There is no light without shadow

[wearingthestars]

WHO: Billy, OTA
WHERE: The city, downtown-ish
WHAT: Rescue?
WHEN: Event Start
WARNINGS: TBD



Billy shoved his stubborn text book into his side bag as he hurried to try and catch his bus, arriving just in time to watch it pull away. He sighed in frustration, slowing to a halt. It felt like everything was going wrong lately. Like there was this dark shadow looming over him. He couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong.

School was fine. Better than high-school at least. He enjoyed his classes, and there was less opportunity for him to be hounded in the halls. It was...good. Fine. But no matter how good things were, it couldn't stop that strange ache in felt inside.

Maybe it was jealousy? Tommy had sailed right through school. Good job. Good guy. Powers. But he didn't think that could account for all of it. He loved his brother, he was happy for him. This was...something else.

He shook the feeling and stepped out onto the street- it wasn't that far of a walk home, he could make it on foot- and a strange shadow seemed to fall over the intersection. There was the distant sound of screeching breaks, and sirens could be heard in the distance before a car seemed to come out of no where and blow through the red light, heading straight for him.

Comments

ohgosh sorry I typed too much

[deal_me_in]

This was definitely panning out to be one of his stranger dreams, not that Cayde had in any way, shape or form dreamt of such a normal looking place, not that this was any sort of normal he was familiar with. The mind picked up strange things and then upended random contents on a whim, and when you had the Light that just threw everything to another blender altogether. Still? This didn't make sense.

So he thought- why not just go with it? It seemed harmless enough. Weird because his gear was gone (where was his Ace of Spades?! His multitude of knives?!) but if this was a dream did it matter? And heeey! At least he was still styling with a hood. Having been practically glued to his Hunter equipment he really wasn't sure what classified as fashion but he liked to think that he looked pretty good.

With no idea what he was looking for or where he should go check out first, Cayde roamed. His hands were shoved into the pockets of the brown jacket he wore, and he felt like his shoes were entirely too thin to be anything more than an additional pair of socks with rubber soles, not to mention his pants seemed quite fitted. "Guess you don't need chaps and leathers in a place like this," he muttered.

His head snapped up at the screech, an unusual sound but still demanding of attention. So were the sirens, alien as they might have been to his auditory sensors. And then he saw it, the car careening down the street- he knew what they were but here in this city was the first he'd seen them actually in any condition to move- at speeds that probably weren't healthy in such potentially crowded areas.

"Kid! Hey-!" he shouted as he saw where things were heading, just making out the figure crossing the street, but already his feet were moving, and he jumped. And again. And again, two more times before touching the ground, which carried him right by the teenager to scoop up. Not enough time to completely clear the oncoming car's path, but it didn't stop the Exo from trying even as he turned his back to take the brunt of any sideswipe. His metal body could tank a car better than one of flesh and blood, that much was certain.

impossible

[wearingthestars]

It all happened so fast. But it felt simultaneously like everything was moving in slow motion. Billy saw the car, body frozen like a deer in the headlights, knowing intimately that there wasn't nearly enough time to move. He'd squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact he was sure was about to come when he was abruptly overtaken by an entirely different and unexpected force that knocked his breath from him.

It took his mind a moment to catch up, the sudden crash of sound, and motion exploding all at once to real time as the car clipped his rescuer before careening into a store front. The force knocked them back, skidding across the pavement, bruised maybe, but a far cry from the outcome that almost happened.

Billy choked down a few gasps of air as everything settled, blinking owlishly before turning his attention back to his savior.

"Oh- god- are you okay?? You saved me."

[deal_me_in]

It wasn't too difficult given his weight to take the rest of the collision, and he'd tried his best to make sure Billy's important parts weren't in danger of taking damage. That wasn't to say it hadn't been a painful sequence of events for the Exo, as much as he'd expected it.

"Ugh," he groaned, blue light flickering as he cracked open his optics, amber light from his throat as he opened his mouth. "Yeah...yeah, -ow..."

Cayde started to level himself up onto an elbow, metal face pinching in a wince. There were a few things that were starting to dawn on him in that moment. One- his spiffy new clothes were probably a mess, two- that did not feel like a dream, and three-

"...Billy?"

[wearingthestars]

That concern shifted, and Billy's face scrunched in wary confusion as he was trying to help him up.

"...How do you-?" he muttered. He'd never seen this person before, how did they know his name?

[deal_me_in]

The Exo pushed himself up amd to his feet with the kid's help, still staring at him with that glowing gaze. Despite the metal face he managed to pull off his own look of confusion pretty well.

"Heh. C'mon now, kid, I know we haven't talked a whole lot but you don't have to snub me like that," he teased.

