Capable of Being Human

by Pinkbishie

Even mutants are capable of being human

Title: Capable of Being Human
Author: PinkBishie
E-mail address: tuxedosex@tuxedomask.com
Rating: R
Summary: A human member of the X-Men discovers a past worth keeping a secret

Jupiter's POV, Part of the Jupiter series (it helps if you read the other ones)

movie/comic-verse

Disclaimer: Take every single disclaimer everyone has written for X-men fics and slap a big fat
"Ditto" on it. Although, Jupiter is a made up character and she's all mine.

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I'm convinced the cosmos either hates me, or considers me the butt of all jokes. This is my
second attempt at getting some answers from ZDnet, a corporation that has been collecting
mutant DNA from around the globe and conducting experiments on mutant subjects.

I crouch, hidden in shadows, just behind some supply crates outside of ZDnet's transport
garage. Dogs bark in the distance and I can't help the feeling of déjà vu that washes over me.
Only, Logan isn't around to save my ass this time. He probably doesn't even know where I
am. I feel only slightly guilty that I'm doing this personal agenda thing on my own. But that's
just it, personal.

I'd set up explosive devices around the entire compound and had all intentions to fire up the
inside as well but the tight security was making it impossible. They knew I was coming. I smile
to myself ruefully, they knew, but they didn't know how much heat I was packing.

I knew that this little mission I had set myself on was most likely a one-way ticket. The ZDnet
bastards set it up that way. Logan will understand that. Yet, as soon as the thought crosses
my mind I discard it with a groan. Logan would kill me if the ZDnet's Russian guards don't
first.

I shift onto my knees bringing out my portable computer and adjusting the dials, getting my
bearings and directions. I'm only a quarter of a mile away from my motorcycle. The only thing
standing between me and a sure escape are about 57 armed lunatics.

Haha, funny, cosmos.

I tuck my portable computer away in the breast pocket of my body suit and breathe deeply. I
pull out my pistol and wait until the voices and barking are at a minimal before I peer
around the crate. There are more dogs than I can possibly count and even more guards.
Despite my intense training by the same organization I'm trying to fight, I can't get past the
guards without at least taking a few bullets.

I frown as I sit back on my heels.

This sucks.

I hear a crunch of snow very nearby and every muscle in my body tenses at the sound. I pull
myself tightly against the crate and wait. Another crunch and then silence. I bite my lip,
refusing to move and take the safety off my gun.

"Jupiter?" A harsh whisper asks.

I blink, "Logan?"

A figure emerges around the corner of the crate and settles in front of me. I blink again. Yep,
mutton chops and all. Logan.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Oops, that wasn't really what I wanted to ask.

Logan gives me a look like I've lost my mind. I probably have, "You're really sweet, you know
that, darlin'?"

I hadn't told the X-men about my plans, least of all Logan, "How did you find me?"

Logan snorts as he takes a hold of my upper arm, "Long story. You wanna leave or do you
wanna freeze your ass off?"

I swallow a retort and follow closely behind him. I flinch as a million shots are fired at us.
Logan hooks an arm around my waist and practically flings me into the snow. I roll, expertly
and pivot on my hand into a back spring. I hear a sound similar to that of someone getting hit
with a pillow and risk a glance back. Logan had taken the brunt of the shots and had fallen to
his knees. His expression is grim and determined when he mouths, "Go."

Like hell.

I train the gun toward the guards and take out at least 4 of them as I race back to him. Something red,
hot and bright explodes in my peripheral vision. I get to Logan's shoulder just when I glance up and see
Cyclops' profile.

He brought the gang, how sweet.

I open my mouth to ask Logan a question but something red splatters on his face.

Oh, no.

It's my blood. His expression seems pained and horrified. I start to wonder why until I look
down. There are 2 dark red patch on the upper and lower part of my abdomen.

I've been shot...twice.

