"I am most disappointed in you, Jubilation."
Jubilee cringed on the rug in front of Charles's desk, trying to look contrite as he glared at her, obviously furious.
"Punish her later." Fury muttered, taking a seat beside Heather. "We've got more important things to talk about."
"You know what we are dealing with?" Scott looked hopeful and Fury nodded slowly.
"I know some; we managed to keep one of 'em for a while in a holding tank about a month ago in Sydney. Up until a group of 'em stormed the facility and helped him escape. We lost twenty-three men."
Remy winced at the number as Jubilee took the only seat left in the room; his knee. Wrapping his arms around her, he rested his head against her arm and sighed. "Well, what are we dealing with?" He murmured.
"We don't know. Someone or something calling itself the Shadow Man seems to be able to infiltrate mutant's minds and take over their bodies. Make 'em do things they wouldn't normally do."
"Like kill people." Jubilee muttered, and Fury nodded.
"Like kill people. We've only seen civilians so far…but Lee here tells me that they've branched out."
"Forty nine that we've counted so far." Charles sighed, sliding a list towards him.
Fury took it and read it silently, shaking his head as he recognised some of the names. "Lee told me about Vectress; she's been on my Heli the past few weeks or so, on and off. From what I can guess from talking with Lee, she's been sneaking off to do her tasks without being seen by us."
"So, do you have any other information about this Shadow guy?" Jubilee pressed and Fury sighed.
"Not much. He's gearing up towards something; that much we know. I've got people searching for anything on him…they haven't turned up anything yet."
Heather sighed and shrugged. "I don't think that anyone that knows about him will be talking."
"What do you guys know?" Fury watched Charles glance down at the paper on his desk before he answered.
"He or it seems to infiltrate when people are asleep, through their dreams. And whatever it is, can pick when he wishes to take them over. Many of our people have been complaining of bad dreams, much of them the same thing. Someone trying to coerce them into following him; telling them they will be taken care of."
"Logan says it wears you down." Scott added. "He has been getting the dreams for the past couple of weeks now. They stopped just after the attack."
Jubilee shuddered at the thoughts of her mind being infiltrated, and felt Remy's grip on her increase. "I don't know if any of you have noticed it, but it's like they're only getting to grips with their powers when we fight them. Mystique was good enough, but in all honesty, Vic should have killed me five times over when he was chasing me through the trees. It's like they're having to learn how to do it all over again. Without a manual. Even Angelo wasn't exactly a hundred percent when we were fighting. He got the better of me because he was bigger and stronger and I was in the water but he definitely wasn't manipulating his skin with as much skill as normal."
"So, he may not take over their minds completely…perhaps he just nudges them to the side?" Charles sounded hopeful, and Jean found herself sending up a silent prayer that he was right.
"So we might be able to get them back?" The hope in Jubilee's voice struck at Charles like a blow and they shared a long look as she silently urged him to say yes. Finally, he blinked and nodded slowly, even though he seriously doubted they could do anything of the kind.
"We might be able to get them back, Jubilation." He murmured kindly and she slipped off of Remy's knee to stare at him.
"Say it like you mean it." She snapped and spun on her heel, making for the door.
"Jubilee; we can only hope." He called out after her, and everyone watched her shoulders droop.
"I'm tired and I need a shower. Will you wait until later to punish me? Oh, and Mr. Lensher; you won our bet."
Heather glared at Magneto when the door slammed closed. "You had to make that bet with her; didn't you." She grumbled.
Eric blew out a long breath and shifted uncomfortably beneath the confused looks he was getting from the others. Fury was staring studiously at the floor and he cleared his throat softly, murmuring; "You wanna tell 'em or should I?"
"You knew!" Scott snapped angrily, and Eric shot a look at Fury.
"I may have known she was going to try, but I was not the one that shot her!"
An uneasy silence fell in the room and Hank wearily got to his feet. "I am really beginning to tire of that child's inability to admit when she is injured." He growled furiously as he walked towards the door.
"I only hit her with a tranq dart." Nick protested. "And it was a smaller dosage than I'd usually use!"
The expression on Charles's face would have sent a weaker man running for the hills, but Fury was made of sterner stuff. "She disarmed one of my best men, kicked him in the head and disappeared. I didn't get any of your messages and she managed to get onto one of the most heavily guarded military bases on the planet. I thought she was one of them!"
