Temporal Train
Chapter Three
****
"HE'S WHAT!" Logan roared at Storm that rang all the way down the hall. Looking defiantly at the headmistress, Logan felt his muscles getting tense and with a sudden impulse his claws came out involuntarily.
Seeing Logan react that way Storm beckoned the wind to shut the door abruptly before he can leave and cause a bigger commotion than he already did. Little did she know, using such a force had gathered curious students out in the hall, attempting to listen in on the adult conversation.
"He's in the medical ward." Ororo stated calmly, nodding slowly trying to not provoke the savage man even more.
"What's that traitor doing back here?" Logan asked as he turned back to look at Storm, his claws retracting.
Logan had no tolerance for any member of the Brotherhood, former student or not. Ever since Alcatraz, ever since he felt the warm flesh of Jean's blood on his claws and saw the woman he loved die for nothing, he was not the same person. It is a lot easier to blame someone else than face your own grief and that was what Logan did. Every bit of him believes that if Magneto and his army had not provoked and influenced Jean she would still be alive today.
"They don't have the equipment to treat him at a regular facility. He's a mutant; no one is qualified to medically care for him." She did not know why she was trying to explain this to him, it's not like he would listen anyway. As if pleading with him, Storm looked at Hank McCoy for help in clearing up the situation. On cue, Hank got up and looked at Logan with a seriousness that exuded the man.
"Logan, think of it this way, what hospital in their right mind would take in a mutant who not too long ago they saw burning flying cars? We had no choice, we had to interject. There was no way the state was going to pay to have a medical ward built for a mutant extremist member let alone having to build one that is completely fireproof." Hank McCoy had the ability to explain quantum physics to squirrels and still get them to understand so trying to explain the concept of public fear and outcry to Logan was no different.
Shaking his head with disapproval and knowing that he was outnumbered, Logan gave in, "fine," he hated admitting defeat, " but the minute fire ant recovers I want him outta here."
Understanding what Logan meant, Ororo and Hank exchanged an awkward glance and turned back to the angry wolverine. "Uhh, there's some repercussions with that," Storm started very quickly.
"John was a minor when he was indicted. He barely turned eighteen after the hearing," she stopped briefly to see if Logan understood that, "so therefore; he can't go to prison while awaiting trial. No juvenile hall is prepared to take on the financial constraints of having a mutant that can start fires."
"Wait a minute, "Logan started, "So what you're telling me is that we're stuck with that sonuvabitch?"
"I wouldn't say stuck, but we are accountable for him," Hank said adding to Logan's confusion.
"Meaning?" Logan was trying to grasp the concept or at the very least trying to accept it.
"Meaning that we're responsible for any misbehavior that happens to him until his court date and sentencing, we're also responsible for any bodily harm done to him by anti-mutant groups," Ororo finished the thought for him much quicker than she had anticipated.
"Ah, fuck, I gotta play babysitter to him now?" Logan said the hateful disdain evident in his voice.
"Well, ideally, yes," Storm responded, dancing around the subject, not wanting to anger the man.
"It's our only option, Logan. The president is aware of the situation and trusts my judgment." Hank was always so sure of himself that it made Logan accepted the fact that now John Allerdyce, Pyro, is his charge, a job given to him by the President of the United States.
"Alright, I don't like it but I'll do to it," Logan said feeling his ears twitch, catching a small gasp in the distance, "oh one more thing," he said and walked over to the door, unsheathing his claws and aggressively pierced the door with it, knowing perfectly well that it was just going to pierce hard metal and not flesh.
After hearing a sudden scream, he retracted his claws and opened the door to reveal Robert Drake, Jubilation Lee, Katherine Pryde, and Peter Rasputin huddled near the door, Peter with a shocked look on his face, in full metallic armor, was moments away from getting stabbed by the sharp alamantium claws and Katherine Pryde, who let the scream escape her earlier, had her hands held tightly over her mouth.
"Who wants to tell the kids?" Logan added smugly. He loved intimidating the students.
