Harder to Breathe, a x-men: the movie fanfic

"Harder to Breathe"
by SimbiAni™

Summary: AU Pyro meets up with Bobby & Rogue a bit after he left... ©2G3. Plz read&review, thx! songfic Maroon 5, "Harder to Breathe". Lyrics may be slightly diff to fit story.

A/N: Wow, there are lot of fics about Rogue & Bobby meeting up with John after some time after he left... hmm... How can I make this diff? I dunno, let's see how it goes... I think it came out major weird. As you see, I posted it anyways! lmao... I find it so hard to write anything freehand... Hope y'all like it!

In the afternoon on a fall day, Pyro sat on bench in Common Park. It was far enough away from "the" school, and close enough to town. He'd come here by bus. He had finally wanted to confont his former best friends. Were they still his friends? Whatever. Like he even cared. They wanted to stick with that stupid school, and the annoyingly uptight "teachers". He wanted to not be under constant reprimand. Magneto seemed tolerable. Life at their quarters wasn't so bad. Except... No, he did not "miss" his so-called friends. He had new ones now. Ones who were much more deserving, to associate with him. Hmmph... okay, so Magneto had said that. But it felt true enough. It had been almost over two months now...

And last nite Pyro called Bobby's cellphone, the number he'd memorized long ago. When Icy had realized just who had called him, his cheery voice went distant, but they'd agreed on a neutral place to meet. And now Pyro was waiting for Bobby to show up. He had no doubt that Icy would at least bring Rogue. Heh... That was okay.

Just then, he spotted them, walking up a path to his left. He watched them, wondering if they saw him yet. He noticed Rogue was wearing black gloves today, and had her scarf draped around her shoulders. Her arms were crossed, and Bobby strode beside her. As he studied them, Bobby suddenly caught his eye, and they seemed to stare at each other for a second. Then Bobby motioned to Rogue, who looked up, and they headed directly toward him. Pyro had been flipping his lighter, but now he stopped. Bobby stood in front of him, and Rogue seemed to ponder whether she should down next to him or not.

"John."

Pyro quirked an eyebrow. Bobby had said his name. His given name, not his alias.

"It's Pyro."

"Um, yea... right... Pyro." Bobby cleared his throat. "Look- why did you leave? We thought you were going to help Logan & the others and-"

"I was. I changed my mind. Saw Mags & Misty were leaving, it felt like a chance to take."

"Well, you shouldn't have!"

Pyro scowled. So that's what Bobby had come for- to rag on him for leaving.

How dare you say that my behavior's unacceptable
So condescending, unnecessarily critical
I have the tendency of getting very physical
So watch your step 'cuz if I do, you'll need a miracle

Pyro flicked his lighter open again, and let the flame dance out. Rogue gave in & sat on the bench. He glanced at her warily. She never really noticed him when they lived together. She was too busy hanging over Bobby. Now she was gonna try & convince him. Hah.

"J- Pyro... when I- had to stop you from attacking those cops, you know I got- a glimpse. Into your thoughts & such... and..."

"That was stupid. What are ya gonna say, that ya understand me now or something? Becuz you don't. You never will. Bobby either."

She winced visibly.

"But that's not it. We honestly cared- still do- about you- and you didn't give us a chance to understand by hiding away-"

"That's not what I wanna hear." The flamed danced higher, and he hushed it with a flick of the cap.

You drain me dry and make me wonder why I'm even here
The double vision I was seeing is finally clear
You want to stay but you know very well I want you gone
Not fit to flipping tread the ground that I am walking on

Pryo grinned as Bobby rolled his eyes. And when Icy sat down next to Rogue, Pyro flipped his Zippo open & shut some more.

"What else is there to say, really? I left, y'all hate me for it, end of story."

Silence. Rogue shifted uneasily.

"We don't hate you, John. We- we miss you."

He scoffed.

"No, you don't. The others certainly don't, and you two- have each other. So. And it's "Pyro", do I have to spell it for you?"

Bobby cleared his throat again.

"Just- you just left, to join someone who believes we should conquer the world- and what about peace? And not to mention, he almost killed Rogue less than half a year ago!"

"It's a power thing, I'll admit." Pyro shrugged casually. "And hey, it's not like Rogue's any prize."

The shock was evident on Bobby's face, and Rogue frowned in hurt. Bobby angered.

"Who are you to say something like that?"

Pyro could see Icy's hands start to frost over. Rogue jumped up, no longer wanting to sit between them.

"You suck." She stalked off to a nearby swingset. Pyro chuckled disbelievingly.

"Oh, come on."

Bobby shook his head, then in one quick motion snatched John's lighter away.

"Hey!"

"And to think, I almost missed this sound!" Pyro tensed as Bobby started flipping HiS lighter. "Nope, don't care for it." He swiftly chucked it into the fountain near the swingset. "You're gonna miss us someday. If not now, eventually." He left to follow Rogue.

But when it gets cold outside and ya got nobody to love
You'll understand what I mean when I say
There's no way we're gonna give up
And like a little girl cries in her sleep
From the monster that lives in her dreams
Saying, is there anyone out there,
'cuz it's getting hotter & harder to breathe
Is there anyone out there?
'cuz it's getting hotter & harder to breathe...

