I don't own Young Avengers, Avengers Arena or Runaways

Unanswered Call

People like to tell you everyone dies alone. I always thought that was a poetic way of saying mortality is inevitable, or death is scary.
But I'm calm now. I can't feel anything but the cold.
This is the end. And right at the moment...
It's not the dying that keeps me dragging myself through the snow.
It's the 'alone'

"Help."

It was a single word, uttered somewhere in the distance, the shadow of a sound. It was barely registered through the growl of the space-ship's engines or the banter of the few teens present, but still it was enough to make one of them look up, a frown on his face.

"Nico...?" Billy muttered, unsure if he actually heard anything or if it were just the wind carrying echoes. Still, something sank heavily inside him, making his insides twist into cold knots. It felt like if he could concentrate for a moment more he'd hear more, understand more, but he never got the chance to do that. A hand rested on his shoulder, making him turn to find one worried-looking boyfriend frowning at him.
It wasn't much to begin with, true, but Billy couldn't help but grit his teeth - it was gone.

"What's wrong? You look spaced out..." Teddy asked, obviously concerned for his partner's well-being. Billy grasped at nothing for a moment more before he gave up, turning to Teddy with a slightly resigned smile.

"Nothing, I just-" He bit on his lower lip. "I thought I heard Nico calling for help."

"Nico?"

"The Runaway?" Kate joined in, looking quite perplexed. She and Teddy exchanged a look while Billy tried to make heads or tails of it all, never once noticing the look the child-like Demigod was giving him.

"I'm pretty sure it was her, I just-"

"I didn't hear anything." Teddy stated softly, almost apologetically.

"Neither did I", Noh offered while wiping his hands after the latest maintenance run on the ship. "And my hearing's superior to yours."

"We're all tired-" Kate interjected, voice noticeably softer than her boyfriend's. "Stressed on top of it all. Maybe you should get some rest."

The suggestion was given non-verbal support when Teddy wrapped his arm around Billy's shoulders, hand gently squeezing the mage's arm. Somehow Billy resented that notion, but couldn't disregard it, either. It had been hectic, for all of them...

"C'mon", Teddy cooed softly. "Let's go get some rest, we've earned it."

"I'll take first watch." America offered without leaving room for debate, finally breaking her silence. The discussion seemed to have reached a conclusion, yet still Billy tried again, as though reaching out only to find nothing - nothing where it felt like once there was something.
He let Teddy guide him into the ship and towards their room, all the while ignoring the part of him that insisted that had it truly been nothing, he wouldn't have suddenly felt so profoundly sad.

Win, Billy. We've lost enough friends, was what she told him.

Sleep wasn't easy to come by that night.

"He did hear something, didn't he?" America accused once she and the Demigod were alone. Loki poked at the ground with a stick, his gaze set on a nearby rock.

"Can we truly spare any effort on anyone else?"

She wanted to punch him but couldn't, for she knew well he had a point, and a good one.