Notes: Seriously, Jubilee is definitely not hiding the fact that she likes what she sees, my friends ;) But I really enjoy playing with Noh's mindscape, because it gets hinted at so much in the comics but we never get to really SEE it. The Cube Warden, for example, referred to a hole in his mind where he was able to install himself, and I really wish the comics would do more with that potential. So... here we are.


Chapter 7: Feel the Music


Jubilee really was enjoying showing her brand new alien friend around. It was always a complete mystery how he would take any new thing that he learned — sometimes, he would decide it was an inefficiency he could support, sometimes he dismissed it altogether, and sometimes he put his own spin on things in the weirdest way, like eating candy in the wrapper. Either way, Jubilee was totally enjoying coming up with more and more new things to introduce to him just so she could see how he would react this time.

And of course, it didn't hurt that he was totally cute and that he was adorable with his hand-holding.

So when she got back in from the night out at the mall with Noh-Varr, she wasn't surprised at all when Paige just had to ask her all about it.

"It was not a date," Jubilee said for about the fiftieth time.

"You went to the mall together," Paige pointed out, grinning wider the more she thought about it. "You had smoothies!"

"He's never had smoothies. Or shopping," Jubilee argued, shaking her head. "I'm just trying to show him what fun is!"

"Oh I'm sure," Paige giggled. "But he is cute, isn't he?"

"Well, yeah, duh, I'm not blind," Jubilee said with a little smile. "And he's hilarious."

Paige just grinned at that and nodded. "So when are you going on an actual date?" she asked.

"Probably never," Jubilee said, leaning back with her hands behind her head and her lips pushed out in a slight frown. "Seeing as he wants to go to Hala as soon as his ship is fixed."

Paige turned over to face Jubilee for a moment, frowning slightly at her friend before she simply nodded. "Yeah, that would definitely be a problem."

"But there is no way I'm going to let him live on Planet Earth and not know how to go to the mall."

At that, Paige couldn't help but laugh and nod along. "Well, duh, that's a given."

But while that was all Paige needed to know to get on board with helping Jubilee brainstorm other things that he needed to learn — she, too, was completely on board with the idea of introducing him to Star Trek so that he could get the Mr. Spock references — not everyone at the school was happy about Jubilee's new little shadow.

"So, when are you going to clue him in that holding hands isn't just a way to show trust?" Monet asked the next day after Noh-Varr had split off to go meet with Charles again while Jubilee was in her psychic defense class. "Or are you enjoying taking advantage?"

Jubilee felt a flush rise up in her cheeks as she drew herself up to face Monet. "You don't know what you're talking about," she said.

Monet smirked at Jubilee. "I know it's the only way you could get him to hold your hand — which is why you're not telling him the truth."

"Back off, Monet," Paige cut in, her arms crossed over her chest. "You're just jealous you don't have a cute alien boy following you around."

Monet glared Paige's way. "Like I'd be jealous of an accident. He's only following her because she happened to be there with K. That's who he actually trusts. Her and Kurt. Or didn't you notice?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Paige shot back.

"I know exactly what I'm talking about," Monet said evenly and without dropping Paige's gaze.

Jubilee and Paige both looked like they were ready to pounce on the other girl, but before they could get too involved, Jean arrived to start the class.

"Saved by the bell," Jubilee grumbled under her breath, earning a little smirk from Paige.


While Jubilee was in class, Noh-Varr headed down the opposite hall toward Charles' office, wearing the headphones Jubilee had bought him with Remy's credit card after she'd seen how much he loved the music there. He was particularly enjoying the group Queen and had been listening to a CD of their hits all the way down the hallway, smiling to himself the whole way.

Of course, he was slightly hampered by the fact that he was only listening to the music through the headphones over his ears. He was sure that it would be far more enjoyable if he was able to listen to it fully, involving the tympanic membrane that ran over his entire skin. But he didn't want to add to the chaos that the Terrans already felt everywhere around them by bringing more noise to the situation, so instead, he kept his headphones on.

