Title: A Friend in Need II: Sweet Child of Mine 19/22
Author: Somogyi
Email: somogyi02@yahoo.com
Archive: Sure, just please ask first
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and some disturbing imagery
Summary: Jubilee is well on the way to recovery from the physical injuries she
sustained during "A Friend in Need," thanks to the help of Logan and Jean. The
psychic damage, however, has been slow to heal: she is still plagued by regular
nightmares and her memory has not yet returned. And while Jean's endless devotion
to Jubilee is helping her to recuperate, it is starting to put a strain on Jean's
marriage to Scott.
Disclaimer: The X-Men and Generation X are property of Marvel Entertainment.
Characters are used without permission, no profit is being made, and no infringement
on copyright is intended.
*****
A Friend in Need II: Sweet Child of Mine
by Somogyi
somogyi02@yahoo.com
Chapter 19
Ororo's heels clicked a sharp staccato beat on the hardwood floor as she strode
purposefully down the hallway toward her destination. Approaching the room, she
saw that the door was open. She stopped in the doorway and peered inside.
Logan sat on the floor cross-legged, his back to her. His elbows rested on his
knees, his palms facing upward, each thumb lightly touching his fingertips. From
his relaxed stance and his deep breathing, she had no doubt that his eyes were
closed in meditation.
She hesitated. She had come to his room in search of him, to speak with him. But
he did not look as though he wanted to be disturbed. She considered leaving, but
then thought better of it. This was important. And yet, it could probably wait
until he was done. . . .
"Ya gonna stand there all day, 'Ro, or are ya gonna come on in an' say whatever
it is ya came here ta say?"
The sound of Logan's voice put an end to her mental debate. "I am sorry to
interrupt you, Logan," she began, taking a hesitant step inside.
"'S'okay. I was just about done anyway." Lowering his arms, he got to his feet
and turned to face her. "What can I do for ya?"
"I was wondering if you have seen Jubilation this morning. We were scheduled to
have a lesson over an hour ago. I thought maybe she had forgotten and came to
you for a workout session."
"Nope. Haven't seen her today. Not since yesterday afternoon, actually. An'
believe me, darlin', she knows what days she does an' doesn't have ta exercise.
Kid was never more excited than when I told her we could cut it down."
Ororo's brow furrowed as she crossed her arms across her chest. "This is very
strange."
"Did you check her room?"
"Yes, it was the first place I looked for her, in case she had overslept. In
fact, her bed did not look slept in. I am worried about her, Logan. The turmoil
between Jean and Scott is affecting her deeply. She has been quite upset about
the recent turn of events."
"We all are, 'Ro. Nobody expected stuff like this ta go down between Jeanie an'
Cyke. Kid probably feels caught in the middle. It's just gonna take some time. .
. ."
"I fear it may already be too late. . . ."
This time it was Logan who scowled. "What do ya mean by that?"
Ororo shook her head, as though berating herself. "Goddess, I have been so
foolish. We all have. Since her miscarriage, we have all been deeply concerned
about Jean--almost to the exclusion of the rest of her family. I spoke to Scott
about such matters, realizing that his loss had somehow been forgotten. But I
did not think to counsel Jubilee. . . ."
"She's a tough, kid. She's been through worse."
"But that is not the point, Logan. Even after her accident--when she was faced
with paralysis and amnesia--she did not have to endure alone. But now, she and
her feelings have been completely ignored. I only pray that irreparable harm has
not occurred."
"Come on, now, 'Ro. I'm sure the kid is fine. She probably went somewhere ta
think, ta get away from the gloom an' doom around this place. Or maybe she went
ta go see Scott or Jean, ta talk ta one of them. Have you tried askin' them if
they've seen her?"
"No, not yet. But that is a good idea. I shall go do so immediately. Have you
seen Scott this morning?"
"Last time I saw him, he was headed fer the gym."
Ororo nodded. "I shall look for him there." She turned on her heel.
"Hey, 'Ro!" Logan called after her.
She turned back. "Yes?"
"Lemme know when ya find her, okay?"
"Of course." With a nod, Ororo strode once more down the corridor, toward her
new destination.
