The landscape passed then by. Familiar trees that had been Laura's home for the last week turned into grassy plains with a few hills here and there. Liam and the policewoman sat in the front seat in silence. The policewoman rubbed her temples and sighed. She looked at Laura with a bored expression. Laura still hadn't let down her guard and her whole body was tense. She wrapped the blue blanket they had given her around herself tighter. She was alert. If they attacked her, she would be ready, if they were attacked she knew what to do. The policewoman looked a little offended at her and turned to Liam.
"I don't think she likes me, Green," she said and pointed a thumb at Laura. Liam adjusted his rear-view mirror to look at Laura. Their eyes met in the reflective surface but were quickly broken as Laura looked down at the floor.
"I don't think you should take it personally," Liam said with his deep calming voice, now looking straight ahead on the road. The policewoman shrugged and started to stare out the window with the same bored expression. Laura continued to stare out on the landscape. She had seen a similar nature when she and her Father was going up to Eden but she never got bored watching the expanse. After years and years of being locked up underground, it was thrilling to see that there was so much more to the world than four white walls. The policewoman looked back at Laura again.
"So, why were you out in the forest?" she asked looking disinterested at her. Laura looked away from her.
"Not, now Mary, let's wait until we get to the station," Liam said patiently, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"Why not? Might as well start here, nothing else to do for an hour." The woman called Mary quickly replied as her gaze lingered on Laura.
Liam leaned towards Mary and whispered something to her. She tore her eyes off Laura after a few seconds and continued staring out the window. Liam gave Laura a small wink through the rearview mirror as he turned his attention on the road again. Laura's mouth curled up to a smile as she started to relax. She looked out the window again. The landscape had looked the same for a while now and as she watched it pass before her eyelids started to feel heavy. She jerked as she felt she was falling asleep and she could feel Liam's eyes on her as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"It's alright, Laura. We'll take it from here. We'll wake you up when we're at the hospital." He said with the same soft-spoken voice he always used. Laura had no intention of going to sleep, she was just going to rest her eyes for a moment. She knew she would stay awake because she couldn't let her guard down. Not even for a moment.
Two minutes later Laura was out cold. She was lulled to sleep by the car engine noise and the quiet talks between Liam and Mary. Six days of being cold and constantly being on alert finally taking its toll when put in a warm car.
When Laura woke up, she noticed that the car had stopped. She groggily opened her eyes to find that Mary was in the middle of stretching out her hand to touch her. Adrenaline shot throughout her body as she instinctively moved away from the hand and snarled at the woman. The woman drew back her hand defensively and raised them, so Laura could see her palms.
"Woah, easy there kiddo. Jesus Christ, I just wanted to wake you up to tell you that we're here." She said motioning to the outside with her head. Laura looked out to see a great grey-white building looming over them. By a double-door, she could see Officer Liam drinking something out of a paper mug and talking with a man in a white coat. Laura shuddered when she looked at what she knew to be the doctor. They had used similar clothes at the facility; she didn't like them.
"The checkup shouldn't take that long I would think. From what I've seen you seem to be quite healthy and energized," The policewoman said dryly while looking at Laura whose body was still rigid with readiness. Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. The doctor and Liam were on their way back to the car now. She would endure this. She had been through worse. Much worse.
On the whole, when the checkup was nearly done, she thought that she had handled herself pretty well. She had discovered that it was pretty easy to tune out the world when the nurses and the doctors took her blood for testing, examined her for any wounds and helped her to untangle her hair. This was nothing. She had been through similar kinds for examination every week for 9 years. To her shame, it almost felt good remembering it. Maybe because it had been Gabriella who had performed most of them. Only this time the nurses and doctors were got a strange look on their faces after they had taken the blood and saw that where blood should have started to drip after they removed the needle. She also couldn't forget that she had almost killed someone. It still lingered in her head, making her worry if the man had survived. But she tried not to let it show, she had cried too much and she didn't want anyone looking at her like she was weak. Officer Liam stood outside the examination room looking in and gave Laura a reassuring smile when their eyes met. After an hour of testing and waiting for results the doctor told her that she was 'fitter as a fiddle.' Laura didn't really know what that meant so she simply nodded and waited for the next test. When after a while only the policewoman Mary came with some clothes to her she guessed that what the doctor had said had meant that she was okay. She got dressed in the blue pants and simple white T-shirt Mary had given her and she allowed herself to relax and just feel the soft fabric on her skin. After she was dressed done, the woman told her to wait for a little bit while she called someone. A nurse turned on the TV for her and flipped through the channels and found a colorful show with drawings that moved. Laura stared fascinated at the screen as the nurse cleaned up the room. It was only when the show ended that Laura found herself alone in the room. She still thought about the father and son, wondering how they were. Laura jumped off the small bed and went to the door to open it. It was locked. She looked outside the window and saw that a security guard was stationed outside the door. She got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knocked on the glass to get the guards attention, and he turned around with a questioning look. Laura pointed at the door and the guard shrugged.
