Title: Cowpie II
Pairing: Helix-- Hellion/X-23 (Julian Keller/Laura Kinney)
Universe: Totally AU
Note: Go on, go read the first Cowpie so I don't needs to write
directions on how to understand this all over again ;-)
(Volume: 2 Chapter: 1)
Chapter 1: free space
Julian opened his eyes and yawned. "No rooster!" he exclaimed happily. Laura started; she'd still been asleep, her head against his chest. He felt
like an asshole, not something he wasn't used to.
"Sorry." He kissed her shoulder. "Mmm. Go back to sleep."
"…" Laura drew her eyebrows together. "Do…do you…" she seemed to have trouble, connecting words. He watched her, his hands running up and
down her arms. "Do you…not…have…animals to feed?" Laura finally strung together. It was odd; she'd spoken so easily, after re-gaining her voice,
and now she was having trouble.
"No. Animals…the animals didn't make it, Laura."
She scrambled away from him, her eyes wide. He felt a sudden twinge of guilt—he knew how close she was to animals. Her wolf pack. Her rabbit. Her
cows and her horses…all gone.
"Julian—"
He reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "We'll figure out something, okay? Your animals are fine…there was plenty of grass…they were
free. I think they were happy."
Laura felt horrified. This was—this was almost as bad as seeing her mother die. Just yesterday. She closed her eyes, the tears starting up again.
Julian felt bad. "I'll figure something out, okay?"
Laura took a shuddering breath. "Okay."
He noticed her locket lying on the table, and picked it up. This was the necklace Kimura had torn from her neck on that horrible day.
"My mother…gave it to…me," Laura said hesitantly. She didn't like to volunteer information.
Julian noted that a small link had broken off; he concentrated on it for a moment, then handed it back to her, as good as new. "You should wear it, then," he said.
"…thank you," Laura said, unfastening the clasp and putting it on.
…
Mister Keller, please report to my office. Bring...your companion.
Julian looked up, like he usually did when Frost broadcasted into his head; then he looked at Laura, who was sitting on his bed with wide eyes, looking rumpled
in just his shirt and her necklace. He frowned. "I guess you'd better wear what you had on when we got here," he said. "Frost wants to see us."
Laura crept off the bed and picked up her gear from the floor. She was in constant hunting mode now; there was barely a sound to her movements. It was rather
like he had added a very large cat to his apartment. A sexy cat. He hadn't done anything with her yet, as she was too overwhelmed, too uncomfortable with her
surroundings to relax. It was making it hard for him to relax, though.
He turned around and folded his arms, trying to give her privacy, but he realized his closet door was a mirror—so of course he watched, unable to stop himself. Her
eyes met his in the glass as she swept her hair out of the way to tie the strap around her back, and he flushed slightly. She missed nothing; her eyes were like a hawk's.
"Hrrum." Laura touched his shoulder to indicate she was ready.
"Laura…"
She bowed her head. "I…I am not…used…to words. This is…this is too much…for me…at once."
"I'm sorry." He kissed the top of her hair, then reached for the keypad on the door. Laura followed him out of the room.
…
Emma Frost gazed over the edge of her large metal desk, her expression cold. She did look less furious than the day before—but not by much. Her lips were pursed,
and she eyed Laura's outfit with obvious scrutiny.
Laura looked down.
"She will have to be issued a proper uniform. And a suit. If she is to stay." Frost said, her eyebrows arched. "I won't have her walking down hallways in that,
distracting the men on this ship. Does she speak English? I cannot place her nationality."
"Yes," Julian said. "She's American. She had throat injuries for many years and couldn't speak. She can now, but she's still learning."
Frost stared at Laura. "Do you understand what I am saying?"
The girl nodded.
"You will say 'Yes, ma'am', or 'no, ma'am' when asked a question. You will look straight at me. You will not slump in your chair. Do you understand?"
Laura pulled herself up a bit more. "Y…yes, ma'am."
"Better." Frost still didn't look happy. "What is your name?"
"L-Laura Kinney," Laura said. "Ma'am."
Frost nodded shortly to show she'd understood. "When is she from?" she asked Julian.
"She's a Quaker, ma'am," Julian said, stressing the title. "From the 17th century."
Frost arched her eyebrows. "She has cultivation skills, then."
