Chapter 14-
Julian is exhausted, shaking, sweating, and grappling with the Nimrod. His whole head is aching like a muscle that has held up a building for hours. He thinks he might split down the middle, but he can't stop. Not now, not ever.
All that stands between him and an excruciatingly painful death—to anti-matter—is a thin green shield of thought.
Flashes of metal. Laura in the background, all four limbs flying, followed by showers of nuts and bolts and scrapped metal. Huge explosions, sparks of electricity. Thundering booms as the machines hit the ground.
A blur sweeps past him, and he pants in relief as Nori pummels the Nimrod with a distracting burst of static, taking the pressure temporarily off of him as it swerves to chase her. He stumbles backwards, reaches up to wipe his forehead.
He sees spots. That can't be good. At least one Nimrod has been neutralized, according to plan. That means just two more—
"NO!" Laura shouts from behind him. He turns, to see the other Nimrod. He knows it is a real one because it bears the mark he left on its forehead, initially, for distinguishing purposes.
An X.
Which means, it has adjusted to his powers.
He raises a shield and tries to side-step just as the air ripples, the atoms being sucked into the anti-matter stream and disintegrated. His hair moves, and he turns his head, hot air ripping into his skin and causing a melting noise.
"…" he staggers sideways, like an animal that has been shot, and falls to his knees. He is in instantaneous shock. He looks numbly down at himself, from his shoulder, down the side of his arm, half his chest, and his leg. The flesh is blackened and pretty much gone. His face doesn't feel right, either.
SQUEEALCH! Metal on metal noises; Laura has slithered down the front of the Nimrod, bringing most of its encasing with her. A moment later, there is a blue explosion; the Nimrod glows from within, then topples over, crackling, as Nori runs away, towards the final target.
But he's not going to be a part of it, he realizes, taking a few quiet breaths as he slowly sinks back onto his behind. They lied—there is no pain. He's completely numb.
Someone is beside him, trying to force him to stand. He tilts his eyes up.
"Hmmm?" he asks.
"…" he hears static. He vaguely recognizes the person as Laura, holding his still uninjured arm at the bicep, her face contorted as she yells at him. She seems furious. He wonders why. He wishes he could hear her.
Then he doesn't wish anything at all.
…
"Josh!" Laura is dragging what is left of a still-smoking Julian towards the healer, her face pale.
"You must heal him! You…"
She pauses. Josh looks up very slowly, from a pool of blood that is pouring from his chest. There is a large, jagged hole, through which she can see bone fragments, and torn muscles.
"Bring 'im….here…" Josh gasps slowly.
"Heal yourself, first," Laura orders.
"No…I only got…one more quick one…not enough for me…hurry…hrruk…"
His heartbeat is slowing. Josh is dying. Laura hesitates, then takes Julian's arm (which is slumped around her neck) and holds it out towards the other man, her expression strained.
"Thank you," she says. Josh tries to smile at her and fails; a faint golden glow travels up from his fingers to the point of contact. Julian shifts slightly against her and begins to breathe again, although labored. The flesh on his face has somewhat straightened; his left side is whole again; his right side is reddened and slightly disfigured, but the area is no longer black; the muscles are not even showing through his skin.
It is still evident that he has suffered major trauma. And his shoulder…Laura peers at the wound as it slowly begins to seal shut, the flesh underneath reconstructing, layer by layer.
Then it stops, while the wounds are still open.
Josh is dead. He was correct; he could not have healed his own wounds. Julian is only partially healed, but he is breathing again, and at least the damage is not as deep, as irrevocably mortal.
Laura looks at the battlefield. She needs to return; she has to find a safe place to hide him, until it is over. She does not want to leave him, when there is the odd chance that she might not be able to return.
Eventually, she chooses an old arcade, hides him in a cupboard behind the counter, and hurries back to skirmish.
…
The void parts, ebbs, like a tide, and Julian stares up at wood above him. For a moment he panics. He is in a coffin. They have buried him alive—he is underground—he raises his hands to pound on the lid, and he groans in pain.
