hybrid_prince | Open Post

Tommy's eyes narrowed. "Why not? You can go to your people. Even if it has to be RIGHT NOW for some fucked up reason, youdon'thaveto go alone. You have m - you have Billy, you have the rest of us. You can't just get ABDUCTED and then write a letter!" And Tommy didn't want him to leave Tommy either but ... he knew that wasn't what he was supposed to want. He GOT it. And just because he was being a weird shit about it didn't mean Teddy didn't want to put as much distance as possible between them now. He couldn't understand that. He didn't ... feel that way, even if he probably should. But he GOT it.

But Teddy shouldn't have to be alone, ever. And it didn't count if there weren't people who knew him and loved him as more than a ruler with him.

"Billy has his own fate," Teddy answers. "And if I don't do this for myself, then I just... keep being in his shadow."

That was the conversation that had put them together, in one place, to suffer all of this. The conversation they had been deep into. Perhaps... that would be enough? He hoped so.

Even if more than anything, he didn't want to go. Didn't want this to be real.

Kl'rt approached, concern on his face as he bowed briefly to Teddy.

"We must go, now. Before they strike back. A pod will take the Consort home," Kl'rt spoke. Strange, that he was now referring to Tommy as that.

"Yeah," Teddy agreed, fingers carding into his hair. "We should go. I guess I'll, like, send a messenger or something to Billy. But tell him I'm okay."

"Billy's fate is with YOU," Tommy said. Christ, had he fucked this all up. "That's not a shadow that's just ... alongside." Yeah they'd been talking about it ... but Tommy couldn't get his head around the idea of Ted being alone. He wasn't meant to be. He was Teddy.

"The Consort's not FUCKING HERE," Tommy snapped. He looked back at Teddy. "I ... can't they bring someone back here at least? So it's not just YOU? I get if you don't want me around but ... Kate?" Someone, at least.

"Tommy, please," Teddy says, reaching out to touch Tommy's arm. He's so... strained. And there's a flash of fear in his eyes. "This is what I have to do. I'm sorry."

With that he wraps his hand around Tommy's arm, super strength applied. Holding him in place for the doctor to approach and inject Tommy with a sedative. It won't last long, Teddy knew it. And they wouldn't hurt him. Long enough to get TOmmy into a shuttle and have it start toward Earth so Teddy can...

Can what?

Flee. Flee and live the life forced upon him. To miss everyone he knows and loves.

Tommy was struggling with what to do. Every instinct he had said that Teddy shouldn't be alone without people here to watch over him and keep him safe. But he also knew that Teddy didn't want it to be him, and that made sense.

That little flash of fear though, it put Tommy on edge, and he went stiff, practically thrumming in place, whipping around to look and see what Teddy was seeing that he wasn't. Which just made it easier for Teddy to grab him.

The fucked up thing was that for a second, it still felt better, because Ted was touching him. But then Tommy realized. He was strong, but not as strong as Teddy, and all he could do was jerk his head around to look at him. "What the fuck? Ted, I-"

He jerked as the sedative went in, fear flashing across his face too as he struggled for a flash of a second, not breaking away but making it hard for Teddy to hold on without working for it, sheet falling away. And then he sagged, abruptly going still and silent.

"It is for the best, he will not understand," Kl'rt observes, his voice soft as Teddy watched the other SKrull carry Tommy off.

"He'd never forgive himself," Teddy counters. But neither will Teddy. And he follows along with Kl'rt, ready to be led to the Skrull ship. He'll miss Earth but... There's nothing he can do about that.

Tommy woke up well into the trip back, disoriented and so fucking cold, even though someone had put some kind of clothes on him. He was in a room, by himself, and that felt wrong.. He didn't have that driving need to touch burning at him, but he'd been plastered against Teddy for so long - had his voice in Tommy's ear, his hands on him, his comfort through nightmares and fits of restless anxiety at being locked up. Tommy had been trapped, but he hadn't been alone. Teddy had wanted him gone badly enough to drug him and get his friends to drive him home.

It was stupid as fuck, but Tommy kind of wanted to cry. He wanted Billy, but he also wanted to do anything but face Billy. And he wanted to be with Teddy, but he knew that was even more screwed up.

He rubbed a hand over his face and got up, going to test the door.

It wasn't locked, it turned out. The few skrulls on board were polite and distant, even when Tommy yelled at them, and absolutely ignored him when he demanded to know what was going on with Teddy.

He was dropped back on Earth outside Teddy and Billy's apartment. Where they'd been taken from in the first place. Tommy stared at the door and then turned away, not able to make himself go in. He sped to David's place instead, letting himself by breaking the lock. He'd pay him back later, and then calling for him tentatively, looking around until he saw the date on the TV.

