Penance and New Beginnings: Chapters 1-2

by Verthril


Disclaimer: Marvel owns Jubilee, Logan, Sabretooth, Victor Creed, and pretty much everything else that they have copyrights on that appear in this story. Whatever actual original characters appear, I own! Mine! * clutches his original ideas close to his chest and growls *


Chapter 1: The Escape

Jubilee ran for her life, not knowing what else to do. They had guns, and she had nothing but her wits and the fresh stitches from an inhibitor chip that had been implanted at the base of her neck. The air was cold and damp from the storm that had raged with the setting of the sun, and in the twilight of midnight, she was able to get free from the containment cell they had placed her in. The dogs barking echoed through the woods, sounding as if it came from every corner of the shadowy forest she was lost to. She could hear running water ahead of her, and with it, escape from the dogs could be had, but only if she made it that far. Running on adrenaline and fear alone, she forced herself to carry on. Suddenly she felt herself falling as an exposed root caught her foot, tumbling down the steep hillside to the river below. The splash of her small form was hardly noticeable against the raging currents that carried her away, and the guards stood atop the hill, radioing in that she was dead.

The current pulled her under the surface, keeping her in the dark embrace that deprived her of her senses. Direction was lost, the sound muted, and even the chill of the river made her feel as if she was without body. Then suddenly her senses returned, as a strong arm pulled her from the icy waters that held her. Chilled to the bone, she curled into a tight ball to save the last of her bodies heat from the night air. The night was still too dark to see who had rescued her, be it friend or foe. The night had been too tiring of mind, body and soul for her to care. If captured again she would probably accept death to what they had been doing to her throughout her imprisonment. She could feel herself being cradled in a set of strong arms, and curled tighter against the chest for warmth as the person, be it savior or captor, carried her away from the river.

The shallow slumber she found herself in as exhaustion claimed her was troubled by the torments she had suffered at the hands of the revived Weapon X program. Nightmarish manifestations of the humiliation of having her entire person examined and prodded, subjected to pain beyond comparison to find if she could survive the updated technique for the Adamantium Bonding Process. The holographic combat sessions where, if she didn・t fight, she was forced to fight for her life against the tactile holograms. The Adamantium bonding process itself, being submerged in the tank as the Adamantium was laced to her skeleton. Then finally, the operation where they took away her last defense, placing a mutation inhibiting chip into her, with the control being given to the benefactors of the project.

As the scalpel pierced her skin in the dream, she awoke to reality with a scream of protest, only to find she was by a fire in a cave, with a large shadow keeping watch over her. The shadow gave no notice of her scream, just ever watching her in an ominous silence as she crept to a sitting position. Something familiar rang out of the shadow, and as a fresh log was thrown onto the fire, the momentary flare of flames gave face to the figure. She stifled another scream as the grim face of Victor Creed stared back at her, his cat eyes leveled on her as if she were prey. Every single instinct she had screamed to throw plasma at her, yet she could not. So she stared back at him, a mask of defiance hiding her fear.

"Saving me for yourself Creed?" Jubilee asked of the man.

"Do I know you pup?" He asked in return, an indifferent look on his face.

"Do you know me? Do you know me! Hello! Morlock tunnels ring a bell? Logan? The countless times you・ve threatened to gut me!" Jubilee screamed back at Creed, finding herself light of head after the act.

"Logan rings a bell. Bout it. Just saw ya being chased by some guys who had no good intentions on their scents so I lent you a hand. You seem awfully thankful too." Creed replied back to her as he reached into a backpack and pulled a bag of jerky from it.

Jubilee stared at him in the firelight, wondering what ploy he was using, when she noticed something different about him, he stance, the set of his jaw, and his general appearance. Everything screamed Victor Creed, and yet at the same time, this was a person she had never before laid eyes upon. Slowly she drew closer to the him, raising her hands to his face. He did not protest once, just sat still while she looked into his eyes. There she saw something she had never seen in the eyes of Victor Creed, regret and compassion.

"Who are you・" Jubilee asked meekly as she drew back from him.

"Ya knew who I was a minute ago, nothings changed since then." Victor answered as he opened a package of beef jerky and held it out to her.

Jubilee looked at the jerky hesitantly, and then took the offered meat as her hunger got the best of her. She chewed it down as quickly as she could manage, finding her stomach drawing tight as it longed for more.

"Your not the Victor I know and hate. That look in your eyes・I・ve・I・ve only seen in one man on this world・a man who had been through hell and only seems penance for the crimes of his past・" Jubilee whispered out as her eyes grew tear ridden.

Victor looked down at her, seeing a look of understanding in the young eyes that averted his gaze. He could only assume the Victor of this world was a vile as the creature he had been when he ran with Holocaust back in the timeline he had somehow been torn from. Her scent was filled with confusion and desperation, and he could only imagine what wrongs had been done to her. He gently pulled her to his side and held her as she tried to pull away.

"I don・t know what this clown of this world did ta ya girl. But if he・s anything like what I used to be, I can only say I・m sorry for ya." Victor said quietly to her, finding that the words caused her to cease her attempt to pull free.

"You・your from another world?" Jubilee asked as she looked up to him.

"Yeah. One where Apocalypse ruled, and it wasn・t barely worth livin・ in. I・ve got enough baggage from that world that I need to pay up for, and it looks like I just picked up a new bit here." Victor said quietly once more as he looked down to find the girl staring up at him with her sapphire eyes.

"Ya got a name pup?" Victor asked of her as he rummaged through the bag with a free hand.

"Jubilee・" She said softly as she stared at him.

"Now that we・ve been formally introduced, care to tell me what ya were doin・ out in these woods?" Victor asked as he pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her.

Jubilee took the water and gave a grateful smile to Victor, downing it quickly and then finding a comfortable spot in his lap.

"Group of people responsible for the Weapon X project revived it. Did to me what they did to Logan. Laced my bones with a metal called Adamantium, and did god knows what else. Last thing I can remember is that they embedded a chip in me to inhibit my mutant powers. Though right now I・m not about to trust my memories up till this point as they are pro・s at messing with your head." Jubilee explained as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Victor moved her hand away and looked to the base of her neck where a small scar rested, still pink.

"How long they had ya for? Scar looks about a month old." Victor asked.

