AUTHOR'S NOTE: Haha yes, floof chapters. I can't promise all the chapters going forward will be floof, as Julian and Laura still have some massive challenges ahead of them. But the girls are certainly going to lighten some scenes up. I answered most review questions privately, except: what comic arc is this story in? It's currently between arcs, running on original content. Since about chapter 21 or so. There are a few comic inspired arcs coming up, though. In terms of the greater scheme of things, this is all taking place in the X-Force era, before the X-men move to Utopia. As to Laura joining X-force...keep reading :)

Also, shameless self promotion: just published a new Helix Julian/Laura story, "Custody," link on my author page because I can't write it here.

CHAPTER 25
Who's Handful?

Julian watched as the X-wing descended on the gravel rooftop, the wind it manufactured causing Laura's hair to float for a moment.

He felt greatly relieved, knowing that they weren't alone anymore. If Kimura randomly showed up, he wasn't sure what he would have done. His gut said anything, but his brain knew better. His anything wouldn't be enough. His anything hadn't even slowed Kimura down. Granted, he'd been tired when they had clashed in the facility. But he didn't want to have a showdown like that again. Not when they were in public. With the girls to worry about. Sure, they healed quicker than usual, but he doubted they could survive that.

He suspected Laura was worried, too. She hadn't said much this morning. Which wasn't unusual, considering she never spoke anyway. But there was something about the set of her shoulders, the way her eyebrows were drawn together, that made him think something was on her mind. Kimura was a likely topic.

The side door opened, and Logan jumped out, followed by James and Josh. No one else. His forehead wrinkled. Where were Cess and Santo?

"Kid." Logan paused, stared at Laura for a moment, then swept her in for a hug, his usual scowl softening for a moment. "Been a while."

Julian looked down, blocking out the sudden, probably unintended rush of thoughts Logan was projecting. He was curious, but it didn't seem like something he should be listening to.

Laura said nothing, but she returned his hug.

"And you." Logan looked at Julian, his arm still around his clone's shoulders. "The hell happened? You becomin' Xavier or somethin'?"

Julian frowned. His hair was growing back, but it wasn't even a buzzcut yet. "No, someone tried to take my brain."

Logan grinned. "They succeed? Can't tell."

"Heh." James.

Julian rolled his eyes. "No, I cut the asshole's throat with his bone saw before he got anywhere."

Laura glanced at him.

"That was my other guess." Logan patted Laura's shoulder with one hand, putting a cigar in his mouth with the other. "Your friends all wanted to come. The big rock kid…the metal girl…bunch of others. Thought we'd keep it small for now."

"Laura!" Josh threw his arms around her, grinning. "Oh man, it's so good to see you."

Laura returned this hug as well, her eyebrows drawing together. "You as well."

"What the—" Logan had caught sight of the girls, in the background. His jaw dropped, and his cigar fell to the pavement. He looked at Laura, then at the girls, then at Laura, then at Julian, seeking an answer. There was the slightest hint of accusation in his gaze.

Julian shrugged. "Your grand-clones."

"Oh wow." Josh stared at the girls too.

"…" Logan's forehead wrinkled. "Well, shit. Ain't there enough of me already?"

"Apparently not." Julian nodded to the girls. "Get up here and introduce yourselves. One at a time."

There was a flurry of motion. Then Betty strutted up to Logan.

"Hello, Weapon X. I am X-66." She paused, then poked his arm, her eyes widening. "You can tell it is full of adamantium! The skin is all strange."

"I wonder how much it weighs." Alice murmured this. "I mean, how much him weighs…?"

"Introductions are not to be performed that way anymore, Six—Betty." Gabby folded her arms, and glanced at Julian. "Are you displeased with…with she?"

Julian gazed at Logan. "They need some English lessons…mostly on how to distinguish people from objects."

Logan closed his eyes.

"They're kinda cute." James was grinning.

"What're their names?" Josh.

"Introduce yourselves." Laura paused. "With your new names."

The girls spoke all at once, sounding very anxious to please her.

"…one at a time." Julian frowned. "They're really literal."

"Betty!"
Logan winced at the high-pitched exclamation.

"Gabby." Gabby raised her chin. "I am the eldest."

Alice looked down. "Alice." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Good." Laura nodded approval, folding her arms. "Board the jet."

"We require more nutrients." Betty reached up and tugged at Julian's sleeve. "Can we have those round things?"

