This fan art belongs to Kia (speedo01@earthlink.net) Way ta go Kia!
DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to Marvel. This has been floating around in my head for a while now and I figured it was about time to getit out in the open so I can continue with warping poor Emma and Sean.
THANKS: Special thanks to Karen Burrows for being guinea pig and beta reader. Remaining mistakes are all mine 'cause I was to dense to remove them.
FEEDBACK: Feedback rules. Send lots. I can be reached at Melissa123@mindspring.com
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To the Gallows Foot and After Part 1
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Jubilee was running. The landscape through which she ran was dark and forbidding, and occasionally she caught glimpses of things with scales and teeth and claws hidden in the darkness. She didn't know why she was running, only that she had to run faster, the desperation to get somewhere or to someone increasing with each and every step. The terror that she wasn't going to make it in time pounding in her head. Digging deep into her own unique stubborn core of strength, she began to run a little faster. But even as she ran faster she could feel herself somehow falling further and further behind. She screamed out her anger at being kept away, "NOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOO."
Jubilee bolted upright in bed. She was panting hard and her entire body was trembling with adrenaline and frustration. The moonlight coming in the window over her bed illuminated the room she shared with Paige. Nothing was disturbed, nothing lurked in the corners, and Paige lay sleeping peacefully across the room.
Gone, as elusive as the smoke from one of Wolvie's noxious cigars. Jubilee sighed as she lay back down on the bed. Third one this week, she thought to herself as she drifted back into a fitful sleep.
* * * * * *
"Hey Jubes, wake up!" Paige Guthrie called cheerfully from where she sat on her neatly made up bed, finishing the laces of her shoes in preparation for her morning run.
Jubilee, as always, was still in bed asleep. Paige sometimes secretly wondered how Jubilee had made it when she was with the X-Men and most definitely wondered how she had run with the sometimes frightening X-Man, known as Wolverine. Of the times that Paige had met the feral X-Man, he had scared her as much as some of the weirdoes Gen-X had faced. Paige gave a long suffering sigh as she picked up one of Jubilee's socks that had migrated over to her side of the room. She threw it over to the other bed with another admonishment, "Come on Lee, face the day."
A thoroughly disgruntled "Go away" was the only response Paige got from under the mound of clothes and uniforms and towels piled haphazardly on Jubilee's bed.
"Come on Jubilation," she tried again in what she hoped was her best future leader of Generation X voice. "You have a Danger Grotto session with Ms. Frost this morning. You know how she feels about tardiness."
At Jubilee's muffled answer from somewhere deep in the covers, Paige turned a bright shade of pink.
Trying to keep her voice steady, Paige decided to try a different tactic. "Jubilee, I don't think that is even humanly possible and even if it were, I seriously doubt Sabertooth would hold still."
Jubilee's answer as she pulled the blanket tighter over her head sent Paige scurrying for the safety of the door and the hallway beyond.
Safely cocooned within the covers Jubilee grinned to herself. That'll show her. Try using the command voice on me will ya. Rooming with Paige was infinitely better than rooming with her most perfect priss M, but sometimes Paige's morning cheeriness and no-so-subtle desire to be the undisputed leader of Gen X was entirely to much to handle. Besides, Jubilee thought to herself, I never made it easy on Scott "I am in Control" Summers, why should Paige get any breaks.
Shifting around to find a more comfortable position within the twisted sheets, she realized just how tired she really felt. It was as if she had just laid her head down on the pillow, she thought with a yawn. A second stray thought that Frosty was going to annihilate her in this morning's training session floated though her consciousness right before she sank back into the darkness.
*Help*
"What?!?"
The softly whispered plea in her head turned into the icy sharp mental "voice" of a very impatient Ms. Frost. *I said, Jubilee, that I am waiting and you are late.**No, what did you say before that?**I said nothing before that and I am still waiting.*
Oh great! That was just what she needed this morning, Frosty with her lingerie in a twist. Well, there was no help for it, time to get up and get pounded by Ms. Frost. Rolling over with a growl that would have done Wolverine proud, she drug herself up out of the bed and padded unsteadily down the hallway to the girl's bathroom. She felt sure that a shower would help revive her. She hadn't felt this bad since that first time Wolvie had taken her out camping and made her sleep out on the ground sans tent, fluffy L.L. Bean sleeping bag and bug spray.
Taking a quick shower she scrambled to get herself dry and into a combat training uniform. Brushing out the tangles in her hair, she caught her reflection in the glass over the sink and stopped. "Geez, Lee, you are looking bad," she told her reflection. Deep dark circles accented her pale skin and her usually glossy hair hung limp and lackluster. "I look like Gambit after a drinking binge."
Emma Frost was annoyed, though she was careful not to allow the annoyance to show on her face. She sighed, letting the building tension drain out of her. She didn't know why she was surprised at her youngest student's lateness. But then, Jubilee oftentimes seemed to make it a point to do the exact opposite of what was expected of her. Brash, loud, impetuous, rude, most of the time she acted no older than Artie, Leech, and Franklin rather than her 14 years. Yet hidden beneath the mask of immaturity she showed the world, there was a strength of character that Emma had seen in very few people in this world.
Her recent experiences with Jubilee about the bond she now shared with Sean had impressed upon her the knowledge that there was more to Jubilation Lee than the girl was letting out. The fact that the normally talkative girl still held the secret of that bond was very impressive.
So while Jubilee tried her patience to the limits, Emma continued to work with her rather than sending her to Sean just so she could see those occasional flashes of what she could become. In fact, often she had to hide her surprise when Jubilee laid out a plan that had the Scott Summers' stamp on it, took a stand for honor's sake that would have mirrored Wolverine, or those times when she spoke with Jean's compassion or Storm's calm. Of course at the same time, the X-Men influences were seriously modified with pure Jubilation Lee attitude. And with apologies to both Paige and Everett, Emma Frost thought that with some more training and a few more years, Jubilee would be the leader of Generation X. She had no doubts that when it came time for Jubilee to return to the X-Men, she would do it as a future leader. However, right now, she was ready to wring Jubilee's neck for being late.
She turned at the loud commotion behind her as Jubilee came running down the stairs and across the room to the edge of the Danger Grotto. She skidded to a halt in front of Emma, breathing lightly from her headlong rush. Emma once again thanked the powers that be that Jubilee was not gifted with the power of flight. Nothing in the house would have been safe.
Jubilee stood popping her gum and trying to look nonchalant. Trying to decide how mad Emma was, she decided on the direct approach, "So Frosty, what's the plan?"
Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes heavenward. The nerve of the child was amazing. "First, I wish to know why you were late?"
Jubilee shrugged, "Just overslept, I guess," and then yawned in emphasis, carefully keeping her voice unconcerned and making no mention of the nightmares that had been causing her sleeplessness of late.
Emma stood before her wearing a slight frown, sensing that there was more information being left out than was being given. Deciding to pursue this later with her charge, she half turned towards the Grotto and pointed into the thick growth. "I have hidden Penance within the biosphere. You are to find her, rescue her and bring her back here."
"Sounds easy enough," Jubilee replied, the confidence easy to hear in her voice.
Emma smiled the faintest of smiles. "It won't be."
She stood still a moment, chewing her gum and eyeing Ms. Frost. Weighing her options, she considered what she knew of Ms. Frost's methods and abilities. Glancing sideways at her teacher she did a quick visual in search of any clues, just like Wolverine had taught her. Catching the faintest smudge on one white stiletto heel, Jubilee thought in triumph, Mud! while trying to keep her smile to herself. There was only one place where she could have picked up mud in the Grotto and that was along the stream bed. It was a place to start.
Stifling another yawn she stepped into the biosphere. While not the expert tracker that Wolverine was, he had taught her the more basic aspects of tracking through various terrain. She choose the main trail leading down to the stream and was rewarded with a small hole pushed into the softer dirt that could only have been made from a spike heel. Another yawn hit her as she crouched in the sunlight, feeling the sunshine warm her back. The thought occurred to her that it would be really great to curl up on a blanket here in the sunshine and take a nap or just sit here on the bank and watch the sunlight sparkle on the water. So dazed was she that she never heard Emma sneaking up behind her and only caught the sudden movement out of the corner of her eyes as Emma spun into a roundhouse kick. Barely managing to block the kick, she fell backwards into the stream in an ungraceful heap. She struggled to her feet, scrambling back up the embankment only to fall unconscious at Emma's feet from a second blow she was too slow to block.
Emma stared down at the body slumped at her feet, a scowl of exasperation on her face. She heard Penance creep out of the bushes behind her and kneel down next to the unconscious girl. She looked up at Emma, the puzzlement plain in her blue eyes.
Shaking her head in disgust, Emma spoke aloud, maybe to herself, maybe to Penance, "I don't understand this either. She didn't notice me following her, she didn't check her backtrail, she seemed almost mesmerized by the water and I took her down with a blow that she could have deflected in her sleep. Something is not right here."
Bending down to check the rapidly bruising lump on Jubilee's temple, the thought crossed her mind that she could just slip into the girl's head to check her condition. In another time and place she wouldn't have hesitated to do just that, but she stopped herself. Muttering under her breath about honor and duty and certain former X-Men and their ideals, she picked up Jubilee in a fireman's carry and headed off towards the MedLab, Penance following faithfully behind.
* * * * * *
The dinner table at the Massachusetts Academy was as usual a riotous and unorganized affair. Clattering dishes, an impromptu game of toss between Everett and Angelo with one of the dinner rolls, and Artie, Leech and Franklin underfoot all contributed to the circus type atmosphere. Breakfast and dinner were the meals that everyone ate together, lunch being served in two shifts depending on who was doing what, each lunch presided over by either Emma or Sean. Dinner was the meal when everyone came together again to discuss their day. Even Penance showed with surprising regularity. While she generally didn't contribute to the dinnertime weirdness, she at least sat against one dining room wall, quietly munching on one of her apples while surveying the rest of the room. Tonight's exercise in controlled chaos was no exception, only dimmed a little from the lack of participation from the resident firecracker.
"Hey chica," Angelo teased, "heard you took a spill this morning?"
Jubilee scowled from her chair on the other side of the table. "Got nuthin' to say to you Espinosa, wasn't me that got taken out by Artie, Franklin and Leech last week."
The other members of Gen X hooted and snickered. They had all been brought down in one fashion or another so losing in a training session wasn't that bad, but Jubilee always took her defeats harder feeling that since she was as a former X-Man, she should do better than the rest.
She folded her arms across her chest, her body language clearly showing her foul mood. The fact that she had suffered her defeat at the hands of Emma Frost doing nothing to alleviate her mood. She never noticed when she drifted off to sleep, still sitting at the table.
"Miz Frost?"
"Yes, Paige?"
"Jubilee's asleep."
"What?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
Sean leaned over from his chair to peer up into Jubilee's face. Her eyes were closed, her face slack in sleep.
"Guess the lass had a hard day today. I'll take her upstairs." Sean stood up from his seat and reached out a hand to lift Jubilee up from her chair. Before he completed the movement, Jubilee screamed!
"Wolvie!!!!" Throwing up her hands, she shot a stream of multicolored exploding pafs up into the air.
Emma, reacting first, grabbed Monet and Franklin sitting on either side of her and dragged them down to the floor, before shooting out a foot and knocking Everett's chair over, dumping him into the floor as well. Angelo was seconds behind Emma in grabbing Paige and pulling her under the table. Artie and Leech both scrambled away from the table and dove behind Everett, peeking over his legs where he sprawled on the floor. Sean and Jono, who had been sitting on the other side of Jubilee, both tackled her to confine her hands and knock her to the floor.
She landed with a THUMP and a short scream.
"Hey! Uummpf, get off me ya big oaf."
"Jubilee, be still."
"What!"
Everyone raised their heads as Sean pulled Jubilee to her feet. Looking around, her eyes widened. "What's everyone doing on the floor?" She turned to Sean and then to Jono, "And what's the big of idea of tackling me anyway?"
Emma, gathering her dignity around her, climbed to her feet, dusting off one white sleeve. "Jubilee, you fell asleep at the table, you screamed out for Logan, and you started firing on us."
"I did?"
"Yeah, chica ya did."
"Oh. Sorry." The embarrassment plain on her face. "I don't remember it."
Emma's eyes narrowed in concentration as she stepped back and took a good long look at her student. Jubilee's inattention over the last couple of days, her lack of appetite and incessant yawning, the dark circles and pale complexion added together with her dismal showing at the training session that morning, spelled out a problem pattern that was considerably larger than she had first suspected.
Very gently she sent out a mental proble, nothing strong enough to invade Jubilee's mind, but just enough to pick up any random thoughts or feelings that Jubilee might not havae under strict control.
Emma almost staggered under the weight of fear, desperation and exhaustion that Jubilee was keeping on such a tight rein. She saw Sean swing troubled eyes in her direction as he felt the backlash of Jubilee's emotions through the link.
*My God, how could I have not noticed this!**Em, tis nae your fault. Jubilee is very good at hiding what she nae wishes others to see.**No, she is my student. I should have noticed. This worries me Sean. She is hiding it but her mental state is extremely distressed. We need to talk to her about this.**Aye, the lass is dead on her feet. Why don't we send her to bed now and talk to her first thing in the morning?**Agreed, first thing.*
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Part 2
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The dream started as it always did . . .
She was back in Australia, the cold wind cutting into her shorts clad legs. Clothes designed for Southern California didn't offer much protection in the Australian Outback at night. She was scared, her stomach muscles clenched so tight that she wanted to just curl up in a ball. But she didn't curl up, she kept walking until she stood in front of the man nailed to the large X shaped cross. Her stomach roiled and twisted as once again she looked at the damage the Reavers had inflicted on him in their quest for vengeance.
She remembered this; knew this dream well. This was where it had begun -- where one mall rat had formed an unlikely friendship with a man called Wolverine. The sequence never varied, she knew it by heart. Knew that once again he would sense her presence and slowly open one eye and say the words that had forever altered her life, "So kid, you gonna help a man or what?" but instead the dream changed around her. Logan looked down into her wide eyes and smiled at her. Shock ran through her, that wasn't supposed to happen. She could see the pain and resignation plainly in his eyes and it frightened her.
