Chapter Text
Noh Varr leaned against a wall, waiting for Kate to finish her conversation.
The others had asked him for a few days before they went out to look for Tommy. Billy wanted to spend some time with his parents and Kate wanted to celebrate her birthday now that she wasn't worried about the repercussions of her aging. He went with it easily.
He wanted Tommy back, desperately, but he didn't want this journey to turn out the same way as the last. He didn't want to let his emotions and impatience keep him from making good decisions.
Besides, he didn't relish being cooped up in a spaceship with Billy and Kate right now. The warlock had been out for David's blood since finding out about his kiss with Teddy and Kate was giving Noh Varr the cold shoulder.
He was waiting for her now in hopes of fixing that.
Kate turned as Laurie started spewing excuses and spotted him.
He gave her a tentative smile. One hand reached up to play with the headphones around his neck, he'd been allowed to DJ for the party as long as he promised to play something that wasn't from the seventies, as he said, "Happy New Year."
"It seems so," Kate murmured.
Neither her voice or her facial expression gave anything away.
He took a few steps forward until he stood in front of her. He clasped his hands together in front of him, asking tentatively, "How was your birthday?"
"You know," she drawled, face tilted up to meet his. "I think you've lost small talk privileges."
"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said.
Her eyes narrowed. "But you did. I thought I was your friend. I thought we were handling things by telling each other things and yet you let yourself drown in this black hole. Maybe I shouldn't blame you for keeping secrets when everyone has things they don't want to talk to, but I do. Because you kept all of that in for so long and then you tried giving up on Tommy in the middle of a battle and it could have gotten me killed."
"I am sorry, Kate."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." She spun away from him. She made it a few steps before stopping. Her hands formed into fists at her sides. She took a deep breath before turning and tossing at him, "The killing thing wasn't even what hurt the most. I went in there knowing I might die. What hurt most was you thinking you were the only one who cared about Tommy."
He hung his head. His dropped to his side and he hooked his thumbs in his pockets. "It felt like that. You all saw the Mother as the primary goal and I just...I wanted him back."
"The Mother may have been our primary goal," Kate said, "but that didn't make finding him optional. Tommy's our teammate, our friend, and part of our family. We would never leave him behind."
Noh Varr had a defensive urge to point out that they had, that them leaving Tommy behind was part of why he'd been in that warehouse with David to begin with, but he kept his mouth shut. He was trying to fix his relationship with Kate, not strain it further.
He watched as she made it a few more steps before a green blur reached out for her wrist. Her face colored with surprise and her punch went flying as the person who had grabbed her pulled her closer. A voice rung out, shouting, "Hey, Kate Bishop!"
Noh Varr didn't recognize the voice and, though they were at the edges of the after party, he couldn't see who had grabbed her through the crowd. Though he knew Kate could take care of herself, he couldn't help edging closer. He wanted to make sure she had back up if the advances were unwanted.
"It's New Years apparently!" the man who had grabbed Kate was shouting. "Why are you not dancing?"
He had moved enough now to see who it was. He felt his breath rush out of his lungs.
His eyes were covered by red goggles, but his white hair stuck out at all angles. His lips were pulled up in the same manic grin, full of sharp teeth, that he'd worn in the picture Noh Varr had been shown. The green and white suit he wore was molded to slender hips
and his arms were thrown up as he wiggled to the beat pounding through the speakers.
He had never seen them in person, but he knew who it was almost instantly. Annie had sent him the picture of him that she'd shown Noh Varr in the park and he'd stared at it enough to memorize it.
What he already knew was confirmed when Kate let out a shocked, "Tommy! You're....alive!"
Tommy registered the feeling of soft, chapped lips under his own. He blinked several times before realizing that David's face was awfully close to his and...
"Get off me!" He screeched, pushing himself away. David didn't resist, leaning to the side under Tommy's hand. "Dude! We're noodles-and-a-coffee friends, but I've got an awesome soulmate already and I don't think he-"
He stopped as he recognized the night sky above him and the feeling of wind sweeping through his hair. He glanced around them as he asked, "Where's the warehouse gone? Weren't we in a warehouse?"
David started to answer him, "Yeah, but-"
Tommy caught sight of a party in the distance and his attention was already gone. "Hey--We're at a party! Great!" Without another word, he made to slip down the hill they were on so he could enter the fray.
As he went, he heard David laughing and making a comment about being a homewrecker again.
He wondered briefly what that was about and made a silent promise to ask the next time he saw him.
He moved through the crowd, looking for someone to dance with.
Along the way, he bumped into a few familiar faces. Most of the were mutants he'd met at some point or another, but he caught a glimpse of Billy and Teddy pressed together as they danced. He considered going over to say hi since he hadn't seen his brother in so long, but Billy actually looked happy and relaxed and Tommy didn't want to interrupt that.
