Short Note: This chapter skips past a pretty big span of time for Jamie and I have some other ideas for things that happened during this time. Mostly fluff n' stuff surrounding Jamie interacting with Tash and Logan and being more loveable. I can post a separate oneshot or two on the off chance anyone's interested in reading a little of that. Review and let me know.

Sorry for the ridiculous length of this chapter. I'll try to make them more manageable from here on out.

On with the story!

~Rogue~

Her stomach turns as she waits. She's not sure why. There's nothing wrong with her. She's been feeling strange, but there's nothing to give her cause for alarm. She's not ill or wounded. Hank said her blood pressure and heart rate were kinda lower than usual, actually. And any lingering bits of Logan's 'more charming personality traits' have since disappeared again, as they always do. All that's left of him in her head is the parts she always kinda kept, perhaps somewhat on purpose.

Her tempers been spiking a little more often then normal. But she'd always had an attitude, so that's not super concerning.

She's craving the cigars he smokes again, like crazy, but hell, that could just be stress.

And sure, the sterile, bleach-y smell of the medlab is burning her nose a little more than she remembers it doing in the beginning, but she'd always hated the smell, maybe her nerves are just getting the better of her. And yeah, she can somehow hear some of the kids playing music somewhere on the floor above her, but they like to play it loud sometimes. That doesn't mean anything is wrong.

But her stomach still turns. To spite the fact she know she's not sick, she feels as though she might be sick. Because Logan was right to force her to see Hank. And actually, she knows damn well why.

Hank lumbers in, a thin manila folder of papers in his hands. The results of the blood work he'd taken a number of days ago. He has his thinking face on; looks kinda solemn. "Well, I'm sure it's no surprise to you that you're as fit as a fiddle. Not a single trace of anything wrong, per se, my dear." Trying for comforting, he lays one of his large paws over her hand. "Try to calm down."

She blows out a breath. "What did yah find, though?"

"Well, I'm afraid it's complicated. Though it's true that nothing is truly wrong with you, I must conceed that Logan is quite correct. Something just isn't quite as it should be."

Rogue huffs at him, growing annoyed. "Yah wanna try actually explainin' somethin'? We both got better things to do, Ah'm sure."

He winces. Worry overtakes his features. "This may be far more important than you realize." His voice goes quieter, more gentle. "I had a hunch about something, so I sent a sample of your blood out to a trusted old colleague of mine for him to..." He hesitates, looking fretful.

"To what, Doc?" Rogue barks, annoyance turning to anger and quickly.

"...to match it up against a sample of Jamie's DNA that I happened to have." He answers slowly. "He found similarities between some very particular strands, a startling amount of them."

"Fah heaven's sake. In English?"

"Similarities that suggest a similar mutation, Rogue. Coupled with the physical I have just performed on you... as I already mentioned, your blood pressure and heart rate were a touch lower than what was once your average. Your body temperature seems to have increased a few degrees as well, though you clearly aren't ill, and the vision test I had you perform - well you seemed hardly hindered at all by how far from the chart I had you standing, or the fact the lights were dimmed."

"I always had good vision." Her stomach is even more in knots than before though.

Hank heaves a sigh. "What is it they're playing up there?"

Rogue closes her eyes. Takes a breath. Shakes her head. And conceeds defeat. "Country music. My favorite singer, actually. Can't tell what song, though, in fairness."

"The walls of this old place are awful thick." He points out gently.

"Yeah. I know."

"Your senses aren't quite as sharp as Logan's or Jamie's, at least not yet. Those two are biological masterpieces in their own right. And while your overall metabolic rate seems to have increased I doubt it highly that you're yet capable of regeneration on the same level, either. But if you're forced to absorb Logan again, or even Jamie...well." He brings a hand up to worry at the fur on his neck. "I doubt it would take too much more for the process to complete itself. Mind, I can't be certain of how much contact causes the molecular changes; your mutation is quite complex. I'd reccomend avoiding contact with either of them quite thoroughly unless you're prepared for the consequences."

Rogue closes her eyes and tries to just breathe. Her heart feels ready to pound it's way out of her chest. "Unless Ah'm prepared to end up basically indestructable, yah mean."

"Well. That's an overstatement, at least in young Jamie's case, she's still made of flesh and simple bone after all. But the rate at which they can regenerate tissue when wounded is nothing short of mind boggling, and Logan only ages at perhaps one eigth the rate of the rest of us. It's likely the rate will be even slower for Jamie once her body is fully finished maturing. And that, I would think, for you..is certainly something to think about."

Not long ago she wouldn't have cared. In fact, this would've been the icing on a very lovely cake. She'd have gladly taken Logan's hand and absorbed however much was needed to keep her alive and at his side until death finally parted them.

But then Jamie and her mother came.

So. What now?

...

~Jamie~

Three months. Three weeks. Two days.

Three months. Three weeks. Two days.

Three months. Three weeks. Two days.

She chants it to herself a few times over, breathing deep. Three months. Breathe. Three weeks. Breathe. Two days. Exhale slow.

It's not like she hasn't had a bad day in all that time. Naturally, there've been several of them. She can't fathom why the craving is hitting this strong just today. Really, she should be excited. There were plenty of times over the past few years where she honestly wasn't sure she'd it make this far for some reason or another.

