Spiral: Chapter 16
Title: Spiral
Author: lux_apollo
Rating: R for language, violence, drugs, drinking, mild sexual situations.
Pairings: Bobby/John, Justin/Aleks
Summary: Bobby and company go to the bar. John runs out of gas while on the run. Justin wakes up, and is his usual unstable self.
Notes: Thanks to sarahlu81 and miss_bushido for beta. This fic is cross posted at x_slash and fiery_snowstorm. Yay for being back on the regular weekly schedule now!
[ Prologue | Chapter 1 - NC17 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 - NC17 | Chapter 13 - NC17 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15]
Chapter 16
Bobby made his way back to their table from the bar. It was crowded in the club tonight. The loud, pulsating hip-hop beat was blaring in his ears, and at least three drunk girls had grabbed his ass since they had arrived a couple hours ago.
“Thanks, Icy!” Jubilee shouted into his ear as she came up beside him and grabbed a couple of the drinks out of his hands. His fake ID was working wonders for them tonight. No hetero female bartender could say no to Bobby when he flashed his trademark million-watt smile, either.
“No problem.” Bobby grinned. They walked the rest of the way to the table. Remy and Piotr had gone off to shoot some pool. Kitty and Rogue grabbed their drinks from Jubilee, and whispered something into Jubes’ ear. Dani, Xi’an and Terri had already dragged Sam and Doug down to the dance floor. Bobby handed Aleks his drink and sat down beside him.
“So, what do you think?” Bobby asked over the music.
“This place is great. We don’t have anything like this up in North Bay. Just a bunch of hick bars and a couple really skanky taverns. It’s not so bad in the summer when all the cottagers and tourists are around, but at this time of year its better just to have a party at your house,” Aleks said, shrugging. He took a big gulp of the beer Bobby had brought him. “Though, I must say I miss the beer. I don’t understand how you Americans drink this piss!” Aleks said seriously.
Bobby laughed. “Whatever you say, man. I’m glad Miss Frost gave you permission to come out with us. We thought for sure she was going to make you stay in and do all those tests tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m kinda surprised actually. She can be kind of hardcore strict at times. I wonder what it was that convinced her,” Aleks pondered.
“Who knows,” Bobby shrugged. “Jeez, you make her sound like Mr. Summers,” Bobby added with a grimace. Rogue and Kitty walked over to the boys’ side of the table.
“Aleks, come dance with us!” Kitty shouted.
“Yeah, I wanna see you shake that hot Canadian ass o’ yours!” Rogue added brassily. Aleks blushed, and took another long drink of his beer. He leaned over to Bobby’s ear.
“You didn’t tell them¬-“
“Not a word, Aleks,” Bobby said, grinning.
Aleks gave Bobby a ‘help me’ look as he was dragged out onto the dance floor by the girls. Jubilee smirked and took the seat Aleks vacated next to Bobby.
“So, Bobby, that Aleks guy is pretty hot stuff, eh?” Jubilee said, following Bobby’s gaze to where Rogue and Kitty were trying to get Aleks to loosen up and dance. Bobby blushed, noticing she was staring where he was looking.
“Uh, yeah…”
“Oh that’s so cute! You’re blushing. And with good reason!” Jubilee said, fanning herself. “God, I don’t know where Remy and Sam have been hiding those clothes they lent him, but damn they show Aleks’ assets off good!” she exclaimed.
“Knock it off, Jubes!” Bobby pleaded, feeling his blush deepen.
She giggled. “Alright Icy, just this once. But still, whaddaya think my chances are?”
“Uh, honestly, not very good.” Bobby noted.
“Why? Do I look fugly tonight? It’s the jacket, isn’t it! It’s too much, I knew it! Wait, a guy that hot has to be taken! He’s spoken for, isn’t he!” Jubilee whined.
“No, he’s single, but-”
“Thank goodness! I was starting to think there was no hope. I need to put myself out there more, don’t I? I’m not making it obvious enough that I’m into him or something, right? You men don’t look for any subtleties, after all,” Jubilee bemoaned. “I should be down there dancing with him, shouldn’t I?”
“No Jubes, that’s not it. Aleks just isn’t…” Bobby hesitated. Aleks had asked him earlier not to tell anyone about his attraction to Justin. “I don’t think he’s in a place where he could have a relationship with a girl right now. Especially not one who lives a couple hours away. We barely know him, Jubes, and I know you don’t want just a one-night stand, right?” Bobby half-lied.
He was telling the truth about Aleks not wanting a relationship with a girl, at least. Aleks wanted Justin. Then again, the way Aleks had been flirting with random girls here all night was a bit strange. He was really flirting, and the girls were like cheap chocolate melting in his hand. It made Bobby wonder just how sure Aleks was about his feelings.
“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. Hormones got the better of me.” Jubilee joked. “So, how are you feeling? I mean, I’m half assuming you’re feeling better since you came out with us and all,” she asked.
Bobby shrugged. “This afternoon was a bit rough. I mean, meeting the best friend of the guy you almost started dating before he was taken hostage is always an interesting experience. Just peachy,” Bobby uttered sarcastically. He turned more serious. “Though, I’m sure it was rougher on Aleks than it was on me.”
“Yeah, I bet it was. That’s not a cool thing to have to go through. He seems to be adjusting well, though,” Jubilee commented. “Did you tell him that you and Justin-“
“No. It was five whole minutes, and I was caught up in the moment. It really wasn’t a good idea to begin with, so…” Bobby trailed off.
“Regretting that decision?”
“No! It’s just- well, it’s like I said before. I think I was just so excited to finally have someone I could open up to about all this that I just jumped at the opportunity. I wasn’t thinking straight and I guess maybe I kissed him for the wrong reasons. I mean, Justin’s cute and all, but... I dunno. We’ll see what happens.”
“If you say so, Icy. I just want you to be happy.” Jubilee rubbed his shoulder.
Bobby shrugged, looking back towards where Aleks was now gyrating with Kitty and Rogue. The girls were pressed against him on either side, doing something that was definitely not PG.
Bobby knew from semi-unfortunate experience that Kitty wasn’t nearly as innocent as she pretended to be. She had the whole innocent Jewish princess routine down pat, but really? Computer geek or not, Kitty was just as much a teenage girl as any of the rest of her female peers. Bobby pretty much expected Kitty to start skanking it up once she entered the bar, even with Pete along with them. It was a bar and Kitty knew how to play her cards just as well as some of the other beautiful girls around.
But Rogue? Things sure had changed with her.
In the past she’d always been a bit reluctant to dance close to anyone, which was understandable. It always took some coaxing to get her to stop being so self-conscious. They all knew about her powers, and they all knew that an accidental brush wasn’t going to kill them. She might not be able to stop her powers, but she had learned to control how quickly she drew things out of people now.
It seemed Rogue was finally starting to believe it, too. You’d only notice if you watched her carefully the way Rogue consciously avoided touching the bare skin of her neck or the exposed part of her arms between her gloves and the cuffs of her shirt to the smooth skin of Aleks’ arms and neck.
