Disclaimer: The standard stuff…I won nothing, Marvel does. All hail Marvel.
A/N: Thanks to J.D. for giving suggestions and J. Lynn for beta reading this. However, since I am stubborn any mistakes found are mine.
WARNINGS!!! There will be graphic violence coming up, slight female/female situations, and adult situations hence the NC –17 rating. Trust me when I say it's all justified and will make sense eventually. Flames will be laughed at and ignored, Reviews will be treasured and loved.
Chapter 8
"I want a burger now. I want it with onions, tomatoes, dripping with grease and oil and fat and want it NOW!" If Jubilee had been able to stamp her foot, she would have, but as it was she had to be content with voicing her discontent. Which she was. Loudly and frequently.
"No." Logan leaned back in the recliner that he had finally brought in, considering how much time he had spent in the room being with Jubilee. It had been three weeks since she had regained consciousness and most of her bruises had healed. Her arm and wrist had been put on a cast, and the side of her face was still black and blue. The doctor had promised her that he would take the cast off her leg in a week, and her back was slowly healing, growing new pink skin. Three days ago, a hairdresser had been brought in and Jubilee had been given a sassy, short haircut that ended up in little ringlets.
"Don't make me hurt you." Jubilee hissed, glaring at the man. "The first day I get up out of this bed I will make you pay for mmph..." anything else she had to say was firmly smothered by a kiss. Moaning softly she reached up to caress his hair, and soundly whacked him on the side of the head with her cast.
"Ow!" Wincing, Logan prodded the bump, sitting down heavily on the bed.
"Are you okay?" Slim fingers gently touched his head, smoothing his hair, with expertise born from hours of practice. "Poor baby, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, we manly men can take stuff like this in our sleep." Ignoring her snort, and rolled eyes, he shoved her over in the bed so that he could lie down. Logan smiled and put his arm around her. "I'd love to get you a burger but you and I both know you can't chew right now. If you're really desperate maybe we could try some kind burger in a blender thing?"
Jubilee actually paused to consider the idea as she snuggled up against the man, careful to keep her arm out of the way. "After three weeks of peach puree and that gross baby food, it almost sounds good. I'm just tired of the same thing over and over again."
Logan yawned, his face cracking open so wide that she could see his back molars. Scratching his stubble, he stretched out and promptly got into the other bed in the room. "Gonna catch a few winks Darlin." he muttered, before snoring softly into his pillow.
"Great. Prince Charming is asleep over there and there's nothing to do." Her laptop, although officially off limits, had been left on her nightstand just inches away from her reach. Her fingers had almost grabbed the elusive object when a voice stopped her.
"Ah, ah, ah petite. Remy thinks that it was put out of reach for a reason non?" Remy and Julianna walked into the room, the first bearing a box and the latter a vase full of tulips. "Mebbe dis is better." He handed her the box, which revealed two-dozen ice cream bonbons, small enough to be put into her mouth without pain.
"I think I love you Remy." Jubilee mumbled her mouth full of melting ice cream and chocolate.
Julianna laughed, placing her gift on the windowsill. "I see you've gotten tired of hospital food."
"I wish! I've been banned from hard foods until my jaw heals, you wouldn't believe how much I'm craving a burger right now. I've had protein shakes, juice, milk, liquid yogurt, liquid fruit, liquid cereal, if it's gross and runs, I've had it." Popping another bonbon into her mouth, Jubilee smiled at her guests. "So sit, tell me what's been going on."
"Besides loving what they did your hair, work is fine. We all miss you, it doesn't seem the same." Julianna sat on the bed, her light gray suit out of place in the cheerful room.
"Any word about Roberts? Has he gotten any more support for his bill?"
"The anti-mutant one? I don't think so, it's so odd, he doesn't seem to be pursuing it with any sort of persistence."
"Have you given any thought to his bill?" Jubilee asked carefully.
Julianna shrugged. "I really don't like his politics, but supporting the bill will gain me more supporters."
"Perhaps, but I think that if you maintain a policy of peace it will gain you even more people. We both know people like to follow a cause; it won Regan his presidency. But, maybe it's time for a change. When the press questions you about it, say that you're here to promote peace not hate. That way you're given the benefit of the doubt while still being able to retain credibility. What do you think?"
