Chapter Text
Jubilee was bored, which was never a good sign for anyone in the mansion. Usually, she would pester someone (mostly Logan) to take her to the mall, but with the still recent ‘death’ of the Professor, the X-Men were trying to keep a low profile. As such, the teenager was left to bother her family inside the mansion. Right now she was bothering Hank, but luckily he was always eager to talk about whatever he was working on at the moment.
“The main issue with Bishop’s temporal transceiver is that it does not normally have the innate ability to travel through time, only serving to keep the wearer anchored in whatever time they traveled to. However, since Bishop’s trip through the Axis of Time, it seems the properties have been altered. It’s my hope that with some effort, the transceiver will be able to function as a temporal travel device all on its own.”
“So when it’s fixed, he can travel to whatever time he wants? Cool!”
“Not just any time, my dear Jubilee, any universe! “
“I’m just trying to get back to my own time, I don’t need all the bells and whistles.”
“Regardless, I'm making some alterations to allow the transceiver to recharge using ambient radiation. This should prevent it from running out of power during any jumps you make. Or at least prevent you from getting stuck in a different time again.”
A beep sounded from the bracelet. Jubilee peered at it as a small bar of green appeared on a dark band.
“Does that mean it’s charging?”
“Yes! Unfortunately, at its current rate it could take over a year to charge. If there was a place with more background radiation it theoretically could charge faster, but I’m not keen on a trip to Three Mile Island or Chernobyl.”
“What if you blasted it with some radiation directly? Get Cyke to give it a blast. Or!” Jubilee excitedly pulled down her shades. “Let me take a shot at it!”
Hank rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“While your powers do not necessarily produce radiation, it could be a useful test to see if other kinds of energy can also power the transceiver.”
Jubilee pumped her fist in victory as Hank set up the transceiver for the experiment. It took longer than Jubilee wanted, and she was practically bursting at the seams by the time everything was ready. The transceiver and Jubilee were in a sealed room separated by a glass pane, to prevent any other kind of energy from interfering with the test.
“Alright Jubilee,” Hank called through a microphone, “Give it a solid blast for approximately five seconds, and we’ll go from there.”
Jubilee whooped as she let her fireworks fly, lighting up the room with multicolored flashes. After five seconds she stopped, pushing her shades back up on her head. There was a beep, and another small green bar filled up on the bracelet.
“It worked! I’m a genius!”
Jubilee turned to the glass widow with a smile on her face, but stopped when she heard another beep. She turned back to the transceiver and watched as another bar appeared, this one a worrying orange.
“Umm, Beast? I don’t think it’s supposed to look like that.”
“It appears the transceiver may have been overloaded, or that it is unable to convert the energy into-”
He was interrupted by more beeping, and the entire power bar filled with orange bars. Sparks started shooting from the inside of the transceiver as the bar turned bright red.
“Jubilee! Get out of there!”
“Wait, this is Bishop’s only way home! I can turn it off!”
Jubilee ignored Hank’s cries for her to stop as she reached for the bracelet. As her gloved hand approached it, a single spark arced from the bracelet to her finger. Immediately, Jubilee felt her entire body tense up and she unconsciously wrapped her hand around the bracelet. There was a tugging sensation across her entire body, and it felt like she was in the world's fastest elevator going sideways. Energy filled her view, and Jubilee couldn't see.
She wasn’t sure if it was seconds or hours, but the light faded suddenly, and Jubilee regained her balance. She realized she wasn’t standing in the lab anymore. She shifted her feet on unstable ground and looked around. She was standing in the ruins of a collapsed building, and she could hear the distant sounds of fighting. Clearly she was in a different time. As Jubilee tried to figure out exactly ‘when’ she was, she realized that the sounds of battle were becoming not so distant.
Jubilee darted over the nearest standing wall and took cover, and only then realized that she was still holding the time bracelet. It looked like it was either out of power or completely broken, but it was still her only way home. She didn’t want to risk losing it, so she snapped it onto her arm and shoved it under her sleeve.
The sounds of fighting were almost right on top of her, so Jubilee risked a look over the broken wall she was hiding behind. She felt her stomach drop as she saw an unfortunately familiar sight.