"Scar? How long have I been out? I escaped only a day after the operation. I could still feel the stitches as I ran from them." Jubilee asked as she ran a finger over the base of her neck, finding indeed that the stitches were gone and only a scar remained.

"Ya have a healing factor ya didn・t know about?" Victor asked of her, to which she only shook her head slowly.

"Wh..wait・I think they knew of a technique to give a weak form of a healing factor. Silver Fox had one I think・" Jubilee stuttered out.

"Well looks like they gave ya one then pup, as ya have only been out for the daylight hours since I found ya." Victor explained.

Jubilee stared at him in disbelief, fussing over the scar that should have been tender flesh intertwined with stitches. Tears began to fall from her sapphire eyes as she stared at Victor, the sense of violation filling her finally. They had changed her core, and laced her skeleton with a metal that wasn・t meant to be there. They had bigger plans for her still. And now dealing with a tender and kind Victor Creed, which reminded her of her beloved Wolvie too much, was the last straw. What began as a quiet whimper soon escalated into howling cries into the night. Victor only pulled her closer as he whispered reassuring words into her ear and rocked her gently. He didn・t need to imagine the kind of people that do such a thing to a teenage girl for he had seen far worse atrocities from the world where Apocalypse ruled supreme.

As she let out her sobs from the violations she had suffered, Victor watched as the raging fire grew into nothing more than embers, not daring to push away the girl to throw another log onto the fire. Finally her the whimpers that she let sound when she was too tired to cry but yet too sad not to cry ended, she pulled away and looked up to him, her eyes red and puffy.

"Thanks・" Jubilee weakly sputtered out, to which Victor only nodded and wiped away a stray tears that sat on her cheek.

"S・no problem pup." Victor said to her, watching as she slid from his lap and stretched her tired muscles.

"So, like, where are we?" Jubilee asked as she looked about the cave they were resting in.

"Bout a three hour hike from the nearest town. Though I ain・t about to let you go walking that kinda hike after what you・ve been through. Rest up and then we・ll get ya outta here." Victor said to her as he joined her in stretching tired and aching muscles.

Jubilee watched him, feeling uneasy around a man which bore the face of a ruthless killer, but whose eyes held the regret and longing for penance that she had seen in Logan・s. He was dressed in leather hides, with the remains of a leather uniform noticeable underneath. Her watchful gaze did not go unnoticed by the man. Jubilee herself was looking pale and sickly, despite her newly gained healing factor. Dark rimmed eyes could be seen through the redness the tears had caused, while she was dressed in a black, tattered jumpsuit. He knew he needed to get her out of these woods as fast as possible, and would carry her the way if need be.

"You got a place you call home kid?" Victor asked of her as he bent down to look through his backpack for some food for the girl.

"Used too. Know some people I can stay with, but I don・t want to right now. First thing Logan would do would be to run off and gut the people that did this to me, even though all I would want from him is his shoulder to cry on." Jubilee said with a sigh.

"Runt of this world sounds like a man after my own heart." Victor remarked as he found a bag of trail mix and tossed it to the Jubilee.

"Too bad at first sight of you he・d probably try and gut ya thinking you were our Creed." Jubilee said before she tore into the mix.

"I・d show the sawed off runt I・m not your Creed." Victor quipped with a chuckle.

Jubilee only let a shiver pass down her spine as she heard an all too familiar nickname Creed had for Logan. Then another shiver passed down her as a cold wind blew into the cave. Victor threw some kindling on the embers and soon had another fire blazing, warming the two. Jubilee chose to sit across from Victor, looking at him as he whittled away at a stick with his claws.

"So, what was your world like?" Jubilee finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Terrible. Survival of the fittest, and anything less was either killed or tortured." Victor replied flatly, fighting back the memories of a lifetime lived, and the innocent blood shed by his claws.

Jubilee let it rest with that, not wishing to have him reflect back on painful memories. She kept her answers short and sweet too whenever asked of her time with Bastion, and could only know all too well what it meant to be forced to look back on such things. Instead she busied herself with how interesting the slug was that was slithering closer to a crumb she had spilled from the trail mix. Creed noticed how quickly she had let her curiosity be muted.

"It was・" Victor began only to be waved to silence by Jubilee.

"Tell me when your ready to. I don・t want to go opening up any old wounds. I know what it means to have those lying on the surface, with questions of those memories making them begin to itch like a festering wound." Jubilee said as she stared at the slug beneath her.

Victor only stared at her, finding thanks and a sense of belonging as he too found a kindred soul.

"Thanks." Victor said to her, staring into the flames.

"S・no problem." Jubilee remarked back with a chuckle.

As the evening drew on, the two found what little peace their torn souls could find in the uncomfortable slumber the cave offered. Both relived the horrors of their lives in nightmares, Victor haunted by the lives he had taken at the side of Holocaust, while Jubilee her entrapment at the hands of Bastion. But as with all things, the time when an end comes, and the first stray rays of daylight stirred both from their slumbers. As Victor looked to Jubilee, he noted a healthier look to her this day, and began to pack up his belongings in preparation of their trip to town.

Not wishing to push Jubilee, he carried her the way, cradled in his arm, for the meager excuse of shoes she had on would not hold up to a trek though the northern Alberta woodlands. Both kept alert to their surroundings, knowing that in these woods the soldiers of Weapon X lurked, seeking their escaped victim. And finally, as they grew accustomed to the peace the woods offered, the peace was broken by the sound of a helicopter approaching from a distance.

"Crap!" Jubilee cried, as she looked skyward.

Victor let out a snarl, as he too looked skyward at the silhouette of a helicopter hung in the air. His keen ears caught the sound of ropes being thrown down, and the whine of men rappelling down to the forest floor.

"We got company kid. Ya feel up to a fight?" Victor asked of her.

"Rip it out!" Jubilee screamed at him, causing him to wince.

"Rip what out?" Victor asked.

"Rip out the chip! I・m a sitting duck without my powers! And I・m sure they got some surprise built in it incase I broke free!" Jubilee cried out as her eyes filled with panic.

