TITLE- Time For Change 2
AUTHOR- candy aka candylynn
E-MAIL ME- darksydelady@aol.com
TYPE- Drama
RATING- pg13
DISCLAIMER-I don't own anyone in the story.
NOTES- Trish Tilby pays the X-Men a visit. Please note this series will not be action packed. I am writing this in an attempt to make my favorite characters more realistic. If you want the rest let me know.
Xavier's Institute
February 19
The Living Room
Logan eyed Trish and Hank from the doorway as they sat talking. He had caught most of the conversation and still could not believe what was hearing.
"Good mornin' Trish," Logan grunted while biting down on his stogie.
Trish looked away from Hanks startled eyes to acknowledge Logan's greeting, "Morning Wolverine, I guess you heard some of what I was telling Hank here?"
"Some not all thou'. What happened in Mexico wit' Kitty and Jubes?" Logan had been starving for any lead he could get on the whereabouts of 'his Girls'. Now, after finding nothing for almost two months, here was Trish telling Hank not only had she seen the Girls but had talked to them too.
Just as Trish was about to recount all that had happened, the others began trickling in, the news of Trish's arrival had spread like wildfire through the mansion. As the last of the residents arrived, Trish began to tell the eagerly anticipating X-Men what she knew about their wayward members.
"Well, as you know last week there was a God awful earthquake in Mexico. Well I was sent to there to cover it...."
****************************
Two Weeks ago
Mexico City, Mexico
Plaza De La Rosa Hospital
"As you can see behind me the entire hospital, all twenty stories, came crashing down in a matter of minutes, as a killer 7.9 earthquake hit Mexico City at 4 am this morning eastern standard time." With all the stench of broken sewer lines and the gagging clouds of dust from all the fallen structures that polluted the air around her; Trish could barely deliver her opening statement.
"And cut," her cameraman nodded and told her she was clear. She began coughing hysterically, having held off the urge to do so for long enough. She turned to face the building she'd just used as a back drop for her opening remarks. Dramatic was not the word. The once gleeming structure was little more than a crushing vault of death now.
She could only imagine the hundreds of people trapped in the rumble, painfully awaiting rescue or death. She leaned against the rental car and tried to force herself not to cry, but the soon the image of the neonatal unit came to mind. All those innocent babies, now being crushed and...
It was a reporter's job to report the news, impartially, but as emotion swept over her, Trish wondered if she'd be able to do that. There was a loud cheer from the busy ant-like rescue workers as a small boy was brought out of the rubble and stuffed into an ambulance. Trish had to smile, any hope in this nightmarish carnage was good.
"Good Morning Trish," a soft and eerily recognizable voice greeted her. She turned to face the feminine voice; to her surprise she saw Jubilation Lee dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Unusual, because she had never seen the girl out of 'uniform' before. There was a thick rope tied around her waist. Trish smiled politely, but her reporter's curiosity got the better of her. She followed the tail of the rope that seemed to simply hang in midair. The next section was tied around the waist of Kathryn Pryde, who was a few feet away, then another length of rope left her and went onto Remy LeBeau and finally four others she didn't recognize. A tall young man and three woman.
In the distance, sitting in the lotus position on a pile of rubble, was a bolding Aborigine quietly surveying the carnage. Jubilee smiled at her, it was like no smile Trish had ever seen. Like the smile you would imagine an older person has when they give sound advice to younger one and they actually listen. But Jubilee was too young for that smile. They all were, but they wore it.
The seven bounded mutants moved passed Trish and began to walk towards the building. Then they walked...through the building. Just simply phased right into the rubble. Many of the rescue workers began fleeing, yelling in Spanish "Ghosts, Ghosts!" Trish could only stand there in awe. Then slowly, one by one, they started bringing people out.
The small Aboriginal man left his perch and approached Trish. Without saying a word, he pointed to the camera and then to Jubilee as she emerged from the building holding twin newborns, a little hurt, but alive. Trish's eyes bounced between the camera and the seen, then she took action. Recovering the camera and a head set, she rushed the barcades set up by the police and began reporting.