He stopped to talk briefly to one of his acquaintances and learned it was New Years.
He took a moment to process that.
So, clearly something had happened as the last time he checked he'd been in a warehouse and New Years had been more then half a year away. He let the shock of his apparent time shenanigans roll off him as he made his excuses to get away from the conversation.
He grimaced a bit at the realization. With how long he'd been gone, he was sure Noh Varr wasn't having a great time. He was going to have to find a pen as soon possible so he could let Noh Varr know he was still alive and apologize for disappearing.
He weaved his way through the crowd, hoping to make it to the edge. Every party had someone who didn't want to be there and bailed out to write for their soulmate. Tommy loved parties, but even he had been that person enough times to know it was a universal rule. Hopefully they'd be willing to let him borrow their pen quickly.
Tommy was almost there when he caught sight of a shock of purple and turned his head to lay his eyes fully on Kate. She was turned to talk to someone that the crowd was blocking from his view, the look on her face a mixture of anger and hurt.
He redirected himself towards her. Tommy wasn't about to leave her alone with someone who was clearly upsetting her and he didn't see a reason why he couldn't give her a little pick-me-up. She would most likely be willing to fill him in on what he'd missed while they danced so he wouldn't be completely clueless when he spoke to Noh Varr.
Using his superspeed, her reached her in the blink of an eye and snatched her by the wrist as he pulled her towards the party.
"Hey, Kate Bishop!" he said, shouting over the music. When they were a few feet away from whoever she'd been talking to, he threw his hands up and moved his hips to the beat on the make-shift dance floor. "It's New Years apparently! Why are you not dancing?"
"Tommy! You're...alive!" she shouted, her voice filled with shock. He found it a little comforting to know there hadn't been another version of him running around causing trouble. "What you....doing...And here? How are you here?"
"Sorry!" he said, ignoring her questions. Those were for after she'd relaxed a bit. "I can't hear you over my awesome dancing!"
She continued fumbling for words, "Why...are...you...here...Why?" She went quiet suddenly, glancing behind her. A smile spread over her lips. "Tommy, Tommy stop. There's someone you have to meet."
Something in her tone, a little frantic and a little excited, had him coming to a halt.
She took the opportunity to snag him by the wrist and dragged him back the way they'd cam from, just as he had dragged her away. He wondered if he'd misread her anger and dragged her away from someone she'd actually wanted to be around.
"Hey," he said. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Did I fuck up? I dragged you away because you looked angry, but you're going right back."
"Oh I am absolutely livid," Kate said. His lips quirked in a small smile at her bluntness. He hadn't seen Kate for months before his trip to the warehouse. They'd spoken on the phone, but she'd been too busy with Clint to make a trip out to see him. It was nice to be around her again. "But, I wouldn't let my anger keep you from him."
He thought about who it could be as he followed her. He'd seen Billy and Teddy in the other direction, David had been on the hill, Eli wouldn't be at a party like this and even if he was he wouldn't want to see Tommy...
His thoughts came to a grinding halt as they broke through the crowd.
Noh Varr was standing near a group of speakers in nothing but a pair of light grey jeans and his shoes. His torso was broad, packed with all the muscle that Tommy had never been able to build. Distantly, he remembered his first encounter with the Kree and realized he was absolutely, delightfully, correct about his soulmate being built like a brick house.
He forced his eyes up, taking in the sharp lines of Noh Varr's jaw and the surprise in the upturn of his lips. His hair, a white that landed a few shades darker then Tommy's, was gelled back and his eyes, a blue two shades too light to be entirely human, were watching Tommy.
"Noh Varr..." Tommy said, the name slipping from his lips without much thought.
Noh Varr had loved Kate more then he did as he watched her pull Tommy away from the party and towards him.
When they reached him, Tommy came to a sudden halt. His eyes drew a slow path along Noh Varr's body, sweeping upwards until their eyes met. Kate dropped his hand and stepped away.
"Noh Varr..." Tommy said. The way his name sounded coming from Tommy's mouth sent a shiver down Noh Varr's spine.
Without thinking about it, Noh Varr crossed the space between them and wrapped his arms around Tommy. The speedster relaxed into the hold. His arms hooked around Noh Varr's neck and he tucked his face against his shoulder.
"What are you doing here?" Tommy murmured, his breath ghosting along skin. "The Avengers said two or three years."
"You were missing. I wasn't going to sit around waiting," Noh Varr answered. He squeezed his arms a little tighter around Tommy's waist, pressing him in closer. Feeling Tommy against him was helping him keep away the worries that this was all a dream. "I thought I lost you."
"'m sorry," he said, his words muffled against Noh Varr's skin.
"I know." He turned slightly. He pressed a small kiss against Tommy's hair. "I'm going to consider this meeting as your apology gift."
