Exit, Pursued by Bear

[Bobby Drake]

Bobby hangs in the dark, chained to a clothes-rack between a black leather flight suit and a pair of jeans; the closet door opens to reveal an old man with a Hitler moustache and a red metal horseshoe on his head. “Zo zorry, my boy,” says the old man as he yanks hard on one of the chains; a cherub with a bow is yanking the other, nearly tearing Bobby in half until the clothes-rack breaks above him and he falls out through the door. He raises a rifle to the old man’s head and pulls the trigger; somehow it sprays the cherub with water instead, drenching him head to toe. Bobby’s incredibly embarrassed. The cherub shoots him and his rifle disintegrates; he can feel his teeth loosening and they fall one by one to the ground, forming great drifts of snow where they land. The cherub explodes into a fireball, melting the snow and incinerating the old man, and Bobby is standing naked in the middle of Times Square; he looks down to realize he is hairless and featureless as a store-window mannekin, but everyone is still pointing and laughing. He climbs into a laptop computer to hide, but it disintegrates around him and he’s at the Institute. He’s wearing a medieval knight’s armor now, but everyone is still pointing and laughing at him, and he realizes it’s completely transparent. He gets angry then and pulls a sword from his scabbard, throwing it at the floor in the middle of the room; it’s transparent too, but when it shatters the whole room starts to fill with snow…

[/i]

…and Bobby wakes up to realize with a combination of horror and resignation that the last part of his dream is disturbingly real. "Fuck!" He’s still half-asleep when he jumps out of bed, only vaguely aware of his frozen coverlet shattering into fragments, and it takes him a minute to work out the extent of the damage. Nothing too critical seems to have shattered, but when all the snow and ice melts… he doesn’t even want to think about it. "Oh, man! This wasn’t supposed to happen anymore!" Bobby’d gone through some pretty embarrassing, and occasionally dangerous, episodes when he was first getting control of his power, but that was years ago!

Yeah, not fair. So what else is new? Whine later, bail now. He dumps his trashcan on the ground and fills it with snow, running into the hallway to empty it in one of the shower stalls and back into his room to refill it. If I move fast, maybe I can keep the water damage limited to just this room…

(( Open to Matt, obviously, but also anybody else walking by after midnight or so.))

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh walks down the hallway, yawning slightly as he goes. He had been up late watching a movie down in the rec room, but now it was definitely time to go to bed, or his morning classes would not be fun. Especially genetics. He shakes his head. Toni could certainly be a slavedriver sometimes. He suspected she got a kick out of the power trip...

Up ahead, he feels Warren's presence in their room. Probably doing some grading. Josh had learned from living with Warren that teachers had it almost as bad as students in terms of deadlines. Warren had been up late preparing lesson plans more than once this semester, but he seemed to be enjoying his work. He cocks his head, brushing up against the familiar presence. Oh, he's asleep. I better be quiet when I change...

Lost in tired thought, Josh steps around the corner. A blur presents itself from the side, and before he realizes it he's been knocked sideways onto his butt.

"Ow." Josh rubs his elbow where it struck the floor, and looks over, realizing his 'assailant' is Bobby. "Bobby? You okay?" The other boy was in much the same position, except he'd dropped a bucket filled with... snow?

Having Bobby pull through the MGH nightmare had possibly been the best thing that had happened around the Institute in months. Josh had thought he was going to lose one of his best friends, and instead, Bobby had turned back to normal practically overnight. It was a a relief after meeting Bobby's alter ego. While he had been physically the same individual, the MGH had completely suppressed any personality whatsoever, essentially killing what made Bobby unique. If it had been permanent... Thank god for Hank and Reed.

"Er... do I want to know why you're running through the halls at midnight with a bucket of snow?" A silly grin plasters itself across Josh's face.

[Tempero]

He finishes reading the last page, and then closes the book. A sigh escapes his lips and he starts to make his way back to his room, to pick up a new title. The Once And Future King...it sure makes a lot more sense now than when I first read it... he thinks, and then a stray memory wanders into his mind. I wonder what that nice old man who helped in the mall is doing now?

