**Standard Mice Disclaimer**
Mice is in no way associated with the Marvel Comics Group. She is merely trying to write a story and this is all she has to show for it. A noble effort. Though she would one day like to be paid for writing, please don't send her any money (send mail to urmonkeyifudo@yeahright.com on instructions to send her money). The characters of Bobby Drake, Hank McCoy and Jubilee, belong to the Marvel Comics Group. Harpo, Emily, and Annie are of my own mind. Any archiving of this story that is unaware of her attention will be ily received (Read: Tikki Curse). If you e-mail her, explain your intentions to archive the story and address of your archive, she will be more than gracious and will probably do something nice for you, like bake you brownies, not to mention archiving the story. She just wants to know where she can drool over the sight of her name. If you want to e-mail her comments, do it at esily@aol.com. You'll also get some brownies out of the deal, but it's not really that great of a reward because she can't cook.
Six Seeds, pt. 2
By Mice
Prologue.
And as Demeter scoured the earth in search of her daughter Persephone, she came upon a small boy. At first she smiled at him warmly, for Demeter was of the earth. But the longer she stared at his childish visage, the more she was reminded of her own daughter and wept.
The boy, taken aback by this sight, began to laugh. He didn't know what else to do, he had never seen a grown up cry. Alive, he didn't know that the grown up he was mocking was a goddess.
In death is another story.
-1-
From the Journal of Jubilation Lee
March 4th, 2002
I'm on a plane. Two hours ago, I had no intention on being on a plane.
I guess life has just got to a point where it's getting to be too much...and it's not even life, just stupid love or lust, or whatever the hell you call it. With Ev's attention focused on stupid Marnie, I was going to go visit Bobby, but Bobby's now in California.
Which is why I'm on a plane and why I'm love's bitch.
-2-
Annie Peckenpaugh stared at herself from the mirror on the other side of the bed in her bedroom. She barely remembered when she got there. She couldn't say that she cared. All she cared about was that area. She stared at it in the mirror, super-imposing the comical sketches she had seen in several different anatomy books onto her lower section. She couldn't imagine them not there. It felt like they were there.
A hand drifted down. There was nothing there.
She didn't know how long she had been in her bedroom. She remembered going to see Bobby, then winding up at the hospital. She didn't remember how she wound up back at the mansion. It was like a record playing in the background and skipping in a certain section.
Annie slowly placed her feet on the ground and stood up and walked to the mirror. There was something she needed to do.
Ê
Ê
Ê
Ê
-3-
Despite the fantastic scene of two women mauling themselves on stage to a rather inventive performance of Pat Benatar's "We Belong"", Bobby found karaoke night at his old haunt lacking in entertainment. Especially since he saw Hank in the corner trying to screw his courage up to go over and talk to him.
It was a bad idea to come tonight, Bobby thought as he picked up his jacket. As he turned to leave, he found a grinning Jubilee standing directly in his path.
"Does anybody card anymore?""
Jubilee shrugged.
"Then answer me this, did they invent beaming technology?""
"What?""
"You Massachusetts people...always being here in the flash of an eye and all that. It takes longer to drive from the mansion to Salem Center than the way you guys commute from Boston.""
"Actually, I got into Long Island around eleven a.m. this morning.""
Bobby smiled and nodded. "Harpo.""
"Yeah, he's pretty excited to be learning more about his Aunt Maddie.""
"He's a good kid."" Bobby shook his head. "You know, sometimes when I think of my family, it becomes almost incestuous. I can practically hear the theme from Deliverance in my head...""
Jubilee smiled. "How are you holding up, Frosted Flakes?""
"I'll get there. There's just been a lot of information to process in the past week.""
"How's Annie?""
"Mentally, worse than I. She hasn't talked much to anyone, and when she does, it's like she's talking from somewhere else. Physically, she's fine.""
"Does anyone know where Clay-Poole is?""
Bobby motioned to Hank in the corner, who had not yet realized Bobby knew he was there. "Hank's looking, or so Warren tells me.""
"Is it okay if I talk to you?""
Ê
Ê
Ê
Bobby looked and blinked, fully realizing what he was seeing and hearing. Before him was Jubilee, his sparkler and partner in crime -- time couldn't change that -- but she wore black. All black. And five minutes had gone by without a hint of her snarky nature. Something was amiss. "Jubilee? Are you okay?""
