DISCLAIMER: This is a project of the X-Writers. We have neither asked nor been given permission by Marvel Comics to do this. They get to get all their rights and we get to keep ours, but they have the copyright, now, don't they? Don't bother suing us. We can barely afford college, like we'd have something extra? Ha. WARNING: This is a story. This is only a story. Had it been a recounting of issues from real life, spandex would be in style. NOTE: This story may contain cuss words, questionable morals, killing, death, blatant acts of kindness, brief scenes of nudity, kissing, friendship, angst, original ideas, risky business, and all sorts of thought provoking questions regarding the cosmic powers and our unique advantages in becoming higher than our base animalistic selves. You may be inspired to write your own works of art and break free of the chains of Society so that your mind can be free. This story may even win a Noble Peace Prize, bringing warring factions of estranged brothers and sisters to a long needed era of peace. -------------------------------------------------- Generation X #12: "Strangers in Paradise" - cont Written by Lee Atchison and Andy Pressman Edited by Marysia -------------------------------------------------- The clock in the town square struck noon. And then struck noon again. In fact, the clock's bell rang, loud, twelve times. Which wasn't anything out of the ordinary, this being a large Town Hall clock and large Town Hall clocks ordinarily ring twelve times when they strike twelve. However, that was *not* the sound that Flippin' Tony quite needed at that point. Suffering from the effects of a crack down -- and from the hangover that accompanied the case of beer that washed down the crack -- and from the few pills of meph that went down with the beer. So he kept his eyes squinted behind those massive checkerboard sunglasses, one leg crossed over the other, a pout on his dark, artificially tanned face. Nico, on the other hand, held her wine elegantly in one hand, peering out from behind long, straight locks of hair which fell over her eyes. In other words, they looked like every other strung-out tourist on the island. The cafe they were sitting at was open-aired, meaning there were quite a number of tables placed out beneath the sun. Tony was sick of the sun, to put it right simply, sick of the way it licked at the back of his neck. Nico, however, loved the sun -- and thus, she loved the mission they were on. Both of them, however, kept their eyes locked on their target. The Samoan kid, seated at a small table near them, a red cup next to him with the word 'COCA-COLA' printed in white lettering. Tony sighed and rested his tan face on his tan right hand, his tan left hand scratching his tan neck. "I want," he begins, "to shoot something." Nico sighed, and shook her head slowly. "Tony, Tony, Tony -- " "... has done it again!" Flippin' Tony interceded, happily. Nico winced. "Baaaad eighties memories, Tone'. No. Anyway, ah... no. I mean, listen. This is an easy assignment, right?" Tony bobbed his head happily. "Right. We're just here, hangin' out. Watchin' the kid. Makin' the reports. Right?" Tony bobbed his head happily. A beautiful young lady brushed past him, murmuring a soft, somewhat nervous, "'scuse... " Nico nodded. "Right! What could be... more... fun -" Her voice trailed off. Tony frowned, and followed Nico's gaze. "Christ. It's that girl, the one that was with 'im earlier." Tony blinked thrice. *blink*blink*blink* "Aaaand?" Cursing softly beneath her breath, Nico placed one hard fist down -- forcefully -- on the table. *tunk* "And that means she could have heard us when she walked by." Sure enough, the girl had at this point sat down next to their Target. "Nah, she didn' hear us. Even if she did, like it'd matter? How's she t' know he's the kid that we're spying on." Nico sighed softly and nodded, "True. Right. Yeah, girl's probably a bit too daft. She's no clue we're watching him." -*- 'They're watching him,' Cordelia thought as she sat down next to her friend. Nervously, repeatedly bouncing her legs, she watched her friend eat his hamburger. Mondo looked up, a mouth full of food, and smiles happily. He lifted his hand in recognition before taking a short swig of Coca-Cola. 