Chapter 1: The Heir of Gram

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Matthew 10:34

Shaun: Why do we start the chapters with those quotes, anyways?

Kira: Just something I do, I guess.

Laura: You're trying to make a slight at somebody, aren't you?

Kira: Not really. This story is rather anti-religious to begin with. I don't think anyone who actually reads it would be offended.

And now, on with the story...

An awkward situation is defined as a scenario which is unreasonable, difficult, or just plain weird. And that's exactly the kind of situation X-23 had landed herself in. She felt emotions rising, some familiar, some not so familiar. "My... mother?" She managed to squeeze out of her lips, and the doctor nodded to her. "I... We've got some explaining to do. But first, introductions." Dr. Risman looked to the other woman and nodded. She walked up to X-23, extending one hand for a shake. The teen mutant looked the woman once over, and could easily tell she was her biological mother. X-23 obviously didn't get her looks from Weapon X... Logan, Gods that will take some getting used to. No, she got her looks from this woman. The brown hair, the radiant green eyes, and the lovely earthen brown of her skin, this woman was basically what X-23 would look like in twenty or so years.

The woman finally spoke, revealing a deeper female voice. "I'm Elizabeth Kinney. I guess I'm your mother, though I have no right to claim it..." She averted her eyes from the young mutant, her eyes showing sadness. "I gave birth to you knowing the kind of life you'd have, and I don't blame you if you don't forgive me for that." X-23 took the hand and shook it. "I read the files on you, Mother. Although I hated you at first... I can't blame you." She broke the shake and suddenly hugged Elizabeth. "I'm just... glad I could meet you." The young mutant started crying then just like she did in Logan's arms when she invaded the Institute.

Elizabeth, after a moment of shock and a quick glance at Deborah, returned the hug with a sad smile on her face and a tear falling down her face. "Welcome home." They stayed like that for a moment before Dr. Risman cleared her throat to gain attention. "She still needs a name, Lisa." X-23 spoke out suddenly, surprising even herself with the conviction behind it. "Laura. That'll be my name." The two older women looked at her weirdly. "Why such conviction, X-23?" Dr. Risman inquired, to which the clone responded. "I don't know... it just feels... right. Like I've been called it before."

Just then, the door opened and they heard a voice from the entranceway. "Hey mom, I'm home!" In walked a young man about Laura's age, with deep red hair and chocolate brown eyes. The boy was tall, taller than his mother already, and built big. He instantly looked around the room and frowned. "What's going on?"

Evett gave his mother and pseudo-aunt an open mouthed stare as they told him the details. "You're... kidding, right? Mom told me it was regular old artificial insemination." Elizabeth smiled at her son. "I lied, but you wouldn't believe the truth had I told you. Or worse, you would have said something to the wrong person and been... silenced." Those words made Laura growl from the back of her throat, a very animalistic vocalization she'd been recently told. "If HYDRA even tried it on you, they'd regret it, Evett." Her fists were in balls, drawing blood from her palms. "Laura!" Ms. Kinney rushed over to her daughter and pried the fingers out of the palms only to witness the legendary healing effects of her father. Traits HYDRA had made sure she also possessed. "It's okay... mom. I heal fast." The small smile on her face brought a tear to her mother's. The girl was really trying to become normal. "Was that... a joke, Laura?" Dr. Risman almost fell over laughing at the quaint cheesiness of it. "I'm not good with them, Deborah..." The girl countered back with a blush.

"Back on topic, please! You guys can't be serious about her!" Evett emphasised the sentence by pointing at his half-sister. "A clone of a human weapon that went rogue in the 1950's? You expect me to believe that?" Laura put on a menacing grin then, looking over to her mother as she spoke. "Can I show him?" Elizabeth looked at her daughter for a few seconds before nodding, hoping she wouldn't go overboard. Knowing that she is my daughter, she will.

Laura walked up to her half brother and put her fist so that it was a short distance from his chin. The room got quite for a while, a silence that lasted almost a minute before Evett broke it. "Umm, what-" Snikt. The infamous sound resounded through the room as Laura's twin dagger-like appendages extended out of her fist and stopped just short of Evett's jaw. The boy jumped back and nearly wet his pants, screaming loudly. "What the hell?" He stared at his half-sister with a look of massive anger.

"Believe them now, brother?" Evett grumbled a bit before picking himself, and what shred were left of his dignity, off the floor. "Okay... that was pretty convincing, sis." He double checked the girl. Yeah sure, he saw the resemblance she shared with his mother, and the claws definitely were a mutation, but even then the story was a bit farfetched. "I'll take it at face value I guess. Mom has no reason to lie to me, so I guess this means I should probably..." Evett walked up to Laura and placed a hand on each of her shoulders. "Welcome home, Laura."

