Chapter 11: Snowbound

Logan sniffed the air. He smelled smoke. Another deep whiff, and the wind carried to him the smell of Sabretooth's cabin's fire. He smelled Sabretooth himself, but there was no smell of Jubilee. He growled low in his throat. "Creed, I swear, she better be alive an' kickin' when I get to ya, or I'm gonna shred ya like I been itchin' ta do," he swore to himself, and broke into a run toward the direction of the smells.

It took nearly three hours for him to trace the source of the smells. It was almost eleven in the morning by the time he spotted the cabin amid the drifts. He slowed to a crawl, skulking between the thinning trees at the edge of the clearing, using every ounce of the self- control he possessed to keep from cursing when he sank into soft snow up to his waist. The white storm had taken most of the night to blow itself out, and Logan had wondered, rather grimly, how he and Jubes were going to make it back. He had snowshoes, but she didn't. There was no way she was going to be able to get down the mountain without help.

He waited for a long time, looking for any sign of movement in the clearing. Nothing. He began to creep closer to the cabin.

He was only a few feet from what he presumed was a sapling without leaves when he stepped on something soft and yielding. He froze as he pulled his snowshoe out of the deep pile of snow and saw a scrap of crimson cloth. He fell to his knees, digging in the soft snow furiously, and soon uncovered a leg. His heart nearly stopped when he recognized a tiny half-moon scar on the smooth white skin; it was Jubilee!

The snow flew as he scrabbled in it, finding another leg, the rest of the red dress, then a bare arm crossed with rope, shoulder, a throat with a trace of dried blood on it, and finally Jubilee's face. He slid out a claw, severed the rope that held her to the post, and brushed the loose flakes from the blue lips. He nearly screamed in anguish; then, unbelievably, he saw the shallow rise and fall of her chest. She was still alive!

He yanked off his coat, unmindful of the cold wind, and draped it over her. He patted her face gently as he said coaxingly, "Jubilee. Jubilee, wake up. Jubes, it's Logan. Wake up, you're safe, I'm here."

The eyelids fluttered, and opened, stared unseeingly at him for a moment, then closed again. Logan felt her hand. It was cold, but not as cold as it would have been if this had been a regular snowstorm. The snow had piled up around her so fast that it formed an insulating layer around her body, hiding her in a 'den' of snow away from the cold winds. She might be suffering from the early stage of hypothermia, but she would be all right if he could get her into a warm place and thaw her frozen limbs out.

There was a growl from behind him, and Logan started to spin around. Before he could get upright, a heavy weight plowed into his back and sent him facefirst into the snow. He got up, wiping the snow from his face, and turned, to see Sabretooth sneering at him from where he stood between Jubilee and himself. "You're early, runt," Sabretooth growled, assuming a ready stance. "Wasn't espectin' ya ta come fer da frail till after da storm. What'd ya do, track 'er all night?"

Logan didn't answer, unwilling to waste his breath talking. He crouched, low to the snow, assuming the same ready position Sabretooth was holding, and watched the other's body language for clues to any impending attack. Sabretooth continued to taunt him.

"She growed up nice an' purty from da li'l firecracker ya used ta pal around with," Creed continued. "Nice curves she got now. Ya screwed her yet?"

Logan ground his teeth furiously. "Watch yer tongue, Creed, 'fore I rip it out fer ya," he snarled.

"Aw, I hit a nerve," he said. "Maybe when I'm done with ya I'll leave ya alive long enough ta let yah watch while I screw yer girl," he said, never taking his eyes of Logan. "I tried ta show 'er she'd be better off wit' me than with you, but she didn't wanna cooperate, so I left her out here ta teach 'er a lesson. She'd have ta warm my bed fer me if she wanted ta come in out o' da cold. She chose not to." He shrugged. "Wouldn't'a been my fault if she froze ta death out here. What's da difference, screwin' me or you? I wonder if she was screwin' da Cajun too? Looks like she gets aroun' a bit, runt."

"If you're trying ta make me angry with Gumbo, Creed, ya wastin' yer breath," Logan growled in anger. "Jubes ain't the kin' ta 'get around'. She wit' me, she always gon' be wit' me. An' you flashin' yer li'l twig at her ain't goin' ta change her mind."

