coveted magics, 7
The air felt heavy, acrid with nothing more than a bad feeling in Billy’s chest, and he was tired. He just had too much going on, more than was probably fair for a fourteen going on fifteen year old kid who had just started his high school freshman year. At the most prestigious selective entry school in Chicago, no less – the school had rebranded after the blip, selling itself as some kind of ‘leadership school’ to ‘build a better future’. There was nothing leader-like about what Billy was learning there – his teachers just pushed too hard and left him exhausted.
He flopped down on his bed, ready to give up on the history report Ms Selene had assigned as holiday homework, because he’d had enough of writing about the formation of the Axis powers. Not as if Ms Selene, the most boring person in existence, would stop to think that maybe the few Jewish kids in the class might not want to be studying detailed accounts of the military coalition responsible for slaughtering their ancestors. Some ass in Billy’s class who he was making great efforts not to know even spouted praise for the Nazis, and Ms Selene did nothing. Billy already had his parents forcing all their exhausting expectations on him to be as Jewish as they wanted, he didn’t need all the pressure from the other side too.
He just wanted a break. A chance to sit back, try and remember what his actual hobbies were, and not have to compromise on his own sense of self just to keep everyone – especially his parents – happy and at bay. It had already been two months since Billy had sort-of come out to his parents, two months of the lie of “I’m bisexual” grating against him. Anything to get his parents off his back so he could just live his life, right? At least, that was what his so-called friends at school encouraged him to do, but Billy’s patience with them was waning. Four months was long enough for him to realise that they only acted like his friends because he was there. The fact that nobody personally invited him to anything was pretty telling.
So maybe, for once, he should make up his own mind. Do what he wanted, just be his damn self for once. Have at least one less secret to keep. His parents didn’t need to know that he had no intention of being part of any Jewish community when he was finally able to move out, not with how they shoved religion down his throat and never let him choose for himself. They definitely didn’t need to know that ever since a little over a year ago, Billy had been able to do magic. What they did need to know, however, was that he was as gay it was possible to be. He’d had enough with the comments that came up every other week.
“Oh, it’s fine if you’re bisexual! That means you can still find yourself a nice Jewish girlfriend, get married and have kids!”
Billy groaned at the memory, and slammed a fist against his two stacked pillows. He was just sick of it. He wanted more from his life than just this. He wanted to go to a school that gave him interesting, challenging things to learn without overloading him with too much. He wanted time to play video games, lie down and listen to music, hang out with friends who actually wanted him there, and time to maybe meet a nice cute boy and give dating a go. Was it too much to ask?
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Billy got up. He grabbed an unzipped hoodie and slung it over his shoulders, pocketed his phone and left his room. On a Wednesday night like this, his parents would be watching whatever trashy show was on the TV. He could confront them with the truth that their only son was gay, and if it went badly he’d stomp right back upstairs, lock his door and go to sleep. Simple as that. He already knew what bullshit to expect – something or other about having kids, as if he wasn’t only fourteen. As if being gay meant not having kids ever, or even biological kids. There was always surrogacy, and there was always the chance he’d end up dating a trans guy who wanted to have a kid. But he was fourteen, and really not interested in planning that far ahead.
He just wanted to spend his teen years being a teen.
Walking down the stairs, Billy could see the flashing lights against the wall just past the dining room that betrayed the TV being on in the lounge room nearby. He vaguely recognised the voices coming from the TV, some characters from a legal drama his parents loved. Whatever. He got close enough and cleared his throat to get their attention.
Rebecca Kaplan lifted the arm that wasn’t slung around her husband’s shoulder and picked up the remote to pause the show. “Yes, dear?”
Billy sighed, and rolled his eyes. The first time he’d sort-of come out to them had been nerve wracking; he just wanted their approval and recognition, to know they’d be okay with him. He hadn’t even considered how loud the metaphorical warning bells were when he decided not to just outright say he was gay out of the knowledge they’d react badly. Now, he just couldn’t bring himself to care enough to be scared or nervous. He just wanted it over and done with.
“We need to talk,” Billy declared, but made no move to sit down. He wasn’t about to get cozy and vulnerable with them.
Jeff Kaplan turned to give Billy one of his signature smiles. Billy tried not to shiver from the sheer discomfort of it. His dad was the kind of guy to think he was in good with everyone and that he was funny and endearing – when the truth was that he rarely ever stopped to consider how others were actually feeling or whether they wanted his comments or jokes. “What is it, son?”
