A/N: Well, holy shit...look who decided to show up. I originally lost all the material to this story when the motherboard on my last computer crashed. I gave up, I admit...until I happened to be digging around and found a hard copy. Seeing it all has sparked my love for this fandom again. Posts will either be fast and furious, or slow and irregular. As always, enjoy the ride!

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"Hell is empty and all the devils are here" (William Shakespeare).

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Never before had Laura ever paused to consider if she might be infertile. She had always had a near-regular cycle, except for a small patch of time in her mid teens when she could go for months at a time before finally having her period. That had been years ago, and before she had even arrived in the desert, her cycle had been back to what she deemed normal. A part of her wondered though, if the slight interruption in her body's natural rhythm had been a sign, one she had over looked in her youth and was only now beginning to wonder about.

It was slightly embarrassing, if she was honest, that Mama had given birth before she had. After all, she was young and suffered from no nuclear side affects as Mama surely did. Not only had Laura yet to give birth, she had yet to even show any signs of being pregnant.

Lizard, although taking pride in his newest siblings, was just as upset. However, where Laura was confused and embarrassed, Lizard was angry. He took it as a slight against his manhood that he had yet to sire any children. And he let Laura know this. A sharp tone and an even sharper slap to the cheek, followed by a precisely aimed boot to her hip gave her a clear indication.

Laura was of mind that it was convenient for it to be her fault, while no one questioned whether Lizard was capable of reproducing or not.

She had told him this, once, and he had laughed. He had told her that he had once, years ago when he was younger, been successful with a breeder, one Hades had sent over to his brother's clan. The woman had miscarried, however, and Lizard had seen to her end, useless as she was.

Laura had called him a romantic.

This was the situation the girl was faced with as she sat on the porch of Lizard's house, the bulky mass of Pluto next to her. The mutant was not impressed with her silence, not when he was so used to her talking to him.

"Quit it, Plute," Laura muttered as the childish man gave her a poke in the ribs with one thick finger. "I'm thinking."

"What?" He rumbled.

"Never you mind." She fingered her necklace absentmindedly, a nervous habit.

"What?" It was one of the few words he could vocalize. And he took to repeating it.

Laura decided it would perhaps be best to simply ignore the man, and attempted to rake over memories of past doctor appointments, or conversations with her mother, grandmother, anyone who might have suggested her inability to give life.

Another hurtful jab to the ribs caught her attention.

"I said quit it, Pluto!" She snapped, standing up. She moved away and Pluto gave a forlorn warble.

Laura was just settling herself down on Mama's rocking chair, when Ruby appeared, little Mercury tucked safely in her arms.

"Mama want you to go to gas store." The girl said.

"What for?"

Ruby shrugged, "Wants more milk an' stuff."

Big Mama had been unable to breast feed her twins for very long after they were born. The first week or so they survived on what she could produce naturally, but had since been switched to powdered milk.

Laura sighed, "Alright, you want to come with me?"

"No," Ruby shook her head, dark hair flying about her face. "I stay with Mercury."

The girl disappeared, leaving Laura staring after her, wondering in amusement if she had just in fact been snubbed. She turned to look at Pluto, still sulking on Lizard's porch.

"You want to come then, Plute?"

The large man ignored her just as effectively as she had previously him.

"Fine," The girl grumbled. "Fucking go myself."

This was not the first time Laura had made the trek to Gas Haven unsupervised. Since her first kill, and Lizard's resulting growth in trust, she had been allowed to go as she pleased. This worked well, as no longer did Laura rely sorely on the Family for food; she could go when she wanted or needed to, and on her own time. As a direct result, she had gained a few pounds here and there, mostly in her hips (she had always been plumper around her hips, bum, and breasts). Not that she minded; she had been getting startling skinny for a while there, but it was nothing a good feast of Oreos, saltine crackers, and endless Coke had not been able to fix. She was still a far way from how she had once looked (Laura thought that now she would at least be able to wear one of those skimpy bikinis she had always shied away from, even if her hip bones did protrude more than she liked), but it was a start.

She was even accustomed to Fred's startled glances and stuttering whenever she showed her face. It still gave her a sick pleasure, to see the man driven to infantile responses simply by looking at the girl he had condemned to the Test Village.

If she was honest, it was the walk to and from Gas Haven that she did not look forward to. It was long, and the terrain differed greatly from one section to the next; one area in particular was cruelly hilly, and she was often huffing by the time the ground leveled out. This, coupled with the endless heat and sun, made it a most unpleasant trip.

