After a few days, Frost finally agreed to give Laura one more try on a trial bases only. Laura was allowed out of her cell during the day and was forced back at night. Logan was her permanent escort anywhere she went to help prevent any incidents, which she didn't mind so much considering she understood Frost's concern and didn't want to hurt anyone either, but it still bothered her that she couldn't be alone. Today was the first day she was let out of the cage and got to rejoin the other students with Logan either right behind her watching closely or right beside her talking about random things that didn't concern her. She watched the other students as she walked to her first class, realizing that they were all making it a point to stay away from her. They should be. Laura knew she was a danger to others before she even showed up here. It was why she hadn't agreed sooner to come to the mansion.
Entering her first class of the day, she sat in the second to last row, closest to the exit, wanting a quick getaway if needed. Logan nodded to her as he stood in the back of the class room with his back against the wall and his arms across his chest watching every one that was already in the class, along with everyone entering. She grabbed her book she needed for the class and opened it, going to the appropriate page when she stopped mid flip at who's sent she smelt. Julian. He walked into the room two minutes later laughing with Santo. Seeing him triggered an image of him smiling at her…. topless, but it was quickly replaced with an image of him dead, causing her to believe it was her way of telling her to stay away from him. He didn't even look at Laura as they sat down one row up from her, in the middle. She looked back at Logan who shook his head no at her going to talk to him.
"They let the psycho rejoin us, are they nuts?" Santo whispered to Julian glazing slightly back at Laura before turning back to his friend. "You barely got away with your life and she's allowed back in classes,"
"I know right? I should charge her with attempted murder or something," They both laughed before Professor Drake called everyone's attention to the front of the class. As the professor began to talk though, he causally turned to look back at Laura who was writing in her notebook. Looking at her though, he didn't see the villain he knew he should see. Everyone told him to be afraid of her, even his own head, but there was something he couldn't place that made her seem like a victim when he looked at her. He got a sudden image of her crying in his arms, but he pushed it away, knowing it wasn't real, it couldn't be real. She wasn't even human. She didn't have emotions, she just killed. He turned his attention back to the class.
Laura could hear them talking, but couldn't understand the emotions she was feeling about Julian talking about her. It was a feeling of being sick inside, but she knew she wasn't. She tried to ignore it and ignore them as she listened to Drake's lesson, but she saw that her mind kept going back to Julian every time he moved a muscle when his scent would be carried back to her. Why did she have such a fascination with him?
The bell rang, causing everyone to collect there books. Logan came off the wall and headed over to Laura. "You alright kid?" She didn't move,keeping her head down as the others walked by her, even Drake left the classroom giving a respectful nod to Logan as he did, before she finally looked at Logan.
"You never answered me before," She stated to Logan who ended up sitting on the nearest desk raising an eyebrow to her. "Do you think I am a danger to others?"
Logan wasn't a people person or a father. He didn't know how to answer this question laid out in front of him. "Flat out answer kid, yea, I do, but we all are. You, just more then others from how you were raised," He saw a quick change in her emotions before she masked it again. "I've told ya before, it wasn't your fault, you didn't have a choice,"
Laura listened to his words trying to keep herself under control. "You mean, I don't have a choice," She looked up at him, locking eyes with Logan. "They are still using me, which is why I have a personal chaperone," She had heard Megan use the word chaperone before. Never found a use for the word till now.
"Laura, yo-" He was cut off when Laura threw up a hand, grabbing her things and started for the door like a normal teenager. Another action she learned from Megan. Logan wasn't having it though. He reached out grabbing her by the arm, forcing her to stop. "Hey! You are being guarded due to Frost's orders, not mine. It's the only way I could get you out of that cage!" Laura pulled her arm out of his grip.
"You do not understand," She said fixing her bag on her shoulder, an uncontrollable surge of frustration rising in her. "I remember the excitement before the mission. The intoxicating rush I got as my claws slipped into them. I didn't feel remorse or anything toward them. It was my mission and I enjoyed it. Sarah does not own those feelings, I do," Every mission she wasn't under the trigger scent that she completed was her fault. She killed men, women and children with out a second thought. "I had a choice when it came to the ones I wasn't personally involved with. I chose to kill them. Part of me still wants that feeling," She admitted to him and to herself.
"Kid, I-" Logan stopped not knowing what to say to her. He understood the adrenaline someone got from a kill, but he didn't get enjoyment out of it. Just another way that place had messed her up. He went to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but Laura dodged it and went out the door. She didn't want to be there. She didn't want to be under twenty four hour guard. She just wanted to leave, to get away before anything else happened.
Cessily was heading to meet up with the others in the cafe when she saw Laura head out to the garden in a hurry. It was the first time she'd seen her fellow classmate after the incident with Julian and even though, Ms. Frost and everyone else told her to stay away from Laura she couldn't. Cessily knew something was and wasn't the type of person to back down from a friend. She had to talk to her fellow mutant and find out what was wrong. Deciding to change her course, she went after her.
