"…come to me…"
"…listen to my words…"
"…feel safe…"
"…be treasured…"
"…beyond your wildest dreams…"
"…hear my call…"
"…let the shadow in your heart show you the way…"
And in the darkness, a sleeping soul came to him. And listened to the call. And felt safe and treasured. And the shadow wormed its way into her soul and showed her the way, surrounding her mind with the feeling of complete bliss, cocooning it, shutting it off from the world around it. And in the darkness a pair of violet eyes snapped open and slowly covered with a film of infinite blackness.
The woman lying on the bed in the next room heard and felt nothing as the miniscule sonic field began to form within her, expanding until it stopped the flow of blood to one very vital organ.
The blackened eyes stayed unblinking, staring at the now peaceful, unmoving face. Her steady hand reached out and opened the eyes so that she could see that death had taken over the life. Satisfied that all was as expected, she ran her fingers over the lids, drawing them closed once more. With a smile, she backed away, pressing two fingers to her lips and blew a kiss before disappearing into the darkness.
XXXxxxXXX
Paige tapped out a beat on the steering wheel as Jubilee rummaged in her bag looking for whatever was vibrating. They were on their way from the cinema, a failed attempt to ease Jubilee's cabin fever while she was on stand-down because of her ribs, and Paige was glad it would only be a day or two until the hyperactive half-pint was taken off restricted duty. The extreme exhaustion that had hit her after the strange mission in the Jungle had well and truly left her, and Paige found herself wishing from time to time that it would return. Her friend had been a lot more considerate back then. Now she was almost completely back to her normal perky self.
"Got it! Damn." Jubilee's eyebrows knitted together and she slammed the pager onto the dashboard, digging her hand back into the caverness recesses of her handbag to look for her phone.
"What is it?" Paige turned down the volume and turned to look at her closest friend, trying to bite back a laugh as Jubilee's arm disappeared up to her elbow.
"Bobby wants me to phone." Jubilee grunted as she fished around and breathed a sigh of relief as her fingers closed around her phone. "Why he couldn't have just called I have no ide-…oh. Four missed calls."
Paige bit back a snigger and moved the car forward an inch with a heavy sigh as Jubilee dialled Bobby's number. She truly hated traffic. Rolling down the window, she leaned out of the car to see what was holding everything up.
"Jubilee…tell Bobby we need back-up." She murmured softly, and Jubilee looked at her, eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"What?"
A split second later, three cars ahead, a column of fire rose into the air engulfing a truck. "Bobby we need back-up, town centre, just past the mall, A-sap." She dropped the phone and opened her door, sliding out of the SUV as Paige did the same. Her feet had barely hit the pavement when a fire hydrant landed on the roof of the car, punching a hole through the weak metal.
Around them people screamed loudly as they ran from their cars and fled towards the safety of back alleyways and buildings and Paige quickly ran around the ruined vehicle to stand beside her. "Did you see who it is?" Jubilee asked, and Paige nodded.
"Yes, but I don't know who it is…" Paige suddenly blanched and shoved Jubilee out of the way, just as a mailbox crashed down between them. They both dashed for cover behind a small street stall and Jubilee took the opportunity to peak through a row of figurines.
"I think it's Freakshow…hang on, he's supposed to be on our side…"
Paige took a quick look and ducked as the strange creature turned in their direction. "Well, he's tearing up Main St., so I don't think he's on our side now."
Jubilee sucked in a breath as another car transformed into a blossoming fireball and hunched down even lower. "We're gonna need to be careful Paige. He-" she stopped as Paige dashed into the middle of the street, tearing off her skin to reveal a metallic layer.
"Idiot!" she called out after her friend. Groaning, she tied her hair into a ponytail and trotted out after Paige.
"Hiya Kevin, watcha doing?" she called out good-naturedly, hoping to distract him long enough to let the people cowering in terror beneath his feet to escape.
The monstrous head turned towards her and she bit at her lip, hoping to god that Bobby and the others would get a move on. Paige approached him from behind and waited to see what he would do. To their surprise, he morphed back down into human form and turned to look at Paige.
"I'd leave if I were you two. I'm just getting started." He advised them darkly, and Jubilee shared a worried look with Paige.
"Kevin, what's up? Why'd you go crazy on Westchester?" Jubilee asked as Paige edged closer.
His answer was to smile eerily at her and her frown deepened. There was something wrong with his appearance and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. But then he morphed into another monster and when a car was tossed into the air she decided that working out what was wrong with Freakshow could most definitely wait.
XXXxxxXXX
Bobby gunned the car around the corner as Logan tightened his seatbelt "Bobby…"
"They said they needed help, Logan. When'd you ever hear Jubilee ask for help?"
Logan nodded slowly as the car skidded around a corner into the main street and when it finally came to a halt, he clambered out, looking at the surroundings, wide-eyed. The main street was deserted and littered with burnt out overturned cars. The only people in the street were Paige, Jubilee and a man in a trench coat. Jubilee was sitting on the hood of a car with flashing lights, her arms wrapped around herself tightly in a self-hug. He almost groaned when he saw the expression on her face and readied himself for disaster.
"Officer…." The man turned to face them as Bobby spoke and Logan relaxed as he recognised him. "Morgan." He nodded and the detective closed his notebook with a sigh.
"Logan."
"What's going on?"
Paige gestured to the ruined street and shrugged. "We were sitting in traffic when Freakshow showed up. He blew up a truck, a couple of cars…" Both girls suddenly looked sheepish, though there was a hardness to Jubilee's eyes when she glanced at her friend before continuing; "We went to find out what was going on but he was hell-bent on a rampage."
"We showed up, but the girls here seemed to have it in hand." Detective Morgan continued in a slow drawl, leaning against the hood beside Jubilee. "Until he decided to grow to fifty feet tall with tentacles. We stepped in at that point, considering both girls were incapacitated."
