On The Rocks

"You seem to know a lot about this prison, and everyone knows you well enough." Wolverine commented one day while at the Quarry. Most people knew no one else - no one lived long enough to get really acquainted. It fascinated Logan to know that Rooter was popular (as far as popularity went in a place like this). "Why is that?"

Rooter beamed with pride. "I am the longest living prisoner here. I've been here for five years."

Wolverine looked skeptical. The man was given the same amount of food that he and Jubilee was - and they weren't doing very well. They both knew that they wouldn't hold out much longer. "How'd ya survive for so long on such little food?"

Rooter's eyes gleamed with mischeif. "Mushrooms. There are dozens of mushrooms and lichens around here that are edible. Got to be careful which ones you pick," he chuckled, "or you'll end up like that skeleton in your cell. I hear that's how he died, poor fellow."

"Where are they?"

"That's a secret, my friend."

Crack, crack, crack, the rocks fell from the massive rock formation. Wolverine didn't realize until later that he was actually carving what would be a great hall within a few years. What he was working on mattered very little to him. What he was more interested in was the mushrooms.

"I happened upon a girl once who had a basket full of the things. Sweet little girl. Had two tusks on her like no one's business."

Wolverine listened as he chipped away at the rock.

"She got lost and ended up in the quarry. She wasn't a prisoner - actually, she was a kitchen hand."

Rooter stopped telling the story to look over his shoulder, to make sure no one was listening.

"I told her how she could make her way out of the quarry, and she told me where I could find a bloom of mushrooms. A trade of information, if you will. You have to understand, if I told any of the prisoners here where they are, I may not have anything to eat. They would pick them clean. There is only one edible species of mushroom, from my understanding. The lichens are edible, but I wouldn't suggest eating them. The lichens, in high doses, are lethal. Just the tiniest amount seems to work as a very strong aphrodisiac."

The corner of Wolverines mouth twitched. The thought of eating anything was making his stomach growl. Who gave a rat's ass about aphrodisiacs in a place like this? "So where do you find the time to pick mushrooms? The guards-"

"-and I struck a deal. I cause them no problems and they let me pick the mushrooms. Have you ever noticed that no guard lingers about me like all the others? I have no leash and collar. So long as I behave, they won't bother me. And don't bother to ask. I'll bring you a handful of mushrooms tomorrow."

---

At the Mansion...

"Have you located Wolverine and Jubilee?" Xavier asked, knowing it was near hopeless to ask. The answer was always the same. No.

Jean removed cerebra from her forehead and sighed. "Not a thing. It's as if they're not even on Earth anymore, or in a room that supresses telepathic probes." She had a headache from her constant use of telepathy - looking for them day after day.

Xavier let out a worried sigh and closed his eyes. The two were known to get into trouble, but they were never gone for this long. Three weeks was the longest Logan had ever gone without contacting someone to let them know what's up. But they were gone for longer - much longer than normal - without a single phone call.

That's what worried Xavier so much. It wasn't just a polite thing to do to let people know where you were when you went somewhere for weeks on end, but it was also a safe thing to do, and it was a habit all the Xmen had to adopt.

If any active Xman disappeared for longer than three weeks, it was customary to let someone else know where you were. Otherwise it was automatically assumed that your life was in peril, and a search party would then commence. It was safer that way. It saved lives.

"I'm going to send Scott and Beast to Moscow. That's where they were last when they disappeared." He opened his eyes. There hadn't even been a credit purchase on Logan's card for food, provisions, or anything. "I have a hunch they are still in the area, perhaps lying low."

He saw Jean's worried expression, and he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I refuse to believe he died under the hands of a serial killer. He's more resourceful than that. In the mean time, I want you to continue looking for them." Jean made a worried expression and left the control room.

The two had been missing for months.

---


In the prison...

Apparently the caretakers had a schedule. Every three days water was dropped through the grate. Food had been dropped only intermittently, and the last time was four days ago. Just like clockwork, the guard would pee down the grate, then the water would come, then the loogey. Wolverine was sure the swayback was jealous of his good looks.

