1Title: Further Down the Road (Final!)
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-13
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. Mackenzie is made up by me.
Note: I know I mentioned that Eden was the sister that died, but because it bugs me, Mary is the sister that died, not Eden. And I didn't proofread this chapter. Sorry.
--
John was gone. Actually, he probably should have expected it, knowing it was John, and his... No. The last time he blamed it on a disorder, John left. But this time, he had left before he had mentioned said disorder. What had he done wrong this time?
Either way, his absence had hung in the room like smoke, the same way it had six years earlier when Bobby returned from Alkali. When he woke up this morning, Bobby knew something was wrong as he laid in John's bed, on John's favorite pillow, but the other mutant wasn't gone. He knew John well enough to know that John would move him to his own bed sometime in the middle of the night, he always had.
Bobby sat quietly, surrounded by the excess of pillows and blankets that John insisted he have and buried his face in his palms. He maneuvered out of the tangle of two comforters and put on his boxers after picking them up from the floor, then reached for his jeans and pulled them on.
--
"Daddy?"
I'm not your Dad. "Yes, Mackenzie?" John sighed. He'd been driving for hours and was only in Maryland, not even halfway to Florida.
"I gotta potty." Said the girl from the back seat on the passenger side as she held her monkey.
"Alright." John spoke, pulling into the first rest stop he got to and moved around the car to get her out. After they left the men's room, He got her a happy meal from McDonald's and got himself yet another cup of coffee and returned to his truck. He sat Mackenzie next to her car seat and told her to eat while he took out his cell phone and dialed his sister's number. "Hey Eden...yeah, I'm fine... Yeah, she's doing great... In a second, I want you to... Yeah... Actually, I called because I'm heading down there... Yes, to Florida... something happened in New York... Well, I can drive until about nine tonight, and I guess I'll start at five, so I should be able to get there by five tomorrow, with any luck... Yeah, I'll be fine driving all day. A few cigarettes and a hell of a lot more coffee, I can do it... "I'll call you when we stop tonight... Alright, here. Hey, before I let her talk, do you mind if we stay with you until I find a place?... Alright.. Okay. Here." He spoke into the phone, then handed the phone to Mackenzie, "It's Aunt Eden, she wants to talk to you." He said before moving tot he drivers seat and putting his coffee in the cupholder as the child spoke into the phone.
--
Bobby seated himself in the seat between Jubilee and Pietro where John normally sat at meals. "Where is he?"
"Whatareyoutalkingabout?" Pietro asked, giving Bobby a funny look as he stuffed his mouth with another spoonful of cereal.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Bobby snapped, Pietro jumped and scooted closer to June, who sat on the other side of him.
"No I don't." Pietro practically growled. Bobby lurched toward the student threateningly with an iced fist, causing Pietro to jump back more, falling onto June,
"Hey!" June yelled, standing up as he glass of water spilled into her lap.
"Bobby." Jubilee warned as he grabbed Bobby's arm. "Stop it. He doesn't know.
"Yeah, coolit,man." Pietro said in his defense.
"What has gotten into you, Bobby?" Jubilee asked, standing up and pulling Bobby out of the cafeteria. "Bobby, what happened?"
"He's gone."
"Well, I got that."
"Then what do you want?"
"He came into our room around three and woke me up. He said he was taking Mackenzie. I don't know here he's going or where he is now. I called him this morning but he ignored it." She said, shaking her head. "My guess is that he went back to Baltimore, but I can't be sure, and if you want to say anything to him, leave him a voicemail before he changes his number."
--
John glanced to the back seat and noticed that Mackenzie had fallen asleep and didn't look like she would wake up any time soon, so he turned up the radio to drown out the sound of passing cars. Then a loud jingle rang throughout the car from his cell phone, waking up Mackenzie. He had a new voicemail. Mackenzie quirmed as he picked up his phone and put in is pin number, before listening.
"You have four messages. New messages. Message from number 654-555-0945. Listen now?" Came the mechanical voice, John pushed the green button on his phone. He knew it was Bobby, and he felt strangely angry, but also a little excited.
"Daddy?"
I'm NOT your dad! "Just a minute, Kenzie." John said as he listened to the mechanical voice again.
"Message received at Three: forty seven (3:47) PM."