She placed the hand with the still extended claws on his, showing him as she retracted the two metal blades into her hand. "Can you accept me for what I am, Evett?" Evett suddenly smiled at her. "My best friend's a mutant, Laura. I can handle having a sister that's one, too." Elizabeth smiled. He's finally putting on that grin. He's accepted her. Then her memories flowed to her late husband. Her sone resembled him so much, and even more so when he has that grin on. But that story would be for another day. "Well, now that we've agreed to welcome Laura, it's time to get her cover story down."

"I believe we should use one that Laura has practise in, Lisa." The doctor brought out a small datapad, quickly perusing through some files. "Laura, how about Backstory 15c?" The clone smiled at her. "Birth Defect forcing me to be isolated until now. It's perfect, Deborah." Dr. Risman smiled at her. "Call me Aunt Debbie, Laura."

The first rays of sun rose over the horizon east of Freetown were a sign of promise for two very different individuals.

The first was an elderly man wearing a heavy black overcoat, the white collar and cufflinks giving away his profession of faith. He was climbing down out of the semi-trailer's cabin when twilight began to creep out into the world, and by the time he'd thanked the proper, God-fearing man who had given him passage to this town, the sun had finally poked its head up from the east. "A beautiful sunrise. God gives his blessing to those who awake early today." The man was on a holy mission. He was here to serve his Lord in a way only he could. He moved through the town easily, walking to the church that he was given him permission to board at in order to drop of his meagre belongings before heading down into the center of the rural area at the south end of the city.

He approached the place where he would serve his Lord. St. Anne's Community School.

The other was the hero of the story whom we'd left at his house. Shaun awoke with a start as soon as the sun's rays broke through his low set window. A load yawn, almost like a growl, escaped his lips as he rose from bed and got dressed in his usual morning jog attire. It was not long before he was forking off of the forest path and entering his 'secret spot'. Unlike the other riser of this morrow, who hid in plain sight, Shaun hid away from others, preferring the solitude at times.

A thin smile snaked across Shaun's features as he felt the presence of two people enter the clearing. Neither were known to him, but the larger and… bouncier, I guess you could say, of the two was definitely his best friend, Evett. Ragnir had told him that everyone's presence felt a little bit different, and since the young mutant could narrow down the people who knew about this clearing to two or three, he knew that Evett was one of them. The other one was vastly different. She was female, something deep inside him said, and she was… distance. He felt like no matter how much closer her presence got to him, it only moved further away. Like she was trying to distance herself from everything, yet at the same time, live normally.

As soon as Evett came near and Shaun heard him draw breath to speak, Jason spoke out, stopping Evett mid first letter. "Hello, Evett. What a pleasant surprise." Evett jumped at him speaking and began to laugh. "You really got to stop doing that, man. I'm going to sock you one next time!" The small giggle caused Shaun to open his eyes and look over the other person. She was about their age, and a tad bit on the short side, being a couple inches shorter than him. She looked a lot like Evett's mother, Lisa, and he could definitely see why her presence felt as it did.

The girl was antsy. Her entire being was on high alert, watching for an enemy that was probably non-existent. He recognized the disposition quickly. It wasn't that of a paranoid person, no, it was one of a hardened warrior. Always ready, always watching. A girl that age shouldn't be like that. "What brought you here, Evett? I told you 'Only in Emergencies' did I not?" Evett suddenly went serious and nodded. "Yeah, this is pretty urgent. Shaun, meet Laura. She's my half-sister." Shaun's eyebrow cocked up, and Evett sighed before explaining the story behind her sudden appearance. After it, Shaun nodded. "That explains why she holds herself like a warrior ready to strike."

Laura's eyes widened at that comment. "I try hard to hide that." Shaun smiled. "Laura, I come from a family who have been warriors and soldiers for over 15 generations. We know the trade better than any, and you're a warrior, born, breed, and trained."

The girl suddenly went into a mask from that comment and Shaun instantly regretted it. "Sorry, that was rude of me." He smiled then, and jumped off of the rock a bit dramatically. Three steps brought him up to the girl, and he gave her a friendly smile. "Besides, I'm the same." He emphasised the fact by fastening the item wrapped in silk onto his back, drawing attention to it. "Just because we were forged in the fires of war doesn't mean we have to fight."

Both Shaun's and Evett's eyes went wide as they saw something light up in Laura's own green orbs. A glimmer of hope she'd been afraid to nurture. "Can I really? I've… I've only known death." Shaun smiled. "Then we'll show you life."

