Note: Since I'm fairly horrible at writing accents I've tried to leave them out. Heck, I'm sure you

"It's been a long time kid."

"Not such a kid anymore Logan."

"Never were a kid really, just got into the habit of callin' you that."

"Why'd we come here Logan?"

"Don't know, perhaps we both just had ghosts to exercise."

"It looks so deserted, I never thought it'd look like this."

"It hasn't been lived in, in years, how'd ya think it'd look?"

"I don't know, not like this, not so.... empty."

"It is empty."

Jubilee looked at Logan, she hadn't expected to find him here. She supposed that like many times before their instincts were running along the same line.

"It was never empty, even when it was, not like this."

"You seen the others of late?" Logan asked, changing the subject.

Jubilee shook her head, "Only Remy, the others- - not after that last time, I think Scott and Jean are in Toronto though, some mutual friends of theirs needed help or so I heard."

"What have you been doin' Jubilee? Looked for you a year back but couldn't find a trace."

Jubilee shrugged, "Stuff, things that needed to be done. Didn't want anyone finding me, had to think."

Logan studied the empty husk of a mansion before them silently before speaking, "Never wanted you to turn out like me kid."

"Bit hard not to Logan, hung around you quite a lot in the old days, somethin' had to rub off sooner or later."

"It would've been better if you hadn't of been with me at all."

Jubilee looked at Logan angrily, "That old song. How many times ya gonna sing that tune with me Logan? I ain't weak, never have been. I thought I proved that to you long ago."

"Ya never needed to prove anything to me Jubilee."

Jubilee waved the comment away with a movement of her hand, "Maybe not, the others though- - I had to prove everything to them."

"They wanted to keep you safe."

"Sure they did, sent me away to do it to. Pity it didn't work."

"You're bitter?"

Jubilee shook her head, "Not as much as I should be. I don't blame em' for what they did. I was more a hindrance in those days; I can admit that now. I learnt though; Emma made sure I learnt. Bitch that she sometimes was, she certainly taught me how to survive."

Logan walked towards the mansion, picking his way through the broken and cracked pieces of masonry lying about. The X-men hadn't bothered repairing the mansion after that last battle. With Xavier dead there hadn't been much point. Most of the X-men had gone their own way after that, each fighting for the dream in their own way. Some had even given up on it entirely, just trying to live out their lives in whatever relative peace they could find. Jubilee had watched America come almost to the brink of civil war and then back away again slowly, scared as hell of igniting the spark that would blow the whole thing sky high.

Jubilee had wandered for a while after graduating, refusing the offers of her classmates to go with them on a celebration road-trip. She'd needed time alone, time to think on what she would do with her life. The dream had died long ago for her, even before Xavier's death. The death of one of her best friends from her days on the street had sent a clear message to her. Humans didn't want to live in peace, through all the centuries they'd thrived on wars. They'd never give up their pet prejudices simply because some bleeding hearts said ' wouldn't it be nice if we could all just get along.'

She'd been aware of some of the attempts to trace her whereabouts. Remy had been the only one to actually find her, then again she shouldn't have found that surprising. She'd spent a rather eye opening two hours being lectured to hell and back by him. She'd never known Remy could talk that much. A few of the things he'd said had finally gotten through the funk of ennui that had seemed to swamp her for the past several years of her wandering.

He'd been surprisingly eloquent, a change from the bitter and silent loner he had often seemed in her short days as one of the X-men. When she'd asked him he'd smiled and said that finally workin' the old ghosts out of his system had been enough to change him slightly, if not fully. The death of Sinister had been quite a shock to most of the X-men who had assumed he was if not truly, at least close to immortal. Funny that Sinister had died trying to destroy Apocalypse. They weren't really sure if Sinister had achieved that end before he died, but Apocalypse hadn't been seen since, so they could only hope.

It had seemed a rather insane act on Sinister's part. Still, he had obviously had his own reasons for doing what he had. Jubilee forced open the partly closed door and looked in, wrinkling her nose at the musty smell.

