A/N: I have entirely too much work -.-

( Volume: 3 Arc: "king for a day" 10 Issue: 6/7 )

Chapter 116: knight

They were sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner; spaghetti and meatballs. Another chair had been added, for James, who was making faces at his plate and
poking the meatballs with his fork, to be difficult (somewhat like Nate, who had a plateful of mashed food and likes to make shapes with it; but the boy did this
out of playfulness and not sullenness).

"Yes, they're frozen and store-bought, so if you have complaints, I can give you a number to call," Laura said loudly, looking at James pointedly. "Otherwise, eat it."

"…" the boy raised his eyes. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"I won't if you do it without needing to be told," Laura said, wrinkling her nose.

"You're not my mom!" James hissed. "You're, like, three years older than me!"

"Technically, I am your mom," Laura said snidely, then nodded to Julian, who was stuffing his mouth with noodles. "You can thank your brother here for that. He's
just all kinds of awesome."

Julian realized they were both glaring at him; slurp, as he struggled to inhale his noodles. "Er," he said, his eyes wide.

James dropped his fork with a clatter, pushed his chair away, and ran to the door. SLAM! They watched the picture on the wall tilt, then Laura picked up the ruler
and rushed to measure the distance.

"Half an inch," she announced, wrinkling her nose. "Damnit! I was sure I was going to get a full inch out of him that time."

"Sounds dirty," Julian said. "Seriously…you've got to stop provoking him. That's no fair…how am I supposed to compete?"

"I can make you mad, too, if you want," Laura said, grinning as she returned to the table. "But in all reality, it won't work. You know about the contest, and I can't
trust that you won't try to tilt the picture on purpose."

Julian wrinkled his nose at her. "What time is it?"

"Almost time to go," Laura said, looking at the clock (visible from her position at the table, as it was above the fridge in the kitchen). "Look…I'm coming with you."

"No. I'll be fine." He finished a last forkful then pushed his plate away. "You need to watch the collection of babies that we've accumulated, through various circumstances."

"I'll get Logan to come play house-sitter," Laura said. "Maybe he can knock some sense into the newest brat."

"I don't want you to come!" Julian said, a bit louder. "You'd be in the way."

Laura snorted. "I'd like to see you say that again. With a straight face."

Julian frowned. "I'd…I'd worry, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

"How do you think I feel?" Laura asked. "It's much more likely that you're going to croak on a thing like this. Keller, I'm coming whether you like it or not, I've decided."

Julian made a face. "I'm flying. You can't fly."

"I'll jack an X-wing, I swear," Laura said. "And put it on autopilot. I could totally do it. I've been watching you…I know how. And those things have less security than your car ."

Julian considered the fact that she could back up this threat. "Kingmaker said not to let you know."

"So?"

"Oh, fine," Julian snapped, getting up and bringing his plate to the sink. "Just ignore how I feel then."

"I'll go get our 'fightin' dreads'," Laura grinned.

…

"Nice night for it," Laura commented, as she followed Julian up the dark path to the school. He was still zipping up his red jacket, his expression full of annoyance at
her for insisting on accompanying him.

"It's never a nice night for shit like this," he said.

"True," Laura said. She paused suddenly and turned around. "What the hell are you doing, James?"

Julian turned. "Huh?"

Laura pointed at a tree, slightly behind them. Julian lit his finger and held it up, illuminating the trees around; there was James, crouched on a low branch, watching them.

With a sweat jacket on, indicating he'd gone back to the house for it, preparing to go out.

James was silent, shocked at having been discovered. He'd been quite certain that he would be able to follow them, at leisure.

"I'm coming with you!" he blurted.

Julian sighed in exasperation. "Not you, too! For fuck's sake! NO ONE is coming, alright?! End of story!"

"Whoa, whoa, Keller," Laura said. "I know he's not coming, but I sure as hell am!"

"I am coming!" James insisted.

"You'll get hurt," Julian said. "You're not coming. Laura, take him back to the house and stay there."

"I'm not your dog, I'm your wife," Laura snapped. "I will do no such thing."

"I have to come!" James said, louder. "I have to see the Kingmaker."

