Disclaimer: I don't own anything...except Noah and his family

A Little Clarity

John smirked as he watched Noah make it halfway through the course. He was impressed with the Texan's natural abilities. He looked to his side seeing that Logan too, was impressed. The Professor seemed as though he was looking at something he'd seen a thousand times before, but was watching closely.

"He said he couldn't stop mutants." Logan pointed out. "How'd he make her fall like that?"

"He's very quick to adjust to the situation." The Professor noted after looking at a few of the computer screens around the room. "He realized that Storm flies by using wind currents. Instead of trying to stop her, he stopped the wind around her, making her loose control momentarily."

"That's how he showed me his power when we first met." Logan and the Professor turned to look at John, but his eyes stayed fixed on the boy below. "I was showing off and he stopped the fire I was using. I couldn't use it until he released it again."

The Professor turned back to the Danger Room just in time to see Noah forcing Storm to land and taking the fight in close. "Fascinating, it would seem he's not shy about hand to hand combat."

"That's a mean kick." Logan said.

"Still seems to be part of the same strategy as before," John pointed out, as Noah began to head for the elevator again, "catch your opponent off-guard, but keep your mind on the finish line."

"You seem to be impressed by him John." The Professor was still observing the session below. Although John said nothing in response, he was sure the Professor could sense the blush creeping over his cheeks.

There was an intense silence on the observation deck as Noah screamed in pain and let loose a wave of energy that made all the sensors and monitors in the room whirl and beep.

"What's happening?" Logan said, getting uncomfortable around all the reacting equipment.

The Professor leaned forward to look down at the full scene; the air was starting to clear around where Noah caught Storm.

"End Session" They heard storm say through the speaker system.

"Logan, please show John back to the elevator." The Professor said, not taking his eyes off the shifting room below.

"Sure thing Professor." There was something somber in his voice.

No words were exchanged as Logan led John back to the elevator that lead up to mansion.

"You can't go lower from here kid." Logan said as the elevator doors opened. "You gonna be ok?"

There was a look of worry on John's face. "Uh, yeah." He crossed his arms across his chest and put a slight scowl on his face. Although his appearance had changed, Logan could smell the concern on him, like cheap cologne, as he walked onto the elevator. Once the doors closed, John's arms fell to his sides as one hand reached into his pocket.

*Click* Staring into the fire, he felt relaxed. *Ding* *Click* He shut the lighter as the door slid open to the first floor. John looked around the abnormally quiet halls before remembering that this Saturday several of the students had gone to the movies with Jean and Cyclops. He heard the sounds of a musical as he passed by the rec room. He turned to see a few of the younger girls were sitting on the couch. He didn't recognize any of them, so he turned back to the stair case and made his way up to his room.

Once inside he picked up a book from his bedside table and was about to read when he heard a soft knock on the door. He slowly put his book down. He sat on his bed, crossing his arms as he leaned on the head board. "Yeah?"

"John," the muffled voice through door made him sit back up slightly, "its Bobby, can I come in?"

John sat still for a moment, "Yeah, come in."

Bobby slowly entered the room and shut the door behind him. He gently made his way across the room to sit at John's desk. He turned the chair so he was facing John but only sat quietly and stared at him, instead of speaking.

"Why are you here Iceman?" John asked, purposely not making eye contact.

"I just wanted to talk about earlier." John looked into Bobby's eyes and was hit by a wave of emotions. John could feel a sting in his chest as he remembered why he had fallen for the ice mutant in the first place. His stunning blue eyes, his goody two-shoes smile, the way his hair was almost always perfect. The way his mouth moved when he spoke. "John? Are you listening?"

"What? What about earlier?" John's eyes widened as he snapped back to reality. "There's no way you could have figured it all out that quickly."

"John, you really threw me off back there." Bobby's voice was low and quiet, almost like he was talking to himself. "I didn't realize you felt that way."

"I didn't tell you my feelings, Bobby, I asked you what yours are." John's tone was only slightly sarcastic.

