Fire and Ice

Posted on Wed Feb 14th, 2024 @ 3:52pm by Bobby Drake & Aurora Summers

Mission: Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: August 23rd, 1990 - evening

With dinner over Aurora headed to find Bobby, she’d noticed that he hadn’t appeared to eat anything so she’d gotten a selection of what was out and plated it for him. Having covered it with a plate cover to keep it warm she headed to find him.

Bobby was out at the pool. When Aurora found him, he was standing on one foot, desperately trying to hold his balance on a floating chunk of ice that was too small for both.

"Hey, Aurora! Whoa!!!"

Lost balance, feet in sideways, Bobby plunged into the water. He rose to the surface quick enough and platformed onto the poolside with ease. After a quick shift into ice form and back again, he was dry as a bone. "What brings you out here? You don't like swimming, do you?"

Aurora offered a smile. "I like being in the water I just..." she paused. "I can't swim. I never learned how." she gave Bobby a sheepish look. "Anyway I brought you this.." she lifted the lid on the plate. "You weren't at dinner and I didn't want you to go hungry."

With everything going on, both at the mansion and within himself, Bobby hadn't felt hungry before. Now his stomach started to growl. Maybe it was the smell of the food wafting up from the plate in front of him or the care with which Aurora offered it.

"Thank you," Bobby said in any event. He took the plate and took to a lounge chair. His head nodded toward the chair beside it while he tore into the food with his bare hands. Some kind of chicken... or pork... he didn't even known. Had he even eaten today? He wasn't sure of that either. Crumbs and morsels fell off the side of the plate while he ravaged it like a dog.

Once he finished, he set the plate on the ground. "That actually hit the spot. Thanks again." Now that he'd really eaten, Bobby gave Aurora a hard look. "So. Scott. Could've used him around lately." Just the mention of his name had an effect on Aurora. "Sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned him..."

Just the mention of Scott's name had wiped the cheery smile off Aurora's face, she was missing him badly. "No, it's okay" Aurora offered a brief smile. "You're right, we could have used him when Juggernaut attacked, I've only ever been out in the field when Scott's been there to guide me. For the first time since I joined the team I didn't know what to do! I just kind of went on instinct. I almost got myself blown up, how I didn't is still something of a mystery."

"Scott brought me here..." Bobby mused aloud. "Broke me out of jail when I was just a punk kid and the dumb police locked me up." There was more to the story that Aurora could vibe but Bobby wasn't volunteering it. A shroud of grief surrounded the entire memory. "Everything I know about being part of the X-Men came from him." Only then did Aurora's last words sink in. "Wait! You almost got blown up? What happened?!"

“Long story short I tried jamming their weapons, but I was spotted. One got off a shot with a grenade launcher sort of thing...all I remember is trying to dive out of the way. Next thing I’m getting up from the blast zone.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I need to talk to the Professor, or to Scott...” she paused. “I don’t know how I survived unharmed, I didn’t have time to think about protecting myself all I remember is thinking that if I was killed my son would be too.”

Bobby twisted his mouth in thought. "Hm. Weird. Maybe you threw up some kind of shield. Jean pulled that off sometimes." He grimaced again. Hopefully that wasn't strike two. "You really look a lot like her. Kind of like Ethan and Warren."

Aurora nodded. "I know I do, somehow that scares me. I know Scott was confused at first, between me and Jean. When our relationship started he only saw me for my familiarity to Jean, but that's changed now. He sees me for who I am, at least he did." her fears were starting to resurface now she was alone. "It scares me Bobby, what if we do find Jean? I know how Scott feels about her, I know I shouldn't question my husband but...will he even want me anymore?"

"Scott and Jean had eyes for each other ever since I can remember," Bobby said. "They're cheese and crackers, bacon and eggs, two peas in a pod, totally sappy and gross like a Disney movie." He started laughing at his own description. In some ways, he was jealous and always had been. "I... I was honestly shocked that you and him became so close." He looked away in mild shame. "Sorry if I was a dick about it before. I'm... I'm still not right from what happened before we met." Though he still faced away from her, Bobby's face darted back to glance at Aurora. "Any guy who wouldn't want you would be a total idiot... or maybe a homo." He snickered at his quip and felt a little emboldened. "You're the total package, Aurora."

