Series Title: X-23: No Way Back
. Story & Chapter Title: Ties That Bind – Chapter Two: Bad, Bad Memories
. Author: ChickRockGuitar
. Date Written: August 2008 - (words written: 3305)
. Fiction Group: X-Men Comics
. Story Rating: T (some violence and blood)
. Summary Of Story: Part Two of "Ties That Bind". When tragedy strikes at the the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, Laura is forced to leave behind the one place that she's called "home".
. Auther's Notes: This is the second chapter to the first story arc of a fanfictional serial of stories written by chickrockguitar. These stories are set in a slightly alternate Marvel universe - set with a new spin on the character of X-23.
. Disclaimer: Marvel/X-Men characters, established concepts and previous storylines full credit goes to Marvel, Stan Lee, Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, and Co. Original storylines credit goes to me.
Chapter Two: Bad, Bad Memories
Thirty Six hours ago - 8am:
Stan Marlow, a dirty blond, short-haired man, with stubble around his chin - almost resembling a beard, and looking to be in his late twenties, pulled into the tall, black, but not unfriendly looking Iron gates of the Xavier Institute. He drove the van a few yards along the stony driveway and brought it to a stop just feet from the large double oak front doors, then cut the engine. Clipping his personnel badge to the chest pocket of his dark blue overalls, he checked himself in the minor, then taking a depth breath, he opened the door and stepped out onto the rough stony driveway.
Unlocking, and sliding back the vans side door, Stan reached in and a few moments later emerged again with a heavy looking steel type toolbox. Just then the large oak doors to the school opened and a tall, brown haired man, roughly in his early to mid thirties stepped out onto the stone porch. The first thing Stan noticed about this man, was that he wore Ruby tinted shades. This was one of the Mutants he had been briefed on. They called him Cyclops, although Stan wasn't sure why.
Stan slid the door to his van closed and locked it, then shoved his keys into his pocket. With a friendly smile towards 'Cyclops', who was now walking down the stone steps towards him, Stan thought about the task as to why he was here. The two men met, and 'Cyclops' offered his hand, "Welcome to the Xavier Institute, I'm Scott Summers, co-headmaster of the school". Stan shook his hand and replied, "Stan Marlow, Winchester Water Repair". "Right then, Mr. Marlow, if you'd like to follow me, I'll show you to our, er... problem" said Scott in a friendly tone. He lead the way across the drive way, up the stone steps and into the school, with Stan following closely behind.
Sixteen year old Laura Kinney sat on the end of her bed, slipped her right boot onto her foot, and began to tie the laces. Moments later, her roommate, seventeen year old Sooraya Qadir, emerged from their bathroom. "Good morning, Laura. I shall be going to breakfast soon, would you like to join me?". "No, thank you, Sooraya". "Oh, alright. Perhaps tomorrow, then?" asked the Muslim, as she lifted her niqab from her shoulders and applied it to her face. "Maybe..." answered Laura, standing up. "Are you going out?" questioned Sooraya. "Yes" replied Laura. "By yourself? Again?" asked Sooraya, in a concerned like tone. "Yes" came Laura's usual non-committal short reply.
The Afghanistan teen paused for a few moments, then gently said, "Laura, please do not take offence, as I do not mean to pry, but, why do you, as they say here in America "hang" by yourself so often? I thought Mister Logan wanted to you make friends with the students?". "Logan isn't here. He left" said Laura, not bothering to hide her bitterness. Sooraya acknowledged Laura's tone. She studied the teens green eyes: there may be bitterness there, she thought, but at the same time she could clearly see sadness as well. "He will be back soon, I am sure" reassured Sooraya. Laura didn't answer for a moment, but then muttered, "I'm beginning to really not care". That was a lie. In truth, Laura really missed him. She was angry that he'd left the school without telling her, but it just didn't feel like home without him. She was still adjusting to her new life, and she need him.
"Laura... I do not believe that is true..." said Sooraya. Laura sighed, she tucked a stray wisp of her shoulder length black hair behind her left ear. As she thought of Logan, and his abrupt leaving, anger rose inside again. She shook her head slightly and looked into the Muslim's dark brown eyes, "Believe what you like, Sooraya..." she responded angrily. "I'll see you later" she continued in a more friendly tone. She crossed the room, opened the door, walked out, closing it behind her.
