Disclaimer: XME is still not mine. Darcy is though.
Melt Me
Chapter Four: Water Falls
***
Somewhere on the Hana Highway, Eastern Maui, Saturday morning.
On the windward side of Maui, where rain showers develop quickly and frequently, often turning a sunny morning foul and back to beautiful again in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee and watch the morning news. The most reliable forecast in the Islands is usually a look out the window.
Hank McCoy switched the woefully underpowered windshield wipers onto high as he squinted at the road ahead, even at full strength the squeaking and groaning blades did little to dissipate the sheet of water that ran down the van's windshield. Hank let off on the gas, slowing the large rental van as he negotiated the twisting coastal road.
"Looks like we're going to have some rain for our outing today," he said mildly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the dark haired girl riding shotgun beside him.
"It always rains. Give it five minutes and it'll be sunny again," Darcy Harper told him. She tucked a lock of her long hair behind her ear and leaned forward toward the window, peering ahead intently. "Oh! I can see the top of Haleakala now! We're getting close to the turnoff I think…" she lowered her head to study the map spread carefully out on her lap.
Hank peered through the pouring rain and up at the mountain on their right. Haleakala, considered to be the largest dormant volcano on the planet, dominated the southeastern portion of Maui, yet its top had been shrouded in mist and rain clouds ever since they had set out from Hana earlier that morning. Luckily, they had brought the rental van they had procured in Oahu along for the day - transported safely in the belly of the X-jet – since the only inconspicuous flat spot to land and camouflage the jet had been a long and prohibitive hike to the car rental counter. Outside, the rain lightened to a sprinkle and then trailed off, leaving the protesting wiper blades to squeak noisily over the glass.
"See? Toldya," Darcy said matter of factly, without looking up from her map.
Ever since her heartfelt and effusive apology the night before, the new girl had become quickly at ease with Hank, like all new students did once they got to know him. It was their very familiarity that almost allowed him to forget that he could no longer pass for human. It took certain little jarring reminders, like Darcy's terrified initial reaction to him, or being forced to take semi-public transportation to prompt him.
Remembering that little joyous experience from the day before, Hank glanced in the rearview mirror at the three rows of bench seats behind him, once again tuning in to the boisterous laughter and joking around of the students. One in particular didn't look so happy, and Hank wondered if not getting to fly the jet or drive the van might actually get Bobby to learn his lesson. But since that idea had about as much chance as a snowball in hell, Hank made a mental note to keep the keys to the van in his pockets this time.
In the very back seat of the van, Bobby Drake sulked silently as he stared out at the lush vegetation that lined the highway. He wasn't that upset about not getting to fly that morning, the flight time from Oahu to Maui was trivial. You barely had time to get settled in your seat before the jet was descending to land in the jungle. Getting chewed out by Scott and Mr. McCoy the night before was trivial too, Bobby was an old hand at getting himself out of trouble so he didn't think this 'no fly' punishment would last long. No, he was bugged because he was in the back of the van sitting with Sam, when he really wanted to be sitting with his water mutant. Whom, he was thrilled to the core to notice, looked even better in daylight.
He could only catch glimpses of her through the crowded van; Tabby, Jamie, and Amara's heads were in his way. He'd thought he'd been pretty smooth when they'd unloaded the van, jumping in first and claiming the back seat. He wanted Darcy to sit with him since it was nearly an hour's drive from where they'd left the jet outside Hana to the turnoff for the Pipiwai Trailhead.
He'd smiled at her as everyone milled about before getting in the van, hoping without being obvious that she'd get the message that he wanted her to sit with him. But before she could, Sam and Ray had climbed in and claimed the rest of the backseat next to him. And before Bobby could do anything about that, Mr. McCoy had already asked her to be his navigator.
"Hey, Bobby," Sam said quietly, bringing him out of his brooding and he turned back around toward his best friend. "You talked to the new girl last night, right? Did she say what her powers were? She never told us and I'm kinda curious."
