A Price To Be Paid (John Proudstar)

You Call That A Plan?

Clarice glanced at everyone, and nodded. She gave me a quick look, and walked away. John furrowed his brow as he watched her leave the room. He turned back towards me, smiled, halfheartedly, and came to stand back by my side.

I could tell there was no love lost between him and her, but knew it was better to ask about it later.

Lauren grinned, and said, "I'm gonna go find a friend. I'll see you guys tomorrow, at seven sharp."

We watched as the family retreated in different directions. Caitlyn and Reed seemed to be taking the reunion of their son from the Brotherhood hard, and I didn't blame them. He'd had to do unspeakable things to get out, the kind of things that might scare the ones that love you the most. Andy seemed to know it wasn't going to be an easy transition back into the family dynamic.

As John and I watched them wander off, we both sighed. I glanced at John, and he smiled halfheartedly. He seemed to sense it, too.

I kept my eye on him, but he began glaring at Marcos, who was packing a leather bag. I squeezed his arm, and he snapped his head in my direction. I glanced at Marcos, and back at John.

Sighing, he turned to glare at him. "He's not a jerk, he's just a sensitive guy, and he doesn't want what happened with Lorna and Andy to happen again. Even though we got them back, it weighs on him. Just don't take any of that personally, even though he was being a larger jerk than normal. And understand, he just wants everyone safe, you included."

I glanced down at our hands as I said, "I'm not going to go rogue, and kill the guy. It just feeds the fanatics' egos, and we really don't want that. Not when it means that mutants will have to out themselves if a registry is put in place like the Senator is going to promote. I don't want that. So, trust me, I won't go off on my own here.."

He smiled, and gave me a hug, I wrapped my arms around him, and laughed softly. He released me enough to look me in the eye. I could feel what he was feeling, it was desire. Before he could react, I gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, trying to lighten the mood. He leaned back, examining my face, seeing there that I wasn't ready for more. He nodded, took my hand, and glanced around the kitchen.

He suddenly froze, and his hand tightened around mine. I looked up, trying to spot what had him suddenly on edge. I finally followed his wide eyed gaze, and found who he was looking at. Across the kitchen, in the dining room, sitting with Lauren, Clarice was staring at us, her eyes flicking between us, and our interlocked hands.

My eyes darted towards John, then back to her. I could feel her emotions intensifying from where I sat. She was confused, angry, and most of all, hurt. I attempted to pull my hand from John's grasp, but he just tightened his grip more, which hurt a bit. He was either trying to keep me in place, or he had forgotten I was even there, just keeping his grasp on the object in his hand. I sighed, and looked back to Clarice, and gave her a weak nod. She rolled her eyes, and turned away from us, storming out the back door.

As soon as she was gone, he released my hand, and the blood rushed to my fingertips. He smiled at me as he said, "So, what were you planning on doing with the rest of the day? There's a trail going through the back of the compound. It's completely covered by trees, so there's no chance of drones seeing us..."

"Stop... are you going to act like that didn't just happen? And don't you dare say it's nothing, because my crushed hand would beg to differ. What happened between you and Clarice to make you and her act that way?" I asked with anger saturating every word.

John sighed, glancing towards her escape route. "We had a relationship for a while. She left me to work with that guy you met, Erg. Now she's back, and it's hard. I'm sorry I hurt your hand. I just saw her face, and it surprised me to see how hurt she looked. I forgot everything else for a moment. Let me go talk to her, sort things out. I'll meet up with you in the room."

I rubbed my forehead, before responding. "That probably doesn't help, us sharing a place. She probably heard about that, and thinks you are bunking up with your girlfriend or something. She probably thinks we're more serious than we are. Maybe I should get a transfer in the works. We wouldn't want anyone else getting the wrong idea."

John shook his head, saying, "No, don't do that. I can share with Andy, he's in a pretty large room. You can have ours to yourself. I wouldn't want to put you out. I'll go talk to Clarice, then come by for my stuff. I'll see you later."

With that, he was gone. I leaned back against the table, and tried to piece together what had just transpired. John had been more than freaked out to see Clarice, but he said it was over. I couldn't believe that. She wasn't the most emotionally open person, if memory serves right. She wasn't just going to reveal her emotions over nothing...

"Stop going through what ifs." I started whispering to myself. "He'll explain everything to you later, if you didn't already screw this up, whatever this is."

I rolled my eyes, and started walking out the door. I had to get away from this place of misery. It was beginning to suffocate me. So, I started towards the back of the compound. When I reached the end of the grassy yard, I found what I was looking for, the trail John had mentioned.

I started down the clear path, running as fast as I dare over the uneven dirt. It winded through the tall oak trees, slowly thinning to nothing more than a game trail. I made note of everything around me, making sure I didn't get lost. Over an hour later, it came to an end in a small clearing. In the center, lay a pond. I grinned as I ran through short strawberry bushes to the shore, stopping to take in the view, before collapsing among the cattails.

I listened as a small stream flowed into the pond. It was distant, but it was the only sound I could hear. It was soothing as I tried to slow my breathing.

It had been awhile since I had run such a distance, and my lungs were now making that fact known. I laid in the grass as my eyes started to feel heavy. Though I tried to protest, they shut, and I drifted away, into an easy sleep.