Maybe There's a Bright Side
by
Zerelda X



Jubilee belongs to Marvel, Thomas belongs to me. No profit, no foul. Strictly for entertainment only.




Jubilee padded silently in the dark through the great room to the kitchen. Her stomach was growling. There had to be food somewhere in the place, that woman was here with Wolvie all the time. He was too busy with her to give Jubilee any attention.

None of them stopped to even listen to her anymore. Her friends shrugged her hurt feelings away. After all, it was no big deal, right? Wolvie gets a new girlfriend and she got left behind again.

She just didn't want to be at the Massachusetts school. She wanted to go back to the X-Men. If Wolvie had been there when she called, he would've let her come back. He would've come to get her instead of forcing her to run away. But he wasn't there, not when she really needed him. Not anymore.

At least she had a place to go after she took a bus into New York. One thing she had plenty of was money. Wolvie gave her all she wanted. She just didn't want it now. She wanted him.

She opened the swinging door, stepping through silently. Just as she entered the doorway, a hand shot out and wrapped around her mouth. Another went around her shoulders, crushing her back against a solid wall, her arms pinned to her sides. A flood of cold fear washed over her.

She struggled, kicking, but froze when a harsh breath whispered in her ear. "Stop moving, or I'll cut your throat."

'Just hold still,' she told herself, trying not to let herself know just how scared she was.

After an eternally long moment pressed against what she realized was a big chest, (a hard chest, something big with a lot of muscles), she nodded into the huge hand that nearly covered most of her face. Thoughts of Creed crossed her mind, (she was amazed she could think this clearly), but he would've already gutted her. This was someone else entirely.

"I'm going to set you down. Just stay still and you won't get hurt."

She was lowered gently to her feet, her mouth released and the kitchen light turned on. She blinked in the sudden brightness and was spun around. Her eyes focused, then grew wider as they traveled up a really big man. He was dressed all in black, long black hair framing a stern face.

"Uh, my...my mom and dad will be here any second," she stammered, "you better get out of here." He was so huge, had to be more than 2 feet taller than she was, looking down at her fidgeting. "They're comin' up behind me in the elevator."

He didn't say anything, but a gleam twinkled in his eyes.

"Yeah, my dad, he's like, really mean," she kept going, "ya better leave now, y'could get away clean. Take anything ya want, they won't mind, honest."

Now his mouth twitched.

"An' Mom can be just as bad. She's got a gun an' she don't ask questions first, if ya know what I mean."

He took a breath. "Do you break into penthouses a lot?" he asked. "Or did your mom forget to give you a key?"

"Look who's talkin'." Her fear was dwindling away when he didn't make a move to grab her again. "I happen to know the lady who owns this place. I can be here if I want to."

"Your mom, right?"

"Yeah!" Now she was indignant.

"I know her, too," he said mildly. He moved towards the fridge.

She jumped back out of his range, wondering what was wrong with her. Had everything Wolvie taught her about self-defense just washed down the drain? He wouldn't be proud of her now. She'd care, if she wasn't mad at him.

"Want a soda?"

"Who are you?" Did Wolvie's new toy have another boyfriend? Wait till she broke that to him!

"Name's Thomas." He handed her the first soda he saw and motioned her to the table. "And you?" He looked through the cupboards for the coffee, hoping Charlotte hadn't drank it all. He spotted it on a top shelf, wondered briefly how it got there, and started the coffee maker.

"Jubilee. You're a friend of Charlotte's?" Nothing could tear her away now, not when she could get the lowdown on that woman.

"You could say that. So why'd you break in?"

"I didn't break in, I have a key."

He looked at her.

"So....I didn't exactly have an invitation, but I stayed here before. Didn't think anybody'd be here." She'd swiped Wolvie's key and had a copy made.

"One of those times you just need a place to be alone?"

"Yeah."

"It's a good place for that. When did you stay here?"

"Before school started. Wol...my dad brought me here to shop an' Charlotte let us stay." She made a face of disgust. "We almost didn't come 'cause she didn't want to come with us."

Thomas nodded. This girl really didn't like Charlotte.

"Now they went somewhere an' I needed him."

"Where did they go?"

"I don't know where, Storm didn't know." Her tone of voice told him how resentful she was not to be the center of Logan's attention.

"It can be hard. It's natural to be upset when your dad finds someone to spend time with."

She grew thoughtful. "Yeah, I got a right to be mad."

"I didn't say that."

"When I need him, he's off with her." She ignored his words completely. "Geez, all his girlfriends end up dead. You'd think he'd learn. An' he's gettin' old, too old to need a girlfriend. He's gonna wake up with a heart attack some morning, then he'll be sorry he didn't listen to me."

Thomas poured himself coffee and let her talk.

"He couldn't even get one near his own age. He won't let me date older guys, an' she's, like, so old she could be Moses's mother."

