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Later that evening, aboard the Blackbird….

“…to be honest, Ororo, I’d feel better if we could all travel to the safe house together.” Scott folded his arms across his chest as he spoke.

Oh, Scott, when are you going to learn you can’t use your ‘leader stance’ all the time? Jean mused, shaking her head at her fiancé’s antics.

“Okay, what’s gonna happen next is gonna be so cool,” Alison whispered to Jubilee as they watched the scene unfold from their seats.

“Yeah, Miss Munroe’s gonna go all ‘zen master calm’ on Mr. Summers and blow his rationale outta the water,” Bobby offered in a hushed voice from behind the girls.

“While I understand your reasoning, Scott, as Logan previously stated, I very well may have someone tracking my every move. Would it not prove more prudent to have our cover story at least seem feasible?” Ororo replied, her velvety voice calm as ever.

Jubilee frowned, “That’s it?”

Alison was almost giddy as she whispered her reply, “Wait for it, wait for it.”

“Now, Ororo, you know we are more than capable of evading any tail. Plus, we have the cloaking--“

“And, while I have the utmost confidence in your abilities as a pilot, Scott, did we not just agree to try and do as much damage control as possible with this mission? Although the gentleman knows my real name, it might not be in our best interest to see me whisked away in the Blackbird marked with the X-Men’s trademark symbol. Would it be more believable for a stripper to take a vacation on her own million dollar private jet or travel as most people do”in a car?”

Scott’s mouth opened and shut twice, but no sound came forth.

“Check…”

“And mate,” Bobby finished for Alison.

Jubilee crossed her arms across her chest and grinned at the baffled look on Mr. Summer’s face. He truly had no comeback for Miss Munroe’s reasoning.

“Totally cool. I wanna be just like her when I grow up.” Her voice sounded awestruck as she spoke.

Scott had yet to respond, still trying to find a response. Jean felt pity toward her fiancé and joined him, rubbing tiny circles on his back as she spoke, “I think that’s a good idea, Ororo. You and Logan take the Land Rover and we’ll meet at the safe house in say…a day and a half? As a matter of fact, why don’t we make it a day trip for us all? We’ll set the coordinates to send the Blackbird back to the mansion and take both of the SUVs out for a couple of weeks.”

Ororo smiled her thanks to her friend. “Sounds like a plan, Jean.”

“Jean, I’m not sure that’s a good plan. What if we need the Blackbird?” Scott questioned.

“Scooter. We are the X-Men. I’m sure we can find a way to survive without it for a few days. If it’ll make ya feel better, we can set this puppy to come running back to us in a week or so.” The sarcasm dripped off Logan’s every word.

“No need to chide him, Logan. He has already lost the previous argument. A man can only take so much defeat in one day,” Ororo whispered, low enough for only his ears to hear.

Logan gave a sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders in return.

When it was obvious Scott had again lost the battle, Jean cut in.

“Well, it’s settled then, we’ll take the SUVs. Now, to figure out the riding arrangements…”

“Me an’ Remy’ll ride with Miss Munroe and Logan,” Marie spoke up quickly.

Remy gave her an appreciative wink.

“And so will me and Bobby!” Alison stated excitedly. No way would she get stuck in a car with Mr. Summers. She pictured a trip with him going somewhat similar to that of the family in ”National Lampoon’s Vacation.” While funny, it was still a little too corny for her tastes.

Kitty shot daggers at both her friends as she realized that she and Peter would have to join Mr. Summers and Miss Grey by default.

Narrowing her eyes, she leaned close enough for Alison and Marie to hear, “I’ll get you back for this. Oh, yes, I will.”

“Alright, let’s unload the Blackbird and get the trucks,” Scott ordered.

Nearly everyone had left the cockpit area when Marie realized Jubilee had yet to leave her seat. As she neared her friend, she saw a look of utter horror on her face.

“Jubie, what’s wrong, sugah?”

“I..I…I just realized I’m gonna be stuck in a car with Mr. Summers, Miss Grey, Kitty, and Peter.”

“So?”

