Author's Note: Sorry I have been gone for so long. Bought a house, had to move, had some big adjustments at work, so on and on. Whether you hear to care my excuses or not, I offer sincere apologies. The good news is that this story should be complete within the next week or so. I apologize this isn't the most exciting chapter, but it sets things up for the final battle.

Chapter 21

"You ready for dis, Petite?"

Jubilee's head jerked up when she heard the words. She looked up at Gambit, and took a moment to reorient herself. She wasn't certain how long she'd been standing in the doorframe of the cafeteria just staring inside. After blinking a few times, she nodded. Remy just grunted and folded his arms across his chest as he leaned against the side of the door frame. He let his head drop back to rest, letting his eyelids drop close to closed as if he were just relaxing, but Jubilee could see that they were open partly and focused on her. She turned to look back into the cafeteria.

"It be okay if not," he continued after another few prolonged seconds of silence. "Everyone need some time to get ready."

"No, that's not it," she protested quickly. "I'm ready. I was just on my way in."

He didn't move from his relaxed pose, and Jubilee just continued to stand and look into the room. Without realizing she was doing so, she rubbed her sweat-dampened palms against her thighs, wrinkling her nose when she felt spandex rather than denim. Keesha thought the uniforms were great, but Jubilee would much rather be in something more comfortable. She was way over the spandex at this point. She felt at odds with herself and with the situation. She had only days ago found out that she had a family. A real one. And now they were going into a huge battle against the very person who drove them apart in the first place. The same person who been responsible for the death of Lee's father, for the death of her own brother. Now there was a chance that she might lose all of that after just a few days. After they remained standing there for a few more moments, Gambit shifted and spoke again. "You been standing here for a while, cher. We could go in together. Dat might make it easier."

Jubilee turned to look up at him and then down to the hand he was offering her, covered in the black glove the left three fingers bare. She only hesitated a few seconds before setting her own hand into his. He used it to pull her close and then slipped his arm around her should to give her a quick squeeze. "It gonna be jus' fine, Petite. We be goin' home before you know it." Still, she let him take the first step into the room.

Jaleena idly stirred more cream into her coffee, her unfocused gaze staring at the swirling liquid. She was exhausted, plain and simple. She looked down, grabbing a napkin to mop up the bit she'd spilled without realizing it. She couldn't wait for the coffee to kick in and hoped that she'd get an adrenaline rush shortly after. She glanced at the door again, seeing Remy and Jubilee still standing there, not speaking to each other. He appeared to be resting his eyes while Jubilee just stared blankly ahead. Suppressing a yawn, Jaleena could understand feeling dazed. Reaching down to grab her coffee as well as the extra cup she'd prepared, she began to walk toward them. They began to walk into the room shortly after, and they met near the center.

"Good morning," she said in as cheerful a voice as she could muster despite the tightness in her chest. This could be the last morning she spent with them. She held the coffee out to Remy, experiencing a moment's anxiety that things might be awkward. But he only smiled at her and accepted the cup. Apparently they were going to pretend like the previous night hadn't happened. Considering what the day held, she could deal with that. The fewer distractions right now, the better. Jaleena turned her gaze to her daughter and smiled, "You ready?"

Jubilee nodded, her gaze shifting around the room. She pushed her blue, wraparound shades down to cover her eyes and stayed close to Gambit's side. Jaleena took a sip of her coffee and glanced around the room as well. "We'll travel to the compound by group, and our group is slated to leave last." She looked back at the two and responded to Gambit's raised eyebrow. "They are hoping to have cleared out a lot of the security on the way in so we can go right into the compound to get to Onyx." She smiled at Jubilee. "So we just need to round up Keesha and wait for the signal, and then I'll get us there."

Lee was nervous, and he knew it showed. He was fidgeting a lot. First he'd notice his foot tapping, and he'd concentrate on stilling it only to realize that he was patting his thigh rhythmically or tugging at his hair. He'd even caught himself whistling. He had just watched his mother take off with her group, so she was well on her way. His group would be next, followed by Leena, Remy, Keesha, and Jubilee. He glanced over his shoulder again toward Keesha and her family. He wasn't surprised to find her looking back at him. When he met her gaze, she nodded slightly, her normally carefree face very serious. When he felt a hand land on his shoulder, he jumped guiltily.

