Wild Love: Chapter 6
by Moonchild DJ
Disclaimer: Jubilee, Wolverine, anybody else belongs to Marvel. Cat's mine, yadda yadda, etc. You know the rest-if you want more, refer to my past chapters..
Author's Note: Okay, I'm finishing up THIS half of the story. Don't worry, it isn't the end, just a prelude to a sequel, which will be coming soon. Please be patient, 'kay? Let me know what you think!
As usual, "*...*"-means telepathic thoughts
and '...'-means internal thoughts
****
Bare feet slapping against the cold metal floor, Jubilation ran away from the confusion, eluding the guards and hearing Viper scream orders and derisive names at the men as she sprinted away, seeking freedom.
The entryway that led to freedom suddenly slammed shut with a final resounding clang, halting her escape.
"Dammit! NO!!" she cried in despair, eyes widening in fear as she searched for another way out. Fleeing away from the pursuing guards, she ran for the window, not caring of the shards of glass, only for escape.
"Get *outta* my way, y' goose-stepping goons! You can't keep me here!!" she screamed in anger as she barreled her way through the guards.
"Wanna bet?" One guard growled, grabbing a slim ankle as he fell to the floor, wiping her feet out from under her. She screamed as she fell, the wind knocked out of her and effictively stopping her mad dash.
"N-noooo....!" she wheezed as hands grabbed her fiercely and dragged her to her feet. She didn't even have the strength left to struggle...
"Foolish child! You're resourceful, I'll give you that, but foolish to try to escape!" Viper snarled at her, glaring as she grabbed the girl's long dark hair in a painful grip.
Jubilation bit her lip to keep from crying out, but tears sprang to her eyes, tears of anger, fear and helplessness. Viper saw those tears and smiled gleefully.
"When...I get outta this, Viper...you're gonna regret...what you've done an' even...being born..." Jubilation rasped, her voice low as she intoned her threat.
Dark eyes glared into greenish-brown with such hate and promise, Viper knew the girl meant every word she said. She suppressed a shiver, telling herself the girl was defenseless and wouldn't do anything.
"Ah, but X-Men do not kill. That *is* one of your credoes, isn't it?" Viper sneered as the guards strapped on the machines and breathing apparatus needed for the process to Jubilee's body, removing the metal gloves, as she was now too weak to use her powers. She struggled, eyes wild as the guards dragged her to the man-sized tube and shoved her in roughly. She banged on the unbreakable glass in terror as the electolyte water filled the tube.
"You can't do this to me!! Let me GO!" she cried to deaf, uncaring ears. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the water as it closed over her head. "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOO....!!"
****
Wolverine gasped as a scream echoed through his head, awakening him from his exhausted sleep in an abandoned cave in the wilds of the Canadian forest.
"Jubilee?! Oh, God, what's happenin' to you...?!"
Something bad, he knew, or else he wouldn't have felt such profound fright from his treasured friend, heard in his head such a horrified scream erupt from the depths of her soul. Remembering Remy's words of Cat being a spy and assassin for Viper, Viper's need for revenge upon he and Jubilation, he knew Viper was responsible for the fear and pain he sensed from Jubilation.
"'Wolverine will suffer knowing his precious Jubilee will undergo th' same fate he did years ago...'" he murmured softly, repeating Remy's words that he had overheard from Cat, eyes narrowing in thought as he mulled over the words.
"Oh God-NO...!" he gasped. Weapon X. The Weapon X Project.
That was the only event that had ever haunted him, hurt him. And his dear Jubilation was undergoing the same process!
"NNOOOO...!" he howled in anguish, clambering to his feet and attacking the woods with renewed vigor. He had to get to the old Department H Facility, and fast. He couldn't let Jubilee go through the pain that he did. No one, not even his worst enemy, deserved that outcome, least of all his Jubilation.
Viper would pay for this dearly. And Cat...
Well, her nine lives might just be up, he thought to himself angrily as he popped his claws in silent threat and loping quickly through the forest. As he did so, he did one thing he hadn't done in a long time-he prayed. For Jubilation's safety and sanity, for the ability to save her in time. He wasn't a religious man, but at this moment in time, he couldn't have prayed more soulfully.
His heart pounded in his ears in intense fear, and he briefly raised his eyes to the starry heavens above the trees.
"Please keep her safe...don't know if you can hear me or even if you'd listen t' a man like me. But that young lady...she means everything to me, an' I don't wanna lose her. Watch over her, please. I'm comin', Jubilation. I'm comin', just hold on...!"
