Behaving Badly

"Has anyone ever scared you?" Kitty asked Jubilee in a lighter tone. "I mean, really scared you?" Jubilee chuckled at Kitty's use of her own words. She nodded.
"Oh yeah. And it was just as unexpected as yours."
**


The club was throbbing with music. Jubilee approached with a smile. This was exactly what she needed. Sneaking out of her room had been little trouble for a former thief. She walked down the street and to the door where she flashed a fake ID and a big smile at the bouncer. The man smiled back and let her in. She wore a short sequined skirt, a tight, black tank top and knee-high black boots with a steel toe. The smoke that enveloped her like a blanket was a blessed relief. She'd been living at the mansion for a few months and it was becoming tedious to remain in such a sterile environment. Sterile, at least, compared to her old life. She got a drink from the bar and wandered to the balcony where she leaned on the railing and watched the writhing mass of bodies below her. Rather than making her confused, the thrumming of the music and press of bodies around her made her feel focused.


The peace and quiet and relative safety of the mansion was distracting. Jubilee was used to taking in so many details at once that she found herself unable to tune out anything in the house. Here, she could overload her sento tto the point where only the important thoughts would poke through. She needed to make a decision about her future. Jubilation Lee 't 't fit in here. She was getting into fights a lot and skipped classes. She caused trouble and mayhem with her attepts to keep herself sane. She didn't want to feel like a stray cat whd bed been taken in off the street; a cat that people expected to immediately settle into purring on laps and catching the occasional mouse. She was no one's trained anything.


A hand on Jubilee's shoulder surprised her. She turned around and looked into the handsome face of a blonde, clean-cut, fraternity type. He had an NYU t-shirt on and a big smile. He shouted to her but she wasn't able to understand him. He took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. She allowed his large hands to grip her ribs and started moving with him on the floor. They danced for a few songs and she began to relax, not thinking much about her partner. He shouted something else at her and jerked his thumb in the direction of the balcony. Then he pulled her by the hand behind him. They went back upstairs and she moved through the crowd with the man moving steadily forward. He moved with definite intent and a warning pricked her spine.


Jubileusheushed off her feeling of unease. Nothing could hurt her here. When she started to pull away, the man just tightened his grip on her hand and kept her with him. He didn't look behind him at her, just kept plowing through the crush of bodies around her. A moment later, cool night air hit her skin and she realized they were in an alley outside the club. The music throbbed dully from inside and she looked at her companion curiously.


"What are we doing out here?" She asked. He smiled his white smile at her again.


"I just wanted to be able to talk to you without being drown out." He said. "I'm not used to big crowds." She raised her eyebrow at him.


"I didn't catch your name inside."


"Tom." He replied. She told him hers. "Wow, very appropriate."


"Thanks, Tom. But I think you're very used to crowds." At his startled expression, she continued. "You go to NYU and you wove through the mass of people like a pro. You knew where the exit was so you've obviously been here before, and I'm afraid you're a terrible liar." She clucked her tongue at him and shook her head. It was too silly, really.


"You're here now." He said, smiling at her with white teeth and empty eyes. She hadn't really expected to see much in his eyes. "Why don't we get to know each other a little better. He grasped her upper arms in a strong but non-aggressive grip. His eyes didn't leave her face when the exit door opened and Jubilee saw three more men come into the alley out of the corner of her eye. "You're early." Tom said without losing his smile.


"I get the score now." Jubilee said, smiling back at the men. "The old 'bait and switch' routine." She glanced at the other three men. They were all pretty big. "Pretty little Tom lures the ladies outside for some back-alley romance and you three come in to share in the bounty, huh?" They didn't answer. Jubilee broke Tom's grip. He was between her and the opening of the alley. "I'll pass on this game. She said, brushing past him. He grabbed her arms and hauled her back, flinging her toward his buddies. She'd been expecting a move like that so she wasn't caught completely unprepared.


"Game's just starting, sweetheart." Tom said, nodding to his friends. "And we really want you to play."


"Oh, please, I'd kick your ass just for using such a terrible cliché." Jubilee went on the offensive. Her few months of official training had been primarily 'Disable and Escape' techniques. She had no trouble with that. She charged Tom, ramming her shoulder into his stomch. He didn't go down, but instead, caught her around the waist. She punched him in the lip as she fell with him. She winced as her head hit the dirty ground. Startled at the real pain. She shouted out. "Xavier." Nothing happened and one of the other three grabbed her ankles.


