Notes from robbie: Yeah, we're keeping the title ambiguous, and you'll see as it develops just who it's referring to. (It may not be just one person…. shhh.) But no spoilers! We can't give it away; we'll just point you at the many, many characters that we have options to play with who have at one point or another been forced into being weapons. I mean, there's Logan (the Original Weapon X, come on) and there's Natasha (hello Red Room) and there's Noh-Varr (looking at you, Maria Hill) and then there's like 99% of the X-Men (hello Phoenix Force and a host of other issues) not to mention Clint (criminal record, honey) and Steve (yes that's right ol' Cap gets used too) and … well…. The list goes on and on. So rather than give you spoilers I'll just let you look at all the possibilities and promise you that we have plans for so so so many of these people. So, so many plans.

Chapter 3: "Sinister Honeymoon"

The teasing about wedding traditions had more or less died off by the time Logan came back inside, though the overall jocular mood evaporated when they saw the set to his jaw that gave away just how irritated he was.

"Suit up, we're headed out," he grumbled before he set his mug down and just made a beeline for the hangar.

The group shared a look before they all but scrambled to do just that — even the newer team members knew enough to put off asking any questions when Logan looked like that.

No one seemed willing to consider asking what was going on until they were in the plane and ready to head out. And then it was Jubilee, who had decided that she'd be least likely to either get yelled at — or, if she was, she'd blow it off quickest anyhow. "Where to, big guy?" she asked as she slipped into copilot next to him.

"Hawaii," he replied in a low grumble, which had Kurt's eyebrows raised as he and Kate exchanged looks. After all, they knew about the Marauder they'd spotted at the wedding, and since Annie and Scott were honeymooning in Hawaii...

"Is the head creepy guy there?" Kate asked quietly. "Because if he is, I need to run back real quick and get some more putties and explosives."

"Send a bamf," Logan told her. "I'm not waiting."

Kate didn't even argue, just turned to the nearest little guy, who nodded, wide-eyed, and teleported away. Three of the bamfs reappeared a moment later with the extra quiver carried between them — which Kate very carefully set aside, considering the contents.

She glanced at Kurt and saw the raised-eyebrow look he was giving her before she said, quietly, "Learning from last time." She still had her mind on the first time she'd run into Sinister, back when she first met Kurt. Then, the only thing that had seemed to do any good had been to blow him up or putty his hands together to keep him from… working.

Logan didn't turn from his seat in the cockpit at all, but he did seem to pick up on the tone of Kate's voice as he tipped his head the slightest bit. "Kurt, did you ever give her a full rundown of everything Essex can do — just in case?" he asked.

"We were … working up to it," Kurt admitted. "I was honestly hoping we wouldn't need to deal with him again for a little longer."

"Well, at least give her a rundown of what he's capable of," Logan said with a sigh. "Probably be good if Noh knew going in too."

Kurt sighed. This was exactly what he had been hoping to avoid — Sinister was always hard to deal with, and Kate hadn't reacted well the first time they'd run into him, either. But he turned to the former Young Avengers in the jet all the same and folded his hands in front of himself as he thought over just what, of all the many things involving Sinister, needed to be covered first. "We've been through his ability to turn off mutant abilities, as well as his telekenetic powers and mind control — that's where we've been working with Rachel," he said, just as much to Noh and Logan as to Kate.

"Which just means he'll know we're coming before we get there," Logan added.

Noh frowned at the obvious tactical disadvantage before he tipped his head, clearly working it out. "You mentioned that he can turn off mutant abilities… Do his prohibitive abilities work on non-mutants?"

"I have no idea," Logan admitted.

"Then we shall find out," Noh decided before he gestured to Logan and Kurt again. "I've interrupted; please continue."

Logan paused and tipped his head Noh's way for a moment before he explained, "He's not even a real mutant. Just a gifted geneticist that figured out how to forcibly mutate himself with other people's abilities. He's got a little bit of everyone in him."

Kurt nodded. "He can heal, shapeshift, teleport... " He sighed. "And he's a formidable fighter, with enhanced strength, speed, reflexes ... force fields, energy blasts… if you've seen it on our team, more than likely, he has it."

"Whatever happens, just keep going after him," Logan told them. "Take him out or chase him off."

"Surely with a team as formidable as this one, that will not be an issue," Noh said with a light smile.

