Reclaim

Title: Reclaim
Author: Angel Jade
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Slash, violence, language
Spoilers: X-Men 2 (movie)
Pairings: Bobby/John (Iceman/Pyro)
Summary: Bobby can’t understand John’s betrayal and tracks him down to find out the truth.
Setting: Post-X2, making no effort to guess what happens in X3
Feedback: angel-jade@buffyrocks.co.uk
Distribution: If you’ve had my permission before, you have it now. Anyone else, ask first please.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the characters in the fic, nor do I make money from borrowing them.
Author’s notes: I know nothing about the comic books, so all info is based solely on the movies.

Bobby ignored the incessant tingle in his fingers as he grasped the icy tree, half-hidden from the object of his gaze. He’d spent every minute of his time trying to track down his old friend, trying to bring back what the others had so easily abandoned. And after all of it, all he could do was watch as Pyro shot flames towards invisible targets, practicing for the fight Bobby hoped would never come.

He’d practiced what he would say a thousand times over, sure there was some way to talk John round, to make him see sense. Truth was, Bobby missed him more than he could explain. And the others saw it too. Rogue had begged him not to go, but even she had realised by then, his heart was no longer with them. Bobby needed to find his friend. And now, as he stood only meters away, he was frozen to the spot, lost in his own confusion. He tried to regain his control, remember his lines…brief flashback to a school play, where he ruined everything because he stuttered like crazy…

He stepped out into the open, unreadable expression that hid the nerves threatening to take away any regained control on his face. A flash of fire shot at him, barely giving him time to register it.

John’s eyes widened as he realised who it was, and he quickly withdrew the flame, letting it fade into nothing. “What are you doing here?” Not as harsh a tone as he’d tried for, but his angry expression said it all.

“Why do you think?” Bobby asked, softly.

“Wanna fight me, huh? Well let’s fight. This has been a long time coming…” John snarled, stepping forward menacingly.

“I don’t want to fight you!” Bobby frowned. “What has he been putting into your head? Why are you being like this?”

“I’m finally a mutant. Not some school kid that needs to be controlled…hidden away in a school for freaks.” John shot back. “You have no idea how good to feels to be myself.”

“This is you?” Bobby scoffed, closing the gap between them. “Preparing to fight and kill…even your friends…?”

John snorted. “It doesn’t have to be this way, Iceman. Join us or let us be. But get in our way and I’ll…”

“You’ll what? Kill me? Rogue?” Bobby shook his head. “They warned me not to look for you. But I had to. I’ve spent so long trying to…just trying to talk to you.”

“Well you shouldn’t have bothered.” John said, bitterly. “You didn’t make much of an effort back at school. Why now?”

Bobby was thrown for a second. “You…think I ignored you?”

“I think you had better things to do. Or people.” John hissed. “So do me a favour and go back to your girlfriend. I don’t need friends anymore. Not ones like you.”

“Firstly, I don’t have a girlfriend. We broke up. Why? Because I was too interested in looking for you. Secondly, I was a good friend to you. I thought we were close…”

“Well, there’s Bobby-close and there’s John-close.” John pointed out, angrily.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bobby asked, getting annoyed. “How close did you want us to be? I told you everything. We hung around…”

“Go. Home.” John demanded, between gritted teeth.

“Not until you explain…”

“Get the fuck out of here!” John screamed, flicking open his zippo and sending a small burst of fire hurtling towards Bobby.

Dodging back, Bobby refused to take his eyes off his friend. And made no attempt at leaving.

“You wanna die? I can do that!” John smirked, another ball of fire narrowly missing Bobby’s head.

“Just talk to me, John. I won’t leave here unless you explain.” Bobby pleaded.

Fire reflected in Pyro’s eyes as he let the flames dance dangerously close to himself, before getting ready to attack. As his hand extended, it froze, the lighter with it. Surprised, he let the fire go out, looking down at his frost covered hand. “Good move.”

It was said with little emotion, so Bobby wasn’t sure what to make of it. As John tried to pry the lighter from his own grasp, Bobby stepped forward. “Like I said, I don’t want to fight you. I want to talk.”

