1Title: Further Down the Road (1/?)
Pairing: John/Pietro, John/Bobby, other minor pairs
Summary: As the title says: Both John and Bobby have grown up quite a bit. Humans are hunting mutants; John takes refuge at the mansion with his (much younger) boyfriend.
Rating (Chapter): PG
Warnings: I'll try my best to stay in character, and I'll try not to make the story too far fetched.
Disclaimer: John, Pietro, Bobby, and all respective characters belong to Marvel. Minor students in John's Shakespeare class and at the mansion are either kids I go to school with or are made up by me. Quotes from 'The Merchant of Venice' and other respective mentions of the play belong to Shakespeare.
--
"Here, catch this casket; it is worth the pains. I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me, for I am much ashamed of my exchange. But love is blind, and lovers cannot see the petty follies that themselves commit, for if they could, Cupid himself would blush to see me thus transformed to a boy. Now, in current society, when would you use the term 'love is blind?'" St. John Allerdyce asked as he slowly paced the classroom. He was holding a book in his left hand, and lowered it to scan his small crowd of students, seated in a circle that they had made with their desks. He gestured to a tall boy with reddish brown hair, "Damien?"
"If I was dating someone others wouldn't find attractive."
"Right, however that's not the way Jessica meant it." Piped up the teen girl next to him; she had chin-length black hair that was shorter in the back and black framed glasses.
"I know that, I was getting to it." Growled Damien, smiling nonetheless.
"Stop your lover's quarrel, you two." Yet another girl, to the first girl's left.
"Shut up, Katieface." Said the first girl, scowling and shaking her head, then turned back to Damien. "Because, Damien, if she meant it that way, I'd be saying it all the time." She laughed.
"Hey!" Damien squeaked, pouting.
"She meant it relating to the fact that she was dressed like a boy. She said, The petty follies that themselves commit, for if they could, Cupid himself would blush to see me thus transformed to a boy. The petty follies meaning small stupid errors they make. Her error being that she was dressed in drag. Therefore, since she is in love, she can't see how bad her errors are, including stealing money from her father and running of to elope."
"Good, you guys are keeping up well." John smiled, "Lets move on to act three, scene one, starting at line forty-five. I need one reader for Shylock... alright, Jess, I'll read for Salerio; Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, that thou wilt not take his flesh. What's that good for?"
"To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge." Spoke the young dark-skinned girl. She was cheerful looking and seemed to enjoy her reading. "He hath disgraced me, and hind'red me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my–" She was cut off when the classroom door was opened and everyone turned to look,
"Can I help you?" John piped up from the seat he had taken at the far side of the circle. He stood and smiled, walking around the circle to the door, "Mr. Seaman? Is something wrong?" He asked the school's principal.
"There's going to be an emergency faculty meeting. Next mod all students are to take a seat in the auditorium. You need to escort your first mod class there, and then come to the stage. There's no assigned seating, but we won't be using the balcony. The short balding man spoke in hushed tones as the students began to talk amongst themselves.
"The whole student body can't sit in the auditorium."
"It doesn't matter, the whole faculty needs to meet, and we have to keep the students in view."
"Alright, good luck." John said, waving at the principal as he left, then returned to his class. "Go on, Jessica."
"Mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains ,cooled my friends, heated mine enemies– and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?..."
--
John was stressing. This was definitely not normal, and as he looked around for his eight students, he noticed they had all quietly ast themselves in the back corner of the auditorium and were chattering happily. Suddenly he remembered why his Shakespearean Literature class was his favorite. He headed down the sloped auditorium aisle and hopped on stage, his hands fidgeting in absence of the lighter: a habit he had never kicked.
"Johnny!" John spun around, fiddling with a pen he had fished out of his pocket,
"Hey, June." it was his teaching assistant for mods three and four. She was a senior in FEA that he had met the year before after finding out she was a mutant when she figured out she had powers in the middle of his class. She could enchant inanimate objects, and he always laughed at her when she did because it reminded him of the movie 'Fantasia'. She looked a little shaken. "What's wrong?"
"I heard from Nick who herd from Jackie who heard from Mrs. Pyzik that there was another shooting." She said, looking at him, and he could see the slight panic in her eyes. A shooting, john knew what she meant. It wasn't a school shooting, but recently, in the area, there had been a series of mutant shootings, and they were gradually getting closer to the town of Westminster, where John had found himself teaching. John felt the wave of slight fear was hover him and sighed heavily,
"You sure?"
"Thats what he said."
"You scared?"
"A little. You?"
"Go find Pietro, will you?" John said, heading backstage and grabbing a folding chair which other teachers and staff were sitting in.
"I apologize for the last minute change in schedule, but we could only do what was necessary." Mr. Hopkins, the new vice principal stared out, "As I'm sure some of you have already heard, ther has been another mutant shooting, this last one right over in Towson, so the school board has made a drastic decision. Our student body is nearly one-third mutants, as well as a good few of our faculty. The Carroll board of education has decided to transfer all of our mutant students to a private school for mutants in Baltimore city, and I'm sorry to those of you mutant faculty members, but you will be asked to forfeit your current duties, not because you don't do a fantastic job, but for the safety of our students. School will be dismissed in about a half hour." John ran a hand through his hair and was getting very fidgety. Not to say that he wasn't upset about his job, but he REALLY needed his lighter. "I'd like you ask you all to make sure the students gt their possessions safely and go directly to their busses. And once again, I apologize to those of you being asked to leave." Mr. Hopkins left to talk to the student body.
--
Chase pulled his Bronze-Colored Chevy avalanche around the back of the school in fromt of the back courtyard and waited for Pietro, his much younger boyfreind at the time. He got out when he saw Pietro and June.
"What're you gonna do?" June asked. Chase waited for pietro to get in the car and stepped a good distance away,
"Now? I'm gonna make some calls, pay the rent, run a few errands."
"You know what I meant."
"I'm gonna call my high school in New York, try and get them to at least take Pietro."
"What about you?"
"I'm not sure. I ran way once, they might not let me back. Are you gonna be okay?"
"I don't know. Now that I'm emancipated legally, I don't have anywhere to go."
"You're not even gonna go to B-More?"
"I'm not interested. Seaman said I'll already get my diploma."
"That's stupid. Are you gonna go to college?"
"At the rate things are going, Johnny, we're in for a war."
"Don't I know it."
"I don't even know if I wanna go to college, at thisa rate, I won't get a job anyway."
"Come with me to New York. Teach mutants."
"I couldn't do that."
"Do you have any other options right now?" June sighed and looked up at him.
"I'll pick you up at your apartment at six?"
"Sure.
"Pack your things, we're leaving tomorrow morning."
"Taht early?"
"At this point, I just want him safe."
"Alright.
And that was how, two days later, Bobby Drake stood in the foyer of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters at age 24, staring at his ex-best friend that he thought he'd killed.