He reaches the hallways finally, and looks around happily, still not quite used to the fact that he can now walk so easily in such a "small" space. The way is dictated by many a sleepless night, and Daniel's feet now the way all too well, so his mind can allow itself the luxury of wandering off into memories of the faces of people he had met long ago. Some really old friends appear this particular night, and a sort of semi-melancholic, semi-happy mixture of emotions comes up with them, each part with its own reasons. I've lost contact with a lot of my friends when I came to the institute...but I've gained quite a few new ones as well... he thinks, and then stops in his steps as he notices Josh and Bobby and a...bucket of snow (Huh?)...lying on the floor.

"Oh, hey, guys. I guess I'm not the only one awake at this time?" he says lightly, coming up closer to them. He does not seem to be moved in the least bit in any direction by the fact that he's found company, and that the company has a bucket of seasonally mistaken materials with them. The warm friendliness comes up immediately as he simply comes down onto the ground in a lotus position, joining them.

[Bobby Drake]

> " Ow. Bobby? You okay?"

It takes Bobby a minute to recover from the unexpected collision, and he’s relieved to recognize Josh as his likely-accidental assailant (the Institute being what it is, it could just as easily be a mutant assassin or government commando, after all). He props himself up onto his elbows and grins back. "Depends on who you ask, really, but Hank’s back to giving me dirty looks and muttering about conservation of energy, so I think we’re good. " He shakes his head wonderingly and adds "I never thought I’d miss that."

> " Er... do I want to know why you're running through the halls at midnight with a bucket of snow?"

Bobby blushes a little – well, OK, a lot – and contemplates an evasive or outright misleading answer to save him some embarrassment… but this is Josh, after all, who has heard all of his embarrassing stories and been around for a good number of them. "Well, um… you remember how when I first got my powers, I had trouble getting them under control? Well, um…" he trails off and waves vaguely in the direction of his room, and the bucket of snow, then shrugs sheepishly.

"Gives you another reason to be glad we’re not still roomies, huh?" It comes out a little more bitter than he meant it, and Bobby realizes the whole business with John kicking him out of his room still stings. That’s got nothing to do with Josh, though, he reminds himself – quite the contrary, Josh has been incredibly supportive throughout quite a lot of crazy shit. So he quickly changes the subject to something more male-bondingish, adding with a slightly lascivious grin "Not that you need a better reason than the adoring and adorable Angel. Everything’s still going well with you two, I hope?"

> " Oh, hey, guys. I guess I'm not the only one awake at this time?"

Bobby chuckles and waves at Danny as he sits. "Guess not… looks like we’re having a little hallway party here, huh?" One of the hardest things for Bobby to get used to after he recovered from that weird emotional block was being able to just look at someone and tell whether they’re angry or sad or happy. Not that it’s an unusual thing, he knows everybody does it all the time, but after spending months unable to do it he feels like he’s developed some kind of telepathic mutant ability, and he loves it. It’s particularly noteworthy with Danny, whose characteristic aura of friendly friendliness has become a reliable emotional constant in Bobby’s encounters around the Institute.

Except Bobby doesn’t really have the time to socialize while the snow in his room is melting. "Unfortunately, I’ve got a little bit of a crisis, um, precipitating in my room that I have to deal with." He rolls up to his feet and scoops spilled snow back into the trashcan with both hands, then dumps it in the nearby bathroom’s shower stall and starts heading back to his room.

"I could sure use a hand, though, if you guys’ve got a couple of minutes?"

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "Well, um… you remember how when I first got my powers, I had trouble getting them under control? Well, um…"

Josh starts giggling madly when a variety of responses flash through his mind. “Bobby, I thought that wet dreams were an early-teens kind of thing. You should probably have that checked out…” His tone is teasing, though, and he thinks it likely that Bobby would rather ‘wet’ his bed every night than be stuck with the cyberpathy.

> "Gives you another reason to be glad we’re not still roomies, huh?"

He raises an eyebrow. “Hey… you know I loved living with you. But one of my favorite parts about living with Warren is falling asleep in his arms… and that would just be weird with you.” Josh grins, then blushes slightly at the revelation. “Er, sorry if that was an overshare.”

> "Not that you need a better reason than the adoring and adorable Angel. Everything’s still going well with you two, I hope?"