"Jubilation!" Hank threw open the door to her rooms, slamming it shut behind him. "Jubilation!"
"Keep your hair on!" Jubilee snapped from inside the bedroom. Hank's eyes narrowed and he quickly covered the distance between the two doors, wrenching open the door.
"I wish to speak with you, Jubilation." He growled, and Jubilee flinched, hearing the iciness in his voice.
"I'm fine, Hank. I didn't get hurt on the Heli-Carrier. Nobody hurt me. I took down one of the men and spent the rest of the time in the vents. Yeah, Nick hit me with a tranq dart, but I was out for less than thirty minutes." She snapped at him.
Hank folded his arms in front of his massive chest and Jubilee realised she could see a glint of sharp teeth as his lips drew back into a snarl.
"Jubilation; up until you arrived back at the mansion after your little trip with Angelo, I viewed you as a friend. I thought I could trust you to come to me with any problem. Any ailment; any need. And yet, all you have done since then is push me away. You claim that everything is ok between you and Logan, and yet you would not confide in him either. You went alone and unarmed into the lion's den…if he had shot you, would you have told us? Or would you have wandered around the mansion until you bled to death before asking for help? You are not the person I have come to know anymore, Miss Lee. A stranger stands in front of me…and it is one that I do not think I would care to get close to."
Jubilee's eyebrows crept towards her hairline, and she sat down on the mattress with a thump.
"Over-dramatic much?" She muttered, shaking her head. "I…Damnit, Hank, I gotta do…I…you know something; this is me, ok?" She bounced back to her feet, suddenly angry. "This is me as I am. This is me on the inside, and this is me on the outside. And if you don't like it, then it's your own tough luck. I'm not a thirteen year old kid that needs to be coddled any more, Doctor McCoy. I know I'm still young, but seriously, in the life we lead, I'm way ahead of half the bozos out there. I'm seventeen years old, Hank. I've been shot a couple of times. I've been lazered and tazered. I've been thrown from buildings, through walls, through windows…I've been dangled and hit like a piñata. I know what Adamantium feels like when it's dragged through my skin. I know what it's like to have been in a coma and I know what it's like to be tortured. I've half drowned, I've been suffocated, I've been buried under buildings and if you think that getting head-butted or hit by a fricking tranquilliser dart is going to send me running to bug you and disrupt your work to kiss my boo boo's then you've got another thing coming!"
"Kiss your-!" Hank's jaw clenched and he shook his head. "Jubilation….Gah!" He let out a bellow of anger and half-threw himself into a chair. "Tell me this is not what it's all about? Tell me!" he braced his fists on his knees, glaring at her. "Do you know what my first and foremost task here is?"
"Genetic research." Jubilee shot back.
"I am a doctor of medicine first, Jubilee. Not Genetics, not Physics and not anything else. I was employed here in the beginning, day one as a Medical Doctor, Jubilee. Yes, Charles gave me a place and time for other work, but I am here to kiss your 'boo boo's' first and discover the delights of molecular genetics second. The rest is my hobby. And that is what it is; a hobby. You are more important than a strand of DNA, Jubilee. Your life is more important than some experiment. And if I found out that because you thought my working on some experiment was more important than tending to your injuries…I would be upset – I am upset! Greatly upset. How long have you felt this way? Do the others?
Jubilee blinked stubbornly at him and turned towards the window. "I never wanted to bother you, Hank. I knew…when I got here I knew I was just a pain in the ass. You all had important work to do…savin' the world and all."
"The world contains you, Jubilee. And if I cannot save or help you, then what on earth am I working for?" he stared at her seriously. "Jubilee, I am not going to say this again as I hope that I will finally get my point across this time; You are just as important to all of us as Charles or Jean. Or Remy or Scott. Your health, mental and physical means more to us than some fight. If you are injured, you come to me. If you are hurting in any way, you can come to me. Your shoulders, my dear, are too small to bear the weight of the world on your own. Why should we leave you to carry your burdens on your own? You are part of this team; a valued member. And one that is going to be carried down to the med-lab over my shoulder if needs be to get a proper post-mission physical. The same as I would for every other member of this team…of my family." He added gruffly, getting to his feet and holding out his hand. "No arguments, Jubilee."