****
' I'm comin', Jubilation. I'm comin', just hold on...!'
Jubilation's tearstreaked, pained eyes flickered open as she dazedly watched her air bubbles float past her as the breathing apparatus allowed her to survive. Wolverine's voice in her head...? In her soul, for she knew her Wolvie was coming to save her. But then, she thought dismally, he might just be too late.
She heard the Professor say to increase the adamantium feed and sensory/healing output. They were, essentially, trying to change her into a female Wolverine.
How could she be so calm about this? She was tired of fighting, tired of getting her hopes up only to have them smashed under the heel of Viper. She wasn't even embarrassed anymore of being naked, she just felt so tired...*drained*.
Body floating weightlessly in the water-filled tube, she weakly pressed a hand to the glass, eyes closing heavily.
Viper smiled gleefully at the gesture, glancing at Wild Cat beside her, who massaged her swollen jaw angrily.
"Excellent. The energy field we have running through the water is taking the fight out of her. Don't want her escaping prematurely, do we now?"
"I don't care, just as long as the brat suffers..." Wild Cat snarled. "If it wasn't for the Project, I'd be taking her down myself. *No one* makes a fool of a master assassin like myself. I'd make her PAY..."
Viper chuckled. "Experiment first, vendetta later. Besides, young Jubilee will be paying for this for the rest of her life, if all goes as planned." she replied as she ran a hand confidently through her black-green hair. She nodded to the Professor, who gave a thumbs-up to Cornelieus to charge it up and let the project begin.
The Professor gulped, tugging at his shirt collar nervously. "PLEASE let this go as planned..." he murmured. "Not like last time."
The last time, the man known by the codname of Wolverine had nearly sliced him to ribbons after the process, if not for the safety doors for evacuation. He couldn't go through *that* again.
"Wha...?" Jubilation mumbled weakly. She distinctly felt a strange charge arc through the water around her. Her fingers slid off of the glass as she feebly turned her head, then gasped.
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRGHH!!" she screamed, arching her back as the current raced through her like lightning. The cry tore through the room, causing many, even Viper, to cover their ears in pain.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Viper cried over the screaming to the bewildered Professor.
"THE LAST SUBJECT, WOLVERINE, ALREADY HAD A MUTANT HEALING FACTOR BEFORE WEAPON X! SHE DOES NOT-THE PAIN MUST BE EXCRUCIATING!!"
"Adamantium bonding process initiated. Sensory/healing output running..." A computerized voice droned calmly admist the chaos.
Vaguely hearing the voice between her pain-filled screams, Jubilee wailed as fresh pain assaulted her. Her skin was torn open from elbow to wrist, robotics inserting the claws, the electrolyte water infusing the skin, claws and bloodstream with adamantium.
"Adamantium bonding process complete. All skeletal bones now contained within adamantium, from cranium to pedal digits. Sensory/healing output initiated." the robotic voice nattered tonelessly as the screams finally stopped.
Jubilation floated bonelessly in the water, faintly marveling at the dark red tint of the water before her. She felt so numb...
Her dark eyes popped open wide as feeling came back to her, her long dark hair floating in a curtain around her as she jerked her head back in pain.
Whywastheresomuchpainithurtsithurtsithurts it HURTS!! she thought to herself in a pain-filled rush. The dark red water disappeared, leaving only clean water as the pain went away and she slowly closed her eyes tiredly.
"You think she's alive, after all that?" Wild Cat winced at the screams still ringing in her ears.
Viper grinned as she glanced at the slumped floating figure. "Let's hope so- we're not through yet." She calmly walked over to the tube despite the Professor's protests and warnings.
"Oh, Jubilee...wake up, girl. We're not done having fun yet."
"We're not?" the Professor squeaked, fearfully pushing up his glasses.
Ignoring their words, Jubilation fuzzily *knew* something had happened to her. She felt different, stronger.
An owl hooted, and for a brief moment, she thought she was outside. Then she remembered. Viper. Wild Cat. She heard water rushing past her ears, the swishing sound as her limbs cut swaths through it. She heard the hum of the machines, the electricity sizzling through them. How could she hear an owl outside the facility, in the Canadian forest starting a couple of feet behind it?
The senses. Taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing. Could it be...?
Testing her theory, she tenatively stuck her tongue to the air holes of the breathing apparatus.
