Fic: It's Not Easy Being Green (Young Avengers)
Remember hc_bingo from forever ago? Yeah... I didn't either.
IDK what I'm doing with my life. Have some fic I wrote back in December instead.
Title: It's Not Easy Being Green
Author: ravenclaw42
Fandom: Marvel: Young Avengers
Rating: PG
Summary: Teddy and Cassie have both lost the parents who meant the most to them. A look at the immediate aftermath of the big Kree-Skrull throwdown at the end of the original YA run.
Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing. All characters belong to Marvel.
Notes: This was originally meant to fill the prompt "orphans and runaways" on my hc_bingo card. I wanted to fill the prompt with something about Teddy being left orphaned at the end of the “Family Matters” arc, but I couldn't bring Billy into it without figuring out a way to work around the Tommy-shaped elephant in the room. So I went with Cassie as a foil instead, the only other Young Avenger who had also recently lost a parent in a violent accident. I'd call this story mostly a dialogue study, not a serious attempt to fill in a dramatic gap left by the original comic.
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It's Not Easy Being Green
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Homeless and orphaned, Teddy had nowhere to go except back to Avengers Tower.
This fact appeared to have been lost on nearly everyone. The chaos of the last couple of days had overwhelmed the young Avengers with too many revelations - everyone had their own world-changing crisis to cope with.
The whole team had stuck together for a while after the rooftop free-for-all, standing around at street level outside the Tower and then moving indoors, to the conference rooms. The new, expanded team.
Even after the chaos and fighting were over Teddy barely had half a second to glance over the white-haired carbon copy of Billy, and never got the chance to speak to him. Tommy talked too fast, and Billy's eyes kept drifting to his - what? - to his brother?, even while he was trying to focus on Teddy. Billy listened distractedly while Teddy tried to talk about what had happened.
Billy's parents had called, worried about him. Exiled from their destroyed house, having just seen Teddy's mother immolated and all the fighting on the news, they were terrified. They wanted Billy to be with them. And it was obvious, by then, that Billy wanted to go.
“You can come with me,” Billy had said, but there was still distraction in his voice. Tommy sulked off to the side of the room, staring out the massive plate window overlooking New York. Billy's eyes drifted.
“No,” Teddy had said. “You go and tell them I'm fine.” He almost asked what Billy was going to tell his parents about Tommy, but he bit it off. A lot of dust needed to settle before they could talk even-handedly.
Tommy watched Billy leave, escorted to the street and into a cab by Jessica Jones. A couple of minutes later, Tommy blurred and was gone.
Kate hung around through about a million ignored calls from her dad, until Captain America finally cottoned on and ordered her to go home. Vision was whisked away somewhere by Iron Man. Other people began to show up - other heroes, his heroes, whose close proximity and apparent interest in him rendered Teddy a big tangle of fried nerves, as well as adults in black suits and mirrored sunglasses, adults in SHIELD leathers carrying badges and concealed weapons, adults with microphones on their lapels and deadlocked briefcases in their hands. There were lawyers and foreign dignitaries and some press who managed not to get bounced in the lobby, but who tended to vanish about five seconds after shouting a question across the room.
Throughout the afternoon, Teddy was shuffled from room to room, adult to adult, for serious, stilted, diplomatic “talks” that never seemed to go anywhere, say anything, or end. Teddy got the impression that they all wanted to tell him exactly zilch without offending him. Someone from SHIELD debriefed him, which was not as exciting as he'd always thought being debriefed would be - TV made it seem much cooler and more dramatic, but Teddy just felt tired, sick of hearing things he already knew with endless addendums and caveats about things he needed to do now, people he needed to know, the political power he now had and why he shouldn't use it, the millions of ways in which he was no longer safe, trusted, protected or in control of his life. Then Reed Richards had rushed over from the Baxter Building at the mere mention of Skrulls and talked at length in Teddy's direction in what Teddy was not entirely convinced was English.
From somewhere inside the crush, Tony Stark eventually realized that Mr. Fantastic had Teddy in a corner and was gesticulating wildly, rubbery arms twisting almost to the ceiling. Stark effected a rescue by telling the government types that Teddy needed to go to the lab for the first round of genetic testing, then grabbing Teddy by the arm and leading him forcefully into the next room, then the next, then through a small service door into a narrow hallway with three elevators in it.
“I'm sorry about that,” said Stark, stopping in front of the middle elevator and pushing the call button. He let go of Teddy's arm. “Sometimes Reed gets going and you just want to find a straightjacket and a muzzle. I'll talk to Nick Fury. Don't worry about anything you just heard, all the warnings - there aren't really any protocols for this. And we'll, the Avengers, I mean, we'll figure out a way to fund you guys and train you and support you however we can. Steve tries to be a hardass about it, but he is incredibly proud of all of you, I can tell you now.”
“Yes, sir,” said Teddy.
The elevator dinged, the doors rolled open. Stark drew Teddy inside.
“I'll keep the media shitstorm off you for as long as I can, too,” said Stark. “Look, we're going up to the penthouse, which is the current housing for any Avenger who needs it, and I want you to know that I consider you an honorary Avenger and I want you to stay here for as long as you need to or want to. And know that you can contact anyone who lives here, directly or through Ms. Jones, and you can come in when you need to. I'm uploading your security clearance as we speak and I'm going to have Jarvis bring you a card and some papers and make you something to eat.”
“Yes, sir,” said Teddy. He was beginning to feel lightheaded.
The elevator doors opened again and Tony led him through an ill-remembered whirlwind tour of the penthouse floors, then left him alone in the kitchen with a quick apology and the assurance that Jarvis would be along any minute.
Teddy looked around the kitchen in the abrupt silence and realized, in some distant and muffled part of his mind, that he was completely alone and unsupervised in the private residence of some of the most insanely powerful and famous people on the planet, all of whom he had idolized for years, and that he was not human, and that he was an orphan.
He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down.
