Moment of Truth

Posted on Wed Apr 9th, 2025 @ 9:52pm by Bobby Drake & Kennedy Kelly

2,691 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 6: X-Fernus Agenda
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: December 13th, 1990

Kennedy shut the door to the Professor’s office with a rather unceremonious click, exiting into the hallway she couldn’t help but feel a touch of melancholy over the whole thing. Xavier had offered his praise and they had agreed upon a path for her in the foreseeable future but there was no cap and gown, no pomp and circumstance, no pictures with family to celebrate the accomplishment - just a high school diploma provided in a leather bound folder.

None of it felt like she had expected it to, then again this wasn’t the way she had envisioned any of her life to be. A lone graduate, six months earlier than anyone else, at a school far away from the one she had previously attended. Milestones in her left were different now and it was foolish to hold them to her previous standards, at least that’s what she told herself in order to allow some pride to seep into her gloom. Hugging the folder to her chest, Kennedy made her way down the hall and tried to come up with an idea for how she would celebrate herself. Lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice Bobby until she was practically on top of him.

“Oh! Hi, Bobby,” Kennedy said with a touch of surprise in her voice as she finally looked up and saw him, her steps grinding to a halt so she wouldn’t actually run into him. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Bobby’s mouth opened, but for a split second, no words came out. Relief flooded through him—she hadn’t caught him staring. He had been lost in thought, watching her from down the hall, not in a creepy way (at least he told himself that), just… noticing. They had been through a lot together, this weird, messy almost-something that had settled into friendship, and yet, here he was, still catching himself watching her like he hadn’t gotten the memo.

“Oh, yeah, no, you’re good,” he finally said, forcing an easy grin as he scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, I wasn’t exactly looking where I was going either, so, uh, mutual near-collision.” His eyes flickered down to the folder she was clutching so tightly to her chest, and he nodded toward it. “What’s that? Looks important.”

“This?” She pulled the folder away from her chest, exposing more of the houndstooth pattern of her knit sweater. “It’s my high school diploma, I graduated early…” Kennedy’s voice lacked enthusiasm. “Hooray.”

“Hey, that’s something…” Bobby offered before trailing off.

She looked at Bobby and forced herself into a slight smile. He had seen a kaleidoscope of emotions from Kennedy, including furious anger, but there wasn’t any disdain when she looked at him now. Today, there was a sweet vulnerability to her that made her blue eyes soften and the heart-shape to her lips more pronounced. “But I really haven’t had much more to do these past couple months. Studying and doing homework was the only thing I had to fill my time… that and training.”

“Well, congratulations all the same,” Bobby said. Her pleasant disposition put an end to his fight-or-flight reflex that he often felt around her. It had been a slow road back from the heartache caused by his own selfishness. Seeing her smile, even if not for him, was a happy turn of events. “I had to buckle down and stay on it too. Now I’m like almost halfway through my Associate’s thanks to some accreditation hoops from my transcript here at Xavier’s. I bet you could do the same. Any idea what you wanna’ do next?”

“I’m not really sure.” Kennedy said with a shrug of defeat. “I like being an X-Men and I honestly don’t really know what I would go to college for… at least not right now. I’m going to stay here for a bit and find my bearings. The Professor doesn’t really have anyone to help with the girl’s dormitory and I can tutor some of the students, he’s gracious enough to keep me around as a resident assistant.”

Like Hank and Jean. Some things never changed and it brought a smirk to Bobby’s face.

“That’s great to hear about your associate's degree.” Kennedy replied as she returned to hugging her leather bound diploma. “It sounds like the city has been a good change for you... Look, Bobby…” She suddenly seemed uncomfortable as she shifted on her feet, her high heels softly clicking on the floor. “I know you didn’t find my father’s killer because of me but I still wanted to say thank you. It’s a type of closure I didn’t really know that I needed that I’m glad I have.”

Broaching that subject set Bobby back. “Yeah, I figured you’d heard about that by now, what with the newspapers and all…”

In a way, he’d been hoping to surprise her with his achievement, that he had gone to the ends of the earth to show her that he really did understand the pain she felt. Both of them had lost fathers who had not connected with them. Their intimate kiss had been in sharing that very thing, two kids with father wounds that would never be made right.