Reluctantly Victor obliged, tearing at the back of her neck where the scar was fading away. Jubilee・s cry of pain filled the woods, sending birds into the air. The men were nearing, and now Victor stood over Jubilee・s limp form as she recovered from the wound, with her healing factor fighting to seal it shut. Then from the foliage, a gunshot rang out as a crimson spray burst from Victors shoulder. Five men burst forth next, guns leveled on the man before them, and as they did, they noticeably faltered at the sight of the man who bore the face of a psychopathic killer.

"Captain! That・s・that・s・" A soldier stuttered out.

"Creed!" Another man finished, raising a shotgun towards the man.

"What the heck is he doing here!? We had no intelligence on him being here! And all the intelligence said he wanted that girl dead almost as much as Weapon X!" Another soldier yelled.

"Forget what he・s doing here and shoot him already!" The captain barked out as a barrage of gunfire unleashed on Victor.

Victor quickly ducked over the limp form of Jubilee, shielding her as the bullets tore at his flesh, fighting against the pain. Finally the gunfire stopped, Victor weakly looked up to the men. They were slowly approaching with their sites set on his bullet-ridden form. He could have killed them all, but he did not want to risk Jubilee being caught in the crossfire. Now weakened, a rage filled him as he stared at them, having failed to protect another innocent from being abused. Too weak to even notice as the small form underneath him stirred, filled with a rage all her own. Victor didn・t even notice the scream until it was followed by the sound of an explosion, as the men before him were subdued as their very gear exploded in a flash of multicoloured light. And after the light, there was darkness and the shadowy places that the demons of Victor・s past lurked in, preying on his unconscious mind.

Jubilee struggled free of Victor, drenched in blood of her own and his. Her wound was scabbed over, and itched as it knitted itself back to flesh. Stumbling to her feet, she looked down at the men who laid at her feet, their uniforms torn apart, and weak breaths rising from their bruised chests. She could hear Emma chuckling in the back of her mind, giving a grim approval of Jubilee realizing some of the potential she had let pass for fear of hurting people. With her life and Victors on the line, that fear had been replaced by anger and rage, and all who knew her knew her powers flared at such rage. Looking down to Victor, she could already see that his wounds were healing, but there was yet another matter to attend to, as she looked skyward.

As the helicopter pilots looked to the radar, they could see the icons of their men flicker and fade to the ・Subdued・ icon. How the girl had managed to rid herself of the inhibitor chip was not of their concern now, for all they knew was that a mutant who could detonate matter on the sub-molecular level was beneath them, and very angry. But this realization happened to them a moment too late, for a bolt of plasma was shot skyward at their tail, sending them crashing into the forest beneath.

Victor was lost to a memory, a memory that was now a dream. Blink was at his side, calling his name・Mr. Creed. But there was something different, as he listened harder, he soon found that she was only calling him Creed, dropping the formality she had always added since the day she had met him. Pain filled his body as he fought to listen to the voice, and soon the voice changed from that of Blink, to another girl. Struggling to remember this voice, a light suddenly poured about him, every shade of the rainbow filling his eyes. And then suddenly he was torn from the dream, to the bitter reality that awaited him.

Jubilee had been trying for the past ten minutes to wake Victor up, until finally in a moment of frustration she had shot a weak paff into his face. And that had sufficed to wake him up, as he lunged at her. Spinning into a kick, she landed the blow square in his nose, breaking it. The pain sent him stumbling back as he looked to her. Finally everything returned to him.

"Sorry bout that pup." Victor apologized as he snorted out the last of the blood in his nose.

"Used to it." Jubilee said flatly as she surveyed the aftermath of the attack.

"What happened?" Victor asked as he looked to the men on the ground.

Jubilee gave her answer in the form of a barrage of plasmoids aimed at a rock, shattering it in a violent eruption of sparks. Victor gave an approving nod, and then closed the distance between them to inspect her neck. The scab was a dark crimson colour, hard and brittle. Her healing factor was nowhere near as fast as his own, but it did the job he noticed. Without warning he picked up Jubilee and began a dash away from the clearing, not waiting around for reinforcements to arrive.

An hour later, the two emerged into the town, both tired from the trek. Victor made his way to the bar he had frequented as of late, knowing that no one there would dare think ill of his appearance in furs, as most of them knew to keep their mouths shut. As he walked in with Jubilee under his wing, the bartender cast him a look and then nodded to his office. Victor walked to the office without questioning it, and soon found a waitress walking in shortly after.

"Who・s the kid Vic?" The bleach blonde waitress asked as she looked down to Jubilee, sizing her up.

"S・just a friend." Victor remarked flatly, looking the thirty-something waitress over.

"I got a friend about her size, and from the look of you two, I could say ya both need a shower and a change of clothing. Ya know I have always digged your furs, but you can drop the mountain man gig while in town as I don・t think your heading back out there anytime soon." The waitress remarked as she took off he serving apron and grabbed a long jacket and a pair of shoes, handing them to Jubilee.

"You can keep them honey, the old girl left them here when she left for her singing career. By the way, the name・s Maggie." Maggie said.

"Jubilee." Jubilee replied as she threw the shoes and the jacket on.

The jacket itself was a leather trench coat, well worn, but sturdy. The trio soon left the bar and walked to a small house a few blocks away. Maggie opened the door and lead Jubilee off to the shower after telling Victor to help himself to whatever was in the fridge. A half an hour later, Maggie and Jubilee returned downstairs with Jubilee dressed in a pair of jeans and a purple sweatshirt, wearing the leather trench coat, which was just a size too large for her.

"There we go. All cleaned up!" Maggie announced, looking to Victor as he polished off the remains of an uncooked ham.

"Ya know, there are these absolutely amazing inventions called ovens. They do wonder for raw meat, but I・m sure a burly mountain man like you would prefer it raw or cooked over a raging fire." Maggie remarked as she looked to him.

"A little raw meat never killed a man." Victor said between mouthfuls.

"Mountain man must never have heard of salmonella." Maggie whispered into Jubilee・s ear, not aware of the animal senses Victor had.

