Dark Bonds

Fiction Rated T-English- General/Romance-X-23

Disclaimer: I do not own X-23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Brief Summary: X-23 meets a new mutant and with this meeting she slowly develops her own feelings and gets into the mutant's family problems while trying to sort out her own.

Ch.1 Tired yet not alone

Cheeseburgers. That's what was on the supposedly deceased mutant known as X-23 had on her mind at the moment. It had been three days since she last ate anything and the fatigue was starting to get to , her depleted stamina wasn't caused just by hunger. It was also from lacking direction for her new life. After succeeding in taking down HYDRA once and for all and faking her death from SHIELD, she was free from her past but she didn't know what to do after that.

Now she was slowly dragging herself across the forests near the country of Canada but close to the state of New York. The female Wolverine's drive for survival was slowly fading after a few months of doing nothing but traveling. Her vision was also leaving her and she was clutching her while trying to shut out the growls of hunger. *"Dammit. I should have snatched more food from that restaurant when I had the chance,"* thought the feral girl as crossed over some large boulders looking for the next town.

The thought of calling Wolverine did come across her mind a few times but she banished them away. There was no way she was going to go crawling to him of all people when things get tough. She can handle herself if anything got in her way. She was the best at what she was trained to do even if she was forced to by her hated stopped near a small waterfall and sat down on a nearby rock to give the matter a little more thought. The calm sound of the water falling to the pool and the quiet wind in the trees actually gave her the peace needed to rationalize her options.

*"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just talk to him. He is the closest thing I have to a father. And he's the only one who can understand…,"* thought the clone as her eyelashes started to fall and close her green eyes. Suddenly she jolted awake and angry as always. *"What am I thinking? Why should I go to him? I don't need him. I don't need anyone."* With nothing else to do X-23 decided to walk towards the pool to get a drink and maybe a splash to keep awake.

After a couple of drinks and a splash of the cold clean mountain water, her heightened senses detected something. Something was coming for her. Something dangerous. She stood up to her full height of 5'4 and drew her adamantium claws. She scanned the area, sniffing around for her mysterious attacker. Luckily her sensors picked up a gun cocking behind her and she jumped out of the firing range.

The x-clone easily maneuvered through the trees until she got to a high branch and spotted gunman. She sprung from the tree and pounced on the sniper slicing the gun into pieces and knocking him unconscious. X-23 decided not to finish him off but she'd take anything useful from him. She managed to snag some money and a map of the area. She also figured out who he was working for from the mark on his shoulder. HYDRA's symbol. HYDRA. They were still after her.

*"Hmph,"* snorted the battle ready fourteen year old, "Let them come. It'll feel good to destroy them again." She ditched the sniper and made her way through the forest with a new drive for surviving. She would make sure that HYDRA was gone this time as soon as she had a plan.

In the shadows...

Another HYDRA sniper was taking aim at the runaway weapon child with precise aim. *"Now I have you, X-23,"* thought the cloaked assassin. He took the shot and hit the mark in the leg.

X-23 let out an anguished yell as she felt something hit her right leg. She fell to the ground but caught herself on all fours, feeling sluggish. After getting back up she examined her leg to find a dart in it. She pulled it out but was too late to stop the drugs within it form kicking in. Now her entire system felt like it was shutting down and her eyesight was becoming dark.

"She's been tagged," yelled the unseen sniper into a walkee-talkee, "Take her down! Now!" At that command more HYDRA troops appeared and began to encircle the tranquilized target. All were armed with the same rifle their mysterious commander had and a few capture nets.

However the feral fighter lived up to her name as she evaded capture and defeated all the troops with ease. All ten soldiers lay on the ground unconscious and heavily bruised. The mutant in question was panting rapidly trying to catch her breath and work through the drug in her body.

"Very well done X-23," called a familiar voice that was stepping out of the shadows, "Your form is still great even in your weakened state." X-23 shifted to her right, claws still extended to see the ugly face of one of HYDRA's tracker."Gauntlet" she said with obvious rage in her voice and a low growl, "I thought you were dead. I saw to it myself." "Foolish child," Gauntlet chuckled, "Did you really think you could destroy Hydra with a few bombs? Well more on that later its time to come back."

X-23's reply to those words was a swift lunge for Gauntlet's heart. However the drugs were starting to take a bigger effect on her and her strength was draining even more. Gauntlet decided to take out a hidden gun and striking the fourteen year old on the head knocking her away a couple of feet away from him.

X-23 flopped to the ground on her stomach as her body was shutting down till the poison could be worked out. Out of the corner of her right eye she saw Gauntlet make his way toward her with his sadistic smile. Then everything went black.

*"Listen kid whenever your in trouble just come to me. I'll look out for you. I'm the closest thing you have to family. Your feelings you can't fight them anymore."*

"Logan." said X-23 as she woke up in a bed of sweat after letting her healing power do its job. However it would still be a little while before she would be walking on her own.

That's when she realized that she wasn't in a Hydra prison cell. She was inside a cave in the deeper part of the forest next to a well-lit fire with a few fish cooking on it. She also realized that she was covered with a couple of bandages and a bed cloth that was still warm. Whoever was her mysterious healer was close by.

Suddenly she sensed movement coming from outside the cave and prepared to leap out at whoever it was. A dark hood came into view so she jumped into action releasing her claws and lunged for his heart. The mysterious figure blocked her attack by pulling out a dark object and countered her. She fell on her back in shock and felt like she was about to pass out again. The dark being kneeled over to her right side and gave her an examination.

He placed a hand over her forehead and said, "It's not a good idea to move around so much. You should wait until your ability can get rid of the poison." He took his hand off her head and sat down beside her. "Don't worry. As soon as you can move you can go whenever you want."

She felt that he was telling the truth with her heightened senses and decided to take his advice and rest. Before she drifted back to sleep she asked, "Tell me, who are you?" The young man smiled and replied, "My name is Marcus."

Ch.1 End

Well here's my story attempt. Please criticize and review.