Hi and welcome back to my latest fic 'Connected' for lack of a better name. Hope you guys enjoyed the pilot because I hope you're ready for more. In this new work of mine, I hope to bring forth all my creativity and talent for you lot to enjoy for as long as you're willing to read on to find out what happens. But first things first before I rant much further: I don't own 'Young Avengers' in any shape or form, but I plan on getting the books soon. Enjoy!!

"Iii" = speech

"Iii" = telephone speech

Iii = thought

Chapter 2: Destiny Knocks

Detective Theodore 'Teddy' Altman had been driving around the city for what seemed like almost all day, even though the clock on his digital stereo system informed him it'd only been a few hours. He was sure by now that Greg was back at the office, pissed as hell, wondering where the hell he was and why he'd left without telling anyone. Much less taking him with him for whatever he might have planned. Which at this point, to be perfectly honest, wasn't much of anything. Find the two intruders, track them, and figure out why they'd been in their suspect's apartment last night. For the hour of driving around for literally no reason other than wasting gas, Teddy decided that his best luck was with the apartment complex where all this madness had started. After a small drive that took forever in his mind, Teddy got out and had to wipe away the fatigue from his face. He really wanted to get some sleep, shower and change before showing back up for work like he usually did after a long night of surveillance or something else unusually prolonged.

But if memory served, this case wasn't the waiting type. Like most, he only had so much time before the possible suspects packed up and left town, leaving no trace of themselves behind as they went. Putting his car in park in the large tarmac lot and pulling the key out as the engine slowly hummed to a stop, he leaned forward slightly to turn his gaze to the apartment he'd been in only six hours prior. It was a weird sense of déjà vu, but he had to go in to get the answers he needed to find the two men. Whoever the hell they were, much less why they were there to begin with, knowing full well that cops were watching the place. Scowling a little at the sunlight hitting him right in the eyes, reminding him he'd yet to get any sleep, he quickly pulled back and rubbed his eyes. He had to get this done and over with, while he was still able to think and the scents were still fresh. Fighting down the need to yawn and giving himself a firm, full body shake, Teddy let himself out into the chilly air as he pocketed his keys after locking it behind him. In minutes he was before the door leading to the suspect's apartment, silently wondering why he was hesitating.

You were in here just last night and you're getting jittery? What the hell Altman?!? Okay. Pull it together. Just find out what those two guys wanted, track them down and you just might get to go home early for once. Releasing a sigh, Teddy confidently grasped the door handle and turned it, slowly pushing the door inward. Upon first glance, it was exactly as it'd been only a few hours before: average person furniture in average cool colors. The walls a light cream color, even for a guy's place, with a poster here and there of some band he was sure he'd never heard of before. Like the last few times he'd been through the place, he ignored these things, heading right for the hall leading to the rest of the apartment. From what his nose could tell him, the scents from the night before were still pretty fresh, only his being the freshest of the lot as he walked to the intersection leading to the two rooms where he'd seen a man jump. And the other where he actually jumped out safely and got away. A fact that was now really starting to irk him to no end, and he was hating it. Thinking back now, his sleep deprived mind was somehow still able to put the pieces together for him.

The guy that Greg fought with acted like he knew what he was doing and then vanished like he was Speedy fuckin' Gonzales. But the guy I chased ran like any other human, but somehow got me to think he went out one window rather than the other. Two guys… both the same size and build, working together despite having obviously different abilities. Just what the hell is going on here? Like the night before, the intruder's scent pulled him to the right and towards the still open window. Once again, the wind was making the curtains billow and fold gently, occasionally letting out a light snap when whipped aside. Like the night before, he leaned out as his vision switched to seek out what remained of the man's prints. They'd long since cooled off but prints didn't disappear unless someone or something made them vanish. And so far, his luck was the good kind. Within seconds he found the prints, still clean and fresh on the black metal, sticking out like cheap plastic glow in the dark decorations. Careful not to smudge or disturb the prints, Teddy cautiously maneuvered himself out onto the metal balcony, constantly looking down to avoid covering the prints with his own.

As he touched the metal railing, he flinched at the sudden shock of the mystery charge somehow stored in the metal itself. He even looked at his hand to find it twitching as it almost went numb from the sudden sensation. Frowning, Teddy touched the railing again, this time with both hands. Like he'd touched something hot, he had to pull away as the charge shot into his hands again, this time with a little more force. If anything, he was sure now: the other intruder had powers that only beings of legend possessed, and they were still working when he'd passed the railing. Moving to the next set of stairs down the blonde cop didn't hesitate to move to the next balcony, to once again test his theory. Once again, using both hands, he received the same shocking charge. But this time it'd lost some of its kick. Going down one more flight, Teddy tested this again, only to get the same result, except it was a bit weaker than the last. Giving his chin a rather thoughtful scratch, Teddy finally moved to the next to last metal balcony of the fire escape. Taking a breath, Teddy carefully gripped the side railing with his large hands. The charge was still there, even though it was barely detectable.

He must've been powering down as he descended, and accidently left some of his mystical charge behind. That explains why the body of his 'double' vanished so quickly like that after it went out the window. And to think I'd thought he'd actually died or something. As he was about to go down the ladder leading to the street, something about the scent on the metal got his attention. It was the same as always, for sure, but this time with a little twist. It was just reeking with anxiety, so much so Teddy thought that the world wouldn't stop spinning. Thankfully he was only a few feet off the ground when it hit so falling to fatal injury was highly unlikely. Letting out a sickened groan, the blonde cop had to lock his legs to avoid falling over from the sudden wave of thick emotion. He'd sensed some pretty heavy sensations before, but few were rarely this strong. Either the guy had been nervous about getting chased, or his comrade's well being. Regardless of this, Teddy knew he still had a scent to focus on. This was enough for him to work with.

