Everything to Lose
TITLE: Everything to Lose
STARRING: Hellion/X-23
UNIVERSE: 616, post-X-force #13…different outcome
RATING: M
SUMMARY: Alive in the past and dead to the present, Laura's going to fix a mistake.

July 5, 07:10 Angel's Aerie, the Colorado Rocky Mountains

The girl gazed over the side of the balcony into the beautiful forest surrounding the cottage, her expression sad and wistful. Which was surprising, because she was Laura Kinney, the
Girl Without Feelings, the rock of their team of heartless assassins. When the chips came down, she was the one who could be counted on to complete whatever mission it was that Cyclops had sent them on.

Even if it involved allowing someone she cared about to die. Amazing…she did care, even though this was a direct contradiction of her status as the Ice Queen. Personally, he wondered if he'd ever
seen anyone care more than Laura. He surmised that the reason she was doing this was the knowledge that what she did here would allow those she loved to continue living their lives.

Laura's eyes shifted back and forth, scanning the horizon.

"Why are you watching me?" she asked, her full lips turned down at the corners.

Josh started, but was not surprised that she had detected his presence. She was, after all, Wolverine's clone.

"Because…" he swallowed. "I wanted to make sure you're OK, Laura. That was—"

"I am fine. I wish to be alone."

Josh pushed the sliding glass door out of his way and stepped onto the wooden veranda, his boot making a plunk! sound. "Like hell you are. Laura…he died."

The calm faded, faster than the changing of a traffic light. There it was, the flaring of the nostrils, the glassy-eyed look. "Do not. Do not start," Laura warned, her face pale.

"You're going to have to face the facts," Josh said gently. "It's no use running from it. Believe me, I know exactly what you're—"

"No." Laura's chin trembled slightly. "You do not. You—" she paused, avoiding tears through willpower, then continued. "You do not understand. I do not want to talk about this."

"I do understand. Remember…Laurie?"

Saying the name caused a pang to run through him, but Josh knew that Laura needed the help right now—and that was more important than his own emotional health, at the moment. He'd
had time to mull it over, decide what he was going to do about it; Laura was still in shock. The blood on the railing quite close to her was proof—she'd been cutting herself, cutting away all the
bad thoughts, the boiling sensation, the burn in her eyes. The guilt at surviving and the need for clarity.

He knew a little about that himself. It wouldn't kill her—he didn't know if anything could kill her—but he felt compelled to try and help her, to ease her suffering in any way he could.

"Yes," Laura mumbled, her eyes cast downwards. "I could have saved him."

"No." Josh approached the railing. "You couldn't have done any better than you did. That's what I thought—when Laurie—god—when she was hurt. Killed. I thought…I still think it's my fault. I could
have healed her…I could've dug deeper. But you…you couldn't have reached him any faster."

"Yes. I could have." Laura looked at Josh directly, and there was a grim finality to her features. "I could have executed a side-kick with my foot claw extended, simultaneously side-cutting my
second opponent's jugular. Free sooner, I would have been able to close the distance between myself and you within five seconds, dealt with your opponent in two, and you would have reached…
them…ten seconds sooner. In time to heal…" She faltered. "I failed my mission. Kimura…where is Kimura? She needs to punish me."

"No!" Josh said. "If anything, it's my fault, Laura. I should've just slipped away—left him holding my jacket—anything to get there faster. I'm sorry."

Laura was silent. Then… "Please. I want to be alone."

"But—" Josh said. The glass door slid open simultaneously; it was Logan, his features pinned up in a scowl. "Foley…get inside. You're needed."

"But—" Josh said again, feeling helpless.

"No buts. Do it. Nori's in need of a little TLC."

Josh sighed and then relented. Logan lingered for a second, his eyes on Laura's back, his scowl deepening. "Told ya, clone. I told ya—"

"Alone," Laura said, her voice much sharper.

The glass door snapped shut, and the girl remained in solitude.

…

She is there again, at that horrible moment. Her fist has just pressed against her opponent's chest, her claws deep inside his torso, her eyes trained over his shoulder on the scene
before her; hands wrap around her head and twist viciously.

"UGH!" She cries, hearing a loud SNAP!

Crumpling to the floor, she realizes she is out of commission. NO. Not now. The mission…Julian…with herculean effort, she reaches up to her head with her hand, ignoring the thrills of pain, and rights it.

CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH, her broken vertebrae realigning.

"HEAL THEM!" Logan shouts at Elixir as he swipes the head off of his opponent. Laura's eyes shift, she can see that Josh is otherwise occupied, grappling with a man that is trying to put a gun to his head.

In the background she sees green light—and hears a noise. VRRM—it is much louder than she is used to it being.

She forces herself to her feet, stumbles forward. Towards Elixir—he can fix it—he—

"Laura—" she turns despite herself, as if conditioned to the voice. Five feet away. Julian, his eyes like small green suns, almost blinding to look at even inside the green bubble he is encasing himself
in. "I should've told y—" his eyes drown out his face.

"Do not use your powers! You will—" Laura says frantically, but it is too late—the floor shakes with an explosion, and she falls on her behind, horrified by what she is seeing. The green bubble fills with black
smoke and dissipates, releasing its contents. Which include a few fragments.

One hits her in the face, softly, on her cheek. Slap! Like a tiny insult.

He hadn't stopped shielding, until his brain disintegrated. He'd contained the explosion, defying the plans for him to act as a suicide bomber.

She remains seated, staring at the mess as the fight continues around her (after a moment's pause); she then gingerly reaches out and touches the black lump. It's hard to tell what it was—a piece of
rib? A finger? A toe? A—she cups it in her hand and her eyebrows draw together.

Her fingers close around the item.

And she goes somewhere else—

"AHHH!" Laura sat up, her eyes wide, hugging the covers. The dream that's been haunting her for the past week—when Julian literally exploded, having been injected with the Legacy strain variant. Her
heart pounded in her ears as she took deep breaths, trying to calm the monster in her chest. She'd had plenty of bad dreams—she was, after all, X-23—but this reoccurring nightmare impacted her more
than anything else in her life. Even her mother's death paled slightly in comparison.

"Dream," she whispers to herself, after a few moments, then lies back down. She should rest; she must be alert for tomorrow…