Spiral: Chapter 10
Title: Spiral
Author: lux_apollo
Rating: R for language.
Pairings: Bobby/John
Summary: The tension builds towards disaster. Bobby and Justin are at MIT. They share a moment. Justin has a vision. John drives the Brotherhood to the mission location and gets lectured by Magneto. Justin wakes up. Bobby and Justin set out to prevent a disaster from happening.
Notes: Thanks to sarahlu81 and miss_bushido for beta. This fic is cross posted at x_slash and fiery_snowstorm.
[ Prologue | Chapter 1 - NC17 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9]
Chapter 10
“So what do you think, Bobby? Are you going to apply to Sloan?”
Bobby smiled. It was Saturday afternoon, and they were walking back across MIT’s campus after their tour. It was a beautiful day, as far as November goes. The leaves fallen from the trees onto the grounds were drying in the sunlight -bright reds, yellows and fiery oranges.
“Yeah. But I’m not going to get my hopes up. I still don’t think I’ll make the cut for their programs,” Bobby said, shaking his head. He was still smiling, though, in spite of himself.
Justin smirked knowingly. “I knew you’d come around.”
“Oh really? You’ve been poking around in my head again?”
“Nah. I just noticed the way you’ve been reacting to everything since we got here. You seem happy, and I get a sense that you feel like you’ve found a fit,” Justin said, struggling to put words to it.
Bobby shrugged. “We’ll see. You, however, seem to be completely in your element here.”
“Maybe…” Justin admitted hesitantly. Bobby knew it was true, though. Justin was just being modest.
“Oh come on, this place is perfect for you! I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so excited about seeing a science lab before. You have the marks and the intelligence to go here. And besides that, you seem to like the scenery. Especially after that guy from the LGBTQ club started flirting with you.” Bobby waggled his eyebrows.
“He was not flirting with me, Bobby! Besides, his boyfriend was standing right there talking to those two hot girls beside us.”
“Sure, Justin. Whatever you say.” Bobby smirked.
Justin rolled his eyes. “Well, from what I could tell you didn’t mind talking to him one bit. I seem to recall my empathy feeling you get a rush of blood to the head- both heads, actually- when he winked at you,” Justin jibed back.
Bobby felt himself turning red. “No! I, uh- you, uh-“
“That’s too cute Bobby. You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Justin said, grinning.
“But, but…” Bobby stammered.
Suddenly, Justin looked at Bobby slyly. ”So what’s more embarrassing? Me knowing that you thought he was hot, or him thinking that we were boyfriends?” Justin razzed him, shooting him a sexy smile.
Bobby could feel more blood rushing to his cheeks. “Justin!!” Bobby said, mortified.
“Oh come on Bobby, I was just teasing,” Justin said, sighing.
“Sorry. I know you were. I just- I’m just not used to this, that’s all. I don’t know how I should act or react or anything,” Bobby explained apologetically.
“I know… Just be yourself,” Justin offered. “To tell you the truth, Bobby, I’m just as scared, nervous and uncertain as you are about this. Maybe I’m not showing it like you are, but seriously… when we were walking through the campus clubs displays and you asked me if we should check the LGBTQ club’s display out... Well, my stomach leapt into my throat. I’m surprised I didn’t chicken out.
“You might be a little newer to this whole thing in terms of when you admitted to yourself you liked guys… but in terms of living it? The only thing I have on you is what happened with Aleks. And I don’t think that’s something that should be considered ‘experience’, given the context,” Justin admitted. “It would almost be too easy to just ignore this and fall back on the fact that I do find women attractive too. But, I know that it will come back to haunt me. You can’t run from yourself. No matter how much it scares both of us, I think that it’s something I need to confront head on while I’m still young and still have time to fuck things up a bit without totally ruining my life.”
“You really hide it well, then. I don’t think anyone would have suspected you were nervous,” Bobby confirmed. “I on the other hand made a complete idiot of myself.”
“You were fine, Bobby. That guy we were talking to was definitely attracted to you. Actually, I think he was a little bit jealous of me. And with good reason.” Justin winked.
Bobby felt his cheeks colouring for the third time in so many minutes. They walked in silence for a moment.
“Justin…”
“Yeah Bobby?”
“What if I told you that my reaction earlier¬ -that it wasn’t so much to that guy as it was to the thoughts I had after he asked if we were dating.” Bobby said slowly.
Justin stopped walking.
“Bobby, I-“
Justin was cut off by the soft press of Bobby’s lips against his own. The taller boy gasped softly, but offered no resistance. Bobby deepened the kiss, placing his hands on Justin’s waist.
After a moment they parted. It was Justin’s cheeks that were flushed now. After a moment, Justin exhaled slowly, gazing into Bobby’s eyes.
“I- Wow…” Justin murmured softly. “Bobby, that was…”
Justin turned and began to walk again, smiling softly. Bobby followed suit, feeling more than horrified with himself.
“Justin, I- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.“
“It’s okay Bobby, you just caught me completely off guard… and… I can’t quite form complete thoughts right now. That was so…” Justin trailed off. He turned and gave Bobby a curious look, but then smiled softly. “Well, I must be doing okay managing my powers, because I completely did not see that coming.”
“Neither did I…” Bobby stammered. He hesitated for a second. “Was it okay?” Bobby asked, a little afraid.
Justin looked at him in disbelief. “Okay?! Are you kidding me? Bobby, that was the amazing!” Justin exclaimed a little loudly. Bobby blushed.
“Uh, that wasn’t quite what I meant, but I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, you mean… Yeah… I dunno…” Justin paused. “Bobby, it’s complicated, and I just don’t know if…” Justin trailed off, lost in thought.
Bobby took a deep breath, suddenly feeling stupid. But before he could stop himself, he was speaking. “Justin, I guess I’d never thought about it before today, but suddenly when that guy asked if we were boyfriends it was like my mind went into overdrive… But another part of me reacted immediately and was like ‘yeah, that would be good’ and part of me panicked at the same time.
“I guess in the end I want to move on with my life. John’s gone and there’s nothing that will change that. Those kinds of fairy tales don’t happen in real life. And it’s okay. It was just something to get me to the next part of life or something like that. I guess I had to make that realization somehow.
“Spending all this time together over the past few days, it’s been ¬-well, it’s been great. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to be so open with anyone… I like feeling that. I… I trust you. That and, well, I’ve been so caught up in my head and my own problems… I guess I never really realized how attractive you can be until yesterday when…” Bobby trailed off, his cheeks colouring.
Justin raised an eyebrow, wondering what moment Bobby was referring to.
“When what?”
“Uh… nevermind.” Bobby shook his head, blushing a little more. “I’ll understand if you don’t feel the same way… Heck, I don’t even know exactly if I feel this way! But I needed to say something now while we were still here or I probably never would have had the guts to say it once we got back to the School,” Bobby stated honestly.
Justin nodded. “I don’t know what to say, Bobby. I...” Justin trailed off. He looked over at Bobby, his eyes searching. Bobby was biting his lip nervously, avoiding Justin’s gaze. This was a bad idea. Such a bad idea. What was Bobby thinking? Bobby wanted to kick himself.
Justing shook his head, breaking into smile laced with rare optimism. “Aw heck Bobby, why not? I mean, whether I’m ready to or not, you’re right. It’s time to move on. And since we’re doing the confession thing right now… well, I thought you were hot from the moment I laid eyes on you. I was so worried that you were going to think I was a freak or something for staring at you.”
A wave of relief passed over Bobby, even though his stomach began to tremble with a new nervous edge. “Believe me, I was thinking anything but that,” Bobby reassured Justin, offering a smile.
