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Spoilers: The Uncanny X-Men - Annual (1999)
** ** indicates telepathic communication
‘ ’ indicates thought
“ ” indicates spoken words

Few months ago, (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

“And I hope I never see either of you, EVER AGAIN,” the blonde teenaged girl yelled as she slammed the front door of her house behind her and walked up the young man waiting for her outside.
Her boyfriend, who sported a cherry colored mop of hair, drew her into his arms, his face full of regret for her loss.

“What happened?” He asked nevertheless. “What did they say?”
“I don’t care! They’re not my family anymore,” the girl mouthed off as she cupped his face and leaned in to kiss the lips of the man she loved. “You are…” was all she said before their words were lost in their joining.

There was nothing unusual about this; hundreds of couples came together this way, especially when faced with opposition. What made this case special was the grayish tinge of the man’s skin, and the markings allover it, along with the gray on black color of his eyes….all making it clear for anyone to see that he was a mutant. On the other hand, his lover, the girl he had given his heart to, was a vivacious blonde-haired woman with perfectly formed lips and clear, large brown eyes, which held all the world’s love for him, was a hundred percent human.

Their love had sprouted and grown, and now, they were going to be together.

“I love you Sofia,” the young man whispered softly as they grasped each other’s hand and started walking, to what they hoped would a better future, where both of them would be happy….together, with each other.
“I love you too Jake,” the girl reflected the sentiment as she snaked her arm around his.

In their love for each other, they didn’t notice what was occurring behind them.

“Blasted mutie…” the girl’s father cursed and slammed his fist against the window sill.

Seeing him reach for his gun, her mother pleaded, “D-Don’t do anything rash, d-dear….”

“If you don’t want our little girl runnin’ away with that freak of nature….,” he reached for his coat and cell phone. “….I suggest you stay out of my woman!”

With that, he placed a call as he stepped out and walked towards his pickup.

“Yeah, Larry,” he started when the call was answered. “Get some of the guys together….

….we got us a mutie that needs to be put down.”

-----

Today, (Somewhere in Canada)

Two people were sitting next a pristine lake, enjoying their first day together, in the open.

“What are you thinking?” the man whispered into the woman’s ear.

She lifted her head from his shoulder and turned around to face him. “I can’t believe we are doing this. I can’t believe we are still alive,” she caressed his cheek and in a familiar fashion, he brought his hand up to cup her slender hand.

“I know. This is crazy,” he replied as he draped his arm across her shoulders and brought her closer. “But, we are together. That’s all that matters to me.”
“Me too,” her eyes dimmed as she remembered the night when they were attacked and almost beaten to death. “I almost lost you. I don’t want that to happen again…EVER.”

“I love you Sofia,” the mutant known as Jake whispered to his human beloved.

“And I you….” With that, they leaned closer to each other. Their lips were millimeters apart, when….

“Ahem,” both lovers literally leapt off the ground.

“Oh, sorry Mr. McCoy.”

------

Salem Center, New York,

“Ah, we meet again, eh Stormy,” the French-Louisianan accent accompanied the entry of the X-Men into the holding cell that currently housed Remy Lebeau, aka Gambit. “If Remy know dat you miss ‘im so much, he would’ve come wit’ you. Where is dat redhead beauty dat you had wit’ you? Remy like to see ‘er too. She also be easy on the eyes, but Remy must tell you dis, she ain’t you.”

“Mr. Lebeau,” Charles Xavier answered before either Ororo or Scott could give bite on the charmer’s verbal bait. “My name is Charles Xavier. I hope your journey was uneventful.”

“Yes, the X-Prof,” Gambit’s caricature of his codename surprised even the telepathic Xavier. “Just peachy. Once they drug Remy, he slept like a baby. Nice way you ‘ave to bring in guests. Remy sure wanna see how you bring in da enemies.”

“Gambit,” the eye-patched man was unknown to Remy. “You haven’t been brought here as a first prize in the sweepstakes. You have been brought here to answer the questions that the Professor will ask of you. Once that is done, you will be dropped off in the same place from where you were collected. Is that understood?”

“An’ who might you be?” Remy asked suspiciously. He knew about the X-Men, and this man was no X-Man. First of all, he was too old, second, he didn’t look to be from the school and thirdly, he looked as if he didn’t give a shit about what Xavier said or did.

