(Untitled)

[wasafreak]

If pressed, Teddy Altman would have readily admitted to living through some pretty bizarre stuff. There was only so much slipping through the time stream, getting caught up in fights between major super hero teams and finding yourself in the middle of religious galactic warfare you could experience before things started to shock you less- but they

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[halfscarlet]

Most nights, Billy barely makes it home before sunset -- usually distracted by classes and almost always full from dinner, he's gotten used to the twilight and warm glow of the lighted beacons on the boardwalk as he makes his way home. It's one of the few times he actually enjoys being on his own with his thoughts, especially after dealing with things like defending his home from killer stuffed toys during his first party. Never again is he trusting the smiling face of Pikachu or cute blue spiders

[wasafreak]

It'll be the first person he's come across since leaving the compound, and at the sound of footsteps Teddy's head pops up.

"Excuse me, do you know... where..."

There was a moment when the other boy's face wasn't fully in the light, but the lanterns on the boardwalk and the failing light do their jobs well enough that that moment passes, and then all his concerns, the worry, it's all gone. Out the window in the face of total elation.

"...Billy."

[halfscarlet]

"...Teddy?"

There he is, as real as life, and all Billy can do, really, is stare. Teddy looks so happy to see him, and despite the shock, Billy knows he shares the same joy -- but it's immediately accompanied with a guilt he thought he'd grown out of, and he shoves that aside.

"What..." Billy starts walking again, at a pace just short of a jog to catch up to Teddy. "When did you get here? How long-- holy crap, it's you. You're here."

[wasafreak]

Teddy started forward at the same time, at about the same pace, and stopped when they were close enough to be touching. He grinned a little, feeling relieved beyond words.

"A few hours ago. I showed up in Rapture, which was cool except for the, you know, residents of Rapture. Natalya Zamyatin from Y: The Last Man answered the radio and the Black Widow found me. She told me you were here." He laughed a little, not much or loudly, but just a quiet bubbling up of relief and maybe some left over nerves. It hadn't really been easy or fun, getting out of Rapture, but he had, and now there was Billy.

[halfscarlet]

"You showed up in Rapture?" As far as arrivals go, it has to be one of the worst, and as far as Billy knows, it's only been Teddy and Xavier who've had the honors. "Professor X showed up down there, too. Um, he's here, except he's younger. And Cap's here, and Bucky and Spider-Man, and Thor from another universe, and it's kinda just like...crazy."

What's crazy is that Billy can't stop babbling about things that couldn't be further from what he wants to say. It's been so long since he saw Teddy that he doesn't think he can work up the words just yet. Instead, he throws his arms around Teddy's neck, pulling him in for a hug and letting himself have at least that much before he has to talk about his life here and everything that goes along with it.

[wasafreak]

And that cemented it. Teddy smiled and buried his face in the place Billy's neck met his shoulder, arms going around him and pulling him close. He smelled a little like salt, like ocean, and his skin and shirt were both warm from the distant sunlight, but mostly he just felt and smelled like Billy, and the hellishness of the afternoon- of the last few days- melted away.

[halfscarlet]

"I missed you," Billy says, voice muffled against Teddy's shirt. He gives him one last squeeze before letting go again, marveling at how much of Teddy he hasn't quite forgotten, but hadn't really thought about in a while. "In February it's going to be two years since I showed up here. And we should...probably not talk and catch up in the middle of the boardwalk, so come on."

He tugs on Teddy's arm as he starts down the boardwalk again, and as right as it feels to let his hand slide into Teddy's as they walk, he can't stop thinking about Tony.

[wasafreak]

Teddy let himself be pulled along, mostly because there was a sudden pit in his stomach. Two years.

Two years.

They'd barely been in costume that long, and Billy had been living a life on this island for two years.

He followed silently, trying to wrap his head around it, trying to get over the feeling of not being on steady ground.

[halfscarlet]

Teddy's quiet. And while Billy's always been more prone to rambling, there's a different feel to the silence, because he knows how he'd feel if their roles were reversed and he'd been told that Teddy's been living a life all on his own for two years without Billy knowing about it.

"It's hard to explain," he says, slowing and looking briefly over at Teddy to confirm that yeah, he isn't taking it well. Not that Billy expected him to, in the few times he'd imagined Teddy showing up again after all this time. "It's like a copy of me was made when I showed up here, so I've been here and at home, both were real versions of me. You were here for a couple months, too, but...then you disappeared a year ago. And people think you just go back home and forget all about your life here when you do."

[wasafreak]

Teddy is pretty sure he'd remember taking an impromptu tropical vacation. He doesn't, so either he forgot about it when he left, or it never actually happened to him. Either way, it doesn't change that Billy stayed. That he's been at home, living a life- or trying to- spending every day with the person he cares about most, while that person was also... here.

Is here, holding his hand and using that tone of voice that means things are not about to get better.

"That's a long time," he says, amazed he can get words out, his throat feels so tight.

"I just- I saw you a few hours ago. We were together and then a spell- Something happened, and I thought you'd put me into a video game. Turns out, nope, that's just Rapture. This place is weird."

[halfscarlet]

"Yeah, Rapture just kinda turned up. And a while ago, there was a space station that ended up trying to kill everyone because it was run by GlaDOS. It's just the start of it, there's a lot to tell you." Not all of it having to do with the fantastical.

It's a relief when they finally round the path into the GAE, and Billy passes by each home, still feeling that tiny thrill at knowing one of them is his. "Where was I trying to teleport us to, before you showed up here? The last thing I remember before I ended up on Gilligan's Island was us trying to find those other kids trying to steal our name."

[wasafreak]

"It was a different sp- Wait," Teddy says, stopping and catching Billy's hand a little tighter, tugging him so they're face to face.

"The last thing you remember is looking for them? You mean you never even met them?"

[halfscarlet]

"No...?" Billy's hand twitches in Teddy's, wondering what that reaction means, if there's any way Teddy's from far enough in his future that things have changed. "That was the last thing I remember. I showed up here, instead of wherever."

[wasafreak]

Teddy takes a moment looking between Billy's eyes, getting his thoughts together. Freaking out isn't going to help. There isn't anything to freak out about yet. The situation is weird, but they've been in weirder. Par for the course when the founding member of your team is a teenage Kang the Conqueror.

His lips press briefly together before they twist to the side with genuine, if tired, humor, and he says, "Well, you missed some stuff."

[halfscarlet]

"So did you," Billy replies, because his life may not have taken place back in New York, but there's still two years of it Teddy hasn't been a part of. "Come on. My place is right over there."

[wasafreak]

"Yeah, that's kind of what I'm afraid of," Teddy murmurs, then follows Billy to the house. It's not like a jungle hut, it's like a house, and it drives home the fact that Teddy is new here, and Billy is not. His stomach twists around in knots.

"It's great," he tells him, head tilting up, and he means it.

"This is yours?"