On The Rocks

At the mansion...

The moment the inhibitor was yanked from their bodies, every telepath who actively searched for them immidiately sensed it. They couldn't feel emotions and they couldn't read thoughts; they were too far away, but the lifesigns were strong as ever, like a candle burning in an impossibly dark room.

Jean shrieked at the sense of them, their heartbeats and souls overwhelmed her telepathic ability. She was wearing cerebra, which magnified telepathic abilities. She threw cerebra off. "Professor!" She shouted, "I've found them!"

---

Massechusetts Academy...

Emma and Sean were demonstrating a particularly deadly flight maneuver to Monet when Emma felt Jubilee's lifesign activate, strong as ever. Emma lifted her arms to make the sign of the 'X', the sign that mean stop. "Wait, Sean!" She shouted, just as he was about to give her a round-house, staged kick to the head.

"What's the matter, Emma?" He asked, confused that she would stop the exercise.

"It's Jubilee!" She shouted, then grew frustrated at his confused expression. "Sean! She's alive! I can feel her!"

Monet's jaw dropped. "You can feel her? How?" She couldn't feel Jubilee at all ... and what was this about her 'being alive' talk? Didn't she say she was convinced Jubilee was alive, having run off on a mission with Wolverine? Was Jubilee in trouble? Why hadn't Emma told her? Just what the hell happened?

Monet hadn't the experience to know yet that telepaths could 'track' their friends mentally, no matter where they went on earth, and keep track of their lifesigns. It didn't help find anyone, but it helped to know who was still alive and who had died.

With the case of Wolverine and Jubilee, their lifesigns were non-existent. Usually that was the first sign that they were dead, but telepaths could feel the death of a close friend easily enough, and none of the telepaths sensed their deaths at all. Just a fading away. It was a fascinating puzzle and a hard search. Such a 'tracker' trick took years and years of honing telepathic skills, and even as talented as Monet was, she wasn't strong enough for that feat. Yet.

Emma pushed past Monet, too excited to stay and explain. She ran out of the Danger Grotto, off to call Xavier, to tell him she sensed her. Wherever Jubilee was, the White Queen reasoned, she had to be in dire need of help.

---

Back At the Mansion...

Betsy dropped the katana she had been polishing in shock, her telepathy flaring to life. Wolverine. His lifesign. It was active. He was alive.

She picked up her katana and put it back on her dresser. She stroked its metal affectionately, a smile twisting on her lips.

As if there would be any question that he was still alive. He couldn't die by a serial killer, for that wasn't the way of warriors. She exited her room, walking slowly, fists clenched.

She opened Xavier's office and opened her mouth to speak. "Request to take the blackbird!"

Jean ran in through the other door, excitement pouring from her. "I've found them!"

The phone rang. Xaver put his hands to his head at the sudden onslaught of noise. Both women quieted instantly. Xavier answered the phone. "Yes, Emma, I know, I felt them, too. Yes, Scott and Beast are already in Moscow. I will. Thank you." He hung up the phone and looked to Jean.

"You felt them, too Professor?"

Xavier nodded. He then looked to Psylocke in question. "You wish to use the Blackbird? Why?"

"Should Scott and the others need more effective transportation than American Airlines, if Wolverine and Jubilee are indeed in danger."

Xavier quirked an eyebrow. He was sure she wanted more than to just provide an escape route - she wanted a piece of the action. "You and Jean may go."

---


The prison...

Jubilee felt very nauseous and her stomach twisted into little knots. She was sure she was going to throw up from the anxiety and anticipation. She shook, her body flooded with adrenaline.

They were thirty feet high in the air, her arms gripped tightly around Wolverine's neck, his claws embedded into the stone chute. The walls were slippery as hell, and the stone was weak, so any moment the wall could crumble away, and they could fall to their deaths.

Even worse than that, Logan had picked up the sound of heavy footsteps, which meant that they weren't alone. A guard was approaching, and soon he would be stepping over the grate. If the guard was lucky, he wouldn't look down and notice the two mutants. If he was unlucky, he would look down, notice the two, and die.

Jubilee swallowed as her ears picked up the approaching footsteps. "Wolvie," She whispered as quietly as she could considering she was so close to his ear, "I know you don't wanna hear this, but I'm gonna upchuck. Right now. Right frickin' now."

