Settling in
The week went by fast, Bobby helped Scott, Jean, and Kitty call around to all of the parents of the students that had been hiding out at Warren’s place. Many parents picked their students up and took them home, but many students stayed at Worthington’s due to a lack of family or their family not knowing of their mutant status. The calls were difficult, brining up old feelings surrounding his own family, but he ignored them, focusing on the bigger goal. He helped gather signatures for their petition, and settled into life at Osborn’s mansion.
John strategized with Erik and Raven, forming a renewed friendship with Rogue and Kitty and establishing a daily pattern with the X-Men. At first, he thought it would be literal torture to work alongside the do-gooders again, but it was surprisingly nice. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the close-knit family unit that was Xavier’s staff.
Finally, the court day arrived. Bobby sat on the lawn with the X-Men and a bunch of new mutant and human recruits, including Emma Frost. His iconic suit was slightly wrinkled from however Pietro had transported them from the mansion.
John waited with Laura, Wanda, and the newly recruited Domino in a coffee shop across the street. Laura had been designated the leader of the mini-group and while John had initially been against the idea, he couldn’t deny that she was a smart pick.
At first, everything was going well until Local police arrived stating that the protest was impeding the traffic of a government building therefore violating Title VII of the Mutant Registration Act; a stupid rule that resulted in the arrest of any mutant found guilty of any crime, even misdemeanors that would usually just result in a fine. Mutants couldn’t even get traffic tickets without jail time.
John waited for the go order, his leg bouncing anxiously as he watched Bobby. “Ready your positions and wait for my signal.” Laura ordered.
John, Wanda, Domino, and Laura exited the coffee shop. They stood by the door, ready to charge at any moment. John’s fingers twitched on the new fire mechanism in the suit Hank had made him. He calmed his nerves with a small dancing flame in his palm.
“Evasive tactics only! Get everyone out!” Scott ordered his X-Men.
MRD arrived at the scene, piling out of vans. The aerial team swooped down, throwing punches and dropping people. “Now!” Laura ordered and her team charged into the fray.
MRD pointed weapons at the aerial team. Bobby’s heart raced as he watched Rogue and Warren dodge projectiles. He couldn’t just run, he couldn’t do nothing. He iced the ground beneath the agents, turning their traction into a Slip N Slide. Scott shot him a warning look to not get involved but Bobby couldn’t bring himself to feel ashamed. His move bought his friends time to escape.
“Weapons!” Laura commanded Wanda, and the Scarlet Witch wiggled her fingers until the officer’s weapons turned against them, shooting indiscriminately. John cleared a path for Domino, who charged a line of MRD setting up power inhibitor barriers.
Rogue flew past John carrying Kitty to a truck. John watched the women in awe as Kitty phased a truck that Rogue kicked into a building, trapping the vehicle in concrete. Damn, they had really upgraded since he left. Maybe he should make an effort to be nicer to them, just in case they ever turn on him completely.
Bobby tried to make a wall of ice between the protestors and law enforcement, but he wasn’t fast enough. MRD shot tear gas into the crowd, burning Bobby’s eyes and lungs. He coughed and choked, gasping for air only to inhale more toxic chemicals. He couldn’t see a thing through his tears. Rough hands grabbed his arms, wrestling him to the ground. Bobby iced himself over, but it didn’t deter his gloved attacker. He couldn’t fight back, that was one of their rules. X-Men had to be passive, but that didn’t mean he had to go quietly. He wriggled and lowered his temperature as low as he could get himself, freezing the grass beneath him, but he could barely focus when he couldn’t breathe.
John turned toward the protestors when he heard a shout from Bobby. His heart spiked and his vision narrowed. Bobby. He ran past MRD, pushed past cops, dodged stray weapons, until he finally made it to his friend. He tackled the officer on Bobby, throwing punch after punch until the man couldn’t fight back anymore. His hands shook as his lungs rejected the air around him. He fell off of the person, Bobby grabbing his arm to pull him off the ground. “Come on. Let’s go.” Bobby coughed.
Bobby pulled John toward clearer air. They both inhaled deep, their lungs greedy for the fresh oxygen. John had to get back in there, he couldn’t leave his team behind. What the hell? Who was he? Had the professor gotten in his head or something? Any other day, he would have taken Bobby and ran, but…not today. He had just put himself in danger to rescue Bobby, and now he wanted to go back in? This wasn’t right.
Bobby scanned the area for the closest escape route. “I have to get to the check-in point, are you coming with me or staying?” Bobby questioned. It was barely a question, he knew exactly what John would chose.
“I have to stay.”
