The Iris Diaries by Máiréad Channing

Chapter 1: She Saw Him

She saw him in the streets of New York City.

Sitting at a small café's window, she had been staring out into the grey streets thinking about business, and also not much of anything, as she daydreamed in a half-awake state. Thus, a vanilla latte with extra espresso sat on the table in front of her, mostly gone, an expense of her half-hearted attempt to stay awake and alert.

There she had been, and there he had wandered past the café window without even a glance her way. He had been wearing none of the gear she had grown accustomed to seeing him wear in the mansion. It used to be that he would wear torn, faded jeans and a t-shirt, or his uniform, and always under that raggedy, old brown trench coat that everyone knew he loved. Always. But today, he had been wearing a far nicer pair of jeans, deep blue dress shirt, and the trench coat had been black, and definitely newer and in far better condition than his favored brown one.

Sunglasses had hidden the demon eyes she knew lay underneath from the rest of the world. And, as she had turned to watch him walk away as he continued onward down the street, she had noticed a ponytail tied at the base of his neck, whereas his hair had been cut short two years ago.

The ponytail suited him, and grinning brightly for a moment in amusement, she realized that he probably was one of the few men in the world who could pull it off and not look like a redneck. Or so she figured, in what Scott liked to refer as her immature mind, and at the thought of the X-Men's leader she grimaced.

She did not want to be reminded of Scott Summers.

Resting one hand in her palm, she let out an irritated sigh as she pondered what to do. Scott was expecting her back within the hour, and knowing him, the entire group would be up until at least midnight planning the mission. Worse yet, it was only 4 o'clock in the afternoon right now. This stop at the café had been her brief and much needed respite, even if Scott had said to come back to the apartment immediately. The break wouldn't hurt anybody, but in the dictionary, Jubilee swore that Scott's name and picture were next to the word "workaholic."

It was sort of like how she swore her name was next to "caffeineaholic," which Jean had kindly notified her the other day was not a word. She'd known it was not a word, of course, but she figured making up words wasn't too terrible if everyone understood the word's meaning. And with the way everyone always accused her of drinking too much caffeine, well, the X-Men definitely understood.

At nineteen, she wasn't quite as hyperactive on her own all the time, especially with how busy the X-Men had been lately.

She clicked her tongue, and turned her gaze away from where it had been focused on her Styrofoam coffee cup to the streets beyond the café window. It was a hard choice to make. Should she follow him and see what he was up to, or should she risk being late to the X-Men's meeting and end up facing Scott Summer's wrath?

"Decisions, decisions…" She hummed, and then took another sip from her latte. Well, it couldn't hurt to talk to him, if she could follow him, though by now he was probably long gone. Either way, it was worth a shot, and she had missed him these past two years. No one had told her why he had suddenly up and left the X-Men a little over two years ago, and a part of her thought that probably only the Professor, and the jerk runaway himself, knew the answer to that question.

Grinning, she stood up, and swallowed the rest of her latte. Throwing the cup in the trash, she exited the café. Who was she kidding? There was no way she wasn't going to follow the man who had taught her how to pick locks and hotwire Scott Summer's prized red Camaro.

Digging her cell phone out of a pocket of her tan jacket, which of course had a lining of bright red (as she wore nothing completely plain), she pressed a button to speed dial Jean. While her phone rang, she turned and began walking in the direction she had seen him go, and hummed a tune quietly to herself. Then she spoke when Jean picked up, "Hey, Jean? It's Jubilee. I'm going to be a little late." She paused as Jean responded, and then said, "Let's just say I'm looking into visiting an old friend…I'll be back later. Start without me if I'm not in time." And then she snapped her neon yellow phone shut before Jean Summers could protest.

Because of either the excitement, or that extra shot of espresso, Jubilee felt her energy level go up, and she quickened her pace down the sidewalk. Hopefully she would be able to find the jerk before he disappeared into the crowds on the streets.

Ah, Christmas Eve in New York City. What a beautiful thing. Singing Jingle Bells under her breath, Jubilee quickened her pace.

Meanwhile, Jean hung up her phone with an annoyed look. "Visiting an old friend? Who does she know that would be in New York City?"

"Jean?" It was Scott's voice, questioning, from the kitchen where he was eating.