She wrings her hands a bit. They're shaking like leaves on a tree.

No, she's kidding herself. Today is different. This knot in her stomach isn't because of the ceremony today; that's an accomplishment worth being proud of. It's what's coming later that's frying her nerves. The knowledge that her breif reprieve is over.

Anna finds her after a while, strolling up slowly through the grass. "Yah gonna give up or not, sweet pea?"

Jamie scowls at her irracibly. "Gee. Thanks. Real encouragin'."

"Awww, c'mon now." Anna rolls her eyes, hand planting itself on her hip. "Ah done told yah before, Ah ain't yahr mama. Do Ah think yahr tougher than this? Hell yes. Am Ah gonna say no if yah ask?" She shrugs. "Meh. Not really my place. Just figured Ah oughta come out and see how yahr holdin' up. Yah look awful antsy." The icing on the cake to this particular pep talk is the fact that the Southerner is currently smoking a cigar herself, same kind Logan smokes. She's been on a real kick with the things recently.

Jamie deliberates for a moment. She really, honestly kinda feels like she'd kill for a smoke right now. Just one. She's been good. She'd promised Jake she'd really try and she has. In fact, she'd promised not to drink anymore either, and had even actually been trying when it came to her school work, too. Not that he'd ever actually asked any of this of her. He just had an odd way of making her want to be better. But she has been so good. Surely, if it was just this once... surely he'd be all the more disappointed if she made it this far only to suddenly give in now. That's the truth of it and she can't convince herself otherwise even for a moment. The decision is further solidified by the worry she feels for Anna's recent behavior, which has been off in many ways. A long moment passes, but she huffs out a disgruntled growl, waving the Southerner off. "M'fine. Just..needed some air, that's all."

Anna shrugs. "Well c'mon then. We're startin' soon."

.

It's just a peice of paper. But it feels heavy in her hands somehow. Like somehow, after everything else that had happened up to this point, this ultimately euphoric sense of normal teenage accomplishment can't possibly be real. She's dreaming, she must be. But she's isn't dreaming at all. This is very much real. She's posing for pictures with Jake on one side of her and Tash on the other, all dressed up in their caps and gowns. He wraps one large arm around her middle, and she can feel the warmth radiating off of him, smell his scent. She is very much awake.

(She is stupid amounts of happy just at the moment and doesn't deserve it for so many reasons but can't bring herself to care.)

.

The grounds outside are set up with tables and decorated liberally with streamers and balloons. There's lots of food, things like fried chicken and macaroni salad, and a massive cake. There's room left between rows of tables so people can dance, and there's not a cloud in the sky. Everyone eats until stuffed full, and then the music is turned up. The teachers are around, but make themselves a little more scarce.

"I'm proud of you." Jake murmurs in her ear, holding her close as they sway a bit to a slower song being played.

(She's had his arm like this all day today and it is glorious.)

Her brows furrow a bit. She snorts. "For what? Finally putting my big girl panties on so I could graduate?"

He chuckles a bit. "For lots of things, I guess. Partly because you haven't smoked."

"You were expecting...?"

"I had a hunch. You were nervous about something earlier. I could smell the worry on you."

She nuzzles his neck, burying her face in the fur there. "Worried about that job I told you I'm taking, that's all. I found out I might not be around as much as I had hoped."

"That's alright." He presses a kiss to her cheek. "Maybe we can work something out."

"We..can..?"

He pulls away to look her in the eye. "Look, I don't know what's going to happen anymore, especially not with Sarah still gone. I just know that this, whatever you want to call it, this has been..."

"Kinda...wonderful?" She suggests, though she can feel her cheeks turning red.

(Wild Thing cringes. Since when do we blush?)

Jake offers her a small smile. "Yeah. Kinda really wonderful."

"We can try a thing, then? I mean, really try?"

Surprise registers on his face. And then he's laughing.

"What?" Jamie asks, bewildered now. "What's so funny, McCoy?"

"God, Jamie, you are so dense sometimes! It is both adorable and the most stupidly frustrating, I swear. The only reason I haven't actually asked you to be my girlfriend is because I didn't think you'd agree!"

She kinda wants to laugh, kinda wants to hit him, kinda wants to tear up from the sudden wave of happiness (but she'll be damned if he's going to catch sight of that). She just kisses him instead.

...

The Snake Lady calls the very next day. "I trust you're prepared now?"

"As I'll ever get." Jamie grumbles back.

"Good. I'll send someone 'round to the usual spot at the usual time. You know the drill by now. We've a lot of work to do."

.

She's not gone all of the time. In fact, the Snake Lady herself even suggests that Jamie do whatever she must to maintain the privelage of calling the Mansion her ultimate home. Ironicly enough, this translates to doing the one thing she'd been wanting not to do up until this point - she agrees to keep training as an X-Man.

But this is all well and good as far as she's concerned. Jake is happiest with this, anyway, and she wants nothing more than for him to be happy. God, she'd kill to keep him happy, and that's not nearly as much an exaggeration as it should be. Wild Thing is getting attached on a level that scares Jamie when she allows herself to think on it.

Needless to say, she doesn't think on it much.

