Fire and Ice

Disclaimer : The X-men are the property of Marvel and this is a work of fiction.

So it's been many months since I update my story, and I'm sorry if it irritated some of you. I've been getting e-mails all year to carry on with the story but unfortunately I've been very busy at work and enjoying my personal life, and have only found time recently to continue. This is the final chapter of their story, and I hope you enjoy the outcome.

Kevin sat up with a gasp, and wiped away the bead of sweat that was running down his forehead. He was panting as if he'd run a great distance and finally had some time to get some much-needed air. After spending a moment on the situation, he sighed and realized that this was the same scenario that had plagued him for the past week.

Slowly he looked around, and all he could see were the poorly outlined shapes of the surrounding forest in the utter darkness. The darkness seemed to smother him, and all he could hear were the creepy sounds of distant insects making their usual sounds. The sound of a forest could relax some people, but here alone, he found it to be terrifying and constricting. Slowly he looked up and saw the stars of the endless night greet him with their ever-present twinkle. They were company, and their silent innocence comforted him in his most desperate moments. He turned to his right and leaned on his elbow, and surveyed the far distant city with its lights and buzz. At times he thought he could hear the frivolity of the people in the city, but he now knew it was what he wished he'd heard, to dilute his emptiness. The air stirred slightly and brushed against him. It was warm but it provided him with no comfort. A small insect landed on his cheek and he casually brushed it away, only to run his hand down the week old beard he'd grown. His face was rough and untended, but he wasn't too concerned about that. Here he sat on this eerie glade, ungroomed and dirty in his week old clothes, and he did nothing. He had the power to change all of this in an instant.

"The power," he muttered, and grimaced with anger. It was his gift that had caused him all this strife in his life. Since realizing his abilities his life had gone from bad to worse. If not for the one good thing that had come out of that school, he would say that being a mutant was a curse from the devil himself. A gay mutant. A fucking gay mutant. He shook his head slowly as he found himself often doing these days. It was self-pity, but considering no one had ever taken the time to empathize with his situation, he thought that a healthy does of selfish care would do him good. If he could just imbue people with his ability for a few weeks they would see what it was truly all about. It seemed to be the ultimate trophy for humans and even mutants: unlimited power. It was shit. Total shit.

That was the one serious curse about finding yourself in a forest trying to strangle you with darkness – it made you focus on your memories, your past, and your future. He couldn't even remember how many times he'd gone over the past few weeks and years in his mind, how he'd overanalyzed every scenario to see how he could have improved the outcome or altered a disaster. He looked at his right arm and his hand flexed involuntarily. Perhaps it was a good thing that he'd been alone in this place during this period of his life. He'd been an emotional catastrophe since arriving here. He remembered his bursts of anger where he'd lashed out at the forest and ruined it with his tempest powers. He remembered his screams of rage where he tried to unload an endless reserve of anger and frustration into the surrounding trees, and echoes that could have shaken the ground had they possessed any secret power in them. He remembered lying in a ball on his side, his face in the dirt and leaves in his hair weeping for Bobby, and for the lives he'd taken. He remembered his nose running as he sobbed and pleaded forgiveness for the loss of his friends, Magneto and his allies, and John. John... poor John. He felt his heart surge with unresolved grief but he quickly pushed it all away before he could sink into yet another spiral about his fallen friend. His depression about John was the worst of all. Sometimes it felt like his chest was being pulled inwards it hurt so deeply. No, he had to stop thinking about it, and aggressively forced the memories into the back of his head. An owl hooted in a nearby tree and he looked in its direction, only to be greeted by the night.

"Bobby," he murmured out of nowhere, and the word stung his lips and sent a shiver along him. He saw the hair on his arms standing on end. He still couldn't believe how badly he'd treated the man. He didn't deserve Bobby. The guy was amazing and had treated him with the love any man could wish for. He thought back on how he'd treated Bobby with such contempt and removed his independence in the past, how he'd deserted him at the hands of the X-men despite his pleas for a rescue, and worst of all, how Bobby had drowned because he'd chosen another fucked up path instead of the path of loyalty. Bobby was dead. A tear ran down his cheek and he felt his eye start to burn. He rubbed it angrily. His eyes were red and dry, and moisture burned them like a bitch. He thought he must be out of tears by now, but Bobby could release a torrent of them with little effort. He really couldn't see the point of a life without Bobby. He flexed his arm once again and looked to his forearm, at the nasty red scar that lay across it. Hours after arriving here, after falling into a cavern of such emotional barrenness he couldn't believe it was survivable, he'd decided to end it all. It took an angry flick of his powers and his arm was sliced open as if a scalpel had torn into it with savage aggression. He remembered the burning pain that normally would have brought him to his knees, but at the time it felt like the only feeling he could experience in the endless numbness of his heart. He remembered watching the warm blood run down his arm, remembered smiling at it as if it was warm syrup bathing his hand in affection. Only in those last moments, when dark spots started appearing before his eyes, when he really knew that the end was coming and his bounding heartbeat was the only witness to his end, did he decide to save himself. He remembered ripping off his shirt and tying the wound closed, and then lying on his back gasping for the next day and a half trying to survive the deadly lack of blood he'd put himself into. His powers could have rectified everything, but he refused to touch them unless he was in a mood of the direst hatred, and for the purpose of hiding himself from Xavier. His seclusion was essential because he certainly could not trust himself in the presence of others. His own thoughts moved him close to madness, so it stood to reason that other people and their fumbling with the situation would provoke a far more unstable reaction in him.

He wondered again how long he could go on like this. He couldn't live in the forest forever, and he didn't know what he doing there anyway.

"Hiding," he muttered. It was the cold hard truth. He knew he had to get out of this rut but he honestly couldn't think of a way to begin, or to what purpose he would set his life. Going back to the mansion was out of the question. He'd had too many showdowns there and was humiliated beyond the course of reprieve. Going to live among humans was also out of the question. He hated many of them and reacted very badly to their bigotry, and the new laws on powerful mutants put him at risk. People had a way of discovering things and he'd find himself in a duel with this Bane thing, or some massive army before he knew it, and he was sick of conflict. He was so damn tired of conflict. He sighed again.

And yet, something was amiss. His dreams were circular and repetitive. They involved the scene of Bobby drowning, and the scene where Marie found him floating dead and cold in the black waters of the lake. It was a sick nightmare obviously based on his sick interpretation of what the scene would have looked like had he been there. But he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was perverted about his dreams. He swore he could sometimes hear voices rising about the dreams... commentary. Was he going mad? Hearing voices was not unusual for him if he let his telepathic abilities wander, but these were different. His powers provided him with intuitive abilities and something told him to be wary of his dreams. They made sleep a nightmare, if one could put it that way. With seven days of bad sleep mixed with bouts of depression and desperation, he was starting to lose the plot. He was so damn hungry, but he found himself eating wild fruits and other things he picked up in the foliage, some of which made him vomit for hours and realize the value of knowing your environment. Mushrooms were a definite no he'd decided, especially those fucked up things with the green spots on them. Those yellow fruits on that far off tree tasted like shit but they managed to fill the hole and didn't make him sick.

"Focus, idiot," he said to himself angrily. His dreams. His intuition had never failed him before and he thought about exploring the idea. He had to start somewhere, and sitting here alone in the middle of the night was as good a time as any. Either he should start now, or decide to become a hermit and live here forever, like some reclusive wizard who ate people who trespass on his land. He half smiled to himself but felt the skin at the corner of his mouth crack from dryness and also from the unfamiliarity of the act of smiling.

He sat up straight and crossed his legs. With an irritated utterance his scratched his cheek again. The worst thing about a damn beard was about how it itched. It wasn't even a beard, just neglected stubble. But it itched. He focused his thoughts after a few minutes of procrastination and reached out to his powers that felt foreign. They felt strange to him, and they greeted one another like two ancient enemies would do if they crossed paths many years in the future, still wondering whether their quarrel existed. He flexed his arms and he felt his powers flex, and a corrupt smile crossed his face. It was like climbing out of bed after a long illness and feeling the exhilaration of walking for the first time in days.

