Chapter 13

The following day when Billy woke he sat up in bed and rested his elbows on his knees. It took a minute for him to convince himself that last night was real and it wasn't some elaborate dream he'd had.

It wasn't because he felt extremely giddy or ready to explode in squealing like most romantics describe in books, this felt like more of a reality check. Had he and Dorrek really gotten so close in such a short period of time? Was what he was feeling real? Or was it Stockholm Syndrome? Could Stockholm Syndrome happen so quickly? And could it go both ways? After all Dorrek was displaying the same feelings that Wiccan himself knew he was going through. Was there a version of Stockholm Syndrome where the captor fell for their prisoner? He wasn't sure.

What he was sure of was that kiss last night had been incredible. He rose his hand to his mouth and touched his lips. They were a bit chapped and they began to tingle as he thought about how it felt to have them pressed against Dorrek's. He never expected a kiss to drown him so much. He just wanted to get swept away in the feeling. It was so serene and so wonderful. All the nerves he'd had all night had vanished in that instant.

But what did it mean? And where did he and Dorrek go from here? He cringed a bit thinking about going downstairs for breakfast. He couldn't imagine having the courage to look Dorrek in the eye and have a casual conversation now. But at the same time he didn't want to just ditch. He didn't want Dorrek to be left with the impression that Billy regretted last night. The kiss may have made a lot of things more confusing, but he knew he didn't regret it.

Sighing, he got up out of bed and got dressed, bracing himself for whatever today would bring.

He trudged downstairs in a black button up and grey pants running through a million different scenarios in his head. He came up with dozens of things to say and dozens of responses to anything Dorrek might say or mention. But when he got to the dining hall it was empty except for Cassie who was clearing dirty dishes. There were still plenty of serving bowls filled with food that didn't have a dent in them but the fact that she was already cleaning stumped him.

"Oh good morning Billy!" she greeted with a brilliant smile when she saw him standing in the doorway.
He smiled back still too confused to respond verbally. Cassie seemed to sense this as he slowly made his way across the room so she began explaining before he could even ask. "Dorrek came down for breakfast early today. He said he'd meet you in the library later. He wanted to look for a particular book."

Relief washed through him hearing that as he sat down. He let his mind wander and pondered what book Dorrek could be looking for. The library held hundreds of options and he doubted it was anything related to magic – he'd already pulled most of those off the shelves and collected them on his study table. The other day after their snowball fight Dorrek had sat with him in front of the fireplace reading but Billy hadn't thought to peek at the cover. Now he was left wondering and curious. Dorrek had been raised to rule so he doubted it could be anything political or about war. Maybe he liked sports? Or murder mysteries? Or was it another romance like when he'd caught him reading 'Romeo and Juliet'?

The more he thought about Dorrek the more butterflies his stomach began housing though, so he only grabbed some of the turkey bacon and a few pieces of toast for breakfast. As he nibbled at his meager meal he thought about what otherworldly books Dorrek might be searching for in the library. There were books on every subject a person could imagine, and not just human ones. From reading vol 14 of the Skrull Empyre he knew the library must hold not just earth knowledge but knowledge from other worlds too. How many galaxies worth of knowledge had his family collected? Thinking of the vast shelves the information could very literally be endless. He had no idea what Dorrek could be after but the more he contemplated it the more his nerves turned into excitement.
Once he reached the point where he couldn't sit around thinking about it any longer he got up and went searching for his answers. Thankfully, since he'd been spending so much time in the library for the past few days Billy had found several other routes that took him to the library so he didn't need to go all the way to the west wing and take the path Dorrek had originally showed him.

Exiting the dining hall and entering the foyer he made his way under the main staircase and headed for the back of the castle. Behind the stairs was actually a wide open space with more pillars running along each side maybe two or three feet from the walls. They held up the marble stairs that ran over his head and branched off to their separate wings. Along the walls were oil portraits – probably of Dorrek's ancestors and other important figures in the Skrull monarchy. At the end of the large space were those tall windows that he and Dorrek had passed on Billy's first trip to the library. The hall they had originally taken cut right through there so once he turned right he was back on their original path. He passed all the small sitting rooms and guest chambers that had become familiar to him until he came to the library, the doors already propped open and streaming daylight into the shadowy hall.

