Post by Iceman on Jul 18, 2006 13:54:18 GMT -5
(Set during X2, at Alkali Lake while the X-Men are inside doing their thing. Starts right after the scene where John storms off of the jet.)
The pain had been like nothing John had ever experienced before. He had lain in the snow, his hands pressed to his ears, crying out with the agony. He was surely going to die from ... whatever it was ... When abruptly it stopped.
Shaking, near tears, John eventually unfurled from his fetal position, trembling like a leaf.
It had hit so suddenly--One moment, Bobby had been standing in the middle of the jet, fuming over Jon's refusal to do as he was told, and part of him even calling himself out for not having the guts to do the same. The next moment, he'd been hit with the most painful sensation he had ever felt in his life, his knees buckling, his hands reaching out for something to hold to keep him from falling.
Prying his eyes open, he looked in Rogue's direction. He saw the painful expression on her face, trembling as she sank to the floor of the plane. He stumbled to her, feeling as though his head would crack apart from the pounding pressure. He wanted to protect her, but he couldn't function. They both laid on the floor of the jet, their hands clasped as Bobby wondered if they were dying.
Then it was gone--leaving Bobby with only the fresh memory of the pain. He shakily asked Rogue if she was alright, and she nodded. Then he thought of someone else with a start. John. Bobby stood, explaining quickly that he had to find John. He thought to himself that John had only left minutes before, and so would be nearby. If this had hit both Bobby and Rogue, it probably had hit John as well. He pushed from his mind the effect it might have had on those inside the labs--the rest of the X-Men--and focused only on John.
He raced down the steps of the jet, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. He didn't see any movement right away, and so looked down into the snow. He found many sets of footprints that all set off in the same direction, and then one lone set went it's own way. Bobby followed that one. It wasn't long until he spotted John.
If John had been particularly sensitive to psychic vibrations, what the onslaught from the Cerebro machine had been like for him was far worse than that for either Bobby or Rogue. He was shaken, disoriented, confused and stumbling in a random direction away from the jet. He didn't notice Bobby catching him up.
Watching John as he neared him, Bobby saw that John seemed disoriented, even from the back. "John!" he called out, continuing his jogging pace toward him. "John! Are you okay?"
John paused in his random wandering and shook his head to clear it of the buzzing. He turned round to look at Bobby and there was initially no recognition in his eyes at all for his roommate. Eventually, he spoke and his voice sounded almost slurred. "Bobby? S'that you?"
When Bobby reached him, he put a hand on his shoulder and examined him closely, concern evident on his features. “Yeah, it’s me. Did you feel that too?” John seemed a lot worse off—Had it been worse for him for some reason? And if so, was it because he was closer than they had been? Or had the jet’s metal protected them perhaps? Or maybe the mental blocks the Professor had put on John had made him more susceptible.
"Pain," said John, his eyes slowly coming into focus. "Pain in my head. It was like...my nightmares only several thousand times worse. It's gone now." He was shaking lightly. "I gotta go, too. Gotta go...help."
Bobby's concern for his friend suddenly had to compete with his exasperation that John still wanted to go. "No, John--We need to wait. What if they come out and we miss them? Then we'll be stranded here, or put everyone else in danger trying to come look for us."
"I'm not some kid for them to order around," snapped John. He swayed slightly, then cussed loudly, clenching his fists and struggling to get a grip on himself. "I'm gonna go and see what I can do. You go back to the jet if you want, to your girlfriend and stuff. I...gotta do this."
Bobby couldn't help but feel angry at him. He'd been telling himself not to blame John, that his parents would have acted the way they did anyway...But he couldn't stop himself from believing that if John hadn't gone crazy and done all that damage, that he could have fixed things. But John had as good as confirmed his family's fears about mutants. That they were dangerous, something to be afraid of. "Don't you think you've done enough?" he asked, his voice hard, aggressive.
"You screwed things up bad enough at my house, do you really need to do any more damage?"
"What?" John blinked, clearly taking time to register Bobby's words. "They would've shot us all, man. I had to do SOMETHING..." His eyes took on a hard glint that Bobby had never seen before. "Fuck it, Bobs, I can't stand the way we're treated any more. Magneto's right, you know."
