Hi all!! Here's the next part of Dreams of an Angel. Hope you all enjoy it! Any comments or suggestions, well, you know how to contact me. My Yahoo ID is Goldenknightuk if you wish to send me an instant message. Sorry for any bad grammars boys and girl. C'mon! Nobody's perfect!! :)
NOTE TO ALL READERS: In order to balance my study time and writings, I decided to set a specific time for every update. For now on, I'll be updating Dreams of an Angel every Tuesday & Friday evening (Well, Irish time. I dunno about the time differences between my place and yours, guys and gals. You have to figure that out yourself :P Trust me, I sucked in figuring it out :)). But hey, if time permits me, I promise I'll update it at other times :)
Before the show, onwards to the boring part! Legal matters! Hehehe. You can press 'fast-forward' now.
Well, first of all, this story, as you will certainly find out soon, is TOTALLY fictional. So! If any of you truly believe in it... dude, I'm worried about you. Secondly! None of the guys in the Backstreet Boys are gay! (No matter how hard I wished it :P). But nobody say we couldn't dream it, heh heh. Thirdly, Warren Worthington is actually a character from Marvel Comics, X-men known as Angel or recently Archangel. Okay fine, I admit it. I'm bored and I am making a pathetic attempt to make life a lil' bit interesting. Its not like I'm gonna publish it or something. What else to talk about hmm? Oh, there may be some adult gay scenes in this story. Unlike my brother, I don't mind writing naughty stuff ;) so! If you're underage, naughty, naughty! I can only ask you to go away, but I cannot do anything else to stop you from reading on anyway. Hell! I've been sneaking into the internet to watch gay porns since I was 13! So, if your parents or whoever responsible for you catch you, don't say I didn't warned you. However, if you're homophobic... well maybe I can seduce you enough to turn you around heh heh. I do so love a challenge ;)
Anyway, enough talk. Any comments or boos or suggestion or whatever, just sent it to the same address as in NNTs, goldenknightuk@yahoo.co.uk . Yeah, we shared the same address. Don't ask. Long story.
Okay then! On to the show. Now, don't be shy now. If you got any comments or suggestions, just drop me a note. You do the request, and I'll do the show.
Andy
********************************** Part 34: 'All I Ever Needed'
Splash!
Bobby narrowed his eyes to determine how far the pebble landed into the lake. Whistling a song contently, he opened his palm and concentrates to form another ice pebble. Hefting it readily, he threw it as far as he could, hoping he could beat his own record on how far he could hurl it across the lake.
Splash!
Hmm... close, but not enough. He concentrates to form another ice pebble. Somehow, he is quite confident that he could break the record he made that afternoon.
Splash!
He smiled as he creates another ice pebble. His mind simply couldn't get rid of the sweet memory of that purely blissful experience he had that afternoon when Scott kissed him. Scott actually kissed him!! Scott bloody Summers, the man whom he has been lusting after all these years, kissed him. Somewhere deep down there, Hell must have frozen over!
Splash!
He stood in silence for a while with his eyes closed as his mind recall every single microsecond of that blissful kiss, every caress within his mouth, every warm breath that hit his skin during the kiss, every heartbeat, every flick of his tongue, every...
He was grinning widely like a fool by the time he opened his eyes again.
"Hallelujah!! There is a Godddd!!!!!!" Bobby shouted happily as loud as he could before laughing so very hard; tears began to flow down his cheeks. His shouts echoed back from across the lake. He danced happily at the end of the small pier that leads to the boathouse by the lake.
The laughter died down after some moments and he smiled as he opened his palm and focused to create yet another ice pebble.
He is more than aware that Scott will never return his love. He might as well try seducing a stone before hoping for that to happen. Which is why, being kissed by Scott that afternoon was like... a total miracle! Bobby still half-expected the whole experience to be a dream. Who knows? Maybe, after dreaming of Scott all these years, night after night (he was not lying when he said he had lots of wet dreams about Scott in the past), he finally lost the ability to differentiate reality and dreams.