"I needed to talk to you.""
"What happened?""
"There's something you should probably know.""
Bobby felt a lump in his throat with that phrase. "What happened? is it Annie? My Dad?"
"It's about you and me, Bobby.""
-4-
Instead of asking Warren for information, Annie used her instincts to get to the karaoke bar. Sure enough, his car was there.
Just before she walked into the bar, she caught her reflection in a window. She would have shown up in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but she felt the need more than ever for something that made her feel more feminine. The outfit was a body hugging, two-piece black pant and sleeveless shirt. She opted out of her usual pair of Converse sneakers for a pair of black heels. She had used what make up she had and had even attempted to do something with her hair. Despite the lack of technical equipment, she felt incredibly womanly.
Annie walked through the entrance and looked around to see if she could see him. He was there in the corner, alone, and watching Bobby talk to Jubilee.
That part she hadn't counted on.
-5-
Hank wished he could finish off the scotch that he had been nursing all evening. Maybe I could finally go over there and just talk to Bobby, he thought while looking at its nearly full contents.
"Hank?"
At first, he thought he was imagining things. He hadn't heard that voice in over a month. At first, it was because he was ashamed that he had taken advantage of her. Later, he knew that it was his fault for what happened to her. "You don't have to talk to me, Annie."
"I came here to find you."
"I don't have anything to say to you."
"You're blaming yourself."
Hank laughed. "My only regret is that I should have been blaming myself sooner. Ever since I called Emily at the beginning of this, I should have known."
Annie shook her head. "Hank, no one could have known that she was a psycho."
"I'm an Avenger, an X-Man, a supposed hero. It is my job to find psychos and protect people from them!"
"Last I checked, you weren't the only hero in the world." Annie tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he batted it away. She nodded her head. "You hate me."
This sobered Hank from his somberness. "I have never hated you."
"You haven't talked to me since we spent that night together!"
"I sent you flowers both times you were in the hospital." It was lame and he knew it.
"You think flowers are an acceptable stand in for you?"
"I let you down."
"How?"
"With Emily. I brought her to you and this happened."
She looked for a smooth way to preface her next question, but finding none, she blurted out, "Did we sleep together?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you preferred Bobby over me."
-6-
"So I came back with Nan, who fell asleep immediately. Before going to bed myself, before I got out of my chiffon dress, I came in to see how you were, and you, my friend, were not good. You were drunk and bleeding, as well as crying. I sat with you for a while, trying to comfort you, and then you kissed me."
"I did what?"
"Bobby, you were drunk and--how many women have said that to you lately, by the way?"
Bobby growled. "That's not the issue. Jubilee, I'm sorry. If I were sober--"
"You wouldn't have." Jubilee's face fell. "I know."
"I'm sure that you don't honestly regret having my drunken advances being insincere."
Jubilee looked up to his eyes. "Have you ever had a crush on someone for so long that you just wish with every fiber of your being that it could work out, despite the fact that it could never, ever work?"
"I felt that way about Lady Jay from G.I. Joe."
"Bobby! This isn't about animated red heads! Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jubilee looked at Bobby to see if he understood what she was saying.
"Seriously, does no one card anymore?"
Jubilee shook her head. "I wish you could be serious just this once, BobbyÉ" Just then, she felt a very familiar hand on her shoulder.
"Hi, Jubilee." She turned around to see Harpo Lubbock looming behind her.
-7-
"I did not."
"You did, too."
"I didn't feel that way about him."
"Sure you didn't."
"He was my closest friend at Xaviers!"
Hank pouted. "I thought I was!"
"No, you idiot! Bobby was my friend, you wereÉ" Annie let her hands shake a bit to find the right words. "I wanted you."
Hank now found it easy to down his Scotch. "Annie--"
"No! Don't say that! Don't try to talk me out of it! I care about you, Hank. When you walked into my diner, when you smiled at me, when I first felt your fur, I have cared about you! You told me things like I was smart, and you were always so kind and affectionate to me. You went out of your way to make me feel welcome. Maybe it was stupid of me to do, but at the time, I had never felt that way about Bobby. I only had those thoughts over you. Maybe you were drunk and didn't know what you were doing, but even though I was most certainly drunk, I knew that I wanted you.
