Volume: 2 Arc: "V for Violation" 2 Issue: 6/6 )
Chapter 40: verification
Julian opened his door, still fuming from team practice. Laura hadn't showed again, not that he'd personally wanted to see her; but it
somehow felt unfair, to have a deadbeat like her on his team. He'd spoken to Frost about having her transferred; he didn't feel like
putting up with anymore Laura crap this term. He was done. He tried to feel free about it; he could hang around with Sofia again…
and if Sofia wasn't interested, there was always the Cuckoos…he'd taken them out once and he liked Mindee pretty well…
He dropped his books. Laura was sitting on his bed, her hands folded on her lap, her expression sober.
"What the hell?! Get out!" He yelled. He saw that his window was open.
"Keller…"
"Fucking out!" He grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her off the bed. "Out! Not talking to you!"
"Yes, you are," she said, refusing to move. She took a deep breath. "This is important. We've got a little problem…and your it's daddy."
It took him a second to understand. He grinned.
"Well, it's not my problem," he said. "I was careful. No way it's me. You can go snivel at someone else's door."
"Julian!" She stood up, her eyes flashing. "You think I would come and unload this on you if I wasn't almost positive? First off…I'm not as
loose as you think I am. And second…I don't think it has anything to do with how safe we were."
He opened his mouth, then shut it, and flopped down on his bed beside her. Oh fuck. Something had happened to match it too…that
humiliating incident with the nurse…
"The facility, huh?" he asked bitterly, after a moment. "Well, son of a bitch."
Laura put her head in her hands. "This is the end of my life."
Julian didn't argue. He was still angry. "Well, abort it."
"I'm anti-abortion!" Laura hissed.
"Do you really want to keep it?" he pointed out. "We're not exactly on terms to have a kid together. I don't want one, anyways."
Laura's nose wrinkled. "At least come with me to my appointment with Dr. McCoy tomorrow," she said, her voice wavering. "It's at four. If you're
so sure it's not yours, then come prove it. You can do that much." She blinked, hard. Julian scowled. "I don't have to do anything. Out." He pointed
at the door; Laura got to her feet and left, shoving him out of her way as she walked past. For once, the last word was his.
It didn't feel too great though.
…
Four o' clock the next day found Julian standing outside Dr. McCoy's door, his hands in his pockets. Laura stopped halfway down the hallway when
she saw him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to come.
"This doesn't mean I'm talking to you," Julian said, sitting down on the bench in the hallway. "It doesn't mean anything's different between us. I'm
only here to defend my side of this."
Laura sat down on the other end of the bench, silent.
They waited for about an hour, Julian impatiently checking his watch every so often. There was finally a noise at the other end of the hallway. "Hello,"
a voice said. It was Jean Grey-Summers with a kind smile. She was peering out of her own office.
"Hi," Laura responded.
"Hank asked me to tell you two that he'll be a bit late. He's investigating a crime scene with Scott and Logan…that darned Kick drug has struck again."
"Shame," Julian said. "They were asking again in telepathy about it. Which, incidentally, I'm still failing."
Jean's smile widened. "Do you mind if I share a little story with you two while you wait? It might help to pass the time."
Julian looked at Laura. "Um, sure," he said. "If you don't mind."
"Yes," Laura said, curious. She'd enjoyed seeing the last display Jean had shown her, the Phoenix creating the universe.
"Good," Jean said. "Come in."
They got up and followed her into her beautiful mahogany office, the door closing seemingly by itself behind them. Julian was surprised that her telekinesis
had no color to it; his always made a big glow around whatever object he was lifting or affecting.
"Have a seat," she said, two plush chairs zooming to position themselves in front of her desk. She herself sat down on the chair behind the big desk. Julian
and Laura sat down—and they were no longer in the office. The walls melted away in searing, blinding heat; white heat.
Jean had changed, transformed. Some sort of white material had wrapped itself around her body, and the strange, golden bird emblem was painted on her
breast.
She leaned forwards; the desk had disappeared.
Do you remember what you are? she asked Julian. Her voice filled the room, although her lips did not move.
