Innocence Lost
By Allura
Disclaimer: All the characters within this story is owned by Marvel. I take no credit but with the imaginative story line. This is story will hopefully lead to another so stay tuned.
Warning: Were this a movie, it would be rated at least PG-13. I will not be responsible for outraged parents.
Note: This is an alternative timeline so don't go jumping down my throat about stuff that's going on in the comic. It's well before Everett Thomas's death and that's all I'm going to say on the subject of timelines. Any new characters written by me would will noticeable by the complete lack of inventiveness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
His jeep came to a screeching halt at the front of the massive building that should have been ugly with all those bricks, but was kept neat and pretty with ivies and gleaming windows that reflect the afternoon sun. He was still not sure why he had agreed to come today. There really wasn't much he could teach a group of kids that has had little to no experience in the world. There was really no reason for him to have agreed to be here at all.
But he knew that was a lie even as he thought it. And just then, the real reason for him to be here came barreling down the stairs.
"Wolvie," Jubilee's bright sunny enthusiasm was hard to resist even for Logan's private constitution. That hadn't change much since that first time he laid eyes on her while she struggled to cut him down from the crucifix in the Australian outback.
There were few things and even fewer people in this world that could touch the heart of the man known as Wolverine. He could count on one hand how many people he trusted enough with his life to sleep in the same room with them. Jubilation Lee would be one of those that he counted. She was like the daughter that he had never had. So full of spirit and life, the complete opposite of his dark outlook.
"Hey kid," he came around the car just in time to catch her as she launched herself into his arms. She was the only person he knew of that trusted him enough to come to him so openly. Other would have feared that the savage within him would gut them without thought. "What have you been up to?"
"No much," she smiled brightly at him. "Taking it easy for a while."
"Good for you," he grabbed his duffel bag with one hand and swung the other arm around the young girl's shoulders. "Why aren't you in class?"
"It doesn't start for another hour."
"So you decided to be my personal welcoming committee?"
"Who else?" her eyes bright with happiness that instantly warmed his heart. He could always count on Jubilee to brighten his day, to accept him in every form and way.
"Where's Sean?" referring to the school's headmaster and his old comrade.
"He's in his office with some students that pulled a prank. They threw some kid into the pool fully clothed." She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Wasn't much but Sean feels that they need to stop this type of behavior."
Nodding without saying much, Logan allowed himself to be lead into the school and toward the guestrooms at the west wing where the boys were staying. Jubilee chattered away a mile a minute about everything and anything not caring much that he may not need nor want to hear all the gossip. But it made him feel good just to hear the sound of her voice, for her to include him in all the aspects of her life here away from him.
They were almost to the guestroom when two older boys came around the corner wearing workout clothes that reflect their special position in the school. They were both wearing the distinct uniform of Generation X, the latest X-Men spin-off team.
The gray face kid with the long arms and legs look like he had lost too much weigh in too little amount of time, extra skin seem to hang carelessly off his features. He wasn't especially tall, though taller than Logan, but he did have the look of a streetwise kid from South Central. The expression on his face was that of a cautious one, as if he's just met an alpha wolf that he wasn't going to mess with.
The other boy was a young African -American kid that had the charming All-American, Captain of the Football team look. He was tall with a stolid frame and enough muscles to give most people pause when looking at him. He was good looking kid with an easy smile that quickly melted away when Logan and Jubilee came into sight. He frowned slightly at the sight of Logan and even more so when he noticed the arm draped carelessly around Jubilee's shoulders.
"Hey guys," Jubilee called out with a smile, completely oblivious to the sudden hostility between the two boys and the man next to her. "You remember Wolverine, he's going to be our guest instructor in self-defense."
"Really?" Everett Thomas didn't like Wolverine; it was as simple as that. There was no particular reason as to why he didn't like the older man, he just simply didn't. He didn't like the way the man walked, as if there was nothing in this world he feared. He didn't like the way he talked, like some cowboy out of an old movie. And most of all, he didn't like the way the man manipulated Jubilee's time whenever he was around. "That should be interesting."