*****
Sundays, he hated Sundays. Sundays meant that everything had to be done, all the I's had to be dotted and there was never room for error. There was no such thing as error when dealing with his special clients on Sundays. There were times when he felt so overwhelmed, so nervous, that he contemplated quitting only to be reminded of how special his clients were and how destructive quitting would be to him and his family.
Walking up to the grand building, guarded by two gargoyle statues on either side of the door, he double checked everything in his head one last time before placing his hand on the oversized knocker to indicate his arrival.
With a loud creaking sound, the door opened slightly with no one greeting him. He was use to this; this is how it always is. The fifteen years of work that he had done for these clients did not provide him anymore comfort as he walked into the large mansion and made his way to the familiar passageway leading to the grand ballroom.
"Hello, everyone," he said dropping his briefcase on the table and pulled out the items requested of him. Very ceremoniously, the tall imperial man who commanded the room walked over to the table to examine the said items. He had an air about him that just screamed ruthless and grandeur, indicated by his overpriced charcoal gray suit he wore and the crest on his right ring finger.
"Excellent work," he said, moving a wisp of his auburn and slightly thinning hair out of his eyes, his ascot did no move as he did so because of how precisely pressed it was. Handing the papers over to the woman who accompanied him for her to examine, he turned to face the visitor again.
The woman was beautiful, no one could deny that. In fact there were times he would think about her smooth supple body that was wrapped in white silk and organza and her long always perfectly in place hair, and just gaze at her but always as if on cue she would stare at him as if she knew. There was something about the way that she looked at him, as though unraveling and examining every nervous shudder he had, intimidating him. If the tall gentleman was ruthless, she was even crueler.
"It's all there," the guest said, not hiding his fear. "Just as you called for."
Without even looking at the papers the woman walked gracefully over and circled him, sizing him up and down like she always did for the past fifteen years. Truth be told even though the gentleman earlier was larger and strongly built with an air that screamed privileged and ambition, he was more afraid of what the woman can do.
"Well, Mr. Hartley, I'm sure you know what this means then," she said, her voice equally matched by her beauty, resonant and regal.
"Yes, everything is put into place, the group has been summoned," Tom Hartley told her, he was telling the truth but if he lied for some reason he knew that she can sense it.
"Very good," the king of a man said as he stood next to his beauty. "Now, there is just one interference that might postpone our agenda," he said and looked to his queen who just nodded, "the X-Men, how much of a nuisance are they?"
"Don't worry," she spoke before Tom Hartley can say a word. "We'll find out soon enough, after all, how much damage can they do now that there are so few of them," she spoke with such malice in her voice. "Our only threat was Xavier and the Phoenix and now they're dead." Turning to Tom Hartley and lifting her head up, allowing him to see the full nature of how spiteful she can be, she handed him a document in a manila envelope, indicating that she was done with him.
Without needing any instructions, Tom Hartley exited the mansion, knowing full well what the contents in the envelope contained and what he is to do next.
*****
"Nor will it ever upset me to remember Dido so long as I can remember who I am, so long as the breath of life controls these limbs," Rogue read out loud to the class as instructed by Storm. Paying more attention to her voice and the way her hair swayed instead of her words, he found himself staring longingly at her again. While he loved her and respected her, he still had difficulties at times separating her mind from her perfectly lean body. Bobby paid close attention to the way she moved as she was about to sit back down until Storm gave her a look that told her to stay standing, no doubt punishment for running off earlier.
"Now, Rogue, can you please tell me what Virgil was trying to convey to the readers concerning this line," Storm asked her waiting for an intelligent answer. It had been like this for most of their classical literature class; Storm had directed almost every question at her and gave her the privilege of reading select passages. He almost felt sorry for her until he reminded himself that he didn't have to be the one to do it.
"Well, Aeneus is referring to Dido's suicide," Rogue answered back, not entirely too confident with her response that was made evident by her shaking voice.
"Thank you, sit down," she instructed her to do so which Rogue obeyed. Feeling embarrassed, she lowered her head, almost afraid to look at the daunting teacher. Bobby sensed her insecurity and smiled at her, a sincere playful smile that was meant to tell her everything was going to be alright, the same smile he gave her the first day he met her, although lacking the curiosity it had back then.