Electrolyte water. She could taste the salt, the slight tang of the metal of the special water, even through the rubber taste of the air mask. Raising her head slightly, she flared her nose and sniffed. Perfume-two different scents-and cologne. In water? No- outside the tube. On the three people watching her suffering.
Cat's was overpowering, hard on the nasal passages. How could Logan STAND that stench?!
Viper's was exotic, like something from Japan. Not sweet, but not strong. The Professor-whew! *What* cologne?! It's overpowered by his sweat-and fear. She smiled nastily. Any more fear, and the "good" Professor might be in danger of losing control of his bodily functions.
She raised her eyelids to imperceptible slits, narrowing her gaze.
In the back of the factory, she could see the security guards manning their stations, even one bumming a cigarette and light from another guard. She could see tiny, miniscule beads of moisture dot the Professor's face, could practically see his pulse throb madly in fear. Poor man-what a coward.
She heard the owl hoot again, this time answered by its mate. She heard gears grinding from the machines in the back, heard the parts groan and complain, in need of repair.
Amazing. So this was how it felt to have keen senses. She knew it wasn't always amazing, that Logan cursed his gifts more than blessed them, for they caused him trouble. Too *much* hearing, too *many* smells...
Logan. God, what pain he had gone through in the Weapon X Project, if her experience was any like his. How could a human being do this to another and not feel remorse at that person's suffering? They were monsters...!
Not even knowing she did it, she growled savagely, finally lifting her head and opening her eyes to glare fiercely at the three.
"Oh, my...!" the Professor gulped. "Um...I think it's time to leave now..."
"Why? The glass won't break-will it?" Viper mumbled, absently taking a step back at the pallable anger of the young woman.
"I think I don't want to be here to find out!" Wild Cat gasped at the ferocity she saw in Jubilation's eyes.
Unthinking anger overtook Jubilee's intelligence, her humaness. Anger at the three for tearing her life apart, anger at the Professor and Cornelieus for hurting Logan the same way years ago, anger at the unfairness of life, anger that nothing would be the same way again, thanks to them. That rage consumed her, changed her from a hurting young woman to a hurricane of outrage that left chaos in its wake.
Howling like a banshee, she unfeelingly unleashed her new adamantium claws, striking at the glass repeatedly until something had to give. The glass tube shattered, spraying glass and water everywhere.
She leapt clear of the debris, growling as she tackled Wildcat first. The woman was bathed in a red haze as Jubilation glared at her. If she'd been in her right mind, she would've remembered that the "red haze", as Logan called it, was what accompanied his rages.
But she wasn't thinking, only feeling rage and pain like an animal. A dart hit her in the back. She yowled and turned to see her attacker, her adamantium claws pinning Wild Cat to the floor.
"Get away from her and you just might live!" Viper threatened softly as she aimed her wrist crossbow, armed with poison-tipped darts, directly at Jubilation.
Jubilee snarled, retracting her claws and leaping at Viper in a blur of motion at the same time as Viper loosed one of her darts at her target.
Viper laughed shakily as the young woman's growl turned into a soft whimper, rolling away from her and clenching her side weakly.
"See? What did I tell you, child? Viper is a force to be reckoned with, don't you agree?" she asked haughtily as she pushed herself away from Jubilation.
"GGRRRRRRNN...make you...pay. Won't let you...hurt anyone...else ever again...Caused enough pain...as it is..."
"And you think you're the one to stop me? You can barely hold yourself together with the poison coursing through your body. Even Logan can't heal himself of it so quickly. What makes you think you can?"
"......Revenge. Makes you push...yourself harder."
"Perhaps. But it isn't even determined if your newly-installed healing factor is working yet..."
Jubilation smiled ferally, baring her teeth in a smug smile as she rolled over and moved her hands.
Viper gasped.
No blood from the project *or* the glass *or* the dart, or even from the new adamantium claws now springing from the back of her hands with a soft SNIKT.
"Oh, my....!" The girl's healing factor was even faster than Logan's! They did their job *too* well.
"Yeah....Ain't life jus'....full of surprises..." Rolling smoothly to her feet, Jubilation raised her claws as she closed in on Viper. She was first. The other two would meet their fate soon enough.
****
Logan shook his head as he glanced over the dead bodies-not out of sadness, but out of regret mixed with a little justice. No one more in the world deserved to die than Viper, the Professor, Cornelieus and Cat for what they'd done, but at the cost of his Jubilation's sanity...
