World Without You

[sendthewolves]

Title: World Without You
Author: bloodnfire
Rating: PG-13 I think for some swearing, no sex though :(
Disclaimer: If someone else owns it I don't. The title and lyrics on the cut come from a Tadpole song that happened to turn up on random when I was writing this and seemed to go with it.
Summary: Post X3. Sequel to the first fic I posted here: untitled. Picks up where the first one left off.
Notes: This has been sitting around on my computer for weeks. I figured I may as well just post it. There's something about it that I'm not satisfied with but I can't quite work it out. Some concrit would be appreciated.



World Without You

Are you going to let me go again?

Bobby watched in shock as John turned away from him and followed Magneto down the stairs. He couldn't believe this was happening, was he really going to lose John again when they finally had their lives together?

"John!" Bobby finally regained basic motor functions and ran after his departing lover. John turned to face him looking surprised, as though he'd expected Bobby to just watch him go without saying a word to stop him, just like last time. "Don't go." That was what he wanted to say, what he should have said. Instead all he did was stand there in shock, staring after John's retreating form long after he was out of sight.

John sat sprawled in the passenger seat of Magneto's SUV. He was vaguely aware that he should find the fact that Magneto had an SUV amusing, there was certainly something wrong with the fact that a notorious mutant terrorist drove the same car that a mother might use to drive her kids to soccer practice. John sighed and leaned his head against the cool glass of the window and tried not to think about the fact that he had possibly just made the biggest mistake of his life or that Bobby had - no, he wasn't going to think about Bobby, that could lead nowhere good. Magneto glanced at him, looking slightly...was that remorse? Sympathy?

"You made the right choice, Pyro." He said in what John thought was the closest to comforting as Magneto ever got. John just nodded and tried to look sure of himself, it was frighteningly similar to when he had first joined the Brotherhood and was trying to act as though he ran off to join terrorist organizations everyday and this was nothing new when really he had been terrified and wishing that Bobby was with him. John -no he was Pyro again now, Pyro smirked slightly and thought that maybe he hadn't changed so much after all.

Eventually Bobby ventured back into the apartment after receiving odd looks from several neighbours and realizing that the temperature in the hallway had dropped considerably since John's departure. He sank down on the couch and looked around the room. Everything still looked the same as it had before, the plates were still sitting there waiting to be washed and John's clothes were still strewn everywhere, but nothing felt the same. Bobby stood up, "Fuck it." He muttered to himself as he started for the door kicking over a chair that dared to get in his way. He stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Pyro shifted uncomfortably, Mystique's penetrating gaze never failed to make him nervous, plus he was still feeling a little guilty about abandoning her naked on the floor of the truck when she got cured and he suspected that she wasn't entirely over it either. He wondered how Magneto had convinced her to come back to the Brotherhood, Pyro had thought she would've been out for blood after that betrayal but he wasn't about to bring it up by asking questions that she probably wouldn't answer anyway. He contented himself with flicking his lighter on and off, playing with the flames.He became quickly mesmerized by the comforting fire.

Bobby stood outside for twenty minutes before he could bring himself to knock, although they had to know that he was there given that someone must have opened the gates for him. When Storm opened the door he couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, there's no way that she wasn't going to be pissed off at him for abandoning them in the after shock of Alcatraz and of course for breaking out and escaping with one of their enemies. But instead of yelling at him she pulled him into a hug.

"It's good to see you Bobby." She said as they parted. Bobby just nodded and followed her inside.

"So, I hear you've been shacked up with an X-Man." Mystique's voice broke through Pyro's concentration on the flames making him jump, as no doubt she had intended.

"Former X-Man." Pyro said evenly, determined not to show any emotion whilst talking about this in the hope that she wouldn't start fucking with his head, although when it came to Mystique he sometimes wondered if she knew how to hold a conversation any other way.

"He deserted for you." She said, not questioning just stating a fact. Pyro leaned back against the headboard of his motel bed and continued to keep up his neutral facade. "He left because he had a disagreement with them." She smirked at that in a manner that implied that she knew just what that disagreement had been about and Pyro resisted the urge to set her on fire. He it was an urge he always got when she looked at him in her way that suggested she knew everything that was going on in his head and she would use it against him anytime it suited her. She leaned towards him, looking directly into his eyes which signaled she was about to ask a question that either he couldn't answer or one that he wouldn't answer. "And what exactly made you decide to stop playing house with the enemy and come back in to the fold? Did you realize that you never really loved him after all?"

"Something like that." Pyro lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, pretending that neither of them knew the real answer.