.

Jamie's forced to leave for the better part of a month starting at the beginning of August. Her target had whisked her away on a lavish vacation to the Bahamas, which was an astounding success. He's clearly quite smitten now. Jamie attributes her performance to the fact that anytime she was left with no choice but to take her target to bed, she was really imagining Jake in his place.

(She should maybe, quite probably, tell Jake about all this. Honesty is always the better policy, right? But she doesn't know how he'll react, doesn't think it would go over well, and just can't bring herself to risk it.)

She tells him she'd simply gone to visit her grandfather. No one else really questions her about it.

.

Jamie's grandfather is desperately in need of emotional support as the divorce process begins. Joan Fletcher contemplates traveling back up to give it to him.

"You should go be with him." Jamie tells her. "I'm totally fine now, Ma."

"You've been an angel these past weeks, and I think that worries me more than if you'd been up to all your usual shenanigans." Her mother answers frankly.

Jamie rolls her eyes. "You can check up on me whenever. I promise I'll be good as possible."

Joan clearly doesn't believe her. But she leaves anyway.

.

Orouboros gives Jamie some more leave time as September comes to a close. Her target is off to take care of some matters in Washington. He himself had pointed out that it would be better if Jamie not accompany him, as she'd be bored. Orouboros has an agent in Washington to keep tabs on the target; Jamie is dismissed as soon as he leaves town.

He's planning to be gone at least two weeks, probably more.

Jamie relishes the opportunity to settle in at the mansion for so long a period.

.

"Jamie there's something I should tell you." Joans voice is distressed.

"I'm listenin'."

"The thing is..."

"What's wrong, Ma?" Jamie's growing worried.

"The thing is that I - I think..." There's a pause, long an tense. Her mother heaves a sigh. "I think it's time I admitted it out loud. Logan and I..."

Mild panic overtakes Jamie. She raises an eyebrow reflexively, though her mother can't see it. "Yeah, 'kay, gonna stop yah there, Ma. I don't wanna know. I mean! I know but I don't wanna know know. You know?"

"Oh. Yes. I think. Uhm. How did you...?"

"Cause I'm not a child, nor am I stupid." Jamie rolls her eyes.

Her mother sighs again. "Yes. Yes, that's true, you are anything but stupid and I'm well aware of that. Look, I'm not asking anything of you when it comes to him, I'm not foolish enough to think I can make you do anything, I just..thought I'd make sure you know. So there'll be no surprises."

Brows furrowed now, Jamie huffs a growl. "Ma. Is there somethin' else yah need to tell me?"

Another long pause. "No." Her mother says at length. "Only that you're my baby girl and I love you."

Somehow, this doesn't actually leave Jamie feeling any better.

...

"... don't think she's pregs?" Jamie grumbles, squinting off into the sun, mostly talking to herself.

She's outside with Anna, in the garden again, pulling weeds, though she isn't sure she sees the point. They're only a few days out from it being October and the flowers have already begun to wilt away.

Anna freezes. "Uhm. I heard the word 'think' and 'pregs' and.. well, ah, you mind runnin' that one by me again, Sugah?"

Jamie hides a bit behind her short curtain of brunette waves, sheepish. "Sorry. M'thinkin' out loud. S'not me. Jesus. Jus' the thoughts enough to give me nightmares. No, I meant my Ma."

Anna's eyebrows raise.

Jamie sighs and plops herself down more comfortably in the grass on the outskirts of the garden. "Well, it's just, she calls me up the other day, spends half an hour talkin' about a buncha mundane shit she definitely didn't call me for. And then when it sounds like she's about to finally get to her actual point she just admits that she and Logan are a thing now."

"Oh." Anna shrugs. "Why's that strange? We kinda all figured that."

"Well now, that's just it. I'd already told her I knew that would happen eventually. Not sure I can approve but she's my Ma so what am I gonna do about it? So.."

Realization dawns behind Anna's eyes. "So it's a little weird, her actin' like it's big news."

"Exactly."

Silence ensues, a little awkward.

Anna swears. "Yah think?"

"Hell, I'd put money on it."

Joan Fletcher might very well be pregnant.

Anna swears again.

It takes a moment to click, but not too long. Jamie reaches out to her friend, trying for some comfort. "Shoot. Sorry. I wasn't thinkin'. I know you and Logan were -"

Anna shoots to her feet and stalks off. Jamie thinks better of going after her.

...

"What the fuck are we doing here?"

The curse is so sudden, so startling coming from his lips. He really never swears at all, and now suddenly he's dropping that one on her?

Jamie raises her eyes to stare at him blankly. They're sat in the rec room, her and Jake, playing cards. It's late, past midnight. She'd had a nightmare, and he'd apparently been unable to sleep at all, but neither had been in the mood for their more usual late night ritual. She raises an eyebrow when he doesn't immediately elaborate. "Uhm. You maybe wanna... I don't know, explain, or...?"

"Sarah called."

"Oh. Well...that's good. Right?"

He nods, albeit with some odd hesitance. "I mean, yes. She said she just needed to figure some things out but she's going to come back now."

Jamie pauses at this, trying to process his demeanor. "Is that..goin' to be..a problem?"

