Chapter Eight: Baby If I've Got You
A/N: Sorry updates are slow! Exams coming up soon...ugh. But please review and I'll see how quickly I can get next chapter up ;)
Tobi yawned and wrung out her wet hair as she walked back down the corridor. It was stupid of her to leave her clothes in her room, but she had a towel wrapped around her middle and it wasn't like there was anyone up anyway, not at this ridiculously early hour. Today, they were beginning training and she wanted to be ready for it as soon as possible. A coffee would solve any tiredness.
She suddenly collided with someone, making Tobi gasp and flush red, pulling her towel even tighter around her body, which only served to accentuate her curves even more. Alex stood there, his blond hair sticking up at all angles. He was bare-chested, wearing only a pair of pajama pants.
Tobi was desperately not trying to check out his well-defined abs and six-pack, and she certainly wasn't thinking about how hot he looked…damn, sometimes she was so grateful that Alex couldn't read her emotions. She was so not checking him out. He looked a little startled and his eyes slide almost lazily over her figure as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Oh, I see how it is." Alex raised his eyebrows meaningfully. "You're trying to seduce me, aren't you?"
Tobi became aware that he was actually flirting with her. She threw him an almost mocking look, unsure how to react. To be honest, Tobi didn't really know how to flirt. Yep, being a boy for some years had its downfalls. However, she saw the need to beat Alex at his own game…so she didn't even know she was flirting when she tossed back her wet hair. It just seemed instinctive.
"Sure. Just like you're out here with no shirt on for my benefit." Tobi didn't even notice another door in the corridor creaking open before she continued with a smirk. "We might as well get it on here and now."
"WHAT?" The pair of them whirled around to see Hank standing open-mouthed in the doorway of his room. Of course, now Tobi understood how the situation could be misread – her in only her towel, Alex shirtless, her comment about getting it on…
"Oh shit." Tobi sighed heavily, suppressing a groan. "Hank, I think you've got the total wrong idea. I was only joking."
Behind her, the normally serious Alex was struggling not to crack up laughing as he realized how Hank had misinterpreted the situation. The young scientist's face was a mask of shock as he observed the pair of them.
"She was only kidding," Alex added with a grin and a shake of his head, "Jeez, bozo. Lighten up."
Hank's face coloured with indignation at the derogatory nickname and he slammed the door shut. Any previous amusement completely gone, Tobi turned to face Alex with a glower across her face.
"Smooth move, Summers," she snapped at him, "There wasn't any need to insult him."
"What?" protested Alex as Tobi stomped down the corridor, "Oh, so what, you're into the lab geek now?"
Tobi whirled around and marched right back, shoving Alex in the chest so that he stumbled backwards.
"What's the matter, are you jealous or something? Why don't you just lay off with the mean nicknames? You're going into asshole mode again."
Charles opened the doors to the bunker and stepped into the darkness. Tobi and Alex, still quite annoyed with each other, followed him without looking at one another. Both were wearing practical grey tracksuits – Tobi was attempting to ignore the fact that Alex's exposed his muscular biceps.
"My stepfather took the possibility of nuclear war quite seriously. That's why he had this bunker built down here. I thought we could use it as a practise range of sorts."
Alex glanced incredulously at Charles. "You don't think I'm going to blow through the walls?"
Charles laughed easily. "He had this place built to withstand a nuclear bomb. I think it can handle you, Alex."
Tobi was a little troubled. She'd discretely relayed her success of influencing Alex's feelings to Charles, but when he'd summoned the two of them down to the bunker, he hadn't exactly explained what they were doing. Tobi knew Alex was supposed to be practising using his powers – only, what was she doing here? Charles took Tobi by the shoulders and moved her into position, right in the middle down one end of the bunker. Her green eyes narrowed suspiciously and he patted her encouragingly on the back.
"Now you just stand there, Tobi. I thought that while Alex can practise using his power you could sort of complement it with your own."
Alex's blue eyes widened, but he knew from past experience that Tobi could take whatever he threw at her. However, that didn't stop him from feeling troubled as he followed Charles down the other end of the bunker. The girl was fast, super fast, but she was fast enough to avoid this? He didn't like her, but he didn't exactly want to fry her.
"You know, when I do this, bad things can happen."