This was wrong! Before, yes, he had been in pain but even then she had seen the defiance shining in his eyes. She took a step towards him to play out her role of rescuing him and nursing him back to health, trying to get the familiar dream back on track, but the dream continued off course.
The nailed Wolverine smiled sadly down at her, regret and love and pride in his eyes. "I'm sorry kid. Tried to do right by ya. Tried to give you what ya needed. Sorry I wasn't always there, that I didn't get it right. Want ya to know, I'm proud of ya. Yer strong, stronger than you realize. Remember that."
She didn't like the finality in his voice, the surrender. This had to much of the feeling of a last good-bye to it. She started to argue, "Wolvie, what are you talking about? Shut up and let me get you down from there," but she stopped as Logan continued as if he hadn't heard her protests.
"You and Kitty. . . ," he trailed off again. Jubilee bristled at the mention of Kitty's name. She knew she was being silly but couldn't quite control the stab of jealousy that hit her at his next words, "Failed Kitty too you know. . .Kitty, daughter of my heart." His words cut at her and she felt the tears forming. "You and Kitty . . . you don't get much luckier than me, to find a daughter in Kitty and then to find you, darling."
She shook her head, refusing to let the hurt bother her, remembering back to the first time that she had discovered the link that existed between her and Kitty Pryde. Jubilee didn't want to hear herself labeled as Kitty's substitute, her stand-in, as she had once overheard herself described in a conversation between Jean Grey and Storm. The memory was still sharp and fresh in her mind as if it had happened just days ago instead of years.
She had been going downstairs late one night at the X-Mansion, soon after she and Wolvie had hooked back up with his teammates. She was still unsure of them and they were unsure of her. She had stopped outside of the living room doorway when she heard voices within. Both of them were wondering about Logan's perchance for having young girls attach themselves to him.
She heard Storm say, "He becomes their father figure so easily - Kitty, Elsie Dee and now this child, Jubilee. I know Logan would never do anything improper, but it sometimes worries me the way they attach themselves to him. What is it about him, Jean, that draws them so? And why would a man of Logan's temperament put up with a child following him around? I have seen grown powerful men run when he hits one of his rages. Why don't these children run?"
Jean had answered that night with a light laugh, "Ororo, I don't think you have to be concerned. Logan found a very emotionally satisfying relationship with Kitty. She was the daughter he never had. I've always thought that for him, Kitty and Elsie Dee and now Jubilee remind him of his humanity; that someone needs him, depends on him. As for what they get out of it, `Ro, we live a dangerous life, and I am sure there is great comfort for them in knowing that Logan would do anything it took to make sure they stayed safe. It is I think, why they do not fear him."
Storm had sighed at her response, "Yes, I know Jean but still I can not help but feel that Logan is using this girl Jubilee as some kind of substitute for Kitty. To appease the guilt he feels about letting her think he was dead when we were all living in the Outback. I do not wish the child to be hurt, I like her, but neither do I want Logan to suffer. He has been hurt enough. And for all that the girl is obviously fiercely devoted to him, she is not Kitty. She lacks Kitty's maturity and seriousness."
From her hiding spot, Jubilee heard Jean give a very unladylike snort. "She definitely lacks Kitty's seriousness, but relax, Ororo, I think she and Logan will be fine together. I sense a great deal of strength in this particular child."
Jubilee remembered the rage that had swept through her at the overhead conversation. She forgot her hunger and crept back to the room assigned to her, her thoughts in turmoil. She knew that she and Wolvie had something special going. Was she wrong? Just who was this Kitty Pryde person they were comparing her too anyway? What had been her relationship with her Wolvie? And am I just a Pryde substitute doll?
It was over the next several days when Logan sat her down in front of one of the computer screens and set her to reading the various histories of the X-Men that she ran across her first reference to Kitty Pryde. She quickly scanned for any and all references to the other young woman. When she was done, she was shaking. God, she thought, I can't compete with that. Kitty Pryde had been quiet, studious, talented, and a frigging genius. The records also made clear that she and Wolverine had been extremely close. That day she had felt like some kind of cheap imitation but had never spoken to Logan about her thoughts or her fears. The hurt faded with time as she got closer to Logan and their unlikely friendship grew stronger. Usually the jealousy never crossed her mind but any mention of Kitty usually sent a spike a pain into her gut.
That pain hit her again as Logan continued his ramblings, only now he had switched subjects from Kitty to herself. "Never had a partner like you, kid. Hell, never really had a partner. Worked on teams before, had some good friends in some of those teammates but I never had a partner. Always been the loner, even when I was part of something else." He snorted at some unnamed thought. "Ya know kid, I've been telling people most of my life that I could handle any situation on my own, I think you are the only one ta never believe it. You'll never know how much you've kept me sane . . . . Just wanted you to know. To understand. If Kitty was the child of my heart, you were the keeper of my soul, kid. Remember me." And he disappeared.
No, that wasn't the way the dream went. She looked around frantically at the barren landscape. He was gone. But that wasn't supposed to happen. She had to play her part, she still had to rescue him.
The realization hit her so hard she dropped to her knees in the sand. Rescue! the thought blazed in her head. She understood now. Understood the other vague dreams of searching and helplessness and boiling anger. Wolvie was in trouble and he needed her help for a rescue.
She awoke in the morning better rested than she had been in a week. She remembered everything from the dream, including the frightening one-sided ramblings from Wolverine. She had to find out if she was going crazy or if her suspicions were true. The feeling that Wolverine was in trouble was still strong, pounding at her to do something. First things first though, she had to contact the mansion and see if Wolverine was even there. She was hoping that all of this was just some kind of bad dream but she had a feeling that it was somehow a lot more.
It wasn't until after lunch that she was able to get away from her schedule to use the phone in the library. Her heart racing she dialed the Westchester mansion of the X-men.
"Xavier's," a rough voice barked into the connection.
"Bishop?"
A suspicious pause before answering, "Yes."
Jubilee chuckled, "Oh, lighten up Bish, it's Jubilee. Man, you really need to work on your people skills."
Without letting the time-lost X-Man get in a reply she jumped to her question. "Listen, can I talk to Wolvie?" She held her breath hoping that any minute Bishop would call Logan to the phone. Bishop's next words turned the knot of worry in the pit of her stomach into a spiked ball.
"Logan is not at the mansion, Jubilation. He left a few days ago on some private business."
Struggling to keep her voice calm she replied, "Oh. Well, thanks. Bye."
She stood staring at the phone in her hand, feeling the icy touch of fear along her spine. Beast's favorite phrase, "Oh, my stars and garters," ran through her mind. He really was in trouble.
* * * * *
"Lass, I know that Logan is yur friend, but ye can't go running off looking for the man on the strength of a bad dream," Sean Cassidy patiently told Jubilee again.
Jubilee shook her head in denial. "He's in trouble." She turned pleading eyes on the headmaster of the Massachusetts Academy. "He needs me."
Sean stood up from where he was sitting behind his desk and walked over to lean against the bookcase. He looked down at Emma who was sitting beneath him on one end of the leather couch, "Emma, you try talking to her."
Emma had been carefully studying the young Chinese-American girl seated at the other end of the sofa. She knew that unlike the other students in Generation X, only Jubilee had any real experience with her and her past activities in opposition to Xavier and the X-Men. The others had just heard stories but Jubilee had direct experience with her and the Hellfire Club and Emma knew that part of Jubilee still did not fully trust her. Emma doubted that even Jubilee realized that when she was in a room with Emma she automatically strengthened her mental shields. Shields that for a non-telepath were surprisingly strong. Jubilee was not going to believe any sweet words or empty phrases from her. She glanced up at Sean leaning solidly against the bookcase and sent a thought to him, *I do not believe she is going to listen to us. If we can not get through to her on this, I suggest we call the X-Men. They might have better luck with her.*
Sean's reply was tinged with his worry over his student, *Agreed.*
At Sean's acknowledgment, Emma looked back at Jubilee. "Jubilee, you are overwrought. You are suffering from insomnia and exhaustion. It is not uncommon for those suffering from sleep deprivation to suffer from delusions."
Jubilee interrupted, "I am not some psycho nut case. He IS in trouble."
"Jubilee, you are suffering. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Those bruises under your eyes do not tell of a good night's rest. Yesterday morning your concentration was so poor that you failed at a training session that you should have been able to do blindfolded. You have not slept well in days, by your own admission. Every time you do sleep, you are beset with nightmares involving Wolverine. Jubilee, the sleep deprivation is affecting you. These feelings that Logan is in some kind of danger is just another manifestation of that fatigue."
She sat up on the edge of the couch, her hands balled into tight fists, "No!" she exploded. "You don't understand. He is in trouble, I know he is."
Not able to look at the earnest pleading on Jubilee's face, Emma and Sean exchanged glances. Sean got up to place a soothing hand on Jubilee's shoulder. "Ok, lass. We'll call the X-Men."
Jubilee sank back down into the leather cushions of the couch, feeling the relief sweep through her. Sean was going to call the X-Men, everything would be all right now.
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Part 3
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Jubilee was a bundle of nerves as she crouched quietly outside the closed study door. Eavesdropping on a conversation that included two telepaths was perhaps not the brightest idea she had ever had, but considering they were talking about her, she figured it was in her own best interest.
She could just barely make out Sean talking inside. "Emma and I are concerned about the lass. That's why we decided to bring her to the Mansion after we talked to ye on the phone earlier. The call did nothing to ease the lass's fear about Logan. She still insists he is in some kind 'o trouble. She has nae been sleeping well for the past week or more that we can determine and when she does sleep she has nightmares of Logan.
"I find it hard to believe that Jubilee would be upset by a bad dream."
Emma's crisp voice rose in her student's defense. "No, Scott, not *just* a bad dream. She fell asleep at the dinner table the other night and in the grip of her nightmare almost took out the dining room before we could subdue her."
"Aye, ye should have seen the look on the lass's face. She was terrified. Emma believes between the exhaustion and the sleep deprivation, that Jubilee's nae thinking straight right now."
Emma cut in smoothly, continuing the train of Sean's thought. "That is one of the reasons we brought her here. The Mansion is a safe place to Jubilee, she feels protected here. We also wish Hank to give her a complete check up."
"Jean, were you able to talk to Jubilee? Did she tell you anything?"
"As much as she would allow me to, Scott. I concur with Emma. Jubilee is very stressed right now and in an extremely fragile mental state. But I can find nothing that would cause this unreasoning fear that Logan is in trouble."
"Could he be in trouble? Could the lass know something?"
"It is unlikely, Sean, but we of all people should know how often the unlikely happens. To calm Jubilee, I did an astral search. I could detect no sense of any kind of trouble from Logan."
"What about Jubilee's desire to talk to Kitty?"
"I believe we should allow this. If she can see that Kitty is not experiencing any signs of distress we may be able to persuade her that these feelings of anxiety are being caused by the lack of sleep.
"I agree, she needs to talk to Kitty. However, I have a feeling that only Logan's return will ease her fears."
"Fine. Then we will leave Jubilee in your hands." Jubilee was surprised when she heard Emma pause, and then say with enough menace in her voice to freeze a cobra, "Take *care* of my student, Cyclops. I do not wish anything to happen to her."
Outside the door, Jubilee climbed to her feet. Ok, they didn't believe her. She didn't blame them much, at times, she wasn't sure she believed herself. But that didn't matter, she had a job to do and she was going to do it. They were going to let her talk to Kitty which was a step in the right direction. If Kitty was receiving bad dreams too, then the X-Men would have not choice but to go in search of Wolvie. If not, she thought grimly, then she was going to have to go after him herself.
* * * * *
"Jubilee are you sure you want to do this?" Jean asked.
"DUH! Like I got any choice in the matter," Jubilee answered as she dropped bonelessly into one of the Control Room chairs. Swinging one leg up over the side of the chair she leaned over the console and started punching numbers into the video com unit.
"Look," she said to the hovering Jean and Scott, "I can handle this on my own you know. I ain't gonna wig on Pryde or anything."
Scott tried again in his best concerned leader voice. Jubilee privately thought that Paige did it much better than he did. "Jubilee, we aren't concerned that you are going to "wig" but we are worried about your emotional well-being and your fixation on these dreams of yours. You have been suffering from insomnia. Lack of sleep and these nightmares when you do sleep could be impairing your judgment."
"Riiighttt! You're afraid I'm gonna wig." She knew the real reason that they were concerned though they didn't say anything. She and Pryde were rivals of a sort. Nothing ugly or rude but Pryde had come first. She was Wolvie's daughter of the heart. Wolvie himself had said so in her last dream. She knew that the other X-Men sometimes looked at her and compared them, but she couldn't seem to control the childish jealousy that Kitty inspired in her. She always felt like such an uncouth mall-rat compared to the polished and oh-so collected Kitty Pryde. However, deep down she knew that if Wolverine had decided to contact Kitty for help, that was fine with her, so long as he was safe.
The computer's voice acknowledgment of the connection to Muir Island interrupted her rambling thoughts. As the video screen cleared, the smiling blue-furred visage of Kurt Wagner, the leader of Excaliber filled the screen. Kurt was dressed for an evening at home in a loose fitting sweatsuit.
Jubilee decided that she really wasn't in the mood for small talk and decided to cut straight to the point. "Hey, Kurt. Can I speak to Kitty, please?"
"Sure Liebshen, let me go get her. This may take a minute, so hold on. I think I last saw her with Herr Wisdom."
Kitty strode quickly into the Muir Island Control Room a minute later. Behind her trailed a scruffy looking man dressed in a rumpled black suit puffing on a cigarette.
Kitty turned back towards the man, "Pete, that is ridiculous. He does not talk. Even if he did talk, why would he wait all these years just so he could go around insulting you in private."
The man gave her a disgusted looked as he took a drag on his cigarette. "I don't know why the bloody overgrown rat won't talk to you. But he does talk. And not only that, he steals me cigs."
He paused in the doorway of the room leaned casually against the frame. Lifting his cigarette and pointing it at Kitty he said, "And I'm going to catch him at it."
Taking another deep drag and blowing a ring of smoke into the room, he turned and disappeared out the door.
Kitty's profile on the video screen made it quite easy to see the love and affection in her face as she shook her head after the departing man and muttered just loud enough for the microphone to pick up, "Stupid, git."