“Remember the night we all played poker? I almost asked you if you were into guys when we were out on the roof afterwards, but I stopped myself. I was still way too wrapped up in what happened to me over the last year, and I figured there was no way that you were… That I was sort of imagining… ” Justin trailed off and stopped walking. “I guess what I’m saying is yeah, I’m willing to give this a go, if you are.”
“Yes, definitely. ” Bobby replied, even though he now felt anything but confident. Justin smiled warmly, placing his hands on Bobby’s waist.
“So, do you want to see if that kiss feels any different now that you are my boyfriend?” Justin questioned, a sly grin spreading across his face.
Bobby felt a rush of blood, his body taking control. “Hell yes.”
Their lips met again. Bobby closed his eyes, relishing the press of Justin’s lips, the gentle strength of the embrace. For a moment his thoughts, his surroundings melted away. He was kissing another guy. And he was in public.
And he loved it.
Suddenly Justin gasped and staggered sideways. Bobby’s eyes flew open, confusion tearing through his mind. The colour was draining out of Justin’s face.
“Ungh…” Justin moaned, bringing a hand to his brow and bending over slightly.
“Justin, what’s wrong?” Worry was seeping into the pit of Bobby’s stomach.
“I’m going to have- oh! I’m going to have a vision. Need to sit down, in case I pass out.” Justin started to stagger towards a nearby bench. Bobby moved to help him. “Fuck… of all the times to… have one- shit…” Justin gasped.
Bobby was practically carrying Justin now. He managed to get Justin to the bench but as he was helping the taller boy sit down, Justin let out a choked gasp and his body went rigid. Justin’s eyes went wide and out of focus, and his head jerked to the left.
“Something’s wrong, something is-” Justin whispered hoarsely. His body went limp against Bobby. He had passed out.
“Justin?” Bobby called softly, giving him a light shake. “Justin?”
* * *
Pyro pulled the truck off I-93. They were almost there. After sitting on his ass for three days in that stupid safehouse, he was glad to be out and about. Even if it was only for a mission. Pyro had thought that nothing was worse than being on that damned island. He was wrong. Being on the continent, but still not able to go anywhere or do anything was infinitely worse. Why? Because here on land there was possibility. Here there was temptation, temptation that he wanted so badly to give in to. But Pyro could not afford to get himself into any more trouble right now.
Magneto was in the back still relaying the details of the plan to the rest of the team. They would arrive at the location and split up into several units. Magneto, Scarlet Witch and that creepy new guy he called Mastermind would infiltrate the building and retrieve whatever it was that they were there for. Toad, Quicksilver, Blob and Avalanche would create a distraction. And Pyro?
Pyro snorted in disgust. He was stuck watching the truck. Magneto had called him ‘backup’ but really he was just an extra man they didn’t need around. The guy driving the getaway car. The screw-up who couldn’t be relied upon to do anything else. His instructions? Stay with the truck and don’t do anything unless called for backup, or if security or the X-men show up and start snooping around the truck. And who the heck was going to be suspicious of a UPS truck? Whatever.
John wasn’t sure if Magneto was trying to extend some twisted version of the proverbial olive branch, or if this was just another sick idea of a punishment. Negative reinforcement to make him want to do better.
Magneto climbed back up into the passenger seat. He was wearing his usual combat gear and helmet, overlain by a professional-looking trench coat. He’d look like a perfectly ordinary professional researcher, if it wasn’t for that dorky helmet. Mastermind was going to mask their appearances until they got far enough away from the truck, so there was little need to worry about being discovered prematurely. Which was why Pyro was kind of confused as to why Magneto thought he needed the trench coat too.
Whatever. Magneto could dress in drag, and Pyro wouldn’t question it. At least, not out loud. Not to Magneto’s face. Not while he was up shit creek already.
“Remember, Pyro. Do not leave this truck unattended unless it is absolutely necessary. Although Mystique just has confirmed that the X-men did arrive to confront her team as planned, there were many missing. I fear that Charles may have caught on to our ruse. A quick departure may be necessary, and you are to be ready.”
“I get it, alright? Quit treating me like a fucking two year old.”
“When you stop acting like one, that is when I will treat you like the adult you insist that you are. This seems to be the only method that gets anything through your thick skull. Our cause is too important to allow for errors, petulance and sloth. I suggest you reflect on how you can be a more effective weapon in our force while you wait for the completion of the mission. And mind your language! Your careless vulgarity does nothing to improve my regard for your value to this organization.”
“Fine.” Pyro stated tight-lipped. Anything to get the old geezer to shut up. It was the same old shit every time. And he was never good enough. He was never good enough for his parents, never good enough for the School, for Bobby. Even here where all he had to do was be a weapon for the cause, he was still never good enough. Fuck.
Some things never change.
* * *
“Justin?” Bobby could feel the panic setting in. Justin had never passed out in front of him while having a vision before. Usually he just spaced out for few seconds. But this time, it was different. Bobby reached into his pocket to retrieve the cell phone the Professor had leant to them for the trip in case of an emergency. In Bobby’s mind, this definitely qualified as an emergency. Bobby began to dial the school.
Suddenly, Justin gasped and bolted awake.
“Bobby!”
“Are you okay?” Bobby started to babble. “I was going to call the school, I didn’t know what to do. Do you need to-”.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Justin cut him off. “It happens when I have a really strong vision, and that definitely qualifies as a strong one.”
“What did you see?” Bobby asked.
Justin ‘s face grew paler. “I- We need to… Bobby…” Justin started hesitantly. Bobby could see the terror in his eyes. Justin was trembling against him.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Bobby asked, a thrill of fear passing up his spine.
Justin nodded, looking away from him. After a second, he stood up quickly.
“We need to move. If the two of us kissing in public didn’t already create a bit of a scene, me passing out definitely has. Come on.” Justin said, an unreadable mask burying his emotions.
Bobby looked around. There were a few people staring at them. He felt his cheeks flush a little. He had completely lost track of their surroundings after the first kiss. Bobby got up and followed Justin. They were headed away from the car, though.
“Justin, where are we going?”
“Bobby, we need to call the school.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“There’s going to be an attack. Near here, somewhere on this campus. In fifteen, maybe twenty minutes if we’re lucky. I- I think it’s the Brotherhood. I’m not sure, though. A mutant attack, at any rate. If we don’t do anything, a lot of people are going to be hurt, maybe even killed.”
“Are you serious?” Bobby said in disbelief.
Justin nodded gravely.
“I wish I wasn’t. That vision was too strong to have not been at least partly right. We-“ Justin was cut off by the sound of the cell phone ringing. Bobby flipped it open.
“Hello?”
“Robert, it’s Professor Xavier.”
“Oh good, we were just about to call. Justin just had a-“
“Robert, I need you to get away from MIT’s campus. Cerebro has detected a faction of the Brotherhood moving through Boston. Some of the X-men are on the west coast preventing an anti-mutant riot. The rest are on their way to Boston as we speak. I fear they are after data again, but are using this riot on the West Coast as cover. Can you get Justin to safety and then return my phone call? The X-men may need your help. I don’t want you to get involved unless it is absolutely necessary, since you are in civilian dress, but I would like you be prepared. The X-men will pick you up on the riverside in fifteen minutes. They will have more details once we figure out if this is an attack or if they are just moving through. Is that clear?”
“Yes Professor. I know what to do.”
“Alright. Give the cell phone to Justin and tell him to leave it on so I can give him further instructions once the trouble has passed.”
“Okay.”
“Be careful Robert.”
“Wait, Professor-“
The connection broke and Bobby sighed. He turned and looked at Justin. Justin was frowning.
“Come on, we have to get you off campus to somewhere safe,” Bobby said, closing the phone.
“No.”
