A/N: The botched, loose stuff was purged. Laura retains an adamantium coated skeleton; however, like Wolverine, her healing factor has kicked in to balance the effects.

( Volume: 4 Arc: "not this again" 4 Issue: 1/5 )

Chapter 138 : probably bad news

"Clean as a whistle," Dr. McCoy said happily. "Laura, this is one of the most remarkable recoveries I've ever witnessed. I am glad we didn't lose you."

Laura looked down. Paused. "Dr. McCoy …" she whispered.

"Yes, my dear?" Dr. McCoy was writing something on his clipboard.

"I would like a prenatal vitamin shot."

CLATTER!

"Excuse me," Dr. McCoy said, picking up the clipboard and adjusting his glasses. "I seem to have misheard you. I thought you said you wish to have another offspring."

"No…that's what I said," Laura replied.

Dr. McCoy stared at her. "You can't be serious."

"I am." Laura met his gaze confidently.

"…" Dr. McCoy rubbed his face with his paw. "Laura…this is a very bad time for you to consider having more children. You have just recovered from a serious, life-threatening
condition…not to mention the fact that you have an adamantium skeleton which will constantly poison your bloodstream for the rest of your life…and your reproductive organs
may have been harmed from the metal poisoning…"

"But I can get pregnant?" Laura asked.

Dr. McCoy shook his head. "I strongly advise you…in all my official capacity as your physician…no more children, Laura."

Laura was silent again.

…

Julian stopped, pushed her away by her shoulders. "Are you sure? Just a week ago…you nearly died, you know. You don't—I can wait. Really."

They were alone, in his old room in the mansion, where he'd slept for the nights that Laura had been healthier but still confined to her hospital bed. She'd just been discharged
by Dr. McCoy, and the first thing she had done—upon his closing the door—was to come onto him, quite strongly and surprisingly.

He supposed it made sense. She'd been quiet all day, her eyes different—he put it down to trauma, and shock—and pain—and then this, this was like a dam bursting, her
desperation to feel something else escaping her control.

"Laura…" he ducked her attempt to kiss him, and backed up against the bathroom door. "C'mon, I'm serious. Take it easy."

"No." It was more like a snarl than a word. Startling. Her eyes flashed; despite his decision that they wouldn't do anything, he found it difficult to resist. Her fingers reached
into his pocket, found a packet, and then she pressed it to his chest with a burning look. "Now," she said firmly.

"…who am I to say no?" Julian relented, his face breaking into a slight grin—for the first time in what must have been a month.

…

"How is Laura settling?" Dr. McCoy asked, the next morning, seeing Julian in the cafeteria, his hair rumpled and his general appearance that of tired. He was standing in the line, holding a tray.

"She's…settling," Julian said, appearing to conceal amusement.

Dr. McCoy smiled. It was good to see the boy lightening up; he'd been so serious, and tragic (for good reason) of late. He didn't envy the boy's responsibilities—having loved ones, and a
family of young children—in such an unforgiving world as they now seemed to be living in.

Not that it was forgiving before, but now was worse than ever.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do for you," Dr. McCoy said, patting his shoulder and moving on. Behind him, he heard one of Julian's friends—the pile of rocks named Santo—call the boy's
name: 'Keller! How's she doing?'

Dr. McCoy picked up a tray, about to tune out of the conversation.

"She's doing great. Good as new."

Julian paused. Then he said something that would not have been so odd if Dr. McCoy didn't know a certain something, an outrageous question Laura had asked him during their last appointment.

Preposterous, he told himself.

"Dude—I can hardly keep up. It's great. It's like she's preggos all over again…without the preggos part."

Dr. McCoy frowned. It was none of his concern, definitely not. What on earth was he thinking? He realized he was holding the tray and tuning in with his excellent, refined sense of hearing.

"Oh really?" Santo asked.

"First thing. She totally jumped my bones. I was telling her no, and she insisted. I dunno how she knew—I didn't even know I had one left—but she just reached into my pocket and pulled out a—"

"Julian," Dr. McCoy called, across the cafeteria. "Might I see you in my office for a moment?"

The boy traded looks with his friend, shrugged, then followed his ex-teacher out of the cafeteria.

…

"…"

Julian broke into a grin, and began to laugh. "That's a good one," he chortled.

"I wish I found it amusing, Mr. Keller," Dr. McCoy said gravely. "Oh, if only. But I'm afraid I'm entirely serious. Laura was requesting this only yesterday morning, during her final examination before I discharged her."

"Yeah, right. She's not stupid, Dr. McCoy." Even as he said the words, Julian paled, remembering something as well. Something Laura had said to him, feverish, holding his hand very tightly.

"M-more shrimps," she said. "I want…promise m-me…if I make it…I can have m-more…I want…"

"That's BULLSHIT," Julian said loudly, not speaking to Dr. McCoy, but answering to his own doubtful thoughts. "No fucking way would she—oh, sorry, I forgot you were here…"

"I have temporarily grown deaf," Dr. McCoy assured him.

