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Standing In The Shadows: Chapter 2 by Bounce Rated PG-13 because there are a few swearwords in there. Disclaimer: all the characters belong to Marvel. I am using them without permission.
Cable got up and walked around to stand in front of Lee. She swallowed convulsively. I hate telepaths. I really hate them. "So metal man, this going to hurt?" Her voice was utterly calm, none of the fear she felt showing. Cable shook his head. "No. It shouldn・t." * * * * * * * * Domino sent sarcastic laughter down the link. :: It won・t hurt. Have you ever done this before Nate? :: :: No. But I should be able to figure it out.:: Nate turned to look at Lee. She met his eyes easily, both the natural gray and the glowing gold. He was mildly impressed. Most people found it difficult to do that. The fact that one of his eyes glowed golden tended to put them off. He reached out with a tendril of psi energy assessing whether or not she had any natural shielding. Nathan・s eyes widened. He had never seen shields so strong on a non-psi before. Emma・s voice cut smoothly into his thoughts. ::Jubilee always had some latent telepathic ability. She must have learnt to develop that into psi shielding. :: "Lee I・m going to have to ask you to lower your shields. I can・t give you the scan until you do." He saw a flash of panic behind Lee・s blue eyes before she nodded sharply. A moment later her shields slid down exposing her mind to the telepaths. Cable reached to one side and grabbed a chair. He sat down in front of Lee and looked directly into her eyes. It wasn・t necessary to establish eye contact. It just made things easier. He carefully blocked out his awareness of the room and the people in it, focusing inwards. He reached out with a telepathic probe and slid into Lee・s thoughts. Dark cords of guilt and pain snaked through her mind. Each one was attached to a memory of a particular person. Curiously he reached out and touched one and was engulfed in a memory. ~・ he・ll kill you for sure if you try. Or worse he・ll send you to the tombs." Three youths stared back at me. They all wore blue bodysuits and inhibitor collars. One of them shrugged and shook her head. "It doesn・t matter Lee. I have to get out of here." She paused for a second "You think I don・t know what he・ll do to me if I try and escape? I・m too chickenshit to pull the trigger myself Lee" Allie・s voice was a rough whisper as she spoke. I jerked as though I・d been shot. I knew what she meant. We were all of us too damn scared to pull the trigger ourselves. "All right. Do it. Maybe you・ll get lucky Al. Maybe you・ll get out." I turned away before they could see the tears. I never saw Allie again. ~ Nathan shook his head, clearing the last of the memory form his mind. He carefully walled himself off from the dark ropes of memory. He knew what they contained now. He looked around, past them and further into Lee・s mind. A black mist covered most of her thoughts and tarnished the few bright spots showing. He reached out and touched it careful this time to make sure that none of the associated memories came with it. This had been generated by Lee・s own mind. It appeared to be the mental representation of the training Spectrum had given her. Nathan walked deeper into Lee・s mind, looking for the older memories from before Spectrum. It would be easier to see how much damage had been done to her mind from there. He found himself having to pick his way past jagged pillars and boulders and deep yawning chasms. Each one represented a different thought. Wound through these were glittering shards of something that rippled through every conceivable color. Some were bright and shone through the darkness. Others were so dark they formed patches of shadow. Nathan looked at one. It took him a moment to realize that they were memories as they were so different to the ropes of shadow he had seen earlier. He frowned, thinking. Lee・s older memories would probably be closer to the center of her mind. He walked forward through the black mist and glittering shards of memory for what felt like several hours though he knew that it was probably only a few minutes. Time did strange things inside person・s thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity the black mist and memories stopped as though they had been sheared off a knife. There was a stretch of something like fine white sand and in the middle of it was a globe, like a gigantic soap bubble eighty feet across. "Oath" All of a sudden he realized that Lee really did not think of herself as Jubilee anymore. Such a degree of separation between memories could never have happened if she didn・t think of herself as two separate people. This is not healthy. He moved closer and touched the glistening barrier. It was warm and slickly wet and parted slightly to let his fingers through. Nathan watched fascinated as it sealed up around his hand still forming a single unbroken surface. It seemed to exist only to keep the two parts of Lee・s life separate rather than as a memory suppression barrier that tried to bury painful memories, walling them off from the rest of the mind. There were no traces of a foreign telepaths work anywhere in this level of Jubilee・s mind. The changes in her personality were just the result of the year・s in-between and the terrible things she・d seen and done. Nathan had thought as much form the beginning though Jean and Xavier hadn・t agreed. Nathan allowed himself to sink deeper into her mind past the layers of chaotic nightmare shapes, colors and sounds that formed dreams to the level below that. The realm of reflex and instinct. Here it was hard to remain Nathan and not dissolve into a thousand