"Bitch." Snarled Tom, rolling her over onto her stomach, his weight presing down on her back. "You're going to pay for that." Jubilee started to charge up her hands when the exit door banged open again and she heard shouting and grunts. Shortly, she heard the sound of a human body hitting the brick wall. The weight on her back was suddenly lifted and Tom flew over her head. She rolled over and kicked the man holding her ankles in the face. He howled in pain. The fifth man who'd entered the alley now stood with his feet on either side of Jubilee's hips. He crouched over her like a bear over a cub. He was in a familiar stance. The two men who remained standing were circling Jubilee and res rescuer. She watched in fascination as he dispatched them quickly and efficiently in a straightforward approach of direct, forceful punches and kicks.


"Show off." She mumbled from the ground when he'd finished.


"Get up, Jubilee." He snapped. She gingerly put weight on her skinned knee and got to her feet. "I ought to flay you alive for this." He lay a heavy hand on her shoulder and shoved her ahead of him out of the alley. When they gained the street, she felt angry tears gather at the way he was marching her, like a child, away from danger.


"Nice outfit, Cyke." She said, running an eye over his choice of tight, b shi shirt and beige cargo pants. "Come here often?"


"What did you think you were doing here?" He asked, shaking her by the shoulder. "Do you have a deathwish or are you just plain stupid?" He shoved her through the door to a parking garage that took up almost an entire block.


"Where are we going?" She asked, ignoring his question.


"Answer me, Jubilee."


"No." Her pride was smarting from the condescending manner in which he was treating her. He all but tossed her into the elevator and pushed a button for the top floor. "I didn't need your help back there. I was handling it just fine." She was fuming and he added fuel to her fire by laughing outright.


"You think you could have taken out a gang of rapists who collectively outweigh you by about seven hundred pounds?"


"I was just about to charge up and Paf the shit out of them." She said, hands on hips. "I didn't need you to stick your big, fucking, fearless Leader nose into my fight." She didn't even see him move, but Scott struck her with an open-palm slap across her cheek. It wasn't a hard blow. Just enough to startle and sting.


"You've got a mouth like a sewer, Jubilee." He said, facing her with a stoic expression. "You think you're tough? Okay then, There were four of them, and there's only one of me. Why don't you see if you can take me." She rubbed her cheek and stared at him incredulously.


"You can't be serious."


"I think you know how serious I am, Jubes." He taunted her, using her nickname. His feet were planted and he didn't move an inch. He was waiting for her to attack. The doors of the elevator opened and she darted for them. He caught her by the back of the neck with one hand. Like scruffing an unruly cat, she thought as she flew through the air and hit the back of the elevator with a thud. She'd taken worse beatings than this on the street, but it was unexpected coming from him. She gathered herself up and faced him, charging up an energy ball.


"I may get my ass kicked, Summers, but either way, I'm leaving the mansion in the morning." He ducked the globule she lobbed at him and continued to stand between her and the exit. Above her, a voice rang out in the darkness.


"Stop simulation. Summers Alpha 2." Scott vanished in front of her. Then, from off to the left, she heard the sound of the Danger Room door opening and headed toward it. She saw the lights from the hallway behind one of the pillars in the garage. When it came into full view, she saw the real Scott Summers standing barefoot in jeans and a t-shirt. His hair was mussed from sleep, but he was wearing his visor. He pressed a button, closing the doors. They vanished from sight and he crossed his arms over his chest.


"I meant it, Summers, I'm out of here."


"Only way out's through me." He'd never looked larger. He was nearly a foot taller than she was. And he was built as solid as a rock. But even rocks could be moved, she told herself as she produced a double handful of energy and tossed them in his direction. He dodged them both and caught her around the waist as she tried to slip past him. He threw her out onto the empty parking level and she scraped her hands and knees on the hard floor. He seized her by the hair and pulled her upright. This was not the Scott she knew. "You've been a royal pain since you got here. I'm really sick of your attitude regarding the rules that the rest of us abide by." He said in the same passionless voice he used during training exercises. He marched her over to where his car was parked and tossed her over the hood. Clamping his hand around her wrists in a vice-like grip, he held here there, face down like a common criminal.


"Fine you made your fucking point, Cyclops." Jubilee grunted. "You're bigger and stronger than me. But Xavier said I was here voluntarily so I'm gone tomorrow."


