By: skye

Disclaimer: I don't hate Iceman. I'm actually a very big fan. I'm just a firm believer in the saying What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. There are Beast, and Lightwave cameos. And the Black Cat plays a major supporting roll. And there is also a surprise cameo at the end. By the way the Grill is a local fast-food hangout I made up.

Duncan Matthews slammed Bobby into the lockers. "Where's my money you little nerd?" Um. In my locker," Bobby told him. Duncan grinned. This was too easy. "Well, why don't you go get it," Duncan asked, yanking a locker open. "Back off, Duncan. And pick someone else to torture instead of freshman," a football player, Henry McCoy, said coming to Bobby's rescue. "Yeah, Duncan. Leave the kid alone," Felicia Hardy said. She ran her fingers through her white hair. Duncan dropped Bobby at the sight of her. "Hey, Felicia. Wanna get together tonight?" "Tonight? Oh tonight's bad for me. See, I'm getting a life. You know, you should really try it sometime." She walked away. Henry and Bobby laughed. Duncan glared at Bobby, making him stop laughing all of a sudden. Felicia walked up to Jean and Scott, who were making out behind his locker door. "Jeannie, I've got a thing. Cover for me in history." Jean pulled away from Scott. "Again? This is the third time this week," Jean said, frustrated. Felicia shrugged. Later.... Bobby picked up his soda. He bought it a few hours before and somewhere along the line it had gotten hot. He lowered his temperature slightly attempting to get the soda cold again. Henry sat down on the other side of the table. Bobby looked up surprised. What surprised him even more was Henry's nonchalant attitude towards it. "Um, do you know where you're sitting," Bobby asked, a little nervous. "Yeah. You're a friend of Jeannie's. That makes you a friend of mine," Henry explained. "Oh." Across town... Felicia wrapped a towel around herself. She wasn't cold but couldn't stop shaking. "You lied to me. You said it wouldn't hurt." "If I had told you the truth you wouldn't have agreed to let me do this," Graydon Creed said, coming up to her. "I have a job for you," he announced. "As you already know I'm running for mayor. Unfortunately, someone's been causing me problems. A man named William Drake. Now if something happened to one of his kids....A grieving father wouldn't cause me trouble," he told her. "You're asking me to kill one of his kids?" "Smart and beautiful. Felicia you constantly amaze me," he said. "I can't do that." "You will. Felicia, you have no choice. I gave you power, so whether you like it or not I own you." After school... Despite everything that happened earlier in the day Bobby still got a black eye from Duncan. "Man the Professor is gonna kill you," Evan told him. "I know. But Duncan wont leave me alone." "Then do something about it," Evan said, "Use your powers." Bobby shook his head. "No way. The Professor said we should stay anonymous." "Yeah but you can finally put Duncan in his place," Evan continued. "Maybe. I'll think about it," Bobby told him. Felicia walked up to them. "Hey, Bobby, you doing anything tonight," she asked him. "Um, no." "Cool. Meet me at the Grill and we'll see what happens," she said with a smile. She turned and went the other way. "Felicia Hardy. You got a date with Felicia Hardy," Evan said in disbelief. That night... Bobby some how convinced the Professor to let him go out even with the black eye. He met Felicia outside the restaurant. "Duncan`s here. Let's go," she announced. They left. Felicia kept looking back. "He's following us," she said nervously. "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this," she said disappearing into the alley. Bobby stepped back a little confused by Felicia`s strange behavior. Someone grabbed by the shoulder. He turned just in time to se Duncan`s fist coming at his face. The blow knocked him to the ground. He suddenly remembered what Evan had said to him earlier. Felicia couldn't hurt him. She couldn't let them hurt him. She pulled her gloves off revealing deformed hands with claws for fingernails. She slipped the mask over her eyes. A horrible sound like nails being dragged across a blackboard, broke the silence. "Oh my god. He didn't." She ran out of the alley to see a frozen Duncan and his friends chasing Bobby. She ran after them. She jumped on one of their backs. "Don't you know its bad luck to cross the path of a black cat," she hissed into his ear. She slashed his face with her