Looking down once more as his eyes adjusted to his desired focus, Teddy quickly found the man's footprints leading off towards the busy street far to his right. He knew right off that following the prints after that would likely be useless. But he had other senses on his side, and he was sure he could get somewhere with this little escapade of his. Hopefully before Greg got back to the office, discover that he was gone and angrily called him several hundred times on his cell phone. Shaking off the last droves of the hovering emotion, Teddy quickly made his way to the sidewalk, looked around, sniffed, and literally followed his nose.

Close to what felt like hours later, Teddy found himself having walked from midtown all the way to a rather homely section of near Broadway and Central Park, the place filled with apartment complexes. By now the blonde detective really did wish he'd taken his car rather than walking the whole way but had found out earlier in his career that his tracking abilities didn't work so well when he was in a moving enclosed space. Quite literally cursing his luck and the Fates if they existed, Teddy once again took a calming breath as he set his nose back to work finding out where the man's scent would lead him next. He needed to focus on the task and hand, and ignore his cell phone that was constantly vibrating against his leg. From the way it'd been going for close to ten minutes told him that Greg had finally shown up for work, and was likely wondering where he was. Big surprise on his behalf.

Waiting for a slow moving car to go by, Teddy jogged across the street to stand in front of a rather Victorian looking apartment building. Calmly stepping up the front steps, Teddy was quickly hit by traces of both scents. Hinting either the two met often, or they actually lived together. But now wasn't the time to be guessing about such things. One way or another, he was going to get answers. Cautiously tapping the door handle, in case it was also charged as the fire escape had been, Teddy was a bit relieved to find it had nothing to offer when it came to small surprises. Entering proved even easier as the hall and the stairs were empty of anyone remotely close to being a resident. Ignoring the mail box/directory of names directly to his right upon stepping into the silent hallway, Teddy simply followed the scent upstairs. After a few flights and a good three stories up, the blonde cop found himself standing before a well worn door on the fourth floor, facing away from the street. Clearly chosen to distill more privacy than most tenants would ever hope to achieve, far away from creepy, nosey neighbors with nothing better to do. Staring at the door for about a minute, Teddy couldn't help but feel like a paranoid idiot as he eyed the doorknob like it was something dangerous. Especially since the constant buzz of his cell phone was starting to annoy him.

Finally not wanting to take it anymore, Teddy somehow snatched his phone out of his pocket, flipped it open to speak in a tone that just dripped annoyance. "Hello?"

Speak of the devil, it was indeed Greg. And as predicted, he wasn't pleased. "Dammit Ted where the hell are you?!? I've been trying to reach you for over an hour."

"Okay one? That's an exaggerated estimate and two? I've been following a hunch about the guys we didn't catch last night." Teddy calmly retorted, scowling at thin air as he sure Greg was doing on the other end.

Almost immediately he continued his angry interrogation via cell phone. "The guy who jumped out the window and 'vanished' or the guy who punted me in the nuts and ran like his ass was on fire?"

"Both." Teddy deadpanned. The tone of voice he was giving his partner should've been hint enough that he wasn't in the mood for this nonsense.

Sadly Greg didn't know how to take a hint. "Oookay. Where are you!??"

"Just… just sit tight will you? I'll call you back. And don't try to call me first. The feel of my phone vibrating against my leg made a muscle or two a little too relaxed." He growled, quickly flipping the device shut and stuffed it back into his pocket where it belonged, once again turning to the wooden obstacle before him.

That shut him up for a while. Dammit Altman why the fuck do you still even talk to that guy?!? Okay, okay calm down. Now's not the time for this. Take a good, deep breath and just knock on the door. Just… knock. Hand poised to knock as his brain commanded, Teddy found it oddly difficult to complete the action. The fact that he was showing up, with no forewarning to why he was there as well as his intentions, and no warrant in his hand to make the person or persons inside to submit to his authority. But the only way he was going to understand where his case was leading him was to knock on the door. A simple action, an everyday thing, that usually prompted a simple response from the person beyond and so on and so forth. But here he was, standing there, wanting to kick himself for being unable to do something so fucking simple it was sad.

Finally after almost several minutes of contemplation, the blonde detective let his hand fall to grasp the doorknob, and turn it. Much to his surprise, it wasn't locked like he'd assumed it would be. This told him one of two things: one, the occupants had up and left long before he'd arrived on scene. Or two, they weren't aware they'd forgotten to lock the door and simply didn't believe that someone could just walk in. Either that or they just never bothered, ever. Leaving such thoughts for later, Teddy let go of the knob and lightly pushed the door open, eying the empty front hall with instinctive suspicion. All his eyes could find was a small table, a few pictures on the walls, a doorway or two he'd investigate, as well as a rather nice area rug that stretch to what looked like the living room. Pushing back his jacket, he fingered his gun sitting comfortably in its holster, allowing one leather shoe to follow the other as he eased into the apartment as silently as the wooden floor would allow. Stopping at one doorway, and then the next, Teddy found that both rooms were empty. One was a computer room while the other seemed like a storage room of some sort. But Teddy didn't exactly have the patience he usually had to investigate either of these rooms as he continued his wary path deeper into the home.

So far his entry had been smooth and the fact the apartment was so quiet was really starting to bother him. No way was someone's place this quiet unless no one was home, they were good at hiding or… I'm about to get more paperwork than I need right now. He thought as he edged his way to the end of the hall, subconsciously holding his breath for what he might find or have to do once he looked. Steeling himself against a possible gun fight or a dead body, Teddy finally had the brains to look around the corner to his left to find, empty space and another hallway leading far off, but so far no one dead or threatening.

