Iceman is on the fourth date with his Inhuman boyfriend Romeo. They are icesliding and he is smitten. Not paying attention, Bobby slams into a street sign and they both fall off the slide. Romeo laughs. Bobby is the worst iceslide driver in the world, he decides. Not usually, though, Bobby defends himself, though Romeo clearly doesn’t believe it. They say goodbye and Bobby promises to call him.
Inside, Bobby berates himself for not kissing Romeo. He notices his teammates waiting for him and they don’t look happy. Beast announces they need to talk. He explains he just attended a meeting, an X-Men tribunal of sorts. The leaders of every faction sat down at one table. The older Beast called them together to discuss a discovery he made. It’s grim, he warns Bobby who tells him to spit it out.
Beast’s narration:
Hank explains the older Beast has been working closely with the Inhumans to solve the Terrigen Mist M-pox problem from the inside, but he had little to no success. The Terrigen Mist is still quite deadly to mutants. But that’s not the worst of it. He found out the remaining Terrigen cloud is quite instable. In roughly two weeks’ time, the cloud will collapse, dispersing deadly Terrigen into the atmosphere. At which point this planet will become uninhabitable for mutants.
End of narration
Decisions had to be made, actions must be taken. The first of which will be an attack on New Attilan tomorrow morning. He knows what that means for him and Romeo. He understands how complicated it is but…
Flashback to date 1:
Romeo on a mountain run. Lagging behind, Bobby assures him he likes running. He’s just more of a treadmill guy. Flat surface, air conditioning, reruns of Supernatural with the pretty brothers in the car.
When they reach the summit, Romeo explains why he took him on a run…
Present:
Bobby swears. Romeo lives in New Attilan! he shouts. They are saying they are attacking his boyfriend’s home? No one wants this, Beast clarifies, but… “But what?” Bobby cuts him off as he ices up. What could possibly come after that “but” that wouldn’t sound totally… Hank asks him what he would have them do instead. Anything, he replies forcefully. Anything that isn’t killing a bunch of innocent people.
Hank tells him to calm down and thinks straight. This a surgical tactical strike. Specific targets inside New Attilan and out. And detainment obviously, not killing. They simply need the Inhumans off the table for a short while so they can… solve this. Solve this? Bobby spits. Like old crazy Cyclops solved the other cloud? Just go ahead and destroy the cornerstone of Inhuman society? They wanna be monsters? They wanna be Cyclops? No offense taken, young Cyclops mutters.
Hank calmly states that, if the cloud stays, they are all going to die in excruciating agony. Every mutant. Everywhere.
Bobby turns away and walks out.
The assault of the different X-teams on New Attilan begins. Young Iceman is among them. Still in their HQ/van are Beast, Oya and Genesis, who comment on Bobby being up there. Genesis is suspicious of his motives while Beast simply believes as an X-Man he is doing his duty.
Flashback: Date 2
A laser tag arena: Romeo gently makes fun of Bobby for still doing laser tag while they are stalking each other. Bobby believes he is winning, until Romeo fires at him and hits.
Present:
Bobby makes his way through New Attilan until he is blasted by Inferno, who is in turn attacked by someone else as the battle of mutants and Inhumans rages on. Bobby slides away on an iceslide, having a certain destination.
In a corridor, he is stopped by a green Inhuman girl, who orders him to stop. Addressing her as Sasha, he tries to talk her down by icing down.
Flashback:
Bobby, Evan, Idie, Romeo and Sasha are at a public swimming pool having fun. They split up for Romeo, Idie and Evan to get corndogs, while Sasha and Bobby want to get towels. Sasha observes he’s got it bad, then assures him Romeo feels the same. She’s never seen him like this.
Present:
Sasha tells Bobby Romeo is in his room behind the blast door. They have the non-combatants on lockdown. Bobby thanks her, then breaks through the door.
Romeo sits on his bed. Suddenly, the steel-enforced door freezes and breaks. Bobby steps in. The next moment, the two of them kiss. Bobby assures him he is not with them. Not really. He had to pretend to come and get him. Romeo assures him he gets it and that he is fine. Bobby asks him to tell him what to do… he will even switch sides. Say the word. Can they just go? Romeo asks and a little later both leave New Attilan on an iceslide.