Whatever angry response that came to Bobby's mind never made it out of his mouth, because he stopped upon hearing John say Magneto was right. 'Why would he even say that?' Bobby thought to himself reproachfully. He glanced away as he swallowed hard, then looked back to John with a serious expression. His words were searching, and carefully controlled. "Who are you going in there to help, John?"
John wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. He was still dressed in the borrowed top and tracksuit bottoms and hardly adequately dressed for the conditions. He stared back at Bobby as though daring him. "Myself, Bobby."
"Yeah? Well you better know who's side you're on," Bobby said, the words shooting rapid-fire from his mouth. "Magneto's not right about anything. He wants to wipe out thousands of innocent people." What had Magneto said to him? Bobby didn't want to believe that John would come the conclusion on his own. "He'd kill you, too, if you couldn't spit fire. He'd try to kill all of us anyway if he didn't need us."
"It's not like that," said John, looking faintly agitated. "He made me realise that we're BETTER than they are, Bobby. The humans. They're scared of us, scared of our powers because they know we're better than them." He shivered again, stared at Bobby, shook his head. "This standing around arguing is helping nobody."
Bobby hoped to God that his gut feeling was wrong. He didn't want to outrightly accuse John of planning to turn to Magneto. So he dropped his hand from John's shoulder and took a step back. "Alright," he said distantly. "Just...Find them."
He clarified, signaling that he wasn't sure at all who John wanted to find, without coming out and saying it. "The X-Men. And...make it back here. In time..." Even if John was still on their side, Bobby realized it was dangerous in there. He wanted to go with him; besides, then he could make sure who John went to. But he didn't want to be trapped in there when the X-Men needed to make a break for it. He didn't want to screw this up. "Be safe, alright?"
John tipped his head slightly on one side. "Yeah," he said, eventually. "You too."
Bobby's eyes looked down from John's face as thoughts ran through his head. He locked eyes with him again, nodding slowly. He then took a few more steps backwards before turning and making his way back to the jet. It seemed like there was nothing left to say, but in his mind Bobby was mentally willing John to make the right choice.
"Bobs, wait."
Bobby stopped and turned, his eyebrows raised only slightly, hoping he'd changed his mind. "Yeah?"
John ran his hands through his hair for a moment. "When that...thing...happened. Didn't you feel it? How much the humans hate us? People have always hated me, Bobs, or been scared of me. I see this chance...to BE someone."
"You could be the best X-Man of all times," Bobby said, raising his voice enough for John to hear clearly across the short distance. "You could be like the Professor, do great things for mutants. Or you could be a murderer." Bobby paused, shaking his head slightly. "That’s not you John. You might be tough, but you've got just as much heart as any of us. You don't want to have all the things they do on your shoulders," he finished, clearly meaning the Brotherhood by 'they'.
John shook his head. "They won't want me, Bobby, not now. I can't control it. It controls ME now." He absently felt in his pocket, pulling out his lighter and flicking it on. "I'm Pyro now. That's...that's my REAL name."
John's words seemed so...final. Deep in his mind, Bobby considered fighting him. If he could knock him out, get him back to the school, maybe the Professor could make him see why it was wrong. But he immediately knew that forcing John to stay was not going to do any good. If that was what he wanted...There was nothing Bobby could do, nothing anyone could do. He had to disagree with what John had said.
"You let it take you over," he said finally. "You're the one with a mind--You control it. You're making this choice on your own." Bobby looked to the snow again, and when he looked back to John, sadness was evident in his eyes. "I hope we don't ever meet..." he said, remembering in the back of his mind having said something to that effect once before to John. 'I hope we never get in an argument. We'd kick each other's asses', he'd said. It had been in joking then. Now it was real.
"Fire and ice," he said softly in tribute to the phrase they'd often used and heard, which described their friendship so well, mustering a sad smile.
"I..." John shook his head, at a loss for words. "It's better this way, Bobby. After what I did back at your folks' place. It's better." He managed a faint smile.