Bobby exited Xavier's office feeling as though he'd stepped into another dimension. Everything had been surreal since John had walked away from him with Magneto and after being introduced to Charles Xavier's new body Bobby was sure that he must be either dreaming or insane or maybe he just hoped he was. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with Rogue but there she was waiting for him as he entered the hall.He knew he really owed it to her listen, none of this was her fault but she looked like she had a lot she wanted to say to him and Bobby really didn't want to hear any of it, it would be nothing he hadn't already said to himself anyway. "Bobby!" She said loudly, he realized that she had been talking at him for a while. He looked at her wearily. "Rogue, I really don't want to talk about this now." Whatever this was that she'd been saying."I'm still a little bit freaked out after seeing the Professor back from the dead and all."

"If you hadn't taken off with Pyro you'd have known sooner." Her voice held all of her accusations against him in just that sentence. Bobby just looked at her for a moment then turned and walked away, thinking that the part of his mind that had told him he was an idiot for coming back here had been right, after all it was the same part that said expecting John to make him anything but miserable was naive. Maybe he should start listening to that voice.

Pyro stood outside a nondescript brick building that, according to Magneto, was one of the new homes of the Cure. After Alcatraz Worthington had shut down all operations and washed his hands of the Cure, saying that he wasn't manufacturing anymore. Apparently the Government thought it was too valuable an asset to lose and had taken all remaining samples with plans to continue making it. Although mutant equality was being preached all over the country it was still far from being practiced, the military and the cops were allowed to use Cure weapons against any mutant perceived as a threat. Since the general public tended to perceive every mutant a threat and the cops seemed to agree with them mutants were being shot with it constantly. Magneto intended to stop that. John glanced around him to make sure no one was looking at him suspiciously. He sighed. Once he did this he'd be back on the X-Men's radar, he wasn't sure if they'd simply not been able to find him and Bobby or if they'd decided to let them go. Whatever it was it was over now, they'd know this was him. Bobby would know this was him.

Why the hell did he come back here? What had he hoped this would accomplish? After the initial shock, no not shock he'd known this was coming, the initial impact of seeing the news report about the attack on the Government building Bobby had been having a hard time ignoring all the stares he was receiving and couldn't quite block out the way everyone was talking in whispers when he went past on his way back to Xavier's office. Seated in the room with Storm, Logan, Kitty, Rogue, Pete and the Professor it was almost like old times, if you didn't count the fact that the Professor was in a different body and Bobby felt like he was on a different side to everyone else. Because the facts were that although Bobby was hurt and pissed off that John had gone back to the Brotherhood, although Bobby felt partially responsible for any people that John had killed and even if he didn't think what Magneto, John and the Brotherhood were doing was right, he was no longer so sure that they were wrong.

"Excellent work." Magneto commented as they watched the news footage of the smoking pile of rubble that was once a rather large building. Pyro just nodded in acknowledgment. He wondered how long it would be before the X-Men came after them, not long probably but then they wouldn't know where to look. His thoughts strayed back to Bobby despite all his attempts keep Bobby out of his mind. Had he seen the news report yet? Of course he had, it was all over the TV and newspapers. What was Bobby doing right now? Probably wishing that he'd let Pyro be Cured and got on with his life. Perhaps it would have been for the best.

"We have reason to believe that the Brotherhood's next target will be this Cure research facility in the Nevada Desert, scientists there are working on creating a more permanent Cure and are holding several dangerous mutants." What reason? Bobby thought, did Xavier dig it out of some Brotherhood member's mind? Was Xavier reading his thoughts now? Looking for some clue left over from John that might tell them anything about Magneto's plans? It was amazing how after only a few months without being around telepaths resulted in a huge dose of paranoia the second you came back in contact with one. Why was he in this meeting anyway? It wasn't like he was still an X-Man, shouldn't they be pissed off and untrusting of him, maybe they were so under manned that they would take whatever was available, willing to forgive and forget in exchange for his help. Honestly he didn't really care, he was only half listening to their discussion about why these mutants deserved to be held prisoner, apparently most of them were former Brotherhood members who had escaped disintegration on Alcatraz but had ended up being caught and locked up under the Desert. It could have easily been John if Bobby hadn't carried to safety. Why bother stopping Magneto breaking them out, weren't the X-Men supposed to be helping mutants gain rights, not helping humans imprison them? Bobby was vaguely surprised at his own thoughts but at least now he knew for sure that he hadn't been wrong in leaving the X-Men, even if it hadn't been for John he was sure now that he would have left eventually. He no longer believed in Xavier's ideals, he didn't know how any of them could after facing the horrors of Alcatraz to protect humanity only to have humanity hate them possibly even more. The Professor looked at him sharply and Bobby knew he'd heard those thoughts. Xavier looked sad but didn't say anything to stop him when Bobby left. This time there would be no going back.