"Hold on Kurt, Trish Tilby has news from the scene...Trish."
"Thank you Steve, a new development has just happened here, nothing short of a miracle. Several young MUTANTS have just arrived and entered the building. They simple walked through the rubble and are now bringing out survivors at an alarming rate. Far faster than the rescue workers ever could hope to." Trish turned the camera towards the scene and caught sight of Gambit and Kitty coming out with four older woman, one slung over his shoulder another tucked under his arm. The last two where clinging to Kitty's arms for dear life. They all seemed transparent, until Kitty released the woman. The older ladies became solid as anything in this world.
The oldest of them all dropped to her knees and began praying for thanks for the angels that God on high sent to her. Kitty looked over at Trish and gave her a polite smile, then returned inside. It would take another two hours to clear the building. In the end the young rescuers finally brought out the dead, having passed over them initially in order to save those who were still alive.
Jubilee later emerged with a teenage boy, after interviewing a doctor on the scene and the young man himself, it was discovered that his leg was pinned under rocks. If not for Jubilee's sudden intangiblity, when the rescue workers had gotten to him he would have lost his leg as they would needed to remove it to free him.
Trish covered the entire event and the world watched, for the first time on TV, real mutants...not mutates like most of the Avengers were, but real mutants do something other than fight each other or threaten to take over the world. Even the X-Men watched in awe.
By night fall, the building was clear. As quickly as they arrived the savior mutants vanished into the night. There were other hospitals, other buildings, they were needed elsewhere.
**************************
The Present (February 19)
Xavier's Institute
"It was just like I reported, she did speak to me when they arrived but that was it. No good-bye, no explanation. Even the little guy vanished after I got the camera." Trish looked around at the assembled X-Men, noting that Logan seemed the most distraught.
"But how," Bobby finally broke the 'ice' as it were with his question, "Kitty is intangible, but Jubilee and Gambit aren't?"
"Everything Kitty touches becomes intangible," Peter returned, "with the rope tied around their waist Kitty simply extended her touch. Making them all intangible... the other mutants helping her, the patients and workers inside the hospital."
Charles nodded his understanding for what Peter was explaining to the others. "Simple logic." He added. "Thank you Trish for coming out here and filling us in on what you know. We were worried about Kitty and Jubilee after they disappeared with Gambit and Nate Grey at Christmas. At least we know they are in good health."
"At least..." Logan barked then disappeared out of the livingroom mumbling something about brainwashings and men wanting to be God. Storm gracefully got to her feet. She walked to Trish and hugged her while thanking her for the information. Then went after Logan....
**********************
Logan had never really come to the roof before, he wasn't a heights man. He normally did his sulking in the woods around the mansion, but Jubilee had always come up here to do her thinking or just to look at the stars. He could feel her here.
Before Kitty disappeared, on the night they returned from the whole Apocalypse nightmare; Jubilee spent the night here waiting for Emma or Sean to come and get her. She'd come up here with her headphones and some of Bobby's CDs for a little peace and quiet. Jean was hysterical about losing Scott and the house was just in a general uproar.
Kitty had come up here to deal with her own feelings about losing Scott. When Jubilee noticed her, she offered to leave, but Kitty asked her to stay. Both girls ended up here for the better part of the night. Talking, just talking, about nothing really. Well, not nothing, normal teenage girl stuff. Hair, clothes, boys, a lot about boys or men as they repeated called the boys they were referring too. Logan had heard them talking from his room once the house calmed down. He wasn't ease dropping just his ears can pick up a cricket in Berlin if it was quiet enough around him.
"Logan?" Storm tentative stepped out onto the roof calling to him.
"Yeah 'Ro?" He responded. She turned her head in the direction of the sound and gracefully floated over to him.
"Old friend, why are you up here? I know you have a resistance to cold, but the bitterness of this evening most be taxing even you?" She sat down next to him and wrapped her warm arms around him. The cold that swirled around him subsided as she created a small warm pocket.
"Storm, I loved'em ya kno' an' like everything else I've loved they gone now. Not dead just gone." Storm could feel him quake as he fought his tears. She rested her cheek on his gruff shoulder.
