ANNOUNCEMENT: Two new stories-Like a Boss: Tainted Love and We're in This Together Now,along with the update wave! Enjoy! :o)

A/N: Thanks for the review! :o)


Chapter 9


Laura is sitting at a bar as she chews over the decision at hand: leave or stay?

She hasn't left San Francisco yet; she won't until she is sure of her next actions. The more she thinks about things, the more that leaving Utopia bothers her.

No. To be honest with herself, it's leaving Keller this way that bothers her.

Is it pity?

Or is some part of her, in some way…receptive?

Laura isn't sure. She is nibbling on a tray of appetizer; nachos, dripping with cheese. Before her is a shot glass—about the fifth she'll have had tonight—as well as a beer glass. She's trying to get drunk, in the hopes that she'll have a revelation.

"Hey there," a male voice says, on her right. She turns slightly; it's a stranger, a fairly attractive man, perhaps in his mid twenties. He has an easy grin, and a look of appreciation, and hopefulness. She knows what he's hoping for.

She then notices are that his eyes are brown, and she feels vaguely disappointed.

"This seat taken?" he asks.

"No."

She watches him sit down beside her, and he grins. She gives him a small smile back.

"I've been watching you from across the bar," he says. "Such a gorgeous thing like you shouldn't have to sit alone."

"Mmm." Laura feels vaguely repulsed. She hates flattery like this. But maybe her problem is that she hasn't been with anyone in a while. Maybe this haunting background thought will go away if she relieves her urges.

"You also seemed sad," the guy continues. "I couldn't imagine who could hurt something so beautiful. Made me hurt, too."

"'Sad'?" Laura parrots, looking at him.

"Yep," he said. "And lonely. I think you're trying to figure something out."

"I am." Laura takes a sip of beer.

"Try talking about it?" The guy offers. "Or maybe you just need a distraction. Going at the problem with a fresh mind sometimes helps."

"Maybe." Laura eyes him. "You are?"

"Chuck," he says. "And what might your name be?"

"Anna," Laura says without hesitation. "I figured getting drunk would solve the problem."

"That'd do the trick," he agrees. "So, what's your problem?"

Laura blinks. Here, she's being asked to describe the situation to a stranger, in simple terms. It's not as easy as she had first thought it might be.

"I just found out that my enemy doesn't return my hatred," she says.

Chuck grins. "It's a pretty thin line between 'love' and 'hate', you know."

"Maybe," Laura says. "I left—the area that he lives in. But I'm not far enough away yet."

"You're wondering how you feel about it."

"Well…I don't know. He's such an asshole." Laura's voice hardens as she describes him. "Other people say that's not what he's like. I don't know anymore."

"Asshole in what way?" her companion asks.

"Well—" Laura pauses. "We've fought, almost since the moment I met him, at the school we both went to. He acts like he's so superior, and talks shit to me. He'll argue just about anything I say. We've even had smack downs, for real." She grins a little.

"Sounds like you enjoyed being his opponent."

"I did," Laura admits. She thinks of the rush she always experienced when tussling with Keller in fights on the school lawn (of which there had been several). Her heart had pounded in her ears, and her skin had tingled. Had that been something other than the exultation of battle?

She has no prior experience to base this off of. Even at her old public school, she'd assumed all of the boy-girl confrontations were pure hatred, since that was all she knew until she was ten years old.

"It also sounds like he was trying to get your attention." Chuck says, raises his eyebrows. "Men will do just about anything to impress a pretty girl."

Laura says nothing, fingering the chip in her hand over and over before finally eating it. She nods slightly, in agreement. This is also true, when she thinks about it.

"Come with me tonight," her companion says. "I'll take your mind off all this. Maybe it'll give you a better idea of what you need to do."

He leans a little closer; Laura knows what he's about to do. Kiss her. She starts to respond, hesitates, draws back. "I—"

Suddenly, the TV in the corner of the bar catches her attention. Her eyes shift upwards; Chuck follows her gaze.

"…as a terrorist situation develops at the U.N. building, in New York City," the reporter, a woman with curly blond hair, says, her expression serious. "The team of mutant vigilantes known as the X-men has just sent the government warning of two mutant students. These individuals have been kidnapped by the anti-mutant terrorist group known as the Sapien League, and injected with the modified Legacy virus that will eventually cause their mutant powers to go into overdrive. The students will then, essentially, become explosive bombs that could potentially destroy the entire U.N. building complex. Evacuation methods have begun, as the fact that this is a real threat became apparent."

Laura stares at the TV, at the white van, out of which a blue-haired girl has just charged, surrounded by a halo of blue light. Behind her is a burst of green, that she would know anywhere.

"Keller," she breathes, turning pale.

"What—" Chuck looks up at the screen, at Keller, whom has just fallen to his knees on the pavement. "Him? A mutie? Are you serious? Muties are—"

"I'm one hundred per-fucking-cent serious," Laura says firmly, shoving her stool away from the bar. "I have to go. Thanks for the heart to heart."

"You're-?" Chuck asks, also turning pale at the thought that he'd almost picked up a mutant.

Laura is already stomping towards the door, her fingers in her pocket as they withdraw her bike keys.

"PIXIE!" Laura bellows, having finally tracked the winged girl down, in the rec room, with the other students, watching the events on live TV. "I need you to teleport me to the U.N. building. Stat."

"Laura—" Mercury stands up, and there are tears running down her face. "There's nothing you can do. Once someone is injected with the virus, there's no hope for them. Don't you remember Chicago? Beautiful Dreamer?" She pauses, her features trembling. "Cyclops already sent out a team to try to at least save the civilians."