A few minutes later, she walked into the gym. Scott was its lone occupant. He
lay on a bench at the far end of the room, bench-pressing a barbell. As Ororo
approached, she saw that it was well in excess of a hundred and fifty pounds.
This was no light workout.
"Good morning, Scott," she said, stopping a couple of feet from his head.
"Ororo," he grunted, pushing the weight above his chest. "What's up?"
"I was wondering if you had spoken to Jubilation this morning."
"Nope," he huffed, lowering the weight.
"Do you remember when the last time you spoke to her was?"
For a moment he did not reply as he concentrated on lifting the weight again.
"Not sure," he replied finally. "Been a while."
"Define 'a while'."
"Hold on . . . a sec." Lowering the weight to mere inches above his chest, Scott
proceeded to do two more reps before finally returning the bar to its rack.
Shaking out his hands, he sat up, and looked up at Ororo. "The last time I spoke
with Jubilee? It's probably been a couple of days. Honestly, Ororo, I've been
keeping to myself. I haven't felt like the most social person lately." He got
up, walked to a table and picked up a bottle of water. He proceeded to down over
half of its contents in several large gulps. "But what's with the twenty
questions? Is Jubilee all right?"
Ororo found herself somehow relieved to see that Scott was not so far withdrawn
that he did not still care about Jubilee. At least his heart had not hardened
that much.
"Right now, it appears that she is missing. She never showed for our morning
lesson, and no one seems to have seen her today."
"Maybe she just forgot about the lesson. She's probably got a lot on her mind
lately--like the rest of us. Or she could have just decided to skip it. That
wouldn't surprise me either."
"But for no one to have seen her? Her bed did not even appear to have been slept
in."
"She could have gotten up early. Or fallen asleep somewhere else. I'm sure
she'll show up. She probably just decided to find some private place to think. I
wouldn't go jumping to conclusions just yet."
"I suppose. . . ."
"Just give her a little time, Ororo. I'm gonna go hit the showers. I'll catch
you later." He was halfway to the locker room when he turned back to face her.
"Have you tried the house?" he called.
She shook her head.
"Maybe she decided to go back and stay with Jean." With that, he turned and
disappeared through the locker room door.
*Goddess, am I the only one who is worried about the girl?* Ororo wondered.
Deciding to follow Scott's advice and pay Jean a visit as her home, Ororo exited
the gym and headed down the sub-basement corridor, toward the elevator.
As she approached the doorway to the medi-lab and Hank's office, Hank emerged,
talking in low tones to Jean, who walked beside him. They stopped, and he turned
to face her, taking her comparatively small hands in his large, furry ones. He
said something to her, and she nodded, attempting a small smile.
Hearing Ororo's approach, Hank looked up and grinned in greeting. "Good morning,
Ororo. How art thou this fine morning?"
"I am fine, Hank. And yourself?"
"Quite well, thank you."
"Good morning, Jean. How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks. I just had a check-up with Hank, actually. And he seconded the
notion."
"That is good to hear, my friend. Actually, I was just on my way to pay you a
visit."
"Oh? Is everything all right, Ororo? You seem . . . troubled."
"I am a little worried actually."
"Is there anything we can do to ease your distress?" Hank asked.
"Well, have either or you seen Jubilee this morning?"
"No," Hank replied, even as Jean shook her head.
"Jean, when was the last time you saw her?"
"Not since she moved out of the house." Biting her lip, Jean lowered her head,
unable to look Ororo in the eyes. "We, uhm, didn't exactly part on the
friendliest of terms."
Hank put a reassuring hand on Jean's shoulder. "Why do you ask, Ororo? Is
something the matter with young Jubilation?"
"I am not sure. She and I were to have a lesson this morning, but Jubilee did
not arrive. I have not been able to locate her anywhere in the mansion. No one
seems to know anything about her whereabouts. Neither Logan nor Scott has seen
her. I am afraid she might have run away."
"Run away? Why on earth would she have run away?" Jean asked.
"Well, as we are all no doubt aware, these have not been the most pleasant of
times for everyone. And I think she has been quite troubled by recent events."
"*I* am deeply troubled by recent events, Ororo, but you don't see me running
away," Jean remarked coldly.
