Chapter 4

Battle Fatigue

Half an hour after entering the operating room with Albert Malik, Laura exited coughing and dusting herself off. A few minutes later, Gabby and Jubilee joined her in the laboratory, the latter carrying a stack of ancient-looking leather bound journals.

"That didn't take long," Jubilee noted. "How was the BDSM session?"

"Enlightening," she growled. "Are those Malik's research papers?"

"If that's what you wanna call them, sure." She frowned at the books as if just touching them made her skin crawl. "I hate to say it, but the guy's a genius. Was a genius, anyway. Evil and definitely burning in hell right now, but I've never seen vampiric research like this before. He was able to perfectly draw the line between science and the supernatural, and was probably THE authority when it comes to vampirism. It wouldn't surprise me if that's what drove him insane, actually."

"Is there anything relevant to Weapon X?"

Jubilee shook her head. "Not that I could find, sorry, but his nest was purchasing children from Adam Harkin, and Gabby recognized some of the equipment laying around as being the same as Alchemax Genetics and other facilities. If there's a connection to Weapon X, it's probably because they shared the same suppliers. I'm sorry this was a wild goose chase, Laura. I really am."

"Your goose chase just saved hundreds of lives, and avenged countless more," she said, cleaning her claws on a nearby lab coat. Malik might not have known anything about Weapon X, but he did inspire some of their research, and he knew the locations of a few other facilities here in the Pacific, leftover from The Second World War. Since this relates to Hydra, we'll leave the investigation to S.H.I.E.L.D. Gabby, you-" she paused, seeing the faraway expression on her sister's face. "Gabby, you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Place just gives me the creeps, you know? I never really realized how lucky I had it growing up until you started taking me to other facilities, or whatever this place used to be."

Laura glanced around the lab and nodded. She could only imagine what other horrors lay hidden in the facility, and hoped that Jubilee had steered her sister far away from them. "In that case, let's burn Malik's research and get out of here."

"Way ahead of you," Jubilee said. "I'm gonna add a few of these journals to my collection back home. Malik might've been evil and insane, but he documented everything he saw over the course of five centuries, and some of his research might be useful. Somebody's gonna figure out a cure to vampirism someday, and maybe this will help."

"So long as you don't forget who paid the price for all that research," Laura said, staring at the books in disgust. "For all the evil that Weapon X has done, even I won't deny the scientific advancements they've made. I just want some of the credit is all." She laid a hand on Gabby's shoulder, letting her know who she really thought deserved the credit. Not necessarily Gabby herself, but rather her nine older sisters, their seventeen other 'sisters' still missing or dead, as well as the countless other victims who had died in the name of scientific progress.

"I won't," Jubilee promised. "In fact, if we can figure out who some of the victims were, I might be able to talk my blood sugar daddy into providing reparations, or at least help hunting down any vampires Malik might've conspired with. Turning people against their will is a serious crime in the vampire community, especially children, and Lord Dracula will not be happy when I tell him about what we found tonight."

"Just don't involve us in your vampire drama," Laura said. "Gabby and I aren't even supposed to be in Madripoor right now. Our business began and ended with Malik."

"Speaking of," Gabby said. "Do you think he's roasting marshmallows right now?"

"There's no way in hell there's marshmallows in hell," Jubilee laughed. "They probably only have cucumbers and broccoli."

Laura shouldered past them, hoping her irritability would shut them up for once instead of encouraging them. She knew deep down she wasn't the direct cause of anyone's eternal suffering. Her enemies had all paved the road to hell themselves, but it gave her no pleasure being the one to actually send them there.

She had already been to hell. Twice as a matter of fact, or as close an approximation a mortal could comprehend anyway. She didn't wish it upon anyone, not even Malik, but it wasn't her decision to make. Five hundred years and he had only gotten worse with time. Would Kimura be the same, or would she be redeemed? What about herself and Gabby, or Jubilee? Had Malik always been evil, or slowly become that way due to his vampiric nature? Did the curse of immortality make it an inevitability? Or was humanity itself the curse?

Had Laura robbed anyone of the redemption she had experienced? A thought for later when she wasn't on the job. First she needed a shower and to figure out her next move. Kimura would be moving as well, and as usual was probably several steps ahead of her.

"You two helped bring down one of the biggest human trafficking networks in the entire world," Jubilee said, draping an arm across both their shoulders. "And in the very same day, you killed a nest of vampires led by a five hundred year old Nazi. You two really know how to show a girl a good time."