Right, out with it so this could be over and done with. “I’m gay.”
Jeff blinked in confusion. “Come again?”
“I’m. Gay.” Billy said again, this time puncturing the air with sharp enunciation and heavy pauses.
And then Jeff shook his head. “Come now, you already told us that you’re bisexual! Just because you have a crush on some boy doesn’t mean you just stop being bisexual, I know how these things work. There’s that thing, the- oh, Rebecca, what was it called? The k-”
“Kinsey scale,” Rebecca filled in with an ever so sweet, ‘motherly’ smile that just told Billy she wasn’t taking him seriously. “And honestly barely anyone is ever truly right at one end of the scale.”
Jeff nodded as though this was some sage advice and not utter bullshit. “See, the family psychiatrist has spoken. Billy, you know your mother and I love you lots, and that we accept the LBTG, and you’re really very lucky to have parents who accept this side of you. Not everyone has it as good, unfortunately.”
Billy rolled his eyes again. “One, the Kinsey scale is an outdated sack of shit and everybody knows that. Two, never say ‘LBTG’ again, that’s not how the acronym goes, and three, again, I’m gay.”
When Jeff smiled and turned to face his wife, a very small part of Billy wanted to hurl a bolt of his blue magical energy at the man and just leave. “He really has reached the moody teenager stage, hasn’t he?”
Rebecca huffed, but didn’t respond.
“So are we good here?” Billy asked, keener than ever to end the conversation and walk off. He just wanted to get a pulse on how his parents actually felt about this now so he knew what to expect later.
Jeff sighed and shook his head in an exaggerated act of confusion. “I just don’t understand why you’d want to be gay. Don’t you want to have kids one day? Your mother and I are very excited to get our Jewish grandchildren from you.”
Of course, Billy thought tersely. It always comes down to the grandkids.
“You do realise than I’m fourteen, right? Even if I did want kids, that’s, like, way in the future,” Billy jabbed back, and then something in him just shifted. “Besides, I’m my own damn person and I get to choose who, if anyone, I marry, whether or not I have kids and whether any partners I have are Jewish in the first place.”
“Young man, we have brought you into this world and raised you with love and kindness. You will not talk to us like that, or dismiss so easily the fact that we are entitled to Jewish grandchildren. Does Jewish continuity not even matter to you?” Gone was the ‘look-at-me-I’m-such-a-friendly-guy’ Jeff Kaplan. The mask had come off, and the overcontrolling parent who just wanted his way was there, plain as day.
And Billy knew he was going to say something he’d regret; he already had. His dad didn’t get to just decide his future for him, that wasn’t fair. The shift in his mind had gone all the way through to a snap, because Billy was just fucking done with being walked over and told who he had to be.
“Entitled? You know how babies are made, and you do not get to decide who I have sex with, that’s fucked up! You know what? Maybe I don’t care about the whole ‘Jewish continuity’ thing, not with how you’ve been ramming it down my throat at every single fucking opportunity!” Billy yelled, courage coming from the fact that there wasn’t anything his parents could physically do to hurt him.
His mother coughed awkwardly and looked away. As always, she’d never oppose Jeff on anything serious. She’d just sit there and stay out of the way, and Billy was growing to hate her for it. For the abandonment and betrayal, for never protecting her own son when he needed it. For never standing up for him.
Suddenly Jeff was standing. He wasn’t charging towards Billy or anything; he’d stopped doing things like smacking Billy’s hand as ‘fair punishment’ a few years ago now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t get up and loom over his son and shout. “While you live under our roof, you will behave with respect, and you will honour our family. You are a bar-mitzvahed Jewish man with a responsibility to your people, and I expect you to act as such! I don’t want to hear another word of this nonsense about being ‘gay’ and not wanting to be Jewish like we’ve raised you, and ignoring our right to grandchildren to love and care for! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?”
Billy’s eyes thinned, and he snorted. “Oh fuck you, as if.”
That was definitely the wrong thing to say.
Because all of a sudden Jeff Kaplan got very, very quiet. He hunched inwards, and Billy could see how tears started to well up in his eyes. He’d only seen his father cry once, and it was when Billy’s paternal grandmother had died. Other than that, he didn’t cry at all.
