"You never shoulda left."
That was the last thing Pyro heard before slipping into unconsciousness.
Pyro opened his eyes. His head ached like someone had hit it with a metal bat. He turned over and pushed himself up onto his knees. Everywhere he could see was dark. There were noises coming from all around him, but he had no idea where he was. His hands felt frozen and when he tried to move them they wouldn't respond. With the faint amount of light in the room, Pyro could see that his lighter was gone. He swore, trying to stand.
He managed to get to his feet and staggered before gaining balance. There was a door that had a window in it on the other side of the room. The window was covered by some amount of sheer fabric that let mellow light come in but the shapes on the other side weren't distinguishable. Pyro made his way over to the door, slowly, and pressed his ear against it. The door must have been thick because he could only hear muffled words.
He sat back down and leaned against the wall, thinking. He could remember flames, cars, metal, screams. They had been at Alcatraz, fighting the X Men for the mutant with the cure. Magneto and Pyro had been throwing flaming cars at the soldiers protecting the island. Bobby had fought with him and… Pyro slammed his fist against the ground.
"Damn! Bobby beat me." He said, malice in every word. He hated that punk. Sure, once they had been friends, but Bobby had been too safe. Pyro liked to take risks and sometimes he went too far. After Pyro had deserted to Magneto, Bobby had become a priss. "Serves him right for sticking with the dumb side." But how had Pyro ended up here? Shouldn't he be back on Alcatraz?
His mind kept jumping back to his fight with Bobby. It was kind of funny and opposite, but Pyro thought that Bobby was a little too warm. Pyro had always been cold to people; no one liked to get close to him. Except one person…
Cassandra stood outside the door, hands folded across her chest. Her face was hard and she frowned, glaring a hole into the white wall across from her. Her eyes lifted when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. A group of people walked towards her, talking to each other. Storm, Beast, and some people Cassandra had never seen before. They stopped in the hall way and gathered around the door. Cassandra looked at all of them. "So?" She said.
Beast stepped forward, his blue skin and fur contrasting with his sharp suit. "Cassandra, we need to talk with him. Please, join your friends in the waiting room." Cassandra pushed herself off the wall and stood in front of the door. "You're not going to hurt him?" She asked, her eyes meeting his defiantly. Beast sighed. "We need to know if he's a threat."
"But you won't hurt him, will you?" Beast looked at Storm. "No, we won't hurt him." They stood there, facing off, until Cassandra turned and stormed down the hall. The group of people followed Beast and Storm into the locked room and shut the door behind them.
Cassandra pushed through the doors of the waiting room. Anna was standing, pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. Beth and Pete were sitting on one of the couches watching her. Anna spotted Cassandra and waved her over. "What's going on? We saw Storm and Mr. McCoy go into the hallway with a bunch of people, they looked real important."
"They want to question him and find out if he's still a threat. God…" She rested her head in her hands. "I still can't understand him." She whispered. "If they let him go, what do I do? I'm not ready to forgive him." Anna sat down and placed her hand on her back. "It's okay Cassandra, none of us are. I don't even know if he's ready to come back to us. You know you're going to have to talk to him." Cassandra looked at the ground intently. "Do I love him?" She half-whispered to herself.
The double doors leading to the outside flew open and Warren walked in. Anna left her spot next to Cassandra to talk with him. Cassandra sat back against the couch across from Pete and Beth. They were busy talking to each other about the rest of the mutants. She couldn't stay here with them.
Walking out of the door, she crossed the parking lot until she found the mansion's car. She got in and pulled out the key, starting it up. Her head touched the headrest and her breath got caught in her throat. A tear worked its way down her face and into the crevasses at her neck. Her lungs shook, trying not to give in to the inevitable. Without anyone to make her stop herself, she leaned over and began to sob into the steering wheel.
"John, you need to cooperate with us. We can't let you go until we know you won't hurt anybody." Beast stood facing Pyro, his blue hair glowing dark in the dim light and his voice soft. "You already face police charges; they've agreed to pardon you if you give us the names of other mutants." Pyro stared at the floor, fingers tapping his thigh in aggravation; they hadn't given him back his lighter and he needed it to keep calm. He wanted to feel its slick metallic body and hear the rhythmic snap of the cover.
Beast sighed and turned to Storm. "There's nothing more I can do." One of the people from the group stepped out of the crowd. "Maybe I can help." He said in a cold voice. He was dressed in a grey tweed jacket and brown pants and carried a briefcase. "My name is Dr. Holdhelm, I am the leading child psychiatrist in this area."
"I'm not a child."
Dr. Holdhelm eagerly sat down in the only chair in the room. "Of course not my boy, you are a very powerful mutant. Now tell me, why did you join with Magneto?"
