Oo bappa do and how do you do? Your very own Evil Angel here with another update. This part is two parts fluff and one part very serious plot stuff. Enjoy, my minions!

AlyssJocelyn: Dude, is that your real name? Its lovely! Yes, Dr Who is my fave, I love him, hopefully one day the blue box may turn up for me. Sigh. Anyways thanks for the review!

KirbyRay: Yay, newbie! Ah yes, poor Laura, no claws. Lol, thanks for reviewing!

.: Muhahahahaha! Is all I have to say to my new title. Please continue to address me by it. Lolz, thanks for another awesome review.

Little Horatio: Oh, dude, so glad they're funny to other people too. Thanks, loads!

San child of the wolves: Thanks for the review, enjoy.

GeneralGambit: Thanks mate, and enjoy!

CitizenKate: Oh, yay a newbie, I love newbies! More to convert to the X-23 cause, muhahahaha! Ah, I'm glad you think so, but I can think of more than a few that are far, far better, including a couple of amazing X-23 ones. I think Logan can very much be an insensitive jerk, as displayed in X-Force #4 but he can also be extremely caring as I've tried to display. Lolz, I wouldn't make fun. I like essences, especially the herbal kind. Thanks for the review, enjoy!!

whylime: hahaha! Lol, don't worry 'bout it. Glad you're back and thanks for the fab review!

PinkRangerV: I might do. Or someone else might. Three guesses who, lol. Ta for the review!

Abbs of the faeries: HAHAHA! Your review made me lol so much! I was debating whether or not to make Sabretooth do it and now I'm so glad I did. Gives me something a bit different to do with Laura which is always interesting. Thanks, enjoy!

ONIX-21: Ah, yes, they do grow back, they're a natural part of her. The adamantium on the other hand was put there on on purpose, by the man who's hunting her right now. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, mate!

HyPerPunnKGRL: Oh yes, our girl is very much of the kick arse variety. I'm quite glad they didn't die too. Writing about dust isn't exciting. Enjoy and ta very much.


Chapter 12 - Biology

"Is there anyone out there? 'Cause its getting harder and harder to breathe," - Harder to Breathe, Maroon 5.

Two Weeks Later

Laura sat at the back of the Biology class, rubbing her arms. They were hurting a lot today. It was her bone claws growing back. Very slowly, mind. Hank had done scan after scan on them and judged that they were indeed going to grow back, just at a vastly decelerated rate. Apparently Sabretooth had done a lot of damage to their beds deep in her arms. It had taken a little while for them to heal and now they were taking their own sweet time in growing back. They were about as long as her fingers now, half done. They were painful as they grew, exerting pressure on the surrounding bones, tendons and muscles. It wasn't too bad, she had been through infinitely worse, but it was highly annoying and distracting at times.

In front of her on the desk was a dead rat on a wooden slab. But it was much less of a rat than the boy sat next to her. Wearing his usual red and leaning back as far as the chair would allow him, listening quite intently to what their teacher was telling them. It had surprised Laura mildly on Monday when she'd been unwillingly paired with him that he had so intently taken notes on everything their teacher had told them on the basics of dissection. He had surprised her even more on Tuesday when he had quite deftly assisted with the dissection of a small frog without so much as a flinch.

She had deduced that because none of his friends were in this class (too unintelligent she had decided) that he was free to indulge in a secret interest, namely biology, and prove that he was actually rather intelligent.

Though he was still acting like a … how had Rogue said it? A jerk.

"Not nervous are you?" he said, looking down at her rubbing her arms. "Its only a rat!"

He picked it up, dangling it in front of her face, "Woooooooo!" he said, with a laugh.

"I'm not afraid of rats," Laura quipped.

He smirked, "That's just because you've been living with them for God knows how long," he said, "I heard loads of them live down in the sewers now! How is it down there?"

"I wouldn't know," replied Laura. She'd love to tell him he was wrong, that mutants didn't inhabit the sewers, but she knew for a fact that a small minority of them did. The Morlocks, the ones that simply couldn't, or didn't want to fit into society.

"All right then my little prodigies!" their Biology teacher announced with an extra special scowl in Laura's direction (he hadn't forgiven her for her first day) "Any questions? Good. You have one hour, please begin."

The boy snatched up the scalpel before Laura could even move.

He nodded to where she was still rubbing her right arm. "No way are you doing it!"

"I am perfectly capable of performing this task,"

"I beg to differ," he said with a smile.

"I do not care what you think," she scowled, "Hand me the scalpel."

The boy shook his head, "Nope. Blades all mine. You can write down the answers."

Laura frowned, "You are relegating me to writing?"

