Blueshift

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta… I wonder if Kitty Calm works on people… InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are loverly and wondermous for archiving/hosting. :) ProPhile: There ya go… smut in one. Morgan: *semi-glomp * Readers/Reviewers: Thanks for reading/reviewing as you can…

Jubilee felt dusty. She had not imagined it was possible for any room in the mansion to have that much dust, especially given Storm’s strict chores schedule. Sneezing once, she scrubbed her fingers through her hair, dislodging a mini-dust storm. Sighing ruefully, she left the library behind her, not looking back, and mounted the stairs two at a time. She knew where Remy would be. He seemed to spend almost all of his free time in the temporary nursery set up for Solange. He had refused to let anyone even suggest aloud that she be returned to the Assassins or the Thieves. Professor Xavier, she knew, had told him as gently as possible that no one would be able to raise the baby at the Institute, not in a way which would be best for her. Remy had not listened. Solange was still there, weeks later. And Belladonna was still gone. Jubilee stopped just outside the nursery door, formerly a guest room, and knocked gently. “Remy? Just me…” He did not answer. “Remy?” Quietly as she could, she pushed the old wooden door open, blinking against the dimness of the room. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust but when they did, she saw why Remy had not responded. He was asleep in the rocking chair, purloined from the attic and now cleaned and set next to the old cradle. Solange was awake but still, sucking softly on her fingers, staring at Jubilee. “Hey, little girl,” she murmured, shutting the door behind her and padding softly over to Remy’s side. “Those taste good?” Gently, she extracted the baby’s fingers, pruney now, from her mouth. “Mom always told me that would make my teeth come in crooked,” she admonished quietly, carefully picking Solange up. Remy sighed and shifted but did not move. Jubilee knew he had not been sleeping well lately, not since the last incident at Magneto’s. She did not blame him really, but she wished he would not take it out on her. Pacing slowly, she rested Solange against her shoulder. “I bet you miss Belle, huh? She was all kinds of nice to lean against, wasn’t she? Not boney like me…” Solange made a gurgling noise which Jubilee decided to interpret as agreement. “I know you must be kinda confused about all the stuff that went on a while back…” She paused and sighed. “But you really are only interested in bright, shiny objects, aren’t you? Leggo my earring!” Wincing and hissing under her breath, Jubilee pried Solange’s damp fingers from her dangling, brightly colored earring. “That’s not nice… it makes Auntie Jubes say bad words…” She thought she heard Remy snort but when she looked, he was still in his original position, sprawled in the chair, eyes closed, mouth slack with sleep. “Hmph. Anyway, yeah. This is no place for a kid. We have freaky sh…stuff…going on a lot here. It’s like the Twilight Zone for mutants or something. And I think the Professor is off on some Buffy kick, hiring that British guy for a librarian…” Jubilee shifted Solange to her other hip and smiled. “Auntie Jubes is a genius, you know that? I know the perfect place for a baby to spend some time. Socialization is good for you, right? I mean, it’s not healthy to only be around adults and teenagers, is it? You need someone to babble to…”

Storm yanked a handful of creeping weeds from the large pot of herbs, setting them down on the bench in a tray of plant hormones. The students found it amusing that she repotted the weeds and she had grown tired of telling them that every plant is useful, even the ones they think of as nuisances. She had not slept well for weeks and now that Logan was back, instead of feeling at ease and elated as she had imagined, she felt as if her entire body was tightly coiled, almost to the breaking point. He had not answered her questions on the trek back nor had he rested even for a moment once they reached the mansion. Instead, he was off with the Professor and Rogue… Storm closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, breathing the anger out in one long breath. It would do her no good to be angry with him for doing what was in his nature to do. And being angry with Todd for needing help sent a pang of guilt through her stomach. _Whatever trouble he’s in, he couldn’t help it, _ she reminded herself. _And if he could, he gets to help me muck out the fish pond after the first thaw. _ She rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes, trying to clear away the headache that seemed to have been nagging her for days. As she opened her eyes again, a bright flash of silver made her gasp. It was as if she had been blinded for just a moment, everything in the world becoming pure light, then it was gone. She blinked rapidly but there was no blurred vision to clear. She dropped the trowel onto the bench and, as if in a dream, walked slowly to the greenhouse door. Standing still for a moment, she strained her eyes to see past the walls of the greenhouse. She was sure the flash had been caused by a person, someone moving past the greenhouse on their way to the main house The thick, opaque glass showed nothing on the outside save the movement of some of the oaks in the afternoon breeze. _Don’t be silly, _she chided herself. _You saw the reflection of the lake off the glass. You’re tired. Go to the house, make some tea, take a nap. When you wake up, you’ll see how silly you’re being. _ She opened the door and stopped in her tracks. _Or not. _