A/N - Welcome back to those that are still with us. Hope you're all safe and warm. And HI, hikolb6 - thanks for your review! To answer your question, all of the universes that myself and robbiepoo2341 co-write in are our created universes. Neither of us works in any given 'canon' universe as we're fix-it fic writers ,honestly. We do, however, number our universes and this one we've christened the 714 Universe. If you take a peek at my profile, you'll get the full break down of all of our shared universes, and my own personal headcanon universe, the 906 - where Logan's wife was created. If you have any questions, feel free to ask - we're generally both pretty approachable - and since this is a shared 'verse, we alternate volumes. Odd numbers can be found here, Even numbers on her profile.

Chapter 8 - Billy Gets It Wrong

The house in Westchester had been relatively quiet that morning. A lot of the team members were out again — it was still a busy time for the X-Men trying to keep up with the bozos preaching ignorance and hate — but on top of that, K had taken all of the littlest ones to a visit to Lisbet and Wade, who loved having them in their house, of course.

Logan was taking a little time to himself — something that had been next to impossible for him to do in a long while, all things considered. He was just thinking of heading out to the garage to get the bike ready for the predicted early spring and had been quietly drinking his coffee when Billy went by looking like he was on a mission.

He was fully in harbinger mode — floating, looking deadly serious, with his cape billowing out magically behind him even if he was barely moving. Logan pushed the coffee aside and got to his feet to try and see what was going on, since, honestly, if it was a big deal, he'd need to get involved anyhow. "Hey! Billy, what's the story?" Logan shouted out.

Billy paused to turn his way for a moment before he tipped his head. "If you don't mind going to space — Peter Quill is in trouble."

Logan frowned at that but was obviously ready to go. "What's the trouble?" he asked, even if he was sure he had an idea, considering what Scott had told him the day before about Rachel's report on the state of affairs with the Phoenix.

"He is the trouble," Billy said darkly.

Logan frowned deeper as he reconsidered his course of attack. "I'll need to suit up. Wanna give me details while I do that?"

Billy looked irritated at the delay and narrowed his eyes. "Fine."

"Come on, then," Logan said, heading off at a quick pace. "What did he do now?"

"Following in his father's footsteps," Billy said as he settled into a glare.

"Yandu?"

"J'son."

At that, Logan slowed to a stop. "No way."

"I know it's hard to believe, but after Kitty…"

"I heard from him and the kids last night," Logan said. "They're fine."

"And I'm telling you - I know what I saw," Billy insisted, his hands and eyes glowing.

Logan paused, one eyebrow raised at Billy's display, then nodded once. "Alright," he said as he pushed open the door to the locker room. "Where were they?"

"Not far from Xandar," Billy said. "I could get there myself faster."

"Yeah, but I don't want you going alone," Logan said, not even arguing it as he changed quickly.

"I know. Teddy said I shouldn't be going out by myself, but he's with the team, and this can't wait."

Logan nodded and pulled the cowl down. "Alright. So you know, last night, Quill said they were on the other side of the quadrant." He held up both hands. "I'm not arguing. I'll go. I could use a good scrap, but I had to tell you what little I know."

Billy frowned his way for a long moment before he raised his hand to rub his eyes. "I can't — I can't let this stand if I'm right."

"I'm not arguin'," Logan said. "Not if Kitty's kids are involved."

"They have the same problem, you know," Billy said softly.

"So let's go fix it," Logan said.

Billy glanced at him sideways and then nodded. "Thanks," he said at last.

Logan pulled on his gloves, waiting for Billy to get them moving. And once Billy had called up the traveling spell, it was simply a matter of sitting back and letting Billy drive.

It was a few days' journey, but when they got to Xandar, Billy was both disappointed and relieved to see that there was simply no sign of Peter or the kids. Not anywhere near the planet, anyway.

Logan didn't break his serious expression, though, and was more than ready to go looking. "Where did you say they were? I'll go drag 'em out by their ears."

"I… they should be here," Billy said softly, though he had lost the full vengeful harbinger look, and his eyes and hands were no longer glowing.

Logan turned and looked around the area. "How about we grab a bite before we keep lookin'? I've got more credits than I can spend."

Billy let his shoulders drop and then nodded. "Alright. Thanks," he said in a far more subdued tone, already half embarrassed at himself for missing the mark.

"No problem," Logan replied, then put a hand on Billy's shoulder and guided him into a likely looking establishment. He got their orders handled and had a drink in his hand before he bothered to break the silence. "You okay?"

"Not really," Billy said. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"Gotta clue me in here, kid. I don't know what I can do to pull you out of it when it's off."

"I don't know either," he said. "I was so sure. The reality… the vision… it was so similar to our world. Kitty gone, Peter mourning, all of it."

"Hard to tell when they're so far away," Logan agreed with a nod then leaned back in his seat. "No harm, no foul."

"I can't ignore these visions when they happen, Logan," he said.

"Nope," he agreed. "And you gotta try and help if it looks bad enough."

Billy was silent for a long time. "You … thanks. You didn't have to come all the way to Xandar."

Logan gave him a look and let out his breath in a rush. "Sure, I did."

Billy nodded quietly.

"If there was any chance what you saw was what was really happenin', I had to go to help. No two ways about it," Logan said. "And since it wasn't, then we get a little break from everyone and an alien beer … or whatever the hell this is."

"I'm glad you came," Billy said at last as he leaned back in his seat. "And I'm really glad Peter's not running around doing … well, let's just say it wasn't exactly like anyone could blame him for snapping. But the Shi'ar are already weakened, and he just flattened the rest of them."