“What do you mean? The Professor said¬-“
“I don’t care what he said! If we don’t act now, things are going to get worse than you guys are prepared to handle. You have to trust me Bobby,” Justin pleaded.
Bobby was torn up. Justin wasn’t trained to handle this kind of a situation. Bobby didn’t want him to get hurt. Heck, the Professor didn’t even want Bobby getting involved unless it was necessary.
“I don’t know, Justin. I-“
“Bobby, the X-men won’t be able to stop these people from getting whatever it is they are after. The X-men won’t get here in time. I know where we need to go. We have to do this. No, I have to do this. You can do whatever you want, but I’m not going to walk away from this. Not when I can do something about it,” Justin insisted. He turned and began to walk deeper into the campus.
Against his better judgment, Bobby followed. “Where are we going?”
“A laboratory building. It’s secure entry, though. We’re going to need to find a way in. I might be able to use my powers to force someone to not notice we’re there while they go into the secured area. Make them feel really tired and distracted, or something. We can slip in behind them through the door. If that doesn’t work, though, I don’t know what else to try… I could maybe try and wrench the locking device open with telekinesis, but I really don’t think I can do something like that.”
“Let’s just go with your first idea for now. Why are they attacking a lab?”
Justin shook his head. “The lab isn’t where the attack is.”
“Then why are we going there?” Bobby frowned.
“Because the lab is the reason they are here. The attack that’s going to happen will be on campus grounds near the building, but while the police and campus security are distracted by the attack, someone is going to break into a biotech research lab and steal something really dangerous.”
“Is it a genetics lab?”
“I- I think so… how did you-“
“The Brotherhood has made a few other break-ins at labs doing research on mutation genetics and fast growing cancers recently. The X-men have been on alert for this the past couple weeks. Professor Xavier thinks that they may be trying to build a bio-weapon that mutants are immune to.”
“Then it was all true…” Justin murmured. He looked disturbed. “Bobby, I’ve never had a vision this accurate over something dangerous before… I- Fuck. No matter what happens, you have to trust in what I’m telling you, or this could go from bad to horrible. Some of the things I saw… I don’t want to tell you what they are, it was too awful. But you must trust me, even if what I’m telling you to do sounds ludicrous.”
“I’ll try, Justin.”
“That’s the best I can ask for. Okay, it’s this building here,” Justin indicated. They were approaching a rather new building. “The lab we need to find is on the second floor, at the back of the building. We’d better pray that someone comes out of there pretty soon, or we’ll have to move to Plan B, whatever that is.”
They stood just to the right of the door, trying to act like two freshmen chatting it up before heading back to the dorms. As if on cue, a tired looking researcher began to emerge from the building. Justin closed his eyes and concentrated. The woman swung the door open wide and walked right by them without acknowledging their existence. Bobby hurriedly grabbed the door before it closed. They ducked into the building before any bystanders noticed anything odd.
Inside, the building was grey and lit with the sick bluish-white light of fluorescent bulbs. They headed down the corridor towards the back of the building. Justin’s eyes were on everything, constantly alert. There didn’t seem to be much activity, no doubt because it was a Saturday, but they still had to be cautious. If they were caught by security before they did whatever it was that Justin wanted them to do, then… well, Bobby didn’t know exactly what would happen but he was certain that it wouldn’t involve him attending MIT: Sloan the next year.
Eventually they came across a stairwell and headed up to the second floor. More of the same setup here. Justin led them to the right almost to the end of the hallway. Justin looked a Bobby, and grabbed the handle of the door in front of him.
Genetics: Viral Transfections Lab
“This better be unlocked…” Justin muttered under his breath, and turned the handle. It turned slightly, but the lock didn’t budge. “Damn. You wouldn’t know how to pick a lock, would you?” he asked, giving Bobby a helpless look.
Bobby shook his head. “Any other ideas?”
“Some metals get really brittle when they are really cold. Do you think you could make the metal of the lock cold enough that we could bust it open?” Justin wondered.
Bobby grabbed the door handle with one hand and placing the other over the lock mechanism above the handle. “Only one way to find out.” He replied, concentrating on super-cooling the lock.
Bobby knew he could probably drop the temperature to about -100 degrees Celsius. Hopefully that would be enough. Bobby concentrated on bringing the temperature of his hand down as far as it would go. After a few moments, he could start to feel the strain of trying to force the temperature down that far. Bobby gave a sharp pull on the door.
CRACK.
Part of the lock broke off. Bobby smiled. It was cheap steel. He gave another strong pull and the lock finished breaking. He held the door open for Justin.
“After you,” Bobby said, grinning.
Justin smiled and entered, but the smile dropped away when he saw some of the equipment in front of him. He grabbed a couple lab coats off a rack to their left, handing one to Bobby.
“Shit, this is a Level 4 Biohazard Lab! Shut the door and put this on. I’m going to need to find us some gloves too. This is a dangerous lab to be in. There are vials of infectious virus samples all over. Most of them probably won’t do anything to humans, but those aren’t the ones we are looking for. The ones we are worried about are probably in a 37 or 38 degree Celsius incubator. We also need to rip the hard drives out of any computers in here and take them with us. Hopefully any information they are after isn’t on the network somewhere. Most importantly, DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING unless I tell you it’s okay. Don’t touch your face with the gloves, and wash your hands on the way out if we have time.” Justin said. He found a box of disposable gloves and threw a pair of them at Bobby before donning some himself.
“Justin, how dangerous is this again?” Bobby asked, putting on the gloves.
“Don’t worry about it. Just be careful.” Justin reassured him. He frowned and looked around the lab. “Okay, there’s a computer over in that corner. Do you know what the hard drive of a PC looks like?”
“Uh, I guess. Doug and Kitty tried to show me some things when my computer was busted last year, but I wasn’t really paying attention.” Bobby said.
“Good enough. Unplug it and pull the cover off. If you can figure out which piece is the hard drive, try to get it out without breaking it. I’m going to look for the virus they are after.” Justin instructed.
Bobby walked over to the computer and started to shut it down. If they needed the data intact, he didn’t want it to be wrecked because he did something as stupid as just shutting it off.
They worked quickly. After a couple minutes, Bobby had the hard drive out of the computer and on the counter beside him. Hopefully he hadn’t wrecked anything in the process. Justin had been searching through a bunch of devices that looked like large refrigerators for something - Bobby wasn’t sure exactly what, but he knew he was probably better off not knowing.
“Oh thank God!” Justin exclaimed with relief as he opened up the fifth cabinet-device and finally found what he was looking for. “I was starting to think we came to the wrong place. Are you done over there? I’m going to need your help opening the cryo-preserve tank in the corner.” Justin pointed to a large tank with a heavy looking lid on the
other side of the room.
“Yeah. I think I got it. Just give me a second to get this computer closed back up.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can finish it later.” Justin said, walking over to the tank with a plastic box in his gloved hands. Bobby shrugged and followed Justin to the tank.
“What’s in the box?”
“Samples of a virus that’s infectious to humans, and to mice too I think. This lab probably uses it for gene-therapy experiments. The gene that they want to insert into a human’s DNA gets inserted into the viral genome, and then when the virus infects a human, that human gets the gene. Hank told me this stuff is being developed as a way of treating genetic disorders like muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, and also for mutants who have really messed up physiologies that don’t work right. It sounds like the Brotherhood has other plans, though.”
“Yeah, inflicting a plague of fast-growing cancers or something like that on humans.” Bobby said. Justin nodded. He looked at the box in his hands.
“You know, if they wanted to they could try to insert random variations mutant X factor into humans. Then we’d all be the same… No more fearing for our lives and hiding our powers and fighting just to be able to live a normal life.”