"That's because you can't control it," Charles explained, jamming his hands into his pockets, "It controls you. That's why we're here, Alex. That's why we're training."
They reached the other end and turned to face Tobi. Her grey tracksuit clung to her curves, defying its purpose of being baggy. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at him, challenging him.
"If you're serious about me doing this, you might want to get back," Alex said to Charles, who immediately took his point and headed towards the entrance of the bunker, closing the steel doors behind him.
Alex rolled his head around on his neck as he faced Tobi, clenching and unclenching his hands as he stared across the gulf of space at her.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked of her, "You don't have to if you're not confident…"
Tobi hadn't yet forgiven Alex for his contemptuous attitude towards Hank and his sudden desire to protect her wasn't earning him brownie points, either. Her eyes narrowed and she tossed back her hair.
"Try me, wise guy."
When Charles opened the door again, he cursed softly under his breath as he noticed that the bunker was half-lit in flames on Alex's side. Both teenagers glanced almost guiltily at him as he hurried over to grab the fire extinguisher.
"I will teach you to control this, Alex."
Alex looked around him, clearly rather embarrassed about the havoc he'd created in Charles's bunker. Tobi swaggered past him with a wicked grin across her face as she nudged him meaningfully. She had managed to avoid Alex's sonic beam – because they hadn't gone anywhere near her, but instead gone everywhere else. How was she meant to kick her superior reflexes into gear if she wasn't even threatened.
"Well, Havok, looks like your name really does fit."
He glowered at her. "Piss off, Jett."
After lunch, training continued – only this time, it was Sean who was being subjected to the ridicule of the other mutants. The others watched as Hank and Charles tied what appeared to be a black and yellow blanket over Sean's wrists.
"You're sure that this will work?" Sean asked doubtfully.
"Anything's possible," Hank replied cryptically, "I based the design…"
"Hank, stop talking." Charles interrupted, startling Hank as they finished tightening the straps on Sean's wrists. "Come on."
There was a mad rush for the nearest window as Charles and Hank led Sean over and sat him on the ledge. Erik and Alex got prime viewing spots, while Raven and Tobi were forced to stand on tiptoe to see what was happening. Erik looked amused and there was a smirk on Alex's face as Sean made the sign of the cross.
"Don't forget to scream," Charles reminded him.
Sean spread his arms and let himself fall forward, as everyone leaned out of the window to watch. He gave a small squawk of shock before he hit the bush directly underneath, prompting Alex to snicker.
"Wow. He has some skill, huh."
Tobi raised her eyebrows. "Yeah. Remind me who was the one who burnt out half the bunker?"
Alex stopped laughing after that.
Raven was just yanking out a box of Tiny Teddies for afternoon tea when Hank stomped into the kitchen, looking quite upset. He seated himself down at the table beside Sean, unwilling to meet anyone's eyes. Tobi could feel the humiliation and fury washing off him.
"Hank?" Raven sat down on his other side, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "What happened? Are you alright?"
Hank reached across the table and yanked a handful of Tiny Teddies from the box. He crushed several in his hand before he shoved them in his mouth and crunched for a while.
"It's nothing," he finally replied, "Just Alex, as usual."
Tobi was going to kill him. "What did he do now?"
Hank shook his head slowly. "Sometimes, I don't understand what his problem is. Charles was attempting to assist me in the proper function of my ability, when Alex walked up afterwards. 'Impressive, Hank. With feet like those, all you need is a red nose. Right, bozo?'."
Tobi was struck by Alex's inexplicable malice. Shaking her head slowly, she clambered to her feet, hands clenching into her fists. Okay, so she and Alex might not technically hate each other – but that didn't mean they were friends. Especially not when Alex was treating her other friends like shit. Just because she understood him didn't mean she thought it was right.
"I'll crack his skull open."
"Tobi," Raven shoved the box of Tiny Teddies her way with a heavy sigh, "Please just have some Tiny Teddies, okay?"
Tobi nodded consideringly. "You know, Raven, that's an excellent idea. I'll shove some Tiny Teddies down his throat until he chokes."
Sean snorted and reached into the box. Hank made to open his mouth and say something, but Raven kicked him under the table. When Tobi was annoyed, there was nothing any of them could say or do that would stop her.
