Okay, so this is a headcannon idea that I had about how I thought Children's Crusade is going to end. As in, this is a very lucid dream that I had three times, each one a bit different, but all ending the same way. I hope you enjoy.
Spoilers for CC 7, kinda, and if I'm psychic, #9 too :D
The sounds of battle roared around them as the X-men, Avengers, Doom, and the Maximoffs settled their differences. The team had been told to keep their heads down and stay of the melee, but, as usual, they didn't listen.
It was tense in their group, but they weren't fighting amongst themselves. Yet. Billy sighed as he watched Teddy's broad back, covering him, and the whole team, as they snuck closer and closer to the main battle. Teddy was mad, furious at him, and he honestly couldn't say that he blamed him. Nearly getting blown up had given him a wonderful little reality check, and he realized how horribly he had been treating Teddy. He ducked eye contact as Teddy looked back.
A tree exploded.
He threw up a shield, forcing the shrapnel away from them as they entered the main fray.
It was hard to see who was fighting who through all of the smoke and dust. Was that Iron Man fighting Cyclops? Who's silhouette was that? Emma Frost? Storm? Where was Magneto? Wanda had disappeared not long after "Victor" teleported them all back to the mansion. He was gone as well.
"So, do we have a plan or not?" Tommy was practically vibrating, waiting for his cue to enter the fight. Kate had one of her last arrows nocked. And why was Eli looking to him? He didn't know what to do. He had never known what he was doing. And now everyone was looking to him. Everyone except Teddy. His mouth opened, trying to come up with a plan. He closed it again, looking to Teddy. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had never, ever meant for this to happen. Everyone looked back to Eli. The real leader. Not the stupid kid who gives up his friends for former terrorists and dangerous mutants. Who starts a war without taking his boyfriend's feelings into considera-no. That wasn't right. He had thought about how Teddy felt about this whole situation, and had decided that he didn't care. That what Teddy didn't know wouldn't hurt him. He took a step towards the other. He had to apologize, to make this right. Teddy meant the world to him, and he was the only family that Teddy still had. God, he was so stupid. "Teddy?"
"What?" Billy flinched as Teddy all but growled at him. The blonde hadn't even turned around.
"I-I'm sor-" A bolt of gold energy flew at Teddy. It crashed against a blue shield, ripples forming as it ran up the sides. Billy gritted his teeth and moved passed Teddy, hands sparking with magic. Doom. He took a defensive position in front of Teddy as he glared at the older caster. After all that had happened today, all of the tension and drama, Doom thought he could attack while they were still noncombatants? Billy's magic started to hum as he yelled at the other. "Don't. Touch. MY. BOYFRIEND."
He wasn't going for finesse, carefully cast spells. No, he was going for brute force. Quicksilver had told him to think about what he could do if he applied himself. Now, with the world turning blue, and the battles around him grinding to a halt, he knew exactly what he could do. Doom shot a gold lance, he countered with a blue shield. Two large blue bricks flew at Doom, a gold shield just barely managing to knock them off course. "Don't you ever even think about hurting Teddy again." Doom laughed.
"Or what? I've 'removed' your powers before, child," he spat. Billy glared, eyes glowing electric blue as he shook with anger. "You cannot hope to defeat me." All other battles stopped as blue and gold removed all other color from the world. Doom took aim at his team. At Teddy. "What are you going to do?"
"This." Blue exploded from him, rushing at Doom, crashing over him like a wave. The other man stumbled, gold coming up to try and shield him. He forced his way back to his feet, pulling the gold out further and further until it was matching the blue. His feet dug into the ground as Billy shot down at him.
"You think this is power?" White started to move up his arm, melding with the gold. "You don't know the meaning of the word." The white shot up, ramming the blue and sending Billy flying higher. "This is just a taste of the power that I hold."
"You think I'm going all out right now?" He shoved down, cape flying back, strangling him. He ripped the fabric, leaving just the collar. He couldn't afford distractions. Not now. The red fluttered down, landing at Teddy's feet. "I haven't even begun to fight." He poured more energy into the blast, Doom moving back this time. "I haven't even begun to show you my power."A white bolt flew out from the main beam, aiming towards Tommy. A blue bolt intercepted it. Another flew, another was blocked. Billy grit his teeth and put a little more power into the beam.
"For an untrained, pathetic fanboy, you are doing quite well. But I've played this game much longer than you." More power resisted him as he tried to move closer. "I'm older, wiser, and just plain better than you. Admit defeat now and your death for this insolence will be swift."
"Never." He dropped his attack, flipping out of the way of the beam.
"You cannot escape." The beam followed him, cutting through the sky, the treeline. He put on a burst of speed, diving down and blasting him from the side. The blue washed over a dome of gold and white.
"Who said anything about escaping?" Frontal attack wasn't working. He needed to knock him off kilter. The blue pushed him further into the ground, chunks of the lawn flying. A sliver of white broke off, cutting through the blue, sliding all throughout the beam before closing around his wrists. His magic weakened as this, this, thing worked to block his power. The gold followed the white's lead, running up his arms, slowing down his magic. Sealing it. "Not again," he ground out. The white stabbed through his wrists and he fell to his knees.