"You have lost nothing old Friend, they are following their own road ... much like someone else I know. They will love you until the end of time. But they must do this Logan, it is their time, their lives. As hard as this is for me to say or admit, we must allow them to do this. Kitten was like a daughter to me, Gambit and Jubilation are both treasured friends, but they must be allowed to fly Logan regardless of what we think."
"Ororo, I did wrong by Jubilee, you know that and I do too. Kitty was so hurt and scared when she came to us. We sheltered her, loved her out of her fears and doubts. She became strong for it. But with Jubes, I saw her pain and ignored it. Told myself that she was strong and that she could handle anything. But I missed somethin' in that 'Ro. See I am strong too, but ... life still rips me asunder, how in the flamin' hell could I expect a kid like her to deal with all the crap she's endured, alone. I shoulda pushed, I shoulda made her come back here with me at least for a little while. She would opened up to me, if I hadda jus..."
"Logan enough, there is enough blame for why our friends are in the emotional condition they are or were in as it is. Nate Grey found away to reach them we could not. So be it. Just be happy that he did before the damage done to them became irreversible."
Logan grunted, still hurt, still ashamed, but he understood her words and appreciated them. Logan looked to the sky and surveyed the North Star. It twinkled and danced like Jubilee's eyes. The reminder was too much for him to bare. A single lonely tear streaked down his battered yet handsome face.
***************************
At The Same Time
A rooftop in Baltimore, Maryland
Jubilee sat on the roof of her West Baltimore home gazing at the stars above, namely the North Star. She smiled as she remembered how on one hunting trip Logan had told her about how the slaves from the South used it to navigate to the North and freedom. Then he showed her how they did it. Things were different now, but as much as she missed him, she knew her place was here with Kitty and Gambit. A normal life, kinda anyway. She helped those who needed help, mutant or otherwise.
She returned to studying her GED textbook. She had to giggle had how easy the test was going to be. With all her record tied up at the Academy, the only way for her graduate from high school was to take the test.
The odd thing was, during her time out of public school, Jubilee had forgotten that she was smart by public school standards. She was once a straight A student. She thumbed through the book, there was no reference to Astrophysics or molecular instablity, just reading comp, algebra and other trival issues. The test would be a breeze. If she scored high enough she could even go to Empire State. And if the textbook was any indication of the test itself, she would score high enough.
As she closed her book, she could feel the calming presence of Nate Grey nearing. He soon appeared before her. He was quiet and calm as always. "How goes the studying friend?" He asked.
"Fine, I'll ace it. Any luck?" She returned.
"No, I don't understand this. I can find a single celled organism at the bottom of the ocean, but I can't find my son and Threnody ... if they even exist."
"Keep trying, even if your not sure. At least you can say you tried. Trust me, if they are there you will find them, you just have to keep looking." With that Jubilee got to her feet and began climbing down. Nate smiled at her, she was one of the most independent people he knew. He could have easily brought her down, but she didn't even ask. So without asking her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and floated to her window. She smiled and crawled in. "You got a place for the night?" She asked.
"Yes, here actually, Kitty and Gambit invited me, that is if it is okay with you?" He asked with a smile.
"Nope, sorry, you can't stay ... unless..." Jubilee tapped her chin trying to come up with something good. Nate already knew he was welcomed and that she was just kidding, but he also knew that there was something she wanted.
Floating just outside her window, Nate opened his hand and an image began to materialize. In his hand she could see Logan wrapped in Storm's arms, looking at the stars. She could see his pain etched into his rugged face. She reached out and touched the image, tracing his face. "I love you Wolvie." she whispered on the wind.
Nate closed his hand and entered her room. She tossed the book on the bed and they went downstairs to see what Gambit had cooked for dinner. But as the wind shifted to the north, a whisper reached a broken man in on the roof of a mansion hundreds of miles away from where it started. "I love you Wolvie." Like audible quicksilver her declaration rang only in his ears.
An odd smile grew on his stern face and he whispered so low not even Storm who was sitting so close to him could hear it. "I love you too, Darlin'."