thousand fragments of thought and memory and desire and instinct. Here too there were no traces other telepaths. No one had tampered with her mind. All of a sudden Nathan realized he was exhausted, having drained himself to a level he seldom reached. If he spent any more time in the depths of Jubilee・s mind he would find himself too weak to get out again. Oath. I didn・t realize it took this much out of you. He gathered himself together and catapulted out of her mind and back into his own body. His eyes shot open and Nathan looked around the room. He could feel Domino・s concern through the link as well as curiosity. He turned to face Xavier. "Good news. Lee・s mind hasn・t been tampered with." "Perhaps one of the more experienced telepaths should verify that. After all Jubilee has under gone a substantial personality change" Lee shrugged. "You would have too if you・d just spent the last eight years living in a Spectrum base." Logan jerked and a stricken look appeared on his face. "I・m sorry darlin・. I・m sorry we didn・t come for you sooner." * * * * * * * * Shit Logan. I・m not going to cry. I・m not. "Ya didn・t know remember? Don・t worry ・bout it." Lee shrugged and appeared unconcerned by it. Domino spoke for the first time since the meeting had begun "So what・ll you do now?" "Jubilation will, of course, return to her teammates in Generation X" said Storm. Sean and Emma were nodding. "What would I do there Storm? Be an instructor? A third co-headmaster? Teach the kiddies how to kill?" She smiled lazily. "Artie and Leech are still pretty young. They haven・t had any real training yet. I could make real good assassins out of them." Storm, Sean, Xavier, every adult in the room looked horrified by what Lee suggested. She went on. "An・ Storm, I know I・ve said this before but could you please call me Lee" Xavier frowned. "This brings us to an interesting point. Why did you change your name?" God not you too. I had to dammit. Couldn・t be Jubilee with this many deaths on my hands. Lee sighed. "Because I wasn・t comfortable being Jubilee anymore." At their puzzled looks she explained "Jubilee was a hero. I・m not. Hero・s don・t do what I・ve done. And they called me Jubilee too. So I・d prefer it if you didn・t." she kept her voice calm and cold. He nodded. "So lass what will you be doing now?" "I" I don・t know. I never thought that far. I always figured I・d die in Spectrum base. "I never really thought about it Irish." "How about making Spectrum Pay for what they did ta ya darlin・" "Yeah. I・ll destroy those fucks. I・ll get them back for what they did to John and Allie and Jazz and all of us." It felt great saying that. Lee got up from her chair. "The interviews over Xavier. I・m not going to talk about the other stuff because it really isn・t any of your business." She walked out the door. * * * * * * * * Lee sat down cross-legged
on a picnic table in the backyard sandwich in hand. The nearby area
was deserted. Idly she wondered where GenX was. She shrugged. It didn・t
really matter. She twitched her shoulders lightly. The interview with
the Professor and various team leaders had left her tired.
And letting Cable play in your head probably didn・t help either.
It had been harder to give selective reports to people she trusted than
it had been reporting to the Spectrum guards after missions for them.
They couldn・t have faced some of the things I did for Spectrum. Hell
I don・t like thinking about some of that. Unbidden memories
of the worst missions flashed through her mind. ~ The child screamed as I shot his parents. His screams turned to whimpers as I turned the gun on him "Mama! Mama help! Help me! Mama!" I was crying as I shot him between the eyes. It was the last time I ever cried there. ~ Lee gasped and shuddered as she forced that memory away. I didn・t cry again for six years. Not till yesterday. I・m sorry kid. I had to. They would have killed me if I didn・t. She heard a footstep behind her. Whirling Lee pulled a knife and stopped herself a hairs breadth away from throwing it as she recognized Angelo. The knife disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He didn・t appear to have noticed. The gray-skinned youth said, "We・re going back to the Massachusetts Academy now. Ms Frost said you weren・t coming back with us." "Yeah. I・ve got some ・personal ・stuff to take care of." "Like what?" Lee shrugged. "Like destroying Spectrum Base." Angelo blinked. "Um. Okay. Then what・ll you do once you・ve done that?" "I dunno." Lee reached out and caught hold of his shoulder. "Take care huh Angelo." He nodded. "Yep. See ya Jubes." He walked away to join his teammates. Lee sat down again and finished her sandwich. I・m going to miss them. She knew that she・d already spent years away from her friends but this time it was different. This time she was choosing to leave them behind. "Hey Remy." The Cajun thief walked out from the shadows he・d been standing in. Lee had known he・d been there the whole time. He・d arrived during her conversation with Angelo. "Petite, ・ow did you know Gambit was dere?" "Assassins secret Gambit." He choked. "Merde. You・re an assassin? You workin・ for de Guild?" "Nah. I・m freelance, as of yesterday." "Gambit ・eard dat you・d ・ad some adventures lately Cherie." Lee thought back to a hit she・d been asked to do last year. They・d wanted her to kill Gambit. His file had been interesting. She・d gotten the hit reassigned to Jazz. She hadn・t succeeded. Lee wondered if it was true, that he had formed the Marauders and was responsible for the deaths of the Morlocks. She shook her head mentally. Lee knew she could never ask just as she・d never admit to most of the things she・d done over the years. "Yeah. I done some wild things over the years." "So