He nodded, "If your hand gets all shaky and slices up Rizzo here, we're screwed. Therefore I slice and dice and you make sure we pass, kay?"

Laura didn't know who Rizzo was, but she didn't really care. She couldn't deny his logic and it frustrated her.

"Fine," and she snatched up the pen.

Half an hour later, they'd spoken no further except for the boy to report on his findings and for Laura to write down the answers she'd known since she was four.

He looked up from the rat, "Yo, pass me the..."

"Why do you never address me by my name?" It came out of her mouth before she'd realised it. She had been wondering about it for a little while now.

"Huh?"

Laura turned in her chair slightly to face him, "Why do you never address me by my name? You never say it or otherwise you call me mutie."

He looked a little perplexed for a second.

"Well... you are a mutie."

"And you're a human," Laura said, "but I don't call you that."

He cocked his head slightly, "Fair point."

"Well?" Laura coaxed.

The boy leaned forward, "I don't call you by your name, because I don't have to okay, mutie?"

The tone of his voice chilled Laura, it brought her straight back to years before, her eight year old face staring into a man years her senior.

"Are you afraid, Weapon X? Do you even feel?"

Laura turned away. The boys blue eyes were uncomfortable to look at. If she'd have looked at them a second longer, she'd have seen something like confusion flicker in them.

"Besides," the boy said, "its not like you ever call me by my name."

"I don't call you anything."

"Exactly," he said, a little smugly, "not even a Keller."

Laura eyed the clock above the blackboard, two more minutes.

"You don't even know what my last name is."

"I do actually," Keller said, nonchalantly. "Howlett, right?"

Laura didn't answer him. She had no desire to continue with the conversation with him.

"Well, I ain't calling you it, in any case," he said leaning back in his chair.

Ten...nine...eight...

"Are you listening to me?"

She stared resolutely at the clock.

Five...four...three...

"Howlett," he scoffed, "what kind of stupid name is that?"

...Two...

"Sounds like some kind of – animal."

RIIIIIINGG!

Laura was over the other side of the classroom so quickly, Keller wasn't even aware she'd moved. She thrust their paper in the direction of the teacher and left Keller with a very dead rat bleeding away on the table.


Laura stormed down the hall, thrusting her way through the buzzing hoards on their way out to the weekend, Keller's words still ringing in her ears.

Animal.

Even he knew it and he hadn't known her. Animal. Rice's favourite word and he knew it instantly.

I am an animal, she thought, I am!

She arrived at her locker, shaking. Throwing open the door she seized her things, thrusting them into her bag. They wouldn't go. She forced them harder, growling in frustration when the just wouldn't go.

"You know, it usually helps if you do it one at a time."

Laura didn't look up, didn't acknowledge his presence.

"You're going to rip it," came a sing song voice from above.

Laura preceded to ignore him. Finally he sighed heavily and grabbed the books and bag from her.

He placed the books gently, one at a time into the bag.

"See," he said, doing it up, "much easier."

Pietro held it out to her. Laura snatched it back.

"Carrying on with the social lessons," he said, "this is the bit where you say thank you..."

Laura pushed past him heading for the door.

"...and I say you're welcome!"

Laura burst out the door heading straight into the heat of the car park.

Pietro seized her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"Are you avoiding me?

Briefly Laura contemplated telling him the truth, that yes she had been avoiding him for the past two weeks. The whole encounter with Creed and the fact that she had required Pietro's help had left her feeling puzzlingly uncomfortable in his presence.

"Of course not," she lied.

Pietro relaxed visibly, his grip on Laura's elbow lessened at she pulled away.

"Oh," he said, "I just thought... never mind. How are the...um..." he nodded down to her arms.

"I don't think we should be discussing this in public."

"But are they...?"

A car horn pierced through the air so loud they drowned out Pietro's last words. Laura looked over to the road. Logan was sat in one of the Mansion's cars, a black Mercedes, looking less than pleased.

"Well are they?"

Laura shifted her bag higher on her shoulder and nodded, "Slowly."

"Oh, good, I guess," he said, shrugging.

The car horn came again. Several people looked in Laura's direction and laughed. Logan had been there everyday for two weeks doing exactly the same thing.

"I have to go," she said.

Pietro shrugged, "Whatever," and in an instant he was gone.

Laura made her way towards the car. On her left, perched on a red convertible were Keller and his friends, Keller's girlfriend perched on his lap.

"Daddy's girl!" he yelled after her, to an uproar of laughter from his friends.

Laura ignored them, wrenching open the door and falling in.

Instantly she knew she was in trouble.

"What time is it?" Logan snapped as he pulled out.

"Three forty-two," Laura mumbled, quickly glancing at the clock on the dashboard.

