Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X-men, and they don't own me.
Thanks for all great reviews! I don't really know how I want this to turn out yet. I'm just writing down what comes to me.
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He'd worked out in the Danger Room for a few hours that morning. That was the little habit he'd developed over the past few months - a sneaky way to keep his secret. On most weekdays, the Danger Room was abandoned until about 7:00 am. Once in a while, though, he found the room occupied by Logan, and there were a couple of times when he narrowly avoided bumping into Scott. On those days, he made his excuses and headed back to his room. But most days the room was unused.
Sometimes when the room was occupied he left the grounds. Until recently, he'd had a membership at the town gym, where he went to just get away from it all. And, hey, if any cute girls caught a glimpse of him putting his body through the moves and felt compelled to come over and talk to him, well, he could deal with that. He hadn't bothered to renew the membership when it had expired. He doubted that any woman would want to flirt with a big block of ice.
Overall, he'd done a pretty good job of keeping his secret. Professor Xavier and Nurse Annie were the only ones who knew, and so far they'd kept quiet about it. That fact didn't stop him from avoiding his teammates. He was sure that a nearby telepath would accidentally pluck the information from his surface thoughts. He thought that Hank or Warren, or any of the others who knew him so well would just glance at him one day and know something was wrong. Or worse, they'd figure out what it was. Or they'd ask Charles or Annie, who'd blab his secret. And then they'd know. Everyone would know. And then ..?
He didn't want to find out.
After his morning training session, Bobby adjourned to the Danger Room's control room. He' been having trouble with a certain scenario all week. In it, he was dodging projectiles fired from guns on the wall, while trying to avoid a pit of lava underneath him. He'd been tagged every time. That was sub par, even for him. Finally he decided to have the room videotape his stimulation from this morning. His plan was to watch it and to spot himself. Ten minutes into the tape, he hadn't found anything wrong with his performance.
At that point, he heard the Danger Room doors slide open. He craned his neck to see who it was, and was surprised to see Jubilee. He was no doctor, but he didn't think she should be training so soon after returning from the beyond.
Apparently, Jubilee didn't agree.
None of them understood why Jubilee hadn't healed completely. From what they had seen of Warren's new healing powers, it was kind of an all of nothing deal. You either got healed or you didn't. Except Jubilee. Hank had a hypothesis about that. He wondered if a part of her didn't want to heal, because of what had happened to Skin. Subconsciously, she may have been refusing Warren's help.
At any rate, she'd been resurrected, but she was as weak as a kitten. She was hooked up to a nutritional feed for three days before she managed to convince the Professor that she would be fine without one. On the second day of her hospitalization, Warren donated another pint of blood, which Annie also hooked up to her. She'd felt a little better after that, but the wounds on her hands remained the same. She also refused to accept any more of his blood on account of it being "totally gross."
Bobby was surprised to see her in the Danger Room at all. Back when she was a member of the X-men, she only showed up for group training. That was required of all the X-men. Skipping team training usually resulted in a daylong killer migraine for the guilty party. He knew about that first hand. Jubilee had suffered through two headaches before she had realized their source. It took another two before she actually made an appearance. The Jubilee he knew hated training. But maybe that wasn't the case for the young woman now punching codes into a computer counsel some feet away from where he sat.
He turned away, not wanting to intrude on her privacy. He hadn't really talked to her since she had come back. It was strange. He remembered helping Wolverine pull her off the cross in front of the mansion. Heck, he'd probably remember that day until he died. He knew her. He'd met Skin, Magma and the some of the others. But he and Jubilee had been buddies once. One might even go so far as to call them partners (in crime). Seeing her and the others crucified like that felt like the Hulk had given him a punch in the gut.
He remembered thinking that he'd never hear about her stint in the movies. She'd mentioned that she was planning to audition for a small part in a production the only time she'd spoken to him after heading west. Then she died. Then Warren resurrected her. And he still hadn't heard about her Hollywood adventures.
He smirked when he pictured that conversation.
"Hey kid, how ya' been doing?"
"Broke a record. First movie star to die on a cross, and you?"
"Oh, I'm just a big block of ice with feelings, though no one seems to notice. Thanks for asking."
"Well, dude, great talking to you. I'll catch ya later!"
Seriously though, it seemed like she was a little quieter and less exuberant than before. There were still times when he could hear her laugh or shout at someone from across the mansion. Every once in a while, he'd hear the occasional wisecrack, several of which were directed at him. But those seemed fewer and far between.