Twenty minutes later he was still staring at the wood grain of the tabletop when Jarvis came in and placed a piece of paper, a laminated security badge and a small, clear plastic earbud in front of him. Teddy murmured a thank you and picked up the paper and tried to focus on it. Another twenty minutes later, a plate of spaghetti was set down in front of him. Teddy hadn't finished reading the first sentence.
“You don't have to read that now,” Jarvis said kindly. “They're security instructions. The badge will get you in and out of the building and if you aren't certain of something, you can always ask. The communication device will put you in touch with myself or one of Mr. Stark's secretarial staff, all of whom have clearance to contact him immediately in case of an emergency. But you can call at any time.”
“Thank you,” Teddy said, and even to his own ears his voice sounded weak.
“Someone else is here for dinner,” said Jarvis. “Go to the left out of the living room and the second bedroom on the right is yours. Good evening, young sir.”
“Thank you,” Teddy repeated, dreading whoever was coming in to have dinner with him.
Jarvis left. Teddy picked up his fork, poked at his gently steaming pasta, put his fork down and stood up to see if he could find a Coke in the fridge.
Cassie was standing in the doorway.
Teddy froze for a second. Focus kicked its way back into him, bruising as it went. He felt suddenly over-sensitized. His skin was too warm but his sweat was cold.
Cassie looked pretty rough, but probably not as rough as he did. He watched her taking in his still-ripped clothes, the bruises and scrapes that hadn't healed completely yet, the circles under his eyes that had nothing to do with the fight.
“Hey,” she said.
“There's spaghetti,” Teddy said dumbly.
She smiled.
He found his Coke while she loaded up a plate and sat down across the table from him. She ate steadily and he tried to match her even though he didn't feel hungry. But Jarvis had cooked for him, and here was Cassie, and he didn't like to be wasteful or rude.
When her plate was empty, Cassie looked at a spot off to the right of Teddy and said, “I guess I've kind of mostly been hanging out with Kate? And after what happened with... Nathan... I haven't gotten to know the rest of you guys very well. It's hard to break into the thing Kate has going with Eli. And there's you and Billy.” She hesitated. “This is the first time I've seen you without him.”
“Yeah,” said Teddy. “There's... Tommy's here now. And I don't know how he's dealing with that.”
“I don't know how we're all supposed to deal with that,” said Cassie. “I mean, I guess I trust Iron - Vision's - Avenger-relative search program thing, but we just broke Tommy out of juvie and he's supposed to be Billy's long-lost twin via creepy split-up demon soul magic construct deal? I mean, I read Harry Potter, I know how it ends with human Horcruxes.”
Teddy snorted.
“I'm sorry, I'll shut up,” said Cassie. “I talk when I'm nervous.”
“It's okay,” said Teddy. Then, grinning, “Juvie?”
Cassie laughed. “Um,” she said. “Maybe the less we say about that in front of the security cameras the better.”
“Okay,” said Teddy. His grin faded.
After a few seconds of silence, Cassie said, “I'm really sorry about your mom.”
Teddy looked at anywhere other than her face. There was a sincerity and a lack of pity there that he didn't want to feel any deeper than as a prickle on his skin.
“I'm here for the night, too,” said Cassie. “Because my step-dad is freaking the hell out. Captain America tried to talk to him and my mom, and you know it's bad when Captain America comes back from your house and offers to let you spend the night at his place.”
“I think,” said Teddy. “I think that my mom would really have liked that I was a superhero. You know, my mom as I knew her. Obviously... I guess she, Skrull-she, wouldn't be too surprised, or... I don't know. When I decided I must be a mutant she was really supportive of that. But I guess that was a lie. And she couldn't tell me the truth for... political reasons, or whatever. And because she wasn't really my mom.” And with that, the burning started in his throat and he had to lean on the table and put a hand over his eyes and tell himself no, no, don't do this.
“She was,” said Cassie. “My dad became Ant-Man to save my life, and my mom left him for that. I never lived with him. I didn't see him much. But he was my dad, and my mom wasn't ever... Just, Teddy, she really was your mom. She did what she did to save you. What are you supposed to think about some princess you don't know? Mrs. Altman wouldn't have been any different even if you knew she was a Skrull all along. She loved you.”
Teddy swallowed, breathed out hard. “I don't want to say any of this to Billy,” he said. “Because he'll think it's his fault that he can't take care of me? And that he couldn't save her. And I don't want him to feel like, like his family isn't enough. His family is great, and they would take me in in a heartbeat, but they don't have anywhere to live right now - and that's my fault - and Billy has to think about whatever the hell he's going to do about Tommy. And now I'm apparently this huge freaking security risk and I don't want SHIELD agents storming Billy's parents' hotel room in the middle of the night looking for me because of some alien invasion. I mean, what the hell? What am I supposed to - ? I'm an emperor? No I'm not. I don't even - I've just realized that I don't even know what I really look like. I always thought, human mutant, so okay, I look normal but I can turn green? And I always just thought green looked less dorky than any other color, because the Hulk was pretty cool or something, but what if I always turned green out of habit because that's what I'm supposed to look like? I mean, I could just have easily turned blue or, or into a purple fucking dinosaur and called myself Barney!”
He took a deep breath and stopped talking. His hands were shaking slightly. He didn't realize how loud he'd gotten until he noticed the look Cassie was giving him.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Cassie's mouth twisted.
After a final clinging second they both burst out laughing. Teddy laughed until his sides hurt and his eyes, already red from restraint, were streaming. Cassie's face was flushed deep pink and she could barely breathe. She hiccuped out a few last laughs, struggling to take a breath in between.
“Okay,” gasped Cassie. “Don't ever do that.”
“No,” said Teddy, leaning his forehead on the table and shuddering through a few last giggles.
Cassie sniffed and wiped her face with the heels of her hands. “So, um,” she said. “I think we need to go to sleep before we go insane.”
“Maybe, yeah,” said Teddy.
At that moment they heard footsteps thunking down the hall. Teddy straightened up in time to see Captain America walk in the door, wearing sweats, an Army t-shirt and a towel on his head. He blinked at them.