Jubilee smiled happily and pulled Wolverine toward the guest bedroom again closing the door behind them.
"What up with you, Chico?" Angelo Espinosa looked at his friend with great interest. "You were lying like a freshman. You jealous or something?"
"Shut up, Angelo." He didn't like dwelling on the subject much. "I just don't like the man."
"Why?" he looked back toward the closed door. "He seem like a regular Joe to me but you ain't going to catch me going anywhere near him for no good reason though. What you got against the hombre?"
"Nothing, it's just nothing." Everett shrugged and pointed toward the window. "There goes Trent again. I wonder when Jono is going to get tire of him and just blow his head off."
Angelo knew not to push an argument when someone changes the subject so fast. "Ney, Shock-o-Shock would never do something so ungentleman like." He smirked with some amusement. "He'll just go around looking green with jealousy for a few weeks before coming to his senses." He glanced at his friend again and wondered if he knew the advice was for him well. "Jono should just tell Paige how he feels and get it over with. It's obvious that he's got the hots of the blonde hayseed, why bother with all the pretending."
"Maybe he doesn't feel like telling her."
Angelo rolled his eyes and wondered if Everett was losing his mind slowly over a certain girl they knew as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Holy..." Angelo couldn't get his mouth close. He'd never seen anyone move so fast before, not even Banshee at his best.
Wolverine was currently running a simulation in the school's gym, also dubbed as the danger room. Testing out the equipment he had said; it was the Savage Land scenario, lots of big trees and bigger dinosaurs. The man moved among the animals as if he was one of them. The easy way that he ran with the large lizards was too startling to describe.
Jubilee smiled as she watched her Wolvie from the observation dome above the gym. She had a moment of hesitation this morning when she realized that his being here could go afoul; after all, he wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with. Yet with him here now, she couldn't remember one good reason why she had been afraid. It always made her feel better to have the hairy-ape around. Things have been tense and uncomfortable since she got back. She didn't feel quite like she belonged anymore.
"He's still the best there is," Sean commented as he stood behind his students. He didn't miss the looks of caution from the boys when they encountered Logan. "Should be interesting to see what he's going to teach you."
"I can't wait," Jubilee smiled at him with her open happiness that had been missing for a while. Unfortunately, Jubilee's obvious happiness with Logan's presence only served to darken Everett's spirit.
[Looks like you were right.] Emma Frost's thoughts glided smoothly into Sean's head as he continued to watch his old friend.
[About what?] He knew the rules as she did. She would only thought-speak when she needed to talk to him in private with the kids around.
[His effect on Jubilee.] Emma moved to look over the young girl's head and watch her old enemy cut down a T-Rex without much effort. [I haven't seen her this excited since she got her hands on my credit cards. And even that did not bring a smile to her face last week, she had shown no interest in going to the mall as of late. I thought for sure we've lost Jubilee.]
Sean looked over his shoulder at her. Emma Frost, the notoriously dangerous White Queen of the Hellfire Club, carried with her the haunted look of a woman that's lost more than she care to remember. She still somehow blamed herself for allowing Jubilee to be captured so many months ago, though there wasn't anything she could have done. The lost of her Hellions, her first group of students, haunts her to this day.
[It's nice hearing the lassie's laughter again. She's been so withdrawn lately that I've been worrying again.]
[As if her past behavior has been any different. Perhaps Wolverine could get her open up a little more as to what really happened to her.]
[Don't push it, Emma. He frowned at the worry lines that marred her forehead. Logan will not do anything to push Jubilee in any direction. You know how he feels about the lassie. He only agreed to come because she needed him to just be there for her should she need a shoulder to lean on. Lord knows you and I have not had any luck.]
Emma sighed and turned back to her students. She didn't like the fact that she has not been able to help her youngest student out of the dark place that the past year has put her in.
Jubilee leaned forward suddenly to get a better look at what's going on below. Unfortunately, she forgot that unlike the danger room back at the Xavier's, this one did not include a safety shield. Losing her balance, she screamed as she started to fell forty feet to the ground.