"Dorrek?" Billy called when he entered the library looking high and low for the tall green man. He passed his cloak where it rested over a chair where he'd left it the other day and instinctually he grabbed it and tossed it over his shoulders.

"Over here." He heard him call back and followed the sound to a desk pushed to the side where Dorrek was standing with a book in his hands. Its cover was closed and looked to be made of gold metal. It shimmered beautifully and Billy noticed a latch keeping it shut. The edges of the pages were all gold and he approached in fast steps to get a better look. The book radiated a very similar magic to what he'd felt when he'd approached the rose. This power wasn't as strong but the idea of possibly getting a greater feel for the enchantress' power put an excitement in his veins that rushed through him like adrenaline.

"What is that?" he asked moving to stand beside Dorrek as they both looked at the intricate design on the metallic cover in his green hands.

"Another gift from the enchantress." Dorrek rolled his eyes as he unsnapped the latch and opened the book. The pages were all painted with gorgeous colors that only magic could conjure as Dorrek flipped through them. But his annoyance directed at the witch disappeared when he turned to Billy. His eyes softened and the corner of his mouth tugged upwards ever so slightly. "A book that allows you to escape to anywhere."

He blew some dust off the selected page and Wiccan saw a watercolor painting of the globe, a hemisphere on each page. Gold twinkled along the edges of the image and something about it felt alive. Like with the rose Billy could feel magic radiating off the parchment and with his hands at his sides he gripped the edges of his cloak tightly to keep himself from reaching out to touch it. He'd learned his lesson last time – when it came to the sorceress' magic do not touch unless Dorrek was absolutely okay with it. Everyone had their boundaries, and he had to respect Dorrek's.

"That's amazing." He breathed out watching the gold move across the drawing like stars in orbit.

Dorrek shrugged with a scowl, "It was just another cruel trick Billy. To give me the ability to go anywhere, but know – looking like this – I'd be shunned."

Billy looked away from the book and up at Dorrek sadly hating how much pain he'd endured. And the reminder of how relatable that pain was. Because he let himself show too and had experienced the shunning – and the bullying - Dorrek had chosen to lock himself away from. To live secluded in loneliness rather then experience that.

"But." He said taking a deep breath and shaking off the depression, "I thought, you might like to go somewhere. Anywhere."

Wiccan looked back at the book both shocked and touched. He looked over the globe. There were hundreds of places he'd always wanted to go and no doubt all the other pages held maps of other worlds that he could explore. He thought it over hard, where did he want to go the most? One place flashed through his mind and he bit his lip. Then he turned his head back towards Dorrek who was watching him as he made his decision.

Billy nodded, "Okay."

Dorrek smiled at him, another rare true smile. Then he took Billy's hand in his larger one and rested it over the page palm down.

"Picture it." He instructed as the gold began to circle his fingers on the parchment. "And feel it in your core."
The world around them seemed to shift but all Billy could focus on was the image on the page as it moved. The more Billy focused on the location the more gold there seemed to be, swirling along the pages faster and faster. Eventually the book too melted away with everything else leaving them in a dark room. When he turned and looked around he was standing in a broken down old house, the furniture a mess. It was night here and everything was dark but there was enough light coming through the windows from the streetlights to barely illuminate the space.

Dorrek looked around too seeming surprised by Billy's choice. The curtains over the windows were torn, some poles fallen at angles letting that small amount of light in. There were splinters of a coffee table lying in the middle of the floor, the couch was thrown aside at an odd angle, picture frames had fallen from the walls and sat broken on the ground surrounded by shattered glass. The railing along the steps had come off its posts leaving it hanging at a diagonal. Chairs from the attached dining space were in various positions, some upside down some lying on their sides and some in pieces. The table itself was covered by a thick layer of dust that almost resembled snow.

"Where did you bring us?" Dorrek asked curiously with no judgement as he turned to Billy who was fully focused on every detail of the room around them.

Softly, just above a whisper, he replied. "Westview."

Dorrek seemed puzzled but could clearly tell this place meant something to Billy. Something very significant. He said nothing, giving the mage a moment he clearly needed.

