"A falling star
Fell from your heart
And landed in my eyes.
I screamed aloud
As it tore through them
And now it's left me blind."
Bobby paused as he heard the familiar voice sound through one of the doors of the mansion. He turned and knocked on the door, almost not realizing that it was Rouge and Kitty's room. Kitty was the one to open the door and Bobby asked,
"What are you listening to?"
"Isabelle Winston," Kitty blushed. "I bought one of her CDs when we went to go talk to her. Even if she knows John, she's a pretty good singer."
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
But then, it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I became
Bobby sighed. He had never told anyone what had happened when he went to see John and Isabelle. Kitty returned to the mansion without him and all anyone knew was that he spent those two weeks in Nevada. Bobby looked Kitty in the eye,
"Are you ever going to ask about the night I went to see them?"
"No," Kitty said, eyes darkening.
"If you ever wonder about it, come find me," Bobby said icily.
He left Kitty standing in the bedroom doorway. Kitty sighed and closed the door kind of roughly, flopping down on her bed.
"Was that Bobby?" Rouge asked, looking up from her homework.
"Yeah," Kitty said.
"What did he want?" the girl asked, curious to why her boyfriend had stopped by.
"He wanted to know where I got my CD," was all Kitty said.
Rouge sighed and put her pen down. She stacked her homework in a neat pile then joined Kitty on her bed.
"What's wrong?"
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
Kitty sighed herself and asked, "Did Bobby ever tell you about the two weeks he spent in Nevada?"
"No," Rouge said. "I know the Professor sent you two out there for something, but that's it."
"The Professor sent me and Bobby out to Nevada to talk to a woman named Isabelle Winston," Kitty began. "She was preforming at a concert and Bobby and I had to wait backstage until she was done. We waited a while and when we finally got to talk to her, she wasn't anything like we expected."
"Why did you have to go talk to her in the first place?" Rouge asked.
"Professor Xavier received some information that Isabelle might be in a relationship with Pyro, John. He sent us to make sure that she wasn't being duped into thinking that he's someone he's not."
Rouge's eyes were wide.
"He sent you to disrupt this woman's life on the mere suspicion that she might be involved with John?"
"We didn't think anything of it," Kitty shrugged.
"So what happened?" Rouge asked.
"Isabelle knew everything we knew about John. More, even. She knew about the Brotherhood and that John had killed a few people."
"Wait, what has this got to do with Bobby disappearing?" Rouge asked.
"Isabelle said she was really tired that night. She said that we could stop by her house if we wanted the whole story. I think that's where Bobby went."
"Why didn't you go with him?"
"John left us for the Brotherhood. I don't want anything to do with him."
"Kitty," Rouge sighed. "You have to understand that John made his decision for his own reasons. His life here at the mansion wasn't exactly perfect. Bobby was his only friend; none of the teachers liked him much. Cyclops and Logan especially."
"So that means just runs off with Magneto the first chance he gets?" Kitty asked sitting up.
"It's because Magneto could give John something we never could," a voice said from the doorway.
Neither of the girls had heard Bobby return and enter the room.
"What couldn't we give him?" Kitty asked harshly. "We all tried to be his friend; to watch his back. And he just left us!"
I took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too
So I stayed in the darkness with you
Bobby shook his head and sank onto Rouge's bed on the opposite side of the room.
Understanding," the man said. "We couldn't give him understanding."
"What didn't we understand?" Kitty asked, rising to her feet.
"Calm down," Rouge said, pulling the other girl back down on the bed.
"John comes from a broken home," Bobby said. "We never understood that despite his power, John still felt helpless. Magneto understands that more than we ever could."
"How do you know?" Rouge asked quietly.
"I spent two weeks with Isabelle and John; Erik visited a few days to make sure they were doing alright. He does that often apparently."
"So Magneto understands him," Kitty said. "So what?"
"When John was six he watched his father beat his mother. His mother defended herself with a shotgun. He, his mother, and his little sister spent the next five years running," Bobby said.
"I didn't know John had a sister," Rouge muttered.
"She was two when they started running," Bobby continued. "When he was eleven, they were living on the streets in Chicago. Someone tried to attack them for an extra blanket they had and his mother stabbed the guy. When he kept coming, John's lighter blew up in his hands and cooked the guy alive."