Silence.

"So you did call him," Julian said.

James looked down. "Yes."

"Am I the only one here who wasn't dumb enough to fall for the stupid pyramid scheme?" Laura asked, her nose twitching.

"What did you wish for?" Julian asked, ignoring Laura.

"I don't want to tell you," James said, teetering. "It's bad."

"It can hardly be worse than mine," Julian pointed out.

"I have to see the Kingmaker," James repeated. "Please."

This was surprising; he'd never been polite before, in any sense of the word. Julian glanced at Laura uncertainly; she rolled her eyes and shrugged, indicating that
she had no inclination towards the situation.

"You stay in the jet," Julian hissed at his brother. "You don't even look out the window, got it?"

"Fine," James said.

…

"Can you really fly this thing?" James asked, staring at the X-wing with wide eyes. Suddenly, some of the things Julian had said (with enthusiasm) about this school made sense.

"Yes," his brother said, crouching as he entered the cockpit, followed by Laura.

"I don't know if fly is the right word for it," Laura said snidely. "It's more of a pogo stick method. Just how many times have you crashed this thing now?"

"A few times," Julian said, annoyed. "In simulations. Jesus, Laura, Frost wouldn't have permitted me usage if she though I'd crash it."

James hesitated, then followed them in and sat down in the seat behind Julian, his eyes flitting around at the technology. He was a bit of a nerd, and he'd always
considered that his older brother was more of a social butterfly, so it was surprising to him to see the kind of activities Julian was involved in.

He looked out the window as the X-wing began to move, a few minutes later, and thought on what he would say when he saw Kingmaker again.

…

"There we go," Julian said. James's seatbelt had glowed green for a moment; he tried to remove it, and found he couldn't.

"HEY!" he said angrily.

"Just making sure," Julian said. "We'll be back. I guess I could ask you to keep an eye on the jet for me."

"Fuck you." James folded his arms.

"If it weren't for her claws, I'd do the same thing to Laura," Julian said, giving her an annoyed look. "She'd just cut it though."

Laura grinned at him and stepped out of the jet. They closed the door, and James fished in his pockets for his Swiss Army knife.

…

"You're kidding me."

Laura was looking down at the manhole cover as she spoke.

"Go wait in the jet," Julian pointed out, also looking down at the cover. What he needed to steal—a box—was apparently hidden down there, in the sewage. He'd been
chosen to retrieve it, because of his 'wonderful abilities', or so Kingmaker's letter informed him in a flattering manner.

"Fuck that. I thought I was done with sewers," Laura said distastefully. "In fact, I swore I was done with sewers. After the last time. With Quire."

"Yeah, well, apparently not," Julian said, flinging the cover off with his mind. "You could stay up here and make sure no one steps into the hole. That'd be damn useful."

"Shut up, Keller," Laura said as he descended into the manhole.

Once they had reached the ground (Laura squealing over how slimy the floor was and earning a snide remark from Julian), they made their way down the tunnel, observing
the dripping walls by his finger-light and searching for a fork. They found it, took several more branches, and were approaching another main passage when Laura cleared
her throat.

"How are we going to find our way back?" she asked.

"You can just scent-track us," Julian answered. He paused. "…right?"

Laura paused too. "…not really," she said.

Julian stared at her. "Why the hell didn't you mention that earlier?"

"I thought you had it all figured out," Laura said defensively, folding her arms. They both looked back the way they had come, a dark—and now strangely ominous—passageway.

"This is just how I always wanted to die. Trapped in a sewer," Julian hissed. "If I had known you couldn't smell anything down here, I would've been marking shit with chalk! Jesus!"

"Oh, I can smell down here," Laura said. "But all I smell is shit. Literally!"

Julian rubbed his forehead. "Well, nothing we can do now," he said, his voice full of irritation. "Let's just get what we came here for and do whatever to get out. There has to be
another manhole somewhere, if we can't find the original one."

"Hehe…you said man hole," Laura said, amused.

"So did you," Julian said, rolling his eyes. He led them into an enormous, dimly-chamber full of churning machines and green, slimy sewage, and stared at the basin.