Jubilee cleared her throat. As Kitty Pryde turned back towards the monitor, Jubilee felt the jealousy stab at her. She stumbled over her greeting, "Um, like hi."
"Hello, Jubilee. What can I do for you?" Kitty smiled.
Time to bite the bullet, she thought. "Ok. Like this is going to sound completely lame but have you had any weird dreams lately?"
"No, nothing strange."
Damn. Well, lets try another track. Trying to keep her voice light and casual she tried again. "Nothing where you are trapped or running or that involves Wolverine?"
"Logan?"
"Yeah."
"No." Kitty was beginning to look concerned. "Jubilee, what is the matter?"
Jubilee looked nervously back at Jean and Cyclops sitting across the room. She really wished that they would leave. She knew that they thought she was just overreacting to a few anxiety induced bad dreams. She knew she wasn't overreacting but she couldn't seem to convince anyone else of that fact. Their concerned insistence that they be here for this call to Kitty was beginning to annoy her.
She turned back to Kitty's image on the screen, "Nothing's the matter."
She heard Scott discreetly clear his throat behind her. She rolled her eyes. She was really beginning to understand why Wolvie complained that sometimes he had an overwhelming urge to punch Cyke in the nose. Oh yeah, she was definitely beginning to understand that urge.
"Ok, Pryde. Here it is. I think the Wolvster is in trouble. He has been gone for two weeks, no word to anyone."
Kitty smiled at Jubilee reassuringly. "That isn't anything to be concerned about. He's disappeared before, Jubilee, he can . . . "
Jubilee interrupted her before she could complete what she had heard way to many times of late. "I know he has vanished before and I know he can take care of himself. When I was with the X-Men," a faint smile touched her face as an image of a groaning Gen X team flashed through her mind, "I disappeared with him a couple of times myself," she finished with exasperation heavy in her voice. "But this time he is in trouble. I know it. So the big question is, have you heard from him?"
"No, I haven't. Jubilee, you are obviously worried but Logan IS well able to take care of himself. He has been doing this sort of thing for longer than most of us have been alive. Has Jean or any of the other telepaths picked up anything wrong from Logan?"
She would bring that up. It was the one doubt she had. She couldn't explain why none of the team telepaths had detected Wolvie's distress call and she had. "No, neither Jean or Betsy have picked anything up."
"Has he been gone longer than any other time he has disappeared? Has he missed the time when he said he would be back?"
"Well, no, not exactly."
Kitty sighed and looked out from the screen with sympathy in her eyes. "Jubilee, I know you care for Logan a lot, so do I, but you have never shown any powers of telepathy, precognition, or even empathy. Why do you think you all of sudden feel Logan is in trouble?"
Jubilee hated the sympathy and concern in Kitty's eyes, hated the way Cyclops out of the corner of her eye was nodding his head in agreement with Kitty. How was she going to explain. She wasn't really sure herself. It was a feeling, gut instinct, the kind that Wolvie had taught her to believe in. She just knew . . .because. Looking into Kitty's earnest face, comprehension of just what Wolvie had been trying to tell her last night hit Jubilee.
The anger and jealously that always stole over her when someone mentioned Logan's previous relationship with Kitty Pryde vanished. The new knowledge was like wildfire through her veins. She almost laughed out loud with the awareness. Yeah, Pryde knew the Wolvster longer, maybe in some ways, she even knew him better but she saw him as a child, a daughter, sees her father. She remembered the pride in Logan's voice when he spoke of Kitty. He was her mentor, teacher and father figure when an adolescent Kitty Pryde needed the stability of a man in her life. He was her rescuer. She thought about the history in the X-Men Archives about Kitty and Logan and Logan's old teacher Ogun. Kitty needed Logan to rescue her, but Jubilee had rescued Logan.
For Kitty, Logan would always be that invincible rescuer. The man who saved her from Ogun and taught her to use her strengths and skills. In Kitty's mind, Logan was invincible. He had come through wars, the Weapon X program, Juggernaut, alien empires, the loss of his adamantium and even his own dark nature. For Kitty there was nothing that Logan couldn't handle.
But Jubilee didn't need, and more importantly didn't want, an invincible father and she knew all about Logan's weaknesses. Hell, she'd met him when he was nailed to a cross and dying in the middle of the Australian Outback. In that instance, she realized that she wasn't Logan's pseudo-daughter, wasn't some imitation of Pryde as she had often worried about being. The relationship was different from the beginning. She felt the exultation race through her as the realization crystallized on that one all important fact. She wasn't an imitation of Kitty Pryde, she wasn't his daughter, wasn't just a teammate, she was Wolverine's partner. And his relationship with her was unlike his relationship with anyone else, even the other X-Men. Logan trusted them with his life, but he trusted her with his soul. She was the one he let his guard down with. She was his partner.
She had a terrible feeling that somewhere, somehow, he was dying again. He needed her and she was going to go help him, with or without the X-Men's assistance.
Her mind whirling she knew what she had to do. It was time to play dumb. In the end it was ridiculously easy to fool everyone since they were so bent on convincing her that she was just suffering from sleep deprivation, that she had finally realized the error she was making. If Logan had been around to see the sweetly innocent act she put on, he would have been extremely suspicious considering he had never known Jubilee to be overly accommodating in anything she did but without him, the charade was complete.
* * * * *
Later that evening she had her strategy. She felt better now that she had a plan and a course of action to follow. She hadn't decided yet if it was the right plan but anything at this point was better than nothing. At least everything with Jean and Scott had been taken care of. She had spent the rest of the afternoon convincing them, that Kitty had convinced her, that Logan was safe and sound somewhere drinking a beer and smoking a cigar. Now it was time to put Phase II into action.
She stood for several minutes just staring at the wooden grain in the door panels. She remembered making the gouge in the doorframe from rollerblading. The memory of the lecture she had gotten from both the Professor and Cyke about rollerblading in the house made her smile. They just couldn't understand her logic of the situation. Falling on the carpet in the hallway was way more comfortable than falling on the asphalt of the driveway. They never did see her point in that one.
She was procrastinating and knew it. Better get it over with. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about this choice very carefully, and in her mind at least, decided on the best person. She just hoped he saw it that way.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in."
She'd never actually been in his room before. After a quick look she decided it suited him. The black iron and brass bed dominated the room while the other furniture in the room was well oiled antique oak and pine. Tasteful, elegant and very masculine. The only light came from a bedside table, which cast his face in light but created shadows throughout the rest of the room. That to seemed to be right for this particular X-Man whose own past was shrouded in shadows.
He was lounged back on the bed, propped up on some pillows like some godling lounging on his throne. The black silk of the sheets gleaming richly in the lights and showing up in stark contrast to the lean hardness of the rest of him. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans with his bare feet crossed at the ankles and she could see where his shirt was tossed carelessly across the end of the bed. He looked the perfect picture of ease, indulgence and relaxation. She knew it for the sham that it was. She had fought too many times by his side, seen his lightening fast reflexes in one to many Danger Room sessions. The tension in his body was like a tightly wound spring, just waiting for the right . . . or the wrong . . . movement to set it off. For a split second he caught and held her eyes, sending the small hairs on the back of her neck straight up. Dangerous it screamed, then it was gone.
She blinked, the thought running through her mind that Rogue was a blithering idiot to run from this man to that amnesiac Magneto wannabe, Joseph. Definitely an idiot.
Giving herself a mental shake, ok, back to reality, Jubes. "Hey, Gumbo."
"So, cherie, what bring you to Gambit's room dis evenin'. Beginning to tink you gonna stand in de hallway all night."
"Didn't think your proximity sense extended out that far."
He flashed that wide grin of his and shrugged one shoulder. "Dat's what training's for, non?"
She paced around to the side of the bed and sat in a overstuffed wingback chair against the wall. She was back up almost immediately to take a few steps back towards the bed. She was fidgeting, knew she was doing it and hated herself for it but she couldn't seem to stand still. Her nervous energy was expressing itself in her pacing and the incessant popping of her gum.
Remy, for his part, was content to just sit back and watch her with merriment in his eyes. He knew that whatever was eating at Jubilee had to be good to make this usually blunt and straightforward young woman this nervous. He quickly hid his grin as she glanced up at him from under her bangs.
Taking a deep breath she began. "I got like . . um . . . a mondo favor to ask you."
He gave a small sigh, he should have known. "Petite, dis more of your 'Logan's in trouble' stuff?"
"Look, Gumbo, I know all the arguments. Jean and Cyke and Emma and Sean have all expounded at great length that Wolvie can take care of himself. Even Pryde told me." The frustration of the last couple of days making her voice rise with every sentence. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
She started again, once more in control. "I know he can take care of himself. Trust me on this one, I know. But Gambit, I also know, like deep down on some out there cosmic plane, he's in trouble. I can't let that go. I gotta go see for myself."
"So what you need da Cajun for, hmmm?"
"I'm not like totally stupid. When I was running with Wolvie, it wasn't all fun and games."
At Gambit's snort of understatement, she stopped to look at him, hands firmly planted at her hips. "Ahem."
"Sorry, `tite, please. . ." He gestured for her to continue while trying hard to suppress the grin that threatened to overwhelm him.
"You need dis `ol Cajun to play Cavalry?" the amusement now plain to hear in his voice.
"Yeah."
Against his better judgment he was curious. "How?"
She had him now. She could see his interest in the way he was leaning forward on the bed and facing more in her direction. Now all she had to do was to get him to agree.
"Like I said, I ain't stupid. Figured I would take one of the tracer beacons. Wolvie's in Madjipoor. I go, I ask a few discreet questions, and find him. When I find Wolvie, if he is ok, then I get grounded for life and have to sit through another of Cyke's lectures plus bonus lectures from Frosty and Banshee. If he is in trouble, then I hit the beacon and the good guys come running. But I need someone on this end who'll keep an eye on the computers for my signal."
"What makes you tink dat Logan be in Madjipoor?"
Glancing down at her tennis shoes, she mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?"
Making a small face she said again, "I got my sources."
"Jubilee . . . ." The warning edge plain in his voice.
"Oh, all right. He booked the flight using a credit card set up in one of his fake accounts. I called the card company, told them my card disappeared for a few days and someone found it and returned it and I wanted to make sure no one had put any unauthorized charges on my account." She grinned impudently at the Cajun, "They were most helpful."
"Got that one covered. I've got an invite to stay awhile. Gonna send back a message saying that I've been invited to stay a few days longer and chum with my old pals. Considering everyone thinks I'm bonkers they'll believe that Jean and Scott want to keep an eye on me. Course, if they call to check up on me, I need someone here to tell them I'm having a wonderful time and miss everyone terribly. Fearless Leader and Jean get the opposite. I've already convinced them that I now understand that Logan is fine. Now I just explain that I am totally wiped and I'm headed back to school."
"Why me, cherie?"
"Truth?"
"Truth."
She began ticking off points on her fingers. "Well, for obvious reasons, Cyke and Jean are out." She moved to the next finger. "Hank, I think would understand why I gotta go, but big blue can't lie or keep a secret. He always ends up smiling and giving it away." She pulled back on her middle finger. "Guthrie? Oh please. Moving along we have Bishop. He thinks I'm dreaming the whole thing and our resident southern belle tends to think I can't take care of myself." She held up her hand, fingers spread and wiggled them at Gambit. "As for Joeneto. . . he don't count. I don't care if his memories got wiped, I still don't trust him." She concluded softly, "Which leaves you."
"And you t'ink you can trust me?" The range of emotion behind that simple question making his voice rough. "Why you trust me, when even some of de X-men, don'? Ain't the whole story, `tite. Why me?"
She looked into his eyes. Red on black. Demon eyes. But no demon ever had that combination of hope and fear in them. Jubilee was good at spotting pain and fear in others. She'd had enough in her own young life to recognize the defenses in others. So she decided to go for the truth, or as close to the truth as she herself was comfortable dealing with. "Cause somewhere in your past Gumbo something really bitchin' happened. There's a hole in your soul that ain't ever gonna go away. Just like me. Only sometimes, you find something or someone who makes it better. Makes you complete-like. You realize that there's something or someone gives you a reason to be a better person than you were before. And if it comes down to it, you'd move Heaven or Hell to keep that feeling. When Wolvie's at my back, I ain't afraid of *nothing.* And you do understand that, Gumbo, cause I've seen your eyes when you look at Rogue and when you stand together with the X-Men."
Tension hung as thick and heavy as the shadows that enshrouded the room.
She tried again, "I gotta go."
He sighed. She knew she had won.
"You'll do it?"
"Oui. Better go pack."
Throwing herself against him, she gave him a big bear hug. "Gumbo. . . Remy . . .thanks."
He pushed her back far enough to look down into her dancing eyes. His own were somber. "Just come back in one piece, `tite. Gambit hate to have to explain dis one to Scott."
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Part 4
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He stood awkwardly with her outside the gate. The two of them seemingly alone, lost in the humanity thronging the airport gate, everyone hurrying and indifferent to one small girl and the tense looking man in the trenchcoat who stood at her side. The girl stood relaxed, sure of herself. The man looked uneasy, his agitation easy to read in the tightness of his shoulders and the nervous movement of his fingers as he shuffled a deck of cards in his hands.
"Jubilee, Gambit beginning to think dat dis is maybe not such a good idea."
"Ya can't stop me now, Gumbo."
He sighed, seeing the determined set of her small chin. "Cherie, you young and Madjipoor be a dangerous place. Gambit's not saying dat you can't go, but maybe I come along. Keep you out of trouble."
"No."
"No?"
"Remy, I appreciate the offer but I have to do this. Besides, I've been on my own before, I can take care of myself."
"Don't doubt dat you can take care of yourself. I just have to 'member how you talked me into this craziness to know dat, but 'tite, maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a little help, just in case Logan really be in trouble."
"I understand, but it ain't necessary. I got it covered. Look, I'll call you when I get to the Princess and get the room. Tell ya what, I'll call every night. If ya don't get my call, you can come running. Ok?"
"I still don' like it."
"I'll be fine."
"You got your passport?"
"Yes."
"Credit card?"
"Yes."
"Money?"
"Bribe city."
"Tracer?"
She patted the unusual star-shaped "necklace" she wore. "Right here. Thanks for the lift to the airport. The bike rocks. I miss riding with Wolvie."
