Chapter 4:

7. Billy Kaplan is not allowed to use his powers to trip Tommy when he is running - #37

8. Billy Kaplan is not allowed to throw up force fields in front of Tommy when he is running - #38

9. Billy Kaplan is not allowed to throw Tommy off the top of the Avengers Tower to see if speedsters bounce - #79

Teddy had resolved the conflict nonviolently by offering to make everybody blueberry waffles (both Thor and Wolverine's secrete weakness—but shh, don't tell Tommy or any supervillains!), so Teddy was in the kitchen baking, and had told Billy that maybe he should go outside and get some sunshine and fresh air.

So Billy went to sit outside behind the mansion, fuming and feeling pangs of sadness as he looked at statues of dead Avengers, when Tommy decided to show up again.

Either ignoring or not noticing the stormy expression on his twin's face, Tommy zipped over and sat down next to Billy, putting an arm around his shoulder and saying blithely, "Hey little bro! What's up? You look like you have a frown that needs to be turned upside-down."

Okay, so maybe Tommy did notice Billy's stormy expression.

An expression which suddenly turning murderous.

"Is now a bad time for some brotherly bonding?" Tommy asked, his white eyebrows raised. His arm was still around his brother's shoulder.

And then suddenly he was several feet away, yelling, "Whoaheyheyheywhatwasthatfor?WhatdidIeverdotoyou?" as one of Billy's blue hex bolts struck where he'd just been sitting a moment ago.

"What have you ever done to me?!" Billy shouted back as he leapt to his feet, sending more blue blasts of energy at his brother, who ran around dodging them, "That was a joke, right?! Every time you show up you completely ruin my day! You're annoying, you're obnoxious, you're crazy, you're an idiot and a nuisance and a sociopath and a pyschopath and a sadist, and I can't even tell you how much I hate your guts!" Bill practically shrieked, eyes glowing bright and blue as the magic welled in his hands and he paused in his throwing of hex bolts, just standing there breathing hard with anger.

"Wow," Tommy said, smirking as he leaned against a tree and crossed his arms, "I might actually be hurt by those comments—if, you know, I actually had any feelings or if I actually cared what you thought of me."

"Then why don't you just go and leave," Billy said, suddenly seeming to lose all his explosive anger, sinking back down to a sitting position and dropping his face into his hands. "Tommy, you're just so annoying."

"Yeah," Tommy grinned, dashing over to sit beside his twin again and patting Billy's knee, "'Annoying' is like my middle name. But considering yours is 'Emo,' I think we're even."

Peeking through his fingers at his brother, Billy asked, "Do speedsters bounce?"

"What?" Tommy blinked too fast for his blink to be seen.

"If I throw you off the top of Avengers Tower, will you bounce?"

Tommy just laughed, running over to stand on the edge of a concrete fountain and putting his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest and saying, "Knowing me? Probably." He smirked, doing a crazed sort of jitterbug around the edge of the fountain that was fast enough that his edges blurred and he seemed to be dancing all around the the fountain at once. "But you'd have to catch me first!"

A murmured string of words, and Billy caused the fountain to give an explosive burst of water.

"Hey!" Tommy protested as he was violently doused with water, losing his footing and slipping to fall with a splash into the fountain, ending up entirely soaked. "You think that's funny, huh?" Tommy asked as Billy laughed at him. "Then how about this!"

And then Tommy was right beside Billy, shaking himself like the world's most energetic and caffeinated wet dog. "Arf arf!"

"Hey!" Billy said, shielding his face from the spray of water, looking up when it stopped to see Tommy standing there, grinning, perfectly and completely dry. And Billy realized that he himself was now very, very wet.

"Can't touch this!" Tommy whooped as he ran off.

Or at least, ran partway off. But Billy muttered, "IwantTommy'sshoestobestucktogetherandforhimtotripandfall," under his breath, and suddenly Tommy found that it was like the laces of his sneakers had suddenly been tired together, even though he was wearing his Speed suit which definitely did not have sneakers with laces, and suddenly he was crashing towards the ground, rolling to lessen the impact.

"Foul!" Tommy called from the ground on the other side of the Avengers garden.

"You asked for it!" Billy yelled back.

"Did not!"

"What's going on out here?"

Billy whirled around to see none other than the Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. His mother.

"I saw Teddy in the kitchen cooking blueberry waffles, and I asked him where you were and he said you went outside, and then I hear all this ruckus from the garden and come out here to find you using your magic to trip your brother," Wanda said, crossing her arms and looking at Billy disapprovingly.

"Tommy was being annoying!" Billy protested.

"That is no excuse to use your powers against him," Wanda admonished sternly.

"But he uses his powers against me!" Billy said indignantly, spreading is arms. "He's constantly zipping around and using his superspeed to cause trouble!"