“Then talk. I’m here for you, buddy. I am.” The sarcasm was dripping from the older boys lips, so much so that Bobby cringed.

“What happened to you? Was it me?” Bobby fought back his emotions, trying to keep his cool. “I ignored you so you decided to join the other side?”

John glared. “It’s not always about you.”

“I know, it’s all about you. Always about you.” Bobby retorted. “Centre of attention, best at everything…that’s you. But it doesn’t explain why you’re so angry I paid more attention to my girlfriend than you.”

John seemed to only get angrier at this, but Bobby needed answers. He had to know why John was doing this, and why it seemed to have something to do with him. He already blamed himself for John’s betrayal, now it seemed he’d finally have proof he was the reason they’d lost such a powerful mutant to the enemy.

“It beats being blind. And in denial. You’re so fucking obsessed with yourself and your perfect image, you don’e ane anything else. Good boy Bobby would never look at me like that, right? But guess what, you have. I know you’ve thought about it…and I know you’re not as straight as they think…”

Bobby lost all ability to talk. His eyes swam with confusion and his lips lay partly open, unable to move. He had to turn away, couldn’t look at John anymore. He wanted to run, to go back to Rogue and beg her to take him back. Wanted to forget he’d ever bothered looking for this mutant posing as his old friend.

“Can’t deal? Then leave. I don’t wanna see you here again. If I do, I’ll kill ya.” John threatened, finally getting his lighter free. He held it momentarily, as if trying to debate over its use, before putting it in his pocket and trying to warm his frozen hand.

“Why’d you say that?” Bobby said, almost a whisper.

John’s anger flickered, but he held onto it. His anger he could use. He had no intention of letting Bobby hurt him. “Why do you think, smart-ass? You can pretend all you want. One day you’re gonna get a rude awakening and I’m gonna be the one ignoring you.”

“I’m not…you think I’m…Shit! Shit, I can’t believe this is happening.” Bobby cried out. “You’re wrong. You’re so fucking wrong. I’m not like that. I don’t…I’ve never…”

He argument grew weaker with every word, until his legs gave way and he knelt in the snow, trying to deny everyt Joh John was saying and failing miserably.

John almost felt a little sympathy. Almost. “You’d be better off forgetting I said anything.” The anger was gone from his voice now. It was nothing but the cold, emotionless tone that Bobby hated.

“How can I?” Bobby asked him, heartbroken. “I can’t just put it away and pretend it doesn’t exist. I’m supposed to love Rogue. I didn’t want to tell her why I needed to find you, but she knew. And she couldn’t say it. But she knew.”

John frowned, not sure how to react. “Well, get over it. Because I had to.”

“You didn’t tell me.” Bobby said, angrily. “All that time and you could have said…”

“I tried!” John protested. “That time in the fucking shower, when we were messing around, laughing…I made it so fucking obvious!”

“But I didn’t believe you could ever…and I wasn’t sure if I…you know.” Bobby swall dow down his fear and tried to make sense of it all. “I thought about it, but I never…I never thought it was anything. It’s okay tonk ank about guys like that sometimes. And you were always so cocky. I thought it was just you showing off. I didn’t know…”

John wanted to leave him here in the snow. Make him know how it felt to be abandoned. But he couldn’t. He knelt down beside him and watched him with hesitation. “Doesn’t matter anymore. We’re on different sides.”

“No…” Bobby’s hand grasped John’s wrist. “I can’t just leave it like this. I don’t want to forget it.”

John lowered his eyes. “Then what *do* you want?”

“I want…” He bit his lip, not able to say it.

“You want this?” John grabbed the back of Bobby’s head, bringing them together in a violent kiss.

Bobby’s small protest quickly dissolved as John’s tongue invaded his mouth, kissing him with more passion than he’d ever felt before. It’d been so long since he’d felt anything like it. It was better than he’d ever imagined Rogue to be.

As John finally released him, Bobby allowed his eyes to open slowly, feeling the buzz inside fade.

