ANNOUNCEMENT: Two new stories-Like a Boss: Tainted Love and We're in This Together Now, along with the update wave! Enjoy! :o)

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! :o)

~ Chapter 2 ~

"Okay, so here's the new 'do." Cessily holds up a picture, and Laura raises her eyebrows.

"But it is—"

"Short, I know! Isn't it cute?"

Laura gazes pensively at the photo. She has had long hair for all of her life, and is hesitant to make such a radical change.

"Are you certain I need to do this?"

"Positive," Cessily affirms. "It'll grow back, and it won't take you long with your healing factor. Come on…you'll look so awesome. I have the perfect stylist to do it for you, too!"

"I usually cut my own hair."

"Are you kidding me? Come on! Your appointment is in half an hour."

Laura makes an expression of alarm.

"I didn't tell you so you couldn't back out. Trust me…this will be great, and he will notice."

She considers. "Okay."

Laura stares in the mirror, now wearing the haircut from the picture. She is intrigued by what she sees; her hair reached the middle of her neck, and frames her face, accentuating her features. She has never felt pretty before, but now she suspects she is, or is something close to it.

"I like it," she says.

Cessily beams. "Awesome! We're going shopping now."

"But I have homework." Laura is again distracted by her reflection, and after a few moments of gazing, she nods. "Yes, okay. Where are we going?"

Several hours later they return to the school, Laura not only having changed her outfit and done her hair, but now sporting hints of make-up and nail polish. She is also in a very relaxed mood, with a smile constantly reappearing on her face; she has greatly enjoyed her time with Cessily, in a way that she had not known how to in times past.

Perhaps Logan was right. This is the final step in assimilating herself to society. The skills and understanding about friendship with Jubilee had introduced her to the idea of what it could be. It strikes her odd now that her initial impression of the girl was that she was unimportant and useless; ironic, too, since she became both important and useful to Laura in terms of her own self development.

Returning to their room, the girls encounter a familiar figure in the hallway: Santo.

"What are you doin' with her?" He demands, his solid white eyes directed at Cessily, judgment and accusation obvious in his tone.

"Spending time with my friend," she responds, as Laura shifts unhappily.

"She ain't our friend, Cess. X is a murderer. She was on that creepy killer squad that Cyclops was running behind Frost's back!"

"God, Santo. She was on X-force to keep us safe." Cessily glances at the girl. "Isn't that right, Laura?"

Laura feels at a loss for words. She'd never spoken to Santo before her involvement with the wetworks team; how is she supposed to talk to him now? But both are watching her, in expectation, and she knows that now is the time to defend herself.

"I did what I needed to do," she says, her expression strained. "People needed to die. People who would not hesitate to kill any of you. They are not innocent." She pauses, considering something. "I know the difference."

"And that makes it okay to kill people?" Santo rumbles.

"Bad people die all the time." Cessily folds her arms. "Cops shoot robbers who are threatening other people…boys go to war against the 'enemy'. They have for thousands of years. Why would what Laura did for us be any different? If anything, you owe her gratitude."

"I don't owe X nothing!" But Santo's tone is less certain. He glances between the girls, then sweeps down the hallway, mumbling under his breath.

"He's coming around," Cessily says.

"Do you think so?" Laura asks, uncertainly.

"Trust me. This time tomorrow he'll be overloading you with school gossip. As I understand it, it's supposed to be a gesture of affection."

"I see." Laura smiles slightly. "Thank you, Cessily. You are…a good friend."

"No, you are," the other girl says seriously. "I meant what I said. What you did for us…Laura, when the facility had me…I knew they would kill me without a second thought. And I know what you did, for us. For all of us, as a people. I'm so grateful to you…and I will never stop standing up for you, okay? But you can't ever give up."

"Okay." Laura blinks, feeling her eyes moisten slightly. She feels glad, suddenly, that she has returned to the school. She would never have known, otherwise, that people could care about her so deeply.

"Come on, let's go put these away!" Cessily says, in a brighter tone, as she gestures to the bags she's holding.

"How's it goin', half pint?" Logan asks.

He and Laura are sitting outside, on the headmaster's balcony, two bottles of beer on the small table between their lawn chairs.

Laura thinks. "Well, so far."

"Great to hear. You makin' friends again?"

"Many children are upset by my previous association with X-force," she says.

"Hate to say it, kid, but—"

"You told me so. I know." Laura closes her eyes. "Cessily is helping me to correct their views, slowly."

"Always knew she was a bright kid. Head's on straight. Glad she came back to the school." Logan pauses. "Want me to talk to anyone for ya?"

"No, I will handle this on my own." She hesitates. "You lied to me."

"Huh?" Logan pauses, the beer tilted to his mouth.

"You implied that Hellion wished to see me again."

A pause.

"I never said nothin' about him."

Laura fixes her mentor with a direct glare.

"Okay, okay." Logan takes a swig. "He's just a kid, Laura. If he's worth his salt, he'll come around. If not…there's plenty of fish in the sea, okay? You need any help pickin' one—a smart one—let me know. I got all their grade averages on file."

The girl smiles slightly, then pauses. "What is Julian's average?"