Julian's eyes widened. "Ma'am—I know what you're thinking. Please let her be on my unit—I'm the only thing she knows here. I promise I'll train her myself."
Emma arched her eyebrows at him, then looked at Laura again.
"What are your mutant abilities? I'm assuming you are, at least, a mutant."
Laura's lips parted. She was confused.
"She doesn't know the whole mutant thing, ma'am. She's like Wolverine. Enhanced healing, senses…and she has bone claws. Two in each hand, one in each foot.
She's an instinctual fighter." Julian added the last part as a selling point; he knew Frost was thinking of putting her on the Colonization Unit. Which would mean
he'd pretty much never see Laura again.
"Hmm." Emma considered this. "I will have to decide. She will be assigned a uniform, a suit, and a room; the rest will follow analysis tests."
Julian sat up. "Ma'am—please let her stay with me."
"Out of the question, Keller. She would be a distraction."
"With all due respect—what I do in my off time is nobody's concern. I promise you she would not be a distraction to me during my shifts."
Frost arched her eyebrows. "Keller, you know that only married couples are allowed lodgings together. This is General Magneto's code, not mine."
"We are. Married, that is," Julian said in relief. He was suddenly glad for his terrible mistake of earlier.
Frost's eyebrows shot up. "You have a certificate to prove this, then?"
Julian nodded.
"Bring it on the next summons. If it can be proved to me…then I might allow it. If not…the girl will be assigned quarters. As you know, all petitions must be taken to General Magneto."
…
"Where is the fucking certificate?!" Julian growled, throwing a load of laundry on the bed. "There is no way I left it behind! Just no way!"
Laura watched him silently.
"Do you have it, Laura?"
She shook her head. " 'Twas…in the…knapsack."
"Son of a bitch!" Julian sat down on the bed. "Oh, this is bad, very, very bad. Now we have to go all the way to Magneto…it's hard to get time to see him….have to get ship
leave…and schedule an appointment to see him…and it costs a lot…and there's the chance he thinks you're not a suitable match…" he rubbed his neck.
"We don't have Ministers anymore," he added.
Laura paled. "H-how…how do you talk…to God, then?"
"God doesn't exist here, Laura. At least not your God." Julian smiled grimly. "People here worship a deity called the Phoenix."
Laura backed away, bewildered. No God? This was worse than no animals. This was worse than the death of her mother, the loss of her home. No God here. Everything
she believed in was gone. "Mmm-MMM!" She ran to the door and slapped her palms on it when it didn't open.
"No! Calm down!" Julian jumped off the bed and moved towards her slowly. "Laura…whatever you want to believe is still with you. I didn't mean it that way. In Public, you
just have to be careful about what you say…but you don't have to believe in it, okay?"
Laura looked at him warily. "Okay."
"It's just like you didn't have to believe you were a witch—you just had to be careful not to let the others think you were one."
Laura nodded. "Okay," she said again.
…
"Julian!" Sofia flagged him down as he was waiting in line at the cafeteria, holding a tray with two empty bowls. Seeing as Laura wasn't an official citizen of the republic,
she didn't get meal tickets yet; therefore, he'd had to buy extra tickets through Santo. Santo always knew where to get things, for some reason. He was friends with
Toad, one of Magneto's longest associates.
"Oh, hey," he said, grinning. He'd been distracted by the menu and hadn't seen her coming. Usually he noticed right away when Sofia got within visual or audio range;
sometimes he could just sense when she was nearby.
"I have not seen you for a long time," she said. "Do you want to have lunch with me? I missed you." She gave him that 100-watt smile that always made his knees a bit
weak—the one that made him nervous. He swallowed.
"Uh…" his eyes drifted over to his table, where Laura was sitting in the outfit he'd also gotten through Santo. A bib overall skirt, a thin white shirt, and long, striped arm
warmers—as well as some basic undergarments. None of it fit perfectly, but at least it was made of organic material—cotton was rare and expensive these days, and the
uniforms took too long. Dr. McCoy made them specially in the lab by synthesizing materials from chemicals—some sort of metal alloys softened to fabric form. Something like that.
Laura looked wary. Her eyes were too big in her face, almost sunken; she was losing the healthy, wild glow she'd had before the whole witch hunt incident—her mother
being shot with a hunting rifle—and his bringing her here. He wondered idly—sometimes, at night—whether he should have left her there. Would she be happier?