"Sorry, you gotta wait until the officers come back. Go watch some more TV, won't you?"
Laura froze. Had she just walked into another trap? Maybe these people weren't the reavers, but they still wanted her for their own purposes…
Always kill the guards if you are able before escaping. Do not leave witnesses and do not let them capture you again.
Laura unsheathed her claws, the pain of it of the act only registering through a haze of anger. She walked calmly, like a cat capturing a bird and was almost at the door before it, to her surprise, opened on its own. The policewoman Mary came through it with a tray of food. Laura stopped in her track. She looked down at her hands and hid them behind her back. She sheathed the claws again. The woman raised an eyebrow at her.
"I thought you were hungry," she said carefully, eyes still looking suspicious. She looked behind her toward the security guard, put down the tray and pointed with her thumb over her shoulder.
"Were you gonna stab that guy?" she said incredulously as Laura looked away from her.
"Also, you have knives in your hands. You should probably have that checked" she continued dryly and pointed at a chair in the room as she backed away from where she had put the food "Eat something, we're going to the station after that."
Laura carefully went up to where the police officer had put the tray, staring at the ground all the way. She had almost killed someone again. It had barely been five hours, and she had almost killed two people. She needed to be better. Logan's last words to her ringing in her mind, over and over again. She devoured her food and even though she thought it was the best thing she's ever had, she didn't particularly enjoy it. When she had eaten, she pushed the tray away from her. She was still hungry but this would satisfy her needs for a long time.
"How's the father," Laura asked while wiping her mouth on her sleeve, trying not to show herself weak by showing her worry. Mary hesitated and sighed.
"Where is Liam when you actually need him? Listen, kid, he's not doing well, okay. He got messed up real bad and lost a lot of blood. The doctors and nurses are trying to stabilize him but right now it's a coin-flip." There was a beat of silence. Then Laura rose from her seat and started to walk towards the door.
"Woah there, where are you going," Mary said concerned while blocking Laura's path.
"I'm going to see him," Laura said matter of factly.
"Not if you're going to stab every person in your way, you're not." The policewoman crossed her arms. Laura could feel her cheeks turn red. She said nothing. Mary watched her and as she did the expression on her face changed to a less stern one. She sighed.
"You're worried, I get that. But you prancing in there is not helping anybody. Right now you and I are going to sit in this room and wait until Liam comes back. So you go play with something or watch some more TV and stop doing more things that will get you into more trouble than you already are" And with those words, the policewoman sat down in a chair, took out her phone and casually started to do something with it. Laura watched as the woman yawned, looked at her again and made a dismissive gesture with her other hand. The whole process had looked disarming until Laura had seen that the woman's free hand had been placed near her gun holster. Laura furrowed her brows but decided to try and appease the woman for now. She wouldn't be any problem for her even if she tried to shoot her. The moving drawings were back on the television and Laura watched interestedly as a doglike animal tried to capture a very fast, funny sounding bird.
And so when Officer Liam came, they all went back to the police car they had traveled in before. Laura was on high alert. With so many people around them, an ambush could happen at any time. She also didn't fully trust the policewoman and so she snuck her some highly skeptic glances every once in a while. The car ride to the station was quicker and smoother than the other one had been and only ten minutes later they arrived. The pair brought her to a small room with a big mirror on one side and told her to sit by a table. Laura looked around the room. It brought back more memories from the time in the facility and she felt her breathing becoming more hectic. The fact that Mary stood in one of the corners with crossed arms, looking suspiciously at Laura didn't help matters either. Liam must have noticed her discomfort because he knelt down to her level and looked her directly in the eyes."It's going to be fine, Laura. We're not going to hurt you. The detective and an attorney representing you will be here soon and we're going to be asking you a few questions. I promise that I'll be right behind the glass." The calmness in his voice helped a small bit, but the discomfort didn't vanish. She carefully sat down on the chair next to the table. A few minutes went by without much happening. Then Laura heard something, a sound that seemed to come from outside the building. It was so faint that the police probably couldn't hear it but because of Laura's enhanced senses, she could even track its position. It was a helicopter and it was closing in and landing outside the soundproof room, outside the building. A minute passed before a fit man in a blue suit came in. He was middle age, had a bit of stubble, black hair and stood in a strange, hunched pose.