Everett, Angelo, Jono, Paige, Emma, and Sean all reached out to try to grab her, but only succeed in getting into each other's way.
Wolverine heard the scream just as he cut down a giant tiger-looking animal. He looked up to see the girl fall out of the dome and knew instantly whom it was.
Not caring that there were still a dozen animals watching and waiting to cut him down, he rushed toward the area just beneath the dome. Unfortunately, a large dinosaur stood between him and Jubilee's falling body. It was going to take a lot of effort on both their parts to get this just right. Running up the back to the big lizard, he yelled, "Jubilee, go limp."
Taking a flying leap off the head of a T-Rex's head, he caught Jubilee in his arms, tucked her into the protected sphere of his own body and prepared to roll as he fell toward the ground again.
Banshee caught Logan five feet from the ground and pulled hard upward so as not allow either one of his passengers to go splat.
"Could you have cut it any closer, Irish?" Logan kept his protected hold on Jubilee even as he reached up to grab hold of Sean.
"Sorry, had to get over the shock first."
Jubilee whimpered as her heart began to beat at a normal rate.
"You all right, Kiddo?" Logan saw how ashen the girl's face had gone. "I got you now."
Unfortunately, Jubilee's mind was not longer completely in the present. Her thoughts flashed back to the catacombs. The dark passageways and screams that won't stop even in the dead of night. The damp floor that she had slept on and those horrible restraints. Even worse, the hole-in-the-ground chambers with long drops that the henchmen would put her in every night. The feel of weightlessness had been so horribly real and painful, bring back so many horrible nightmares.
"Don't let them hurt me. Please, don't let them hurt me." The plead was whisper soft and atrociously pitiful that Wolverine didn't know how to answer her, didn't know how to ease her pain and fear.
He held her tight and carried her, even when Sean had lowered them to the ground. She was shaking something awful and look ever bit the frightened child that she was. Someone had to pay for doing this to his sunshine. Someone had to pay for taking the child's innocence. And that someone is going to be Mr. Sinister.
By Allura
Disclaimer: All the characters within this story is owned by Marvel. I take no credit but with the imaginative story line. This is story will hopefully lead to another so stay tuned.
Warning: Were this a movie, it would be rated at least PG-13. I will not be responsible for outraged parents.
Note: This is an alternative timeline so don't go jumping down my throat about stuff that's going on in the comic. It's well before Everett Thomas's death and that's all I'm going to say on the subject of timelines. Any new characters written by me would will noticeable by the complete lack of inventiveness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
His jeep came to a screeching halt at the front of the massive building that should have been ugly with all those bricks, but was kept neat and pretty with ivies and gleaming windows that reflect the afternoon sun. He was still not sure why he had agreed to come today. There really wasn't much he could teach a group of kids that has had little to no experience in the world. There was really no reason for him to have agreed to be here at all.
But he knew that was a lie even as he thought it. And just then, the real reason for him to be here came barreling down the stairs.
"Wolvie," Jubilee's bright sunny enthusiasm was hard to resist even for Logan's private constitution. That hadn't change much since that first time he laid eyes on her while she struggled to cut him down from the crucifix in the Australian outback.
There were few things and even fewer people in this world that could touch the heart of the man known as Wolverine. He could count on one hand how many people he trusted enough with his life to sleep in the same room with them. Jubilation Lee would be one of those that he counted. She was like the daughter that he had never had. So full of spirit and life, the complete opposite of his dark outlook.
"Hey kid," he came around the car just in time to catch her as she launched herself into his arms. She was the only person he knew of that trusted him enough to come to him so openly. Other would have feared that the savage within him would gut them without thought. "What have you been up to?"
"No much," she smiled brightly at him. "Taking it easy for a while."
"Good for you," he grabbed his duffel bag with one hand and swung the other arm around the young girl's shoulders. "Why aren't you in class?"
"It doesn't start for another hour."
"So you decided to be my personal welcoming committee?"
"Who else?" her eyes bright with happiness that instantly warmed his heart. He could always count on Jubilee to brighten his day, to accept him in every form and way.