ANNOUNCING BOARDING FOR FLIGHT 1013 TO MADJIPOOR.
"That's me. Gotta go."
"Be careful, Jubilee."
"I will."
"And call me."
"Sheesh, I'll call, I'll call. You missed your calling as a mother hen. Yer tough macho image is blown forever." Grabbing up the backpack from her feet she headed down the walkway; turning to wave one last time before she disappeared around the corner.
Gambit gave one last decisive shuffle to the cards in his hands before making them disappear into a pocket of his coat. Turning on his heels, he headed into the crowd. No one heard him mutter under his breath, "Mon dieu, Logan is goin' ta kill me."
* * * * *
She was hacked. She knew this little toad of a man from some of the other times that she had been in Madjipoor. He was slimy, untrustworthy and had sources of information that would make the CIA and S.H.I.E.L.D green with envy. And anytime she had to get within 5 feet of him, she always felt like she needed a shower. But right now, Roach was the best source of information she had and she had worked with him in the past with Logan so he knew her. That he would be the stumbling block between her and Logan after the almost too easy trip from La Guardia Airport to Madjipoor was more than she was willing to put up with. The bartender/hotel keep at the Princess Bar hadn't even given her a hard time when she asked for a key to Logan's regular room over the bar. He had simply nodded his head in greeting and recognition at her as he tossed her the key.
"Look, Roach cut the `tude with me. I need some info and you are the broker."
He smiled greasily at her, "I do not deal with children."
Her gaze narrowed, children, huh, I'll show him children. If he wanted to play the game that way, it was fine by her. She was more than willing to play at this point. She smiled a particularly nasty smile as she thought of how the Wolvster would handled this dweeb. Well, she thought, I did learn from the best.
With no warning of her intent she launched herself at the greasy man. It was a beautiful flying tackle; Wolvie would have been proud. When the dust cleared he was pined to the floor still sitting in his chair, legs up in the air. Jubilee knelt on his bony chest with fingers pointed on either side of his head. She very carefully shot streams of plasma onto the dirty floorboards on either side of his head.
"I wouldn't move, dude," she grinned toothily down at him. "Looks like half an inch in either direction and you're likely to lose an ear. Nasty!" Her demeanor turned serious, "Now, let's start again. I need some information. You have the information. I pay. You take the money. Everyone goes away happy. Yes?"
Stammering out a shaky yes, Roach fearfully eyed the burning sparks of plasma that dripped down beside his head. He could feel the heat and smell the acrid smoke from where stray sparks had singed his hair. Looking up into the wild eyes hanging above him he could only think that this lunatic child was definitely a friend of that psycho nut, Patch. He was almost tempted to send her the information free of charge just to get her out of his office before she brought the whole place down. Damn muties, always messing with a man's livelihood.
* * * * *
Ok, this was stupid. She knew that. She could hear the lecture begin in her head from Emma Frost and Sean Cassidy. When they left off and faded away, Scott Summers and Jean Grey picked it up. But they were nothing to the lecture that Logan started up in her head. Logan, had never pulled any punches with her, never been anything other than himself. And this particular lecture was pure Wolverine. She made herself blush it was so realistic.
"I know Wolvster, but what else could I do?," she asked the mental image.
The Wolverine pacing in her mind, heaved a great sigh, and pulled a deep drag on his cigar, "I know kid, just remember what I've taught ya, and stay on yer toes."
"As if," she replied around the nervous popping of her gum.
So far, she had not been seriously hassled as she poked around the sprawling district that held the dregs of Madjipoor’s society. She was sure that the information she had been able to gather so far was due in large part to the respect and fear that the local denizens held for Logan. She grinned as she remembered Roach and thought maybe just a little bit of fear and respect for her too. News traveled fast on the darker side of society and she had already caught mutterings about “Patch’s crazy Chinese girl.” She was hoping that this last bit of information she was waiting on would give her the clue she needed to find Wolvie. She didn’t know exactly what was going one but it was certain now that whatever it was, Wolverine was definitely in trouble. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be to late.
The knock came a second time.
"Come in."
Nothing happened. She waited. The thick envelope that came sliding under the door startled her in its ordinariness.
"Geez, Lee, get a grip. It's just an envelope." Nonetheless, she sat down quietly on the other side of the small room to watch for the next thirty minutes while listening intently to every creak and footstep that passed outside her closed door. It didn't even occur to her that her still wait would have startled all of her teammates. None of them would have made bets on Jubilation Lee sitting perfectly still and quiet for that long a period. Wolverine, however, would not have been surprised. He, after all, had been her teacher.
After thirty minutes of quiet, with nothing more exciting happening that a particularly bold cockroach walking across the floorboards, she slowly got to her feet. Walking over to the parcel she gently nudged it with one boot. Nothing. Giving a small sigh of patience stretch to the limits, she pulled on her gloves (remembering Wolvie's story about some pissed off ninja acquaintance with a fondness for poisons) and reached for the manila envelope.
"Better paranoid and silly than dead," she murmured to herself as she unfolded the paper.
The note was in a masculine hand, block printed and to the point.
PATCH WAS HERE. SEEN 3 DAYS AGO. WAREHOUSE D9.
"Great."
* * * * * *
She was getting a cramp in her thigh from crouching so long. She tried to shift her weight over to help relieve the strained muscle. She was not good at the hide and skulk stuff and she was having a terrible time controlling her temper right now. Her mind kept screaming at her to jump down from the catwalk where she rested to rescue the man bound below her. But still she sat, carefully hoarding the rage that burned within her for the moment when the battle would truly be joined. It wouldn't be far away now.
The wait was going to kill her though. Bad enough doing the cloak and dagger stuff to get to the warehouse district. Patience was not a Jubilation Lee strong suit, she was more the scream and jump school of combat, but for Wolverine's sake she planned and thought this one through. Now that she knew Logan was in trouble, she couldn't do him any good if she got herself caught.
But the scene happening below her was almost enough for her to blow the whole plan. Logan's body was tied down securely to a broad metal gurney, the arm and leg cuffs so tight that even from her vantage point in the roof struts, Jubilee could see them biting into his wrists and ankles. The continuous IV drip connected to his arm explained his lack of fight. She figured they were pumping him full of some kind of sedative to keep him quiet.
A strange wizened-looking old man was attending the equipment. Muttering to himself in a high sing-song voice that made her skin crawl, he shuffled back and forth between Wolvie and the banks of equipment lining the walls. She didn't even have to see his eyes to know that the old dude was quite insane.
"I'm going to enjoy this body of yours, Mr. Logan. This one I have now is quite old, but it has swerved its purpose very well. Yes, very nice. I've waited a long time to catch you in my little trap. So long. I'm going to enjoy having a healing factor, and if it truly slows the aging process then you and I are going to be together for a very, very long time." Jubilee started to shake as she finally understood what was happening below her.
Oh my god, oh my god. What was she going to do. She clenched her hands tight, digging her nails into the palms of her hands, focusing on the pain rather than the panic that was assailing her. She was an idiot. Oh, god, she was a fool. She had been so sure of herself. She should have taken Gambit up on his offer to come with her. Now Wolverine was going to be possessed by the junior Shadow King below her and she didn't know how to stop it. She closed her fingers about the tracer beacon at her throat and set a prayer heavenward that the X-Men would get here soon.
Checking the IV, the man ran his hand possessively along one of Logan's thickly muscled arms. "We are almost ready, almost done. You've put up a good fight, you know, but you never really had a chance. I've been doing this for centuries you know."
He giggled then, sending a shiver up Jubilee's spine. "But it didn't do you any good did it, Mr. Logan. Fight all you want. I've mapped your body and your mind now, and soon, soon, Mr. Logan, you'll be all mine."
A large man entered the warehouse doors calling loudly. "Weston! Weston, ya in here?"
"I am here," the old man below her called out.
The man came forward out of the shadows of the warehouse into the light. Jubilee's studied him. If she was going to get Wolvie out here, she better know who her fight was going to be with. What she saw didn't give her much encouragement. The man was big. Solid looking muscles covered his chest and shoulders, tendons cording thickly down his arms to end in square blunt-fingered hands. Even from her perch she could see the network of scars that criss-crossed his arms.
"When are ya goin' to be ready, old man. We've been here too long. I ain't got a good feeling about this. There is talk on the streets that there is someone here looking for him.”
Weston cut suddenly sharp eyes in his companion's direction, making the larger man squirm beneath his stare. "I am paying you enough that you will stay until I say we are finished."
The other man looked over to the bound body on the table next to him, an expression of distaste and no little worry on his face. "Look, Weston, I've heard of his guy. He ain't nuthing you want to be messing with. And he has dangerous friends."
"His friends don't matter. Not anymore. My preparations are complete. He is coming off the drugs I have been feeding him even now. I will possess his body, and this one," he said, holding up his feeble arms, “can fall to dust. Tonight, his body becomes mine."
"Ya better hope so, old man. 'Cause if yer wrong," he said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the unconscious Wolverine, "he's gonna kill ya."
At her perch, Jubilee whispered fiercely to herself, "Not if I do it first."
She fought against the panic trying to overwhelm her. She didn't have a clue as to how she was going to help Wolverine out of this mess. Cursing herself again for being a fool and refusing Gambit's help, she began to climb her way carefully down from the rafters, one silent step at a time. This slow creeping method would take longer, and waste precious time, but she couldn't afford to be caught.
Below her, Weston directed last minute preparations for the final transfer of his consciousness into the drugged form of Wolverine. She fought the urge to hurry as she saw Wolverine's body begin to move on the gurney as his healing factor fought to cleanse his system of the drugs.
She froze as she heard the far door of the warehouse swing open again. She watched as two large men threaded their way through the winding stacks of crates that filled the building.
"Hey Mick, ya in here?"
"Where have you two been?" The big man who had come in to see Weston earlier asked the two who now stood before him.
"Aww, Mick, you know we wouldn't leave ya hanging. Me and Charlie, we was just over at the Gilded Lily having a little fun. We're here now, just like we said."
Weston turned then from where he was examining Wolverine. "You can berate your employees later. It is time. He is waking up."
Weston pulled Mick closer. "Remember, once the transfer has begun, you cannot interrupt it. After it is completed, you can dump this shell. My new body will be in shock, so make sure that you are careful."
"Yeah, sure Weston. I know the drill."
"Just see that you remember it."
Above, Jubilee crouched on the catwalk over their heads in a state of near panic. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What I am gonna do? I'm not ready. I don't have a plan. That creep is going to take over Wolvie and I'm not ready yet. And then there wasn't time for thought anymore as blue light surrounded Weston and started reaching out towards the slowly moving Wolverine.
"Wolvie," she screamed, trying to get through his drug hazed mind, hoping desperately that her scream would wake him up and get him fighting. But the warning was too late and she was to far away to prevent Weston from beginning the transfer. She barely registered Mick when he pointed up at her and told the other two men to get her down from there. Her attention was focused solely on the unfolding drama beneath her as she watched in stunned horror as the blue glow surrounding Weston enveloped more and more of Wolverine's body.
As the glow reached Wolverine's face, she saw his eyes snap open to stare directly up into hers as if the 30 feet that separated them was no more than a few inches. The look on Logan's face sent Jubilee over the edge. She had seen Wolverine in all kinds of situations, at his best and at his worst, but she had never once seen him afraid. The fear and pain on his face snapped her.
Compared to many of her classmates, Jubilee's mutant power was under better control, but she knew that under times of stress, she had a tendency to lose the finer points of mastery. It was one of the reasons she had agreed to go over to Generation X rather than stay with the X-Men like she knew she could have. But this time she welcomed the loss, welcomed the uncontrolled tingling that started somewhere in her chest and flowed like quicksilver to her fingertips. Exploding firecracker-like plasma bursts surrounded her like a halo and quickly spread out to engulf the warehouse in a barrage of fire as she threw all caution to the wind and dove at the two men standing within the glow.
She was to late. She wasn't going to make it. She saw Weston's body drop and saw the blue glow center in Wolvie's eyes; heard Wolvie's anguished scream of pain and rage as his soul was forced from his body turn into a triumphant shout as Weston's soul took over its new host.
Then Jubilee was within the field, caught in the transfer. Logan's soul, torn from his own body with no where else to go, settled on Jubilee. She was stunned as she felt him settling about her shoulders like a warm cape. He wasn't completely gone, wasn't lost yet but he was losing strength, losing coherence. She could feel the love and regret and pride in her and then she felt the good-bye.
He was leaving her but she wasn't ready to let him go. She had just recently realized what he was to her, what he really meant in her life. She refused to lose that here; she and Wolverine had too much left to learn. She hadn't lived this long with telepaths and learned nothing so she dug up everything she had ever heard, the shielding lessons with the Professor, Emma, Jean, and even Jono, and laid aside every one of her shields, opened her heart and with every bit of stubborn will she possessed, she pulled Logan within her. For a split second, time seemed to stand still and then she screamed as agony seared along every nerve. She felt herself falling and couldn't see to stop herself and she just seemed to keep falling and falling while far away she heard voices that she knew should concern her but she couldn't seem to stop the fall long enough to listen.
"Weston . . ."
"Get her . . ."
"Leave her . . . must be going . . she's started . . fire . . . smoke will kill her . . ."
Then the pain rose up to finally stop the fall and Jubilee gave herself up the raging darkness.
A groan woke her up. For a split second she wished Paige would shut up so she could go back to sleep. The realization of cold concrete beneath her, not a soft warm bed made her open her eyes. Her head was pounding and she was lying in a pool of blood . . . her own blood it seemed.
"Ewww gross," she mumbled to herself as she jerked her head back from the sticky red pool.
Jagged edged pain exploded through her head. "Oww oww ow, too fast. Ok, Jubster. Let's try this again S-L-O-W-L-Y this time."
*Easy kid, take it slow. The pain in yer head is coming as much from me as from that bump on that thick skull of yours.*
Pushing herself into a kneeling position, she fought the nausea that threatened her. "Wolvie?" she gasped, coughing around his name as she got a lung full of the smoke that was the slowly filling the building.
*Yeah, I'm here.*
She couldn't quite contain the surge of triumph that went through her as she realized she had successfully absorbed him. She went still as the shock of what she had done hit her. She had absorbed him. "Oh wow, I've been . . . like possessed. This is so totally weird."
