Fic: Some Other Beginning's End

Apr 04, 2010 21:40

Title: Some Other Beginning's End
Author: second_batgirl
Recipient: jazzypom
Prompt: Jubilee - Sunset in San Francisco Bay
Word Count: 1027
Characters: Jubilee, Wolverine
Warnings: None
Summary: In the wake of the X-Men's move to Utopia, Jubilee is looking for direction.


Jubilee had been deep in thought as she looked over the San Francisco Bay at Utopia, but she was still one of Wolverine's girls, which meant that it was very hard to sneak up on her, even if it was Wolverine himself doing the sneaking.

"Sup, Wolvie?" she asked, not even bothering to turn around.

"Got your letter," he told her, as he took a seat on the bench next to her. Even with everything, even though it had been so long since she had seen him, he hadn't really changed at all. He was still Wolverine, still the main constant in her life. He didn't change, and she relaxed slightly now that he was here. It had been a while since she had seen him, but at least this time she wasn't kidnapped by his crazy son or making a fool of herself with the New Warriors. This time it was just them. Wolverine and Jubilee. The way it should be.

"Surprised it took you so long to get here," she said. After all, it had been nearly a week since she had sent her letter out to Utopia. But she knew that he'd had his reasons, whatever they were.

He didn't apologize, and she hadn't really expected him to. "I had a mission," he said simply, and Jubilee understood completely. She was a member of the X-Men, and this was something that she had been trained to understand since she was thirteen. Besides, she wasn't a kid anymore, she couldn't reasonably expect Logan to drop everything just because she needed him. If she'd been in any sort of real trouble, he would have come, mission or not.

They stood there in silence for a while, Jubilee just being glad that Wolverine was there, and that he had come as soon as he'd been able to.

"So what are you doing while you're in town, kid?" Wolverine finally asked, and she wondered if he was as glad to see her as she was to see him.

She shrugged. She hadn't really thought about it as much. She'd talked to the Young X-Men, and done her best to try and do the mentory thing. But that wasn't permanent, and even if Wolverine asked her to, she wasn't sure that she wanted to go to Utopia to help them.

"They've got an awesome arcade down on Pier 45," she told him. "I mean, it's a bunch of old games, almost as old as you," she added teasingly. "So I've been hanging out there, kicking everyone's ass at ski-ball."

"Trust you to find an arcade," Wolverine said.

"That's me," Jubilee agreed. "And you know, there's some nice shopping here. Once a mallrat," she started, and trailed off.

"Or an X-Man," Wolverine said.

"Well, yeah," Jubilee said. "But you guys don't need me right now."

Saying it out loud hurt her a little, but not nearly as much as she had thought it would. It had been all she had been thinking about since her meeting with the Young X-Men. She'd meant every word of what she had just said, but that didn't mean that it still wasn't hard to say. Transitions were always hard. But more than anything else, she was a survivor, and she would get through it.

"We could still find something for you to do," Wolverine told her, and Jubilee knew that was as close as he would get to saying that the X-Men still wanted her. It was nice to hear it, at least.

"Nah," Jubilee said. "Besides, I'll find something else to do."

"You know," Wolverine said suddenly. "There's a bunch of ex-mutants who are starting to show up in San Francisco."

"I've noticed," Jubilee said dryly. She knew she wasn't the only one who had come up with the plan of going to San Francisco, even before they had all moved to Utopia. With San Francisco being a mutant friendly city, well... a bunch of former or powerless mutants didn't really have anywhere else to go.

"Most of them could use some help," Wolverine said, flicking ash from his cigar.

Jubilee smiled. "Yeah," she agreed. "Good thing I've got some experience helping out at a halfway house."

"I'm sure that with the right person in charge, the X-Men would be glad to help fund something," Wolverine added, a familiar glint in his eye.

"I know that Frosty has the money," Jubilee agreed, matching his scheming look with one of her own. Her mind began to race, as she tried to think of everything that she would need to do in order to help out the others who were like her, who might just need someone to point them in the right direction. Maybe she could help a few people avoid making some of the same mistakes that she had made. There were plenty of other ways to be a hero that didn't involve superpowers. What she wanted more than anything else was knowing that she was making a difference, that she was helping people. With one simple idea, Wolverine had pointed her in the right direction.

"I'll contact you as soon as I've got something set up," she told him.

"Here," Wolverine said, pulling a card out of his jacket. "This should help you with whatever you need."

"Thanks," Jubilee said, as she pocketed the credit card. "I'm sure it will."

"And kid?" Wolverine said. "You make sure you keep in touch. No more of this vanishing act."

"No getting kidnapped," Jubilee agreed. "I'll do my best."

Wolverine sighed, and headed out. "If you change your mind, you can always come to Utopia," he said as he stopped at the edge of the pier. "You are still a member of the X-Men."

"I know," Jubilee said, as she watched him leave. A few minutes later, she saw a boat heading out to Utopia. She watched until it was just a spot in the distance, and then, as the sun set, she turned her back on Utopia, and went to go make plans to help out the others who were in the same situation as she had been, only a few hours before.
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