1/29 Issue: Call of Shame

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Slarti
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1/29 Issue: Call of Shame

Post by Slarti »

Timelined right after This is Fine.

Bobby: After a long shower Bobby felt more normal and a little more prepared to deal with his latest misadventure. Then he found his phone in the sofa downstairs.

Bobby: "Fuckin'..." He skimmed through the texts and missed calls from Anna. "Shit." Her timing could have been better. An hour sooner and he'd have answered. Granted he would have been dead drunk, but he wouldn't have been making out with Carol.

Bobby: Bobby hit the button to call her, already pacing the rec room.

Rogue: Rogue heard her phone in the back of her mind and after a second blinked her eyes open. Tony. She smiled and reached out to put her hand on his cheek, noticing that he'd slipped her bracelet on her before sliding into bed with her. She'd needed him and he came. Rogue snuggled in closer to him, letting his arms keep her warm for a minute before remembering her phone buzzing on the table beside them.

Rogue: His eyes fluttered open and he smiled and she lifted her head to kiss him. "Ah love you," she whispered, then kissed him again. Tony was so good to her. What was wrong with her? "Ah'll be back." His arms opened obligingly and she watched him fall back to sleep before she rolled over and picked up her phone. She'd missed it! Bobby! Finally!

Bobby: When she didn't answer, he swore again, more colorfully, and started upstairs to get the keys to his truck.

Bobby: What if she wasn't at the giant house Tony bought her? Or what if he was home? The fuck was he gonna do? Just pound on the door? The rational part of his mind told him to just wait for her to call, but his Irish Catholic guilt was strong this morning.

Rogue: A glance over her shoulder at Tony told her he was fine, then she got out of bed and put on her robe before heading outside where there was no AI (she hoped) to call him back. She swore when she stepped on a pebble and it hurt, so she headed back inside to slip on some shoes instead of taking off her inhibitor.

Rogue: Rogue fully intended to go back to bed with Tony since he was the one who dropped everything to take care of her, not Bobby. And she was a little irritated about it. He could wait two minutes while she did that.

Bobby: Bobby found his keys faster than he'd found his phone and stared into his bathroom mirror for a long moment. His hair was still wet and looked about how he felt, so he ran his hand through it, the water wisping away into the air.

Bobby: "Okay, Drake. Be cool." He gave himself a hard stare for a moment, then shook his head and started for the door.

Rogue: Now that she was in no danger of puncturing the soft soles of her feet, she headed back outside. Rogue headed for the garden bench in the backyard that was placed about where Sam's memorial had been at the school. Far enough away for her to be alone. Perfect.

Rogue: Once she sat down, back to the house, she looked down at her phone and took a breath. Pietro had been a help last night. Tony showed up without needed any explanation. Bobby had been MIA. She would be lying if she hadn't felt a sting of hurt from that. After another moment, she pressed his speed dial and put the phone to her ear.

Bobby: Bobby was already down the stairs, out the front door and halfway to the truck when his phone rang and scared the shit out of him. He nearly dropped it trying to fish it from his pocket and did drop his car keys in the process.

Bobby: "Hey! W-where are- um, hey!" he tried again his voice going through several octaves during his short sentence fragment. Way to be cool, Drake. "Hey," he repeated again. "A-are you okay?"

Rogue: That wasn't what she had expected as a response. "Me? Y're th' one who avoided me all night when Ah needed you." Which wasn't what she meant to say. Rogue clenched her jaw, closed her eyes, and tried again after a breath. "Ah'm fine now."

Bobby: "I wasn't avoiding you!" He nearly pulled the phone away to stare at it. "I texted you!"

Rogue: "Once. An' Ah don't even know why. An' then, y' were MIA while Ah was havin' a panic attack an' needed th' one person who's best at makin' me feel better." She needed to stop and slow down. Again. "What'd y' text 'wtf' 'bout?"

Bobby: "Why were you at that rally, Anna?" He decided to pace outside, circling his truck in the lot. "And what the fuck happened?"

Rogue: "Why shouldn't Ah've been at th' rally? Nobody knew it was me. Ah'm one o' th' stronger members of th' team if things go south." Quieter, she added, "Ah didn't see you there."

Rogue: There wasn't an easy answer to his second question, so she avoided it for now. "What happened after Ah left?"

Bobby: "I was there. I saw you talking to Jean and Tandy and I saw you go into the crowd." He kicked a tire. "You weren't supposed to be there, babe. Those nuts fuckin' hate Tony - you saw it."

Bobby: He shook his head and cut himself off. "All hell broke loose is what happened. Fights in the crowd. Me and Carol had to wade in and the telepaths brain fu-ed the nuts into leaving."

