*"That must be Suzie.  She's so damn inconsiderate – it's 3:30 in the friggin morning and she's making enough noise to wake up the friggin dead."* "How RUDE!" she yelled as she put her head back onto her book and started to go back to sleep.  As soon as her head hit the book she heard the unmistakable sound of her bedroom door opening. 

"You've got a lot of nerve Suzie!" she said as she sat up and opened her eyes again.  While turning around to face her noisy, impolite roommate she suddenly remembered that all three of her suite mates had taken off for the weekend.  A cold shiver ran down her spine as she turned and saw 2 armed men in masks approaching her.  She tried to scream but the first man grabbed her and covered her mouth – silencing her from the rest of the nearly empty dorm.  The men were so quick she didn't even have time to use her mutant powers – which was unusual for her since speed was the essence of her unique gift.  With his other arm, the first man grabbed her by the waist and threw her to the bed.  By then, the second man had come in and raised a spray can to her head.  The expression on Lisa's face was one of pure fear as thoughts of serial rapists and murders quickly flashed through her mind.  Those were the last thoughts she had as the second man sprayed a healthy dose of something into her face.  It took mere seconds for the sweet smelling substance to work its way into her lungs.  While it did, Lisa's fright turned to exhaustion and then unconsciousness.  She quickly fell asleep – not knowing where she would wake up…or if she would wake up at all.

*****

Happy Flamin' Birthday

It was 12:00am exactly on August 3 as Jubilee lay asleep in her bed at the academy.  She was abruptly awoken by a rough yet very familiar voice – the voice of her mentor.

"Jubes, wake up – we gotta get back ta Salem Center." Logan said while gently shaking her arm.

"Wha…?  Whozzat?  Wolvie?  What are you doing here?  What time is it?" She sleepily said as she sat up in bed.

"It's midnight – we gotta get back ta Salem Center, all hell is brakin' loose and we need yer help."

"My help?  What do you mean?  What happened?"  She said – now fully awake and alert to the fact that something serious must have happened to the X-Men to bring Logan to the academy in the middle of the night.

"I'll tell ya on the way kiddo…let's go." He yelled as he pulled her out of bed and toward the door. 

"Don't I even have time to put my uniform on?" she asked, her voice heavy with concern.

"Worry about that later" he said while pulling her down the hall of the academy. 

"What about Mr. Cassidy and Ms. Frost?  Don't you want them to come…?"

"Later…!"

Logan's anxiousness made Jubilee fully aware of the intensity of the situation. She quickly matched his stride down the hall.  They were headed down the main staircase into the darkened lobby toward the front doors when the lights came on, startling Jubilee.

"SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A chorus of voices yelled as the brightly lit room revealed both Generation X and X-Men teammates in the lobby.  "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Jubilee was completely blown away by the surprise.  She thought that maybe her Generation X teammates would do something for her birthday but she never thought she'd see all her former X-Men teammates.  But then, how often did one of the X-Men turn 18?  This was truly an occasion worthy of celebration!

"Omigosh!" she yelled as she ran and hugged each one that made the journey to see her:  Storm in particular – her surrogate mother, Rogue, Cike, Jean, Gambit, Beast, Xavier, Tasha - her newly adopted sister…even Bishop came to usher the young X-Man into adulthood - the first time she ever saw him without his guns.  The room had been nicely decorated and was full of presents and snacks – including her favorite cake:  angel-food with butterscotch icing.  She couldn't have been happier. 

They all sat around and watched her open her many many presents.  She was amazed at the level of presents she received this year.  On her 17th birthday they gave her clothes, stuffed animals, books, and the sorts.  This year she received higher quality gifts – electronic devices, more expensive clothing, and gift certificates from all of her favorite stores – and a few nice ones.  The biggest present however secretly waited for her outside as she unwrapped a small box given to her by Logan.  Inside were 2 identical keys with the letters AMG branded on them.

"Wolvie?  Is this what I think it is???"  she excitedly asked. 

"Well, why don't ya go outside and see fer yerself?"  he said with a smirk.

She ran outside and saw the best 18th birthday present she could have ever imagined – an authentic HMMWV (pronounced humvee) sitting in the driveway with a personalized plate that said "Jubes." 

"Wolvieeeeee!!!" she squealed excitedly.  "I can't believe it – my very own Hummer!!!"

"THAT AIN'T NO FLAMIN' HUMMER – THAT'S A HMMWV!" he countered!  "Model M1114" to be exact.  She was too busy jumping behind the wheel and starting it up to hear him though – but the rest of the group noticed.  No soupped up yuppie-mobile would do for his little girl.  She had to have the best and strongest.

"Ya coulda at least had it painted Logan" Rogue said – pointing to the black, green and brown camouflaged colors draping the truck.  "And what's an M-somethin'-14 anyway?"

"Pipe down Cornpone – that ain't no yuppie-mobile.  It's an authentic USMC High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle – a HMMWV…with extra armor, winch, built in snorkel and polycarb glass.  It comes in one color – CAMO!  It wasn't created for comfort – it was created for use and protection – plain and simple.  Hell…she's lucky I put a stereo in it."