“Yeah, things have been great. Warren was pretty much the only thing that was getting me through your brush with death, since you weren’t exactly bothered by it much yourself, and I was alternating between wanting to hug John and hit him.” Josh shakes his head at it all. “I’m sure I mentioned this… but I’m so happy you’re yourself again.” He glances over as he gets to his feet. “How are you getting used to being back among the living?”

At this point, Danny arrives and sits down at the hallway intersection. Josh nods in the other boy’s direction, internally running over what he knew about him. His friendliness was almost palpable pretty much any time Josh had been around him in the past few months. Danny pretty much extudes friendship, but there’s something awkward about him. Like he was always the kid who was ignored, and now doesn’t know how to play well with others. Poor guy.

> "I could sure use a hand, though, if you guys’ve got a couple of minutes?"

“Ooh. There’s more of it? You must have been having an awfully good dream, Bob…” Josh sets off running after Bobby, and rounds the corner into his new room. His jaw drops. “A really good one…”

With a thought, Josh uses his powers to open the window. Quickly, he begins concentrating on the remaining snow, lifting it in clumps and tossing it out the window.

[Tempero]

>"Guess not… looks like we’re having a little hallway party here, huh?"

Danny laughs a bit, and then nods, with that same, happy smile plastered across his face.

>"Unfortunately, I’ve got a little bit of a crisis, um, precipitating in my room that I have to deal with. I could sure use a hand, though, if you guys’ve got a couple of minutes?"

Danny quirks an eyebrow, and then shrugs, getting up to his feet along with the other two. "Sure thing, I do have all night..." he says, keeping the smile, but the rest of his features seem to lose the placid happiness for a few seconds, and so does his voice. I wonder what the problem is...Did he lose all of his control over his mutation after that MGH incident? he wonders, and then decides that he is right, once he sees what happened in the room.

"Well, at least you wouldn't have to worry about being too hot in the summer..." Danny laughs, taking up some scoops of snow and throwing them into the trash can. He sees Josh opening the window and getting bunches of snow out through it. "Josh, do you mind me doubling your efforts?" he asks, as polite as always. He does not really need to have permission to access a mutation in order to boost it, but still, good manners is good manners, and Daniel's got enough of them to power half the academy, including John.

To a degree, the white-haired teen is relieved that he has never had problems like these- there's absolutely nothing that he can do on his own, and therefore is safe from embarrassment. Then again, if he was to have some in-sleep problems while his roommate was in the room...

Danny shudders visibly at the thought, and then decides against allowing his mind to take on that track. Instead, he focuses on Josh, and starts searching for the mutation. It was odd. Even though all mutants had their mutations equally spread through their DNA, whenever he would try to concentrate and boost the said mutation, he would first have to "find" it. Perhaps it is simply the way he makes himself perceive the process, but he always seems to have to search the target's whole body to find a small "shiny ball of the same color as your mutation", as he describes it.

Josh's, naturally, ends up in being on the back of his head. I never will get how they end up where they are... he thinks as he concentrates on the light blue cluster. "Here comes the charge..." he says with a chuckle and lets his mutation do its thing, sending a boost to Josh's own, also creating a slight, glowing green outline around the telekinetic's body.

"We could just have a snowball fight..." he says with a slight chuckle as he waits for Josh's permission to copy his power as well.

[Bobby Drake]

Bobby rolls his eyes and sighs melodramatically at Josh’s good-natured teasing. "Yeah, well. I guess between the Cure and the MGH and Reed’s mysterious ‘Protocol G’ I’ve got puberty beat for sheer hormonal craziness. Hell, if I don’t start seeing some action soon I might just explode." He shrugs half-apologetically and adds "Yeah, OK, that was funnier in my head. Never mind…"

> "How are you getting used to being back among the living?"

"Well, it’s got being dead beat all hollow, I’m guessing. Not that I’ve got first-hand experience or anything… Hank says he thought they’d lost me for a while there, but it turns out my new improved ice-form doesn’t exactly have a heartbeat. So, I dunno… maybe I’m a part-time zombie now, or something. Way he’s been glaring at me, I think we’re way past ‘thermodynamic anomaly’ and well into ‘heretical violator of basic laws of physics’ now, anyway." He shrugs and adds, jokingly, "Me, I’ve decided it’s all magic. Done with mirror, or elves, or something. Maybe elven mirrors. Or rabbits wearing tophats. I don’t have the details figured out yet, but I’m working on it."