Laura was so frustrated with everything she hadn't noticed where she was going, or even realized she had made it out of the mansion and was in the garden area till she smelt all the flowers. The smell had snapped her out of whatever mental zone she'd been in and she was able to breathe again. Sitting on the grass in front of one of the benches she leaned her back against it feeling the force against her upper back as she looked up at the clouded sky. It was going to rain in a few hours, which was fine by her. She enjoyed the rain. The smell was so fresh and clean. It allowed her to block out everything else around her and just listen to the sound of the drops falling from the sky and the thunder roaring in the distance. Many people were afraid of thunderstorms, but she learned to enjoy them.
It didn't take long for Cessily to find Laura sitting in the middle of the garden, but she wasn't expecting to see the young woman looking so peaceful. For a moment she thought about leaving her there to enjoy the quietness, but if she did, Cessily wasn't sure she'd get another chance to talk to Laura. At least not alone. Making her mind up quickly, the silver covered mutant started toward Laura quicker then she had been before in an attempt to not back down.
As much as Laura didn't want to acknowledge the fact someone was coming toward her, she heard footsteps and knew she couldn't ignore them. Whoever it was, was probably coming to talk to her. At first, she thought it was Logan, but she quickly dismissed that theory when she acquired the scent of a female. "Hey Laura, mind if I join you?" Looking over she saw Cessily; aka Mercery looking down at her with a smile on her face. Laura only gave a somewhat shrug motion showing she didn't care, before looking straight in front of her at nothing in particular. She wasn't in the mood to talk nor be around anyone for that matter, but Cessily had never given her a reason to dismiss her. She'd done nothing, but try to help her like Megan had done. Look what happened to her.
Sitting down, Cessily knew right away that Laura wanted to be alone, but she also knew how hard it was for her to talk to someone. Leaving her alone wasn't going to help the young loner to open up. They sat there, in silence for about a half-hour till she finally spoke to Laura again. "Do you want to talk about it?" She glanced over, looking for some form of reaction. A simple "no" was all Laura said causing Cessily to turn back to looking at nothing again, before back at Laura. "Are you sure? Cause sometimes, talking can help," Still nothing. "Especially to a friend,"
Keep them safe. Distant "I do not have any friends," Friends and family ended dead. As much as she wished she could have that connection, she couldn't. Not after what had happened with Julian. Not after what had happened with Megan and Debbie. Logan was the only one that was "safe" around her and even that was dangerous. She'd almost killed him once before. Rice was right. She hurt everyone she touched.
Cessily wasn't thrown off by much, but Laura's words had done the trick."Yes you do" She said with a sense of conviction in her voice. "I'm your friend, Sooraya, Julian-"
"I almost killed him" Laura interjected showing the first sign of some form of emotion since Cessily had sat down. "I would have if..." The memory of stabbing Julian was coming back and she could feel her claws slide into him, along with seeing the surprise on his face. It was all so real, yet she still didn't know why she had done it.
"Laura, that was an accident," She could see a form of guilt on Laura's face which meant she didn't mean to stab him. Besides, Cessily was one of the only ones that realized Laura and Julian had a thing for each other, even if they didn't know it themselves. She knew Laura wouldn't intentionally hurt Julian considering how much she tried to protect him. "I know you didn't mean to hurt him,"
In that moment, Laura felt that feeling of frustration again. She knew the feeling but she was expressing it more often then before along with the feeling of anger and rage. Feelings she needed to keep buried. Weapons don't feel anything, they just do what they are told. "You don't know me Cessily," Her bright green eyes looked at the woman that was trying to make her feel better. "No one here does,"
"We would if you just talked to us," Whenever Cessily looked at Laura, she saw someone that was always hiding. Trying to keep people away, be who others wanted her to be. She didn't know of anyone that Laura had actually been herself around. The girl was even guarded around Logan, the one person that could probably understand Laura the most. "But you push us away, keeping everything bottled up inside,"
Laura didn't want to listen to this. She kept everyone away to keep them safe. Did they not understand that? Opening up and telling them about her past or what she was going through wasn't going to help anybody. She stood up to leave, but Cessily stood with her, not wanting to let Laura go. "You need to let someone in Laura, or you're going to turn into the thing you hate the most,"
She paused for a second as she stared back at her fellow mutant, letting Cessliy's words sink in, before finally pushing past her and heading back into the mansion. Nothing felt right around her. Everything was so messed up in her head that she wasn't even sure she could talk to anyone. There was something though that seemed to help ease the pain a little and get it out.
Laura headed into the first bathroom she could find. Once she made sure no one else was in there, she locked the door and headed over to the sink. Looking in the mirror, she didn't recognize the person staring back, but that was normal for her. Taking in a breath and letting it out, she looked down at her hands and arms before extending one claw on her left hand. She rotated her right wrist slightly, before taking her metal covered claw and dragging it down her skin. The blood ran down her forearm into the sink forming a crimson design Laura didn't pay attention to. She focused on the pain and hurt she had felt as she continued to draw on her skin. No one understood her or knew what she was going through.