“That’s not for you to know,” Fury replied evenly. “You just answer the questions and we will let you go.”

“Ok homme,” Remy relented. “If you are askin’ so nicely, Remy do it. Ask what you wanna.”

“Psylocke,” at Fury’s voice, the door slid open and the purple haired telepath entered the room.

“Mon dieu,” Remy’s eyes glinted flirtingly.

“Dis, just gets betta an’ betta.”

-----

Elsewhere,

“So we are going to meet the great X-Men huh,” the teenager commented with a pop of her bubble gum bubble.
“*We* ain’t going nowhere,” the mutant known as Wolverine snapped at her. “I am gonna drop ya off at a friend’s place. Yer gonna stay with her until this whole shit goes through.”

“Hold on there partner,” his young passenger, the livewire firecracker, Jubilation ‘Jubilee’ Lee fired her own salvo. “What do you mean, ‘we ain’t goin’ nowhere’,” she repeated his words with a characteristic mimic. “I am going to come with you. I don’t want to be dumped off like yesterday’s lunch. And I definitely don’t want to be dumped on one of your hussy friends. Not even if is that *red* T&A sideshow Elektra.”

“I ain’t gonna leave you with her,” Logan scoffed at her. “She is outta town for some work. Once I leave ya, I’ll pick up X and….”
“Woah, woah, pick up X,” now she was really getting *active*. “You mean to tell me you are going to take her and not me. No way buster. If she goes, I go….and even she doesn’t go, I definitely go.”

“Now look here kid,” Logan tried to reason with her.
“I know that she is your clone and everything,” the young Chinese-American girl knew how to play her cards well, and right now she was going in for the emotional blackmail card. “And that you think of her as family….”

“Jubes darlin’,” Logan’s tone told her that the blow had been struck just right. “You know its not like that.”
“Yeah, well then why take her and leave me with some pole dancer friend of yours,” the firecracker pushed on. “Do you want me to take lessons from her?”

“KID,” Logan snapped at her. “First of all she isn’t a stripper or anything. She is a cop and a damn good one. Second, she is got more power in her right hand, than I have in my whole body, and thirdly and most importantly, I never want to listen you even thinking about taking yer clothes off for a living.”
“Oh, and here I was thinking of taking up modeling as a living,” Jubilee’s wink caused Logan to frown in exasperation.


“What do you mean she is so powerful?” the young girl finally questioned. “She a mutant or something?”
“Or something,” Logan responded. “She has this doohickey, the Digitabulum, some magical shit. That gives her a real kick ass power. It made my claws and healing factor look like it wasn’t even there.”
“So what is she doing being a cop?” Jubilee asked curiously. “Why doesn’t she become a full time superhero, like us,” she pointed towards herself.

“We ain’t superheroes kid,” Logan corrected her. “We are just people trying to make a living for ourselves. As fer Sara, she is already a hero. She is a cop, cuz she wanted to be like her old man. He was a cop too. You know, the whole family thing.”

“How do you know so much about her?” Jubilee narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You boned her or something.”
“Or something,” Logan repeated his earlier answer. “Where do you learn all this crap talk? Can’t ya talk like normal thirteen year olds?”
“No, old man,” she shook her head. “Now spill. What do you mean by, ‘or something’?”

“I-Iwaskindamarriedtoheronce,” Logan rattled off his answer.
“WHAT?” Jubilee wasn’t sure if she heard it correctly. ‘Did he just say…”

“I said,” Logan started loudly. “I was married to her once.”

“Oh, that’s what I thought you said,” the youngster said it if it wasn’t anything big, blowing her top the next moment. “HOLY SHIT. Jeez-Louise Is there someone on his green earth that isn’t a female of jumpable age that you haven’t done or married? You seem to have them all over the place. Elektra, that Mariko lady in Japan, now this Sara and then there was that….”

“Don’t,” Logan’s warning tone silenced her, the pain clear in his growl.

There was silence in the camper. “Sorry Wolvie,” Jubilee finally apologized. “I didn’t mean to…”
“I understand kid,” Logan patted her shoulder. “And my thing with Sara, it was just a mission. We got married, completed the mission and annulled it. All within a night.”

“Oh, so you didn’t,” Logan slapped his forehead at the pumping action Jubilee made with her arm.
“No, we didn’t,” he replied. “She is a nice lady. Smart, sexy, but tough as nails, with a no nonsense attitude. Ya will like her.”

