I don't own Young Avengers
Sweet Child of Mine
It was that dream again, the one it seemed Rebecca could never wake up from. She was always filled with so much anger in that dream, so much disappointment it was unbearable. She lashed out, not stopping even when the boy - her boy, her own firstborn son - cried out in pain. He tried his best to get away from her, his face twisting into a mask of panic and horror, and yet he failed. No matter how many times he tried, no matter how many times she had that dream, he was doomed to fail. Of course he'd fail, the foolish boy, she thought and tightened her grip. There was never any escape; she would never let him go. And he really should stop struggling. After all, she knew better, infinitely so - as they say, mother knew best and all.
It was always with that notion that Rebecca woke up, panting, and not so sure of those words anymore.
She was in her bed, tucked under the covers, safe, supposedly, but even that took her a long moment to process, to realize through the sense of distress that overcame her. Behind her was her husband, sound asleep and snoring. The lit digits on the clock on Jeff's nightstand told her it was late but not too much so, and she ran that fact through her mind for a while, refusing to let thoughts of the dream overtake her. She never remembered much anyway, but what did stay with her were fear and regret, such profound remorse it was enough to make her heart break. At the very least she couldn't stay put and so she got up, put on her robe and left the room.
She was on her way to the kitchen, contemplating between a glass of warm milk and a cup of coffee when she noticed muffled noises coming from behind one of the closed doors. She came to a stop, a lump forming in her throat. It was Billy's room, and that realization dragged up the phantom dread the dream left in its wake. She knocked on the door even before realizing she moved to do so. The sounds came to an abrupt stop, and the silence that followed left her on edge. She told herself she shouldn't, that he was a grown boy, a young man, and that the last thing she should've done was barge into his room in the middle of the night, yet that was exactly what happened next. She found him in his pajamas, standing close to his desk yet one step away towards the door. He seemed startled by the intrusion, but mostly confused, an awed expression that turned into a guilty look. One hand in his pocket, he motioned at the computer over his shoulder with the other before scratching the back of his neck.
"Sorry about that, I didn't think it was that loud..."
Rebecca said nothing, her eyes set on his face. She wasn't certain what it was she was feeling, but it was nearing a boiling point and fast.
"Mom?" Billy asked softly with a frown at the prolonged silence, only then he noticed the way her lips pursed, creating creases over her chin, and how her shoulders were rocking. Rebecca was crying.
"What-!"
They both moved at the same time, the shorter woman throwing herself at her son and burying her face in his shoulder. Billy frowned but said nothing, silently holding her with his face half buried in her hair. She was shivering, fingers curled into the thin fabric of his shirt. He tried to come up with anything to say but knew not what the cause of this even was, and so kept quiet, pursing his lips and doing his best to be as steady and stable as he could.
A while passed before finally Rebecca pulled away, doing so just barely as she was still reluctant to let go.
"Mom...?" Billy tried again, his voice weighed by his growing concern. She shook her head and reached up to wipe her tears under her glasses.
"I'm sorry, it's the middle of the night, and I-"
"It's ok." Billy insisted and rubbed his hands over her arms and shoulders. "Do you want to talk about this?"
The silence drew on for a while before she shook her head. "It's a dream, it'll pass."
He looked at her with questioning yet soft eyes and her chest tightened again.
"We- we fought, and I don't even remember why but I was so angry- and I hurt you so much... and why? Why, I don't even-"
She managed to register the look not unlike realization that crossed his face that quickly broke into a shade of horror. It was all she saw before her voice broke into a yelp as he suddenly pulled her close, his arms squeezing her shoulders.
"It was just a dream." Billy insisted into her hair before inhaling sharply. "It's not- it's not real, it didn't happen. It's ok. It's all ok, I promise."
Some distant part of her sneered at his words, mocked the very effort, but the rest of her bought all too willingly into the sweet lie as she let her son comfort her, for a moment believing again all was truly as it should be.