A/N: Haha, yes, Choi rocks. However, for some reason I felt that he drew Laura a little less pretty than before :( I'm not sure...I might have been biased by accidentally reading a review of his Laura-work where someone said he didn't draw her as looking pretty. I am extremely vulnerable to other people's opinions...lol. They stick in my head. Anyways, here we go...this and the next chapter are my faves.
Laura K. Howlett: I would love to put ur drawing up!! That sounds so hawt. I'm gonna be doing a few of Phoenix Hellion + X-23 myself, should be...hawt, literally. Oooh that was a bad one . . . V.V lol lemme know! my e-mail addy is on the website...which is also, incidentally, my MSN if anyone wants to chat about our favorite pairinf, I'm usually up for that. Who am I kidding...I always am up for it. I will probably make people block me...lol. ahem anyways yup STUFF! oh yeah and that baby...read this chap for my take on it ;-) it's who I think the MC comic baby is.
zackslacker18: sorry, this is a bit complicated to read by chapters. Chapter 27 is like the first part of a realization: Chapters 28 & 29 elaborate. If you read it straight through when they're all out, it will make alot more sense. It's one of those time paradoxes ;)
ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is titled after the Nirvana song Rape Me, which was one of the inspirations that helped me write this chapter. I don't believe in the traditional song fic; but I really suggest youtubinb or facebook or pandora'ing this song or whatever way you can get to hear it if you haven't before...it's worth it. Or look up the lyrics. Alot of chapters after this one have song bases, and you can google the title to find the lyrics for the song...I will put a note every time it's related to something you can look up. It kind of gives a cool little extra insight to the character's thoughts.
Chapter 28: rape me
"Easy, easy, it's over. Breathe." Julian stroked her forehead, watching the nurse carefully as she finished cleaning the baby's
airways and tying the umbilical cord. He didn't know how he felt yet. He felt disconnected, spaced out; this couldn't be happening.
"It's a girl," the nurse said quietly, surprising neither of them.
She laid it on Laura's chest carefully, smiling as the baby's foot kicked up her sleeve; despite her earlier words, and her fright, she
was not an evil woman. Seeing a small, innocent, normal-looking creature had soften her outlook slightly.
"Ohh—" the nurse gasped, looking at her hands. She'd just removed her gloves. A series of quarter-sized burn marks she'd gained
as a five year old child had disappeared, along with the cut she'd given herself with a chopping knife last week while dicing onions for dinner.
Julian and Laura were occupied with their offspring, both leaning in close for a good look.
"Your eyes," Julian said immediately, staring at the beautiful green orbs looking into his blue ones. He felt awed—it was finally sinking in, this
little creature was part of him, he'd made it. Or helped to make it. "Your face. Oh, look, my thumbs though. And both our hair, I guess." He grinned.
"Julian—" Laura sat up, clutching the girl tight to her chest. "They have followed us. They will take her." She stared at him, white-lipped
with terror. She nuzzled their daughter's head, then she shoved her into his arms. "Keep her safe. Take her away. She cannot be exposed
to fighting."
"Huh?" Julian found his arms full of baby. Laura was scrambling out of the bed, her claws sliding out, like she hadn't just given birth.
"What—" Julian paled as the door busted open, and Magneto entered the room, quite calmly, followed by a few of his most devoted
servants—Mystique, Juggernaut, Sabretooth (who had a creepy grin on his face).
"My, my, Mr. Keller. Quite frankly, I am disappointed; you are unprepared for us."
"I'm sorry, my wife just had a baby, so yeah, we got a little distracted. What's your excuse? " Julian sounded angry, his arm curled
tightly around his daughter while the other found Laura's waist in preparation. They'd been caught with their pants down, literally.
It was hard to focus on fighting when his head was crammed with the though ohmigodbaby.
Magneto only smiled.
"What do you want anyways?" Julian was calculating the odds of mach-speed versus Magneto's almost instantaneous grasp. For all
he knew, the old man already was holding them in place, and he couldn't tell because of the fucking helmet.
"The child, Mr. Keller," the older man said gravely. "She is the hope for our kind…for mutant kind. I trust you wish to keep her alive,
which will not happen if you do not follow my instructions."
"Which are?"
"You will give her to me." Magneto tilted his head. "Do not be afraid. She will be honored as the mother of all mutants."
"Rape me," Julian said harshly. He pulled on Laura.
…
"What have you done?" Laura asked, looking around them. They were in the same ward—but the bed was made, and the sun shone through
the shutters, whereas before it had been dark, as it was night. Julian cuddled the little form against his chest, feeling undeniable, overwhelming
affection towards it.
He suddenly realized he'd sacrifice his life for it.
"I—I don't know," he said, a little confused.
"We've gone back," Laura said, checking the date on the clipboard at the end of the bed. "Julian…oh…this is the infant that we fought for.
The war is over our offspring."
"Huh?" Julian shifted his daughter in her arms; she was so quiet, so observant.
"Right now…the X-men are witnessing the appearance of the first mutant infant since M-day through Cerebro. They are discussing, they are
coming to investigate. Others, tapping their sources, and acting independently, are also preparing to find us."
A chill of horror shot down Julian's spine. The baby…the thing that'd ripped his life apart in the first place, was doing it all over again.
"Fuck, I hate my life!" Julian exclaimed. "Why, God, why? I'm already one of the last mutants alive, which means I've signed a warrant for
my own execution. I may have paranoid schizophrenia. And, I'm a twenty-year-old-parent without a formal education or a job. No, that's
not enough…my kid is the antichrist!"
