Timelined the day after Le Creme De L'amour.
<@Bobby> Now that his headache was mostly gone and classes over for the day, Bobby decided it was back to work. His real work. He climbed the creaky steps up to the garage loft and knocked. Shave-and-a-hair-cut.
<Darren> No-legs. Darren opened the door, mohawk flopping lazily over his face, one of the school cats perched on his shoulder, "Heeey, it the boss himself," he grinned, "Sel! Bobby's here, you wanna coffee man, or something stronger?" He bade Bobby to come in.
<@Bobby> "Hey, man." Bobby returned the grin and followed, shaking his head. "Nothing stronger for a while, dude. We partook last night and I'm still paying for it."
<Selene> "Coffee it will be then, I assume." Selene entered from their office and put the tablet computer back in its leather case. She smiled. "Hello, Bobby."
<@Bobby> "Hey, Sel." He looked around the apartment a bit and smiled. "Coffee is good. And since black is your color, I'll have it that way." Bobby gave her a wink.
<Selene> "You display excellent taste," Selene replied, placing the tablet on the nearby shelf. "Have Darren find a free chair for you while I put on a fresh pot."
<Darren> "Eh, pick any seat you want, if there's a cat or bunny on it just shove them off," Darren flopped down into an armchair, the cat leaping off his shoulders and stalking out of an open window while Spooks the bunny hopped up to Bobby and delicately sniffed his shoelace.
<Darren> "You and Lorna making merry last night? And you didn't invite us? We're saddened, aren't we my love, sad and disappointed not to be invited to come and laugh at your drunk face."
<@Bobby> Bobby smiled down at the bunny and scooped him up as he plopped into a chair. The wiggly little thing was cute. Furry. Soothing. "Oh, we had the students for that. It was more of an impromptu gathering... they were getting drunk to blow off steam so we did too. But Kevin underestimates his strengths... forget powers, he could kill anybody with his drinks!"
<Selene> "I'm quite sure we'll find the memories of that night on our student's social media sites soon enough," Selene said, returning after she had prepared the coffee machine to brew another pot.
<Darren> "t's always the quiet ones ya gotta watch out for, they'll drink ya under the table and steal your man card why you're not looking, man," Darren sat forwards in his chair, "So, how're you holding up man, with all this bullshit?" He waved a hand to indicate the current biblical situation going on, "We should at least have a staff meeting or something, seems like ol' Chuckles is just sitting on his ass about this."
<@Bobby> He chuckled, before his eyes sharpened. "Yeah, he's been pretty hands-off. It's weird." Bobby looked down and petted the bunny a bit, rubbing a knuckle under its jaw. "Oh, I'm holding. How about you two? The extra time at the monitors is important, but... it feels kind of useless."
<@Bobby> "Feels like there should be something more we could be doing."
<Selene> "Absolutely," Selene agreed, clearing a chair of some papers and files before sitting down herself. "The anxiety and restlessness of the students is quite palpable. The fruitless patrols aren't helping their spirits, either."
<Darren> "Yeah, government and military are coming up with jack-shit too, whoever or whatever this 'Apocalypse' is, they're good, but we knew that already from their strategy, nothing'll demoralise you like having to fight your friends, and getting your ass handed to you in the process," Spooks' eyes closed and he snuggled down into Bobby's lap, in obvious approval of the petting.
<@Bobby> "Patrols, drills, watching, waiting. Waiting for them to come pick us off one at a time. Or four at a time." Bobby sighed and smiled a bit at the rabbit, keeping up the attention.
<Selene> "And while I generally like to bring down the mood, this does raise another unfortunate point." Selene crossed her legs and leaned back, one of the cats sneaking around her shoulders. "Even provided we do find a way to catch up with our friends, I'm afraid we'd be out-gunned. If Clarice and Reed's condition is any indication to go by, that is."
<Darren> "Yeah, no way should those two have been able to take down a whole squad by themselves," Darren shook his head, "It's Hope that I'm worried about, from what I know about her raw abilities, boosted like that I'm not even sure if even us three and Lorna would be able to go toe-to-toe ... but don't let the kids know I said that, they gotta have faith in us and themselves."
<@Bobby> "Well, and that's kind of what I wanted to talk about. Um..." He took a deep breath and started. "Well, we all know this old grey mare ain't what she used to be." He stopped scritching the bunny. "He. Stallion." Bobby shook it off and looked up at them. He ran his tongue over his teeth.
<@Bobby> "Sorry, I'm babbling." Bobby half smiled. "Making it a joke. It's my best defense mechanism, especially these days."
<Selene> "So you suggesting we take Farouk's old hunting rifle and get you out behind the barn?" Selene smirked, reaching up to caress the cat's cheek.
<Darren> Darren snorted, "What? Again, well if we're getting Farouk's gun you can retrieve it from it's hiding place between the rolls of blubber, babe."
<@Bobby> "Not so much," he snorted. "I'm talking about Danger. Whatever happened that day in training. You know what I'm talking about, Dare." Bobby licked his lips and shifted, absently petting. "I've tried to fix it myself and Danger swears she didn't do anything that should have caused a power loss."
<Darren> "Yeah, I remember," that lovely, sordid, skeevy adventure with Danger still made him twitch on occasion, no matter how professional their relationship may have become since, "it's .... pretty bizarre huh?"
<Selene> "Indeed, it's puzzling you're still affected by that experience," Selene said. "So, is this the reason why you're here? Well, that and McCoy's unfortunate timing when it comes to scheduling his own abduction."
