Valentines Day Fic Exchange!

Feb 15, 2007 01:02

Author: Sj-snugglebug
Title: Believe
Genre: General
Rating: PG (Minor cursing present)
Pairings: John/Bobby, Rogue/Bobby
Warnings:
Disclaimer: Not mine; never was, never will be. Depressing, isn’t it?
Summary: Set after X-3, John and Bobby meet in a cinema.

Valentine fic for polaris_86

Note: I’m not good at one-shots, so I apologise for any crappiness of this fic. The fault is entirely on me. I’m much better at writing chapter-stories. I hope that I met the prompt well. (= *Hopes*

Believe - By Sj.snugglebug
Valentine’s Day Fic Exchange!

Rogue never quite minded Valentines Day; what Bobby had come to know as the ‘sentimental sap of commercialised products that take advantage of poor pathetic unsuspecting souls’. An uncharacteristically cynical view for such a young hopeful X-man. Yet, never-the-less, the couple would spend Valentines Day in a cinema with an expensive but small bucket of pop-corn, watching a predictable, feel-good, overly romantic comedy about two individuals in their thirties who find love in the most ‘unexpected of places’. They would hold hands and smile at each other once in a while (whilst Rogue held that fluffy teddy-bear and chocolates that Bobby bought in a hurry at a corner-store pharmacy) and pretend to enjoy the mood and the movie.

Rogue stood in the ticket line next to her boyfriend, wringing her bare hands together nervously. She turned to him and smiled softly, taking his hand with her own. Bobby jumped slightly at the touch, neither yet used to the feel of skin to skin contact. She turned away, touching Bobby’s fingertips with her own; he pulled his hand back from her slowly, bought the tickets and entered the cinema in complete silence.
They sat in silence, few words exchanged; listened to the quiet whispering of those around them. Rogue stared at her hands, turning them over she stared at her skin thinking ‘poison’ even though they no longer were. She turned to smile at Bobby who smiled back then watched the flickering advertisements and previews with false interest.
He was there out of obligation. Obliged to take his girlfriend somewhere nice on Valentines day; dinner… a movie…
Bobby was there out of an obligation to her, Rogue knew, and so was she. Things were always slowly changing around them, and now they were too. Slowly changing because of her decisions and because sometimes, he just couldn’t forget.

Rogue noted his distaste when the film started, that look that clearly said ‘what a waste of time’, and thought about his snarky remarks about Valentines Day and all that it entailed; then about the look of regret on his face when he finally noticed she had been present.
The one thing Rogue could say with complete certainty was about the small and barely noticeable changes in his behaviour upon the departure of one renowned pyromaniac. The changes that lay in certain phrases spoken and things he shouldn’t believe; in a lack of smiles amongst many other things.
Rogue knew things she shouldn’t know, because sometimes you could just tell when you were being used. She knew this, because she was sure that was how Bobby felt too. Used, but not in a bad way; in a search for hope, and maybe the vague pretence of normality. But she wasn’t sure normality was what he truly wanted, because it was only after the event of the cure that their relationship became more of a façade of happiness than a true relationship.

Rogue felt someone move in the seats behind her, and with a single glance at the darkness of the isle and seats; she noticed a hooded figure quietly take a seat in row behind her and Bobby. She had turned her attention to the beginning of the film when she heard a slight buzzing noise coming from Bobby’s direction. Rogue pretended to keep her gaze on the girl on screen who spoke of the occurrences on the previous year, and off and on relations with many many different men. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, Bobby pulling out his mobile and checking something, earning groans of annoyance from all around them. He pushed the phone towards her, showing her the message that read ‘It’s Jubes - Kitty’s gone hysterical! I have no idea what to do; need your help’.
Rogue read the message over again, seeing her exit; whispered something to Bobby who replied with a quiet ‘Go, she needs you.’ She said a small goodbye, kissed his cheek, and left, not bothering to look back.
~

