Disclaimer: Characters are Marevl's, no money is being made.  Please do not sue.

NOTE: I borrowed a line from Ethan Nelson. If you don't know which one it is, get yourself over to Gossamer (http://gossamer.x-philes.com/) and read his stories.


True Confessions of a Firecracker
By Mercutio
(mercutio@europa.com)

Part One


Two twigs dug into her back. At least, Jubilee could swear
she felt two separate points of very itchy, irritating contact
against her bare skin. 'Course, the scratches she'd received from
the tough grass covering the ground hurt a bit, too, but it was the
maddening tickle of the wood against her skin that she couldn't
bear.

She squirmed, hoping that the action would lessen the torment.
It didn't. The rest of the day had gone so well -- why did reality
have to intrude now? 'Course, she couldn't very well complain
about *how* she'd picked up the bits of tree debris. Jubilee
smiled. She'd chosen a rare get-together of several of the various
groups affiliated with the X-Men to stage a campaign for
Wolverine's affections. Forget the friendship thing. She wanted
him as a man, and she'd gone for what she wanted. Following a game
of paintball, she'd shot Logan up close, then dared him to chase
her. And chase her he had. A chase that had ended up quite
satisfactorily for both parties. Orgasms all around.

The twigs still itched though. She wiggled again.

"Keep doin' that and we won't get back to the mansion 'til
after dawn," came a deep growl from directly over her head.

"Is that a threat? Ooh, I'm so scared." She rested in
Wolverine's arms as he carried her through the woods. Her night
vision sucked, and she had leapt at the chance to avoid gaining any
more battle scars. Not that having him carry her was in any way
unpleasant. Uh-uh. "Next time we do this outside, you get to be
on the bottom."

"Whatever you say, darlin'."

She cuddled against his warm strength, feeling his skin under
her cheek and burrowing into it. She didn't have his senses, but
his smell and feel comforted her.

"This could get interestin'," he said.

"What?" Jubilee struggled to look up, but being curled
against someone's chest was not the best reconnaissance outpost.
In any case, the only thing she saw was darkness.

"The party's not over. Noise comin' from the outside of the
house. Think we're missin' the dancin'."

"No great loss," she said, then suddenly pictured him holding
her, swaying to music -- or better yet, gyrating to some flash
metal. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Just one little problem, darlin'."

"What is it?"

He looked at her, eyes grave, but his face still set in
relaxed lines. "How do we get into the mansion without incitin' a
riot?"

She stared at him and started to giggle helplessly,
remembering their nudity. "Oh, no. No."

Nothing had been left of their clothing after they'd made
love. Logan had taken them back to try to salvage something, but
her earlier costume lay in shreds. She had the boots and the mask,
and that was about it. Not that Wolverine's clothing was in much
better shape. He'd lost his shirt to the paintball game earlier in
the day, and his trousers were much the worse for wear, ripped in
several places, with barely enough fabric remaining to maintain
decency. "So what you're saying is that we've either got to break
into the mansion without anyone seeing us -- fat chance with so
many people up and roaming around -- or we walk up just the way we
are and brazen it out."

He flexed his wrist experimentally, as though about to
unsheathe his claws. "They better keep their mouths shut."

"Or what?" she asked, still laughing. "Or you'll slash their
clothes off too?"

He growled at her.

"What? It might start a fad," she said. "We could all go
skinny dipping in the pool!"

He growled again, then bent his head, roughly brushing her
lips apart with his own. Jubilee forgot her laughter and twined
her arms around his neck, hands at the back of his head, pulling
him closer to her.

"Or we could just stay here."

She pulled back a little, just enough to keep her rampaging
senses from making the decision for her. "Nope. I want a shower
and food. And a bed."

He nuzzled her ear. "You sure?"

She took a deep breath. *Exactly how badly *do* I want that
shower? And how much paint _do_ I have on me? And do I really
care if I get any sleep tonight?* "I'm sure."

***

The simplest plan, Jubilee argued, was to appear in
Wolverine's room instantaneously, thus avoiding the otherwise
inevitable prospect of exposing themselves to someone who might
think their situation was funny, or worse, a topic for serious
discussion. She couldn't bear the thought of enduring the round of
teasing that would occur, especially if most of the people still up
had gotten drunk. Now, if they'd think that she and Wolverine
streaking naked across the lawn were just a hallucination, that'd
be fine.