Secret Base- Location: Unknown
Dr. Lynch was working on the new programing for their weapon when he heard Finn clear his throat behind him. A smile crept across his face at the uncomfortable solider. "Can I help you sergeant?" He didn't make any other acknowledgment that Finn was there as the doctor continued typing.
"I was wondering if you could shed some light on what you're actually doing to the girl,"
Lynch stopped what he was doing and turned his chair around to look at the curious man. "I assume you mean X-23, and why do you care so much?" Finn was showing more interest in the girl then Lynch deemed normal for the guy. Ever since he'd learned of the X-23 project he'd been over the doctor's shoulder, commenting with a conscience and asking questions that didn't need to be asked.
Watching the doctor, Finn could tell he was being tested. The doctor always had that slight gleam in his eye whenever he was curious of what his "subject" would do next. It was why Lynch was so interested in Kenyon and the girl. Putting the two against each other was like watching two starving rats fight over a slice of cheese to him. All he needed was a soft drink and a bag of popcorn. "I just don't understand what you did to her, or to Kenyon for that matter,"
"And that bothers you, doesn't it?" Lynch smiled at Finn, reminding the army man of an old comic cover of the Joker. Scary with a sense of something behind it.
"To be honest, yes. I don't understand what you plan to do with the two," He crossed his arms over his chest trying to show he wasn't scared by the doctor's demeanor. "From what I've seen so far, it's like you're trying to get the girl to go crazy,"
Finn got a chill down his spine when the doctor started laughing. "I'm not trying anything. X-23 is a killing machine, the perfect weapon. Once the phony human mentality goes away, you'll see that,"
"Wait, human mentality? You're trying to get rid of the human side of her?" The doctor was nuts. The girl was human. There was no getting rid of those feelings.
"There's that word again," He turned the chair to return to his work. "I'm not trying anything, I'm succeeding "
Hearing the typing sounds Finn suddenly became extremely upset. Not thinking, he went over to the doctor, turned his chair around and picked the doctor up by his lab coat lifting the mad man's feet off the ground. "You're toying with someone's life here, a teenager's, and you just sit here with that smile on your face!"
Lynch was still grinning from ear to ear as he looked down at the upset solider. "That's your problem Finn, you think X-23's human, just like all those freaks at that school,"
Resisting the urge to beat the crap out of the man, he turned his head when he heard Kenyon's voice. "There a problem doc?" He asked standing in the doorway with his arms crossed leaning against the frame. Finn put the doctor down knowing that with one word his "body guard" would rip him in half.
"No, no problem," Lynch fixed his jacket still smiling. "The sergeant was just leaving," With that Finn looked between the two, before exiting the room leaving them to whatever they had plan. He needed to let him know before it was too late.
Making sure the doctor's pet wasn't following him, Finn headed to the far end of the underground base where he knew no one visited. Once he double checked no one was around he took out his cellphone and hit speed dial. "Hey, it's me," He listened for a moment on the other line before continuing. "Yeah, we've got a problem. They're trying to reprogram her somehow,"
The other line went silent again and Finn could hear a sigh through the phone. "They activated failsafe 8-2-06," The voice told Finn which only caused him more confusion.
"What the hell is that?"
"It's a program that was installed after X-23's first escape with Dr. Kinney. The doctor in charge of installing it left before it could be finished though,"
"Well, Dr. Lynch seems to have it up and running and is very excited to see what the girl will do," He peaked down the hall again to make sure no one was there.
"I need you to keep an eye on Kenyon and the doctor, try to make sure they don't make any more moves toward the girl. She'll be very unstable at the moment. If she's engaged in combat again, she might lose herself,"
"What does that mean?" Finn was getting really tired of all the cryptic talk. "What is happening to her?"
"It means that with every inhuman action she takes she becomes less human, less in control of her actions. She'll become a danger to herself and others rather fast,"
"What use is that? If she's not in control, how can they use her to kill," Another sigh could be heard through the phone.
"You don't understand. If she loses whatever humanity she has left, she'll just keep killing and then they'll cancel her. Better a weapon used and destroyed then used against them. And with X-23 dead, they can use her DNA to create more"
Now Finn understood. "That's why they created Kenyon! To kill her once she was done if they couldn't get her back under control" It was like a lightbulb went on in his head. It was all starting to make sense.
"Exactly. With Kimura and Kenyon working together with the state she'll be in, she'll be dead before anyone realizes. My guess is that they're trying to make her lose it at the school. We probably have about two weeks max if they don't make her fight again, before she loses it herself,"
"Alright, I'll try to stall," Finn told the other man on the phone. Something that had been bothering him through this conversation had to be asked though before they parted ways again. "How do you know so much about them? About her?" Finn had agreed to work with the man, no questions asked, because he told him, he'd be saving lives. Not much else was told to him.
The man didn't like answering questions, but knew he'd eventually have to tell Finn who he was. Today was not that day though. "I'll tell you, but not today. You need to go help X-23 before it's to late," With that, the man hung up the phone on Finn. He stared down at his cellphone, his denim blue eyes getting lost in an old memory before looking out the window to his apartment. He needed to head to New York, that much was clear.