Summer 2015: Bobby

[Slarti]

On the 42nd day of his imprisonment, Bobby got the paperwork.

The contents of that plain manila envelop shook him more than anything that had happened to him in SHIELD custody. Of course, he'd told her to do it, but receiving the divorce petition was another thing.

He read two lines over and over – there were no children born of this marriage, but followed by petitioner is now pregnant. He'd told himself the time for crying was over, that now all he had to do was to work hard, play nice, and he'd have a chance. Fury had hinted more than once he'd earn his freedom back as part of SWORD, and that was now Bobby's one goal.

And he'd been doing it. Attending classes, training in SHIELD's very own next-generation Danger Room, learning procedures and chains of command and politics. It turned out he made a decent bureaucrat and Fury had noticed.

It had been enough to make him dare to hope he could go home -- he could try to repair the damage he'd done, he could make things up to Lorna. Somehow.

Petitioner is now pregnant.

Lorna's pregnant. And he'd been here for 42 days. And before that, the last time they'd...

Bobby closed his eyes, doing the math, forcing down the panic. He'd always wanted a family with her. Had wanted it since the day he'd decided he wanted to spend his life with her – maybe not the picket fence, but the two-point-five kids, the dog, even the mini-van. He'd wanted it, and now...

Was it even his? The thought made him cringe, though, surely...

The marriage is irretrievably broken and cannot be preserved.

Cursing, he shoved the papers into the one drawer in his desk and slammed it shut. Backing away, he sat when the backs of his knees brushed the bunk. He stared blankly at the desk.

What point was there now?

[Ferguson]

Heeee, oh I shouldn't love it as much as I do.

[puppygirl]

Awww, poor Bobberz, he's really messed his life up with this ><

... I can see things getting veeeeeery complicated and awkward for Darren in the immediate future

[Esynthia]

Well shit. That's... Crap. ><

[Slarti]

<Darren> "You know, I dread to think what Danger would do if she saw this place," Darren said, eyeing up SHIELD's version of the DR. "Maybe blow a piston from envy, huh?" He winked to his wife. "Have I mentioned yet how good you look in that little black number they got for ya?"

<Selene> "What can I say, black was made specifically for me," Selene replied, putting her hands on her hips. "It speaks for SHIELD that they realized this fundamental truth." She took a long look around. "All I can think of is that we should have gotten the Danger Room patented."

<Darren> Darren looked down at his own black and yellow uniform, "I know I have yellow lines all over me, but I'm not that keen on the colour, why'd they have to give Cockatiel the red one," he sulked slightly ... then again, at least it wasn't purple like Kyles, so there was that.

<Selene> "There is just no way I see Kyle's... uniform survive the beginning of the our first engagement," Selene remarked.

<Bobby> Bobby was fairly used to this more dangerous Danger Room by now, but this uniform was something new. He tugged the vest down, then realized there actually seemed to be straps to hold it to his pants. Weird.

<Bobby> Trying to fasten them, he half staggered in through the door, then looked up at Darren and Selene. His mouth thinned. He wasn't in the mood for this.

<Darren> Darren glanced over his shoulder at the sound of the door opening and his eyes widened when he saw Bobby, "... Shit," he muttered, "I'd been hoping to speak to him alone before now …"

<Selene> Selene's eyes narrowed as she turned to look towards the door. "Would that have made a fundamental difference?"

<Bobby> Finished with the uniform, he straightened up and cleared his throat, tugging the blue and black vest down again. Yeah, they looked as thrilled as he felt. "Hey, Selene. Darren."

<Selene> "Drake." Selene crossed her arms, her gaze colder than Bobby's ice-form.

<Bobby> Bobby just sighed and leaned against the wall.

<Darren> "... Hey Bobby," Darren sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Umm ... sorry, I was gonna come and see you but they wanted me to get Sel settled in first and well ... they probably wanna see how we operate as a team and ... shit."

<Selene> "You think so?" Selene gave her husband a sideways glance. "Why would they assume this could go any other way than flawlessly? After all, we've been a trusting team for years. Isn't that right, Bobby?"

<Bobby> He crossed his arms at Darren's discomfort. "Yeah." Bobby gave Selene a flat stare. "Oh, I'm sure it'll go great." Reining in his temper was getting harder. "Look, there's clearly nothing I can do to make us all friends again. Why don't we just try to be adults and work together. I've already ruined my own fucking life, how about we leave that as punishment enough for the day?"

<Selene> "Aw, but I already made a list..."

<Darren> "Selene, please," Darren said, trying to act the mediator. A few weeks ago if you'd told him he would be defending Bobby he would have laughed in your face. "We need to act professional." He turned back to Bobby, "Have ... did you get anything from Lorna yet?"

<Selene> "Ooh, can I tell him?"

<Bobby> "In a manner of speaking." He ground his teeth, shooting glances to Selene and her snide comments. "I got something from her lawyer."

<Darren> "Selene!" Darren snapped, her commanding officer and not her husband for the moment, turning back to Bobby. "So ... you know then, about Lorna?"

<Bobby> "Yeah... what I'm wondering is how long you knew." Bobby looked down then, trying to stay in control. "I know you're pissed, I know you both think I'm the scum of the earth, but..." His voice cracked a little and he jerked his head, annoyed. "You couldn't have told me? She's... she was my wife."

<Selene> "Hey, I wanted to, but Darren didn't let me." She thumbed in her husband's direction, casting him a withering glance for seemingly taking Bobby's side.

<Darren> Darren matched her look for angry one of his own. "She only told us a few days ago, straight up, that's why I wanted to see you alone to talk about it."

<Bobby> Bobby just nodded at Darren's response, eyes on the floor. "The paperwork... it says..." He stopped again. It almost hurt too much to say it. "It's not mine, is it?"

<Selene> "While I do pursue some unusual hobbies, keeping watch of Lorna's uterus is not among them, so I wouldn't know," Selene commented.

<Darren> Darren snorted. "She seems to be under the impression it's yours, dude, and the lady would know."

<Bobby> Bobby processed that for a minute, looking up at Darren's face and trying to read if he was fucking with him. There were no children born of this marriage. "I... before I'd never have even said anything like that, but after what I did..." He stopped again.

<Darren> Darren narrowed his eyes at Bobby, "What? You thought that Lorna wouldn't even wait till the marital bed was cold before inviting someone else in to keep her warm?" He snapped, irritated on Lorna's behalf.

<Bobby> "She didn't wait for it to file the fucking divorce paperwork," he snapped back, annoyed at himself. At her. At life.

<Selene> Tilting her head, Selene eyed the ceiling as she pondered that for a second. "As our former maths teacher, you should be able to see where making such an assumption doesn't add up."

<Darren> "Well a baby changes things, and she'd still convinced she's never gonna see you again and to be honest, the students have been giving her shit over the past few weeks over what happened. She's trying to move on."

<Bobby> Bobby stood upright at that. "Why the fuck would they give her shit? She had nothing to do with it!" He sighed, starting to pace and kicking a little to move the inhibitor around his ankle into a more comfortable position. "That was the whole point... so she wouldn't ever have to do things like... what we did."

<Darren> "'Cos some of the immature little brats think that 'cos she's not doing a Queen Victoria mourning act it's her fault you got handed in. After all, it's not like people in the real world try and move on after their life's been destroyed." Oh, he could have seriously smashed some head together after what Selene had told him had gone down at the memorial service.

<Bobby> Bobby winced and kept pacing.

<Selene> "Our students seem to behave like most people, who have a tendency to gang up on the person they consider to be in charge," Selene remarked. "With you gone, Lorna bears the brunt of their frustration."

<Bobby> He stopped and huffed. "Well... fuck." Bobby realized he needed to think about a lot of things. Again. But for now... "Okay, well, how about we all pretend we're responsible adults and play nice together?" He looked between the two.

<Darren> "Huh, that's meant to be my line," Darren smirked. "I'm sure we can all do that since we'll be working together from now on, right honey?" He shot Selene a warning look.

<Selene> "Right, what could possibly go wrong, I wonder?" Selene rolled her eyes and strolled away. "This whole team composition is a stroke of genius. Why don't we wait for Fury to assign some of the captive Acolytes to our happy little get together, as well?"

<Bobby> "Yeah, I'm just the goddamn boogey man." Selene was really starting to annoy him, but he managed to stop himself from saying anything else. Taking a deep breath, he gave Darren a half-serious salute. "Yes, sir."

<Darren> Darren looked between Bobby and Selene and groaned, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd better be getting a fucking raise for this.

[Game Administrator]

Mmm, the delicious awkward, I just can't get enough.

If Bobby ever sees Lorna before giving birth I can just imagine her going "...does it look like anyone's been born yet?" also.

[steyn]

Yeah, I just read blah blah blah, Kyle's pants.

Joking!

I love this side story of the Aveng... I mean SWORD.

[puppygirl]

<Darren> Darren looked over his elite soliders, the best of the best, humanity's first and last line of defense against super-powered threats, and put his face in his hands, "Kyle ..." he said eventually, "what happened to the rest of your uniform?"

<Bobby> Bobby cracked his neck and grinned, happy to have the inhibitor off. He blew out a frosted breath and looked around the SHIELD Danger Room, not paying any attention to Darren at the moment.

<Kyle> Kyle shrugged. "Was itchy." he answered Darren, and scratching his chest with hsi big clawed hand. He then grinned widely, "Feels much better now."

<Jay> Jay muttered, rolling his shoulder and sliding his fingers under the red material, adjusting it. "Ami, y'all know how long it's been since Ah wore a top?" He stretched out his wings carefully, making sure they weren't catching. "Eesh."

<Kyle> Kyle leaned over to Jay, and not-so-whispered, "Want help accidentally get rid of the top?"

<Darren> My life ... Darren groaned, dragging his palms across his face, "No! No accidentally getting rid of tops! We're professionals now, and Jay needs that kevlar, Kyle!"

<Selene> "Does that mean we were unprofessional before," Selene asked, standing with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

<Jay> "Non, ami, Ah like not havin' bullets in me." Jay laughed. "Y'all can get me later, oui? Hey, Gede, jus'...chill, ami, y'all'll whip us into shape soon enough."

<Bobby> "I don't really need kevlar, but I'm really wondering what happens the first time I freeze it." Bobby iced his hand and made a fist, watching the crackle.

<Darren> "Before we were allowed to customise the uniforms a bit, we arn't now," and Selene was in one of her funny moods, perfect. "You need kevlar when you're not iced, and it's unstable molecules, it should shift with you."

<Bobby> Bobby made an impressed huff and looked down at his chest. "Well, then you'll all be spared my nakedness."

<Kyle> Kyle lifted a hand, "That mean I have to find my top again?"

<Darren> "Not ... not right now, Kyle, let's just get this training session underway, yeah?"

<Jay> Jay nodded. "Hey, it's red, d' red suits." He grinned, resolutely not looking at Bobby. He knew the guy was on the team, he could at least be civil, but he was still fifty-fifty about it all. Alright, maybe more like seventy-thirty for decking him just once, but Darren had done that already, bastard. "Oui, what sorta trainin' we doin', Gede?"

<Bobby> He couldn't resist. Bobby formed a snowball and bounced it in his hand.

<Selene> "I suggest team tactics," Selene announced. "Working as a team to take down a single enemy, who will be played by one of us. I nominate Drake."

<Bobby> He aimed the snowball at her feet with a smirk, watching it splatter with satisfaction. "Of course you do."

<Darren> "Selene's right in that we'll be doing team tactics, but we'll be going against a holographic enemy," Darren said, trying to ignore the horseplay.

<Selene> Selene's eyes narrowed as she peered in Bobby's direction.

<Kyle> Kyle's head went from Selene to Bobby and back again.

<Bobby> He smiled at her sweetly and straightened up, crossing his arms.

<Darren> "We'll have to repell an invading force, find a way to halt thier invasion and ensure minimum civillian casulties," Darren continued, as the DR formed centrel New York City around them.

<Jay> Jay's eyes narrowed, his weight shifting a little and arms folding. He forced himself to keep quiet though, eyes going to Darren instead. "Oui, probably best."

<Kyle> Kyle's happy meter shot up as he saw the place change around him. He turned around has he watched buildings and people and all manner of things materialize. So much fancier loading than the one at the mansion.