"Based on the kid's results, I'm surprised he can tie his shoes in the morning." Logan pauses, seeing Laura's nose working. "Aw, hell…fine. He's about average." He contemplates the bottle in his hand. "Goddamn clones," he says absently.

"As I remember, you insisted I return to the school," Laura says.

"Something like that." Logan looks at the girl again. "You should check in with Gambit, you know. He's been askin' me about you."

"I did not know he was teaching here." Laura raises her eyebrows. "Where should I look for him?"

"Ethics," Logan grins.

"I will go and find him tomorrow." Laura gazes across the balcony. "It will be nice to see him again."

"Sure he'd be glad too." Logan glances at his watch. "Crap. I got to do a conference call. You mind clearin' out for a bit?"

"No." Laura gets to her feet. "When would you like me to return?"

"As often as you want." Logan gets up as well. "The little time I got with you before, Laura…I regretted that. You needed guidance, and I wasn't there for you. But this here's a fresh start, and now if you need someone, you think of me first, okay?"

"Okay." Laura pauses, then holds out her arms, startling her mentor. After a moment he returns the gesture and they hug for the first time, a social action that Laura now understands. When they pull away, Logan nods to her.

"I think you've grown a lot, kid," he says. She smiles.

In Psychology class, Laura leans over as Cessily underlines a passage, and raises her eyebrows. The girl does not seem manipulative, and yet she is listening to the teacher in earnest, copying down Rachel's every word as if her life depends on it.

Laura, in contrast, only writes down the main points. She has eidetic memory; she only needs a few 'cues' to help her retrieve information from her long-term memory storage.

This also gives her a lot of time to examine the reactions of her classmates to the information being imparted. And more often than not, her eyes settle on Julian, sitting about five rows down in the lecture hall. Looking at him now, she sees that he is whispering to a student beside him; she can hear that he is contradicting what their professor is saying. Unobserved, she studies his side profile carefully. She notes the firmer angles in his face, the bags under his eyes, and the slight shadow across his jaw. It strikes her suddenly that he is getting older.

"Earth to Laura," Cessily whispers, sometime later, and she shakes her head slightly, embarrassed at having been caught staring. This is another new phenomena, this embarrassment. It strikes her whenever she commits a social blunder, or in other words, something she has learned not to do.

Perfect application of skills learned is very important to her, for that is how she was trained to learn, by the Facility. No matter how much she grows in character, there are some qualities she knows she will never lose.

She realizes that Cessily has given her this nudge because everyone around them is putting their books away, the class having ended. Laura flushes and hurries to do the same, her book making a solid thud! as it slips out of her fingers and hits the ground.

As they file out of the classroom, her eyes land on Julian again; Cessily elbows her in the ribs. "Don't be so obvious!" she hisses.

"Okay." Laura looks at her friend instead. "Can I copy some of your notes?"

"Course." Cessily smiles, and the two head for the cafeteria, discussing the topic of the day.

In the hallway outside English, Laura suddenly freezes in mid-conversation.

"What?" Cessily asks. "Something wrong?"

"Julian is walking toward us," she says, sounding uncertain. Now she gives her friend an imploring look, remembering that she had promised to help her.

"Hey," he calls to Cessily. Then he stops, gives Laura an odd, searching look. "You cut your hair," he says, almost accusingly.

Laura is silent.

"Doesn't it look great?" Cessily prompts.

For a moment, it is obvious that he agrees; then his expression hardens. "I don't think anything looks great on a psychopath, except for orange jumpsuits." He turns his back on the two, stalks into the now-open classroom, and slams the door behind him.

"Wow." Cessily stares at the door.

Laura falters. "I don't think this is a good idea," she says.

"Come off it. It was working." Cessily sucks her tongue. "He's having some real issues with admitting that he likes you. I think this goes beyond being angry at you for leaving."

"What do you mean by 'issues'?" Laura asks, in a miserable tone.

"He's conflicted. There's only one way to overcome this." Cessily nods. "We have to appeal to his sense of competition. If there's one thing Julian can't stand, it's getting beaten in his own game."

Laura looks confused.

"You need another boyfriend," Cessily clarifies.

"I do not want another…boyfriend," Laura says. "I am not even certain I want to go any further with…Julian. I believe he may need too much…" she paused, searching for a suitable word. "…maintenance."

"Trust me, it'll work." The other girl grins. "I bet you it'll take less than a week. It's simple. You get a stand-in, and I'll spread the word. If he sees you two together, he won't be able to handle it. His instincts will tell him to interfere…and to do that, he has only one option."

"I do not like this plan," Laura says.

"It goes along with what we learned in psych this morning," Cessily argues. "Remember when Professor Grey told us about how to get people to do what you want? Other than telepathy, there were four main ways: money, threat of pain, convincing someone that it's in their own best interests…and the most powerful one…convincing them that it's their own idea." She pauses. "Julian won't have a clue. It'll all come from him."

Laura considers this, with an uncertain expression.

"What have you got to lose?" Cessily points out. "Compare that to what you could gain."

A moment's pause.

"…fine," Laura mumbles. "I will require assistance in…acquiring this…stand-in."

"Leave it to me," Cessily promises.