disclaimer: All characters (except the brief mentions of Jenny) are the property of Marvel and I expect no monetary benefit from this work of fiction.


The Journey Home
by Dizi

Chapter 6: Wolverine

For such a small package, she's one tough cookie. Lookin' at us you'd think I was the strong one, but inside I think she is. Jubilation Lee has learned ta deal with her memories in ways I ain't fer the few I got.

Sometime while she was talkin' that night, I forgot she was all grown up. I kept seein' what she was tellin' me happen ta a little girl. My little girl. Not really my daughter, but mine all the same. I remembered what she looked like when I found her in the New Mexico desert, all skin and bones, puttin' on a strong face but scared. I could smell the fear on her. The same fear I smelled while she was talkin'.

When I looked at her I didn't see the woman she is but the girl she used ta be. She's been livin' with it an' learned how ta live with it, but I hadn't. It was like it just happened. Right then in my eyes Jubes wasn't all grown up, she was that child. I couldn't see past it.

I was almost back where we started, thinkin' 'bout her as a kid. Think I even called her kid which I ain't done since she crawled inta my bed way back when - except when I was tryin' ta remind myself ta think of her that way. The way I was feelin', I didn't see how she'd want ta be near any man, much less me. The man who'd failed her in so many ways.

Hell, by the time she'd got ta the part I'd been askin' for it was downright anti-climatic. It was a real small part of the trauma. 'Trauma' sounds tame. It was torture. Psychological an' physical torture worse than I'd been imaginin'. The bastard. I wanted Bastion in front of me so I could kill him right there. Plaster his carcass all over them walls that reeked of her pain.

There's a hole in the wall where I was envisionin' him. It'll take some explainin' when the credit card bill comes in.

Broke down some when I offered ta get another room. Didn't cry. Real men don't do that shit. Even with nothin' but a towel on - which I was tryin' real hard not ta notice - she looked awful young ta me. Too young fer me an' I don't deserve her.

Guess she wasn't gonna put up with me bein' that way, cause she had us packed up an' in new hotel in 'bout thirty minutes.

Then she reminded me she's all woman. Sounds funny, but it took me awhile ta get inta the swing of things. Usually, I'm always in the mood, but I was terrified ta touch her. New place helped but it was still there.

She fixed that. Man, she learns fast.

Been backslidin' a bit every now an' then. She don't put up with it. Shoulda heard her tell me ta get with it. Jubes was all firey an' her hair flyin', all them damn piecings glinting in the sunlight - she takes 'em out for workouts and puts 'em back in after - paffed me right in the face, sayin' if I was gonna be blind it should be fer real. Hurt like a sonuvabitch.

I got the message. She's a big girl, a woman, an' I better keep it in mind. Lesson learned.

That was a couple days ago. We been campin' out more, think she knew I needed ta be with nature. Had us a game o' hide-n-seek "Jubes-style". Meant I was hidin' an' she was the seeker. It was supposed ta be a quick trainin' exercise. Turned out funny as hell. Jubes actually counted an' called out "Ready or not, here I come". Then while lookin' fer me, she had a runnin' commentary goin' like she was that guy on TV, the Croccodile Hunter. Laughed so hard I fell outta the tree an' she got me. Was a little embarrassin' since I ain't supposed ta have that much a sense of humor.

Guess that's somethin' else I love 'bout her. She looks young an' acts immature but she brings out the kid in me. The one I didn't know was there. With her I can laugh like that, cain't with anyone else.

We been fishin' most o' today, takin' a break from travelin'. In case ya don't know, this means I get ta sit back under a convenient tree with my hat over my eyes, pole braced against some rocks, an' Jubes layin' against me usin' my chest as her pillow. Bit o' heaven an' hell all rolled inta one.

She's been chatterin' away just like she done up at my cabin in the summers. Mostly, Jubes's been goin' over what we already talked about. I know I shouldn't but I zone her out. Got me some plans ta make.

In every way she can, Jubes has made it clear she wants ta go all the way, complete the bondin' and have her way with me. Might need ta let the gang know we'll be longer than I thought, if it goes the way I expect. It'll take a looooonnnng time ta get my fill o' her. Way Jubes is actin', might take another couple weeks. She's gettin' antsy.

After waiting fer so long, figure it should be special. In one o' them fancy hotels like Warren goes to. Have me a bottle o' bubbly on ice. Music playin' in the background. Gotta have flowers. Should call 'Ro an' ask her what ta get, probably roses but ya never know. All that ain't usually my thing, I know. It's the kinda set-up ya expect fer a weddin' night, which it might as well be. More than in a legal sense we'll be joinin' our lives together. Besides, Jubes been talkin' 'bout doin' it up right an' plannin' fer a weddin' ta be maybe six months away. She's said plain as day she won't wait that long. I can be stubborn an' use self-control when I need ta, but I ain't a saint.

