fic: "Across the Universe" for mozzarellaroses

Title: Across the Universe
Fandom: Young Avengers
Author: fullofmetal 
For: mozzarellaroses 
Prompt: “Don't you recognize this hardened heart of mine waiting to be found? Run – Kitchie Nadal”
Summary: No matter where in the multiverse they are, no matter what universe they live in, they always manage to find each other.
Pairing: Mainly Wiccan/Hulkling
A/N: Uh. This is a pretty liberal interpretation of the prompt, sorry. I hope you don’t mind. Also, SO YOU LIKE AUS? HERE, HAVE SOME. Most are based on canon AUs. And I really tried to do something Eli-centric since I know you love him so much but I absolutely FAIL at writing him so I’m sorry.
Warnings: Some strong language, but nothing too bad. 
  
 
William Maximoff knows he isn’t an idiot. He knows that whatever alliance he has with the Skrulls is only temporary and that once they get what they want, they will not hesitate to eliminate him.


But they shouldn’t underestimate the Grim Reaper. He knows how to plan and how to bid his time, how to act pleasant and play dumb. Billy has already thought of a hundred scenarios where the Skrulls try to kill him and for each one, he’s thought of fifty more ways to escape and snap a few necks while he’s at it.

Not that dying would bother him much. Oddball is gone; killed by an aging scientist and his whore wife. And without Oddball, the Reaper feels almost lost. Oddball did whatever he told him to. Oddball hung on his every word. Oddball followed him everywhere.

Oddball was everything; the only person who didn’t abandon him.

Billy’s been lock-up for about four months now. He’s had an alliance with the Skrulls for about two.

When they first came to him, Billy was surprised. What would a Skrull need from him? What they wanted, they said, was someone who new the planet. Someone who was powerful. Someone who could be an ally.

It took weeks of secret planning during visiting hours. Every time someone came, they would wear his brother’s appearance. No one questioned it; the real Tommy never visits.
Somewhere in the distance, Billy can hear an explosion. It’s time.
…
Once he’s on the ship, the Skrulls take him directly to their leader, just like some alien cliché. The Emperor, however, can’t be further from what Billy imagined. He’s completely un-Skrull-like, with blond hair, peach skin and cerulean eyes. The Emperor looks him over, obviously analyzing him. Billy can almost feel those blue eyes examining his body and he feels something in him, something he hasn’t felt for months. It’s a feeling that he thought died with Oddball.

The Emperor stops his inspection and offers his hand, which Billy takes in a firm handshake. The Emperor looks him straight in the eye, and Billy once again gets that odd feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“It is my assumption that we will be working closely together during these next few months,” the Emperor states.

“Yes,” Billy agrees, hoping that that his voice doesn’t somehow quaver. “I believe we will be.”


~*~*~


Billy tells himself that he isn’t trying to replace Teddy. He tells himself it’s for comfort. He tells himself that it’s only temporary.

Eli’s the only thing he has left; the only reminder of how things used to be. Everyone else is gone, buried under mountains of destruction. But Billy doesn’t let himself think about that, otherwise he’ll drive himself crazy with all the ‘what if’s and the ‘should’ve been’s and the very thought of Teddy. He’s tried to convince the others that going back and fixing it all would be okay. He’s tried to make them see.

But Quentin and Sophie don’t listen. They have their plans, and it’s fairly obvious to everyone else that you either follow them, or you leave.

No one, not even a superhero, could last a minute out there alone, considering it’s a miracle that the young group of eight has survived this long.

Even if Billy can’t let himself think of the past, he thinks of the future, and who’s going to die next.

Sometimes, when he gets so sick of living in this barren wasteland of rubble and bodies, when he gets tired and lonely, he wishes it’s going to be him.


~*~*~


The apartment is tiny and cluttered. It’s probably not meant to hold more than two people, so the six living there have to make due with the cramped living quarters as best as they can.

Still, it’s better than outside, if Teddy’s hacking, despite the gas mask, is any indication.

“That bad outside?” Billy asks, looking up briefly from the monitor in front of him.

“I swear, the pollution gets worse every day .” Teddy throws the mask somewhere on the ground and dumps the contents of his bag on the counter. The clang of metal cans hitting the metal counter is loud, and Billy half-heartedly hopes that it doesn’t wake Cassie, or even Tommy, who are asleep in the other room.

“That’s life. Life here, anyway.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t go out there anymore… I mean, we can have food delivered, right?” Teddy begins to sort through the cans, trying to organize them by their contents.

“Yeah. And have an army of machines storming the apartment,” Billy snorts. He before returns his attention to the screen in front of him, typing a few quick codes on the keyboard. “It’s dangerous enough just going out there, but having someone come here could blow our cover. And then we’d all be sent to jail. And by sent to jail, of course I mean that we’d ultimately die. Probably in a painful way.”

“Always the optimist,” Teddy sighs, abandoning his futile task of sorting. He walks over to where Billy’s seated on the floor, and plants a kiss on his head. “Any more cheerful sentiments, William?” Teddy mumbles, crouching down so he can keep his nose buried in the other boy’s hair.

“Only that if you call me William again, you’re going to get zapped. And possibly not be allowed to sleep on the cot tonight.”

“You’d really kick me out of the bed?”

“Like you can even call it a bed. S’not like we get any alone time, anyway,” Billy mutters.

“Well, we’re alone now…” Teddy lets his hands wander, and Billy can practically feel the grin on his face. Billy goes against his natural – hormonal – instinct and tries to squirm away.

“Knock it off! I’m busy doing something important!” he whines. Teddy just chuckles and steps up and back.

“Because coding a computer is so important.”

“Shut up. I’ve almost got access to an Ultron-Major.”

Then, as if on queue, the computer starts to smoke.

“Shit!” Billy curses, jumping back. Teddy has already grabbed the fire blanket out of the corner and he throws it on top of the smoldering monitor.

“Dammit dammit dammit!” Billy’s beyond frustrated now, burying his face in his hands and tugging at his hair.

“Calm down, Bill,” Teddy soothes, rubbing Billy’s shoulders gently. “It’s not the end of the world. We can get Kate or Eli to rebuild it later.”

“By that time, Ultron-Prime will have updated and changed the data and coding again,” Billy grumbles. He leans back into Teddy’s touch and sighs heavily. “We’re probably going to have to move again soon.”

“Yeah,” Teddy says softly. “I know.” He doesn’t stop messaging Billy’s shoulders, so Billy lets himself close his eyes and forget everything for a moment.

Because, right now, the only thing that matters is the two of them, together.


~*~*~


“You’vegottobekiddingme.” Tommy doesn’t even try to hold back his laughter as he zooms by, picking up the notebook that Billy had been writing in.

“What?” Billy demands sharply. He then realizes that his journal, once securely on his lap, is now in the hands of Tommy, of all people. “Give that back!” he practically squeaks, lunging towards his brother. Tommy just zips out of the way. “And before you say anything, it’s not a diary!”

“That’s not was I was gonna comment about… Butyeahit’sprettygirly.” Tommy’s on the other side of the room before Billy can zap him. “I was talking about Dorrek. Seriously, bro. That guy is a total freak. He totally went apeshit when the pie wouldn’t stay on his fork. He tried to stab it.”

“That’s because he’s not from this planet,” Billy scoffs. “Now give it back!”

“Thatjustmakesitweirder. Face it. You’ve got the hots for a weirdass Skree who has some weirdass habits and customs and things.”

Billy momentarily gives up trying to get his journal back. “…Skree?”

“Yeahmadeitupmyself!” Tommy looks far too proud of himself and Billy seizes the moment to grab the notebook out of Tommy’s hand, zap him for good measure, and teleport himself away.
…

Billy finds himself walking in the garden outside the mansion, thinking of all the ways he can exact revenge on Tommy, no matter how badly his parents will lecture him. He’s so deep in thought that he doesn’t even see the boy on the path in front of him.

“Oof!” Billy runs smack into him and is knocked onto the ground.

“Pardon me. Are you alright?”

Billy looks up through his bangs and sees Dorrek standing there, offering his hand to help lift him off the ground.

Way to go, William! You just did a spectacular ass-plant in front of the prince you’ve pretty much been stalking! What’re you going to do next? Fall down a flight of stairs and hope he sees?

“Uh. Yeah. I’m fine,” Billy says, taking the hand. Dorrek halls him back up to his feet, and all Billy can do is shuffle awkwardly between his two feet and look down at the ground, hoping that he hasn’t pissed the crown prince of the Skrull Empire off.

Dorrek doesn’t look angry, though, or even annoyed. Instead, he grins. “I was hoping I’d run into you, William.”

With that, Billy looks up. “Uh, you were? And call me Billy. Please.”

“Alright then. Billy.” Dorrek wraps an arm around Billy’s shoulders. “I was hoping that maybe you could explain some things. Everything on this planet is all very… Foreign to me.”

The closeness of the other boy makes Billy feel light headed and he hopes that, by some miracle, he won’t pass out. “Sure,” he says, a little bit breathless. “That’d be great.”

For once, he has a feeling that maybe, just maybe, the universe won’t decide to take it’s usual route of screwing him and that everything is going to work out.


~*~*~

“Do you think that there’s some crazy alternate universe where we’ve never met?” Billy mumbles, his cheek pressed against Teddy’s shoulder.

“I guess it’s possible,” Teddy responds slowly. “But I don’t like to think there is.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think that the hundreds of alternate me’s are just sitting around the multiverse waiting for the hundreds of alternate you’s to find them.”
 
“You’d think they’d have something better to do with their time,” Billy says with a snort.
 
“Nah,” Teddy says, barely containing his grin. “I don’t think they do.”