Sighing, Jean stood up from where she'd been sitting on the couch in the living room and wandered into the kitchen. It was Christmas Eve, and for some reason, her husband had decided that he wanted to eat a burrito, of all things, instead of the turkey, potatoes, and other assorted things she and Rogue had prepared and would be ready in less than two hours. Men. Shaking her head in amusement, she indicated to her phone. "That was Jubilee. She said she's going to be late."

"Late?" Scott's brow furrowed, "Why?"

Jean gave her husband a helpless look and shrugged.

"No reason at all?"

Jean replied, "She said she is going to visit an old friend and that she'll be back later. She also said to start the meeting without her if she's not back."

"Did she say whether or not she got the information?"

"She didn't say, but I would imagine she did. You know how she is, Scott. She wouldn't wander off without having obtained it," Jean chided, and then opened the fridge and pulled out a soda.

"Yeah, but she realizes that the maps are what we need to even begin to plan, doesn't she? If she's late, then it must be important…" Scott paused for a moment, and then continued, "Why not poke in her mind and find out?"

Jean gave an exasperated sigh. "Scott, that's not exactly…"

"I know, I know. But it can't hurt to find out who she wants to see."

The soda can was popped open and made a fizzing sound, and Jean took a sip before frowning thoughtfully. "How would you feel if she spied on you? And it isn't exactly 'poking,' Scott. You sound like Jubilee!"

"Jean…"

"I'm just saying, Scott."

"Yeah, and we need those maps, Jean. We can't get into the building without it without using our powers…and with those scanners nowadays…"

Jean came over and sat on a bar stool next to him at the large counter, and ran her finger lightly over the top of the can as she did indeed consider looking into Jubilee's mind, or even simply calling her back and threatening to do so over the phone so that the young woman would just spit out who she was suddenly going to see.

"We need those maps, Jean! We need those maps!" came a sudden voice, and both Scott and Jean looked up to see Rogue enter the kitchen. Scott frowned at the mocking tone, and Jean gave up on holding in her laughter after a moment and started to giggle. Leave it to Rogue to mock Scott at the perfect time; it was always amusing to see Rogue ruffle her husband's feathers.

As her husband turned to look at her, and his frown deepened, Jean laughed harder and buried her head on her arms atop the counter. Scott's expression was just too priceless.

"Rogue, this is serious."

"Ah know, sugah, but cut me a break. We all know the severity…Acting like a disgruntled drill sergeant with ya wife ain't gonna help move things along faster."

Scott grunted and took another bite of his burrito. When Rogue looked over at her, Jean lifted her head and cracked a smile. "What have you been up to, Rogue?"

"Just took a shower after working out a bit…Damn, this apartment is impressive. I've always known that Xavier had money, but, just, it's nice."

Jean laughed good-naturedly. "Rogue! We've been here for nearly a week, and you're still surprised?"

"Well, it's not every day that a girl finds herself in an apartment that takes up the entire floor of a skyscraper. I mean, here I thought I'd found everything, and yet behind a door I thought was a closet was a full gym…Gotta love how Xavier spends his money sometimes." Rogue stuck out her tongue at the psychic, and reaching into the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water.

"And it's not every day that people find themselves in a mansion with technology beyond imagination at their fingertips, but hey, if this impresses you instead of that…" Scott said, grinning, and yelped as Rogue opened the water bottle and flung some at him. He laughed, almost falling backwards off of his stool. "Cut it out! Can't a man eat in peace?" Water now covered the island counter, and well as part of the floor and his burrito.

"Nah." Rogue replied with a smile.

"But my poor, poor burrito…"

Rogue sighed in exasperation and folded her arms, which were covered in long, white satin gloves. Jean smiled and poked her husband in the arm. "You know, Rogue as well as myself, your lovely wife, have spent most of today preparing a lovely Christmas Eve dinner…and you're eating a burrito."

"I was hungry."

"Ya sound like Kurt." Rogue quipped. "But sister, I was huuuuungry." She mimicked her brother's tone and voice almost exactly, and then Jean watched as she spun around in a dramatic circle before coming to sit down on the end stool on the other side of Scott, her way of mimicking his teleportation.