"In all the years we've been fighting him, we've never managed it," Kurt admitted.

"And he's been doing this for decades," Logan added.

"Ah." Noh frowned at that. "Then... simply getting him to retreat would be a victory? Perhaps I can counter his mind control with an… alternative."

"Whatever you got — use it," Logan told him before he took a deep breath. "The Marauders, on the other hand—"

"They're tough, but they can be beaten," Kurt finished. "Enhanced strength and speed, toughened skin — and no fear or focus on anything but what Essex tells them to focus on."

"I can match that," Noh said with a shrug, obviously unconcerned by Sinister's minions as opposed to the man himself. "It's not far from my own abilities during a white run." He looked between the others. "If you like — I can draw them while you focus on this man, if he is here. It would not take much to reach that point for me, and if they are not the real threat..."

"Don't do that unless you have to," Logan told him. "I'm not worried about Marauders."

"But you are all worried," Noh pointed out, gesturing with one hand at all of the assembled X-Men. "It's plain to see."

"Essex has an obsession with Scott," Logan said after a long pause. "He tortured him as a kid for years." He took in a breath as his glare only deepened thinking about it. "I won't let Essex get near him again — or his new wife — not if I can stop it."

"Ah." Noh let the subject drop and settled into a bit of a frown as he nodded his understanding.

When they finally landed in Hawaii, Alex was there to meet them, looking harried and with a clear, still-healing bruise on his jaw. "Thanks," he said as soon as they got off the plane. "There's ... a few more of them than we realized. I've got Lorna and Dad close by Scott, just to be safe, and so far they haven't gotten past us, but..."

"Is Sinister here?" Logan asked with a frown.

"I haven't seen him yet — but with this many Marauders around? I doubt he'll miss the party," Alex said frankly.

"Take me where you've seen them swarming," Logan said. "And I can tell you if he's here."

Alex just nodded wordlessly and gestured for them to follow him as they made their way to one of the mountains on the island, which overlooked a few resorts in the area.

They didn't even get all the way to where Alex was leading before Logan slowed to a stop and just nodded his head. "Everyone got a comm on them?"

The group shared a look before nodding.

"Split up," Logan directed. "We can't sneak up on him." He was talking more to Noh than the others as he added in explanation: "It's more just to draw the Marauders away from Essex." He looked over the group. "Bobby — go with Jubes and Noh. Alex — show Kate and Kurt where the big trouble is."

"And you?" Kurt asked.

"I'm gonna follow the scent trail," Logan replied. "See you when we meet up in the middle."

"You can't fight him on your own," Kurt said, sounding exasperated as he put together what Logan actually meant by the groupings.

"I know," Logan said with a nod. "I'm gonna distract him so you guys can come in. I'll even keep the comm on so you can hear whatever it is he's planning." He took a breath and leveled gazes with Kurt. "If it's as bad as what I expect, forget the Marauders — and get Scott and Annie out."

"It's a sound strategy. One that would be aided, I think, by expedience," Noh said pointedly. "Let's go." He took Jubilee be the hand with a confident smile. "If we are to be fighting the Marauders and not the man in charge on the way, there is no need to worry just yet," he told her sincerely.

"Yeah," she said uneasily. "But ... what happens after he gets his backside handed to him?"

"We will think of some appropriate taunts and then get pancakes," he said serenely.

"I think we have a minor miscommunication here," Jubilee said with her arms crossed.

"Oh?" He turned to her. "Would you like a burger for our victory celebration instead?"

"I meant — how do I get my Wolvie back after HE gets his butt handed to him?" She turned from Noh and gave Logan a hard look. "Don't think I didn't catch that, mister. You don't have a way out, do you?"

"He'll get tired of hittin' me," Logan said with a wave. "You know how this works, Jubes. I'll be fine."

"If need be, I will get him out myself," Noh promised Jubilee seriously when he saw that Logan's answer had done absolutely nothing to ease her mind. "I do not use it often, but you forget - I have enhanced speed. I can outdistance you."

"Well, that ... that makes me feel a little bit better," she said with a little sigh before she turned back to Logan. "Don't die on me."

He gave her a serious look and walked over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry so much. Go beat on some Marauders."

With that, the teams split off from each other and into the densely forested mountain, ready to fight the big jerks that Sinister called Marauders.