She grinned lightly but instead of holding his glance she revert her eyes back to her book. Poor Rogue, he thought, guess that's what happens when you piss off Storm.
"Hey," he whispered to her trying to get her attention. "It's ok, here," he said as he made a small rose shaped ice cube on her desk. She nodded at him and he felt reassured, although he sensed a small glimpse of guilt coming from that nod.
"MR. DRAKE!" Storm raised her voice at him. "Can you elaborate on what Aeneus meant by the first line of what Rogue just read or are you too busy concentrating on botany," she said as she grabbed the ice rose and used the sail of her winds to send it out the window.
"Uhh, well, Virgil..." he stumbled, perhaps he should have been paying attention to what Rogue was reciting and not to her other assets. "Virgil meant that Aeneus does not care about Dido," he stammered hoping his illogical response was correct. Although usually bright and inventive during class, there were times when Bobby would slip and let his bored mind entertain thoughts of recreational activities.
"I so totally agree," Kitty Pryde added to Bobby's obviously incomplete answer, attempting to rescue him from the force of the headmistress. "What Aeneus so meant by that is the fact that like he understands that his life is meant for a greater cause so in total effect he can't really care about Dido even though he super loves her because it'll only distract him from his fate," Kitty's intelligent answer was masked by her some what high pitched voice and an accent that grew from her suburban valley life.
"Very good, Ms. Pryde," Storm smiled, always constantly impressed by the brilliance that Katherine Pryde held. "For tomorrow I want you guys to think about the idea of fate and free will and be ready to have a discussion on it," Ororo announced as the students hurriedly packed their things and rushed out of the room, leaving a wake of loose leaf paper and broken pens in the room.
"So like what did you do?" Kitty asked Rogue as the three of them, accompanied by Peter and Jubilee, asked her as they headed to the media room to help them relieve the stress of the long school day. The media room has become an unspoken sanctuary of the older students. It was smaller than the larger, freshmen media room, but also more remote and equipped with the finer things. The underclassmen never dared set foot in the hidden media room that was adjacent to the danger room. It was one of the privileges of being a senior; there was always some unspoken special treatment that they had. Of course the fact that the underclassmen were highly intimidated by this group of upperclassmen helped, after all between the five of them they had all clocked in almost the same amount of field and battle time as the remaining faculty members.
"Nothing," she said quietly as she plopped down on the couch after grabbing a soda from the always stocked ice chest nearby that sat next to the endless array of snacks laid on the table next to it.
"Yeah right," Peter said sarcastically, walking to the wall to select an appropriate pool stick that hung next to a shelf full of blue chalk cubes. "You breaking?" He asked Bobby, watching him arrange the balls in the triangle on the velvet pool table.
"She ran away again," the cryokinetic mutant responded for her as he skillfully aimed the cue ball, the force knocking three solid colored spheres into various pockets.
"Again? Rogue, what's wrong with you? You'd think after the last time you'd learn your lesson," Jubilee wondered, taking a seat between Kitty and Rogue on the couch, watching Kitty aimlessly channel surfing.
Rogue always found it amazing that with all the channels that digital television had to offer, there never seemed to be anything to watch, it also did not help that for three girls of generally the same age, Rogue, Jubilee, and Kitty could not have been more different.
Rogue was a private person, whose dark long hair was only matched by her darker past. Having led a nomadic lifestyle before meeting Wolverine and finding the school, her continual guard was always up. Kitty, born to wealthy suburban parents who lived in a small gated community in Illinois, had the opportunity to pursue anything she wanted. Her bright expressive nature always displayed itself as she was never afraid of letting people know how she feels. Then of course, the buffer zone between the two girls, who was always constantly the mediator to their polar personalities, was Jubilee. She did not come from anything special, just a small girl from California whose pride in her Asian heritage was the smiling force behind her strong tolerance level. Regardless of how different the girls were they had a true appreciation for the qualities in each others nature that they found comforting like respect, loyalty, and of course the ever lasting bond of being teenage girls whose lives were made complicated by their mutant abilities.