"Oh my God!" Gabby cried. "I've got it! Our recruitment line! 'Join the X-Terminators. Meet interesting people and kill them!"

Jubilee howled with laughter. "I love it! Why call X-Force when you've got The X-Terminators around?"

"Getting real sick and tired of the letter X," Laura muttered, shaking the arm off. "And stop calling us The X-Terminators. It's a stupid name."

"Kitty likes it, and so does Dazzler and Boom Boom!"

"My point exactly. Alison and Tabitha can't even use their powers around Jubilee without giving her a sunburn. We've worked together exactly once, and that was once too many."

They both began to protest which as usual Laura ignored, and dialed a number from her phone. "Tyger? Sorry if I woke you, but I thought you should know that we cleared out a vampire's nest at 'The Love Bite' nightclub in the red light district. Underneath the establishment was a laboratory run by a Nazi vampire named Albert Malik, better known as Bloodscream. He was buying children to use for experimentation from the human trafficking network we spoke about earlier, and more than a few of your citizens have probably gone missing there as well."

Laura paused for a moment before speaking again. "You didn't mishear me. 'The Love Bite' was run by vampires, and their leader was a five hundred year old Nazi. They're all dead now, and we'll get rid of all the research so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. What happens to this house of horrors afterward is up to you, but I'd suggest either some careful demo work or filling it with concrete."

She nodded. "Right, I'll try to keep Gabby out of nightclubs from now on, and if we find any more Nazis on your island, I'll be sure to let you know. Goodbye." She turned back to her sister and Jubilee. "We've got less than fifteen minutes before Tyger's strike team gets here. If you're sure you've got everything valuable, activate the C4 and let's move."

"With pleasure." Gabby pressed a button on her utility belt, and an explosion was heard from several rooms down the hall where black smoke began billowing.

Upstairs, Laura met in private with the leader of Tyger's task force. She had worked with him a number of times over the years, and it didn't take long to explain the situation and leave it in his capable hands before disappearing out the back door. The less people that knew she and Gabby were in Madripoor the better. With any luck, the rumor going around would be that Jubilee had wiped out the nest over convoluted vampire politics, which not even Laura fully understood.

The sisters stuffed their utility belts into a duffle bag awaiting them behind the club, and changed clothes to make themselves less conspicuous. They hadn't bothered wearing masks inside the club since the claws were a dead giveaway, and the vampires would've had their unique scent anyway. Killing all of the witnesses had solved that issue however, and it wasn't likely that a nightclub run by vampires would have hidden security cameras.

They made it back to the apartment without incident, which mercifully had two bathrooms, meaning Laura and Gabby didn't have to take turns showering. Hygiene was a top priority in their line of work, especially with their keen senses of smell, and Laura often took multiple showers a day. Jubilee on the other hand was content to wait. As a vampire she didn't sweat, not often anyway, and she also didn't make it a habit of getting covered in blood and wasting it like the sisters did.

Gabby was already dried and dressed by the time Laura exited from her shower, debating with Jubilee what they should have for dinner despite vampires not needing to eat.

"The best ramen and noodles in Southeast Asia is three blocks north and should still be open," Laura said, brushing her hair. "Just follow the smell of garlic down the shadiest alley in Madripoor."

"You're not coming with us?" Gabby asked.

Laura shook her head. "Besides a short nap, I've been awake for over forty hours. I need sleep, and I also need to check in with kitty and Jean. I'll let them tell S.H.I.E.L.D. about Malik and Hydra, that way they think this was another X-Men operation instead of me going rogue again." She paused for a moment, trying to clear her thoughts before finally giving up. "More importantly, if I have to listen to any more of your incessant chit-chat, I'm going to cut both your heads off."

Jubilee laughed. "Gabs, go put on a hat, and maybe some sunglasses. We're gonna grab a quick bite to eat. Just please go easy on the garlic, alright?"

She nodded and ran off to put on a better disguise. Thankfully she and Laura were a quarter Korean according to their aunt Debbie, meaning she wouldn't quite stick out like a sore thumb among Madripoor's mostly Asian populace.

While she was in the other room getting ready, Jubilee walked over to Laura who had practically collapsed onto the couch. "You might talk a lot about wanting peace and quiet, but we both know you like the background noise. You're exhausted but you're not gonna be able to sleep for at least a couple more hours, and you can talk to Kitty and Jean while ignoring us. What's up?"