"Alright kids." The elderly principal stood in front of the gaggle of Tenth Grade students in the classroom, trying to create order. Eventually they all sat in their respective seats, though even that was up to chaos, since the kids got to choose their chairs. As soon as they sat, and quieted, down, the principal spoke again. "Alright kids, we've got two new people to meet today: A teacher and a classmate." The elderly woman extended a hand over to the door and signalled for someone to come in. The door opened to the gesture, and from it walked in a young girl that two in the class knew. "This is Laura Kinney. She is Evett Kinney's younger sister, to answer the questions I know you all are going to ask." She smiled to Laura. "Tell us a little about yourself."

"Thank you, Mrs. LeVallee." She turned to the class and smiled sheepishly. "Hey… everyone. As you know now, my name's Laura. You're all probably wondering about why Evett never told you about me." She looked over to her half-brother and smiled nervously. "It's because he didn't think we'd ever meet. I… I was born with a rare condition. I was born comatose, and for the better part of my life stayed that way."

"You all know about what the family situation was like after me and Evett were born, I'm sure. You probably always wondered how she could be a full time mom, right? Well… it's because of the hospital I was in." She suddenly looked solemn, and Shaun smiled inwardly. Good acting. "I was… a test subject for experimental treatment of my condition."

"It took them 10 years, but they managed to cure it. Now, after four years of therapy, I'm supposedly ready for the world."

The classroom was silent for a moment, and then all the girls rushed up to Laura, asking a million questions a second. They kept at her while the boys talked to Evett and Shaun, somehow knowing he was in on it. This kept up for a minute before a loud voice came from the doorway.

"This is no way for young people to behave." Although loudly spoken, the voice was calm, and kind. All heads turned to see an elderly man with a fully black dress shirt, pants, and shoes combination on. But the most striking feature on him was the white collar on the shirt. "Please, take your seats, kids." The principal asked, and they all did, Laura included, her seat being the open one behind Shaun. "Everyone, this is Father Chambermain, your new History teacher, as well as the homeroom teacher for your class." Shaun stood up then and began walking out.

"Were are you going, Mr. Sigurdsson?" Mrs. LeVallee asked, a bit shocked at his actions. Shaun merely turned to her and spoke. "Do you remember the day I first had to come into your office?" She nodded. "Hard to forget, but I can't believe you were serious."

The teen nodded. "I will not let my education be run by anyone ordained, Mrs. LeVallee. Not after what the Church has done to my family."

And with those works, he left.

"The Hell was that about, man?" Evett asked his best friend just after leaving school. The two always walked home together, and now Laura was in tow as well. Shaun looked at Evett for a while, bringing about an awkward silence, before he sighed. "I guess I owe you an explanation, Evett. I'll tell you at my place; it isn't something to speak of in public." The rest of the walk passed in silence, with Shaun maintaining a solemn attitude, and the siblings beside him wondering what he was about to reveal.

They arrived at the Sigurdsson household a few minutes later. Shaun greeted his mother affectionately, then his younger brother came running into the room, glomping* him on the spot. "Shaun!" Evett smiled at the boy as he looked his way, making the young boy grin even wider. "Evett! You came to play today?" He then looked at the girl beside Evett, and he calmed down considerably. Shaun's mother noticed the girl as well. "Shaun, Evett, care to tell me who your friend is?"

"Cathy, this is my twin sister, Laura." Cathy smiled at the girl. "Welcome to our home. Evett never told us he had a sister." Laura smiled meekly at the elder woman and the child. "To be honest... he didn't know about me until yesterday." Shaun and his mother both looked at each other at the same time, an unspoken agreement for an explanation later passing between them. "Laura, this is my mom, Cathy Trulor. And this little minion-" Shaun ruffled the young boy's hair. "-is my little half brother, Devin." The boy shook his hair back down and glared at his brother playfully. "It's nice to meet you, Laura." Devin then said playfully, returning the grin to his face as he spoke to her. He grabbed her hand and started pulling her into the living room, but Shaun stopped him as soon as he began. "Sorry, little bro, but I need to keep these two to myself today."

"Awwwww!" The trio heard the boy yell from the bottom of the stairs as Shaun led the siblings towards his room. The moment they entered, Laura gasped. The entire Eastern facing side of the room was a glass sheet, lightly blocked with a thin, silver curtain, a pattern of dragons and other creatures of myth covering the curtain. The other side of the wall was a covered in a mural, a family tree tracing back to... "... You're a descendant of Sigurd..." Laura exclaimed. "Sit down Laura, you too Evett. This will take a while."

And so Shaun began weaving the tale of his family to the two.

A/N: Alright, I apologize to any readers of this story, but my work has been chaos lately. I've barely had any time to devote towards writing, and of that, I've got several different writing projects to work on. Please, check out my other currently ongoing story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars- Trial of the Heart. I'll try to update this again sometime within a week, as well as my other story, but if RL interferes, I may not update again for a while.