Human After All
Chapter 2
by
Tyna & Utendi
DISCLAIMER: Marvel owns all the characters. No money was made from this corroboration. Thanks to Utendi for this story idea and her endless patience when I was slow with my chapters. There would be no story if it weren't for her.
NOTE: Anything phrases or sentences bordered by an asterix indicates a character is using internal dialogue. The segment author's name is in parenthesis and begins each segment. Feel free to archive if you want. Above all else; ENJOY!
(Utendi)
Drip... drip... drip...
He heard the sound in the back of his head. It seemed to echo in a dull rhythm, as slow and precise as the throb in his head. He hadn't had a headache in a long time... at least not one that had lasted beyond a few dizzy moments, and usually only after some serious, direct impact to his skull. Logan couldn't remember getting hit by anything, although he did have some vague and fuzzy recollection of his body hitting the floor. That had been some crazy dream...
Sharp needles of pain stabbed into his eyes. He snapped them shut. *Okay, that wasn't a good sign* he thought and cautiously cracked his eyelids. He opened them in stages, allowing his eyes to get used to the light.
Once his body became more responsive, he became aware of his hands; they hurt, but considerably less than his head. Wolverine dragged them out from underneath his head, surprised to feel that they were wrapped. Eyes still bleary from the light, he tried to focus on the where the wrappings were tied. His bit at the small knot resting against each wrist and unwound the strange material. Bright pink, fresh scars marked the places where his claws had sliced into visibility. *Funny... they shouldn't have left marks. What is going on??*
There was movement, beside him. Logan started. Instinctively cautious he rolled towards the cave wall, pushed to a crouching position and turned to face his unknown nemesis. He was ready for anything but received the biggest surprise of all.
*What the hell is Jubilee doing here?*
She had fallen asleep against him, her small body just barely fitting on the remainder of his cot. Now, she shivered miserably as the warmth of his body was removed. Logan relaxed and eased off his cot, careful not to wake her.
Confusion and guilt warred in his brain. Logan bent over her, placed the blanket around her body and stepped back. For a few minutes, he watched her breathe, heartened by how beautiful a sleeping woman looked; Child! He tried to convince himself, cutting short that chain of thought. Concern and something else joined the war in his head. His headache grew exponentially.
Flashes of the previous night's events peeked out from behind his fevered haze like the spires of skyscrapers behind a city fog. He padded towards the cave's mouth at a shambling pace, blinking to clear his vision and mind. Like pieces of popcorn for a Christmas Tree, Logan tried to string the images together. He needed to make sense of all this.
There was the long hike through the woods, last night, when it had begun to rain... and he remembered being somewhat grateful for the coolness of it on his back and shoulders, even when it had begun to soak through the red-check flannel of his shirt.
He'd grown tired and cold at one point, however, and had decided to retreat to this cave, where he'd occasionally hermited himself, in times past. From the moment he'd actually stepped into the cave, however, it was all a mystery.
It must have been late morning, but the sky visible beyond the cave's mouth was a slushy gray, and the barbs of pine trees seemed to stand like grim black sentinels under the torrent of mid-Autumn rains. He flared his nostrils, sniffing deeply for clues, but was greeted by another surprise: his nose was too stuffed to smell anything.
Pawing at his nose with the knuckles of one hand, growling, Logan was suddenly forced to stop, blinking thickly against the sudden onslaught of an unpleasant tickling sensation. He wrenched forward, leaned against the cave wall and gave a single, thunderous sneeze.
The sound carried impressively, eliciting another irritated growl from him as he went back to rubbing at his nose. *Whoever was trying to play this sick joke on him was going to pay for it.*
Jubilee flinched, jerked into full awareness by a loud noise. Her heart pounded hard for a handful of beats. "Holy cow-that was you?" The blanket slid to a pile in her lap as she sat up. Looking like a chick freshly hatched from the egg, she palmed at her eyes, then blinked them wide open. It hadn't exactly been the best night's sleep. "I thought it was thunder."
"I think the appropriate response is 'bless you', darlin'," he smirked and edged back towards her. Their bed was a mess. *What am I thinking!?! Must be the fever* he tried to convince himself again. "Didn't mean t'wake you."
"I'm just glad you're awake. How are you feeling? How's your hands? Come here a sec, lemme feel your head." Warily the man knelt, allowing Jubilee to first inspect the backs of his hands, and then to slide her palm across his forehead. Her cool, soft fingers seemed to lessen the fever.
He studied her intently, blue eyes following her every move. A grin tugged at his mouth. Obviously concerned for his well being, she bit her lip just a little, her pale forehead furrowed up in anxious wrinkles. Cute was all he could think.
Suddenly she flung her arms about his muscled neck and squeezed with the ferocity of one much bigger and stronger than herself. She buried her face into his neck, breathing deeply to control the tears that threatened to fall.
