Lockheed

As Liam stared into the camera, his reflection seemed foreign to him—completely red irises with black crosses etched within them. He lowered the device, losing himself in his thoughts.

'What exactly happened to me?' he thought, closing his eyes and directing his focus inside himself. He searched deeper, scanning his cells and his energy.

'My cells… they've transformed. My entire body has grown exponentially stronger. Is this what the large amount of energy Incursio gave me did?' he thought, piecing together the events from the battle.

Illyana's voice pulled him out of his contemplation. "Liam… what's happening to us?" Her tone was uncertain. "Where are we? And why do I… feel like this?"

Liam turned to her, noticing her red wings and horns again.

"I'm not entirely sure what's happening to our bodies yet," Liam said. "But as for where we are… this is a dimension I'm connected to. Like how you and Limbo are. It's a safe space for now."

'That being said, what the hell happened here?' Liam thought. The sky above the center of the city had a massive golden loom around it, kind of like on Vormir when people got the Infinity Stone, but in a golden color.

"The sky is beautiful here. I wonder how this place must've looked before everything here died," Illyana said, softly kicking at a dead tree root. 'Once again, something so different from Limbo. I wonder what else he can surprise me with,' she thought.

Illyana's hand moved to her head. "And what about… this?" She gestured to the horns and wings. "These aren't supposed to stay around."

Liam answered, "It could be because of the greatsword you picked up. Just like… whatever's happening to me."

Illyana took a step closer. "I like the look, but is this permanent?"

"Why do you keep asking me? I know just as much as you do," Liam said.

"Really? It seemed like you knew that monster, at least," she countered with a smirk.

Liam went quiet, not knowing how to answer that. 'What should I even tell her?'

"I don't need to know," Illyana said in her perfect Russian accent. "At least not now."

A silence fell over them, both still digesting the fight from earlier.

"What about Sam and the others?" Illyana asked. "Do you know if they're okay?"

"They should be in good hands. Just before I left, I saw the X-Men coming down," Liam responded.

"The X-Men?" Illyana asked. "Why didn't they come sooner? We almost died, you know."

Liam shrugged, still lost in thought.

"So what are we going to do now?" Illyana asked.

"I'll probably be going back to my dimension—been away from there for too long," Liam answered. "Send my regards to Sam and the others. I'll drop you off close to them."

"That's it? We just struggled through life and death, and that's all you have to say?" Illyana asked, frowning. "Are you seeing this, Lockheed? He hasn't even thanked me yet, and he already wants to get rid of me."

Sweat started appearing on Liam's face as he realized he'd been too caught up in his thoughts and hadn't paid attention to Illyana.

'Think, Liam, think,' he urged himself, searching for a solution.

'A gift—I can cheer her up with a gift.' Improvising on the spot, Liam had an idea. 'Girls like shiny objects. I have just the thing for that.'

"You're right. I forgot to thank you," Liam said as he reached into the air. Out of thin air, a pristine crystal ball appeared.

Illyana showed small signs of disappointment as Liam pulled out the crystal ball—she had hoped for something else.

Liam handed the crystal ball to her, and as it touched the Lockheed doll, something began to change. Bright blue light shone from the crystal ball, surprising them both.

They closed their eyes against the intensity of the light. Internally, Illyana began to panic, going through multiple different of emotions as she felt Lockheed disappear from her hands.

As a stream of thoughts raced through Illyana's mind, she slowly opened her eyes again. In her hand lay a few eggshells and a small, blue baby dragon nibbling on them.

"Lockheed?" she asked, still panicked.

The small baby dragon growled, spitting a bit of blue fire toward her. The fire didn't hurt her, though—it gave her a warm feeling, as if it was telling her who he was.

The baby dragon flapped its tiny wings, flying in circles around Illyana's head while tears welled in the corners of her eyes. Lockheed had been everything to her when she stuck was in Limbo for many long years. Inside Limbo, Lockheed was real, and she had always felt upset that he wasn't real outside of it.

Liam was baffled, having absolutely no clue what was going on anymore. "Everything alright, Illyana?" he asked carefully.

She continued to play with Lockheed for a bit as her emotions settled. When Lockheed landed on her hand again, Illyana's face changed into one of the most beautiful, pure smiles Liam had ever seen.

She walked up to Liam slowly, hugging him. "Thank you," she whispered.

As she let go, Illyana stepped back, shifting back into her usual demeanor. Lockheed landed on her shoulder. "So, let's go to your dimension now," she said cheerfully. "I can check on the others later. I'll trust the X-Men for now."

'What a strange girl,' Liam thought, observing her mood swings. 'Russian girls are really one of a kind.'

Still unsure of how Lockheed had come to life, Liam decided to roll with it as if it had been his intention all along. He nodded. "Alright, I'll open a portal now."

"One thing I need to warn you about beforehand: there are no mutants in my dimension, so our appearances will stand out," Liam said as he used his sling ring, opening a portal to the Sanctum.

"No mutants? Then what are you?" Illyana asked, confused. She couldn't imagine a world without mutants.

"An accident," Liam answered as he stepped through the portal.

On the other side, he was back in his plain, old, normal room. Everything was exactly the same as when he'd left it. Following him, Illyana stepped through the portal and glanced around his room.

The phone in his hand began ringing as hundreds of messages came through, some from Coulson but most from his grandfather.