Pyro hated the spaces in between missions. There was nothing worse than being stuck with nothing to do for days and having to keep a low profile, not to mention all the meetings with Magneto and Mystique where they went over the plan five million times. But the worst part was all the free time he had on his hands with nothing to do but watch TV and think. Thinking was something Pyro tried very hard not to do too much of these days because he was finding it extremely difficult to think about anything but Bobby Drake and how much he missed him and how much of a moron he was for leaving him for this. Brotherhood life wasn't as exciting as it used to be or at least it didn't seem it. And not getting laid after blowing up the building had left him rather sexually frustrated, the horniness was doing nothing to decrease his missing of Bobby. Fuck it, he decided to risk the Wrath Of Magneto and leave the house that was currently their base of operations and get himself a pack of cigarettes, at least smoking gave him something to do.

Bobby had no idea what he was going to do now. He'd just pretty much severed all ties to the Institute and the X-Men but he was surprised to find that he didn't regret it. He wasn't going to spend his life fighting for a race who hated him and if he'd stayed there chances were he'd end up dying for them. Bobby didn't want to be a martyr for someone else's cause. He decided that there wasn't much he could do but go home, head back to the apartment he and John had shared, try to explain why he hadn't been in to work and hope that he didn't get fired. It was weird thinking about such normal things again. Maybe that's what he needed now, a normal life. Without John.

Pyro stood outside in the backyard of the safe house. His self-appointed mission to get smokes had been a success but he'd forgotten about Magneto's distaste for the smell of cigarette smoke in the house and had been sent outside. Pyro scowled, weren't the bad guys supposed to smoke? He didn't bring that up to Magneto of course, it would just result in another lecture about why they weren't the bad guys and he'd heard it too many times before. He finished his cigarette and rebelliously left the filter lying on the ground instead of putting it in the trash. He wandered back inside and wished like hell that he wasn't having so many seconds thoughts about his decision to come back to the Brotherhood. He had no regrets about leaving the first time, not really. At the time he believed that he was doing what was best and that was what mattered. This time around he wasn't so sure. He found that all he could think about was Bobby and how pissed off at him Bobby must be and how the X-Men were going to be after him again, fuck maybe Bobby was with them. He know longer believed that Magneto was all-powerful and if he got caught again he'd get locked away for the rest of his life and this time Bobby wouldn't save him. Even the good guys didn't believe in third chances.

Looking around the apartment made Bobby feel incredibly lonely. Seeing John's stuff lying around where he'd left it and seeing the bed that still hadn't been made since the last night the two of them had slept in it together was all too much. Bobby wiped at his eyes angrily, trying to stop the hot tears that were building up there from spilling down his cheeks. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stepped under the water and only then did he let the tears come as he sank to the floor. He sat on the tiled floor of the shower until long after the water ran cold, not that it ever really bothered him but he didn't even notice. It was amazing how much losing one person could hurt so much more than the lose of you're family and everyone you once considered a friend combined. Life without John was starting to seem like an impossibility. Bobby sighed and climbed to his feet, he wasn't going to stay here feeling sorry for himself. He decided then and there that since he'd already lost everything he may as well do whatever it took to get back the one person who meant everything to him now. It was time to find John.

Nevada sucked. Or at least being stuck in yet another motel room which happened to be in Nevada sucked. They'd only been there for a few hours and Mystique was off doing reconnaissance on the place they were going to blow up. Pyro found himself getting impatient to just get on with the mission, at least he'd be doing something and as far as he was concerned this place needed to be shut down. They were holding several mutants there, former members of the Brotherhood, and were using them as guinea pigs for their brand new and improved Cure. The plan was to bust out the prisoners then burn the place to the ground. It was pretty simple, though Magneto had used more words than that when he first explained it. Pyro looked up at the sound of the door opening, tensing briefly then relaxing when he saw the middle-aged woman Mystique had been posing as to acquire their room. She smiled dangerously and Magneto returned it. "Time to go."

Bobby found himself wishing that he'd payed more attention to Xavier in that X-Men meeting. He was currently standing around in an airport in Nevada. He realized that this was really not a well thought out plan. He had no idea how the hell he was going to find John, or if John was even here. The Brotherhood didn't exactly advertise their location nor did secret government research facilities. He'd considered going back to the mansion saying that he'd changed his mind and wanted back on the team but had decided that lying to a powerful telepath might not be the best idea ever so here he was, alone and with no real idea where to go. He sighed and then went in search of a map, hoping like hell that he'd be able to remember the location of the base he'd seen on the map Xavier had shown them in the meeting. If he could figure out the general location then he'd just stake it out and try and get to John before he went in. But then again it might be easier to find if it was on fire.