"Now to get to work," he muttered and he stretched out in the unseen world, the spectral world. If there was anything sinister happening to him it lay there. Physical attacks were easy to detect and fend off, and at least you know what you were fighting, but spiritual attacks were like being caught in a maze. He found himself wondering if he'd become paranoid to the point of inventing plots by others to snare him. His powers ebbed and he was on the verge of releasing them when he decided to investigate the possibility. He had nothing better to do, and if anything did come of it, it would have grave consequences. He found himself thinking about Bobby again which surprised him. He thought about Bobby often, but at the same time, it wasn't all he thought about and this memory seemed to leap into his mind without a trigger. Bobby. Suddenly he saw Bobby drowning in the lake, floating in the cold water with a thin trail of blood rising from where he'd hit his head. Kevin felt his heart sink, and his breathing staggered with grief.

"Wait," he said suddenly, and his eyes widened slightly. He was never there, and there was no fucking way he wanted to think about that scene in detail. If anything, he wanted it out of his mind. Your lack of tact will end us... he suddenly heard. It sounded like a voice full of anger berating a foolish student. He didn't know what to make of it. He decided to challenge the scenario.

"Bobby, I know you're... alive," he whispered, and he tried to visualize it. He visualized those glacially sexy eyes staring into his, with that warm smile covering his cheeky face. Suddenly the dream seemed to be on him like an avalanche. He could feel the weight of it on his shoulders. He had rapid images of Bobby lying in a casket, his skin cold and rubbery, of Marie screaming hysterically at the site of a dead friend, at the funeral where everyone hugged and wept openly.

"No," he said sadly, and the grief felt overwhelming. His powers shook and he felt them regressing. He couldn't sustain them for long in this state. Yes, you're regaining your control over him... he heard. His head shot up and a snarl covered his face.

"Big mistake, motherfucker," Kevin said furiously. He was finally convinced of the presence of the voice that rode on top of his dreams. He lashed out with his hand as if he was grasping at a person who was running past him. An ethereal spirit was suddenly present in his grip, struggling and choking. It was gold and luminous, but merely a projection of someone. His anger turned white hot at what he saw.

"David," he snarled, and the ghost was fighting hysterically to get air, to free its self. His right hand formed a fist and energy filled it until it was saturated with spectral force. He punched the ghost in the face as he would a man standing before him, and it flew back screaming in agony. He heard other screams in the distance as if he'd injured more than one person. David's spirit crashed into a tree and splintered as if it had been a glass statue hurled from the roof. Everything seemed quiet again and he felt his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the forest. It felt as if it was all over but he knew it was not. As if ripping down a piece of material which was obstructing his vision, he swiped his hand aggressively in front of his face and saw his false reality tear to shreds under the harsh tide of his power. The world seemed to be a painting, and it was as if a blowtorch had been placed behind it. It seemed to bubble and run down the canvas, and burn and spark, and then suddenly rip. At first he thought he hadn't changed much, but suddenly it seemed that the forest was lighter, and not as dark as he'd suspected. He really could hear the bustle of the distant city, and suddenly a moon graced the sky among the stars.

"You're a dead man," he thought as his mind reverted back to David and his sick illusion. If the boy had survived his assault, he would need to spend the rest of his life in hiding if he wanted to see the sun rise again. David had made small changes that were so subtle they hinted at brilliance, but they were clearly designed to lead him down a path of despair. But to what end? Surely he didn't hate him enough after that one small encounter to try and kill him. Magneto had been homicidal after a single incident but it took decades of malice to shape a person into that type of psychopath. Maybe he hated him for being gay, but how could he have found out? His relationship with Bobby... Bobby. The thought seemed strained, and it burned as it ran along his brain. Suddenly he felt confused as if he'd just woken up and didn't know where he was. Bobby. It resolved in a flash and his eyes opened in shock.

"Holy shit," he said with a gasp. Bobby was alive! The whole illusion had been centered on the deception of his death. He leaped to his feet and a powerful wind circled around him and blew through his hair, but his eyes were determined, and he stood on that hill like a great king about to invade lesser land. He realized that he'd seriously harmed his real life boyfriend, and it grated and made him furious all over again. He could fix this. He could fix anything! One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. He had one target in mind.

Bobby lay on his bed staring at the wall, but he'd being lying curled up in a ball for hours yet again. It had been seven days since Kevin had gone mad and left and he still couldn't figure out why. Since then he'd been completely messed up. He couldn't eat, sleep or do anything. He was still wearing the same clothes that he'd been wearing when Kevin had leapt out of bed screaming in terror. Bobby looked at his wrist and the plaster cast that covered it. He'd broken it after Kevin had catapulted him out of the window. Most other people would have died from the fall but his quick reflexes allowed him to create an icy cushion to soften his fall. The problem with ice is that it wasn't the cushion type of element and that had been cause of his broken wrist. Better than a broken neck he'd reasoned, but without Kevin in his life, it didn't make much difference. He scratched his cheek and snorted with irritation. The worst thing about not shaving for a week was that a beard became itchy.

It was surprising that the night could go so slowly. It was the middle of the night again, and the time on the digital clock beside his bed moved with unbelievable slowness. One minute was a lifetime in the world of insomnia. He didn't know why he wished for daylight, because he lay on his bed for most of the day, only to maybe eat a carrot or a spoonful of the soup that Marie brought him on a daily basis. He couldn't stomach food – and after a single spoon of anything he usually felt like throwing up and sometimes did. He wasn't sure how long he could go on like this. He was convinced that the sole reason for his allowed solitude was that Xavier was monitoring him permanently with his unseen vision. He had no doubt that at the first sign of anything untoward he would find Wolverine in his room within minutes and carrying him against his will to that fucking medical room again only to be force fed by a tube, or mind-crushed by Xavier. That was partially why he'd tried to control his behaviour, but it hadn't been easy. He wanted to weep with grief for his missed boyfriend but he had to hold everything back until the earliest hours of the morning when he was sure that Xavier had to be asleep and not glaring at him with the unseen eye. His eyes still burned with tonight's tears. It was crazy. Bobby only remembered crying a handful of times during his adult life, but strife with Kevin could soften him into butter with very little effort and leave him emotionally ruined for prolonged periods of time. He tried to work out what had caused Kevin to flip out this time, but his mind had run over the scenario a hundred times. He was convinced that Kevin thought he was dead and that had caused all the shit. The fact that he was alive and trying to prove it only helped getting him thrown out of the window. He looked at his fractured wrist again and let it fall dully and land on the bed. It was heavy and irritating to wear. The worst thing about Kevin was that he'd think this latest act made him once again beyond redemption. He was stupid that way. Bobby found himself smiling to himself and imagining how he'd smile at Kevin if he was lying beside him. Suddenly his smile vanished. Was Kevin thinking about him? Was Kevin even alive? His heart thudded in his chest and his ears rang at the unspoken statements, but he pushed them away before they could get the better of him. He sighed and felt the threat of sleep approach. He would slip into some half-trance for less than an hour and start the same routine later. He yawned despite himself and scratched his face again.

Suddenly he froze as he heard the soft sound of movement in his room. He wanted to look but he was terrified about who was behind him. He was now fully alert, and his hearing strained to listen for the smallest sound. He didn't even consider defending himself. He was physically exhausted, and in his messed up state, the thought didn't occur to him anyway. He felt a weight descend onto the bed behind him and his breath caught in terror. There was some shuffling and Bobby frowned as confusion started to compete with fear. A body pressed up against him and an arm reached over and embraced him tightly. Bobby wanted to recoil at the touch, but only a small moment later he made sense of the situation. He took hold of the hand gently, still without turning around, and looked at it in the darkness. He knew the outline of that hand well, and he recognized the silhouette of that defined arm as well as the tight pressure it was putting on his chest. He kissed the hand gently, and he felt warm breath exhale onto the back of his neck.

"I knew you'd come," he said softly, and he gripped the hand tightly and kissed it again.

"I could never leave you," he heard Kevin reply behind him with a warm whisper, and felt the embrace tighten around him. His heart was raging.

"I love you," was all he could say.

"I love you too," Kevin replied, and the simplicity of the statement was its strength.

They lay there for a few minutes enjoying the feeling of the heat exchange between their two bodies. The pressure of Kevin's body against his was a unique feeling, and the feeling of his strong embrace drove him crazy with withdrawal. Bobby frequently kissed Kevin's hand just to enjoy the scent of him again. Finally he took the opportunity to turn and face Kevin in the darkness, but his plaster cast got in the way and he cursed softly. He wanted to hide the thing from Kevin before he went into one of his guilty rages. He found himself facing Kevin, and he could only see the outline of him. He ran his hand along Kevin's cheek.

