AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews! Glad this story seems enjoyable. Apologies for taking a while to update, it's been a rough couple of months with two near-deaths in my family. Also, I am having (minor) surgery tomorrow, so the next update may be a little while off, a few weeks at least. I will try to update again ASAP. Hope you all enjoy this chapter :)

CHAPTER 3
This Terrible Thing

Laura opened her eyes slowly to a strange ceiling. The pattern was unfamiliar. She had spent a good deal of time gazing at the one in her room, and so she knew immediately that she was not looking at hers.

And then it struck her. She wasn't alone. She inhaled with a snff, then closed her eyes and ground the heels of her palms into her face. Oh no she hadn't.

But there was no denying it. She could hear him breathing beside her, sleeping. His skin pressed up against hers. One of his arms was actually curled around her waist, his metal fingers tucked against her stomach. Her nose wrinkled, and she reached down, slipped it off, then slid out of the bed and began to collect her clothes from his floor. They were scattered. All over. She was as quiet as possible, moving slowly, controlling her breathing, even moving out to the living room to pull them on. She was momentarily distracted by the sight of this and the nearby kitchen. The place wasn't big, but it sure was luxurious. Leather couch. Marble counter tops. Stainless steel appliances. Not at all the shithole she would have figured he would have. Then again, he was a criminal. Who knew where he had gotten the money?

She pulled on her clothes quietly, even making sure her bra didn't snap as she adjusted the band and straps. Finally, she shrugged her jacket on and moved to the door, reached for the knob.

Vrrrm!

"AHHH!" She flailed her arms, trying to grab onto something, but failed and tumbled back into the bed.

"Morning." He grinned down at her, somewhat carefully because of his split lip. "You weren't going somewhere, were you?"

"…" She closed her eyes. "Look. I just barely remember running into you last night. I must have been really, really wasted to agree to this."

"To agree to this?" He raised his eyebrow. "Actually…you're the one who started kissing me."

"No I didn't." Laura's tone was not as filled with confidence as she would have liked.

"Yeah you did."

She glared at him. "Why did you take advantage of me then?"

"I was drunk, too." He paused. "You kissed me, and then we got kicked out of the bar…came here…I think there were more shots…maybe…and…" he shrugged. "Here we are."

Laura arched her eyebrows. "Right where you wanted."

"No!" He sat up, glared at her. "I keep talking to you because I like you. And I want to be friends. Not because I was trying to be a sleezeball."

"Oh yeah?" But Laura's tone was much quieter. She sighed, closed her eyes. "I just…I can't get over what you're a part of. You say you're fighting for your rights, but Magneto…he's not just doing that." She paused. "He's a genocidal monster."

Hellion shrugged. "Maybe. At the same time…he had Forge make my hands. He's the one who busted me out of that camp. Gave me hope. Made me realize that what humans are doing to us are wrong."

She frowned. "It is wrong. But more war isn't going to fix anything. And what Magneto has planned…" she shook her head. "He wants to kill them all. All humans. Whether or not they're on our side. Whether or not—"

"You don't have to tell me about who I'm following." He leaned forward, tilted up her chin with his finger. "You're one of us. You should be on our side. By my side." His voice was earnest.

She smacked his hand aside, her lip curling. "I'll never be one of you. I have humans that I love. That taught me about kindness. Family. I'll do anything to protect them." She paused. "And you're willing to force a child to become a mass murderer. I have a major problem with that."

"That's not what she'll be!" Hellion gritted his teeth. "She's going to fix things. Bring back all the mutants that used to exist, so we won't be an endangered species anymore."

"And then she's going to kill all the humans." Laura smiled grimly at him. "Don't try to pretend you don't know about Magneto's cleansing plan."

He hesitated. "Sacrifices have to be made."

"Right." She got to her feet again. "I don't want to listen to this anymore. Let me leave, before I try something." Pause. "And I can promise you, it won't feel good."

Hellion ran a hand through his hair, closed his eyes. "Can we just try not talking about this for a bit? Please. Give me a chance."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Come be an X-man, then."

"I can't." He looked at her again, his eyebrows drawing together, his mouth curving into a frown. "I believe in this. What I'm doing. I…I saw things in the camp. Things that are way, way more fucked up than just getting my hands lopped off." He paused. "I'm fighting for people I love, too. The ones who didn't make it."

