Chapter Thirty: Moving Out

A/N: So, here it is. The final chapter of Checkmate. It's been a long journey - hard to believe I've been working with this since 2011! But not to worry - when "Days of Future Past" comes out in May, you can be assured that I'll be doing a sequel, titled "Stalemate". Not entirely sure about content yet, as obviously I'll be relying a fair bit on the movie, but I'm hoping you'll stick with me through the next part of Alex and Tobi's journey :)

Thanks so much, all of you. Remember, PM or review with any one-shot requests, and I'll do my best :) See you all in May!

"I Never," Sean slurred, his bottle of vodka now hanging precariously from his hand, "Got a tattoo."

Danni shrugged nonchalantly and lifted her bottle to her lips, taking a swig. Sean stared at his girlfriend incredulously – as did everyone else. Danni flushed and giggled a little as she noticed all eyes on her.

"What?"

Tomorrow, everything was changing. Tomorrow, three of the teenagers from Charles's mansion would be leaving to find their own paths in life – but tonight, that didn't deter any of them. The over-eighteens had gathered around for a game of I Never, and generally to celebrate their friendship with a bit of alcohol to lighten it up.

"You have a tattoo?" Sean's voice rose an octave with every word, "Where? Why didn't I know about this?"

Danni stretched out her leg and wiggled her foot. There, tattooed onto her ankle, was a tiny blue butterfly. Sean gaped as though he'd never seen a tattoo in his life. Grinning, Danni withdrew her leg.

"Okay, it's my turn," Elliott reminded them, waving his bottle and nearly sloshing vodka on himself. "Shit. Alright. I Never prank called anyone."

"Really?" Danni gasped, raising her bottle to her lips as did Sean and Tobi. "My friend, you are sadly deprived. We should do it now!"

She jumped eagerly to her feet, eliciting groans from several of the boys, who were not in the least bit interested in prank calling anyone.

"Nooo!" Tobi grabbed Danni's arm as the dark-haired girl made to stand. "We're playing this."

"I'll go then," Hank shrugged, "Umm…I Never shoplifted."

It was only Tobi, surprisingly, who drank this time. Open noticing that everyone else was silent and staring at her, she raised her eyebrows challengingly and placed down her bottle.

"I was a street thief for like three years. Come on. Of course I STOLE."

Danni nodded knowingly, swilling the remaining vodka in her bottle. It was well past midnight, yet still the small group of them remained sitting in Elliott's room, cross-legged and prepared for whatever bold I Never question would come next.

"I Never read a porno magazine."

All of the boys except Hank drank. Tobi and Danni exchanged rather disgusted glances, which didn't go unnoticed by the others. Tobi turned and raised her eyebrows at her boyfriend, rolling her eyes.

"What?" Alex demanded, folding his arms defensively across his chest, "We're guys."

Sean nudged Danni. "You're sexier than any of the chicks in the magazines, any day."

Danni simply frowned. "Sean, please shut up. You're drunk."

"I Never been suspended from high school!" Tobi shouted, raising her bottle into the air. To no one's surprise, it was only Elliott that drank. Considering that Alex hadn't even gone to half of high school and neither had Tobi, Danni was a typical goodie-two-shoes and Hank had been catapulted straight to university level, this wasn't that astonishing.

"Why, Sean," Tobi turned to face him, looking rather amused. "You haven't been suspended? That must have been an accomplishment."

Sean grinned and shrugged. "My teachers loved me."

Alex groaned and staggered to his feet. The vodka bottle in his hand was empty and Tobi guessed that he was totally out of it. Well, she knew who certainly wasn't driving the Cadillac out of there tomorrow.

"My head's starting to spin. I'm going to bed."

Hank nodded and stood. "I think that's a good idea, actually."

Tobi shoved the last of her bags into the boot and slammed it down, nodding towards Alex and giving him the thumbs up. She noticed that he was busy talking with Charles, so she cupped her hands around her mouth.

"We're good to go!"

In all honesty, Tobi just wanted to leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, she felt that she might change her mind and decide to stay. So much had happened at this mansion. She had lived there for practically the last year of her life. She had come to terms with who she was. And, she had fallen in love with…

"It's all good." Alex grinned as he strode towards her. "England beat France."