Despite Sam's soft tone, really only intended for Bobby's ears, the question caught the attention of Ray, who was on the other side of Sam, and Jamie and Tabitha who were sitting on the bench in front of them. Tabby turned around in the seat, to drape herself over the back of it. Her mischievous blue eyes telling Bobby she was just looking for an excuse to rub him the wrong way.
"She can make waves. She's a water manipulator," Bobby told them. Tabitha's grin widened.
"Does that mean she's all wet?" she drawled. Jamie giggled behind his hand while Bobby looked annoyed.
"Don't you have somebody else to bother?"
Tabby shrugged. "Not right this second." She informed him blithely.
"You think she's gonna get recruited?" Ray asked them all. "Is that why she's tagging along today?"
"I hope so," Sam said in his soft drawl. "We haven't had any pretty girls at the Institute in a long time." Tabitha snapped her gum in response, making Sam backpedal fast. "I meant new girls, Boom-Boom…"
"Ooooo, I'm going to tell Amara and Jubes you said that, Sam," Tabby threatened mildly, while Sam held his hands up pleadingly and shook his head desperately.
"So do you think she's gonna get tapped?" Ray asked again. Jamie poked his head over the seat in front of Ray, his blue eyes bright.
"Probably, she is a mutant. What do you think, Bobby?" Jamie asked.
"Maybe," Bobby shrugged, trying not to look too interested in the prospect. Ray leaned forward to look past Sam at Bobby.
"But why? I mean no offense, but, a water mutant? How would that help the team? And why go to all this trouble? When I got recruited all I got was Scott at my house. I didn't get invited along on a field trip," Ray complained. Tabby popped her gum noisily again.
"Jealous?" she asked him sweetly. Ray scowled at her. "Well, if you want to know what I think, I remember hearing the Professor say he's concerned because she can't control her powers. And since she can control water and possibly cause floods and tidal waves and junk like that, he wants her at the Institute so she can learn some control. So I think she's definitely being recruited." Tabitha said smugly.
"When did you hear that?" Jamie asked. Tabitha shrugged.
"Couple of weeks ago. He was talking to Scott about it and I just happened to overhear it," Tabby said with another shrug.
"I'll bet," Bobby snorted.
"How come you can remember some conversation you eavesdropped on weeks ago, but you can't seem to remember you owe me fifty bucks?" Ray demanded loudly. Tabby looked aghast.
"Fifty? Fifty, my ass! It was twenty!" Boom-Boom retorted.
"Ha! You do remember!" Ray crowed triumphantly, "pay up, Boom-Boom."
The subject of Darcy's possible recruitment dismissed, Bobby ignored them as Tabby and Ray began loudly arguing about the validity and repayment terms of the debt.
"I hope she comes to the Institute," Sam sighed quietly beside him. Bobby slanted him a look, he hoped his best friend wasn't getting ideas about possibly asking Darcy out or anything. I saw her first, dude, he thought.
He lifted his head and looked up toward the front of the van and surprisingly saw Darcy's pale blue eyes. She was twisted around in the front seat - presumably to talk to Roberto and Amara whom were sitting right behind her – but at the moment her watchful gaze seemed to be on what was going on in the very back of the van. Bobby wondered if she'd overheard them discussing her, and he gave her a small smile and a wink, but she turned around in her seat to look at where they were going without acknowledging him. Maybe she hadn't been looking at him after all, and he found himself a little disappointed at the fact.
Darcy turned back to watch for the Pipiwai trail sign, trying not to feel self-conscious. She hadn't heard anything specifically over Roberto and Amara's conversation, except a lot of 'she's' that were coming from the back of the van that made the hair on the back of her head stand up, like they were talking about her. She'd stared hard at the back of Tabitha's head, trying not to look at Bobby. The memory of how the blonde girl had seemed so familiar with him was fresh in her mind. Darcy certainly didn't want to trespass if he was seeing someone else, but he hadn't seemed like he was in a relationship when they'd talked. And unless she was mistaken it had almost seemed like Bobby had wanted to kiss her the night before.