"It has been driving me nuts because I couldn't remember if anything had happened. It hurt me to think that we wound up together, if only for a night, and that I couldn't remember it."
Hank's voice became bitter. "You slept with Bobby. If you liked me so much, why did you do that?"
"I was mad at you for going after Clay-Drool. I was lonely and Bobby reminded me of you."
Hank nodded in understanding. "Bobby loves you. And I hurt him by pursuing you."
"I hurt him because used him." Annie swallowed. "I never thought that I could do that to another person, after being used for so longÉI'm horrible."
"No, I am."
"Why are you horrible?"
"I used Emily, Annie. I knew she had always had feelings for me and I used that so you could get better. It just went too far."
Annie paled. "You slept with her for that?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't." He motioned for the bartender to give him another scotch. "Am I still the same man you care for? Bobby would never do that."
"I still care about you, Hank." Annie turned her head to where Bobby was. "Bobby isn't perfect, either."
-8-
Jubilee and Harpo were left alone as Bobby made his way to the microphone. Making sure Bobby was out of earshot, Jubilee spoke to Harpo. "I told him that he kissed me."
"Are you sure that you don't want to tell him everything?"
She shook her head. "His cousin died, he saw his aunt, Annie rejected him, his best friend betrayed him, and his mother just diedÉa guy can only go through so much without wanting to end it all, you know?"
"Why tell him that?"
"In case he did remember. At least he has my sober version to reassure him that he didn't do anything."
Harpo nodded, then cupped her face to kiss her. "Ah'm glad you told me."
"I had to tell someone. Someone who wasn't going to want to kill him or turn him in. I'm surprised it was my boyfriend."
"No matter what you go through in life, Jubilee, you have me."
"Weird."
"Ah was hoping you were going to say that it was sweet--"
"No, it wasÉyou just remind me of Jacob just then."
Harpo smiled silently.
"I talked to the guy when I was in LA with BobbyÉthe man is probably the most loyal guy I've ever met. At first, I thought he was just a pushover--"
"He stands by those he loves." Harpo nodded. "You know him better than Ah do."
Jubilee blinked. "He's your father."
"Ah guess. Ah always thought Claudia was my father."
Jubilee blinked again. "HarpoÉstart talking. And make it make sense."
"My mom's a lesbian. Her partner is Claudia. JacobÉhelped out."
"I can't believe there was ever a time when I thought Bobby had the normal familyÉ"
-9-
Hank finished his third scotch. "What are you saying, Annie?"
"I'm saying I miss you, Hank. I want to talk with you again, like we used to."
Hank allowed himself a small smile. "And do you still want me?"
Annie's attention went from Hank to the stage where Bobby took the microphone. "Can Bobby sing?"
Hank laughed. "No. I've tried everything to get him to realize that, too, but no luck."
Annie's eyes widened as she reached for a cocktail napkin. "Do you have a pen?"
Hank took out a pen from his jacket. "What's wrong?"
"It's an anagram that I've been working on for a while."
As Annie scribbled on the napkin, Bobby began his song.
-10-
The person running the karaoke -- the KJ -- was groaning as he pushed play on the CD. There were just some people who were not meant to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" sober or drunk. The KJ knew that Bobby Drake was one of these people. The guy couldn't carry a tune if it had handles, he thought as the intro began.
"All right, everybody!" Bobby said to the crowd in a cockney accent that he couldn't pull off, but liked doing anyway. "This goes out to all the lonely people out there who need some light in the dark!" Someone threw a cup at him. He was certain that it was Jubilee.
"Turn around--"
"Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming around," a female voice joined him. Not a dazzling or amazing voice, but one that was a damn site better than Bobby's.
"Turn around--"
"Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears."
"Turn around--" This time, Bobby did and saw that he had Annie as back up.
"Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by."
"Turn around--"
"Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes."
Bobby grinned as he saw Annie grinning. From the past week, he never thought he'd see that again. "Turn around, bright eyes!"
"Every now and then I fall apart."
"Sell it!" Bobby loudly whispered to her before her next line. "Turn around, bright eyes!"
Annie turned around dramatically and went to her knees. "Every now and then I fall apart!"
Bobby began to improvise. "What do you need tonight?" he shouted.
"And I need you now tonight?"
"How much?"
"And I need you more than ever!"
