A/N: Chapter 6 is up! Look! Sorry again for the cliff-hanger…it just seemed like a good spot for one…hope you understand. Anyway, hope you're all enjoying this story so far; it's almost over! (Isn't that sad? LOL). So, please, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the X-Men. Honestly, people.

Chance Encounters II: the Hand v the Fang

Chapter 6:

Wolverine's roar of outrage and pain sliced through the battlefield, echoing in the ears and minds of the combatants. The demon who'd slain Jubilee was still standing there, a satisfied smirk on his thin lips. "Want me to send you to join her, mutant?" It snarled arrogantly, flexing its blood-stained claws.

Wolverine fixed his gaze on the overconfident demon and glared at him as he rocked back on his heels, popped his claws, and lunged forward with all the ferocity of the berserker rage that he could feel himself slipping in to. Without Jubilee there, he wasn't sure he'd come out of it anytime soon; and part of him wasn't sure he wanted to.

With an animalistic roar that would make any demon think twice, Wolverine plunged his claws into the demon's chest, and then tore them out, effectively shredding his adversary. Then he stepped back, breathing hard and crouched, daring someone else to challenge him.

The red haze hovering over his thoughts, and blinding his mind's eye, lifted when Kagome shouted at him to "Grab Jubilee and get out of the way!" Without actually acknowledging that he'd heard her, he spun around, scooped up Jubilee's still-warm body and ran towards the edge of the battle, where Kagome and the others were standing. Hiryu popped in front of him and cleared the path, cutting down those who tried to stop them.

As soon as Wolverine and Hiryu were clear, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha stepped forward once again. Sesshoumaru called, "Dragon Strike," while Inuyasha lifted the diamond Tetsusaiga over his head and shouted "Adamant Barrage!" Behind them, Kagome spotted a small group of lesser demons who'd decided to hide in an effort to avoid the combined attacks. They were watching with silent awe as their comrades were destroyed by the two dog demon's swords. She quietly notched an arrow, aiming at the center of where they stood. Her eyes narrowing in concentration, she whispered, "Go!" and released the arrow. The demons were purified instantly.

When the dust cleared, nothing was left of their adversaries except for some memories and a few broken windows. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru sheathed their swords and turned around, to where Wolverine was cradling the bloody body of his sidekick. They exchanged a look, and Sesshoumaru stepped towards him.

"Wolverine, if you would please step back, I believe I can revive her." He stated, waiting until Logan's pain-filled gaze met his golden one.

"How?" Logan managed, not caring if his voice wasn't quite controlled.

"The Tenseiga," Sesshoumaru paused and rested a clawed hand on the aforementioned sword's hilt, "has the ability to revive the dead. I was not able to use it for your friend, Yukio, because the messenger's from the Netherworld had already claimed her. But it is not too late for Jubilee."

Logan nodded, forcing himself to think logically, and gently laid her down on the ground. Then he pushed to his feet and took two steps backwards. He watched silently as Sesshoumaru unsheathed the sword he'd called Tenseiga. Unlike Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga, it didn't enlarge dramatically. It merely glowed a bright blue as Sesshoumaru's gaze fixed on something that no one else was able to see. Then he swung the sword swiftly, slicing through empty air. When he had finished, he sheathed it once more.

That was when Wolverine noticed that the gaping wound in Jubilee's side had healed, almost as if it had never been there. And a moment later, he heard her heart begin to beat again, slowly at first, and then increase until it was beating normally. He released the breath he hadn't been aware of holding when he realized that she truly was alive once again.

Jubilee moaned slightly as she pulled herself to her knees. What's going on? I'm pretty sure I died…or I thought I died. Where's Wolvie? As her mind attempted to process what had happened, her left hand absently reached over and touched the spot on her opposite side where she'd been fatally injured. It took her a moment to realize that the wound was no longer there.

She didn't have time to think about why that was true, because that was when she saw Logan drop to his knees in front of her and the next thing she knew, she was pressed up against him as he held her tight. Jubilee snuggled into him, returning the embrace reassuringly. "It's ok, Wolvie." She whispered, knowing he would hear her.

Twenty minutes later, they were all gathered in the conference room. Jaken had done a survey of the damage to the building and reported that there were ten broken windows, three doors irreparably damaged, and one wall had been obliterated. Inuyasha owned up to the wall. Sesshoumaru had gone and checked on Rin and Karu, who were both fine. Tai, Matt, and Chikara were found out back, where they'd been fighting a few of their own demons, and they, too, were perfectly fine. There had been a total of four casualties in the fight (not counting Jubilee, who'd survived in a round-about way).