"That's different," Wanda said. "Your power is just that—a power. It does not determine who you are, and you have the choice whether or not to use it. Tommy's superspeed, on the other hand, isn't so much a power as a lifestyle. He both physically and mentally cannot slow down."

Hands still spread, Billy blinked, before humphing and crossing his arms over his chest. "Still," he grumbled, "that doesn't give him an excuse to ruin my day, every single day."

Sighing and yet smiling slightly, Wanda put a hand on Billy's shoulder. "He's not trying to ruin your day, Billy. That's just his way of trying to get attention."

Meanwhile, Tommy was trying to get up. Only, he couldn't, because his feet were still stuck together, and no matter what he did he couldn't get them apart.

Finally he got his knees under him and sat on his haunches, placing his palms on the ground in front of him and transferring his weight onto his hands, lifting his knees up to his chest and then straightening them out so that he was in a handstand. He then, on his hands, speed-walked over to where his brother and mother were arguing.

"Hey!" he called, interrupting their conversation as he walked over on his hands. "A little help here?! My legs are kind of still stuck together here!"

Wanda gave Billy a Look, and, grumbling, Billy undid his spell.

Legs now able to separate, Tommy spread his legs in the splits before allowing himself to tip back onto his feet, whereupon he stood up, grinning.

"Hey mom," he greeted cheerfully. "How's it going? Billy threatened to throw me off the top of Avengers Tower to see if I would bounce."

Billy groaned and hit his face with his palm.

Later, most of the Avengers were gathered at the kitchen table, eating Teddy's amazing blueberry waffles.

'Most of the Avengers' being all of the Avengers who were currently present at the Avengers Mansion, except for Tommy, who had eaten his in seconds and was now back outside, trying to burn off all that caffeine he'd stolen from Wolverine that morning. Currently, the speedster was running laps around the Avengers Mansion pool—which was, frankly, practically an ocean it was so enormous.

The Avengers who were sitting in seats that faced the windows couldn't help but watch the speedster race around and around the water.

"Nob'dy should ever let that kid drink coffee again," Wolverine remarked gruffly, taking another vicious bite of blueberry waffle from where it was pierced on one of his adamantium claws.

"Agreed," Billy said with vehemence.

"You know what would make these waffles even better?" Clint asked, stabbing a piece with his fork and holding it up. "Blueberry syrup."

And then Teddy, who was still staring out the window, suddenly piped up with, "Hey, where did Tommy go?"

Everyone turned to glance out the windows, seeing that, indeed, the speedster had disappeared.

Then they turned to look at Billy—as if he would know.

The young mage shrugged, grumbling out, "Let's hope not to Starbucks."

And then there was a chilly breeze through the room, and Tommy was standing there with snowflakes in his white hair, grinning as he said, "Oy, let's go to Alaska! It's snowing! And it's going to be night over there soon, and we'll be able to see the Aurora Borealis, which for the record is fantastic this time of year—"

"Tommy," Steve started, "Look—"

"We're not goin' t'Alaska," Logan growled, pointing at the speedster with his claw that was out, before bringing it back and licking some maple syrup off it. "So y'can just ferget it."

"Canada, then!"

Logan just glared at him. "No."

"Hawaii."

"Even worse."

"Latveria."

"Even worse, kid."

"Okay, fine," Tommy huffed, before darting around the table to stand behind Thor, asking the currently fuchsia-haired god, "How about Asgardia?"

Before Thor could open his mouth to answer, Tommy was gone.

Thor closed his mouth.

And then Tommy was back, the snowflakes in his hair now melted, saying, "The weather's real nice in Asgardia right now. What do you say?"

"Nay," said Thor stonily, eying the speedster in a way that suggested he really didn't trust Tommy not to blow Asgardia up.

"You sure? You could show off your awesome new pink hair!"

Thor's expression turned to a stormy glower. "Nay."

"Okay," Tommy said, suddenly appearing to have a map, which he was scanning, saying, "How about Wakanda? Genosha? Mount Wundagore is nice this time of year. How about Madripoor?"

The rest of the Avengers were in the process of sighing, groaning, rolling their eyes, deadpanning, covering their faces with their hands, pinching the bridges of their noses, or rubbing their temples wearily.

"Come on," Tommy practically whined, draping himself over an empty chair. "Can't we go find a supervillain to start a fight with? Can I vaporize Captain Marvel's collection of country music albums? Can I go punch all the Hulks?"

He ran a few times around the table. "Are you guys done eating yet? Man, you're all so slow!"

Two more of Wolverine's claws snikted out. Clint's grip tightened on his bow. Natasha idly inspected the Widow Bites on her wrists. Thor kept on eating. Billy hid his face in his hands, sending a pleading glance at Wanda, who just gave an exasperated and somewhat amused shake of her head.

"Can I go bother Pietro?" Tommy asked her.

