Sam

[nola_quicksilver]

Oliver had a headache. Wasn't that cute? He and Sam were sharing afflictions now!

After brushing his teeth—because he probably smelled like a lot of wine right now—he took the bottle of Advil out of the medicine cabinet, shaking a couple into his palm. As he swallowed them down with faucet water (he wasn't fancy), he mentally went over the current situation.

1. He was Quicksilver, a superhero.

2. In this universe, he was a fictional character.

3. He also had a twin sister, a version of whom also lived in New Orleans.

4. This Wanda wasn't his Wanda and the differences were sort of killing him, even as the similarities were comforting him in a way he could barely understand.

5. There was a Jean Grey in town too, which he'd just found out over coffee shop e-journal (what), and she was also from another universe.

6. Through it all, he was still Oliver Lindqvist. Who was going to go into his boyfriend's room now, finally, and make sure he was alive, if he was even there at all. God, how was he going to explain this to Sam?

Oliver took a deep, steadying breath before he crossed the apartment and quietly opened Sam's bedroom door. At first sight of Sam, he could feel himself warm with affection, but then immediately went tense. Because for the first time in all the months they'd known each other, Oliver recognized him.

"Are you freaking kidding me," he muttered.

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[nola_cyclops]

The migraine had finally passed for so many hours Sam was starting to think it was actually done, but of course, that had just meant he was overcome with crushing fatigue. It was the best, most uninterrupted, least nightmarish sleep Sam had had in days, and it was an utter relief. Sure, there was still a headache there, but it was nothing compared to the monster ones of late.

The blessed blankness of his sleep was only ended by a sound, a presence in the room Sam couldn't quite make out. He didn't want to be awake, so he mumbled, sleepily, "Oliver?" without moving, because if it was Oliver, he could go under again. "I'm okay."

[nola_quicksilver]

"You are?" His voice sounded wavering and weird to himself, and his legs felt shaky as he went over to sit on the side of the bed next to Sam. Because maybe he was mistaken, maybe it was just the stress getting to him—the two did have similar coloring, after all.

But no, when he was closer, staring down at the tired, sleep-creased face he loved so much, brushed the hair back from Sam's forehead, Oliver was more sure than ever. Fuck fuck fuck

[nola_cyclops]

Sam might be feeling better, but Oliver's tone was worrying, and Sam wouldn't ignore it. He couldn't, especially not now that he seemed to be in control of his mind again. Instantly, Sam opened his eyes, sat up, and turned to look at Oliver. "What's wrong?"

[nola_quicksilver]

It was such a Sam reaction, and such a...well, suffice to say it all added up. Oliver looked at him evenly, but God, he felt sick, deep down. "First tell me how your head feels."

[nola_cyclops]

Sam couldn't remember ever seeing quite that expression on Oliver's face. He frowned, more worried now; who cared about a headache when something seemed wrong with Oliver? "It's fine, it's much better. What's the matter?"

[nola_quicksilver]

Oliver surged in to kiss Sam then, quick and hard and a little desperate. That might be awkward later, but it might be Oliver's last chance to kiss him and, selfishly, he needed to take it. Because when Sam realized, he was going to want to find Emma or —God, there was already a Jean!

When he pulled back from the kiss, he tried to keep his face as neutral as possible, because later he was going to need to feel he had been stoic and unemotional in this moment, but his heart actually hurt. How stupid, to let himself fall in love, to let himself dream.

He took Sam's face in his hands and said carefully, "I am Quicksilver and you are Cyclops."

[nola_cyclops]

"What are you talking about?"was Sam's automatic reply, but the words tugged at him in a way that he didn't understand. He braced himself for the moment, holding a hand to Oliver's side.

[nola_quicksilver]

Of course Cyclops wouldn't make this easy on him, this was comically-tragically in character. "I remembered. You'll remember too, because X-Men need you, S—"

He couldn't call bring himself to say Scott. No, because this was Sam, who gently teased him and woke him up with kisses and had come willingly into his mess of a life. Sam, who Oliver loved more fiercely than he'd ever imagined possible, who was going to look at him with understanding and horror.

They definitely needed to find out who was behind this, because Oliver was going to punch their heart out.

[nola_cyclops]

X-Men need you.

Oh, god. His dreams made perfect sense. They were about Jean, because of course they were, and the Phoenix, and Charles, and death, and really, mostly about his X-Men. Who were on their last legs, the last of whom he was trying to keep alive, the team that he was finally going to end for good as soon as they took care of their final business. As soon as -- oh, god.

