Disclaimer: All rights to the marvel characters that are used in this story are that of Marvel Comics. I own all rights to my own characters and would like to ask that they not be used without my permission
Symbols: *** mean a character change or what character the story is starting out with.
Warning: This story is dark and filled with a lot of dark dealings. There may be sex so if you're to young then you shouldn't be reading this. If you have a problem with Male/Male relationships then you shouldn't read this.
Alex*
"So what's coming up that you need to get presents for Peter?" Mary looked at me for a second and it looked like she had a strange amount of sadness come over her.
"Alex, it's almost Christmas, why don't you come by and eat dinner with me and Peter. You know I can cook some really good old fashioned food that you'll love, just like your mother use to fix." Her hand flew to her mouth the second she finished her sentence. She placed her hand on my cheek lightly and wiped away a tear that I hadn't even know had fallen.
"I'm so sorry Alex, it just slipped, but please come to dinner, it could do you some good." I shook my head, I guess it was the reason I never celebrated any holiday, it only brought back painful memories.
"No thanks Mary, crime doesn't stop on Christmas and I need to be on the streets that night, but thanks for asking." She nodded slowly knowing it would always be my answer. It had been the same thing I had said the year before to get out of eating dinner in a place filled with light and happiness.
"Then you'll have to come by Christmas morning so you can get some of the stuff I got you this year." I smiled and agreed knowing that if I turned her down this time she would only have a fit and get me to agree to it anyway. So we shopped and got Peter a really nice tool set and a few other things that she thought he might need. We didn't talk all that much while we were shopping, I think she was afraid she would slip up again. I didn't really blame her, after all not many people killed their own parents with just skin contact. There was Rouge but her touch didn't always have to kill so she hadn't really killed anyone with her touch, at least as far as I knew. Yet I had killed many, but they had it coming to them for the crimes they had committed. Only now I didn't need to kill with the control that I had over my powers. The armor that covered my body was still very sharp only now I controlled what it covered on my body. The objects that I could send flying from my body could now be sharp or a blunt object that wouldn't kill. I thought that I had come along way since I had left the X men. Now I had a job, some friends that weren't mutants or super heroes, just everyday normal people. On top of that they accepted me for who I was and what I could do. It was very important to me to have these things in my life, without them I would lose my mind. After all I couldn't return to the X men where I had closer friends and people that really understood me. Peter and Mary were great but there weren't the X men, in some ways that was good.
It had been a week and Peter had tried to talk me into coming to Christmas dinner five times so far. I was starting to dodge him, it wasn't all that easy it was like he had some kind of built in radar. Still I was a faster than Spiderman so getting away from Peter was getting easier and easier. I was a little surprised to bump into Bobby in the hallway he looked a little panicked.
"Oh sorry about that man, hey maybe you can help me I'm looking for my friend." I looked up at him and laughed lightly shaking my head, he looked a little shocked.
"Oh my God you cut your hair off, and you're wearing a suit, I can't believe it." I shook my head and pulled my braid out showing him that my hair had only gotten longer. I had gotten it trimmed up a few days ago after realizing that it had badly needed it. It was still close to touching the ground which I was impressed with myself.
"Nope just trying to keep it hidden so I have some kind of a secret identity, and of course the sun glasses." I put my braid back away as Peter walked toward me giving Bobby an odd look.
"Is this guy giving you any trouble Alex, we could have him removed if he is?" I looked at Peter and shook my head while draping my arm over Bobby's shoulder.
"He's a real good friend of mine that I haven't seen in a really long time, so he's cool." Peter nodded and walked on as I turned back to face Bobby pulling my arm back.
"So how's everything been with the X men, still causing trouble I'm sure." Bobby laughed and nodded, then he looked down.
"Peter died a while back, Kitty's quit and off in some college somewhere. Rouge's powers are out of hand and all in all the whole damn team has gone nuts. Scott almost died, and I left a few days ago to take a trip when I get a message from Jono about you. So here I am I hope you don't mind me just dropping in, and requesting to stay at your home." I didn't mind at all so I shook my head wrapping my arm around his shoulder leading him out of the building.