"No," she answered firmly, raising her dark eyebrows at him. "Why don't you bring me a postcard from Spain instead? The most picturesque one you can find."

Tommy just stared at her for a moment, before giving a lightning-fast shrug and disappearing, leaving the words, "Sure, mom, whatever," behind him.

The was a moment of strangely silent silence.

Then: "Why Spain?" from Clint.

Wanda shrugged. "Why not?"

"I think Tommy's just bored," Teddy offered, mopping the maple syrup on his plate with a piece of waffle. "And has more energy than he knows what to do with."

"Someb'dy needs t'give that kid a good beating," Logan grumbled, snakting back in two of his claws and turning the remaining one on his blueberry waffles, brutally and efficiently dismembering them. "Or at least take 'im down a peg'r three."

At this, Billy brightened. "What will you pay me if I do?"

"Billy," Wanda scolded sternly. "You are not allowed to throw Tommy off the top of Avengers Tower to see if he bounces!"

Logan however looked amused by the idea. "I'm all for it."

"Logan! Don't encourage him!" Wanda exclaimed, turning her glare on the X-Man, who suddenly found the syrupy waffle pieces slipping off his claws and onto the floor.

"Stupid probability powers," he grumbled as he looked almost accusingly down at the waffles. Then he simply picked them up off the floor and ate them.

There were various groans and grimaces.

"What?" Logan said, smirking as he licked his fingers. "Everythin' that I've survived? A little dirt on my brekfest ain't gonna hurt me none."

"And I'm back!" Tommy declared, suddenly appearing in the room, grinning, hands held behinds his back. "And all the postcards sucked—you want to know what it's like in Spain, you have to go there. So I got you a cardobes hat instead."

Then he took a red felt hat with a wide, flat brim with a short crown cylindrical, from behind his back and placed it on Wanda's head. "Most famous kind of Spanish hat around the world, apparently. Ideal for parties and Flamenco dancing! And I got you a red one to match your Scarlet Witchy-ness"

"Oh," Wanda said, blinking as she reached up to touch that hat. "That was very... thoughtful of you, Tommy."

"Eh, I knew you didn't really care what I brought back, just that I left you all alone for a few minutes," Tommy said, shrugging, before suddenly appearing to have another, completely different hat, switching it out for the red Spanish hat and saying, "So then, since I had some extra time, I ran over to Scotland and got you a brushed wool Tartan Tam hat."

The hat was floppy, red plaid with a black rim and a black bobble on the top.

"Oh," Wanda said again, not able to hide her surprise. "Tommy, how fast are you, exactly?"

"Me?" Tommy said, hitching up a leg, and they all felt a breeze whirl around the table several times, while Tommy still seemed to be standing there as if he hadn't moved. "I'm faster-than-Quicksilver-fast! No matter what he says! Seriously, the only reason he came in so close behind me in our race was because I kept getting distracted and would slow down slightly to look at things, like a lightning bolt coming down and a dolphin in mid-leap above the water, and the sunset and the sunrise and the color of the moon, and the way the stars look on the other side of the world, and because at one point I was running backwards to taunt him and wasn't looking where I was going and almost crashed into a boat—"

Wanda blinked several times, slightly stunned, as Tommy rambled on.

Billy snickered. "A lot more annoying than your brother was, isn't he?"

"Actually," Wanda said, smiling slightly, "he's a lot like Pietro was. Just a lot more talkative, and a lot... happier..."

"What?" Tommy said, glancing at her, "Me? Happy? You must be mistaken. Being being happy would mean that I would have to possess feelings—which I don't. I simply do not see any point being in a foul mood when life is so short. And being in a foul mood would mean I would have to have negative feelings, which are also feelings."

Wolverine snorted. "Yer kiddin' yerself, kid. I know sociopath and psychopath, an' you ain't 'em, no matter how much yer brother argues the contr'ry."

"You forgot 'sadist,'" Billy interjected.

"Hey, you can all believe whatever floats your boat," Tommy shrugged, zooming over and grabbing several apples from the fruit bowl on the table, proceeding to juggle them. "I don't care. I'd hate to be the iceberg that sank your ship. Wouldn't that suck to be an iceberg? Just a frozen chunk of ice, floating there in the water, not doing anything, not even when a ship runs straight into it even though it's not the iceberg's fault 'cause it's floating there perfectly still. Or maybe a supervillain decides that the iceberg would make a perfect secret, evil lair, like supervillains are wont to do. Wouldn't that be awful? I mean, at least being a wave you would get to boogie a bit. Being liquid is better than being solid, but being a gaseous molecule would be even better, because then you would get to go crazy and—"

And Tommy proceeded to try and talk their ears off.

Wolverine was starting to look like he might try to actually cut his ears off with his claws, or stick a claw in either ear to cut his eardrums so he wouldn't have to listen to the babble anymore.

