Hank easily dodged the piercing blast of the danger room's pulse cannons. He found himself distracted today, as it was the first session since he'd discovered Bobby. He found himself looking over his shoulder more than he should. He knew Bobby could hold his own, but this morning, he'd seemed to be genuinely dreading training. A blade nearly hit him as he'd paused to think. Their goal today was simply to make it to the other side of the room. Hank had taken the lead and they were making slow and steady progress through the mass of obstacles and assorted weapons.
Several cannons locked on as Hank realized he'd made a serious mistake. He'd gotten too far ahead of the others, and the cannons were based on motion detection. "Cyclops, if you would do the honors." Hank said calmly and clearly through the headset radio as he leapt forward, landing one open palm, then easily springing back to his feet, presenting minimal aspect, and deftly evading the searing beams, while giving his one-eyed compatriot time to take out the source. Hank was barely breaking a sweat, and was feeling particularly agile, even this early in the morning.
The day had started better than most Hank could remember. For once, he had been awake before Bobby, and was feeling more playful than usual. Something which had taken a slightly different turn than normal. He thought for a long time, perhaps nearly an hour about how he wanted to wake his lover, then he finally landed on one that was extremely appealing to him. He was still grinning even now. He'd spent nearly twenty minutes slowly rolling Bobby onto his back so as not to wake him in the process. He used the same technique to move lower on Bobby's sleeping form, almost laughing though his muscles ached in the slow effort. Bobby continued to slumber. Finally, Hank's shoulders got some rest when he let his elbows rest on either side of his lover's hips. The way he smelled stirred him deep in his chest, awakening a hunger he'd come to delight in fulfilling. Carefully and slowly, he took Bobby in his mouth, feeling him swell instantly, still asleep. A few more seconds passed before Bobby's eyelids fluttered open.
"Nuhh... Hank..." Bobby gasped, a sleepy smile ear to ear. Hank's tongue swirled and lapped, quickly making Bobby's breath come faster in those halting gasps that let him know he was driving his lover wild. Fingers intertwined in Hank's hair just as his own hands moved to stroke Bobby's nipples. The salty-sweet taste of Bobby's pre-cum filled Hank's senses and spurred him on. The fingers on Hank's head stopped stroking and Bobby's hips began moving. Hank pinched and twisted his lover's nipples, something he knew Bobby craved. He could tell Bobby was close. His whole body ached in anticipation as he felt Bobby was nearing release. His mouth moved up and down, his tongue sweeping hungrily around the base. He heard Bobby stop breathing, he sucked hard and Bobby groaned as he thrust his hips upward, Hank riding the spasming beauty underneath him, taking every drop, and even though he knew better, he could feel it in his toes. Hank gently sucked until Bobby's breathing came back to normal.
The hands on his head pulled him upwards and Bobby kissed him fiercely before grabbing two handfuls of chest fur and rolling Hank onto his back. Just then Hank saw the clock. They had to be in the danger room in twenty minutes.
"Bobby, we have to..." But it was obvious Bobby didn't care, or thought they could still make it. "We cant..." Hank's eyes rolled into the back of his head, helpless to resist what Bobby was doing to him. "Not enough time..." He managed to whisper as the last of his will power slipped from his grasp. He knew they were going to be late. He was not far from release but he knew there was no way they could possibly make it. His eyes opened as he felt a finger on his ass hole. About to protest, Bobby slid it in and found Hank's prostate. He totally lost control over everything. All he could feel was the burning need and Bobby's mouth, more intense than he could have imagined. It was too early, but Hank couldn't hold it back, as he groaned filling Bobby's mouth. He didn't stop. He couldn't. His body shook as Bobby's finger stroked hard. Hank's head slammed back and forth and he had no idea if he was howling or crying until the feeling finally began to subside. He looked down to see that Bobby had tried valiantly to contain him, but to no avail. As he pulled his mouth off of Hank, a thick white band stuck to his chin.
Hank sighed, and was nearly decapitated by a swinging blade, coming to his senses just in time to vault backwards. He scolded himself for such a lapse in concentration as he righted himself. He'd earned a smile from Bobby, and wondered why he hadn't changed to Iceman yet. Perhaps he just wanted more of a challenge. His lover hadn't looked forward at all to this session, but he hadn't actually said he wasn't going to be coming, so Hank had quickly gotten dressed and they'd left together. Another blade nearly hit him and Hank forced his mind to stay on the problem at hand. Anything else, he could think about later.
