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halfamoonTitle: Moving Forward, Looking Back
Fandom: X-Men
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Jubilee/Skin, Outliers
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Jubilee's thoughts as she prepares to take the new kids shopping.
Word Count: 2,037
Written For: Half A Moon 2025 Day 1. Fashion
Date Written: 2 February 2025 (Sorry for the late post, but I DO know it's still the first somewhere in the world. :) And RL has been KICKING my butt lately! Really hoping to get caught up SOON! I'm also pretty sure I recall late posts never having been an issue prior, but couldn't really find anything concrete quickly this morning and am currently posting/writing this from work when I need to be doing other things... ;) Again, though, my apologies!)
Warnings: Spoilers, Cannon Character Deaths
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Jubilee tried not to think about the cold, crisp bills in her pocket even as her fingers wrapped around them. Remy's words echoed in her mind, "Sure Remy sure, chere. Jus' don' ask where dey came from."
"I would never!" she'd practically grasped, grabbing at the thick wad of bills. She'd known the money wasn't for her, but it had made no difference. After all, the actual cash might not be for her, but the right, respect, and responsibility to dole it out to the kids was all hers! She never would have thought, even back in her teenaged daydreams of being the last X-Man and being their team leader, that she would become a teacher. Of course, she never would have thought she'd be a mom either, and for a short, sweet while, she had been. Shogo was safe there, and where he belonged, and she knew she had to just accept that and move forward with her life.
This was an awesome way of moving forward, she thought again, eyeing the four teenagers as she approached, confident with the knowledge of what she was about to hand them. It was the keys to the kingdom in a way. Sure, there was no vehicle attached, but these four had probably never had this much freedom -- not to mention money -- thrust upon them. Yet, even as she was moving forward, she couldn't stop thinking back.
How had old Frosty felt, she couldn't help wondering, when she'd been the one to take her own group of mutant kids shopping? Of course, Emma had paid for everything on credit. She and the others had never had actual cash handed to them. She'd asked Remy, and Rogue too, how certain they were of this, and they had both told her the same thing: They were dead certain. The kids were to get their own wardrobes and have a good, but safe (she was to tail them), time in town. They were to have one night of living like actual free, normal teenagers before they returned to their site and the studies that awaited them. Jubilee didn't think Remy and Rogue would be hard taskmasters, unlike Charles, Scott, Blue, and Frostie, but only time would tell.
Besides, this particular bunch of ragtag mutant kids weren't exactly used to answering to anybody, but they were going to have to if this was going to work. They were going to have to, Jubilee knew, in order to just keep a solid roof over their heads. She was pretty sure they'd all see the sense in that except for possibly Ransom, who Wolvy had already told her had already tried to split the scene. He may have, and she couldn't blame him really, but this was more than enough to make any homeless kid rethink their hard stance.
She felt a flutter in her stomach as she walked up to them. There was a part of her that wanted to pretend she didn't understand why, but she knew why. It was almost like going back in time. They didn't really have a Monet amongst them; Becca was far more like Hayseed had been when she'd first come to them, and oddly enough, equally eager to be called a mutant (albeit it did have to be a definite step up from a Demon). In some ways, Ransom, especially with all his wannabe badassery wrapped up in black leather and mysterious, tough guy vibe, made her think of Jono. She guessed some might say Jitter reminded her of her own self. In some ways, the girl did, but Jubilee had never been that quiet.
It was poor Hotoru who was truthfully the hardest to look at, though, and of course, he had to be the one who Rogue had assigned to her. She knew they were very different, and she'd do anything and everything she could to help him and the rest of the kids, but there were certain hang-dog expressions he got sometimes, especially with his practically gray skin and limp bod, where she couldn't help being reminded of Angelo. And to this day, every time she thought of Angie, her heart still hurt so much. The pain from Ev had faded some, but her relationship with Ange had grown far beyond the puppy affection she'd felt for Everett.
