disclaimer: All characters are the property of Marvel, except Jenny who is MINE.
Human in a Mutant World
by Dizi
Chapter 10
The day she met with the police, Jenny was given a guestroom. The only good thing about sleeping in the med-lab was that by some miracle she didn't have any nightmares. There was something about the room that made her want to sleep as soon as she walked in... and she was tired of sleeping and the constant mother-hen-ish eye of Hank. The new room was filled with things she was terrified to touch for fear of breaking them, but at least it got her out of the med-lab.
Jenny was also tired of borrowed clothes and handouts. She wanted to see what could be salvaged from her apartment and go from there. It was two days more before Hank deemed her fully recovered and able to leave the mansion. Finally, there was no reason not to get control of her life again.
During those two days no one would let her do anything. She got up early to help with breakfast and Jean or Ororo would give her a glass of juice and make her sit down at the table. She'd never felt so lazy and useless in her life. But today would be different. Jenny went to the kitchen determined she would help, even if it was only washing dishes. Since she was outnumbered by people just as determined to make her rest, she wondered how far that determination would go towards achieving her end.
Jenny peeked around the door looking for Ororo. She was the one who usually got her to sit down and the others all backed her up. If she could get past her Jenny might be able to do something besides sit. Not seeing her right away, she cautiously stepped inside.
A squealed "Jenny!" was her only warning as Jubilee ran through the back door and threw her arms around her in a bear hug.
"Jubilee! Oh, how I've missed you!" Jenny hugged her back and both were laughing. "But what about school?"
"Wolvie sprung me for the day." She gestured at Logan coming in the back door. "Someone told me you needed to go shopping, and who knows the mall better than me?" Jubilee grinned broadly.
Jenny hadn't thought of going to the mall, she usually went to discount stores. "Well, I do need a few things, but I need to clean my apartment first. See if anything can be salvaged. I also have to go to Harry's and get my pay."
"We thought we could take care of your apartment," Scott gestured to the men at the table, "while all you ladies went shopping."
"But it's my things, I should..." Jenny tried to protest.
Bishop shook his head. "We'd rather you not see the... mess." he said, thinking of the blood and gore all over the place. Jenny tended to pay attention when Bishop made statements of this nature because he usually tried to help her handle things instead of simply keeping her from taking care of them herself.
"Besides, it'll be fun. I haven't been shopping in ages." Jean piped in, ignoring Scott's grumbling about credit cards. She and Ororo were determined to make sure Jenny got some better clothes. "And it's better as a group sport."
Jenny knew she was wavering but wasn't willing to give in yet. It was her apartment and her mess, and she just didn't feel right leaving it to someone else to clean up while she had fun. Help, yes, but to have them do it all...
Then Ororo played her trump card. "If we have time, you can show us where you had your nails painted and we can all get ours done." She'd loved Jenny's nails and the women didn't get theirs done often, since the paint tended to get ruined when they were on a mission or during training. It would be a nice treat for all of them.
Jenny looked at her hands and remembered how much she'd liked having pretty nails, missing seeing Hank and Ororo exchange grins behind her back.
"Please, Jenny, say yes, I've never had my nails done by someone in a real salon before!" Jubilee exclaimed making Logan narrow his eyes and mutter something about her not needing to worry about such things yet. "And there's the chili-cheese fries. We can not go to the mall without getting chili-cheese fries." She gave Ororo a special look.
Returning it, she agreed, "Of course."
"If you're sure you want to spend your day cleaning my apartment?" Jenny knew she was done but had to give them one last chance. The men all noded emphatically, especially Bishop who was the only one to have seen the aftermath of her apartment. With everyone looking at her expectantly she could only say, "Sounds like a plan to me."
Taking a seat, she couldn't help asking Jubliee, "Why did you call Logan 'Wolvie'?"
Jubilee sat beside Logan and smiled at him. "It's short for his codename: Wolverine."
Jenny looked at him, blinking several times. "But isn't that some kind of weasel?"
At the stares and muffled laughter around the table, Logan's eyes narrowed dangerously. Everyone stopped to watched him stalk out of the room muttering under his breath before they erupted with laughter. Jenny asking, puzzled, "Well, isn't it?"
The first stop still had to be Harry's. Jenny needed money and Harry had been holding her's since she didn't have a bank account.
Seeing his face she knew right away something was wrong. "You don't have my money?" she guessed.
"Naw, I got it, that's not a problem." The big man hesitated. "Jenny, is it true you're nineteen?"
She looked stricken. "I can explain-"
Harry stopped her. "One of them cops who were investigating the jerk that attacked you was in here yesterday." He sighed heavily. "Hell, Jenny, he said he'd shut me down if he caught you workin' here. He seemed to know all about you."
"So, I'm fired." She looked around despondently. The place wasn't much really, but she loved it. Harry's was more home to her than her apartment.
"NO!" Harry wasn't letting her go that easy. "I figure you can still do the books, hiring the waitresses, and setting the schedule, that sort of thing. I'm no good at that stuff and you are. He can't get me for that. You just can't wait customers no more." He paused. "If you'd be willing to do that 'til you're twenty-one."