petite, what ・ave been doing?" "Don・t ask Gambit. Don・t ask and I won・t mention the Morlocks. Deal?" He paled. "・Ow did you know about dat?" "I had a hit tasked on you a while back. There was a file on you. Friend of mine Jazz eventually took it. Would have been about a year before you hooked up with the X-Men." Gambit nodded. "I・m sorry Cherie. If Gambit ・ad known she was one of your friends ・e wouldn・t ・ave killed ・er." Lee shrugged. "It・s cool. I shouldn・t have mentioned the Morlocks." She paused for a moment thinking. He would probably know. Or a contact of his would. "Say Gambit, you ever heard of Spectrum?" Gambit gave a wary nod. "Oui. What about dem?" "I gotta business proposition for you then. I・m after making sure they go down hard. You・ve got a lot of contacts that could be damn useful. I・d like you to help." Lee watched him carefully, alert for the tiniest signs of doubt or disagreement with her idea "Shouldn・t de X-Men be handlin・ dis?" "No. How much do know about Spectrum?" "Some. Enough to know dey did some seriously nasty tings." "Yeah. And Storm and Cyke, storming in like they do would be slaughtered. You・d need to be subtle, sneaky, to get in there. Tha・s why I want you to help Remy." There was a long pause before he answered. "Would we be going in dere on our own?・ He appeared interested. Good. Lee knew she probably couldn・t do this without him. "No. I・m going to try and get Cable and Domino and Wolvie alongside." Those three had made careers out of trying to beat the odds on missions like this. And were all better at doing sneaky than the X-Men. Course, smashing your way in destroying the place on your way out does have its merits. Lee thought wryly. * * * * * * * * Lee was watching TV later that night. Gah. This show・s really bad she thought at the TV and the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that was currently playing. Those two guys have a really sick relationship with their mother. She flicked the remote, changing the channel. Cartoons. The RoadRunner meep-meeped as the Coyote fell off a cliff then had a ton weight fall on his head. ・lick- Some police were investigating an ugly double suicide. ・Click- Buffy staked a vampire. ・Click- Lee paused at the music video channel. She liked this song. Lee began to hum along with the words. ~ ・ Love will
lead us, alright Love will lead us, she will lead us・ ~ Lee shook her head. She was putting it off. She was going to have to talk to Logan sooner or later. But I don・t wanna! He looks so guilty whenever I try an・ talk to him. She sighed. Part of her was glad of that. Felt that he deserved it. After all he hadn・t come for her, hadn・t rescued her. I・m going to have to talk to him soon anyway, get this sorted out. If he decides to come with me and Remy we can・t have this coming up in the middle of a fight. I really can・t keep putting it off. Lee got up and headed outside. She sniffed the air carefully, smelling Logan・s cigars. She frowned trying to locate him. On the patio. Closing her eyes for a minute she strained her ears unable to hear more than one person there. She may not have had super-senses before Spectrum got their hands onto her but she did now. One of their little ・improvements・. It had saved her life more times than could remember. Lee walked into the kitchen and grabbed two beers out of the fridge. She walked out to the patio via the kitchen door. "Hey Wolvie! Thirsty?" she tossed one of the beers to her adoptive father and sat down opposite him her own beer in hand. She blinked surprised as Logan snatched the bottle out of her hand. "Hey! What the fuck d・ya think ya doing?!" she snarled. "You shouldn・t be drinking that stuff darlin・." "Yeah well, I・m legal now. Can I have my drink back?" Logan sighed and handed the beer back to Lee. "Here. You get a hangover it・s your own damn fault." "So, Wolvie, ya want ta go to Harry・s?" "You realize they won・t let drink" Snort "S・ok. I was gonna have you buy anyway." A few minutes later Logan pushed the bar door open. Lee slipped over to a booth in the corner. A moment later Logan joined her, placing a beer on the table in front of her. Lee took a long drink and wriggled back in the booth seat, looking at him "I really missed you Wolvie." He winced again and looked away. Christ. This is hard. Why does he feel so bad about it? S・not like he could have done anything, or knew. Lee shrugged. "Don・t feel so bad about it Wolvie. You couldn・t have done anything. By your time I was only gone for about three hours." "I know darlin・. It gets to me though, that I never got to see you grow up." Lee took another sip of her beer. She grinned suddenly, seeming like her old self again. She gestured over at the bartender. " You know, he thinks you・re a pervert. He thinks you・re trying to get my drunk so you can rape me." Her mouth twisted. Logan stared at her. "How do you know that?" "Remember, I always had a bit of latent telepathy? I got a device in my head that amplifies now. Got a range of about eighty feet." He shook his head. "I don・t know what to say. I・m sorry kiddo." Lee shrugged. "How ・bout thank you? There was a hit years ago that I managed to cancel." Logan blinked. "Thank you darlin・" Lee looked at him steadily. "You over the whole guilt thing yet?" He gave a bark of laughter. "No. Not entirely." "Tough. You wanna come blow up Spectrum base with me and Remy?" "Yeah. I・d like that darlin・. I take it you don・t want the X-men coming too?" "No. They couldn・t handle it." "Fair enough." Logan glanced at his watch. "It・s late darlin・. We should head back to the Mansion." Lee nodded. She gave a slight smile as Logan glared at the bartender on the way out.
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