NOVEL NEXT Chapter 072 – Her Own Path
[2009 – July]
In truth, Laura didn't really have any sense of belonging towards the X-Men and Xavier's school, the only thing that made her stay was her father's presence.
Her stay in the X-Men had also shown her that even amongst outcasts she couldn't fit in, not in the way she desired anyway. The children and teens in the mansion, as well as most of the staff, seemed to live in a different world, one she could only catch glimpses of but found herself unable to understand and enter.
For them, the world seemed bright and full of hope, the Professor himself telling tales of how wonderful it could be to live in peaceful coexistence with humans.
Laura though knew better.
She had seen things and had been made to do things that had most certainly robbed her of any naivety she might have clung to, the same kind of naivety that allowed so many of the X-Men and young mutants to believe in the old telepath's words.
Laura would never be part of them, could never fit in with people like them. She knew that very well. And even her father could not give her the feeling that he truly understood her, that he accepted her for who she was – what she was.
Maybe such thoughts weren't completely fair, as she knew that Logan loved her dearly, but her father was also plagued by guilt about what had happened to her growing up. He wanted to fix her. But she didn't need fixing, at least not the kind her father had in mind.
Logan had been battling his own demons for decades, his rage and violent tendencies something he had always tried to rid himself of, but Laura was different.
Fighting was in her nature, violence in her blood. And she wouldn't try to run from that fact. She wanted to be in control of the monster that lived in her heart and not pretend that it didn't exist.
During the years after her father had saved her from the facility where she had been held and trained, Laura had slipped away more than once from the mansion, using the skills that had been drilled into her since she could talk and walk to hide her tracks after escaping, with none being the wiser.
Sadly enough, those trips had always ended in tragedy for her, the consequences of her actions only adding to the marks on her hurt soul. She had experienced the human world in a way she wished none of her fellow mutants ever would, the darkness and cruelty carved into her memory for eternity.
And Laura had only survived what had been done to her, not only as a child but also during those years because of the monster inside of her, its sheer malevolence and ferocity something to be feared by even the worst scum on this planet.
It was what had saved her when she thought she would break at the lightest of touches, it was what kept her sane and protected even when she had lost all hope. Laura trusted the monster inside her far more than she even trusted Logan.
And when she had felt wholly alone, her emotions having been dulled so that she wouldn't have to feel the pain of her past, a teen with wild black locks had appeared before her with a pair of deep green eyes. Eyes that had been filled with resilience and determination, eyes filled with shadows.
Laura hadn't truly understood at that time why she had reacted to Elijah in such a way, but when she had seen him appear to confront the X-Men that had tried to take Jean from the Massachusetts Academy, herself included, she had finally understood, and crossing claws with him had only made it clearer to her – Elijah was the same as she.
Like her, he had a monster inside of him that was so violent and terrible in nature that most others would probably have done all they could to suppress and hide from it, but instead he accepted it and let it be part of him.
Elijah was like her, and the thing she longed most was to find someone that truly understood her, someone that could maybe help her be less lonely.
Leaving the school behind had been an easy matter, as she did not feel particularly connected to it, though leaving behind Logan had been harder. Still, in the end she was her own person and had her own dreams and goals.
Leaving a letter that informed her father of her decision to join the Massachusetts Academy, Laura knew that there was a chance that Logan would simply turn up in a few hours with a few other X-Men to try and get her back.
Still, it was unlikely, as she trusted her father to understand her enough that he knew that this was something she simply had to do, not to mention that he also had her cell number and could always call to check in on her.
Having met Emma Frost after coming to Massachusetts using the train and a taxi, Laura hadn't been surprised when the ice-cold Headmistress had agreed to take her in, as Emma had tried to recruit her before.
Laura knew that Emma was an incredibly dangerous woman of course, though in a different way than her captors and other past 'acquaintances' had been.
Emma was a businesswoman, and if Laura had learned one thing from her time as an assassin and from her experiences on the streets, then that would be that most people like her always tried to profit one way or another.
And as such, she was confident that as long as she didn't bring the icy telepath more trouble than she profited her, Emma wouldn't make things difficult for her.
What Laura didn't expect though was the almost gentle way the Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy treated her, though the reason became obvious once she thought about it.
Emma Frost cared about her little brother, which was a strange thought after thinking about all the horrible things she had heard from her father about the woman, knowing about the gruesome things the beautiful telepath was capable of.
Though these considerations didn't matter much to the young mutant girl, especially not when she saw Elijah enter the office after knocking politely. Bright green eyes, a charming face, and a physique that just screamed 'warrior' to anyone that cared to listen.
The way his presence simply filled the room without any actual effort on his part, was something unique and oddly reassuring. Elijah Frost carried himself with a deep-seated serenity as if he could watch the world burn without so much as flinching, his calm confidence a weapon in itself.
The moment she laid eyes on him, her inner beast seemed to relax ever so slightly, recognizing its kin in Elijah. And Laura wanted nothing more than to stay by his side, hoping that his presence would help her find her own path.
…
Sitting on the edge of his large bed, a frown marred Logan's face as he read the small letter in his hands for the umpteenth time, a glass of expensive whiskey in his hand.
Finally deciding that reading it again would not change things, he folded the letter and placed it in his breast pocket while sighing deeply, knowing that Laura had made her decision.
And while it hurt to admit, Logan knew that it had been the right one as his daughter had not been happy since he brought her here, unable to fit in with the students and teachers alike. It was his fault for saving her when it was already too late, the bastards that had created her having already scarred her for life.
Laura trusted only her instincts and senses, and even he as her father couldn't change her mind when she had decided on something, though he had hoped that he could help her overcome these issues with time.
Going out of his way to bring her back, wasn't really an option as things were, as Laura hated nothing more than to be caged, which was not surprising considering her past.
At this point Logan could do nothing but stay his hand and hope that she found what she was looking for, understanding that his daughter had a different path to walk than him.
He wished the Professor wasn't still in a coma, as his old friend was sure to able to give him some advice on this particular issue, Xavier having seemingly endless wisdom in that giant head of his.
Putting on his leather jacket before using his claws to slice the cap of his cigar, he lit it up with his old army lighter. He had another old friend to meet, and while it was still a few hours too early for Fury to show up, the whisky in his favorite pub would be enough to accompany him until then.