<Darren> A green light shot up from one of the towers infront of them, opening a dark hole in the sky, and Darren raised an eyebrow, "They're not seriously training us for alien invasion are they?"

<Bobby> It was New York, all right, though it didn't look quite right with the burning cars and giant, swirling vortex in the sky. "Um, I assume that's our problem?" Bobby pointed up.

<Jay> "Ami, you nuked space. Ah'm bettin' dere's some kinda insect dudes y'all pissed off in dere somewhere."

<Kyle> "Aliens?" Kyle asked. "Not mexicans?"

<Darren> Darren cracked a grin as a swarm of alien looking creatures on flying bike type things started to pour through the hole and open fire on the people on the streets, "Look's like you're right, SWORD, go! Defend the civillians till they have time to evac!" He ordered, shifting to his true form.

<Bobby> Bobby's mouth fell open and he shifted to ice automatically. "What the fuck?! SHIELD expects these things?!"

<Kyle> Kyle just gave a snarl and leaped for the action, going striaght for one of the alien things that was buzzing around nad shooting stuff. Kyle quickly figured out a cunning way to stop it. He smashed and clawed it.

<Selene> "Please, this is ridiculous," Selene remarked as she hovered into the air, the soft shimmer of a telekinetic barrier forming around her. "Who comes up with these scenarios? Some comic book geeks?"

<Bobby> Nearby, a smaller car swerved erratically, t-boning a city bus and blocking its door. Inside people were screaming, so Bobby formed a slide, bolting to the scene. He looked up at two of the swooping alien craft and focused, flash freezing their craft.

<Jay> "Ah wouldn' be surprised, Sel." Jay pushed himself up into the air, tipping a wing and easily dodging one of the chittering things on hoverbikes. "Hey, Ah want one." He backed air for a moment, finger going to the cutoff for his mic and a well-placed shriek scything through a group heading for a busload of terrified people. "Move it, kids, move it."

<Darren> "Are you kidding? Fury is the biggest comic book geek I know!" Darren fired at the invaders, "Iceman, Widow, you're best equiped to protect civillians who are trying to evac, get to it! Icarus, I want you up high, see if you can blow those bastards back into their pit!"

<Darren> "I'll try and piss them off enough they'll chase me, make them easy targets for the rest of you ... and Wildchild?"

<Selene> "Someone do me favour and keep those buzzing things off my back for a moment, I'll try to convince the locals that it's better for them to stop staring." Selene closed her eyes and reached out with her psychic senses, touching as many minds as possible, which was easier as no tight control on them would be needed, just a gentle push to direct the civilians indoors and underground.

<Darren> "... Smash."

<Bobby> Bobby ordered the people inside the bus to back up, freezing and smashing out an escape route. He formed a slide for the passengers and then rocketed to the top of the bus to cover their escape.

<Jay> "Sure t'ing, boss, movin'." The winged mutant shot into the air, something shrieking over the metal of his wing and leaving a smear of black against it. "Dey got lasers! Ah want lasers! Fury, if y'all hearin' dis Ah want lasers!" He barrel-rolled to miss the next attack, another shriek blasting apart more gliders.

<Bobby> "Got, it Sel....Widow." Bobby narrowed his eyes at the targets closing on Selene, freezing up their gliders and leaving the aliens chittering on dead machines.

<Darren> Darren kicked up into the air, setting off huge blasts of energy, knocking several of them out of the air, "Come-on, you ugly bastards!" Darren taunted, "My nephew could take better hits then that!" It seemed to work and with a snarl the reamianing space-bikers took after him.

<Selene> Selene held out her hand diverted the damaged fliers on a different course with a telekinetic shove, causing them to spiral through the air and smash into other alien vehicles. Raising her head, she exchanged a quick look with Bobby. "Thanks."

<Kyle> Kyle was having the time of his life as he jumped from one flying contraption to the other, smashing things and just letting loose.

<Jay> Jay grinned, bombing towards the hole in the sky, using literal soundwaves to push the waves of attackers back until he was almost at the hole, then letting out another supersonic shriek to tear them apart.

<Jay> ...Then he looked up into the vortex, backing air for a moment. "...Uuuuh...Gede..."

<Bobby> Bobby just nodded at Selene, targeting other vehicles and creating an ice shield over a few more fleeing civilians.

<Darren> "Yeah?" Darren said, darting between city blocks, some of the less agile drivers smashing into the sides of buildings as they tried to chase him down.

<Bobby> One of the unseated aliens had survived, landing on the bus behind Bobby with a thud.

<Selene> Debris rained from the sky as the taller buildings were hit. Selene caught the largest and most dangerous pieces with telekinetic fields, crushing them up in smaller bits, before hurling them right back at the attackers. Another squadron of fliers went up in flames as it was caught in the shrapnel.

<Jay> Jay stared as the...thing's head pushed through the portal...and seemed to focus on him. "...Oh holy fuckshits." His natural accent came through then, the Georgian squeaky as he quickly backed air. "It's fuckin' huge!" He turned and pegged it, and with a roar, something that looked like a massive flying, screaming caterpiller shot after him.

<Darren> Darren glanced up at the roar and technorganic eyes widened, "... Oh sweet Jesus, Mary Joseph, and the little donkey the road into Bethlehem on. What the hell is that!"

<Kyle> Kyle's head snapped up to see the giant flying worm thing.

<Selene> "Dra... Iceman, behind you!" Selene animated a downed alien craft and propelled it towards the alien.

<Kyle> "Mine!" Kyle yelled.

<Kyle> Kyle started clawing and climbing the nearest building, trying to get to the flying worm thing. He had a rather crazy happy look on his face.

<Jay> "It's fuckin' huge and it's fuckin' chasin' me, Ah'm fast but not dat fast!" He turned on a pinhead, the thing slamming into the building and shattering every pane of glass. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-" Another shriek and he dove down, the building he'd knocked a chunk out of heading for the thing's head.

<Bobby> Bobby was too distracted by the giant space turtle to notice, until he heard Selene and the thud of the craft behind him. "Thanks!"

<Darren> Darren did a barrel roll and ducked sharply under an low arch, and was rewarded with his persuers blowoing themselves to bits against the concrete behind him, "Widow! Iceman! Are the civillian's evac'd yet?"

<Bobby> "Yeah..." He looked around again, eyes stopping on the alien for a moment. Yeargh. "Yeah, we're good."

<Jay> "Wildchild kill d' fuckin' t'ing already!!"

<Selene> Selene nodded at Bobby, before looking up into the sky. "As evacuated as possible given the time frame," she replied, scanning the air for more of the alien flyers. "Sounds like you're having your party up there." She hovered higher up on an animated slab of concrete, making herself an obvious target for the flying creatures.

<Darren> "Good, new orders!" Darren dodged around Jay's falling bit of building, "Take that thing out!"

<Kyle> Kyle launched himself at the megaworm thing, his claws hooking into the hard plated scaled, and he started ripping at it's neck area, then made his way towards the head, going for what he guessed were eyes.

<Bobby> As a non-flier, he was at a disadvantage, so he decided to test Darren's assurance and shifted to vapor, rising up to meet the thing.

<Selene> "That's right, come into the widow's web," she muttered, smirking as the air-bikes zoomed towards her, alien weapons blazing. "On it." The moment her hovering ride was blown apart, Selene flew into the air and jumped right on the back of the nearest creature.

<Selene> "Look at that, juicy bits - just what I needed." She grabbed the angry creature's head and drained its energy, the lifeless form slipping off the strange vehicle and dropping to the ground.

<Bobby> Bobby took out a few more of the zipping, screaming gliders on his way up, and since Kyle was on its head, he went for its gut.

<Darren> Darren pepper the titan with shots designed to agravate as opposed to injure, trying to get it to stop chasing Jay.

<Darren> And when the monster roared again and swung around to him, he knew it had worked, "Icarus, see if you can figure out how to plug that hole! I saw some wierd green light come out the top of the Stark building before it opened!"

<Bobby> It had water in it, which meant he could work with it. Bobby started to pull the water from the beast, but with its size, and armor, it was a slow process.

<Kyle> Kyle decided he didn't like the smells the SWORD room thing was making for the creature.... the whole worm thing smelled alien. And the eye things didn't squish like eyes either.

<Selene> The downed alien's squad-mates weren't that thrilled with this development, and began shooting at Selene, who in turn did her best to keep her balance on the unusual aircraft. "Anyone got a user's manual for an alien skybike on hand? No? Thought so."

<Bobby> Finding a chink in the armor, he just reacted and pushed inside, fusing with the water inside the creature. He started to freeze it.

<Selene> Narrowing her eyes, she aimed for the nearest alien flyer. "Guess I'll just have to find myself someone who knows how to steer these things." Blasting the others out of the way with a telekinetic push, she hurled herself at the other machine, holding on to its large rider. "Just hitching a ride here."

<Selene> Grabbing exposed skin, she quickly invaded the creature's mind and subjugated it. "That's better," Selene muttered. "Take me to the party."

<Darren> Darren kept them low to the ground, firing shots over his shoulder to keep it on him and sticking to the wider roads, "Widow? You doing okay?"

<Jay> "On it, and mesi whoever just saved my pretty ass." Jay huffed, turning and heading for the tower. It didn't take him long to reach it, circling it and blowing varying...things out of the sky as he did. "Dere's some kinda weird machinery here. Gonna try shuttin' it down, amis, looks like a generator." Nothing in Darren's memories recognised it at all.

<Selene> "Oh yes, I have everything under control," Selene replied, the alien skybike swerving and spiraling through the air, straight towards the huge worm creature. "Is that thing a machine, or is it alive?"

<Kyle> With the one side of the creature blinded, Kyle discovered that it now had a tendency to swerve to the right. He quickly started climbing over ot the left side of the head.

<Darren> "Think it's alive," Darren turned a corner, "Icarus is up on the Stark building with the machine, see what you can do."

<Darren> "Icarus, does it look like that generator is keeping the portal open?"

<Jay> Jay landed on the building, moving over to it. "Ah believe so, ami." He looked up at the beam that fed the portal. Breathing in, he shot a shriek at it - which rebounded off a shield and slammed him off the edge of the building.

<Selene> "Yeah, think I'll go check what Iceman is up to," Selene remarked, ducking low on her unwilling ride as she aimed it straight at the creature's maw. "Just making sure he's not slacking off in there." The hijacked alien craft smashed into the giant worm, catapulting her inside of it.

<Bobby> Bobby spread his control further throughout the creature, freezing it from the inside, the process speeding up as it continued.

<Darren> The thing was starting to slow down, letting out pained bellows and Darren grinned, "Nice job, team!"

<Selene> "Oh, it's definitely alive," Selene remarked, sliding through some gooey stuff, parts of it already frozen. "Let's end its suffering a little quicker." She dug both hands into the thing's flesh and began to drain its energy as fast as she could, feeling the massive rush of power as it surged into her body.

<Kyle> Kyle felt his tummy go weird as the worm started going downwards as well, striaght for the street. Good thing everyone was taken care of who was in a car, Kyle thought as he pulled off another scale of the creature.

<Bobby> He felt something not-monster and pulled back. Selene. Fuck! Bobby felt it losing altitude as well and exited the way he'd come in, reforming on top of the beast and hanging on. He saw Kyle still clawing away and grinned.

<Jay> A hand appeared over the lip of the building. Then another. Then a very pissed, very grubby face surrounded by a puff of red hair that had escaped his ponytail came over the edge like a vengeful sun. With a grunt, Jay pulled himself back onto the roof, feathers on both wings akimbo. "D' t'ings got a motherfuckin' shield, ami."

<Selene> Sensing it was time to make her exit, Selene flew upward, her powers exploding a large hole into the creature's back.

<Bobby> Which nearly took out Bobby as well, as he cursed and nearly lost his grip.

<Darren> Darren shot up a sthe thing crashed with a moan of pain, "Nice job everybody! Icarus, what sort of shield are we talking about?" Darren flew towards the building to investigate.

<Jay> Jay gave the thing a glare, rubbing his nose and wincing. "It jus' bounced me off d' fuckin' roof wit' my own voice." He poked it, cursing as a shock went up his arm. "Ah cain't tell what's generatin' it, but if it's d' same shit as what opened d' portal, Ah cain't do shit."

