Hey! Another chapter within a week! Yay! Hope you enjoy!

January 23rd 1973

Laurien pressed her face hard into the shag carpet of her living room, resisting the sudden urge to bang her head into the ground as another steady agonizing pulsation cut through her forehead. She gritted her teeth and groaned, her fingernails digging into her scalp as she curled in on herself.

Tears were streaming from her eyes as she willed for it to stop, each pulsation bringing the sensation of a sledgehammer being smashed into her frontal cortex, only for it to be followed by its aftermath of a chainsaw rattling against her skull.

She let out a hoarse sob as a particularly cruel pang of pain ripped through her, prompting her to grip at the shag carpet before ripping out a giant chunk and clenching it tightly in her fist. She barely flinched at the crash of her cutlery drawer being ripped out of its spot and the clatter of all the utensils hitting the ground, her only reaction is to frantically pin her hands beneath her knees, afraid that her powers might grab onto something else.

After who knows how much longer, the pulsations finally began to relent, allowing Laurien to gradually relax her body as the pain ebbed away into a dull pound at the back of her head. She grunted in discomfort as her muscles protested, unhappy at being too tense and taut for so long. She slowly rolled onto her back, closing her wet eyes tightly as she slung her arm over them, letting the darkness calm her as she tried to regain her bearings.

"Shit." She muttered, her chest heaving mightily as her breaths came out in heavy puffs. When her breathing soon slowed, Laurien removed her arm from her eyes, cursing again under her breath when she noticed the telltale blotches of mascara on her skin before letting her arm flop to her side.

She slowly got to her knees and crawled over to the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the harsh lights as she summoned her medication bottle over to her as she stretched out on the tile. She struggled with the cap for longer than she'd like to admit, before she was finally able to pop two tablets in her mouth and gulped them down as if she had just found water in the middle of the barren desert.

Laurien sighed deeply after she felt them take effect in a couple of minutes, feeling well enough to finally get to her feet and wash her face at the sink, wiping away the smudged raccoon mascara on her face and arms well enough to look at least presentable before she rolled down her black sleeves over the patchwork skin.

She found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror, grimacing slightly as her eyes immediately jumped to the thick scar that stretched from the edge of her left eyebrow and across her temple before disappearing into her hair that had been pulled back into a high ponytail, her light bangs hardly hiding any centimeter of the scar. Laurien resisted the temptation to grab onto some makeup foundation to cover up the horrid line, only allowing herself to let out a deep breath of irritation as her grey eyes flitted down, looking for something to distract her from looking at it for too long.

Her gaze soon fell upon a small red movement near her foot, where a small mouse was curiously inspecting her sock. Not wanting to startle the tiny ginger-furred creature, she stayed still, only moving when the mouse finally lost interest and scurried away behind the toilet, most likely escaping through a hole in the wall that she'd neglected to block.

A sudden, but unfortunately familiar pang of sadness hit her heart, as the mouse's red fur reminded Laurien of Shasta. Quickly shoving the unwanted memory away as her scar sparked painfully, Laurien dragged her feet over to the kitchen, carefully stepping around the cutlery, before she stared for an uncomfortable amount of time at the items in the pantry before eventually closing it, completely uninspired.

The clock on the kitchen wall read five-thirty seven, but she wasn't the least bit hungry, despite the fact that she hadn't eaten at all that day, though she finally settled for an unappetizing looking apple to gnaw wistfully on to quiet the logical side of her conscience as she stared out the window at the long field before her house.

It was strange how even though she'd lived on the property for a little under three years, she still felt like a complete stranger. It didn't matter how many times she drove to the beautiful city of Ottawa, it was still foreign to her. Maybe it was just her, but the woods near the house seemed cold and forbidden, the neighbors more acquaintances than friends, and the very floor she stood on felt hard and echoed eerily when she walked upon it. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, the sun setting in the distance rather off putting, as it reminded her that it wouldn't be long before the nightmares would be upon her.

Laurien took another bite of her apple before placing it on the counter and flicking her wrist at the radio across the room, moving the dial just enough that a soft croon erupted from the speaker, letting her know that she'd just caught the tail end of The Beatles' 'Let It Be'.