Bobby played with the torn ticket in his hands and pondered whether to stay and make the most out of the money he paid, or leave before the overly dramatic girl on screen drove him insane. For the fifth time that night, he felt someone knee the back of his seat causing him to grip his ticket harder in sheer frustration. He felt the person move in the seat behind him, and with a strong sense of déjà vu, he heard a sounding ‘click, snap, click’ and finishing with a resounding ‘snap’.
Bobby frowned and shifted in his chair uncomfortably, paying little attention to the couple kissing onscreen. He took a quick glance behind him, saw a hooded figure sitting back in the seat behind him and smelt the incredibly familiar scent of lighter fluid. His lips formed a small smile as he turned back to the screen, thoughts running wildly through his mind.
The person behind him pulled back his hood, leaned forwards and whispered softly in his ear ‘Hello Bobby.’

“St. John Allerdyce; mutant terrorist and Magneto’s henchman in a foreign romantic comedy…on Valentines day, no less…” Bobby said softly, in a perfectly replicated Allerdyce drawl.
“Yes…” Pyro murmured back quietly, “Who would’ve thunk it…” He pulled his hood up and slipped down into his seat when a young man a few seats away gave him a hard glare. “I keep my appearances in obvious places rather minimal.” He said. “The last place people would think to look for me is here.”
Bobby snorted into his popcorn and played with a buttered puff. “I’m sure the law enforcement is up to date with Pyro’s movie choices.” John didn’t reply to this, and Bobby whispered softly “I, on the other hand, know that you happen to despise romantic comedies; even foreign ones.”
Pyro smirked leaned back in his seat, adjusting the hood that hid his face. “I happen to know that you also despise foreign romantic comedies - or are you here just because Rogue…or should I say Marie, now that she decided to be reduced to such a degraded status, wanted to come.”
Bobby glared at him and turned to face his former friend, allowing his fists to glaze over in a rough sheet of ice.
“Last time I heard, your beloved leader has been reduced to a similar status; you can hardly talk.” He hissed.
Pyro smirked at the youth in front of him. “If you think that’s supposed to affect me, sorry to disappoint you.”
“That’s alright,” Bobby murmured, turning away. “You’re great at disappointing people.”
Pyro didn’t reply to this, instead he moved out of his seat in the isle behind, and into the one next to Bobby. He leaned back, mockingly snaked an arm around his former friend and grinned at what he saw in the seat next to him.
“It seems that your girlfriend hasn’t bothered about her Valentines gift.” He drawled. He lifted the stuffed teddy bear that read ‘My Valentine’ on its stomach. He felt Bobby stiffen. “Humans,” He said with a smirk playing on his lips. “So thoughtless, aren’t they?”
“Shut the fuck up, Pyro.” Bobby snapped shoving his arm away with all the force he could muster, pleased to see the Pyromaniac wince. “Kitty was upset; Rogue just forgot them, because she was worried about her.”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that, Drake. Kitty is always worried about something, nothing new.”
“You’ve been gone for a long time, Pyro. You don’t know anything.”
“I know this much.” Pyro said. “Kitty is a drama-queen. She always was, and she always will be.”
Bobby glared at him, shoving the mutant back; Pyro toppled over the arm rest next to him. Bobby had leaned over and grabbed his shirt when he noticed movement in the isle and a bright light being shined at them. A man in uniform stood the sternly.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to have to ask the two of you to leave and sort this out, outside.” The man said, and Bobby glared at him too.
“You don’t have to ask,” the ice-mutant snapped. “I was leaving anyway.” He stood up, brushed past Pyro and the uniformed man and stormed out, forgetting about his girlfriend’s gifts sitting on the chair.
~

Pyro came out of the cinema with a teddy-bear and box of chocolates in his hands. He dropped them the seat next to which the ice-mutant stood and lit a cigarette in complete silence while Bobby glared at the ground - neither saying anything.