Before Bobby got a word in edgewise, Annie wrapped her arms tight around him. "And if you only hold me tight, we'll be holding on forever!"
"Or until I need breath!" Bobby quipped to the audience as he joined Annie in on the second part.
"And we'll only be making it right! Cause we'll never be wrong together. We can take it to the end of the line. Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time. I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark, we're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks. I really need you tonight--"
"Moi?" Bobby asked.
"Toi!" Annie answered.
"Forever's gonna start tonight, forever's gonna start tonightÉ"
-11-
Jubilee turned green. "So this is why they card at karaoke barsÉ"
-12-
Bobby escorted Annie to his table, still hugging her from their onstage coup. "I didn't even know you were here!"
"I needed to talk to Hank."
Bobby's grip on her loosened as he changed the topic. "We did good. Thanks for joining in with me."
Annie giggled. "Hank said you'd need it."
"What else did Hank say?"
"That we didn't sleep together." Annie clarified, "Hank and IÉwe didn't. I needed to know for sure."
"You love him."
"I do not."
"Yes you do."
"I want him."
"See?"
Annie shook her head. "Lust isn't love, Bobby."
That sounds familiar, Bobby thought. "You lust after Hank, then."
"Yeah. Like you lust after Lady Jay."
Bobby smiled at that. "You remembered!"
"I'm your Ivy Greeneth, Bobby. I remember everything."
Bobby blushed. "You figured out the anagram."
Annie nodded. "I was sitting over there with Hank when I knew what it was. I came here to tell him that I wanted him in my life."
Bobby stopped breathing.
"It sounds funny, doesn't it? I couldn't put it any other way. I fancy you, I like youÉevery combination I thought of sounded so junior -- breathe, Bobby -- high."
"What are you saying?"
"I have a crush on Hank. One of those highly unattainable crushes that are best left unattainable. No matter what he feels about me, I couldn't handle anything more than a simple crush."
Bobby relaxed a tiny bit. "It's not Lady Jay, butÉ"
"He's an Avenger. I'm an ex-waitress. God, I've been on welfare at one point in my life. I'll never be good enough for him."
"Did he say that?" Bobby said angrily. "Where is he, where is that prejudiced fur ball?"
"Bobby, those are my feelings. Not his." She took his hand. "I never feel that way around you." She leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "When I thought I was pregnant, I was hoping you were the father. That's why I went to you. I never told Hank about it."
Bobby took his hand away. "Annie, I'm going to be honest with you. I don't like where this is going. You know I love you, and sitting here and hanging out with youÉAnnie, it's great but all it's doing is giving me hope. After you dumped me, people at the Ben and Jerry's in Salem Center knew me by my jimmies. So don't continue ifÉ" Bobby couldn't complete the sentence. "Just don't continue."
"I want you. I miss you. If you give me some time and room, I will love you. Just not in twenty-four hours."
Bobby stopped himself before reaching out to her. "Are you going to take this back tomorrow?"
"Are you going to be patient with me?"
"Yes."
"Is it okay that IÉthat I don't have--?" Annie made a gesture so she wouldn't have to say it out loud.
Bobby went to her and kissed her head. "You look almost too fertile. I'm afraid that just being near you that you're going to have octoplets."
-13-
Hank stared at Annie and Bobby, not sure whether to be happy for them or upset. He settled for his cell phone. "Jean? It's Hank. I'm coming home and wanted to know if wanted to talk. And, if you happened to have any more apple pie, I wouldn't feel at all put out if you fed some to me. Heated. With ice cream on itÉmaybe with a bit of a caramel drizzle on itÉ"
-14-
March 8th
I woke up before Bobby. I cleaned myself up in the shower. I have no clue how Bobby will react in the morning. Maybe he was drunk enough to forget that I was even there.
I know I shouldn't have taken advantage of him, but it was too hard not to. I think he thought I was Opal. In any case, there's just no way around it. I've thought about what it might be like plenty of times, but now that it has happenedÉthere's just no going back. I don't know how I'm going to keep this a secret from WolvieÉI scrubbed myself raw in the shower and used too many different kinds of "special" soaps. What if he smells him on me? I mean, I can still smell it.
I have to take a plane home with this guy, talk to him, and pretend like nothing happened. Even if the minor has had a crush on him for years, I doubt anyone would be pleased to find out that Bobby Drake had sex with a minor while drunk.
