A/N:Thank you for the kind reviews! Glad everyone's enjoying the story.
-10-
Somewhere over New York City
"So where are we going, exactly?" Julian asks, about an hour later.
They are in the air, cruising toward the bay, which sparkles in the afternoon sun. He's got one hand loosely on her back as he concentrates on keeping them both airborne. They're travelling a little slower than they could on a motorcycle, a fact which at first had distressed Laura. Then she'd realized they made up for their lesser velocity in the fact that they could travel in a direct line with no traffic jams to contend with.
Plus, it's nice up here, in the fresh air. The only sounds are those of the wind, Julian's powers, and his breathing. And then there's the fact that this is the first time he has touched her in almost a week, since the fight. Laura had allowed herself a few moments break from worrying about Cessily to enjoy basking in his presence again. That had grown into a small fantasy in which he accepts her past and carries her off to a small cabin in the middle of nowhere to have his way with her. She wonders if he would consider that 'special' enough.
She starts fantasizing about stripping off his uniform. It's a new one-still skin-tight, but this one is red and black, and somehow the lines are even more appealing. And it has a front zipper, she'd noticed that right away, the moment he'd stepped out of his room wearing it.
So when he speaks-after about half an hour of silence-she isn't prepared. "Hmm?" she asks, with a slight, dreamy smile.
He arches his eyebrows. "You know...Cessily. Right?"
"Oh, yeah." She pauses. "There's a guy who plays poker with his buddies at the harbor who acts as the regional snitch. Shouldn't be too hard to scare some information out of him."
"Okay." Julian pauses. "How do you know this stuff?"
"It's all part of my past."
His expression darkens. "You mean you...did stuff with this guy...for money."
Laura grins. "I promise you, there is no amount of money that could tempt me to sleep with sleazy Freddy. I'd cut my own throat first."
Julian's expression doesn't change. "It's not funny, Laura. I'm going to spend the rest of my life wondering just who you've...you know."
"'The rest of your life?'" she parrots.
"You know what I meant!" he snaps. "I can't believe you'd ever sink that low. That's something I liked about you right away...that you seemed so confident and smart. You just...know stuff."
"Don't I feel flattered." Laura pauses. "How do you think I know all that stuff?"
Julian considers this. "Not through that." His voice is firm.
"I learned some very important lessons from that, actually."
He scowls. "From letting old men wipe diseases all over you?"
"No," she says. "It wasn't like that. I-I did what I needed to, but I still had standards."
"That doesn't make it better!" Julian snaps.
"I've got a healing factor," she continues, ignoring him. "And I'm not sure how you can think I'm smart, yet also think I don't know what a condom is. Do you know what a condom is?"
"Of course I know what a condom is!" he sounds very irritated. "Laura, keep talking and I'll drop you, I swear to god."
"Well, I just have one more thing to say."
"I don't want to hear it."
"It might be comforting."
Julian hesitates. "What?" he asks, his nose wrinkled.
"Almost all the guys who hired me are dead now. So you don't need to keep wondering about who banged me for 'the rest of your life'."
His eyes widen.
"If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to explain it later...like I said." She pauses. "That would require you sitting still and keeping your little brain-fingers off me for a while. Do you want that?"
"I think I'm going to throw up," he says, his voice wavering.
"God, everyone says that!" Laura fumes. "I'm trying to be level with you and tell you the truth, and all you can think about is yourself. It's not like I can be held accountable for the circumstances I was born into!"
"'Born into'? Oh my god." Julian closes his eyes. "Look, you're right. Let's do this later. If you keep dropping bombs on me while we're flying, chances are I'm going to drop us."
"Okay." Laura smiles. He doesn't.
"We're getting close to the bay," he notes. "You should probably tell me the street address now."
"I don't know exactly where it is," Laura says.
Julian turns his head to glare at her.
"I just know it's a big brown building, and that there's a big liner named Horizons parked nearby."
"You don't park a boat, Laura!" he says, sounding frustrated. "You dock it."
"And you know this how?"
"My dad had a yacht."
"Oh yeah, I forgot you used to be rich."
Julian's eyes widen. "What?"
"When you were saying goodbye to Brian...he mentioned that you got disowned," Laura says. "If a family isn't rich they don't bother about that kind of stuff." She pauses. "Plus, the fact that I can go to a twenty-four hour pharmacy named Keller's almost anywhere in the country kind of supports that conclusion."
"You freak me the hell out," he replies, after a few moments.
"And you freak me out," she retorts. "In a different way."
"I don't-what does that even mean?"
Laura hesitates. "I kind of like you, I guess."
Julian is silent for a few moments. "I don't even know what to say to that...not now."
"Before?" she asks.
"Well, I thought I was starting to...like you. Too."
"Like me, like me?"
"Yeah. Like...like you, like you. You know." He pauses. "Wait...that made sense, right?"
"I'm not even sure you were speaking English."
