Chapter 7: The Mansion
There was a soft moan from the bed, and Logan woke with a snap. Jubilee's eyelids fluttered, opened for a moment, then closed. As he leaned over her, her eyes opened again, and she saw the man leaning over her. With a startled gasp, she threw herself backward on the bed, scrambling back against the wall. "Don't hurt me, please don't hurt me," she whimpered.
It tore Logan's heart to pieces hearing her cry like that. He sat down on the end of the bed and reached out to her, wanting to touch her, but she shrank back, avoiding his hand. He dropped his hand with a sigh, blinked back tears. "Jubes, yer home," he said quietly, desperately. "You're home. It's me, Logan, I ain't gonna hurt ya, darlin'."
"Logan?" Jubilee relaxed a little, her eyes flicking warily around the room at the Shi'ar medical equipment, and at the IV Hank had slipped into her arm to give her the vitamins and fluids she needed.
She used to weigh just about a hundred and fifteen pounds. Her week with Sabretooth and her struggle with the river had taken a lot out of her, and Hank had called Amanda back on her cellphone and gotten the particulars from her about 'Julie's' two weeks with her. Logan could see lines on Jubilee's face that hadn't been there before, lines of pain, exhaustion, and uncertainty. More than anything else, he wanted to take her in his arms, hold her, and never let her go again. Unfortunately it looked as if she hadn't recovered her memory. But maybe, now that she was home, Jean and Chuck could do something about that.
Julie looked at the man in front of her. He did look vaguely familiar. "You're Logan?"
"Yes," he said gently. "Jubilee, we thought ya were dead. I thought ya were dead…I'm sorry, darlin', if I'd'a known you was alive, I wouldn't'a stopped lookin' till I found ya." He stopped, because she had a puzzled look on her face.
"What did you call me?" Her forehead wrinkled, the same cute frown he'd loved coming back to her face.
"Jubilee. That's yer name, Jubilation Lee, but we all shorten it ta Jubilee."
Her nose wrinkled, and she offered him a small smile. "That's an awfully funny name," she said. "I think I sort of remembered that, but 'Julie' was the only name I could find in the book that was close." She looked him up and down, appraisingly. "Amanda said I kept calling for you when I had nightmares. And every time I looked at the tattoo on my hip, and I saw your name there, I'd get a memory of something like total happiness." She sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at him, then at the space between them, and then frowned. "May I…?" When he nodded, she edged closer to him until they were almost touching. Then, obeying a sudden impulse that she didn't quite understand, she leaned over and kissed him.
His lips felt warm against hers, and she brought one hand up to touch the rough stubble on his face. That felt familiar. The kiss did too. She closed her eyes, surrendering to the sensual feel of his mouth on hers, and the kiss lasted until they both realized that breathing wasn't optional. She broke it first, took a deep breath, and smiled nervously.
Logan didn't want the kiss to end. It had been too damn long since he had held her in his arms; too long since she had smiled at him, laughed with him, cuddled with him. He wanted to touch more of her; he wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go again. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option.
The door opened, and Logan looked up as Hank walked in. Jubilee saw the white lab coat and shrank back…against Logan this time. He took her hand, patted it reassuringly, and said to her, "Jubilee, this is Hank. He's our doctor, and yer lab partner."
"Lab partner?" Jubilee stayed tucked against Logan's side as Hank came around the side of the bed and turned off the IV. She didn't flinch when he took the IV from her arm, though she did tense up. Hank said, "If you could turn around, Jubilee, I could take a look at that scalp wound." She held still as he pushed aside her hair and inspected the wound. Thanks to the Shi'ar medical equipment, it was nearly healed; Hank had removed the stitches as soon as he'd seen them.
"It's healing nicely," Hank said, sitting down in a chair beside the bed. "Now, if I may ask you a few questions…"
"Sure," she said, with an uncertain look in her eyes.
"We found you in a laboratory owned by Garrett Industries in Snow Valley, Massachusetts," he said as gently as possible, because Jubilee's face had turned chalk-white at his words. "Can you tell me what happened?"
She made a soft sound, somewhere between a whimper and a sob. "Bruce Garrett took me up to the labs to show me around. He said he thought I might be a doctor or something, and he wanted to see if maybe something might jog my memory. After we got there he wanted to put me in an MRI tube. I couldn't stand tight places…I hate small closed spaces…and he got some of his security guards to strap me down and put me in there anyway." She closed her eyes and whispered, "Then he took me over to an electroshock machine. He put this…helmet…on and started to stimulate different parts of my brain by channeling electricity into electrodes. It hurt."
