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The beginning of November…

Jubilee paced the lounge. Shaewn, Henry, Remy, Rogue, Kitty, and Jean sat on the couches watching her go back and forth endlessly.
Kitty tapped her foot impatiently. “Jubes, why did you call us here?”
“A mission?” Shaewn asked eagerly. He’d heard everything about the X-men and was now desperate to join. His first mission would be Matt. A currently sticky situation at best. According to Logan, Matt was now in the foster system himself. Unfortunately his mother and father were fighting to get him back. Shaewn couldn’t see how he could possibly rescue anyone but he’d figure it out. The X-men, heck Wolverine, had been in tighter situations. They managed to get him out of the country legally with the help of some very mysterious people who, upon meeting Shaewn, all shook his hand with something bordering on apprehension and triumph. He guessed he wasn’t an easy case and they wanted to finally see who the ruckus was about.
“Ah doubt it,” Rogue said, fingering her necklace with her gloved hand. Charles had finally managed to talk some sense into her and she wore the collar with more caution and discretion. “Cuz then you wouldn’t be here.”
Jean shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a little obvious, don’t you think? You want to get Ororo and Logan back together.”
Jubilee stopped pacing. “Well, they were good together, weren’t they?”
Shaewn frowned. “My uncle would be with her if he wanted to, wouldn’t he? I mean yeah, he might miss her some but if he loved her why isn’t he with her then?”

Everyone except Remy looked away uncomfortably.
“Hommes, you got it so twisted Ah know for a fac’ you musta made that up. No one tells you anything’ huh? They don’t wanna hur’ yo’ feelings, petit. An’ the facts is, is it is Logan’s right tah tell you the truth. None of us,” Remy looked pointedly at Jubilee who stared at the ceiling. “Has the right to take that away from him.”
“Well that’s a crapshot then,” Shaewn retorted his arms folded over his new t-shirt. “He won’t talk about her. At all. What happened? We all know I can get the gossip anytime I want. I would have too but Logan told me not to listen to any gossip about him. You guys are his friends so you should know what happened? What or who caused this so called momentous break up?”
Henry shifted in his seat. “Jubilee?”
“Stay there, Blue,” Jubilee ordered. She stood in front of Shaewn, her face determined. “I didn’t know at first whether I should invite you to this but as this problem surrounds you I guess we can’t get away from that. Basically, you’re the reason they split up.”
“I guess Ororo couldn’t handle two of you,” Jean added.
Kitty glared at Jean. “What are you talking about? Ororo loves having you around. It’s Logan whose the problem.”
“Once again,” Remy interrupted. “This only illustrates how lil’ everyone knows about why they really broke up. Ororo won’ talk about it neither. Trust me, I’m her bes’ friend and she won’ tell me shit.”
Rogue laughed, “An’ boy does it piss him off!”
Kitty and Jean joined in Rogue’s laughter as Remy tried to look angry.
“You guys,” Jubilee screamed. “This is serious! There are two broken hearted people wandering these halls and none of you want to do anything about it?”
“I don’t see what we can do, sweetheart,” Henry tried to helpfully point out as everyone stood except Shaewn.
They filed out leaving an open mouthed Jubilee behind. She flopped down beside Shaewn.
“I can’t believe they don’t care. I can’t believe they think there is nothing to be done. They just want them sad and alone because, because, because they’re assholes! You’ll help me, right?” Jubilee touched Shaewn’s arm. He remained rigid.
“Don’t believe Jean, Shaewn. I’ve known them both a lot longer than you. Ororo loves almost everybody and she really likes you. I can tell. I have no idea why she would say something like that.”
Shaewn stood up and walked out. Jubilee put her hands to her head and sighed.