He had a bit of a problem with that mental image, but managed to not laugh.

"An' attitude? She's so got attitude. She makes like she's friendly to everyone, but it don't fool me. She's like M, little Grandma Perfect."

"What did she do?"

That slowed her down. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, if it's just an act, she must have done something to tip you off. Did she yell at you, try to get rid of you? You and your dad seem to be pretty close, is she trying to split you apart?"

"Well, not that anybody'd notice."

"But you noticed. What was it?"

Jubilee made a sound of annoyance. "It was something. She did something to make him ignore me."

"He took you shopping, right?"

"Yeah. He wanted her to come too, but she wouldn't. He spent the whole weekend mopin' over her."

"That sounds like his problem, not hers. Maybe she thought the two of you should spend time together. She had a father once, she knows what it's like."

"Whatever." Her demeanor, however, changed a little.

"What else?"

"Well, I needed to talk to him today, but he wasn't there when I called."

"Did he know you needed him?"

"No...but he should've been there."

"He's a mind reader, then."

She let out an exasperated breath. "No! It's just that...." she couldn't finish the sentence.

He nodded his head again. "I know. I have a mom. When she gets a new boyfriend she tends to ignore me. Not intentionally, but she gets wrapped up in something new. I do the same to her, except I get a girlfriend," he smiled at her laugh, "but I don't think there would ever come a time I really needed her that she wouldn't drop everything and be there for me."

"Yeah, I know Wolvie would do that for me," she let down her guard a little more. At least she hoped he would.

"But we can't expect them to read our minds and just know what we need. Now, if you were in real trouble and needed him, would you have told Storm what the problem was?"

"Yeah," she said slowly.

"And Storm would have probably gotten in touch with him, right? And the others would have been there for you, too? What about your friends at school?"

"That's why they're my friends. We count on each other."

"Right."

She mulled over his words, then looked up at him suspiciously. "You tricked me!"

"I don't trick anyone." He winked at her.

"You're talkin' me outta bein' mad. I like bein' mad."

"You just hadn't thought it through. You're a smart young woman, you would've figured it out sooner or later. You forgot one important thing, though."

"What?"

"When a member of your family gets a new....let's call it -- interest, you don't get left out. You get a new friend, and if the new friend has family, you get them too."

"You might be right. She's supposed to have a son. He's probably Moses's brother."

Another mental image. "Maybe he'll be the kind of guy you can sit in a kitchen with and talk to in the middle of the night."

"Maybe."

Then she straightened up. "You really tricked me. You're her son?"

"Uh huh."

She eyed him for a few minutes over her soda. "You're not so bad, for an old guy."

"High praise coming from you. Why don't you go take a room upstairs and get some sleep. I'll take you back to school tomorrow."

"Frosty's gonna be so mad." She shuddered to think what her punishment was going to be for running away from school.

"Then we'll go back after a late lunch. If you're going to get in trouble, might as well make it worth the crime."

"I like the way you think," she grinned. "You know any good malls around here?"

"Maybe one or two."

"I'll let you take me shoppin' an' buy me stuff." She bounced out of the room and up the stairs.

He poured some more coffee and picked up the phone, dialing Charlotte's extension at the Xavier mansion.

Charlotte answered on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hi, Charlotte."

"Thomas, sweetheart, it's good to hear from you, but I don't have time to talk. There's a problem and we're expecting a call....."

"I know, she's here."

"Here? You mean Jubilee?"

"Yes."

A speaker phone was switched on, he could hear them in the background.

"Look, she's okay. I'm at the Manhattan apartment. She broke in tonight. Well, she didn't break in, she's got a key."

"Goddamn..." Logan snarled in the background.

He was shushed by a number of voices.

"She's been feeling a little neglected, whether she is or not, and wanted some attention. We talked and she's gone to bed. I'll take her back to school tomorrow. I didn't want Logan to worry about her."

The team gathered around the speaker, all of them concerned. Emma's phone call panicked everyone.

"We'll come and get her," Jean said.

"No, that's not necessary," Thomas said firmly. "She needed to talk to someone who's been where she is now."

"I suppose you mean yourself," Charlotte's voice was a little tart.

How right she was, Thomas thought. "She's all right, she'll be back to school by nightfall."

"Nightfall?"

"Well, of course. My new sister and I need some bonding time at the nearest mall. You wouldn't spoil that for us, would you, Mom?"

"Brat," he heard her laugh as he hung up the phone. Which one of them she meant, he didn't know. He'd never had a sister before. Might be fun, if she didn't max out his credit cards first.



All references to characters belonging to the X-Men Universe are (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, duplication or distribution of these materials in any form is expressly prohibited. No money is being made from this archive. All images are also (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities; they are not mine. This website, its operators and any content used on this site relating to the X-Men are not authorized by Marvel, Fox, etc. I am not, nor do I claim to be affiliated with any of these entities in any way.