…

Emma Frost opened her pale blue eyes and looked at her ex-student grimly. She'd just discovered something rather disturbing—something that hadn't been evident at 'first glance'.

"Do you recall…perhaps, when Laura delivered the twins?" she asked.

Julian nodded. "Kind of hard to forget. She went bat-shit crazy for a week."

"The state Laura is in now…is similar," Emma said slowly. "She is of two consciousness; a type of multiple personality disorder. There is the normal Laura, that you know…and there is
the other version of her, a feral, nurturing mindset. It has somehow integrated with her normal responses in a way that allows for unconscious exchange of control. I believe that, in
addition to the adamantium implants, she was subject to extreme psychological trauma that may have caused such a shift."

Silence. Julian turned pale.

"…what? What are you talking about?"

"I cannot define the cause. It is in her subconscious, and her brain is attempting to heal over the tainted memories. They were so traumatic that part of her has been driven into
an automatic state…in essence, her feral instincts have turned on."

"So…she was tortured?" Julian asked, glaring at Emma.

Emma closed her eyes. "I believe so."

"You knew this, and you didn't tell me?"

"Hellion—"

"Fuck that! I've had it with you X-men! You're nothing but bullshit! How could you keep something like that from me, you—"

"Mr. Keller, that will be quite enough," Emma said firmly. "I chose not to inform you because the priority was to recover Laura, and that would have been delayed if you had begun
to argue. Now the priority is not to be selfish, but to help her recuperate—and keep her safe."

Julian stopped. "Safe?"

"I do not believe this was an isolated incident," Emma said, her eyebrows drawn together. "This is only the beginning, of whatever it is."

"So you think someone's trying to get to Laura?" Julian asked.

"Perhaps."

"Well, they kind of succeeded, didn't they?!" he demanded. "I swear, I've never seen anyone so stupid."

"Mr. Keller."

Julian clenched his fists. "Give me something to respect and I will. Until then…"

Emma closed her eyes, seeming to will herself to be patient. "Hellion. I cannot do anything for Laura at this moment. These unfavorable responses are primal, and I am unable to reach
either Logan or said Laura in such a state. You will have to wait this out. But above all, you must not give into her demands."

Julian's look of angry defiance turned into one of sheepishness. "Er…look, if I bring her here…will you fix her?"

Emma raised her eyebrow. "I can try," she said.

…

Laura's lax expression suddenly tightened; she rolled her eyes, blinked, and made a disgruntled face. Then her eyelids slid shut, she gasped slightly, and leaned back in her seat.

"not projects…wha?"

Julian watched her intently (almost falling out of his chair to do so). This was very promising; it was the most Laura-like response he'd seen in a week and a half, since she'd woken up.

Emma opened her eyes. "Welcome back, Laura," she said.

Laura's fingers tightened on the edges of her armrests; Julian noted they turned white very quickly, possibly due to the fact that her bones were now slightly larger. "…" she remained
seated with her mouth open as she slowly began to put two and two together.

Then…

"Oh…fuck me! They so did not," she said, her tone outraged.

Julian relaxed. This was definitely Laura.

"That fucking bitch! Where'd she go, I'm going to—KELLER! I need you to pull out someone's brains through their nose for me. Or her intestines, I'm not all that particular right now—AHH!"

Laura had tried to make a gesture, and instead her finger had gone up her nostril; possibly because she was uncoordinated with the adamantium skeleton.

"Now we know where young Nathan gets it," Emma said dryly.

"…" Laura slowly pulled her finger away. "What—what's wrong with me? Am I on something, or—"

"You don't remember?" Julian asked.

"All I know is that crazy bitch showed up…and…I don't really want to think about it, but…" Laura's eyebrows drew together, as she took in Julian's appearance.

He hadn't bothered with it for about three and a half weeks, and the change was noticeable.

"Oh my eff, you can grow facial hair," she said, sounding amazed.

"…" Emma made an impatient noise. She had been hopeful that Laura would elaborate on her mental situation, on some memories; but, as per usual, the girl had wandered off onto a
different train of thought.

"Laura—" Julian also wanted her to focus.

"You look like a vagrant," Laura said, wrinkling her nose. "Get a haircut, asshole!"

" Please, concen—"

"How long was I out for?" Laura asked. "I mean, if Keller's grown up enough to have more than peach fuzz…hell, I thought that would never happen. Am I dead? Is this some weird, perverted form of—"

"LAURA! Focus! This is really important!" Julian snapped, his teeth gritted, although his agitation was over an entirely different matter than Frost's. "What do you remember about the past few weeks?!"

Laura fell silent. Then…"It's all a blur," she said, although he doubted that was the truth.