"I like it," he said with a smile.

"You hate it," Kevin replied and Bobby could sense a wry smile in the darkness.

"Yeah, but it's all animal-like and manly, which is hot," he replied. Kevin just laughed and lay on his back, but didn't let go on Bobby's hand, which he was still gripping almost painfully.

Bobby leaned forward and kissed him deeply. It was dirty and really gross, but loving and surprisingly tender.

"I hate it," Kevin said after a small pause.

"I'll shave it off," Bobby said with a small laugh, and Kevin smiled. Bobby continued to stroke Kevin's chest and abs under his shirt, and remembered how much he loved that feeling. "I missed this," he said.

"Me too," Kevin said. Their dialogue was ridiculously simple, but something about it was filled with communication, and he loved that. Kevin rolled over after a few minutes and stroked his face.

"There's a lot to explain," he said to Bobby. "But first, let's go catch a shower. You stink."

Bobby laughed and kissed Kevin quickly on the lips. "Look who's talking."

Thirty minutes later Bobby was leaning against Kevin's chest with the hot water rushing over them. The intense warmth of the water, coupled with the powerful flow and copious amounts of steam in the bathroom did a lot to add to ethereal nature of the situation.

"It's good to see you naked again," Kevin said with a small laugh, and Bobby smiled to himself.

"I enjoyed seeing you too," he replied. In truth it had been nice. The sight of Kevin's body was something he found he needed every day to maintain his sanity. A week's depravation had irritated him and made him crazy for the opportunity to look upon that sexy physique again.

"Much better," Kevin replied as he ran his hand along Bobby's now smooth cheek, and Bobby found himself reciprocating with Kevin, who'd also discarded his werewolf look. It was nice to see Kevin all neat and tidy again, but the feral appearance definitely had appeal and would have to be repeated in the near future.

"So now you understand?" Kevin continued. There was a touch of anxiety in his voice. He's rambled on for ages in the shower about what had happened to cause all the drama in the first place. Bobby had said nothing, mainly because he was genuinely interested in what had taken place, and also because he couldn't get a word in even if he'd wanted to. Kevin was frantic to explain himself. In fact, all Kevin could do was explain himself. Bobby took it upon himself to undress them, and wash them both down, and groom them. He'd done everything, with Kevin barely noticing anything and definitely not pausing for a second's breath.

"Yeah," Bobby said, and Kevin's eyes relaxed slightly. "Kevin, you can be a really weird sometimes."

Kevin frowned as if wondering what to make of the situation, but Bobby didn't give him a chance to continue. "Minutes after you'd left and I'd made my way up here again, I knew you weren't acting like yourself. I knew that there was an explanation. You really surprise me when you act like this."

Kevin sighed exhaustedly and leaned back against the shower wall, his eyes closed. "Sorry," he said. "It's just that I'm feeling really shit about throwing you out the window. I thought... well, you know what I thought."

"Yeah," Bobby said. A wave of violent grief had come over Kevin when he'd noticed Bobby's broken wrist, and although he'd done his best to hide the injured limb, he couldn't very well hide it, especially in a shower. Kevin had grabbed his wrist, and he could remember seeing the pain in his eyes for causing the injury, but moments later the cast had disappeared and he'd found his wrist as good as new. Kevin had once doubted that he could perform such a feat, but with the right motivation it seemed he really was capable of anything. It still felt kind of strange not wearing a plaster cast, and flexing his wrist still made him want to wince with anticipated pain that never came.

The two of them stood there leaning against one another in silence while the sound of the water removed any awkwardness. In truth, Bobby would have enjoyed the scene under any other circumstances, but he was severely preoccupied with thoughts of Xavier knowingly spying on them, or other X-men ready to break the door down and set all hell loose again. None of it came, and he didn't know whether it was Xavier's doing, or Kevin's. After a while he decided to try and enjoy the feeling of his head against Kevin's strong chest. With his thoughts on Kevin, he started to become hard and he thrust mildly and felt his dick run up between Kevin's abs. It felt good, really good.

"Woah boy," Kevin said with a chuckle, but his eyes were still closed. He put his arms around Bobby and pulled him into a crushing embrace and kissed the top of his head. Kevin didn't feel like sex, or he was too wasted for it. Bobby smiled to himself and hugged Kevin back but let his rejected erection rage on against Kevin, begging for attention. After a while they got out of the shower and dried off, and then got fitted into some of Bobby's nicer clothes. It was out of the question for Kevin to sneak back into his room, and it was pretty hot to see him dressed in some of his clothes.

"You look as good as me," Bobby said with a cheeky smile.

"No body looks as good as you," Kevin said, while fastening the last button on his shirt. He found himself blushing at the compliment.

"So what are we going to do?" Bobby said.

"Well I was thinking about that," Kevin said matter-of-factly. "I think we should exit from the balcony and go for a walk. We'll reach some sort of resolution that way."

Bobby found himself tilting his head with incredulity. "A walk?" he said skeptically. Kevin was suggesting the most peaceful action while a whole house of people wanted to jump him as soon as they became aware of him.

"I know it sounds stupid, Bobby," Kevin said with little amusement. "My instincts tell me we need to walk around."

Bobby no longer doubted. There was something vague and fantastic about Kevin's powers that led him to do weird things that turned out for the best. They walked out to the balcony.

"Ready?" Kevin said, and Bobby braced himself.

He felt himself lift up gently as if some giant was softly picking him up and putting him down on the ground, and when his feet settled on the ground below with Kevin next to him, he almost felt disappointed.

"What?" Kevin said.

"Usually it's, well... more," he said sulkily. Kevin slapped the back of his head and he looked at him angrily but soon broke out into a smile when he saw that ravaging smirk across Kevin's face. He was so damn good-looking.

They walked off towards the lake and the forest not expecting what to find. Bobby looked back at his window, half expecting Xavier to be standing there looming frighteningly. His window was empty, and his curtain blew in the wind. The mansion was quiet in the cool morning air, and the moonlight illuminated the ground as the two of them walked hand-in-hand. As they descended the first set of steps leading to the pond, Kevin suddenly froze.

"Let's go here," he said determinately and he pulled Bobby by the hand in the opposite direction. It was all very strange.

"Sure," Bobby said warily, as if his opinion mattered.

Kevin led them up and down several paths and terraces until he stopped short, and looked at the ground. Bobby squinted and saw that they were in the grove that marked the burial sites for mutants who had died and had been part of the school.

"What are we doing here?" Bobby said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

Kevin merely looked at the ground ahead of him with a vacant-eyed glare in his eyes. He was looking at Jean Grey's headstone. The quietness became absolute and Bobby decided he didn't like this scenario at all.

"Let's go, Kevin... we can walk somewhere else." He added some force to his voice. He wanted to get out of this eerie place, and had better things to do than hang out in a cemetery. He walked off and pulled Kevin's hand, but Kevin stood his ground and kept his sights on the headstone. Bobby opened his mouth to protest again, when Kevin beat him to it.

"Very well, we'll hear you out," he said suddenly. Bobby frowned and a blinding white light emanated from the headstone and covered him. He felt like he would burn or catch fire, but then realized he was confusing agony for fear. He opened his eyes slowly, and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright light.

He was in a place filled with a warm golden light. It looked like an ancient Greek temple filled with pillars, marble floors and clouds rolling over the surfaces beautifully. Kevin stood beside him, and his grip was strong. He seemed unaffected by the new situation, as if he expected it. His eyes focused on Bobby and he smiled as he realized that Bobby was okay. Kevin looked forward again, and Bobby gasped.

There were five columns of what looked like steam facing them in the distance, and a strange colour radiated in all of them. One was red, the other green and then blue, silver and yellow. Kevin started walking towards them and Bobby followed. They were no longer holding hands but Bobby was more concerned with this surreal situation. They stopped a few meters from the oddities and Bobby looked at them. The colours in them intensified until they resembled oily paint rushing over a rough surface. The figures started forming into five people, three women and two men. Bobby looked at them, and their varied faces. One was an old looking man dressed in yellow, the other a small rotund Asian man dressed in silvery robes. A beautiful young girl dressed in a blue dress stood next to dark man wearing only a green loincloth. Bobby looked at the last character that sat in the center and he gasped.

