Hi, this is my first story, so constructive criticism welcomed. Just a quick one-shot that popped into my head. Enjoy!
"This is Sean Brady coming to you live from downtown. We are in the middle of yet another mutant crisis. Between what the police tell me and what I can see with my own eyes, there's not much to tell people. It appears to be a mutant simply out looking to cause some trouble. Back to you Bob."
Jubilee shut off the television and folded her arms.
"Come on Jubilee, if that ain't Sabretooth then I don't know what is" Wolverine growled.
"I'm sorry Logan but I'm not convinced. Don't you think it's a little suspicious that you get a letter from Sabretooth boasting about his clever plot and then he turns up in the middle of the city and starts ripping things to shreds? Correct me if I'm wrong, but he's tried that before and it only resulted in you kicking the snot out of him." Jubilee replied, the cool voice of logic. "I think something else is going on here and you can't go rushing into situations like that. Besides, we can't leave with Gambit so ill and everyone else gone."
"We can't leave but I can." Wolverine stalked to the front door, grabbing his coat as he went.
Jubilee grabbed his arm before he could get out the door. "No way Wolverine! You can't just leave me alone to look after Gambit while you go chasing someone you aren't even sure is the guy you're looking for."
"I can and I will Jubilee. The others will be back in a few hours. Stop acting like a child who doesn't want to be left behind." Logan shrugged out of her grip and left, slamming the door behind him.
"Don't make me tell you I told you so" Jubilee called after him.
A moment later, Jubilee could hear the rev of his motorcycle and listened as it slowly got quieter and Logan got farther away. She let out a shriek of frustration and went to check on the Cajun.
Gambit was still sleeping peacefully, thanks to the concoction Hank had made up before they had left. He had been unfortunate enough to contract a stomach bug while in South America doing a favour for a friend and he was just now getting over it. Jubilee was glad for it. There was only so much complaining one can take from Gambit and everyone had had more than their fair share lately.
Jubilee headed to the kitchen to grab a light snack. Just as she was closing the refrigerator door, she heard a large smash and then a large object pounced on her, throwing her into the wall. She heard a sickening crack as her head collided with the wall. Her eyes were blurry when she finally managed to open them but she could still make out the figure hulking over her; Sabretooth. Jubilee let out a groan. Of course it was Sabretooth. Why did she always have to be right?
Wolverine sped toward the area that had been described on the news, going at least 40 miles faster that the speed limit. Despite what he had said and done, he still wasn't completely comfortable about leaving a sixteen year old to look after the mansion by herself. He would make it quick, find Sabretooth, beat him up, and then return home. The plan was elegant in its simplicity (at least in Logan's mind).
"Hey Girlie, fancy meeting you here" cackled Sabretooth, looking down at the bruised and bloody Jubilee. "Too bad the runt isn't here to save you. He does seem awful fond of ya, though I don't see why. Pardon me saying, but, you're not exactly his type." He laughed, low and cruel. Jubilee glared, and with lightning speed, shot Sabretooth with her pyrotechnics. He was blasted down the hallway but Jubilee panicked when he got up again. She tried to move but found the effort too much, she collapsed, panting. Sabretooth sauntered over, seeing no threat from Jubilee, especially in her weakened state.
"Now that wasn't very nice Girlie." He grabbed her face in his hand, forcing her to look him in the eye. He slowly ran his thumb nail across her throat drawing blood. "We're not going to try that again are we?" The only response he got was a slight whimper from the small girl on the floor. "Good, now let's go see who else is home."
Wolverine let out a roar. He had been searching for ever and there was no sign of Sabretooth or any other mutants. The attacks had stopped as suddenly as they had started. He decided to go and question the police, though he doubted they knew anything of significance. Humans were idiots.
Sabretooth had grabbed Jubilee by the trench coat and was now dragging her to the hospital wing. It seemed he'd done it right this time, watched the house to see where everybody would be when he finally made his move. Jubilee was silent. She was trying to conserve energy to protect Gambit. Her entire body ached but mostly her side and back. Jubilee was fairly sure she'd broken several bones, mostly ribs by her reckoning.
