Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, places, or things mentioned in this story and I'm not trying to make money off of them. So please don't sue. Thanks.

This story takes place, for the most part, in the normal universe but I've taken some liberties with the timeline.

This is my first fanfic. Comments and criticisms are welcome. Please be kind. Enjoy.

The car's slowing down. We must be close. As she opened her eyes, Jubilee realized that they were not only nearing their destination, they had reached it. She looked out the window and saw the familiar brick wall that surrounded the Westchester school. In another minute, the front gate would come into view. There were patches of graffiti along the wall, some were old, many were new, but they all had the same anti-mutant theme. She turned her head away and looked out the front. She could tell that the cabbie had noticed the graffiti as well and was darting questioning glances at her through the rear view mirror. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for him, she wasn't planning on satisfying his curiosity.

Not for the first time since leaving Los Angeles did she wonder if she was up to the task that she had committed herself to. She had been a lot more confident of herself when she'd talked to Scott a month ago. He had come down to LA with Emma and Wolverine for her high school graduation. She hadn't been expecting anyone to come but Emma had surprised her by insisting that she did not want to miss the greatest accomplishment her former pupil would probably ever achieve in her life. Jubilee supposed that Emma had meant that to be a compliment. Scott had decided to tag along and, while it was strange to see him with Emma, she was happy that he had come. He and Jean had always done their best to create a familial environment for her when she'd lived at the mansion. And, as usual, Wolverine had appeared from nowhere minutes before the ceremony began.

They'd gone out for lunch afterwards and everyone had been curious about her plans for the future. When she'd told them that she wasn't interested in college at this point, nor did she feel ready to join any spandex clad teams, Scott had suggested that she could come to the school and work as a mentor for the students in the same way that she had in her high school in LA.

That had sounded like a great idea to her a month ago but as she looked back out at the writings on the wall she felt her reservations rise up. Of course I liked mentoring in high school. Hearing about and dealing with normal kids' problems was a piece of cake compared to what I've faced. But how do I plan on helping other mutants? I'm still figuring out how to deal with the world myself! And what about the kids who can't hide what they are? They'll think that I'm just a poser. And maybe they'll be right! Ugh! Jubilee fiercely shook her head as if to force the thoughts out. It only succeeded in earning her a more worried look from the driver. She could almost hear him breathe a sigh of relief as they stopped in front of the gate.

Her first thought as she stepped into the foyer of the mansion and looked around was that Scott had lied to her. It wasn't a school they were running here. It was a zoo. There were mutants everywhere, crawling on the floor, hovering in the air, dangling from the banisters, teleporting between floors, running past her, running through her? Oof. That was kinda gross and unsettling. But it also jarred her out of the shock of her surroundings. She didn't recognize anyone so she headed straight for the headmaster's office. But not until I take a detour to the kitchen 'cause I am seriously starving.

The kitchen, or rather, the canteen, as it had been newly transformed into, was no less astonishing than the foyer, but Jubilee was a girl with a mission. Without looking around her she headed straight for the lunch buffet. So when she heard a loud voice shriek her name she was caught off guard. Before she could do anything more than turn around, she found herself enveloped in the strong arms of Rogue.

"Hey there sugah! Scott told us you were comin' today. It's so good to see you! How ya doin?"

"Hey yourself Rogue," she said laughingly as she pulled out of Rogue's bear hug. "It's great to see you too." And it really was. Maybe it was the fact that hers was the first familiar face she'd seen since entering the mansion, but she also knew that this was the face of a real friend. It did a lot to calm her nerves.

"What? No hug for Remy?" Jubilee glanced behind Rogue to see Gambit standing a few feet away, grinning.

"Ha! You won't get that lucky in this reality, Cajun," she said, even as she walked over to give him a hug.

"Ah ma petit, I see your tongue is as wicked as ever."

"Alright Remy, stop harrassin the poor girl. You get yourself somethin' to eat Jubilee and we'll sit down an' have a chat."

