Usual: Characters? Not Mine. Money? None being made. Feedback greedily eaten up, and flames used to make smores. I promise, I'm not treating them any worse than the rightful owners do. That said, Onwards!

Note: Shelter from the Storm is it's own continuity. It does NOT intersect with any other stories I have running. There are no spoilers here.

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

- "Shelter from the Storm" by Bob Dylan





Interlude - Stormbreak
By Jeanne M.



"Get Out." The words were low, hissed, as she looked at him through luminous eyes. "Just get out."

**Spark, luv, please.....** He reached for her, the eyes she loved above all else looking like she had just ripped his heart out. **Listen to me.**

"GET OUT!" The last syllable ended in a shriek and the air around her detonated uncontrollably. "You're the one who apparently doesn't want to be here anymore, so get the hell out of my room!" Body quivering with barely controlled despair, her harsh laughter filled the room. "You said you loved me! Hell, Jono, you proposed to me! And now you're dumping me?!? Please, tell me how that's 'love', 'cause I'm missing something here." She brushed the tears out of her eyes, mouth twisting cynically. "You love me so much that you're dumping me. That doesn't make much sense, lover. Oh, wait, would it have anything to do with the fact that Paige just HAPPENED to call and NEEDS you to come back to Massachusetts? Fuck you Jono. Does the last few years mean that little to you?" She sighed, and all the anger seemed to drain from her, as she slid down the wall, covering her face in her hands. Her voice soft and broken. "Does our love mean that little to you, or was I just the replacement the whole time? Please, leave? Get out. Just.....get the hell out of my room."

He hesitated, then nodded once. **I didn't mean ta hurt you, Spark. I love you. I do. But.....this is better for us. Trust me, please? Believe in me?** He waited, but she didn't move, didn't acknowledge his presence in any way. **I'm sorry, Sparkle.** With one last look at the girl huddled on the floor, he left, softly shutting the door behind him.

*****

She had waited until she felt Jono leave the mansion grounds before she left her room at all. He reclined against the chimney, fishing for his pack of cigarettes with one hand while he shuffled cards with the other. He had been trying to get her to come downstairs and eat something for the past two days, but she had just shook her head and shut the door. The only times she left were to wander down to the lake or vanish into the forest. Human company she shunned completely, not that he could blame her. The way she had been yelling, by now the whole school would know what happened. Jubilee did not want to deal with the overload of sympathy at all, but there was no way she could have handled it while Jono was still on the grounds. Remy lit his cigarette and leaned back against the chimney. Jubilee and Jono had been perhaps one of the most stable (and happiest) X-couples ever, and the entire household was still reeling from his hasty retreat to Massachusetts. Emma had apparently slammed the door in his face when he first arrived, and had refused to open it. Paige had been forced to let him in the backdoor. Not a good sign. Despite the fact he had been gone the better part of a week, Jubilee still refused to eat anything or speak to anyone besides him and Stormy. Remy grit his teeth in frustration. Dat woman was quickly fading into a ghost, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Something had died in her when Logan had split, and now the rest of her had been snuffed out. Her beautiful blue eyes were the glassy stare of a dead woman. Remy's stomach churned at the image, and he desperately exhaled his smoke. He missed le petite. Admittedly, he didn't like it when she and Jono were engaged, something about their relationship bugged him. They had never argued, and he couldn't recall a single time that Jubilee had gotten angry at Jonothon. Remy shuttered. They had been almost too perfect, and Remy knew damn well that wasn't healthy.

His ears pricked up at a slight creak, and he turned to see Jubilee standing behind him, a bottle of Xavier's brandy in one hand and two glasses in the other. At his raised eyebrow, a smirk crossed her face as she raised the glasses. "Is this a private party? If so, I'll take my guests and leave."

"Merde woman. Dat be Xavier's stuff. If he finds dat missing, dis thief is the one who's gonna get blamed."

"Then you might as well help me drink it." She saluted him ironically, settling down beside him on the roof. "I hate how everyone still treats me like I'm still fucking thirteen years old." She shakes her head, a chuckle escaping her. "I've been old enough to drink for years, and Jean still gives me hell about it. She still sees me as the baby."

"Not everyone sees you as de team 'baby', p'tite. Remy for one knows you be a woman grown."

Jubilee laughed, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Why thank you, Remy. I appreciate that."

"Non, don' give me that! Remy thinks that you must been a pretty rowdy little fille, I bet you gave your parents hell." At that she nods, raising her glass in a toast. "But Remy thinks you been 'adult' Jubilee for a long time, you just pretended not to be. You had to wait for your body to catch up to your mind."

"Rem, that is quite possibly the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me!" She smiled at him, the first real smile he'd seen out of her since the breakup.

"It be da truth. Now, you gonna share dat, or do I tell Xaiver about your new-found talent for bypassing locks?"

"Phhht. Ya just needed to ask." She passed him the bottle and spare glass while she swished the brandy in her own glass. "And who says that it's a new-found talent?"

"Not me. Never underestimate the wiles of a beautiful woman, or any woman for dat matter. Dat's Remy's new motto." At that she grins again, white teeth flashing quickly before she shoots back the remaining brandy in her glass. "P'tite, how much of dat have you already had tonight? No offense, but you're actin' strangely, even for you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Cajun. And I haven't had nearly enough."

Remy just nodded, refilling her glass in a silent salute. The grim set to her eyes announcing the conversation to be over. So they sat in silence, watching the parade of stars against the cloudless sky.

*****





End Interlude.