"Where's Sean?" referring to the school's headmaster and his old comrade.
"He's in his office with some students that pulled a prank. They threw some kid into the pool fully clothed." She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Wasn't much but Sean feels that they need to stop this type of behavior."
Nodding without saying much, Logan allowed himself to be lead into the school and toward the guestrooms at the west wing where the boys were staying. Jubilee chattered away a mile a minute about everything and anything not caring much that he may not need nor want to hear all the gossip. But it made him feel good just to hear the sound of her voice, for her to include him in all the aspects of her life here away from him.
They were almost to the guestroom when two older boys came around the corner wearing workout clothes that reflect their special position in the school. They were both wearing the distinct uniform of Generation X, the latest X-Men spin-off team.
The gray face kid with the long arms and legs look like he had lost too much weigh in too little amount of time, extra skin seem to hang carelessly off his features. He wasn't especially tall, though taller than Logan, but he did have the look of a streetwise kid from South Central. The expression on his face was that of a cautious one, as if he's just met an alpha wolf that he wasn't going to mess with.
The other boy was a young African -American kid that had the charming All-American, Captain of the Football team look. He was tall with a stolid frame and enough muscles to give most people pause when looking at him. He was good looking kid with an easy smile that quickly melted away when Logan and Jubilee came into sight. He frowned slightly at the sight of Logan and even more so when he noticed the arm draped carelessly around Jubilee's shoulders.
"Hey guys," Jubilee called out with a smile, completely oblivious to the sudden hostility between the two boys and the man next to her. "You remember Wolverine, he's going to be our guest instructor in self-defense."
"Really?" Everett Thomas didn't like Wolverine; it was as simple as that. There was no particular reason as to why he didn't like the older man, he just simply didn't. He didn't like the way the man walked, as if there was nothing in this world he feared. He didn't like the way he talked, like some cowboy out of an old movie. And most of all, he didn't like the way the man manipulated Jubilee's time whenever he was around. "That should be interesting."
Jubilee smiled happily and pulled Wolverine toward the guest bedroom again closing the door behind them.
"What up with you, Chico?" Angelo Espinosa looked at his friend with great interest. "You were lying like a freshman. You jealous or something?"
"Shut up, Angelo." He didn't like dwelling on the subject much. "I just don't like the man."
"Why?" he looked back toward the closed door. "He seem like a regular Joe to me but you ain't going to catch me going anywhere near him for no good reason though. What you got against the hombre?"
"Nothing, it's just nothing." Everett shrugged and pointed toward the window. "There goes Trent again. I wonder when Jono is going to get tire of him and just blow his head off."
Angelo knew not to push an argument when someone changes the subject so fast. "Ney, Shock-o-Shock would never do something so ungentleman like." He smirked with some amusement. "He'll just go around looking green with jealousy for a few weeks before coming to his senses." He glanced at his friend again and wondered if he knew the advice was for him well. "Jono should just tell Paige how he feels and get it over with. It's obvious that he's got the hots of the blonde hayseed, why bother with all the pretending."
"Maybe he doesn't feel like telling her."
Angelo rolled his eyes and wondered if Everett was losing his mind slowly over a certain girl they knew as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Holy..." Angelo couldn't get his mouth close. He'd never seen anyone move so fast before, not even Banshee at his best.
Wolverine was currently running a simulation in the school's gym, also dubbed as the danger room. Testing out the equipment he had said; it was the Savage Land scenario, lots of big trees and bigger dinosaurs. The man moved among the animals as if he was one of them. The easy way that he ran with the large lizards was too startling to describe.
Jubilee smiled as she watched her Wolvie from the observation dome above the gym. She had a moment of hesitation this morning when she realized that his being here could go afoul; after all, he wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with. Yet with him here now, she couldn't remember one good reason why she had been afraid. It always made her feel better to have the hairy-ape around. Things have been tense and uncomfortable since she got back. She didn't feel quite like she belonged anymore.
