Chapter 28: Resolutions

Logan awoke to the sound of softly humming machinery and the sound of Hank talking rather absent-mindedly to himself. "Not been taking care of herself…I told her…"

He sat up and looked over to Jubilee's biobed. She was sill sleeping, peacefully, in the same position he'd put her down in. Now Hank was carefully inserting an IV in her right arm.

"Whaddya mean, she hasn't been takin' care o' herself?" he asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

Hank turned around t the sound of Logan's voice and peered over the rim of his glasses. "Well, good morning, Logan…or should I say good afternoon, as it is now well into the p.m.?"

Logan gave the clock on the wall a startled glance. The hour hand was indeed well past the two. "She been asleep all this time?" he asked Hank, concerned.

"Most assuredly, since I have been present most of the morning," Hank said amiably. "Would you mind handing me that bag of glucose solution by your left elbow there?—Thank you," he said as Logan handed the requested item over. "As I was saying, she hasn't been taking proper care of herself. Her blood sugar is far too low, for her."

"This is a bad thing?" Logan frowned. "I thought lowerin' her blood sugar would be a good thing."

"For most people, yes," Hank said. "High blood sugar is usually indicative of pancreatic dysfunction and encroaching or progressive diabetes, but in Jubilee's case it's a necessity. Sugars are empty calories, providing no nutritive value but containing small bursts of energy when processed by her body. Energy which Jubilee uses to produce her pyrotechnic displays. With her blood sugar as low as it must have been before she tore the Hellfire Club apart, she was forced to draw on the reserves of energy inherent in her body fat to produce the energy required for such a dramatic display. It works, but it is an inefficient and dangerous method. She left herself with barely enough energy to carry out basic bodily functions such as breathing and muscular movement, which controls her heart. I spoke to her a long time ago, when she first came, about keeping her blood sugar up so that she could produce her plasmoids at a moment's notice. She hasn't been doing that."

Logan blinked, suddenly realizing why Jubilee had gotten so slim. He'd been building her muscle tone with the morning workouts, but by depriving her of sugary foods, he'd forced her to draw on her own body for the energy needed to power her plasmoids…which she'd also been forced to produce in increasing quantity. No wonder she looked so exhausted after the Danger Room sessions…and why she'd suddenly started sleeping more. He gulped. "'Fraid I'm gonna haveta take responsibility fer that, Hank," he said. "I cut a lot o' her sugar outta her diet when I started trainin' her."

Hank raised his eyebrow, but didn't comment for a while as he set the glucose solution to feed into Jubilee's arm. "This should rectify the situation, but when she awakens—" he went to a cabinet and took two Twinkies out of a box marked 'trash bags' under the sink. "Have her eat those. Strictly for medicinal purposes, you understand. Then take her upstairs for a full meal, complete with dessert." He hung the bag from a hook above the biobed. "She should wake up in about a half hour, but I don't want her getting up until the entire contents of that bag is inside her, all right? And no excitement." Logan nodded, pulling a chair over. Hank went over to the small refrigerator, in which he stored medicines that needed to be kept cool, and took out what looked like a hero sub wrapped in white deli paper. Logan suddenly found his mouth watering as he smelled roast beef, cheese, mayo, and all the other fixings he liked.

Hank smiled as he gave Logan the sub. "All yours, Logan. You need to eat after the events of yesterday as well. I will get something from upstairs." He turned and headed for the door, then turned as something occurred to him. "Logan. The next time you feel compelled to adjust a perfectly healthy person's daily nutritional consumption, consult with me first, all right?" His eyes twinkled, but Logan could tell Hank was serious.

"Okay, Hank. I promise." Logan grinned as Hank disappeared out the door, and settled in to eat his sub.

He was just finishing it up when he heard footsteps again, and they weren't Hank's. He sniffed, picking up the smell of Emma's White Diamonds mixed with Scott's Kenneth Cole Black, and wrinkled his nose. "If ya want Hank, he's upstairs," he said brusquely to the visitors.

"Uh, no," Emma said tentatively. "We wanted to talk to you."

Logan crumpled the deli paper in his hand, resisting the urge to throw it at Emma and Scott and say something extremely rude. He settled, instead, for "I don't wanna talk ta you."

Emma sighed, and crossed her arms. Logan heard the whisper of her white linen blazer against white leather, and rolled his eyes. He didn't turn around. "We wanted to apologize, Logan. For not taking Jubilee at her word when she came asking us to help her find you." Scott spoke first.

Logan did turn around at that. "And why didn't ya? I heard the conversation Chuck had with ya last night. He was right. If it was anybody else on the team you'd'a gone right out. But it was Jubes who brought the news, an' so ya hesitated."