Mice is in no way associated with the Marvel Comics Group. She is merely trying to write a story and this is all she has to show for it. A noble effort. Though she would one day like to be paid for writing, please don't send her any money (send mail to urmonkeyifudo@yeahright.com on instructions to send her money). The characters of Bobby Drake, Hank McCoy and Jubilee, belong to the Marvel Comics Group. Harpo, Emily, and Annie are of my own mind. Any archiving of this story that is unaware of her attention will be ily received (Read: Tikki Curse). If you e-mail her, explain your intentions to archive the story and address of your archive, she will be more than gracious and will probably do something nice for you, like bake you brownies, not to mention archiving the story. She just wants to know where she can drool over the sight of her name. If you want to e-mail her comments, do it at esily@aol.com. You'll also get some brownies out of the deal, but it's not really that great of a reward because she can't cook.
Six Seeds, pt. 2
By Mice
Prologue.
And as Demeter scoured the earth in search of her daughter Persephone, she came upon a small boy. At first she smiled at him warmly, for Demeter was of the earth. But the longer she stared at his childish visage, the more she was reminded of her own daughter and wept.
The boy, taken aback by this sight, began to laugh. He didn't know what else to do, he had never seen a grown up cry. Alive, he didn't know that the grown up he was mocking was a goddess.
In death is another story.
-1-
From the Journal of Jubilation Lee
March 4th, 2002
I'm on a plane. Two hours ago, I had no intention on being on a plane.
I guess life has just got to a point where it's getting to be too much...and it's not even life, just stupid love or lust, or whatever the hell you call it. With Ev's attention focused on stupid Marnie, I was going to go visit Bobby, but Bobby's now in California.
Which is why I'm on a plane and why I'm love's bitch.
-2-
Annie Peckenpaugh stared at herself from the mirror on the other side of the bed in her bedroom. She barely remembered when she got there. She couldn't say that she cared. All she cared about was that area. She stared at it in the mirror, super-imposing the comical sketches she had seen in several different anatomy books onto her lower section. She couldn't imagine them not there. It felt like they were there.
A hand drifted down. There was nothing there.
She didn't know how long she had been in her bedroom. She remembered going to see Bobby, then winding up at the hospital. She didn't remember how she wound up back at the mansion. It was like a record playing in the background and skipping in a certain section.
Annie slowly placed her feet on the ground and stood up and walked to the mirror. There was something she needed to do.
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-3-
Despite the fantastic scene of two women mauling themselves on stage to a rather inventive performance of Pat Benatar's "We Belong"", Bobby found karaoke night at his old haunt lacking in entertainment. Especially since he saw Hank in the corner trying to screw his courage up to go over and talk to him.
It was a bad idea to come tonight, Bobby thought as he picked up his jacket. As he turned to leave, he found a grinning Jubilee standing directly in his path.
"Does anybody card anymore?""
Jubilee shrugged.
"Then answer me this, did they invent beaming technology?""
"What?""
"You Massachusetts people...always being here in the flash of an eye and all that. It takes longer to drive from the mansion to Salem Center than the way you guys commute from Boston.""
"Actually, I got into Long Island around eleven a.m. this morning.""
Bobby smiled and nodded. "Harpo.""
"Yeah, he's pretty excited to be learning more about his Aunt Maddie.""
"He's a good kid."" Bobby shook his head. "You know, sometimes when I think of my family, it becomes almost incestuous. I can practically hear the theme from Deliverance in my head...""
Jubilee smiled. "How are you holding up, Frosted Flakes?""
"I'll get there. There's just been a lot of information to process in the past week.""
"How's Annie?""
"Mentally, worse than I. She hasn't talked much to anyone, and when she does, it's like she's talking from somewhere else. Physically, she's fine.""
"Does anyone know where Clay-Poole is?""
Bobby motioned to Hank in the corner, who had not yet realized Bobby knew he was there. "Hank's looking, or so Warren tells me.""
"Is it okay if I talk to you?""
Ê
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Bobby looked and blinked, fully realizing what he was seeing and hearing. Before him was Jubilee, his sparkler and partner in crime -- time couldn't change that -- but she wore black. All black. And five minutes had gone by without a hint of her snarky nature. Something was amiss. "Jubilee? Are you okay?""
