New Mutants, Volume V
Title: The New Mutants, Volume V: Triangles Revisited
Author: kanedax
Rating: PG-13 for innuendo and violence
Spoilers: X3
Pairings Bobby/Kitty, Bobby/Rogue (discussed)
Summary: Regarding Love Triangles and Laser Guns
Notes: I don't own the X-Men, or any of the characters within
Previous Chapter (Party Time) / Next Chapter (An Unexpected Mission)
“Achoo!”
“Gesundheit.”
“Oh, hey, Bobby.”
Kitty Pryde smiled and walked into the kitchen, seeing Bobby Drake in his pajamas, sitting in his usual insomniac position.
“How’s the ice cream?”
He shrugged, his frosted hand keeping the container cold, “It’d probably be better if we hadn’t run out of Rocky Road. Butter pecan isn’t my favorite, but, hey, ice cream’s like sex.”
Kitty paused, her eyebrow arched.
“Even when it’s bad it’s still pretty good.”
Kitty shook her head, laughing in spite of herself.
“You’re a pervert, you know that?”
Bobby laughed quietly. “The dames call it ‘quality.’ Grab a spoon, grab a seat.”
Kitty walked to the drawer and pulled it open. “Can’t sleep, either, huh?”
Bobby sighed. “It’s been a long week.”
Kitty closed the drawer. “Damn, we’re out of spoons.”
“Here, use mine, share some boy germs,” he said, setting the spoon on the table and heading to the fridge. “I need some carrots or something to cut the sweet a bit.”
Kitty sat down and grabbed his spoon, unselfconsciously sucking the remaining ice cream and grabbing a new scoop.
“So you got back a few nights ago,” Kitty said as Bobby grabbed a bag of carrots from the fridge, and tossed a container of dip into the crook of his arm. “You haven’t told me about your trip yet.”
Bobby sat down next to her at the table.
“Well, you’ve been difficult to grab a hold of,” he said. “Flying around with Ororo, picking up the new recruits.”
“And you’d be amazed at how fast flying coach makes you miss the jet,” Kitty responded. “But don’t change the subject. How’s Rogue doing?”
“Fine!” Bobby said, a little too quickly and loudly. He looked down and swirled the dip with a mini-carrot. “Yeah, she’s… she’s doing just fine.”
“Adjusting to life as a human fairly well?”
“Yeah, she’s adjusting fairly well,” Bobby mumbled.
“That’s great,” Kitty said, leaning down to get a better look at Bobby, who suddenly seemed to find the French Onion dip as the center of his universe.
“Isn’t it?”
Bobby sighed. “Rogue…” he said slowly. “Marie, I mean… she wants to be called Marie now. Well…”
He threw a carrot into his mouth. “You know how she was when she was here, right? Out of all of us, she just wanted to be like was. Before she got her mutant power, that is. I thought I understood what she meant. I mean, I certainly had to live through it indirectly, not being able to touch her.
“But after she got the cure, after I visited her, I realized she meant more. She moved back with her parents, which is great. She… she’s in college now, which is fantastic. And…”
Kitty felt a nervous twist in her stomach. “And?”
Bobby paused, then quickly grabbed the lid for the dip and walked to the refrigerator. “These past few years… her time she spent as a mutant… Running away from home, being kidnapped, fighting, watching her friends die… She didn’t just want to be able to touch someone again. She wanted her old life back again.
“Including Cody.”
Kitty’s heart leapt. “Cody?”
“Cody,” Bobby growled, still facing the fridge. “The boy she was dating when her powers manifested. The one she put into a coma. The one who doesn’t remember a thing about what happened except that he passed out in her room.”
“What?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah. They’ve reconciled. They’re…”
Kitty stood up and walked to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Oh, my God, Bobby, I’m so sorry.”
Even though the butterflies in her stomach, the ones she hadn’t felt since the night on the pond, were flying again.
“Yeah, I know,” he said, absently wiping his hand across his face. “It’s… it’s okay, really. I know she’s not the girl she was when we were dating. She looked at me like I was a bad memory. When I tried the trick I did the first time I met her…”
He held his hand out, covered it with the other, and then pulled it away to reveal a perfectly shaped ice flower.