There was a long silence as Jubilee turned and stared out of the window, her fingers resting on the row of stone balls that lined the windowsill. "Hank…"
He let his hand drop and waited for her argument against being examined. "Hank, I…Something weird happened when we were attacked. It's like my powers expanded or something." She sighed heavily and picked up the forgotten ball from the lawyer's office, rolling it around between her hands as she turned to face him again.
"Were you going to tell me?" He asked cautiously, and Jubilee nodded, her cheeks beginning to redden.
"Just as soon as I had worked them out myself." She admitted sheepishly. "…I was going to tell you! Honest!"
Hank rolled his eyes and took her by the hand, gently guiding her out of the room. "We will discuss that later. After your physical."
Inside, he was still angry; at the fact she'd thought she couldn't come to him more than anything else. He knew they still had things to talk about later, but right now, he was hoping he was right in celebrating this minor victory.
Jubilee followed at his heels like a puppy as they walked through the base, lost in her own thoughts as she walked; half-listening to Hank's quiet grumbles. But as they got closer to the med-lab, the hackles began to rise on the back of her neck and she stopped, turning in a slow circle. "Hank…something's not right…" She murmured and he stopped to look at her. To his eyes, she seemed on high-alert; eyes wide and head inclined as if straining to hear something.
"Jubilee?" He murmured carefully, beginning to strain his own ears to listen. "What is the matter?"
"Something…I don't know. Something feels hinky."
A few doors down, Scott was emerging from the briefing room and froze as the word reached his ears. "Jubilee? Hinky?" he called out and Jubilee nodded with a concerned frown, keeping her eyes on the corridor.
"Yeah…Hinky. As in 'not right'. As in 'something sinister this way comes'."
Inside the briefing room, Fury watched as Scott's entire posture changed. While the guy always looked alert, now he was positively radiating readiness for battle.
"Scott?"
"Everybody get ready for something." Scott threw over his shoulder, not turning to look at them. "Jubilee, what is it?" Behind him, the occupants of the room got to their feet and joined them in the corridor, looking around for trouble. Fury and Magneto looked sceptical, but one glance at Jubilee made Magneto sigh.
"Girl, what is it?" He snapped, and Jubilee's head whipped around to stare at him.
"I don't know. Something bad is com-" She broke off as the lights stretching down the corridor behind her began to shatter; plunging that half of the hall into darkness. "- is here."
She took a nervous step backwards as the shadows began to seethe in a now-familiar motion that turned her stomach, and taking a deep breath she threw a handful of paffs into the darkness, illuminating it and the figure sashaying out of a pool of inky blackness.
She didn't have a chance to call out a warning as Vectress brought her arm up from her side, revealing the gun she was holding, and walked the bullets up corridor towards them.
Standing behind Charles, Magneto was the first to react, and seeing the woman responsible for his daughter's death, he instinctively embraced his powers. Tearing loose a wall panel he sent it flying towards its target with a cry of rage. It all happened in one swift moment, but to Scott it felt like an eternity as he watched the metal bite into her flesh, sending her crashing to the ground. They all surged towards her, intent on stopping her, but as she fell they slowed and approached cautiously until they were standing around her, all ready to continue to fight if needed.
"Wh…?" A weak voice asked, and Charles went down on one knee beside her as the darkness drained away from her eyes. "Professor…what happened…?"
"Cara?" Charles brushed his fingers against the skin on her Temple and sucked in a deep breath when he felt the presence of her mind fading. "Cara, how…?"
"He promised me…and then I was gone…and he was in my place…" A tendril of blood poured out of her mouth as she convulsed in final throes of death. "Couldn't stop myself…can't stop him…you…must…stop…him…" the light faded from her eyes and Charles sat back on his heels, suddenly looking lost.
"Cara…" He sighed finally and gently closed her lifeless eyes with his fingertips. "Eric, you have your revenge." He murmured bitterly, looking up at his sometime friend, sometime foe.
Magneto bowed his head, but his gaze was steely and firm. "I thought that considering the facts, the action was warranted." He replied sadly, and looked over his shoulder, stepping to the side to reveal the body lying on the floor behind them.
If Charles hadn't already been kneeling down, he would have fallen, and as it was he slumped to the side until he was leaning against the wall in shock. Beside him, the blood drained from Scott's face as his mind suddenly began to replay the last few moments; Plasma lighting up the darkness…Vectress bringing up her gun, already firing …and now Jubilee lying face down on the floor, her hair fanning out in a shining black curtain, hiding her face from view.
