Believe A Mutant Can... (For Handyhunter, by Second Batgirl)
Title: Believe A Mutant Can...
Author: second_batgirl
Recipient: handyhunter
Fandoms: X-Men/Superman Returns
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Lois Lane wants to do an article on mutants. Jubilee just wants to meet Superman
A/N: Many thanks to likeadeuce and xenokattz for looking this over.
"Isn't that Mr. Summers?" Jubilee said, as she pointed across the crowded streets of Metropolis to single out a man who really did look spectacularly like Scott Summers.
"Don't be silly, Jubilation," Storm said, not even bothering to look where Jubilee was pointing. "You know that isn't possible."
Jubilee rolled her eyes. "I know you'd much rather have Kitty on this mission," she said. "But you're stuck with me, so you might as well listen when I say something. I mean, I am supposed to be a model student, right? And that's why you're showing me off?"
It was only because Kitty (and Rogue, and Bobby, and Colossus, and pretty much everyone else) were either on missions or were preparing for parents' day that Jubilee had been chosen to accompany Storm on a mission to Metropolis. Jubilee had been told that if she ever wanted the chance to make it as an X-Man, she would behave.
"Very well," Storm said, and she turned to look. Her eyes widened. "Cyclops?" she gasped.
Even though they were potentially facing the resurrected undead, Jubilee still allowed herself to feel smug.
"Shouldn't we go over and talk to him?" she asked. "I mean, he could be a vampire or a zombie or have amnesia or be possessed by..." she trailed off, since Storm was again glaring at her. Besides, after everything that had happened with Dr. Grey, jokes about possession were probably not a good idea.
Storm hesitated. "I will call it in," she said finally. "But we have a mission, and one that we must attend." She increased her walking speed. "On time."
Jubilee sighed dramatically, and followed after her. "We have a jet, you know," she pointed out. "And they've got a private plane. We could have flown directly to them."
Storm ignored her, and kept walking towards the Daily Planet.
*
No one at Xavier's School was really sure why Lois Lane had suddenly taken an interest in mutant rights. The Pulitzer Prize winning author was more known for her articles on Superman, or investigating corrupt businessmen. Even though Jubilee really wasn't supposed to be aware of it, she knew that there had been a big debate among the remaining staff on whether or not they should cooperate, for fear that Lois Lane would just use them to make more trouble for mutantkind. Eventually it had been decided that it was way better to work with her than to appear to be hiding something. So they were sending Storm and a student to Metropolis to meet with her.
Jubilee was just hoping that she would get to meet Superman. He was Superman.
Yes, she got that everyone had the point about how it was unfair that he was loved for his powers, while they were hated for theirs. Who really cared? She'd figured out that life was unfair years ago, and she really wanted to meet Superman.
Lois Lane was pretty cool too. At least Jubilee was pretty sure of that - anyone that Superman liked had to be cool.
Jubilee half-listened to Storm ask for directions when they got in the building, but she was too busy scanning around for traces of Superman. He had to be here, everyone knew that he had totally attached himself to the Daily Planet. How could he be so hard to spot?
"Jubilation," Storm said, and Jubilee realized that in her quest to find Superman she had drifted outside of what Storm felt was a reasonable limit. Sighing, she headed towards the elevator. Maybe when they made it into the actual newsroom she would be able to see Superman flying around or something. She bet if she waited long enough Lois Lane would fall out a window for Superman to catch.
*
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Storm was saying, and Jubilee studied Lois with interest. The reporter was younger than she would have thought. But Jubilee could tell right away that she never wanted to get on Lois Lane's bad side.
"Likewise," Lois was saying, as she placed a recorder between them. "There's actually going to be someone else joining us, although not in any official capacity."
Storm nodded serenely, although Jubilee knew her well enough to tell that she was worried that the guy was a SHIELD official or from a hate organization. But she doubted it - Lois Lane liked Superman. "Of course," Storm answered. "As you wish."
Lois looked passed them. "Here he is now," she said, and the three of them rose to greet the newcomer. Jubilee's jaw dropped.
"Cyclops?" she blurted out as he approached, but when he got closer she could see that there were differences. Mainly the lack of glasses, although if he had come back as a zombie he could have lost his powers.
The man paused. "I'm sorry?" he asked.
"Forgive us," Storm said as she extended a hand. "You resemble a friend of ours. We lost him earlier this year."
That was the polite way of putting it, anyway.
"Richard White," the man introduced himself. "I'm Lois's husband."