"I was so worried, Wolvie! You weren't even yourself! And your hands-"
As always, Logan gently crushed her slim body against him in return. "Don't fret, pun'kin," he rumbled in a dismissive reply. As he comforted her Logan could not, for the life of him, imagine what had frightened her so. Jubilation had all but outgrown her teenage bouts of complete and dramatic over-exaggeration, so this must have been something fairly serious.
His broad hands splayed at her ribcage, gently holding her away from him as he scrunched his own fuzzy brows in consternation. "Why don't you start by tellin' me exactly what in hell is going on."
She rocked back heavily onto her rump. Her eyes became wide, illustrating the importance of her recount of yesterday's events. "Hank was reviewing the readings from the Danger Room's records on your last training session. It detected something wrong with your immune system-- you weren't healing up right, not in the least bit like yourself. To add to an already grave situation, you'd started to come down with something. We didn't have any idea where you were, and Hank said that if we didn't find you soon, it looked like you'd be on your own, and sick. So... I went out to find you."
"And you found me," he completed, awkwardly shifting his position before her. "Except I think Blue is half a fry short of a Happy Meal, this time, darlin'...I'm right as rain." He lied.
Jubilee transformed, reverting to her more youthful defiance, a force to be reckoned with. "No you're not! Wolvie, you were completely out of it last night. I'll even bet you've still got the fever. I'm telling you, we need to get you well again before you can get back."
Undaunted he stood his ground. He had dug his heels in enough times with her before, going head-to-head with her more times than he could count. He recognized her body language. Blue eyes turned steel in an extremely stern expression, hands-on-hips, and the set of her jaw. Determined to win, he leaned in towards her and held her eyes with his. Nearly nose to nose he felt his jaw and brow harden and growled low in his throat.
"I said I'm fine, little girl, and I meant it. And I ain't takin' no guff from you on the matter either, because..." Logan stopped. "Because?"
Jubilation pressed to him until her forehead was flush against his. She could feel his frown wrinkles and the simmering heat of his fever. Logan sniffed once, blinked twice, and tried again for the third time."...Because..."
"Yeah?" she insisted, widening her eyes. She expected his usual, hard-as-adamantium half-logic to slap her upside the face. Instead his sudden, leaning retreat surprised her into almost falling off the cot. He also lost his balance, but was saved from complete disgrace by leaning his weight back onto one hand; the other lifted towards his face.
"Uh... Wolvie?"
His muscled body wrenched in a series of powerful sneezes, eyes cinched into gathered wrinkles each time. After a somewhat startled grunt he relaxed. ...That hadn't helped his argument any.
(Tyna)
"Mm...hmm..." was her reply and finished his sentence for him. "...because I'm impossibly stubborn and wouldn't know when I need help even when I'm 'inna world o' hurt' " Jubilee snaked off the cot in a huff. She retrieved the Kleenex box from her backpack and tucked it under her arm.
Logan didn't lose gracefully and gave her his best baleful glare when she handed him the box. Sounding much like a foghorn, Logan tried to clear his nose. Grey spots appeared before his eyes and the room swam. "Darlin'... I don't feel so good," he admitted and leaned against her legs, unable to sit up any longer.
"Now you notice," she teased gently and stroked her fingers through his hair to comfort him. With what little help he could give, she moved Logan back up to his cot. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Jubilee shook her head. Asleep and sick, Logan still commanded the utmost awe. For a long time she had dismissed her feelings for him, chalking them up to puppy love or foolish teenage infatuation. After college, Jubilee wanted to believe she had been right, but couldn't convince her heart. It had already given itself to him. Jubilee sighed and resigned herself to the fact that she really loved him, always had.
"Always will, no matter what," she whispered and bent to pull his blanket up to his chest. Although reluctant to leave his side, Jubilee set about cleaning the cave.
The table was a complete loss, good for only firewood. 'Assess your resources'. Scott's favorite saying ran through her mind as she unceremoniously dumped the contents of both backpacks on the floor.
Most of her stockpile of food fit in the makeshift cupboard nestled in the back of the cave. She had been surprised by it at first but remembered that this was one of Logan's places. Neither of them had thought to bring extra clothes. She put her ear against the canteen and smiled when she heard liquid sloshing around. Good, she thought, the canteen was still full.
Time passed. Jubilee had managed to clear the floor and set up stones in a circle for a fire. She paffed a few pieces of wood to get it starting. Outside the weather went from bad to worse. Huge clouds hung in thick layers. Thunder sounded in the distance, announcing yet another storm.
The cave felt like an icebox. Too much warmth was escaping through the cave's entrance. Jubilee pulled her slicker off and placed it as best she could over the gaping hole. Logan's soft moans echoed against the walls. Jubilee ran back afraid that, in his sleep, he might pop his claws. Relief filled her stomach like ice water as he settled into a deeper sleep.
"Jubilee, come in. Jubilee...are you there?" Hank's voice sounded softly from her comm-unit.
"Hank, I thought I told you..."
"Hush now child," he interrupted her. "Did you remember to give him the antibiotic?"
Aghast at her lack of memory, Jubilee fingered the small pack on her belt. "No"
"I thought so. Listen to me Jubilee! It is very important that you give him three of those a day. Don't forget... Oh...hi my one eye friend..."