"I needed to talk to you.""
"What happened?""
"There's something you should probably know.""
Bobby felt a lump in his throat with that phrase. "What happened? is it Annie? My Dad?"
"It's about you and me, Bobby.""
-4-
Instead of asking Warren for information, Annie used her instincts to get to the karaoke bar. Sure enough, his car was there.
Just before she walked into the bar, she caught her reflection in a window. She would have shown up in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but she felt the need more than ever for something that made her feel more feminine. The outfit was a body hugging, two-piece black pant and sleeveless shirt. She opted out of her usual pair of Converse sneakers for a pair of black heels. She had used what make up she had and had even attempted to do something with her hair. Despite the lack of technical equipment, she felt incredibly womanly.
Annie walked through the entrance and looked around to see if she could see him. He was there in the corner, alone, and watching Bobby talk to Jubilee.
That part she hadn't counted on.
-5-
Hank wished he could finish off the scotch that he had been nursing all evening. Maybe I could finally go over there and just talk to Bobby, he thought while looking at its nearly full contents.
"Hank?"
At first, he thought he was imagining things. He hadn't heard that voice in over a month. At first, it was because he was ashamed that he had taken advantage of her. Later, he knew that it was his fault for what happened to her. "You don't have to talk to me, Annie."
"I came here to find you."
"I don't have anything to say to you."
"You're blaming yourself."
Hank laughed. "My only regret is that I should have been blaming myself sooner. Ever since I called Emily at the beginning of this, I should have known."
Annie shook her head. "Hank, no one could have known that she was a psycho."
"I'm an Avenger, an X-Man, a supposed hero. It is my job to find psychos and protect people from them!"
"Last I checked, you weren't the only hero in the world." Annie tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he batted it away. She nodded her head. "You hate me."
This sobered Hank from his somberness. "I have never hated you."
"You haven't talked to me since we spent that night together!"
"I sent you flowers both times you were in the hospital." It was lame and he knew it.
"You think flowers are an acceptable stand in for you?"
"I let you down."
"How?"
"With Emily. I brought her to you and this happened."
She looked for a smooth way to preface her next question, but finding none, she blurted out, "Did we sleep together?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you preferred Bobby over me."
-6-
"So I came back with Nan, who fell asleep immediately. Before going to bed myself, before I got out of my chiffon dress, I came in to see how you were, and you, my friend, were not good. You were drunk and bleeding, as well as crying. I sat with you for a while, trying to comfort you, and then you kissed me."
"I did what?"
"Bobby, you were drunk and--how many women have said that to you lately, by the way?"
Bobby growled. "That's not the issue. Jubilee, I'm sorry. If I were sober--"
"You wouldn't have." Jubilee's face fell. "I know."
"I'm sure that you don't honestly regret having my drunken advances being insincere."
Jubilee looked up to his eyes. "Have you ever had a crush on someone for so long that you just wish with every fiber of your being that it could work out, despite the fact that it could never, ever work?"
"I felt that way about Lady Jay from G.I. Joe."
"Bobby! This isn't about animated red heads! Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jubilee looked at Bobby to see if he understood what she was saying.
"Seriously, does no one card anymore?"
Jubilee shook her head. "I wish you could be serious just this once, BobbyÉ" Just then, she felt a very familiar hand on her shoulder.
"Hi, Jubilee." She turned around to see Harpo Lubbock looming behind her.
-7-
"I did not."
"You did, too."
"I didn't feel that way about him."
"Sure you didn't."
"He was my closest friend at Xaviers!"
Hank pouted. "I thought I was!"
"No, you idiot! Bobby was my friend, you wereÉ" Annie let her hands shake a bit to find the right words. "I wanted you."
Hank now found it easy to down his Scotch. "Annie--"
"No! Don't say that! Don't try to talk me out of it! I care about you, Hank. When you walked into my diner, when you smiled at me, when I first felt your fur, I have cared about you! You told me things like I was smart, and you were always so kind and affectionate to me. You went out of your way to make me feel welcome. Maybe it was stupid of me to do, but at the time, I had never felt that way about Bobby. I only had those thoughts over you. Maybe you were drunk and didn't know what you were doing, but even though I was most certainly drunk, I knew that I wanted you.