He couldn't help moving along to the beat of the music, his footfalls in time with the downbeats. And he didn't even realize that his head was moving slightly, bouncing along to the beat as well. He had no idea how much he looked like a normal Earth teenager in that moment, in jeans and a tee shirt bopping along to music.

He put the music away when he got to Charles' office, of course, since he wanted to give this defense his full attention. After all, he had never been a remedial student before, and he wanted to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. It just wasn't acceptable to him. And besides that, if he was going to serve the Kree Empire here on Earth, he needed to be sure that no influences against the Empire were able to creep into his mind.

Charles smiled warmly at him when he arrived at the office and gestured for him to take a seat. "You seem to be in excellent spirits this afternoon," he said.

Noh-Varr smiled widely. "Jubilee took me to the mall last night," he explained. "It was… not quite what I expected." He smiled even wider. "And the music store there had the most amazing stations allowing me to listen to a selection of your sounds… we don't have anything like your music where I'm from!"

Charles couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm, especially because it was the first thing he had truly expressed any interest in outside of his appointed mission. "Then I'm truly glad you have been able to experience it."

Noh-Varr nodded. "I've asked to be placed in K's dance class," he said. "I'm told that is a good way to feel music."

"It is," Charles said, still with that same smile that he simply couldn't help. "And I'm glad to see you discovering your own interests here. That will certainly help to fill the gap in your consciousness."

Noh-Varr looked honestly delighted to hear it. "I would not mind in the least if my mind were filled with music."

Still unable to stop smiling, Charles directed the young man back into his mindscape so that they could get down to work on his defenses.

It was just as they had left it the day before, pristine and white with splashes of green and blue in the angular buildings, but Noh-Varr seemed surprised when they got to the gaping hole in his mind to see that there was a bottom to it now. He clearly hadn't paid it much heed the last time, too relieved to have directions from the Supreme Intelligence, but now, he had his head tipped to the side as he studied it, and Charles watched him carefully.

"Yes, I think I understand," Noh-Varr said at last, turning back to Charles. "I've reconnected to the Kree here, but they are not as advanced as my people back home. It's not the same connection I once had."

"No," Charles agreed carefully, watching the young man work it out for himself. "What you had was for more immersive."

"There was once a building here," Noh-Varr said, gesturing with one hand to the gap, "taller than any of the surrounding buildings, so that it stretched up into the sky nearly beyond the range of vision."

"Then there is still much work to be done," Charles agreed. "And you will have to do it on your own."

Noh-Varr nodded. "Yes, there isn't anything in this reality that quite… matches it."

Charles frowned as he watched the young man patrolling the edges of his open mind. He knew that the pressing issue of the Supreme Intelligence filling Noh-Varr's mind absolutely needed to be addressed, but he had to proceed carefully. It was obvious the boy thought he wanted that presence in his mind, and any attempt to remove its influence would, at this point, be met with resistance. And Charles simply couldn't in good conscience let the boy run away from them, not when he was so obviously ripe for misuse.

The longer Charles stood in the boy's mindscape, the more obvious it was to him that this had been done purposefully. The angular nature of the boy's mind, the artificial constructs, the way everything led to this central point — it was clear that his people had engineered him in more ways than one.

And yet it was also clear the boy was capable of independent thought; he wasn't a simple drone. The very fact that he was listening to music and signing up for dance was encouraging — and one of the first signs of anything outside of his stated 'mission.' And Scott had told Charles how much the young man had enjoyed the Danger Room. So he was capable of knowing what he liked and disliked.

It was simply a monumental matter of determining those interests separate from the ones the Kree had instilled in him.

"I can work with you to close this gap, but much of it is going to be up to you," Charles told him as Noh-Varr came to a stop close by. "I will not fill your mind with things of my own choosing. You have to choose what you want."