Bobby fought back a small hint of jealousy, and took a drink of his beer. It was amazing how much Rogue had come out of her shell over the last six months, even after the devastation of having her powers come back. Gambit seemed to have instilled her with a confidence that she had rarely shown before. At least, not while she was with Bobby. Bobby was envious that he couldn’t do that for her.
Bobby sighed and took another gulp of beer. A big part of him was feeling guilty right now. Guilty that they were out having fun while the adults kept up the search for Justin. Guilty that he was getting drunk while undressing the object of Justin’s affection with his eyes. Guilty that he wished he was the one that Aleks was grinding up against right now, and not Kitty and Rogue.
Fuck. What the hell was happening to him? Was he going to fall for every fucking new guy he met now? First John, then Justin and now Aleks. God, Bobby felt like a slut! Why couldn’t he just-
“Earth to Bobby!” Jubilee said, waving a hand in front of his face. Bobby shook his head, then pasted on a smile for her. “Wow, you really spaced out there. What were you thinking about? Wait! You were staring at Aleks again! Bobby, you have a crush on him, don’t you??” Jubilee squealed.
“What?! I do not!”
“You do to!! OMG, I knew it!” Jubilee pranced in her seat.
“No, I don’t. I can’t. I can’t feel this way. It’s wrong,” Bobby insisted.
“Why is it wrong? He’s a hot guy, and you’re sorta single. And from what I know, you’re also endlessly sexually frustrated! There’s nothing wrong about it, Bobby.”
“Yes there is! He’s Justin’s best friend and-“
“Oh quit it. He’s fucking hot and your dick knows it better than you do. Come on. We’re going to go dance with them, and I’m not taking no for an answer! Finish that beer, stud!” Jubilee demanded.
It was useless to argue. Bobby sighed and downed the rest of his beer. She grabbed his arm and dragged him down to the dance floor.
It was going to be a long night.
* * *
Pyro cursed under his breath. He had just known that when they ran out of gas that it would be in the middle of nowhere. And he was right.
It had been a while since they had passed through a town, and currently it looked as if they were stuck in the middle of a forest. Great. For the three hours they had been driving, there had been few cars on the road. The chances of them hitchhiking were pretty low.
“Unh…”
John looked over at Justin. The blonde shifted in the seat and then moaned again, a hand coming up to his head. He was finally waking up, just in time for them to start walking. What a lucky guy.
Justin’s eyelids fluttered open. He stared out the windshield at something distant, his pupils adjusting to the darkness.
“How do you feel?” John asked. Justin turned to look at him.
“Oh… I feel like I’m going to be sick, either before or after my head explodes… And it’s fucking freezing in here. God, and I had thought I had it bad being stuck in the astral plane,” Justin groaned, shivering.
But it wasn’t cold in the truck. Not by a long shot. Pyro hated it when it was cold, and it was more than warm enough to keep him comfortable.
“Wanda gave me some drugs for you to take. She said it would make this easier. Your body is addicted to a couple of the drugs they had you on.”
“Fuck, so I’m a drug addict now? Just great,” Justin muttered bitterly. “Where are they? I’d better take them before I really do need to throw up.”
John opened up the glove compartment and pulled out the bag of syringes. He removed the green one. It was the one Wanda said to give Justin first.
“Shit, needles?” Justin complained. “I fucking hate getting shots.”
“Yeah, well deal with it. Do you know how to use these the right way?” John asked. He never really paid attention to hospital shit, and he didn’t want to fuck this up. Though, sticking a needle into someone might be pretty cool.
“Take off your belt.”
“Huh?”
“Take off your belt, John.”
“What?!” John said incredulously. What the hell did he need to take his belt off for? So he could take off his pants too? This guy said he was dating Bobby, but John had never thought he was that kind of gay.
“Bisexual, not gay, and I’m not asking you to take your pants off! Jesus!! I need to use the belt to apply pressure to my arm, or I might bleed all over the place. Haven’t you ever seen the movie Trainspotting? Heroin addicts shooting up ring a bell? This is the same idea, done the same way,” Justin growled with increasing annoyance.
“Oh,” Was all John could say. That made sense. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that? Fucking telepaths hearing other people’s thoughts. The guy was awake for thirty seconds and he was already jumping into John’s head.
“I’m not jumping into your head,” Justin insisted, sounding vexed. “If you’d quit thinking so loud, I wouldn’t notice. I’m having trouble blocking you out because I feel so fucking shitty and disoriented. Really, I’d prefer to not have to deal with your voice or anyone’s in my head right now or ever for that matter.”
“I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” John sassed, rolling his eyes.
Justin sighed. “Just try and think quieter. Now can we get on with this?”
John pulled off his belt and handed it to Justin, who was rolling up the left sleeve of his shirt. Justin tied the belt around his bicep, cinching it tight and holding it there. He slapped the skin on the inside of his elbow a few times. A couple large veins began to rise to the surface.
“Give me the syringe,” Justin said, his outstretched hand shaking mildly from the withdrawal sickness.
John handed it to him, watching carefully. Justin held the syringe with the needle upwards, flicking it a couple times. He sprayed a small amount of fluid out and then pushed the head of the needle into the larger of the two veins. Justin injected the clear fluid, looking slightly fearful. After a moment, he gasped. John watched as his body tensed, and then trembled as he gasped again.
“Are you okay?” John asked, worried.
Justin nodded, pulling the needle out and letting it drop to the floor of the truck. He looked down at his hand as if he was seeing it for the first time, and shuddered. Justin loosened the belt off his arm and it slid off onto the seat beside him. He leaned back, closing his eyes.
“God- oh fuck…”
“Justin?” John asked. A hint of fear leaking into his voice, much to John’s chagrin.
Justin’s eyes opened, and his head lolled towards John. Justin’s eyes stared into him, out of focus and half lidded. A look passed over Justin’s face that was halfway between utter relaxation and uncontrollable need. Justin gasped again, as a tremor shook his body.
“Oh, fuck this is amazing…” Justin said breathlessly. John looked at him skeptically. “I’m serious. It’s like everything is different… disconnected, but so fucking amazing…”
“You’ve never been high before, have you?” John smirked.
“I’ve smoked a bit of weed before… Not really my thing. I’d rather just get drunk… Never tried anything hard, though.” Justin said, shaking his head. “Nothing at all like this. It’s amazing what the right dose can do.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you were practically in a coma before, and now? You look like you need to fuck someone.” John said coarsely.
Justin lazily raised an eyebrow, unfazed. Bobby would have at least given John a blush for saying that.
“Was that… supposed to make me beg?” Justin asked sarcastically - well, as sarcastically as he could, considering his drugged state.
John just smirked. “I’ll let you decide that one.” John replied, grinning suggestively.
“Hmm… maybe when I’m less high. I don’t know if I could… mmmh… I don’t know if I can handle any more sensations… right now… I might explode…” Justin said with a serious tone and then grinned, laughing.
John laughed with him.