A small smile appeared on her face. Sean had been obsessed with the Beatles after they first released 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' in the US, always playing their records day and night, to the point where Laurien had them memorized by heart. She sighed to herself, knowing that Sean would be absolutely crushed if he knew that they'd broken up a few years ago, if he were even still alive.

Laurien felt a jolt, the familiar beginning twangs of a guitar were emitted from across the room as the next song started, startling her into turning around fast enough to see the radio being flattened in a spray of electrical sparks as the music ceased abruptly. She stared in shock at what was left of the radio, before her eyes slowly drifted down to her hands, both of which were shaking minutely.

Quickly shoving them in her high-waisted pockets, she made to move toward the radio to clean up her mess, when a knock on the door made her freeze in her path. She glanced at the front door, frowning as she noticed a shadow being cast upon the curtains in front of the adjacent window. Summoning the frying pan out from one of the kitchen drawers and into her hand, Laurien crept toward the door, her still shaking hand reaching out to clasp the cold doorknob as she peered through the peephole. She sighed and put down the frying pan safely on the floor before opening the door to reveal her neighbor who lived on the next acre over, Jane, who held up a tray of lasagna in a greeting.

Laurien smiled and rested her head against the doorframe. "How did you know?"

Jane smirked back at her, her short dark hair getting blown about in the chilly wind. "Call it a hunch."

Laurien opened up the door wider as Jane handed her the lasagna. "Would you like to come in?"

"No, it's all right, I've got to get back to the kids, they've been getting a little bit fussy with John being gone for so long."

Laurien nodded, knowing that Jane's husband was overseas helping out with the war effort in Vietnam, even though Canada was officially non-belligerent. "Do you know when he's coming back?"

Jane's smile grew wider, her small frame almost vibrating in excitement. "There are peace talks scheduled next week in Paris, which I hope means that he'll be back soon."

"That's good to hear." Laurien said, and it was, considering how long the war in Vietnam had been going.

She could still recall the day that they had all sat by the television as they called out the draft lottery numbers four years ago. Alex had sat next to her, eyes glued to the ground as the announcer said his number, and the numbers of many of the other students and teachers. Her heart had plummeted into her stomach as Alex's shoulders sagged underneath the immense weight that had been placed on him all of a sudden. God, she hoped that he was all right, it had been ages since he'd replied to a letter.

"You feeling better today?" Jane asked harmlessly, bringing Laurien back from her reverie.

She nodded as convincingly as she could, trying not to wince as she moved her head. "Yeah, I'm really hoping to get back to work soon, if they haven't already given away my position to someone else."

"Aw, well, I'm sure they haven't. Jane reassured her sympathetically before leaning in and lowering her voice. "But don't be afraid to draw it out if you can."

Laurien shook her head, smirking. "Nah, I just want to get back to normal. Maybe they'll give me some shorter hours to ease myself back into it."

"They will, don't you worry." Jane said, making to move down the steps to the house. "Well, I'll leave you be, but if you need anything, don't be afraid to call or come over, all right Catlijn?"

Laurien forced another small smile, still not quite used to her new name, even after three years, but she found that recently it was growing on her. Catlijn De Jaager was a thirty-two year old nurse, no mother or father, only child, and had a great dislike for guns ever since a patient shot her after getting a hold of an officer's gun in 1969, and was now on medical leave since then, or that's at least what it said in her file. It wasn't far from the truth, but living even a slight version of a lie still bothered her from time to time, even though it was a necessity, seeing as the risk of keeping her own name was far too high after she left the United States.

"All right, thanks again." Laurien said, giving Jane a small wave as she watched her make her way back across the field to her own house, wondering how that little woman could manage three kids on her own.

Laurien closed the door and immediately put the lasagna in the fridge, resolving to clean up the scattered cutlery on the floor until there was another knock on the door. Frowning, she walked back over to the front, thinking that maybe Jane had forgotten something, and put her hand on the doorknob, only to receive an extreme electric shock that sent her stumbling backwards as the door was slammed open.

Before Laurien could react, small tendrils were sent flying at her, piercing her chest with thin needles as an excruciating current suddenly shot through her bones. She collapsed on her back, her entire body rigid and trembling as she noticed a group of men enter her house, all heavily armed and wearing military grade protective gear.