Laura took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm not a fun person to be around," she admitted. "Gabby's a teenage girl, and I'm her older sister and closest thing she has to a parental figure. She's self-conscious around me, trying to emulate and impress me even if she doesn't realize it. Nights like this used to not bother her, but they're starting to, and I think the vampires left her a little spooked. Take her out for a good time. Shopping, dancing, whatever you think is best. Just try not to draw too much attention to yourselves."

"Crazy to think she's only about a year and a half younger than you when we first met."

She nodded. "I might have had mental maturity at her age, but I didn't have the emotional maturity like she does. Please help keep it that way. Make sure she has more good memories than bad."

"That's pretty good advice, you know. Maybe you should listen to yourself once in a while."

"It's your advice, and I will, but not tonight. Soon..."

Jubilee looked as though she wanted to argue but Gabby ran back into the room looking like an ordinary teenage girl, especially once she put on sunglasses to hide her scars. Even without them however, walking around at night with Jubilee, it wasn't likely that she'd be given a second glance. A vampire's unearthly beauty naturally drew gazes toward them, but details had a peculiar habit of sticking around in people's minds about as well as they did in mirrors and photographs.

"Have fun you two," Laura said as they were leaving. "Don't do anything I would do."

The island nation of Madripoor slept about as much as New York City, which meant being able to find hole-in-the-wall ramen shops even at two in the morning. The warm day had given way to a cool night, and Gabby and Jubilee sat on uncomfortable wooden seats in a back alley. It was dark but both of them could see perfectly well, and sat far away from the elderly couple that had prepared their meal and the handful of patrons wandering about.

Despite the shady neighborhood and even shadier locals, Laura hadn't been lying about this particular ramen shop being the best in that part of the world. While Gabby wolfed down her extra spicy meal, Jubilee ate slower and more deliberately. She could still taste food, but she no longer craved it, nor did she get any satisfaction from having a full belly. Nowadays she only ate out of habit or to pretend she was still alive. Gabby on the other hand knew when she was full about as well as she knew when she was hungry.

"How come those other vampires couldn't turn into mist?" Gabby asked, slurping up her third cup of noodles. "Just you and Malik?"

"They were too young," she said. "It normally takes a vampire decades to master their telepathic powers, and at least a couple centuries for transformation. Being a Draculina means I got a head start. Kitty says that I came with cheat codes, and calls me her 'Game Genie'."

"How much blood do you drink a day?"

"I need at least three liters or else I start getting the munchies. Five is preferable, especially if I'm awake during the day or have to exert myself like I have the past forty-eight hours. I'll probably drink two or three more before I go to bed."

"Did you bring any blood with you?"

"I did, but Laura keeps some stored in the fridge, so don't drink anything that's red and has my name written on it. I've also got a dealer here in Madripoor. Pretty much every major hospital has a guy working on the inside selling to vampires. Keeps us from causing accidents, especially when we don't have a freshy around."

"Freshy?"

Jubilee flashed her fangs. "Vampire bites can be as painful or pleasurable as we choose. Some humans let vampires drink from them because of the feeling of ecstasy it gives them, and because of the thrill of having their life in the hands of an impossibly hot immortal creature of the night. Think of freshies as vampire fanboys and fangirls, and ask your sister about them sometime. Most of the humans at 'The Love Bite' tonight were probably freshies."

"All I felt when you bit me was super awkward," Gabby said, absently scratching her neck. "Guess vampire bites don't work on me."

"Yeah, I'm still really sorry about that."

"It's alright. I did kinda set you on fire afterward. Sorry if you've told me all this before. I forget things sometimes. I don't mean to. It just...kinda happens, you know?"

Jubilee smiled and shook her head. "Don't you worry about it, Gabs. After you're done eating, I'm gonna take you out on the town for a night you'll never forget. Just don't tell the Fun Police when we get back. I don't wanna lose weekend visitations my first night back."

Gabby's eyes widened and she quickly choked down her meal. "Laura said it's alright if we don't come right back?"

She shrugged. "I might have sweet talked her a little. You know, use my vampiric powers of persuasion and feminine charms, but Laura's also got phone calls to make and could probably use some alone time. You know how she is."

"Yeah, that makes sense..." Gabby bit her lip and pushed her meal aside.

Jubilee winced, realizing she'd made the mistake of treating her like a kid again. "Laura thought it'd be good for you," she said honestly. "You need to have some fun once in a while, Gabs, and who better to make bad decisions with than a vampire whose debauchery knows no bounds?"