[wearingthestars]

"I don't-" Billy frowned, and shook his head lightly, "...I don't know how you know my name, but I don't...know you," he said, taking a half step back from the Exo, torn between being grateful for his help and suspicious of his motivation now that he seemed to think he knew him.

[deal_me_in]

The look on Billy's face bothered him. Cayde barely managed to resist grasping him by the shoulder. He didn't think it would go very well, not with the obvious suspicion Billy had on his face.

...I don't know you.

"Really? It's me, Cayde," the Exo said, gesturing to himself even as he let Billy have his space. "I don't know what's going on but this is kinda weird, right?"

[wearingthestars]

The name meant nothing to him, and his head wobbled again, cautiously holding his ground since the Exo didn't press, but he still looked wary. "Maybe you know my brother-?" he offered uncertainly, "I've never met anyone named Cayde, I'm sorry, I-...I really do appreciate you saving me. Really. I just...I don't know who you are."

[deal_me_in]

"Tommy's here too?" Maybe that shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but Cayde hadn't really known what to expect when he woke up here. The repeated insistence that Billy didn't know him stung. Slowly the Exo straightened, ignoring the lingering twinges from his actions earlier.

"Right... Yeah. Just um. Never mind, then. Maybe I got some wiring knocked loose," he said, not sounding the least bit convincing, but he started to turn. Badgering the kid wasn't going to get him any answers, not when he looked so guarded like that. "You take care, kid. Don't daydream in the streets."

[kree_soldieress]

This place was weird. Worse, it was very much like Earth as she had seen it, but at the same time not. Something was off. Something was wrong. And most of that something was that things didn't line up with what she had seen. Which made her think this was still somehow the world of the Agrii.

Which meant she had needed to figure something out. Figure out an answer. Figure out how to get free. And the best answer for that had been looking for her Prince. And so she had set to wandering. How did you find a mage that didn't know you were looking for them?

Apparently by accident. Lauri-Ell, standing on one side of the road with people staring at her and her strangely flower-covered armor, caught sight of someone on the other side of the street. William. William in danger.

Lauri-Ell didn't think. She rushed out into the road, throwing her bulk into a tackle. Her hope was to knock Billy down and roll them both out of the street.

[wearingthestars]

It was kind of like being struck by the car, only from a direction Billy hadn't expected, breath knocked out of him by a sudden force, and it was only after a bit of tumbling that Billy realized he'd been saved. He blinked a bit numbly before managing a grateful smile, breath a bit shaky as it came back to him.

"Holy sh-...you saved me."

[kree_soldieress]

Ah. Saved. Lauri-Ell groans and pulls away from him enough to release her charge. And after a moment she has to reach out and pull a flower from his arm. Apparently it had fallen out of her hair and decided it like Billy so had tried to wrap around him.

“Of course I did, William. I pinkie promised,” she answered as she rose to stand and offered him her hand.

[wearingthestars]

He recognizes her as one of the city's heroes, looking on in awe as that flower tries to curl around him. But that awe is quickly replaced with confusion as she accurately names him, and he blinks blankly at her for a moment before accepting the hand up.

"...How do you know my name?" he asks, not even touching on the pinkie promise yet.

[kree_soldieress]

What? That was not a sensible question. Lauri-Ell helped him get on his feet and frowned.

"I do not believe it is amusing to have you pretend not to know me, my Prince."

[wearingthestars]

"...Prince?" he echoed, much like he had the first time she'd called him that in Temba, but he didn't seem to be joking. In fact, he looked a little disturbed.

"Um...I'm not-...I'm not sure who you think I am, but-"

[kree_soldieress]

Ah, yes, he is uncomfortable with the title again. But... wait, he looked... he looked truly troubled. What?

"You are William Kaplan-Altman, Prince-Consort of the Emperor of the Kree-Skrull Alliance. And our court wizard. I am Lauri-Ell, an Accuser bound to the throne and your protector. Have you perhaps struck your head, your Highness? Should I take you to a physician?"

[wearingthestars]

"..." Only about one part of that made any sort of sense to Billy, and that was the 'William' part, but even the rest of the name was wrong. He worried it was Lauri-Ell who'd hit her head and not him.

"That's not my name. And I'm not a...wizard? I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm Billy Maximoff. I'm not a Prince. Or magic. Or...anything like that."

are you ready for something only possible with superhero physics like what even am i writing

[sinistral]

Oh, there were sirens all right — a whole police-and-hero chase and Bucky wasn't originally even supposed to be on duty for this one but he wasn't going to ignore it, either. Sure, he wasn't wearing the uniform or anything, but he had the shield at his back and his motorcycle jacket was flexible enough to fight in, should it be necessary. Good enough.

Except when it wasn't good enough; the car they were chasing wasn't going to stop any time soon. Bucky had just about pulled even with the back bumper when the light turned. He gritted his teeth, committed to following it — then caught sight of the kid stepping into the intersection.

