I DO NOT OWN LOGAN
Laura's P.O.V.
I end up only sleeping a few hours, and wake up because of a horrible nightmare. A nightmare that I was still at Transigen and that they were still doing experiments on me. They probed me and tried to figure out how my healing worked so that they could replicate it, sell it, and become rich off the profit they would make. I had been afraid of that every day I was at Transigen, and had nightmares about it for years. They had stopped a few years ago, and I'm annoyed that they're back again. I have enough to worry about without being able to get enough sleep due to some nightmares.
I slip on the first articles of clothing my hands touch and make my way to the cafeteria. I need to eat something before I do my chores today. I'm stuck cleaning the shower rooms as well as deep cleaning the kitchen after dinner. I hate cleaning with a passion and wish I could do something more useful, but every time I try to bring it up with Jean I get absolutely nowhere. I find it best to just stick it out and do what I'm told.
I grab a tray and look at the breakfast that the people on cafeteria duty made. Rubbery eggs, unappetizing-looking bacon, soggy toast, pancakes that are burnt a little around the edges. I scrunch up my nose at the sight of the poison they're trying to give me. But I'm so hungry that I don't even care at the moment and pile food onto my tray and turn to look at where I should sit. The cafeteria is always crowded around this time, filled with people about to go do their daily chores. I usually don't like to go to the cafeteria around this time, as I hate most people, but I want to get my chores done and over with, and I'm starving and want to eat before I start.
I find an empty table and sit down and a second later Violet plops her ass down across from me. Her tray filled with the burnt pancakes. I give her a look, my eyebrows raised.
"I know you're going on that 'vegan' diet, but I think you should make an exception today because those pancakes are nasty," I tell her. She rolls her eyes.
"I find that the burnt taste reminds me that I'm still alive," she retorts. "And I happen to need that reminder every once in a while." I snort.
"You seemed pretty alive last night." I give her a knowing look. She smirks back at me.
"Speaking of which, where did you go last night? I felt you leave at around midnight." I sigh and shovel another mouthful of eggs into my mouth. I knew she was going to ask. I know she's gotten more worried about me over the last few months. I haven't been sleeping much. But I also know I can't hide anything from her. All she has to do is give me that worried face of hers and I'll cave.
"I went to the gym for a few hours. I needed to blow off steam." She lets off a loud breath.
"Laura," she breathes. "How much sleep did you get last night?" I think back.
"Maybe three hours?" It's a rough estimate.
"I'm worried about you."
"I know, I know," I sigh. "I just… I've been having those nightmares again. Every time I try to sleep I'm woken up not long after." She gives me a sad look.
"I really think you should see Doctor Hightower. Maybe it'll help." I shake my head.
"Nothing will help, Vi. I was born and bred to be a killer. I grew up in a facility in near isolation. Had experiments done on me. Was chased across the entire United States into Canada. And on top of it all, my father, whom I had just met, died in my arms. I can kill a bunch of people in an instant, without blinking an eye or feeling bad about it afterwards. I'm fucked up and not amount of therapy will fix that," I tell her. She goes quiet, and I push my plate away, finding that I lost my appetite.
"I might know something that will," a voice says from behind me. I already know that it's Jean, I could smell and hear her from a mile away. I turn around to face her.
"Why can't you leave me alone? I already gave you my answer," I hiss at her. I turn back to Violet and she silently asks me what's going on. "Her and her entourage want my help with something."
"With what?" Violet looks between me and Jean. I shrug.
"Dunno. I didn't stick around long enough to find out." Jean sighs heavily behind me.
"When I tell you what we have to offer, I'm sure you'll change your mind. It could be life changing." I mentally roll my eyes.
"My life doesn't need to be changed, thanks." That sounds so unbelievable that even X-24 would be able to call bullshit.
"C'mon, Laura," Violet whispers. She puts her hand over mine. "Aren't you the least bit curious? What if they found a real life wolverine. That'd be lifechanging." I bark out a laugh at the inside joke. She stands up. "I'll go with you." I let out a breath. I guess I'll just go and get this over with. Violet and I throw out our trays and then follow Jean down to the basement of the building.
Now, I've never been to the basement of the building in all the years that I've been here. It's off limits to most everyone here, so I don't know what to expect. But when we arrive, I'm very surprised. I was expecting it to be dark and cold and wet. But it's the opposite. There are several lights making it very bright, so I am able to see every detail very clearly. There's a bunch of expensive equipment and papers all over the place. In the middle of the room stands a large, round machine. It's in the shape of a circle and is the weirdest thing I've ever seen. And that's really saying something. Tina, Angie, Paul, Brad, and Hank—a.k.a. one of the two surviving X-Men—are there, and when we enter the room, they turn to look at us.
"Why is she here?" Brad asks, referring to Violet.
"Because she's the best chance you've got to talking me into doing whatever the fuck you want me to do," I inform him. He presses his lips into a thin line but doesn't say anything else. I turn to Jean. "So, what is it you want me to do?" She takes a deep breath and begins.