> "Well, at least you wouldn't have to worry about being too hot in the summer..."

Bobby grins back at Danny. "Backwards, actually. I don’t get cold – I mean, I never feel cold – but the summers used to drive me nuts before I learned how to regulate my body temperature." He sighs. "Man, I hope I work that one out again before July. And that Matthew isn’t as much of a thermostat-hound as John was." His voice only hitches a tiny bit, something most people wouldn’t even notice, and he’s proud of himself for that.

> "You must have been having an awfully good dream, Bob… a really good one… "

Don’t I wish! The details of his dream have mostly faded beyond recall, but he gets the impression he’s happier not remembering them. "Yeah… some people dream about tropical islands; I’m all about Antarctic glaciers. Or tundra. Also that deep-freezer in the pantry… and there may have been a Mr. Frosty ice-cream truck involved, I don’t really remember. Popsicles and ice-cream sandwiches," he adds mock-lecherously. "You’re lucky I never had dreams like that back, you know, before…" the grin goes fake and strained for a moment as Bobby contemplates just how funny that situation really wasn’t, but he plows on through with the joke, …I bet it would’ve filled every hard-drive in a ten-mile radius with porn. Not that anybody’d notice the difference, granted."

"And, hey, at least I wasn’t two hundred feet over the -- " he cuts off when Josh suddenly starts glowing green, before he remembers the visual markers of Danny’s power.

Even with the teasing as the price of admission, their telekinetic assistance in emptying out the room is invaluable… he’d have been at this for hours otherwise. He makes a mental note to tell Storm she should probably move her little garden – it might not have occurred to her, when his powers came back, and she was mad enough last time he ruined one of them that he never wants to face that again.

> "We could just have a snowball fight..."

He laughs. "Outside, please. As it is, I’m lucky Matthew was out when it happened… I think I’ve pissed him off enough this week as it is." He collapses on his still-damp bed and shrugs at the squelching sounds. "Maybe I should spring for a water-bed, you think? A really elastic frost-proof waterbed. Anyway: thanks, guys… I really appreciate the help. I owe you one. "

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> … and there may have been a Mr. Frosty ice-cream truck involved, I don’t really remember. Popsicles and ice-cream sandwiches,

Josh concentrates briefly on pulling a chunk of ice off the side of Bobby’s desk. It drops off with a wet plop, and he sends it fluttering through the window. “Popsicles? Sexy… you really know how to party, don’t you?” The teasing tone is almost gone, with Josh focusing most of his attention on saving Bobby’s room (and whatever's below it).

> "Josh, do you mind me doubling your efforts?"

“Actually, it’s probably fine, I’ve got it - - - ” Josh takes a sharp intake of breath as Danny’s abilities enhance his own. It’s as if a syringe full of raw power gets added into his bloodstream. He barely notices the surreal glow, and lets out the breath, trying to calm himself.

However, he can’t help but be curious as to just how much Danny’s powers affect him. Experimentally, he flicks a telekinetic burst at a clump of snow already hovering in midair, and it rockets out the window violently and vanishes quickly into the darkness. That… was without trying? He’d only put the barest effort into the maneuver.

Don’t! You’ll regret it! Somehow, he can’t help but ignore the small voice, and levitates a final chunk of ice until it hovers in front of his body. Josh closes his eyes and reaches out with his powers, examining the contours of the object. Finally, he catches it in a mental grip and rips it to shreds.

To the others, the ice chunk appears to expand until it disintegrates. Josh merely feels the alteration of state in his mind’s eye. Trembling, he slowly opens his eyes to confirm what he already knows.

> Anyway: thanks, guys… I really appreciate the help. I owe you one.

“Like the Phoenix…” Josh whispers, biting his lip. He feels sick to his stomach, and hurriedly reaches out with his telepathy to Danny’s mental link, carefully disentangling himself from it. The glow fades, and he almost trips over his feet as he backs up.