Seven months. They'd been gone seven months. It'd felt longer, but maybe not that long too. Tommy was definitely long since kicked out of his shitty apartment. He wondered what happened to his stuff. "David?" he called again, then started looking for a phone.

Look again, Tommy. It wasn't just a different month. It wasn't just time passed. It was that the apartment looked different. The television wasn't David's. There were no computers around. That wasn't the couch that Tommy had crashed on before. There was a lot of 'this isn't David's'. There was a lot of signs that things had changed.

Which didn't mean he didn't get a response. It was just that when it came, it was from behind Tommy, out of the front door. And there stood David, standing a bit taller, looking a bit more confident, but touched with relief. And in strange new clothes. White pants, a yellow coat, and a bag with a funky version of an x with a circle inside of it over his chest. And beside him... Nightcrawler. Not to mention the smell of brimstone in the air, implying a recent teleportation.

"Tommy, is that you? You should, uh, come out of there."

Tommy was still just ... not right. He wasn't stupid or unobservant, but he'd spent months (apparently) in a one-color room doing nothing but having sex, sleeping, eating, and talking to one person. Everything felt wrong to him already. By the time he worked the details out, David's voice was already behind him, and Tommy spun around so fast they couldn't see him move, and he nearly bolted out the window.

But then he saw David. Who was ... different? Taller, more fit, in an outfit he didn't recognize. And with Nightcrawler, who Tommy knew but didn't ... know.

Everything was so fucking different, Tommy felt like he was losing his mind and he didn't know what to do. Jesus, had it been years and not months? He didn't look at the year. "Yeah," he said, sounding ... kind of broken. "You don't live here, do you?"

"I haven't for six months. I live on Krakoa now," David answers. He'd only been staying off the island to be close to his friend. As it was, he offered a hand out to Tommy, concern abundantly clear on his face.

"Come here, let me... take you somewhere safe. You look tired. We'll get you some food, some clothes. Let me take you home."

Home. Krakoa. A place for mutants. And since Tommy was one of them, he had a place there.

Tommy kind of just wanted to run and collapse somewhere and not think because he didn't fucking know what to do. Did they look for them? Did it even matter that they were gone? It was fucking Teddy, it had to, and Tommy had mattered to David. But it'd been over half a year (more?) so what the fuck did he know?

He hung his head for a second, but nodded finally, stepping out to follow David, too quiet and too still for Tommy. "They going to kick me outta there if I go?" he asked. "I need to call Billy soon. Tell him ..." shit. How was he going to tell him anything?

The moment Tommy was out of the apartment David stepped forward to pull Tommy into his arms, holding the other man close, holding him tight and offer comfort for the clearly distressed speedster.

"I'll take you to him. But they won't kick you out, Tommy. You're one of us, and we're always welcome home. Tommy, is... is Teddy with you?"

Not that he let the guy out of his arms. He doesn't want Tommy to think his presence wasn't a relief.

Tommy didn't really want to let David hug him because David felt different and Tommy hadn't wrapped his head around how to deal with it yet. But then there were arms around him and Tommy ... was used to a lot of human contact lately. He sort of folded into David, head against his shoulder and a bone-deep shudder going through him. It repeated as soon as David said Teddy's name.

"No. He was, but he ... sent me back here. He sent a note for Billy. He's with the Skrulls." Somewhere out in the galaxy. Not here. Probably never wanting to look at Tommy again and who the fuck knew what Billy would say when Tommy told him. "He's okay though." Other than the sex zoo for seven months. "How long was it? It's seven months, right? Not a different year or something?"

"Seven months," David confirms, holding Tommy closer. He wasn't used to this level of... contact. So he just holds Tommy, his voice soft and soothing. His attention was entirely on Tommy until Kurt took a step, and David shook his head sharply. And the older mutant just obeyed, staying back.

"Billy will be relieved to know Teddy is safe. We'll go see him soon. But first he's going to want to see you. We've missed you, Tommy. You and Teddy just... fell of the face of the planet. And no amount of called in favors or magic could find you two. Billy's been terrified. The only thing that kept him from really lashing out at the world had been a very serious belief that he'd know if you died."

His hand soothes over Tommy's back.

"Will you come with me? To Krakoa? It's safe there. You'll be safe. And we can talk."

At least it hadn't been years. Tommy leaned into him and breathed in. He'd missed David a lot, and he wanted the contact, even if he didn't ... want to want it. But David didn't smell right, wasn't the right shape, didn't ... hold him the right way. Seven months shouldn't be long enough for him to just ... get used to it.