<Bobby> The thing started to plow through city blocks and Bobby shifted again, spreading himself over its back to hold on. He caught Kyle up with a shield of ice too, trying to protect him from a smooshing.

<Kyle> Kyle was having one awesome ride, and the best part was the crashing!

<Darren> Darren landed next to Jay and gave the thing and experimental prod, yelping and yanking his hand back, "It stings!"

<Bobby> It ground to a halt and Bobby shifted again, back to his humanoid ice form, pushing himself up and looking around as the thing let out a final "Ooooof" and deflated.

<Jay> "No shit, ami. Anyt'ing y'all can do?" He looked around, frowning. "Ah'm kinda wishin' Ah had a projectile of some sort righ' now..."

<Selene> "Cute," Selene commented, hovering above the creature. "Can we keep him?"

<Kyle> Kyle dislodged his claws from the thing's hard scales, and felt the crackling as he broke the ice around his body that helped keep him from becoming a giant fuzzy crach test dummy.

<Darren> "I'll build a gun into your wing," Darren said absently, and then a shadow passed over them and he looked up, "... Oh hell!" There was a whole FLEET of those things comming through!

<Bobby> "I doubt he's housebroken." Bobby was starting to feel the after effects now, and he couldn't help that this was the most excitement he'd had in weeks. He spotted Kyle. "Furball! We did it!" He grinned, forming another snowball and pelting Kyle.

<Kyle> Kyle cringed when he felt a ball of snow break against his head. He turned and cocked said head, before punching Bobby. Kyle grinned. Playtime is fun.

<Bobby> Bobby found himself going for a trip through a nearby window and skidded across the floor.

<Bobby> He crashed into a receptionist's desk. "Ow..."

<Selene> "I tried to remember why I liked you, Kyle," Selene remarked, arching an eyebrow as she watched Bobby sent flying. "Now I do."

<Jay> "Y'all tried day before. It melted, remember?" He looked up. "Oh holy shit." He swallowed. "...Wanna see if Ah can slow 'em down t' buy time?"

<Darren> "SWORD, SCRAMBLE!" Darren ordered, "We need to shut this thing down now! There's more of the big fish comming!"

<Selene> "What is scramble even supposed to mean," she asked, taking off to hover higher into the air. "Why not say 'try to be useful while I think of an actual plan'?"

<Darren> "If you think you can, Icarus, but only if you can, no bullshit heroics, okay?" Darren rolled his eyes, "Airforce term, Widow, it means 'get in the air, now!"

<Bobby> It hadn't really hurt so much as surprised him, but he remembered it was Kyle and tried to not take it personally as he picked himself up.

<Kyle> Kyle's idiot grin disappeared when he looked up towards the building with the light show at the top. That's a long climb.

<Darren> Darren dropped off the roof and flew towards Kyle, "Need a lift, bro?"

<Jay> "Ah know Ah can." A massive wave of sound actually threw one back into the portal, causing others to crash into it and block it for the few moments needed to get into the air.

<Kyle> "Up up!" Kyle called, riasing his large hands up towards Darren.

<Bobby> Oh, of course, he got the lift. Bobby vaporized again and reformed on the roof, staring at the ... glowy thingy.

<Darren> Darren swooped low and caught Kyle's hands and turned, flying him up to the top of the building, nodding to Bobby as he dropped Kyle next to him before flying away again, "Widow? You need a ride?"

<Bobby> Bobby had to smile at Kyle. "You are impressive, Pound Puppy."

<Kyle> The grin returned as he looked over to Darren.

<Bobby> He tipped his head back and stared at the creatures trying to swarm out of the ....wormhole? "Right... so..."

<Selene> "That won't be necessary," Selene said, floating above the skyline and looking up at the swarms of alien craft filling the air. Her eyes narrowed, and the first vehicles went up in flames as they crushed into invisible walls.

<Darren> "Awesome," Darren swooped back up to the top of the building and dropped down between Kyle and Bobby, "Okay, I can't touch this thing, ideas?"

<Jay> Jay coughed a little, throat starting to hurt. "Hey, Fury's a geek, right? Let's see if he appreciates dis." He backed air - and launched into the Imperial March right at the wormhole, the clouds around it and the edges actually rippling from the changes in pressure.

<Bobby> "It's shielded, right?" Bobby tried to throw a dome of ice over it to block the ... whatever it was. Signal? But the ice blasted away from it, making the bubble shimmer.

<Kyle> Kyle's head cocked to the side, then went down on fours, snarled and launched himself towards the machine with full force. He ylped and got shot away by the force field, heading the opposite direction in a more fuller force.

<Darren> "Jesus!" Darren ducked to avoid low flying Kyle, "Fuuuck, Icarus can't keep this up ..." he circled the generator, trying to see if there was any way to slip through it.

<Selene> "What if we just take off the whole foundation the generator is on and toss it into the ocean," Selene suggested, while focusing on making several alien aircraft shoot each other out of the sky.

<Bobby> Bobby cursed too, watching Kyle's arc, then turned back to the machine. He licked his lips. "Back up, Dare." He narrowed his eyes and concentrated, quickly reducing the ambient air temperature on the roof and pulling the water from the air.

<Jay> The March cut off with a harsh cough, the winged mutant clearing his throat and settling for the soundless 'yells', actually managing to send one off-course enough that it plowed into thr ground and lodged with an enraged shriek.

<Bobby> Bobby moved closer to it, the molecules around him and the machine slowing further and further, closer to absolute zero. The air crackled, the surface of the roof popping in loud reports.

<Darren> Darren felt the temperature start to drop and shot up into the air to join Jay.

<Bobby> It should have been more impressive, he thought, but the machine simply sputtered, coughed and then died, force field and all. Bobby blinked.

<Selene> Selene frowned, eyeing the brittle roof as Bobby continued to cool it. "Icarus, can you hit that roof with another soundwave," she asked. "If you hit the right frequency, the vibrations and the cold should do the rest and shatter it."

<Darren> The portal snapped out of excistance, and like puppets who'd had thier strings cut the invaders dropped to the ground motionless.

<Selene> "Well, that was easy." Selene frowned.

<Bobby> Bobby backed away, looking up at the sky and then around. He allowed the temperature to return to normal, keeping an eye on the machine.

<Darren> Darren dropped back to the rooftop and joined in staring at the pile of brittle metal. He gave the remains a gental prod and a bit of it drifted off and disintergrated, "... It's a bit anti-climatic really," he mused.

<Kyle> Kyle finally pulled himself up from where he landed, realizing he almost fell off the building. He quickly scootched away from the edge, before crawling closer to the machine and the others standing around it.

<Bobby> "So, did I earn my keep for the day?" Bobby looked at Darren. "Sir Kent of the coffee table?"

<Jay> Jay snorted, before pointing at his throat. "...Can barely speak, ami." His voice was barely a cracked whisper. "Ah'm gonna need serious trainin', y'all."

<Kyle> Kyle scratched himself and sniffed the air. "Lunch?" he asked.

<Darren> Darren rolled his eyes as the scene melted away around them, "I'd say so, good job everyone," he gave his team a smile, "at least when it's required we can work as a team," he patted Jay on the shoulder, "that's what you're here for man."

<Bobby> He looked down at himself and sniffed. "Still naked." Yep, he'd be staying iced for a while. Besides, it felt good.

<Darren> "... You're kidding," Darren sighed, "Okay, we'll all go grab lunch and then head for debriefing, cool?"

<Jay> Jay nodded, giving Darren a lazy salute and a grin. He hoped like hell Fury had a hot drink for his throat, because holy hell did it hurt.

[PsychoKez056]

Go team!

[Svartfreja]

Bobberz really should have thought to ask Harvey about that before he went and played the hero *shakes head*

[Slarti]

<Bobby> "Thank you, sir. I'll see you later." Bobby closed the door of Xavier's office and blew out the breath he'd been holding. One down... a million to go. He hitched the strap of his duffle bag higher onto his shoulder and looked around the hall. Empty.

<Bobby> That was a good thing in his book, because he wasn't quite ready for the torrent of explanations and apologies he knew he'd be delivering. Boathouse first. He needed his phone, his keys, his wallet – hell, his own clothes, since all he had were BDUs like the ones he wore -- and that's where they'd be. Hopefully. And where Lorna might be.

<Bobby> He pulled his Army-issued cap lower over his eyes and started down the hall quickly.

<Paige> Paige was coming down the hallway and shrieked when she saw a uniformed soldier. They were here to get her! She panicked and took off her shoe, throwing it at the dude's head. That'd show him!

<Bobby> Bobby turned a corner and looked down at his feet, planning to avoid whoever this was, until he heard a scuffle, looked up and ducked. The shoe clipped his shoulder as he ducked. "Hey, what the fuck?! I didn't escape!"

<Paige> "You'll never take me alive!" Paige threw her other shoe at him.

<Bobby> "What?! I don't want to take you anywhere!" The crazy blonde was winging her other shoe at him now and he caught it, dropping his bag and backing up.

<Paige> Paige blinked at him. "You aren't here to take us all in?" Why was he here then? Were they already under occupation? House arrest?!

<Bobby> Bobby got a good look at her face then and his mouth dropped open. Oh, this was a dream. It had to be. He was dreaming, and Fury hadn't really released him. He was in his cell. He was... losing his mind.

<Bobby> "Paige?" He tilted his head, looking from the shoe in his hand to the blonde again.

<Paige> Paige stared at the man again. "How do you... know... my...." She got a better look at him, stepping closer. "....Bobberz?"

<Bobby> His eyebrows shot up and he nodded. "Last I checked?"

<Paige> "Bobberz!" Paige quickly closed the distance to tackle him with a hug.

<Bobby> "Oof!" She sure felt real... and as strong as he remembered. "Paige?!" He stood awkwardly still, debating his sanity. "You're... real... right?"

<Paige> Paige laughed at him. "Of course I'm real! I'm alive! Are you sure you are real?" She eyed him a bit. He was supposed to be in prison.

<Bobby> Bobby's eyes wandered to the side as he considered it. This was real. His face lit up with a grin and he grabbed her in a hug of his own, picking her up and giving her a spin around the hall. "Paigey!"

<Paige> It was Paige's turn to go, "Oof!" She laughed happily and held onto him. "Bobberz!"

<Bobby> "Holy shit! What're you doing here?" He set her back on her feet, handing her back her shoe and looking around for her other one.

<Paige> "Long story, but I'm going to be a teacher this fall... wait!? Are you on the lamb!? Do I need to hide you from the authorities?! I will whack them with my shoe!!!" She promised as she slid it back on.

<Bobby> "Wow, so you're back-back!?" Finding her other shoe, he handed it over and laughed. "Nope, I'm legal. Promise." Bobby straightened up and looked her over. Still Paige. It was ... beyond awesome to see her. And weird. "You're probably the only one who would."

<Paige> "I'm baaaaaaack!" She giggled as she put her shoe back on. "And yaaaaaaaaay! I'm so glad you're back! Oh yeah... something about a hit squad, but meh. You're back!" She hugged him again.

<Bobby> Bobby winced and returned the hug. "Well I'm not on a hit squad now," he said, wincing again. Not exactly. "SHIELD cut me loose this morning... with nothing but the clothes on my back, but hey!" He gave her another spin.

<Paige> "Oooo nice outfit! I'm glad to know you aren't on a hit squad anymore. Though that's really all I know... Lorna and I have a kind of... unspoken rule. We don't talk about you or Eve." How was Lorna going to take him being back? Would she be glad?

<Bobby> "So I guess that means Eve isn't back too, huh?" Bobby set her down again, trying to not think about the L-word either.

<Paige> Paige gave him a bit of an uneasy smile. "No. And while I'm here, he can't."

<Bobby> Bobby knew enough to take that hint. "Oookay. Well, you're the better half anyway." He put on his best grin.

<Paige> Paige put on a genuine grin for him at that. "I am, aren't I?! How have you been!? Aside from the crap."

<Bobby> "Oh... you know... got recruited for a super hero team! I mean, another one... not the X-Men, 'cause... hit squad... but yeah!" Bobby took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. "Crap has pretty much been it."

<Bobby> "How about you? Aside from crap?"

<Paige> "Get to teach and get on with my life... but crap pretty much sums up before that."