Phoenix. Phoenix was what a good woman, Jean Grey, had become when her powers had taken control of her. One of Josh’s resolutions after her death was to be careful with his own: telekinesis had the potential for deadly force, just like many other mutations. It had been a relief as his powers had grown over the past year that they didn’t seem to be approaching Phoenix’s level of ability. Never mind the catalyst had been an artificial manipulation of his strength and control - it was still possible, which is what scared the hell out of him.

He makes eye contact with Bobby. “I should… um… yeah. I should get out of here… glad I could help.” Josh sounds completely rattled, suddenly breathing heavy. He stumbles over his feet as he makes for the door, disappearing down the hall.

[Tempero]

Daniel keeps paying attention to what Bob's saying, and does not notice the disintegrating ice clump, or the distress that Josh feels until the other breaks up the link. In that one last second, however, he gets all the emotions that he has accidentally blocked out.

"Oh...Josh, I'm sorry..." he starts, but doesn't manage to figure out what to say beyond that. "Hey, Josh, I didn't mean to...upset you...or anything..." he tries again, but to no effect.

>“Like the Phoenix…”

Danny stops in his tracks as he hears those words. He has never even met this Jean Grey, but he has heard enough stories, and met enough people who did know her, and also has read all the reports, official and not, to know that this must have really upset Josh. The boy's expression tells allot to Daniel as well, and he himself ends up speechless, not sure how to make up for this.

"Um...I really didn't mean to..." he cuts himself off, not sure what else to say. After all, he's not yet seen Josh act like this. For a moment Danny feels like he has done the most terrible thing possible, and then, to his utter dismay, the feeling does not deteriorate.

>"I should… um… yeah. I should get out of here… glad I could help.”

As Josh stumbles out of the room, Danny stands there simply, dumbfounded, not sure where to go or what to do. And then, finally, he just looks at Bobby. "I...Um...Oh, SHIT!" he finishes his statement with a word he has not used in a very long time, and one that is the most obvious sign that he is mad, and at himself too.

He walks out of the room, with a quick, "Sorry...", before looking up and down the hallway.

"Josh!" he calls out, picking a side and going down to the intersection and looking around, hoping he would spot him.

[Bobby Drake]

There’s something eerily familiar about the way that last chunk of ice trembles as it floats in front of Josh’s face, the way it shreds slowly into nothingness, but Bobby can’t quite place it… all he knows for sure is that’s not normal ice behavior. It’s not shattering like a fragile crystal, it’s not melting, it’s just… falling apart.

> "Like the Phoenix…"

Oh, fuck no, Josh… He recognizes the effect now… he’d been somewhat distracted by his own little corner of the fight outside Alcatraz, but it was impossible to entirely miss Dr. Grey’s breakdown, or the way she was turning whole buildings into shredded wheat.

For a moment he wants to read Danny the riot act for messing with Josh’s powers like that, but it’s clear the kid was just being friendly and trying to help out with Bobby’s problem; he’d had no way of knowing there might be a deeper issue involved. Besides, after a moment it’s clear he already feels bad enough about it, and Bobby lets it go.

> " I should… um… yeah. I should get out of here… glad I could help."

Josh is gone before Bobby can say anything; Danny tears off a moment later. It takes Bobby a little bit longer to remember how to focus his thermal sense, after over half a year without it, but once he does it’s easy enough to detect Josh’s most recent footprints.

Hey, slow up, willya! I’ve done more than enough running for one day already… He hopes Josh will pick up on the broadcast thought, not wanting to shout down he halls late at night. I just… he trails off, not really knowing what he was going to “say.” It’s not like he’s exactly the poster-boy for coping productively with the prospect of out-of-control mutations these days, after all. Though I guess maybe I can sympathize more than I used to…

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh huddles out on the hall balcony, eyes blurred by tears, as he contemplates the past minute of his life.

In retrospect, it was interesting how a small event could turn the entire night upside down. He’d been looking forward to crawling into bed, snuggling in to try to get some rest before the morning came (too soon, as always). Instead, he’s now shivering out in the dark, wiping at his eyes. He knows it’s not the weather - it was surprisingly warm for a May night.

The scariest part about realizing he actually had the potential for molecular manipulation was simply how dangerous it could be. Sure, there were definitely many useful applications of the skill, but he was having serious problems coming up with any of them at the time. Instead, the footage of Phoenix ripping Alcatraz to pieces was what kept replaying over and over in his mind.