“Get out,” he whispered.
All Billy could do was stare.
“Get out,” he said again, a little louder this time.
“What are you talking about?” Billy could only ask, his voice now beginning to tremble. Not once had he seen his father like this, and it was starting to scare him.
Then Jeff looked up, straight at Billy, with rage covering every inch of his face. He took in a single breath, and then screamed. “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
Billy’s breath caught; he didn’t know what to do. He looked to his mother for help, thinking this would be the one time she might come to his aid.
She didn’t. No, she just frowned at him, shook her head and then stared at the ground.
Jeff took a step towards Billy, and he took a step back.
“You have ten minutes to pack a bag and leave. I don’t want to even see you again until you’ve come to your senses and you’re ready to apologise,” Jeff hissed scathingly, and it was all Billy could do to scamper back up to the stairs and slam the door shut as the tears started spilling from his eyes.
All he’d wanted was to be able to be himself for once, and it had come to this. Fury welled up from within him. He yanked a suitcase out of his closet, the one he used when they went on family trips. In went his clothes – minus a few things he couldn’t give less of a fuck about – and whatever else he could think to take, like his laptop and his favourite plushie, the one he never admitted to anyone that he still owned, and kept hidden away at the bottom of his closet.
At no point in Billy’s packing did his dad come up to apologise. He could hear yelling downstairs, but couldn’t bring himself to care what it was about. If his parents were going to cast him out just like that, he’d cast them out too.
He didn’t even bother with the front door, not when it meant seeing Jeff Kaplan again. No, he just drew upon the magical power he’d practiced controlling bit by bit in secrecy, and blasted the entire window and wall of his room alike, until all that was left was a gaping hole in the side of the house. From there, he leapt down to the ground with his suitcase in tow, using the same magic to slow his landing.
He took four steps away from the house, and then froze. This was it, he was really doing this. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already been certain he’d one day leave his parents and never look back, but that was always going to be when he was already an adult. He was just fourteen, and he’d been kicked out, and he had nowhere to go.
No friends to shelter him. No extended family he actually liked. No community centres he knew of that would take him in, that would protect him from his parents. All the ones he knew of loved his parents for some ridiculous reason. He really just had… nowhere.
But that wouldn’t stop him from leaving, not after he’d been cast out like that. He took another step, and then another, and then another, until he was several blocks away from what could no longer be his home. A half hour later, he found himself at the Riverview Bridge on West Addison Street. It wasn’t really much of a bridge, even, just a crossing over the murky green Chicago River. In the years following the Decimation, the river had gotten clean with legitimate efforts to preserve the natural environment after that awful catastrophe. One which Billy and his parents had been spared from.
But then everyone came back, the environmentalist efforts were forgotten, and the river was one step away from looking full of sewage. Not a very pretty view, but Billy didn’t need pretty. He just needed somewhere to sit. There was a park right across from where he was looking, so Billy wheeled his bag over to the first park bench he could find and crashed down onto it in tears.
Heavy, repetitive knocking came from the door to Peter and Harley’s apartment, and it came at the worst time. They’d just finished dinner after a long drive back from the Lakehouse, and Peter and Harley had exchanged mutually hungry looks before rushing towards their bedroom for what would be a session of making out and possibly some heavy petting but nothing more; they weren’t quite ready for more. It had been more than a few days since they’d had the time or privacy for something like this, and they wanted.
So when someone knocked on the door without reprieve, Peter groaned and got up from where he was practically straddling his boyfriend. “Sorry.”
Harley made an equally frustrated, disappointed noise. “It’s fine, you should probably go see who that is. They sound real desperate.”
“They’re not the only one,” Peter lamented, because damnit he just wanted to make out with his incredible boyfriend. He stood up and made his way for the bedroom door.
“Coming!” Peter shouted as he ran for the front door, to reveal a very, very stressed Wanda.
“Peter,” Wanda practically gasped. “Something happened.”
Peter was quick to lead Wanda inside and get her to sit down at the dining table. “What’s happened, Wanda?”
Wanda shuddered. “The monitoring spells I placed for my boys, one of them was set off.”