“She looked at it and… I think I saw revulsion.”
“You’re kidding me.” Kitty whispered.
“She looks back on this…” He waved his hand around the kitchen, “and it was like she was in prison. Like her powers, the powers she hated, forced her to stay here. And people like me, like you, like Logan, like the Professor, were all just cellmates.
“Like her life here, her life with me was just one big nightmare. And now that she’s cured, she’s acting like she’s finally awake and she can forget it all.”
Kitty wrapped her arms around Bobby, hugging him close, feeling his arms wrapping around her tighter than she anticipated.
“She’s an idiot,” Kitty said, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. “If she doesn’t want to remember her time at the Academy, then that’s her problem. And to lay it on you is just wrong. You’re too great a guy to just be tossed away like that.”
She pulled away and looked at him in the eye, which was looking a little more watery than she was used to.
“Let her have Cody,” she said. “She’ll be in a trailer park in Mississippi, with a dog, three kids, and The Price Is Right on the television. She’ll be miserable with him, and not even know that she had it better with you.”
She smirked. “Meanwhile, we’ll be too busy saving the world.”
Bobby smiled, not pulling away. “You do have a way with words.”
Kiss him, Kitty’s mind whirled. Kiss him kiss him you’ll never get a better chance kiss him!
She slowly pushed up on her toes, her mouth moving towards his. She felt his face move down to meet her.
A horn blared, and the two quickly pulled apart, their eyes sharing a mixture of surprise, disappointment, and the ingrained alertness that showed that they were still X-Men.
“What the hell is that?” Bobby yelled over the noise. Seconds later, the horn was drowned out by a high-pitched screech that caused them to both cover their ears.
“Is that Theresa?” Kitty screamed. A red light flashed behind Bobby, and Kitty pushed him aside.
“Since when was there a monitor in the fridge door?” Bobby asked, staring at a digital map of the facility. One section was blinking red.
“It’s the Danger Room,” Kitty yelled, grabbing Bobby by the arm. “Come on.”
“All right,” he said, running towards the door, but was yanked back as Kitty sank through the floor of the kitchen, dragging him with.
The students stood in shock for a second as they saw the red beam flash from the gun, launching Lucas Bishop against the wall. Theresa had only a split second to notice his shirt smoldering, a black char mark against his already dark skin, before Jubilee grabbed her.
“Get out of the way!” Jubilee yelled, pulling her down the hall, but Theresa looked back to see the barrel of the laser following them.
She screamed. The hallway was suddenly filled with her sonic wail. The gun resonated, and Jubilee had enough time to see sparks flying from it before it started firing wildly. Jubilee and Theresa jumped into the next hallway, barely avoiding a beam by a few inches. Theresa’s scream stopped as the wind was knocked out of her.
The gun continued to flail wildly, shooting beam after beam. It spun towards Jones and Alison, who were still standing in shock, their arms unselfconsciously wrapped around each other.
It fired, and passed through them, hitting the wall.
“What’s going on?” came a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Kitty and Bobby, her hands on their shoulders, his hand on hers.
“I…” Jones said, “We…”
Bobby flicked his hand out, intending to blast the gun with his ice, but before he could get a chance he saw a brown object zoom from out of nowhere.
As if in slow motion, Bobby saw the bottle, flying neck-first, whirling towards the gun, which had turned to face it. Thinking back to the event later, he swore that it was going to miss low, but saw the bottle, against all laws of physics, change trajectory in mid-flight, increasing its angle.
The bottle smashed into front of the gun, the neck and cap flying into the barrel. A small fizzle was heard, and the gun fell silent.
Bobby turned to see where it came from, and saw Arthur Centino, hanging upside down from a pole in the ceiling. His hand was outstretched, and Bobby swore he saw a light in his left eye.
Then Arthur blinked, and the light was gone.
“Luke?” he whispered, dropping from the ceiling. He landed on his hands, and easily flipped over onto his feet.
“What’s going on?” A voice yelled from down the hall, but none of the students turned to look at its originator. They were all staring at the still body leaning against the wall.
“Luke!” Arthur yelled, running to him and dropping to his knees.