"I'm not even sure what we're talking about anymore." Julian closes his eyes. "You gave me a migraine."
"I'll take that as a compliment." She pauses. "We're getting closer...should probably concentrate."
"I'm not the one who started this stupid conversation in the first place...so I'm more than happy to end it," he replies, his tone full of sarcasm-but his hand tightens slightly on her back.
Laura suddenly senses that his anger-though still present-might be lessening. Ever so slightly.
Maybe there's still a chance, she thinks.
...
"Are you sure this is the place?" Julian asks, another fifteen minutes later. They are now hovering over a large, rusty-brown metal warehouse, situated very close to the water's edge. Slightly to the South-East of this-in the water-looms a large liner with the name Horizons printed in enormous capital letters on the dark bow.
"Well, there's the liner," Laura says.
"There's several warehouses in this area." He points his thumb over his shoulder, and she sees that he is correct. "Any one of them could be the one."
"I guess there's only one way to find out, right?" she asks.
"Right." He lowers his hand and places it on the side of her waist as they descend. "I'm confused. If this guy is a confirmed snitch like you say...how is he still alive?"
"Because everyone knows they're going to need him at some point or another," Laura responds. "It's pretty customary in the criminal world. You don't kill snitches...you pay them enough so they won't talk. Usually your secret is safe. But yes...it's a dangerous job."
"Why would anyone risk their lives like that?" Julian's forehead is wrinkled.
She looks him in his eyes, and her expression softens. He's so naive, she thinks, reaching up and brushing a short strand of his hair back into place. "Snitching is a lucrative business...and money makes the world go round. I thought you knew that by now."
"I've always had money," he admits, not pushing her away. "I've never needed it."
"And I hope you never do." She smiles at him. "Come on, let's go crack some skulls."
They head toward the warehouse door, their boots crunching on the gravel. The air around them is eerily still, and Laura sniffs it. Coke. So that's what the snitch and his buddies are guarding so diligently.
"How do we get in?" Julian whispers.
"Like this." Laura makes a fist and knocks on the door. Thok thok thok.
"Go see who it is," comes a voice from inside-muffled to Julian, but much less so to Laura.
"Oh," he says, obviously feeling stupid.
Thok thok thok, as Laura raps again, lower than necessary.
"What-" he starts.
"Shhh." She grins at him.
"If anyone looks at my cards, I'm gonna shoot you." From very close. "Can I shoot 'em, Vin?"
"Sure, Johnny."
"HAHAHA!"
Louder: "Who is it?!"
SNKTT!
"Oh my god!" Julian says in alarm, covering his mouth slightly in horror. "Laura!"
"Relax...he's a sex offender, so he totally deserved it." Laura raises her boot and smashes in the door, sweeping the man to the side where he curls into a ball. "WHERE THE HELL IS FREDDY?!" she roars.
The room inside explodes into action as the contents leap of from the table and grab for their weapons.
"Uh-Julian-I forgot-there's a distinct possibility we're going to be shot at-" Laura begins.
"HOLY FUCK!" Julian shouts, grabbing her and raising a shield an instant before they begin firing. The bullets bounce off the green shimmering layer, causing it to ripple like the surface of a pond in the rain. "Why didn't you warn me?!" he demands, his face buried in her neck. She can hear that his heart is pumping very rapidly now.
"Shh, just let them get it out of their systems," Laura advises. "They'll run out of bullets. Eventually."
This prediction comes true a moment later.
"It's two kids!" the older man of the bunch-the one named Johnny-exclaims into his cell phone. "Fuckin' A'! They must be after the-"
"Your coke is almost ninety-eight percent impure. Not only that, it's been sloppily diluted with chemicals you derived from household cleaning products." Laura says. "I wouldn't put that crap in my body for anything...and I have a healing factor. No, what I want from you is information."
She pushes Julian away and walks toward the group of men, raising her hand.
Not knowing what else to do, he drops the shield so she can pass. She heads to the individual standing beside Johnny: a younger man with brown hair and a goatee. For a few moments she studies him, then reaches out and takes his gun-and points it at his forehead.
"Where is the facility operating out of the East Coast?" Laura asks calmly. "You have three seconds."
"Laura-"
"Not now, Julian. One."
"I don't know!" the man says, his voice full of fear.
"Two."
"I swear I don't know!"
"Three."
"Please-I have a-"
Laura draws back the safety on the revolver.
"CADILLAC JONES ON THE EAST SIDE! He knows!" the man blurts. "Please don't kill me, I don't-I don't know anything!"
She nods slowly, then turns her rifle to the side and shoots Johnny in the forehead.
BLAM!
"LAURA!" Julian shouts. The gun is ripped out of her hands. "What the-why did-" he marches up to her, his face full of fury.
Freddy is making squeaking noises.
"Julian, do you have any money?" Laura asks.
The sudden question throws Julian off. "What the-Laura-you just killed a man in front of me! That was murder!"