"Jean!" he said in shock, and she looked at him impassively, but her eyes showed recognition. Kevin was disturbingly still next to him, but he seemed to know more about the situation that he did.

"Why do you want to speak to us?" Kevin said abruptly, and Bobby looked at the ground, well aware of the rudeness.

"Because you are special," Jean said. Her voice was the same but it echoed as if she spoke from a vast distance and her sound echoed through a hundred halls. The other apparitions merely watched them. Bobby looked at the ground if he caught any of them looking at him.

"I know that," Kevin said simply.

"Not in the way you think," the old man in yellow said with a thick accent.

"All of us share one common gift," the beautiful young woman said in an accent he'd never heard of before.

"We are all mutants of seemingly endless potential," the dark man said, and his eyes seemed fierce and warrior-like.

"Please explain," Kevin said, and he voiced his question much more eloquently than Bobby could have during this confusion. Bobby looked to his side, and found himself admiring Kevin, who looked like a leader of a great nation during the throes of negotiations.

"Mutants have been present for millennia," Jean Grey said. "Every now and again, rare individuals are born who seem to have limitless abilities. We are five out of the six with such gifts who have existed."

"But the gift cannot be controlled," the Asian man in silver said.

"Yes it can. I've controlled it..." Kevin started.

"No... No... No... No..." every one of the five said, and the echoes repeated the answer a hundred times. Frustration and what was perhaps despair started to form on Kevin's face.

"You think you can," Jean said looking deep into Kevin's eyes, "but you know deep in your heart that the control is temporary, and lost at the worst moments. All of us died under the mantle of these powers at some stage, and some of us had worse, and others greater discipline than you with this unimaginable force."

Kevin watched them blankly, but his eyes willed answers, and so did Bobby's.

"The truth is that the power is limited, but too massive for one human to carry," Jean continued.

"If you could see the vastness of your abilities, Kevin, you would see that they are finite, but still a thousand times greater than any other living mutant," the beautiful woman said.

"Unfortunately," the old man said, but Jean continued...

"... you cannot see what we can see, for the universe is laid bare to us in our afterlife. We see you holding up a massive volume, a great ocean on your shoulders, but you are not aware of the tides escaping to the sides."

"Then how do I control it? I'm surely the first man to communicate with other mutants like myself who once lived. What is the secret to controlling it all?" Kevin seemed desperate for an answer and Bobby was mesmerized by the topic.

"You cannot," the wise old man said with deadly finality.

"No mind can hold such a great mass. It is not within our potential," the Asian man said.

Kevin shook his head angrily. "So what must I do? Just accept that one day these powers will get the better of me and then join you guys?"

"No," the dark man said. "You have also done what no other has done... you have found us. And our wisdom may spare you our fate."

"How?" Bobby said, and they all looked at him. He became quite passionate when Kevin's fate became a topic of conversation.

"It is our belief that the power in the gift is part of a balance in mutant kind which is meant to govern all mutant powers. It is a tool, a machine, a judge... call it what you will," the young woman said.

"But for that to happen, it must become controllable and finite according to human perception," Jean said. "The secret is that the power must be..."

"Yes?" they both said when she hesitated.

"Split," the old man said.

The silence stretched for several seconds. "How? Why?" Kevin said.

"It is the reason Bobby exists," Jean said. "He is as rare as you, Kevin."

Bobby turned to see Kevin looking at him with a questioning glance, and he wondered what was going on in his head.

"Bullshit," Bobby said. This was all too much.

"It is true," the Asian man said placidly.

"Massive power mutants are like a giant mechanism with a missing cog," Jean said. "If the small, seemingly insignificant cog is put into place, the machine becomes what it is meant to be, and the power becomes meaningful and not monstrous."

"How do you know I'm what you say I am?" Bobby said angrily.

"Because we can see everything in the universe, but we may not commune with others unless they seek us out. The Great One..."

"Great One?" Kevin said.

"You are a Great One," the Asian man said, "and you always seek out the Lesser One, being Bobby."

"Well that's some fucked up terminology you've got going there, buddy, and I don't want to hear it again," Kevin said with deadly serious eyes. Bobby wanted to laugh but he didn't dare.

"Do not take offense, Kevin," the beautiful woman said, but it was clear that they had offended. Bobby didn't care about being the Lesser anything, but Kevin was funny that way... in many ways, actually.

"The mutant with boundless power almost never falls in love unless they meet the key to their destiny, as you did. Do you accept that? You never felt true love until recently?"

"It's true," Kevin said after a short pause. He didn't look at Bobby but his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It made Bobby's heart go out to him.

"This is the only way to save yourself, Kevin," Jean said. "You must will your abilities to Bobby, and the universe will split them between you two equally. When that happens, you will become the Ultimates. This means that both of you will be far greater than any other man alive, but unlike us, your powers will be fully controlled, and complementary. He will strengthen your deficiencies and the reverse will also be true."

"I see," Kevin said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I don't understand why the universe didn't just make two strong mutants, instead of inventing this lock and key shit."

Bobby smiled despite himself. Kevin was so tactless.

"The fault lies in our limited genetic code. The gaps in power are too narrowly spaced to accommodate a smooth transition, and as such, the leap from great to boundless energy is small, and cannot be performed subtly," the old man said.

"So where are your keys?" Bobby said, and when all of the spirits simultaneously looked to the ground in anguish, he was overcome with embarrassment and guilt. The tough warrior-like man in the loincloth was the first to recover.

"They died by our hands before the change could be initiated," he said.

Bobby thought of Cyclops and the murder seemed even more tragic. Phoenix was moments away from becoming a stable mutant and it had gone all so wrong. Xavier had tried, but even he didn't know that nothing could help Jean to control that power. Jean was doomed from the beginning. His eyes shot up and he looked to Kevin, who had the same thought in mind. They ran towards one another and into an embrace. Bobby looked to Kevin who kissed him softly on the lips and held his head in position. It felt the same as every other time, tender and aggressive, but the world started to shake. He could feel vibrations running through the ground around him until he thought his feet were moving along the smooth marble surface. The spirits were shouting incoherently and the air was a hurricane dampening out any chance he had of understanding them. He kept his eyes closed and found after a few moments that a huge force was starting to rush into him. It felt like he was standing in the path of a massive oceanic wave that had rushed over him and was trying to tear at him, rip at his soul. He was frightened, there was no question, but he let the event run its course, no matter how it ended. His mind burst into a thousand brilliant colours, as if blue fireballs had seared his brain, and then red and finally gold. It felt painful but he resisted the urge to cry out. The world raged around him and he was afraid to open his eyes and stare at the destruction they'd wrought. He started to feel dizzy and consciousness started to slip from him as his mind continued to accept the blinding assault, while at the same time the force smashing into his body seemed to rage as powerfully as ever. Instantly it was over and he felt himself floating in nothingness. He could hear, but there was no sound. He could see but his eyes did not want to open. There was no pain, there was nothing. After a few minutes or hours he started to hear a distant sound that slowly grew louder. His ears strained to make some sense of the situation.

"Bobby," he heard in the distance, and his ears pricked up at the sound of a familiar concept.

"Bobby," it repeated more loudly, and he breathed in. His eyes felt heavy but he could feel his shoulder shaking, or being shaken. His eyes fluttered and he slowly opened them but groaned as harsh daylight pained his adjusting sight.

"Wake up, Bobby," he heard Kevin say in a voice laced with vexation and anxiety. This time he did open his eyes and he saw Kevin staring at him hopefully, with a newly relieved look on his face.

"Did I scare you?" Bobby asked with a smile. His body felt exhausted but he tried to make it move despite its protests.

"Yes," Kevin said, sitting back on the grass with a sight. "You were out for nearly half an hour since we returned."

"Where are we?" he asked, and answered his own question when he saw the headstone behind Kevin. Jean's headstone. He remembered everything. It seemed they'd been chatting in that place in the sky all night. Turning to his other side, he leaped up with a cry.

"Holy shit! Kevin!" he said while jumping up.

"I know," Kevin said while slowly getting up. He stood next to him and put his hand on his should affectionately.

"Did we do that?" he asked worriedly. Half of the mansion had been devastated and lay in a smoldering ruin. There was no fire, but there had been. The grounds around them also showed evidence of hostility.

