PART 16: I'll be Missing You

He couldn't remember the time the alarms blared through the mansion during the wee hours of the morning. All he would be able to recall later is a sense of dread as he ran down the corridors, uniform half-pulled up his torso. His fellow teammates all looked the same as they fought to pull on the rest of their uniform en route to the War Room.

"Ah hate that damned alarm!" Rogue shouted over the klaxon.

"No shit." Logan growled in response just as the alarm quieted.

"Someone hit the button." Bobby said from the back of the elevator.

The lift began to descend quickly and soon they were running down the metal hallways of the lower levels. The War Room's light was already on and Scott Summers and Ororo Munroe stood in the center of the room. Jean and Hank were already seated, both looking extremely worried.

The team, knowing the drill, sat in their normal chairs and waited for the leaders to get down to business. Gloves were pulled on and uniforms were zipped up as they took their seats.

"We have a situation involving Jubilee." Scott began. Worry lines were clearly evident on his brow, but he went on as if it were any teenager. Logan felt his heart drop but he ignored the pain in his chest.

"She went out to the mall around seven o'clock last night and hasn't returned." He plowed on. "Jean scanned the grounds for her presence during her rounds about twenty minutes ago and was the first to notice she wasn't home. Hank was able to hack into the surveillance feed from the mall and this is what we found."

Cyclops hit play and the screens surrounding the room lit up with a black and white picture. The image was frozen, showing an unconscious Jubilee on the shoulder of a large, rather bulky man.

Sabretooth.

A low growl filled the room and the others glanced at Logan.

"We need to send a stealth team into the mall." Ororo continued for Scott. "Gambit, Wolverine, Psylocke and I will break into the mall to see if we can find any trace of her scent, any possible psychic residue or any other clues. Hank will monitor our progress from here and erase the security files as we go. Jean is going to scan the area using Cerebro to see if she can pinpoint Jubilee's location, but Jubilee is extremely hard to track telepathically."

"The rest of you will remain here, awaiting word from either Storm's team or Jean." Scott concluded. "I've contacted Xavier at Muir Island and he's on his way back to help Jean with the telepathic search."

"Let's go." Ororo said, looking to Gambit, Wolverine and Psylocke.


Fog shrouded the mall as Storm led her team in through the ventilation system. The metal grate swung open easily after Storm carefully removed the screws and picked the padlock that secured the outdoor grate in place. Wolverine and Gambit both kept a close eye on their field leader, concerned for her claustrophobia, as Psylocke took the lead. Storm followed Wolverine and Gambit brought up the rear, carefully pulling the grate closed behind them.

They slowly but quietly made their way into the mall and soon found themselves high above the first floor.

"Now or never." Betsy said softly. The screws were on the inside, so Psylocke wasn't too concerned. Reaching her thin fingers through the grating, she held onto the screen as she easily began to unscrew each one.

With a glance at Logan over her shoulder, Betsy pulled the grate up and then slid over the opening to drop her legs down. Wolverine watched Psylocke's muscles strain as she held herself over the floor but then her fingers let go. She gracefully somersaulted to the floor below, landing with a soft thud. Logan followed her lead and soon the four X-Men were standing on the floor of the mall.

"Dat's gonna be hard to get back to, mes amis." Gambit noted, looking up. The grate was about fifteen feet up.

"We'll worry about that later, Gambit." Storm said. "Wolverine?"

Nodding his head, Wolverine quickly padded through the mall. The others followed close behind as he tracked Jubilee's scent easily through the mall. As they came close to the west entrance, he stopped. The others waited, knowing he would either continue or start prowling the area.

The distinct odor of Victor Creed filled his nostrils and the hackles rose on his arms and neck. The scent mingled with Jubilee's and a thick copper scent filled his nose.

"He hurt her." He growled. Logan dropped into a crouch and slid his fingers across the floor. A strong antiseptic scent burned his sensitive nose but he continued to feel the floor.

"How badly?" Ororo asked.

"There was a lot of blood." Came his somber voice. "The mall folks cleaned up the stain, but the scent's still strong."

Wolverine stood and began walking in small circles.

"They fought but Jubilee's no match fer him." He said softly, walking the path Jubilee had taken.

"Look at the column, mes braves." Gambit said, pointing to a cracked plaster column.

Psylocke ran her hand over the column and a purple butterfly flashed across her eyes. Her eyes became unfocused as she concentrated on the image she was receiving from the area.

"He caught her by surprise, just outside of that store." Betsy said, pointing over Logan's shoulder.

