AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! This story is...pretty unique in terms of universe setting. In the beginning, the characters have experiences from New X-men: Academy X #1-New X-Men (2nd series) #46, X-force #13-20ish (2009), and X-men Legacy #242-243 (2011). Some other arcs are also touched on, such as the X-23 miniseries, and other X-force issues. If you haven't read these comics directly, it should be okay; I tried to include summaries of the relevant backstory as part of the narrative, so the events will (hopefully) still make sense. I made some assumptions about dates that might not hold true in the comics, as it's pretty impossible to gauge the passing of time. This story requires a timeline, so I've included times and dates that I decided based roughly off when the comics were published, with some adjustments. (To those readers who have been following my work for a while, I've included a footnote at the end.)
Hope you all enjoy! :)
Chapter 1
05/25/2010
11:38 PST
Cafeteria, Utopia
Laura surveyed the large cafeteria silently, her lips turned down slightly in a frown. She was concerned. She had already looked everywhere else that he might be. Perhaps he had not been released from the infirmary yet. But it had been three days since he had been infected, and Elixir had told her that he had healed him completely. Had Julian left Utopia without saying goodbye? It was possible. She knew he was angry. Bitter about everything he had lost, to Stryker, to the Purifiers, to the X-men who had failed to protect him and his friends. He considered himself to be a victim. All this she had overheard in his conversations with the other inhabitants of the island. Lately he had stopped talking to his friends, and was now usually silent. She was not sure what this meant.
Then, during a recent mission with X-force, she had heard that he had been taken along with Nori by the Leper Queen, and injected with the Legacy virus. She hadn't been able to save him. Logan had warned her to keep to task, to focus on what they needed to do instead: save the girl in the future. Hope. X-force had been given time travelling devices, and they had traveled forward in time to Bishop and Stryfe from killing Hope and Cable, who they had trapped there. X-force had become trapped too, and they had been forced to overstay, to the point that their cellular structures had become unstable and they had begun to die. By the time they had freed Hope and Cable, even Laura was almost dead. She had crawled back to a spot she had marked on the ground, to save another X-man from the Leper Queen when she returned to the present. She was about to interrogate her on what she had done to Julian and Nori, but then Kimura had shown up and she had blacked out. After that, she had fought her way out of the facility. It wasn't an experience she liked to think about. By the time she was free again, Logan told her that Julian and Nori were fine.
But she wanted to see that for herself. Also, she liked to look at him. She had not had much time recently, not with all of the X-force assignments, but doing so still made her feel strange inside. Not a bad kind of strange; a good kind. Warm. Tingling. Sensations that, so far, nothing-and no one else-had caused her to feel. She found herself hoping he had not left.
No, there he was. Sitting at a table in the corner, leaning his cheek on his hand as he read something on his phone. His lip was curled, and his eyebrows were drawn together, as if he was angry. He must be reading something upsetting. She inhaled, a little more deeply, took a few steps in his direction, then stopped. She did not actually need to approach him. She had verified that he was physically normal. She could hear his heart beating steadily, his ventilation was regular, and his scent was already wafting under her nostrils. No, the only vital signs that were not normal here were hers. As Logan had said, she was "lighting up": pulse and breath quickening, her temperature rising slightly. Her eyebrows drew together. What-
Julian glanced up and saw her. His mouth opened, then he suddenly was on his feet and hugging her, his arms squeezing around her shoulders tightly. Then he drew back and looked at her, his forehead wrinkled. "Hey! Where were you? Was it the Sapien League? I asked Cyclops but he wouldn't tell me. Are you okay?"
Laura looked at him for a moment, her face warming. She hadn't expected the embrace, the concern. "I-no-yes."
"..." He raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
She closed her eyes briefly, frustrated with herself. "No, the Sapien League did not take me. Yes, I am fine."
"Thank god." His forehead wrinkled again. "Who was it then?"
Laura hesitated. "The facility."
His eyes narrowed. "Kimura?"
She hesitated. "Yes."
"God dammit." His lip curled. "I should've put her down, I-I'm sorry, Laura. Did you-did you kill her this time?"
"I...no." She had not expected him to say this. Before, he had been adamant that they should not kill Kimura. Why had he changed his mind?
"How did she manage to take you? I mean, the first time she only got you because we were slowing you down." He paused. "What aren't you telling me?"
"..." Laura shook her head slightly. "I do not want to talk about this."