After they were all settled, Jubilee told her friends all about her life in LA between mouthfuls of food. Gambit and Rogue were familiar with California because of the months they had spent there after they had lost their powers, so they talked about all the places and people that the three of them knew about. Jubilee started to relax and enjoy herself.

The three of them were pretty much alone in the canteen now that the lunch hour was over, but students kept popping in and out on snack runs. She'd finished her meal and the three of them were enjoying cups of coffee when Jubilee felt the hairs on her neck begin to stand up. The temperature in the canteen suddenly dropped and Jubilee knew of only two mutants who could do that, and only one of them wouldn't be so insensitive to others. She turned around and saw that she had guessed correctly. Bobby Drake, also known as Iceman, was standing in front of the vending machines trying to choose between Cherry 7Up and Cherry Coke.

"Hey Drake, you mind? Some of us don't like turning into popsicles."

All of a sudden Jubilee found herself on the receiving end of a very furious glare. She was so taken aback that she didn't have time to respond before Bobby slammed his hand against the Root Beer button, picked up his drink and stalked out of the room.

"Jeez, what was that about?"

Gambit just shook his head saying, "Of all the times to use dat tongue of yours, ma petit, you couldn't have picked a worse one."

Rogue was a little clearer about what had just happened, "Jubilee, Bobby can't de-ice anymore. That's his second mutation. The poor boy hates it and he's really sensitive about it. It's completely changed him."

"Oh shit."

After the disaster with Bobby, Rogue showed Jubilee to her room so that she could settle in. She'd mailed her stuff early so it was already waiting for her in her room when she got there. She thought about the daunting task of unpacking all the boxes and decided they could wait for later. She unpacked her essentials and lay down on her bed. She listened to a random playlist set on her iPod as she thought about Bobby and his new mutation.

Rogue had said that the mutation had completely changed him. Well that was obvious. She'd never seen that look in Bobby's eyes before. It was so hard. And nothing like the friendly and carefree Bobby she remembered. She knew that he could be serious when he wanted to be. She'd seen that side of him when she and Banshee had staked out his little smack down with Emma all those years back. He'd been stuck in his ice form and had wanted Emma to show him how to use his powers so that he could change back. He'd been really upset at that time too. But this was different. There seemed to be something beyond the anger. She just didn't know what. The hell with it. I can't think about this right now. My brain's too fried at the moment to think deep thoughts. I just need to go apologize to him and then let it go.

The halls were quiet. Curfew had set in and it was lights out for the students but Jubilee knew that no self respecting X-Man could possibly be in bed by 10pm. If they were, then things had obviously changed a lot since she'd been gone. She left the women's dormitory and went downstairs towards the rec room. She peeked into the room and saw Warren and Paige making out on the sofa. Ew. When did that happened? Well, well, the hayseed had obviously moved up in the world. She'd have to grill her about it tomorrow.

She tip toed away from the room and continued down the hall checking the offices, computer lab, game room, and even the library, although she doubted she'd find Iceman in there. Nope, just that gay guy from Alpha Flight. Wow, he's pretty hot. Maybe he needs an aide in his class? I wouldn't mind feasting on that eye candy. Alright Jubes, focus! Focus! What was I focusing on again? Oh yeah, Bobby.

She'd searched the entire mansion, including Bobby's room but she hadn't found him anywhere. Any normal person would have given up at this point but Jubilee wasn't normal. She was jet-lagged. It was only midnight in LA. She still had a couple of hours left in her so she decided that she might as well check the school grounds. And with all the high tech security equipment surrounding the school, it wasn't like she was going to run into anybody she shouldn't.

She was half way to the boat house when she saw him. It was the darkest time of the night but even without the moonlight Jubilee could make out the sparkle of Iceman's form. He was walking back towards the mansion and what little light there was kept refracting off his limbs as he moved. Jubilee was struck by the sight of him and there was a funny feeling in her stomach. Before she could put a name to it, Bobby was close enough to notice her presence. He stopped short, startled to see someone else out so late.