In Ororo’s office:

Jean surveyed the room dispassionately. It was pin drop neat with several nick nacks lining a few of the bookshelves and picture albums stacked like pillars rested on her desk. A picture frame laying face down on the window ledge was the only thing out of place. Jean picked it up and laughed.
A picture of Jean, Scott, Remy, Ororo, and Logan on Jean and Scott’s wedding day. Ororo smiling in her plum peach wedding dress with Remy’s arm around her and him pointing idiotically at something out of the camera’s view. Her staring into her new husband’s eyes as he stared perfunctorily at the camera. She faintly remembered him even whispering cheese. And Logan, clearly goaded into the picture, looking handsomely bored. She frowned. He wasn’t staring off into space. He was staring at either Ororo or her, she couldn’t quite tell with the way the photo was taken.

Jean smashed the photo down and heard the glass crack.
“Damn,’ she whispered to herself. She quickly made her escape from the office.

In the West Kitchen:

Logan swigged some of his beer which he quickly hid as he heard familiar steps. Shaewn came around the corner and stopped when he saw Logan. Logan smiled at him and Shaewn couldn’t resist smiling back.

The younger boy took a stool, toying with his fingers.
“How’s your classes?”
“Good, good. Not as smart as I thought I was.”
“Ah well. Told you sixteen is too young anyway.”
“Yeah. Too young,” Shaewn let his voice drift away. Staring out the window until Logan followed the trail of his eyes. It wasn’t like he didn’t know she was there, he always knew where she was, but maybe Shaewn saw something else. “She’s beautiful.”
Logan grunted and stood. The kid asked about Ororo exactly twice before giving up. The first time had been before the crossing of Lake Erie where Logan answered so gruffly Shaewn didn’t bring it up again until after his midterm exams.
“Got work to go do and so do you,” he said, breaking the silence. “You’re finished now officially with your old school. By the way, I saw your work on your exams. That was an impressive essay on astronomy even McCoy could see it. I’m proud of you. If we had a fridge I‘d stick it up on it.”
Shaewn turned to him and smiled faintly.
“Now get to work cause this is where it gets hard. Xavier’s isn’t satisfied until your brain is a crammed to the fucking hilt with information.”
“Yeah, I just got my physics textbook. I think my brain just pissed itself.”
Logan grunted, unable to even smile at the crack, and left. Shaewn remained where he was, watching the woman play in the light dusting of early snow with two people he didn‘t know. The two people were young though, younger than him. When they moved on he sighed and left the room.

Later in the Danger Room:

Rogue, Remy, and Ororo stood in the center of the large room. The metal sheen covering the entire room rippled twice before it darkened. Ororo was the only one to smile.
“We know the drill. We fight as an Alpha team with no Beta team back up,” she said to the pair behind her as she tugged her gloves on a little tighter. “Now Henry, please throw everything you have at us.”
Henry smiled and the world turned over from darkness to light. They were in the blinding Artic, with the freezing cold included, as the group turned around.
Approaching the group were fifteen warriors. The small group went into action. After this group were roundly beaten the world turned under their feet again.
“X-men one Danger Room zero,” Remy laughed even though his gut threaten to rebel against the mind bending roller coaster of the virtual room changes. The Overlord laughed with him and Remy rolled his eyes. “Funny, mon ami.”
Henry laughed and pulled through several programs before being forced to stop after only an hour. Something was wrong as Rogue gave the emergency code. The Danger Room went on automatic as did Henry, who grabbed his medic kit before running to the entrance.

It was Ororo. She’d passed out and began shaking spastically. Henry reached the cluster, Remy with Ororo’s head in his lap and his thin staff in between her teeth. Rogue was holding her hand with her gloved ones and stroking it sympathetically.
“Ah didn’ wan’ her to bite off her own tongue or something’,” Remy cried out in panic.
“You acted well my friend,” Henry told him as he felt for Ororo’s pulse. It was strong and the shaking had stopped before Henry had even arrived. “We need to get her to the medical bay. I need to run some basic tests.”
Ororo slowly opened her eyes. Rogue cried out and they all leaned in close to what she might say.
“Logan?” she whispered as her eyes opened fully. Silently everyone watched as Ororo groaned and fainted again.