His lips turned up in a smile when he felt Tommy's body shake with laughter against his. "That's so unfair. I'm never going to be able to beat this."
"You've got years and years and years to try," Noh Varr said. His smile dropped. He gave a soft sigh, releasing some of the tension in his body. His lips brushed against Tommy's temple as he murmured, "Tommy, hala, please don't leave again. It was bad enough before. I don't know if I could lose you now that I'm actually with you."
"I won't," Tommy said. He seemed to press himself impossibly closer to Noh Varr. For two people who had only just met, they seemed to fit together perfectly. Noh Varr thought it was probably because they had been a part of each other for so much longer. "I won't."
Noh Varr wasn't sure how long they stood like that, wrapped up in each other as the music pounded around them, but he didn't think it really mattered.
Not when Tommy was warm and safe and solid in his arms.
"How'd you get Tommy back?" Billy questioned as the Young Avengers walked away from the party.
It had just rolled past two in the morning. None of them were particularly tired, but they'd all been getting a little sick of the party.
Well, all except for Tommy who seemed to be trying to make up for several months in one night.
The only reason they'd been able to drag him away was because Noh Varr had laced their fingers together and tugged him away. Tommy hadn't even put up a fight then, walking backwards as he wrapped up his conversation rather then pulling his hand away from the Kree.
Their fingers were still loosely tangled together, hanging between the two of them as Tommy called a few final goodbyes.
"I made out with a cosmic horror monster thing," David answered.
Teddy gave a sharp whistle. "Nice work."
"It's a night for kissing I guess," David said. "I think Loki may have made a pass."
As Billy spoke, Tommy faced forward again. He shuffled a little closer to Noh Varr so their shoulders bumped together.
Noh Varr glanced over at him, a fond smile on his face as he raised an eyebrow.
"We could really make it a night for kissing," Tommy suggested, a sly smile dancing across his lips.
"I would argue we already have," Noh Varr said, his smile loosing the softness and matching Tommy's. "I seem to remember having you pressed against a wall not too long ago."
"That was like an hour ago," Tommy argued. "And if we ditched out on this group thing, you could have me pressed against a bed."
Noh Varr chuckled lightly. "Later. Your brother wouldn't be very happy if we left before he got the chance to talk to you."
"Fuck Billy." Noh Varr let out another chuckle as Tommy's face scrunched with disgust. "Ugh. That's not what I meant."
"I don't know," he teased, "Billy and you are similar enough that-"
Tommy gave him a shove with his free hand, causing Noh Varr to stumble sideways a few steps as his body shook with laughter. "Stop right there, mister. I'm putting out on the first date because I've known you for nine years, but I will totally change my decision if you keep talking about my twin."
Noh Varr's amusement clung to his voice as he lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to Tommy's knuckles. "I only want you."
"You are so gross," Tommy chided. Despite his words, when Noh Varr looked over there was a pink flush along his cheeks and fondness in his eyes. "The actual grossest."
"You know what's gross?" America called from the front of the group. "All this boy kissing."
"Didn't you make out with that ultimate nullifier creep?" Kate asked.
"Only once," America answered with a shrug. "Didn't stick. It's always a shame when you end up as a damn stereotype. 'Yeah, I went with a boy on my first team, but I was just experimenting.'"
Noh Varr gave a soft hum before calling out, "It's part of the cycle for Kree. We consider these things carefully. I was aboard an exploratory vessel, after all."
Tommy, who knew just how much exploring Noh Varr had done as a teenager on the Marvel, gave a sharp snort. He said, "I suppose that's one way to define exploratory."
"The Kree are efficient like that," Noh Varr said with a shrug. He bumped their shoulders together, adding, "You're certainly going to benefit from it."
The look that Tommy sent him, green eyes darkening as he thought about all the ways he would be benefiting from Noh Varr's experiences on the Marvel, was almost enough for Noh Varr to take him up on his offer to skip their group outing and go off on their own.
"Wait--!" Kate called out. "Hold up! Am I the only person on the team who's straight?"
"Princess," America said, her voice filled with mirth as she opened a portal in front of them. "I've seen the way you look at me." She gave it a swift kick, shattering it open before tossing a glance over her shoulder. "You're not that straight."
"Hey Tommy." With them all gathered behind America, waiting to step through the portal, Billy had drawn close to Noh Varr and Tommy. He leaned over, maneuvering around Noh Varr so he could wrap his arms around his brother. "I'm glad your back.".
"Good to be back," Tommy said. It was over as quickly as it was gone, but it was clear that the action had caught him off guard.
Noh Varr nudged him to capture his attention. "Hey, what do you want for breakfast?"
"Mmmm...." Tommy hummed. He looked up at the sky before turning to Noh Varr, a bright smile on his face. "Pancakes for sure."