“Oh, Lord,” a voice breathed from behind Jones, who turned around to see the faculty running to the group.
“Get out of the way!” Dr. MacTaggert yelled, pushing them aside and kneeling down to the body. She pulled Lucas’ shirt open, revealing a deep black mark.
“What the hell was that?” Emma Frost yelled, directing her anger at Forge. “Why is there a laser gun at the entrance to the Danger Room?”
“Extra security…” Forge breathed, his eyes never leaving Bishop. “I thought… now that we’re… oh, God…”
“My head…”
Moira jumped back from the voice. Leaning forward again, she wiped her hand across the black, revealing dark, unmarked skin underneath.
Lucas shifted, moving his hand to the back of his head, where it had slammed into the wall.
“Ow…”
Everyone laughed quickly and nervously in relief. Everyone except Forge, who had turned back to the gun.
“How?” he stammered, looking at the gaping holes in the floor and wall. “The power in that gun… it should have…”
“Well, I think we’ve figured out your power,” Professor Cassidy sighed. “How’s your head?”
“Actually, it doesn’t hurt anymore,” he muttered, wiping his hand across his face. “But I feel… really hot…”
The group stared at Lucas’ hand. It was glowing a dull red color, the same color as the laser’s blasts.
“Oh, my…” Cassidy said.
“Really…” Lucas muttered, his voice trailing off. “Really hot…”
“I think I have it figured out,” Professor Cassidy said, kneeling down and lifting the young Lucas Bishop into his arms.
“I think I know how to make you feel better,” he said, carrying him into the Danger Room.
“After I leave the room,” he said, setting him down, “I want you to relax. Relax, but focus on the heat.”
He ran out of the room, motioning everyone away. “Get away from the door. I think Lucas Bishop is about to discover the second half of his power.”
They did as Sean Cassidy asked. Seconds later, the doorway of the Danger Room lit up in a bright red flare.
“Woah,” Jubilee whispered.
“Ummm…” came a voice from the Danger Room. “Does anyone have…
“Does anyone have a spare set of pajamas?”
Previous Chapter (Party Time) / Next Chapter (An Unexpected Mission)
Author: kanedax
Rating: PG-13 for innuendo and violence
Spoilers: X3
Pairings Bobby/Kitty, Bobby/Rogue (discussed)
Summary: Regarding Love Triangles and Laser Guns
Notes: I don't own the X-Men, or any of the characters within
Previous Chapter (Party Time) / Next Chapter (An Unexpected Mission)
“Achoo!”
“Gesundheit.”
“Oh, hey, Bobby.”
Kitty Pryde smiled and walked into the kitchen, seeing Bobby Drake in his pajamas, sitting in his usual insomniac position.
“How’s the ice cream?”
He shrugged, his frosted hand keeping the container cold, “It’d probably be better if we hadn’t run out of Rocky Road. Butter pecan isn’t my favorite, but, hey, ice cream’s like sex.”
Kitty paused, her eyebrow arched.
“Even when it’s bad it’s still pretty good.”
Kitty shook her head, laughing in spite of herself.
“You’re a pervert, you know that?”
Bobby laughed quietly. “The dames call it ‘quality.’ Grab a spoon, grab a seat.”
Kitty walked to the drawer and pulled it open. “Can’t sleep, either, huh?”
Bobby sighed. “It’s been a long week.”
Kitty closed the drawer. “Damn, we’re out of spoons.”
“Here, use mine, share some boy germs,” he said, setting the spoon on the table and heading to the fridge. “I need some carrots or something to cut the sweet a bit.”
Kitty sat down and grabbed his spoon, unselfconsciously sucking the remaining ice cream and grabbing a new scoop.
“So you got back a few nights ago,” Kitty said as Bobby grabbed a bag of carrots from the fridge, and tossed a container of dip into the crook of his arm. “You haven’t told me about your trip yet.”
Bobby sat down next to her at the table.
“Well, you’ve been difficult to grab a hold of,” he said. “Flying around with Ororo, picking up the new recruits.”
“And you’d be amazed at how fast flying coach makes you miss the jet,” Kitty responded. “But don’t change the subject. How’s Rogue doing?”