"I don't know." Julianna handed Jubilee the cup of juice she had been trying to reach. "If we're wrong, it could cost me the election."
"Mutants make up a larger portion of the population than you think. Many are afraid to come out as it were because they're afraid of the consequences. If you show them that you're not opposed to change, and aren't out there campaigning for their deaths, you have a chance."
"The deaths of hundreds has never been what I wanted, but you have to admit that some mutants are bad and the power that they have at their fingertips is unbelievable. Power like that can't go unchecked."
"Mutants are people, and as people they can be either good or bad, it's a toss up. And as for they destruction they cause, how can be any different from a man who leaves a car bomb outside a daycare. A lot of the hostility comes from the hate that is directed to these children who grow up in fear and are ridiculed for the way they look Take away that hostility and you take away the fear."
Julianna sighed. "A very noble idea, but hard to carry through."
"Perhaps, but I wish you would think about it, lives are going to hang in the balance with this decision."
"I will if you promise to rest up. Deal?"
Jubilee smiled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Only if I get a chocolate shake out of the deal."
-in-
Her body hurt, each muscled brutally torn and battered until even breathing was torture. Sucking in each breath through gritted teeth, she survived. Survived for the sole reason to get back at the little child who had managed to surprise her, a mistake that happened once and would not allow for it to occur again.
-in-
Three weeks later
It had been a long day, with people constantly wanting her to support one cause or another. Julianna wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was tired. She was tired of the constant demands on her time, her total lack of social life, and the intense scrutiny of the media. Since Jae had been incapacitated, she hadn't fully realized the amount of stuff the woman had been able to filter out. Now, she couldn't take a piss without the phone ringing. By the time three hit that afternoon, she could barely keep her eyes open. Coffee cup after coffee cup had been consumed to no avail and when Remy had finally suggested that she go home and sleep, she didn't have the strength to argue.
So, comfortably nestled in the back of the limousine, with Remy sitting across from her, she felt free for the first time weeks. Free to just...breathe. Looking outside her window, she saw the tree lined pavement, and the children playing along the concrete slabs. Tapping the intercom, she had the driver pull over. Before Remy could say anything, she almost pleaded with him. "Remy, I'm so tired. I just want to walk."
Nodding, Remy smiled at her. "Then walk, Remy will be out of the way."
Smiling gratefully, she stepped out into the fresh air with almost giggling with joy. From the corner of her eye she could see Remy walking behind her, about 20 yards back. "Bliss." Slipping off her high-heels, she strode along the dappled walkways, the trees rustling above her head, and the children's laughter ringing in her ears. The sunshine was streaming down, warming everyone in its path and the sky was a deep blue, not a cloud was in sight. It was one of those days where the colors are so vivid that the flowers seem to burst from their gardens. It was one of those days where you keep on hoping that you'll wake up so it was all a dream. Julianna never woke up.
Suddenly the children's laughter turned cruel, and as she drew closer to the cluster of children, she could make out their taunts.
"Mutie freak, mutie freak, mutie freak!"
Appalled, Julianna ran forward to see a circle of about ten kids surrounding a girl of about eleven years old. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she tried to hide her hair that was turning green. The children were all chanting and shoving the girl periodically, as she literally transformed in front of their eyes. Sobbing, her face contorted in pain as the ground trembled under her feet, the slabs of concrete cracking and shattering, revealing the rich brown earth underneath. A green tendril shot up and wound itself around her arm, embedding itself in her flesh and she gasped, trying to breathe but was unable to get a purchase on the air around her. Screaming the kids fled, and Julianna ran up to the child and tried to comfort her. Remy raced to where Julianna was holding the child. "We need to get her to the hospital now! Her metabolism has changed so that oxygen may not be what she needs..." he trailed off as the look of panic in the girl's eyes became subdued and glazed over. His voice was thick, and gently closed her eyes. "C'est fini. It's finished."
Dumbstruck, Julianna could only hold the child in shock as she realized what had happened. She had never seen such raw hate, such fear of a child. Shaking terribly, she turned to a woman who was peeking out of her doorway. "What was her name? We need to call her parents."
