Chapter 15: The Cabin
Logan sighed gustily as he closed the kitchen door behind him and pulled his jacket off. He'd stayed out a lot later than he usually did, even for him.
He growled as he ran a hand through his hair. Jubilee had been studiously avoiding him since Hank had released her from the medlabs two weeks ago. She'd spent her time hanging around Bobby, Ororo, Warren, Paige, or whoever she could put between herself and him. The night before had been--or should have been--one of their movie nights. Instead, she'd volunteered to babysit Carter while Alex and Annie went out on a date, something Paige had volunteered to do so Jubilee could spend time with Logan. Jubilee had declined.
It would have hurt if he hadn't known the reason behind it. She was trying to avoid him, trying to avoid the conversation he'd been meaning to pursue with her since she had woken up with her concussion. She'd used Carter, Annie, and everybody else in the mansion as a buffer between them. A stark contrast from the way she'd spent the entire month or so before trying to get closer to him. And she'd jumped into a river after him…!
He climbed the stairs to his room as quietly as he could, avoiding all the creaky places out of habit. The mansion was quiet, and his senses, unused to the silence in a mansion usually humming with people, strained for some small sound.
He was walking past Jubilee's door when he heard it. A small, soft whimper, a sound of pain and anguish, so quiet that he would have missed it if he didn't have enhanced senses. He paused, irresolute. She didn't want to be around him; did he dare walk in on her and wake her from whatever dream was distressing her?
She cried out again; muffled, but it was a cry. He dropped his jacket on the floor and reached for her doorknob. The hell with whether it was right or not, she was his friend, and he'd be damned if he'd let her suffer alone.
Moonlight fell over her hunched form, huddled under the covers of her bed. Pillows were tossed helter-skelter all over the floor, the comforter was lying in a heap at the foot of her bed, and the sheets were tangled around her. Her fists were pressed against her lips, teeth cutting into the knuckles as she tried to stifle her cries. As he sat beside her, he felt the tension in her body, the cold sweat that filmed her bare arms and soaked the sheets, and the heat coming off her forehead and flushed face. "Jubes," he said gently, touching her shoulder lightly. "Jubes, wake up."
She tensed even more, her muscles knotting up, and shied from his touch. He shook his head, sighing, and took her shoulders firmly. "Jubilee, you're just havin' a bad dream. Wake up."
"NOO!!" She sat bolt upright in her bed, eyes still screwed tightly shut, and flung herself away from him, out of bed and toward the door. "No, leave me alone, don't touch me, please, don't hurt me, get away from me with those things, where is everybody! Wolvie, I need you, where are you…" She lurched toward the corner of the room closest to the door, eyes still tightly closed, hampered by the sheets still tangled around her legs. Unable to make headway with her legs trapped by the cloth, she fell onto her side on the floor, curling into a fetal position again and bursting into sobs.
Her cry had woken up those who slept nearest her room, and Logan looked up to see Paige, Rogue, and Remy standing in the doorway. A moment later, they were pushed aside, and he saw Emma striding into the room. She stood over Jubilee for a moment. "Jubilee, wake up," she said firmly.
Jubilee whimpered and curled up tighter, if that were possible.
Emma said, louder, "Wake up!"
Still no response. Emma reached out telepathically and physically, and said, "Jubilee, I said WAKE UP!" She shook Jubilee hard, ignoring Logan's black look.
The telepathic command, and the shake, startled Jubilee out of her dream, and she shot up off the floor, disoriented by the sudden awakening. She backpedaled furiously, until she collided with Logan's bulk, and clung to him for a moment, gasping as though she'd run a mile.
Emma sighed and snapped, "Logan, what are you doing in her room? It's not proper for a grown man to invade a young girl's room in the middle of the night. Go back to bed." She turned to Remy and the others, standing in the doorway. "Go back to bed, all of you. Come on, Jubilee, let's get you back into bed." She started to gather the scattered pillows from the floor and straighten the tangled bedsheets.
Jubilee didn't let go of Logan until Emma commanded her a second time, then she reluctantly let go of him, and he stood slowly. He wanted to stay; he wanted to be with her tonight, but Emma clearly had other ideas. "Out!" She snapped.
"Emma, please," Jubilee finally ventured timidly. "I don't mind. I'd like it if he stayed. Just this once."
Emma paused. "I told you 'no' last night, Jubilee. It's not right. You can't go creeping into his bed at night, and he can't come into yours. Jubilee, he's old enough to be your great grandfather! You'll get over the dreams eventually, like you did at the Academy before. Logan, go to bed." And Emma started to shoo him out of the room.
He refused to leave. "Whaddaya mean, ya told her las' night?"
Emma avoided meeting his eyes. "She's been trying to sneak out to your room the last week or so, since Hank let her out of the medlabs. She said she needed you to help her sleep. I told her she was being silly, and made her go back to her room."
