Italics are thoughts. Minimal telepathy.

If I was making money off this stuff, you'd be paying money to read it. If I owned the characters, I'd be doing a better job with them. Thank you.

And thank you ever so much to all the people who admired and encouraged my first peice of work. It's to them that I dedicate this episode, where we take a deeper look into Creed's mind. Thanks ever so much, guys! Oh, and, I'm sorry. I'm getting more and more angst as I go in. Its not my fault; when you hurt Jubilee all the light goes out of the Marvel universe.

I will unhurt her before I'm done, because I'm a big fan of happy endings. Honest.Rated R for blood, sexual content, swearing, violence against women, generally sadistic thoughts.

Sabretooth watched as the Cajun helped her out of the car. It was when the Cajun was in actual physical contact with her that he got the maddest, the most out of control. He was really uptight about the fact that they were sleeping in the same room.

He was a fool. He knew he was a fool, but he persisted in his foolishness, making himself the worst kind of fool.

It was the thought of the Cajun...who had, admittedly, all the charms and redeeming social graces that women seemed to appreciate...that made Sabretooth do the Stupid Thing.

He knew it was a Stupid Thing. But he wanted to see her again...be close to her. And he wanted to make sure that the Cajun didn't do anything.

That night he crept to her window and watched them carefully. He wasn't caught that night, as he watched her gentle breathing. He stared at her face, trying to memorize every gentle curve.

It hurt more than he would ever let on. He was mesmerized by the very sight of her.

Before the sun rose he slunk off to hide. He never saw the small camera attached to the window, nor Rogue, sitting on the roof. She didn't see him, and he never got into the camera's line of sight, so he went undetected. That time.

But Jubilee woke up from another nightmare about Creed.

And one thing that Logan had always respected about Creed was his single-mindedness. Once he had a mission, he would see it through.

Now Logan feared it.

He feared Jubilee was Creed's mission.

Gambit was suiting up, in the bathroom, and Jubilee wished he would hurry up. He was singing too, which made her grate her teeth. She didn't really want to play games with him. Normally she would just begin to yell and rant and rave, in the normal mall-rat manner which all the other X-Men were accustomed to, but she was also scared. Very scared.

Just the thought of Creed, out there and looking for her, willing to spill her blood, made her queasy. She knew he would never stop till she was dead; so she could never stop till he was dead. It was very simple.

She just couldn't feel good about it. She didn't know if she could do it, if she could kill Creed when it came right down to it.

But Remy LeBeau was with her. He could do it. Deep inside, he wasn't made from the material that made up Xavier's dream. He was made of rougher stuff, stuff that could kill. Kill Creed. Despite his scruffy exterior, he would kill Creed.

Jubilee checked her weapons. Guns. Loaded with Mercury bullets, bullets that would knock Creed down and practically kill his healing factor. Knives, sharp knives. All hidden under her yellow jacket. Her new, bulletproof, hopefully claw-proof heavy yellow jacket.

She had lost mobility, but she was ready to face off with Creed now. She was ready to blow his head off.

She was scared of him.

"Logans not coming. He's heading away, towards where he thinks Jubilee is. Scott, we have to follow him."

"Wait. Back up. Where he THINKS Jubilee is?"

"Scott...I scanned her." She hurried on, knowing she had to get the rest out before he called her on that. "I know I shouldn't have, but I did. Scott, she intends to kill Creed. Herself. She didn't tell Logan the truth about where she was going. She's headed to the city, New York City-something about facing him on her turf."

Scott stared at her, nodding. "I wondered." He said softly. "We have to go back to Westchester. We'll go after her, with some of the team. We can't let her do that."

"Scott, she'll never get any closure if she can't keep him from coming after her!" Jean exploded.

"And she'll never be able to live with herself if she pulls the trigger." Replied Scott. "I'm doing this for her, too. Jean, you'll have to trust me on this one."

Jean didn't. But she knew that whether she liked it or not, Scott would do the right thing.

That was one of the reasons she had married him.

Gambit was her wild card. She hoped he knew that. She hadn't made it very clear, before.

As they drove he was humming something. She glanced at him, but he was wearing his sunglasses, and she couldn't see his eyes. Not that it would have done her any good anyway. His demonic red eyes hid his emotions and thoughts in a way that not even a telepath could penetrate.

Of course, that could be his mysterious 'other powers.' He didn't talk about that.

Jubilee flexed her knuckles. She pulled a gun out of her coat pocket, scowling at it. She hefted it, trying to get used to the unfamiliar weight.

Then she replaced the gun and pulled on the thick leather gloves. The ones Hank had given her. The focusing points for her powers. They didn't make her pafs any more powerful, but enabled her to shoot more of them, faster.

