reicicled

So his older self hadn't shown up at all yesterday, which sucked. He'd texted an apology, something about an emergency with the school, and Bobby had resigned himself to a weekend spent either sulking in his room or helping Uma dodge her unexpected visitors. Except early Saturday morning, he'd woken up to a frantic call from his older-self, something about how his parents had somehow found out about the younger-Bobby's existence, because they'd been sent the same invite the older-Bobby had about the Parent's Weekend event. And they were headed to Fandom. Bobby was clinging to the hope this was all his older-self's idea of some dumb joke until he checked his voicemail and found a message from someone who, yup, was definitely his father, telling him to meet them at the Italian Restaurant at 6pm sharp.

William Drake still wasn't entirely sure this was a good idea, to be honest. Both the dinner and being here, in this... place... in general. But he had to admit his wife had a point. They'd been given another chance; this time, they could raise the boy right, he'd settle down and find himself a nice, normal job, marry a nice, normal girl... there would maybe even be grandchildren, someday.

"You're sure you told him the right place? What if he got lost?"

"Of course I'm sure," Madeline replied. "If there's one thing I know about our boy at any age, it's that he could find his way to any restaurant with his eyes closed. He's probably just running late." The 'as usual' was unsaid, but definitely implied.

Unbeknownst to them, Bobby had actually beaten his parents to the restaurant. It was just that he'd found himself with a bit of a, well. A problem. So now he was frantically texting his roommate-slash-backup to see if she could possibly help him out of this mess.

Uma	And Uma was dodging her own guests, so she couldn't have been happier to get Bobby's texts. Where u at? she texted. I skipped outta the room. They know where 2 find me there.
Bobby	Il Pollo. In the bathroom. There's something wrong with me. That was nice and cryptic, Bobby. Good job.
Uma	That's why u don't eat beyond the top layer in the garbage, Uma said, but she was already changing directions to head to the restaurant. U sick? Need new clothes? She wasn't saying she cared or anything. Just...you know. No one should go through their first acute food poisoning alone.
Bobby	Bobby stared at his texts for a moment, contemplating how fucked up it was that Uma even knew how much garbage you could eat before you risked getting really sick. Yes Followed a second later by: no? i don't know. but i don't need new clothes. Bet that cleared things up for Uma so very much.
Uma	Then what? Uma sent. Don't drink. Booze hurts 2ce as bad coming back up. Weren't you glad you had this font of wisdom for all your garbage-eating needs, Bobby?
Bobby	So helpful! need u to get me out of here!!!!
Uma	U want me 2 break u out of the bathroom?! Uma had stopped and was giving her phone confused looks. Bobby. It was a bathroom. You knew how they worked. Y? She was game to help, she was just so lost.
Bobby	not the bathroom!!!!! the restaurant. sneak me out so weird old parents don't see me.
Uma	OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Shit, Bobby, why hadn't you said so? That made a lot more sense now. And was way less gross than food poisoning. B there in 5. Probably closer to three. But she liked appearing impressive.
Bobby	Okay. Good. Help was on the way. Bobby's anxiety about this whole mess was still through the freakin' roof, but he could at least take a deep breath and relax. Or at least, relax as much as one could while hiding in a locked bathroom stall. And then the door swung open, and - "Uma?" Bobby squeaked. Somehow, he hadn't actually figured on her just waltzing in the door.
Uma	Really? How long had they been roommates for? C'mon Bobby! "What?" she asked. "You said you didn't have food poisoning." So she figured she was safe. "Let's go. We'll find somewhere to camp out until this whole fucking farce is over."
Bobby	"Um," Bobby said from the other side of the stall door. "I don't have food poisoning, no, but I'm not sure if I can- I don't think I can just... walk out there." As if to emphasize his point, the room's ambient temperature suddenly got a few degrees chillier, and ice began to creep out from beneath the stall door.
Uma	Uma's brow furrowed - and a moment later, cleared. "Oh shit," she said quietly. "Do they not...know?"
Bobby	"Oh, they know," Bobby said. "But they don't like it, or at least the them I knew never did, and that's why I can't go out there!" He finally managed to work up the courage to swing open the stall door. "I'm pretty much redefining cold feet, right now," he said, an edge of panic in his voice. Uma had seen him use his powers before, true, but she'd never seen him actually iced up all the way.
