DISCLAIMER: I do not own the X-Men!
I made Jubilee slightly younger in this story, I always thought Wolverine was a great father figure to a number of the younger x-men, I hope you all enjoy this story, I tried not to make it too OC. It'd be great if others tried to write similar Wolvie bonding stories too! :)
His Life-Line
Lightning cracked outside Xavier's school for gifted youngsters, rattling the old building's windows. At that moment 12 year old Jubilee burst out of bed and promptly fell off its side, dragging her neon pink blanket and "Rabby", the stuffed velveteen rabbit that had a powder pink ribbon around its neck down with her. The house shook once more as the darkened sky flashed with rapid strikes of lighting, and several seconds later a loud rumbling sound followed. Jubilee struggled to catch her breath, trying to get her bearings as she still reeled from the nightmare she just had. She glanced at the electric alarm clock that was on her nightstand, but there was no time, signaling that the power was out. Heaving a dry sob, she angrily rubbed away the tears from her puffy eyes and stood on shaky legs.
"Wolvie wouldn't be afraid," She thought stubbornly, "So I won't be either…"
Peaking outside her closed window, the trees swayed angrily from side to side, as the foreboding storm moved in. Another crack of lighting sounded, directly over the portion of the mansion where Jubilee's window was; she yelped and shoved her face into Rabby. Peeking out from her toy's fluffy ears, she expected to see the 2 confused faces of her schoolmates that also slept in the same room starring back at her. But she was dismayed to see no one there, and remembered how nearly everyone was gone that Friday night from the mansion, as Professor Xavier had given everyone the weekend off to go see their families for the summer solstice holiday. And those who didn't have families to visit stayed with their friend's families, as the opportunity to have a small reprieve from school and X Men missions was rare, and not something to waste. In fact, the only person left in the mansion was Wolverine, who had been assigned the designated babysitter for the students who stayed behind; the only one being Jubilee. Oh sure, plenty of Jubilee's X friends invited her back to stay with them for the weekend, but what those friends didn't know is her mentor had offered to take her fishing that weekend, along with teaching her how to pop wheelies on the moped Wolverine had just bought for her. This was an offer that Jubilee couldn't pass up with her surrogate father.
"Wolvie!" Her teary eyes widened as she threw the decision to be as fearless as the feral mutant out the window, "I'll go get him!"
Jubilee's door creaked open as she peaked into the long, dark corridor that also held the rooms of the other house-mates. Clutching Rabby to her side, she took a deep breath and began to quickly walk down the hallway. As she passed the door that led to Gambit's room, the hair on the back of her neck stood up as lighting cracked once and harsh winds pushed into the mansion, causing it to creak and wheeze. Jubilee ran down the rest of the hall and skid to a stop in front of Wolverine's closed door, her legs felt like jelly as she felt tremors of fear wrack through her body, causing her to have trouble catching her breath. She lifted her knuckles to Wolverine's door, but suddenly stopped and thought better of it.
She remembered what happened last time she woke him up in the middle of the night, and the results weren't too pretty. While Jubilee thought it was funny when Wolvie was irritated with her, angry Wolvie was downright frightening to the girl, and her last stunt with him this late at night nearly caused Wolverine to "pull her over his knee" as he put it. She wasn't eager to find out what that meant, and the memory of it all caused her to stand ramrod straight with her arms at her sides, debating with herself what to do. Glancing out of the corner of her eye down the hallway, she swore she could see things moving in the shadows, leering at her, some of the shapes especially looked like…
"Oh God!" She thought as panic overtook her rational thoughts "It's the men that killed my parents! It wasn't just a dream! They're here!"
Jubilee's young imagination ran wild as she slam opened Wolverine's bedroom door and stood in the doorway, glancing ever so often down the hallway as it seemed to her the shadows got closer.
A large figure in the room sat up in bed, growling softly.
"Wolvie… Wolvie!" she whispered harshly into the darkness, despite her fear still debating with herself on whether it was a good idea to wake-up Wolverine in the middle of the night again.