"That's so disgusting," he said, his face twisted in revulsion.

"If it helps, I'm sure part of this is ours," Laura said, always to be depended on to make a vulgar suggestion. "At least half, maybe more…I'm counting in that time we got
alcohol poisoning from the—"

"Just shut the fuck up, seriously," Julian said. "I'll throw up if I think about that right now." His eyes glowed as he considered how he was going to sift through
the guck to find the box.

"HAHAHAHAH!" Laura suddenly staggered sideways in laughter, acting somewhat like an animal that had been shot. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHHAH!"

Julian waited, patiently, and watched as she almost stepped into the sewage (he began to enjoy the scene at this point, grinning slightly as he watched Laura fight not to be
consumed by the mess; he finally gave her a gentle nudge backwards to save her from falling). "What's so funny?" he asked.

"…the slime is the same color than your powers!" Laura squealed, holding her ribs as she struggled to breathe.

"I should have pushed you in," Julian said, making a rude hand gesture in her direction. "Now shut up and let me concentrate, or I will push you in." He stared at the slime for a
few minutes, wondering how to approach it.

"Pretend you're Moses?" Laura suggested. "Reach out and divide the waters, my child. Then be fruitful and multiply. Like fruit flies."

"What did I say about being quiet?" Julian snapped, then he considered her idea.

"I'll just lift the shit," he reasoned.

"Are you sure?" Laura glanced at the basin, then him. "That's a lot of shit."

"I can do it." He braced himself near the edge, turned his hand over so it was palm side up, then raised it slowly.

"I don't see anything," Laura said, wrinkling her nose and peering at the sewage. "Are you sure you, uh, turned your brain-thing on? Wait—no, that was just a turd in the
current—AHHHH!" She leapt back as the surface of the sea of sewage began to pop and bubble, like it was boiling. Julian's eyes were quite bright by now; suddenly there
was a loud ripping, slurping noise, and the entire pool rose into the air, leaving an empty stone basin.

"Uh…ah-heh," Laura said uncertainly. "That's a neat party trick there, Keller!"

"SHUT UP AND LOOK FOR THE BOX!" Julian shouted, his face red.

Laura peered over the edge of the basin again. "I don't see anything. Must be the wrong pool. Oh—wait—" she spotted a slightly darker spot, about forty feet across, and
twenty feet down, on the bottom of the empty pool. "Maybe that?"

"GO GET IT," Julian ground out.

"No way! I am not getting in that shit, na-uh. Not if you paid me a billion dollars."

"ERK—" Suddenly Julian grabbed her and slammed them against the ground as his hold on the fluid slipped. A wave of green was rushing towards them; Laura wanted to
scream, but she realized that would require opening her mouth.

FWWASHH!

Laura gasped, then sat up, realizing she was still dry. And floating a few feet in the air. Julian was concentrating very hard on keeping them enclosed in a bubble of thought.

"That would've sucked," he said, pale.

"No kidding," Laura said, shaken. She looked down at the slime-covered floor and shuddered, then noticed Julian had some green on his face.

"EWWWWWWWWWWWWW Keller it got you!" she squealed, scrambling to the edge of the bubble.

"Wha—" Julian reached up and wiped his chin self-consciously. "Oh. Shit. Literally, I guess."

"No shit, Sherlock," Laura added, grinning. "How the eff did it get by your shield, though? I'm completely dry."

"Do you really want to stop and ponder this subject?" Julian asked, looking at the still-bubbling pool of slime. "Personally, I'm all for getting the box and getting out of here as
fast as possible, but I know you have different tastes than me sometimes."

"In case I haven't made it obvious…hurry," Laura said, wrinkling her nose.

Julian brought them down to the surface of the slime, at approximately the area Laura had seen the grey object. "I have an idea. We'll go in, and I'll grab the box. I have to—"

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Laura squealed. "That is SEWAGE! LET ME OUT OF THIS THING!"

"For the love of god, I won't let any in."

"I don't trust you, Keller!"

"I kept you dry there, didn't I?" he pointed out.

Laura considered this. Then considered the fact that they might be here all night arguing, otherwise. "Fine. But if I get turds in my hair, I am going to drown you."

