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Daddy's Girl
Chapter 6: Night Terror

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Later that evening, Laura continued to get to know some of the institute students. After showing off her football skills, they grew very curious about her and began asking questions. Of course, she wasn't too quick to answer too many of them, but that didn't stop them from trying.

Logan kept watch, allowing his daughter to socialize while he made sense of this situation in his own way. Here he was stuck in some freaky school for mutants because some radicals want to use them. He wasn't getting the answers he wanted, but at least they weren't in a hostile place. If anything, this place was a lot more than either of them could have expected. He honestly never saw Laura actually talk with so many other kids before and actually fit in as well.

Such a sight made him both happy and weary because he didn't fully trust this place. Part of him thought this was still a trap while another part thought this was just some joke. But for the sake of keeping Laura safe, he was willing to give this place a chance. However, that didn't mean he would lend them his fragile trust so easily.

As the sun set, everybody filed in for dinner. There was a buffet set up for everybody and both Logan and Laura helped themselves. The rest of the elders were nowhere to be seen. They guessed that they were still discussing the current situation. But neither of them cared too much for that at the moment anyhow.

Now, Laura was sitting in the dining room with Bobby, Jubilee, Rogue, and John eating her dinner. Her father was sitting across the room by himself, not caring too much about interacting with anybody. Some tried, but he brushed them off. He wasn't a people person and Laura knew it. But this didn't stop the others from asking questions about it.

"So what's up with that dad of yours?" asked John, casually playing with his lighter, "He doesn't seem too sociable."

"That's how he always is," answered Laura as she casually ate her steak and potatoes, "Neither of us has been too keen on social skills."

"Must be rough around the holidays," commented Bobby with a grin, "But what about your mom? Did you ever know her?"

Laura went silent, not even making eye contact with the young boy as she thought about this. She knew the story of where she had come from. Her father did not hide that from her. But he made it clear that it was nobody else's business but theirs.

So she made sure that they knew that.

"I don't have a mother," she said in a low tone.

"Oh...Sorry to hear that," said Jubilee, feeling as though that may not have been the best thing for Bobby to ask her.

"Don't be sorry," she said, taking a sip of her water, "My father and I have always been really close. He's all I need."

"Nice to know ya got a better relationship with yer dad than some of us," said Rogue in a slightly morose tone.

"Hey, come on, Rogue. Don't dwell on that now," coaxed Bobby, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Such a gesture did get her to smile somewhat as she placed her gloved hand over his, wishing she could actually feel his skin. But after what happened with the first boy she had been close to, she knew that wasn't possible and it often made her feel very depressed deep down inside.

"Boy, you two sure know how to have a peachy conversation," said John, still playing with his lighter, "Besides Rogue, at least you had foster parents who loved you enough to send you here even after you ran away while others kicked their kids out."

"Can it, John," scorned Bobby, sticking close to Rogue.

"Fine! I know when I'm not wanted," he said bitterly as he got up and left.

Watching him leave, Laura shot the young man a curious glance. She had noticed that when they were playing football, he took it a bit differently than the others. He was more aggressive, more serious, and more deviant. He was very different compared to the others, seeming like an outsider of sorts.

"What's his deal?" she found herself asking.

"Oh, any number of things really," said Jubilee, shaking her head as she watched him leave, "John's always been a little off. It's just part of his charming personality."

"Yeah...Charming," muttered Rogue, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Sensing this conversation was getting a little dark, Bobby quickly changed the subject.

"So uh...What do you do, Laura? I mean power-wise," he asked her.

Answering not with words, Laura drew her claws much to the surprise of the others and used it to finish off her steak.

"Wow...Do they hurt?" asked Rogue.

"Every time," said Laura with a sigh, "But I'm used to it. I can also heal from pretty much anything. Blow off my face and it grows right back. I also have heightened senses. I can tell what you had for lunch from a mile away. My dad has the same thing."

"Sounds like you're a regular chip off the old block," made Jubilee.

"I guess I am," she shrugged, looking back at her father, "More so then you may think."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Bobby curiously.