"Oh, come on." He stepped to the side and sank back down in his chair, patted the table. "Sit. Talk. Good clone."
She flinched slightly.
Julian rolled his eyes. "It's not...I'm not calling you names, okay? It's a pet name."
Laura's forehead wrinkled. "'Pet name'?" She was not sure that sounded any better. As if she was an animal.
"Just…" he sighed, shook his head slightly. "Forget it. Just sit, okay? Please?"
Laura hesitated, then perched on the seat opposite from him, biting her lip. She was not certain how much she was allowed to say about the excursion X-force had taken to the future. She knew that Logan had warned her not to speak of their activities. Which normally was not a problem, since no one spoke to her anyway.
"So. You need to tell me why Kimura was able to kidnap you." Julian leaned forward. "This might be important. If she comes back or something. I need to know how to defend you."
"You will not have to." She leaned back slightly in her chair, her eyes sinking down to the table surface. For some reason she could not maintain visual contact.
"Laura, look at me."
Her eyebrows drew together, but she did, biting her lip again.
"How was Kimura able to kidnap you?"
"I was already in a w-weakened state from something unrelated." Laura held his gaze a moment too long. His eyes were very blue. She was beginning to perspire. "I overstayed the safe limit in the future and cellular decay had begun." Pause. Her eyebrows drew together as she thought about what she had just said. Too much.
Julian's eyes narrowed. "The future? Wait-you mean time travel?"
"I do not want-"
"-to discuss this, yeah I know, but I do." He reached out and laid his fingertips on top of hers. "Laura, do you mean time travel?"
She nodded, very slightly.
"..." Julian leaned back. "You're fucking with me. You've got to be. The X-men can fucking time travel, and yet they do nothing about the past four years of hell that have been our lives? Are you-are you fucking serious?"
She bit her lip.
"Just…" his eyes squeezed shut. "Oh my god. I can't believe them."
Laura said nothing.
Julian paused. "Wait a minute. You time traveled." He looked at her. "How? Tech?"
She hesitated.
"Laura!"
"I...yes."
Julian thought for a moment. "Get me one too. They won't fix it...we'll do it ourselves. Go back to when we were seventeen and life was good. Stop all this shit from happening."
"No."
"..." His eyes narrowed again. "What do you mean, no? Laura! Think of all the lives we can save! All the crap we can undo! This is our chance to really, actually be heroes!"
"No." She paused. "It is too...dangerous."
"Eh? Somethin's too dangerous?" Santo had just entered the cafeteria. "What's so dangerous that even X-23's worried?"
"Fuck off!" Julian snapped, his expression turning to one of anger. "You're not our friend anymore, loser."
"Cool." Santo shrugged. "Think you two got the loser category covered anyway, with the murderer here an' all."
"..." Julian gritted his teeth. "Just get lost."
Laura looked down at the table, her eyebrows drawing together. She had killed an interrogation subject in front of several X-men, and now everyone was displeased with her. Including Cyclops, as she had almost exposed the activities of X-force. But the displeasure that disturbed her the most was that of the people she considered her friends. Santo. Cessily. Nori. However, Julian did not seem upset. She found this odd, since he had been very disturbed when he saw her killing before. He had even lectured her.
"Laura. I know you're scared." Julian leaned forward, put his fingertips over hers again. No, more. His hand, his entire hand. It was warm, and dry, and-he was still speaking. "...lives are as bad as they're going to get, right now. How could it get any worse? You get us those...whatever they are...and we can fix all this. It can only go up from here."
This time, Laura focused on his mouth rather than his eyes. She thought that might help her retain her train of thought. But it did not. She found herself studying its shape, the full lips that tapered into delicate corners. It was pleasing to look at. She nodded slightly.
"Great!" He pulled his hand away. "I'll meet you in my room. Twenty minutes enough?"
Laura nodded again, then paused. "What?"
"..." Julian sighed. "The time shit. Get the stuff we need, and meet me at my room in twenty. We're gonna fix all this."
"N-no." She shook her head and got to her feet.
He reached up and caught her wrist. "Laura. You'll regret this." His eyebrows were drawn together. He was angry...but something else, too. Sad? She was not perfect at reading emotions from expressions as of yet.
"..." She looked down at her arm. "Let go of me."
He loosened his grip, and her hand slipped through his.