She had the weapons. She wasn't sure if she had what it took to fight Sabretooth, but she was going to try. That was all she had left.

Suddenly she realized that Gambit was speaking, and tuned in.

"...an`, p`tite, `member that dose guns aren' for show. Use t`em wisely." He fell silent for a moment. "I mean, don` take your firs` shot at t`e bastard. Wait for a good one, t`en blow his head off." Jubilee nodded, glancing at the Cajun.

Suddenly it happened. Unlike any attack Jubilee had ever experienced, this one went in slow-motion. She could see the rocket blasting at them. She could see the label on the side, read the Friends of Humanity logo. She could see the air being displaced by the rocket's heat.

That didn't stop it from flipping their car over and knocking her out.

What were they looking for? Who were they looking for?

Out of the sky a green blur swooped. Rogue, in full battle regalia. She was punching them left and right, and smashing the FOH soldiers away from the flipped car, trying keep the ones with energy rifles from frying the occupants-but Sabretooth could see doubt in her face, doubt that either occupant had survived the crash. Sabretooth began to run towards the crash, his gut filled with fear.

Suddenly a single small form crawled out of the car. Sabretooth growled as a soldier picked her up. The soldier pulled back his hand to punch Jubilee.

The brick that smashed into his face knocked him off his feet, away from Jubilee. Rogue whirled, searching for the source of the brick. Suddenly Sabretooth was there, standing over Jubilee, kicking and punching soldiers away from her.

Out the same door Jubilee had crawled came Gambit, even slower.

His arm was broken. He was in no condition to stand. He was trying to get to Jubilee, to protect her. He could see Creed, in front of him, killing the soldiers left and right. Gambit stumbled, looking around. Rogue, he could see, had her hands full. Suddenly one of them managed to hit her with a taser. Despite her nigh-invulnerability, she was still vulnerable to electricity.

She went out like a light.

Gambit watched Creed fight. He was too weakened from the crash to fight Creed; he wouldn't even want to try. The Friends of Humanity were piling on Creed, only to be torn to pieces. Jubilee was lying in a puddle of blood and gore, but none of it was her own.

Gambit tried to stand, only to sink to his knees. He couldn't understand why the FOH had attacked. He glanced around, trying to find one alive enough to talk.

Creed tossed one to the ground trailing his entrails. As the soldier moaned, Gambit placed his bo stick on the mans throat.

"Why'd you attack us, mon ami?" Gambit asked, in a voice that was almost gentle.

"Damn...m-mutie. We saw h-her weapons. Y-you can't s-stockpile w-weapons!" Spat the angry man, clutching his own entrails. Gambit sighed.

"But it's all right if you do, non?" Gambit stood up, using the bo stick as a crutch, holding it in his right hand. He tried to grasp it with his left hand, too, but the break in his arm prevented him. He growled, hauling himself to his feet with one hand.

Suddenly another FoH soldier appeared out of nowhere, and kicked Gambit in the side. Without a noise he collapsed.

She opened her eyes, and gazed about. She was beside the road, right where she had fallen. An arm was lying in front of her face. She glanced up the length of it, expecting to see a body attached.

No body.

Jubilee retched at the sight of the carnage all around her. She had seen massacre's before, but this was beyond a massacre. It was death. She was covered in blood, some her own, some not. Her blood mingled with her attackers.

Had Remy and Rogue done this? She couldn't see either doing anything like this, not even for her.

Suddenly a massive hand touched her face, and she felt a cool, damp cloth wiping her cheek, trying to find the source of the blood on her face. She glanced up the length of the arm into the face of death.

Sabretooth was crouching above her applying rudimentary first aid. Jubilee stifled a scream, trying to bring her hands up. One came up, without the special glove on. The other was held down by a heavy weight, and Jubilee glanced at it in terror.

Rogue lay stretched across Jubilee's arm, her eyes closed. Jubilee stifled another scream, this time whimpering.

"P'tite?" Said a voice behind her. "You awake, p'tite?"

"R-r-remy?" She asked fearfully.

"Hush, p'tite, it be all right. Gambit keep you safe." He said soothingly. Jubilee arched her head back, trying to get away from Sabretooth's touch. To her surprise he retreated. She rolled over as far as she could and looked at Remy. Her jaw dropped.

He was tied to the car. One arm was in a very rudimentary splint. Tied around each wrist was one of the mercury-filled bullets that Jubilee had loaded her gun with. Remy grinned.

"If I 'splode the ropes, I poison myse'f, non?" His grin twisted into something ugly. "Son of a bitch." He spat out at Creed, who was lifting Rogue off Jubilee's arm. He ignored Gambit, staring at Jubilee instead. Then he walked away.

Jubilee watched him go, trying to call up her pafs, but she was too weak. He walked away slowly, limping, his head down. His shoulders were slumped, and the blood on him appeared to be his own. Jubilee sat up, trying to fight the dizziness within her.