Victor let the remark pass as he finished off the last bite of the ham. He then stood up and walked up to the bathroom, leaving the women to gossip amongst themselves and let Jubilee get a decent meal for the first time in god knows how long. As he undressed, he stopped to look at himself in the mirror. The face that stared back at him bore the grief of a thousand deaths at the side of Holocaust, and the grief of billions of lives, as he was one of the few survivors of that timeline. In silent mourning of those lives, he let the tears fall freely as he thought of all that he had known, and the little that he found to love, and of the love and forgiveness that Blink had shown him, despite the blood on his hands. Finally he drew his shower and let the warm streams of water wash away his tears as they soothed his aching muscles.

Just as he turned off the water, a knock came at the door, and soon the door cracked open. Such modesties were lost in the world he had known, and he stood abroad as Jubilee walked in with he eyes clenched shut, holding a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, with a pair of socks, boxers and shoes sitting on top.

"Maggie said she had a boyfriend about your size that left this stuff here after she kicked him out during an umm・errm・lovemaking session we・ll say." Jubilee said as she hoped Victor would take the clothing soon so she could leave with her what little dignity she had left.

Victor stood chuckling, prolonging the suffering of the teenaged girl, and then finally taking the clothing only to have her bolt from the bathroom and slamming the door shut after her. His keen sense of hearing could pick up Maggie asking how well hung he was, to which Jubilee only shrieked in indignation. Finally Victor emerged from the bathroom, finding immense pleasure at being truly clean for the first time in several years, wearing a fresh set of clothing. As he made his way down the stairs, he saw the two women watching television, chatting away. As Maggie turned to look up to him, she let a whistle fly at the sight before her.

"Well hello Nurse." Maggie giggled out, enjoying the way the t-shirt fit too tightly over Victor・s broad chest.

"Ya clean up good Vic." Jubilee sniggered out as she looked at him.

"I・m glad I have your approval." Victor remarked sarcastically, though truly meaning it in every sense of the word in his mind.

"Thanks for the hospitality Maggie, and for the spare sets of duds. But I hope ya understand when we say we gotta get outta here, even though I・d love to stick around for a while and visit. I・ll be sure to pay you a visit sometime in the future though, you have my word on it." Jubilee said as she rose and gave the older woman a hug.

Maggie just nodded and then pushed Jubilee gently away so she could reach into her pants pocket. From there she pulled out a small wad of cash and then handed it to Jubilee, and then tossing a set of keys to Victor.

"Oh Maggie, I can・t!" Jubilee protested, to which Maggie only clamped her hand down on Jubilee・s.

"Oh yes you can girl, and don・t you go sassing your elders. You need it more than me. You can pay me back when you visit next. As for the bike, keep it Vic babe. Was just gonna sell it anyways. I have a feeling you two need to get outta dodge and fast. That old scoot might look like a rust bucket, but it can ride like the wind." Maggie said as her eyes grew misty.

Jubilee then pulled her into a hug and then walked to Vic who was standing in the doorway of the living room. Maggie only waved them away, silently telling them to leave. Jubilee fought to keep her emotions under check, and silently worded a ・Thank you・ to Maggie before she left with Victor, to flee from those who pursued her, and help Victor find the penance for the blood that stained his hands.

Chapter 2: Rest for the Night

They had rode for three days, leaving the Rocky Mountains behind in Alberta, to Toronto, Ontario. Jubilee had never visited the Canadian metropolis, but knew it to be the Canadian version of New York meant that they could hide from Weapon X while she thought of what to do about her current situation. The cash Maggie had given her had paid for gas and hotels along the way, and now they were on the last of it as they rode along the 401 Highway. In the distance the CN Tower rose from the skyline, hazy in the mid-afternoon smog.

"Where we headed pup?" Victor yelled back to Jubilee, who was wrapped about him on the back of the motorbike Maggie had given him.

"Don・t know!" Jubilee yelled back as her mind raced of what they two were to do.

"I see a river down there, probably a park somewhere down there were we can rest for a bit and stretch our legs!" Victor yelled back as he switched lanes and entered the off-ramp.

After winding their way through a series of small streets, they found themselves sitting in a small park along the Humber River system in Toronto. The sun shone down and warmed them in the fall air, while the river babbled off in the distance. Children played their games while parents watched them, ever attentive to the odd couple that had pulled in on a noisy Harley.

Victor sat on the park bench with Jubilee beside him, staring at the children playing without a care in the world. He couldn・t remember a time when he had seen such an innocent act in the world he knew since Apocalypse came to power. Before then his life had been filled with the same violence and bloodlust the Victor of this world still knew. Looking down to Jubilee, she seemed too lost in a world not of this time, locked in a faded memory.

"Penny for your thought." Victor offered as he pulled a soda from the saddlebag and offered it to her.

"Just trying to remember a time I ever could play like that. Parents were Beverly Hills Socialites, until the day they were killed. I knew the best things in life as far as schooling and clothing were concerned. But I can・t remember a time when I could just enjoy such a simple thing as a game of tag." Jubilee said as she pulled back the life lost to her a lifetime ago.

"What did ya do after they were killed?" Victor asked while pulling a soda out for himself.

Jubilee looked up to him, still at a loss of the turn of events that had happened to her. Being subjected to the Weapon X project, which now seemed to want her dead for whatever reason after investing so much time and effort into the venture. Now she sat side by side with a Victor Creed of another world, a mirror of Logan. She could only wonder at what had caused him to know the err of his ways, and at what had quelled the bloodlust he knew. Thinking of this, she thought back to Charles・s attempts to do the same, and now seeing a dim ray of hope for the tortured soul of this worlds Victor.

"I got something on my face pup?" Victor asked as he noticed the way she was staring at him.

Jubilee blinked a few times, and shook her head to clear the thoughts that were running through her mind. Looking down to the soda, she opened it and took a swallow before answering.

"No. Just thinking." She said flatly as she returned her gaze to the children playing.

Victor hunched over, resting his elbows on his thighs as he looked to the children before him, memories of a world torn apart overlapping on the scene, as it became a scorched, lifeless field with dead bodies strew every which way. Shaking his head of the image before him, he downed his soda and crushed the can, and then tossed it into a waste can beside the bench.

The action did not go unnoticed by Jubilee as she looked up to him. His eyes were troubled by ghosts of the past, she knew. As a cold fall breeze blew past them, she curled up on the bench and wrapped herself in her coat to stave off the chill. Her thoughts returned to the matters at hand, shelter and the need of money. Her savings account would be a beacon to the Weapon X program, while the Credit card Emma had issued her, even if she had it, was another way to the tracked. Victor gave her a quick glance, and then walked to the bike and retrieved a rough blanket from the back of the bike. Returning to the bench, he wrapped it around Jubilee and pulled her under his arm.

