Chapter 17
"Mmm, good morning," a deep voice buzzed in Jubilee's ears. Whiskers tickled and she chuckled. Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked up into Logan's bright blue ones. They gleamed in a captured ray of sunlight sneaking in horizontal strips through the venetian blinds. Frown lines were creased into a smile, and as a well-muscled thigh slid over hers, light gleamed off a battered dogtag that swung like a pendulum from his muscular neck.
"Good morning yourself," she murmured, partly closing her eyes and stretching her arms and legs out to their full extent. Bliss still tingled every muscle and she could not remember the last time she felt so happy. Especially since the grin plastered on her face would probably be there for the rest of the year or the next five at least.
"Sleep good?" he whispered, laying feather kisses down her neck and to her collarbone, then licking lightly at the marks that indicated the last tenth of possession making her well and truly his in the feral sense.
"Duh, what do you think?" she laughed, reaching up and sliding her fingers in thick silky black hair. She delighted in his rumbling purr as she petted and massaged his scalp then dragged her fingers down through his sideburns. His dogtag lightly collided with the tip of her nose as he raised his head, and gazed right into her eyes, watching her intently when she opened hers once more.
A massive hand cupped her face and fingered her well-kissed lips, then traced delicately over her cheeks and nose. The tears that were glistening there were reflective of utter joy and fulfillment, something that still brought a lump to his throat because it added to her stunning beauty. "Ya really are all grown up," he rumbled as he devoured her lips and she tugged him down to her body.
Rough stubble abraded her cheeks, chin, neck, and sensitive skin. Warmth flooded her body, radiating through the slightly chilled room. Jubilee remembered suddenly where they were, and how glad she was for such a natural bedwarmer as he. As she prepared to offer herself again to him, she felt his muscles tensing and a curse muffled by her lips. She didn't bother to ask why, because she could guess from the way he was cocking his head to one side and staring past the wall that their tryst would have to wait till later.
"Here's the flamin' reception committee…" Logan rolled his eyes.
"I hope they have coffee, or else, kick their butts outta here," she complained.
"It's Northstar. If I didn't know better I'd say the pretty boy's sold on the concept of you an me," Logan chuckled. "Haven't seen him THIS well behaved in almost NEVER…"
"Be nice! He's my surrogate big brother from hell, okay?" Jubilee growled playfully, and grabbed his sideburn face to nip his lip lightly. He retaliated by pinning her under his body and growling against her lips for a much more demanding and hungry kiss that made her burn hotter than her plasma.
"Wait here, darlin'…" he murmured, levering himself out of the bed, and throwing off the covers. Jubilee raised herself on one arm and watched him with a smile on her lips, crossing the sitting room in the gloom without a second through to difficulty. A flannel shirt lightly collided with her face, and she knew from his commanding look that she should put it on right away before he opened the door.
Jubilee shook her head and gave an overly dramatic sigh that made them both laugh. She let the sheets slip down and quickly slid the shirt on and buttoned it. For a moment she inhaled his scent and fabric softener, feeling protected by its presence. Lovingly she fingered the matching dogtag necklace, and sat up in bed to watch him.
Black silk boxers and a long red robe came into view as Logan made good use of them, and opened the door after the soft knock. "So, you gonna make this quick?" he asked.
"Good morning to both of you… I trust you and your lady won't mind a little morning coffee?" came Jean Paul's voice.
"Hey JP," Jubilee called loudly as she waved to him.
"Good morning Jubilee… sorry to intrude but I have some coffee and breakfast courtesy of your well wishers, although your beau looks about ready to throw me out…"
"Let him in, will ya, Logan?" Jubilee groaned. "Sheesh…"
"That had better be leaded, not decaf, pal," Logan bitched good-naturedly. "So, you all took up a collection for the coffee pot?"
"Pretty much…" Northstar said with a smile. "I'll give this to you… and let you and the lady enjoy in private… congratulations…"
"Same t' you pal… and see I don't get any more interruptions, okay?"
"No more… unless it's life or death, right?" Jean Paul nodded. "Have fun you two!"
"Thanks a million bub, you ain't so bad after all…"
"Just don't tell anyone else or I'll ruin my reputation," said Northstar with a laugh.
"We can't have THAT can we, huh pal?" Logan joked back as he took the tray, and jubilee heard the rattling of coffee cups and other crockery. She rubbed her hands together, her stomach growling almost as loud as she had been during their celebratory lovemaking.
"So what have we got?" she asked.
"Some grub fer our troubles… looks like ya got yerself a fan club, darlin'… flamin' miracle he's not a total grouch this early…"
"I think he's got a good reason not to be…" Jubilee laughed. "And it adds up to a short, hairy dude…"
"Darlin, that'd better be Puck yer talking about…"
"Of course, who did you THINK I meant?" Jubilee shot back as he set the tray down on the bedside table, and tossed the robe over a chair. She held up the covers, and he slid under them again, giving her a sound kiss.