*Not exactly the word I'd have used but it'll do. Kid, ya ok? You seem awfully calm about this.*
"It's ok. I mean, it's just you and you wouldn't hurt me. And . . . and, well, I couldn't let you die. I couldn't." The last said with a fierce devotion that nearly undid him.
He was amazed with her all over again. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she'd threw him another curve. That this intensely independent girl would choose to give her loyalty to him never ceased to astound him. He didn't quite know what to say.
"Uhmm, Wolvie, I'm sorry."
That startled him. *What for?*
"I let you . . him . . . get away with you . . .I mean your body."
*Don't sweat it. He can't go far. He's got to rest and store back up on all the energy he expended doing the switch. Plus the ol' healing factor is going to have to deal with the drugs they were pumping into me. He can't go far and you were only out for a few minutes. You've managed to set the place on fire, which means that are being pushed to move now with no rest. We just got to go get them.* The mental voice turned darker as he continued, *Then we get my body back. So, kid, where did you leave the rest of the team?*
"Hmm, there isn't a rest of the team."
*Are you telling me that Cyke let you come after me alone. I'll . . .*
She could hear the outrage building in his mental voice. She interrupted before he got into a full tirade on Scott's parentage, "Uuh, Wolvie, he doesn't really know I'm here."
Silence filled her head, then a growled, *Explain.*
The explanation came out all in a rush, "Well, it was kind of like, well, see . . . Iknewyouwere introuble, nobodyelsedid. Theywouldn'tbelievemebecauseIcouldn'texplain. SoIditched`em, andcametotherescue.
*sigh*
"But they are on their way," she answered, trying to instill a little hope. "I sent a tracer signal about 2 hours ago when I got here to the warehouse and knew you were in serious trouble. If Gumbo got everyone into the Blackbird quickly, they could be here in 4 more hours."
*We can't wait. That bastard Weston could be anywhere in 4 hours. No help for it, we go after him ourselves.*
She cleared her throat, feeling more comfortable taking aloud even though she knew he only heard her in her head. "Wolvie, thanks for the vote of confidence here, but I can't exactly take you down."
*Got no choice, darling, not if we want to get me out of your head and back in my own body where I belong. Besides, Weston's going to be drained and in an unfamiliar body, it's going to take him awhile to get used to it. He'll be weak and disoriented. We won't get a better chance to take him down.*
"Not to burst your bubble or anything but I'm like kind of weak and disoriented myself here."
*Got any better ideas?*
"Guess not, but I want to lodge a formal complaint that I don't think this is a good idea."
*Darlin’, you passed the good idea stage when you came after me alone.* The tone was sharp, growled in a mental voice that was a mixture of pride, worry and fear for her. Silence again filled the back of her head, then she heard a quiet *Thanks, kid.*
She grinned as she began preparing herself for the fight that was to come. "Yer welcome. Besides, what's a good partner for if not to come halfway around the world to pull your nuts out of the fire."
* * * * * *
She caught up with them outside of the warehouse; Mick half carrying Weston in Wolverine’s body and the other two lugging boxes of what looked like some kind of scientific equipment. They never noticed her, even when she stepped out of the shadows behind them.
“Hey, didn’t anyone ever tell you that Invasion of the Body Snatchers is just a movie?” she yelled. As the four men turned in surprise, she let loose with a stream of pyrotechnics aimed directly at the man holding Weston upright.
Surprised and in pain, Mick reacted instinctually and let go of Weston to throw up in hands in front of his eyes in defense. Following up her advantage she gave a short running leap and kicked out with her booted heels, catching Mick in his unprotected chest. She rolled as she landed, coming up once more to stand lightly, poised for the next round.
Mick hauled himself upright, his hand pressed to his side where she was pretty sure she had broken at least two ribs. He was looking at her with amazement in his eyes. She could sympathize with his confusion very well. That wasn’t a move she knew. How the hell had she done that? She hadn’t even thought about it, had just simply gone into the flying leap kick when she saw her opening. She realized with a frisson of fear that she could have killed him. A few inches over and she could have shattered his sternum and stopped his heart with that blow rather than just break a few ribs. In that instant, she had *wanted* to kill him; a red-tinged part of her still did.
Wolverine. She understood now. Understood more than ever, and maybe more than she ever really wanted to know. She ached with the knowledge that he fought and controlled this rage every day of his life with no relief. She had always known that Wolverine could kill, had killed in the past, but she now stood face to face with the darkness within herself and within him and fought to bring it under her control. His knowledge, his skill, even his anger she could and would use, but she refused to yield to the wildness within him, binding it with ties he would not break; ties of love and loyalty and caring, ties of control that he willingly accepted from her. That battle lasted for an eternity and yet when Jubilee opened her eyes, Mick and his partners were only just starting to close in around her.
She grinned then at the men who surrounded her, putting as much brazen conviction into her smile as she could. If she had seen herself in a mirror she would have recognized that expression on her face as belonging to Logan. It was the grin of a long time barroom brawler. A grin that hinted at the feral nature bound within her, a grin that sent a shiver though more than one of men facing her.
From behind the loose circle around her she heard Weston call out, “Kill her, you idiots.”
Flicking her eyes past the one called Charlie, she gave Weston a brief once over. He looked none to steady on his feet. He was hanging back from the 3 goons facing her and letting them do all the hard work. If she could get through them, then she might have a chance to get to Weston before he bolted. The fact that he was still here watching the fight said that he was seriously overconfident in their ability to take her down. The circle closed in. She muttered under her breath as she watched them tighten around her, "Why did the bad guys always have to be so damn big?"
Wolverine caught the stray thought and chuckled in the back of her mind. *The bigger they are the harder they fall darlin’.*
She just hoped the one falling wasn’t going to be her. She was bloodied, bruised and tired. About the only thing going for her at this point was she was also mad. Her own anger and Logan's almost beserker rage had mixed and fused to become an uncontrollable fury. Between her exhaustion and the psychic trauma of Logan's possession, that fury was pretty much the only thing keeping her on her feet.
"Surrender, little girl!" Mick demanded.
All right, that did it! She was getting really PO'd with the "children" comments. Who did these people think they were. Yeah, she was young . . . so. She'd show them "little girl."
"Who you calling little, toad-man."
*Wolvie?*
A low growl in her head answered her. He was there. She took great comfort in that. Unlike many members of the various X-Teams, Wolverine, even at his beserker worst, had never scared her. The growl was soothing to her now. She was counting on it. She was too tired on her own, knew that if they were going to get out of this, he was going to have to carry her along. For truly there was a wild thing lose in her soul and she only had to hold it tightly leashed for a few seconds longer.
The circle closed. She looked to their leader, Mick, and gave him a small tired smile. "Sorry, dude." She let go of the leash.
He had already laid his memories open to her. She drew on those memories now, using combat skills learned in his lifetime as if they were her own; leaping, twisting, blocking, using martial arts skills honed long before she was ever born. As the rage within her colored her sight blood-red, she had one last coherent thought before the battle was truly begun . . . so this is what it is like to free the beast.
* * * * *
She knelt to check the pulse on the last of the three men. All were still alive. She had kept enough control to keep the Wolverine part of her from killing them, though they were not without injuries. She carried her own fair share from this night’s work. She really wished the X-Men would get here soon. She was tired and wanted desperately to turn this fight over to someone else.
The sound of a boot scuffing concrete alerted her. She turned to stand wearily, facing Weston.
"I'm impressed. Maybe I made a mistake in choosing this body and should have taken yours instead." He gestured, taking in the three unconscious men behind her and the now wildly burning warehouse, "If you can cause this much damage at your age, just think of the power you will have when you are seasoned and mature."
She snorted and wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. The blood, dripping from the cut at her hairline, stung her eyes as it slowly made its way down her face.
"Look, ya body thief, I want Wolvie back. So we can do this easy or we can do this hard."
"Oh, child, I think we will do this hard . . . hard for you."
As she heard the double *snick* that unloosed the bone claws from the back of his hands she knew she was in serious trouble. Weston had been able to rest while she fought and was now ready to finish her off himself. She didn't even have time to swear before he leaped. She dodged, twisting to the side. Looking up from her crouched position on the floor, she saw Weston smiling broadly, the expression wrong on Logan's face.
He leaped again. She attempted to dodge away from the long claws again but didn't quite make it away in time. She screamed as she went skidding across the wharf, the pain from the long gash in her leg nearly taking her breath away. She struggled to her feet in time to see him come at her one more time. Her leg, unable to hold her weight, collapsed beneath her and she went down before his charge, instinctually throwing up her hands in defense and focusing all of her remaining energy into one last desperate explosion. Her last thought as Logan crashed into her was that nothing had happened.
She blinked a few times, hearing Wolverine's voice. He sounded very close but she couldn't see him. Nor she discovered could she move. Panic set in as her disorientation increased. She fought against the large weight across her chest that was pining her to the ground. She tried to move, to push the uncomfortable weight away. Her hands came away covered with blood. Oh my God!
*Jubilee!* The shout finally penetrated the rising fog of panic engulfing her. Her training finally kicked in and she went still, panting hard, waiting for instructions from the one voice she trusted above all others.
"W-Wolvie?" she stammered, the memories of the last couple of hours rushing back to her.
*Damn, girl. Thought I lost ya there for a second.*
She rolled out from under Wolverine's body as she coughed, trying to pull the air back into her lungs. Putting more confidence in her voice than she really had at the moment she said, "I'm ok, just got the wind knocked out of me."
*Weston?*
She looked down at the still body next to her. He wasn't moving. A flash of fear shot through her at the thought that she had killed him. Reaching out a shaky hand she touched a hard shoulder and rolled him over. His blood covered shirt was plastering wetly to his chest, which thankfully continued to rise in a slow but steady rhythm. Her stomach rolled as she came across 6 small burn holes drilled neatly and evenly across his stomach, obviously the source of all the blood.
*What in hell did that?*
"I don't know. He was running towards me and I put up my hands and then I don't know."
*Damn*
A soft but heartfelt , "Yeah!" echoed him.
*Ok, we figure that out later right now we got to get your leg wrapped up before you bleed to death and get him tied up tight before my healing factor kicks in and he comes to. We need some rope.*
They found a coil of stout rope outside one of the warehouses along with a small spool of wire. Wolverine, knowing his own strength, had her wrap the wire around the rope and hog tie his body tightly, his claws well away from the ropes themselves, explaining as they worked that he had made plenty of escapes because some fool didn't take into consideration that his claws could reach and cut through a rope.
Sitting on the ground next to the securely bound body of Wolverine she wondered how in the hell she was going to get him back to the hotel without someone asking awkward questions. Even in Madjipoor, you just can't haul an unconscious man bound hand and foot through the streets without raising a few eyebrows.
A sound jerked her from her thoughts and into a defensive crouch, the pain from her leg wound making her vision swim, her hands balled into fists at her side. The light from her claws cast strange shadows across the wharf. Claws?? She looked down in confusion and slowly raised her hands until they were eye level. "Oh. . . "
*Damn, would ya look at that. Looks like we know where those marks came from.*
Sprouting from the back of her slim hands were 6 slender spikes of twisting multicolored plasma. They pulsed faintly with a soft glow, looking for all the world like Wolverine's claws but made up of her pyrotechnics.
"Wolvie? I got a dumb question for ya."
*Yeah.*
"How do I get them to go away?"
*Dunno. I just retract mine.*
A faint *POP* and the light disappeared accompanied by fervent, "Wow."
Whatever or whoever had made the noise evidently decided that she was not something they wanted to tangle with this evening. But the noise had hit home the need to get away from the waterfront. The local authorities and the curious had stayed away for the time being, so as not to get involved in what looked like some kind of mob skirmish, but soon the local fire fighters were going to have to show up if just to keep the neighboring warehouses from catching fire. But she was so damn tired, all she wanted to do was sit down somewhere.
*Come on darlin’, you've done a great job. Ya can't quit now.*
"I want a nap."
*Nap later, kid. We need to get my body stashed somewhere before he wakes up and starts making a fuss.
She closed her eyes for a second then heard the faint sound of sirens in the distance. Damn, she thought, I was hoping for a few minutes more. She opened her eyes and went to look down at the unconscious Wolverine/Weston. Well, she certainly wasn't going to be able to carry him anywhere; that left dragging.
They were holed up in an warehouse two buildings down from the one she had just torched. She'd have preferred to have gotten farther away but she was just too tired and Wolverine's body entirely to heavy, especially with the wound in her leg. She had bound it as best she could but it was still seeping blood. She had reached the limits of her endurance, even now she was using a long splinter she had pried from the wooden wall to jab herself in the thigh just to stay awake. She really wished the X-Men would get here soon. Weston was beginning to stir in his sleep and she was afraid that he would wake up soon. She didn't think she could face him again.
*Hang in there, kid. Ya got to keep talking to stay awake. Hard ta imagine you to tired to talk.*
She forced a chuckle but her heart wasn't in it.
*Tell me how you knew I was in trouble.*
"Nightmares." She was to tired to even try to suppress the shudder that went though her small frame at the reminder of those dark and terrifying dreams. "I didn't understand they were from you until later. And then, like duh, I figured that out and well, here I am."
*Got a sneaky suspicion that it wasn't that simple.*
"Yeah, well, you could say that." She gave a small half-hearted snort of amusement. "Cyke's gonna go loony-tunes and I don't even want to think about her Queenship." She lowered her head down to rest on her knees. "Wolvie, I'm so tired."
*I know, darling, the X-Men'll be here soon.*
As if in answer to that assertion, Jubilee heard the warm mental voice of Jean Grey fill her mind. *Jubilee?**Jean?!?* The relief flooding over the contact.
*We are over Madjipoor. Where are you?*
With the bone weariness tainting even her mental voice she replied, *Waterfront district. Abandoned warehouse two down from the one that's burning.* With just the faintest trace of pride she added, *Ya can't miss it.**We are on our way* As Jean pulled away from the contact, Jubilee felt warmth and support flood back down the mental connection, strengthening and sustaining her just a little bit longer.
* * * * *
They came in the back way to avoid the firefighters and onlookers milling around on the wharf. Gambit was the first through the door into the warehouse with the rest of the team streaming in behind him, alert and ready for trouble. Gambit's expression was an almost funny mixture of worry and guilt. He didn't even bother with checking his perimeter as he hurried straight to Jubilee's side.
