Disclaimer: I don't own them...I want too, but I don't
A/N: Scott
is dead, Jubes is 18...it's all legal folks!
Chapter 2
SLASH
THUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNK
SLASH THUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNK
Wolverine had been
cutting trees for over an hour and needless to say; several trees had met their
end as he worked through some issues. Issues that involved one partner/now adult
girl currently taking a bath in his cabin. He wasn't stupid, he knew that people
grew up, had children, matured (he shuddered slightly and another tree fell to
it's doom), but hadn't really applied the whole growing up principle to Jubilee.
Although he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he felt slightly cheated...as
if she had grown breasts on purpose.
"You know I've also had my period
for quite some time, should I go get something else to be punished?" Jubilee
said lightly, as she leaned in the doorway looking at him with a slight smile on
her face.
Wolverine shrugged, a red flush creeping up his neck. "I just
thought we could use some firewood. Ya know, in case it storms or something." He
hastily put back on his flannel shirt that had been discarded to the side,
shaking out leaves and the occasional bug. Jubilee raised an eyebrow at the pile
of logs leaning against the house. "Good thing to be prepared for in the summer
I guess." Wolverine peered at her suspiciously, convinced that she was secretly
laughing at him. Her wet hair was hanging around her shoulders, and had changed
into shorts and a Bart Simpson t-shirt. He caught a faint whiff of lavender and
jasmine, as she turned and went back inside.
Grabbing a couple of logs,
he followed her inside the house, placing them beside the fireplace in the
living room. Jubilee didn't say anything as he sat on the couch next to her, and
continued brushing her hair, separating the wet strands and then braiding it
into a long braid.
"Darlin," Logan started, staring into the crackling
fire that Jubilee made. "I'm sorry fer acting like a jerk. It's just that I'm
not used to seeing my girl all grown up. Ya have ta give me little time to get
used to it that all."
Deftly finishing off the braid, she tied it with a
rubber band before looking at him. Giving him a grin, she hugged him. "It's
okay, you should have seen Sean when he first realized that I had..." she paused
suddenly, giving him a calculating look. "...grown up. Being the baby of the
team has its disadvantages."
Logan sighed, feeling more comfortable and
while he had a suspicion what "grown up" meant, he decided he was happier not
knowing. "So what's happened to ya these past two years?" He walked over to the
fridge and got out a beer, and tossed a soda to her.
Her blue eyes,
changed to a myriad of colors as she thought back. "Ev was killed just after you
left, right after Scott came back in fact." She winced suddenly at her blunder,
and looked at him sadly. "I never did get to tell you how sorry I was about
that. I know you loved her."
Pain flashed across his face as he
remembered that brief, painful week that he had finally had Jean and lost her
all at once. "Yeah." he said softly.
"Anyway, afterwards everything went
back to normal, as normal as life can ever get. We did the usual; fighting the
bad guys, saving the good guys, working for a better life so that humans and
mutants can live in coexistence in peace." The last words were bitter, and
Wolverine looked at her in surprise. She shrugged, "I've spent six years of my
life for a cause that the Prof believes in, others have spent most of their
lives fighting for it, and what has it gotten us?"
"Tell
me."
"Nothing, we're still treated like pariahs where ever we go, we have
no rights, no freedoms and if the new law passes like everyone hopes, mutants
will be tagged and controlled like animals."
Logan frowned. "I didn't
hear anything about it, who's doing it?"
"Presidential elections are only
two years away and if Roberts can win by eliminating us, then he'll do
it."
"Chuck hasn't said anything about it."
Jubilee shook her head
sadly. "He still believes that Juliana Pearson will win. It's a fool's dream; no
one will elect her as long as she keeps up a pro-mutant stance. Word on the
street is that she's going to change her viewpoints to keep in the
running."
Logan reached over and held Jubilee's face in his hand, raising
it up so he could look in her eyes. "What happened to make you lose hope,
Darlin?"
Her eyes shone with unshed tears. "Did you ever wonder what
happened to Leech and Artie? M's father had sent them back to live with us since
they missed us, and they took the plane because we figured that since they had
their image inducers on, it wouldn't matter. Paige and I went to pick them up,
and just as they were getting off the gate Artie's malfunctions and dies. An FOH
rally was being held at the next gate because some hot shot was going to be
landing there and they attacked him. Somehow Leech's got turned off too, and
Paige and I tried to protect them but it was no use. They killed them, two
little boys just because they were mutants. Emma came just in time to stop them
from getting us."