Kate, Kurt, and Alex took the higher path, all three of them looking out for the Marauders as the bamfs each had their swords drawn and looked to be itching for a reason to use them — so of course, when the first muscled goon burst from the forest, they were on him in a heartbeat, about a dozen of them with sharp points and little fists taking him down on their own, no help needed from the bigger teammates.

Another several Marauders burst from the same trees, and the fight was on — Kurt with three swords drawn and both Alex and Kate blasting back at the Marauders, though with distinctly different kinds of explosive force.

For as many Marauders as there were, the three of them were holding their own. Kurt was holding three different fights, and none of them had managed to lay a hand on Kate, who was simply using explosive arrows and nothing else to knock them back and to the ground as quickly as they could come at her. And Alex was just ticked at that point, blasting through the Marauders with an increasingly annoyed expression on his face as they just seemed to keep coming back for more — so he turned up the heat.

It worked insofar as Alex completely destroyed three Marauders at once — but the energy just kept going, right into the side of the mountain, with such force that they didn't even need to hear the rumblings up above them to know what was coming.

In an instant, each of them had bamfs on their shoulders or attached to their legs, and they teleported out of there to higher, safer ground as Kurt shouted over the comms to the other team to warn them what was coming.

The other three members of the team had been busy themselves with plenty of Marauders — as Jubilee lit them up and Bobby was just warming up the jokes about ice in the tropics, and Noh was starting to look like he was having fun as he shot, kicked, and punched his way through the group.

They had run into the Marauders a bit later than the other group had, so they were just getting started when the telltale sound of the avalanche above them started up.

"Move!" Bobby shouted at the top of his lungs as he started to build an ice path up, away from the danger and into the air.

But Noh didn't follow Bobby — and he didn't ask permission before he just scooped up Jubilee and ran at full speed through the trees, clearing the path around and out of the avalanche's way in a matter of seconds. They could hear the avalanche crashing down far out from their position as they had to pause for Bobby to catch up from the air.

"Are you alright?" Noh asked Jubilee as he gently set her back down. "High speed travel is not for everyone."

She just grinned at him and kissed his cheek. "You kidding? I love to go fast."

Logan, on the other hand, had missed out on both the avalanche and the Marauders, as his path was totally cleared, with nothing but Sinister's antiseptic scent lying on the spongy forest floor and ferns that all but covered the path.

He could hear what the others were saying through the earpiece, but he wasn't answering, hoping that Sinister hadn't caught the discussion earlier about listening on the comms. As it was, it wasn't his usual move — and pretty much all of their enemies knew that he had a nasty habit of not using his comms at all.

The stronger the scent on the trail got, the slower Logan approached until he pushed through the undergrowth into a small clearing and simply found himself facing Sinister, who was most definitely waiting for him.

"You brought me something new," Sinister said in his low, cold hiss as Logan found himself frozen in place, unable to move.

From a ways out, the other groups could hear the low hiss of Sinister's voice over the comms that Logan had left open.

"New?" Kurt whispered under his breath, and he glanced at Alex, who shrugged openly.

"Don't look at me," Alex said. "I'm past the age of secondary mutations."

"And I'm very much human," Kate put in. "So — Jubes or Bobby?" she asked with a frown.

"Bobby already had his," Kurt said before he started to swear in German. "Jubilee."

Kate went straight to pale before she just poured on her speed, all three of them practically sprinting through the trees as Kurt swore up a blue streak about Sinister blocking him and the bamfs from getting there any faster.

"If he even touches her sunglasses I'm going to blow the diamond right off his face and feed it to him," Kate spat out.

But Sinister's voice kept hissing in their ear through the comm — louder the closer he got to Logan, who still hadn't said a word. Sinister taunted him, telling him that Logan couldn't stop him from getting to Scott and reacquainting himself with the boy, or 'meeting' the new Mrs. Summers. There was a loud crack, and the voice went quiet again for a few moments before Sinister detailed exactly what he wanted to study with the new test subject, how incredibly interesting secondary mutations were, and how thoroughly disappointed he was when Logan himself never advanced — punctuated between more cracks and dull thuds that came through the comm. It wasn't until he chuckled and told Logan to stop trying to call for his friends that Kurt realized that the noises were Sinister just beating on Logan for going for the comm. He didn't realize it was already on and that Logan was essentially a walking hot mic.

And on the other side of the avalanche, Jubilee was looking more and more upset with every hit they could hear Logan taking as Noh just looked livid at what Sinister was talking about doing to study Jubilee.

