X-Men:"Orphans"

[Dex]

"Orphans"

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them without permission but mean no harm and am making no profit. The
plot and original characters, however belong to me. Any and all
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contacting me first to obtain my permission.

" Humph!"
Jubilee snorted as she slid down the wall, a computer screen
listing a score in front of her. With a muffled curse, she lashed out
with her powers, hitting the screen with a burst of explosive plasma
energy. Normally Jubilee's powers were virtually harmless flashes of
light and colour, however she has long possessed the ability to generate
more destructive attacks. The explosion of the screen was an indication
of that capability. In the fading tendrils of electrical smoke she sat,
walled up against the world.

*
* *

" Strange..." Cyclops looked up from the console and checked the
blinking light. The indicator referred to actual damage to the Danger
Room itself, rather than the holograms. With Remy's injury and Logan's
disappearance, Scott hadn't expected to see it go off again for a while.
With a touch, he checked the records of the Danger Room, looking for the
occupant. His brow knitted in puzzlement. Of all of the possibilities,
Jubilee would have been his last suspect. The youngest X-Men, soon to be
a student of the new school was never really a destructive member of the
team, usually winning through confusion and glib boasts. With a sigh,
Cyclops left the control center for the Danger Room. If Jubilee was
breaking things, it would at least be worth it to find out why.

*
* *

<<<new participant requests access>>> The computer voice chimed.
" Fer'get it!"
<<<override utilized>>> Jubilee looked up in shock. Only three
people had the override for the Danger Room, and any of them meant she
was in real trouble. She got hurriedly to her feet as Cyclops walked in.
Her anxiety level jumped up several notches at his appearance. The Prof
was a grandfather type, and Stormy and Wolvie were close, so she felt
comfortable with both, but Cyclops was still a big unknown to her. She
always pictured him in his outfit, grim and barking orders to people.
" Jubilee?" Scott said as he stepped into the room, immediately
noting the destroyed monitor. At least he wasn't in uniform, thought
Jubilee as she frantically searched for an excuse.
" Ah, jus' doin' the practice thing. Keeping my edge and stuff, ya
know." Jubilee stammered. Scott bent down to peer at the shattered
metal, running two fingers along the surface.
" Focused plasma explosion." He said, rubbing the slight film left
behind between his fingers. " Haven't seen traces since Boom-Boom was
with us on Ship. When do you begin training against computer screens?"
" Ur, well...." Jubilee muttered, blushing and staring at her feet.
Now she was going to get it. " Well, I kinda got mad..."
" About what?" Scott wiped his fingers against his shirt. Jubilee
watched the absentminded gesture with a certain amount of surprise.
" Nuthin'. You wouldn't understand... besides, it's kinda stupid
any ways. Sorry ‘bout the room."
" This is about Logan leaving, right?"
" Maybe."
" I think more then maybe." Said Scott, sitting down against the
wall.
" It's not really important. Look, I'll get outta yer hair."
Jubilee started for the door.
" Have a seat?" Scott motioned to the space beside him. Jubilee
looked slightly shocked for a moment before shrugging and taking a seat.