Probably not.
"You want to join us? I haven't introduced you to Laura yet," he offered.
Sofia glanced at the table. "Is that the girl from a few days ago? The one that was looking out the window?"
"The very one," Julian answered.
Silence for a moment. Sofia smiled suddenly. "I would love to. I will go and say hi." She turned away, and Julian wondered if this was a good idea. But it was Sof—what
could go wrong? Everyone loved her.
…
Sofia made her way to the picnic-style table, still smiling. She didn't have any malicious intent—she was really a good natured young woman. But she was curious about
Laura—she'd disapproved of her outfit, and had been hesitant to ask about her connection to Julian. As far as Sofia was concerned—even though she did not want to
declare it out loud—Julian was her boyfriend, her partner; she didn't understand what had suddenly changed, his disappearing for a long period of time—a whole two
weeks—then walking in with this foreign girl—and then being practically nonexistent on the ship afterwards.
"Hello," Sofia said to the dark haired girl, waving in a friendly manner. "I hear you are new to the ship. I would like to say welcome!"
"…" the girl eyed her warily. "Hello."
Sofia sat down. "Julian invited me to lunch. I hope you do not mind."
Laura tilted her head. "I do as he wishes."
Sofia was taken back. The girl said it in such a matter-of-fact-way, like she was his slave, or something. What was she to Julian?
"Here you go." He was back; he set a bowl of some kind of mix-matched vegetables and roots in front of Laura. She blinked.
"It's stir fry, and tubers. It's really good," he told her encouragingly. Sofia raised an eyebrow—Julian's treatment of the girl was equally strange. She really needed to talk to
him—and to talk to Cessily—and find out what was going on.
"Oh, sorry," Julian said, straightening. "This is Laura Kinney, Sof. Laura, this is Sofia Mantega, captain of—HEY!"
In lightning speed, Laura had popped her claws, leapt onto the bench and grabbed Sofia by the collar of her uniform. All the action in the cafeteria stopped to stare.
"You are Sofia," she hissed. "You are the one whose name he speaks at night. You are a terrible woman in the eyes of God."
"—!—" Sofia stared at Laura. "What do you know about God?!" she burst. Sofia herself was a devout Catholic, although she had to keep this hidden under the new order.
"More than you," Laura said, her claws close to her face. "You are a Jezebel, a Delilah. You know nothing about virtue and—" Julian grabbed her wrist. "Laura," he said
sternly, his eyes glowing. "Put them away."
She blinked, but the claws slid in. "Sit down," he ordered, and she did, quite meekly, but she continued to glare at Sofia.
"Laura, never do that again. First off—you are not to threaten anyone in this ship or outside with bodily harm. Second—what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"This is Sofia," Laura said contemptuously. "You told me about her yourself."
Julian flushed suddenly—he did dimly remember such an incident. He'd been drunk. He'd done a lot of other stupid stuff that night too. How stupid of him not to realize
Laura's Quaker ideals were not about to evaporate.
Sofia stood up. "I had better go. It was nice to see you, Julian."
"No—wait—" Julian stepped after her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Sof, I—"
"I do not need to hear it," Sofia said, blinking hard. "I have heard enough for one day, Julian. Please leave me alone for a little while."
He sighed and let her go.
"What are you looking at?" he bellowed a second later, noting that he was the highest ranking person in the cafeteria. He had a habit for taking stress out
on his insubordinates. Everyone else hurriedly turned back to eating.
…
"Laura, you can't do that again, okay?" They were in the hallway, walking towards his quarters.
She tugged on a striped arm warmer. "Okay."
"No, do you understand me? What I said about Sofia…I didn't mean it, okay?"
"Okay." Laura looked confused. "Why did…why did you say it then?"
"I was drunk." Julian decided she didn't know what that meant. "When you drink a lot of alcohol…what we had…regular people—I mean, people without systems like yours—get
funny. I wasn't thinking clearly. I was just saying every little thought in my head out loud."
Laura stopped. "Oh," she said. He'd said something else, too. Something she'd thought he'd meant…but…but then he hadn't meant that, either. It all made sense now—why he'd
been so upset after—why he hadn't touched her since—he hadn't meant what he'd said, about loving her. She kept her expression neutral and followed him down the hall.