At least she would be able to dunk her head under the water pump, she thought, and cool off that way before starting on her way home.

Today, Laura seemed to be in luck. Fred had apparently gone off, perhaps making the five hour car ride to the small, near ghost-town that was the only thing that existed before Sector 16. Regardless, the girl let herself into the station (Fred never left it locked; why should he?) and gathered what she needed. Powered milk for Mama, a few candies for Ruby, an extra packet of noodles for herself and a cold bottled water for her walk back. She nicked a few paper bags from the backroom, did not bother to leave any change (not that the few pennies and one twenty-five cent she had would matter), and was just making her way out when a flash of silver caught her attention.

Frowning, she left her bags on the front counter and walked back to the small room that off-shot the main store. By the looks of it, it was Fred's bedroom. There was a small, heavily stained bed and a small television in the corner. Closest to the door, there was a decent sized desk, on which rested the duffel bag she recognized as belonging to Ruby. Inside where small trinkets, the things neither Ruby or Laura had wanted, and so they went to Fred as a sort of demented paycheck for his help. It was a delicate bracelet, silver and chain-linked in design, that was hanging on the wall behind this desk that caught her attention.

The bracelet got the tiniest of once-overs before the paper hangings behind it truly piqued her interest. They appeared to be newspaper clippings and old photographs. Laura reached out and gently popped one from its resting place. The headline screamed: MINERS REFUSE TO LEAVE HOMESTEAD. Next to it, a picture of a small child, born with a concave head and two small, needle-like eyes stared out at her. Stomach knotted, Laura continued reading. Another proclaimed: AMERICAN GOVERNMENT CONTINUES NUCLEAR TESTING. And yet another, one that made her heart leap, read: COUPLE GO MISSING IN NEW MEXICO DESERT.

"Christ," Laura whispered, plucking this piece from the wall. She read in silence for a while, soaking in the details.

From what she could gain, the couple had gone missing way back in 1972, ten or so years after the government had condemned its nuclear testing and the miners still living in the area. There were no leads as of yet (the paper itself was dated for the fall of '72), but the authorities where not holding out hope. There wasn't much that could survive in the New Mexico desert, they said, let alone a couple of young kids (reportedly off to elope) fresh out of college. If they had crashed, they were surely dead due to exposure to the elements.

There were several other headings that all reported the same thing; more disappearances, more mystery in the desert. One made bold claims that the gas attendant, an unnamed man who refused to grant any interviews but was, undoubtedly, Fred, was the last person to see one such group of victims. Nothing, it appeared, had become of the claims.

Gut feeling heavy, Laura replaced the newspaper clippings back to their rightful hangings on the wall, did the same for the photo of the mutated newborn, and wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. She gave the room one last look over before walking out at a brisk pace. She found she had a headache slowly starting to bloom behind her eyes as she grabbed her paper bags. She thought of nothing but a nice, long nap once she got back to the Village.

The girl paused on the edge of Fred's property, gave the water pump a longing look before deciding that it would be best for her headache if she cooled down. One quick pump later, wet hair now plastered to her head, Laura set off, the images and words of the articles replaying over in her mind. She was just breaching the first hill on her trek home when she resolved to ask Cyst or Big Brain that night to indulge more of the details of the hills to her.

With this idea burning in her mind, Laura gave pause again not long after in order to regard the open mouth of one of the many mines. She knew it led back to the Village, had followed Lizard and others from the Family through it many times, and was tempted to take it. She wasn't exactly sure of which direction to take, however, and did not relish getting lost in the dark and dank caverns.

"Dammit," She cursed, resolving herself to the long hike ahead.

It was this grudging acceptance coupled with her strong and growing desire to be home and passed out on the thread-bare sofa, that found Laura taking an impromptu shortcut. It required her to scale a rather mean ledge, where she had to inch along with her back pressed fully up against the rock face, but she guessed that once she made it to the top, she would be able to cut a good half an hour off her traveling time. It sounded ideal, as she was getting tired and the bags were starting to grow heavy. Once she was over the top (pausing only once more to admire the view down), she continued in the general direction of the Test Village. She would not be able to see it for a while yet, but down below she could see the twisting and winding path that was the regular route to and from the store.

At least she was going the right way, she thought ruefully.

