Capitol Offense

Posted on Sat Dec 9th, 2023 @ 8:14pm by Bobby Drake & Ethan Hale

Mission: Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: Albany New York
Timeline: August 19th, 1990

Ethan, who had been kept in a cage much of his life could sleep in just about any position, though his favorite position was on his side, almost in a fetal position with his wings covering his torso. Noise. Weather. Surrounded by other people. None of those things could keep him from falling asleep.

But nightmares could.

He was having one where he killed Apex. The dream seemed both graphic and detailed. It was so realistic because it had already happened.

He woke up with a start drenched in sweat and knew he could not go back to sleep. He opened a window, contorted his way through, and flew down by the pool. He needed to clear his head and wanted to be alone.

Bobby was still at the poolside long after everyone else had thrown in the towel for the evening. Sleep was something he was avoiding. His amnesia was gone but the trauma that caused it remained. When he closed his eyes, it was there waiting for him.

The party had been a fun distraction but now he was alone. Cleanup hadn't taken too much time — he'd gathered the empty bottles for later reuse and disintegrated the rest of the trash by cold snapping it at the molecular level and shattering it into smithereens. Now a chilly poolside on a dark night was the only thing left to him.

What was this? The winged guy has flown down from his room. "Hey," said Bobby. "Ethan, right? I thought everyone went to bed so I cleaned up a little." On a second glance, he could see Ethan looked troubled. "You alright, dude? Look like you saw a ghost."

Ethan hadn't been expecting anyone else to be there, especially one of the founding members of the X-Men, so it took a few seconds before he responded.

"No, not really," he admitted. "I had a really bad nightmare. Ghosts are exactly what I'm seeing. I'm supposed to be some kind of hero, some kind of advocate but I'm just pretending at that. A hero doesn't kill people, not without some real reason."

What started as a simple reply had turned into a word vomit. Bobby blinked at the admission as he tried to process it. This Ethan guy killed someone? That was rough. "Never easy to watch someone die," he said lowly. "Did he have it coming at least?"

"One of them did," Ethan said, "the other just got in my way."

"Yeah? Come talk to me when you accidentally kill your own dad." Bobby froze. He'd never told anyone that apart from the Professor and a couple of old teammates. "Shit happens. You deal with it and move on, or you're better off dead too." There was a distinct lack of conviction in his voice though.

Reflexively Ethan reached out a hand and put it on the other X-Man's shoulder. "I thought I had it bad. I can't imagine what that would be like. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Bobby didn't brush Ethan's hand off, but he did turn away slightly which put his shoulder out of reach. "What's past is past and no amount of talking can change it." He looked into Ethan's eyes. "Tomorrow never comes either. All we get is right now. We either live it up or we let it slide away. No regrets, that's my motto."

Ethan didn't try to push things by reaching for Bobby's shoulder again He did have some social awareness and picked up on Iceman's cue.

"I agree about tomorrow not coming. I feel the same. Not sure about the no regrets though. That's what gives me nightmares."

If there was one thing Bobby knew well, it was nightmares. He just shrugged while looking away.

"But," Ethan continued, "I'm not going to get back to sleep anytime soon and from the looks of it, neither are you. You want to go someplace, somewhere far away?"

Bobby grinned. "Like a race? I haven't had a good race in a while."

"That wasn't exactly what I meant, I was thinking about going some and findings some bad guys and kicking their asses. But sure, we could do a race. Though you'd probably beat me."

That was an unexpected suggestion. Bobby wasn't the violent type. "You want to kick ass? Go live your best life. Some asshole or another will always show up and try to take it away. Then you fight for it." Then he grinned, jumped in the air, and slid away on his ice sled at high speed.

Without another thought or argument, Ethan leaped into the air and started flying. He pushed himself hard. He was highly competitive and hated to lose.

The undulating rhythm of Bobby's ice slide let him reach breakneck speeds. Up, down, side to side, the weaving yaw propelled him faster and faster. A frosty trail of ice particles filled his wake as he let the bridge dissipate behind him. It left an easy trail for Ethan to follow.

"Move your ass, Gryphon!" he shouted into the night sky like a smartass Santa Claus.

Ethan was beginning to tire, but there was no way he was going to let Bobby know that. So, reached down, finding some inner strength and a new resolve and began beating his wings faster and harder.

