Chapter 16: Return to the Academy

"I'd really like to stay here." Jubilee's voice was soft.

Logan sighed as she took another slow, reluctant step down the stairs toward the front door, where the Frost Enterprises car was waiting. "I'd like ya ta stay too, darlin'," he said gruffly, wincing inside as she took another step down. The stairs were hard, mostly because she was still aching. Her muscles were still protesting their strain of the last month. He wished he could just pick her up and carry her downstairs, but Jubilee was still flinching a little from his touch, and he didn't want to set off a panic attack. And he could feel some of the others watching him. If Cyke was going to leave him in charge here, he couldn't seem weak. "But the mansion ain't livable right now, an' we ain't got he facilities ta care fer ya. An' with Jean an' Scott getting' ready t'go too, we ain't gonna have any telepaths around ta help ya deal with those nightmares. An' besides, ya gotta be missin' yer friends back at the Academy by now."

"Yeah, I do." Jubilee brightened a little. "Can't wait to see Hayseed again. And I even miss Little Miss-Perfect-Monet." She smiled suddenly, a smile all the more heart-wrenching because it lacked all the innocent happiness that had been in it formerly. Logan forced himself to smile back. Jubilee had grown up too fast, too soon, the last month. The sooner she was back up at the Academy, the better, so she could reclaim what was left of her childhood.

Jean strolled down the hall, and paused at the foot of the stairs, watching Logan hover protectively over Jubilee as the child made her slow way down the steps. Gently, she reached out telekinetically and grasped Jubilee, bringing the girl down the rest of the steps even as her telepathy picked up the twinges of discomfort from Jubilee's body. It was going to take a long time before the ache in Jubilee's leg muscles went away; she only hoped Emma would be patient with Jubilee's current disability. "Ready to go?" she asked Jubilee gently.

Jubilee started to nod, then shook her head reluctantly. There was no use lying to a telepath. "I don't want to go. I wanna stay here with Wolvie." She sounded like a drowning child clinging to a life preserver.

"It's better for you, Jubilee," Jean said. "With all the new people around here, we don't really know who to trust, and Logan and Ororo are going to be busy trying to get this place livable again." She stopped speaking as two of those 'new people' came out of the hallway leading to the kitchen.

Cecelia spoke first, kindly. "Are you all packed? Do you have the pills I gave you?" Jean felt the surge of warmth from her, and was surprised.

"I'm packed. Not that there was much anyway." Her toothbrush and toothpaste. One change of clothes, scrounged from the box of old clothing they'd found in the attic. And the pills Cecelia had given her to be takenevery day. Jubilee had missed it a few times, but that could hardly hurt.

"Good." Cecelia's tone softened. "You'll be okay. Just take it easy for a little while, 'cause you're going to be sore for a long time. Muscle fatigue isn't that easy to get rid of." And to Jean's surprise, she gave Jubilee a quick hug.

A smile tugged at the corners of Logan's mouth too, which vanished as the other 'new person' spoke. "Ag, ain't had much of a chance t'talk, but hey, have a good trip anyway." Maggott reached out a huge hand, engulfing Jubilee's small one in his big one, and shook it. Jubilee responded with a shy smile, which vanished as the driver of the car waiting for her just outside the big front doors beeped the horn impatiently. Maggott and Cecelia continued going…wherever they were going, and Logan and Jean walked Jubilee out to the front steps. Jean gave her a quick kiss, and Logan hugged Jubilee one last time, then Jubilee lowered herself painfully into the back seat of the car. Jean handed her the overnight bag, and the driver started down the drive.

Logan growled suddenly, and Jean put a hand on his arm. She'd caught that too. Logan, don't. She doesn't know Jubilee.

Marrow had been watching Jubilee leave from the basement windows just above the ground. From that window she'd seen Logan hug Jubilee and put her in the car, and she had thought (and said at the same time), "Stupid spoiled little rich kid been coddled all this week—" With his sensitive hearing, Logan had heard that. And it made him furious. Jean was angry too; he could see her cheeks flush almost the same color as her hair. Jubilee wasn't stupid, she wasn't spoiled, and she had more of a right to moodiness than Marrow had. Logan, she was just thinking aloud. No one else was meant to hear that. She may not even be aware she said it.