Scott sighed and walked into the room from where he'd stood outside the doorway and grabbed a chair from the corner, intending to sit down. Just before his rear hit the chair,  Logan gave the chair a shove with his foot that pushed it back against the wall. Scott found himself in an undignified sprawl on the hard floor. "Hank said no excitement. So say what ya gotta say, an' leave." His tone was heavy with hostility. He didn't even crack a joke at Scott's expense.

Scott rose to his feet, cheeks as red as his glasses, and fidgeted. Logan raised an eyebrow. It had been a long time since he'd seen Boy Scout do that. "I guess…I just got used to seeing her as a child, a teenager, Logan, not as a young woman capable of joining a team and pulling her own weight as a real member. And her control over her powers has always been tenuous at best, and at worst…he shook his head. "Well, the Hellfire Club was an example of how bad her control could be."

Logan sprang out of his chair, eyes blazing, claws popping out. Emma tensed. Scott didn't move. Logan pressed his claws against Scott's throat, not breaking skin but dimpling it slightly, as he growled, "Don't criticize her till ya know what happened. What she did back there was as good an exercise o' control as I've ever seen in anybody. She protected me, an' herself, while she was doin' it…an' she controlled the spread o' the explosion so anyone inside the club could get out. She didn't even bury Pierce under the buildin', more' the pity. Everyone got out. No fatalities. And when she coulda let it go when the buildin' was gone, an' maybe demolished another half a city block, she restrained it, controlled it, pulled it all back in so nothin' in the area got damaged or harmed. Her control's gotten a lot better since I started workin' with her, an' don't ya dare try an' tell me she's a danger 'cause she can't control herself, 'cause I know she can. Not like you, blowin' roofs offa buildin's in battle like there ain't no tomorrow."

Scott flushed, but that was about the only reaction he could manage with Logan's claws that close to his throat. "I didn't know, Logan. It was part of the reason I came down here, so I could find out exactly what happened. And I'm sorry about that remark about her control."

Logan allowed two of his claws, the outer ones, retract, leaving a single sharp claw in the front still pressing against Scott's windpipe. "Ya used ta be her pal, Cyke, she used ta call ya her big brother. What happened?" he retracted the last claw and sat back down, staring at the somnolent figure on the biobed. She was still asleep, even though Hank had said she should wake up in a half hour. Was something wrong? It had been almost a full hour.

Scott sighed. "I don't know, Logan. She grew up, I guess; she doesn't need a big brother figure looking after her anymore. I guess…I was still trying to be her big brother, and only managed to drive her nuts in the bargain. What she needs now is a mentor, someone to guide her into becoming an active member of the team, and a mature young woman. Looks like you're what she needs right now." He reached out and laid a hand on Logan's shoulder, a faint smile hovering around his lips. "Better you than me, Logan."

Logan snorted in amusement, anger gone. "Yeah. She'd probably confuse you more." He allowed a grim smile to lighten his features. "Well, maybe when ya get yer head outta yer—"

"Logan," Scott warned.

"—ass, you'll realize she's all grown an' capable o' takin' care o' herself. Fer now, though, I think she'll be more comfortable on 'Ro's team."

Scott was silent for a moment. The hand fell from Logan's shoulder. "I guess you're right. But I'll miss having you on my team."

Logan shook his head. "We're a package deal, Scott. If ya can't handle her on yer team, ya don't get me either. Maybe one day we'll work on the same team again. For now, though, I think Jubes an' me are better off with Ororo."

Scott said nothing, simply nodded. Then he left, taking Emma's arm as he did and steered her out of the room, leaving behind only their scent.

Logan wrinkled his nose at the smell of Emma's perfume, and tried to hold back the sneeze…but it came anyway. It sounded loud in the quiet of the medlabs.

"Geez, Wolvie," came a voice, and a tissue was thrust in his hand. "Don't lose a lung there. It'll take a while to grow that back."

He looked up, startled, wiping his nose, and saw Jubilee lying back against the pillows, smiling gently. "At least it'll only be a lung," he snorted sarcastically. "You, on the other hand, you're enough ta make an ol' man's heart stop. Permanently. Wreckin' a buildin'! That's usually Cyke's job!"

Jubilee chuckled. "Well, since I'm so good at doing that, looks like I'll be wrecking buildings on Ororo's watch, not Scott's. I guess we gotta have one building-wrecker on each team."

Logan picked up the two Twinkies and handed them to her. "Hank said to eat those when you woke up."

Jubilee's eyes seemed to get bigger at the thought of the sugar those two confections contained. "But...is it okay with you?" she asked mischievously.

