Disclaimer: They ain't mine. Ya'll hear?

A/N: This is from Jubilee's POV and it starts just after Everett's death, at the start of Monet and Jubilee's relationship. Thanks to Ray who not only helped with plot bunnies but offered bribery as well. :)

Warning: PG-13, Slash (relationship between two female characters)

text italics are Jubilee's thoughts.
*represents telepathic communications*

Chapter 2
Aftermath

I always thought that Bastion had hurt more than anyone else on this earth. I was wrong. When I was found, by accident, and came back to realize that no-one had missed me, it was like losing my family all over again. But I had to be the good girl, the strong girl, because if I didn't who would?

Night has never been my favorite time of day. On the streets, that's when you would hide in some dank hole hoping to god that no-one heard you breathing. I used to hear other girls being found, their cries as the gangs on the streets made sure we knew who was in charge. Bastion never touched me in the light of day, I think it exposed too much of him. It's easier to do things in the darkness, pretending no one watches as you perform acts of inhumanity that would make angels weep.

So it's no wonder that I dreaded going to sleep that first night back. I snuck some of Emma's sleeping pills in the hopes I would be so far under that I would be past dreams. It turned out that I was so far under that I couldn't wake up. The memory of it still brings a surge of panic in my throat, hot and sour like bile rising up. His hands were hot and wet, slick with sweat from his excitement and I was screaming and screaming. My voice was nothing but a rasp when he eventually ravaged me, putting such filth into me that my soul was tarnished, blackened to the point where I cringed at my own reflection.

Then, like a wisp of fresh air it was gone. Pain that had burned in my dreams was gently pushed away and all that was left was a sweet, and singular peace. And the one voice I did hear in the depths of that night was utterly beautiful and soothed the demons that swarmed and screamed in my ear.

Sleep in peace it said, and for the first time weeks I was able to dream of nothing but happier days. Each night I was afraid that the monsters would return to haunt me and they never did. About two weeks after I had returned, I was drifting along the edges of sleep, when I heard a footstep in my doorway. Visitors in the dark have never come bearing good tidings, so when I saw Monet standing in the shadows staring at me the familiar panic began to choke.

It was her voice that whispered in my mind, it was her voice that washed over me like a siren's song soothing away my hurts. Her mind touched mine so softly, it was like a butterfly brushing against my skin, sweet and exquisitely intense. I fell asleep with her touch in my dreams.

I'll be honest I had never liked her. She was so emotionless and superior, that it made my teeth ache. And yet, I would have never expected her to take away my pain like that. It seems as though my shields were not as strong as I thought and each night she would come in and ease me into sleep. I began to watch her more closely, and discovered that the ice-princess in our midst was far from what any of us had expected. I think Ev managed to see that before any of us, and it was with him that she shined. He could make her smile like she had been touched by starlight. I loved him, she needed him and Everett was never one to ignore someone in need.

Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if he had chosen me and not her. But then I would have never seen her cry. After his death she was so angry, you could see the sheer rage in her eyes whenever anyone faced off with her in a training session. Those useless, long training sessions that Sean desperately put us through in an effort to prevent any more deaths. No one had the heart to tell him that it was too late. Our team had failed the moment Emma lost sight of anything but her need for revenge.

After that night, and the many nights after I would find myself watching her. Wolverine is so different in comparison to her. He wears his emotions right out there, there is never any question how he feels or when he feels it. With M it was different, and if she ever showed an emotion it was always irritation, usually at me. It occurred to me that if I could find that chink in her armor, then it was possible for me to find another one. Or, if all else failed attack it with a drill.

-in-

"Watch out guys." Angelo muttered under his breath as Monet stalked towards them. Less than an hour ago the girl had blown up over the milk being sour at breakfast, nobody was willing to take the chance to find out if she was still ticked off, as they found other things to be intensely interested in as she joined them.

No one said anything as they waited for Sean to appear, it was another one of his training sessions although what they were training for remained to be seen. It seemed as if they had already paid the ultimate price and the hours spent fighting some imagined enemy was pointless.

"This is stupid." Jubilee commented while examining her nails for flaws. "It's eight am on a Saturday morning and we're going to be doing jumping jacks to satisfy Senor Paranoid."

"Not quite, Jubilee." Sean's presence made the group flinch guiltily. "We're going to do one on one face-offs." Ignoring the groans Sean adjusted his uniform, making a point to meet Jubilee's eye. "And being paranoid might save a life."

"It didn't save Ev."

Sean blanched and turned to look at Monet who was staring at him impassively. "What?"

"Or Moira for that matter."

There was dead silence for a moment before Jubilee stepped between the two of them. "Chill out both of you. We're here to train not bite each other's heads off. Okay?" She grinned and poked Sean in the stomach affectionately. "Who's with who?"

The color returned to his face as he slowly calmed down, finally managing a smile for the younger girl. "Angelo yer with Paige, Jubilee and Monet are a team and Jono will train with me. The one rule is that there are no rules. Anything goes save for a fatality. I can't prepare ya fer real life if ya don't experience the same conditions. Let's go."

Pairing off, the team scattering around the ground far enough to prevent any interaction between them, although Jubilee could feel the sympathetic looks from her friends. Although the sessions were meant to mimic real life battle conditions, Monet took the game further than anyone else. Angelo had been the latest member to pair up with the girl and had come out of it with several bruises and two strained tendons that had been on the verge of breaking when Sean had eventually pulled Monet off him.

"So are ya ready?" Jubilee glanced at Monet just in time to see a fist flying in her direction. The blow knocked her off her feet, sending her tumbling in the tall grass. "God, M give a person some kind of warning."

The older girl just hovered in the air, the wind lashing her hair around her face. "There are no warnings in real life Jubilee, or have you forgotten that?"

Jubilee dived behind what was left of a wall as she fired a volley of plasma bursts that exploded around Monet, who momentarily dropped to the ground as she was blinded. The strength of her bursts were augmented and didn't pose any real damage to the nearly invulnerable body of the older girl.

Furious, Monet kicked the wall sending shards of brick and mortar everywhere. "I'm not a child, you don't need to hold back on your powers for me."

"I wasn't." Jubilee replied from behind her, sending out enough explosive power to level a small building.

From Monet's perspective it wasn't enough to kill her, but it was enough to stun her unconscious for a few seconds as she hurtled against the wall.

Did I say drill? Maybe I should've said TNT.

Monet was not pleased when she woke up and had forced Jubilee to spend the rest of the morning in hand to hand combat, unwilling to back down until Jubilee had gotten tired of it and walked off.

Later that afternoon Jubilee was lounging out on the patio drinking lemonade when Angelo joined her. He sat beside her on the lawn chair and poured himself a glass of the pink liquid.

"Rough day?"

Jubilee shrugged. "Not too bad."

"Tough luck getting stuck with the ice princess. Man, I'm still hurtin from some of the moves she put on me."

Wiping the dew off her glass, Jubilee flicked the moisture at him. "Didn't think you couldn't take it from a girl."

Angelo held up his hands defensively. "I'd have problems taking it from anyone who dishes it out like she does. How the hell you lasted all morning with her is beyond me.*

"You like someone to vent to, maybe it's her way."

"Yeah, but my venting never involved beating the crap out of a charming and handsome teammate, Jubecita. There are better ways."

"Sure, but when have any of us done things the easy way. Just look at Wolvie when gets upset, he ends up trekking across the middle of nowhere until he works whatever it is out."

"Point taken." Angelo poured himself another glass, squinting in the sunlight as Jubilee got up. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to try and be a ventee for M...or a venter...no...she's going to be doing the venting so I guess I would be the ventee...unless the venter is the ventee and then I don't know what that would make me...." Jubilee trailed off thoughtfully.

Angelo peered at the glass in his hand. "Jubes, how much sugar did you put in this?"

"Double the directions and some." Jubilee replied as she headed inside.

Carefully putting down the glass, Angelo decided not to drink anymore before he discovered what 'double the directions and some' was exactly.

-in-

It was evening before Jubilee finally found Monet who had sunk down into the basement television room, ignored by everyone on the team with the exception of Jono who only used the room to play video games occasionally. The TV was on a nameless cartoon channel and the older girl was staring mindlessly at the screen.

"Hey M." Jubilee plopped herself down on the couch beside her, brushing off some old magazines to make room. "Whatcha watchin?"

After a moment of silence Jubilee nodded her head agreeably. "Yeah, I like Spongebob too. Personally I prefer some of the more off beat cartoons now. Ever watch Mission Hill?"

Monet continued to stare at the screen, not bothering to comment.

"Oh, that's right. You sat through an episode last week. Now, I don't know if you actually remember, but that was the episode when that creepy store owner...."

The television clicked off and Monet glared at Jubilee. "Why are you here? I know it isn't to have a one-sided conversation about colored pictures moving on a screen, no matter how much sugar you've had."

"Fine. What do you want to watch?"

"Nothing! I just want to be left alone if you can comprehend that for a moment."

"I thought you might want to talk. Ya know, converse on a variety of topics? Care to try it?"

Monet got up and headed to the stairs. "Not really."

Jubilee jumped up from her spot and laid a hand on Monet's shoulder. Less than a second later Jubilee was pinned against the wall with a furious teenager an inch away from her face. "Leave me alone, you're the last person I want to talk to now." She dropped Jubilee to the ground and disappeared upstairs, a series of slams marking her progress.

"Okay, so no hug then."

Ouch. Nothing like having those words coming to bite me in the ass. I think I've changed my mind about M, she's a lot more like Wolvie than I thought. He's good at showing anger, but not much good at showing anything else. Hell it took him years to admit that he might actually think of me as a daughter. Monet and Wolvie...secret long lost twins?

Nah, but that would be easier to pull off then what I'm thinking of. Ya think you know a person and then they go and take away your nightmares for weeks on end. Figures that M would make my life complicated.

-fin-