Kagome and Jubilee were both sitting at the table while the men remained standing. After going over damage costs, Sesshoumaru looked towards Hiryu. "Are you still able to track Viper's location?"

The telelporter nodded. "Yes, my lord. I believe I know where she is. Would you like me to scout ahead, just to be sure?"

Sesshoumaru inclined his head slightly. "That would be wise. Report back what you find, but do not engage in battle unless it is unavoidable."

"Understood." Hiryu agreed before disappearing once more. Then Sesshoumaru turned to Wolverine.

"I will have someone go to the island and retrieve your friend's body. Tell me, where would like her to be buried?"

Logan was silent a moment, and then, finally, he replied, "Tokyo Cemetery."

"It will be done, then." Sesshoumaru replied.

Barely five minutes later, Hiryu reappeared in the conference room. "My lord, I've found Viper. She's more confident than I would've guessed; she's alone. Now would be the perfect time to strike."

Sesshoumaru looked back to Wolverine, who was now sitting beside Jubilee at the large table. Wolverine stood, placing a restraining hand on Jubilee's shoulder as she, too, tried to rise. "I want to do this on my own. If it's all the same to you, I have a few scores to settle with Viper."

"Fine by me." Inuyasha declared. Sesshoumaru nodded silent agreement.

Hiryu shifted his gaze to Wolverine. "Then allow me to be your escort."

"Let's get this done with." Logan agreed. A moment later, they were gone.

Jubilee spent the next hour and a half helping to clean up the debris that was scattered throughout the living room. She was also using it as an excuse to distract herself from worrying about Logan. It's stupid of me to worry about him. He's more than capable of taking care of himself; and he's definitely stronger than that bitch, Viper. Still, she's not exactly a pushover. What if it's a trap? What if she wanted Hiryu to think that she was alone? She's certainly capable of tricking him, even if he is a demon. Darn it! This is so frustrating! I wish I was there to help him right now. But I probably would only get in the way, which is why he had me stay here. She sighed, flopping down on the couch. Oh, Wolvie, I hope you're alright.

It wasn't until another hour after that that Wolverine and Hiryu returned home. Since it was rather late, most of the mansion's residents had already gone to bed for the evening. Inuyasha had volunteered to stay up and wait for them, so he was lounging in the living room when they popped in.

"How'd it go?" He asked as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Successful." Wolverine replied. His uniform was torn, but he himself looked just fine.

"Viper's out of our hair now. Hopefully forever." Hiryu added, stretching.

Inuyasha nodded. "Good. Unless there's something else you have to tell me, I'm goin' to bed."

"Not a thing." Logan said as he, too, headed for the stairs. Hiryu simply bypassed the stairs, teleporting straight to his room.

Logan entered silently, doing his best not to wake Jubilee. He shut the door with an almost inaudible click and then flipped the lock shut. He didn't bother with turning on a light, as he was perfectly able to see in the dark. When he turned around, he noticed first that the bed was empty. He tensed and cut his eyes to the couch, and the tension fled. Jubilee was sitting there, her head tilted to the side as she slept. She must've tried waitin' up fer me. Sorry, darlin'.

Moving quietly, he stepped up beside the couch and scooped her up. Unlike the night before, however, she woke as he lifted her. "Logan?" She asked sleepily.

"Hush, Jubes. It's me." He replied as he carried her to the bed once more.

"How'd it go?" She asked, sounding a bit more awake this time. She allowed him to deposit her on the bed, but when he pulled back, she clamped her small hand firmly around his wrist. He studied her for a minute.

"I killed her. But she wasn't as alone as Hiryu thought, so we had a bit of a fight on our hands first. Sorry to make ya worry, darlin'."

Jubilee shrugged a bit as she sat up, releasing his wrist. "'S ok, I suppose. You're ok, right?"

He was silent again, a bit longer this time. Finally, he said, "Yeah, I'm ok. Ya shouldn't worry so much about an' old geezer like me, Jubes."

Jubilee scoffed. "Oh please, Wolvie. You're not that old. I mean, look around ya, prob'ly most o' the people under this roof are older than you! And, by the way, I'm always gonna worry, so you'll just have to learn to deal with it."

Logan sighed and sat down next to her. "Tell me again why you worry? One o' these days I ain't gonna come back; it's unavoidable. Sure, it won't be anytime soon, but with the life we lead, ya can't take risks like that. So why worry, when ya know it's comin'?"

It was Jubilee's turn to hesitate as she took a few moments to formulate her response. Finally, she replied, "You're my best friend. My partner. You're the only reason I joined the X-Men, and the main reason I've stayed on. Most people would take the hint, after getting shipped off to Boston and Gen X, and then kicked off the team again after being strung up on a cross. A normal person would assume they weren't wanted and go home with their tail between their legs. But I ain't ever been normal, y'know, and I don't quit. Which, by the way, I learned from you."