I fall to my knees slowly, disbelieving. Logan hoists me from the waist just as my limbs feel too
heavy to move. Strangely enough, it doesn't hurt. The few times I've been shot in my life
have always hurt like a bitch.

I see snow and stars.

"Jupiter? Jesus, Jupiter, say something."

I open and close my eyes slowly. There's a distinct amount of pressure on my wound and I
know Logan must be trying to stop the flow of blood. I try to look at him but my head doesn't seem to
want to turn in his direction.

Even the snow is starting to feel warm.

A rough hand brings my head up. Logan looks half-crazed and desperate. I've never seen him
like that. I was going to say exactly that when he starts talking.

"Talk to me, Jupiter. Oh, Christ."

I put my hand over his bloody one and I feel insanely compelled to sing the Band-Aid Brand
song. I have one hell of a boo-boo.

My lips feel chapped and my tongue unusually thick, "Logan, I'm sorry." I gag on something
wet, "I didn't tell you."

I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me.

Logan tries something that might have been a smile, but only it ends up looking like a cringe,
"Don't worry about it. We're here now." His head turns, "God damn it, Scott, just land the
fucking thing right here!"

Wow, I must be losing a lot of blood. I thought I just heard Logan called Scott by his real
name. I smile faintly, but I'm too tired to comment. Logan talks too much.

"No, no." I hear him saying, "Keep your eyes open, baby. For me."

I see stars, bright blue ones that turn black when I focus my eyes on them, "What?"

"Jupiter?"

That's me. I'm Jupiter. The one who started this whole mess in the first place. The one who
was trying to end it all tonight. I'm sure the cosmos finds this hilarious.

---------------------------------------------

......previously.........


Jupiter stood quietly in front of the open window with a thin, white blanket wrapped around
her naked form. It wasn't cold, but she shivered anyway. The remnants of her nightmare
stung her brain like a painful paper cut.

Hearing movement on the bed, Jupiter turned to look as Logan, completely naked, turned over
on his stomach. She sighed at the sight of him. He was capable of being an asshole and a half,
but she loved him. Pathetically head over heels, in love with him. The kind of crazy love she
would never admit to feeling.

For some reason, it made her think of Jean Grey. The seemingly self-assured, classy woman
who had suddenly come up with the revelation that she was in love with Logan.

Jupiter frowned at the memory. She'd never liked Jean but the situation had passed without so
much as hard feelings. It was an interesting development in the X-team as everyone watched
Jupiter's actions. Her intentions and loyalty were tested during every mission. It almost proved
impossible, after all, what kind of human believed she had an obligation to the mutant
community?

Logan grunted and lifted his head slightly, "Sleep?"

Jupiter moved toward the bed, sitting next to him, "I can't."

He pushed himself onto his back, settling a hand behind his head and snaking the other one
around her waist, bringing her to recline next to him.

"Why not?"

Jupiter hesitated. They'd been together for close to a year now and still her secrets were kept
tightly behind sealed lips. She found that strangely ironic. Although it was obviously difficult
for him, Logan to shared his past experiences and even the Weapon X project. She could relate.
She could definitely relate.

"I was just reminiscing."

Logan hummed, "About?"

Jupiter smiled faintly, "My hometown."

"Puerto Rico?"

"San Juan," She paused before continuing, "I was remembering the sound the tropical frogs
make at night. La coqui. They are small frogs that croak at night. My mother used to tell me
that they were little men and woman hidden between the leaves, singing to each other."

Logan watched her closely. She felt his eyes studying her and suddenly felt too vulnerable and
feminine. It made her feel weak and foolish. Jupiter smiled at him, "I got soft for a minute."

He shrugged slightly, bringing a hand up to tug lightly at her brown, wild hair, "Tell me about
you. Before I met you."

Jupiter swallowed. He often asked that and she often lied about it. Logan was sharp, had been
trained to catch lies but she had been trained to tell them. It was if they both hung in a sort of
dual denial.

"I'm tired."