"Hey Bobby," now that he was in front of her, she was a little unsure of how to proceed.

"Jubilee." He started walking again.

Ouch. Well I guess I deserved that. She fell in step beside him. "I was looking for you."

Bobby glanced up at that but didn't say anything. He just raised an eyebrow. He's not going to make this easy. This new Bobby was a little intimidating so Jubilee decided that the best way to handle it was to be her normal, direct, self. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know about your second mutation. I would –"

"Don't worry about it Jubilee. I know you didn't know. It's alright."

"Yeah, but – "

"Hey. Forget about it. I have." He smiled as he said it, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Instead, there was a haunted look in his eyes. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't have worried her as much. But this was Bobby. These kinds of looks weren't natural to Bobby.

Once again, she felt the need to do something. But what? As if sensing her concern, Bobby looked away. They'd reach the mansion.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind but I'm beat…."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course! Don't worry about it. I think I'm gonna pop a couple sleeping pills. I hate jet lag."

Bobby smiled and said goodnight, "I'll see you later then Jubilee."

She watched him walk away. When he reached the stairs he turned back, "By the way, it's nice to have you back at the school."

For some reason, instead of making her happy, his words just made her want to cry.

"Man." Jubilee threw herself into the wooden desk chair and sighed. Whatever it was that she'd been expecting it hadn't been this. She had been a little nervous this morning when Scott told her that he would take her around to all the classes and introduce her to the students. He'd described to her the current set up under which all the students were separated into teams with mentors. However, these mentors were still their teachers and the students looked up to them as authority figures, not as friends whom they could confide in. That's where Jubilee came in. Scott felt that she was just the right age to relate to the students, but also experienced enough to give them some sort of guidance. Personally, Jubilee felt that he was putting a lot of faith in her abilities.

When they entered the first classroom, Jubilee had imagined a scenario similar to one that took place in most American high schools. A new teacher was introduced while bored, apathetic students looked on, and thought about anything other than what was being said. She couldn't have been more wrong. Over the course of the weekend, news about who she was and her new position had quickly spread throughout the school and thus, Jubilee discovered that she was something of a celebrity. All of the students had been excited to meet her and if it hadn't been for Scott's presence, it would have been impossible to make it through all of the classes since each class wanted to play twenty questions.

She'd hardly had a moment to herself all day after that. There was a steady stream of students coming in and out of her office and everyone wanted to know the same things. What had it been like being on the X-Men? How had she managed to go to Australia with them? Why hadn't she tried to be the leader of Gen X? Did she really run with a gang in LA? And was Wolverine's hair real?

The only reason she was alone now was because all the students were required to go on a field day...field training, or…field…something! Ah I don't care as long as they're anywhere but here. There was a knock on the door and Jubilee groaned.

"Yes?"

The door opened and Jubilee breathed a sigh of relief as Paige walked into her office, "It's only you."

"I should be offended but since I know what a rough day you've had, I'll ignore that."

Instead, Paige settled onto the small couch that lined one wall of the office and gave Jubilee a saintly smile.

Jubilee smiled back at her ex-teammate, "Sorry about that, Hayseed, it's just been a really long day."

"I'm also gonna ignore the fact that you just called me that…this time. But you know what? I think it's really sweet how all these kids look up to you. It reminds me of the way I used to look up to the X-Men."

"Yeah, and now you just do the X-Men," Jubilee said slyly, "or rather, one of them."

"Jubilation Lee! Ah can't believe you just said that."

"Careful there, Paige, your accent's coming out," she laughingly said. And wriggled her eyebrows as she continued, "I saw you and Warren making out on the couch last night. I didn't know you were into old…I mean, older men."

"Warren is not old. He's a very mature and sensitive man."

"Yeah, I bet he showed you his sensitive side," Jubilee snickered.