"No!" He answers quickly. "It's not like that. She was..she was so calm. She said she knew you and I are a thing and it isn't her business as long as I'm happy."

"Oh. That's..a pleasant surprise."

"It is. It's great! Problem is..." He brings a hand up to worry at the fur on the back of his neck. "You wore pink yesterday."

"Yeah. You..said you thought I'd look good with some lace on. So..."

"Well, I did. And I mean the shirt looked great on you but you hate pink."

She shrugs. To be honest, she hadn't thought much of it herself. She'd only ever kept the blouse in question because she happened to not hate it. "Usually, yeah, but..."

"And you quit smoking."

"I'm..I'm sorry, I was under the impression you people would consider that a good thing. Jake, what the hell are you on about?"

"You wore makeup the other day!"

"You took me to that fancy place up town and I'd been worried I was already going to embarass you somehow, figured I should look the part! I didn't realize any of those things were bad."

"They wouldn't be if you were doing them just to do them but dammit I don't need you to be her!" Silence ensues. The confession had poured out of his mouth so quickly and with such vehemence, she doesn't know how to answer, and he seems to have startled himself. He plows on only after a long and awkward moment has passed. "I broke up with Sarah because I was bored as hell with my life here." His voice is quiet now, the confession somehow seeming like a dirty one. "I'm sick of being everyones golden boy. The last thing I want is for you to try and soften up like that just because, what? You somehow think that's what I want?"

It hadn't occurred to her that that's what it would look like. "Awww hell. You're either givin' me too much credit or not nearly enough. I can't even tell whether to be offended." She rakes a hand through her hair.

He huffs. "I just..don't want you to think..." Without warning he reaches out to grab her shirt and pull her in for a kiss, nipping hard at her lips as he takes a handful of her hair and tugs it. "I want you, ok?"

His scent surrounds and overwhelms her. His gaze is intense, almost as though he's looking right through her. Wildthing peeks her head out of her mental cage; Jamie's lips pull back in a snarl as she growls at him. "You want Wildthing. Question is, d'yah really think you can handle her?"

He dips in close to nip at her neck, murmuring into her ear. "Why don't you let her out to play and we'll see?"

Somewhere just outside the rec room, an old grandfather clock chimes the hour. It's one in the morning.

She deliberates for a moment and comes to a hard but inescapable conclusion. He thinks he wants a bad girl. She knows just how to test if he's right. She grins. "You're comin' with me."

.

Sarah Summers pulls up in her Prius the next morning only to be met with a teary-eyed Ororo Munroe.

"Have you heard from him?" The Weather Witch's tone is downright pleading, though it hints at anger as well.

"I don't understand. Heard from who?"

"Jacob." Dr. McCoy answers, coming up to hover close at his mates side. "He and Jamie seem to have altogether vanished. Their things are missing, it seems clear they left together."

"To..where, exactly?" Sarah can't help asking the obvious question. "I mean, I just can't imagine him not leaving a note somewhere."

"There's no note. No phone call, no nothing." Ororo's frustration bleeds over further. "I might have expected something like this from her, but from Jacob?"

Dr. McCoy wraps an arm around the Weather Witches shoulders. "Try to calm yourself, my love, they are adults after all."

"An adult would've called to inform his mother of where he was off to in such a hurry!"

Sarah heaves a tired sigh. She has a trump card where Jake is concerned. She's sparing with it's use out of courtesy and respect, but it's so uncommon to see the Weather Witch in such a state that the redhead feels as though she can justify it. "Give me a minute, Ms. Munroe." She murmurs quietly. "I'll talk to him."

The Weather Witch looks somewhat confused, but Sarah wanders off and out the garages side door before another word can be said. Taking a breath and cursing, (first comdemning her ex-boyfriend for being a reckless imbecile, then his new girlfriend for being the kind of rough-and-ready terrible influence that she cleary is), she presses a few buttons on her phone and brings it to her ear.

It rings. Once. Twice. He's thinking, probably. Deliberating. Moving out of earshot of his new squeeze. It's understandable. She doesn't worry, and really tries not to judge.

Half way through the last ring, there's a click. "Hello Sarah." He murmurs.

The ghost of a smile graces her lips. It's a silent understanding they'd recently come to, seeing as they had been been friends since they were quite young - she won't call too often, but he always answers when she does. "Hey, Jakey." She croons softly. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I'm ok. I'm..guessing you've talked to my mom."

"Yep. She's pretty broken up."

"This wasn't..exactly..planned." He sounds a little distressed. "I knew she'd be upset so I just..."

"This isn't a nudge for you to do anything you don't want to. I'm just checking in."

"It's just a road trip. Cabin fever."

"How long?"

"I don't know. Few weeks. A month, maybe. Headed for somewhere in Canada I guess."

Sarah nods, though he can't see it. "Good enough. Hey, just. Be safe."

"Always." There's a pause; another voice floats down the line, muffled, but it's clearly a young woman's alto. Jamie. He hangs up.

Sarah's hand tightens around the phone. A sudden surge of intense, jealous anger brings with it the urge to throw the thing right at the ground, but she resists. Blowing out a breath, she strolls back inside. "They're fine. It's just a little impromptu road trip, they're headed way up North I guess. 'Somewhere in Canada', which..tells us pretty much nothing, but whatever."