"You know you really have changed, you've gotten a little taller and your upper body is solid now, well more than the last time I checked." He joked around like he was nervous or something, it wasn't something I was use to.
"Yeah I've been fighting crime and hitting the gym when I get the chance. So I get my work out, and I work here and that's a work out in itself." Bobby laughed and seemed to relax a little, it was then I that I removed my arm hoping it would help him relax more. It hadn't crossed my mind that I could be making him nervous.
"I was wondering if you had given any thought about coming back to the X men, I know you gave your word but couldn't you break it just once?" He looked really hopeful as we walked out of the building, and I felt a little bad.
"Sorry Bobby I can't, I wish I could but my word is my bond and I'm not going to start breaking it now." He shook his head and gave up on the subject for the time being but I knew it would come up again. After all he was apart of the X men, one of the greatest teams I had ever seen in action and I knew that they never gave up. Which meant that Bobby would never give up on the idea that I could go back. It wasn't that I didn't want to, I just couldn't even with knowing what I now know about Sinister and what he had done. The saddest part was that I was a lot like him, I killed who I thought would get in my way. Well, not anymore but I use to and I had killed so many people just so I could get a shot at Magneto. A person who I hadn't even really tried to go after in so long I was starting to forget what he looked like. It didn't really make sense, I guess I was just afraid of him for what he had done the first time.
"So you have to take the subway to get to your house, it must be pretty cool then." I nodded slowly and looked around waiting for the area to clear out a little.
"Yeah, but I live down here in the subways, it's a lot safer than living above ground." He looked at me like he felt sorry for me, he would just have to wait until he saw my home. It wasn't all that bad since I had been working on it for a good amount of time now, it looked nice to me. It wasn't something like he was use to living after all he had been with the professor for a very long time. So when the time was right I picked Bobby up and started running knowing that I had to miss the next train. Twenty minutes later I was standing at the entrance of my home which looked like a tunnel. I walked in careful not to set off any of my own traps Bobby looked a little worried.
"I set up a bunch of traps so I have to be careful, it's also the reason I haven't set you down yet." He nodded and I continued on my way keeping an eye out for any rats that might set one of the lasers off that I had set up. It had taken a lot of talking to get spider man to talk Tony into helping out. Once I was through the mine field of traps I set Bobby down and pulled a steel plate up revealing my home.
"It's a lot nicer than I thought, you've really put some major effort into this place." I nodded since I was really proud of this place and everything that it had taken to get it this far.
"Well, I don't have any running water I take most of my baths or showers at Mary and Peter's house. If I can't take one there then I'll hit the gym and grab one there, it all works out in the end." Bobby was nodding slowly and looking around my little home under the city.
"Who would have thought that a place like this could look so nice and homely, I like it." Bobby jumped onto the bed and looked at me smiling, I just shook my head.
"Well, it's good to see that someone likes it, spider man keeps telling me I need to get a normal house or something. Only it's a lot cheeper here, I've got an electric stove and a fridge. Everything I've got here runs on electricity, and I've tapped into the cities power so it's all free. Which gives me one of hell of a savings account, so far I've saved up close to fifty-thousand dollars. I'm thinking that maybe in a few more years I'll have enough to launch a full scale attack on Magneto." Bobby looked at me sharply, his eyes held both fear and sorrow.
"Do you think you could give that up and leave it to someone else?" I was a little confused but he should have known that I could never stop going after him.
"Alex, if you go after him he'll kill you, he's almost killed Logan, and we both know he's tougher than you and a lot of other people put together. Then add the fact you're pretty much metal and use that to attack and you don't stand a chance against him." He was making a lot of strong points but it wasn't going to change anything.
"No, I can't Bobby, I can't just stop fighting, I can't just give in, so no I can't let someone else do it. He killed my brother, and I'm going to get revenge for what he's done, even if it cost me my life." Bobby nodded slowly then looked away from me toward something I couldn't see.