"Don't you dare." He whispered through clenched teeth, determined not the lose his balance and grip on the wall. How could she throw up in a time like this? He knew the answer, of course. She was scared. "Concentrate on something else." He said, listening to the footsteps, hoping -praying!- that the guard would turn a corner.

But the guard didn't turn a corner. He kept coming down their lane, oblivious to the escape attempt, oblivious that the grate was unlocked, oblivious that there were two very angry mutants just a few feet away from reaching the grate, and oblivious to how much they hated him.

"Jubilation," He said, wishing he never had to be put in the position to say this, "ya can't be innocent anymore." There, he said it, and immediatly hated himself for it. He loved her innocence. He always had. She was the light to his dark. She was living proof that he wasn't good-for-nothing. If he could raise such a fun-loving, life-respecting girl just by being himself and being the best at what he does, then that meant something profound. There was hope left for him and others like him. There was hope for all humanity. Love still existed and would prevail over Evil. That was why he hated himself at this moment. He was telling Jubilee to do the exact opposite that he respected her for.

"I know ya don't like killin' and I'm proud o' you for making the decision to never take a human life...and maybe once we're outta this stinkhole ya can go on practicin' it..I wouldn't mind...But if we're gonna get outta here alive, you're gonna have to use yer powers like ya mean it." He hated those words, and he hated himself even more for being the one to say it. He never wanted her to lose whatever last shred of innocence she had on account of him.

The man in the quarry was a horrific accident for Jubilee; unintentional. But if they wanted to escape the underground city alive, she had to be aggressive about taking lives. Her paffs would have to be generated with the force and intention to kill. If she left one of those healing guards breathing, they would be caught in no time and they both would meet the executioners axe or rope of whatever other sick thing he used to extinguish lives. Lady Yvanka was only as forgiving as the next human, and an escape attempt would not put her in a very forgiving mood.

"Otherwise we can go back down to the cell and wait for Yvanka to let us go." He had to give her that option. For Jubilee's innocence, he would stay imprisoned as long as needed.

Now she felt like she was going to cry and throw up. She let out a nervous laugh. "If that was a way of you makin' me concentrate on somethin' else, it didn't work."

Fear gripped her heart as the Guard stepped over the grate. She fell silent, frightened and in shock. Logan picked up on the scent of fear and clenched his teeth tighter. His jaw hurt from the constant pressure he put on it. Could he live with himself letting Jubilee become a killer? Could he live with himself knowing that he played a hand in it?

Even though she popped off earlier and swore she would kill Yvanka, Jubilee was just angry, she didn't mean it. She thought she did, but she couldn't have. She always threatened to kill people when she was angered enough. But threats and actions were to entirely different things and they both knew it.

He was going back down. He couldn't let her kill this way. They would have to find another way to get out. He was ready to pull his claw out of the wall and descend.

"No. I'm not staying here anymore." Was Jubilee's only reply, monotone and lacking all emotion. He felt Jubilee reach for the grate with her fingers pointed straight to the guard..

"Wait-" Wolverine said, just as a strong pulse of energy burst through Jubilee's fingertips and struck the guard. The light was intense, heating up the room, making the walls shake with the force. It made a sickening explosion sound, and the guard fell instantly, dead.

Logan swallowed his words and quickly ascended the wall and pushed open the grate. Jubilee squeazed through the grate and looked down the walkways to make sure no one approached. "Crud, Wolvie! Someone's gonna hear that!"

"Damn right they will, so we gotta split!" He dropped the dead guard into their cell. He fell silently and landed in the stagnant water, his body sinking slowly under the weight of his armour.

Wolverine shut the grate and locked it. "If we're lucky, they won't notice we're gone until Quarry time tomorrow. Ya did good, Jubilee. He died instantly. He didn't feel no pain." He grabbed Jubilee's arm and started running, Jubilee's fireworks working as a flashlight, lighting up the darkness of the tunnels around them.

---

In Moscow...

"Scott, have you left Moscow yet?"

"No, but we're boarding in five minutes." Scott put the phone closer to his ear to hear better. The phone lines were old in this area, and it was hard to hear anything.

"Don't get on the plane. Logan and Jubilee are still in Moscow. I'm trying to locate them still. Go back to the sewer tunnels, I have a feeling they'll be there. They may be in need of assistance. We're sending Jean and Psylocke with the Blackbird." The phone went dead. Scott hung up the phone. He turned to Beast.

