AN: This takes place directly following the end of YOUNG AVENGERS (2013) #15, when the Young Avengers, plus Tommy and minus Loki, leave the New Year's party and go to get breakfast.

Breakfast in the New Year

Billy Kaplan, Teddy Altman, Kate Bishop, David Alleyne, America Chavez, Noh-Varr, and Tommy Shepherd were all squished into a booth at the diner, waiting for the breakfast foods to arrive.

"So, I missed out several months, huh?" Tommy said, from where he'd squeezed between his brother and his brother's boyfriend. On the other side of the table sat Noh-Varr by the window and Kate on the outside, with David sitting between them and kindly acting as the mediators between the tension that was still between ex-couple. Then America came back from the diner counter and made Kate scoot in, taking the end of the bench. "Sounds like they were exciting! I'm disappointed to have missed it. Wow, though, now I think I kind of know what it must have felt like for Steve after waking up seventy years after having been frozen."

Billy grinned at his brother, wrapping an arm around the speedster and leaning a head on his shoulder. "You know, Tommy? I actually missed you. Go ahead and talk our ears off, I won't let any of them punch you for it." The mage sent a pointed look at Miss America, who returned the look dryly.

"Nah, I'm not interested in talking," Tommy said breezily. "I want to hear everything that happened while I was temporarily removed from existence. And I mean everything. Don't leave out a single detail!"

"Okay," Billy said, sighing. "Where to start?" He glanced around the table at the people who'd been his companions throughout the adventure. "A little help, guys?"

"It was all Loki's fault," David said immediately. "And Billy's."

"Yeah," Billy conceded, frowning slightly, though he was not about to deny that and let himself be excluded from the blame, he obviously enjoyed angsting over it too much, "and mine."

Tommy huffed impatiently. "Enough with who's fault it was. Just tell me what happened. And I mean everything."

"That's going to take a while," Kate remarked.

Tommy grinned. "Better start now, then."

Everybody turned to look at the mage.

"You're the designated storyteller," America told him.

"As soon as breakfast gets here you're not going to get a word out of me," Kate agreed.

"You were the one who started it," David pointed out. "And finished it. If there's anyone who's fit to tell the entire tale, it's you."

Noh-Varr's face was carefully neutral, somewhat detached and calmly supercilious. "Don't look at me, Billy Kaplan."

Desperately, Billy turned his gaze to Teddy, who just smiled slightly. "You know you're a better storyteller than I am."

"Looks like it's all on you, bro!" Tommy grinned. "Now spill. We don't have forever, you know!"

Billy sighed in defeat. "Okay," he said, turning to his eagerly listening twin, "here's what happened—"

"Here you go, kids," said the waitress, appearing with several plates of food.

"Aww, come on!" Tommy protested, even as a plate of French toast was placed in front of him and he suddenly realized he was starving, pouring a healthy helping of syrup and immediately digging in.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you later," Billy reassured him, commencing upon his own breakfast, which also happened to be French toast.

Tommy waved a fork at the brunette. "You know I won't stop bothering about it until you do."

"You two really are twins," America remarked, eying them as she started on her eggs and bacon.

Both Kate and Teddy grinned at this.

"That the are," Kate said, at the same time Teddy smiled, "They really are, yeah."

"Maybe you two are twins," Tommy suggested, appearing somewhat indignant at having being so easily compared to his spiritual brother. "You just said basically the same thing at the same time, and you two are eating the same breakfast too!" He gestured to the fact that they were both eating pancakes.

"Nuh uh," Kate said, shaking her head. "My pancakes are blueberry. Teddy's are plain."

"I thought you said we wouldn't get a word out of you," Tommy said with a smirk.

Kate glared at him. "Shuddup, speed-boy."

"Shutting up," Tommy said, stuffing his mouth full of syrupy toast. "So, Noh-Varr," he said around mouthfuls of food, "you're the guy who attacked us in the Cube that one time, right?"

The Kree cut a piece of pancake. "Yes."

"So—" Tommy started, only to interrupt himself with a yelped, "Oy! What was that for, bro?!" as Billy elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Not right now," Billy said, glaring.

"Why not?" Tommy asked, reaching for his water glass and downing half of it. "I mean, it's not like anybody else is talking, so—"

Billy groaned. "Would you just shut up already?"

Tommy smirked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Guess the period of 'I missed you so bad I don't mind if you talk my ears off' is over, huh?" he said conceitedly. "Back to the same old love-hate brotherly relationship?"

"I am going to dump the maple syrup over your head," Billy said seriously.

"Ha! I'd like to see you try, bro!"

"No, you are not," Kate said firmly to Billy, taking the syrup out of the mage's reach, pouring some more over her pancakes while she was at it.

"Hey!" Billy protested. "You just negated my threat!"