"Alright, that's it, I'm leaving," Paige made to leave and Jubilee grabbed her arm. It took awhile to get the words out over her fits of laughter but she managed to smooth out Paige's ruffled feathers and get her to stay.

"So, how are you liking it, hangin with the big boys?" They were both sitting on the couch now. Paige was curled up in one corner and Jubilee had tucked her hands behind her head and spread her legs out before her.

"There are times when it's a little scary and sometimes I feel insecure as the newbie. But, it's really what I've always dreamed of. It's great, Jubes." She almost glowed as she said it. Leave it to Paige to make joining the X-men seem like actualizing nirvana.

"So you're getting along with everybody too? Well, apart from Warren," she couldn't help adding.

Paige shot her a warning look, "Well I don't really talk to any of them really. I mean, it's all related to training or missions and everyone's pretty professional about it. Well, apart from Iceman that is."

Jubilee deliberately misunderstood her, "Bobby's always been a prankster. It helps him deal with the stress."

Paige looked skeptical, "Does whining, sniping, and griping help him do that too? He picks fights with Havok over every little decision. It makes me wonder why he even wants to be on the team."

As she digested this bit of information, Jubilee couldn't help but feel even more concerned about Bobby than before.

"To tell you the truth, Jubilee, I couldn't believe that this was the guy you've had a crush on for your entire life." It was Jubilee's turn to get flustered.

"What? Huh? Not my entire life! He came in a far second to Gambit, I'll have you know! Oh, wait…damn, I didn't mean –"

"Seein as how red you've gone, I'm bettin that even though he came in second, right now, he's in first." That earned Paige what Jubilee hoped was a death glare, but only served to make Paige double over with laughter.

"Oh, just yuck it up, Hayseed."

That's the last time I ever decide to share with people who claim to be my friends, Jubilee thought as she locked up her office and trudged down the hall towards the canteen. Years later and she still managed to cringe whenever she remembered that night. It was one of the few times that her Generation X teammates had managed to catch her off guard and she knew she would never live it down.

On one of their rare nights off, Angelo, Jono, and Paige had all gathered in Jubilee's room to watch some British movies that Jono felt were essential for a proper film education. They'd made it halfway through Get Carter before their attention had started to drift. Someone had suggested they play Truth or Dare, but by the end of the evening – or the beginning of the morning – even that had evolved to simply Truth.

They had all been half asleep, with Paige and Jono sprawled on the floor and Jubilee and Angelo stretched out on the bed, when Angelo had asked her who she'd had a crush on. Maybe it had been the full moon, or just her sleep clouded mind, but as she lay on her bed, curled up against her pillow, something had prompted her to whisper the secret which she otherwise would have taken to her grave, "Iccceeeeman."

Quickly realizing what she'd said, she had looked up in horror to find her three friends staring back at her in shock before they had dissolved into a fit of laughter. After that, every time Gen X happened to meet up with the X-Men , Jubilee's teammates had made it a point to remind her of her momentary lapse by hissing, "Iccceeee," whenever Iceman had been around.

"Ugh," Jubilee groaned as she shook her head, trying to force those humiliating memories from her mind. I need a Twinkie.

She had reached the canteen, but before she could open the door, it flew open and her nose made contact with a cold, hard surface. Perfect.

"Jeez, Drake, you wanna watch where you're going?"

"Oops, sorry Jubilee, I was having a little trouble balancing this stuff."

"No kidding." Jubliee rubbed her nose and looked at the junk food piled high in Bobby's arms, "Did you rob the vending machine?"

Bobby smiled, "There's an A-Team marathon coming on TV in a while so I thought I'd stock up for the night."

He said it jokingly but Jubilee could tell from the tension in his body that he was trying very hard to be casual. Typical. He was edging around her now, moving in the direction of the stairs.

"Hey Bobby, since your marathon's not on yet, d'you want to have dinner with me? It's hard finding a familiar face around here nowadays."