"Years ago, when we first formed Eden, the six of us gathered and started to form a plan, to see if we could make it so our species wasn't on the verge of extinction," she starts. "The only way we could think of, is to go back in time and try to change the world's view on mutants. So we started to work on building a time machine."
"A time machine?" Violet asks in disbelief. She sounds as skeptical as I feel. There's no way in hell they actually built a time machine. "How the hell did you do that?"
"It took a lot of time and work and research, obviously," Angie answers. "But we only recently got it so that it actually turns on. Since then a few things have come through it from whatever timeline, but they all were destroyed. We also recently sent a rat through the machine, only to have it returned torn to shreds."
"We think it's because of the current that the machine gives off," Paul continues. "It's so strong that it destroys anything that goes through it. And any living thing that goes through it is killed because they don't heal fast enough to survive." I roll my eyes. I know where this is going.
"And you want me to go through it because I'll heal fast enough to survive the journey," I state. Their silence is enough of an answer for me. "And why would I do this? From what you said, it'll be extremely painful. And I don't even know if this'll actually work. And what about the times that you guys made life a living hell for me here? Why would I do this?" I'm seething with anger now, and I feel like all the progress I've made the last fourteen years is falling apart. Violet puts a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. I know that she's trying to help, but it doesn't work. These people just can't leave me alone. Can't they see that I'm dealing with stuff right now?
"Because if you do this, we'll send you back in time to see Logan," Jean offers. I still at this. Send me back to see my dad? That can't be. Can it? "Back to the year nineteen-seventy-nine, when his claws were covered in adamantium. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to save him." I look over at Violet for advice.
"I dunno, Laura," she says, shaking her head. "It's risky. If you go back and see your dad, you could change things. You could erase yourself from existence." That's true. If I go back that far, I could make it so that Doctor Rice never creates me. Make it so that I'm never born.
"But there could be a chance that I could save my dad," I tell her. "When I saw him, he was clearly being poisoned from the inside. And one of my nurses, Gabriela, once said that the adamantium gives off a poison that could kill any normal mutant or human. And with my dad's entire skeleton covered in the stuff, even with his healing abilities, it was only a matter of time before the poison effected his ability to heal so fast." It all makes sense to me now. I never really thought about it before. "And with his healing slowed down almost to that of a human's, it's no wonder he was so sick in his final years."
"So what are you planning to do? Say you get to the past, then what?"
"I find him in time to go to the lab he went to when he got the adamantium, and somehow make it so that only his claws are covered in adamantium, like mine. This way, his body won't have to work as hard to heal his body every minute of the day. And maybe he'll still be alive." Violet bites her lip, and I lean in for a kiss. It's short and sweet, just to reassure her; and when I pull back, I can feel the tingling in my lips from her mutation. "I'll be okay."
"But how can you be sure? Isn't Doctor Rice the descendant of that Stryker guy? What if whatever happens in the past prevents you from being born? I'll never get to see you again." I shake my head. I know what she's saying, and I understand her concern. But I can't let that stop me.
"If that happens, the timeline will make it so that you won't even know I exist. You'll have technically never met me, so you won't even notice. And as for me? I have to do this. For my dad, I have to. He sacrificed himself to get my friends and I across the border. If it wasn't for him, I'd have never made it here in the first place. I have to do this. I have to." I can tell that she sees that I already made up my mind, so she lets out a breath and nods.
"Okay," she relents. "If that's what you think is best, I'll support you." I give her a small smile. I love her. I love her so much it hurts, but I know that I'll never have the courage to tell her to her face.
A small cough brings me back to reality and I turn to find everyone staring at us. I take a deep breath and let it out.
"Okay, I'll do it." They nod and get to work, preparing. Violet and I go back to my room and I change into plain jeans and a t-shirt, something that won't look too out of place in the seventies, and slip my father's dog tags around my neck, hoping that they won't get ruined when I go through the time machine. I don't bring anything else, as I know that anything that goes through it will just be destroyed.
When we arrive back in the basement, the machine is set up to be turned on. Jeans walks up to me.
"I know that you have no reason to trust us, but thanks for doing this," she says. "Who knows, while you're saving Logan, you'll also save our species." I don't say anything to her, as I doubt I can do that, but I don't blame her for having hope. Jean hands Violet a pair of thick rimmed goggles. "I suggest you wear these. The machine, when turned on, is very bright, and if you look at it without protection, you could damage your sight." Violet nods and puts the goggles on. After a few minutes, the team manages to turn the machine on, and I find that Jean was right. It is very bright, and I have to squint. But I have to admit that it's hypnotizing. It looks like something out of a comic book.
"Be careful, okay?" Violet orders. "I don't want you to die." I smile at her.
"Careful? When am I not?" She snorts and shakes her head.
"Just promise me?" I nod.
"Okay." I square my shoulders and prepare myself.
"You have to go now, Laura," Jean says.
"Wish me luck," I tell them, and then I take a step into the machine. And I'm greeted by a whirlwind of pain and darkness.
A/N: What did you guys think? Please review!
~Gina