"No," Kevin said.

"How do you know?" Bobby said worriedly.

"Look at your watch," Kevin said simply. He looked down and was astounded at what he saw.

"But that means we were gone for..."

"Three weeks," Kevin completed. "Time must have moved differently there. In that time, something else happened. I sense human weapons here, and mutant powers too. It's obvious who won."

"Do you think they're dead?" he said.

"I don't know," Kevin said softly. "We need to find out, but first let's sort ourselves out. Have you seen your hands?"

Bobby stared at the mansion for a moment longer. It was incomprehensible to see his new home in ruins, but he was relieved that he had not been responsible. For the first time he knew how Kevin felt when he'd woken up only to find everyone and everything around him killed or destroyed. He looked down to his hands and frowned. His hands were laced with deep furrows that glowed with a flowing blue light running within the canyons. It was as if rivers had been cut into his hands that stretched from his fingertips all the way up his arms to just below his elbows. He took off his shirt frantically to see if this thing was anywhere else on him, but it looked like only his arms were affected. He looked to Kevin for reassurance, and the anxiety on his face disappeared and was replaced with confusion when he saw that Kevin was laughing to himself.

"You're funny when you're confused," Kevin said with a ravishing smile.

"Fuck you," he said childishly. "What is this?"

Kevin looked to Bobby's shoulder and he found himself doing the same. A large water droplet, or something that looked like water was bouncing along his skin and down his arm. When it reached the river of energy it jumped in and joined the flow to nowhere. His arms glowed and he saw that these droplets were present on both sides of his body and were continuously merging with him. Sometimes they bounced up his leg, and at other times they appeared from nowhere and close to his arm before traversing the distance and taking the final leap.

"Kevin?" he said, with the confusion back on his face.

"I think it's hot," Kevin said with warmth, but it didn't answer anything. His face must have given it away. Kevin shook his head and walked up to Bobby and hugged him hard, before standing back. He lifted his own hands and Bobby gasped. Kevin's hands looked the same as his, except they were a blinding orange red running down his arms, and where animated water droplets merged with his arms, Kevin's were small flames. Bobby found himself chuckle involuntarily, and Kevin smiled again.

"Cool," Bobby said while admiring Kevin's sexier than normal arms.

"Very," Kevin said. "Do you know how good I feel, Bobby?"

Bobby looked into his eyes and really saw him for the first time. His eyes were less strained than he'd seen in weeks. He looked genuinely happy!

"Tell me, Kev," he said with a beaming smile.

"My powers are controlled!" Kevin said, but Bobby thought that he wanted to scream it as loud as he could. Kevin held his temples and laughed and Bobby laughed with him, but also watched as fire escaped Kevin's hands and fell a few inches before vanishing.

"Oh Bobby, if only you knew how in control I feel. I can see the extent of my abilities for the first time. There is no wildness, no gray void of endless death and malice. It's just a field of fire which listens to me." Kevin's eyes actually watered with gratitude. Bobby's found himself feeling sorry for Kevin and the load he must have carried prior to this.

"So it worked then?" Bobby said.

"Oh it worked," Kevin said. "We both have equal powers which we both can control."

"I feel the same," Bobby said. His arms looked different but could still sense all the surrounding water and ice.

"You need to think about it," Kevin said.

Bobby looked at his hands and felt into his core. There were oceans at his command, vast rapids that were waiting for the slightest sign that he wanted something, and they would do it for him. He stretched out his hand, but he didn't know why, and the whole mansion creaked and lifted slowly into the air. His mouth dropped in surprise, but there the huge structure hung, high in the air with small pieces of debris hanging from the underside and sometimes falling to the ground. Worst of all he didn't feel a sense of strain. He knew he could do much more but he was overwhelmed at this seemingly nonchalant act.

"Impressive," Kevin said with a wry grin. Bobby looked at his own arms and the rivers seemed to be running faster with a great many more droplets fusing with him. Perhaps a greater act forced his arms to respond in some way, but he would need to investigate it over time.

"That was amazing," Bobby said, as the house settled with a groaning thud.

"Try and make fire," Kevin said while rubbing his chin.

Bobby thought it would be easy compared to his last act, but when he put his mind to it he realized he couldn't, and most importantly, he didn't want to.

"I can't," he said. "I don't know why, but I just know..."

Kevin raised his softly. "Don't worry, Bobby, I know what you mean. I thought about making ice earlier, but I couldn't, and I also felt an aversion to it, like it disgusted me almost."

Bobby nodded slowly. "We're complementary," he said and Kevin pointed at him as if he'd summed it up perfectly.

"We both have telekinesis and probably some other abilities to share, but I'm sure many of our abilities are unique. Between us we have the full itinerary. We can work together, I know it," Kevin said. "If we need to. The knowledge somehow seems to be in the back of my brain but my instincts tell me that the way to do these things becomes clear when the opportunity rises. Which is how you could move the house there."

Bobby nodded. It all made sense. "Are you sure we don't have equal powers which need to be used in different ways? I just need to figure out how to make a fireball, you know."

Kevin was already shaking his head. "No, I'm pretty sure that it was meant to be this way, and I think when they said 'split' they really meant it."

Bobby grabbed Kevin into headlock and rubbed his head. "Well I'm glad I got to share it with you," he said wryly.

Kevin freed himself and looked flustered. "Once we've saved the world, I'm going to make you pay for that," he said angrily.

"You better," Bobby said, and they both smiled. "So let's talk about saving the world." It didn't sound stupid when he'd first heard it, and he realized that his instincts were beyond human, that he could piece together instinctual knowledge based on nothing at all. It was a weird feeling, like walking into an examination having not studied a thing and yet as soon as you saw the questions the answers just seemed to be there.

Kevin walked a step towards the ruined house. "I can see the scene of what happened here. The army came while we were gone and they took all of the high level mutants. Xavier and some others went peacefully but it got out of hand. It became a mess, but the army won anyway, but after that I don't really know what happened."

"They took them to a mutant facility about a hundred miles from here. They are still there," Bobby completed. He could see it vividly in his mind.

"I can only see the past. You stole my clairvoyance," Kevin said with darkly angry eyes. "You bitch."

Bobby laughed. "As I said, I really want to shout my apologies later today, my boy."

"Damn right you will," Kevin said, and he was broody and seething, but Bobby found it intensely attractive.

"Let's go free them," he said.

"Bobby, before we go, I just want you to realize that people, you know, die in battle. You're going to have to kill people. They won't just release them if we arrive." Kevin seemed worried for him.

"I know," Bobby said. "But it won't be too tough for me, Kev. I've seen some of the things that are going on there, and I'm pretty angry about it."

A frown coursed over Kevin's face but it settled quickly. "I'm just saying that sometimes regret comes back later. Much later."

Bobby put his arm around him and squeezed him. "You've always done what you thought was right at the time, Kevin. You shouldn't look back so much and analyze yourself. If you hadn't done those things, there is no evidence it would have turned out better."

"I guess," Kevin said sadly.

"Let's go sort this out," Bobby said, with the hope that he could crack this rapidly darkening mood. A round disc appeared below his feet, as black as night and made of some tough substance. He lifted off the ground. Kevin watched him and formed his own disc to stand on. With a single wink and a weak smile, Kevin let Bobby know he was ready, and the two of them flew off high into the sky, rapidly gaining altitude and speed until they were soaring with immense velocity towards their destination. Bobby's arms glowed dangerously, and fire trailed off of Kevin's arms like a comet's tail. A look of determination was fixed on their faces as they headed off northwest towards their friends.

Xavier sighed as he looked out the window of his small cell. He supposed he should feel lucky that he had a window, considering most of his students were surrounded on all sides by concrete, but he felt very little gratitude in a place like this. How could it have all gone so wrong? The daylight looked inviting, but his hopes remained low, possibly during one of the worst times of his life.

