Later that day, Jubilee stood outside the Danger Room with a substantial frown on her face. She looked at her watch for the twentieth time since arriving in the hallway and, finally, the minute hand was past the "3." She was officially fifteen minutes late. With a wicked smile, she stepped towards the door which whooshed open as she approached.
This loser is gonna regret the day he messed with me and my friends, Jubilee swore to herself.
Cyclops was standing in the center of a full-sized, dirty-looking boxing ring. The ring was illuminated from above, and the rest of the room was pitch black. Even the floor beneath Jubilee's feet as she walked towards the ring was completely black. It was more than a little disorienting, almost as if she were walking through space towards a ring suspended in nothing.
Well, she thought, I guess this explains the stupid outfit he left for me.
Cyclops was wearing a white undershirt tucked into a ratty-looking pair of khaki pants, help up by an old brown leather belt. Instead of his visor, he wore his sunglasses. Despite himself, he almost looked normal.
Scott stifled the smile that threatened at his lips. Jubilee approached the ring in her oversized, shiny blue boxing shorts and white tank top. The look on her face was even angrier and meaner than the last time they'd met in the Danger Room.
"Oh, come on," Scott said. "The shorts aren't that bad."
"I look ridiculous," Jubilee spat.
"You look like a boxer," Scott replied, trying to ignore the ferocity in the young girl's voice. "That's the point." He offered his hand to help Jubilee up into the ring, but Jubilee ignored it and climbed up under the ropes by herself. Dropping his hand, Scott said, Thanks for coming."
"I don't think I had much choice, though I think we both know you wouldn't have sent me to 'juvie.'"
Scott frowned. He hated that he had threatened to send the girl to a juvenile detention center, but if she couldn't be rehabilitated, if she wasn't willing to work towards becoming a better person, the young thief would have to pay for her crimes. That was just the way it worked.
"I guess we'll never know now, will we?" he said. Getting down to business, Scott walked over to one of the corners, where a small stool held the equipment he needed. As he prepared, he spoke. "We established during your last lesson that you have an adequate amount of accuracy with your fireworks," he explained. "However, it would seem you are slightly less prepared when it comes to physical altercations."
Scott tossed a pair of gloves, lightly padded on the knuckles, but with the ends of the fingers loose. "Put those on," he said. "Today, I'm going to teach you how to throw a punch."
Jubilee sighed loudly. I can't believe this guy, she thought. "I know how to punch." She slipped the gloves on, pulling the straps tight around her wrists, and flexed her fingers. She had to admit, the gloves felt kinda cool.
"Oh really?" Cyclops said. "Then show me."
"Bend a little closer, and I will."
Scott chuckled. "I can't let you have too much fun. It would spoil my reputation."
"No kidding," she muttered. Jubilee watched as he slid his hands into two flat pads, like the kind she'd seen in boxing movies.
"We'll start by hitting these," Cyclops said. He held up the pads. "Give me your best shot."
A mischievous smile spread on Jubilee's face beneath her ever-present shades. She raised her fists and thumbed her nose while she sniffed. Like they do in the movies. Her feet, in white shoes and socks pulled up almost to the bottoms of her shorts, began dancing and stepping beneath her.
Scott watched her carefully. Many of the movements she made, either mockingly or instinctively, were correct, but there was much untrained and unpolished in the way she moved. At least, he thought, she knows enough to keep her thumb out of the way when she makes a fist.
"Any day now," Scott said, stiffening his arms slightly in preparedness.
Jubilee looked up at her "teacher," at those red, unseeing lenses that smart-alec Scott Summers looked down and judged the world through and decided that nobody else was as good as him. Everything about him, from the way he was holding his mouth to the slight stubble on his chin sent a fiery rage through Jubilee's body. Her jaw fixed and her lip jutted, and she stepped forward, swinging her fist as hard as she could towards Cyclops' outstretched hand.
When glove met pad, a loud smacking sound echoed throughout the room. Scott skillfully allowed some give in his elbow, surprised at the tenacity and fire behind the blow.
His brow furled. There was more behind that punch than irritation at having to train, even with me. Putting the thought behind him, he continued with the training. "Good," he said, still frowning. "Don't hold back. But let me show you something." He stuck one hand under his arm and pulled off the pad. He took Jubilee's hand. She stiffened visibly, bristling under his touch.