Spotting Logan's quick glance at Jubilee, she sighed. "I'm good, Logan…just not tentacle good. I tried to fry him but he just squeezed harder. I had one around my neck and another pinning my arms to my sides." She flicked a piece of debris off her knee and rested her chin on it.
"The cops started firing on him and he let us go quick enough. Shrunk down into his normal shape and high tailed it for an alleyway. I chased but he disappeared. Which was weird, 'cos it was a dead end alleyway. Maybe he flew…I don't know." Paige sighed, suddenly looking exhausted.
"Why didn't you wait in your car for backup?" Bobby asked sternly and Jubilee's eyebrow twitched upwards.
"Look over there, Bobby. Do you see the burnt-out vehicle sitting next to the demolished stall? Well, that used to be Scott's SUV. Yeah, the one with the fire hydrant in the passenger seat. And the stall beside it was our second port of call. Waiting for back up was a nice idea an' all, but didn't quite work out as well as expected."
Bobby snorted and glanced around as people began to step back out onto the street, glancing around anxiously as if they expected their attacker to reappear at any moment. "Well, it looks like things are pretty much wrapped up here, at least from our end." He shrugged when Morgan glanced at him and gestured around. "Hey, we didn't do anything, so don't look at me like that."
"Logan, take the girls home. I'll deal with what's left of the street."
Logan grinned wryly at the cop he had befriended his first week at the mansion and nodded, urging Jubilee off the hood of the car with a gentle hand to her back. "Will do. C'mon, kid. Let's get you two home."
XXXxxxXXX
When Scott finally eased into the small briefing room to find out if there was any damage control needed, he was immediately confronted with an air of tension, and after taking a seat it was pretty obvious that the tension was solely coming from Jubilee and directed at Paige. Paige was looking down at the table with a stony expression on her face, while Jubilee was staring at her friend, her jaw set in a look that made him sigh.
"Ok, before we get down to what happened, what's going on between you two?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Jubilee immediately dropped her gaze down to the table, but Paige raised her head defiantly. "I don't know. Ask her."
"Jubilee?"
"Someone needs to remember that when she is dashing into battle, letting the person she is with know what she is about to do would help. You don't just run towards trouble, Paige. That's teamwork 101. You didn't know what Freakshow was capable of; I did and you didn't even wait to find out. You just ran in there half-cocked. You could have gotten you and me killed because of it. Don't look at me like that, Paige. From the expression on your face when he turned into the tentacle monster you didn't know what he was capable of!"
"Paige?" Scott asked carefully, and the tone of his voice made Paige drop her gaze back down to the table. She shrugged awkwardly, her cheeks blushing violently.
"Yeah…." the one word conveyed a whole world of meaning and he let the matter drop. He'd talk to her about it later.
"So, in your own words, what happened?"
Seeing Paige was still bright red and obviously struggling with mortification, Jubilee cleared her throat.
"We were sitting in traffic, Paige looked out the window to see what was holding everything up. She must have been able to see what was going down because the next thing I knew she was telling me to tell Bobby we needed backup. We got out of the car and about 2 seconds later a fire hydrant was sitting in my seat…really sorry about that, Scott..." She smiled apologetically at him and it took all of two seconds for his brain to catch up with his ears.
"My car?"
"The SUV…" Paige murmured, chewing at her lower lip. "You did say we could use it if we needed to go to the mall…and it's the only car you own that I can drive."
"Just be thankful it wasn't the Ferrari, Cyke." Jubilee added warningly. "Anyhow, things went downhill from there. Paige went on the offensive, I approached to see what was going on with him – try to find out why someone like him was tearing up Westchester. Didn't really get an answer other than him blowing up the car. He told us to go away. Then there was the usual taunting, running, blowing up of public property…Paige chased him into an alley and then he was gone, like poof!"
"Poof?" Scott sounded sceptical, but Paige nodded emphatically.
"It was a dead end, Scott. Brick walls on all three sides. I looked for him in case he went small, but there wasn't even a rat in there."
"Cyke…there's something else, too. Aside from the whole 'going ballistic' on us, there was something off about him. I know I've only met him once or twice, but there was something not quite right…I can't really put it into words, but it was really hinky. It gave me the heebie jeebies."
"Jubilee, I'm not putting that into the report. I can't use the word hinky." Scott frowned, tapping his pen against the paper, but Jubilee's jaw set into a stubborn expression.
"Cyke, last time I said something gave me the heebie jeebies and was hinky and nobody listened to me, Jono ended up with a face again and Charles got his legs back. Put hinky into the report."
"Jubes-"
"Hey, if you put Logan's 'butkiss' into reports, you will put hinky into the damned report!" Her voice rose to a shout and a sudden hush fell in the room. Jubilee looked down at the hand that had just slapped at the tabletop and drew in a deep breath. "I think that's it, Scott. If you need me, I'll be in my room." She quickly left the room, and Paige closed her mouth with a 'clop'.
XXXxxxXXX
After Scott had a quiet word in Storm's ear, she found Jubilee kneeling in her closet throwing clothes and shoes over her shoulder.
"Jubilee?"
Jubilee froze with a boot in her fingers and her shoulders slumped down. "What can I do for you, 'Ro?"
"Are you looking for something?" Ororo sat on the edge of the coffee table, careful to keep her tone mild.
"I need a new bag, a new purse and a new phone. I know I have some in here somewhere…" Jubilee kept her eyes on the boot, her fingers tightening. "So, Scott sent you here to talk to me? Too chicken to face me after my 'Hinky' outburst?"
Ororo's lips twitched and she just barely managed to keep from smiling. "He is speaking with Paige. I wanted to see how you were doing. I wasn't in the mansion when you arrived home, and it's been some time since you and I have spoken."
Screwing up her face, Jubilee sighed and finally turned to look at Ororo, to find the weather witch looking at her with a kind look on her face.