"Not exactly the Hilton."

"Since when did you care?" Logan quipped, walking past her and further into the mansion.

"Lots changed since you last saw me Logan. Got a loan off Frosty, started my own business."

Logan looked at her in surprise, "You actually asked Emma for money?"

Jubilee shrugged, "Who else was I gonna ask? I paid her back fully the second year of business. Seems I had something to offer the public afterall, even if I am just another dirty mutant."

"Been a long time since anyone's used that phrase."

"Least where anyone can hear it," Jubilee finished for him.

"Better then it was," Logan replied.

"Worse then we dreamed."

"Ya take what ya can get."

"I know all about compromise Logan, just can't help feeling we settled for less then we should've. The Prof would've fought for more."

"Chuck's dead, and so is his dream. We took what we could get and thanked the God's they didn't make us accept less."

"We coulda won."

"And brought the whole of America into a war that would've destroyed all the things we were fighting for. That's no victory and you know it."

"Wouldn't have come to that. You and I both know the president would never have attacked her own people. We could've pushed it."

"Never would've thought you'd start sounding like Magneto kid."

Jubilee snorted, "Yeah, well maybe old neto' was right. Least he was willing to stand by what he believed."

"He was a mad man."

"Was he? You don't see what I see Logan. I deal with humans every day; I see the looks they give me. The 'I have to deal with you cause' you've got what I want but don't think I would hesitate to spit on you if you didn't' looks.

Jubilee made her way up the stairs carefully, the high heels she had on making a sharp clacking noise against the old wood. All around them Logan and Jubilee could see signs of decay, the once lush and sumptuous richness of the interior of the Xavier mansion gone to the rot just like everything else in the world. Jubilee mused that it was indeed an allegory to how her world had changed. A once bright future turned into a decayed and dying present, to late to stop the rot but still hanging on with quickly weakening fingers.

Jubilee knew that Logan was shocked at her change. She also knew that should she meet any of her former teammates their reactions would be almost identical. Except perhaps Emma, she would understand implicitly, she'd climbed the corporate ladder herself afterall. Jubilee had learned early that openness was death in that concrete jungle.

Logan looked around the mansion with a resigned sigh, he'd known it would be bad. He still couldn't help feeling a sense of loss though. Some of the most important parts of his life had happened here, including meeting the young woman by his side. Logan hadn't known then just how much she'd come to mean to him, he still couldn't really measure the affect she had on his life.

He did know that he loved her and trusted her like no one else. He also knew she'd be there for him should he ever be in trouble. He still couldn't get over the changes in her though. She seemed bitter, and tired. The light he'd once seen shining back at him from her eyes was now dulled by things he couldn't hope to guess at. 'Where had her spark gone?' He wondered.

"It just went Logan," she said opening the door to her old room.

Logan never had gotten used to her telepathy when it had immerged,

"Thought I asked you not to do that kid."

Jubilee looked back at him, an apologetic smile on her lips,

"Sorry, force of habit. Lackeys tend to watch their step when they think you're in their heads."

"Not exactly ethical."

"I'm not the Professor Logan, I can't afford to live in a dream world. Out here morality's a very malleable thing."

"I don't believe that anymore then you do."

Jubilee sighed as she looked at the mess that was her old room, "Perhaps, maybe I'm just saying what I am for shock value. Doesn't matter much anymore, anyway."

Logan glanced around the room, the dust had settled over everything, adding to the barren and empty feel,

"It always matters kid."

"Does it? Did it ever matter Logan? Seems we spent half our time fighting for something that turned out to be a castle in the air."

"Only you can answer that."

Jubilee closed her eyes for a second and then turned around, sliding her hands around Logan's waist in a hug,

"I missed ya," she said softly.

Logan slipped his arms around her, hugging her to him tightly. In a strange way, having her near him felt like coming home after a long journey. If he thought about it he realised, it always had.

"Ditto kid, ditto."