He'd been too late. When he finally reached the old Department H Facility, prepared for a battle, he gasped. The fence that prevented anyone from escaping had been shredded to pieces, matching a hole in the wall of the building. The guards had hightailed it out of there, going by the many footprints on the muddy ground leading away from the building toward staying alive. The place was a wreck-electrical circuits snapped and popped as they were either destroyed or ripped out of the walls, smelling like it could catch fire any second. The old Weapon X equipment was shattered and torn apart, never to be used again. Thank God.
Not far away, he discovered the corpses, cleanly and mercifully put out of their misery. Better than they deservered, he knew angrily. At least she gave them that kindness. He probably wouldn't have done the same.
But where was Jubilation? She'd never killed anyone in her entire life. She must be nearly going out of her mind...
A mournful howl split the air suddenly, sending shivers up Logan's back. Not a coyote....not a wolf....*human*.
"Jubilation...?" he whispered softly, sadly, running from the building and toward the clearing in the woods.
****
Jubilation staggered blindingly like a wounded animal not sure what to do. Her breath puffed in ragged gasps, wafting in the cold Canadian air. Her limbs trembled weakly, and she could barely keep standing. Her human mind wasn't even really there, she was just going on automatic pilot. Her adamantine claws were still unsheathed, and she slashed at the trees and bushes around her in an instinctive wish to make others hurt like she was. The wind blew against her naked body, but she didn't seem to notice or care. She just stalked the forest, howling her rage and pain.
A twig snapped behind her, and she turned, snarling. Dark eyes narrowed at the man standing in the shadows, smelling of cigars, wildness and fear. She hunkered low as her flesh rippled with primitive distrust and fear. A human. Humans caused pain, made her hurt, made her bleed. She wasn't bleeding now, but she wouldn't let this one hurt her. She would make this one bleed, maybe die.
Something deep within her told her this was wrong, but she squelched the voice and growled threateningly at the man, showing him she wouldn't be cornered, that she wouldn't stand being hurt again.
"Jubilation? Darlin', it's me, it's Logan. You recognize me, don't ya? I ain't gonna hurt ya, y' know that, right?"
The man spoke, but his words just sounded like annoying insects buzzing in her overwhelmed ears, and she mentally swatted them away. She growled again, stumbling toward him, raising her claws.
"Darlin', I don't wanna hurt ya, an' I know you're in a world o' pain right now, one that your senses can't handle, but I won't let ya hurt me or yourself. I'll stop ya if I have to, but don't make me do this. I don't wanna hurt you. Please, darlin', snap outta it an' come back t' me."
Jubilation snarled at the soothing tone. More words. They meant nothing to her. She jerked back as the man raised his hand. No. No more hurt. No more! Her unsure demeanor snapped, leaving her a raging creature as she attacked, claws slashing.
"I'm sorry, Jubilation." The soft, apologetic voice reached her ears as the man, a sudden blur of motion, delivered a swift jab that knocked the breath out of her and closed down her body and its senses. Her knees buckled, and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Logan sighed as he gathered the trembling girl to him, gently brushing the tangled dark hair away from her eyes. He knew that Jubilation would've been tougher to beat if she'd been in her right mind. He supposed he should be grateful that she'd been reduced to an animal state, but it was so unfair for her.
Those of Department H had a lot to answer for. The immediate threat of Viper, Wild Cat and the Weapon X scientists were taken care of, but he had a hunch that it wasn't over yet.
He cuddled Jubilation to him protectively and started back the way he came, the mild sedative in his X-Man uniform's belt buckle to ensure that she slept all the way back home. She needed all the rejuvinating rest she could get, beacause she was in for tough times ahead.
With one inquiring sniff, he knew what they'd done to her-claws, adamantium implants, blood samples taken from Logan himself to give her his enhanced senses and healing, the whole shebang.
It would not be easy to adapt to, and she would need all the X-Men's-and his, especially-support to pull through. Jubilation had paid for his blindness to Cat's real ways, and he would regret it every day of his life. But Jubilation needed *him*, not his vendettas or regrets. She had him, and he would help her survive, the way she'd helped him the first time they'd met. He swore it as he held Jubilation to him and beared her away from their place of nightmares.
***
I know, that was a bit *too* long, but you try to find a space to break a story! That's all for now-like it? Hate it? Let me know! I know, not as much romance as one likes, but I'll make up for it, promise! Coming soon- Jubilation's healing, inside and out, as Logan and the X-Men help their own in her battle to regain her humanity and life in "Untamed".
by Moonchild DJ
Disclaimer: Jubilee, Wolverine, anybody else belongs to Marvel. Cat's mine, yadda yadda, etc. You know the rest-if you want more, refer to my past chapters..
