Logan's face twisted and the words came out painfully and slowly. His brain just couldn't fathom what he had just heard.

" What did you say?" he asked. Jubilee didn't answer. He knew what she said. She remained curled on the floor at his feet, shaking while she wept. Logan stepped over her and began to pace, his eyebrows narrowing and his hand went through his hair in contemplation.

" Let me get this straight," he said with a hint of a growl," You pushed Kitty down the stairs on purpose? Am I hearing right?" Silence. " Answer me!"

" Yes!" Jubilee cried. Logan couldn't believe it. His little Jubilee...the one he had taken under his wing as a surrogate daughter...the one that could do no real wrong in his eyes...had purposely hurt another...and her own room mate...her own team mate. It completely blew his mind.

" What in the hell were you thinkin'?"

" I...wasn't...I...don't know," Jubilee said between sobs. Logan took three huge strides, picked the girl up off the floor and set her down in a desk chair.

" Tell me!" he growled," Tell me the whole story right now." His claws burst out of his hands and Jubilee jumped. " And don't leave anything out."

" Wolvie..I-"

" Don't call me that right now! I can barely look atcha." At her look of anguish he softened a notch. But he didn't stop pacing. " Just start at the beginning."

Jubilee's lip was still quivering, but she had enough control to tell him everything. She told him about her feelings of being replaced- about how she'd threatened Kitty and fought with her non-stop for a week- her talks with Emma and Rogue- and finally, her rage at her exclusion from the mall trip and her plan to hurt Kitty. Logan listened, the veins in his neck popping out more with every detail Jubilee spoke.

" ... I just, I thought you would just get rid of me once Kitty moved in on you...and she rubbed it in so much when you got back from that shopping trip. I had actually been looking for her to forgive her and let it go but when you got back and I learned you hadn't even looked for me very hard...W- Logan I lost it." she began to cry again, but silently and she wiped her tears away as often as she could. She tried to keep her voice from breaking. " I pretended to be her friend again and we started to walk up the stairs. When we got pretty far up I pretended to trip and I hit her hard enough to make her fall backwards. I hated myself once I did it, Logan, I swear...and I thought she would tell you when she woke up so you could hate me then, but she didn't remember." Jubilee shut her eyes. "She didn't remember so I've been trying to forget it too...forget it so you would never know and never hate me. But I couldn't forget..." Her voice became small and weak again, as if she wasn't trying to justify it anymore. " I couldn't forget how awful I was. How much I deserved for everyone to stop loving me. I'm sorry, Logan. I'm so sorry."

A knock came to the door and Logan sighed.

" Kitty, get in here," he said harshly, opening the door for her. She hobbled in and went to sit on her bed, looking startled and confused.

" What's going on?" she asked.

" Let me ask you something," Logan said angrily," When we went for a ride and you wanted to talk to me- you were tryin' to tell me that the two of you were fightin' were'nt you?"

" Yes Logan," Kitty answered honestly. Logan turned away from her and looked back at Jubilee.

" Tell her" he commanded.

" Kitty," Jubilee took a deep breath," I was mad at you for...well I was mad at you for a lot of things."

" I know that Jubilee, but I thought that was over," Kitty replied calmly.

" But I only pretended to forgive you," Jubilee was looking right in Kitty's eyes." I was really still mad at you and I..." That was it. Her voice broke." I pushed you down the stairs on purpose."

Kitty gasped. " no," she said," No, I saw you trip."

" Oh listen to this, this is good," Logan put in.

" I, um, planned that trip, Kitty. I made it look like it was an accident because I wanted to hurt you. I'm so sorry."

" But you...you," Kitty was about to burst out in anger but she stopped. She thought back to all of the things she had said and done, and how that would have looked to Jubilee. " I was a brat too, and I'm sorry " she finally said, " I forgive you, Jubes."

" Kitty," Logan said flatly.

" No, Logan, I really do forgive her," she said obstinately, standing up. " I was just as much of a bitch to her as she was to me. Granted, I never acted on it, but I thought about it. She's sorry. Look at her, she's a wreck over this." Kitty tried to hobble over to Jubilee, but Logan caught her.

" Don't," he said. " Leave her. I need to talk to you outside for a minute." Kitty was about to protest but she noticed his claws were still out.

" Fine."

" I was a jerk to you Kitty," he said once they were safely out in the hall.

" Yeah, you were," she said," you didn't even listen to me when I was clearly upset."

" You shoulda gotten in my face. This never should have happened."

" Get in your face? Are you kidding? Logan. Be serious," she said, " Look. We all screwed up. It's not a big deal. I'll be fine in a few weeks."

" Not a big deal? Did I miss somethin' ?" Logan was still fuming.

" Just go easy on her, ok?" Kitty said gravely.

" I ain't makin' any promises."

Kitty began to swing toward the elevator. " You don't have to," she replied.

******************************************************************************

" So what happens now?" Jubilee asked as Logan returned to the darkened dorm room. She hadn't moved an inch and he was almost proud of her.

" What happens?" Logan repeated bluntly,"She forgave you. You could have killed her and she forgave you." He paused," Dammit Jubilation! How could you -"

" I know. I know," she wailed, " I'm so stupid! I shouldn't have done it."

Logan shook his head, glaring at her like an eagle. Then suddenly his claws retracted and he rolled up his sleeves with a sigh.

" That wasn't what I was damnin'," he said, softening.

" It wasn't?" Jubilee asked in surprise.

" No," he took a step closer to her," How could you ever think that I would hate you? That's what I've been broodin' over all this time."

" It is?"

" Yes. God, Jubilee, I ain't happy with ya for bein' careless and stupid but I would never hate ya. Not in a million years."

" But Logan I deserve for you to hate me. I'm a rotten selfish brat."

" Hey," Logan said, striding over to her and gathering her in his arms, " It's Wolvie if ya don't mind." He held her tightly, and chuckled. " And you may be a rotten selfish brat but you're my rotten selfish brat. Don't you ever forget it."

" Thanks Wolvie," Jubilee said, finishing the last of her tears on the shoulder of his flannel shirt. " So we're ok, right?" He took her chin in his hand.

" Yeah. We're ok. Now whadaya say we go downstairs and pig out watchin' movies?" He put out his arm.

" I'm totally there," she said, taking it. The two mutants walked out of the room and down the stairs." Hey Wolvie?"

" Hmm?"

" I'm grounded aren't I?"

" Darlin', let's just say you should enjoy the light of day while you can."

" That's what I thought."

Jubilee looked at her father-figure. He was grinning, and he gave her an affectionate squeeze. She grinned back and every remnant of a dagger ever being in her stomach melted away. Kitty had forgiven her. She had forgiven herself. And her Wolvie would always be there to watch her back if she ever screwed things up again.

The End