She winced involuntarily when she heard Tabitha shriek "Bob-by!" from the back of the van. Unable to stand it, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Tabby writhing and screeching on the bench seat with her hand up the back of her t-shirt, while Ray and Bobby high-fived each other. Jamie was frantically trying to help Tabby get the chunk of ice off her back before he got kicked, which was inevitable considering how Tabby was thrashing around.
Darcy bit her lip to stifle a pleased grin as she turned back around in her seat. While she still wasn't sure of Tabitha's relationship with Bobby, she had to say that the blonde girl deserved the ice down her back, if for nothing else than the sand shower she'd given Darcy the night before.
***
Pipiwai Trail, Waimoku Falls.
The wind rustled through the dense bamboo forest, turning the tall green stalks into a forest sized bamboo wind chime, clacking and ringing through the almost eerie twilight of the thick vegetation.
The students walked single file up steps carved into the soil as they hiked ever higher toward the waterfall. No one spoke as they passed through the forest, the musical twilight was almost mystical and to look straight up toward the sky was like being in a cathedral.
Amara eyed the peak of the volcano ahead nervously as they left the singing trees behind, the trail widening out so that they could walk in pairs or groups.
"I don't know about this, maybe I shouldn't be here," Amara fretted, walking between Bobby and Roberto.
"You heard Mr. McCoy, this volcano is extinct. So don't worry about it." Roberto said confidently, weaving across the path to take advantage of every patch of sun that filtered down through the trees.
"It's not extinct," Amara said softly. "It's just sleeping."
Bobby put his hand on her shoulder and grinned. "Then don't do anything that will wake it up. Like swimming in hot springs…" Bobby teased, reminding Amara of the trip a couple of years ago to the Caribbean. Amara relaxed, agreeing with Bobby. As long as she didn't do anything to agitate the sleeping giant there was no reason to worry. She just got a little paranoid around volcanoes sometimes.
At the front of the group, Darcy was still being kept occupied by Mr. McCoy, and she wondered how she could gracefully start dropping back through the ranks to walk with Bobby, whom she sensed was near the back when Hank changed the subject from the native flora to a more personal one.
"Scott has told me about your water manipulation powers, Darcy. I admit I'm intrigued. I hope you'll give us all a demonstration today. I think it would be fascinating," Hank said, smiling at the girl.
Darcy blushed. No one had ever said her powers were fascinating before. Cool, yes, work of the devil, definitely. But never fascinating. "Um…sure," she said shyly.
"Excellent. I'm looking forward to working with you when you come to the Institute as well," Hank said casually.
"I don't know if I'm going to be attending yet."
"Oh? Scott seemed to think that you would be. It seems that we have all been so curious about you that we probably haven't given you the chance to ask us any questions you might have about the Institute. Is there anything I can answer for you that might help you make up your mind?" Hank asked. Darcy shrugged, shifting the weight of her backpack on her shoulders.
"I don't really have any questions about the Institute I guess. Scott was pretty clear about things. That Professor Xavier wants to sponsor me. That I would live at the Institute, attend Bayville High for my senior year, and that I would learn to control my powers…" Darcy recited, as though reading from a list.
"But?" Hank prompted. Darcy's shoulders sagged, as though the weight of the world was on them.
"But I still don't see why. I mean, why me? I can't do half of what the others can do. Why does he want me to go there so bad?" she asked miserably.
Hank stopped in the middle of the trail and put a hand on Darcy's arm. "Go on ahead, we'll catch up," he told the others when they caught up to them. Darcy didn't meet the curious gazes of the other students as they went by, until she saw Bobby's feet and she raised her head. Bobby smiled at her reassuringly as he went past and gave her a little wink. Making her feel much better.
"Darcy, how long have you known that you're a mutant? When did you first discover your powers?" Hank asked her when the others were out of earshot.
"Just about a year now," Darcy replied quietly. Hank nodded.
"I suspected so. It's always hard in the beginning, when you are first dealing with the fact that you suddenly aren't the person that you thought you were. I denied my mutation for a long time, but now it's staring me in the face and I have no choice but to deal with it," Hank said. Darcy squirmed uncomfortably. "But I can tell you that one of the best things has been being around people who accept you for what - and who - you are, because they're in the same boat you're in."