"Sorry 'Ro. I guess the fight with Freakshow and Paige has kind of put me on edge…not that me and Paige really fought…I just don't think she's talking to me right now."
Ororo finally smiled and shook her head. "Scott told me what happened. She knows she was wrong. She probably just needs some time to get used to the idea. From what Emma and Scott have told me about her, being wrong isn't something she is used to."
Jubilee found herself smiling and laughed softly. "Yeah, that's Hayseed alright. Always right, never wrong."
"Like you." Ororo's eyebrow twitched upwards, and Jubilee's soft laugh grew louder.
"Oh hell no! 'Ro, you've known me too long…you know I'm usually only half right.. Ro', am I being nuts for going off on Paige like that?"
Ororo shook her head quickly. "No. You reacted exactly as you should have. However maybe you should have used less choice words in the car on the way home-"
"So you've been talking to Bobby too?"
"-yes, but she should not have run straight in like that. Although it is something you might have done at one time." Thinking for a moment, Ororo sighed. "Not in many years, however. You were brash and impulsive when you got here first. But it did not take you long to see the error of your ways. You give the impression of being rash and impulsive, but we who are in the position to know best you know you are not."
Jubilee sighed and dumped the boot down by her side. "Really, 'cos the impression I get is that even though I'm a regular team member, on the roster when I'm not injured, everyone still thinks I'm just a kid. Even Logan does…"
She paused and blew out a long breath, turning around until she was sitting with her back to the wardrobe door. Storm waited for her to continue, sensing that the child was going to have a revelation of some kind. Then she winced when she realised she'd automatically referred to her as 'child'. Jubilee, however, never noticed.
"But him and me, we've had it out. We've talked…" she gave a half-grin up at her pseudo aunt and shrugged, "and he pointed out that to him, we're all kids. And then we have Emma and Sean. Emma treats me like an adult when it suits her, and Sean's always like an indulgent uncle with a wayward niece…y'know, the 'yer naught but a wee lass who doesn't know any better' routine…just like Scott and Charles an' half the others. How come Emma does? And how come you don't?"
Ororo's lips twitched again. "I think Emma may see you better than any of us, Jubilee. But then, I cannot answer that question for her. Perhaps some day you should ask her."
The look Jubilee directed at her was almost scathing, and Ororo began to laugh in earnest.
"Jubilee, we all know what you are capable of, but she is the only one with enough…" she sought for a more polite word in vain and sighed as she continued; "balls to push you the way she does to get her results. And I will always remember what you have been through. I know you are not a child. Remember, I was once like you were, living on the streets, having to protect myself. I know how much a person can grow up when faced with that."
"So, what do I do? Put up with Scooter treating me like a kid? I mean, I know my English isn't so hot. I tend to lapse into Valley talk and my grammar isn't exactly in Hank's scale…but what's so wrong with the word 'Hinky'?"
Storm stayed silent for a moment, trying to work out exactly where it fit in the conversation, but decided to go with the flow. Her current mission was to make sure Jubilee was ok and iron out any problems no matter how…hinky.
Without another word, Storm eased off the coffee table and scooched along the carpet until she was sitting beside the suddenly lost looking teenager. "Come here." She wrapped her arms around her and rested her chin on the top of Jubilee's head. "It must be hard being a thirty-five year old in a seventeen year old's body." She mused with a completely straight face.
"Ha Ha. Very funny, lady." Jubilee sniffed and stubbornly wiped away a tear that threatened to fall. "Better than being a twelve year old in a twenty-eight year old's body. Just ask Bobby."
Ororo smiled and continued to hold her gently. "Jubilee, you must not take all this to heart. They – no, we, we are protective of you because you are ours and for some reason we are not quite willing to let go or to let you let go of your childhood. When Charles and Jono were, for want of a better word, healed, and you appeard to have nothing wrong with you, we all worried. I guess it made them- us, more protective of you than ever. Sweetheart, I do not know if you can understand how we, the X-Men as a whole, feel about you, and I do not have the authority to speak for many of the others. You came to us at a young age, and I have been proud to watch you grow to be a fantastic young woman. I view you as kin. And so does Scott, Jean, Henry and even Charles. Even if you do use the word hinky."
Jubilee sniggered at that and leant into Ororo's hold. "Thanks 'Ro…"
"Now, let go of your boot and we shall go to a meeting. Charles wishes to see us all in the briefing room."
Watching Jubilee disappear out the door, she slowly got back to her feet, dusting off her clothes. Checking her watch, she made her way down to Scott's study, just as Paige emerged, red-faced. Knocking quietly, she entered and closed the door quietly behind her.
XXXxxxXXX
At the briefing, Scott didn't miss how Paige and Jubilee sat at opposite ends of the room, but he concentrated more on the fact that Paige's cheeks bloomed red every time she looked at Jubilee; though she tended to try to avoid looking at her at all costs. This would be an interesting couple of weeks until they either sorted things out or Jubilee let Paige off the hook. Having listened to Ororo describe her conversation, he'd come to two conclusions. One was that that this was something that Jubilee would have to work out with each and every team member until everyone understood that the girl wasn't thirteen any more. The second was that he himself would have to be more careful in his dealings with her. And the third was that he had nothing to worry about.
Jubilee, on the other hand, was under Hank's close scrutiny. His sharp eyes hadn't missed the red marks around her neck from the tentacle, though she had obviously tried to hide them behind makeup. She was studiously ignoring the doctor though, and even though the upcoming meeting was going to be serious, Scott couldn't help but smile.
When Charles walked in, everyone's attention turned to him, wondering why the meeting had been called. It wasn't for a mission, because if that were the case, Scott would have already started talking.
