revivalproject | Heading Into The Storm

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Heading Into The Storm

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, Twin Roses Crew (or , OTA anyone heading into the Storm
WHERE: In the Storm
WHAT: Tommy can't help but be a hero; Seeing people who aren't there; Finally collapsing in a cave to wait out the storm.
WHEN: During the Storm
WARNINGS: References to the death of a teammate who was only a teen, possible discussion of his family history.

Storm Watch | Open to Twin Roses Crew or a ship heading into the storm

Agrii need you.

That had been all Tommy had needed to hear to know he was going into the storm. He'd stayed silent on the bridge while the thing had been talking, and once it was done he was gone to the dorms. Tommy stripped the pillow from his bed and then immediately started stuffing what clothes he had in there, as well as other items. Things that will help him get through the storm.

And then he heads to the cargo hold and waits by the hatch.

"You going?" he asks whoever comes close. "To the storm? I mean, that's why we're here. The sooner we fix this shit, the sooner we go home."

And later, once he's bummed a ride on another ship heading into the storm, he has a similar enough question as he waits in their cargo hold.

"You ready for this? It's not going to be easy."

Storm Warning | Anyone in the Storm

This, it turned out, was a bad idea. Tommy hadn't gotten too far into the storm before it happened. Before he could feel the weakness, draining his energy. It almost makes him sick, makes him keel over. He's had this sensation before. The way the 'juvie' he'd been in had devices all over to suppress his powers, radiating the power outwards when he wasn't in the cuffs. There's no strength, no energy, no speed. And he hates it. But he's not a coward, and he keeps moving, at a normal person's pace.

But what stops him are the people. A flash of lightning, a peal of thunder, and there he is. Vision.

"Pops!" Tommy shouts. The Agrii said he was gone, but clearly he wasn't, he was right there. Tommy runs, as fast as any other human, and he can't get there. Can't MAKE IT. No matter how fast he runs, now matter how much he reaches out, he can't catch up. Another strike and there's a voice nearby.

"Speed?"

Cassie. Tommy turns and spins and Vision is gone but there she is, on the ground, crumpled up in pain. Again he's running, and this time he closes the distance. Or nearly does. It's so hard to see, the winds and the water so hard to deal with. But the ground's uneven, and he doesn't see it coming. A crack there and Tommy's foot gets caught and he falls, his hand outstretched. But she isn't there, and the pain is there, so much pain. His ankle is... Tommy just curls up and holds his ankle because it hurts so much.

Storm Shelter

He doesn't even remember getting to the cave. Maybe someone carried him here, maybe he crawled here on the what he now realizes is broken ankle. Or maybe only sprained. But definitely hurt and the pain has Tommy curling up well away from the mouth of the cave. He can't heal as fast, and his bones are clearly weaker than they normally are. But mostly he's just curled up on himself, trying to stay warm despite his soaked through clothing.

He's a coward. He should have been out there, trying to find answers, and instead...

You're a useless boy, you deserve to die out here.

Tommy shudders against the memory of one of the things he'd seen in the storm. And he'd run away as fast as he could. For a given definition of run, since he couldn't get to his feet. But he'd crawled away and the next thing he remembered, he was here.

"I... wanna go home," he whispers, shivering. "I just want to go home to my stupid shitty apartment and my stupid shitty job and all the food I can buy and my favorite blanket. I just... I can't take this anymore."

He's a coward, and he hates it.

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Isn't it, though? The Young Avengers only wanted him to find Teddy. And as he finally got his pace with them, finally felt accepted... It was gone.

He can't look at Teddy, because he knows that Teddy knows what vulnerability and fear look like on his face. Surely Teddy sees it a lot with Billy. So Tommy looks away.

"Nice sentiment. But Wanda barely makes time for B and me, Pietro doesn't talk to me at all, B tends to like, forget hanging with me until we got here... Not seeing the family shit."

It's almost physically painful to sit there and listen to Tommy be so vulnerable while knowing there's not much he can do to make it better. Not here. In this situation. He can tell Tommy over and over again how much he cares, but sometimes words carry so little weight.

Especially when someone has convinced themselves they're not true, like he's sure Tommy has. He's seen it many times with Billy as well, and he's found that sometimes the best he can do is to just be there. No matter how much it hurts.

But that doesn't stop him from reaching an arm around the other boy's shoulders and gently pulling him to his side in a half hug.

"I can't say much for Wanda and Pietro...except that your uncle is a dick and you shouldn't expect much else there," he says, placing a special emphasis on the word dick. He's met Pietro once and it wasn't a good time. "As for Billy...well maybe part of that is my fault too. I guess we both thought when you left the Kaplans' you wanted some space. Maybe we gave you too much space."