And so they went on for miles and miles, with Bobby goading and Ethan pressing at his heels. Laughter filled the air. Half an hour had passed before Bobby slowed, eventually coming to a stop so Ethan could catch up. "Not bad, rookie," he teased.

Ethan's breathing was ragged for several minutes. "Rookie? Yeah maybe to the X-Men, but I'm not wet behind the ears at least.

Pointing down at the city below them, Bobby said, "See that big fancy building down there in the middle of the skyscrapers? That's the state house. Think you can beat me there from here?"

By the time the challenge was issued, Ethan had returned to full strength. But, he was also starving.
"Sure, I'm game for that. But we have to find a Denny's or someplace else that is open. I'm starving. How about loser pays for dinner?"

"Deal."

But Bobby darted off without hesitation. Rather than a straight line, he twisted his ice sled into a wide corkscrew down to the state house roof. A loud whoop rang out through the sky.

Ethan too had been ready before the words were out of his mouth. A split second after Bobby slid away, he leaped in the air. He took the more direct route, and once more pushed himself hard. He beat his own flying speed, getting up to 100 miles per hour. Bobby did beat him, but just barely. A fraction of a second later and it would have been Ethan who won. "Looks like I'm buying dinner. You really are good you know."

"I got something better than dinner," Bobby said. "Come on." He led Ethan across the state house rooftop toward a small enclosure. "Hope it's still here..." The enclosure led to an outdoor supply closet that looked like it hadn't been used in years. There wasn't even a knob on the door. Bobby popped it open and let out a whooping cheer. "Yes! We're in luck!"

There was a block of ice that was a perfect 3x3x3 cube. Holding out his hands with a magician's flourish, Bobby made the ice vaporize in a mist. Once the fog cleared away, all that was left was a giant glass carboy filled with a dark amber liquid. "It took me a hundred tries to figure out the right way to do it, but I finally mastered the perfect cold brew." He hoisted up the carboy with both arms, as it weighed a good sixty pounds. "Take a swig!"

Ethan quirked his brow uncertainly before his curiosity and sense of adventure took over. He took a long swallow. Still being underage with not a lot of experience didn't know what it was, but could taste a hint of honey and he thought it was the best drink ever.

It wouldn't replace the calories that his body needed, but, it was delightfully delicious.

"Oh, man, that is good. How long did you take to make this?"

"Takes a few months," Bobby said. "Mostly because it's almost pure alcohol at first. Takes a while for the cryofiltration to evaporate it into the outer ice casing and gaseous exchange through the glass condensation. Hank helped me figure out the hard part. Once he realized what all my science questions were for, he made me swear not to keep any at the school, so I've got stashes all over the place now just waiting for the right time." He took the carboy back and drank deeply himself. "Aw yeah. That's gooood. Don't drink too much... the honeyed hops will hit your stomach hard if you aren't careful."

"Who wants to be careful?" Ethan joked taking another sip of the nectar. "I've never been drunk before. But, seriously we should get something to eat. My metabolism is off the charts. It means I heal and recover quickly, but I've got to eat. A lot. At least like four meals a day."

"Fast metabolism, huh?" Bobby took another swig and handed the massive carboy back. "This stuff ain't a Red Bull. Too much of the honey and hops make regular people sick due to the high calories but if you're just going to burn them off, then drink up."

Ethan had been honest when he'd said he'd never drunk before, but he was a pretty bright teenager and thought it wasn't a good idea to be drinking on an empty stomach, especially a potent brew like the one Bobby was handing to him. Nevertheless, he ignored the little warning bells in the back of his head, he took the carboy back and took two very long swallows.

Feeling the very beginning of a buzz and not sure what he was experiencing he leaned forward into Bobby's personal space. "So, can I ask you something personal? Then before he was given permission he continued, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nothing serious," Bobby answered honestly. "Nothing that seems to last. But that's alright. Life is too short for drama anyway."

"I've never had a girlfriend," Ethan admitted, "because I'm not interested in girls. I had a boyfriend once, ages ago. Does that bother you?"

Bobby shrugged casually while avoiding Ethan's sightline. "Whatever floats your boat."

"Not everyone feels that way, Bobby." Ethan turned pensive. "They think there is something wrong with me. That I need to change. But I can't I've tried. Not everyone is like that but the majority are."

