Disclaimer: Marvel owns it all…sniff.
A/N: Sorry for it taking so long…hope this is halfway decent!
The moonlight's rays shone through the windows of the main staircase as Jubilee padded silently down the stairs. No sounds could be heard except of the winds rustling through the trees and Jubilee's light breaths. Another night haunted with nightmares had left Jubilee awake, staring outside her window for a figure that only appeared in her dreams. It was that figure that made her sit up night after night, keeping watch. The chilly breeze made her shiver slightly, not out of the cold but out of habit. After that fateful morning she had been left with an elevated body temperature that was almost impervious to the cold, and iridescent hair that was shimmering slightly in the dark. Her eyes bore a hole into the night, glowing eerily back at her from her mirror. Glow in the dark eyes, she thought bitterly. Eyes of the devil. A nighttime jaunt to the bathroom bumping into Paige on the stairs had freaked the poor girl out and no matter how many times Paige had apologized for her reaction, it still stung every time Jubilee thought about it. This night, the restlessness had gotten the better of her and three flights later, Jubilee arrived at the Danger Room and entered the dark room.
The doors slid shut with a hiss, and she looked around at the starting program of a gym. "Computer, start Wolverine training program Level 4, safety protocols off. Authorized Summers 890." Ignoring the slight pang of guilt from using Scott's access code Jubilee steeled herself, crouching down, her eyes flickering as she waited for it to start. The scene shifted to a heavily forested area, and her heart jumped as she suddenly realized what the program was.
"Hey frail." The low, grating voice ran shivers down her spine, and she looked up to see Sabertooth grinning at her. "Can't get enough can ya?"
"Somethin like that." Still crouched, she formed four balls in her hands and without warning shot up and over him. Landing behind him she barely had time to launch the balls at him before he leaped towards her, claws flailing. His nails raked down the side of her arm and she hissed in pain.
Sabertooth grinned and swiped again as she rolled out from reach. Sparing a glance at her arm, Jubilee saw the purple mist swirling around her arm and sealing the cuts. She flexed it and suddenly curious, stood still.
Meanwhile upstairs, Wolverine snorted awake aware of something vaguely off with the world. Scratching his chest thoughtfully, he walked outside his room to find Emma peering into the student's rooms. "Never took ya for a peepin tom, Emma." He growled.
Emma jumped and had the decency to blush. "Something's wrong with one of the children but I can't place it. I wanted to make sure that they were safe."
"Are they?"
"I only have Jubilee's left to do." She replied and poked her head in the doorway. Swearing she swung it open to reveal an empty bed. "Dammit!"
Not bothering to answer, Wolverine picked up the scent and within minutes they were downstairs outside of the Danger Room. Quickly overriding the security code, Emma opened the door just in time to see Sabertooth slash open Jubilee's chest. "End program!" she ran over to Jubilee, as the girl fell to her knees, blood pouring from the wounds in her chest. Yanking off her robe, she held it to the girl's chest as she called out to Sean. *We need you here right now. Jubilee's been hurt.*
The sheer robe was soon soaked, and Wolverine shook his head in disbelief. "She was using my training programs without the safety on. What the hell was she thinking?"
Emma shook her head, and continued pressing against the wounds; in what she was beginning to suspect was a futile gesture. Her hand began to tingle and she looked down to see the purple mist swirling around her fingers. The wounds started to seal shut and Emma dropped the soaking cloth to the floor. "Look." She whispered.
Logan glanced at Jubilee's torso from where he was holding her head. Within minutes her flesh was pink and unscarred, and Jubilee took a deep breath in. Opening her eyes, she blinked a few times, the glow clearly evident in the darkened room. Smiling slightly she ran a hand down her stomach, and touched Emma's hand that was resting on her bellybutton.
"Wow, it worked."
It was hard to say who was angrier, Emma, whose face had gone a sheet white, or Logan, who had gone more of a deep red color. Wincing Jubilee glanced from one face to the other, as she was roughly hauled to her feet and dragged to the Med. Lab. Unceremoniously sitting her down on the examining table, Emma took a few deep shuddering breaths as she tried to regain her composure.
"I have never seen such a careless disregard..."
"What the hell were ya thinkin? Ya could've been..."
"Not once, not twice, but three times you have thrown caution to the wind and..."
"Without the safety on? Did you want to die?"
"You could have died! Wasn't once enough for you?"
Jubilee winced as she looked from one irate face to the other. "I just wanted to see if...well my arm got slashed and it healed. I wondered how far it would go."
Emma's voice dropped an octave and she became extremely calm. "So this was in the nature of an experiment?"
"Sort of." Jubilee twirled her hair around her finger nervously. "I don't want to be in a fight with powers I can't be sure of. At least this way I know how much I can do."
"Oh, of course. It's perfectly clear. How about we try bullets next? Or maybe a bomb or two?"
Jubilee sighed, this was not turning out like she had hoped. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she shrugged. "I want to know what my limits are."
"Frankly I think you're testing ours. Jubilee, I..."
The doors slid open and a slightly disheveled Sean walked in. Taking the scene in with one glance, he took Emma and Wolverine by the arm. "Yer upset, the lass is upset, and both of ya need time to cool down and look at this objectively. Go back to bed and I'll take care of the lass." With the ease that came after five years of working with Emma, he gently manipulated them out of the room. As the door closed behind the two, Jubilee could faintly hear Emma say. "Honestly, I try so hard." and Wolverine murmur knowingly "I know, I know." Mentally balking away from the image of Emma and Wolverine getting along, Jubilee sat on the bed and waited for Sean to say something.
"Well lass."
"Yep."
"I'm guessing that yer pretty upset with something or you wouldn't have done it. Care to tell me why you had the program on with no safeties on?"
Jubilee jumped off the table exasperated. "I don't know! Okay? No clue whatsoever. Maybe I figured that if I dealt with Sa..sabe...that man one more time it would end the nightmares. Maybe I was tired of having Paige freak out in the middle of the night everytime we bump into each other because my are all freaky looking. Maybe I wanted to see if my living wasn't some weird accident. I don't know Sean. I know it sounds stupid but after all this time of being able to pass for everybody else, it's kind of hard to get used to it all."
Stifling a yawn, Sean embraced the girl and rubbed her back until she stopped shivering. "How about this, you and I train together. You'll learn how to use yer powers step by step until you are proficient at it. I'll stay in the observation room so you don't have to worry about me getting hurt. What do ya say?"
The girl smiled up at him, her face lighting up. "Sounds…cool."