"I've never seen her before in my life." The woman muttered and slammed the door. Across the street an old man, slowly made his way to the senator, his cane tapping softly against the asphalt. His face was incredibly lined, and old and he shook his head sadly, patting Julianna shoulder.
"Do you ...."
A smile creased his face, and tears welled up in his watery brown eyes. "That was her momma, sad to say. This little girl was Janey Holmes, sweetest thing you could have evah imagined. She used tah bring in my paper every day."
Julianna went pale, her hands still stroking the downy hair of the fallen child. "Her own mother..."
"Such hate we have today. When I was a child we had tah fight against racism and we won. It was hard but we did it, mah own daddy got strung up by a bunch of them white sheets. Not too much different from them Friends of Humanity groups going around doing things to poor people, whose only crime is to want live in peace." Leaning heavily on his cane, he knelt down and touched Janey's forehead briefly. "She was such a joy, such a joy."
Speechless, Julianna could only stare at the child in her arms. "If only we had been able to cure her of her mutant gene, found some way to...to fix it."
The old man shook his head. "Yah still don't understand. Yah don't cure a black man of his blackness, yah don't cure a lesbian of her sexuality, yah don't convert the Jew to something more acceptable to his neighbors. A person with mutant powers ain't more than that, they don't need be cured, they just need to be given support so that they can be who they are." Remy helped him to his feet, and he sat down tiredly on a bench next to them. "Ah'd bet that any mutant who grows up in a loving environment learns to love his powers, and use them fer good, or even just for himself. Had Janey changed in place like that, I bet she'd be alive right now, with a blessed gift from God."
"She would have been a pariah for the rest of her life how can you call that a gift from God?" Julianna stared at him incredulously.
"I nevah cursed God fer making me dark skinned. Instead I thanked him for the beauty we call people. People used ta call mah family names, harass us, but in the end we survived because we fought for what we believed in. I'm a black man, doesn't make me anything less of a human. Yer a woman, don't make you any less either. Janey, Janey just died because of something she was born with. It didn't make her anything less either. You were born a woman, would you change for anything in the world?"
"No..."
"Then give the mutants a chance to be free as well. I recognize yahoo face, Senator Pearson. Ya got a chance to make a difference the way Martin Luther King did, Mandela did, Gloria Steinheim did, JFK did, and now you do. How are you going to be remembered as?" Tiredly standing up, the old man walked back across the empty road, his shuffled steps the only sound in the suddenly quiet afternoon.
-in-
"Alright! Quiet guys, we're here learn not discover the joys of poker, no matter what Mr. Jason cares to believe." Paige raised an eyebrow, and the offending student slumped in his seat, putting the deck of cards in his desk. Smiling to herself, she started handing out some papers that she had finished grading. "You guys did really great on the quiz, nobody a grade lower than C, I'm impressed."
*Everyone come to the auditorium immediately, get a seat and sit down. Something's happening.*
Laughing and talking the children ran into the large room, chairs scraping as they all got settled in their seats.
"Children this is important. We need quiet." Xavier's voice echoed across the room, and a hush fell over the crowd. The rise in the mutant population in the last year had been substantial and the room was filled with over 300 students. The teachers, members of the X-men and the former Generation X were sitting up on the stage, where a large screen had been placed. "I was informed that the presidential candidate Julianna Pearson is having a conference in a few minutes. It's supposed to be fairly important, and I think that it will be her position on the mutant bill. Whatever happens from here on out, we will survive."
"A little harsh Charles?" Storm murmured as the children talked quietly among themselves.
He shook his head sadly, tired lines etching his face. It was times like these that he truly felt his years. Earlier that morning he had received an interesting email from Emma Frost of all people, that told him to get the children to watch the press conference being held later that day. "It's better to prepare them for the worst, so that there aren't any surprises."
The screen sputtered to life and everyone turned to look at it. The senator was holding the conference outside, and at her side was Remy clad in dark glasses and a dark trenchcoat. Aside from her staff, there was one person on the other side of the senator that caused all of the teachers to stare at the smiling, black haired woman with sparkling blue eyes. Jubilee was wearing a light gray suit, her hair fell in little ringlets around her head, and her arm was in a sling. Julianna glanced at Jubilee for a second, the two of them sharing a grin before the older woman turned to address the media.