Scott let go, startled once again. "When you hit," he said, trying to stay professional but finding his curiosity and pride extremely difficult to fight. "Use these two knuckles." He pointed to the knuckles on her pointer and middle finger. Sliding the pad back on his hand, he said, "Try it again."
Jubilee obediently raised her hands. "Keep your chin low," Scott instructed. "There you go."
When she walloped Scott's hand again, he felt the sting through his mitt. "Good, good," he said.
Jubilee had to admit she was enjoying punching Scott as hard as she could, even if it was just his hand. Who knows? she thought. Maybe, once I get the hang of it, I just might move up to his face.
The exercise continued, with Scott further refining her movements. Jubilee had to admit she could tell the difference. With each blow, she could feel her punches were more focused and, hence, powerful. Ignoring the burning in her shoulders and biceps, she continued to rain blow after blow on Scott's hands. He taught her to step forwards while she punched, to watch and wait for an opening, to switch targets.
Sweat dripped down her face and onto the pad of the ring. She was fueled by her hatred. Every time she got tired and wanted to quit, she saw Summers standing there, watching Logan leaving, and then looking up to her, like he was rubbing it in her face. She accented the thought by laying a particularly powerful punch on Scott's left hand.
"Good!" Scott said. "Harder!"
Jubilee clenched her teeth and pounded her knuckles into the slippery material. Breathing heavily, spit and sweat spurted from her snarled lips.
"Again!" Scott shouted.
With her left this time, Jubilee's shoulder shook and her teeth clacked as her body was racked with the impact.
"Focus!"
Again she punched. Her eyes closed. She heard Logan's engine start.
"Again!"
Logan's eyes dropped from hers, were they angry or sad?
"Harder!"
He pulled away, wearing his pack on his shoulders. The bag that meant he wasn't coming back today.
"Again!"
He disappeared, and the only thing left was Cyclops, staring at her, laughing at her.
"I!" Jubilee said as she swung wildly with all her might.
"HATE!" She punched again. She felt the cheeks on her face shudder.
"YOU!"
Jubilee's eyes shot open as pain shot up her arm, into her spine, and her whole body was shaken with the impact as her fist slammed, not into a soft pad before a giving elbow, but into Scott Summer's ungiving palm, holding her hand tight.
Scott had thrown the pad onto the ring and caught her fist in the time it had taken her to throw her next punch and stopped her punch dead in midair. Jubilee gulped, her eyes large and shaking.
"Owie," she said.
"Why did you say that?" Scott asked. His voice was even and controlled, but there was a real anger, a real danger, just behind it.
"I-" Jubilee replied, embarrassed and feeling genuinely frightened. "I don't know."
"Yes, you do," Scott said.
Jubilee tried to pull her hand free from Scott's. He didn't tighten his grip, but he held her fast.
"Let go of me, you freak!" Jubilee said, trying to turn the heat away from her. "Rape!" she yelled, pulling her arm and adding her other arm to the effort. She even kicked him in the shin.
Scott winced, and his grip tightened around her hand, but just barely.
"Jubilation," he said, his voice low. He sounded almost exactly like her dad had, when she'd disappointed him and it dawned on her that Scott wasn't mad. He was hurt. Jubilee felt her exterior crack.
"I, uh, I just…" she muttered. She had just started to apologize when she realized she had nothing to apologize for. He was the one who should be apologizing. "Oh, no you don't!" she cried. "You think I don't know what you did this morning, but I do!"
"This morning?" Scott said.
"Yeah, I was watching the whole thing. You made Wolvie leave!"
Scott's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" he said.
"Yeah, you made him. I saw that look in your eyes. I just can't figure out why…" Jubilee continued, her voice angry and frenzied. "Was that trashy redhead of yours giving him googly eyes and you couldn't stand the competition? Or do you just hate knowing that you'll never be half the man he is?"
Scott released Jubilee's hand, and she pulled it to her chest, rubbing her sore knuckles.
"Jubilee, I…"
"Yeah, not so full o' yourself now, are you?" she said. "Jerk!" Coughing up as much saliva as she could, she hocked onto Scott's shoes and turned for the door. "Go screw yourself. I'm outta here."
