Marvel owns the X-men, No Profit is to be made from this work.
Sleep hadn't come easy for him, somewhere in the hours from dusk to dawn he found a few hours of rest, waking to the sound of someone creeping through the halls. Some vestige of a dream troubled him, the sound of boots over the wooden floor. Slipping from bed and padding to his door, he listened all the closer and knew whoever it was they were alone, a sniff of the air bringing a trace of paint and grease mixed with the aroma of a quick shower. Pressing his head to the door he knew who it was, waiting until he could hear her no longer.
"Ah hell." Logan grumbled, stalking off to his en suite bath for a shower himself.
Ten minutes later with his hair still wet he threw on a pair of jeans from his pile, a quick sniff of a shirt telling him it was clean as he dressed, getting ready to find out if she was up for the reason he thought. Padding down the stairs in bare feet with his boots tied together and thrown about his neck, Logan wandered into the kitchen to find a pot of coffee still going and fresh dishes in the sink from a light breakfast. Cereal only the youngest kids would eat sat on the counter, one full of colourful marshmallows, a bottle of chocolate syrup sitting next to it.
"Makes my stomach turn just looking at it." Logan whispered to himself, fixing a cup of coffee himself and grabbing a grapefruit.
The hour had just struck five, few at the school getting up before six with most still waking an hour later. Peeling the grapefruit and chewing away at the tart slices between sips of his coffee, Logan figured he'd give her some time to get settled in before he made his way down to the lower levels. Throwing the rind into the bin for compost, knowing Ro would likely kill him if he threw it out, he poured the last of the coffee in a thermos before heading on down.
By the glow of the dim emergency light he stepped out of the elevator, not bothering with a switch as he walked down the hall past the lockers and the med bay, the door to the Danger Room open half way with a manual lock on it to keep it from shutting. He'd done that himself, having triple checked that the Service Mode was engaged for all the good it did yesterday. He could hear her in there, the sound of her breath sounding to be struggling for calm, a stink of shame and anger to her scent. Giving her some privacy, he crept past the door and made his way off to the observation room.
A few keystrokes brought up a view inside, Jubilee sitting in the centre of the room atop a stack of the damaged panels with an empty cup of coffee in hand. Before her hovered a holographic representation of the Danger Room, red squares showing the damage. By the end of last night, between Kitty, Marie and himself they'd all gotten it fixed up as far as they could. Even still, twelve percent failure was some serious damage for something built to take the brunt of live combat and teamwork exercises. Watching her throw her mug against the wall, he figured he'd given her all the privacy that was good for her.
Making his way in, he announced himself with the sound of his boots thrown onto the steel floor, Jubilee spinning around looking to him clearly shocked. Ignoring her, he slipped his socks on before his boots, making his way over to the stack of panels she sat on finally.
"Need a hand?" Logan asked, reaching for the tool bag and calling for a work bench as it appeared out of thin air.
"Yeah...they're pretty beat up." Jubilee said quietly, slipping off the stack.
Together they lifted the first up onto the bench with the steel side down, the array of electronics and projectors on display with blackened boards and fried electronics marring the circuitry.
"I...did an inventory." Jubilee said, calling a pair of hovering screens up that bore different dates, the numbers different.
Logan had to swear, all his best efforts apparently for naught, forgetting just how anal she could be. It was one of the things that made her a hell of a mechanic, always making sure to have anything needed on hand before starting a job, keeping the shop clean, tools organized and plenty of the usual parts around.
"Thanks...I, it was a nice gesture." Jubilee said, finding a laptop from the tool bag and hooking up the cable to the diagnostic port.
"Didn't want ya goin' beating yourself up over it. You coulda really got hurt in there if ya held back." Logan said, the quiet of the Danger Room starting to grate on his nerves.
Calling out with a few vocalized instructions to the computer, music started playing that helped ease his agitation. Watching the holographic ghost of the damaged panel fade into existence from the data supplied by the laptop, most of it was green with but a few parts and boards painted red.
"K, lets start lining them up over there. Once we know what's broke on 'em all, we can start to refurb them, cannibalize what's good and only use the spare parts for what we have to." Jubilee said with all the authority of someone in their element, trying to loose themself in their work.
With one down and with twenty three to go, they got to work with little said between them, lifting up the panels and plugging in to paint a picture of the damage. On panel number twelve Logan ran back having forgotten the thermos up in the booth, making his way back to find the diagnostic done. Lifting it off with her, he set it down and pulled rank as she started towards another.
"Here, have a cup first. Keep ya perky." Logan said, handing it off to her.
"No sugar?" Jubilee asked, the coffee smelling to be straight black.