It was remarkable how easy it was to break into a secret Government base. Or at least how easy it was to do so when you were with a shapeshifter who could take out all the guards within about two minutes. Pyro had succeeded in his part of the mission, destroying all the scientist's files and experimentation's so far. He strolled out of the last lab, leaving it flaming behind him. This place would burn to the ground as soon as he, Magneto, Mystique and the prisoners they were freeing at this very moment were clear. Wandering down the corridor Pyro reminded himself to stay alert and he drew a small fire ball into his palm just in case. He heard footsteps coming from around the corner up head. It was most likely Magneto coming to check that Pyro had destroyed everything since Pyro doubted there were any humans left alive in this place after the initial assault. He might feel slightly guilty about that if he hadn't seen for himself what they'd been doing here. "This way!" He heard a female voice up ahead, one that definitely wasn't Mystique and he thought sounded horribly familiar. A hand came out of nowhere, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and pulling him roughly into what was apparently a supply closet. "What the fuck?!"

Bobby hadn't made it to the base before the Brotherhood had entered, the corpse of a guard lying on the ground beside the destroyed razor-wire fence had led him to that conclusion. He had planned to wait outside and try to intercept John before they left. However the sight of the Black Bird touching down in the distance had destroyed that plan as he'd run inside, hoping that he'd get to John before they did. Running down a corridor he'd seen smoke, which had alerted him to the presence of John. He had also heard the sound of Storm's voice coming towards him and ducked threw the nearest door. Peering through a crack in the door he saw John heading towards his hiding spot, towards Storm and whoever was with her. He quickly threw the door open dragging John into the supply closet after him. John gave a startled "What the fuck?!" Bobby clamped his hand over John's mouth and hissed "Shut up." into his ear.

Pyro stopped struggling at the sound of Bobby's voice in his ear. He stayed silent until the passing footsteps were well passed them then he pulled away from Bobby, spinning around to face him and tripping over a mop. They both froze for a moment, holding their breath in case anyone had been alerted by the noise. When no one ripped the door open John righted himself and turned to Bobby. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." John couldn't quite believe this was happening.

"Why? I mean, how'd you even know we were here?" Bobby opened the door slightly and peered out into the corridor.

"Maybe we should have this conversation when we're out of here." He suggested as he stepped out of the closet followed by John. They started down the hallway in the direction Storm had come from. John took the lead, heading towards the way he'd entered with Magneto and Mystique. Bobby fell into step beside him.

Bobby had hoped that he and John would make it out of there without running into anyone, whether it be Magneto and the Brotherhood, the X-Men or any guards or employees that may have been left alive. It had been far too optimistic of him to really believe that they had a chance. As it happened they found themselves confronted by both the X-Men and the Brotherhood at once, as they rounded the corner Bobby heard John swear under his breath. He glanced around and realized that they'd wandered out into the middle ground of what was apparently a standoff between Magneto, Mystique with several other mutants who Bobby assumed to be the rescued prisoners and Storm and Wolverine. He wondered vaguely where Kitty and Pete were. Whatever had been about to happen between the two opposing groups was put on hold momentarily as everyone stared disbelievingly at the two of them. Bobby glanced nervously at John who had the look that he always got when he was cornered. The look that he'd had on the porch of Bobby's parents' house in Boston, the look that always meant someone was about to get burnt.

Pyro flicked his zippo open, he hadn't gotten around to replacing his wrist lighters yet, he stepped forward, drawing a fire-ball into his hand. He took a step backwards as a stream of ice shot passed him. A wall of ice quickly formed in the hallway, cutting Storm and Logan off from the Brotherhood. John looked at Bobby in surprise then smirked. Bobby rolled his eyes. "Sorry to interrupt boys but I do think we should be going." John glanced at Magneto and nodded. They quickly exited the base and boarded the helicopter Mystique had set up for them to escape in. John tried not to stare at Bobby too much but he was trying to understand just what the hell was going on. Bobby turned his head, catching John studying his face. As much as John hated the silence he couldn't think of a thing to say. He held Bobby's gaze, neither of them breaking eye contact as Bobby slipped his hand into John's. They remained silent throughout the remainder of the flight.

He couldn't believe he was in the Brotherhood getaway 'copter surrounded by the people he'd always thought of as the bad guys. He glanced around at the other passengers, most of them had just been liberated from a government prison where god knows what had been happening to them, they all looked weary and relieved, they weren't paying any attention to what appeared to be the newest member. He saw Magneto and Mystique exchange glances and he knew they were communicating in some kind of code known only to them. He thought that Magneto looked vaguely amused and he shifted uncomfortably when Mystique fixed her gaze on him. Mystique scared the crap out of him to be honest but he figured she had that effect on most people. Pointedly ignoring the shapeshifter's yellow eyed stare Bobby looked away from her and turned to look at John, who was also staring at him. When his eyes met John's Bobby knew he'd made the right decision

.