intofireforever | 007 - [VOICE] - from the infirmary

I don't expect you to believe me when I say this, but I'd be here for you even if the Admiral decided to take back my deal. Not any random inmate I might have been paired with if not you, I don't think, but...

[She swirls the glass around a bit, and then swallows the rest of her drink.]

...after what my life was like, and knowing yours, I want to do for you what Paddy did for me.

[The glass clinks down against the bar again and she signals for another one of the same.]

I don't know what the Admiral gets out of all this, if anything. To be honest, I don't really think of him much until he makes his announcements, or I'm thinking over my deal.

But thank you, for wanting this to work out for me. I wanted Paddy to get his deal, too--it was to save a girl's life--but since I didn't expect to ever graduate, I thought the only way he'd get it was to request a different inmate.

[She drinks from her fresh glass.]

I really hope you have more faith in yourself than I did in me, when I was in your shoes. I know you're going to graduate with flying colors.

Yeah, well, I appreciate it. It's hard to smile right now or seem sincere or anything but bitter and fucking tired, but it's true.

As for the Admiral, he gets entertainment. Why do you think he goes out of his way to make us suffer, lose our innocence, and backslide? It's fun for him. Redemption and a second chance are both cool ideas, but it doesn't change the fact that he's a monster.

[Wanda swallows, and looks out the window, a tear escaping down her cheek.] I have no faith in my family, in my people, in so-called heroes and protectors. Not in the law, not in government, cops, or God. I've gotta have faith in me. Yeah, I have friends and you here, but once I leave, I'm all I've got. So I have to have faith in myself.

[When she sees Wanda tearing up, Laura forces a bit of a smile in an attempt to be encouraging.]

Good. That's good. Not that you have no one else to put faith in, but that you believe in yourself. It's a great foundation to build upon. Believe me, trying to trust others before you can trust yourself sucks.

[She rubs Wanda's back a little, gently.]

I believe in you, too. For what that's worth.

Yeah, I guess. I didn't used to. I have learned a bunch here, but it really was in spite of the Admiral instead of because of him.

[Her eyes spill over and she wipes at them a bit frantically in her embarrassment.]

Thanks. It is worth something.

...I just get so fucking lonely. But I guess that's what the dog's for.

[Laura puts her arm across Wanda's back, gripping the shoulder farthest from her. She doesn't, however, stare at the other girl's face, not wanting to embarrass her further.]

I'm here whenever you get lonely. Day or night.

[Wanda swallows hard and distracts herself with her drink for a second.]

Thanks. I appreciate that. I don't know. Maybe I can figure out how to write or something once I get out of here....

That takes some guts. I write poetry every once in a while, but I don't think I could ever show anyone. It's just for me.

[Laura puts her drink on the counter and takes a pack of cigarettes and a fancy flip lighter from her pocket.]

I think it could be rewarding. If you decide to go down that path, that is.

I mostly meant write to you and people like Rhade and Steph, but...

...that gets me thinking.

I was going to do this thing, you know, where I sent the one guy from my world home with letters for Lehnsherr, my brother, Xavier and a few others. But maybe I should wait on that. It seems a little pointless in most cases, and my would-be courier is kind of a dick.

I'd love to get letters from you.

[She places a cigarette between her lips and lights it, inhaling.]

Who's your middleman, if you don't mind me asking?

I'll see if I can't find a way to make it happen then.

[Wanda's finally reached the point where she's not begging for smokes anymore, and focuses on her drink, which is basically a mint chip milkshake for grownups.]

Pyro. He's the only one from my world and I figured I could pay him off. But now I'm realizing that he'd probably just broadcast stuff from those letters in one of his bad storytimes.

[Laura grimaces a little as she takes a long drag. She doesn't like Pyro.]

He's a dick. I wouldn't trust him with anything more important than passing the salt...and maybe not even that.

Edited 2013-01-14 02:15 (UTC)

He is a dick. [She orders another Grasshopper.] He's a dick, and he works for my abuser. And if I tried to explain to him why working for Magneto is a bad idea, he not only wouldn't get it--he'd probably make fun of me.

It's why I feel no solidarity with my "people". Between him, the Brotherhood, my abuser, my so-called brother, that hypocrite Xavier and the way ninety percent of the mutants here have treated me, it's clear that they don't give a damn about me either.

[Her lips tremble. This doesn't sit well with her.]

None of them would have rescued me from the asylum, except maybe Jean or Nightcrawler, and...I don't need people like that in my life. Giving them loyalty just because of their genotype would be basically throwing loyalty and effort down a bottomless well.

Save your loyalty for the people who are good to you, no matter what they happen to be.

[Laura drinks down the last of her second gin and tonic and signals for a third. She's much better at holding her liquor than she looks.]

It'll save you some grief in the long run.

[Wanda looks very thoughtful.]

You know, either Magneto or Xavier would probably pitch a fit at me for saying this, but mutants aren't my people anymore, if ever they were. People are my people.

[Laura receives her new glass and clinks the rim against Wanda's.]

That's the way to do it. It doesn't matter what people's origins are, as long as you can trust them.

[Wanda nods, feeling a bit buzzy.] Yeah, you got it.

Oh holy crap, your gifts! [She pulls the two packages out of her bag and slides them over.] I totally derped them for a while there.

Oh! I forgot, too.

[Laura settles the packages in front of herself, but pauses, looking guilty.]

I fell into my coma before I got a chance to write to Santa. I don't have anything for you.

Hey, don't sweat it. Though I admit I may ask you for something a little bit weird when it's time for me to go.

Sure, of course.

[Laura tears the paper off the first package.]

[Inside is a tablet computer with only one thing on it, but the file is so enormous that it takes up most of the memory. It is an exotic looking map that looks a little like stellar cartography. It is titled "The Known Multiverse".]

I got these for a lot of people including myself. You know, so we can see where we're all from and where we've been.

Oh, wow. Thank you! It sounds amazing.

[Laura picks up the tablet and turns it this way and that, looking slightly perplexed. It's not that she doesn't know how a touch-screen works; this is just so much bigger than the communicators and therefore more intimidating.]

You'll probably need to help me work it the first time, though.

Hey, you're welcome. I figured it would be useful to anyone dealing with this place. I'll walk you through making it work.

[She pokes at the small package.] This one is especially for you though.

[Laura carefully opens the small box to find a ring. She lifts it out and feels...something. Not with her body, but with her mind.]

...what is this?

[Because it feels like MIKE's ring.]

[Wanda hesitates, looking a little shy.]

My wards weren't strong enough for Overlook. It didn't help that we were directly under the most haunted room in the place, but...I've been trying to figure out how to do right by you in a situation like that ever since.

Right now, the Admiral is stronger than I am, and he can make and power magical items. I tested him with my Christmas list. That ring protects the wearer against evil spirits. It should be pretty damn potent.

[Laura finds her mouth suddenly dry. She licks her lips.]

That wasn't your fault.

[She examines the ring carefully, but doesn't put it on.]

Is this going to make some kind of...contract, between me and the Admiral? He gets something in exchange for the protection?

[When she put on MIKE's ring, it kept BOB from seizing control of her body. It also bound her soul to MIKE until she died...giving him the freedom to eat her final release of pain and sorrow after she was killed, when it would normally have belonged to BOB.]

007 - [VOICE] - from the infirmary

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