Noh-Varr turned an obvious frown Charles' way. "Like… music?" he asked after a long moment spent working it out. As Jean had said, the boy had no concept of free will, so this was going to be a daunting project on its own: teaching him how to choose his own path.

Charles nodded. "Yes, and dance, among other things."

Noh-Varr nodded. "And… the X-Men, perhaps," he said.

Charles raised an eyebrow the boy's way. "The X-Men?" he repeated.

Noh-Varr nodded again, looking as if this was perfectly obvious. "It's my understanding in the little time I have spent here that your mission is to establish peace on this planet — peaceful coexistence, as you have said. That would seem to be in line with my own mission to protect this planet while I am here."

"Yes, that's true," Charles said. He met the young man's gaze and was surprised to see the earnest expression there for an instant before he gestured to the huge hole that was still there. "But there is still plenty of work to be done before we can consider it."

For an instant, Noh-Varr's shoulders slumped, but he recovered quickly. "Yes," he said slowly, "I can see the logic there. You cannot have anyone on your team with such a vulnerability."

"I'm more concerned for your welfare," Charles told him honestly. "I know Jean told you that there are people in this reality that would take full advantage of how open your mind is." As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the deep hole before he shook his head and turned back to Noh-Varr. "My concern is that you are able to function here — as yourself."

"Then we should get to work," Noh-Varr agreed.


Noh-Varr was one of the last people to arrive at K's dance class, running a bit behind from his session with Charles. But considering how fast he could run — on the ceiling — he still got there in time and shot K a little smile as she was setting up the music before he came to stand by Jubilee with a grin.

"What are we dancing to today?" he asked easily, looking around the room to see that each of the students was out of their usual casual attire — the girls in dresses and the boys in nice, button-up shirts. So once again, he stuck out—- though he hadn't known about the dress code.

"That … is up to Monet today," K answered as she adjusted her shoes.

"K lets us take turns picking the music," Jubilee explained.

Monet smirked a bit as she slid over to K to hand her the CD she had picked out. "Mi Gente," she said.

"Salsa then," K said with a nod. "Great pick, but … you're going to have to try and loosen up for this one, M. Your usual uptight, overly-straight self simply won't be able to pull off a smooth salsa otherwise."

Jubilee grinned at that — especially because K cycled through the guys in the house for partners... and it was Scott's turn for that lesson. "This is going to be great," she whispered to Noh, bouncing slightly on the tips of her toes.

"Alright, ladies — get your heels on if you want to do it right," K said, though she was already set to go. "Boys, start stretching a little. You need to be relaxed."

The class split up down boy-girl lines to get ready, though Scott was already smirking to himself as he offered K a hand so they could do a demo. "Ready when you are," he said.

"I can see that," she said quietly, her head turned away from the kids. "Talk about the right day to do this one." She gave the kids just a moment to get back in place before walking them through every step of it — from how to stand and where everyone's hands went to the basic steps to begin. Once all the kids were doing the basics, she gave Scott a little nod so he could lead the way to dive into something a little more advanced. The same steps were used, but of course, there was a bit of flourish, and through the whole thing, Scott was smirking to himself.

"Gee, fearless, I didn't even know you could do that," Jubilee giggled delightedly when they were done before she looked Monet's way. "Not even a little bit stiff. So what's your excuse?"

Monet shot Jubilee a glare before she sniffed and took Everett by the hand. "Come on," she muttered his way.

Jubilee was still grinning to herself when Noh-Varr offered her his hand, and they started to practice a few of the basic steps, with the whole class pairing off.

"I guess I need to take Jean out drinking more often," K told Scott with a smirk. "What … three, four times a week? Maybe?"

Scott shook his head at her. "She needed to get out," he said without looking her way.

"Mmmhmmm," K said — long and drawn out. "So five then?"

At that, he did turn to face her, this time with a dry look. "I don't need your help."

"I know," she replied looking perfectly insulted. "The truth is I like to see you two happy, and she was having fun."