“So, the thing about that…” Floor, walls, feet, his eyes were darting everywhere except for Kennedy’s face. Through sheer force of will, Bobby forced eye contact. “... I did do it for you. On the night… well, that night… you showed me… well, I saw how much you were hurting. And…” He let out an exasperated sigh. Why was this so hard? It sounded so much better in his head. “I, just, I did a shitty job of being there for you then. I knew there had to be a way to get to the bottom of what happened, and I talked Pietro into helping, then we met…”

“Bobby. Stop.” Kennedy’s voice wavered from the emotion it carried. She didn’t appear to be mad or upset over his confession, rather she seemed incredibly overwhelmed by the weight of it all.

Too much. He was saying too much. Actions spoke louder than words anyway. That’s what this had been all about. Bobby looked down. There was a folder of his own clutched to his side. Without further ado, he thrust it toward Kennedy.

“Here… this is for you.” While not exactly frantic, the normally cocky disposition was nowhere to be seen either. This was a vulnerable side of Bobby that came out when he didn’t know what to do or how to be. “It’s got it all. The whole story, start to finish.”

Kennedy opened the folder and visibly winced at some of the details inside but she tucked the folder into the leather bound one that held her diploma. “I’m going to send this to my mother, she deserves to know the whole truth… my brother and sister need to know what happened to their father and why.”

Her gaze turned back towards Bobby and she felt the awkward tension that was building between them. The implications that came from his confession made her head spin.

“I don’t really know what to say…” Without hesitation, Kennedy leaned forward and kissed Bobby. The press of her lips to his was something that had lingered in his mind and as he tasted the sweet, fruity taste of the gloss she wore he was immediately taken back to that moment on the lake.

Kennedy was disarming and enchanting, her gaze would be the end of you whether by an arrow or a smile. Her kisses were not different, she was lethal in the best way possible.

For a moment, Bobby’s brain short-circuited. It had been months since that night by the lake, since that first sudden kiss had branded itself into his mind like a wildfire that refused to burn out. He had convinced himself it was a fluke, a moment of shared grief and nothing more. But now?

Now Kennedy was kissing him again.

His pulse spiked, a rush of warmth flooding through him. The leather of her diploma folder pressed against his chest as she leaned in, her lips soft but certain, the faint taste of berry lip gloss sending him straight back to that late summer night.

Instinct took over. His hands, tentative at first, slid up the curve of her back, his fingers grazing the fabric of her sweater as he pulled her just a fraction closer. A month ago, he might have hesitated. But not now. Not with her.

He kissed her back, no longer the uncertain, awkward boy who had spent too long second-guessing himself. This time, he let himself feel it—let himself get lost in the electric pull of her, the way she fit against him like something inevitable.

A soft sigh left Kennedy’s lips, barely audible, but it was enough to set him on fire. His hand ghosted along her spine, not demanding, just anchoring, as if to keep himself steady in the gravity of her.

Kennedy and Bobby’s relationship had been tempestuous at best. They had a way of pushing each other’s buttons until they were both left red faced and outraged. But she couldn’t deny that there was a sweetness to Bobby. From the moment she arrived at Xavier’s he had been there with some degree of outstretched hand and a desire to know her, to be near her.

While they had both played their part in pushing the other away, Kennedy didn’t want to keep on pulling back and running. Especially from someone who wanted to be so close to her. So Kennedy wrapped her arms around Bobby, and he felt the lithe press of her body against his own before she dared to deepen their kiss with a delicate brush of her tongue.

A soft, sweet brush took a turn toward the intimate and romantic as gratitude evolved into affection. Time stood still around them, the noise of the world fading until there was nothing but the warmth of her against him, the rhythmic cadence of their breaths mingling in the quiet space between kisses. Bobby could feel the way Kennedy held onto him. It was not just with her arms but with something deeper, something unspoken. She wasn’t running this time. Neither was he.

