Title: Mercury Rising

Summary:Laura/Cessily OneShot fic, Takes place after Mercury Falling; after the scene in which Laura comforts Cessily as best she can as the silver girl hugs her 'round the middle. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Warning for Femslash and a bit of spoilery. Don't like it don't read it. Both points of view.

Disclaimer:I don't own Laura, Cessily, or any of the marvel-verse, not even the smallest pie slice of it. So this is just a bit of fun I'm having with borrowed characters/places/events.

Author Notes:So this is my first X-Men fic (Okay, technically New X-Men), I'd appreciate it if a bit of leniency was given to me in your harsh critiques. I may not be a hard-core comic collector, but I certainly love my X-Men just as much as the rest of you, so please, please, PLEASE don't give me any crap about being non-cannon or something. I don't have enough time or money to get every comic out there! Also, on a lighter note, I didn't see any pairings like this, so I hope it's a little refreshing for you guys! On to the story!


It was awkward. Cessily clung to my midsection, crying, and I tried to remember what the appropriate response was. It took awhile to place my hand on her shoulder and tell her the obvious, "I know." I knew a lot more than that. She had only been in that facility a short time before Julian and I had rescued her. I had been in one just like it for most of my young life. Looking back now, I should have told her how lucky she was that she had a friend like Julian, and the X-Men, to save her.

I sat down next to her, and she shifted to put her head on my shoulder, her arms still tightly wrapped around me. I wished I had more experience with these things, I felt like I was being too cold, like I wasn't being comforting enough. Weapons aren't taught how to feel though. I tried to embrace her back, to hold her like I always saw in the cheesy, boring movies where the guy and the girl both realize that they've made a horrible mistake and come back to each other.

I never liked those movies.

Still, it seemed to make Cessily feel better. She soon stopped crying and we sat, holding each other, a shuddering exhale of breath racking her body every now and then. We were both alone with our thoughts, well, Cessily might have been thinking about things, but I took the time to memorize the moment. Filing it away for future reference- comforting a friend, how to. And I also found myself taking in other things as well, the way Cessily's hair smelled, how her metallic-looking skin was smooth, but not necessarily cold to the touch, how even her pupil and color-less eyes could still be full of expression.

"What's wrong, Laura?" she asked, I hadn't realized we had stopped the embrace, "You looked far away for a minute there..."

"Thinking," I supplied, which was not a complete lie anyway, "You are a good friend, Cessily." I added the last bit without thinking.

"Thanks, Laura," Cessily's voice cracked and it looked like she would start crying again.

"Don't cry," I insisted, putting my hand on hers and hoping this was the right action to do, "It hurts when you cry." Again I said this without thinking-Mental note #227, say nothing unless thinking properly.

"What hurts?" the expressively blank eyes tried to search mine for the answer even I didn't know, she repeated the question, voice barely above a whisper. I would have heard it anyway.

"I don't know," That was the truth, I tried to think about what I had said, it was absurd. Nothing physically hurt when she cried, it wasn't like she had acid for tears. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, I'd gotten into the mess without thinking and I would get out of it by doing the same. I seemed to have a lot of the answers when I just blurted them out anyway. Eyes still closed I lifed her hand to my chest and laid it there, "It hurts here when you cry." I said finally. There was no reply, Cessily's hand stayed very still over my heart, if it wasn't for the fact that I could hear her breathing I would have thought she had just disappeared. I did not open my eyes, I was afraid- irrationally- of looking into her face.

Fear is not something I feel easily. I've grown too soft, maybe.

"You... don't like Julian?" the question was timid, and it made me open my eyes to see that Cessily was looking down, not meeting my gaze. I did notice she hadn't taken her hand away though.

"I... don't know..." not a lie, but not really a truth either. Being human is alot more complicated than being a weapon.


This is wrong... I thought to myself as my hand rested just above Laura's breast, over her steadily-beating heart She likes Julian, I'm a girl, it's wrong! It never hurt to ask questions though, "You... don't like Julian?" wrong way to phrase a question. I looked away from Laura's face before she could open her eyes, I looked instead at my crossed legs.