Logan said nothing, only continued stroking her hair until they both fell into a dreamless sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jupiter was indignant, "Wait a minute, even with all the previous information I scrapped up
about ZDnet, we still can't nab these guys?"

"It's an international issue," Xavier explained, "ZDnet is sponsored by very important political
figures."

Ororo placed folded hands on the silver, table surface, "With the information you were able to
gather, we have come to several conclusions."

Scott continued, "We were able to link ZDnet with several mass disappearances across the
globe. Also, we're assuming ZDnet is responsible for mutant DNA extractions."

"Of course they're responsible." Jupiter sighed, sitting back, "Jesus."

Rogue shook her head, "Ah just don't understand. What are they up to?"

A silence settled over the room like a light fog. Everyone in various forms of concentration.

Jupiter shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was now or never. She leaned slightly forward,
gathering a breath before she spoke, "ZDnet uses equipment, similar to Cerebro, to locate
mutants that have exceptional qualities they think they might need." All eyes were focused
intently on her, "The kidnapped mutants are either trained to assassinate or turned into
subjects for experiments. Their trying to create some sort of biological weapon using mutant DNA."

Rogue whistled low through her teeth.

Kurt spoke thickly through his accent, "How do you know this is true?"

"Because I worked for them." Jupiter replied.

Beside her, Logan swore under his breath.

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Logan leaned easily on the giant oak tree that towered just behind the west wing of Xavier's
mansion.

"You wanna tell me what the fuck that was all about?"

Jupiter sighed, "Listen, I wanted to tell you."

Logan raised an eyebrow, his easy-going body language betrayed the rage his eyes reflected.

"I did."

Logan sucked at his cigar, "Jesus fucking Christ."

After an uncomfortable stretch of silence, Jupiter spoke, "Mariños."

He glared, "What?"

Jupiter folded her arms resignedly, "My last name. It's Mariños."

Logan snuffed out his cigar and waited silently for her to continue.

"At least, that's what the file showed." She cleared her throat and squinted up through the
afternoon light. "I was doing my own research before I ran into you guys. I discovered hundreds
of files on past experiments. Mine among them."

When he said nothing, she continued.

"Puerto Rico is a common wealth of the USA but they've already gone
ahead with mutant registration. My parents both possessed a sort of ability that absorbed
energy." Jupiter waved her hand in the air as if dismissing the details, "We were forced from
our homes and I was sent to Russia."

She crossed her arms lightly over her chest, getting frustrated that she was becoming more
emotional with each word. She decided to turn around and face the sunset instead of Logan's
penetrating gaze.

"Which doesn't make any fucking sense. I had nothing to offer them. I didn't have a mutant
bone in my body. They put me through a training program with the promises that I'd get to go
home if I just did one little thing after another." Jupiter sighed, "After a while, it was either
leave or die."

Kill or be killed.

Furiously, she blinked and wiped the tears away before turning back around. She picked a
spot on the grass to stare at, "It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that we solve this."

She looked up warily at Logan and regretted it. She hated and loved the empathetic look in his
eyes. He was supposed to be mad at her for fuck's sake but there he was looking at her with
an assuring kind of affection.

Jupiter took two steps toward him and he met her the rest of the way, enveloping her in a hug
that sucked the rest of the tears right out of her.

He said nothing and she appreciated that.

-------------------------------------------------------------


Scott nodded to his group members, "All right. Our main objective here is to obtain as much
information about captive mutants as possible. We need to know how they're contained and
how many are retrievable."

The X-Men had flown only 4 and a half hours before they arrived in the mountainous region of
Puerto Rico. The exact Registration Camp Jupiter's parents had been forced to live in years
ago.

Jupiter craned her neck around the batch of palm trees before them. ZDnet was just ahead.
She felt a sharp stab of resentment and suffocation but the feeling quickly passed and she
smiled ruefully.

Just like old times.

Logan touched her elbow lightly, turning her around.

"You can sit this one out, you know."

"Fuck off," Jupiter snapped, "Be a bigot later."