"What's really scary is that you can mimic Kurt better than Scott can," Jean said thoughtfully, and Rogue glowered at her while it was Scott's turn to grin.

Rogue took a sip from her now almost half-empty water bottle and leaned forward a bit on the counter so she could see both Scott and Jean. Scott, in turn, sat up a little bit straighter. "So," Rogue began, "Just what were the two of ya talkin' about when I decided to interrupt so politely?"

"Jubilee decided to take a detour," Scott replied, poking his burrito with his fork, and obviously deciding it was still okay to eat despite the slight sogginess as he then took another bite.

"A detour?"

"Yeah, a detour. Jubilee said she had to meet someone," Jean continued for her husband.

"Who on earth could that girl know that lives in New York City? And I mean, she had to see her, or him, completely at random. She knew we'd be busy this week…"

"That's what I was thinking," Scott said, "And that's why I suggested that Jean look into Jubilee's mind."

Rogue took another gulp from her water bottle and looked over at Jean. "Well, now, I like my privacy as much as the next person…but it might be an okay idea to look in on her, see where she's going. I don't mind visitin' people, or checking out some cute guy like she's probably doing…"

Scott snorted.

"…But we really do have business tonight. And dinner. And Logan won't be happy if he comes back and finds out that she's not here," Rogue said.

Jean smiled amusedly, and said, "Husband, dearest, you could learn something about politeness from Rogue."

"…Well, sure, when she's not drunk in a bar…" Scott replied with an amused smile. "You should see her manners then…Truck driver, anyone?"

Rogue whacked him lightly over the head, "Well, aren't you just a charmer."

Jean rolled her eyes and smiled, before closing her eyes as she tried to focus on Jubilee's presence in the large city. Rogue and Scott fell silent, though Rogue looked like she was plotting revenge for Scott's comment on her drunken manners and Scott seemed far too pleased with himself for actually winning this round of banter with Rogue to mind.

Jean frowned, "Rogue, stop planning Scott's death so loudly in your head. I know you want me to hear, but I can't find Jubilee with you cackling."

Of course, Jean was referring to mental laughter, and Rogue understood, having absorbed Jean Grey twice in her life and getting a small taste of her powers. Grinning widely, Rogue promptly pulled the red hood of her sweatshirt over head, hiding her pale face and dark brown hair from view, and attempted to silence her thoughts.

Cyclops figured it helped to not plot his death if she couldn't see him.

Meanwhile, Jubilee had located her target. It appeared that he had stopped momentarily to call someone from a payphone, and she had stood, watching him for a long moment until he hung up and began walking again. Jubilee wrinkled her nose. Surely the man owned a cell phone, so why on Earth would he use a disgusting New York City payphone that probably had a million disgusting germs on it? Oh well.

What was currently frustrating her was that she'd chickened out of approaching him.

She didn't know what it was, but the best way she could describe it to herself was that there was a sense of danger emanating from his presence. The other people in the street obviously did not notice it, but she figured years of training and fighting "bag guys" for lack of a better term had given her a knack for sensing it. That, and Wolverine had personally made sure she became better at reading people instead of constantly being a bubbly idiot.

She loved that dude, even if the last time she attempted to call Logan "dude" he'd actually tied her up in a tree using wire cables she wouldn't be able to singe and break with her powers. The jerk. Thus, she now just referred to him as "dude" in her head. In person, she stuck with Logan, or "Wolvy" if she was feeling cute.

She held back a snicker at the thought. A pet name for Wolverine…good thing she didn't use it anywhere outside the company outside the X-Men, or else they'd probably think she was his teenager whore or something. Oh, what a funny though that was!

She came back from her little musings when she noticed that he'd turned into an alleyway. Wonderful. She was getting bad vibes from him, and now he had to go off the main streets into an alley. Her luck was pretty terrible. Oh why, oh why, had she not just gone up to Remy LeBeau when she had the chance before?

"Chicken," she muttered under her breath to herself.

Now, what to do? Gambit was older than her, and she knew that someone like him knew cities and how to defend himself in them if the situation called for it. It was Christmas Eve though, and really, where could Gambit possibly go that was unsafe?

"Loads of places…" She grumbled, and she stopped at the wall, leaned against it, and then peered down the alley. She stared at what she saw.

