Weapon X: The Genesis Project Chapter 1: The Best, a x-men: evolution fanfic

X-23 is slight AU: She's as old as the new mutants (16) in this story and has her future appearance as such.

REPOST! Cut some unnecessary content in this chapter. Needed the focus to be more finite.

Chapter 1: The Best

"A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength—life itself is will to power; self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" – Nietzsche

New York City, near the end of the Apocalypse Incident.

Laura, X-23, was going over in her head what her customers just ordered from the bar. She was working at a club in Midtown NYC for a couple months now, just trying to get by and stay ahead of the past. Working at this club was an improvement from what she used to do to scrape by. That was still only known to her and few others. She gracefully slid between all the patrons and the small tables, while carrying a tray above her head, until she finally reached the bar. She rattled off the order to the bartender and made her way back to her customers without losing a single drop of alcohol.

"Thanks sweet-stuff," one of the patrons said as he took a swig of his cheap beer, "How's abou' you join our lil' party. Time of your life I swear."

Laura caught the patron's eyes and they were skating up and down in their sockets, checking her out. This was the part of her job she had to learn to put up with. Getting ogled at while wearing a pair of tight slacks and a low-cut blouse was part of the job, and it had its advantages in the form of bigger tips. Trying to live in NYC, a person needs what they can get if they want to live comfortably. The first couple nights she worked at this club Laura usually shot a glare at people who stared at her. Killed her chances of getting bigger tips too.

Her coworkers took pity on her and taught her some of the tricks of the trade, knowing what it was like to be in Laura's shoes. A couple shifts later and Laura was a natural at catering to her patron's needs, to a reasonable and respectable extent. She was bred to be a fast learner.

The one looking her up and down right then was harmless from what she could tell, so she feigned a smile to tide him over until the alcohol distracted him. On the other hand, there was another patron she caught watching her incessantly from the beginning of her shift on the second level of the club. It was a man with heavily chiseled features, a brown military crew cut and non-descript clothing. He had a table that gave him a decent view of the entire club. His actions were atypical of the other patrons. This was an observer. Not some guy who felt some attraction to Laura, but surveillance. He could track her everywhere except the bathroom and the break rooms. This patron did earn Laura's deathly glare. To her surprise, he didn't even blink. From this distance it was possible he could not make out her expression.

One thing was clear to Laura: this man did not sit right with her.

Bobby Soul, the young bartender and fellow mutant also known as Felon, noticed Laura's discomfort and motioned her over to the bar.

"Hey, Laura, you okay? You seem… you know…!" Felon shouted over the loud music and slicked his cornrows back, Laura simply shrugged.

"I am fine!" she said back. She tried to get back to serving drinks but Felon grabbed her arm. If it was anyone else who had done that, they might have lost an arm.

"Come on, Laura, you keep looking up at someone on the second floor like someone's gonna jump out spraying lead across the dance floor," Felon pried, in this club he was like Alpha and Omega, this was his domain, and if those under his watch are under any kind of duress, he dealt with it.

"It is just a customer who is watching me," Laura tried to play it off like it was nothing. It's not like she couldn't handle herself against some obsessive patron. She leaned over to Felon and muttered in his ear the who and the where. Felon's eyes locked on immediately to the dapperly cut patron. He motioned a couple of the bouncers over to the bar and told them to check him out.

Laura and Felon watched the patron get up to leave as the bouncers radioed each other to keep some eyes on him. It looked like he was leaving, now that he was made. Laura thanked Felon for handling the issue and she finished off the rest of her shift without incident. It was two in the morning when her shift finished. It was time to clock out and make her way home.

Like most nights, Laura took an intricate route home that took her through streets, alleyways, above rooftops, and through subway tunnels. Her instinct told her she could never be too careful with losing people who took an unhealthy interest in her. Tonight she did plenty of doubling back, on account of the patron. After about an hour of bounding around, Laura found herself back her apartment.

The apartment Laura lived in was a top-floor, studio apartment. This apartment used to be a safe house Laura operated out of during her HYDRA days. Rearranging it to be more habitable and look normal was simple enough. Fence some of the military-level equipment, throw a couple rugs down, and place some cheap furniture and voila it looked somewhat normal. The money from the fenced military equipment allowed her to discreetly have someone put a standard kitchen in. Now it looked like a typical young adult living space, but rather clean.

She slipped out of her work attire in exchange for a pair of sweats and a loose t-shirt as pajamas. She did a quick sweep of her apartment, making sure all the entrances, usual or otherwise, were secure. Blinds were shut, doors and windows locked, and Laura finally was able to go to bed.

The night had other plans for her however.

Just as she was about to slip into bed, a hail of bullets tore through the windows of her apartment, starting at the kitchen on the far end away from her. Immediately, Laura hit the ground and moved.

She stayed low covering her head as she moved herself into the kitchen.

More bullets flew into the living room, tearing up the hardwood floors and furniture. Laura tried to get a look out of the apartment but had to duck back down quickly to avoid taking one in the head.

The gunfire just kept coming even though Laura was behind cover, and they must have seen that. Was this just suppression fire to keep her busy while another team came in to apprehend her through sheer numbers?

Not wanting to find out, Laura made her move.

