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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 12, 2017 5:24:53 GMT -5
Artie Cade had never been much for keeping recollections stored up in his brain. But being alone would often lead him down that particular road.
He sat in the back of the Wicked Suit, in his special little back room where he would conduct his less-than-reputable business affairs maintaining control of his side of New York City or which drugs to move where or who owed what to whom. It was a cozy little room behind a pair of doors back behind the bar, and contained a large round table and a small cabinet where Artie kept his finer booze and a good selection of cigars.
Tonight had been uneventful, mostly. Laura was keeping run of the place out front and doing her usual best of it. Hell, he didn't even need to really post men there except out of habit. Last time anyone made any kind of side-eyed comment at his daughter, he heard tell that she literally threw him out of the place herself. He chuckled at that. Mess with Artie Cade's daughter and she'd handle you herself, nevermind her old man.
Artie lit a cigarette and leaned back in his seat and his recollections drifted far away, away to the Canadian wilderness...a few days after he'd first been sent out there to return Weapon X's property to them but instead wound up giving the poor kid his coat to keep her warm. He idly ran a hand down the smooth surface of the tin mask that covered the scars. She'd given him those that night they first met. They didn't sting so much anymore, he'd gotten used to it. The most inconvenient part was his missing lips on the left side of his face. He had to re-learn how to drink and eat without things dribbling out between his exposed teeth and that pesky tendon.
He'd never had the mask made for his own vanity. It was mostly because Laura always felt guilty about giving him those scars. If even hiding them a bit to look semi-normal would help, he'd spare no expense. And the mask wasn't cheap to make.
The few days following his first meet up with this girl who had introduced herself as Laura had absolutely been an incredible weight off his shoulders...when the two of them climbed that last bit of tundra before making it to Quebec. He'd been bartering for passage on a plane for fifteen minutes.
"Whaddaya MEAN you don't accept American coin, you son of a....!" Artie protested to the very French-Canadian man he was trying to get to fly the kid and him out of there, "What do you want. gold?! I told ya, a deal went south, I'm wounded and I've gotta get the kid home."
"The kid looks like she was, 'ow you say uh....kidnapped, she looks not a thing like you!" the man retorted, "This all seems uh...very fishy to me, yes. No deal."
Artie growled and went through his pockets, fishing out his pistol. It had been custom made and the handle scales were pure silver.
"HERE!" he shouted, not reacting at all to the man stepping back from the pistol, "....oh for crying out loud..."
He emptied the chamber of its clip and reset it, handing the pistol to the man.
"The scales are silver," he said, "Custom piece, resell it when we get to the states if ya want. Will THAT do?"
The man considered this. Shifty and grubby as he looked, it didn't seem a surprise that he accepted and took the gun. He looked down at the young girl, still seeming unsure of the situation but Artie stepped in front of Laura and glared at the man. His scars were still fresh and had worn through the makeshift bandages and so were fully exposed. His left eye glared even harder at the man, having had its eyelids removed.
"When do we leave?" Artie growled.
"Uh....I can be fueled and ready in ten minutes."
"Do it then." Artie said as he looked over to Laura, knowing better than to touch her as she didn't seem to like it, "You all right, kid?"
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X-23
Heroes 
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Jan 17, 2017 10:27:45 GMT -5
Stab the man. Kill him and everyone else on board. Arrange their bodies around the airstrip buildings and burn the place to the ground before taking off. Keep Cade's gun for bartering later.
Laura wasn't going to do that. she didn't want to do it, if someone suggested it she'd stop them. But the thought was there, instinct telling her to do terrible things because it made life easier for her. Slowly, bit by bit, she was getting better at picking up on, and ignoring the bits of her training she didn't want to do. It had been good for her, this traveling with someone that did not freak out or look at her with disgust when she asked him questions about murder and death. Many of the people that had seemed to want to help her when she had been alone on the streets had so quickly concluded she was dangerous when all she'd done was try to make sense of things.
With Cade, all she had to do was voice her question and he'd tell her what he thought. It was a certain kind of progress she appreciated because she could work at her own pace as they trudged through the snow.