"Then I guess when I leave here, and go back to my normal life I'll never see you again." I was a little confused, and I wasn't about to let this rest, I had to know why.
"Why wouldn't you come and see me again, that doesn't make sense Bobby?" He looked at me, and for the first time I noticed his age in his eyes and found something I had never seen before.
"Because I love you, and I can't think of a world without you running around in it. If you can't give this up then I know that I'll lose you, and I can't stand that thought. Yet I know that you can't stop yourself from destroying yourself. I know that I don't have the strength to stop you, or anyone else for that matter, so I know you're going to die. With this knowledge I can't continue to think of you the way I've been thinking of you. If I let myself fall any further then I'll never recover when I'm told that you've died." My heart was beating so hard my breathing wasn't all that easy anymore.
"I never knew you felt that way, I always thought that for you to care that way I would have to be dreaming." Bobby's face change slightly as he looked at me, it was almost like I had given him hope.
"If I could promise you that I would always be with you, and I would tell you every day that I loved you, would you give up on this?" I wanted to lie and tell him that I would stop and that I would never go after Magneto, but I couldn't.
"As much as I want to, no I can't, I love you Bobby, but I can't let this go." He looked away slowly, tears fell from his eyes as he stood and moved toward me. I looked into his eyes which were slightly rimmed with tears, he looked so heart broken. When his lips met mine I closed my eyes and let myself give into this feeling in my chest. He pulled back slowly his forehead meeting mine, I didn't know what to say.
"I had to do that just once so I would know, so I would have the memory." I closed my eyes as he pulled away leaving me in a world of hurt and confusion.
"I'll be leaving tomorrow when you leave for work, I think I'll go to sleep, where should I sleep?" I pointed to the bed but he shook his head, then I shook mine and took one of the covers laying it on the ground.
"I'll sleep on the floor, after all you're the guest, sweet dreams Bobby, I'm sorry that it had to be this way." He sat on the bed and looked at me before nodding and hitting the light switch.
******Peter
The next few days went by without a problem, only there was a problem with me and Alex. He was depressed and it was ripping my heart in two to see him so sad and alone, but I couldn't do anything. Well, I could but then it would mean breaking a promise that I had made to myself years ago. That promise being that I would never hurt Mary on purpose, then again I could find away around it. It wasn't like I hadn't thought about Alex, just looking at him gave me a hard on. I guess you would have to see him to understand, he was almost flawless, that and he moved with grace that not many could. He was my equal in a lot of ways, and in others he was above me, he was everything I had once dreamed of. Before I had met Mary I had pretty much sworn off women, and decided to give the other half a try. It had started working out, but I could never find a guy that could deal with my lifestyle. While Alex had the same kind of life and he was gay, and open about it if anyone asked him that was. Still there was the problem of Mary and all that she meant to me, I couldn't deny that for a moment, still my body ached for Alex. I had seen him naked more than enough to have his body fill my dreams with thoughts of passion and lust.
That night I found myself sitting in Alex's home dressed normally ready to reveal my secret. Well, not all of my secrets, just that I was spider man, other things would have to come later. When Alex walked in he almost naked peeling off his clothes, he didn't even notice me at first. Then he paused, slowly he looked my way with this really strange look on his face. After looking back at his door, and then back to me a few times he started scratching his head.
"Ok, not that I'm not happy that you're here, but how did you get in here without getting hurt?" I pulled out my mask and showed it to him, at first he had over reacted thinking something had happened.
"Alex, I'm Spiderman, I should have told you a long time ago but I was worried at first and I'm sorry that I kept this from you." He looked more hurt than anything else, then he turned away slowly.
"I guess I should have known you always did have a light scent of the other on you, so it makes sense. To be honest I had started thinking that you and your alter ego had something going on." He laughed a little and then hugged me, I guess it hadn't taken him long to forgive me.