Darcy's head jerked slightly, like someone waking up without ever knowing they'd been asleep.
"Who better to understand and want to help, than another mutant? You've already seen evidence of that, have you not?" Hank asked her gently.
She nodded as she immediately thought of Alex, and everything that he, and his adoptive parents had done for her, a complete stranger. But Darcy's scars ran deep, making her suspicious and mistrustful of everyone's motives. She was tired of being that way, tired of being on edge. Maybe Alex and Scott had a point. Maybe she did need to be with other people like her.
Hank patted her softly on the arm and turned to walk on up the trail after the other students. "Take a few minutes if you need them. I'll be 'dismissing' class for a few hours when we get to the falls anyway."
Darcy watched as Hank moved swiftly up the hill, using all fours as he walked like a gorilla, and she felt for him. How much more awful things must be for a mutant whose physical appearance separated him from the general population. It made Darcy feel ashamed of her own self pity, however she justified it.
Wiping her eyes on the bottom half of her tank top, Darcy followed slowly after, continuing on up the trail. The wind softly rustled the trees, but other than that it was completely quiet and still. Darcy picked up her pace a bit, trying to keep Mr. McCoy in sight, but his broad blue back disappeared around a curve in the trail eighty or ninety yards ahead. She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly didn't want to be alone out there.
There was a small break in the trees off to the left as Darcy approached the curve in the trail and she could see Mr. McCoy up ahead again. As she passed the break, a hand shot out and closed over her wrist, pulling her into the jungle. She sucked in a breath to scream, but a hand lightly covered her mouth.
Bobby's face appeared before hers and he held his finger to his lips. He took his other hand off her mouth and she took a ragged breath, trying to still her racing heart. She looked to him questioningly, and he poked his head out from between the trees to look up and down the path. Determining it was clear he ducked back into the narrow side path he'd been hiding on.
"All clear," Bobby told her, still keeping his voice down.
"What are you doing? You scared the wits out of me!" Darcy whispered fiercely. Bobby grinned at her, still holding her by the wrist.
"Sorry about that, I didn't want you to give me away." Bobby turned and headed up the side trail, away from the main one that led to the falls, letting go of her. Darcy fell into step behind him, the trail too narrow to walk beside.
"Where are we going?"
Bobby flashed her another grin over his shoulder. "You said you wanted to go swimming today. I looked at the map and there's supposed to be a couple of pools up this trail."
"But what about…"
The Iceman reached back and caught her wrist; pulling her up close to him and then past to let her precede him up the trail. She could feel his hands on her shoulders and his breath near her ear as he leaned close, stirring the loose tendrils of hair on her neck.
"They won't even miss us," he said quietly.
Her heart skipping, Darcy let Bobby propel her gently up the path a few steps to get her started before his hands fell away from her shoulders. Even though he was no longer actually touching her, she could feel the tingle on her skin outlining every inch they'd come in contact. She wondered why Bobby had wanted her to lead the way; she had no idea where they were going. But as she moved deeper into the trees she could feel the pools, the water calling to her and she understood.
They came to a bend in the path, but rather than follow it Darcy forged ahead, deeper into the forest as they cut around the southwest side of the falls, heading farther downstream. Darcy could feel it up ahead, a perfect corner of paradise, unknown and untouched and she walked faster. Slipping around trees and bamboo like a fish through the reeds.
Bobby trailed along in her wake the best that he could. He'd been enjoying his view behind her as they'd made their way up the narrow path, letting his eyes have their fill of her. But now, as he crossed his arms in front of his face to protect it from the sharp bamboo leaves he was starting to question the wisdom of leaving the trail. He pushed through a particularly dense bunch of bamboo and came up short when Darcy flung her arm out to the side, stopping him before he would have stepped off the twenty-foot cliff at the edge of the pool.
"Awesome," Bobby breathed. Taking in the spectacular scenery before him. On the far side of the pool, a small waterfall went its way through the rocks and vegetation before spilling gloriously into the deep blue pool below. Darcy turned and gave him a playful smile.