"See?" Billy said, leaning over to whisper at the feral mutant, "He's definitely a sadist."

"—so I was running, and there was this hummingbird with these glinting purple feathers on its head, that changed slightly depending on where I was around the hummingbird and what the angle of the light was, and did you know that there's a word for the color of peacock feathers? The words is 'pavonine,' and it's amazing because it saves you from trying to describe peacock feathers, because that's just like an impossible task because you always end up making the feathers sound ugly but they're not—"

The apples in Tommy's hands went around and around and around, him switching the pattern up almost constantly.

Sometime during all this, Steve, and Natasha had managed to slip away unnoticed. Thor just got up and left. Nobody tried to stop him.

Wanda left as well, giving some excuse about needing to go somewhere, and do something, but nobody really caught her words.

Clint had finished his waffles but he was still sitting there at the table, looking content and incredibly amused.

"—so I was looking through this telescope at Saturn, with all its rings, which I really am not going to try to describe, you have to see it for yourself, and I was thinking, isn't Uranus such an unfortunate name for a planet to have, no matter what way you pronounce it? I mean, I suppose it was okay for the god back in the times of ancient Greece, but I'm betting if he's around today, 'cause I mean Hercules and Zeus and Thor and all them are still around, though I supposed the Roman gods and the Greek gods have an identity crisis going on, he would have to change his name—"

At this point, Tommy was juggling the apples across the room with himself, standing at one end and throwing them then running over to the other side of the room to throw them back, seeming to easily be in both places at once.

Wolverine had pulled out a newspaper and was, apparently, reading it. He was turning pages and his eyes were flicking back and forth and everything.

Billy turned sideways in his seat and banged his head against his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Hey," Teddy said, grabbing Billy's shoulders to still him, "No more of that." He smiled slightly, almost a smirk, adding, "I wouldn't want you to damage that pretty face of yours."

Billy muttered something, and the apples spontaneously exploded like they'd been zapped by lightning.

"Hey!" Tommy protested, from where he was hiding behind Wolverine, who was hiding behind the newspaper, which had gotten the worst of the exploded, fried apple chunks. "That was a waste of perfectly good apples!"

Billy stood up, eyes glowing blue, fists clenched.

"Okay, I'm leaving!" Tommy said, green eyes widening as he turned and sped through the doorway—or rather, he sped at the doorway, only to bounce off an invisible wall.

"Forcefields? Not cool, Billy!" Tommy called, running at another doorway and bouncing off an invisible wall again, then trying another and getting the same result. "Agh! Trapped! Not good notgoodnotgoodnotgood—"

Tommy tried all the doors, then the windows, then he tried vibrating through the walls, only they were apparently covered in invisible magical forcefields as well, because even with his figure vibrating to the point where he was a blurry smudge of green and white, he just ricocheted right off the walls when he threw himself at them, sometimes landing on his feet and sometimes landing on his back and kicking back up.

"Well, now he's really bouncin' off the walls," Clint remarked wryly, smirking.

Wolverine frowned.

Teddy put a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Billy, I think you should—"

"Alright," Tommy said, suddenly standing in front of his brother and jabbing Billy in the chest, "Justwhatisthemeaningofthis?!"

"I'm not letting you out of this room until you promise to stop bothering me!" Billy snapped, brown eyes glowing a bright blue.

Behind his orange goggles, for the most fleeting of moments, there seemed to pass a flash of panic through Tommy's green eyes. "Notlettingme—?!"

Tommy started running around even faster, shaking and vibrating with a vicious intensity, and maybe he was yelling something but nobody could hear because it was too fast, and Wolverine was growling at Billy to let Tommy out, and Billy was saying no, and Tommy was speeding around so fast he was just wind and nobody could see him and all they heard was this unidentifiable high-pitched keening and—

And then the kitchen table and all the chairs spontaneously blew up with a loud BOOM!, vaporizing into nothing.

Billy lost concentration on his spell, and when the forcefield disappeared—BOOM! There went the kitchen and a quarter of the mansion.

And then Tommy ran off.

And Billy had to magic back together the destroyed mansion. And repair Wolverine's newspaper. And explain to Captain America and Thor and the Black Widow and the Scarlet Witch what happened.

None of them were happy. Especially not Wanda.

Billy was forbidden from using magic forcefields against his brother ever again.

AN: I figure Tommy would have a fear of being trapped, because of the nature of his mutation, having superspeed and basically living his life running, when it came to Fight or Flight he would always choose flight, because running is his instinct, and if he couldn't flee then he would start panicking. Additionally, I figure that his time in Juvie, being trapped there with the doctors or whatever trying to turn him into a living weapon, would make his fear of being trapped even worse.

And I figure Billy wouldn't know this, because, I mean, face it: Billy and Tommy really aren't all that close. Not to mention that Tommy probably denies the fact that he's afraid of anything, even to himself.