Not wanting to answer Jubilee, Rogue caught a glimpse of Bobby and Peter playing pool and wondered when she and Bobby had become so disconnected with each other. Before it was Bobby who would make sure Rogue was comfortable and situated before his own needs. Before he would be so willing and excited to ask her to join him in a mutual game of pool or foosball or anything else they can do together. Now, the invitations stopped, though he never refused when she asked to join, but he stopped extending that gesture. What happened to them?
"Hello? Rogue?" Kitty waved her hand in front of Rogue's dazed eyes, "I mean seriously, what is the matter with you lately? You're like so zombie."
"Oh, sorry," Marie responded breaking out of her trance. "What was your question?"
"Never mind," Jubilee said, understanding Rogue's hesitation and when she did not want to be bothered, something that Kitty could not comprehend. "Want to play doubles?" she asked nodding her head to the boys playing pool, trying to change the tone of the conversation. Even though Rogue had known Kitty longer, Jubilee will always be the one that understood her better and for that she was grateful.
"Sure," she said tossing the pillow from her lap over to Kitty, hitting her head and as though she were in a cartoon, Kitty's had shifted from the impact and bounced back quickly, looking at Rogue.
"Hey!" Kitty squeaked playfully as the laughter of the boys drowned out her faux annoyance.
"Come on Kitty, play too, it'll give the girls a better chance at winning," Bobby asked her, re-racking the scattered patterned balls on the table. She did not know why but the way Bobby had asked Kitty bothered Rogue. It was a simple gesture, a completely honest request. Rogue was sure he did not mean anything by it but she noticed that Bobby had asked Kitty to join them; he had willingly invited her, even coaxing her.
"Puh," Colossus grunted arrogantly, "Bobby I think they have a better chance if Kitty was playing on our team." He was referring to the fact that, although bright and quick witted, it was obvious that she was athletically challenged. Some would say that for however brilliant this girl was, she made up for it by her clumsiness.
"HEY!" She shouted defensively, standing up and grabbing a pool stick, accepting their challenge. Like the perfectionist she is, Kitty Pryde refuses to fail at anything, no matter how bad she was she made herself believe she was better than she appeared. "I'm breaking," she said in a sing song voice.
Very awkwardly, the petite girl tucked a brown lock behind her ear and concentrated carefully, her eyes never leaving the white cue ball. With a big thud, she managed to break the triangle of gathered spheres but lost her balance and collapsed on the table, the sound of overconfident chuckles coming from Bobby and Peter and amused laughter from Rogue and Jubilee. Luckily, Kitty had phased herself through the table to not hurt herself or ruin the game, but the sight of her poking her head up from under the table as though she were a girl playing hide and seek only enticed more laughter. "Did I get it?" She asked and miraculously two balls fell into the right corner pocket.
"AHHH!" She screamed, jumping up and down. Her soprano voice was so high that it made Jubilee and Peter's eyes squint slightly.
Attempting to break Kitty out of delusional victory, Bobby pulled out one of the balls that fell in the pocket, "uhh, Kitty?" He tried to get the attention of the bubbly excited girl but to no avail.
"Kitty," He tried again but she just continually expressed her joyous victory by dancing about, moving her arms in circular motions while shouting her triumphant joys in an unknown tune.
"KITTY," he raised his voice and she stopped mid jumping to look at him quizzically. "You girls just lost," Bobby stated so simply and seeing the dark black ball that Bobby pulled out, Colossus bellowed loud chuckles at the girl, while holding his stomach, afraid he might double over from the hilarity of the situation.
"What do you mean I lost? It went in." Still not wanting to admit defeat she argued and went to Bobby's side, grabbing the ball out of his hands. "See, it means we're solids," she said matter of fact.
"Actually Kitty," Jubilee interjected a large smile on her lips, not really wanting to hurt the girl's feelings. "You're supposed to hit that last."
'WHAT?!" She responded back not believing that she had lost and threw the ball back onto the table.
"You're supposed to hit that in last. If you hit it in any other time you automatically lose," Jubilee tried to explain to her as she gathered the rest of the balls into a neat triangle and sharpened her pool stick with a piece of chalk. "But hey you know," she grinned wickedly, "if you want you can keep doing that little dance of yours," Jubilee said laughingly and started imitating her in a comical way, pool stick in hand.