"Cherie . . ."
She gave the Cajun an exhausted smile from her spot on the floor. "Hey Gumbo, next time you want to come on vacation with me and I tell ya no, smack me upside the head."
Doing a quick count of the various bumps, cuts, bruises and abrasions that seemed to be covering Jubilee, Gambit turned to call out over one shoulder, "Hank, mon ami, I tink we need your help."
Beast took one look at the blood-covered Jubilee and bounded over to her side, exclaiming under his breath at each quickly catalogued injury. Jean came through the door after Cyclops, her face paling as she caught sight of the bound and gagged Wolverine on the floor. "Logan!!"
"No!" Jubilee yelled as Jean knelt down to untie Wolverine. She was somewhere past exhaustion but struggled to her feet to shoot a stream of hot plasma bursts between Jean and Logan. Jean jerked, turning stunned eyes to Jubilee. The rest of the team froze in their tracks, startled from Jubilee's reaction and unable to believe that she had just fired on Jean.
Jubilee stood, swaying slightly. Hank and Remy moving to give her needed support at her side. "Sorry. That ain't Wolvie." She stopped, seeing the expressions on their faces. She tried again. "Well, it is Wolvie and it isn't Wolvie. Or . . . it's Wolvie's body but not Wolvie's mind . . . if ya know what I mean." She rolled her eyes, great, now she was babbling. "Oh, just scan him, you'll see. He ain't home."
Jean turned back to look down at the man bound at her feet. Narrowing her eyes in concentration she performed a light scan and gasped in surprise, "Oh my God. That's not Logan."
"Told ya." Within her mind she heard Logan chuckle at the startled looks turned in her direction. *Better tell them what's what, darling, before they all start yelling questions at ya.*
All of the X-Men turned to Jubilee, the questions plain to read on their faces. Both Jean and Scott were already spitting out a rapid stream of questions.
"People, people. A little class here." She yawned and blinked her eyes a few times to clear her blurring vision. When she had their attention once more she gave them all a tired grin. "I'll give ya the short version now and we can do details . . ." She never finished the thought as her eyes rolled up in her head. Remy caught her as she slumped to the ground.
"Hank?" Scott questioned, his concern for Jubilee softening his usually stern voice.
"It would seem that our erstwhile junior member is suffering from a excess of exhaustion and I believe a broken rib among other things. I deem her condition to be fairly stable given the circumstances however, it behooves me to mention that she is suffering from blood loss, shock, and would probably be much more comfortable in the Shi'ar medical scanner on the Blackbird." Motioning to Gambit to follow with Jubilee, he set off with a bound towards the waiting Blackbird.
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Part 6
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Two days after her rescue Jubilee was pronounced reasonably fit to leave the MedLab with an admonishment from Hank to take it easy for a few days. At her release from Dr. McCoy’s care Scott had formally requested that she present her former teammates with a briefing on what exactly happened in Madripoor. The X-Men were slowly gathering in the mansion’s main conference room where Jubilee had claimed her old spot and was currently sitting sideways in the chair, filing her fingernails and popping her gum. As the others filed in and took their places around the table, Scott silently studied Jubilee. Her accumulated bruises were at the stage to be turning a splendid range of colors though they didn’t seem to be bothering her too much. Scott made a mental note to ask Hank about her recovery and the slight limp she was still walking with from the wound in her thigh.
Except for the bruises, she looked much like the Jubilee of old but for the something that lurked in the back of her eyes that made him uneasy, the same uneasiness that always affected him when he looked Logan in the eye. Giving himself a mental shake, he sternly told himself to stop being silly. Jubilee was no threat. Clearing his throat, he called the meeting to order.
“Jubilee, are you sure that you are up for this?”
“Hey, 28 hours of sleep with not a single bad dream and I’m as good as new. Just ask the Hankster.”
“Very well. We will skip how you *got* to Madripoor for now,” Scott said, cutting a hard stare towards Gambit, who had the grace at least to look contrite. “What we are most concerned with right now is what was going on in Madripoor and what happened to Logan?”
“How’s he doing?”
Hank answered her question, “Currently, Logan is still sedated and in the MedLab. He was most uncooperative.”
To the others at the table, Jubilee seemed to loose her focus for a minute, to turn inward and then she gave a quick nod, as if in answer to a question only she heard. “Yeah, Hank, probably best you keep him sedated.”
“So Jubilee, can you tell us what happened?”
“Hmm, guess the best thing to do would be to back up and start at the beginning. You guys already know about the nightmares I was having about Wolvie. I told ya he was in trouble.” She couldn’t help nor hide the small hint of I-told-you-so that crept into her voice at her last statement. “Well, once I found him in Madripoor, I went after him. With a little assistance,” she added, flashing Gambit a big smile, much to Scott’s annoyance. “Finding Wolvie in Madripoor wasn’t so tough, ‘cause most remembered me and Wolvie. I mean, the Wolvster got one big, bad rep over there. That helped bunches. He was being held by a nutball named Weston and some of his goons. Weston’s the body snatcher that’s got Wolvie right now. He’s some kind of mutant who jumps between one body and another; heard him talking ‘bout how he’d been doing his body stealing act for centuries."
“So the consciousness I touched in Wolverine’s mind was this Weston?”
“Ya got it Jean.”
“I have fought the Shadow King’s possession before, it shouldn’t be to difficult to dislodge this Weston from his hold on Logan’s body.”
“Hmm, Jean, it ain’t that easy.”
“What do you mean, Jubilee?”
“Weston ain’t just a junior Shadow King, he takes people over completely – as in, you just got evicted.”
“Goddess, if that’s true, then Logan’s gone,” Ororo exclaimed.
“Not exactly, Storm.”
Jean, struggling with her own intense sense of shock and loss, tried to keep her voice steady as she sought to explain the situation to Jubilee. It was obvious from Jubilee unconcerned attitude that she did not fully comprehend the situation. “Jubilee, if Logan’s consciousness, his soul, was forced out from his body, with nowhere to go, he would . . . he would have died.”
“He had somewhere to go.”
“But Weston is in possession of Logan’s body.”
Jubilee grinned then, a big, wide ear-to-ear grin. “And I’m in possession of Wolvie.” She made a funny face then, her eyebrows drawn together in puzzled frown, “Or is that he’s in possession of me?”
“What!”
When the yelling finally stopped, Jubilee sat in the midst of the chaos her bombshell had created with a delighted smile on her face.
*You enjoyed that.**Darn right I did. Did you see the look on Cyke’s face? It was priceless.*
“Jubilee!”
“What?”
“I was asking you a question, you didn’t seem to hear me.”
“Sorry. Got distracted.”
“Jubilee, are you trying to tell me that Logan is . . .”
She raised one hand and gently thumped herself in the temple. “Yep, right up here in the ole noggin. Kewl, huh?”
“Jean, is that possible?”
“I - I’m not sure. Jubilee, what exactly happened?”
"Well, according to the Wolvster, . . ."
“Hold on a minute, you can hear him? Talk to him?”
“Sure, I told you, he’s in my head.”
“So like I was saying, Wolvie says he went to Madripoor to meet Tyger Tiger who had some information she thought he might be interested in. Everything was uneventful like and . . ."
Jubilee suddenly stopped talking, her eyes growing round and huge in her face. "Ewwww Wolvie, how could you? Tyger Tiger - ewww!" She stopped and then if anything her eyes seemed to widen even more. "Oh! So that's how you . . ." She cut off abruptly and started to giggle, soon she was giggling uncontrollably.
*Get yer blasted eyes closed and get out of those memories.*
She tried, she really did but she couldn’t help it. It was like trying not to think of something. The harder you tried not to think, the more insistent the memory became. And she was getting an eyeful, as the mention of Tyger Tiger set off a chain reaction of Logan's memories.
She was now laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her cheeks and Logan was growling out a set of curses in what sounded like several different language. She could see that the others at the table were getting concerned but she was laughing to hard to do anything but wave feebly at them.
As Logan finally got the memories under control and she was no longer "seeing" his recent meeting or his past relationship with the tall exotic woman, she was able to gasp out, “Ooh . . .I’m ok . . .really . . .just a small memory glitch. . . don’t mind me.”
Finally getting control of herself, she reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Looking around the table, she saw the curiosity and concern on her fellow X-Men's faces; on everyone's face except Gambit's she noticed. He was leaning back in his chair with a faint smile playing about his lips and the look in his eyes of someone replaying a particularly delightful memory of his own.
She looked over at him, ignoring the others at the table, "Oh no, not you too Gumbo?" for having seen Logan's memories, she knew exactly what the former Master Thief was remembering.
"Oh cherie, it was in my younger and wilder days. But you "tite, I don' tink you quite old enough for dose `ticular memories."
She blushed, then grinned devilishly at the Cajun, "Gumbo, I know old ladies that aren't old enough for 'dose `ticular memories.'"
She stopped still for a moment, her eyes focusing inward on something the rest of them couldn't see. Oblivious to everyone in the room, she and Logan had an internal conference.
“Jean?”
“Hold on Scott, I’m sensing some kind of change going on in Jubilee.”
Jean mentally reached out to do a light scan. She was as familiar with Jubilee and Logan’s psychic signatures as she was with her own, but what was revealed to her mind’s eye now, was like nothing she had ever seen before. Jubilee’s psychic signature normally was a chaotic mix of cool blues and greens shot through with lightening bolt streaks of silver and purple; Logan’s was his usual red and gold with darker shadows mixed within, showing only too clearly the darkness he struggled with every day of his life. It was quite clear that Jubilee was correct, she and Logan were both currently sharing Jubilee’s mind and body. But the pattern of that sharing was the most unusual arrangement Jean had ever seen. She wished for a moment that the Professor or Betsy were here to give her a second opinion on what she was looking at. For unlike other possessions she had seen, neither signature was dominating the other. They were counterbalancing each other, equally mixed together and yet still separate like a psychic yin-yang symbol; a perfect balance.
She watched as the combined signatures shifted and twisted and she knew the precise moment when Jubilee gave up command of her body and Logan took over. Blinking to clear her vision she refocused on the physical form of Jubilee and watched the outward manifestation of Logan’s takeover.
Before the assembled group, Jubilee’s posture was changing. Her boneless slouch was replaced by a tensed, hunched over perch on her edge of her chair. Her face lost the animated delight that so thoroughly marked her character, a dark frown replacing the expression on her face. If there were any doubts that Wolverine was inhabiting Jubilee’s body, those doubts were laid to rest.
Jubilee suddenly blinked, her face settling into a scowl as Logan took complete control.
"Ok," she growled, her voice pitched noticeably deeper, "let's try this again."
The others had sat stunned as the transformation took place before them. Storm, sitting next to Jubilee, tried hard to suppress the involuntary shudder that went though her as she remembered her own possession by the Shadow King. She still woke up screaming occasionally from nightmares of that possession. She did not understand how the child could be so flip about this experience.
Clamping her own iron will down on her revulsion, she asked the question they were all thinking, “Logan?”
“Yeah, ‘Ro, it’s me.”
“Oh, my stars and garters.” Beast had climbed up out of his chair to perch precariously on its edge, his stare full of amazement and overwhelming curiosity.
Jubilee shook her head and emitted a convincing replica of Logan’s growl. “Shoulda never let the kid start the debriefing anyway.”
*Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?* came the indignant voice in the back of his mind.
*Quiet.*
There was a little general shuffling as they settled themselves with thinking that this was now Logan sitting in front of them instead of Jubilee.
“Logan, what happened?” asked Scott as he attempted to get the meeting back on track.
“The kid started it right, I went to see Tyger about some info she had for me. After meetin’ her I was getting ready to come home.” Shaking his head in obvious disgust, he continued, “That’s when I got careless and got jumped. Ended up in the warehouse that the kid eventually found me in. When I woke up I was hogtied to a table with an IV drip in my arm. Don’t remember much after that. What I got from Weston was through a haze of drugs. The only times I wasn’t completely under was when he was doing what he called mapping. He mentioned once that he had to go slow and map his entrance into my body and mind for a complete takeover. But I don’t remember much from those sessions. I was fightin’ the drugs and the pain most of the time.”
“De question remains t’ough, if dis Weston had Logan drugged, how he contact Jubilee wit de dreams?”
“Logan, do you know how you did that?” Jean asked.
Shaking his head he answered, "Not sure about that one myself, Red. The only thing I remember is struggling towards consciousness, lotsa pain and then getting pushed out into blackness.”
"No, Logan, not blackness. I think I’m beginning to understand. I suspect that you were pushed to the astral plane. In your astral form you would have been able to contact Jubilee but neither of you being a psi, you wouldn't have been able to communicate directly. Your contact was on a much more basic and deeper level - Jubilee's dreams. The question Logan, is why didn't you come to myself or Betsy?"
"To tell ya the truth, I don't remember going to the kid. As for the rescue itself, I figured it was over for me. I'd made my peace with the universe and said my goodbyes when I smelled the kid in the warehouse. Next thing I know she's screaming like Banshee and there's this awful exploding pain in my head. I wake up and I'm here." Spreading his hands he indicated Jubilee's body.
A distracted look crossed his face as he turned inward, "Wait a minute. . ."
The expressions moving across Jubilee's face showed the internal dialogue going on in her head. Her eyes cleared as Logan resumed, "Kid tells me that when she busted up the party, the transfer had already taken place and that she felt me dying. She insists that she made me possess her. That's when she passed out."
A startled expression crossed Jean's face as she bit at her lip in sudden concentration. "A willing possession, that could explain it. Let me think on this for a minute."
Scott took back up the questioning. "Logan, it was obvious that Jubilee burned the warehouse but how did she capture Weston?"
Logan shifted uncomfortably in the chair, then with a slightly sheepish look on his face said, "Ain't my story to tell." Then he was gone and Jubilee was once again looking out of her eyes.
Twisting around in her seat until she was comfortable, she fidgeting until Scott asked, "Well Jubilee?"
She blushed, to the amusement of Sam, who had wisely decided to stay quiet through the meeting. He didn’t think he could ever remember seeing or hearing of a time when the sometimes overly confident Jubilee was discomfited, but it did seem that she was having a little difficulty in her explanation.
