Author's Note: yay…reviews again! Thank you. It really does help with the old motivation. Anyway…back to Pyro… Short chapter I'm afraid, but I just wanted to split it from the next bit.

A Little Complication

Chapter 11: Difficult Decision

Mystique cursed under her breath as she returned the scrap of paper containing that certain phone number into a folder on her desk. Sighing heavily she rolled her eyes and tilted her head back, easing it from side to side to try and work out some of the tension. She had spent more time fretting over that one sheet of paper than all the others Multiple Man had brought back from the mansion. It was ridiculous.

But then, it was Pyro. And Iceman. The shapeshifter stood slowly, stretching leisurely. He would deny it of course but the ice mutant had almost destroyed Pyro. Mentally, physically…emotionally. If there was one thing you could say about the pyrokinetic it was that he was loyal to what he cared about – and he cared about Bobby Drake. Mystique found herself wondering again if the ice mutant really did understand. Understand that Pyro had been fighting for him too. Understand that Pyro just wanted what was best for mutants – especially him. Understand just how much he had hurt him…

Mystique shook her head and turned away from her desk. What good could come from the two speaking? Pyro was better off without him. He and Multiple Man had become very close – albeit at times a little too close – but the fire mutant was content. Or he had been until the ice mutant had come back on the scene. Perhaps…

"Ugh…" the shapeshifter scowled and made her way for the door. She was fed up of her thoughts drifting back to that damned cryokinetic. She needed to go do some yoga and relax. She'd deal with it all later…

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

The mansion was in chaos. It was Saturday afternoon and the children were running riot but somehow Marie had found an unused recreation room to camp out in with her boyfriend, popcorn and a DVD player. Although she tried to pass it off as a comedy, the film she had chosen was clearly a chick flick. Not that Bobby was paying that much attention. His gaze kept wandering to the mobile phone sitting on the arm of the sofa. A slight frown crept onto his brow as he looked at it for the tenth time in as many minutes. Of course he wasn't going to ring. Bobby wouldn't. With a silent sigh he turned his attention fully to the film, resting his head lightly on Marie's as she snuggled further into his chest. Both jumped as the ice mutant's phone rang.

"Hello?" Bobby grabbed the phone from the arm of the sofa, not even looking at the screen.

"Hey Bobby!" came Kitty's voice. "Is Marie with you? Her phone's going straight to voicemail."

The ice mutant tried not to sigh as he passed the phone to his girlfriend.

"It's for you."

Marie frowned slightly and took the phone.

"Hello? Oh I'm sorry, it died and can't find my charger. I know! Yeah…no…where are you? Oh right sure…"

Bobby tuned out the rest of the conversation, tilting his head back and staring up at the ceiling. A slightly wry smile pulled at his lips. Of course here he was wondering if John was going to call him – he couldn't even guarantee that Multiple Man had given him the number. The older mutant had made no secret of not liking Bobby. A knot tightened in the ice mutant's stomach as he thought of Multiple Man but a slight shake of the head dispelled it. He snapped back to reality as Marie nudged him in the side with his phone, apparently finished her conversation with Kitty.

"Thanks," the ice mutant took the phone and returned it to its perch on the arm of the sofa, where it sat silently, idly, checked on every few minutes by a pair of icy blue eyes…

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

Mystique looked down at the damned phone number, pursing her lips ruefully as it occurred to her she had looked at the number so many times she could burn that piece of paper and still she would be left with this dilemma as she knew it off by heart. Shaking her head the shapeshifter made up her mind. Setting her jaw determinedly the shapeshifter stood swiftly, breezing quickly from the room.

Finally she found him, tucked away in one of the warmest rooms in the base – his bedroom.

"Awww…you tired?" she forced a smirk at the fire mutant lying on his bed. Pyro shrugged and turned to look at her lazily.

"Just fed up."

Mystique gave a small nod.

"Where's Multiple Man?"

"Training room," came the simple reply. Again Mystique nodded. Occasionally it was necessary for the multiplying mutant to have some alone time within a secure environment such as the training room. It helped with some of the more…complex aspects of his mutation. The shapeshifter paused briefly before entering the room, shutting the door behind her. Pyro sat up straight, shuffling back to rest against the wall as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You know Pyro, I've been doing a lot of thinking recently, trying to come to a decision about something," she held up a finger to prevent any jibes from the fire mutant, who duly shut his mouth, appreciating this must be serious. "But it occurs to me that no matter what I say and however much I may want to mollycoddle you – there's only one person who can make this decision," she handed him a scrap of paper. "Bobby Drake says he's sorry. And that although he may not agree he understands what you did and he wants to talk."

Pyro just stared at her blankly before opening up the folded paper, turning the blank stare down to the scrawled cell phone number. With a quiet sigh he looked back up at Mystique, his brown eyes filled with confusion. The shapeshifter offered him a soft smile, standing slowly and brushing some hair from his face. The fire mutant returned the smile with a small nod, giving her the all clear to leave the room. After several minutes of simply staring at the cell phone number, the fire mutant scowled heavily and scrunched up the paper, throwing it down on the bed – albeit within arms reach…

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

Multiple Man rubbed his arm tenderly as he wandered into the kitchen an hour or so later. Mystique arched an eyebrow from her perch on a nearby counter.

"Good work out?" she smirked, always amused by the idea of several identical Jamies fighting with each other, but never forgetting the serious nature behind it. Multiple Man just grunted. Mystique inhaled sharply, her tone becoming more serious. "I gave him the number."

Multiple Man flinched slightly although he tried not to let it show.

"I thought you would."

Mystique sighed quietly, suddenly doubting her own actions.

"He might not even call him you know."

Multiple Man laughed dryly.

"Oh come on, this is John and Bobby fucking Drake we're talking about," the multiplying mutant sighed heavily, bowing his head dejectedly. "He'll call."

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

John frowned heavily as he glared down at the crumpled piece of paper, typing the number slowly into his phone. His finger hovered over the call button but suddenly pressed the clear button instead. Sighing wearily he snapped his phone shut, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back against his bed headboard. For several minutes he just lay in silence, twirling his phone around in his hands much as he did with his lighter. Finally he opened his eyes and sat up, flipping open the phone and typing in the number for the countless time. Once again his finger hovered over the call button as he bit his lip thoughtfully, desperately trying to make sense of the jumbled up thoughts in his head…