"I'm happy that you could trust me with this Peter, now maybe I can help you a little more." Then he stood and continued to undress like it was no big deal, to me it was becoming one. His body was a master piece, perfect in every single way, and I wanted him more than ever before. The way he moved was like an art of war, and I feared him for that, and knew I could never defeat him. I had known that the first time I had seen him and his brother, they could have ripped me to shreds. Now I wished that I could have helped him, saved him from all that pain that would fall on him. Since he had lost his brother he had started an insane quest to kill his brothers murder. That was the one thing I had feared the most losing him to a mad man, for no reason. I understood his pain, so I understood his quest, but I didn't want to lose him. Even if I could only have him as a friend, it would be better than losing him forever.
"Is something wrong Peter, you look so sad, did something happen, anything?" I looked at him as he slipped into some shorts his hair falling over his shoulder.
"No, I'm just worried about you, that's all, I don't want to see you get yourself killed." He signed pretty deeply as he looked at me for a while, almost like he was studying me for a final test.
"If anyone should know that I'm never going to give up on killing Magneto it should be you Peter. You are one of my closest friends, and you know that I can't stop until he's dead." That wasn't good enough for me, not anymore, not ever really, but now I had to say something.
"Listen to yourself man, you have to know he stands a really good chance of killing you, and you mean so much to so many people. Can't you see that Alex, if you were to die, apart of me would die with you, as I'm sure it would be the same for others. In one simple movement you command the hearts of so many but that's not good enough for you. You have to kill a man that could kill you with a simple thought, why not let someone else do it?" I had started crying and I couldn't control the tears or how my voice was shaking. When he moved to hold me I didn't have the strength to push him away since I wanted him that close all the time. I listened to his heart beat, and cried harder knowing he was going to do something to make it stop someday. My arms were wrapped so tightly around him that I don't even think he could get me to let go. He just ran his fingers through my hair so gently, that I felt my heart slowly calming down.
"I'm sorry Peter, I didn't know that it would hurt you this much, I hope that you can forgive me." Then there was nothing as something hit the back of my head, when I woke up Alex was gone. Everything that he could carry was gone with him, all that was left a letter informing that he quit his job. I spent the whole night searching for him, but he had far to much time to escape, maybe it was for the best. That night I returned home to find Mary sitting up and waiting, she had been crying from what I could see.
"He came by to tell me that he was leaving, and to tell me that he would always hold our friendship in his heart. Peter, he's going after that mad man, and he's going to get himself killed you have to stop him." By this time she was crying again, and I held her like Alex had held me.
"I already tried, he knocked me out so I couldn't stop him, I'm sorry but he's gone." We stayed like that for a very long time, not knowing how to react to losing such a great friend. My only thought was to get in contact with anyone that could stop Alex, maybe save him from himself. Still I knew that the only way to stop Alex was to stop Magneto, so now I knew what I had to do, I had to kill the monster, before the monster killed Alex.
***Sam
For years all I had thought about was seeing Alex again, and now I had my chance since he was in town. I had seen him one night while I was trying to stop some mad man from blowing up a building. Then he came running out of nowhere knocking the man down, then stripping him of his bomb. After that he took off to get rid of the bomb, I had followed him leaving the others to take care of the loon. When I had found him he had hugged me and asked how I had been, I hadn't been able to form words all that well. So I asked him if we could meet up when we didn't have to run around saving people, so now I was heading to the cafe where we would meet. I was dressed in the best clothing that I had, and I had also gotten Tab to give me a hand with my hair and everything else. She had thought that I was going to meet some girl, not that she cared, after all she had someone else now. While I on the other hand was hoping that I could get Alex to join the team, and maybe me for a little action. It wasn't like I was in love with him, but I did care about him, and now that Bobby wasn't around I had a better chance at getting him.
"So are you looking at someone, or are you lost in some daze?" I turned around to find a much more grown up version of Alex, he was more than breath taking.
"I was in a daze thinking about you, how have you been, it's been a while?" He shrugged his shoulders lightly before smiling as his bane's fell in front of his eyes, my heart skipped a beat.