"I think ya had enough with that excuse o' breakfast you had." Logan remarked, letting his dismay show.
"What? Lucky Charms with Choco Milk?" Jubilee said in her defence.
"Don't act like ya didn't pour the syrup on top too." Logan argued.
Watching her grimace at her sip of her black brew, he enjoyed his straight out of the thermos, wishing he had brought down a spare mug. Leaning against the work bench, Logan keep an eye on her as she walked around looking to all the holes where the damaged panels had been, clearly spotting the replacements used by the gloss of the steel. He could see her shoulders sag, noticing a change in her scent that spoke of frustration and regret now.
"You wanna get back to work?" Logan asked, trying to keep her from dwelling on whatever it was that was eating her up.
With no reply, he pushed himself off to walk after her, finding her just staring into her cup of coffee. He could tell she was apprehensive and anxious now, wondering just what was going through her mind and wishing he had Abby around to just spit it out.
"You okay?" Logan asked softly, Jubilee just shaking her head no.
"You wanna talk about it?" Logan asked again, fear and shame wafting off her heavily.
"What did I do Logan?" Jubilee asked in a whisper.
That had been a question he had been asking himself all last night, not the only one he knew with any recording from the session lost after that horrific scene. Normally thinking her one of the boys, never worrying about tellin' off colour jokes around her or giving her a hard time knowing she would give as good as she got, for the first time he caught sight of the woman beneath the bravado. Wrapping his arms about her, he held her close and felt her tremble in his arms.
"What if it happened in the school?" Jubilee asked in a broken voice.
"Ya don't remember what ya did?" Logan asked softly, feeling her shake her head no again.
"I just remember...getting confused, I kept thinking back to when they really came. I knew they weren't real but, but it was all too real. They had me cornered and they just kept coming, I wasn't even shooting lightning anymore. It wasn't my fireworks, it just...oh god what if I hurt someone. What if I hurt Marie or Kitty, or god even the kids?" Jubilee asked with her voice growing hoarse.
Holding her tight and whispering softly words he hoped could bring her some peace, he worked her to the floor and pulled her into his lap. She was crying now, her whole body shaking. Not for the first time since it had happened he wished he had just deleted that damn scenario. It'd been his release of the rage and anger that came with every night terror or the fears that rose when some nightmare felt all too real, felt so much like a memory he couldn't bear from his elusive past. It'd been a reminder so that he wouldn't grow complacent, just as he had said when Marie had asked him the night before.
"You listen here Lee, and you damn well listen closely. I can't tell ya what happened, but what I can tell ya is you got a whole team o' friends and folks who are gonna help ya find out. We're gonna help ya figure it out, and help ya get a handle on it." Logan said, feeling maybe he had done so a bit too gruff as he started to gently rub her arms.
"What if I can't?" Jubilee asked, her voice a plaintive wail.
"Since when has there been anything you can't do, the girl that went to town and proved herself to, how did ya put it? A bunch o' walkin' dicks?" Logan asked, hearing the first hint of a laugh.
"Erections." Jubilee whispered, drawing in a shaky breath.
"Same shit, different pile." Logan said dismissively.
He could feel her relaxing, melting into his arms and realizing just how fragile she felt in that moment, not the trash talking gum chewing hazard sign he knew. He felt himself holding the woman that had fallen in love with a man who he considered to be one of his best friends, his partner in many a battle with the X-men and the other half of their special move born in this very room. He didn't say anything more having said all he could, just holding her as her breath slowly grew even and the tang of tears in the air faded.
"Ready to get back to work?" Logan asked.
"Yeah...thanks, thank you Logan." Jubilee said as he helped her to her feet.
"Plenty welcome Darlin', but I got a favour to ask ya, one friend to another." Logan said softly as he turned her about to look down to her.
"What?" Jubilee asked, her eyes still red as she wiped away a stray tear.
"I want ya to talk to Marie, take some time with her. I don't want ya bottlin' it all up like that again, ya hear? Second Banana's orders." Logan said as he held her gaze.
She looked to be ready to protest, some of her bravado and stubbornness creeping back into her shoulders, closing her eyes then to take a deep calming breath. Nodding her head, she opened her eyes and stared him down, offering her hand then.
"Deal?" Logan asked, taking her hand in his.
"Deal." Jubilee relented, a shake between them cementing it.
"Alright then. Got eleven left to run through before we can get to fixin' 'em. I'll get ya set up with a few, then I'll go get us some fresh coffee and I won't forget the sugar this time." Logan said, calling out to expand the work bench to accommodate the extra load.
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Author's Note: Just felt like treating you all to a nice classic, Jubilee and Logan moment. More to come soon.