She looked out of the apartment's windows and saw a muzzle flash on the fire escape of a building across the street. Screaming over the gunfire, still in her bloody and tattered pajamas, she leapt through the broken window, getting grazed a couple times in the process. She slid down the building side and clambered up the building that the shooter had taken position on. The shooter seemed to get cold feet and abandoned his position.

She pursued her prey knowing she was faster. When she got closer she saw the military black ops uniform. They found her. HYDRA, or some splinter faction of it had found her. The shooter was making his way down the stairwell trying to get down to the street to lose her.

She dove from where she was on the flight of stairs and crashed right into the shooter. He regained his footing and tried to get ahead again, but he wasn't fast enough for Laura. She jammed her claws straight between the shooter's shoulder blades, hearing him cry out in pain. Using her other hand, she stuck him in the lower back. Laura finished him by tossing him over the railing. He fell four stories, hitting other railings on his way down before coming to a crackling halt at the bottom. The shooter did not get up after that. Laura fled the scene quickly and returned to the apartment to assess her situation.

Her conclusion was simple: it was time to run.

Laura had plenty of places she could go. Safe houses, old hideouts... but were any of them safe? As long as the enemy had some idea of where she was, that would be true. Settling may have been foolish move on Laura's part. She never was going to assume her past was forever behind her again.

By the time the police even got around to check out the street Laura lived on, she had packed a duffel bag with all her clothes and was miles away. She stopped at a diner in Midtown to gather her mental bearings and strength for what lay ahead of her. One thing was certain at this point: get out of New York City.

Laura thought of the possibilities. There was the Xavier institute, but she wasn't certain she was ready for that place yet. Hell, she wasn't sure she would ever be. But with the skeletons of her past coming out of the closet, she was in danger. If that danger would follow her there, she could not be certain. She needed to find who in HYDRA was still coming after her and end them.

A tingling in Laura's hands began to work its way around her spine. She sensed that she was being shadowed. Sniffing the air, Laura smelt a familiar aroma. She knew who was following her. In the big crowds of NYC it was hard to pinpoint a skilled tail, but she trained herself to recognize her follower's scent during her days with HYDRA. She made her way through the city to settle all her affairs, to be back on the run. Her boss wasn't too happy about losing her, but it had to be done. Whoever was tailing her, it was time to draw them out.

Laura stood perched on the fire escape of a building back in the Middle East side. She was waiting for her tail to come to her. If she knew her assailant at all, she knew that they would savor the chance to put her through pain. That's the way Kimura saw Laura, someone to bully.

Kimura was Laura's handler.

It was getting late; the sun had set, and the creatures of the New York night began to emerge from their daytime habitat.

Laura kept her eyes, ears, and nose alert as she crouched completely still, waiting. The wind would occasionally blow some of her nearly black hair into her face. Annoying as it was, the wind could tell her how close Kimura was. Whenever she hunted Laura, she was rarely alone. Usually there was a strike team that came in first or backed her up.

This time though, Laura did not pick up on any of the scents that indicated either. There were no military helicopters in the air, no scents indicating an encroaching strike team, just Kimura's scent.

BAM!

A gunshot rang out and Laura felt a hot, sharp pain plow through her body at the base of her spine. She was knocked off her feet and unable to use her legs. The damage would not be permanent, but that was the least of her problems. As her spinal cord healed itself, Laura used her claws to drag herself through a window into an apartment, currently vacant. She felt feeling gradually return to her legs; even so she would be unsteady trying to flee at first. Laura continued to crawl through the apartment, eventually reaching the hallway. She heard feet scampering down the fire escape outside of the building and people coming in her direction through the halls.

Sure enough, multiple commandos were upon her position in seconds. They surrounded her making sure she had no where to go. Through a line of them, a tan and brunette woman walked through. Kimura had arrived, carrying a sniper rifle propped against her shoulder.

"Hello X, long time no see," Kimura winked at Laura slyly. She stepped closer and kicked Laura in the face. She tried to slash at Kimura, but it was a moot point. Kimura's skin was unbreakable. She just laughed and kicked Laura in the face again. There was a sickening crack and Laura went limp all over. She was very much alive, but totally immobile, "Better take the opportunity to rest, X. You're going to need your energy."

"Enough banter! Secure the clone for transport," said a gravelly voice from down the hall. Although she could not turn her head to see who it was, she knew that voice belonged to none other than the HYDRA agent called Gauntlet. Laura calculated he had a higher chance of surviving the HYDRA base's destruction. Seemed her calculations were correct.

"You know, X," Kimura whispered into Laura's ear, "If there is one thing you and I can agree on, its Gauntlet is absolutely no fun."

Laura was powerless at this point. The last thing she saw before a black bag was pulled over her head was Kimura's venomous smile. The only thing worse than living in captivity for the majority for the majority of one's life is having hard-earned freedom stripped away. Laura had had it for a few solid months now after crippling HYDRA. She had gotten to experience her first Christmas with friends, she was starting to lead a low-profile life. After the fighting she had done, this was how easily her freedom was going to be torn from her clutch?

Laura felt feeling return to her body as a few commandoes cuffed her hands behind her and began to lift her up. She was certain that her legs would move by her own will now. She had to be certain, as she would have only one chance at this. The element of surprise was everything. With the bag still over her head she was going to have to rely on her other senses temporarily. Laura estimated she had a window of 19 seconds to use before her chances of escape became zero.

Easy enough; HYDRA may have trained her too well for their good.