Rogue: "Ah saw it. But they didn't see me." She reached up to tug on one of her white locks as she remembered how she'd carefully pushed them out of sight under the hat. "Sorry Ah wasn't there t' help with th' control."

Bobby: "I saw you freak out and leave, too. I kept eyes on you, but I couldn't go after you." He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "We're just lucky nobody saw you."

Rogue: "Nobody did see me an' Ah knew nobody was gonna see me. Ah made sure of it." Why didn't any of her teammates trust her? She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and closing her eyes. "Somethin' happened t' me yesterday... Ah needed you."

Bobby: Bobby wanted to argue it, but knew it was a lost cause for the moment. "What happened? I waited for you to call back, but... it was a rough day, and I mightta responded in the most adult way possible and gotten blackout drunk." Among other things. He winced.

Rogue: "...Oh." She cleared her throat and tangled the fingers of her free hand in her hair. "Ah had a panic attack... Ah think. Th' second that woman stepped up t' th' podium. It was like Ah was havin' a PTSD moment'r somethin'..."

Bobby: "The senator?" He blinked in surprise. "Have you met her before or something?"

Rogue: "No," she sighed. "No. Ah don't know her from Adam. But Ah couldn't breathe an' mah head felt ... painful? Not like a headache, but like there was some kind o' monster with claws grippin' mah psyche type o' thing." Rogue groaned, "Ah know this sounds dumb. Ah'm fine now. Pietro helped an' Tony rushed home soon as Ah told him. Came home while Ah was sleepin'." But he came.

Bobby: He winced again. "I'm sorry you couldn't reach me, babe..." After clearing his throat, he went on. "Are you sure it was the woman? Or somebody in the crowd? Or that Hodge guy? It doesn't sound dumb, just... weird. Like... what would cause that?" She went to Pietro? His brows rose.

Rogue: "It didn't start 'til she was up there. Ah guess it coulda been somebody near me, but mah fight response surpasses mah flight response more times'n not..." She lifted her head to look out over the creek. "Ah wanted you."

Bobby: "I'm sorry, Anna." He sighed and circled the truck again. "I shouldn't have let myself get wasted like that..." He was quiet for a moment. "You've never had anything like that before? That kinda reaction?"

Rogue: "No," she said quietly, not wanting to relive the way it made her feel. "Y' have every right t' do that. Y'r wife is leavin', y' cain't see y' kids every day, y'.. me..., an' then th' rally..." Rogue took a deep breath and forced herself to go back and try to figure it out again. "Ah was terrified, Bobby. Ah've never been terrified f'r mahself. Only f'r people Ah love."

Bobby: "Yeah, still..." He wasn't going to touch any of that with a ten-foot pole. He didn't need more of a reminder about the dumpster fire of his life right now.

Bobby: "Like... she actually scared you..." He frowned, trying to think back on what she had said. The woman's rhetoric had been dangerous, but not immediately any more alarming than what Hodge had been spouting. "That's... so weird..."

Rogue: Hearing his voice was making her want to go to him, but Tony was here. She looked over her shoulder at the house. "Yeah... Um." She licked her lips and turned around again. "C'n Ah see y' t'day? Please?"

Bobby: "Sure, Anna, whatever you need." He frowned and completed another parking lot lap. "I'm sorry, again. I was worried about you, but you didn't answer, and then scotch happened..."

Rogue: "Ah did answer... Just not in time, Ah guess." She sniffed and closed her eyes, not liking the fact that she felt like she was about to cry again. "Y' won't hafta worry 'bout me bein' at anymore rallies, Ah guess..."

Bobby: "Babe, I'm not tryin' to be a dick about it, but it's safer for everyone if you aren't at those rallies. I know you can hold your own, but we were there to try to contain any violence, not incite it."

Rogue: This again? "Nobody knew it was me!" She was glad she left the inhibitor on because she would've crushed her phone on accident just then. "Ah made sure of it!"

Bobby: "Thank fuck, especially since you were right down in the middle of them!" Well if she was gonna yell, he would too. "You scared the shit outta me!"

Rogue: "Why?! They cain't kill me, Bobby. Ah'm nigh invulnerable, remember?" Her head fell forward again, free hand re-tangling in her hair, tighter this time. "If that damned woman hadn't shown up, Ah'da been fine an' ya damned well know it!"

Bobby: "Physically? You're always fine, just like me, babe, but seeing the way they hate Tony? And if shit hit the fan and your hat got knocked off? Can you imagine? Tony can't be happy you were potentially in danger like that either."

Rogue: "Ah..." The truth was, she had no idea. But that was beside the point right now. "He trusts me an' knows Ah c'n take care o' mahself. Ah'd really hoped th' man," Rogue paused and lowered her voice, "the man Ah plan t' leave him for felt th' same."