News travelled quickly to almost the entire school about Ororo over the day. By dinner nearly everyone had heard and watched out for Logan. Except he couldn’t be found. Shaewn was beside himself searching. Finally he found Kitty who directed him to the garage.
“Trust me, it’s where he sulks. Be careful,” she warned him as she skipped off. Shaewn noticed she knew everybody’s business. Inside the school no one was safe from her even his mysterious uncle. Which was why Jubilee recruited her for her team. He wondered what purpose the others might have served. What he might have done.

He found Logan exactly as Kitty described.
“So this is your work? Not bad,” Shaewn called out. “Where can I find some just like it?”
Wolverine’s jaw worked as he put down his screwdriver and approached the boy. His nose was red from the cold and running. He’d just returned and had only had the tool in his hand from habit. Stretching his neck he felt the Logan part of himself returning.
“You hear what happened to Ms. Munroe or you going to go on pretending how much you don‘t care?” Shaewn asked.
“What the hell happened ter her?” Logan roared as he turned around.
“I don’t know. No one does,” and this was the truth as Shaewn knew it and choose to give it. He tried another tactic. “Tell me what happened between you two? Did you even love her? Do you still?”
“I loved her and I was an idiot with her. Perfection is fragile. Now she could have anyone else, someone else. Now tell me where to find her.”
“You loved her?”
Logan stared at the beams that crossed the garage ceiling and sighed. It sounded more like a dying man’s last rattle.
“She’s in the medical bay, unconscious, but stable.”
Logan stalked out of the garage, the door slamming behind him. The echo rang around the room.

Two hours later:

Shaewn knocked on Jubilee’s room. She let him in, mildly shocked. He squinted at the amount of bright and shiny items that occupied the small space.
“Nice room,” he said, shielding his eyes, and thought of his own still bare room. Somehow he couldn’t bear to fill it up quite yet with things. He’d never owned his own things per say and to do so now took getting used to.
“Thanks,” Jubilee said and offered him a seat. She was unsure of why he was there and popped her gum loudly out of habit.
“You gathered everyone at that meeting for a reason. Why?”
“You cause you’re the link to Logan that he wouldn’t suspect of even trying to manipulate his relationships, Jean because she’s our link to Ororo. You two could place those two wherever we want them simply. Kitty because she’s our internal source. She knows the people of this school like she has a blueprint of our brains, she knows everyone’s habits. Remy is a master thief with connections to all the romantic parts of the city. Can’t hurt, right?” Jubilee ticked everyone off on her fingers and as she became more excited about her plan her voice rose and her smile widened at the brilliance of it. “Rogue is the muscle and not to mention connected to both sides. Anyone who doesn’t want to cooperate with a kid like you or me wouldn’t ever want to face her, that’s a fact. And well Henry is obvious. You sometime think you don’t need a surveillance guy but ya always do. Always. Besides, everyone in that room care very much about those two.”
“Funny, femme, I was t’inking de same t’ing,” came from the door. Remy entered the room with Rogue behind him.
Rogue punched Jubilee lightly. “Muscle?”
Jubilee giggled with pure glee. “Remy you can convince Kitty to do anything. And Henry can be puppy eyed into this. That leaves Jean.”
Remy shook his head. “Lemme take care o’ dat.”
“Ah would like to remind everyone this won’t be easy. We have no idea how they both feel about each other,” Rogue interrupted.
Shaewn shook his head at this before speaking up, “He loves her now more than he did then.”
Remy and Rogue nodded.
“Good. She loves ‘im too.”
Jubilee clapped her hands excitedly. “Ooo yeah! Let’s do this! Love by Christmas?”
“Uh, maybe New Year’s. Maybe,” Shaewn said doubtfully as he thought of his two missions: Matt and Uncle Logan.





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