Author's note: I just wanted to tell you that this chapter as well as the next two happen start at the same point and end about the same time.

Madman's Heart

Part 15

They were on the open road, over thirty miles away from the X-men mansion, and that was all jubilee could ever want in that moment. She sat back breathing a sigh of relief and began to fiddle with the radio before remy could ask any questions. He had to look in his eye, a look that Jubilee got use to while she was at the mansion. One of those looks that the adults give you when they are about to ask a question they know you won't want to answer.

"We're stopping in New York." remy stated over the music and Jubilee looked at him with a bit of shock.

"Yeah, and what have both the X-men and Sinister show up at our door steps. Thanks, but no thanks." Jubilee stated and Remy frowned while changing lanes. Jubilee watched as the street signs rushed past them as Remy accelerated to twenty over the speed limit.

"P'tite, dey be looking for flights out of de state. I don' know about you, but Remy rather be on de ground if dey try to capture us. Unless you be hiding wings under dat shirt, Remy don think it be to much fun trying to avoid dem." Remy stated and Jubilee rolled her eyes at him. Remy only laughed slightly as he turned his attention fully to the road.

"Yeah, so let's just wait it out and see if they show up… great plan oh wise Cajun. You want me to shoot up the "I'm right here Flare" or do you." Jubilee stated and went back to the radio trying to avoid remy's demon eyes.

"What he do to you dat make you so bitter chere?" Remy asked with a tone that hurt Jubilee's heart, she shook it off and stared out the window trying to ignore the comment. Remy looked over at Jubilee and smiled at her and grabbed something from the backseat of the jeep.

"What's this?" Jubilee asked while she turned the brown leather package around so that the label was facing her.

"Creed left dat for me incase t'ings don' go good. Said to give it to you." Remy stated as Jubilee's mood livened up a bit, but he could see something in his eyes that made him question the bag. The look almost had sadness to it. "P'tite, you don' have to answer any questions about your past unless they be deathly important to the situation."

"Really, you won't like try to pull age rank or nothing." Jubilee asked, and looked him over carefully, but made it come off as more of a gesture.

"Non petite, Remy know what it like to not want to talk about de past." remy stated to the younger girl and unknowingly gained a whole new level of respect from the mallrat. "Open de t'ing, de package been bothering me since he left it."

"Curious? I thought thieves weren't suppose to be curious." Jubilee stated and rolled her eyes at him as she began to pull the tape away from the flap.

"p'tite, Thieves in de business because dey curious. Who knows what might be in de room next door. You might come across the Mona Lisa." Remy stated with a wide spread of his hands and Jubilee let out a laugh at his goofy grin before turning her attention to the contents in the package.

"That asshole." Jubilee stated and was cut off when the jeep jerked slightly. Looking over at the Cajun he was giving her a stern look for cussing. "What… oh come on, I'm 17 years old and have lived with a man who could let more words fly in more languages then I ever knew existed." Jubilee stated while pulling out a contact lenses case.

"Really, never thought of Sabretooth as a man who would pick up many languages. What's de big deal wit' de contacts?" Remy asked as he got the jeep under control.

"When I first came to live with him, we went out to get me some clothes and Vic kinda noticed that I wasn't looking anyone in the eye for to long. He asked me why and I told him cause my eyes got me pointed out as a mutant all since you know, their color. Asians rarely have blue eyes." Jubilee stated and gave a small smile at Remy.

"I t'ink your eyes are très beau. So what he do, go buy you contacts?" Remy asked as Jubilee turned her head so he wouldn't see the slight blush.

"Yep, gave me an ultimatum with them too. He knew I hated the thought of wearing these stupid things all the time, so he said I either had to start facing the world with my head high or I had to hide behind the contacts." Jubilee stated with a laugh and ran her fingers over the lid to the right eye contact.

"Let me guess, you didn' wear them." Remy stated with a grin while holding out his hand for the contacts and Jubilee laughed before dropping the contacts in Remy's waiting hand.

"You kidding, I paffed those things right there and then. Of course we kinda got kicked out of the store before a riot could start. Owner wasn't to happy about his brand new radio being blown to pieces." Jubilee laughed and snorted at the memory.

"P'tite, don' ever let anyone talk you into wearing t'ese things wit' out a good reason." Remy stated and threw the contacts into the back seat. Jubilee held back the laugh when she pulled out the next item and smirked like a cat who caught the canary.

"Credit cards and enough money in U.S., Mexico, a couple other countries, and I'm guessing South America currency, maybe stopping in New York is a good idea." Jubilee stated as she looked at the money with a glint in her eyes.