He bounded forward, seeing several pulse cannons rise from the floor ahead. He jumped from his hands, then sprung from his feet, landing on a cannon, and using his momentum to rip it from its base. The others instantly turned to face him, and a crimson blast took two of the remaining four out. Hank flipped again, landing on one of them, smashing it back into the socket it had come out of, feeling a small explosion as it fired into the steel in front of it, shattering the poor device. Scott had just taken out the remaining cannon as eight more rose behind them.
Instantly Bobby's skin was covered in smooth ice. He extended his arms forward and buried all eight in a mound of solid ice before catching up to the rest of the group on an ice slide. Together again, they calmly walked forward, their goal in sight.
Storm sat in the danger room control room feeling frustrated. She was throwing so much at them, but they were still moving too quickly. With a half grin, she turned on all the defenses between them and the end of the room, her hand placed carefully over the abort button incase it was too much. She watched Hank and Scott nearly jump out of their skins when they saw near twenty cannons, and some ten blades locking on. She was caught totally off guard when Bobby's body shot forward, spiraling tightly around the others. He was leaving a slide behind him, but Storm hadn't seen him do this before. He wasn't standing on the slide, it was as if his body was simply forming into it. Within seconds, a solid tube of black ice was between the team and the finish line. She watched Hank and Scott walked through, smiling, toward a waiting Iceman. Storm groaned. She'd have to come up with a harder scenario next time.
"Well done Bobby! I had no idea you were capable of that! You know, your powers have really grown recently." Scott said, approval obvious in his voice. It seemed forever since Scott had said something positive to Bobby.
Hank looked at his lover, knowing something was wrong. Slowly, he walked to him and put a reassuring arm around his back. "Is everything alright?" He asked softly. Bobby looked up at him with confusion in his eyes.
"No." He answered, horror replacing confusion. Concern lit Hank's face. He hugged Bobby gently.
"What is it?" Hank asked, barely audible. Bobby just put his head to his shoulder. Hank held him close, then straightened, bringing Bobby's feet off the floor. He'd put the pieces together, the look on Bobby's face couldn't be interpreted any other way. It was the look of someone trapped. Hank walked out of the danger room carrying his love, and when his chest and shoulders went numb from the intense cold of Bobby's form, he held on tighter knowing that when they got to the infirmary Hank could make it better. There was a solution to every problem. He kissed the side of Bobby's frozen face softly as they rounded the final corner.
Hank had been working on solving Bobby's problem for several hours. It seemed that his body was composed entirely of ice, now. All the laws of physics stated that the poor man shouldn't even be alive, yet here he was. Well, in his quarters, but alive nonetheless. He'd started by taking a sample of Bobby's 'skin'. But under the microscope, it was just ice. With a bestial howl, Hank threw the microscope across the room, watching it break apart on a steel cabinet. He was feeling increasingly more helpless. Unable to do anything. He sat down heavily on one of the stools and racked his brain. He just didn't know where to begin. He'd told Bobby he'd found something, but he suspected Bobby knew he was bluffing. His shoulder began to twitch in that way muscles do right before you break down.
He heard the door open. The clacking of hooves on the floor, let him know who it was. "Hey, Hank. Do you have a moment?" Chimera asked delicately. He didn't know specifically what had happened, but he knew that something was terribly wrong. The whole mansion had been silent all morning.
Hank looked up, bringing his face out of his large hands. He noticed that as much as he loathed his own mutation, to have Chimera's would be worse. Hank could, on occasion, go into the world. He could see a movie late at night, order a hot dog, but only with the help of a long trench coat and wide brimmed hat. Chimera's mutation was blatantly obvious to anyone who saw him. His head began to throb. Here they all were, the lion, the beast, and the iceman. All stuck forever in a form that branded them exactly what they were. Or more accurately, what they weren't.
"What can I do for you Chimera?" Hank asked, hoping it wasn't something that would take very long. Though hank really couldn't see what was going to change. There was still next to nothing he could do. He wasn't making any progress, and it was starting to just make him frustrated.
"I've done a lot of thinking. Raien's already joined the team, and though I would rather avoid fighting, I want to be able to contribute." Chimera said slowly. Hank was genuinely glad to hear this, but he couldn't muster a simple smile.
"What did you have in mind?" Hank asked simply.
"I was thinking Medicine. I'd always wanted to help people. Maybe as a way to show that I'm a normal person on the inside, that I'm a good person, not a monster. I just never figured I could ever go to Med School looking like this. But I suppose you could say, healing is in my blood." Chimera explained with the smallest hint of a smile.