She'd known Angelo in ways she had yet to know any other man. He'd been the one partner with whom she had actually built a life outside of the X-Men, and with his absence, his death, his murder, there had been times -- and were still times -- she felt like a widow. She'd always miss him, always ache for him, she well suspected, especially as that grief had stayed with her through leading her own teams, teaching her own kids before, and even the living nightmares of losing her mutant powers and becoming a Vampire. She couldn't help thinking of Angelo whenever she was faced with a gray-skinned, sad-eyed-looking, mutant boy. But she knew Hotoru was not Angelo, and besides, she'd not willingly let any harm come to him, rather he was Angelo or not. But maybe she could save him despite not being able to save her own Angie.
These kids had so much in common with her own class of young mutants, but at the same time, were so very different. Angie had been melancholy, and both he and Jono had carried definite chips on their shoulders. She, of course, had had her own past with the X-Men and had known that no junior team could ever compare to her home team. But she had been unable to stop her heart from going out to the others, even Monet with time.
That initial shopping trip had been the first of their groovy bonding experiences, and Emma had no doubt known that when she'd sent them off, sending them on their own while keeping the adults close enough to watch over them. Even those who had been completely unexperienced prior had just gone through the whole ordeal with the Phalanx... The Outliers had already endured too much too soon. Even if they hadn't had to tackle Phalanx, they'd fought Sentinels and literal Demons, and she could only guess at what else. Each one of these kids, even quiet, humble Jitter, already carried well-earned chips on their even smaller shoulders.
Were their shoulders really smaller? she wondered and found herself sizing them up. They were. Except for Ransom, every one of them was smaller than any of her own Generation X gang. Even Hayseed had had more muscles than the other three. These kids looked like they couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag, but she knew that was wrong. After all, she'd seen them do it. They were smaller than Gen. X with tinier, wispier frames, but they were already fighters, almost soldiers, in their own regards. The times were changing, and they were getting harder and darker.
But Becca's unexpected delight over the money took all other thoughts from Jubilee's mind. Of all these kids, she was the one who came from money, but she was also the one most impressed with four hundred dollars, which Jubilee had learned the hard way didn't actually carry one as far as most people would think it would these days. Still, it was over a thousand dollars she handed over, four hundred a piece, and the kids were clearly wowed.
She stepped back, biting her bottom lip to keep from broadly grinning at them in the open and possibly embarrassing -- honestly, at least three of the four. This was going to be fun, she realized, and she wondered if Frosty had had anywhere near as much fun taking their team shopping. Back in those days, she'd seemed so emotionless, just a powerful, badass, cold bitch with a huge chip on her shoulder. Jubes could no longer blame her though. After all, she'd still been recovering from the Hellions' brutal murders when Jubilee and the others had been thrust upon her. Blinking, Jubilee realized she wasn't sure she could've done what Frost had done, taking a whole 'nother team underneath her proverbial wings when she'd already been grieving for her first.
And despite what they said, Jubilee knew Emma had hurt. She still hurt these days for all the children she'd seen murdered. Looking at the children before her, their excited murmurings rushing over and around her but her mind not really catching onto their words, she found herself considering how she would feel if they died. It would be worse, she realized, than Shogo, because at least she knew he was alive, well, and happy.
She suddenly wasn't so sure she could do this, but looking back at the other adults, she saw Logan tip his head in a silent, approving nod to her and knew she had no choice. After all, that was the man she'd been trying to impress for most of her life, and her entire grown life. Besides, if Wolvy believed she was the right person for this job, she was. She nodded back, called to the children, and told them the rules.
As they nearly ran to their seats, she found herself again mulling over the four children, but this time, with a gleam in her blue eyes as she listened to their excited chatter, she couldn't help wondering just how the kids would bond today and what their choices would be. Somehow, she doubted they'd run into as much trouble with the other kids here in Louisiana as her own group had done in New York and even Massachusetts, but she'd handle any trouble that came up. She was good at handling trouble, just nowhere near as much at handling kids. But these four needed someone, as her own team had needed someone back in the day even if she'd neither understood nor accepted that fact then.