"Petit', Remy doubt dat what it for." Remy stated as Jubilee pouted at the loss of her shopping spree.

"Party pooper." Jubilee stated as she dumped out the last few things from the bag. A few passports in several different names, all for her.

"I been called many t'ings before, but never a party pooper." Remy told jubilee and looked over at the stash on her lap. "Good, dat makes getting out of this place a whole lot easier. Petit' you ever had lobster?"

"Um… not for a really long time. My parents would have them sometimes. I never really ate any cause it looked weird, but it was okay." Jubilee rambled out as she looked over the different passports before stuffing them in the inside of her jacket.

"How about we enjoy what remains of the night before we decide how to get to Brazil." remy stated with a smirk as he took the last exit into New York city.

"I still think that we should be getting on a plane before Sinny decides to pay an unwelcome visit." Jubilee told him and crossed her arms over her chest while looking at the skyline of New York.

"I know, But trust Remy. He no lead you wrong P'tite." Jubilee snorted at that one and remembered what Creed had told her about trusting the very man in the car with her.

"Yeah, Yeah. Shopping then dinner. Better be a nice place that's all I'm saying and NO food that still moves." Remy couldn't help but let out a laugh at the comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shopping for a dress to wear to the dinner, it should have been a half and hour at most. No, it had to take three stores with at least half an hour in each. Remy sighed looking at his watched. Their reservations are in 25 minutes and he was beginning to doubt if they would let them in.

"P'tite, we have to be there by 3:30 or else me may lose de table." remy stated as he knocked on the dressing room door. He already had his tux on and Jubilee was trying on the last dress in the pile she had picked out. It was a light green from what he could see and to his surprise she walked out wearing it with a smile.

"So whatcha think?" Jubilee asked while spinning slightly. Remy whistled and clapped. The dress was light green alright and the bottom hit just above her knee. It was a lacey type of material that had small following ruffles at the bottom and was wide enough for her to break out in a run it she had too. The top was a bit tighter and had spaghetti straps that wrapped around the back of her neck, leaving the top half of her back exposed. All in all it was a very beautiful dress and looked wonderful on her.

"Chere, you sure you didn't model for dat dress?" Jubilee laughed at that and Remy grabbed Jubilee's pair of jeans and tee-shirt off the dressing room floor before heading towards the counter with Jubilee in tow.

"Hold on Remy, I gotta get some shoes and all to match the dress." Jubilee stated before heading over towards the shoe area with in the store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The restaurant was one of the new places for night owls. It's business hours were from six P.M. until dawn. It wasn't packed, but there were quite a few tables taken around the restaurant. Remy told her that the place would start picking up again once the clubs began to slow down. It was classy, but still trendy enough for the college kids to feel at home, that is if they had enough money to pay for the tab. The restaurant had a wonderful idea behind it, but New York was probably one of the few cities that it would work well with the late hours.

The dinner started out nicely, A glass of imported wine for Remy and some sparkling cider for Jubilee. Jubilee, thought underage, would have preferred the wine and wasted no time in telling Remy that. Remy only laughed a bit and raised an eyebrow at her. Jubilee knew what he was thinking in that moment, something along the lines of her being underage. After order, more on Remy's part since half the menu was in French, the waiter showed Jubilee the English version of the menu after they had ordered, Jubilee was enjoying the salad when a young man stopped at their table.

"Mademoiselle has a call. Would you prefer it here or perhaps in private?" The man asked and Jubilee looked at him wit ha raised eyebrow.

"Here would be fine." Jubilee stated and chewed on the tip of her fingernail as the phone was brought over. "Who'd know we are here?" Jubilee asked over at Remy, who only in turn shrugged, but Jubilee could see the flash of cards as he held them in his palm. Picking up the phone almost as it would bite her, Jubilee brought it up to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Firecat." The word was said as more of an insult then a nickname. Jubilee for an instant felt like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out as she held the phone tighter.

"Who the hell are you." She whispered out harshly and Remy looked at her with questioning eyes.

"A bit of advice for you, Creed is dead. Sinister sends his regards and hopes to see you in Brazil." the voice stated before the phone went dead. Jubilee could feel the paffs work their way out of her hands even as the plastic handle began to melt in her hand. Jubilee dropped the phone and looked around the room. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but somewhere, within the semi-crowded restaurant, was someone to take her to Sinister. The room was closing in on her, at least that's what her mind was telling Jubilee right before she bolted out of her chair and ran towards the door. The quick sound of something little hitting the table beside her told her that someone was indeed here and that they meant business.

