Maximoff Anomalies

Billy III

Charlie leaned against the sink, trying to calm his racing heart. Tommy was alive? He was alive. His brother survived. Charlie closed his eyes, trying to locate him. America... Tommy was still there. He narrowed in closer when pressure on his shoulder jolted Charlie back to reality.

"Hey you zoomed out for a second," Nick smiled at him with no knowledge of just what he had done. "Are you okay?"

No. He might never see Tommy again. Who knows if he'll be able to locate one person out of several billion. But Nick wouldn't understand, so Charlie forced a smile. "I am perfectly fine. Just a bit of nausea. I didn't eat much for breakfast."

The words didn't have the reaction Charlie expected. Nick's expression crumbled, and there was pain in his eyes. A memory resurfaced from Nick's mind of the previous Charlie's eating habits and Charlie collapsing from hunger.

Oh...

Charlie buried the information for a later time. "Come on we have class soon."

Charlie wasn't surprised about the eating disorder. There had been clues in the way Tori watched him eat, or Nick offering little snacks. Nobody else really noticed except the two of them. Given Charlie's history, Charlie wasn't surprised he had something. It was more than the self harm, which Charlie had noticed the first time he changed his clothes. His scars were recent. Charlie had thrown out all of the tools as soon as he realized what they were for.

A couple weeks after the after the 'Tommy Incident' as he was calling it, Charlie convinced Nick to tell him everything. Everything Charlie had told him. The eating disorder, self harm, why Imogen's ex boyfriend was so obsessed with Charlie. He wanted all the details, so he could know exactly why Nick was so protective over him, why everyone walked on eggshells around him. It can't just be the memories. It's not just the memories.

The truth was harrowing. Charlie's eating disorder was a way to have control over his life. Imogen's ex-boyfriend, Ben Hope, was toxically leading Charlie on for months, treating him like crap, being a dictator in their relationship (not that he'd even call it that), never even asked Charlie what he wanted, all while having a girlfriend on the side. The method of control made sense now, and Nick and Tori's glances at Charlie whenever he is eating. It made Charlie tear up, which made Nick tear up.

"I'm sorry," Charlie whispered.

"You're not allowed to say that," Nick whispered back. Another thing from Charlie. Apologizing for things out of his control. This was different though. Nick didn't understand that.

"I am, though. I am sorry I'm not him," Charlie stared into the other boy's eyes.

"That's not your fault," Nick shook his head. "It's not your fault, okay? You have nothing to be sorry for."

"If I could remember- if I could bring Charlie back, I would. But he is-" Charlie took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." How could he say it? Charlie is not coming back. He can't remember, because it's not him. Not his life.

Nick sat up, wiping his eyes lightly. "Enough of the sad talk, time for lessons," he straightened.

"Seriously?" Charlie whined.

"Yes, seriously! We have a new super, and he's kinda hot, and nobody else cares," Nick opened his phone, typing quickly. "Meet Speed."

Nick held up a photo of a teenage boy in a super suit and a dark green domino mask. The suit was dark green with white outlines and a silver-and-white lightning bolt across his torso. The boy had dark eyes and messy brown hair. He seemed annoyingly familiar, Charlie just couldn't understand why.

"I'm going to assume Speed is a superspeeder?" Charlie guessed wildly.

"Wow, how'd you figure it out Sherlock? You want his Instagram?" Nick asked.

"Oh, he has an insta?" Charlie covered his mouth to muffle laughter. He didn't know why exactly that was so ridiculously funny.

"Yeah. It's mostly pranks, reposting edits, and confusing the hell out of his followers. Reposting the odd thirst trap in disgust," Nick chuckled. "You want background info?"

"Not at all, but you're going to give it to me anyway," Charlie sighed. "So what's his life story?"

"Apparently his name is Tommy, although if you try to search him by that name it won't register, so likely a fake name. Operates out of Jersey City, and he claims to be related to an Avenger, but instead of naming them, just put REDACTED in big bold letters," Nick read aloud.

"Why is he making such obvious hints to his identity- wait, hang on a second," Charlie straightened. "Did you call him Tommy? A superspeeder from Jersey related to an Avenger, and he's called Tommy?"

"Yes," Nick said slower. "Tommy M. Genetic powers, probably fake name, Jersey City. Been seen with Ms. Marvel, and a photo of him meeting with Zoe Zimmer, who is..." he drummed on the bedsheet, and Charlie sighed.

"Jersey City Influencer who has worked with Ms. Marvel in the past," he answered, not taking his eyes off the photo of Tommy. "What's his Instagram?"

"iamspeed_2.0," Nick laughed. "A bit on the nose."

Charlie flicked his phone out and searched up the profile, following and scrolling down to look at the previous posts. Speed had several posts with Ms. Marvel, claiming they were Jersey's newest super duo. Underneath, a Ms. Marvel account had replied that it was not a voluntary partnership, leaving many speculative comments about how they came to be.

"Do all teen heroes have Instagram pages now?" Charlie murmured.

"Speed started a bit of a trend. Right now it's just him and Ms. Marvel, but they got verified quickly. Her page is less comedic, more sombre, especially after that whole event almost four months ago," Nick sighed.

"What was that?" Charlie frowned. He didn't really remember most of the little events Nick told him.

"The team up with Zoe Zimmer and their friends. You know, the whole Damage Control thing. She helps raise a Go Fund Me for Bruno Carrelli for his hospital bills. She's more of an activist and trying to help the little people," Nick said.

"Bruno Carrelli... that sounds familiar," Charlie flicked open Ms. Marvel's Instagram page.

"He was helping Ms. Marvel with his friends. When a Damage Control agent tried to shoot her, he jumped in the way and got shot in the head. Died. Somehow, Bruno managed to come back with nothing but memory loss. It's tragic," Nick shook his head.

Charlie froze. He thought this Speed guy could be Tommy, but Bruno seemed more likely. Or maybe they were one and the same, it didn't matter. The night that Bruno died was the same night Charlie had. Coming back with nothing but memory loss. Everything he had gone through matched up with everything Charlie had gone through. 

Maybe Bruno was Speed. Given the name thing, it seemed likely that Tommy was reckless enough to go out in public the way he had. It didn't seem like Ms. Marvel knew who he was, since she cared so much about Bruno and didn't seem thrilled by Speed's presence.

"Not subtle at all, are you T?" Charlie shook his head.

"Wait, you know who this is?" Nick turned. "You remember him?" His face lit up with excitement, and Charlie winced.

"Not exactly," he sighed, and Nick deflated. "No. Listen, Nick, I can explain later. It's a long story."

"But you can't tell me," the other boy sighed. "It's okay. But I'm here for you, okay? When you want to tell me, I'm only a text away."

"Okay," Charlie nodded. "It's just hard."

"I get it," Nick wrapped an arm around his shoulders, giving him a side hug. "Did you want to watch something?"

"As long as it's not one of those horrible Avengers documentaries," Charlie shuddered dramatically.

"You have no taste," Nick shook his head.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black," Charlie rolled his eyes. "Just put like Godzilla on or something."

"Yes, sir," Nick laughed, turning the movie on.

A/N - I was originally gonna put this as Chapter 5, but then I figured I should do something about Kamala's reaction to Speed. Double chapter! Then Kamala's got too long, so triple chapter update!