The two stood on the sidewalk outside the movie theatre. Pyro dropped his half-smoked cigarette on to the pavement and stubbed it out with the metal toe-cap of his boot. He watched as Bobby stuffed his hands into his pockets and breathed out a puff of icy breath.
“You’re not going to ask me why I left?” Pyro said with a slight air of curiosity. Bobby shrugged carelessly.
“Why?”
Pyro shrugged in return. “I figured it would have been the first thing you asked me.”
Bobby shook his head quietly and scuffed the concrete with the toe of his sneaker. “It’s none of my business, why you left. You did what you had to do; I did what I had to do.”
Pyro smiled at this and gently nudged the youth next to him.
“You’ve changed.” He acknowledged. “You think differently now.”
“War does that to you.” Bobby said softly. He paused. “Although, I do want to know how you got off Alcatraz; I thought you had died. Then I saw your picture on the list of ‘known and dangerous mutant terrorists’”
When Pyro merely smirked, Bobby realised that he wasn’t going to tell. His mind boggled, and when he shivered it wasn’t from the wind. “If you stay,” he said, “I’m going to be obliged to take you back to the mansion and turn you over to Xavier.” Bobby shifted nervously on the spot and waited for his reaction.
“I know.” Pyro said. “I’ll be off soon. I can’t stay in one place too long.”
Bobby sighed and turned to face him. “Where are you living? I hardly think there’s a shelter for runaway mutant terrorists.”
Pyro chuckled. “I’m living on the streets, Ice-man.” He said with an amused smirk. “I lived on the streets before Xavier found me, I can easily live on the streets now. Nothing has changed; nothing at all. I stayed at the Mansion too long, as it was.”
Bobby nodded understandingly. “You have commitment issues.” He said. “You can’t commit to anything; you can’t commit to a place, you can’t even commit to a hair-colour.” He noted the dark chocolate brown hair, changed from the blonde Bobby had last seen.
“I committed to The Brotherhood.” Pyro said softly.
“Yeah, and look where that got you.”
Pyro stared at the ground, watching him shift his feet; hands stuffed in his pockets. Bobby glanced towards his former friend, and then back to his feet.
“So, where are you staying right now?” The ice-mutant asked quietly.
Pyro chuckled at his inquiry. “What, you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” Bobby said briefly, and after a lengthy pause, “Well, no. I don’t, but if I’m caught fraternising with you without turning you over to the cops…or the X-men…” he trailed off lamely and shifted his weight from foot-to-foot again.
Pyro laughed. “Yeah, whatever.” He grinned motioned for Bobby to follow. “It’s this way.”
~