Author's Note: Okay, I'm finishing up THIS half of the story. Don't worry, it isn't the end, just a prelude to a sequel, which will be coming soon. Please be patient, 'kay? Let me know what you think!
As usual, "*...*"-means telepathic thoughts
and '...'-means internal thoughts
****
Bare feet slapping against the cold metal floor, Jubilation ran away from the confusion, eluding the guards and hearing Viper scream orders and derisive names at the men as she sprinted away, seeking freedom.
The entryway that led to freedom suddenly slammed shut with a final resounding clang, halting her escape.
"Dammit! NO!!" she cried in despair, eyes widening in fear as she searched for another way out. Fleeing away from the pursuing guards, she ran for the window, not caring of the shards of glass, only for escape.
"Get *outta* my way, y' goose-stepping goons! You can't keep me here!!" she screamed in anger as she barreled her way through the guards.
"Wanna bet?" One guard growled, grabbing a slim ankle as he fell to the floor, wiping her feet out from under her. She screamed as she fell, the wind knocked out of her and effictively stopping her mad dash.
"N-noooo....!" she wheezed as hands grabbed her fiercely and dragged her to her feet. She didn't even have the strength left to struggle...
"Foolish child! You're resourceful, I'll give you that, but foolish to try to escape!" Viper snarled at her, glaring as she grabbed the girl's long dark hair in a painful grip.
Jubilation bit her lip to keep from crying out, but tears sprang to her eyes, tears of anger, fear and helplessness. Viper saw those tears and smiled gleefully.
"When...I get outta this, Viper...you're gonna regret...what you've done an' even...being born..." Jubilation rasped, her voice low as she intoned her threat.
Dark eyes glared into greenish-brown with such hate and promise, Viper knew the girl meant every word she said. She suppressed a shiver, telling herself the girl was defenseless and wouldn't do anything.
"Ah, but X-Men do not kill. That *is* one of your credoes, isn't it?" Viper sneered as the guards strapped on the machines and breathing apparatus needed for the process to Jubilee's body, removing the metal gloves, as she was now too weak to use her powers. She struggled, eyes wild as the guards dragged her to the man-sized tube and shoved her in roughly. She banged on the unbreakable glass in terror as the electolyte water filled the tube.
"You can't do this to me!! Let me GO!" she cried to deaf, uncaring ears. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the water as it closed over her head. "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOO....!!"
****
Wolverine gasped as a scream echoed through his head, awakening him from his exhausted sleep in an abandoned cave in the wilds of the Canadian forest.
"Jubilee?! Oh, God, what's happenin' to you...?!"
Something bad, he knew, or else he wouldn't have felt such profound fright from his treasured friend, heard in his head such a horrified scream erupt from the depths of her soul. Remembering Remy's words of Cat being a spy and assassin for Viper, Viper's need for revenge upon he and Jubilation, he knew Viper was responsible for the fear and pain he sensed from Jubilation.
"'Wolverine will suffer knowing his precious Jubilee will undergo th' same fate he did years ago...'" he murmured softly, repeating Remy's words that he had overheard from Cat, eyes narrowing in thought as he mulled over the words.
"Oh God-NO...!" he gasped. Weapon X. The Weapon X Project.
That was the only event that had ever haunted him, hurt him. And his dear Jubilation was undergoing the same process!
"NNOOOO...!" he howled in anguish, clambering to his feet and attacking the woods with renewed vigor. He had to get to the old Department H Facility, and fast. He couldn't let Jubilee go through the pain that he did. No one, not even his worst enemy, deserved that outcome, least of all his Jubilation.
Viper would pay for this dearly. And Cat...
Well, her nine lives might just be up, he thought to himself angrily as he popped his claws in silent threat and loping quickly through the forest. As he did so, he did one thing he hadn't done in a long time-he prayed. For Jubilation's safety and sanity, for the ability to save her in time. He wasn't a religious man, but at this moment in time, he couldn't have prayed more soulfully.
His heart pounded in his ears in intense fear, and he briefly raised his eyes to the starry heavens above the trees.
"Please keep her safe...don't know if you can hear me or even if you'd listen t' a man like me. But that young lady...she means everything to me, an' I don't wanna lose her. Watch over her, please. I'm comin', Jubilation. I'm comin', just hold on...!"