“Cassie,” he said with a nod. “Hulkling.”
“Oh hey, spaghetti!” Teddy looked up, startled, to see Spider-man crouching on the ceiling above Cap's head. “You guys sharing?” He dropped to the floor.
“Um,” said Teddy. “Yes? I mean, we're done, so...”
“Score! Jarvis knows the secret to the universe's best spaghetti sauce. I swear he has to have learned it from a monk on a mountain somewhere who's dedicated his life to the art of spaghetti.” Spider-man grabbed one of the bigger pasta bowls and started filling it up, still chatting. Cassie made a little breathy sound - Teddy looked over at her and saw that she was trying not to start laughing again.
“I think he just uses a lot of garlic,” said Cap, sounding slightly bemused. He scrubbed at his hair again and pulled the towel down around his shoulders. “Mind if I join you?” he asked Teddy. Teddy, to his eternal dismay, just stared, mouth slightly open. He may have squeaked.
“Sure, Uncle Steve,” said Cassie, scooting her chair over.
“Oh,” said Cap. He wiped his hands on his towel and held out the right one to Teddy. “You can call me Steve, by the way. We've never really met outside of business.”
“Teddy.” Teddy managed slightly more dignity this time, and shook Cap's hand.
Spider-man more or less crawled onto a chair and contorted into a sitting position that looked nearly impossible. He pulled up the lower half of his mask. “Don't be offended if I don't unmask,” he said. “I'm generally cool with Avengers knowing who I am, but the situation's kind of up in the air - after the media clears out -“
“Oh - I - no, I don't need to, want to know who -“ Teddy stammered. “I don't have that kind of privilege. Clearance? Something? I don't need to know.”
Cap laughed. “You don't need clearance,” he said. “Just trust. And you're doing just fine on that front.”
“This is a long way from ordering us to disband,” Cassie said quietly.
Cap sobered, but there was still a positive gleam in his eyes when he said, “You're still far too young to take on the really dangerous stuff on your own,” he said. “But that's why we aren't going to make you go it alone anymore. And besides, you're Avengers family, Cass. If Vision's data is accurate, you're all family.” He looked at Teddy and added, “And I'm so sorry for your loss, son. You're always welcome here.” And Teddy knew that he utterly, absolutely meant it.
“Thank you, sir,” said Teddy, and it was the first time all day that he completely registered what he was saying.
“Oh!” said Spider-man, around a mouthful of pasta. “Thanks for the save out there, Stature! Totally meant to say something earlier.”
Cassie blushed and grinned. “Thanks for, you know, reminding me about physics,” she said. “I didn't think.”
Spider-man shrugged. “That's what training is for,” he said. “You'll get the hang of it. Can't count the number of times I faceplanted against buildings way back when.”
Teddy heard footsteps in the hall again, and multiple voices - and then Tony Stark, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel and a red-headed woman Teddy was sure wasn't a known hero all piled into the room.
“-- total rip-off of Electro, plus the lamest costume you've ever --”
“But how's he controlling the power type stimulated by the MGH? Usually it's random -”
“-- talking to Daredevil the other night, and the guy has seriously gone round the -“
“Oh, hi, Steve,” said Ms. Marvel, wandering towards them. “Jessica and I needed to escape the mayhem downstairs for a few minutes. Is that Cassie Lang? Oh my god, you're all grown up!”
“You may have been out of the loop, Carol,” said Cap. “She's Stature now. Got Scott's powers.”
“You're shitting me,” said Ms. Marvel, sliding into the chair next to Steve and beaming at Cassie. “I saw the costume and the resizing thing going on out there today, but I was kind of busy, you know... that's fantastic! Young Avengers, huh?”
“We never decided on a name,” muttered Teddy.
“And this is Hulkling,” said Cap, gesturing at Teddy. “Teddy, this is Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel.”
“Um,” said Teddy.
“Oh, hello,” said Ms. Marvel, reaching out to shake hands. Teddy did so automatically and hoped his palms weren't too sweaty. “I didn't recognize you without the green. How're you holding up?”
“I'm okay,” said Teddy. “Thanks.”
“Nice to meet you, Hulkling,” she said. “Steve, can I talk to you for a second about Washington?”
“Yeah,” he said, standing. “You kids behave,” he said with a smile, and walked off.
Teddy exchanged glances with Cassie, who grinned and reached over to pat his hand. “Yeah, they're real people, too. I hung out in Avengers Mansion a lot when I was really little, so I get the cheek-pinching brigade. They yell at you like parents and spoil you like grandparents. Best of both worlds, sort of.”
Teddy began to grin like an idiot. He couldn't help it. “Billy is going to be so jealous,” he said.
Cassie laughed.
The red-haired woman came over to sit by Spider-man and steal bites of his spaghetti while he chatted with her, anyone else who was within earshot, and possibly the ceiling. “You going to introduce me?” she asked eventually, nodding at Teddy.
“We're not totally on secret identity basis yet,” said Spider-man. “Probably by Tuesday.”
“Really? And yet here he is in our kitchen, eating our spaghetti.” She knocked on Spider-man's head, eliciting a muttered “ow”. “Well, I'm this dork's wife and you can call me MJ. Hulkling, right?” said MJ. Teddy reached out automatically to shake her hand and she grinned and said, “Nope, you get a hug, mister.” Cassie laughed at the look on Teddy's face while MJ hugged him. “I heard about all that happened today,” she said when she sat back next to Spider-man again. “I'm sure it's been rough on you.”
“The fact that Spider-man's wife just hugged me is going to break my boyfriend's brain,” Teddy said without thinking. MJ burst out laughing.
“Not too rough, then,” said MJ.
“What is this about rough?” Tony Stark sat down on Teddy's other side.
“Uncle Tony,” Cassie groaned.
“Not around minors, Stark,” rumbled Luke Cage, passing behind Tony's chair on his way to the refrigerator. Wolverine slunk past as well, having seemingly appeared from nowhere, and Luke tossed him a beer.