"You see," begin Scott, as he lead Stan into the school grounds, "we usually fix these little problems ourselves, but as we needed our water supply yearly review - I thought that Winchester Water could take care of both matters". "Yes, sir, certainly" replied Stan. Scott came to a stop at the side of the main building, where the main water supply pipes were housed. "As you can see, the leakage in quite severe" said Scott. The pipes had been broken in several places, and bound with thick towelling. "Gosh, what on earth did this?" questioned Stan. "Er... We're not quite sure, I'm afraid" lied Scott. He wasn't about to tell the man that one of his Mutant students was responsible. "I trust you have everything that you need?" continued Scott, changing the subject. "Yes, I think so" replied Stan. "Fantastic. I'll leave you to it then". Stan gave a nod, then Scott turned and walked back the way they had came. Once Scott as out of sight, Stan opened his toolbox and got to work.
Thirty Four hours ago - 10am:
Laura had been perched high up on a tall Oak Tree, situated near the school's lake, for almost two hours now. She liked it here. It was quiet, peaceful, and far away from everyone else. About fifty yards away she watched a group of teens playing on the basketball court. Josh Foley, Julian Keller, Victor Borkowski and Santo Vaccarro, the other four, three girls and another guy, she didn't know. She knew Logan wanted her to interact more with the other students, to make friends, and she had done. But since Logan's leaving, she just didn't feel very comfortable around them anymore, and if asked, she honestly couldn't give an answer as to why. She often felt fear coming from most students when she walked into the room, this had increased ever since Logan had left the school. She hated that she was feared by them, but she understood why they felt that way. She knew that some of the students knew about her past and she knew that they knew if something did go wrong, out of everyone in the school, it was perhaps only Logan who might be be able to subdue her.
There were a couple of students, however, who seemed to generally want to be friends with her. Cessily Kincaid and her roommate Sooraya. A part of her wanted to be friends with them too, and again, like with the other students, she had tried, but since Logan had gone, she just wanted to be left alone. "People need people, Laura" Logan had told her, not long after she'd arrived at the school almost ten months ago. Well, Logan's gone now, thought Laura, so why should I act on anything he had to say? "It's easier on your own", Laura muttered to herself. When you're on your own, it's just you. Nobody to make you promises, and nobody to take off on you.
Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name. "Laura! Hey, Laura!". She looked down towards the ground, standing below was Julian Keller, basketball in hand. Moments later, using his mutant ability, telekinesis, he levitated up to her level. "You wanna come join us for a game? We're one player short". "No thank you, Julian" replied Laura. "Aw, come on!" he tried to convince. "Being up here by yourself", he shook his head, "not healthy". He gave her a kind smile. "No thank you, Julian" she repeated. He sighed. "Okay, okay. Don't say I didn't offer...". And with that, he was gone.
Julian Keller. There was something about him, Laura thought. Lately, he had been... nice to her. He was different from most of them. Although, she could smell his fear when he approached her, for some reason, he seemed to try and hide it. And Laura wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. As she watched him tossing the ball to the other teens, emotions began to run through her. The kind of emotions that she wasn't used to. Emotions she was never permitted to have as a child. Emotions she didn't understand. She felt as if she could watch him for hours, she felt as if the fifty yards between them wasn't close enough. Moments later, she smelt the familiar scent of blood. Her blood. Looking down at her left arm, she noticed that using one of right claws, she'd cut two "X" like shapes into her skin. Retracting her claw, she watched the two inch wounds bleed, knowing they would heal within minutes, leaving no trace of a scar, thanks to her enhanced healing abilities.
Thirty Two hours ago - 12pm:
It had taken Stan just over two hours to fix and replace the broken pipes. He now had one task left to complete. The real task as to why he was here. He wasn't Stan Marlow working for Winchester Water Repair, that was his everyday guise. He in fact was Agent Stan Davidson, and he worked for a company only known as The Facility. Carefully, he removed a test tube, filled with a green clear-like liquid, from a hidden compartment in his toolbox. This liquid was known as "Trigger Scent".
