rebecca is right in that aspect — lorna didn’t have it as bad as she had. she can’t imagine being drugged and tortured for a year because of what she could do. if someone had given rebecca the love and care she had needed, perhaps she would have turned out differently. so many people are terrified of what mutants can do — they act in the wrong ways and don’t ever realize it. rebecca is powerful, but she’s also hurting; and that’s something that lorna can level with her on.
“ you’re right. i didn’t have it as bad as you, i’ll admit that full heartedly. ” lorna doesn’t have any judgement in her tone in the least; she knows that they’re very different people, especially with how they react to things. but the one thing she’s done with is judging rebecca for what she’s done; she doesn’t know what goes on inside of her mind, or how broken it really is. if there was anything that she at least knew, it was that places like the mental hospital didn’t get mutants, and they tore them apart until there was nothing left because they simply could.
“ what happened to you was awful, and what your parents did was horrible. they were afraid, just like most are, of what mutants can do. but that doesn’t have to account for everyone. ” emerald eyes search the teenagers face for a moment; she’s not into manipulating people to get what she wants. if rebecca wants to walk away, she’ll accept that. but right now she has to try.
pulling in a deep breath, lorna crosses her arms against her chest. she’s giving up her position of defense: she’s giving rebecca the upper hand and extending some form of trust. “ if you don’t want to do it for humans, that’s fine. you want revenge on reeva? then this is your chance. ”
her breath is held for a moment, eyes searching rebecca a little more closely. “ the underground isn’t as bad as reeva made them seem. they have good people, honest mutants that we’ve saved. that they’ve saved. i’m not asking you to join another group, or to forgive me for what i said. i just… ”
lorna can feel herself waning for a moment, because as much as she hated what rebecca did, part of her feels guilty and responsible for the teenager. they had brought her in, and only andy had given her the type of attention that she had needed. lorna had been in her position once before, and she knows how it can feel to hate everyone around you but feel alone at the same time. “ i want you to be safe, rebecca. the inner circle knows you’ve escaped — i don’t know what they’re planning to do to you. ”
❛ every human’s afraid of what they don’t understand, lorna --- our powers. even some mutants are. you might find them marveling at abilities like yours and mine but they’d do everything they can to contain it. ❜ hell, sometimes even she herself doesn’t understand what she can do; the full extent of it or learning to control it outside of anger. all anyone ever had to do was try instead of ostracizing them.
rebecca can’t say she has an answer to that proposition, though. of course she wanted revenge on reeva. on everyone in the inner circle for giving her freedom and hope, and normality for all of five minutes until they turned on her. she'd already come so close to it once before, but everything backfired horribly. and she knew better than anyone that bad things had a way of repeating themselves.
she was sure a part of her died during her time in the mental hospital. but even with that, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to almost get killed by somebody she trusted again. ❛ don’t lie to yourself. you know what they’re gonna do if they find me. ❜ her hand draws a swift, horizontal line across her throat as she lets out a dark chuckle. ❛ they’re not dumb enough to try to restrain me again. reeva and her three little barbie dolls wouldn’t even think twice ------ and you know it. ❜
the mere thought of them finding her makes her blood boil, and her gaze leaves lorna just for a moment as the urge to twist something tingles through her fingertips. control, she mentally tells herself, yet a small pile of scrap metal inverts themselves anyway with one twitch.
❛ even if the underground is accepting as you make them seem, i’m pretty sure i’m an exception to that rule. the rules don’t apply to psychopaths and... murderers. ❜ the word felt weird on her tongue. while rebecca wasn’t going to deny that what she did that day felt exhilarating, the title didn’t seem to suit her. ❛ if it didn’t apply in the inner circle then it definitely doesn’t with the mutant underground. ❜