Yeah, Justin was pretty damned stoned. John had been high before, mind you, but all he’d tried was pot and some shrooms. Nothing serious. This stuff was pretty hardcore, whatever it was. Probably had some opium derivatives in it, among other things. John had always wondered what being high off a hard drug felt like. Not that he ever planned on trying them -he wasn’t that stupid- but just for the sake of experience, he wondered.
Justin’s hand brushed against John’s cheek weakly. “My telepathy… I can’t get it to shut up… I’m hearing your thoughts like… like you’re just talking to me…” Justin whispered breathily. “Do you want to know what it feels like? God… Do you want… me to share this with you…?” Justin asked.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We need to get moving again. But we have to walk. We’re out of gas,” John said, pulling Justin’s hand off his cheek.
“Unless you are going to… carry me… I don’t think I’ll be able to… Not until this… Uhnn, not until this passes…” Justin gasped.
John cursed under his breath. He couldn’t carry Justin. They’d have to sit here and wait for now.
“You don’t have to wait, I can try and walk…” Justin said, putting on a determined face. He tried unsuccessfully to sit up straight.
John shook his head. “No, just wait. Maybe in a little while it will have worn off enough that you’ll be okay to walk. We’ll be okay for now. Even if they’ve started to look for us, I doubt they’ll come this way yet. I knew we were going to run out of gas, so I went the wrong way. I figured it was the only way we’d have a chance of getting away. Maybe we’ll be able to steal another car somewhere or use a payphone to call the school or something. If you call, they’ll come and get you out of here at least.”
“I’m not… going to leave you… here…” Justin said, shaking his head.
“Whatever.” John said. “You didn’t choose this. If there’s a way out, take it. Don’t be stupid and go all heroic.”
Justin shook his head, laughing bitterly. “But that’s… that’s where you are wrong… I did choose this… I’m a precog… I saw what would… happen… if I didn’t make Bobby leave… before Magneto got to the lab, he would have died trying to… trying to fight. So I made him go…” Justin explained. “I remember… that vision was fucked… I remember seeing Bobby getting… fuck, Magneto would have impaled him with something… It was slow, and painful… but if I got him to go outside, the vision made it seem… better… he’d survive… but be hurt emotionally after seeing… someone… My fate… it was sealed the moment I chose… to try and keep those virus sample away… If I left with him then, Magneto would have… he’d have found the samples.”
“You knew what was going to happen to you, and you still did it?”
“No… didn’t know what was going to happen to me… Still don’t… I just knew that if I didn’t do anything… people would die… and Bobby… he might have been killed… I couldn’t live with that…” Justin clarified slowly, impeded by the drug.
John bit his lip. What a fucked up power. Seeing the future, and options, but not what is going to happen to yourself.
“Thank you.” The whisper came almost unbidden from John’s lips.
“Why?”
“For trying to save Bobby. It… It means a lot to me.” John said quietly.
“You mean he means a lot to you.” Justin smirked.
John rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
“Make me.”
John chuckled. “What are you, seven years old?”
“Nah… Just feeling heady, horny… and stupid… wow…” Justin said, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks. “No wonder people… get addicted to shit like this…” he added, turning to gaze out into the woods at the roadside.
John felt part of himself relenting. He had to admit he was curious about what Justin was currently experiencing. But being high right now could be dangerous. Then again it’d just be a projection of the high, not the real thing. He could have Justin stop it at any time if they needed to get out of there, right?
“Hmmm… Changing your mind…?” Justin asked as he turned back around, curious.
John nodded, smiling. “Yeah. Do you think you could show me? I mean, I don’t want you to do anything you are uncomfortable with, but I kind of want to know what it feels like. But only for a minute,” John said.
It wasn’t just the high that he wanted. Part of him was also a little intrigued by the danger of connecting with a telepath high on narcotics. It was stupid and dangerous and he loved the idea of it. Just to see. Yeah, John was a thrill seeker. Like anyone couldn’t figure that out after ten minutes around him.
“Alright, I’ll show you…” A soft smile spread across Justin’s features. His blue eyes sparkled and seemed to draw John down into their depths. Justin grabbed John’s hand. “If you want out… of the feeling… Just squeeze my hand three times.”
“Okay,” John said, his eyes remaining captive to Justin’s out-of-focus gaze.
“It’ll help me… if you relax,” Justin whispered, then shut his eyes.
John gasped, suddenly feeling something warm flowing throughout his body. It was in him. In his blood. He could feel it pulsing with him, out to his fingertips and back in to his heart… Up to his head, his nose, his lips and down into his legs, his toes, and -oh fuck- into his cock…
Every nerve ending seemed to shut off, but then fired mutely in dull, languid waves of hypersensitivity. He began to suck in his breath in short, sharp gasps. He felt a groan growing in his throat, and the vibrations from deep in his chest made him tremble… the sensation, oh, the sensation…
John opened his eyes. Everything was different; real but somehow more real but at the same time he was completely disconnected from everything. Justin was smiling a languid half-fucked-and-wanting-more smile. And John found himself smiling back. Because, damn, he sure felt that way too.
Unh, the warmth… the warmth was incredible! It was like having fire in his blood that was hot and cold and pins and needles all at the same time. It wasn’t like his own heat, his fire, it was so different… so good.
John shifted, feeling his jeans tighten against his hardening cock, feeling the material of his shirt wrinkle behind his back, feeling nothing but feeling everything and that hand, that hand that he was holding. It was soft and strong and holding his firmly, like an anchor. The arm was bare. Not muscular, but toned. Sleeve rolled up to the shoulder. Mark at the elbow where the needle had penetrated pale skin. A dark blue sweater, like the Atlantic at night.
Justin laughed. The sounds echoed in John’s ear like he was hearing it twice. The first time he heard it, heard it with his ears and then the second time he heard it with the rest of his body, arching into the sound, taking it inside and becoming part of its ephemeral vibration.
More. He needed to feel more.
John shifted across the bench seat towards Justin, pulling the blonde towards him at the same time with the hand he still held. Eyes, locked together, staring into deep waters. Understanding… unspoken connection.
John’s hand on the material of Justin’s sweater, feeling the grain of the weave as if he’d never felt cloth before. Justin’s free hand on his shoulder, sliding across it… Eyes on John, watching him, perceiving, understanding.
“You’ve kissed Bobby,” John whispered.
“Yes.”
Justin’s free hand on his neck, pulling him closer. The sounds of him breathing like the waves washing over the rocks on Magneto’s island.
“Show me… what it felt like.”
John’s lips against Justin’s. Invitingly soft but strong, demanding, needing. Body pressed against body, heat rising. The entire world ablaze in touch. His hand sliding down the small of Justin’s back, Justin’s hand coiled in his hair.
A soft gasp escaped between them.
“John… stop…”
The haze suddenly lifted from his mind, but not the urgent need he felt buzzing in his lips, pulsing through his hands, throbbing along with his cock. The high might not have been his, but his arousal -that was his own. His body was screaming for him to continue, but his mind was reeling.
What the hell were they doing?
John pulled away quickly, his hands loosing their hold on Justin, who had turned his head away. It was shocking, the loss of sensation. But the need remained. He still wanted, wanted… That connection, was that just the drug?