It was clear to Ororo that the comment was probably meant to be directed at
Jean's husband. "Yes, Jean, but you are not a child who has suddenly been
effectively abandoned by bickering foster parents in the face of a tragedy from
which you are not completely immune."
Jean finally met Ororo's eyes, a stricken look on her face. "Are you saying this
is my fault?"
"I am not blaming you, Jean. You did not purposely--"
"Damn it, Ororo, I just lost my baby, and my husband left me. I can barely
muster the strength to get out of bed in the morning. You can't expect me to
hold her hand. . . ." Jean's voice caught, and she bit her lip, even as she
averted her eyes.
"Jeanie, no one is accusing you of anything," Hank said, wrapping an arm around
her shoulders. "I think all Ororo is trying to say is that perhaps you two could
have comforted one another, helped one another through this loss."
"So it's not enough that I'm a terrible wife and a terrible foster mother, but
now I can't even grieve correctly? God, I'm just a failure as a human being!"
With that, Jean burst into tears.
"Jean, I did not mean to sound reproving," Ororo said, taking her friend into
her arms. "We are all to blame for not realizing Jubilee's pain. Goddess knows
you have enough to deal with right now. This is not your fault." She continued
to hold Jean, gently rubbing her back.
"I-I'm sorry, Ororo," Jean stammered, pulling back and swiping at her cheeks
with the back of her hands. "I didn't mean to snap at you."
"No need to apologize, Jean. You have done nothing wrong."
"Obviously I've been neglecting my foster daughter," Jean replied, her voice
steadying as she managed to rein in her emotions.
"Not purposely. You cannot help her without first helping yourself."
"Well, I think it's time I started paying more attention to her. So, when was
the last time someone saw her?"
"Logan saw her yesterday aftern--"
"'Ro!" The sound of Logan's shouts preceded him by several seconds. He sprinted
down the corridor, and came to a stop in front of the trio.
"Logan, have you heard from Jubilee?"
"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "But Paige just called. She spoke to Jubilee
yesterday afternoon. She was callin' back, 'cause she was concerned after their
conversation yesterday."
"Why? What did they talk about?" Hank asked.
Logan hesitated, eying Jean warily.
This look was not lost on Jean. "Out with it, Logan!" she snapped. "We don't
have all day."
"Paige said Jubilee told her she felt she was to blame."
"To blame?" Ororo asked, brow furrowed. "For what?"
Again, Logan faltered. "For all the fightin' goin' on, between Scott an' Jeanie.
An'. . . ." But he could not bring himself to say it.
"She thinks the miscarriage was her fault?" Jean asked. But she already knew the
answer.
The others looked at her, sorrowful expressions on their own faces. It made them
feel even worse to see Jean's pale face, her shining eyes, her trembling mouth.
"But why on earth would Jubilation blame herself?" Hank asked.
"Accordin' to Paige, Jubilee thinks all the fightin' has been 'cause of her. An'
somehow, she thinks stress over the fightin' an' whatnot led to . . . well, was
to blame."
"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" Hank spat, shaking his
head.
"Oh God," Jean whispered. "How could I not have seen it? She must have been in
anguish, and I didn't even notice. . . ."
"None of us did, Jeanie," Logan replied. "We were all livin' with her, an' none
of us could see it. We all share the blame."
"The question is what can we do to rectify the situation," Hank said.
"We must find her, speak to her, reassure her," Ororo replied. "Jean, do you
think you can do a psi-scan to try to locate her?"
Jean nodded. "I'll do one right now." Sniffling, she took a deep breath before
closing her eyes and bringing her hands to her temples. For several long
moments, she concentrated as her mind swept out, scanning the vicinity. Soon,
she lowered her hands and opened her eyes. "Nothing. She's not anywhere on the
mansion grounds. Further than that, I can't tell. There are too many people in
Salem Center alone to get a definite fix on her."
"Now what?" Hank asked.
"Now we go look for her," Jean replied.
"Where on earth could Jubilee have gone?" Hank wondered. "How do we even know
where to look?"
"We should search her room--both here, and at the house," Ororo suggested.
"Perhaps we can find some sort of clue as to where she was headed."
