Deathfic: Born of Fire
Title: Born of Fire
Author: Salamander
Fandom: vaguely X-Men/Gen X
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Marvel Comics owns the rights to Jubilation Lee, but everything else is mine. I'm still not making any money off it, though.
Written for 30_deathfics for theme #26, "Fire."
Notes: Statements between *asterisks* are kinda sorta telepathic.



It probably didn’t last more than a couple of seconds, if even that, but the heat lasted for what felt like an eternity. The word “hot” didn’t seem to suffice, though. It was like being surrounded by magma. And she sure as hell flew for what felt like forever, the wave of burning air propelling her. Her entire left side was boiling and she’d felt her ear being smashed instantly by the boom.

Jubilee had seen many explosions in her lifetime. Hell, she’d even caused quite a few. But she’d never been in the middle of one before.

It wasn’t until later--much later when Donald had sat down besides her infirmary bed, Jubilee’s pain meds still coursing through her veins, and explained everything to her--that she found out Hal had found her because of her screaming. His horrified face was the first thing she fully remembered, almost an entire 20 minutes of fuzzy memories and dead silence near-forgotten.

--

Hal had made some friends here and there. For such a consummate soldier, he could be surprisingly social. People liked him. People wanted to help him. The decision to allow him to join her and Donald more than a year previously was the only thing that had kept her alive. He might have been working alongside the two, but he was the one who had wound up with most of the contacts.

They’d taken her to an ER in Baltimore first, to be stabilized and give Hal enough time to make arrangements and Donald enough time to get all the equipment needed to hopefully safely move her. They’d taken her three days later. It had been the easiest thing they had ever stolen, and it felt wrong that it was Jubilee they’d taken with such ease, especially considering the police presence. The local PD had taken an interest in her case, having called it “suspicious.”

Dr. Adani had flown in from just outside Calcutta only to immediately make the trip back, this time in the same airplane as Jubilee. He’d brought another doctor and a nurse.

Donald had landed the plane on HarbirTech’s private runway, and immediately a group of doctors and nurses and lab techs were moving Jubilee quickly off the tarmac and into the facility.

Donald and Hal didn’t see Jubilee until six days later. She’d been placed in a thick glass cylinder and was suspended in a dark yellow, clear liquid. She was also naked. Despite a skin discoloration, made difficult to see because of the liquid’s coloring, and missing hair on her left side, she looked just like the Jubilee they’d always known.

--

So when Donald finally got to sit down and really talk to her, even if she was still a little doped up, he explained a number of things and hoped she wouldn’t kill him or Hal.

No, she had no skin grafts. “Guinea pig” was a harsh term, but yes, the procedure was experimental. Yes, that really was her own skin, even if chemically it had started out as synthetic. Her coloration had been getting more natural and would eventually look even. And, oh yeah, she kinda sorta had something very similar to a “bionic ear.”

She had taken it surprisingly well. But maybe the drugs had helped with that.

--

Or maybe she’d had plans concerning HarbirTech and their biological modifications. The first leap had already been taken, without her consent, and she had no more internal arguments why it was a bad idea. EOS had more people on their side. Literally hundreds, possibly thousands, of workers, not to mention those they were holding against their will or blackmailing. They needed all the help they could get.

Jubilee, the boys, and HarbirTech had a common enemy. If they agreed to semi-regular check-ups and monthly status reports, the secret Indian laboratory was more than willing to put money into researching and developing new ways to upgrade their bodies and their weapons.

Just because EOS was in America didn’t mean one day they wouldn’t try to branch out to India. And having actual human beings willing to try out their work in such extreme conditions was just too much to ask for.

--

Jubilee was a mother fucking phoenix.

*You’re projecting again, J.*

She frowned at the intrusion. She was still getting used to the telepathic chips that had been inserted into their brains. *Sorry.*

She was sure she could feel Donald’s smirk. *But you’re right. You’re an even bigger badass now.*

That wasn’t how she had meant it. These assholes had pretty much killed her, but she was back. She was back and she was strong and she was not going away. And okay, yeah, maybe she was a little proud of all that, but that wasn’t the point.

*Charges in place and activated at fourth site. Waiting for confirmation on guard location.* No matter the situation, Hal was always professional.

*Hold.* So the three of them did just that. Hal hunched in the shadows, Jubilee on look-out, Donald two miles away ensconced safely in their getaway jet and watching a satellite feed he’d managed to hack into.

*Guards on other side of Wellington Building. Go.*

She knew Hal had begun to move at the command, but she didn’t actually see him until he was almost 10 feet away from her. She was good at avoiding detection, but he was almost on par with Wolverine.

It was something she still had to work on, and those suits HarbirTech was working on would only make it easier. *Yeah, I’m drooling over them, too,* was Donald’s voice in her head again.

She scowled slightly at her own lack of control, something she hadn’t had issues with in years. One corner of Hal’s lips quirked upward and he nodded in the direction of their jet.

This time, Jubilee was nowhere near the explosion.