“I’m sorry…” Justin whispered. His face had drained of all colour. “…I never thought… I didn’t think it was making me that high…”
“Don’t.” John said. “Don’t pretend like you forced that. I was just as caught in it as you were…” John trailed off, looking out the windshield.
“You were linked to me… if I wanted something, you would have… thought that you wanted… but it was me… It’s my fault…” Justin insisted, sounding torn.
“Justin, don’t¬-“
“It’s happened to me before, John.” Justin rebuked, cutting him off. “It’s my fault. I’m out of control like I’m some fucking drug-addicted harlot. A fucking mutant rapist whore!” Justin yelled with a shocking, intense clarity. He was out of the truck and running before John could even open his mouth to stutter a reply.
John cursed and ran out into the snow after him. He caught up easily, as Justin’s movement was clearly still being impeded by the drugs. John grabbed his shoulders, and slowed Justin to a standstill. Justin was shaking, from both the bitter cold and the quiet, choked sobs that were interrupting his breathing.
“Damn it, will you hold on for a second!”
“Stay away from me.” Justin pulled away, but John grabbed him again.
“What the fuck is going on?” John said, forcing Justin to turn and face him. Justin looked down at his feet, tears sliding down his cheeks.
“I’m dangerous. You can’t stay here with me. I’ll hurt you.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” John said dryly.
“You don’t know anything about me! You don’t know what I’ve done! I barely have control over my powers, and these fucking drugs are making me lose my grip. If you value your mind, you’ll get out of here and leave me alone before I lose control and permanently fuck up your brain,” Justin demanded coldly.
John snorted. “Oh really! You seemed to be doing just fine managing your powers two minutes ago! What the fuck is this really about? So I kissed you. So fucking what! We were both fucking high because of that connection and you just so happen to be a bit attractive. Is this about Bobby?”
“No! But that’s another good reason for me to be freaking out. God, how could I do this to-“
“Do you see him here? No.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you love him, I care about him and I just betrayed him with you, or that I was probably controlling your emotions as well as making you feel the drugs.”
“Justin, will you fucking calm down!”
“You don’t know what you’re-“
Justin was abruptly silence by John’s lips finding his again.
“Now, will you be quiet for a minute?” John asked.
Justin stood their mutely, a shocked look on his face.
“I kissed you just now because I wanted to. Just like back in the truck. Yes, this entire thing might not be the best idea right now, but I think you have to agree that we’re both pretty fucked up about what’s happened over the past couple weeks. You much more so than I am.
“You weren’t controlling me. It was my choice. And don’t try to pull this ‘you don’t know what I’ve done’ crap. Yeah, I don’t know what you’ve done. But it sure as hell can’t be any worse than the shit that I’ve pulled, both by accident and by choice. Justin, my parents are dead because of me. I killed them by accident because I lost control of my powers. Yeah, I’m still pretty fucking beat up about that, but god damn it! You can’t live the rest of your life blaming yourself for shit that you can’t control.
“You seem to think that accidents make you a horrible person, but let me tell you! It’s the shit you do on purpose that counts. You haven’t done the things that I have. I’ve killed people for no reason other than because Magneto told me to. I didn’t know shit all about them, whether they were good people or not. I just did what I was told.
“So don’t go around telling yourself things that aren’t true. All it means is that we are human and we make mistakes and can’t control everything. Don’t play the martyr, and don’t run away from your problems. Trust me, I know all about running. And it doesn’t do anything but make things worse,” John finished his rant.
Justin stood there, trembling. He looked worn down. And cold. Fuck, John wished he’d put his coat on before he ran after Justin.
“Come on. Let’s get your coat and the needles out of the truck and get out of here. That truck’s stolen, so I don’t want to be anywhere near here if the police happen to drive by. You were talking a lot more coherently a minute ago. You ready to walk?”
Justin nodded silently in response.
They walked back to the truck and grabbed the bag with the needles, and Justin put on the coat Wanda had procured for him. It was a bit big for his slender frame, but it was good enough. Judging from the size, it was probably one of Avalanche’s coats. John smiled inwardly at the thought of Wanda having stolen Dominic’s coat for Justin. That jackass deserved it.
“You ready?” John asked, shutting the doors to the truck and locking it. Not that it needed to be locked. It was habit, though. Didn’t need more punks like himself stealing it. The police would eventually return it to the tow truck company he and Wanda had stolen it from after dusting for finger prints and shit.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Justin said without expression.
A tense quiet fell between them. The only sounds as they walked were their footfalls in the light snow covering the roadside and the quiet, shuddering breaths Justin was taking due to the high from the drugs. It was fine with John. After that blowup a couple minutes ago, he wasn’t sure he felt like talking.
The three hours he had already spent on the road with Justin unconscious had left John ample time to think about what he had just gotten himself into. True to character, he had acted on an impulse when opportunity struck.
Justin had thrown at him maybe the only thing that would have given him enough reason to leave the Brotherhood. Admittedly, he had done it while John was still recovering from that shit Mastermind did to him, but waking up to Wanda’s panicked face had just given him all the more reason run. A fight between Brotherhood members and the possibility of having a chance with Bobby just added momentum to his need to stop doing all this crap and just live according to his own rules.
He had broken free. Free of yet another cage he had walked into of his own free will. For the first time in a long time the questions in his mind were different. How was he going to use this freedom? How long would it last? How long would it be before old bucket-head and his losers started stalking him intent on the kill? Would the he and Justin even make it to the School?
Most importantly, if they did make it back to the School, what would happen to Pyro? Obviously Justin would get dragged down to the med lab and everything would be merry and fine. But Pyro was a different story. Would they call the police? Would they even let him in the door?
This was the one time in his life that John was really relying on someone to be nice. It wasn’t a sure bet, but if anyone had an inflated sense of charity and moral obligation, it was Charles Xavier. He’d always looked at John as if he was a prime example of the typical mutant sob story. ‘Oh, everyone should feel so bad for poor little St. John. He went into foster care, was raped, ran away to live on the streets and even went to juvenile prison for a while, all after he accidentally killed his own family!’ Yeah, no doubt Xavier would let him lay low there for a little while at least.
Not that Pyro really wanted to stay there. He would just be there long enough to be sure that Magneto had moved on to bigger and better problems than killing him. And of course, long enough to have a serious talk with Bobby.
That was going to be fucked up. “Hey Bob… uh, I know I turned evil for a while and all, and I still sorta support what they are doing, but do you think you could overlook that? Yeah, I’m in love with you. Crazy how life turns out, isn’t it? Oh, by the way I kissed your boyfriend while we were on the road coming here.”
Yeah. Definitely not going to be an easy conversation. Even if Justin was telling him the truth and Bobby really was pining for him. This whole kissing Justin thing just added another dimension of complexity to things. It didn’t mean anything. It was just a moment of weakness, made worse by the drugs Justin was on.
Then again, St. John Allerdyce never did things the easy way. That would be fucking ridiculous. It would have been too facile to just run back to the Institute and right into Bobby’s waiting arms. What would his life be without all the crises and drama?
Pyro shook his head. He would die of boredom, no doubt.