He could accept the destruction of his school. The mansion was made of bricks and those could be rebuilt. He had enough money to foresee any disaster. Some things could not be replaced though. Peter... Colossus... dead. He'd asked all his students to remain calm when the army had arrived at his front door, having driven right over the front gates, and churned up most of the decorated path which led up to his house. That had been the first sign that peace was not in the army's agenda that day two weeks previously. The army had demanded the acquisition of all high-level mutants, which incorporated only a small percentage of the people who resided there. Everything appeared to be going smoothly, if one could forgive the rough treatment by the soldiers and the ominous Bane looming in the background, until he'd been questioned about Bobby Drake. Their most fervent efforts to convince the soldiers that Bobby had disappeared over a week previously did not placate them, and they'd started to viciously interrogate him and some of his senior friends, while at the same time they began to literally tear down the place as if Bobby was hiding in one of the walls. He could remember the screams of the younger children as all their possessions were thrown around and broken in the search for Iceman. When a soldier had backhanded a tearful Marie who was desperately trying to convince a random colonel that she didn't know where Bobby was, Peter had cracked. It was a scene in slow motion as those metal plates started to form all over his body, leading to his indestructible metallic form. They all watched as Peter smashed that colonel off into the far distance, only to slump down the wall with deformed and broken bones, as dead as could be. Peter's rage had extended to several surrounding soldiers all of whom were critically injured or killed before the Bane had stepped forward. Xavier could recall the immense psychic energy flowing from it, causing Peter to hold his head in agony at whatever images were being projected to him. The metal plates had slipped away to reveal his powerful, but less than invulnerable, normal human form. The Bane had then nonchalantly stepped up to the tormented man, grasped his head in its powerful hands and broken his neck effortlessly. He wanted to scream at the sight, and the sound, but moments later he'd felt an intense pain as a soldier had placed some sort of stun device to his neck. Darkness had come instantly and he'd awoken in this hellish place, but the searing itch of the burn wound on his neck was a reminder than he'd not been a player in some dream. It had been real. It was still real.

He'd heard the cries of the mutants in adjacent cells as their interrogations continued, and the frantic squeals as experiments were performed on them deeper within the structure. He had to rely on human senses to piece together this place. Something in his cell neutralized his powers and kept him feeling like a shadow of a shadow, and a true prisoner of these people. He knew that the majority of his terrified children had escaped with the help of Logan, who'd amazingly had managed to stealthily herd them to the underground car park instead of getting caught up in a mass slaughter. Men like Logan and Peter were powerful allies against the forces of evil, but they would fall like babies if confronted by a war of the mind, which the Bane somehow managed to do.

Xavier sighed again, as he stared at the rejected food that lay at the foot of the door. He couldn't eat, nor would he eat such disgusting slop that was supposed to be nourishing. His dignity was one thing that he would die with, even if it was the one thing they were after. He would have given up hope long ago if not for the small glimmer of hope in the back of his mind. Kevin.

There was something brewing in the world that surrounded Kevin, or Kronos as he sometimes called him. He was certain that Bobby's disappearance had something to do with Kevin. He'd gone to bed that night clearly after being aware of Bobby's presence and relative good health, only to find him gone in the morning. It was impossible for Bobby to have left the mansion without him knowing, even in his deepest sleep, unless a much greater power had challenged his senses, which was what he expected. There had also been nothing sinister in his disappearance. Storm had been full of what a horrendous kidnapping it had been, but he'd merely kept quiet and brushed off her irrational thoughts on the subject. She'd failed to notice no signs of violence in the room, and plenty of other signs. These include two indentations on Bobby's bed, two pairs of dirty shirts and boxers on the floor next to his cupboard, and a recently used shower in the early hours of the morning. No, Bobby had left with Kevin after he'd come back for him. There was something good about the scenario and his one small glimmer of hope for him and his friends' survival.

Xavier heard a cry in the distance, and grimaced at what unimaginable atrocity was now being performed followed by another cry. It was a busy night, even for this place of terror. The ground shook slightly, and in an instant he was on his feet. He tried to jump up to look out the window but it was several feet above his grasp. The ground shook again heavily and he stumbled, his heart beating heavily with fear. If only he could use his powers to see what was happening! There was shouting outside, and sirens were booming. Men ran past his door urgently and he took an involuntary step back, suddenly afraid that they were there to haul him away, or perhaps to kill him. Their footsteps faded and he breathed a sigh of relief. A small bubble of hope in his mind was shouting that the moment of liberation was here, but he was too scared to let it grow larger than a pinprick. His fate was balancing tenuously on a cliff edge. He heard shouting, and then screams of desperation and agony, and the ground shook periodically. The lack of clarity on the situation made him furious with frustration. The bars of the window above his head started to bend outwards and he wondered whether his deceased friend Magnus had found some way to resurrect himself and come here. It was an absurd thought but it was the first one that filled his head.

The bars broke away along with the entire wall, and he shielded his face. Lowering his hands, he saw a man floating towards him, with arms that seemed to contain veins of radiant blue running down them. His mouth dropped in shock.

"Bobby?" he said, aghast.

"Professor," the boy replied formally. He seemed to be floating on a pitch-black disc of some sort, but the look in his eyes radiated death.

"How?" he asked like a fool.

"It's a long story. We've come here to rescue you and the other students." There was something mature about his demeanour that he'd never seen before. Bobby made a small swipe of his hand, and the prison door melted into the wall as if it was butter. Sparks leaped off the wall and instantly he became aware of the presence of his powers. With a breath of relief he reached out and sensed the mayhem of the base, and the utter destruction. The other mutants had been rounded up in a nearby area and seemed to be uninjured.

"Let's go," he said simply and a glowing cable formed from the tip of Bobby's index finger and wrapped around him like a piece of spaghetti.

It lifted him gently and his breath caught as the two of them flew out the window, the ground at least fifty feet below them. They flew for a remarkably short time, and he found it difficult to see anything. There were vast clouds of thick black smoke everywhere, and infernos that fed them. The screams of men still filled the air but he couldn't pin point anyone. Aftershocks still rattled the ground, along with sounds of gunfire, and even heavier weaponry. Landing in a large courtyard, he found himself swamped by his students and a rather bedraggled looking Storm who undoubtedly had pain in her eyes. Anger flared up in his mind at what had possibly been done to her, and he suppressed it with reservations. A quick appraisal of the situation showed a lot of frightened mutants who had all undergone different types of trauma. Many of them still looked scared, while others were clearly angry and were carrying fire or ice in their hands, or whatever else their greater powers provided for them.

"I thought it was the end of us," Storm said with a whimper.

"I admit I fell into that trap too, but we underestimated the value of loyalty and friendship. I always hoped one of our friends would come for us, but I was astounded to see that it was Bobby. I was certain that it would be..."

"Kevin?" Storm said. "He did come, Professor. He and Bobby took out this whole base single handedly. I don't know what's happened to Bobby, but it looks like the most remarkable and positive change."

Xavier swung around and looked in awe into the far distance only to see that Bobby had joined another man floating high in the sky. Xavier took Storm's word for it that it was Kevin, and his build suggested that it was him, apart from the fire running off his arms in droves. His powers did manifest strangely though, so he didn't pay it too much attention, but what had happened to Bobby? The two young men floated above them, each on a dark disc, at least two hundred feet above the ground looking into the far distance. They seemed to be talking but when he tried to get a closer look with the aid of his powers he found himself sealed off with greater resolve than he'd ever encountered in his life. The mental barriers around Bobby and Kevin were of unsurpassable strength, and he had to admire the handiwork even if he couldn't understand how it had come about. To his left he saw a tank approaching them, and before he could cry out in horror, the tank had opened fire. The colossal shell that would have destroyed several of them bounced off a barrier that seemed to surround all of them.

Storm shook her head wryly. "We've been under this barrier since they arrived. The whole garrison here has thrown everything they've got at us. I think they were instructed to kill us should anything happen. But nothing gets through."

Kevin turned slowly towards the tank and it exploded violently but no debris seemed to follow. It merely disappeared.

"That happens each time too," Storm said maliciously. "I would have thought they would have learned by now." There was great anger in her eyes, and a clear lust for revenge against humans.

Xavier was about to mention something when Kevin and Bobby descended from the sky and seemed to cross the barrier effortlessly. Kevin's abilities really were incredible.

"Kevin..." Xavier began urgently, but he forestalled him.

"Hello Professor. I'm sorry we took so long to arrive here but we were delayed for a few weeks. I'll explain everything as soon as I can, but we need to assault the core of this atrocity." The look in Kevin's eyes was malevolent.

"de Mille?"

"Indeed," Kevin said, and Bobby grimaced angrily. "They will pay for the mutants they harmed. There were nine mutants here who even Bobby couldn't save, and he shall be accountable for them too. It won't be easy, though. He has a hold on the President, and thus on the military."