An idiot.

"Umm, in what?" Tobi planted her hands on her hips.

Alex just smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead. "In the soccer. Get with the times."

Tobi pushed him playfully in the chest. Alex and his obsession with the soccer. Sometimes, she really did have to wonder. She guessed after he'd been stuck in solitary confinement for so long, he wanted to keep up to date with what was going on…that, and he was a nut about sports.

"Whatever."

Charles was looking rather concerned as Elliott wheeled out the Harley-Davidson. After Tobi's little stunt trying to get away from Bishop, it had taken some time to repair. Charles was clearly reluctant to give up the motorbike, despite the fact that he couldn't use it himself. He frowned at Elliott.

"You will be careful with that, won't you?"

"Of course." Elliott looked utterly thrilled with his new possession, upon which he had packed his bags. "She's my baby now."

Tobi rolled her eyes. Boys and their toys, honestly. Charles wheeled his chair over to Elliott, inspecting the Harley-Davidson. It shone like it was brand new as he placed a hand on it. However, Tobi guessed that it wasn't the motorbike Charles would miss as much as Elliott.

"So where exactly are you headed, Elliott?"

"Don't exactly know." Elliott pulled down his sunglasses. "I was planning on buying a flat in Los Angeles, maybe. I'm thinking of starting up a business."

"Really?" Tobi had to admit that she was a little surprised at this. "What sort of business?"

"I don't know." Elliott shrugged. "Just some kind of business. I used to be into music. Maybe something to do with that."

Charles turned to face Alex and Tobi. Alex shuffled his feet rather uncomfortably and Tobi became very interested in her nails. The thing was, they didn't exactly know where they were going yet, and they didn't want Charles acting like an overbearing parent about their lack of direction.

"What about you two?"

"Well…" Alex risked a glance at Tobi, who shrugged. "We don't really know yet."

"Hmm." Charles thought about it for a moment before he nodded slowly. "I have some contacts in New York City, you know. They're not mutants, but they might be able to help you two. Find you some good accommodation, help you get jobs…"

"Charles…" Tobi felt a little embarrassed. The whole point of this was that she and Alex wanted to be independent now. "That won't be necessary. I'm sure Alex and I can manage fine on our own. But…New York City does sound pretty good. Alex?"

He frowned and Tobi thought that he was going to reject the idea, but then he smiled and leaned across to kiss her on the cheek.

"I'm kidding. New York City's great."

There was a tense silence and Tobi knew it was time to leave. Impulsively, she swooped down and planted a kiss on Charles's cheek.

"Thanks, Charles. For…everything."

"That's quite alright, Tobi," Charles nodded, but his blue eyes were solemn.

Alex made do with a handshake, but Tobi could see him swallowing hard. She turned to face Danni, who opened her mouth as if to say something, and then charged at Tobi and started crying. Tobi awkwardly patted Danni's back.

"I can't believe you're going!" Danni sobbed, "You're my best friend."

"I'm still going to call you, idiot," Tobi laughed, pulling away from Danni. "Chin up. You haven't seen the last of me. We're going to come back and pester you, don't worry about that."

It was hard for Tobi to say goodbye to her friends. Even Elliott, who could be a pain the ass at times, was still hard to get rid of. But when Tobi hopped into the car (Alex had insisted on driving, despite her protests) and looked back at the mansion disappearing behind them, she knew she'd done the right thing.

Once they reached the main road, Elliott revved up the Harley-Davidson and offered them a wave as he roared off in the opposite direction. Alex and Tobi drove on in silence for quite some time, before Tobi couldn't take it any longer and she started to fiddle with the radio.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked, frowning slightly.

"Just focus on the road. We need music."

A somewhat familiar song came on and Tobi clapped her hands delightedly and wound down the window.

"Yes! It's The Beatles!"

Alex groaned. In all honesty, he hated The Beatles, and the prospect of being stuck listening to that sort of music the entire car trip did not appeal to him in the least. Tobi was grooving away in the seat beside him, but Alex was feeling quite pessimistic now.

"How long until we reach New York City?" he groaned.

"Shut up and drive, Havok."