"I cannot listen to this any longer," he said suddenly, turning to Jubilee. "You stay here with Bobby. I can outdistance you and get to Logan."

"Not without me you won't!" she protested.

He kissed the side of her temple with a little smile. "I'm afraid, Jubilee, that you are the subject of interest to him. So ... I'll have to deny you on this request." With that, he turned, already closing his eyes to center himself in case he needed a white run.

"It's not a request!" Jubilee shouted at him. "I'm supposed to keep track of him!"

"You are. You're listening," he replied under his breath and then took off at a sprint that left dirt kicked up high in his wake from his starting point — already closing the distance before Jubilee could say anything further.

Without having to wait for the others, Noh burst into the space where Logan and Sinister were in a matter of moments to find that Sinister was playing with Logan — beating him down while he was still unable to move and then turning his healing powers back on to watch Logan's body heal the most important injuries first, observing with a critical eye and making occasional commentary about how he must have done more damage to some areas than others.

Now positively livid, Noh just ran forward and put as much strength as he could into a hit right to the man's stomach as Logan was healing just a few feet away. When Sinister crumpled, Noh followed it up with a kick that sent the man back a few steps until he lifted his head and shot back with an energy blast from the diamond in the center of his forehead that Noh simply hadn't been prepared for and only just dodged because of his speed — and the fact that he could throw his entire body flat and backwards without breaking anything.

Noh was absolutely spitting mad — literally — and as Sinister just kept blasting at him, Noh seemed to be trying to work his way closer until, surprisingly, he simply let out an unearthly hissing sound and spit at Sinister.

The man blinked at him in surprise the moment the sticky, hallucinogenic substance hit his face, before his gaze shifted, and he seemed temporarily unable to focus his eyes as Noh all but barked at him, "You will not touch anyone else. You will leave this island."

And — to Logan's surprise as he started to pick himself up — Sinister actually turned to leave, unable to counter what was a physical attack and not a psychic one like he was used to. Sinister was halfway toward the trees before he seemed to shake off whatever Noh had done to him, turning back to the Kree fighter with a look of pure loathing as he tried to blast him again.

Where before, Sinister had simply been reacting to Noh interrupting him, now, he seemed to be putting all his acquired powers into play — teleporting to Noh as soon as he'd shaken off the effects of the mind control saliva so that he could knock Noh back with a punch to the jaw that sent him reeling before he started up with the beams again. As soon as Noh had dropped flat to avoid the beams, he took just a second to breathe in — and then Logan could see the difference from where he was barely propped up off the forest floor as Noh entered a white run.

They seemed to be almost evenly matched for speed and strength, though Sinister had the upper hand as it was clear he was trying to break into Noh's mind — occasionally, Noh would shake his head, stop, and take a hard hit for the pause. But Sinister was struggling to find a solid hold on his mind while Noh was in a white run, and he seemed to be frustrated by the fact that Noh seemed completely undeterred by even the hardest hit, as if he couldn't feel the hits at all. Which, in this state, was true.

The two were nearly blow for blow, though Noh was slowing down as the fight drifted closer to Logan. And although Logan was still trying to stop bleeding and get back to his feet, he was close enough to send one set of claws through Sinister's feet to pin him there and another into the man's gut.

It was enough to at least temporarily draw Sinister's focus from Noh back to Logan, and a hit that had been meant for Noh was redirected as Sinister backhanded Logan away from him. It was exactly the opening that Noh needed. With that same unearthly hiss he'd started with, he drew back a hand and simply stabbed Sinister, his fingernails now in points as he drew his hand across the man's chest, cutting deeply and leaving long trails as he did so.

Sinister shouted in both surprise and pain and then blasted Noh back with the force of a beam that sent him into a tree and sprawling before he was able to get back to his feet in an instant — the damage obvious in quickly forming bruises but completely irrelevant to Noh.

Logan ran in while Sinister still had his focus on Noh and threw a punch that echoed around them as he broke Sinister's jaw. His other hand very nearly nailed Sinister with an uppercut that would have landed a nasty body blow, but Sinister had simply hit him before he could make it connect. Logan was staggered, but he wasn't ready to give up if he could stay upright.