“I am sure I will….” Jubilee replied in affirmation. “…when I meet her. But right now, I am going with YOU to the X-Freaks.”

“Yer not gonna listen are you?” Logan asked for the last time.

“You got a doubt on that bub?” came the answer in another mock imitation of him.

“Then,” he flipped open a cover on the dash to reveal a red colored button. “Hold on tight,” he warned and pressed the button.

“WHOO HOOoooo…..”

-----

Back at the X-Mansion,

The interrogation of Remy Lebeau was taking place uneventfully. Only Charles Xavier and Psylocke were present with him in the room, with the Nick Fury and the senior X-Men watching the proceedings from a closed circuit camera. They had been able to get the backup generator up and working and were working on the main systems.

Fury had given Xavier three chances after which he was going to end his involvement in the questioning. The three chances were for him to go anywhere in Gambit’s head that didn’t involve he X-Men. In short, it meant that the telepath would be constantly monitored by Psylocke and would ensure that Xavier didn’t get any information about Gambit’s personal life or his supposed involvement with Wolverine. This was both as a security measure for SHIELD itself and as a favor for Logan.

So far Xavier had used two of those three chances and was on his last leg. During his two unauthorized intrusions, he was able to get a clear picture of Wolverine and a couple of other people. One among them was a mutant he had known about in the past and who was now supposedly responsible for wrecking the school’s security and electrical systems. The other was a teenaged girl who was quite prominent in the mind of the charmer. Xavier had no idea who that girl was and due to the cold setting of the memory, didn’t find it out of place that the girl had covered most of her body, with only her face visible and exposed to the elements.

“You are a very knowledgeable young man,” he started his next question, a question he had asked thrice before, wording it differently every time. “Your skills and experience could be of great assistance in our mission. Would you consider joining us? We could help you learn more about us, than you already know from your sources.”

“Nice offer homme,” Gambit didn’t seem to rise to the bait. “But like Remy said before, he don’ wanna be a X-Man, and you also not gonna get an answer for your ‘source’ question.”

“I already guessed that your source was Wolverine,” if his words surprised the Cajun, Xavier didn’t know, but the answer he got next sure surprised him.

“Den why you askin’ Remy,” Gambit, hooked his hands behind his head. “You will get it soon. He’s comin’, isn’t he?”

--

“How did he know that?” Jean asked in the observation room. “We didn’t tell him.”
“And I don’t think the General told him either,” Ororo and Scott looked towards Fury, who had a passive expression on his face.

“Its in front of you,” he gestured to the screen, avoiding spelling out what everyone already knew, the street performer had something to do with Wolverine. Quite something, if he already knew that he was on his way.


“Wolverine is coming here?” Xavier tried to sound surprised.
“You know he is,” Remy caught onto the shift in his emotions. “So don’ insult Remy by lying.”
“Very well,” Xavier took a deep breath. “How did you know that?”
“Because Remy call ‘im,” red on black eyes glinted gleefully. “So, how much longer do you have left?”
“Left?” the Professor arched a brow.
“Before your card is cut,” with that he looked up directly at the camera and gave a small wave to the observing X-Men. He was mostly firing from the seat of his pants. He knew that Logan would come, but when and what would he do when he got here, he had no idea.

“How long have you known Logan?” Xavier’s question gained an instant response from both Psylocke and Fury, who barked into the mike.

“That’s three. You just struck out Professor. End of questioning.”

“Just one more question?” Xavier’s words were both for Psylocke and Fury. “Do you know someone named Dr. Henry McCoy?”

“Who?” This time Gambit surprise was true and clear.

“You got your answer,” Fury sounded once again. “Now please, no more questions.”

Xavier’s hands tightened at his chair’s armrests. However, having given his word to the General he thanked Gambit for his time and guided his chair out of the room, with Psylocke close behind him. Two SHIELD soldiers stepped into the room and escorted Remy back to his holding cell.

-----

Few hours later, (New York City)

“Stop.” Jubilee pleaded. “I need to pee.”

“We just stopped a hundred miles back,” Logan scowled at her.
“I know, but I need to go again.”

