Personal question
Summary: Kitty Pryde asks Laura a personal question. Companion piece to The Most Important Person.
"Good morning, Laura".
"Morning…" X-23 replied emotionlessly. It was early in the morning, but the feral brunette already surrounded herself with textbooks and was writing something.
Kitty sighed mentally and went through the list of pros and contras of having Wolverine's clone as her new roommate one more time.
Laura:
Pro
- Never leaves her clothes lying around.
- Perfect bodyguard (just ask creeps from Sapien League!)
- Never criticizes my tastes in music.
- I see more of Mr. Logan outside the classes (no matter how old he can be. Wolverine is HOT!).
- She isn't Rogue!
Con
- Knows next to nothing about real world.
- Frustrates me by eating tons of chocolate and not gaining weight.
- Thrashes her bed with the claws if she has nightmares.
- Doesn't understand at all why killing is wrong.
- If you want to talk, better talk to yourself.
Like always, Pros column won. Anything was better than the open hostility that Rogue demonstrated after her powers were back,
But still X-23 was a weird one.
Like the last Saturday, when New Mutants were watching Buffy marathon on TV. Laura walked into the room and started asking questions about the best methods of vampire slaying and why there are no special training programs in Danger Room. It took the combined efforts of Dr. McCoy and Miss Monroe to convince the girl that vampires don't exist.
"I bet she'd make a terrific Slayer. Have you seen her in Danger Room yesterday?" said Sam Guthrie after Laura left.
"If X is going to be a Slayer, I'd hate to be Spike," added Ray Crisp.
Laura was writing with the same determined look on her face Kitty often saw in the Danger Room, completely ignoring the other person in a room.
Shadowcat wasn't going to surrender because of Laura's attitude. She tried again.
"X?"
"Yes, Kitty?"
"Are you busy?" Shadowcat came closer to the desk and to see what Laura was working on an.
"Homework. Must finish an essay".
"How about giving me five minutes? Just five minutes of your time. I'm sure this essay is just a piece of cake for you".
X-23 looked confused, "An essay is NOT a piece of cake. It can't be eaten without serious damage to digestive system".
Kitty giggled, "It's an expression, Laura. So… can I ask you a question? A personal one?"
Laura gave her an odd look.
"Sure".
"Doesn't bother you that you don't have a good codename?"
"What?"
Kitty explained, "Well, X-23 is not even a codename; it's like a freaking serial number! And I know what you think about the Facility, and the guys who considered you are their property. You are a person, not a toaster; I'd start looking for a new codename the day I entered Xavier's school, if I were you".
Laura wasn't responding for a long time; the silence was becoming uncomfortable when Laura said, "You know what X-23 meant, don't you?"
Shadowcat nodded, "Weapon Twenty-Three?"
"Not exactly. I am twenty-third attempt to clone Wolverine".
"I know so much".
"Do you? Have you ever thought what happened to the others?"
X-23 read the answer in Kitty's eyes.
"X-1 and X-2 didn't survive first month of gestation. DNA sample was damaged. They kept trying, without much success. Then Dr. Sarah Kinney offered a solution. The damage was in Y-chromosome, and she wanted to double X-chromosome to make it stable".
"That's why they've made female clone? I thought it was just a mistake, flaw in design..."
"No. Dr. Kinney used her own DNA to stabilize genetic sample. I look more like her".
"Consider yourself lucky. You are very attractive, Laura," seeing the clone's hesitation, Kitty smiled "What, nobody told you that?"
"Nobody told me that I am attractive. But I've heard to be referred to as "hot". I've learned that the term means "physically and/or sexually attractive". Am I correct?"
"God, Laura!" Kitty burst into laughter. "You are right, but it's impolite to tell the girl that she is hot, if you are not dating her". She asked, "So, is there a point in your story?"
"Nobody cares about them. For the Facility they are failed experiments. The rest of the world they doesn't know they existed," Laura rarely smiled, but never before Kitty saw her so serious. "I'm no better than they were. I just survived when they didn't. Staying X-23 is my way to remember them," she looked both uncertain and defiant. "What do you think?"
It was a loaded question.
"I think… I think it's very honorable of you. I mean it".
Laura could think that with her dark past she was out of place at Xavier's, but Kitty knew better. X-Men came from different countries, they worshipped different deities, have different powers, but one thing they all have in common. It's a willingness to sacrifice what's important for you. And it looked like Laura Kinney had it in spades. She denied herself a chance to turn over a new leaf because she wanted to honor a memory of her deceased "brothers".
When Kitty walked out of the room, leaving Laura with her homework, she remembered her list of pros and contras and mentally added a new line to Pros column.
The End.