Part Twenty-One

Jean Paul had been expecting visitors when he moved to Montreal. Not all at once, and certainly not immediately, but he had known that sooner or later old acquaintances would appears. Most of them, he'd decided, would want to air their views on his most recent relationship implosion and his time at Xavier's, then leave him alone again.

Montreal had been very lonely for Jean Paul.

When the knock on the door finally came, Jean Paul was careful to leave enough time to suggest he was in no rush to answer it. He examined himself in the mirror by the door, trying to decide if he should appear tousled and uncaring, or immaculate and superior.

"I can smell you," Walter's voice filtered through the heavy wood. "Open the door, JP."

Jean Paul ran a hand through his hair, leaving its appearance to fate, and opened the door with as much dignity as he could still muster.

Walter had his huge arms folded as he smirked down at the speedster. Neither pleased nor displeased to see him, the expression suggested, but here because of some other force. It irritated Jean Paul immensely, especially since treacherous tendrils of relief and affection were curling through his breast.

"Have you sulked for long enough?" Walter asked without preamble. "Are you ready to rejoin the world?"

"I do not know what you mean," Jean Paul snarled, wondering what he'd done to deserve this.

Walter gave him a very serious look. "Jean Paul Beaubier, any other day I would happily sit here and watch you pout. I would love to have a few drinks with you and catch up on old times, and listen to you call the x-men all manner of names. I wish, for both our sakes, that I'd sought you out earlier, so we could do just that. I had hoped - foolish of me, I know - that perhaps you'd reach out to us this time, if you got lonely enough."

Jean Paul felt dread curdling his stomach. "It is Jeanne Marie, is it not?" he asked.

Walter nodded. "Professor Xavier called to tell me he has found her."

"Where is she?" Jean Paul asked, fingers clenched in nervous fists.

"Weapon X."

"Logan's place," Jean Paul said, recognising the name with a curl of his lip. "They have her there, do they?" He tried not to feel guilty, and managed to convert the remorse into anger with Bobby. If he had not been seduced by that abusive little snowball he would have been able to recognise his sister's pain tugging at his soul for what it was. She did not need to have suffered for so long.

"Don't rush off," Walter said, placing a heavy hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't move until I've finished."

Jean Paul took a deep breath and blew it out impatiently. "I can put up with Xavier's puppets," he muttered, "for as long as it takes to rescue her."

"She doesn't need rescuing, JP," Walter told him.

Jean Paul's head snapped up, eyes wide. "They have freed her already? Why was I not informed? Why was I not part of it?"

"She's still there."

Walter ground his teeth in frustration. Using the hand still firmly encasing Jean Paul's slender shoulder, he steered the other man to a designer leather couch centred in the room. Jean Paul let himself be forced to sit, though he resisted enough to tell Walter he only sat because he wanted to, not because Walter had any say in the matter. It was enough to drive a sasquatch mad. Everything had to be a battle of wills with JP. Everything had to be a competition. No wonder all of his relationships fell apart. He knew this was important, and he still had to assert himself in myriad petty ways.

"Jean Paul, she's been brainwashed. They've taken advantage of her personality disorder, and created a personality that wants to be there. That's on their side."

That took the wind out of Jean Paul's sales.

"Xavier is putting together a team to extract one of his own. What was the name? Chamber, I think."

"Jono?" Jean Paul murmured. "He did not deserve to get mixed up in that. Xavier paying us for fools again, setting up fights, I suspect."

"Logan will be on the team, and some names I didn't recognise. He's asked any of Alpha Flight who knew JM well to help." Walter waited for a reaction, and failed to get one. "Iceman won't be on the team," he informed Jean Paul, "but no doubt there'll be some present who know about your history with him. It will probably be rather uncomfortable."

"We are talking about my sister," Jean Paul said frostily. "The team could be composed solely of men I have fucked and been fucked over by, and I would not give a shit. I do not understand why you are even bothering to tell me these things. I shall pack. We shall leave."

Before Walter could react Jean Paul was standing next to him, a bag slung over one shoulder, dressed in the old black and white uniform he had once matched his sister in.

Bobby had heard about the mission to Weapon X, and had had it very politely explained why he was not invited. It had been some months since he last saw Jean Paul, and despite everything his stomach burbled excitedly over the prospect of catching a glimpse of his ex-lover, even it was just out of a window.

