Author's Note

I do not own The Gifted.

I now have this fic fully written, and plan on releasing a chapter weekly (assuming no reasons for delays), but I wanted to get a full chapter out now after the prologue.

Lauren paced the room, running her hands over the walls and cream where she supposed the door was. She'd done it a dozen times already, and found nothing different.

"Hello?" she called for the hundredth time. "Is anyone there?" She banged weakly on the door. "Someone? I just want to know where I am!"

Silence.

The silence was killing her more than anything.

Lauren sighed and sat on the bed, a single slab jutting from the wall. A toilet stood in the far corner, along with a sink. Other than that, the room was barren. She flung herself back on the bunk and closed her eyes. Someone had to come eventually. She'd need food; she'd need a shower.

Something clunked and she jerked up. "Hello?"

A slot opened at the bottom of the door and a tray of food was pushed through. Lauren sighed. Well, bang went that thought.

She ate – something told her she'd need the strength – and left the tray by the door. Sure enough, the slot reopened to retrieve it.

"Prepare for solo testing in five minutes," said a voice outside.

"Solo testing?" she asked, but the slot had already closed.

Those five minutes felt like an eternity. She paced the room again, her feet thumping against the stone. "Come on come on come on!"

At long last the door opened and she was met by a tall man in a lab coat and four soldiers.

"Uh, hi?" she said. "Where am I?"

Two of the soldiers stepped forward, holding long poles with manacles on them. Lauren backed up, raising her hand. "Hey, wait! I'm not–"

"Don't make this difficult today, Andrea," said the lab coat man.

Relief washed over her. "Oh, thank god. Look, I think you've got the wrong person. My name–"

The soldiers grabbed her, forcing her arms into the manacles and locking them in place. Lauren yelled. "Do you know my dad?"

Lab coat man laughed. "I should hope so. Come on."

The soldiers dragged her from the room. She felt… weirdly short next to them. Maybe they were just tall.

"We'll be doing solo testing today," continued the scientist. "If you do well, we'll let you see your brother next week. Assuming he performs acceptably too, that is."

"Andy's here?" she asked. "Where?"

Her heart thumped louder in her chest. If it had just been her, that would have been one thing, but Andy too? She needed to see him; she needed to take care of him!

They walked through endless white hallways before stopping at a large metal door. The soldiers led her inside, while lab coat man went elsewhere.

This room was also painted white, but it had a large floor to ceiling mirror covering the entirety of one wall, and she saw herself for the first time.

A her that wasn't her.

This girl was shorter, thinner – insanely thinner – with a narrower face and hollow cheeks. Her hair was blonde, not Lauren's own dark brown, and barely more than two inches long, as though growing back after being shaved. Her eyes were a sharp blue, gazing back at her.

She stared as the soldiers led her to the centre of the room and fixed her in place.

"We're going to see how fast you can form those shields of yours," said lab coat man. He must be watching from somewhere.

The four soldiers took up places in the corners of the room and raised their guns.

"Shields?" she asked. "But I don't know how–"

The first gun fired.

She screamed–

Twisted her hand–

And the air obeyed, solidifying until the bullet was unable to pass.

Ok.

Ok.

Ok.

She was a mutant then.

A mutant with forcefield powers.

Make it work, Lauren, make it work.

She made it work.

Time passed before they stopped shooting.

She sobbed and would have fallen if not for the restraints holding her up.

"Very good," said lab coat man. "You performed well. Have it taken back to the cell."

It.

Mutant.

Freak.

Anger twisted inside her, but she could do nothing as the soldiers dragged her from the room and back to the cell she'd woken in. They left her there on the floor, trembling and crying.

She wanted her daddy. But he wasn't even her daddy right now, was he? She was this Andrea, and–

Oh fuck, was she dead? Was she a mutant with the power to steal bodies when she died? Was that why she was here?

Trembling, she climbed onto the bare bed and covered her head with her arms.

Brother.

If you do well, we'll let you see your brother next week.

She had a brother.

And if the soldiers would give her no answers, perhaps he could.

Lauren played along as everything happened around her. She ate when they brought her food, took care of her needs when she had to, as weird as it felt to have to wipe someone else's behind. She even did better in the next test they put her through, which involved stopping multiple bullets at once. She only cried a little bit.

And at last, at last, lab coat man said she could see her brother.

The soldiers led her from her cell – her cell – and to another room, one she'd not been in before, where they chained her to a chair and strapped her hands down. She needed those to use her powers.

And then they brought her brother in.

He wasn't Andy.

Part of her had known to expect that, but part of her was still disappointed. Andy, she wanted Andy, not this stranger. He was a tall, slender youth, closer in age to her than Andy, with sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Andrea," he whispered, and there was such love and devotion there, as though his heart had been breaking without the woman she wasn't. "Are you well? Have they hurt you?"

"They keep shooting at me," she said, her voice trembling. She didn't even know his name. "And I'm hungry and cold all the time."

Something slightly puzzled creased his brow. "Are you hurt?"

"No," she whispered. "Are you?"

He must be suffering more; he must have been here longer. How long had he been locked up this awful place?

"Not today. They said I could see you if I behaved."

She didn't even know what to say to him. What could they possibly talk about? She didn't know him.

"I'm certain father will soon have us released once he's seen how well we perform," he said.

She attempted a smile. "I– I hope you're right, brother."

It must have been the right thing to say, because his face lit up with delight and love.

"One day," he whispered. "One day."