All in an instant, Peter’s eyes widened and his thoughts of getting back to Harley were gone. He knew exactly how much Wanda cared about her sons, and how cautious she was in that care. After the crimes and violence she’d committed under the influence of the Darkhold, Wanda had sworn not to force her way into her sons’ lives. She only cast monitoring spells on the twins and their homes to be prepared to protect them in an emergency. The fact that she wanted to intervene meant this could be bad.
“Do you need backup to go check on them?” Peter asked, ready to get up and go change into his suit on a moment’s notice. Wanda was a part of Peter’s family now, and Peter would always protect and support his family.
“I need-” Wanda started, and then choked up for a moment before she breathed again and pressed heavy fists into the table. “I need you to go. I cannot, with my past actions. If I get recognised, I won’t be able to help my son. I know my Billy, and of all of us, he’d listen to you.”
“Where is he?” Peter asked, because Wanda hadn’t once told him or the others where her sons were, where their new families lived.
Wanda exhaled, relieved. “Chicago. The spell on his house was triggered. I’ll call Harry and ask him to take you, there’s no time to delay!”
Peter leapt over the table and into his and Harley’s bedroom. Wanda was right about the time sensitivity; from what Peter understood, she didn’t have any kind of locator on Billy or Tommy because she didn’t want to invade their privacy or risk tempting herself; only spells that would tell Wanda if they were in danger. Given that, he needed to get to Billy’s home fast and start searching for him and any signs of danger.
“What’s the situation?” Harley asked. “I heard Wanda, she sounded a bad way.”
Peter stripped off his shirt and pants in record speed and grabbed his suit from the wardrobe. “One of Wanda’s kids might be in danger, she asked me to go check on him.”
“Shit, yeah, that can’t wait,” Harley easily agreed. “We’ll… we’ll find time, darlin’. This is more important. Do you need me to come with?”
“Nah, but maybe be on call in case it’s too much for me and Harry to handle,” Peter suggested, and slipped all the way into his suit before sealing it shut, all except for the mask in his hand. Peter crossed the room to where Harley was sitting up on the bed and leaned in for a kiss. It only lasted a few seconds, because that was all Peter had to spare. When his and Harley’s lips separated, Peter pulled away and fitted his mask over his head.
Harry was already there and suited up when Peter re-entered the dining room. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Peter confirmed, and Harry spun open an orange, sparking portal to whatever location Wanda had given him. They both stepped through, and were immediately greeted with the sight of a two story house that had the wall connected to one of its rooms blown wide open. Peter leapt up to the room to investigate, only to find that barely any of the rubble was inside. Whatever happened, someone or something had blasted its way out.
There were two people standing in the doorway of the room with shocked and angry faces, both middle aged. They clung to each other, and the larger of the two was red in the face.
“Spider-Man? Are you Spider-Man? Are you here to help us?” He asked, a shred of demand mixed into his tone. Peter was used to people being demanding, and was still learning how to differentiate the different kinds of desperation, malice and entitlement. This person sounded like the second of the three.
Peter nodded anyway. “Do you know who did this?”
The man huffed. “That ungrateful little boy is who, and after all we’ve done for him! You need to find him and take him in before he hurts anyone!”
Right, so it was Billy himself who had done this. Between that and the several alarm bells in Peter’s head about how this man was talking, he was starting to piece things together. But he’d have to speak to Billy himself to figure out if he was right.
Peter sighed, using the exhale to let off some of his anger that was possibly but probably not from jumping to the wrong conclusion. He’d seen too many runaway kids with parents like this to not suspect the worst of Billy’s second set of parents. “Do you have any idea where he might have gone?”
The man scowled. “No!? I feel like I barely even know the boy anymore. He’s not the son we raised.”
Peter glanced to the man’s wife, but she only shook her head at him. She did, however, wear that same contemptuous scowl. With another sigh, he leapt out of the house and returned to Harry. “Those two are remarkably unpleasant company, and I think Billy’s run away rather than having been attacked. We’re gonna have to look for him. Got any tricks up your sleeve for that? I haven’t got DARLENE chipped into this suit so I can’t scan for sightings of his likeness.”
Harry hummed, and his feet lifted off the ground. Peter grabbed on; in this kind of suburban area, there was nothing to swing from and even if Peter could run as almost as fast as a car moving at a highway speed limit, the air gave a better vantage point. “I have one idea, but it’ll only work if the kid has magic – and Wanda said he had it in Westview so I think he’ll have it now. ”
“Go on?”