“Justin, I don’t know if playing with people’s lives is-“
“It’s wrong, I know. I’m not suggesting that anyone should do that. If anything, it would cause more problems than it would solve.” Justin admitted.
“Yeah. Almost every adult would suddenly be manifesting powers and not know how to control them. And just think about what would happen if all the regular human criminals suddenly had powers! We already have enough mutant psychopaths around as it is. That would just make things even harder for the law to control.”
“It would be absolute chaos. The way of life the Western world has built for itself would be no doubt be destroyed. An anarchy of the strong dominating the weak. We’d be back in the Dark Ages again.” Justin said, shaking his head.
There were never any easy solutions. Easy solutions just created new problems that were bigger than the one being solved. Bobby knew that the world was too complicated for that. Ideals only ever went so far.
“Okay. So, I need you to lift the lid. I’ve got to put on some thermal-insulating gloves, because it’s between -90 and -120 degrees Celsius in there and filled with liquid nitrogen. I’m assuming your powers gave you that much temperature tolerance?”
“Yeah, that’s nothing for me.” Bobby said. He could wear shorts and a t-shirt at the North Pole during a blizzard and be fine. A little liquid nitrogen wasn’t going to ruin his day. Bobby unlatched the locking mechanism and lifted the lid. Cold nitrogen vapour began to waft out of the tank. Justin pulled on the cryo-gloves and slowly submerged the box. The box made a lot of popping and cracking sounds as it was enveloped by the super-cold liquid.
“I sure hope those noises are just the box and vials freezing.” Justin said he let go of the box and let it sink to the bottom of the tank. “I’d feel awful if I contaminated the rest of their experiments.” Justin moved away from the tank and Bobby swung the lid closed.
“Justin, I think they’ll be grateful enough that their stuff wasn’t stolen and used to destroy humanity.” Bobby pointed out with a smile. Leave it to Justin to worry about something like that when they were in danger of being caught by mutant terrorists.
“Your right about that. I was going to take the box with us, but then I realized that the samples will probably degenerate if they aren’t kept at the right temperature. Chances are the Brotherhood won’t have time to go searching through this tank if they are expecting it to be in one of the incubators. Not if the X-men are already on their way here. Plus, since the box is plastic Magneto wouldn’t be able to just pull it out using his powers.”
“Good thinking,” Bobby lauded. “So, what now?”
“Now we-“ Justin stopped, going rigid. He looked off to the right of the room. “Something is wrong. Someone’s trying to break into people’s minds. I can feel all their emotions shifting at the same time-
“They’re here Bobby. There’s two people, I think. One’s some sort of telepath. They haven’t gotten to us yet, though. The telepath is doing something to only a few people at a time. You need to take that hard drive and get out of here. I’m going to finish cleaning up the mess, and there’s another set of samples that we haven’t gotten to yet.”
“I’m not leaving you in here alone! Are you crazy!?” Bobby exclaimed.
“Yes, now do what I’m telling you. You have to trust me!”
“Justin, I can’t-“
“I’m going to try to put a block over your mind so hopefully that telepath can’t do anything to you. At least, not as easily. It’ll be just like I did before outside Professor Xavier’s office, only better this time. When you get out into the hall, don’t go out the way we came. Go to the right and around the corner. There’s a stairwell over there somewhere, if my vision was accurate. Use it, and then get out of the building using the fire exit at the bottom. But before you leave, hide the hard drive underneath the stairs. No one will look for it there until after all this is over. If you get caught in some fighting or something, it’ll get broken so make sure you hide it there. Do it quickly, then get out of here,” Justin instructed. Bobby hesitated again.
“I can’t just leave you here! You don’t know these people, or the kinds of things that they do. They might hurt or kill you for interfering,” Bobby insisted.
“Bobby, for all they know, I could be a graduate student or lab technician who works here. They don’t know who I am, and that anonymity gives me a chance at getting out of this. But if you are here, we’re both going to be screwed. I know this sounds incredibly stupid, but you have to believe me. This is the only way.” Justin gave him a pleading look.
“Do you know what you are doing?” Bobby asked. “Seriously, do you really know what you are doing?”
Justin nodded soberly. Bobby felt himself giving in. Justin was a smart guy, he wouldn’t do anything really stupid, right?
“Okay. Be careful Justin. You have to come back in one piece or I’ll never forgive myself for leaving you here,” Bobby resigned.
“I’ll be fine,” Justin assured. Something in his tone told Bobby that Justin was lying. But Bobby trusted him. Sure, Bobby was scared as hell and this could be Magneto they were dealing with, but he trusted Justin nonetheless. That, or Justin was empathically forcing Bobby to trust him. Bobby muttered a few curses softly, but pushed that thought aside. It was obvious that arguing with Justin wasn’t going to do a lot of good at this point.
Or was it? Bobby could always just knock Justin out and then¬- No, that wasn’t a good plan either. He was going to trust Justin. Justin would be fine.
Bobby peeled off the gloves and the lab coat and handed them to Justin. Justin threw them away and then placed his hands near Bobby’s temples. He could feel that same pressure on his mind again as he had the day outside the Professor’s office.
After a moment, Justin pulled away, taking a deep breath. “It’s done. Now get out of here before I have to kick your ass.”
“I’d like to see you try, Justin.”
Justin opened his mouth to protest, but Bobby shook his head.
“Good luck, and don’t do anything stupid.” Bobby uttered quietly, grabbing the hard drive of the counter.
“You too,” Justin said. “Don’t look back. And don’t worry. Everything will be alright, okay?” Justin pulled Bobby into a tight hug.
“Okay.” Bobby didn’t want to leave, but Justin pulled out of the embrace and turned to get back to work. Swallowing hard, Bobby headed out the door.
Thankfully, no one was in the hall. Bobby headed down the corridor to the right, as Justin had instructed. As he rounded the corner, he could feel something touching his mind, trying to invade. Bobby did his best to ignore the creepy, slimy sensation it was giving him. Hopefully whatever Justin had done to him would be enough to protect Bobby from the mental attack. Bobby rounded the corner, and sure enough there was a stairwell. Breathing a slight sigh of relief, he entered it and headed down to the first floor.
What was he doing? Everything in his training was telling him that he never should have left Justin up there alone. Justin may have seemed to have an idea of what was happening, but Bobby sure as hell didn’t have a clue. And to make things worse, he didn’t know if Justin was going to be able to get out before whom ever it was from the Brotherhood showed up at that lab. Or if Justin even intended on getting out before that.
Bobby stopped. No, there was no way Justin could be intent on fighting them. No way. Justin was only now starting to get any sort of control over his powers and they were far from reliable, let alone strong enough to face off against some of the Brotherhood’s finest. Justin had no idea what he was up against, and no chance of winning. No, Justin couldn’t be planning something so stupid, especially if he didn’t know if he could fight off that telepath. Bobby could still feel the telepath’s powers nauseously running against the barriers Justin had hastily constructed in his mind.
Bobby groaned. There was no way out of this dilemma. He couldn’t even call the Professor to see if there was anything he could do or if he had guidance for Bobby, since Justin had the cell phone now. He’d just have to trust Justin for now; well, at least until he got out of the building and could let the other X-men know what had happened.
Bobby was going to be in deep shit for this.
He continued down the stairs to the ground floor. Again, Justin had been right. There was a bit of a crawlspace underneath the last flight of stairs. Bobby placed the hard drive as far back as he could reach and then moved for the fire door. Part of him was hoping that an alarm would sound when he opened the door.
Bobby slammed the crash bar, pushing the door open. Yup, no alarm. That would have been too good to be true. The bright afternoon sunlight hit his eyes, forcing him to squint as he walked out of the back of the building to the service parking lot. He needed to find the X-men now. Before this could get any worse.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t pathetic little Bobby Drake.”