"Jubilation Lee!" Wolverine ground out, still groggy from sleep he rubbed a calloused hand down his whiskered face; his peaked hair looking wilder than usual. "Ya better have a damn important reason fer wakin' me up this late girl…" he growled out, not in the mood for games. He thanked his lucky stars that he decided to wear boxers and a white undershirt to bed that night; usually he didn't wear anything at all.
Jubilee took his response as an invitation and rushed in, standing next to Wolverine's bed. Wolverine leaned over to turn on the lamp at the side of his bed. All that happened was a clicking noise as he pulled on the cord several times. He sighed, irritated.
"Damn powers out…" he glanced down at Jubilee, his keen feral eyes not really having need for light to see someone clearly anyways. His heart stopped as he saw tears streaming down Jubilee's face as she stood in front of him, clutching the stuffed rabbit he bought her under her chin in her hello kitty PJs. Her lower lip quivered as she looked at him.
"What's tha matta darlin'?" Logan drawled out. His features softened as he turned to sit on the edge of his bed, his feet touching the wood floor of his room as he gave Jubilee his full attention, realizing now that she wasn't trying to play a game with him.
Jubilee sobbed harder and clutched Rabby closer, burying her face in his fuzzy body, too overwhelmed as the emotions of fear, but also relief and love she felt from Wolverine at that moment running through her to get a single word out.
Wolverine frowned as he regarded her. He always had a weak spot for children, and it intensely bothered him that the little girl he considered a daughter to be so upset at this time of night, so much so that she couldn't even speak, which was unheard of for a girl who incessantly chattered his ears off when she could. Was she hurt? Did someone hurt her? He bristled briefly at that thought and sniffed the air for any foreign scents, but there was nothing out of the ordinary that he could detect, besides the strong scent of fear coming off of Jubilee, along with the salty smell of her tears.
He frowned as he was stumped by Jubilee's distraught state, he had never seen her so upset, usually she was the type to brush something off or make light of something. He did the only thing he could think of at that moment; he held his arms out to her.
"c'mhere sweet darlin', ol' Wolvie's gonna make it all better now."
Jubilee scrambled up into Wolverine's lap and wrapped her arms around his thick neck, forgetting momentarily about Rabby as he dropped to the floor. He wrapped her in his strong embrace and rocked her as she cried. Stroking her short, black hair, and back, he began to try to figure out what was wrong.
"Shhhhhh, fireworks girl, take deep breaths and tell me whatsa matta…" he soothed into her ear. He sniffed her scent as he asked her once more what was wrong, trying to get any clues. Something caught his attention and he sniffed deeper. Her scent was off, it was mixed with the scent of sickness, and he noticed that she was much too warm. Even her PJs were soaked with sweat; a sign of her body's struggle.
"I-I had a dream about the men who killed my p-parents…" Jubilee hiccupped as she pulled away momentarily from resting her head on Logan's shoulder to look him in the eyes. Wolverine tightened his grip on Jubilee as he took in her bloodshot blue eyes.
"Then I dreamt that they were coming for me…" she shuttered, jumping once more as lightning struck and loud pelts of rain and hail started to make their assault on the building, bringing with it raging winds and other debris that hit the side of the mansion.
"I don't know what's wrong with me Wolvie, I can't stop shaking." Jubilee shook as she felt a feeling of coldness go through her body and buried her face into the crook of his neck, trying to absorb more of his body heat, which was always naturally higher than others.
Wolverine stood up with Jubilee in his arms. He glanced out his bedroom window, observing the storm that raged outside and made his way into the hallway, noticing how dark and quiet the mansion was. Definitely scary to a 12 year-old girl.
"No wonder Jubes came arunnin' ta me…" He thought to himself.
Wolverine readjusted Jubilee in his arms and started to descend down the stairs. Only an occasional sniffle came from Jubilee at this point, and he felt her completely relax in his arms, her adrenaline finally wearing off at feeling safe in her hero's arms.
"Gotta get somethin' ta bring her fever down…" He turned the corner into the kitchen, gently setting Jubilee on the counter while he searched through several different cabinets. Jubilee shivered at the loss of body heat and looked at Logan through sleepy eyes. Logan handed her a flashlight from the kitchen drawer, smiling at her and trying to stay upbeat for her sake.