"Paige said Jubilee indicated she wanted to get away from the mansion for a
while. Somewhere to clear her head. The question is where that place would be."
"I don't know," Jean said, shaking her head. "She's been recuperating for so
long, walking somewhere hasn't really been an option."
"But the kid can't drive. How else could she get around?"
"Blading."
The quartet started at the sound of Scott's voice reverberating in the metal
corridor. They all watched as he walked briskly toward them, freshly changed,
hair still damp from his recent shower.
"Would she even be capable of roller blading?" Ororo wondered. "Physically, I
mean."
"Probably," Hank replied. "She was ambulating sufficiently well without even the
aid of a cane. That was more of a crutch for when she became fatigued at the end
of a day."
"But Jubilee never brought her skates when she came to stay with us," Jean
pointed out. "There was no need."
"She got a pair," Scott explained.
Jean glared at him. "What? When?"
"The weekend you and Ororo went to the spa. Don't you remember, Jean? I took her
shopping for a pair."
Jean rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. You provided her with the means to run away!
Didn't I say that I didn't think she was ready--"
"Enough!" Ororo bellowed. "Bickering amongst ourselves will not help us locate
her. We must put our personal differences aside and work together if we are to
find her. Are we agreed?"
Reluctantly, Scott muttered "Yes," even as Jean crossed her arms and nodded her
head.
"Good. Now, we have established that Jubilee may have had the opportunity to get
away. What we need to determine is if she took advantage of that opportunity.
Scott, do you know where Jubilee kept the skates?"
"Yeah. We put the blades, helmet, and other equipment in the back of her
closet."
"Can you go check and see if they are still there?"
He nodded.
"I'll go with ya," Logan told him.
"Jean and I shall search Jubilee's room here and see if we can find any other
indication of where she may have gone," Ororo said, taking charge. "Henry, can
you see who else is present in the mansion, and if they are able to help us
conduct a search of the nearby area?"
"Of course."
"All right. Let us all reconvene in the parlor in twenty minutes to decide upon
our next course of action."
With that, they all hurried to complete their designated tasks with a deep sense
of urgency.
End Chapter 19
*****
Author: Somogyi
Email: somogyi02@yahoo.com
Archive: Sure, just please ask first
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and some disturbing imagery
Summary: Jubilee is well on the way to recovery from the physical injuries she
sustained during "A Friend in Need," thanks to the help of Logan and Jean. The
psychic damage, however, has been slow to heal: she is still plagued by regular
nightmares and her memory has not yet returned. And while Jean's endless devotion
to Jubilee is helping her to recuperate, it is starting to put a strain on Jean's
marriage to Scott.
Disclaimer: The X-Men and Generation X are property of Marvel Entertainment.
Characters are used without permission, no profit is being made, and no infringement
on copyright is intended.
*****
A Friend in Need II: Sweet Child of Mine
by Somogyi
somogyi02@yahoo.com
Chapter 19
Ororo's heels clicked a sharp staccato beat on the hardwood floor as she strode
purposefully down the hallway toward her destination. Approaching the room, she
saw that the door was open. She stopped in the doorway and peered inside.
Logan sat on the floor cross-legged, his back to her. His elbows rested on his
knees, his palms facing upward, each thumb lightly touching his fingertips. From
his relaxed stance and his deep breathing, she had no doubt that his eyes were
closed in meditation.
She hesitated. She had come to his room in search of him, to speak with him. But
he did not look as though he wanted to be disturbed. She considered leaving, but
then thought better of it. This was important. And yet, it could probably wait
until he was done. . . .
"Ya gonna stand there all day, 'Ro, or are ya gonna come on in an' say whatever
it is ya came here ta say?"
The sound of Logan's voice put an end to her mental debate. "I am sorry to
interrupt you, Logan," she began, taking a hesitant step inside.
"'S'okay. I was just about done anyway." Lowering his arms, he got to his feet
and turned to face her. "What can I do for ya?"
"I was wondering if you have seen Jubilation this morning. We were scheduled to
have a lesson over an hour ago. I thought maybe she had forgotten and came to
you for a workout session."