Hank sighed. He would welcome the help. The only other person on the team who ever helped him with his work was Jean. And there was only so much she could do. She was a great person, and a smart woman, but she just wasn't passionate about it. She would help in what she could, but couldn't take the initiative and work with him. She'd always worked for him. Hank could see in Chimera that he wanted to help, and that there was passion there. It brought a small short lived smile to his face. He thought about what he could start with.
"Alright. I guess we'll start with the problem at hand." He said, soon going on to explain Bobby's predicament. As he explained several concepts, he found that Chimera could grasp them easily. He noticed Chimera rapidly picking up theories and easily comprehending many things that Hank hadn't been able to talk or debate with anyone but himself. He actually smiled, and felt some of the weight on his shoulders lift. He returned to work, with an avid pupil at his side, providing new ideas, fresh thoughts, and a comforting hand on his back.
Jubilee was walking outside in the mansion's grounds, in a small wooded area. She still wasn't ready to talk to anyone, and having Logan still here beside her was comforting. She was beginning to find pieces of herself, putting them back together like a broken vase. She knew she would never be the same. She felt so different now. She knew she was nowhere near as naïve as she had been. She carried a queasy feeling now, a constant reminder of how her innocence had been stolen from her.
She sat slowly on a stone bench, grateful for the trees around her. Logan looked at her for a a moment before sitting, almost as if asking permission. She felt extremely safe with him there, something which had helped her begin to live again. The days shed spent alone had been full of fear and loneliness. She was normally a very upbeat person. She wondered if she could ever find that again. This afternoon, she would do something she'd dreaded since shed first thought about it a few days before. She was going to have Hank do her blood work. Today. He'd left her a brief, yet heartfelt letter offering his services as both a physician and a friend. She realized now that she should have done it earlier, but she didn't know if she really wanted to find out. She knew she would need to get tested. She couldn't, she didn't want to remember how many men had...
Logan gently put an arm around Jubilee, sensing she was reliving what had happened again. Something, which in a way, he envied and feared at the same time. While he desperately wanted to know about his past, he was generally only bothered by flashes of memory in his dreams. He didn't know who was worse off, but he wanted to do his best to help her any way possible. After all, it had been her, early on, who had gotten him to laugh for the first time in years. He'd always liked her, though he'd tried his best to keep his distance. He'd looked at her as a younger sibling for a long time. Only recently, was he coming to realize what a complex and good person she was.
Logan looked back on the rescue. He could smell several scents on her, most of which he didn't recognize, but he remembered having run into two of them on the way in. It felt good to know that the world was rid of at least a few of the bastards who did this to such an innocent person. He felt his claws shift inside his forearm, as if they wanted to spring through the skin. He wanted to shred something, but more than that, he wanted to be here. It was strange that he didn't feel obligated to help Jubilee. It just wasn't like that. And it wasn't exactly to help a friend. He'd never really been good at that kind of thing anyway. He couldn't explain why he'd spent the last six days with her. It went far above and beyond what a friend normally did. He felt his eyes linger on hers whenever she managed to look directly at him.
It was one of those many things that he wanted to help her rediscover. High on his list was something he himself didn't do often enough. He maintained a gruff and hard appearance, which wasn't really for show. He actually was like that. But that wasn't to say he wasn't human. He rapidly realized why he was here, why he'd spent so much time with her. All the crying she'd done, all the pain she'd gone through had done something to him. It had made him feel.
Raien woke from a brief nap, feeling a light headache and noticing the room was empty. For the most part, Chimera seemed to just enjoy spending time either in bed, on the internet, or watching television. Or just talking softly. Raien got out of bed, still wearing the jeans and T-Shirt he'd worn all morning. He felt his belly rumble, and made his way slowly down the hallways, finding himself in an abnormally crowded cafeteria. He recognized Storm, Jean, Cyclops, Rogue, and Gambit, surprisingly all at the same table. His belly ached as he smelled something he'd dreamt about for years. Philly Cheese steaks.
He thanked the person cooking them profusely and boldly took a seat directly across from Cyclops, only barely asking if the seat was taken before sitting. As he savored the beloved sandwich, he noticed Cyclops's eyes on him. He looked up and the man didn't move, but Raien could tell he'd looked down, though it was impossible to see into that visor he wore. He was mildly curious as to why he was getting the weird looks and why the table was so silent. For a moment, Raien thought his eyes had started glowing again, but a look into the mirrored wall ruled that out. He groaned.
