Chapter Text
It was a popular misconception that Teddy was never unwell.
It was true that he couldn't remember ever being actually sick; he supposed it was one of the advantages of his mutation, with his body adjusting itself to adapt to whatever bugs might have come his way. And yes, he did recover from injuries faster than anyone, so much so that he usually was perfectly fine by the time Billy flew up to him to tell him off for being so stupid and getting himself in harm's way. Which was ridiculous anyway, everyone knew Billy himself was one of the worst when it came to taking stupid risks on the field, but Teddy always just stood and let him rant until it all turned into a relieved sigh and a kiss and an admonishment for him to never, ever do something that stupid ever again, do you hear me Altman. Teddy always promised, of course, and even as he did they both knew he would do it again, because he could survive things others might not and it would have been both stupid and possibly selfish not to take some risks that the rest of the team couldn't.
What could he say? His boyfriend was a worrier sometimes.
The point being, he didn't get sick or even truly injured, and because of that, people often thought he never felt anything but fine. That, however, was far from the truth. While he did avoid the more common causes of sickness and pain, his body happened to be in the habit of reminding him of any causes of stress with a variety of rather unpleasant symptoms. He got nauseous before important exams, headaches when he was exhausted, an ache at the base of his wings when they were anticipating a battle. And when he had to be without Billy, there was a constant dull ache that just wouldn't go away.
It wasn't triggered very easily, that would have been ridiculous, nor had it started right away when they first begun dating. It was only lately, when they were both grown up and Avengers and holy shit that was never going to stop being anything but amazing, that his body seemed to have taken the opinion that more than a couple of days spent away from Billy was a definite cause of distress. It thankfully didn't happen that often, a definite benefit of being in the same line of work and finally living together, but there had been a few times when circumstances had forced them to be apart for a while. And without fail, somewhere around the second to third day, his body began to ache.
It wasn't pain as such, more just a constant feeling that something was wrong, something was amiss. He knew pain, had felt more than his fair share of it even in their relatively short careers as Avengers, and this wasn't pain. He'd once listened to Billy's whining when he was sick, though, with everything feeling uncomfortable and unsettled and just this side of hurting, and the feeling certainly resembled what Billy had described in great detail.
It had been four days now since Billy had left, and Teddy couldn't settle down. Everything felt just slightly out of place, as though there was another form hiding just under his skin, trying to break free. He'd shifted into Hulkling for a while, hoping to ease his discomfort, but it hadn't done much. He was doomed to suffer while Billy and Dr. Strange were off on their mysterious journey to the Himalayas. The Andies? It involved mountains, Teddy knew that much, and it didn't involve him. Which was something he had accepted, yes, but not something he was going to like.
The others seemed to sense his unease, giving him space. It was almost the way they gave Bruce a wide breadth on a bad day, though with slightly less fearful glances. Tony didn't seem to make any difference, but then he hardly even showed himself, only surfacing from his lab for a cup of coffee every now and then before hiding away again. Steve was starting to despair, Teddy knew as much, but it wasn't like they could do anything about it. There hadn't been any action for a while, and that always got Tony obsessed with some project or another. Soon enough there would be another attack of mutated octopus insects on Manhattan, or a magical castle would surface in the bay, and they'd all be up and running into the field except that Billy still wouldn't be there.
No, Teddy wasn't feeling well at all.
Tommy approached him at one point, asking him if he'd like to accompany him and Kate to the movies, and Teddy could see Kate some ways off watching him so apparently this was a joint offer for company instead of just a spectacularly stupid dating faux pas on Tommy's part. He declined, though. It wouldn't have helped at all to see Billy's twin with his girlfriend while he was so absolutely, woefully alone.
Besides, they were going to see the new War Machine movie. He'd already seen it three times.
