A/N: Haha, I hear you...I have a chem exam tomorrow myself...I r scared. Yep, this arc is gonna be interesting! And it paves the way for other plots in the story.
(Volume: 2 Arc: "Down the Rabbit Hole" 7 Issue: 2/4 )
Chapter 57: you know what you are?
"LAURA! FASTER!" Julian squealed. They'd already established that their powers were missing—again—and that a large raptor of some sort could run faster
than themselves. They had been running for about ten minutes already, without their hunter giving up; he looked hungry.
"Julian!" she looked back; the raptor snapped at his leg and three teeth caught the back of his calf and raked down, about a half-inch deep.
"ARRGH!" he yelled, falling; and it was about to come back for more, when Laura made a fist.
"Don't get any ideas that I like you or anything," she said, her claws popping. She only winced—it must have hurt terribly—and then she lunged at the raptor,
like some kind of vicious hunting cat. Slash, slash, slish—the predator's head flew off and landed beside Julian, washing over him in a wave of reptile blood.
He coughed and sat up.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
He nodded. " Nothing that'll kill me," he said, examining the leg-wound. It was seeping blood, but he didn't think it was deep enough to cause him serious problems.
" We have to move," Laura said, looking around. "Where there's one, there's more…and we must smell pretty delicious right now."
Julian swallowed. "Shrimps nearly were desert, huh?" he asked.
Laura frowned, retracting one set of claws. The holes stayed open, gushing blood.
"Here..." Julian pulled off his shirt. "You'd better bind your hands. Save some for me. AND AND you should know…that's my favorite shirt, I've had it since forever."
" I'm so touched," Laura said sarcastically. She put the shirt down on a rock, then sliced it into strips. She cut around the Nirvana happy-face logo, then handed it to him;
he stuffed it in his pocket with a grin.
…
" Croikey, mate, that's a big lizard," Julian said. They'd finished binding their wounds, and were now examining the felled raptor.
"I want to be the first to say, what the fuck? Where are we?!"
" I don't know," Laura said, her eyes roaming around. "Wait, you remember that simulation Emma ran for us, once?"
" Ohh…" Julian blinked. "Yeah…Savage Lands…oh shit…it's dino country. But…why? Why would Jean send us here?"
" I think you were threatening her," Laura said, frowning. "Keller…I was watching you…when you did that. With the door. Your eyes…they were starting to look like Jean's."
Julian stared. "No way."
Laura looked down. "It took a lot of energy to open that door…if you even noticed, Keller. She was almost completely full-out Phoenix…and you ripped it out of her control, like nothing."
"That wasn't 'nothing' ," Julian started.
" Yes—yes it was. When you started concentrating—Keller, I thought you were going to tear the school down. Then you and Jean just stared at each other for a moment…you know
what you are?" She put her hand on his chest. "I think it went into you."
" That's bullshit." Julian turned away, knowing exactly what she was talking about. When he'd been healed. "So…Jean didn't want to kill us…she sent us away. I wonder if
Professor Xavier and Professor Summers are here, too? Even if they're not, they'll look for us, right? They saw us disappear."
Laura made a noise, a strange cough. Then..
"Keller...a Shrimp just moved."
…
" Laura, stop fidgeting. This is uncomfortable enough already," Julian hissed. They were in the forest, cuddled together under the leaves of an enormous plant.
He had torn one off the tree to cover them; Laura had found some moss to lie on and they'd made a makeshift bed. It was still lumpy and slightly damp; and
now Laura was moving like there were ants in her pants. "I think they're fighting in there," she said.
Julian reached around her and curled his fingers on her bulge. It was definitely larger now; at three and a half months, he could tell she was pregnant. And then
he felt it—something poked the palm of his hand. It felt like a foot kick. He grinned. "Strong," he said, then there was a kick from the other side.
"OW!" Laura sat up. "That hurt. I think it pinched my uterus!"
Julian couldn't help snorting.
"Tell them to stop," she said, glaring at him.
" They don't have ears yet," he said.
" How do you know?" Laura asked. "Surprise! The preggos book is back at home…in the mansion…with our bed and my comfy clothes…"
Julian sighed, and pushed her down gently, running his hands down her front and leaning close to her stomach. "What, should I talk here? Or…"
" I'm not in the mood for that," Laura said sharply, recognizing what he was hinting at. " Just…tell them to stop."
" Knock it the fuck off, Shrimps!" He yelled at her stomach. A bird left the tree somewhere above them. "Mommy's trying to sleep. So is Dad."