With her nails digging painfully into the palms of her hands, Laurien saw a man approach her with a familiar looking gun with a dart sticking out the end. He released a shot, but the dart paused in mid-air before turning back on its owner and burying itself in his neck. With the initial shock gone, Laurien ripped the electrified needles from her skin and spun around, knocking the legs out from under one of the men, before sending the taser at another, not allowing herself the satisfaction to watch them hit the ground before she latched onto the frying pan by the door with her powers and clocked a shorter man in the head with it as it flew to her hand.

With four more left, she dove beneath the nearby coffee table, flipping it on its side as she evaded more of the soaring darts. She grabbed onto the men's vests and launched them back into the far side of her house, one of the men actually going through a wall before collapsing into a heap in her broom closet.

Huh, she thought, it was actually a lot easier this time.

Breathing heavily, and still shaking terribly from the after effects of the taser, Laurien summoned all of the men's walkie talkies and crushed them together into a crumbling boulder of plastic and batteries before snapping their guns in half.

Going into overdrive, she ran to her bedroom and grabbed two bags from the closet, simultaneously filling them both up with all of her necessary things, her clothes, her wallet and passport, the books, and the photographs, before latching the bags to her back. She sprinted back through the house, grabbing all the last miscellaneous items that would show that Laurien van Tiel had been there, before heading for the door. She looked carefully out the peephole before opening the door a smidge as the electric buzz and grunts of the man being tasered echoed in her ears.

Laurien spotted a large military car parked next to her small blue truck, two men putting what looked to be a boot on one of the wheels. Letting out a small huff of irritation, she pushed back the men into the military car with her powers from a distance before dashing outside, removing the unfinished boot with a quick twist of her fingers.

As she got into the driver's seat of the truck after throwing her bags in the back and setting her brown suede jacket down on the seat next to her, Laurien became aware of the icy cold fluid that seemed to be pulsating through her veins. It sent a tingling sensation through her entire body, but she simply dismissed it, seeing as this was the most she'd used her mutation in a long time.

Shifting the truck into gear, she made sure not to run over any prone bodies as she drove around the military car, speeding toward the dirt road that led to the city. Laurien's heart was beating so fast, she thought that it might burst, but as the truck went through the forest, the adrenaline started to wear off and what Laurien could only describe as extreme panic began to set in.

How the hell had they found her? She wondered frantically, though she then supposed that she was lucky to have made it this long without an incident, seeing as others couldn't say the same.

She continued down the road, with her mind working restlessly as her hands gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, her palms still throbbing from her nails digging into them. Where was she going to go? The city was an option, though it seemed to be an only temporary one. They would be searching high and low for her, but she needed time to create a new identity, and Bellamy wasn't around anymore for that. She needed to face the facts that she was utterly alone and stuck.

Laurien hadn't realized how fast she was going, considering that when another car appeared in her path at the crossroads, she swerved sharply, fortunately screeching to a stop before she could plow into a tree on the side of the road. She let out a rattling breath as she carefully pried her hands from off the steering wheel and opened the door to the truck, hoping to sort things out quickly and get on her way. When Laurien stepped out of her truck, and looked over at the passengers getting out of the car, she stopped dead in her tracks when she immediately recognized them, or at least the majority of them.

A bedraggled looking, long-haired Charles stepped out of the passenger side, whilst a tall man with a questionable hairstyle and a brown leather jacket came out of the driver's seat and tried to talk to her, but she couldn't hear him over the loud roar in her ears.

Behind them, sat Hank in his human form, which she'd known about before she'd left, but then her eyes fell upon the woman in the back seat sitting alongside him.

Laurien almost forgot to breathe when she suddenly realized who it was. It was the mismatched eyed woman from the picture.

"Sera." Laurien whispered breathlessly.

Dun, dun, dun, she's finally here. Sorry for keeping you guys hanging, but she needed to come in at a specific time, and it took me a while to realize it. So there are some new things that we have learned about, but what happened during those ten missing years? We'll find out soon... Hope you guys all enjoyed, thank you to everyone, and please leave a review!