"Well he could've told me at least that!"

Sarah pauses a moment and counts it down. She knows him, she knows him so well, that the moment she hits 'one', the sound of a ringing phone fills the garage. Ororo pulls her phone out and brings it to her ear. "Jacob McCoy!"

Sarah always did pride herself on being a problem solver.

...

~Sometime later.. 'somewhere in Canada'.~

"You cannot be serious."

To be fair, they're currently holed up in a crowded old cellar with a chicken wire cage at it's center. Jamie's fought here before, but has to admit it's a far cry from the Warehouse. However, the Warehouse isn't open on Wednesdays, so this'll have to do.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me your gonna pick now to startin' talkin' like a pansy."

Jake's jaw clenches. The look in his eye hardens somehow; he's scowling. "I can handle anything you throw at me just fine, Jamie." His voice it's natural, almost-growl of a baritone even to spite the fact he took his 'medicine' this morning. "Don't test me. I'm just having a hard time adding all this up."

She softens. It's in her nature to be bull-headed and she can't help being how she is, but she doesn't mean to push him too hard. "I'm sorry. I know you have a lot of questions. Look, it's actually pretty simple. You said you want Wildthing. So I'm gonna show you what it looks like when the animal comes out to play. You're either gonna be able to handle it just fine like you say yah can or..."

He pauses a moment, thinking it seems. "Or what?" He asks at length.

Jamie shrugs, feigning a careless sort of confidence that she doesn't really feel. "Eh. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Thankfully they've hit territory where their age isn't a restriction anymore. She strolls up to the bar and orders two shots to down in rapid succession. God, she loves being home.

Jake hesitates, deliberating a moment, and then orders himself the same thing she had. Naturally, he near chokes to death after taking half of the first shot.

Chuckling, Jamie calls for a bottle of some local cider and shoves it at him. "Wash it down, and for pete's sake, don't go tryin' to shoot 'em like I jus' did!"

Appropriately sheepish, he just nods.

Tierney Doran gets up in front of the chicken wire cage. "Hellllooo ladies and germs!" The audience chuckles politely, mostly because Tierney's dad is the owner of the place. She plows on pretty quick. "We've got a pretty long list of participants for this lovely Wednesday night and, ah, I've got an equally lovely proposition for you all. My good friend Wildthing just got in tonight and she sounds like she's really lookin' for some trouble. Last up here a full ten minutes with her and yahr beers free for the rest of the night, on top of the usual spoils of war of course. Soooo. While she makes her way up here...who wants to go first?"

Jamie hops up to place a kiss on Jake's cheek and hands him her tank-top before she starts shoving her way through the crowd. She catches T's gaze for half a moment as she makes her way past and her stomach flip-flops a bit. T never used to have that look in her eye when facing Jamie. That look like she's actually afraid. But Jamie's used to getting that look from folks now, even learning it can come with advantages, so she says nothing and just stalks up to stand in the cage with arms crossed over her sports-bra covered chest.

.

A few hours later, after she's already beaten a few big boys to a pulp. A biker in a leather vest with a born-to-kill tattoo splashed across his chest stomps towards her with a look he wishes could be menacing.

She plays with her food until the last minute and then knocks him out clean as the rest. A tipsy Jacob McCoy collects the money she'd just won him.

.

They exchange few words on their way to the tiny hotel they'll be staying at for the night. He's drunk for the first time, she's tipsy on top of riding the high of a 'fight-night', and neither has much to contribute in the way of civil conversation.

They accomplish many other activities behind closed doors this night, though, and neither regrets a thing.

.

She wakes quite early the next morning to his furry arm wrapped firm around her waist. Something about this is so comforting that she curls into him further and falls right back to sleep herself.

She experiences no nightmares this night, or any other night wherein he sleeps with her like this.

.

They visit Jamie's mother and grandfather the next day. Jamie's grandfather inundates Jake with a polite but unending barrage of questions about his mutation (Jake hadn't taken his 'medicine', per Jamie's request). Jake answers with his usual calm, cool sort of patience. The old man is just curious, after all.

Jamie takes her mother aside. "I can smell it, you know."

"You can smell any and every smell that there is to smell within about a five mile radius I think." Joan answers, blasé. "I might need you to be a touch more specific."

"Mother." Jamie grumbles flatly. "I think you know exactly what I'm smellin'."

"I think you should learn to mind your own business, Carol James."

"If it's true than this is completely my business, though! And what's worse, I'm not the only one who should already know!"

Joan hesitates. She appears outwardly calm, but her eyes tell a different story. "Jamie, please. You need to understand. There were..complications with my first go around, you nearly didn't make it into the world, and I'm not a young woman anymore. I'm not far enough along. Logan can't know yet, ok?"

"I barely like the guy but Jesus, Ma, that seems wrong enough I'm willing to argue in his favor. He should know."

"Promise me, Carol James. He's likely to be so happy, I just can't bare the thought of... I just need another month. I'll be a little more sure after that."

Against Jamie's better judgement, she agrees.

(Damned if the excitement doesn't start to get to her, though.)

.