A Sentinel was fighting what was probably a group of mutants, several of them flying around the monstrous robot’s head. Jubilee couldn't recognize any of them at this distance, but then again if this was the future everyone she knew was probably dead or incredibly old. That was a sobering thought, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. There had to be someone from this time who could help her get back home!
One of the mutants was struck by the Sentinel and went flying towards Jubilee, landing a few feet away. Jubilee immediately went to help them, then froze.
It was Storm, but not the Storm Jubilee knew. This Storm had much shorter hair and what seemed to be a black leather costume. Was this not the future? Or was this one of those alternate timeline Hank was talking about? Jubilee didn’t have time to think about it, as a smaller (but still pretty large) crab-like robot was heading towards her and Storm.
“Are you ok?”
Jubilee ran over to Storm and started to help her up. Storm took Jubilee’s hand, then did a double-take when she got a good look at the girl.
“A child? What are you doing out here?!”
“Trying not to die, same as you!”
Jubilee turned and launched a blast of fireworks at the crab robot, causing it to stumble.
“Lightning, strike down this abomination!”
The lighting struck the robot head on, and it fell forwards. When the front collided with the ground the glass window shattered. Jubilee rushed forwards, ready to grab whoever was controlling it. She jumped through the shattered window, ignoring the sharp glass, but was surprised when she didn’t see a human in the control seat. Instead, a smaller robot seemed to be controlling the larger one. With a huff, Jubilee launched it away from the controls.
“Alright, I always was good at frying electronics.”
The girl ran her hands over the panels, sparks shooting out as she short-circuited the machine. There was a noise behind her, and Jubilee turned in time to see the controller robot lunge at her. Before she could react, a strong wind blew the robot into the far wall. It crumpled to the ground in an unmoving heap, and Storm landed in the cockpit next to Jubilee.
“Thanks for the help! We sure wrecked this thing, whatever it is.”
Storm’s expression was unreadable for a moment, before she smiled slightly.
“We certainly did. You fight well-”
Storm cut herself off, eyes widening.
“You are injured!”
Jubilee followed Storm’s eyes to her arm, and realized there was a large gash in it. Luckily it wasn't on the same arm as the bracelet. She hadn’t felt it in the moment, but now that the adrenaline was wearing off it was really starting to hurt. She didn’t know how deep it was, but it was probably going to need stitches. Storm looked at it critically.
“May I see one of your gloves?”
“Um, sure?”
Jubilee tugged off the glove on her injured arm and handed it to Storm. The older mutant first made a small rain cloud to clean the wound, then used the bands on Jubilee’s glove to tie it over the wound in a makeshift wrap.
“You should return to our camp with us, one of our doctors will be able to take care of your wound.”
“Sure thing, thanks.”
Without the distraction of battle, Jubilee’s situation was finally starting to hit her. She was in a different time, possibly a different universe, with a broken time bracelet that might not even be able to work on its own. She suddenly felt tears start to prick at her eyes, and hoped that Storm would just blame them on her arm.
~
Logically, Logan knew Storm could take care of herself. Her powers practically made her a god, and he knew she was incredibly resilient. Still, the moment he knew the other resistance members could handle themselves in the fight, he raced to where his wife had been thrown.
He jumped over a crumbled wall, and felt a split second of panic when he saw an unmoving Land Crab and no Storm.
“Storm! Storm, where are you?”
“In here! One moment, my love.”
Logan ran to the front of the broken Land Crab, and saw Storm helping someone in blinding yellow out of the hole in the window.
“You alright, darling?”
“I am fine Wolverine, thanks to our new friend’s assistance. I am sorry, I did not ask you for your name. I am Storm, and this is Logan.”
Logan looked at the person in yellow, taking note of her injured arm, and realized with a start that she was a young girl, easily a teenager. How was that possible? No human, or superhuman, would risk their life helping mutants, but a mutant that young… Regardless, she seemed disoriented, her gaze flicking between Storm and Logan with a confused look on her face.
“You can call me Jubilee.”
That was definitely a mutant name, which definitely didn’t clear anything up. Either way, she was injured.
“Can you walk?”
Jubilee nodded.