"I'll be twenty in a few months." Jenny said, thinking quickly, full of hope. She's been doing those thing for awhile now and could handle it fine. "It would only be for a little over a year." Which seemed like a long time right now. "We can try it, but I think I'll have to get a second job. I can't make it working part-time."
"That's fine." He let out a relieved breath. Harry hadn't wanted to let her go. Not only was she the best waitress he'd ever had but he'd come to rely on her. He'd found he had some kind of strange fatherly feelings where she was concerned but didn't want to think about that. It had torn him up inside seeing her bleeding on the floor. "We'll try it like that then."
Jenny had never been shopping with someone else before - she didn't count her mother as that was so long ago. To have so many people concentrating on clothes just for her was unnerving. She hadn't known it could be so fun, nor so easy. They didn't let her look for herself, instead sending Jubilee with clothes for her to try on. In some ways, she found it very strange as they picked items she would never have chosen herself.
She'd never really paid attention to her clothes, mainly wearing plain t-shirts and jeans that were really too big on her. Over the last few days, Jenny'd come to realize how much she'd hidden herself with her clothes. She hadn't realized how much she'd grown up and she now had a real figure. After seeing the women at the mansion, she was ready for pretty things to wear and grateful for their help.
Ororo had gotten permission to give a discrete word to the women and they were all aware Jenny wanted to keep her back covered. But that seemed to be a small obstacle to them and they found lots of things for her to try on.
Jean and Ororo seemed to concentrate on clothes more suitable for work, while Jubilee and Rogue looked for everyday clothes. They did find jeans but they weren't like any she'd ever had before. They were in different colors and some had lovely designs. The same was true of the shirts and blouses, some of which were sleeveless that Ororo made sure covered her scars. A few had low backs but between them all they convinced Jenny to get a couple button up shirts she could wear over them to keep her back hidden. Rogue even found a swimsuit with a top like a short shirt and Jenny was delighted, as she hadn't been swimming since before Sally's death.
They barraged her with pants - mainly jeans - shorts, shirts, blouses, skirts, dresses and clothes of all sorts. All were in pretty colors and patterns. Jenny was in heaven, but had trouble figuring out what she would do with so much. It wasn't the money, she had been saving and had plenty, but she just didn't know what she would do with them all. Not that she was willing to give any of them up.
The real shock was the lingerie Betsy took it upon herself to pick out for her. It seemed the pretty robe had been hers and Jenny couldn't fault her taste. Blushing, she tried to explain she felt funny getting such revealing and expensive items, and she certainly wasn't going to let anyone else see her with them on. In the end, the underclothes made her feel so very adult and feminine she couldn't resist. Though she made sure to get plain pajamas too.
They didn't stop there. Just when Jenny thought they were done the women moved on to accessories. She found herself buying belts, purses, and costume jewelry. Their obsession with shoes was completely mind boggling, Jenny being given a horrified look when she stated she already had shoes and they were fine.
Finally, they deemed Jenny to have enough of everything and went on to the food court for the promised chili-cheese fries and also milkshakes. Everyone taking time to rest from their labors. Jenny couldn't believe the whirlwind all of them turned out to be when shopping. Together they were worse than Jubilee on a hyper day, and they seemed to take it all so very seriously.
While they rested Scott called Jean and relayed through her they'd finished Jenny's apartment and would bring the few surviving items to her room at the mansion. There hadn't been much left, a few cd's - music being one of Jenny's loves, especially while cleaning - odds and ends pieces of clothing, towels and some toiletries.
Everything else had to be thrown out. They spent hours carting out her trashed possessions and sweeping up broken dishes and assorted items. Hank moaned over the torn books and momentos from all her friends that she'd shared with him and could never be replaced.
When they'd scrubbed, vacuumed and overall cleaned up as best they could, Warren suggested getting a special service to clean the rest of the blood and gore. Logan said, and they all agreed, it would be best if Jenny never returned there. Bishop and Remy pointed out it might be a problem convincing Jenny of that.
Or so they thought.
She brought the subject up while they all had their nail's done. Shuddering, she told them "After everything, I just can't imagine going back there."
"Sugar, th' Professor said ya could stay with us as long as ya want." Rogue reminded her.
"Well, yeah, he did but it just doesn't feel right living off someone else, and now I have to get a new job..." Jenny hadn't meant to tell them about that but was distracted watching Claude - the nail artiste - painting the intricate designs on her fingernails.
Admiring her own nails, Ororo said, "I understood you to be happy with your position at Harry's."
Jubilee was having trouble keeping still she was so excited by the experience of getting her nails done professionally. "Why would you want to leave? I know you like it there."
Seeing their curious looks and Betsy's arched brow, Jenny muttered, "I'm underage."
Jean was sure she hadn't heard correctly. "I'm sorry?"