Firestar only raised an eyebrow at him. "Why you so jumpy, love?" He just shook his head and took a step out of her reach. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited, her head tilted to the side. Lee tried looking anywhere but at her. She had been a second mother to him for as long as he could remember, offering the hugs and comfort that his own mother seemed to avoid. It wasn't that Violet didn't love him or hadn't taken good care of him, it was just that something had happened to her when his father had died. Something he didn't fully understand. Neither could he understand the two women's relationship. Firestar was fun, flirtatious, and very physical: always teasing or pouncing on someone. His mother was just so different. Distant in many ways. But his mother seemed content, and Fire never complained, so he didn't spend much time thinking about it. To be honest, he was grateful they were together. He didn't know what he would have done without her presence for most of his childhood.

When she only continued to stare at him expectantly, he sighed. Knowing her as well as he did, he knew the best way to throw her off track. "I just want to get today over with. It's just a lot to deal with. I'm scared about anyone getting hurt. I scared about seeing him after what he did to dad." He paused for effect, trying to make his voice hitch before he finished. "I don't know if I want to do this anymore." Her face softened, and she moved forward to hug him. He let her, hating to mislead her even a little but feeling like this was the only way. To keep her from seeing his face, he buried it against her neck, hoping she would think it a moment of childish weakness.

"You know you can stay here, right?" She stroked her fingers through her hair, the claw-like fingernails gentle against his scalp. Lee nodded slowly against her neck. "Good. I think that's good." She murmured. She held him for a few moments longer and then stepped back and kissed his forehead. As she stroked the hair out of his eyes, she smiled gently. "I'll let your mom know when we get there that you're here safe. We'll both feel better knowing you're keeping an eye on the school." He nodded, gave her a tight squeeze, and then stepped away. She smiled and then walked over to one of the younger students, Lizbeth, who was transporting team members one by one. He waved as he watched her blink Starfire out of sight.

Watch the school, yeah right. The next phase of the plan would be tricky, but he would keep his fingers crossed. As long as Lizbeth played along, he would be right where he wanted to be. When she popped back into view a few minutes later, he was waiting. Lizbeth looked at him in surprise. "Starfire said you weren't going," she said, sounding confused.

Lee tried his best charming grin, knowing she had a crush on him. Better to ignore the question in the statement and go for misdirection. He took the time to look her up and down, "Did I remember to tell you how great you look in spandex?" When she flushed prettily, he knew he was on the right track. He stepped a bit closer to grab her hand and bring her fingers to his lips. "So anyway, plans have changed a little bit. Can you do me a big favor? And even more importantly," he paused to take a step closer to her and lowered his voice to just above a whisper, "Can you keep a secret?"

When Jaleena, Gambit, Jubilee, and Keesha arrived at the compound, it was in total chaos. As they floated above, they could see skirmishes everywhere: Wolverine was fighting with Eamon, cutting down roots that seemed to be springing from the ground to tighten around the X Men and Ballenger Academy students and teachers. In another group, Storm and Violet were trying desperately to protect the students against Terravin and another mutant who had the ability to call in flocks of attacking birds. FireStar was in the midst of hand-to-hand combat with Wray. She could also spot some explosions in the distance that she was sure was Ore's group. Jaleena did her best to reinforce the shield of solid air surrounding them from stray projectiles as she maneuvered them toward the back entrance of Onyx's fortress. As they got closer to the ground, she was surprised to see Lee standing there, leaning against the building as if he didn't have a care in the world. Once their feet touched down, she rushed over to him, angrily demanding to know what he was doing there alone.

He just shrugged nonchalantly. "Firestar sent me to help you. She figured I could help with any security monitoring," he gestured to the camera hanging above the door. No doubt any images or sound being broadcast back were scrambled. Jaleena just sighed and shook her head. She knew better. There was no way Firestar would change the plan mid-stream without telling her herself, and she knew Violet would never allow Lee so close to Onyx.

Before she could demand to know what was really going on, Keesha tugged on her arm. "Come on, we have to go. It's too late to send him back anyway. We're all safer together." Jaleena was exasperated and let out a frustrated sigh. Things were not going as planned. First Keesha's powers were failing, preventing her from using invisibility, and now she was going to have an extra teen on her hands. Something was up, and she was tempted to take them all back home. If only she could. Remy approached her next, his warm hand brushing the hair away from the back of her neck to rub it gently. "She right, Leena. We be too exposed here. We gotta move."

She knew they were right. They had come too far to turn back now. Without a word, she turned, using her powers to manipulate the lock on the door, and made a sweeping motion to let him lead the way inside.