Author: lux_apollo
Rating: R for language, violence, drugs, drinking, mild sexual situations.
Pairings: Bobby/John, Justin/Aleks
Summary: Bobby and company go to the bar. John runs out of gas while on the run. Justin wakes up, and is his usual unstable self.
Notes: Thanks to sarahlu81 and miss_bushido for beta. This fic is cross posted at x_slash and fiery_snowstorm. Yay for being back on the regular weekly schedule now!
[ Prologue | Chapter 1 - NC17 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 - NC17 | Chapter 13 - NC17 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15]
Chapter 16
Bobby made his way back to their table from the bar. It was crowded in the club tonight. The loud, pulsating hip-hop beat was blaring in his ears, and at least three drunk girls had grabbed his ass since they had arrived a couple hours ago.
“Thanks, Icy!” Jubilee shouted into his ear as she came up beside him and grabbed a couple of the drinks out of his hands. His fake ID was working wonders for them tonight. No hetero female bartender could say no to Bobby when he flashed his trademark million-watt smile, either.
“No problem.” Bobby grinned. They walked the rest of the way to the table. Remy and Piotr had gone off to shoot some pool. Kitty and Rogue grabbed their drinks from Jubilee, and whispered something into Jubes’ ear. Dani, Xi’an and Terri had already dragged Sam and Doug down to the dance floor. Bobby handed Aleks his drink and sat down beside him.
“So, what do you think?” Bobby asked over the music.
“This place is great. We don’t have anything like this up in North Bay. Just a bunch of hick bars and a couple really skanky taverns. It’s not so bad in the summer when all the cottagers and tourists are around, but at this time of year its better just to have a party at your house,” Aleks said, shrugging. He took a big gulp of the beer Bobby had brought him. “Though, I must say I miss the beer. I don’t understand how you Americans drink this piss!” Aleks said seriously.
Bobby laughed. “Whatever you say, man. I’m glad Miss Frost gave you permission to come out with us. We thought for sure she was going to make you stay in and do all those tests tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m kinda surprised actually. She can be kind of hardcore strict at times. I wonder what it was that convinced her,” Aleks pondered.
“Who knows,” Bobby shrugged. “Jeez, you make her sound like Mr. Summers,” Bobby added with a grimace. Rogue and Kitty walked over to the boys’ side of the table.
“Aleks, come dance with us!” Kitty shouted.
“Yeah, I wanna see you shake that hot Canadian ass o’ yours!” Rogue added brassily. Aleks blushed, and took another long drink of his beer. He leaned over to Bobby’s ear.
“You didn’t tell them¬-“
“Not a word, Aleks,” Bobby said, grinning.
Aleks gave Bobby a ‘help me’ look as he was dragged out onto the dance floor by the girls. Jubilee smirked and took the seat Aleks vacated next to Bobby.
“So, Bobby, that Aleks guy is pretty hot stuff, eh?” Jubilee said, following Bobby’s gaze to where Rogue and Kitty were trying to get Aleks to loosen up and dance. Bobby blushed, noticing she was staring where he was looking.
“Uh, yeah…”
“Oh that’s so cute! You’re blushing. And with good reason!” Jubilee said, fanning herself. “God, I don’t know where Remy and Sam have been hiding those clothes they lent him, but damn they show Aleks’ assets off good!” she exclaimed.
“Knock it off, Jubes!” Bobby pleaded, feeling his blush deepen.
She giggled. “Alright Icy, just this once. But still, whaddaya think my chances are?”
“Uh, honestly, not very good.” Bobby noted.
“Why? Do I look fugly tonight? It’s the jacket, isn’t it! It’s too much, I knew it! Wait, a guy that hot has to be taken! He’s spoken for, isn’t he!” Jubilee whined.
“No, he’s single, but-”
“Thank goodness! I was starting to think there was no hope. I need to put myself out there more, don’t I? I’m not making it obvious enough that I’m into him or something, right? You men don’t look for any subtleties, after all,” Jubilee bemoaned. “I should be down there dancing with him, shouldn’t I?”
“No Jubes, that’s not it. Aleks just isn’t…” Bobby hesitated. Aleks had asked him earlier not to tell anyone about his attraction to Justin. “I don’t think he’s in a place where he could have a relationship with a girl right now. Especially not one who lives a couple hours away. We barely know him, Jubes, and I know you don’t want just a one-night stand, right?” Bobby half-lied.
He was telling the truth about Aleks not wanting a relationship with a girl, at least. Aleks wanted Justin. Then again, the way Aleks had been flirting with random girls here all night was a bit strange. He was really flirting, and the girls were like cheap chocolate melting in his hand. It made Bobby wonder just how sure Aleks was about his feelings.
“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. Hormones got the better of me.” Jubilee joked. “So, how are you feeling? I mean, I’m half assuming you’re feeling better since you came out with us and all,” she asked.
Bobby shrugged. “This afternoon was a bit rough. I mean, meeting the best friend of the guy you almost started dating before he was taken hostage is always an interesting experience. Just peachy,” Bobby uttered sarcastically. He turned more serious. “Though, I’m sure it was rougher on Aleks than it was on me.”
“Yeah, I bet it was. That’s not a cool thing to have to go through. He seems to be adjusting well, though,” Jubilee commented. “Did you tell him that you and Justin-“
“No. It was five whole minutes, and I was caught up in the moment. It really wasn’t a good idea to begin with, so…” Bobby trailed off.
“Regretting that decision?”
“No! It’s just- well, it’s like I said before. I think I was just so excited to finally have someone I could open up to about all this that I just jumped at the opportunity. I wasn’t thinking straight and I guess maybe I kissed him for the wrong reasons. I mean, Justin’s cute and all, but... I dunno. We’ll see what happens.”
“If you say so, Icy. I just want you to be happy.” Jubilee rubbed his shoulder.
Bobby shrugged, looking back towards where Aleks was now gyrating with Kitty and Rogue. The girls were pressed against him on either side, doing something that was definitely not PG.
Bobby knew from semi-unfortunate experience that Kitty wasn’t nearly as innocent as she pretended to be. She had the whole innocent Jewish princess routine down pat, but really? Computer geek or not, Kitty was just as much a teenage girl as any of the rest of her female peers. Bobby pretty much expected Kitty to start skanking it up once she entered the bar, even with Pete along with them. It was a bar and Kitty knew how to play her cards just as well as some of the other beautiful girls around.
But Rogue? Things sure had changed with her.
In the past she’d always been a bit reluctant to dance close to anyone, which was understandable. It always took some coaxing to get her to stop being so self-conscious. They all knew about her powers, and they all knew that an accidental brush wasn’t going to kill them. She might not be able to stop her powers, but she had learned to control how quickly she drew things out of people now.
It seemed Rogue was finally starting to believe it, too. You’d only notice if you watched her carefully the way Rogue consciously avoided touching the bare skin of her neck or the exposed part of her arms between her gloves and the cuffs of her shirt to the smooth skin of Aleks’ arms and neck.