Logan shrugged. "No one would weep."

"As hard as this is to believe, there are innocents," Billy said. "Especially the little one…." He trailed off, his eyes narrowed as he thought he saw something else, but he wasn't sure...

"I know," Logan said, rumbling low and breaking Billy out of his thoughts. "Just overall, not a major loss."

Billy shook his head. "It wouldn't have stopped there, either."

"Never does," Logan agreed. "Why don't you give Quill a call, check in?" He pushed his phone across the table to Billy. "He's under 'Space Twerp'."

"Yeah, I would have never figured that out on my own with how many space boys your wife adopts," Billy teased.

"There's a bunch of 'em," Logan agreed, then tipped his drink back.

Billy smiled Logan's way and then took his advice, and called Peter up. Of course, when Peter picked up with a cheerful but slightly confused 'hello?' Billy sounded even more relieved.

"Hey, it's Billy," he said. "Wiccan."

"O-kay, hello, why are you on Logan's phone and how much trouble is there back home?"

Billy smiled and shook his head. "No, no, everything's alright. I was just calling because I — I thought I saw a vision of you in trouble."

"Well, what's the trouble? I'll try to stay out of it."

"You're not planning on being the next J'son, are you?"

"What? NO. Why would I … no. NO, of course not; why would I do that?"

"Okay, calm down; I just had to ask," Billy said. "In my vision, that's what you were doing."

"Alright, that's … that's pretty disturbing, admittedly. Okay. But … if you were all … you know … floaty and all that with the cape and stuff … where did you end up, if you just now figured I'm not a colossal intergalactic jackass?"

"Debatable," Logan muttered quietly, though only Billy heard him.

"Xandar," Billy said. "That's where I saw you. But you're not here, and I'm starting to think, maybe … I think I was looking at the wrong reality. Really close to our own, but if you didn't choose this, we're probably safe."

"It sounds like that reality really sucks," Quill said.

"It definitely did," Billy said.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not going to do that. I'm just not," Quill insisted.

"Yeah, I see that now. Thanks," Billy said.

"Yeah, anytime," Quill said. "Maybe call next time you see something like that?"

"Yeah, I will," Billy said. "Thanks, Peter."

"No problem."

Logan waited until Billy had relaxed a bit before he had to tease him just a little. "So now, your biggest problem is probably gonna be explaining to your husband why we disappeared for what … few days?"

"Yeah, Teddy is going to have my head," Billy said, shaking his head with a small smile. "Sorry for taking you from K, too."

"She'll be fine," Logan said with a wry smile. "She knows how this works, and she's watchin' out for you, too. Besides … it happens." He tapped the phone again. "Might want to call and let Teddy know before another couple days pass."

"Yeah. Thanks." Billy shrugged lightly. "He'll be relieved to hear from me."

"Good Hulk," he said with a smirk. "In case you were wondering."

"You know he's not actually related to the Hulk or Gamma radiation, right?"

"I know," Logan said. "But big an' green …" He shrugged. "Helluva lot better'n what I'd come up with that goes with bein' a Skrull."

Billy shook his head as he waited for Teddy to pick up on the other end. "Just out of curiosity, what am I?"

Logan chuckled at him. "Dig around and figure it out."

"If I find out I'm in here as 'Good Magneto', I'm going to throw it at you."

He had to laugh outright at that. "Nah. That's Polaris."

Billy chuckled before Teddy picked up on the other end and he broke into a grin. "Miss me?"

"Miss you? I'm gonna murder you! Where have you been? I swear — I told you you can't go running after ghosts and—"

"Love you too, Teddy."

"Love you, Billy," was the almost automatic response. "But seriously, where are you?"

"Xandar."

"Xandar?!"

"Logan came with me," Billy said. "I just… I had to make sure that Peter Quill was alright."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine. It was a false alarm."

Teddy let out a breath that Billy could hear on the other end. "Get home soon, okay?"

"I will. Love you," Billy said before he hung up — but kept Logan's phone to look through the contacts. He had to laugh at a lot of the names there — "Purple Wrong," "Bug Boy," "Firecracker," "Elf," "Sweetheart," and "Better Summers" — but when he found "Harbinger", he knew who it was and handed it back. "Okay, you don't even need a code for your phone. No one will be able to crack it," he teased.

"Gets boring otherwise," Logan said. "Some of 'em change."

"Yeah, I can imagine when someone's on the outs with you…"

Logan gestured to Billy's drink. "Recharge, then we can head back. You've been over focused."

"Well, that's what happens when you're a harbinger," Billy said with a smirk.

"Hey. Only thing I've ever seen work to snap you out of it is K workin' her magic or Teddy kissin' you — and I can't do either of those things," Logan said before he picked up his glass again.

"Well, I married one, and the other was the reason I became the Demiurge," he said. "Pretty much the only two people that can."

"That and the little girl the four of us got between us," Logan added then blew out a breath. "There's a phrase I never thought I'd say."

Billy couldn't help but smirk at that. "Yeah, but she's worth all the weirdness."

"Thank God she takes after her mother," Logan said, shaking his head.

"No kidding," Billy agreed, leaning back with his drink and finally relaxing. "Thanks again."

"Any time," Logan said. "It's what we do."

"I know," Billy said, sounding worn, but smiling to himself. "You've got a good record for helping everyone out regardless of the when or where or timeline shifts."

"Part of the job description," Logan agreed before Billy took a moment to center himself ad focus. It was going to be a long trip back, after all, and the way home always felt like it took longer than the way out.

"I'm going to sleep for a week when we get back," Billy said as his eyes and hands began to glow.