Maximoff Anomalies

Billy II

Elle, Tara, Darcy, Sahar, Imogen, Nick, Tao, and Isaac had spent the past few weeks re-educating Charlie about everything he'd forgotten - social queues, world history, etc. It seemed he had a full memory of everything science/mathematics-wise, except for history. It was as if his entire semantic memory was intact, but current events were just gone.

Nick took great delight in teaching Charlie all about the Avengers, who he was a great fan of. Charlie barely cared for it, but his focus became much stronger when Nick told him about Ultron, and he brought up a familiar name.

"What did you just say?" Charlie straightened.

Nick paused and clicked a button on the PowerPoint presentation. An image of Wanda Maximoff with brown hair, next to a somewhat familiar man. He looked like Pietro, but with a different face. No wonder Wanda was so shocked and cautious around him.

"They sided with Ultron originally but changed after Wanda saw his plans for world domination. Ultron created this powerful robot body with a magical glowing stone called an 'Infinity Stone'," Nick snorted. "The name is a bit on the nose. Anyway, the Avengers stole the body. Tony and Bruce put one of Tony's AIs, Jarvis, into the body, brought it to life, and named it Vision."

Why had Wanda never explained any of this? Why didn't they know about any of these people?

Wanda's history became more and more upsetting the more Charlie learned. Why she'd made the whole fake town became obvious. She'd lost her parents at a young age, her brother was all she had and he died too, she'd had to kill the love of her life and then he was brought back and killed in front of her.

It seemed nobody knew that Wanda was responsible for Westview. The government spun the story of a training exercise, and nobody from the town wanted to talk about what Wanda had done. Or where Wanda even was. Every day, Charlie questioned whether or not to reach out to find her. Wanda was all alone.

But as much as Charlie wanted to, he wanted a normal life. He had enjoyed learning about Charlie's life and becoming friends with his friends. It was selfish, but Billy wanted what Charlie had. He didn't want the life that the Avengers had. He didn't want everything he ever loved stripped away. He wanted a life.

School started up after five weeks, and it opened up a whole other side of Charlie. His first impressions were that Truham Grammar School was a horrific place. The students poked fun at his lack of amnesia, and the boys had to stick to Charlie like glue until he fully understood everything that had been going on, and who people were. Nick especially seemed dead set on keeping Charlie away from some boy called Ben. Charlie was not going to touch that situation with a ten-foot pole.

Another thing to get used to was being 'out'. Nick and old Charlie had gone public in the summer holidays, and there were people still asking all about their relationship, although they were severely disappointed to learn they weren't together. It was obvious this pained Nick, but there was nothing Charlie could do. He would not fake feelings to make Charlie feel better, and Nick would see right through him if he did. It would only make Nick feel worse - as if he was forcing Charlie to uphold this facade. But Charlie knew how much he thought about them. Their relationship was always on Nick's mind.

It took a few weeks for people to stop approaching them about their relationship and about that same amount for Charlie to fully adapt to his new life. He still didn't remember Charlie's life, and he doubted he ever would. But thanks to the thoughts of those around him, Charlie was able to piece untold bits together to make it appear as if he was actually getting things back. The way his friends and family lit up when he revealed little tidbits made Charlie almost feel bad for the lies. But he was fortunate enough to have been blessed with that ability. Not all amnesia patients can relive their lives through the mind of someone else.

The downside of seeing all the memories was it seemed to awaken something inside of him. The previous Charlie had the luxury of time and choice. This Charlie has his sexuality forced on him. When it's revealed like this, Charlie can remember little moments that made it so obvious looking back. He could understand everyone's thoughts but his own, but he understood now. Somehow, everything that had happened made him able to understand himself more.

And yet... nobody knew. Charlie had not told a soul about his life as Billy. Nobody knew about his life before Charlie, about anything that he was going through. Nobody knew about his powers. It was incredibly lonely, having nobody in the world with who you could truly be yourself, and only half knowing who you even were. 

Many times, Charlie longed for his brother. As annoying as Tommy was, Charlie missed him with everything. Only his brother could understand what he was going through. Tori was lovely, and she gave him space, but she wasn't Tommy. He wanted Tommy, even if it took a hundred lifetimes.

On the three-month anniversary of Charlie's accident, he heard something.

It had happened during form. A splitting, sudden headache caused Charlie to rush to the bathroom. He leaned against the wall, trying to make sense of the screaming in his head. The voices dimmed as he tried to sort between them to find the source. Eventually, he managed to isolate the noise, and Charlie gasped, scrambling back in shock.

Tommy!?