The diploma folder slipped from between them, forgotten as his arms tightened around her. He felt the way her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, holding onto him like he was something real, something steady. And for the first time in a long time, Bobby didn’t feel like he had to crack a joke or deflect or downplay the moment. Because this moment was real. And, for however long it lasted, he was going to let himself have it.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” One of several girls sang before the gaggle began to giggle all together. Their loud laughter was enough to remind Bobby and Kennedy that they weren’t alone. Privacy was a rare thing at Xavier’s. He felt her stiffen in response to the reminder that they were being watched and their long kiss finally broke.

“Bobby…I…” Kennedy didn’t pull away from him but she averted her eyes. She was embarrassed by her sudden outburst. Even though it had been reciprocated it wasn’t like her to go bounding into something so physical, especially after everything that had happened.

“I shouldn’t go so fast. I told myself that I wouldn’t…not again.” Kennedy let go of him and he watched her fluster. “I’m sorry.”

Bobby felt the absence of her warmth immediately, the way the air rushed between them once Kennedy pulled away. His heart was still pounding, his lips tingling from the press of hers, but he swallowed back the flicker of disappointment. He nodded, keeping his voice low as he whispered, “It’s okay.” He meant it. Even if he didn’t completely understand her hesitation, he wasn’t about to push.

But before the weight of the moment could settle too heavily, Bobby flicked his gaze over to the little group of girls who were still watching, hands covering their mouths as they fought off another fit of giggles. His lips curled into a mischievous grin. “You’re next.”

The girls shrieked and scattered, their laughter echoing down the hallway as they ran. Bobby, ever the showman, chased after them with an exaggerated, “Mwah! Mwah! I’m comin’ for ya!” before blowing raspberries in their direction. The sound of their squeals and laughter filled the space, lightening the air that had suddenly grown heavy between him and Kennedy.

When he turned back to her, she was still flustered, arms crossed over herself as if she could physically hold back whatever had just surged through her. He took a careful step closer, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hey, don’t sweat it,” he said, keeping his tone light, but honest. “They’ll forget about it in a week.”

“It’s not them…” Kennedy bent at the knees and picked up her diploma and the assassination report that she had dropped. “I think I moved too fast… with Jace.” She hugged the folder to her chest once more, a gesture she performed whenever she felt vulnerable or uncomfortable. “I slept with him before I was ready to, I mean I wanted to at the time, but in hindsight I think it made things worse… or at least changed things.”

She let out a heavy sigh, another one of her mannerisms that told him she was uncomfortable. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes again, I don’t want to make things worse with anyone else.”

That was a lot and it showed on Bobby's face. Sleeping together? That hadn't even been on Bobby's radar until she said something. A faint cherry red flashed across his cheeks at the thought of how she wasn't exactly opposed to the idea.

“I know you guys moved really fast,” Bobby said, “but that's not happening here. Things…”

How could Bobby explain? He was just beginning to like himself. Life was looking up with one win after another. Risking his win streak so flippantly was not something he was up for. But then… Kennedy was the sort of girl any guy would say was worth any risk.

The problem was Bobby wasn't just any guy. “I'm not ready for that either,” he said at length. “I just wanted to do for you what should've happened a long time ago.” He nodded at the folder filled with the fruit of his investigative labor. “What I should've done right after the lake.”

Not wanting her to feel rejected, Bobby stepped closer and dropped his voice low enough not to be overhead. “But, hey, you're a great kisser, so if you ever feel so inclined…”

He chuckled at that, realizing he was only half kidding. “Well, anyway. I'm glad I caught you so I could give you that.” The lingering tingle on his lips prompted him to be more specific. “The, uh, papers and stuff.”

“Thank you, Bobby, and not just for the papers.” Kennedy looked at him with a faint smirk and the mood between them continued to lighten. She paused and looked at him for a moment, Bobby felt her eyes examining him and that disarming effect they had. “You really are a good guy.”

“Yeah, well, don’t let it get around,” Bobby teased. “I have a reputation to keep up.” Though his words were pure banter, the burst of kindness in his eyes told another story. It was profusely thankful. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, don’t be a stranger.” Kennedy’s smirk turned into a smile and for the first time ever she was actually looking forward to seeing Bobby again.

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