Laura bit her lip, wondering if it was appropriate to tell them. But telling them that she was some clone in some heinous project that was destroyed over a decade ago may have been a little too much for these young teenagers to take in. So naturally, she did what her father always told her to do when someone pressured her.

"None of your business," she said as she finished her drink, "Sorry I brought it up. So what's for desert?"

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Night had fallen on the Brotherhood's secluded island base and Senator Edward Kelly wasn't getting any more comfortable. It was bad enough that he was now imprisoned by some mutant radicals, but it didn't help that they had done something to him.

It was all still so fuzzy in his mind. He remembered the light, he remembered screaming, but after that it was all really fuzzy. It was like being in a dream that he couldn't wake up from. He was actually relieved when he passed out, but he wasn't too thrilled to wake up in a prison cell.

"Oh God. What have I gotten myself into?" he mused as he looked out of the bars to his cell into the crisp, cool night.

Letting out a deep sigh, the senator leaned his head onto the hard bars. Then suddenly, something happened that he never would have expected in a million years.

Like a watery sponge, his head actually squeezed through the thin bars as if it were foam. It was as if all his insides had all turned to water. In shock, he pulled back and looked at his hands. What he had just done was impossible. No human could do it.

Then it dawned on him.

"No! It's not possible!" he gasped.

Trying again, he pressed his head up against the bars and got the same result. It was only then that it began to truly sink in for the proud senator.

"Mutant...I'm a mutant!"

Back outside the cell, Magneto was walking with Sabretooth along a specially formed metal walkway. They were on the way to collect their 'guest,' hoping to see just how effective their little experiment had been. Even if this was just a test run, it was sure to be many times greater when they pushed it to full power during the moment of truth.

"Toad says he's ready," grunted Sabretooth as he followed the master of magnetism along the metal bridge, "The transport is set to ship tomorrow night."

"Excellent," said Magneto with a confident smile, "We're right on schedule."

"What about the girl or the Wolverine?" he said with a snarl, "I thought this whole thing couldn't go down without them."

"It can't," affirmed the holocaust survivor, "But Mystique is already in the process of rectifying that little detail. I'll simply need you and Toad to finish the job."

"Anything for a rematch with Wolverine and that brat of his!" said the feral mutant with a determined growl, "I don't like people showing me up and I'm not about to let some wannabe make a fool out of me!"

"Calm yourself Sabretooth," said Magneto in a calm, collected tone as he reached the chamber door, "I know you have a history with the man, but keep your petty grudges aside until this is over."

"No promises there, boss."

"Rest assured, you'll get your chance my friend," assured Magneto, "We all will after this is done. And I intend to see our dear Senator bear witness to it all."

With a simple flick of the wrist, Magneto opened the heavy metal door. But as soon as he and Sabretooth stepped in, there was no Senator Kelly in sight.

"What the...Where'd he go?!" snarled Sabretooth, sniffing the air for his scent.

Without any sign of concern, Magneto looked around the area. However, he didn't have to look long as his gaze fell upon the area just below the bars where a heap of formal clothing was gathered with no body in it.

Using the blunt force of his magnetic powers, he ripped a hole into the rock wall and looked down at the jagged cliffs below. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks echoed through the crisp air, but there was no sign of Senator Kelly. He was gone and nowhere to be seen.

"A pity..." sighed Magneto, "I suppose he won't be around for the party."

"Shouldn't we go after him?" growled Sabretooth in a determined tone.

"Why bother?" he scoffed as he turned around and walked back out into the main lair, "He can't do anything to stop us at this point. My plans are already too far ahead. Now he'll get a first hand account of what it's like to be a mutant in a bigoted world."

"But what if the X-men find him?" asked Sabretooth, not keeping nearly as calm as his leader.

Magneto merely scoffed as he smiled to himself. Everything was all coming together so well. He couldn't have planned this any better. All the pieces were falling into place and their dear Senator merely got a preview of what was to come. And even if he did make it to the X-men, it wasn't like they would be in any state of mind to do anything about it.

"Oh don't worry about them, Sabretooth," said Magneto in an ominous tone, "Rest assured, they're about to have much more pressing concerns other than our humble scheme soon enough."