****
' I'm comin', Jubilation. I'm comin', just hold on...!'
Jubilation's tearstreaked, pained eyes flickered open as she dazedly watched her air bubbles float past her as the breathing apparatus allowed her to survive. Wolverine's voice in her head...? In her soul, for she knew her Wolvie was coming to save her. But then, she thought dismally, he might just be too late.
She heard the Professor say to increase the adamantium feed and sensory/healing output. They were, essentially, trying to change her into a female Wolverine.
How could she be so calm about this? She was tired of fighting, tired of getting her hopes up only to have them smashed under the heel of Viper. She wasn't even embarrassed anymore of being naked, she just felt so tired...*drained*.
Body floating weightlessly in the water-filled tube, she weakly pressed a hand to the glass, eyes closing heavily.
Viper smiled gleefully at the gesture, glancing at Wild Cat beside her, who massaged her swollen jaw angrily.
"Excellent. The energy field we have running through the water is taking the fight out of her. Don't want her escaping prematurely, do we now?"
"I don't care, just as long as the brat suffers..." Wild Cat snarled. "If it wasn't for the Project, I'd be taking her down myself. *No one* makes a fool of a master assassin like myself. I'd make her PAY..."
Viper chuckled. "Experiment first, vendetta later. Besides, young Jubilee will be paying for this for the rest of her life, if all goes as planned." she replied as she ran a hand confidently through her black-green hair. She nodded to the Professor, who gave a thumbs-up to Cornelieus to charge it up and let the project begin.
The Professor gulped, tugging at his shirt collar nervously. "PLEASE let this go as planned..." he murmured. "Not like last time."
The last time, the man known by the codname of Wolverine had nearly sliced him to ribbons after the process, if not for the safety doors for evacuation. He couldn't go through *that* again.
"Wha...?" Jubilation mumbled weakly. She distinctly felt a strange charge arc through the water around her. Her fingers slid off of the glass as she feebly turned her head, then gasped.
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRGHH!!" she screamed, arching her back as the current raced through her like lightning. The cry tore through the room, causing many, even Viper, to cover their ears in pain.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Viper cried over the screaming to the bewildered Professor.
"THE LAST SUBJECT, WOLVERINE, ALREADY HAD A MUTANT HEALING FACTOR BEFORE WEAPON X! SHE DOES NOT-THE PAIN MUST BE EXCRUCIATING!!"
"Adamantium bonding process initiated. Sensory/healing output running..." A computerized voice droned calmly admist the chaos.
Vaguely hearing the voice between her pain-filled screams, Jubilee wailed as fresh pain assaulted her. Her skin was torn open from elbow to wrist, robotics inserting the claws, the electrolyte water infusing the skin, claws and bloodstream with adamantium.
"Adamantium bonding process complete. All skeletal bones now contained within adamantium, from cranium to pedal digits. Sensory/healing output initiated." the robotic voice nattered tonelessly as the screams finally stopped.
Jubilation floated bonelessly in the water, faintly marveling at the dark red tint of the water before her. She felt so numb...
Her dark eyes popped open wide as feeling came back to her, her long dark hair floating in a curtain around her as she jerked her head back in pain.
Whywastheresomuchpainithurtsithurtsithurts it HURTS!! she thought to herself in a pain-filled rush. The dark red water disappeared, leaving only clean water as the pain went away and she slowly closed her eyes tiredly.
"You think she's alive, after all that?" Wild Cat winced at the screams still ringing in her ears.
Viper grinned as she glanced at the slumped floating figure. "Let's hope so- we're not through yet." She calmly walked over to the tube despite the Professor's protests and warnings.
"Oh, Jubilee...wake up, girl. We're not done having fun yet."
"We're not?" the Professor squeaked, fearfully pushing up his glasses.
Ignoring their words, Jubilation fuzzily *knew* something had happened to her. She felt different, stronger.
An owl hooted, and for a brief moment, she thought she was outside. Then she remembered. Viper. Wild Cat. She heard water rushing past her ears, the swishing sound as her limbs cut swaths through it. She heard the hum of the machines, the electricity sizzling through them. How could she hear an owl outside the facility, in the Canadian forest starting a couple of feet behind it?
The senses. Taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing. Could it be...?
Testing her theory, she tenatively stuck her tongue to the air holes of the breathing apparatus.