Uma	And she was startled to see him like that. But the fear and worry in his voice was a lot more concerning than what he looked like. This was Bobby. Crew. And crew always came first. "Hey hey hey, chill," she said, then laughed at the inadvertent joke. "I mean, relax. Forget about your folks right now. You're with me now. No one in here is gonna freak out." She marched over to the outer door and locked it. "Just us. Ice-Guy and Captain Squid-Girl."
Bobby	"It's Iceman," Bobby mumbled, reflexively. Then he sighed. "I can't change back. I've tried. I've been trying."
Uma	Uma was just going to pretend she didn't hear the correction. Because if she hadn't heard him say Iceman, she wouldn't have to comment on it, right? Sign she really did like her roommate. "How does it normally happen?" Uma asked. "Do you have to do something or think something or say a magic word?"
Bobby	"I usually can just- think myself warmer." Bobby tried to explain. Did that make sense? He had no idea if that made sense.
Uma	Was Uma the only person whose powers didn't rely on the Power of Positive Thinking? "So, like, you've been thinking of warm thoughts and nothing is happening?" she checked, just to make sure she got it. "Like, warm beaches and hot cocoa and fuzzy slippers?"
Bobby	"All that stuff," Bobby confirmed, miserably. "No luck." Because he was in the midst of an anxiety-spiral and that made it pretty hard to focus on bringing his temperature up.
Uma	"It's cause you're freaking out," Uma said sympathetically. "There's only one thing you can do now." She took a deep breath, then reached forward and scruffed him by the back of his sweater. "Sink or swim, babe. Sorry. Captain's orders."
Bobby	"Gah!" Bobby yelped as she grabbed on to his shirt. "Can- will you come with me, then?" he pleaded. "I don't think I can do this alone." Especially not all icy.
Uma	"Wait, what, me?" Uma asked. If she were in her squid form, she might have inked. "You want me to meet your parents?" She looked down at his neat appearance and then glanced at herself in the mirror. She'd dressed up - or, rather, down - to show the Fairy Godmother and Ben how few fucks she gave about them. "They're gonna look at me and freak," she said flatly. Maybe that was the point.
Bobby	She at least looked human, something which Bobby very much did not at the moment. "They will be too busy freaking out at me," Bobby insisted. "I need someone at that table I can trust. Please."
Uma	Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Trust. Loyalty. Her biggest weaknesses. "Fine," she said, grudgingly. "But don't think I won't be demanding backup from you this weekend if my stupid guests try some bullshit."
Bobby	"Absolutely," Bobby promised. "Totally, completely, one hundred percent. I will freeze them to the ground or something if you need me to."
Uma	"Deal," Uma said, letting go of the back of Bobby's neck to unlock the bathroom door. "You get to explain to them what we were doing in here, though."
Bobby	Bobby gave a derisive snort. "They'd probably find a way to use it as ammunition against older-me. 'See, he was fooling around with girls, why can't you do that?'"
Uma	"Not a thing you do?" Uma asked. Huh. She didn't think she knew that. "Just girls or not anyone?"
Bobby	"Just girls," Bobby muttered. "I've never dated, or even, like, kissed a guy. But I'd like to. Someday." Of all times to come out to his roommate, while she was frog-marching his stuck-in-ice-form self over to meet his parents from the future was... actually about standard X-Men level shenanigans, really.
Uma	"Remind me to introduce you to Gil one day," Uma said. "He'll kiss you. So will Harry, but Gil might actually mean it." And that had nothing to do with any weird feelings she had for Harry, thank you very much.
Bobby	"I'll, uh... I'll do that?" Bobby said, more than a little flustered. "There they are," he whispered, pointing to an impatient-looking older couple across the restaurant.
Uma	"Whoa." Uma had never seen non-villainous parents before. Did they always look so...severe? "They, uhh, look..." She tried to find a good word. Failed. "It's not to late to escape out the back."
The Drakes	'Severe' was the right word, actually. The Drakes weren't villainous, that much was true. They certainly wouldn't consider themselves bad people. But they did have certain prejudices? And being a mutant, and gay, should have already been two strikes against Bobby in their book. Except that they'd spotted the pair, and were... smiling? And waving?
Bobby	"Too late now," Bobby muttered, taking a deep breath and practically dragging Uma forward with him. "Hi Mom," he said, as they approached the table. "Hi Dad. Uh, sorry for looking like... this." He was not at all prepared for what came next.
The Drakes	"Oh sweetie," Madeline Drake crooned as she stood up to greet him, "You're just nervous, is all. It's so good to see you again!" "Do you need a coat?" William asked. "Or... anything that would warm you up?" He pulled a chair over from an unoccupied table for Uma. "And are you going to introduce us to your friend?" With no weird emphasis on the word 'friend', even.