At the question of her being kidnapped, Laura looked up at the man, then to Cade and back. she was about to explain that it was completely ridiculous to suggest she was being held against her will when it would be so easy to run for help, especially when Cade had a visible injury that could be used to disable him if attacks were focused there. This man was clearly too stupid to be trusted with a plane if he could not think of that.
Luckily Artie managed to barter their way out of the situation that did not need her help. she just nodded along when the bit about silver was brought up. "Ten minutes. Good." she agreed, watching him move off towards the plane for the slightest hint he was going to do something stupid, like call the police.
"I am well." She confirmed at his question to her, looking up at him with the same guilt she'd been feeling at every glance in his direction. Injuring a potential ally this bad had been a mistake. the injuries would be permanent. she had acted rashly. He would not want to hear another apology. "Why would you have a pistol incorporate silver? I do not see how that could have improved it, unless you were trying to make it lighter?"
It was not the most pressing question, or the one she wanted to ask the most, but it was a foundation of conversation she could lead where she wanted it to go, and was a good way to kill time until the ignorant man was out of ear shot. If he thought this might be a kidnapping now, hearing her ask questions that revealed how little she still knew about where Cade actually called home would only make things worse.
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 17, 2017 18:10:52 GMT -5
As the extremely French French-Canadian began readying the plane, not even giving a second glance to the two who had just chartered it, Artie pulled his collar of his shirt up more about himself. It was cold, that was still true. But when he had found the targ....Laura...she had no sleeves to speak of at all. He looked down at her and nodded. She looked warm enough, still wearing his coat. Oddly it suited her once she grew into it more.
She was a good kid.
"Well, the silver on the scales were just for...added visual appeal," he said, remembering that he had to be decently specific with this girl and not flourish too much in his wording, "They were a gift from a previous client, top of the line. Nowadays maybe not so much but I still like 'em. Well...liked 'em but now they'll be a separated set."
He patted his opposite side and the other matching pistol clicked at his touch. Artie shifted his gaze toward the pilot.
"For now..." he mused.
He might get his other pistol back yet. He did like them both very much as a set, and prided himself on being ambidextrous with them. And certainly they were expensive. That Bertinelli job really did pay off as well in cash as it did in munitions with the inclusion of these pistols as bonuses.
As the pilot finished up, he bumbled his round frame back toward the two slightly and beckoned toward the plane as he put on a jacket of his own. Artie nodded and was about to urge Laura along behind him with his hand but he stopped short.
"Shall we?" he asked as he nodded to the plane and began to walk toward it casually.
The pilot opened the cargo hatch and gestured dramatically inside. Artie hopped in quickly and offered a hand to Laura.
"I don't bite, kid, I promise." he smirked as the plane engine began to activate which caused him to speak louder, "It's a bit high up for ya....maybe."
Artie had rarely made sincere attempts to be sweet or even helpful to almost anybody. But this kid was the exception. She brought something out of him, he wasn't quite sure how to describe it. Perhaps it was the bond of being merciless killers, though he didn't suffer from the nightmares she had seemed to as he had occasionally watched her by the firelight on the one or two occasions that she drifted off before he did.
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Jan 24, 2017 19:54:37 GMT -5
Laura understood the concept of visual appeal well, so the answer satisfied her easily. "I understand. it made the weapon more valuable to you on an emotional level." The bit about them no longer being top of the line managed to bewilder her though. "you carry weapons when you are aware there are better fire arms available.... you lower your ability for some idea of style?"
in the childs mind that was the most insane thing she could possibly hear. Someone willingly making themselves less effective. if you were not operating at 100% then you needed to take immediate action, not embrace the handicap! she would have explained all this to him in detail if he hadn't gone into a different direction. "yes. you can still buy the first one back. I believe it is similar to "pawn shops" though I have not been to one." honestly the plane ride was not worth that much silver and she very much doubted Arte would be willing to take a loss just because it was more convenient then walking. perhaps infinitely more convenient when the distances were considered. still.
