Cable's Room
by Shockwave
‘This can’t be happening to me,’ he thought. In a gesture of frustration he ran his fingers through his hair. His had used to be very long and wild. He had cut it short recently though. It was cooler short, and he didn’t have time to care for long locks anyway. It was still long enough to hang in his eyes sometimes though. He just wasn’t the type to take away all the length. He wanted hair long enough for a girl to run her fingers through. If he had a girl... Still, he looked good like this.
“You gonna sit there all day or what?” The voice was pitched just right to be extremely irritating. That was no surprise, because Tabitha Smith loved to irritate people.
“I’m trying to think, okay?”
She crossed her arms and smirked. “Knowing you, Ric, I’m not surprised it takes a lot of effort.”
He glared at her. “At least I didn’t bleach away my brains,” he replied sourly.
She glared back. Technically, he and Tabitha were friends. They confided in each other... well they used to anyway. Still, even with each other they hid behind their facades. She was a bubble-headed blonde, and he was Mr. Tough Guy. When they had met, they were drawn to each other. But they were feeling vulnerable back then, so they built up barriers. He wished they had had the chance to really get to know each other later on, but things had been so hectic. Plus they were both pig-headed. He smiled to himself.
“Yo, you spaced out on me again, Ric. I’m starting to think I’m really alone here.” She was waving a hand in front of his face.
“This really sucks,” he sighed.
“Ya, like I don’ know that? I mean when the Big guy said five minutes I still thought he’d wait for me! I didn’t think he’d really leave us.”
“Yeah well I guess Cable has a stick up his... uh... rear, so deep that he couldn’t even unbend for a vacation.” Cable and the rest of X-Force, including the newest X-Man and Tab’s boyfriend Guthrie had taken the PACRAT to the Bahamas for the weekend. They had finally convinced Cable to take them on vacation and they had been left behind.
“Yeah, but you really shouldn’t have tried to see how far you could push the big guy. If you weren’t such a stubborn idiot you would have gone.” Rictor snorted. “I have no respect for the man. It’s own problem. Besides, if I had gone you’d be here alone.”
Meltdown kicked one of the bags she had packed. “I didn’t know he’s blow a circuit! Jeez, I mean it’s a vacation we were going on, not another jaunt to save the world.”
Rictor shrugged again. “Cable’s and uptight hijo de su madre. We blew it. Now we’re stuck.”
“And worst of all, neither of us could cook even if there was food in the fridge.”
“My bags and cash got packed and loaded,” said Rictor.
Meltdown sighed. “We are royally screwed then.” They stood there in silence for a few moments.
“You know what we could do...” began Rictor with a wicked grin.
“What?” she asked brightening. God, he loved it when she smiled. If only he had opened up to her back then... Then maybe she’d be with him and not Guthrie.
“We can raid Cable’s room! There has to be something there we can use! Worse comes to worst we can hock a couple of his guns.”
“He’ll go nuclear!” she said happily. Their eyes met, and they took off down the corridors racing to Cable’s room. She got there first and opened the door. Cable’s room was sacred to him. None of them, except maybe Domino, had ever gone in there before.
“Nice bed,” whistled Meltdown appreciatively. It was a large double bed.
“Not like our little hard matressed bunks, eh?” commented Rictor.
“Nope,” she agreed feeling the soft mattress.
“With all his metal parts he must drown in this soft bed,” agreed Rictor feeling the lack of firmness in the mattress.
Meltdown stood up on the bed and started jumping up and down. “Haven’t done this in a long time,” she said, giggling. “Cable sure has a big room...Oh! Look Ric! There’s a panel in the ceiling!”
He looked up. “Wonder what’s in there?”
She grinned mischievously. “Boost me!”
“Ok” He climbed on to the bed. He kicked something solid. “Cable sleeps with a gun under his pillow,” he announced.
“Doesn’t surprise me,” she said.
He stood on the bed and she sat on his shoulders. As she fumbled with the panel it was hard for him not to think of her thighs pressing his head. He’d had a crush on her for the longest time. Now that she was starting to prove that she did have a brain, his feelings were deepening. But his many absences from the team had kept her from seeing how he had changed too. She probably still thought of him as an arrogant, unthinking hothead. In some ways he still was, but he had learned what real friendship was thanks to Shatterstar. Shatterstar was pretty strange, and half the time he felt like strangling him, but Shatterstar had grown on him. He still wasn’t sure what it was that made them friends. Maybe it was the fact that they both felt like they didn’t belong here. Shatterstar was from another world, and Rictor always had problems relating to others.