She takes Jake to the Warehouse this night. He doesn't hesitate to tell her that he loves the place.

.

He takes up the habit of drinking anytime she does. She warns him this may be a very bad idea, for many reasons. He does not seem to care overmuch. Thankfully, money isn't difficult to come by in her case.

.

He calls his mother every now and then, and always lies through his teeth about what he's been up to.

Jamie neither encourages nor discourages this behavior. She doesn't approve, but hell, she's hardly in a place to be taking the moral high ground, is she?

.

~Three and a half weeks later. The Warehouse.~

He's four drinks in and clearly on the verge of tipsy. Dear God. She knows she shouldn't exactly be encouraging him to drink like she drinks, but she just loves him when he's drunk. He's just so adorable when he's drunk. And he can, they've discovered, techinically, keep up with her. He'll be wasted, but he can keep up. It's nice to have someone around who can keep up.

She orders another four shots of whiskey. Two for me, two for you.

He downs them like a champ. Damn, he got used to that quick.

Or did he? She tries to count out in her head how long she's had him out here livin' like a proper degenerate with her. It could be only a week they've been here, could be two damn months for all that she knows at the moment. He's taking a semester off of his schooling and Ouroboros will contact her when they need her back; time is near meaningless here in the meanwhile.

The crowds huge tonight, as it has been the last four nights, probably because folks had long since caught wind of Wildthing being back in town. She's back to being the Warehouse's favorite cash cow, at least for a little while, and she's loving every minute of it.

T's come to hang out for the night, too. She sticks close to Jamie and is acting kinda..squirrely. Jamie can't pin point the problem, the other girl's just acting strange. Her eyes keep roaming the length of the room as though she's looking for somebody, and she's all hunched in on herself.

"You sure you're ok?"

"Yeah." T snaps. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You tell me."

T scans the room again.

"Are you lookin' for someone?" Jamie snaps. "Or what?"

T orders herself a double of some kinda vodka and downs half in one go. Her hands are shaky. "Hey. Just. Listen, kid. You'd have my back if someone came lookin' for me, right?"

"I'd kick a dozen asses for you and you know it but I'd still like to know what the hells goin' on."

T shakes her head. "Ain't important. What is important is that I came alone tonight. Anyone comes around askin' about me, it's nobody I wanna see. Will yah send 'em packin' for me?"

Jamie rakes a hand through her hair. She doesn't like being treated like some kinda attack dog, but she owes T too much to refuse her. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever yah need."

T pats her shoulder. "Thanks, kid. Good luck up there, not that yah need it."

"Jamie! You're up next!" Jake appears at her side as T walks off. "Didn't you hear?"

Jamie hadn't. She musters up a grin to send at him. "Show time!"

Her first fight pits against her the usual fair - tall and beefy and tattooed, clearly thinks he's tough stuff. He gives a her a decent workout due to his size, but the full moon must be messing with everyones heads or something. The crowd is louder and even more rowdy than usual, and even her opponent seems drunk and maybe just off his game. In fact, so does her next one a short while later. Wildthing takes fuller control than usual, less to enjoy, more to play the watchdog that T had seemed to be suggesting she'd need to.

Jake doesn't seem to notice anything off. But then again, he's pretty far into his cups.

As midnight hits she starts to tire of being so on edge. Her instincts are picking up on something she's not coherently able to pinpoint, but it's got her feeling too tense. The night is young by the Warehouse's usual standards, but Jamie's about ready to call it already.

The crowd erupts into a disappointed chorus of 'booo' as it's announced, but she steps down after just an hour and begins leading Jake towards the exit. She needs a smoke, and he needs to sober up a bit anyway. He protests some and is clearly not ready to stop the party yet but his trust in her is pretty total so he follows her without too much resistence.

The fresh air does them both good.

She leads him over to her truck where it's parked out in the field behind the Warehouse, and tries to steady him while he hops up to sit on the bed of it before she lights up a cheap cigar.

He scowls as the breeze sends the smoke wisping in his direction. "Ugh. Hate those things."

"Sorry."

There's a pause. He's got a drunken sort of thinking face on. "Does your mom know that you...?"

"Ah. Yah're gonna have to be a bit more specific there, bub." He giggles. She raises an eyebrow, just managing to keep a straight face. "Care to share the joke?"

"You talk funny."

"Sure I do."

"Your mom." He's got a thought stuck in his head, apparently. "Does she know about you and this place."

"Oh. Yeah, sorta. I'm sure she hates the idea but there's a lot she and I don't bother discussin' anymore."

His brows furrow. "But she's your mom. Shouldn't she get a say in some things?"

"S'easier on us both if she minds her own business and I just mind mine. Family isn't always as easy as the examples you've got. She pressed me for too much information once almost a year ago now and I don't think she's fully over it yet. So..lesson learned."

He grows quiet and almost sullen. She walks off a few paces to smoke in peace and leave him to his thoughts.

Huh. That's odd.

There's a car a few spots down from her truck that seems...it's just an SUV at first glance, a popular model, shiny in black. She strolls closer to it a few paces, inspecting. Somethings set off a warning bell in her head. What is it? Cars a little more polished and pretty than any of the other SUVs around, for one. But that's not it. The licence plate. That's it, isn't it? It's a Virginia plate; it's owner is awful far from home.