Gabby grinned ear to ear, happy that her sister wasn't just trying to get rid of her again. "I wish Laura had come with us," she said, frowning. "She doesn't have fun anymore. Not that she ever smiled much before, but now, well-"

Jubilee laid a hand on her shoulder. "I know, Gabs. Just when she started making progress, Kimura sent her back to square one. Difference is she's got you now. Back when I first met her, Laura didn't feel loved by anyone, and was doing her damnedest to get herself killed. Trust me, she doesn't feel that way anymore, and it's because of you. I know it's been a hard year, but thank you for toughing it out with her. This will be over soon, I promise, and then we're gonna party like there's no tomorrow!"

She nodded absently, lost in the crimson eyes of the vampire and the melodic sound of her voice. Jubilee smiled and Gabby shook her head. "Come on, Gabs. I'm sure we can find you a new gun somewhere around here. Then I'll show you how to work it on the dance floor!"

The sun was just beginning to rise when Jubilee and Gabby finally returned to the apartment, throwing the door open and announcing themselves as having conquered Madripoor's shopping district where anything and everything was for sale, as well as having thoroughly exhausted the best dance floors in the city.

They both carried a dozen or more shopping bags full of clothes, souvenirs, and even a few guns Gabby had trouble importing back in the states. She was sure to show Laura every item for her assessment before disappearing into the spare bedroom to play with her new toys and introduce her new firearms to her old.

Laura sighed once she was gone, and Jubilee walked over to the couch. "Have you been sitting there in the dark the entire time?"

She nodded. "I've just been thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing. Everything." She shook her head. "I don't remember. After I talked to Jean, I kinda lost track of time. I-I do that sometimes..."

"Laura..." Jubilee took a seat beside her, and Laura brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly.

"Tell me the truth," she whispered, "when you smell my blood, can you tell that I was, well-"

Jubilee shook her head. "I can tell that you're not a virgin, Laura. That's all. I promise you that vampire was just trying to get under your skin. He didn't know, and neither did I until you told me."

She nodded, but Jubilee could tell she didn't believe her. "I'm only telling you this because I know you'll understand, Jubilee. From everything you've told me, being turned into a vampire against your will isn't so different. Maybe even worse, but nonetheless I've lived through a lot." She took a deep breath. "I have memories that I shouldn't. That nobody should. And phantom pains. Everywhere, and I'm scared the same thing is starting to happen to Gabby. Kids deal with trauma better than teenagers and adults. When I was thirteen, I thought everything I went through was normal, or at least not unique. Now I know better, and I'm screwed in the head because of it."

"You're not-" Jubilee paused, knowing that Laura didn't want lies or platitudes. She wanted an ear that would listen and understand, and not judge. "You're a soldier, Laura" she said at last, "and you've been going on missions nonstop for nearly a decade. You've probably seen more combat, more death, and experienced more pain than any other soldier alive. It's called battle fatigue. You need rest and recuperation, starting with a good night's sleep."

Jubilee hoped that by using the terms Laura had been conditioned to think in, that perhaps she might take it to heart better than if she talked to her like a regular civilian. It had taken her many years, but she was starting to get the hang of understanding the machine-like mind of X-23 which often ran contrary to the emotions of Laura Kinney.

"I can't rest so long as Kimura's still breathing," Laura said simply.

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't," she hissed. "My entire life is one big game to her, and if I take too long taking my turn, she'll either kill or torture someone I care about to help motivate me. Or she'll capture me again and break me even worse than before. I can't go through that again, or let anyone else go through it either. I-I can't. I'm not strong enough..."

Laura swallowed, adamantium claws poking out between her knuckles before retracting. "My only saving grace has been that Kimura knows that if she kills Gabby, there's a high probability that I'll kill myself instead of taking revenge. Obviously she doesn't know how close you and I are or she would've killed you by now out of jealousy. She wants me at my absolute best, and she knows me inside and out, and what buttons to press and when. I'm running out of time. I can feel it."

Jubilee didn't say anything, and was reminded of their many late nights in Paris where they'd spend hours sitting in silence together waiting for the sun to rise. By the time the first rays were entering the apartment, she could sense Laura beginning to doze, but fighting it as if afraid to close her eyes.

"Have you ever read 'Dante's Inferno'?" Laura asked suddenly.

She shook her head. "I'm not much of a reader. Kitty told me about the game though. Apparently the devil's got a big, floppy dong. I don't remember much else. I kinda spaced out after that."