When he was ready Billy explained, "This is where my brother and I were born. Before. . ." he trailed off swallowing thickly, "Before our mother. . . "

"Oh." Dorrek replied, the simple response enough to let Billy know he understood the words he was having trouble getting out.

Billy had never been able to remember his life back then. Up until now it had only been a theory. But now something about being here, maybe coupled with his powers, was bringing flashes back faster than he could process them. And confirmed that he had been right all along.

"Mom! Help!"

"Get off me! Let go of my brother!"

"Wanda!"

"Vision!"

The bang of an explosion. Wanda's red magic and Vision's yellow energy beams criss crossing everywhere coupled with tanks shooting and guns firing bullets in waves. The flashes came too fast and he couldn't keep up.

"Billy! Tommy! No!"

"Boys!"

A shout of pain and another loud boom followed by crumbling. Billy fell to his knees making Dorrek's head snap to him again. While Billy had been having his moment, Dorrek had been quietly pacing about the room. He stopped at one of the broken picture frames on the ground and pulled the photo from the shards of glass. A happy family of four were frozen in time in the image. They looked so happy that Dorrek found his curiosity multiplying but Billy's drop to his knees snapped him out of his thoughts and made it abundantly clear that this was not the time to ask prying questions. He took a few steps closer to the young man, but didn't move closer than the couch, unsure if he'd make things better or worse.

Billy took deep breaths fighting off the panic attack he was falling headfirst into. Deep breaths, he told himself, just take deep breaths.

He leaned forward slowly and braced himself to keep upright, his cloak falling over him, encasing his upper body like a cocoon. He continued to take deep breaths until he got his breathing back under control. Then he reached out, his fingers looking blindly for something to help him get back to his feet. But what his hand grabbed onto drew his attention and brought tears to his eyes. His fingers wove around the carved pole and just touching the item seemed to cause his powers to channel something from it. It was part of a crib, turned on its side where it had landed and never been picked back up. That was what his hand had landed on, his fingers lacing with the bars.

He heard the soft sounds of babies and a melody being sung in another language.

The tears stung his eyes as he turned his head toward the ground again unable to keep looking at the crib but still somehow not able to let go. With everything he had in him he held back the tears but could feel them still glossing over his eyes.

"I'm sorry I ever called your brother a trespasser and a thief." Dorrek murmured not wanting to entirely break the silence. He wanted to ease Billy's suffering but didn't know how. The only thing he could think of was to apologize for the harsh things he'd said. Before he could continue listing all his past mistakes Billy spoke.

"We were happy." he choked out, "Then people came and took it away."

Dorrek was hesitant but the question burned on his tongue too much to hold it back, "How?"

"By force." Billy said lifting his head to look at the crib again as he took in a shuddering inhale, "Military." He dropped his head and sniffled doing his best to compose himself after some tears had escaped and fallen down his face. Then Billy turned to Dorrek weak and desperate, eyes glistening. "Can we go home?"

Billy wasn't sure when the castle had become his home and something flashed through Dorrek's sympathetic eyes at the word. He nodded as he stepped toward him and the world around them began to fade away again.

The sunlight from the library returned though the position of the sun had changed from when they'd left. It seemed to be the start of the afternoon now. The walls and their shelves of books came back into focus and the room around them solidified.

When they were standing back in the library Dorrek rested his hand on Billy's shoulder. He didn't respond, only kept his head down as he tried to process all the memories of his past life that had flown so violently through his head in seconds. Dorrek tugged him closer and wrapped his arms around the mage as Billy rested his head on the prince's chest. After a moment Dorrek began to rub up and down his back and continued to do so until Billy's emotions had settled and he pulled away.

"I'm sorry." He immediately said, "I wasn't expecting that. I don't remember that time very well, I just wanted to see it again."

"It's alright." Dorrek replied understandingly, "I'm sure if I went back to my home planet it wouldn't be a pretty sight." In fact he was pretty sure there would be a fair bit of remains from the lost Skrull lives the Kree had taken. And it wasn't something he could get mad over either, technically the Kree were his people too. Odds were if he had to witness the result of the decades of war he'd be in the same state Billy was. Knowing he stood in a place where happiness once thrived.

"I'm sorry the trip caused that for you."