<Bobby> "Well, we can be crap buddies then, yeah?" Bobby snorted, picking his bag back up from the floor.

<Paige> "Absolutely! It takes teamwork to put the crap behind you sometimes. It's not something you should have to do alone. Need some help?"

<Bobby> "I'm sure I will after I talk to Lorna." Now that he was really here, he didn't really know what to say to her. "Have you, uh, seen her today?"

<Paige> Paige tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear. "Not today, but she shouldn't be far. But my room is over in the teacher wing for our crapsational meetings. You can't miss it. It's full of pink!"

<Bobby> "Ha! Yeah, I remember the pink..." Bobby nodded and leaned over to give her another half-hug. "Wish me luck then?"

<Paige> "I wish you all the luck!" Paige hugged him back and saluted him with her free hand.

<Bobby> "Thanks," he returned the salute. "I'm gonna need it."

<Paige> Paige nodded and headed off to her room to clean it. He was certainly going to need luck... and possibly her couch.

[Ferguson]

Heeeee!

[Ferguson]

<Bobby> The keys to his truck and his phone were just where they'd always left such things, and he rummaged for the extra charger in a drawer before going upstairs to look for his wallet and some clothes.

<Bobby> The boathouse was unnaturally still, empty... dusty. It didn't look like she'd spent much time in here for, well, about eight weeks. Bobby found the bag from Pietro's he'd left in his truck sitting by the bedroom door. Untouched.

<Bobby> After checking the contents, he shouldered it and took it back downstairs, throwing it alongside his SHIELD bag. He wandered to the kitchen.

<Lorna> Lorna jostled the bags around to unlock the door, frowning as she found it all ready unlocked. "Weird...I must've forgotten last time." She shrugged it off, however, going ahead and opening the door. "Just plop them down, I figure we can have a building party some evening so no need for me to put them all away, yeah?"

<Erik> "It would be no effort, really," Erik replied, entering after Lorna and helping her carry the latest haul. "I told you that helping around the house until you got settled in would be the least thing I could do for you."

<Bobby> Bobby startled, dropping the bottle of prenatal vitamins he'd been inspecting. Lorna! And... a man's voice. One he didn't recognize. He heard the rustle of paper and plastic and stooped to pick up the vitamins, hoping their noise had covered his own.

<Lorna> "And I have no problems with taking advantage of your good nature to haul things in." Lorna joked, sitting her things out and taking to the couch to start unloading the bags. She paused though as she thought she heard something, frowning.

<Erik> He chuckled. "My so called good nature rears its head rarely enough, so make sure you abuse it to your heart's content." Setting his load of bags down on the counter, he began to unload them.

<Bobby> Placing the bottle back on the counter, he relaxed minutely, realizing they were carrying on their conversation without pause. Bobby edged toward the door.

<Lorna> "Well, in payment, would you like to help me decimate my store of coffee before I get guilted more into giving it up? I'll even teach you how to speak the language of the coffee maker up at the school."

<Erik> Erik leaned to the side to peek over where Lorna was, arching an eyebrow. "Weren't we over this already," he asked, showing her an uneven smile. "However, while I can't say I agree with all of your diet choices, I think I'll let you bribe me with your coffee making skills one more time."

<Bobby> Ever since he and Darren had talked, he had felt somewhat better, but this... was bringing all his doubts about the wording of the divorce paperwork back to his mind. Bobby closed his eyes to take a quick breath and walked into the living room. "Or, y'know, I could make some for everybody."

<Lorna> If Lorna hadn't been all ready sitting down she was pretty sure she would have fallen over as it was. "...Bobby?!" She turned towards the voice, giving him the most stunned stare. "You're...you're here? They let you come here?"

<Erik> "Lorna?" Erik trailed off when he stopped in the doorway, fixating the young man across of him with a stare. "You are... what are you doing here?" He cast a questioning glance in Lorna's direction.

<Bobby> Bobby sized up the other guy. "Well, it technically is still my house." He dismissed the dude and looked at Lorna, eyes falling to her stomach, though he couldn't see anything from the way she was sitting. "Hi, Dee."

<Erik> "Perhaps, but aren't you - technically - supposed to be behind bars?" Erik asked in response.

<Bobby> "Perhaps." His eyes flicked back to this guy. "And who are you, by the way?"

<Lorna> That wasn't exactly how Lorna had daydreamed this would happen. Actually it was pretty far from it. "So...you get to stay? You don't have to go back? I...I saw you on the news but I hadn't gotten the chance to ask Darren about anything."

<Erik> "Erik Lensherr - your replacement." He gave a cordial nod, before adding: "I took over your vacant professorship."

<Bobby> "Oh, yeah, the replacement." Bobby's mouth twisted. "I didn't realize Chuck meant it to be so literal."

<Lorna> "...wait now, what is that supposed to mean?"

<Bobby> Bobby winced and moved a little closer to Lorna, tone softer. "Yeah, I get to stay. I'm clear, as long as I follow orders." He tapped the SHIELD emblem on his uniform. "It's not just for show..." Wait. He blinked. "You saw me on the news?"

<Erik> "I can assure you, whatever your insinuation may be, it's certainly far from the truth," Erik commented, frowning at the emblem the other man wore. "Interesting. Did they value your potential as a weapon higher than their desire for justice then?"

<Lorna> "You know that crappy anti-mutant shock 'news anchor,' he had you guys on the air. Angel even phoned in." Replacement... insinuation... did Bobby seriously mean what her mind was falling on?

<Bobby> "Maybe." He bared teeth at Erik. "They are the government, after all." His temper was getting the best of him, so he stopped, jerking his head to the side a little. Lorna was what mattered here. "I... didn't know Fury had made it public already." But it made sense, in a way. The reason he'd released him, maybe?

<Lorna> Oh, if they started some sort of macho standoff Lorna was going to kick both of their asses. She watched them both warily, quirking an eyebrow.

<Erik> "Lorna, I would understand if you want some privacy with your... with Bobby," Erik said, taking a step away from the both of them. "Unless you wish me to stay, that is."

<Bobby> Bobby's eyes narrowed at Erik's deliberate words. That sick feeling was back in his guts.

<Lorna> "You might as well go on. Thanks again for helping me get all this stuff. I'll let you know about the 'assembly required' party." Lorna answered, just a bit tiredly as she looked at them both. Well, at least one of them had the sense to step away.

<Erik> "Very well." Erik nodded, a small smile playing across his lips. "I'll see you around. And don't hesitate to call me should you need anything." He nodded briefly, before turning away and heading for the door.

<Bobby> Bobby finally looked at the "stuff" and swallowed. Boxes and bags of baby items. Little clothes, little colorful toys, a bouncer.

<Lorna> "So....that was fun." Lorna's tone said all of what she thought about that little interaction. She sighed though, looking a little bit hopeful. "So...you really are out? ....you should really call your mother if you haven't."

<Bobby> "I'm sorry," he said with a sigh of his own. Bobby took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, hovering by the coffee table. "Yeah," he said, looking at her and smiling at her expression. "I really, really am... and she's on my list right after you."

<Lorna> "Your dad's probably going to be an interesting conversation as well. I didn't tell them much so they're...pretty confused and I imagine the news might've confused them more."

<Bobby> "He always is." Bobby snorted. "Yeah... I've been confused too." He shifted his weight and fidgited. "I would have called... you and them... if I could. Until today I was just... probationary, I guess?"

<Lorna> "I guess that's why Darren didn't tell me anything then." Lorna decided, though she still didn't like it. "Just in case things didn't go well."

<Bobby> "Yeah... I..." Okay, he couldn't wait any longer. "So it's true then, huh? Y-you're pregnant?" Bobby nodded at the packages.

<Lorna> "I tried to send a message, I guess it didn't make it?" Lorna asked, cringing just a little bit.

<Bobby> She called that a message? Bobby looked away. "Oh, I got the message." His voice was soft now. "Look... I know... I know I fucked things up. For me. For you. A-and I'm sorry. I don't like it," he paused when his voice cracked. "But I get it. Thing is, I'm free, and I'm not going to do anything to endanger that. A-and I'm going to be a part of his life. Or her."

<Bobby> "My record's clear. I was never even charged. There's no court that wouldn't grant me visitation."

<Lorna> Lorna couldn't help but look a bit lost. "Why would you think that I would try to do something like that? I...I mean, do you think I think you'd endanger your own kid?"

<Bobby> "No... but..." Bobby turned away from her. He couldn't do this. This wasn't how things were supposed to go, but then it never was, was it? She really was divorcing him. At least he'd get to see his kid, but they'd never be a family. "I'm so sorry, Lorna."

<Lorna> "I'm sorry too." Lorna looked down, not quite able to keep her eyes on Bobby right now as she tried to sort through in her mind what to even think, let alone do. "...I should probably take the for sale sign off of your truck now, eh?"

<Bobby> He cringed. "I'd ... appreciate it." His voice came out strangled.

<Lorna> "So....where would you like to sleep?" Maybe it would just be easiest to ask...Lorna had no other way to figure it out, after all, and they could surely manage talking about how to be around each other.

<Bobby> Where to you think?! There wasn't any humor in his laugh. "I'll just... go. I'll call my mom. Go to Pietro's..."

<Lorna> "You can stay here if you want to though." She pointed out. "But yeah, you should definitely call your mom...before they start paying another lawyer to try and get in contact with you."

<Bobby> Bobby turned to look at her then. Another lawyer? Fuck. "Are you staying here?"

<Lorna> "Well, I don't have to. I hadn't been anyway, been staying at Darren and Selene's." She glanced back up at him when she saw him turn. "It was too strange staying here on my own, really."

<Bobby> He made eye contact, hoping he didn't look too close to breaking down. "I don't want to stay here without you."

<Lorna> "Well...I guess it's either both of us or neither of us." Lorna shrugged, wanting to see which he would actually want.

<Bobby> Bobby shook his head, sure now he looked as bad as he felt as his eyes started stinging. "Yeah, okay." Stiffly, he went to his bags and jerked them up from the floor.

[Slarti]

<Bobby> Paige's room wasn't hard to find at all, considering her name was on the door. In pink, puffy, glittery letters. Bobby had to smirk at it as he again shifted his bag and slipped his phone into a pocket.

<Bobby> He knocked, shave-and-a-haircut, hoping she was home. He could use some cheering up after getting off the phone with his parents. And after Lorna.

<Paige> Paige bounced to the door and opened it, slightly worried to see him standing there with a bag. "Bobberz!" She hugged him happily anyway.

<Bobby> Bobby happily returned the hug. It was nice someone didn't think he was a psycho. "Paigey!"

<Paige> "So come on in!" She left the hug to make room for him to enter her beautifully decorated room.

<Bobby> "Thanks!" Bobby followed her and then stopped. It was... pink. So very, very pink. "Wow."

<Paige> "It's so great to finally get to decorate however I want." She grinned and went to grab some candy from her stash. "Want some candy?"

<Bobby> "You have to ask?" Bobby smiled, still looking around the room, which really was more of a small apartment, just like the one he and Lorna had shared when they were first married. The smile faded and he turned to her. "Can I borrow your bathroom?"

<Paige> "Of course." She gestured toward it, going for gummy worms and hopping onto her bed.

<Bobby> He went in and rummaged around in his bag -- the one from Pietro's, which held his clothes -- and quickly changed out of the SHIELD uniform. Wallet, keys and phone fit perfectly back into his jeans and he looked in the mirror. He was finally himself again.

<Bobby> Coming back out, he shrugged and sat next to her on the edge of the bed, dropping his bag at his feet. "Oooo, gummies!"

<Paige> "I have more! Probably whatever you want." She tossed a gummy at his head.

<Bobby> "Gummies are awesome." He didn't catch it before it bounced off his nose and down the front of his Batman shirt. Bobby fished it from his lap and bit it in half. "Fuck yeah. Sugar." He rolled his eyes back in not-so-mock ecstacy.

<Paige> Paige paused at the shirt. Batman. Eve had love comic books, and Superman had been her nickname for him. She shoved two gummy worms into her mouth and went for more. They needed bears... and fish. She tossed them both onto the bed.

<Bobby> "I totally craved this kind of shit." He finished off the worm. "Probably better for me to not eat so much crap, but I missed my caffeine and sugar." Bobby went for a fish. "So... saw Lorna."