Bobby? What did Bobby have to do with saving mutants? "I have so many questions," Xavier said, and it had been very long since he'd admitted such a thing.

"I know," Kevin said. "All in good time. I need to get you to safety first. I'll send you all back to the mansion where Wolverine should be waiting. You must do all you can to protect these people. The time for diplomacy is over, Charles."

He nodded sadly, and had become well aware of the boundaries of negotiations. "Will you challenge de Mille alone?"

"Bobby and I will," he said.

He frowned with surprise. "Kevin, I know you love Bobby but really, this isn't the time to drag him off to war. He can't handle..."

Kevin laughed, but there was nothing mean in his tone. "You don't understand yet, Professor Xavier. You wouldn't believe what he can do," he said, and Bobby's mouth curved into a half smile. The Professor thought that something very odd was going on when Bobby stepped up to him and tapped his forehead once with his index finger. A flood of information invaded his mind, and he found that he had answers to all his questions.

"I see now," Xavier said with a smile. "It's... it's... wonderful!"

"That's what I thought too," he said, and he ruffled Bobby's hair playfully. The moment seemed perfect until he caught the sound of another futile artillery shell striking their protective barrier. Kevin's smile vanished instantly. It was remarkable how different he could look at times. He could be the most fun-loving and harmless man, but at times he seemed to be death and destruction personified, and terror walked before him like a herald.

Kevin and Bobby started to float on their black discs into the distance, and in the direction of the last shots fired. He opened his mouth to at least offer his thanks, but waves of nothingness washed over him, and after blinking several times he found that he was on a large plain of green grass next to the lake, with his ruined mansion in the distance. The mutants around him talked furiously with amazement and many hugged one another, now convinced of their safety.

"Thank you, guys," Storm said next to him, and she seemed to be talking to herself.

"And good luck to you both," he said.

Kevin looked to Bobby as they tore through the air at a massive speed. The discs they had conjured had served them well. Bobby winked to him, and he smiled weakly. They had left the ruined base behind and were on their way to the city for their encounter with de Mille and David. Bobby had said that the meeting was inevitable and he'd taken his word for it.

Kevin sensed the fighter planes approaching from the east and he scowled. The army had spared nothing to try and neutralize them, but they'd come woefully short. He didn't think that anything in the world's arsenal could harm either of them, but that didn't mean they would become complacent or that the army would stop trying. A single bullet could still kill either of them, but the trick was not providing it with the opportunity. A shiver ran through him at the thought of Bobby being shot, but he shook his head angrily.

"What is it?" Bobby said. They were traversing the sky at insane speeds but the barriers they'd placed around themselves afforded them a serene internal environment while they moved.

"Thoughts of doom again," he replied honestly. Bobby could read him like a book so there was no point in lying.

"Silly man," Bobby said, and he smiled.

Kevin looked at him with admiration, but before he could say more an incredible explosion lit up his vision to his left, instantly wiping the smile off Bobby's sexy face. He turned slowly to see the remains of a missile strike against their barriers. He could sense six F22's heading from different directions in groups of two on their course to intercept them. This had been the first strike, and moments later a second missile struck next to Bobby causing him to growl with anger. He could see the first group approaching from the left and he raised his left hand, which emitted three sonic waves of devastating magnitude. The first jet exploded as it collided with the wave, and although the second one used his superior skill to evade it, the second pulse duly collected him. Kevin spared a moment to think on the pilots, but in a battle to the death, what choice did he have but to defend himself? Bobby was carrying two lightning bolts in each hand, and they resembled spears pulsing with blinding white light. He stretched back and threw the one as if he was thrusting a javelin. Kevin succumbed to his awe for a moment, as he watched this really good-looking guy stretch back and hurl this deadly bolt into the distance. A distant explosion told him of Bobby's success, as if he'd ever doubted it. Bobby quickly took care of the next jet only moments before four huge missile strikes struck the shield right in front of them. Desperation at the loss of their peers had forced the last two fighters to act precipitously. He grasped Bobby's forearm and Bobby grasped his back, and a purple vortex formed between them that grew in size before suddenly collapsing and sending out a pulse of blinding white light. They watched impassively as the two planes fell from the sky on a crash course below them. Small parachutes appeared hundreds of feet below them and for some reason he felt relieved. He caught Bobby smiling too.

"EMP," he said.

"Yeah," Bobby replied. "I don't have that ability."

"Neither do I," he said, "but it's as I thought. We can do many things apart, but even more together."

Bobby nodded twice. "Did you notice the purple tinge to that thing?"

"Yeah. You think our two energies combine to form a new hybrid?"

Bobby laughed. "I wouldn't have put it so eloquently, but yes, exactly."

"I already owe you payback, so don't make it worse on yourself by teasing me further." He enjoyed his continuous banter with his boyfriend.

"Your payback is less of a punishment than you think. You actually incite bad behaviour from me," he said with a laugh to himself, and Kevin chuckled despite his mock anger.

They flew for another half an hour before approaching the vast city. The tall skyscrapers came into view. The city looked peaceful in the mid-morning, and the sun was mild on their faces.

"Here," they heard a sharp whisper say to the left, and he and Bobby both descended to the top of a great building where two individuals waited. They approached cautiously, wondering what trap awaited them. The Bane waited ominously next to de Mille, who had an infuriating smirk on his face. Kevin thought back on Magneto and his crazy metallic invention, and already he was trying to think of a way to defeat this thing, which he was sure would be the outcome.

"Gentlemen," de Mille said. "We knew you'd come for us after your little stint at the base. Dozens of our soldiers are dead. You've just handed me public approval for my mutant laws on a silver platter."

"The tyranny against mutants is over, de Mille," he said.

The Senator laughed richly, and his expensive suit and dark eyes created an unmistakable sense of condescension. "Nothing is over until I say it is," de Mille said, suddenly very seriously.

"You cannot match either of us, and you know it," he said factually.

"Us? Who is this other boy, David? I was only aware of one level 5 on the planet. Unless you... lied to me."

The Bane shimmered in the air and suddenly David was standing before them, a presence as dark as ever. Kevin clenched his fist at the thought of the nightmare David had put him in. The twisted asshole, he would pay!

"I didn't lie, de Mille," he said gravely, but he was looking at both of them curiously. "Kronos reads differently. He is less powerful than before, but greater than ever... I can't explain it. The other one is the same. He's no longer the piece of shit he was before."

Kevin's mouth snarled at the insult but Bobby snickered.

"What's funny Iceman?" David said, with venom dripping from his words.

"Uh, you are. Kevin, this guy likes you," Bobby said with a wide smile.

He gasped despite himself, and David's mouth dropped in horror. "It's not... it's not..." he said, for the first time at a loss for words.

"Yeah, it's true, shithead," Bobby said smugly.

"So, two exceedingly diverse and powerful mutants," de Mille said with a truly curious look in his eyes. "Imagine what I could cultivate from you."

David was staring at the ground and his breathing was laboured, and filled with humiliation. Kevin was still taken back with the whole thing. He'd heard about lust being disguised with loathing but until you actually found yourself in it, you couldn't believe what a surprise it was! Shaking his head slightly, he turned to Bobby and smiled.

"Enough," he said to de Mille. "There will be no cultivating, de Mille. You are finished today, no matter how this ends. As for you David, I'm with Bobby and really, there's no comparison. So fuck off."

Silence stretched for a few seconds, and while the four of them squared off, the quiet breeze and sound of the traffic below them kept them company. David broke the silence with a cry of rage that seemed to bore into his soul. He thought that the man was on the verge of tears but anger made his face ugly and demented. De Mille snarled too, and his hatred for them was plain. Instantly the Bane was back and before he could react, it had taken a swipe for them and hit both him and Bobby with a mighty smash sending them flying off the building with a grunt of pain. Kevin stopped his rapid fall to the ground below and started to ascend again, well aware of Bobby approaching him to the side.

"You okay?" he said to Bobby seriously, and he nodded despite the small cut above his left eye.