<@Bobby> "Well, and McCoy wasn't any help. He tested me years ago and told me I had 'no upper limits' to my powers." Bobby looked back down and stroked the bunny's ears. "He tested me again about a year ago. Same results, but that can't be right."
<Darren> "So, what exactly are we saying here?" Darren asked, getting to his feet as he heard the coffee pot click, "Your powers are still there, you just can't use them?"
<Selene> "And you're suspecting a non-somatic cause, because all these tests already ruled those out, am I correct," Selene asked, a curious look on her face as she tilted her head.
<@Bobby> "I don't know. I mean, we know what I used to be capable of." Bobby looked at Darren flatly. "When I had your dad's super bee flu. Even before that. The first time we encountered that fucker Essex."
<@Bobby> Bobby stared past them to the wall. "It'd help. I mean, it'd be good for us to have an edge. If I could still do what I could do then... well, this shit could be over fast. Nobody else would have to get hurt."
<Darren> Darren looked away at the mention of his dad and left the room, returning in a few moments with three mugs of coffee which he duly handed out before settling down again, "Fuck knows we need everything we've got, I can see this whole situation going Michael Bay before it's over ... so you want my fair, lady wife to take a look at it?"
<Selene> "Thanks, love," Selene said, a small smile on her lips as she took the offered mug of coffee. "I assume the least I could do is see if there is any mental problem that should keep you from accessing your potential - or would require you to wear a helmet when leaving the house."
<@Bobby> "Well," he laughed, taking the mug with a nod of thanks and a somewhat apologetic glance. "Some people would argue I've needed that helmet for years." Bobby took a drink. "But yeah, could you, Sel?"
<@Bobby> "I mean, when I first heard we got Rae back I hoped..." He trailed off. "She's been in here before." Bobby tapped his temple, tone softening. "But she never woke up. And now she's gone again."
<Darren> "If anyone can figure this out, Sel can," Darren said, a touch of pride in his voice as he nodded at his wife, "and then with any luck, Iceman can help us go get Rae and the others back, and kick the shit outta anyone who stands in our way."
<Selene> After taking a sip from her coffee, Selene bit her lip and fixed Bobby with a thoughtful look. "Now, if that isn't a worthy goal, no?" She placed her mug on the small table next to her chair. "Hopefully, all that confidence in my abilities won't be misplaced. Ah, who am I kidding, of course it's not, I'm merely being humble."
<@Bobby> "It's a very worthy cause, I think." Bobby straightened in his chair and took a last drink himself before setting the mug down. He smirked at Selene. "Just don't give me any lemon-related compulsions, okay?"
<Selene> "I'll do my best to resist the temptation." She returned the smirk. "Why don't you sit a little closer - physical contact may not be required, but it's immensely helpful."
<@Bobby> "Oh, come on, you just want to touch the guns." He gave her a dirty grin and flexed.
<Darren> "Try to resist the urge to give him any subliminal desires to dress in Lorna's sausage costume and sing Oklahoma too, unless of course I'm there to film it for posterity," Darren snickered, leaning back in his chair to observe proceedings.
<Selene> "You're not exactly making this easier," Selene said, smiling at the other two. Then she took a deep breath, leaned forward, and took Bobby's hand in hers. "Try to empty your mind. That shouldn't prove too difficult, I'd fathom."
<Darren> Darren snorted at that, then covered his mouth quickly, "Sorry, I'll be quiet now."
<@Bobby> He raised his eyebrow at her and made a face at Darren. "But it makes it easier for us. Obviously." Bobby took a deep breath of his own, that hitched a bit in the middle. "One thing... you won't, like, try to see anything you don't need to? I mean..."
<@Bobby> He scrubbed his free hand through his hair. If she saw his plans, what would she do? "I just... you know... it's..."
<Selene> "Don't worry, I'll retreat as soon as I catch even a glimpse of anything involving green hair - or any other colour, for that matter." Selene closed her eyes and focused, then used her connection to Bobby to reach out with her mind, letting it slowly drift into his. "Now think back to the incident with Danger."
<@Bobby> Bobby closed his eyes with a nod and did as he was told. She wouldn't just poke around. She wouldn't. She said she wouldn't. Would she? What would he do if she did? How would he even know?
<Selene> Memories floated past her at the speed of thought. One by one, she dismissed them as nonrelevant to the problem at hand. "Very unusual," she commented a little later. "Somewhat disturbing, too. But back to your problem for now..." Selene attempted to decrypt in which way Bobby's mind interacted with his powers, to know where she had to look.
<@Bobby> "Disturbing? What's disturbing?" Bobby tensed, eyes squeezing tight. He wasn't so good at this blank thing after all, and this definitely wasn't helping.
<Selene> "Ah, nothing important," Selene assured Bobby, her expression straining slightly as she dug deeper into the mechanics of his mind. "Well, I may not be a trained neurologist, but judging from what's going on in your mind, I'd say that your brain should work within normal parameters. Relatively speaking, of course."
<Darren> "Brain and powers? So it was all in his head all along? What is this, a Shamallamadingdong movie where the answer is mind over matter?" Darren snorted from his chair.
<Selene> "The mind and the body are one, dear," Selene explained, still keeping her eyes closed. "This is of special importance for consciously controlled abilities such as Bobby's here." A frown clouded her expression. "It may be too early to tell without some thorough counseling, but there should be no physical problem holding you back."
<Selene> "I'd go as far to say the problem appears to be of mental or emotional nature," she added.
<@Bobby> "....so that helmet's not such a bad idea after all?" Bobby sighed, his hand slipping out of Selene's. "Well, fuckadoodledoo."