'They're watching him,' she repeated in her mind, 'and that's probably not a good thing.' Smart girl. -*- A hologram hung in the air, shimmering only slightly, but other than that looking very solid. It slowly expanded in width and height until it covered one complete side of the room. Its bright colours dimmed into earth tones before brightening again to pastels. Finally, Artie looked at Leech with exasperation clearly marked on his face. Leech just grinned. "Okay, enough for now. Leech and Artie will use that picture and paint it tomorrow. They have worked hard today." Artie nodded in enthusiastic agreement. The hologram disappeared without a trace. Leech took lemonade and poured two glasses, then handed one to his friend. Something was bothering him, had for the last day or so, and he really wanted to talk about it. But, it was one of those subjects that don't come up too easily. The easy thing about being best friends with a telepath was that they usually could tell when something was bothering you. A hologram appeared, situated over Artie's head, in the form of a question mark. Leech nodded. "Leech was wondering if Artie likes it here?" The hologram changed to a picture of the Xavier's School grounds. Again, Leech nodded. Artie considered for a long moment, and while he was doing so, he took a careful sip of the lemonade. Slowly, the hologram changed to reflect what he wanted to say -- well, not say, he was mute, but, rather, communicate. A remarkably detailed picture began to form, complete with an old fashioned, wooden frame. The picture looked like one of those photos families occasionally feel obliged to take, but this one was of a much larger family than usual. In the first row were Artie and Leech, smiling happily at the imaginary camera. Behind them, on the second row, from left to right, was Jubilee, Everett, and Angelo. The third row was Penance, Paige, Jono, and Monet. And, at the very back, looking over the gathered students with proud smiles were Bobby, Sean, and Emma. All in all, a happy, loving, heart-warming sort of picture. Leech smiled, understanding completely. He felt the same way. -*- Cordelia slid into the phone booth. It had been hard to get away from Mondo, but -- well, no, who was she fooling? She could have said, "Hey, Mondo, I'm going to go sacrifice myself to appease the raving appetite of the mighty Volcano God, 'zat cool with you?" He, of course, would have smiled. "I'm glad if you're glad," he might have said. Groovy. In any case, the phone booth was small, secure, and a good place when one wants to make phone calls. Lifting the phone off the hook and crooking it on her shoulder, she pressed '0' for 'Operator'. "Yes, can I place a collect call?" She blinked once upon hearing the Operator's response. "Excuse me?" she said. "May I -- ? May I what?" She paused. "Oh. *May* I place a collect call?" Shaking her head slowly, she read off a number from the back of the calling card clutched in one dark hand. Quite a few soft tones later, and she was connected halfway around the world. "Hi, um... this is Cordelia? Cordelia... yeah." A pause as Cordelia listened to the voice on the other line -- husky, heaving voice, as if every breath he took burnt his throat like a shot of whiskey. "No. It's... I need some help," she said, crooking the phone over one shoulder, "it's about my friend. The one with powers, you know?" Peering out of the phone booth while she spoke, she eyed the two tourists at a table near her own. They weren't paying any attention what-so-ever to Mondo, or to her, which was what bothered her. They just *weren't*, like they avoided even glancing at him, like they avoided even stepping within a 5 foot radius of him. "It's about him, and about a couple'f people. And about the fact that I think we might need to get off the island," she eventually found herself saying into the phone. After hearing the response on the other end, she smiled to herself grimly. "Right," she said, "thanks for the help." And she hung up and walked right back out, out into the broad, cool shade of Mondo's wide smile and the searing lashes of the sun. -*- Raising the small, black inhaler to his lips, he thumbed the depressor and drank from the mist as if it were a fine wine. Ignoring the blatant warning on the side of the package, which acknowledged the danger of inhaling past the recommended dosage, he took a few more quick inhales. Then another. And one more for good luck. Once this daily ritual was out of the way, his asthma abated, he glanced up at the assistant standing next to his desk. "Sir," the bratty youth said, "I don't think it's that wise to overdose on your asthma medication." The man met the youth's gaze for a moment, then rolled his eyes. Scribbling something on a small Post-It note, he literally and forcefully stuck it to the assistant's hand. "Here," Asthma Man said, "take this to my secretary and make sure she makes all the proper arrangements." As the assistant shuffled out of the well-lit, well-carpeted, oddly soundproof office, he glanced down at the Post-It note to the sound of an inhaler behind him. 1) DRY CLEANERS 2) MEDICINE 3) GAS AND PREP PLANE FOR FLIGHT AND RETRIEVAL -- PRIORITY 4) PEANUT BUTTER M&Ms The assistant frowned, confused as he placed the