The problem was half that he’d needed space. And half that watching his brother breaking down had been killing him. Tommy missed their friends too. Vision and Cassie had been his best friends, more than even Billy and Teddy because they didn’t mind Tommy needing them extra attention. They didn’t begrudge him it. Hell, Tommy and Vision were both learning to be more human through each other, though neither of them had advertised that fact. Cassie had told him stories about Wanda and Pietro, who Tommy had actually believed might be his family the second the Super Skrull had told them it, because he’d so desperately wanted somewhere to belong and clearly it wasn’t with the Shepherds.

He’d lost his support too, his best friends, and then he lost his brother too. A brother he had started feeling comfortable around. A family situation he had let himself become slowly content with. Sure, the Kaplans could sometimes be overbearing and have expectations that Tommy couldn’t live up to, but they wanted him and supported him and they didn’t have to.

No one had to put up with him. But people had chosen too.

“Dude, needing space from the cutesy couple and the doctor parents who were way too nice to seem like anything other than pod people is one thing.”

And needing somewhere that was his own so he didn’t have to fear getting put to the street when people were tired of him was something else entirely.

"You think I didn't want some space of my own sometimes? I nagged Billy about getting an apartment almost as soon as we were old enough to get a lease." Even then it had taken some time to warm him up to the idea.

He loves the Kaplans, and he can never truly repay them for all the kindness that they have shown him, especially after his mother's death. But living in that house never really felt like home. It was like an extended sleepover with a guest bedroom that had been redecorated for his use. It wasn't permanent.

"They already had three kids to worry about and then on top of that they get the two of us. It can be hard sometimes not to feel like you're taking up space that you shouldn't."

Wait, what? Tommy turns his attention back to Teddy and stares at him in open shock. He'd... he'd always thought that Teddy liked the whole thing. Tommy had just...

"I spent so much time worrying that I was eating too much. Yeah, they were nice, but like you said, B's little brothers."

Who were also the ones who didn't seem to mind Tommy there the most. Then again, Tommy had found time and time again that he really liked making time for kids. The littles had been awesome. And had made him feel welcome like he wasn't a burden. Even if the adult Kaplans hadn't meant to do that.

"You two... ever get a place?"

Teddy looks amused in the face of Tommy's surprise. Maybe he had been really good at hiding his discomfort. After all, he hadn't wanted to hurt the Kaplan's feelings. Especially over something he couldn't really explain well to himself.

"I don't think even you could have eaten too much. You've seen the portions Mrs. Kaplan would serve. Like she was expecting to feet a football team instead of five boys." Even though, if pressed, Teddy and Tommy could probably eat the amount of a football team themselves.

"Yeah. An apartment. It's nice. The Avengers gig kind of consumes most of our time though. There's still a ton of boxes to unpack."

Could Teddy shift away his emotions? Could he make it seem like he didn't hurt by making his face soften? Tommy almost wished he could do the same. But Tommy smiles because he definitely is thinking the same thought.

"You kidding me? I bet you and me could pack away enough to make the football team look so undercarbed," he grins and shakes his head. It's... easier. When they're like this, it's easier. Billy might be his soul brother, but Teddy was just such a good guy that the guy almost felt like one. In this moment he really feels like he's like a brother to the guy. Even if he knows it isn't true.

"We both know if you or B called to ask me to help, I'd get it done for you in minutes. Are... we not close?"

He shakes his head at the question, a bit forcefully.

"It's not that, Tommy. We just wanted to do it ourselves. It's supposed to be a milestone in live, moving out of your parents house and decorating your own place. It wouldn't be the same if you did it all for us.

But...I'll definitely invite you come over and help us out once we have the time to work on it."

He bumps his shoulder gently against Tommy's.

Will he? Because the distance between them before Tommy got nabbed by the Patirnot had felt like... like an ocean. And he hadn't really understood why it had happened.

"I... yeah. I'd like that. Coming over. Seeing whatever place you've got. Don't... forget about me back there."

Teddy's expression turns sad and he doesn't resist the urge he has to throw his arm over Tommy's shoulders and pull him into a side hug. It kills him that his friend, his brother feels like they've abandoned him. He needs to make it right. Starting now.

"We would never forget about you. I guess we just need to get better at showing it."

They hadn't even called on him to help when Mother happened. If they had time to learn Kate was burning up the texts, they had time to reach out to Tommy. So yeah, of course he felt even more left behind than he had, even after he'd left the Kaplans'.

"It's fine. I get it. You and B are, like, soulmates or some shit. Gotta look out for that first. And Tommy can take care of himself."

Tommy literally just referred to himself in the third person. Probably not good. And he definitely doesn't move away from the hug. That's not a good sign too.

"No. That's not..." But maybe a part of that is true. Not that his relationship with Billy should supersede the rest of his relationships, because that isn't a healthy mindset to have at all. But that maybe somewhere between trying to keep Billy happy and keep himself from losing his mind he had forgotten to consider anyone else.