Charles, thankfully, dismissed most of his normal preliminary's and got straight to the point. "As you all know, many of our members are dotted around the world in various covert positions. They all send in updates regularly enough, depending on who exactly they are. Two have not checked in at their appointed time, and to be frank, I am worried. Polaris and Vectress are a week past due. Their mission was to observe a Friends of Humanity group in Paris and to report on their movements. I have tried to look with Cerebro, but there was no sign of either woman. Scott, you and one other are to go and find out what has happened to them. It is not like Polaris to miss a check in. And definitely not for this length of time. Logan, you and Jean are needed in Canada. Heather Hudson has contacted us and asked for your assistance in a new project she is working on. Take the Blackbird."
He didn't miss Logan's raised eyebrow and he shook his head exasperatedly. "It is nothing like that, Logan. Vindicator and Guardian just wish to talk to Jean about a project she has started up and I would be more comfortable if you were there with her."
Logan gave a heavy sigh and nodded, stalking from the room. He and Alpha Flight had a long history together, and not much of it had been good. While they were now on an even keel, he still didn't want to trust them any further than he could throw them. Jean rolled her eyes and stood, giving Scott a kiss on the forehead. "I guess we are leaving now, then." She grumbled, following Wolverine from the room.
"Meeting adjourned." Charles murmured, standing up and walking away with a sheaf of files underneath his arm.
"So, Scott, who are you taking with you to Paris?" Rogue looked at him hopefully.
"Jubilee, get some things together." Scott stood up and smiled at her as she stared at him in shock, her mouth hanging open.
"Moi?" She mouthed when he gestured to the door.
"Yes, Jubilee. You. Now hurry and get packed. I need to get some flights booked."
She shot to her feet and bolted out of the door, letting out an excited squeal. Remy rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Mon amie, you are a braver man than I, bringing de Petite to Parie. She gonna go crazy on you. Xavier not have a dime left by de time she get home."
Scott gave a shrug and followed the teenager out of the room.
OOOoooOOO
When he emerged with his bag, he found Jubilee sitting on the front steps, a knapsack by her feet. She had changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and a mauve sweater and had tied her hair back into a bun at the nape of her neck. She had exchanged her bright yellow mac at some point over the years for a long black leather coat that reminded him of Remy's, and she wore a neat pair of black knee high boots with a manageable heel. She looked all grown up. Seeing her like that brought home to him just how much she had changed over the years since she had arrived at the Mansion, cold, tired and extremely wary of anyone who wasn't Logan. She still wore sunglasses, though the garish ray-bans had been exchanged for a stylish black pair, and the movement of her jaw heralded a wad of gum in her mouth. She hadn't changed that much.
"You were expecting to see four or five bags, weren't you." She grinned up at him, bouncing to her feet and slinging her bag onto her back. "Remember, I've toured the world with Logan. I know how to pack light."
Scott shook his head and steered her to the car, smiling at her. "No, I wasn't expecting four or five bags. I was wondering if you would, but I didn't expect it."
Jubilee let out a bark of a laugh and Scott was suddenly glad he had picked her.
Four hours later he watched her trying to make herself comfortable in the small cramped seats in economy class. "I thought you only ever flew business class or higher?" She grumbled, squirming slightly.
"These were the only available seats, Jubes. Sorry." His broad shoulders weren't making it any easier for her, so he raised the arm rest and put his arm around her shoulders, letting her lie against his chest. "You are still a bit claustrophobic, aren't you?" He asked finally, feeling her chest heaving.
"A little…not so much as I was. It's just when I can't move my legs…" She shrugged awkwardly and snuggled down against him. "Why did you bring me, anyhow? You could have brought anyone else…"
Scott smiled and gave her a squeeze. "We haven't exactly had a lot of time together recently…well…since we sent you to school. I thought it might be nice to spend some time with you again."
Jubilee twisted her head around to look up at him, one eyebrow cocked. "Glad to see you are now saying 'we sent you' not 'when you went' like the others do. Taking responsibility for your actions." She could feel him stiffen underneath her cheek and she shook her head. "Down boy. I'm not sore about it any more."
He took a deep breath and rested his chin on top of her head, closing his eyes. "Why are you so claustrophobic, Jubilee. When I asked, no one would or could give me an answer."
Jubilee chewed at her lip and pulled away from him so she could see him properly. "Just a bad mission." She whispered, keeping her voice low so that no one else could hear her. "A building collapsed when I was in it about a year and a half ago…I got pinned for a couple of hours in the dark. My radio was out. No biggie…worse has happened to me over the years, I guess that it just got to me a little. Please don't tell anyone else Scott. I don't want them to know."
He watched her play with the fringe on the end of her sweater and took her hands in his, stilling them. "It's ok Jubilee…I understand. But we're your family. It's ok to show weakness from time to time."
Jubilee snorted and put her head back on his chest. "Yeah, right. That's why you've told Jean you are afraid of clowns then, right?"
"Uh…" Scott's eyes widened and he stared down at the neatly arranged hair now lying against his chest. How the hell did she know that!
XXXxxxXXX
Hours later and very early in the morning, two very grumpy X-men checked into a high class Parisian hotel. As per usual, one bag had not turned up on the carousel. Unfortunately, it had been Jubilee's. Mutely, she walked into the bathroom and shut the door firmly, leaving Scott to check in at the base.
Silently, she let down her hair and scratched at her scalp, hating the bobby pins that stuck into her head. Once the discomfort was gone, she carefully put it back up, this time in a French braid and washed her face before coming out again.
"I think we should go straight to Lorna's place." Jubilee announced as Scott put the phone back on the hook. Scott nodded thoughtfully.
"Charles just requested that, too. You ready to go?"
Jubilee nodded. "Sure. Bathroom's all yours. I'd change, but my bags are probably in Hong Kong by now. You'd think that they could manage to put one bag on the right plane for once, wouldn't you. Wanna bet it turns up just before we leave?"
