Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Xmen Evolution

My first shot at an X23 fanfic so reviews and any form of constructive criticism would be great!

(X)

Everything seemed so blurry. She couldn't even seem to remember the faces. They were just another file shoved into her hands, just another target to be eliminated. And so she did what she was trained to do, what she was created to do. Most of them didn't even know what hit them till it was already done. But there were those few that she was ordered to send a message to. To make them beg for the end. She still remembers the sounds of their screams, still sees that flashes of red in her blurry memory and the blood stained adamantium claws protruding from her hands. There's another scream. But there's no one else in the room. Only another terminated target and a bone chilling scream.

2:00 AM: Xavier's school for gifted youngsters.

At that moment Laura Kinney, previously HYDRA created assassin known as X-23, jumps awake to the sound of her own terrorized scream. Hacking and slashing at everything around her until the door slams open and Wolverine, the man she was cloned from, rushes to her and holds her in an iron grip until she finally calms down.

"It's ok kid I'm here for you" he says as he tries to comfort the small girl in his arms. "What's wrong?"

"They're still there, I can still see them. Will they ever go away" she pleads as the tears pour down her face.

It takes him a moment to take it all in and find the right words before he speaks. Even though he's been here at the institute for several years, he's still not used to this kind of stuff.

"I don't know kid, I'm over a hundred years old but they still come back to haunt me too." He's the only one that will ever truly understand what she's been through. And not knowing what to say to her is an injury that will never heal as easy as anything he's ever sustained.

"I just want it to stop, I wish I'd never had to do any of it, I wish I'd never been created" Laura struggles to say in between sobs. "I just want it to stop. I hate them, I hate they did to me, I hate what they made me do, and I hate what they've made me become!" Her body's still shaking from the night terrors as she desperately tries to get a hold of herself and calm down

"No one should ever have to go through what you and me went through kid but I promise you me and Chuck will do everything we can to get you through it."

"I just don't understand why they're still there. I destroyed them. Madam HYDRA, her facilities, Weapon X, all of that is gone but it's like they still have this control over me."

"I can't tell you it will ever go away kid. But here, in this place, it gets better. And we're all here for you."

"They don't understand." Thinking of all the other mutants at the Institute, Laura's words start to sound less like a scared child and more like that of the cold hearted assassin she used to be, angry at the world for the hell its put her through.

"Just give em a chance kid. Who knows they might surprise you. Hell they still manage to surprise me every day. But I'll deny that if it ever leaves this room."

"hmph". Laura's been here for a month and yet she has yet to understand this place and the mutants that call it home. But she is starting to notice that more time has passed since her last nightmare. Maybe that's a sign that she's getting better she hopes as she slowly starts to calm down.

"… I guess" she manages to mumble under her breath.

"Come on. It's time that you get some rest. You got your first team danger room session tomorrow morning."

"I've countless exercises with an even greater lack of sleep." She thinks back to all the grueling training she received at HYDRA and is not nervous in the least about tomorrow's danger room session.

"I know that kid, but humor me a little. Besides I need you to watch over your teammates and not just yourself tomorrow". Wolverine knows she can handle anything the Danger Room can through at her. But Professor Xavier mentioned that he wanted her to try and interact and work with the other students and maybe that will help her road to recovery.

"I won't fail" she states. She's grown accustom to what failure meant. Failure meant pain, failure meant death. Failure was not an option. At least that's what HYDRA had been teaching her all these years.

"Good" Wolverine says as he makes his way to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Laura" And with that he gently closes the door. Letting his clone get a few more hours sleep before tomorrow.

Laura slowly makes her way into bed and as she lays there wrapped in her soft covers wonders what this place has in store for her.