note on the secretary's desk. Peanuty Butter M&Ms? Why not Reeses Pieces?? The boss, it appeared to this guy, had come wonky. -*- *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* She flung an arm over her eyes, willing the noise to go away. **KNOCK** **KNOCK** **KNOCK** ***KNOCK*** ***KNOCK*** ***KNOCK*** "MALLORY, wake your lazy ass up and get out here! There's something coming in low and fast!" She bolted upright in the bed. That got her attention. "Can't you tell what it is?" she yelled back at the door. Her clothes were still on, still pretty presentable, so she jumped up and ran for the door. Well, she jumped up, anyhow. The running for the door part ended abruptly when she landed on the floor. The floor was spinning. "Godammit," she muttered. "Just my luck." "I have no #%*$@ing clue. 'Bell's trying to get a fix, but, at present speed, it's gonna be within visual range in, oh, hell, ten minutes." Greg's voice always started going up the scales when he was feeling nervous, and right about now, it was in the rafters. "#$%#, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming." Her second try for the door was a success; she just ignored the lurching and threw her body forward. The door was unlocked and thrown open in record time; as soon as it was, Greg opened it and reached for Mallory. He cursed. She wasn't in great shape. "Look, sober up fast," he said in a voice which was almost above the hearing level of human ears. "Let me help you." Together, they ran/stumbled/walked to the control centre. The doors opened with a *swish*. With her blood pumping, Mallory finally felt better. She almost felt good enough to pilot something. Well, not that good, she realized, as the floor dipped unexpectedly. Greg dragged her over to the screen and said, "'Bell, magnify by 10." The view on the screen changed suddenly, and Mallory saw four figures. No, two. No, three. Yeah, three figures coming closer. "Magnify by 2," she called out absently. 'Bell complied, and the view changed again. Now much closer, Mallory could make out the three figures. Her eyes, even when blurry, were above ordinary, almost like a hawk's. She used to think she was a mutant, but the doctor just said she had superior eyesight, that's all. So, she stared at the screen with her superior eyesight and bit back one of her special curses, the ones she only used when she was extremely surprised or extremely pissed. She settled for "Godammit." Two of the people were flying, very fast, and a third was being carried. Mallory recognized them. She clued the others in. "They're friendlies. That woman, there, to the left, her name's Monet St. Croix. Code named 'M'. The guy on the right is Everett Thomas, aka 'Synch'. And, the guy being carried, that's... godammit, that's Jack! And he's hurt." Just as she said that, Everett landed and held Jack in his arms. Monet landed as well, but before she could take a single step, she froze. They stood there, silent, staring with a mix of confusion and wariness. Genna snapped out of it first. "I'll be in the med centre. Bring him over ASAP." She darted out. Mark and Dan followed her out, each knowing what to do. In fact, all of them knew what to do; most of them, except for the creep and Genna, had been a team for almost three years. They moved with the efficiency a team of people often have. Greg and Mallory followed the others, and while the two guys ran out of the base and onto the roof, Greg and Mallory ran to the chopper. The hangar was on the other side of the base, and by the time they got to it, Mallory was sure her head was going to explode. But, having a great tolerance for alcohol and a high metabolism makes recovering relatively easy, so when she hoped into the pilot's seat, she was ready to go. "Thank god I've been practising flying while drunk," she yelled at Greg as she strapped on a helmet. "Kids, do *not* try this at home," Greg replied, doing the same. The chopper was guided out of the hangar and to the kids in five minutes, not a bad time, considering. As soon as they were landed, Everett brought Jack up with him. He placed the dead... no, thank god, only unconscious man in the passenger compartment. Everett hopped in as soon as Jack was stable, but Mallory just stared at Monet. She pointed. "What about her?" Mallory asked. Everett just shook his head. "She can take care of herself. This is more important." It only took one look at Jack's pale, grey face to know just who needed the attention more. The time back to the base was a lot faster than five minutes. As soon as they landed, Jack was brought out of the chopper and into the med centre. Everett explained to them about Monet and assured them that she would be along as soon as she was back to normal. "Strange kids," Greg