“Fine!” Bobby said, a little too quickly and loudly. He looked down and swirled the dip with a mini-carrot. “Yeah, she’s… she’s doing just fine.”
“Adjusting to life as a human fairly well?”
“Yeah, she’s adjusting fairly well,” Bobby mumbled.
“That’s great,” Kitty said, leaning down to get a better look at Bobby, who suddenly seemed to find the French Onion dip as the center of his universe.
“Isn’t it?”
Bobby sighed. “Rogue…” he said slowly. “Marie, I mean… she wants to be called Marie now. Well…”
He threw a carrot into his mouth. “You know how she was when she was here, right? Out of all of us, she just wanted to be like was. Before she got her mutant power, that is. I thought I understood what she meant. I mean, I certainly had to live through it indirectly, not being able to touch her.
“But after she got the cure, after I visited her, I realized she meant more. She moved back with her parents, which is great. She… she’s in college now, which is fantastic. And…”
Kitty felt a nervous twist in her stomach. “And?”
Bobby paused, then quickly grabbed the lid for the dip and walked to the refrigerator. “These past few years… her time she spent as a mutant… Running away from home, being kidnapped, fighting, watching her friends die… She didn’t just want to be able to touch someone again. She wanted her old life back again.
“Including Cody.”
Kitty’s heart leapt. “Cody?”
“Cody,” Bobby growled, still facing the fridge. “The boy she was dating when her powers manifested. The one she put into a coma. The one who doesn’t remember a thing about what happened except that he passed out in her room.”
“What?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah. They’ve reconciled. They’re…”
Kitty stood up and walked to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Oh, my God, Bobby, I’m so sorry.”
Even though the butterflies in her stomach, the ones she hadn’t felt since the night on the pond, were flying again.
“Yeah, I know,” he said, absently wiping his hand across his face. “It’s… it’s okay, really. I know she’s not the girl she was when we were dating. She looked at me like I was a bad memory. When I tried the trick I did the first time I met her…”
He held his hand out, covered it with the other, and then pulled it away to reveal a perfectly shaped ice flower.
“She looked at it and… I think I saw revulsion.”
“You’re kidding me.” Kitty whispered.
“She looks back on this…” He waved his hand around the kitchen, “and it was like she was in prison. Like her powers, the powers she hated, forced her to stay here. And people like me, like you, like Logan, like the Professor, were all just cellmates.
“Like her life here, her life with me was just one big nightmare. And now that she’s cured, she’s acting like she’s finally awake and she can forget it all.”
Kitty wrapped her arms around Bobby, hugging him close, feeling his arms wrapping around her tighter than she anticipated.
“She’s an idiot,” Kitty said, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. “If she doesn’t want to remember her time at the Academy, then that’s her problem. And to lay it on you is just wrong. You’re too great a guy to just be tossed away like that.”
She pulled away and looked at him in the eye, which was looking a little more watery than she was used to.
“Let her have Cody,” she said. “She’ll be in a trailer park in Mississippi, with a dog, three kids, and The Price Is Right on the television. She’ll be miserable with him, and not even know that she had it better with you.”
She smirked. “Meanwhile, we’ll be too busy saving the world.”
Bobby smiled, not pulling away. “You do have a way with words.”
Kiss him, Kitty’s mind whirled. Kiss him kiss him you’ll never get a better chance kiss him!
She slowly pushed up on her toes, her mouth moving towards his. She felt his face move down to meet her.
A horn blared, and the two quickly pulled apart, their eyes sharing a mixture of surprise, disappointment, and the ingrained alertness that showed that they were still X-Men.
“What the hell is that?” Bobby yelled over the noise. Seconds later, the horn was drowned out by a high-pitched screech that caused them to both cover their ears.
“Is that Theresa?” Kitty screamed. A red light flashed behind Bobby, and Kitty pushed him aside.
“Since when was there a monitor in the fridge door?” Bobby asked, staring at a digital map of the facility. One section was blinking red.
“It’s the Danger Room,” Kitty yelled, grabbing Bobby by the arm. “Come on.”
“All right,” he said, running towards the door, but was yanked back as Kitty sank through the floor of the kitchen, dragging him with.