<Paige> Paige winced at that announcement. "I take it by the fact that you're here that it didn't go too well then?"

<Bobby> "Understatement." He was trying to not get emotional again, so he went for another fish. "Of course, I guess since she filed for divorce I should have expected that. Wish I hadn't found out she was pregnant from the divorce papers though." Bobby pulled another fish apart and stared at it before eating it.

<Paige> Paige moved to hug Bobby tightly, resting her head against him. A part of her felt badly for feeling sympathy for him because of Lorna, but she pushed that aside. She did feel badly for him.

<Bobby> He sucked in a surprised breath, but put his arms around her. Closing his eyes for a moment, he leaned his head against hers too, trying to keep in control. "Thanks."

<Paige> "We need drinks." She announced after a moment.

<Bobby> "I'm all for this." Bobby nodded.

<Paige> Paige nodded. "Just uh, let me change." She got up from him and went to her closet.

<Bobby> "Want me to... go outside or put a pillow over my head?" It was so weird she was back, after seeing her pic in that magazine... But he sure wasn't complaining as he watched her pick through her closet.

<Paige> Paige laughed and waved her hand at him. "I have a bathroom." She grabbed an outfit and disappeared into said room.

<Bobby> Making her do that giggle was always fun, too. He grinned and tried to toss a gummy fish into the air and catch it with his mouth. He failed, the gummy bouncing off the edge of the bed.

<Bobby> Bobby growled and leaned over, finding it in his bag... and noticing the "For Sale" sign he'd ripped from his truck's windshield. Fighting back another surge of emotion, he grabbed it and the wayward fish.

<Paige> Paige didn't take long. She came back out with her knee high boots and white trench coat on with the sleeves rolled up. It was one of her favorite outfits. "Here we go!"

<Bobby> "Well, I feel under-dressed," he said, popping the fish into his mouth. Or over. Instantly the trench coat made him want to make a joke about flashing, but just as quickly he remembered this was Paige.

<Paige> Paige laughed and shook her head. "Never!" She grabbed her purse, double checking her ID was in there. "They never believe I'm over 21."

<Bobby> "Are you sure you are?" Bobby got up and grinned at her, patting his ass to make sure his wallet was there. "I can drive." He waved the sign. "At least I got back to her before somebody snapped up my baby."

<Paige> "Too bad you can't fly... maybe we should take a taxi so we can both drink?"

<Bobby> "...better idea." Bobby agreed, folding up the sign and tossing it in her trash can. "Technically... I can... but it would involve getting naked aaaaand I never did it to anybody else."

<Paige> "Nice try at getting me naked!" Paige giggled as she dialed for a taxi.

<Bobby> There was the giggle again. He grinned.

<Paige> ---Time Passes--

<Paige> Paige took her seat at the bar, having checked her coat at the door. She flashed a grin over at Bobby. "Batman suits you." She decided.

<Bobby> He snorted, sliding onto the tall chair. "Oh, but with all the yelling they did at me, my parents definitely aren't dead." He signaled the bartender, more than ready for some booze.

<Paige> Paige happily ordered her Cosmo and turned to look at him better. "Everyone is just super upset with you..."

<Bobby> "Again, understatement." Bobby ordered a neat scotch, not wanting to fuck around with the getting drunk. "You're the first person I've seen who hasn't been at least somewhat hostile."

<Paige> Paige sighed a bit. "It's just... I get it."

<Bobby> "You get why they're pissed? I do too, I just... it's ... kind of exhausting." Bobby felt like he already needed to go back to base and talk to that SHIELD shrink again.

<Paige> "No..." She took a sip of her drink, then set it down, running her finger along the napkin. "I get what it's like to have to make that hard decision. To make an unpopular decision and have to stand by it. And to have your decision go horribly wrong..." She paused to take another drink. "And to lose everything because of it."

<Bobby> Bobby raised an eyebrow at her over the rim of his now-chilled scotch. She looked older now, and more serious than he'd ever remembered seeing her. "What happened?" He'd forgotten how much the drink burned, but it was a good burn.

<Paige> "Do you really want to know?" She met his eyes this time. She didn't want to taint Eve to people, but Bobby had been his friend... he kind of deserved the truth.

<Bobby> "Well yeah, of course." He took another drink and turned toward her. "Crap buddies, right?"

<Paige> Paige smiled at that and sighed deeply. "Crap buddies. It didn't start off as bad. Eve just wanted to spend more and more time with me. And school kind of sucked, so I stayed in Texas and he went back for a bit... and then he came back.”

<Paige> "So he wanted more time. And slowly I fell out of contact with you guys."

<Bobby> "Yeah... you guys kind of fell off the radar. I remember Lorna saying she'd called you a few times. Eve... well, we didn't talk much after he left." Bobby could tell he wasn't going to like this.

<Paige> "After he came back, we'd still go see my family for holidays and my birthday. But it became fewer and fewer. He convinced me, me to take birth control too. And then... once the registration act hit, he really lost it. He flipped out."

<Bobby> Bobby took a long drink. "Well, we all kind of did..." Though he didn't think that was what she meant. "Lorna dyed her hair, McCoy figured out these patches that negate your powers temporarily..."

<Paige> "He moved us out in the country. Cut off our cell phones. He'd go into town and get supplies, and at first I could go... then he stopped letting me go."

<Bobby> He coughed. "Okay, yeah, that's kinda, uh, extreme?"

<Paige> "We stopped going to visit my family sometime too, I can't remember when. I saw you guys on the news a lot. Usually when he was gone. He didn't like me watching the news."

<Bobby> Bobby made a face and nodded, taking another long drink. Holy shit, Eve, way to be nuts.

<Paige> She really didn't want to tell him the rest. She downed her drink. "Then the bad day happened... and I couldn't go to the doctor, and I wanted to call Lorna. That's who I wanted. And I couldn't. And I realized what had happened then."

<Bobby> "The bad day?" Bobby shook his head, confused, and starting to feel the alcohol.

<Paige> "Birth control doens't always work... and it can..." She took his drink and finished it off. "It caused a miscarriage."

<Bobby> It was something he'd wondered himself ever since he got the paperwork. Lorna had been on the pill for years. They'd never so much as had a scare. Bobby looked down, blinking rapidly, eyes burning. "God, Paige... I'm sorry," he finally managed.

<Paige> Paige shook her head. "You're the only one who knows any of this..." She flagged down the bartender for more drinks. Lots more drinks. She switched to cake flavored vodka.

<Bobby> "I won't say anything." Bobby reached over and covered her hand with his, giving it a squeeze. "That... so, so sucks." He chewed the corner of his lip. "What'd Eve do?"

<Paige> Paige squeezed his hand back, pouring them both more drinks now that they had bottles. "He was so furious at me for getting pregnant."

<Bobby> Bobby made a disgusted noise and downed half his drink. Now, if his eyes were red, he could blame the scotch.

<Paige> Paige stared into her glass, zoning out. The only way she could get through the rest. "So when he went to town the next time I packed."

<Bobby> He stayed quiet, holding her hand and watching her stare blankly. She'd changed so much. He kind of wanted to punch Eve.

<Paige> "When he came back I told him I was done. That I wanted out and I was leaving." She smirked just a bit, taking her shot. "He didn't like that news."

<Bobby> "Fucker." Bobby just rolled his eyes and took a drink himself.

<Paige> Paige smiled at him. "It's ok, Bobby. I whacked him. Just one good punch. And then I took the keys to the truck and left."

<Bobby> His eyebrows shot up. "Whacked? As in...?"

<Paige> Paige thought about that. "Well... I called the cops once I was in town... and he's been served divorce papers and a restraining order... guess if he turns up we'll know!" She downed another shot.

<Bobby> Wow. Yeah, that called for more booze. Bobby had another drink. So both their marriages ended in shit. Tears threatening again, he finished the glass. "Well, I'd offer to kick his ass for you, but you took care of it nicely yourself."

<Paige> Paige laughed a bit and gave his hand another squeeze. "That I did. So you see why I say I understand. I get it. And until you're in a situation where it's you or them, you don't get it."

<Bobby> "Yep." Bobby turned his hand and laced their fingers together. He was feeling the alcohol and feeling terrible for both of them.

<Paige> Paige smiled at him. "It's all ok now though... kinda... I have a super cool awesomely groovy job... you're free... back with my friends... so things are looking up!"

<Bobby> "For you." Bobby returned the smile, a little sadly. "I'm glad things are better for you now though." It was nice to be close to someone again, and someone who understood.

<Paige> "Don't give up yet, Bobby... you aren't in jail anymore right? And you saved your truck."

<Bobby> "Heh... yeah." He stared down at their hands and then poured them both another drink, this time from her vodka bottle since it was closer.

<Paige> Paige grinned and scooted closer to rest her head against him. "Thing will look up. You'll see."

<Bobby> "Mmm. Guess they already are." The cake vodka tasted like cake, which was... awesome. Paige also smelled pretty awesome, so he leaned into her.

<Paige> "You know... you're pretty awesome." Paige giggled a bit.

<Bobby> Bobby blinked, realizing he must have said part of that out loud, but too drunk to really care. "Your giggle is pretty awesome too."

<Paige> That made Paige giggle more. "Really!?"

<Bobby> "Really." He laughed and twisted, planting a loud kiss on the top of her head.

<Paige> Paige giggled more and looked up at him after the kiss. Hey, when had he gotten so good looking? And he had super sexy eyes... so blue.

<Bobby> Bobby grinned at her, taking in her smile and wrinkled nose. Yep, making her giggle was awesome. Licking his lips, he leaned toward her.

[puppygirl]

Uh-oh, looks like Paige is about to break one of the cardinal best friend rules!

God, I love the drama!

[Esynthia]

Bad Bobby! Rogue would kick his ass if she were there! ...And... not crazy. ><

[puppygirl]

Pffft, she's just jealous that it's not her

[Esynthia]

Nah. She already had her almost whoopie time with Bobby. it was weird.

[Slarti]

<Paige> Paige slept peacefully in her bed snuggled up to the warm body next to her. She mumbled a bit and snuggled closer to it in her sleepy, trying to block out the cold air outside the covers.

<Bobby> Nose twitching when something brushed it, Bobby made a sound of protest and moved his head slightly. He pressed his face further into the pillow, arm tightening around another pillow, though something other than the headache he was slowly becoming aware of tickled in the back of his mind.

<Bobby> That wasn't a pillow.

<Paige> Paige moved with the arm, wrapping her's around Bobby, pressing herself against him.

<Bobby> Still half asleep, he realized it was a body. Confused, he decided he was dreaming, because it was... nice.

<Paige> Paige opened her eyes just a bit, then they flew open in surprise. Bobby. A very close Bobby snuggling very close to her. She realized that she was practically on top of him. She shrieked and fell backward off of her bed, taking her covers with her.

<Bobby> The screaming made him start screaming, though he wasn't sure why yet, until he untangled himself from the blankets she had yanked over his head. Bobby sat straight up and regretted it, falling back against the bed and cracking his head on the headboard. "Oww..."

<Paige> Checking herself over revealed that she was still fully dressed. Her relief was short lived. She winced at the ow. "...are you alright?"

<Bobby> "Jesus, my head!" He slid down and tried again to sit up, staring down at her on the floor. "Bwuh?" Bobby looked at her, mussed but still dressed, and then at himself in a similar state. "We... uh... didn't...?" He made a face, rubbing his hands over his face and trying to think.

<Bobby> Thinking hurt. "Did weee?"

<Paige> "Did we what? You think we would do that!?" Paige threw a gummy bear at his hurt head.

<Bobby> "Well, no, not normally!" Bobby's glare wasn't very successful and he realized his mouth felt like he'd been licking Kyle. "But we were really, really drunk..."

<Paige> "Yeah... and then you took my bottle of vodka and drank straight from it." She giggled at him. "It was so good wasn't it!?" She held her head a bit. Her own voice gave her a headache.

<Bobby> Bobby shifted to ice, wincing and trying to filter the last of the booze from his system.

<Paige> Paige just stared. "Ohhhhh that's totally awesome! When did you learn to do that!" She winced again.

<Bobby> He shrugged, shifting back. Much better. "It's... just natural now." Bobby dragged himself up to sit on the side of the bed and drew out the extra moisture he had left from his change, forming a little crystal flower in the palm of his hand to show her.