"Aliens took us," Tommy said, voice muffled. "I just ... fuck. Yeah. I'll go. I don't want to go through the story more than once, okay? Can I just get it over with when Billy's there to hear?" Would Billy know if Tommy died? Was that a magic thing or a twin thing? Tommy thought maybe he'd know, but he couldn't be sure, either. And right now, he didn't know if he wanted that kind of tie to Billy. Billy might be about to hate the hell out of him.

He pulled away reluctantly, finally, standing straight and looking away for a second, swiping too-long hair out of his eyes. (Trying to play off wiping away wetness and failing.) "Everyone okay?" he asked. "You, Kate, America, Molly, and all?" Not that any of them needed Tommy or Teddy to look after them ... but Tommy wanted to know.

"Aliens strong enough to foil Billy's magic. He spends hours each day in meditation trying to find the two of you," David said. "Honestly, there must still be some of whatever they used to hide you lingering around you, because it wasn't Billy that told me you were here. It was Charles Xavier, sensing the present of a mutant not associated with Krakoa. Given WHERE he found it, they decided to temporarily separate me from my team to check it out."

With that he guides Billy a bit closer to Kurt. Because they need to transit.

"Everyone else is okay. I'd say you're going to see Molly on Krakoa, but she only stops by once in a while, mostly sticks with her team. Then again, if she hears you're back..."

They'll have to set up a meeting on neutral ground.

"Wanda is going to want to see you too. And Erik, once Mister Supreme Sparkle Pants decides to let anyone close to you."

Six months had been plenty of time for David to develop a nickname for Billy.

"You'll come with me now?"

"They're set up to avoid detection. Even Billy, I guess. I'll explain. Later," Tommy said, toneless about it and shrugging. He eyed Kurt warily, but didn't back away, just stood more tensely in place.

David had a new team? Tommy tried to push down on that uneasy feeling of wrongness that came with feeling he was left behind and a step off of everyone else. It wasn't a feeling a speedster was used to anyway, but it just heightened that isolated loneliness Tommy was already trying to battle and ignore.

He looked blank for a second, not even following who Supreme Sparkle Pants was until he caught on, looking quizzically at David. "He won't mind," he said. Billy wouldn't want Tommy near him after Tommy got done telling them what happened either.

"Yeah. I'll come," Tommy told him. He looked at Kurt again and offered. "Thanks for the lift."

"The pleasure is mine," Kurt assures them both in his thick accent. "You are missed at home, brother."

"Don't worry," David says, leaning in to whisper in Tommy's ear. "Everyone on Krakoa has this whole weird 'we are bothers and sisters' thing going on. You get used to it."

With that he gestured for Kurt, who moved forward to wrap a hand around both of their biceps and then there was a burst of smoke and the scent of brimstone and an unmistakeable 'BAMF'ing sound. It wasn't just something people used without it having a basis in reality. Just like that they weren't in front of the apartment, but rather in front of an embassy building, outside of which was an arch filled with light, made of vines. Kurt released the two so he could walk through it. David just took Tommy's hand and laced their fingers together, pulling him through.

The portal was like warmth and welcome, if that could be a thing, washing over the skin. Could acceptance be caressed over skin? Could love burn like a tonic going down the throat. Could belonging wrap itself around your body and refuse to let go? Perhaps, because that was what going through the portals always felt like to David.

And so they arrived in a beautiful wooded grove, like a tropical paradise, with countless other arches around them, something written in a strange set of symbols above each one. And almost immediately there was another mutant there, a young woman with flowers in her hair who reached out and placed a hand on Tommy's arm.

"She needs your permission," David explains. "We have our own language now. All mutants who arrive are given the whole of it, reading and writing and all of our knowledge, telepathically. But we still respect those who are not willing. But everything is written in Krakoan, and a lot of people prefer to converse in it. It would be best if you agree. The other option is Billy could give you it by magic."

Tommy didn't get it, and he wasn't used to it. And much as he wanted to burrow against David's side for contact, David wasn't the right person and it wasn't gonna help.

And then the portal was ... warm and welcoming. Loving. But cloying and clinging too, and it was too much contact. Again. And then once more when some girl he didn't know was touching him and Tommy just overloaded. He bolted away out of reach, eyes too wide and too wild, panic all over his face.

He realized he'd done it and that he must be just still moving when everyone else stayed frozen and he made a conscious effort to calm down and hold still as everything else came back into focus. Christ. He was so fucked up. He was back on Earth, with a friend, about to see his brother ... and all he wanted in this moment was a familiar colorless room, his bed, and Teddy. Everything else felt like too much and every touch felt like the wrong touch, and just reminded him he was screwed up and alone and had fucked over his brother and everyone else without meaning to.

"Sorry," he mumbled, arms hugging around himself. "I'll uh ... Billy can do it. If he wants. If not, she can later?" he tried to offer, not quite looking David in the eye.