"To hell with them then," Bobby said. "You're alright by me." He looked away completely and then pointed. "There's a 7-11 way down there. You talking about food made me feel peckish too." And with no other warning than that, Bobby slid the carboy back into the closet and jumped off the roof. A frigid stream of frost encased the carboy back into a block of ice just as Bobby disappeared over the edge, falling backward with finger guns out stretched.

"Fuck that," Ethan muttered under his breath and flew down from the roof. He was assuming Bobby was going to the 7-11, he'd mentioned and headed in that direction. Hoping to spot him along the way.

The trail of laughter and ice took a sharp dive to the alley behind the 7 -11 sign that glowed a neon welcome. Both trails cut out several feet above the rooftop with no telling where Bobby landed.

"So, we're playing hide and seek now are we?" Ethan said a little too loudly. He landed right at the corner of the building near the alley and began looking around. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he said with a laugh.

A Bobby-shaped outline popped out right in front of Ethan with hands outstretched but it was only a hollow ice replica. Bobby's voice came from behind Ethan. "Think fast!"

Ethan whirled around bringing his wings out in front of him in a defensive gesture. His sweeping the alley for his new ally.

Half a dozen more brittle ice sculptures surrounded Ethan holding different poses of the Macarena dance. Bobby jumped out of the dark and shouted, "Hey, Macarena!" At his outburst, the ice structures shattered like glass, falling to the ground in shards that made tinkling sounds as they collapsed into powdery heaps.

Ethan laughed at Bobby's creativity. "Cute," he said. "Very cute. I mean your little dance thing. I wasn't saying you were cute." He stopped himself from adding anything further to his slip of the tongue.

Bobby's laughter caught in his throat, making him dry swallow. "Come on," he said, rushing toward the door without his former bravado. "They got hot dogs, nachos, burritos, all the good junk food."

"Just what the doctor ordered," Ethan said as the two moved inside. If he noticed Bobby's discomfort he didn't show it. He knew that two mutants entering a store would no doubt cause a reaction of some kind, he activated the suit so that he now looked more like the famous Angel and less like his old self.

He moved towards where all the snacks were placed feeling the eyes of the two clerks and most of the customers inside the building on both him and Bobby. He looked over at the other teen, "Looks like we have an audience now."

Instincts were hard to ignore, especially when refined over time and experience. Bobby had only taken a few steps before his instincts screamed at him.

"I don't think they're looking at us," Bobby started to say.

"Hands!" shouted someone from the corner. "Show me your hands and get over with the others."

Out of all the places in Albany, they had walked into the middle of a robbery in progress.

Ethan's eyes cut between Bobby and the robbers. "Really?" he asked flexing his wings. "You need to put down that shotgun before we take it from you and beat you over the head with it."

"Shuttie and do what you're told!" said another voice. "Hands up and get against the wall with the others!"
The air began to turn cold.

"I have a better idea," Bobby said. "Everyone goes home and no one gets hurt."

Although he put his hands up, there was no more dangerous position for them to be.

"Do what you're told or get popped." The man pointed his shotgun straight at Bobby.

"You do realize that we're mutants right?" Ethan asked condescendingly. "You pop us if you want. It isn't going to kill me. It will probably hurt like hell, but that will only piss me off, and it probably wouldn't hurt my friend at all. I'd take him up on that offer he just made. You don't want to see me angry."

A gunshot rang out. One at first, followed by others. The handful of customers in the 7-11 at that hour screamed in terror, but none of the bullets found their targets. Walls of ice had erupted into place all the visible hostages as well as Bobby and Ethan themselves

"Our turn," Bobby said with a grin.

Being in a confined space as they were in the store meant Ethan couldn't fly, his main means of attack. But years of training and months of real-life conflicts and altercations had readied him for such a situation.

The first thing he did, which took almost no time was to drop his projected image and return to his natural appearance. He grinned like his teammate and extended his claws to their full five inches. Then he advanced toward the closest robber, who was holding a shotgun.

"Put the gun down and you still get to walk away. If I cut you with these, a toxin enters your bloodstream and you'll be dead within minutes." That wasn't strictly true, but the gunman would have no way of knowing that. To illustrate his point he secreted some of the toxin and let a few drops fall on the floor. "Your move."