" Sure."
" So, you're feeling rejected and betrayed because Logan had to
leave."
" Wha..?" Jubilee gaped, for once speechless. Scott went on.
" And you understand why he had to, and that makes you feel even
worse because you think you're being selfish and unfeeling to him."
Jubilee stared at him in open shock.
" How did you...?"
" You aren't the only orphan to find a home with the X-Men. I was
the first, remember."
" Yeah, but..."
" And I remember what is feels like for someone you care for to
leave."
" You..."
" You knew that I was an orphan."
" Yeah, but I kinda assumed that.. Well, being you and all
that...ur..."
" That I could handle it and nothing really bothers me. Right?"
" Yup." Jubilee looked slightly embarrassed.
" Common misconception. When you're sixteen years old with no
family, no friends and nothing that you can really call your own, you
find that handling it is your only real option. And, I had a mutant
power which I couldn't control to live with. It still hurts though. A
lot sometimes." Scott gave that rare crooked smile of his, nervously
rubbing the back of his head.
" So you still feel... I don't know, helpless sometimes?" Said
Jubilee, trying to vocalize how she felt.
" Sometimes. Every time we leave the mansion, the possibility
exists that someone might not come back. As the leader, it's my
responsibility if they don't make it home. Every choice I have to make
could get someone killed. Some one I care for."
" So that's why..."
" I seem a little anal-retentive?"
" To put it lightly."
" Thanks. I know that Remy and Logan and Betsy seem more... heroic
because they throw caution to the wind and leap into the fray with a
joke and a yell. But I have the lives of the entire team in my hands. If
I toss away concerns about a situation and charge in, one day I will
lead the whole team into a deathtrap." Cyclops pointed out, trying to
put words to his responsibilities.
" Bummer."
" Tell me about it."
" So why dontcha step down?"
" Because it is part of who I am. When I was first appointed the
deputy leader by Charles, years ago, I tried to give it up to the other
X-Men. I was convinced that they were better suited for the job, and
that I would only mess things up."
" Wow." Jubilee looked surprised at the idea of the supposedly
self-confident Scott Summers unsure about leading the X-Men.
" However, Charles convinced me that I was the one with the ability
to lead the team. Because I cared for the team at such a deep level, I
was the one able to make the snap decisions which could save or damn the
people who counted on me. That I would preserve the team even if I was
forced to sacrifice someone on it."
" Sacrifice?"
" Every leader ends up in a situation were he has to choose between
the life of a teammate and the lives of the rest of the team. It is the
hardest choice anyone ever has to make. If you can't be trusted to make
that decision, than you are endangering the lives of everyone on the
team." Scott stared down at his hands for a minute, choosing his words
carefully.
" Charles knew that if I had to, I would make the decision.
Fortunately, I haven't been forced to do that yet, and I hope I never
do. "
" Man, and I thought that leading was just shouting orders and
yelling at Gumbo."
" Well, that is part of it." Scott smiled, " And yelling at Gambit
falls under the perks section. But it is a hard job, and it takes all of
your attention. After Maddie and I had Chris, I had to make a decision
about the X-Men, whether to give up the position as leader or to try to
continue with Magneto in charge. It was too much, and it took a stupid
challenge with Storm to force me to make the right choice."
" I thought it was ‘cause Storm kicked yer butt."
" That too."
" I never really thought about it that way." Jubilee chewed her
bottom lip for a moment, absorbing the information.
" Few do. That's why Logan had to leave. Because he has lost that
focus."
" I don't follow."
" Logan has been fighting something inside him for longer than any
of us have been alive. Without the focus he's learned to help him, he's
afraid that one day he'll completely lose control and hurt someone he
cares about; Jean, Storm, or you. He cares too much to take that risk. "