It got worse.
Author: lux_apollo
Rating: R for language.
Pairings: Bobby/John
Summary: The tension builds towards disaster. Bobby and Justin are at MIT. They share a moment. Justin has a vision. John drives the Brotherhood to the mission location and gets lectured by Magneto. Justin wakes up. Bobby and Justin set out to prevent a disaster from happening.
Notes: Thanks to sarahlu81 and miss_bushido for beta. This fic is cross posted at x_slash and fiery_snowstorm.
[ Prologue | Chapter 1 - NC17 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9]
Chapter 10
“So what do you think, Bobby? Are you going to apply to Sloan?”
Bobby smiled. It was Saturday afternoon, and they were walking back across MIT’s campus after their tour. It was a beautiful day, as far as November goes. The leaves fallen from the trees onto the grounds were drying in the sunlight -bright reds, yellows and fiery oranges.
“Yeah. But I’m not going to get my hopes up. I still don’t think I’ll make the cut for their programs,” Bobby said, shaking his head. He was still smiling, though, in spite of himself.
Justin smirked knowingly. “I knew you’d come around.”
“Oh really? You’ve been poking around in my head again?”
“Nah. I just noticed the way you’ve been reacting to everything since we got here. You seem happy, and I get a sense that you feel like you’ve found a fit,” Justin said, struggling to put words to it.
Bobby shrugged. “We’ll see. You, however, seem to be completely in your element here.”
“Maybe…” Justin admitted hesitantly. Bobby knew it was true, though. Justin was just being modest.
“Oh come on, this place is perfect for you! I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so excited about seeing a science lab before. You have the marks and the intelligence to go here. And besides that, you seem to like the scenery. Especially after that guy from the LGBTQ club started flirting with you.” Bobby waggled his eyebrows.
“He was not flirting with me, Bobby! Besides, his boyfriend was standing right there talking to those two hot girls beside us.”
“Sure, Justin. Whatever you say.” Bobby smirked.
Justin rolled his eyes. “Well, from what I could tell you didn’t mind talking to him one bit. I seem to recall my empathy feeling you get a rush of blood to the head- both heads, actually- when he winked at you,” Justin jibed back.
Bobby felt himself turning red. “No! I, uh- you, uh-“
“That’s too cute Bobby. You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Justin said, grinning.
“But, but…” Bobby stammered.
Suddenly, Justin looked at Bobby slyly. ”So what’s more embarrassing? Me knowing that you thought he was hot, or him thinking that we were boyfriends?” Justin razzed him, shooting him a sexy smile.
Bobby could feel more blood rushing to his cheeks. “Justin!!” Bobby said, mortified.
“Oh come on Bobby, I was just teasing,” Justin said, sighing.
“Sorry. I know you were. I just- I’m just not used to this, that’s all. I don’t know how I should act or react or anything,” Bobby explained apologetically.
“I know… Just be yourself,” Justin offered. “To tell you the truth, Bobby, I’m just as scared, nervous and uncertain as you are about this. Maybe I’m not showing it like you are, but seriously… when we were walking through the campus clubs displays and you asked me if we should check the LGBTQ club’s display out... Well, my stomach leapt into my throat. I’m surprised I didn’t chicken out.
“You might be a little newer to this whole thing in terms of when you admitted to yourself you liked guys… but in terms of living it? The only thing I have on you is what happened with Aleks. And I don’t think that’s something that should be considered ‘experience’, given the context,” Justin admitted. “It would almost be too easy to just ignore this and fall back on the fact that I do find women attractive too. But, I know that it will come back to haunt me. You can’t run from yourself. No matter how much it scares both of us, I think that it’s something I need to confront head on while I’m still young and still have time to fuck things up a bit without totally ruining my life.”
“You really hide it well, then. I don’t think anyone would have suspected you were nervous,” Bobby confirmed. “I on the other hand made a complete idiot of myself.”
“You were fine, Bobby. That guy we were talking to was definitely attracted to you. Actually, I think he was a little bit jealous of me. And with good reason.” Justin winked.
Bobby felt his cheeks colouring for the third time in so many minutes. They walked in silence for a moment.
“Justin…”
“Yeah Bobby?”
“What if I told you that my reaction earlier¬ -that it wasn’t so much to that guy as it was to the thoughts I had after he asked if we were dating.” Bobby said slowly.
Justin stopped walking.
“Bobby, I-“
Justin was cut off by the soft press of Bobby’s lips against his own. The taller boy gasped softly, but offered no resistance. Bobby deepened the kiss, placing his hands on Justin’s waist.
After a moment they parted. It was Justin’s cheeks that were flushed now. After a moment, Justin exhaled slowly, gazing into Bobby’s eyes.
“I- Wow…” Justin murmured softly. “Bobby, that was…”
Justin turned and began to walk again, smiling softly. Bobby followed suit, feeling more than horrified with himself.
“Justin, I- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.“
“It’s okay Bobby, you just caught me completely off guard… and… I can’t quite form complete thoughts right now. That was so…” Justin trailed off. He turned and gave Bobby a curious look, but then smiled softly. “Well, I must be doing okay managing my powers, because I completely did not see that coming.”
“Neither did I…” Bobby stammered. He hesitated for a second. “Was it okay?” Bobby asked, a little afraid.
Justin looked at him in disbelief. “Okay?! Are you kidding me? Bobby, that was the amazing!” Justin exclaimed a little loudly. Bobby blushed.
“Uh, that wasn’t quite what I meant, but I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, you mean… Yeah… I dunno…” Justin paused. “Bobby, it’s complicated, and I just don’t know if…” Justin trailed off, lost in thought.
Bobby took a deep breath, suddenly feeling stupid. But before he could stop himself, he was speaking. “Justin, I guess I’d never thought about it before today, but suddenly when that guy asked if we were boyfriends it was like my mind went into overdrive… But another part of me reacted immediately and was like ‘yeah, that would be good’ and part of me panicked at the same time.
“I guess in the end I want to move on with my life. John’s gone and there’s nothing that will change that. Those kinds of fairy tales don’t happen in real life. And it’s okay. It was just something to get me to the next part of life or something like that. I guess I had to make that realization somehow.
“Spending all this time together over the past few days, it’s been ¬-well, it’s been great. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to be so open with anyone… I like feeling that. I… I trust you. That and, well, I’ve been so caught up in my head and my own problems… I guess I never really realized how attractive you can be until yesterday when…” Bobby trailed off, his cheeks colouring.
Justin raised an eyebrow, wondering what moment Bobby was referring to.
“When what?”
“Uh… nevermind.” Bobby shook his head, blushing a little more. “I’ll understand if you don’t feel the same way… Heck, I don’t even know exactly if I feel this way! But I needed to say something now while we were still here or I probably never would have had the guts to say it once we got back to the School,” Bobby stated honestly.
Justin nodded. “I don’t know what to say, Bobby. I...” Justin trailed off. He looked over at Bobby, his eyes searching. Bobby was biting his lip nervously, avoiding Justin’s gaze. This was a bad idea. Such a bad idea. What was Bobby thinking? Bobby wanted to kick himself.
Justing shook his head, breaking into smile laced with rare optimism. “Aw heck Bobby, why not? I mean, whether I’m ready to or not, you’re right. It’s time to move on. And since we’re doing the confession thing right now… well, I thought you were hot from the moment I laid eyes on you. I was so worried that you were going to think I was a freak or something for staring at you.”
A wave of relief passed over Bobby, even though his stomach began to tremble with a new nervous edge. “Believe me, I was thinking anything but that,” Bobby reassured Justin, offering a smile.