They needed someone, and she had been chosen to be there for them. A cheeky grin sparked across her face as she ran back and tightly hugged Logan before taking her own seat, as the actual driver. She'd never thought she'd be entrusted with these responsibilities, but then didn't leading a team also entail taking care of the children? She knew most of the other adult X-Men, including many who had left lasting impressions on her life and very personality -- Charles, Ororo, Emma, Banshee, Blue, Jean, Scott, even (clearly) Wolverine himself -- would say it did. She had to get to know these kids to some degree, if she was really going to be able to help them.
Their excited conversations were still bubbling around her, and Jubilee found herself beginning to tune in even as she wondered just what kind of clothes these four kids would pick out. Of all people, she knew fashion told a lot about a person, when they could actually choose it for themselves. She bit her lip again but wasn't fast enough to keep a chuckle from slipping out at the idea of Becca in old South regalia. She might have to steer the girl clear of that or she'd been a laughing stock, and not only amongst the townies. Hotoru and Ransom both would probably go all black, the former certainly leather. Trying to get him out of a leather jacket would probably be like trying to wrangle Jono out of one, or Wolvy out of his cowboy hat or boots. Jubilee found a broad grin again breaking out over her face.
Realizing that it was not only the kids looking forward to this trip, she called out to them, "Hey, somebody wanna pick us some tunes?"
"W-W-W-W-W-We g-g-g-g-g-get t-t-t-t-to c-c-c-ch-ch-ch-choose th-th-th-th-the m-m-m-music t-t-t-t-too?!" Jitter asked excitedly.
"Sure, why not?" Jubilee grinned. Glancing into her rearview mirror, she saw Rogue and Remy standing with each other's arms wrapped closely around them and Logan standing beside them in the dust. She'd be damned if all three didn't look like they were grinning happily and proudly! She laughed out loud, feeling the years begin to slip away and her own youth return a little. They were all going to enjoy today!
The End
Fandom: X-Men
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Jubilee/Skin, Outliers
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Jubilee's thoughts as she prepares to take the new kids shopping.
Word Count: 2,037
Written For: Half A Moon 2025 Day 1. Fashion
Date Written: 2 February 2025 (Sorry for the late post, but I DO know it's still the first somewhere in the world. :) And RL has been KICKING my butt lately! Really hoping to get caught up SOON! I'm also pretty sure I recall late posts never having been an issue prior, but couldn't really find anything concrete quickly this morning and am currently posting/writing this from work when I need to be doing other things... ;) Again, though, my apologies!)
Warnings: Spoilers, Cannon Character Deaths
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Jubilee tried not to think about the cold, crisp bills in her pocket even as her fingers wrapped around them. Remy's words echoed in her mind, "Sure Remy sure, chere. Jus' don' ask where dey came from."
"I would never!" she'd practically grasped, grabbing at the thick wad of bills. She'd known the money wasn't for her, but it had made no difference. After all, the actual cash might not be for her, but the right, respect, and responsibility to dole it out to the kids was all hers! She never would have thought, even back in her teenaged daydreams of being the last X-Man and being their team leader, that she would become a teacher. Of course, she never would have thought she'd be a mom either, and for a short, sweet while, she had been. Shogo was safe there, and where he belonged, and she knew she had to just accept that and move forward with her life.
This was an awesome way of moving forward, she thought again, eyeing the four teenagers as she approached, confident with the knowledge of what she was about to hand them. It was the keys to the kingdom in a way. Sure, there was no vehicle attached, but these four had probably never had this much freedom -- not to mention money -- thrust upon them. Yet, even as she was moving forward, she couldn't stop thinking back.