It wasn't until he started to look right that the hairs on the back of his neck really started to tingle, causing him to quickly spin and raise his arm against the blur of motion headed for the back of his head. The object, long, thin and metallic, bounced off the hardened green skin under his sleeves, letting off a loud clang. Surprised but not daring to show it on his face, his attacker quickly backed off, brandishing the now slightly dented crowbar like it was a sword, glaring at Teddy with great vehemence. By scent alone Teddy knew it was the runner that'd fought with Greg the night before, and he could honestly say he wasn't expecting this. His slightly pale blue eyes watched Teddy angrily, strands of white blonde hair, short and a little spiky, coming to fall over one of his eyes. As he remembered, the man was skinny but slightly muscular. Even as he stood slightly turned, Teddy knew there was more to this guy than appearances let on.

After a moment of tense silence, the man was almost in his face before Teddy could blink, barely giving him time to raise his arms to fend off the offensive metal tool. Like before, the crowbar let out clangs and twangs as its metal sang from hitting his armored skin. This constant barrage was getting both nowhere, and it was making his attacker extremely aggravated that his attempts to make Teddy step backwards weren't working. Somewhere in the middle of his assault he suddenly changed tactics. Teddy wasn't sure how, but for some reason the crowbar hitting his arms slowly started to become annoyingly painful as the hits came ever faster, and quite possibly harder. Scowling at this change, the blonde allowed for a few more hits to fall before finally snatching it out of the air and lifting it, and its holder, into the air. Eyes widening in shock at this, the man didn't fail to recover as he gave Teddy a swift head butt. So much so Teddy grunted, unconsciously letting go of the crowbar as he attempted to shield his face from anything else. Too late. The crowbar was back and this time when it hit, Teddy fell into the black abyss of unconsciousness.

Dull, pulsating pain brought Teddy back to the waking world, the fact that a pair of voices whispering off to the side somewhere told him that he was either still sitting at his desk, was in the hospital for head trauma, or he was still in the mystery pair's apartment. There were no sounds of goings-ons that suggested he was surrounded my nurses or coworkers so the final option was all his fuzzy mind was left with. But the fact that he was now lying on something soft and comfortable told him he'd been moved from where he'd fallen. Letting out a low groan as he kept his eyes shut against the suddenly bright natural lighting of the room as he attempted to sit up and get his feet back on the floor. The whispering, quick and aggravated, suddenly stopped as the blonde tried to set himself upright, only to regret it. His head was pounding and his now pressing want to sleep was too strong to ignore.

"Are you okay?" a voice suddenly asked, low and apologetic, the familiar scent of the jumper wafting over him like ocean wave.

Greatly confused not only by the smell but by the voice, Teddy didn't open his eyes as he turned his confused face towards the source of the voice. "Wha?"

Not even missing a beat the voice next to him continued to speak, sounding timid despite all the power that Teddy sensed in it. "I'm so, so, so sorry that this happened. Maybe you should lie back down."

"I've been hit." He said simply, ignoring the gentle and warm hand trying to push him down onto what he suspected was the couch.

"I'm serious, you really should lie down."

Even as his words registered in Teddy's brain, the same words still came out of his mouth for a reason that was beyond him. "I've been hit."

"You said that already." The voice stated, sounding slightly amused as Teddy finally let the gentle hands push him back down, his head throbbing.

"Damn. Damn it to hell." He grumbled in a low tone, his mind swimming, wincing as a wave of pain came over him. "I don't feel so good."

"Just lie back a minute." The voice repeated, the feel of warm fingers touching his skin making him almost flinch away from the contact as the pain in his head beginning to subside in a way Teddy didn't think was possible.

Off to the side, the other voice sounded off, angry and astounded. "Seriously? You're helping this guy? He broke into our house!"

"He didn't 'break in' Tommy. He came in of his own accord, and he didn't break the door as we assumed he would. There's a difference." The voice above him snapped, the tone in his voice told Teddy that he wasn't pleased with his companion at all.

Only his friend wasn't giving up so easily. "But still! He's a cop! You know what I think about cops."

"Yes, yes I do. You practically tell me every fifteen to twenty minutes." The voice deadpanned, his tone changing as he turned his attention back to Teddy. "Better?"

"Whoa." Attempting to open his eyes and failing, Teddy couldn't help but feel dazed as he had to ask. "What was that?"

Much to his surprise, the voice above him chuckled lightly, somehow warming up Teddy's chest for some reason. "Me fixing my brother's stupidity. Now you can sit up."

With some help from the ever gentle hands, Teddy once again tried to sit up and succeeded. Opening his eyes was another matter, since the light made him snap them shut as he grunted in surprise. "Ugh."

"What?" the voice asked, curious and concerned.

Teddy shook his head, rubbing his face with hands with the hopes of getting the sleep out of his eyes. "Bright."

"Ah. That'll pass." The man said simply.

From the other side of the room, Tommy scoffed. "Smart ass."

"At least I actually paid attention in health class. Unlike some people." The voice said pointedly while Teddy finally got his vision to work in time to see Tommy roll his eyes.

Blue eyes glared at his counterpart, his voice low and angry. "I was defending our home against this guy and you're angry at me? Be pissed at him! Hell, ask him why he came in. Go ahead! Ask him."

Teddy looked to his left and was met with something rather interesting: an exact copy of the man he now knew as Tommy, only certain aspects were different. His hair was a rather dark brown, his eyes a hazel brown that glared in turn at his lookalike. It was obvious from the way Tommy was acting that he was the more confident of the two, but the other one seemed to be more in tune with common sense.

"Fine." The hazel brown eyes fell on Teddy, scent, sight and sound making Teddy want to pinch himself. No way he was this lucky. This became something to ponder later as the man looked at him with a questioning stare. "Okay Mr.--."