Sam wrenched away from Oliver, bent his head, closed his eyes. If he remembered, his powers might come back, and if they did, he had no ruby quartz, and the destruction would be horrific. He waited, carefully, for a few beats, and the pressure roared in his head and subsided. It was okay. He was powerless.

Which of course, wasn't okay, but it meant he could open his eyes. And look at Oliver.

No.

Not Oliver.

Quicksilver. Pietro Maximoff. Oh god.

Sam scrambled out of bed. Stood. Looked at Oliver. At Pietro. At fucking Quicksilver, the man he loved.

[nola_quicksilver]

Oliver let his hands drop into his lap and carefully folded them. He was never going to touch Sam again, probably. It was fine. They'd figure out what was going on, and then his memories of this time would fade, mostly likely. Or else he'd push them deep, deep down until he could remember how to sleep again without Sam beside him.

"I'm going to kill them," he said quietly.

[nola_cyclops]

Sam was good at compartmentalizing but Scott Summers was fucking legendary at it, so Sam could handle this, right? He breathed carefully, evenly. "Tell me everything you know. What's the last thing you remember?" Was this a different universe? Was this the Quicksilver Sam knew? What was going on?

He had to figure out the answers. His aching heart would have to wait.

[nola_quicksilver]

"Working at Avengers Academy," Oliver said, keeping the same even, distant tone. "I was running with Lightspeed."

It was a little moment, but a good one. There'd been joy, with the wind rushing past him, with someone who could keep up.

[nola_cyclops]

"I was with my team, what's left of the X-Men. I'm not dead anymore, by the way," Sam added, offhandedly. Quicksilver might have known, but who knows what the Avengers were up to (not helping the mutant population). Sam had been caught on camera trying to reassemble a team; it was how he'd found Wolverine and then the others, and he and Alex had --

Alex. He had called a man Alex; the man had named him Scott.

[nola_quicksilver]

"Well, that's good." So this probably wasn't some weird afterlife situation. His gut had said that wasn't what was happening here anyway. "I found a Wanda, though, and the last thing she remembered was dying, so."

[nola_cyclops]

Wanda. And they were in a completely different reality. That was ringing a bell. "Are you sure she didn't do this to save her life?"

Sam felt bad for asking; he also had no choice but to ask.

[nola_quicksilver]

Oliver wasn't offended. It wasn't like they didn't have a precedent. "No, it's not her. She's from a different universe and was really shaken up about this, and her powers aren't so reality-bending as my Wanda's. And besides, if she was going to change reality to save someone's life, it would have been her brother's."

[nola_cyclops]

Sam nodded. Scott trusted Quicksilver on at least some level; he wasn't the worst of the Avengers, and his days of being on the real wrong side were long past. And Sam trusted Oliver with his life, so. Oh, god. He felt too much.

"I think Havok is here," he shared, because at least they were allies. "A man called me Scott on the street, and I called him Alex. It was weird then. Not so much now."

[nola_quicksilver]

Oliver looked up quickly at that. Havok had been a teammate, much more so than Cyclops had been. "Did you get his name? His other name, I mean."

[nola_cyclops]

"Caleb." And Sam had been drawn to him. And his cute stories about...... "He has a daughter. Named Scottie." Oh, god.

[nola_quicksilver]

"Of course he did." God save him from Summers men and their mixed messages! "Don't you have a teacher friend? Maybe she goes to his school."

[nola_cyclops]

"I'll track him down," Sam promised. He had to. Alex was his teammate, his responsibility, his brother. "There are bound to be others. Maybe just mutants."

[nola_quicksilver]

There's a Jean. Oliver should say it, had to, but he couldn't make himself right now.

"I don't know if Wanda's a mutant," he said instead. "She didn't know what one was, mentioned getting our powers in a lab—it sounded like stuff from the Avengers movies."

[nola_cyclops]

"I hate those movies," Sam said, because it was the easiest, truest thing to say. But okay, then. "Then maybe it's Avengers, too." Great, Sam had just loved his most recent run-in with Captain America.

[nola_quicksilver]

"Uh, hello?" Oliver gestured to himself. "Avenger right here."

[nola_cyclops]

Don't remind him. "Yes, but you're still a mutant." People always came for the mutant gene. "It doesn't matter. We need to gather everyone together."