Logan tossed them at her with a mock groan. "Yeah, it's okay with me," he said, reaching forward to ruffle her hair. "Hank told me not ta go messin' around with what ya eat too much. Ya ain't been gettin' enough sugar, which is what that's for." He gestured to the IV in her arm.

Jubilee grimaced as she looked at the needle in her arm, then returned her attention to the Twinkies. Getting them open was something of a trick, with her injured shoulder giving a twinge every now and then, but with Logan's help she managed it. She bit into the first one, closed her eyes and gave him a blissful smile. "Mmmm…"

Logan had to laugh. "After ya finish that, there's a full meal waitin' fer ya up in the kitchen. Complete with dessert. Whatever ya want. An' no trainin' sessions fer ya for a couple o' days."

Jubilee grinned even wider. "A vacation! Cool." She sighed and sank back into the pillow, finishing off the Twinkies. After a moment, she opened one eye and said, "Logan? I didn't…hurt anyone…when I wrecked the Club, did I? I tried to go slow, but it was so hard…those rooms, with all those things in them…they reminded me of the Church Of Humanity's torture room, and I kept having flashbacks to the stuff that happened to me…it was hard to concentrate on slowing the reaction down with the memories of the hell I went through…"

"Jubes," Logan said gently, all levity gone. "I think I'd even have had a hard time controllin' myself if I was in yer shoes. And I admire yer grit; ya went inta hell ta get me, an' ya succeeded. Not a lot o' people woulda been able ta do that. Ya come a long way, an' I'm proud o' you."

Jubilee's head rose off the pillow, and she smiled slowly, a brilliant, wide smile he hadn't seen in a long time. "You're proud of me?"

He smiled back. "Yeah. Ya done good, Jubes."

She squealed happily and sat up, leaning forward to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her, smelling the faint odor of garbage in her hair (she obviously hadn't had a bath since yesterday.) "Love ya, Jubes—" he began.

"Love you too, Wolvie," she said.

"—but ya'd probably smell better after a bath."

Jubilee gave a giggle and sat back. "I'm sorry. I was so worried about getting to you…and then later, just getting some sleep…that I completely forgot about cleaning up. And my shoulder hurt so much…She looked at it. "Hmm. Doesn't hurt much now." She reached back, peeled up the corner of the bandage, and looked under it. "Hey. It's all healed. Thank God for Shi'ar medical equipment." She pulled up the rest of the bandage and held it up. "Wolvie…?"

He took the blood-stained bandage from her and dropped it into the wastebasket Hank kept in the corner for just that purpose. A quick glance at the IV bag showed it was empty, and he deftly removed the needle from Jubilee's arm, taped a piece of gauze over it, and tossed the spent bag and tubing into the same wastebasket. Then he gave Jubilee a hand off the biobed. "C'mon. You go up there fer a shower an' a change o' clothes, an' by the time ya get down, there'll be some grub waitin' fer ya. Anything in particular ya want?" As soon as he said that he knew what her answer was going to be.

"Sugar Bombs!" he said at the same time Jubilee said it. She laughed. He ruffled her hair and laughed too, and they left the medlabs together.

They were in the kitchen scrounging through the leftovers when the front doorbell rang. Since there didn't seem to be anyone else closer to the door at the moment, Jubilee got to it first and opened it.

"Peter!" she said, surprised. Peter Parker stood out there on the doorstep, smiling at her. "What brings you here?"

With a flourish, he brought a bundle of flowers out from behind his back and presented them to her. 'Get well soon', said the card on the stem of the flowers. Jubilee giggled as she sniffed them experimentally. "They're lovely, Peter. " She held the door open. "Want to come in?"

Peter eyed Logan, who had appeared at the end of the hall behind Jubilee, quietly popping the first set of claws, and shook his head. "Uh, no, just came by to give you the flowers and this," he said, digging into his jacket pocket for a small box. Jubilee took it curiously, putting the flowers on the hall table and opening the box. "My necklace!" she exclaimed. "You found it!"

"I stumbled over it when I was poking around the rubble," he said, shrugging. But the sparkle in his eye belied the seeming casualness of the statement. "The chain got a little crushed; the links collapsed under the weight of a brick that fell on it. I took the liberty of replacing it. I didn't think you'd mind."

Jubilee looked stunned. "My God, Peter…how do I pay you back for this?"

He grinned sheepishly, and reached into his other jacket pocket. "Uh, well, funny you should mention that, but I was supposed to go out to this movie tonight with a friend, and he backed out at the last minute, so I have an extra ticket, and I was wondering if maybe you'd care to…?" he let his voice trail off.