Logan's fists grabbed the bedsheet. How dare Bruce Garrett hurt his Jubilee like that! He was going to go back and kill the little greedy bastard…
He caught Hank's warning look, and forced himself to let go of the sheet. Jubilee had started a bit at his anger, and had drawn away from him. With effort, Logan got himself back under control. Hank turned back to her and said, "You could probably do with some reminders. Logan, why not take her upstairs and show her the room you shared. And I'm sure she's hungry. I believe Jean and Ororo were having a late dinner upstairs, and would be glad of your company."
"I…I don't know," Jubilee said nervously, but Logan tugged her to her feet.
"Come on," he said. "They'd love ta see ya; Jean especially. Come on."
* * *
Jean looked up as Logan and Jubilee came in the kitchen. Does she remember? She said to logan telepathically.
He shook his head. She broke off the link and glanced quickly to Ororo, and then smiled at Jubilee. "Sit down, Jubilee," she said. "Here, help yourself to the leftover roast. You look hungry. I'm Jean, and this is Ororo."
Jubilee sat down, but didn't stop staring at the two women. "I remember you," she said slowly. "You made me mad once, like really, really mad. I don't remember what about, though."
"It was soon after you'd come home from your lecture tour," Jean said quietly. "I pissed you off when I told you that you and Logan didn't belong together."
"I do remember that!" she said, startled. "It was after…after I…Logan and I got in…from…her forehead wrinkled, and she drooped. "Okay, that part I don't remember," she said. "But we'd just gotten back in from…somewhere…and I'd gotten hurt…funny, but I think it was from a fight, but I don't remember with who, or where I'd gone to get in a fight…" she blinked. "But you were fussing about me being somewhere where I shouldn't, and told me it was Logan's fault for dragging out…where?" she sighed in frustration. "I hate not knowing," she said.
She bit into her sandwich as Ororo got up. "Wait here," she said, and disappeared. Moments later, she came back with a stack of photo albums, which she deposited in front of Jubilee. "Look through those," she said. "Maybe that will bring something back."
Jean reached out telepathically to Xavier and Hank as Jubilee started looking through the albums. Hank, is Jubilee recovered?
Hank looked up from the blood tests he was doing to small vials of Jubilee's blood and thought, The head wound is still quite nasty. Jean, if you are thinking what I believe you're thinking, I do not believe that would be a wise move right now. Jubilee has not remembered yet because, for some reason or another, she is not ready to remember. You know how the mind works, Jean.
Upstairs, in his study, Xavier had still not gotten over the wonder of having found Jubilee alive. That excitement tinged his mental 'voice' as he spoke to Jean and Hank. Hank, are you saying it wouldn't be a wise idea to enter her mind right now and try to bring her memories back?
Not right now, no. Hank was quite firm. By all means, do what you can to restore her memory any other way, but I would not suggest telepathic tampering with her mind. Remember, while we have been grieving, Jubilee has woken up in a strange place, not knowing where or who she was, then taken out of that environment just as she was settling in and rudely used in a laboratory. We still don't know exactly what Sabretooth did to her while she was his captive; he may have hurt her so badly her mind became traumatized and chose amnesia as the only way to shield her from that. Eventually she will remember…and when she does, she is going to need all the love and support we can give her. Hank pursed his lips. I can tell you, some of the scars on her body are quite awful. The pain she must have gone through…I cannot imagine how she managed to survive it. Poor Jubilee. He shook his head.
Jean looked at the girl sitting at the table beside Ororo, looking through pictures. Ororo and I are showing her some of the photo albums we have, she told Hank and Charles. After we finish I was thinking of bringing her up to see you, Charles.
By all means, bring her up, Xavier said.
Hank returned to his work, and Xavier returned to his, while keeping a mental 'eye' on the girl downstairs in the kitchen with Jean. Jubilee was leafing through the albums, occasionally picking out things that seemed slightly familiar, but there wasn't a lot. Finally Ororo picked up the albums. "Jean wants you to go upstairs to meet Charles," she said. "He owns this house; he's also our best friend. Oh, Logan," she said, her eyes twinkling, "We all know Jubilee's alive…but Max doesn't."