"I don't like what she was thinkin'—"

Jean sighed. "I don't like what she was thinking, either, Logan. But she's entitled to her own thoughts. Forget you heard it, Logan. Let it go." Then, sensing Logan was still quietly simmering, she said, "Jubilee wouldn't want you to get into a fight on her behalf."

"Nah. She wouldn't." Logan switched subjects. "So you and Scott got yerself a cab, eh?"

"Yes, it should be here soon," Jean said. "I have to go up and get our bags. See you later, Logan." She turned and headed into the mansion. Logan turned to follow her, then paused as he smelled the scent of a poorly-maintained gasoline engine puffing up the drive. "Yer cab's here, Jeannie," he said, knowing she could still hear him.

Her telepathic voice filtered into his mind. Thank you. Please tell the driver we'll be right down.

The cab pulled up, and the driver rolled down his window and poked his head out. "Need a lift?"

Logan jerked his thumb back at the door. "Wait a bit. They'll be out." He took off, taking a circular route back into the mansion. He didn't want to run into Jean and Scott coming out; didn't want them to know what he was planning on doing. If bone girl's gonna be sleepin' in our basement, then she's gonna hafta follow the rules. An' one o' them has ta do with bein' nice an' decent t'everybody else!

Jubilee slipped into a comfortable half-doze as the car wended its way to the airstrip. I wish I coulda stayed, she thought wistfully. As much as I miss seein' Ev and Ange and Paige and God help me, even M…I'd'a liked to hang with Wolvie for a while. Damn. You're in it deep, aren't you, Lee? She shook her head at herself. Used to be self sufficient. Me, myself and I, remember, Lee? Then this big hairy dude gets crucified right in front of you and all those lessons you learned about life and survivin' go, like, totally out the window. You almost lose your life stickin' up for these guys, especially said 'big hairy dude' and what do you get? You get sent back as soon as things calm down enough for them to remember you. And you still look at this guy like he's the center of your universe. A tear slid slowly down her cheek. I couldn't bear it if he's mad at me for talking. I can't blame him, though. I'll never be able to forgive myself.

All too soon they reached the airstrip. The driver, still silent, opened the door of the car and held it open as she got out, clutching the small bag with her toothbrush in it. As soon as she was out, he shut the door, got back in, and drove away. Jubilee had to do a one-eighty degree turn before she finally saw the plane, a small, single-engine two-passenger plane, sitting on the tarmac with an equally silent pilot beside it. She started walking toward it. Dang. Coulda at least like, let me know he was here. Although, seein' as how this all belongs to Frosty, guess nobody gets paid to ask questions. Maybe she personality-wiped 'em? As Jubilee approached he plane, she ventured a brave smile and said as cheerfully as she could, "It ain't a bird, and it's definitely not Super-Dude, so I guess this is my plane?" The man stared at her blankly, and she shook her head as she climbed in. "Dude. Like, get a sense of humor." Yep. Definitely got personality-wiped. Gotta watch out for that round Frosty, I guess. I can just hear her now;'you do not get paid to think!'

It was hard to stay in a funk when all you saw below you was cities and cars and people and stuff going by under you like ants on an anthill. It wasn't the first plane ride Jubilee had ever taken, but never before had she been on one alone, without someone to talk to. She half-wondered if Emma had had the man's vocal cords surgically removed, then decided that she didn't want the pilot to be talking to her anyway, in case they crashed into something. So she sat in the backseat of the plane, stared at the miles going by under her, and stayed silent.