Bobby fought back a small hint of jealousy, and took a drink of his beer. It was amazing how much Rogue had come out of her shell over the last six months, even after the devastation of having her powers come back. Gambit seemed to have instilled her with a confidence that she had rarely shown before. At least, not while she was with Bobby. Bobby was envious that he couldn’t do that for her.
Bobby sighed and took another gulp of beer. A big part of him was feeling guilty right now. Guilty that they were out having fun while the adults kept up the search for Justin. Guilty that he was getting drunk while undressing the object of Justin’s affection with his eyes. Guilty that he wished he was the one that Aleks was grinding up against right now, and not Kitty and Rogue.
Fuck. What the hell was happening to him? Was he going to fall for every fucking new guy he met now? First John, then Justin and now Aleks. God, Bobby felt like a slut! Why couldn’t he just-
“Earth to Bobby!” Jubilee said, waving a hand in front of his face. Bobby shook his head, then pasted on a smile for her. “Wow, you really spaced out there. What were you thinking about? Wait! You were staring at Aleks again! Bobby, you have a crush on him, don’t you??” Jubilee squealed.
“What?! I do not!”
“You do to!! OMG, I knew it!” Jubilee pranced in her seat.
“No, I don’t. I can’t. I can’t feel this way. It’s wrong,” Bobby insisted.
“Why is it wrong? He’s a hot guy, and you’re sorta single. And from what I know, you’re also endlessly sexually frustrated! There’s nothing wrong about it, Bobby.”
“Yes there is! He’s Justin’s best friend and-“
“Oh quit it. He’s fucking hot and your dick knows it better than you do. Come on. We’re going to go dance with them, and I’m not taking no for an answer! Finish that beer, stud!” Jubilee demanded.
It was useless to argue. Bobby sighed and downed the rest of his beer. She grabbed his arm and dragged him down to the dance floor.
It was going to be a long night.
* * *
Pyro cursed under his breath. He had just known that when they ran out of gas that it would be in the middle of nowhere. And he was right.
It had been a while since they had passed through a town, and currently it looked as if they were stuck in the middle of a forest. Great. For the three hours they had been driving, there had been few cars on the road. The chances of them hitchhiking were pretty low.
“Unh…”
John looked over at Justin. The blonde shifted in the seat and then moaned again, a hand coming up to his head. He was finally waking up, just in time for them to start walking. What a lucky guy.
Justin’s eyelids fluttered open. He stared out the windshield at something distant, his pupils adjusting to the darkness.
“How do you feel?” John asked. Justin turned to look at him.
“Oh… I feel like I’m going to be sick, either before or after my head explodes… And it’s fucking freezing in here. God, and I had thought I had it bad being stuck in the astral plane,” Justin groaned, shivering.
But it wasn’t cold in the truck. Not by a long shot. Pyro hated it when it was cold, and it was more than warm enough to keep him comfortable.
“Wanda gave me some drugs for you to take. She said it would make this easier. Your body is addicted to a couple of the drugs they had you on.”
“Fuck, so I’m a drug addict now? Just great,” Justin muttered bitterly. “Where are they? I’d better take them before I really do need to throw up.”
John opened up the glove compartment and pulled out the bag of syringes. He removed the green one. It was the one Wanda said to give Justin first.
“Shit, needles?” Justin complained. “I fucking hate getting shots.”
“Yeah, well deal with it. Do you know how to use these the right way?” John asked. He never really paid attention to hospital shit, and he didn’t want to fuck this up. Though, sticking a needle into someone might be pretty cool.
“Take off your belt.”
“Huh?”
“Take off your belt, John.”
“What?!” John said incredulously. What the hell did he need to take his belt off for? So he could take off his pants too? This guy said he was dating Bobby, but John had never thought he was that kind of gay.
“Bisexual, not gay, and I’m not asking you to take your pants off! Jesus!! I need to use the belt to apply pressure to my arm, or I might bleed all over the place. Haven’t you ever seen the movie Trainspotting? Heroin addicts shooting up ring a bell? This is the same idea, done the same way,” Justin growled with increasing annoyance.
“Oh,” Was all John could say. That made sense. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that? Fucking telepaths hearing other people’s thoughts. The guy was awake for thirty seconds and he was already jumping into John’s head.
“I’m not jumping into your head,” Justin insisted, sounding vexed. “If you’d quit thinking so loud, I wouldn’t notice. I’m having trouble blocking you out because I feel so fucking shitty and disoriented. Really, I’d prefer to not have to deal with your voice or anyone’s in my head right now or ever for that matter.”
“I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” John sassed, rolling his eyes.
Justin sighed. “Just try and think quieter. Now can we get on with this?”
John pulled off his belt and handed it to Justin, who was rolling up the left sleeve of his shirt. Justin tied the belt around his bicep, cinching it tight and holding it there. He slapped the skin on the inside of his elbow a few times. A couple large veins began to rise to the surface.
“Give me the syringe,” Justin said, his outstretched hand shaking mildly from the withdrawal sickness.
John handed it to him, watching carefully. Justin held the syringe with the needle upwards, flicking it a couple times. He sprayed a small amount of fluid out and then pushed the head of the needle into the larger of the two veins. Justin injected the clear fluid, looking slightly fearful. After a moment, he gasped. John watched as his body tensed, and then trembled as he gasped again.
“Are you okay?” John asked, worried.
Justin nodded, pulling the needle out and letting it drop to the floor of the truck. He looked down at his hand as if he was seeing it for the first time, and shuddered. Justin loosened the belt off his arm and it slid off onto the seat beside him. He leaned back, closing his eyes.
“God- oh fuck…”
“Justin?” John asked. A hint of fear leaking into his voice, much to John’s chagrin.
Justin’s eyes opened, and his head lolled towards John. Justin’s eyes stared into him, out of focus and half lidded. A look passed over Justin’s face that was halfway between utter relaxation and uncontrollable need. Justin gasped again, as a tremor shook his body.
“Oh, fuck this is amazing…” Justin said breathlessly. John looked at him skeptically. “I’m serious. It’s like everything is different… disconnected, but so fucking amazing…”
“You’ve never been high before, have you?” John smirked.
“I’ve smoked a bit of weed before… Not really my thing. I’d rather just get drunk… Never tried anything hard, though.” Justin said, shaking his head. “Nothing at all like this. It’s amazing what the right dose can do.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you were practically in a coma before, and now? You look like you need to fuck someone.” John said coarsely.
Justin lazily raised an eyebrow, unfazed. Bobby would have at least given John a blush for saying that.
“Was that… supposed to make me beg?” Justin asked sarcastically - well, as sarcastically as he could, considering his drugged state.
John just smirked. “I’ll let you decide that one.” John replied, grinning suggestively.
“Hmm… maybe when I’m less high. I don’t know if I could… mmmh… I don’t know if I can handle any more sensations… right now… I might explode…” Justin said with a serious tone and then grinned, laughing.
John laughed with him.
Yeah, Justin was pretty damned stoned. John had been high before, mind you, but all he’d tried was pot and some shrooms. Nothing serious. This stuff was pretty hardcore, whatever it was. Probably had some opium derivatives in it, among other things. John had always wondered what being high off a hard drug felt like. Not that he ever planned on trying them -he wasn’t that stupid- but just for the sake of experience, he wondered.