whispered. "You're telling me," Mallory replied. They decided, or well Genna told them, that they weren't any use crowding up the med centre. They moved into the living room, and Everett proceeded to tell them what had happened. Greg got some food for the poor kid while Mallory listened intently. Everett ate gratefully, and when he was done, they walked back into the med centre to check on Jack's condition. Just before they entered, a voice cleared behind them. Mallory spun around, as did Everett, both surprised and wary. It was only Dan, though, Dan and some girl. "Hi, Monet. We made it," Everett said, smiling wearily but happy. "I see we did." Monet glances at Mallory and Greg, taking their measure and then dismissing them from her mind. "How is Jack?" She looked past everyone and stepped forward as the door opened from within. "Just fine," Mallory put in quickly, her hackles raised by this girl. "Thanks to the two of you." She blocked the door and would not move. "Not so good," Genna said with a sigh. "He needs professional help. We have to get him to a hospital." She held her hair back with her hands, at the same time massaging her temples. "Mallory, can you fly him over?" Mallory considered. "I might. I'm still a little woozy." She smiled, looking shame faced. Finally, she was caught flat footed. "Well, we still have to find the others," Everett reminded them. "They'll be fine," Monet noted. "Jack's the one who needs the chopper right now. You have to go," she told Mallory. "No... " A hand on her arm -- Greg's, most likely -- stopped her from saying what she was going to do the twit. "Of course, you're right," she says with sickly sweetness. "How silly of me to forget." She forced a smile on her lips. Genna nodded. "I know you're not in the best of conditions, but it has to be done now. You'll have to take the Lear, I think." "Sure, the private jet has autopilot, too." Greg turned to Mallory. "Let's go get it ready." "Not without me, you don't." 'Bell walked into the room, carrying three duffle bags. "Here, I took the liberty of packing for you." "Okay, okay, let's go." In less than ten minutes, they were making the final check. The Lear turned around on the landing strip. They were up in the air within fifteen minutes, and engaging the autopilot within the hour. -*- They were almost in a daze, they were. The Path that they had Found was leading them nowheresville, baby, and fast. But then, like a pair of twins thrust into the world, newborn, wet, cold, uneasy, shrivelled like little prunes - Jonothon and Paige emerged from the dark, breezy grasp of the trees to an area of light! And... and light! And open spaces! For there before them, calling out to them much like the Found Path, was The Base. And, continuing this queasy metaphor, their proverbial umbilical cords were cut as they stepped into the open field. Looking up, they fell in love with the first strong image that passed before their eyes - Some sort of camp, a base, upon a cliff. Mother! Scrambling towards it now, something in the base of their minds snapping, they crawled up the low cliff and prepared to re-enter the world. -*- The dawn was always beautiful from this view. The Lear made its way steadily eastward, and Mallory, feeling much better now, was just waking up after spending the last three hours stretched across several seats. Her neck was tight, so while she looked out of the plane, she did some in-seat exercises. "Nice view, huh?" "Not too bad." She looked up to see Greg walk back from the pilot's cabin. "How's it going?" "Not too bad. I'm a little tired. You feel up enough to keep an eye on the console? I sent 'Bell to get some sleep an hour ago." Mallory nodded and stood up. "I can take it from here. Thanks, Greg." She gave him a high five as they passed each other. "Sleep tight," she called back without bothering to turn around. A mumble of words followed as Greg promptly went to sleep. Just before she entered the pilot's cabin, she saw 'Bell fast asleep on the steward's bench. 'Bell tiredly opened her eyes. "Are we there yet?" "No, not yet. I'll wake you when we get there. I can handle the landing procedures myself. Get some more sleep." 