Fractals

Fractals Chapter 52 (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta… *kicks rain * hmph. InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are loverly and wondermous for archiving/hosting. :) ProPhile: Two more chapters till your smut. Morgan: Check for it tonight/tomorrow. Readers/Reviewers: Nemain is sick. She’s speaking in third person for some reason but she’s feeling like Death warmed over so if there’s no chapter tomorrow, it’s because the authoress is curled up in bed with the plague. *GLOMP * for reading/reviewing though, lol.

Jubilee squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Something was making tiny, plaintive noises and it was waking her up. She did not want to wake up. “Someone feed the cat,” she muttered. “It’s hungry.” There was an inelegant, feminine snort somewhere to her left and a mutter in what she recognized as French. Wakefulness hit her hard and fast. She sat up, drawing in a great gout of air, her eyes focusing then refocusing as the space around her swam with colors before snapping into place. Belladonna stared down at her, a yellow-clad baby on her hip and a bottle in her other hand.
“I was about to pour cold water on you,” the blonde said in her light Creole accent. “You have been unconscious for over an hour. I suppose I overestimated the dosage…” Her edged smile showed that for a lie.
Jubilee opened her mouth to make a snide remark but a wave of nausea swept over her. She made a muffled “erk” noise and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. After a long moment under Belladonna’s intense scrutiny, she took a deep, cleansing breath and exhaled slowly through her nose. Finally, she felt steady enough to speak. “What the fuck?”
“Ah, I see why Remy chose you… such charm and grace.” She shifted the baby higher on her hip and raised a brow. “Be glad it was me that came for you. Anyone else would have killed you before you turned around. As it is, I had to practically beg to have this job.” She turned away and moved out of Jubilee’s line of vision. “Unfortunately, I had to choose between you and Remy. It pained me greatly, but I know Remy has a better chance of survival against the Assassins than you do.”
“Assassins… what?” Jubilee struggled to her feet, the residual grogginess from the sedative leaving her limbs tingling as if they had been lacking circulation for a long time. “If he’s dead, I swear to whatever god you pick that you’ll be choking on sparklies for a month!” She started for the other woman but found herself grabbing empty air as Belladonna sidestepped her.
“Calm yourself. He is not dead and he will not be dead for a very long time. His time is…” She paused and smiled slightly. “Well, rest assured that he is still alive. You, however, are as good as dead unless you do as I say and do it fast.”
“You’re fucking nuts if you think I’m going to do anything you tell me to do!” Jubilee lurched away, turning a full circle, trying to find the exit and whimpering slightly when she saw none. “Where did you take me, Belladonna?”
“You’re in the Guild House in Albany.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I voted against this place but they insisted that we needed representation up here. It’s so…” She shook her head. “Ugh.”
Jubilee fisted her hands in her hair and growled low in her throat. “Spare me the editorial, Belle.”
Belladonna raised a brow. “Keep your voice down or you’ll wake Solange.” She smiled thinly. “Another task I begged for. Remy does not understand… he’s been gone too long from our fold. Solange, you… so many things I do to make him happy and does he thank me?” She sighed. “Oh, la. You’re here to keep your skinny hide alive. Your entire ilk is marked, every one of you. You’re drawing too much attention to those of us who wish to remain anonymous.”
“You’re not making sense,”Jubilee bit out, narrowing her eyes. “Belladonna, you’re going to let me leave this place and let me leave now.”
“And where will you go, Jubilation?” Belladonna asked lightly, moving to touch a small panel set into the wall. A door slid open beside her and she smiled. “You’re marked. The guild wants all of you dead to prevent attention from being drawn to Remy and in turn, us. I believe it’s called a scorched earth policy…” Her smile became false but it did not slip. “And I have been told that an outside party is contracting with us to ensure that you lot are no longer…problematic.”
Jubilee reeled. “What? Magneto?”
“Mon dieu, no,” Belladonna laughed. “He has far too much invested in your survival to want you dead just now.” She gestured towards the open door. “You’re free to go if you think you’ll do better on your own, without me to make sure you’re not another number in our tally books.”
Jubilee clenched her fists at her sides, her breath coming in short bursts. “Why should I believe you? For all I know, this is a joke or something. You might just be fucking with me!” Her entire body was taught with fury and fear. She could feel herself shaking and knew Belladonna noticed. _Be still, _ she ordered her muscles but they chose not to obey, instead making her entire body quiver like a bowstring.
“Well, that’s the interesting part, no? I might be. Then again…” She tipped her head to one side consideringly. “I might not be, hmmm?” She glanced at the snuffling, sleeping Solange and shrugged. “That’s what makes life so interesting, isn’t it? The uncertainties.”
“Where is Logan?” she asked slowly. “How did you get me past him without him noticing?” She was clear headed now and the trembling was fading as her mind latched onto logical questions, seeking some steady surface to balance on.
“Now, now… that would ruin the fun, would it not? A lady needs her secrets.” Belladonna winked at her and grinned briefly. “It is your choice. Leave or stay. Just know that as soon as you step outside this house, I cannot help you.”
Jubilee wavered, her heart thudding ponderously slow in her chest. It was like time was standing still just for her and she hated every long second of it. Finally, she exhaled. “Fine. You get me killed, I’m haunting your ass. Not that Casper or Beetlejuice shit either, but old school China phantom, got it?” She poked Belladonna hard on the breastbone. “I’ll come back with the long nails and fangs and everything!”
Belladonna raised a brow. “You will not die, Jubilation. Not yet anyway. Now, get the baby and follow me.”
“Whoa! How did I get stuck with the kid?” Jubilee demanded, her hands on her hips as Belladonna swept from the room.
“Because I’m stuck with you. Now come on!”