Now, I'm not completely ignorin' her - she wouldn't let me if I tried. Somethin' she said caught my attention. I been thinkin' when we get 'round ta kids that I wanted a little girl. I like girls, just do. But Jubes was talkin' 'bout a boy.

She sounded all wistful-like. Suppose I need ta think 'bout it both ways since it's a fifty-fifty chance. Got a lot I could teach a boy, I guess. Make sure he's the best tracker that ever lived. Take him huntin' and fishin'. Teach him honor an' the ways o' men. Make sure he don't make all the mistakes I did. Show him lite beer is fer pansies an' how to tell a good cigar from a bad'un. A male version of Jubes? I could get inta that. Yeah...

'Course, way my luck goes he'd be like Jenny's boy an' wanna be like Cyke, become another Scotty mini-me. Can ya see a little 'un lookin' like me but actin' like him? Turns my stomach thinkin' like that, but it's the way God laughs at me.

Nah, gimme girls anytime. They're cuter fer one thing with them big eyes an' sweet smiles. Girls can do most that boys can. I like ta watch 'em kick-butt. It's why I taught so many of 'em. With a daughter of mine, I'd have ta lock 'em up from the age o' thirteen ta thirty, maybe longer if they get my healin' factor. Is fifty too long, ya think? I don't. Jube's probably would though. Maybe a boy would be better just ta avoid that fight. Excuse me, discussion. Jubes don't like ta think o' it as fightin'.

Hell, I don't care what we end up with long as they got her pretty face instead o' my ugly mug. Maybe a boy wouldn't have these damn points in his hair. A girl that looked like me might not be so pretty, wouldn't need ta lock her up then. Hope Jubes has the dominant genes.

Either way would be a while down the road. We talked about it an' thought we'd give it a few years or five. Jubilee's young, we got time. Neither of us wanna leave the X-Men any time soon. An' we would cause I ain't raisin' kids in that death trap. You realize how many times they've had ta rebuild that place? Uh-uh, my family's not gonna be in that kinda danger.

I'd say I'm putting my foot down, but we ain't talked about that part yet. Thing's could be different by that time. Ya never know, it could happen. We'll see.

First things first. Jubes ain't at the top of her game yet, but we're gettin' there. Won't be satisfied 'til she can take some of the best down an' out, so we'll keep workin' on makin' her better. Cyke an' Bishop gonna have ta work with her on her powers. Them paffs o' hers pack a wallop. They tried ta work with her on it before but she was still holdin' back. She's got control on a small scale but we both know she can do it up big. As a kid she blew up a whole damn building! Her powers've gotten stronger not weaker. That's gonna take some time once we get back.

We'll be in NY with a couple days more drivin', back ta the mansion. We've worked through lots of shit, but there'll be more then. In their minds the team knows what ta expect, but seein' us together, really a couple, will take them some gettin' used to. We won't be the only ones adjustin'. They know she's different but livin' with it is somethin' else. Cyke's the only one prepared for that. Before she was still being looked at like at teenager - it wasn't all in her mind. Now they're going to have to deal with a woman grown fer real.

Jubes 'n me will probably go round several times, both with some of them an' each other. I'm expectin' it an' warned her already. She didn't look too surprised.

She ain't a tag-a-long no more - not that I thought of her that way but others did. The men are used ta havin' women who look pretty be full members, they'll adjust better than the women. For libbers ya wouldn't think it'd be a problem, but they get funny ideas. First time someone gets bossy an' talks down ta her will be somethin' ta see. If she don't say nothin', then I will.

Been thinkin' on it - ya know, lyin' here not listenin' ta Jubes - and the way I see it, lots o' people have "relationship issues" that we won't because they think it should be easy, perfect. It ain't easy, no such thing as perfect, and ain't supposed ta be. We're a step up from that kind 'cause we know that already.

These two weeks have been a good start. That's it, a start. The rest we'll figure out as we go. Despite what Jubes was sayin' before, we don't have our lives all worked out, ain't possible. We've got enough ta go forward the way we wanna.

The tranquil times like now will most likely be few and far between, borrowed time. The lives of X-Men are too hectic ta be otherwise. This has been a journey in more ways than one and it won't end when we get ta our destination. It doesn't ever end. We'll have our twists and turns, fights and heartbreaks. That's what life is. But we'll be together through it all.

The saying goes, "Home is where the heart is." Jubilee is my heart. I was already home when I arrived at her apartment.

The journey home will always be to each other.

And that's a fine thing.

The End.


note: I know this is unusual but... I don't have anything else to say! For once it's all pretty much self-explanatory. Nothing really set but plans made, leaves open for a future story but doesn't have to have one. They're not completely harmonic - with the people we're talking about it will never be ALL sweetness and light - but at the same time they're not at war and it doesn't look like they're going to be.

There is a possibility of a sequel but if so it won't be pov and won't be in the same manner or style, probably a comedy. Anyone who has read my bio (or any of my author's notes) knows I have lots of writing projects I'm in the middle of, so I'm not promising anything and can't say when it would happen. The possibility is there.

Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi