Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.
An Old Friend
Jubilee was laying upon the bed in her room at Rogue's house, or rather the room that Rogue said she could use. She had her arms crossed behind her head and they acted as a pillow against the headboard of the bed. She was lost in thought wondering about Wolverine. Jubilee wondered how he was and what he had been doing all these years. Most of all though she wondered if he even cared anymore about the X-Men and her.
She shook her head thinking that was foolish of course he would care. He was a member and would always be a member of the team. They were his family as he had said so before and Jubilee felt that if she asked him then he would indeed come and help her out. The problem was he looked different. His face when she had seen it on the TV seemed to hold a great sorrow and that was something that she had known he carried around. Though now it seemed that the sorrow had spilled over from where he had it hidden to appear on his face and to overwhelm him.
Jubilee wondered what could have done that to Logan but she knew that she would find out when she talked to him. He had always told her everything that she had asked or at least most of what she had asked. Jubilee smiled to herself then and thought that it would be good to see him again. He had been her rock when her life had been so turbulent. He had been her father and brother and other things besides.
Jubilee was looking forward to seeing him after all. Her smile grew wider as she thought of the expression that would cross his face when he saw her. She could almost see it and it made her excitement build for meeting him again. She was nearly trembling when she fell asleep for the night. She would find him in the morning after she talked to Kitty. Kitty would tell her a few things that she might need to know and Jubilee needed to check in. She was determined to check in every day when she was away so that they knew back at the mansion whether or not she was all right. Her sleep was peaceful if filled with dreams of times past with Wolverine at her side.
Jubilee wasn't the only one with dreams of Wolverine though. Down the hall slept Rogue and she too was dreaming of Logan. She was having the same reams as Jubilee of good times past with Logan at her side with the rest of the X-Men. Rogue was glad now that she had all their memories so that she knew that they would never be forgotten.
Even the new team of X-Men were excited because they had heard about the legend that was Logan and they had all hoped to meet him one day. But the prospect of him actually teaching them was something that they had never even dreamed possible. It was what accompanied them to sleep. Their dreams were of a man who would teach them to be fighters.
* * * * *
Logan was sitting in his room looking at nothing just reflecting like he always did on times past. Remembering one day in particular. It was a day that he wouldn't ever forget and he didn't want to forget. It was the day that he had failed to protect his friends and it had cost them their lives. It was the day he should have died with them but once again he had lived where better people than he had died.
Logan shook his head slowly and wished that he could give his life up for tall those who had died that day. They had deserved to live and Logan wasn't sure that he did. He had killed too many people in his days and had been many things and the least of which was a role model for young children. Cyclops though and the others were role models in their behavior and the way they had done things.
Logan had quit smoking his cigars feeling that they wouldn't kill him and he was tired of them. They got old after a while and so now as a habit he carved wood objects using nothing but his claws. Now instead of weapons of death they were also used to create things though Logan had to admit to himself he wasn't any good at carving.
He heard a scream from the next room then and he leapt to his feet with the speed that had caught many a opponent off guard. The scream came from the girl that he was the bodyguard for. A girl of nineteen years she was and quite lovely. She had a room next to Logan's so that he would always be close in case she needed him.
Logan guessed that after the show she had put on a little earlier in the day she had one of her other security guards bring a man from the audience to her, a fan of hers. She had a habit of that and all she ever did with that man was talk to him and get to know him. She wasn't like some stars who slept with as many people as they could.
Logan had never been one who liked what she did. True she didn't sleep with them but a even greater peril awaited her. One of the men could be hired to kill her and Logan wouldn't get there in time to stop the assassin. He knew that there were people like that. He just hoped that he could get to her in time this time for that is what he feared the problem was.
Logan hit her door hard with his shoulder and it snapped off it's hinges for in his time away from the X-Men he had mutated much like most of the others. He was stronger now than he had ever been. Logan entered the room and looked around with the practiced eye of a warrior who missed little.
The first thing he saw was that the girl, Arian, was being held down on the bed by a man of perhaps twenty-two years. He had a rage in his eyes that Logan recognized well for he had seen it on many a rapist as well as in the eyes of those who were murderers. It was the look of lust and rage mixed together. The guy had a knife in his hand and was ready to plunge it into Arian's chest when Logan launched himself across the intervening space and slammed into the man.
Logan knocked the man to the ground and he stood in front of Arian, who had scrambled back from them both to stand in the corner of the room. "You picked the wrong girl to try and kill bub," Logan growled.
"You die old man," the man yelled as he ran forward and slashed at Logan who didn't even try to move. The knife bit into Logan's flesh but Logan unsheathed his claws with the customary skint. Logan then drove his claws into the chest of the youth and said as the youth collapsed, "You should have stayed a good little boy and you would have lived longer."
With those words the man dropped to the ground and his eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling. Logan retracted his claws and shook his head slowly. He didn't quite know why he cared anymore what happened to others, and yet knowing that he cared about the girl who was now slowly coming towards him.
He turned to her and she threw herself into his arms. It was weird he thought that he was comforting a girl who was five inches taller than he was. She had to bend her knees to put her head on his shoulder and yet she did anyway and he held her. He slowly walked over to the bed and sat her down on it and sat next to her.
As he sat down she once again threw her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder and just cried. She cried for everything that happened and for the dead man though she hadn't known him. She cried because she was still scared of being so near to death. Through her sobs Logan held her and said softly, "You are safe now. No one will hurt you while I am here with you."
She looked up at him with tear stained eyes and he noticed how red and puffy her eyes were. Tears still leaked from her eyes as she asked weakly, "You promise?"
Logan nearly pulled away from at that question but he didn't. He looked at the poor girl and couldn't lie to her. All he could do was tell her the truth and yet he didn't want to hurt her. Logan took a deep breath and said sadly, "No I can't promise you that for it is a promise I have already broken once. I won't break it again by not being able to protect you. Though I can promise you this. I will do my best."
She nodded and put her head back down but instead of on his shoulder she snuggled in close to his chest where she felt more safe. He put his arms around and as he looked down he noticed a silver light on his chest and he knew that her power was manifested again.
She shifted to look up at him and her eyes were now glowing silver yet her deep blue irises still shone through and she asked, "Will I ever learn to control my power?"
Logan wished that he could teach her but he wasn't much of a teacher in things such as that. He could teach a person to fight for that is what he was best at. But teaching the use of ones power? No Logan had never been good at such things and had rarely even tried.
At that time a man dressed all in the black of Arian's security strode into the room. He looked as if he had a purpose but then he noticed the dead man laying in a pool of his own blood and he quickly looked away. Rookie thought Logan as he watched the man.
"What happened here," the man asked with his hand over his mouth. Logan knew the kid had never seen a dead person before at that moment.
Logan didn't feel like being nice to the kid at the moment. "You let a assassin into the room to get at Arian you fool," he growled at the man.
The man blanched at the tone of voice that Logan used. "Um . . . Um but I didn't know that he was a assassin," he said lamely.
"As I said you are a fool. You should have checked him for weapons which you didn't did you," Logan growled and the man shook his head.
"Go and get someone to clean this up and have the police get here so that you can deal with this," Logan said and waved at the door. The man hurried out the door not wanting to anger the man that they knew as Death anymore than he already had. The man knew that Logan was more dangerous than anyone that he had ever met.
Logan thought the man was truly a fool and he had said so. He had sent him away so as not to see Arian so shaken after her experience and give her time to compose herself. He knew that she would need it since the media would be like a swarm of bees that had found a target to their liking when they heard about this.
He was still holding Arian half an hour later after everything had been taken care of when a man walked into the room. He looked around and saw Logan and approached him slowly hoping that he wasn't still in the mood he had been in earlier.
* * * * *
Jubilee was at the entrance to the hotel and was talking to the men in black uniforms with the ear pieces. She knew that they were the girl's security but she needed to talk to Logan and these damn men were in her way! Why couldn't they just let her through.
She looked at the tall one on the left and said sweetly hoping acting innocent would work. "Would you please let me through I know someone in there and I need to speak to him."
"Who is that you know and we will go tell him," the tall man said to her like a robot. Jubilee figured it was a good thing he didn't have to think about what to say or he might strain himself severely.
"His name is Logan and he is the personal bodyguard of Arian the singer," Jubilee said hoping that they would let it go at that.
