Usual: Characters? NOT MINE. Money? NONE. The characters belong to the people who own them. Angelo and Jubilee belong to Marvel. Anita & Co belong to Laurell K Hamilton. Our special guest belongs to Animego (best as I can figure). I am being dragged kicking and screaming out of retirement...I finally get out of the game, and then they decide to bring back Jubilee. However, as a recent college grad on the job prowl, we'll see how often I actually write. As you know, the Voices made me do it. I had my Butthole Surfers/Godsmack mix CD in my headset while typing this, so all lyrics belong to them. Onwards!

*emphasis*

//music//

Otherside

//I'm flying//

All she was aware of was the music. The music flowed around her, through her, and she felt the shifting lights wash over her. Cherry was in heaven. Not to mention that she had a cute human to play with for the moment. A smile curled along the young wereleopard's lips as she examined her dance partner. Anita's cousin was simply adorable, in that stumbling human way of his. The girl......Cherry narrowed her eyes a bit. The girl she didn't like as much. Jubilee seemed okay; after all, she had let Cherry drag Angelo out onto the dance floor without putting on a jealous-girlfriend act. In fact, she had given them a merry little wave as they were sucked into the crowd, and she had quickly snapped up Jason for her entertainment. She was a good-natured girl, but she just kept *teasing* Zane and Nathaniel, not that they minded much. And that was probably not a good idea. Nathaniel had been shattered when Anita rejected him, and Cherry didn't want any more silly *human* women hurting him.

She slid around Angelo, running her hands around his chest as she grinned. Angelo gave her a smile as the sound pulsed around them. The cloying, seductive music made Cherry consider treating him as if he was any other shifter, but Anita might not take it well if she seduced the woman's little human cousin. It didn't matter what Jean-Claude said, the boy was as human as they come. So what if he had a taint of Anita's power? Power didn't make you non-human; being a monster was a mindset, not a birthright. 

//I wonder who was in my room last night, who the hell was in my bed?//

Jubilee spun around Jason, thankful for the fact that he wasn't too much taller than she was. So far the older boy had been incredibly polite, something that did not go unnoticed by Jean-Claude's watchful eye. Jubilee huffed in frustration, dragging her dance partner farther into the crowd.

"What's wrong?"

"Your boss." Jubilee gestured back the direction they had come from. "I don't like the way he was watching us." She firmly planted his hands on her waist and snaked her arms around his neck. "I wanna have fun. I wanna dance, and have a good time. I don't want to have Anita lecturing me like I'm a child, and I don't want your boss looking like I'm the next course for the evening."

Jason grinned. "He can't help it. You act too much like Anita, and you've got the taste in clothing he only wishes she had."

"No shit. I swear, all that woman owns is solid color t-shirts and black jeans! That's it! *Maybe* there's some out-of-date suit in the back of her closet, but that's about it."

"Hey now." Jason's grin faltered. "She gets attacked or shot at too often to worry about fashion. Besides, as cute as you look, there's no way you'd be able to fight in that outfit if something came up, and there's always some fight going on around here. So don't be too hard on Anita, she's got a lot to deal with without trying to look out for two humans."

"What did you say?" Jubilee stood still, fists clenched as the music continued to pulse around them. "What did you call me?"

Jason shrugged. "Hey, I saw the sparkle show. I'm sure that's fun and stuff, but this is heavy stuff, Jubilee. You can float, and that's cool, but Anita tends to get in over her head in some serious shit, and you're going to be a distraction when it comes down to it."

"Is that a challenge, pup?"

"Don't try to sound tough, Jubilee. It doesn't suit you. You're too cute for that bad-girl crap, so drop it and let's dance."

//There must have been a body there, I swear I smelled some flesh.//

Jean-Claude smiled to himself as he watched Jubilee drag Jason deeper onto the teeming dance floor, hiding a chuckle as he caught her one-fingered salute that he had no doubt was intended for him. His eyes continued the sweep of the large ballroom, silently savoring the elation and lust that rolled off of the fledglings in waves. A very drastic contrast to the woman who stood next to him, radiating tension. "Are you not enjoying yourself, ma petite? The music is a little loud, but it is not as distasteful as modern music can be.

Anita frowned, never ceasing her scan of the dance floor. "It doesn't feel right. So many new, young vampires, and no shows of dominance. No one is flashing any fang. I can't help feeling that this whole situation is just waiting to explode on us." She waved impatiently at the throng below them. "You've invited all the shifters and vamps, and you expect tonight to end peacefully?!?"

"Do not be such a pessimist, ma petite! My staff...impressed...upon my guests that any show of violence this evening would not be tolerated, and I would see to the discipline of any problems *personally*. Not even fledglings are dense enough to ignore that warning. Your charming cousin and his darling companion have nothing to fear tonight. The girl has not shown an inclination to 'dust vamps' as she so quaintly puts it, and Angelo seems to be enjoying to company of your pard."

"Like I said, Jean-Claude, that's what I'm afraid of. I don't want them getting caught up in this."

"As usual, ma chere, you sound like a broken record. They are adults, they will do what they see fit." He toyed with her hair idly while watching the shifting floor. "They aren't humans, Anita, no matter how human they look."