Bobby stood in the middle of the large abandoned warehouse uncomfortably. Eyeing what looked like a mattress that seemed to have seen the height of its career much too long ago. He said a silent prayer for the deceased piece of furniture before realising that was probably what John slept on. Bobby watched as the fire-mutant went over to a pile of his belongings and came back with two bottles of beer, handing them over for him to chill. He stared down at the iced over bottle of alcohol and wondered for the first time, ‘What the fuck am I doing here?’
“You’re a squatter in a run-down, decrepit old warehouse and yet you still find the money to by beer?” Bobby criticised, giving the mutant next to him a disapproving frown. Pyro smirked and lay back on the cold concrete that paved the ground.
“There are only four things I need to keep me happy.” He said, and raising his hand he began to tick them off. “Beer, fire, and shelter; I have my beer, my fire, and my shelter.”
Bobby fell silent and waited for a few moments before asking “What’s the fourth?”
Pyro smirked playfully. “Well wouldn’t you like to know,” he said.
Bobby paused, and then said “Well, yes; I would.”
“I’m not stupid enough to reveal all my kinky little secrets to you.”
Bobby played with the rim of his beer-bottle, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the fire-mutant. “Well, are you happy then? You have your beer, your fire, your shelter, and your kinky little secret. Yet, you have no companionship or friends or family. My friends back at the Mansion are my family. I have my friends and family, and I have my shelter. You have less than you did when you were living on the streets before The Professor found you.”
Pyro considered this, putting his beer bottle down he rested his head in his arms. “You forgot beer and fire.”
“What?”
He smiled and turned to Bobby. “You forgot your beer and fire.” Bobby stared at him as if he were crazy, and for a moment certainly thought the fire-mutant was.
“What would I want with fi…?” he paused. “Forget that!” Pyro sat up and sighed dramatically.
“What are family and friends anyway? What is with the need for constant companionship; the belief that we need to know we’re loved; with all of this sentimentality and sentimental shit? I don’t need any of it. All I need is something to believe in. When I left with Magneto I believed in what I was doing then, and I still do.” He said softly. Bobby stared into his beer-bottle dejectedly.
The ice-mutant paused and turned away; a lump of resentment caught in his throat as he swallowed painfully. “I want you to come back.”
“You’ve lived your lie with Marie long enough?” Pyro asked softly; a small smile that the ice-mutant didn’t see formed on his lips.
“When she took the cure everything changed.” He whispered. “We were no longer just in a relationship, we were actually together. I mean, I know her mutation was hard on her and, God, I don’t think I’d ever be able to live without being touched - being able to touch people…but everything just changed. I mean, I care about her! I really do, but things just don’t seem real anymore. I guess…” He paused and gripped his beer-bottle tighter. “I guess that’s why I came here in the first place. I guess that’s why I let you bring me here.” He stopped and swallowed around that hard lump. When Bobby had turned away, Pyro gave one more smile of victory.
“It’s simple, you know. You wanted Marie, but you couldn’t have her. That’s what made her all the more tempting to you. Now that you have her, things are different. You don’t want her anymore. It’s a classic thing.”
Bobby frowned disagreeing, but didn’t say anything about his comment. Instead saying, “So, what do you believe in now?”
“I believe that I’m doing what I need to be doing. I believe that I am where I need to be.”
“I want you to come back.” he repeated
Pyro shook his head with a small smile.
“What about me?” Bobby asked silently.
“I believe that you are where you need to be, doing what you need to be doing.”
He sighed, defeated and tipped his empty beer-bottle from side to side. “I guess you’re right. We’ve taken two completely different paths. So, what do we do now?”
“Well, although we’ve achieved fuck-all, we’ve established one thing.” Pyro said. Bobby tipped his head to the side questioningly. “That fate is a cruel, cruel thing.” Pyro said with a small smirk and quirked eyebrows. Bobby sighed and looked down at this.
“You’d best be off to your Robin Hood, Merry man.” Pyro chuckled.
Bobby snorted derisively. “Well, Prince John, I’ll be off then.” He said firmly, standing up and making for the door. Pyro followed closely, and with fake courtesy, opened the door for him.
“So, I’m probably not going to see you again?” Bobby asked. The fire-mutant smirked again and leaned against the open door.
“I don’t know; you may find that the X-men just may have another reason to try and find me.” He said. The X-man let out a long breath and smiled tightly.
“So, answer my question. Are you happy?”
Pyro’s smirk faded; he pursed his lips and looked down, and then up again. He smiled faintly and gave the ice-mutant a distant look. “No,” he said, “…not really.”
Bobby nodded and leaned forwards to kiss him. When the fire-mutant snaked an arm around him to prolong the kiss Bobby could taste the familiarity of alcohol and cigarettes and…oh so warm. He pulled away and started to leave, smiling to himself. Things change; but something’s never will.
~

Bobby didn’t see or hear from Pyro in almost six months, save for the reports in the newspaper about what drabbles were left from the main part of the brotherhood. Then six months later he received a letter from the evasive mutant; no return address on the back. There was a single small photo of Pyro in what appeared to be a run-down room with a single glass cup full of fire. It didn’t matter where he was, though; he could never commit to one place. He turned it over, and on the back was written in that fancy scrip that only John could achieve: ‘Hello fourth.’
Bobby frowned and pondered this, suddenly realising that there were only four things in the world that Pyro needed to be happy. Beer, fire, shelter, and…
He laughed briefly and slipped the small photo into his wallet; tossing away the envelope he left the empty room quietly, closing the door behind him.
~

The End

~~~
Well? A little long. Not an incredibly happy ending, but It's not depressing either. I hope. (=

title: b, rating: pg, author: sj_snugglebug, fiction: one-shots, projects: v-day fic exchange

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