Splash!
When you wished for something so hard for so long, it sometimes come true and when it does... it's feels like... it's feels like you've been swept away to heaven and then back. He may not have Scott in his life but that kiss was enough to make him the happiest man on earth.
Splash!
"I thought I heard a familiar crazy voice down here." A deep familiar voice hailed behind him.
Turning around, Bobby grins at Lance, who strolled towards him from the boathouse, hands tightly tucked in his pockets.
"Oh my God! Lance! He kissed me! He fucking kissed me!!" Bobby cried out as he rushed to the startled man and lifted him into the air happily.
"You mean that Scott guy?" Lance stares at him in disbelief. "You're kidding!"
Bobby continues to laughed and danced around Lance happily. After arriving at the mansion, half-crazed from terror as the result of Sabretooth's attack, Xavier was kind enough to offer a room for Lance here until he pulls himself together. Bobby has to admit, being in Sabretooth's clawed grip is not a pleasant experience even for him. At least Bobby was used to being roughed up in battles. Crazed fans chasing and roughing him up were the only worst experience Lance ever had in his life.
The two has been hanging out together a lot for these past two days. It's easy for them to do that, considering they were already comfortable with each other before that, at the bar. With Warren being with Nick most of the time and Hank spending most of his time in the medlab with Jean and Moira, Bobby has no one else to hang out with. So he was more than glad to take Lance around.
They chatted and laughed a lot, swapping stories and secrets (and grading everyone based on the level their cuteness, which of course, turns up to be of no surprise when Bobby firmly vetoed Scott a perfect score of 10 out of 10!). Lance was a great listener as well and before long, Bobby found himself talking about his feelings for Scott, whom even Lance admitted to be very cute.
"He did!" Bobby yelled happily and proceeds to tell Lance about it at length. It wasn't long before they were sitting at the edge of the pier, laughing together especially at the kissing part. "And now I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl!"
"Oh my God! You are so lucky!" Lance laughed. "Quick! Tell me! How did it feel? Was he any good?"
"It was everything that I dreamed of!" Bobby yelled happily.
"You lucky bastard!" said Lance. "Stop making me jealous!"
"But I kinda wished it turn out to be more than a kiss though." Said Bobby dreamily as he creates another ice pebble and throw it into the lake.
"Mmmm... oh yeah... to have that hunk of a guy all on your own. I saw him in his workout costume yesterday. Whew! Be still my wicked heart." Lance whistled appreciatively. "I wouldn't mind being held against my will by those strong arms."
He laughed when Bobby choked at the image.
"Hey! He's supposed to me the man of my fantasy. I saw him first. Get your own fantasy man!" Bobby retorted even as Lance nearly fall off the pier laughing.
The laughter died down and Lance watched in fascination as Bobby continues on to create ice pebbles and threw it into the lake.
"It must be cool having all those powers and all." Said Lance at last.
Bobby only smiled as he threw another ice pebble.
"Not according to those people back in my old town. Or all those mutant haters out there." He replied as he watched the pebble splash into the water. "Let see, so far, I've been called freak, mutie, mutie freak, scum, mutant scum, devil spawn, child of Satan, spawn of Hell..."
"They are fools." Lance snorted. "All they really love to do in this world is hate, hate and hate. I bet even if the eradicate every single mutant in this world; they'll still not be satisfied. They only move on to find some other group of people to hate; gays, blacks, nerds, Jews, Moslems... all done under the cover of good and righteousness. And they will go on and on hating and classifying and killing until there is no one left in this world except them, and then they will turn against each other for some other weird reason or another."
Bobby laughed softly and nodded in agreement.
"I had a girlfriend once, but after discovering I'm a mutie, she freaked out and ran." He spoke at last. "And all I did was saving her ass from some gun-wielding punks on the street. I acted out of instinct, creating an ice wall to block the on-coming bullet. The way she shriek 'mutie' makes me feel like she feared me more than the punk wielding the guns."