"He's not so bad I guess… who'dve figured he'd actually grow a personality that wasn't resemblin' a bucket full o' lard…" Logan laughed, and she reached for the carafe, which was steaming hot. She poured two mugs of frothy coffee, and saw him inhale the scent with his eyes shut, a sense of bliss on his face.
"So, it isn't poisoned, right?" she joked.
"It's the real Joe, as in coffee… all right," he nodded, sipping it black. "An' I think you'll love the cinnamon buns even if they ain't those ones ya get in yer natural habitat…"
"You've got your poison, I've got mine," Jubilee laughed, grabbing a bun slathered in hot white melted icing and taking a huge bite. "Mmm, that's like so damn good… not as good as OTHER things, but almost as good…"
He dumped ketchup on the scrambled eggs and devoured a bit before prodding her lips with a forkful. "Remember what I said about fergettin the twigs n' leaves…"
"You eat one of THESE and I'll eat your crappy egg junk, deal?" Jubilee teased. She opened her mouth and quickly gobbled the eggs, and he found her almost smashing a cinnamon roll in his face.
However he quickly devoured half of it, and licked the icing from her fingers, making her groan lightly. That impish look on his face was priceless, and she waited for him to cut off another piece of omelet for her. By far the most fun was the bacon he fed to her, strip by strip.
Mouthfuls of coffee washed down their repast, and they spent most of the time just chewing in silence. Logan noticed how she was enamored with simply watching him chew, and chuckled into his coffee. Her entire body was aglow, and the smell of his scent mingled with hers was a welcome one. Softly he kissed her fingers; licking off more icing and glimpsed how the burns were almost invisible now.
"Ya look good in my shirt," he whispered.
"And you look good in anything… or nothing," she winked.
"Am I gonna have to move this tray?" he raised an eyebrow at the lascivious twinkle in her eyes. She closed her eyes and shivered with delight at his kiss to her neck.
"Mmm hmm," she nodded, and Logan quickly picked up the entire tray and set it on the floor before turning back to Jubilee.
"Hand's healing nicely, ain't it?" he commented, as she watched the smoke curling up from one of his marboroughs.
"Dude, I thought you handed those cowboy killers over at the boarder! What's up with that?"
"There's always one that they miss," he commented, finishing it off before sipping more coffee and handing the cup to her. She took another sip, and snuggled up to his chest again.
"So, I was wondering…"
"Ask away…"
"Like are you on vacation or something, cause I thought you were saying stuff about training…"
"Forgot to tell ya, that Heather insisted that we have a couple days off, to unwind… while she takes the advance team first. Leaving you and me to figure out what the hell to do for the next forty eight hours…"
"You coulda TOLD me!" Jubilee grumbled, elbowing his chest and wincing as she forgot yet again about the dangers of thumping a man with an adamantium ribcage.
He leaned over and lightly kissed her elbow, and she forgave the cause to her injury with the next promising kiss. "Sorry bout that…" he chuckled
"So, before we were interrupted, you said that heather was leading a team ahead… does that still mean you and me are on the case, or what?"
"Depends on what ya mean darlin'…"
"Don't screw around with me, I mean not in THAT way," Jubilee nudged him. "You don't have to hide stuff from me… remember we had a deal…"
"Well, actually she's taken Sasquatch, Aurora, and Puck with her. Leaving us with Northstar, Shaman… n' Snowbird," said Logan. "They're going to see what they can find out while we drill around with them a bit and stuff…"
"They still think that Dmitry's company is behind this stuff? I wish I could remember all of what was going down, dammit," Jubilee shook her head.
"Don't be thinking about that now, Darlin… you're supposed to be relaxing n' recovering… doctor's orders," Logan said as he touched a finger to her lips.
"I hope nothing bad happens to Heather and the others, cause…"
"It shouldn't… heather's a lot tougher than I give her credit for sometimes. She's handled a few missions before we even showed up. I learned all about 'em in the last few days… and while you were sleeping, we went a few rounds in the Training area..."
"Did I miss anything fun?"
"Other than Northstar setting fire to Sasquatch? Or Puck putting snowballs in Snowbird's herbal tea?" joked Logan. "Nah… just the usual stuff…"
Jubilee giggled, thinking of the mischief that reminded her of another group of comedians. "Sounds pretty familiar…"
"He'd give Popsicle and the Cajun a run for their money," chuckled Logan. "Northstar's an imp when he puts his mind to it…"
"God could you imagine him and Gambit going head to head with pranks?"
"That's why they're in two separate flamin' countries," Logan laughed.