His hand stings like it fell victim to very angry bees. In the dim light penetrating the dark through the crack in the door, he sees that the flesh covering it is shiny, and he shivers.
Now he can't stop shivering. He's very cold, and it hurts a lot to convulse with chills. His teeth chatter. He tries to curl away from the pain, as far as it will allow him to go; the skin of his shoulder and side is very tight and raw feeling.
He can't tell how much time passes between his waking up, and his waiting to be discovered. He slips in and out of unconsciousness, having strange hallucinations. He is so thirsty, he thinks he could drink a river, if he had one.
If only, if only…
Suddenly the cupboard opens. He raises his head lightly, and tries to peer over the mess that is his shoulder. If it is someone looking to finish the job, they will undoubtedly succeed. He'll just lie here and let them do it. He lowers his head again and curls into a ball.
"Stop. You are hurting the skin." Laura's voice. He closes his eyes in relief. He wants to ask her so many things…find out if it's over, if they've won. They obviously have, since she has returned for him.
What comes out is "…waddur…" like he hasn't learned to speak English yet.
"Yes. I need to extract you first."
Laura does so, and the process is incredibly painful. Once he is out, he is crying silently, blubbering, and feeling stupid, because he's a grown man and shouldn't wimp out like this in front of a girl who has endured much worse.
She holds a water canteen towards him, and he slowly takes it with his normal hand. Brings it to his mouth, and for a while, he thinks he may be in heaven.
"Moderation," Laura scolds, pulling the bottle away from him suddenly. "You will cause yourself to cramp if you overload your system."
He gazes longingly at the bottle, then realizes he has water running down his chin in a river. Reinforcing the notion that he has not yet mastered English, or any sort of verbal language. Embarrassed, he shakes his head and wipes the excess water off with his good hand.
"What h-happened?" he asks finally.
…
Laura gazes at him, and for a while does not speak.
Then she does, and he wishes she hadn't. "Many of our people are dead, including Nori, Sofia, and Josh. Fifteen out of our thirty-two mutants are deceased. The first two people that I have mentioned wished for me to pass information on to you."
Julian groans. "This can't be happening."
"It did," Laura says.
Silence. He looks away, his eyes hot again. Sofia…he didn't think it would hurt so much. A part of him must have still loved her, as messed up as she had become.
"Which message would you like first?" Laura asks patiently.
He blinks.
"Sof."
"She said—and I quote—'Do not feel bad. These thirteen years I have lived…for you. I died along with Laurie, and Dani, and David. It is clear to me now that this was a mistake…I should have died with them. I am sorry for what I have caused. Please do not mourn me.' She died soon after, having bled to death, despite my attempts to control the bleeding with a tourniquet."
Julian feels hollow inside. It is strange to hear Sofia's words come out of Laura's mouth. It is obvious that she does not quite comprehend what they mean. Sofia was always the passionate spirit, the emotional; Laura has always been the practical, tactical, realistic.
"And Nori?" he asks. He's surprised she had anything to say to him after a long history of hatred between the two.
"Nori said: 'Tell Keller that I'm sorry. I should've listened to you…you were on the right track, but I was so set on playing 'leader' and being afraid of losing everyone to you, that I shut you out. I did the same thing as when we were a bunch of dumb kids."
He is silent for a moment. "I can't believe they're gone. They can't be."
"Do you wish for me to lie to you?" Laura asks patiently.
He shakes his head. "No. I…thank you, Laura. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you."
She pauses. "You are welcome. I told you I would not let you die."
"I guess I better take you at your word, then." He bows his head. "What did Josh say?"
"Nothing. He passed on while correcting the damage you had sustained."
More silence. Julian feels nauseous, but it passes. "I feel like a douchebag. I was really mean to him, back at the school."
Laura doesn't say anything. No reassurance that he wasn't; nor that he was. She hadn't been there for most of it. The bullying she had seen Julian perform was mostly to herself.
"Did the bots retreat?" he asks.