No.

No. No. No.

The shield was still on his back and Bucky didn't hesitate, swinging the bike to the outside and hitting the throttle, arm held out to grab the teen. As soon as he secured enough of a hold he tipped them both to the side, kicking them away from the bike and twisting so the shield would hit the pavement first. It did, followed by Bucky's back, and the kid on top of him. His bike, meanwhile, ended up a twisted piece of metal in the side of the goons' car, but at least it stopped them enough for the police to catch up.

Shame. He liked that bike.

But the important thing was that the kid wasn't a road pancake; that was more than worth losing the bike. Bucky took a moment to just breathe — he was going to be so bruised and even though he healed quickly, it would mean a few hours of pain. Still entirely worth it. "You okay?"

the bike!!

[wearingthestars]

It was possibly the single coolest and scariest moment of Billy's life, and he missed half of it when his breath was knocked out of his chest, the world turned upside down and the screech of rubber and metal making him wince.

For a moment he blinked at the sky as his mind tried to catch up with what just happened, before abruptly rolling off of the man- Cap- oh god- that was Captain America. The colour drained out of Billy's face, quickly replaced with too much pink.

Even out of uniform he recognized him. Of course he did, Billy was a super fan boy. Being the son of one of two of city's heroes didn't lessen that awe at all.

"...Y-yeah," he finally managed, nodding hurriedly, "That was-...wow, uh- a-are you-...?" Billy swore he didn't normally trip over his words this much, reaching hesitantly like he wanted to help, but wasn't sure it was okay to touch, because...Cap.

the bike... ;;

[sinistral]

If the kid could roll off of Bucky then he must be okay, or so the logical part of Bucky's brain insisted. That was good; Bucky hadn't exactly had a lot of time to calculate the maneuver, he'd just acted. It could have gone very, very badly.

At least the cops had caught up to the action; they seemed to have the cleanup of the criminals well in hand. Good. There was no rush to get up right away so Bucky committed to just taking a moment to catch his breath. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, the kid he'd saved. Right.

"I'm okay." Bucky sat up and winced, yup, that was definitely going to bruise. "Well, I will be okay, might need a minute. Ow." Knees bent, elbows propped on them, he offered a slightly lopsided smile. "Heck of an adrenaline rush, huh?"

[wearingthestars]

Billy winced sympathetically, and bit at his lip with a rush of guilt, unsure what to do to help in this situation.

"You don't sound okay."

He gave a guilty laugh, and nodded, "Heh...yeah, it was-..." he let out a breath and flushed, "I think I'm not going to sleep for like a week. I dunno how you do that every day," he admitted.

[sinistral]

"You're okay." In Bucky's mind, that was the most important thing. "So I'm okay too. I'll heal. But," he looked over at the mangled metal of his bike, "I probably am walking home."

That was a lame joke, but it was what he had. And seeing as the police were already setting up a perimeter and diverting traffic away from the area, Bucky patted the ground next to him. "C'mon, sit here, we'll catch our breath together."

Maybe the kid would and maybe he wouldn't, Bucky wouldn't force him either way. But he preferred talking to people as himself when he could, not as Cap, and sometimes that was easier if they were facing the same direction rather than looking at each other. "Truth is, I try not to do it every day. But I'd rather do it all day than see someone get hurt. At least I can take the hits."

[wearingthestars]

Billy fixed him with a look that was very much like a concerned parent, not thinking that was really the most sound logic, but it was definitely hero logic.

He winced again with a look to the bike, and shifted to join him at Bucky's prompting.

"You sound like my mom and dad," he noted fondly, and then he's quick to add- "Um- Scarlet Witch & Vision. Not like- not like you sound old something."

[sinistral]

It was old, tired hero logic coming from someone who'd been around this block more than once. And now a part of the block seemed embedded in his jeans, permanently. Oh well, into the trash pile they'd go, which meant it was time to think about shopping again.

Well, whatever. It was a necessary evil.

The observation made him laugh though, both for what was said and how he attempted to amend it. "Kid, I am old. Technically." Ninety-nine, or thereabouts, but apparently destined to be in his thirties forever. Or until something took him out, one or the other. But he tried, and failed, to remember if he'd ever met Scarlet Witch and Vision's kids. Had he? He must have, at some point. But here he was, meeting this kid again, so he decided to make it a proper meeting, reaching across his body, offering a handshake. "Bucky Barnes. Nice to officially meet you."

[wearingthestars]

"You don't act old," Billy defended with a small laugh. Or look old. But he bit that one back, stealing a glance before he looked away shyly.

They might have met when the twins were still babies, but for Billy it was definitely the first time he could actually remember. He flushed a little but accepted the handshake. "...Billy Maximoff," he supplied, "And...same. All the times I tried to meet one of you guys, and I all had to do was step into traffic."