But by then, at least some other reinforcements had arrived — announced by two arrows right to Sinister's chest that ticked twice before they exploded and followed up very shortly thereafter by an energy beam that flattened Sinister as soon as he tried to get back to his feet. Kurt and the bamfs burst out of the trees, all of them with swords drawn, and now Sinister had a new fight on his hands. The man was able to stop an attacker or two at once, but with so many of them, no one stayed entirely frozen for too long.

Another couple of twangs echoed through the clearing, and Sinister turned to erect a force field that stopped not only Kate's arrows but the blasts from Alex before returning with a blast of his own that knocked Kate off her feet and blasted Alex back several yards before he had to turn his attention back to fighting Kurt and Noh, throwing out one hand to simply lift Noh off his feet to stop him running toward him and telekenetically throw the Kree fighter into Kurt, who only just teleported away in time to keep from running Noh through — though the impact when Noh hit the ground was enough to knock him entirely unconscious. When Kurt reappeared, Sinister just started to shoot more blasts his way from his hands as he fired at Kurt and then Alex and Kate at intervals.

As Sinister focused on the rest of the team, Logan darted in closer again and jammed his claws into Sinister's side and twisted — though he couldn't cut him nearly as deeply as he liked, since the force field stopped his hand but not the adamantium claws. It simply enraged the monster, and for an instant, he dropped the force field to get a better hold on Logan, though naturally, Logan wasn't giving up just yet either.

Kate had just been waiting for the opening in the shield, and this time, she fired off several putty arrows, which quickly stuck Sinister in place for Logan to hit him where he stood — though Sinister was able to break through quickly enough, just not fast enough to avoid Logan's hard hits in the meantime. As soon as Sinister drew back to hit Logan again, Kurt rushed in with his swords to distract his attention, and the two of them were able to deal Sinister some solid blows and damage before he blasted Logan back and moved to do the same to Kurt, who teleported quickly away again.

Not long after, Bobby and Jubilee finally caught up, and she was positively spitting mad herself. she took one look at Sinister — and the state of things in general — and just nearly growled to herself as she let loose the plasmoids that she'd been slowly growing on the way. They were more concentrated than the ones she'd used before, and when they made contact with Sinister, sections of his body were simply evaporated as the sparks flew.

The added damage from Jubilee while Bobby tried to get Logan on his feet again was more than Sinister was prepared for. The attack continued, and he did his level best to take them down before he suddenly seemed to just take in a deep breath. Then, he rolled his eyes into the back of his head, and the diamond at the center of his forehead began to glow brightly.

But before the little team could deliver the final blow, Sinister seemed to just ... crumple all at once. For a moment, the diamond on his head glowed once his body was in a heap — but that faded quickly, and then his chest stopped the rhythmic rise and fall.

"Um ... I don't think we covered that in the training?" Kate said uneasily.

"He's not dead," Kurt said with a distinct sound of hatred. "He's just moved on to the next body."

"Great." Kate swallowed a bit and shook her head. "That's ... way creepier than anything else I've seen."

"Yes, what's even creepier is finding where he has them stashed," Kurt replied as he sheathed his swords and fixed her with a frown. "Dozens of fully-grown, blank versions of himself that simply lack the consciousness and soul — if you can call it that anymore."

Kate shuddered. "Yeah… Madame Masque had… bodies. She called them decoys." She shivered again and then turned to grab him by the hand. "Get us outta here, please. This place is giving me the creeps now."

"Of course," Kurt agreed, pulling her tight around the waist as he sent the bamfs off to move their friends. An instant later, they were all back at the blackbird, though Logan and Noh both had to be more or less loaded up into the far back section by several concerned bamfs and Bobby and Jubilee.

"You will call again if there is any further trouble, ja?" Kurt asked Alex, who of course nodded.

"Sorry about your Kree friend," he said with a shake of his head. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"He will be," Kate assured him. "He's had worse — and healed just fine." She looked over at where Noh looked pretty well beat down and was still knocked out from the hard hit Sinister had delivered to him. "He's just an idiot," she added.

"Not sure everyone's nerves can handle another one," Alex said, the crooked smile growing wider the more he thought about it. "Between Logan and Scott, I thought you guys were all full."

"Had to outsource to space to find another one," Kate said with a soft smirk.

"Equal opportunity stupid, huh?" Alex replied. "Good to know."

"How else can we find more teammates?" Bobby said with a shrug. "It's practically a resume — the stupidity — at this point."