"Thanks for asking, but" he said as he pointed his head back in the direction of the canteen, "it's a little crowded in there and to be honest, I don't feel up to any company right now." He looked straight at her as he said the last part and there was no rudeness in his tone, just plain honesty and a little regret.

Jubilee knew when to back off, but she also knew when to be persistent. "Alright then, but now you owe me a dinner," she said teasingly, "And you know I'm the type to collect!"

Bobby smiled, looking relieved that Jubilee wasn't offended. "It's a deal Jubes," he said, winking.

Jubilee grinned, overly pleased at his use of her nickname. Well it's something.

But her happiness quickly faded as she stared after him, watching him quickly make his way through the throng of students heading to the canteen. Bobby was the kind of guy who loved being surrounded by people, and now, seeing him run away from them just seemed so wrong. Frustrated, Jubilee made her way into the dining hall.

The rest of the week went by pretty smoothly. Jubilee still had a lot of students just drop by to chat with her, but a few people had actually come to her with real problems. They weren't very serious issues and luckily she'd been able to deal with them pretty easily, but she figured that the students with the serious issues were probably waiting awhile to feel her out and see how much they could trust her. That was fine with Jubilee, she need a period of adjustment too.

She locked the door to her office as she fantasized about the how she was going to enjoy the weekend ahead of her. She'd finished all her unpacking yesterday and had lazed around her room for a while when it struck her that she didn't have anything to do. She was done with school. There would be no more homework, no more late nights spent finishing projects, nothing. Sure she was working now, but really the hours were pretty easy. She didn't even have to sit in her office all day. Emma had encouraged her to walk the halls or the grounds and interact with the students so that they could grow closer to her and she could understand them better. It was kinda like hanging out with friends all day. She was free. And if she wanted to be honest, she had no idea what to do with herself. What am I thinking? There's always the mall.

Her decision made, Jubilee strode purposefully towards the women's dormitory to get her things. As she passed the hallway leading towards the Danger Room, she heard angry voices coming from the end of it and slowed down. She stopped at the other side and peeked around the corner to see Havok and Bobby yelling at each other while Polaris looked on.

"If you have a problem with the way I'm handling things Bobby, then go tell Cyclops – oh wait, you already tried that," Havok exclaimed sarcastically.

"Whatever Alex, you just don't want to admit that you messed up. If that had been a real situation, then half of us would probably have died!"

"Yeah and whose fault would that have been? If you'd just followed my orders from the beginning, instead of playing lone gunman then the 'mess' that you're talking about wouldn't have even happened! Face it Iceman, you were just trying to show off and ended up looking like an ass. And that's the real reason you're having this hissy fit right now"

Iceman didn't even bother with a reply; he hooked Alex in the jaw, sending him flying backwards and walked off. It was so unexpected and completely uncharacteristic of Bobby that Jubilee couldn't do anything but stand rooted to her spot even as he walked past her. He was so upset, however, that he didn't notice her. She turned back to see if Havok was okay and found Polaris helping him up. She half expected him to run after Bobby, but was relieved to see Polaris talking him out of it.

"Let it go Alex, he's not himself right now." He winced as she patted the cut on his lip.

After being decked so badly, Alex wasn't feeling very sympathetic towards his teammate, "I've been letting it go Lorna, but this is getting out of hand. I know he's having issues with his second mutation, but you know what, right now, everybody is dealing with stuff. We all have our problems. Beast and Emma have gone through a second mutation; you don't see them acting the way Bobby is. He should just deal with it. I mean, he used to be in his ice form half the time anyways."

"Wow, that's really supportive of you Havok. I can totally see why Cyke picked you as the team leader." Havok and Polaris looked up to see Jubilee standing at the end of the hallway. "With such understanding teammates, it's no wonder Iceman is 'dealing' so well." With that she turned and walked away.

Jubilee was searching for Bobby. This time she went to the boat house first but he wasn't there. She finally found him in the first place she should have checked, his room. As she approached the door, she could feel the temperature outside drop. She touched the doorknob and found it icy. She knocked on the door. It was quiet for a moment, but she knew he was in there.