"Geez. I'm sorry to hear that, dude." Said Lance, his eyes filled with sympathy. "I'd be grateful if I was in her place."
"Well." said Bobby as he threw another pebble into the water. "That's life for you."
"Here. Give me a pebble and I'll show you a trick I learn long ago from a pal of mine in high school." Said Lance.
Bobby looked at him suspiciously before holding out his palm above Lance's outstretched hand and concentrate to create another ice pebble. The pebble appeared and drops into Lance's palm.
"Alright. Watch closely." Lance grinned as he holds the pebble carefully between his thumb and his index finger. "Now you see it."
He passes his other palm over and around it before gripping the hand holding the pebble into a fist, hiding the pebble from Bobby's view.
"Now you don't!" said Lance at last, opening his fisted hand with a flourish only to show that it's empty. "Voila!"
"Where'd it go?" Bobby said curiously as he searches the planks around Lance carefully.
"Put your hand behind my left ear." Said Lance.
"Hey! It's here!!" Bobby laughed as he pulls out the pebble and surprisingly, a coin as well. "And a penny!!"
"Oops. Okay, I forgot that was there. My bad." Lance winced before he laughs. "I did the same trick with Jubilee just now but I used a penny at the time."
"Tell me how you do it!!!" Bobby cried out eagerly.
"Ah-ah-ah! A good magician never reveals his secrets." Lance replied arrogantly and laughed when Bobby slaps his shoulder playfully. "And I don't need to be a mutant to pull that off."
"Screw you." Bobby laughed at last.
"Here? Now? Well, okay. If you want, handsome. I've never done it in the open before anyway." Lance replied with a grin as his hands moved to unbuckle his belt.
"Hey! Hey! Freeze mister!!" Bobby cried out in panic and Lance laughed again.
They giggled at the idea for a moment before falling silent.
"I'm leaving for Orlando tonight." Lance spoke quietly at last, his eyes staring sadly at the lake.
"Really?" Bobby looked up at him quietly. "Can't you stay here longer?"
Lance shook his head sadly.
"I have stuff to deal with. You know, band stuff and all." He murmured in reply.
They fell silent again.
"Can't you come along for a day or two?" asked Lance suddenly. "You can stay at my place."
This time, it is Bobby who shook his head sadly.
"They may need me here if something comes up." Said Bobby.
"But Warren is coming along with Nick. We're going to Orlando together." Said Lance.
"Really?" Bobby asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Nick is gonna tell his family about him being a mutant."
"Oh." Said Bobby. "Good luck for him... but no Lance. With Warren gone and the professor still in coma, they'll definitely need me here. The team is short-handed as it is."
"Oh." Said Lance with a slight disappointed voice.
"Tell you what, I'll see if I can get a leave of absence from Scott." Said Bobby.
"Think you can get it?" Lance asked hopefully.
"You sound hopeful." Bobby smiled. "You really want me to hang around? A mutie-freak hanging around a famous teenage heartthrob boyband singer?"
"Hey, don't say that!" Lance replied as he slaps Bobby's shoulder playfully. "You're not a freak."
Bobby laughed softly.
"I kinda like hanging out with you." Lance spoke at last. "You're easy to talk to and you're funny. Plus, I never had a mutant friend before."
"Gee, thanks. Now I feel like some sort of animal on display in a cage. Just joking! Just joking!" Bobby laughed at the mocked outrage in Lance's eyes. "I like hanging out with you too. So the feeling is mutual."
"Tell you what." Said Lance as he gave Bobby his card. "Here are my numbers. Call me if you feel like talking to someone okay? And if you're coming over to Orlando, gimme a call. You can stay at my place anytime, alright?"
"Thanks Lance." Said Bobby as he accepted the card. "I may take you up on that offer. I'll see if I can 'persuade' Scott to give me a leave of absence."