Of course though they couldn't and the other one said, "We know no one by that name miss." Damn what was with these guys. Didn't they know how to say more than a few words at a time? Did they go to the dunce school of higher learning or what? What was wrong with them that they couldn't just go tell Logan that she was here.
"Go tell the bodyguard of Arian that Jubilee is here will you. He will come down and see me then since you won't let me enter," Jubilee said changing tactics.
"We can't do that. And like we said we don't know anyone by the name of Logan," the tall one said looking down at Jubilee.
She hated stupid people who blindly followed orders. What kind of moron did that anyway? And what was with Logan anyway? She wondered if he had used a different name when he became the girl's bodyguard. She though about it when another man who looked more important came down to speak to the two men.
She looked at him and said over his speaking to the two men, "Sir I need to speak to a man in there and these two won't let me by."
He looked over at her and his eyes roved over her body like many a man's had done since she had finished growing. It was a gaze that she was used to but still disliked when men used it. It was a gaze that said one thing to her. She was a piece of meat to these men and they wanted her.
The man said then, "who is this man that you need to see."
"I need to talk to the man who is the personal bodyguard of the singer Arian," Jubilee explained slowly hoping if she did then maybe this fool would understand her better than the others.
His eyes widened at that and he looked at the two men sharply. "You didn't let her through when she needed to speak to Death. Are you truly fools or what?" He looked at her then and said in respect, "Come with me lady and I will take you to him. He is in a bad mood today though because of something that happened not too long ago." He explained what had happened to Jubilee on the way up the man figuring that if she knew Logan then it was alright to tell her.
Jubilee was surprised to find out that the name Logan was using was Death. In fact it was a bit disturbing since at one time he had been the horseman known as Death. She wondered why he had chosen it but figured there had to be a good reason. She was also surprised to find out that a attempt had been made on the girl's life. She wasn't surprised though to hear that Logan had foiled it. He had always been the one to protect everyone else not caring for his own well being. She wondered what he would think to see her as the man led her to a door that was ajar and he stepped into the room first motioning her to stay outside the door while he went in and told Logan that she was there.
Fool she thought. Logan already knows I am here but of course the man wouldn't know that because Logan wouldn't have let them know that he was a mutant. He would have hidden that fact and so she stayed where she was bid waiting to be waved inside.
* * * * *
Logan heard footsteps coming and wondered who it was. He had been comforting Arian still for she still clung to him for support. He was getting tired of her handing on him though but he didn't push her away like he wanted to. He was getting restless just sitting in one spot.
They two scents came to his nose and he recognized the first as that of the captain of Arian's security. The second though he hadn't smelled in more than ten years. It was the smell of a woman grown now and he had figured that he would never see her again. Though it seemed she was on her way here now.
From where she had come he didn't know and he wondered why she was here now. It was something he would have to ask her. The thing was though he was more surprised than anything to smell her. He had forgotten how sweet she smelled and other such things about her which all came rushing back the second that he picked up her scent.
Then the captain stepped into the room and said softly, "Sir there is a woman here who says that she knows you. Her name is Jubilee and she says that she has come a long way to see you."
"Send her in," Logan said as he stood up. Arian had let go when the captain had entered the room and she was now sitting on the bed not holding onto Logan anymore. In fact her eyes were dry and weren't red anymore. She was composed and was ready to see this visitor that had come to see Logan.
Jubilee stepped into the room and Logan was surprised at what he saw. She had truly grown into a stunning woman. She was beautiful beyond measure now with her dark eyes and long hair. She still wore her sunglasses Logan noted and her face was more mature now as if she had seen too many things and been forced to grow up early, which he knew to be true. She was no longer the little girl that he remembered but a woman and a woman with a purpose he guessed from the way she was standing.
The captain left the room and Jubilee rushed across the intervening space and threw her arms around Logan. She hugged him close like she couldn't actually believe he was there and he felt tears on his chest. "What is it darlin," Logan asked her while he held her close.
"Nothing and everything. Logan I didn't think that I would ever see you again and here you are and I am holding onto you. It is a great feeling," she said as the tears streamed down her face. Logan knew that her tears were of joy though he thought that they shouldn't be if she knew that he had failed all those years ago.