The students stood in shock for a second as they saw the red beam flash from the gun, launching Lucas Bishop against the wall. Theresa had only a split second to notice his shirt smoldering, a black char mark against his already dark skin, before Jubilee grabbed her.
“Get out of the way!” Jubilee yelled, pulling her down the hall, but Theresa looked back to see the barrel of the laser following them.
She screamed. The hallway was suddenly filled with her sonic wail. The gun resonated, and Jubilee had enough time to see sparks flying from it before it started firing wildly. Jubilee and Theresa jumped into the next hallway, barely avoiding a beam by a few inches. Theresa’s scream stopped as the wind was knocked out of her.
The gun continued to flail wildly, shooting beam after beam. It spun towards Jones and Alison, who were still standing in shock, their arms unselfconsciously wrapped around each other.
It fired, and passed through them, hitting the wall.
“What’s going on?” came a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Kitty and Bobby, her hands on their shoulders, his hand on hers.
“I…” Jones said, “We…”
Bobby flicked his hand out, intending to blast the gun with his ice, but before he could get a chance he saw a brown object zoom from out of nowhere.
As if in slow motion, Bobby saw the bottle, flying neck-first, whirling towards the gun, which had turned to face it. Thinking back to the event later, he swore that it was going to miss low, but saw the bottle, against all laws of physics, change trajectory in mid-flight, increasing its angle.
The bottle smashed into front of the gun, the neck and cap flying into the barrel. A small fizzle was heard, and the gun fell silent.
Bobby turned to see where it came from, and saw Arthur Centino, hanging upside down from a pole in the ceiling. His hand was outstretched, and Bobby swore he saw a light in his left eye.
Then Arthur blinked, and the light was gone.
“Luke?” he whispered, dropping from the ceiling. He landed on his hands, and easily flipped over onto his feet.
“What’s going on?” A voice yelled from down the hall, but none of the students turned to look at its originator. They were all staring at the still body leaning against the wall.
“Luke!” Arthur yelled, running to him and dropping to his knees.
“Oh, Lord,” a voice breathed from behind Jones, who turned around to see the faculty running to the group.
“Get out of the way!” Dr. MacTaggert yelled, pushing them aside and kneeling down to the body. She pulled Lucas’ shirt open, revealing a deep black mark.
“What the hell was that?” Emma Frost yelled, directing her anger at Forge. “Why is there a laser gun at the entrance to the Danger Room?”
“Extra security…” Forge breathed, his eyes never leaving Bishop. “I thought… now that we’re… oh, God…”
“My head…”
Moira jumped back from the voice. Leaning forward again, she wiped her hand across the black, revealing dark, unmarked skin underneath.
Lucas shifted, moving his hand to the back of his head, where it had slammed into the wall.
“Ow…”
Everyone laughed quickly and nervously in relief. Everyone except Forge, who had turned back to the gun.
“How?” he stammered, looking at the gaping holes in the floor and wall. “The power in that gun… it should have…”
“Well, I think we’ve figured out your power,” Professor Cassidy sighed. “How’s your head?”
“Actually, it doesn’t hurt anymore,” he muttered, wiping his hand across his face. “But I feel… really hot…”
The group stared at Lucas’ hand. It was glowing a dull red color, the same color as the laser’s blasts.
“Oh, my…” Cassidy said.
“Really…” Lucas muttered, his voice trailing off. “Really hot…”
“I think I have it figured out,” Professor Cassidy said, kneeling down and lifting the young Lucas Bishop into his arms.
“I think I know how to make you feel better,” he said, carrying him into the Danger Room.
“After I leave the room,” he said, setting him down, “I want you to relax. Relax, but focus on the heat.”
He ran out of the room, motioning everyone away. “Get away from the door. I think Lucas Bishop is about to discover the second half of his power.”
They did as Sean Cassidy asked. Seconds later, the doorway of the Danger Room lit up in a bright red flare.
“Woah,” Jubilee whispered.
“Ummm…” came a voice from the Danger Room. “Does anyone have…
“Does anyone have a spare set of pajamas?”
Previous Chapter (Party Time) / Next Chapter (An Unexpected Mission)