Out Drinkin'
Author's Note: Hey there, fans! This little one-shot was inspired by "Gifts and Curses". This time, it's set just after Chapter 30 of "Gifts and Curses". A member of Freedom Force is in mourning, and a new friend decides to help him cheer up. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: "Business is pickin' up!" - Jim "JR" Ross
The Brotherhood Boarding House
A blue Ferrari drove up in front of the Brotherhood House, the refurbished headquarters of the Brotherhood, although the team of mutants was officially known as Freedom Force East. The car's lights shut off, and a figure emerged from the front seat. The figure started to walk toward the front door, after reassuring three others inside of something. Meanwhile, inside the House, it was the usual insanity.
"Can you morons keep it down up there?" Lance Alvers yelled up at the stairs. The long brown-haired young man was codenamed Avalanche for his mutant ability to create and control earthquakes. "I'm trying to study here!" The geo-kinetic muttered and mumbled as he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. He picked up an open book on Judaism he was reading and went back to it. "Stupid Mr. Pryde razzum frazzum…" he heard a knocking. "Oy…" The geokinetic put down his book and went to the door. He opened it. "Oh, hey."
"Hey, is Fred here?" The figure said. It belonged to a young man named Ace Starr. Codenamed Wildstar, he was a member of the original Freedom Force. He was a feral mutant with the powers of enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, agility, and reaction time, as well as the power to fire blue energy beams from his claws. The sleek-bodied young mutant was dressed like a 1980s rocker. His shoulder-length brown-with-black-tipped hair was in its natural lion's mane-like style. He was dressed in an old Van Halen shirt, covered by a denim jacket. His jeans were held up by a black studded belt, and he had on white sneakers. His chocolate brown eyes were covered by aviator-style Oakleys, but the blue 8-pointed star birthmark over his right eye was still visible. Ace grinned, revealing his fang-like canines.
"Oh yeah, he's here." Lance nodded. "Thanks for taking him out, man. He could use it. Normally, it would be Todd, but he's with Sidney right now."
"I figured he could use a friend." Ace shrugged. "Considering what the poor man went through."
"Yeah." Lance nodded sympathetically. "It wasn't fair, man. So, where are you taking him?"
"I'm taking him over to a bar with some friends and just hang out, talk, and have a few beers." Ace responded. "I brought a couple buddies of mine. Thought it'd be nice to get him away from here for a little while." The large blond-haired powerhouse mutant Fred Dukes, codenamed the Blob, walked down the stairs.
"Hey Ace." Fred waved. Ace smiled and waved.
"Hey, Freddo!" Ace grinned. "Ready to go?"
A bar in Los Angeles
"Uhm, Ace…" Fred piped up at Ace. "I knew you wanted to take me out of town for a little while, but you never said across the country."
"Ah, what can I say?" Ace shrugged. "When you got a teleporter built into your car, you can't help but wanna party. Am I right, fellas?" Ace motioned to his companions. One of them was the Mexican sonic generator known as Rictor. Now 18, Rictor's brown hair was cut to shoulder-length, and he was dressed in his normal clothes: Basically a leather jacket, white shirt, and jeans. The other was Terrell Mason, aka Velocity. The Compton-born speedster/aerokinetic was dressed in a green button-down shirt and baggy khakis. The other was John Proudstar, the Freedom Force member codenamed Thunderbird. The powerhouse Apache mutant was dressed in a red-and-blue football jersey and jeans. A red headband circled his head, keeping his chin-length raven-colored hair out of his face.
"Yeah." Rictor agreed, patting Fred's back.
"I'm just here to drink." John added. He then smirked. "Besides, I can handle liquor."
"Only because you're as big as a house." Terrell rolled his eyes. John glared.
"Hey, I can't help my mutation, okay?" John muttered.
"Uh-huh." Rictor chuckled. "Just relax, Birdbrain. We're here to have some fun."