Laura followed after Artie, taking in every detail of the plane, trying to make sure she had a vague layout of it in her head before she got in. She was surprised when Artie offered her a hand up, when he knew she could do it herself.... but it was like the coat, something he wanted to do just to help her. As her small hand clasped his and she let him do most of the work in getting her into the cargo hold, Laura found herself glad he'd done it. "thank you Artie." She told him, surprised at herself for meaning it. "and I believe you. you are carrying a pistol. you would have no reason to bite anyone."
that bit being noted, Laura moved to the very back of the hold, and moved one of the large boxes. her small arms not being much for lifting something so large, so she resorted to dragging it to the other side of the hold. Having made herself a gap between boxes she sat down between them, pleased with herself that if anyone were to look into the hold from the main hatch they would not be able to see her, obviously Artie knew where she was but that was different. she trusted him enough that he was allowed to keep track of where she was sitting.
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 25, 2017 12:49:18 GMT -5
The pilot of the plane waited for Artie to close the hatch and take a seat...somewhere amid the cargo before he headed steadily down the runway. It didn't much matter to him where they were going. They could not make it all the way to New York City without stopping for fuel, so he made note on his map where that would be best...and made sure he didn't have the map upside down. Artie sat himself on one of the crates near Laura to her left, leaning back and withdrew a cigarette from his gold case in his pocket. He lit it steadily as the plane took off and exhaled the smoke lightly. It was about time to...change his bandages as best he could. He slowly removed the bloodstained piece from his face, exposing the grotesque display that it was. It took some degree of difficulty and no small amount of wincing, but it was soon removed. He then withdrew his flask of bourbon and poured a dash of it on his face, grunting from the pain of the burning sensation it offered. But then it calmed and was done. He took a drag off his cigarette and a pull from his flask before he handed the latter to Laura without looking at her and withdrew another length of torn garment, wrapping it around his forehead, under his jaw and most importantly across his scars. It was an unusual sensation, not having eyelids or lips on the left half of his face. But he'd get used to it.
"When we get back..." he said calmly as the plane reached the end of the runway and took off into the air, "...we'll figure out what to do with ya. Happy to write up some adoption papers if you want to stick with me. I mean I guess that's the way to go about it...not sure, maybe this is technically a kidnapping."
He smirked and took another puff on his cigarette.
"But if you've got places to go or things to do you go right on ahead and do 'em, okay?" he clarified, "But if you ever need anything, you'll know how to find me at least."
Artie really hadn't much considered what to do about this current situation. Take the kid in? Just let her go off on her own? His chief worry was that the folks who hired him would track him down...well, track her down. He wouldn't be too worried about them when he was walled up back in his kingdom in New York but this kid...she might very well be taken right back to where she'd started. And that didn't sit well with him. The directive he received said to "retrieve their property." She wasn't somebody's property. Not to him, that is.
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Jan 30, 2017 17:57:05 GMT -5
Guilt was something both familiar and new to Laura. Only recently had she been able to give a name and understanding to something that she had been carrying her entire life, and it flared up again when Artie sat starting to bandage himself. It had been a flaw in judgement. a hurried assumption that she'd known the best action to take. something that did permanent damage because she was wrong.
It was a blessing, Artie choosing to be kind in where he sat, because even without having to see it again she felt bad enough. Laura took the flask, and smelled at it curiously. Laura knew what it was, naturally, but had never tried it before. Cautiously she took a small sip of the foreign liquid..... immediately she made a face of disgust and vowed to leave it alone from now on, holding it at arms length like it was going to explode on her.
Artie's words left Laura staring at him with wide eyes. He was serious. He was making an offer like that, so simply. Did he have any idea that he was offering her the only thing she really wanted like it was no big deal? Laura had to stop herself saying yes on the pure instinct so she could actually voice her thoughts. "When-" she stopped, reconsidered how much detail to give, and started again, "Just before my Mother died, one of the last things she said to me was to promise I was free. That I was going to be free for the rest of my life." the words came out pained and low, the child holding back a lot of deep seated agony she didn't know how to deal with. "But she never explained to me what that meant. Or how I could go about doing anything with freedom."