Pyro looked at the man. His balding head shone in the dim light, glinting off his round glasses. The meager hairs on his head were wild, growing in every direction. His cheeks were covered in a day's stubble and his blue eyes shone with excitement. "Because he was smart, unlike you."
"Yes I suppose he was very intelligent. Where did you hide out?"
"Near Alkali Lake, in the forest."
"I see, did you have any friends?"
"No. Yes. There were three that were close to Magneto, so they were close to me."
"Who?"
Pyro looked at the doctor.
"Ah, of course, Brotherhood secrets. Anything else you can remember about the camp?"
Pyro didn't answer. He didn't want to spill his heart in front of these bozos, how could they understand? They were just here to make sure he wasn't going to set any big important buildings on fire. Pyro hadn't really thought about what he was going to do when the war was over; he'd always supposed the Brotherhood would win. He shifted his feet and leaned back against the wall again.
"John?" Dr. Holdhelm looked into Pyro's face. "The camp?" Storm placed her hand on Dr. Holdhelm's shoulder. "It's okay, you tried." She picked up the chair and put it behind her, then stood in front of Pyro. Not turning to look at the others, she spoke, "May I have a moment alone with him?" The rest of the group slowly dissipated out of the room, Beast was the last to go. He shut the door with a worried look on his face.
Storm stepped closer to Pyro, her eyes searching his face. "John, what will it take for you to tell us the names of the other mutants?"
Pyro lifted his eyes to hers. "The important ones you've already caught. There are no more bad guys for me to rat out. Look, you can put me in jail or whatever, just stop asking me questions and leave me alone." Storm looked at his hand, twitching on his leg. "Alright, I'll tell them. I really hate to see you doing this John. You were such a good student. A little on the wild side, but you were smart."
"Don't make me out to be a hero, I chose my side."
"Fine." Storm turned. When she reached the door, she paused. "I should tell you Cassandra's been waiting outside your door the entire night. She really wanted to talk with you." She heard Pyro pick his head up and walk forward a couple steps. "Cassandra?" Storm turned to look at him. His eyes questioned her, his mouth slightly open.
"Yes, John. She's the one who saved you. She carried you off of the island before Jean went crazy and destroyed the entire thing. Without her, you'd be dead right now." With that, Storm opened the door and slid out of the room. She nodded to the others and started walking down the hall. "We'll let him sit there for a while, let him think over what I said. He'll hopefully start talking tomorrow." Beast looked at her strangely. "What did you say?" Storm smiled. "They say love conquers all, let's see if that's true."
Pyro stood in the middle of the grey room, stunned beyond belief. Cassandra had saved him? Why had she done that? Because she loves you, his mind said. Shut up, she hates me. She hates me for going with Magneto. Pyro looked out the window. "Always saving my ass, aren't you." He whispered.
Eight Months Later…
Cassandra fell onto her bed and kicked her shoes off. It was a warm summer day but she didn't feel like going outside. She lay back, upside down, and tried to touch the top of her head to the floor. All the blood rushing to her head made her feel dizzy and nauseous. There was a knock on her door and she scrambled to see who it was. When she drew her eye back from the peephole, she grasped the doorknob slowly and opened the door.
There, standing in the doorway of her apartment, was someone she never thought she'd see again. His golden brown eyes reflected the light and threw it back like a flame. His hair was still the same, messy and blonde, and he was still wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. They stood there, silent, until he spoke. "Can I come in?" Cassandra moved aside and watched him walk into the living area. She shut the door and followed him in, sitting down on one of her couches.
The two of them were silent for a minute, Cassandra watching him and Pyro looking around the room. "Well, looks like a nice place you've got here." He said, getting comfy on the couch. Cassandra just stared. She couldn't believe he was here. She had run the conversations in her head a million times but none of them seemed to start right. She had so many things to ask him, but for some reason she held back. She didn't want to know why he had deserted her.
"Um, would you like something to drink?" She asked him, tentatively. He glanced at her, watching her eyes bore into his, then turned away. "Sure." The tension in the room followed Cassandra as she moved into the kitchen. She couldn't fill her lungs with enough air; his presence seemed to be suffocating her. The cold air from the fridge gave her the coolness she needed to deal with his overwhelming heat. The glasses in the freezer were cold and she filled one up with water, pressing the second against her forehead.
Behind her closed eyes, her mind was spastically trying to deal with his presence in her apartment. She hadn't seen him in months, ever since the end of the war. Her heart had had time to heal; seeing him again reopened those old wounds. The questions she would have asked him months ago flashed through her mind, seeming angry and foolish now. One stood out, the one thing she had to know. The glass forced itself away from her face and her hand grasped the other with grappling determination. She would ask him, hear his answer, then bid him goodbye and never see him again. Cassandra nodded inwardly, pushing any doubts away and walking into the next room.