"Nope. Haven't seen her today. Not since yesterday afternoon, actually. An'
believe me, darlin', she knows what days she does an' doesn't have ta exercise.
Kid was never more excited than when I told her we could cut it down."
Ororo's brow furrowed as she crossed her arms across her chest. "This is very
strange."
"Did you check her room?"
"Yes, it was the first place I looked for her, in case she had overslept. In
fact, her bed did not look slept in. I am worried about her, Logan. The turmoil
between Jean and Scott is affecting her deeply. She has been quite upset about
the recent turn of events."
"We all are, 'Ro. Nobody expected stuff like this ta go down between Jeanie an'
Cyke. Kid probably feels caught in the middle. It's just gonna take some time. .
. ."
"I fear it may already be too late. . . ."
This time it was Logan who scowled. "What do ya mean by that?"
Ororo shook her head, as though berating herself. "Goddess, I have been so
foolish. We all have. Since her miscarriage, we have all been deeply concerned
about Jean--almost to the exclusion of the rest of her family. I spoke to Scott
about such matters, realizing that his loss had somehow been forgotten. But I
did not think to counsel Jubilee. . . ."
"She's a tough, kid. She's been through worse."
"But that is not the point, Logan. Even after her accident--when she was faced
with paralysis and amnesia--she did not have to endure alone. But now, she and
her feelings have been completely ignored. I only pray that irreparable harm has
not occurred."
"Come on, now, 'Ro. I'm sure the kid is fine. She probably went somewhere ta
think, ta get away from the gloom an' doom around this place. Or maybe she went
ta go see Scott or Jean, ta talk ta one of them. Have you tried askin' them if
they've seen her?"
"No, not yet. But that is a good idea. I shall go do so immediately. Have you
seen Scott this morning?"
"Last time I saw him, he was headed fer the gym."
Ororo nodded. "I shall look for him there." She turned on her heel.
"Hey, 'Ro!" Logan called after her.
She turned back. "Yes?"
"Lemme know when ya find her, okay?"
"Of course." With a nod, Ororo strode once more down the corridor, toward her
new destination.
A few minutes later, she walked into the gym. Scott was its lone occupant. He
lay on a bench at the far end of the room, bench-pressing a barbell. As Ororo
approached, she saw that it was well in excess of a hundred and fifty pounds.
This was no light workout.
"Good morning, Scott," she said, stopping a couple of feet from his head.
"Ororo," he grunted, pushing the weight above his chest. "What's up?"
"I was wondering if you had spoken to Jubilation this morning."
"Nope," he huffed, lowering the weight.
"Do you remember when the last time you spoke to her was?"
For a moment he did not reply as he concentrated on lifting the weight again.
"Not sure," he replied finally. "Been a while."
"Define 'a while'."
"Hold on . . . a sec." Lowering the weight to mere inches above his chest, Scott
proceeded to do two more reps before finally returning the bar to its rack.
Shaking out his hands, he sat up, and looked up at Ororo. "The last time I spoke
with Jubilee? It's probably been a couple of days. Honestly, Ororo, I've been
keeping to myself. I haven't felt like the most social person lately." He got
up, walked to a table and picked up a bottle of water. He proceeded to down over
half of its contents in several large gulps. "But what's with the twenty
questions? Is Jubilee all right?"
Ororo found herself somehow relieved to see that Scott was not so far withdrawn
that he did not still care about Jubilee. At least his heart had not hardened
that much.
"Right now, it appears that she is missing. She never showed for our morning
lesson, and no one seems to have seen her today."
"Maybe she just forgot about the lesson. She's probably got a lot on her mind
lately--like the rest of us. Or she could have just decided to skip it. That
wouldn't surprise me either."
"But for no one to have seen her? Her bed did not even appear to have been slept
in."
"She could have gotten up early. Or fallen asleep somewhere else. I'm sure
she'll show up. She probably just decided to find some private place to think. I
wouldn't go jumping to conclusions just yet."
"I suppose. . . ."
"Just give her a little time, Ororo. I'm gonna go hit the showers. I'll catch
you later." He was halfway to the locker room when he turned back to face her.
"Have you tried the house?" he called.
She shook her head.
"Maybe she decided to go back and stay with Jean." With that, he turned and
disappeared through the locker room door.