Remy LeBeau just bought chicken on a stick from a small stand a little ways down the alley. She let her head fall back against the brick of the building she was leaning against with a thud, astonished, and she giggled a little bit. Big, bad, Remy LeBeau had a chicken on a stick fetish…

Or maybe he was just hungry, but fetish was a far more interesting word.

"Jubilee?"

Jubilee blinked when she heard Jean in her head. "Jean? What is it? Something wrong?"

"We were wondering who you were following."

"I'll tell you in a few minutes. I need to concentrate right now."

Jubilee could sense the concern coming from Jean, but then she felt the telepath leave her mind. Taking a deep breath, and realizing if she stood here much longer people would wonder what the hell she was doing, she turned and headed down the alleyway.

Remy was staring right at her, and his eyes were narrowed in a look that said he wasn't too happy to see her.

But something told her that she shouldn't turn her back to him either, so she took a few steps forward into the alley and then stopped. She'd let him come to her. Jubilee also removed her hands from her pockets, just in case he attacked her or something, as strange as it was to consider.

Not that it would matter; there was no way she could hold her own against Gambit, but she doubted he would attack her in broad daylight with so many people in the streets behind her and the man selling the chicken behind him.

"Girl," he said quietly, and she could see his breath in the cold, "what the hell are y'doin' here in New York City followin' me?"

She stared at him, mesmerized by the deep red of his eyes, which she could see clearly now that he'd removed the sunglasses. She'd always thought they were wicked sweet, and that hadn't changed.

He snorted. "Stop y'starin' Jubilee and answer me. I dunno if I have de patience t'deal with y'today."

"I was sitting in the café and saw you. You've been gone for two years, and…" She shrugged and frowned up at him, "…and I guess I just missed you, Remy. I couldn't resist following you."

Jubilee watched him run his fingers through his hair, obviously in irritation. "I s'pose it'd be too much to ask y'to not tell anyone y'saw me?"

"…Dude, I live with two psychics," Jubilee replied, rolling her eyes, and in her head she figured she could call Remy "dude" and get away with it.

"Point taken," Remy replied, obviously knowing that she was referring to Xavier and Jean. "What y'doin' in New York though? Other than bein' my stalker? Y'a little young for me, by de way." He smiled slightly at her then, and Jubilee grinned back.

"Business, Monsieur LeBeau," she answered with a sweeping bow.

"Business," Remy responded dryly, and seemed to think it over for a moment. "Any chance y'gonna tell me just what business this is?" He went over and leaned against the wall, and pulled a piece of chicken off of the wooden stick and tossed it to her before taking a bite himself.

"You know I can't," Jubilee said, and ate the chicken. Good stuff.

"And why not?"

"You're not one of us anymore." She shuffled her feet against the cold concrete and then shoved her hands in her pockets. She looked over his appearance again. "You look better than when you were with us though, ya know? Nicer coat, nicer clothes in general…and the hair suits you."

She watched as Remy raised his chicken in a mocking salute to the compliment before saying nothing else and simply taking another bite.

This was a weird conversation.

She bit her lip, thought about it. "What if I tell you why we're here, and you tell me why the hell you're here?" She glowered at him. "You know, you're a real jerk for having left without so much as a goodbye."

He smiled ruefully at her. "M'sorry. And no deal, by de way."

"No you aren't sorry," she shot back. She walked up to him and poked him in the chest. "I'll bet money on the fact that you are trying to, right now, figure out the best way to get information out of me without giving any yourself, and then disappear without me following you or telling Jean. Am I close?"

His eyes flashed, and subtle red glow that lasted only a moment before fading again. "Well, Jubes, y' always were good at gambling. Y'right."

"I learned from you and Logan," she shot back.

He laughed outright at that. "Where are y'stayin' at?"

"Not telling."

"In which case I could just follow y'home."

"Not if you want to see Rogue," Jubilee said before she thought about it, and immediately she knew it was the wrong thing to say. Like lightning, his hand shot out, and he pulled her to him. At some point he'd dropped the stick, all the chicken already eaten, to the ground. Her frame of 5'6'' was now resting against his of 6'1'', and she had to resist the urge to laugh nervously.

He lowered his head next to her ear, and Jubilee realized that the two of them probably looked like lovers. This was also probably what Remy was going for to detract attention from them arguing in an alleyway.

