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Post by Iceman on Nov 8, 2006 9:48:56 GMT -5
Bobby tapped his communicator as he strolled down the hallway toward Storm’s office. “Storm,” he specified, then sent his message. “Hey, ‘Ro. Bet you thought you were rid of me, didn’t you? Ha ha! I’m back. And I’m looking for you,” he said as he stopped in front of her office door. “You wouldn’t happen to be in your office, would you?”
He knocked a rhythm on the door. ‘Shave and a haircut’. He’d rarely ever received the two knocks that would finish it – ‘two bits’. But it remained his trademark knock. He stepped back and pushed up the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt as he waited for a response on the communicator or for the door to open.
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Post by Storm on Nov 8, 2006 18:25:21 GMT -5
Storm sat at her desk after the meeting, looking through Hannah's files and the swiftly-growing files on the Sombra corporation. She leant her chin in her hand and sighed slightly, frustrated with the gaps in their information.
Then her communicator sounded, and Bandero's voice came through.
"Bobby's back."
The two words cut through her like - an icicle. A radiant, joyful, icicle. Her head snapped up and her eyes lit up with happiness. Thank God! Even Storm hadn't known when - if? no, that was too terrible - he was coming back.
"He won't be that hard to find, so come make the guy feel loved. Not too much, though, or I'm sure his girl will sock ya one."
Ororo's face spread into a smile and she looked back down at the files. No doubt the poor boy would be mobbed by friends upon his return, he was so popular. She would wait a little while.
And a little while later, another wonderfully familiar voice came through her communicator.
"Hey, ‘Ro. Bet you thought you were rid of me, didn’t you? Ha ha! I’m back. And I’m looking for you. You wouldn’t happen to be in your office, would you?”
Knock, knock-knock knock knock -
Ororo slid her chair back so hard that it hit the wall as she got up. She practically flew over to the door and pulled it open, barely getting a look at Bobby's face before she had him enfolded in a gigantic hug.
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Post by Iceman on Nov 8, 2006 22:06:07 GMT -5
Bobby started to open his arms, and barely opened his mouth to greet her when he was tackled by what seemed like the force of a small tornado. He laughed merrily, wrapping his arms around her back and returning the hug.
"'Ro!" he said through his laughter, relishing the brush of her flipped-out hair on his face. "God, it's good to see you!"
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Post by Storm on Nov 8, 2006 22:29:11 GMT -5
Storm didn't quite realize until Bobby was back in front of her just how bare the mansion had seemed without him. Life was still unusually stressful, but at least a piece of it had clicked back into place. She held onto her dear student a little longer than was probably necessary.
"It's so good to see you too, Bobby."
Then she held him out at arm's length and gave him a once-over. She turned his head a little from side to side with her dark hands, as if to make sure it was really him, and he wasn't injured.
"How are you? They didn't hurt you at all, did they?" She looked him right in the eye, concerned and caring.
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Post by Iceman on Nov 8, 2006 22:39:15 GMT -5
Bobby grinned as she looked him over and felt his face like a mother hen checking her chick. "Not..." He paused, his grin slipping away to a smile that he tried to hold onto. "They have a collar...I don't know what they call it, a Cure Collar? Anyway, it, uh...It drained my powers." The experience had clearly been an uneasy one, at the least.
He understood why they'd done it--what if he had been a murderer, as they'd thought he was? What would have stopped him from escaping if he had the use of his powers? But he still felt like it was a serious infringement of his rights. He'd felt robbed from the moment they'd put it on him.
"But they didn't beat me around, no. And without any cellmates, I didn't have to worry about holding on tight to my soap." Bobby managed to slip in a joke and even smile; some things didn't change.
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Post by Storm on Nov 8, 2006 23:21:42 GMT -5
Storm's brow furrowed and her hand went unconsciously to her own neck. "An inhibitor collar. I have heard they exist but I did not know they were used on anyone. That might be something to talk to Forge about; I am sure he'll want to know more about the technology, and its effect, and so forth." Her eyes went skyward, adding a little amusement to the situation. They both knew what a geek Forge was about such things.
"It WAS a temporary inhibitor, right? You have your powers back?" Images of cure guns flashed through her mind.
Not that Bobby's next words made her feel too much better. Her mother-hen worry skipped right over 'they didn't beat me around' and went straight to the word 'cellmates.'
"You weren't in jail, Bobby? They told me they were keeping you in a hotel room..."
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Post by Iceman on Nov 9, 2006 9:45:01 GMT -5
"It WAS a temporary inhibitor, right? You have your powers back?"
Bobby's answer was a touch to her cheek. A very cold touch. He'd turned his hand to ice--or, well, tried to--it had turned his entire arm. He still had to concentrate very hard to only change in one area. But it did the job, and his touch on Ororo's cheek was icy cold.
"Are you kidding me? I'd have sued by now if they'd cured me for good."
"You weren't in jail, Bobby? They told me they were keeping you in a hotel room..."
"Oh, yeah, I was in a hotel. A five-star, from what I could tell. Guess they thought I was too soft for prison," he joked as he mercifully took his icy hand from her skin."
He got a bit more serious - though it was hard to do so - and leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms. "Trask let me go. They found out that that Frost b--that Frost witch...is a mutant. Somehow. He thinks I'm guilty, but I guess it wasn't ultimately up to him. So he laid the guilt on thick and let me go."
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Post by Storm on Nov 9, 2006 15:08:00 GMT -5
Ororo jerked back in happy surprise at the feel of ice on her skin. She squeezed Bobby's transformed hand with hers thankfully - the extreme cold didn't bother her once she got used to it - and a bit of fire flashed in her eyes. "You would have sued... we would have done more than sued." There was the same attitude in her voice that Kurt had heard when he had first met her. Someone so beautiful should not be so angry. Oh dear. Well, she had known already that he thought she was beautiful; it had just been a while since she had heard it.