"Scott? What has transpired?"

"Put on your shorts, we're going swimming." He didn't sound the least bit happy, but he sounded determined, and that meant that the call was probably from Xavier,
hopefully with good news.

"Swimming? In weather like this? I'll catch my death!"

"We're going back to the sewers. Xavier thinks they're still down there!"

---


The prison...

Her fireworks were such a blessed sight, and she was happy to have them back. She was also happy to be temporarily free, running once more. She nearly ran into Wolverine as he stopped suddenly, sniffing. He quickly pointed to his left. "Down here!"

She panted as she followed after him. She had to stay close to him. She was working as his eyes - allowing him to see through her powers. "What are you looking for, Wolvie?" He seemed to be following a familiar scent, but whose? Who would he be looking for when they should be escaping?

"Gotta find Rooter. He's the only one who knows the way outta here!" He ran down the corridors, Jubilee's fireworks fizzing and spitting around him, waking up every prisoner in the area. The prisoners shouted, begging to be let out.

"Wolvie, should we let them out?" She asked, glancing at their miserable desperate faces as she ran past.

Logan let out a scowl as he ran. "Most of these people deserve to be down here, Jubilation. Don't go getting soft on convicts."

"Havent they suffered enough, though?"

Wolverine slowed his pace, Rooter's smell growing stronger. He considered her words, thinking. He didn't answer, too distracted by Rooter's cell. With a SNIKT! The lock that kept his cell closed was broken into three different pieces. They fell to the floor with three loud Clanks. Rooter jumped to his feet in surprise.

"What's all this commotion?" Rooter asked, rubbing his eyes at the intensity of Jubilee's fireworks. "Pretty! Your powers! Y-you create light?" He looked to Wolverine and paled. "But they sent you to the torture room! I was certain you had died!" He looked at his broken lock, and shook his head in disbelief. "This is not real."

"No time to chit-chat, Rooter! We're bustin' out and you're helpin'!" Logan pointed at Rooter with his claws. "Or do ya wanna rot here forever?"

Rooter didn't even think twice. "I'm with you!" He exited his cell quickly and took his place beside Jubilee. "I never thought I would live to see the day. Though I should warn you, no one has ever escaped this prison."

"Wolverine isn't just anybody!" Jubilee responded with a wicked grin.

"Neither are you, apparently." Rooter observed.

"Enough small talk, we gotta get outta here!" He turned around to see all of the nearby prisoners staring at him. "Listen up! I'll let you all outta here, but you're all on your own!" The entire cell block cheered.

As he ran down the long stretch of walkway, and slashed at the locks to the inmates' cell doors. Jubilee blasted the ones he missed, the locks shattering as if the keyholes had been filled with TNT. "I thought you said they deserved to be in here, Wolverine!"

"You're right, Jubilee, they've paid for their sins. Besides, they'll help keep the guards occupied, I reckon!" He could hear Jubilee and Rooter behind him, keeping up pace well. "Rooter, which way you figure will take us to the surface, to the sewers of Moscow?"

"You see those pipes above your head?" Rooter panted, not used to the physical activity.

Wolverine looked up, suddenly noticing that there actually were pipes up there. He had always been too preoccupied to notice.

"Just follow the pipes you see above you. That's a water line. The pipes are set up in a natural spring above ground. They use good-old-fashioned gravity to bring drinking water into the tunnels." The pipes were huge, about as wide as the trunk of 200-year-old tree. How could he have not noticed something that big?

"Can we flood the tunnels?" Jubilee asked.

"We could, but we'd drown with the guards and the prisoners if we did that." They continued to run through the dark tunnels, lucky to not have come across any guards yet. Logan heard the distinctive sound of a gun being cocked. He stopped in his tracks, struggling to see. He smelled three guards, not too far off. "Dim your lights, Jubilee!"

Wolverine turned to Rooter, pointing at him. "Did you have any useful powers before they stuck you down here?"

Rooter put his hands up in defense at the sight of the claws being pointed at him for the second time that day. "No. I just made people sick."

Wolverine sheathed two of his claws, leaving the index claw out. "Good enough, we need all the help we can get. Hold still!" With a quick, accurate swipe, he impaled Rooter in the chest.

---