He paused. "Huh?"

"They are round. And floppy." Betty paused. "And…brown. And come with sweet, colorful things, and—"

"Oh, pancakes." Julian's forehead wrinkled. How could they already be hungry again? Betty was watching him expectantly. "Uh…I guess. But it'll be dinner when we get there. And that's not really dinner food."

Betty wrinkled her nose. "What is a dinner? Julian, I want to know. Tell me now!" The last part of this had the tone of an order.

"Silence, Six—Betty!" Gabby's voice was firm. "Commence self-punishment. Level one."

Betty looked at Julian. "Should self-punishment commence?"

"Is there a tarp? A tarp is recommended. There will be a mess." Alice grimaced. "Messes are bad. They attract attention. Not attracting attention is still an objective, correct?"

Laura closed her eyes. "Silence. Board the jet, now."

Just then, the X-wing, having not detected activity for a while, went into auto cloaking mode. The jet seemed to shudder, then disappeared.

The girls dropped into a crouch, all three popping their claws at the same time.

"It is a telepath!" Betty snarled. "Kill it!"

"Cannot smell it anymore!" Alice shouted, panicked. "Telepathic compromise!"

"Stab all around!" Gabby barked. "It will show itself eventually!"

Before anyone could react, the girls split up, going in different directions.

"Shit!" Julian threw himself after Betty, and hit the ground, hard. He was confused, since no one had ever managed to escape him charging at them. Yet there Betty was, whipping around the area the jet had been, shredding her claws along the underside.

James was running after Alice, and Laura was trying to stop Gabby, but neither had succeeded yet, the girls slipping away like they were made of greased lightning. Josh was backing away, his eyes wide.

"STOPPPP!" Logan roared, popping his claws.

The girls froze, all in attack poses. Betty was doing a handstand.

"Someone call Bastion and tell him he can quit." Josh sat up, having been knocked over when Betty ran right over him. "These kids are going to finish us off."

Julian pressed his face into the gravel.

"Flamin' hell." Logan withdrew his claws with a Snakt. "It's like they're god damn spider monkeys."

Laura was regaining her composure, clearly not having expected to be defeated by her own clones. "You are…very bad." She knelt beside Gabby. "Never do that again, do you understand?"

Gabby looked down.

"Aw, c'mon." Julian frowned and picked up Betty, who maintained the handstand pose, her eyes wide and her lips pressed into a line. "You can relax now." He looked at Laura. "Go easy on her. They didn't mean to misbehave."

Laura said nothing, but got to her feet.

Logan picked up Alice. "Ever been on a jet, darlin'?"

Alice looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head.

Laura gazed up at the big brick school. Her third time, returning to this place. Despite her doubt and concerns about whether something like her should still exist, she felt slightly less apprehensive than when Logan had brought her here on his bike. Now she had good memories here. Moments where she had begun to be involved.

Julian reached out and put his arm around her, absent mindedly. She studied him out of the corner of her eye, her eyebrows drawing together. He was so different from the boy she had met in the rec room. Then, he had been loud. Competitive. He had been fighting with Surge, something he did a lot at the time. But he had also seemed so enthusiastic about his training, about his friends. Now, he was quiet, serious…

A metallic blur burst out of the front door and slammed into Julian, forcing him backwards a couple of steps. "You're back! OHMIGODIWASSOWORRIED—"

Julian gritted his teeth. "Cess—we talked about this." He managed to get his hands free and shove her away. "Normal hugs, or nothing at all."

"Sorry." Cessily beamed, retracting her arms and then giving him what Laura assumed was a "normal" hug. "I'm so happy to see you. And—" she realized who was standing beside them.

"LAURA!" She shoved Julian away like he meant nothing. "Oh. My. GOD! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! AREYOUOKAYDID—" her arms were wrapping around Laura multiple times. She suddenly understood what he meant by a "normal" hug. But she was not going to protest.

"I am fine." Laura hugged her friend back, closing her eyes. "I missed you, too." This was true. She had thought of Cessily often over the past few years. She was among her happier memories of the school.

Cessily started to sob. "I can't believe you're h-here…Laura we looked for you…and then…I g-gave up…for a while…I'm so, so sorry…I…but we both wanted to be there for—"

"Hey X!" Santo boomed, appearing in the doorway and waving. "Can I have a turn now, Cess?"