Electrolyte water. She could taste the salt, the slight tang of the metal of the special water, even through the rubber taste of the air mask. Raising her head slightly, she flared her nose and sniffed. Perfume-two different scents-and cologne. In water? No- outside the tube. On the three people watching her suffering.
Cat's was overpowering, hard on the nasal passages. How could Logan STAND that stench?!
Viper's was exotic, like something from Japan. Not sweet, but not strong. The Professor-whew! *What* cologne?! It's overpowered by his sweat-and fear. She smiled nastily. Any more fear, and the "good" Professor might be in danger of losing control of his bodily functions.
She raised her eyelids to imperceptible slits, narrowing her gaze.
In the back of the factory, she could see the security guards manning their stations, even one bumming a cigarette and light from another guard. She could see tiny, miniscule beads of moisture dot the Professor's face, could practically see his pulse throb madly in fear. Poor man-what a coward.
She heard the owl hoot again, this time answered by its mate. She heard gears grinding from the machines in the back, heard the parts groan and complain, in need of repair.
Amazing. So this was how it felt to have keen senses. She knew it wasn't always amazing, that Logan cursed his gifts more than blessed them, for they caused him trouble. Too *much* hearing, too *many* smells...
Logan. God, what pain he had gone through in the Weapon X Project, if her experience was any like his. How could a human being do this to another and not feel remorse at that person's suffering? They were monsters...!
Not even knowing she did it, she growled savagely, finally lifting her head and opening her eyes to glare fiercely at the three.
"Oh, my...!" the Professor gulped. "Um...I think it's time to leave now..."
"Why? The glass won't break-will it?" Viper mumbled, absently taking a step back at the pallable anger of the young woman.
"I think I don't want to be here to find out!" Wild Cat gasped at the ferocity she saw in Jubilation's eyes.
Unthinking anger overtook Jubilee's intelligence, her humaness. Anger at the three for tearing her life apart, anger at the Professor and Cornelieus for hurting Logan the same way years ago, anger at the unfairness of life, anger that nothing would be the same way again, thanks to them. That rage consumed her, changed her from a hurting young woman to a hurricane of outrage that left chaos in its wake.
Howling like a banshee, she unfeelingly unleashed her new adamantium claws, striking at the glass repeatedly until something had to give. The glass tube shattered, spraying glass and water everywhere.
She leapt clear of the debris, growling as she tackled Wildcat first. The woman was bathed in a red haze as Jubilation glared at her. If she'd been in her right mind, she would've remembered that the "red haze", as Logan called it, was what accompanied his rages.
But she wasn't thinking, only feeling rage and pain like an animal. A dart hit her in the back. She yowled and turned to see her attacker, her adamantium claws pinning Wild Cat to the floor.
"Get away from her and you just might live!" Viper threatened softly as she aimed her wrist crossbow, armed with poison-tipped darts, directly at Jubilation.
Jubilee snarled, retracting her claws and leaping at Viper in a blur of motion at the same time as Viper loosed one of her darts at her target.
Viper laughed shakily as the young woman's growl turned into a soft whimper, rolling away from her and clenching her side weakly.
"See? What did I tell you, child? Viper is a force to be reckoned with, don't you agree?" she asked haughtily as she pushed herself away from Jubilation.
"GGRRRRRRNN...make you...pay. Won't let you...hurt anyone...else ever again...Caused enough pain...as it is..."
"And you think you're the one to stop me? You can barely hold yourself together with the poison coursing through your body. Even Logan can't heal himself of it so quickly. What makes you think you can?"
"......Revenge. Makes you push...yourself harder."
"Perhaps. But it isn't even determined if your newly-installed healing factor is working yet..."
Jubilation smiled ferally, baring her teeth in a smug smile as she rolled over and moved her hands.
Viper gasped.
No blood from the project *or* the glass *or* the dart, or even from the new adamantium claws now springing from the back of her hands with a soft SNIKT.
"Oh, my....!" The girl's healing factor was even faster than Logan's! They did their job *too* well.
"Yeah....Ain't life jus'....full of surprises..." Rolling smoothly to her feet, Jubilation raised her claws as she closed in on Viper. She was first. The other two would meet their fate soon enough.
****
Logan shook his head as he glanced over the dead bodies-not out of sadness, but out of regret mixed with a little justice. No one more in the world deserved to die than Viper, the Professor, Cornelieus and Cat for what they'd done, but at the cost of his Jubilation's sanity...