Billy shrugged, then finally met Dorrek's eyes, "It's not your fault, I picked the place. Besides, it wasn't all bad." He admitted, finding the silver lining in the grey – the whole ocean of grey. He knew he was correct now, the Scarlet Witch was their mother. And on top of that, "I got to see and feel some of the enchantress' magic. I'm sure that will help trying to break her spell."

"Maybe now's not the time for that." Dorrek said shocking even himself. If he went back and told his old self that a time would come where breaking the spell was no longer his first priority he'd never believe it. Much less believe that a young man would step into his life and claim that spot. "You should take a break."

"We've been taking a break." Billy pointed out, "Last night was a break."

A small smile tugged at the side of Dorrek's lips, "A nice break."

Billy blushed and nodded, "A nice break."

Silence began to fall over the pair and since silence often brought uncomfortable quiet Dorrek decided to admit to something a tad embarrassing in an attempt to ward off the awkwardness that would blanket them if he chose to say nothing at all.

He cleared his throat, "I've never –"

"Neither have I." Billy cut him off, "But. . . I liked it."

Dorrek smiled at him nervously, "So did I."

Billy bit his lip and looked around the library. Maintaining eye contact right now was just a little too much for him to handle. His choices seemed to be either keep eye contact and drop the subject or look away and keep calm enough to continue the conversation. Also, he hoped by avoiding Dorrek's gaze his blush would be less noticeable.

"When I woke up today. . . " he began uncertain if he should admit this. But then again Dorrek had plucked up the courage to begin the embarrassing admissions, the least Billy could do was keep their conversation fair, "It felt surreal – in a good way."

The nervousness left Dorrek's smile and only that beautiful one remained, "I'm happy to hear that. I was worried. . . what I did may have offended you. Or. . . been too bold."

Billy let his eyes find Dorrek's again and he shook his head, "No. Quite the opposite actually. It made me feel. . . " he struggled to find the right word, a word that described what he felt but at the same time wasn't too heavy, "Glad."

Dorrek chuckled through his grin, "Well I'm glad you have found some happiness here."

Billy hesitated, to him, there was a pretty big gap between glad and happiness. Regrettably, but feeling he should be honest, he softly admitted, "Can anyone be happy if they aren't free?"

It was a question to both Dorrek and himself. Part of him felt guilty for feeling happy while he was still technically being held here against his will. Especially knowing his brother was out there worried about him. Thinking he was still locked in a cold damp tower all this time.

Dorrek took a deep breath, his expression turning guilty too. "I – I'm not keeping you here out of cruelty. I only. . . I mean, this place. . . you make it better." He paused and Billy gave him a small smile hoping it urged him to continue. "You are unlike anyone I've ever met and, I've come to enjoy your presence here."

Billy's smile grew just a smidge bigger as Dorrek continued, "I haven't given you your freedom because. . . I'm afraid to." His smile fell and was replaced by pure disbelief. He was dumbfounded. Even with how close they'd gotten Billy never, ever thought he'd hear Dorrek admit to being afraid – of anything. Much less Billy leaving his life. "If I let you leave you would never come back. I understand why. I would not fault you for it. But, I would truly hate that."

Billy was able to turn up one corner of his mouth in a tiny grin, "Maybe not, maybe. . . this place has grown on me."

Dorrek looked up at him, just as shocked as Billy had been moments ago, "Really?"

Billy nodded, "So. . . I would hate seeing it fall into ruin. I would hate not giving this my all."

Dorrek nodded, "Is there anything I can do to help? I hate leaving you here to do all the work."

Billy sighed and looked across the room at his table of books. "I've gone through dozens of books and haven't found anything that sounds right. And I'd hate to try a spell and have it backfire – a lot of times that's much, much worse."

Dorrek craned his head back and looked around at the two story library and it's collection, "Well there must be other books here that you haven't tried."

"I'm sure of that. It's just hard browsing through all of them by hand one at a time."

Dorrek turned his head back to the mage and smiled another of his dashing grins, "Well then I suppose I could lend you a hand with that."

Billy smiled back at him, fighting a blush, "I suppose you could."

.

.