"Who is it?" he called abruptly.

"Jubilee…can I talk to you?" As the silence lengthened she could almost imagine him debating whether or not he wanted the company. Just when she thought he wasn't going to answer, Bobby opened the door. He didn't say anything. He barely looked at her before turning back into the room. She followed him in and shut the door. Her mouth fell open as she looked around in wonderment. Ice covered the walls and the ceiling. Stalagmites and stalactites pushed up and down into the space turning it into a maze. If it hadn't been a representation Bobby's loneliness, Jubilee would have thought of it as quite beautiful. She looked through the icy structures and found Bobby slouched on the floor on the other side of his bed. She picked her way across the room and sat down next to him.

"I saw what happened between you and Havok."

Bobby looked over at her and snarled, "So what? You've come to tell me off about it too?"

"What? Of course not! Man, after that, I wouldn't mind decking him one either. No, Drake, I'm here because I thought you might need someone to talk to."

Bobby looked surprised, "Oh, well, um, thanks for the offer Jubilee but you only need to play mentor for the students." He turned back to contemplating the space between his feet.

"Jeez, you really don't know how to ask for help, do you?" Jubilee had experienced this treatment by students in LA too many times for it to take it seriously. Everything about them was screaming for help, but the actual words never came out. Instead, they would only try harder to push people away.

Bobby glared at her, "Who said I needed any?"

Jubilee didn't bother responding, she just looked at him. Eventually, Bobby had to look away. He knew she was right, but he couldn't admit it. They sat in silence for awhile. The light faded with the sunset and the room fell into darkness. Jubilee was impressed with her own patience. She realized that adults could be as stubborn as kids sometimes. Now it was just a waiting game. And after freezing her ass for so long, she refused to be the one to cave first. Bobby seemed to sense her determination because he finally spoke.

He put his head back to rest against the bed and stared up at the ceiling, "I feel so guilty."

Didn't see that one coming. As surprised as she was, Jubilee knew better than to interrupt.

"I used to take it for granted that I could always look normal if I wanted to. I could blend in whenever I needed to and no one could tell that I was a mutant. And now that I'm stuck like this I just think about what Hank and Kurt had to go through for most of their lives. But they dealt with it. Hank just went through a second mutation too and he's still dealing with it. I should be able to deal with it. But I can't." He dropped his head down on his arms. "I just can't."

Jubilee wanted to tell him that he didn't need to put so much pressure on himself; it was too soon for that. What Jubilee wanted to do was give him a hug. But she knew she had to let him finish.

"When I enter a room, people start to leave it. Most people try to be nice about it but when I'm near them, I can see them cringing because of the cold. They can't even stand the thought of me touching them. I don't blame them." His tone changed and he looked up to stare at his hands. "It's not fun to touch ice. There's no sensation to it. It's not like skin. Nothing feels the same anymore."

Jubilee winced at the bitterness in his voice. But that was it; he fell silent again, cradling his head in his hands. She shifted her position and moved to sit in front of him.

"Bobby, give me your hands." Her own were held up in front of her.

He looked up at her and after some hesitation, placed his hands against hers. A few moments later, her fingers sparked and released little bursts of color. And then they started to glow. Bobby watched in awe is Jubilee began to glow all over.

"Yeah, it's my second mutation. I'm a glowworm," she said with a crooked smile. "But that's only half of it. Drake, haven't you been wondering how I could have sat in this ice chamber of yours for so long without freezing to death?" It was obvious the thought hadn't struck him. "I can radiate heat." She looked straight into his eyes then as she said, "Your ice form doesn't bother me." Bobby looked down at their hands and she continued, "It might not be skin to skin, but it is another kind of sensation, a new feeling."

Iceman watched as a drop of water trickled down his wrist from where their hands were joined. As it reached his elbow he smiled and reabsorbed it. He closed his fingers around Jubilee's and squeezed. Jubilee smiled back.