Creed roared in fury and sprang at Logan. Logan ducked, spun around, and took up position where Creed had stood just moments before. Now he was between Creed and Jubilee; he would die before Creed would touch her again. He wasn't going to move away from her. He sneaked a peek at the still form behind him; hoped she would be okay until he'd gotten rid of Sabretooth and could get her inside. He sniffed. Though his nostrils were almost filled with the rank, fetid smell of Creed's unwashed body, there was enough clean air blowing under his nostrils to keep from gagging; and also to tell him there was another storm coming. Another white storm, if he read the signs right. He wondered how close to the Canadian border he was; this sure smelled like his old stomping ground.

Creed made another rush at him, then at the last moment, he veered aside and his claws slashed at Logan's bicep. His claws left five shallow parallel gashes on Logan's arm that stung even as it healed. Logan cursed himself for his lack of attention and he focused back on the fight in front of him.

Sabretooth had seen the quick glance, and taken advantage of the fact. So. Logan did care for the girl. He could use that against Logan; he just needed to reach the girl first. He circled Logan warily, but the other man's guard was up, and he couldn't see an opening.

A chill wind ruffled Jubilee's hair, and she shivered. Her eyes opened. She lay still for a moment, cataloging her injuries. Her leg was mercifully numb; the slashes that Sabretooth had left on her thigh still bled sluggishly, and she had the feeling that when she finally did get warmed up it would hurt like hell, but for now it was numb. Something was missing; after a moment her cold-numbed mind identified it. The ropes didn't bind her arms anymore; she was free. She brought her cold, stiff arms up to her neck and yanked the narrow metal band from around her throat. Abruptly the stuffed-with-cotton feeling in her head went away, and she felt her powers returning to her. She kept her eyes closed, reached out to the air molecules around her and sped them up to warm herself up. She was just getting feeling back to her fingers when she heard a roar over the sound of the wind and something heavy landed over her legs.

Her eyes flew open, and saw Logan, lying over her, his shoulder blades digging into her calf. She gaped in disbelief; she didn't expect to see him here this soon! He smiled, gasped out, "Told ya…I'd always be here f'r ya…from now on…darlin'."

Euphoria surged through her. Logan was here, with her. Together they could take anything on, take any enemy out. She gave him a hand up as Sabretooth rushed at him, and Logan rolled out of the way just in time.

Logan sprang up, snarling. Jubes was awake; she had her powers back; she could take care of herself from here. He turned to Sabretooth, a fierce light in his eyes. "Let's dance, Creed," he taunted.

Sabretooth snarled. The runt and the firecracker together he couldn't take on. Jubilee had hurt him earlier when he crashed the party; One eye was still not working properly.

He lunged at Logan, but the smaller man slipped past him, quick as lightning, and slashed at his side in passing. Sabretooth howled in anger and pain as his blood stained the snow. Logan followed it up with a fast spring to the other side, slashed Sabretooth's other flank. Jubilee stepped off to the side, trying to get out of Logan's way to let him move.

Sabretooth snarled in anger and sidestepped Logan's next swipe quickly, hoping the other man wouldn't notice he was moving closer to the girl. Jubilee, concentrating on the battle in front of her, didn't see the danger she was in until Sabretooth grabbed her around the waist, pulled her close to him, and held one razor-sharp talon to her throat. "Not another step, runt," he snarled. "Or da frail gets an extra airhole."

Logan looked panicked, but he didn't see any other way to save her but to do as Sabretooth said. He lowered his claws, retracted them, and lowered his arms. "Let her go, Creed. This is b'tween me an' you. Leave her outta it."

Sabretooth tightened his grip on Jubilee's throat and shook his head. "Uh-uh, runt. She's important ta ya. That makes her important ta me, too."

"Really," Jubilee's eyes narrowed. Logan's eyes tried not to wander down to where her fingers were glowing; and with Sabretooth's position behind her, he couldn't see her blue eyes glowing as she built up her power. "Well, Logan's important to me, but you know, I really can't say the same for you. In fact, I could care less if you dropped dead." She whirled and grabbed the side of Sabretooth's head.

Inside his brain, the molecules of plasma that made up part of his blood began to speed up, pumping through his veins faster and faster. Logan stared in astonishment as the capillaries in his eyes swelled and burst. Sabretooth started screaming as the whites of his eyes turned red with the burst blood vessels, and he started to scream. The plasma heated up from the accelerated movement and began to heat his veins and arteries, and traveled through his body toward his heart. The blood that dripped from the gashes on Sabretooth's side started to steam as it hit the ground.

