Billy ran a hand through his hair and did his level best not to glare at Teddy. He was not going to be angry. Absolutely not. Teddy was just trying to avoid the issue, and now that his attempt at avoidance had officially backfired, Billy was not going to stay mad.
The light fixture sparked again, and little blue sparks skittered across Billy’s skin and made his hair stand on end. He looked like he’d just stuck his hand in an electrical socket.
Deep breath, Kaplan. Breath in… breath out… calm down…
The sparking above stopped, though little bits of lightning still moved across his skin. Billy closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. He had to stay calm. He was not going to zap Teddy.
Teddy didn't look up, eyes resolutely focused on his knees.
"I don't even know what you want me to say." Louder, so Billy could hear him. Every damn word, until this was over with. Billy was putting up with his shit, and he'd promised.
"Every time I think that I'm getting over some of this, something else happens to prove me wrong." Like reverting to old habits he'd sworn he'd never rely on again. Keep talking.
"I'm supposed to be able to handle this. I'm not supposed to lose it over little stuff like this."
“You’re sixteen, Ted. Very mature for sixteen, but you’re still…” Billy shrugged. “You’re still young. Young enough to still do really stupid things. Nobody expects you to just get over things like they don’t matter. God, what’s been going on lately, it’s the kind of thing that puts people into therapy for years.”
Billy scooted so that he was right beside Teddy. “You don’t have to pretend that you’re over anything.”
"Yes, I do have to." Teddy continued to stare down at his legs, stretched out on the bed before him. "If I act like a stupid teenager who overreacts to stuff, that's just how the Avengers are going to treat me." That was one thing Teddy knew he wasn't going to be able to handle. If he was going to be forced to stay in Avengers Tower for his own protection, then he at least needed to be seen as old enough -- responsible enough -- that he could be trusted. Even if he really was a mutant Skrull.
"Everything's changing, Billy, and I can't do anything about it."
“You don’t have to pretend with me, Teddy.” Billy said. There wasn’t anything else to say, really, so he just closed his mouth and rested one hand on Teddy’s knee. He drew it back quickly when he saw little bits of lightning still crackling between his fingers. Zapping the boyfriend was not a good thing.
Teddy's eyes followed Billy's hand, watched the sparks die away, then snapped up to the other teen's face. Stop pretending and start talking. He knew what Billy wanted to say. Hell, he knew that Billy was being incredibly patient with him.
And if his voice faltered at all, he'd kill something.
"I don't know who I am anymore. What I'm supposed to believe. Everything just -- there's nothing I can do. I can't do anything and it's driving me crazy."
"So. What are you going to do about it?" Billy asked, pulling his legs up and resting his chin on his knees. "You're still the same person you were last week. You just have a lot of new information about your parents. A lot of really weird, can-totally-screw-with-your-brain information." he added after a moment's thought. "It doesn't actually invalidate one bit of your past experiance."
"I know that," Teddy said softly. "Mom's still my mom." And he'd be able to bury her the way he'd never be able to bury his real -- his biological parents.
But he wasn't the same person anymore. "They still won't let me see her body yet. There's always more tests. It's just about driving me crazy. I know that she's not -- that it's not going to look good, but -- I need to see her before they get rid of her." She'd given up her entire life to protect him and raise him as her own, and had died protecting him. He didn't care that Iron Man though that it was too ugly for a kid his age to see -- he had to know for himself.
“You’ve told the Avengers you want to see her?” Billy said. “Then they should let you see her.” He contemplated Teddy’s face for several moments. “I could find where they’re keeping her if they wont let you. And then you could go there and…” he shrugged. “Say goodbye.”
And if anyone tries to stop him, I’ll zap them into next week. he thought.
"We'll get in trouble," Teddy said. But he didn't really care, and that showed in the small smile he gave, in the way the corners of his eyes tightened.
Maybe if he saw her, things would start to make sense at last, and he could begin to figure out what he was going to do, and who he was going to become.
"Then let's go." Teddy slid off of the bed, standing up and extending a hand down to Billy to help him up off the bed. Pulling Billy up, he paused, sliding arms around the other boy and pulling him in close for a moment.
Three shallow breaths pulled in through Billy's shirt, and the world made more sense. Which was just how it should be. "Thanks," he said as he pulled away. They'd make their excuses and explanations later.
"Happy to help," Billy said softly and sincerely. He lead the way out, glowing faintly blue as he went. The world seemed sharper at that moment. Clearer.
Cameras popped and sizzled with his passage, dying their little deaths with more flare (in some casses litterally) than they'd lived their little mechanical lives. "I really need to stop doing that, later," Billy said, well and truely annoyed. While being able to short out the security system was going to be useful tonight, he couldn't just go around zapping everything mechanical when he got riled up.