Bobby’s breath caught as he made to speak before John’s answer hit him. What? Intense pride filled his chest. “Yeah, go.” He smiled at John.
John squeezed Bobby’s hand before rushing back into the mess. He tapped at his flame, but his trigger seemed to be broken. Fuck! He couldn’t do anything if he didn’t have his powers.
The Human Torch rushed past John, helping a man with a broken leg. “Hey!” John shouted at the man, motioning for fuel. Johnny flicked a spark at John and that was all he needed. He spread the flame, morphing it into a giant tree-monster inspired by the angry orchard from the Wizard of Oz. John shot Johnny an evil grin and Johnny winked a ‘you’re welcome’ at him.
They fought, they ran, and eventually, they all escaped unscathed. Team Anarchy, a name Alex had provided them, and the X-Men regrouped at Osborn mansion. The Professor gave everyone a quick rundown before pulling the eldest of them, and Evan for some reason, into a private meeting.
Apparently, they scheduled a hearing to reassess the usefulness of the Mutant Registration Act, however, there seemed to be something missing. The Professor didn’t seem happy about it, and that put Bobby on edge. They were ordered to continue as usual, to form new protests and continue their acts. Team Anarchy was encouraged to create their own demonstrations away from the X-Men to keep suspicions off of them that they were working together.
They went to bed, tired and sore, but the next morning brought even more turmoil. Scott, Logan, Jean, Evan, and Pietro had gone awol sometime in the night and completely destroyed Trask’s Mutant Registration Division headquarters. They now had three mutant corpses in their basement, a stockpile of stolen government documents, and no plan on how to handle the inevitable backlash.
Bobby was headed for the living room when he heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen. His curiosity got the better of him and he snuck a peek in the kitchen. He stuck his head in to see Logan at the stovetop and Scott sitting at the small kitchen table. Scott gripped his hair tightly, resting his forehead on his palm the way he often did when he was stressed about something. He stared down at a folder on the table.
“Good morning.” Bobby greeted, although it was well into the afternoon at this point. He stepped fully inside the kitchen, a sheepish smile on his face.
Scott’s head shot up, but he shoulders fell into an exhausted slump when he saw Bobby. “Hey.”
If Bobby could see Scott’s eyes, he imagined they would have massive bags under them. “I heard about what happened last night. Do you wanna talk about it?” Bobby sat across from Scott, leaning forward on the table to catch a glimpse at the contents of Scott’s folder. Scott pulled the document away to keep Bobby from seeing it.
“What’s done is done.” Scott’s lips ticked into a frown.
Logan called to Scott from the stove. “You want any eggs, Slim?”
Scott simply shook his head, but quickly adjusted to communicating with a non-telepath. “No thank you.” He whispered. His voice was quiet like his spirit had been broken.
“Is there anything I can do?” Bobby’s heart wanted to break. He had only ever seen Scott like this once, when Pheonix had taken over Jean, and he never wanted to see it again.
Scott looked at Bobby silently for what felt like eternity. Finally, he let out a soft huff. “There is something, if you’re up for it. It’s…it’s heavy, though. So don’t say yes if it will hurt you.” Bobby smiled an excited smile. Scott grabbed a folder that was underneath the one he was reading. “This is the file for one of the deceased mutants we brought home. Can you read through it to try and find any living relatives to contact? There are autopsy photos in here, so…like I said, if it will affect you, please say no.” What the hell had they done?
Bobby grabbed the file, ripping the pages open. Holy fuck. Scott was not lying; there was a large photo of a deceased mutant staring back at him. Bobby’s heart sped up a little, but he couldn’t let this affect him. Scott needed his help, clearly this impacted him a lot, Bobby needed to take this off his shoulders. “I got you.” He promised.
Logan approached Scott, a plate of eggs in his hand. “I’m gonna go take these to Jeanie.” He informed the man, kissing him on the top of his head. WHAT THE FUCK!? Bobby’s heart nearly stopped. Did Logan just kiss the married Scott Summers on the head? What was going on here? First, he tried to seduce Jean, now he’s going after Scott? A strong sense of injustice swelled in Bobby’s chest and he felt the need to defend Scott’s honor.
Bobby tensed, about to shoot out of his seat when Scott reached up to squeeze Logan’s arm, leaning into the contact. Bobby’s heart sank at the sight, confusion rising. Was Scott cheating on Jean?
Logan whispered something in Scott’s ear that Bobby thought was something along the lines of ‘still proud of ya’ but he couldn’t be sure. The moment Logan was gone he laid into Scott, his face bright red.
