A Difficult Decision

Author's Note: Short and sweet.

Chapter Twenty-four: Reasons

A heavy, tired sigh escaped Jamie's lips as he unlocked his car. It had been nice to have company for a change – to hear voices other than his own. But he daren't risk staying longer. He had been fortunate enough to last this long without…

"Jamie!"

The multiplying mutant stopped with the driver's door half opened. For a moment he contemplated ignoring the voice and getting in the car regardless.

"Jamie… please…"

Jamie sighed faintly and turned to face the younger male behind him although he left the car door open. John offered him a small, grateful smile.

"I just wanna talk," he said quietly, gesturing back to the outside. "Can we… go for a walk?"

Jamie took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly as instantly the voices flared up in both disagreement and encouragement. Finally he gave a small nod, shutting the car door and stepping forward. John breathed a quiet sigh of relief, turning to fall into step alongside the older male as the two made their way outside.

"You know, when I asked how you were earlier," the pyrokinetic said quietly as they stepped into the cool night air. "I really wasn't asking if you were still crazy."

Jamie couldn't help the faint smile that pulled at his lips.

"Then I've been…" he let out a quiet, dry laugh. "I've been drunk a lot."

John gave a small, understanding nod.

"Mystique doesn't let me drink too much," he replied, trying to sound light but it didn't quite pull off. Jamie glanced across at the younger mutant, sighing softly at the pyrokinetic's dejected looking demeanour.

"Quite right – very bad for you," he replied although his light tone was not much more successful than John's.

"You did seem ok," John commented, shoving his hands in his pocket, dropping his gaze slightly as he walked. "I mean while we were getting Tommy. You seemed quite… confident."

"Are you kidding?" Jamie scoffed quietly. "I was terrified that I was gonna…" he waved a hand. "You know."

John nodded understandingly.

"Have you thought any more about…" he couldn't help his voice growing quieter. "Taking the cure?"

"Sure I've thought about it," Jamie admitted, albeit with a wry laugh. "Part of me was kinda hoping I'd get hit by accident," the multiplying mutant frowned slightly as he realised what he was saying. "Sorry. How you feeling?"

"Oh… I'm fine…" John shrugged dismissively although it did not hide the slump of his shoulders. "So you're not taking it then?"

"Not on my own."

A brief silence fell.

"I went down and saw Jinx," John spoke up again. "He's in pieces. You know they had a fight? Him and Tommy before Tommy went to his parents – Jinx told him he was just a bit of fun and that he didn't love him and…" the fire mutant's speech grew faster. "And it got me thinking that I should talk to you before we left but of course me being me I bottled it and…"

"John, you're rambling," Jamie interrupted uneasily. The younger male sighed heavily but continued none the less.

"But I have to say sorry Jamie. All the times you were there for me and the one time you needed me I let you down and…"

"John don't…" Jamie frowned slightly, consciously putting a little more distance between himself and John as they continued to walk. John shook his head, stopping suddenly.

"Jamie! Please I…" he inhaled deeply. "I saw one of your dupes get shot. I thought it was you and… I just…"

Jamie too stopped, turning to face John.

"Don't do this," he pleaded again quietly. "John, we both know this isn't going to end well, we cant… you can't…" the multiplying mutant closed his eyes tightly, running his hands through his hair. "You know this is something we can't get past and it was hard enough to say goodbye to you the first time John, I can't do it again."

Jamie bowed his head and turned away, starting to walk back towards the garage. A knot tightened in his gut as he heard John take a shaky breath behind him but he kept on walking – until he felt a short, sharp pain in his side. Stopping suddenly, a frown spread onto his face as an eerie silence fell. Slowly he looked down at his side, his eyes widening slightly as he found a cure dart sticking through his shirt. A strange mixture of confusion, panic and relief swept through him as he looked down at the small weapon.

"I'm not going anywhere," came a quiet voice from behind him. For a moment or two longer Jamie just continued to stare at the dart before he turned and looked at John, the pyrokinetic looking back at him with slightly wide eyes himself.

"Wh… I…" Jamie stuttered, frowning in confusion. John returned an earnest look.

"I don't like it," he stated honestly. "But then neither do you. And I spoke to Hank – he says that there's a chance that when it wears off you won't necessarily go straight back to the multiple personality. Being cured might give your brain a chance to clear itself and it'll take time for you to build up the…" he waved his hands as he struggled to word what he was trying to say. "It'll always come back but here's hoping it takes a while."

Jamie nodded slowly, unable to help the smile spreading onto his lips.

"That would be good…" the smiled faded into uncertainty. "John, are you sure about…"

"You know, I started sleeping with you because you were sexy and charismatic and confident," John interrupted. "And I agreed to date you because you made me laugh and because we have so much in common and I fell in love with you because…" a sheepish smile pulled on John's lips. "Well all of the above. And the fact that you just… understand me. And because…" he shrugged helplessly. "Just because you're you. At no point has the fact that you can duplicate ever come into it. I admit that your power impressed me at first but really it's not your power that … you have all the wit, and cunning and skill. Your power just allowed you to use it all at once," the younger male's casual façade cracked as he took a shaky breath. "You are still you and I still love you and I am really, really so sorry for letting you down and I swear I wanna make it up to you. I'll be there for you if… if that's still what you want."

Jamie couldn't help his lips curling into a smile.

"Of course that's what I still want," he replied quietly, taking a small, inviting step forward. John's anxious expression broke into a smile as he quickly closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around the taller male, burying his head in his chest as he held him tight. Jamie laughed softly, giving John a quick squeeze before pulling away gently, tilting John's face up into a tender, lingering kiss. The pyrokinetic smiled as they parted, running a hand through Jamie's dark hair although a concerned frown pulled on his brow.

"Are… you ok? I mean… with…"

Again Jamie laughed quietly.

"Are you kidding?" he gestured loosely to his head. "It's quiet. Silent even. I admit part of me feels a little… sick but overall," he smiled reassuringly. "Overall I'm relieved."

John gave a small, understanding nod.

"In that case," he looked up at Jamie hopefully. "Can we go home?"

Jamie's smile broadened as he pulled his once-again boyfriend into another kiss, deeper this time.

"Yeah," he nodded, running a hand through John's floppy blonde hair, looking back at him warmly through his bright blue eyes. "We can go home."

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

Author's Note: The end! Woo hoo! I hope you enjoyed reading this – I know I struggled to write bits of it which upset me 'cause I was really looking forward to writing this story so I really do hope you liked the idea as much as I did. Thanks again for reading! Maybe see you all next story…