The Capture
Kitty set up a meeting with a friend of hers, who sent them to a billionaire’s mansion. It took a bit of convincing, but they were allowed to stay, and even given a credit card to buy clothing.
They claimed rooms, taking a nap while they waited for their items to arrive. Hank fiddled in the lab, the only one not resting. The moment their clothes and Rogue’s makeup arrived, they all changed into normal gear. John put eyeliner on with Kitty and Rogue and Bobby sat on Rogue’s bed watching the group.
The moment that John finished, Bobby pulled him into his bedroom and closed the door. “You gonna murder me or something?” John joked. His skin itched to run away. They hadn’t been alone in years, not in any significant way.
Bobby looked anywhere but John’s eyes. They needed to reconnect, there was no telling how long they’d be living together again, but he couldn’t face the distant pain, the deep hurt he had held onto for years. “It’s good to see you again. I just thought we should clear the air.”
John stared at the ground, his body turned toward the exit. “You look good.” His voice was quiet, distant. Goddamn. Why couldn’t he just project? Why couldn’t he pretend that this didn’t affect him, the way he always did about everything that wasn’t Bobby? It had been six years, why did Bobby still have such a hold on him?
Bobby stole a glance at John. He had grown up, his face a little fuller, but he looked mostly the same. It might have been stupid; even though John had hurt him so badly back then, he still loved him. He hadn’t been able to call anyone his best friend since. Rogue and Kitty may have filled John’s spot in his life, but he still couldn’t use those words. “You do too. You look healthy.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Drake? Are you calling me fat?” John backed away, glaring daggers at Bobby.
“No!” Bobby threw his hands up, his eyes wide with mortification. “I just mean, I’ve been worried about you, since you left. You don’t look too banged up or malnourished.”
“So you are calling me fat.” John couldn’t hide the growing smirk on his lips. Playing with Bobby was too much fun. It may have been cruel, but it kept things from getting too personal.
“Cut it out, St. John.” Bobby shot John a glare. He knew him too well. Some things may never change.
Bobby steered the conversation away from the attempted derailment only to spill every question that their lack of closure had produced. “You never told me why. Was it me? Was it you? Why’d you leave? Why were you such a dick afterward?”
Bobby’s eyes crawled on John’s skin. He wanted to shrink away and hide under a blanket but he owed Bobby this. “I left because I believe in Erik’s vision. I couldn’t watch you keep following a failing future, and I couldn’t keep pretending I believed in Xavier just to stay with you. I’m sorry I was a dick, but I was mad that you didn’t see what I saw--I’m still a little confused about it to be honest--but I’ve accepted it.”
Bobby took a deep breath of relief. He had blamed himself for so many years. He had worried that he said something wrong, or offended John in some way. They were different people with different views and he could live with that ending. He held his hand out. “We could debate all day about what the right path forward is, but knowing us, it’d just end in a firefight. We don’t have to believe the same things, we don’t have to be on the same team, but can we go back to being friends?”
John finally met Bobby’s eyes, glacial blue glistened with a hope John had missed. “Friends.” He smiled at Bobby, grabbing his hand with a firm shake.
“I know how hard this must be for you. I’m only missing part of my team and my head’s a mess. I’m sorry you’re stuck with us alone.”
“Hey, don’t leave me alone with these people, and I’ll try not to set anything on fire.”
“Agreed.” The two smiled, letting go of their handshake. “Let’s head downstairs and see if this place has any good food. I’m starving.”
“You’re always hungry, Drake.” John smiled letting his friend lead the way.
The two rummaged through the kitchen, finding a bag of chips and some Uncrustables in the freezer. They settled into the living room beside Kitty, watching her send message after message to their mutant friends, waiting for a response from someone.
“Where’d you guys find those?” Rogue questioned, eyeing their food.
“Freezer.” John answered.
“Chips are in the second cabinet on the left.” Bobby explained.
Hank entered the room, headed for Scott. His fur was gone and he looked more human than Bobby had seen him in months. He had a quick conversation with their leader, Alex getting involved and getting annoyed with Scott just to storm off.
Scott froze, stunned for a moment before rushing to the kitchen. Bobby made to get up but Logan shot him a look to stay put. “I’ll handle it.” Bobby sunk back into the couch, crossing his arms with a huff. He understood that Logan was a teacher and probably wanted to keep the younger of the X-Men from having too much to worry about in this stressful time, but they weren’t kids anymore, hell, they weren’t even students anymore. They were more like substitutes and teachers’ assistants. If anyone should be comforting Scott, it should be Bobby, the boy who learned to be an X-Man with him, the boy who took the place of Scott’s little brother when he thought he had no family left, the boy who learned how to be a man from Scott.