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As night fell on the institutes, the halls finally fell quiet. The Professor and his staff remained in the lower levels going over the lingering threat of the Brotherhood until they reached a dead end and called it a night. The rest of the school was already out for the night, including Logan and Laura, who just wanted to get some rest after a long, arduous day.

With the help of her new friends, Laura had a cot to sleep on beside her father's bed. Originally, he wanted her to have it, but because he tossed so much she managed to convince him that he needed it more. And since it was too small for them to share, Laura's reasoning won out in the end.

They didn't have any sleeping clothes or attire, so Logan just slept in his jeans without a shirt on and Laura slept with her T-shirt and underwear on. It was a fairly cozy room and neither of them could complain with the accommodations, but it was still a strange new place for the both of them and tensions still ran high.

"Nnn...No...No stop," groaned Logan as he tossed about in his unconscious state.

His breathing was irregular and his movements were erratic. Something was going on in his mind and it was not at all pleasant. Laura seemed to be having the same problem, tossing a bit in her sleep and letting out soft groans as she struggled with the same problem. This was not at all uncommon for either of them, only this time they were in a place where the curious could take notice.

And as luck would have it, Rogue had been sneaking down the hall after having snuck into Bobby's room for a little alone time. She was in her usual sleeping attire and yawning casually as she passed Logan and Laura's room. Then she heard the groaning and her curiosity got the better of her.

"Huh? What the..." she pondered as she stopped just outside the door to listen in.

Pressing her ear up against the wood, she heard more groaning. It was the kind of groan that was dominated by pain and suffering, almost as if somebody was torturing them. Growing increasingly concerned, Rogue slowly opened the door and stepped in to see the tossing, thrashing body of Logan.

"No more...No more," he groaned as he let out strange grunts that sounded part human and part animal.

Growing increasingly weary, Rogue approached the mysterious man with caution, not knowing what was going on or what was happening to him. Upon closer inspection, she saw that Laura was tossing as well, but it wasn't as bad as her father. And whatever they were dreaming, it must have been pretty bad.

"No. No!" gasped Logan, letting out increasingly violent growls.

Rogue wasn't sure what to do. Should she wake them up? Should she get the Professor or Dr. Grey? She had to do something. It sounded like they were in serious pain. So without giving it a lot of thought, she decided to approach the thrashing Logan.

"M-Mr. Logan?" she said softly as she got up on the bed to try and wake him.

"No!" he gasped again.

"Mr. Logan, wake up!" she said again as she moved in closer.

Then suddenly, as she reached over to shake him, the raging animal from within sensed her presence and bolted back into a state of feral consciousness with a look of raw bloodlust on his face.

"Rrraahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he yelled as he drew his claws and drove them into the chest of his attacker.

Rogue didn't even have time to react as she felt the red hot sting of three adamantium claws plunge into her prone body. All she could do was look back in great horror as she saw the feral rage on his face.

"No!" gasped Logan as he looked at what he had done, "NO!"

"Nnn...Father?" said Laura as she awakened from her state.

Still somewhat drowsy, the sheer gravity of what was going on didn't strike Laura. For Logan, however, he began to panic. He had just stabbed an innocent teenage girl who hadn't done anything to anybody. He had some pretty grim deeds on his conscious, but none were quite as bad as this.

"Kid..." he said, withdrawing his claws as took her wounded body and kept her from collapsing, "No! Somebody help me!"

Suddenly, he saw Rogue's hand slowly rise towards his face. He didn't know what she was doing, but she was clearly trying to do something. It was at this time when it dawned upon Laura what was going on. Seeing the holes in Rogue's body sent her into a panic as she scrambled for any kind of action.

"Oh no..." she gasped, shaking her head in an anxious frenzy.

However, despite this Rogue didn't show any signs of fear. She just kept reaching up to Logan's face. He didn't pull away from her out of fear of letting her collapse. However, when her hand finally reached him...Something strange began to happen.

"Heal...Meh," said Rogue, choking on her own bile as she touched the burly flesh of the mysterious man.

Suddenly, Logan felt all the energy in his body drain away. It was like being strapped into an electric chair and slowly shocked into a state of unconsciousness. With his strength quickly leaving him, he felt himself slip away into a deep unconsciousness.