"Ah, look who's sick with the flu. Poor little X- Man, can't even defend himself." Sabretooth walked into Gambit's room and threw Jubilee to the ground. He approached Gambit's bed and lifted up one clawed hand, preparing to quickly end Gambit's life. It was safe to say he was surprised when a bolt of plasma knocked his hand away. Jubilee had managed to get on to her knees and was looking defiantly at her attacker.
"He doesn't need to defend himself." Her voice was strong and sure but this only served to further anger Sabretooth.
"Fine Girlie, we'll do this the hard way. The runt does care for you so I'll have a bit of fun. Here's the deal. I play with you until you get boring. Then I finish you and play with Red over here until he gets boring. Then I'll stick around to see your precious Wolverine's face when he realizes what he did." Sabretooth cackled again, amused at his own fiendish cleverness.
"I'm sorry sir, we don't know what happened to the mutant. We think it may have been a distraction for something more complex." The police officer replied to Wolverine's demanding questions. That's when it hit.
"Oh no" was all Logan said as he raced for his bike. He jumped on and took off at breakneck speed. How could he have let this happen? She had warned him, told him that he was needed at home and what had he done? Abandoned her to the clutches of his bloodthirsty rival. Wolverine couldn't make his bike go fast enough.
"Oh come on, once more, just one more scream." Sabretooth taunted as he threw her across the room again. Jubilee didn't dare, she couldn't risk Gambit waking up. The first few screams had been accidents and they wouldn't happen again. "Fine, let's play a new game then. Perhaps I'll leave something behind so that the runt knows my handiwork." He grabbed Jubilee's still form from the ground and held her up to eye level by her hair. Taking the claw on his index finger, he slowly carved and S into her right cheek. Hot tears ran down Jubilee's face and this seemed to appease Sabretooth, for the moment. He turned her slightly and began to carve a T into the opposite cheek. The blood dripped from the gaping wounds on her face, down her neck to mix with all the other blood. Sabretooth stopped and held Jubilee out to admire his work when he heard the hospital wing door open, Wolverine had arrived. Wolverine let out a menacing snarl, he meant business. Sabretooth dropped his prize to the floor and Logan's heart skipped a beat when she didn't move.
Sabretooth pounced but Wolverine sidestepped him and punched his claws into Sabretooth's exposed gut. He twisted his hand viciously and brought Sabretooth to the ground. Stepping on to him with one foot, Wolverine thrust his other set of claws into the animal, violently twisting and pulling out chunks of flesh and muscle. Unlike the other fights that Wolverine had had with his enemy, he wasn't in a blind rage. He knew that he needed to finish it quickly in order to save Jubilee. Seizing his chance while Sabretooth was healing, Wolverine efficiently decapitated him and threw his head into the hall. Without a second glance to the body, Logan turned to the body that all his worry was focused on. He dropped to his knees and turned her over. Jubilee was unconscious but Logan could hear her breathing, although it was uneven and her pulse was erratic.
"Jubilee? Darlin'?" he asked in a quiet, anxious voice. She didn't stir. Gambit, however, did.
"Hey, what's goin' on?" he asked groggily.
"Gambit quickly, snap out of it and contact the rest of the team" Wolverine yelled, unable to take his eyes off of the broken girl in front of him. For once, Gambit did what he was told. He stumbled out of bed and to the table that had the communicator on it. He had no idea what the situation was so he simply sent a 9-1-1 distress call. It was immediately responded to and the rest of the team called the mansion. Rogue's voice erupted over the communicator's speaker.
"Gambit? What's goin' on down there sugah? Is everybody okay?"
"No Chere, Petite looking pretty bad. Gambit don't know the details but it looks like it was Sabretooth."
"How bad is it Gambit? Please describe her current state to me" Hank's voice broke in. Taking the communicator in his hand, Gambit stumbled to the pair on the floor.
"Petite's got blood coming out of what looks like everywhere. She's got some big scratches on her face and her sides are all bruised." Hank sighed.
