"Are you ignoring me, Logan?"
Logan turned. Jubilee was hanging upside down from the taller arch at the end of the main tutor's hall. She was connected to the roof by ropes and cable clamps, some of which swung and clanked randomly down from her waist and shoulders.
"Hey," he said. "Sorry. I was busy thinking there." He turned back briefly to the door to Xavier's office then returned to Jubilee. Her face was hot and flushed from hanging the wrong way up.
He smiled a little at how ridiculous she looked. "Couldn't you bear to go outside?" He found himself smiling.
She swung upright and touched back down upright on the floor, her flat sneakers scuffing the floor gently. For once, she had left her incredibly long trench-coat and, wearing climbing shorts and shirt, was giving herself freedom to move.
"I just had to check out the equipment." She looked up at the scuff marks on the arch. "Nowhere near as bad as Hank and his creeping around." She picked up a cord in each hand, let them wrap around her lower wrists. "What's bothering you?" she asked.
His mind raced back to the current problem and his voice was quiet. "I've heard some bad news." He wanted to confide in her. And it was the right thing to do.
"You can tell me, Logan." She winked. "I can keep a secret."
"I know you're joking, Jubilee. But you might have to keep something very quiet."
"Jeez, already. Did you rob a bank?" She was at least a little more concerned.
"It's Kurt."
"Jeez. Did Nightcrawler rob the bank?"
"No," he said. "No. Just listen." He looked back again to Xavier's office. He wondered if this conversation was seeping thru to the Professor's mind. Maybe he was even listening out for it.
"I just finished hanging around." She noticed where he was staring. "Hey? Don't keep me suspended."
"Kurt might have been hurt. His signal, the psychic trace that the Professor locks onto, has gone."
"Gone?" Jubilee put her hands on her waist. "Gone, as in..? "
He shook his head. "I don't know."
"Dead gone?"
"I don't know," he said again.
Jubilee tried to be practical. "Well, tell me. How exactly did Xavier put it? Gone? Or Dead gone? Surely he would have said…" Her voice faltered. "Dead…" She coughed to clear her throat. "If he meant dead gone."
"I don't know," he said for a third time.
"How do we find out?" She was more focussed. Here was a problem to solve.
"Charles is going down to Cerebro to check. He'll get the whole picture there."
"Aren't those stoopid nerds taking it apart?"
"Yes. Berkeley postgrads. They're trying to create a digital version of all the components. I don't know how. Most of it's solid state. Once they've been thrown off it, we'll get a better idea. I'm sure Kurt is fine."
She nodded firmly. "Me too. Let's get this done."
"They'll need a bit of time to pack up." He remembered the rest of the plan. "I was taking Charles outside for an hour. In fact, I was on my way to get the coffee. Would you..?"
"Yes. I'll get down there."
"What do you mean?" The percolators and carry-pots were on the first floor.
She mimed cracking her left knuckles against her right palm. "You need some ass kicked. You've come to the right mutant."
"No. I thought…"
"What?"
"I thought you might…"
"Huh?" She scowled. "Get the coffee? That's your job, already."
"But I…" He carefully rubbed the back of his hands.
Jubilee laughed. "Back up the truck, Logan. There's no need for claws. It's a UCB summer camp. A few fireballs will be enough to deal with any attitude." She raised her own slender fists and let a fiery glow flicker around each wrist. A hint of a smile was returning.
Logan thought about it. His last discussion with an academic had ended with minor destruction on a Little Ivy campus. (Banner's fault, of course!) "Sure," he conceded. "Come find us when the job's done. We'll be out front in the trees. Coffee and sandwiches."
"Okay. I'll bring a few others."
"No."
"What?"
"There's one other thing."
"Go on."
"We mustn't tell Storm. She might be too upset."
"She's more grown up than you, Logan."
"She's still vulnerable." Logan realized he was not sure about the message he was trying to pass on.
"Storm is our friend," said Jubilee. "At least, she's my friend. Why would we not tell her?"
Logan thought she might just have accepted what he said. "Charles asked me. Professor Xavier thought…"
She shook her head, annoyed, and began to gather the cables and clips together. "The Big X can do his own dirty work."
Logan sighed. He tried not to snort thru his nostrils. "Maybe he thought it would be more sensitive…"
"You don't do 'sensitive', Logan. Remember? Where's all this bullshit coming from?"
"I do care," he blurted out.
"About what?"
"About people." He tried hard not to shrug.
She had the gear stowed in the pack behind her. Her eyes looked at him properly. "Sorry. Of course you do." She stepped forward and gripped the outside of his right hand palm, almost as if she was going to take hold of his hand. "If that's what you think we should do, then okay. We'll say nothing," she said quietly.
He nodded, distracted by her touch. "Coffee," he said.
She let go of his hand. He turned to go, mumbling 'coffee' again.
"Logan."
He turned. Maybe she was going to ask how he felt. He was not sure how he would answer.
"Huh?"
"If he is - you know - gone. Dead gone." She looked thoughtful.
"Well, I don't…" He tried not to shrug.
"You will be needing those claws." She looked at the ground nodding.
"Huh?" He wanted to shake his head.
"Revenge?" She looked up at him directly.
"Huh?" He looked away.
"No?" She tilted her head, not sure, not decided.