Logan couldn't suppress the grin that stole across his face at her words. "No, Jubilee, one thing you'll never be is a quitter. But ya weren't a quitter when I met ya, either, so don't go blamin' all o' that on me."

Jubilee lightly punched his arm. "True, I was a stubborn mall-rat when we met." Logan grabbed the offending wrist and pulled sharply, landing her squarely in his lap. She gave a soft, half-hearted shriek and tried to clamber off of him, but he held her tight.

"Jubes, yer still a stubborn mall-rat. That ain't changed."

"And you're still Mr. Macho, what's your point?" She teased, readjusting herself in his lap so that she could comfortably wrap her arms around his neck and rest her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms more firmly around her waist and buried his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply.

"Not sure I had a point, darlin'. Are you sure ya feel alright?" He asked, one hand trailing up to lightly touch her side, where she'd been practically gutted.

"Yes, I'm sure. I feel fine. Better than fine; if it weren't for the memory of the injury, I wouldn't know I'd been injured…let alone…killed." She said the last part softly, still not able to believe that she had, in fact, died earlier that day. After a second, she added, "I'm sorry I scared you, Wolvie."

"'Scared' don't come close, but it's ok now. Ain't like ya did it on purpose, after all." He rumbled as his mind replayed the image of her dead and bleeding on the ground. The memory of her scream as she fell. Without thinking, he said, "I've lost a lot o' people in my life, Jubes. I don't want to add you to that list. Ever."

Jubilee was quiet for a minute, not knowing what to say. Then, finally, she settled on, "You won't lose me. 'Cause I sure don't plan on goin' anywhere. But you have to promise that you won't leave me, either, ok?"

Pulling back slightly, Logan tilted her chin up with his hand and said, "It's a deal, darlin'." And then, before he could give himself time to think about it, he leaned down and captured her lips with his. She gasped and froze for a moment, then wound her arms tighter around his neck and returned the kiss, knowing instinctively that this was the chance she never thought she'd get.

They kissed passionately for a short while, Logan's masterful tongue delving into her mouth and dancing with hers. Then he began exploring, and she slipped her tongue past his to return the gesture. After a few moments, however, he pulled away. But he didn't look away, or release her and run from the room as she'd always feared he would. He kept his gaze firmly on hers, and she smiled up at him.

"Wolvie, I-"

"I know, darlin', I know. I love you, too, Jubilee."

At first she was surprised that he already knew her 'secret', but then she reminded herself that he was Wolverine. He could probably smell it. What really did surprise her was what he'd said after that. He-he loves me? Seriously? Or am I about to wake up? Damn, I hope I don't wake up.

"C'mon, darlin', it's been a long day. We both need our rest." Logan's words cut through her thoughts, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I am kinda tired." Two seconds later, she was all tucked in. Logan leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "G'night, Wolvie." She managed a moment before her exhaustion overwhelmed her.

"'Night, Jubilee." He mumbled before heading back to the couch. It didn't take him long to drift off to sleep.

Kagome was wide awake when Inuyasha returned to their room that night. He smirked at her as he chucked his shirt and pants, placing the Tetsusaiga down on the top of the dresser, before climbing in beside her. He looped an arm around her waist and rolled over, straddling her hips and stealing a kiss.

Kagome returned the kiss willingly, not particularly surprised by his behavior. But she was also fully conscious of the mutant with hearing as good as her husband's in the next room, so she put an end to the kiss after a few seconds. "I assume they came back ok?" She asked in between ragged breaths.

Inuyasha took the hint and rolled over again, pulling her against him. "Yeah, they got back fine. From what I could smell, though, they went through hell first."

"And Viper?"

"Good and dead."

"That's a relief." She whispered, playing absentmindedly with the rosary that still hung around his neck. "Good night, Inuyasha."

The arm around her waist tightened marginally. "'Night, wench." She chuckled at him softly as sleep claimed her. He followed a moment later.

That morning, Wolverine told Sesshoumaru about what had happened with Viper, and in exchange, Sesshoumaru told him that Yukio had been sent to the local morgue, and that preparations were underway for her burial. He also promised to give him a call when she was to be buried.

Logan and Jubilee spent the rest of the afternoon helping with the remaining cleaning. Tai, who they discovered was a construction worker, and his best friend Ben (another construction worker) spent the day replacing the wall that Inuyasha's Wind Scar had demolished.

It was late afternoon when everything was finally done. Jubilee flopped on the couch beside Chikara, exhausted after having spent the past two hours scrubbing tile floors. Logan came in a minute later and handed her a bottle of water. "I'm gonna try an' book us a flight outta here tonight, that sound good?"