"It's a pleasure," Storm said, and Jubilee tried not to roll her eyes at the niceties being exchanged.
She vaguely paid attention as Lois began to ask Storm the expected questions, and Storm rattled off the standard answers about the mission of Xavier's School and their mission to promote unity. If Jubilee had known that going on this mission would be like listening to one of Storm's lectures, she probably wouldn't have begged to come. Especially since she hadn't seen Superman yet. Unless Lois's husband was Superman - she was rumored to have been involved with him, after all.
She studied Richard White intently, but the similarity to Cyclops was just way too overwhelming, and there was no way she could picture him as Superman.
"Jubilation," Storm was saying, and Jubilee was forced to pay attention again.
"I'm sorry," she said in as sweet a tone as she could manage, the one that she reserved for getting out of trouble when she knew she deserved it. "I was distracted by Mr. White's appearance, I must have missed the question."
It was probably unfair to let Storm assume why she was studying Richard, but Jubilee had been warned about the consequences of pissing Storm off.
Storm softened. "Ms. Lane was asking about what it was like growing up with powers."
Everything Jubilee knew about Lois Lane meant that she answered the question honestly, even if it might not have been the answer Storm wanted her to give. "It sucked," she said bluntly. "I'm an orphan, so I got bounced around foster homes a lot. Nobody wanted to keep a mutie." She simply stated the facts. "Xavier's was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was pretty much homeless when they found me." She glossed over the fact that she'd been living in a mall, surviving by shoplifting and picking pockets when they'd found her. That probably wouldn't go over well.
"So you're happy there?" Ms. Lane pressed.
"Well, duh," Jubilee answered. "I'm getting to use my powers without anyone beating me up. I'm not going to get kicked out again just because..." she hesitated, but then pressed on," because I have a nightmare and my pops go off. I mean, I could do without having to read a bunch of books by dead white guys, but they make you do that in every school."
"What did you think of the cure?"
Jubilee snorted. "I can understand why some people took it, but I would never. I mean, I'm more than my powers, but my powers are part of me. I like them, and wanting to get rid of them would be like saying that I don't like me. And I happen to like me a lot."
"But you understand why some people took it?"
Jubilee just stared at her. "Having people hate you for what you are gets really tiring," she pointed out. "My mutation is... well, I can pass, you know? Some people can't. Sometimes you just want to be able to look like everyone else, just for a little while. And some people have powers that are harder to control. If I'd had like, scales or something, or if I hurt people by touching them, I might have done it." She was glad that she hadn't had to make that choice.
"That was very insightful, Ms. Lee," Lois said, just a hint of respect in her voice.
"Jubilee," she said firmly. "That's my name." She glanced out the window. "Do you think Superman will be here?" she burst out finally. "I've been in Metropolis for like an hour already, and I haven't seen him yet."
Lois started to laugh. "If you spend enough time in Metropolis, you'll see him eventually."
"Will it help if I throw myself off a building or something?"
Lois winced. "Please don't try that," she said. "He can't be everywhere at once."
"Storm could catch me if he didn't show up," Jubilee pointed out, but from the way Storm was glaring at her, she guessed that she probably couldn't count on it.
"Did you have any more questions?" Storm asked instead.
Lois hesitated. "Actually, I did have an ulterior motive for asking about this. My son has shown some mutant abilities," she said quietly. "He's only five."
"Mutations generally don't occur until puberty," Storm said. "Although there have been a few cases lately of them happening at younger ages. What sort of powers has he shown?"
"Strength, mostly," Lois said. "If anything new has happened, I haven't noticed much."
Jubilee smirked. Of course Superman's child would have super strength. She wondered if he could beat up Wolverine. That would be funny. Of course, if he was Superman's son, then Superman should be able to teach him to use his powers. She looked at Lois again. Maybe Lois didn't realize that she was married to Superman?
Storm nodded. "We would be glad to let your son into our school, when he's a bit older. The youngest we have at the moment is eight years old, I believe. Until then, we can provide tutoring in the safe use of his powers."
"Thank you," Lois said, as she stood up, clearly ending the interview. "I'll be in touch to arrange that."
"Of course," Storm said serenely, gesturing for Jubilee to follow.
They didn't talk very much as they left, and Jubilee wasn't sure exactly what they had accomplished. Lois Lane had a tremendous amount of power available to her, but it didn't sound like even with the knowledge that her son might be a mutant (or an alien, or a mutant alien) that she would immediately rush out to help them.
Still, as Jubilee stepped out onto the street, and watched an entire city pause to watch as Superman flew by overhead, she was willing to believe that maybe people would look at mutants that way one day.