Pyro looked up at her when she walked through the door. She seemed changed somehow, if possible, harder. Her eyes, that had seemed so fragile when he had first entered the apartment, looked worked over and stony; she was indifferent to him. But something in her gaze made him reconsider this initial reaction, that maybe there was a spark of pity, of the love she once had for him. The way she turned her head as she gave him the glass intrigued him. She had always been a mystery to him, one he couldn't unravel like he had so many others. There was some chance that he might make it out of her maze yet, so he took a breath and walked into the labyrinth.
He accepted the glass with a nod of thanks and took a sip, watching her across the table. The silence was broken by the shifting of feet; they both adjusted their seating and looked away. Finally, Pyro placed the glass on the table and sat back. Cassandra stared at his hand, rested on the back of the couch. His words broke the substantial silence.
"I know you hate me. I don't deserve to see you again after… what I did. Just know that I did it for myself, it had nothing to do with you." He saw her eyes turn, vehemently gazing into his own.
"Then why did you leave?" She asked softly, her voice shaking.
"Because I had to, there was no one at the school who recognized my talent. Only Magneto saw me and acknowledged my power. The idiots at school would have taught me nothing about life, they would have tried to control me and stifle me. Magneto was a good teacher; he showed me things I never would have experienced at that school. Life was exciting with him." Cassandra stared blindly at him, indignation on her face.
"I recognized your talent. I knew how much power you held and I acknowledged it. I loved you and you abandoned me." These last words struck their mark, but she went on.
"After you left I had no idea where you had gone. They told me and I didn't believe it at first, I couldn't. But I thought about it, about you, and I realized that you were hungry for freedom. I blamed myself for pushing you away. I analyzed every little argument we had had. I tore myself apart." Her eyes flared, fury rising in them. Her fingers touched the couch and sparks flew off them and were absorbed into the furniture.
"But you, you were having the time of your life, weren't you? While the rest of us mourned and prepared ourselves for Magneto, you were partying and rebelling your heart out. Did you once stop to think about me while you fought us?"
Pyro leaned forward on his knees, elbows resting on his thighs. "I thought about you every day. I tried to write or send a message, but Magneto was too sharp and it might have given away our position; it was too risky. Cassandra, I understand what you went through…"
"Don't tell me you understand me. You have no idea what you did to me. When I found you before Jean… I wanted to leave you there. I wanted you to die."
"Why did you save me then?"
Cassandra stood and walked over to the window. Pyro stood as well, but didn't move. They stood in silence for a minute. Pyro walked forward a step, his hands in his pockets. "I came here to ask for your forgiveness. I made a mistake, I know that. I… I love you." Cassandra didn't turn around. Pyro made to step forward, but hesitated. He turned and walked towards the door.
"John…" The sound of his name made him stop. He hadn't been called John since he had been at the school. At the Brotherhood camp you had to use your mutant name. The sound of her voice speaking his name yanked on his heart. It felt like it was about to explode into flames. His body turned to her, his eyes on her face. A tear had worked its way down her face and she hurriedly wiped it off.
"I forgive you." Pyro couldn't believe his ears. The one person who wouldn't forgive in a million years was standing there, crying and telling him it was okay. Cassandra backed up a little as he walked towards her, not sure what he was going to do. He held out his hand and she hesitated, and then grasped it. They pulled each other into an embrace, clutching the other as if the world was ending around them. All the tension evaporated into the air as they squeezed the life out of one another.
"John, I was so scared. I never want to lose you again." Pyro held her as close to him as their physical bodies would permit. His heat enveloped her and her fingers shocked his back where they touched him, making him twitch against her. "Sorry," she said, pulling back from him.
"Ow! You should be, those things sting!" Cassandra laughed for the first time. "Still the same old egocentric dickhead, aren't you? At least you haven't changed." They stood, holding each other, looking into their eyes. Pyro felt overwhelmed and bent forward, pressing his lips softly on hers. Cassandra leaned into him, inhaling his familiar scent of burning wood and heated clothing. She relaxed in his arms and he held her tighter, still hesitantly kissing her. After a while he pulled away, leading her to the couch. They both sat down and Cassandra curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder. John calmed down, his breathing returning to normal. He hugged Cassandra close to him until she coughed and he let go.
"Sorry."
"It's okay, just try not to choke me to death."
John chuckled and leaned his head back, closing his eyes, back once more with the woman he loved.