Up in the mansion proper, a horrible feeling crept through the inhabitants and Jean staggered to the nearest wall to steady herself. "Jean?" Ororo asked worriedly, her own face paling as emotions that weren't her own bombarded her mind and crept through the marrow in her bones, making her shiver. "What's going on? Is it an attack?"
Jean shook her head, forcing down the bile that threatened to rise. "Yes…No. I don't know; it's Charles. He is upset…very, very upset." Lurching upright, she hurried towards the elevator, meeting Remy and Emma at the doors. They all looked at each other curiously, but she shook her head, unable to give them any answers.
Breaking into a run once they reached the right floor, Emma led the way, following the tendrils of sorrow to the source but unable to reach anyone; even Charles seemed incapable of coherent thought, let alone communication.
Turning a corner, Emma skidded to a stop as she saw why. Charles was slumped against the wall beside the bloody remains of Vectress, his eyes fastened on the floor by his feet. "Oh…" She blinked when she saw the body and let out a long, relieved breath. "You got her." She looked at Magneto and Heather, who were standing next to each other in the middle of the hall, looking increasingly uncomfortable, and neither of them would meet her gaze.
Jean's attention was drawn past them to Hank and Fury. The Colonel was standing with his back to Hank, his arms wrapped tightly around himself and a look of self-loathing on his face as he stared down at the floor between his boots. A few feet away, Hank was crouched with his arms wrapped around his knees as he stared at something his bulk blocked from her view.
"Hank?" She stepped over Cara's body and froze, her blood running cold. "Oh no…oh no…no, no, no, no, no…." she shook her head and took a step back, looking around wildly. Tears sprang into her eyes and she covered her mouth with her hand as she collided with the wall, sliding down until she was sitting. Emma closed her eyes in pain before steeling herself and stepping around them. She felt numb as she approached the body lying several feet away from Beast; she'd lost another one of her students. It couldn't be happening. Not now; not Jubilee.
Crouching down beside the body, she reached out and hesitantly placed her hands on Jubilee's shoulder, trying not to look at the small pool of blood that surrounded her head. "Oh, Jubilee." She murmured softly and gently turned her over onto her back, noting the blood that had seeped from her nose and head. Ignoring the cries of disbelief from Bobby as he stumbled on the grieving group, she moved aside the hair that covered her face with trembling fingers. The girl could have been sleeping; her face was tranquil, and thankfully her eyes were closed. Emma didn't think she could handle seeing the bright blue eyes glassy with death. Slipping into a sitting position, she crossed her legs tailor style as she stroked the jet-black hair.
"How?" She threw the question over her shoulder, and Hank squeezed his eyes closed, shaking his head at the memory.
"She shot her; a full clip, I'm guessin'." Remy grated out as he checked the gun lying on the ground beside Vectress. Magneto nodded sadly as Heather crept into his arms, seeking comfort.
"Jubilee was the nearest to her when she attacked." He confirmed, hugging the young woman close. "The child knew something was happening. She gave us enough warning to be prepared before Vectress appeared."
Emma struggled against her emotions for a long moment before moving aside the jacket with a frown. After a second, she hitched in a breath and rested the palm of her hand against Jubilee's chest. Another second passed and the corner of her lip twitched upwards. She could still feel movement, and as her eyes narrowed she realised that there was no blood other than that on the girls face. "You have gotta be kidding me." She grated out as relief rushed through her, and she ripped the bullet-hole strewn t-shirt apart to reveal the light grey uniform she had stolen from Hank's prototype lab. "Jubilee? Jubilee!" Patting at the girl's cheek with one hand, she searched for a pulse with the other, sighing with relief when she felt a strong pulse beneath her fingers.
"The girl has nine lives." She announced over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling with delight. "Whatever material this is," she plucked at the stiff grey uniform; "it stopped the bullets." She sat back on her heels laughing softly as Hank scrambled to his feet, pushing Storm aside in his haste to get to her.
"Alive?" he asked disbelievingly, and Emma nodded, moving away to give him room to work. "The little…!" He shook his head, recognising the material, and thumbed back her eyelids, his sensitive palms registering the heat of life in her skin. "Nine lives? She has nineteen!" He couldn't help but echo her smile as he shook his head, and gently gathered her up into his arms. "Of all the uniforms she chose to wear beneath her clothes…she picked the only one I designed to be completely bullet-proof."