"Yeah," David agrees, and he speaks to the young woman in Krakoan, explaining the situation. She nods and moves back amid the trees, no doubt to wait for others to arrive. Kurt, having stood by for it all, looks to David.

"To your dome?"

"That seems best. Tommy, can Kurt take us to my place?"

David had a dome? What the fuck was this place, even? Maybe it wasn't even really earth and the skrulls just tossed him in some weird simulation. Or maybe it was an alternate earth and somewhere this universe's Tommy was off being a dick or dead or something.

His head fucking hurt.

"Yeah, that's fine. Sorry," Tommy said again, moving back in closer again, pushing his hair back out of his face again.

"It's okay," David promises, his voice soft, calming. "We're on Krakoa now. It's an island in the pacific. It's our home. If it wasn't for the fact that the first time you always come into the grove, I'd have taken you by the Sanctum and taken the portal there, it goes right to the dome."

He reaches up and pushes more of Tommy's hair back out of his eyes and kisses his forehead. Kurt approaches and grips them again and in more smoke and brimstone they're outside of a silvery dome, one overgrown with plants. The dome is one of many in a large clearing, and there are people everywhere, talking and laughing. David ignores them and nods to Kurt before opening the door and guiding Tommy in. This? This looks more familiar. The outside is strange, but despite the strange architecture, the place is covered with familiar things. David's computers and couch. Billy's collection of nerdy collectibles. An open air kitchen with large windows and plants growing in it, and further along a hall going somewhere.

"Would you like to wait on the couch, or do you want to help me try and rouse William out of his latest search?"

Tommy licked his lips and nodded. David touching him at least he didn't freak out about.

The dome was another matter. There were just ... fucking people. So many people. It was loud and it was busy and laughing and Tommy should be fine with it. He'd NEVER been afraid of noise or crowds. And he wasn't now it just ... felt wrong. It made him want to shrink away and made him want the same thing he wanted before - their room, Teddy.

He ignored it, following David and then relaxing a little when they got inside, where it was quiet and less foreign. Tommy was used to the clutter of David's multiple computers, Billy's nerd shit. He wasn't used to it lately, but it hadn't been that long either. Seven months might feel longer, but it wasn't just overwhelming. "I'll wait, I guess. You should probably warn him anyway?" Tommy said. He rested his hand on the pocket at his side, where the letter was. He hadn't read it. He wanted to know, but he kind of didn't, too. So he wasn't going to. But he was going to tell Billy the truth, so it didn't look like Tommy was trying to bullshit about it. He just didn't know how.

"Alright. Help yourself to whatever you want in the kitchen."

With that David slipped off, stopping only to take the bag from his shoulders and drape it over a hook, his coat going up beside it, leaving him in a t-shirt. He disappeared down the hall and through a door that, when opened, poured out a mixture of blue and gold light. Soon it closed behind David.

And, five minutes later, the door snapped open and Billy was racing out of it, in pajama pants and a black t-shirt and around his shoulders was draped Dr. Strange's cape, clasped closed with the Eye of Agamotto. With a flick of Billy's hands the clasp came undone and the cape lingered in the air until David, coming out after Billy, tapped it on the shoulder and tilted his head. With that the cloak seemed to shrug and return to the room the two had come out of.

None of that, though, mattered compared to Billy threw himself into Tommy's arms. Billy, suddenly a touch shorter than Tommy, and still leaner. Billy with shadows under his eyes and the darker shadow of a two-day growth beard on his cheeks and chin.

"Tommy," he whispered, wrapping his brother in his arms. "I couldn't find you. I bent all my magic on it, but I couldn't. I can never find you with my magic. It's like it rolls off you like water."

David moved past them into the kitchen and began preparing coffee. Billy would need it.

Tommy waited, fidgeting in place, noting all the little details. The bag, the coat. Billy's things and David's. They both lived here now. Billy hadn't wanted to stay in his place without Teddy, maybe. Tommy didn't blame him.

Billy hurtling out of the room didn't surprise him, but the cloak did. Tommy wanted to ask, to try to ask about the Eye and the cloak and anything else that was putting off talking about where he'd been and what he'd done. But then Billy was flinging himself at him and Tommy just wrapped his arms around his brother. It was weird, but Billy almost seemed shorter than him. Maybe it was how they were standing.

And Tommy had that urge again to just crumble. He wanted to cry and let his brother hug him. He couldn't DO that, because he didn't get to have that from Billy, and Billy wouldn't get it even if he had. It wasn't something Tommy would have wanted before. Or should want now.

So he just hugged back, taking a few deep breaths. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm okay. We're okay."

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if you aren't okay with this lmk and I'll change it

Fine with me, he'll have to come for him later

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