Stan had never met the mutant he had been sent to Target. He had been briefed on her and on the Trigger Scent. He'd been told she was known as X-23. He had been given her basic history and was told she was extremely dangerous and not to engage. He had also been briefed on the Trigger scent itself. He'd been told it was a
chemical compound, created by Dr. Zander Rice, former Genetics Head of the Facility. Designed to control X-23, the effects of scent would send her into an involuntary berserker rage, when smelling its presence, violently killing those it was planted upon.
Carefully undoing the stop on the top of the test tube, Stan poured the liquid into one of the main water pips, effectively contaminating the whole water supply of the Institute. The liquid itself would not do any harm to those who drank from or showered in it. However, it was hoped when X-23 smelt the scent upon those in the school, they'd soon become her victims. Stan had asked why this needed to be done. The answer he received was simple. They wanted to draw X-23 out. They wanted to take those she cared about from her. They wanted her away from the school and alone, so they could put the next step of the re-capture plan into action, and then strike.
Stan had just reached his van as the oak doors to the front the school opened. Scott once again came down the stone steps. For a few moments Stan was tense. Had something gone wrong? Had be been found out? "Ah, Mister Marlow" said Scott, has he approached him. "Everything went smoothly, I trust"? carried on the Headmaster. "Yes, Sir. Everything's fixed and seems to be in working order" smiled Stan, as he opened his van door. "Wonderful. If you could have your company send us the invoice, that would be great" replied Scott. "Will do. Mister Summers" said Stan. Scott gave a nod and headed back up the stone steps and into the school. Stan breathed a silent sigh of relief, then got into his van, closed the door and moments later started the engine.
Once he had driven a good few miles from the School, Stan brought the van to a stop at the side of the road, then reached for his cell phone. He quickly punched in the required digits and held the cell to his ear. "Ah, Agent Davidson," Came a voice from from the other end of the line, "I trust you are calling to confirm everything went according to plan?". "Yes, Sir. The Trigger Scent is in now place" Stan replied. "Excellent!" exclaimed his boss, "Good work. Now we wait. We will discuss this further when you return". "Yes Sir" said Stan. Then the line went dead. With his task now fully complete, Stan replaced his cell phone on it's cradle and continued on down the highway.
Thirty hours ago - 2pm:
For the last half an hour, Laura could small scents of different types of food coming from the main building, more specifically the Cafeteria. She'd decided to remain sitting high up in the oak tree and wait for the for most of the students to finish their lunch, before entering the Cafeteria herself.
Laura pushed open the main Cafeteria doors, there were perhaps twenty or so students and members of the X-Men (who doubled up to teach the kids in the school), eating their lunch. Good. The room isn't crowded, thought Laura. She made her way further into the large room, then suddenly came to a dead stop. She stiffened and sniffed the air. Then, everything went black.
Seven minutes later - 2:07pm:
Suddenly the world around her came rushing back. Laura found herself standing in the middle of the Cafeteria. She surveyed the room. It was totally trashed. Amongst the overturned tables and chairs, at least two dozen people, lay covered in blood. Most of them dead, the rest lay dying. Laura looked down at her hands, her claws were popped and it was then she realised, she was covered in blood. Then it clicked. She had done this. It had been Trigger Scent which set her off.
"No. No..." muttered Laura, shaking her head, not wanting to believe what had just happened. She looked around the room, recognising some of the dead. Nick Gleason, David Alleyne, Ruth Aldine and Shan Coy-Manh. The others she did not know. Suddenly the main Cafeteria doors burst open. Laura swung round to see standing before her were the X-Men: Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Hank McCoy, Kitty Pryde, Piotr Rasputin, Warren Worthington and Sam Guthrie. Behind them stood many of the other Students: Noriko Ashida, Josh Foley, Julian Keller, Victor Borkowski and Santo Vaccarro, but to name a few. Laura watched them as they all looked on in horror at scene before them. Then, Laura did the only thing she could think of. Something she rarely ever did. She ran.
It had been ten minutes since Laura had crashed through one of the Cafeteria windows, sprinted across the School grounds and into the woods beyond. For the first time in her life, Laura didn't know what to do next. Should she go back, try to explain? Her tactics training took over. No, they'd attack her. After all, she'd just murdered over two dozen people the X-Men had sworn to protect.