"Moose!" Jubilee's eyes lit up.
Ororo turned to her quickly. "You remember him?"
"Kind of," Jubilee said. "Tall, big guy…tattoos all over…can't remember where I know him form, or why," she said.
"Maybe if you saw him it would jog your memory," Ororo said. "Perhaps after you see Charles, you could step out to see him?"
"Yeah," Logan grinned. "Yeah, we'll go out tonight. Haveta pick up Jubilee's bike from his garage anyway."
Xavier was waiting for them when Logan and Jubilee stepped into his office. He brought his hoverchair around the desk and folded her into a hug right where she sat in the chair in front of his desk. For a moment he couldn't do anything but hold her, feeling the warmth of the body he held. No matter what happened to her, what she ended up remembering, she was alive, and there was nothing they all couldn't handle together. "Jubilee…" he murmured. "Oh, child, we thought we'd lost you."
She hugged him back, briefly, gently, then said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, but I don't really remember you…"
"It's all right," Xavier said gently. "Please, sit down. I won't keep you long; I understand you are going to renew your acquaintance with an old friend."
"Yeah," Logan grinned. "Gonna take her ta see Moose. All the fuss las' night, I fergot ta tell him she's still alive. He's not gonna believe his eyes when he sees her."
Charles smiled. "I am glad to see you attempting to resume some of your former habits," he said to Jubilee. "I know they won't feel quite as familiar until you regain your memory, but just trying to do them will help. I am glad to see you home, Jubilee."
"It's good to be…home," she said after a slight pause. "It does feel like home. I can't explain why…but it does."
"It is home," Xavier said. "It has been home for you since you were thirteen; it will be home as long as you want it to be."
Jubilee smiled; the first real, wide, old-Jubilee smile Logan had seen so far from her. "Thank you," she said.
Charles waved his hand at them. "Go on," he said. "I won't keep you any longer; your friend has felt your loss almost as much as we have." Logan didn't lose any time; he ushered her out of the room.
She followed Logan out to the garage, and watched as he got on his bike. He put on his jacket, handed her hers, then popped out his helmet and handed her hers. She looked at the three silver slashes on each side of the helmet, and said slowly…"Didn't I give this to you…"
"Yeah," he said. "When ya came home from yer lecture tour."
"What lecture tour?" she said.
He looked at her. "Jubes, yer a real good physicist," he said. "Due partly to yer mutant powers; you can see and manipulate quantum particles."
"So that's what these little fireworks are," she said, opening her palm and watching the little colored sparks dance on her fingertips.
"Yep," Logan grinned as she put her helmet on. "Yer doin' real good, Jubes. We should have ya back as good as new in a week."
"I hope so," she said. "Now how do I sit on this thing…oh…" once again, though her mind might have forgotten how to sit on the bike, her body hadn't. She swung astride the back of Logan's bike as if she hadn't been away for three months, and settled onto the back with that ready-for-trouble gleam in her blue eyes. Logan hugged her tightly, then grinned as she snugged her hands around his waist. She laughed aloud as they drove off.
* * *
Moose was closing up shop, preparatory to going out to Rex's, when there was a knock on the door. "I'm closed!" he called.
"Hey Moose! It's me, yer ol' pal Logan! I got a surprise fer ya!"
Wondering what Logan was doing here, Moose went and pulled up the garage door. Logan stood out on the step, grinning…but Moose didn't see him. He only saw the dark-haired girl standing shyly next to Logan.
"Well, I'll be…" He stared for a moment. "Logan…ya gotta be kiddin' me…"
"Nope," Logan said. "Moose, she's alive!" He could no longer suppress his jubilant shout. She's alive!"
Jubilee found herself swept up in a pair of huge, brawny arms and hugged so hard her breath left her lungs in a whoosh. ""My little Lady…I can't believe it…my little Lady…Yer alive! I can't believe yer alive!" He was laughing and crying all at once as he swung her around and around.
"There's only one problem, Moose," Logan said soberly as Moose put her down, rumpling the top of her hair the way he used to. "She's got amnesia. Till this afternoon, she didn't even know her own name."
"Ah, well, we'll just haveta reintroduce ya ta all the stuff yer used to, right?" he seized her hand eagerly and dragged her toward the back of the shop. "Close yer eyes," he instructed her, and when she opened them, she saw a gleaming motorcycle under the tarp.
"My…mine?" she asked. "My bike?"