Justin’s hand brushed against John’s cheek weakly. “My telepathy… I can’t get it to shut up… I’m hearing your thoughts like… like you’re just talking to me…” Justin whispered breathily. “Do you want to know what it feels like? God… Do you want… me to share this with you…?” Justin asked.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We need to get moving again. But we have to walk. We’re out of gas,” John said, pulling Justin’s hand off his cheek.
“Unless you are going to… carry me… I don’t think I’ll be able to… Not until this… Uhnn, not until this passes…” Justin gasped.
John cursed under his breath. He couldn’t carry Justin. They’d have to sit here and wait for now.
“You don’t have to wait, I can try and walk…” Justin said, putting on a determined face. He tried unsuccessfully to sit up straight.
John shook his head. “No, just wait. Maybe in a little while it will have worn off enough that you’ll be okay to walk. We’ll be okay for now. Even if they’ve started to look for us, I doubt they’ll come this way yet. I knew we were going to run out of gas, so I went the wrong way. I figured it was the only way we’d have a chance of getting away. Maybe we’ll be able to steal another car somewhere or use a payphone to call the school or something. If you call, they’ll come and get you out of here at least.”
“I’m not… going to leave you… here…” Justin said, shaking his head.
“Whatever.” John said. “You didn’t choose this. If there’s a way out, take it. Don’t be stupid and go all heroic.”
Justin shook his head, laughing bitterly. “But that’s… that’s where you are wrong… I did choose this… I’m a precog… I saw what would… happen… if I didn’t make Bobby leave… before Magneto got to the lab, he would have died trying to… trying to fight. So I made him go…” Justin explained. “I remember… that vision was fucked… I remember seeing Bobby getting… fuck, Magneto would have impaled him with something… It was slow, and painful… but if I got him to go outside, the vision made it seem… better… he’d survive… but be hurt emotionally after seeing… someone… My fate… it was sealed the moment I chose… to try and keep those virus sample away… If I left with him then, Magneto would have… he’d have found the samples.”
“You knew what was going to happen to you, and you still did it?”
“No… didn’t know what was going to happen to me… Still don’t… I just knew that if I didn’t do anything… people would die… and Bobby… he might have been killed… I couldn’t live with that…” Justin clarified slowly, impeded by the drug.
John bit his lip. What a fucked up power. Seeing the future, and options, but not what is going to happen to yourself.
“Thank you.” The whisper came almost unbidden from John’s lips.
“Why?”
“For trying to save Bobby. It… It means a lot to me.” John said quietly.
“You mean he means a lot to you.” Justin smirked.
John rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
“Make me.”
John chuckled. “What are you, seven years old?”
“Nah… Just feeling heady, horny… and stupid… wow…” Justin said, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks. “No wonder people… get addicted to shit like this…” he added, turning to gaze out into the woods at the roadside.
John felt part of himself relenting. He had to admit he was curious about what Justin was currently experiencing. But being high right now could be dangerous. Then again it’d just be a projection of the high, not the real thing. He could have Justin stop it at any time if they needed to get out of there, right?
“Hmmm… Changing your mind…?” Justin asked as he turned back around, curious.
John nodded, smiling. “Yeah. Do you think you could show me? I mean, I don’t want you to do anything you are uncomfortable with, but I kind of want to know what it feels like. But only for a minute,” John said.
It wasn’t just the high that he wanted. Part of him was also a little intrigued by the danger of connecting with a telepath high on narcotics. It was stupid and dangerous and he loved the idea of it. Just to see. Yeah, John was a thrill seeker. Like anyone couldn’t figure that out after ten minutes around him.
“Alright, I’ll show you…” A soft smile spread across Justin’s features. His blue eyes sparkled and seemed to draw John down into their depths. Justin grabbed John’s hand. “If you want out… of the feeling… Just squeeze my hand three times.”
“Okay,” John said, his eyes remaining captive to Justin’s out-of-focus gaze.
“It’ll help me… if you relax,” Justin whispered, then shut his eyes.
John gasped, suddenly feeling something warm flowing throughout his body. It was in him. In his blood. He could feel it pulsing with him, out to his fingertips and back in to his heart… Up to his head, his nose, his lips and down into his legs, his toes, and -oh fuck- into his cock…
Every nerve ending seemed to shut off, but then fired mutely in dull, languid waves of hypersensitivity. He began to suck in his breath in short, sharp gasps. He felt a groan growing in his throat, and the vibrations from deep in his chest made him tremble… the sensation, oh, the sensation…
John opened his eyes. Everything was different; real but somehow more real but at the same time he was completely disconnected from everything. Justin was smiling a languid half-fucked-and-wanting-more smile. And John found himself smiling back. Because, damn, he sure felt that way too.
Unh, the warmth… the warmth was incredible! It was like having fire in his blood that was hot and cold and pins and needles all at the same time. It wasn’t like his own heat, his fire, it was so different… so good.
John shifted, feeling his jeans tighten against his hardening cock, feeling the material of his shirt wrinkle behind his back, feeling nothing but feeling everything and that hand, that hand that he was holding. It was soft and strong and holding his firmly, like an anchor. The arm was bare. Not muscular, but toned. Sleeve rolled up to the shoulder. Mark at the elbow where the needle had penetrated pale skin. A dark blue sweater, like the Atlantic at night.
Justin laughed. The sounds echoed in John’s ear like he was hearing it twice. The first time he heard it, heard it with his ears and then the second time he heard it with the rest of his body, arching into the sound, taking it inside and becoming part of its ephemeral vibration.
More. He needed to feel more.
John shifted across the bench seat towards Justin, pulling the blonde towards him at the same time with the hand he still held. Eyes, locked together, staring into deep waters. Understanding… unspoken connection.
John’s hand on the material of Justin’s sweater, feeling the grain of the weave as if he’d never felt cloth before. Justin’s free hand on his shoulder, sliding across it… Eyes on John, watching him, perceiving, understanding.
“You’ve kissed Bobby,” John whispered.
“Yes.”
Justin’s free hand on his neck, pulling him closer. The sounds of him breathing like the waves washing over the rocks on Magneto’s island.
“Show me… what it felt like.”
John’s lips against Justin’s. Invitingly soft but strong, demanding, needing. Body pressed against body, heat rising. The entire world ablaze in touch. His hand sliding down the small of Justin’s back, Justin’s hand coiled in his hair.
A soft gasp escaped between them.
“John… stop…”
The haze suddenly lifted from his mind, but not the urgent need he felt buzzing in his lips, pulsing through his hands, throbbing along with his cock. The high might not have been his, but his arousal -that was his own. His body was screaming for him to continue, but his mind was reeling.
What the hell were they doing?
John pulled away quickly, his hands loosing their hold on Justin, who had turned his head away. It was shocking, the loss of sensation. But the need remained. He still wanted, wanted… That connection, was that just the drug?