Jubilee grinned, widely, happily. "Oh, yes. I'd love to…as long as my teacher doesn't have other plans.." she turned toward the kitchen. "Wolvie? Do you have anything planned for tonight?"

Logan leaned against the doorframe. "Ya wanna go out t'night, Jubes?" he was casually inspecting his claws, pretending to be cleaning a spot off the edge of a blade. "With radioactive spider-boy here?"

Peter looked at Logan warily, keeping one eye on the extruded claws and one eye on Logan himself, alert to any sudden moves that might become a threat. "Uh, yeah, I'd like to take her out tonight."

"What time's the movie?"

Jubilee looked at the ticket quickly, but Peter answered first. "Seven o'clock."

"So she's gonna be home by nine."

"Uh, well…" Peter looked even more apprehensive as Logan glared at him. "I was sort of thinking of taking her to dinner afterward at the Kiss Café. I wasn't planning on bringing her back until maybe eleven or twelve."

"It don't take three hours ta eat."

Peter was looking even more uncertain now. "Uh, well…"

Logan popped his second set of claws. "She's my partner. I expect you're going to take care of her. Treat her right, or…" he waved his fist in front of Peter, who nodded vigorously.

"Take care of her. Yes I will, I swear I will. See you tonight, Jubilee…" and he was gone, heading down the drive to where his car waited, trying not to look as though he was running.

Jubilee turned to Logan and swatted him. "Logan!"

"What?" he looked back at her, all innocence.

"I'm never going to be able to date properly if you scare off all my dates!"

"Just wanna make sure they don't hurt ya, Jubes," he said quietly, retracting his claws and picking up the flowers, looking at the tag seriously. "You been hurt enough fer any two girls yer age. I haveta take care o' you…so you can keep takin' care o' me." Now he did smile.

Jubilee grinned at him, throwing an arm across his shoulders and they headed back to the kitchen. "So here's the deal. You take care of me, and I'll take care of you. How's that sound?"

"Great," Logan said.

"One condition," Jubilee stopped walking. Logan eyed her suspiciously. "You stop scaring off my dates!"

Logan just laughed.

END

Yeeehaaa!

FINALLY got to the end of this story. Now, I hope no little birdies come twittering in my ear with more ideas to expand this story.

Well, if they do, I'll just write another one.

Which will make all of you out there very happy, I bet.

I've absolutely enjoyed writing this story, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it too. I'm going to be entering this in the X-Day competition, in the Novellas category, instead of 'Secrets And Shadows'. That one, in case some of you hadn't read it yet, is rated R, for some graphic stuff, and the rules for X-Day say nothing over an R rating will be allowed this year. Of course, there will be some who want to try and slip under the bar, but the contest coordinators will catch those, as they usually do.

I originally posted this under a G rating, but the chapters dealing with Wolvie and Jubes' sojourn up at the cabin and the scenes inside the Hellfire Club are a little iffy, so depending on the feedback I receive, I'll be upgrading it to a PG 13, which, I think, would be more appropriate. If anybody has any comments about that, I'd welcome them.

Acknowledgements:

Ladybugg: Love the feedback, the reviews, and thanks so much for your vote in X-Day in advance. Even if you read the other submissions and decide mine isn't the best, I'll still respect your opinion, and your honesty!

Megalictis: The next time I get ideas and don't have time to pursue them, I'll send my plot bunnies over to see your plot bunnies, and we can watch them multiply like rabbits together! grin But really, thanks for the Spidey idea. You weren't alone; look at the reviews I got! People like the idea of a Spidey /Jubes adventure. Gives me some ideas…

Ellie: What can I say? You've been with me almost since Story 1, and I am extremely grateful for all feedback.

Felidae, Dionne: Hopefully I'll hear from you guys at some point. I miss you! I miss your sense of humor and your comments and I miss talking to you!

DevDev: I hope you liked it all. There were some veiled references to the alternate 18 in succeeding chapters, but I tried to keep it down because 1) I really didn't have time to write another altchap and 2) because I didn't want to write an alternate ending! But I hope you liked it anyway!

I have some projects right now I really have to work on and get done, one for a writing contest that carries a $75 prize, so I'll be busy with that for a while (it has nothing to do with X-Men—don't ask! you're not going to like the answer.) Also, news is that X-Day has been postponed till January due to site problems. So that gives me some extra time to review my submissions list. I hope some of you reading this now will go and vote later. Not just for me. X-Day draws a lot of people in, both amateurs and professional writers, and the gathering of talent really is worth seeing. So I hope to see you there!---Jaenelle