"No, we simply destroyed them. We had better move, though. The human's next attack might be stronger. We cannot afford to fight another battle. We would be lost."
"Mhmm." Julian looks at his arm. The skin is red and streaked with black, and small areas of muscle are missing. It only vaguely looks like the limb that used to belong to him.
He starts to shiver again.
Laura inhales through her nose. "Your wounds are becoming infected. We need to cleanse them, and then make our way to safety."
"Whatever," Julian says, almost under his breath. "You're the boss."
"No," she says. "You are. Nori also told me to tell you that."
He wants to argue, but he is beginning to feel dizzy. His stomach is full of water, and has sucked the circulation away from his wounds—circulation that is vital to healing them. If they are going to be healed.
"Laura…that's…I need to lie down."
"Later. Right now, we need to—"
KER-PLUNK, as he keels over, cutting Laura off in mid-sentence.
…
"Damn, Laura," Logan says, seeing his clone struggle back to the small band of survivors, the boy slumped unconsciously over her shoulder like a corpse.
She turns slightly and gives her once-mentor a questioning look. He is covered in soot, blood, and slowly-healing cuts. His teeth look white in his face, because he is smiling slightly, grinning. "Never seen a woman carry off the man before. Usually the other way 'round."
"He is injured," Laura says, missing the point. "His wounds are becoming infected. I require rubbing alcohol, forceps, and—"
"Yeah, we 'require' a lot of stuff, darlin'," Logan says. "Don't get it often."
Laura turns away, her expression cold. She does not appreciate his patronizing manner; an attitude he has had towards her ever since her service with X-force.
"Cessily," she calls, spotting the girl, wrapping a bandage around a young, skinny boy's arm with a soft expression. "I need your help."
"With what, Laura? Oh no—" Cessily has just spotted one of her best friends hanging over the girl's shoulder, looking dead.
"OH MY GOD! Is he—"
"No. Not yet." Laura pauses. "Do you have any matches?"
"Uh, I think so," Cessily says. "Check in my bag. What are you going to do?"
"I may need to operate, later," she says. "His wounds are becoming infected. If the condition persists, I will need to remove the damaged tissue."
"Amputation?" Cessily asks.
"Not if it can be avoided," Laura says. "We will need to find a safe area where he can remain undisturbed during these crucial next hours. I will know if his condition is worsening within seventy two hours."
…
"We should move out," Logan grunts.
"If we do that, we will no longer be near the area that the child was—"
"Hank, since when do we put our future in the hands of a baby? Listen to yerself. I'm sick o' this…I might take off up north, if we don't leave."
"No."
The men both turn; Laura is now present, her face dark.
"Finished playing nurse?" Logan asks.
She doesn't answer. Instead, she addresses Dr. McCoy.
"We are leaving. Logan has not informed you that—"
"LAURA, DON'T—" Logan grounds out, his hand snaking out to grab her wrist.
"—the child is dead," she finishes. "All this death…all this destruction…is meaningless. We should focus on rebuilding, not retrieving."
"…" Hank is stunned speechless.
"God damn it, clone, shut up! Just stop! You have no idea what yer doin'!"
"Yes, I do." Laura glowers at him. "You are lying, and I am telling the truth. You are willing to keep lying—although it will lead to injuries, death, and the inevitable destruction of our genotype." She pauses. "We have disagreed over this for a long time, Weapon X. I will tolerate it no longer. I have seen the cost of lies. I have lost three friends today, and almost lost—" she pauses.
"Whatever. You know what…fuck you people. Screw you. I tried…but Charlie's dream went stale a long time ago." Logan waves his hand, walks away.
"The Messiah child…is dead?" Hank asks, as if he has not been present for the last few moments.
"Yes." Laura watches Logan go. "I will need your help, Dr. McCoy. Julian's life is still at risk…and it is vitally important that he does not die." She pauses. "To our survival," she adds.
"Of course," Dr. McCoy agrees, although he doesn't see what Laura is getting at.