The girl shifted the bags in her arms, and starting humming under her breath. Her shoes crunching on the rock below gave a decent tempo to her off-key rendition of Jailhouse Rock.

"Number forty-seven said to number three, you the cutest jailbird I ever did see." She sung under her breath, high pitch and breezy. "I sure would be delighted with your company, come on and do the-"

Laura's feet gave out from under her without warning. The very rock and sand beneath sunk in on itself, and she dropped the bags from her hands in a wild attempt to grab purchase on the ground around her. She scrambled for a few seconds, feet swinging below her as she attempted to hoist herself up. The sandpit gaped wide, and her grip gave out, causing her to drop into darkness for a good ten to fifteen feet at most. She landed on her side, wheezing and completely winded. Beside her, the paper bags dropped like boulders. She lay there panting, panic settling in as her surroundings grew dimmer and drew in black.

She awoke much later, unsure of the time except that it was now dark out, night having fallen completely. She immediately became aware of the throbbing pain in the back of her neck, and in her right knee. She had landed on her right side, hopefully saving her spinal cord from much damage, but she could still feel every bruise. As she lamented this, she was struck with the sudden thought that if she could in fact feel the pain, then that meant she was in far better shape then she could have been.

With a deep breath, she attempted to move from her side to sit up straight. She gave a startled yelp as pain shot down both her arms, ending right in her fingertips. The sudden shift in position caused a cut she had not felt before to open anew, and blood began flowing down the back of her neck. Gingerly she felt around and found it; a wide and deep gash just to the side of her right ear, where her head met the slope of her neck. There was also a decent sized lump on her right temple that spread from her eyebrow to well back into her hair line.

Now that she was sitting up, Laura gingerly moved her arms around, noting that her shoulders seemed alright, a tad stiff from lack of movement and muscle swelling, but she was able to continue on with her self assessment. She trailed her hands down her legs, groaning when she hit the tender bruising on her right kneecap. Her feet also got a once over, but seemed as though they would hold her weight still. Next she began to press gently against her stomach, over both her left and right side (the latter terribly sore next to her ribs) to check for any internal damage. Although she felt tender all over, Laura doubted there was any serious damage. Nothing that a week or so in bed could not fix.

She was extremely lucky. The drop was a sharp one, from what she could see in the dark. Laura had been warned about the old mine shafts; Lizard had told her specifically to be careful walking over them, as their support beams weakened with age and waited to pull her down.

A few feet away, her bags of supplies had fared just as badly. The powered milk was still intact, the can it came in dented but whole nonetheless, thankfully, but the water had exploded open upon impact with the ground, and her package of dried noodles had also split, the fragments scattered around like splintered bone. Of Ruby's candy, they remained in the one paper bag, stuck to the bottom.

"Shit," Laura swore, immediately feeling slightly better.

She glanced around, saw a sturdy looking support beam, one that hadn't broken when the pit gave in, that looked like it would support her weight if she needed it to. With that, she began the torturous process of dragging her sore and battered body up. Pain shot up and down her right side, making the girl wonder if perhaps she had missed the ribs that were surely broken. Moving in jerky hops, unbalanced by her busted knee, she managed to ease herself to the wooden beam and rest, breath coming in short gasps.

Fervently Laura wished that Lizard would appear as though by magic, as he always did, to rescue her.

It was nearly impossible to see in her current environment. Night had made the already dark mines even more so, and Laura found she could barely see the outline of her hand when she held it a few inches in front of her face. She let her eyes adjust for as long as she could bare it before moving forward gingerly. She found if she hobbled a certain way, she could take most of the pressure off her right leg. It meant her left leg would tire quicker, but she was only of mind to keep moving.

The girl had both hands out, her right trailing along the mine wall, feeling for any danger while also keeping a lookout for anything that felt like a light or torch. Her left, less damaged than the right, was held out in front of her body, a wall of sorts between her and anything she might bump into. She traveled in a state of constant fear and ill ease, her mind playing tricks on her as she mentally visualized bumping into something soft and breathing.

Thankfully, she made it a good hundred feet or so and then around a slight bend in the mine before she really had reason to panic. She stopped in order to calm her breathing, which was laboured from exertion, when she first heard the soft, shuffling noise some distance a head of her. Her stomach clenched and her heart missed a beat; she was foolish for hoping it was Lizard. No doubt the man would not worry about her until she failed to appear by morning light.