Bobby: Bobby sucked in a surprised breath, his heart contracting painfully. "I know you can take care of yourself, Anna, but I also know if things had gone sideways maybe you'd be fine, but not everybody is nigh invulnerable, including those drunk idiots in the crowd. Even though they're starting shit, seeing a mutant pound them into pulp is a PR nightmare for us and Tony."

Rogue: She shook her head, "Y' know Ah wouldn't do that, Bobby... Not t' innocent people. Jackasses that they are, they're still innocent. Nothin' they coulda done t' me woulda hurt me. Hell, it woulda just hurt their cause in th' liberal media."

Bobby: "I don't think they care about their cause in the liberal media, babe. They're the kind that've created their own media to feed into their own little circle jerk." He sighed. "Just, please, no more of those Osborn rallies? My heart can't take it. Even if they can't hurt you, and logically I know it, it still scares the shit outta me."

Rogue: Rogue hesitated for a moment, listening for anyone trying to sneak up on her. "Yeah? Why's that?" It made her smile that he cared so much even if right now she was still upset that she couldn't reach him the night before when her panic was in full force.

Bobby: He couldn't tell if her tone was coy or resentful. "You know why," he said quietly. "You know." Licking his lips, he went on. "Just the idea of any of those fuckers trying to lay their hands on you- I wanted to go after you, but I couldn't move."

Rogue: "Ain't that always th' way? Gotta pick b'tween the job or th' people y'," she stopped herself and tried to think of something else to say instead of 'love,' and wound up with, "call family."

Bobby: He found himself holding his breath, letting it out when she didn't finish the sentence. "Yeah, exactly." He swallowed. "So, as a favor to me? No more surprise rallies?"

Rogue: "Ah cain't promise that, Bobby. Ah'm with th' President... But Ah c'n promise that Ah won't do it off th' books." Rogue bit her lip. "Ah miss you," she said quietly. "Ah'm sorry Ah hurt you."

Bobby: He smiled a little. "I miss you, too, babe, a-and..." Oh, good, there was the Jewish-Catholic guilt brewing again. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for ya last night." For several reasons.

Rogue: That comment reminded her of who had been. Who was still asleep upstairs, she hoped. None of this was easy and she hated the hurt on all sides. "That's okay. Ah'm not y'r responsibility. Ah'm glad y' were able t' blow off some steam, at least."

Bobby: And boy, did he blow off steam. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, when I woke up this morning I wasn't so glad myself. Thank fuck for ice powers, eh?"

Rogue: She laughed, "Pretty bad hangover, huh?" Then she frowned, "Y' didn't drink alone, did ya? That c'n get pretty dangerous, sugah."

Bobby: "Terrible hangover," he said with a laugh, then winced. "Yeah, was with Carol. I was supposed to cut her off, but I failed."

Rogue: "Oh that's fun... Thought she was on th' wagon? Or does she think that's an on-again off-again choice?" Rogue shook her head. "That gal has some real problems."

Bobby: "I think the rally set the wagon on fire," he said, running his hand through his hair and rubbing his eye. "Yuuup," he agreed. And he'd just added a whole new layer to her problems, and his.

Rogue: Rogue didn't want to talk about Carol anymore and shifted where she sat, free hand gripping the edge of the bench next to her bare thigh. "Y' got any plans f'r dinner? Ah could come over an' make Remy's gumbo. Just th' two o' us with no AI?"

Bobby: Just the two of them and probably Carol and whoever else was home, but no AI sounded good. He was tired of talking around everything. "I don't have any plans. Sounds good, babe. Maybe we forgo the scotch tonight though."

Rogue: She laughed and tsked, "Aww, an' here Ah was thinkin' maybe we could have some fun finally." She wrinkled her nose, "'Course, y're not single yet, so maybe we should wait until y' ain't married t' think 'bout even thinkin' 'bout things."

Bobby: "Babe," Bobby choked on his own spit and hacked. Fucking hell! She was trying to kill him! "Paige has made it real fuckin' clear we're done, so I'm as good as," he protested between coughs.

Rogue: "Y' alright, Bugsy?" She waited a moment and then continued. "Done emotionally ain't done legally. Since it ain't finalized, she c'n still use you datin'r really anythin' with other women t' keep th' kids from y' in th' custody portion. An' prob'ly th' alimony stuff, too, Ah'd guess." Although, he didn't say no. She grinned. "Maybe if we were sneaky?"

Bobby: "I'm fine," he hacked. He shook his head sharply to clear it. She was right. She was absolutely right and he was a fucking idiot. At least he knew Carol wouldn't go to Paige to sell him out. Her long pause made him snort. "Sneaky or not, you're still living with the president," he pointed out.

