Chapter 8: Slings and Arrows

It looked like a gorgeous day — blue sky, fluffy clouds, the works. From the vantage point of ridiculous traction, Bobby could see a slice of that sky outside his window. Not that he cared one way or the other. The last couple of days had passed in a haze of painkillers and faceless voices. Everyone had answered the questions they thought he would ask. Yes, you'll be able to walk again. Yes, we've been keeping the reporters away. No, we haven't heard anything from the other X-Men. And the words that weren't in answer to any question, but scared him almost as much as anything that hadn't been said: You're safe now.

"Hi, sweetheart," his mother said softly, opening the door a crack.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I can't move."

"Stupid question," Madeline said apologetically. "I know it's uncomfortable."

"What's the time?"

"It's around eleven-thirty. They should be bringing around lunch soon. I brought some movies for you to watch. I thought you might like to see something on the TV besides yourself."

"Thanks." Far as he could tell, it was the first time either of his parents had mentioned the scandal. "Where's Dad?"

"Home."

"Home," Bobby repeated. Then, "Wait a minute. It's Wednesday, isn't it?"

Madeline nodded. Making the connection, she looked down at her shoes for a second. "You're wondering why he isn't at work?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"He hasn't worked at the factory for a long time now. Just like I had to close the store."

"He was fired?"

"Well… yes."

"Because of me," Bobby said flatly.

"Don't blame yourself."

"But was it?"

"We don't have any way of knowing. He'll find another job. It'll be easy."

Guilt uncoiled inside him. It didn't make any sense; after all, it wasn't like he had chosen to be a mutant. But it sort of sucked that he could disable nuclear bombs but couldn't stay connected with his family or keep them from facing the slings and arrows of whatever. "Have you heard anything from my friends?"

"Chad stopped by our house once or twice while you were under. Frankie and Luke are still keeping their distance, I'm afraid. It doesn't make any sense, but there it is."

"Yeah, I wondered about them, but that wasn't what I meant. I meant Peter. Henry. Ororo." He thought it would be better not to use code names in front of her. He couldn't believe that the others hadn't even asked after him.

"Am I interrupting something?" came an unfamiliar voice from the door. Bobby expected another doctor, but the speaker turned out to be a small, balding man with a large head and small eyes, dressed in what was obviously an expensive suit. "Ah, Robert Drake. So we meet at last." He must have seen Bobby's blank look, because he cleared his throat. "My name is Senator Andrew Border Turk. I've been assisting your parents in their case."

"Case?"

Senator Turk's face registered a blank, incredulous look of its own. "Their lawsuit," he elaborated, as if speaking to an imbecile. "Their fifty million dollar lawsuit against Charles Xavier and the X-Men."

With effort, Bobby turned his head toward his mother. "Mom, what's he talking about? You guys aren't really suing the professor, are you?"

Before Madeline could say a word, Senator Turk butted in again. "Wrongful neglect, my boy. Extortion. Those words mean anything to you?"

"Not really."

"I'm surprised. Because I think they pretty much describe what Xavier's been putting you through the last few months. And your parents agree. As soon as you feel up to it, I'd like you to answer a few questions."

"Mom…" Bobby said again.

"I'm sorry," was all Madeline could think to say.

**

Later, she stood with Will at the foot of their son's bed, taking turns trying to explain. She'd been concentrating so firmly on their belief that they were doing the Right Thing that she hadn't thought far ahead enough to consider what Bobby's reaction would actually be. Now, she could have kicked herself. Hard.

"Please listen," Will was saying. He sounded desperate, which she couldn't remember ever hearing from him, and so very tired. "Your mother and I need your support in this."

"My support in taking down my friends. Makes sense."

"Friends don't get you into the kind of danger you've been put in ever since you left home," Madeline jumped in. "How do you think we've felt, knowing that you'd been put up against one mutant terrorist after another… that one almost killed you… oh, and let's not forget the secret military group that wanted to turn you into a human weapon."

"And when you put all of that together with Xavier's reputation, for, ah, changing people's minds to suit him…"

"Whoa, whoa!" Bobby raised a hand. "Nothing like that is going on."

"We don't know that for sure…" Madeline began.

"Mom!"

"…which is why we've decided to leave it alone," she told him. If she'd expected him to be mollified by that little detail, she was disappointed. "We're just sticking with what we know."

Bobby wasn't listening. "How could you do this? We put our asses on the line to save you guys from people like the Brotherhood, and this is what you're doing to us?"

"Watch your language," Will said in a warning tone.

"Stop treating me like a little kid! You were always okay with what I was doing before." He stopped as he realized that they hadn't been. Not remotely. They'd just done a pretty good job of faking it.

"Do you think we can afford to pay all your medical bills now that neither of us are working?" Will went on in a more reasonable voice.

"Yeah, I mean, no, and I'm sorry about all of that, but…"

"Senator Turk's taking care of it for us," Madeline finished. "And once the suit's been settled, we can move and start over."

"And did either of you ever think about what I want?"

"Which is why we're asking you now."

"No, you're not. Whatever I say, you're just going to go ahead with it."

"You're not telling us you liked playing super heroes with those hoodlums, are you?" Will asked him.

"They're. Not. Hoodlums." Bobby spoke with a firmness that belied his condition. "They're my best friends. They saved my life. And they're trying to save other people's."

"By taking a sweet, considerate boy from his parents and forcing him to fight for some crackpot's pacifist ideas?"

"They didn't take me, Mother. I ran away, remember? To protect you."

She did remember, only all too well.

"And that sweet little kid is gone. Dead. He's been dead ever since I left you guys that note and climbed out my window."

Madeline could feel her husband's hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.

"I'm an X-Man," Bobby said evenly. "Whether you like it or not. Now please leave me alone."