"So? I understand that," Kitty said. "My powers scared me too."
"No, you don't understand, Kitty. You fell through a floor, John killed somebody. You pity him, not understand him. You think you can fix him, make him better just because he's your friend."
"I don't pity him!" Kitty nearly shouted.
"Yes you do," Bobby said firmly. "You think that if someone doesn't fit into one of your circles on organization, then they need to be 'fixed'."
"What's your point?" Kitty snarled.
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
"My point is that John may have made some mistakes, but he's learned from them and he wouldn't have what he has if he hadn't."
"And what does he have that's so great?"
"A family," Bobby said cryptically.
Kitty was speechless. Rouge just sighed.
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
Bobby sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose to try and stop the oncoming headache. His cell phone vibrated and the iceman had to stop to pull it out of his shoe. He flipped it open and read the message.
From: John
We're in town. Gale wants you.
Bobby was quick to reply.
To: John
Where are you?
The reply came almost instantly and Bobby had to laugh.
From: John
In the damn driveway. Get out here.
Bobby tucked the phone back into his sneaker and headed downstairs. He caught Storm in the kitchen.
"Storm," Bobby said. "I'm going out for a bit, alright?"
"Sure," she agreed. "Where are you going?"
"No idea," Bobby grinned.
The iceman dashed off before Storm could protest. By the time Bobby reached the driveway, a sleek red 2010 Camaro had drawn the attention of a bunch of students.
And, unfortunately, Logan.
The Wolverine was watching from only a short distance away and when he spotted Bobby he beckoned the iceman over.
"Who's car?" Logan growled.
"Isabelle Winston's," Bobby said. "She's a friend of mine."
"It smells like ash," Wolverine grumbled.
"So? Isabelle has a cigarette from time to time," Bobby lied, thanking whoever would listen that the windows were too tinted to see through.
"If you say so, kid," the man snuffed.
Bobby walked to the car, hoping that John had slid into the back so the iceman could slip into the car without suspicion. Bobby popped open the car door and slid in to the empty passenger seat.
"Hi, Bobby," Isabelle said from the driver's side.
"Took you long enough to get here," John said from the back seat.
"Only cause Logan stopped me," Bobby said.
"What did he want?" John asked, suddenly serious.
"He just wanted to know who was in the car. I told him it was my good friend Isabelle Winston," Bobby explained.
"You know that's not my name," Isabelle chided.
"It's what the cover of your CD says," Bobby said smugly.
Isabelle blushed, trying to back out of the driveway.
"Shut up."
"Flowa! Flowa!" a small voice said.
Bobby turned further in his seat to see Gale strapped into a car seat.
"Hi, Gale," Bobby said sweetly. "Is she ever going to stop calling me Flower?"
"Probably not," John said.
"Where are we going?" the iceman asked once they were out on the open road.
"Isabelle's playing in Central Park tonight," John said. "I'm not going alone."
"So you decided to kidnap me?" Bobby joked.
"What did I tell you?" Isabelle asked. "If you were being kidnapped-"
"I'd never know it. I know. You worry me when you talk you like that."
"She should," John said.
Bobby rolled his eyes and relaxed back into his seat.
"Wait," he said. "What are you going to do with Gale?"
"She's going with us," Isabelle said. "She always does."
"Oh. You guys aren't worried she'll get hurt?"
"What?" John asked. "You expect us to be out in the crowd? Not on your life. Isabelle's fans are crazy."
"Not as crazy as your fans," Isabelle smirked.
Bobby's eyebrows shot into his hairline.
"You have fans?" he asked John.
"He sure does," Isabelle said smugly.
"Why?"
"We played a concert in Los Angeles about a year ago. My bass player, Jordie, was sick, so John filled in for him. Some of the girls in the crowd thought John was the hottest thing since sliced bread."
By this time Isabelle was laughing as she told the story. John was sulking in the back.
"They've followed us to every concert since, hoping that John will fill in again."
Bobby couldn't help himself and doubled over as far as his seatbelt would let him in laughter.
"Yeah, yeah," John growled. "Laugh it up and see if I don't toast your ass."
"Not in my car, you won't," Isabelle said.