AUTHOR- candy aka candylynn
E-MAIL ME- darksydelady@aol.com
TYPE- Drama
RATING- pg13
DISCLAIMER-I don't own anyone in the story.
NOTES- Trish Tilby pays the X-Men a visit. Please note this series will not be action packed. I am writing this in an attempt to make my favorite characters more realistic. If you want the rest let me know.
Xavier's Institute
February 19
The Living Room
Logan eyed Trish and Hank from the doorway as they sat talking. He had caught most of the conversation and still could not believe what was hearing.
"Good mornin' Trish," Logan grunted while biting down on his stogie.
Trish looked away from Hanks startled eyes to acknowledge Logan's greeting, "Morning Wolverine, I guess you heard some of what I was telling Hank here?"
"Some not all thou'. What happened in Mexico wit' Kitty and Jubes?" Logan had been starving for any lead he could get on the whereabouts of 'his Girls'. Now, after finding nothing for almost two months, here was Trish telling Hank not only had she seen the Girls but had talked to them too.
Just as Trish was about to recount all that had happened, the others began trickling in, the news of Trish's arrival had spread like wildfire through the mansion. As the last of the residents arrived, Trish began to tell the eagerly anticipating X-Men what she knew about their wayward members.
"Well, as you know last week there was a God awful earthquake in Mexico. Well I was sent to there to cover it...."
****************************
Two Weeks ago
Mexico City, Mexico
Plaza De La Rosa Hospital
"As you can see behind me the entire hospital, all twenty stories, came crashing down in a matter of minutes, as a killer 7.9 earthquake hit Mexico City at 4 am this morning eastern standard time." With all the stench of broken sewer lines and the gagging clouds of dust from all the fallen structures that polluted the air around her; Trish could barely deliver her opening statement.
"And cut," her cameraman nodded and told her she was clear. She began coughing hysterically, having held off the urge to do so for long enough. She turned to face the building she'd just used as a back drop for her opening remarks. Dramatic was not the word. The once gleeming structure was little more than a crushing vault of death now.
She could only imagine the hundreds of people trapped in the rumble, painfully awaiting rescue or death. She leaned against the rental car and tried to force herself not to cry, but the soon the image of the neonatal unit came to mind. All those innocent babies, now being crushed and...
It was a reporter's job to report the news, impartially, but as emotion swept over her, Trish wondered if she'd be able to do that. There was a loud cheer from the busy ant-like rescue workers as a small boy was brought out of the rubble and stuffed into an ambulance. Trish had to smile, any hope in this nightmarish carnage was good.
"Good Morning Trish," a soft and eerily recognizable voice greeted her. She turned to face the feminine voice; to her surprise she saw Jubilation Lee dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Unusual, because she had never seen the girl out of 'uniform' before. There was a thick rope tied around her waist. Trish smiled politely, but her reporter's curiosity got the better of her. She followed the tail of the rope that seemed to simply hang in midair. The next section was tied around the waist of Kathryn Pryde, who was a few feet away, then another length of rope left her and went onto Remy LeBeau and finally four others she didn't recognize. A tall young man and three woman.
In the distance, sitting in the lotus position on a pile of rubble, was a bolding Aborigine quietly surveying the carnage. Jubilee smiled at her, it was like no smile Trish had ever seen. Like the smile you would imagine an older person has when they give sound advice to younger one and they actually listen. But Jubilee was too young for that smile. They all were, but they wore it.
The seven bounded mutants moved passed Trish and began to walk towards the building. Then they walked...through the building. Just simply phased right into the rubble. Many of the rescue workers began fleeing, yelling in Spanish "Ghosts, Ghosts!" Trish could only stand there in awe. Then slowly, one by one, they started bringing people out.
The small Aboriginal man left his perch and approached Trish. Without saying a word, he pointed to the camera and then to Jubilee as she emerged from the building holding twin newborns, a little hurt, but alive. Trish's eyes bounced between the camera and the seen, then she took action. Recovering the camera and a head set, she rushed the barcades set up by the police and began reporting.