By the fifth day the ache was starting to focus itself, gathering deep in the pit of his stomach. Teddy might have worried about it more if not for the fact that an alert came in the middle of breakfast, calling them all to action. It wasn't winged octopuses or the castle of an evil wizard, but Teddy frankly wasn't sure he liked the idea of cars coming to life any more. It was less Transformers and more Christine, but at least he had more than enough distractions. Cars being what they were, half the team concentrated on getting civilians out of the way, while the actual destruction of the foes was left to the heavy hitters, Teddy included. He crushed cars and blocked routes alongside Thor and Hulk and Iron Man until finally Falcon reported he had found the cause of the incident, a disgruntled young man who had perfected a device for hacking cars.
Teddy was not going to ask just how any form of hacking could turn ordinary cars into semi-sentient killer machines. Tony griped about the nonsensicalness of it enough for the both of them on the way home.
They didn't get back to the Tower until late afternoon, which, really, that was just terrible. He hadn't even had the chance to finish his breakfast, and by now he was starving, the ache of missing Billy mixed with the discomfort of an empty stomach. He might not have been quite as badly off as Bruce, but his abilities took a lot of energy as well. Thankfully everyone else agreed on the necessity of food, and by the time they got home Pepper had already taken the liberty of ordering enough pizza to feed a small army or just about all Avengers.
This should have been nothing but a relief, except it was in his haste to get to the food that he realized he couldn't shift back.
He managed to stay calm, and nobody else seemed to pay much attention, everyone too exhausted and hungry to worry about anything but getting some food and rest, themselves. It wasn't entirely unprecedented for him to be in his Hulkling form in the tower, anyway, and while he did get a quizzical glance or two nobody cared enough to actually question him about it.
It'd sort itself out soon enough, he was sure. He was just tired and hungry and this form was stronger so his body decided to cling to it despite his wishes to the contrary, which was annoying but not actually cause for concern. It wasn't like his abilities hadn't been stubborn before.
Of course, back when he'd still had trouble on a regular basis he'd been just learning the basics, but clearly that was unimportant. At the very least, it wasn't worth the trouble of adding his worried nausea to the ever growing ache of not having Billy at his side.
He excused himself once he'd eaten, everyone still failing to question him as he strode off all big and green and scaly. It thankfully wasn't a long way to the room he shared with Billy, and as soon as he got inside, he walked over to the bed and collapsed down on it. He was tired and aching and Billy wasn't there, and he didn't want anything as much as sleep.
Sleep would definitely be a good idea.
He woke up some time in the wee hours of morning, feeling absolutely dreadful. He was cold, too, and something wasn't right. Turning to his side, he suddenly realized what disturbed him. The sheets under his hand were wet.
This did not make sense. He was not in the habit of wetting his bed, thank you very much, not even in exhaustion. However, the sheets were definitely damp to the touch. Sitting up, he blinked in the semi-darkness.
He was back in his usual form, too. That wasn't quite as weird, he did sometimes return to his basic form when sleeping, but it didn't help him feel any less uneasy about the whole affair. Running a hand through his hair, he leaned on his other hand to the side, which was when his hand brushed against something that absolutely did not belong in his bed. Something hard and smooth, and no, he was not going to have any inappropriate thoughts about that.
"JARVIS?" Teddy held his breath. "Lights, please."
At once the lights turned on, leaving him blinking for a second. Then he turned to look at his side, and was left staring.
There was an egg in the bed beside him. It was definitely an egg, he knew that, though it was quite a bit larger than anything he had ever encountered in breakfast table. It lay on its side in the bed, as though knocked over, next to where his legs had been. Had he kicked it in his sleep? And where had it come from in the first place?
"JARVIS? Has anyone else been in my room?" This was a prank, right? Some strange trick of Tommy's, meant to distract him from his continued lack of Billy. Yes, that had to be it. Where had Tommy found such a big egg?
"Not since you arrived last night." Right, there went that theory.
Teddy reached a careful hand toward the egg, not sure how it would react. It didn't, which really shouldn't have surprised him. Eggs were not generally known for their tendency to leap into action. Or, well, anything, aside from sitting somewhere warm until they hatched.