"Well, I'm still hunting Magneto, and I'm leaving in a few hours to continue my trip, that's pretty much it." All I could do was look at him in amazement, he made it sound like it was just something he did after waking up. The more I looked at him and listened to him talk I realized that him and Logan had a lot in common. Both of them wanted Magneto's head on a stick, only it looked like only Logan stood a chance against him.
"Have you thought about getting someone to help you take him out, or maybe collecting a team?" He shook his head then smiled as we walked into the cafe and took a seat, after pulling my seat out for me.
"I wouldn't want to put anyone in any danger for something that was my problem, and I might die. At least everyone seems to think I'm going to die, but there's a good chance that I will, so I don't want to risk anyone but myself." All I could do was look at him for a little while, every thought was about how I could stop him, or help him so he wouldn't die.
"Well, I don't want you to do this alone, I have a team and we might be able to help you take him out." He just looked at me for a little while before giving me this really sad smile.
"You know I wish I could take you up on that offer Sam, but I can't, this is something I have to do alone. At least then I know that if I die, then it's only me that dies, not someone else trying to save me, or help. I lost my brother to him, and I refuse to lose any of my friends to him." I couldn't really look at him at that moment so I buried my head in the menu just trying to ignore his foolishness.
"Then how do you think your friends are going to feel if they find out you died when they could have tried to help. You sit here and think that you're helping us, when you're not Alex, you made a choice to do this. Why not let other people choose weather or not they want to help you, it's my choice, and it's my fault if I die trying to help." All I could do was look at him for a while, he seemed to be thinking it over.
"Sam, you know that if you go, and take your team with you, that all of you could die. I know that I'm going to die when I face him, all I can hope for is that I take him with me to my grave. All I have to do is get close enough to hug him, or punch him, then he'll die, his minions will most likely kill me after that. Or he'll use the last of his strength to kill me, I can accept that. You on the other hand, you have a future, a destiny that's greater than mine could ever be. This is my future, this is all I have Sam, his death is my gift to the world, in the same sense my death is a gift as well. Before Xavier, I wasn't what you would call a hero, I killed people that I thought needed to die. I was their judge and jury, I didn't have that right, so in a sense I'm a monster like Magneto. It's how I know I can kill him, it takes a monster to kill a monster, you're not a monster Sam. You're a hero, and in our would hero's don't always win in the end, but one beast can kill another." I couldn't list to him anymore as I stood and walked a little bit away from him, he was insane. When I turned back around he was gone, there was a short note on the table.
Tell Spider Man, that I'll take his secret to my grave, and to thank him for his friendship. I shook my head and looked around, I guess he was just taking care of a few lose ends. Only I wasn't going to give in this easily, I headed back to our new base and gathered everyone.
"In a few days we're going on a mission, it's one that could end up getting anyone that goes killed. So you have the chance to back out at anytime before we leave, or I leave if no one else wants to go. It's simple really, I'm going to kill Magneto, the reasons are personal, so don't ask. Just know that if we win, we not only take down a monster but we save thousands of lives." It was insane, but it was the only thing I could think of doing that might save Alex from himself.
****Bobby
I wasn't going to just let this happen, I wasn't going to simply walk away and let fate take another person from me. It had taken me a little to long to decide to act and do something, but when Spider Man had called us I knew I had to do something. The others were a bit confused and didn't know what to do while the professor said he had to think about it. That wasn't something I needed to do anymore, and a few of the others agreed with me. Logan was already getting ready to head out and go team up with someone that was willing to risk it all to take the mad man down. At least that's how he had put it, Gambit was going with him along with Rouge, Storm was going to wait until Xavier gave his blessing. Now I was joining their ranks, this was becoming an all out effort to save Alex, I wanted Jean and Scott to come, but they were off doing their own little thing to save the world.