"Yeah, yeah." Julian lowered them into the muck, which parted as the bubble slipped in. "Keep your eyes peeled. Eww, it looks weird down here, doesn't it?"

"I don't really want to look," Laura mumbled. She looked down at the floor anyways, as they neared the bottom. "There it is!" she said.

Julian scraped it into the bubble, then brought them up quickly, not wanting to let Laura know how weak he was feeling (after lifting the enormous mass earlier). He managed to
float them over to the edge of the basin when he gave in and fell to his knees on the concrete.

"You okay?" Laura asked, frowning. The box clattered to the ground.

"Gimme a sec," Julian groaned. He coughed, hard, with a sound of phlegm, and wiped his mouth again, even though it was dry. Laura moved to him and put her hand on his
shoulder, worried; he straightened and looked at the box.

"Well…there we go. Let's…get out of here."

"Ah-heh, no kidding," Laura said, helping him to his feet.

…

Despite their fear that they would not be able to find their way back, Laura managed to navigate them back towards the manhole they had entered through. However,
as began to head up the corridor that lead to the room, the hackles on the back of her neck rose. Something wasn't right. She put her hand on Julian's shoulder and
pulled him back, shaking her head and signaling that he should be quiet, absolutely quiet.

Julian looked at her apprehensively. He was in no condition for a fight, and if he was reading Laura's expression correctly, that's what awaited him in the next room.

They backtracked the way they had come, creeping along, barely breathing even though they couldn't be heard in the first place. Reentering the large room, Julian finally
had to cough again, unable to hold it longer.

"What was that about?" he whispered.

"Two mutants waiting for us," Laura murmured. "We've fought one of them before. In scenarios, I mean. Mastermind …and another female. They were talking about how to
kill you. They think you're alone."

Julian paled. "Shit."

"We'll just have to go out another way," Laura said. "It's no big. They can't get near us, I'll totally know if they—"

"Is that so, clone?"

Julian whirled around.

That crazy woman from the facility. Kimura. With a big, unbalanced smile. "Hi. I'm going to pop your neck, and pick you apart bone-by-bone, and then I'll find that clone of yours…"

Laura was silent, watching as he stared at the empty corridor, his eyes shifting back and forth. She sniffed the air, almost imperceptibly, then reached out and gripped Julian's
forearm. "Nothing's there. It's Mastermind. Fuck, she's found you."

Julian stared at the corridor. It was now empty.

"You know, you're kind of cute when you're scared," Mastermind said, suddenly beside them. "Why don't you come out and play with us?"

"No!" Julian said.

"…" Laura stared at the newest area and waved her hand through it. "This is weird, just observing you get tricked," she murmured.

Julian closed his eyes. "Keep your eye on me, please. We have to get out of here. I'm trying to call Frost mentally, but I can't reach her."

"Oh." Laura wrinkled her nose. "Hang on…er, how do you 'call' her?"

"Think really hard about the X-symbol," Julian said. "Or, uh, doorbells. "

Laura stared at him.

"She's a bit weird," Julian added.

As they crept along the corridor, in the opposite direction of their would-be opponents, Laura concentrated, very hard, on the X symbol, willing Emma to 'pick up'. She'd never
spoken to the headmistress mentally; she wished she would have known about this when they'd been abducted the first time.

No one answered.

They had just turned right when Laura held her arm across Julian's stomach, stopping him in place. He peered into the darkness, unable to see anything.

Suddenly…

"You are not alone," a woman's voice hissed, dry like reeds. Click, click. "Is that Logan with you, child?"

Laura remained silent, rigid, willing him to be perfectly still as well. Neither dared to breathe. Maybe the woman would think she was mistaken and—

Julian stumbled backwards as Laura shoved him, just in time to escape the blur of darkness that rushed at them. "Stay back!" Laura ordered, dropping into a crouch
despite the fact that the floor was slimy.

A low laugh. "A child? You brought a child to protect you? You must have known this was a bid for your termination. I am surprised, however, that you have chosen
your defense so poorly."