"Use this flashlight ta help ya see honey, I don' have any use fer it." He ran his hand down Jubilee's damp hair.
Jubilee smiled slightly at him as she clicked the flashlight on, feeling groggy, "Sure thing, Wolvster." Jubilee's voice cracked and she coughed roughly into her hand. Logan felt his worry increase ten-fold and he forced himself to turn back to the cabinets to search for medicine. Growling in annoyance, he started ripping things out from the medicine cabinet once he found it, allowing the bottles of pills to drop and spill out all over the floor. Jubilee eased herself back on the counter so she was laying on her side, watching Logan destroy the cabinet.
"Take it easy Wolvie, Professor X sure will be mad if you keep rippin' up his kitchen like that," She wheezed out. Wolverine turned to look at her with an irritated glance, though careful to keep his voice soft.
"Can it kid, I need ta find ya some medicine to git rid o' that fever you have." Logan suddenly stopped his rapid search as he came across a bottle of Nyquil. Turning it over he read the symptoms it addressed.
"Cough, fever, sore throat, aches n' pains, and causes tha user ta be drowsy, perfect!" Wolverine mumbled to himself. He turned back around and found Jubilee nearly asleep on the counter he set her on.
"Wakie-wakie fireworks girl, ya need ta take some o' this medicine." He gently shook her awake and pulled her back into a sitting position as she came to once more. Seeing what kind of medicine he had for her, Jubilee wrinkled her nose up as she had another coughing fit.
"Ughhh I hate that medicine Wolvie…" She rasped out. Logan felt his irritation flare up once more.
"Oh no ya don't kid. Yer gonna take this medicine, I know it tastes like shit but it'll make ya feel better faster, and don't ya want to do something fun tomorrow instead o' staying in bed all day?" Exacerbated, Logan tried to convince her to see it his way. Jubilee looked up at him with doe eyes that had dark circles under them.
"Yeah but I can never keep it down Wolvie when I take it, it always comes back up." Jubes lowered her eyes to fiddle with her hands, embarrassed. Logan sighed at his bad-luck and turned to find the kitchen garbage pail. Finding it, he dragged it over to sit underneath Jubilee's dangling legs.
"We'll use this pail here in case we run into a bit o' trouble, 'K Jubes?" Jubilee nodded in understanding and watched as Wolverine read the measurement directions on the Nyquil, and then poured some of the thick liquid into the small measuring cup the bottle came with. After double checking the amount, he handed it to her.
"Jubes I need ya ta drink all of this and try yer hardest to keep it down, 'K?"
"Ok Wolvie.." She said softly as she took the medicine and winced at the sickening cherry smell it had. Wolverine regarded her silently, ready to grab the waste basket if necessary. Suddenly Jubilee pinched her nose shut and downed the medicine like it was a shot. Logan couldn't help but smile at the site.
"God help me when she turns 21, seems she already knows how ta take shots like a pro at the age of 12, 'M bound ta have my hands full when she's older." His smile vanished as Jubilee's face scrunched up as she raised her hand to cover her mouth, trying desperately to slow the dry heaves that wracked her small frame. Logan snatched up the waste bin and held it under her chin as the nyquil came straight back up and into the pail, just as she said it would, along with some stomach acid, but no food. Jubilee started to cry again, embarrassed that she couldn't even consume a little bit of medicine like Logan had asked her to.
"I'm s-sorry W-Wolvie!" Wolverine shushed her, grabbing a towel that hung off of the fridge door and used it to wipe her mouth and bottom of her night shirt where a little bit of vomit stained it, feeling guilty about what happened. Once finished, he discarded the towel to the floor.
"Aw hell Jubes, I'm sorry pum'kin. Let's get a coupla crackers fer ya and then we'll try once more, 'K darlin'?" Still sniffling, Jubes nodded her head and watched Wolverine grab the box of triskets from the pantry and fill a glass of water from the tap. He grabbed several crackers for her and handed them to her.
"Rinse out yer mouth first, then eat some crackers." Jubilee took a sip of the water, swished it around in her mouth and spat it out in the sink near her, then started nibbling on the crackers. Logan rolled his eyes.