Laura looked down.
"I am sorry. I should not have continued my association with you."
"Don't say that." Julian switched arms, hefting the little girl against his right shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm being a whiny little bitch. At least…at
least we know what happens…she makes it out alive. We all do."
"Cable," Laura said, her eyes on his. "We have to find Cable. He will keep her safe." Her voice wavered a bit on her last words.
"Oh, Laura…" he pulled her against him, hard, as she started to cry silently, her shoulder shaking. His own eyes were wet—he was crying
with her, he wasn't afraid to admit this. He'd never felt so torn. His own child—after he'd just realized how much she meant to him, and
how much she would mean to him.
"Why do I exist?" she asked him, the top of her head tucked under his chin.
Julian couldn't answer her.
…
"The baby was first detected in Alaska, right?" Julian asked, sitting haphazardly on the wooden chair in the mysteriously deserted
reception area. His elbows rested on his knees, his hands dangling down between his calves.
Laura was walking back and forth slowly, cradling her daughter.
"Cooperstown, Alaska, at precisely thirteen-fifty-seven and thirty six seconds on the clock."
"How convenient," Julian mumbled. "You sure it's safe to sit around here like chickens in an unguarded henhouse, just waiting for
the fox? Maybe we should paint little target signs on our backs."
Laura pressed her cheek against her daughter's. "I do not think the opposition will have trouble with aim, Julian. I do not wish
to assist them, in any case."
Julian, despite himself, grinned. "Laura…I love you," he said.
"I love you, too." She kissed the girl's ear. "Her name is Sarah."
"So you've said before," Julian watched them, the mother and the daughter, his expression softer. "And the middle? Most people
have two names. Mine is Patrick. Don't think I ever told you that."
Laura tilted her head. "You did, once. When you were intoxicated."
Julian leaned back in his seat and rubbed his neck. "What?...oh." He laughed. "I was pretty wasted. You mean that time on the
school roof, right? At midnight?"
Laura nodded. "You told me a lot of things."
"You were pretty far gone yourself, beautiful. Forty shots to get you drunk, not a cheap date…worth it though. I've never seen you
so relaxed…you were totally off your game. How the hell do you remember details like a name I told you?"
Laura smiled slightly. "My memory records every detail of my surroundings, even when I am barely conscious."
"Rachel," he said suddenly. "That's what Mom was going to name my sister."
"Sister?" Laura stroked Sarah's downy head. The child continued to be silent and observant, sucking her thumb quietly. She seemed intelligent.
"She…didn't make it," Julian said, frowning. "Miscarriage. I wanted a sister. I think it's what finally made my parents so cold."
He stood up at the same moment Laura's head swiveled to the side, and little Sarah's eyes focused on the door. They had all, in their
own way, sensed the same thing. A presence.
"Just in time," Cable said, opening the door.
"Took you long enough," Julian said, clearing his throat. "I guess you know what's up. You seemed to be in on it before."
Nate watched Laura curiously. "Funny, I'd always figured that Rachel was my sister, or cousin, or something. But you're not of any relation
to the Summers, are you?"
"Fuck no, and frankly I'm glad," Julian scoffed. "Her name is Sarah, by the way. Sarah Rachel Keller." He shifted.
Cable moved over to Laura, who was clutching Sarah protectively, her eyes wet again. "Here, I need to do something that will improve her chances,"
he said, touching the infant's head. A few curls of reddish hair emerged from her scalp.
Julian rubbed his chin. "You're duping Cyclops, aren't you?"
"Dad's a bit of a hypocrite, as all strong leaders are," Cable said wisely. "If this was just any baby…when it comes down to it, he'd let it take
the hit." Laura inhaled sharply, involuntarily. "But if he thinks it's somehow related to Jean…he'll let it get away with murder."
He looked sad for a moment. "Laura, I'm sorry, you know what I have to do. I have to take your baby now. Say good-bye then leave, the
Purifiers aren't more than three minutes away from here."
Laura pressed her cheek again to her daughters. This was the second Sarah she'd have to let go of, the fourth of her family she'd had to bid goodbye.
"Good bye." She closed her eyes and passed Sarah over, feeling nauseous. Julian took hold of her elbows from behind, biting his lip,
but she wrenched free, her claws ejecting. "Go, NOW!" she shouted at Cable, her voice unnatural and choked. She turned her back
on her daughter and did not watch as Cable barged back out through the door.
"Laura…we have to get out of here," Julian said, as she fell onto her knees and began scraping at the floor with her claws. "I can sense
them coming. Purifiers, hundreds of them!"
The claws travelled up to her wrists, scoring enormous bloody trails up the skin. "No, no…beautiful…" he dropped beside her and
forced her hands apart. "We need to go."
"I do not care anymore!" Laura yelled. "They can come! I will allow them to kill me! I do not want this life! I would rather die now."
She said the last words in a quiet voice, staring blankly ahead.
"Mutants!"
Julian scooped Laura up in his arms, his heart frozen. They were here—oh god, there were so many. Purifiers.
They couldn't possibly fight them all off at once.
And then he realized they were going down. They were going to die.
"You know that anger you're feeling, Laura? Feel free to take it out on these fucking monsters," he said, his fingers tightening on her back.
X-23 looked up, her eyes red and promising death.