Hatched. Was something going to hatch from this? This wasn't some kind of plastic decoration, he could tell that much. In fact, it felt very much like a normal egg. Which meant there might be something inside, something alive.
Teddy had seen his share of horror movies, knew all about what kind of monstrosities could lurk inside something as innocent as a giant egg. Especially one that seemed to have appeared all by itself in his bed in the middle of the night. At the same time, though, he couldn't help but imagine some helpless little creature inside, curled up within the shell, withering away in the cold. Dying, even, if it did not get warm soon, before it ever had a chance of hatching.
Yeah, like he was going to let that happen.
Teddy sat on the bed cross-legged, reaching to pull the egg into his lap. It definitely wasn't hollow, judging by the weight, though that still didn't tell him anything of what was lurking inside. Nevertheless, he let his wings unfurl even as the rest of him remained human, curling the appendages around the egg along with his arms. Hopefully it would be enough warmth for the creature to survive.
He couldn't stay like this, of course, for however long the egg was going to need. He also needed to figure out just what had happened and how he had ended up with such a surprise in his bed, which, yeah, wasn't going to be easy. Except it was the middle of the night and all the Avengers were doubtless in bed, exhausted from the battle the day before, and Billy wasn't here and oh that thought just wasn't going to get any better.
"JARVIS?" he asked quietly. "Could you make a call for me?" His phone was on the nightstand, of course, but this way he didn't have to let go of the egg.
"Certainly. Who do you wish to call?"
Who indeed? It wasn't like there were many choices of who he could call up in the middle of the night when he needed them. There was one, however, even not counting Billy, because Billy wasn't here and damn it he needed Billy right now.
"My mother."
*
It probably said something about life in the Avengers Tower that when Sarah Altman walked in at four in the morning, the only reaction she got was a polite nod from the security guard in the lobby.
Of course, what it mostly said was that nobody could have gotten in at such an hour without a proper key card, and in any case she would have never made it anywhere further than the lobby at this hour if she had been just anyone. The regular elevators were locked down outside business hours, and the one serving the top floors could only be operated by a few select people. A rather small number which, fortunately, happened to include her.
She hadn't made much sense of Teddy's call, merely that she should come over and he needed help. It wasn't the first time she had been woken at night by her son, but she had to admit it had been a while since it had last happened. Well, aside from that one time half a year back when Billy had been badly injured and Teddy had called her in tears, absolutely convinced he would lose the best thing to ever to happen to him and how would he ever cope? She had rushed over then, too, holding him close and murmuring reassurances while they waited for news.
This time, though, she knew the last battle had been wrapped up a while ago, there were no casualties reported on the news, and besides Billy wasn't even in New York at the moment.
Had something happened to Billy elsewhere? Was that why Teddy had been so out of sorts? But no, he hadn't been crying, hadn't even sounded as horrified as he would have been if some unknown threat had been hanging over his boyfriend. Frantic and uncertain, yes, rambling and making no sense, definitely, but not sad or scared.
Hopefully that meant this wasn't something terrible. Though considering he had called her at such an unreasonable hour, she wasn't going to make any bets just yet.
The elevator ride was just long enough to get her properly worried before depositing her in the topmost part of the Tower. She murmured a greeting to JARVIS, a habit she had quickly gotten into despite her rare visits here, and followed a line of lights in the otherwise dark corridor to Teddy's room. Whatever was going on, she would find out soon.
She knocked on the door and, receiving a quiet response, opened it. The lights were on as she stepped inside, looking for Teddy. He was huddled up in the middle of the bed, looking mostly human except for his wings, which were curled up in front of him.
"Teddy?" She walked closer, careful not to startle him. "Teddy, I'm here. What's wrong? I didn't really understand what you said on the phone."
