A/N: The glitch is fixed and I can see all of your reviews! I'm really excited, and I'm looking forward to answering them. For those who have pointed out mistakes: they'll be corrected. Thank you all for reviewing, even though I couldn't read them at the time.
For the first time ever, Laura was sulking. Emma was surprised to see her little niece sitting on her bed with her favorite book tucked close to her chest, her entire body formed into a pout. It would've even been cute in a way, but she could see the look of surprise in her eyes.
She sighed and sat down next to her. It was hard to remember sometimes that Laura wasn't actually six. No, she was a child whose life comprised of a handful of months. She'd gotten through a gambit of emotions quickly, fear, acceptance, love, anger, the big ones. The variations were still strange, and they never failed to surprise Laura when she experienced them.
"What's wrong?" asked Emma.
Laura wriggled further into her bunk bed. Emma raised her eyebrows, and then smiled. She leaned down and whispered in Laura's ear-
"I don't believe in..."
Laura looked over at her, her eyes full of surprise now.
"...pie," Emma said.
Her niece let out a relieved breath. Emma laughed and moved closer.
"You can't kill faeries, you know that right?" she asked.
"You shouldn't risk it," said Laura.
"And that's why you don't breathe quickly, because it might kill adults?" asked Emma.
Laura frowned and nodded. It was almost inconceivable to Emma how many strange things were in Laura's favorite book. She herself had grown up with the cartoon, and there wasn't any nonsense about quick breathing killing adults.
Besides, if it was that easy, Essex would've died many times over.
"Now, what's wrong?" asked Emma.
Still frowning, Laura looked down at her book.
"Daddy's not here," she said, "Kevin's mom is sick, and he's sad. And I don't know what to say."
Emma sighed and moved so she was seated. Yes, that was so often the problem when it came to Laura: she didn't know what to say or do. Most people didn't, but Laura always seemed to think others did, that it was just her. She sometimes would just stare, unsure. Other people at least knew platitudes.
Once more, Essex's urge to play God had robbed Emma of something in her life, namely Laura's ability to at least have an idea of what to do or say. He'd taken Emma's world from her, and he'd taken the world from Laura for so much of her life.
But she hid her anger, pulling Laura's hair away from her face.
"Well, your daddy is coming back," she said, "Because they don't know how to kill him. And Kevin's mother will be fine. Her and the baby."
"You don't know that," said Laura, "Any of it."
It wasn't said with any real malice, but Emma raised her eyebrows all the same. It was unlike Laura to talk back. Perhaps she was picking things up from her friends. Emma might have to keep an eye on that.
"No, but I feel it," she said, "And that's not bad either. So, to me, the only real problem is Kevin being sad."
Laura nodded hesitantly, and Emma pulled herself up. This was where she could excel, do something right. One thing she knew better than anyone was how well a distraction helped someone get through grief or anxiety.
"And what would make him happy?" she prompted.
"His mom healthy," said Laura.
"No honey. You don't have that mutation," Emma said. "Think. You're smart. What can you actually do?"
Laura looked down at her book, flipping to the front. She smiled and put it down.
"We can go to the hospital!" Laura said, "Just because his daddy can't go doesn't mean he can't! I can take him to visit, and we'll have a party and he'll be happy!"
"There you go," said Emma, "You go tell him that we're going, oh, tomorrow's Saturday. We'll do it then. I'll get Scott to drive, and we'll make cookies and all sorts of things."
Her niece hopped off the bed and started scrambling down the hall. No matter how many different emotions Laura experienced, she always returned to joy. It was never more apparent than when she ran, filled with that pure happiness, caused by the knowledge she was going to make someone else happy.
Emma smiled to herself with the pain of someone who knew that, no matter what, she would never run like that.
The car was cramped. Logan could feel his shoulders scraping against the side, the whole back seat vibrating because that damn kid refused to stop tapping his foot. He'd been blissfully out for most of the trip up, but, in the small car, there was nowhere to hide.
Not to mention he was singing the lyrics to what had to be the most annoying song Logan had ever heard. Of all the things the silver-haired brat had to pack, he'd taken the damn Walkman with him. Stupid thing.
"I say we can act if want to, if we don't nobody will," Peter mumbled, rolling his shoulders back and bobbing his head, "And you can act real rude and totally removed and I can act like an imbecile-"
The kid was an imbecile. He wished he could just fall asleep again, something Raven was currently doing, but that wasn't an option. To start with, the kid was still singing. It wasn't too loud, which was probably why no one else was interested, but to Logan's sensitive hearing, he might as well have been singing at a normal level.
"We can dance, we can dance, everybody look at your hands. We can dance, we can dance everybody takin' the chance..."
But even sleep wouldn't be too comforting, not after the nightmares he'd been having. They weren't the ones where he'd wake up in the middle of the night, his sweat making the sheets stick to him and the persistent worry that this was the time when he'd seriously injured Kayla.
That didn't mean they weren't bad though. They'd been filled with Kayla, not the ones where she was alive and how she really was, but how he'd seen her in the woods. They were slightly different each time, but they were always filled with that same blank, terrible look.
And, on the plane, just like so many times before, she'd been holding Laura in her arms. The girl's long hair had been brushed away so he could see the collar clamped around her neck and blankness in her eyes.