Laura closed her eyes, shook her head slightly. "I was created in a lab. From Wolverine's cells. A machine that turns life into money." She paused. "But then I got out, and I learned that not all humans were like that. For every bad one, there's a hundred good ones. It's just that you tend to remember the bad ones more."

"I'm sorry." He reached out and touched her hand. "Look, neither of us are bad, okay? We…we both have our reasons. I just know that I like you a lot, and that's separate from all the other things in my life." He paused. "I can't not like you."

She sighed.

"Let's just hang out. Talk." He got to his knees on the bed, apparently not self-conscious that he was still naked, and took her hands. "I'll make you breakfast. Anything you want. Come on."

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "And what about when we have to fight each other next?"

He shrugged. "We'll deal with it as it comes." He paused, grinned, careful of his split lip. "But maybe I won't kick your ass quite so hard."

She gazed at him. Every shred of common sense in her head was screaming at her to just tell him to go fuck himself, but there was something so hopeful about his expression, his voice, that she could feel her resolve wavering. And, although it killed her to admit it, he looked cute with the rings around his eyes. Like a raccoon. "Pancakes."

He squeezed her hands. "I'll even put blueberries in them."

Laura leaned her elbows on the island counter, watching as he cooked. He had pulled on a t-shirt and sweats. Seeing her opponent in his everyday clothes was strange enough, but here he was in his home stuff, preparing a meal for her. He used his powers a lot, getting things from the fridge, the cupboards, even flipping the pancakes on the frying pan. It smelled good. She wondered how badly she was letting her teammates down by agreeing to eat said pancakes.

Then again, the man who had inspired the founding of her team would probably encourage them to be friends. Professor Xavier. He had been friends with Magneto himself at one point. Too bad he was dead now. He could probably fix things. Hell, things probably wouldn't have gotten this bad if he had still been alive.

Hellion set a plate of steaming pancakes down in front of her. They did need have blueberries. In the shape of a smiley face. "That's my way of saying sorry for the wall-thing." Pause. "And, uh, sending you up through like ten floors."

Laura gave him a flat look but picked up her fork.

He summoned his own plate over, and they began to eat.

She hated to admit it, but the pancakes tasted amazing. She closed her eyes, wondering if it was the betrayal that made them so. "Good."

"You sound surprised."

"I guess." She paused. "Didn't really peg you down as having domestic skills."

He raised his eyebrows. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

"Like?"

"My name."

Laura paused. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know it. Then again, what would it really change? She knew all the names of the people who had hurt her at the lab. Xander Rice. Martin Sutter. Adam Harkins. Would it have made any difference if they had used aliases instead? Would a corpse flower by any other name smell as rotten? "Fine. I'll bite that too. What is it?"

"Julian."

She wrinkled her nose. "Really?"

He grinned again. "Thanks."

"I wasn't—sorry, I just didn't think that was a guy's name."

"Now you know." He paused. "And you're Laura."

She nodded slowly.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl."

"Never been called that." She paused. "Then again, I usually don't talk much with my one-nighters."

"Lot of stupid guys out there." He leaned forward slightly. "I'm not one of them."

She raised her eyebrow again. "That's not for you to decide, is it?"

He shrugged. "Probably not, but if I don't stand up for myself, who will?"

"Right."

"What kind of movies you like?"

Laura paused, stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"Trying to get to know you better." He paused. "Nothing better than 80's action for me. Something so comforting about the idea of a roundhouse kick saving the day."

She felt her mouth quiver in amusement, then shook her head to clear it. She was done eating, anyway. "I, uh, I should go now." She paused. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Sure." He looked down, his eyebrows drawing together. "See you around."

"Yeah." Her eyebrows drew together. "I just…I can't do this. I can't hear you say things like that, and then I'm putting my claws through your face tomorrow."

"Fine." He took her plate. "Like I said, you're free to go." His voice was calm, but she could tell he wasn't happy.

"Okay." She headed for the door. Then she turned around and moved toward him, frowning. "It's not you."

"Right."

"Really."

"It is, but sure."