"So was I," he said perfectly straightfaced.

"Then next time, I'll take you drinking," she replied.

"Whatever you say, K."

"Well if you'd rather go with Logan instead …"

Scott gave her a dry look. "We're here to have fun, aren't we?" he said. "How about another dance."

"Please," she agreed. "Everyone follow the music," K called out for the class. "You should all have an idea of what you're doing by now."

The different pairs of kids were already nodding, ready to try out some of the different steps, though there was a bit of a hitch in the whole lesson when the music started, and for some reason none of the others could tell, Noh-Varr simply slipped his shirt off over his shoulders before he offered his hand to Jubilee — who just stared at him like he'd lost his mind.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He shrugged openly at her. "Following the music," he said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "I can hear it better this way."

"Makes it harder for some of the rest of us to hear though," Paige muttered.

Noh-Varr looked around the group and frowned before he stooped to pick up his shirt. "If I've done something wrong, it wasn't my intention," he said slowly. "I just wanted to follow the music — and I can feel it in my skin…"

"Okay, but for this class ... we dress up," Jubilee tried to explain, even though she was clearly fighting back giggles and not really bothering to hide where her gaze was going.

Noh frowned at her for a moment before he shook his head and pulled the shirt back over his head. "Inefficient, again. How can you feel the music when you're covering your skin so you can't feel it move through you?" He looked honestly confused.

"You didn't do anything wrong," K called out. "In fact … it's fairly common in the dance clubs in Cuba to go shirtless or with an open shirt. Appropriate for the steps."

Noh-Varr turned her way and still looked confused. "But not for this class?" he asked.

"I don't know," K said, though she shot Scott a little smirk. "Might not be a bad practice."

"You're hilarious," Scott said.

"Probably best for performances," K said, still smiling.

"That would make sense," Noh offered. "If you are performing, you need to feel the music at its fullest."

"I don't think it's quite the same for us," Scott said with his head tipped to the side Noh's way. "You said you could hear it better?"

Noh nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Everyone here's better'n half deaf anyhow," K muttered.

The little alien boy turned her way with a smile. "Is that a side product of the genetic advancements?"

"No, it's a mark of how far behind their senses are from mine," she said at almost a whisper.

He simply nodded and matched her volume. "Then you are ahead of the curve."

"That is often the case," she said, smiling wider. "Though I don't need to lose my clothes to hear better. Sadly."

He shrugged. "It's not necessary, but it does help to clear the path."

"I doubt that line will work for me, all the same."

"Then what is it that aids your senses? Don't tell me you only hear with your ears."

"I do," she answered. "And you?"

He was shaking his head already. "I can use my ears, but I have a tympanic membrane stretched over my skin."

"Then you probably end up with a nasty headache when you're cut too," she guessed.

"Well, yes, but I don't feel it," he said, waving it off.

"I wish I could say the same. A cut is a cut."

"It is," he said. "But it doesn't have to hurt."

K sighed and shook her head with a soft smile. "It does for us."

"Then your species must not have learned to reroute brain waves, I take it."

"No," she answered with a shake of her head. "We learn to ignore it and power through or surrender to it and stop."

He regarded her carefully and nodded. "Yes, well, pain has a place, but I'm sorry that you do not get to choose it."

"You misunderstand," K said. "I do choose it. With every fight. I know what's coming, and I do it anyhow."

He tipped his head a little further to the side and then nodded. "If you all do that, you must be brave indeed. I didn't realize that was the case here."

"I'm sure there are some that don't feel it — but I don't know any of them."

Noh-Varr simply nodded and then smiled at her before he turned back to Jubilee to ask if she'd like to resume the dance — which gave Scott the opportunity to lean over to K. "So… what was that about?"

"A little more insight on what he's capable of," K replied then leaned closer herself. "I'll give you the breakdown later."

Scott nodded for a moment before he offered her his hand again for another dance — since there wasn't anything else he could do while the kids were all in class.