#thegreatunifier

The room could easily have devolved into a whirlwind of chaos -- if not for Lauri-Ell appearing in the doorway and limiting access. Mur-G'nn ducked under the Accuser's arm with ease to set a wooden case on a table, immediately setting to rifling through its contents. She kept her distance, though; Billy hovered over his husband, pressing in hard on the wound to try and stem the bleeding. He swiped thoughtlessly at tears that flowed, smearing blood on his pale cheek.

Oh, he was going to be cracking up after this. The sound of Teddy's voice, the smell of his blood, was dredging up bad memories -- unlocking parts of himself he'd thought he'd left behind, sending chills down his spine and phantom pains through his ears...

"What blade did this?" came Mur-G'nn's voice, and he coughed a little before finding his voice. "I -- I don't know, the sword was -- it was black..." He felt a hand on his shoulder, and leaned slightly to one side so she could inspect the wound.

"It... it tries to divide him," she murmured softly. "A moment." Returning to her box, Mur-G'nn searched out, then found a couple of vials, from each of which she measured a small amount into a shallow dish.

"What does that mean, Mur-G'nn?" Billy asked, his voice on the edge of panic.

"Your husband is of dual nature, as am I. The blade is causing these two to conflict. Hence, his Skrull half refusing to yield -- so his Kree half can heal." Some powder was measured onto a basin, then she lit a match -- then lit this powder. When it had burned down into ashes she tipped these into the dish with the liquids, then used a small stick to combine the mixture. Once it was combined she brought it over to the bed, giving Billy a deferential bob of her head before kneeling close. "My apologies, liege -- this will hurt..."

She would know those giant shoulders, the walk and that blonde hair anywhere. Her besties were still her besties, no matter how many years had passed. She would always recognize them, even if they didn't recognize her. Like the odd times she had universe hopped, mostly by accident.

"Leave off, Teddy, I can get it myself." Wanda scolded playfully as Teddy went to reach for the jar of tea leaves on her top shelf. The one she kept aside for Teddy specifically, because he loved it so much. It took a bit of a stretch and a hint of magic, but Wanda did retrieve it eventually. She added the leaves to the pot and gave it a stir, letting it brew for exactly three minutes with the help of a little sand timer she'd brought at an antiques shop. "Perfect. Now, let me have a look at you. You both change so much everytime you're away." She smiled, turning to her son in law and placing her hands on his shoulders to take him in.

Billy knew what it was to be plagued by nightmares. To never quite put your faith in your subconscious mind, never let your guard down, lest the horrors that lived deep in your psyche claw their way to the surface to torment your rest. Billy knew nightmares, he'd been having them as long as he had conscious memory -- night terrors as a little boy, growing trauma in adolescence. It all piled into the warehouse of his mind, strewn like landmines for him to trip over on his nightly journeys of unconsciousness.

And God, he wished Teddy didn't have to know that feeling. The only thing that made his own bastard mind tolerable was the man he could rely on to hold him close and let him cry it out or rage it out -- or kiss him until he forgot to be scared. Billy never felt more helpless than when the roles were reversed. When he had to be the one to shake Teddy awake, peel his claws out of the mattress, see tears in those blue eyes he would never, ever stop falling in love with.

Sometimes it was as simple as turning the tables, kissing his tears away and letting his kingly husband be weak -- but tonight was different. Tonight, the shout had actually scared him, sent a cold knife of fear to his core that this was it, some assassin had caught them unaware--

Just a dream, thank God. But Teddy couldn't wind back down, couldn't rest, and Billy knew what he needed was something familiar. He didn't even bother getting them dressed, he just -- Voom -- took them to their apartment, threw a blanket around Teddy and pushed him onto the couch, grabbed the tin of tea Wanda had sent along last time he'd visited the shop and gotten to work. Keeping in motion, to steady his own rattled nerves so he could be present.

Teddy needed him.

He had grabbed one of those wildly-oversized hoodies they'd left behind and thrown it over himself; the overlong sleeves served as a buffer between his palms and the hot mug he'd prepared for himself, and he took a few sips before setting it on the coffee table and moving to sit down next to Teddy. He leaned close, kissing his shoulder softly, dark eyes full of concern for the sparkle of tears he could see welling in Teddy's eyes again. Would he want to talk about it? Was it better to just keep the comfortable old movie marathon going and let him decide?

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" Why would you want to put yourself through something like that? "

Kate had mentioned there'd be some new faces at the bar soon; business was picking up lately, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing but it meant that they were stretched kinda thin. So it wasn't a bad thing that she had these new guys coming in, except that, holy shit, the one that had come in the door that afternoon while he was behind his bar setting up was, in a word, gorgeous. Tall, broad shoulders without being burly, with that blonde-haired, blue-eyed, all-American boy look that he knew was going to be trouble for him.

He was also the exact opposite of Brandon, but he put that thought right out of his mind as soon as it popped in.

Except that when the guy walked in, the first thing he'd done was holler at him that the bar wasn't open yet, which had led to Teddy's sheepish response.

Well, he certainly hadn't screamed himself awake in a while -- the shout rang out, echoing in the cavernous rooms they called home, jolting them both into sudden and alarmed wakefulness. It was damn lucky he didn't bash his face directly against Teddy's as they both sat bolt upright -- but that just showed how in-synch they were, how easily they moved together... and how often this used to happen.

Used to. Hadn't in a long time.

Now, though, his heart was hammering at his chest, his temples throbbing in time. A fist rested against his chest where only a moment ago it had felt like he was having something torn out of it--

"Shit," the word and his breath escaped in a hiss, and the shaking started up -- in his fingertips, up his arms, to his shoulders. "Shit, shit--"