Logan smirked, "Looks like you're feeling better."

She snorted and they dispersed. It was obvious at first glance that the building was no longer
used for housing registered mutants. Instead, it was a calling center for Zdnet. A sort of
checkpoint for it's contacts.

"Jupiter, report location." Cyclops' instructed.

Jupiter pressed her earpiece with a middle finger, "Just jumped the fence, looks like they
aren't worried about the locals coming by for a look-see."

She could hear Logan's bitter laugh, "What locals? They probably shipped 'em out to ZDnet's
nearest mutant plant."

Rogue huffed, "Lovely sentiment, Wolverine."

"I try."

------------------------------------------------------------------


"I'm sorry."

Jupiter shrugged, "I'm not." She gazed blankly at the files before her. She shouldn't have been
surprised by the fact that her parents were dead. Floating somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
where most of the mutants were disposed of.

Logan shoved his hands in his pockets, frowning slightly, "We can do this, Jupe. You just have
to trust me on this."

Jupiter nodded numbly. She didn't feel like herself. Where was the cynical, sexy Jupiter who
always had a remark to crack. Always an argument to pick with Wolverine. A part of her
softer sympathetic part seemed to have been shoved somewhere in the dark. It was no
wonder. She had found an original copy of her registration with her family in the camp.

She had been registered as a mutant.

A forgery would have been almost impossible and highly unlikely. There was no purpose for it.

It was noiseless inside the X-Jet as they streaked across the sky and back to Westchester.

Jupiter shut her eyes, "It says I was able to absorb energy. What does that mean?" She
looked at Logan, a hurt lingering in her gaze, "What could that mean?"

She looked out the window angrily, determined to blow the top off of ZDnet sky-high.

Logan reached out a hand and she took it, holding it tightly to her chest. She'd just lost a part
of herself in the ocean and discovered someone else on the island of Puerto Rico.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

.....present.......


I can hear people talking and crunching of snow but I feel nothing. Nothing at all. Not even
Logan's hands holding me away from the cold.

This definitely sucks.

A strange, dull, aching throbs my lower abdomen, where my wound continues to bleed. I try
to ignore it but the feeling is persistent. I just want to go to sleep. That's all. Only, someone
keeps talking.

God damn it, who is that?

I feel like I'm flying and for a brief moment, I wondered why I couldn't have that kind of
power. Fly far, far away. Must be really glamorous and liberating.

I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand so germs won't stick on me.

"Jupiter?"

My eyes snap open and all the pretty stars fade away into blobs of color and life. I hear
snippets of an ongoing conversation.

"She's stable……don't understand…….it……healing her…….dormant mutant gene……trauma…"

I blink, slowly and deliberately. I'm an X-Man. I remember now. I have issues.

We could have a contest. Who's the most screwed up X-man?

I want to giggle but it only came out as a gurgle of sound.

"Jupiter? Jesus…awake?"

I say something that was meant to be, 'Shutup' but I'm almost positive it came out as just a
grunt.

Something warm and leathery folds itself in my hand. I can't see what it is, but it feels nice. It
must be Logan's hand.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Beast scratches his chin, studying me for a moment, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

I roll my eyes, "Of all the technology Xavier can afford…"

Logan chuckles behind me. I shoot him a look before grumbling my answer.

"Excellent," Beast smiles, "It seems like your recovering well."

"Seems like." I touch my stomach tenderly, feeling the small swell of tissue and whatever the
fuck was holding me together. I probably look pregnant.

Ororo breezes in, her expression brightening when she sees me.

Boy, now I'm popular.

"How are you feeling?"

"Spectacular." I say flatly.

She nods, "I have information about your enhancement."

"Oh yeah?" I raise an eyebrow, "If it doesn't include flying then I'm not a happy camper."

Beast stands beside Ororo, "It appears that you had, indeed, inherited your parents mutant
gene. However, as a result of a certain amount of hormones, the gene was dormant until severe
trauma triggered its development. Similar to that of a teenager realizing his or her powers
during emotional stress." Beast removes his glasses carefully, placing them in the breast-
pocket of his over-sized white coat, "The injury you sustained to your liver and kidneys
saved your life."