“Got it!” she cried out as the panel finally slid open. Then much to Rictor’s dismay, she began to stand up on his shoulders. She was wearing shoes with heels, and they were digging into his shoulders.
“You were going to wear heels to the Bahamas?” he asked.
“Don’t be such a baby!” she said. ‘Baby? She wears major heels!'
“Well you aren’t exactly a light-weight anymore,” he said.
“What?!” Her exclamation was somewhat muffled because her head was in the compartment, but she almost slipped off his shoulders.
“Gotcha!” he said laughing.
“Don’t laugh, yer gonna make me fall,” she grumbled.
“So come on, what’s up there?” he asked.
“Looks like a bunch of gun designs,” she said. He heard papers rustle. Suddenly she started laughing.
“What?”
Her head popped back out and she showed him a tiny little gun that fit in the palm of her hand. “Cable must have been inspired by that Men in Black movie!” she giggled.
He found it outrageously funny and soon they were both laughing uncontrollably. “Stop! HAHA!! I’m gonna fall!!” And just as she said it, they both fell with a crash.
They landed so hard that something broke, and the bed was now standing lopsided. The sheets were already a mess because of Tabitha’s bouncing, and now they were tangled around them. To make matters worse, she had landed on top of him. The laughter had woshed out of them along with their breath. They lay there for a few awkward moments. ‘Dios mio! I wish...’ thought Rictor. Then she got off.
“You ok?” she asked.
“Yeah, you’re to skinny to hurt me,” he said jokingly. ‘Damn! If only Guthrie weren’t in the picture,’ was his agonized thought.
“I thought you said I wasn’t a light-weight anymore,” she said teasingly.
“I lied,” he responded, pinching her arm.
“Hey!” She whacked him with a pillow.
“Alright! You win Tabitha! Let’ssee what else is in here.”
“Look at this book! How to relax... 10 easy steps.”
“He obviously hasn’t read that one yet!” laughed Rictor.
“Proper care for your weapons and ammo. Must be like a bible to Cable,” he said.
“Definitely looks well read,” agreed Meltdown. “Hiding things from your children. My doesn’t this look interesting!” she exclaimed suddenly.
“I’m no kid of his,” grumbled Rictor. “Probably where he got the idea for that panel. For all his ‘you are soldiers’ talks, he thinks of us as kids.”
“There have to be some dirty little secrets in here somewhere,” sighed Rictor. The rest of Cable’s books were on physics and technology, nothing either of them excelled in. He wandered over to sit on the broken bed as Meltdown opened the closet.
“No fashion sense,” she sighed. “All he has are workout outfits and his uniform.”
Rictor looked under the bed and found a box.
“Look, here are some spare parts! Probably his!” she giggled.
“Well, who says Cable is a boring guy,” whistled Rictor.
“What did you find?” she asked. He was flipping through some magazines. She grabbed one out of the box by his feet. Babes and Guns monthly. “Yesh! These women are practically naked!” she exclaimed.
Rictor was looking at a magazine with his eyes almost popping out of his head. “Hey, I didn’t know...”
“Don’t gross me out!” she exclaimed blowing a tiny time bomb up in his face.
“Hey you just singed a nice pair of...” he caught the look on her face. “uh.. guns!”
“Yeah I’ll bet,” said sarcastically.
“Hey at least we found a dirty secret,” he said tossing the magazines back in the box and kicking it under the bed.
She rolled her eyes and went back to the closet. “I doubt these are his,” she said holding something out.
He came closer. “You’ve been going through his underwear, eh?”
“Ya think this bra, is Domino’s?” she asked with a wicked look on her face.
“He could be getting some action,” he agreed. “What size is it?”
“D”
“Can’t be her’s. Domino is like a Z.”
“You checked her out?!!!” She hit him over the head.
He laughed. “Maybe it’s his,” he suggested.
“If he cross-dressed on weekends we’d know,” she said. “Um...Ric?” she said.
“Yeah,” he looked over her shoulder into the dim closet. He could smell her sweet scent. It was almost too much.
“Isn’t this Cable’s wallet?” She held it out. It was bulging. He took it and opened it, accidentally scattering a dozen fake ID’s on the floor.
“Yup, his alright.” They looked at each other.
“Shit!” he exclaimed.
They heard the sounds of the PACRAT returning to the hangar.
“We are so dead,” she said.
continued in Babysitting Blues