St John the Divine: A Return

- Chibi Lurrel

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Going back to Xavier's was weird. It was goddamn weird and he was out of his mind, weeks of mysterious phone calls from his pay-as-you-go cell phone from Mystique and Magneto be damned. Everything he'd owned that was worth bringing fit in a carry-on sized bag, and Pyro felt as out of place in the dark wooden mansion as he had in his father's years ago.

'Drake, I don't know how I let you talk me into this shit,' he whispered, fidgeting as Storm and Wolverine came to greet them. Pyro knew exactly how to hang back, be ignored; it was an art he'd practiced a lot at home and with Magneto and pretty much every time he wasn't setting shit on fire. Storm looked a little worse for wear, and was thrilled to have a little muscle back. After she had finished fawning over Bobby and Wolverine had shaken his hand, they turned to him.

Wolverine's eyes were appraising and made Pyro feel a little twitchy, sure, but he'd never really been afraid of him and his claws and he simply stared back. Wolverine sniffed, once, then extended his hand. 'Hey. Welcome back.' The way he said it made Pyro feel like he'd just been forgiven and that was bullshit, but he shook his hand anyway.

'I'm so glad you've decided to rejoin us here at Xavier's!' Storm seemed a little too perky, sure, but maybe leading the team without the powerhouses of Cyclops and Dr. Grey had really been fucking terrible. It seemed like it would be.

'Thanks for taking care of Bobby for us, though for a while he did tell us he was at his mother's place.' She mock-glared at him, trying way too fucking hard to be friendly. Pyro knew he looked skittish but that's because he was, and he shrugged.

'Well, he paid his rent. Can't really complain.' Storm just smiled at him.

'There are plenty of rooms here now, kid. A bunch of parents pulled their kids out after what went down with the Worthington Corporation,' said Wolverine. 'You get your pick of where you'd like to stay.'

'And of course, if you decide to join the team, it'll be rent-free! Right now you're our guest, so don't worry about a thing!' said Storm. She looked damned exhausted, Pyro thought, and wondered what the hell Bobby hadn't been telling him these past months.

'Cool,' was all he said. 'I guess it'll be interesting to not have a roommate now.' He managed a pointed glance at his formally-live-in-lover and found him avoiding eye contact. 'Are there any rooms with balconies still left?'

Wolverine nodded and agreed to take Pyro to them, leaving Bobby to fend off Storm by himself. He smiled a little; Storm looked ready to shove all the responsibility on him and run.

'So I guess things have changed pretty radically around here, huh?' Pyro asked as he walked up the stairs.

Wolverine laughed, but it sounded more like a bark. 'You don't know the half of it, bub. The parents panicked at all the news coverage, a lot of them thought we was raising their little hellions as terrorists or something. So a lot of the kids got taken back home to god-knows-what.'

Pyro nodded. 'I doubt destroying the cure went over well with a lot of them.'

Wolverine grunted. 'It didn't go over all that well with some of the students, either.'

'What? That's bullshit. I actually can't believe you guys allowed students to get that shit, seriously.'

'It's not our decision to make.'

They reached a door on the third, and top, floor. 'This one has the best balcony outta the ones that are open, anyway.'

Pyro opened it and stepped through. It was pretty big, and he got that same weird feeling of deja vu that Xavier's always caused, the prickling memories of about eight lifetimes ago. 'This is fine. Great for smoking.'

'Glad it measures up. I'll see you at dinner.' Wolverine turned to walk about and then Pyro turned to face him again.

'Do you regret it?'

'What?' He scowled. Typical, thought Pyro, he had no idea.

'Giving Magneto the cure.'

The door shut loudly as Wolverine walked out. Typical fucking superhero bullshit. Pyro wondered how long he'd have to stay here, gritted his teeth, and decided to go visit the common room.

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Author's Note: No doublechapter this time, but at least they're at the mansion again. I hope you guys have been enjoying the story thus far (read: please review if you have been!) Thanks to y'all that do keep my ego stroked!