06/08/2010
16:26 PST
Infirmary, Utopia
Her fingers rested on the mattress. Their fingertips should be touching, if he had any. Instead, there was only empty space. A little distance away were thick, wrapped dressings. She could smell blood, and see a little red soaking through on the corner of one.
Julian's eyes were shut, and his expression was blank. He was unaware of it all, the battle outside, the pain he was probably in. Dr. McCoy had hooked him up to a morphine IV, but had warned her that it might not be enough when he woke. But he hadn't known when that would be. He had lost a lot of blood. Even with Laura's donation, he was still likely to be weakened for days to come.
Her eyebrows drew together. It had only taken two weeks for his words of warning to come true. She was already wondering if her answer to him about the time devices was correct. The situation was getting worse and worse. And now he had been injured. Severely. He no longer had hands. He could not just grow new ones, as she would. She could steal a device, go back an hour and push him out of the way of the Nimrod's antimatter beam. But then, why not go back further, as he had suggested? Prevent all of this from occurring? Because it would lead to other problems. Otherwise, she was certain the X-men would have attempted it. Still, the temptation was there.
"Laura!" Logan was leaning into the infirmary. He was in his X-force uniform. There was blood splattered across his face. "The hell're you doing?! We need you out there!"
"..." She closed her eyes, bowed her head, but got to her feet and followed.
04/02/2011
17:08 PST
Situation Room, Utopia
Laura sat against the wall, her eyebrows drawing together. She was listening to the conversation occurring in the Utopia Situation Room, between Julian and Cyclops. Rogue was standing by, silent.
"Won?" Cyclops sounded incredulous.
"Well, if anyone was keeping score." Julian paused. "Yeah, I beat her." His voice was casual. Unconcerned.
"Karima's either brain dead, or else her self-awareness has shut down so far that we can't find it." The older man's voice was stern. "How much of that was the virus, and how much the damage you did to her is impossible to quantify."
"Hey, I didn't notice anyone else pulling their punches!" Julian's voice was sharp. "I saved a lot of lives. Including your messiah."
"Yes. You did." Cyclops paused. "But the level of violence was appalling and unacceptable. And I'm waiting for you to show a little remorse. Some trace of doubt...regret."
"When are you going to stop doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Oh, you know. Trying to pass off whatever morality you happen to be peddling right now as timeless wisdom. Because...people are onto you." Julian folded his arms. She could hear the clinks of his prosthetic hands brushing against each other. "The end justifies the means-but only for you. Murder is all in the game-but only for you." Pause. "God may sleep, but Cyclops is always there to take up the slack, huh?"
Laura's eyebrows drew together. She knew this was a comment about the discovery of X-force. Their actions had come to light, after further investigation. Which had all begun with her mistake, killing that man in front of the others. She did not regret this, but she did regret not practicing more discretion.
"Do you at least accept that there was another way to handle this, Julian?"
Clink again. "Fucking hell. This way worked, and I'll be damned if I'm going to apologize for it!"
"Then I'm sorry. You don't leave me any choice." Pause. "You're on probation. If you can't control yourself, you'll have to leave Utopia. Or else you'll join our other intractable problems in the brig."
"And just what gives you the right to say that to me?"
Scrape, as Cyclops pushed away his chair and stood. "Most of us have stood there, looking down that road you're thinking of travelling. Most of us didn't take it."
"No offense, but most of you didn't have the balls."
"If you say so." Click, as Cyclops opened the door and left.
Click.
"Listen here."
"Oh, great. Now I get the lecture from the nice cop. Can we just skip it and go our separate ways?"
"Ah'm not here to be the nice cop, or your friend. Ah'm here in a different capacity."
"And what-"
Clatter. Followed by a slam. Laura scrambled to her feet, alarmed.
"Ah'm the ultimate sanction, sugah. You know what ah can do to you, and ah hope you know, ah'll do it. Ah'm not going to wait to lose another friend to you. Ah'll shut you right down. Pull out your powers by the root and burn 'em on a big old bonfire." Pause. "You used up your hail Mary out there so you better learn some other prayers...or find some other friends."
Scuffling noises, and then Rogue left the room.
"Pretty sure I can get by without either." A few minutes passed, then there were footsteps again, growing closer.
Laura folded her arms against herself, watching as Julian emerged from the nearby door. He was rubbing his throat absentmindedly, and continued past her, not even noticing her presence. Or perhaps he did, but did not care.