In a quiet corner of Harry's Bar, tucked away from the regular drinkers and rowdy customers, Logan sipped slowly at a bottle of beer. Just back from one of Charles's secretive missions, he'd not even bothered to go back to the mansion. He had nothing to report, and if someone was looking for him, then there were ways and means to get his attention.
He looked up sharply as someone slid into the opposite side of the booth and grunted a hello as Remy began to shred a beer mat between his fingers, staring into the Canadian's eyes. Logan blinked at the reek of cologne that assaulted his nose and snorted. "Jeeze, Gambit, did ya have to take a bath in the stuff?" He grunted, shifting further along in the seat to try to get away from the stench of expensive cologne. The stink even drowned out the scent of his beer. "What?" Logan growled finally as the unblinking red on black eyes began to get on his nerves. "A guy's not allowed to drink any more? The suns' gone down…"
Remy shook his head, letting his eyes flick down to the table. "I be de last person to tell you when an' when not to drink." He muttered finally. "I jus' be tryin' to work out if you know or not. Me, I'm guessin' you don't."
Logan rolled his eyes and sat back against the padded back of the bench seat. "Know what? Spit it out, bub an' stop dancin' around it like the lily-livered poof you are."
"Jubilee, she got in touch with Fury; de hard way. Infiltrated de Heli-Carrier." Remy continued to shred the beer mat, sneaking glances up at the astonished mutant as he spoke. Logan grunted appreciatively and toasted an imaginary Jubilee. "Nice one. Always knew she had it in her."
Remy nodded slowly and took a long breath in. "Den Fury killed her. Shot de petite fifteen times in all." He said it casually, and it took a few seconds for his words to sink in, and even then, Logan wasn't sure if he could believe his ears.
"What?" He asked flatly, an inch of adamantium sliding out from between his knuckles.
"De Petite is gone."
Across the bar, Harry watched as the edge of the table in Logan's booth splintered and broke under his grip. Putting down the beer glass he was polishing, he checked to see who was with him before reaching for the phone behind him. After a few seconds, a familiar voice answered and he blinked, double-checking the inhabitants of the booth.
"I said can I help you?" The New Orleans accent was thick and strong, and Harry blinked again.
"Uh…Remy Le Beau?" He asked cautiously, and back in the mansion, Remy sighed.
"Oui. Dat you 'Arry?"
"Ou-I mean, yeah. It's me. Listen, you got a twin brother or sumthin'?"
Remy blinked and frowned. "Non. Why?"
"'Cos I'm standing in my bar looking at you talk to Logan…and I'm talking to you on the phone. Can you see a problem here? I called to find out what was wrong…ain't never seen the Wolverine that upset if you get my meaning?"
"Shape Shifter…" Remy breathed out and slammed the phone down, racing for the front door. It wasn't long before he pulled up outside the bar and abandoned it in the car park, running at full pelt for the front door.
Bursting inside, he spotted Harry first, and the ex-biker pointed wordlessly towards their usual booth in the corner. Eyes narrowing, Remy produced a deck of cards and sent one spinning towards his doppelganger. It didn't pack much of a punch, but it was enough to shock Mystique out of her assumed form and out of the booth.
Logan was shocked out of his grief when he realised why Remy had been wearing so much cologne, and when his brain kicked back into action he launched himself at her, claws extended. A loud, frustrated cry rose into the air as she rolled under a table and disappeared into a shadow, and Remy glanced around nervously as the other bar patrons froze with their drinks to their lips, staring.
"How'd you know?" Logan growled, and Remy gestured at Harry.
"He rang de mansion to ask why you were…not happy…When he realise' he was talkin' to me, an' you were talkin' to me, well, I put two an' two together an' got Mystique." He grinned cat-like and walked a glowing card across his knuckle.
"Tell me it was all a lie…" Logan grabbed him by the lapels, using his forearm to pin Remy's neck against the wall. "Tell me she's not dead!"
Remy resisted the urge to fight Logan back, and quickly shook his head. "Non, mon amie. De Petite is alive." He coughed slightly as he was suddenly released, and Logan sat back against a table, blinking rapidly as the truth hit him. Finally he drew shaking hands down his face. "She told me Jubilee was dead – that Fury shot her an' that Chuck had him up at the mansion. Started talking…and god help me, I was listening…I was about two seconds from going up there and ripping him to shreds." He shook himself, feeling a shiver run down his spine. Catching the look on Remy's face his eyes closed to slits and his head turned to the side. "What?"