"Jubilee!" Logan was shocked by the queer glitter in her eyes. Jubilee wasn't usually this bloodthirsty; and she'd never killed before. But she looked perfectly capable of doing it now, as she watched Sabretooth writhe under her hands, screaming as she boiled the blood in his veins. She didn't take her eyes or her hands off him as he crumpled to the snow in front of her, screaming silenced. Logan was alarmed when she didn't let go. "Jubilee!"

Her eyes were glowing, a deep sapphire glitter that scared him. The outlines of her body glowed with the same light, as if her power were consuming her. There was no soul or reason looking out of her eyes, just pure, soulless power. He had never seen anything like this before; it was reminiscent of his own berserker rage, done with Jubilee's power.

He grabbed her wrists, being careful not to touch her skin; he didn't want the blood boiled in his veins, thank you. After some pulling, which got more frantic as the wind picked up and he saw a wall of white snow heading for them, he got her to drop Sabretooth's body. They ran for the cabin just as a wall of white swallowed the cabin and Sabretooth up in a white blur.

Logan slammed the door and bolted it against the howling wind, gave a sigh of relief, and turned to Jubilee. She had collapsed on the floor as soon as they'd gotten in. Now, as he leaned over her and looked into her eyes, the eerie blue glow faded, and the young woman he knew and loved returned. "Jubilee?" he said cautiously, holding out a hand. She reached out, took it, and he helped her limp over to the cot. "Sit down," he directed her. "I dropped a backpack full o' supplies back by the trees. Don' worry," he said as he saw the alarmed look she was giving him, "I won't go far. An' after what ya did ta Sabretooth, I don' think he's going ta be any bother ta us." He left, closing the door carefully, and headed for the backpack.

Where Sabretooth had been lying in the snow there was now only a shallow depression that was rapidly filling with snow. Logan shook his head and kept heading for the backpack. As soon as he hit the treeline, he bent and scraped about in the snow for the backpack. His questing hands snagged on the strap, and he pulled it out of the snow. He retraced his steps back to the cabin, got inside, and closed the door.

Jubilee was sitting on the cot, inspecting the gashes on her thigh critically in the dim light from the dying fire. Logan dropped another log on the fire, waited until it was a right, steady flame, then shed the outer clothes he wore and removed the thermal clothing he wore. Now dressed more comfortably in jeans and a flannel shirt, he crouched on the floor and gently moved Jubilee's hands, inspecting the wounds. He pulled the backpack over, opened it, and took out a pad of gauze presoaked with antiseptic. He began to wipe down the wounds gently as she said, "Logan…I'm sorry."

"Sorry f'r what, darlin'?" he said.

"For what happened out there." She was silent for a minute, then said, "I just…I got so angry…Logan, he tried to rape me. He had me on this cot…and I suddenly remembered Bastion…and I would have killed him right there, if I'd had my powers. Logan, I've never gotten that angry before...I think I even scared myself."

Logan started wrapping a bandage around her leg as she went on. "I can't believe I killed him…Logan, what a horrible way to die, even for someone like him."

He finished with her leg, picked up the backpack, and sat down on the cot beside her, pushing her hair off her neck and checking the cuts on her neck. They were superficial, but he figured he'd better clean them anyway. She rattled on, and he let her talk herself out, figuring it was mostly shock. She'd been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours.

He cleaned the cuts on her face, carefully cleaning the cut across the bridge of her nose. It was barely more than a scratch, and he figured she wouldn't scar. When he was done, he pushed the backpack off the cot and pulled her back against him for a moment, holding her as she lapsed into silence. "Ya didn't, darlin'," he said finally.

She twisted to face him. "What?"

"Ya didn't kill him," Logan said. "When I went out ta get the pack, he wasn't there. Probably limped off somewhere ta lick his wounds like the dog he is." He kissed the bare shoulder, feeling the flesh warming under his lips. She was still cold, but at least she wasn't dying of hypothermia. "Y'know," he said, letting his hand wander down to the tiny dress zipper behind her back, "Ya'd probably be a bit more comf'rtable if ya got outta this dress."

Jubilee giggled a bit, and it was a sweet, wonderful sound for him. "I don't have anything else," she said.