You'll regret this, he had warned her.
She closed her eyes. Now she understood why he did not seem disturbed by her own actions. Because he was becoming like her. A machine. A weapon. She bit her lip, her forehead wrinkling. She was keenly aware that the time devices were in a safe in Dr. McCoy's laboratory. She knew he had fixed them after the mission, as he had been alarmed when she did not have one to return to him afterward. Hers had been destroyed, but there were others. Definitely two. Was it worth the risk? Why hadn't the X-men made an attempt? Perhaps they had, but lacked her precision? She should most likely make the attempt alone. No, if she had learned anything about time travel, it was that one should not travel alone. She hesitated, then looked toward the laboratory. She knew Dr. McCoy was off-island right now. There would be no better moment.
Her knuckles rested on the door. She had been standing here for two minutes already, motionless, not sure whether she was making the right choice. The devices felt heavy in her other hand. Which was ridiculous. She knew they each weighed only 372.5 grams.
Inaction is the greatest shame. Her sensai's voice rung in her ears. She had been six years old when he told her this, scolding her for hesitating to charge at him with a katana. Her face prickling unpleasantly, Laura took a deeper breath and completed the knocking motion. Rap rap rap.
A few moments passed. Nothing happened. Rap rap ra-
"WHAT?!" Julian roared in her face, having ripped the door open with his mind. "What do you people WANT from me?" He paused, seeming to focus on her face. "Oh. Great. You. Come to recruit me for Cyclops's secret murderers club? There a secret handshake? Might have a little trouble with that, y'know." His words were slightly slurred. And she smelled alcohol. She leaned slightly to the side, and saw that there was a bottle of whiskey on his desk. His room was dark.
Julian's face darkened. "Hey. Eyes up here, clone. And yeah, not a pet name anymore. You and me...we're not friends, got it?"
Laura's eyebrows drew together.
"Fucking…" he turned and disappeared into his room.
After a moment she followed. She stood in the doorway, watching as he grabbed the bottle and sank down on the lower bunk of the bunk bed.
"Just unreal. You...you work for that guy...who's so fuckin' delusional...world's biggest hyppocrite...like come on, Laura. I'm disappointed." He fumbled to unscrew the cap on the bottle, then blasted it off with his mind, and took a swig. "Everything in my life sucks because of him. My family abandoned me…Sofia dumped me like I never mattered….friends just fucked off...I don't even have motherfucking hands anymore, and you know who came to see me in the infirmary? That's right—NO ONE!" He jumped to his feet, glared at her, his eyes glowing green. "And he had the fucking nerve to preach that bullshit to me?! WHAT THE FUCK?! Laura, how can you-how can you LISTEN to that shit?! I thought you were-" the glow in his eyes faded, and she saw that he was looking down at her hand, the one holding the time devices. "The fuck're those?"
Laura said nothing.
"Oh my god." Julian took a step back, put the bottle down on his desk, and sank down on the edge of the bed again, covering his face with his prosthetic hands. He said nothing for a long while.
She finally cleared her throat.
He looked over his fingers. "I just…if you're changing your mind...time travel...god, I've hit rock bottom, haven't I? You're worried about me?"
Laura said nothing. But she did nod, very slightly. She was concerned for him.
"Fucking hell." He squeezed his eyes shut. "This can't be happening. This can't be my life." Pause. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the bottle with his mind. "Okay. Let's do this shit. I need a sweater. Fuck, should I pack anything? Will it take long?"
"No. Once we are there, we cannot stay more than 33.2 hours." Laura paused. "A sweater may be good. And...leave the bottle."
"I wasn't going to take it!" He paused, took one more long swig, then set it back on the table and shook his head. "For courage, y'know. Fuck, where did I put my sweater?" He spent the next five minutes trying to locate his sweat jacket, which Laura eventually noticed was hanging on the back of his door.
"Thanks." He shrugged it on, then held out his prosthetic hand. "Fork it over, clone."
Laura raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh come on. I was mad." Julian rolled his eyes. "It's a pet name again."
She slowly handed the time piece to him, hoping she would not end up regretting this decision too.
"Great." He fumbled for about a minute, trying to fasten the strap, then looked at her. "Can you help me?" His voice was small.
"Yes." Laura fastened the band around his prosthetic wrist, her eyebrows pressing together. "We will need to transport ourselves to New York."