But there was another robber who raised a handgun at Ethan's back. Bobby jumped into action, sliding up underneath the other man. His gun had reached subzero temperatures in a snap freeze and kept dropping from there. Too cold to hold without suffering frostbite, the man had no choice but to drop his weapon. By the time the gun hit the floor, it shattered into pieces like porcelain instead of blue steel. Bobby jumped up from his crouched slide with an uppercut that knocked the disarmed man off his feet. On the man's way to the ground, Bobby formed a sledgehammer of ice in his hands and brought it down on the man's chest.

"Stay down," he said before turning back to see how Ethan was faring.

The man with the shotgun had thought to seize his opportunity when his friend attempted an ambush. He fired a round, missed, tried to butt stroke Ethan with the shotgun stock, and racked a new shell in a swift motion.

Ethan gave a relieved sigh, as he felt shotgun pellets pass within inches of his body. The pistol Bobby had destroyed would have been less problematic than the shotgun at this range. Giving the man another chance at hitting him wasn't an option. He let the butt of the gun hit him deliberately. It hit him square in the chest a blow that would have taken a normal person down but barely phased him. He grabbed for the shotgun with one hand and brought his other hand, claws fully extended aiming at his opponent's face.

As the man wrestled for control, the claw slice caught the shotgun mid-barrel and sliced it into a sawed-off configuration. It was the man's saving grace, otherwise, his face would have been degloved. As it was, the man wouldn't be modeling magazine covers. One side of his face opened up in blood. His eyes dilated and he toppled over.

"Shit!" Bobby dropped cash on the counter, grabbed some protein drinks out of the cooler, and ran toward the door. "Cheese it, dude!"

Ethan, in the heat of the moment, hesitated. He was looking to end the fight right then and there, but he pulled himself out of his reverie and sprinted towards the exit.

"He's not dead," he huffed out as he and Bobby stepped out into the night.

"Right," Bobby said, "but do you think the cops will stop and check before trying to take you down?"

Bobby handed off one of the protein drinks and grabbed Ethan to drag him along his ice sled. They rushed up the alley, weaved sideways, went up two blocks, pitched sideways, raced down another alley, shot up over a chain-link fence, accelerated even faster on the downturn, slid up a spontaneously generated ice ramp up to an overpass, dodged traffic on the eight-lane highway, and finally dropped down into the gap when the highway divided into different directions.

"We should be safe here," Bobby said. They'd landed in a narrow space beneath the raised highway that could only be seen from above. Anyone observing from the ground would have to search every nook and cranny between each concrete support pillar. "Drink up," he said, popping the top on his own protein shake.

Ethan mirrored Bobby's actions and gulped down his drink in three long shadows. Then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and belched. Then his expression turned serious. "How do you think the authorities are going to spin this?"

"Depends," Bobby shrugged. "There are cameras, witnesses, hopefully surviving thugs. If their stories don't mesh, then it's anybody's guess." He gave Ethan a smirk. "Hey, you handled yourself pretty good in there. Dodging a shotgun at point blank is damn near impossible."

Ethan returned the smirk with one of his own. I didn't exactly dodge it, or I only partially dodged it to be accurate. I've got a bunch of pellets in my side and it's going to sting for a couple of hours then I should be fine."

"Holy shit!" Bobby exclaimed at the news Ethan was carrying buckshot in his side.

"Thanks for the compliment. You still consider me a rookie?"

Bobby pulled at Ethan's shirt with subdued concern for his well-being. "You should have said something, dude! Let me see that wound!"

Ethan's left wing lifted about half a foot before falling back down again, his way of shrugging. He shifted his position to give Bobby easier access. Ethan was thin though he was not skinny. He didn't have a six-pack and never would, but his stomach was flat with muscles just beneath the surface. His torso was smooth and if hadn't been for the gunshot wound would have been flawless.

The wound might have been fatal if he'd been a normal human, he would have at least been in a hospital in serious or critical condition. He wasn't normal though. Nevertheless, the wound looked nasty enough. His left side from just below the level of his heart, to somewhere below his waist that Bobby couldn't discern was covered in deep rich blood. Bobby could see and Ethan could feel the buckshot covering about half the wounded area.