A powerful hand gripped her tiny arm and held her in place. "Jubilee," Scott said. "I didn't make Wolverine leave."
"And why should I believe that?" she said. Plasmoids started circling her hands as she turned to face Scott once again.
"I don't think I have anyway to prove it," he said. "I had just finished jogging when I came up on him leaving. I asked him to stay. I told him Henry might be able to find a way to help his healing factor. I told him he needed to say goodbye…" Scott released his grip on Jubilee's arm. "… To you."
Jubilee couldn't see Scott's eyes, but she looked deep into the lenses, squinting as she examined every line on his face. She replayed every inflection in his voice. Jubilee knew every trick in the book when it came to lying, and she could spot a liar out of the gate. Despite her words, she knew he was telling the truth. "You're lying."
There was pain in her voice. Scott heard it, and it broke his heart. I told you, Logan, he thought.
Scott raised his arms, paused, and then finally was able to place them on Jubilee's shoulders. Such small shoulders, Scott thought, to bear so much. He knelt in front of her. "I'm sorry, Jubilee," he said softly.
Jubilee's bottom lip began to tremble. OH, no! she told herself. You're not going to do this to me. Not in front of him. In front of anybody but him! But the emotions were set in motion, and Jubilee couldn't hold them back. With an explosive sob, tears fell down little Jubilee's cheeks.
"But why?" she said. "Why would he leave? Why wouldn't he tell me where he was going?"
Scott looked at her through sad eyes. She was just a little girl, and it was all so unfair. Logan should have to explain. He should be the one to have to watch her cry, he told himself. 'Ask him when he gets back,' I should say. Scott sighed. He'd practically made a career out of taking on the responsibilities that Logan refused to, cleaning up the mess that the man left in his wake without concern of consequences. Today wouldn't be any different.
Squeezing her shoulders softly, Scott tried to sound as reassuring as he could. This wasn't really his area of expertise… He tried to find the words. "Logan…" he stopped. Tilted his head while he thought for a moment.
"Logan what?" Jubilee asked, wiping her nose. "God, why am I wasting my time?" She went to turn, but Scott held her in her place.
"Logan is like a wolf," he blurted.
"What?"
"He's like a wolf. You know what a wolf is, right?"
"Duh! Yeah, I know what a wolf is. Geez."
"Well, most of the times, wolves run in packs. They hunt together, play together, breed… You know. They're like families. They depend on each other."
He looked into Jubilee's eyes. She wasn't buying it.
"But sometimes," Scott continued. "There are wolves that come and go. They'll join a pack, a family, for a while and then, for seeming no reason at all, they go out on their own, to fend for themselves. After a while, when he's done whatever he needed to do, he'll come back to the pack and live with the family again."
"That's how Logan has always been since he joined the X-Men, since I've known him. He stays with us here, and he's one of us, a part of the family, and then, for seemingly no reason, he'll take off on his own. Nobody asks why. And then, when you least expect it, when you think there's no hope, he'll show up and save the day. Nobody asks where he's been or what he did. He's just part of the family again. That's just Logan. He's a lone wolf."
The pair sat in silence for a minute. Scott shook his head slightly, proud of his comparison and wondering where he'd pulled it out of. Jubilee was simply trying to put her head around what he'd said.
"So he'll be back?" she said eventually.
"Eventually. I don't know when."
"You promise?" Jubilee asked, showing a rare sign of dependence.
"I couldn't stop him if I wanted," Scott said with a smile. Two arms wrapped around his neck and toppled him backwards. After the shock wore off, a genuine laugh escaped his lips.
"Thanks, Mr. Summers," Jubilee said.
Before Scott could respond, Jubilee's arms were gone and she was climbing out of the ring. "I'm gettin' outta these dumb shorts!" she cried over her shoulder. "They're startin' to chafe!"
Scott watched her go and shook his head when the door closed behind her. "I wonder if Rachel was ever like that," he said aloud as he pushed himself to his feet.
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Author's note: I thank you yet again for the comments. You're really too kind. Just to let you know, the issue with Logan's healing factor is simply an ongoing problem with Wolverine during the time that this story is to have taken place. It's origin and the resolution of that problem aren't going to be dealt with in this story. So how was this chapter? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Is the story worth continuing with? Thanks for reading!