"You go when I let you go." He said, holding her still against her struggles. "I won't have that man torn apart inside because your pride gets hurt and you go back to the streets where you get yourself killed after he's becomeacheached to you." He leaned over her and she felt his breath on her ear. "What did you think you were doing in the club with those guys, Jubes?" When she didn't answer, he continued. "You go out dressed like a hooker, looking for trouble, and it's going to find you." Humiliation washed over Jubilee in waves.


"Let me go, Scott, or I swear-"


"What?" He asked with a chuckle. You'll wiggle around a little more? Maybe you can scratch my virtual paint job with your earring if you try hard enough." She made a frustrated noise. "Sorry if I interrupted something with those guys in the alley." He taunted. "Maybe all this time here's got you feeling restless, yeah I can understand that. I'll just get Logan, Bobby and Kurt down, here. I'm sure that together we can show you a better time than those idiots could." For emphasis, he slapped her bottom.


Jubilee's face burned with embarassment and anger. Scott had more than made his point, but now he had to gloat. She couldn't help trying to get in another dig.


"Go ahead and call them. I always figured that Fearless Leader was only good at bossing everyone around. Can't handle a sixteen-year-old on his own. Gotta call in reinforcements to do the tough stuff." Her breath came in pants and she was sweating and she could see the fog on the hood of his convertible left by her warm breath. When he whispered in her ear next, Jubilee realized that she'd made a huge miscalculation.


"Maybe this lesson is best taught one-on-one." His words were light, but his tone was icy. He tossed her to the ground and she scrambled to her feet, charging up her hands. Scott hit her with a low-powered optic blast that landed her back on her rear. “So help me, Jubilee,” he said, standing over her, “you will l thi this lesson if I have to beat it into you.”


“Go ahead.” Jubilee said, staggering to her feet. The muscles in her rear end were sore, but her pride wouldn’t let her give up. She knew she was outmatched, Scott wasn’t the biggest, the strongest, the fastest, smartest, or the most powerful person who lived at the mansion; however, he was big, strong, fast, smart and powerful. This combination made him virtually unbeatatable. And a sixteen-year-old girl with very little training didn’t have a chance. Every time she charged up a globule, he’d slam her back to the ground with an optic blast.


Jubilee went for a physical assault next. She aimed a kick at his groin; Scott caught her ankle and yanked her leg toward him, catching her by the throat. He pulled her to his eye level, forcing her to stand on one foot on the tips of her toes.


“You can’t beat me, Jubes.” When her reply was to scratch at his face, he dropped her and backhanded her across the cheek, spinning her around and splitting her lip. He kicked her in the stomach next, not hard enough to do anyage,age, but hard enough to knock the breath out of her. She coughed and gagged, curling up into a ball. His bare feet were in front of her face. She held out her hand defensively and choked for air.


“I get it.” She gasped as he seized her arm and hauled her to her feet. “Please stop.”


"End simulation. Summers Alpha two."


Jubilee fell to the floor of the Danger Room. She struggled to her feet and gingerly brushed the dirt off her scraped hands and knees.


"I ought to kill you for that." Jubilee said in a whisper. She couldn't get her voice to work right yet. Her hands were shaking and there was a tremor in her words.


"I think we've established that you can't." Scott said. His voice was even and unemotional, as usual. "Not yet anyway."


"Why did you do that?" She asked, gesturing to the now empty room. There was no sign of the city block that had held the nightclub and parking garage. "Make a program like that?"


"As I recall, you are forbidden from using any program in here without the permission and presence of a senior staff member."


"Why didn't the security word work?"


"Xavier?" He asked, repeating the word she'd shouted in the alley when she'd first experienced the group attack. "It's a special program. One I designed that can't be stopped by anyone but me."
"You created this program without a safety precaution?" She asked incredulous. "That's-"


"There is a special kind of safety in every program." He inerrupted smoothly. "Even in the ones with the proverbial safety switch off will have a programmed version of myself or one of the other senior staff members in it who can defend the player until help can arrive. But you won't even see them until you're in actuactual danger."


"So it was you in there." Jubilee backed away from him slightly.


"Sort of." He said, stepping into the room and shutting the doors behind him. "It had my fighting abilities and tactics knowledge, as well as programmed parts of my personality. But if we'd been talking for long enough, you'd be able to tell the difference."


"I meant it, Summers, I plan to leave the mansion."


"I meant it when I said that you will only leave this house through me." He crossed his arms but didn't make any moves toward her.


"I won't stay here in the same house with you." She said, her voice raising again. "Not after this." Tears of panic welled up in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks.