'Bell smiled and didn't argue. Mallory settled herself in the pilots seat and checked and double checked everything. When she was finished, she leaned back and put on her headphones. The dawn was directly before her, and she had a better view of it than before. The sky slowly turned from dark blue to a fiery red as she flew back to the Frost Island. -*- A fine mist was all that was left of last night's shower storm. Hell on earth had never been so wet. "For the last time, chica, I will not form a skin umbrella for you," Angelo grumbled in a back-from-the-grave voice. "Yeah, yeah, all right. Can't blame a gal." Jubilee hiked right behind Angelo, her turn to follow. The collar of her jacket was turned up against the dampness, but stray drops of water slipped down her back anyways. Her hair was plastered to her scalp, bangs slicked back, and every part of her felt at least damp, if not just plain wet. "I really, really, really wish I was, like, somewhere other than here, you know," she mutters, half to herself, half to anyone who'd listen. Angelo wouldn't listen. He concentrated on following a path they found an hour ago. It wasn't like any path he'd ever seen before, but then again, he wasn't Mr. Nature. He looked up and squinted past the canopy of leaves over head. The sun had just risen and was beginning to warm the air around them, and even the clouds were running from that hot ball of fire. Good. Something had to go right on this trip. "So, like, maybe we should have, like, a conversation to make us forget about how long this hike is and the fact that we've been, like, walking forever and ever and ever." Despite the hard times, there was a smile in her voice. Each time she started to get down, she just thought about something good, and everything looked up again. Like, just now, she thought about how after she got off this darn trip, she'd write Wolvie a letter. He really loved the last one she sent. She had to make sure that they kept in touch; Wolvie couldn't do it, he was too concerned about Really Important Stuff right now, so she'd have to do it for him... For *them*, really. The tone of her voice was just short of chipper, and, frankly, she didn't care if Angelo didn't like it. Angelo, strangely enough, nodded. "Sure. But what to talk about?" He needed anything to keep him awake right now, and if it was Jubilee's constant chatter, well, he'd have to make due. "I don't know. Um... tell me about your mother," she said in her best Freudian voice. "Mi mama? Mama Espinosa was the best thing to happen to our little neighbourhood. She was always the one who took care of the little chicos next door, as well as her own. She's never given me any bad advice yet." Jubilee nodded, then realized he couldn't see her. "Yeah," she said in a slightly jealous and wistful tone. "She must be great." "Si, she is. In fact, when I get back, I'm going to give her a call. It's been a long time since I've done that. Well, what about yours?" "Um, I don't really remember a lot about my mom. Maybe I don't wanna remember, I don't know." "She was that bad?" "Oh, no, just... I was never really close to them, and they died awhile ago." "Oh. Lo siento." He paused awkwardly, then added, "Not that long ago?" "Yeah, well, it sure seems like it. The years kinda make how I think of them a little screwy. I mean, like, I found out some more about them just recently, well, not really recently, but awhile ago, and it totally changed how I thought about them. Well, not totally. I tried not to let it affect me or nothin'." He shook his head. "You're confusing me, chica." She nodded. "Guess I am." They walked in silence for another couple of yards before she started talking again. "She was an okay mom. She didn't show me a lot of affection, though, but, like, whaaa, right? Lots of kids don't have affectionate families. Her and my dad were always doing their own things. I don't know, I think it was kinda like I came along when they weren't expecting it and stuff. Weird, huh?" "No, it's not so weird." " ...okay, thanks." "So, what about your dad? What did he do?" "Business man. Like, he was loaded and stuff. Always had these majorly big deals going on. That's why he wasn't around much. Well, that and other reasons." The trail turned up ahead, and Angelo followed it carefully. It was a blatantly obvious trail, but that didn't mean he still couldn't get lost. "What about yours?" Jubilee asked, just as careful where she walked. She made sure to stick really close to Angelo; she didn't want to suddenly look up from a zoned out, zombie walk to suddenly find that he was gone and she was lost. "I love mi papa, I just wasn't as close. He was always working to keep make ends meet. That's why I like coming here, to the school. We don't have to pay for nothing, and we get the room and board and food and everything for free. And, on top of all that, we get an allowance, a pretty big one too. I don't spend much of mi dinero; what do I have to spend it on? So, I send almost all of it back to my parents every month, just to, you know, help them out." "Wow." She couldn't find any other word than that. "Wow," she said again. Underneath that attitude, he wasn't so bad after all. Heck, he was a lot cooler than she. "You're really cool," she repeated, out loud this time. Though he waved a dismissive hand, she could tell he was proud. From then on