I'm so so sorry this wasn't updated sooner, but I have been either in the car or dealing with family all week. Next chapter shouldn't take as long. As always, thanks to anyone who favs, follows, reviews, and/or reads! I love you all so much.
Everything about Bobby's house was surprisingly ordinary after all that had just happened. Well, there wasn't any reason for it to be different since Bobby's parents were normal and didn't even know their son was a mutant, but still, it was weird being back in a normal house.
"Here are some clothes," Bobby said, setting a plain shirt and pair of jeans on the coffee table by Matt, who was still in the sweatpants he had slept in.
Matt smiled and said, "Thanks. I really need to stop borrowing your clothes, don't I?"
Bobby shrugged. "It's fine. We really didn't have time to grab a change of clothes." He then turned and left, probably to get everyone else some clothes. Matt went into the bathroom and changed, also taking the opportunity to run some cold water over his face.
He then took to pacing the living room—he couldn't bear to sit any longer after being cramped in the car for so long—wondering what they were going to do next. They obviously couldn't go back to the school, which was compromised, but Matt didn't have anywhere else to go. Would the men who attacked the school follow them? What had they wanted? What was with Logan and that Stryker guy?
Wondering about those questions wasn't getting him anywhere, yet he realized that he was hungry. Matt wandered to the kitchen, but as he was going through the entry hall, three people walked in. He assumed that they were Bobby's mother, father, and brother. Matt jumped a bit but managed to restrain himself and not use his powers on them. He didn't want to be the jerk that threw his friend's family through a window.
"Who are you?" Bobby's mom accused.
"I'm Bobby's friend, from school," Matt said.
"And what are you doing here?" Mr. Drake questioned.
Thankfully, Bobby then came down the stairs, followed by Rogue. "Oh, mom, hi," Bobby said, seeing his family. His mom looked questioningly at him. "Um, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do."
And that's how Matt found himself in probably the most awkward family meeting ever. He could tell that Bobby's parents were trying not to freak out, but they totally were. It could be worse, he thought sarcastically, at least your son hasn't knocked someone up or killed anybody.
"Have you tried, not being a mutant?" Bobby's mom asked hopefully. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that.
Suddenly, Bobby's brother, Ronnie or something like that—probably short for Ronald, Matt guessed, so the parents went with the same letter trend with Robert and Ronald—stood up and stalked off upstairs. Matt wondered what that was about, but realized it could be many things: annoyance, anger, fear, or even jealousy. Matt thought about following him in order to get out of the tension in the living room, but he didn't want to deal with a moody teenager either.
Then, the sound of a phone ringing went through the living room. Logan, after a moment of shock, said, "Oh, that's me, excuse me for a moment." He pulled the weird device from the car out of his pocket and went out on the porch. So it is a communicator.
After a minute, Logan came back in and said, "We have to get out of here."
"Why?" Rogue said, jumping up.
"What's happening?" Mrs. Drake asked worriedly. "What did you do?" she asked Bobby.
"It was your other son who called the cops," Logan said gruffly, grabbing John and Bobby's arm. Matt and Rogue followed him.
"Why? We aren't doing anything illegal," Rogue said.
They stepped out onto the porch to see the front yard covered in cop cars, with cops pointing guns at them. Logan shot out his claws.
Well that was quick. I swear, if one more person shoots at me, Matt thought angrily.
"Sir, put the knives down," a cop said front behind the porch swing.
"I can't" Logan said.
"Sir, I will only tell you one time," the cop said shakily.
"I said I can't!" Logan said, taking a step towards the cop. The cop shot him right in the middle of the forehead.
"Holy shit!" Matt yelled, looking down at Logan's body. Panicked, he flung his arm out, sending the cop who had shot flying. "Is he dead?" he asked as Rogue reached down to feel his pulse, not taking her gloves off. Rogue shook her head. "But—"
"Everyone get down!" another cop yelled through a megaphone.
Matt looked at the others, and Bobby nodded. He slowly laid down on the porch, putting his hands only loosely behind his head. Bobby and Rogue did the same, but John just stood there holding his lighter.
"John, no," Matt warned, realizing what he was thinking. Throwing a cop off a porch was one thing, but throwing fire at them was another.
"You know those dangerous mutants you always hear about on TV?" John asked loudly with a smirk on his face. "Well I'm the most dangerous one of them all." He flicked the lighter on and made the fire grow before shooting a ball of it at a police car. Matt threw his hand out and tried to stop it, but he couldn't control the fire. He remembered a lesson from science class that fire wasn't an object, but a reaction that released energy. The car flipped in a glorious explosion, the fire urged on by John's powers.
Matt pulled the nearby cops out of the way, who looked around in confusion to see themselves suddenly yards from their car, which was now on fire. "John, stop!" he yelled.
John ignored him and threw two more fireballs. Matt again could only move the men out of the way of the blast.
What was John thinking? Every cop car has a camera, so they were totally being exposed. But then again, he definitely seemed the theatrical type that liked to make a scene. Still, it couldn't go on like this—someone could seriously get hurt.
He hated to do it, but he had to stop John. He used his powers to take the lighter from John, who turned to him angrily. "I told you to stop," Matt said, standing up. John made as if to hit Matt, but he simply stopped the punch in mid-air before pushing John back with his powers. "Put the fires out," he ordered angrily.
John snorted and started to lunge at him, but suddenly Rogue's ungloved hand was on his arm. John turned really pale as Rogue turned towards the yard, her face tight in concentration. She held a hand out and the fires started dying down. So that's her power, Matt realized. She steals other's powers.
Suddenly, Logan stood up, with only a small line of blood on his forehead as a sign he'd been shot.
"What the heck?" Matt exclaimed. "Aren't you dead?" Logan must have some sort of insanely quick healing power along with the claws. Matt knew that he could heal, but he didn't think he could survive a direct shot to the forehead. Maybe he's just hardheaded.
Logan ignored him as an airplane landed in Bobby's front yard. It was the cool military type that had jets underneath it so that it didn't need a runway to land or takeoff.
With the fires now all out, Rogue let go of John's arm. John swayed for a moment, obviously somehow drained from Rogue, before gathering his bearings and standing up. "Lighter," he ordered Matt, holding his hand out.
"What, so you can set more stuff on fire?"
"Just give him the damn thing," Logan said as he started walking towards the plane.
Matt sighed and threw John the lighter. The other three teens were already heading towards the airplane. "Wait, we're riding that?" he asked. "Whose plane even is that?"
"The school's," Logan said. "Now get your butt on it, unless you want to stay here." The other three teens had already boarded. Matt looked back at Ronnie and his parents looking out of the upstairs window, their eyes wide with fear and disbelief. This is why I never told my family, he thought, and I never will.
Matt turned and headed towards the plane.
Next chapter sees some new characters, including Magneto!