"Damn..." Bobby muttered. "Let me try something..." He placed his hand on Ethan's side and closed his eyes. With great concentration, he forced ambient moisture into Ethan's skin and made it saturated with more water than it could naturally hold. His flesh would have begun leaking if not for the freezing temperature. Ice shards bonded with the pellets and were forced out in a cold, hard sweat. "Hopefully you heal as good as you say you do," Bobby said, "or you're going to have frostbite." The pellets began clinking onto the ground.

Ethan, knowing what he did about Bobby shouldn't have been surprised at all, by the older teen's actions, but he was.

"Damn that's cold," he said, "but I like. You're quite the medic. It hurts a lot less too. Don't worry about me though. In an hour or two, I'll be good as new. Probably be sore for another day or so, but I'll be able to function. You know once I snuck out and went to this bar in Greenwich and got in a fight. I was able to cover that up. I don't think that's possible here. What are we going to say when we get back home?"

"Say?" Bobby repeated incredulously. "We don't say shit to anybody unless we get accused of something. And you say you've sneaked out before." He let out a chuckle. "Not one word."

"Yeah, it's a long story," Ethan said. "Let's just say I didn't have much freedom growing up and I didn't care much for it. And I'm something of a daredevil. But you're right we should keep our mouths shut."

"Good." Bobby looked relieved.

"Do you want to go home or are you thirsty for more?"

"More iceshine?" Bobby smirked. "That's what I call my little concoction. We could go get more if you wanted but we need to be able to make it back home."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "That's a quote from a movie, Bobby. I meant more action. But, hey, I'm easy. If you want more booze, who am I to argue?"

"I guess I'm just a little amped," Bobby said. "That...that was the first action I've seen since." He fell quiet for a moment while a shadow passed over his face. "Since coming back."

"Are you sure it's not something more than being amped? You looked kind of funny there for a minute."

Bobby looked a little guilty like maybe he'd been caught. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Ethan replied his expression turning serious as he reached out a hand and put it on Bobby's shoulder. "Kind of like you'd seen a ghost, or were afraid you were going to."

"I... I..." He looked down at Ethan's hand on his shoulder again, but rather than shrug it off, he took the other young man by the face and kissed him. "I don't ever want to talk about it," he seethed in an angry, agonizing whisper. "Not ever!" He kissed Ethan longer this time before breaking away and speeding off on his ice sled.

Ethan hadn't just been surprised by the kiss, he'd been shocked by it. Sure, he'd been flirting with him. A little. Sort of. But it had been mostly teasing or brought on by the booze he'd been drinking. He was pretty sure that Bobby was straight, maybe an ally, but straight.

Then suddenly the kiss. And not just a single kiss, but two of them.

These thoughts went through his head in a matter of seconds, instinct kicking in even while the thoughts were still going on. "Wait, Bobby, wait," he called out and started flying toward him at top speed.

But Bobby was speeding away. There were no corkscrews or playful zigzagging. Just an undulating contrail that headed roughly south, away from the city. It went for miles before taking a sharp dive into some trees.

Even flying at top speed, it took Ethan a good fifteen minutes to catch up to Bobby.

"Bobby, why did you kiss me? The kisses were great but why..." he stopped short when he saw the other mutant's face. He looked like he was about to go catatonic. "Bobby, what's wrong? You're scaring me now."

Hiding behind some low-hanging branches, Bobby was crying. At least he was attempting. Tears were freezing into pellets and sticking in place on his cheeks. "Go away! Leave me alone!" His voice chucked. "Don't look at me!" A thick layer of ice encased his body, protruding with spikes like armored gauntlets and pauldrons. His head took on a horned appearance. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" His voice sounded inhuman, possibly due to a frozen larynx.

"I can't do that, Bobby," he said as he took a few steps forward. "I like you, Bobby. As a friend. I don't know what is going on, but I want to help."

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Bobby screamed again in his monstrous voice. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!"

Ethan knew something was seriously wrong. So wrong that he knew he couldn't fix it himself. It was way above his abilities, but he had to try. He took six more steps forward. He was almost in Bobby's personal space. "No one is going to die," he said his tone as calm as he could make. "Bobby, I'm here for you. Just listen to my voice."

