revivalproject | I didn't mean for it to happen

WHO: Billy, Tommy, Bucky/The Soldier, OTA
WHERE: Temba, YA House
WHAT: The aftermath
WHEN: Early June
WARNINGS: TBD

The Return & What Follows (for Tommy)

Billy screamed, and the world dissolved. The Shadow had shielded him from the worst of it, assaulted by those memories in a non stop barrage for however long they were in there, but now he remembered it all. He dimly registered he was back in his calibration room, hoping he'd managed to release the others before he collapsed heavily onto the floor. He shouldn't have been able to perform that level of magic here. And whatever had allowed it abruptly cut it off with his return, utterly drained from the experience.

He was unconscious, in and out of nightmares for days before he finally jolted awake in a cold sweat, practically tumbling from the bed in his race to the bathroom to retch.

What had he done?

Avoidance [OTA]

Even after he awoke, Billy didn't want to leave the house. He was ashamed and scared, and used the excuse of resting for far longer than was true.

A few faces managed to hunt him down there, and it wasn't like Billy could turn them away, eventually relenting and breaking down a few of those barriers.

After that it was a little easier to venture out. It took a few smaller outing before he was able to get as far as the Hospital, but there at least he could focus on work.

(For Bucky/The Soldier)

Billy knew he probably wanted to stay hidden away as much as he did right now, but after what they'd been through together in the other world, he trusted the man to help him with this. Tommy and the others would refuse, but he was confident Bucky would understand. And he needed to apologize.

His magic was still weak, but it led him to the general location where he was meant to be. Billy couldn't quite meet his eye when he found him, swallowing thickly and looking uncomfortable.

"...Hey. Could we talk?"

Apology- Network- Text

I can't begin to make up for what I put you all through this last month. I had no right, and I'm so sorry you all got caught up in this mess.

I know that doesn't begin to make it right.

They did something to me. Like Calibrations...but worse. I don't know how. And I'm not trying to make excuses for what I did but- I'm scared they'll do it again. To any of us. I thought people should know.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The gift was probably the last thing Billy expected in that moment, so thoughtful, and almost certainly not deserved. For a moment as Billy held it it seemed as though it had offended him in some way, so taken aback by the gesture before he was abruptly throwing his arms around Tony with murmured apologies and thanks. It was that much worse that he knew Tony wasn't exactly comfortable with these sorts of displays, but he couldn't help himself.

In the moment of hesitation, Tony had slowly opened his mouth to try to produce some sort of excuse for having the thing lying around and maybe try to get it back so Billy wouldn't be forced to look at it any longer, so when Billy shifted gears into that embrace Tony let out an audible, "Uff--" and caught Billy first under the arms like he thought he had to hold him up. The headache was only starting, if they were gentle with each other then maybe it wouldn't get too much worse too soon. "Uh, yeah, it's--sure," he accepted very graciously, eventually working out the hug to give Billy a pat between his shoulders before he started crying on Tony's clothes.

"Sorry-" he mumbled, drawing back with a nod, "This is-...it's really nice. Thank you, Tony. I-" Billy's face twisted, and he nodded again, trying not to cry and make them both uncomfortable. "...I love it."

It was rare that Tony's gifts really landed like that, more that they were expected or brushed off as the obvious apologies that they were trying to be, but it did seem like he was getting better at this lately and he was wholly overwhelmed himself for a moment as Billy gave his final assessment. He had to give a tight small and short nod, good, so they understood each other, backing away slightly like he might actually bolt with that revelation and tucking his hands into his pockets. In a rush before it got any more awkward, he said, "Listen, just try not to break it, get some practice in, don't worry about being so in control." Maybe that was the wrong formula and Tony was projecting, maybe Billy was a mess now because he had lost that control he had, so after a sharp breath Tony amended, "Or get control over it--I don't know, it's just some strings, kid, I'm not expecting you to be Picasso." Go ahead, try to correct him like he didn't know exactly what he just said.

Billy nodded quickly, fingers tracing fondly for the instrument. He clearly wanted to say more, offer some apology or explanation, but he bit it back, feeling Tony very much wanted to distance himself from any of that right.

"I'll try-" he promised, and then a slight smile. "...world renowned for his ukulele skills."

"No, he painted. Did you go to school at all?" Tony replied flatly, then let a hand escape to twist dismissively in the air, great, good bit, job well done. "I don't want, uh...I don't want to have to come up here, too much, listen, I've got stuff to do, I'm behind schedule now and the suit's scrap, it's a long walk, so if you could do me a favour and bring that down to the forge to, uh, tune it, whatever, that would be great," he instructed, doing his best to look quite exhausted about having to come up to the house at all. In a way, he was--it wasn't like he had made much of a habit of visiting the twins, this was something of an emergency situation for him to be making housecalls. He would rather it didn't happen again. So, the sooner Billy was prepared to face the world, the better.

He snorted softly. Job complete, you got a laugh out of the kid.

Billy nodded then, looking a bit anxious at the thought, not quite ready for that, but trying to resolve himself to it.

"...I'll try," he promised again, "I will."

And before Tony could find an excuse to flee Billy had to ask-

"You're...good?" It wasn't quite how he meant it to come out, clearly.

Billy should have been thoroughly prepared for Tony's well crafted, "Always," and wry smile, like Billy was asking obvious questions. Tony knew full well why he was asking, though, and it wasn't really about Tony at all, so he let it drop with a sniff and a shrug, trying his best to dismiss any external concerns as well. "I got to eat pizza again, been a while, that was a treat. I saw Jarvis, kind of, so, that's..." This was starting to sound like Tony had brought the gift to thank Billy for the experience, so he grimaced briefly and gave a wave of his hand toward the instrument, they had already covered that, and besides, Tony had plenty of ground to cover before he could begin to thank Billy for the things he did actually appreciate, like helping Jon when he came back. Completely fucking up for a month after an act like that seemed like a fair trade off. "I'm sorry I didn't realize," Tony rerouted.

He managed a faint smile back, tinged with obvious guilt as Tony tried to list off the positives.

Billy was very quick to shake that apology off.

"You weren't supposed to," he assured. That was the whole point. "And uh...maybe I can make us some pizza when I make it over for you to help tune this thing or whatever..."

"I'm not supposed to do a lot of things," Tony replied, both hands out then to display his myriad of impossible accomplishments and misdeeds that hadn't managed to help Billy before this happened, or see through it once it did. There wasn't much that stopped Tony feeling guilty. At least, as long as he let that headache come on and didn't let himself temper it with the one thing that helped him stop feeling much at all.

"Yeah, listen, no offence, but if you do any more magic to me for the next six months I'm going to lock you down there with the spiders," he warned off. "Zero tolerance. So we can imagine it over a cup of whatever Tommy's cooking up by then, always an experience."

He almost argued that it wasn't too him, it was...adjacent to him, but that hardly felt appropriate after this last month, and so Billy just nodded after a short pause.

"No magic," he promised.

Avengers, Young Avengers, New Avengers, and anyone else under the umbrella very rarely listened to what Tony had to say that easily, leaving them standing in Billy's hallway awkwardly while Tony worked very hard to eventually produce, "Great," then, "Uh," and a way out of this prolonged tension. He landed on repeating, "Great," then pointing to the door, where he had left the rest of his life away from intruding on Billy's, and only realized he should actually say goodbye after swaying mostly toward his exit. He had to swing back to touch Billy's arm lightly, welcoming him back for a less emotional hug now that he was starting to laugh and smile a little bit.

Billy fell into his side easily, no tears this time, and he tried to give a reassuring smile. They'd be okay.

"Thank you, Tony. Really."

I didn't mean for it to happen

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