Josh wasn’t worried about losing control directly. He shakes his head. It’s not that at all. My concentration is too developed for that. The thing was, as far as Josh was concerned, it wasn’t Jean who had done those awful things. It was her alter ego, Phoenix. He refused to believe that the friend and teacher he’d known for years had allowed herself to kill her fiancé and mentor. If someone like Dr. Grey can lose herself in her powers… it could happen to me too. The thought of Phoenix ripping Mr. Summers to atoms makes him think of Warren, and a horrible sob escapes from Josh. He slumps his head and closes his eyes, resting his head on his knees.

> Hey, slow up, willya! I’ve done more than enough running for one day already…

Without even looking up, Josh sniffles slowly and considers not responding. He wasn’t sure what Bobby’s reaction to the earlier scene would be, but it wasn’t likely to be good. Reluctantly, he shoots Bobby an image of the balcony and waits for the other boy to arrive. Out here.

It doesn’t take long. Eventually, he looks up at Bobby, eyes red. “I… I… dammit, Bobby! With my powers doubled I’m capable of that?” A sob wracks him, and he leans his head back, taking a breath in.

[Bobby Drake]

Bobby skids to a halt when he sees Josh huddled against the balcony railing, realizing he has absolutely no idea what to say. He’s not even exactly sure what the problem is – is this some sort of delayed grief reaction over Dr. Grey, or is Josh worried about losing control himself, or is it something else altogether? So he settles for joining his erstwhile teammate out on the balcony, leaving the door open behind him.

> " I… I… dammit, Bobby! With my powers doubled I’m capable of that?"

Ah. Well, that answers that question. He slides an arm supportively around Josh’s shoulders and forces himself to chuckle. "Yeah… a whole ice-cube. Bartenders throughout the metropolitan area will quake in fear." It’s a lame joke, and he knows it won’t fool Josh for a moment; the truth is Bobby’s kinda freaked out, himself, and he’s sure it shows. The idea of Josh going down the same route, of Warren turning up missing some day, of having to take Josh down before he evaporates New York… well, Bobby can’t say it hasn’t occurred to him before.

It’s not gonna happen on my watch, though. He’s not unaware of the absurdity of that thought, given that he’s not even on the team anymore, but it doesn’t matter: team or no team, it’s just not.

And regardless, all of that is about possible futures; what really matters is the here and now. He shakes his head to clear it, and returns his attention to Josh, still trying to get his breathing under control. "Look, Josh, seriously… I’m not gonna say I understand, ‘cuz I don’t, really: Phoenix’s powers were a whole different level of freaky. But, here’s something I do know: our powers don’t define us."

It sounds so goofy coming out of his mouth he wants to spit. He knows what he means to say, but it’s hard to put into words without sounding trite. The Professor always made it seem easy. "Yeah, I know, I sound like something on the PAX channel. But seriously, they don’t. I was the same asshole after the Cure as before, right?" It occurs to him that his own case isn’t the greatest example of what he’s trying to convey, what with his period of cyberpathy-induced zombiehood, but he barrels on regardless.

"Look, what I mean is: you and Dr. Grey may have the same powers, but you’re not her. She had prettier legs, for one thing. She also had Professor Xavier’s psychic governor thingie running on her frontal lobes since she was fucking eight! Hell, I’ve seen some of her Danger Room tapes, she could hardly lift Logan in a stiff wind – you’re already stronger than she was before Phoenix came along, and without it making you any crazier than the rest of us, you know?" He grins and adds "Which, granted, isn’t the best testimonial for mental health you could ever ask for, but it’s gotta count for something, right?"

He’s not sure if he’s doing any good at convincing Josh, but he’s convincing himself at least… it feels disloyal to admit this, but he’s beginning to think that Professor Xavier made a serious mistake in how he handled Jean’s case, and he’s glad he didn’t repeat that mistake with Josh. "You ask me, she just never had the chance to grow into her powers… she got to pretend they weren’t there, until they just got dumped on her at Alkali, all at once." Bobby flashes back to the Alkali sim they ran together¹, what seems like lifetimes ago, and shakes his head slowly… it could have all gone so differently… what a fucking waste.