Still, she held her breath, trying to see if she recognized the being's movements. Whatever it was took small, jerky strides, with a slight pause every few steps. She could hear the whisper of fingers over rock; the other could not see well either it appeared. This both comforted the girl, and frightened her. The soft noise she had first heard, the one that had sounded like shuffling clothes, became clearer as the other came closer.

She realized with some horror that whatever was coming towards her was smelling, sniffing the air as it moved. For all she knew, it had already picked up on her scent and was moving to her as fast as allowed.

A light peaked up ahead, not bright enough to illuminate her or the part of the mine tunnel she was leaning against, but it did cast enough light on the others face that Laura could she what she was dealing with. It was a man, short and stooped over, with neat, round glasses (near-sighted, it seemed), and a disfigured face. Clearly a member of the clan; however, Laura had never seen this particular man and briefly wondered if he was perhaps one of Hades' family.

She had barely thought about Hades when she realized that this man would not have seen her either. She had yet to meet any of the other clan members, Hades included. She was therefore prey, not family.

By now the man was close enough that Laura was afforded some light to see by. He still did not appear to have spotted her, for he was not moving in a way that told of stalking prey. He was merely walking along.

Laura wanted it to stay that way.

Moving as slow as she dared, ignoring the way his constant sniffing and jerky movements played on her nerves, she dragged herself to the other side of the mine, away from his line of direction. She found a stacked pile of old crates, long abandoned, and settled herself behind them, minding her aches and pains. She held her breath again as the man moved steadily closer. He pulled level to where she had been standing before and stopped short, sniffing in earnest and becoming more agitated. He knew she was here, just not where.

Laura had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming as the man began to hunt for her. He moved away from the wall to make his way more in the middle of the mine. He stuck his nose up and out, sniffing deeply and rapidly. Her muscles tensed, and she counted to ten until he had passed five or so feet behind her, going back the way she had originally come, before she bolted.

Her bad knee caught the edge of one of the old crates and sent it sprawling to the rock floor. The man turned on a dime, displaying agility far greater than Laura would have guessed him capable of. She did not care, however, and ran on, putting as much weight on her bad leg as she could without collapsing. Her breathing came in laboured, painful wheezes, matching in intensity the sniffing of the monster behind her. She did not know where the hell she was running, only that she could not, would not stay behind with the other.

She ran on blindly in the dark, ignoring the stitch that blossomed in her chest and the pain in both her legs now. Behind her, the man began huffing, perhaps tiring himself, and he emitted a rather terrible yell, angry with himself that he could not catch her. By now he clearly understood that, while he could not see her well, not far ahead of him a person was limping along.

The man let out another horrific yell, the noise echoing in Laura's ears until she could not bare it any more and she let out her own choking groan. He was slowly gaining on her, she could tell from the sound reverberated back to her from his laboured footsteps. Still, she ran on, pain building to such an intensity that she wasn't sure how much farther she could carry on. She came upon a three-way, the tunnel ahead continuing on straight, but also breaking off to the left and to the right. Laura did not pause, not even for a second, but continued straight on.

It seemed almost unreal, unbelievable, but beneath her feet the mine floor was beginning to slowly tilt upwards, upwards towards the surface. She began making those pathetic, choked whimpers in earnest now, willing herself to keep moving. Behind her, the man did the same.

She swung wide around one last corner. With a strangled cry, Laura caught sight of the star filled sky just beyond the gaping mouth of the mine entrance. Just in the distance, she could see the first light of the Test Village.

It was now that Laura began to scream.

The man, closer than ever, so close that his lamp began to light Laura's way as well, hurried to match her pace.

"Help!" Laura screamed. It came out desperately high-pitched.

She found it harder to move now that the floor tilted upwards more. It was too painful for her to hobble up the slight incline, much more painful than simply running along the flat sections of the mine. She slowed her feet, but did not cease screaming.

They had to hear her. Someone, anyone. She'd take Jupiter, Pluto, hell, even Ruby if it meant that they saved her from the monster behind her.

The monster had better luck than she did. He managed to snatch the back of her shirt, a light cotton t-shirt, and yanked her down to the mine floor. He dropped his lamp in order to grab a rock from the floor, and heaved it over his head so as to bring it down on the girl below him and finally silence her.