When Laura looked at Artie again, there was something scared and lost in her eyes. she knew what she knew, but saying things aloud made them worse. "I do not know what I want. I do not know how to discover what I want." she hesitated again, hating having to admit her weakness. hated she felt weak when she knew it wasn't her fault. Hated her own selfhate for making herself feel worse. "I... I would like to come with you. I feel it would be easier to figure things out if there is someone who understands what I am."
Laura smiled weakly at Artie, not sure how she'd ended up here. "it seems to be easier to talk to you then I had expected it to be." Maybe that was because she had never even tried to open up to anyone else, but it was still true. But then something worrying occurred to her that pulled this up short. "people will not believe I am your biological child. we look too different. If anyone from Weapon X comes to you and hears you have a child matching my description, it would put you in danger. I am not worth the risk of keeping around."
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 31, 2017 20:36:19 GMT -5
Artie turned and looked at Laura now that his scars were bandaged again and his visible eye softened as he listened.
He always felt something for the girl. When his business had gotten so much more deranged over the years, he had come to realize steadily that children shouldn't have to bear witness to the things he did.
Or really suffer at all for whatever perceived sin Artie had been paid to tidy up with a bullet.
And when one of his targets was this kid herself, having not been told that going in...he just couldn't do it. He had enough bad memories of his own childhood pent up in his skull, and Laura clearly had her share of issues...so it all seemed to fit, taking her with him. Clearly not that he could have killed her anyway. But it was a curious feeling indeed not wanting to.
He took the flask back and took another swig. Artie had another long drag on the cigarette, blowing smoke over Laura's head before he looked into her eyes intently.
"Well then you'll come with me," he said with a gentle smirk and a nod, "And we'll figure out what you want together."
Artie hazarded a reassuring gesture, reaching out his hand roll her long hair back behind her ear on one side of her face. It was risky, he knew, but the kid needed to be comforted. He scooted closer to her on his crate and spoke in a softer tone.
"Biological doesn't matter," he said, realizing he may have to explain, "Adoption is like...if there's a child with no mother or father, they can be taken care of by someone else. Ya see? So I could do that for you, if uh..."
He stopped for a moment.
"...not that I would presume to be your father," he said as he shook his head, "You can call me Artie. Or whatever makes you most comfortable. Though preferably not Susan, I don't think that suits me."
A chuckle escaped his mouth at his jest before his tone resumed its graver levels.
"And Weapon X won't come around," he said calmly, "And if they do? I'll protect you from them, don't you worry about that. Or I'll tell 'em you escaped, I've-"
He stopped short for a moment to prevent himself from saying "got the wounds to prove it," out of consideration.
"...I've got it covered. You think you're not worth the risk of keeping around? I'll take that bet."
Artie extended his hand to her for a playful handshake and smirked again on the good side of his face.
It was then that the plane engine began to choke, the craft bobbing to and fro, battered by the wind. Artie was thrown forward slightly but he caught himself, tackling Laura to avoid the shifting crates as they slid about.
"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING??" Artie barked at the pilot.
"It isn't me, monsieur!" the pilot shouted, trying to get control of his plane, "The engine, it is failing!"
And indeed it seemed to be. They had made some decent distance toward the state lines but suddenly the plane began to go down....and down........and down.....
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Feb 6, 2017 14:06:13 GMT -5
Laura didn't know why she was relaxing just from someone being nice to her. her training and experiences told her that this was the perfect moment to be taken by surprise and have the drop gotten on her. But it was possible to ignore that impulse to assume the worst of people because she'd already seen him kill members of the only true threat for her. She knew he was not working for them anymore, and never could again. and it was allowing her to trust him.
But feel better she did, and when he promised to give her somewhere to go and an actual shot at working things out, Laura smiled warmly at him for the first time, her green eyes shining with the emotion this moment carried for her. "Thank you." Laura said quietly, not trusting herself to say much more without becoming overly emotional and distracting herself from the here and now.