"When I'm done!"Cessily snapped, squeezing Laura tighter.

Julian shook his head. "Cess. Come on, she's not a thing."

Reluctantly, Cessily let go and let Santo give Laura a big hug, folding her arms and tapping her foot. "He gave up looking for you sooner than I did." She mumbled this under her breath.

Santo ignored her. "Knew you'd come back! You shoulda seen how much ass we kicked for ya at the first lab, when we were lookin' for Jules. It was crazy…we got to fight with Wolverine, but I guess that ain't nothin' new for you guys, huh?"

Julian shrugged. "First time's always special."

Laura frowned. "Is Sooraya here?"

Cessily's eyebrows drew together. "No, she left the school about six months after…after you did, Laura. She was looking for her mom."

"Did she find her?"

"Her grave." Cessily frowned. "She calls us every now and then. I think she's doing okay…she found some relatives, and she's going to university." She paused. "I miss her."

"Maybe now that you're back, she'll come back too." Santo grinned. "Then it'll be just like old times, right Jules?"

Julian shoved his metal hands in his pockets. "Something like that."

Laura raised her eyebrows. His scent had changed, and the set of his shoulders was stiff. He was uncomfortable. Why? Did he not like his friends anymore?

"Laura?" Another familiar voice.

Laura stiffened slightly, her eyebrows drawing together. "Nori."

Nori walked up the path and gave her a quick hug. "Good to see a face returning instead of going, for once." Her voice was serious.

"Thank you." Laura eyed her, uncertain. Nori had never been that friendly to her in the past. She glanced at Julian.

He was looking back toward the landing pad, where Logan and the others were now emerging with the girls, all of who had fallen asleep.

"What—are those kids?!" Cessily gaped at Laura. "Are they yours?!"

"My…sisters." Laura paused. "Excuse me." She headed down the stairs again, her eyebrows drawn together.

Logan grinned at her over Alice's head. "Get to say hi to your friends?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "I can assist with the clones now."

"I got it." He hefted Alice up a bit. "This one's pretty easy goin'. Had Elixir take Betty, seems she's the feisty one of the bunch."

"Ow!" Josh yelled in the background. "Hey! She stabbed me!"

"So? Heal yourself up and quit your whinin'." Logan winked at Laura.

"Heh." James put down Gabby, who had also woken up and was clearly eager to walk on her own. "They're going to be a handful, that's for sure."

"Who's handful, though?" Logan raised his eyebrows. "I'll help for damn sure, but I can't be watchin' them every second. I got…responsibilities."

"Mine." Laura paused. "They are my clones, not yours. I will teach them."

Julian folded his arms, but said nothing.

Catching a familiar scent, Laura froze and looked at the door, her eyes widening slightly.

Emma Frost was walking down the stairs toward her, white cape fluttering in her wake. Her eyebrows were drawn together. For a moment, Laura felt the urge to back away. But Frost threw her arms around her in a tight hug. "Laura…I am so very glad you are with us again." Frost drew back and studied her expression, then sighed and looked down. "I know I was…harsh to you the first time. I was wrong, and although I had reasons, they do not excuse my actions." She paused. "But I hope that perhaps you will give me another chance."

Laura hesitated. "Perhaps."

Frost's eyes shifted to the girls. "My, you must be Laura's sisters. Please introduce yourselves."

Laura watched as her clones went through the process of explaining their names, and Frost's polite, warm response. Her smile seemed genuine, and although she had seemed threatening in the past, she decided that the woman was not so now. A little of her comfort, perhaps, came from the idea that Julian's eyes were also trained on Frost, watchful but not guarded. He was a telepath now, he had said. He should be able to tell if she was causing her clones harm.

"Laura!" Cessily grabbed her arm. "I mean—I know the past few years were awful for you…not that they were great for me either…but that means we have a lot of time to make up, right?" She beamed.

Laura smiled slightly. "Okay."

Approximately twenty minutes later, she was following him down the hall, toward the dormitories, holding Alice's hand. Betty and Gabby marched along beside her, obeying their orders of "be silent" very well. She did not want them to always be quiet, but right now, she needed to refamiliarize herself with their surroundings, and it would be easier to do that if they were not speaking constantly.

"Here." Julian had stopped in front of a door. He twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. "You and the girls can have this. There's two beds…one should fit them, for now."