"Hold on Kurt, Trish Tilby has news from the scene...Trish."
"Thank you Steve, a new development has just happened here, nothing short of a miracle. Several young MUTANTS have just arrived and entered the building. They simple walked through the rubble and are now bringing out survivors at an alarming rate. Far faster than the rescue workers ever could hope to." Trish turned the camera towards the scene and caught sight of Gambit and Kitty coming out with four older woman, one slung over his shoulder another tucked under his arm. The last two where clinging to Kitty's arms for dear life. They all seemed transparent, until Kitty released the woman. The older ladies became solid as anything in this world.
The oldest of them all dropped to her knees and began praying for thanks for the angels that God on high sent to her. Kitty looked over at Trish and gave her a polite smile, then returned inside. It would take another two hours to clear the building. In the end the young rescuers finally brought out the dead, having passed over them initially in order to save those who were still alive.
Jubilee later emerged with a teenage boy, after interviewing a doctor on the scene and the young man himself, it was discovered that his leg was pinned under rocks. If not for Jubilee's sudden intangiblity, when the rescue workers had gotten to him he would have lost his leg as they would needed to remove it to free him.
Trish covered the entire event and the world watched, for the first time on TV, real mutants...not mutates like most of the Avengers were, but real mutants do something other than fight each other or threaten to take over the world. Even the X-Men watched in awe.
By night fall, the building was clear. As quickly as they arrived the savior mutants vanished into the night. There were other hospitals, other buildings, they were needed elsewhere.
**************************
The Present (February 19)
Xavier's Institute
"It was just like I reported, she did speak to me when they arrived but that was it. No good-bye, no explanation. Even the little guy vanished after I got the camera." Trish looked around at the assembled X-Men, noting that Logan seemed the most distraught.
"But how," Bobby finally broke the 'ice' as it were with his question, "Kitty is intangible, but Jubilee and Gambit aren't?"
"Everything Kitty touches becomes intangible," Peter returned, "with the rope tied around their waist Kitty simply extended her touch. Making them all intangible... the other mutants helping her, the patients and workers inside the hospital."
Charles nodded his understanding for what Peter was explaining to the others. "Simple logic." He added. "Thank you Trish for coming out here and filling us in on what you know. We were worried about Kitty and Jubilee after they disappeared with Gambit and Nate Grey at Christmas. At least we know they are in good health."
"At least..." Logan barked then disappeared out of the livingroom mumbling something about brainwashings and men wanting to be God. Storm gracefully got to her feet. She walked to Trish and hugged her while thanking her for the information. Then went after Logan....
**********************
Logan had never really come to the roof before, he wasn't a heights man. He normally did his sulking in the woods around the mansion, but Jubilee had always come up here to do her thinking or just to look at the stars. He could feel her here.
Before Kitty disappeared, on the night they returned from the whole Apocalypse nightmare; Jubilee spent the night here waiting for Emma or Sean to come and get her. She'd come up here with her headphones and some of Bobby's CDs for a little peace and quiet. Jean was hysterical about losing Scott and the house was just in a general uproar.
Kitty had come up here to deal with her own feelings about losing Scott. When Jubilee noticed her, she offered to leave, but Kitty asked her to stay. Both girls ended up here for the better part of the night. Talking, just talking, about nothing really. Well, not nothing, normal teenage girl stuff. Hair, clothes, boys, a lot about boys or men as they repeated called the boys they were referring too. Logan had heard them talking from his room once the house calmed down. He wasn't ease dropping just his ears can pick up a cricket in Berlin if it was quiet enough around him.
"Logan?" Storm tentative stepped out onto the roof calling to him.
"Yeah 'Ro?" He responded. She turned her head in the direction of the sound and gracefully floated over to him.
"Old friend, why are you up here? I know you have a resistance to cold, but the bitterness of this evening most be taxing even you?" She sat down next to him and wrapped her warm arms around him. The cold that swirled around him subsided as she created a small warm pocket.
"Storm, I loved'em ya kno' an' like everything else I've loved they gone now. Not dead just gone." Storm could feel him quake as he fought his tears. She rested her cheek on his gruff shoulder.