"Alright, what happened this time?" He asked. He was beginning to think their lives would never slow down.
"Bobby. He's stuck in his Iceman form. We're not really sure what happened, but he's taking it really badly." Scott explained, sounding as if being stuck as a living ice sculpture was not the end of the world. Raien didn't outright hate the man, more of a sad feeling because Cyclops was living in his own little world. A place where he understood all, and everyone listened.
"So does this crap ever stop?" Raien asked, sighing. He'd intended it as a joke, but when their eyes all hit the table, Raien realized the truth in his words. So he joined in the silence and ate his beloved cheese steak. He was in pretty good spirits, despite hearing about Bobby. And then it all fell apart when Emma walked in. She somehow looked as though she'd not slept, while pulling off a cold detatchment, which she apparently thought men found attractive. She was also wearing a much more low cut top than Raien had seen her in before. He glared at her, but she didn't even look at him. She simply fixed herself a salad, then took the plate out of the cafeteria. When Raien looked back to the table, Scott's eyes had just pried themselves from her body. Raien smiled grimly. Surely this was one example where being married to a telepath would bite him in the ass. He'd probably have some explaining to do.
Bobby sat in his quarters for the first time in what felt like forever. He and Hank had alternated rooms for a while, then eventually settled on Hank's room, as it was larger to the place they could both stay. But Xavier had insisted that Bobby keep his own room, even if he didn't ever use it. Today, he was grateful for the man's wisdom. The gloomy weather outside matched his mood. All he could hear was the sound of the Air Conditioner. The bloody Air Conditioner. He glanced at it and heard the whine of motors stopping as icicles began to form in the vent. Finally there was complete silence. Bobby crawled into his bed, which now felt so foreign to him. He just lay there looking at his hand, musing that only people high on drugs ever did this. The corners of his mouth turned down as that train of thought progressed. For those people, it was just a 'bad trip'. For Bobby, it was his worst nightmare come true, and not something that would ever go away.
His stomach growled, earning a wry smile from Bobby. According to Hank, he was now composed entirely of ice. His friend had been at a total loss to help him, but vowed to work day and night to do anything he could. Bobby rose to his feet and moved down the hallway in search of food. He didn't want to talk to anyone, he didn't want to see anyone, but more importantly, he didn't want them to see him. They were bad enough after he'd tried to kill himself.
He walked through the door into a blessedly quiet cafeteria. Until he looked to his right. He saw Scott and Jean already getting up to leave, and Raien, Rogue, Storm, and Gambit still seated. He saw the looks of sympathy form on their faces and sighed. Storm and Rogue stood, bearing that motherly look women can get from time to time. Bobby shook his head, turned and left. He'd wait till later to grab food.
"Bobby, ya wanna talk?" Said Rogue's soft voice as she flew up behind him. He stopped in the hallway, about to make some snippy comment about her not knowing what he was going through, but stopped in his tracks. His stiff upper lip softened and his shoulders sagged. She landed next to him and put a gloved hand on his shoulder. She knew better than he did.
"C'mon, hun." She said, dragging him off down the hallway and into one of the conference rooms no one ever used. She locked the door and sat across the table from him. Both stared at nothing but the table top. For all Rogue's confidence, she had no idea what to tell him. She could say she knew what he felt, but that sounded hollow, even in her head. There were too many people that tried to 'help' her. She looked at Bobby and saw that little would help him. Nothing she could say especially.
She broke the silence anyway. "You'll find a way, Bobby." She said softly. He just looked doubtfully in her direction then continued staring at the table.
They'd talked for a while about nothing, but Rogue didn't get the impression that anything was helping. She'd told him how she and Gambit had tried for years to find a way, and most of the tricks they'd used, but Bobby's case was a little different. His skin was ice cold. It just wouldn't be possible for him to use a simple latex sheet.
Rogue was tired, and she really needed a hug. Being with Bobby for even just an hour brought back too many harsh memories. He was just going through all the things she'd had to come to terms with. It had really dragged her day down.
She felt a finger slide softly against the bare skin on the back of her neck, just long enough for her to suddenly be filled with fiery lust, not her own, but Gambit's. She really could be angry with him for doing this, but at the feelings melded with her own, the damage was already done. She spun around to see her lover with a terrible looking grin on his face. She'd wanted this for the past week. Since he'd been shot, they'd avoided doing anything to re-open the wound. Rogue couldn't figure out if it was more desperation or that he really was alright, and based on the feelings she'd gotten from his touch, apparently he wasn't either.