Julian's forehead wrinkled. "You mean, these won't just do it for us?"
"No."
"..." He bit his lip. "I don't know if I can fly us there anymore. My power levels fell a lot after I saved you that one time."
"Yes."
"Let's find Pixie then." He ripped open his door again with his mind as he headed outside. "Come on!"
Pixie had been watching TV in the lounge with several others when they finally located her. She wrinkled her nose at their request for a teleport. "Ewww! You're probably going off to murder someone! No way I'm a part of this. I-"
Laura thought for a moment, then bent down and whispered in the girl's ear.
"..." Pixie slunk down deeply into the couch, her eyes widening and her face turning beet red. "Excuse me, guys."
Julian raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
A moment later, they followed the shorter girl out into the hallway that led to the lounge. Her wings fluttered, and she was mumbling under her breath. Finally she turned to Laura and glared at her. "Blackmail is not cool."
Laura said nothing.
"Whatever." Pixie closed her eyes. "Just...don't tell anyone, kay? And where am I porting you to?"
"The old site of the Xavier Institute."
The other girl's eyes flew open again, and she gaped at her. "But we're not supposed to go there! Guys, that's off-limits!" Pause. "Ohmigod, you are going to murder someone, aren't you?! Ohmigod! You-"
Laura made a face. Pixie's voice was growing higher in pitch. "Please, stop. We are not murdering anyone."
"I dunno, to be honest, I kind of want to murder her." Julian paused. "Think anyone would notice if she disappeared?"
Pixie looked alarmed. "Hey, you can't-"
"Yes." Laura paused. "You are wasting time."
Julian rolled his eyes. "Just port us already. And don't tell anyone where we went, got it?"
Wing flutter. She nodded, her eyes still wide.
Once they were alone, standing in the front yard of the old Xavier estate, Laura cleared her throat. "We need to choose a time and date to enter."
Julian thought for a moment. "Things turned to shit after the bus blew up. That. Definitely that." Pause. "April 4th, 2006. Five thirty-six p.m."
Laura gave him a surprised look. She had not expected him to be precise.
"I know that date better than my own birthday." He shrugged. "That's when part of me a while for the rest, but it'll happen soon enough the way things are going."
"We should travel back to a slightly earlier point. Five o' clock." She entered the information into her device, then noticed him struggling to press the buttons. He had entered a 1 after the first 0, meaning he would be sent to the future. She sighed slightly, then brushed his prosthetic fingers away and programmed it for him.
"Thanks," he mumbled, glancing at her through his bangs. He had let his hair grow since moving to Utopia, and it now brushed the collar of his t-shirt. "You sure you want to help me do this?"
"I think you cannot do it without my help, so yes." Laura felt surprised. Where had that come from?
"Ouch." Julian grinned slightly. "Attitude. Good look on you, clone."
"..."
"Not going to stop calling you that."
Laura said nothing.
"So what do we do next? Hit the big button?"
"Yes." Laura paused, seeing that he was about to press two buttons at once. "Stop. I will press it for you."
"Great, I'm definitely at rock bottom." He rolled his eyes. "Clone doesn't even trust me to press a button."
"You are going to press both the Send and Return buttons simultaneously. I am not sure what will happen if you do."
"...probably nothing worse than has already happened to me." He paused, and held out his wrist. "Thanks," he grumbled.
Laura said nothing. But she pressed the buttons.
04/04/2006
17:00 EST
Westchester, NY
"HYURRRK!" Julian was on his hands and knees, heaving violently into the grass.
This was the first thing Laura became aware of, after everything stopped warping and shifting around her. Her own stomach swam, but it soon calmed. She suspected he was having a more difficult time due to the liquor he had consumed. Perhaps the vomiting would help to sober him up more quickly.
"...goodddd…" Julian hung his head, shaking slightly. "That...that sucked...why d-didn't...you warn me?!"
"I did not think about it." Laura paused. "You have vomit in your hair."
"..." He glared at her out of the corner of his eye.
She said nothing.
He sat up, a little unsteadily. "Can I borrow your claws?"
Laura raised an eyebrow.
"You know…" He gestured to his head. "Cut it...off."
"Your hair?"
He gave her a flat look. "No, my entire head. Yes my hair. Jesus, Laura."
"We cannot waste time. After 33 hours, we must leave, or risk damage."
"I'm not walking around with puke head." He folded his arms. "And you told me this wouldn't take long."