"No it's not! I said—"

"I get it." He shrugged. "You don't like me."

"That's not it!" She glared at him, then grabbed him by the collar and crushed her lips against his.

For a moment he hesitated. Then he wrapped his arms around her, burying one hand in her hair, running the other along her back. She hadn't intended for it to be a long kiss, just to impart that she did kind of like him as a person. But that was quickly changing. A few moments passed, then he was backing her into his bedroom again, his hands working their way under her shirt.

"No, no, I did not just do this terrible thing again!" Laura covered her face with her hands, turning away from him. "Twice in one day! The hell is wrong with me?!"

He moved her hair aside and kissed her neck. "Nothing." His voice was hoarse. "Absolutely nothing. You're so perfect." Another kiss. He was still breathing hard.

Laura closed her eyes. She was about to argue, but his arms around her waist were comfortable, as was his body pressed against her back, his heart beating steadily against her shoulders, beginning to slow down. She hadn't felt this relaxed since…since…

Her eyes snapped open, sometime later. The room was buzzing. He shifted behind her, reached out with one hand, and a phone flew into his palm with a clank!

"You're not going to take that with me still—"

"Hello?" he said.

She could hear the other person. Unuscione. "Hellion, where the fuck are you? We're raiding the Baxter Building tonight, remember?"

Julian tensed. "Oh, shit."

"Seriously?" Unuscione sounded frustrated. "Ugh. If you weren't so effective against claw-bitch…" she sighed. "Just get here. ASAP. Understood?!"

"Roger." He hung up.

Laura was about to ask him about the nickname, but then she realized he must not realize she had enhanced hearing. She wasn't sure how she felt about spying on him, yet she remained silent.

He kissed her shoulder. "I've gotta jet." He paused. "Unless you want to come. Try running with us for a bit? Nothing…nothing about the kid tonight."

"No thanks."

"Okay." He hesitated. "Will I see you again?"

"Probably when we're trying to hit each other with all we've got, yeah."

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Laura shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. No promises."

"I think I will." He kissed her softly on the mouth, closing his eyes. Her eyebrows drew together. Before she could push him away, he was sliding out of the bed, heading toward the bathroom, probably thinking about whatever his team had planned.

Laura gathered her things, dressed quickly and slipped out of his apartment, also thinking. Whatever they were doing had to be about "the kid," regardless of what he had said. And, even though she hadn't planned any of this this, or been thinking about strategy when she kissed him again, she now had an advantage. But did she want to play her hand so early? Or wait, until it really counted, until it was something directly involving the baby? The latter. Definitely the latter. She headed for the elevator, biting her lip slightly. She felt guilty, both for betraying her teammates, and a little tiny bit for betraying Julian. Still, it was his own fault if he was going to be careless about intel and discuss it right in front of her. She certainly wouldn't take a phone call with him nearby.

"Damn, there's been a break-in at the Baxter Building!" Nori was gaping at the tv set. "They don't know who it was yet…but that place is really high security."

"Of course they know who it is." Sooraya folded her arms, her eyes narrowing. "The Acolytes."

"Wonder what they stole." Josh.

"Nothing good." Nori paused. "Richards has been doing a lot of work on energy transfer lately. Could be they have plans to transfer the child's powers to someone more reliable."

"Yeah." Josh glanced at Laura. "What you think?"

She shrugged, trying to look neutral. "Your guess is as good as mine." Inside, she was panicking. Had she done something terrible, by not telling her teammates? Was thiswhat she should have played her hand for? She got up and headed for the door.

"Laura?" Sooraya turned her head to look at her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, just getting something to eat."

In the kitchen, she leaned on the counter, folding her arms and biting her lip. She closed her eyes. Should I tell Nori?

She hesitated. Nori was determined. Bloodthirsty, even. Maybe even hot headed. She shook her head. No, not yet. Soon. She'd spend a bit more time with him first. Work on this bond they were forming, make him believe she was invested, that he could tell her things. Gain his trust. Should she head to the bar now, see if he was there?

She considered this for a moment, then shook her head again. Can't act differently. Same behavior. He might become suspicious if she suddenly seemed eager to see him. He was stupid, but not a complete . After whatever job Nori sent her out on.

Finally, she nodded to herself.