"Reminds me… I um… gotta thank him and Aurora for um… absorbing my extra paffs…"
"They're both okay, darlin'…"
"Logan… my powers are they gonna continue to be screwy?" Jubilee asked him, looking very vulnerable for a moment.
"Not if Shaman an me can help it. Northstar said he'd work with ya on how to better control 'em… not that ya don't know… but seems like yer control over yer powers has gone the way of backsliding since…"
"I know… I mean when I fought you it was okay… but…"
"You havin' any memories?" Logan asked, fingering her chin.
"Bits and pieces… when I think about what Dmitry did…" she trailed off.
"Hey, should I have kept my big trap shut? I don't want ya to think about that bozo…" he trailed off.
"No… you should know…"
"Only if yer up to telling me…" he said as he turned over on his side, and stroked her cheek tenderly with the back of his hand.
"Well I sorta have to let you know. I mean… I did tell you that Everett and me…"
"You two slept together, right?" Logan asked, and she was afraid to say more. "I'm no dummy darlin… lucky for you I liked the kid, otherwise he'd be pushin' up the daisies now…"
"Swear to God you can't get all mediaeval on me, cause it's hard enough…"
"I'm just joking about Ev… I'm sorry Jubes…" he trailed off, and she sighed. "Darlin… hey… look, I'll promise not to get mad at whatever ya gotta tell me…"
"Well I did sorta tell Northstar… but at first all I remembered was when Dmitry tried to get close to me. I'd sometimes get nervous, and my powers would… um… trigger… like they did when I first was at the mall and had a giant transformer on my butt…"
"Go on… you said it wasn't a problem with Everett because of his synching powers?"
"Yes… he was the only guy I could be… you know close with… like um you and me… well anywho, Dmitry and I tried horsing around a few times, but it just never worked out. And he would tease me and stuff at first. He said he'd get me some 'help'…"
"Oh man," Logan groaned. "Go on…"
"That's how the whole thing with the head jobs started," Jubilee muttered, and felt Logan's hand slide over hers, squeezing it lightly.
"Sex therapy or something?"
"Yeah, go figure. Anyway, we went through the whole thing, and we also got these sessions so we could 'control' my powers. But as much as I tried showing him I could control them, he was always correcting me and stuff. He pretty much 'retrained' me to use my powers in a less 'destructive' way… like to make pretty pictures and crap like that…"
"And…"
"He sold me this whole line about 'using my powers to help mutantkind' and all that happy horseshit," Jubilee mumbled. "I hadn't told him about the X men, because like I figured those days were behind me and all. I wanted to start fresh…"
"Yeah… I figured. Still pretty sore about Scotty shipping ya off to Massachusetts and all for that last year of 'school'…"
"Really," Jubilee sighed. "And then college and all… where I ran into Kitty… and we were roomies…"
"Pretty lucky to have her as one," Logan said softly. "Though what gets me is that she didn't know what was going down with Dmitry…"
"he had us all fooled, me most of all," said Jubilee sadly. She hugged her knees and Logan let her sniffle for a moment. "I moved in with him because I figured I was in love. I broke up with Ev… or he broke up with me cause we weren't like working out well… and then I went off to college…"
"Yeah…"
"And when I was a sophomore I met him the first time. And we were going out and stuff. Him, Kitty me and Colossus. Go figure he was going to college at the same time we were. We double dated. Dmitry was a friend of Pyotr… I figured if Kitty had a Russian boyfriend why not me. I mean he was so nice and all…"
"was he wanting ya to sleep with him then?"
"Not at first. He suggested we all share an apartment together. We did, and then Kitty and peter moved out… and they decided to join Excalibur. Then Pyotr got called away, and Kitty stayed behind to finish her degree, and moved into a dorm room. Left me there with Dmitry. At the time we were falling in love and stuff…"
"And then ya said Creed attacked ya…"
"Yeah… I still hadn't gone much past necking and stuff… and Dmitry wasn't always around cause his dad needed him to work in the company and stuff. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. So during my junior year he was like getting more and more close…"
"So he was tryin' ta get you to stop using yer paffs to fight with, huh? And did he start pushin' ya to go all the way with him?"
"He expected that would be less 'hostile' and 'reprogram' me to use my powers in a peaceful way, so then when we did do it, I wouldn't have problems… turned out that it still wouldn't work… and then the only way we could… was for me to wear an inhibitor…"
"Cripes," he mumbled.
"I figured it wouldn't be so bad cause Rogue wears one so she can be with Gambit. But the more I thought about it, the more I figured it was so totally against who I was… I mean like Prof. X taught us to value our powers for what they were. And for someone to expect me to totally change…"
"He wasn't right for you, darlin' and that's that…"
"I told him that I wanted to wait," she trailed off. "That I didn't want to sleep with him all the way if that was the only way we could. He wasn't too happy… but he suggested we could get married… and THEN the crap with Creed started."