"Warren?" The ice spikes didn't disappear but Bobby's voice returned to normal. "You got away? How did you get away? I saw...you fell..." His voice chucked again. "Darkness! Why is it so dark?! I can't feel my legs!"

"Yeah, it's me, Warren," Ethan lied. "I got up."

As Bobby teetered and began to collapse, Ethan reached out to grab him.

"I don't want to die!" Bobby cried out. "No, no! I'm dead! Oh God, oh God, I'm dead!"

Ethan closed the distance between them and then wrapped his arms around his fellow teammate. "You're not dead, Bobby, and you're not dying."

A whimpering sigh shot from Bobby's throat. His body went limp while the ice around him dissipated like morning fog in the dawn's light. He was unconscious.

"Fuck, fuck fuck," Ethan said as he lowered Bobby to the ground.

Bobby was breathing that much was good, but that was the only bright side.

Ethan knew he was in over his head, and that he needed professional help. Mentally he called out for the professor but was pretty sure he was too far away. He picked Bobby up in his arms and leaped into the sky headed back home.

The flight back to the Mansion took longer than before but was no less adrenaline-laced. Bobby was unconscious but obviously fighting internal demons from whatever it was he was facing. Eyelids twitching, head jerking, lips quivering, he kept mumbling various names and confusing descriptions without ever making any sense.

By the time they'd reached Westchester County with Breakstone Lake finally in view, Bobby's eyes snapped open. "What happened?! Where am I?! What the hell?!"

He wriggled free and slipped into a free fall. It didn't last long. On reflex, Bobby covered himself in ice and threw up an ice sled that sent him careening on a downward diagonal trajectory at breakneck speed.

Carrying someone on his back was far easier than carrying someone in his arms. Despite his many enhanced abilities, strength was not at the top of the list. So, he began to struggle after some time had passed. So, having Bobby slip away had been something of a relief, though it had also come as a shock.

He turned sharply and dove as fast as he could down toward Iceman. "Bobby," he called out. "Bobby, what's going on?"

The Mansion was in sight now as well but Bobby shot toward the lake. Like an Apollo mission spacecraft on reentry, Bobby splashed down in the water. There wasn't much time for ripples, though, as the waves froze in mid-crest before they got far. By the time Ethan got there, the lake had become a skating rink.

Ethan cursed mostly to himself, before speaking again. "Bobby, I'm here for you. Whatever happened, whatever our time together was, whatever that kiss meant, I'm here for you."

Silence. Bobby acted as if he had not just turned Breakstone Lake into a skating rink.

"You might as well come out of that little ice palace you just built because I'm waiting right here till you come out of it."

There was a moment of silence before any response came. "Did...did that really happen?"

"Yes," Ethan replied, "It happened. What do you remember?"

"Too much," Bobby's voice echoed across the ice. "Not enough." The ice melted like butter back into normal lake water except for a narrow berm that slowly brought Bobby to shore like an escalator. He walked up to Ethan. "I remember having a blast right up until... remembering. I want to forget again, so, tonight? It never happened." He pressed two fingers against Ethan's chest. "Got it? Don't go snitching."

"I would never snitch on you. That's not who I am. You can't send me mixed signals though. Why did you kiss me? Did it mean anything? I mean it did come from out of left field, I wasn't expecting it at all."

Bobby stared at him, unblinking but slightly shaking.

"You are a good kisser by the way."

The compliment made him explode with denial. "I kiss girls! I like girls! You can have all the boyfriends you want but I eat at the Y, get me?" He whimpered ever so slightly. "Don't tell nobody!"

"I'm. Not. Going. To. Tell. Anyone. You kiss girls, I don't doubt that, but you kissed me too. If you ever want to try again, I'd like that, but I'm not going to push you into anything."

"God damn you." Bobby couldn't help himself. He threw himself at Ethan and planted another kiss on him.

At that point, nothing Bobby did should have surprised Ethan, but he was caught off guard. But only for a few seconds. Then he instinctively pulled Bobby into a tight embrace and deepened the kiss.

After a few grunts manifesting the war within himself, Bobby pulled back. "I can't do this. Fuck my life. Just... Ugh!" And he slid off back toward the Mansion.

Ethan sighed and headed back toward the mansion himself. He really needed someone to talk to about what had just happened, but had made a commitment to not out his teammate.