"Did we figure out if it was possible?" Jubilee looked uneasy. She and Emma had been slow to mend their fences since Jubilee had slapped her.
"It was his suit." Emma said coolly. "All the space suits have some sort of inertia dampening system. He would have survived the fall almost unharmed, even without his healing factor, if the suit hadn't been microwaved." And immediately she wished she hadn't said it.
"I'm sorry." Emma said, dropping her head. "I'm tired."
"Listen, the other day, I shouldn't have. . ." Jubilee began but Emma silenced her.
"It's just some thing that happened." She produced a small, worn and wavering smile. "Karma Maybe." She shrugged. "And it let me see why Lucas cared in the first place." Emma's soft blue eyes carried a heavy gaze. "You're not done living, and a lot of people are."
Jubilee wasn't sure what to say. She had never considered it.
"Just bring him back." Emma said. "You're who I'm counting on. These parents of his. . ." She rubbed her eyes. "They're not the most stable versions of themselves."
"Sounds familiar, like us." Jubilee said, realizing how true it was.
Emma spit out a laugh. She couldn't stop herself. She was punchy and it showed. "Yeah." Emma agreed at last. "It does, but we haven't been institutionalized lately." She chuckled a bit.
"Not that we couldn't have been." Jubilee said.
"Speak for yourself." Emma quipped.
"Please, you're talking to someone who's seen your closet." Jubilee dismissed her. "You've got more leather and chains in there than can possibly be healthy for a single person to own."
Emma laughed, half embarrassed, half-delighted exhibitionist.
"And that teeny, tiny, little, itty-bitty white HARNESS with the suspension rings by the ass and the wrist ties?" Jubilee looked incredulous. "Tell me that ONE PIECE ALONE wouldn't be enough to . . ."
But Emma was laughing too hard. "Okay." She threw up her hands. "Okay." She was slightly red from laughing. "Stop." She inhaled deep, and immediately blushed to a deep red hue.
"Red's your color." Jubilee told her.
"I'll remember that." Emma smiled shyly. "I may need a new wardrobe. The old ones giving me a reputation."
Jubilee stood up. "Sure Em." She smiled "It was the clothes that did it." She chuckled a bit and wandered back out the way she came. But she paused at the door. "When's Hank going to be coming up?"
" I can get him any time now." Emma gestured at the monitor. "He's almost done duct taping himself to his luggage."
Jubilee smiled, nodded twice, and replied "I'll be right downstairs, if you need anything, let me know." She considered her next words. "And I do trust you Emma. Restricting his access and keeping him supervised isn't just a good idea. It is a necessity." She admitted.
"Thank you." Emma said, caught off guard by the sudden compliment.
"Let me know what's happening, once you know." Jubilee looked distant, she obviously didn't like being 'out of the loop'.
"I will." Emma promised, and meant it.