“I’m sorry…” Justin whispered. His face had drained of all colour. “…I never thought… I didn’t think it was making me that high…”
“Don’t.” John said. “Don’t pretend like you forced that. I was just as caught in it as you were…” John trailed off, looking out the windshield.
“You were linked to me… if I wanted something, you would have… thought that you wanted… but it was me… It’s my fault…” Justin insisted, sounding torn.
“Justin, don’t¬-“
“It’s happened to me before, John.” Justin rebuked, cutting him off. “It’s my fault. I’m out of control like I’m some fucking drug-addicted harlot. A fucking mutant rapist whore!” Justin yelled with a shocking, intense clarity. He was out of the truck and running before John could even open his mouth to stutter a reply.
John cursed and ran out into the snow after him. He caught up easily, as Justin’s movement was clearly still being impeded by the drugs. John grabbed his shoulders, and slowed Justin to a standstill. Justin was shaking, from both the bitter cold and the quiet, choked sobs that were interrupting his breathing.
“Damn it, will you hold on for a second!”
“Stay away from me.” Justin pulled away, but John grabbed him again.
“What the fuck is going on?” John said, forcing Justin to turn and face him. Justin looked down at his feet, tears sliding down his cheeks.
“I’m dangerous. You can’t stay here with me. I’ll hurt you.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” John said dryly.
“You don’t know anything about me! You don’t know what I’ve done! I barely have control over my powers, and these fucking drugs are making me lose my grip. If you value your mind, you’ll get out of here and leave me alone before I lose control and permanently fuck up your brain,” Justin demanded coldly.
John snorted. “Oh really! You seemed to be doing just fine managing your powers two minutes ago! What the fuck is this really about? So I kissed you. So fucking what! We were both fucking high because of that connection and you just so happen to be a bit attractive. Is this about Bobby?”
“No! But that’s another good reason for me to be freaking out. God, how could I do this to-“
“Do you see him here? No.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you love him, I care about him and I just betrayed him with you, or that I was probably controlling your emotions as well as making you feel the drugs.”
“Justin, will you fucking calm down!”
“You don’t know what you’re-“
Justin was abruptly silence by John’s lips finding his again.
“Now, will you be quiet for a minute?” John asked.
Justin stood their mutely, a shocked look on his face.
“I kissed you just now because I wanted to. Just like back in the truck. Yes, this entire thing might not be the best idea right now, but I think you have to agree that we’re both pretty fucked up about what’s happened over the past couple weeks. You much more so than I am.
“You weren’t controlling me. It was my choice. And don’t try to pull this ‘you don’t know what I’ve done’ crap. Yeah, I don’t know what you’ve done. But it sure as hell can’t be any worse than the shit that I’ve pulled, both by accident and by choice. Justin, my parents are dead because of me. I killed them by accident because I lost control of my powers. Yeah, I’m still pretty fucking beat up about that, but god damn it! You can’t live the rest of your life blaming yourself for shit that you can’t control.
“You seem to think that accidents make you a horrible person, but let me tell you! It’s the shit you do on purpose that counts. You haven’t done the things that I have. I’ve killed people for no reason other than because Magneto told me to. I didn’t know shit all about them, whether they were good people or not. I just did what I was told.
“So don’t go around telling yourself things that aren’t true. All it means is that we are human and we make mistakes and can’t control everything. Don’t play the martyr, and don’t run away from your problems. Trust me, I know all about running. And it doesn’t do anything but make things worse,” John finished his rant.
Justin stood there, trembling. He looked worn down. And cold. Fuck, John wished he’d put his coat on before he ran after Justin.
“Come on. Let’s get your coat and the needles out of the truck and get out of here. That truck’s stolen, so I don’t want to be anywhere near here if the police happen to drive by. You were talking a lot more coherently a minute ago. You ready to walk?”
Justin nodded silently in response.
They walked back to the truck and grabbed the bag with the needles, and Justin put on the coat Wanda had procured for him. It was a bit big for his slender frame, but it was good enough. Judging from the size, it was probably one of Avalanche’s coats. John smiled inwardly at the thought of Wanda having stolen Dominic’s coat for Justin. That jackass deserved it.
“You ready?” John asked, shutting the doors to the truck and locking it. Not that it needed to be locked. It was habit, though. Didn’t need more punks like himself stealing it. The police would eventually return it to the tow truck company he and Wanda had stolen it from after dusting for finger prints and shit.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Justin said without expression.
A tense quiet fell between them. The only sounds as they walked were their footfalls in the light snow covering the roadside and the quiet, shuddering breaths Justin was taking due to the high from the drugs. It was fine with John. After that blowup a couple minutes ago, he wasn’t sure he felt like talking.
The three hours he had already spent on the road with Justin unconscious had left John ample time to think about what he had just gotten himself into. True to character, he had acted on an impulse when opportunity struck.
Justin had thrown at him maybe the only thing that would have given him enough reason to leave the Brotherhood. Admittedly, he had done it while John was still recovering from that shit Mastermind did to him, but waking up to Wanda’s panicked face had just given him all the more reason run. A fight between Brotherhood members and the possibility of having a chance with Bobby just added momentum to his need to stop doing all this crap and just live according to his own rules.
He had broken free. Free of yet another cage he had walked into of his own free will. For the first time in a long time the questions in his mind were different. How was he going to use this freedom? How long would it last? How long would it be before old bucket-head and his losers started stalking him intent on the kill? Would the he and Justin even make it to the School?
Most importantly, if they did make it back to the School, what would happen to Pyro? Obviously Justin would get dragged down to the med lab and everything would be merry and fine. But Pyro was a different story. Would they call the police? Would they even let him in the door?
This was the one time in his life that John was really relying on someone to be nice. It wasn’t a sure bet, but if anyone had an inflated sense of charity and moral obligation, it was Charles Xavier. He’d always looked at John as if he was a prime example of the typical mutant sob story. ‘Oh, everyone should feel so bad for poor little St. John. He went into foster care, was raped, ran away to live on the streets and even went to juvenile prison for a while, all after he accidentally killed his own family!’ Yeah, no doubt Xavier would let him lay low there for a little while at least.
Not that Pyro really wanted to stay there. He would just be there long enough to be sure that Magneto had moved on to bigger and better problems than killing him. And of course, long enough to have a serious talk with Bobby.
That was going to be fucked up. “Hey Bob… uh, I know I turned evil for a while and all, and I still sorta support what they are doing, but do you think you could overlook that? Yeah, I’m in love with you. Crazy how life turns out, isn’t it? Oh, by the way I kissed your boyfriend while we were on the road coming here.”
Yeah. Definitely not going to be an easy conversation. Even if Justin was telling him the truth and Bobby really was pining for him. This whole kissing Justin thing just added another dimension of complexity to things. It didn’t mean anything. It was just a moment of weakness, made worse by the drugs Justin was on.
Then again, St. John Allerdyce never did things the easy way. That would be fucking ridiculous. It would have been too facile to just run back to the Institute and right into Bobby’s waiting arms. What would his life be without all the crises and drama?
Pyro shook his head. He would die of boredom, no doubt.