Jubilee sat on the edge of the cot, pulling her knees up so she could rest while she listened to a very interesting conversation.
*****
"Hank what in blazes are you doing?" Scott had never seen the blue doctor blush before, nor could he remember when McCoy was at loss for words.
(Utendi)
"Scott, I..." Quickly, Dr. McCoy clasped both hands behind his back to hide a certain comm-unit he wasn't supposed to be using. "I...was simply... running an experiment upon the transmission of sound waves in inclement, ah..."
"You were interfering with Jubilee and Wolverine, after you promised them you wouldn't."
Hank slowly brought his furred hand before him again, opening his fingers guiltily to reveal the little comm-unit, still flashing delicately in his enormous palm. Scott continued to stand at perfect attention, arms folded across the breadth of his chest, wearing his famous Mild Frown of Disapproval.
Perhaps... a little..." he confessed, then carefully set the unit aside, under his superior's continued, watchful eye. The other X-Man reached out to gather it into his possession, pacing away and studying it in the muted lights of the medical bay evidently unaware that McCoy had left it on.
"I know that you're concerned, Hank," Scott began, broad back turned to the doctor. "We all are. This is the first time I can ever remember Logan being sick with anything, and we'd prefer to have him under more competent care, but until the storm lets up there's nothing that we can do."
Miles away, within the cave, Jubilee listened, slack-jawed, to the conversation in progress. *More competent care?* she thought, fuming. *Oh. My. God. Let a few little goldfish die when you're thirteen, and they never let you forget about it.* Rather than interrupting, however, she only tucked her knees up against her chest, and listened that much more intently.
McCoy, padding up behind Scott, reached a nervous hand towards his shoulder.
"Uhr...Scott...there's something you should probably know- "
Cyclops turned towards the blue doctor again, expression stern. "Now listen. We'll get them both back as soon as possible. But until such time as that happens, let's at least respect Jubilation's wish to be left alone. We'll deal with the repercussions of it afterwards."
McCoy's clawed finger gestured a little more urgently towards the comm-link.
"Not to interrupt, my friend, but, ah..."
"What is it, Hank?"
"The unit is still on."
On her end, with her cheek rested in one palm, Jubilee heard a lengthy and presumably guilty silence. Then Scott's voice, inquiring unsure "...Jubilation?"
Sorry, Scott," she replied through the link. "I didn't quite catch that last part. I must have been listening incompetently."
"What I meant, was-"
"Jubilee out." She thumbed the unit off, sighing through her nose as she set it into the loose skin of her now-empty backpack. Only then, when she certain that it was no longer transmitting, did she feel confident enough to scoff a quiet, "...Guy wouldn't know medical competence if it came up and bit him in the-"
"Assumin' you're talking to Cyclops, darlin', and not me," came Logan's voice, croaking and low, but laced with a healthy dose of amusement. Jubilee started, turning back towards the cot, and felt a sudden welling of relief to see her favorite X-Man awake and partially upright, palming at the grizzled, sandpapery stubble of his lower face.
"Wolvie, you're up...you weren't down too long..."
"Can't sleep anymore," he grunted, and although the urge to sit up was strong, he wasn't quite ready for so ambitious a move. He didn't protest, however, as Jubilation settled her slight weight upon the cot beside him, and began guiding him down again. There was an awkward moment between them as he tried to recline, then allowed her to move him, settling his head in her lap.
He contemplated a heavy silence as he adjusted to the feel of this, weighed the propriety of it, and then decided he was simply too ill to protest. ...Even if he'd wanted to.
Her slender fingers combed back through the coarse, damp hair that grew in bristling points back from his cruel widow's peak. The touch felt cool against his scalp, further relaxing him to the moment, and the posture she'd urged him into. All right, maybe this wasn't so bad.
"Just rest, then," Jubilee encouraged softly, reaching for the blanket again to draw it over his bare back. "Hank gave me some antibiotics to give you... you really should take them, you know?"
"Later," was the grunt, delivered in muffled form against her leg. How could she keep pulling that blanket up over him, he was frying...
"Wolvie-"
"Later, I said," was the reprimand, though this time he briefly picked his head up, turning away from her to deliver another, tremendous sneeze off to one side. With a gutteral groan Logan again relaxed his head to her lap, snuffling miserably. "Cripes, I hate bein' sick."
The young woman's voice floated down over him as his eyes again closed, and he concentrated on baking out whatever sickness had decided to plague him.
"I know, Wolvie... but your immune system is bound to kick in soon. And as soon as this storm breaks, we can get you back to the mansion, and get you fixed up right. Okay...? Wolverine?"
But the man was in a feverish haze again, drifting vaguely on a low tide of strange dreams. He could hear her, and still felt the easy touch of her hands as they combed through his hair, and down the bristled back of his neck, but his other senses seemed suddenly too sharp, almost painful. He couldn't smell worth a damn and the noises surrounding them were loud enough to hurt... Could this possibly get any worse?
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