The pain in their backs had lessened only slightly. A few hours after the water came that day, another shadow fell over the grate, and they were quick to run out of the way in case that shadow also decided to take a wizz.

"Jeez, what is this, 'Piss on Pretties' day?" Jubilee hissed.

No piss came. The visitor was a very ugly female. She had two lower jaw tusks. The tusks jutted out of her mouth like an orc. "Oh, what lovely upworlders!" She shouted, then motioned for a nearby girl, also hideous, to come look. The second girl had only one eye in the middle of her forehead, like a cyclops.

The orc girl squealed. "He's so lovely!" She pointed through the grate at Jubilee. "And look! He has a companion! How lovely! Our Lady would wish to know of them!"

Neither Jubilee nor Wolverine knew how to respond. Do they say hello and risk getting spat on again, thus further stinking up their puddle-for-a-bed?

"Hello lovelies down there!" The orc girl giggled. "Would you like some food?"

The cyclops girl glared at her. "Why give them food? They're prisoners!"

"Yes!" Jubilee answered. Wolverine swallowed, the thought of food making him salivate.

The orc girl giggled again. "Such a lovely voice! I will get you food!" She then shoved the cyclops girl away. "Go tell our Lady of our lovely prisoners!" Both girls ran off.

They looked at each other in excitment. They were so hungry that the girls could give them rat food and they would eat it happily at this point. Adrenaline ran through their systems. They both smiled at each other, but it was a mutually sad smile. The thought of getting food was wonderful, but the thought of having to feel excited about a little food also felt terrible.

About ten minutes later, a shadow crossed over the metal grate. Theye watched as a woman stood above them. Well dressed as the woman was, they didn't think they had anything to worry about her urinating on them.

The woman looked down at the prisoners and smiled. Oh, and how beautiful she would have been if half her face wasn't melted. One half was like an ogre. The other was an angel. One could only wonder what happened to her - freakish accident or very unfortunate mutation?

"My," The lady said, looking down on them, "He is lovely. Good eye, Indah."

The orcish girl smiled in pride. "Will he do, my lady?"

The lady raised an eyebrow, and her smile faded, observing Wolverine as if he were a prize cow. "I like his face. He has good posture, and he is well built. He will do. Feed him." She turned and patted the head of the orcish girl, Indah, as she walked away.

The grate opened, and a wicker basket was let down by a rope.

He grabbed the food out of it. It was one loaf of stale bread, meant for only him. The basket was raised again. He could have yanked the rope and pulled whoever was lowering the basket into the prison cell with him and start making demands, but by the way the cyclops and orc girl treated each other, he doubted his 'caretakers' cared much for each other. It seemed like a risky endeavor that would more than likely seal their fate.

For now, he would behave. At least until a better opportunity arose for escape.

He broke the bread in half and gave one half to Jubilee. They ate quickly, their stomachs attacking the food the moment they swallowed. It would have been smart to save some of the food for later, in case they weren't fed tomorrow, but they were too hungry to think.

The bread was gone and their stomachs were temporarily satisfied. They both leaned against each other, back to back, supporting each other's weight. Logan rubbed the sore spot on his breast, frowning. Most of his aches and pains had left him, so why did his chest hurt still?

They spent the rest of their day in silence.

---

Massachusetts Academy...


"Summer is already over. I can't believe she's still gone." Paige said, pressing her fingers against the cool glass of the second-story window. "Where do you think she is?"

"Probably on a world-tour with her friend." Monet explained, unpacking. She only responded to Paige in the first place to shut her up and calm her down - the worry that poured out of her hickish little body was mind-blowing.

Monet had no logical reason to worry about Jubilee - Big Bad Wolverine would look after her, kiss her boo-boos and make sure she never did anything for herself - he would do her dirty work for her and bring her back home after he killed so-and-so. That was the theme of her life. Why would this time be any different?