"Looks like your attorney is here" Liam whispered to Laura before he rose and stretched out a hand towards the man to greet him "Officer Liam Green. Looks like you've got yourself a doozy here."
The man shook the officer's hand firmly and turned to Mary to do the same.
"There has been a change of plans. I am Captain Blonsky of the United States Marshals Service. I am here to take the enhanced individual to a more secure location." The man had recited this in a loud and precise manner and Liam furrowed his brows.
"Excuse me? We never got any information that..."
"The necessary paperwork has already been filed. You can check in your database if you would like." Blonsky interrupted with just a hint of impatience.
Laura narrowed her eyes towards the new man, whose fierce expression hadn't changed one bit since he came into the room. Her heart started to pump faster. This man was combat trained, she could see that much. The suit he was wearing was designed not to get in the way while fighting and his whole demeanor was that of a man following orders. She had met many men like this, Killed many as well. She shifted in her seat, ready to strike at any moment. This man could be connected with the facility. The Captain started to move towards Laura and as he did five more men came into the small room. Laura noticed that they all had dog tags around their necks but were dressed like civilians. Liam interrupted the man's path without any hint of aggression
"Frankly this is going a little bit too fast for me here. Who are these people? Liam held up his hands in a show of passivity. Blonsky seemed to see Liam for the first time and Laura saw a vein pulsating in the Captain's temple.
"Frankly, I don't have to tell you anything." The thin man mocked "Just know that this is for everybody's safety" Liam glanced towards Laura with a creased forehead and then turned to the military man again.
"Very well, I need to see this paperwork and I have two questions. Then you can take her." Blonsky didn't change his expression, only nodded.
"Why did the United States government get involved with this?" Liam said in the same calm tone he always had. Blonsky gave a slight smirk.
"We have reported that the incident today happened on US soil. Making it our case. Not yours." From the corner of her eye, Laura could see Mary cringe when Blonsky spoke. Laura couldn't see Liam's face when he talked but his voice sounded different, harsher.
"However, the incident involved a Canadian citizen," Blonsky said nothing for a beat as his smirk turned slowly turned into an annoyed expression. His vein started thump even more intensely.
The other men looked nervously at their captain before went around Liam and Blonsky and started to surround the table where Laura sat.
"As I said, all the necessary paperwork have been filed, you have nothing to worry about, sir." The 'sir' had been emphasized in a strange way that Laura understood that it had been meant as an insult, she just didn't understand how it was one. The other men in the room seemed to calm down a bit and someone even smirked at Liam. She still couldn't see Liam's face but his whole body seemed tense.
"The second question," he said after a short pause and he appeared to be calmer again "How did you get this information so fast? We only just reported this to the detective."
Blonsky looked meaningfully at Mary who gave him a mock salute and relaxed against the corner. She shrugged.
"I called them, or at least the RCMP back at the hospital. Must have been them who contacted these fellows. You really came in a hurry." she said to the Captain who didn't respond. Laura glanced at Mary who ignored her to instead continue to look inspectingly at Liam. Liam only looked back at her with anger.
"We'll talk about this later," he said with the previous harshness in his voice. Mary threw up her hands in the air.
"For fuck's sake Liam, are you listening to yourself? Did you even listen to the doctor? She's enhanced and we have no idea what she can do except that she has fucking knives in her body. And you want to keep her here? She nearly killed a security guard when she was left alone of one minute, and probably would have done so if I didn't stop her. In the few hours we've known her, she has almost killed three people. The entire time at the hospital I had loaded a gun always at the ready because we didn't know what she can do! And I know you're not exactly ignorant of this because it was you who told me to do that."
Laura felt a sting of betrayal as she heard those words. She had trusted him and he had wanted to capture her. He wasn't a nice man, he had just pretended to be. And now he was going to give her to the reavers! Well, she wasn't going to let them take her.
"Liam… we don't have the equipment, nor the training to deal with this. Just let it go." Mary continued in a softer tone. Liam's expression didn't change as he stared her down, Mary didn't flinch.
"I'm going to check the paperwork. But if you touch her in the meantime, I'll report…"
"You do that." Blonsky interrupted and gave Liam a small wave of goodbye. And as Liam went out of the room the Captain turned to Laura and gave a smile so fake that it made her skin crawl.
"Don't worry Laura, we'll take good care of you if you cooperate." Laura looked around her slowly and counted the men in the room.
