Chapter 16: Back at the Mansion

"He's alive. But his injuries are severe, I'm amazed he's made it this far. He's in a coma now. I'll let you see him now, but you need to take care of yourself. After a few minutes with John, I want you upstairs."

Bobby nodded, then followed the professor to where John was. Bobby noticed Kurt reading a nearby monitor. John's shirt had been removed, and Bobby saw a little bruising. He ran his fingers lightly over the bruises, then noticed the electrodes on him. He knew what they were for.

"He has extensive bruising on his back, but his main problem is the internal injuries. I believe his mutation may have helped somewhat, although I'm not sure how."

"He protected me when the building came down," Bobby said, in his own attempt to explain the bruising.

"You can tell us what happened later. All that's important right now is taking care of the both of you."

"He's afraid, professor. He's not sure what's going to happen to him now."

"We'll worry about that when the time comes. Until then, I want you to go upstairs, rest, shower, eat and so on. I'll stay here until you get back. But not too soon or I'll just send you back upstairs."

"Shouldn't the team know that John and I are here?"

"I'll tell them that you're here. I'm not sure I want them knowing about John just yet. There's no telling how they would react. Now, go on upstairs. I'll call you if anything happens."

Bobby took a long look at John and then at the professor. Bobby knew the professor couldn't be happy with John being there, but he knew that he would be taken care of.

After doing what the professor had asked, Bobby returned a few hours later. He didn't see Kurt, although he found the professor by John.

"Anything?" Bobby asked.

"No change."

Bobby dragged a chair next to where John lay.

"I'm assuming you plan on staying with him," the professor guessed.

"I'm not going anywhere until I get kicked out again," Bobby answered.

"I guessed that much. I haven't been able to contact the team, so I will go do that now. If anything happens, call me immediately."

"I will."

Bobby heard the professor leave, and then turned his attention back to John. Putting his hands around John's, Bobby sat in silence while watching his friend. He thought about what the professor had said earlier, about the team reacting to John's being there. Bobby would have to protect John as best he could from them.

The professor, followed by Kurt, came in a while later, announcing that the team had stopped Magneto and were on their way back.

"I did tell them that you were here, but I didn't mention John. But we will have to tell them."

"I know, I'll tell them. I'm sure they'll want to know exactly what happened."

"As do I. I will get you when they have returned."

"Who'll stay with him when they get back?"

"Kurt can."

"Professor, we're back," Cyclops' voice came over a few minutes later.

"We'll meet you in my office," the professor replied.

Bobby slowly stood up, releasing John's hand.

"I will call if anything changes," Kurt said, seeing Bobby's reluctance.

Bobby nodded, then followed the professor upstairs. In the office, he felt everyone staring at him. When Rogue saw him, she jumped from her seat and ran straight into his arms.

"Hey there," she whispered in his ear.

Bobby smiled weakly at her, then sat down near the professor across from the rest of the team.

"Bobby, what on earth happened?" he heard Logan asked.

Bobby took a deep breath, then began, "I noticed that John wasn't in the room, so I left to look for him. I knew I had to find him before he could do anything. I found him on the roof, staring out over the forest. He wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't do what Magneto and Mystique wanted, he didn't have the strength. Plus he just didn't want to. But he felt that he had to try, he couldn't disappoint them because he didn't have anywhere else to go. He thought about only one other option…"

Bobby paused, not wanting to think about this part. He steadied himself and was about to continue when Cyclops posed a question.

"What was this other option?"

"He was up on a roof, standing on the edge, looking down."

"He was going to jump?" Cyclops asked.

"He was thinking about it. But I stopped him, grabbed his wrist and led him down from the edge," Bobby answered.

"Why did you stop him?" Logan asked. "You could've saved us some problems."

"You just faced Magneto, right?" Bobby counter-asked.

"Yeah, why?" Logan answered.

"Did you even realize John wasn't there?"