Tending Toward Destructive: Thing Three

Author Notes:
Another mini-arc, because they are sort of addictive. Sorry this is so late, but other stuff sort of got in the way. :) Thanks to Sare for the beta and actually believing I could pull this off. You are a goddess, and I still think that the Temple of Marie and Cerebro sex are NOT a bad idea at all if they promote world peace. :)

*****

You live at the Mansion long enough--hell, you live *anyplace* long enough--you get the ambiance down in your head, what every mood feels like. St. John, coming back from an errand with Ms Munroe (yippee, finally got off campus for a few minutes, even if it was just to help with shopping), walked in the door and knew something was wrong.

Ms Munroe sensed it too--eyes narrowing a little in confusion, then widened abruptly, she dismissed him with an absent smile and thanks and left the kitchen at what could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered a casual walk. St. John blinked, taking a breath, wondering what the hell was going on. Going out the kitchen door, he spied Jubilee, pacing in front of the stairs, turning suddenly to address someone he couldn't quite see.

She was giving off some serious angry-vibes, no question. Hmm. He was almost tempted to go the other way.

"We gotta find her *now*--if Scooter finds it, she's gonna get her ass kicked three ways from Sunday. She's fucking lost her mind." Another turn, and her eyes lighted on him--briefly, he saw her struggle, then shake her head, turning back to pace.

"Jubes--" Kitty. Of course.

"I don't give a good fuck if she fucked over half the school! She's still Rogue and I don't wanna--" Jubilee stopped again, giving him a glance, and he realized--God, he was officially blackballed. Only one person would have Jubes that tense--and shit, he did care. Dropping his backpack, he crossed the polished wood distance between them and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. One hand came up and he saw sparks jump from her fingers. He knocked her hand out of the way. Uh-uh, babe, no way.

"You don't wanna play like that, Lee, so don't get your panties in a twist. What the hell is going on?"

Jubilee's mouth set in a straight line, and he knew he wouldn't get a damn thing out of her. Turning, he saw Kitty--Kitty was breakable. He took two steps up, coming face to face and she took a stumbling step back, eyes wide. Interesting

"What's going on?"

"Johnny--" A desperate glance at Jubilee.

"None of your business, fireboy. Get your ass back to sulking. We don't need you."

They needed something and he was around. Fuck. Pushing Kitty back until she was trapped against the wall, St. John tried again. Jubilee would send him to hell--Kitty was softer.

"What the hell did Rogue do now?"

Another desperate glance, then Kitty bit her lip. It came out, probably against her will too.

"Drugs. Uppers, in her room. She bought 'em a few days ago we think." Snapped her mouth shut afterward, another pleading glance to Jubilee.

It could have been a surprise--it should have been--but it added up pretty well, knowing Rogue. Letting a breath hiss between his teeth, he glanced down at the furious Jubilee--who hadn't stopped Kitty from spilling either, so at least that was something. Okay. Think.

"How long?"

Jubilee blew out a breath.

"We had it under control--"

"She's buying uppers now, there is no control. How the fuck long?" No balance, no sleep, heightened aggression. Shit, when Rogue wanted to do anything, she never did it halfway. Shoulda guessed--fuck, shoulda fucking *known*, not when she was like in the library the day before, not the way she'd been reacting since The Latest Incident.

Kitty shut her eyes.

"How. The. Fuck. Long?" Not even meaning to, he took another step toward Kitty, whose eyes opened in shock--he didn't even know he was capable of that kind of threat--hehehe, he *was* learning from Logan, had to thank the man one day--before he felt Jubilee grab his arm, spinning him onto the floor.

She was learning too. Hmm. Have to remember that, she was damned strong.

"You haven't given a shit about any of us for a week, Johnny. Go fuck yourself."

"This is serious." Better not get up. She looked ready to do some serious damage--fuck, she was scared, no question. "How long, Jubes? Since--"

"Since the house arrest." That long? God. She bit her lip briefly, chopping the air angrily with her fingers (maybe imagining his head) before spinning away to pace. "She wasn't sleeping well--Wolvie'd been talking her through the worst dreams before we got grounded--I *knew* when Mr. Summers restricted her to her room somethin' was gonna go down bad. When that stopped--fuck, Johnny, you don't have a fucking clue what she's been goin' through!"

