Chapter Text
The beginning had been hard. Especially on the Captain. Having to get used to being alive in a world where had merely been a spectator of for the last 75 years. But once he’d woken up in the hospital, with William sleeping next to him in a chair- holding his hand, and he felt his heart beat steadily in his chest for the first time in decades, he decided that it didn’t matter how out of the loop he was. He was alive. His heart was beating, his warm breath clouded the cool morning air upon stepping outside the clammy hospital, he could feel the pain any time he’d accidentally walk into a wall face-first because he kept forgetting he couldn’t do that anymore without suffering the consequences.
He was currently sitting on the side of his bed at Button house, a bed he’d spent to many years on, but never had the chance to actually use. It was simply amazing, sleeping. Sleeping as a ghosts was empty, full of nothing. But sleeping when he was alive… The dreams, the nightmares, the kind of dreams he’d immediately forget after waking up. He’d forgotten the joy of it. The blissfulness of sleeping, totally at ease, forgetting your troubles and joys for a few hours a night to simply exist, to reset for the next day. It was something he didn’t know he lacked as a ghost, never being able to mentally separate the days anymore with a good night’s sleep.
He fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, one that William had bought for him in town while he was still in the hospital.
“I know what it’s like to not have your own wardrobe.” He’d said with a wink as he’d handed Theo the clothes. William knew his taste well, it was simple button-ups, with neat trousers and on cold days maybe a sweatervest. The shirt was incredibly soft, but the buttons were tiny, and his hands still shook slightly as he tried to button them.
He still felt weak, and incredibly tired. According to the doctors he’d slept for nearly 20 hours- a fact he found baffling. Surely if he’d slept that long he wouldn’t feel this tired. He rubbed his hands together, for what must have been the millionth time that morning, just because he could. Because he could feel the feather-light touch of his hands pressing against each other- it pleased him to no end.
William had been talking to the doctor for what felt like hours, but eventually managed to return with a plastic bag in his hands. He shot Theo one of his dazzling smiles, lifting the bag to emphasize it.
“Got your antibiotics! The doctor said to take them twice a day for two weeks.” He said, setting the plastic bag down on the foot end of the bed. Theo sat up, looking at the bag. “Ah, thank you, William.” He replied, falling silent shortly after. William sat down on the bed next to Theo, looking at him with concerned eyes.
“How are you feeling, Theo?” He asked, putting a hand on the other man’s knee. Theo regarded it for a moment, before putting his own hand over it, squeezing comfortingly.
“It’s… strange.” He settled on. William’s eyebrows raised slightly, his eyes growing concerned.
“Not strange in a bad way I hope.” He asked, without it being a question at all. The Captain quickly shook his head, giving the other man a reassuring smile.
“No, no of course not. It’s just… it’s been such a long time since I was alive. I’m afraid I’ve quite forgotten how to live.” He said, not managing to hold back a chuckle at the back of his throat. William smiled along with him, grabbing his hand and bringing it up to his face, and placing a soft kiss there- making Theo blush furiously.
“I do suspect we’ll need some identification soon.” Theo said, trying to take his mind of the spot on his hand where he could still feel Williams lips pressing into it. William nodded, holding up his phone.
“I’ve already asked Mike, his friend Obi is quite good with things like that apparently. He should be able to get us some identification soon. The Captain nodded, looking at his shoes. He still had some questions though, maybe this was his best chance to ask them.,
“I say- William.” He said, getting the other man’s attention instantly.
“I’ve been wondering… how did you know it would work?” Theo asked. He’d been wondering it ever since he’d woken up in the hospital. It was one of the most disorientating sensations of his life, but he’d never managed to find out just what happened.
The other man’s reply was short and fast. “I didn’t.”
Theo’s face must have given away his confusion, because William bit his lip- a gesture that almost made Theo blush in itself- and leaned into Theo, burying his face in his shoulder. He had never thought about it, but he’d never been able to smell him before. But he smelled wonderful. Like fresh air after a humid summer day, the faintest smell of gunpowder and cinnamon- like home.
“Well, I’ve told you about George before. He told me that when you meet yourself in any point in time, the universe tries to rectify the situation, by… basically merging the most recent version of yourself with the past version of yourself. So that means the consciousness of the future self gets sucked into the past self’s body. So, when you told me about… you know. I had the idea to bring your past self to the future and let you two merge. And to be honest- I didn’t know if it was going to work. But I figured I owed it to you to try.” He explained.
The Captain nodded, taking it in. The entire story made very little sense to him, and if he hadn’t stared his past self in the face a few days before, he might have started to doubt the other man’s sanity. (No he wouldn’t, who was he kidding?)
He was glad to know what happened, but he had to be honest with himself and say that it didn’t really have to matter. He was alive, he and William were together, and they would be ready for the world…
Well… at least as soon as Obi got them their ID’s, that is.