Julian remained silent. Laura watched the woman in the darkness, her eyes able to make out her form quite clearly. She was thin, with long, metal fingers—blades—and
scraggly hair. She had scars all over her face; however, they were not in a random pattern. They were intricately carved, in a ritualistic matter.

"I can see you, you know," the woman said, her voice a moan. "Your very body heat speaks to me, calls out. Asks me to cut you."

She looked at Julian. "You are the boy I am supposed to kill, yesss. I think he is mistaken…you are unworthy. Without honor. I will enjoy killing you. Ladies first, though, yes."

She drew back one arm and the blades slid out further. Then she pounced for Laura.

Snkkt!

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed. There was a splash, a liquidy struggle, then a sound, several metallic scrapes. Julian looked at the ceiling of the tunnel, a few feet above
them—something had crawled up the side. He wasn't feeling too good. He leaned heavily against the wall.

"Where did—" the woman's voice.

THUNK! A loud fleshy noise, several feet away. "AHHHH!" the woman screamed, a noise that became gurgly towards the end. Sounds of struggling, then splashing, more
gurgling, and then a plop.

"She won't be getting up for a while," Laura announced, matter-of-factly.

Julian started to light his finger, but she grabbed his wrist. "We've got to keep moving," she said. He hesitated, then followed her as she pulled him along, sensing that she
did not want him to see whatever she had done.

…

"This is going nowhere," Julian groaned. They were still in the sewers, and Mastermind was now aware of Laura as well, as she had projected several mass
illusions that made them think they had found the way out, as well as other scenarios, that were becoming more and more convincing each time. The effects on Laura
were much milder, for some reason; perhaps her psionic shielding rendered her resistant to most forms of tampering.

Or so she thought.

"Well, what else are we going to do?" Laura asked, in a tired voice. "We can't just give up. We'll sit here till we die."

"She could do that, you know," Julian said, worried. "Make us think we'd found the way out…let us keep thinking that…we could sit here forever. She's done that to people before…"

"Shut up, Keller," Laura said, reaching for his hand and taking it firmly. "Maybe light us up a bit."

Julian let some energy flow into his fingers and started—he saw Laura as a skeleton, a skull grinning at him. "What's the matter?" it asked him.

"AHHH!" he said, springing away in alarm.

"Keller!" Laura slapped his cheek; the pain brought him around, and he could see her face again, her concerned eyes sparkling in his green light. "Don't believe anything you see!" she said.

"Good strategy," a woman said in Julian's ear. "Although, it'd be so easy, wouldn't it? Just believe you're safe….happy…elsewhere…come to me. I'll take care of you, I can show
you the way out…" the voice paused. "I have you brother, you know…he's such a pussy, wimped out at the pain…"

"NO!" Julian said, whirling around to face the blackness.

"Nothing there. Focus, Keller—" Laura said.

"She has Jim," he said, his face set.

"She's bluffing," Laura said reasonably, her hands on her hips. "Julian, you're doing exactly what she wants you to. You're giving in."

He noted the use of his first name. "Laura…I have this feeling. I know him. He loves to poke his nose in shit—that's why I locked him in the plane—I just knew he'd try to follow us…"

…

James knelt at the manhole, staring into the darkness. A revolting smell rose up, and he wondered if he'd really seen them enter. Maybe. He knew that Kingmaker wouldn't
be down here; but he was curious. What the heck were they doing?

He took a step onto the ladder, grimacing at the small squeak it made and trying not to think why it was squeaking.

It was even worse inside the sewer. He made a face and shifted, his sneakers now making squishing noises on the concrete. It was very dark. He began to rethink his decision,
as he stared into the darkness; he'd been afraid of the dark, as a child.

Something bristled in the dark, ahead. He could feel it—a weird energetic feeling, a cat noting prey. He looked up at the small circle of light and watched as it closed overhead,
washing him in darkness.

"Mmmm," he said, feeling a wave of panic.

"Awwww, are you afraid of the dark?" A female voice asked. It was low and seductive, soothing; he turned his head slightly. Despite its calming qualities, this voice coming from
the darkness just scared him witless, and he ran in the opposite direction, praying desperately to find the others.

...