'Get out of the restaurant, the streets, safe place to hide.' Her mind was working in over time, running through the possible things she could do to avoid a confrontation with her captures and yet still led them away from a person she was suppose to bring in, Remy. One lady let out a gasp as she ran past her, the door within sights and Jubilee pushed the door open as the cool morning air hit her. Taking a few short gasps of the air, Jubilee darted past the building and down a few streets before the sound of footsteps caught up to her. At first she thought it was Remy, but the quick and harsh sounds of the foot step told her otherwise. Remy wouldn't have made that loud of footsteps, no his would be light and soft with a bit of squeak for the new leather shoes he didn't have the chance to break in. Instead these footsteps were of high heel shoes, awkward, but keeping up with her no doubt. Turning the corner into an alley, Jubilee darted in and out of the trash bins and barrels as she made her way to the brick wall, maybe fifteen feet at most, that separated this alley from the next. Jumping as high as she could, Jubilee used her gymnastic skills to land on the small window ledge, then quickly clear the wall with room to spare. She landed on her feet and did a quick roll as the momentum was more then her body could handle, but she was back on her feet even as her follower climbed over the wall.

Jubilee shot a look over her shoulder as she started to run again. The women was about five ten, medium build, had black clothing on that covered almost every inch of her body. Not the same person who was in the restaurant, two captures at least. Jubilee rounded the corner, thankful that the streets were relatively empty. Jubilee darted down another alley as the woman turned to corner. Looking over her shoulder, Jubilee didn't notice till it was too late that the alley was a dead end. The wall ahead was a good forty feet high, probably a building of some sort and nothing that she could see was low enough for her to grab onto. Out of breath, Jubilee turned and looked at the women as she rounded the corner and stopped.

"Come now child, we can do this the easy way or I can just beat you sensesly, I have no quarrels with either one." the woman stated in teasing tone and Jubilee could almost see a smile underneath the mask that hide her face.

"Get lost you cheap piece of trash, you couldn't beat me if you had even half of Bruce Lee's talent." Jubilee stated as she planted her legs. Her dress was torn up the side of her legs, probably after she had jumped over the wall, as well as on her side from the roll. The woman laughed and ran at her making a swift uppercut towards Jubilee stomach. Jubilee sided stepped it with a laugh as she did a swift kick to the woman's unguarded side.

"So Sinny sent you after me, kind of an insult after all he knows about me." Jubilee stated and felt her legs being swept put from under her. The woman was now two women.

"Guess what my power is brat, I can create a carbon copy of myself. How about we try two on one." On of the women stated as she stomped her foot down where Jubilee's stomach was. The foot missed by a few inches as Jubilee flipped herself up and kicked the lady backwards as she did so. The copy made a swift kick at Jubilee's head, but the kick meet empty air as Jubilee ducked and landed a hard punch in the copy's ribs. Jubilee felt a punch land on her shoulder as the other half of the person joined the fight again. The two worked in perfect harmony, one attacking then the other, Leaving Jubilee little room to fight back, only defend. They circled her, getting Jubilee so she was in the middle of the fight and continued they're attacking until Jubilee was low on breath and energy. The nights with little sleep were catching up rapidly on Jubilee and she understood what the nightmares were for now.

'He wanted me to lose sleep, be fatigued enough in a fight that I wouldn't win. Stupid bastard.' Jubilee thought and felt one land a swift kick to her side and the other to her shoulder. She feel to her knees, her breath knocked out of her from the blows, but was on her feet in enough time to block the next couple of rounds. 'Remy, where the hell are you?'

"See, nothing can beat us, not even an annoying kid like you. Just give up sweetheart." The women said in union and Jubilee gritted her teeth as she ran at one of the woman. Using the speed, Jubilee flipped in the air and landed her hands softly on the woman's shoulders.

"If you're so close, why don't you go share a happy hug." Jubilee stated as her momentum carried her over the woman's shoulders and Jubilee planted a foot in between the lady's shoulder blades. As Jubilee fell to the ground, she brought the woman with her and as her back hit the ground, with enough force to send what little air was in her lungs out, Jubilee flipped the woman over to the copy. The two collided with enough force that they merged back into one person. Jubilee sat up as the woman held onto the wall for a second as the blow left her with out her wits. "And that would be one for the home team."