Emma was never there, because he knew Essex had all but forgotten her. She wasn't a target, for all of the fear he knew she must have somewhere that she'd be forced to go back. The girl had guts, and spite enough to match, but he knew that glimmer of doubt must be there somewhere.
No, Essex wasn't thinking about Emma. His mind was still on the woman Logan loved, the daughter they'd never been able to have together. It was a win for Essex, no doubt, to be able to have them both.
And he already had one.
"Sssss, aaaaaaa, ffffff, eeeee, tttttt-"
Logan grabbed the Walkman from Peter's hands, ripping off his headphones. His spare hand was already winding down the window, but before he could throw it out he felt it leave his hand. He turned, his glare matched by Peter's.
"Dude, not cool," he said, clutching his Walkman to his chest.
"Then shut your trap and shut this thing off!" Logan snapped.
"I mean, seriously, who just takes another guy's tunes?" asked Peter, going on as if Logan wasn't even there, "Who does?"
His voice went up at the end, and Raven started. She peered over at them, her eyes their natural gold for once. She was still half-asleep but he could see the anger and irritation already starting to form.
She could join the club.
"Someone who doesn't wanna deal with this shit!" Logan said, "You were quiet on the way over. Why can't ya be quiet now?"
"Children," Raven drawled, irritated, "Don't make me pull this car over."
"You're not even driving," said Peter.
"Fine," Raven said, a yawn barely disguised, "I'll just open the door and step out."
"I'll join you," Logan said, biting out the words.
"No one is leaving this vehicle until we get there," snapped Erik.
Logan fisted his hand in the cloth of his pants.
"How much longer?" he growled.
"Only an hour," Erik said coldly.
Logan let out a frustrated noise in the back of his throat before shifting irritably.
"Next time, I sit in the front," he said.
Peter stopped tapping his foot, then grinned.
"Hey, you're not a treat to sit next to either," he said, "You smell like the pits."
"Peter," Erik warned.
"Come on guys, can't just be me. If we are rescuing your girlfriend, then shower first because she is not gonna want to come back if you smell like that-"
Logan's hand was around Peter's throat faster than he thought possible, slamming him into the other side of the car. Peter looked more surprised than scared, but that was going to be changing very quickly.
"Let. Him. Go."
The snarling words were accompanied by a vibration in his bones. He saw Erik looking at him in the rear view mirror, his eyes dark and angry. Logan looked back at Peter, who was holding up his hands as though desperately trying to placate him.
Logan let him go, disgusted. He pulled himself as far away as possible, glaring at the scenery.
"Okay, should've left it at the comments about you," Peter said, "Um...didn't think that...um didn't realize that part was crossing the line until I was about halfway through. I kind of have trouble stopping once I start. Sorry. Shouldn't have dragged Laura's mom into it."
He gave him a side look, searching for sarcasm, but all Peter looked was sheepish.
"I uh, tend to run my mouth," said Peter.
"Big damn shocker," Logan snorted.
Peter shrugged, although he still looked sheepish.
"I'm...thinking I should start working on it."
"Yes ya damn well should," snapped Logan.
"Okay," Peter said, holding up his hands again as though trying to ward him off.
"Good."
Silence descended, and the screwed up version of a sitcom family road trip continued. Logan couldn't remember the last time he'd had a trip this annoying since they'd had that one mission with that mercenary they'd picked up. Damn teen couldn't keep his mouth shut, and he hadn't been the only one who wanted to throttle the little shithead by the end.
"Before we get to the village, we should discuss cover while we get a lay of the land," Erik said, "It's going to look rather conspicuous for four foreigners to walk into town. Something someone might remember and report perhaps."
"Whaddya suggest?" asked Logan.
"They know Peter's face the least, so he should go in," said Erik, "But going in alone might prove unwise if Yashida has too many friends there."
Logan nodded, already sensing the ploy.
"So Raven turns into some woman, they pretend ta be newlyweds on honeymoon or somethin?" he asked.
"Something along those lines," Erik said, "Peter, I know you're rather new to this. Just remember, if you think someone's looking, public displays of affection make people uncomfortable-"
"Wait, pretend to be married to her and like...do that? Ick, no."
Erik's eyes flickered up to the rear view mirror and Raven turned, giving him a hard look. He held up his hands again, as though once again realizing what he'd said, but Logan very much doubted that would help him.
"Look, it's not you," Peter said, "Well, it is you, it's very much you, but I don't wanna-"
"Peter, I'd hoped you'd be a little bit more mature about this," said Erik.
"Don't make me do this. Please."
"Jesus kid," Logan snapped, "What's the big damn deal?"
Peter shifted, and, for the first time, Logan saw just how uncomfortable he was. Peter noticed him looking and gave him an almost pleading look,. He wanted him to drop it. Logan stared at him for a moment longer and, suddenly, understood.
He grinned.
"Yeah, gonna be real weird explainin ta Kurt how you mighta had ta kiss his mom for a mission," Logan said.
Peter moaned, and Raven suddenly turned away. For his part, Logan burst out laughing, right until Raven adjusted her seat so it moved back and slammed into his legs.