I don't own Young Avengers

The Grass is Always Greener

At first glance it was hard to see anything special about Teddy Altman. Second and third glances wouldn't have helped much, either. Kind of short, kind of skinny, the kind of face you'd recognize in a crowd but not necessarily place. It was always like that, it seemed, with Teddy getting by but never quite noticed. Some would say he had it easy, he tended to disagree. After all, who didn't want to be noticed? To be acknowledged? But if he was going to get ignored anyway, no matter how hard he tried, he might as well go away...
It was that line of thought that sent Teddy behind the school building that day. It was abandoned and he let out a sigh of relief before settling down, his bag next to him. He quickly pulled out his music player and a comic book out of his bag. Looking left and right, he reaffirmed there was no-one there and, ignoring the disappointment, immersed himself in his own little world.

He lost track of how long he was there when sounds penetrated the musical veil he hid behind. At first he paid it no mind, but then the noises grew louder and closer, and he pulled off his headphones. At first he considered checking what it was all about, but then the noises came to an abrupt stop. Teddy stared at the direction the commotion came from, holding his breath, There were laughs and incoherent words exchanged before the voices began moving away, but Teddy couldn't relax quite yet. Not when he realized there were footsteps coming in his direction. Uneven, unsteady, stumbling footsteps. Suddenly these stopped as well, making Teddy blink and then gasp when someone stumbled around the corner into view. It was a guy, one who just barely managed to keep himself up with an arm against the wall. The other was holding his side, no doubt applying pressure over a newly applied bruise. The rest of him was aptly ruffled, tousled, covered in dirt and-
Their eyes met, blue meeting weary brown over a distance. The guy broke eye contact first and Teddy was all too eager to oblige. Just looking at this guy hurt.

Teddy knew who Billy Kaplan was. Even a 'regular joe' like him had enough access to their school's rumor mill to know the story. Billy Kaplan, 'that gay kid'. It was one of the more popular gossip topics, if only because people played at being good samaritans and 'warned' others to stay away. It wasn't so much because of Billy himself, no, but because of the people who came after him. Teddy used to think that was exaggerating it, but learned long ago - if anything, the stories sugar coated it.
Teddy's thoughts were drawn away at the sound of a cough. It was a pained, wet sound, one that made Teddy wince. That sounded bad, he thought and looked at Billy, a worried frown on his face. If he had to say, he didn't know the guy himself, no, but the longer he stayed there the harder it was to feign indifference. Finally he collected his things and took off, thus missing the bitter smile that briefly tugged at Billy's lips. Of course that's where this would end up, of course... or it would've, had it been anyone other than Teddy involved. The first clue hinting towards change was the returning footsteps, a lone pair. The second was the rustling sound, something being carried. The third - the fact there wasn't any more pain after whoever it was walked up to him.

"Here." The voice said, making Billy blink. Slowly he looked up, finding Teddy standing next to him. He was holding out a bottle of water and a half-wet towel. "It's the best I could do for now."

Billy stared up in disbelief for a long moment, making Teddy shift in obvious discomfort.

"Not good?"

Billy glanced aside once before reaching for the bottle. He took a long gulp before spitting it aside, washing his mouth. Teddy frowned at first, but smiled when next Billy swallowed the mouthful. The blond then crouched down next to him, the towel held up. "Can I...?"

Billy gave him a long, suspicious look before taking the towel from him. Teddy relented, understanding of the gesture. After all, they didn't know each other from Adam; Billy had no obligation of trusting him even as much as he did. He leaned back, fighting a small smile as he watched Billy press the wet towel over some of his cuts and bruises. It was nothing to smile at, really, but Teddy still couldn't help himself. He was helping, right?
After a moment of relative silence, Billy finally went still and gave Teddy a long, piercing look. Teddy shifted uneasily before half-motioning at the towel. "Keep it. I don't need it for now."

Billy snorted bitterly and left the thing over his lap. "Heh, yeah, you can do without my cooties..."

"...what?" The blond blinked, not quite sure he heard right.

"Didn't you hear? I'm contagious."

The first reaction Teddy had in mind was to growl and protest, but the way Billy looked at him, so tired and beaten, with that hollow smile, made him rethink that. He wanted to say something, anything, but came up short, at a loss for words. Billy, however, wasn't quite so lost.

"So. You come here often?"
It was the most sickening attempt at small-talk Teddy had ever heard. It was almost enough to make him retreat, but he braved it.

"Sometimes." He admitted softly. He was going to stop there, but there was something, to the way Billy looked at him, to the way he felt with only the two of them there alone like that, with Billy so bare and open about the mess if only because he couldn't hide it... the rest of it left him all on its own. "When I get tired of being invisible."

Teddy wasn't sure what he expected out of Billy's reply, but it certainly wasn't what he got. Rather than mock him, Billy nodded slowly before closing his eyes and leaning his head back.

"It could be worse." He said, then after a long breath, added- "But I suppose that depends on who you ask."

Their eyes met briefly but Billy looked away before Teddy could feel comfortable enough to say anything else. He stalled for long enough that Billy actually tried moving, only to give up on that attempt with a pained sound. Teddy bit his lip and then pushed himself up.

"I'll get you to the nurse's office."

The look of shock and amazement on Billy's face hurt more than the bitter snarl that followed. "Better not. If they see you with me, you'll get in trouble, too."

"I can take care of myself." Came the surprisingly confident reply, and Teddy quickly followed up albeit with noticeably less gusto. "I'm stronger than I look." he practically excused with an awkward smile and a shrug. Billy panted out a broken, half-hearted laugh only to then blink at the hand offered to him. He stared at it before giving Teddy a questioning look, one tinted with caution and distrust.

"Come on, I'll help you over." The blond tried with his best attempt at reassurance. He had the towel placed on his forearm before Billy tried to push himself up on his own. The attempt was doomed to fail, and Teddy caught him in time, bringing the arm not hugging Billy's stomach over his shoulders. Billy braced for impact, expecting the hold to be painful or restricting, but it wasn't. Teddy supported his weight effortlessly despite his smaller build, and he met Billy's incredulous look with a bashful smile.

"Told you. Stronger than I look."

Billy nodded slowly and leaned more of his weight against this unexpected companion. Teddy left pondering the way that made his heart skip a beat for later, and instead bettered his hold on Billy before slowly helping him towards the nurse's office.