…

He couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned while Laura slept soundly. All he could think of was what if, what if, what if. It was worse than torture. It even eclipsed the slow, hopeful sensation that had
come with the realization that Laura was still in there, unchanged.

He felt the bed depress, as Laura suddenly sat up in the dark. He froze, turned his head slightly, watched her lumber across the carpet to the washroom. After a few moments she managed to enter
through the doorway; about a minute after that (and with a bit of extra noise as she groped for the doorknob) she succeeded in closing the door; he leapt to his feet and ran after her, then pressed
his ear up against the wood. Listening for sounds of—

The door opened.

Julian blinked in surprise. Then he remembered how accurate her hearing was.

"…" Laura raised her eyebrow. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing," he said. "Er, I just…wanted to make sure you're really okay."

"I'm fine," she said. She smiled slightly. "Sweet of you." She reached out to touch his face rather clumsily; he jerked backwards, his eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" Laura asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Fine," he said, turning back to the bed. Thoughts swirled through his head, paranoid thoughts. One time didn't necessarily do the trick. What if she got to him while he was sleeping?

…

"If I can somehow bring you a urine sample, can you run a test on it?" Julian blurted. He knew it was probably the most awkward thing he'd said this year, but he was dying, dying of the thought
that there might be more trouble.

He hadn't slept in three nights.

Dr. McCoy blinked at him, across the desk.

"Mr. Keller…what I said…I hope you are not allowing the thought to consume you."

"Ohhh," Julian ran his hand through his uncut hair and gave Dr. McCoy an amused look. "What the hell did you think it would do? You told me there's a chance that she's making more. Right now,
while the shit's hit the fan already and we're knee deep. Do you really think I could sleep at night after that? As in ever again?"

Dr. McCoy sighed.

"Mr. Keller—I don't see how it is possible for you to obtain a sample without her awareness. You will need to ask her."

"Like she'll let me!" Julian said. "I've got it all planned out, seriously. Leave it to me."

"Very well," Dr. McCoy said skeptically. "A blood sample would do as well…even better. It might be easier to obtain."

"Oh." Julian paused. "Alright. I can get that, no problem."

Dr. McCoy eyed him for a moment. "Mr. Keller, I was implying that you bring her for a check-up, so I can take it."

"Oh." Julian flushed. "I haven't slept for a bit."

"So I can see."

…

"LAURA!" Cessily and Nori were running towards her as they spotted her in the hallway, with Julian, returning from a visit to the Shrimps, whom she was frantic to see. She'd parted with them reluctantly,
which surprised both Logan and Julian. If she was in a feral state, why was she allowing herself to be separated from her offspring so easily?

"Ohmigod! I can't believe you're okay!" Cessily said.

"I heard you were hooked up on every machine we've got," Nori said.

Laura shrugged. "I'm alright now."

Silence. The smiles began to fade as they realized something was different in Laura's reaction.

Nori cleared her throat.

"Quite something, huh? Nearly dying." She was still shaken from her Legacy experience; she woke up at night, shaking and sweating still, wondering if it was still in her and she would just explode all of a sudden.

"Yes." Laura looked down.

Silence.

"It's even worse for the people that care about you guys, you know," Julian said, seeing that everyone was uncomfortable. "I'm kind of glad you didn't die either, Ashida. I'd have missed your bright, sunny disposition."

"Shut up, Keller," Nori said, but she grinned. "Hope you're not mad I didn't visit your bedside, Laura…got told you came to mine. I was still kinda hanging by a thread myself."

"We should start the near-death club," Laura said, in a manner more of her usual self. "We could have like little tombstones as our symbol."

"Hah, I guess like three-quarters of the population here would qualify," Nori said thoughtfully. "In fact, it's getting hard to meet people that haven't died at least once. Their innocence is refreshing."

"You can be the president, seeing as you cause a lot of the experiences," Laura commented to Julian, who flushed slightly. "Fuck you," he said helplessly.

…

"I don't see why I need more tests," Laura grumbled as Dr. McCoy pricked her skin with the syringe. "You said I was okay."

"Every week, Laura, for the next month," Dr. McCoy said calmly. "It's standard procedure, whether you're okay or not."

Julian watched the blood fill the vial, his heart pounding in his ears. There was the answer. Oh, god, please no, he thought. If it's not, I will never, ever again be so stupid, I promise, I…

"Why is your heart beating so fast, Keller?" Laura asked suspiciously.

"Er—I hate the sight of blood," he said.

"No you don't…you're the one who took your brother to get his—"

"I do now!" he said lamely, in a panicked manner.

Dr. McCoy shook his head and capped the vial. "You are free to go, Laura. As far as I can ascertain, you are still the picture of perfect health. I will see you on Friday for your next check-up."

He looked at Julian. "Take care of her."

And don't do anything stupid, his glance said very sternly.