Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X or X Men.
Note: I have been rereading the story and have found editing mistakes in chapters I have already posted. Please accept my apologies. I've told you that editing is very important to me and then I go and let stupid mistakes pass. Thank you for the reviews. I have a number of chapters that are ready,(I hope) for posting so I wil be putting up a few at a time. Please read and review each. I'd like to hear your thoughts on each chapter.
Imaginary Friend
Chapter 17
"I told you that I recognized her at the grocery store from the wedding. Well, the truth is…I recognized her at the wedding from a…school we both attended when we were little."
"Really? Oh…Well…I guess I really put my foot in it." Bobby looked down in shame. "I…um…I hope you're not mad at me for trashing your friend." He loosened his hold on her.
"Hey, don't worry about that. She's not really my friend. I mean…I thought she was…" Cassandra detached herself from Bobby and moved to the small sofa. "When we were little I used my powers to visit her. We weren't allowed to…visit each other for real. I was…uh…younger than she was. We were in a sort of boarding school."
Bobby moved to sit beside her, reached for her hands and began a gentle caress.
"Well, anyway, life around there wasn't very pleasant. They didn't like mutants. So, like I said, I used my powers to visit her in the evenings. We became friends…so I thought...but then she...got out." Cassandra eyes became distant as she began to relive the memories. "I thought she would come back for me." Her voice took on a bitter tone. "I waited for her. I convinced myself that she would come any day…She never did. I lived there until I was 18. When I got out, I tried to find her. I wanted to know why she left me there. But I couldn't and over time I pushed it aside."
Jesse looked at Adam as they all sat in the Helix and listened to the monologue. Brennan stayed at Shalimar's side and just held her hand.
"Then I worked the wedding in New York." Cassandra stood and paced impatiently. "I couldn't believe that after so many years, there she was. I was really in shock. It took me a little while to get over it and get back to work. I mean…all the anger…all the feelings of desertion and loneliness…they hit all at once. I was furious…and she just sat there, laughing with her friends and dancing with her husband." Her voice began to strain as she tried to keep from yelling. "She had it all…she was beautiful…obviously had a great life and on top of that…a husband…a husband. What did I have? Nothing."
"Hey…come on," Bobby soothed as he stopped her pacing and led her back to be seated with him on the sofa. "I think you're beautiful."
Cassandra smiled at his charm but then continued a little less animatedly. "I had to do something,…right? I couldn't just let her go again. So I decided to use my powers to track her."
"Wow, you can do that? How?" Bobby played the amazed devotee.
"I can tag a person's mind. Then I can follow them. It's sort of like a tracer."
"So have you tagged me?" he whispered with a wiggle of his brow.
"No, Bobby. As I recall you came back to the club on your own." She almost laughed when he raised both hands in surrender.
"I was then able to find her mind from anywhere. I let her see me as she did years ago. It freaked her out in the beginning."
"Her? Freaked?…That must have been cool."
"Well, it didn't last long. I finally told her to meet me here."
"Really, I guess you wanted to finally ask her why she left you."
"No, I…wanted to turn the tables on her and…" Cassandra looked carefully into Bobby's eyes as she whispered, "make her pay."
Bobby knew it was coming. He cautiously kept up his interested appearance. "Cassandra, what did you do to her?" His voice was almost filled with amusement.
She was please with his lack of reaction to her news. "I projected to her like when we were kids. This time I convinced her that she was really ugly and that she had been lying to everyone around her. I showed her that I was her only friend and that I forgave her leaving me so long ago."
"So that's why she didn't come to Jesse's today. She's somewhere, hiding out because she thinks she's ugly." Bobby smirked. "It's about time her outside matches her inside."
"I did more than that." Cassandra smiled obviously proud of herself. "I locked her in a room in the basement."
"What? No way. She's a feral…and strong, too. There's no way she'll let you keep her trapped.
"Yes, I did it. She's not even trying to escape. She can't."
"What did you do? Handcuff her to a chair?"
"No, I didn't have to. I just projected to her a situation that was hopeless to escape, so she doesn't even try."
"What about someone finding her? The way I see it, her husband is the over possessive type. He wouldn't like it if she just didn't come home one night."
"He'll never find her, don't worry."
"But one of her friends is a psionic. Wouldn't she be able to find her like you did?"
"No way. I thought of that, too. I projected a wall around her mind. She believes it's there so now she keeps it up herself."
"Oh, this is too sweet," Bobby remarked with double meaning to both Cassandra and his friends in the Helix. "Can I see her?" he decided the time was right.
"Well…" Cassandra hesitated and looked away.
Pour it on thick, Iceman. he thought as he moved closer to her. "Oh, Baby, come on. Let's just take a peek." He began kissing her neck. "Then we can come back up here and talk about what else you can project into her mind." He passionately kissed her lips. "Or we could just see what I could project into your mind." He saw the question pass over her face. With all the desire he could muster he seduced, "I can be very persuasive."
"All right," she whispered as she leaned up to kiss him again.
"Let's get down there," Adam said. "Brennan, stay here with Shalimar. Jesse, you hang back and come down after she does. I don't want her to project a distraction and get away. Lisa, please stay up near the bar. You'll be safe. Evie and I will be waiting in the rot gut room. Bob, give us just enough time to get into position. Let's go."
Bobby deepened the kiss and held on as long as he could. After about three minutes he broke their kiss but didn't release her. "Mmm, that's too good. Let's go so we can get back up here."
Cassandra quietly led him down to the basement. Once there she turned and spoke quietly. "She'll probably freak and try to hide. She won't want you to see her, so this visit may be short."
Bobby leaned her up against the door. "The shorter the better," he moved in, impatiently and kissed her again.
Jesse was standing, hidden in the stairwell and saw everything. He sighed and shook his head.
TBC