Aurora offered a warm smile, and her cheeks flushed a little red too. “Thanks Bobby. I appreciate that. To be honest I’m not sure what I’d do without Scott, he’s promised to be there for our son so he doesn’t have the life we both had.” She paused, “Right now I’m just running on instinct. The Professor has promised we’ll be safe here, and I need that right now, my powers aren’t particularly stable right now either, no doubt due to the hormonal effect on my body.”

"Yeah, I don't know anything about babies and pregnancy and stuff..." Bobby trailed off. Suddenly he found it difficult to look at Aurora straight on. Aurora had never caught Bobby’s eyes, at least in a way that made him gaze or gawk at her, but there was something about the way she was standing there, her blushing cheeks as red as her hair, the pregnant pause in her words that made her seem so lost but so determined. ~Snap out of it! She's Scott's wife!~ "But, uh, yeah, Scott can be a tool but he's like the brother I never had. If you ever want help with something? I, uh, could be like an uncle or whatever. Whatever you need."

Aurora offered a warm smile. “Thank you Bobby, I’d like that.” She paused for a moment. “Scott asked Connor to keep an eye on me while he’s away, the only problem with that is that I don’t like poor Connor having to watch out for me. Once the baby is born I’ll feel better knowing he’s got people to watch over him, and keep him safe. In the meantime I don’t want anyone having to protect me.”

The thought of Connor watching over anyone made Bobby snicker. "Connor? Better you than me." But when she said she didn't want anyone doing so, it prickled him. "I know you're new to this place," he said, remembering their time in captivity together which wasn't as long ago as he wished. "But that's how it works around here. Like it or not, we look out for each other. People are going be all up in your business and watching your back and you can't do anything about it." He gave her a sassy shrug. "Might as well embrace it." The way his hands hung at his side from the shrug was almost a low-key invitation for a hug.

Aurora nodded and offered a wry smile. “I guess if that’s how it’s going to be then I might as well start somewhere with the embracing....” she stepped up and gave him a brief but warm hug. “I figured you needed that, plus it’s a thank you for, well just for being here to talk to.” She smiled warmly.

"Anytime, babe." Really? Babe? Bobby slapped himself internally. Could he manage not to be a total idiot for five minutes? "I... I honestly could," he said in a rare moment of vulnerability. "I know there's a lot going on right now but I expected my homecoming to be more... festive. Nobody seemed to care though. I threw my own welcome back party for shit's sake!" He realized he'd raised his voice which probably made Aurora regret the hug. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. I should go."

“No...don’t go!” Aurora offered Bobby an understanding smile. “At least you had people to come back to, friends and colleagues. Until I was brought here I had no one, just the mutants I hung out with in the sewers, and they just used to use me for my gifts to help steal food.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry you feel left out, there’s me wallowing in Scott being gone but I forgot that others here might feel just as bad, you and he are friends, you must miss him too. As for a party, when this is all over I’ll throw you a party!” She grinned a wry grin. “I get the feeling we’ll all need it.”

Bobby chuckled at her offer. "You don't need to throw me a party... I'm just being dramatic." He tried to smile at her but it was sad. "I miss Scott too. He... he always knew what to do. Good or bad, he made the right call. I just... I don't understand how he became so different." Bobby looked at his feet. "I guess I'm different now too. Who am I to judge?"

“Scott...was, is, struggling with losing Jean.” Aurora’s smile faded somewhat. “As much as I try to convince myself that being married means Scott loves me, I’m not sure if it would make any difference if we found her. He fell for me because I look like Jean, don’t get me wrong Scott does love me, and he wants to be a father to our son, but if we found Jean...” she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m afraid he’d forget me...”

It was the second time she'd said so and it made Bobby wince as much as the first. "Aurora..." He put his hands atop her shoulders like he would a friend in danger of stumbling. "I've known Jean for like half my life. You are you. Whatever you have with Scott... It's different than what he had with Jean. They were inseparable until we all got separated. You're just..."

Bobby let his hands fall away, unsure of what he meant to say or whether he should be saying any of it to Scott's wife. "I've never seen Scott make a mistake before. You are a fine ass girl with a heart of gold. No one else brought me dinner." He laughed at his inappropriate comment turned turned compliment. "What's keeping me going is that I have to believe everything will work out in the end. I sure don't feel that way but if it's not true, then I might as well..."