"We just got a call from Sam, Alex was there, Sam and his team are heading out in the morning. Look's like old Maggie is being attacked from all fronts, guess we should head out now. That way we can get their first and scan the area, maybe take Mags out before anyone else is endangered." I nodded to Logan and went to get my suit and a few other things that I needed, one of those things was a gun. In the past I had seen Magneto stop bullets, but I don't think he would see this one coming if I got close enough. Once I was ready I got on the black bird and said a small prayer, I prayed the Alex wasn't already there. He was fast, maybe faster than we thought, after all he had moved across the country in one day on foot. That might mean he could run on water, if so then he could already be just moments away from killing himself.
"Bobby turn on the TV hurry, the professor just said something happened in Genosha." My world froze as I moved toward the TV, nothing could have hit my harder than what I saw when I turned it on.
"A reported sixteen million dead, maybe more, more on this story as it unfolds." I stopped hearing anything as I sat their in horror, this just couldn't be real. In an instant I was up and moving trying to find the professor, he could search Alex out. He could tell me that Alex wasn't there when Genosha was attacked, he could ease the pain. I just knew that he would tell me everything was ok, that Alex wasn't dead, that I hadn't been to late. Only when I entered his office his face was grim, he just shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. The phone started ringing, and I knew that it was just going to get worse from his moment on. Later that week all the X men gathered with others, spider man, Sam and his team, people I didn't even really know. They gathered to morn the people of Genosha, and to morn a friend that had gone their to face his destiny. Xavier had spent hours searching for Alex, for even the smallest glimmer of hope, he found none. Tears fell from every person gathered, mostly for the great loss, but I knew that some of those tears fell for Alex alone. Sam had walked up to the masked man, he handed him a note as tears fell from his eyes. I soon joined him as the masked shook his head as he read the note.
"He talked about you a lot, and about Peter, could you tell him that Alex thought very highly of him. Alex really cared about you and Peter, and his wife, he considered them great friends." All he did was nod, I could see that his was gaining some streaks as his tears soaked through.
"Are you sure he was there, that he's not just off somewhere, still looking for Magneto?" I understood his question, and I hoped that was what had happened, I even hoped that Magneto had survived. At least then maybe Alex could have followed him while he made his get away, at least then there was hope.
"The professor searched for him for a few hours, he didn't find anything." He nodded slowly, then turned and left without another word, I could see Logan off in the distance. He was leaning up against a tree, his hat pulled down slightly hiding his eyes from the world. I walked toward him willing to risk a limb or two if it could help him, something told me he needed someone.
"You know it's my fault, I brought him here, thought it could help him, maybe save him some trouble. If I would have just kept my mouth shut that night, or maybe joined up with him and went after Magneto he would still be here. We might have been able to take him out then, but now, now he's dead just like anyone else that enters my life." I reached out to touch him, he moved before I could his hat falling to the ground. He faced me, tears rained down, something I had thought I would never see on his face. After that he kept moving into the woods, away from me and anyone else that would try to help him.
"I'm sorry Bobby, I should have done more to help him when he was here, maybe made him forget what Magneto did to him. At least until he could deal with it better, you have to try and move on, he would have wanted that." I turned to face the man that was no longer bound to a wheel chair, though if he kept talking he may need one again.
"You're right, you should have done more, you could have done more, but you didn't, but that's life right? How would you know what he wanted, all you knew was what you thought he would become, some monster. All he wanted was to avenge his brother, not much to ask really, and you didn't allow because old Magneto was your friend. I guess it's ok for you to have murders as friends right, I mean after all you've done your fair share of killing." I walked away before I said anything else, before I turned this into something it shouldn't be. People were here to morn, not hear me rant about what could have been, what should have been.
"Bobby, you have no right to talk to him that way, you're acting out of pain, and anger. You need to calm down, we all lost him, we all lost a great deal of things with what happened in Genosha." I looked at Jean, always so controlled, though I couldn't find a reason to be upset with her. She had liked Alex, loved him because she understood his pain, she had understood him at least what she could understand.
"It's not fair, none of it, he shouldn't have been there, he should have been here with us, he should be here now." My body broke at that moment as I fell to the ground pounding my fist against the earth.
The End..............Maybe