When Artie reached out, Laura flinched on instinct, not out of fear of Artie, but conditioning telling her to expect something bad. without meaning to, the claws on her hands slid out as she braced herself for punishment that never came. Laura was shocked when all he did was stroke her hair, and try to make her feel better for no other reason then he could. Laura took a deep breath and withdrew her claws, not planning to mention it and hoping they could pretend that hadn't happened. Her Mother had done this on occasion, when reading to her in her cell. or guiding her to where The Men in White wanted her. That had comforted her too.
A child with no Mother or Father. Her father was a genetic template, not any kind of parental figure. Her Mother (iloveyouLauraratriggerscentredsnowpleasedonotleaveme) was gone too. "like me." Laura agreed, her tone flat, stating facts not recounting emotions. "Adoption seems like a good idea." she had noted his hesitation, and appreciated that once again he was making sure not to decide for her. but in the here and now, the state of mind Laura was in and her unfamiliarity with so much, she viewed the concept of adoption on how many of her problems it would solve rather then the long term decision it really was. it would keep her safer. it would help her hide. The idea that Artie would be her legal family if they went along with it did not occur to her at this time and would not have stopped her regardless.
The question of what to call him did give her pause just to consider Artie's feelings. "we shall decide on that later. For now getting to New York is all that matters."
the possibility Weapon X wasn't a problem was like telling Laura she should simply stop needing to breath oxygen because the whim had taken her. it wasn't just foolish it was impossible. "they WILL find me. Doctor Rice-" Laura cut herself off. Rice was dead. she had killed him. he was dead. he could never hurt her again. his body would be ash by now. "i killed them all." Laura said slowly, convincing herself more then informing Artie of anything. "everyone that worked on my program is dead. the information they have gathered burned. they will be slowed down considerably." for the first time since she'd escaped it sank in just how badly she'd hurt the organisation that had done this to her.
it felt good.
"Perhaps you are right. we may be able to kill anyone they send after us." Laura finally concluded, her tiny hand accepting the handshake with a type of seriousness that gave across she thought this was them agreeing on some great deal. "i will protect you too. I am not going to let them hurt anyone else around me."
when the craft swung wildly, Laura was already starting to brace herself when she was tackled by Artie, just in time to avoid one of the crates cracking into the box she'd just been sitting on. she could hear the engines noise being nothing like they had this entire flight. Under Artie's weight Laura growled in frustration. "Artie. Get off me. I will make things safer." she shouted her instructions, trying to be heard over the crashes as plans already started to form in her head to try and keep control of the situation.
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Post by Artie Cade on Feb 8, 2017 15:08:29 GMT -5
Artie nodded at Laura's request and quickly rolled off of her...which ended up being a bad plan as that freed him up to slide swiftly into the back hatch of the plane as it careened ever more down toward the snowy chasm below.
He steadied himself with his feet, dodging the shifting cargo as he kept his eye on Laura.
Had to keep her safe. Had to keep her safe.
That was his only thought.
He growled and held sone of the boxes near him in place to prevent further movement. It would be less than ideal if a shift occurred and one of the crates knocked out a window. Or the pilot.
If you could even call him a pilot. He clearly was an imbecile and Artie looked at the back of the panicking man's head with absolute hatred in his eyes. He didn't take to incompetence well.
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Feb 17, 2017 9:50:59 GMT -5
As soon as Laura was released, she sprang into action practically sprinting the short length of the plane towards the cockpit. Artie was willing to trust her that she knew what to do, and that knowledge spurred her on just as much as the threat of their possibility of dying.
She shoved her way next to the pilot, glaring at the seated mans wide eyes and shaking hands as he struggled to do something useful. "Move. I am taking over." Laura ordered, her tone warning him not to argue, which of cause he did regardless of how none existent time to waste was.
"KID GO BACK THERE! I GOT PRETTY MUCH NO CONTROL LEFT AND I DON'T NEED THE DISTRACTION OKAY?" The man shouted, clearly hysterical and having not heard a word she'd said out of fear. Laura sighed in frustration and punched him in the temple, causing him to collapse and slump back into his chair. She didn't know if she'd killed him and didn't bother wasting the time to find out, just grabbing him by the front of the shirt and dragging him out the seat. She dumped him onto the floor and seated herself, grabbing the controls with determination.