No, he didn't. Shit. He had absolutely no clue what the hell was up anywhere and that was changing right this fucking second.

"Tell me." Simple, direct. Jubilee liked that, he knew. She tended to like the direct approach. With narrowed eyes and another angry breath, she gave him a long look.

"At first, she'd--she got Dr. McCoy to give her some sleeping pills. He monitored her on them and she said they were working okay--but it was gettin' harder to wake her up when she *did* dream bad--real hard." He didn't even want to know what Jubilee had had to do to get her up. "She-she made us promise not to tell Wolvie 'bout it, you know? Didn't wanna worry him. And she--well, she gave 'em back to McCoy and said it was all under control now--but she started trying to--you know, exhaust herself before bed. She got those extra sessions with Wolvie and she'd--you know, she'd nap and she said that would help a little, that she didn't dream when she was that tired." Jubilee stopped short--God, she wasn't nearly as pissed as she was scared. It was contagious--he could feel little tremors running through him. "I--I--fuck, Johnny, the girl lives with me! We knew she wasn't gettin' enough sleep and she was drinkin' coffee like it was a religious occupation, but fuck--"

Okay. Calm. Think. Get the whole story. Don't react. Think. Think. You're good at that. You're good at blowing up things and you're usually good at thinking. Let's go with thinking. Blowing up stuff wouldn't be productive. Fun and relaxing, but not very productive.

"How'd you find out about--"

"Class, when she reacted that bad to Logan." Yeah, he'd noticed that. "He got really disturbed--asked me if she was okay--and you know, Wolvie'd never ask anyone if he wasn't that worried. And all that triangle crap between you and her and Drake was just--it was ripping her up." Jubilee turned again, this time planting herself on the lower step, giving him a glare. Fuck, he might even deserve it. "Stupid me, went to talk to Scooter--he got all kinds of freaky ideas. I thought--you know, maybe he'd just lift her restriction so she could stay with Wolvie for awhile, get her balance back? He started--the idiot started *watching* her and really freaking her out--shit, she'd like, disappear for hours and we couldn't find her. He pulled her after hour gym privileges because he said she wasn't getting enough sleep and she wasn't looking too good. No shit, Sherlock. That she needed to slow down. Kept trying to get her to talk about it and you know she won't do that with anyone, even the Prof. He was gonna pull her extra work-outs with Wolvie too--and she--she--" Jubilee stopped, looking up at him. Eyes narrowed in accusation.

He only half-deserved that.

"Look, I know you and Drake and her got something freaky goin' on--she won't talk about it, says it's her fault. But this isn't--we don't handle it this way. We do it together--whatever the fuck you and Roguey and Bobby did or didn't do or wanted to do--get over it already. We aren't living some melodrama--you know what she's capable of if she's pushed and all this is pushing her too hard. I found one of those baggies in the bathroom--Dr. McCoy ran a spectrum on the remains and found out what it was. He was gonna handle it himself, but Jeanie found the results an hour ago when McCoy left to go find the dealer. He was gonna deal with Rogue, you know? She trusts him." Jubilee wiped her face angrily. "Fuck Jeanie and Scooter--they'll screw this up and she'll be gone out the door before any of us can do anything if they find that crap."

Jubilee stopped, and he saw the burn of color into her face. St. John took a deep breath, trying to breathe. Slowly, he stood up.

"They don't know who had the bag?"

"Nope. McCoy was gonna take it straight to Xavier and handle it himself. He knows Roguey likes him--he's been her doctor since the whole Remy thing. She'll listen to them."

"Do you have the bag?"

Jubilee blinked, then slowly nodded. He could see it in her eyes--she was quick.

"You think there's more?"

"She took enough money to buy three of these." He smiled a little--if anyone would know street price, it'd be Jubes "I balance her account for her--she don't know shit about money. I went over the entire damn room and couldn't find crap." A pause, then Jubilee pulled it from the recesses of her jacket. St. John took it, looking at the dust clinging to the inside. Thinking. Thinking...

"Logan could get a scent lock and find it in her room before the Fearless Leaders get in there. Where are they now?"

Jubilee's eyes widened. It never ceased to really amaze him, how they could think together like that.