"Yep," Moose said. "I fixed it up. Didn't think ya'd ever be back fer it, but I'm glad ya are."
Jubilee got on the bike, closed her eyes. She could just remember being on it before; she knew how to ride it, at least. Her hands found the key, turned it.
"All right!" Moose clenched his fist. "We'll have ya right as rain by the end of the night! Hey, Logan, think she's ready fer Rex's?"
"Yeah," Logan said. "Let's see if she can still beat the pants offa you in pool."
Moose guffawed as he swung onto his own bike. Jubilee followed the two men out into the night.
There was total silence at Rex's when the three of them walked in, then all the regulars crowded in at once. "Hey, where ya been?" "Hey, thought ya were gone!" "Hey, think ya can still hit the cue bal like ya used to?" someone shoved a pool stick in her hand and dropped the white cue ball in her other hand, and she grinned. "Yeah, I can still play," she said. "Lemme show you."
She was in the middle of a friendly game with Greg, one of the regulars, when she felt a shove at her back. She turned, to see a big African guy with ratty hair standing behind her. "Yes?" she said.
Mike sneered. The chick looked like she didn't even know him. But he'd know her anywhere, even with her hair cut short. All noise in the bar stopped, and Logan and Moose looked around from, where they were getting another beer at the bar.
"Mike!" Both men's eyes widened. Talk about ghosts; they'd thought Mike was dead! They started to push their way through the crowd.
Mike grabbed Jubilee's arm. "You an' me, we got some unfinished business to take care of," he growled.
She resisted his pull, trying to wrench her arm out of his grip. "I'm not going anywhere with you…look…I had an accident, I got hit in the head…I don't remember anything…let me go…"
Logan came up in front of the man. "Let her go, bum. Ya got business wit' 'er, ya take it up wit' me." Logan pulled Jubilee's arm from Mike's grip and moved protectively in front of her.
"Get the hell outta my way, runt," Mike snarled. "Ya ain't gonna catch me unprepared again. Ain't no spikes 'round here you can impale me on, see?" He spread his arms wide. "After ya left, one of my gang came back an' got me off. Went ta a hospital, got myself patched up. Been lookin' fer ya two fer a while." He swung a fist at Moose.
Moose roared in anger and pinched back. Mike flew backward, hit the opposite wall of the bar hard. Moose stepped back as Mike barreled into him, and howled as Mike wrapped his hands around Moose's neck.
Jubilee stood, staring, eyes wide. She didn't know who this was; who was this man Mike?
The two big men rolled over and over on the floor; and Jubilee staggered, sat down hard, as a dam broke in her mind. She barely noticed Logan kneeling beside her; she stared unseeing in front of her as images engulfed her.
She was proudly showing off her new tattoo to Moose when the back wall of the garage had fallen in. Sabretooth had stood framed in the opening, and grabbed her friend. "Sabretooth, no!" she cried desperately as he broke Moose's right arm, and then his left. "Stop it, stop hurting him, I'll do anything!"
"Prove it," Sabretooth snarled. "Put this on." He'd thrown the metal collar at her. She'd hesitated…and Sabretooth had broken Moose's knee. His scream of anguish decided her, and she hurriedly fastened the thing on her neck. She knew what it would do, but she didn't care, as long as Sabretooth left Moose alone. He'd dropped Moose to the floor, ignoring the man's cry of anguish, and dropped down on top of her, ripped her underclothes off. He'd raped her. For the second time in her young life, she'd been brutally used and violated, and she screamed "No, please, stop, you're hurting me…"
"…NO!!!" Jubilee's vision cleared, and she saw Moose rolling around on the floor, thrashing under Mike's grip on his neck. Her hands came up, almost automatically, and a huge stream of multicolored sparks poured outward from her hands and struck the other guy. Mike flew through the big hole in the wall and landed in the muddy street outside, looking surprised.
Logan saw Jubilee tense, her eyes glazing, and he moved closer to her. Good thing, because her legs suddenly gave way under her and she sat down hard. He felt her begin to shake, and then her eyes cleared. There was awareness in her eyes again, and a terrible haunted look, just before she blasted Mike through the wall.
"NOOO!!!" she screamed, and the sound of it tore Logan's heart. She'd gotten her memory back; that cry was full of anguish and pain. She got up and ran out of the bar, and Logan watched, stunned, as she jumped on her bike and took off.