"It was an accident,” Jubilee finally answered, “I think.”
"What was an accident?"
"Well, see, after I woke up y’know, we had to go after Weston and Wolvie’s body. We caught up with ‘em outside of the warehouse and I jumped them. Only it wasn’t just me. Well, I mean it was me but it was Wolvie, too. I was like pulling things from the Wolvster's memories, knowledge and stuff, using his memories to fight. I was way tired and in pain and it was just natural, ya know; using what was in my head. So really, I didn't have any control. It just sort of happened."
Beast, sensing her agitation, asked gently, "What exactly happened Jubilee?"
"Well, Weston popped Wolvie's claws and I was trying to get away, but then I was hit and went down and he charged and I’m thinking, like, I’m toast. I was searching Wolvie's memories for a way out but coming up blank and then Weston was on top of me and . . . and . . .”
"And?" Beast asked again.
Jubilee looked around the table at the faces around her; Storm’s uneasy, Sam’s expectant, Hank positively glowing with curiosity, Rogue, Remy and Jean, all looking supportive, and Scott trying his leader best to look stern and unflappable even in the face of this weirdness. She had wondered exactly how she was going to show them this next part.
Reaching out across the table she waited until everyone’s attention was on her outstretched hands. Reaching into the part of her that touched Wolverine she focused and her claws sprang into existence.
Hank, his eyes round in fascination, leaned forward to get a better look at the twisting plasmoid shafts sprouting from the back of Jubilee's hands. Glancing up at Jubilee he asked, "Am I correct in postulating that these are a manifestation of Logan's claws using your powers?"
"Uh huh."
"Remarkable."
Jubilee reached again, and with a faint audible "pop" the claws disappeared.
Hank reached for one of Jubilee's hands to examine the back, running one blue-furred finger over the unblemished skin behind her knuckles. "Amazing, especially when taking into account Jubilee's mutant power. She should be suffering at least 3rd degree burns. How's your control? Do you switch between the normal use of your abilities and the claws?"
"Nope, Blue. The pafs are independent of the claws. I don't have to turn one off to use the other. Control is kind of weird though. It's like when I use Wolvie's memories, I use the claws. When I fight like me, I'm throwing sparks.”
Hank looked thoughtful for a moment at the mention of Wolverine's memories. "Jubilee, what kind of access do you have to Logan's memories?"
She shook her head, trying to come up with the words to express the inexpressible. “I don’t really see most of his memories.” She grinned widely and then added, “unless something happens to set one off, that is. It’s more like we’re separate but sharing the same head. I get what he knows, but it’s more like instinct. I don’t think about it, I just know it and it happens.”
“Jean, can you separate them and put Logan back into his own body?”
“Truthfully Hank, I don’t think so. This isn’t a typical possession - at least not from a telepaths point of view. I think I would feel better asking for help with this one.”
* * * * *
The disembodied voice of Scott Summers echoed down the subterranean corridor, “Jubilee, are you sure that you are ready to do this?”
“Sure, I’m sure.”
*Ya got nuthin’ to worry about, kid.*
“Easy for you to say, Wolvie. It’s my body that’s gonna get clobbered,” she muttered.
*Just do what I tell ya.*
“Don’t I always?”
*Don’t make me laugh.*
The doors to the Danger Room slid open in front of her as Cyclops continued, “All right. We will be monitoring you from the control booth, at the first sign of trouble, I’m stopping the scenario.”
He watched her on the monitor screen as she entered the Danger Room. Through the pick-up microphones he could hear her murmuring to herself and realized that she was talking to Wolverine. As she smiled in obvious amusement at some internal comment, he wondered at the conversation going on between them. And at the same time he couldn't help but speculate on what kind of damage was being done to Jubilee's mind and soul after being possessed by Logan. Even Logan didn't know all of his past, everything he had done in his lifetime, but some of what he did know, would send a grown man running. What were those kind of memories doing to a impressionable child like Jubilee?
He felt reassurance flow down the bond he shared with Jean. Even if she didn't know his exact thoughts, the comfort she sent was automatic as she sensed his unease.
*Jean?**Hmm.**What kind of psychic damage could Jubilee have from being possessed by Logan?**Truthfully, there could be some, but I don't think there will be any lasting effects. I don't know quite how to explain it but they are . . . connecting.* She thought about the entwined psychic signatures she had seen earlier, *Or maybe . . . balancing might be the better word . . . well with each other. I think they will both be ok.*
Taking that assurance from his wife, he focused his attention back to the screen. Pressing a button on the control panel in front of him, he started the session.
Jubilee stood lightly on the balls of her feet, every sense stretched to the utmost to detect the slightest hint of danger around her as she stepped through the doors. Now her job was to forget, to forget that this was a Shi'ar hologram, that this was a Danger Room simulation and that Jean, Scott and Hank were even now gathered in the Control Room watching her progress on the monitors.
*Submerge yerself in the program, kid. Believe in the reality around ya until ya react as if it was real, as if the dangers really could kill ya.*
They had wanted to check on just how much and how well she had integrated Wolvie's abilities. This was the test, a danger room scenario set up from programs that had originally been designed to test her when she was at the mansion with current programs designed to test Wolverine to the maximum.
She could feel him now, prowling the edges of her mind, offering comments, criticisms and above all, support.
The scene before her resembled nothing she had ever encountered before. A burned out, destroyed city lay before her. From the stories that Bishop had told of his particular future, she suspected that he had designed this scenario and pulled much of scenery from his own hellish childhood 70 years into a possible future.
A cold, damp gray fog wrapped the city in silence that concealed its dangers from her eyes. At Wolverine's insistence she stopped in the shadow of a toppled building, extending out her senses and breathing deeply of the smoke tinged air, straining her hearing to catch the slightest sound. She wasn't sure why Wolvie had her stop, her senses could not compete with his own animal keen ones.
*Superior hearing and smelling are as much about identifying what you smell and hear as about detecting it. I’m very good at identifying.*
“Modest, too,” she murmured.
*Quiet. Listen. What do ya hear?*
She cocked her head to one side, straining her senses into the fog around her. She held her breath and then heard a soft scrape.
“Rats?”
*Not likely. We’re being followed.*
“Ya sure?”
* -- *
“Yeah, right. Sorry.”
Above them in the control room, Hank McCoy, let out a startled observation. "My stars, look at her move. She looks like a panther on the prowl."
The intercom system whistled sharply followed by Bishop’s gravely voice, “Scott?”
“Here, Bishop.”
“Dr. Strange has arrived.”
Never taking his eyes off the small force of destruction on the screen in front him, Scott hit the intercom button again. “Good, please bring him down to the Danger Room.”
“We will be there in a moment.”
The distinguished looking man who entered the Control Room a few minutes later looked more like a New York businessman than the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. The richly tailored suit, the heavy gold and ruby ring on one finger, and the gray at his temples gave an immediate impression of money and power. However, few people realized that the true power he welded was of a magic few could control and even fewer believed in. As he stepped into the room the very air seemed to crackle around him.
Jean turned to greet the man warmly, “Stephen, it is good to see you again.” A faint smile touched her lips thought it didn’t quite make it to her eyes, “I wish it could have been under better circumstances.”
The Doctor reached out to take her hand in one of his own. Giving a small squeeze of encouragement, he smiled back at her. “I’m glad you called me. Friends should always look out for each other. So, where is my patient?”
Scott, his eyes still on Jubilee, pointed down at his monitor. “She’s right here. Or he’s right here. From those moves, I’d say Wolverine was in control right now."
Jean closed her eyes as she sent her awareness downward into the Danger Room, “Actually, Scott,” his wife countered, “it’s Jubilee in control but she is pulling heavily from Logan’s fighting expertise.” Jean tilted her head to one side, listening to something only she could hear as she continued, “She doesn't realize to what extent she is doing it. I don't think Logan knows either. But when Jubilee has no experience to base off of, she taps into Logan's and he provides the knowledge.”
Hank looked up from his own monitor, “Then what you are saying my dear lady, is that what started out as a possession is turning into a gestalt; a combined personality.”
“Exactly, Hank.”
“Jean, I'm not sure I understand. In every case of possession we've come across, one personality takes control over the other.”
“In most cases, yes, but in Jubilee and Logan's case, neither personality is taking control over the other. It is like I said earlier, they are balancing each other, complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses.
“I can see Jubilee pulling Logan’s strengths but what is Logan getting out of this. It seems to be a very one-sided partnership.”
“On the contrary, a partnership is exactly what they have. Jubilee is pulling on Logan’s knowledge but Logan is using Jubilee’s control.”
“What do you mean?”
Dr. Strange interrupted them. “Yes, now I understand what you were trying to tell me on the phone. Partnership is an excellent word choice for the two of them.” The Doctor continued as he watched the battle taking place on the screen before him. “All of us have a darker side, the animal part of our nature. But unless we are under an extreme amount of stress, that part of us never comes out in the open. Logan is different. He fights his beast every day, struggling for control of his animal side. But now that his consciousness in within Jubilee . . .”
“The child has tamed the beast.”
“Exactly, Dr. McCoy. And there lies the danger.”
“What kind of danger?”
“They are merging, becoming dependent on the other’s strengths. There is a danger in that. They must be separated immediately.”
“What about Weston? If Logan goes back to his own body, what happens to him?”
Dr. Strange smiled. “Do not worry, I will take care of him.”
* * * * * *
She was sunk so far down into the merging that she could no longer tell where she ended and he began. For now there was only the pulsing of her heart and red haze in front of her eyes as the robotic sentinels circled around her. She liked this enemy. They required no sympathy from her, did not require her to pull her punches or control the rage as she unleashed the combined power of her pryotechnic explosions and Logan’s claws.
Sensing the intrusion behind her she spun and launched herself at the three new attackers. Realizing her mistake milliseconds after she launched herself, she twisted around in midair to land heavily at Scott Summer’s feet. Panting hard, she clamped down swiftly on Wolverine’s desire to rend and destroy. She laid a soothing mental hand upon him and the berserker fury began to slowly abate inside of her.
Turning sharp eyes upward to the three who confronted her, she snapped out, “Are you insane; coming up behind me. I could’ve, like, killed you!”
Scott resisted the urge to take a step back from the fire reflected in those eyes -- Wolverine’s wild eyes in Jubilee’s face.
“And yet you did not.” Strange laughed then, “Oh, don’t glare so at me, young lady. I am here to help you. I will need to prepare myself and set the mystic wards but I should be ready to begin the separation tomorrow evening.”
She took a deep breath to try to slow her accelerated breathing down and release the remainder of the rage that still simmered within her, “We’ll be there.”
The three of them watched as she walked from the room, the tension flowing out of her body with every step. By the time she reached the Danger Room doors, her walk had changed from Wolverine’s controlled stalk to Jubilee’s more exuberant bouncy stride.
“By the Hoary Hosts, she is remarkable.”
“How so, Doctor?” Scott asked, as he lead them out of the Danger Room and to the elevator that would take them back to the main levels of the house.
“I don’t think I ever seen an integration of personalities this smooth before. The trust between them is most remarkable.” A thoughtful look crossed his face as he added to himself, almost as if the most untrusting Wolverine has already given her the guardianship of his soul long before now.
* * * * *
Rogue slowly levitated herself up within the branches of the oak tree, coming to a halt in front of Jubilee, who sat curled up in the V of two huge moss covered branches.
“How ya doin’, sugah? Or should that be y’all?”
“Hey Rogue. I like, don’t want to be rude or anything, but I kind of wanted to be alone.”
“No offense taken. Heard that Dr. Strange is goin’ ta separate you two tomorrow night. I just wanted to let ya know that if ya need someone to talk to, well, I guess ya could say that I got plenty of experience with dealing with the aftermath of having someone else in yoah head. Y’know where you can find me.”
“Thanks, Rogue. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Rogue reached out to lay one gloved hand on Jubilee’s leg and then continued to slowly float upwards into the clouds until she was just a faint green smudge in the distance.
*So what’s eating ya, darlin’?*
“Nuthin’”
*Oh, and we’re sitting up in this tree ‘cause . . .*
“’Cause it’s quiet up here.”
*You don’t like quiet.*
“I like quiet,” she protested.
The voice in her head went silent, waiting with the infinite patience of the hunter.
“Ok,” she admitted, “so I don’t like quiet.”
*Uh huh*
“All right, already. Sheesh, beat it out of me, will ya.” She picked at the bark on the tree limb in front on her with one broken fingernail. “I-I’m worried. There I said it.”
*What ya worried about?*
“What happens if something goes wrong? What if the Doc can’t get Weston out of your body and you back in?” Then very softly, “What if I lose you?”
*Darlin’, nuthin’ is gonna go wrong. It ain’t good for me to be inside yer head like this, and you know it. I got stuff locked up in my head that gives me the willies sometimes. You don’t need to be carting around in your head the things I’ve done in my life. This needs ta be done.*
“I know, but what if . . .”
*No, ifs,* he interrupted. *Besides, you want to go around taking showers with your eyes closed for the rest of your life.*
She blushed hotly at the memory of the whole totally embarrassing, this is the kind of thing that you tell your therapist, bathroom scene after her Danger Room workout.
She picked some more at the bark in front of her, then switched gears. “Wolvie, do ya think I’ll remember anything?”
*Like what?*
“Like the fightin’ and stuff.”
*Like yer claws?*
She popped her claws and stared down at them. “Yeah, those too. Frosty’s been telling me that I could control my pafs better if I really wanted to but I’ve never been able to control ‘em to the point where they just stayed there and didn’t explode. When you leave, do ya think they will too?”
*Don’t know, kiddo. So, Emma don’t think yer living up to yer potential, huh?*
“She said and I quote, ‘Jubilation, you use your mouth like it were another mutant ability. While not necessarily a bad thing, it sometimes requires you to back up that mouth of yours with something a little more solid. Remember, you can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than you can get with a kind word alone.’”
Logan laughed loudly at that one. *I think she might have a point with that mutant ability bit.*
“Very funny.”
*Darlin’,* his voice turning serious, *I don’t know how much y’ll remember of me or if I’ll take with me anything of you, but I want ya to know, I’m proud of how you’ve handled all this. And if anything does go wrong, well, I wanted ya to know, I’ve had some good friends, teammates and lovers in my life, but you, kid, are unique among them all.*
She reached up to brush away a tear before it could run down her face. “Love ya too Wolvie.”