Scott shook his head, disappearing inside the smallest room of the suite. "No bet!" he called out, through the shut door. Jubilee snickered and pulled aside the curtain, pouting slightly that they had no view of the Eiffel Tower. "Figures." She huffed under her breath. Still, she was in Paris, so she wasn't going to complain.
An hour later, they stood in the living room of Lorna and Cara's small apartment as the sun rose. The room was freezing cold, and the air conditioning units were on full blast, the frigid air raising bumps on the skin of their arms.
"Look in the bedrooms, I'll check the kitchen." Scott murmured, heading for the small kitchen at the back.
Jubilee took two steps into the first room and sucked in a horrified breath.
"Sco…Scott, I've found Lorna…" She called out, her voice trembling.
Scott hurried back through the living room to find Jubilee bent over the very dead corpse of Lorna Dane; the mutant Polaris.
"Is she…?" He asked unnecessarily.
"Dead. Very dead." She whispered softly. "She looks…peaceful, though. There is no sign of a struggle. She looks like she died in her sleep."
Scott rubbed his hand across his face and nodded. "Jubilee, come away from there."
Jubilee nodded, quickly backing away from the bed. "We'd better check the other bedroom. See if Cara Shenke is there."
Scott nodded but held up his hand once they'd reached the living room again. "I'll check. You…check their bills."
Jubilee nodded, not wanting to see the body of yet another X-Man, and quickly flipped through the letters they'd collected from the hatch. There was one addressed to Lorna. She recognised the writing as Bobby's, and tucked it into her inside pocket. The two had dated at one point and she had a feeling that he would probably want it back.
"She's not in there." Scott's face was grave when he emerged, and he took out his phone. "And neither are her belongings."
Jubilee turned to look back at the bedroom, the bed clearly visible through the open door. "Scott…"
"I don't know, Jubilee. We'll need to get the body out of here without anyone noticing, though. Get it to Muir Island and ask Moira to do an autopsy. I'm going to talk to Charles and then get Excalibur to fly down with Kurt. If they hover over the building in stealth mode, then he can teleport the body up and we can close up the apartment."
Jubilee sighed and shut the bedroom door, closing off the view of the corpse. After a few minutes she had located a loose floorboard in the living room and quickly pried it up, removing a sheaf of notes and a data pad. She sat down on the couch and began to go through them as Scott paced, waiting for Charles to answer the phone.
She listened with half an ear as he spoke quietly and began to read, her brow furrowing as she tried to make sense of Lorna's chicken-scratch handwriting and the odd note in the margins that Vectress had made. Midway through she stopped, finding an envelope wedged between two piles of paper. It was addressed to Bobby. Looking up, she realised that Scott had his back turned to her and she quietly folded it over and put it into her inside pocket next to the letter Bobby had sent. Sighing silently, she went back to her work, and when Scott finally ended the call, she turned and looked up at him.
"The Friends of Humanity gang disbanded about three weeks ago. Turns out Europeans are a lot more liberal than we take them for. According to Cara's notes, their last three rallies were picketed by 'normals' who told them to get the hell out of the country or face their wrath. I'll phone Bishop and ask him to tiptoe through the airline's flight itineraries and see if he can find out if they went back to the states or not. At least we can try wrap up this mission while we are waiting for Kurt and the others to arrive."
Scott nodded approvingly, secretly impressed that she'd had the forethought to keep working and tossed his phone to her. "Work away. Excalibur will be here after nightfall. I'm going to ask the neighbours and the building superintendent if they've seen Cara recently. I'll tell them I'm her cousin from the States. You are my daughter. Got it?"
Jubilee nodded absently, already dialling Bishop's number. "Yeah."
By the time he got back from his fruitless search, Jubilee was back at the bedroom door, staring at the now covered body. "She was a nice girl." She murmured, feeling Scott's hands gently rub her upper arms, trying to comfort her. "Never really had much to do with her, and even though she did break Bobby's heart…she was still nice."
Scott nodded and gently turned her away from the room, closing the door again. He walked her out onto the small sun drenched balcony and Jubilee shook her head ruefully. "Sheesh, we spend a fortune for a hotel room with no view, and they could see the tower from here."
Scot followed her gaze to see the tip of the Eiffel Tower poking above the rooftops and shrugged. "That's the fall of the dice."
Shrugging, Jubilee turned her back on the view and began to shred a leaf from one of the window boxes between her fingers.
"Want to talk about what happened this evening? I mean, yesterday evening?" he asked quietly and Jubilee squinted up at him
"Not really. You sent Storm to do your dirty work after all."
Scott sighed at the bitterness in her voice and shook his head. "No, I was talking to Paige. As another team leader, I thought that Storm would be more suited to talking to you. Apparently I do better at the 'I expected more of you' speeches than she does. Now I'm talking to you, and Paige has an extra danger-room session this evening. With Remy."
Jubilee winced, knowing that Remy was in a foul humour after yesterday's break-up with Rogue. "Ouch. I think I'll text her and tell her where my bruise ointment is." Her wince turned into a grin and she smirked at Scott's raised eyebrow.
In the comfortable silence that fell, Jubilee watched the pretty Parisian street below them and sighed softly.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"I just can't believe Lorna is dead. It's…senseless, I guess. I mean, if she'd gone down in a fiery blaze of glory…that I'd understand. That was Lorna. But…not in her sleep. Not like this." She shook her head again, trying to make sense of it all.
Scott nodded slowly. "I understand. I felt the same way when Jeff Daniels died." He looked down to see Jubilee staring at him quizzically. "Jeff's alter ego was Dynaguy. He was a member of the Thrilling Three. A Super – they were government funded mutants. Actually, Vectress was one too. Their golden years ended a long time ago, when people started suing the government because of incidents involving the Supers." He shook his head in amazed disbelief.
"What happened to him?"