<Paige> "Oh wow.... Bobby..." Paige grinned at him, moving to look at the flower better. "I'm so impressed."

<Bobby> Bobby returned the grin and dissipated the flower, offering her a hand up. "Come on, let's get you off the floor."

<Paige> Paige took the offered help and sat down next to him on the bed. "Just so we're clear... that... never happened... right?" She looked over at him.

<Bobby> "What happened?" He returned her look and snorted, shaking his head. "I don't remember a thing." Hangover now gone, he totally remembered leaning toward her, wanting to make her laugh, and picking up a long lock of her hair to give himself a nice mustache before the drinking from said bottle started.

<Bobby> "Still think I should grow me a good porn 'stache though." Bobby smirked at her.

<Paige> Paige laughed and shoved him just a bit. "Nothing happened. We came back here and I went to wash my face and when I came back out, you were passed out. And I was too tired to move you, so there we go. But the cuddling? THAT never happened." She eyed him a bit.

<Bobby> When her face got serious again, he paused. "No, it didn't." Bobby sighed and rubbed his eyes. "It really, really didn't. I'm sorry."

<Paige> Paige gave him a quick hug, then got up, going to her closet and tossing him a towel. "No need. Now go get cleaned up so we can get breakfast."

<Bobby> The towel hit him across the face. Sighing, Bobby pointed at the pink sofa. "Is that spoken for tonight?"

<Paige> "Nope. You can stay here tonight... but then you need to go back to Lorna if you want to try and fix things."

<Bobby> "I don't think she wants to try to fix things." He cracked his knuckles, staring down at his hands.

<Paige> "She'd be retarded not to... you're Bobby..."

<Bobby> Bobby snorted. "Yeah, I think that's the problem."

<Paige> Paige sat back down next to him, looking up at him. "Bobby... I'll do whatever I can to help. Alright?" She took his hand in her's, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

<Bobby> "Thank you, for everything," he said, with a slight smile, returning the squeeze before he got up and threw the towel over his shoulder. He grabbed the bag off the floor before he disappeared into her bathroom.

<Paige> Paige smiled after him and went to pick out her outfit while she waited. She let out a sigh. Lorna just had to take him back. He was so sad!

[Ferguson]

The hell she does!

[puppygirl]

LOOOOOOL! Nice psyche-out guys!

[TechPrincess]

Why thank you Pup!

[Svartfreja]

Bobby: Bobby got out of the truck and looked up at the mansion. Yep, still big. Pocketing his keys, he ran his hand through his hair and walked up the steps to the door. he couldn't hang on Paige all the time, and he wanted to talk to Pietro -- and Illyana -- in person.

Bobby: The drive had given him time to think, which was good and bad. He made a face and knocked.

Heather: Heather rolled her eyes as she reached the bottom of the stairs and changed direction to go and answer the door. "I've got it!" she called over her shoulder in case Emma was on her way. She pulled the door open then blinked. That wasn't right.

Bobby: "Hey..." The woman had a clear WTF face on, and he internally sighed. "I'm, uh, Bobby Drake. I just talked to Pietro a while ago... he's expecting me."

Heather: "I know who you are, saw you at the school after Phantom of the Opera..." she moved out of the way so he could come in. "I'm Heather." She debated whether she could be bothered to actually physically go and get Pietro and decided on no. She took a deep breath then yelled, "PIETRO! VISITOR!"

Bobby: "Oh..." Bobby actually jumped at her bellow, then gave her a cautious smile. "Thanks?"

Illyana: Illyana pried herself from her rocking chair to go to go downstairs and make sure it wasn't that whore Monet back to try and steal her husband again. She froze the moment she saw Bobby.

Heather: "... You're not Pietro." Heather blinked at her.

Bobby: No, she wasn't. Bobby gave Illyana a little smile and wave. Her expression was... yeah.

Illyana: "Bobby!" Illyana teleported to him and hugged him. "You're ok!"

Heather: Heather looked around wondering if it was okay if she went now. Emotional scenes made her uncomfortable. She decided it was fine and about walked into Pietro. "Oh there you are."

Bobby: "Hey, Illyana." He returned the hug after a moment. "I'm okay." Pietro... clearly hadn't told anybody he was coming. He looked up at the man when he appeared and gave him an eyebrow.

Pietro: Pietro gave a shrug, "I wanted it to be a surprise?"

Illyana: "I'm so glad to see you! Come on in! I'll have Emma bring us some tea and cake."

Heather: Mmm cake. Okay maybe she could hang around.... Heather went ahead of them into the living room.

Bobby: "Okay," Bobby laughed to Pietro. "It's good to see you guys too." He tried to extricate himself from her hug.

Illyana: Illyana took Bobby's arm to escort him to the living room.

Bobby: Escape wasnt easy, so Bobby let her lead him. "So... how are you guys?"

Pietro: Pietro went down to the kitchen to ask Emma for things for tea and cake but was back moments later.

Illyana: Illyana smiled as she took a seat. "We've been well. Saw my parents in Russia. They are excited of course."

Pietro: "Yes... I thought they were going to crush the life out of me. It was scary for a while there."

Illyana: "They love you." Illyana laughed, smiling at him.

Bobby: Bobby found a seat himself and just smiled, looking down to study his hands.

Heather: Heather looked between them. No one was going to ask. Well no one would if she wasn't there. "I thought you were supposed to be in prison?"

Bobby: He looked up. "Well... detention anyway." Bobby sat up straighter. "They let me go as part of a ... deal, I guess."

Illyana: "What kind of a deal?"

Pietro: Pietro about contained the urge to facepalm at Heather's question. He gave Bobby an apologetic look.

Bobby: "Have you guys heard of SWORD yet?" Bobby shrugged at Pietro. It was a fair question. He didn't care anymore.

Pietro: Pietro shook his head, looking at Illyana.

Illyana: Illyana shook her head also. "No... we've been out of the country and we haven't been in contact with anyone really since we got back."

Bobby: "It's... well, it's part of SHIELD. It's a team... like the X-Men, only sanctioned by the US government. And the UN." Bobby fidgited, replaying what Fury had told him was and wasn't public information over in his head.

Pietro: "That sounds... good?" Pietro frowned a little.

Heather: Heather moved to get the door for Emma and help her with the tray of tea things.

Illyana: "Oh wow, Bobby! Congratulations!" Illyana smiled warmly at him. That was like a promotion right?

Bobby: "It's good... I think. I mean, at least they're trying." He scratched the back of his head. "And my involvement gives me... kind of a pass on what happened. So, I'm free." He shrugged again, trying a half smile.

Pietro: "Well that part's great news," He gave Bobby a smile.

Illyana: "So it's never happened legally then?!" Illyana was already going to hug Bobby again.

Heather: Heather poured the tea as Emma hurried back out to the kitchen and sliced up the cake. Mmmmm...

Bobby: "Yeah, pretty much," he chuckled, returning the hug. She was... cute.

Pietro: "That's good," Pietro smiled, taking the offered slice of cake on a small plate from Heather. "So does this mean you're coming back to work at Xavier's or what?"

Heather: Heather offered Bobby tea and cake too.

Bobby: "No, technically I work for SHIELD." Bobby accepted the food and drink and only then noticed something about Illyana -- she looked pregnant.

Illyana: Illyana fussed over Bobby, making sure he could reach his tea and cake easily if he wanted to set it down.

Pietro: "So what happens? Are you staying somewhere they put you or is it going to be like Darren's thing? You can stay here if you still need to..."

Bobby: "Well," he couldn't take his eyes off Illyana. This was what Lorna would look like soon. "Right now I'm sleeping on Paige's sofa."

Illyana: "Oh we'd love to have you stay!" Illana smiled happily at the idea.

Heather: "Sofas are bad for your back." Heather advised, sitting down with her own slice of cake.

Bobby: "Thanks," he said, returning Illyana's smile somewhat timidly. "I might have to take you guys up on that."

Illyana: "We have plenty of guest rooms here." Illyana laughed a bit. "Much better on your back."

Pietro: "No problem, we have plenty of room." Pietro offered a smile too, "I keep trying to get other people to be more comfortable about visiting here but no one takes me up on the offer..." he rolled his eyes.

Heather: "Harvey probably scares them all away." Heather put in.

Illyana: "But I like Harvey...."

Bobby: Bobby honestly laughed at that. "I think Harvey could teach me some new tricks."

Heather: "If he teaches you how to burst out of pipes I am moving out again."

Pietro: "Aww, don't say that I only just got you to come back!"

Bobby: "I think I'll let him keep that one," Bobby snorted, deciding he could try the tea... although Harvey might be in it...

Illyana: Illyana took a sip of her special tea, then eased back into her seat. She glanced over at Bobby again. "Everything alright?"

Heather: "Oh good. Someone with sense." She leaned back in her seat.

Pietro: Pietro knew that look well, "Just drink it," he advised. "If you think about it you'll drive yourself insane."

Illyana: Illyana gave them all a puzzled look.

Bobby: "You sure?" Bobby gave the cup another glance. "I mean, I joke about it, but I don't do it. I think he would..."

Heather: Heather laughed, "He's in town, I think you're safe."

Illyana: "What are you all going on about?"

Heather: "He's worried Harvey's in his tea." Heather supplied before she saw the look on Pietro's face, "I'm sorry, was that a secret?"

Pietro: Pietro facepalmed.

Illyana: Illyana eyed her tea. "Why would Harvey want to be boiled alive?"

Bobby: Bobby shrugged and took a drink. Nothing burst from his mouth, so he figured he was good.

Bobby: "Who says he'd have to get in it before it boils?"

Bobby: "I wouldn't."

Illyana: Illyana just shook her head. They were all sillies. "It's still pretty hot." She argued.

Heather: Heather just laughed again, "I could reheat it for you and check?"

Bobby: "So... they treating you okay at the school, Pietro?" Bobby hated to break the light mood, but...

Pietro: Pietro nodded, "For the one day I went back there it was alright..." for the most part.

Bobby: "Good. They don't need to take this shit out on you guys." Bobby sighed.

Pietro: "Don't worry about me, Bobby, I can handle it." He sighed, "But if they give Illyana a hard time I can't say I won't be angry."

Bobby: "Why should they give her a hard time? She didn't have anything to do with what we did!"

Illyana: Illyana waved her hand dismissively. "Only once and that was a misunderstanding. It's all better now." She patted her husband's hand.

Bobby: Bobby noticed their thoughtless closeness and looked away.

Heather: Heather looked between them all, "So... are you just visiting for like an hour or what?"

Bobby: Bobby looked up and back and forth, at a loss. "I... can... go?"

Heather: "I'm not hinting at you to leave, just curious... sorry I can be a little... what's the word?"

Pietro: "Bitchy?" Pietro offered.

Heather: "Yes. That." She laughed, "I don't mean it."

Illyana: "Nobody is kicking you out." Illyana promised him. "You are always welcome here."

Bobby: He smiled again, faintly, feeling awkward. "Thanks." It may not be the best idea, having to watch them, seeing her getting bigger... Bobby swallowed and set down the cup and plate. "I appreciate it..."

Heather: Heather hopped up out of her seat once she was finished with her cake. She put her plate back down on the tray, "Well it was nice to meet you. I'm going to go and destroy something now." She smiled pleasantly and headed over to the fireplace.

Illyana: "Bye Heather. See you later." Illyana smiled after her.

Heather: Heather collapsed her form into smoke and drifted off into the chimney.

Pietro: Pietro sighed, "If she sets fire to the offices again I'm going to be very annoyed...."

Illyana: "Harvey will be back soon... he and Bobby can tag team and put them out if she does." She reminded him.

Pietro: Pietro pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think I might go and clear out anything important just in case..."

Bobby: Bobby had to watch the woman shift, distractedly impressed. How did she keep her clothes? Bobby half-heard Illyana and Pietro and looked back at them. "I'm handy for that, yeah."

Illyana: "You're a big shot government super hero now." Illyana grinned at him.

Bobby: "Yeah, well, we'll see." Bobby felt his face warm a little and looked down again, rubbing his thumb across the pale line on his ring finger.

Pietro: Pietro laughed a little, "Illyana's right. You'll all be showing the X-men up in no time."