"Thanks. Ever since I got the Adamantium bonded to me, I get cold easily." Jubilee said in a hushed tone as she curled up in the blanket while resting her head against Victor・s chest.

"Body ain・t used to having to try and heat that much metal is it?" Victor asked, looking to her petite frame, to which Jubilee only shook her head.

The two sat and watched the simpler things in life until the sun sagged over the horizon while a storm brooded off in the distance. Returning to the bike, they rode off into the approaching night to find shelter for the evening. After riding for a half hour, they came upon a motel near the edge of the city. After an odd glance from the motel manager, they retreated to their room to shower and sleep.

At the crashing of the door, the two awoke and in a blur were to their feet, battle ready and their hearts racing while their minds whirled at the intrusion. A bolt of energy slammed into Victor, sending him flying into a wall as a fierce snarl ripped though the air. Jubilee didn・t waste any time returning fire, sending a concentrated stream of plasmoids flying through the doorway in a tight formation. A female cry rang though the night air, and a man・s voice screamed Heather. A familiar man・s voice Jubilee realized as she ran into the night in her t-shirt to find the truth.

Outside she found James and Heather Hudson in the middle of the parking lot, reeling from Jubilee・s attack. Confusion filled their eyes as they stared at her, crawling to their feet, ready for another attack. Just as Jubilee was about to ask of what was going on, Victor burst from the room and jumped in front of Jubilee, shielding her as he snarled at the interlopers.

"Get away from her Creed!" Heather screamed at Victor.

"I was just about to say the same thing to you!" Victor growled back to her.

"Whoa! People! Major misunderstanding here! Just chill before I go nova on all your butts Okay!" Jubilee yelled above the commotion, and soon after all eyes fell on her.

Though just as Jubilee was about to explain, a shotgun blast rang though the air.

"Get outta here you Mutie freaks!" The motel manager yelled as he pointed the shotgun at the four people standing in his parking lot.

With a look to the manager, a momentary truce was called as James and Heather Hudson lead the two off to their Bronco. Jubilee was forced to sit between the Hudson・s while Victor sat in the back seat, enjoying the thrill of having the wind flying through his hair as the cap was off. Uneasy glances were cast backwards to him, their eyes filled with confusion at seeing such a docile Victor Creed.

"It・s not him." Jubilee said flatly, turning on the heat and setting it to max heat and vent.

Heather looked down to her while James signaled to pass a transport truck. She saw that Jubilee was dressed more than warmly enough for the fall day, but she had just turned on enough heat to dry their eyes if the looked at the vents too long. Her body was gaunt, and her eyes seemed dimmer than they had ever recalled since they had met her with Logan those years ago.

"What do you mean it・s not him? We know what Victor Creed looks like." James asked as he revved the engine and passed the transport.

"Well. It is Victor, but it・s not our Victor." Jubilee said as she basked in the heat, holding her pale hands over the vents.

"There something you want to tell us Jubilee?" Heather asked, shifting in her seat as Victor leaned heavily on the front seat, listening to the conversation.

"He・s not our Victor. He・s from some alternate timeline or something like that kinda stuff that only Hank knows about." Jubilee said, closing her eyes against the heat as her eyes became irritated.

"Pups right." Victor remarked, only to have Heather look back to him, directly in the eyes, and as she did so, flinching at what she saw.

"Look like ya saw a ghost." Victor remarked once more, looking squarely at Heather.

Heather was at a loss of what to say, and quickly returned her attention to the road ahead. Spotting a set of golden arches ahead, she ordered James to pull in and get some food. The appetite Jubilee showed matched Victors, and the couple sat silently as they watched the two of them finish off enough food for six people. The hunger that Victor showed was to be expected, though they knew they would need to ask Jubilee a lot of questions, and only hoped that she could answer them. Finally setting out once more, they drove off to the Hudson・s Toronto home.

Once inside, Jubilee dove for the television and started channel surfing to the point that all that could be seen was a blur of colours. Victor made his way to the back porch, leaving Heather and James alone in the kitchen, making coffee and preparing a small tray of cookies.

"Care to tell me what had you so spooked when you looked at Creed?" James asked of his wife, while gently wrapping his arms around her.

"That same look I saw in Logan・s eyes." Heather said flatly, melting in her husband・s arms as the days stress washed away for the moment.

"You seriously think he is what she says he is?" James asked, whispering into the ear of his wife.

"I can・t find any other explanation." Heather said as she pulled away to pour some coffee.

Just then, Jubilee walked in and picked up one of the cups of coffee, not even adding sugar or crème to it. Taking the first sip, she let a shiver pass down her body and a small smile fall on her face.

"Two months of torment makes you appreciate the little things. Like clean clothes and caffeine." Jubilee whispered as she looked to the couple before her.

"Care for the long or short?" Jubilee then asked abruptly, catching them off guard, and silence being her only answer.

"Short it is. Weapon X has new funding. I got the honor of being joining their prestigious ranks. Escaped. Victor saved me. They want me dead now. Probably remember what a pain in the arse Logan was when he escaped and weren・t for taking risks this time." Jubilee explained quickly, and then fell to silence as she sat on a chair.

James and Heather stared blankly at her, their minds whirling with the revelation that had just been revealed. Jubilee took this moment to pull them back into reality with a vivid display as she picked up a paring knife and cut the palm of her hand.

"Jubilee!" Heather screamed as she ran to the girl・s side, taking the knife from her hand.

James stood his ground, staring at the hand as it slowly knit itself back together. Heather ran a slender finger across where the scab was turning a deep crimson and cracking. After another moment, Jubilee clenched her fist, and then opened her palm to blow away the dried blood, leaving only a pink scar in its stead.

"Bastards." James growled coldly as he left to join Victor on the back porch.

Heather whisked Jubilee off to the guest bedroom, seeing the exhaustion in the girl・s eyes as she stared up to her from her perch on the floor. On the back porch, Victor was leaning against the railing, looking out at the cityscape before him. Toronto was a vibrant city, filled with the bustling routine of any city, but too with a vibrant wilderness to the city.