Jessica Jones sat down next to Cassie and leaned back with her arms over her seven-month bump, which was really less a bump and more a basketball. “Ugh,” she said. “Long, long fucking day. I want a beer.”
“No beer for you,” called Luke. “You pee enough as it is.”
“Fuck you,” Jones called back affectionately.
“It's almost ten,” said Tony. “You kids should get to bed. Tomorrow's going to be buckets of crazy again, and that's if all we have to deal with are lawyers and Fury. I'll tell Sue to keep Reed locked up in his lab.”
“Thanks for letting us stay, Uncle Tony,” said Cassie, pushing her chair back and standing.
“Sure thing,” he said. “Sleep well, kiddo.”
Teddy stood as well, gave a murmured thanks, got another bear hug from MJ and an awkward, one-armed, half-seated hug from Jessica Jones. He picked up his security stuff and followed Cassie out of the kitchen, only to realize that he had already forgotten everything about the layout of the penthouse.
He told Cassie as much. She laughed nervously and said, “Well, I used to know the Mansion pretty well, but I've only been here once before, so... let's figure it out together.” She smiled.
Teddy was grateful that he hadn't been the only one too shaken to remember directions. “I think Jarvis said I was supposed to go left out of the living room?”
They wandered down the hall into the living room, where Teddy whistled under his breath at the huge plasma TV, and with a little hunting they found the corridor they wanted. “I remember this now,” said Teddy. “Second door on the right.”
“Mine was first on the right,” said Cassie. “So here we are.” She put a hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn it. Instead she let out a shaky breath and leaned back against the door. “I, um,” she said, swallowing. “I'm not tired yet. Are you tired?”
Teddy was, actually, a little bit, but Cassie had a look in her eyes. “No,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“I don't think I want to be alone with myself,” Cassie muttered, looking at her feet. She swallowed. “I really, um, just being in the same room with all of them... and my dad not being there. I thought I was starting to get over it, but.”
“It's okay,” said Teddy. “I get it.” He scuffed his bare toes in the carpet. “You want to see what channels they have on the giant TV?”
Cassie snorted. “Yeah,” she said. “That sounds good.”
They wandered back to the living room, plopped onto the couch and discovered that there were no less than seven remotes. Laughing, they started trying to figure each one out - screwing up several settings in the process - and eventually managing to find a marathon of Project Runway. They critiqued and complained, and Cassie told Teddy more about growing up an Avenger brat, and Teddy explained some of the secret cues and in-jokes he had shared with the only mother he'd ever known.
“I almost feel like he's here,” Cassie said at last, head leaned back against the cushions, staring through and past the TV screen with small smile.
Teddy's ache of loss was just beginning to set in, but the talk had sweetened it a little. A disinfectant. He knew he was going to have to go call Billy and cry for a while before he could sleep, and he didn't know how he'd feel when he woke up, but for now - in this moment - everything felt a little more right than it had since yesterday morning.
“Thanks, Cassie,” he said. She rolled her smiling face towards him.
“Okay,” he said. “Hug.” She laughed and shook her head, but submitted when Teddy leaned over. He felt her hands curl into fists against his back.
She flopped backwards when he let go. “You know, your real name is Dorrek,” she said dreamily. “That sounds a lot like Dork.”
“Oh, hah hah, madame,” said Teddy.
“I'm saving the Barney thing for Billy's next birthday,” she said.
“I know where you live,” said Teddy.
Just then, Cap and Tony walked into the room from the kitchen corridor, heads close together and murmuring softly, half-turned in the direction of the permanent residence wing, off to the right. Tony started when he saw the two kids on the couch, and he and Steve quickly rearranged themselves.
“I thought you went to bed,” he said.
“Um,” said Cassie, wide-eyed.
“Couldn't sleep,” Teddy blurted. “And you know, we're big fans of, uh, Tim Gunn. So.”
Tony glanced at the TV, still showing Runway at low volume. “Uh-huh,” he said. “It's midnight. Shoo.” He walked away with Steve a couple of steps behind.
Cassie clicked the TV off in a hurry and dragged Teddy back to the guest rooms.
“I'm not hallucinating,” Cassie burst out in loud stage whisper.
“You're not hallucinating,” Teddy agreed.
“That was groping,” said Cassie.
“Did I just see Captain America turn red as a lobster,” said Teddy. “Because I think I did.”
“Hand down pants qualifies as groping,” Cassie insisted. “This is so much more than I ever wanted to know about guys I think of as my uncles!”
“Holy shit. I have to call Billy right now.”
They met each other's eyes. Cassie snorted first, the laughter bubbling up.
Teddy resisted. “No,” he huffed out. “Not again.” He went to his door and turned the knob. “I need to sleep.”
Cassie made a helpless flailing gesture, voice lost.
“Seriously,” said Teddy, fighting the giggles. “Go to bed.”
“Oh god, I can't now,” gasped Cassie. “Are you calling Billy? I'm calling Kate.”
“Good night,” Teddy said firmly.
“Good night, Teddy,” said Cassie, still snickering as she opened her door and vanished inside.
Alone at last, Teddy stepped into the bedroom. It was nice - homely, not like a hotel, and less fancy than he had expected from the rest of the building. He took a long-overdue shower, found some basic sweats and t-shirts in the dresser drawers, and climbed under the downy bedcovers with a sudden aching exhaustion that he hadn't known was eating at him until this minute.
He dialed Billy's number on his cell and settled it between his ear and the pillow. Billy answered with immediate agitation, saying how sorry he was to have left earlier, and how he hadn't stopped to think about what Teddy was going through, and should he come back?
“No, no, hush, listen,” Teddy chanted until Billy shut up. “It's okay, Bill. Listen, I have to tell you something kind of amazing, and then can we just talk until we fall asleep? You don't have to apologize for anything, I just want to hear your voice.”
Okay, said Billy. What's the amazing thing?