"Do you want to become my personal punching bag?" Tobi demanded as she entered the gym and watched Alex lifting dumbbells over his head. Okay, yes, he looked hot when he did that. But she was determined to stop herself from thinking that he was hot. There were bigger issues at hand, rather than her teenage hormones.
Alex lowered the dumbbells with a grunt and turned around to face Tobi. Her green eyes were sparkling with anger and her hands were planted firmly on her hips, accentuating her slim waist. It looked like Tobi was here to challenge him. Well, he could sure do with a fight, and she would definitely lose.
"Baby, if I've got you, it looks like I don't even need the gym for a workout."
Tobi snorted. "Oh, I am so not your baby, Alex Summers. What is with you and dissing Hank? There's no need to be so cruel to him."
"Why do you care so much?" Alex shot back at her, the lazy smile wiped off his face instantly, "What, you're in love with bigfoot or something?"
Tobi's temper flared and she moved towards him so fast that she was just a blur, before she slapped him hard across the face. Alex grabbed her wrists, his eyes hard as stone as he slammed her into the wall so that her head bounced. A red mark was forming on his cheek where Tobi had slapped him.
"Even if I was in love with Hank – which I'm not, by the way – why do you care so much?" Tobi hissed at Alex, struggling to free her wrists from where he'd pinned them either side of her head.
It was so quick that Tobi didn't even have time to discern Alex's feelings before his lips crashed into hers. His kiss was rough and urgent and he pressed his body against her, pinning her against the wall as he continued to passionately move his lips with hers. Then Tobi could feel it – anger, confusion, lust – as Alex's tongue invaded her mouth. She managed to jerk her wrists free and shove Alex away from her. Okay, so the kiss hadn't exactly been a bad experience – on the contrary, it had been bloody amazing – but what the hell was going on with Alex?
"What the fuck?" Tobi demanded of Alex, who was breathing heavily through his nostrils and still glowering at her. "So first of all, you're pissed at me, and then you throw me against the wall and make out with me? Look, I know some guys like it rough, but still…"
Alex sneered at her, but in reality he was stung by her brief dismissal of the action, acting like she didn't know what it meant and didn't care.
"Don't act like you didn't want it, Tobi."
Her green eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth as if to shout at him, before she just glared and shook her head fervently.
"You're unbelievable, do you know that?"
Tobi groaned and lay back on her bed with a sigh. On the ground, Raven was busying herself flicking through one of the latest magazines.
"Sometimes, I really don't understand guys."
"Oh, honey." Raven rolled her eyes and set aside the magazine, rolling over so that she was lying on her stomach. "None of us do. But what makes you say that? You can read emotions. I think you'd understand guys better than most other girls."
Tobi laughed uncomfortably, wondering if she should tell Raven about the heated, forceful kiss between her and Alex. The thought of their tongues battling for dominance made her confused and a little embarrassed.
"Okay, well, if I tell you something, you won't tell anyone, will you?"
Raven smiled. "Cross my heart. Spit it out. Is there a guy you like? I know Sean's got the hots for you, and every other girl here, but…"
Tobi shook her head vigorously, poking out her tongue in distaste. "Um, no. Definitely not Sean. He's nice and all, but he's a horny bastard some of the time."
Raven laughed at that. "Well who's the lucky guy?"
Tobi hesitated, tucking a strand of bronze hair behind her ear. "It's not really that simple."
Raven gasped and her eyes widened with understanding. "Oh my God. It's Alex, isn't it?"
Tobi pressed a finger to her lips, warning Raven to keep quiet. The blonde girl hopped up on the bed beside Tobi. Sometimes, it was good to have another girl to talk to about these things. Tobi was glad to have a friend like Raven.
"It's complicated, okay? So I went to see him about Hank and we argued…and then I slapped him and he kind of pushed me up against the wall and kissed me."
Raven raised her eyebrows suggestively. "That's actually kind of hot. Maybe you should hit him more often."
Tobi couldn't help but giggle and she nudged Raven in the side.
"Raven! No! That's not what I mean. I just…I don't get it. One minute he's angry at me and the next we're making out. It doesn't make sense."
Raven tossed back her blonde hair and offered Tobi a mischievous smile. "You two are never going to make sense."