John looked for signs of approval or disgust and found none. “That what you wanted?”

Bobby nodded, unable to look into John’s eyes anymore.

“I can’t stand this fucking cold. Come on.” John stood and dragged Bobby to his feat.

“Where are we going?” Bobby asked, weakly.

“Somewhere warm.” John murmured, leading the way.

*****

Bobby briefly wondered if John would take him to Magneto, though he wasn’t sure what use he’d be. But when he was taken to a small room over a grocery store, his mind started to think of other things…

John noticed how hesitant Bobby was, but mentioned nothing. In truth, he wasn’t sure where to start. Part of him wanted everything to be the way it would have been back at school, before Rogue had come along. He wanted to laugh, joke…ruffle Bobby’s hair playfully. Touch him without watching his old friend flinch.

“It’s not much, but it’s better than sitting in snow, right?” John joked, awkwardly.

“I’m wet.” Bobby stated, brushing some of the fallen snow off his clothes.

John resisted the urge to tell him to strip. “Well…” He paused as Bobby took his pants off, placing them neatly over a chair before working on the small fireplace, trying to set it alight.

“You don’t mind, do you?” Bobby asked, as if it were the most normal thing to do.

John struggled to keep his eyes on Bobby’s. “Go right ahead.”

Bobby continued to step out of the wet clothes, leaving his boxers on, regardless of the wet patch that didn’t seem to want to dry.

John smiled as he caught a glimpse. “Wanna dry those, too?”

Bobby shifted awkwardly. “Why did you bring me here?”

“It was cold.” John stated. “I’m not going to ravish you if that’s what you’re scared of.”

“Oh.”

There was more disappointment than John had expected. Or could have hoped for. “Unless you want me to?”

Bobby refused to look him in the eye. “You live here?”

“No.”

“Renting?” Bobby tried to look interested in the small, barely decorated room.

“Going to change the subject all night or can we talk?” John asked. “You were so adamant on it back there. What’s changed?”

“There’s not much left to say.” Bobby replied. “You like me, I like you. We kissed.”

“And you’re okay with it?” John raised an eyebrow.

“No, I’m not okay with it. I’m so far from okay, I can’t quite remember what okay feels like. And something in me doesn’t care. You kissed me. And I wanna do it again. I don’t care if you’re one of them now, as long as you don’t leave me again.”

John shook his head. “You really think it’s that easy? I don’t wanna go back. I couldn’t if I did want to. And you’re not gonna leave, are you? So what do we do? Elope? We’d fight, you’d resent me, I’d end up hating you and it’d all be for nothing.”

“Then why did you bother?” Bobby demanded.

“Because I want you. For so fucking long now. And I don’t care if it’s just once, I need to know what it’s like to make you scream with pleasure.”

“So that’s why you brought me back here?” Bobby asked. “For sex?”

“No!” John shouted. “Yes. Maybe, I don’t know. Just want to know for sure we coulda had something.”

“We could have.” Bobby said, quietly. “Does that make you feel better or worse?”

John didn’t answer; he simply sat on the bed, looking out the window.

“I can’t go back without knowing.” Bobby spoke up. “So this is your chance. You’ve got me. After tonight, we’re enemies. I won’t ask you to leave, and you knowon’ton’t leave the X-men. So this is it. This is what we’ve got.”

John looked up at him. “You sure you’re ready?”

“I’ve been dating a girl I can’t even touch. I need this more than you know.” Bobby explained.

Standing up, John touched Bobby’s chest, slowly bringing his fingers down to the waistband of Bobby’s boxers. “I’ve been waiting for this…”

Bobby leaned in closer, whispering in John’s ear. “I know.”

As Bobby’s hands stripped away John’s clothing, the older boy caught every chance he could get to touch bare skin, watching every moan and gasp escape from Bobby’s lips.

As John’s boxers were kicked aside, rendering them both naked, they hesitated. Bobby looking for signs of disappointment, John waiting for Bobby to flee. Once he was sure Bobby wasn’t going to freak out, John pulled him closer, their bodies pressing together as John’s hand rubbed against the younger boy’s cock, feeling it harden at his touch.

