Chapter 074 – 'If You Can't Face the Wolves, Don't Enter the Forest.'

[A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long abscence, I had some personal stuff to take care of. Updates shoudl be more regular from now on though!

Still, I read most of the comments and realized that there were some questions about Elijah's power. I don't want to create an auxilary chapter at this point though, so I will explain it in this note for you.

First, someone asked about his 'teleportation', seemingly not understanding how he did it. The process though is 'fairly' simple as he uses his ability to manipulate his shield to take control of his surroundings and then move the whole shield. In a sense, this naturally means that he doesn't teleport but just moves himself at speed that are almost indistinguishable from teleportation. Or even simpler, he controls space via his shields, which gives him a few very nice abilities.

Naturally, he is restricted in the scale of his manipulation by the strength of his mind, which is also the reason that he cannot manipulate time for the time being as that is something much more difficult than manipulating space.

Another point that was brought up more than once, was the question about why he doesn't just absorb different kinds of energy with different methods to fill up his reserves faster.

Now, I will only say this once and hopefully clearly enough so that you all can understand it. There is no cheating the 'system'!

The energy that is used to grant him his abilities is very special and he can't just replace with another type, nor can he create some low-level power that allows him to tranform other types of energy into the kind he needs. There is also a very specific reason why Jean's fire/energy can substitute his own energy, which I will also explain more clearly in the future.

For now, know this, his Self-Creation is an incredible ability but it has not been gifted to him by a careless idiot. There are limits and restrictions to this ability that can not be broken.

There were also some older questions about how I categorized different abilities. It's a rather vague subject as I used different factors. There are potential, upper limit, type of ability, and other factors that influence the 'cost' of an ability and determine its ranking.

For example, there are different levels when it comes to healing factors as some can only heal minor scrapes and cuts, while others can regenerate lost limbs or even grant one biological immortality(like Deadpool). They naturally are differently ranked based on the effects they have, which is the same for most abilities.

If there are any other questions, feel free to ask and I will try to answer them all. Though it might take a few days.

Anyway, enjoy the following chapters!]

[2009 – July]

Leading Laura to her room first, we didn't speak as I took the lead, neither of us being particularly talkative people. Me, because I preferred silence instead of meaningless side-chatter, and Laura wasn't exactly 'sociable', her upbringing making sure that she considered any noise a potential source of trouble.

Still, as I led her into her room, which was basically a smaller version of the place I lived in with Jean, I turned towards her.

"Why have you come here, Laura?", I couldn't help but ask, knowing that she couldn't be unaware of what kind of person Emma was.

As Logan's daughter and an X-Man in training, she must have had knowledge about Emma that went beyond the legal and moral side of my half-sister's business. Her coming here didn't make much sense to me under these circumstances, which meant that there was something at play that I didn't understand, or had knowledge of.

Wearing nothing but a wide dark-brown leather jacket over her frankly tiny white top, which barely managed to hide her rather sizeable bust, the fabric being tight enough to count as a second layer of skin with no bra visible beneath, Laura's taut abdomen was left bare, her six-pack visible for all to see.

A pair of ankle-high black boots and skin-tight black jeans, that clung to her beautiful legs and perfect backside, completed her outfit, her black hair done up in a messy bun.

Turning towards me, the admittedly incredibly beautiful girl gazed at me intently with her bright eyes, though I wasn't fazed as I knew that this intensity was just part of her.

…

"I came for you.", Laura replied, deciding to be honest, not seeing any reason to lie.

A look of surprise crossed Elijah's face at her words as he answered, a small frown pulling down his brows, his deep green eyes filled with questions: "For me? Why?"

Stepping in front of him, Laura simply raised her right hand and placed it against the left side of his chest – right above his heart, her left hand placed against her own chest.

"Because there is a monster living inside your heart.", she stated quietly, tapping on her own chest with her fingers, "As does here."

Eyes widening briefly, Elijah brought his emotions under control in record time, as he gazed at her quietly for a few moments before raising his hand to grasp hers which was still laying flat against his chiseled chest, enabling her to feel his warmth and the strong beat of his heart through his black shirt.

Holding onto her hand gently, his eyes took on a softer look, a wry smile gracing his lips.

"When I was little, we lived in a rather bad neighborhood, and my mother used to say: 'If you can't face the wolves, don't go into the forest.'", Elijah recounted in a low voice, a complex look appearing in his shadowed green eyes, "It was her way of warning me to keep my distance from the wrong people, to not do something I would regret later. She didn't want me to do something I wasn't ready for. The times I didn't listen to her advice, and had to face the consequences of my recklessness, I learned a valuable lesson – only a wolf can fight a wolf, and have a chance at winning."

A dark, near-malevolent light, born from sheer determination suddenly appeared in his gaze, as he continued: "I want to walk through the forest unhindered, Laura. And being just a wolf isn't enough for that. So, I will become something that even the wolves cower before in fear."

Her own heart pounding fiercely against the prison of her ribcage while goosebumps traveled down her back and arms, Laura didn't even notice that she had stopped breathing, being captivated by the intensity of Elijah's gaze, his will and resolve a tangible force pressuring his surroundings.

She felt her inner beast howling and growling in approval, his words resonating with something in the depth of her heart.

Exhaling softly, Elijah took a step back, his hand letting go of her own, as he returned to his usual calmness and addressed her lightly: "Come, let me show you the training area and the rest of the facilities in the mansion."

Nodding lightly while rubbing the palm of her left hand, the sudden absence of warmth beneath it leaving her with a faint sense of loss. Laura pushed those thoughts aside as she followed Elijah silently, his words still echoing in her heart.

…

It was roughly an hour later that I returned to my room, having shown Laura around the Hellion Mansion before declining her invitation for a spar. Still, her words hadn't yet vanished from my mind.

"Because there is a monster living inside your heart. As does here."

Words spoken without falsehood or judgement, her eyes carrying a pure and almost intimate look in them. To say I had been surprised a little would be an understatement.

And yet, there was something about Laura that just called to me in a way I couldn't really explain, which definitely didn't make things easier for me.

Physical attraction was one thing, as finding someone attractive was more like an involuntary process, but this was clearly something different.

Though I did find Laura to be incredibly beautiful, her dangerous and silent charm, beautiful curves, and especially her soft lips and bright eyes having captured my gaze more than once. I wanted to curse my teenage hormones for my current dilemma, but that would be cowardly as things weren't so simple.

Sighing to myself, I put these matters aside for the moment as I didn't really know what to do in this situation besides keeping an eye on my own actions. I certainly didn't plan to do anything that might hurt Jean.

Taking a deep breath while I sat naked on the shower floor in a lotus position, I adopted a calming breathing pattern, clearing my mind of any distractions and disturbances, silencing my thoughts until nothing besides utter serenity was left.

With Jean still out, I had a few hours to myself which made for the perfect opportunity to grant myself new powers.

I was aware that she didn't like me doing this by myself, as she wanted to be there for me when I was in pain, but while I loved the gentle way she cared for me in my moments of weakness, this was still mainly my burden to carry and I didn't want to unload this on her whenever possible just so that I could feel better.

Sharing burdens with one's lover was natural and I knew the things I had shared with Jean had only brought us closer together, but trying to free myself of my burdens by pushing them onto her was just wrong.

I couldn't make her responsible to soothe my pain whenever necessary, as that wasn't how this worked, even though Jean would try and do that if I let her.

Taking another deep cleansing breath, I focused on the first of the new powers I wanted to grant myself – Bio-Circuit.