Lullaby

Title: Lullaby
Author: Me, 'The Demon.' =)
Summary: Wolverine and Jubilee have to deal with the aftermath of what took place in the Prison underneath Moscow while a man with a grudge against the two of them is hunting them down. Everett and Monet consummate their relationship, and Paige is taught a thing or two about sex from Monet.
Rating: NC17
Pairing(s): Wolverine/Jubilee, Monet/Everett, Paige/Monet
Feedback: Please leave feedback! It helps me write better.
Characters: Wolverine, Jubilee, Everett, Monet, and Paige from Marvel comics. Also other Marvel characters.
Betas: No Betas.
Author’s notes: In the previous story, Wolverine and Jubilee were taken prisoner and suffered numerous wounds, some physical and some emotional. They managed to escape and make a friend along the way, and plenty of new enemies. This is a sequel to 'On The Rocks.'
Disclaimer: X-Men and Generation-X are the property of Marvel Comics and are being used without permission. I am not making any money. I'm not that lucky.

---

The members of Generation X knew Jubilee had been in a prison, but the details were omitted by the Xmen to protect her from ridicule. Generation X knew only what Jubilee wanted them to know - and all that she wanted them to know what that she had gone to a prison and it wasn't a pleasant experience.

Everything else she left to their imaginations. Sometimes they would poke her or tease her into spilling the more intimate details. She never spilled. If she wouldn't tell the Xmen everything, what made Skin, Synch, Monet, and Paige think that she would tell them?

The few details that the Xmen knew was that she and Wolverine had been forced to work in a quarry and had been starved. Wolverine had been tortured and Jubilee had suffered harassment from the inmates - which had lead to a pointless death. That was all the information she and Wolverine were willing to give, and for the most part, it satisfied the Xmen enough that they left them alone.

The details they kept secret was that they were also drugged and raped. And they planned to keep that secret between themselves, hidden and shoved aside, and eventually -hopefully- forgotten. They had dealt with it, so there was no reason to bring it back to the surface. They were more than ready to leave the past in the past.

So it had been three weeks since she had escaped the prison, and another two weeks since she returned to the Massechusetts Academy to continue her studies. She was allowed to take easy courses this year, since she had a late start.

She had a simple schedule - Math, Poetry, Art history, PE, and Geology. At first she had done well - catching up quickly until her grades were up with the best of the class.

At first, Jubilee had done well. She was laughing again, and her team mates suspected her time in the prison wasn't nearly as terrible as the Xmen treated it as. They went about their lives as usual, going to class, training in the Danger Grotto, and learning about their powers. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal for Jubilee.

Or so she thought.

---

Underneath Moscow...

"No ... prisoner .... has ever escaped." Lord Balsan gasped for air. "Those two prisoners ... how did they .." He couldn't speak anymore. He collapsed in his chair is frustration and exhaustion. He couldn't even say it - that there was a traitor in their midst. Someone had let them free. There was no way they could have escaped otherwise.

He wanted the Warden executed. The Warden didn't deserve that title - those two mutants had made a mockery of his prison, and thus, the Warden had made it a mockery, too. But how could he order such a sorry excuse for a man to die when he could barely breathe? He could feel his life slipping away from his once nimble fingers.

"We will hunt the escaped prisoners down for you, My Lord. We will not rest until every prisoner has been found." The Warden said, bowing. Twenty-six prisoners had been captured. The others were still missing, having searched for sanctuary on the surface.

Lord Balsan could only sneer at the Warden and nod, too exhausted to disagree and order his execution. The Warden and his men took their leave, Lady Yvanka following after them slowly. He reached out to his wife, arms shaking. He tried to call out to her, but he found that he couldn't.

She stopped at the door and turned to look at him. "I will send Indah to bring you tea." She said, then smiled at him sweetly. "Do not fret, My Lord. You will have your heir still."

Then she left Lord Balsan alone in his room, the air of misery thick as any fog bank.


---

Massachusetts Academy...

The clock showed it was five in the morning, and the sun hadn't yet risen above the mountains.

Jubilee awoke abruptly and covered her mouth, either to keep her scream from waking the others or to keep the vomit at bay, it didn't matter. She bolted out of her bed and ran for the bathroom, missing the toilet entirely and making a mess on the tile floor. She retched all of the contents out of her stomach, the images from her nightmares inciting such a feeling of shock and disgust that she heaved until the images in her mind slowly faded away.

She had dreamed of the man again - the man she killed with a miner's pick. She had dreamed that he hadn't died at all, but was very much alive, following after her, his leg half-rotted from infection. "I'll kill you for what you did to me," he would say, reaching for her. "You'll pay for this!" Then he would chase after her. And Jubilee, unwilling to kill him again, would run and hide. And he would always find her, even with his rotted and limping leg, and he would strangle her until the guard showed up and blew his brains away.

Then she would wake up, either ready to vomit or ready to scream and sometimes, like this morning, both. She took a few deep, steadying breaths. She felt like crud and was sure she looked like it, too. The lack of sleep and constant nightmares left dark shadows under her eyes and made her tired and cranky.

She grabbed handfuls of wadded toilet paper and began cleaning up the mess. She flushed the pukey paper, and when the bathroom didn't smell like vomit anymore, she took a shower.

---

Later...


Sean Cassidy rubbed his forehead with a frown, looking down at the essays and homework projects. He read one essay and winced at the first paragraph. "It's terrible." He set it down, then looked up at Emma Frost, who stood in front of him. He made an expression that could only be translated as So what's the problem?

"Jubilee never recieved a single F before. Look at that. Every single subject has at least one." Emma rested her delicate knuckles on Sean's desk, thinking. She began to tap her well-manicured finger on the hard red wood.