"I am here Jubilee. It is good to see you again after so long. I hope that you have been well," Logan said as she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes so as not to appear too weak in front of him.
"I have been well Logan I have been. That is not the reason I am here though. I wish that the only reason I was here was to see you but I have to ask you something. To ask you that question is the real reason that I am here," Jubilee said as she hung her head slightly.
"Ask away darlin you know I will answer you," Logan said.
"Well I need to have you alone to ask you. It wouldn't do to have Arian here this," Jubilee said as she glanced over at Arian.
Logan shrugged his shoulders and said, "If it is about us being mutants Jubilee don't worry she is one of us. Go ahead and ask."
Jubilee was taken aback by that statement. The girl was a mutant Logan had just said. That was quite a shocker. Yes it would explain why he was so protective of her Jubilee thought. Well the girl was a mutant and so maybe she could ask Logan with her in the room. After all Arian could always join the X-Men as well and learn to control her gift like the rest of the students.
"Well Logan I need to ask you if you will join with me and the rest of the X-Men. I would like to become a X-Man again and help me teach the new students to fight and other such things that they will need to know if they are to be the heroes that the world needs," Jubilee said a bit faster than she wanted to. She wondered if Logan could tell how nervous she was.
Logan mentally rocked back on his heels. He hadn't expected her to ask that. Hell he didn't even think that anyone remembered the X-Men as more than anything but a myth. That is what most of the X-Men were considered. They were used to scare young children to get them to behave. The nasty X-Men who would come and snatch you away to join their legion if you misbehaved.
Logan thought about what she asked. He wanted to join with her and yet he knew that if he did then the new team would be in more trouble than if he stayed away. He still had too many enemies and they would strike at the X-Men like they always had. No Logan knew that he couldn't join the team. He was a liability to the team and he wouldn't allow that to happen. He didn't want to be the one to watch them all die again and not be able to do anything.
Yet Logan wanted to say yes so bad. He looked at Jubilee and said, "Who else is in this team of yours."
"Well there is Kitty, Beast, Storm, Gambit, Rogue, me and I found out not too long ago that Psylocke was on her way as well. So those are the members from the original team Logan. I came here hoping to add you to the list which would complete the old team members. We need you Logan," Jubilee added hoping that it would work. She could see the reluctance in his eyes and she wondered why he would be so reluctant to join. She wondered what had happened that had changed him so much.
Arian looked from one to the other and back again. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This woman, Jubilee, was asking her bodyguard to join a team that was more of a myth than anything. The X-Men. She had heard about them as everyone had. Some even believed the stories that they were heroes and Arian was one. She had even wished that she could have been a member when she had first found out she was a mutant. The thing was though the X-Men were no more killed off during the cleansing wars.
Arian hadn't known that her bodyguard Logan was a former member of the fabled X-Men. In fact she hadn't even known he was a mutant until the time that she had seen him get shot protecting her from a man who had claimed she was a mutant. Logan had taken the bullet in the chest and the wound had healed almost instantly. That was when she had known he was a mutant and then she had told him that she too was a mutant.
"Um Miss Jubilee can I ask a question," Arian said from where she was sitting. She was tired of being hunted by people and she wanted to be something else than just a singer. She enjoyed being a singer but she wanted more. She would like to return to being a singer one day but she had other dreams and one of those was to help people, Since she had mutant powers she wondered if she could possible help people that way.
Jubilee looked over at Arian with a bit of surprise on her face for she had forgotten that Arian was there. "Ask away," Jubilee said.
"I was wondering if I could join with your X-Men. I have heard tales of them saving the world time and again and I would like to be a hero as well. I want to do something good with my powers," Arian said.
Jubilee looked over to Logan who was lost in his own thoughts and then she turned back to Arian. "It is up to you but remember. If you join with us you might have to give up this life of yours. Returning to it will be up to one day if you want to but for now you would have to give it up," Jubilee said serious.
"I know but I would still like to join. I am tired of this life. The media won't leave me alone. They are trying to destroy me as it is so if I leave then they can't and one day perhaps I can return to this," Arian said as she looked over to Logan.
Logan pulled himself from his thoughts and said to Arian, "It is your choice darlin. I won't say yes or no."