"I guess I just assumed you were doing fine. You left the house and went on to do what you wanted. I'm sorry, Tommy. I didn't know how to focus on anyone else when I was already feeling so stretched thin."

And maybe he hadn't wanted anyone else getting involved with the Mother incident. To know how much he had failed in the end. He should have known Billy would try anything to make him happy. And...he had been at first. Which is stupid because they should have known better.

"We were all stretched thin, and Billy was breaking and barely even responsive to you. You didn't owe me anything," Tommy shrugs. "Mostly, couldn't handle Rebecca and Jeff anymore."

Lies. He couldn't handle seeing Billy so supremely far out of his reach, especially after it was well and truly confirmed that the guy really was family, in the weirdest fucking ways. He had a little brother and he didn't know how to make anything better. Being there just reminded him of that. Constantly.

"You gotta take care of you first, right? Then B second because he's your guy. And the team wasn't a thing, so we weren't all each other's responsibility. It was fine. So it was okay to leave me behind then. Like it is now. Like it's okay to go get Billy."

"But I wasn't taking care of myself first," he says in a rush. "That was the whole problem. That's what started this whole Mother thing in the first place. Because Billy found out how unhappy I was because I was bottling so much up so I wouldn't upset him. And he wanted to make it better."

He takes a deep breath, his body shaking against Tommy's. "You and the team, you're my family Tommy. The only family I have that is mine. You are always going to be my responsibility. I didn't mean to leave you behind. I promise you." He pulls Tommy closer against his side.

"And if there's one thing I know now that I didn't then, it's that Billy can handle more then we ever expected. He's strong. And he doesn't need me right now, you do."

Yeah, none of them had been good at supporting the other two. They'd all just blown it. All of the survivors of the team had. Sure, Tommy stayed in contact with Kate and Eli, but the former had been in emotional conflict and the latter... Had still been having depression troubles because he blamed himself for all of it.

They were all stupid. They'd all been kids. And now here was Tommy, still young and no more ready to face the world than he had been before. Especially after what he'd been through.

"Dude, your dude is out in that storm somewhere, and it's not like I'm going anywhere," Tommy points out, gesturing to his still pained leg. "I could be fine. He could be not."

But it's his last attempt. If Teddy chooses to stay after that, he isn't going to argue anymore.

It's a hard choice to make, choosing whether to stay with Tommy or go looking for Billy. Part of him wants to charge out into the storm on reflex, everything in him screaming to find Billy and make sure he's okay. And he probably would under normal circumstances.

But these aren't normal circumstances, and if he's honest with himself, he'll have to admit that he hadn't been faring well out in that storm. Finding Tommy had been the only thing keeping him focused and sane against the specters haunting them. He couldn't guarantee himself that he would be able to find Billy without succumbing to it first.

"No," he bites out, sounding stern. As much as it pains him to stay still, he needs to make the smart choice. "We'll find Billy after we make it out of the storm. Besides, he'd be pissed if he found out I left you alone while you're too injured to move."

"I'm already pissed off that you aren't finding him," Tommy says. But he also isn't moving away from Teddy. He's cold too.

He's... he's never been so cold since his powers kicked in. The mutation kicked the metabolism of his body kicked up far higher than most people can have. He burns from the inside out but now? Merely human? He's freezing.

"Guess I gotta keep you safe then."

Teddy can feel the cold beginning to effect Tommy and pulls him in even more snugly to his side. Without his abilities he can't make himself radiate more heat to keep the other teen warm. He can just hope that their mutual body heat will be enough to do the job for now.

"We'll keep each other safe. Deal?"

"That's... that's what we're supposed to do. We're a team. Or we were."

Once. A long time ago. Too long ago for Tommy to really expect to get it back. Not like it used to be. You can't go back, Tommy knows. He's learned it so many ways over the years.

He sighs.

"It's like you haven't been listening at all. We're always going to be a team, Speed. We don't have to be on an actual team for that to be true."

He hadn't realized how deeply his and Billy's action had hurt Tommy. But now that he does he wants to do whatever he can to make it right.

"We should probably try to get some rest. Maybe the storm will die down a little later enough that we can get some help." Or the others would find them.

It hadn't been just Billy and Teddy who had hurt Tommy with all of this. He's barely heard from Eli and never from Kate. So, you know, plenty of people hurt him. Tommy doesn't even really hold it against them. Mostly sees it as a failing on his part, to be worthy of them.

Right now, though, he closes his eyes and moves as close as he can without dragging his injured ankle across the cold stone.

"Yeah. Rest sounds good. I feel like I haven't had a good night's sleep since my hair was black."

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Heading Into The Storm

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ouch that's perfect icon use there

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