"It really kind of is," Alex agreed with a little laugh before he just waved off the gathered group and headed back to go find Lorna and his dad to keep up their quiet protection for Scott.

But not everyone was in as good a mood as Alex had been, and Jubilee was positively grumpy as she dropped down into a seat next to Noh and started to — very gently — assess her boyfriend.

"Why is it always my idiots?" Jubilee grumbled as she shook her head. "Every single time."

"There's something to be said for your tastes," Kate said quietly as Kurt slipped into the cockpit to fly them back.

A few of the bamfs had taken up sitting next to Logan and stopping just milimeters short of actually poking him but still curiously waiting for him to pop back up again as they were used to him doing. Jubilee was content to ignore this behavior until one of them teleported away and reappeared holding a small mirror — and clearly used it to check if Logan was breathing before Jubilee paffed it away with a curse. Though there was one bamf — Noh's friend — who sat beside Noh and very carefully tried to get the sweaty hair back into place.

The bamf was still trying to get Noh's hair to lie flat when he started to stir awake with a mumbled, "What in Plex's name are you doing?"

The little bamf just giggled before it darted forward and kissed his forehead and then poofed away in a puff of smoke.

Noh shook his head and then winced at the action — and when he tried to sit up better, it was clear he was having issues, even without seeing the bruises he was sporting. So, he simply laid back down and decided to just let healing take its course — which Jubilee was not having.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Jubilee asked with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Certainly not," he said quietly, turning to face her better when he realized she was angry with him — though it was clear he had no idea why.

"Are you sure? Because looking at you, I can only assume that's what Logan would look like if he didn't heal so stinkin' fast."

Noh looked down at himself for a moment and then smirked. "No, he was far worse than this. I had to step in, Jubilee — that man… I didn't like the sound of his voice."

"Nobody does," Jubilee agreed before she reached over to grab the first aid kit to start cleaning him up. "But Logan can freakin' bounce back. You have bruises, Noh. Injuries. Ouch."

"It was easier to keep him out of my mind by clearing it of everything — pain included," he tried to explain.

"And common sense. You goon."

"Jubilee," he said in a pleading tone. "You heard what he said about you. About what he planned to do."

"Yeah, and he was probably just saying that to get under Wolvie's skin," Jubilee replied without missing a beat. "He's never had any interest in me before. And I've been caught before. Puh-lenty of times."

"I am not so willing to risk your life as you are," he replied softly as he just watched her with a small smile — and then winced as she cleaned up a particularly garish gash on his arm.

"I'm used to it," Jubilee said half under her breath as she worked. "Do you know how long I've been an X-Man?" she asked before answering her own question. "Almost as long as you've been alive. It's part of the gig."

"You said yourself that he could turn off mutant abilities," Noh said, still trying to give his explanation and clearly not understanding why Jubilee couldn't follow his logic. "He could not counter mine except to fight me head-on."

"Yeah, and he couldn't counter me when I was a vampire either — but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt like hell when he hit you."

"It didn't hurt," Noh argued.

She looked at him and simply rolled her eyes before she pressed her thumb down in the middle of a massive bruise. When he yelped, she just crossed her arms. "Nope. Looks like it tickles."

"It hurts now." He shook his head at her. "Not at the time. And this ... soreness? It will pass. You — you don't bounce back. You're not a Kree, and you're not from my universe—"

"I don't stay behind either," she said with narrowed eyes and a little heat to her tone.

"No. But I — please, Jubilee, I can get to the fight faster, fight harder, let me do what I was bred to do. You are welcome to join the fight with me, alongside me, but let me fight it," he said pleadingly.

She was just about to lay into him about thinking ahead when Logan finally came around. "Lay off, Jubes. He did good." Outside of having spoken, Logan hadn't moved a muscle.

"You're just defending him because he's as stupid as you are about this kind of thing," Jubilee snapped back.

"Jubes, he did you a favor," Logan said evenly. "And he kept you from Essex -— who was not lying. He wants to get a hold of you, and you do not. DO NOT. Want him to take an interest in you, alright? Whatever the reason."

The revelation seemed to take some, but not all, of the fire out of Jubilee's gaze. "Fine. But I don't like this beat yourself to death garbage," she said Noh's way before she let out a sigh and tipped his head to one side so she could clean up a cut. "I never wanted to date anyone like him. So don't be that guy."