"She told us what happened to her." James remarked as he joined Victor in his watch of the city.

"She could have killed those bastards with a thought, after they ambushed us. Forced me to tear out an inhibitor chip from her neck so she could blast them. Even doing that she let them live. How does a girl who suffered so much, keep from turning bitter and vengeful?" Victor whispered in the night air, his gaze locked on the cityscape before him.

"Takes a special kind of soul. Few and far between." James remarked, looking to the man before him.

"Yer right, though too few and far between. Knew such a pup in my own world, girl by the name of Blink. Gave me hope after I broke free from the pain I was causing at the side of Holocaust and the genocide of Humanity." Victor remarked, turning to face the man.

James only gave a small nod of agreement, and then held out his hand to Victor. Victor took the offered hand, and shook it.

"James Hudson. Vindicator. Used to be the leader of a team called Alpha Flight. Had some bad run ins with this worlds version of you." James said as he looked to Victor.

"You know who I am, and you know what I was. All I want to do now is find peace and penance for all the suffering I・ve caused." Victor remarked as he broke free of the other mans hand.

"Come on. I・ll show you to your room." James said to Victor as he walked back into the house, pausing a moment to make sure the man was following.

The next morning, the Hudson・s sat in their living room watching the daily news. Both Victor and Jubilee were still asleep, and after the little Jubilee had told them, they were content to let them sleep away the entire day if need be. As the day drew on, the chores beckoned while the two still slept. Heather was putting some freshly washed towels in the linen closet, when she heard faint muffled cries coming from Jubilee・s room. Creeping to the door, the cries grew more distressed and panicked. Hesitating for only a moment, Heather burst into the room and threw the light on, finding Jubilee curled in the corner of the room, tangled in blankets and locked in a nightmare. Crouching near her, she started calling her name until she finally returned to reality.

"Nightmare?" Heather quietly asked, not even looking over her shoulder as a shadow fell over the room from the doorway.

Jubilee meekly nodded, one of the rare occasions that this girl・s indestructible bravado was shed for the truth of her pain.

Heather gathered her up in her arms, wrapping the blanket about her as she did so. Jubilee wasn・t quiet as heavy as she thought she would be, after having Adamantium bonded to her, finding her only the slightest bit heavier that she would have expected Jubilee in turn, just rested her head on Heather・s shoulder and stared blankly at the men in the doorway, looking past them and beyond the physical confines of the house, back to where she wasn・t tormented by the dreams of the horrors she had suffered. With a look passed between each other, the two men head to the kitchen.

"Care for a drink?" James asks as they reach the kitchen, heading to the liquor cabinet.

"Bit early in the day to be drinking isn・t it?" Victor asked as he looked to the liquor cabinet longingly, not having had a drink in more years than he could recall since Apocalypse took reign on his world.

"Guess you haven・t looked at the time, it・s a quarter to six." James replied, pulling a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet.

"Logan gave this to me some years back. Should be good stuff." James idly mutters to himself as he finds a couple glasses and pulls an ice tray from the freezer.

"Runt always did have good taste." Victor remarked, lost to memories he hasn・t thought of for over forty years.

James then handed Victor the drink, and the two men stood in silence, slowly sipping away at their drinks. Lost to their thoughts, they didn・t notice as the small form of Jubilee walked in and made her way to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of milk. Setting the milk on the table, she then set out on finding cereal and sugar. Returning to the table, Jubilee then proceeded to fix a bowl of corn flakes drenched in milk and more sugar than most people can handle. With the first spoonful, a blissful smile fell across her face, and the two men finally took notice of her with a chuckle.

"What・re you two laughing at?" Jubilee asked between mouthfuls as she devoured the bowl of cereal.

"Nothing. Just the fact that that is probably enough sugar to kill small animals." James chuckled out.

"I need the energy. Metabolism・s been working overtime even more than before. Need enough energy for my ・paffs・ and now this healing factor that・s dealing with the Adamantium poisoning I・d be suffering from without it." Jubilee explained, and the two men sobered up with the ・matter of fact・ way Jubilee had explained sugar need.

"Besides, you guys don・t get Sugar bombs up here in Canada do you? Against your health codes or something I heard, no wonder you guys hold the image of being such goody two shoes, you never get any sugar!" Jubilee then added with a sly grin.

From the doorway another chuckle could be heard as Heather darkened the doorway.

"Well hurry up and enjoy your breakfast. Remember what I said about heading down to the university so we can have a better look at what they did to you." Heather remarked as she folded up Jubilee・s leather trench coat and placed it on the table with her.

Jubilee・s retort was to pour another bowl and pouring the rest of the sugar on the corn flakes, which now disappeared under a creamy white mound of sugary sweetness and tooth decay. Heather retrieved the sugar bowl and then quickly hid the bag of sugar in the cupboard before her guest decided for another bowl.

Finally as the trio pried Jubilee away from the toaster as the thought of waffles and real maple syrup came to her, they made their way to the University of Toronto where their friend and old teammate worked. Jubilee looked up to Walter Langkowski, the man known as Sasquatch, with a fond smile of the trip to Canada to avoid Onslaught at Emma・s chateau, and his rescue of the team from the Toad. In return, he looked down to her with a curious look.

"Miss Lee?" He asked of her, receiving a small nod.

"Could we discuss this in private?" Heather inquired, looking to her friend, who promptly ushered them into his lab.

The good doctor ushered the three in, unaware of the other visitor who was off waiting outside as not to raise anymore questions to the events that had taken place. Once inside his lab, Jubilee became uneasy at the surroundings, which did not go unnoticed by Heather. Walking up to the teen, she placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving a warm rub to help calm her nerves.

"Don・t worry. No one is going to hurt you here Jubilee." Heather whispered while James and Walter took their seats.

Walter looked to the trio from across his desk, ever patient as he waited for the light to be shed on the matter. He knew from his encounter with the now disbanded Generation X that Jubilee had been a part of their team, and now rumors abounded of the end of the school.

"What brings you here this day Young Jubilation?" Walter asked only to receive a grim look from Jubilee.