"If you mean giving him sexual pleasures in return for his favor..." Lance grinned.
"Well, who knows? My luck may turns out to be good again. Look at what happened today!!" Bobby laughed.
"Alright, alright. We all know what happened today. No need to go through all that again and make everyone jealous." Lance groaned.
"Yeah! I hope you stay up all night thinking how lucky I am today and you're not!" Bobby laughed on.
"Fuck off!!" said Lance.
They lay there on the pier for a while with their legs dangling off the edge and their hands behind their heads, enjoying the peaceful afternoon. After a while, Lance looked at his watch and sighed.
"The limo'll be here in an hour. I better head back and get ready." He said reluctantly.
They stood up in silence, looking at each other.
"You go ahead, Lance." Said Bobby sadly. "I think I'll stay here a little longer. I'm not good in goodbyes anyway. I'll come over to see you and Nick off later."
"Good enough." Said Lance, pausing for a moment before looking up at Bobby again. "Thanks for saving my life the other night, Bobby."
"I live to serve, O Great Master." Bobby snickered as he bowed playfully.
Shaking his head as he smiled, Lance turns around and walk away slowly before stopping. Turning around, he stepped forward and hugged Bobby tightly.
"I'm gonna miss hanging out with ya." He said softly.
"Same here." Bobby smiled as he hugs back.
"Call me, alright?" said Lance as he backed away. "And don't forget to drop by for a visit. I'm expecting you to, if not now then later."
"Hey Lance." Said Bobby as he made a decision and steps forward. "Hold out your hand."
"What are you gonna do?" Lance looked at him suspiciously but Bobby smiled.
"C'mon. You trust me right?" said Bobby.
"With you, Bobby-Iceman, that remains to be seen." Lance smiled as he held out his hand.
"Okay. This may work but it may also not, mind you. I spent years practicing how to do this and perfecting it again and again. So don't laugh is it doesn't work." said Bobby as he frowned in full concentration, his hand hovering over Lance's. "Here goes nothin'. Hey presto!"
Lance gasped as the air solidify above his palm, slowly forming a small ice-figurine depicting a baby angel with a bow and a readily nocked arrow in his hands. He watched as Bobby continues to frown while manipulating it carefully and slowly until he nodded in satisfaction at his little delicate handy-work.
"You don't need to be a magician to be a mutant." Bobby grinned at him at last. "It's not a permanent gift, mind you. It'll melt in a while. Maybe you can drop by a Burger King or MacDonalds along the way and order a large coke and use the ice to cool it down."
"It's beautiful." Said Lance as he examines the ice statue closely. When he looked up, Bobby could have sworn he detected something in those green eyes. "Thanks."
"No problem." Bobby winked at him cheerfully.
Lance looked at him strangely for a moment before smiling.
"You know, we didn't have a chance to finish our kiss the other night." He spoke at last.
Bobby laughed and pulled him into a hug.
"Oh yeah. It kinda slipped off my mind after the attacks and all... any idea where we left off?" he smiled.
"Nope." Lance smiled back as their faces inches closer slowly towards each other. "We have to start again, I guess."
Silence fell when their lips finally met. For a while, the only sound dominating the area came from the rustling of the nearby trees and the splashing of water from the lake as it ripples to the shore by the wind.
A minute passes by, followed by another... and another... before they parted at last, staring at each other expressionlessly.
It was Bobby's sudden smirk that finally shatters the whole romantic scene.
"Two kisses in one afternoon. One from a gorgeous hunk, the other from a famous boyband singer. Can my day get any better?"
Lance chuckled softly, his laughter increasing in intensity until finally they were both laughing like madmen once again.
"So, what's the verdict? Is my kiss better?" he mastered his laughter at last.
"Well, compared to Scott's... I suppose I can give you a B+." Bobby laughed as Lance smack his head slightly. "The '+' part is really given out of pity. As you can see, I'm quite generous in everything."
