. Series Title: X-23: No Way Back
. Story & Chapter Title: Ties That Bind – Chapter Five: Blood To Blood
. Author: ChickRockGuitar
. Date Written: November 2008 - (words written: 2884)
. Fiction Group: X-Men Comics
. Story Rating: T (some mild language)
. Summary Of Story: Part Five of "Ties That Bind". With Hank on the case, Logan assures Laura everything will be okay. But When she suffers yet another blow, the situation begins to look even more dire.
. Auther's Notes: This is the fith and final 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 Three: Blood To Blood

Laura had remained sitting on the porch-swing ever since Logan had left. To her calculations that had been approximately one hundred and three minutes ago. She let out another few coughs. This had become more regular in the last half an hour. As their echoes rocketed though her, she winced. Her breathing had become much more shallow and her pulse was slowly getting weaker.

This worried Laura, but "scared" was not something she had ever been permitted to be. As a young child, she was punished if she ever displayed that kind of emotion. "Weapons are scared of nothing! If you show another sign of this emotion, X-23, you shall be punished! Understand?!", she remembered his warning, as if it was only yesterday. His viscously cruel smile haunted her to this day. She had been just four years old at the time, and four year olds in extreme training situations such as she had been in, of course, did get sacred, and as warned, she had been punished for it.

Slightly shaking her head, Laura pushed the memories of her childhood to the back of her mind. She couldn't help it, she was scared. She was experiencing things she had never done before. Her healing factor had always kicked in long before now. As part of her training, she had been taught about the human anatomy, and the effects of what happened if a person was with sickness, had been shot, poisoned or otherwise injured and near death. So she wasn't bind to understanding what was happening to her. Thus, feeling scared. She had guessed, and Logan had confirmed that her healing factor was more than likely no longer working - or "had gone to hell" as he had put it. Feeling an emotion she was not permitted to have worried her somehow. She knew he could not punish her now, but that didn't stop her from popping a right hand claw, and cutting into her skin.

Laura shivered. She was getting colder by the moment, and Logan's jacket no longer seemed to be giving her much warmth. She decided that she'd better move back inside the apartment. Slowly rising to her feet, Laura edged forwards and turned to enter the though the baloney glass door. Swaying uneasily, Laura steadied herself by leaning against the wall. In that moment, she realised that standing up had been the wrong move. Once again her vision began to fade and the dizziness came thundering back. Laura knew she had to get inside... if she could just make it to the sofa. She tried again - steadying herself as best she could, she showy made her way though the glass door.

Moments after entering the apartment, an extremely sharp pain began to continuously rocket though her body. Laura cried out. Whilst trying to steady herself, she shut her eyes tight, trying to block out the intense pain. Then, as sudden as it had come, it was gone. Laura stood ready for a second burst, but seconds later, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the floor.

Laura woke to find Logan kneeling over her, complete with a worried expression. "Kid, are yer alright?". Laura could feel her entire body shivering, "C-cold..." came her reply. Logan helped Laura to her feet and lead her over to the sofa. As she sat, he reached for the blanket then wrapped it around her. "What... happened?" she asked, in a shivering tone. Logan sat next to her, "Was gonna ask yer the same thing" he replied. Laura didn't respond. "Yer're burnin' up", Logan observed. "Fever. Common symptom of Poison" stated Laura. Logan nodded in agreement. "Yer gonna be okay, kid" he assured her, "Hank's workin' on it". That shocked Laura. She hadn't expected Logan to be able to convince Doctor McCoy to help her - and she felt she didn't deserve that help. "No! No, after what I...", she shook her head, "Why?". "Cause I asked him to" came Logan's simple reply.

As the next few hours passed, Laura had slowly gone from bad to worse. The fever had held it's grip over her and she'd drifted in and out of consciousness several times. Logan had sat with her, hoping Hank would call. He had yet to do so. Logan was beginning to feel beyond desperate now, he wasn't even sure that she'd make it though the night. He was even considering taking her to the nearest hospital. Just as he was weighing up the pros and cons of it, Laura regained consciousness.

"How yer doin', kid?" asked Logan, in a caring, but worried tone. Laura, still extremely drowsy didn't answer, she just looked at him. After a moment, she spoke, her voice was weak, "I... my hands and feet... they...", Laura lifted her hands from the blanket, and both she and Logan were shocked by what they saw: her hands, wrists and fore-arms were tinged with a red-yellow type rash with patches of purple-blue showing though. "Oh no" breathed Logan unable to keep his shock hidden. He knew exactly what this was, and his expression was grave. Laura noticed. "Logan... what's..." she began weakly, but couldn't mange anymore. Seconds later she drifted back into her previous state. Logan immediately reached for his cell and punched in the required digits. Moments later, with a glance at Laura as he spoke, sounding desperate, he said, "Hank, we got a new problem".