Wolverine leaned over and drew her next to him, and
held her. "I'm so sorry."
"That isn't the worst part." Jubilee looked at
him sadly. "We took them to court and the men that killed Leech and Artie were
found innocent because they were mutants. They said it was self -defense. What
could Leech have done to them?"
"Oh Darlin." Wolverine stroked her back
gently, smoothing the soft cotton under her fingers.
"That's why."
Jubilee didn't tell him that Artie's death had shocked her latent psi-talents
into play. She had been with him on the psi-plane as he died, something that had
scarred her forever, and that had made her resolve to achieve what everyone else
had failed: peace. Emma had been right about her powers, and once manifested had
been quite powerful as a telepath. The girl had spent four weeks after Artie and
Leech's death alone, her mind tumbling over and over again over those last few
minutes of life. It had only been the fierce determination to see right done,
that she had ever recovered.
"I heard you tell Emma that it was time for
you to decide what to do." Logan questioned gently.
"Yeah, but let's not
worry about that now. Right now I want to hear everything about you and what
happened those two years. How about I make some popcorn, and you can tell me all
of your adventures." Jubilee jumped up from her warm haven determined not to
answer any questions, and proceed to pop the corn while Logan regaled her with
the battles he had fought, and the sights he had seen while he was away, well
into the early hours of the morning.
Logan's night was troubled with
dreams of falling trees and Bart Simpson grinning at him, and he had spent the
entire night tossing and turning on the couch where he had insisted that he
sleep. Finally, around 6am, he got up grumbling and poured himself a cup of
coffee from the kettle that was warming on the stove. A note was leaning against
the mugs that said, "Gone out, don't worry." Sipping the bitter brew, he poured
another cup, added sugar and milk and followed the lingering scent of jasmine
through the woods to where he found Jubilee meditating, overlooking the edge.
Jubilee breathed in the sharp, crisp scent of the morning, her mind
tagging Logan's presence and then going back into itself. It had become a
morning ritual once her psi-talents had manifested. The meditation helped her
set and keep her shields in place during the day, especially when she was in
school and was forced to deal with the overwhelming onslaught of minds that her
telepathy brought. A few minutes later she stood up and stretched, turning to
Logan with a warm smile.
"Morning."
He handed her the coffee and
nodded towards the view. "Nice view you have there. Sleep well?"
She took
a sip from the mug. "Yeah, although you didn't do so well. I told you that we
didn't have to sleep separately."
"I've slept in worse places, Darlin, I
just had some weird dreams that's all." Jubilee looked at him curiously, but he
didn't elaborate. "How about we do some fishing today?"
An odd smile
quirked across her face, as she got a glimpse of falling trees from Logan.
Sighing she gave him an apologetic grin. "Wolvie, I think you should know that
I'm also a telepath now. You might want to keep your shields up."
"I
figured that you had." He said, drinking the last of his coffee. At her
surprised face, he continued. "Frost has been harping on for ages that you have
latent powers. Something like that kid's death doesn't leave you with nothing,
and believe it or not, I actually pay attention to when Hank
talked."
"Amazing." Jubilee murmured, sipping her coffee. Ducking a
playful swat at her head, the two walked back to the cabin where Logan cooked
them some breakfast. Afterwards, they gathered up their fishing gear and headed
down the hill to where the river lay. Jubilee hefted her bag on her shoulder to
a more comfortable spot as Logan searched for the best fishing hole, his
nostrils flared as he listened and smelt for the fish. Twenty minutes later
Wolverine found the place for 'optimum fishing', and let Jubilee dump the bags
she was carrying. Within seconds he had set up the site, kicked off his shoes
and popped open a beer. Sighing comfortably, he leaned back against the tree and
dropped his line in the water and started to doze off.
"This is
fishing?" Jubilee asked skeptically.
"Yep." came from somewhere
beneath his hat.
"I thought you threw the line out and pulled it
back in all the time."
"That's fly fishing, we're just
fishing."
"Hollywood fails me again." She muttered and walked off
to explore the area around the river. She had taken precautions before she left
and had dressed in baggy khaki pants that protected her legs from the twigs and
thorns in the path. Ambling downstream, she found a clear pool that was set
aside from the bubbling water. Grinning to herself, she took off her tank top
and pants, until she was just left in her bikini and dove into the cool water.
-fin..for now-