Harry and Peter rose up into the sky, and Harry held out a hand. Rings of his shadowy magic started pulsing outwards at a variety of angles. “In essence, I can scan for magical energies, kind of like how echolocation works.”
“Great, do it. It’s been about ten minutes since Wanda’s spell went off, so we can only hope he hasn’t gotten too far.”
Harry nodded. Peter couldn’t see his friend’s expression through the mask he wore as Witchboy, and could only wonder how Harry felt about all of this. Wanda had just started to become something of a mentor to him in the past few weeks, not to mention the friendship that was forming between them too. Peter guessed that Harry wanted to help this kid just as badly as Peter did.
They flew across the Chicago skies for about five minutes before Harry froze, and pointed downwards towards a small park that pressed right up against the Chicago River. Even from up high, Peter could see a boy sitting on a barely lit park bench with a suitcase by his side.
“Let’s head down,” Peter directed. “I’ll talk to him. Stay nearby?”
Harry nodded, and began their descent. When they were maybe twenty metres above the ground, Peter dropped from Harry’s side and landed himself about five metres in front of the boy.
“What the fuck?” Billy shouted, blue magical energy already shrouding his closed fists.
Peter stepped forward into the park’s lamplight and waved. He spent a moment just taking in the boy, trying to see if he was right about his suspicions. Billy had sort of wavy brown hair that went down to his chin, and a side-parted fringe hanging messily over his tear-tracked face. From where Peter was standing, he looked scared and distressed. The blue hoodie he wore apparently wasn’t enough to fend off the cold, biting evening air here – or perhaps the shivering was just from his emotional state.
“Wait… Spider-Man?” Billy questioned, relaxing a little but keeping his magic active.
“Yup, that’s me,” Peter answered. “Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man!”
Billy squinted, and sniffled. “What are you doing in Chicago?”
Peter sighed. “That’s a long story that me or the friend who sent me here can definitely tell you later. Billy, right?”
The boy tensed again. “…Yeah. You know who I am?”
“I know who you are,” Peter confirmed, and then pulled off his mask. There was no way he was getting this kid’s trust if he didn’t give some trust first. Besides, it was more than likely okay for Wanda’s kid to know Spider-Man’s secret identity. “I’m Peter. Can I come sit?”
Slowly, Billy let the blue magic around his hands dissipate, and he sat back down on the bench. “Sure, I guess.” As Peter moved to sit beside Billy, the boy very obviously eyed the pride flags on Peter’s suit – the pride flags that were now on every single Spider suit he owned. “So you’re really queer?”
“Mhm,” Peter smiled. “Most of my team over in Boston is, actually. Aside from Witchboy, but he’s the kind of ally to grab a brick and join a riot without hesitating.”
“That’s… really cool,” Billy whispered, obvious awe in his voice. Then, a little louder, “are the rumours true that you and Iron Lad are together?”
That made Peter laugh, and he was more than happy to indulge, and wax poetic about his incredible boyfriend. Besides, what this kid probably needed right now was something nice and lighthearted so he could properly relax. He leaned in sideways towards Billy, almost conspiratorially. “Yup. Since a few weeks before Thanksgiving, actually. He’s a total dork who gives amazing hugs.”
Billy grinned at that. “That’s so cool.” Then, the grin melted away, and tears started welling up on his face again. “Why is being queer so hard sometimes?”
“People suck,” Peter answered simply. “Do you want a hug?”
The boy practically dove at him as soon as the offer was made, so Peter caught him and held on tight while Billy sobbed into his shoulder. Yeah, his earlier suspicions were right. The people who were supposed to be Billy’s parents had hurt him. Maybe Peter would withhold that detail from Wanda just for a little while. He was only about eighty percent sure she wouldn’t try to hurt them back.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Peter asked, laying out a simple offer that Billy could refuse or take and not feel pressured to talk about any one particular thing.
Billy nodded into Peter’s shoulder, and then pulled away to sit back down beside him. “They… my parents kicked me out for being gay. They say that they ‘accept’ queer people but they’re so hung up on fucking Jewish grandchildren that it’s not okay when it’s me.”
Peter took a steadying breath. “That’s really fucked up, Billy, and you deserve better than that. For what it’s worth, halachically speaking there’s really nothing stopping a gay man from having Jewish kids, biologically or otherwise. But your parents aren’t entitled to that anyway, because you’re your own person and get to make your own decisions.”