Bobby: "The team's mostly X-Men as it is, or former ones, I suppose. Darren, Selene, Kyle, Jay."

Pietro: He raised an eyebrow, "That's an... interesting combination..."

Bobby: "Yeah." Bobby's mouth twisted sideways. "More than a little uncomfortable, too. But... I'll put up with it." He looked up. "I hoped that if I got out, I could come back and fix things... with Lorna."

Bobby: "Then I got the divorce papers."

Pietro: Pietro pulled a face, "I'm sorry, Bobby... Maybe there's still a chance..."

Bobby: "I found out she was pregnant from the divorce papers..."

Pietro: He blinked, "Lorna's pregnant?"

Bobby: Bobby looked up at them, saw the surprise, and then just nodded.

Pietro: "Damn... now I feel bad for yelling at her...." He ran a hand through his hair.

Bobby: He looked back sharply now. "You yelled at her?" What Darren had said came back to him and he frowned.

Pietro: "There was a whole... thing... at the memorial..." he frowned a little.

Bobby: "A thing?" And he blinked. "There was a memorial?"

Pietro: "Yeah... for Teagan and the others... so I wasn't really in a great place... and then I heard her talking to Illyana..." he sighed.

Illyana: "She and I got into it... over you... That was the misunderstanding." Illyana explained a bit further. "But Bobby... she still loves you..."

Bobby: Bobby looked back and forth between them.

Bobby: He sighed and slumped back into the chair. "Darren said people had been giving her shit for what I'd done." Bobby rubbed his face, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes as they started to burn. "...this is so... fucked."

Pietro: "That's not what it was about..." He sighed, "I'll go and apologise..."

Illyana: "I apologized to her already. I felt awful."

Bobby: "She... actually said that?" He was trying hard to keep himself under control.

Pietro: "She got completely offended when we suggested otherwise."

Illyana: "She really does love you and care about you. She just doesn't know what to do about everything."

Bobby: Bobby bit down on the inside of his lip, tasting blood.

Illyana: Illyana moved to hug him.

Bobby: He flinched a little, but let her.

Illyana: Illyana just hugged him protectively.

Pietro: Pietro got up from his seat and decided he'd just leave Illyana to deal with it. She was better at it than he was anyway and he had an office full of crap to rescue.

[tears~fall~like~glass]

Paige: After bringing in a couple of bottles of vodka to her new lab, Paige worked on mixing up some pink hair dye for Rachel's hair. "Ohhhh this is going to be so pretty Rachie!!!"

Bobby: "Okay, now this?" He pointed at the vodka bottle. "I know what to do with." Bobby abandoned the box of weird hair products for the booze.

Paige: Paige laughed at him and kept mixing. "I know you do at that! There should be some ice in the little break room area. Yes, I have my own break room."

Bobby: Bobby gave her a withering look and a raised eyebrow. "You have ice right here, babe."

Paige: "But we can't drink you!" Paige laughed at him.

Rachel: Rachel warily eyed the color Paige was mixing. That was... really pink. However, the vodka made up for it. She smirked, "Well... We could, but..."

Paige: Paige caught up and blushed bright red turning back to her mixing.

Bobby: Bobby snorted and stopped himself from making a really dirty comment. He found some glasses in her break room and made a point of making the ice in front of them to pour three drinks.

Paige: "Right... so you ready for color, Rachie?" She put back on her normal smile, seemingly unfazed.

Bobby: "Y'know, Pietro has this... well, employee, maybe?" What the fuck was Harvey anyway? "Anyway, he turns into water. And hides in the pipes." Bobby gave them both evil grins before handing them their drinks.

Paige: Paige gave Bobby a horrified look. "I never want to take another shower ever again." She took a sip of her drink to steady her nerves.

Rachel: Rachel took a long drink from her glass and nodded to Paige, "As ready as I'll ever be." Then, she blinked and gave him a wary look, "That's... Yeah. Same."

Bobby: Bobby just grinned and took a drink himself, winking at them.

Paige: "Wait... could you do that too?"

Bobby: "I could," he said, licking a bit of the vodka off his lip. He didn't care if it was kind of a girly drink. This shit was good!

Paige: Paige about dropped her drink. She set it carefully down on the counter, then moved to concentrate on Rachel's hair. Hair was good. Hair was safe.

Rachel: "But you don't? ...Hopefully."

Bobby: Bobby laughed, giving Paige a slightly perplexed look. "No, it's... weird." He moved around to get a better look at the scary color. "Not that it wouldn't be fun to try in the girl's locker room."

Paige: "Bobby!" Paige chastised him. "Some of those girls are minors."

Bobby: "Exactly," he agreed. "It would have been fun... I dunno, my first couple years here." He took another drink. "Of course, I couldn't do it then, so probably for the best."

Rachel: Rachel laughed, "You would've gotten your ass kicked."

Bobby: "Most likely." He leaned over to look around at Rachel's face. "I could have popped out of your shower head too, Rae-Rae." He grinned, widening his eyes.

Paige: "Indeed he would have." Paige concentrated on not making eye contact with Bobby while she got a grip on herself. Just because he was sexy meant nothing. Big brother. Friend zone. That was all. She had to fix his and Lorna's marriage after all.

Rachel: Rachel peered over at him and continued to snicker at the face he was making. She attempted to keep a straight face, but didn't quite manage it, "Oh, baby..."

Bobby: Bobby grinned and chuckled, taking another drink and wandering over to the box again. "What the fuck is neutralizer? It sounds like a bad code name."

Paige: Paige just laughed and shook her head at Bobby. "So what are your plans now, Rachie?"

Rachel: "Well, at the moment, my plans are to get wasted... and possibly high off the smell of this dye."

Paige: "That can be easily achieved." Paige promised, getting the last of the dye in her hair.

Bobby: "Protein filler?" Bobby bow-chicka-wow-wowed with a dirty laugh. He opened the bottle and took a sniff, then sneezed.

Paige: "Bobby you're going to get yourself high just sniffing things." Paige moved to clean up her mess. "We'll let that sit for awhile while we get toasted... but there sure is a lot of dye left...."

Rachel: Rachel about snorted her drink. She looked between the extra dye and Bobby.

Bobby: Bobby noticed the silence and turned around to look from one to the other, to the bowl of dye.

Paige: Paige hated to throw it out. It would be perfect for somebody with short hair... like Bobby. She looked up at him finally.

Rachel: "You know... You looked great with pink hair, Bobby..."

Bobby: "....oh no..." Bobby put the protein filler away and held up both hands, slightly ruined by the drink in one.

Paige: "I don't want to be wasteful..."

Bobby: "You like pink, Paigey... you could match your room!" Bobby grinned. "I could do you."

Paige: "It's not enough for my hair. It's perfect for your amount of hair!"

Rachel: Rachel held her tongue. She wasn't going to comment.

Bobby: "You could just do streaks... I definitely could paint straight lines." He sloshed his drink toward Rachel to point. "Or she could. She's the artistic one."

Paige: Paige gave Bobby a pitiful look.

Rachel: "I could paint streaks in your hair too..."

Bobby: Bobby sighed at Paige's expression, but then Rachel gave him hope. "See!" He took a long drink.

Rachel: "I meant on you."

Paige: Paige kept her pitiful expression on her face.

Bobby: "How about on both of us?" Bobby cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

Paige: "You want us to have matching hair?"

Bobby: "We're crap buddies, remember? Share the pink pain." Bobby drained the glass and gave her a bright grin.

Paige: A slow smile spread on Paige's face. "Ok then. Crap buddies all the way. I'll make up more dye."

Bobby: Bobby cackled, victorious. Although... it still meant he'd have pink hair. Hmm.

Bobby: He shrugged and refilled his glass. "Ladies?" He shook the bottle at them, offering refills.

Rachel: Rachel held out her glass for the refill, "At least this time I'll have pink hair with you?"

Paige: Paige downed what was left of her's, then held out her glass as well.

Bobby: Bobby grinned and did a Jack Sparrow swagger over to them to top off their drinks. Noticing their ice had melted down, he wrinkled his nose. "Okay. Time for a hard decision. More ice, or should I frost the bottle so we don't dilute the alcoholic goodness?"

Rachel: She acted like she had to consider that, "Frost the bottle."

Paige: "Frost the bottle." Paige agreed.

Bobby: "Wise decision!" Bobby frosted the alcohol almost to the freezing point and refilled their cups.

Paige: Paige giggled and took a sip before going back to mixing up more pink for her and Bobby.

Bobby: Bobby sneaked up behind Paige and peered over her shoulder to watch. "So... what'cha dooooin? Does it, like, come in those colors? Or do you have to mix them?"

Paige: Paige jumped at sudden Bobby, but smiled at him over her shoulder. "I have to mix it myself. But there are certain bases...." She trailed off. He smelled delicious. BOBBY. She quickly looked back at what she was doing.

Rachel: Rachel started to reach up to touch her hair, and then she remembered that it'd be a bad idea. She let her hand drop and took a drink instead.

Bobby: "Bases?" He laughed, taking another drink. "First, second, third... it's a homer! What color's a homer?"

Paige: It took Paige a moment to answer him. "Yellow!"

Bobby: Bobby yeched, reaching over her to pick up another bottle to inspect.

Paige: Paige had to pause as he brushed against her. "You should come take my class. I can teach you to color your own hair pink, Bobberz." She got back to mixing.

Rachel: Rachel had another drink and looked over to the two, worrying her lip for a few moments. She finally asked, "So, you've just been, like... chilling in here? ...No pun intended."

Bobby: "No thanks, babe." He chuckled, putting the bottle back down. "Other than the boring color nature gave me, I've just had colored hair twice. Pink." Bobby moved back over to Rachel and flicked the back of her ear. "...and green. In high school."

Rachel: She swatted at his hand, making a slight face as she got her own ear.

Paige: Paige snickered and moved to them again. "Alright Bobby. You're first!"

Bobby: He was happy for the distraction. "Well, not in here. I went to see Pietro and Illyana. I've been pestering Paigey here."

Paige: "He's living on my couch. Now he'll blend right in." She poked him with a smile.

Rachel: "Like a ninja," Rachel grinned, "And, yeah... I more meant with Paige."

Bobby: "Yaaaaaay." Bobby stuck his tongue out at her and took another drink, kicking over a stool to sit down for her.

Paige: Paige handed off the dye to Rachel, still giggling.

Rachel: Rachel blinked as she was handed dyed, double checking to make sure she was actually going to take a drink from her glass and not it. "So I actually am doing this?"

Paige: "You're the artist and I can do my own hair, but it's a pain.... unless you're nervous... then just make his whole head pink."

Bobby: "I wouldn't be upset if you feel you're too drunk to do it..." He made a face. "Not the whole thing!"

Rachel: "Pfft, I'm totally up for trying it, drunk or not," she grinned, downing what was left in her glass. She found a spot for the glass and got up. Right. She could totally stand without swaying. However, Bobby's streaks may not end up very straight. She didn't need to admit that to him though.

Paige: "You are sooo not getting out of this that easily, Bobberz!"

Bobby: "Hey, it's not getting out, it's ... negotiation!" Bobby turned to look at Rachel, narrowing his eyes. "How many of me do you see, Rae?"

Rachel: "There's only one real you," she answered and started putting dye into his hair before there was more protesting.

Paige: "Oh don't be silly. You're going to look fabulous!" Paige giggled and downed her drink, handing him the bottle to re-ice.

Bobby: The dye was cold and he winced slightly, rolling his eyes upward as if he could see what she was doing to the top of his head. Noticing Paige, he waved her away and concentrated for a moment, frosting the bottle again.

Paige: "OK, so you don't even have to get up to refrost?! You are definitely the man." Paige poured herself another drink.

Bobby: Bobby gave her a cheesy grin. "But you do have to get up to fill me up..." He drained his glass and turned on his puppy eyes.

Rachel: "Oops," Rachel mumbled. She could fix that.

Bobby: "Oops?!" Bobby started to turn around again.

Paige: Paige melted at his puppy eyes and got up to refill his glass. Too cute! "Don't move! She warned him. "You could get pink eyebrows."

Bobby: He made a whining noise and downed half the drink.

Rachel: "Nothing," she assured him. The whole back of his head may just be pink. "Can I give you pink eyebrows?"