“No denying it now, Bobby.” John drawled, slowly enticing the erection in his hand. “I know you want this.”

Bobby had to bite his lip to keep from groaning, so he simply nodded in reply, his eyes tense as the unfamiliar feeling of foreign hands on his body stimulated every nerve in his body.

“Tell me you want me.” John asked, his thumb brushing against the tip of Bobby’s erection.

“I want you…” Bobby whispered. “You have no idea how much.”

“This is your first time?” John asked, already knowing the answer.

Bobby didn’t reply at first, sure John would only laugh am. Fm. Finally, he relented. “I’ve *never*…”

“Never-never?” John hadn’t expected that. “Not even with…? Oh. Well, I guess I better lead then.”

Bobby smiled. As if John would have it any other way.

John’s hand left Bobby briefly, as he reached up to guide the shivering boy down onto the unmade bed. They were intertwined immediately, hands touching everything they could get to, lips and tongues teasing sensitive areas. Bobby matched every move his friend made, determined to make John remember every second.

Bobby barely noticed John reach over to the bed stand, and was too far gone to care what John did with the lube he’d retrieved. He only snapped out of his reverie as a finger slid inside him, causing him to cry out in pain and surprise. A calming hand held him down, soft words of encouragement whispering in his ear.

“It’ll pass. Just relax. I’ll make it feel good, I promise.” John swore, his free hand brushing through Bobby’s hair as their eyes locked together.

Bobby forced himself to relax, letting himself believe John’s words. He squirmed as another finger eased its way into him, his breathing becoming more erratic. John reached down to grasp Bobby’s cock, bombarding him with enough pleasure that Bobby didn’t notice the third finger starting to stretch him even further.

“Oh God, John…” Bobby threw his head back as John took his length in his mouth, sliding his lips down the thick shaft. Before Bobby could explode, John pulled back, leaving Bobby desperate for more.

“Sure you want this?” John asked him, lubed cock pressed against the prepared entrance.

“Yes, yes!” Bobby begged, almost incoherently. “Don’t stop…”

John grasped Bobby’s hips, pushing his cock into Bobby, his grunt of pleasure drained out by Bobby’s moan of pain. Trying to take it slow, John began to move, pushing his cock in deeper, giving Bobby all the time he needed to adjust.

“Don’t hold back.” Bobby asked him, the discomfort showing on his face. “Make it feel good.”

John gave a little smirk as his hand surrounded the base of Bobby’s cock, bringing him off as he continued to thrust into the boy.

Bobby couldn’t decide whether to moan in pain or scream with pleasure, so he settled for a mixture of both, until he could no longer draw a line between the two. As John thrust his cock deeper. Bobby felt a spark of pleasure, which erupted a chain reaction inside him, his whole body spasming until he felt his release.

Aware Bobby was coming beneath him, John renewed his efforts, feeling his own orgasm rising to a dangerous climax. Just as he started to cry out with pleasurable torment, a ball of fire shot out from the fireplace, catching on the curtains and setting them alight.

Bobby looked on in horror, while John just laughed, manipulating the fire into extinction before looking back down at Bobby.

“You probably shouldn’t have lit that.” He joked.

Bobby relaxed, laughing for the first time since John’s initial disappearance. “Thanks. For this. And for not killing me.”

“It’s what friends are for.” John replied, rolling over to lie beside him.

“So I guess that’s it then.” Bobby said, dejectedly.

John wanted to say something positive, but he knew it was for the best. “You can stay the night. After that, it’d be better if we forgot this.”

Bobby said nothing; he just stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Turning over, John closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain in his chest as he pretended to sleep.

*****

Bobby woke up alone, all signs anyone had ever been there were gone, save his clothes, which had been piled up at the end of the bed for him. He looked around sadly, realising that it really was over. Over before it had begun.

Without a sound, he dressed and left; ready to return to the school. To Rogue. All he had to do now was let go.


End.