Her worries over Bobby's health were dissipating. He seemed to be in one piece and none the worse for wear, although there was a bitterness to his tone; he HAD been captive, away from his home and friends. Still, "Better too soft for prison than too hard for mercy," she said, knowing that prison would have done far worse to Bobby.
"They found out that that Frost b--that Frost witch...is a mutant. Somehow. He thinks I'm guilty, but I guess it wasn't ultimately up to him. So he laid the guilt on thick and let me go."
"Fine. Let him lay on the guilt, if the last call is not his and they have evidence that your testimony was true. You still had better keep an eye out in the future, though, if Trask has a grudge against you." This was still worrisome.
"But you're the safest you could possibly be when you're home with us, Bobby." She smiled at him; not the headmistress business-smile, but a smile that said 'I care about you, everyone cares about you, and we both know we'd risk our lives for you.' It was quite a smile indeed.
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Post by Iceman on Nov 9, 2006 15:44:25 GMT -5
There were times when Bobby kind of forgot that Ororo was headmistress, and a leader, and a fellow X-Man, whom he'd seen fry people in battle. At those times, he saw her as the kind of motherly figure every...well, everyone could possibly want. When she got married and started a family, her kids were going to be a lucky bunch.
And blue-skinned. And have tails.
Bobby shook himself from his short tangent of thought and nodded. "There is nowhere I'd rather be right now," he said truthfully. It was a relief to be home.
Bobby's eyes went to the note he'd seen on the door when he'd knocked. "By the way..." He reached past Ororo and pulled it off the door, holding it out to her. "You've got mail," he said simply with a smile.
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Post by Storm on Nov 9, 2006 16:05:23 GMT -5
Ororo raised an eyebrow as Bobby plucked a note from her door. How had she missed that? Well, she had left her door open all day, and only closed it from the inside recently, to get some work done.
"Oh, thank you," she said, mystified, and unfolded the paper.
The writing was nearly illegible, but in a familiar way. She knew the hand from her classes. It only took a quick scan to make her heart sink.
You gain one, you lose one.
"Peter is gone." She put a slim hand to her forehead and looked up at Bobby. "His father is dying, he went home."
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Post by Iceman on Nov 9, 2006 16:20:04 GMT -5
Bobby stared at Ororo, the awful news refusing to compute for a good five seconds. "Wh...What?" he asked in disbelief. He ran a hand through his hair, looking down. "That's awful. God...Pete...I didn't even get to..." He shook his head slowly. He wished he could have been there for Piotr, if only for support.
"Did he say if he'll be back?" he asked quietly, looking once again to Ororo.
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Post by Storm on Nov 9, 2006 16:48:08 GMT -5
And things had been so cheerful. Leave it to fate to only allow the X-Men a few minutes of peace. Storm's stomach sank, and she suddenly felt a little bad that she had blurted the news out - Bobby didn't deserve that after all he had been through. But she had lost her composure for a rare moment.
She shook her head and showed him the note. "It seems he left in a hurry." She had a feeling she knew the answer to his question, but she didn't want to say it. Still -
"He is so loyal to his family." She met Bobby's eye; they knew Piotr's character well, and it might as well be out in the open. "He had enough trouble staying here away from them - now that he has returned, and if his father passes away..." She didn't really want to go on. God, but it was hard to lose people.
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Post by Iceman on Nov 9, 2006 22:12:50 GMT -5
Damn. Was he really gone forever? Bobby felt like someone with colossal strength was squeezing inside his chest right then, though Colossus was probably miles upon miles away by then.
For some reason, Bobby thought of Kitty. Did she know? Oh, God, she was going to be devastated. Bobby and Piotr had been good friends, of course, but Kitty had had a crush on him for as long as Bobby could remember, it seemed like.
"Do you want to make an announcement? Kitty might take it better being told in private. As might other people."
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Post by Storm on Nov 12, 2006 22:45:56 GMT -5
"No... No, we shouldn't announce it. People will ask and we can tell them, and word will spread quietly that way. And he may... he may return, I will get in touch with him. We should not think so pessimistically." Storm pulled herself together.
"You could mention it to Kitty, but this is not a time to mourn. Go see her and cheer her up, I hear from Hannah that she has enough on her mind right now. Peter is safe, wherever he is; and we have you back now." She smiled a little and put her arms around his shoulders, as if to say 'don't you go away again too.'
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Post by Iceman on Nov 14, 2006 9:29:39 GMT -5
"Alright," Bobby said as he put his arms around her, turning her gesture into another hug. She was right. Pete was safe, they were all safe.
He stepped back and ran a hand through his hair - it had become quite a habit of him, which he did often when he felt nervous or sheepish or uncomfortable. "Well...I'll see you at dinner, then, or around. I gotta jump back in the Danger Room, too - two weeks with no practice, I'm rusty." He managed to flash a grin at her, hoping to see even the smallest smile in return.
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Post by Storm on Nov 14, 2006 15:02:23 GMT -5
Ororo hugged Bobby again, thankfully. It was true that Colossus could take care of himself; she didn't worry for his safety the way she had worried about Bobby's. So really, all of her chicks were safe for the moment.
She nodded as he talked about getting back into the Danger Room. "Forge has a new program, a sort of jungle environment with dinosaurs and mutant savages. Rather like myself." She smiled at Bobby in return, for the reference to her past which she knew he would understand.
"Off with you, Bobby," she said fondly. "Taste freedom again." If Storm was the type to wink, she would have done that now, but instead she just smiled a little and turned back to her office.
[OOC: Thread closed!]
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