Bobby: "No." Bobby started to turn again.

Paige: "It would be so cute though!" Paige put her hand on his cheek to stop him from turning. "Sit still!"

Bobby: Bobby made a face, but he really was worried. He looked up at Paige, trying to figure out from her expression how bad it really was.

Rachel: Rachel made a bit of a face as she fudged a bit more. "Maybe I'd be better at this if I drank more," she mused.

Paige: Paige gave him nothing but a brilliant smile. "That is also possible."

Bobby: "Paaaaigey," he whined.

Paige: "Bobberrrzzzzz..."

Bobby: "Saaaave meee?"

Rachel: She paused in the dying and pulled her glass to her with her teke, tongue poking out slightly as she focused on lifting the bottle to refill it as well. "I don't even know why you're complaining. I let her do my entire head."

Paige: "I'm afraid I can only do one thing, sweetie... painting the Bobberz pink, we're painting the Bobberz pink!" She sang for him, letting her hand go from his cheek.

Bobby: Bobby dropped his head to his chest and mock cried. "I so need to be drunker..."

Rachel: Her face twisted as the bottle slipped, and she reached to catch it. Right. She totally didn't spill any of the vodka. She dangled the bottle in front of Bobby's face.

Paige: "See? Rachie fixed that for you." Paige beamed at him.

Rachel: "Now I just have to fix your hair."

Bobby: Bobby didn't even look up to take the bottle, but he had to in order to drink straight from it. "There. Now I have my petty revenge. My spit's on your bottle."

Paige: "Like that bothers us. I had lots of brothers, remember?"

Rachel: "Though, I suppose that means we get to drink you... in a way..." Rachel smirked as she took her glass from the air.

Paige: "Will it make you feel better if you get to color all of my hair, Bobberz?" Paige gave Rachel a disturbed face.

Rachel: She just gave Paige an innocent look in return, taking a drink. She set the glass aside before returning to Bobby's hair, settling for the suggestion of making his whole head pink.

Bobby: "Means you get to swap spit with me, I guess." He tipped his head back to give Rachel a dirty grin. "You know it's been a lifelong dream."

Rachel: Rachel gave him a grin of her own, "Oh, totally."

Paige: Paige fell into a fit of giggles at them, taking another drink.

Bobby: Paige's comment though, was intriguing. "Yes, yes it would."

Paige: She sighed. "Fiiiiiine, you can dye my hair next."

Rachel: She passed Bobby the dye since she'd finished, "Go for it."

Paige: Paige downed her drink. "Supervise?" She begged Rachel.

Rachel: "I'll supervise the vodka."

Paige: "Not what I meant!"

Rachel: She laughed, "I'm not going to go drink it alone."

Bobby: "Bwahahahah!" Bobby jumped up and grinned at Paige. "C'mere, babe, let me have my way with you."

Paige: Internally Paige flailed at that. But she sighed and wheeled over to him. "You'll be gentle?"

Bobby: "Oh, of course." Bobby looked into the bowl of pink crap and stirred it around a little. "Any way you like it."

Paige: Paige took another drink. Oh this was a horrible idea! He was lucky he was so cute!

Bobby: "But first," he finished off his drink and eyeballed Rachel with the bottle.

Rachel: Rachel had finished her glass and just moved onto snickering into the bottle at the conversation. Suddenly, she was aware of the look she was getting and gave a wary one in return. "...Whatever it is, no."

Bobby: "But you have something I need, babe." He grinned. This was... way too fun.

Rachel: She considered that, smirking, "Oh, really?"

Paige: Paige covered her face with her hands. Oh this was so bad.

Bobby: "Ya, rly." One corner of his mouth curled up and he raised an eyebrow at the bottle. "Unless you had something else in mind."

Paige: Paige whacked his leg a bit. "Focus!"

Bobby: "Perv!" Bobby flicked her hair. "I need a refill! She has bottle control!"

Paige: "Who is the perv? I want you to focus on my beautiful hair! If it's ruined I'll cry!"

Rachel: "Everyone in this school," she answered, refilling Bobby's glass.

Bobby: "Nooo, no crying." He smiled in thanks at Rachel and got to work. How the fuck did he do this? He'd helped color Lorna's hair a couple times... Bobby pushed that away.

Bobby: He took another drink and set down both the cup and the bowl to pick up her hair.

Rachel: "I'm going to second the no crying."

Paige: Paige was positive she could dye it back her brilliant blonde, but she didn't want to have to do that. Maybe Adam could help when he got back. "I make no promises."

Bobby: He decided to start from the bottom, because she had a damn lot of hair, and separated it out before he started to apply the pink.

Paige: Paige hid her face in her hands again. She didn't want to admit that it was nice to have him playing with her hair. Nope. Sure wasn't!

Rachel: "It doesn't look that bad..." Rachel assured her with an awkward pat to the shoulder.

Bobby: Bobby made a worried face at Rachel and kept going, trying to be gentle. "I'm not, like, ripping your hair out am I?"

Rachel: At the look from Bobby, she added, "And by that bad, I mean it doesn't look bad at all."

Paige: "No... no you're fine. I just can't look." Paige, on the other hand, was totally not fine. This was torture.

Bobby: "You've got a shitload of hair," he commented, pausing to take a drink and wondering if this made him one step closer to a gay hairdresser.

Paige: Paige peeked out through her fingers. "Sorry... does it look ok?" She wanted to look back at him, but resisted.

Rachel: "It totally looks fine," Rachel assured her and took another drink.

Bobby: "You'd look gorgeous with no hair, babe." He had no idea how it looked, other than that he was trying to not leave empty spots.

Paige: Paige giggled at him. He was such a flirt. "Of course I would."

Rachel: "Well, you didn't get to be Miss USA or whatever for no reason... so, yeah..."

Paige: "I got it because I'm so smart right?"

Bobby: A memory returned to him and he grinned. "So smart you kicked my ass in math, even."

Rachel: "You both kick my ass in math..."

Bobby: "That's because you just never did any," he said, poking his tongue out at Rachel.

Paige: "I totally did! It was the one class I was good at." Paige laughed happily.

Rachel: "I did some..." she paused, brow furrowing, "Or maybe that wasn't math..."

Bobby: Bobby smiled, looking down. He had considered bursting her bubble, but now he couldn't. Separating out more hair, he shifted to see the top of her head.

Paige: Paige dropped her hands to tilt her eyes up at him. He was going to look adorable!

Rachel: "Regardless, I did manage to graduate... and I wasn't even that traumatized by the end of it, which I consider a success."

Bobby: "And now you get to teach the next generation of impressionable youth. Yikes."

Rachel: "Well, the government gave you a job, so there's hope for me..."

Paige: "Or we're all just doomed...."

Rachel: "Aren't you supposed to be the optimistic one?"

Paige: "That is my optimism." Paige grinned at her.

Bobby: Bobby laughed and reached over to tip her head back... way too much hair. And she might kill him in his sleep if he missed spots...

Paige: Paige swallowed, concentrating on looking at a nice neutral spot on him. Chin? Neck? None of that was neutral!

Bobby: He noticed Paige watching him and met her eyes briefly to give her a reassuring smile.

Paige: Paige gave him a smile back. She could totally do this.

Bobby: Oops. Bobby made a face and tried to catch the drip. "Aheh..." He wiped her forehead with his thumb and went for another drink.

Paige: Paige shrieked. "Are my eyebrows pink now?!" Yeah that was a good coverup.

Bobby: "No! Nonono... it's cool!" Bobby tried to pat her without getting pink shit all over her.

Paige: Paige wrinkled her nose at him. She giggled agian. She couldn't stay mad at that face.

Rachel: After taking another drink, Rachel looked between them with a giggle of her own.

Bobby: He thought he was finished... taking another turn around her and then looking at Rachel with a bewildered shrug.

Paige: "Alright, I need to rinse your hair, Rachie!" Paige stumbled toward the sink, giggling again.

Bobby: "Need some walking lessons, Paigey?"

Paige: "Or a walker!" She giggled more.

Rachel: Rachel surrendered the bottle at that, not quite able to fathom how she'd drink it. Well, unless she chugged the rest. But sharing was good. "Cane. Then, you can beat students."

Paige: "Awwwww I can't beat my students!" Paige gave her a pouty look.

Bobby: Bobby happily accepted and followed them. "Good idea." He took a drink. "Oh, believe me, you'll want to."

Rachel: "You obviously haven't been called old as many times as I have."

Bobby: Bobby snorted.

Paige: "Actually everyone is surprised I'm a professor. Styger nearly kicked me out of the lounge."

Rachel: "I've been questioned about whether I have kids..." she shuddered. Then, she realized that probably wasn't something to complain about given Bobby's situation.

Bobby: Bobby made a face, covering it with another drink. Not. Thinking.

Paige: Paige didn't want to think of that either. She took another drink herself.

Rachel: Right. Subject change. She pondered one over another drink as well. "Though, I also got asked why I ever moved out..."

Bobby: He watched Paige, reaching over and giving her a squeeze on the shoulder.

Paige: Paige gave Bobby a half smile and a nod. She looked back to Rachel, laughing. "Though it doesn't really matter. Crazies find us anywhere."

Bobby: Bobby watched Paige start to rinse Rachel's hair out and admired the view, taking another drink.

Rachel: "Apparently," she replied, making a slight face at the water. Cold.

Paige: Paige noticed that too and turned the heat up a bit. She used the good shampoo that wouldn't wash out the dye on Rachel, scrubbing her hair. "This is my favorite part." She admitted to them.

Rachel: "My hair is pretty awesome," she grinned.

Bobby: "Washing people's hair?" Bobby cocked his head. "What if you had to wash skeezy people though?"

Paige: "Well nobody here is skeezy are they?" Paige flashed him a grin. "And it's just... I like playing with hair."

Bobby: "Remember Shaz?" Bobby grimaced, taking a drink.

Paige: Paige shuddered. "Ok. You win."

Rachel: "I try not to."

Bobby: "Well, I showered today, you can attest to that, right Paigey?" Rachel's hair was looking... really fucking pink.

Paige: Paige turned off the water. "Can you start blow drying while I do Bobby?"

Rachel: "Yeah, I can handle that part," she nodded and moved to get up.

Paige: Paige grinned. "Yeah you did." She patted the seat for Bobby to sit down.

Bobby: Bobby smirked. "Well, well, Paigey. I never knew..." He sat down, balancing his drink on his leg. He leaned back and looked up at her with a dirty grin.

Paige: Paige realized what she said and she tried to flash him a grin while blushing. She got him with cold water on his head.

Bobby: Wow, she got red. His grin got bigger and then he squeezed his eyes shut at the blast of water.

Paige: Paige smiled at that and got to rinsing his hair out.

Rachel: Rachel fumbled with the hair dryer a bit. She flicked it on and gave it a baffled look. Oh. Right. It had to be plugged in...

Bobby: Bobby opened one eye and determined it was safe to open the other. He checked out his handiwork on her head.

Paige: Paige didn't catch him looking as she was paying attention to making sure she got his hair well rinsed, taking her time. His hair was so soft. She used the good shampoo on him too, scrubbing it in.

Bobby: This was... kinda nice. And the vodka was making the room slowly rotate too. Oooo, floaty.

Paige: She took longer than necessary to scrub his hair, then got to work rinsing it out. "Almost done."

Bobby: He just closed his eyes and smiled stupidly.

Paige: Paige giggled at him and turned off the water, ready with the towel.

Bobby: Oh, the water was off. No Harveys. He drew in a breath and opened his eyes, sitting up slowly. "'Kay, now I'm drunk..."

Rachel: She flicked the hair dryer off, "Join the club."

Paige: "You weren't before?" Paige teased him, towel drying his hair.

Bobby: "Yeah, but now I'm like... having a hard time with words drunk." He leaned against Paige.

Paige: Paige patted him and ran her fingers through his hair again. "Well, let me dry your hair, then I'll get you to my bed... room. My bedroom."

Bobby: He giggled. Then he noticed Rachel. "Oh fuck, we all look like that?!"

Paige: "Easter egg club!"

[Svartfreja]

Inner Harvey is HIGHLY amused that Bobberz still worries about him popping out of pipes at the school. HAHAHAHA Also he thinks he might do that just to keep the fear alive.