"That's just great," Laura said flatly. "I'm really excited for you. Why don't you just stay here and think about everything that could go wrong while I claw my way to
safety. I'll totally come back for you, too, pinky-swear!"

"Shut up," Julian said. "I'm serious. We can't leave him down here!"

"My point being that he may not be down here at all," Laura said. "Why don't we get to the freaking jet and check first? He might still be sitting there."

"You'll make me take off without him!" Julian snapped, somewhat hysterically.

"…" Laura slapped him in the face several times (with a paddling effect). "First off…if that was really you saying that, you'd deny quite viciously that I could make you
do anything," she pointed out. "Then there's the fact that I'm not a cold-hearted monster, thank you very much."

"Sorry," Julian mumbled, rubbing his cheek. "God damn it…she keeps slipping these things in like land mines. I'll be thinking something and suddenly it blows
out of proportion."

"It's fine," Laura said tartly. "I've had a hankering to slap you lately but haven't really had the excuse." She took his hand again and started down a new
tunnel, her eyes noting a few features to use as landmarks should they come this way again.

"…AHHHHH!" A scream down the passageway.

"You heard that, right?" Julian demanded.

"Yes." Laura looked ahead; footsteps, approaching. Fast. Splashing. Someone running in the knee-deep sewage—James, looking terrified.

"Jim!" Julian said, lighting his hand and grabbing the boy's arm as he tried to run by them. "Stop it! It's not real."

"SNAKES!" James said in a high-pitched voice. "The whole ROOM is full of SNAKES!"

"There are no reptiles here," Laura said in a stern voice. "It's too dark. Calm down and think."

James struggled to comprehend this.

"Well, since he found us, we can just get the fuck out of here, right?" Laura said, somewhat relieved. "Keep hold of him and—"

Or was I just herding you together? The woman said in their minds.

…

Martinique Jason leaned back on the cobblestone of the sewer arch, studying her nails in the light provided by the cigarette lighter in her other
hand. This was taking longer than planned—her orders had been to find Hellion, distract him, and keep him distracted while Lady Deathstrike
slaughtered him like a sacrificial lamb.

Boss-lady had willed it so. She said she owed a man, the Kingmaker, and that this boy owed him as well. Therefore Martinique was standing in a smelly
sewer, playing sick mind games with two kids. Three, now, since the target's brother had joined.

And for whatever reason, Deathstrike wasn't answering her mental pages.

Martinique sighed and entered into yet another creation where the kids escaped successfully. She decided to add some variety into the mix—monsters
in the sewage. She checked her watch, noted that she'd been here for three hours now.

Deathstrike was definitely not performing.

Martinique rolled her eyes, pushed away from the wall and made her way down the passageway. She'd have to take care of things herself, it seemed.

Business as usual.

…

"Okay…there's no fucking way that was a T-Rex. We're in the sewers." Laura panted, a few minutes later, leaning against the wall and holding her
ribs. They'd run very fast, quite suddenly, in terror. "Keller, make him quiet, or I will."

James was swearing loudly and brushing at his arms, obviously still wrapped in an illusion of some kind.

"What the hell can I do?" Julian asked. "I was right. I should never have let either of you come with me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Laura said, more confidently. "We'll get out. They're only illusions, after all. Emma will find us. Or the Cuckoos."

"Is that so?" A woman's voice. The three turned and studied her warily, each believing her to be another illusion. She very well could be.

"Oh, no, I'm the real deal," she said, in answer to their thoughts. "Too bad you all have to die. You seem like a fun crowd." She pointed her finger at
Julian; his face contorted in pain.

Snnkt. Laura's claws shot out and she ran at the woman, who disappeared as soon as she reached her.

"I lied," the woman said from the doorway. "But he really is dying. Notice anything?"

Two heartbeats. Laura whirled around, and realized she couldn't hear Julian's heart anymore, because it had stopped. He was sliding down the wall, his
eyes shut and his face slowly turning blue.

She ran to his side, retracting her claws and balling her fists.

"Don't bother with CPR," the woman said, her image placing its hands on its hips. "I've just mentally jammed up the connection between his heart and his
brain. Rather easy to do. You kids are stupid, coming to a place like this, all alone, you know."