She could take them, the room was small so the large men wouldn't be able to maneuver as well as her. The leader was on the opposite side of the table so she couldn't take out him first. That option wasn't viable with her back exposed like this. She should have just attacked the Captain when he was in the room without his men. She heard as one of the men behind her unclipped something from his belt. She glanced behind her to see that it was two metal manacles without any chains. Laura puzzled how they worked, they were probably something to combat her. The man with the manacles gave her a blank stare. Now it was simply a waiting game until Liam came back and initiated it. Blonsky tapped his foot impatiently on the ground, it was a fast but steady rhythm. It almost corresponded with Laura's pounding heart. The door was opened and the big police officer came on. He turned to Laura with an empathic look on his face, he then nodded at Blonsky without looking at him.
"It seems to be in order," he said without a hint of emotion in his voice. Blonsky nodded once before he quickly turned to his men.
"Tretch, restrain the asset." he barked at the man with the manacles. Laura heard that as the man behind her came closer, the other men readied some handguns and pointed them at Laura.
If the enemy doesn't know you, don't show all your tricks at once. Keep them thinking they have you until you see an opening.
She felt her hands being pulled by the man and she felt the two manacles being put around her wrist, locking her arms behind her back. She stared at Liam all the while this was happening. When the big man inevitably looked away she turned her gaze on the Captain. He seemed unfazed to Laura's disappointment. When she was told to get up she rose so quickly that the chair tumbled over, still staring at Blonsky. The other men raised their guns in response but Blonsky simply held up a hand and gave Laura a smirk. He took out a small black remote and pressed a button. Laura stumbled as the two manacles clanged together with such force that she bit her tongue in surprise. She could also feel a strange pull on the claws inside sheathed inside her arm, trying to pull them closer to her restraints. A man behind her put one hand on her back and started to try and lead her out of the room. Laura didn't resist. She gave the police officers one final look before the military men led her out of the room, out of the building and into the parking lot where there now was a big black helicopter parked in the middle of it.
The blades on the top of it were slowly starting to spin, making the same sound that Laura had heard before. When she looked up she could also she one more circling over them. She hadn't expected to be flown. If she was in the air, her chances of escaping were slim. Especially since in front of the helicopter was a stretcher filled with tight restraints that the men behind her seemed to lead her towards. They wouldn't be able to have her in her manacles and restrain her in the stretcher at the same time. She would have to risk it. It would be very difficult to fight them with her claws restricted. She swore in her head. This would have been easier if she hadn't let them restrain her at all. She had hoped that they just would have used the manacles. It was pretty cold outside and Laura didn't have a jacket. The men didn't seem like they had particularly warm clothes either and that would make them want to get inside the helicopter quickly, especially with all the cold air it was throwing at them. They put her in front of the stretcher, pointed their guns at her and started to unlock her restraints to get her into the new ones. She was going to strike three seconds after they were off. The man removed the manacles.
One, The man clipped the metal cuffs on his belt.
Two... The other men looked ready for something to happen but she couldn't stop now.
Three... She lunged at the first man with unsheathed claws and she was surprised not to hear the guns loudly fire.
Then the first dart hit and she understood why. The tranquilizer serum was strong and it made her dizzy for a moment before it was gone. Her claws were already in the man who had shackled her. More darts hit her and she almost fell over but managed to stay on her feet. She turned to the men firing at her and she saw the familiar look of dread in their eyes. She felt nauseous from all the tranquilizers that had hit her but she managed to stay on her feet to go for another lunge. She fell on the ground having missed her target completely. She slashed wildly around her and managed to cut one of the soldiers. She could feel that it only had been a graze. Just when the last of the drug flowed through her system she saw Blonsky in front of her. Kill the leader. She ran towards him, jumping in the air and managed to cut his face. He screamed as he was blinded by his own blood. She hadn't killed him and she turned around to deal the finishing blow. But to her surprise, Blonsky faced her and gave her a wicked smile as he grabbed her arm with ease and threw her to the ground harder so hard that all the air from her lungs escaped and she was left coughing on the ground. She only managed to look up to see the vein pulsating in his temple had turned into a strange color of green before he slammed his fist into her nose and the world turned black.
Authors note
Finally! It feels like this is going to be a theme but this took longer than expected. The problem this time was that I wrote a bunch of scenes for Mary and Liam that went unused as I discovered that they were pretty much unnecessary to the larger story. So there went about a thousand words… My goal with all of the chapters is that always want them to be around 4000 words so that I can update them fairly regularly and so that you have more than a few sentences at a time.
We also got our first meeting with a real MCU character, even though he's not that popular :).
We're also getting out of Canada and into more familiar settings next time and I look forward to writing that because I already have some ideas.
I have also decided, although it's not a decision set in stone, that everything should be written from Laura's perspective. It's her story and I want to write everything from her point of view. However, what I discovered when I wrote the other scenes for Liam and Mary was that I got a better grasp of their characters. If you want to read the scene between them tell me and I'll publish it as a 'mini-chapter'.