The man had been a fool, but he hadn't been a liar. Laura took five seconds to conclude that the plane was going down no matter what anyone did, it was no longer something a pilot was capable of fixing.... whatever it was that had gone wrong. Laura was not an engineer and didn't waste the time to try and guess. Laura did not own a plane. she did not fly often. and she knew all that. Yet this moron had been trying to keep it in the air all this time in spite of that. Laura glanced down at his body and scowled.
"Artie." Laura shouted over her shoulder without taking her eyes off the window in front of her, it was now a matter of trying to find a field. "If you can strap yourself to something. do so. we are going to crash." With that, Laura tuned out the entire world except herself, the controls, and the sprawling landscape. they would never make it back to the airfield they'd started from, and Laura wasn't certian the plane would survive trying to turn around right now. Trees. mountains. more trees. If she let it land anywhere near those they would all die in a fireball. A brand new light started flashing red to join every other warning things were getting close to a midair fireball before she got the luxury of worrying about trees and Laura clutched the stick harder as if that would help.....
THERE! Laura almost jumped out of her seat in surprise at the sight of a field coming up ahead. It wasn't as long as she wanted but it was better then nothing. Laura pulled the plane around and started to take her in. this wasn't going to be landing, it would be a glided crash with the hope of minimising damage. Laura flicked off the engines with a switch and the guttering cough of machinery told her they weren't going to be coming back on. the girl took a deep breath, fighting every second of the decent to keep the plane level as the earth got closer and closer. They were coming in too fast, this was never going to work.
The field was all that could be seen and Laura had just enough time to remember she'd forgotten to fasion the seats straps before they crashed in a roar of tearing metal, broken glass and the calamity of noise that was a plane crash.....
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Post by Artie Cade on Feb 17, 2017 19:18:05 GMT -5
There was a great roar of commotion as the plane had gone lower and lower, but Artie kept his eyes focused on Laura. He could make out her words. When she knocked out the pilot, he permitted himself a wide grin...which admittedly cracked parts of his scars that had heeled and caused it to bleed slightly but he didn't care. It was lovely.
He followed Laura's directive. There was really nothing to strap into on a carbo plane but...he looked around...caught a glimpse of the large trunk. He kicked it open and threw its random contents out before he dove inside and closed the lid...thank hell for being a rather compact guy, he thought.
He felt it slide to the back of the plane as it descended. Felt the ground hit.
Felt his mind float into darkness after he hit his head...
...then he felt...the cold wind.
His eyes fluttered open as he shot up, looking around at the snow and the wilderness surrounding the open area. The plane was in shambles and smoking. The back of the plane had been split open and its contents strewn about the landscape, but all in all the cockpit seemed....all right.....
Artie got up, hazy as his brain reoriented itself. He scrambled out of what could almost have been his coffin and moved over toward the plane again.
That was when he saw the body of the pilot. His head was snapped backward in a horrifying position. Very dead indeed.
Artie growled and rifled through the man's coat pocket, drawing out the pistol he had traded him before he moved back toward the plane, walking in through the back hatch...or where it used to be...and up to where Laura had been seated.
She was gone. There was blood.
He began to panic, but then quickly regained himself and followed her trajectory with his eyes. The windshield was blown out entirely. And sure enough, some distance away...was a small black form in the snow.
Artie climbed out through the windshield and slid down the nose of the plane, running swiftly over to the girl as he turned her over and breathed a sigh of relief. Alive.
"Kid...?" he asked as he moved her hair out of her face, "Hey, c'mon. You're in rough shape, gotta get you outta here..."
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Feb 20, 2017 16:40:27 GMT -5
Laura's thought right before she hit the glass had been "this will hurt." she didn't remember the shattering glass or hitting the ground, but when Artie turned her over Laura groaned in pain and congratulated herself on being right. Pain was something she was accustomed too but this was pretty bad even by her standards. when Artie brushed her hair back she let her eyes flitter open and smiled weakly that he was alive and had been unharmed enough to come over to find her.
