Carving A Niche

Author's Note: Hey, sorry for the long wait. My grandfather died recently and it's been hectic. Please keep reviewing guys/girls! I love the written support. I'm sorry I can't reply to all of the reviews but your patience has been greatly appreciated! :D. Updates will get more erratic as school starts up for me soon and I'll be very busy this year. This may be the last chapter for a while .

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men or its characters. This work is entirely fictitious.

Warning: Slight AU. Eventual slash. Jean Paul/Bobby Drake. Emma Frost/Jean Grey.

Chapter 3

Bobby gaped at the redhead's departing figure. Never has that happened before in a fight between Jean and Scott, never. And Bobby was pretty sure he'd seen most if not all of their impressive, if noisy, arguments. The blonde mutant looked around him and noticed plenty of other shocked faces. Even Emma had her mouth in opening in a small 'o', although Bobby was more concerned for Cyclops, whose jaw seemed to be in a permanently open position.

If the room didn't have more tension than a staring contest between the Professor and Magneto, Bobby would have snorted from the hilarious expression plastered on Scott's face. This was the most amused he's been since...discovering he had that on his chest. Bobby frowned at the thought, he didn't want to think about that right now.

In fact, he should go after Jean and see if she was alright and why she just completely owned Cyclops in that argument. He figured it'd kill two birds with one stone, distracting himself from his own problems concerning his second mutation and satisfying his curiosity to what the argument between Jean and Scott was about. Bobby heard a cough and looked up to see Wolverine about to offer to go after her, something that would probably piss off Scott even more.

So the Iceman decided to intervene.

"I'll go after her, Scott. I may be able to cool her down." Bobby said quickly, already jogging after the telekinetic. Cyclops simply nodded, still dumbfounded while Wolverine fumed quietly. Bobby nearly smirked at him, but decided he'd rather keep his face unscarred.

"Sorry Snarly, maybe next time." Bobby said impishly under his breath. Wolverine's breathing hitched and he glared at the ice-powered mutant, his face promising pain in the near future.

"Yeah, yeah Logan. Brood all ya want, won't make a difference when I permanently become a damn ice cube in a few weeks." Bobby thought bitterly as he exited the building. Glancing up at the cloudy sky, Bobby realized why the barbecue finished earlier than expected. The dark, ominous shapes above signaled that he was going to get really wet if he didn't find Jean, really fast. Bobby looked around the grounds for the redhead, sighing when he found no sign of her. He'd have to do this the hard way.

Bobby iced up his hands and feet, not trusting his body to morph safely back to skin beyond that, and started to form an ice slide. He jumped on the structure, gracefully skating along the ice, his hands constantly freezing the moisture in the air in front of him, looping around and around, gradually getting higher until he reached a good vantage point to look for Jean.

"This height should be good, I can see just about anything from here." The blonde thought to himself, already scanning the grounds and finding no sign of her. "She must have used her powers to get farther away…crap, this may actually take a while." Bobby complained aloud, letting a breath out. He was hoping to find her rather fast, he didn't really want to put any effort into actually searching for her.

"There better be a good story behind this." Bobby mumbled to himself, changing the direction of the ice slide, overlooking the vast forest beneath him. The blonde started to worry when he still couldn't spot her.

"Crap…how far did you go Jeanie?" Bobby said worriedly to himself.

It was no big mystery that Scott and her had been having major problems ever since Apocalypse. Fights were occurring more often and much more heatedly than they had ever been before. It was all bound to explode soon, everyone knew it. Even him. Although at the time, he was just too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice. Something he's beginning to regret majorly, especially now that he can't find her.

A loud crack echoed throughout the air, scattering several birds into the air. Bobby glanced up at the sky nervously. The storm was beginning to form, black clouds slowly twisting into each other, forming a foreboding dark shape. The blonde felt the hairs on his neck prickle. He did not want to be caught up in the upcoming maelstrom.

"Why didn't I bring Storm. I should have brought freakin' Storm. Now I'm probably gonna die in this storm." Bobby berated himself angrily. The powerful weather monger was always reluctant to change the natural weather for her own personal whim, but Bobby was pretty sure she'd do it to help find her best friend. Thunder boomed loudly through the air, causing Bobby to yelp and nearly fall off his ice slide. He glared angrily at the storm.

"Yeah, well screw you too!" Bobby shouted at the coiling mass of darkness above him, eyes flashing. He was so damn sick of his life. He was sick that he couldn't find his friend because of a storm. He was sick of not being able to find someone to date because he was too immature. He was sick of his parents still slowly coming to terms that he was a mutant. He was sick of the secondary mutation on his chest, slowly expanding until he turned permanently into ice. He was si- a flash of red caught his eye, interrupting his thoughts.

Bobby whirled around just in time to spot a redheaded figure descend into the dense, leafy foliage of the forest below.

Jean.

The young blonde felt a huge wave of relief crashing through him. He was able to find her, now he just had to follow her. The Iceman felt a small grin overtake his face despite the fact he was about to get soaked.

"Jeeeeannn! Wait for me!" Bobby yelled out, following the path she just took into the forest, carefully lowering himself down into the forest. He kept the ice slide functioning at the lower altitude, not wanting to waste time catching up to her by jumping off.