Laura sighed, then made a fist. Snkkt! "How much?"
Julian thought for a moment. "All of it. Just don't scalp me, please."
"Okay."
About a minute later, she ran her claw one last time over his head, very carefully. She was not certain she had ever been more gentle in using them. Most of her usage was graceful, but forceful. Stabbing motions. Twisting motions. Not skimming.
Snakkt, as she withdrew the claw. "There."
He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, then frowned, probably as he realized he couldn't feel the results. "Thanks."
She said nothing.
He got to his feet. "Let's go find that fucking bus."
They began their trek across the empty lawn, out toward the gravel parking lot on the side of the school, where the bus had been parked. Laura cast a glance around their surroundings every so often to make sure that no one was approaching. Everyone was inside, probably either packing or participating in the training exercises David had created, but she felt it was best to be careful. There was no telling what would happen if they ran into the past versions of themselves. Probably nothing good.
"So weird to be back here." Julian was looking up at the large brick structure of the school. "Like nothing happened."
"Nothing has happened."
"Well, yeah. Obviously." He glanced at her, grinning. "Damn. That means we're in there right now. Wouldn't it be insane if we went in and saw ourselves?"
"Yes." Laura gave him a flat look. "You would be insane to do that."
"..." He rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna. I just-"
"Hello, can I help you?" a soft, heavily accented voice asked.
They both froze. There was a girl standing ahead of them. A girl with very long brown hair, carrying a suitcase and pulling another behind her. Laura did not know her well, but enough to know that this was-
"...Sofia…" Julian whispered this under his breath. His eyes had widened, the pupils constricting into points.
Laura stared at him. He was "lighting up" right now: his pulse and breath quickening, his temperature rising slightly. Even his scent was changing. And her throat felt tight. She blinked, surprised. She had never thought about the fact that he could have this reaction too, and to someone else. All she knew was that she did not like it.
"Did you-did you just say my name?" Sofia put the suitcase she was carrying down and started to walk toward them.
"We should run." Laura said this firmly.
Julian shook his head slightly, not even looking away from the other girl.
"Do I know you?" Sofia was almost in front of them now.
"Uh-" he hesitated, closed his eyes, then shook his head slightly. "I'm-Sof, it's me, don't you recognize me?"
"..." She squinted slightly. "Julian?"
Laura folded her arms, and gave him an irritated look. Not only was she displeased with his reaction, but he was putting them in danger.
He ignored her glare. "Y-yeah."
Sofia frowned. "Why do you look so...Julian, you look terrible. What is going on?"
He flinched slightly. "Uh...really?"
"Well-your hands, to begin with. What-where are you hands? And you look...tired...thinner." She paused. "Your haircut is also terrible."
Laura made a soft sound of disbelief.
Sofia glanced at her. "Who is she?"
"This is…" Julian glanced at Laura briefly. "My friend, Laura. She's helping me with...you weren't on the bus, right?"
"Bus?" Sofia frowned. "What are you talking about?"
He hesitated. "The bus. It's going to get blown up. We're-we're from the future, and-"
"Julian!" Laura's tone was severe, as was her expression. "Stop talking, now."
"She deserves to know!" He glared at her. "She has friends on that bus too."
"..." Sofia's eyebrows drew together. Then she said something in a foreign language, under her breath. "Are you here to stop it?"
"Yeah." Julian brightened. "We're going to take care of everything. Don't worry." He paused. "Look...why did you leave without saying goodbye to me?"
"Oh…." she looked pained. "I do not want to get into that."
"C'mon, beautiful." He reached out, touched her chin with his prosthetic fingers. "Talk to me."
Laura folded her arms again, her eyes narrowing. She felt tense.
Sofia sighed, smiled slightly at him. "I-I know-or I knew...I guess...I am not certain how to say it, since I am still in the process of leaving right now…that you will be hurt."
"It hurt just as much to have you go." His eyebrows drew together. "Sof, come on. Stay. I'll keep you safe, okay? If it was what I said before-just ignore it. I was scared...so I said some stupid shit. I promise, I won't say it again."
Sofia gave him a sad look. "You know that is not true."
"..." Julian frowned. "They're just words. Don't you love me, too?" His voice was soft.
Snkkt.
Both of them glanced at Laura, who was staring at them, her hands forming fists at her sides, her claws having ejected.