"HELP ME!" Laura snapped at James, who was watching, his eyes wide.

"How?" he asked. "I'm not a mutant!"

"Make sure he's breathing!"

"Gross," James said. "I'm not touching—"

"Yes, you damn well are! DO IT, or I will cut off your—" Laura grabbed him by the wrist as he tried to back away, and James made a face. "Urrrk!" he said,
yanking his arm out of reach.

There was a strange pulse in the air, and Laura could suddenly hear her own heart pounding hard in her ears. She felt hysterical panic grip her so hard she
had difficulty breathing; she drew away.

Julian suddenly gasped for air and his heart started pounding again, quite fast as it struggled to make up for the moments it had missed. Laura looked
at him in confusion, then up at James, suddenly making a connection.

"Don't stop," she ordered the boy, who looked very confused. "Whatever you're doing, it's working."

"It's not me!" James protested, but he sounded afraid.

Laura stood, her teeth gritted, and headed into the darkness, nostrils flared. Snff, snff, she inhaled only through her nose. There, huddled against a wall,
cradling her head in her hands, between her knees.

"I'm afraid," the woman said in a small voice. Without looking up.

"Good," Laura hissed.

Snkkt.

…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—"

Julian scrambled to his feet as he heard a long, loud scream that cut off in the middle. "Which way did she go?" he demanded of his brother.

"Hell if I know!" James snapped. "She accused me of—"

Julian turned and took off in the direction he thought he'd heard the noise coming from, lighting the way with his finger. He heard a heavy splash in the distance, and
knew he was headed in the right direction; he was still startled, however, when he rounded a corner and almost bumped into Laura, wiping off her face with the back of her hand.

She was somewhat covered in dark fluid.

"Laura?" he asked uncertainly.

"Don't go back there," she said.

"What did you do?"

"What needed to be done," Laura answered quietly. She could hear his brother panting as he jogged towards them (he was somewhat out of shape).

Julian studied her, then nodded curtly. He was, again, brought back to the moment in the lab, when he'd taken matters into his own hands. Thinking of hands, he quickly
stopped feeding energy to his finger, shrouding them in darkness just as James rounded the corner.

"Hey! Why'd you leave me?"

"We're going now," Julian said firmly. "Keep up."

"Do you have the box?" Laura asked suddenly.

…

Twenty minutes later, Julian finally replaced the cover on the manhole and looked at Laura. It was dark out, but now he could see her silhouette in the dim
light of a street lamp. She looked tired, and there were big splashes of blood across her face and one arm, very dark on her almost white skin.

"Oh my god," James said, seeing the same thing.

"I have a healing factor, so there's no need to be a pussy about it. It's only blood," Laura said flatly.

"I HATE BLOOD!" James burst.

"Calm down," Laura ordered. "You've got to be careful, now…emotions are linked to mutations, you know."

"Huh?" Julian asked.

"I am not a—" James protested.

"How do you think we got away?" Laura said. "She was killing you, Keller. And she just stops? Think about it. It wasn't you, and it certainly wasn't me."

"Huh," Julian said again, eyeing his brother.

"It wasn't me," James said firmly. "It was someone else. I'm human."

"It would make sense…mom was a pretty big honking mutant, you know," Julian said thoughtfully. "But what the hell? You're sixteen…you should have been
doing this when you were, like, thirteen."

"Shut up!" James snapped.

"Denial's not just a river in Egypt," Laura said snidely. "But whatever, let him stew in his own juices. He'll figure it out. Now…really important…where's the effing jet? I want
to go home and exfoliate like crazy, with oven cleaner. I have no idea what disgusting life forms I touched tonight."

They began to walk towards where they'd left the X-wing, James silent, everyone limping slightly from both exhaustion and injuries.

"I'm having one of those clarity moments," Julian said, putting his hand on her back lightly. "The ones you like to have, where you laugh your ass off. Mine's a bit scary, though."

"What's that?" Laura asked.

"I just realized I literally married the monster that came from the sewers." he said. "OW! LAURA—" he withdrew his hand and rubbed his stomach.