"I'm sorry to have upset you," he said earnestly, reaching up one hand to cup her cheek gently so he could fix her with his most honest, pleading look and prove he meant it.

She covered his hand with hers for a moment before she went back to work cleaning him up. "I'd snuggle you, but I'd probably bruise you worse." She didn't try to stop the little smile at the corner of her mouth. "And I don't want to start a trend of making you cry in bed."

"You're horrible," Kate said over Jubilee's shoulder with a snort.

"Like you could let an opportunity like that sail by and just wave at it. Please."

Kate just grinned and shrugged lightly. "I didn't say I wasn't horrible. Just that you were," she teased before she just pointedly tipped her head Kurt's way. "I am dating a half-demon after all. Gotta keep up."

"Right. Well. I'm not going to make excuses for being so … me."

Kate just laughed at her. "Well, good. You be you. I'm just saying — you're horrible." She stuck her tongue out at Jubilee to illustrate her point before she laughed again.

"Birds of a feather, Kate," Jubilee sang back to her. "Which brings us to — what movie did you want to watch later for the sleepover?"

"This is a good question," Kate said as she leaned back with her hands behind her head. "I'm thinking we might just need dinosaurs. Maybe something classic like Jurassic Park. All that jungle travel has me thinking raptors," she teased.

"Oh, you poor thing. You're supposed to say things like that when Logan can't hear you," Jubilee said with a sad look on her face. "You think you like dinosaurs?"

"I like dinosaur movies," Kate said with a look that clearly read she was starting to realize her mistake.

"But it's so fake," she replied with a smirk.

"Jubes, I also like scifi movies, and we know aliens. So…"

"Well, that's great. But — hey, Logan," Jubilee called out and just waited for him to turn his head her way before she continued, "I think I found your final volunteer for that field trip." She grinned up at Kate. "Savage Land in November!"

"Way to throw me under the bus there, Jubes. Really appreciate it," Kate smirked.

"Kurt's going too," Logan told her, still just motionless on the floor of the plane.

Kate brightened immediately and looked up at Kurt. "Oh, well, that's different."

"I don't mind the dinosaurs that much," Kurt said with a shrug. "I can get away from them when I need to."

"Well, you've had practice with your best friend, the stabby dinosaur," Kate teased.

"Jubes won't go back," Logan laughed as Jubilee turned a bit pink around the ears.

"O-ho. Scared of dinosaurs, Jubes?" Kate asked, grinning wide as she turned her whole body to face her friend at the prospect of having something to tease her about.

"No, I am not scared of dinosaurs," Jubilee countered. "In fact — I'm really good with dinosaurs. It's the locals I'm trying to avoid."

"She tamed one of their pterodactyls," Logan explained with a grin. "First outsider to do it. She was like — 14. They tried to make her marry into the tribe for it."

Kate burst into a laugh. "Jubilee: dinosaur tamer. That's amazing."

"She was spitting mad when we told her what was going on," Kurt said, chuckling at the memory.

"Well, yeah. She had places to be! No time to get married in the Savage Land," Kate said, still laughing quietly. "Way too busy and awesome and young. Oh my gosh. Seriously, Jubes. Does Noh know that you're engaged?"

Noh picked his head up and looked between the group of friends, his expression completely unbothered. "I have been reliably informed that marriages only happen in this area for love and are not forced upon anyone. Therefore, she is not engaged."

"She's really not," Logan said, chuckling a little more. "Seeing as they thought she was a boy at the time to boot. You know. Unless they have more liberal views. Could set that nice girl up still."

"I am not, nor have I ever been engaged," Jubilee said Logan's way as he started to chuckle even more at her expression. "That was a … a … cultural misunderstanding." She crossed her arms over her chest and halfway started to pout. "Not my fault I'm more awesome than they were expecting. And it's not like they asked."

"You hear that, Noh?" Bobby broke in with a smirk. "She made sure to point out she's never ever been engaged. Not just this time — had to cover all her bases."

"You are evil," Jubilee replied, her cheeks rosy.

"Just trying to help," Bobby returning, smirking wider. "I mean, Noh doesn't understand some of these Earth customs."

"This? This means war, Bobb-O. I hope you understand what you've just done, because you? You are going down, frat boy."

"Bring it on, mall rat."

"I'm gonna make you eat those words, popsicle."

"You can only try, sunshine. You can only try."

Jubilee just stuck one finger at him and narrowed her eyes. "Down."