"Ordinarily my alter wouldn’t have even struck you. But I did some modifications to this program for this eventuality."


"You were baiting me for this sim?" She asked, the tears came harder and faster. "You're sick." He shook his head at her.


"You were going to get yourself killed, Jubilee, I can't let you do that. I needed to have a scare tactic ready. You weren't getting any more managable in the house."


"So you made a Sim that was under the entertainment section and labeled it 'Nightclub' just waiting for me to find it and stumble into a fight?"


"No, the program reacts to your decisions in the same way the battle Sims do. You started to figure out that there was something wrong with ‘Tom’ before his friends got there. But if you'd been paying closer attention, you’d have noticed something odd about him and the way he behaved much earlier."


"Like what?"


"Like the way he signaled his friends while you were dancing. You missed them in the crowd completely. You can't do that in real life, Jubilee." He shook his head. "The computer analyzed their attack and your stengths and it interpreted a threat. That's why it sent the virtual Scott in."
"So if he was supposed to protect me, why did he attack me instead?"


"I fiddled with his programming a little, and if you weren't scared straight by the gang, he was supposed to scare you."


"It worked." She edged away from him. "I don't want to be around you anymore." He crossed his arms over his chest.
"To"Tough." He said. "The point wasn't to fear me specifically. It was just to understand that you aren't safe. Period. You go into dangerous situations and toss away help when it's offered." He sighed and shook his head. "You have too much confidence in your own abilities. Anyone can be a threat to you, even me. You just don't get it. You've thrown orders back into the faces of people with less patience than I have. I had to argue with Logan over who was going to knock some sense into your thick skull."


"How am I supposed to trust you after this?" She asked. "You want me to be part of a team, but you beat lessons into me." She cried harder. "You're fucking crazy."


"You didn't trust any of us to begin with." He said. "But you weren't as difficult to teach as some." He laughed bitterly. "I really had to beat the stuffing out of a couple of the guys in order to get them to trust me."


"Tell me the truth." Jublee said. "What kind of man are you?" She didn't expect an answer.


"I've killed, Jubilee, and I've been a fighter since I was younger than you." His words were blunt and honest. She looked doubtful "You’re not the only orphan, you know. At least you could use your mutation when it developed, mine kept me blind for a long time.” He sighed. “Just being a mutant, you put a big target on your back. A lot of your friends will die. You could die a lot younger than you planned. I want to make sure that I've done everything possible to make sure you're as prepared as I can to play the hand you're dealt." Doubt crept into her mind. Was he telling the truth?


"What happens now?"


"You start acting like a grown up and quit starting fights." He replied. "Go to your classes, study with Logan and Hank if you don't want to be around me. We will be a team, Jubilee, and on assignments you will need to trust me. Once you've trained up enough, you might even be able to take me in a fight. When you can, I will allow you to go out on your own." He stood up from the wall. And faced her squarely. "Until then, if you try to leave, I will have to professor hunt you down with Cerebro and I'll personally take it out of your hide.” He paused with an evil smile. “Then you'll be on laundry detail. I know you won't like washing the boys' gym clothes."


Scott didn't wait for an afirmation. He didn't need one. He just turned around and left Jubilee, bruised and bleeding, but smarter.


*****


"You didn't tell anyone either?" Kitty asked.


“Nope.” Jubilee answered. “He was right, I didn’t trust anyone at the house, so who would I go to?” She shrugged. “He couldn’t have been the only one to know about it, cause Logan went easy on me the next day at practice, but he didn't ask about the bruises.”


“I can’t really say I was ever afraid of Scott. He always seemed so stiff.”


“I think what scared me the most wasn’t how he kicked my ass physically, that was no surprise, but how perfectly he’d prepared for every eventuality. He was even waiting and watching the whole time in the operation room.” Jubilee shuddered delicately. “It scares me because as good as n trn trains us to react to things, no one is ever a step ahead of Cyclops when it comes to planning.”


“The eternal boyscout.”


“Always prepared.”


The two women looked at each other in silence, then, wordlessly, Kitty got up to peek out into the hallway. Coming to the realization of how far Scott was ahead of nearly everyone, it was enough to make a girl paranoid. The halls were empty. Giggling nervously, Kitty picked up her empty bowl, and Jubilee’s.


“G’night Pryde.” Jee see said, shutting off the kitchen light.


“Night.” Kitty replied. It was an unspoken agreement that lay between them. Neither would mention the other’s fear.