Rogue stirred, and Jubilee stared. Rogue's hands were tied in front of her with thick, thick chains. Rogue tried to sit up, but there were more chains around her. She looked at Jubilee dizzily.

Suddenly Jubilee heard a car coming. She looked up, hopefully. It came to an abrupt halt next to them.

Sabretooth got out. Jubilee moaned, staring. Sabretooth lifted Rogue, careful not to touch her skin, and deposited her in the back seat. Then he lifted Gambit, along with the door from Gambit's destroyed car, and tossed him in the back seat too.

Jubilee snarled at him, but he simply opened the passenger door and stared at her. She stared back, licking her lips.

Suddenly he closed the space between them, lifted her, and placed her on the seat. She snarled in response, trying to hit him, but he slammed the door.

Then he got into the drivers seat, and put it in gear. Jubilee shivered, hugging herself.

She had stopped being the annoying immature one when Creed had attacked her the first time. She had lost all vestiges of childhood when Creed had ...saved her. Now it appeared that he was taking her, and her friends, still alive, to wherever he wanted.

Jubilee tried to force a few plasmoids into existence, but the best she could do was some weak sparks.

Suddenly Jubilee realized something. She recognized the scenery. They were headed for the mansion. She twisted in her seat. "No....!" She moaned. He was going to use her and the others as bargaining chips...use them to try to hurt the X-Men!

Suddenly the car stopped, right outside the gates. Sabretooth stepped out of the car and took off running. Jubilee sobbed, settling her head back onto the seat. She moaned again, softly.

Suddenly Bishop was there, sticking his head in the car. "Everybody out of the car now!" He snapped, pulling Jubilee out. "It may be a trap!"

Jubilee tried to stand, but only fell to her knees. Suddenly large furry hands wrapped around her waist. "Oh my stars and garters....Jubilee!" Hanks face hovered over her own. "Are the others better, Bishop?"

"No. LeBeau is worse." There was something almost close to sympathy in his voice. "Rogue is merely disoriented." He observed clinically, holding her up. "We should get away from the car."

"Indeed, my time-traveling friend. Let us adjourn to the med-lab, poste-haste." Replied Beast, picking Jubilee up easily. "Rogue, can you walk?"

"Ah think so." Rogue replied weakly, touching her forehead with a wince.

Bishop lifted Remy, door and all, and followed Hank and Rogue into the med-lab, casting dark glances over his shoulders, looking for any intruder who would dare try to follow him.

He watched the furry X-Man carrying Jubilee, and he growled.

Well, at least some of the bloodlust was gone...for a while. It was hard to watch the mansion while the bloodlust was upon him, and he didn't want to kill while he was too close to Jubilee. He worried how she might take it.

Trying to balance his love for her and his need for the Glow was agonizing. It burned, inside, that he couldn't have both. But he would choose Jubilee over the Glow every time. He had to. She was everything he wasn't...pure, innocent...and a few things he was. Strong, tough.

Exactly the sort of person the runt would be attracted to.

The runt. Lucky bastard.

*Ah, Jean, perhaps you could join me within the med-lab. In fact, everybody's here...even Jubilee, Gambit and Rogue.* Jean was stunned.

"They're back!" She exclaimed aloud to her husband. Suddenly the reality that Jubilee was in the med-lab intruded, and she gasped. "They're hurt!"

The only reason Scott Summers beat his wife to the med-lab was because he had longer legs and a lot more adrenaline. And because she was too worried to think of using a TK bubble to get her there.

Jubilee was sitting up. Her shirt and pants were off, leaving her sitting there morosely in her underwear as Hank bandaged up her cuts and probed her gently for broken bones.

"I'm afraid you have at least two broken ribs, Jubilation." Said Hank solemnly. "No sign of concussion or internal bleeding. Remy, how--?"

"I'm fine, mon ami. A little bruised, non?, but that is all."

"You're lying. I can see that arm; I can see the blood on you. Come here and let me patch you up." Beast snapped, his temper lost in the sight of the three wounded. Remy shrugged and moved forward, obeying with a slight smirk.

Rogue was shivering in reaction to the stun-gun. She was unharmed, but her hair was scorched, and she had a headache. Worse, she watched the man she loved...thought she loved...couldn't bear the thought of loving...as his face flooded with pain. She touched Jubilee's cheek with her gloved hand.

"Sugah, are you okay?" She asked with her thick accent. Jubilee nodded, rubbing her eyes.

"Just a little...shook up." But as Jubilee's eyes met Rogue's, Rogue realized that there was something gone in Jubilee's eyes. Part of the little sparkle that made her Jubilee.

Something that could never be reclaimed.