"Don't y'dare say her name t'me again."

"O-okay…"

"Look here, Jubilee. Y'need t'stay away from me. Y'can tell them y'saw me, fine. Y'aren't any good at lyin' to your family," he said, and then paused for a moment. "I'm gonna follow y'home, ain't nothin' y' can do about it. I'll be behind you. Don't turn around to see if I'm following." His lips came closer to her ear, and she stiffened. His hands now rested on her hips. "I ain't gonna hurt y' Jubilee, but if you're here for why I t'ink you're here…Then y'might be in danger. Say yes if y' understand."

"Yes," she said without thinking.

"Do y'understand?" He repeated. "Don't say it just because y'afraid of me."

"I understand. I'll walk. I won't look at you," Jubilee said, and rather calmly for how nervous she felt. She supposed she now understood. "And I already told Jean I was following someone…so I'll say it was you, and that I lost you in the crowd."

"Y'gonna be able to pull that off without soundin' like y'lyin?" He removed his hands from her sides.

"Dunno. Probably." She stepped back away from him, gave him a smile and a wink. "You are gonna get lost in the crowd though."

"And if y'lyin to me?"

Jubilee blinked at him, and her blue eyes met his red as she thought about it. "There's no way to guarantee it."

She watched Remy smile, probably with amusement, and then glance at his watch, the smiled fading away rapidly. "Lead de way, chere."

She did so, and began walking in the way she had come from. Hopefully Jean was still tracking her thoughts just lightly enough that she could hear her if she called out. "Jean?"

There was a pause, and then, "I'm here."

"It's Remy."

Jean bolted upright in her stool as she stared wide eyed at the wall across from where she was sitting. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm coming home now. Lost him in the crowd. No worries."

"…All right."

Scott had a worried look on his face and stood from his seat. "Is Jubilee in trouble?"

Jean shook her head. "You okay?"

"Yep! I'm coming back to the apartment now. Honest."

"Jean?" Scott said more urgently this time, and next to him Jean saw Rogue stand as well.

"She's fine…She's coming home now," Jean said, rubbing her temples wearily. Gambit? What were the odds of Jubilee seeing Gambit? Jean hadn't even been able to locate him with Cerebro. Quite honestly, a part of her had thought he'd been killed. Cerebro should have picked up Gambit's powers at some point, as she doubted that he had stopped using them altogether.

"Who did she meet?" Rogue questioned, coming over and resting a hand on Jean's shoulder.

Jean paused for a long moment, and then said, "I think I'll let her tell you…She should be home within fifteen minutes." She just couldn't bring herself to mention Remy in front of Rogue.

Rogue and Scott shared a worried look, or at least as worried a look as two people can share when one is wearing red, reflective sunglasses, before both sat back down on their stools again.

A short while later, Jubilee walked up to the entryway of the apartment building, and glanced to her left, the way she'd come. Remy was nowhere in sight. Sighing to herself, she entered the building, and after an elevator ride she arrived at their apartment's floor and entered. "Anyone home?" She called out, shrugging out of her coat.

"Kitchen!" She heard Scott call, and so that's where she went, carrying her jacket on one arm. She found Scott, Jean, and Rogue all in the kitchen.

"You're late," Scott said. "Now, who is this person you were meeting?"

Jubilee looked at Jean. "You didn't tell them?" Damn, and here she hadn't wanted to see Rogue's reaction. Then again, that's probably why Jean herself had stayed silent.

Jean shook her head.

Sighing, Jubilee tossed her coat onto the kitchen island counter and then sat on the stool next to Jean. "I went to a coffee shop to get a latte, and saw him walk past…" She frowned, and then looked at Rogue.

Rogue was staring at her, with some odd mixture of emotions in her expression that Jubilee couldn't place.

"And?" Scott queried, and Jubilee noticed that he must've been eating something before she'd come here. That weirdo, eating before a huge dinner…

"Jubilee, tell them." Jean prompted, and Jubilee glared at her before looking away from them, suddenly finding the red liner of her coat interesting and she ran her fingers lightly across the fabric, gathering her courage.

"It was Remy LeBeau."

Reviews are appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of The Iris Diaries.