Young Avengers: Growing Up

[lumelle]

Title: Growing Up
Fandom: Young Avengers
Pairings: Tommy Shepherd/Kate Bishop (Speed/Hawkeye); Teddy Altman/Billy Kaplan (Hulkling/Wiccan)
Rating: PG
Summary: Kate is sick, and thinks she might be pregnant. Tommy isn't sure how to deal with it, but he's going to have to make up his mind.


When he woke up, Kate wasn't there.

This was somewhat unusual. He was very much sure she had been there when he'd gone to sleep the night before, his face buried in her hair, an arm slung over her because he was just selfish enough to take advantage of an opportunity like that. It wasn't like she had any reason to go anywhere else, either, given that this was her bed in her bedroom at her apartment. Sure, he slept over more often than not, partly because it was much better than hanging out with the personalities at the Avengers Tower and partly because lovely sexy classy Kate was here, but it was still her room and her bed and she should have been there.

Looking around, he noticed a hint of light from under the door to the bathroom. Well, that explained the disappearance, though still not why she would be up before him. He wasn't good at doing anything that involved staying still, including sleeping in, and while Kate was not one for wasting her time idling about she was still usually asleep by the time Tommy woke up to anxiously greet the dawn.

Climbing out of bed, he walked softly to the bathroom door, leaning against the wall there. "You all right in there?"

For a moment, there was no response, and he pondered whether this meant he should panic or that she simply wasn't interested in chatting right now. Then, however, he heard the very unmistakable sound of someone throwing up.

Trying the door, he found it to be unlocked, allowing him to step inside. Sure enough, Kate was on her knees in front of the toilet, emptying her stomach.

"Okay. Wow. I guess not." For a moment Tommy felt helpless, knowing he should do something to be a good boyfriend but not really knowing what. Besides, this was kind of grossing him out. "You want some water?" he asked finally, hoping this would be an appropriately concerned response.

Kate took a moment from being sick to nod weakly, then returned to her previous activity. Tommy played the dutiful boyfriend by indeed getting her a glass of water. Thankfully, she seemed to be done by the time he got back.

"You getting sick or something?" he asked as she sipped at the water, looking still pretty pale and wrung out. "I mean, I know you didn't get that drunk last night, I was there." And he certainly kept his eyes very closely on Kate.

"I don't know." Kate moaned a bit. "I've been feeling queasy lately, but nothing this bad."

"Okay, that doesn't sound good." He frowned. He definitely didn't want his girlfriend sick, especially not with something this gross. "You sure you haven't just eaten something bad?"

"I don't think so, though I —" Suddenly Kate froze, then turned to look at him. "Wait. What day is it?"

"Hm? Saturday. Uh, the fifteenth, I think. One of Billy's brothers had his birthday on Monday, and I heard a thousand times it's the tenth, so I'm pretty sure about that."

If possible, Kate looked even paler, now. "Oh no. Oh, oh, no."

"What?" His frown deepened. "Is something important going on today? You can't go if you're feeling that bad. I don't care how good you're about keeping up appearances, it's only going to ruin your reputation if you puke all over yourself in the middle of some high-profile shindig."

"It's not that." She took a deep gulp of the water, now. "I… think I need you to go to the pharmacy."

"Okay, sure. I'll get that done before you know it." He reached out a tentative hand, brushing a lock of hair from her face. "What do you need, baby?"

"A pregnancy test."

He almost felt like fainting, but then it wasn't like the world could have been that kind to poor old him.

*

"What am I going to do?"

"Well, you could start by calming down." Billy yawned, scratching his head. "I'm still not sure why you're here."

"Because my life is now over!" Okay, that was probably a bit overly dramatic, but he was trying to get his stupid brother's attention, here. "It's a catastrophe, Billy!"

"It'd damn well better be. I'm pretty sure it's a crime against nature to wake anyone up this early."

"Easy for you to say." He frowned. "You haven't been woken up by a girlfriend being sick."

"Kate's sick?" Sure, now he looked concerned. Nobody cared when Tommy was in trouble!

"I don't know. She was puking her guts out when I woke up, though." Tommy shifted his weight from one foot to another, not content with standing still. "And then she said —" he cut off, trying to figure out how to say it.

"Yeah? What'd she say?" Billy leaned back into Teddy, who was still blissfully asleep, the fortunate man. "Judging by your state of panic, she's been implanted by an alien invader that's going to want to eat your brain once it comes out. Poor thing's going to starve to death."

"Shesaidsheneedsapregnancytest." As Billy gave him a blank, sleepy look, he sighed. "She said she needs a pregnancy test."

"Really?" Billy blinked. "You're sure?"

"Of course I'm damn sure! Do you think I could mishear that?" Tommy made a face. "I heard it loud and clear, Billy. She's pregnant!"

"Correction: She's feeling sick, she's probably late, and she wants to find out if she's pregnant. Not the same thing."

"Well, what other reason would she have to be sick?"