"From where I'm sittin' I don't see where that's a problem," he teased her gently, trying to cheer her up. She giggled again, and he took that as permission to start pulling that zipper down. "I'm sorry I missed seein' ya in it," he said as he slid the wet rags off her chest. She stood up and he slid it off her body the rest of the way. She stepped out of it and kicked it aside, then sat down again. He unhooked the black strapless bra, and tossed it aside as he touched a small bruise on the curve of one breast. "Did he do that ta ya?" he asked, his voice soft.

Jubilee looked at the bruise, startled. "I don't even know how I got that," she said, touching it gingerly. "Didn't know that was there until now." Logan drew in a breath, his blood racing through his veins. He shouldn't, he really shouldn't, but…he dipped his head, kissed that tiny bruise, and kissed his way across the soft skin, listening to her soft moans, set at the same pitch as the wind outside. After a while, he heard nothing but her voice, as her cries eclipsed the howling of the wind.

* * *

They lay much later on the cot, listening to the wind. Logan got up to put another log on the fire, and as he waited for it to catch fire, he looked at the young woman lying there asleep. He'd found a long time ago that physical intimacy was a good stress reliever; from the look on her face, Jubilee had just discovered that too. She was dressed in her lace panties and one of his flannel shirts; though they were about the same height, she was a bit slimmer, and the tail of the shirt just covered her backside. She looked so desirable lying there dressed in his clothes. He wanted to wake her up and listen to her say his name in that soft whisper he only heard from her in bed…but he busied himself instead opening a can of soup that Professor Cohen had slipped into the pack and heating it up by the fire. It was warm and he was just contemplating waking her up when her eyes opened of their own accord.

"Smells good," and she stretched, lazily, like a cat. Logan swallowed hard as she got up and came over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body against his. "I'm starving."

"I'm hungry too," he said, searching the cupboards for the china and taking out two cracked bowls. He filled both with the soup and watched as she sat back down on the cot (there were no tables or chairs here) and tucked her legs under her as she ate. "So where did you go?" she asked finally.

"Went ta my ol' stompin' ground up yonder," he said, pointing at the north wall of the cabin. "Hadda do some thinkin'. Jubes, I'm sorry f'r what I said before I left. Yer an adult, ya got a right ta make up yer own mind 'bout who ya want in yer bed, an' if ya want me as much as I want ya, there ain't no point in me makin' both o' us miserable by denyin' that I love ya, too. It was Scott who said somethin' that made me think; he said--"

"I know what he said," Jubilee pushed a piece of meat around in her bowl with her spoon. "Jean and Scott both apologized before I left for Professor Cohen's with Remy." She put her spoon down and looekd him in the eye. "And before you ask…no. Remy is my friend, as he is yours as well. There was nothing going on between us. He did spend a few nights in my room, helping chase the dreams away when you left, and he did offer to escort me to the wedding, but it was as a friend only." She grinned suddenly, the wide grin he'd last seen right after the bar fight at Crossroads. "In fact, he's got a new girlfriend; flirted a bit with the salesgirl who helped me find the shoes to go with my poor dress, and got a date with her. Get this, Logan; she's a ballerina. Can you see Remy squirming through an entire ballet just so he can see her?" she chuckled. "She's got to be something else if he's going to such lengths to see her."

Logan chuckled as he finished his soup. He had a hard time imagining the Cajun at a ballet, but he would do almost anything for a pretty girl…

Jubilee dropped her spoon into the empty bowl and grinned as she put it in a wooden bucket with some of Sabretooth's other dirty dishes. "Right, then. Enough talk. I missed you so much, Logan, you wouldn't believe…" her words trailed off, and she proceeded to show him just how much she'd missed him.

* * *

Sabretooth growled as he smelled the wind and heard the faint sounds coming from the cabin. His fists clenched. The little slut, taking Logan over him! And that trick she pulled with her power…apparently, in the years since he'd last scrapped with both of them, she'd learned a few things. His body still shivered with the memory of the pain he'd felt as the heated blood poured into and through his heart. He'd have to be careful with her…but the thought of her spirit fanned his desire to take her and break her, and he was determined to do just that…once he'd figured out how.

He approached the cabin from the windward side, taking care not to let his scent carry to the man inside the cabin, and spent some minutes walking around, packing the snow down. He finally stood back, grimly satisfied, and an unpleasant smirk crossed his face. There. They'd see that, and know he still wanted her…and what Creed wanted, he tried his damnedest best to get. He ran off into the forest.

Behind him, trampled into the fresh snow, lay the words, We ain't done yet!