"Good afternoon. With the elections only four months away, I feel that it's important for me to address a very relevant issue. It deals with your mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends and lovers, the stranger down the street and even yourself. I once had a friend ask me how I wanted to be remembered when I die. And it got me to thinking, America is known for our acceptance and tolerance of people. True, we have had to fight for these rights; women fought for equality and freedom, African Americans, Native Americans, the Irish, the Latino community; we have all fought for the right to be free. To choose our own destiny, to live life to the best of our ability, people have died for these rights. So, I can no longer in good conscience support the anti-mutant bill."
A huge roar erupted from the media, and Pearson held up a hand for silence. Smiling, she sighed. "I want to become president and start an era of peace, not hatred. I do not and will not condone violence done by anyone, let alone mutants, but I don't think they should be punished for something that separates up no differently than men and women, or the color of our skin. Haven't we shed enough blood?" With one last nod to the media that was furiously taking pictures and firing questions. The screen flickered off and the hall sat in stunned silence.
Suddenly, as one body, the students burst into laughter and applause. Talking among themselves, the teachers sat in stunned silence, some crying, others grinning with joy. Professor Charles Xavier, however, just sat and smiled at his brood and said softly. "And now we have hope. Thank you Jubilee."
-in-
"So now what?" Logan murmured from his position on the couch in Jubilee's apartment. He was nestled very comfortably in her lap, and she was half watching the television for the political rebuttals that were sure to come.
"So now we wait." Jubilee relished the heavy weight of his head on her thighs, and she caressed his hair, rubbing the silky strands between her fingers.
The two sat in companionable silence, and a deep rumble of contentment emitted from Logan's chest. Twisting slightly to look up at Jubilee's face, Logan reached up and softly ran a finger down her jaw. "You shoulda told me."
Smiling, Jubilee held his hand in hers. "You and I both know that you wouldn't have approved. Besides you couldn't have changed my mind, or what happened."
Pain flashed in Logan's eyes, the minute scarring along her jaw visible to his vision. "Could have protected you, Darlin."
"Thanks but I can kick bad guy ass on my own. What does the Prof always say? Life goes on?"
"Somethin like that." Logan hauled himself up and looked at Jubilee seriously. "I don't want us to be apart anymore, no matter what you do I'm going to be your partner."
Jubilee smirked, and slid her arm out of the sling with a determined look in her eyes. "No matter what I say?"
Grinning, Logan brushed a stray curl out of her eyes. "No matter how much you want to torture me."
"Well there goes my afternoon. Now what can I possibly do to have some fun?" Blinking innocently, Jubilee removed her t-shirt in one quick movement.
"I bet we can think of something."
"I bet we can." Leaning forward Jubilee gently kissed him, tugging on his lower lips with her teeth.
-in-
"Mmmm" a low voice rumbled near Emma's ear.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she turned over in bed and looked at the sleep-rumpled man. "Yes?"
"We've won."
Emma faintly remembered a phone call a few hours earlier, but had passed off the conversation as just pointless political gossip, not bothering to listen in. "We've won?"
"Pearson just caved on the mutant issue, she's supporting them now. The presidency is as good as mine." Smirking, Roberts ran a hand up Emma's thigh, attributing her goosebumps to pleasure instead of revulsion. "We might as well move into the white house now." He nuzzled her breast, licking the pert nipple. "How about it babe, feel like doin it in the Lincoln bedroom?"
"And your wife?" Emma sat up and pointed to the picture on the nightstand beside them.
"Hell, she can join us." Grinning, Roberts just dove under the covers, continuing his explorations with a fervor. Sighing, Emma slid back down on her pillow and began counting the ceiling tiles, while convincing Roberts that she was having the most incredible time of her life. Emma had found that his mind, just like simple ones anywhere, where highly suggestible, and it only took a few hints until he was lying on the bed gasping and thrusting at the air, his mind swept up in a reality of Emma's choosing.
Examining her nails thoughtfully, she stretched out on the bed. "Why do all the good ones run for president?" She asked sardonically.