"Right now I'm just counting my blessings that they haven't met some of my other friends." A small smile played with the corner of her mouth. "It could be worse- they could have met Edward."

That's when they heard the slap ring out above the music.

//My mouth went through the ceiling and my body fell to the floor//

"There has been a challenge!" The crowd roared its approval, shifting uneasily. "Jubilation, guest of the Master, has challenged Jason of the Pack!" The DJ turned toward Jean-Claude, giving a bow to the balcony.

"Don't even consider it!" Anita hissed at him. "Jason will tear her to shreds! You promised, Jean-Claude, no violence."

"Let her." Anita turned to see Angelo striding up to them, an ecstatic Cherry in tow. "Anita, she's pissed. Jason said or did something that really got to her. I felt her telepathy flare a moment ago. I didn't catch much, but I know that either you let her take it out on him, or she's going to be a walking time bomb for the rest of the night."

"If I let the challenge move forward, I can set the rules, ma chere. If I do not do something now, Richard will let Jamil deal with such an insult to the pack. Jason or Jamil, Anita, which do I let her battle? I cannot protect her from both."

"Personally, I think she could take Jamil, but it's your call." Angelo shrugged. "She spooks Jamil something fierce, and she'd be less inclined to hold back against him."

"They are both werewolves! One cut, and she could end up a lycanthrope! Is that what you want for her, Angelo?"

"Que sera sera." Angleo shrugged. "Ella tiene mi corazon, si, pero Jubilee es su propia chica. I can't stop her, and neither can you."

"He is right, Anita."

"Are you telling me that Richard would send Jamil after Jubilee just for slapping Jason? From what Ange is saying, Jason probably had it coming." Anita shook her head. "I don't believe it. He may be angry with me, but he'd never take it out on her."

"It's not that she slapped him, ma chere. That would be excused as defending her honor. It is the fact that she has publicly challenged Jason, and by extension she brings into question Richard's position as Ulfric. If I refuse to let Jason answer the challenge, I am saying that Richard does not have control of his pack. If he did, then Jason would not have done anything to be challenged. He would have behaved himself as my guest, rather than insult another guest and provoke an incident."

"I still don't understand! She is a human, she's not a threat to any of them! What do they need to prove against her?"

"That's the point." Cherry was practically bouncing. "She's theoretically a human. If Jean-Claude says they can't fight, he's saying Richard's pack is too weak to fight a human. Richard can't tolerate that."

"There's no *theory* about it, Cherry. Jubilee's human and she'll get ripped apart if she goes up against Jason! Jean-Claude, you can't be serious about allowing this!"

"I do not have a choice. I am sorry, ma chere. I cannot prevent it, but I will attempt to delay it." Jean-Claude turned to the crowd, spreading his arms wide as they fell silent. "I thought I made it clear, that there was to be no violence tonight. Unfortunately, pride seems to have ruined our peaceful evening. I will allow the challenge, but not here, and not now. I will meet with the Ulfric, and we will settle this." Jean-Claude smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. "I am sorry that our party has been interrupted. Please, continue. Jubilation and Jason, please come to my office." He stepped back from the balcony, and the DJ resumed the music as the crowd drifted uneasily apart and began to resume dancing.

Anita watched as Jubilee plowed through the crowd, blue streamers trailing from her eyes as she took the steps two at a time. A shell-shocked Jason trailing after her. "You two had better have a damn good explanation for this."

"Ask mister macho there." Jubilee snarled over her shoulder as she brushed past Anita. "I need to go out on the roof and vent before I *accidentally* blow something off."

"I thought Angelo said you had your power under control."

"I don't suffer fools well. And I get twitchy when I'm annoyed."

"Jubicitia, don't you think 'twitchy' is an understatement?" Angelo smirked as he pulled her into a hug.

"Nope."

"Do you have *any* idea what you both have started?" Jean-Claude's annoyance was plain as he stormed towards them. "This is not a joke, Miss Lee."

"Tell it to your boy there. He seems to think I'm some kind of Barbie doll."

"I'm getting a headache."

"I'll give you a headache, you…."

"Jubliee!"

"Don't start, either of you. Just don't."

"Um, guys…" Cherry was leaning over the railing, eyes wide as she surveyed the dance floor below.

"Not now Cherry."

"No. Seriously. Take a look."

Anita sighed, and moved to the rail. "Shit. Jean-Claude, I think we have a bigger problem than these two."

The dancers were frozen, hair, clothes, body, suspended in time as a thin mist swirled around their feet. The only movement came from a small girl dancing alone, her laughter floating like windchimes. She stopped, and Anita gasped audibly. The girl's eyes glowed a brilliant gold, and her smile felt ice in Anita's lungs.

"No." Anita sensed Asher move beside her, and felt his fear faintly through her link to Jean-Claude. "She shouldn't be here. She can't be here."

"It would appear that she is." Anita felt the cold feeling settle into her stomach as Jean-Claude began to move back down the stairs. "Kyuuketsu, you honor us."




**Spanish (loose) translation: "What will be, will be. She has my heart, but Jubilee is her own woman."