“Yeah, my arm’s the only real damage. As long as I don’t trip getting down I’ll be ok.”
Well, that was simple enough to ensure.
With one leap, Logan jumped through the hole. He scooped up Jubilee in one arm and Storm in the other, making sure Jubille’s uninjured arm could hold onto him. He jumped back down and grinded up at the two women.
“Sure no one wants a lift?”
Storm laughed and gently swatted him on the back of his head.
“You charmer.”
He set the two women down, and took note of Jubilee’s scent. She didn’t smell like someone forced to fight for survival her whole life, but Storm didn’t offer praise freely. If she said Jubilee helped take down the Land Crab, then she clearly did. Her clothes were also far too clean and undamaged to be part of the resistance. Nothing was adding up.
Luckily, Storm had questions as well. As they started to walk to the rest of their group, she asked,
“Your mutation is certainly unique, Jubilee, and quite versatile. Did you hone your skills yourself or have a teacher?”
“Oh, my fireworks?” She held up her good hand, launching a few small colorful sparkles. “I experimented by myself a lot, but I also had some really good teachers.”
Logan didn’t miss the melancholy in her voice, and shared a look with Storm. At least one of the girl’s teachers clearly wasn’t around anymore.
“Well, they certainly did a good job.”
Jubilee turned to Storm and smiled, the ghost of something unreadable in her expression. Before Logan could try and decipher it, or even ask where the girl had come from, they met up with the rest of the mutants who had been fighting. It was a smaller group, with only three others aside from Storm and Wolverine. They had been scavenging for supplies and hadn’t expected to run into any fights.
“Did you guys have any trouble taking down the bot?” Logan asked.
Nightcrawler shook his head.
“Nein, I believe they were as surprised to see us as we were to see them! It was only patrolling with the single Land Crab, so I doubt they were planning on conflict.”
Nemesis nodded, but Copycat raised her eyebrow at Jubilee.
“Did you pick up a stray, Wolvie? Who’s the kid?”
Storm gestured to Jubilee.
“This is Jubilee, she assisted in taking down the Land Crab and was injured in the fight. She is coming back to camp with us so she can be properly healed.”
Copycat narrowed her eyes, and Logan knew she was thinking the same thing she was.
“Must be a lot older than you look.”
Nemesis laughed and said,
“You’re one to talk. Hell, we both are. Give the girl a break.”
Jubilee opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. Logan could practically see her close up, and figured they weren't going to get anything out of her until they were around less people.
The walk back to the resistance camp was tense. Several times the group had to hide to avoid more robots, and they had to ensure that they weren’t being followed when they finally got close to the base. It was nearly night by the time they returned to the hidden camp.
They entered the main tunnel entrance and Storm put a gentle hand on Jubilee’s arm to guide her.
“The medical area is this way.”
She led the girl away and the group split up, but not before Copycat gave Logan one last knowing look.
“You and I both know that girl is far too young to be a natural born mutant. Something isn’t right here.”
She left before Logan could respond, which was good, because he didn’t know what he could say. He went to follow Storm, then picked up the pace when he heard Jubilee let out a shout. He turned the corner and saw Storm and Jubilee standing opposite Mister Sinister. Jubilee was standing in a defensive position, and Sinister looked like he was dealing with a particularly unruly kitten.
“What are you doing here?!” Jubilee snarled.
Sinister merely smiled more.
“My dear, I work here. You, however, are a new curiosity.”
Storm put a hand on Jubilee’s shoulder protectively, and Logan unsheathed his claws as he stood on the kid’s other side.
“She ain’t your concern Sinister, move along. We may be fighting the same enemy but that don’t make us friends.”
“Oh, we’ll have to see about that. After all, part of my research is finding out how lovebirds like you can make more mutant children again. I’d say a mutant child who certainly looks less than twenty is absolutely my concern. We’ll talk later.”
Sinister brushed past them, and it wasn’t until he turned the corner that Logen sheathed his claws.
“Wait,” Jubilee said slowly, “what did he mean about me being less than twenty? Why is that important?”
Storm sighed.
“Unfortunately, no new mutants have been born in over twenty years, to either mutant or human parents. I believe the youngest mutant here is about twenty three.”
