He’s not in a funk! Billy’s been through a lot. Some people have actual feelings and can’t just turn them off when it’s convenient. Don’t talk about shit you don’t understand. “ Loki is taken aback.
“But we’re relatively safe, for now. If I just tell him-“ Loki tries to say.
“There aren’t any magic words you can say that will fix him. If you care about his feelings at all, just give him some time.”
Cycle 5: Day Three
On the third day, lake monsters attack.
They look like something out of a bad B movie- humanoid with a body like a rubber suit and heads like a love child of Cuthuhlu and an Ood. It’s not that they’re strong, but their pond-scum bodies let off some kind of vapor that smells like shit and makes everyone but Noh-Varr and Teddy cough up a lung (alien bastards). The lake monsters catch the Young Avengers off-guard, which is why Billy doesn’t realize he’s being grabbed until it’s too late.
Before he knows it, he’s being dragged back into the lake with them. Magic still inconsistent, he reaches for lightning, only to electrocute himself in the process.
He can’t even scream. There’s pain and more pain and the smell of ozone and burnt flesh. The world is out of focus- his hearing is fading in and out-
Right. Water. Conducts electricity. God Billy, any third grader with a Pokemon game could tell you that, he mentally berates himself.
He struggles. He kicks and screams.
He sees Teddy flying through the air, reaching for him and he tries to reach back-
He’s pulled under before they make contact.
As the water rushes into Billy’s lungs, as he coughs and sputters to no avail, he thinks desperately,
No! I don’t want to be alone again!
He fades from consciousness.
Billy’s body falls
falls
falls
Cycle 6: Day One
Teddy’s room in the Kaplan’s house has a textured plaster ceiling, and that is the first thing he sees when he wakes up.
“What?” He bolts upright in bed, going from groggy half-awake to ‘omg-wtf is going on’ in the three seconds it took to recognize ‘this is not where I was’.
Teddy stares blankly at the Fantastic Four poster across from his bed. Sue Storm’s smiling face stares back at him threateningly.
“What?” he repeats.