"Kids, knock it off," Logan grumbled. "Bobby — you know better. Unless you're after a repeat of last time."

"Hey." Bobby held up both hands. "No thanks."

"Too late, Wolvie — he's insulted my honor. He's going down," Jubilee insisted. "No property damage this time, though," she added in a worryingly bright tone.

"I don't understand," Noh broke in, very obviously confused. "In what way is your never having been engaged insulting your honor?"

"You hush," Jubilee said in a huff before she took a deep breath. "He's trying to insinuate ... he's a jerk, okay? And he needs his butt kicked."

"They're just like this," Logan said. "No honor's been insulted or sullied. Morons. Looking for a reason to fight, that's all."

"If you say so," Noh said quietly. "But I still don't think I understand much of this conversation."

"Don't feel bad, no one does. They're just stupid."

But the confusion didn't seem to disappear for most of the trip, though at least the war talk fell back to just glared and sticking out their tongues at each other or making faces while Noh tried very hard to work out why Jubilee was this upset with Bobby. Finally, hours later, when they arrived at the mansion, Logan helped Noh up and out to the medical wing — having long been healed himself already.

It didn't do a thing for the newly rekindled prank war, but it did leave Jubilee alone long enough for Kate to get a hold of her.

"Hey, Jubes — listen," Kate said, pulling on her arm to turn her down a hall so they could talk in private. "You've got to know — Noh's not usually all… Wolverine-y."

"What are you talking about?" Jubilee asked with a little frown, perhaps a bit too distracted by Bobby leaving finally to really have caught on yet to any conversation that didn't involve pranks.

"That whole business with him and Sinister," Kate said pointedly. "He doesn't do that. I mean, I'm way less powerful than you, and he never once left me behind on a mission like that for 'my own protection' or whatever while we were dating. That's not how he rolls."

"What are you trying to say then?" Jubilee asked with her brow furrowed. "Because I don't think I follow."

Kate had the slightest smirk on her face for just a second before she got it back under control. "Well, I mean — it sorta says something about how he feels about you, seeing as he doesn't do that for anyone else. But… well, no one ever threatened medical experimentation on me. And he kind of has a thing about that."

"It's probably just that then," Jubilee said with a wave. "But Logan has big issues with people threatening experimentation too, so the parallels still exist. Sadly."

"Not his fault," Kate tried to explain. "I mean — he spent his first year on Earth being experimented on? So… yeah."

"Yeah, I didn't say it was his fault. That's — that just sucks," she said with a little frown.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew. I mean, he's really happy with you, and you seem to like him, and I don't want his stupidity over this one thing to screw that up for you both. Because — you're both important to me, and I know how stupid you X-Men can be about communicating," Kate explained in a rush.

Jubilee watched her friend for a moment, taking in her wide eyes before she relaxed her shoulders and just shook her head. "I — okay. So. Wolvie like — half raised me. One stupid thing … no," she said with a little laugh at the end. "I am not scared off by stupid. I just have to yell at it so I don't lose my temper."

"Good." Kate threaded her arm through Jubilee's. "Because you two are unbearably cute together, and I'd like to keep it that way," she teased.

"You're funny," Jubilee said, scrunching her nose up. "Like you have any say in it."

"Oh, Jubes." Kate tutted and shook her head at her friend. "You poor naive little thing. Thinking I can't do whatever I want." She was grinning outright as she pulled Jubilee along down the halls.

"Pretty sure you don't have a say in THIS," Jubilee replied, not matching Kate's grin in the slightest. "And nothing I can say or do about it either. Just ... gonna have fun while it lasts." She was kind of kicking the ground as she said it.

"And you two are nothing but fun," Kate agreed with a smile before she paused and tipped her head to the side as she thought about it. "He's trying, Jubes. Really, really hard."

She smiled a bit at that. "Well. that's a first for anyone I've dated," she tried to joke.

"It's a big deal for him too. He didn't do that before either," Kate said with a soft smirk. "He's usually more ... go with the flow. Guess he's starting to mellow with age — mature a little bit." The smirk grew. "Less of a teenager," she teased. "Not that I can talk, seeing as he's older."

"Oh yeah, so much older," Jubilee said as she rolled her eyes.

Kate just grinned and kept pulling her along. "Come on. I need fake dinosaurs in my life right now. And candy and popcorn."