" He didn't want to go?"
" Do you think he would?"
" Well, I thought that maybe I... I don't know." Jubilee looked
slightly pained.
" You think that you had something to do with his needing to
leave?" Jubilee nodded sadly.
" Sorta."
" You're right, in a sense. Logan had to leave because he didn't
want you to see him lose control. You mean more to him then almost any
one on the planet, and he's afraid of the possibility that he might harm
the relationship you share."
" Are you sure?" Jubilee blushed shyly.
" Well, I can't see any other reason. Logan and I are like mirror
images of each other, and we have a strange bond because of it. Like any
thing, people like us need a balance and they instinctively understand
elements of their counterpoint." Scott smiled, musing at the past.
" I remember our first meeting in the front hallway. He was smoking
one of those foul cigars and leaning in the open doorway. I'd been asked
by the Professor to bring him to the Danger Room, and I called him from
the other end of the hall. He ignored me, continuing to stare out the
door. I was pretty impatient at this point, with all of my friends
trapped on an island and depending on people like Logan to save them. I
grabbed him to pull him along and nearly lost my hand to those damn
claws of his. He and I stood facing each other for what seemed like
hours till Charles called us telepathically. The runt tossed his cigar
at my feet and wandered in with a grin on his face, saying, so you think
yer the boss o' Logan, huh kid? Don't get any grand ideas." Scott said,
his voice a gruff imitation of Wolverine's.
" Oh man." Jubilee laughed. " Sounds like Wolvie. What happened?"
" We kept from killing each other... barely, and eventually won the
respect of the other. Respect from Logan is something special, Jubilee,
and I take it very seriously." Scott smiled again. " And I know that he
respects you as well as cares for you. That's something special."
" Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is." Jubilee smiled back at him.
" You should talk to Kitty sometime. She was much like you are now;
the youngest X-Man, Logan's adopted daughter in a way."
" He seems to make a habit of it." Jubilee mused.
" Someone like Logan needs a person to believe in him, and trust
him. Most adults are distrustful of him because of his secrets and
manner, but younger people seem to ignore that and see the person
within. It's remarkable in a way." Scott propped his chin up against the
palm of his hand.
" Well, Wolvie jus' wants people to see him for who he is, not what
he was. That, I do know." Jubilee laughed shyly. " Wow, is this weird."
" What's that?"
" I'm talking to you like yer a real person."
" Thanks." Scott commented dryly.
" It's not that I don't think yer human, but yer always sorta...
distant."
" Part of who I am. The closer I get to people, the more afraid I
am that something will happen to them. Keeping a distance helps me
cope."
" It's not the best plan, eh."
" Tell me about it."
" Ya gotta be savvy and such. You know, do the talk show host
thing. Find out Rogue's favorite ice-cream, or Hankster's favorite
movie, or Bishop's current drink obsession." Jubilee prompted.
" Almond Mocha, Barefoot in the Park, and Dr.Pepper." Jubilee's jaw
dropped. " I do watch for these things, I'm just not comfortable with...
opening up."
" It's part of being human, boss."
" Hmm..." Scott gave Jubilee a strange look and then got to his
feet. Jubilee scrambled up beside him. " Care to join me for a quick
walk, Jubilee?"
" Uh, okay." Agreed Jubilee, somewhat apprehensively.
" Good." Jubilee followed Scott out of the Danger Room and into the
main house, through to the older wing in which the offices of Professor
Xaiver were held. Scott unlocked a door at the end of the hall, and
opened it into a room which Jubilee had never seen before.
" What's this?"
" My old room. When I first came here, the wings hadn't been
remodeled yet, so I was put down here. Later, Charles gave it to me as
my office, when he first appointed me leader of the X-Men. I use it as a
place to think and reflect." Jubilee followed him into the room, looking
about curiously. A large desk and set of bookshelves dominated the room,
books and papers scattered across the area. This was another shock for
the young mutant. She had always pegged Scott as the neat-freak, but the
stacks of books and other clutter were testimony against it. Another new
facet of the enigmatic leader of the X-Men.
" Wow." Jubilee said, picking up a book. " This is the secret lair
of the evil Cyclops."
" Yup. Igor is on vacation." Scott began rummaging through the desk
drawers, searching for something.
" Uh, Cyke?" Jubilee said tentatively.
" It's Scott, Jubilee."
" Uh, okay. Scott?"
" Hmm?"
" Do you think that...well, do you think that Logan is... proud of
me?" She said, the words coming slow and awkwardly. Scott picked out a
box from the drawer and straightened up, looking into the mirror on the
wall for a moment before turning to Jubilee.
" Remember what I told you about Logan and I being like mirror
images of each other?"
" Yup."
" Well, I'm proud of you, Jubilee. I've seen you handle situations
which I can't imagine dealing with at your age, and through all of it,
you haven't lost the laughter and joy which makes you special. As for
Logan, I can't see him seeing it any other way." Scott said, the words
coming from a spot deep within him. Jubilee stood in astonishment for a
moment before regaining the power of speech.
" Gosh..."
" Anyhow," Scott said, trying to cover his sudden embarrassment. "
Here." He handed the small box to Jubilee. Curiously, she opened the
box, revealing a watch inside. The watch was simply designed, but well
made. A gold X filled the watch face, with the rest of the watch made in
steel. An old leather band lay beside it, and a soft ticking emanated
from the timepiece.
" Charles gave that to me when I turned seventeen. It was the first
birthday present I had received since I was too young to remember."
Scott said, his voice distant as he brought up the memories.
" Charles had ordered a cake, and even put up a few decorations, which
was a major effort, being pre-Sh'iar technology in the mansion. It was
that day that he told me about the X-Man, and his dreams for humans and
mutants."
" So, that was the first X-type meeting."
" Right. I was a lonely, scared orphan who had just found a home.
He talked about his dream of humans and mutants living together to me.
At the time, don't understand what he really meant. I remember trying on
the uniform and visor, and thinking about what he really had planned for
me."
" And look at you now." Joked Jubilee. Scott sat down at the desk
and locked eye to eye with her.
" Jubilee, when you first helped Logan, did you think about where
it might take you?"
" Uh... I don't think so. I just remember watching these guys beat
this other guy until he looked so hurt that he must be dead. An' then,
they beat him some more. I jus' couldn't let them keep doing it, so I
helped him." Jubilee bit her lip as she relived the horrid episode in
Australia.
" And when I first put on that uniform, my only thought was that I
might be able to help someone like me. Someone who was scared and lost
and needed something to believe in. That watch represents why we
struggle. Because, somewhere outside is a person who is just like we
were, and needs someone like Scott Summers or Jubilation Lee to show
them something to believe in." Cyclops said.
" Look, I can't..." Jubilee said, trying to hand back the watch.
Scott closed her hand over it.
" You can, because it has done what it was meant to do for me. I
have a family, friends, and a woman who loves me without any barriers. I
can't pretend that I am as close to you as Logan, or ever will be, but I
want you to have it. I hope it will mean to you what it means to me."
Scott and Jubilee met eye to eye, with Jubilee finally pocketing the
watch.
" It doesn't sound like enough Boss, but thanks."
" Don't mention it. Besides, any future leader of the X-Men needs
something tangible to represent the dream."
" Future leader? Heh, I think you just cracked a joke, Scott.
Later!" Jubilee said, flashing her irrepressible smile and leaving with
a wave. Down the hall, the sound of laughter could be heard as she
tackled a stunned Beast. Scott smiled and watched her go. After a while
he sat back down and made a few quick notes on a pad.
" Leader. Orphan. Least sure of herself then anyone else. Who does
this sound like?" The words took shape in Scott's precise angular
writing. Leaning back in his chair, he studied the words he had written,
muttering to himself.
" Who does this sound like?" A soft chuckle underscored the words.
" Who, indeed."

FIN