"Show us." Storm said simply. Psylocke's power flared and soon they all saw the short, confusing images she was picking up.

Jubilee had a few bags in her hands as she exited the store, only to be thrown into the column. Creed didn't give her much of a chance to defend herself. Jubilee tried, but after she slammed him with a strong assault of pyrotechnics, he quickly slashed open her back and she fell to the ground. Other images flashed, but they were too jumbled.

"That's all I can get." Psylocke said, ending the link. "Jubilee always leaves very confused psychic imprints, but she was trying to concentrate. Jean and I have been working with her on projecting events when she's in trouble. She's doing better." She concluded, more to herself than to the others.

"That doesn't exactly help us." Logan spat.

"Wolverine, please." Storm said, holding a hand up to him. "Can you track them?"

"Open the door." He said, pointing to the main entrance doors. Storm nodded to Gambit.

"I'll take care of the grate we opened." She announced. "I'll meet you outside in five minutes."

Without another word, Ororo gently rose into the air, careful not to disrupt the immediate area. She didn't want to disrupt any possible scent Logan was picking up.

Gambit made short work of the doors and he led the way outside. Wolverine's head tilted to the ground slightly as he began to scent the area. He quickly began running towards the parking lot. Psylocke and Gambit followed as Betsy alerted Storm to their whereabouts. The thick fog continued to hide their presence even though the sun was slowly rising.

The trail came to a stop at an empty parking space, but Logan could still detect Jubilee's scent on the air. It was cold out and the November air held scents longer than hot air. It was old and barely there, but he knew it immediately. She must've cracked a window without Creed knowing. Either that, or Sabretooth wanted Jubilee to be found. His money would've been placed on the latter.

"I need my bike." He announced.

"Will this one do?" Storm asked as she easily landed behind them.

He turned and saw her pointing to a Harley that was sitting in a space behind them.

"Awful convenient, ain't it?" Gambit asked, clearly dubious.

"It's early." Betsy began. "The cleaners would be here, no doubt."

"Yeah, but how many cleaners have the money for a hog?"

"It does not matter, Wolverine." Storm said simply. "If it was left here for us to find, then so be it. Jubilation's life is in danger and we cannot question our good fortune."

The others agreed and Gambit quickly began to fiddle with the ignition. After a few minutes of swearing in French, the motorcycle roared to life.

"I'll follow behind you." Storm said to Wolverine as the feral mutant mounted the bike.

"Gambit, Psylocke, you two head back to the mini-jet and alert the others. Follow the signal on my comm. badge and follow us."

Nodding, Gambit and Psylocke quickly ran towards the stairs leading to the top of the parking garage where the cloaked mini-jet sat.

"We'll find her, Logan." Ororo said as soon as the others were out of ear shot.

Simply nodding in response, Wolverine fired up the engine and sped off, peeling out as he went. The acrid scent of burned rubber assaulted Ororo's nose as she took off after Wolverine.


It had been nearly nine hours since Creed had surprised her. Jubilee lay on her stomach on the cold cement floor, cursing her stupidity. She let her guard down and now she was suffering the consequences.

The deep gashes on her back ached but the pain was dulled compared to when he first sliced them open. The blood had stopped seeping down her sides, so she took that as a good sign that they were clotting.

Lightheaded and in pain, Jubilee opened her eyes and chanced a look around. A dim light shone down on her, giving her very little detail of the room.

"Look who's awake." Came a taunting voice from the shadows.

Jubilee didn't reply, choosing instead to take the time to take in her surroundings. The light illuminating her immediate surroundings, but dark shadow filled the rest of the space. By the echo the voice held, it was a large room but she couldn't be sure how large. She thought she saw splinters of light, but the darkness and pain skewed her perception. The rays of light were far away, giving her a better sense of how large the room actually was. Maybe the light came from cracks in dirty windows, or spaces between boards that covered the windows. Either way, she was certain she saw some glimpse of sunshine from where she lay. Jubilation was also fairly certain she was on the floor of an old warehouse, but Lord knows where it was located. If it was truly sunshine she saw and not artificial light, she had been passed out for much longer than she initially thought. It would have to be at least six in the morning and Creed found her around ten the night before.

She felt cool metal on one wrist but assumed it was a shackle of some kind. Her other limbs were free from any other restraints.

"No witty replies?" Creed's voice taunted again. "I'm shocked."

"Go fuck yourself." Jubilee said, surprised at how raspy her voice sounded. Her throat was dry and it hurt to talk.