"Quick, Short, or Long?" Jubilee asked, giving a mischievous glance to Heather and James.

"Umm・" Walter inquired, looking baffled at the girl before him.

Jubilee then proceeded to pull a small pocketknife from her coat pocket and then made a small cut on the palm of her hand, wincing as she did so. Heather was immediately to her side and plucked the knife from her hand, scolding her for being overly dramatic, which received a raspberry from Jubilee.

"I wasn・t about to explain it again. All I want to do is forget what those people did to me. You can explain to him, I got his attention." Jubilee muttered as she held her open palm before Walter, who stood amazed as he watched the cut heal slowly before his eyes.

"I didn・t know you had a healing factor Ms. Lee." Walter remarked as he wiped the scab away with a handkerchief.

"She didn・t until the Weapon X project resumed and kidnapped her." James explained, looking to his old friend.

Walter let out a gasp at the revelation that that insidious project had been resumed. Looking to Jubilee, a thousand questions formed in his mind, but were all asked in one outburst.

"We must get you to my lab!" Walter exclaimed, looking to the young girl before him.

Jubilee looked to Heather and then leaned closer to the older woman.

"I don・t like labs. Labs don・t like me when I get nervous." Jubilee whispered to Heather, and then sank slowly in her chair.

"But there isn・t any other way to help you. I・ll be at your side the entire time and Walter is a very good friend, he won・t harm you." Heather whispered back, placing a gentle hand on Jubilee・s hand.

Minutes later Jubilee walked into the lab wearing a hospital nightgown, stepping sheepishly towards the Ionascan that Walter had made. Looking to the small, enclosed bed, her stomach tightened and her mouth went dry. Memories of the tank she had been submerged in came flashing back to her.

"Jubilee?" The concern-laced voice of Heather asked over the intercom.

Jubilee turned to find the worried faces of Walter, Heather and James starting at her from the control room.

"Yes?" Jubilee asked of them.

"You stopped for a little while there. Are you alright?" Heather asked of her, holding the microphone as she looked to Jubilee.

"Yeah. Just peachy." Jubilee muttered, thinking quite the opposite.

Slowly Jubilee edge towards the machine and sat down on the bed. Looking to control room, they gave her a wave to lay down. Doing so, the bed drew back into the bowels of the machine, and the dryness in her mouth doubled while her pain knitted into a painful knot. Closing her eyes, she fought to remain in control, thinking of the loves of her life. Of how she would have to go blading once out of here, a raid on the nearest candy store she could find, of going shopping. The thoughts drew on until she finally realized she was out of the machine, with the worried face of Heather looking over her.

"Jubilee, sweetie・it・s done with. You can leave now." Heather whispered down to her, not wishing to draw attention of the men.

Jubilee wasted no time in leaving the room, passing by James and Walter in a blur as she made her way to the changing room. Meanwhile in the foyer of the University, Victor stood his ground as a guard walked up to him nervously.

"Excuse me Sir. Might I ask your business here?" The guard stuttered out, looking to the man who towered over him.

"Waiting for a few friends." Victor replied flatly as he took a sniff of his surroundings, giving a wry smile as he picked up on the near panic the guard was bordering on.

Before the guard could say another word, Victor turned on his heel and walked out to the steps of the University and sat down beside a stone lion. Pulling a cigar form his pocket, he light up and stared at the students that were going about their everyday routine. Suddenly from across his way, he could notice a girl sitting down with a sketchpad and casting the odd glance towards him as she toiled away on the pad. Raising a curious eyebrow to the girl, he sat as he stared at her, waiting for her to cast yet another glance. As she did, their eyes locked and her face flushed red.

Slowly the girl crawled to her feet and made her way across the steps to Victor. Victor in turn stubbed out the cigar and put it on the cement underneath him, just sitting patiently for the girl to arrive. As she did, she turned the sketchpad around to reveal a charcoal sketch of Victor sitting with the stone lion, smoking his cigar with a thoughtful look to his eyes.

"Sorry. Art Major at large, couldn・t resist. You were just such an emotional subject, with such a powerful image resting there with the lion, looking like kindred souls." The girl explained as she looked up to Victor.

"No problem. That・s pretty good. Haven・t seen anything like that in a long time." Victor remarked absently as he looked to the drawing, feeling truly moved that he was the inspiration for a thing of beauty instead of hatred and suffering.

The girl gave a warm smile as she looked to him, and then turned the pad to herself as she signed the work. Then gingerly tearing the sheet of paper from the pad, she handed it to Victor.

"It・s yours. As you can see, my name is Clarice McArthur." Clarice introduced herself, holding a hand out to Victor.

Victor took the offered hand, and just as he was about to tell the girl his name, he noticed a glazed over look in her eyes for a moment. Blinking the daze away, she looked up to Victor and backed away slowly. Victor looked to the girl, confused, and the heavy scent of panic was wafting off her.

"Problem kid?" Victor asked of Clarice.

A stuttered response was his only reply before she collapsed on the ground. Soon a crowd formed around her, while Victor knelt next to the girl checking her vitals.

"Back away!" Victor snarled to the crowd as they edged even closer.

"Yes! Back away! She needs air!" A girl wearing medical scrubs barked out as she joined Victor in checking out the girl.

"She・ll be fine. Just fainted. Come on. Lets get her to Doctor Langkowski・s lab, be the best place for her when she・s like this." The girl explained as she started to pick up the other, only to be gently nudged aside as Victor gently picked her up in his massive arms.

"Lead the way." Victor remarked as he looked down to the girl.

Meanwhile in the lab, Walter sat at a computer screen looking over the data with the Hudson・s and Jubilee watching over his shoulder.

"Well. I must say that since the last time I had looked at the work of Weapon X, they have indeed caught up with the times." Walter remarked as he typed away, earning a growl from Jubilee.

"Now, where to start. I shall say with the basics." Walter said as he typed a few commands on the keyboard, and soon on a table in the middle of the room a holographic image of Jubilee・s skeletal structure appeared.

"Firstly, I must say, this is truly amazing." Walter said as he typed another command, and beside it came an image of Logan・s bone structure. "Now, you can see the difference immediately. Whereas Logan・s was very irregular and with various densities of Adamantium bonded to his skeleton, you・ll note that Jubilee・s bonding process was perfectly smooth, with no variation with the layer thickness of the Adamantium." Walter explained, pointing out the various points of interest.