Teddy closed his eyes, smiled into his pillow and started to talk.
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IDK what I'm doing with my life. Have some fic I wrote back in December instead.
Title: It's Not Easy Being Green
Author: ravenclaw42
Fandom: Marvel: Young Avengers
Rating: PG
Summary: Teddy and Cassie have both lost the parents who meant the most to them. A look at the immediate aftermath of the big Kree-Skrull throwdown at the end of the original YA run.
Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing. All characters belong to Marvel.
Notes: This was originally meant to fill the prompt "orphans and runaways" on my hc_bingo card. I wanted to fill the prompt with something about Teddy being left orphaned at the end of the “Family Matters” arc, but I couldn't bring Billy into it without figuring out a way to work around the Tommy-shaped elephant in the room. So I went with Cassie as a foil instead, the only other Young Avenger who had also recently lost a parent in a violent accident. I'd call this story mostly a dialogue study, not a serious attempt to fill in a dramatic gap left by the original comic.
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It's Not Easy Being Green
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Homeless and orphaned, Teddy had nowhere to go except back to Avengers Tower.
This fact appeared to have been lost on nearly everyone. The chaos of the last couple of days had overwhelmed the young Avengers with too many revelations - everyone had their own world-changing crisis to cope with.
The whole team had stuck together for a while after the rooftop free-for-all, standing around at street level outside the Tower and then moving indoors, to the conference rooms. The new, expanded team.
Even after the chaos and fighting were over Teddy barely had half a second to glance over the white-haired carbon copy of Billy, and never got the chance to speak to him. Tommy talked too fast, and Billy's eyes kept drifting to his - what? - to his brother?, even while he was trying to focus on Teddy. Billy listened distractedly while Teddy tried to talk about what had happened.
Billy's parents had called, worried about him. Exiled from their destroyed house, having just seen Teddy's mother immolated and all the fighting on the news, they were terrified. They wanted Billy to be with them. And it was obvious, by then, that Billy wanted to go.
“You can come with me,” Billy had said, but there was still distraction in his voice. Tommy sulked off to the side of the room, staring out the massive plate window overlooking New York. Billy's eyes drifted.
“No,” Teddy had said. “You go and tell them I'm fine.” He almost asked what Billy was going to tell his parents about Tommy, but he bit it off. A lot of dust needed to settle before they could talk even-handedly.
Tommy watched Billy leave, escorted to the street and into a cab by Jessica Jones. A couple of minutes later, Tommy blurred and was gone.
Kate hung around through about a million ignored calls from her dad, until Captain America finally cottoned on and ordered her to go home. Vision was whisked away somewhere by Iron Man. Other people began to show up - other heroes, his heroes, whose close proximity and apparent interest in him rendered Teddy a big tangle of fried nerves, as well as adults in black suits and mirrored sunglasses, adults in SHIELD leathers carrying badges and concealed weapons, adults with microphones on their lapels and deadlocked briefcases in their hands. There were lawyers and foreign dignitaries and some press who managed not to get bounced in the lobby, but who tended to vanish about five seconds after shouting a question across the room.
Throughout the afternoon, Teddy was shuffled from room to room, adult to adult, for serious, stilted, diplomatic “talks” that never seemed to go anywhere, say anything, or end. Teddy got the impression that they all wanted to tell him exactly zilch without offending him. Someone from SHIELD debriefed him, which was not as exciting as he'd always thought being debriefed would be - TV made it seem much cooler and more dramatic, but Teddy just felt tired, sick of hearing things he already knew with endless addendums and caveats about things he needed to do now, people he needed to know, the political power he now had and why he shouldn't use it, the millions of ways in which he was no longer safe, trusted, protected or in control of his life. Then Reed Richards had rushed over from the Baxter Building at the mere mention of Skrulls and talked at length in Teddy's direction in what Teddy was not entirely convinced was English.
From somewhere inside the crush, Tony Stark eventually realized that Mr. Fantastic had Teddy in a corner and was gesticulating wildly, rubbery arms twisting almost to the ceiling. Stark effected a rescue by telling the government types that Teddy needed to go to the lab for the first round of genetic testing, then grabbing Teddy by the arm and leading him forcefully into the next room, then the next, then through a small service door into a narrow hallway with three elevators in it.
“I'm sorry about that,” said Stark, stopping in front of the middle elevator and pushing the call button. He let go of Teddy's arm. “Sometimes Reed gets going and you just want to find a straightjacket and a muzzle. I'll talk to Nick Fury. Don't worry about anything you just heard, all the warnings - there aren't really any protocols for this. And we'll, the Avengers, I mean, we'll figure out a way to fund you guys and train you and support you however we can. Steve tries to be a hardass about it, but he is incredibly proud of all of you, I can tell you now.”
“Yes, sir,” said Teddy.
The elevator dinged, the doors rolled open. Stark drew Teddy inside.
“I'll keep the media shitstorm off you for as long as I can, too,” said Stark. “Look, we're going up to the penthouse, which is the current housing for any Avenger who needs it, and I want you to know that I consider you an honorary Avenger and I want you to stay here for as long as you need to or want to. And know that you can contact anyone who lives here, directly or through Ms. Jones, and you can come in when you need to. I'm uploading your security clearance as we speak and I'm going to have Jarvis bring you a card and some papers and make you something to eat.”
“Yes, sir,” said Teddy. He was beginning to feel lightheaded.
The elevator doors opened again and Tony led him through an ill-remembered whirlwind tour of the penthouse floors, then left him alone in the kitchen with a quick apology and the assurance that Jarvis would be along any minute.
Teddy looked around the kitchen in the abrupt silence and realized, in some distant and muffled part of his mind, that he was completely alone and unsupervised in the private residence of some of the most insanely powerful and famous people on the planet, all of whom he had idolized for years, and that he was not human, and that he was an orphan.
He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down.