"Why am I seeing double? Is it because he hit me?" Teddy practically found himself demanding, proof that his mouth was out of tune with his mind. Without waiting for an answer from the man next to him, Teddy turned his gaze to Tommy, his eyes narrowed and accusing as he spoke through gritted teeth. "You fuckin' hit me!"

"And you deserved it!" Tommy snapped, a wicked smirk gracing his lips.

"No. My partner deserved getting kicked in the balls. I didn't deserve to get a head butt followed by a crowbar chaser."

The twin next to Teddy blinked in surprise, jumping at this new piece of information. "He kicked your partner in the balls? When?"

"Last night, right before you, or rather a very good copy of you jumped out a window and made me think you'd killed yourself. Thanks for that." Teddy said coolly, glancing at the twin with a raised eyebrow.

Almost immediately the dark haired man blushed, his face practically becoming a tomato with hair on it. "H-how did you--?"

Fighting the urge to smirk triumphantly, Teddy simply kept himself cool as he kept going, taking silent amusement at their faces. "Your prints leading away on the fire escape and down the street were a pretty big clue. That and your scent wasn't in the room where you'd jumped was also a good hint."

"M-my what?!?" the man's blush had gone from red to scarlet. Tommy just looked a little shocked by this news.

Teddy merely shrugged, acting fairly nonchalant. "Your scent. It's kinda how I found you guys. And half the reason I'm here to be honest."

"Wait a damn minute." Tommy growled, walking forward to stand directly in front of the blonde cop, sneering down at him angrily. "I'm lost now. You smelled your way here?"

"I guess you could say that." Teddy said as he shrugged again. He didn't hesitate to turn back to the twin next to him. "That and you left some of your mystic charge on that fire escape so that was a big clue also."

"Who the hell are you!??" Tommy may as well have screamed, his twin looking too embarrassed or shocked to say much.

"Just a detective who walked a little over fifteen blocks to find a pair of possible law breakers who escaped custody, forcing me to leave my car at the apartment complex where my partner and I have been watching a suspect since late afternoon of yesterday. And now, here I am, possibly suffering a concussion all because I was so cruelly assaulted by a crowbar." Teddy growled, Tommy clamping his mouth shut, his face pale. His twin didn't say a word. "Which begs the question: what the hell were you two doing in that apartment last night?"

"Uh…." The twin began to say before Tommy was back to yelling.

"That's none of your damn business!"

This time Teddy wasn't in the mood for arguments, easily making his hands turn large, spiked and grass green. He didn't even hesitate clenching one into a fist and stretching it forward to be right in Tommy's face. "You're not getting off that easy. I can easily arrest you right here and now for assaulting an officer of the law. And your attitude is really testing my patience. Now I came here for one reason and one reason only, and that's to talk. Nothing else. Now are we going to get along or do I have to start making calls?"

Having regained his composure, the unnamed twin was suddenly between them, placing a hand on Teddy's fist and making him set it down. The blonde waited patiently as the twin looked Tommy right in the eyes, his tone dead serious. "I don't think he's bluffing. Just sit in on this one okay?"

"But--!"

He didn't have a chance to say more when his brother's eyes started to glow bright neon blue, his voice echoing with power. "Sit. Down. Now."

Tommy's face twisted with indecision, glancing between his brother and Teddy before finally letting out a low growl. Turning on his heel in obvious frustration, Tommy crossed his arms childishly as he sat in a chair across the room. With an expectant gaze, the unnamed twin turned to Teddy. Realizing he hadn't changed his hands back, the blonde quickly let them go back to being human hands, removing on from the twin's grip as he averted his eyes and cleared his throat. "Okay, now that my head's done aching a bit, let's get started."

--An Hour Later

Teddy had heard some odd excuses in his years as a cop, all of them for something or other that was minor but had ended up blowing up into something big. But off all the things that he'd expected to hear, what he'd been told wasn't one of them.

"You're private investigators? And you couldn't just tell us that from the start?" he asked, his face showing how he was having trouble accepting this information.

From across the room, Tommy was once again rolling his eyes. "You'd have just kicked us out as soon as we told you. Cops like you are always concerned with 'safety' and all that bullshit."

"Shut up Tommy." The twin, Billy as Teddy had discovered his name was, scolded from next to him. Like before, he gave Teddy an apologetic look. "Sorry. He kinda has a record."

"Somehow I don't doubt that." Teddy deadpanned, nodding in agreement.

"Dammit Billy don't be tellin' him that shit!" Tommy yelled, once again on his feet in anger and frustration, blue eyes ablaze as they burned holes into Teddy's face. "How can we possibly trust this guy?"

For once, Billy let his own eyes roll, glaring at his sibling. "Well for one: he didn't attack us like the other guy did. And two: the fact that we're both not in cuffs right now should tell you something about his character rather than you accusing him of something he's probably never even done."

"Oh he's probably done it. I'm sure of it." Tommy grumbled, flopping back down into his chair, arms crossed as he continued to glare at Teddy with great vehemence.

Glancing between the two, Teddy couldn't help but look truly confused. "Done what? What the hell are you talking about?"

"He thinks you're a dirty cop." Billy stated simply.

The blonde looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Ah. I trust that's the reason he tried to beat me to death with a crowbar?"

Billy just shrugged. "Yes and no. He's just an idiot."

"I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT!!" Tommy practically screamed, angrily pointing an accusing finger at his sibling.

The dark haired man just glared back, its heat enough to make Tommy look like he wanted to be somewhere else. "It's what you get for beating up a cop. Now shut up before the neighbors hear you."

Tommy quickly recovered, hoping the change in subject would get him out of trouble with his brother. "So what now? He knows about us and is probably gonna arrest us anyway!"

Expectantly, Billy turned his questioning gaze to Teddy, making the man want to just up and fall over. He could swear that he could hear his own heartbeat. "Mr. Altman?"