"Believe it or not, he is the reason why the X-Men don't tend to wear capes. Well, him and a couple of others. He was taking off and his cape snagged on the ground. Senseless. Of course, he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but still…"
"His cape snagged?" Jubilee sounded sceptical, but the expression on Scott's face told her he was telling the truth.
"His cape snagged. Oh, there were others it happened to, but that's the one that always stands out in my mind. That's why we train so much, Jubilee. So that stupid mistakes like that don't happen."
Jubilee nodded slowly. "Oh, I understand the need to train, Cyke. We have to be on top of our game at all times. Because the one time we're lax, that's when they get you. Vigilant at all times an' all."
"Exactly. Which is why I'm going to start taking you on in Danger Room simulations. I want you to be at the top of your game." Scott stared at a flowerbox on the balcony of an apartment opposite and thought about what to say next. It wasn't often that he got time alone with other team members. Other than his wife, of course. There was always someone hanging around in the background needing to talk to him. Always something that needed to be finished.
"I'm proud of you, Jubilee." The words broke the easy silence and left Jubilee dumbfounded. "I don't say it enough, but I am. You have turned into a beautiful, strong, courageous and intelligent young woman. And you've done more than I've ever hoped for." He smiled down at her proudly and she felt her cheeks begin to burn.
"Wh-what's brought that on?" She asked finally and he wrapped his arm around her as she turned to look up at him properly.
"Nothing. It's something I've wanted to say to you for a long time now, but I haven't had the chance. Something or someone always gets in the way. That's the one thing that annoys me about my position. Everyone seems to want a piece of me."
"You need a holiday." Jubilee quipped, but he shook his head.
"No changing the subject, Jubilee. I know you too well to let you do that. This is one of the few times that I know I will have alone with you, uninterrupted. It came about because of a sad reason, but I am going to take advantage of it. I want you to know how proud I am of you. Me; not the X-Men, not Charles or Jean or Ororo. Or even Wolverine. Me and me alone. I know I've come down hard on you in the past. And that sending you away wasn't exactly to your plan. But I could see you needed more than we could ever give you. You are a special person, Miss Lee. You have such potential…" he cupped her chin with his hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I guess what I am trying to say is that…if I raised a daughter… …I'd want her to be like you. To be as strong as you. And as beautiful as you." He smiled sadly and when she stepped closer, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
Jubilee let him hold her, sensing he needed it more than she did, and wondered what had brought about his sudden need to tell her something like that.
"Okay." She murmured finally, pulling back with a quiet sniff. "But you still need a holiday. You and Jean, take the jet, take off, head into the wild blue yonder. Have a blast. Have two blasts. Lie on a beach and drink cocktails. Watch the sun set, and then watch it rise again." She tapped his chest warningly. "Scott, since we're having what seems to be a heart-to-heart here, I'm gonna let you into a little secret here. I'm worried about you. I know you are Mr. Serious and all, and that you need to be because you are like, the second in command. But if you keep on going the way you are, you are going to have a heart-attack or something."
Scott arched an eyebrow but Jubilee poked him in the chest. "We all have our strengths, Fearless. And we have our weaknesses. And yours is a complete lack of being able to delegate. You've got more people under that roof than there has been in years. Take advantage of it…just remember that I have dyscalculia so don't give me anything to do with mathematics, right? And remember that I'm a night owl. I'll do evening shifts on whatever you want, just don't make me get up at six am."
"Did Jean ask you to talk to me?" He asked with a curious frown, and Jubilee nodded slowly.
"No, but she may have mentioned it." Fifteen times since she and Angelo returned. "But it wasn't anything I hadn't already noticed. You are starting to go grey, Cyke, and unlike Angelo, it's not a good look on you. And I'm talking skin-tone, not hair colour. I'm surprised that Hank hasn't noticed yet."
Scott dipped his head with embarrassment. "He has. I'm on some macrobiotic diet. He thinks it has something to do with my metabolism."
"Phoey." Jubilee snorted, turning to look back out at the street. "If my arm fell off tomorrow he'd say it was because of my diet. You need to take some of the weight off your shoulders, Scott. You don't laugh half as much as you should. Or even half as much as you used to. Five years ago, I could get you to laugh. Now it would take a five hour Laurel and Hardy marathon to even raise an eyebrow with you."
"Not so. I distinctly remember laughing yesterday."
"Laughing at Bobby doesn't count." Jubilee cautioned him sternly.
"I know." Scott smiled again and reached into his pocket to take out his wallet. "Come on. We'll go to the café on the corner and wait there for a while. There's something about sitting in an apartment with a dead person that gives me the heebie jeebies."
The look Jubilee shot him at the use of 'heebie jeebies' was priceless, and he suddenly wished he had a camera.
XXXxxxXXX
Five hours later, they were sitting on the couch with takeaway cardboard coffee cups in their hands, staring at the wall, still waiting for darkness to descend.
"So, let me get this right; Kenny dies in every episode?" Scott looked perplexed and Jubilee nodded exaggeratedly.
"Almost every episode. And then someone says 'You killed Kenny. You bastard!'."
"And it's supposed to be funny?"
Jubilee shrugged, taking a sip. "Some people think it is. Actually, a lot of people do to be honest. Southpark is an acquired taste, I guess. And it's geared more to my and Bobby's generation. Not yours."
"What else is there?"
"Family Guy. That's pretty decent."
"Seen it. I like Stewie."
"American Dad?"
"Storm thinks it's funny. I don't really like it that much."
Jubilee turned to look at him in surprise. "Hang on, you've seen American Dad and Family Guy, and yet you've never seen Southpark?!"
"Yep."
Jubilee was about to retort when Scott jumped and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket frowning as it vibrated. "It's Bishop." He answered quickly and listened to what the normally taciturn mutant had to say. When he hung up, he drained the last of his coffee and gathered the papers strewn across the coffee table, dumping them into an empty metal bin. Lowering his glasses, he set fire to the paper while Jubilee looked at him strangely. "All the FOH members returned to America a few days ago. Two went on to Germany, but flew out from Munich a day later after the Police caught wind of who they were. They were deported on the grounds that they might incite a riot."