"Mom?" Teddy turned to look at her, his eyes just this side of panicky. "Mom, I — I don't know what to do. Sorry for calling you so late, it's just — I can't —"
"Teddy, darling, calm down. Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it together." She sat down on the edge of the bed and reached her hand to touch his shoulder. "You have to tell me what's wrong, though, or I can't help you."
"I... don't know. I mean, I don't know if anything's wrong, it's just..." He visibly sought for words, then gave up and settled for demonstration instead. His wings folded themselves neatly behind his back, revealing the object they had been hiding.
There was an egg in Teddy's lap.
For a moment, she just stared. It had been so long since she had seen one, it almost didn't seem real. However, as she reached a careful hand to brush against it, the shell was firm and solid under her fingertips. "Teddy... where did that come from?"
"I don't know." He looked at her with anxious eyes. "I woke up in the middle of the night and it was just lying there next to me."
"Right." She drew a deep breath. Panicking wouldn't help either of them, and in any case, she had brought this upon herself. She should have told him the truth ages ago. "Have you been feeling somewhat under the weather lately?"
"Ah, yeah. I just figured it was because Billy's away. I mean, I always feel worse when he's not here. You know how I get when I'm stressed."
"Yes, I know." Her fingers caressed the smooth shell of the egg. "Teddy... you know how you think you are a mutant?"
Teddy frowned. Obviously he had caught the implication hidden in her question. "Yeah?"
"It's not... quite like that." She sighed. "Actually, it's not like that at all. You're not a mutant any more than I am one. You are just... different."
"Different how?" His shoulders tensed. "And what does that have to do with any of this?"
"I'm assuming Billy and you don't really bother with condoms." The reddening of his cheeks was answer enough. "I rather thought so. Really, I suppose we're lucky this didn't happen earlier."
"Mom, what are you talking about?" His frown deepened, and then his eyes widened. "You can't mean..."
"Unlikely though it may seem, I believe you laid this egg."
"What?" Teddy's voice turned into a rather adorable squeak before he struggled to bring it back under control. "I mean... what? That makes no sense. For one thing, I'm male, and for another I'm not a bird. I mean, yeah, I've got wings, but I'm still pretty sure I don't qualify as a bird."
"No, you aren't. I'd say a lizard would be closer." Clearly, she had to get to the core of the issue. "Teddy, sweetheart, you are an alien. Of a race that lays eggs. Which you appear to have done."
He stared at her, uncomprehending.
"I'm one, too. You were in danger on our home planet, so I brought you here to keep you safe. I always intended to tell you once your abilities showed up properly, but then there were Tommy and Billy and their grandfather with their own explanation, and I thought it might be for the better if you didn't know. That you'd be safer that way."
He still didn't say anything, continuing to stare.
"I never imagined... well. I probably should have figured this might happen; sex and gender aren't exactly set in stone for our species, so I shouldn't have assumed it wouldn't come up. It's just, you've always had such a strong male identity, I didn't think this could happen by accident. I thought I'd wait until you and Billy started actually talking about having children and then mention this as an option."
"Mom, that's not funny." That was... not the response she had expected. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm kind of freaking out here. That's not helping."
"I'm not joking." Well. Perhaps a demonstration was in order. It had been a while since she'd had any cause to use her abilities, but with a bit of concentration, she managed to call up her actual form.
The shock in his eyes made it clear she had succeeded.
"I'm telling the truth, darling." She touched his arm in what she hoped was a soothing way. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I was just trying to keep you safe. To keep things simple. I should have told you, but I didn't, and now this has happened because you didn't even know it was a possibility."
"You mean... this actually is my egg?" Teddy drew it even closer to his chest. "Mine and Billy's?"
"Unless someone sneaked in here during the night and planted a perfect replica in your bed for some reason, yes, I believe so. It's not unheard of for our people to breed across species. I'm sure you've noticed that we are very adaptable." That, and Teddy himself was proof of such capability. Not that she was going to mention that right now; the poor boy probably had enough on his plate already.