"Then I will join with you if you will have me Jubilee," Arian said with a glint of happiness in her eyes. A glint that Logan hadn't seen in more than a year.
"We would be glad to have you Arian," Jubilee said with a smile. Then she turned to Logan and said, "Well."
"I will tell you what Jubilee. I will return with you but I won't join until I speak to someone. I have to ask them something and then I will decide. Fair enough?" Logan asked.
"Fair enough," Jubilee said. "We can leave when you are ready."
"First I must announce that I am leaving the music business for a while. Then I am ready. That shouldn't take any longer than a day so I will see you then," Arian said as she headed for the door. Logan saw the purpose in the way she walked and shook his head.
"She doesn't know what she is getting into," Logan whispered just low enough that Jubilee couldn't hear.
"Where do you want us to meet you Jubilee," Logan asked figuring that he would stay with Arian until she was a X-Man and then he would leave. He would go on his own like he always had.
"Meet us at Rogue's house when you are ready," Jubilee said and she handed Logan a piece of paper with Rogue's address on it.
Jubilee then turned and left. She thought that her meeting with Logan would have been a little better but he had been distant. He wasn't the Logan that she remembered and that was something that made her sad beyond belief. She truly wondered what had happened to him that had made him that way.
* * * * *
"That's right runt you go back to your little X-Men and learn to get some passion back in the way you fight. Then you and I have some unfinished business," a man said who licked some blood off one of his claws.
The man stood right at seven feet tall and was extremely muscular. He had dark eyes and long blonde hair. He had claws on the tips of his fingers of adamantium along with the same skeleton. He smiled down at the dead man at his feet and blood dripped from his fangs just like his namesake. He was known as Sabretooth and he had unfinished business with the runt.
* * * * *
A full two days later Logan and Arian met up at Rogue's house. He knocked on the door and Rogue answered the door. When she saw who it was she threw her arms around him and gave him a hug that would have crushed his ribs had they not been adamantium. She gave him a kiss on the check then and sat him down.
Logan was surprised that she had kissed him because he had expected her to take his powers but she hadn't. Then he smiled and realized that her powers were now fully under her control and he was truly glad for her.
"Ah Logan sugah it is so nice to see ya," she said as she invited him and Arian in.
"It's nice to see you to darlin. I'm glad to see that you have your powers under control as well. I had always hoped that one day you would learn to control them," Logan said as he looked around.
"Ahm glad that I learned to control them to," she said as she led them to the living room of her mansion.
In the room Logan saw Jubilee and three kids. They weren't really kids but that is what he considered them. Hell he was older than them by at least sixty years. When they saw him they all gasped. He didn't know what for because he wasn't nothing special but gasp they did.
"It really is him," the man said or more likely breathed.
"Of course it is him," said the blonde in a tone of voice that said the man was a idiot.
"Here now listen up," Jubilee said in a voice that spoke volumes.
The three stopped talking and listened. Rogue just smiled at Logan as she sat down in a chair. "This here is indeed Logan or better known to you have read the archives as Wolverine. He is traveling with us but hasn't agreed to join with us so don't be a nuisance. Next to him is our newest member Arian who I am sure you all know," Jubilee said.
The boy was about to say something when Jubilee interrupted him. "Don't even think it Jake. Just be quiet for now OK? Wolverine Arian I would like you to meet Jenna, Jake, and Ashley. They are the new team," Jubilee said as she pointed to each one as she spoke their names.
"He is so small though," Jake whispered looking at Logan wide-eyed. He was staring at a legend just like he had done to Rogue earlier but he just couldn't help himself and form the look of neither could the other girls.
"That may be boy but I have killed more people than you could imagine," Logan growled and Jake flinched back from him and Logan smiled.
"Shall we get this show on the road," Rogue asked. They all nodded and they went to the back of Rogue's house and entered the Blackbird.
"It has been too long since I last sat in here," Rogue and Logan said in unison and then smiled at each other.
Logan strapped himself in and told Arian to do the same. Then as they took off like so many times before on missions Logan thought back. He wished the rest of them were there with him. He missed them more than he could ever say and it was his fault they were gone.