"Just call me Teddy. And I don't see why I shouldn't employ your help on this." He managed to say as he fought down a burning blush.

Two sets of eyes widened in shock, Billy somehow speaking first. "What?"

"Seriously?" Tommy said, mirroring his brother's astonishment.

"Perfectly. This case is going nowhere and it's driving us all up a wall. Getting some fresh eyes and ears on it won't kill anyone. I hope." The blonde stated, quirking an eyebrow but then wincing as his head started to pang with pain again. "Unless, you guys still want me to arrest your for trespassing and resisting arrest."

"Does it still hurt?"

Teddy just shrugged at Billy's concern. "A little. But then again it doesn't help that I was up all night doing surveillance. I probably smell and gods in heaven knows how my partner's going to react to my doing things on my own."

"Then don't tell him." Tommy growled, his anger returning.

Only to get scolded once more by Billy, his brown eyes narrowed at the white blonde in disapproval. "Tommy! You're not helping."

"What? He knows I'm right. What you don't know can't hurt you."

Teddy only shook his head at this. "I still have to fill out a report, and keeping you out of that would mean dishonesty and probably forgery."

"Then go ahead and put us on paper. Tell your partner if you have to. You don't have to lie about knowing us." Billy said sternly, only making Tommy even angrier than before.

"Yes he does! I don't want anything to do with that son of a bitch partner of his. I'll be damned if he jumps me again."

Almost standing up, Teddy leaned forward instead, his face twisted in surprise and confusion. "Wait… what do you mean again?"

"I was just standin' there, waiting for you to come back and all of a sudden that douche bag of a partner of yours comes runnin' at me and tries to beat the living daylights out of me. No warning or anything. Just starts tryin' to rough me up."

Teddy gave Tommy a look of honest confusion. Of all the things, he definitely wasn't expecting to be told this. "That's not like Greg to just up and do that. You're sure that he just started to attack you, and didn't make any attempt to talk to you?"

"I'm pretty damn sure. And I would've told you if he hadn't told you to chase Billy out a window."

"Not on purpose!" Billy said quickly, looking sheepish under their gazes. "And I couldn't exactly attack a cop like you can."

Ignoring this for now, Teddy looked at the floor as his mind reeled. No way Greg would do something like that. Not without a good reason, one that he didn't seem to have. "I've known Greg for years. Hell, we went through the academy together. For him to do that and for no obvious reason isn't like him. Something doesn't smell right here."

"You got that right blue boy." Tommy snapped, once again in a nasty mood. Was this guy ever happy? Ever?

As it turned out, Billy'd had enough of his sibling's behavior, Teddy's car keys somehow appearing in his hand in a light flash of blue light. "Tommy! If you're not going to be at least a little nice, you can go get his car."

Tommy's jaw dropped, shock turning back into anger in seconds. "What?!? Like hell!"

"It's the most you can do right now for hitting him with a crowbar. And for God's sake, go the speed limit." Billy warned as Tommy scowled, stomped over to snatch the keys and was gone in a blur of color and wind.

Having watched the exchange in shocked silence, Teddy was quick to recover, shaking his head in awe. "Well that explains two theories I had about you two."

"Huh?" Billy turned back to him, truly curious about what the blonde meant. "Theories?"

Teddy shrugged, averting his gaze away from the eye that made him want to faint for some reason. "Well I figured you had some kind of mystic ability but the fact you did that with just a flick of the wrist blows everything out of the water. And his? Well, that was definitely not was I thought he was capable of."

"You're not the only full of surprises." Billy stated chuckling, only to stop at the oddly nervous look on Teddy's face, his eyes downcast. "Sorry."

Quickly bringing his eyes back up, Teddy shook his head with the hopes of reassuring Billy that he hadn't said anything wrong. "N-no. It's okay. I just… I'd always figured that I was the only guy on the island."

"Same here. Does Greg know that you can…?" Billy asked, leaving the end open even though both knew what he meant.

Again, Teddy shook his head, this time his eyes landing their gaze on the floor. "No. I've always kept it to myself. But I think my mom knows. I'd ask her but…."

"Too scared?"

For once Teddy chuckled, a distant look overcoming his face. "Nah, too polite. Her business is her business. She'll tell me… eventually."

Billy nodded sagely, a knowing smile gracing his lips. "She sounds nice."

Teddy nodded in turn, a nostalgic smile on his face. "She is. Though I think she's still having second thoughts about letting me become a cop."

"Seems like she really cares."

He merely shrugged at this statement. Such a thing wasn't really new to him. "I know she does. Only she has this weird way of showing it."

"Really? Like what?"

"If I told you, we'd be here for days." Teddy said, letting out another low chuckle at the thought of them just sitting there for the next week or so with him just going on and on. "And I don't think I can take a break knowing what's been going on lately."

Billy suddenly scowled at this concept. "What about your partner? Shouldn't we be including him in all of this?"

"I'm not sure. He's been acting a little weird lately. And it's got me on edge." Teddy muttered, rubbing his face with his hands, hoping that the Sandman would stay away just a little bit longer. "I don't know anymore. Something about him doesn't smell right."

"Why don't you get some rest? You look terrible." Billy said, his worried expression seeming to make Teddy's heart flutter. "We can brainstorm when Tommy gets back."

Uncertainty hid his rising blush, the rush of blood threatening to burn the skin right off of his face. "You sure? I can always just--."

This time Billy scowled, a serious and dangerous edge coming into his voice. "Rest. Tommy's not the only one who can knock people out."

"Point taken." The blonde said, complying with the command by lying back down on the couch, forcing his legs up onto the other end. Almost instantly his head was protesting, sending him another wave of pain. "Ugh. And my head still hurts."

"Lie back and relax. This won't even take a minute." The man said softly, Teddy quietly complying by switching directions so that his head was almost literally in Billy's lap.