"You didn't have to say them out loud, John." Bobby was lightly mocking John.

A comfortable silence hung in the air as the two boys stared into each other's eyes. Bobby was looking intently at him, as though he was trying to find something in John's golden brown eyes. They stayed like this for a while, because neither wanted it to end. "Bobby, listen." John started by looking down and speaking softly, hoping he would be interrupted since he hadn't thought of anything else to say.

"No, John, I'm sorry." John let out a small sign of relief before looking back up to Bobby again. "I should never have done that to you. It's just, after you came out to me, I started to question myself. That's why I had Scott move me to a different room. It wasn't because I didn't want to be friends or anything; I just needed my own space to sort things out. After a while I realized that I liked you as more than a friend. I just can't hurt Rogue." John's chest tightened as the girl's name was spoken. He took a deep breath in before slowly nodding.

"Yeah, I don't want to see her hurt either. Instead I'm the one getting hurt." John could feel his eyes begin to water, and looked away, trying to keep his voice even in front of Bobby. "I think that right now, you should go. We can talk later, after you've figured it out more."

"Ok." Even though he did a good job of hiding it, Bobby could still tell that his best friend was hurting. "I'll see you later."

Once John was sure he was alone he let out a labored breath and wiped the tears from his eyes before they fell. He sat still for a few moments, breathing, running everything through his head. Noah came rushing into his mind and he began to worry again. *Knock-Knock* John jumped a little as the door opened.

"Speak of the devil," John said, "well think about him really."

"You were thinking of me?" Noah said with only half the enthusiasm he usually had.

"You alright?" John asked as he watched Noah move slowly toward his bed.

"I'm wiped out." He fell flat on his stomach, his face directly in the bed he let out a groan before turning onto his back. "It's just a lot to take in."

"Take in?" John was genuinely confused by this.

"Well the Professor just informed me that according to what he can read of the machines I can do a lot more than I think I can." Noah propped his head up with a pillow to see the look on John's face. Confused. He chuckled before continuing. "The Danger Room Computer was analyzing my abilities for a more scientific view of how they work. The Professor said to wait for Dr. Grey to be sure, but that from what he could tell, he thinks my powers are kinetic."

John paused for a moment before nodding. "Okay, that makes sense."

"He was saying that the readouts indicate that when I stop things I'm creating a static energy field around the target but he needs Dr. Grey to look at the recorded readouts for the big one. He believes it's a related form of kinetic manipulation I wasn't aware of."

"So what exactly happens when you let loose like that?" John asked, wondering if there was some kind explanation for the intense power he witnessed.

"Well, when I'm not controlling it, the energy is unstable and dangerous. I can push it in the direction I want it to go, but that doesn't mean it'll actually go there. Storm was lucky, I'd used so much energy throughout our session that it wasn't as bad as it could have been." Noah closed his eyes and let out a slow breath before speaking softly. "Normally things just kind of rip themselves apart."

"So if you didn't hold it in eventually it wouldn't be dangerous." John was really getting into this.

"I guess so. I always feel better after using my powers for a while, but if I don't hold it in then nothing in my general area would be moveable. All the energy would be broken, if you will. He wants me to come in on Monday after class to have another session with Logan."

"Oh." John remarked, kind of surprised.

Noah pushed himself up to sit against the head board.

"Hey, Bobby actually made eye contact with me as he was leaving. Is everything cool?"

John smirked as he realized his roommate was out of the loop. "Yeah, I did like you said and he came in here to apologize and explain himself, but he didn't have an answer as to what's going on between us. So I told him to leave."

Noah seemed taken aback by John's nonchalant tone. "You're not upset?"

"Well, yeah I am. I just don't want to be upset right now."

"Alright." Noah suddenly sat up and jerked his head toward the window.

"Dude!" John was startled by his abrupt movement. "What are you on?"

"Hold on." He closed his eyes and extended an arm toward the closed window. "I think my Dad is coming to visit."

Author Notes: Special Thanks to Spiras Stargate for another amazing Beta read!