“What the hell was that!? Are you cheating on Jean!? She has done nothing but love you and you go and do something like this? She doesn’t deserve this! I get that you might want to explore your sexuality, but this isn’t the way!”
“Bobby-”
“-I know you and Jean have had problems in the past with falling in love with other people, but I thought the one thing you agreed on was to always be true to each other, that no matter who you fell in love with, you would always choose each other!”
Scott stared at Bobby, shocked. He leaned back in his chair to create some distance. His breathing heavy. He looked scared of Bobby. Maybe he was just scared of Jean finding out. “Are you done?” His voice was slightly shaky, like he was about to break down and a part of Bobby felt bad, but everything else in him swelled with righteous indignation.
“Yeah, I’m done.” Bobby mumbled.
“I’m not cheating on Jean.” Scott said, his voice slow, his pronunciation clear. “I’m not exploring my sexuality.” He crinkled his eyebrows. “Well, okay, maybe I am? I don’t know. I haven’t had a lot of time to think about what all of this means. I’ve been a little distraction.” He motioned toward the file in front of him. “Jean and I are with Logan, together. He’s our partner.” He clarified. Relief washed over Bobby but his heart was still going crazy. What did this mean for them? How did that work? Would this create problems with the team?
Bobby had always been told that relationships, especially marriage, was between one man and one woman. Of course he knew better than that, but he always thought of that dynamic for himself, and had never even considered non-monogamy. Too much was changing too fast.
“When did this happen?”
“Last night. You’re the first to know, and I’d kinda like to keep it quiet for a while. We’re still figuring this out and it’s so complicated. I don’t want to answer any questions until I have answers.”
Pride filled Bobby’s chest and he couldn’t help but beam at his friend. “Thanks for telling me first. Sorry for blowing up on you.”
Scott chuckled. “Yeah, it wasn’t my favorite reaction. Definitely not what I wanted, but…thanks for looking out for Jean. Only true friends don’t let their friends get away with shit.”
Bobby wanted to ask if Logan was stinky when he kissed Scott, but he decided better of it. He watched Scott’s attention drift back toward the folder beneath him and knew he needed to help. “If I made you some oatmeal, would you eat it?” Bobby asked.
Scott nodded, his finger tracking his reading progress to keep him from getting distracted and having to start again.
Bobby whipped up some food for Scott, just the way he liked it, and moved to the living room. He sat beside Kitty, looking through his own folder. He finally found the mutant’s address and the name of a relative, the mother. He had Kitty search the internet to try and find the woman. She got him a phone number to call and Bobby’s heart spiked. His hands shook and his body flashed hot. He dialed the number and his mouth was deprived of all moisture. The phone rang and rang until a woman finally picked up.
The conversation was difficult, he could barely get the words out through his stammering. Maybe Scott should have asked Hank to do this. The woman’s voice reminded him of his own mother, and he imagined Jean making this same phone call about him. He exited the living room, to be alone to cry with the woman, her sobs breaking his very being. No wonder Scott was so defeated today, no wonder he destroyed that entire facility.
Finally, they hung up and Bobby could comfort himself in peace. He went to his room to cry on his bed but John was already there.
John heard the door open and looked up from the gameboy he had found in the lounge. Bobby froze, tears streaked down his cheeks. John’s heart plummeted at the sight. He stood, tossing the electronic device on the bed and pulling Bobby into a hug. “What the hell happened?”
Bobby sniffled into his shoulder, wetting his shirt, but John couldn’t be bothered to care. Bobby’s perfect eyes were disrupted by tears, his bright face marred by sadness. “Whoever did this, whatever they did. I’ll kill em’.” John promised.
Bobby shook his head, pulling away and wiping the water off his face. “There’s nothing you can do. Scott already dealt with it.” John’s stomach twisted. Of course he had. “I just…I can’t stop thinking about my family. I haven’t seen them since…well…you know.” Bobby motioned at John and John couldn’t ignore the guilty heat that crept up his face. “I haven’t even spoken to them. I’ve stalked their social medias to know what’s going on in their lives but…I don’t even know if they care that I’m still alive.”
Bobby moved past John, sitting on the bed and burying his face in his hands. John sat next to him, his head hung low. “I’m sorry, Bobby. I really messed things up for you there.”
Bobby’s eyes shot wide, staring at John, his heart heavy in his ears. “No! Please don’t think that! It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yeah. It was. It really was, Bobby. But I’m not pressed about it, so don’t try to comfort me. We’re comforting you right now, okay?” John stared Bobby down, poking him in the chest with a pointed finger.
