Hopefully this chapter straightens out more of where we're headed in respect to timelines! It's entirely Sarah centric, so it'll be interesting to see what you guys think!

"Story books are full of fairy tales
Of kings and queens and the bluest skies
My heart is torn just in knowing
You'll someday see the truth from lies When the clouds will rage in
Storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash around
But you will be safe in my arms." (In My Arms- Plumb)

Sarah Kinney was originally one of two, three minutes younger than her twin Thomas, born to Leslie and Ronald Kinney. When they were two years old, their parents had another baby, another boy, Elliot. Four years after that, the last Kinney boy was born, Louis. The next nine years seemed to drag on:

Thomas became obsessed with ships, and dreamed of joining the navy as soon as he could. Sarah was drawn to science, exploring the world around her in as much detail as possible. Elliot was perfectly content to work in the factory beside his father, even at a young age. Louis seemed destined for stardom.

When Louis was eight years old, their father quit his job out of the blue. It was part of an early mid-life crisis stemming from Ronald and Leslie each only being sixteen when they'd ended up pregnant with Sarah and Thomas. The fighting that year was worse than anything the four children had ever witnessed, and culminated in their mother going on a business trip to upstate New York without the permission or approval of her husband. When she returned, their relationship seemed radically changed, and they returned to the loving parents their children had been familiar for much of their childhoods.

Only Sarah thought the sudden change strange. Only Sarah thought about how odd her new sister was. Tiny. Red-headed. Beautiful. Unnatural.

Maia wasn't like her. Sarah knew that the moment she'd laid eyes on her baby sister. The older they got, the more obvious that became: "Sarah? Are you leaving?"

Sarah had looked up from her suitcase at her seven year old sister, "Yes."

Maia frowned, eyes cast to the floor, "Why do you have to go?

"I can't stay in this town anymore." Sarah had answered simply.

"You're not coming back, are you?" Maia whispered.

Sarah had turned to look at her, taking in the little girl with her pale blue dress and long red locks. She always looked so fucking perfect, even when she'd been rolling in the mud with one of their brothers. But Sarah hadn't told anyone she was planning on leaving their sleepy little town for good. "What makes you think that? I'm just going to New York for school."

Maia shrugged, "I don't know…"

Sarah had rolled her eyes and scoffed at the little girl, and she'd never stepped foot in that bedroom they'd shared again.

She'd gotten a doctorate, seen her sister at her graduation, thirteen and not at all a victim of teenaged awkwardness. Thomas had yelled at Sarah on that visit for how she treated their sister. Sarah then went four blissful years without laying eyes on her sister, had been recruited by William Stryker and Dr. Rice for their top secret program and been so damn proud of herself and her accomplishments.

And then when she did, when she finally saw her sister again, Sarah wished with all her heart that the time apart had continued forever. Maia was a mutant. A telepath. She'd been mocked by her coworkers for not noticing her own sister was a freak when that was what she studied for a living, but she'd been the one laughing when Stryker had put Sarah in charge of Maia after the stupid little girl had managed not to get herself killed by Weapon X.

The victory had been short lived once the guilt set in, and she's struggled every single day to keep her agony off her face. She'd resented her sister, but she had never in her wildest dreams wished this hell on the younger female. Her heart had been in her throat out of fear for her sister's safety, but Maia was special. Not only did Weapon X not kill her, he seemed to fall in love with her. Sarah had found out months into Maia's captivity that he'd gotten Maia pregnant, and it had taken every string she had to keep her coworkers and Dr. Rice from just killing Maia.

It hadn't mattered. In the end, she'd failed.

"Sorry for your loss." Dr. Rice muttered before leaving the room, leaving Sarah alone with Maia's corpse.

Sarah pushed Maia's red hair out of her face, and stared at her baby sister's empty blue eyes. "Oh, Maia." She did the only thing that felt right, and started the grim task of cleaning her sister up. Their parents didn't need to see their youngest daughter as she was, a hole in her chest and her belly sliced open. Sobbing, Sarah stitched her up, more gentle with her sister than she'd been in her whole life. When she'd finished, she kissed her sister's cold forehead and draped a clean hospital gown over her to replace the ruined dress she'd been in, "That's the best I can do. I'm so sorry, Maia. I failed you."

Guards had come in almost as soon as she'd finished, and dragged her away. The next day felt like she'd finally become a prisoner, the tides turning, at least until they arrived in Mexico. Stryker had received her in his borrowed office, "Dr. Kinney, please sit. I'm so sorry about how you were brought here, but we were in a hurry." He had a bundle in the crook of his arm when he finally turned around, and Sarah's heart clenched violently. The baby. Maia's baby was still alive. She hadn't even thought about it. Stryker continued talking, approaching her slowly, "You did a fabulous job with your sister, so I trust you'll do your next assignment just as well." He held the bundle out to her, placing it in her arms, "X-23, your niece."

"Oh." She replied, still stunned, forcing herself to look down at the creature who had been a large factor in her sister's death. She was beautiful. Maia's baby was beautiful. Pink and tiny, and completely reliant on Sarah, her mouth opening and closing pitifully as she searched for food. Sarah tucked her arms tighter around the baby. She may have failed Maia, but this little girl was a second chance. She'd failed her sister once, and she wouldn't do it again. This time, she wouldn't fail. Sarah would protect the baby for Maia.

Three years later, the baby wasn't quite a baby anymore, and her mutation expressed itself in a fantastically violent outburst that had left her covered in blood curled in Sarah's arms. "It's alright, love. I've got you." Sarah cleaned the little girl up, the one that was suddenly much less Maia's and much more Weapon X's, but it really didn't matter. She got the stubborn set of her chin from her mother, from Maia.

In bed that night, Sarah stroked her hand through the fine brown curls on her niece's head, "Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story? Your favorite one maybe? Since it was a hard day?" There was a nod of confirmation from the little girl, who snuggled in closer to her. In spite of their situation, Sarah smiled, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful queen in a beautiful kingdom, but she was taken away from her castle when she was very young for an old nobleman feared her beauty and power being left to rule the kingdom. He had her imprisoned with a ferocious beast, hoping the beast would tear out her heart. The beast, however, was so struck by the queen's beauty that he began to care for her, falling more in love each day, though quite certain she did not return his affections due to his monstrous appearance. When he discovered that the beautiful queen loved him, he freed them both, revealing himself to be a handsome prince. The queen took the hidden prince back to her kingdom, they were married, and together they ruled for many years. During their rule, they were loved by all, but loved nothing more than the time they spent raising their own beloved beautiful princess."

"Im'ma princess." Her niece muttered in her sleep, and Sarah kissed her forehead, breathing in her sweet little girl scent, wishing Maia was there to see the girl she'd died to bring to life. Even Sarah had to admit that it almost seemed worth it, to die so someone you loved could live. If only that was how the story ended. The older her niece got, the less power Sarah had over Rice's interest in testing 'X-23', but she prayed daily that she didn't let Maia down again. She wouldn't survive that failure.

She didn't. She died before her niece turned six because she'd objected to coating her niece's tiny bones in adamantium. Her last thoughts were of how much she regretted all but the last five years of her life.

Back to Logan and Co. for the next chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews, you guys are awesome! Let me know what you thought about this one!
-Jenn