"Girl just cram those things in your mouth! No sense in nibblin' on them, when was the last time you ate anyways?" He raised an eyebrow at her. Jubilee looked up at him with a guilty expression on her face.
"Thursday…"
"Thursday when Jubes? I ain't playin' around here." Wolverine growled out.
Jubilee hesitated for a moment. "Thursday morning…"
Logan growled loudly at that revelation, pinching the bridge of his nose and squinting his eyes shut, trying to keep his temper under control for Jubilee's sake.
"It's been nearly 2 fuckin' days since she ate?! What kind o' mentor am I? coulda let the kid starve with how observant I am. Poor pum'kin, musta really felt like hell if she didn't want no food fer so long…" Logan thought.
"Jubes, ya telling me that ya've felt like shit since Thursday mornin' and ya ain't tell me about it until just now? Early Saturday mornin'?" Jubilee nodded slowly, warily watching her hero's reaction, still slowly munching on the crackers.
"it's just that… Well, you always told me to be tough Wolvie, and I didn't want to whine about feeling achy or tired…"
Logan frowned, feeling guilty about the grueling workout he put her through Thursday and Friday morning, and feeling somewhat responsible for her condition at the moment. He couldn't believe that he hadn't been able to smell her sickness earlier. Leaning down to smooth her hair back once more, Wolverine spoke softly.
"I ain't Jeannie sweetheart. Ya'll need ta tell me when you don't feel up ta snuff, and it ain't whinin' when there's actually somethin' wrong. Do we have a deal fireworks girl?"
Jubilee smiled at him as she finished her last trisket. "we sure do Wolvie!" feeling slightly better at having something in her stomach that didn't make her feel nauseous. Logan smiled down at the spunky little girl. Turning back to the medicine and filling up the small dosage cup once more, Wolverine turned back to Jubilee.
"'K Darlin, we're gonna try this one more time, and don't worry if ya lose yer lunch again, the garbage can is still here, ya just relax and try to keep the medicine down."
Jubilee nodded, looking determined as she took the cup from Wolverine. Logan silently approved as she stared down the goopy medicine in her hands.
"This little girl is gonna make a hellava X-man when she grows up. She's as tough and stubborn as they come, I just hafta keep a closer eye on her, make sure she's eatin' right and feelin' right. I don't ever want her ta feel like she can't tell me somethin' again."
Jubilee downed the medicine once more, grimacing at the after taste. Wolverine smirked at the face she made.
"Delicious tasting, Sweetheart?" Jubilee made another face at wolverine, sticking her tongue out to express how disgusting she thought the medicine tasted. Wolverine chuckled at her goofiness, taking the empty cup back from her and setting it with the rest of the medicine. Knowing he's no longer in danger of getting puked on, he picked Jubilee up again and started heading back upstairs. Exhausted, Jubilee sighed as she rested her head on Wolverine's broad and brawny shoulder once more, allowing herself to relax, knowing that no harm would come to her while she was with him. The whole thing made Wolverine's heart melt, and he held her closer to him.
Walking into Jubilee's bedroom, he readjusted her so he could have a free arm to pull out her dresser drawers.
"Let's get ya a fresh change of PJs Jubes, can't have ya going back to sleep in tha ones yer wearing."
Wolverine pulled out a pair with little cats decorating them. Jubilee shook her head in disapproval.
"Not those ones, Wolvie." Wolverine shoved the clothes back into the drawer and dug around for another pair. He pulled out a set with green frogs on it. Jubilee waived it away.
"Nooo Wolvie! not those ones either." Wolverine growled with irritation, Jubilee giggled at his frustrated expression.
"Well which ones ya want girl"? This ain't no time ta go diva on me now." Jubilee put her finger to her lips as if she was in deep thought.
"hmmm…" Wolverine interrupted her thought process.
"Come on Jubes! It's time fer ya ta be in bed!"
"Ok ok Wolvie! Sheesh you're so impatient! How about those ones?" She pointed at the pair of PJs that were speckled with the power puff girls. Wolverine grunted with her choice and snatched them up, not caring either way so long as she was wearing clean clothes. Setting her down on the floor, he gave her a slight nudge forward as she held the clean PJs in her hands, and then turned around so his back was facing her, folding his arms.