"So there's a baby in here?" His voice got very quiet now. "An actual, live baby?"
"I believe so, yes." She resumed petting the egg. Not that the child inside could feel it, but it soothed her own nerves somewhat. "It's going to take a while to hatch, though. And to survive that long, it's going to need to stay warm."
"We haven't even talked about it yet." Teddy didn't get more specific, but it was rather clear just what he was talking about. "I mean, we've always kind of assumed we're going to have a family at some point, but it's always just been somewhere in the future. It's not like we knew we could be trying, or something. It's — oh, God, what's Billy going to say? What if he doesn't want a child yet, what if he doesn't ever want one? What do I do if he doesn't want it? I can't live without Billy, I know I can't, but I can't just abandon my baby and Christ, mom, there's something alive in here and —"
"Teddy, darling, calm down." She sighed. "I know this wasn't in any way planned, but I'm sure Billy will be delighted. You'll just have to figure this out together, but I'm sure he'll be just fine with it once the first shock wears off. It's not like you had any warning, either, and you two did both have a part in the process of making this happen."
"Uh." Teddy flushed again. "I. Right."
"Indeed." She sighed. "Well. Billy's out of town, right? How long is it until he returns?"
"Ah... couple of weeks, I think." Teddy closed his eyes momentarily. "He's off with Doctor Strange on some mystical errand or another that Strange wants him to learn about. Which means I know he's going to be fine, it's not like a protector can get much more badass than that, but it also means we probably can't contact them before they're back."
"Good." At his shocked expression, she sighed. "Don't look like that. I understand you'd like to talk with Billy about this, I really do, but it's not like he can help you either way until he returns, and it would just make him worry needlessly. It's better if we figure out the practical side of things now and then you can discuss the future in more detail once he returns."
"Practical matters?" He blinked at her. "What's there to figure out before Billy returns?"
"Well, it will take several months for the egg to hatch. Were you planning to sit hugging it all the time? Or maybe grow yourself a pouch to keep it in? Some do that, but it can get in the way, and besides it can be somewhat risky."
"Ah. Right." Teddy looked down at the egg, his expression somewhere between dread and wonder. "Mom? I still don't know what to do."
"You'll figure it out, dear." At least she certainly hoped so.
Really, she only had herself to blame.
*
"So, let me get this straight." Steve looked at him over the table, his expression as serious as though they had been discussing a terrorist threat. "You're not a mutant but an alien. From space."
"Correct." His mother wasn't here, as she'd had to leave for work, which left him woefully alone until she got back. At least some members of the team would probably take some time to wake up, so he didn't have to face them all at once. Which also meant he'd have to explain things several times, but he figured that would get easier with repetition.
God, he hoped it would get easier.
"And because of your alien biology, you have laid an egg. A fertilized egg, from what I understand. With a baby inside."
Teddy bit his lip, arms tightening just a bit around the egg in his lap. His mother had assured him it could wait until they had a proper incubator ready with no harm done, but he couldn't help the feeling that if he set it aside something dreadful would happen. "That's what it looks like, yes."
"And this egg is going to hatch to reveal said half-alien baby around when?"
"Uh. In four months or so? Apparently it can vary a bit, depending on how long, ah, how long it has been developing inside. Inside me." And wasn't there a weird thought.
"How does that even work?" Clint had been leaning against the kitchen counter, mostly silent while he clutched his coffee. "I mean, I know you get all big and scary sometimes, and you're not a small boy even in human form, but that thing's not exactly tiny. How'd it fit inside without anyone noticing?"
Teddy sighed. "You know how my body can rearrange itself? Apparently that includes shrinking my internal organs to make way for the egg. And it's been pretty soft and pliable until now; the shell hardening was probably the reason I couldn't shift back from my Hulkling form yesterday. I mean, I'm not claiming to understand this, either."
