Unwilling Weapon

A Matter Of Trust

Noh had been following Hank's instructions to the letter in an attempt to get better — and he honestly didn't mind in the least spending this much time with Jubilee, either. He did feel bad about how much food he needed to kickstart his healing — but she seemed more than happy to crawl in bed with a tray and a movie anyway. And he was feeling much better, with his arm around her shoulders and her head on his chest without his pain receptors turned off, so that was a good sign for his recovery.

So when the little whine started up from the arm band, he did his level best to just ignore it. It was an annoyance, and surely Assistant Director Hill couldn't expect him back this quickly. Not to mention the fact that Jubilee was curled up into him, and if he looked like he was reaching for his communicator, she would try and steal it first.

Eventually, the noise got loud enough that it was hard for him to concentrate on anything else, so he tapped the band to acknowledge it but still made no move to leave. That would buy him a little time, anyway.

At his movement, Jubilee snuggled in a bit deeper and leaned forward in her sleep to kiss his neck, still drifting, mostly unconscious.

He leaned into her hair and kissed the top of her head with a little contented smile, and he closed his eyes to just try and relax. He had actually fallen back asleep when the high-pitched whine started up again, this time much more insistent, intense enough that it not only woke him but had his entire body on edge, the frequency seeming to cut right through his tympanic membrane. And it didn't stop when he touched the arm band, either — just kept getting more insistent and intense.

Jubilee's eyes fluttered open quickly at the way he was tensed and half holding his breath. "Are you — did I do something?" she asked, a bit of alarm in her voice.

"No — no, not you," he said through his teeth.

"Then what?" she asked. "What's happening?" She looked truly worried, and it was clear she had no idea what she could do to help.

"I just — it's not—" He had his eyes closed and gave up on trying to explain to her entirely as he tried to focus on rerouting his brain patterns so he could just ignore the input, but it was hard to focus, his concentration shattered by the sound that was literally traveling through his body. It was the kind of frequency the Shi'ar used to make Kree hurt, though not quite at the level of Warbird's war cry that had shattered his entire membrane the first time they met. When he finally gave up that approach, he just reached for his communicator. "I need to get to my ship," he whispered, still through his teeth.

Jubilee frowned at him as she put it together. "How are they doing ... whatever they're doing?" she asked, her eyes flashing.

"It's not — don't worry," he told her as he pulled up the message with the coordinates and responded to it directly — which finally stopped the noise. He let out all his breath as he could finally function again, and he tried to smile her way. "I'm fine."

"Noh, please tell me what they're doing to you," she asked quietly. "I trust you completely, but what they're doing ... I need to know."

He looked taken aback for a moment and looked up at her with wide eyes — still not quite able to believe that she trusted him after everything he'd done to break that trust — before he just leaned over and kissed her. "It's not your concern," he told her seriously. "Please don't make it your concern."

"So, is it that you're being stupid and trying to protect me?" Jubilee replied slowly. "Or is it that you don't trust me to tell me anything?"

He looked genuinely hurt. "I trust you with my life, Jubilee," he said sincerely.