"You were pretty badly shaken up. Cripes if I'da flamin' known…"
"You were pretty messed up with the whole Apocalypse thing. And we didn't have a clue where you were. And I also stayed away… because…"
"Because…"
"I was nineteen Logan. I had broken it off with Ev, cause I realized he wasn't the kinda guy I wanted. And then when I'd worked up the nerve to tell you how I felt. I couldn't. Because you were in love with someone else. You told me all about her when you came to visit those times…"
"Oh man," Logan groaned.
"You and Mariko were pretty much in love and all. I couldn't compete with a Japanese lady… I mean hell… and so I moved on…"
"Dmitry," he nodded slowly.
"Joke was on me when I found out she was killed… and then I was engaged. I didn't have the heart to tell you… and then you went all crazy and stuff, and Jean and the Professor figured the best thing for me was to get back to my life because you needed to face your stuff on your own…" she trailed off, tears in her eyes.
"You saying ya went with Dmitry cause he wasn't me, and I wasn't around?" he asked slowly.
"I guess. Pretty lame-o, right?"
"Nah, it's called getting on with your life…" Logan sighed.
"You were dealing with so much cause you were nuts when she died. Last thing you needed to hear was me whining about my problems and being engaged and all…"
"Wish ya had told me," Logan trailed off.
"Would it have mattered?" she asked slowly as she looked up at him. "I was the kid. Your sidekick and your best bud. You didn't need some lovesick teenager trying to move in on you when you were getting over losing the love of your life…"
"Still, I'da been there, to help you, dammit," he said softly.
"Woulda, coulda, shoulda," Jubilee shook her head sadly. "I guess it was that whole attack with Creed that drove me into his arms for good… and then I started forgetting things…"
"What made ya decide to leave him? I know ya told me…"
"I had to go home. The nightmares were getting worse. I heard you were back on the team, and you'd been emailing me and stuff. And I just started remembering that I hadn't told you. That everything that happened in the last three years wasn't really like the me I was remembering. And yet I couldn't really remember much of who I was… and I knew that if I didn't leave when I did… I couldn't ever…"
"Instinct?"
"Maybe, and maybe remembering you was what was pulling me back. Reversing all the memory jobs he was having Bridy put me through. Cause when I told him about the X men… I didn't tell him everything. But he wasn't too nuts about it…"
"Did he know about me being your mentor n' all?"
"No…" she trailed off. "But I think he might have figured it out…"
"I'm just glad you DID come home…" Logan said as he kissed her forehead.
"Thing was that I thought I owed him something for helping me learn how to use my powers more 'productively', for letting me live in his apartment so I could go to NYU, cause I had a scholarship but not much else, and for helping save my butt last of all from Creed. And the night he wanted me to put on that inhibitor collar, I just realized I needed to leave him…"
"And you did…"
"Yeah… I spent the night on the couch. And then went to class, and packed my stuff. I met him for lunch to break the news to him. I'd had most of my stuff sent back ahead of me that day. And then I gave him his ring back and told him it was over… and the rest you know…"
"He never hit ya, but what he did was worse," Logan said as he slid his arms around her, and Jubilee buried her head in his shoulder. She didn't cry, but simply lay against him, hugging him tightly.
"But don't get me wrong, Logan. Cause I can't be any happier than I am now, with you… and I'm glad I did remember. Cause I've got my life back now… "
"And you've got me… like it or not," Logan said softly. "I just want ya to know I thought long and hard about this, and it feels right. But if ya ever have second thoughts…"
"I don't, Logan. I've loved you half my life, and I don't ever want you to let go of me," Jubilee said softly, and buried her face in his neck.
"I never will," he promised. "And I love ya too, darlin."
In an attempt to cheer her up, Logan had suggested taking a shower. Jubilee rose from the bed, and held the shirt to her body in full view of him.
"Why ya hiding yourself from me?" he asked as he got up and walked over to her.
"Um… I dunno…"
"You don't ever have to.." Logan said gently. "Unless ya feel ya need yer privacy…"
"thanks," she whispered.
"Besides, I don't want anyone else seeing ya in the altogether…" he growled softly, picking up the red silk robe and wrapping it around her.
"That's so totally sweet of you, Logan," she chuckled, stumbling against him.
"But since ya need to get used to the idea, why don't we play the ol' conservationist then…"
"Now THAT sounds like fun," Jubilee chuckled, and Logan picked her up easily by grabbing her hips, and hugging her tightly so her arms were around his neck and she was carried like a small child into the bathroom.
They had even more fun when she helped him button up a flannel shirt, this time not one of the plaid ones, but a simple maroon colored on, overtop a black T shirt. She had chosen a thick turtleneck sweater and a heavy insolated fleece anorak that zipped up the front. The tall Harley Davidson boots were also a godsend in the chilly weather.
