All Good Things... (Part One)

By the time I made my way back to where we'd started from in upper Manhattan, I was still a head case. I'd taken my time to give myself a chance to cool my heels and refocus, but my mind was stuck on Megan. The way we parted left me with an uneasy feeling in my gut.

All of my people-reading ability told me that things weren't good with her. But the worst thing I could have done was smother her. Perhaps absence would make the heart grow fonder? After all, how could you miss someone if they wouldn't go away?

...It was just a shame that I had to resort to that kind of reasoning to ease my mind after only a month of being back around her regularly.

Eventually, I found Laura (or she found me – I'm not sure which), and we got back to work on our original reason for coming to New York in the first place. Of course, she'd had... limited success in finding any sign of this Daken guy in my absence.

For someone who was waiting for her, he kept a very low profile, which left us wandering around trying to get a clue. It was remarkably boring, which was bad for me trying to not think about the sinking ship of my relationship. So, I started running my mouth.

"The Cuckoos don't have codenames," Laura pointed out in the middle of our conversation. She walked in step with me as we continued to search the streets and converse.

"Yeah, they do," I argued back in return, "They do have a codename – the Three-In-One. It just sucks, and calling them the Cuckoos is easier and sounds cooler, so no one ever uses the actual one-," I stopped when I realized that I'd been had, "...Oh, I see what you did there."

For someone who wasn't very good with people, Laura was surprising adept at manipulating a conversation. She'd either picked that up over the course of her extensive training, or she'd been spending way too much time around my manipulative ass.

As the search dragged on, Laura went increasingly silent, more focused. Her head down, her eyes darted between everyone we passed, nostrils flaring every few moments. Where her hands were normally shoved in the pockets of her jeans or her jacket, they were now at her sides, ready for action at a moment's notice.

I had never actually paid attention to her mannerisms when we were in the middle of something like this. Usually, I was more focused on keeping my head on a swivel and making sure no one else on the team screwed up, myself included. Rarely did I have to worry about her in the field. I was more of a liability than she ever was.

"This is like trying to find a needle in a haystack," I said, once we'd sat down on a concrete planter to take a break and gather ourselves. The chances of Laura catching a whiff similar enough to what was on that letter in a city with seven million people seemed nearly impossible to me, "...A smelly haystack with six-thousand different scents on every block."

How could she possibly distinguish between anything? I was smelling at least five different things at once at any given time, and I didn't have a superpowered nose.

This didn't seem to be what the issue was for Laura, "I have already located the scent attached to the letter. We've been following it for a while, but we aren't getting any closer."

If finding the scent wasn't the issue, maybe the problem was coming from the other end, "Laura… if he's your brother, Wolverine's son, whatever, what are the chances that you guys have the same power?"

Laura's eyes went wide in realization. Similar backgrounds likely meant similar powers, "He has my scent as well," She said to herself, "But why avoid me?"

"Maybe it's me?" I offered. There might have been a chance that Daken didn't want a meeting with a third present.

Laura shook her head, shooting this down, "No, this has been happening since before you returned. What if it's a test?"

The thought of some dude stringing along my claw-wielding teammate irked me. And I was pissed to begin with, "If this is some kind of stupid test, I suggest we turn around and go home right now."

The idea of just abandoning a quest and leaving it unfulfilled left Laura at a loss, "But… we came all this way," She sounded just like a kid. It was adorable, and actually got me to cheer up.

"-And I'm probably going to lose my relationship over this, yes," I added as a bitter aside while I made my point, "But you shouldn't be in the business of jumping through hoops for some douchebag who sent you a vague letter. He asked to see you, not the other way around. Have some value of self, woman."

Big talk from me, who was the poster child for self-loathing. Maybe Kevin Ford from the Hellions or Jay Guthrie from the New Mutants could give me a run for my money, though.

Laura looked thoughtful, as though she were really considering my words, "Do you really think we should leave?"

I wasn't about to get into the habit of making her decisions for her. I had her back and all, but this was her show, "I gave you until Sunday night to wrap this up, so it's your call. But if what's-his-face doesn't start cooperating and runs out our clock, I say to hell with him. He can schedule a school visit like a functional member of society," Laura didn't owe him anything, even if they apparently shared DNA.

"The name is Daken, actually."