"I... don't know..." I hadn't expected that, I'd felt sure she liked Julian just a few days ago. That's why we went to get coffee, where I'd be taken away... My eyes stung at the memory. But she came back for me! I told myself, forcing the tears back, She went looking for me, and it can't be so wrong. After all, I'm wrong, I'm not meant to be this way and I am...

"What are you thinking about?" Laura asked, making me jump and my hand slide off her chest. I tucked it into my lap, still avoiding her eyes.

"Nothing important," I lied, knowing she wouldn't buy it. Having extra sensitive hearing, smell and other such senses usually helped that kind of thing. But she didn't press it further.

"You look like something is bothering you, Do you wish me to leave?" And then she actually did start to get up, and I reached out and grabbed her wrist. I could feel her instantly tense as a reflex. I almost thought it was because she was uncomfortable being here, but I forced myself to think otherwise, that it was because of her past in the Weapon X facility.

"Stay," I pleaded, remembering my manners a little late, I added, "please?" Laura consented and sat back down with me, seeming to study me with her dark eyes. Nothing out of the ordinary, Laura always stared at people, that was what she was trained to do. But it made me nervouse they way she did it now, like maybe she was actually seeing something more. I shivered.

"Why do you keep yourself from being happy?" such a blunt question, and totally catching me off guard.

"What do you mean?" I spluttered, if I could blush I might have been, "I... don't understand the question."

"Why don't you let yourself be happy?" She re-phrased the question, "Do you punish yourself for what you are?"

I didn't know what to say to that, it was like she had pulled that out of my head like Miss Frost. And it was true. What right did I have to be happy when I was a living reminder to myself how I screwed up my parents' lives. If I was only a little better in some area of my life, maybe I wouldn't be the way I was now, maybe my daddy would still love me. I was wrong, a mistake, a blemish.

"Cessily?" Laura began quietly, reaching out- to touch my face?- but flinching back as if afraid, "Are you upset? Should I not have brought this up?"

I realized I was crying again, was that why she had reached for my face?, "I'm not upset..." I sniffed, scrubbing my eyes with the back of my hand, "You're just not that far off the mark is all."

"You feel badly that you are a mutant." It was a statement, not a question, and quickly followed with, "You should not be ashamed for something that was not your fault."

"You don't get it, Laura," I started, a little anger seeping into my voice at my impatience, "I used to be beautiful, popular, a cheerleader... loved..." my voice, which had grown a little louder with every word I said, suddenly dropped below a whisper as I said the last one. There was no doubt that Laura had heard what I said, because this time her hand touched my cheek, the pad of her thumb brushing another tear away from my cheek.

"You are loved, Cessily." I think my heart gave me away, all the thudding it was doing in my chest. Could Laura hear that? Possibly she could because she got a little closer to me, "I think you are beautiful this way." her other hand came up to touch my other cheek so that she was holding my face. It was a nice feeling, warmth seemed to radiate off of her hands and into my face. He face seemed to get closer as the seconds ticked by slowly. So slowly. It seemed like ages had past before our lips pressed together. My heard pounded so hard against my chest I was sure Laura could feel it- When did our bodies get so close? my hands in her hair, hers on my lower back. The kiss intensified, Laura's tongue playfully wrestling mine as our hands wandered. I blocked out the small, nagging voice in my head that told me this was wrong, that I was wrong, and tried to press even closer to Laura. I think we would've moved on to other things, had not Miss Frost made her presence known with a small clearing of her throat.


I hate that woman, she is always trying to get me to leave. And most of the time she is right. I hate her.

Cessily jumped back like she had been shocked, seeing who it was she quickly hid her face as much as she could behind her bangs. Frost scrutinized us for a moment, before she glanced out the window behind us. I couldn't help myself and turned to see what she was looking at. Just the exterior of the school. I looked back at her and she looked like she was going to say something, but thought better of it.

"Girls." she said, excusing herself. I looked back at Cessily, but she wouldn't look at me. The moment had been broken.

I hate Frost.

I reached out for her, but thought better and pulled back, I left without a word. I felt empty. Almost aching. Being human is hard.