"Oh, de Petite was shot at. Jus' not shot. An' she was knocked out." Remy shrugged nonchalantly as Harry nervously approached.
"She what?" Logan's tone was flat and disbelieving.
"Shot at. Not shot. Not dead. Scared a few of us, I gotta say. An' she probably saved a lot of lives. What did Mystique say to you?"
"The Heli-Carrier?"
"Jubes did dat."
"And Fury?"
"Brought de Petite home safe'n sound. She be 'resting' in de Med-Lab under Hank's careful eye."
"She's not dead." Logan asked worriedly, and Remy smiled.
"You tink we'd not move heaven an' earth to tell you if anythin' happened to de petite?" He murmured pointedly as Harry looked from one to the other, clearly confused. "She's not dead. She's under de watchful eye of Beast an' about a half dozen other people that saw her 'die'. She is fine." Remy stressed, and with a backward glance over his shoulder, began to urge Logan towards the door. "Jus' add it to our Tab, Harry." He advised, nodding to the damaged tabletop.
"What do you mean Die!"
"Vectress…urgh." Remy let out a frustrated growl and pushed him towards the door. "Vectress shot at de petite an' Magneto killed Vectress. Get movin' Canuck so you can see for yourself!"
Logan allowed him to push him out the door but stopped out in the darkness. "An' stop wearing cologne!" He growled, stalking off towards his bike.
The med-lab was deathly quiet when he edged inside, almost afraid of what he'd see. What he did see, in fact, was a number of former Gen-X'ers hovering around a bed while Hank examined something underneath a microscope.
Emma was the first to register his presence, and she eased away from the group, walking silently across the tiles until she stood in front of him. "Welcome back." She breathed softly, confident that Logan would still hear her. "Broken nose, a cut on her head and some bruises to add to the list." A sad, soft smile crossed her face. "She'll be fine." Logan frowned worriedly; the White Queen was being uncharacteristically kind, and she rested her hand on his bicep as she moved to walk past him to the door.
//Just for now, Mountain Man. She scared me earlier…scared all of us. I'll be back to my normal acerbic self in a few hours.// he felt the equivalent of a telepathic wink and moved aside to let her pass.
"Furball; how is she?" He grunted at Hank, and the blue-furred mutant raised his head, the points of his ears twitching.
"Fine, just fine. I gave her a proper physical. Everything was in the right place aside from her nose, which has now been set. She has a cut to her scalp, and other than that, she is perfectly fine. You will have to forgive her team mates; they have only just arrived home from dealing with some sentinels in Boston and are, I believe the term is 'in denial'."
Kitty turned at the sound of his voice, looking slightly green. "Logan – where have you been!"
"Harry's." Logan grunted as Everett and Jono shared a glance and moved away from the bed, leaving Paige and Monet to stand as sentinels on either side of the pillows. "Had a run-in with Mystique."
"Had a run-in with Vectress." Jubilee muttered from the bed, raising her hand to her nose and feeling it gingerly. "Morning."
Hank sighed and set aside the uniform, flicking a glance at the monitors before bending over her. "Welcome back, little one." He murmured, dimming the light above her head. He smiled as her eyes flickered open and she blinked up at him.
"What happened to the Shadow-Spawn?" She growled, trying to sit up and failing miserably as Hank planted a hand in the middle of her chest and easily held her in place against the pillows.
"Magneto dealt with her." Hank murmured, his eyes shifting, showing his discomfort at the subject.
"She's dead?"
Hank nodded slowly. "She came back just before she died. We know now that they are being forced to a corner of their minds."
He could feel her relax under his fingers and he smiled gently, removing his massive paw from her chest.
Spotting Logan behind him Jubilee waved half-heartedly, her expression worried at the reaction she was going to get from him.
"You got onto the Heli-Carrier." He growled flatly and she bit at her lip. Wordlessly, sensing a fight in the near future, Page and Monet fled the room, leaving the three of them alone. "You infiltrated one of the most secure military sites on the planet. You…you…" His face creased into a wide smile and he started to laugh. "Jeeze, kid, I'd 've given anythin' to see the look on Fury's face when he found out!"
