She waited uneasily beside the calm still waters of Regent Harbor. The black unceasing waves mirrored her mood. She tried to tame her thoughts but her mind insisted on wandering into the nether reaches of her soul. It kept on dredging up all of the old pain that she had tried to forget. She remembered the expression on his face the night she had confronted him about his betrayal. He hadn't been outraged by her accusation, on the contrary, Logan had been more upset by the fact that she had followed him. He hadn't explained himself, and all that she was left with were images of him and the X-Men's Storm, together, and obviously very close. She didn't know how he had known that she was watching, but she noticed a subtle shift in his stance, a shift that indicated that his attention was divided between his companion and alarm that his senses were registering. That was all she had needed to know that her time was up, so she ran, ran to where it was safe.
As expected, he had followed her, but she had refused to listen, and now more than a year later, she was standing at the docks in Madripoor trying to tie down the emotions that welled up with in her at the mere mention of Logan's name. She knew she had to bring herself under control because soon she would once again confront the man who had been her mentor, and was now her enemy. "No, no Jubes, you can NOT think that way. On this mission, Logan is an ally, at least until we defeat Xavier", she said to herself. She'd been trying to calm her turbulent emotions, but nothing seemed to work.
Nate had refused to take her with him while searching for Logan, because he felt that she would be detrimental. She had argued that as the most powerful telepath on the planet, only second to Xavier, he should have been able to block out her negative thoughts, yet he had refused to budge. He wouldn't take her for fear of discovery. Although a trained assassin, Jubilee had been known to let her volatile powers and personality get the better of her. She cultivated a cool and composed image; however, those who knew her had seen the cracks in the wall she had built around herself. Cold blooded killing was something she did out of necessity. This world hadn't given her the option to choose another way of life, and it also hadn't given her the option to be happy. But sometimes, in rare moments, Jubilee opened up, and let people get close to her. After Logan, the only one to get close to her heart had been Skin.
Jubilation Lee and Angelo Espinosa weren't the most obvious couple among the Marauders. Infact, when they had gotten together many members of the team were shocked. But to Jubilee and Angelo it seemed extremely natural. Both were orphaned by the holocaust that Xavier had wrought, and both would do anything to survive. Jubilee didn't remember exactly how it had started, but shortly after Angelo had joined the team, she had begun to see him as more than just a team-mate. Having friendlier feelings for Angelo didn't mean that he reciprocated, and for the longest time Jubilee tried to make sure that no one found out. It was bad enough living in a world where death was a constant companion, trying to love someone just seemed like too much trouble.
So she hid her feelings behind friendly banter and camaraderie, but she was always careful not to betray too much. "Opening yourself up means hurting", she would say to herself. Slowly things began to change, and she noticed that Angelo spent more time with her than he did with any of the other Hellions. At first it had just seemed like an extension of their friendship, nothing more. However, a shift came. And when it did, Jubilee couldn't have been more shocked. But now was not the time to think about those brief moments of joy. Right now she had to concentrate on the mission and making sure nothing went wrong. Even so, she sent a little prayer to the God that Angelo believed in, hoping for his safety and that of the rest of the team.
Looking around her Jubilee noticed that in the last few minutes the activity on the docks had become quite slow. No fishermen, no merchants, and no prostitutes. Just the odd drunk stumbling towards the next tavern. Although Jubilee usually preferred to wait in such a setting, something was wrong. It wasn't just that the area wasn't bustling, but even the water seemed to have stopped flowing. She looked down in order to check and make sure that her imagination wasn't playing tricks on her, and that's when she heard it.
She was standing with her back to a dilapidated storage shack. She had already checked inside to make sure that it was nothing more than it seemed, and was reassured when all found inside were old tattered fishing nets, hooks, and what used to be a boat. The noise had come from inside the shack, and Jubilee hoped that in her anger over Logan, she hadn't missed something. She mentally berated herself over not giving the shack closer inspection, and moved towards it.
Automatically her hand closed around the dagger that she always kept strapped to her ankle. She lifted it out of the casing and gripped it in a defensive position. Not one to leave herself open, Jubilee didn't plan on letting anyone get the better of her. Logan had told her many fascinating stories about Madripoor, but no matter how interesting, he never let her forget the underlying danger that was ever-present. Once again she was standing at the door of the shack; however, it seemed to her that it was darker than it had been before. Jubilee set off a little "paff" of pyrotechnic energy in order to check the area. "Nothing's moving Lee. It's either your imagination or a trap." Counseling herself this way didn't always help. She knew enough to trust her instincts, and right now they were screaming for her to power up and attack the next thing that moved. But something else was cautioning her to be more patient, to wait it out.
She took another step into the shack, and closed the door behind her. She knew that there was the possibility of an ambush from outside, but she doubted that anyone would attack in such a conspicuous manner. Not wanting to set off another pyrotechnic energy ball, Jubilee melted into the shadows, becoming invisible.