Warning: Bit of angst/drama? in this chapter

Agent-G: Well, at least someone is reading it! G Glad you're enjoying it, hope this wasn't too long to wait. One more chapter, which I've started writing then an epilogue to go! They're relationship is steady boy/girlfriend at this point, like Scott and Jean's in the series. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3 – Lost

Jubilee tried sending up more fireworks but she was just getting too cold, the surrounding, blurry whiteness beginning to soak subtly through her clothes, so she would soon be cold and wet. She regretted lying in the snow and sitting on the ice crane earlier as her bottom half already felt chilly and uncomfortable. She stood there, shivering, trying to come to a decision about what to do. After a moment of hard thinking she decided to keep moving. She didn't really want to as Bobby was still looking for her and would probably be feeling bad but she couldn't stay where she was, surrounded on all sides by the chilling fog and getting covered by multitudes of cold flakes. Bobby could survive in these conditions. She couldn't. She thought of how they had joked about being in this kind of situation last night and how bitterly ironic it was that it had come true. Last night and the comforting warmth of the fire seemed years ago and a million miles away and all she wanted was to be back there with Bobby and her family at that very moment.

'Why'd I have to have such a dumb power?' she muttered to herself as she inched forward, constantly checking her compass. 'This would be so much easier if I could teleport like Kurt. Or was a telepath like Jean, or had a fiery power like Amara to keep myself warm. Even that jerk Quicksilver's speed would be better, I could run round the mountain, find Bobby and run home in no time flat. I could run home to California in no time flat and get away from this stupid cold snow, be nice and warm again, but no, I get to be the girl who can put on her own personal Fourth of July show.' Then she grew angry with herself for her self-pity. 'Come on girl! You're an X-Man! Remember your training!'

At school they had been taught how to survive in different conditions, including snowy ones, in case the X-Jet crashed anywhere and they were stranded. Storm had even called up a blizzard on the school grounds for them to make it realistic. She cast her mind back to that day and what Wolverine had been telling them. She thought hard for several minutes, but all she could really remember was Amara complaining about the cold, Jamie multiplying and sneakily throwing snowballs at everybody, Bobby dumping a load of snow on Wolverine by "accident" – that had been really funny actually – and Ray and Roberto starting a powered up snowball fight. In short, nothing that was really any good to her at all. All she knew was that she had to get out of the cold, well duh, no-brainer, she thought to herself, and that there was something about sheltering in a snowbank although she wasn't entirely sure how that would work. At last she thought maybe she could find a cave somewhere or at least try to get out of the cloud, which would make it easier to find Bobby. She trudged on, trying not to think about her uncle's warning about wolves.

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'JUBILEE! JUBILEE!' Bobby continued to bellow desperately, but only eerie silence greeted his calls. He was getting more and more worried with every minute that passed. Oh man I lost her. I can't believe I lost her, he thought hopelessly. What am I going to do? What if I never find her, what do I tell her family?

'This is all my fault,' he moaned wretchedly, scolding himself. 'I should have stayed with her, should have called to her to wait and now we've gotten separated and I might never see her again.'

Then another, more horrible thought struck him. He would see her again. Would come across her body, lying frozen in the snow. There was no way she could survive for too long in these conditions and if she wasn't found soon and gotten somewhere warm it was only a matter of time before . . . He visualised her, lying in the snow, her raven hair a sharp contrast against the stark whiteness, her cocoa skin strangely pale. Would her eyes be closed, as if she were merely sleeping? Or would they be open, glassy and devoid of life and her sparkling energy that made them so warm, staring sightlessly up at him . . .

'NO!' His voice thundered into the air, determined to dispel his morbid thoughts. 'Snap out of it Bobby Jubilee's not stupid!' he told himself angrily. 'She's not going to sit around and wait to die, she'll head for home!'

Thinking about this Bobby knew it made sense. They couldn't be fellow X-Men and close friends for years and not help but be able to know what the other would be thinking. Bobby knew Jubilee couldn't easily stand the harsh conditions for long while he could, the most sensible thing for her to do would be to head back to the house instead of wasting time trying to find him. They both knew this, so that was where she would most likely head as soon as possible, leaving him to find his own way back or continue to look for her since he would find it easier. So I might as well head in the direction of the house as well, and maybe I'll find her along the way. Feeling better he took off his bag to dig out his own compass to make sure he would be going in the right direction. He searched all through his bag, taking things out and checking all the pockets but no compass could be found.