Bobby	This was so weird. And if Bobby hadn't already been literally iced up, his parents' reaction would've frozen him on the spot. "Mom, Dad... this is my roommate, Uma. Uma, my mom and dad." This was all so normal. He didn't trust it.
Uma	Neither did Uma, but that was because she didn't trust anything normal. She wasn't used to it. "Captain Uma," she corrected automatically. "Of the Lost Revenge. Hi. Bobby thought you'd wanna get a chance to meet who he was rooming with while you were here." Which just sounded nicer than 'Bobby thought he could use a junkyard dog while he was with you.'
The Drakes	"A captain!" Madeline exclaimed. "Isn't that charming?" Probably not the reaction Uma had been hoping for, but then, Madeline was a little distracted as she attempted to pinch her son's very icy cheek. "He looks exactly like the old pictures, William!" "Kid needs some meat on his bones," William observed. "But yep, it's our boy." He grinned. "Come on, you two. Sit down!"
Bobby	... Really? The fact that he was rooming with a girl didn't get any sort of reaction? Yeah, Bobby didn't trust it. But he also wasn't going to question it, right about now. "Yeah, okay," he nodded. "I am pretty hungry."
William Drake	"So..." William said, as they settled in at the table. "The other Bobby tried to explain why you're here. Science fiction be damned, I say you're a gift from God."
Bobby	"... 'Other Bobby'," Bobby mouthed, shooting a glance at Uma across the table. Wasn't he the other Bobby, technically?
Uma	If Uma knew Morse code, she'd be blinking SOS at him nonstop. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure once the time travel thing is real and confirmed, it stops being science fiction and starts being science fact," she pointed out, she said with forced cheer as she grabbed for some bread rolls.
William Drake	"Right, of course," William said. "I still believe it must be some sort of miracle."
Bobby	"Does that make me a time-displaced prodigal son?" Bobby couldn't help but wonder. "... Did I just make a Bible reference?" he asked, a little startled by the words that had just come out of his own mouth.
Uma	"I'll pay you ten bucks to go like that into church," Uma said, breaking into her first real smile since they'd come out of the bathroom. "He--eck, I'll make it fifteen." Yes, 'heck' had absolutely been the word she'd intended the whole time.
Bobby	Bobby couldn't help it, he actually giggled at the thought. "Could you imagine? Me showing up to Sunday School like... like this."
Madeline Drake	"You could, if you wanted to," Madeline said slowly. "Come to church with us in Baltimore tomorrow. Or... back home."
Bobby	Bobby's eyes went very, very wide. "Semiestrangedmomsayswhat?" he yelped.
The Drakes	"You could come back home," Madeline repeated. "To us. Finish high school in New York. Pursue your dreams." "We've got a room for you, in a nice big house you haven't seen yet." William added. In the absolute silence that followed at the table, you could probably hear a pin drop. Or the other shoe, anyway.
Uma	"Normally the strings come after the bribe," Uma grumped. "Didn't even get dinner yet." Because really, Bobby's parents? Really?! "Out of curiosity, don't you think folks are gonna notice your kid's suddenly a teenager again? Or are you hoping that everyone's gonna be too well-bred to mention it?"
Madeline Drake	Madeline's hopeful expression turned sharp as she focused in on Uma. "We just moved. He could be our nephew that we're looking after." Why was she justifying herself to this stranger? She was Bobby's mother, for god's sake! She knew what was best for him, no matter what age he was.
Uma	"So we're just riding the whole 'living a lie' thing really hard then," Uma snorted. She looked at Bobby, lips pursed. "Wanna guess how many other things you're gonna have to lie about?" His powers. His sexuality. Probably even his name, because...what? They have a nephew named Robert, too?
William Drake	"This boy is a second chance for everyone, miss," William said. "We can raise him right this time, and the other Robert gets to keep on doing whatever he wants. It's a win-win." For the Drakes, certainly. The older Bobby, possibly. But not the Bobby sitting here at the table. The one who'd gone suspiciously quiet right around the time Uma had uttered the words 'living a lie'.
Uma	"What's wrong with how you raised him the last time?" Uma snapped. "Go on, why don't you tell this Bobby about all the things you're hoping to change about him." She tossed her braids over her shoulder and curled her lip. "At least my mom was open about only wanting me around to have help she didn't have to pay for. You're looking at this version of your son as some puppet you can finally make do what you want. You ever even once think about asking what he does?" Uma didn't think she'd said so much at once since getting to the island, but damn if these people didn't deserve every word. "...Bobby?"