They both went silent, each watching the sunset from Jubilee’s eyes; lost in their own separate thoughts and worries about the upcoming division. Logan couldn’t pick up any of her thoughts but the subtle nervous tension that had been with her since Dr. Strange had arrived slowly vanished. But with her calm, his own agitation seemed to have risen. He knew more about patience than most people ever learned in their lifetimes but this kind of waiting drove him to distraction. Distraction, yeah, that was exactly what he and the kid needed right now.
*Come on darlin’, get us out of this tree. We’re blowing this joint.*
As she climbed out of the tree she asked, “Where are going?”
*Ta find a convenient distraction. Head for the garage.*
As Jubilee flipped on the light in the garage she stopped, her hands firmly planted on her hips. “Ok, so what are we doing in the garage?”
*We, darlin’, are going for a ride.*
“You mean it? Where are we going? How long we gonna stay? Can I drive?” all said in rush so fast he wasn’t even sure she had paused for breath.
Her enthusiasm bubbled through him. This was the Jubilee he knew. Yep, Emma was definitely on to something. *We’ll see. Fer starters though I think you better leave the driving to me.*
“Kewl!”
* * * * *
“Jubileeeee! Jubileeeeeee! Where in the hell has she disappeared to!”
“Mon ami, Gambit searched everywhere in de house. Jubilee is not here.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Scott exclaimed as he ran his hand back through his hair. “She has to be here.”
“Gambit, just tells you what he finds. De petite’s bed doesn’t look like it’s been slept in either.”
*Jean?**No luck Scott. I can’t detect either Jubilee’s or Logan’s signatures on the grounds. Rogue checked in with me a few minutes ago, she didn’t see any sign of Jubilee either.*
Emma chose that moment to step out of the house onto the porch with Scott. “What have you done with my student Cyclops?”
Gathering the shreds of his control, he turned to face Emma. “Emma, now is not the time.”
“I think now is exactly the time,” Emma answered, her voice icy. “I leave my student with you X-Men for a few days to deal with some nightmares and I come back a week later to find that she had skipped out on you, traveled to Madripoor by herself, rescued Wolverine AND gotten herself possessed. I very distinctly remember asking you to keep her OUT OF TROUBLE. And now that she is back, you’ve lost her again hours before she is supposed to be separated from Wolverine.”
Sam came running up to Sean and Emma at that point, forestalling Emma tirade for the moment.
Scott sent up a sigh of thanks for the rescue, “Have you found her Sam?”
“No, sir. But I think I know what happened to them?”
Emma stepped forward, “Where are Jubilee and Logan, Samuel?”
“Well, ma’am, I don’t rightly know where they are, but I know how they got there.”
“Explain yourself.”
For a moment Sam looked like he really didn’t want to say, but then with a small smile directed at Scott that could have been pity, he answered, “Wolverine’s motorcycle is gone.”
Scott sat down on the front steps of the mansion and put his head down in hands in defeat, while the headache that had been skirting him all morning flared into all of its pulsing glory. Why me, he thought, what did I do to deserve this.
* * * * *
At approximately 3:30 that afternoon, Scott heard the sweetest sound he could imagine as Wolverine’s Harley roared up Greymalkin Lane.
Emma beat him to the porch by only a second and they both turned almost identical disapproving stares on the rider who was slowly climbing off the motorcycle parked in front of them.
Jubilee moved a bit stiffly, as if she had been riding for some time. Giving a huge back-popping stretch she slipped the helmet off of her head and shook out her hair.
“Hi Cyke. Hiya Frosty. What’re you doing here? How’s Banshee? Hank told me what happened to him?”
“Sean is recovering. Do not try to change the subject, you know perfectly well why I am here. The question is Jubilation, where have you been?” came from Emma Frost while at the same moment Scott said through clenched teeth, “Jubilee, where have you been?”
The other X-Men, alerted by Jean to Jubilee’s return, met her at the front door. She found herself surrounded with a dozen different questions being fired at her and Wolverine at once. She was having a hard time not laughing since half the questions were directed and her and the other half at Wolverine. At which point Wolverine had all of it was going to take and directed her to take a step backwards from the fray. Holding up her hands she yelled, “Whoa!” while setting off a series of exploding pafs over everyone’s heads.
“Much better,” she said, with more than a hint of Wolverine’s growl lacing her voice. We’ll take these in order. Jean and Rogue, we’re fine. Storm, we were in no kind of danger. Remy, yeah, it was a most excellent time.
Emma interrupted, her tones pure ice. “Jubilation, I’ll ask you one more time, where have you been?”
She looked around at the expectant faces watching her and realized that even Dr. Strange was standing on front porch.
“Well, see, Wolvie was feeling kind of restless so we did what Wolvie always does when he feels restless.”
Rogue shook her head, “Sugah, Logan goes and finds himself a beer and barfight when he feels restless.”
“Exactly.”
“Chere, you to young ta get into a bar,” remarked Gambit.
“I know that. We only went ta the bar to find Major Anderson. He’s a bud of Wolvie’s. He’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent too. He’s like, kind of old, but still cool. Then the Major decided that we needed to leave, ‘cause it was a bar after all, so we wuz goin’ for some ice cream.”
“Thank goodness, someone with some sense,” Jean murmured, from where she had a tight hold of her husband’s arm.
“But see that’s when the bar fight broke out.”
“Bar fight?” parroted Sam, whose whole expression was one of utter amazement.
“Yeah, only those dudes weren’t so tough. I mean, did ya ever notice what nice THUNK! sounds the bad guys make when they hit the floor?"
*Darlin’, maybe you better wrap this up, their eyes are starting to glaze over.**Ok.*
“After the fight was over, me and the Major went for the ice cream; Bubblegum, my fav. I crashed at his place and here I am.
Emma, who had stood utterly unimpressed through the whole recital, crossed her arms in front of her and very slowly said, “The truth this time, Jubilation.”
Jubilee, cut her eyes over at the White Queen, analyzing and weighing just how far she could go. Giving a small sigh, she said, “Oh, very well. Wolvie was feeling restless so we hopped the bike and rode around and finally went into the city where we rented a hotel room and sacked fer a couple of hours and then came home. There, you satisfied?”
“Much better, Jubilation. Now go inside and get cleaned up and rested. I believe that Dr. Strange will be ready at sundown. You have 3 hours.”
The various X-Men watched in stunned surprise as Jubilee meekly turned around and went quietly into the Mansion.
Emma turned a triumphant and thoroughly smug smile onto Scott before adding as she too swept into the Mansion, “That, Mr. Summers is how you manage precocious children; by not letting them get the better of you.”
Only after Emma was out of ear shot did Gambit turn to Sam and comment, “Gambit still bet even money dat the first story de p’tite told was the truth.”
* * * * *
The furniture in the living had been pushed back against the walls to make room for the pentagram now chalked on the floor. As the sun set outside, Dr. Strange lit the five mystic candles, each placed at one point of the star. Jubilee lay on the floor beside Wolverine’s still drugged body in the middle of the pentagram. She was feeling a little nervous and vaguely silly as she watched Dr. Strange circle around the room. She had a sudden wish that some of the others could have attended this ritual.
“Jubilee, do you have the pendant I gave you earlier?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Please place in it your palm and then clasp Logan’s hand. Wrap the chain securely around both of your hands. The pendant will be the receptacle for Weston’s soul after he is removed from Logan’s body.”
Jubilee stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to control her nervousness. Finally giving up counting the ceiling tiles she called out, “Hey Doc?”
“Yes?”
“Hmm, is this like, gonna hurt or anything? ‘Cause it sure hurt the first time.”
“You were not prepared the first time. There should be no pain.”
She went silent again as she watched him lay out several books on the floor beside.
“Hey Doc?”
“Yes, Jubilee?”
“Will I remember Wolvie’s memories and stuff? Will he remember me?”
“You shouldn’t. You each might have a few lingering memories but those should fade.”
“Oh.”
Strange looked over at her at that softly voiced “oh.” Was that disappointment he had heard her in voice? He knew that this child and Wolverine were close but surely she didn’t wish to keep the sometimes extremely violent memories of Wolverine within her. Enough, he admonished himself, it was time to get his mind back on his job.
“Hey Doc?”
He controlled his urge to sigh and only barely kept the exasperation from coloring his voice. “Yes, Jubilee?”
“Does that mean I won’t be able to do the claw thing anymore?”
“Jubilee, the ability to manipulate your powers comes from you. The shape of that manifestation was chosen by Logan, as his weapon of choice. Whether you will be able to control your abilities to that degree without Logan within you, I don’t know.”
She silently digested that information and then ventured one more time. “Hey Doc?”
“What?!”
*Kiddo, I think it’s time ta leave the Doc to his work.**oh, ok.*
“Sorry, Wolvie says I got to shut up now.”
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she held Dr. Strange mutter, “Wise, man” just before her world went black.
* * * * *
She awoke in darkness, back in her old bed, in her old room. She seemed to be fine except for a faint headache centered between her eyes. Had it worked? Was everything ok now?
Very softly she called, “Wolvie?”
Only silence answered her. He was gone.
Holding up her hands in the darkness she concentrated but produced nothing more than a few of her normal pafs which exploded brightly in the darkness, searing her vision and causing the headache to increase in strength. She pushed the sense of disappointment aside as she tried to figure out what had happened.
She struggled to sit up, the pounding in her head growing sharper with her movements. Focusing on the clock beside her bed, she rubbed her eyes until the numbers made sense; 1:30 in the morning. What had happened to Wolvie?
Rolling off her bed she rose unsteadily to her feet and headed down the hallway to Wolverine’s room. Flicking on the light and squinting into the sudden brightness she realized that he wasn’t in his bed. She fought down her rising sense of panic that something had gone wrong with the transfer.
She stood in the middle of room, the pounding in her head keeping time with thudding of her racing heart. Where was he? Then she remembered. Wolverine’s body had been kept sedated because of Weston, which meant that he would still be down in the MedLab.
She took off running and kept running through the deserted hallways of the mansion until she stood breathless outside of the MedLab door. With a trembling hand she hit the contact that would slide open the door. Unconsciously holding her breath, she let out a ragged sign of relief at seeing him lying on one of the diagnostic beds. Hurrying over she reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder just to make sure he was real. There was no sign of the drugs which had been keeping him sedated so she guessed that Dr. Strange’s transfer ritual had been successful.
He stirred restlessly then, a low growl forcing its way through suddenly clenched teeth. Remembering his words from earlier about the darker things that roamed his mind she realized that he was still caught somewhere between the drugs and the aftermath of the transfer.
Reaching back out to put her hand once again on his shoulder she whispered, “Don’t worry, Wolvie. I keep watch for ya. I’m yer partner, and don’t you forget it. ‘Cause somebody’s got to watch out for you and it looks like I’m it.”
Then crawling up on top of the sheet that covered him she curled in a ball, her back pressed into side. “Nothing’s gonna get you while I’m watching yer back.”
Closing her eyes against the pain in her head she had one last thought before she drifted back into sleep: I thought he said the transfer wouldn’t hurt this time.
* * * * *
Emma shifted impatiently from one foot to the other, “Jubilee, are you ready to go?”
“Sure thing, Ms. Frost. Ya seem ta be in an awful big hurry. Ya wouldn’t be like itching to see a certain Irishman would ya?”
“Jubilee.”
“What?” she answered, as innocent as she could make it. Emma’s voice had been sharp as glass but Jubilee had seen the small twitch at the corner of mouth so she knew that Frosty was just playing her part of being the big bad White Queen.
“Say your good-byes. It is time we departed. And on the way back to the Academy we are going to have a looong talk about that little stunt you and Gambit pulled so you could go to Madripoor.
Uh-oh, she thought. “I thought you forgot about that.”
“I have a very long memory.” Emma waved her off, “Now, go. I will be waiting in the limo.”
All of the X-Men, except for Logan who stood off to one side, gathered together to wish her goodbye with a mixture of admonishments to please stay out of trouble and hugs.
“I’m sorry about the claws, Jubilee, I know how much you liked them. But it’s only been a few days since the transfer, they might come back on their own. And if they don’t, well, I’m sure that with practice you’ll someday be able to manifest that kind of control over your abilities.”
“Yeah, I know. Emma, like said the same thing. Thanks Jean.”
Jubilee stepped out of the circle of her former teammates and turned around to face Logan who stood patiently waiting for her. Throwing her arms around him she buried her face in his chest, getting out a strangled "Oh Wolvie" before the swirl of thoughts and emotions became to tangled to express in words. Somehow though, he understood, but then she thought, he had always understood. Tightening his own arms around her slim shoulders, he answered her the only way he could, "I know, darlin’. I know."
The threat of sudden tears contained, she pulled herself away while he cleared his throat suspiciously. "You listen to Sean and Emma and stay out of trouble."
She affected a wide eyed innocent look, "Who me?"
He chuckled, "Yeah you. You attract trouble."
Stepping close to give him one last hug, she said into his chest, "What can I say Wolvster, I learned from the best."
Grinning, she spun and bounded down the front steps to her waiting teacher. She turned to wave back to the rest of the X-Men as they filed back into the Mansion until only Logan remained on the steps. Giving one last wave she climbed into the car, keeping one hand behind her back as she climbed in, then very deliberately she "popped" her claws, then just as quickly banished them. They were nothing like what they had been; weak and pale instead of the hot plasma colors from before, they barely jutted an inch past her knuckles, but for right now, it was all she could manage. For a split second, she wondered if Logan had seen, then she heard the deep laughter behind her as the car pulled out of the driveway.
Ok everybody, it is finally over and now is the perfect opportunity to tell me what you liked, what you hated and what you think I really messed up on. And before anyone complains, I know the whole motorcycle thing really doesn’t have anything to do with advancing the story but after the angst I’d put Jubilee through, I thought she needed a nice fun relaxing ride.
"To The Gallows Foot and After" is a line from a Kipling poem called "The Thousandth Man." The verse reads -- "One man in a thousand, Solomon says, will stick more close than a brother, but the thousandth man, will stand by your side, to the gallows foot and after." I know it's weird, but I always saw Jubilee and Logan having that kind of relationship.