"Is this to your liking, sir?" she teased.
Bobby grinned back; shrugging off the backpack he carried with his swim trunks and towel inside. Ducking behind some bushes, Bobby changed in record time. But Darcy still beat him; she must have been wearing her bathing suit under her clothes.
With a whoop, Bobby made an ice slide down the ragged face of the cliff and used it, sliding off the end to fall the last five feet into the center of the pool with a splash.
"Come in!" he called up to her when he surfaced, flipping his wet hair out of his eyes. "The water is perfect!"
"Of course it is!" Darcy called back, and bypassing his slide jumped off the cliff's edge. But rather than plunging into the pool, the water seemed to rise up to meet her and gently lower her down until she stood on the water's surface in the center of the pool beside him.
Bobby treaded water, looking up at her. She wore a rather plain dark blue one-piece suit; unadorned and unremarkable, but to Bobby, as he looked up the length of her toned, tanned body, it was more alluring and seductive than a string bikini for all the skin that it hid. Darcy let her hair down, tugging out the barrette that had held it up and off her neck.
Grinning, Bobby reached underneath the foot closest to him and brought his fingers up to lightly run along the sole of her foot. She stepped away quickly, frowning at him.
"No tickling," she informed him. Bobby squinted up at her, the sun behind her so he couldn't see her expression. She was like Roberto at that moment, a dark shadow surrounded by light.
"Get in then," Bobby replied. Darcy tossed her barrette toward the rocks at the far side of the pool, and taking her sweet time – to torture him no doubt – dipped half of one foot below the surface as if testing the temperature. "That's it, time's up!" Bobby said playfully, and attacked, grabbing Darcy by the ankles and tugging. Like she had the night before when he startled her, she dropped into the water like a rock.
She came up behind him, quick as a fish in the water and lunged in retaliation, dunking him as she pushed his head down and somersaulted neatly in the water. Bobby came up sputtering.
"You'll never beat me in the water, you should just give up now," she laughed. Bobby shook the hair out of his eyes and narrowed them.
"Wanna bet?"
Darcy's eyes widened in response as the water around them suddenly plummeted several degrees from Bobby's iced up hands. She backstroked quickly to get out of range, but not quickly enough as with a grin Bobby dove at her. Splashing him she twisted away, slippery as an eel, but she felt his ice-cold hands as they brushed over her calves when he made a grab for her.
Diving deeper, she came up underneath him to grab his legs and pull, dunking him again. As she kicked for the surface, Bobby tried to push her under again as she passed, only to find himself on the receiving end of the dunking.
"Had enough?" she asked, when he came up for air after his fourth trip under. Bobby wiped the water out of his eyes and nodded.
"Yeah, I concede this round," Bobby said. Darcy smiled and stood on a submerged rock, bringing her torso up out of the water, their horseplay having ranged across the length of the deep pool to the shallower end near the small waterfall. When Darcy raised her arms to slick her hair back against her skull, Bobby took advantage.
"Round two!" he yelled and launched himself at her. Grabbing her around the waist as he knocked her off the rock and into deeper water. Spinning slowly, they sank toward the bottom together like a pair of entwined otters, locked in each other's embrace. Bobby was reluctant to let go of her to head back to the surface, much preferring the slight feel of her slender form in his arms, and the brush of her legs against his as she kicked to take them back to the top.
Pushing his hair out of his eyes, Bobby smiled at her; pleased he'd gotten the drop on his wily water mutant. Treading water slowly, they faced each other, their legs occasionally touching as they scissor-kicked, although Bobby noticed that Darcy seemed to need to expend a lot less effort to retain her position in the water than he did. Her eyes lowered, she pushed her arms forward, stroking backwards through the water toward the shallow submerged rocks again and she sat on one, her head and shoulders above the water. Bobby followed to sit beside her.
"This place is really great," he said looking around. "Although I don't expect we'll have it to ourselves indefinitely."
Darcy nodded; she fully expected that Bobby's friends would track them down sooner or later. Especially Tabitha, who seemed to have a talent for sniffing Bobby out like a bloodhound. An unexpected surge of jealousy rocked through her when she thought of the outgoing blonde. She had no right to feel jealous, after all she barely knew Bobby, but the little green monster wasn't listening.