He looked off toward Westchester and in a whisper said, "Here I come Chuck. I am coming home." Then Logan thought that he had to ask Chuck, Red, Slim, and the rest what they thought. He wanted to ask them if they thought that he should join with this new team or if they thought that he shouldn't. Many would think him crazy for asking the dead but he was going to do it anyway.
Off they flew and in no time at all they landed in the hanger at the rebuilt Mansion. "It looks the same ah can't believe it," Rogue said as they landed and disembarked.
"Yeah I built it just like the old mansion. I felt that it needed to be that way in order to honor the old team," Jubilee said as she led them inside. Once inside though they found the rest of them waiting.
Kitty ran forward and embraced first Rogue and then Logan. She gave Logan a kiss as well for he had been her mentor and now he was back. She was glad to see him but in truth he seemed different to her. He seemed to be more distant than he used to be. "It is good to see the two of you again," Kitty said smiling broadly. As she hugged Logan she whispered, "especially you Logan."
"You too Kitty," Logan replied and she could tell that he meant it.
Next came Beast who hugged Rogue and shook Logan's hand. He knew that Logan wasn't one for hugging but he always took it in stride when the women had felt the need to hug him. Logan couldn't believe the difference in Hank. He was more bestial than he used to be but then again he had mutated again. The thing was Hank was starting to look old. "Ah my old friends it is indeed a pleasure to see you again," Hank said smiling though it looked more like a snarl.
"It is good to see you to sugah," Rogue said smiling at the big furry beast.
After him came Gambit who said, "Ah chere it is good to see you well."
"And you Remy," Rogue said as she hugged him close. She loved to feel him close to her and feel the way his chest moved while he breathed. He in turn loved to just hold her in his arms like he used to. He was glad to just be close to her once again.
"It is good you are fine Logan," Storm said as she stepped forward and embraced him then stepped back.
"And you Storm. I am glad that you are here to show these rookies a thing or two about being an X-Man," Logan said and she smiled at him.
Storm then hugged Rogue as Gambit looked Logan over and said, "Mon ami you look different. I think dat you have grown," Gambit said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Stuff it cajun," Logan said as he smiled at Gambit.
Everyone went into the living room and they talked of times past and of other things. They reacquainted themselves with each other and other such things. They talked long into the night and were enjoying each other's company. It was almost like old times and they were in truth extremely happy. All of them even Logan was happy though he wished that the rest of the team was there as well.
The students went to bed early or so it was thought. They all gathered in Jake's room and they talked about the X-Men and what they were like. They guys seemed to be in love with Rogue and the other women of the team while the girl's were giggling like school girls over Gambit. Yes it was a fun night for all involved and then they all went to bed.
Logan though didn't. He had little need to rest anymore thanks to his healing factor. No he only slept once every few days in order to rest his mind. He sat up and wondered about his old friends who were no longer with them. It was something that he did every night. Had the others known they would have told him to get on with his life. They had and he was happy for them. He though couldn't for they didn't know what it was like to watch them all die.
He decided then that he would indeed go to bed and in the morning he would head out to the graves and speak with them. He needed to do something for he was truly wondering what he should do. He only hoped that Xavier was still the teacher and would find some way to communicate to Logan even though he was dead.
* * * * *
A man dressed all in red and black sat outside the window to Jubilee's room and waited. Yes he was very good at waiting. It was his job for he was an assassin and he had been hired by a very rich man to kill Jubilee. Normally he wouldn't take the job but the man had offered too much and the greedy instincts of Deadpool had kicked in.
Yes he would finish her off in the morning. He owed that much to her. He would kill her to her face and not like the assassin that he was. She deserved that much even though he knew that he might be killing the only hope that the world had.
* * * * *
"Dig out our old mutant slaying weapons and get the slayer ready will you," said the leader of the mutant hunters. He was the oldest and he had killed many a mutant.
The man ran off down the hall and went to gather all the old equipment. It would be needed because there was a mutant menace again. The leader was Jubilee who he hoped Deadpool would take out shortly. After that the rest of the X-Men would be easy pickings or so he hoped.
He knew all about them because he had a telepath as a slave. He forced her to do what he wanted or she died it was that simple. He did let her wear the cloths she wanted and he did give her a little freedom now and again but he did hate her. If it wasn't that she was so helpful he would have had her killed long ago.