A/N: The ending makes reference to events in Book of Night With Moon, so it will probably make more sense if you've read that book. Also, all characters and the universe they inhabit are the wonderful brainchildren of Diane Duane. I'm just playing around with them and their universe for a while.
When he was 12 he crawled out of the waves of the ocean near his home, dispersed the air bubble he was using, then laid out on the beach for a good long while. He was bruised, battered, and just a little bit terrified of what he'd gotten himself into and what he could now do, and thought to himself that if this is what it felt like to win, losing would probably kill him.
When he was 15 he came to the brutal realization that the things Naomi (his partner and best friend since a few months after his ordeal) was doing that could get him killed were done on purpose. A nasty confrontation and an errantry turned tragedy later he realized that she actually meant it when she told him she was doing it to save him, actually thought what she was doing was going to save the world, and sat shaking on his advisory's couch with the knowledge that the very thing you were fighting against could convince you to fight on It's side by using your very own goal against you.
When he was 17 he watched his area senior perform the cleanup tasks that seniors have been performing since the powers created the position and was awed by the strength of those who not only fight the battle but send everybody they can home afterwards so they can handle the dirtiest jobs. He wondered if he could ever have the strength to do such a job. He wondered if the universe would ever give him the chance to find out.
When he was 20 he moved to New York to attend Columbia University (because he got accepted there, because it's the big city full of life and snow come winter, because it's across the country from everything he's ever known) and met a man with friendly grey eyes and an impressive mustache and a strong heart and courageous soul. He did while Tom planed, had the practical knowledge to aid Tom's theories. They liked the same bands, remembered how each other likes their coffee, held the same virtues, and could finish each other's sentences without thought speak half the time. His name is Carl J. Romeo, and he would quickly become Tom's best friend, partner, lover, and the man Tom is slightly terrified to ever try living without.
At 36 he stands as the lone active east coast senior and watches the gate his partner disappeared into, listens as one after another his fellow wizards report no luck in their search for the man, and tries not to think of the possibilities.