"Mission over…" Jubilee sighed, shutting Lorna's laptop and putting it into its bag. While they'd chatted she'd put a brief synopsis of the handwritten notes onto the hard drive.
"Yup." Scott sighed and checked his watch again. "We've got about another five hours until Excalibur gets here. What do you want to do?"
Jubilee bit at her lip, glancing at the closed bedroom door. "Would it be totally tactless to say shopping?"
"You didn't know her that well, Jubilee. It's not that tactless."
Jubilee shrugged awkwardly and Scott suddenly realised there was a tightness around her eyes. Storm had said that the teen was sick of being treated like a child, but in this situation he realised he may have been a little tactless himself expecting a seventeen year old to hang around a dead body all day. "Go shop, Jubilee. You have two hours and if you buy anything, drop it back to the hotel and then come here."
Jubilee sighed with relief and was gone out the door in as long as it took her to grab her jacket, handbag and Scott's cell phone. Once away from the apartment she began to relax and soon found herself walking down a street lined with high-end boutiques. But even they didn't do much to ease her thoughts. What had gone on in the apartment? Surprisingly enough, there hadn't been much of a smell from the decomposing body, but she guessed it was because the air con was set so low. She paused in front of a boutique window, thinking hard. Too low for even Bobby's comfort. Blinking at the sudden thought that hit her she began tapping her fingers against her thigh. Lorna had died in her sleep. That much was apparent, but why was the air con in the room set so low? Maybe it-
This was getting her nowhere. Shaking her head, she walked to the nearest coffee shop and bought a muffin and yet another coffee, idly wondering if Hank would dare put her on a caffeine-free diet like he had Scott. She knew he'd started to monitor her eating habits since her return to the mansion, and it was exactly the kind of thing that her favourite cookie-monster look-alike would do. Staring out into the middle-distance, her thoughts once more turned to Vectress and Polaris and she began to absently shred the muffin into pieces.
"Enfant." A man sat at her table, shaking her from her reverie and she blinked when she recognised the well-dressed man.
"Jean-Paul Beaubier. To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?" She asked dryly, shaking the crumbs from her fingertips as Northstar placed his paper and coffee cup onto the table.
"You were staring at me, enfant, and I began to wonder why Logan's brattling was in Paris."
Jubilee looked surprised, and looked past the Alpha Flight team member to a recently vacated table. "Oh…sorry, I didn't even see you there. What brings you to this fine and historic city?"
Northstar stared at her for a moment before shifting in his seat to cross his legs. "I am meeting someone. I am due to meet with her in a few minutes. Now, what brings you to Parie? I was surprised to see you here."
Jubilee smiled. Northstar was very obviously trying his best to be nice to her, and considering the fact that he normally thought her to be a loud-mouthed annoying little pain in the ass, it was a big step for the French Canadian Mutant. "Cleaning up a little business with Cyclops. There was a Friends of Humanity gang trying to set up shop here for the past six or so months. They got run out of Paris a little while ago." She replied, suddenly not wanting to reveal too much without talking to Scott first. "Cyke gave me a little personal time to get in some shopping…and see the sights."
Jean-Paul rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sure you've taken in much."
Jubilee opened her mouth with an annoyed expression. "I'll have you know that I've seen quite a lot, thank you very much! I saw a Channel shop, two Gap stores, a Yves San Laurent boutique and three, count 'em, three fountains. And a mime. And believe me, it took all I had not to blast him into eternity. I hate mimes." She shuddered and Northstar picked up his paper, folding it and tucking it underneath his arm.
"Ah, yes, you are a truly cultured soul." He muttered sarcastically, but before she had time to retort he stood and bowed mockingly. "I will bid you adieu, enfant. I must meet my friend. Give my regards to Cyclops."
Jubilee wrinkled her nose at his retreating back and took a sip of her now cold coffee, grimacing at the taste. "Sucks to be you." She sniped underneath her breath and folded a 5 euro note underneath the saucer, getting to her feet. "For that, I'm gonna stalk you and see who your little 'friend' is."
It wasn't hard to follow the tall man through the half-empty streets, and she hung back, keeping a good distance between them in case he turned and saw her. While she didn't mind following him, she didn't fancy having to deal with his reaction if he found out she had.
Using a large stall to hide behind, she watched him approach someone with their back turned to them and tap them on the shoulder. Jubilee's jaw dropped when she saw Vectress turn to hug Jean-Paul and she stepped further into the shadow of the awning. Fumbling in her pocket, she took out the cell phone and dialled the apartment's number.
"Cyke, you are not gonna believe who is meeting up with Northstar not forty feet away from me." She murmured quietly, and in the apartment, Scott frowned shooting to his feet.
"Vectress?" He paced towards the window, looking out at the still bright sky.
"Got it in one, Fearless. What do you want me to do? Confront, tail or…or what?"
Scott tore a hand through his hair and looked at his watch. "Have they seen you?"
"Northstar has, but he left me back at a coffee shop. He p'ed me off so I stalked him to find out who he was meeting. I stayed pretty far back though, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't seen me. What do I do, Cyke?"
There was a long silence and she was beginning to wonder if he was still there when he finally answered her. "Did you tell him what we were doing here?"
Jubilee shook her head. "I only told him we were here about some Friends of Humanity guys that were kicking up trouble a few months back. I didn't name either of them, and Northstar thinks I'm just shopping for the day. I told him you gave me some free time to see the city."
"Ok, follow them but do not get caught. If they do catch sight of you, pretend that you know nothing, ok? Look surprised that you met Northstar again and play nice with Cara until I get there. I'm leaving the apartment now."