He shook his head, confused. Laura watched, intrigued, as the bird-woman touched his chest, and the gold on her chest seemed to flow through her fingers and
paint itself on his. He inhaled sharply.
"Oh…oh, god, yes…" he looked at Laura, alarmed. "It's all repeating itself…"
"Huh?" Laura asked, confused. She felt she was missing something.
The true Phoenix and Julian stared at each other. It seemed they were conversing mentally, privately. "I'm still here, you know," Laura said, irritated.
Julian turned to Laura, and she took a step back. It wasn't just the weird thing still glowing dimly on his chest; it was his expression. She wasn't used to having him
look at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered to him.
Especially after he'd looked more like he wanted to bite her head off, lately.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Laura, I'm so sorry, I didn't do it right. I couldn't make your life better. I…" he looked distressed, and at a loss for words. "Here."
He moved to touch her forehead; Laura leaned back, her eyes wide. "What the hell—Keller—are you off your rocker?"
"Trust me," he said, his eyes burning white.
Laura stopped moving backwards; his fingers touched her forehead.
Her world split down the middle. One side was filled with her life; her mother, her fights, her life at the mansion, the abduction, her situation with Keller—and the other
half was filled with something else entirely. A horrible childhood of loneliness and death and sterility, mixed with another life at the mansion—entirely different; she was
confused and scared and there was something about her and Julian…
"Oh," she said. "OH."
One way or another, everything happens again, Jean said, her expression deathly serious. You cannot stop what has occurred, only change the order, and the way
they happen. All realities move in balance. What you do now will affect this one later. Laura blinked; she and Julian were seeing something else in the walls. A war torn
world, terrible to behold. Laura could make out heads and other body parts on pikes; people eating people, buildings being destroyed…
Julian swallowed. "This happens if the baby doesn't survive, doesn't it?" he asked.
Jean tilted her head in what he took to be silent acknowledgment.
The walls cleared, and they were seated in Jean's office again, surrounded by bookcase-filled walls. The clock ticked in rhythm. "I hope that will help you come to a decision,
somewhat," Jean said, still smiling. "I believe Hank has arrived. Don't be too concerned about the disorientation…you won't remember much past today."
Julian and Laura left the office, both dizzy.
…
Laura had a headache. Her world continued to be split; she felt like she had two sets of responses for everything. One was her normal, headstrong, crude self; the
second was a silent, cautious girl who spoke in monosyllables, and didn't understand situations so clearly, although she was quite brilliant.
They'd just finished their meeting with Dr. McCoy; after Jean's intermission, it had come as no earth-shattering surprise that it was Julian's. He had handled the appointment,
telling their doctor-slash-professor that they would come back with their decision. He kept his hand on Laura's lower back as they left the office, concerned. She allowed herself
to be steered; of all the places, he took her up to the roof.
"Laura…" he shifted his hands in his pockets. "I…I'm sorry I've been so awful to you…I didn't remember…I did tell you, I'm a bit of a jerk…"
"My head hurts," Laura said. She looked across the grounds.
"I tried to fix everything. I fucked up, like I usually seem to do…" he reached out and touched her cheek, his hand shaking slightly.
"Why did you tell me to abort it?" She asked slowly.
"Because I'm not very smart," he said. "I didn't realize—last time—what it would mean, either. I don't want you to do that, really." He swallowed. "This is a second chance.
Please…help me not screw it up."
"Is this just because of what Jean said?" Laura asked, looking down.
"No." Julian touched her elbows. "Laura…I think I tried to tell you before…I love you…I got angry…I didn't think you returned the feeling…you pushed me away so much…"
Laura drew her eyebrows together. "You…I thought…that you were still with Sofia. You did not truly want me. You did not tell me that you had severed your association with her."
Julian shook his head. "I do, I want you," he said. "I'm just not so gifted with…feelings, I guess. "Look…can we just pick up from here?
Laura looked away. "I…I do not know. I need time to think. The offspring will be born…but beyond that…"
He rubbed his face and nodded. "Okay."