About ten trees later, he found her up against an ancient, gargantuan tree. It was easily the biggest tree in the forest; thick, leafy branches extending over their heads, covering their view of the sky completely. Which, Bobby noted with pleasure, would cover them from the rain, which began to pour down on the ground.

Bobby quickly ran for cover underneath the tree, letting out a childish whoop when he manages to make it without getting wet. He turns to beam at Jean when his smile slowly falls off his face as he takes notice of her form for the first time.

Jean had her head buried in her knees, arms wrapped tightly around them. Red hair fell in billowy waves down her light green blouse. Her breathing was uneven like she was shivering, except it was humid rather than cold. It hit Bobby then. She was crying. Bobby walked slowly over to her and sank down on the tree beside her.

"Hey Jeanie…it's me, Bobby. I'm here for ya, ok? I'm here." He said softly, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze while waiting for her to reply. Jean looked up at him with harsh, red rimmed eyes, tears still flowing down her cheeks.

"Th-th-this i-is w-w-where Sc-Scott t-took m-me f-f-for o-our f-first d-date." The redhead sobbed, wiping her tears roughly on her blouse. "G-give m-me a-a m-moment B-Bobby." She choked out, trying to regain her breath. Bobby nodded and respectfully turned his head away while Jean wiped her nose on her skirt. Taking a deep shuddering breath, Jean turned her head to him.

"I'm good, Bobby. Sorry you had to see that." Jean said softly, voice still strained from crying.

"It's okay Jean, the crying doesn't phase me. I know for a fact that I cry worse than you do. At least you actually look kinda cute when the crocodile tears fall." Bobby lamented, a playful tone in his voice. Jean snorted and nudged him lightly on the shoulder. The younger mutant stuck his tongue out at the redhead childishly.

"You never change, Bobby." Jean rolled her eyes and chuckled softly. There was a comfortable silence between them, both just listening to the harsh patter of the rain on the ground before Bobby decided to speak up.

"Did you mean what you said when you left?" The blonde asked carefully, glancing quickly at Jean's blank face. Jean continued to stare at the rain in front of them, the sounds of lightning and thunder cracking like a whip throughout the air. After waiting about three minutes, Bobby was about to repeat his question when Jean replied.

"I think…it's that or continue the way we have been, and I can't do that anymore. I just can't." She said hollowly, sadness glinting in her eyes. Bobby looked at her sadly.

"How bad has it been Jeanie…?" The blonde asked softly.

"Pretty bad. I guess." Jean said quietly, looking up and making eye contact with Bobby. Her deep green eyes meeting with his chocolate brown eyes. "I wasn't exaggerating when I said that we barely talk anymore. On a good week, I can get about ten sentences from him. He's not the same anymore, Bobby. He doesn't even face me when we sleep in bed. Hell, sometimes he doesn't even sleep in the damn bed. I've been trying…I've been trying so fucking hard to be there for him….but so far all its done is piss him off and screw with my emotions." Jean spat bitterly, voice cracking.

"I'm… so sorry Jeanie," Bobby said sadly, rubbing her back soothingly. "But why didn't you ask any of us for help? You know we're here."

Jean pulled away sharply from his ministration and glared at him with a fire in his eyes. Bobby swallowed nervously, he had stuck his foot in his mouth and said the wrong thing. He hated when he did that.

"Here?! What the hell do you mean here?" She asked incredulously, outrage etched on her face.

"Jean, I didn't mea-"

"Mean? Mean what? How everyone isn't there?! The Professor has been busy with Cerebro and working on the project I'm supposed to be helping with but he's told me absolutely nothing about. Logan has been talking more and more to Ororo, in fact, I don't even think he's attracted to me anymore. Ororo has been too damn busy with Logan to actually listen to what I have to say. Hank and Annie have been busy analyzing lab specimens to bother. I don't know what the hell Warren and Kurt have been doing, nor do I feel comfortable telling them about my personal problems. And you've been lashing out at everyone this past month! So no, no one has been here for me. Guess it's my fault for being mellow and nervous all the damn time but it would've been nice if some of my so called friends asked how I was fucking doing?!" Jean screamed furiously, her face red.

Bobby stared in shock at the panting redhead who was trying to regain her breath. After a minute, Jean spoke again.

"I'm sorry Bobby…that was uncalled for. I was angry an- I'm turning into ice." Bobby interrupted the redhead's apology. Jean's eyebrows shot up.

"What?" Jean asked confusedly, not really understanding what Bobby was saying.

"I'm going through a second mutation…it's going to turn me into ice permanently. That's why I've been lashing out…and why Hank and Annie have been too busy to listen to you. I'm sorry." Bobby said brusquely, glaring at the ground in front of him. The rain was beginning to soften up a little, once it ended, both mutants knew they'd have to go back to the mansion s anoon or risk search parties coming out to find them.

"When did you…when did you find this out?" Jean asked hesitantly

Bobby gave her a small, watery smile before breaking down. Jean engulfed the sobbing blonde in her arms, tear tracks still stained upon her angelic face.

They remained that way for a long time until the screeching wind and deluge of the storm, finally died down.

AN- Sososososo sorry for the late update! School has gotten me so busy and the only reason I'm updating today is because I'm lonely and have no friends . I am sad to say I will be postponing this story indefinitely…just not feeling the Marvel characters anymore :/. Not abandoning it! Just postponed. Check my profile for more information. Thanks to all who have reviewed. This was unbeta'd so sorry for any mistakes.