“Remember the night we all played poker? I almost asked you if you were into guys when we were out on the roof afterwards, but I stopped myself. I was still way too wrapped up in what happened to me over the last year, and I figured there was no way that you were… That I was sort of imagining… ” Justin trailed off and stopped walking. “I guess what I’m saying is yeah, I’m willing to give this a go, if you are.”
“Yes, definitely. ” Bobby replied, even though he now felt anything but confident. Justin smiled warmly, placing his hands on Bobby’s waist.
“So, do you want to see if that kiss feels any different now that you are my boyfriend?” Justin questioned, a sly grin spreading across his face.
Bobby felt a rush of blood, his body taking control. “Hell yes.”
Their lips met again. Bobby closed his eyes, relishing the press of Justin’s lips, the gentle strength of the embrace. For a moment his thoughts, his surroundings melted away. He was kissing another guy. And he was in public.
And he loved it.
Suddenly Justin gasped and staggered sideways. Bobby’s eyes flew open, confusion tearing through his mind. The colour was draining out of Justin’s face.
“Ungh…” Justin moaned, bringing a hand to his brow and bending over slightly.
“Justin, what’s wrong?” Worry was seeping into the pit of Bobby’s stomach.
“I’m going to have- oh! I’m going to have a vision. Need to sit down, in case I pass out.” Justin started to stagger towards a nearby bench. Bobby moved to help him. “Fuck… of all the times to… have one- shit…” Justin gasped.
Bobby was practically carrying Justin now. He managed to get Justin to the bench but as he was helping the taller boy sit down, Justin let out a choked gasp and his body went rigid. Justin’s eyes went wide and out of focus, and his head jerked to the left.
“Something’s wrong, something is-” Justin whispered hoarsely. His body went limp against Bobby. He had passed out.
“Justin?” Bobby called softly, giving him a light shake. “Justin?”
* * *
Pyro pulled the truck off I-93. They were almost there. After sitting on his ass for three days in that stupid safehouse, he was glad to be out and about. Even if it was only for a mission. Pyro had thought that nothing was worse than being on that damned island. He was wrong. Being on the continent, but still not able to go anywhere or do anything was infinitely worse. Why? Because here on land there was possibility. Here there was temptation, temptation that he wanted so badly to give in to. But Pyro could not afford to get himself into any more trouble right now.
Magneto was in the back still relaying the details of the plan to the rest of the team. They would arrive at the location and split up into several units. Magneto, Scarlet Witch and that creepy new guy he called Mastermind would infiltrate the building and retrieve whatever it was that they were there for. Toad, Quicksilver, Blob and Avalanche would create a distraction. And Pyro?
Pyro snorted in disgust. He was stuck watching the truck. Magneto had called him ‘backup’ but really he was just an extra man they didn’t need around. The guy driving the getaway car. The screw-up who couldn’t be relied upon to do anything else. His instructions? Stay with the truck and don’t do anything unless called for backup, or if security or the X-men show up and start snooping around the truck. And who the heck was going to be suspicious of a UPS truck? Whatever.
John wasn’t sure if Magneto was trying to extend some twisted version of the proverbial olive branch, or if this was just another sick idea of a punishment. Negative reinforcement to make him want to do better.
Magneto climbed back up into the passenger seat. He was wearing his usual combat gear and helmet, overlain by a professional-looking trench coat. He’d look like a perfectly ordinary professional researcher, if it wasn’t for that dorky helmet. Mastermind was going to mask their appearances until they got far enough away from the truck, so there was little need to worry about being discovered prematurely. Which was why Pyro was kind of confused as to why Magneto thought he needed the trench coat too.
Whatever. Magneto could dress in drag, and Pyro wouldn’t question it. At least, not out loud. Not to Magneto’s face. Not while he was up shit creek already.
“Remember, Pyro. Do not leave this truck unattended unless it is absolutely necessary. Although Mystique just has confirmed that the X-men did arrive to confront her team as planned, there were many missing. I fear that Charles may have caught on to our ruse. A quick departure may be necessary, and you are to be ready.”
“I get it, alright? Quit treating me like a fucking two year old.”
“When you stop acting like one, that is when I will treat you like the adult you insist that you are. This seems to be the only method that gets anything through your thick skull. Our cause is too important to allow for errors, petulance and sloth. I suggest you reflect on how you can be a more effective weapon in our force while you wait for the completion of the mission. And mind your language! Your careless vulgarity does nothing to improve my regard for your value to this organization.”
“Fine.” Pyro stated tight-lipped. Anything to get the old geezer to shut up. It was the same old shit every time. And he was never good enough. He was never good enough for his parents, never good enough for the School, for Bobby. Even here where all he had to do was be a weapon for the cause, he was still never good enough. Fuck.
Some things never change.
* * *
“Justin?” Bobby could feel the panic setting in. Justin had never passed out in front of him while having a vision before. Usually he just spaced out for few seconds. But this time, it was different. Bobby reached into his pocket to retrieve the cell phone the Professor had leant to them for the trip in case of an emergency. In Bobby’s mind, this definitely qualified as an emergency. Bobby began to dial the school.
Suddenly, Justin gasped and bolted awake.
“Bobby!”
“Are you okay?” Bobby started to babble. “I was going to call the school, I didn’t know what to do. Do you need to-”.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Justin cut him off. “It happens when I have a really strong vision, and that definitely qualifies as a strong one.”
“What did you see?” Bobby asked.
Justin ‘s face grew paler. “I- We need to… Bobby…” Justin started hesitantly. Bobby could see the terror in his eyes. Justin was trembling against him.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Bobby asked, a thrill of fear passing up his spine.
Justin nodded, looking away from him. After a second, he stood up quickly.
“We need to move. If the two of us kissing in public didn’t already create a bit of a scene, me passing out definitely has. Come on.” Justin said, an unreadable mask burying his emotions.
Bobby looked around. There were a few people staring at them. He felt his cheeks flush a little. He had completely lost track of their surroundings after the first kiss. Bobby got up and followed Justin. They were headed away from the car, though.
“Justin, where are we going?”
“Bobby, we need to call the school.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“There’s going to be an attack. Near here, somewhere on this campus. In fifteen, maybe twenty minutes if we’re lucky. I- I think it’s the Brotherhood. I’m not sure, though. A mutant attack, at any rate. If we don’t do anything, a lot of people are going to be hurt, maybe even killed.”
“Are you serious?” Bobby said in disbelief.
Justin nodded gravely.
“I wish I wasn’t. That vision was too strong to have not been at least partly right. We-“ Justin was cut off by the sound of the cell phone ringing. Bobby flipped it open.
“Hello?”
“Robert, it’s Professor Xavier.”
“Oh good, we were just about to call. Justin just had a-“
“Robert, I need you to get away from MIT’s campus. Cerebro has detected a faction of the Brotherhood moving through Boston. Some of the X-men are on the west coast preventing an anti-mutant riot. The rest are on their way to Boston as we speak. I fear they are after data again, but are using this riot on the West Coast as cover. Can you get Justin to safety and then return my phone call? The X-men may need your help. I don’t want you to get involved unless it is absolutely necessary, since you are in civilian dress, but I would like you be prepared. The X-men will pick you up on the riverside in fifteen minutes. They will have more details once we figure out if this is an attack or if they are just moving through. Is that clear?”
“Yes Professor. I know what to do.”
“Alright. Give the cell phone to Justin and tell him to leave it on so I can give him further instructions once the trouble has passed.”
“Okay.”
“Be careful Robert.”
“Wait, Professor-“
The connection broke and Bobby sighed. He turned and looked at Justin. Justin was frowning.
“Come on, we have to get you off campus to somewhere safe,” Bobby said, closing the phone.
“No.”