Jubilee’s head whipped around so quick it scared Marie, “So? So? That means that I’ll have to alternate between barfing out the window because of Kitty and Peter’s making out or Mr. Summer’s lame driving music! Kitty’s right, I’m gonna get you guys for this.”

And with that, she stomped off, ready to get this part of the vacation over with.

Sixty miles later on Route 44….

Ororo fought to hide the smile that kept trying to emerge. However, every time she looked in Logan’s direction, she couldn’t help but chuckle. Logan gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white, his lips in a tight line. It took every ounce of control to keep his eyes on the road ahead and his hands off Bobby’s scrawny neck.

Currently, Bobby was doing his best impression of Logan’s gruff voice, “He says, ‘Icepop, when my foot thaws out, it’s gonna find a permanent residence in yer rear end.’ Then he slid a good ten feet before he hit the stairs!”

The other three teens in the car burst into laughter after hearing Bobby’s re-telling of the prank he played on Logan when he first came to the mansion. Although Logan assured Bobby it was all ‘water under the bridge,’ it still irked him to have been goosed so well.

Fighting through the giggles, Alison spoke, “Man, I’d have paid top dollar to see that. Imagine the big, bad Wolverine with his foot and claws stuck in ice blocks, sliding across the rec room floor like a hockey puck!” she had barely finished before a new round of giggles erupted.

“Ah, Logan….” Marie’s statement was interrupted by another giggle, “L-Logan, I never knew you were… so light on yah feet!”

More laughter.

Just as Logan had decided to hit cruise control and introduce Bobby to each of his claws individually, he felt Ororo’s warm hand on his forearm. He turned to her and felt all his anger melt away from looking into her eyes. She gave him a warm smile and mouthed the word “calm” to him. Logan took a deep, calming breath before returning her smile.

“Bobby, while I’m sure that was an entertaining episode, it may not have been the smartest idea to remind Mr. Logan of that incident. Didn’t you say you had forgotten all about that, Logan?” Ororo’s voice held the slightest hint of amusement.

“Oh, yeah. Fergot all about it til’ just now. Guess you an’ me will be having a talk once this car stops, eh, boy?” Logan made sure to make eye contact with Bobby in the rearview mirror, allowing the boy to see just a glimpse of the Wolverine.

He was rewarded when all of the color drained from Bobby’s face and he promptly fainted in Alison’s lap. Allison gave an exasperated sigh.

“Great, Logan, just great. Do you have any idea how much he drools when he’s unconscious? These are new pants, for crying out loud!”

Logan allowed himself a small chuckle and gave Ororo a small wink as he began whistling to a song on the radio.

Yep, a vacation is just what the doctor ordered.

Meanwhile, two cars ahead….

“…and remember, when we get there, we’ll need to make sure there’s enough firewood in case the weather turns too cold, somebody will need to do a short patrol of the property to make sure nothing’s been disturbed…” Scott’s mentally ran down the list of things to do once they arrived at Xavier’s safe house.

A small sigh escaped Jean’s as she slept on peacefully in the passenger side seat.

Peter’s enormous sleeping body took up most of the second row seat, Kitty’s head resting on his chest as she slept.

“…are you taking all this in, Jubilee? Hey, if you want, you can be in charge of the bed linens when we get there. Speaking of, we’ll need to set up a cleaning schedule for everyone…” he droned on.

Jubilee sat on her third-row seat, a fake smile plastered on her face as she nodded to Mr. Summers. Once he realized Jean, Kitty, and Peter were asleep ten minutes into the trip, he had made an effort to keep her attention.

“You know what I like to do when I’m on a long drive, Jubilee?”

She was almost afraid to answer, “No, sir?”

“Ninety-nine bottles of milk on the wall, 99 bottles of milk…..” he began singing.

Just when she thought her eyes couldn’t roll back any further, Jubilee noticed movement on the row in front of her. As she leaned forward she could see Kitty’s shoulders trembling as she tried to keep the giggles inside.

That little sneak! Pretending to be asleep… oh, they’re all gonna pay for this. All of them! Jubilee began to mentally plot the demise of all her friends when Scott’s voice broke through.

“Come on, Jubilee! Jump right in, I can’t hear you! Ninety-six bottles of milk on the wall, 96 bottles of milk…”





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