"PIXIE!" Laura demands, ignoring the girl. She pops her claws, near Gwynn's face, threateningly. "Do it."

"But…" Gwynn is crying, too.

"Just get me there. You don't have to stay." Laura's voice softens slightly. "I can't sit around and do nothing."

Pixie hesitates, then nods, and gets up off the couch.

"SIHAL NOVARUM CHINOTH!" she says.

POP!

Laura is suddenly in the middle of a deserted square. She turns her head and sees the van from TV; she looks up more and sees the pair, on the steps, struggling with several of the Sapien League operatives. She heads towards them, her claws still out from threatening Pixie. Her chest is tight.

The first stab is made with her right foot claw, as she swings her foot up in between the legs of the man holding Keller in a chokehold. "URGH!" he yelps, immediately letting go.

"SHIT!" one of the three remaining men yells, seeing his comrade fall. Laura's next stab goes sideways through the back of the neck of the man restraining Nori. She pushes him out of the way, and walks up the steps calmly, her claws dripping.

The man who had yelled out starts to plead, too scared to try running. "Lady—I—I have a family. I have kids. Please."

"GOOD!" Laura rams her fist toward his face, her claws finding his eye sockets as she twists her hand. He falls backward, still alive, but in terrible pain.

"L-laura…" Keller calls from the ground.

"Not done," she says savagely. One man remains, and he is standing by the U.N. building's entrance, mesmerized by the scene of destruction in front of him. He suddenly snaps out of it, whirls around, rips the door open. Her claws catch him in his kidneys, and she leaves him lying on the ground, jammed between the door.

She returns to the steps, and sits down with the pair, who are sprawled out, hovering on the brink of consciousness.

"So," she says.

"That…" Keller raises his head, looks at the man lying on the ground, who is groaning and holding his crotch.

"Notice how I didn't kill them?" Laura's expression is hard. "That's because they're going to die at the exact same second we do."

"Don't…" Keller looks back at her. His forehead is covered with sweat. "Laura…leave."

"I don't know if this is going to kill me, but we'll find out, won't we?" She folds her arms, her claws still ejected.

"Why'd…"

"Shut up, Keller." She reaches out hesitantly and puts her hand on his back. "I'm amazed you even have to ask that, you know. Since when would I pass up the chance to see you d—" she can't finish the quip, and she looks down, her eyes wet.

She doesn't know how she feels, right now; but she knows, with absolute clarity, that she doesn't want him dead.

"Laura?" Nori looks up, on her other side. "Oh man…you need to get out of here."

Keller's eyes begin to smoke green.

"Well, at least it's a great day," Laura says, looking up at the sky. "The X-men are getting close…I can hear their engines."

"They can't do anything." Keller says, hauling himself up to his elbows. "Laura…please, go away now. I don't want you here."

"This is exactly where I need to be," Laura says. "I tried not being there already." She pauses. "And that sucks. You have no idea how guilty I felt."

Keller smiles, just slightly. "You could…stop a lot of destruction, you know." He eyes her claws.

Laura's eyes widen. "No. No, I can't, Keller. That's the virus talking."

"I'd rather the choice be mine," he says. "I always figured you'd be the death of me…anyways."

A shadow passes over the courtyard; the Blackbird.

"They're here," Laura says.

"Great." Keller lays his head down on the stairs. "I want this…to end. It hurts. My head feels like a fucking melon that's going to blow up."

"It feels horrible," Nori adds. Her eyes have started to release energy too.

"I once ate some bad chicken wings at a sports' bar," Laura offers. "Man, a healing factor does not help with food poisoning. I had stuff coming out of both ends."

"I'm glad I got to hear that before I snuff it," Keller says. "How much longer you think, Nori?"

"Five minutes?" Nori says. "Maybe longer…if we let the energy out?"

"KID!" Logan's voice, at the bottom of the stairs. Laura looks at her mentor.

"Get out of there!"

"I'll leave when they do," she calls back down.

"No, now!" Logan looks concerned, and angry. "I know you're hurtin', Laura, but—"

"Laura…please. I don't want you to die." Keller hauls himself up to his elbows again, takes a deep breath, and sits up. His eyes are glowing more intensely now. He reaches out and touches her cheek with the inside of his wrist. "I'll admit…I'm glad I got to say goodbye. But this is really going to suck."

"I'm not leaving you guys," Laura says stubbornly. "You're all I have. Well, besides Logan there, but sometimes he's just about the worst father figure ever."

"I HEARD THAT!" Logan roars up the stairs.

"Before I go…there's something I should say to you," Keller says.

"Don't." Laura closes her eyes. "You'll make it worse."

"This sucks…" Nori moans. Laura looks at her friend, holding her head. Her hands are bare, her gauntlets having been stolen by the Sapiens League.

"LOGAN!Get Pixie to bring Nori's spare gauntlets!" Laura yells down the stairs. Her mentor has started walking up to join them, his expression serious. The other X-men are at the edge of the courtyard, looking nervous.

"Half-pint, listento me. We have to go. There's nothing you can do."

"You'll have to fight me," Laura says stubbornly. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices that Keller's mouth is starting to smoke green too, something that has never happened before. His powers usually show only in his eyes, which turn from bright blue to flaming, smoking green. They are almost white now.

If only they weren't mutants, Laura thinks, squeezing her eyes shut again. Her life wouldn't be so fucked up…she'd know what to do about Keller…and her only friends wouldn't be dying. If only—

Her eyes snap open.

"LOGAN!" she yells again.

"Kid—" he says, now at the same level as her. He looks sad behind the mask.

"Get Leech over here," Laura says.