*Goddess, am I the only one who is worried about the girl?* Ororo wondered.
Deciding to follow Scott's advice and pay Jean a visit as her home, Ororo exited
the gym and headed down the sub-basement corridor, toward the elevator.
As she approached the doorway to the medi-lab and Hank's office, Hank emerged,
talking in low tones to Jean, who walked beside him. They stopped, and he turned
to face her, taking her comparatively small hands in his large, furry ones. He
said something to her, and she nodded, attempting a small smile.
Hearing Ororo's approach, Hank looked up and grinned in greeting. "Good morning,
Ororo. How art thou this fine morning?"
"I am fine, Hank. And yourself?"
"Quite well, thank you."
"Good morning, Jean. How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks. I just had a check-up with Hank, actually. And he seconded the
notion."
"That is good to hear, my friend. Actually, I was just on my way to pay you a
visit."
"Oh? Is everything all right, Ororo? You seem . . . troubled."
"I am a little worried actually."
"Is there anything we can do to ease your distress?" Hank asked.
"Well, have either or you seen Jubilee this morning?"
"No," Hank replied, even as Jean shook her head.
"Jean, when was the last time you saw her?"
"Not since she moved out of the house." Biting her lip, Jean lowered her head,
unable to look Ororo in the eyes. "We, uhm, didn't exactly part on the
friendliest of terms."
Hank put a reassuring hand on Jean's shoulder. "Why do you ask, Ororo? Is
something the matter with young Jubilation?"
"I am not sure. She and I were to have a lesson this morning, but Jubilee did
not arrive. I have not been able to locate her anywhere in the mansion. No one
seems to know anything about her whereabouts. Neither Logan nor Scott has seen
her. I am afraid she might have run away."
"Run away? Why on earth would she have run away?" Jean asked.
"Well, as we are all no doubt aware, these have not been the most pleasant of
times for everyone. And I think she has been quite troubled by recent events."
"*I* am deeply troubled by recent events, Ororo, but you don't see me running
away," Jean remarked coldly.
It was clear to Ororo that the comment was probably meant to be directed at
Jean's husband. "Yes, Jean, but you are not a child who has suddenly been
effectively abandoned by bickering foster parents in the face of a tragedy from
which you are not completely immune."
Jean finally met Ororo's eyes, a stricken look on her face. "Are you saying this
is my fault?"
"I am not blaming you, Jean. You did not purposely--"
"Damn it, Ororo, I just lost my baby, and my husband left me. I can barely
muster the strength to get out of bed in the morning. You can't expect me to
hold her hand. . . ." Jean's voice caught, and she bit her lip, even as she
averted her eyes.
"Jeanie, no one is accusing you of anything," Hank said, wrapping an arm around
her shoulders. "I think all Ororo is trying to say is that perhaps you two could
have comforted one another, helped one another through this loss."
"So it's not enough that I'm a terrible wife and a terrible foster mother, but
now I can't even grieve correctly? God, I'm just a failure as a human being!"
With that, Jean burst into tears.
"Jean, I did not mean to sound reproving," Ororo said, taking her friend into
her arms. "We are all to blame for not realizing Jubilee's pain. Goddess knows
you have enough to deal with right now. This is not your fault." She continued
to hold Jean, gently rubbing her back.
"I-I'm sorry, Ororo," Jean stammered, pulling back and swiping at her cheeks
with the back of her hands. "I didn't mean to snap at you."
"No need to apologize, Jean. You have done nothing wrong."
"Obviously I've been neglecting my foster daughter," Jean replied, her voice
steadying as she managed to rein in her emotions.
"Not purposely. You cannot help her without first helping yourself."
"Well, I think it's time I started paying more attention to her. So, when was
the last time someone saw her?"
"Logan saw her yesterday aftern--"
"'Ro!" The sound of Logan's shouts preceded him by several seconds. He sprinted
down the corridor, and came to a stop in front of the trio.
"Logan, have you heard from Jubilee?"
"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "But Paige just called. She spoke to Jubilee
yesterday afternoon. She was callin' back, 'cause she was concerned after their
conversation yesterday."
"Why? What did they talk about?" Hank asked.