"I don't know. But you sure won't find out by standing here and panicking at me." Billy yawned again. "Calm down, Tommy. There's no reason to act like the world's ending before you've even done the test."

"Oh, of course you'd say that!" He frowned. "Not like you're ever going to have to deal with this."

"Eh, I don't know." Teddy's voice was muffled by the way he'd hidden his face in Billy's hair. "Though granted, if we do have kids, it's probably not going to be a surprise, since I'm not in the habit of being a woman just for fun."

"Not a mental image I needed, thanks." Tommy made a face. "But what am I going to do?"

"Well, you've got two choices." Billy closed his eyes. "Either you run off now and never go back… or you put your big boy pants on, go get the test, and get back to Kate. Trust me, however much you're panicking right now, she's probably worse."

"And why should I listen to you?"

"I may not have a possibly pregnant girlfriend, but I've managed to date a guy long enough to marry him. As such, I'm infinitely more qualified to deal with these things than you." Billy drew the covers over himself. "Now go away and let us sleep."

So much for sympathy, then.

*

"Is it done yet?"

"Not yet, no."

"Is it done now, then?"

"Tommy, these things only take a few minutes, you can wait that long." Kate sighed. "Besides, with the way you keep peeking over my shoulder, you'll see it as soon as I do."

"Right." Nevertheless, he was getting twitchy. A few minutes on something this important was far too long! "So, when something appears in that window, it's done?"

"That's it. Plus for yes, minus for no."

"Okay. Why does it need an answer for no?"

"So we'll know it's actually working." She squinted her eyes. "Wait. I think I'm seeing something now."

"What? Where where where?" He glared at the little plastic stick, half hoping to threaten it to hurry up. Hey, Billy could affect inanimate objects. Maybe he could if he glared hard enough.

"It's starting to show now." She shifted the stick to get the light better. "I think…" she paused. "I think it's a plus."

"A plus." Tommy tightened his arms around her. "That means yes, right?"

"Yeah." Kate leaned back against him. "I… I'm pregnant."

"You're pregnant." He held her even tighter, now. "What are we going to do?"

"We… We need to figure that out." Kate sighed. "I think I need to sit down."

Tommy was on his best behavior, waiting until she got seated before saying anything. Of course, that was about as long as he could be expected to hold back. "You going to keep it?"

"I… don't know." Kate bit her lip. "It's pretty sudden."

"You're telling me." He walked to the window for no other reason than to keep from standing still. "How'd this happen, anyway? I thought we were being safe."

"It must have been that inter-dimensional mission a few weeks back. Billy said time wasn't entirely in synch between the dimensions; it must have messed with my pills somehow."

"Right." He swallowed. "If you keep the kid, it's probably going to be a mutant."

"I know." Kate set a hand over her flat stomach, fingers slowly spreading. "Probably a pretty strong one, too, looking at your family."

"Does that bother you?"

"Should it?" She raised her eyebrows. "My social circle seems to be pretty dominated by the X-gene. Besides, it's not the first time I've had a mutant inside me."

"Yeah, well, that's kind of what got you into this situation in the first place." Why were they joking? This wasn't a joking matter. He walked back to Kate. "If you keep it, then what?"

"Then I've got a kid to raise, I guess." She shrugged. "You don't have to worry about supporting it if that's what you're concerned about. Though if you're not going to be a father, you're not going to be dating me, either."

"Right. Of course." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'd be a pretty bad father, though. Really not a good example."

"Because I'm such perfect mommy material, obviously." Kate sighed. "I mean… On one hand, I'm freaking out. I'm far too young and far too busy for something like this. But on the other hand… we're Avengers. Our lives are never going to be any less busy, or any less dangerous. And frankly, I don't think you're ever going to be a much better example."

"…That's assuming that when you do have a kid, you absolutely want to have it with me of all people." Which frankly did not sound like that good a plan.

"That's because I do want that." She looked at him seriously. "Believe it or not, I'm not just with you for your prowess in bed. I do want to some day see a hyperactive little kid with white hair clinging to my hand and call me mommy, and see you pick that kid up for a piggy-back ride around the city. But I'm not going to tie you down if that's not what you want. We both know that wouldn't end well for anyone involved."

Tommy was quiet for a moment, weighing his options. Not that he had that many.

A part of him wanted to run, run as fast and far away as he could and never look back. He could take care of himself, he'd done it before. He'd just leave behind all the responsibility, that's all. Leave behind the responsibility and Kate and his friends who'd never forgive him, leave behind this sad little excuse for life that he'd managed to build against all the odds, and give up on ever seeing that hypothetical little child with white hair and Kate's eyes and all the potential in the world.

Or he could face the responsibility, keep Kate and his brother and his friends, and maybe try to grow up at last.

He drew a deep breath. "I've got one question."

"What is it?" Kate masked it well, but there was uncertainty in her, the slightest hint of worry, of fear. Fear of what he was planning to do. Of seeing him turn and never come back.

Damn, he was a bastard.

"When your father inevitably freaks out and forces us to marry to make the kid legitimate, can I take your name?"