University is a juggling act, even at the best of times. As Sam is about to discover, being a member of the spandex squad isn't exactly the best of times.

Sometimes, life is just life. Sometimes, it's something more.

****

Bobby sat on the mansion stairs, his legs stretched out in front of him. The sun beat down upon his upturned face, trying to slide between his eyelids.

Jean had told him to wear sunscreen. Her voice had thrummed idly in his head, and she'd told him to go inside and put on sunscreen.

He felt the brush against his mind even as cool skin drifted past his. It wasn't invasive. Somehow, it wasn't. The presence beside him, the presence in his mind, it was just there. It didn't speak, didn't prod. He cracked his eyes open, just a little, taking in the skin exposed to the sun beside him. It was nice view.

Really nice.

He became aware of a chuckle after a time. "What?" he asked, and opened his eyes.

"You know, Robert, you're getting rather good at that. If I wasn't so used to people staring at my chest..."

"Well, you know what they say, Em. Practice makes perfect."

"I have to admire your dedication."

"Well, it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it."

She stood, and he found himself thinking that if she ever got a burn dressed like that, it would be rather painful. Not to mention just how strange the lines would be...

"I suppose you'd prefer that I sunbathed in the nude."

"Why, Emma, I'm offended. It never crossed my mind."

"Yes it did. It's crossed it many, many times, and it's crossing it now."

He smiled and shrugged. He didn't tell her to go inside and put on sunscreen. She could look after herself.

"Do you want to go for a drive?" She asked.

"Sure," he said, and fell into stride with her as she headed for the garage. The car was parked out in front of the shed, and it was sleek and white and even while sitting still gave the impression of motion. It was a panther crouched to strike and Emma seemed a part of it even as she slid in. The keys were in the ignition and she peeled out as he was closing his door.

The mansion gates were standing open and they blew right by them, the air whipping past his face because the top was down as they turned off Greymalkin and out onto the highway.

The sun was warm and the wind was cool and he spread his arms above himself, trying to catch the breezes in his fingers. Emma laughed and he knew it wasn't at him, it was at the speed and the thrill and the freedom and the power beneath her fingertips.

She slid sunglasses down from the top of her head to cover her eyes, her long white hair whipping around her in a cloud.

And they drove and he trusted that she could find their way back, even if she didn't know where they were going.

"You're different," he said finally.

"Different how?" she asked, pulling tightly around a turn.

"I don't know. You've just... Changed. You always do, when you're not around Them."

"We all have different faces, Bobby. We all have different ways that we act. It's conditioned. And what about you?" she asked, taking her eyes off the road for the briefest of seconds. "You're troubled lately, I know. It has something to do with the others, as well."

She flicked her eyes back to his again, and they were blue, so blue, through the blue lenses, the white frames. White held her together.

"Why would the others trouble me, Em? They're my family. They're our family."

"Even families fight. Especially families fight."

"I love them."

"I know. But..."

"But sometimes I just feel like..."

"They're smothering you?"

"Not smothering. I wouldn't go that far."

"They treat you like a child."

"Yeah, they treat me like a child."

"But you're not."

"No, I'm not. I've been around as long as anyone, Em. I've been through as much as anyone."

"Yet they still act as if you're... Less... than them."

"No. They don't think that I'm less. Not on purpose."

"Not on purpose, anyway. Not consciously. But their actions speak."

"They just don't see that I've grown up, Em. They just don't see, and nothing that I say or do is going to show them."

"They should, you know. See. Noticing the strengths and weakness of a teammate..."

"I'm not a child, Emma. Not anymore. How could I be, after everything? How *could* I be?"

"I know, Bobby. I see. None of us are the same as we were. There's too much water under the bridge, and there are too many bodies in the currents. And if people don't start seeing that..."

"It could get dangerous."

She looked at him again, eyes heavy-lidded and still so blue, ever so blue, hair framing in a flying cloud and skin glowing white around them, and smiled lazily. "We're all dangerous people, Bobby. It's already started."

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