"Iron Man probably needed to update his system anyway," Teddy replied guiltlessly, his concentration mostly focused on the halls around them. Killing the surveillance equipment wasn't going to be helpful if they walked into someone they knew.
"If we're going down, then let's take the emergency stairs on the west side of the building," he murmured. "We can fly down the shaft and there shouldn't be anyone in there to run into." And by fly, he meant you make a blue glowy disc so I don't kill my wings on the railings.
“By fly, you mean I do the blue glowy thing so you don’t break anything.” Billy said. He thought about it, tracing the mental map he had from where they were to where Mrs. Altman was. “We’ll have to walk the last three floors. Or break into the ventilation. It’s not a straight drop.”
He opened the door to the emergency stairs, shorting out the alarm on it in the process as the blue glow around him intensified, gathering at his feet and forming a nearly solid disc of light that he sunk into up to his ankles.
"Just the other day I asked myself, 'Ted, do you ever get tired of having the perfect boyfriend?'" Teddy said as he stepped up onto the disc with the ease of practice, holding onto Billy's shoulder for balance as he did so. "Of course I told myself no."
His fingers tightened before they began to descend. "Wings only work well when I have the room to use them. But at least I'll never fall again." He'd only had to do that once before he'd learned his lesson, and it had been worth every drop of sweat and aching muscle taught and retaught how to manipulate a pair of appendages he had never been born with. "I might be able to heal from it, but it's just not worth the pain."
The light fixture sparked again, and little blue sparks skittered across Billy’s skin and made his hair stand on end. He looked like he’d just stuck his hand in an electrical socket.
Deep breath, Kaplan. Breath in… breath out… calm down…
The sparking above stopped, though little bits of lightning still moved across his skin. Billy closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. He had to stay calm. He was not going to zap Teddy.
“Ted. Talk to me.”
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"I don't even know what you want me to say." Louder, so Billy could hear him. Every damn word, until this was over with. Billy was putting up with his shit, and he'd promised.
"Every time I think that I'm getting over some of this, something else happens to prove me wrong." Like reverting to old habits he'd sworn he'd never rely on again. Keep talking.
"I'm supposed to be able to handle this. I'm not supposed to lose it over little stuff like this."
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Billy scooted so that he was right beside Teddy. “You don’t have to pretend that you’re over anything.”
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"Everything's changing, Billy, and I can't do anything about it."
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And if his voice faltered at all, he'd kill something.
"I don't know who I am anymore. What I'm supposed to believe. Everything just -- there's nothing I can do. I can't do anything and it's driving me crazy."
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But he wasn't the same person anymore. "They still won't let me see her body yet. There's always more tests. It's just about driving me crazy. I know that she's not -- that it's not going to look good, but -- I need to see her before they get rid of her." She'd given up her entire life to protect him and raise him as her own, and had died protecting him. He didn't care that Iron Man though that it was too ugly for a kid his age to see -- he had to know for himself.
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And if anyone tries to stop him, I’ll zap them into next week. he thought.
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Maybe if he saw her, things would start to make sense at last, and he could begin to figure out what he was going to do, and who he was going to become.
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I want to find Teddy's mom. I want to find Teddy's mom... where are they keeping her?
Down.
She was down. Far down. Below the ground, somewhere cold, and it was dark, and small, and now Billy knew where it was.
"Found her."
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Three shallow breaths pulled in through Billy's shirt, and the world made more sense. Which was just how it should be. "Thanks," he said as he pulled away. They'd make their excuses and explanations later.
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Cameras popped and sizzled with his passage, dying their little deaths with more flare (in some casses litterally) than they'd lived their little mechanical lives. "I really need to stop doing that, later," Billy said, well and truely annoyed. While being able to short out the security system was going to be useful tonight, he couldn't just go around zapping everything mechanical when he got riled up.
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"If we're going down, then let's take the emergency stairs on the west side of the building," he murmured. "We can fly down the shaft and there shouldn't be anyone in there to run into." And by fly, he meant you make a blue glowy disc so I don't kill my wings on the railings.
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He opened the door to the emergency stairs, shorting out the alarm on it in the process as the blue glow around him intensified, gathering at his feet and forming a nearly solid disc of light that he sunk into up to his ankles.
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His fingers tightened before they began to descend. "Wings only work well when I have the room to use them. But at least I'll never fall again." He'd only had to do that once before he'd learned his lesson, and it had been worth every drop of sweat and aching muscle taught and retaught how to manipulate a pair of appendages he had never been born with. "I might be able to heal from it, but it's just not worth the pain."
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