She thought of Logan... She wondered if he'd been here, would he have been able to stop her? Flashes shot though her mind. She saw her claws striking those she'd killed. She saw their terrified faces, and the sounds of their screams rang in her ears. She covered her head with her hands "Stop! Just stop!" she pleaded to herself. She tried to compose herself. What would she do now? There was nothing for it, she decided, I have to run. - But first, she needed her personal items, which included the locket that her cousin Megan had given her almost two years ago: it contained a photo her mother and a photo of Megan herself. There was no way she was leaving without that.
Silently Laura crept across the grounds and headed for her dorm window. There was no way she would risk trying to get back inside the main building. They'd almost certainly be looking for her. Sense told her that this was stupid. Going back for the locket was a fools plan. It was an enormous risk to take, she could easily be caught. But it was her locket. Megan's locket. It was worth it.
Her dorm was on the second floor of the south wing - third window from the left. Laura reached the bottom of the building and looked up at her target. Good, the window was slightly ajar, she would not have to brake it, which could attract unwanted attention. Laura popped her claws, both on her hands and feet, then digging them into the brickwork, she began to climb.
Laura had just made it though the window and into the dorm, when a transmission came over the schools radio network. "All students and staff report to the auditorium, immediately! We have a situation!" came Scott Summer's somewhat desperate voice. For a moment the sound of Scott's voice had brought her to a stop, but she soon snapped out of it. She grabbed her black backpack from under her bed and quickly began to open draws and shove everything into it. Moments later, she was zipping up the bag when the bathroom door opened. Sooraya stepped out. Laura gasped. Too focused on what she was doing, she'd hadn't noticed her roommate had been in the bathroom.
Fully dressed, but with her hair soaking wet, Sooraya eyed Laura with her now loaded bag. "Laura, are you going somewhere?" she asked. Laura was totally confused. Sooraya was acting normal, as if nothing had happened. The Muslim studied Laura's expression, "Has... has something happened?" continued Sooraya. Could it be that she didn't know, thought Laura. "I... the Cafeteria... I-I didn't mean to-" began Laura, before coming to a sudden stop. She paused, and sniffed the air. Popping her claws, her glance fell back on the Afghanistan teen. Then, again, the world went black.
Once again, the world came rushing back to her, and the first thing Laura smelt was blood. Her claws were popped and her hands were covered in the red liquid - a mixture of her own and someone else's. Laura's gaze soon fell on someone laying at her feet - Sooraya. She unlike the other students, the Afghanistan teen wasn't covered with blood. She had just one wound in the middle of her chest, over her heart. Realising what had happened, horror struck, Laura retracted her claws, and dropped to her knees. "No... No! Not you..." gasped Laura, her eyes met Sooraya's. The girl coughed, and as she did so, a trickle of blood escaped her lips and ran down the side of her mouth. "Sooraya, I-I didn't mean- I-it was Trigger Scent" Laura desperately tried to explain. She pressed her hand over the Muslim's chest wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but in reality she knew this would do no good, her claws had penetrated the girl's heart - which was now slowing.
A single tear ran down Laura cheek, "Sooraya, why didn't you stop me?! Why didn't you use your power?!" she cried. "Was not expecting... Too-too fast..." croaked Afghanistan teen. She coughed again. Then just moments later, Laura felt the last beat of the dying girl's heart. A deafening silence filled the room. No beating of Sooraya's heart or the sound of her breath. "Sooraya...?" asked Laura, almost in an echo-like tone. Silence... Sooraya did not answer her. She was dead.
Laura swallowed. "I'm sorry..." she whispered. She forced herself to stand up, never taking her eyes off Sooraya. She looked down at her dead friend for a few more moments. Tears welled in her eyes, then ran down her cheeks. She thought about why this had happened. The answer, she knew, was simple. The Facility had found her once again. They'd done this, they'd forced her murder yet again. Someday I'll face them. Someday I'll make them pay for this, Sooraya, promised Laura. Suddenly she heard footsteps. Not stopping to find out who was about to enter the room, Laura grabbed her backpack, and at a fast run, she dived head first out of the window.
Currently working on "Chapter Three: Safe-House" – please stay tuned