Nope, he sure wasn't going to finish that sentence out loud. The last thing he needed was the team putting him on some kind of suicide watch. "Uh...my point is you have so much going for you. I'm a little jealous actually..."

Aurora couldn’t help but blush. “Just promise me you won’t go thinking anymore on what you were thinking just then. I didn’t read your mind, but it was kind of obvious what you were going to say.” She gently reached out and took hold of Bobby’s hand. “I don’t know if I can help you get past whatever it is that’s hurting you deep inside, but just know that if you ever need anyone to talk to, or just someone to hang out with, I’m here for you, Bobby.” She smiled as she motioned to his plate. “Would you like anything else to eat? I’m sure I could rustle up some more food if you’d like some?”

"No more food, thanks," Bobby said. "Ate that last bit a little fast. Probably safer if you don't read my mind." He tapped his temple and smirked, hoping to obscure his more incriminating thoughts. "It's a dangerous place in there. But I'll try and be good." She was so sweet. Bobby set his jaw firmly. If Scott hurt her... All kinds of manly indignation flared up inside him.

“Well if you decide not to be good, Let me know I might join you!” Aurora grinned a wry grin. “To be honest it’s lonely sitting around in my room. I could use more practice, so if you ever want to help me train just say so.”

Join him? In not being good? Bobby blinked. No. No, that wasn't what she had meant. Of course not. What kind of asshole was he to even go there and think such a thing? "Uh, yeah, I could probably help with that," Bobby said, taking the only out he saw. "I'm a little rusty myself. Can't remember the last time I hit the Danger Room."

“Then practice it is, just let me know when” Aurora smiled warmly. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sound like I wanted us to go running into trouble when I said what I said, I just meant...” she paused. “I guess I’m just trying to keep myself entertained.”

"Well, I'm awfully entertaining," Bobby said with a grin. "I, uh, actually don't sleep so well. If my password still works, I could load a Danger Room program tonight...if you're up for it."

“Sure!” Aurora nodded and smiled. “Like I said I can use all the practice I can get, see what still works properly for me and what doesn’t.”

Her enthusiasm was infectious. "Alrighty then! There's one of those tubes to the subbasements right inside the door there. Let's hit it!"

---

The tube deposited them both into the hallway near the Danger Room's control deck. Bobby input his password into the keypad and the door slid open.

"Ha ha!" he shouted triumphantly. "It still worked. Alright, let's get a program loaded." Bobby hurried over to the control panel and accessed the settings to which he was cleared to use. "There are a couple preloaded obstacle courses or sparring matches. Got anything special in mind?"

“Just something that’ll test my abilities, things have been somewhat...unpredictable lately.” Aurora offered a wry smile. “Just don’t get in the way, you’ve seen what I can do I don’t want to risk hurting you.”

Bobby just started laughing. "That's cute. The day you hurt me in the Danger Room is the day I hang up my belt for good." He scrolled through the menu and picked an option. "Okay, there. Let's get down there. We'll see how you do."

Aurora nodded. “To be honest I’m hoping you can teach me a few pointers for getting the better of Cameron!” She grinned. “He beats me every time!”

"Sparring? With me?" Bobby's brow arched at that. He was planning on a team-up rather than a direct competition. Punching a pregnant woman wasn't exactly where his mind had been when coming down here. But as soon as she'd mentioned Cameron, an old competitive streak broke out in him. "Oh, I believe it! Cameron is a cheating punk! His powers let him mimic whatever you do and then his reflexes can counter it almost every time."

The program began to activate. Bare metal walls disappeared in the holographic illusion of a beach with tropical storm on the horizon. Gale winds began to blow, tossing salt spray their way. With the heightened humidity, Bobby would clearly have a distinct advantage. He laughed at the unfairness of it.

"We got a few minutes before the monsoon hits, at which point things get crazy." Bobby waggled his eyebrows in playful warning before shifting into his iceform. "Give me your best shot."

“Okay let’s do this!” Aurora wasted no time in giving Bobby a telekinetic push, forcing him back away from her long enough for her to find somewhere she could get good cover, both from Bobby and the storm.

Bobby turned the ground beneath her feet into a skating rink. A sheet of ice spanned for a hundred meters in either direction.