I sigh, "Go figure."

Ororo clasps her hands in front of her, "The energy the bullet produced is basically what
heals you. From what we can tell, your mutation is a combination of Rogue and Logan's. You
heal from the energy that causes the injury."

I shake my head, confused, "That doesn't make any sense…I've been injured before."

Beast nodded, "I understand. But I believe any previous injuries were not as serious as the
one you experienced two nights ago."

My jaw drops without me realizing it, "I've been out for two nights?"

Ororo nods gravely.

"As for your mutation," Beast continues, "I expect you should be fully healed without scarring in
approximately a week. See me often."

"What about ZDnet?"

Xavier rolls in at precisely that moment and I have to laugh. This entire mansion is based on
clichés and right-on-time-cues.

"ZDnet has been destroyed."

Logan grunts, "Nearly took out the Blackbird, Jupe. Nice fire power."

I hold back a smirk, "That was the idea."

Xavier is serious, "True, you were able to destroy ZDnet's main base of operation. However,
there are other international bases and other forms of liberating the captives." He pauses
looking sternly at me, "You are part of a team now, Jupiter. A team that would miss you terribly if
we had lost you. We can discuss more later." He places a steady hand on my arm, "I am very pleased
to see you awake and well."

Out of no where, tears brim my eyes and I swallow a sob. I was about to whisper an apology
when he merely nods at me and offers a small smile. For once, I'm glad he's a telepath.

As always, Logan saves the day, "You feeling up for a walk?"

I nod but know the warmth in my stomach disagrees. I ignore it and stand up.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Logan has me firmly by the waist and is leading me toward the X-Jet hangar.

"Where do you think you're taking me?" I ask, only half-annoyed.

Logan grins, "Shut up and enjoy a surprise."

I let him strap me into the seat and watch him fiddle with the controls. I sigh, settling back in
my seat feeling totally at ease and completely comfortable. He's taking me flying. I've always
wanted to fly.

I think I must've fallen asleep because I awoke to the same leathery, warm feeling in my
hand. His thumb taps the back of my hand until I open my eyes fully.

"Where are we?" I mumble and he only shushes me.

He tucks an arm under my waist again and hoist me to my feet. We step out of the jet and
onto familiar soil. My breath hitches and I look around.

Oh, wow.

The sounds of the night are brisk, light and airy. I hear what sounds like a thousand melodic
coqui's sing into the night.

Logan takes a step back, giving me room to observe the mountains before me.

His voice is deep and resonating, "I hear they don't sing if you take them out of Puerto Rico."

"Yeah," I reply, "I was told that too." I turn to face him. His hands are shoved deep in his
pockets and his expression is relaxed. I can tell he's glad he was the one that could take me
here.

"Hey." He says stepping to me, only inches away, "You shut me out."

I rest my forehead on his chest, "I had to."

Logan grumbles angrily, taking a hold of my shoulders in a frim grip, "You scared me."

"Who am I?" It was more of a rhetorical question but he answers me anyway.

He places a large, gentle hand on my wound and holds it there, "I know."

Logan, the man who seemed to have dropped from out of the sky with no past and
with a present just as shady, knew me. I couldn't feel more at home.

I only nod again. If I talk, I'll cry like a little baby. I was also blown away by his honesty,
yet, it seemed just like him. He was always blowing my mind.

I feel his palm on my cheek, on my neck, in my hair.

"Let's not have to do this again."

I nod again, feeling like a complete and total girl.

"And hey," He says raising my chin up so that I'm staring into his clouded but playful dark
brown eyes, "Welcome to the club."

I let out an unlady-like guffaw and kiss him.

Unbelievable. I thought about my life, my past and the mess that I thought was me. I closed
my eyes and smiled, even a mutant was capable of being human.

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