"Yeah, I especially love this move," Colossus demonstrated by flaying his large muscular arms about teasing her.
"Very funny," Kitty said annoyed at her lack of coordination as demonstrated by Jubilee and Peter.
"Don't feel too bad Kitty," Peter comforted her; the amusement still lingered in his voice," You can't really beat Bobby at pool anyway." He said gesturing to the quiet teenager who was also trying to hold in his laughter after seeing Kitty's clearly annoyed face.
Bobby's face flushed slightly at the statement. He had never been one for compliments no matter how much of a perfectionist he was. His need to excel at everything was almost as bad as Kitty's.
"Actually," Rogue said, her eyebrows furrowing, remembering a faint memory. "He wasn't always this good," she said reminding them about Bobby's once crooked aim. "Actually, he use to always loose to.." before she could finish the thought the rest of the group stared at her as if daring her to finish, Bobby, lowering his eyes to look at the pool table, had a silent gaze that she had only seen once in his life, the day that he was pressured into battling his former roommate at Alcatraz.
Think you can take out your friend?
Logan asked Bobby who, like the obedient person he was, nodded yes. He did not want to tell Logan that he could not kill his friend, regardless of who he had become, John Allerdyce at the time still held some resemblance of a decent person in Bobby's mind. But after seeing what the merciless fiend that his former ally had become, all the respect he had for the Brotherhood member was extinguished with his flames that night. He did not want to but the truth was he had to do it. Pyro had forced his hand and he had no choice but to take him out yet the guilt still lingers over him to this day.
"Hey, Rogue," Jubilee said softly, eyeing Bobby slightly as though waiting for permission. He nodded telling her it was ok to carry on. He did not want to be the one to tell Rogue, it was a sore subject for him; he hated talking about John; it bothered him to even think about him; instead he just concentrated on the various orbs that scattered on the table, shooting each one in with precision, trying hard not to remember how his skills at billiards developed to begin with.
"Alright that's it, Drake, I've had enough," Bobby heard his roommate's angry voice thunder through the hallway. He was hiding in the large media room; Bobby was hiding because he was afraid of the repercussions of seeing John Allerdyce, even if it was his fault for the teenager's sudden anger.
"Don't think I can't find you Ice," John's adolescent voice was getting closer and he could hear approaching footsteps.
"Bobby just go talk to him, it's not going to be that bad," Rogue reassured him, paging through a magazine with her gloved fingers. Rogue had been there a month and still she did not understand his passive nature. He hated confrontation and avoided it at all cost, as opposed to his other friend who reveled in it. "Accidents happen all the time," she tried to reassure him again but he found no comfort in her words.
He did not get it; he did not understand how he can be so precise in shaping things with his powers and forming intricate sculptures but when it comes to aiming and directing his frozen energy it never seemed to work. He could not control the pressure or aim of his icy blasts and as a result his forthcoming roommate had to bear the brunt of it.
He should have seen it coming though because this was not the first time that it happened. He was in their shared room practicing at trying to control his powers, using an old dart board as target. He would have hit the board too and covered it in a frosty shell had he anticipated the faltering pressure of his flares and instead of shooting the ice at the dart board, the chilling blast fell a few feet short and froze the various objects on the nightstand that they shared. There was no sentimental attachment that either of them had to the nightstand; it was what was on the nightstand that had caused Bobby to run.
"H's going to find you eventually," Rogue coaxed him, annoyed at his childish behavior. "For Christ sakes, you froze his bed last week, it can't be that bad." Looking at her with wide eyes he shook his head up and down indicating that it can.
"What can you possibly-"she was interrupted when John Allerdyce stormed into the room holding up a frozen object in his hand that was too small for her to really see what it was, his eyes flaring and his face beet red with anger.
"Where is he?" The fifteen year old boy asked, adjusting his brown jacket and huffing. The minute Bobby heard John's voice; he ducked back in the corner of the room, hidden behind the vending machine slightly.
"John, how are you?" Rogue said coyly, getting up to stand in front of him in an attempt to block his view, knowing full well that distracting him would not work. He just looked her over once and shook his head walking as quietly as possible to see Robert Drake behind the vending machine, wide eyes and mouth opened.