"Well, in the book at least, hell is described as a just punishment for sinners. It's fair. It's lawful. Nobody gets anything they don't deserve. The real hell looks nothing like it does in the book, but its purpose remains the same. Killing Kimura isn't about revenge. It's retribution and justice for everything she's done. It's the same with everyone else I've ever willingly killed. That's what I tell myself anyway..."

Jubilee laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to wince and shrink away much to her chagrin.

"Well, I'm telling you that you've made the world a better place," Jubilee said. "The number of assaults in New York have dropped about thirty percent since you and Gabby started playing rape bait last year. Weapon X is on death's door, and so are most of its allies and competitors. You've helped take down one of the largest human trafficking networks in the world, along with a dozen or so smaller networks. Mister Sinister, Lady Deathstrike, Omega Red, Taskmaster, Bastion, Stryker, Trask, Craig, Cortez, and Cassandra Nova are all dead because of you. You can add Malik to that list, and soon enough, Kimura herself."

"Will it help?" she asked. "Maybe I've helped make a better future for the world, but I can't change the past. I don't sleep any better knowing that I killed any of those people, and they were people. I'm glad that Dr. Rice and Ramirez are dead, but that doesn't make up for everything they did to me. It makes me think maybe the rapists and murderers I've killed weren't to give their victims closure, or justice, but some sick, perverted form of personal revenge. What if any one of those people could've been redeemed? What gives me the right to be judge, jury, and executioner? Me, of all people?"

Jubilee didn't have an answer, not one that Laura would accept anyway, and they sat in silence long after the sun had fully risen, when Jubilee suddenly crawled over to Laura's side of the couch, practically sitting in her lap. "Laura," she said, her voice echoing throughout the apartment, "you're going to think only happy thoughts and relive happy memories, and then you're going to fall asleep. If you wake up, you're going to roll over and go back to sleep. That's an order, X."

Laura tried to nod but her head fell limp, and Jubilee scooped her up into her arms and carried her back to the master bedroom, where she pulled the covers back and slipped Laura within.

"Sleep tight. Don't let the vampires bite," she said, wanting nothing more than a small bite after a long day, but resisted the strong urge and closed the door behind her. She avoided the rays of sunshine peeking through the blinds and made a mental note to get blackout curtains next time she went shopping, and perhaps something for the windows to block UV rays.

Gabby had long since fallen asleep in the other bedroom, worn out after an eventful night, and with a satisfied smile, Jubilee raided the fridge which Laura thoughtfully kept stocked with blood just for her. She kept it frozen of course so that it didn't spoil, and although it should've been a crime to drink cold Type E from a blood packet instead of straight from the source, Jubilee enjoyed her wolverine flavored popsicle just the same and took a seat on the couch.

Vampires didn't need sleep like humans, but their powers gradually weakened during the day, and they usually went into a form of hibernation until the sun went down. As a Draculina, Jubilee could fight UV rays better than most of her kind, and her amulet kept the sun from killing her outright, but she'd been awake even longer than Laura, and hypnotizing the sisters always took a lot out of her.

She was daydreaming about her freezer back home and contemplating filling the bathtub with ice when she finally found herself dozing thanks to the frozen blood lowering her body temperature. She wouldn't dream of course. Besides the few times she had overdosed on Type E, Jubilee hadn't dreamed once since becoming a vampire. What she did have however were an abundance of pleasant memories. Many of which she suspected Laura was now reliving in the other room.

A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Although I don't ship Laura and Jubilee, I do really enjoy their friendship, and I like the idea that Jubilee is like a fun older sister to Gabby, and that perhaps their relationship is what Laura and Jubilee could've/should've been. It was fun to see Jubilee get some one-on-one time with them both this chapter, and to see how the nonstop combat over the years has affected Laura. She's a soldier who has seen FAR too much combat, and when she doesn't have a mission, she just sits in the dark and thinks about everything and nothing at the same time. She badly needs time off, but Kimura's still out there, and Laura's probably right. She's running out of time to find her.

Also, I added a few names to the list of villains Laura has killed, but she canonically has a pretty impressive list, and I kinda like the idea that Laura doesn't have a traditional rogues gallery. Even if she doesn't want to kill if she doesn't have to, she's not going to play the "Batman catches The Joker and throws him back in Arkham where he'll escape again in a couple months" game. Lower tier villains probably catch a break, but I like the idea that Laura's not necessarily the hero you call when you want the bad guy captured alive. With that said, 99% of villains would probably surrender if Spider-Man or whoever simply said they had Laura on the phone and she's on her way, and I like to think she's a pretty good deterrent to violent crimes lol.

All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story and all of you wonderful readers. God bless)