-in-
It came faster than anyone was expecting, no-one even knew that she was in the room until she had fired three shots into Logan's heart, and then aimed the gun at Jubilee's head. Jubilee had woken up by the shots, and automatically sat up to find herself looking down the barrel of a 75 magnum that was still smoking. Holding the gun was a barely recognizable Mystique. Her face had been badly scarred, her body was thin and Jubilee could see her ribs protruding through the tattered remains of her clothing.
Forcing herself to remain calm, Jubilee felt for Logan's presence and was relieved to find that he was still alive, although barely. Bitterly wishing for not the first time that she had telekinesis, she sat back in the bed. "Well, this is surprise. How have you been?"
Mystique bared her teeth, her anger and desperation flooding through her. She had endured enormous amounts of pain to get back at this one girl...a child that had managed to get away with luck. "Don't try that crap with me child, I've known Frost a lot longer then you have. I had it all planned, it was so simple. A few terrorist acts around the world, hostilities would increase, and then we would have gotten to Roberts. One declaration of war and it would have been the end of the infestation that plagues this planet."
"Mystique, honey, it sounds like you have been reading way too many comics lately. This scheme would have been bound to fail sooner or later."
"Because you would have stopped me?"
Jubilee sighed, her hand rubbing the edge of her nightgown in a seemingly unconscious gesture, exposing a glimpse of pink underneath for a moment. "Picture this scenario, there are two presidential candidates, both have an almost equal opportunity for winning. So, two friends decided that too much is at stake to just leave it up to chance and hope that the right person will win. Each one chooses a candidate, and looks after them, guides them," The strap of silk slipped off of her shoulder and Jubilee gently pushed the gun away, walking closer to Mystique who was totally still. "Perhaps even...learn about them, memorize their habits, those little speech patterns that make them so...unique."
Jubilee could feel Logan's shock as she reached up and gently traced the older woman's collarbone. "People believe what they want to believe, and once that person is fully understood, they are easily replaced." Jubilee's tongue flicked the little hollow in the blue throat, making Mystique gasp. The older woman stared at Jubilee in shock, there was nothing but sincerity in her voice. "A girl gets tired of being treated like the baby you know. She can push and push," firm breast were rubbed against Mystique's and it was all the older woman could do to think clearly, "for them to treat her as an adult but it may never happen. But I digress from my little story. So this girl gets time to think because nobody expects too much from her, and then she sees two little boys die at the hand of humans." Jubilee's face twisted into an ugly grimace. "Their bodies were mauled beyond recognition and the people still got off free. One more crime gotten away with. The little girl grew up and realized that humanity had a price to pay, and the only fair price was death."
Mystique grabbed Jubilee's hand that had strayed to her waist. "I can't believe that you've suddenly changed sides. Why did you fight me earlier when I kidnapped you?"
"I can't have you playing with my toys." Jubilee leaned forward and nuzzled the blue neck. "I can share if you can though. I'm tired of Xavier's long-winded promises of living in peace. It's a..."
"Fool's dream." Suddenly, Mystique smiled finding for the first time in years a similar soul, and she met Jubilee's mouth in a kiss tainted with the desperation of long lost souls coming together.
As their lips touched, Jubilee could feel the woman's shields falter and weaken and the young woman grabbed the other woman's neck and forcibly entering her mind. Gasping and choking, Mystique stood helpless as Jubilee forced her to endure the deaths of everyone of her victims over and over again, creating a loop of images that would feed off of itself. As Mystique dropped to the floor in a helpless, twitching mass Jubilee shuddered, trying to erase the images from the diseased mind from her memory.
Grabbing the edge of the bed, Jubilee felt her way to the edge of the bed, her feet sliding on the vast amounts of blood pouring out of Logan. Sobbing softly, she pressed down on the gaping wounds on his chest, and reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the phone. With shaking hands she dialed 911, choked out her address dropping the phone onto the sticky comforter as soon as she had finished. She smiled at him, as he looked up at her, pain making his eyes bright and unfocused.
"Don't think the healing factor is gonna cover this Darlin."