"Still. That thing grew inside you and then you laid it." Clint shook his head. "Fuck, you're probably lucky you did that in your sleep, because I really don't want to imagine the details of the process."
"Clint, please." Steve sighed and looked at Teddy. "So, what now? Are you going to make a nest, or how are you going to do this?"
"Ah. My mom said I should probably set up an incubator, something with monitoring for temperature and humidity and stuff. That makes sure the hatchling develops properly, and I won't have to either sit still or carry this thing around until it hatches."
"That sounds like a good idea." And all of a sudden the serious look was away, replaced by a smile. "Oh, Tony's going to love doing that. You'll probably have the most high-tech incubator there ever was."
"You can bet your ass on that." Clint chuckled. "Ten bucks says he'll put in a JARVIS feed so it can sing lullabies to the baby."
"Wait, that's it?" Teddy blinked. "You're not... freaked out or anything?"
"Should we be?" Steve stood up and headed to the coffee machine to fill his cup. "Sure, it's a surprise, but really, it's not that different from anyone else getting in a family way. Maybe we didn't know just how different your biology is, but then we were already aware you don't work the way most humans do. I don't see any reason why this should be any different from, say, Kate announcing she's having a child, except in this case we don't have to worry about how long you can still be in the field."
"Oh, please, Cap. This is totally different," Clint snorted. "For one thing, Teddy is actually a responsible individual. I mean, not that Hawkette isn't, she's awesome and I won't hear anyone saying otherwise, but her having a kid would most likely mean Tommy's the father and that's just a disaster waiting to happen. Billy, though, will panic for a day or two and then turn into a totally awesome dad without us having to worry about anyone getting dropped on their head."
"Tommy's not that bad." Teddy paused, his prior experience with Tommy dueling with the automatic loyalty he felt he owed to his almost brother-in-law. "Well. Most of the time he isn't."
Steve cleared his throat. "In any case. You're an adult, Teddy, and so is Billy. If the two of you are going to be parents, I frankly think the only thing any of us has to say is congratulations."
"I'll do you one better." Clint smirked. "I'll help you hide if Billy's absolutely terrifying grandfather decides you've somehow besmirched his little darling's honor."
"Oh, God." Teddy could feel himself paling. "I hadn't even thought of that."
"It'll be fine, I'm sure." Steve sent Clint a long-suffering look. "He's probably just going to be delighted to get a grandkid. Well. Great-grandkid." Teddy couldn't exactly fault him for faltering, there. Sure, Erik was technically the twins' grandfather, but he had raised them since they were babies, so the lines were a bit blurred there. He certainly acted mostly like a father, having much the same role in the dynamics of the team as Teddy's mom did the rare times she visited the Tower.
He still hadn't quite recovered from his first meeting with a very suspicious, very judgmental Erik who had very much doubted whether anyone could be good enough for his darlings, mutant or no. Which reminded him he probably should have been panicking about the fact that it now turned out he wasn't a mutant after all, but frankly, he had enough to worry about as it was. Erik had come to accept Kate, after all, surely he could continue to approve of Teddy even if he wasn't a mutant. Or human.
He was going to be so dead.
"Let's hope so." He sighed. "And if not, well, you guys will help Billy with the single parent gig, right? I'd hate to think he's left all alone when I am suddenly and violently removed from this world."
"Now, stop being silly, Teddy. Nothing like that is going to happen and you know it." Steve gave him a bright smile, the patented Captain America shine of positive thoughts and a happy future, and yeah, that actually kind of helped. "Now, I'm going to make breakfast. It's always kind of dreary to make plans on an empty stomach. Anything in particular either of you two want? I'm giving you first picks since you're the only ones here at the moment."
Teddy still wasn't about to completely relax, but at least now, things didn't seem quite as terrible.
Of course, he still had the rest of the team to face, including his boyfriend's rather short-tempered, very protective older brother, who was not afraid to make his opinions known very loud and clear.
Well. He figured a good breakfast would help with that particular ordeal as well.