"Come on, Aurora, I said your best shot!" The taunt came from the air as Bobby had converted Aurora's telekinetic push into momentum for his ice slide.

“Really? If you say so!” Aurora turned her push, into a telekinetic grab instead latching onto Bobby and pulling him towards her using him as an anchor to hold herself up on the ice.

The unexpected pull tossed Bobby off balance and sent him into an uncontrolled corkscrew toward the ground. Bobby countered by pivoting sideways into a wider arc that kept him from getting pulled straight forward Aurora, using centrifugal force to swing himself out and around her in a circle. Then he moved one hand out to her and summoned an ice pillar to rise up under feet, shooting her several feet into the air.

“Whoa!!” Aurora hadn’t been expecting that, she lost her balance and started to topple, her instincts switching to cushioning her fall instead of concentrating on what Bobby was doing. Once she’d gotten herself safely onto the ground she offered a wry smile. “That the best you got, Bobby?”

Once she had released him, Bobby circled back around with a shroud of frost in his wake. The vortex of hot and cold from his earlier circling against Aurora's pull created competing drafts of conflicting air mixtures, resulting in an icy cyclone sent straight at Aurora.

"Dodge that!" Bobby shouted back with a cocky tone.

“Okay fine!” Aurora’s hands glowed as she quickly put up a wall of defensive flame to keep the chill at bay. Using it to hide herself she focussed hard, trying something the professor had shown her that she wasn’t that good at yet. A projection of herself appeared in the opposite direction, making it look as though she’d moved position. “Missed me!”

Had she moved that quickly? Bobby remembered Jean could quickly dart to and fro when she wasn't actually flying. But then she was also a telepath. Bobby had to make a quick decision.

What he'd decided was to dump the ambient heat he'd absorbed to create the swift temperature exchange. The thermal energy was quickly disbursed, but the rolling wall of air that followed would be the tell. And it was. The new Aurora didn't move with the air.

Realizing he could no longer trust his eyes, Bobby turned a tight circle and flung a harsh spray of frost in al directions, utilizing the surf terrains to enhance the effect. Hopefully, wherever she really was, Bobby would catch a glimpse of her coated in frost before she winked out of sight again.

Aurora cursed that her illusion didn’t work, the cold was starting to get a grip even though she had just come out from behind the wall of flame. Finding a spot for cover she had to decide what would be the next best move to make. Could she fool Bobby again? Make him think she was the projection this time? She had to try. She skirted around then made her move. “Missed me yet again!”

Despite his efforts, Bobby had put so much frozen mist in the air that he had trouble seeing through it. The cyclonic effect of the air also distorted the directionality of Aurora's voice. Where was she? He let the mist evaporate, returning the beach to its normal condition despite the incoming monsoon.

There was Aurora. But Bobby wasn't falling for that trick twice. He looked left and then right, searching for a surprise attack.

Aurora smiled and took the advantage to yank Bobby right out of the air, depositing him on the floor. Though she wiped away a minor nose bleed for the effort of carrying his body weight. “Got you that time!”

"Shit!" Bobby fell flat on his back and laid there for a minute while his diaphragm remembered how to pull air into his lungs. He pounded the ground with his fists and hopped to a crouch. But then he saw the blood at Aurora's nose.

"Deep shit!" The sight brought a surge of adrenaline. Bobby jumped into the air and let gravity push him down his ice slide straight in front of Aurora. "You okay? Hold still." He spread her eyelids wide open with his fingers and checked her pupils, wagged his finger in front of her nose to track her sightline, and even checked her heartrate from her wrist. "You seem to be okay..." he said, still holding her wrist while counting off the beats per second.

Aurora offered a smile and a nod of her head. “I’m fine Bobby, it’s the exertion of using my telekinesis on something large.” She pulled out a piece of tissue and blotted her nose. “It’s a problem I’ve always had, guess I’ll find out if that changes.”

Despite her explanation, Bobby still looked unconvinced. "Yeah, maybe we should call it quits for now. I'll give you this one." He favored her with a wink. "But you sure you're okay? Maybe we should get you checked over in the infirmary."

Aurora was going to argue but given her condition she needed to give treat all things with caution. “Okay, we’ll call it quits for now, but I really don’t need to go to the Infirmary. It’s stopping already, I’ll be okay.”