"It has been driving me nuts because I couldn't remember if anything had happened. It hurt me to think that we wound up together, if only for a night, and that I couldn't remember it."
Hank's voice became bitter. "You slept with Bobby. If you liked me so much, why did you do that?"
"I was mad at you for going after Clay-Drool. I was lonely and Bobby reminded me of you."
Hank nodded in understanding. "Bobby loves you. And I hurt him by pursuing you."
"I hurt him because used him." Annie swallowed. "I never thought that I could do that to another person, after being used for so longÉI'm horrible."
"No, I am."
"Why are you horrible?"
"I used Emily, Annie. I knew she had always had feelings for me and I used that so you could get better. It just went too far."
Annie paled. "You slept with her for that?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't." He motioned for the bartender to give him another scotch. "Am I still the same man you care for? Bobby would never do that."
"I still care about you, Hank." Annie turned her head to where Bobby was. "Bobby isn't perfect, either."
-8-
Jubilee and Harpo were left alone as Bobby made his way to the microphone. Making sure Bobby was out of earshot, Jubilee spoke to Harpo. "I told him that he kissed me."
"Are you sure that you don't want to tell him everything?"
She shook her head. "His cousin died, he saw his aunt, Annie rejected him, his best friend betrayed him, and his mother just diedÉa guy can only go through so much without wanting to end it all, you know?"
"Why tell him that?"
"In case he did remember. At least he has my sober version to reassure him that he didn't do anything."
Harpo nodded, then cupped her face to kiss her. "Ah'm glad you told me."
"I had to tell someone. Someone who wasn't going to want to kill him or turn him in. I'm surprised it was my boyfriend."
"No matter what you go through in life, Jubilee, you have me."
"Weird."
"Ah was hoping you were going to say that it was sweet--"
"No, it wasÉyou just remind me of Jacob just then."
Harpo smiled silently.
"I talked to the guy when I was in LA with BobbyÉthe man is probably the most loyal guy I've ever met. At first, I thought he was just a pushover--"
"He stands by those he loves." Harpo nodded. "You know him better than Ah do."
Jubilee blinked. "He's your father."
"Ah guess. Ah always thought Claudia was my father."
Jubilee blinked again. "HarpoÉstart talking. And make it make sense."
"My mom's a lesbian. Her partner is Claudia. JacobÉhelped out."
"I can't believe there was ever a time when I thought Bobby had the normal familyÉ"
-9-
Hank finished his third scotch. "What are you saying, Annie?"
"I'm saying I miss you, Hank. I want to talk with you again, like we used to."
Hank allowed himself a small smile. "And do you still want me?"
Annie's attention went from Hank to the stage where Bobby took the microphone. "Can Bobby sing?"
Hank laughed. "No. I've tried everything to get him to realize that, too, but no luck."
Annie's eyes widened as she reached for a cocktail napkin. "Do you have a pen?"
Hank took out a pen from his jacket. "What's wrong?"
"It's an anagram that I've been working on for a while."
As Annie scribbled on the napkin, Bobby began his song.
-10-
The person running the karaoke -- the KJ -- was groaning as he pushed play on the CD. There were just some people who were not meant to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" sober or drunk. The KJ knew that Bobby Drake was one of these people. The guy couldn't carry a tune if it had handles, he thought as the intro began.
"All right, everybody!" Bobby said to the crowd in a cockney accent that he couldn't pull off, but liked doing anyway. "This goes out to all the lonely people out there who need some light in the dark!" Someone threw a cup at him. He was certain that it was Jubilee.
"Turn around--"
"Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming around," a female voice joined him. Not a dazzling or amazing voice, but one that was a damn site better than Bobby's.
"Turn around--"
"Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears."
"Turn around--" This time, Bobby did and saw that he had Annie as back up.
"Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by."
"Turn around--"
"Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes."
Bobby grinned as he saw Annie grinning. From the past week, he never thought he'd see that again. "Turn around, bright eyes!"
"Every now and then I fall apart."
"Sell it!" Bobby loudly whispered to her before her next line. "Turn around, bright eyes!"
Annie turned around dramatically and went to her knees. "Every now and then I fall apart!"
Bobby began to improvise. "What do you need tonight?" he shouted.
"And I need you now tonight?"
"How much?"
"And I need you more than ever!"
Before Bobby got a word in edgewise, Annie wrapped her arms tight around him. "And if you only hold me tight, we'll be holding on forever!"