Virginia. Yeah. That's exactly what it is.

She stalks back over to Jake. "Hey. I know there's a lot goin' on in there tonight but try to think for me. You remember seein' anyone that looked a little outta place?"

He blinks at her owlishly. "I don't..think so.."

She nods slowly, steals another look at the black SUV, rakes a hand through her hair. Deliberates. "Right. You stay put a minute. I gotta go check on somethin'."

He hops down off the truck and sways a bit but finds his footing. "You think there's trouble."

"Possibly. Nothin' I can't handle it."

"I don't wanna sit out here alone."

She huffs a growl. He..answers in kind. Sometimes she forgets; he's not afraid of her and never has been. She puffs her cigar and starts walking back towards the Warehouse, more or less not caring if he follows.

They don't have to look too far. T is trailing a hot, determined path across the parking lot, shoulders hunched and head ducked. Jamie isn't surprised to see that someones following her friend. In fact, she'd even known just what he'd look like - smart black suit, short cropped hair, clean shaven. There's a small gold pin in the shape of a snake eating it's own tail attached neatly to his shirt collar. She even knows he's probably packing at least two weapons.

Dammit, T, what've yah done this time?

Jamie throws a hand out straight to halt her friend. "Alright, now just where did yah think you were goin', anyway? Yah're not about to outrun this one too easy, trust me."

T's eyes are wide and fretful as she looks up. "I know that already, are yah gonna help me out here or what?" Her tone outright demanding.

Jamie hesitates. The solution to this one is going to be anything but simple, but she contemplates just walking away on principle. She doesn't like T's tone.

The man in the black suit comes to a halt some paces away as he spies the feral; his jaw sets and his brows furrow. A long moment passes, and then finally, he speaks. "I've got orders to apprehend Tierney Doran at any cost. She just needs to be alive when I deliver her. Use of force is allowable at my discretion. Please do not test me."

T tries to dart out of Jamie's reach, but the feral snatches the older girl by the arm before she can. "Just - sort yourself out, will yah?" She grumbles. "Since when did yah get to be such a pansy?"

T only spits a curse in response.

Jamie sighs and addresses the man in the suit. "Alright look, big guy, just tell me whatever it is yahr after."

"That information is privileged."

"Yeah, I'll bet. Thing is, you seem to be all alone, so I'm a little insulted that you somehow think you're gonna win this fight."

The man in the suit reaches smoothly into an inside pocket of his jacket and - oh. That's..no regular handgun. The thing is huge and he's now aiming it straight at her chest. "There's a rumor you can't be killed, but all the same, I doubt you want to find out what this will feel like." He says.

She remembers full well what a bullet feels like. Her eyes zero in on the weapon; Wildthing tears to the surface with protective force.

"Jamie." Jake calls out from somewhere just behind her, sounding much more sober now as panic overtakes him.

The man in the suit grimaces. "Your only mistake in this was that you were foolish enough to truly believe I was alone, Ms. Logan. You leave me no choice." He says. And then several things happen at once. He fires the gun, Jake lets out a snarl as someone attacks him from behind, T yelps in suprise and proceeds take off running like a frightened animal, and Jamie rapidly starts to lose any control she might have still had over anything, including herself.

Wildthing stumbles back and hits the back of a truck several paces away; she's staggered, but adrenaline prompts her to stay on her feet. The large bullet lodged in her breastbone remains there rather stubbornly; she plucks it out as her anger only increases. She charges at the man in the suit with a vicious, reckless abandon, claws out. She intends to gut him like a fish, but is staggered as he fires again, hitting her in the shoulder, then again in the leg, and then again in her arm. Jamie's control slips further until it evaporates, and Wildthings only coherent thought process is the one that leads her to conclude that death by claw would be too quick in this case. She feels the need to enjoy this.

This all takes place in what only amounts to the space of some handful of minutes. It's unclear how, as another gunshot rings out somewhere in between, but Jake shakes his opponent off and barrels forward to tear Wildthing away from hers. The feral is so deeply consumed by rage, she brings up a fist, unable to fully recognize Jake as friend for a moment. But she catches herself as his scent fills her nose.

"Down girl." He stutters some, breathing heavy. "He's not getting back up anytime soon." He brings a hand up, shaky and slow until it gets close enough, at which point he moves with surprising speed to pluck a bullet out from where it had been visibly lodged in her collar bone.

Wildthing stares down at her handiwork, pride fading some and mixing with vague horror as pain fades away and she begins to remember herself. "No." She agrees, voice gruffer even than her usual. "No, he's not." In fact, the man in the suit might very well not be getting back up at all.

Which means they don't have time to waste.

Wildthing shoves past Jake and stalks over to where she can smell a fearful T is hiding. She sneaks up quiet and takes hold of the other girls shirt collar. "You wanna tell me just what the hell that was about? Maybe now? Maybe before I break somethin'? Cause I'm really in the mood to break somethin'."

"Me and my girls were hired to do a job! That's all! And we did it and then weird shit started happenin' and the others started disappearin' and now they're after me 'cause they probably realize I'm the only one who knows where the container is! I'm dead either way, I've been trying to buy time for myself, that's all!"