There was a fuzzy noise on the message, of which John assumed was a sight and then a weary voice. "John... I guess this is my fault... again. But, um, I don't know where you're going, so I don't know how long it'll be before I talk to you, so I'm gonna say all I think needs to be said now. Buckle your seatbelt, eat healthy, remember I'm here if you need me, and Mackenzie looks up to you. Little pitchers have big ears and sunshine is good for you. Work hard at everything you do and treat others how you want to be treated. I love you, and don't be afraid to call anytime, day or night, if you ever need me. Eat five fruits and veggies a day and drink eight glasses of water a day. Umm… I don't know what else to say. But I love you, and take care of yourself." Bobby said, his voice was unsteady and he chuckled at the end "God, I can't believe I said all that." Was muttered quietly, and John wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear it or not.
"Johnny? You still there?" it was Jubilee's voice now and she sounded cheerful. "It's me, um, make sure you eat well, because I'm not there to get your meals for you, and make sure you take good care of Kenzie, because you really are her father. I don't have much to say. You can count on me too, if you ever need me. Don't be so hard on yourself, you're not a bad guy. Believe me when I say that you deserve better than you think. Say Hi to your sister, because I can only assume that's where you're going. Oh! One more thing. Please call Pietro, he's not acting upset, he's just... detached, a little frantic. Let him know you're okay. And call me back, you might be interested in what Bobby did when he found out you were gone." She chuckled slightly and there was a beep.
The line went dead with a soft humming dial tone, then the mechanical voice came back, "Save message? To save, press seven, to return call, press three, to erase message, press one." John easily pushed seven, unsure of whether to call back or not. Regardless, he ended his voicemail call and his speed dial two, Pietro's number.
--
Bobby found it hard sleeping that night. The room was uncomfortably silent, without the gentle wheeze of John's breathing or the slight static of his MP3 player coaxing the other man into sleep.
Why hadn't he stayed angry at John? Why had he let himself trust John when he showed up with an underage boyfriend? Why did he let himself fall for John? Why did he tell Warren? Why did he listen to Warren? Why did he come on to John, just the night before?
Why had John have sex with him last night? Why hadn't John called him back? Why did John run away again? Where was John going? Would he ever see or hear from him again?
Bobby rolled over and Hugged the fake down pillow and snuggled further into sheets that still smelled like John, trying to force himself to fall asleep.
--
"Johnny!" Eden moved around the small counter quickly toward her younger brother. "You're earlier than I expected."
"I'm glad. I am so tired of driving."
"Well, let me help you get out the stuff you need to stay here. You're gonna stay in Mary's old room, but Mackenzie's gonna have to share with you or me because the new part timer is in the other spare room. There's a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and two bedrooms up on the third floor, and a storeroom converted bedroom on the second, so we have a full house. Have you thought about getting a job down here too? My god, I'm babbling, sorry." She shook her head as they headed outside to John's truck.
"I'm gonna have to get a job If I'm gonna get an apartment somewhere. I don't think I wanna go back to teaching though."
"Well, I am a little short handed without Mary..."
"Eden, I'm afraid of sewing machines, I can't make costumes for you."
"No, but you could run the store for me while I make costumes."
"How much are you paying?" John asked as they carried all six parts of Mackenzie's crib up the three flights of stairs with a limited amount of struggling
"Well, how's a roof over your head and food in your mouths? It's a little crowded, but If you can pull your weight around here, it's definitely okay with me."
"You sure?"
"Of corse! You're my brother, Johnny, you're always welcome here!" John smiled and hugged her as they reached the first floor once again.
"What would I do without you?"
"God only knows." Replied Eden. She and John were nearly identical, except for the whole male/female thing.
"Hey, Eden, where'd you put that new prop commission?"
"Damien, this is my little brother, John."
"Hi!" The newly arrived male waved ecstatically "I'm Damien." He said in a voice that was a mixture of hyper childishness and flamboyancy. He was tall, skinny, wore a tee shirt that wasn't too loose, but was just tight enough to look cute, and blue jeans with doodles and writing all over them, to top it all off he was wearing black cat ears. John looked him up and down twice and extended a hand to shake,
"Nice to meet you." he said with a devious smirk. Eden watched him and smacked him up side the head.
"Stop cruising the part timer! He's too young for you." John shook his head in sesbelif, his jaw dropped even though he was grinning.
"Hey! My last boyfriend was sixteen!" Damien turned and left, John watched him go as Kenzie tugged on his jeans, "What is it?"
"What can I do?" Mackenzie had gotten into the habit of wanting to help with EVERYTHING.
"Kenzie, why don't you come car Mr. Jungle upstairs?" John offered, glancing at Damien again and heading back out to his truck.
--
Well, that's all! I might do an epilogue, like, six months. A year later. But that's probably it. Thanks for reading, and if you have any requests for me to do a deleted scene or whatever related to this story, lemme know, and I'll be sure to try it for you.