I shouldn't even be complaining, she thought suddenly. Being up here is better than being back at the Hulkbuster Base, which is where I'd probably still be if Daria hadn't busted me out; or dead, if Wolvie hadn't rescued me. There was a time when I thought I'd never see the sky, or clouds, or sun or anything, again. Now I know why 'Ro sleeps in the attic, and why she takes those long solitary flights. After being buried alive, you kind of like, need to get away sometimes. I kinda wish I could fly. I'd be taking a long solitary flight. Maybe fly my way back to Massachusetts without the use of a plane—She shifted in her seat as she said it, and a twinge of pain from her body reminded her forcibly of what she'd gone through, and how much she still hurt. Scratch that. I do not want to be flying, with the way I feel now. I just want to curl up and sleep. Preferably back at the mansion, but since I wasn't really given a choice…Jubilee opened the bag and reached into the bottom. Logan had bought her a new yellow trenchcoat, the same as the one she'd had that Bastion had taken away, but when he wasn't looking she'd taken something of his; one of his ubiquitous black t-shirts. It was saturated with his scent; his body plus the odor of the cigars he smoked, and that helped calm the butterflies in her stomach and her nerves.

Until the plane started circling for a landing. Jubilee looked down, and saw the familiar, peaceful-looking layout of the Academy under her. There was the biosphere, the main building, the lecture hall, the basketball courts…everything looked deceptively peaceful, so quiet in the afternoon sunshine, that she felt a sense of unreality about the place. Could this possibly be the same place she had been kidnapped from a month ago? All of a sudden it felt a little less safe; the shadows cast on the ground by the taller buildings were sinister rather than mere shadows; the quietness of the grounds and buildings was cold and unfriendly rather than homely and inviting. All of a sudden, she wanted very much for the plane to turn around and take her back to the mansion.

But it was coming in for a landing, coming finally to rest on the basketball court, and there was Emma, dressed in her usual white lingerie, coming toward the plane. Jubilee felt tears sting her eyes, and tried to wipe them away. It had just been so damn long since she'd seen the White Queen, and the place and people she'd come to think of as her home away from home—her real home—the mansion. And there, right beside Emma, was Sean, his red hair flaming in the sunlight, and behind him the other students. Jubilee caught sight of Paige's blond hair, Jono's unruly mop. Artie and Leech's unmistakable skin color…and then it was all blotted out as Emma's platinum-blond hair and attention-grabbing cleavage filled her sight.

Emma poked her head into the plane's compartment, hiding Jubilee's face from those of her classmates. Jubilee was glad of it; she didn't want them to see her crying like a baby. As if sensing that. Emma turned and spoke to the pilot, who answered her various questions about the flight with an expressionless "Yes Ma'am. No ma'am. Yes, Ma'am." When Jubilee had gotten herself more or less under control, she handed the overnight case to Emma and climbed out of the plane—

—and was promptly grabbed into a giant bear hug by Sean, who them proceeded to half-smother her as he crushed her to his chest. "Oh, lass, ye got no idea how much ye were missed! What happened? How'd ye get separated from t'others? Are ye all right?" Jubilee was trying to answer his questions, but he was enfolding her in such an enthusiastic hug she could barely get a word in edgewise. At least she hadn't had as bad of a reaction to him touching her as she'd been having back at the mansion. Hmm. Time really does help cure all wounds, she thought. Aloud, she giggled, "Sean! Dude! Like, I can't answer if I can't breathe!" He finally released her, and she tried to straighten her rumpled clothes.

Emma was suddenly there, her presence almost overwhelming. "Jubilation. I wish to speak to you in private, please. Sean, you may accompany me." She handed Jubilee's tiny case to Paige as she swept by the blond girl in the doorway. "Please take this to Jubilee's room."

The kids took the command for what it was; a dismissal. They filed into the building, but not before Angelo stretched the skin of his face in weird directions, making Jubilee almost break into a sudden laugh, and mouthed "We're glad you're back, chica!" before Jubilee turned the corner with Sean and Emma and the other students were lost to view.

She tried to make the explanation as simple as she could, omitting as much of the unpleasant details as she could. Still, as she finished her quiet, halting narrative and Emma's office fell silent, she had the feeling that Sean and Emma had gotten a great deal more than she had said.

"We're sorry, lass," Sean said, suddenly sounding years older. "We're sorry. Things were just so confused, and confusing…" He lapsed into quiet.