Author: second_batgirl
Recipient: handyhunter
Fandoms: X-Men/Superman Returns
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Lois Lane wants to do an article on mutants. Jubilee just wants to meet Superman
A/N: Many thanks to likeadeuce and xenokattz for looking this over.
"Isn't that Mr. Summers?" Jubilee said, as she pointed across the crowded streets of Metropolis to single out a man who really did look spectacularly like Scott Summers.
"Don't be silly, Jubilation," Storm said, not even bothering to look where Jubilee was pointing. "You know that isn't possible."
Jubilee rolled her eyes. "I know you'd much rather have Kitty on this mission," she said. "But you're stuck with me, so you might as well listen when I say something. I mean, I am supposed to be a model student, right? And that's why you're showing me off?"
It was only because Kitty (and Rogue, and Bobby, and Colossus, and pretty much everyone else) were either on missions or were preparing for parents' day that Jubilee had been chosen to accompany Storm on a mission to Metropolis. Jubilee had been told that if she ever wanted the chance to make it as an X-Man, she would behave.
"Very well," Storm said, and she turned to look. Her eyes widened. "Cyclops?" she gasped.
Even though they were potentially facing the resurrected undead, Jubilee still allowed herself to feel smug.
"Shouldn't we go over and talk to him?" she asked. "I mean, he could be a vampire or a zombie or have amnesia or be possessed by..." she trailed off, since Storm was again glaring at her. Besides, after everything that had happened with Dr. Grey, jokes about possession were probably not a good idea.
Storm hesitated. "I will call it in," she said finally. "But we have a mission, and one that we must attend." She increased her walking speed. "On time."
Jubilee sighed dramatically, and followed after her. "We have a jet, you know," she pointed out. "And they've got a private plane. We could have flown directly to them."
Storm ignored her, and kept walking towards the Daily Planet.
*
No one at Xavier's School was really sure why Lois Lane had suddenly taken an interest in mutant rights. The Pulitzer Prize winning author was more known for her articles on Superman, or investigating corrupt businessmen. Even though Jubilee really wasn't supposed to be aware of it, she knew that there had been a big debate among the remaining staff on whether or not they should cooperate, for fear that Lois Lane would just use them to make more trouble for mutantkind. Eventually it had been decided that it was way better to work with her than to appear to be hiding something. So they were sending Storm and a student to Metropolis to meet with her.
Jubilee was just hoping that she would get to meet Superman. He was Superman.
Yes, she got that everyone had the point about how it was unfair that he was loved for his powers, while they were hated for theirs. Who really cared? She'd figured out that life was unfair years ago, and she really wanted to meet Superman.
Lois Lane was pretty cool too. At least Jubilee was pretty sure of that - anyone that Superman liked had to be cool.
Jubilee half-listened to Storm ask for directions when they got in the building, but she was too busy scanning around for traces of Superman. He had to be here, everyone knew that he had totally attached himself to the Daily Planet. How could he be so hard to spot?
"Jubilation," Storm said, and Jubilee realized that in her quest to find Superman she had drifted outside of what Storm felt was a reasonable limit. Sighing, she headed towards the elevator. Maybe when they made it into the actual newsroom she would be able to see Superman flying around or something. She bet if she waited long enough Lois Lane would fall out a window for Superman to catch.
*
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Storm was saying, and Jubilee studied Lois with interest. The reporter was younger than she would have thought. But Jubilee could tell right away that she never wanted to get on Lois Lane's bad side.
"Likewise," Lois was saying, as she placed a recorder between them. "There's actually going to be someone else joining us, although not in any official capacity."
Storm nodded serenely, although Jubilee knew her well enough to tell that she was worried that the guy was a SHIELD official or from a hate organization. But she doubted it - Lois Lane liked Superman. "Of course," Storm answered. "As you wish."
Lois looked passed them. "Here he is now," she said, and the three of them rose to greet the newcomer. Jubilee's jaw dropped.
"Cyclops?" she blurted out as he approached, but when he got closer she could see that there were differences. Mainly the lack of glasses, although if he had come back as a zombie he could have lost his powers.
The man paused. "I'm sorry?" he asked.
"Forgive us," Storm said as she extended a hand. "You resemble a friend of ours. We lost him earlier this year."
That was the polite way of putting it, anyway.
"Richard White," the man introduced himself. "I'm Lois's husband."
"It's a pleasure," Storm said, and Jubilee tried not to roll her eyes at the niceties being exchanged.