"Fire and ice," he repeated, then wrapped his arms around his chest and headed off into the snow.
The pain had been like nothing John had ever experienced before. He had lain in the snow, his hands pressed to his ears, crying out with the agony. He was surely going to die from ... whatever it was ... When abruptly it stopped.
Shaking, near tears, John eventually unfurled from his fetal position, trembling like a leaf.
It had hit so suddenly--One moment, Bobby had been standing in the middle of the jet, fuming over Jon's refusal to do as he was told, and part of him even calling himself out for not having the guts to do the same. The next moment, he'd been hit with the most painful sensation he had ever felt in his life, his knees buckling, his hands reaching out for something to hold to keep him from falling.
Prying his eyes open, he looked in Rogue's direction. He saw the painful expression on her face, trembling as she sank to the floor of the plane. He stumbled to her, feeling as though his head would crack apart from the pounding pressure. He wanted to protect her, but he couldn't function. They both laid on the floor of the jet, their hands clasped as Bobby wondered if they were dying.
Then it was gone--leaving Bobby with only the fresh memory of the pain. He shakily asked Rogue if she was alright, and she nodded. Then he thought of someone else with a start. John. Bobby stood, explaining quickly that he had to find John. He thought to himself that John had only left minutes before, and so would be nearby. If this had hit both Bobby and Rogue, it probably had hit John as well. He pushed from his mind the effect it might have had on those inside the labs--the rest of the X-Men--and focused only on John.
He raced down the steps of the jet, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. He didn't see any movement right away, and so looked down into the snow. He found many sets of footprints that all set off in the same direction, and then one lone set went it's own way. Bobby followed that one. It wasn't long until he spotted John.
If John had been particularly sensitive to psychic vibrations, what the onslaught from the Cerebro machine had been like for him was far worse than that for either Bobby or Rogue. He was shaken, disoriented, confused and stumbling in a random direction away from the jet. He didn't notice Bobby catching him up.
Watching John as he neared him, Bobby saw that John seemed disoriented, even from the back. "John!" he called out, continuing his jogging pace toward him. "John! Are you okay?"
John paused in his random wandering and shook his head to clear it of the buzzing. He turned round to look at Bobby and there was initially no recognition in his eyes at all for his roommate. Eventually, he spoke and his voice sounded almost slurred. "Bobby? S'that you?"
When Bobby reached him, he put a hand on his shoulder and examined him closely, concern evident on his features. “Yeah, it’s me. Did you feel that too?” John seemed a lot worse off—Had it been worse for him for some reason? And if so, was it because he was closer than they had been? Or had the jet’s metal protected them perhaps? Or maybe the mental blocks the Professor had put on John had made him more susceptible.
"Pain," said John, his eyes slowly coming into focus. "Pain in my head. It was like...my nightmares only several thousand times worse. It's gone now." He was shaking lightly. "I gotta go, too. Gotta go...help."
Bobby's concern for his friend suddenly had to compete with his exasperation that John still wanted to go. "No, John--We need to wait. What if they come out and we miss them? Then we'll be stranded here, or put everyone else in danger trying to come look for us."
"I'm not some kid for them to order around," snapped John. He swayed slightly, then cussed loudly, clenching his fists and struggling to get a grip on himself. "I'm gonna go and see what I can do. You go back to the jet if you want, to your girlfriend and stuff. I...gotta do this."
Bobby couldn't help but feel angry at him. He'd been telling himself not to blame John, that his parents would have acted the way they did anyway...But he couldn't stop himself from believing that if John hadn't gone crazy and done all that damage, that he could have fixed things. But John had as good as confirmed his family's fears about mutants. That they were dangerous, something to be afraid of. "Don't you think you've done enough?" he asked, his voice hard, aggressive.
"You screwed things up bad enough at my house, do you really need to do any more damage?"
"What?" John blinked, clearly taking time to register Bobby's words. "They would've shot us all, man. I had to do SOMETHING..." His eyes took on a hard glint that Bobby had never seen before. "Fuck it, Bobs, I can't stand the way we're treated any more. Magneto's right, you know."