Whether it was a minute or just ten seconds, Teddy didn't know. All he knew was that he did as his head was halfway down, the same hypnotic feeling coming over him as Billy's gentle hands were once again on his head. Their warmth was enough to make Teddy wish he could stay there forever, work and case be damned. Whatever pain that'd been trying to kick his brains out was certainly gone now, or at least he hoped it would be when he got up again. All this thoughts and concerns were suddenly out the window as he lay there, letting Billy do… well whatever it was he was doing. As his mind drifted to the never-ending abyss that was sleep, he couldn't help but wonder if he was imagining the feel of Billy's fingers in his hair.

Tommy came back close to twenty minutes later, still fuming a little as he slammed the front door behind him in frustration. Damn his brother and his damn charitable ways. Sure he loved his brother near to death but dammit he had limits to just how nice he could be to other people, cops included. Especially when one of them tries to break your leg for kicks. Ignoring the thoughts coming into his head, Tommy shuffled back into the living room, the cop's car keys stashed in his jean pockets.

"I'm back." He muttered before the sight in front of him made his eyebrows go skyward in muted shock. "Damn he likes to sleep doesn't he?"

Billy just rolled his eyes, scowling at his sibling. "He needs it. Apparently he doesn't mix well with insomnia. I'm surprised you're not still angry. Was traffic really that good?"

Tommy simply scoffed, lazily walking over to the chair across the room. "If only. Nah. I'm just tryin' to get over the fact that you want to work with this guy."

"He's certainly better than the other one. Unless you want me to get his cell phone and start pressing buttons?" Billy inquired, fully prepared to start searching Teddy's pockets for the little device.

"Hell no. I'll be damned if I have to deal with that guy by myself again. Not without you or this one to back me up. I swear that guy has problems." Tommy growled, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into the chair.

"Or he's more involved than we thought." Billy said, thoughtfully more than factually.

A moment of silence filled the room, the twins allowing it to stretch a bit before Tommy finally nodded at the blonde man rest peacefully in Billy's lap. "You gonna wake him up?"

"No. He could use some downtime. Why? You want to try and beat him up again?" he asked, the scowl returning tenfold.

Tommy watched his twin, looking oddly thoughtful as his blue eyes narrowed almost suspiciously. "You like him don't you?"

Caught off guard, and fighting down a blush, Billy tried to protest. "What? I--."

"Oh c'mon Billy! I'm not as smart as you but I've got eyes. And right now I'm usin' 'em. And they see you fawnin' over a cop you only just met! No shame whatsoever." Tommy calmly scolded, giving his twin a rather devilish look.

"I-it's not like that! I just--!" face burning furiously, Billy had to look away from his brother's knowing gaze. "I'm just getting a good vibe ya know? Like we can trust him with all of this."

This time Tommy's face furrowed in concern as he eyed the sleeping cop. "You sure? I know it's rare for you to be wrong but still… I've got my doubts."

"Then they're noted. But I'm serious Tommy. He really does need our help. Just as we mostly will need his." He muttered, his thumb playing with a lock of blonde hair. So far Teddy had yet to move.

Once again the angry scowl was back on his face. "Let me know when he screws up. I want first dibs at beatin' his ass into the ground."

"Tommy--."

He didn't waste any time cutting his brother off. "I'm serious Billy. One false move and he's out. Cop or not, I'll take him down myself if I have to."

"Now you're just overreacting." Billy deadpanned, fighting down another embarrassed blush as the two tried to stare each other down.

Tommy was too busy scowling to care about much else. "Am I? Am I really?"

Finally Billy had to look away, his hand lighting up with blue light over Teddy's face, a few seconds of scrutiny making him frown. "You hit him too hard. He seems to have a natural healing ability but it's having trouble fixing the damage. I managed to get rid of most of it. I'm going to leave the rest up to him before I mess with it some more."

"This discussion isn't over." He growled, turning his attention back to the blonde cop lying next to his brother. "You gonna wake him up or not?"

Billy looked up again, the scowl back with a vengeance. "Give him an hour. There are even things that I can't fix. Like fatigue. Ever hear of it?"

"Fine, fine. I'll be back later. We need to restock on some stuff." Tommy snapped in annoyance, swiftly pushing himself up out of the chair before he was soon stomping back down the main hall.

"Do you have enough?" Billy called, hoping the man wouldn't be caught with a few dollars less than he needed at the counter.

Tommy paused at the door, as if in thought before calling back. "Yeah. Later." All Billy heard was the slam of the front door as his twin went to cool off.

For a reason that only he seemed to know but couldn't remember, Teddy didn't want to wake up. Screw work and paying the bills, and just toss everything else out the window. All the pain, hurt and blood that people were so willing to spill every day. He just wanted to stay where he was, forever feeling warm with gentle hands messing with his hair. As if by its own accord, Teddy could feel himself shifting, rolling a little as he started to lean into the touch. His ears barely caught a surprised gasp but he chose simply to ignore it. Whether it was real or not didn't matter to Teddy anymore. Getting up now would mean that he'd have to face everything, that he'd have to face Greg and his arrogant self. Soon the hands were back, one sifting through his hair while the other just seemed to be exploring his face. A few of the fingers passed his nose just as he took a breath, and he got full wind of a familiar scent that were already stirring butterflies in his stomach. It was Billy's, through and through, and he had to fight down a hum of pleasure just from getting a fresh whiff of it. Even if he was half conscious, he was sure that Billy was fully awake.