"Actually, I just killed a small crime lord that the police have probably been dogging for months," she replies. "But more importantly, we've done the Kingpin a favor by clearing a piece of shit that is selling polluted drugs under his name. And if I'm not mistaken, Freddy here is crying tears of relief. He'd gotten himself in a bad place and he had no idea how he was going to get out of it."
"H-how did you-" Freddy sniffles.
"The fact that you smelled of fear before you let me in was kind of a give away," Laura replies. "You also smell like dried urine and sweat, but it's all from today. The fact that the drugs are tainted and you guys are working for a man like Kingpin adds up. Johnny was diluting the drugs way too much so he could keep some profits on the side. Problem is...he didn't care what he used to dilute it."
"Yeah." Freddy pauses.
"Okay, so Julian...that money," she says.
With a confused look, the boy starts searching his pockets. "Um, I have...five dollars?"
Laura looks at Freddy.
"That's fine," he says in a wheezy voice. "I owe you anyway."
Julian hands her the money, and she gives it to the man. "So, where am I going to find my man, in actuality?"
...
"I can't believe we're going to see the Kingpin," Julian says, a few minutes later. They are in the air again, and this time his arms are around her, with a little more confidence than earlier. "And you're like Sherlock Holmes or something...I'm kind of scared of you."
Laura closes her eyes, smiles slightly. "I just hope we find Cessily before anything bad happens."
"Yeah." Julian speeds up slightly at the thought. "So how does one approach the biggest criminal in New York, I wonder?"
"Knock on his door."
"You can't be serious, Laura. You're not going to-"
"No, we're pretty good friends."
"WHAT?!" Julian blanches.
"Relax. The hardest part of this will be getting out of the dinner invite." Laura pauses. "Oh, do me a favor...pretend you're not angry at me. He's always bugging me about not having a love interest, and it would be awesome if I got him off my back."
"I can't even keep up with you," he says, his forehead wrinkled. "Your life is insane. I-seriously-how did you manage to seem so normal for a while?"
"I didn't tell you much about myself, did I?" Laura replies.
He pauses, considering this. "That's right. You didn't."
"Adjust your course, a little to the West," Laura says. "We'll be at his house in about twenty minutes or so. Make sure you take your shoes off."
"You make it sound like a social visit."
"It kind of is." Pause. "He tried to adopt me, at one point."
Julian closes his eyes.
"So I take it you're some kind of criminal, too." He pauses. "How the hell are you Wolverine's daughter? He's an X-man, Laura."
"Not while you're flying, remember?"
"Right. Because you're like a heart attack in a bottle." His arms tighten even more around her. "Somehow, I can't think of you being a criminal. You're just...you're not stupid enough."
Laura smiles slightly. "The good criminals are the smart ones."
"But I just can't see you doing stuff that would hurt other people." He pauses. "Well, I still don't understand the...you know, you being a..."
"Prostitute?"
His nose wrinkles. "Right. You're going to explain that away though, correct?"
"Right."
"Okay." Julian glances at her. "I'm still mad at you. But...I don't know. When I'm with you, I don't notice the sky falling...since all my attention is focused on whatever disaster you've dragged me into."
"That's sweet," Laura says.
"No it wasn't," he says in a flat voice, then pauses. "Tonight. Tell me everything tonight. You owe me an explanation."
"I'll tell you everything." And she means it. She lays her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes.
...
Fifteen minutes later finds them setting their feet down on a very nicely maintained suburban street, with incredibly green lawns, impressive gardens and artistic houses.
"You've got to be kidding me," Julian says in wonder. "He lives here?"
"Shh. It's kind of top secret." She pauses, eyes him critically, licks her thumb and rubs it against his cheek. He stares at her.
"You had dirt." She stops again, then starts fussing with his hair.
"Laura...what the hell are you doing?"
"Well, I want you to look your best."
"I'm in fucking combat gear."
"That's no excuse to look shabby." She pushes the stubborn strand back in place. "There, perfect. How do I look?"
"Uh-" Julian pauses. "You've got blood on your...well, all over." His forehead wrinkles. "Why are you splattered with dried blood, Laura?"
"I got blown up earlier. And then I was shot in the head."
She sees his eyes widen. "Don't worry, I totally healed it right up. I think. Damn, I wish I had some wet wipes or something."
"I can probably do it." He runs his hand over one of her arms, and she feels her skin buzzing and tingling as he does something with his mind. "Hey, it worked."
Laura shivers, and takes a deep breath. "That felt really, really good."
"Huh," he says. He takes a hold of her other hand, runs his fingers up the arm, and she watches as the blood peels off in little green curls. Her eyes turn up to his, and she's tempted to forget all about Cessily.
"Okay, I think you're good." He lets go of her hand, and she nods slightly.
They turn and head toward the door, and then Laura rings the doorbell. As footsteps approach the structure, she reaches out and wraps her fingers around his, and he doesn't shake them away, but presses his palm against hers.