out, it was like the flood gates were opened. They talked about a lot of things -- personal things, mostly, though they were careful not to get too personal. Even though time wasn't flying, and they weren't exactly having fun, the conversation was keeping them distracted, so by the time they stopped for a quick bite to eat, they were amazed at how quickly the time was flying. Another hour later, the sun was definitely making things warm. Jubilee took off her jacket. With the sun heating the water around them, it was beginning to feel like a sauna. She was leading now, so it was she that first saw the break in the trees. "Hey, look, it's clearing." They started walking faster. "Wow, look!" In the distance, perched on top of a small cliff, surrounded by wide open spaces, was the base. "FINALLY!" they cried out in unison. -*- The airport was crowded at noon. Cordelia walked down the hall, following all the other people. 'Natural,' she thought, 'Look natural.' Next to her, Mondo strolled along, casually taking in his surroundings. He wanted to know why they had taken a ferry to the main island, and why they were now at the airport, but she had said "Hush, I'm thinking" the last time he asked, so he was content to just go along with her. Maybe she was coming to meet a friend. She took him along to do things, even when he wasn't needed, saying that she felt better with him there. That made him feel good, that she thought that way. Cordelia resisted the urge to look over her shoulder, though it was growing almost too much to bear by now. On the ferry, she had looked back at the island and saw, to her horror, the two people who were watching Mondo the day before. They were good, real good. Dressed in tourist gear, complete with camera and lei, they blended in with the local tourists flawlessly. Her attention was distracted by her musings, so she didn't notice the old woman in front of her. They collided together, and Cordelia looked down in horror at where the old woman lay. "Oh, my god, I'm so sorry!" she said, quickly going to her knees to see if the old woman was hurt. "Are you okay?" So much for being inconspicuous. "Ouch," the old woman replied. "Oh, my arm. My arm. Oh!" The old woman was probably in her late seventies, and the only thought which ran through Cordelia's head was 'God, please don't let her die, please don't let her die.'. The old woman suddenly griped Cordelia's arm so tightly it hurt. Before she could say anything, though, the woman just as suddenly let go and said, "Take me to the ambulance station. You have to take me there. My arm hurts." It was more like whining, and Cordelia, already feeling very guilty, was more than willing to go along with whatever the old woman demanded. Mondo reached down and helped Cordelia to assist the woman. Together, they helped her over to an empty service entrance, so caught up in trying to calm the old woman that they didn't notice. It was after the fifth turn that Mondo began to think that something was not quite right here. "Where is the ambulance station?" he asked, saying what he thought with very little delay between them. The old woman looked around quickly, then seemed to grow taller. They were shocked. Seeing the look on their faces, the old woman -- well, not so old woman now; her wig was taken off, as was the strange skin that peeled off like sun burnt skin -- smiled mirthlessly and said, "Sorry, the situation's pretty tense right now. I've never seen them so... anxious before. You can call me Joy." Other than offering her name -- if that was truly her name, Cordelia thought cynically -- the old/young woman skipped all the pleasantries. Mondo smiled. "Hello, Joy." Cordelia's fears as to whether or not she was on their side evaporated as soon as she heard the magic words. Joy was looking at her intently and rattling off a stream of non-sense and directions. There, the code words -- " ...Ah ha, simple minds are watching you, and... " -- the words continued, but she knew, now, that they would be safe. They were escorted by Joy to a private plane. It was very nice and non-descript. Mondo was still trying to figure out what was going on, but he trusted Cordelia enough to just follow along. Actually, he was a lot smarter than he appeared to be, especially since he'd been noticing the two 'tourists' trailing them for the past two hours now. They probably didn't mean well, and he was definitely not going to stick around and find out. 