'Damn!' he exclaimed, annoyed. 'I must have left it in my room. Jubes had her compass so I thought I'd be okay.'

He thought of Dr McCoy's advice of always being prepared and having everything needed, even if somebody else had the same things. "It's better to have two of something than to not have it at all," he'd always said. Bobby sorely regretted not remembering and heeding it earlier.

'Well,' he shouldered his pack again, face determined, 'I'll just have to make do without it. As long as I keep heading in the general direction I should be okay, the main thing is to get out of this damn soup. Least I don't have to worry about freezing to death.' Unlike Jubilee, his mind grimly supplied before he could help it. Clamping down firmly on the pessimistic thoughts to make them go away he raised his arms slightly and began his ice slide again.

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Jubilee gasped for breath, trying to keep moving. Her legs were killing her and she was getting tired, the air she was gulping down her throat was freezing, making it feel like she was swallowing knives and making her chest hurt. Every step just seemed to sap her energy further but she was afraid if she sat down to rest she would never get up again. There was nowhere sheltered to rest anyway. Her face was numb from the stinging wind and snow and she had long since given up on trying to wipe away the tears caused by the cold that were streaming down her face. She just kept her head down and kept moving. But then something made her stop, something in front of her. She looked up trying to make out what it was and was instantly paralysed by fear. A few feet in front of her was a pack of four or five wolves, in a rough semicircle. Their fur was jet black and they simply stood, looking at her. One of them, already standing slightly in front of the others, took a step towards her.

'Stay back!' she screamed, panicked, finally jolted into action. The wolves all moved forward now, five of them, moving to circle her. She screamed at them to stay away again, firing a couple of her sparks at the leader, hoping to scare them. The large beast moved back a few paces but that was all. Maybe I should tell them I'm a friend of Rahne's, maybe that'll help, she thought desperately. Okay, I think I'm really going crazy now.

She moved backwards, determined not to let them circle her but unsure of what else to do. There was no way she could outrun them and she was out in the open with nothing to protect her or fight with. She just had to keep moving back slowly, try not to let them trap her in a circle, and keep trying to frighten them off. A couple of them bounded around either side of her so they were at her back, cutting off any escape. Her head jerked around, looking in every direction, and everywhere she looked was a wolf. Well, so much for that part of the plan. Pointing her hands at the wolves again, the girl tried shooting more fireworks at them but it didn't seem to work. They were too far away for her to hit them, and instead of running scared just stood, looking at her. She was feeling even weaker now, her legs barely holding her upright, her breath coming in laboured gasps. The more she fired the weaker her fireworks got. Gradually the wolves started moving closer. She tried one last time but only managed a few little sparks that barely went beyond her fingers. The edges of her vision were growing black and she was feeling dizzy. She was too weak to do anything more and despair took over.

'Please,' she sobbed quietly, desperately, 'not like this. I don't want to die like this. Bobby . . .' With that last, barely whispered word she fell forward into the snow, unconscious, as the wolves slowly gathered around.

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'Where the Hell am I?' Bobby wondered aloud, feeling as if he'd been wandering for hours. He was immune to the cold but was beginning to feel tired, and was still worried about Jubilee. From time to time he'd tried calling her name, but had received no response. His head was continually moving, eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of her when he thought he saw a flash of black in the distance. Was that Jubes's hair? he wondered, squinting, trying to see better. It had just been a glimpse, a flash in a space of otherwise never ending snow and he was beginning to think he'd imagined it, but then he saw it again.

'Jubes!' he cried out, as loud as he could, but there was no response. She probably can't hear me, have to try catch up to her. Hope and excitement rising inside him once more he started his ice slide again, going as fast as he could.

Some time later, however, and he was still chasing after the elusive glimpses and flashes of what he thought was Jubilee's hair. Why haven't I caught up to her yet? He wondered, getting frustrated. And why can't I see her bright clothes, only her hair? Am I hallucinating? But he didn't think so, and it looked too real to be a trick of the snow. It is Jubilee isn't it? Who else would be out in this? It was the only lead he had though, so he decided to keep following it.