"I see that." He leaned back in his chair, flicking his pen between his fingers, eyeing her. She seemed angry. Disappointed. Concerned. Her expression almost made him queezy.

"Christ, Emma, what'd ye expect from the lass?" His tone was that of suprise. From the moment he heard that she had nearly been worked to death in a prison, starved and harassed and forced to kill an inmate, he had expected some sign of trauma to show up sooner or later - and her grades just happened to be it.

"I don't know." She said, then took it back. "I expected her to be honest with me."

"She wasna fully honest with the Xmen either. Ye ken that. She'll tell us when she feels ready."

Emma shook her head, pressing her lips together to form a thin red line. "I wouldn't count on it. Wolverine wasn't entirely forthcoming himself. I understand she's going through a rough time, but I can't ignore these grades." Her nose wrinkled in thought. If Wolveirne wouldn't disclose everything, then Jubilee definately wouldn't. She practically worshipped the man, and always followed his lead.

"Forgive me if this sounds cruel, but it sounds to me that ye're angry that she willna tell ye what ye want to hear." Learning of anyone's best kept secret had a very alluring appeal. Being refused to learn of a secret was offensive business - especially to a telepath, and even moreso to one who was in the position to know of such things.

"You're damn right I am!" It infuriated her that Jubilee kept silent - didn't she know that secrets were dangerous things? How could Emma ever hope to help Jubilee if she was so closed off? "I want to help her, not watch her suffer."

"Did ye ever consider that maybe she doesna want your help?"

Emma gave him a cold look. "That is beside the point."

He shrugged, rubbing his blond stubble. "Ahh, I'm no in the mood t' argue. When she's ready to tell ye, she'll tell. But until then, I'd expect to see more of these," He said, handing the poorly written essays back to her. "I wouldna push her too hard."

---

Later that night...

Everett had felt under the weather recently, moping about how his schedule sucked and only managed to share one class with Monet, and after a while his whining was growing on her nerves.

Monet had decided one day that she was going to cheer him up the best way she knew how.

She bit her bottom lip and smiled as she ran her hands down her perfect body, admiring herself in her tall-standing mirror. She was dressed to kill, donning a short skirt and equally short top. Her hair was high on her head, tousled.

Satisfied with her appearance, she left her room, locked it, and sauntered through the halls of the school, inciting lustful looks from nearby boys as she passed.

It was a compiment, really, the way they looked at her. At least, she considered it a compliment, just as much as the White Queen did. Paige and Jubilee considered it demeaning - but really, compliments were in the eye of the beholder - and she held so many.

She made her way to the lounge where she knew Everett stood, pouting. She tapped him on the shoulder, who turned around, oblivious.

"Hello, handsome," She said and wrapped her arms around him and planted a quick kiss on his lips, letting her telepathy flare to life. She let Everett see and feel every thought of all the other boys nearby. He was flooded by thoughts of jealousy, respect, and admiration. "Would you like to take a walk with me?" She asked, attatching herself to his arm, not taking a no for an answer.

"S-sure," he said, overwhelmed by the thoughts of all the students flooding into him. It was intoxicating. "You can feel that all the time?" He whispered, in awe.

She only smiled in response.

His breath was stolen away, his gloomy mood forgotten, wrapped up in all that was her. "You're amazing."

Paige and Jubilee watched as they walked by, careful to conceal their thoughts from Monet. "Doesn't it bother you to see them?" She whispered to Jubilee, who shook her head, but frowned anyway. Paige knew better.

Of course it bothered her, even though she wouldn't admit it. Jubilee had liked Everett from very early on, and made sure that she showed it at every chance she could. She was first to defend him when he was in danger and first to his rescue. She was first to buddy with him when he needed a study partner.

The only reason Monet started dating him in the first place was because she wanted to get back at Jubilee. Everett wasn't her type - he was above average intelligence, yes, but Monet was genius. Everett was peaceful and peace-loving. Monet was quick to quip and fight.

"Why don't you fight her?" Paige asked, then realized the absurdity of it just after the words escaped her lips. She winced as Jubilee took a bite of her vegetarian sushi. What in god's name was she eating? It looked disgusting.

"Nah. What would that solve except make me look like a jerk? I just haveta wait 'til she breaks his heart, I guess." She said as she eyed Monet, watching as she and Everett turned a corner and out of sight. She took another bite of the seaweed-rice-carrot-tofu sushi roll. She used to hate the things, but she kind of liked them now. She watched as Paige winced.

She couldn't help herself. She lifted a sushi roll and offered it to her blond comrade. "Want some? It's not that bad."

Paige threw her hands up and stuck out her tongue, backing away from the disgusting-looking roll as if it had the plague. "Nyack!" She blanched.

Jubilee shrugged and popped it into her mouth, savoring the odd, tingling taste. Ever since the Prison, she was able to eat just about anything. She wasn't so picky about foods anymore. Soon she found herself eating things she never would have seen herself eating a year ago. She yawned sleepily, even though it was only seven o'clock and not nearly time for bed yet. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and picked up another disgusting sushi roll.

Just then, Emma entered her thoughts. Jubilee stiffened and set up her mental barriers. Her face contorted into a scowl. "Get out of my head, Frosty!" She hissed.

~Calm down! I just want a word with you in my office.~

Jubilee did calm down, but only a little. She groaned. "Frosty wants to see me. See you later," She said to Paige, shoving the last of her sushi roll in her mouth.

Paige watched as Jubilee left, then, when she knew Jubilee wasn't looking, stuck her finger in her mouth. "Gross!"