Paige bit her bottom lip, wanting to believe Monet's every word, but finding it hard to do, under the circumstance. Jubilee would 'run off' with Wolverine for a few weeks at the most. But months? That was a long stretch. "I hope you're right."

---


In the prison...


At the Quarry, Wolverine was getting the evil eye from every prisoner in the area, and the guards stood a little closer. He wasn't quite sure what changed - was it because he was given food? - but he had a bad feeling that whatever it was didn't change for the better.

He went to his usual place and started chipping away at the rockface. Rooter strolled up beside him. "You said you owed me, Logan." He said, a pleasant tone in his voice.

"I did. Watcha want?"

"Please give me a share of food next time you get some, just a little bit, I'm terribly hungry."

Wolverine fell silent. The desperation in his comrade's voice was evident. "If I get some, sure."

The man laughed, the spark of life lighting his eyes as he chipped away at the rockface next to Wolverine. The thought of getting food made him gleeful. "Oh, I'm glad I met you! I hear you caught the eye of the Lady. Is that true?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

The mutant shrugged. "That's never happened before. She doesn't bother with prisoners at all. To hear her coming down to look at a pretty and feed him is big news."

"Don't know why she'd care about a," his nose wrinkled in disgust at the description, "pretty. I work the same as anyone else here does."

Wolverine's heart jumped into his throat as he heard Jubilee scream, followed by a loud CLANK! as a pick struck the stone floor. A man screamed shortly after.

"She stabbed me!" A nearby prisoner stumbled into sight, clutching his bloody foot. Jubilee had apparently driven the pick through him. And it looked very intentional. She glowered at the man, fists drawn. "She stabbed my foot, the fucking cunt! I'll fucking kill her!" He didn't look like he was in the position to kill anyone, the way he hopped about on one foot. Still, it was a threat both Wolverine and Jubilee took personal.

"Jubilee! What in-"

"-He attacked me!" She pointed at him.

The man glowered. "Just trying t' teach her some respect! She ain't better than us just 'cause she's a pretty." He spat at her. "Bitch! you know your place, that's under a man!"

"I ain't below anyone! Especially you!" She kicked him in the gut. The man fell, overcome with the pain he felt in his stomach and foot. Rooter cheered for her.

Wolverine could tell the man wasn't going to work anytime soon with that kind of an injury - not in a place like this. It was a rusted pick, no less. The man would be lucky if he didn't get tetanus.

Through the corner of his eye, he saw a guard approaching, gun cocked and ready. "Jubilee, Rooter, time to scat." The three left the scene quickly, getting back to work. The other prisoner was left alone, unable to walk. He looked up at the guard, fear in his eyes.

"The pretty girl, she did this to me," The prisoner explained. His guard stared at his foot, thinking. He chewed on tobacco slowly as he assessed the damage.

"Ya can't walk on that, and we ain't got a hospital for ya when you come down with the lockjaw." He spat, a brown mess splattering beside the prisoner. He aimed his gun.

"NO!" The prisoner shouted, trying to cover his face with his arm.

BLAM! The prisoner fell limp, lifeless.

Logan chipped at the rockface. He swallowed hard when he heard Jubilee cry softly. She continued to pick up the rocks he dropped, shoving them in the bag. He could see a tear slide off her check and create a dark, small ring on one of the rocks.

"You're alright, kid." He said, not wanting to risk stopping work. He knew how she felt about killing. He knew she wouldn't take this easy. But he didn't want to catch the attention of the guard by comforting her, either. "You'll be fine. You ain't hurt."

Jubilee nodded, swallowing her tears, and continued to gather the rocks.

It was Jubilee's good aim that ended up killing the prisoner. If the guard hadn't shot him, the infection that was sure to come would have finished the prisoner off. In a way, Jubilee had sealed his fate with a single swing of a miner's pick. Jubilee knew it, and so did Wolverine. She had made her first kill.