Twenty minutes later he was still staring at the wood grain of the tabletop when Jarvis came in and placed a piece of paper, a laminated security badge and a small, clear plastic earbud in front of him. Teddy murmured a thank you and picked up the paper and tried to focus on it. Another twenty minutes later, a plate of spaghetti was set down in front of him. Teddy hadn't finished reading the first sentence.
“You don't have to read that now,” Jarvis said kindly. “They're security instructions. The badge will get you in and out of the building and if you aren't certain of something, you can always ask. The communication device will put you in touch with myself or one of Mr. Stark's secretarial staff, all of whom have clearance to contact him immediately in case of an emergency. But you can call at any time.”
“Thank you,” Teddy said, and even to his own ears his voice sounded weak.
“Someone else is here for dinner,” said Jarvis. “Go to the left out of the living room and the second bedroom on the right is yours. Good evening, young sir.”
“Thank you,” Teddy repeated, dreading whoever was coming in to have dinner with him.
Jarvis left. Teddy picked up his fork, poked at his gently steaming pasta, put his fork down and stood up to see if he could find a Coke in the fridge.
Cassie was standing in the doorway.
Teddy froze for a second. Focus kicked its way back into him, bruising as it went. He felt suddenly over-sensitized. His skin was too warm but his sweat was cold.
Cassie looked pretty rough, but probably not as rough as he did. He watched her taking in his still-ripped clothes, the bruises and scrapes that hadn't healed completely yet, the circles under his eyes that had nothing to do with the fight.
“Hey,” she said.
“There's spaghetti,” Teddy said dumbly.
She smiled.
He found his Coke while she loaded up a plate and sat down across the table from him. She ate steadily and he tried to match her even though he didn't feel hungry. But Jarvis had cooked for him, and here was Cassie, and he didn't like to be wasteful or rude.
When her plate was empty, Cassie looked at a spot off to the right of Teddy and said, “I guess I've kind of mostly been hanging out with Kate? And after what happened with... Nathan... I haven't gotten to know the rest of you guys very well. It's hard to break into the thing Kate has going with Eli. And there's you and Billy.” She hesitated. “This is the first time I've seen you without him.”
“Yeah,” said Teddy. “There's... Tommy's here now. And I don't know how he's dealing with that.”
“I don't know how we're all supposed to deal with that,” said Cassie. “I mean, I guess I trust Iron - Vision's - Avenger-relative search program thing, but we just broke Tommy out of juvie and he's supposed to be Billy's long-lost twin via creepy split-up demon soul magic construct deal? I mean, I read Harry Potter, I know how it ends with human Horcruxes.”
Teddy snorted.
“I'm sorry, I'll shut up,” said Cassie. “I talk when I'm nervous.”
“It's okay,” said Teddy. Then, grinning, “Juvie?”
Cassie laughed. “Um,” she said. “Maybe the less we say about that in front of the security cameras the better.”
“Okay,” said Teddy. His grin faded.
After a few seconds of silence, Cassie said, “I'm really sorry about your mom.”
Teddy looked at anywhere other than her face. There was a sincerity and a lack of pity there that he didn't want to feel any deeper than as a prickle on his skin.
“I'm here for the night, too,” said Cassie. “Because my step-dad is freaking the hell out. Captain America tried to talk to him and my mom, and you know it's bad when Captain America comes back from your house and offers to let you spend the night at his place.”
“I think,” said Teddy. “I think that my mom would really have liked that I was a superhero. You know, my mom as I knew her. Obviously... I guess she, Skrull-she, wouldn't be too surprised, or... I don't know. When I decided I must be a mutant she was really supportive of that. But I guess that was a lie. And she couldn't tell me the truth for... political reasons, or whatever. And because she wasn't really my mom.” And with that, the burning started in his throat and he had to lean on the table and put a hand over his eyes and tell himself no, no, don't do this.
“She was,” said Cassie. “My dad became Ant-Man to save my life, and my mom left him for that. I never lived with him. I didn't see him much. But he was my dad, and my mom wasn't ever... Just, Teddy, she really was your mom. She did what she did to save you. What are you supposed to think about some princess you don't know? Mrs. Altman wouldn't have been any different even if you knew she was a Skrull all along. She loved you.”
Teddy swallowed, breathed out hard. “I don't want to say any of this to Billy,” he said. “Because he'll think it's his fault that he can't take care of me? And that he couldn't save her. And I don't want him to feel like, like his family isn't enough. His family is great, and they would take me in in a heartbeat, but they don't have anywhere to live right now - and that's my fault - and Billy has to think about whatever the hell he's going to do about Tommy. And now I'm apparently this huge freaking security risk and I don't want SHIELD agents storming Billy's parents' hotel room in the middle of the night looking for me because of some alien invasion. I mean, what the hell? What am I supposed to - ? I'm an emperor? No I'm not. I don't even - I've just realized that I don't even know what I really look like. I always thought, human mutant, so okay, I look normal but I can turn green? And I always just thought green looked less dorky than any other color, because the Hulk was pretty cool or something, but what if I always turned green out of habit because that's what I'm supposed to look like? I mean, I could just have easily turned blue or, or into a purple fucking dinosaur and called myself Barney!”
He took a deep breath and stopped talking. His hands were shaking slightly. He didn't realize how loud he'd gotten until he noticed the look Cassie was giving him.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Cassie's mouth twisted.
After a final clinging second they both burst out laughing. Teddy laughed until his sides hurt and his eyes, already red from restraint, were streaming. Cassie's face was flushed deep pink and she could barely breathe. She hiccuped out a few last laughs, struggling to take a breath in between.
“Okay,” gasped Cassie. “Don't ever do that.”
“No,” said Teddy, leaning his forehead on the table and shuddering through a few last giggles.
Cassie sniffed and wiped her face with the heels of her hands. “So, um,” she said. “I think we need to go to sleep before we go insane.”
“Maybe, yeah,” said Teddy.
At that moment they heard footsteps thunking down the hall. Teddy straightened up in time to see Captain America walk in the door, wearing sweats, an Army t-shirt and a towel on his head. He blinked at them.