"Now, too with the Adamantium itself. Look at these figures." Walter remarked, to which all but Jubilee stared at intently, with looks of awe on their faces.

"What!" Jubilee finally cried out.

"The quality of the Adamantium itself, as well as its tensile strength is about a hundred times that of Logan・s." Walter explained, and soon found that Jubilee seemed not to be following.

"I would compare the technique used on Logan to that of an Iron Aged dagger, very weak and impure metal, whereas the technique used on you, that of a Katana." Walter explained, this time finding a look of interest on the girl.

"So you mean my metal is stronger than Wolvies?" Jubilee inquired sheepishly.

"Yes. Now, for your healing factor you・ve been given. I only regret I do not have any genetic material of the woman known as Silver Fox for comparison, though I too doubt that it was the same method used on you. In your case, your very genetic structure has been changed by a .00098457 percent, with the corresponding genetic material being a match for Logan. I can only guess that they incorporated the sequence of his X-Factor which is his healing factor, into your own X-Factor." Walter explained as he typed a command and brought up two spiraling DNA strands, zooming in until a tiny molecular strand could be seen, showing variation between the two.

Jubilee stared at the hologram before her, and then turned her gaze to Walter, her eyes devoid of the usual spirit that was known of Jubilee.

"So, what・s the bad news doc? I mean there・s always bad news." Jubilee remarked, trying to keep her voice from betraying her fear.

"At this point the bad news is only a theory, though time shall prove whether or not you have anything to fear. There were some unusual readings from your brainwave activity that may hint at memory tampering. If so, we have no idea what lurks beneath those troubled waters and without a powerful telepath, we shall never know. And too do I worry of the genetic splicing of yours and Logan・s DNA. If it should ever fail, and you loose that healing factor of yours, you shall be facing Adamantium poisoning. But with the technique refined this way, as with too the Adamantium itself, it would be a weak poisoning and you would merely have to be administered an antidote occasionally." Walter said to Jubilee as he looked to her, seeing a mixture of relief and fear.

"I was worried about the poisoning. I expected the mind job, I mean I only saw first hand the head trips Logan went on when he went looking around for his past." Jubilee remarked as she took an interest in counting the scratches in the floor.

Suddenly the door was thrown open by a girl in medical scrubs, with Victor behind holding another girl in his arms. Walter took one look to Victor and with a feral roar, changed into the mighty form of Sasquatch as he took a large step in front of Jubilee and the Hudson・s.

"I would advise you to put the girl down Victor and leave." Walter growled in a deep voice as he stood ready to defend his friends from the psychotic rampages of a madman.

The girl in medical scrubs paused a moment, and then looked back to the man carrying her friend. Suddenly from her line of sight an Asian girl popped out from beneath Walter・s legs and raised her fists to Walter as they took on a glow.

"Long, Short or Quick!" Jubilee growled out with venom in her voice.

"Quick." Walter responded flatly as he leveled his gaze on Victor. Doing so he was not prepared for the blast from Jubilee, sending him flying across the room and into the wall.

Jubilee fell to her knees, weakened from the blast, and then turned her head to look to Victor.

"Your face is going to get me in a lot of trouble. Too bad I know better and you saved my life." Jubilee muttered out as she shook off the daze.

"Hey, furball. You gonna play at being a wall hanging all day or are you going to check out this girl!" Victor snarled as he placed the girl on a table, checking her vitals again.

Heather and James slowly emerged from the shock of the scene as their super hero instincts returned to them. Heather ran to the girl that Victor had carried in, while James to his friend.

"He・s not Creed. Trust me on this one. Now you got wounded to tend to." James remarked as he helped pull the orange giant from the wall and ruined equipment.

"Remind me to do a test on her pyrotechnic powers once this matter is over with." Walter quipped groggily as he walked over to the girl.

"Dammit! Clarice! What happened to her?" Walter yelled out once he neared the girl and saw her face.

"Pup just shook my hand after handing me a drawing. Had a glazed over look to her eyes." Victor explained, stepping aside as the girl in medical scrubs came near.

"She・s a touch-empath. Her power works with touch, and she has yet to learn how to shield herself from it. Most of the time it・s nothing more than feelings, but in your case I can see where the trauma came from." Walter grumbled as he worked on the girl, giving her an injection and then sitting on his haunches.

"Is she going to be alright?" Victor asked as he looked to her, concern filling his eyes.

"Depends on what she saw. She・s told me of the images she・s picked up occasionally, and I can only dread what she saw in your mind." Walter said with a tired breath.

"She saw a world ruled by Apocalypse where Humanity were beneath his heel for, being wiped out in a massive genocide." Victor said in an equally tired voice, his eyes growing misty.

Walter looked up to the man before him, a shocked expression on his face and his jaw open.

"Short and Long. You a believer or do I need to throw you across a room again?" Jubilee asked with a tired chuckle as she stumbled to her feet, only to fall to the ground in a heap.

"If I didn・t see it with my own eyes, I would not believe it. Who is he?" Walter asked, his scientific curiosity hungry for new input.

"Came from a doomed timeline or dimension, one of a few survivors of a time when Apocalypse ruled North America and had left the rest of the world for ruin. Wasn・t a nice place to live, or visit as the X-man Bishop found out." Victor explained, noticing the sharp glance he earned from Jubilee.

"Bish・he・" Jubilee asked weakly as she looked to him, her eyes filling with concern for her friend and onetime savior.

"He lived through that time and was the only one that knew it wasn・t right. You know him pup?" Victor asked.

"Yea..ye・yes・.he・.he saved my life when this worlds you was about to kill me・" Jubilee whispered out, with only Walter and Victor picking up on the words spoken.

A heavy silence fell over the room, leaving everyone lost in their own sorrows and problems. And all through it, an innocent university student suffered through the torments of another・s nightmares from a past that shouldn・t have been. Jubilee edged closer to Victor until he took her up in his arms, consoling her as her mind fell to the horrors a friend must have seen in a world she couldn・t imagine. As the day・s trials and revelations weighed upon her, she joined Clarice in an uneasy sleep, tormented by nightmares.