Jubilee blew out a long breath and gingerly sat up. "He was pretty pissed, Logan. He thought I was one of the bad guys." She admitted as Hank began to remove the sensors on her skin. "Not a happy bunny. 'Course he was even less happy when he realised that Vectress had been playing him for weeks! Am I good to go Hank?" She looked at him hopefully and he helped her off the bed in answer.
"I trust our discussion earlier today has sunk in?" he asked pointedly and she nodded with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah. It did. Punctuated by bullets." She smiled again and twitched the large scrubs top into place.
As she turned to leave, Logan spotted the brown stone ball sitting on one of the trays and snagged it. "This thing sure does get around." He commented, tapping her on the shoulder and handing it over.
"She had it in her hand when she was shot." Hank admitted. "Emma found it on the floor. You had best put it back in your room."
Jubilee rolled her eyes and took it from him. "Damn right I'm going back into my room. I look like a kid wearing her dad's clothes. How about getting some of these things in my size for once? C'mon, Wolvie, and I'll tell you how I got onto the Heli-Carrier."
Logan nodded. "You go ahead, kid. I just want to talk to Hank for a minute."
He waited until she was out of the room before clearing his throat. "You two had a discussion?"
"She thought she was not worthy to disturb me from my experiments to be treated for ailments she deemed to be minor." Hank admitted quietly, picking up the uniform he had been examining. "I pointed out the error in her logic. I may have raised my voice a little while pointing it out…Logan, I believe she did not come to you about her little excursion to the Heli-Carrier."
Logan's eyes narrowed and he closed the door, making sure no one could overhear them. "Yeah; what about it?"
"That does not bother you? That she would not trust you with something that important?" Logan realised that Beast was really worried, and shook his head.
"Bothers me some, I'll admit. But she's not a child, Beast. She's an adult; in her eyes at least. Tell me there hasn't been some kind of mission when you've gone off to do the necessary and haven't exactly told anyone about it because you knew there'd be objections." When Beast didn't answer, he knew he'd hit the mark. "Beast…The kid's talented. We both know that. She's also stubborn as hell which isn't exactly a great combination. But she's got good instincts and we've all had a hand in training her. We gotta let her go sometime."
"Are you intimating that I am suffering from…'empty nest' syndrome?" Beast asked, surprised, and Logan's face creased in a grin.
"Wouldn't quite put it that way, Hank, but you gotta admit…you have been clucking at her a lot lately."
He hid his laugh behind a cough when Hank glared at him, and went to leave. "Just give her some space to be herself; find out who exactly she is. That's what I'm doing…what she asked me to do. It's the least of what I can do for her."
He caught up with her as she headed towards the kitchen, tossing the ball up into the air and catching it.
"Everything ok?" She asked curiously, and Logan nodded.
"Yep. You?"
"Yep." She started to laugh and he marvelled at her ability to bounce back. It hadn't been that long since her best friend had tried to kill her. "I need food more than clothes that fit me. You want some? I know 'Ro bought some steaks the other day; said she'd leave them in the freezer. I can thaw them lickety split and make some nice steak sandwiches…with fries…" She teased him as she led the way, and he was surprised to find himself salivating.
"Ok, kid. You got me."
"Well, the way to a man's heart is usually through his stomach." She replied blithely, walking through the swing-door backwards. As her foot hit the tiles she slipped and the ball flew into the air, sailing straight towards the occupied kitchen table.
As Bobby and Paige cringed away from the projectile, Heather stood and caught it neatly in her naked hand with a triumphant cry.
"Sorry! …" Jubilee called out as she scrabbled to her feet. It was only when she was upright that she realised that the kitchen had fallen completely silent. Heather was standing with her arm still outstretched; the ball loosely cupped between her fingers, staring at it intently and Paige and the others moved away as the her hair began to rise from shoulders to form a halo around her head.
"It's ok, guys…she did that in London when we went to pick her up. She had a bit of a moment when she touched Jono without her gloves on." Logan didn't sound too confident, but Jono agreed, coming out from behind the table.
"Yeah…she said it's some kind of telepathy."
"She's a Touch-Clairvoyant." Jubilee added, wondering in the back of her mind if the woman's head was going to spin around like a bad horror movie.
"Where'd you get that thing…?" Logan asked cautiously and Jubilee shrugged, keeping her eyes fixed on Heather.