An individual I hadn't noticed before, seated on the opposite side of Laura spoke up. I hadn't even noticed anyone sit down, and I had been looking that way the entire time while I'd been talking.

He had black hair in slicked down mohawk and wore pretty normal-looking clothes – a black waistcoat and slacks, and a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and at least two buttons too many undone. He had a big ass tribal tattoo going up the left side of his chest and down his entire arm.

I flinched hard. Laura didn't, however, keeping her cool in a way I could only wish I had the poise to do, "Did you know he was getting closer?" I asked, Laura nodding in response, "Well, goddamn. Some heads-up would have been nice. Guy could have shot me in the head, and I'd never have noticed."

"I would not have let that happen," Laura assured me before turning to our new friend, "Daken. You sent for me?"

Daken had something of a sneer and a smirk on his face as he sized Laura up. It was a particularly shit-eating expression. Just from the first thirty seconds of making his acquaintance, I didn't like him, "You really expect me to believe that you're a clone of Wolverine?"

Well, that was an unpleasant way to make a first impression, and I let him know as much, "That's kind of rude. Is it because she's too fine to be his clone? Because, I mean, I agree, but that's still pretty shitty."

Laura didn't even bother turning around to dignify that with a glance my way, "Bellamy, hush," Her eyes never left Daken, "You reached out to me, knowing this information in advance. If you doubt it, why am I here?"

"Maybe so I can kill you for telling the most ridiculous lie ever?"

"I was made in a lab from Logan's DNA. That is not a lie."

"Prove it."

Laura held up a fist, prepared to pop her claws, and that had been enough of that. I grabbed her hand and lowered it, "She doesn't have to prove anything," I went to stand and take her with me, "Okay, thanks for reaching out! Keep in touch. She'll be sure to send you a Christmas card."

I could feel the tension in the air. We were not about to get into a fight in downtown Manhattan in broad daylight just because some guy turned up out of the blue and started popping off.

Before I could get Laura any farther than five steps away, something bounced off of the back of my head. When I turned around and looked down, I saw a ball with a pink string attached. It looked a lot like a human eyeball.

You know that weird watering mouth feeling you get right before you throw up? I got it at that moment, "...That's a legit eye, isn't it?" I asked the obvious.

Instead of being nauseated, Laura, on the other hand, looked furious as she stared down, "What did you do to Logan!?" It was the most reaction I'd ever heard out of her. The claws were officially out, and I couldn't stop it this time. I was too busy staring down at the eye on the ground.

"That's Logan's eye?" I said, just repeating the obvious, "You gouged out Logan's eye? Why?"

"Because I couldn't get the rest of him. And now I have you right where I want you."

Laura yanked me out of the way before Daken could sever my spinal cord. At least, that's what I think he was going for. I only caught the tail end of what he was doing, since I tumbled ass-over-teakettle from Laura's pull. When I rolled through to a manageable position, not only did Laura have her claws out, Daken had his own out.

Because of course he had claws.

Unlike Laura's and Logan's claws, there was no metal on them. They were pure sharpened bone. Two from his knuckles, and one from his wrist. Was that what Laura and Logan's claws would look like without the adamantium? It was then that I realized that they were duking it out.

...Duking it out in the middle of a Manhattan side plaza, with spectators standing back and watching the blood fly. Because blood was definitely flying. I had sometimes wondered what a fight between Laura and Logan would look like. I had expected it to be more technical, because they were both really good martial artists.

I had forgotten that at their cores, Logan, and by proxy his children and DNA copy, were driven by rage. There was little technique to be had between the two of them. The best description of the fight I could give was that the two of them looked like a tangled ball of muscle, clothes, and swinging claws.

Did I mention the blood? Because there was a lot of that. I cannot stress that enough. Some of it got on me... in my face. And that was the last straw for me. After sitting back and watching Laura and Daken stab each other and cut chunks out of each other for ninety of the most intense seconds I'd ever watched up close, I hopped up and fired an explosive blast that hit the both of them and sent them flying.

I just wanted them separated. Whatever damage I did to Laura, she could heal from. It couldn't have been any worse than what Daken had been doing. I grabbed her by the hand, snatched her up, and took off running.

They'd be at it all day trying to kill each other, and the cops were undoubtedly coming. Besides, I'd seen enough of Daken. I hoped we didn't cross paths again anytime soon.