Wildthing sniffs at the air around T, just because she wants the other girl to keep squirming for a minute. "Funny world we live in, huh? I used to look up to yah. Never thought I'd end up bein' able to make yah just about piss yahrself."

Jake lumbers up. He's blue, she notes. His button down had ripped at the seems and hangs mostly unbuttoned and useless off his furry shoulders. "Jamie, I'm not sure if anyones seen us back here but if they call the police..."

Wildthing huffs a growl and lets T go. "Do what you want. But you won't survive these guys alone."

Unsurprisingly, T follows them back to their hotel and gets herself a room there.

.

"You ok?" Jake steps out onto the small, dingy balcony off their room.

Jamie glances at him from her position sitting on a railing. "I guess."

"Any chance you're up to talk about what just happened?"

She scowls. "What's to talk about?"

"The guy knew your name, Jamie."

She sighs. "Yeah, and?"

"And I think I have a right to know some things! Why the guy recognized you, for starters! Or maybe what the hell he meant by 'you can't be killed'?"

"He's just - he works for the same people I do. That's all, and it's just rumors. You're drunk. Go to bed, Jake."

"Jamie, this isn't a joke. Who are you working for? Those guys were trained like some kinda assassins, I only fully managed to stop the one because your friend shot him! And come to think of it, why did she have a gun?"

"Sounds like you should just be thankful she did. Look, the people I'm working for...I don't know much about them."

"Then why are you working for them?" He won't let it go.

"Because - because I'll be in bigger trouble if I don't work for them."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Dammit, it's none of your business," she snarls, snapping at him harshly, "just let it go!"

Her phone rings.

She pulls it out. "Shit. It's..it's my boss. I gotta answer, can you just...?" She waves him back inside the hotel room.

His jaw sets. He scowls. A staring contest ensues. The phone stops ringing for half a minute and then starts right back up again. He huffs, and heads back inside.

She answers the phone. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Two of my men are on their way to the hospital." Trixie LaBelle's voice answers tightly. "Air lifted in critical condition. Explain."

"They were harrassing a friend of mine. One pulled a gun. He shot me."

Trixie scoffs. "Well you certainly sound to have survived just fine."

"You ever been shot before, lady? What do you think, it tickles? You'll have to forgive me, I wasn't exactly in the mood to play nice after that."

"Perhaps you should've been smart enough to walk away at the sight of it, as I'm sure was his intended outcome. You had better be praying they do not die. I would be quite upset. Do not test me further. You are now charged with the task of retrieving with force what Tierny Doran stole and to be clear, I am ordering you to be anything but merciful. Teach her a lesson for me, or there will be consquences. Good night, Ms. Logan."

It's two in the morning. So much happening, and it's only been two hours since her last fight at the Warehouse.

Jamie stares down at the phone for a long minute before calmly returning it to her pocket. She pulls out a cheap cigar, lights it and takes a slow puff, and then just sits there like that for a time, staring at the wall and half wishing the bullets had just put her out of her misery.

(Ok, so she's being dramatic, but who could blame her?)

Jake slips back out eventually. "Hey." He murmurs, calm now.

"Hey."

Silence. They're both lost in thought.

"I have a confession." He murmurs at length.

"What?"

"I..don't know if 'enjoyed' is the right word. But I gave the guy that came at me a pretty good beating before your friend shot at him. And after. I really hit him. I felt...it just felt kinda good somehow."

She meets his eyes with understanding. "Yeah. It does."

He scrubs a hand over his face. "I..need.."

She tells him there's a bottle stashed in her bag. He retrieves it and pops the cap but sets it aside without drinking.

"You know my mom always kinda warned me about..." He hesitates.

"About girls like me. It's ok. She was right to."

"But somehow I don't remember anyone ever warning me that it would feel so good to let go like this."

"Your parents sheltered you, Jake. That's what you were sick of." Jamie pauses, thinking. Coming to a hard decision. "Maybe they were right to but it doesn't matter now. What matters is that you left with me willingly and I'm not gonna hold your hand the same way they did. You were right. I owe you some answers." And she gives him some. A lot. Explains everything almost impulsively, word vomiting about things she wouldn't normally talk about at all.

She almost thinks she must be dreaming, because he doesn't seem to be judging her. At worst she sees pity in his eyes, but she supposes that's preferable to some of the alternatives. And then he kisses her, and she forgets to care anyway.

...

Tierney Doran is rethinking every life decision at the moment. She hasn't made very many good ones. Joining up with the crew of hired guns she'd been running with was probably the worst. Stealing that shipping container is pretty high up on the list as well, but in fairness, she didn't know that at the time.

The dumbest decision, however, the one that really makes her an idiot, is the fact that she'd impulsively decided to pick pocket the girl who is easily the most dangerous person within a twenty mile radius. Tierney has a pocket full of cash now. God, it is so much cash. It'll be a solid start for her. But she's gotta get away first and she's got a sinking feeling in her gut that she won't make it. And she's right, of course, because Jamie's waiting for her. Jamie's likely to be wise to any and every move Tierney would pull.

Jamie's got a look in her eye like she's not about to take any more crap from anyone, least of all Tierney Doran.

Well. Shit.