Bobby	Sorry, Uma. But Bobby wasn't home right now. While a minute ago Bobby had been iced up but still moving and talking, now he was a solid block of unmoving, teenager-shaped ice. And the ice was growing, creeping slowly out from where his feet were planted on the floor.
The Drakes	"He's frozen himself solid!" Madeline gasped. Real helpful observation there, Mrs. Drake. William, meanwhile, was fuming. How dare this girl, this stranger tell him what to do about his son, his own flesh and blood?
Uma	Try and say something to her, Billy boy, and see how fast she told you to sit your ass down. "C'mon, Bobby," she said softly. "What's going on?"
William Drake	Right now, William was more focused on trying to get his currently-frozen time-traveled son to unfreeze himself. "Everything's gonna be fine, son," he said, in a tone that was- well, the words may have been meant to be reassuring, but really ended up coming out more like an order. "We're going to fix this." He scowled at Uma. "Don't suppose you have any bright ideas, young lady?" he asked sarcastically.
Uma	"Maybe stop ordering him around, old man," Uma snapped. "You miss the part where trying to come in here and dictate how his life was gonna go got us here in the first place?" Muttering curses she turned back to Bobby. Ugh, she would also be so much more suited to just yelling threats and orders until he snapped out of it. "If we were on my ship, I'd throw you overboard," she grumbled, too quiet for his parents to hear. "I'm not good at this, Bobby." But whining about it wasn't going to help either. "C'mon, Bobby," she said, a little louder. "You can't leave me here like this. You promised to have my back with the folks here for me, remember? They don't - they just don't get it. They don't get who we are or what we want and so they push and they glare and they say shitty things to make us feel small. But that's them. You and me, we got each other. You're my crew, Bobby. Which means if I have to haul your frozen ass back to the dorms like overgrown statuary, I will. But I'm gonna make fun of you the whole time. Okay?"
Bobby	No response. Bobby stayed frozen and unmoving, and the silence stretched on just long enough to become uncomfortable, until- A cracking noise, the kind you'd hear when stepping on to a sheet of ice too thin to support any weight. A chunk of ice, splitting and falling away from Bobby's hand, revealing flesh underneath.
Uma	"C'mon, you overgrown popsicle," Uma said, words belied by the way she squeezed she hand and the gentleness as she started peeling the ice back. "Let's get you outta this." She looked up at the Drakes, eyebrow raised. What? Was she gonna have to do all this herself?
Madeline Drake	"Is this... safe?" Madeline asked hesitantly, but she was already standing up and reaching to peel off some of the ice. It wasn't long before all of the ice was either peeled off or melted away, revealing a sheepish-looking Bobby Drake beneath. "Goodness," Madeline exclaimed. "That was a scare."
Bobby	"What'd I miss?" Bobby asked, blinking rapidly and looking around in apparent confusion.
Uma	Uma thwacked him in the side of the head. "You heard everything and you know it," she snorted.
Madeline Drake	Madeline sighed. "Come on now," she said, reaching to hug Bobby's shoulders from behind. "Let's just all try and enjoy this dinner, shall we?"
Bobby	"No," Bobby said, shaking off his mother's hands, scowl crossing his features.
William Drake	"Excuse you?" William demanded gruffly.
Bobby	"I said no," Bobby repeated, pushing his chair back from the table. "You two haven't changed one bit since I last saw you, except maybe you got weirder. I don't wanna do this, and I don't have to. You wanna spend time with a spare son? Do it on my terms." He moved to go stand beside Uma, still scowling. "Next time? I'll be in ice form on purpose. And I'm gonna bring a boyfriend." Never mind that he didn't actually have one yet. "Who I'll kiss in public!" "Come on," he told his roommate. "Let's blow this... pasta... stand."
Uma	"I was only in it for the free food anyway," Uma said cheerfully, slinging her arm over Bobby's shoulders. "Let's go steal someone's leftovers from the dorms." More quietly she added, "And maybe freeze their clothes to the chairs so they can't follow us."
Bobby	"Good idea," Bobby muttered. Good thing there was plenty of water all around the table to turn into ice for just that purpose. "Bye!" he chirped, as they headed for the door. "Don't call me, I'll call you! Maybe." Spoiler alert: he would not.