"Oh, very much again, child." The blue was flickering, unable to keep itself going. Billy glared. No. He was not going to lose his powers again. He was not going to get pushed around by this guy. He did not have to take this. He wasn't going to. He was the last line of defense standing between this maniac and his friends. He was not going to let him kill them. He twisted his arms, grabbing hold of the beams of magic. "What do you think you're going to accomplish, boy?"
He pulled, slowly ripping the magic from Doom. He stopped fighting the white light that was stabbing him, instead willed it to join him. He was the better caster, and if the life force or whatever this was wanted the best, it had better choose him. The blue attached itself to the gold, pulling it in as he withdrew.
"What? What are you doing?" Doom was beginning to panic. Good. He pulled harder, knocking Doom to his knees. "Stop this. This is impossible." He forced himself back to his feet.
"Good." He smiled. "I love doing the impossible." He pulled and pulled, absorbing more of his power. "Can't take someone's power? Is that what you said?" He ripped more away. He felt magic surging through his veins, filling him. "Because I'm pretty sure I'm taking yours." The resistance grew stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until, finally, the last vestiges of his power were ripped away.
Doom collapsed. But he wasn't dead. Oh no. Billy opened his eyes, unsure of when he closed them. Everything looked new. Everything had a ribbon, a line. The people staring at him had lines, the trees, grass, flowers had lines. The bodies in the ground had lines, broken ones, but lines nonetheless. He smirked. "Lifelines, cute." He could see the connections between siblings, parents and children, cousins. It was like a family tree had exploded all over the garden.
"Billy?" Teddy was taking a step towards him, hands slightly in front of him. "Are you okay?" His line was long, strong, and connected to another one. A broken one. He smiled and grabbed the broken end. "Billy?" He sounded nervous. He shouldn't be. He was going to fix it.
And this is why casting spells was amazing.
He tapped into his power, pulling it out to go down the line, reconnecting where it broke. He pushed more power into it, faster than before. The line may have been fixed, but now he needed to re-create the body. Dust whipped around him as he cast his spell. Winds roared, thunder crashed, and something in him snapped as Ms. Altman took her first shuddering breath. The power welled up, trying to escape. He couldn't control it. He felt the white power resist him, try to escape him. He grabbed his head and fell to his knees.
God, he felt like he was going to explode. A bolt of white shot out as Ms. Altman ran to her son. No, if he didn't contain this, he was going to explode. A blue dome closed down around him, all of his remaining energy going into creating a shield. He screamed as a jack knife split his skull in two. Teddy was banging on his shield,crying, begging to be let in. He couldn't do that. He was going to explode, and he wasn't going to take anyone with him. Teddy was going to kill him for this.
A pair of arms wrapped around him. He jolted, squinting against the pain to see Tommy right in front of him. The white power danced off of him and ran across Tommy. "You have to get out of here," he yelled over the power now forcibly removing itself from Billy. A white bolt shot from his chest through Tommy's. They slumped together, Tommy's arms tightening.
"Not without you. I'm your big brother. It's my job to keep you safe." He bit back a scream as more white ripped itself from him to attach itself to Tommy. "We're in this together." He nodded as he clutched his "older" brother to him.
"Yeah, together."
The world went white.
"...lly...Bi..wak...p...please." Everything hurt, that was the first thing he noticed. The second was the small drops of water hitting his face before getting wiped off. Finally, Teddy was crying for him, holding him in a gentle grip against his chest. "Billy, I'm so sorry, please, just wake up." He cracked an eye open.
"T-Teddy?" His world shifted as Teddy crushed him to his chest, bawling.
"Oh, god Billy. You're never allowed to scare me like that again." One of Teddy's hands was working his way through his hair and he was rocking back and forth. "I don't care why, you're never allowed to almost get yourself killed again." He coughed as the world swam back into focus. At least his barrier had held, if the massive crater was any indication.
"Ugh, my head's killing me." Teddy bent down and kissed him. He closed his eyes pushing back up against Teddy as he wrapped his arms around him. Teddy broke it off to move to kiss his forehead. He sat up, eyes darting around the crater as Teddy stabilized him in his lap. "Tommy, where'd Tommy go?" Teddy wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Kate has him. He's fine. He's got these strange marks on his wrists and chest, but he's fine." Billy sighed and leaned back into the bear hug, burying his head in Teddy's neck. "You're the worst off. Whatever that power was, the stuff that Eli messed up, burned you badly. Are you okay?" Billy placed a kiss on Teddy's neck.
"Yeah, a little shook up, but I'll be fine." Teddy helped him sit up, and his eyes immediately shot to his twin. Tommy gave him an exhausted grin as he leaned heavily against Kate. His suit was halfway burned off, and his hair was singed short, but he was alive. He smiled back and let his head fall back to Teddy's shoulder. "Yeah, I'll be just fine."