Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men
characters. Thank you to Corrinth for the loan of Ilehana Xavier. Blaze is,
always has been, and forever will be mine, so there!
A/N: The lyrics I quote in the first part of this chapter are by Elbow, a song called 'Red' on the debut album 'Asleep in the Back'. I thought them appropriate.
Scene 7
Scott flew the Blackbird, Charles Xavier next to him. Logan and Ilehana sat besides each other, his hand on her knee in a rare show of affection and support. Storm stared into space, worry clear on her beautiful face. Kurt prayed the rosary with all the hope and affection he could muster, longing that it would be enough to save Bobby. Blaze fumed, fire crackling through her hair as frightened tears ran down her face. Trying to keep her mind calm she turned up the volume on her minidisk. Long gone was the cheesy music of her childhood, instead the dulcet tones of a sultry rock group pounded through her brain.
"You burn too bright... You live too fast.... This can't go on too long... You're a tragedy starting to happen..."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tabitha and Havoc sat uneasily in the hospital wardroom, wrapped tightly in their thickest winter coats, breath condensing on the air into clouds of thick fog. They bit their nails and fretted as they waited for Bobby's family to arrive. Iceman had never mentioned anything about them, the people he lived with; apart from the fact that his parents had disowned him when they found out he was a mutant. The mixed bunch who walked in to fill the room was hardly what they had been expecting.
"Oh Bobby!" Storm cried, the first X-men into the room it was she who grasped Iceman's freezing hand as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey Storm..." He muttered through cracked lips. "Whacha doin' here?"
"The question is, young man." Xavier wheeled in to join Ororo by the bedside. "What are you doing here?" There was worry as much as disappointment in the Professor's tones.
"Don't be so hard on him. Professor." Scott stood up for his young friend, taking a position stood by Tabitha and Havoc. He ignored the confused looks Boom-Boom was throwing his way. "We just wanna make sure you are alright, Bobby."
"I'm alright." Bobby wriggled to try and sit up a bit better in the bed with help from Ororo. "And... and I'm sorry, Professor...I made a mistake." Abashedly Bobby met Xavier's eyes as Havoc and Boom-Boom hung their heads, ashamed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A little while later, as Ilehana, Kurt and Logan took their turns wishing Bobby a speedy recovery, Cyclops, Blaze and Storm joined the Professor in talking to Iceman's university friends. Both the students were uneasy to the point of bolting, they knew it was their fault Bobby was lying in a hospital bed with uncontrollable powers. The job of the X-Men was to make sure Havoc and Tabitha didn't make a break for it until they had the information they needed.
"We're not mad at you." Storm began carefully, "Bobby is as responsible for what as happened as you are..."
"Implying that you know it was us who got the ace for Bobby to take." Havoc snapped.
"We swear we didn't know it could effect people like that." Tabitha enthused. "Bobby's our friend, we wouldn't want to hurt him."
"We know that." Charles Xavier spoke kindly, blue eyes honest and true. "But what has happened to Bobby may happen to other young mutants too. If there is any information you can give us on where you got the ace, we would greatly appreciate it."
"An' that'll get us off the hook? You'll not press charges or anything?" Havoc asked, thinking who were these people? And why did Tabitha keep looking from him to the guy in shades like she'd seen a ghost?
"I think you have already learned your lesson." Xavier replied. "If you don't mind, I would like to use my telepathic powers to gather the information directly from your memories? It avoids misunderstandings."
"Sure." Havoc answered slowly, not sounding sure at all. Tabitha on the other hand looked much more impressed.
"Cool! I always wanted to meet a real telepath!"
"I hope I can live up to your expectations, Tabitha." Xavier smiled. "Shall we begin?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Thank you both." Xavier finally offered, dropping his fingers from surrounding Havoc's temples. He kept his fears to himself as he turned to his X-Men. "Blaze, you may be able to help here. I have some names and faces for you to take a look over. Perhaps with that spectacular memory of yours, you will recognise someone from the underworld?"
"There's always a chance." Blaze smiled grimly.
"Who are you people?" Havoc muttered in awe.
"The most important thing we are right now is Bobby's family." The Professor replied as Logan, Ilehana and Kurt appeared from Bobby's room. "I trust you two will help Ororo take good care of him for us?"
"'Course." Tabitha said with a flick of her hand and a wink. "What are friends for?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The X-Men left the building and headed back to the jet as Storm made herself at home by Bobby's bedside. Iceman was very glad of his old teacher's company, and before long as Xavier had expected the temperature in the room began to rise again. Colour began to flush Bobby's cheeks again as he and Ororo exchanged news of the school, old friends and new beginnings at university.
On the way to a convenient coffee machine, Havoc finally asked Tabitha what had been bothering her when Bobby's strange family had been talking to them? Her reply disturbed the young blond haired mutant.
"What, apart from all the obvious stuff?" She shrugged, "Nothin' much. Well, 'cept that you and the guy in shades, whatever his name is, well... You look really alike, Alex. It was spooky. You gotta long-lost cousin at all or somethin'?"
Alex didn't answer. He was too busy trying to get his head around what the Professor had already figured out. Two boys, orphaned in a plane crash, separated as the younger was quickly adopted and the older switched from foster home to foster home as he struggled with his mutant nature. Could this strange man, this friend of Bobby's; could it really be Alex's lost brother? Was it really Scott?