Even with his mind befuddled by sleep and the odd joy he was getting from all of this, he knew better than to let his emotions get ahead of him. For all he knew Billy didn't swing that way, and any efforts he made thereafter would be strained, possibly even awkward. Some of the people from high school had already taken to avoiding him a little. Not that college had been all that much better. Only a select few managed to find out, Teddy managing to keep it mostly to himself as one or two of the few avoided him. Not that was anything new to him. He was used to being treated differently over such a thing, but why did the possibility that Billy would reject him feel so painful? Usually he got over such a thing pretty quick and went on with his life. But why did this feel so different for some reason?

Sudden movement brought Teddy more into Reality Land than Dream Land, making him sit up a little as his eyes fluttered open. Quickly looking around, Billy was somehow gone and he was alone. Sleep swiftly forgotten, Teddy was instantly in cop mode, blue eyes scanning the immediate vicinity for anything odd or out of place. So far, the apartment had become silent as his ears strained to hear something, anything that would clue him in to what was going on. From what he could from the windows, it was still daytime outside. Quickly looking at his watch, he cursed to himself for being so careless. Three full hours had gone by since he'd arrived at the apartment and he was pretty sure that Greg was fuming by now. Not that would even come to be a surprise to him. Switching his vision to infrared, Teddy found two heat sources in the kitchen, a loud clunk and a muttered curse backing his findings. Forcing himself to relax, Teddy let normal vision take over as he sleepily shuffled into the kitchen through an extra door he'd failed to notice when he'd entered.

Wiping some of the sleep from his face, Teddy was a little surprised to see what he saw: Tommy was seated at the table, lazily sitting back while flipping through a magazine while Billy seemed to be organizing the fridge. So far, it looked like he had some idea in as to what he was doing when it came to what went where.

Finally having the brains to take off his jacket, vaguely noticing that part of a sleeve was damaged from Tommy's attack on him, Teddy stepped into the room. "Need help with that?"

Both twins jumped, Billy swiftly looking up like a deer in the headlights while Tommy nearly fell out of his chair. The white blonde muttered a curse while his brunette double let out a sigh of relief. "Oh god. Don't do that!"

"Sorry. It's a habit." He said sheepishly, placing his jacket over an extra chair, quickly scanning the produce spread about the table.

"He's a cop. What do you expect?" Tommy growled, haughtily readjusting his grip on his magazine as he stuck his nose between the pages.

As usual, Billy was swift to protest his brother's comment. "Tommy! Not helping!"

"What do you think I'm doin'?" the twin snapped back, glancing at him over his magazine with a look of extreme aggravation.

"Being a lazy ass! Now get up and help!" Billy growled, Teddy almost shivering from the wave of power hidden in his voice.

"Oh no. I went and got his car and I got groceries. You have to work now." Tommy snarled just as angrily, pointedly keeping his eyes on the printed text in his hands. "I'm on break dammit."

Just as Billy was about to respond, eyes alight with anger, Teddy decided it was best to step in before things went too far. "Alright, alright calm down. Both of you. I'll help."

Smiling nervously, Billy shook his head, waving at him to sit down. "No, it's okay. Really I can--."

"I can see that you're not used to stocking things very well. Now either I help or I kick you out. Which is it?" the blonde said gruffly, staring the other man down to show he wasn't about to take no for an answer.

After a moment of tense silence, Billy finally caved, moving away from the fridge to let the larger blonde take the helm. "Fine. I don't see why not."

Chuckling in amusement, Teddy calmly walked towards the fridge. "See? Not so hard now is it? Now let's see what we've got here…." His smirk of amusement fell before a shocked sneer of pure disgust took its place. Clearly some of the contents were either untouched, expired or simply not edible anymore. "Dear lord what the hell have you two been doing? This isn't college. I'm surprised even half of this hasn't been eaten yet."

Tommy sat up, suddenly interested in what the blonde was saying for once, eyeing both the cop and the fridge. "Really? What do you mean?"

"Well, this is expired. This is beyond expired and this… is no longer edible in any sense of the word." Teddy muttered as he held a container with two fingers, his face scrunched in disgust, carefully placing it on the table with two other items there were clearly not usable.

"Suddenly my fridge is a crime scene now? Oh great! Let me know when you're gonna be dustin' for prints wise guy." Tommy snarled angrily, promptly returning to his magazine.

Teddy turned his confused look to Billy, who just shrugged sheepishly. "I don't actually live here. I'm just staying until I get my own place."

"Did you live anywhere else before?" he asked, clearly concerned as he continued to pull ruined food items from the large appliance.

"Yeah but they had to close it up. Something about an infestation of some kind, an insect of some sort then again I didn't really question it. So I just started crashing here." The brunette stated, a guilty look coming over his face and voice. "At least until I find another apartment."

"Dude how many times do I have to tell you? You can stay here! I'm not gonna kick you out just cuz you can't find a new place." Tommy growled, finally putting his magazine down as he gave his double a stubborn face.

"I know but—!"

"Just hand me the garbage can before this thing starts moving." Teddy warned, holding an opened piece of foil in front of himself, his sensitive nose taking in the item's stench. It was so strong he looked like he wanted to puke.

Not having to be told twice, Tommy finally got out of his chair to grab the bin from a corner of the room. Within seconds he held it in front of Teddy, who quickly placed the thing inside. Looking in and suddenly regretting it, Tommy glanced between Teddy and the garbage can in his hands. "What was that anyway?"

"Beef, if you can still call it that. Then again, as you said, this is your fridge." The blonde stated coolly, continuing his quest to free the fridge of its many contaminates.

Tommy just rolled his eyes, scowling at the blonde. "Oh ha-ha real funny. Unlike you I don't need a car."

"Is he always like this?" he asked, glancing back at Billy for the answer.

Billy could only scoff, clearly amused by the question. "You have no idea. Just wait until he hasn't slept or drinks coffee."

Teddy blinked. "I'd rather not visualize something like that."

The brunette chuckled this time, despite Tommy's angry stare burning into his face. "Not really no."