Logan hesitated, eying Jean warily.
This look was not lost on Jean. "Out with it, Logan!" she snapped. "We don't
have all day."
"Paige said Jubilee told her she felt she was to blame."
"To blame?" Ororo asked, brow furrowed. "For what?"
Again, Logan faltered. "For all the fightin' goin' on, between Scott an' Jeanie.
An'. . . ." But he could not bring himself to say it.
"She thinks the miscarriage was her fault?" Jean asked. But she already knew the
answer.
The others looked at her, sorrowful expressions on their own faces. It made them
feel even worse to see Jean's pale face, her shining eyes, her trembling mouth.
"But why on earth would Jubilation blame herself?" Hank asked.
"Accordin' to Paige, Jubilee thinks all the fightin' has been 'cause of her. An'
somehow, she thinks stress over the fightin' an' whatnot led to . . . well, was
to blame."
"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" Hank spat, shaking his
head.
"Oh God," Jean whispered. "How could I not have seen it? She must have been in
anguish, and I didn't even notice. . . ."
"None of us did, Jeanie," Logan replied. "We were all livin' with her, an' none
of us could see it. We all share the blame."
"The question is what can we do to rectify the situation," Hank said.
"We must find her, speak to her, reassure her," Ororo replied. "Jean, do you
think you can do a psi-scan to try to locate her?"
Jean nodded. "I'll do one right now." Sniffling, she took a deep breath before
closing her eyes and bringing her hands to her temples. For several long
moments, she concentrated as her mind swept out, scanning the vicinity. Soon,
she lowered her hands and opened her eyes. "Nothing. She's not anywhere on the
mansion grounds. Further than that, I can't tell. There are too many people in
Salem Center alone to get a definite fix on her."
"Now what?" Hank asked.
"Now we go look for her," Jean replied.
"Where on earth could Jubilee have gone?" Hank wondered. "How do we even know
where to look?"
"We should search her room--both here, and at the house," Ororo suggested.
"Perhaps we can find some sort of clue as to where she was headed."
"Paige said Jubilee indicated she wanted to get away from the mansion for a
while. Somewhere to clear her head. The question is where that place would be."
"I don't know," Jean said, shaking her head. "She's been recuperating for so
long, walking somewhere hasn't really been an option."
"But the kid can't drive. How else could she get around?"
"Blading."
The quartet started at the sound of Scott's voice reverberating in the metal
corridor. They all watched as he walked briskly toward them, freshly changed,
hair still damp from his recent shower.
"Would she even be capable of roller blading?" Ororo wondered. "Physically, I
mean."
"Probably," Hank replied. "She was ambulating sufficiently well without even the
aid of a cane. That was more of a crutch for when she became fatigued at the end
of a day."
"But Jubilee never brought her skates when she came to stay with us," Jean
pointed out. "There was no need."
"She got a pair," Scott explained.
Jean glared at him. "What? When?"
"The weekend you and Ororo went to the spa. Don't you remember, Jean? I took her
shopping for a pair."
Jean rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. You provided her with the means to run away!
Didn't I say that I didn't think she was ready--"
"Enough!" Ororo bellowed. "Bickering amongst ourselves will not help us locate
her. We must put our personal differences aside and work together if we are to
find her. Are we agreed?"
Reluctantly, Scott muttered "Yes," even as Jean crossed her arms and nodded her
head.
"Good. Now, we have established that Jubilee may have had the opportunity to get
away. What we need to determine is if she took advantage of that opportunity.
Scott, do you know where Jubilee kept the skates?"
"Yeah. We put the blades, helmet, and other equipment in the back of her
closet."
"Can you go check and see if they are still there?"
He nodded.
"I'll go with ya," Logan told him.
"Jean and I shall search Jubilee's room here and see if we can find any other
indication of where she may have gone," Ororo said, taking charge. "Henry, can
you see who else is present in the mansion, and if they are able to help us
conduct a search of the nearby area?"
"Of course."
"All right. Let us all reconvene in the parlor in twenty minutes to decide upon
our next course of action."
With that, they all hurried to complete their designated tasks with a deep sense
of urgency.
End Chapter 19
*****