A/N: The lyrics I quote in the first part of this chapter are by Elbow, a song called 'Red' on the debut album 'Asleep in the Back'. I thought them appropriate.
Scene 7
Scott flew the Blackbird, Charles Xavier next to him. Logan and Ilehana sat besides each other, his hand on her knee in a rare show of affection and support. Storm stared into space, worry clear on her beautiful face. Kurt prayed the rosary with all the hope and affection he could muster, longing that it would be enough to save Bobby. Blaze fumed, fire crackling through her hair as frightened tears ran down her face. Trying to keep her mind calm she turned up the volume on her minidisk. Long gone was the cheesy music of her childhood, instead the dulcet tones of a sultry rock group pounded through her brain.
"You burn too bright... You live too fast.... This can't go on too long... You're a tragedy starting to happen..."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tabitha and Havoc sat uneasily in the hospital wardroom, wrapped tightly in their thickest winter coats, breath condensing on the air into clouds of thick fog. They bit their nails and fretted as they waited for Bobby's family to arrive. Iceman had never mentioned anything about them, the people he lived with; apart from the fact that his parents had disowned him when they found out he was a mutant. The mixed bunch who walked in to fill the room was hardly what they had been expecting.
"Oh Bobby!" Storm cried, the first X-men into the room it was she who grasped Iceman's freezing hand as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey Storm..." He muttered through cracked lips. "Whacha doin' here?"
"The question is, young man." Xavier wheeled in to join Ororo by the bedside. "What are you doing here?" There was worry as much as disappointment in the Professor's tones.
"Don't be so hard on him. Professor." Scott stood up for his young friend, taking a position stood by Tabitha and Havoc. He ignored the confused looks Boom-Boom was throwing his way. "We just wanna make sure you are alright, Bobby."
"I'm alright." Bobby wriggled to try and sit up a bit better in the bed with help from Ororo. "And... and I'm sorry, Professor...I made a mistake." Abashedly Bobby met Xavier's eyes as Havoc and Boom-Boom hung their heads, ashamed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A little while later, as Ilehana, Kurt and Logan took their turns wishing Bobby a speedy recovery, Cyclops, Blaze and Storm joined the Professor in talking to Iceman's university friends. Both the students were uneasy to the point of bolting, they knew it was their fault Bobby was lying in a hospital bed with uncontrollable powers. The job of the X-Men was to make sure Havoc and Tabitha didn't make a break for it until they had the information they needed.
"We're not mad at you." Storm began carefully, "Bobby is as responsible for what as happened as you are..."
"Implying that you know it was us who got the ace for Bobby to take." Havoc snapped.
"We swear we didn't know it could effect people like that." Tabitha enthused. "Bobby's our friend, we wouldn't want to hurt him."
"We know that." Charles Xavier spoke kindly, blue eyes honest and true. "But what has happened to Bobby may happen to other young mutants too. If there is any information you can give us on where you got the ace, we would greatly appreciate it."
"An' that'll get us off the hook? You'll not press charges or anything?" Havoc asked, thinking who were these people? And why did Tabitha keep looking from him to the guy in shades like she'd seen a ghost?
"I think you have already learned your lesson." Xavier replied. "If you don't mind, I would like to use my telepathic powers to gather the information directly from your memories? It avoids misunderstandings."
"Sure." Havoc answered slowly, not sounding sure at all. Tabitha on the other hand looked much more impressed.
"Cool! I always wanted to meet a real telepath!"
"I hope I can live up to your expectations, Tabitha." Xavier smiled. "Shall we begin?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Thank you both." Xavier finally offered, dropping his fingers from surrounding Havoc's temples. He kept his fears to himself as he turned to his X-Men. "Blaze, you may be able to help here. I have some names and faces for you to take a look over. Perhaps with that spectacular memory of yours, you will recognise someone from the underworld?"
"There's always a chance." Blaze smiled grimly.
"Who are you people?" Havoc muttered in awe.
"The most important thing we are right now is Bobby's family." The Professor replied as Logan, Ilehana and Kurt appeared from Bobby's room. "I trust you two will help Ororo take good care of him for us?"
"'Course." Tabitha said with a flick of her hand and a wink. "What are friends for?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The X-Men left the building and headed back to the jet as Storm made herself at home by Bobby's bedside. Iceman was very glad of his old teacher's company, and before long as Xavier had expected the temperature in the room began to rise again. Colour began to flush Bobby's cheeks again as he and Ororo exchanged news of the school, old friends and new beginnings at university.
On the way to a convenient coffee machine, Havoc finally asked Tabitha what had been bothering her when Bobby's strange family had been talking to them? Her reply disturbed the young blond haired mutant.
"What, apart from all the obvious stuff?" She shrugged, "Nothin' much. Well, 'cept that you and the guy in shades, whatever his name is, well... You look really alike, Alex. It was spooky. You gotta long-lost cousin at all or somethin'?"
Alex didn't answer. He was too busy trying to get his head around what the Professor had already figured out. Two boys, orphaned in a plane crash, separated as the younger was quickly adopted and the older switched from foster home to foster home as he struggled with his mutant nature. Could this strange man, this friend of Bobby's; could it really be Alex's lost brother? Was it really Scott?