"Three forty- two!" he cried, "I told you, out at half past! What were you doing for twelve minutes?"

Laura could have told him exactly what she had been doing for each of those twelve minutes but she decided not to anger him further.

"I was retrieving my books from my locker," she said.

"And talking to Quicksilver!" he yelled, "I should be murdering that punk!"

"I told you it wasn't his fault,"

"If you hadn't been out with him..."

"I wasn't out with him! I was out and then I met him."

"Don't argue with me," Logan snapped, "You were out with him and you got caught. He got himself knocked out, great help he turned out to be!"

Laura looked at her father, "If he hadn't have come to help then I would be dead."

Logan shook his head defiantly, "Wouldn't have happened, kid, I wouldn't have let it."

Laura neglected to mention that Logan was unconscious.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

"Oh well lets see," said Logan, "He's in the Brotherhood, his Dad's a flaming terrorist and he nearly got my only kid killed!"

"No he didn't!"

"Why are you defending him?"

Laura slumped back in her chair, "I am not defending him."

They fell silent, finishing the journey home with neither looking at the other.


Logan watched Laura disappear up the stairs.

Ororo had accused him of being far to hard on her. In his humble opinion he should be being a lot harder. She couldn't run off. She just couldn't and he had to get that through to her, even if he had to tattoo it onto her forehead.

His blood had boiled when he had seen her with Quicksilver. He hadn't thought he'd have to be dealing with boys for a good long while yet. Of all the boys she could have picked! Magneto's son! Oh and she had picked him! If there was one thing that had never let him down it was his sense of smell. He could pick up teenage hormones from miles away. His daughter, much to his dismay was riddled with them. She liked Maximoff whether she knew it or not. And he suspected she didn't. He resolved right there and then as she vanished into her room, that he would not allow anything to happen between them. If he had to escort her everywhere for the remainder of his life he'd do so.

Logan?

Chuck?

We have a situation.

Logan groaned.

On my way Chuck.


Rice looked into the mirror, tracing his scar delicately with his little finger.

They were getting close.

X-23 was making mistakes. She had almost died at the hands of the animal Creed. Creed had been dealt with. He was currently floating in a stasis tank in the base of their Facility.

Her mistakes would serve him for the time being. They would be dealt with when he had her back.

But for the first time in fifteen years he had more to think about than the animal. They had a problem. From the ruins of his destroyed first Facility someone had pilfered his research and now it was being flaunted all over the television.

It made him laugh. They were proclaiming the first cloned embryo. Little knowing that he'd made fifty. The twenty-third of which was now fifteen years old doing things that conventional science had thought impossible.

She was his masterpiece. The thing which one day when science was not bound by petty morals would get him a Nobel Prize.

He was going to send the world a message. One they wouldn't understand fully for a while. Cloning technology was his. And he wasn't very good at sharing.


"Oh this is just great!"

Logan, Ororo, Hank and Charles were in his office watching the telly. A crowd of people holding signs had gathered outside a building in New York, throwing stones, chanting hate and trying to push their way through the lines of police barricading the building.

And for once it wasn't them.

Adinose Industries in up state New York.

Brand new centre that dealt with cloning.

And they'd just made a breakthrough

Laura didn't really like the television. It was full of what she considered to be very bad so called entertainment littered with people advertising useless things like lawyers. But she was bored. Logan's sympathy for the incident with Sabretooth had worn off very quickly so he had grounded her for another month. Everybody else was in the Danger Room. And she was stuck upstairs, having finished her homework, tidied her already immaculate room and been shooed out of the kitchen by a flustered Ororo. So she had ended up in the lounge with the telly all to herself.

Flick. Flick. Flick.

Nothing remotely interesting on, mostly adverts, mostly lawyers and car insurance.

"....riots today outside Adinose Industries where scientists claim to have cloned the very first human embryo..."

That grabbed Laura's attention. She watched enraptured. Turns out they'd only cloned the one and it had disintegrated soon after, but the point was made, it had been done.

Again. She had not been the first, but it looked now as if she would not be the last either.

The scene cut to a thousand or so people stood outside the doors of the imposing research facility. Shouting, chanting and holding plaques and banners, monsters, they yelled, freaks. It cut again, this time an interview with a protester.

"They ain't real!" he cried, "Fucking clones, out of science fiction or something! I mean, what the hell, man?! Ain't we already overpopulated enough as it is, without bringing some freak science thing into the world!" he spat.

More interviews, more venomous words, all saying the same thing. They're not real people. They should be destroyed.

And then, very suddenly as the news reporter gave her closing speech, the building exploded.


Come on people, I am so close to one hundred views I can smell it! Please please please review!! Angel xxxxxxx