Disclaimer: I am NOT making a cent off of this story. Marvel owns all the rights for all the X-Men.
Many thanks to Beaubier for beta-ing another of my stories, you're the best. :-)
Warning/Rating changes: Language will get stronger throughout this story. I have a small example of it in this chapter. (Okay one word so far but I still like to forewarn people so no one's shocked.) Since I'm going to use stronger language the rating will go up to R. This is also my first attempt at romance but it will not be all mushy. There will be some angst.
A/N: I wanted to finish up my other stories before starting this one. I have done another chapter for The Talk and I have half of a chapter done for The Parakeet and the Snowman. My computer however had other plans and I had to reboot it, and in doing so erased it from the system. I do have the back ups saved but I can not find Microsoft word yet so I can't open the files on my old computer. The following is a story I wrote at school using one of it's computer. During my break time of course. ;)
Fashionably Late
Chapter 1: Getting out of the Rut
Emma Frost wasn't just mad; she was livid. Most people would be afraid of this- terrified even- and that had been before she was publicly revealed to be one of the most powerful telepaths in the world. Men in particular had two general reactions to her: they were either helplessly attracted to her (a fact that she loved to employ) or intimated. Or both.
The man who was the source of her current agitated state felt neither. But then again Warren Worthington the Third knew a thing or two about causing those reactions.
"You CAN'T use Cynthia Pierce! She's MY employee, not yours, hence you will be breaching the contract which--"
"First of all Emma, she is not or has she ever been your employee." Warren remarked, not even bothering to look up from his report. Something that he knew would only rile the woman up more, but he was beyond caring at this point. "Yes, she did work on the Anderson designs, but that was co-funded. Her contact was never under you directly."
A victorious smirk crossed the blond woman's face that he missed completely from his reading. Not that it would matter, Emma always had a special way of crowing anyway. "Oh, didn't you know that an agreement was signed already?" She mocked sighed. "Oh poor Warren, you just don't seem to have the business edge anymore. Whatever would daddy think?"
At this point the man glance up from his reading and met her gaze. There was no mistaking the amusement there, or the satisfied smile that threatened to transform into a full-blown smirk.
Shit.
"I might ask you the same question Emma. How is it that you worked on a multi-million deal without reading the fine print? If you did I'm sure you would have realized that Ms. Pierce had--by her request--only signed on for one project and would have to sign another contract for a lengthier status at your company."
Emma blinked.
"Now if you excuse me, I have more important manners to attend to, so kindly shut the door behind when you leave."
Savagely muttering hopelessly clichéd phrases about how "this isn't over yet," Emma slammed the door behind her.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"You actually said that to her?"
"Yep. My only regret is that I forgot to record the conversation. You would of have gotten a kick out of it, Bobby." The winged man smirked at his friend. " I swear it's almost as good as sex." The younger man's grin faded a little.
"With my luck it would have to be." He muttered irritably.
Warren winced at that; he really didn't want his friend to start brooding again. Bobby had just gotten out of a foul mood and he wasn't eager to see it begin anew. Dating especially was a touching subject that was to be avoided at all cost.
"It was just so satisfying to see her so pissed," Warren continued, hoping to get his longtime buddy to return to his happier musings. "Emma has been a real pain lately." Bobby raised an eyebrow at this statement. "Well, more than usual. When she first arrived here as part of Scott's team things weren't so bad--"
"Mainly because we never saw her." Bobby quipped.
"Yeah, one of the perks of being with the 'away' team." The older man stated without missing a beat. " But then we began staying back at the mansion more. First Jean-Paul tries telling me what I'm doing wrong with my business, then Emma started making snide remarks--in front of the students. As if seeing her with Scott isn't sickening enough."
Neither mentioned the reason why seeing these two together was wrong-- they didn't need to do so. Even if they hadn't spoken at length about so many times they would have still of agreed. Jean hadn't even been cold in her grave before the poor widowed husband and his new mistress were locking lips. All the members of the X-teams had known by the end of the memorial service. So it wasn't entirely shocking that Rachel had changed her last name from Summers in favor of Grey shortly afterward.
For the rest of the original X-Men things were a little…tense to say the least. Hank was the first to witness Scott's new relationship with Emma. Though he had confessed his distaste in the affair he still retained his friendship with both of them. It wasn't always easy but he felt that since they were all adults they would all handle it. In time.
Both Warren and Bobby had barely spoken to Scott since the memorial service other than to receive briefings for a mission. Though their leader had attempted many times to patch things up, some wounds ran too deep. Bobby had ignored Scott for the most part, promising that once he calmed down they would talk. But he was unable to calm down. Every time Bobby saw the couple together now, his temper flared. Needless to say a long silence between the two men had yet to be breeched.