But Wolvie wouldn't go for either plan. Reluctantly, she
admitted to herself that it was a little late for either of them to
try developing a teleporting ability. And what he'd said on the
subject of their streaking made her grin furiously.

"You're mine, darlin', and I ain't lettin' no one get a look
at you like this."

The possessiveness thrilled her, as well as the dark promise
in his voice and manner that more passion still lurked inside him.
She didn't know whether she needed to dance 'til she dropped or
soak in a hot tub until all her muscles went limp, but she was
hyper-alert, not close to ready to let the day end yet. Even if
the sun *were* technically down.

Instead of taking up any of her ideas on how to get back into
the mansion, he left her in the protection of a tree just outside
of the circle of light that surrounded the house, and slipped
noiselessly into the night.

Jubilee shivered. Late spring, the night still contained
enough chill to make her shiver without Wolverine's body to warm
her. *It'll only be a few minutes,* she told herself. *He just
needs to slip inside for some clothing and then he'll be right
back.*

Voices wafted to her from the partygoers. Well out of their
line of sight, and cold enough to want anything that could distract
her from her predicament, she listened to the conversation that was
almost inaudible over the distance.

Or would've been inaudible if the participants weren't talking
in an overly loud drunk-speak.

"How long have they been gone?"

"Seven and a half hours."

"I put my money on two hours."

"Sucker."

"What's the highest bet for?"

"Not returning."

She heard the first person laugh. "Might be safer to sneak
out of the country at that. I think that they're going to get an
*un*-welcome party when they return."

The other person snorted. "Why? You could see this coming
for years."

A hand on her shoulder alerted her to Wolverine's return, and
Jubilee left off listening to the conversation in favor of
burrowing into his arms. She noticed that he'd dressed as well,
the cotton shirt soft under her face. He rubbed her soothingly.
When her shivering subsided to a bearable level, she started
putting on the clothes he'd acquired for her.

*Her* clothes, she noticed. So he'd gotten into the room she
shared with three of the other female members of Generation X and
managed to find her something to wear and get back out again
without anyone noticing? As impressive as always. Assuming that
anyone in this whole place was actually sleeping yet.

"Thanks," she said, feeling better. "Now what? We just walk
in and pretend that nothing happened?"

"That's the idea."

"But someone'll say something," she protested, the
conversation she'd overheard loud in her mind.

"They won't say a word," he promised, looking deadly.

His hand on her shoulder, they walked up to the mansion, and
inside. As promised, no one said anything to them, although heads
turned and people started whispering as soon as they passed by.

"Geez," Jubilee complained as they got to the door to his
room. "I feel like I'm on exhibit."

Wolverine's body became taut, and his expression looked hard
as he sensed something that no one else would notice it. "Get used
to it," he said, swinging the door open to reveal Scott and Jean
waiting for them.

"Please tell me you haven't been waiting here this whole
time," Jubilee said, trying to make light of the situation. If she
thought it'd do any good, she'd throw a temper tantrum at finding
them there. She had better things to be doing right now, darn it.
Like trying out the bed. Beds. What a novelty.

Jean smiled apologetically. "Scott asked me to keep track of
you. When I felt your mental presences returning here, we came to
meet you."

"It's best that we keep this private," Scott affirmed.

Logan said nothing, letting the shadows fall over his face.
Jubilee felt his body tensing, preparing for whatever might come.

"We know that you're grown up now, dear," Jean said,
addressing Jubilee, "but we're concerned. It's isn't really any of
our business--"

"Damn straight," Wolverine muttered.

"But--" she said, continuing, "we wanted to talk to the two of
you nevertheless. Because we *are* concerned. You're a friend of
ours, Logan, and a member of the family."

Jubilee crossed her arms. "And me?"

Jean smiled down at her. "You'll always be important to us,
too, Jubilee. We want you to be happy."

*I was pretty happy up 'til about five minutes ago,* Jubilee
thought.

"We're aware that you've started a relationship," Jean began.
"First of all, I wanted to ask you -- did you think of birth
control?"