"Better come up with a better one, then," Tommy said, smirking at him. "Because it was kind of a pointless threat anyway, since, you know," he gestured at himself, "speedster."

"I hate you."
"And I've only been back for a few hours! Damn I'm good!"

"I'm going to turn your entire room pink."

"You wouldn't."

"I would too!"

"Fuck you, Billy Kaplan!"

"Ouch! You poked me!"

"So? What're you gonna do about it?"

"Are they always like this?" Noh-Varr wondered, directing his question at Teddy with slightly raised eyebrows.

Teddy nodded. "Yeah, pretty much," he said, lips twitching upwards. "Can you tell that Billy missed it?"

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious," David spoke up from his spot next to Noh-Varr. He took a bite of his eggs benedict, watching the brothers bicker with a disinterest that, much like everything he did, appeared rather analyzing.

"Hm," Noh-Varr hummed as he turned his attention back to his pancakes. "I have never experienced the relationship that his brotherhood. But it appears to be a vexing one."

"Nah, they secretly love it," Teddy informed him, grinning.

At this same time, America was turning to Kate, raising a dark eyebrow and asking, "Are they always like this?"

"Not always," the archer supplied as she took another bite of blueberry pancake. She chewed and swallowed, before explaining further, "They usually manage to get along when they're beating up bad guys."

America snorted at this.

"Come on, bro," Tommy was whining. His plate in front of him was spotless, completely licked clean. "If you can insult and threaten me while you're eating, then surely you can tell me about what happened to you guys! Come on," he coaxed, "I'm totally in the dark, here! I promise not to interrupt!"

"Okay, fine," Billy sighed as he looked down at the piece of French toast he was cutting up, before looking up at the others and informing them that they could "pitch in any time, guys."

America flipped him off, causing several of the gathered teens and young adults to snort.

"Quit stalling," Tommy said. "Just tell me. You really, really don't want to tell me, do you?"

"Probably because it's embarrassing," David supplied knowingly. "And because he knows you're probably going to tell him that he's stupid."

"Is that the problem?" Tommy asked, raising a white eyebrow at his brother. "Okay then, we'll just get it over with: Billy, you are so stupid. Now tell me the fucking story before I accelerate your atomic structure and make you explode!"

America started to get out of her seat, a furious scowl on her face, but Kate quickly put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back down.

"Relax," Kate told her, "they'd never actually hurt each other."

"Okay, okay," Billy sighed, raising his hands placatingly. "Basically what happened was..."

America was the first to leave. She left before Billy had even finished explaining about the Skrull-wannabes.

Kate left soon after that.

Noh-Varr left soon after that.

David stayed awhile, correcting Billy every now and then. He left right before Billy explained about how David and Teddy had gotten trapped in Mother's home dimension.

Then it was just Billy, Tommy, and Teddy.

By that time they'd been in the restaurant for a couple hours, and the staff had to kick them out.

Billy continued the tale while they walked back to the Kaplanses' house. They took the long route there, so that by the time they finally arrived, Billy had just finished the entire long story.

"Wow," Tommy said when Billy finished, whistling. "Wish I'd been there!"

"You really, really don't," Billy said somberly.

"Actually, you're right," Tommy said thoughtfully, pulling a face. "All the romantic drama that went on. Ugh!"

Billy snorted. "Of course you would think the romantic drama was bad, and not all the nightmarish alternate realities."

"So, what now?" Tommy asked as they approached the door to the house. "What're the Young Avengers doing now?"

"Now?" Billy said, raising his eyebrows as he turned to his brother and shrugged, pausing before knocking on the door. "Now we do whatever. Go our own ways. Deal with our own baggage."

"Until the world is in danger of ending again," Teddy said, "and we're all brought back together to save it."

The door opened, and a smiling Rebecca greeted them, ushering them inside.

Tommy didn't move. "Uh, I gotta go," he said, when Billy and Teddy turned in the doorway to look at him expectantly. "Need to go check if I still have an apartment, seeing as I missed several payments." Then he grinned wryly. "Oh, and Mrs. Kaplan? Whatever you do, never get your family a pet rabbit."

Then he ran off.

Billy blanched, turning to bury his face in his boyfriend's chest. "Oh gods... not the rabbits... I'm still going to be having nightmares about that," he muttered, so quiet his mother couldn't hear, but Teddy still could. "I'm going to be having nightmares about that for a long time."

"Yeah, me too," Teddy admitted into Billy's dark hair.

Rebecca beckoned them all the way inside and shut the door behind them.

AN: I love awkward endings.

And if you don't remember, the rabbit dimension was mentioned in 'Kate Bishop's Interdimensional Journal, Week 5,' which was the first page in YOUNG AVENGERS (2013) #8.