Jubilee froze at that.
“Oh, wow.”
She looked uncertain, and Logan made a guess about what she was thinking.
“We ain’t gona make you talk about where you came from if you ain’t comfortable with it. Let’s get your arm looked at.”
~
Jubilee learned a bit more about the wold she was stranded in as Jean sewed up her arm. Apparently, mutants were being constantly hunted and killed by human-made robots, with no care about whether the mutants were dangerous or not. Some sort of gene therapy made it so humans wouldn’t have mutant children anymore, but they could undergo some sort of superhuman experiments to give them powers. Jubilee didn’t see the difference, but apparently the humans did. There was a mutant resistance group led by Magneto of all people, but all of the mutants having a common enemy explained why people like Sabertooth and Sinister were working with Wolverine and Storm.
Jubilee wasn’t sure what she was going to say about where she was from. Did she try and lie, say she was like five years older than she actually was? Did she tell the truth, however unbelievable it was? She was going to have to tell someone if she wanted to get the bracelet fixed and get home.
She thought about it as Jean finished up. The disinfectant had hurt, along with the stitches themselves, but there was apparently a limited supply of pain reducers or numbing medicine, so Jubilee had been given the option to go without. She was quickly realizing that the mutants here weren’t doing so well, so she went without.
“Alright, you’re done. We’ll have to check up on the stitches every now and then, they’ll be ready to come out in a few days.”
“Thanks ma'am.”
Jubilee jumped off the table and was immediately replaced by another patent. Storm and Logan had waited for her, and they started walking with her down the hallway.
“Is… is there somewhere quiet I can talk to you guys?”
Jubilee knew this wasn’t her Storm and Wolverine, but she still trusted them. They would be able to tell her who could fix the time band so she could get home.
Storm shared a look with Logan, then turned to Jubilee.
“Our room is private, we can talk there.”
Storm led the way, and Logan awkwardly put a comforting hand on Jubilee’s shoulder. At least one thing was still the same between worlds. They arrived at Storm and Logan’s shared quarters, which was surprisingly sparse.
“We gotta be ready to leave at a moment’s notice,” Logan explained as he closed the door behind them, “so we can't really personalize. Honestly, this place has a lot more rooms than the holes we usually hide out in. Most of the time we’re in the barracks with everyone else, but the leader likes us enough that we get a little bit of privacy.”
The fact that Storm and Logan were close enough to the rebel leader to get their own rooms chased away and doubts Jubilee might have had about whether they could help her. She took a deep breath and started talking.
“Ok, I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I'm not from this world. Or at least, this version of the world. Where I come from, mutants may not be liked very much, but we’re not constantly being hunted by robots. Some of us are even pop stars! Anyway, I’m part of a team called the X-Men. We help mutants and humans get along, and help mutants learn to control their powers. One of us, Bishop, is a time traveler.”
Jubilee pushed up her sleeve, showing off the time bracelet.
“He had a machine in his time that would send him to whenever he needed to be, and used this bracelet to keep himself there until he was done. Something happened and it broke, so he was stuck in our time. Bea- someone from my time was working on fixing it, and I was helping, but something went wrong and it sent me here. I don’t know what’s wrong with it or if it’s even fixable, but is there anyone here who knows machines? I-I know I can help out here and fight, but I really want to go home at some point.”
Jubilee let her sleeve drop, and realized she was crying. Storm crouched down in front of her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Jubilee, it is understandable that you wish to return to your own timeline. We-”
She was cut off as Jubilee crashed into her in a hug, the teenager finally letting herself break down. Logan crouched down behind her, gently rubbing between her shoulders.
“It’s ok kid, we got some smart people here who’ll know what to do. You’ll be home in no time.”
Jubilee recovered a minute or so later, wiping her tears away.
“I-I was so worried you wouldn’t believe me, and no one would help me, and I know it's only been like a day but I really want to see my family again.”
“Trust me kid, you being from another timeline makes a lot of things make sense. You don’t stink like you haven’t seen a shower in a decade, so that’s a bit of a giveaway right there.”
Jubilee snorted with laughter, which was probably the response Logan was going for.
“Let’s get you somewhere to sleep.”