Jubilee knew Wolvie hadn't. She'd caught him by surprise,
and, well, under the circumstances he had some excuse for not
thinking. She'd wanted him to feel rather than to think.

Cyclops interpreted the lack of response as a 'no', and
started to swear softly. "Don't you know any better?"

"It *is* an important concern," Jean interrupted tactfully.
"You could have children, and that's a large responsibility even
discounting the dangers we risk constantly in our lives--"

*I can't believe she's trying to tell us about the birds and
the bees,* Jubilee thought. "Look, I'm on birth control pills, all
right? No danger here, people. Everything's fine, no need to
worry."

"Well, that's one good thing," Jean said. "Now about your
relationship with Wolverine--"

Scott took over from her. "If I could have seen this coming,
I would have said this before. Logan, I -- we are concerned that
your actions are going to hurt Jubilee."

"Umm -- excuse me?" Jubilee said. "I'm standing right here.
You could maybe ask if I feel hurt?"

Jean gave her a smile that felt condescending to Jubilee.

"It-- it's important not to abuse your role of mentor in this
fashion," Scott went on, ignoring Jubilee. "When a man has a
relationship with a young person, that relationship has to be
carefully handled when the younger person grows up. When someone
looks up to you for guidance, it is important to be careful not to
use that idolatry for personal pleasure..."

Jubilee bristled. "Aren't you going to yell at *me*? I'm the
one who practically begged him to chase me out into the woods!"

Scott found himself at a loss for words. He sputtered. "If
you came on to-- *approached* him, he should still have known
better than to react to a juvenile. We can't tolerate Logan's
predilections for picking up young girls if he actually starts
trying to sleep with them!"

SNIKT! The sound of claws unsheathing rang loudly even in the
middle of an argument. In one fluid movement, Wolverine pinned
Cyclops against the wall, his points of his claws at the other
man's throat. "You got somethin' you want to say to me, bub?"

<Very smooth, dear,> Jean said into Scott's mind, her mental
tone amused. <I could have told you that Logan has never taken
advantage of any of his relationships with young girls.>

Jubilee laid her hand over Wolverine's wrist, rolling her eyes
at Cyclops who, to his credit, seemed somewhat chagrined at what
he'd said in the heat of battle. She spoke quietly, "I don't think
I have anything else I want to say to him. Talk about having a
dirty mind. Let's blow this pizza place."

Grudgingly, Logan relaxed under her hand, pulling back from
Cyclops enough so that the three points of metal rested against the
other man's throat instead of pushing into the vulnerable flesh.
Then he let Scott down.

"I'm sorry I said what I did," Scott said, straightening the
collar of his shirt. "That was more than I meant to say."

Wolverine nodded, sheathing his claws. His expression did not
relax, but he nodded to the other man. "Let me tell you something,
Summers," he said in the tone of a man dislodging a secret he would
have rather have kept buried. "I have a screwy memory, so I don't
know how old I am. But I know I ain't aging 'cept on the inside.
An' I don't think any of you are my age. All of you are young
t'me. An' long as I live, everyone will be younger. An' they'll
all keep growin' older while I don't. Jubes has grown up. If you
can't see it, that's your problem. If I can't see it, I'm going to
be alone for good."

Silence fell. Jubilee wished the other two were gone. She
wanted to throw her arms around Wolvie right now and hug him very
tightly. Everyone died on him. That was what he was saying --
she'd been there when Mariko died, and even if she herself avoided
all danger (not likely!), she'd still grow old on Wolverine anyway.

"I'm sorry," Jean said. "I don't -- we never thought of it
that way." She pulled on her husband's arm, guiding him to the
door. "We didn't mean to intrude--" Jean began apologetically.

"You had our best interests at heart," Jubilee forced herself
to say, just to get them out of the room. She didn't mean it, but
hearing that seemed to satisfy them and they left.

*Then* she flung herself at Logan, wrapping her arms as far as
they would go around him, holding onto him as though he might be
teleported away at any moment.

He exhaled as she hit him. "Hey! What's this for?"

"For being you."

"An easy lady to impress."

She grinned at him. "Now let's try out the bed."

"Ooh, kinky. I like it."


- End Part One -