halfscarlet | (no subject)

This isn't exactly Billy's idea of where he'd wanted his afternoon to go, but after waking from a nightmare this morning, he's given in to Teddy's requests. Maybe spaced out, it wouldn't have been worrying -- he has nightmares, it comes with the territory. But having such specific nightmares where the main focus is his terror is a completely different animal. With all the steps the Council has been taking lately to talk to everyone, it makes sense to search them out.

And if anyone's going to make him feel any better about this, other than Teddy, it's Steve Rogers. It's not like Cap can go in his brain and punch the Skrulls back to their home planet, but simply telling him about it might help.

Billy gives Teddy one last look, and squeezes his boyfriend's hand. He loosens his grip, but after a moment of hesitation tightens it again. Teddy's often been his backbone when he needs it, and right now, Billy needs him.

He steps a little way into the Council office, poking his head in to see if anyone's actually there. Thankfully Cap is alone, and Billy only feels a slight bit of relief before he takes a deep breath. "Um...hi, Steve."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The island generates, I feel, an amount of paperwork disproportionate to the number of citizens that occupy it. I'm not a stranger to paperwork, I did my time as a beat cop and learned about it the hard way, but it still manages to come as something of a surprise.

When Billy Kaplan's voice distracts me away from the pile of papers in front of me, I'm grateful, and look up to see him and Teddy standing in the doorway of the office looking a little hesitant.

"Hello, boys," I reply, sitting back and setting my pen down.

"Something I can help you with?"

Teddy just smiles and lifts a hand, saying "Hi, Cap," and when he drops it again it's to sneak his fingers through Billy's and give him a little squeeze.

Billy squeezes back, grateful for the reassurance, and he lets go to usher him in and close the door behind them. Once closed, he turns back to face Cap, and despite being a legal adult, Billy still feels like a little boy in class whenever he talks to him. There's no helping it.

"Yeah, I...the hallucinations," he starts, hesitant as he tries to think up the words. It should be easy, but admitting it had been hard enough to Teddy. Saying the words out loud to Captain America, much harder. "I'm having nightmares. Constantly. It's the same dream over and over, and I wake up terrified every time."

It's serious, then. I frown, pushing away from the table a little and gesturing to the chair beside him.

"Pull up a seat, Billy. Have you been experiencing any of this while you're awake?"

Teddy follows Billy in and leans against the table. He crosses his arms and chews on his lower lip, watching Billy for signs of stress and pressure. Not that he could necessarily fix it- that much was proven by the fact Billy was still have nightmares- but it's habit. He wants to be able to try, at least.

Billy sits, feeling pretty uncomfortable about it all. "No, I haven't. It's why I haven't said anything until now, I thought it was just regular nightmares. But they've been getting worse and more frequent."

It fits what I've been told comes before the hallucinations do, and I'm immediately, deeply bothered by the fact that there's nothing I can do for Billy but listen to him.

"I understand. Still, I'm glad you're telling me, now. They can't be easy to deal with." I've had my share of nightmares over the years, with a few repeat ones that are both terrible and specific. To have those fears augmented by whatever force powers the island is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.

"What are they about?"

Billy looks at Teddy, unable to keep from picturing some of the worst of the dreams. If any of it comes true the way everyone says things will when Halloween comes around, he isn't sure he can stomach it.

"A super skrull." He hesitates, and looks down at the floor. "Killing Teddy."

Teddy reaches over to slide a hand up Billy's shoulder, broad palm and long fingers curving over it and anchoring there. He hates the way guilt sits at the corner of Billy's expression, like somehow the bad dreams- and the implied potential consequences- are his fault.

He doesn't say anything, because he's already tried saying all the things he thought would help- don't worry, it's okay, I'm right here- and none of them have helped or changed anything, even if Billy says they did.

It's not the first thing that comes to mind, but it does strike me that these kids- older now than when I first knew them, adults, by law- are going to be great Avengers. Not only are they powerful, but they take care of each other. When the Avengers are at their best, they're a family.

I glance up at Mar-Vel's son for a brief moment. There's no fear in his expression, nothing but concern for Billy, and I give my focus back to him.

"And you're worried this is going to manifest on Halloween. Is it just the Super Skrull, Billy, or are there more?"

Billy reaches up to touch Teddy's hand briefly.

"Worried...works," he says. "It's just the Super Skrull. Sometimes there are others, but it's mostly just the one." Doesn't matter how many there are, though, one is more than enough to do some serious damage around super heroes who aren't so super anymore.

A Super Skrull is enough trouble on its own, and if it does manifest, I hope it's the only Skrull we have to worry about. The fact that it'll have placed a target on Teddy- while deeply worrying- means at least we'll know who to protect.

"All right. Billy, Teddy, if this goes beyond dreams, if anything else happens, you let me know immediately. As it is, I'll talk to Tony about how we can counter a Super Skrull's abilities if we need to."

"Like what?" As much faith as Billy has in Cap and the Avengers, he can't help but doubt there's anything they could do if a Super Skrull did show up. "We could barely stop him when we had powers."

"We've still got Iron Man and Captain America, and Spider... people," Teddy says, figuring that's safe, Cap probably knows who's who and it's not like it's a secret that at various points over the last year masked people have been crawling around the island.

"And Chase has the fistigons, which is almost like having the Torch around." He offers Billy an encouraging smile.

"It'll be okay."

I had almost forgotten about Chase Stein. It's still a little startling to catch him working with Peter or Tony. He's barely recognizable as the slouching, mouthy teen I saw in court, although I do catch him shooting me half-wary looks on occasion, like he's waiting for me to try and place him back into foster care. I guess I can't blame him.

"We don't know exactly what we're going to be up against on Halloween," I tell the boys.

"Getting a heads up like this is invaluable because it gives us time."

Billy desperately wants to believe them, and part of him does. But saying it out loud is almost its own sort of spell; he's more aware of how real it is now, and that there is a high possibility there'll be a Super Skrull doing his best to kill Teddy on Halloween. It makes him practically sick thinking about it.

"Time is good," he agrees, working up a strained smile for Teddy.