They spent the rest of the afternoon among the shelves. Billy levitated in front of a shelf and Dorrek hovered beside him with the help of his wings, scrolling through the next shelf over. He had one hand flat like a server with a tray of food, only on his flat palm was a stack of five books they'd already pulled. Billy flipped through another leather bound book in his hands and when he deemed it worth a deeper look through he added it to the pile. Dorrek seemed to have no problem with the load and balanced it well. They continued to add to their growing selection until Dorrek had to use both hands to support the stacks as Billy continued to add a few last choices.

Returning to the ground they took up another table, leaving Billy's former work behind where it sat, and spread out what they'd found. Dorrek, having no real experience in this sort of thing and unsure of what to look for, reserved himself to standing by in case Billy decided he needed another book. He was more than happy to spend this quiet time observing the handsome young mage as he focused intently on each word he read. Dorrek memorized the small crinkles between his brows when he'd hit a dead end, push the book away and open the next one. The small frown on his pursed lips was – for lack of any better term – adorable and Dorrek fought to reel in his grin.

For some odd reason the lack of answers Billy was able to find didn't cause Dorrek any anger, sadness, frustration, or hopelessness. Oddly enough, he felt quite peaceful. It didn't take much thought to discover the reason for this, it was standing at the other side of the table.

He and Billy had something starting between them that was beautiful. And even greater than the feelings he was getting accustomed to was the notion that Billy had accepted him as he was, wings, claws, green scales and all. Yes, watching his home fall apart was a terrible sight. Seeing his friends turn greener and more scaled by the day stung his heart. But there was something about Billy at his side, smiling and keeping him company that just filled a void Dorrek realized he'd possessed long before the enchantress ever entered his castle. No matter what else the curse did, at the end of the day, it led Billy to him. If he was forced to stay this way forever he was glad he had Billy with him to share that time. 'Maybe not.' He'd said, 'this place has grown on me.' The look in his brown eyes as he'd said that set off fireworks exploding through Dorrek's long frozen heart. Did he mean it? The prince had to question. Would he really stay even if he was free to go? The hope that rose inside him at the potential 'yes' was something he couldn't fight off no matter how hard he tried. And, admittedly, he did not try hard to keep that hope at bay.

Billy's groan drew his attention back to his. . . friend? Was that the correct word? He wasn't sure if he could or should refer to the mage as his boyfriend, even in the privacy of his thoughts. But friend did not seem to be enough while boyfriend seemed like a term one would use once they were more certain of such a status. He supposed they were currently somewhere between, not that he minded. He hated labels to begin with.

But Billy's growing frustration, cute as it may be, stirred a yearning in Dorrek to remove any cause of unhappiness. He walked around the table just as Billy shoved aside his third or fourth book and grabbed the next one in the stack. He didn't seem to mind Dorrek's approaching presence, which he must have been fully aware of, and Dorrek felt a surge of pride. He remembered when Billy would tense at his arrival and only after having a moment to gauge his current mood would the young man relax around him.

Now he seemed to have no such qualms and had become fully comfortable around Dorrek, despite his towering height, intimidating body and dangerous potential.

Dorrek rested his hands on Billy's shoulders and rubbed up and down his arms. The action seemed to help relieve the tension in the muscles as his shoulders slumped and he rotated his neck from its stiff position. Toeing the line and testing the waters, Dorrek leaned forward and kissed Billy's temple.

He hummed and let out a small scoff, "We're supposed to be working." He chided only sounding like he half meant his words.

"Maybe you need another 'nice break'." Dorrek whispered by his ear suggestively. He kissed Billy's temple again this time letting himself linger a tad more.

"Take a break." He urged softly.

"Make me." Billy replied pulling out of his grasp just enough to turn and look him in the eye, "Your majesty."

The playful glint in his brown irises ignited something Dorrek could only identify as a challenge. And he never backed down from a challenge.

Moving quickly and catching Billy off guard, he wrapped his arm around the mage's waist and pulled him close.

A small, "Whoa." Escaped him before Dorrek brought his lips down upon Billy's effectively silencing him.

Like last night Dorrek's free hand cupped Billy's face and one of Billy's hands rested on his wrist. His other hand fisted the button down Dorrek was wearing and tried to pull the prince even closer.

Happy to comply Dorrek brought them as close as he dared, a small whisper in the back of his mind reminding him to be careful not to injure the young man in his strong embrace.

Though Billy didn't seem to mind, if the moan in the back of his throat was anything to go by.