"He's still the best there is," Sean commented as he stood behind his students. He didn't miss the looks of caution from the boys when they encountered Logan. "Should be interesting to see what he's going to teach you."
"I can't wait," Jubilee smiled at him with her open happiness that had been missing for a while. Unfortunately, Jubilee's obvious happiness with Logan's presence only served to darken Everett's spirit.
[Looks like you were right.] Emma Frost's thoughts glided smoothly into Sean's head as he continued to watch his old friend.
[About what?] He knew the rules as she did. She would only thought-speak when she needed to talk to him in private with the kids around.
[His effect on Jubilee.] Emma moved to look over the young girl's head and watch her old enemy cut down a T-Rex without much effort. [I haven't seen her this excited since she got her hands on my credit cards. And even that did not bring a smile to her face last week, she had shown no interest in going to the mall as of late. I thought for sure we've lost Jubilee.]
Sean looked over his shoulder at her. Emma Frost, the notoriously dangerous White Queen of the Hellfire Club, carried with her the haunted look of a woman that's lost more than she care to remember. She still somehow blamed herself for allowing Jubilee to be captured so many months ago, though there wasn't anything she could have done. The lost of her Hellions, her first group of students, haunts her to this day.
[It's nice hearing the lassie's laughter again. She's been so withdrawn lately that I've been worrying again.]
[As if her past behavior has been any different. Perhaps Wolverine could get her open up a little more as to what really happened to her.]
[Don't push it, Emma. He frowned at the worry lines that marred her forehead. Logan will not do anything to push Jubilee in any direction. You know how he feels about the lassie. He only agreed to come because she needed him to just be there for her should she need a shoulder to lean on. Lord knows you and I have not had any luck.]
Emma sighed and turned back to her students. She didn't like the fact that she has not been able to help her youngest student out of the dark place that the past year has put her in.
Jubilee leaned forward suddenly to get a better look at what's going on below. Unfortunately, she forgot that unlike the danger room back at the Xavier's, this one did not include a safety shield. Losing her balance, she screamed as she started to fell forty feet to the ground.
Everett, Angelo, Jono, Paige, Emma, and Sean all reached out to try to grab her, but only succeed in getting into each other's way.
Wolverine heard the scream just as he cut down a giant tiger-looking animal. He looked up to see the girl fall out of the dome and knew instantly whom it was.
Not caring that there were still a dozen animals watching and waiting to cut him down, he rushed toward the area just beneath the dome. Unfortunately, a large dinosaur stood between him and Jubilee's falling body. It was going to take a lot of effort on both their parts to get this just right. Running up the back to the big lizard, he yelled, "Jubilee, go limp."
Taking a flying leap off the head of a T-Rex's head, he caught Jubilee in his arms, tucked her into the protected sphere of his own body and prepared to roll as he fell toward the ground again.
Banshee caught Logan five feet from the ground and pulled hard upward so as not allow either one of his passengers to go splat.
"Could you have cut it any closer, Irish?" Logan kept his protected hold on Jubilee even as he reached up to grab hold of Sean.
"Sorry, had to get over the shock first."
Jubilee whimpered as her heart began to beat at a normal rate.
"You all right, Kiddo?" Logan saw how ashen the girl's face had gone. "I got you now."
Unfortunately, Jubilee's mind was not longer completely in the present. Her thoughts flashed back to the catacombs. The dark passageways and screams that won't stop even in the dead of night. The damp floor that she had slept on and those horrible restraints. Even worse, the hole-in-the-ground chambers with long drops that the henchmen would put her in every night. The feel of weightlessness had been so horribly real and painful, bring back so many horrible nightmares.
"Don't let them hurt me. Please, don't let them hurt me." The plead was whisper soft and atrociously pitiful that Wolverine didn't know how to answer her, didn't know how to ease her pain and fear.
He held her tight and carried her, even when Sean had lowered them to the ground. She was shaking something awful and look ever bit the frightened child that she was. Someone had to pay for doing this to his sunshine. Someone had to pay for taking the child's innocence. And that someone is going to be Mr. Sinister.