Once she'd put on her roller blades to get a gallon of milk from the store in town. She'd caught hell from Logan for that one. Apparently, he didn't feel she was recovered enough yet to make the trip, which was several miles long. Nineteen years old and the girl still couldn't drive.
Or maybe the change in her was just that. After all, she was nineteen now. Of course she had changed from the young teenager who'd once gotten the Professor to roller blade the grounds with her. She'd become an adult when no one was looking. Maybe the grown-up Jubilee was just more mature, more grown-up than the girl he once knew.
Nah. He didn't buy that for a second. He'd never changed that drastically when he reached adulthood. People still told him he was just like a teenager. Heck, two people had told him that yesterday alone.
He was distracted from his reverie by a sudden motion in the Danger Room. He glanced to his left just in time to see her jump onto a set of bars (were they called uneven bars?). He didn't even realize he was staring. He watched her spin around the bars, using her momentum to leap between them. That she could do this was news to him. He knew she'd studied gymnastics before her parents died; it accounted for her unusual agility and grace. He hadn't known how far she'd gotten or that she had kept the sport up.
He forced himself to turn away (it felt voyeuristic to watch her like that without her knowledge) and noticed that his video had finished. Darn it! He turned and reset it to the part that he last remembered viewing and settled back to watch. Shortly thereafter, he stole a glance at the observation window. He saw Jubilee hold a handstand on the upper bar. He wondered how she could do that given her injuries.
Finally, she began spinning again. Before he could bring himself to turn away once more (he was pretty sure his video was near the end again), Jubilee launched herself into the air. She performed several spins before her feet hit the mat. But it didn't stop there. Her body kept moving, and she hit the mat with her arms out to protect her from smashing her face. She lay like that for several seconds, and Bobby began to worry. Just as he was about to go call for help, she rolled over and stood up.
She stood like that for a while longer, head down, arms clenched, with balls of light surrounding them. The fireworks surrounding her hands slowly fade and she looked up. Not at him, but at a wall directly in front of her. In the control room, her voice came through the speakers: "Computer, Scenario 3, Level 4. One student, Codename: Jubilee" and he briefly wondered what was wrong with it. Then the stimulation began and Jubilee hid in the shadows of a holographic building.
Finally free to concentrate on his tape, Bobby turned away.
Thanks for all great reviews! I don't really know how I want this to turn out yet. I'm just writing down what comes to me.
_______________________________________________________________________
He'd worked out in the Danger Room for a few hours that morning. That was the little habit he'd developed over the past few months - a sneaky way to keep his secret. On most weekdays, the Danger Room was abandoned until about 7:00 am. Once in a while, though, he found the room occupied by Logan, and there were a couple of times when he narrowly avoided bumping into Scott. On those days, he made his excuses and headed back to his room. But most days the room was unused.
Sometimes when the room was occupied he left the grounds. Until recently, he'd had a membership at the town gym, where he went to just get away from it all. And, hey, if any cute girls caught a glimpse of him putting his body through the moves and felt compelled to come over and talk to him, well, he could deal with that. He hadn't bothered to renew the membership when it had expired. He doubted that any woman would want to flirt with a big block of ice.
Overall, he'd done a pretty good job of keeping his secret. Professor Xavier and Nurse Annie were the only ones who knew, and so far they'd kept quiet about it. That fact didn't stop him from avoiding his teammates. He was sure that a nearby telepath would accidentally pluck the information from his surface thoughts. He thought that Hank or Warren, or any of the others who knew him so well would just glance at him one day and know something was wrong. Or worse, they'd figure out what it was. Or they'd ask Charles or Annie, who'd blab his secret. And then they'd know. Everyone would know. And then ..?
He didn't want to find out.
After his morning training session, Bobby adjourned to the Danger Room's control room. He' been having trouble with a certain scenario all week. In it, he was dodging projectiles fired from guns on the wall, while trying to avoid a pit of lava underneath him. He'd been tagged every time. That was sub par, even for him. Finally he decided to have the room videotape his stimulation from this morning. His plan was to watch it and to spot himself. Ten minutes into the tape, he hadn't found anything wrong with his performance.
At that point, he heard the Danger Room doors slide open. He craned his neck to see who it was, and was surprised to see Jubilee. He was no doctor, but he didn't think she should be training so soon after returning from the beyond.
Apparently, Jubilee didn't agree.