"He said not to kill you, but nothing about a little damaged." the woman stated as she pulled a gun from her boot. Jubilee's eyes went wide as she tried to rush to her feet, but only fell back down when a wave of dizziness hit her. She looked at the woman's eyes, triumph was held in them, and the gun was already pointed at her. Jubilee held up her hands as the trigger was pulled and let everything in her out. Unable to control the raw power any more then a direction, Jubilee sent everything she had at the gun and bullet. Watching those harsh green eyes as they widen from surprise as the bullet melted into nothingness and then a scream. Jubilee wished she couldn't hear the scream or even see those eyes as the surprise turned to pure terror. Something in Jubilee snapped and she felt nothing as the energy slammed into the woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It don't hurt to kill, no anymore. Most the time I just slip into a place where nothing touches me. Things just seem like a movie at first. I'm watching Die Hard not reality. But after they're dead, the shock and adrenaline wears off and you know. You killed someone. That first time I threw up. Same as the next couple of times. Nothing to be ashamed off, everyone does it after they realize, some sooner then others." David told her and Jubilee wished she hadn't asked.

"Do ya, you know, remember anything or is it all a blank?" Jubilee asked as she chewed on her finger nail.

"The eye's. You can learn just about anything from a person in those few second before they die. Eye's are suppose to the window to your soul and all that junk, that's what I thought when I first heard it, junk. But after watching someone die… well you begin to believe it. The eyes kinda faze in and out as they realize what happens, then they go blank. Death sits in there first. It's almost as if you can see the soul leave the body. It can be addicting if you have the right frame of mind. I only found it haunting." David told her and Jubilee nodded before turning and looking out the window.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, was he right, the woman's eyes held that realization that she was a goner even as the energy ate at her body, burning the flesh from the body then the meat and finally her eyes went from pain to nothing as the power climbed up her body towards her head. Nothing was left, and Jubilee for an instant felt glad, till the smell hit her. She fought back the vomit until she felt something hit her, flow into her. It was the remainder of her power, looking for an outlet. She felt the paffs flow into her one at a time, being absorbed after such a cruel task. She bent over and threw up everything she had eaten at supper.

That was how Remy found the young girl, bending over and trying to get rid of everything in her stomach, but nothing remained. For a second he hovered looking at he charred wall then back to the girl who was heaving with enough power to do damage. He hesitated, not sure if she would see him as a threat or not if he tired to comfort her, but the sounds she made, broken and hurt, made him hug her around the waist. She was hot, almost unbearably so. It burned his skin as he placed a hand on her forehead to hold her hair away from her skin.

"Shhh, Petit', you need to calm down. Dis not be good for you. Everything will be fine, Remy make sure." He stated and mumbled more words into her ear as she shivered and her temperature dropped. Then the reverse effect set in and she began to draw his body heat into her. Almost as if the lose of the heat had left her freezing inside. He felt cold, colder then he had ever in his life. It was almost like jumping from the hot tub into the hotel pool, only this was much worse. Then he could feel his powers kicking, trying to use the kinetic energy to fight off what ever Jubilee was doing to him. His whole body began to slowly go numb and she pushed him away from her with all the force she could muster from her tiny, shaking body. It wasn't much, but in his numbed stated is was enough to cause him to lose his balance and fall on his back. She crawled away from him, the charred wall, and the smell.

"Don't touch me… don't touch me." She screamed and Remy felt his body warm up as she hugged herself. There was a faint glow around her as the alley grew colder.

'She's drawing de heat into herself to stay warm. Wat de hell is happenin' to her.' Remy asked himself silently as the glow around Jubilee began to fade and she looked at him with sad eyes.

"Nothing will be fine… you can't make me better Remy Lebeau. The only man who can would only make me worse. He did this to me." She whispered out harshly and almost brokenly. "He won't destroy his pet."

"Dere be other ways to help." Remy stated as he began to feel his legs again and sat up better.

"No, Don't you understand… he gave this to me. I'm not suppose to have this. My body can't hold so much… so much energy. I wasn't ready and now it hurts so much." She hiccupped out and tears formed in her eyes. "It hurts Remy, it felt like I was on fire, now I'm so cold, so very cold. And the energy, it comes back and burns up what ever I have left in me. I can't do that again. And there's more he wants, oh god Remy if he…" the thought dawned on her. Sinister still had more of these little treatments to go through. It hit her like a mach truck going ninety, that power would tear her apart and Sinister wanted it to. He wanted her to be his ticking time bomb. His power source for all his evil. But that wasn't the worse part of it, after she figuratively blew up, she would only need to recharge and be able to do so again. Jubilee couldn't handle it anymore. The last thing she saw was those green eyes wide with pain over laid by haunting red ones before she passed out into sweet darkness.