How had old Frosty felt, she couldn't help wondering, when she'd been the one to take her own group of mutant kids shopping? Of course, Emma had paid for everything on credit. She and the others had never had actual cash handed to them. She'd asked Remy, and Rogue too, how certain they were of this, and they had both told her the same thing: They were dead certain. The kids were to get their own wardrobes and have a good, but safe (she was to tail them), time in town. They were to have one night of living like actual free, normal teenagers before they returned to their site and the studies that awaited them. Jubilee didn't think Remy and Rogue would be hard taskmasters, unlike Charles, Scott, Blue, and Frostie, but only time would tell.
Besides, this particular bunch of ragtag mutant kids weren't exactly used to answering to anybody, but they were going to have to if this was going to work. They were going to have to, Jubilee knew, in order to just keep a solid roof over their heads. She was pretty sure they'd all see the sense in that except for possibly Ransom, who Wolvy had already told her had already tried to split the scene. He may have, and she couldn't blame him really, but this was more than enough to make any homeless kid rethink their hard stance.
She felt a flutter in her stomach as she walked up to them. There was a part of her that wanted to pretend she didn't understand why, but she knew why. It was almost like going back in time. They didn't really have a Monet amongst them; Becca was far more like Hayseed had been when she'd first come to them, and oddly enough, equally eager to be called a mutant (albeit it did have to be a definite step up from a Demon). In some ways, Ransom, especially with all his wannabe badassery wrapped up in black leather and mysterious, tough guy vibe, made her think of Jono. She guessed some might say Jitter reminded her of her own self. In some ways, the girl did, but Jubilee had never been that quiet.
It was poor Hotoru who was truthfully the hardest to look at, though, and of course, he had to be the one who Rogue had assigned to her. She knew they were very different, and she'd do anything and everything she could to help him and the rest of the kids, but there were certain hang-dog expressions he got sometimes, especially with his practically gray skin and limp bod, where she couldn't help being reminded of Angelo. And to this day, every time she thought of Angie, her heart still hurt so much. The pain from Ev had faded some, but her relationship with Ange had grown far beyond the puppy affection she'd felt for Everett.
She'd known Angelo in ways she had yet to know any other man. He'd been the one partner with whom she had actually built a life outside of the X-Men, and with his absence, his death, his murder, there had been times -- and were still times -- she felt like a widow. She'd always miss him, always ache for him, she well suspected, especially as that grief had stayed with her through leading her own teams, teaching her own kids before, and even the living nightmares of losing her mutant powers and becoming a Vampire. She couldn't help thinking of Angelo whenever she was faced with a gray-skinned, sad-eyed-looking, mutant boy. But she knew Hotoru was not Angelo, and besides, she'd not willingly let any harm come to him, rather he was Angelo or not. But maybe she could save him despite not being able to save her own Angie.
These kids had so much in common with her own class of young mutants, but at the same time, were so very different. Angie had been melancholy, and both he and Jono had carried definite chips on their shoulders. She, of course, had had her own past with the X-Men and had known that no junior team could ever compare to her home team. But she had been unable to stop her heart from going out to the others, even Monet with time.
That initial shopping trip had been the first of their groovy bonding experiences, and Emma had no doubt known that when she'd sent them off, sending them on their own while keeping the adults close enough to watch over them. Even those who had been completely unexperienced prior had just gone through the whole ordeal with the Phalanx... The Outliers had already endured too much too soon. Even if they hadn't had to tackle Phalanx, they'd fought Sentinels and literal Demons, and she could only guess at what else. Each one of these kids, even quiet, humble Jitter, already carried well-earned chips on their even smaller shoulders.
Were their shoulders really smaller? she wondered and found herself sizing them up. They were. Except for Ransom, every one of them was smaller than any of her own Generation X gang. Even Hayseed had had more muscles than the other three. These kids looked like they couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag, but she knew that was wrong. After all, she'd seen them do it. They were smaller than Gen. X with tinier, wispier frames, but they were already fighters, almost soldiers, in their own regards. The times were changing, and they were getting harder and darker.