Bobby smiled a sad smile. “Okay.” He looked at the wrinkled comforter, tracing the outline of the floral print with his fingers. “The thing is…I don’t know that you did all that much to impact their feelings on me. Sure, you set their curtains on fire and threatened them, but… they were always so strict about what they deemed appropriate. If things weren’t perceived a certain way, they would completely disregard it. I liked theater, they made me play soccer and tennis at school. I made friends with the poor kid, they made me stop talking to her. I got too close to a boy, they made me to get a girlfriend. I was diagnosed with ADHD, they forced me onto medication and then ordered me to never speak about it again. They would’ve never accepted me as a mutant.”
He took a deep breath. “But…despite all of that, they were still my family, and I miss them. I miss saturday gamenights and sunday movienights. I miss going to church and the synagogue. I miss taking Ronnie to the park. And weirdly, even though you helped to fuck everything up…you’re the only person that can understand. You were the only person that knew them before the blow-up.”
John wanted to say something to make Bobby feel better, even just something as simple as an acknowledgement to make Bobby feel supported, but he was at a complete loss for words. Nothing he could say would make a difference. Bobby had said it all. He grabbed Bobby’s hand and squeezed, letting the man lean into his shoulder to rest his head.
John had a lot of opinions of Bobby’s family, none that would be helpful to speak now, or possibly ever.
“I’ve called them a few times, around the holidays. They never pick up. I leave messages, leaving the door open for them step back into my life, but they don’t want to. Am I really that easy to leave?”
Bobby’s eyes glistened at John with an insecurity he had never seen from his friend. His heart constricted at the thought of Bobby ever even considering that. “No! Oh god no!” John pulled him into his arms, Bobby’s scent filling his lungs. He pressed their cheeks together, Bobby’s chilled skin refreshing. He grabbed Bobby jaw and pulled his face away to stare into Bobby’s eyes, his gaze firm. “Don’t ever think that.” He let his head fall, his forehead resting on Bobby’s. He closed his eyes, drinking in the proximity.
“But you lef-”
“I know!” John shut that thought down immediately. He wouldn’t let Bobby entertain the concept. “Leaving you wasn’t easy. It was the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever done. Why do you think I was such an ass? I had to hate you so I wouldn’t come running right back. Bobby, I’m in love with you.” Maybe it was selfish. Maybe it was poor timing. But he couldn’t stop the words, once they were in his head they were out of his mouth. Bobby froze, holding his breath. John leaned toward him, his lips brushing against Bobby’s before he was being pushed backward off the bed.
“John what the fuck!?” John hit the ground with a thud and his head stung for a moment. Ow. “Give me a goddamn minute to process! Jeez!”
John couldn’t move. He couldn’t get off the floor. He just stared at Bobby’s wide eyes and frantic expression. Damn. He had really screwed this one up. “I-I’m sorry!” He stammered, climbing to his feet. “I’ll leave you alone.” He scrambled toward the door but Bobby stopped him.
“I don’t want you to leave! I just need some time to think!” Bobby’s head raced, thoughts traveling at a million miles per second. Did he like John? He thought he might; at the very least, he felt comfortable with John, he loved John. Wasn’t that what Scott and Jean’s relationship was founded on? If he went through with this, would it fuck everything up? If he found out he didn’t like John, he could really hurt him.
No. He didn’t want to live life like Scott. At least, not in this area. He wanted to be like Alex. He wanted to feel everything and let his emotions run wild. He wanted his choices dictated by his emotions, not the other way around.
“Don’t ever kiss me without warning again.” Bobby threatened John, his eyes a piercing blue. John sheepishly nodded. “Come here.” Bobby patted the bed next to him. John sat on the edge, one leg off, ready to run.
“I’m sorry.” He repeated, but Bobby simply grabbed the back of his neck.
“You wanna try that again?”
John smiled, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to Bobby’s lips. The kiss was light and slightly wet, very salty, but John reveled in every second. His chest fluttered about like his heart had sprouted wings and was ready to take off at any moment.
John’s lips were warm against Bobby’s cold, and Bobby leaned into the contact to get closer. John swiped his tongue in Bobby’s mouth and Bobby let out an involuntary whimper. Bobby inched closer, practically sitting in John’s lap, his fingers tangling in John’s hair. John pulled away and they both panted against each other, John’s breath lighting Bobby’s skin aflame. Maybe Scott was right. Maybe he was queer. Maybe he had a hard time getting comfortable. Maybe he had a lot of family baggage to unpack. But, maybe he had just the right people to help him? Maybe John and Scott, and Jean and Hank, Alex and Johnny, and Rogue and Kitty were all here to help him discover himself, to facilitate his growth.