"Dunno. I found it on my windowsill when I got back from the Heli. I don't know how it got there."
"I put it there; it was in yer hand the night Polaris was buried and the Lawyer was killed." He watched as Paige edged out of the kitchen, intent on finding someone to help.
"I never saw it before that." Jubilee countered, and she suddenly began shaking her head, silently berating herself. "Sunovabitch!" She exclaimed finally. "That must have been what Angelo was looking for! Not some damned piece of paper! A bloody piece of rock! Oh for Christ's sake! I must have put it and that piece of paper down my top to keep it safe and when I got home it fell out and you must have thought it was an ornament …"
With her declaration, the tension in the room rose as the others went from viewing Heather with curiosity to wondering if she was going to explode at some point in the near future. Desperately torn between taking the object away from her and letting whatever vision she was suffering run its course, they stood rooted to the spot as the black and purple hair waved gently in the air.
Finally, the locks of hair settled down again and Heather blinked, breaking the spell. "Wow." She muttered, stunned, and staggered backwards, bumping into the table and finally leaning against it heavily. "That was…intense." She blinked with uncertainty and shook herself before finally realising everyone was still staring at her mutely. "What? You lot never seen a girl have a proper vision before?"
Jubilee shook her head as she attempted to remove her eyebrows from her hairline, and cleared her throat. "Honestly? No."
Heather blinked and then shrugged. "Right then…Guess I'd better go talk to someone who has." She levered herself upright and lurched out the door, and after a pointed look from Logan, Monet, Bobby and Jono followed her to make sure she got there ok.
"Shouldn't we go with her? Find out what that was all about?" Jubilee asked quietly, and Logan shook his head, heading for the large walk-in freezer.
"We'll find out soon enough when they work out whatever the hell it is she saw." He grumbled, emerging with a pair of steaks. "But right now, you and me are going eat steak. Defrost these and I'll get started."
"I was going to-"
"You've had a busy day, kid. Sit down and tell me how you did it."
Jubilee made short work of defrosting the meat and sat up on the counter, watching him search for a frying pan. As he worked, she quickly ran through how she managed to get through the defences and he nodded appreciatively. By the time they were sitting at the table with their meal, Logan was staring at her again.
"What?" She asked around a mouthful of food.
"You nearly died a handful of times in the past 24 hours and yer not bothered?" He asked after a long silence, keeping his tone deliberately mild.
Rolling her eyes, she sat back in the chair and blew out a long breath. "I was at the time." She admitted, steering the fries around the plate. "But…that was then and this is now. I'm not dead. I'm still standing. I learned a valuable lesson – I should have handed myself over to Diablo and asked to talk to Nick instead of being a smart-ass and sneaking into his office. But other than that I'm fine."
"Really?" the sarcasm in his voice made her wince, and she nodded slowly, picking up a fry and steering it through the salt on her plate.
"Listen, Logan, when Jono talked to me, he beat a couple of things into my head. He also reminded me that we needed our best. And I like to think I'm one of them. I need to be on the top of my game and now is not the time to be freaking out and acting like the kid I've never been. Right?"
"Yer allowed freak, pumpkin. I've done enough of it in my time."
"Yeah, right! The Wolfmeister freaking? I think not!"
"Trust me, kid, the 'Wolfmeister' has freaked. Maybe you didn't see it, but there's been times…"
"Like when?!"
"Hanging on the cross when I was crucified and realising I was being' helped by someone that didn't come up as far as my bellybutton. Smellin' yer scent out in the desert and realisin' that Bastion had you and I never knew it. Then when I found you an' realised you'd been tortured. They were some of the worst moments in my life, kid."
"Oh." Her gaze dropped down to her plate as she remembered the horrible time of her life she'd almost managed to forget, and he mentally cursed himself.
"Sorry for bringing it up…"
She managed a smile and shook her head. "Don't. Like everything else, it happened, we got through it, and it's over now."
Seeing that her words hadn't even gone part-way to making him feel better, she abandoned her plate and hurried around the table, throwing her arms around his broad shoulders to hug him tightly. "It's over, Logan. I'm ok. We're ok...I promise, everything is going to be ok." He closed his eyes and let her scent wrap itself around him in a comforting blanket, holding her as tightly as he dared without breaking any of her fragile bones. "I love you Wolvie."
"I love you too, kid. Forever..."