He'd been too late. When he finally reached the old Department H Facility, prepared for a battle, he gasped. The fence that prevented anyone from escaping had been shredded to pieces, matching a hole in the wall of the building. The guards had hightailed it out of there, going by the many footprints on the muddy ground leading away from the building toward staying alive. The place was a wreck-electrical circuits snapped and popped as they were either destroyed or ripped out of the walls, smelling like it could catch fire any second. The old Weapon X equipment was shattered and torn apart, never to be used again. Thank God.
Not far away, he discovered the corpses, cleanly and mercifully put out of their misery. Better than they deservered, he knew angrily. At least she gave them that kindness. He probably wouldn't have done the same.
But where was Jubilation? She'd never killed anyone in her entire life. She must be nearly going out of her mind...
A mournful howl split the air suddenly, sending shivers up Logan's back. Not a coyote....not a wolf....*human*.
"Jubilation...?" he whispered softly, sadly, running from the building and toward the clearing in the woods.
****
Jubilation staggered blindingly like a wounded animal not sure what to do. Her breath puffed in ragged gasps, wafting in the cold Canadian air. Her limbs trembled weakly, and she could barely keep standing. Her human mind wasn't even really there, she was just going on automatic pilot. Her adamantine claws were still unsheathed, and she slashed at the trees and bushes around her in an instinctive wish to make others hurt like she was. The wind blew against her naked body, but she didn't seem to notice or care. She just stalked the forest, howling her rage and pain.
A twig snapped behind her, and she turned, snarling. Dark eyes narrowed at the man standing in the shadows, smelling of cigars, wildness and fear. She hunkered low as her flesh rippled with primitive distrust and fear. A human. Humans caused pain, made her hurt, made her bleed. She wasn't bleeding now, but she wouldn't let this one hurt her. She would make this one bleed, maybe die.
Something deep within her told her this was wrong, but she squelched the voice and growled threateningly at the man, showing him she wouldn't be cornered, that she wouldn't stand being hurt again.
"Jubilation? Darlin', it's me, it's Logan. You recognize me, don't ya? I ain't gonna hurt ya, y' know that, right?"
The man spoke, but his words just sounded like annoying insects buzzing in her overwhelmed ears, and she mentally swatted them away. She growled again, stumbling toward him, raising her claws.
"Darlin', I don't wanna hurt ya, an' I know you're in a world o' pain right now, one that your senses can't handle, but I won't let ya hurt me or yourself. I'll stop ya if I have to, but don't make me do this. I don't wanna hurt you. Please, darlin', snap outta it an' come back t' me."
Jubilation snarled at the soothing tone. More words. They meant nothing to her. She jerked back as the man raised his hand. No. No more hurt. No more! Her unsure demeanor snapped, leaving her a raging creature as she attacked, claws slashing.
"I'm sorry, Jubilation." The soft, apologetic voice reached her ears as the man, a sudden blur of motion, delivered a swift jab that knocked the breath out of her and closed down her body and its senses. Her knees buckled, and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Logan sighed as he gathered the trembling girl to him, gently brushing the tangled dark hair away from her eyes. He knew that Jubilation would've been tougher to beat if she'd been in her right mind. He supposed he should be grateful that she'd been reduced to an animal state, but it was so unfair for her.
Those of Department H had a lot to answer for. The immediate threat of Viper, Wild Cat and the Weapon X scientists were taken care of, but he had a hunch that it wasn't over yet.
He cuddled Jubilation to him protectively and started back the way he came, the mild sedative in his X-Man uniform's belt buckle to ensure that she slept all the way back home. She needed all the rejuvinating rest she could get, beacause she was in for tough times ahead.
With one inquiring sniff, he knew what they'd done to her-claws, adamantium implants, blood samples taken from Logan himself to give her his enhanced senses and healing, the whole shebang.
It would not be easy to adapt to, and she would need all the X-Men's-and his, especially-support to pull through. Jubilation had paid for his blindness to Cat's real ways, and he would regret it every day of his life. But Jubilation needed *him*, not his vendettas or regrets. She had him, and he would help her survive, the way she'd helped him the first time they'd met. He swore it as he held Jubilation to him and beared her away from their place of nightmares.
***
I know, that was a bit *too* long, but you try to find a space to break a story! That's all for now-like it? Hate it? Let me know! I know, not as much romance as one likes, but I'll make up for it, promise! Coming soon- Jubilation's healing, inside and out, as Logan and the X-Men help their own in her battle to regain her humanity and life in "Untamed".