"Look, here’s what I’m saying: maybe you’re right about that being a preview, maybe in a couple of years of you’ll be able to turn buildings into Farina with your mind. So fucking what? It’s just a power. You’ll still be you – if nothing else, ‘cuz me and," he stumbles a bit over the names he wants to add but can’t, then recovers " and Warren and everybody are just too damned stubborn to let you go. You got that?"

---

1 - cf Alkali Revisited

[Tempero]

After some more searching through the hallways, Daniel decides he might as well attempt to locate him through his mutation. What good would the ability be otherwise, hm? So, he sits down on the intersection of hallways where he initially met up with Josh and Bobby, and closes his eyes, concentrating. Soon enough, the mutations of the whole floor are before his eyes, and allot of them are light blue. Great...why does this place have so many telepaths? he thinks in disdain as he keeps searching, trying to remember the layout of the floor as far as walls go, so as to perhaps be able to tell who is in their room and who is not.

Finally, he finds a light blue mutation accompanied by a dark blue one, That would be Bobby, I hope..., a bit away in the direction opposite the one he had headed the first time he got out of Bobby's room.

He opens his eyes and stands up, starting a walks towards the balcony, not quite aware that it is, in fact, the balcony, thanks to the complete lack of floor-plans in his "mutation-vision" as some seem to have dubbed it.

His walk slows down, however, from the initial quick pace, to a reluctant, slow, almost imperceptible stroll through the hallway, as he tries to think of what to say. His use of the mutation has never produced a reaction like Josh's before, and he is not sure what it is. Is it because of the whole Phoenix story? But why would he react so violently? Damn, how do I always get into these situations?

Danny's thoughts go on raging through his mind as he finally approaches the balcony and is relieved, and not at the same time, to see it really is Bobby and Josh. He walks up slowly and stands in the doorway for a few moments before deciding it is best to speak up.

"Um..." his throat seems to catch a great big glob of glue and his vocal cords won't move beyond the initial "um", but then he makes a swallowing move, and tries again. "Um, Josh?"

OK, that is good enough for a start, he decides, and then just stands there, for some odd reason awaiting a punch in the face.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "Yeah… a whole ice-cube. Bartenders throughout the metropolitan area will quake in fear."

As upset as he is, the comment can’t help but elicit a partial laugh. With the state he’s in, it ends up sounding like a cross between a snort and a cough. When he looks up, though, the look on Bobby’s face brings him back to reality. Bobby’s scared. But there’s also sympathy, and friendship, and other things, too… which are just about the only reasons Josh doesn’t start crying again.

> "Look, what I mean is: you and Dr. Grey may have the same powers, but you’re not her. She had prettier legs, for one thing. She also had Professor Xavier’s psychic governor thingie running on her frontal lobes since she was fucking eight! Hell, I’ve seen some of her Danger Room tapes, she could hardly lift Logan in a stiff wind – you’re already stronger than she was before Phoenix came along, and without it making you any crazier than the rest of us, you know?”

Josh opens his mouth to protest, to say it’s all the same, but then lets Bobby’s words actually sink in. He’s right, I’m not her! Things aren’t destined to turn out the same. The revelation seems stupid, but the fact that he was capable of some of the same feats his late mentor had displayed had rattled him. Josh wipes at his eyes, and glances over at Bobby, suddenly glad for his proximity.

“I guess I hadn’t thought about that. It’s funny, I don’t remember her powers ever being less powerful than my own. At the time, I suppose, she was always stronger than me. I can barely believe how far I’ve come since her death. I hope she’d be proud of me.” Josh looks down.

> "You ask me, she just never had the chance to grow into her powers… she got to pretend they weren’t there, until they just got dumped on her at Alkali, all at once."

Bobby critiquing Professor Xavier was one thing Josh had never thought he’d hear. “You know, you might have something there. After Phoenix came back from Alkali, we found out that Jean had been one of the world’s most powerful mutants as a child… which definitely didn’t reconcile with her powers as an adult. I don’t think Professor Xavier had a choice. Can you imagine an 8-year-old with enough telekinetic power to rip a building to atoms? He had to do something.” Josh nods. “I guess his mistake was trusting that he’d always be able to keep watch over her. If she’d been given a chance to slowly deal with her true abilities… maybe things would have turned out better.”