Jubilee slipped the phone back into the pocket of her jeans and hurriedly took off her long coat, stuffing it into the paper bag at her feet, replacing it with the mulberry leather biker jacket she had just bought. When she looked up, she found the stall attendant staring at her and she raised an eyebrow in a silent challenge. Smiling knowingly, the man held out a baseball cap and she took it with a half-grin. "Merci." She whispered, jamming it on her head before pressing a handful of euros into his hand. "Au revoir."
It was slightly harder to trail them this time. Neither seemed to be in a hurry, and they stopped often to look in shop windows or to examine a nice piece of architecture or art. She dawdled so much that she lost sight of them and had to guess which way they had gone. Emerging out onto a deserted side-street, she darted back into the shadows, her eyes wide. Northstar was lying on the ground with his back to her and Cara was bent over him, her hand held out as an unmistakable wave of power emanated from it.
"Oh no you don't…" Jubilee murmured, and dropping her bags, she lashed out with her paffs, catching Cara unawares. Her edge didn't last long as Cara rolled to her feet and focused a sub-atomic blast directly at her.
The years of training made her ready, and she leapt out of the way, landing easily. She saw Northstar struggle to get to his feet just as Scott appeared at the far end of the street. He'd heard the unmistakable fizzing sound of Jubilee's paffs and had reacted accordingly, breaking into a run.
Cara's expression didn't bode well for Jubilee, and she fired off another barrage of paffs just as a shock wave hit her dead in the chest, throwing her against a wall. She landed heavily and rolled slowly to her feet, lurching to the side as her abused muscles protested at bearing her full weight.
"Scott, where'd she go?" She called out, spotting Cyclops helping Northstar to stand.
"She fired at me and when I got back up she was gone." Scott murmured, ignoring the pointed look Northstar was directing at him.
"Ok, I will say this only once. What the hell is going on here?" His French accent was thick and strong and Jubilee shared a long look with Scott before answering.
"The three of us nearly got our butts handed to us on a plate by someone who is possibly a murdering bitch." She answered, grabbing her bags and dragging off the cap. "What'd she do to you?"
Northstar looked shaken, but he stood up straight and gave the bottom of his suit jacket a firm tug. "I'm not sure. We were just walking and then I was on the ground watching her…" He shook his head and Jubilee realised his lips were tinged with blue. "It felt like my heart was going to explode."
Jubilee bit at her lip. "Scott?"
"I know, Jubilee. I know." He murmured, putting his hand on Northstar's shoulder. "Jean-Paul, if you have nothing pressing, I suggest you come back to the apartment with us. We're waiting for Excalibur to come and take Polaris's body back to Muir Island for an autopsy."
Northstar's eyes widened at the implications of what Cyclops had just said and without a word, followed them down the street, wondering what had gotten into Vectress.
XXXxxxXXX
The autopsy was both conclusive and inconclusive. Moira emerged from the small room, dragging off mask and gown with a tired sigh, knowing she had to face not only her own people, but Scott, Jubilee and Northstar as well.
She found them all gathered in the briefing room, Jubilee curled up on the floor next to Scott's feet, her eyes distant.
"Polaris died of heart failure." She announced, wiping her hands on a piece of tissue.
Northstar's head whipped around to stare at Scott and Jubilee, an almost accusing expression on his face. "You said-"
"She had you on the ground about five seconds away from being a dead man. You're welcome." Jubilee snapped, seeming to come back to the present.
"If you would let me finish." Moira snapped, tired and irritated. "Polaris died from heart failure with a perfectly healthy heart. Knowing Vectress's powers, but not the girl herself, she could, theoretically have killed her. I don't know for certain, but I want to see you, Jean-Paul, in my med-bay, now." Northstar looked about to protest and she raised her chin a fraction of an inch. "NOW."
Jubilee slid into his vacated seat with a wince and Moira paused in the doorway, watching her carefully. "Do I need you in my med-bay too?" She asked with an arched eyebrow, and Jubilee shook her head as Scott nodded.
"I'm fine." She shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, making Kitty snicker.
"She got thrown against a wall, Moira, and yesterday afternoon, she and Paige got into a fight with Freakshow and I know for a fact that she didn't get seen to by Hank-"
"Didn't get into a fight. He started it by lobbing a fire hydrant at your car." Jubilee muttered under her breath as Moira crooked a finger at her. "Moira, if I can do this, then I'm fine."
She got to her feet and touched her toes before contorting in a way that had Pete whistling in appreciation. "See?"
Moira's eyes narrowed, but she finally nodded. "Fine, but if you have pain-"
"I'll take 2 tylenol and see you in the morning. I'm fine."
Moira stared at her for another long minute before turning on her heels and walking out the door. Two seconds after it closed behind her and Northstar, Jubilee let out a quiet 'ow' and sat down again.
"Jubilee, you do remember that I'm your team leader, don't you?" Scott asked pointedly, and Jubilee nodded.
"I do. But out of all the people at the mansion, I'd say that the Gen-X'ers are the only ones that are going to be on full operating power over the next few days. You're going to need all you can get if we get a call-out. Or do you want to send a bunch of highly-charged over-emotional grieving mutants out to confront baddies?"
Scott sighed and rolled his eyes, making Kitty snicker. "If I get even a whiff of a belief that you aren't able to do this-"
"I'm on the bench. Got it."
xxxXXXxxx
AN: - Firstly I'd like to thank you all for your patience. I know where I'm going with this story, but sometimes the chapters are difficult to write and life is currently kicking me and my fmaily in the pants healthwise. So thank you all for sticking with this, and if you look just below this text you'll see a little 'review' button that will really make me feel better. I'll take anything from criticisim to helpful pointers. I hope I'm getting the characters I'm not familiar with right, and if you see any problems, just let me know and I'll do my best to make them better. Oh yeah, I'm now without a betareader so please, continue to be patient...