Disclaimer: I don't own Angelo or Jubilee. Marvel does.

Cold Stone

"Maybe I loved him, but I just didn't know it." -Jubilation Lee

The sun shines down onto the mansion grounds, spreading it's warm light onto everything it can touch. Shade blocks the persistant light from certain areas, though it pounds down with force none the less. A gentle wind caresses the grounds as well, ever so gently rustling leaves and other flora. The sky is bright blue, without a cloud in its vastness. The day in itself, is perfect.

She watches him watching nothing and it makes her heart skip a beat. He probably doesn't see her there, he's too intent on spacing out. She's not used to seeing him like this, he was always such a joker, a pain in the ass, for lack of a better term. To see him so serious and not moving, gives her an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

He's just standing there. In fact, he's doing a great impression of Monet right now. She bets nothing could bring him out of the trance he's in, or budge him a single inch.

She comes a little closer, and still, he doesn't look at her. She sighs and continues to watch him. It's been a long time since they spoke, even longer since he acknowledged her. But she doesn't expect him to do either anytime soon. He's in his own little world right now. A world free of hate, pain, anguish, agony... A world free of reality. She can only imagine how nice it must be to be in that place.

The way he's vacantly staring out into nothingness and standing stalk still, makes the uneasy feeling in her gut grow. She knows something is wrong, and she also knows she can get no answers from him. But knowing those facts makes tears well up in her power blue eyes.

Those same leaking eyes look up to stare at his distant and dull gray ones. She hates seeing his eyes like this. They used to be so full of light and life. But now they're dull and dead.

She misses seeing him be himself; so energetic, a smart-ass, a punk... She misses everything, even if he would annoy the hell out of her. She would give anything to hear him say a perverted remark right now, or feel his skin against her...

"I miss ya, Ange..." Jubilee whispers to herself, wiping the tears from her eyes. She would have given anything to hear him reply. But he doesn't. He won't. He can't.

Jubilee makes her way to the man she has been watching. It makes her cry more the closer she gets to him. It reminds her his vacant stare will never change. His stature will never change. He'll never move from this spot. She will never hear his voice again. And when she gets close enough, she finds herself glaring up at him, "damn you..." She curses at the memorial statue in front of her as though she were actually telling Angelo Espinosa himself off. But in reality, she's doing nothing more than speaking to a statue, hoping her words can reach the man that's supposedly somewhere on the other side.

She looks up at his face as she backs up and sits down on a bench. Reality starts to sink in slowly. Though it's been a few days since his death, it's still sinking in. And now it does. Tears come again as she realizes she has nothing left of him but this cold, gray stone. But for now, she couldn't ask for better company. A dead mans statue, silence, and thoughts of what could have been.

-End

©-Amanda