Disclaimer: This fan fiction is not written for profit and no infringement of copyright is intended.

“How positively wonderful to see you again, my dear,” Hank said warmly. “Just give me a moment.” And he swung down from his perch on the ceiling, holding out his giant, furry paw to Marie and beaming. She gave the doctor her brightest smile: she’d always loved Hank, he was one of the people she’d been most looking forward to seeing in the Mansion.

“Yo Hankster,” Jubie muttered dryly then, “What a I, chopped liver?” But she grinned to take the sting out of her words.

“You are, as ever Jubilation, a revelation,” McCoy said courteously.

She gave a tiny bop of her head. “Damn straight. You got a minute?”

“For two such beautiful women, always.”

Jubie wrinkled her nose. “You been spending time with my hubbie again, haven’t ya?”

His expression became mischievous. “I assure you, Mrs. LeBeau, my charm is all my own.” And he gestured to a couple of the chairs in his lab. Marie took one but Jubie perched on his desk. Reached inside and pulled out a Twinkie without even asking his permission. Beast rolled his eyes.

“Ok,” she began, “I could build up to this slowly but there’s no point, so you get the Cliff’s notes version. Wolvie’s missing, he wants us to find him and we have to know what he was up to before he left the Mansion.” Beast’s eyebrows shot upwards. “I know you normally keep his secrets for him, and you know I wouldn’t normally ask, but this time I gotta.” She nodded towards Marie. “Show him, chica.”

Marie didn’t like taking off the tags, in fact every time she did she felt a slightly superstitious thrill of dread, but she did as she was asked. Pulled them out from her shirt and placed them carefully in Hank’s hand. The man’s eyebrows went so high this time that they looked like they were threatening to migrate to his scalp.

“My word,” he muttered. “These are-”

“Yup,” Marie nodded, “they’re the real deal. Ah’d recognise them anywhere.” You don’t sleep wearing something for most of your teen years and not get to know it inside out.

Hank’s expression grew troubled. “Then he is in serious jeopardy, which for Wolverine is saying something.” He walked over to his computer, began pulling up files. “We had been working on a few projects, but when he left the Mansion he was looking into this one.” He gestured to the screen, showing the women a diagram of connected lines and numbers which Marie recognised vaguely from her Biology class with Jeannie, back in the day. “These are DNA strands,” Hank muttered. “They’re related to Logan’s, but not his- Which is a mystery in itself. We’re not sure whether they were planted on purpose in order to frame Logan or draw him in- Or left behind by accident. Tony Stark got in touch with us when his internal investigation turned them up at a warehouse heist in Jersey.”

Marie frowned. “Stark? The weapons’ manufacturer?”

“The same.”

Jubes was suspicious. “Why’d Stark come to you and not the authorities?”

“We’ve had dealings in the past,” Hank said vaguely. Jubie narrowed her eyes: She knew a brush off when she heard one. “Besides,” McCoy rushed on, “Stark is married to a mutant. You might know her, Emma Frost? The telepath?” Jubilee nodded. “He was afraid that if he went to the police with this it would be used as a political football to garner support for mutant registration. And he’s probably right.”

“So he asked the X-Men to look into it on the QT?” Jubes guessed.

“Yes.” Hank sighed, standing, placing his hands behind his back. “Stark has many, many faults, but he’s tussled quite publicly with Senator Osbourne over the issue of Mutant Registration already and he’s the only business leader thus far to stand up to him. Which makes him a friend, in a roundabout way.” Though Beast didn’t look convinced.

Marie could understand the team’s thinking however: Senator Norman Osbourne had recently started making noise about bringing the X-Men under government control, had even tried to subpoena Storm to Washington to kick the process off. All in the name of turning the team into Uncle Sam’s own not-so-private blunt little instrument. None of the X-Men had been willing to play ball: ’Ro had threatened to disband the team first, which had shut the bastard up for now. But Marie knew that Osbourne probably wouldn’t be dissuaded that easily-Which meant that all Storm may have bought them was time.

And that being the case, the support of a man like Stark was worth a little cloak and dagger. Even if he was a pain in the ass.

Jubie’s gaze was speculative though. “So Wolvie set off to check out this heist?” she guessed. Nodding to Marie, showing they were on the same wave-length.

“Yes, he went to see Stark in New York. That was more than a week ago, but then his disappearing act is hardly new.” Hank walked back into his private office and came out with a building pass. “Stark sent me this when he first asked us to become involved,” Beast muttered. “Logan used his, I didn’t. Take it to the Stark Building and demand to see him- He’ll know I sent you.”

Jubes took it, tucking it into her jeans. She and Marie made to go. “Will do, Hankster. Thanks.”

Beast’s gaze was far away. His attention clearly focussed somewhere else. “Oh, and Jubilee? Marie?” The two women nodded. “If you can’t get Tony, ask to speak to Emma. Tell her… Tell her Henry sent you, and give her my regards.” He said the last part to his feet and Marie couldn’t shake the sudden feeling that whatever Beast wanted to give Mrs. Stark it wasn’t his regards- But she kept it to herself.

“Of course, Hank,” Jubes muttered. “Will do.” And then they were out of the door.

The other woman pulled her to a stop in the corridor outside before the door had even swung shut. “Marie,” she began tightly, “I know this goes without saying, but if we’re going on the road Callum can’t come with us.”

Rogue looked at her friend like she was crazy. “Ah know that, Jubes. He’d get himself killed.”

“Good, I just wanted to-”

Suddenly Marie felt annoyance rush through her, and for a moment she felt sixteen again. Who did Jubilee think she was dealing with, an amateur? “Ah know what ya thought, Jubes,” she snapped. “You made it real clear what ya think of him. But he’s not coming along so you’n Kitty needn’t worry. Now you wanna go sort out weaponry and Ah’ll sort out transportation? Or do you wanna spend time dicking around while someone flash-fries our XO?” And she crossed her arms, cocking an eyebrow. Her temper gaining the upper hand for the first time in a long time.

Something moved across Jubie’s face then, something too quick to register, and she narrowed her eyes. “Sir, no Sir!” she snapped, flipping Marie a mock salute before walking away. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, a strange smile on her face.

“It was nice to have you back, Marie,” she said. “For a minute I thought that dick-wad had removed your spinal column completely.” And with that she was gone, leaving Marie swearing in just about every language she knew- Which was a whole lotta cussing out, and then some.

She just couldn’t figure out why she was grinning while she did it.