“What do you mean? The Professor said¬-“
“I don’t care what he said! If we don’t act now, things are going to get worse than you guys are prepared to handle. You have to trust me Bobby,” Justin pleaded.
Bobby was torn up. Justin wasn’t trained to handle this kind of a situation. Bobby didn’t want him to get hurt. Heck, the Professor didn’t even want Bobby getting involved unless it was necessary.
“I don’t know, Justin. I-“
“Bobby, the X-men won’t be able to stop these people from getting whatever it is they are after. The X-men won’t get here in time. I know where we need to go. We have to do this. No, I have to do this. You can do whatever you want, but I’m not going to walk away from this. Not when I can do something about it,” Justin insisted. He turned and began to walk deeper into the campus.
Against his better judgment, Bobby followed. “Where are we going?”
“A laboratory building. It’s secure entry, though. We’re going to need to find a way in. I might be able to use my powers to force someone to not notice we’re there while they go into the secured area. Make them feel really tired and distracted, or something. We can slip in behind them through the door. If that doesn’t work, though, I don’t know what else to try… I could maybe try and wrench the locking device open with telekinesis, but I really don’t think I can do something like that.”
“Let’s just go with your first idea for now. Why are they attacking a lab?”
Justin shook his head. “The lab isn’t where the attack is.”
“Then why are we going there?” Bobby frowned.
“Because the lab is the reason they are here. The attack that’s going to happen will be on campus grounds near the building, but while the police and campus security are distracted by the attack, someone is going to break into a biotech research lab and steal something really dangerous.”
“Is it a genetics lab?”
“I- I think so… how did you-“
“The Brotherhood has made a few other break-ins at labs doing research on mutation genetics and fast growing cancers recently. The X-men have been on alert for this the past couple weeks. Professor Xavier thinks that they may be trying to build a bio-weapon that mutants are immune to.”
“Then it was all true…” Justin murmured. He looked disturbed. “Bobby, I’ve never had a vision this accurate over something dangerous before… I- Fuck. No matter what happens, you have to trust in what I’m telling you, or this could go from bad to horrible. Some of the things I saw… I don’t want to tell you what they are, it was too awful. But you must trust me, even if what I’m telling you to do sounds ludicrous.”
“I’ll try, Justin.”
“That’s the best I can ask for. Okay, it’s this building here,” Justin indicated. They were approaching a rather new building. “The lab we need to find is on the second floor, at the back of the building. We’d better pray that someone comes out of there pretty soon, or we’ll have to move to Plan B, whatever that is.”
They stood just to the right of the door, trying to act like two freshmen chatting it up before heading back to the dorms. As if on cue, a tired looking researcher began to emerge from the building. Justin closed his eyes and concentrated. The woman swung the door open wide and walked right by them without acknowledging their existence. Bobby hurriedly grabbed the door before it closed. They ducked into the building before any bystanders noticed anything odd.
Inside, the building was grey and lit with the sick bluish-white light of fluorescent bulbs. They headed down the corridor towards the back of the building. Justin’s eyes were on everything, constantly alert. There didn’t seem to be much activity, no doubt because it was a Saturday, but they still had to be cautious. If they were caught by security before they did whatever it was that Justin wanted them to do, then… well, Bobby didn’t know exactly what would happen but he was certain that it wouldn’t involve him attending MIT: Sloan the next year.
Eventually they came across a stairwell and headed up to the second floor. More of the same setup here. Justin led them to the right almost to the end of the hallway. Justin looked a Bobby, and grabbed the handle of the door in front of him.
Genetics: Viral Transfections Lab
“This better be unlocked…” Justin muttered under his breath, and turned the handle. It turned slightly, but the lock didn’t budge. “Damn. You wouldn’t know how to pick a lock, would you?” he asked, giving Bobby a helpless look.
Bobby shook his head. “Any other ideas?”
“Some metals get really brittle when they are really cold. Do you think you could make the metal of the lock cold enough that we could bust it open?” Justin wondered.
Bobby grabbed the door handle with one hand and placing the other over the lock mechanism above the handle. “Only one way to find out.” He replied, concentrating on super-cooling the lock.
Bobby knew he could probably drop the temperature to about -100 degrees Celsius. Hopefully that would be enough. Bobby concentrated on bringing the temperature of his hand down as far as it would go. After a few moments, he could start to feel the strain of trying to force the temperature down that far. Bobby gave a sharp pull on the door.
CRACK.
Part of the lock broke off. Bobby smiled. It was cheap steel. He gave another strong pull and the lock finished breaking. He held the door open for Justin.
“After you,” Bobby said, grinning.
Justin smiled and entered, but the smile dropped away when he saw some of the equipment in front of him. He grabbed a couple lab coats off a rack to their left, handing one to Bobby.
“Shit, this is a Level 4 Biohazard Lab! Shut the door and put this on. I’m going to need to find us some gloves too. This is a dangerous lab to be in. There are vials of infectious virus samples all over. Most of them probably won’t do anything to humans, but those aren’t the ones we are looking for. The ones we are worried about are probably in a 37 or 38 degree Celsius incubator. We also need to rip the hard drives out of any computers in here and take them with us. Hopefully any information they are after isn’t on the network somewhere. Most importantly, DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING unless I tell you it’s okay. Don’t touch your face with the gloves, and wash your hands on the way out if we have time.” Justin said. He found a box of disposable gloves and threw a pair of them at Bobby before donning some himself.
“Justin, how dangerous is this again?” Bobby asked, putting on the gloves.
“Don’t worry about it. Just be careful.” Justin reassured him. He frowned and looked around the lab. “Okay, there’s a computer over in that corner. Do you know what the hard drive of a PC looks like?”
“Uh, I guess. Doug and Kitty tried to show me some things when my computer was busted last year, but I wasn’t really paying attention.” Bobby said.
“Good enough. Unplug it and pull the cover off. If you can figure out which piece is the hard drive, try to get it out without breaking it. I’m going to look for the virus they are after.” Justin instructed.
Bobby walked over to the computer and started to shut it down. If they needed the data intact, he didn’t want it to be wrecked because he did something as stupid as just shutting it off.
They worked quickly. After a couple minutes, Bobby had the hard drive out of the computer and on the counter beside him. Hopefully he hadn’t wrecked anything in the process. Justin had been searching through a bunch of devices that looked like large refrigerators for something - Bobby wasn’t sure exactly what, but he knew he was probably better off not knowing.
“Oh thank God!” Justin exclaimed with relief as he opened up the fifth cabinet-device and finally found what he was looking for. “I was starting to think we came to the wrong place. Are you done over there? I’m going to need your help opening the cryo-preserve tank in the corner.” Justin pointed to a large tank with a heavy looking lid on the
other side of the room.
“Yeah. I think I got it. Just give me a second to get this computer closed back up.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can finish it later.” Justin said, walking over to the tank with a plastic box in his gloved hands. Bobby shrugged and followed Justin to the tank.
“What’s in the box?”
“Samples of a virus that’s infectious to humans, and to mice too I think. This lab probably uses it for gene-therapy experiments. The gene that they want to insert into a human’s DNA gets inserted into the viral genome, and then when the virus infects a human, that human gets the gene. Hank told me this stuff is being developed as a way of treating genetic disorders like muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, and also for mutants who have really messed up physiologies that don’t work right. It sounds like the Brotherhood has other plans, though.”
“Yeah, inflicting a plague of fast-growing cancers or something like that on humans.” Bobby said. Justin nodded. He looked at the box in his hands.
“You know, if they wanted to they could try to insert random variations mutant X factor into humans. Then we’d all be the same… No more fearing for our lives and hiding our powers and fighting just to be able to live a normal life.”
“Justin, I don’t know if playing with people’s lives is-“
“It’s wrong, I know. I’m not suggesting that anyone should do that. If anything, it would cause more problems than it would solve.” Justin admitted.