claws. He yelled in pain and threw her off. She hit a wall and was knocked out. When she came to they were gone. Bobby lay a few feet away, not moving. "Oh no," she moaned. She walked towards him seeing that they had beaten him up and then that one of them had suddenly remembered that he had a knife. "Get the hell away from him," someone yelled. Felicia turned to see a man with metal claws coming out of his knuckles. He lunged at her. She screamed and took off. Morning.... Maddy Drake sat in the waiting room of the hospital. Her youngest, Aurora, sat in her lap reading a magazine. "Mommy, Bobby's been asleep for along time. When's he gonna wake up," Aurora asked. "I don't know. Some people hurt him and ..." Storm sat down beside her "Aurora, why don't you go over there with Bobby's friends," Maddy said. "The Professor has erased the memories of Bobby's attackers. Your son is in no more danger," Storm assured her, after Aurora had gone. "But he's still in a coma. And he's still hurt. He's still going to remember everything that they did to him. What's your Professor going to do about that," Maddy said, tears forming in her eyes. Evan came up to them. "Auntie O?" "Not now Evan," Storm said. "But it's important," he said. "All right. What is it?" "See uh, what happened to Bobby might be my fault," he said. "Do not be silly. There is no way that you could of prevented it," she said. "Yeah but I kind of told him to use his powers against Duncan." "You did what?!," everyone seemed to yell at the same time. "I didn't know this was going to happen. I swear," he tried to explain. "And I thought I was helping him defend himself." Felicia stared out the window of the room she was in. "They're still there." "Where did you think they would be," Creed asked her. He handed her a syringe. "When you get the chance sneak into his room and put this in his IV," he said. "No. I can't." He grabbed her by the wrist and forced her to look at him. "If you don't do this I will make your life a living hell. Trust me it's not as hard as you may think. And with every kill it gets a little easier." She stared at the needle in her hand long after he left. Maddy held Bobby's hand in her own and looked at his face. There was no response to her touch. A girl, about sixteen, with white hair came up next to her. "Ms. Drake?" "Yes?" "I'm Felicia Hardy. I was supposed to be on a date with him last night," the girl said, quietly. Maddy gave her a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry, dear," she said. "Don't be. I can't imagine what your going through. Must be awful." Maddy shook her head. The girl threw something underneath Bobby's bed, then left, leaving Maddy confused by her strange behavior. Maddy started to go when Bobby suddenly grabbed her hand. She gasped and sat back down staring at his face. "Bobby," she said in shock. His eyes opened slowly. "Oh thank god," she whispered. "What happened," he asked. "You don't remember," she asked him. "No." "Good. That's good. You don't have to know. I'm just so glad your back," she said fighting back tears. "Where did I go," he said with a laugh. That laugh turned into a cough. Maddy managed to smile slightly. "I'll tell the others that you're awake," she told him. She kissed him on the forehead and left the room. Across town... Felicia prepared herself for the worst as she stood outside Creed's office. Then she opened the door and went in. A girl with curly blonde hair stood exactly where she had when she first started working for Creed. Creed was behind his desk. He looked at her. "What do you want," he said coldly. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him. I'm not a murderer." "I know. That's too bad. If you were you would be more prepared for what is to come," he said gesturing to the blonde. "This is Katia. My new recruit. She is far more willing to take someone's life, than you." "But what about me?" "What about you? With a new girl I have no use for you. Now go," he said. After that Felicia walked through town near tears. She knew that once Creed trained the girl that she would be on the top of the hit list. She hated the way things had turned out. He lured her in with the promise of superpowers. How could she resist that? But she never anticipated the price she would have to pay. A sudden wind blew through her pale hair. She stopped in her tracks. She turned slowly, and watched a dark figure crawl down the side of a building's wall. "I was hoping you'd show," she told the figure.

THE END