Laura gave one last scream and closed her eyes, but the blow never came. The man's sniffling even ceased. Instead, she heard the sounds of scuffling, not far from her. Still, she kept her eyes squeezed tight, breathing out her nose in a shrill whistle. There was sudden silence, except for the sound of her pulse in her head and the sound of her agonizing breathing. A large, warm hand wrapped itself around her forearm, and her eyes flew open as she let forth another shrill scream.

Pluto stumbled back, looking confused.

The two stared at each other, the girl blinking owlishly, the man nervously fighting with his enormous hands.

"Pluto!" Laura yelled, her voice breaking.

The man took another step back, looking for all the world like a shameful puppy. Laura laughed, ignoring the twinge her bruised and broken body gave at the motion. Pluto grinned hopefully back.

"Help me up, will you?" She wheezed. With a stab of annoyance, she could feel tears rearing close to the surface.

Pluto did just that. He gently grabbed her around her middle and hoisted her over his shoulder. Laura, giggling deliriously now under the stain of her injuries and the ebbing rush of adrenaline, cast a quick look about for the other man, the one she had not met before and sincerely hoped to never again, but he had disappeared.

The huge man carried her like this all the way back into the Village. He gave a yell, one Laura had heard before when he wanted someone's attention, and behind her a screen door burst open.

She could not see who it was, since she was still facing Pluto's back, but the violent string of curses that followed were hint enough. She was placed gently down, wobbling dangerously on her exhausted feet, and was able to make out Lizard's form, apparently frozen on the porch, while the rest of the Family gathered behind him to take in the scene.

As though elastic had snapped in his tendons, Lizard was off the porch and next to her in the blink of an eye. She was scooped into his arms and already being carried away before she could even begin to make any sound of protest to her position. Laura cast a glance back at Pluto, who was standing still where he had dropped her, the light spilling from inside the house to create a halo in his stock of hair, and smiled. The man's deformed face crinkled in pleasure and he began giggling, a smile tugging at his own lips.

She was finally placed on the couch in Lizard's house and settled down with an appreciative groan. Lizard stood over her, still looking bewildered. He dropped to the floor next to her and delicately began to inspect her injuries. It was a shockingly tender moment, and had Laura been in the shape to do so, she would have kissed him.

"I'm alright," She managed to mumble, exhaustion settling in fully now that she was firmly safe.

Lizard made a sound of disbelief and continued his administrations.

Before long, Jupiter appeared with Ruby, the latter carrying a small medical kit (looking as though it had been never been used). Ruby helped Lizard tend to the injuries that could be cleaned and applied a tensor bandage to Laura's swollen knee. A pillow was found and used to prop the girl up so that she was at least mildly comfortable. Jupiter, meanwhile, interrogated her on what had happened.

Laura started from the very beginning, how she had gone to Gas Haven alone, how she had fallen and awoken hours later, and how the man had appeared from nowhere and given her chase. At mention of this, Jupiter looked rather alarmed; Lizard made a sound of displeasure deep in his chest.

"One of Hades'?" Laura questioned. Her eyes had drooped to a comical level.

"Sounds like." Jupiter agreed. "Must've been Grabber. He can't see all that well."

"Ugly motherfucker with glasses?" Laura wheezed.

"Yeah, that's him."

"I'll fuckin' kill him," Lizard growled.

"No, you ain't," said Jupiter. "You're goin' to take care of your lil' lady here. I'll deal with it."

"He hurt her-"

"I know, boy, but I'll deal with it. Hades ain't goin' to be happy, hearin' we have an outsider wanderin' around free."

"I left Mama's milk and the other things back there," Laura said, attempting to sit up. Lizard gently pushed her back down, frowning at her as though she was a unruly child.

"Where you drop them?" He asked.

"Back in the mine, where I landed."

Lizard frowned, "I'll go back and get 'em in the morning. You sleepin' here."

Laura did not argue, and only just managed to say goodnight to Jupiter and Ruby before she passed out from sheer exhaustion.

Morning came and the man had no need to travel back to the mines. There, waiting on the porch, were both paper bags, looking worse for ware, but filled with the powered milk, candies, and even the split bag of noodles. The crushed water bottle was also present, alone, in the second bag.

Lizard shrugged it off, telling Laura not to worry when she began to question how the supplies had made it back. Instead, he fixed her up on the couch, helping her get herself comfortable while supporting her head like he did with Venus and Mercury. Nonetheless, when Jupiter appeared again to see how she was managing, Laura caught the worried look Lizard shared with the clan elder.