"Go sit on the bed." She said this to the girls, then looked at him. "We should be pursuing Kimura right now."

"Tomorrow." He paused. "Need to take care of ourselves first."

Laura hesitated. "Okay."

He grinned at her. "Okay."

She gazed at him for a moment, her skin starting to tingle. Then he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Laura looked at the girls sitting obediently on the bed. "You may speak."

Three hands shot up.

"This structure is made of stone." Gabby's eyes were wide.

"So destructible." Betty. "Even dynamite would destroy it."

"Explosions are nice." Alice.

"Alice, that is an onion, not a fact." Betty's tone was severe.

"The word is opinion." Gabby paused. "But yes, Alice. Commence self punishment. Level one."

Alice's eyes widened. "Ooooh-ohhh—" she looked up at Laura with wide eyes, clapping her hands over her mouth, then moving them slightly. "Is there a tarp?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She knew this concept was not correct, but it was something she was still learning herself. She frowned. "You do not need to punish yourselves anymore."

"Should Kimura be fetched?" Betty asked.

Laura shook her head. "No one will punish you out here. There will be no more punishment. Kimura was wrong to ever do so."

The three girls gasped.

"X-23 must self-punish!" Gabby squealed. She hesitated. "Level two."

"The tarp will need to be much larger." Alice murmured this.

"I…no." Laura closed her eyes. "I want you to understand this. To learn it. Kimura is wrong. Everything she has ever told you, or done to you, is wrong." She paused. "She is a monster. A target. Nothing more."

Silence.

"The thought has occurred before…that Kimura is the one that should commence self-punishment." Betty, her nose wrinkled.

Gabby and Alice gasped.

"Good." Laura paused, the corners of her lips turning upward. "You are learning quickly."

Betty beamed.

After supervising the girls' new nighttime ritual of teeth-brushing and dressing, and after tucking them tightly into the bed and witnessing as they fell asleep, Laura repeated her actions of last night, closing the door softly behind her, walking down the hallway, and pausing at Julian's door. She hesitated for a moment. Snkkt! She slid her claw through the lock and pushed it open, to find him in the middle of pulling on a t-shirt.

"…" Julian raised his eyebrows. "Do you ever knock?"

"Yes." She paused. "Sometimes."

He closed his eyes, then reached out to the door. Click, as he did something to the lock. Possibly repairing it. "In the future…do. I wouldn't even have to get up to answer it."

Laura perched on the corner of his bed and surveyed the room. "You have rearranged the furniture."

"Since the last time you creeped in here to watch me sleep? Yep." He paused. "Had to hide that big ugly plaster patch-job on the wall somehow."

She stood and moved toward the door. "Goodnight."

"Wha—where're you going?"

Laura felt a tug around her stomach, and a few moments later she was standing in front of him, still surrounded by the glow of his energy. She raised an eyebrow. "You do not want me in your room."

Julian raised an eyebrow, too. "When did I say that?"

She paused, then began to look down.

He caught her chin with his finger, leaned closer. "Relax. I was teasing you."

Laura glanced at him, then closed her eyes. She was not certain what he meant by this, but she was beginning to no longer care about the conversation, her skin beginning to tingle and burn. Soon, they were kissing. Clothing was removed. He turned off the lights with his mind. She lost track of time at one point, too occupied with the things he was doing to her body. He used his powers this time. She sank her claws into his headboard and his mattress several times, but he did not seem upset, only tightened his metal fingers around her. When she achieved the purpose of the activity, there was a moment where she was uncertain of what she was doing. When her mind cleared, she found she was biting his neck. And had gutted his pillow. Feathers were drifting in the air like snow.

Snakt. She released her hold on him, and drew back. "I am…sorry." Her voice was barely a hoarse whisper. Had she forgotten to breathe? For how long?

"I'm not." He kissed her again.

She pressed up against him, closing her eyes. She liked it best when they were joined like this. When the tingling had stopped, and she could focus on him. And when he was quiet, using his actions, his touches to communicate, instead of words. When she knew that he was focused on her.

He ran his hands down her sides. "We should get some sleep."

"Okay." She paused. "Julian?"

"Yeah."

"…" her eyebrows drew together. "I am...glad you are not dead."

He smiled sleepily. "Thanks."

She kissed him again, trying not to think about tomorrow. And then, even though she did not think she would be able to sleep, she did.