"Give you a penny…" Bobby said, leaning his head down to be able to see her lowered face as she glared at the water.
"Can I ask you something?" she began quietly. Bobby nodded. "That, girl…Tabitha, is she your…girlfriend or something?" Darcy asked, catching her lower lip with her teeth nervously. Bobby made a strange sputtering choking sound and Darcy looked at him curiously. He looked as if she'd just asked him to eat a plate of mud.
"Hell no!" he said emphatically. "Tabby is just a friend. Sometimes better than others," he explained. Darcy cocked her head.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that Tabby lives to piss me off, plain and simple," Bobby explained.
"Just you?" Darcy asked, watching him from the corner of her eye. Bobby's look of annoyance evened out.
"No, Tabby's fairly equal opportunity on whose skin she's going to get under."
"Oh," Darcy murmured softly, looking down again. She blushed, trying not to imagine what the Reverend would think of her being so bold with a boy she barely knew. But she wasn't in Dry Bluff anymore, and her father had no rights to dictate her behavior…not anymore. She almost jumped however when she felt Bobby's arm brush against her back as he propped it on the submerged rock behind her, leaning closer until her entire left side was touching his.
She saw Bobby's face moving closer out of the corner of her eye moments before his lips grazed her cheek in a light kiss. "Ask me," Bobby whispered.
Darcy turned her face to see his warm brown eyes just inches from hers. "Ask you what?"
"Whatever it is going through your mind," Bobby said with a small grin.
She took a shaky breath, a bit overwhelmed at her own reaction to his closeness. Every cell of her seemed to be aware of him, his sandy brown hair, his dark eyes, that rakish grin, those nicely muscled shoulders…
"D-do you…have a girlfriend?" she asked, her blush deepening, and she turned to look him square in the eye at last. Bobby's grin deepened, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
"You applying for the job?" he asked playfully. Darcy's eyes widened with embarrassment and surprise, her lips parting. She certainly hadn't expected that response; she'd just wanted to make sure she wasn't setting herself up for disappointment, that's all.
"No! I…, I mean, I just…" she gulped, but Bobby saved her from further embarrassment. Leaning even closer until his face was right by hers, so close she could feel his breath against her lips and his velvet brown eyes slid closed.
"Just kiss me," Bobby whispered.
Darcy tilted her chin forward until her lips just barely brushed his, her eyes sliding closed too. Bobby's lips moved over hers, teasing and soft as he kissed her back. The blood rushing through her body sounded like surf in her ears as he drew back with agonizing slowness and then kissed her again.
She'd been kissed before, certainly. Chaste kisses that left her indifferent, and wet kisses that had left her with little desire for more than some lip balm and mouthwash. But this—this was something else.
Bobby gently ran his tongue along the soft skin of her inner lip, and Darcy lost all ability to think. All she could do was feel, and feel she did. Every inch of her tingled, buzzing and hot in contrast to the touch of Bobby's cool tongue against hers. His arm across her back moved to her waist, pulling her close to his side even as he drew back from her lips. Darcy licked her lower lip without thinking, not wanting to lose his taste while Bobby watched her through half open eyes, tracing her cheek with one chilled finger, making her shiver slightly with delight.
"Bobby…" she murmured, and he smiled.
"I like the sound of my name on your lips, it's the first time you've said it," Bobby told her, keeping his arm around her slender waist. He tilted his head down again to kiss her high cheekbone, and he could feel her blush, heating up his cool lips as he let them linger against her face.
"I don't know you that well," she explained, not looking at him. Bobby let go of her waist and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as they sat on a submerged rock, in a hidden pool on the side of a volcano, and Bobby felt it again. That sense that the moment was important - even if he didn't know why – and he held her fingers tighter.
"We could change that," he said quietly. Darcy looked at him questioningly, her eyes bluer than the sky or the sea, they were as blue as his ice. "If you decided you wanted to come to the Institute…we'd see each other all the time. We'd be going to the same High School, be in the same grade and a lot of the same classes…" Bobby trailed off.