She closed her eyes and retracted them with a Snakkt. She wanted nothing more than to run, somewhere, anywhere that she could be alone, but she reminded herself to focus on the mission. They would need to find somewhere to wait that the bus would be visible and they would be hidden.
"Julian." Sofia smiled slightly, reaching up and wrapping her fingers around his prosthetic ones. "I do love you. But...we would never work. You know this already."
"...why?" He looked confused. "You're everything I want."
"That is not true." Sofia paused. A horn honked, from the parking lot. "I have to go now. Good luck with your task."
"No! Wait!" Julian leaned forward and kissed her.
This time, there was no sound of claws, as Laura was already walking toward the parking lot, her back stiff, her lip curled. She had sensed what was coming next. She had seen him kissing Nori once, and that had been upsetting. She was not certain if she would be able to control herself if she saw this, but she also knew that Julian would not like it if she killed the other girl. It was best if she simply removed herself from the situation.
She reached the gravel and stopped, looking around for the bus, but not seeing it anywhere. Only a limo, presumably waiting for Sofia. Were they too early? No, this was the correct day; Laura remembered that Sofia had left before the explosion. She also remembered that it had been determined that the missiles were launched from the ground, meaning the perpetrators would probably soon be here. It would be best if she could locate them and kill them before they had a chance to shoot, as she knew it would be noticeable if Julian stopped them with his mind. And they definitely could not afford that. Sofia seeing them had been bad enough, but she suspected there would be some sort of disaster if they saw themselves.
Footsteps, behind her. And the suitcase being dragged again.
Sofia cleared her throat. "Laura-it was good to meet you."
Laura closed her eyes and said nothing.
After a moment, the footsteps and suitcase sound resumed, followed by voices as Sofia conversed with the driver of the limo. Then she was gone, and everything was silent.
Not for long. A minute later, Julian landed roughly beside her, showering her with gravel. "There you are! I-"
Laura brushed some pebbles off her shoulders and gave him a cold look. "Be quiet."
"Sorry, kind of fucked up on the landing, huh?" He reached out and dusted the rest off of her with his mind, then rubbed his nose with his sleeve.
She smelled salt. He had been crying. This thought disturbed her in a very confusing way. She folded her arms and concentrated on the parking lot.
"Laura...are you mad at me?"
Her lip curled. "No." But even she was not convinced.
Silence.
"Look, I couldn't help it, okay? Losing Sofia...that was one of the things that really fucked me up. She's the love of my life, and I just-"
"Be quiet." Laura paused, cleared her throat. "The intruders will be here soon. We should hide."
Julian gave her a puzzled look. "I thought you wanted to help me. We're friends, right?"
She closed her eyes, nodded slightly.
"Friends are supposed to be there for each other, you know. You should hear me out." He paused. "And then when your life falls apart, I'll listen to you, that's how it works."
She said nothing.
"Whatever." Julian folded his arms. "Forgot you're miss perfect for a minute there. Let myself think you cared about me, but I forgot you don't care about anyone, clone."
Laura's nostrils flared. "Julian. I do not want to talk about this." Her voice was firm. "I will never want to talk about this. Be quiet."
"..." He raised an eyebrow. "So you are mad at me."
She said nothing.
"Clone, I get that you have a massive crush on me." He paused. "It's pretty cute. Guess you have good taste. I just...I'm not over her, okay?"
"I did not ask."
"No, but I thought you needed to hear." He paused. "If I had never met Sofia...it'd be a different story. I'd be all over you. But I did meet her, and I'm not ready for anything else. Okay?"
Laura said nothing.
"We cool, clone?" he pressed.
"Be quiet."
"No, I need to know-"
She shushed him, frowning as she concentrated. She thought she could hear the sound of a far off engine. The bus was approaching. "You need to hide. Be prepared to shield the bus if I fail."
"If you-" Julian folded his arms. "Hey! You're not doing this without me."
Laura began to walk, allowing herself to concentrate on her senses again. She was aware that Julian was following her, but did not feel like arguing more, and the time was clearly drawing near. The Purifiers would arrive soon.
She stopped, as she caught a scent. A scent that did not belong at the school. A blend of chemicals. "They are close."
"Lead the way."
She resumed, slowly releasing her claws at her side as she followed the scent trail through the bushes to a nearby field. Through the foliage, she could see two men standing around, conversing with each other. One was carrying a large rocket launcher, the other was holding a large bag. Probably full of spare ammunition. Her eyes narrowed, and she pointed toward them.
"..." Julian exhaled through his nose, hard. "I want to make it hurt."
Laura shook her head. "It would be better if you took them out from here. Aneurysms."
"That's too easy."
She gave him an impatient look. "I thought you wanted to save your friends."
"Our friends." He paused. "You're right. Okay. Hang on...got to remember how I did it the first time…" he trailed off, his eyebrows drawn together. He was speaking about Omega Sentinel.
She waited.
Finally he reached out toward the men, his eyes glowing green. "Fuck off and die." He held out his prosthetic hand, and the man holding the launcher suddenly keeled over. The other one started, looking around. But then Julian gestured at him, and he fell down too.
And then there was nothing, just two men lying in a field. A cricket chirped in the distance.
"Oh my god...was...was that it?" Julian gave Laura a bewildered look. "Is it over? Did we fix it, that easily?"
"No." Laura headed over toward the men, her eyes on the rocket launcher. She bent down and picked it up, her fingers running over the smooth, dark metal surface.
"What are we doing now?" He had followed her.
"They will send more men. We need to destroy the Purifier headquarters." She shouldered the rocket launcher over her shoulder. "End the threat."
"Fuck, yeah!" He paused. "But-do you know where it is?"
"Yes." Laura glanced at him. "I do. When I saved Sooraya, I went there."
"..." Julian grinned. "Damn. Okay, tell me where to take us."
Laura felt a slight tingling at his admiring glance, but forced herself to ignore it. "The East side of Manhattan. I will give more instructions when we are closer."
He reached out his hand, and after a moment she accepted it.
"Down there. The grey concrete building." Laura pointed with her free hand. "We will cause more damage if we are inside."
"I can't believe this is happening." Julian paused. "So, what after? We just take our watches off and everything will be back to normal?" He shifted the bag of extra ammunition on his shoulder.
"Perhaps." Laura hesitated. "If our assumption was correct."
"Right." He looked down at the church, his lip curling. "How can it not be? The Purifiers started everything...so if we end them...and end Nimrod before he can fuck anything up…"
She nodded. "Put us down."
He wasted no time in lowering them toward the ground, down to the sidewalk in front of the church steps. Above these, the large doors loomed. They were oak, with stained glass windows on the top, and heavy handles made of what looked like ornately molded cast iron.
"Ready?" he asked her.
Laura pulled the launcher off her shoulder and checked that it was loaded, then nodded, her expression serious. "Be prepared to give me the rest."
"Yep."
They began to climb. At the top, Julian reached out and blasted the doors out of the way, revealing the large, cavernous insides of the structure. Heads turned. There were many men-and women-dressed in dark robes. Edged with red trim. Laura remembered these outfits from when they had attacked the school.
"Do it." Julian hissed this. "Let's see how they like a taste of their own medicine."
Laura obeyed.
"We need to leave!" Laura hissed, grabbing Julian's wrist as he began to enter the smoking ruins. "If something happens to us here-" Several large chunks of concrete collapsed beside them, as if in support of her point.
"No!" He glared at her. "I want to make sure they're all gone! I want them to suffer for what they did to us! I want-"
"We have undone everything they did. Now it is time to go back." She gave him a stern look. "If we stay too long, we will begin to die. I do not want to risk it. We do not have Elixir to heal us."
"..." Julian gritted his teeth. "Fine." He held up his hand and started to tug at the watch around his wrist. "Damn it, it won't-"
"Here." She turned his wrist over, pressed the Return button, and watched as he faded from existence, as if he had never been. She took a deep breath then pressed her own Return button, hoping that whatever world she was about to step into was better than the one they were leaving behind.
FOOTNOTE: For those readers who have been following my work for a while, I apologize for disappearing. My father passed this January. It was a very sad, complicated, and overwhelming situation. To make things worse, my job suddenly became almost unmanageable, and I have been working about 60-65 hours a week since February, with almost no time off (even working on the weekends). I'm still recovering from all of this, and this period of job demand may not yet be over, as the suspension of overtime at my job is temporary while a policy is being reworked. In summary, please bear with me if you're waiting for updates on other stories. I intend to continue them, but need to reread the previous material first to figure out where I left off, as the past six months has completely disrupted all of my ongoing creative projects and processes. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this story, which I started during this temporary relaxation of my schedule. I will update as I am able.