"Well..." Bobby canted his head to one side, unsure of whether he should agree. "... if you insist." Yeah, he relented. She was hard to argue with. "But–"

The incoming monsoon finally arrived, pelting them with tropical rainfall. Just when they'd agreed to stop. Bobby started laughing at the irony of it. Not a minute ago, the rain would have allowed him to win the day. Now it was just insult to injury. Once Bobby started laughing, he couldn't stop. He was just standing there chuckling like a rain-soaked idiot.

Aurora couldn’t help but grin, before she started laughing as well. It felt good to laugh after all the recent drama. The two of them standing there laughing in the rain.

"You should laugh more often," Bobby said through a few more chuckles. "Sounds like music."

“It does?” Aurora grinned at that. “I’ll admit it feels good to laugh after everything of late.”

"Yeah..." Bobby's chuckling finally stopped but he was grinning ear to ear anyway. "Feels like so long since I laughed like that. Sounds like it's been awhile for you too." The wind whipped at their hair and clothes which kept both from clinging to their face and bodies. "I'm glad I got to hear it."

Aurora raised a psychokinetic shield to protect herself from the rain, then shivered but smiled nonetheless. “How’s about we get the hell out of here, and get dried off?”

"Good idea," Bobby said, raising his voice to be heard above the rising winds. "Weather only gets worse from here."

He raised his arm to shield his eyes as he led her to the exit below the control deck. The hatch door opened into the staging room where students could wait between programs while the Danger Room could reset itself. Bobby stumbled out of the wind and rain, then held the hatch open for Aurora. He even offered her a hand to ensure she didn't trip. The room was already becoming a sopping mess even after just a few seconds.

“I would flame up to dry off, but I’ve never done it when I’ve been wet before.” Aurora offered a wry smile as she grabbed a towel out of the equipment locker to dry off. “Not sure if it’s a good idea, especially with my abilities being a bit off right now. We’d best get the danger room reset as well.”

"Well, that part's easy," Bobby said. He pounded a large wall switch with his fist. As the hatch began to close, the wind already began dying down. "It'll take a little longer with the sand and water but it'll reset soon enough." Working out together in the Danger Room was one thing but Bobby was unsure of what to do now. Was Aurora really going to towel off in front of him? "Uh..." He gulped. "Do what you need to do." He turned to ice and grinned. Much safer for him this way in more ways than one. "I'm kinda' fireproof, remember?"

Aurora smiled. “Ohh I...I wasn’t going to...” she blushed as she ran the towel through her hair. “I wasn’t going to undress in-front of you, or anything like that, but now you’ve suggested it...” she took a few steps back before balls of flame appeared in the palms of her hands, before the flame slowly spread to encompass her entire body. This time it was a more controlled flame up, the flames were low as she concentrated on control. It didn’t take long before she was all dried out, and the flames extinguished. “There, all dry.”

"Gnarly..." Bobby said with a chuckle of admiration.

~That was so hot~ After the thought appeared in his mind, it was immediately followed by another one. ~Shit! She's a telepath! Hopefully she doesn't know what I'm thinking... Stop thinking about Scott's wife naked, Bobby!~ But, like the Pink Elephant Problem, that became the primary thought in his mind.

"Uh... I need a drink of water!" Bobby turned back from ice form, his clothes and hair now moisture free as well, and pivoted on his feet toward the lift that would take them up to the control deck.

“You and me both.” Aurora smiled as she followed on behind. She couldn’t help but pick up on what Bobby’s mind had been practically yelling, but she chose to ignore it. She was enjoying Bobby’s company, and he obviously needed the company too. “Sorry I didn’t warn you about the nose bleed thing, it’s something that happens when I use my telekinesis a lot.”

"Not gonna lie, that's kinda' gross." Bobby started laughing again, happy for the opportunity since it let him shed his awkward feelings a little. "Maybe we should get you some nose plugs?"

Aurora grinned. “I’m working on getting past it, I think it’s due to overexertion so I just need to flex those muscles more to get my body used to doing it. Unless Jade has any better ideas of course. It’s not all the time fortunately.”

"Good, because that would be even grosser," Bobby teased. "Come on. Let's get out of here."