"You've managed to survive being stabbed, tortured, losing your powers, your adamantium, and being beaten up by psychos on a daily basis." Logan grinned weakly at Jubilee's fierce words. "I refuse to let you die because of some lousy bullets."
"I'm sure...my...heart....will listen to ya....it always has before...." Logan's breath hitched in his chest, and he drew in gasping lungfuls of air growing increasingly difficult from the amount of blood pooling into the cavities.
"It'd better." Jubilee gritted her teeth and thought quickly over all of the lessons Beast had repeatedly taught her. If his healing factor had any chance then she had to get the bullets out. "Sorry Wolvie." Wincing she removed her hand and probed into the hot crevice, digging her fingers in, searching for the tiny metal bullet.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhh!" Logan screamed, arching his back up as her fingers brushed metal.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Muttering under her breath, Jubilee tried to get a hold of the slick metal but it kept on slipping out of her grasp. Desperate, Jubilee reached in and brutally tore out the bullet, releasing a gush of blood with it. By now her silk nightgown was soaked through with the crimson fluid, grimacing she forced her way into his pulsing chest again and again, until she had the bullets out, the metal plugs in her hand before she realized that the body had stopped breathing and was lying still under her ministrations.
-in-
The sky above sparkles with startling intensity as the crowd gathers around black shrouded coffin, the smell of the damp earth filling the nostrils of the mourners that came to pay their respects. Not surprisingly there are many. White roses surround the wooden box, causing butterflies to hover above the tender white petals, drawn by the sweet scent. Somehow, it seems fitting this way. Muffled sobs are heard in the crowd as Kurt sprinkles a handful of dark rich earth on the lid.
"From the earth we came and to earth we go, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. May the Holy Spirit guide you and protect you. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen."
With red eyes, Jubilee came forward and laid a single red rose on the ebony lid. Smiling sadly she whispered, "For a peace that we both dreamed of."
-in-
Cameras flashed rapidly as the senator entered the booth. A few seconds later, Pearson emerged with a wide smile on her face. Stepping to the side so the long line of people could enter to vote, she addressed the reporter who was waving a mike in her direction.
"Yes?"
"This election has been far from an easy sweep, the polls have been constantly changing ever since your announcement of being pro-mutant rights. How do you think this will turn out?"
"I have faith that the citizens of America will do the right thing. Human rights are not a privilege but our due. Have a good day Julie." Nodding dismissively, Julianna strode out of the building with Remy close behind her. Once they had retreated to the quiet of the limo, the calm facade dropped and she looked at him worriedly. "Do you actually think we have a chance in hell?" She sighed tiredly.
Remy rolled a pair of dice between his fingers, the red cubes rolling over his knuckles as he pondered the question. "I think dat mebbe hell has better odds than us right now. But den I've never bet against de devil myself either. Don't worry Julianna, no matter what it'll be okay, I promise."
"Just what I wanted to hear. Is Jae still at the funeral?"
Remy glanced at his watch. "Oui, she said that it would be an hour or so." Grief flickered across his face for a moment. "I doubt she'll be back for a while yet. She feels guilty, I think."
"It wasn't her fault." Julianna frowned, fingering her pearl necklace.
"No, but the woman feels it anyway. It's her nature and they had a long history together." Remy replied simply, and soon became lost in thought over the fallen, the buried and the lost heroes that haunt the living who survive.
-in-
The tinniest fluttering. A microscopic butterfly beating its wings in the safe, dark warmth of its home. The pulsing of life despite of all the odds against it. It's been a hard journey and its stay has just begun. Waves of sadness wash over it, the intense grief permeating the very walls of its world, and yet the intrusion was welcome. A bright spark bursts and the new soul reaches out to caress its caretakers hurt.
-in-
"We are standing here live as the final votes are being tallied. This is one of the most important elections in America's history, John. Consequences from this will create shockwaves throughout America and overseas, which is why such great care has been taken to make sure that the voting process was foolproof. and .....yes it has just been announce, we have a new president ladies and gentlemen....."
-in-
A/N yep…I'll admit that what I did was cruel….another update will be made tomorrow…I swear. Everything gets done through the school computers so….and yes I am going to school in the summer (call it being way to enthused over archaeology!) So review away and more will come soon!