"With the younger kids first--they're doing a room-by-room. First hall--it'll be at least twenty minutes before they get to our room, and we're not allowed up there--only teachers." On her feet, grabbing Kitty, energized because she had a mission. "Give me five minutes, then you two get some sort of distraction--Logan can smell it out and get it out of there before they find it--I searched the entire fucking room, but Scooter's an old hand at finding things, he and Jeanie both. If we don't get in there first, they'll get it and God knows what'll happen."

St. John blinked. He didn't even wanna *think* about the shit that would go down if Rogue was caught with that crap.

"You know where Logan is?"

A blinding smile--Jubes on her turf, doing things. Strangely, Logan didn't scare her. He'd have to ask her about that sometime.

"Oh yeah, Danger Room--and we got the new codes from Wolvie to get to the sublevels. As long as the teachers are upstairs, no one'll know I know."

St. John paused and caught Kitty as Jubilee spun the girl at him.

"You think Logan'll--"

"He knows what'll happen if Scooter finds it before he does. I trust McCoy and Wolvie more than the others with something like this--they'll take care of it. Get going--and--" Jubilee stopped, taking a breath. "Look, you two--you have to be *caught* fucking up, you got it? A fire alarm ain't gonna do it this time--they *have* to think y'all are screwing around and it has nothin' to do with the whole search, or it'll all be for nothing. And keep Summers occupied, got it? Don't screw up small. Make it big and public."

"I know." He did know. Kitty nodded quickly and Jubilee took off down the floor, sliding against the far wall, before going into a dead sprint down toward the elevator.

And wow, did he just have a fabulous idea.

* * * * *

"What the *hell* are you doing?"

St. John blinked up at the sky while Kitty almost dropped the second one as she leaped to her feet--fuck, careful babe. Cute little bombs like that could still go off at bad times. Squinting, he turned to see Mr. Summers standing only a few feet away. In the distance, he could see the spill of the other teachers across the back porch--quick count, that was most of them. Jubes and Logan could handle the few left inside.

Hmm. That was quick though. Must've been near a window. Cool beans.

"Hi sir." Carefully, he turned on his control and smiled up, sunny. Oh, Mr. Summers was pissed. Two steps from pissed. "We were just experimenting, you know. With a new design. Got it off the net--"

"You *know* better than to set your little bombs off out here, Johnny! We have a lab for that."

Well, yeah, where'd he think Kitty'd got the materials, anyway? He had an answer ready. It might even seem plausible.

"Too high explosion, sir. I wanted to test it--"

"St. John--I don't believe this." Though he did--St. John's fascination with explosives was quite well-documented. He was going through the motions right now--more pissed that he'd been interrupted than seeing St. John with his favorite toys. "You are given the privilege of using these only under the supervision of a teacher--not where you can start a fire that could burn down half the damn school!" A wave of the hand at the device in Kitty's hand. Which wouldn't burn down half the school--if it was set off at the right place, it'd maybe take out a room. Or two. Okay, maybe three, but shit, there were fire extinguishers everywhere. It'd be fine.

Mr. Summers using profanity was always interesting to hear. St. John stood up, grabbing the second bomb from Kitty--he really hadn't expected him to show up so damn fast. The second one had a better payload and he'd.

"Sir, I'm careful--"

"With an explosion so big you didn't think the lab would handle it?"

Mmm...good point. Very good point. Had to give him that.

"Both of you, in my office. I'll deal with you later." A hand extended peremptorily, and St. John meekly handed over the second bomb--damn, he wished he could have set that one off. "I can't believe you're acting this irresponsibly--"

Whoa. Bad idea. Might get to wondering why Johnny broke out with the dynamite-type items so suddenly.

"Sir, I just got bored--"

"And you *know* very well you're not allowed out of the Mansion for another two weeks. This is--"

It started then, the lecture he'd been waiting for. St. John almost welcomed it, forced down his grin, tried to look that unique adolescent combination of angry and unrepentant and worried--not as easy as it sounded, but he'd been a teenager for awhile, so he could manage it. It was all good--Logan'd have plenty of time to find the stash and all would be damn good.

Well, except for the punishment. Probably grounded for another month. Oh well. It's wasn't like he had any plans anyway.