Rogue: "Yeah, Ah know... An' Ah wouldn't be able t' live with mahself if Ah'd caused any further separation from y'r babies." Rogue sighed, adding a little bit of an extra dramatic edge to it. "Fiiiine. Ah guess it'd be better sober anyway." And then she smiled, thinking about what it would be like. "Ah cain't wait t' touch y' skin, Bobby." A little forward, but true. "It'll be worth th' wait."

Bobby: His breath caught and his voice came out strangled. "Babe. A-Anna... you're killin' me here..." For many, many reasons...

Rogue: "Ah'm killin' both o' us," she admitted softly. "Don't make what Ah said any less true." Rogue looked down at her knees and bit her lip, "T'night then? Promise y' won't go off th' grid again?"

Bobby: "I ain't going anywhere, dollface," he said, voice quiet. He'd be lying if he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind first thing this morning, but, no.

Rogue: "Good. Ah lo-" She cut herself off, remembering saying that to Tony earlier. It held more weight with Bobby now. She wanted to say it, but she shouldn't. Tony. Rogue wrinkled her nose, "On second thought... Ah prob'ly should check with Tony first t' see when he's plannin' on goin' back t' DC, seein' as how when Ah fell asleep, Ah was alone. An' when Ah woke up, Ah was bein' held by him. Ain't talked t' him yet."

Bobby: He felt his heart stop, then swallowed when she stopped herself. Bobby closed his eyes. Tony. Fucking of course. "Ah. O-okay, babe... whatever you gotta do." Of course he dropped everything and came back from D.C. Of course he got to hold her. He shook his head at himself.

Rogue: "Ah'm sorry," she said weakly. "Ah wish things were diff'rent... Don't give up on me." Rogue could see the face he was making about her needing to be with Tony tonight and it made her heart ache. "Please."

Bobby: "Anna, you... you've gotta do what's best for you, and if that's Tony, then I get it." He opened his eyes and looked up at the nuthouse. "If it's... if things change, I'll be here."

Rogue: Oh. She gnawed her lip as her nose started to burn from tears that she was trying to fight. "Right. 'Course." Rogue tried to muffle the sniffle by adjusting her phone at the same time. "Ah'll, um... Ah'll let y' get back t'... Whatever it was y' were doin' b'fore Ah bothered y'..."

Bobby: "You didn't bother me, Anna," he said with a sigh. "I wasn't doing anything important. I called as soon as I found my phone. I just - I'm tryin' to say I get it... why you want to be with Tony. It's... it's okay."

Rogue: That broke her and she couldn't fight the tears anymore. Not after everything she'd been through emotionally of the past day. Rogue wiped at her face and shook her head. "It ain't that simple, Bobby. It ain't black an' white, cut an' dry, this'r that." She wasn't sure how to make him understand, so she just went for as plain a statement as she could. "When all's said an' done... Ah wanna be with you. But Ah cain't yet."

Bobby: Bobby clenched his fist by his side at the sound of her tears. Great, you made her cry on top of everything. Fucking hell, Drake. It took a moment for her words to sink in. Can't, or won't? He shoved that thought aside, and tried to think through his words before he responded. "I want that too, Anna. I love you. So... I'll be here."

Rogue: His words stopped her heart and she sobbed and laughed at the same time. "Ah love you, too," she said softly once she could speak clearly again. "Ah'm tryin'. Ah promise."

Bobby: Her laugh made him grin and her admission made his chest tight. "Okay. Just... keep me in the loop? Okay. That sounded stupid, but ya know what I mean, right? I just... gotta lot of time to think right now..." He chuckled. "It ain't good for me."

Rogue: "Ah ain't good f'r y' Bugsy. But here we are anyway." Rogue wiped her cheeks again and smiled. "Y're always th' first t' know anythin' whether y' wanna be'r not. Ah'll call y' when Tony leaves t' set up that dinner. No more blackout drinkin' that keeps y' away, though, 'kay?"

Bobby: "Yeah, ya are." He was grinning at the phone now, probably looking crazy to anyone looking out the asylum windows. "No, definitely no more blackout drinking." Again, for so many reasons. "Gimme a call when you can."

Rogue: "Ah promise." Her cheeks were starting to hurt, but she didn't care. "See y' soon, Bobby. Ah..." It'd been so easy a little bit ago when he'd said it first, but she hesitated again. And then Rogue mustered herself, glanced over her shoulder, then brought the phone fully back to her ear. "Ah love you, Bobby Drake."

Bobby: "See you soon," he started, pausing when she did, his eyebrows raising. He knew she'd always had a problem with the words, but a moment ago she hadn't had a problem saying it. "Love you, too, dollface."
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