Creed stepped into the light but Jubilee could only see his legs. It hurt to lift her head any higher and her back sent waves of pain through her body as she tried to look up.

Bending down, Creed lifted her chin at an angle so she could see his face. Desperately trying to hide her pain, Jubilee screwed up her face in what she hoped conveyed disgust, not pain. The feel of his hands on her chin made her nauseous but she pushed the feeling down.

"No use ignorin' the pain, frail." Sabretooth said, licking his canines. "Yer gonna be dead soon enough, so ya might as well enjoy the sensation while you can."

"Haven't you heard?" Jubilee replied. "X-Men don't die easy."

The madman laughed then and dropped her chin. "Yeah, too bad you ain't an X-Man yet."

Jubilation couldn't find a suitable response, so she remained silent. Let him do the talking while she tried to gain control of the pain that was rippling through her body.

"Just so ya know, girly, yer powers aren't gonna help you." He said, grasping her wrist harshly. "Y'see this?"

Her eyes drifted down her arm and saw a thick metal band with a blinking light on it wrapped tightly around her wrist. It looked like a small version of those Genoshan collars.

"Power inhibitor." Jubilee replied. A tremble in her voice displayed her fear and she cursed her vocal cords for betraying her.

"Maybe you're not as dumb as I thought." Creed said, raking one of his claws along her arm. A thin trail of blood followed his claw and he licked the blood off. "Just as sweet as I thought."

Jubilee grimaced and looked away.

The power inhibitor meant she wasn't chained down. She was free to move, but Creed knew the pain that shot through her body wouldn't allow her to get very far. Her own physical weakness and pain were imprisoning her. Jubilee fought down the bile that rose in her throat as she realized that.

"The runt should've been here by now, frail." Creed announced as he stood up. "Which means they either don't know yer missing or they don't care."

Jubilee knew he was trying to bait her, so she ignored him.

"Whaddya think?" He asked, circling her beaten body. "Still hoping that loser'll show up and save the day?"

When Creed noticed she was actively ignoring him, he reached down and ran two claws down the back of her right leg. They easily cut through the denim and blood began welling up.

"You fucker!" She screamed out, turning on her side. It only served to cause her more pain but she was able to pull her legs up and away from his hands. A pain filled scream echoed off the walls and she cursed herself for giving into the pain.

Again, his laughter echoed off the walls of the room and he pushed her on her back. White pain seared across the young woman's back but she held in the second scream that threatened to slip out of her mouth. She refused to give him the satisfaction.

"You really wanna see a fucker?" He threatened, leaning over her.

The fear that filled her eyes made him laugh again and he leaned back.

"Looks t'me that yer beggin' fer it." Creed said, clearly enjoying her growing terror.

Jubilee suddenly smiled and licked her lips, causing Creed to growl slightly.

"You know I want it." She said in what she hoped was a seductive voice. Jubilee was mimicking Betsy and knew Psylocke wouldn't be too pleased to know that.

Creed leaned over her again and licked his canines yet again. Taking her cue, Jubilee quickly brought her knee up hard and slammed him between his legs. The force of her blow would've matched Psylocke's and Sabretooth howled out in pain.

"You bitch!" He spat, slamming the back of his hand across her face. Blood sprang from her mouth but she wasn't knocked unconscious. Rolling off of the girl, Creed stood up, hunched over, and backed away.

Stars flashed before her eyes as she felt pain exploding on the left side of her face from the impact of his backhand. Fighting against the darkness that threatened to overwhelm her, Jubilee forced her eyes open.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" She managed to say through clenched teeth. Amazed that her jaw wasn't broken, Jubilee turned on her side and wanted to scream as she felt her wounds sticking to the cement. Instead, she forced herself to laugh at Creed as he stood hunched over in pain.

"You'll pay for that one, frail." Sabretooth warned before stepping back into the shadows.

She heard a door open and close in the distance and then it went silent. Slowly pushing herself around, Jubilee faced the direction of the noise and waited.

Jubilation tried to sit up, but the long gashes on her back screamed out in protest. Knowing it would feel better to lay flat on her stomach, Jubilee had to resist the urge to change her position. She was at a better vantage point on her side and would be able to see an attack coming. Her head was spinning as a wave of vertigo came over her. Probably from the loss of blood, she surmised. But she refused to succumb to the lightheaded felling and fought to keep her eyes open. Taking a deep breath, Jubilee lay still and prayed Wolverine would show up soon.

Moments later, she felt the darkness overwhelm her and everything went black.


Please R&R…and I promise we'll see some RoLo moments in the upcoming chapter…

Jubes