He nodded, accepting this response as he turned back to his task. "So you're both investigators. What do you usually look into?"

"Oh you know: lost cats, stolen items and the like. Oh yeah! We even found that one kid's retainer after it fell in the river." The white blonde stated in obvious sarcasm, his teeth on display in a Cheshire grin. "And that was just the first two weeks."

"We also helped with some missing people, abductions… a murder or two." Billy added, clearly ignoring his brother's attitude.

Teddy froze, eyebrows rising in pure surprise at this information. "All with police help?"

Billy just shook his head. "No. We did it anonymously."

Tommy's grin was gone in seconds just as the words were uttered. "Oh no. You did it anonymously. I would've at least asked for a reward."

"Just because I'm not a big shot like you doesn't exactly give us the right to ask for money from the police!" Billy quickly retorted, scowling his disapproval at his double.

But said twin was quick to scoff, the anger rising in his eyes again. "Yeah but it'd be nice though."

"Tommy, you said you wouldn't bring this up again."

"Hey I'm just sayin'!" Tommy snapped, clearly on edge of becoming enraged.

Almost on cue, Teddy once again had to play referee. "Alright that's enough. Both of you. When was the last time you two ate a proper meal?"

"This morning. Why?" Tommy demanded, clearly suspicious of the question.

Teddy nodded, his face showing he was in thought before he finally spoke. "Hm. Well, that decided it."

"Decided what?" Tommy demanded, looking at Billy who only shrugged in his own confusion at what the blonde was planning.

Said blonde only snickered in amusement. "Once we're done here and I get my files from the office, I'll be cooking."

"Cooking?" the white blonde repeated, as the word were unknown to him. Again he turned to his twin for some kind of insight. "What's he talking about?"

This time Billy's face brightened a little, a sly smirk coming on his face. "I think he wants to treat us."

"Seriously?" Tommy asked, dumbfounded and slack jawed. Turning to the blonde cop, his face made Teddy think he'd grown another head. "Seriously? In all seriousness?"

Chuckling at his almost childish surprise, Teddy nodded in confirmation, a kind grin revealing his pearly whites. "Yes Tommy, I am being serious. And only because you obviously have no culinary skills to speak of."

"Hey!" Tommy suddenly snarled angrily, huffing in indignation. "Not my fault my parents were too drunk to teach me anything!"

"Mine were pretty okay. I should be able to help." Billy added, sounding a bit sheepish, which wasn't all that new.

What they'd just said was. And it caught Teddy off guard enough to look from one to the other. From the look on his face, what they'd just said hadn't really made much sense. "Wait… you're from different families?"

Tommy didn't say a word, his face having grown hard. But Billy looked unusually sad, his attempts at smiling it off failing miserably. "Uh yeah… we were uh… kinda adopted by different couples."

Teddy blinked. Of all the things, he didn't expect that. After a few seconds of silence his brain finally processed the information well enough to respond. "Oh. That makes sense."

Just as soon as he'd spoken, the silence was back, stretching on for a few minutes as the three stood rather awkwardly in the kitchen. Nodding at the open fridge, Tommy eyed the remaining contents with suspicion. "You almost done?"

Looking between the garbage can and the fresh items on the table, Teddy could honestly nod in affirmation that his task was done. "Yeah. Just stick all of this in there for now and I'll be back in about an hour."

"Here." Tommy grumbled, reaching into his jeans pocket and pulling out something metallic and jangly that Teddy almost didn't recognize. "Your keys."

"Ah. Thanks. And guys?" he said, smiling the same kind smile, taking the keys out of Tommy's hand. "Lock the door this time."

This time Billy actually laughed, the butterflies in Teddy's stomach almost doubling in number, barely managing to hold his expression in place. If Billy noticed, he didn't show it as he spoke. "Good advice. See you later!"

Using his empty hand, accompanied by his special abilities, Teddy stretched his arm, quite literally across the table to where he'd left his jacket. Returning his arm to normal and casually stashing his jacket over one of his shoulders, Teddy just smiled at their expressions of pure shock. "Bye."

Leaving the two to themselves, Teddy casually made his way to the door and out into the hallway. Needless to say, he hadn't really expected all of this to happen, much less to him. As much as he wanted to try and wrap his head around it, he finally decided to just leave it for later as he shut the door behind himself. Just as he got to the end of the landing leading down, Teddy's ears vaguely caught the sound of almost rushed footsteps and the click of a lock being turned. He couldn't help but smile his way down to his car. Getting in and starting it up, the reality of what he had to face finally hit him. His partner was likely going to bite his head off, his boss would probably do the same if he caught him several hours of being off the radar. Just even trying to explain it all failed in his mind, and every time, he just wanted to go back upstairs and be on that couch for a few more hours. But he knew he couldn't do that. It'd be in violation to his solemn vow to the city's people to protect them. And the thought of denying them his assistance cruelly stabbed at his heart.

Coming dangerously close to slapping himself, Teddy finally put the car in gear, grabbed the wheel as he lightly put his foot on the gas pedal. If he got yelled by both his partner and his boss when he showed up at work that was fine by him. But just as long as he got a killer off the streets, he wouldn't really care what anyone said.

Man! It's finally done! It's a little longer than I planned but that's the thing about writing huh? Don't I know it. I'm glad that this story got such a positive response by those who stopped by to check it out so I'm kinda usin' it as fuel to keep goin'. So before I restart some kind of random rant, let's get to it shall we? Here's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 3: Death Over Dinner

As our mystery pair's identities are revealed, a lurking shadow still remains unnamed by all, bearing the bloody hands of a murderer. Will the trio's combined abilities be enough to put a killer behind bars? And just why is Greg such a jerk? Find out in the next all new chapter of 'Connected' with:

Chapter 3: Death Over Dinner!!!