A few minutes went by and Scott stormed back into the room, snatching the computer out of Kitty’s hands and pulling up the news coverage of the ratification. Everyone surrounded Scott, watching the screen intently as Jean and the Professor were abducted by Magneto, or…rescued?
Bobby looked to John and John shot him the biggest grin. “My guy saved your guy.” He winked at Bobby earning a slight blush in return.
“Hank, Alex, take the X-van. Try to find anything that could give us a clue as to where they are. You four stay put.” Scott’s stern expression tugged on John’s nerves. Who the hell did he think he was ordering him around? He wasn’t a part of his team, he didn’t accept his leadership.
“Come on, Logan. Let’s go.” Scott charged out of the house, Logan happily trailing behind him. What the fuck was wrong with these people?
“We’re not gonna stay here, right? We’re gonna help?” Rogue looked to Bobby and Kitty, and if it wouldn’t kill John--and wasn’t gross--he could’ve kissed her.
“No way.” Bobby responded and John’s heart skipped a beat. Finally, they weren’t the preppy little rule-followers he remembered. They were actually fun, free-thinking individuals. Wow, things had changed.
Kitty walked up to Alex. “We’re stowing away.” She informed him flatly.
Alex shrugged. “Okay.” He walked toward the garage.
“Now, wait a minute.” Hank argued. “Scott told you four to stay put, I don’t think we should disregard that so quickly.”
Bobby leaned in close to Hank whispering in his ear. “Do you really wanna be stuck in a car, alone, with Alex?” He leaned back and quirked a curious eyebrow.
“Yeah, okay, you guys can come along. Just don’t tell Scott.”
Bobby shot John the biggest grin he had seen from the man since his return. It was beautifully mischievous.
The six of them piled into the van, Kitty navigating on the laptop she brought. They drove around the city for hours, looking for any spot they thought Jean, the Professor, or Magneto could be.
“They’re probably on a beach somewhere just waiting this whole thing out.” Kitty joked about their leaders.
Rogue laughed. “Yeah, they’re probably starin’ into each other’s eyes while the sun sets behind them; like, Jean who?”
“Intelligent people use the word whom.” Alex teased, poking Hank.
Hank sighed, pushing his glasses further on his face. “Intelligent people know the difference between who and whom, Alex.” He gave Alex a firm stare before returning his eyes to the road. “Who refers to the subject of a sentence. ‘Who is at the door with a package?’ Whom refers to the object of a sentence. ‘The package is for whom? Who ordered a package?’ Are you starting to understand Mr. Masters? Perhaps you should sit in on one of my literature classes? We sometimes go over grammar like this.”
Alex crossed his arms and sat back in his seat, an amused smirk on his face. Bobby had never understood their relationship. Why did Alex always antagonize Hank? Why did he always seem to enjoy it when Hank would completely eviscerate him with words?
Red flashes streaked across the sky. “Is that Scott?” Bobby pointed to the lights.
“He’s in trouble.” Alex smacked Hank’s arm. “Go!” He ordered.
Hank hit the gas, weaving around cars until they found a back street. He parked the car and they all piled out. Kitty took John, Bobby, and Alex through the building that separated them from the street with the commotion. Rogue flew Hank over the building.
The moment they had eyes on the street Bobby noticed a barricade of MRD and the Wolverine in a standoff with Bolivar Trask. Scott lay motionless on the ground beneath Trask. What the hell had happened? An incessant whirr got on Bobby’s nerves. He looked around for the source, the MRD handling four pillars at each corner of the barricade. Is that what had Scott incapacitated?
Bobby rushed forward, his body covered in ice. John’s heart spiked at the reckless action, grabbing for his lighter to cover him. He blasted a few MRD with a fireball, knocking them over and providing Bobby with a clear path. Bobby reached a pillar, freezing and smashing it. The whirring stopped and John looked around. He was alone, the only one still standing by the safety of the building. Fuck! He ran out to join Bobby’s fight.
Rogue whipped past Bobby, a steering wheel in her hand. “Take out their weapons. I’m focusin’ on the vehicles. They can’t go anywhere if their vans don’t work.” She threw the steering wheel into a man’s face, blood spattering everywhere. Damn, she was awesome.
Bobby continued his mission, heading for the next pole, John grabbing at his shirt to keep from getting separated. “Who’s the one that doesn’t think now?”
Bobby smiled as he ducked a punch, freezing the agent’s feet to the ground before knocking him over onto the next machine. “I knew you and Alex would have my back.”
Bobby wasn’t wrong. John did have his back, and Alex was…somewhere? “Maybe we should talk about our plans before we do them?”
“Didn’t have any time, but sure, now we can.” Bobby froze a line of MRD to a truck.
