Uncanny X-Men 1943

Chapter 12

"Good morning," she said, trying to sound assertive. "Nice wallpaper. Better than our office." One of the men rolled his eyes. Jubilee put down her bag, took off her coat, arranging it over the back of her chair. As she pulled out the chair to sit down, it made a scraping noise on the floorboards. "Sorry. We have carpet. Carpeted floors, but uglier wallpaper. I guess you can't win them all."

"We need to ask you a few questions," the gentleman in the middle asked.

"I'm sure you're welcome to Baker Street," Jubilee said, arranging her skirt. She wished she could sit still. "Or you could send a telegram. Or a letter. Or - you, know, use the telephone."

"What's your full name?" the man on the left asked, fiddling with the nib of his pen.

"Pardon?" Jubilee asked, suspecting she should be addressing these men as 'sir', but deciding not to.

"Your full name."

"You don't know who I am?" Jubilee asked. All three of the men gave her such a look that Jubilee found herself intimidated into compliance, "Juliana Bao Lee. Juliana was the name of the midwife who delivered me, if you really want to know. My parents weren't totally up with English girl names at the time, but they wanted me to fit in as much as possible, so - "

"Place of birth?" the man on the left asked, cutting Jubilee off.

"Bristol. Or do you want the whole street address?"

"Nationality?"

"You know where Bristol is, right?" Jubilee said, deciding that if these men were going to ask her stupid questions, they were going to get sassy answers. "On the west coast? In England? With all the ships and the estuary and stuff? English."

"Parent's nationality?"

"Well, they're from Hong Kong, so - sorry, where is this going?"

"We require your co-operation, Miss Lee. Are you apropos to the whereabouts of Mrs Emma Summers?"

"I - I don't think - I..." Jubilee stammered, the question catching her off guard. She had been expecting questions regarding Sebastian Shaw, not Miss Frost.

"How about Lady Elizabeth Braddock? Or Mr James Logan Howlett? Or - "

The door swung open, "Miss Lee!"

Jubilee turned to look at the intruder.

"Who are you?" one of the gentlemen asked.

"Oh, no," grumbled the one in the middle, recognising the intruder.

"Oh, yes," Jubilee smiled, relief surging through her as she realised she hadn't been breathing.

"Miss Lee, you're not to say another word. Get your things, we're leaving."

"That door was locked, Agent Brand," the gentleman on the right said.

"Well, you're going to need a new lock. Also, it's Commander to you, Agent," Abigail Brand said, pulling her gloves back on. She was dressed in a standard-issue black trench-coat, and wore her signature green-tinted glasses. There was a rumour that she worked for a secret branch of the RAF, but Jubilee wasn't sure she believed that.

The three gentlemen looked extremely uncomfortable. "You have no authority here. How dare you interfere? I will see you reprimanded for this."

"I have every authority here, and you're not my boss," Commander Brand said, "And, oh yes, your boss is not my boss. Miss Lee, today if you don't mind."

Jubilee had never had so much trouble with her coat, but finally managed to pull it on, grab her bag, and hurried out into the hallway.

"I'd shut the door," the Commander said, "But the lock and handle are broken."