“Cassie,” he said with a nod. “Hulkling.”
“Oh hey, spaghetti!” Teddy looked up, startled, to see Spider-man crouching on the ceiling above Cap's head. “You guys sharing?” He dropped to the floor.
“Um,” said Teddy. “Yes? I mean, we're done, so...”
“Score! Jarvis knows the secret to the universe's best spaghetti sauce. I swear he has to have learned it from a monk on a mountain somewhere who's dedicated his life to the art of spaghetti.” Spider-man grabbed one of the bigger pasta bowls and started filling it up, still chatting. Cassie made a little breathy sound - Teddy looked over at her and saw that she was trying not to start laughing again.
“I think he just uses a lot of garlic,” said Cap, sounding slightly bemused. He scrubbed at his hair again and pulled the towel down around his shoulders. “Mind if I join you?” he asked Teddy. Teddy, to his eternal dismay, just stared, mouth slightly open. He may have squeaked.
“Sure, Uncle Steve,” said Cassie, scooting her chair over.
“Oh,” said Cap. He wiped his hands on his towel and held out the right one to Teddy. “You can call me Steve, by the way. We've never really met outside of business.”
“Teddy.” Teddy managed slightly more dignity this time, and shook Cap's hand.
Spider-man more or less crawled onto a chair and contorted into a sitting position that looked nearly impossible. He pulled up the lower half of his mask. “Don't be offended if I don't unmask,” he said. “I'm generally cool with Avengers knowing who I am, but the situation's kind of up in the air - after the media clears out -“
“Oh - I - no, I don't need to, want to know who -“ Teddy stammered. “I don't have that kind of privilege. Clearance? Something? I don't need to know.”
Cap laughed. “You don't need clearance,” he said. “Just trust. And you're doing just fine on that front.”
“This is a long way from ordering us to disband,” Cassie said quietly.
Cap sobered, but there was still a positive gleam in his eyes when he said, “You're still far too young to take on the really dangerous stuff on your own,” he said. “But that's why we aren't going to make you go it alone anymore. And besides, you're Avengers family, Cass. If Vision's data is accurate, you're all family.” He looked at Teddy and added, “And I'm so sorry for your loss, son. You're always welcome here.” And Teddy knew that he utterly, absolutely meant it.
“Thank you, sir,” said Teddy, and it was the first time all day that he completely registered what he was saying.
“Oh!” said Spider-man, around a mouthful of pasta. “Thanks for the save out there, Stature! Totally meant to say something earlier.”
Cassie blushed and grinned. “Thanks for, you know, reminding me about physics,” she said. “I didn't think.”
Spider-man shrugged. “That's what training is for,” he said. “You'll get the hang of it. Can't count the number of times I faceplanted against buildings way back when.”
Teddy heard footsteps in the hall again, and multiple voices - and then Tony Stark, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel and a red-headed woman Teddy was sure wasn't a known hero all piled into the room.
“-- total rip-off of Electro, plus the lamest costume you've ever --”
“But how's he controlling the power type stimulated by the MGH? Usually it's random -”
“-- talking to Daredevil the other night, and the guy has seriously gone round the -“
“Oh, hi, Steve,” said Ms. Marvel, wandering towards them. “Jessica and I needed to escape the mayhem downstairs for a few minutes. Is that Cassie Lang? Oh my god, you're all grown up!”
“You may have been out of the loop, Carol,” said Cap. “She's Stature now. Got Scott's powers.”
“You're shitting me,” said Ms. Marvel, sliding into the chair next to Steve and beaming at Cassie. “I saw the costume and the resizing thing going on out there today, but I was kind of busy, you know... that's fantastic! Young Avengers, huh?”
“We never decided on a name,” muttered Teddy.
“And this is Hulkling,” said Cap, gesturing at Teddy. “Teddy, this is Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel.”
“Um,” said Teddy.
“Oh, hello,” said Ms. Marvel, reaching out to shake hands. Teddy did so automatically and hoped his palms weren't too sweaty. “I didn't recognize you without the green. How're you holding up?”
“I'm okay,” said Teddy. “Thanks.”
“Nice to meet you, Hulkling,” she said. “Steve, can I talk to you for a second about Washington?”
“Yeah,” he said, standing. “You kids behave,” he said with a smile, and walked off.
Teddy exchanged glances with Cassie, who grinned and reached over to pat his hand. “Yeah, they're real people, too. I hung out in Avengers Mansion a lot when I was really little, so I get the cheek-pinching brigade. They yell at you like parents and spoil you like grandparents. Best of both worlds, sort of.”
Teddy began to grin like an idiot. He couldn't help it. “Billy is going to be so jealous,” he said.
Cassie laughed.
The red-haired woman came over to sit by Spider-man and steal bites of his spaghetti while he chatted with her, anyone else who was within earshot, and possibly the ceiling. “You going to introduce me?” she asked eventually, nodding at Teddy.
“We're not totally on secret identity basis yet,” said Spider-man. “Probably by Tuesday.”
“Really? And yet here he is in our kitchen, eating our spaghetti.” She knocked on Spider-man's head, eliciting a muttered “ow”. “Well, I'm this dork's wife and you can call me MJ. Hulkling, right?” said MJ. Teddy reached out automatically to shake her hand and she grinned and said, “Nope, you get a hug, mister.” Cassie laughed at the look on Teddy's face while MJ hugged him. “I heard about all that happened today,” she said when she sat back next to Spider-man again. “I'm sure it's been rough on you.”
“The fact that Spider-man's wife just hugged me is going to break my boyfriend's brain,” Teddy said without thinking. MJ burst out laughing.
“Not too rough, then,” said MJ.
“What is this about rough?” Tony Stark sat down on Teddy's other side.
“Uncle Tony,” Cassie groaned.
“Not around minors, Stark,” rumbled Luke Cage, passing behind Tony's chair on his way to the refrigerator. Wolverine slunk past as well, having seemingly appeared from nowhere, and Luke tossed him a beer.