A beam of searing power shot from Bobby's hand and leveled the top floor of the skyscraper on which the two sick villains stood hurling them both off into the distance. Kevin saw the Bane catch de Mille and shelter him as they fell to the ground below that ended with a groundbreaking roar. Hopefully it was over. The two of them flew over the site and saw the crater below where the Bane and de Mille had crashed onto the street below, pulverizing a taxi and sending the surrounding populace into mayhem. Dismayed, he saw the Bane struggling to stand, with a seemingly unaffected de Mille climbing out of its protective embrace.

"You'll have to fucking do better than that!" de Mille roared from the ground below, and for a wonder, they could hear him.

"He's a mutant," Kevin said, as Bobby seemed to frown. "I sensed him on top of the building."

"Figures," Bobby said simply.

De Mille went up to the Bane that had now recovered and placed his hands on it. It started to grow in size. De Mille was screaming, either from rage or glee or exertion, it was impossible to say. The Bane grew and grew until it towered above the skyscrapers around it. Kevin and Bobby looked at one another worriedly. Instantly they flew towards it from different directions, well aware that a single blow from those colossal hands would crush either of them. He prayed for Bobby's safety, and with a cry of anger he stopped directly in front of the Bane. It's gargantuan steel fist descended on him and he could see the malevolent eyes behind the visor wishing for his death. He repelled the fist as it struck him, as if it had struck a wall, and he swung his own seemingly puny fist that smashed into the Bane's chest toppling it over onto the street below. He cringed at the damage and injuries below, but when fighting in a city, how could one avoid it? The Bane was on its feet instantly, and the ground shook beneath the several thousand-ton monster with its unnatural agility.

"If I cannot destroy you," David said with a machine like deep drone from within the Bane, "then I shall destroy the city, and remind you forever that you wrought its demise."

With a wide swing the monster struck at a massive skyscraper that would have had broken down to powder under it's power, sending hundreds to their deaths. But as the fist descended, Kevin caught the glow of a small blue light that caused it to stop short. Bobby stood on the roof of the building and the hammer stroke could not overwhelm him. He was on one knee with his hands facing the monster, but the wildly angry Bane could not smite him. Kevin's eyes widened as he noticed the ground beneath Bobby's feet start to crack. Bobby could withstand the assault, but the building could not, and it would soon crumble anyway.

"Kevin!" Bobby cried out. He had to do something!

The Bane continued to hammer down on Bobby and the whole building shook, with huge panes of glass falling on the streets below as the windows in the building ruptured. It would take one or perhaps two more strikes to take down the building with all those inside doomed to die. It lifted its hand to complete the final stroke, when suddenly it stopped as if surprised. A massive golden sword stuck out of its chest. Kevin stood behind him, now as colossal as he had become, an avatar sent to destroy this wretched thing. He pulled the sword free and David gasped while clutching the mortal wound in his chest. The Bane turned and the helmet over his head disappeared. David's eyes were already glazing over. Kevin had known where to strike.

"I ... I ... only wanted you," David said desperately while leaning one hand on Kevin's shoulder. His breathing was ragged and wheezing.

"I'm sorry David, but you went about it the wrong way," he said, and he could offer no sympathy and hoped his eyes were as cold as his heart was. A single tear streaked down David's face, and then he collapsed, suddenly as small as a normal man, but dead. Falling to the earth below, Kevin caught the small body in his giant hand and placed it on the roof of the tormented skyscraper next to Bobby. Moments later he was his normal size, and standing next to Bobby.

"Will this thing hold?" he said hugging Bobby, and he was referring to the skyscraper.

"Yeah, it's still good," he said. Bobby looked at David's corpse and his gaze was unreadable. Kevin wondered what he was thinking but he didn't want to ask him. "Should we go sort out de Mille?"

"He's dead too," Kevin said. "He was linked to David through his powers. When I killed David, De Mille died from shock. They'll think he had a heart attack."

"It's better than what he deserved," Bobby said angrily.

"What matters is that it's over," he said, and he kissed Bobby deeply. It was a great kiss, but it was ruined by the ignorant screams of the city around him, unaware that their plight was over thanks to them.

"I just want to have a normal life with you," Bobby said, and he couldn't say what Bobby was feeling, but there was an equal chance it was frustration, anger or sadness.

"I've been yearning for that since the first day I discovered my powers, and now that I'm with you, I want it more than ever," he replied.

"Let's go back," Bobby said, and it was clear what he meant. The hugged and the world turned white and they left the rooftop in an instant.

It had been seven days since they had been saved from the de Mille atrocities as the President had started to refer to them publicly. Xavier walked along the grass towards the lake. It seemed that the spell that had been placed on the President's mind had shattered as soon as David and de Mille had died, as he expected. The real shock was finding out that one of his own students had worn the terror known as the Bane. David had always been a dark individual but he was embarrassed to admit that he'd underestimated the boy's powers, even if he was reliant on de Mille's amplifying abilities to reach near-invulnerability. The shock of the past few weeks still rang true to many mutants and they were still trying to recover from their losses, among them Peter and Steven. Peter had died a hero, and Steven could not withstand the prison's rough interrogation into his ability to control air in all its different forms. A pang of sadness struck his heart but he coughed and tried to swallow it.

He approached the lake. This was why he'd walked the considerable distance from the mansion for the second time in the past week. Walk into the lake, he'd been told, and he thought it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard (and he'd heard many things in his time). He approached the water and this time he didn't hesitate. Just before his shoe touched the water it parted as if it was revolted by the sight of his shoe. He started to descend into the lakebed that had become dry sand beneath his feet. The walls of water started to rise beside him and eventually became daunting as he reached the center of the lake. He concentrated on the white light before him. It was a circular white light, a door of rippling luminosity. As he started to step through he heard the sound of the water collapsing behind him, which forced him to hasten involuntarily.

He found himself in the same exquisite place as last time. It was a huge hall made seemingly of pure gold, with beautiful silk hangings, colourful tapestries and carpets, as well as intricate sculptures, as well as elements of modern technology in the distances he'd never investigated. He approached the end of the hall and above the high plinth sat two great gilded thrones, this time only seating one man. He approached Bobby, who wore dark blue clothing with a modern yet noble cut. His face was more mature than he remembered but welcoming. Blue droplets still swam down his forearms and glowed mysteriously.

"Welcome Professor," he said kindly with a light smile.

"Bobby," he said warmly. "Alone today?"

"He's never alone," he heard to the left, and he saw Kevin walking into the hall wearing bright red clothes of same cut. His chest was covered in sweat and his hair was untidy. He buttoned up the last four buttons with his fire-covered hands to cover his exposed body and sat down next to a widely grinning Bobby, but his breathing was heavy.

"Kevin," he said with a respectful nod, and Kevin nodded back then wiped the sweat from his brow. What had he been up to?

"How can we help you, Professor?" Bobby said. He sometimes possessed the tact that Kevin lacked. That was their story though, to balance the deficiencies the other one lacked. It was a remarkable story but undeniable.

"The world wants to know when Kronos..."

"I told you I am not Kronos," Kevin said angrily, and the fires seemed to respond to his anger and rose higher on his arms for a few moments.

"And I'm not Iceman," Bobby said seriously.

"Forgive me," Xavier said, having truly forgotten. "But it will take some time before you are known as the Guardians."

"Then let's begin somewhere," Kevin said. He seemed irritated as if he'd been interrupted. Perhaps he hadn't come at the right time.

"Well to be honest, I personally am afraid that we'll lose you two to this place, wherever it is." It was not easy admitting his emotional vulnerability.

Bobby smiled but Kevin remained serious. "It's okay Professor. This place is outside the known universe and only we can access it and grant access to it. But we see everything," he said warmly.

"Everything," Kevin said, and the flames jumped again.

"Then my friends, I am happy. Be sure to visit us frequently. We miss you."

"We will," Bobby said kindly, and Kevin merely looked at him.

He turned on his heel and the light appeared to take him home to the lake.

"Professor," Kevin said from behind him, and he turned. Kevin was standing. "We are always watching. Always."

"I'm counting on it," he replied with a smile. Kevin's face was stony, but his top button popped open and he turned in shock to Bobby who was grinning evilly. He shook his head wryly and stepped through the portal. He was too old for some things, but although there were some things he didn't feel like seeing, he couldn't wait to see his two favourite students again.

The End

Thanks for those who read the whole story and I hope you liked it. I'm planning to write a spin off about these two called the Guardians, if I get some positive feedback. All comments can be sent to rahvin747@yahoo.com