Laura cringed. "You didn't have to yell at them. I bet they just peed their pants in there. Way to go, Keller, you're an abusive parent to unborn children!"
"They don't have pants yet," Julian said, kissing her stomach and stretching back out beside her. "That better?"
" Mmm. I think they stopped." Laura closed her eyes, and soon she was asleep. Julian tried to stay awake also, to keep watch; but the events of the day caught up
with him, and he, too, fell asleep.
…
" KELLER! Wake up, you fucktard!" Laura smacked his cheek; he rubbed it and glared at her. "Laura…what the hell," he said.
" You were supposed to keep watch," she hissed. "What if a dino had come eaten me while you were sleeping?"
" I would have high-fived it," Julian grumbled, sitting up. "That would have been one intelligent dinosaur. Would've been doing the world a favor."
Laura glared at him. "I should've let you get eaten, yesterday," she snarled.
" Oh alright, I'm sorry," Julian said. " Laura, I was so fucking tired…the hypothetical dino could've eaten me tonight and I wouldn'tve noticed. Let's just decide what we need to do…"
Still bickering, they picked their way through the woods until they came across a stream of water. They bathed and drank, bickered some more, then decided to head West—their
simulation had required them to find the X-wing, parked on the shore and they had used the sun's position to find it, without a compass—figuring they would be more visible to
rescuers on a beach than in a forest. It was hard going, and they often fell silent, the crunch of twigs and swing of bush limbs the only sounds from either.
…
" Did you hear that?" Laura asked suddenly, holding up her hand.
" You're the one with enhanced hearing here," Julian mumbled, forgetting about the power situation. ROAR.
" Okay, I heard that. Wait—LAURA!" she'd ran into opposite direction; Julian cursed and ran after her, wondering what would happen if they met a dinosaur—and how she could
run with wounds in her feet from the claws. She led him through a section of thick forest, across a stream—he didn't recognize it as the one from earlier—and into a clearing,
with wildflowers. There was a giant raptor, shaking its head angrily—and Julian's eyes widened—some people, classmates—New Mutants. Ashida, Alleyne and Sofia were fending it off.
"KELLER!" Ashida yelled, spotting them in the distance. "LAURA, HELP!" Laura ran, her claws sliding through the bindings again. Julian glanced around, picked up a stick, and followed her,
wondering what he could do, but determined that his pregnant, younger wife wasn't going to be the one to do everything.
Bounding off the ground, Laura leapt towards the back of the raptor. Its tail caught her in midair; she cried out, her claws sweeping through the tip and severing it.
"ARGH!" Julian threw himself headlong and caught her before she hit the ground, terrified that she would get hurt.
"Thanks," she coughed, scrambling to her feet.
"Here, sharpen this," he said, giving her the stick. Ashida was throwing rocks at the raptor, not to much effect, but for the moment it had left off them.
"I used to throw javelin in school. Let's see if I can get it."
Laura lopped at the stick twice, forming a sharp. toothpick-style point; he pressed his finger to the tip. " Good." He turned around, took careful aim—then threw it.
"Oh, well done, Keller! You're good for something, after all," Laura said, grinning. The raptor was making awful noises; the lance had embedded itself quite deeply in its large, dull-yellow eye.
Laura ran towards it again, ducking its flailing legs, and stabbed her fists deeply into its solar plexus. She turned her hands over and pulled up, gutting the raptor up to its throat; then she
viciously spread her hands, severing its head.
" Wow," Alleyne said, panting. "Wouldn't want to make her angry."
"I do it all the time," Julian said, watching the raptor fall over. Laura retracted her claws and made her way back to them, covered in blood, but grinning. "That was awesome! Can we do it again?"
" NO," Julian said firmly.
" I can't believe I'm about to say this…" Nori said, "but I'm so glad to see you guys, even Keller. Where are we?"
…
Around a campfire (that Alleyne knew how to make), they pieced together what had happened. They decided, finally, that Jean had teleported all the children out of the school so that she
could fight with the other professors.
"So Santo and the other Hellions are probably here," Julian, concerned. "I hope Cess is okay. I wonder if she's still silver?"
"We haven't seen anyone else here," Alleyne said.
"Do we have a strategy?" Sofia asked. She glanced at Julian; he felt uncomfortable. Even though he'd chosen Laura, some of the initial attraction to Sofia had been left over, and he wasn't
sure if she knew he'd actually gotten married.