“Can’t you hold it?” That got a snort from the teenager.
“I am hungry too,” she gave her real reason.
“What?” Logan couldn’t believe his ears. “You have been munchin’ the whole time and you are hungry. Shit kid, even I don’t eat so much.”
“Yeah well, I am a growing woman, dude,” Jubilee flashed her non-existent biceps. “And I have a super-fast metabolism. So stop already.”

“I ain’t stopping,” Jubilee pouted at him. “We’ll stop soon. But not right now. The traffic is less, we are making good time. Chomp on yer sugar bombs some more. We’ll stop soon.”
“How soon is soon?”

“Half an hour,” Logan tried.
“Fifteen minutes,” the bargaining started.
“Half an hour.”
“Make it twenty and I won’t trouble you,” Jubilee offered as she flashed one of her boy-band CDs. “And I won’t even play this, and sing along with it.”

“Twenty minutes,” was the instant and hurried answer.

Twenty minutes later, the Wolverine-Jubilee truck pulled into the parking lot of a McDonalds.
“Hurry it up, ok.” Logan instructed as they stepped out. “I don’t wanta spend an hour with you just reading the menu over and over again.”
“You got it bub,” Jubilee replied as she hurried to avail the facilities.

Logan followed her silently, but stopped as he caught a whiff of a familiar smell. ‘Right on time,’ he smiled as he stepped inside.

“Kid, an extra order,” he called out to Jubilee.

Ten minutes later, they were back in the truck, with Jubilee already wolfing down her order of fries. “Here… ‘chomp’…take… ‘crunch’….your ‘chomp’.”

“Give it to her,” Logan jerked towards the back of the cabin.

“Her?” Jubilee questioned as she started to turn around.

-SNIKT- That answered her question.

“Hey X,” Jubilee flashed a friendly grin at the older teenager flopped behind her as she handed her the second order. “When did you pop up?”
“Ten minutes,” the other girl dug into her bag.

“So, that’s why you wanted a second order,” Jubilee narrowed her eyes at Logan as they resumed their journey towards the X-Mansion, where Remy’s signal was still active. “Why didn’t you just told that X was here,” she turned once again to the *Canadian* girl. “And why couldn’t you come inside?”

“Hn,” both Logan and X23 grunted in unison, gaining an exasperated cry from Jubilee.

“Oh great, just what I need, more grunt talk.”

-----

Salem Center, New York

“Scott how are the repairs coming along?” Xavier asked. The X-Men had been discussing about their findings from the question-answer session with Gambit. They now knew that their *guest* knew Wolverine and knew him quite well. What they still did not know was how he knew so much about them.

This unnerved and disturbed them. How many more people had this kind of inside information about them? Did any of their enemies have hold of it? Given that there hadn’t been attacked yet, except for the previous night, that thought had been ruled out.

“Professor, look,” Jean drew everyone’s attention towards the front door, outside which Fury was standing waiting for the soldier running towards him. In the distance, just across the demolished front gate, stood a beaten up truck.

“Looks like our guest has arrived,” Xavier said as he concentrated for a few seconds, only to sigh in defeat.

“I am still unable to sense his thoughts,” he informed the other x-men. “Jean?”
“Me neither Professor,” the younger and less powerful telepath shook her head. “Maybe that’s a part of his mutation also? Or maybe he just has very strong shield?”

“Strong enough to evade the Professor?” Ororo asked in surprise and awe.
“Ororo, if you remember, I wasn’t even able to detect him using Cerebro,” Xavier informed the weather witch.

Seeing the truck drive down the driveway, he started towards the front door himself.

“Lets go meet the mysterious Wolverine.”


Note: New character introduced and their descriptions (In order of mention/appearance)

Sofia and Jake: A human-mutant couple from Uncanny X-Men - Annual (1999). Both are in their early twenties. Even though their presence was short lived, I liked them and was kinda put off them they were lynched by a mob. So brought them in here. Don’t know much about Jake’s mutation, so will basing it mostly as a physical one i.e. no special powers. As for Sofia, she is a human. They will have a small part later on. (Age: Late teens to early twenties….19 to 22)

Sara Pezzini (Witchblade): Taken from the normal Top Cow comics series ‘Witchblade’. Not a big character. Don’t think will use her anymore. Used, the ‘Bloody Wedding’ oneshot. I liked the character pairing in that one, more than any other pairing in the Witchblade comic series. (Age: Mid to late twenties…25 to 28)

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