She vaguely paid attention as Lois began to ask Storm the expected questions, and Storm rattled off the standard answers about the mission of Xavier's School and their mission to promote unity. If Jubilee had known that going on this mission would be like listening to one of Storm's lectures, she probably wouldn't have begged to come. Especially since she hadn't seen Superman yet. Unless Lois's husband was Superman - she was rumored to have been involved with him, after all.
She studied Richard White intently, but the similarity to Cyclops was just way too overwhelming, and there was no way she could picture him as Superman.
"Jubilation," Storm was saying, and Jubilee was forced to pay attention again.
"I'm sorry," she said in as sweet a tone as she could manage, the one that she reserved for getting out of trouble when she knew she deserved it. "I was distracted by Mr. White's appearance, I must have missed the question."
It was probably unfair to let Storm assume why she was studying Richard, but Jubilee had been warned about the consequences of pissing Storm off.
Storm softened. "Ms. Lane was asking about what it was like growing up with powers."
Everything Jubilee knew about Lois Lane meant that she answered the question honestly, even if it might not have been the answer Storm wanted her to give. "It sucked," she said bluntly. "I'm an orphan, so I got bounced around foster homes a lot. Nobody wanted to keep a mutie." She simply stated the facts. "Xavier's was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was pretty much homeless when they found me." She glossed over the fact that she'd been living in a mall, surviving by shoplifting and picking pockets when they'd found her. That probably wouldn't go over well.
"So you're happy there?" Ms. Lane pressed.
"Well, duh," Jubilee answered. "I'm getting to use my powers without anyone beating me up. I'm not going to get kicked out again just because..." she hesitated, but then pressed on," because I have a nightmare and my pops go off. I mean, I could do without having to read a bunch of books by dead white guys, but they make you do that in every school."
"What did you think of the cure?"
Jubilee snorted. "I can understand why some people took it, but I would never. I mean, I'm more than my powers, but my powers are part of me. I like them, and wanting to get rid of them would be like saying that I don't like me. And I happen to like me a lot."
"But you understand why some people took it?"
Jubilee just stared at her. "Having people hate you for what you are gets really tiring," she pointed out. "My mutation is... well, I can pass, you know? Some people can't. Sometimes you just want to be able to look like everyone else, just for a little while. And some people have powers that are harder to control. If I'd had like, scales or something, or if I hurt people by touching them, I might have done it." She was glad that she hadn't had to make that choice.
"That was very insightful, Ms. Lee," Lois said, just a hint of respect in her voice.
"Jubilee," she said firmly. "That's my name." She glanced out the window. "Do you think Superman will be here?" she burst out finally. "I've been in Metropolis for like an hour already, and I haven't seen him yet."
Lois started to laugh. "If you spend enough time in Metropolis, you'll see him eventually."
"Will it help if I throw myself off a building or something?"
Lois winced. "Please don't try that," she said. "He can't be everywhere at once."
"Storm could catch me if he didn't show up," Jubilee pointed out, but from the way Storm was glaring at her, she guessed that she probably couldn't count on it.
"Did you have any more questions?" Storm asked instead.
Lois hesitated. "Actually, I did have an ulterior motive for asking about this. My son has shown some mutant abilities," she said quietly. "He's only five."
"Mutations generally don't occur until puberty," Storm said. "Although there have been a few cases lately of them happening at younger ages. What sort of powers has he shown?"
"Strength, mostly," Lois said. "If anything new has happened, I haven't noticed much."
Jubilee smirked. Of course Superman's child would have super strength. She wondered if he could beat up Wolverine. That would be funny. Of course, if he was Superman's son, then Superman should be able to teach him to use his powers. She looked at Lois again. Maybe Lois didn't realize that she was married to Superman?
Storm nodded. "We would be glad to let your son into our school, when he's a bit older. The youngest we have at the moment is eight years old, I believe. Until then, we can provide tutoring in the safe use of his powers."
"Thank you," Lois said, as she stood up, clearly ending the interview. "I'll be in touch to arrange that."
"Of course," Storm said serenely, gesturing for Jubilee to follow.
They didn't talk very much as they left, and Jubilee wasn't sure exactly what they had accomplished. Lois Lane had a tremendous amount of power available to her, but it didn't sound like even with the knowledge that her son might be a mutant (or an alien, or a mutant alien) that she would immediately rush out to help them.
Still, as Jubilee stepped out onto the street, and watched an entire city pause to watch as Superman flew by overhead, she was willing to believe that maybe people would look at mutants that way one day.