I should have known! Thought Logan angrily. He knew her healing factor wasn't working correctly, so he should have known this would happen. He'd been though it himself. And it wasn't pleasant. Well, at least she's out of it, that's a plus. Logan paced up and down the room as thoughts ran though his mind. As he paced, every so often he glanced over at Laura - who was still laying on the sofa in an unconscious state. Logan sighed. He wished he could help her. Not only was she going though the painful sickness of A.I.M's poison, but since the effect of the poison had shut down her healing factor, she was now suffering from metal poisoning also, thanks to her Adamantium claws.

As she she began to stir, Logan moved back towards her. He crouched down in front of the sofa, and waited for a few seconds before speaking. "You want somthin', kid? Water?". Laura shock her head. She swallowed before turning to him. After a few moments she she spoke - her tone was low and breathless. Logan knew she was mustering all of strength just to form the words, "I can feel my body rotting, Logan... I can feel my heart slowing, my... thing's are slowing down...". Logan didn't know what to say. He knew she was right. She swallowed again, "That's what happens when a person dies. The body just stops". Before she could say anymore, Logan jumped in, "Hey, no. Yer're not gonna die, alright? Nobody's dyin' here". Logan looked into her green eyes, "I won't let yer die". Laura coughed a few times before answering, "I don't think you have a choice...".

Logan ignored that answer. "Listen to me", he told her, in a not unkind, but serious-like tone, "Yer gotta hold on. Yer gotta fight it, Laura. I know yer can do that. Hank's gonna come up with somthin', alright?". He could see the teen didn't look convinced. "He always comes through on this kinda thing" he told her. "Yer just gotta hold on, kid" he carried on, almost in a pleading tone. Laura gave him a slight nod, then moments later slowly drifted back into unconsciousness. "Yer gotta hold on..." whispered Logan, desperately, as he watched her sleep, "I ain't gonna loose yer" he told her.

Another two hours passed. Logan could hear Laura's heart slowing down more and more as the time ticked by. Within those two hours Laura had drifted in and out of consciousness a few times. Logan had done his best to assure her that she was going to be okay. But he really didn't know who he was trying to convince more, Laura or himself. He hated this. He hated sickness. You couldn't kick the crap out of sickness, and kicking the crap out of things was his speciality. It was his way of fixing the problem. Three or four times he'd nearly put his claws though the wall, out of anger at the situation. But for Laura's sake, he'd restrained himself - just. He sighed. "Come on, Hank. What the hell's keepin' yer?" he muttered to himself. Just then, as if on cue, at last, his cell rang.

Not wasting time with the pleasantries, Logan jumped straight to the point, "Hank, tell me yer got a cure?" he said, as soon the phone line had connected. There was a silence on Hank's end of the line. After a few moments, Logan broke it, "Hank?" he asked. "Well, I'm a afraid, it's more of a theory right now, Logan" came his reply. Logan glanced over at Laura, "Whatever it is, I'll take it".

Logan watched the dark red liquid flow through the long thin drip-feed tube, which he had set up between himself and Laura. An hour ago, Hank had explained to Logan his theory. He'd came to the conclusion that A.I.M's poison was manmade, and had been specifically targeted at Laura's genetic make up. So, in theory, anyone else coming into contact with the poison would not be effected. He'd carried on to explain, that in order for Laura to stand any chance in fighting the poison, they needed to get her healing factor working. And the best way they could achieve that was for Logan to donate his blood. Laura being his genetic clone, they'd not have to worry about blood type.

"Hold on a second", Logan had said, "Yer just told me the poison was targeted at Laura's genetics. They made her outta me. We got the same genetics". Hank sighed. He really disliked explaining science to those not in the field, he found it very tiresome and repetitive. "Logan, Laura may have your DNA, but not your exact genetic make up, otherwise she would be an exact copy". That made sense. Logan felt stupid. "Okay, so what've I gotta do?" he asked. Hank had gone on to explain that hopefully when Logan donated his blood, once it was flowing though Laura's body, his healing factor would start fighting the poison and also, with any luck, jump start Laura's own healing factor.

Hank had told Logan that his blood alone would not be enough, as there was a strong possibility that once his donated blood was mixing with Laura's own, the poison would still override his heeling factor. He'd given Logan a list of medical chemicals that when injected into Laura's blood stream, would suppress the poison for a few moments, allowing his heeling factor to take effect, thus beating the poison. He'd given Logan a few scientific instances to back this up, but Logan had not been interested. Science really wasn't his thing. As long as this worked, that's all he cared about.

So, armed with Hank's list of the chemicals and equipment he needed, he had stealthily broken into the nearest hospital's medical lab and storage rooms to "borrow" (with no intent of returning) the items he needed. He'd spent longer than he'd wanted to on locating a couple of the chemicals, but he'd found them in the end. Then as fast as he could, he'd made his way back to his apartment, back to Laura. He had not wanted to leave her alone at all, but he knew he had no other choice.