But Becca's unexpected delight over the money took all other thoughts from Jubilee's mind. Of all these kids, she was the one who came from money, but she was also the one most impressed with four hundred dollars, which Jubilee had learned the hard way didn't actually carry one as far as most people would think it would these days. Still, it was over a thousand dollars she handed over, four hundred a piece, and the kids were clearly wowed.
She stepped back, biting her bottom lip to keep from broadly grinning at them in the open and possibly embarrassing -- honestly, at least three of the four. This was going to be fun, she realized, and she wondered if Frosty had had anywhere near as much fun taking their team shopping. Back in those days, she'd seemed so emotionless, just a powerful, badass, cold bitch with a huge chip on her shoulder. Jubes could no longer blame her though. After all, she'd still been recovering from the Hellions' brutal murders when Jubilee and the others had been thrust upon her. Blinking, Jubilee realized she wasn't sure she could've done what Frost had done, taking a whole 'nother team underneath her proverbial wings when she'd already been grieving for her first.
And despite what they said, Jubilee knew Emma had hurt. She still hurt these days for all the children she'd seen murdered. Looking at the children before her, their excited murmurings rushing over and around her but her mind not really catching onto their words, she found herself considering how she would feel if they died. It would be worse, she realized, than Shogo, because at least she knew he was alive, well, and happy.
She suddenly wasn't so sure she could do this, but looking back at the other adults, she saw Logan tip his head in a silent, approving nod to her and knew she had no choice. After all, that was the man she'd been trying to impress for most of her life, and her entire grown life. Besides, if Wolvy believed she was the right person for this job, she was. She nodded back, called to the children, and told them the rules.
As they nearly ran to their seats, she found herself again mulling over the four children, but this time, with a gleam in her blue eyes as she listened to their excited chatter, she couldn't help wondering just how the kids would bond today and what their choices would be. Somehow, she doubted they'd run into as much trouble with the other kids here in Louisiana as her own group had done in New York and even Massachusetts, but she'd handle any trouble that came up. She was good at handling trouble, just nowhere near as much at handling kids. But these four needed someone, as her own team had needed someone back in the day even if she'd neither understood nor accepted that fact then.
They needed someone, and she had been chosen to be there for them. A cheeky grin sparked across her face as she ran back and tightly hugged Logan before taking her own seat, as the actual driver. She'd never thought she'd be entrusted with these responsibilities, but then didn't leading a team also entail taking care of the children? She knew most of the other adult X-Men, including many who had left lasting impressions on her life and very personality -- Charles, Ororo, Emma, Banshee, Blue, Jean, Scott, even (clearly) Wolverine himself -- would say it did. She had to get to know these kids to some degree, if she was really going to be able to help them.
Their excited conversations were still bubbling around her, and Jubilee found herself beginning to tune in even as she wondered just what kind of clothes these four kids would pick out. Of all people, she knew fashion told a lot about a person, when they could actually choose it for themselves. She bit her lip again but wasn't fast enough to keep a chuckle from slipping out at the idea of Becca in old South regalia. She might have to steer the girl clear of that or she'd been a laughing stock, and not only amongst the townies. Hotoru and Ransom both would probably go all black, the former certainly leather. Trying to get him out of a leather jacket would probably be like trying to wrangle Jono out of one, or Wolvy out of his cowboy hat or boots. Jubilee found a broad grin again breaking out over her face.
Realizing that it was not only the kids looking forward to this trip, she called out to them, "Hey, somebody wanna pick us some tunes?"
"W-W-W-W-W-We g-g-g-g-g-get t-t-t-t-to c-c-c-ch-ch-ch-choose th-th-th-th-the m-m-m-music t-t-t-t-too?!" Jitter asked excitedly.
"Sure, why not?" Jubilee grinned. Glancing into her rearview mirror, she saw Rogue and Remy standing with each other's arms wrapped closely around them and Logan standing beside them in the dust. She'd be damned if all three didn't look like they were grinning happily and proudly! She laughed out loud, feeling the years begin to slip away and her own youth return a little. They were all going to enjoy today!
The End
