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Laura didn’t exactly have many fond memories of her time with the X-Men. To be fair, it wasn’t ENTIRELY on the shoulders of her fellow young X-Men. She hadn’t exactly made it easy for them to get close to her. Made it quite difficult, actually. Still, it didn’t feel great to be looked at like a monster by all of them, especially after they found out she was on the X-Force.
But, there was a silver lining to it all. It had all made her stronger. And, in a weird way, reminded her she was human. The fact is, she wasn’t the same person she was back then. And, for the most part, she’d been moving past all of it. Being around the others wasn’t as…uncomfortable, as it used to be. Which was growth, in a way. Progress.
When she wasn’t in the greenhouse, Laura liked to sit around outside on campus, take in the fresh air, maybe read a book. It was during one of these moments that an old teammate approached her. Josh. Turning her head, she raised her eyebrow, shutting her book. “Not particularly. It’s…been a long time. What do you want?”
.
The abruptness of the question probably shouldn’t have surprised him, given who he’d walked up to, but he still raised a brow. “To say hello. Like people do, sometimes.” He did give her a little smile as he said so and lifted one hand in a wave. “It’s been awhile.” They’d all gone on to lead different lives after the school, some earlier than others. Josh had done his own stint with X-Force before he’d ‘died.’ Not that dying stuck. Either way, the kid that had been enrolled in the school at Westchester felt like nearly a different person entirely; whatever had happened with Laura there didn’t need to be how things were going forward. He hoped not, anyway.
If she didn’t make a move to stop him or ask him not to, Josh took a step forward to sit down a little ways from her, but plenty close enough for a conversation. “There aren’t many of us around from back then. Seemed weird to just keep,” he lifted one shoulder in a shrug, “not saying anything.”
Laura sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She was being unfair, and she knew it. Josh hadn’t been there when they all turned on her, hadn’t been one of the ones who had been fearful and mistrusting of the news. He was right there beside her on those missions anyway, and she wondered if he had been read the riot act for the secrets like she had. Regardless, Josh was a friend. At least, closer to one than most other mutants in the district were at any rate. And so, she turned to give him her full attention.
“Is it?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow. “It seems pretty normal to me. Most of them made it clear exactly where I stood.” As soon as the words had left her mouth she’d wished she’d kept that in. It wasn’t fair, and it was her problem. Not his. “I am sorry,” she spoke after an awkward moment of silence, eyes darting to the floor. “It hasn’t exactly been my best week. But it’s good to see you again, Josh. How is your clinic?”





