"Or until I need breath!" Bobby quipped to the audience as he joined Annie in on the second part.
"And we'll only be making it right! Cause we'll never be wrong together. We can take it to the end of the line. Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time. I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark, we're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks. I really need you tonight--"
"Moi?" Bobby asked.
"Toi!" Annie answered.
"Forever's gonna start tonight, forever's gonna start tonightÉ"
-11-
Jubilee turned green. "So this is why they card at karaoke barsÉ"
-12-
Bobby escorted Annie to his table, still hugging her from their onstage coup. "I didn't even know you were here!"
"I needed to talk to Hank."
Bobby's grip on her loosened as he changed the topic. "We did good. Thanks for joining in with me."
Annie giggled. "Hank said you'd need it."
"What else did Hank say?"
"That we didn't sleep together." Annie clarified, "Hank and IÉwe didn't. I needed to know for sure."
"You love him."
"I do not."
"Yes you do."
"I want him."
"See?"
Annie shook her head. "Lust isn't love, Bobby."
That sounds familiar, Bobby thought. "You lust after Hank, then."
"Yeah. Like you lust after Lady Jay."
Bobby smiled at that. "You remembered!"
"I'm your Ivy Greeneth, Bobby. I remember everything."
Bobby blushed. "You figured out the anagram."
Annie nodded. "I was sitting over there with Hank when I knew what it was. I came here to tell him that I wanted him in my life."
Bobby stopped breathing.
"It sounds funny, doesn't it? I couldn't put it any other way. I fancy you, I like youÉevery combination I thought of sounded so junior -- breathe, Bobby -- high."
"What are you saying?"
"I have a crush on Hank. One of those highly unattainable crushes that are best left unattainable. No matter what he feels about me, I couldn't handle anything more than a simple crush."
Bobby relaxed a tiny bit. "It's not Lady Jay, butÉ"
"He's an Avenger. I'm an ex-waitress. God, I've been on welfare at one point in my life. I'll never be good enough for him."
"Did he say that?" Bobby said angrily. "Where is he, where is that prejudiced fur ball?"
"Bobby, those are my feelings. Not his." She took his hand. "I never feel that way around you." She leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "When I thought I was pregnant, I was hoping you were the father. That's why I went to you. I never told Hank about it."
Bobby took his hand away. "Annie, I'm going to be honest with you. I don't like where this is going. You know I love you, and sitting here and hanging out with youÉAnnie, it's great but all it's doing is giving me hope. After you dumped me, people at the Ben and Jerry's in Salem Center knew me by my jimmies. So don't continue ifÉ" Bobby couldn't complete the sentence. "Just don't continue."
"I want you. I miss you. If you give me some time and room, I will love you. Just not in twenty-four hours."
Bobby stopped himself before reaching out to her. "Are you going to take this back tomorrow?"
"Are you going to be patient with me?"
"Yes."
"Is it okay that IÉthat I don't have--?" Annie made a gesture so she wouldn't have to say it out loud.
Bobby went to her and kissed her head. "You look almost too fertile. I'm afraid that just being near you that you're going to have octoplets."
-13-
Hank stared at Annie and Bobby, not sure whether to be happy for them or upset. He settled for his cell phone. "Jean? It's Hank. I'm coming home and wanted to know if wanted to talk. And, if you happened to have any more apple pie, I wouldn't feel at all put out if you fed some to me. Heated. With ice cream on itÉmaybe with a bit of a caramel drizzle on itÉ"
-14-
March 8th
I woke up before Bobby. I cleaned myself up in the shower. I have no clue how Bobby will react in the morning. Maybe he was drunk enough to forget that I was even there.
I know I shouldn't have taken advantage of him, but it was too hard not to. I think he thought I was Opal. In any case, there's just no way around it. I've thought about what it might be like plenty of times, but now that it has happenedÉthere's just no going back. I don't know how I'm going to keep this a secret from WolvieÉI scrubbed myself raw in the shower and used too many different kinds of "special" soaps. What if he smells him on me? I mean, I can still smell it.
I have to take a plane home with this guy, talk to him, and pretend like nothing happened. Even if the minor has had a crush on him for years, I doubt anyone would be pleased to find out that Bobby Drake had sex with a minor while drunk.