Warren, on the other hand, had no qualms with showing how displeased it made him. He didn't make scenes (for the most part) but he would glare at his 'dear' friend whenever they passed him. Or whenever she opened her mouth to gloat. Or whenever Emma was mentioned. Hell, he was pissed when he saw her name in the paper-- though seeing that her stock had taken a hit did lighten the blow.
"Yeah, well you got her good, War. " Bobby said with a triumphant gleam in his eye. "She never saw it coming."
"It…it was kind of petty wasn't it?" Warren asked, for the first time since his little vendetta against Emma began he sounded uncertain.
"N--okay maybe a little but its not like she doesn't deserve it. Besides it's for a good cause, this fashion show thing is for a fundraiser right? Emma just wanted to promote her company by signing on some big up and comer."
"So do I." Warren admitted.
"Well you're the lesser of two evils than." Bobby said adding a light note to his voice to let his friend know he was joking.
"Thank you Bobby, you always know what to say." The older man glanced at his watch. "Listen, I know I promised you lunch--"
"Owe, man. Owe. You owe me lunch for losing our little bet. You can see into Rogue's bathroom window and you did get caught, oh stealthy one."
Frowning at the memory of Rogue's fury and Remy's laughter Warren reached for his briefcase. How was it that after all these years of being an X-Men, after being a successful businessman, of overcoming his role as a horseman of Apocalypse, that Bobby still managed to convince him to do such things?
"Right, well, I have a meeting with Ms. Pierce soon. You can come with me and we can go afterwards." Warren had planned it this way hoping that visiting the
models would get the other out of his dating rut. If nothing else it wouldn't hurt to try and at best it would lighten his mood.
Much to his surprise Bobby didn't jump at the chance as he would of thought. His face was impassive but his eyes narrowed briefly, as if searching for something.
"Do you want me to meet you there?" He asked guardedly.
"Why? I can take you in the Jag and save time. Unless you have somewhere else to go…" Warren trailed off giving the younger man a chance to back out. He wasn't sure if Bobby had figured out his true intentions were, or was under the belief that he was trying to trick him into going to Hank for another treatment. Either way he was trending on thin ice, so to speak.
"……Okay. I guess there are worse fates."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Bobby was a bit surprised when Warren actually took him to his car instead of Hank's lab. Most of the team had nagged about him getting it over with, and he promised them he would…at some point. At least his pal was above trying to trick him. If they weren't going to see Hank that meant they were seeing models. At another time the very suggestion would have had him out the door warming up the car before Warren had stopped talking. Now…
Now I just need some space.
After the whole mess with his 'secondary mutation', Bobby had done a lot of soul searching. He knew what he wanted in his life but the hard part was making it a reality. Part of him always figured love was something that came along once in a lifetime. That was why it was so hard to let go of Lorna, and why every failed relationship hit him so hard.
Of course, it also doesn't help when most of the dates you had either use you, turn insane or belittle you. Or all the above. He thought bitterly.
"…knew that Cynthia would be perfect for this event. I also had an advantage that Emma didn't." Warren commented pulling the car into a familiar looking lot.
Bobby suddenly felt a strong sense of familiarity that he couldn't quite place. Noticing his confusion Warren chuckled. "Remember it?"
"Is…isn't this where Jean and Scott use to work? When Jean was a model?" Something else was missing from the picture that he could almost place…
"Yeah, but back then it had different ownership."
"You said that you had an advantage Emma didn't…what is that?" Judging by the proud Worthington grin his friend wore he had asked the right question.
"Cynthia Pierce." The winged mutant replied obviously expecting the other to make the connection.
"What about her?"
"She's a friend of Jean's! " Warren sighed. "We met her that time we all visited Jean on the day of her big shoot."
"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell." The younger man shrugged, he had met a lot of Jean's friends. He couldn't recall every name and face of people he'd only met once.
"The point is, that we kept in touch and she's agreed to do this. " Warren looked back at Bobby. "Now remember these are all professional models--"
"--So no drooling. Got ya." With a small sigh the door was opened and Bobby Drake's worries were left behind.
A/N: Since we never see how Warren and Bobby feel about Scott/Emma, or what their like together other than briefings--this is just my take on it. Hopefully the secondary mutation will go away soon since it's seems to be hard for Marvel to remember it. (Bobby was flesh toned in the Marvel Holiday special.) Or maybe that's just wishful thinking. But I will address that later on. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.