"Sure. I'm runnin' out of clothes, anyway."

"We would be perfectly happy to wash some for you, if you'd rather stay and wait." Kagome offered from her seat on another couch.

Logan shook his head. "Nah, there's a couple o' people back home who'd wanna know 'bout the funeral. Yukio was a friend to the X-Men, not just us."

"Ok, then."

"Hiryu can take you back to the institute. Cheaper that way, too." Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly.

"We wouldn't wanna impose any more 'n we already have."

"Keh. Ain't imposin' if we're offering. Hiryu!"

The demonic teleporter appeared immediately, bowing respectfully. "You bellowed, Master Inuyasha?" Kagome chuckled.

"We'd like you to teleport our friends home. Do you mind?" Kagome asked before Inuyasha could be rude about it.

"Not at all, Lady Kagome." Then he turned to the X-Men and added, "Where to?"

Five minutes later they were back at Xavier's. Of course, because of the time difference, it was just after three in the morning. "This the place?" Hiryu asked quietly.

"Yep. Thanks for the lift." Jubilee replied. The demon nodded and vanished almost simultaneously. Jubilee turned to Logan. "See, this is the problem with instantaneous travel. I'm so not ready to sleep. And everyone around here is dead to the world."

Logan grinned. "Five minutes ago ya were goin' on about how tired ya were, and now yer home and ya don't wanna sleep?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny. Ok, so cleaning made me a bit tired. And I probably could sleep…if I have to."

"You can do whatever ya want, Jubes. Me, I think sleep sounds good right about now. An' when we come down fer breakfast in the mornin', the look on Slim's face'll be worth it."

Jubilee sighed as she followed him up the stairs. "Yeah, I guess that's a good point." A couple of minutes later, they were standing in front of her bedroom door. Quickly, she reached over and planted her lips on his. They pulled apart a few seconds later. "'Night, Wolvster." She said before slipping into her room and closing the door behind her.

Friday morning, the in-house X-Men gathered together in the kitchen. They were just sitting down to eat when Betsy, Jean, and Xavier all looked up and turned their heads towards the entrance to the kitchen. The action caught everyone else's attention, and they all put their forks down, fearing another before-breakfast battle. Almost everyone was surprised when Wolverine and Jubilee walked in.

"What, no one made me anything?" Jubilee asked, a grin on her face.

"When did the two of you get home?" Scott demanded as he watched Jubilee grab a bowl and pour Sugar Bombs into it. Then she added milk and took her formerly vacant seat. Logan grabbed the leftover bacon and hash browns and piled them onto his plate.

"Last night around three. Figured you didn't want us wakin' ya up, so we headed off fer bed instead."

"And what was so important that you couldn't tell me what was going on?"

Logan took a deep breath and set down his fork. "That's a discussion I think we need ta have after breakfast, Cyke."

"One last question. What did you mean when you said you had demons this time?"

Jubilee piped up. "Oh! You're totally never going to believe this! First of all, I for one sure didn't realize that half-demons were practically immortal, ok? And we definitely weren't expecting to run into Inuyasha and Kagome in Tokyo, either. And did you know that Inuyasha has an older brother? But he's a full-demon; and he's got two swords! Anyway, apparently, Inuyasha and Kagome have been alive for 500 years now…"

The team listened with varying degrees of interest as Jubilee explained all about their newfound allies, while carefully avoiding the topic of why they'd run into them, and what they did while they were there. When she told them that Inuyasha and Kagome had ten kids floating around somewhere, Gambit slid a suggestive look over to Rogue, who promptly smacked him upside the head. A few people laughed.

After breakfast the team descended to the War Room and sat down, patiently awaiting whatever it was that Logan had to tell them. So he told them the entire story (omitting the part about his and Jubilee's newfound relationship). When he was done, everyone was quiet. Ororo had tears running down her face, as she and Yukio had been close over the years. Kurt laid a comforting hand over one of hers, squeezing gently.

Finally, Charles spoke. "Logan, would it be alright with you if we all accompanied you to her funeral? I think we would all like to go and say our good-byes."

Logan nodded curtly. "Yeah, I kinda figured you'd wanna do that, Chuck. Sesshoumaru said he'd give me a call when it came time to go back fer the funeral. I'll let ya know when it comes in."

"Thank you." Charles replied softly. Shortly after the conversation, everyone slowly migrated back upstairs. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and no one complained about being bored. They were all grateful for the quiet time.

To Be Concluded…

A/N: Yeah, you read it right. 'Concluded.' Next chapter is the last one! I do hope you've all enjoyed it so far! Oh, and don't forget to review!