“Exactly,” Billy huffed. “Wait… you’re Jewish?”
“Sure am,” Peter answered. “Sounds like I’ve had a better run of it than you, though.”
“I don’t know if I want to be Jewish anymore,” Billy admitted.
“And that’s your decision,” Peter assured him. Billy was still shivering, and Peter had nothing to help him warm up. He knew Harry could probably cast a simple warming spell to fix that problem, but Peter also didn’t want to overwhelm Billy by getting Harry to come over just yet. “My suit is self heating, if you want to huddle up for some warmth.”
Billy looked at him hesitantly, so Peter held an arm up to show that it was okay. That was enough for Billy to press himself against Peter’s side. Peter put his arm around Billy’s shoulder, and gave a gentle squeeze.
“Let’s take a break from all the really hard stuff for a bit,” Peter suggested, because Billy was still shaking and he was now sure that it wasn’t just from the cold. “Do you, uh, have a favourite subject at school? Or just something you really like learning about?”
“My school sucks, but I guess science is pretty cool,” Billy murmured.
“Any particular kind of science?” Peter questioned. “I’m super into chemistry, always have been.”
Billy hummed. “Chemistry is alright, I guess, but… astronomy is better.”
Peter feigned an offended gasp. “How could you? But nah, space is pretty cool. And I think I have some extra authority on that, seeing as I’ve been to space.”
Billy’s jaw dropped. “You’ve been to space? How? When?”
“Well, I hitched a ride on one of Thanos’s ships and fought him on his home planet back before the Snap,” Peter answered. It didn’t really hurt to talk about that as much these days. “I bet we’ll advance space travel enough for you to go too one day.”
“You think so?”
“Oh yeah, absolutely. Hey, maybe you’ll be one of the ones to make it possible, beyond secretive Avengers tech,” Peter suggested, hoping to make Billy feel encouraged and believed in. “How about… shows? Any favourite TV shows?”
“Heartstopper,” Billy answered without a moment’s hesitation. “And anything else that’s especially gay.”
Peter chuckled, and grinned. “I officially asked my boyfriend to be my boyfriend while we watched the last episode of the first season together. The beach bit, specifically.”
“No way.”
“Yeah way!”
“Peter, that’s so cheesy!”
“I’m cheesy,” Peter retorted. “I’m honestly just a cheesy, nerdy science guy when I’m not out and about doing Spidey stuff. With a hell of a lot of trauma, of course.”
Billy grew quiet at that. Peter frowned. He hadn’t meant to say it, but he also figured that out was good for Billy to know that Peter had been through a lot too, and had still ended up alright.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do now,” Billy whimpered. “I don’t have anywhere to go, and I can’t just go back to them.”
“Billy, I don’t want to hide things from you. I spoke to your parents, and they said I should ‘take you in’, as in to the authorities, which obviously I’m not going to do,” Peter explained, because he wanted to make sure Billy had all the information he needed, even if some of it was going to be very hard to hear. “You should also know why I’m here. Witchboy and I can take you back with us to Boston if you want, and you can stay at my place as long as you need, but I want you to have the full truth first.”
“I could… stay with you?” Billy questioned. He hadn’t made any move to escape from Peter’s side, which meant the trust Peter had built was still in place.“What do you mean, the full truth?”
“It’s going to be tough to hear, and maybe a little hard to believe,” Peter admitted. “Do you know who Wanda Maximoff is?”
Billy’s eyes widened. “You mean the Scarlet Witch? Who held an entire town hostage and then went on a rampage after before going missing? Wait, weren’t there rumours going around about you and your friends protecting her from law enforcement recently?”
“Yes, and we did do that.” Peter chuckled a little awkwardly. “While she does take full responsibility for everything she did, her mind was being corrupted by a demon for the vast majority of that. Well, in Westview, she had- well, created two children. Named Tommy and Billy.”
Billy shuffled back. It wasn’t anything quick or jerky, but he’d created that distance all the same. “What?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah. As I said, hard to believe. When her spell over Westview ended, something happened and yours and Tommy’s souls got reincarnated. You even look the same – albeit a little older. Wanda’s theory is that Chthon, the demon, tried and failed to take your souls back or something. The dimensional travel involved could apparently explain how you ended up being reborn in the past.”
Billy took in a deep breath, exhaled, and did it all over again. His face scrunched up, looking thoughtful. “Why do I feel like it’s true if that sounds so utterly ridiculous?”
“Yeah, I know that feeling. I once met versions of myself from two alternate realities and helped fight villains from their universes because I fucked up a wizard’s spell,” Peter said. “Wanda didn’t feel like it was her right to get involved in your new lives, but she put spells on you, Tommy and your family homes just to alert her if you were in danger. That’s why I’m here – she sent me.”
“She sent you?” Billy questioned.
Peter shrugged. “Aside from the fact she can’t afford to be seen right now, I think she thought we’d get along? Trust me, I know how it all sounds. As much as Wanda is my friend, my priority right now is just to make sure that you’re safe.”
“And so you’d let me come live with you,” Billy said slowly, as though he was trying to parse all of this together and understand how everything fit.
“It’s an option, if you want it,” Peter reiterated, “My boyfriend and I’s apartment has a spare bedroom, and a bunch of my friends live in the neighbouring apartments. All of them have some kind of powers or another and could both help keep you safe and help you with yours, if that’s something you need.”
“And Wanda’s there?”
“And Wanda’s there.”
“Do I have to let her try and be my parent?”
“No, you don’t have to do anything,” Peter assured him, because he could see how this boy was frightened by the idea of losing autonomy, and by the idea of parents. “She’ll be around, but she won’t force you at all. She definitely wants to know you, but it can be on your terms.”
“Not like I have anywhere else to go,” Billy frowned. Peter could easily see how full Billy’s mind was, even after the brief, more relaxed conversation they’d had for a bit, and wanted to give him the support he needed. He wasn’t quite sure why he already found himself caring so much. Maybe it was because in Billy he saw the fourteen year old version of himself with new powers and nobody to help him through it, who then soon went through the grief of losing a parent. Maybe it was because Billy was a now-homeless queer kid who happened to have connections to other important people in Peter’s life. Maybe it was something else. All he knew was that he cared so much already.
“I’ve got you, Billy,” Peter said as gently as he could. “You deserve to be able to be yourself, make your own choices, and to be safe. I’m gonna do my best to make sure you have that, okay?”
And once again, Billy hurled himself straight at Peter, who again caught him and held him in a tight hug. And- yeah, Peter could see why he was already caring so much. Under a traumatised, guarded exterior, Billy was a gentle, sweet kid in need of someone to love and support him and to see him for who he was. Just like fourteen year old Peter, who had to keep such a big secret with nobody to help him work through it.
“I wanna go with you.” The words came out muffled against Peter’s suit-clad chest, Billy clinging tightly to Peter’s suit.
“Let’s get somewhere warmer, yeah?” Peter suggested. “I’m gonna text my boyfriend to get Wanda to give you some space for now because she might still be waiting in our apartment, and then Witchboy is gonna come down and make a portal for us. Okay?”
“Okay,” Billy said – and it was important to Peter to get that confirmation. Right now, he wanted to make sure that Billy had a say in everything that happened.
So, Peter pulled out his phone and quickly texted Harley.
Peter: I hope you’re okay with Billy coming to stay with us
Peter: He’s not hurt physically, he got kicked out for being gay
Harley: Shit.
Harley: Yeah, course he can stay.
Harley: I’m gonna get some stuff ready for hot chocolate, weather app says it’s pretty cold in Chicago
Peter: Can you ask Wanda to head out and give him some space for now?
Harley: ofc
With that taken care of, Peter signalled for Harry to come down and open a portal back to home. Cool air blasted through the portal into Peter and Harley’s apartment, and Harry was quick to close it once everyone was through. As they arrived in the dining room, only Harley awaited them, working through the process of making three fresh mugs of hot chocolate.
“I’m gonna take off,” Harry said quietly. “Can you let Wanda know he’s safe?”
At that, Billy clung even more tightly onto Peter’s suit. Peter looked up at Harry a little apologetically, because all of this had been sudden and late at night and Harry had done so much already. “Can you?”
Seeing how Billy was, Harry easily nodded. “Yeah, no problem. See you tomorrow?”
“See ya, Har,” Peter responded, and Harry departed on foot out the apartment’s front door. Then, he turned his attention back to Billy. “We’re here, Billy. It’s just you, me, and my boyfriend.”