Another thought occurs to him. “I’m lucky that my powers have slowly developed since they first surfaced. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to deal with a rush of sheer strength like that.” He bites his lip. “You don’t think the Professor psychically blocked me up when I arrived… do you? I mean, my powers didn’t show up until I was 14…” Please, please don’t let that be the case.

> So fucking what? It’s just a power. You’ll still be you – if nothing else, ‘cuz me and Warren and everybody are just too damned stubborn to let you go. You got that?"

Bobby’s words are immensely encouraging, but the mention of Warren sets slightly on edge again. “Thanks, Bobby, you have no idea how much that means to me.” He pulls the other boy into a hug.

After pulling back, he looks into Bobby’s eyes seriously. “Warren. I’d never forgive myself if I hurt Warren - or anyone else around here, for that matter. If you ever see me starting to lose myself, I need you to promise you’ll bring me back in line. Okay?”

At this point, Danny arrives on the balcony. Oh, boy. How do I explain this one? I thought I was the most stable one around here.

> "Um, Josh?"

“Danny… it’s nothing you did. I mean… it was, but were only trying to help out. Let’s just say I’m not eager to go down my mentor’s career path.” He pats Bobby on the knee. “Bobby’s managed to talk me off the balcony rail for the time being…” Josh grins a little at this, but his expression soon turns serious. “In the future, though, I’d like you to avoid supercharging me unless someone’s life hangs in the balance. No point in looking for trouble… and I’m not sure I’m ready to handle that kind of power yet.”

[Bobby Drake]

> " It’s funny, I don’t remember her powers ever being less powerful than my own. At the time, I suppose, she was always stronger than me."

Bobby chuckles and whacks Josh gently on the side of the head. "Yeah, you unbelievable doof, because you were, what, 14 at the time? Newsflash: your dad isn’t twice your size anymore, either." Of course, it’s easy for him to mock Josh here, but he remembers being just as bewildered by reports of Scott’s early field missions… it was hard to believe the X-Men’s leader had ever been that clueless. He adds in a more sympathetic tone "I mean, yeah, I know… it’s hard to think about them as real people who screwed up, sometimes. It’s like imagining your parents having sex, I guess."

> " I hope she’d be proud of me."

"Dude, she’d have to be stupid not to be. And she had way too many advanced degrees to be stupid. Hell, I read the reports on that mess in Times Square… when Storm went down you took over like a pro, got everybody out without a hitch, recruited the new girl… and I hear you’re rebuilding Cerebro now? Not to mention landing one of the hottest guys at the Institute, applying to top-notch colleges… hell, if I were riding your star right now my head wouldn’t fit through doors, you know?"

Throughout this little pep-talk Bobby tries very hard not to contrast Josh’s condition with his own, even in his own mind, with mixed success. A year ago, their positions had been reversed, and he can’t ever remember Josh making him feel bad about it; the least he can do is return the favor. Besides, everything Bobby lost he threw away with both hands, and he knows it.

> "You don’t think the Professor psychically blocked me up when I arrived… do you? I mean, my powers didn’t show up until I was 14."

Bobby shrugs. "Well, if he did, he got better at it, I think… I mean, you’ve been getting steadily stronger over the last few years or practicing and stuff, right? No sudden power-surges like the artificial one back there or anything. I wouldn’t expect power-blocks to work that way, but… well, I’m hardly the expert on psychic stuff around here. You wanna know for sure, I’d say talk to Sheppard about it… or take a little peek inside your own head."

> "Thanks, Bobby, you have no idea how much that means to me."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He returns the hug fiercely, and only partially in order to conceal the way he’s tearing up. "Dude, you stuck with me through every single bit of crazy I’ve thrown at you for the last year. I know exactly how much that means."

He’s a little embarrassed to realize they have an audience again, but he wipes his face quickly and greets Danny quietly. The kid looks miserable, but Josh talks him down pretty quickly, and Bobby nods agreement as he rolls back up to his feet. "You can make it up to us by joining us for ice-cream in the kitchen, if you want…"