Stupid Bobby. Pyro had run over to the fountain. Kneeling next to it's border (the kind you sit at), he was concentrating on trying to see thru the water. Surely his lighter couldn't be damaged. He hated this feeling. He hated being helpless without the Zippo. So much so that he never even thought to figure what he would do if he did lose it. Damn Bobby. He wanted to just envelope that idiot in flames. If only- There. He pushed up his sleeve, and leaned over into the water, grasping it.

"I should just knock you in there." It was Rogue's voice. He sat back up, and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oh, I should be so lucky..." He was rubbing his lighter dry with his shirt. It shined in the downing sun.

"You just don't get it. We care. We always will. We don't want to fight you, John."

What you were doing was screwing things up inside my head
You should know better tho you never listened to a word I said
Holding your heart and wishing you weren't it
Hoping somebody someday will do you like I did

"That's not important. You think equality can save us all. It can't." He then flipped the cap open, and he sighed in relief when a flame flickered from it. (a/n: dunno, can a lighter still work after it's been in water? hmm...)

"Can too." She smiled. He pocketed his lighter, and ran his hand thru his hair. Bobby had been standing a few feet away. He came over to sit beside them at the fountain.

"Fine. We're wrong. We're on the wrong side, and if it means that much to you, we'll come with."

Pyro smirked.

"What? Gimme a break, you're just being stupid."

Icy shrugged.

"Sorry about the lighter."

Pyro eyed them suspiciously. Okay, he can't fly, or run real fast, and he certainly couldn't swim... if they were planning to dunk him for being a jerk, maybe it'd be safer to sit at the bench. It was getting chilly now, the fall air settling in, and he didn't need to get sick. He stood and walked back to the bench.

Bobby tilted his head, and spoke.

"John?" Rogue nudged him. "I mean, Pyro..." John didn't answer, and sat down over there. Bobby followed. "Yo- Fireboy..."

Pyro grinned without meaning to. Well, it was still humorous.

"Um, guys, how many times are we gonna change seating here?" She joined them.

"Here's my version. You left, it hurt, and we want you back. And that's all there is to it."

"Rogue, it's not that simple."

"We'll forgive you. I mean, you only ran away for... two months..." She thought for a second. Bobby nodded.

"Actually... one months, three weeks, five days, and-"

John gaped.

"You're kidding right?"

"What? Okay, so I kept count..."

"You are so..."

"Shut it, man..." Bobby laughed. John rolled his eyes.

"Well..." The sun was nearly gone over the horizon. It seemed to set earlier every day...

(music break)

"So... you wanna see what I can make out of fire now?"

Rogue seemed uncomfortable.

"John, we'd rather not... we're in public after all..."

"There's no one around. Relax!" He took out his Zippo again. He slipped it open, and let a trail of mezmorizing flames stream out. His "friends" regarded them cautiously... And then before they could realize it, he willed the flames near them...

"Okay, John, stop-" Rogue pulled away, and made to get up. Bobby glared at him.

"Cut that out, J- Pyro!"

Does it kill? Does it burn?
Is it painful to learn?
That it's me that has all the control
Does it thrill? Does it sting?
When you feel what I bring
And you wish that you had me to hold... !

"Okay, geez... only figured you could use a little warm up what with the chilly air & all..."

Bobby rolled his eyes this time.

"Ohh, yeah, that's a smart move..."

John gave him an almost friendly hit on the back.

"Well, seeing as how you're all made of ice there, I forgot- you're used to the cold...!" He snickered.

"So not funny, John," Rogue tried not to smile. Bobby fidgeted.

"Um, yea... well... we should be getting back. It's-"

"What, the curfew? Oh cripes... Still "back by dark", huh? Maybe we should've had this reunion a month earlier- woulda had an extra two hours of daylight..."

"So that's it then?"

All three of them were walking down the path. John went with just for the walk... to see them off. For some reason, he couldn't seem to get himself to leave them just yet. Hmm... Bobby looked at him.

"Um... you kno we're still you're friends, right? And..."

"Yeah, sure... whatever." John acted like it meant nothing. He couldn't look them in the eyes tho, and that said more...

Suddenly, Bobby hugged him, and let go quickly.

"Okay, bye then..."

John gave a confused smile, then laughed.

"So you guys miss me that much? Damn..."

Rogue smiled softly.

"Shup up, John... You know how we mean..." She offered her arms for a hug, and he embraced her too.

"Yeah... I'm sorry about that comment. You kno I'm just a jerk, right?"

"Well, duh... that's what makes you "you"; I got it..."

"Oh, and I heard about Miss Grey. I'm- I'm sorry about that..."

Rogue's eyes squinted...

"Thanks..."

There was more fidgety small smiles...

Without another word, they began walking away. Then Bobby waved "goodbye" at him.

"Come back when you're ready, okay?... Pyro."

Pyro headed back to the bus station by himself.

Is there anyone out there?
'cuz it's getting hotter & harder to breathe...