"You have lost nothing old Friend, they are following their own road ... much like someone else I know. They will love you until the end of time. But they must do this Logan, it is their time, their lives. As hard as this is for me to say or admit, we must allow them to do this. Kitten was like a daughter to me, Gambit and Jubilation are both treasured friends, but they must be allowed to fly Logan regardless of what we think."
"Ororo, I did wrong by Jubilee, you know that and I do too. Kitty was so hurt and scared when she came to us. We sheltered her, loved her out of her fears and doubts. She became strong for it. But with Jubes, I saw her pain and ignored it. Told myself that she was strong and that she could handle anything. But I missed somethin' in that 'Ro. See I am strong too, but ... life still rips me asunder, how in the flamin' hell could I expect a kid like her to deal with all the crap she's endured, alone. I shoulda pushed, I shoulda made her come back here with me at least for a little while. She would opened up to me, if I hadda jus..."
"Logan enough, there is enough blame for why our friends are in the emotional condition they are or were in as it is. Nate Grey found away to reach them we could not. So be it. Just be happy that he did before the damage done to them became irreversible."
Logan grunted, still hurt, still ashamed, but he understood her words and appreciated them. Logan looked to the sky and surveyed the North Star. It twinkled and danced like Jubilee's eyes. The reminder was too much for him to bare. A single lonely tear streaked down his battered yet handsome face.
***************************
At The Same Time
A rooftop in Baltimore, Maryland
Jubilee sat on the roof of her West Baltimore home gazing at the stars above, namely the North Star. She smiled as she remembered how on one hunting trip Logan had told her about how the slaves from the South used it to navigate to the North and freedom. Then he showed her how they did it. Things were different now, but as much as she missed him, she knew her place was here with Kitty and Gambit. A normal life, kinda anyway. She helped those who needed help, mutant or otherwise.
She returned to studying her GED textbook. She had to giggle had how easy the test was going to be. With all her record tied up at the Academy, the only way for her graduate from high school was to take the test.
The odd thing was, during her time out of public school, Jubilee had forgotten that she was smart by public school standards. She was once a straight A student. She thumbed through the book, there was no reference to Astrophysics or molecular instablity, just reading comp, algebra and other trival issues. The test would be a breeze. If she scored high enough she could even go to Empire State. And if the textbook was any indication of the test itself, she would score high enough.
As she closed her book, she could feel the calming presence of Nate Grey nearing. He soon appeared before her. He was quiet and calm as always. "How goes the studying friend?" He asked.
"Fine, I'll ace it. Any luck?" She returned.
"No, I don't understand this. I can find a single celled organism at the bottom of the ocean, but I can't find my son and Threnody ... if they even exist."
"Keep trying, even if your not sure. At least you can say you tried. Trust me, if they are there you will find them, you just have to keep looking." With that Jubilee got to her feet and began climbing down. Nate smiled at her, she was one of the most independent people he knew. He could have easily brought her down, but she didn't even ask. So without asking her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and floated to her window. She smiled and crawled in. "You got a place for the night?" She asked.
"Yes, here actually, Kitty and Gambit invited me, that is if it is okay with you?" He asked with a smile.
"Nope, sorry, you can't stay ... unless..." Jubilee tapped her chin trying to come up with something good. Nate already knew he was welcomed and that she was just kidding, but he also knew that there was something she wanted.
Floating just outside her window, Nate opened his hand and an image began to materialize. In his hand she could see Logan wrapped in Storm's arms, looking at the stars. She could see his pain etched into his rugged face. She reached out and touched the image, tracing his face. "I love you Wolvie." she whispered on the wind.
Nate closed his hand and entered her room. She tossed the book on the bed and they went downstairs to see what Gambit had cooked for dinner. But as the wind shifted to the north, a whisper reached a broken man in on the roof of a mansion hundreds of miles away from where it started. "I love you Wolvie." Like audible quicksilver her declaration rang only in his ears.
An odd smile grew on his stern face and he whispered so low not even Storm who was sitting so close to him could hear it. "I love you too, Darlin'."