Emma, who hadn't said a word while Jubilee was speaking, roused herself, rising from her chair. "I am sorry, too, Jubilee," she said…and for once, she truly sounded sorry. Jubilee wondered if she'd let any of the horrible mental images that had been swimming around in her mind leak out past her now- tight shields, but Emma didn't act as though Jubilee had let anything particularly nasty out. Maybe she just really was sorry. "I am sorry you went through this. We didn't know. We were concerned when you didn't return with the others…but we had been unable to contact any of the X-Men concerning your disappearance." She sighed. "Now, as Jean informed me, the mansion has been severely lacking in the basic amentities, so perhaps you would welcome a hot shower and some decent food. You are free to raid the kitchen for whatever you would like with the others. Classes are in recess until tomorrow, so you can settle back in and get reacquainted. Do you feel as though you could resume classes tomorrow?"

Jubilee nodded. "Cecelia—the doctor back at the mansion—said that I should take it easy for another week. And she gave me some…vitamins…to take daily for a little while to…make up for the lack of nutrition."

"Then you are excused from all classes which require physical exertion until the end of the week. Attend regular classes, get settled in…and when you feel you need to talk, please feel free to come to Sean or myself."

Yeah, right, Jubilee snorted mentally. Not likely. Not that I don't like you—hey, I don't—but I don't want you pokin' around in my head. An' I don't think I wanna talk to Irish either. Aloud, she said simply, "Thank you."

Outside Emma's office, she breathed a sigh of relief, then looked around. Same old, same old. Nothing had changed. Feeling the familiar surroundings lift her spirits slightly, she strolled down the hall, around the corner—

—and walked smack dab into her classmates, Skin-first. He grabbed her in a hug (since he was taller, it wasn't that hard) and whirled her around in a circle, repeating her name over and over again. Jubilee grinned. "Ange, put me down!"

He did, eventually, and Paige crowded forward. "Where have you been? And what happened to your hair!" she sounded horrified as she took in Jubilee's ragged-edged locks. Jubilee smiled. Trust Paigey to be concerned about my hair and stuff, she thought wryly. Well, no one else at the mansion seemed concerned.

"I'm hungry. Anything to eat around here?" Yes, suddenly she was hungry. She hadn't had much of an appetite back at the mansion, but then, there hadn't been much to eat there anyway. Suddenly she was starving for one of Angelo's messy overstuffed cold cut sandwiches with mayo and pickles and all the fixings. "Tell you what. I'll tell you what happened—" the G rated version, of course—"If Ange'll make me one of his Skin-buster Specials."

"You got a deal, chica!" Angelo bounced off into the kitchen. The others followed him, and in the confusion, Jubilee said to Paige, "Not to seem vain in fronta the guys, Hayseed, but do you have, like, a pair of scissors anywhere? I really wanna do something about my hair. And then you gotta tell me everything that's happened—"

The students went into the kitchen, still chattering.

Emma sat back in her chair, sighing. "Sean, it could have been worse."

Sean stared at the toes of his shoes moodily. "Maybe it was worse, and th' lass didn't tell us?"

Emma dismissed that eventuality with a wave of her hand. "I would have felt it if it were. Jubilee isn't that good at mental shielding. She told us what happened, Sean. I think the best thing we can do now is carry on like normal. Eventually, as Jubilee settles in, she'll become accustomed again to her normal routine, and all of this will vanish like a bad dream."

"Maybe yer right. Emma. Maybe you're right." But Sean didn't quite sound convinced.

End notes:

Jean and Scott left in the latter pages of X-Men 71, so consider this chapter set 'between panels' of that issue. I didn't use any of the dialogue, though.

In the end panels of that issue Logan goes and deliberately starts a fight with Marrow in the basement. It seems uncharacteristic of him, so I tried to come up with an idea for why he would do that. And what I came up with was if Marrow had said something about Jubilee. He would definitely take offense at what Marrow had said if it had something to do with Jubilee. And there has to be a reason why he didn't do it just then, so I added Jean into the scene. Somehow it all worked.

Okay, now that I've covered the unexplained disappearance of Jubilee from the plane in UXM #350, now I have to cover her reappearance in # 353 and #354. Boy, Marvel just loves to throw those curveballs…

Stay tuned for the next chapter!