4/21 Instance: The End of the Road

[Slarti]

Timelined after The Bitter End

<Hope> The police had taken the body and unconscious Dr. Rott out of the train station right about the time SHIELD and SWORD showed up. With her statement done, Hope was aware of being shoved into Bobby's truck. She leaned her head against the glass, barely remembering she was supposed to buckle up. Right. Because that mattered now.

<Bobby> Bobby looked at her through the glass after closing her door and then circled the truck to get in. He sighed, rubbing his hands against his jeans before he fitted the key into the ignition and started it up. "I have to take you to your dad, babe."

<Hope> Great. "Super." Hope sighed, leaning her head back against the head rest instead so it wouldn't smash against the glass. Her fingers slid over the car keys in her hand, tracing the outline of the fire extinguisher keychain. She remembered his face when he had received it, a look of confusion and underwhelment. She wanted to smile at the memory, but it just stung. She frowned instead.

<Bobby> "Right." He nodded to himself and headed out onto the road.

<Hope> "Eddie killed him," she told him softly. "Or so they told me. I didn't see it. He actually killed him..."

<Bobby> "That's what I heard." Killed him and ate his heart, specifically.

<Hope> "And they ate Johnny." She didn't care how many times Rott had protested that fact. She felt her stomach turn at the memory of Johnny's corpse.

<Bobby> "I know, babe... I'm so sorry." He glanced over at her.

<Hope> Sorry. Heh. Yeah. "So all of that... it was useless."

<Bobby> "All of what?"

<Hope> "Everything. All the searching... Eddie... leaving. I was so sure we'd find him in time."

<Bobby> He sighed. "Sometimes, shit just happens and we can't stop it." Unbidden, a memory of Sam rose in his mind and he made a face. "But Eddie... he's gone off the fucking rails, man."

<Hope> "He threatened to kill me too. If I got in his way," she admitted. "And I just keep thinking that maybe if we had gone after these guys from the beginning, Johnny would be alive. None of this would have happened."

<Bobby> "Yeah... he's... gone. At this point, we need to find him just to contain him. But he won't fucking get anywhere near you now, believe me," he said, with a hard look.

<Bobby> Bobby shook his head, then went on in a softer tone. "We didn't even know who they were at first."

<Hope> "I thought he was my best chance. At finding him." Well he had been. They had gotten there ahead of the x-men after all. It hadn't done Johnny any good, and she was so consumed with her loss that she had completely missed Jamie being nearby. Some friend she was.

<Bobby> "Yeah his methods turned out real well," he snorted bitterly.

<Hope> Hope glanced over at Bobby, then stared out the window again. It should have been her, not Johnny. She had Tony who barely cared, but he had his parents and his sister. She swallowed hard and sighed. "Yeah. I'm not going to hunt for him."

<Bobby> "Damn right you're not. He's SWORD's problem now, and my job is to keep you safe from him and people like him." He glanced over at her again. "Which... would be easier if you didn't run away."

<Hope> "So you don't want to go off and catch him? Much more exciting."

<Bobby> Since Bobby had been at SHIELD when the call had come in that the X-Men had found Hope, he had missed the party. Not that he was too upset from what he'd heard so far. "I'll leave him to Darren. You're my priority."

<Hope> Hope let out a half snort. "Yeah, because I'm going anywhere." She'd be lucky if she got to leave the mansion or Tony's at all. It was an odd feeling that she wasn't quite sure how she felt knowing that she had to answer to someone.

<Bobby> "Not without me you're not." He looked over again.

<Hope> Unable to resist the eye roll, Hope rested her head against the glass again. "I'm not going to Babies R Us with you."

<Bobby> "No? But they have toys." He shot her a broad grin.

<Hope> Baby toys. Hope just stared out the window, her fingers going to the ring on her hand. How long should she keep it on? He hadn't even technically given it to her. Now what was she supposed to do? Hope sighed again. "And good luck finding Eddie. I don't think you will."

<Bobby> "We'll see, I guess." Bobby drove in silence for a while, then sighed. "Hope, I know I'm not your favorite person, but if you need to talk..."

<Hope> "And what would you call what we've been doing?"

<Bobby> "Well, good to see you haven't broken your smartass bone."

<Hope> "Good thing too. Powers haven't come back in yet. Couldn't heal it otherwise."

<Bobby> "Effects of those darts shouldn't last too long." He glanced over again, chewing his lip. "I'm serious, Hope... you've done things now... saw how Eddie went... and I've been there too... so if you want to talk about it, I'm here."

<Hope> "Is any of that going to bring back Johnny?" She glanced over at him again, head off the window.

<Bobby> He sucked his teeth, rolling his eyes. "Nope, and not saying it will, but it might stop you from following Eddie off the deep end."

<Hope> "Thought I already did that," she pointed out. "Except I didn't kill my target."

<Bobby> "Thank God you didn't, and that's what means you haven't."

<Hope> "If he gets out on parole...." she shook her head then rested it against the glass again. She might track him down and finish the job.

<Bobby> He laughed. "Yeah, the place he's going doesn't have parole, babe."

<Hope> Somewhat of a relief. Hope let out a bit of a sigh. "Good." She paused a bit, glancing back over at him. "I am sorry for taking off. He was leaving... it was an impulse."

<Bobby> Bobby looked over, smiling a little. "Yeah... you were desperate, I get it... you thought I didn't care. We were looking in other ways, though. The X-Men and SHIELD. I probably could have been more clear on that."

<Hope> "Teagan made it very clear that the X-Men don't care. I wanted to change that... and fix that. I wanted to get there in time."

<Bobby> He winced. "Teagan was wrong, though I'm sure she believed what she said."

<Hope> She watched Bobby for a moment before staring out at the road. They did always find their missing, but it was sometimes too late. "Once we're done at Tony's... I'm turning in my uniform."

<Bobby> Bobby looked over at her, hand tightening on the wheel.

<Hope> "So like I said. I won't be going anywhere."

<Bobby> At this point, telling her they'd probably take her uniform anyway wouldn't do her any good. "You should take some time anyway."

<Hope> "I'm sure I'll be grounded until I'm 30."

<Bobby> "Tony's saved up all the groundings he would have given you all your life to unleash now, most likely." He cocked his head, turning toward their destination. "Or at least that's what I would do."

<Hope> "Guess we'll find out soon enough." She ran her fingers through her hair. It was so strange to actually have a parent, let alone one who would punish her. Maybe Tony wouldn't. He hadn't exactly done anything before.

[Chaos]

Oh, sure, let's forgive the X-Force, but not Eddie! >_>

...hm.

...theeeen again, I WAAAS there for, you know, everything AFTER this. With Mel...

...

...still, my point stands! K-kinda...

[TechPrincess]

[Chaos]

INVALIDATION INVALIDATED

[Ferguson]

I had things to say, then the comments got me.