"Fuck you." Lance huffed. "I'm willing to bet my kiss is waaaay better than that of your little stone-faced Scott 'smiling-is-a-sin' Summers."
"Hah! You can keep on dreaming, Spiky!" Bobby laughed on.
"Oh, Spiky am I? I warned you about calling me that, li'l Iceman. Now pay the price." Lance smiled with an evil glint in his eyes.
"L-Lance, what are you doing? What are youuuaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
SPLASH!!!!!!
"Need a hand?" Lance laughed from where he knelt at the edge the pier as he peers down at Bobby who sputter and trash wildly in the water. Bobby only glare at him for a moment before smiling ruefully and with Lance's help, he climbed back onto the pier.
"I deserve that." Bobby laughed at last.
"Anyway, I better get going. Now that you're soaked to the bone, are you coming along with me to the mansion?" asked Lance.
"Naah." Bobby smiled before shifting into his ice-form. "Now that my hand is healed and the plaster cast is gone, I can shift into my ice-form once again. And a li'l bit of chill never bothers the Iceman. You go on ahead. I think I'll go off for a walk for a while. I'll be back in time to see you off. See you in a bit."
With that he creates an ice-slide and slid away, shouting happily. Lance only looked at him strangely for a moment as if he got something else to say, but he shook his head at the last minutes before turning around and leave, studying the ice-statue thoughtfully as he did.
"I'm on a rebound." Lance murmured sadly under his breath. "Nobody wanna date a rebound."
"I have good news."
Howie looks up enquiringly from the newspaper he was reading when Kirk walks in, smiling.
"Spill it out."
Kirk waved his mobile phone quietly, smiling humorously as he did.
"Just got a call from Farshaw." He said cheerfully. "Your suspicions about our Dr. Nathaniel Essex seem to have been for naught. His expertise in the field of Genetics appears to have become a very valuable asset to us. Under his advice, the teams will be able to carry out the final phase of the project by the end of this week. I was also informed that under the rate the we're going now, we should be able to execute the Testing procedure in a week or two, three at the very most."
Howie raised an eyebrow in silent amusement.
"Perhaps my suspicion is for naught. But I still don't trust him. There's something about him that makes me uneasy." He answered mildly. "But you're the one assigned as the leader amongst us by 'The Right'. The choice is yours."
Kirk sat on the chair opposite him quietly before sighing.
"We'll see how these whole things turn out. The project must go on and apparently we need him. Without him, it'll take at least half a year to complete it, if we can complete it at all. Farshaw may also be an expert in the field but I doubt he is as good as this Essex."
"Would half a year be any different that a week?" asked Howie. "Nobody knows about this project. We've been keeping it secret since the beginning, a knowledge known only to the Council and a few selected members of 'The Right'. You yourself advised me more than once to always be on the safe side rather than regretting it later."
"Nobody knows now, but they will know about it soon enough!" Kirk snapped angrily that even Howie looks up at him in surprise. This is the first time he ever saw Kirk actually got angry. "Trust me, Howie, when it comes to this type of project, they will know about it. The X-men are a very resourceful group. You were not with us when Hodge led us. But you knew what happened. You are aware of how fast they found out about Hodge's plans and how they countered it. No, we cannot give them time to know about this. Believe me, Howie, once they know about this, you can expect every single mutant on this planet coming down upon us. We must act fast while they are unprepared. The sooner we can complete the X-Gene Neutralization technology, the better!"
Howie only shrugged in defeat and settle to reading the newspaper.
"Warren Worthington appears to spent lots of time at this Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster." He spoke again. "What do you know about this school, Kirk?"
"Our spies haven't reported anything just yet. We'll know about it soon enough." Kirk replied sourly. "Don't worry about it. If it turns out to be a mutant hideout, we'll destroy it. Just like what we did at Muire's Island."
"Nick is there." Howie spoke simply.
"Your bandmate?" Kirk raised his eyebrow in surprise. "What is he doing there?"