Billy slowly detached himself from Peter and started to look around, managing to smile a little when he saw Harley – who was now leaning over the kitchen countertop and looking towards Billy and Peter. “Uh… hi.”
“Sup,” Harley returned the greeting. “I’m Harley. What kind of milk do you take in your drinks?”
Billy squinted, a little confused – which was fair enough, what with how his night as gone and the fact that he was still taking in his new surroundings. “Uh… soy? I’m, uh… lactose intolerant. Yeah.”
Harley nodded, and grinned. “One soy hot chocolate comin’ up.”
“Do you want to sit, or do you want a tour?” Peter asked after stopping briefly to admire how quickly Harley had fallen into step after Peter’s text and started preparing to make Billy comfortable. There was a longer conversation for them to have about Billy staying here, but it could wait.
Billy looked up at Peter with such tired eyes. “A tour would be okay I guess, I just need to be doing something.”
“One apartment tour coming up,” Peter smiled, and started gesturing around the room. “This is the main shared space, with the kitchen over there where Harley is, dining table right here in the middle, and the couch and TV just behind you. We’ve got a couple consoles set up, and you’re free to use them. Just make a new profile for yourself if you want to play any games that don’t have any spare save files.”
Billy nodded, and followed as Peter set off down the hall.
“On the left is mine and Harley’s room. If you want to come in, just knock and wait for an okay before you enter. Of course, we’ll always do the same for you.”
Billy blinked. “You will?”
Peter let out yet another sigh of tempered anger at Billy’s so-called parents. “Of course we will. You’re entitled to your privacy. The spare- your bedroom doesn’t have a lock on it, but that’s something Harley or I could easily fix with a quick trip to the local hardware store. Speaking of your room, it’s just further down the hall and on the right. The room just here across from mine and Harley’s is the shared bathroom. We have an ensuite, but you’ll have to use this one. Then down the hall on the left is the laundry. Wanna grab your bag and bring it into your room?”
Billy took a step back towards the dining room and then stopped. His hands glowed a little, and he turned towards Peter to ask for permission. “Can I…”
“Absolutely,” Peter chuckled. “If you’ve got enough control to not damage things or hurt anyone, no need to hide your powers on this floor of the building. If you do need help with control, we have a place for training with powers.”
Billy grinned a little, and lifted his bag up through the air and pulled it towards him before setting it back down on the ground. “So who else lives here?”
Peter led Billy into his new bedroom, which wasn’t decorated, but had a double bed, a desk and a built in wardrobe and was kept tidy enough for guests to use – even though nobody had used it yet. “Well, naturally the secret identities are secret so you can’t tell anyone, but… Number six down the hall is where Gwen lives. They’re Zapdash, by the way. Gwen’s girlfriend Riri – Ironheart – comes around sometimes too. And sometimes Harry, who you met earlier, crashes on their couch. We’re in number four, by the way. Number five is where Wanda and Daisy live, and they’ve also got a spare bedrooms for guests every now and then. I’ve been thinking about inviting my big sister Jess to come visit from New York, so she’d probably stay there. The people downstairs aren’t anyone we know.”
Billy seemed to catch on a certain detail amongst what Peter had said, and Peter was hardly surprised. “Daisy?”
“Daisy is Gwen’s half-sister, more publicly known as Quake. Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I’ve kind of been getting the vibe that Daisy and Wanda both have a thing for each other,” Peter grinned. “You never have to worry about any kind of queerphobia from Wanda, or anyone in this building. We’re all queer.”
“Oh,” Billy managed. “Oh.”
He moved to sit down on the bed, looking more than a little dazed. Peter went to join him. “Wanna come back out for hot chocolate? Or do you want me to bring it to you here?”
“Can I have a couple minutes and then come back out?” Billy asked hesitantly, because having this much autonomy was still not something he was used to.
“Course you can,” Peter answered easily. “I’m gonna get out of this suit, and then I’ll be out in the hall with Harls. If you end up going to sleep instead, that’s fine too.”
Peter then left Billy to have a moment to himself, because it was clear just how much he needed it. He would need time to settle in, and Peter hoped he could feel comfortable here. If he wanted it, if he needed it, and of course if Harley was fine with it too, this would be Billy’s new home for as long as he wanted.