Not meeting their eyes, "I'll be twenty in a few months." Jenny sighed. "Mike, one of the detectives looking into Prof. Notheis, told Harry he'd close the place down if I stayed on waiting customers. Harry's willing to keep me on part-time doing books and stuff, but I can't make enough to live on that way and I'll need another job."
Jubilee's voice was loud and clear. "Rotten jerk." Rogue nodded agreement, but Betsy, Jean and Ororo were happy to have their friend out of such a rough environment.
"Maybe we can help." Jean said thoughtfully. "Between us, I'm sure we can think of something." She was remembering Hank and Charles saying they could use an assistant, and she decided to speak to Scott and them about it.
Putting the new clothes away was a huge chore after a long day, but Jenny was determined to finish the day in her own clothes. She'd decided it was worth the extra work to get everything in her closet so she could see them all before deciding what to wear.
Jubilee had offered to help but seemed distracted and was just sitting on the bed and seemed to be watching Jenny closely. She could tell her young friend had something on her mind but she was too tired to try to figure out what it was. At this point the possibilities were seemed endless.
"Jenny?" Jubilee's voice was hesitant. "What happened? Wolvie won't tell me and he usually doesn't keep things from me, unless they're personal. Why did that guy hurt you?"
She sat down on the bed beside her, carefully considering her words. "Did he tell you anything at all?"
"Just that some jerk stabbed you."
"Well, that's true. Very simplified, but true." She drew a deep breath. "I'm not telling you all the details, but a long time ago, when I was about your age, something really bad happened to me. The jerk, Prof. Notheis... well, he caused it. There were photographs and someone recently sent copies of them to the school board and he lost his job. He seemed to think it was me who did it."
"Did you?" Jubilee thought she would have. The guy deserved much worse than losing his job for whatever he'd done to Jenny.
"No, I didn't have any copies." Jenny had thought hard about how it might have happened and wished now that she had done it, but knew she wouldn't have had the courage. "I think he did something to someone else and they found the pictures and did it to punish him."
"But he's dead right? I heard Remy talking and he said some guy killed himself in your apartment."
"Yeah, he's dead." After ruining her life again. Jenny thought.
"I heard Bishop say that he wished he were still alive 'cause he wanted to kill him." Jubilee grimaced. "Remy and Wolvie feel the same way, I bet."
"They're good friends." Jenny smiled. "I think Hank feels that way too."
"Hey, you really like Hank, don'cha?" Jubilee grinned at her. "Are you in love with him? I think he's cool. Not as cool as Wolvie, but totally cool."
"You mean the way you love Logan?" Jenny teased and watched Jubilee blush. "No, I'm not in love with him. He's my friend in a way that the others really can't be, I think. We kinda understand each other."
"Oh." She wasn't ready to give up on the idea. "But maybe, like, someday it could be more..."
"I doubt it." Jenny just didn't know how to explain it. "Could you see youself in love with, um... Hell, I don't know. Charles, maybe? I just haven't met anyone who made me feel that way."
"Because of what happened to you?" Jubilee asked softly.
"Maybe, or maybe it just hasn't been there. I don't know." She wondered how she could talk like this to a fourteen-year-old.
"I bet that'll change." Jubilee eyed Jenny again. "You're much different now than when we first met you."
"You know, I feel different. I think I'm just finally growing up. I was almost eighteen when we met so maybe it's just time." Jenny picked out some clothes that matched her nailpolish. "I'm gonna change."
Jubilee stopped her when she was almost in the bathroom. "Can I see?" she whispered.
"No." That was something she wouldn't even consider.
When she came out of the bathroom, Jubilee nodded approval and they started out the door. "Jenny? You know, Hank said you like us just the way we are, but I think you kinda hafta like yourself that way too."
"I'm trying, kiddo, I'm trying." Jenny laughed. "How'd you get so smart, huh?"
"I hang out with a guy who seems older than dirt. Have to, like, keep him on his toes, don't I?" And they both laughed.
"Which reminds me."Jenny asked, as they walked down the hall."Since Logan's not around, why don't you explain the weasel thing to me?"
Jubilee exploded into laughter, unable to talk.
Neither of them heard the low growl from the bedroom they were passing.
to be continued.
note:
Jinxeh- I take that as a great compliment.
Beany- The picture thing with Remy just had to be done, not sure where it came from. And sorry I picture Dylan like that guy on SVU and think of him as married. I've got someone else in mind for Jenny. Just gotta figure out how to get them together. Gotta think of it soon as I want it for 12.
GothikStrawberry- I think that part with Wolvie is what I was really building toward the whole time so Jenny could get closure. This whole rest should get her to the comfort part, eventually.
SabeyBaby- Thought you'd forgetten me! Just kidding, haven't been reading much myself. (My family thinks I've lost it, carrying around a notebook instead of a paperback) Hope you liked the Jubes.
B Oots- Sorry I'm afraid the school things not really going anywhere else in this one, maybe later in a short-story.
Next chaptersettles Jenny's immediate future. She gets a job and I bet it's not what you expect. It'll be a few days though as I have to work. (Dammit)
Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi
