"Daddy…" Tears still flowed down her young, pale face, as Rictor and the others slowly walked off, to head up the mountain. Laura reluctantly followed suit, but only after she took the wooden cross they had made, turned to its side, to make an X.

He was the last of the X-men, and anyone tied to a past she could not grasp. It was only for a short while, that she knew both him and Professor Xavior. And to her they were a sense of hope; but to the rest of the world, they were the weapons of mass destruction, that Laura was also made to be. She was nothing but X-23, the result of biological experiment, s clone of another specimen to be used as nothing but a weapon. She was not meant to feel, nor was she meant to think. She was only to act on command, like a trained wolf, set aside to destroy.

As Laura caught up to the group, Rictor could not help but notice her solemn presence. As the brightness of the sun glistened through the leaves of the trees, warming her dark hair, it beautifully reflected off her moist cheeks.

Rictor slowed his pace to meet hers. "We did the best we could," he said as he tried to gently lighten her mood. "But we must keep going," his voice changed from gentle to a stern tone, placing her hand on her shoulder. A slight breeze caught her hair.

"It is because he wanted to die… he did not care. He told me not to let him die." Laura struggled to find her words, as everything sank in from the moment she met Professor Xavier and the Wolverine.

She could still hear his deep, raspy voice, drained by his years of age. Each line on his wrinkled face spoke wisdom, love, heartache, anger, and joy. His old age may have gotten the best of the strength in his legs, but not his heart or mind.

"Doesn't she remind you of someone, Logan?" Professor Xavier's voice quietly echoed in her mind. His words tried to cradle Logan's own stoned heart. The adamantium poisoning deepened the scars on his body, yet were nowhere near as deep as the ones in his soul. Professor Xavier knew, however that he was getting to him.

"This is what life is like…Take a moment, feel it…"

"Maybe we should stop for a minute," Maria chimed in, interrupting Laura's thoughts, "Rictor." Maria turned her head towards him, trying to meet his gaze.

A worried look escaped Rictor's face. He tried to remain expressionless but he could not hide his distress.

"That doctor, Pierce," Maria went on, "He's gone. Besides, the climb to the top is going to wear everyone out." She glanced over a Laura, who seemed to lighten her mood at the thought.

Laura walked over to Maria's side, and silently pleaded with Rictor with her quiet expression. "Alright," Rictor responded, as he uses his seismic element power to lift a giant log and set it next to Laura and the others.

*Meanwhile*

"Logan… Logan, fucking wake up, dammit!"

A piercing pain on the side of his head, ached mercilessly. He opened his eyes to see an older, bald man, that was all too familiar to him.

"Where am I?" Logan slowly came to his senses. "Charles?"