Then, the holes in Rogue's body were suddenly healed and she began breathing normally again. However, her hand remained on Logan's face. And as he went completely limp, young Laura sprang into action.

"No! Let go of him!" she yelled as she leaped forth and kicked her off of her father.

Rogue found herself abruptly thrown off the bed and onto the floor in a deeply woozy state. She was still trying to catch her breath, but from the looks of it she may have held on too long this time.

"Dad! Daddy, wake up!" cried Laura in a desperate tone as she tried to shake him out of his state, but he was out cold.

She detected only weak signs of life from him. She didn't know if it was enough for him to heal from, but as soon as it dawned on her, the raging animal within her came to the surface and the next thing she knew, she saw nothing but red as she turned to the young woman who had hurt the only family she had.

"YOU!" she growled as she got up off the bed and drew her claws, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"No wait!" gasped Rogue, still trying to collect her thoughts.

Laura was about to tear into her when suddenly, Bobby stormed into the room. He had heard the animal howl and the plea for help, so he summoned Mr. Summers and Dr. Grey. But he decided to see what was going on for himself. And when he got there and saw Laura looming over his girlfriend like an angel of death, he sprang into action.

"Laura, stop!" yelled Bobby as he unleashed an ice burst, freezing her feet to the floor.

"Errrrrrrahhhhhhh!" she roared as she broke the ice with the claws in her feat and leaped forth with superhuman agility to drop kick young Bobby Drake to the floor.

The young man didn't have a chance as he was knocked back out into the hall with a level of force that seemed well above that which a normal 15 year old girl could muster. The wind was completely knocked out of him as he lay helpless on the floor while Laura turned back towards Rogue with rage in her eyes.

Luckily, Scott and Jean arrived at this point in their sleeping attire, ready to end this before it got too bad.

"No Laura! Don't do it!" yelled Scott, seeing that murderous look in her eye.

Looking up at the new intruders, she instinctively stood aground with her father, her claws fully drawn and ready to eviscerate anybody who dared to come near him.

"Stay back!" she yelled, "Keep away from my father or I'll..."

"It's okay, Laura. Nobody wants to hurt him or you for that matter," said Jean in a calm down as she placed both hands on her temples, "It's going to be alright. Just calm down, take a deep breath, and sleep."

"Hnn..."

The next thing Laura knew, she was out like a light. Thanks to Jean's telepathy, she fell limply to the floor, the claws in her hands and feet withdrawing back into her body. Hopefully that would keep her rage from getting the better of her, but for now they had more pressing issues to attend to.

"Scott, get a pillow," said Jean as she went over to the now unconscious Laura while Scott checked Logan's pulse.

Rogue was still gasping for air with tears streaming down her face. The still woozy Bobby Drake did has best to console her, allowing her to cry her pain out into his shoulder. But the damage had already been done.

"He...He was havin' a nightmare," she sobbed, "Ah...It was an accident. Ah didn't mean to."

"Shh...It's okay, Rogue. It's okay," said Bobby softly.

Turning her attention to Laura, Jean held the young woman's body upright as Scott gave her one of Logan's pillows. As a doctor, she went through the normal procedures of checking vitals and making sure that there were no other injuries. Having dealt with this sort of thing before in regards to Rogue's powers, neither elder seemed too concerned.

"We better get him down to the infirmary," said Scott, sensing weak vitals from Logan.

"Right," said Jean in agreement, "I'll call the Professor."

"But what about her?" asked Scott, referring to Laura.

Looking down at the teenage girl who had been startled into a protective state, Jean couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She had no idea what was going on. She didn't know the effects that Rogue's powers had on people. But what really disturbed her was how enraged she became. It was almost like she was more animal than human. It could have been something that she picked up from her father, but something told her it was a bit more complex than that.

"We'll take her with us," she said, sending calming thoughts to the young girl's mind, "Chances are that she'd be a lot better off if she woke up alongside her father."

Not arguing with his fiancé's point, Scott went on to check on Bobby and Rogue. By now a slight crowd had formed around the door. Everybody seemed to be curious about all the yelling. But for now, they'd have to wait for the details. Right now, they had much more serious things to worry about.

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