Whatever angry response that came to Bobby's mind never made it out of his mouth, because he stopped upon hearing John say Magneto was right. 'Why would he even say that?' Bobby thought to himself reproachfully. He glanced away as he swallowed hard, then looked back to John with a serious expression. His words were searching, and carefully controlled. "Who are you going in there to help, John?"
John wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. He was still dressed in the borrowed top and tracksuit bottoms and hardly adequately dressed for the conditions. He stared back at Bobby as though daring him. "Myself, Bobby."
"Yeah? Well you better know who's side you're on," Bobby said, the words shooting rapid-fire from his mouth. "Magneto's not right about anything. He wants to wipe out thousands of innocent people." What had Magneto said to him? Bobby didn't want to believe that John would come the conclusion on his own. "He'd kill you, too, if you couldn't spit fire. He'd try to kill all of us anyway if he didn't need us."
"It's not like that," said John, looking faintly agitated. "He made me realise that we're BETTER than they are, Bobby. The humans. They're scared of us, scared of our powers because they know we're better than them." He shivered again, stared at Bobby, shook his head. "This standing around arguing is helping nobody."
Bobby hoped to God that his gut feeling was wrong. He didn't want to outrightly accuse John of planning to turn to Magneto. So he dropped his hand from John's shoulder and took a step back. "Alright," he said distantly. "Just...Find them."
He clarified, signaling that he wasn't sure at all who John wanted to find, without coming out and saying it. "The X-Men. And...make it back here. In time..." Even if John was still on their side, Bobby realized it was dangerous in there. He wanted to go with him; besides, then he could make sure who John went to. But he didn't want to be trapped in there when the X-Men needed to make a break for it. He didn't want to screw this up. "Be safe, alright?"
John tipped his head slightly on one side. "Yeah," he said, eventually. "You too."
Bobby's eyes looked down from John's face as thoughts ran through his head. He locked eyes with him again, nodding slowly. He then took a few more steps backwards before turning and making his way back to the jet. It seemed like there was nothing left to say, but in his mind Bobby was mentally willing John to make the right choice.
"Bobs, wait."
Bobby stopped and turned, his eyebrows raised only slightly, hoping he'd changed his mind. "Yeah?"
John ran his hands through his hair for a moment. "When that...thing...happened. Didn't you feel it? How much the humans hate us? People have always hated me, Bobs, or been scared of me. I see this chance...to BE someone."
"You could be the best X-Man of all times," Bobby said, raising his voice enough for John to hear clearly across the short distance. "You could be like the Professor, do great things for mutants. Or you could be a murderer." Bobby paused, shaking his head slightly. "That’s not you John. You might be tough, but you've got just as much heart as any of us. You don't want to have all the things they do on your shoulders," he finished, clearly meaning the Brotherhood by 'they'.
John shook his head. "They won't want me, Bobby, not now. I can't control it. It controls ME now." He absently felt in his pocket, pulling out his lighter and flicking it on. "I'm Pyro now. That's...that's my REAL name."
John's words seemed so...final. Deep in his mind, Bobby considered fighting him. If he could knock him out, get him back to the school, maybe the Professor could make him see why it was wrong. But he immediately knew that forcing John to stay was not going to do any good. If that was what he wanted...There was nothing Bobby could do, nothing anyone could do. He had to disagree with what John had said.
"You let it take you over," he said finally. "You're the one with a mind--You control it. You're making this choice on your own." Bobby looked to the snow again, and when he looked back to John, sadness was evident in his eyes. "I hope we don't ever meet..." he said, remembering in the back of his mind having said something to that effect once before to John. 'I hope we never get in an argument. We'd kick each other's asses', he'd said. It had been in joking then. Now it was real.
"Fire and ice," he said softly in tribute to the phrase they'd often used and heard, which described their friendship so well, mustering a sad smile.
"I..." John shook his head, at a loss for words. "It's better this way, Bobby. After what I did back at your folks' place. It's better." He managed a faint smile.
"Fire and ice," he repeated, then wrapped his arms around his chest and headed off into the snow.
