Week In The Life: Jubilee and Betsy

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

Set for Noon on Tuesday 7th October 2008.

Jubilee picks Betsy up from the airport and the two talk on the way back to the Brownstone



Taking the red-eye flight did nothing for her mood as Betsy walked through the doors of baggage claim. Her ridiculously over-sized shades on her face and yet she still squinted up at the afternoon sun. Betsy shouldered her satchel and stood outside the doors, waiting. She sighed as she spotted a car, heading to her, and opened the door before it came to a full stop. "Thank you for coming to get me." Betsy said with a put upon sigh. "I don't think I could muster enough strength to be nice to complete strangers today."

"No trouble, Betts." Jubilee replied, giving the cabbie who'd cut her off just moments before a death glare before she glanced over at her passenger. "Which airline did they stick you with this time?"

"The carrier didn't matter." Betsy commented while staring at the window. After a moment, she turned her head towards Jubilee and snorted. "The ticket was mistakenly booked for coach and I was regrettably forced to upgrade."

"One of these days, you're going to have to teach me how to get away with that." Jubilee noted, pushing her horn with a loud 'blat' sound as she merged into traffic. She gave the driver a rather specific hand gesture as they passed. "I swear, no one knows how to drive in this city. It's like, lemmings or something."

"Maybe.," Betsy smirked as she caught a particularly colorful gesture from the passing cabbie. "I wouldn't be surprised if that's was what he's saying about you. So, tell me what has been going round the past few weeks since I've been away?"

"Same old, same old." Jubilee noted, but her gaze had gone serious, and the tone of her voice, more then anything, conveyed a meaning her words didn't match. "We had a couple of issues with a foreign contract but that was sorted pretty quickly. You? How'd your business trip pan out?"

"Oh really? Did everything go as planned?" Turning her gaze back to Jubilee, waiting for a response and completely ignoring the second question. "The contract, I mean."

"Yes." Jubilee said, slipping in between two cars and then out again as she tapped her fingers impatiently against the wheel. She'd never been a particularly sedate driver and nothing was ever really going to change that. "The new terms were received loud and clear, I'm thinking. We're waiting to see if they accept them. We might have to get a little tougher if they don't, but I figure that's up to Remy."

She shivered slightly, despite the warmth of the day, and then swore as a motorcycle zipped in front of her to speed on past them.

"Right," Betsy said with a curious expression. "I'm sure he'll convince them to go with the right choice." She removed her shades and kept her eyes on Jubilee's face. "Some days I think you lot are too young to play Bond, but then again, it is your choice."

Jubilee grinned impishly at her, slamming on the brakes as a light turned red. "Too cryptic? I've been workin' on my double-speak. Be glad there was nothing about crows flying at midnight."

"A bit." A sharp turn and Betsy's hand instinctively reached for the overhead handle. "You have had practice driving a car in the city recently, yes?" Another sharp turn. "I ask only because you are turning the wheel like most newborns do at their mother's bosom."

"Relax, Betts. " Jubilee noted, eyes noticing the Taxi about to try and cut them off. She sped up, grinning in a rather feral fashion as she heard the Taxi's horn. "Drivin' in New York is all about the aggression. People'll take advantage if you let 'em think you're a push over."

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?"

"Immensely." Jubilee noted, her shoulders slowly relaxing backwards into a more relaxed position. "It's a challenge. Something really, really simple. Get from point A to point B without killing yourself, or your passenger...Okay, or the other drivers if possible."


"So," Betsy drawled. Her eyes finally going back to the rolling scenery outside. "Care to tell me what's on your mind?"

Jubilee's hands tightened on the wheel, her foot increasing the acceleration of the car for a moment before she got herself under control. "That's just it, nothings botherin' me. I killed a man a week or so ago, but the guy I killed years ago hurts me more. This one, it was just necessary, and I did it cause it needed doin'. I just feel tired, Betts."

"I see," Betsy nodded her head understandingly, while her thumb danced over the tips of her fingers. "Have you thought of perhaps taking a holiday?" Her voice filled with a levity that belied the tension in the air. "I find exhaustion is easily replaced with well-oiled cabana boys and fruity concoctions."

"It's a thought." Jubilee admitted, turning off the main road as they neared the Brownstone. "I think I remember Emma mentioning cabana boys at one stage."

"Look," Betsy started before closing her mouth and removed her shades before speaking. "I want to be honest with you and I'm not sure if this will actually make this worse or not." The crease in Betsy's forehead furrowed deeper. "I wasn't joking about thinking you lot were too young for this. I understand that in every situation we can most likely use each of your particular talents but personally it's too much of a risk. You aren't ready." She held her right hand up before Jubilee could object. "While I think you are wholly capable of doing what is asked for you, the intent of our particular group is to do what is necessary in times of great difficulty and personal conflict."

The car stopped at a red light and Betsy turned towards Jubilee as she spoke. She placed her left hand under Jubilee's chin, lifted it up and made Jubilee look at her, to have her see, to understand. "I wouldn't wish half the things I have done in my life on anyone, let alone someone I've watched grow into such a beautiful and resplendent young woman. These are dark times, Jubilee and I'd rather protect you from them than watch you snuffed out amidst the shadows."

The light turned green and Betsy removed her hand from Jubilee's face. She stared back out the passenger window as the car behind them honked its' horn in annoyance.

Jubilee put the car in gear and took off, eyes flicking to the rear view mirror and then back to the road. It had been such a long time since she'd thought of herself as anything but a fuck up.

While she didn't agree with Betsy, didn't think she'd ever been young, she couldn't deny the effect her words had.

"Sometimes the only way to protect people is to let them see the truth." she finally answered, turning into the underground parking bay under the Brownstone. "I'd rather know what's out there, Betts. Even when it makes me tired, even when it hurts. At least here I can do something about it. That's gotta be worth the rest, yeah?"

"No," Betsy murmured. "No, it's not." She waited for Jubilee to pull into a spot and the car to come to a complete stop. "But it'll have to do."