"We ran a simulation in the Danger Room where we had to find the X-wing here," Laura said, noticing this exchange but ignoring it for the moment. "We headed West, towards the beach.
We should go there now…better visibility."
" Where is here?" Nori asked.
" The Savage Lands," Laura said grimly.
The kids were silent for a while.
" Someone has to come find us, eventually," Julian said. " We just have to stay alive long enough for that to happen. In the meantime…let's head to the shore…and look for others on the way."
No one argued.
…
" I miss my powers," Nori whined. "I could be to the shore so fast if I had them…"
" Quit whining, Ashida," Julian said. "We all miss our powers. Laura can't heal…and if I could, I would just fly us all home."
Nori glared at him. "You're such a jerk, Keller."
" So I've been told," he said, noticing that Laura was walking beside him now; he reached out and took her hand. She didn't pull away this time. They'd been walking for what seemed like forever;
the sun was going down, and they couldn't see signs of coast yet.
Alleyne made them another campfire, and said they should eat; Julian realized he was starving, not having eaten for two days.
"You guys should hunt. You're men, that's what men are for," Nori grumbled.
"I don't like killing things!" Alleyne protested.
"God, I'm surrounded by pussies!" Julian said, getting to his feet. "Fine. Do I have to do everything here?"
"We don't know if the raptors are safe to eat. Try to find something small…like a rabbit, or a squirrel," David advised.
" Be careful, Julian," Sofia said.
" I'm going, too. I don't trust Keller to fight his way out of a wet paper bag," Laura said, getting up.
"Nonono, you stay, beautiful," Julian said, the word slipping out. He saw Sofia twitch slightly; he always used to call her that. He felt bad. But he sometimes called Laura that, too.
"Forget it. I'm coming." Laura adjusted her hand bandages. "Let's go."
" Try to find some marsh mellows!" Nori called after them.
They left the little fire-lit group behind, holding a makeshift torch (made from a stick, a piece of the remnants of Julian's shirt, and tree sap found on a massive cedar tree. David had
apparently been a boy scout as a child—which didn't surprise Julian—and therefore knew a lot of handy survival techniques), and a bundle of spears (Laura had sharpened more sticks,
and they'd burned the ends in the fire). They'd left them far behind, unable to see even the flicker of the campfire, into a small area surrounded by exotic plants and wildflowers when
Laura spoke again.
"Julian…" He turned, holding the torch up; she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him, hard. It caught him by surprise, and he almost dropped the torch; he dropped the spears
instead and wrapped his arm around her tightly. "I love you," she said softly when she pulled away. "I was so scared when the dino nearly got you, yesterday. I'm sorry I snapped at you
this morning…I…I'm scared…"
"It's okay," he murmured, touching her chin, then he kissed her again. "I love you, so much, too. You're silly. I forgot you yelled." He kissed her forehead, and her nose, admiring again the
fact that he could, after all they'd been through.
"Put it down," she said softly, nodding to the torch. He raised his eyebrows, then knelt and stabbed it into the soil. When he turned back, he felt his heart squeeze out an extra beat;
Laura was undoing the last button on her top.
" Well, I guess they can wait," he grinned.
…
"Keller! What took you so long?! I'm STARVING!" Nori shouted, as Laura and Julian finally came back into view, dragging some sort of deer creature between them.
"I said small," David said apprehensively.
"Smallest thing around, Alleyne," Julian grinned. He was covered in dirt, and looked sweaty. "It put up quite a fight."
" Mhmm," Laura agreed. She, too, looked disheveled; her hair was a mess, and equally dirty. Her top was also rumpled, and the buttons were mismatched.
"Well, I guess it'll do…I don't think a deer could be poisonous," David said. "Got something sharp?"
Laura popped her claws in response, with only a wince. "Tell me where to cut. I didn't take any wildlife training. Damn shame! This is fun."
Their supper, surprisingly, tasted quite good. They hacked large pieces off the deer, skinned it, then dragged the carcass away again so they wouldn't become targeted by nasty, hungry
predators during the night. They paired off to sleep around the fire, agreeing to keep watch in shifting pairs. David and Sofia offered to take the first watch, seeing as Nori was exhausted,
and Julian and Laura had caught supper. Laura moved around the tall fire and sat down. Julian followed, not about to be separated from her because others were watching; he was only
mildly surprised that Laura didn't resist when he stretched out beside her. " Hold me," she whispered in his ear. He happily complied, wrapping his arm snugly under her breasts.
He was out like a light.