"You suck at lying, Marie," he said gesturing for Bobby to come out from behind the machine. "Man, get the fuck outta there Drake and grow a pair."
Bobby stood next to Rogue, hoping just maybe he won't do anything brash with a girl in the room. John looked at both of them and very sharply displayed the cube of ice in the air to show them. When Rogue saw the source of Bobby's fear, she knew what Bobby meant when he said that it was worst. Bobby had frozen John's precious Zippo lighter and she wondered how because it seemed like it never left his side. She did not understand his obsession with the thing but he was distraught if he even thought he misplaced it, let alone have it frozen into a solid form of ice.
Tight lipped and intimidating, John stepped closer to Bobby who just looked at his shoes, trying not to catch the rage in his roommate's eyes. "What the fuck Drake?" he stated not yelling but stern sounding.
"Sorry man, it was an accident," Bobby started to rambled nervously. "I was just practicing and there was the dart board and of course its far away from my side of the room and then - I'll get you a new one I swear," he said putting both his hands up in defeat, hoping to calm John down.
"I'm sick of this ice accident bullshit," John started. "First my shoes, then the tub, now my lighter, COME ON," he said pushing Bobby towards the pool table. "You want to learn aim? You want to learn pressure control? Grab a stick."
Marie laughed at the method that John was attempting on Bobby. However true it is that John had the best control of his powers out of the two, the idea that it came from playing pool amused her.
"Yeah ya think it's funny now Rogue," he said using the pool stick to point at her, "wait till he starts freezing all your girly shit. You're not gonna be laughing," he smirked at her and she laughed back uncontrollable, watching John try to delicately burn off the ice without damaging his lighter.
The sight of the brash and reckless mutant using delicate hands to nurture a lighter made loud giggles escape her lips that she did not notice Bobby attempting to break the triangle of gathered pool balls. Bobby had not only scratched on the break but he managed to force the cue ball off the table where it hit her with a force that bruised her shoulders, causing shouts of pain to supersede her laughter.
"On second thought," John said not attempting to hide his amusement from her, "Maybe we should start with foosball, fewer casualties that way."
Letting the final eight ball sink into the deep corner pocket along with his memory of John Allerdyce, Bobby looked up to examine the now stunned Marie. Her mouth was open slightly and there was a look of disbelief in her eyes as Jubilee finished telling her about the return of John Allerdyce.
"So, that's it," the dark haired exotic looking firecracker said waiting for a response from Rogue. "He's in the medical ward right now, at least I think. They don't really tell us anything."
"But Logan should know," Kitty interjected, "Isn't he supposes to be like parole officer or something for John?"
"Pyro," Bobby corrected her, "It's Pyro, remember," he said as if changing his former friend's name had the power to erase all those years of camaraderie the two had before.
"You ok Rogue?" Peter asked her, noticing that she still have not responded or showed any sign of acknowledgement from such drastic information.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, pulling herself out of her daze, "umm, listen; I have to go catch up on some things. Logan and Storm are still pretty pissed about this morning. I'll see you guys later." She quickly said and excused herself, rushing upstairs to her room, leaving Bobby in a worried daze.
*****
Well, I needed to introduce the characters so this chapter serves that purpose for those of you that found it rather dense. I know from the flashback Bobby seems like a pansy but that's how I imagined his character would be at fifteen, absolutely nonconfronational what so ever since he is pretty passive in the movies. If you are curious the passage that Rogue read is from Virgil's the Aeneid.
Also as a side note: Thanks to tenchi and crazy4horse for the reviews, that gave me the extra momentum to finish this chapter fairly quickly.
Now I do have one request:
While I was formulating the underlying plot I realized that and this is to quote the movie "sacrifices must be made" so I decided that in order to take Rogue where I want her to be in the end I needed to kill off one of the characters. Now this is not gonna happen right away but I am having trouble debating whether or not to kill off Kitty or Jubilee. Let me know what your opinions are.
Here's some previews of chapter four:
-Rogue and John's first encounter
-Mystique and Magneto make a small appearance
-And a better understanding of Bobby and Rogue's current relationship