None of them understood why Jubilee hadn't healed completely. From what they had seen of Warren's new healing powers, it was kind of an all of nothing deal. You either got healed or you didn't. Except Jubilee. Hank had a hypothesis about that. He wondered if a part of her didn't want to heal, because of what had happened to Skin. Subconsciously, she may have been refusing Warren's help.
At any rate, she'd been resurrected, but she was as weak as a kitten. She was hooked up to a nutritional feed for three days before she managed to convince the Professor that she would be fine without one. On the second day of her hospitalization, Warren donated another pint of blood, which Annie also hooked up to her. She'd felt a little better after that, but the wounds on her hands remained the same. She also refused to accept any more of his blood on account of it being "totally gross."
Bobby was surprised to see her in the Danger Room at all. Back when she was a member of the X-men, she only showed up for group training. That was required of all the X-men. Skipping team training usually resulted in a daylong killer migraine for the guilty party. He knew about that first hand. Jubilee had suffered through two headaches before she had realized their source. It took another two before she actually made an appearance. The Jubilee he knew hated training. But maybe that wasn't the case for the young woman now punching codes into a computer counsel some feet away from where he sat.
He turned away, not wanting to intrude on her privacy. He hadn't really talked to her since she had come back. It was strange. He remembered helping Wolverine pull her off the cross in front of the mansion. Heck, he'd probably remember that day until he died. He knew her. He'd met Skin, Magma and the some of the others. But he and Jubilee had been buddies once. One might even go so far as to call them partners (in crime). Seeing her and the others crucified like that felt like the Hulk had given him a punch in the gut.
He remembered thinking that he'd never hear about her stint in the movies. She'd mentioned that she was planning to audition for a small part in a production the only time she'd spoken to him after heading west. Then she died. Then Warren resurrected her. And he still hadn't heard about her Hollywood adventures.
He smirked when he pictured that conversation.
"Hey kid, how ya' been doing?"
"Broke a record. First movie star to die on a cross, and you?"
"Oh, I'm just a big block of ice with feelings, though no one seems to notice. Thanks for asking."
"Well, dude, great talking to you. I'll catch ya later!"
Seriously though, it seemed like she was a little quieter and less exuberant than before. There were still times when he could hear her laugh or shout at someone from across the mansion. Every once in a while, he'd hear the occasional wisecrack, several of which were directed at him. But those seemed fewer and far between.
Once she'd put on her roller blades to get a gallon of milk from the store in town. She'd caught hell from Logan for that one. Apparently, he didn't feel she was recovered enough yet to make the trip, which was several miles long. Nineteen years old and the girl still couldn't drive.
Or maybe the change in her was just that. After all, she was nineteen now. Of course she had changed from the young teenager who'd once gotten the Professor to roller blade the grounds with her. She'd become an adult when no one was looking. Maybe the grown-up Jubilee was just more mature, more grown-up than the girl he once knew.
Nah. He didn't buy that for a second. He'd never changed that drastically when he reached adulthood. People still told him he was just like a teenager. Heck, two people had told him that yesterday alone.
He was distracted from his reverie by a sudden motion in the Danger Room. He glanced to his left just in time to see her jump onto a set of bars (were they called uneven bars?). He didn't even realize he was staring. He watched her spin around the bars, using her momentum to leap between them. That she could do this was news to him. He knew she'd studied gymnastics before her parents died; it accounted for her unusual agility and grace. He hadn't known how far she'd gotten or that she had kept the sport up.
He forced himself to turn away (it felt voyeuristic to watch her like that without her knowledge) and noticed that his video had finished. Darn it! He turned and reset it to the part that he last remembered viewing and settled back to watch. Shortly thereafter, he stole a glance at the observation window. He saw Jubilee hold a handstand on the upper bar. He wondered how she could do that given her injuries.
Finally, she began spinning again. Before he could bring himself to turn away once more (he was pretty sure his video was near the end again), Jubilee launched herself into the air. She performed several spins before her feet hit the mat. But it didn't stop there. Her body kept moving, and she hit the mat with her arms out to protect her from smashing her face. She lay like that for several seconds, and Bobby began to worry. Just as he was about to go call for help, she rolled over and stood up.
She stood like that for a while longer, head down, arms clenched, with balls of light surrounding them. The fireworks surrounding her hands slowly fade and she looked up. Not at him, but at a wall directly in front of her. In the control room, her voice came through the speakers: "Computer, Scenario 3, Level 4. One student, Codename: Jubilee" and he briefly wondered what was wrong with it. Then the stimulation began and Jubilee hid in the shadows of a holographic building.
Finally free to concentrate on his tape, Bobby turned away.