'Leave it to Cordelia to come up with a complicated, convoluted plan,' he fondly thought. Mondo settled himself in a seat and looked out the window. There they both were, watching the plane with wide eyes. He laughed to himself. Life was definitely going to get more interesting from now on. -*- They arrived at 5:35 PM EDT at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. In fact, the headmistress had decided that instead of having the Lear fly into the public run way at Boston International, it would land on the school's private run way. Both the headmistress and headmaster were there to greet the students as they came off of the plane... all seven of them. They weren't surprised, though. Very little surprised a telepath. "Are ye ready, woman?" Sean asked good-naturedly. He was in much finer spirits after he had time to think over the decision. "For what?" Emma asked in return. "For the fun ta start all over again, o' course." He chuckled as the hatch was opened and the stairs rolled up to meet it. She joined in with her own quiet laughter, making sure that only Sean could hear her share in his private joke. They weren't allowed any more words before, true enough, the fun started all over again. "Grab those bags!" "Ah... I ain't your damn slave. Grab them yourself." <> "Ouch, you just ran over my toe!" "Serves you right. Move faster." "Don't let her bait you, Monet." "Catch." **THUMP** "No! My walkman was in there!" *slice* "Holy shmoly, next time, don't toss it to Penny, 'k?" "??" "Lo siento." <> Sean and Emma shared a pained look. -*- "Someone is here to see you, Jubilee." Jubilee looked up from the video game she was playing and saw Emma standing at the sitting room's door. "Who's that, sir?" she asked, loving to use that phrase, though disappointed it hadn't once yet gotten to Emma. "Just someone you may remember." Emma stepped to one side and allowed Jubilee to see past. Wolverine and another woman were standing in the hallway, waiting for some sign of recognition from Jubilee. It took Jubilee fully two seconds to cross the sitting room, brush past Emma, and run, full tilt, into Wolverine's outstretched arms. "WOLVIE! IT'S YOU!" she yelled, causing Wolverine to smile broadly. "So it is, darlin'." He hugged her closer, not letting go for all the world. Emma smiled rightly, but the woman next to him was smiling broadly. After a long moment, they knew that Jubilee was never going to let go, so Wolverine set her down and held her at arm's length, saying, "Let me get a look at you, kid. You look fine, no worse for wear." Jubilee took that moment to critically examine Wolverine, too. "Neither do you... is everything... " He grinned. "Just fine, darlin', just fine." With a definite *snikt*, his adamantium claws popped from the back of his hand. She stared, amazed. "But... how? H-h-how?" Her eyes went from the claws to his face, searching for the answer. Wolverine held out a hand, palm out. "Now, wait just a minute, darlin'. Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. This here's Natasha, and, well, I have to tell you that I can't stay 'round here long. We've got stuff to be doing, important stuff." He paused and reach over to pull Jubilee into another hug. "But, I had to come see my sidekick, o' course. Now, what say you and me go have ourselves a little walk along the grounds? Just the two of us." Emma didn't have to be a mind reader to know what the answer would be. -*- She stood behind the window of the attic, staring at the car below. Logan and Natasha were leaving, his goal having been accomplished, and successfully, at that. For some reason, they didn't want to wait until morning. A worry line appeared between her brows. When he had showed up, she had debated whether or not she should just change his mind for him, but she couldn't do that. If he should ever find out... It was easier, both morally and telepathically, to read Natasha. The events in her mind were as easy to read as an open book. Interesting, what had been happening -- interesting, but deadly, so she decided to just let it be, to simply watch from afar. Her lips tugged downwards for a moment as the full impact of what was happening in the world hit her. If this were the old days, she would go out and fully immerse herself in the events and guide them instead of simply watching from afar. After a moment, she mentally shook herself. The young students in her care, *her* care, would be devastated and might try something needlessly stupid. This was why it was so important that they not know, and so important that anyone who came into contact with them was not aware of the full impact of these events. These children were far more important than any power struggle going on in the outside world. If they ever knew ... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -- *Marysia* | "Some fruitloop waving around the 2nd law of Keeper of the Labyrinth Flame | of Thermodynamics like it's a signed and Holy Virgin of Scotland | confession from God isn't going to convince http:\\minuteman.com\x-writers| me evolution is a hoax." Vermillion