"What're we waiting for, you guys?" Terrell grinned. "I wanna party, baby!" The five young mutants walked into the club. Rock music was playing, people were partying, dancing, and having fun, and the air was glowing in various wild colors thanks to the overhead lights. The four walked into the club. "Yo, Ric and I are going to get us some ladies. You guys can go talk."
"Yeah, yeah. Have fun." Ace nodded. Ace, John and Fred took seats at a table, while Rictor and Terrell left to start trying to pick up girls.
"Thanks, Ace." Fred thanked. "You really didn't have to do this."
"Ah, anything for a friend." Ace smiled. "Ace Starr always helps his friends." A waitress came up to them.
"Would you gentlemen like something?" She asked sweetly.
"I'll just have a beer, please." Fred ordered.
"Yeah, me too." John nodded. Ace pushed his Oakleys down a little, revealing his chocolate brown eyes. "Oh, no. Here he goes…" John muttered. "Man, I hate when he does this."
"Why?" Fred blinked.
"It's annoying." John muttered, crossing his arms. "Dammit, Ace…"
"I'd like a beer, and your number." Ace smirked, taking the waitress's hand, and kissed it. The waitress giggled.
"I'll have your drinks in a minute." She giggled, walking away.
"Still got it, Ace of Hearts." Ace chuckled to himself. Fred shook his head.
"I heard you were like that." Fred remembered.
"No kidding." John agreed. "Ace always has to flirt with every pretty face he sees."
"I can't help it. Chicks dig ferals." Ace snickered. "Anyway, how've you been doing, man?"
"Fine." Fred sighed. "It's just…it still just hurts so bad." Ace nodded.
"Yeah." Ace sympathized. "You know, I do wish Bobby could've been with us tonight."
"Why? Where is he?" Fred blinked.
"He and Lila went to look for Jamie Madrox." Ace explained. "Ever since Jamie left, Bobby and Lila go out and look for him every so often."
"Because Bobby's been where Jamie is at." Fred understood.
"Yup." Ace nodded. "Bobby doesn't want Jamie to make the same mistakes he did."
"Yeah, I can understand what it's like." Fred sighed. "Only in Jamie's case, the girl he lost is still alive."
"I know you blame yourself, Fredster." Ace sighed. "I do wish Bobby was here. He's a lot better counselor than I am."
"Bobby? A counselor?" Fred raised an eyebrow in amusement. Ace nodded.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it. Neither could he." Ace laughed. "It's how it went. He just started being the one everyone turned to when they had emotional troubles. I think a part of him does like it, though."
"Yeah." Fred's smile drooped. "I miss Rosey. I really do." He sighed again. "She didn't deserve to go like that. She didn't deserve to become alien food."
"Nobody wants to be alien food, man." Ace nodded.
"You know, to be honest…" John piped up. "…I really hate this romance crap."
"You're just mad because you can't get dates." Ace teased.
"Hey, I've been out with women." John countered. "Let's just say I've had some problems. One woman turned out to be a mutant-hater, another turned out to be a redneck who enjoyed insulting my people, another turned out to be…" John continued ranting.
"Bitter much, isn't he?" Fred blinked. Ace nodded.
"Yeah." Ace agreed. "He's had a rough life as a kid. Strict family and all that. His pop was a Marine, you know."
"Huh?" Fred nodded.
"…And the last date I had was a real load of laughs!" John muttered. He looked up and noticed Ace and Fred look at him funny. "Aw man…" He looked at Fred. "Hey, I didn't mean to go on a rant there."
"Yeah, but you should consider yourself lucky." Fred told the Apache mutant. "At least women will look at you." Fred sighed. "Look at me, man. I'm big. I'm fat. I was never the smartest kid. I didn't have the best of tempers either. But Rosey didn't care. She saw beyond that. She liked me for me." The waitress arrived with their drinks: Three beers in brown bottles. The three boys thanked her, and Ace got her number.
"You think it is easy being good-looking?" John countered. "It ain't, pal."