"Are you trying to convince me to go…to recruit me, or because…you'd like me to go?" Darcy asked. Bobby smiled at her.
"Purely selfish reasons. I know I don't know you that well, Darcy, but I know enough to know that I want to. I want to know you…well," Bobby told her. Darcy flushed again at his words, her stomach filled with trapped butterflies.
"How well?" she asked shyly, looking up at him from beneath her lashes as she returned his smile. Bobby's answering grin made the corners of her mouth twitch with the urge to grin like a loon in response, but she sobered when his head descended to hers for another tender kiss.
"Very well," Bobby murmured against her lips.
In the bushes above the pool, Tabitha grinned and rubbed her hands together, a half dozen charges appearing between her palms like marbles and she started to stand up so she could toss them down into the pool and shake things up a bit. Bobby was looking a tad too serious down there as he talked to the new girl (and they were too far away for her to hear what they were discussing, anyway) for her taste.
Just when Tabby was about to liven things up, Bobby leaned in and kissed Darcy, and Ray stepped up from behind Tabby and grabbed her by the wrists, stopping her from tossing her party favors, even as she was closing her fists around them to reabsorb them.
"Don't," Ray said sternly, not letting go of Tabby's wrists until she'd dissipated the charges. "Leave them be."
Tabby slanted Ray a look over her shoulder, "I wasn't going to when I saw him kiss her. I'm not that mean," Tabby said. Ray raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.
"Uh huh," he said sarcastically, and then turned to head back through the bushes to find the others. "Let's give them five minutes or so," Ray called back over his shoulder. He only made it about half a dozen steps before Tabby grabbed him by the arm, turning him back to face her.
"Why do you have such a low opinion of me, Ray?" Tabitha demanded, fisting her hands on her hips.
"Maybe because you don't give a damn about anyone else's feelings but your own, Boom-Boom," Ray snapped, mirroring Tabby's aggressive posture. Her blue eyes narrowed.
"That's totally not true. Bobby knows I'm just goofing around, he doesn't take what I say or do seriously," Tabby said defensively. A muscle in Ray's jaw twitched, and for a minute Tabby was actually nervous, like Berzerker was going to do just that - go berserk on her – when he leaned over so she could get a good look at his eyes.
"Maybe I wasn't talking about Bobby," Ray said in a low, careful voice, and then turned on his heel. Leaving her dumbfounded in the middle of the path.
By the sixth kiss, Darcy was definitely starting to lean toward giving the Institute a try. Not that she had discounted anything that Scott or Alex had said about learning to control her powers before, but the thought of crossing the country to live with faceless strangers had left her with a sense of dread. But the Institute wasn't faceless, cold and impersonal anymore.
It had Bobby's face now. And Amara's, and Jamie's, and Sam's. And all the others who seemed to so readily accept her. It had Mr. McCoy's face as he smiled widely at her when she'd displayed some of her powers by walking across the surface of the pool after the other students had joined them to swim.
Suddenly, Darcy hadn't felt quite so alone in the world anymore. For a little while, swimming and laughing with people her own age, she'd started to almost feel like her old self again. She'd felt…normal.
By the end of the day, when the sunset colored the interior of the van with coral and saffron as they drove back to Hana, and Darcy was squeezed in the back seat between Bobby and Sam, she'd made up her mind. She looked over at Bobby, who was leaning against the window with his eyes closed and his fingers twined with hers loosely, and took a deep breath.
"I've decided to go," she said quietly, in deference to the other tired and napping occupants of the van. Bobby didn't open his eyes, but he smiled a little, squeezing her hand gently.
"Good…" he mumbled.
***
Next Chapter: Bayville Bound!
AN: Ooooo…Boom-Boom and Berzerker! Don't ask me where that subplot it coming from, since it wasn't in my outline. Your guess is as good as mine, although I probably shouldn't admit that.
Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, and Rurouni Tyriel as always for being my sounding board.
Feedback greatly appreciated. Until next time! ^_^