"Ya know what ta do Jubes, change into those clean PJs and then let me know when you're done."
A few minutes later Wolverine felt a small hand touch his elbow and he turned around to see Jubilee yawning and scratching her eyes, dressed in her clean PJs, the old ones discarded on the floor.
"Alright Darlin' time fer ya ta get back in bed," Wolverine started guiding her towards her small twin sized bed. Jubilee immediately ground her feet into the floor and turned around to face Wolverine.
"Wait Wolvie, can I stay with you tonight? I don't like being alone in this room." She grasped at his shirt, her 4'10" frame trying to claw her way back up into his arms. Logan could hear the fear creep back into her voice. Logan sighed, knowing now there was no way he was going back to sleep that night.
"Alright babydoll, bu' just this once." Wolverine lifted Jubilee back into his arms. He could feel her happiness seep through her pores as she latched onto him; he smiled softly, knowing that it was worth his trouble to just have Jubilee comfortable and happy once more.
Walking once more back into the hallway of the mansion, Logan heard a small buzzing sound enter the house for half a second as the power went back on, the thunderstorm now reduced to a slow drizzle. As he passed his room he heard Jubilee whisper something to him.
"Wait! Can we get Rabby?" Logan smiled at her attachment to the stuffed rabbit he bought her.
"Sure can darlin'," he walked in to retrieve the rabbit, handing it to her.
He remembered when he first got it for her. Storm and Jean commented that Jubilee may reject it, as she was approaching the age where she would be "too cool" for stuffed animals. Logan ignored their opinions, determined that Jubilee wouldn't lose her childhood too early. He couldn't be any happier at that moment for ignoring the X-women's opinions as he watched Jubilee cuddle the fuzzy thing. He suddenly got an idea on how to get her asleep quickly.
"Wanna watch a lil' bit o' T.V Jubes?" Wolverine could feel the tired little girl nod in affirmation against his neck as she tucked Rabby under her arm.
Walking back downstairs and into the living room, Logan snatched the remote and turned the T.V. on. Grabbing a light blanket and still managing to juggle Jubilee in his arms, he settled into an oversized armchair, draping the blanket over himself and Jubilee, who rested on his side, with her head on his chest. He wrapped one of his bulging arms around her to keep her from slipping too far down into the chair.
Logan flipped through the channels until he found a nice black and white movie. Setting the remote down, he felt a pair of eyes on him, and looked down to see Jubilee looking up at him, smiling.
"I love you Wolvie." Logan smiled at her and leaned down to brush away her bangs from her eyes,
"I love ya too kid, now close those pretty eyes of yers and get some sleep." He gently covered her eyes with his hand, chuckling as she broke out into a big grin at his playfulness, her fingers wrapping around his large hand.
"I know yer scared Jubes about those men comin' ta get ya, but I'll never let that happen, ya hear?" Jubilee sobered up at the mention of the men who killed her parents.
"You promise?" she asked innocently, her big blue eyes pleading with him to always be her protector.
"I promise, beautiful." At his gruff response, she shifted her position so she could lean up closer, and planted a big kiss on his cheek, then snuggled up next to him, her head lying directly over his heart. Logan pulled her closer to him and wrapped the blanket around her more tightly.
At the end of the movie, Logan looked down and found Jubilee sound asleep against him. He brushed his palm across her forehead and found no unnatural heat there.
"Fever musta broke while I was watchin' the movie." He muttered to himself. He looked on the floor and saw Rabby had slipped from her grasp during her slumber. Leaning down while careful not to jostle Jubilee too much, he grabbed the toy and tucked it back under her arm. Jubilee stretched for a moment at the movement, then snuggled back into Wolverine, his strong and steady heartbeat lulling her into a deep sleep once more.
Glancing at the time that read 4:36am, Logan leaned his head back and closed his eyes, deciding it wouldn't hurt to get a little shut-eye now that Jubilee was out like a light.
"This little girl may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she's my life-line, and as long as 'm breathin', I'll protect her with my life."