Logan ground his teeth in anger. "Emma—"
"Hush." She gestured to the bed. Jubilee had dropped off to sleep. Logan twitched the comforter over her and brushed a stray lock of hair off Jubilee's forehead before leading Emma out of the sleeping girl's room.
"Emma, she an' I been friends fer longer'n any o' yer students have lived," he said, ignoring the way Emma flinched. Her attitude was hurting Jubilee; he didn't mind hurting her in return. "If she wants t'sleep in my room with me, I don't mind. An' yer not the one ta be tellin' her no. So get off her back about it, okay?"
"It's not proper—" Emma said stiffly, but Logan sniffed in disgust and pushed past her, heading for his own room after a slight pause to pick up his dropped jacket. He walked into his room and slammed the door behind him, not caring if anyone else woke, and reached under his bed for his bag. He'd been putting the little trip he'd planned off for a week now because Jubilee still looked tired and pale, but now he knew she was just suffering from lack of sleep. And that was something he could remedy with a trip upcountry.
He started to stuff clothes in his bag.
He watched Jubilee the next morning when she came down. She was walking even more slowly now, looking more tired than ever, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She was more subdued, and she avoided looking into his eyes as she picked at her breakfast. She didn't even object when Bobby ate the last of the Sugar Bombs—an action that would have provoked an explosion of temper at any other time. As soon as she finished, she headed upstairs to her room again.
He followed her upstairs after a brief word to Remy, and walked into her room just as she was curling back up in her bed to read. "Pack yer bags."
"Huh?" She frowned at him, her brow furrowed.
"Pack yer bag. Lightly. Warm stuff, but just essentials. We're blowin' this joint." He dragged her dusty little duffel bag out from under her bed and dropped it on her bed, vanishing out the door to get his own bag, already packed.
By the time he got back she was halfway packed. He noticed, with approval, that she didn't pack like some of the other women did, with lots of unnecessary toiletries. She tossed underclothing, socks, boots and one pair of sensible shoes in the bag, then a few pairs of jeans, t-shirts, and a spare jacket. A hairbrush, comb, hair elastics to tie back her hair, and finally her toothbrush and toothpaste, and then she shrugged her jacket on. By the time she looked up again, he noticed that she seemed a little more alert, a little more aware of what was going on around her.
He picked up her bag along with his and left the room, Jubilee trailing along behind him. She hadn't been outside in a while (he knew that because he'd been keeping rather obsessive track of where she had been the last week or so) and the breath of cool air she drew as they went out the kitchen door sounded like a prisoner taking his first free breath of air after getting out of prison. Her voice sounded a little happier as she asked him, "So where are we going?"
He slung both duffel bags into the back of Remy's truck and got into the front, reaching across to unlock the passenger side door. She climbed in and buckled her seatbelt, then asked again, "Where are we going?"
"My place up north. We need ta get away from the riffraff, just you an' me. Haven't done that in a while." He looked so annoyed as he said this that she was startled into a sudden laugh.
"You're right, we haven't." She was quiet as he started to back Remy's pickup out of the garage, then said, "Remy's gonna miss his truck."
"No he ain't. I arranged it with him."
"Really? How? He's usually paranoid about his truck!"
"Told him he could ride yer bike while we was gone. Ya know he likes yers better'n mine." Logan grinned wolfishly.
"Logan!! You didn't!" Jubilee exclaimed, aghast. "My bike! The last time he took your bike out he almost totaled it!"
"Exactly why I offered him yers." And then he had to concentrate very hard indeed on the road ahead as Jubilee reached across the seats and attacked him in mock fury. Finally he gave up, pulled over, and squirmed in his seat, laughing, as Jubilee attacked him, fingers probing along his ribs in all the places where she knew he was most ticklish. "All right! All right, I give up!" he grinned finally. He didn't particularly like being tickled…but it was a hell of a lot better than the extended sulk she'd been in for the last few weeks.
His little cabin still sat where he'd left it, a little more weathered maybe but still livable. All the things he'd left here, the blankets and things in locked wooden chests against the walls, were untouched by moths or spiders. A little musty-smelling maybe, but a good airing would clear all that out. He set Jubilee to hanging their bedding on the clothesline outside while he got everything inside ready. With all the chores that needed to be done to get the cabin livable for the few weeks Logan was planning to keep her here, she was too busy doing her share to slip back into her sulk, and when that was done, too tired to try and avoid him. There were only three rooms in the cabin; bedroom, kitchen, and 'living room'. He told her to sleep in the bedroom, which she headed for without a word of protest. He made himself comfortable on the couch with a beer from the store in town, not wanting to go to bed yet. He was expecting her to have bad dreams again; and this time, he would be there for her, and without anyone here for her to hide behind, she would have to talk to him.