A hand slid softly up the back of her tight shirt, making her shiver as more and more of Gambit flowed into her. He pulled back a moment later as his knees began to shake. Slowly he moved forward, gently nudging Rogue closer to the bed. She smiled demurely, and Gambit was once again reminded of all the times she'd teased him and played with him. Today was his revenge. He smiled wickedly as he reached for the collar that lay on the end table. He disliked the device, but it was necessary. As he clasped it around her neck, he heard her gasp, like someone who was going underwater. After a moment, she opened her eyes and nodded.
His breath caught in his throat as he reached up under the spandex shirt, caressing her smooth lilac smelling skin, touching everything but her perfectly formed chest. Her breathing picked up and the shirt came off. He slowly worked his hands all over her shoulders, her arms, her hands, knowing that just being touched was heaven to her. He only wished that just once, he could feel what she felt. He hadn't fully decided yet if he was going to be as wicked as he'd planned, but for the moment, he was fighting the urge to just ravage her. He kept his hands in neutral territory for a moment more, not even moving to undo her bra yet. He slid one finger underneath the waistband of her pants and heard her gasp. The wicked smile returned.
Slowly he undid the button and zipper, then gently slid her beautiful green pants off, revealing matching panties. He quivered. With hands and tongue, he moved over her whole body now, staring from her knees and moving as slow as he could force himself to go. She shook now, her eyes pleading for him to go further. But he'd finally regained enough control over himself to hold back.
Sliding a hand under her back, Gambit deftly undid the small metal clasp in the middle of her back. The fierce look on Rogue's face made him pause a moment before continuing. He moved so that his lips were a fraction of an inch from her nipple. He knew she could feel him breathing, then with a delicate tongue, he traced its outline.
And that was where all his plans of revenge went to ruin. Rogue grabbed him, flipped him onto his back as if she still had her super strength. She muttered the name 'Swamprat' before smiling and literally ripping his red silk boxers from his body. Gambit realized that some time in the past few seconds, she'd manage to both manhandle him and remove her own underwear. She never ceased to amaze him. She straddled him roughly, and for a moment, after seeing the look in her eyes, Gambit was scared for his life.
She started to move and all Gambit could do was hold onto those perfect hips and think about anything, anywhere but where he was. Minutes passed as they fell into a rhythm, rocking their large bed. He could hear Rogue's breathing hasten. She pressed herself flat against him and bit into his shoulder as she came, stifling a scream and clenching down around Gambit, bringing him right to the edge. With his last moments of partial sanity, he reached up her back and hit the collar's release. The last things he could remember was to hear Rogue gasp sharply, the lamp explode, and the words "Flea-bitten Cajun!"
Emma returned to her quarters and collapsed onto the floor. She'd gotten so little sleep lately as she'd been trying to sort out the tangled mess of Raien's broken mind. At first, Emma had looked at this as her penance for the things she did to so many other mutants. But now, after experiencing Raien's mind, she knew that he was a genuinely good person, that he wouldn't hurt a fly unless he had to. That all he really wanted was to be left alone, with Chimera. 'Such simple goals.' She thought ruefully. It had been so long since she'd taken anyone or anything at face value. Raien had no hidden agenda, he had no animosity beneath the surface. He did what he felt, and Emma could respect that. It was something she was just starting to relearn before all of this happed. Her thoughts halted for a moment as she expected pain and loss to come crashing in as it always did when she thought about her daughter. She waited, but it never came. The constant loss was always with her, as was the ever present pain of her daughter's murder, but today she wasn't overwhelmed by it.
Perhaps she was healing, or perhaps doing something to help another was, in the process, helping her. She thought about moving, but quickly felt Raien's mind already asleep and decided to stay where she was. She'd wasted valuable time. Entering his mind, she moved, meticulously repairing each strand of his consciousness as best she could. There was some things that she would never be able to fix, but what had started as an unintelligible mass of chaos, was now coming closer to order, to what it must have looked like beforehand. She hoped she was nearing the end because she really couldn't take much more of this. She tried to maintain her normal appearance during the day, while working virtually all night, sleeping when she could. She was gaining from this in other ways however. She thought she'd figured out how the damage was caused, and more importantly how to replicate it using her own powers. That brought a small smile to her face. Every trick she had up her sleeve was just one more she could use if the time came.