“Yeah. Almost every adult would suddenly be manifesting powers and not know how to control them. And just think about what would happen if all the regular human criminals suddenly had powers! We already have enough mutant psychopaths around as it is. That would just make things even harder for the law to control.”
“It would be absolute chaos. The way of life the Western world has built for itself would be no doubt be destroyed. An anarchy of the strong dominating the weak. We’d be back in the Dark Ages again.” Justin said, shaking his head.
There were never any easy solutions. Easy solutions just created new problems that were bigger than the one being solved. Bobby knew that the world was too complicated for that. Ideals only ever went so far.
“Okay. So, I need you to lift the lid. I’ve got to put on some thermal-insulating gloves, because it’s between -90 and -120 degrees Celsius in there and filled with liquid nitrogen. I’m assuming your powers gave you that much temperature tolerance?”
“Yeah, that’s nothing for me.” Bobby said. He could wear shorts and a t-shirt at the North Pole during a blizzard and be fine. A little liquid nitrogen wasn’t going to ruin his day. Bobby unlatched the locking mechanism and lifted the lid. Cold nitrogen vapour began to waft out of the tank. Justin pulled on the cryo-gloves and slowly submerged the box. The box made a lot of popping and cracking sounds as it was enveloped by the super-cold liquid.
“I sure hope those noises are just the box and vials freezing.” Justin said he let go of the box and let it sink to the bottom of the tank. “I’d feel awful if I contaminated the rest of their experiments.” Justin moved away from the tank and Bobby swung the lid closed.
“Justin, I think they’ll be grateful enough that their stuff wasn’t stolen and used to destroy humanity.” Bobby pointed out with a smile. Leave it to Justin to worry about something like that when they were in danger of being caught by mutant terrorists.
“Your right about that. I was going to take the box with us, but then I realized that the samples will probably degenerate if they aren’t kept at the right temperature. Chances are the Brotherhood won’t have time to go searching through this tank if they are expecting it to be in one of the incubators. Not if the X-men are already on their way here. Plus, since the box is plastic Magneto wouldn’t be able to just pull it out using his powers.”
“Good thinking,” Bobby lauded. “So, what now?”
“Now we-“ Justin stopped, going rigid. He looked off to the right of the room. “Something is wrong. Someone’s trying to break into people’s minds. I can feel all their emotions shifting at the same time-
“They’re here Bobby. There’s two people, I think. One’s some sort of telepath. They haven’t gotten to us yet, though. The telepath is doing something to only a few people at a time. You need to take that hard drive and get out of here. I’m going to finish cleaning up the mess, and there’s another set of samples that we haven’t gotten to yet.”
“I’m not leaving you in here alone! Are you crazy!?” Bobby exclaimed.
“Yes, now do what I’m telling you. You have to trust me!”
“Justin, I can’t-“
“I’m going to try to put a block over your mind so hopefully that telepath can’t do anything to you. At least, not as easily. It’ll be just like I did before outside Professor Xavier’s office, only better this time. When you get out into the hall, don’t go out the way we came. Go to the right and around the corner. There’s a stairwell over there somewhere, if my vision was accurate. Use it, and then get out of the building using the fire exit at the bottom. But before you leave, hide the hard drive underneath the stairs. No one will look for it there until after all this is over. If you get caught in some fighting or something, it’ll get broken so make sure you hide it there. Do it quickly, then get out of here,” Justin instructed. Bobby hesitated again.
“I can’t just leave you here! You don’t know these people, or the kinds of things that they do. They might hurt or kill you for interfering,” Bobby insisted.
“Bobby, for all they know, I could be a graduate student or lab technician who works here. They don’t know who I am, and that anonymity gives me a chance at getting out of this. But if you are here, we’re both going to be screwed. I know this sounds incredibly stupid, but you have to believe me. This is the only way.” Justin gave him a pleading look.
“Do you know what you are doing?” Bobby asked. “Seriously, do you really know what you are doing?”
Justin nodded soberly. Bobby felt himself giving in. Justin was a smart guy, he wouldn’t do anything really stupid, right?
“Okay. Be careful Justin. You have to come back in one piece or I’ll never forgive myself for leaving you here,” Bobby resigned.
“I’ll be fine,” Justin assured. Something in his tone told Bobby that Justin was lying. But Bobby trusted him. Sure, Bobby was scared as hell and this could be Magneto they were dealing with, but he trusted Justin nonetheless. That, or Justin was empathically forcing Bobby to trust him. Bobby muttered a few curses softly, but pushed that thought aside. It was obvious that arguing with Justin wasn’t going to do a lot of good at this point.
Or was it? Bobby could always just knock Justin out and then¬- No, that wasn’t a good plan either. He was going to trust Justin. Justin would be fine.
Bobby peeled off the gloves and the lab coat and handed them to Justin. Justin threw them away and then placed his hands near Bobby’s temples. He could feel that same pressure on his mind again as he had the day outside the Professor’s office.
After a moment, Justin pulled away, taking a deep breath. “It’s done. Now get out of here before I have to kick your ass.”
“I’d like to see you try, Justin.”
Justin opened his mouth to protest, but Bobby shook his head.
“Good luck, and don’t do anything stupid.” Bobby uttered quietly, grabbing the hard drive of the counter.
“You too,” Justin said. “Don’t look back. And don’t worry. Everything will be alright, okay?” Justin pulled Bobby into a tight hug.
“Okay.” Bobby didn’t want to leave, but Justin pulled out of the embrace and turned to get back to work. Swallowing hard, Bobby headed out the door.
Thankfully, no one was in the hall. Bobby headed down the corridor to the right, as Justin had instructed. As he rounded the corner, he could feel something touching his mind, trying to invade. Bobby did his best to ignore the creepy, slimy sensation it was giving him. Hopefully whatever Justin had done to him would be enough to protect Bobby from the mental attack. Bobby rounded the corner, and sure enough there was a stairwell. Breathing a slight sigh of relief, he entered it and headed down to the first floor.
What was he doing? Everything in his training was telling him that he never should have left Justin up there alone. Justin may have seemed to have an idea of what was happening, but Bobby sure as hell didn’t have a clue. And to make things worse, he didn’t know if Justin was going to be able to get out before whom ever it was from the Brotherhood showed up at that lab. Or if Justin even intended on getting out before that.
Bobby stopped. No, there was no way Justin could be intent on fighting them. No way. Justin was only now starting to get any sort of control over his powers and they were far from reliable, let alone strong enough to face off against some of the Brotherhood’s finest. Justin had no idea what he was up against, and no chance of winning. No, Justin couldn’t be planning something so stupid, especially if he didn’t know if he could fight off that telepath. Bobby could still feel the telepath’s powers nauseously running against the barriers Justin had hastily constructed in his mind.
Bobby groaned. There was no way out of this dilemma. He couldn’t even call the Professor to see if there was anything he could do or if he had guidance for Bobby, since Justin had the cell phone now. He’d just have to trust Justin for now; well, at least until he got out of the building and could let the other X-men know what had happened.
Bobby was going to be in deep shit for this.
He continued down the stairs to the ground floor. Again, Justin had been right. There was a bit of a crawlspace underneath the last flight of stairs. Bobby placed the hard drive as far back as he could reach and then moved for the fire door. Part of him was hoping that an alarm would sound when he opened the door.
Bobby slammed the crash bar, pushing the door open. Yup, no alarm. That would have been too good to be true. The bright afternoon sunlight hit his eyes, forcing him to squint as he walked out of the back of the building to the service parking lot. He needed to find the X-men now. Before this could get any worse.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t pathetic little Bobby Drake.”
It got worse.