So, as Hank had instructed him, Logan injected the correct measurements of the Medical Chemicals that he'd taken from the hospital, into Laura. Then set up the equipment needed to donate his blood. After what seemed an age, Logan finally disconnected drip-feed from them both, and placed the equipment on the now cluttered coffee table. There was nothing more he could do, but wait. Keeping an eye on Laura, he moved into the chair adjacent to the sofa and lit up a cigar. Waiting.

Thirty minutes later, Laura began to stir. Logan stubbed out his cigar and moved towards her. "Hey, Kid. How yer feelin'?" he asked, gently. Laura took a moment to fully awaken herself, then spoke, "Better. I feel better... I think". She sat up, "What happened?". "Hank came through, as always" said Logan with a nod towards the cluttered table. Laura stood up. She was still uneasy on her feet, but she felt stronger than she had done since Logan had brought her to his apartment.

Suddenly a wave of sickness washed over her. She eyed the kitchen, and as quickly as she could, she made towards the sink. "Laura?" asked Logan as he followed her. She reached the sink, and threw up. "Yeah. Sorry, Kid. Hank said the Chemicals might make yer do that" said Logan in a sort of apologetic tone. Laura looked over her shoulder at him, a little shaken and not very impressed.

A couple of hours later, still feeling uneasy, but on the whole feeling a little better, Laura had managed to have a shower and change from her blood-soaked, bullet-ridden clothes. As she was just walking out of the bathroom, Logan entered the apartment though the balcony door. "Hey. Yer look better" he observed. "Yes. It worked" said Laura. "I'm getting stronger every moment. I can feel it". Logan nodded. Laura moved over to her backpack, picked it up, and swung it over her shoulder. She looked back at Logan, "Please tell Dr McCoy I am grateful to him for his help. And... I'm grateful for your help too, Logan". Logan tensed, he knew what this was, and he didn't like it.

He walked towards her, "So, that's it, huh?" he sounded a little pissed. "This is goodbye?". "Yes" answered Laura, "I have to go. I'm better now, and I have to go". There was now a few feet between them. "You mean, yer have to run", he said, in that same pissed off tone. Laura's expression confirmed that was indeed what she meant. Logan took another step towards her, and spoke in softly, but seriously, "Kid, yer run now, and yer'll be runnin' for the rest of yer life. Yer want that?". "I don't have a choice!" Laura told him, almost shouting. "Yer do. Laura, I'm givin' you a choice. Right here, right now". He could see she was trying hard not to show her emotions.

She shook her head, "If I stay in one place, they will find me! Like they did in San Francisco, like they did at the school. What makes you think it will be different if I stay here?". "The difference is", he told her, "They gotta go though me first". Laura looked away, she wasn't convinced. "Look, I messed up, alright? I said I'd protect yer, and I didn't". She looked back at him, "I'm not gonna let that happen again", he promised. "It's not just The Facility that are after me. It's S.H.I.E.L.D, A.I.M. Because of what they- what he, made me do, I'm wanted throughout the country, and the world".

After a few moments he Logan said, "Yer think I don't know that? I can handle S.H.I.E.L.D. As for the rest… we come across a problem, we handle it". He took another step towards her, "We all gotta stop runnin' at some point, kid. I did. And so do you". He let his words sink in. He wasn't going to force her to stay, but he'd do everything he could to persuade her to. After what seemed too long, Laura came to a decision, "I want to stop running" she told him. "So stop", he answered.

Her dark hair blew in the wind, as she stood on the rooftop's edge of Logan's eight story apartment block, looking over at the city. Bright lights shown in every direction, and late night city life sounds roared in her ears. With a deep sigh, Laura thought about what the last few days had brought. Yet again, her creators had turned her life upside down, yet again they'd caused her to murder those she had come to care about, And yet again, she'd had to start over. She wondered if it would always be this way, if she'd ever be able to stay safely in once place. She really, really wanted that.

Laura's thoughts turned to Logan. How he'd tracked her down, gone out of his way to help her, and, well, saved her life. And how he didn't blame her for what happened. That, she wasn't sure if she was thankful for or angry about. But she knew she had a lot to thank him for. She thought about what living here would mean. Yes, she'd been bitterly angry with him for leaving her at the school, when he'd promised so many things on her arrival, but that anger was now fading. Here with Logan, she felt just a little bit safer. She didn't constantly have to be on full alert, she could catch her breath, she could sleep. But would it last? It seemed too good to be true. It always was.

I Hope you have enjoyed the first Arc of X-23: No Way Back. I am currently laying down plans for the second arc. So please stay tuned.