Jessica Jones sat down next to Cassie and leaned back with her arms over her seven-month bump, which was really less a bump and more a basketball. “Ugh,” she said. “Long, long fucking day. I want a beer.”
“No beer for you,” called Luke. “You pee enough as it is.”
“Fuck you,” Jones called back affectionately.
“It's almost ten,” said Tony. “You kids should get to bed. Tomorrow's going to be buckets of crazy again, and that's if all we have to deal with are lawyers and Fury. I'll tell Sue to keep Reed locked up in his lab.”
“Thanks for letting us stay, Uncle Tony,” said Cassie, pushing her chair back and standing.
“Sure thing,” he said. “Sleep well, kiddo.”
Teddy stood as well, gave a murmured thanks, got another bear hug from MJ and an awkward, one-armed, half-seated hug from Jessica Jones. He picked up his security stuff and followed Cassie out of the kitchen, only to realize that he had already forgotten everything about the layout of the penthouse.
He told Cassie as much. She laughed nervously and said, “Well, I used to know the Mansion pretty well, but I've only been here once before, so... let's figure it out together.” She smiled.
Teddy was grateful that he hadn't been the only one too shaken to remember directions. “I think Jarvis said I was supposed to go left out of the living room?”
They wandered down the hall into the living room, where Teddy whistled under his breath at the huge plasma TV, and with a little hunting they found the corridor they wanted. “I remember this now,” said Teddy. “Second door on the right.”
“Mine was first on the right,” said Cassie. “So here we are.” She put a hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn it. Instead she let out a shaky breath and leaned back against the door. “I, um,” she said, swallowing. “I'm not tired yet. Are you tired?”
Teddy was, actually, a little bit, but Cassie had a look in her eyes. “No,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“I don't think I want to be alone with myself,” Cassie muttered, looking at her feet. She swallowed. “I really, um, just being in the same room with all of them... and my dad not being there. I thought I was starting to get over it, but.”
“It's okay,” said Teddy. “I get it.” He scuffed his bare toes in the carpet. “You want to see what channels they have on the giant TV?”
Cassie snorted. “Yeah,” she said. “That sounds good.”
They wandered back to the living room, plopped onto the couch and discovered that there were no less than seven remotes. Laughing, they started trying to figure each one out - screwing up several settings in the process - and eventually managing to find a marathon of Project Runway. They critiqued and complained, and Cassie told Teddy more about growing up an Avenger brat, and Teddy explained some of the secret cues and in-jokes he had shared with the only mother he'd ever known.
“I almost feel like he's here,” Cassie said at last, head leaned back against the cushions, staring through and past the TV screen with small smile.
Teddy's ache of loss was just beginning to set in, but the talk had sweetened it a little. A disinfectant. He knew he was going to have to go call Billy and cry for a while before he could sleep, and he didn't know how he'd feel when he woke up, but for now - in this moment - everything felt a little more right than it had since yesterday morning.
“Thanks, Cassie,” he said. She rolled her smiling face towards him.
“Okay,” he said. “Hug.” She laughed and shook her head, but submitted when Teddy leaned over. He felt her hands curl into fists against his back.
She flopped backwards when he let go. “You know, your real name is Dorrek,” she said dreamily. “That sounds a lot like Dork.”
“Oh, hah hah, madame,” said Teddy.
“I'm saving the Barney thing for Billy's next birthday,” she said.
“I know where you live,” said Teddy.
Just then, Cap and Tony walked into the room from the kitchen corridor, heads close together and murmuring softly, half-turned in the direction of the permanent residence wing, off to the right. Tony started when he saw the two kids on the couch, and he and Steve quickly rearranged themselves.
“I thought you went to bed,” he said.
“Um,” said Cassie, wide-eyed.
“Couldn't sleep,” Teddy blurted. “And you know, we're big fans of, uh, Tim Gunn. So.”
Tony glanced at the TV, still showing Runway at low volume. “Uh-huh,” he said. “It's midnight. Shoo.” He walked away with Steve a couple of steps behind.
Cassie clicked the TV off in a hurry and dragged Teddy back to the guest rooms.
“I'm not hallucinating,” Cassie burst out in loud stage whisper.
“You're not hallucinating,” Teddy agreed.
“That was groping,” said Cassie.
“Did I just see Captain America turn red as a lobster,” said Teddy. “Because I think I did.”
“Hand down pants qualifies as groping,” Cassie insisted. “This is so much more than I ever wanted to know about guys I think of as my uncles!”
“Holy shit. I have to call Billy right now.”
They met each other's eyes. Cassie snorted first, the laughter bubbling up.
Teddy resisted. “No,” he huffed out. “Not again.” He went to his door and turned the knob. “I need to sleep.”
Cassie made a helpless flailing gesture, voice lost.
“Seriously,” said Teddy, fighting the giggles. “Go to bed.”
“Oh god, I can't now,” gasped Cassie. “Are you calling Billy? I'm calling Kate.”
“Good night,” Teddy said firmly.
“Good night, Teddy,” said Cassie, still snickering as she opened her door and vanished inside.
Alone at last, Teddy stepped into the bedroom. It was nice - homely, not like a hotel, and less fancy than he had expected from the rest of the building. He took a long-overdue shower, found some basic sweats and t-shirts in the dresser drawers, and climbed under the downy bedcovers with a sudden aching exhaustion that he hadn't known was eating at him until this minute.
He dialed Billy's number on his cell and settled it between his ear and the pillow. Billy answered with immediate agitation, saying how sorry he was to have left earlier, and how he hadn't stopped to think about what Teddy was going through, and should he come back?
“No, no, hush, listen,” Teddy chanted until Billy shut up. “It's okay, Bill. Listen, I have to tell you something kind of amazing, and then can we just talk until we fall asleep? You don't have to apologize for anything, I just want to hear your voice.”
Okay, said Billy. What's the amazing thing?
Teddy closed his eyes, smiled into his pillow and started to talk.
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