"We'll be home as soon as we can. Put her in the hospital wing and stay with her until we arrive." The line went dead. Without a word, Wolverine scooped Jubilee into his arms and carried her to a bed. She woke up in his arms. Wolverine felt her stiffen and he looked down to find her bright blue eyes full of fear.
"Shh, darlin'. It's me, remember? I won't hurt ya. Sabretooth's gone, I took care of it." She blinked her eyes, trying to clear the haze from her mind.
"Wolvie?" she finally asked.
"That's right Jubes, it's me Wolvie" he answered with a small smile. She smiled back weakly and laid her head back down on his chest, obviously exhausted. He sat on the edge of the bed, still holding her tightly, almost scared to let go. Scared that she might lose her grip on the world and not come back to him. He needed her, needed to make things right with her.
Not too long after, Rogue came flying through the door with Beast in her arms. As soon as she set him down, Beast was by Logan's side.
"Logan, I need you to put Jubilee on the bed" he said quietly. Wolverine looked up, he seemed confused by the words. Beast wanted to take Jubilee from him? Seeing his confusion, Hank used a gentle hand and tentatively pried Jubilee from Logan. Wolverine looked utterly lost without the small girl near him. Storm, who had arrived not seconds after the others with Jean, guided him out the door to get cleaned up. Beast and Jean took Jubilee into the trauma ward to try to asses her injuries and deal with them accordingly.
Rogue was frozen, staring at the dead body and the severed head several feet from it. "He did it, he finally killed 'im" she said quietly. Gambit approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"It was the only way chérie, Jubilee was too hurt for dem to fight long. I'm assuming he was very angry." Gambit informed her. Rogue turned to face him.
"What do you mean swamp rat, you assume? Weren't ya there?"
Gambit shook his head. "Gambit was still out cold when Sabretooth had Petite. I had no idea or I would have…" he trailed off, guilt clear in his tone of voice.
"Aw, Gambit, this ain't your fault. Come, I'll make ya a nice cuppa joe." Rogue took the Cajun by the hand and led him away.
Several hours later the body had been dealt with and Jubilee was being settled into a recovery room. Rogue had practically dragged the half-dead Gambit back to bed and Wolverine had regained his composure and was waiting anxiously to be let into the room to see Jubilee. He paced the floor endlessly until Beast emerged quietly. Wolverine rushed past him into the room without a second to spare. Storm was still in the room when he got there, just finishing helping Jubilee into bed. Logan approached her with caution, she had been frightened of him before. However, once she noticed that he was in the room, Jubilee flashed him a smile. It wasn't one of her almost-blinding smiles, the ones that could make even the most stoic man grin, but it encouraged Wolverine nonetheless. He took a seat next to the bed and gingerly took Jubilee`s small hand in his own, covering it with his other palm. Storm courteously left.
"I am so sorry darlin'" he said in a quiet voice, almost unable to look her in the eye. "If I had only listened to you in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess. I…" he trailed off, unsure of how to express just how truly awful he felt. He dropped his head in shame. Logan felt her hand slip from his grasp and he feared the worst. It was safe to say he was surprised when that same hand reached up under his chin and lifted his gaze to meet her own.
"There was nothing you could have done to prevent this Wolvie, it was going to happen eventually," Jubilee paused and Logan let out a snort. "Wait, I'm not finished" she scolded. "It was going to happen eventually, I'm just glad that you were there to save me. I know that I can always count on you Logan, that's what makes it okay, that's why I fought so hard. I knew you'd be there, no matter what."
Wolverine was stunned. He had no idea that his little "Jubes" was this mature. Or forgiving for that matter. He stood and gave her a gentle hug, although apparently not gentle enough, as he heard her wince.
"I'm sorry, you need rest don't ya?" he said sheepishly. She looked positively exhausted now that he examined her closely. She nodded.
"Come and visit me tomorrow?"
"You know I'll be the first one in here" he replied with a chuckle. He reached the door and just as he was about to leave a small voice called out to him.
"And don't you ever forget, I told you so!"