Rogue let out a yelp, and Bobby’s attention immediately snapped to his friend. She fell to the ground, motionless. He charged toward her on an ice slide. A piercing pain hit him in the ribs, knocking him to the ground. Logan had tackled him out of the way of a net. Damn that adamantium skeleton hurt to be hit with. Bobby climbed to his feet, more MRD arriving to the scene. Oh no. His heart sunk a little, his hands shaky, but they could do this. They didn’t have to defeat them all, they just had to get Rogue and Scott and escape.
John shot an incoming vehicle with a fireblast, launching it into another van. Debris flew everywhere and Hank covered Alex. John’s mind spun as more and more agents surrounded them. His fear turned to panic and he just started flinging fire everywhere. He hit a vehicle that spun into Logan, knocking him into Hank. Fuck! He hadn’t meant for that to happen. Bobby let out a scream, and John turned to see his friend collapsing on the ground, holding his bloody side, a projectile lodged in his shoulder.
John’s vision started to blur. His breathing was erratic but no matter how hard he breathed, he couldn’t seem to get any air. Alex stumbled past him and all John could think about was escaping. He turned on his heels rushing back toward the building. Kitty grabbed his wrist and Alex’s shoulder, phasing them and Logan back to the van.
Logan fought Kitty the moment he realized what was happening, but John and Alex pushed him into the van. They needed to go. If they stayed, they would end up just like the others.
Alex drove them all away from the chaos, Kitty sobbing beside John. John hugged his knees to his chest, his seatbelt digging into his hips, but he couldn’t be bothered to change his position. “We shouldn’t have left them.” He mumbled into his knee.
Alex shouted as he smacked his hand against the steering wheel repeatedly. “Goddammit!” A part of John ached for the man but something about that churned his stomach, filling his throat with venom. It took everything in him not to bite Alex’s head off with the nastiest words he could throw at him. Alex may have lost the most today, but John had lost everyone.
“We’ll get them back. We just need more help.” Kitty sniffled. She rummaged around in her shirt, pulling a large piece of paper out. “Rogue took this from one of the vans. It looks like schematics to some sort of base. If it’s where they’re going, it gives us somewhere to start.”
Logan snatched the piece of paper. Rude. Kitty didn’t seem too bothered though, so John let the action go; he barely had energy for a snarky comeback, he definitely wasn’t going to waste any on an unnecessary battle.
“Do you think Osborn has a first aid kit?” Alex’s voice was small, like he had just pulled himself out of deep thought.
“Are you hurt!?” Logan’s voice was incredulously panicked as he stared at the man with wide eyes. What the fuck did Logan care about Alex? When John had been at the mansion, Alex and Logan were both the roaming loners of the place. The guys that would come and go, rarely staying long enough to say hi to everyone. Did they even know each other?
“I’m fine, I just cut my hand when I slammed it on the steering wheel.”
John couldn’t help himself. He wanted to stay silent, but all of his defenses were up, and he had no one to keep him in check. He lashed out with the best thing his mind could think of on the spot, all of the attention Alex was receiving pissing him off. They all had lost people. They were all suffering. This guy was insufferable. “What, is the steering wheel made of knives or something?” He dropped his legs off the seat and crossed his arms over his chest.
Alex rolled his eyes. “My hand slipped and hit the keys in the ignition, smart-ass. Geez, how did Scott ever put up with you?”
“Seemingly better than he put up with you, seeing as you were never around.” John snipped.
“That was my choice, not Scott’s!” Here we go. Finally, John was getting somewhere. Alex’s rage was becoming a nice distraction from John’s pain and he intended to pick and prod until there was nothing left for him to say.
“Why do you even want him back then? Since it was your choice to never see him.”
“Stop it, John. I mean it.” Kitty warned.
“No, I wanna know. Why are you sooo upset that your brother’s gone when you don’t even wanna spend time with him?” There was no stopping him at this point. Logan had tuned the conversation out, and there was no universe where John was afraid of either Kitty or Alex. This was blocking out his pain, distracting him from the fact that he was alone, yet again, fending for himself against a world that wanted him dead.
“You’re one to talk, you abandoned your whole team! And for your information, Scott and I have a great relationship now. We text whenever I’m not at the mansion.”
“Stop it! Both of you!” Kitty begged.
“I was never on a team, Dumbass! They never let me join the X-Men cause your precious professor doesn’t care about anyone that doesn’t fit his mold of a perfect little soldier.”
“That’s enough!” Kitty grabbed John’s leg and phased it through the seat of the car. He struggled to get out of the cushion, but he was officially stuck. “I’ll let you out if you shut up. If not, I’m phasing your torso next.” She glared daggers into him, and okay, maybe John was a little scared of Kitty Pryde.
“Fine.” He huffed. “Let me out.”