"I have no idea." Howie replied as he read the newspaper. "He became a close friend to Worthington while we were in LA. When we left LA, he decided to spend some time with him at this Xavier's school."
"Does he know about Warren being a mutant?" Kirk asked quietly. "Do you think... he... is a mutant?"
This time Howie lifted his eyes to gaze dangerously at Kirk.
"I sure hope not." He replied just as quietly. "If he is, then I will need that X-Gene Neutralization project completed quickly more than you do."
Kirk nodded quietly.
"What are you planning to do about Warren?" asked Kirk again.
Howie smiled as he turned the page of the newspaper he was reading.
"Don't worry about it." Said Howie. "I told you, I will deal with him personally. I've already had someone tracking him down even as we speak."
"Need any help?" asked Kirk.
"Think I can have a couple of Mutant-Hounds for a day or two?" Howie asked mildly.
"Will three be enough?" said Kirk. "I can't grant you more than that. The bosses gave me specific instruction on that."
"Good enough." Said Howie.
Kirk's mobile phone rang at that instant.
"Excuse me." Kirk murmured as he flips open his phone. "Kirk speaking... uh-huh... uh-huh... what?!... when?... uh-huh... uh-huh... I see... I'll tell him... yeah... you must! You have my authorization... uh-huh... Good. Do it. Make sure he doesn't contact anyone... Good... I want a full report from you later. Good."
He flipped the phone shut and gaze expressionlessly at Howie.
"Looks like your bandmates are beginning to cause more trouble than I expected."
Howie looks up sharply at that.
"Nick?" he asked.
"No. Your friend, AJ."
"What?!" Howie answered sharply in surprise as he stood. "Oh, no. What did he do?"
"One of my informants spied him going through your files in your office back in your house. He read all about the project. See? I told you someone will know about it sooner or later. According to my informant, your friend was not pleased about it."
Howie began pacing back and fourth worriedly.
'AJ, AJ, AJ... why must you stick your nose into everything??!!' He thought worriedly, knowing quite well what Kirk and 'The Right' are going to do about this.
"You gave the order to kill him!" Howie spins around to face Kirk.
"The project is our top priority, Howie!" Kirk stood and gaze at him levelly. "We cannot afford to let him spread the news. I saw him many times in our meetings. You brought him along with you. He never approve of our cause, Howie. But I've let him get away all the time because he is your bestfriend. I'm sorry, I cannot ignore him this time! The risk is too great!"
Howie's mind is spinning as he thought of a way out from all this. AJ is his bestfriend! He cannot let this to...
"There is another way!" Howie spun around again. "Capture him and have him confined until the project is safely underway!"
"Howie..." Kirk sighed but Howie rushes on.
"Have him confined and watched at the lab at all time! The most important thing here is to not letting him tell anyone else about the project! Putting him into a cell can achieve that as good as killin' him! He is my bestfriend, goddammit!"
"Howie..."
"I will NOT have him killed, Kirk!" Howie yelled at last. "Capture him or count me out and you can kiss my financial contribution goodbye!!"
Kirk bit his lips and narrowed his eyes dangerously. For the first time ever since meeting the guy, Howie saw the carefully contained fury within those eyes. And for the first time in his life, Howie began to wonder if he is on the right path after all.
"Very well, Howie." Kirk replied tightly. He flips open his phone and dialed the number, his eyes never leave Howie as he listened to the ringing tone. "Hello... Rick? It's me, Kirk. There is a change of plan... do not kill him... yes... tell your men to stand down... instead, I want him captured and taken to the lab. Confine him in one of the cells and have him watched at all time... Yes, I'm sure, now do it. Report to me when you're done."
Howie remained in his watchful silence all the time throughout the conversation, though inside, his mind is in turmoil.
'You own me big time, buddy.' He thought quietly. 'I'm sorry I have to do this... but you'll thank me when this is over.'
Next Friday, Part 35: 'Light & Darkness'