He really hoped the mission was successful. He didn't really know Jeanne-Marie, but he wanted her safe for Jean Paul's sake, and Jono had always been a likeable young man if you could get past the angst. Plus, this wasn't going to be fun for Logan, who'd been good to him in the past few months. Kurt would be there to keep the peace, a job Bobby didn't envy him at all. Alpha Flight had donated a few members too, past and present. Sasquatch was one of the few names Bobby recognised, and he had some niggling memory that he might have been romantically involved with Jeanne Marie at some point. Poor guy.

He could think about a whole variety of people on that mission, and feel bad for each one of them (well, except Alex), but it still didn't take up enough of the day to stop thinking about Jean Paul. It was getting particularly embarrassing during lessons.

Bobby was waiting for his first set of students to file in, tilting back on his chair, one foot on the desk to keep him rocking, when he noticed a folded piece of paper. He tried to hook it with his foot, slipped on the shiny surface of the desk and very almost injured himself in a very nasty way, one leg on top of the desk, one leg under. Thank god for those gymnastic lessons Jubilee had been giving him.

It was the first report from the mission. Neat handwriting, no swear words, familiar ending. Alex, Bobby guessed. Very similar writing to his brother, which amused Bobby.

So far, luck has not been on our side. Most of our efforts are going towards keeping Northstar from charging headlong into the facility, despite several attempts to explain to him why this would not be wise. Chamber has reported back on several conversations he has had with Aurora, and has found that she has no inclination to leave. However, he may have found a secret entrance that should come in handy at a later date. It is still undecided as to whether we shall storm the facility and free all of the test subjects, willing or not, or simply try to extract Aurora.

A few days later, Bobby caught Cyclops in the act of leaving the mission report for him. It warmed the iceman's heart, and he pounced on Scott, trapping him in a hug from behind. Scott blushed, and relaxed. Bobby reminded himself to grab Warren and Hank at some point soon and work out a night they could all go out together, old times' sake.

Thus far, Chamber has located two secret entrances, along with several others that are poorly guarded. This facility has obviously been built with a hasty evacuation in mind. I am now leaning towards an all out assault on the facility, though to do that we shall need more back up. Chamber has scanned the minds several of the subjects, and believes some of them would be willing to help us, which makes this plan more reasonable. And, I think you'll agree with me, we would be failing to do our duty should we leave those wretches behind.

Warren and Hank, accompanied by Paige and Jubilee, went to join the team already at the secret base, which meant Bobby didn't get a chance to organise the meal he'd been hoping for. After some thought, he'd decided to convince Scott to come out just with him. Emma's teasing laughter had echoed through his head almost until they reached the bookcafe. Bobby didn't mind, and sent her some pretty mental images to liven up her day.

Scott called Bobby straight into his office when the next report came. Hank had written it, which made it infinitely more entertaining for Bobby, once he'd established nothing had gone too badly wrong.

As I write, we are currently in preparation for an assault on the nefarious compound. Our companions from Alpha Flight have proved a great boon, boosting our numbers as they have. We have selected three entrances for penetration by our willing and able troops, and five are to be held in a defensive strategy. Two we intend to leave unguarded, partially because our leader believes they shall go forgotten, and partially in case we find ourselves desirous of an egress of our own. Our dear Albian acquaintance intends to unfasten the containment chambers immediately prior to the beginning of our endeavour, and with the aid of your young Marvel Girl together they shall disable as many of the telepaths in the area as possible. If all goes favourably Northstar shall return to the institute while we are still in the first stages of the assault, bearing his sister for the immediate salvation only our esteemed professor could provide.

Tell Bobby it's all going well, we intend to attack tonight, and he should see Jean Paul and his sister before tomorrow.

All the best,

Hank

Bobby had some doubts about that last part. The Jean Paul part, not the all the best part. The condescension was teasing, and it made Bobby warm to think Hank had thought of him.

There was no final mission report. Or rather, if there was, Alex delivered it by mouth. Bobby was excluded from that particular meeting, but Hank was happy to explain the situation to him while he helped Annie tend to various injuries the others had sustained. No one was dead, or, at least, no one Bobby knew personally, which made him feel like a terrible person for think that way. Warren was in a horribly foul mood since Paige had ditched him for Jono again, though when she'd had time Bobby couldn't imagine. Wolverine had disappeared, but had left a message with Hank to say he'd come back in his own time, and don't come looking. Kurt had lost the tip of his tail, Jubilee had a bad concussion, Rachel had a migraine only a telepath could appreciate (which was why Jono was spending a few days in a hotel in town) and Alpha Flight were taking care of their own back in Canada.

No one had seen Jean Paul since he'd taken Jeanne Marie. Bobby smiled quietly to himself, and wondered why everyone else looked surprised.