"John has a point." Ace agreed. "Where John and I are on the beach, women give us cat-calls and all that. When you're a good-looking guy, women sometimes only care abut how you look. I should know." Ace sighed. "I'm a musician, you see. I'm a bit of a local celebrity around here. I've met women who were only fascinated about my looks only were into me because I'm a musician." Ace nodded. "It's tough, man. I've went out with women who only wanted to talk about my career and/or how I looked the way I do."
"Yeah, but girls look at you guys." Fred sighed. "At least they're interested. No girl would ever want to date a fat idiot like me."
"No girl ever wants to date any Apaches either. Join the club." John muttered.
"John, I highly doubt girls don't want to date you because you're an Apache." Ace rolled his eyes. "I think it may have more to do with you having a bad temper."
"Whatever." The Apache powerhouse muttered.
"Anyway…" Ace put the conversation back on track. "Look, Freddy. We just brought you out here to talk and enjoy some drinks. You know, help you feel a little better."
"Yeah." John nodded, sipping his beer. "Sorry about Rosey, man. She was a good woman." Fred nodded.
"Yeah." Fred agreed, sipping his beer. "She was a good woman. She wasn't just part of the team. She became part of the family. We all loved her…well, except for Pietro. But his opinion never counted."
"I never liked him myself." John agreed. "I think he was in denial about something, if you know what I mean." He started to snicker.
"Yeah. Crystal don't like him." Ace quipped, laughing. John blinked.
"No, when I first met him, I thought he was gay." John told the feral. Fred shook his head.
"Trust me. Pietro's straight." Fred told them. "He'd been chasing this Crystal girl for years. She moved to Nevada, but he still don't quit."
"Yeah, I heard about that. Get a clue, man." Ace smiled, sipping his beer. "Anyway, as usual, I'm designated driver. Healing factor and all."
"Can we stay on track, please?" Fred sighed. Ace and John nodded. "Anyway, it just wasn't fair. Rosey was a good person. She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve to be kidnapped and fed to an alien warlord."
"Nothing you could've done, Dukes." John shook his head. "You know, we have those days."
"Yeah." Ace concurred. "No sense going over the what-ifs. Besides, I think Rosey would want you to celebrate the time you two had together, not mope over her death." Fred sighed.
"I still do miss her, you know. It does hurt. I feel like I failed her."
"Them's the breaks." John sipped his beer. Ace shook his head.
"Look, Fred. I'm sure that if there was a way to save her, Lila would've tried." Ace reassured. "She couldn't do anything. Neither could that Sunspot guy either." Ace sighed. "We saved the world, but at a price, man. That's life when you're a government-sponsored superhero."
"Besides, I think this is what Rosey would be wanting you to do, Fred." John told the large blond. "You know, hanging with friends and drinking."
"Huh?" Fred blinked.
"I think what John meant was that Rosey would be wanting you to enjoy life." Ace explained. "Heck, that's what I'd want. No use moping over the bad when there's so much good to enjoy." Fred nodded.
"Yeah. I see what you guys mean. It's just…I wish Rosey was here." Fred sighed sadly.
"She is." Ace smiled. He playfully and lightly jabbed the large mutant in the chest. "She's right in there, man. Don't ever forget that."
"Yeah." John sipped his beer. "What Ace said." Fred smiled.
"Yeah, you guys are right." Fred smiled. "Rosey's still with me."
"How about a toast?" Ace raised his beer with a grin.
"Here, here." Fred raised his beer.
"Yeah, sure." John raised his own. The three clinked their bottles, and took a sip. "I wonder how Ric and Velocity are doing." They looked over at the dance floor and saw them dancing with a couple pretty girls. "Heh. Whaddaya know? Terrell ended his unlucky streak."
"Oh, stop." Ace teased.
"You know something?" Fred admitted. "I don't feel so bad anymore. It still does hurt a little about losing Rosey, but I think I'll be okay. After all, I still have my friends. I guess you were right, Ace. Going out drinking with friends did cheer me up a little bit."
"And don't worry about the whole thing with girls not liking big guys." Ace reassured. "As a great person once said, 'Life is full of surprises.'"
"You just made that up." Fred smirked.