"i have succeeded in saving you. Good." Laura noted, sitting up with another pained sound. she could feel a shard of glass stuck in her left leg, another in her side and she was pretty sure there was one in her back too. Laura went to go for the one in her leg first, thinking it would be the least awkward to reach and she wanted to take them one at a time. And nothing happened. With confusion Laura looked down and realised it was broken. She could tell this by the fact arms were meant to only have one bend in them at the elbow, and currently her arm was mangled and twisted in three directions.
Certainly it explained why that had been the most painful part.
with utmost calmness, Laura looked at Artie and said, "Could you pull the glass out of my back? I do not think my right hand can reach it like this. thank you." with that done, Laura reached over with her right hand and grasped the stub of glass jutting from her leg. she hissed in pain as she took a firm grip, ignoring how it only cut her hand up to grab the edges like that, and yanked hard. Half of it slid out but that meant there was still a couple inches of it inside her. Laura gritted her teeth and pulled once again, this time getting it free with a wet slick of blood and a small cry of pain.
"One." Laura said eventually, allowing herself a moment to feel proud of how easily she'd done it. she tossed the bloody glass shard away carelessly and started checking herself for any other injuries. "Are you well?" she spoke up, only now remembering to ask for a status assessment from Artie as well.
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Post by Artie Cade on Feb 26, 2017 18:11:43 GMT -5
Artie's face was stricken with panic. How was this even possible...? His mouth agape, he nodded and gingerly began to pull the shards of glass out of Laura's back, making noises of nervousness when blood trickled out of some of them.
"You....did save us, didn't you?" he said, assuming these were some of the last words they'd share, "You did so well, kid. I'm fine. I'm just sorry if this didn't all quite...go to plan."
He'd only just met the girl, really, so he didn't quite know what he felt for her but this seemed...all too sad. She was incredible. And she's going to die here after she just saved his sorry ass?
As he continued pulling the glass out, his face turned from shock to one of determination. He completed his task and grunted as he picked the girl up onto his back. It was somewhat difficult for him, not because the girl weighed much, but because he himself didn't either. It was a poor combination of things but she needed to be in a shelter of some sort, not just lying out here in the snow. Artie walked toward the broken hull of the plane, growling as he pushed through his own fatigue from all of this.
"You'll be all right," he growled, "We'll set your arm. Stop this bleeding. You're gonna make it, ya hear me?"
And he believed every word of that. Sure, it was usually his business to take lives away but in this instance he would flip that on its head. His task right now was to bring this girl with him back to New York. She wasn't going to die out here in the snow, not when they'd only just met in similar climates.
He was becoming dreadfully tired of this tundra.
Artie gingerly set Laura down on the floor of the plane and rolled up the sleeve of his coat that she wore. He moved over to one of the shattered crates and grabbed a pair of planks of similar length and one of the canvas sheets that had covered them. Liberally ripping off short lengths of the material, he fashioned a brace for Laura's arm. Once he had gingerly aligned it correctly....he looked Laura in the eyes as he prepared to tighten the makeshift brace on.
"Ready?" he asked, certain she was. She was a tough kid, but it seemed a formality.
He tightened the wood planks together on her arm, watching as it straightened out again.
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Mar 8, 2017 17:01:45 GMT -5
Ordinarily, Laura would have been quick to comfort Artie and explain in detail how powerful her ability to heal was. But her arm was hurting enough it did not occur to Laura that he believed her to be dying. "Thank you. It is not your fault though. The plane was worthless and the pilot unreliable. Blame the circumstances." She looked at him long enough to try and make sure he wasn't going to argue with that point, then continued trying to pull glass out of herself. she was leaving the largest one alone, the six inch wide one that was buried in her gut and probably tearing up her organs every time she took a breath. It was burning that way. but as soon as she did it would be all her healing factor would focus on as the priority and then her leg and arm would take even longer.
She let out a surprised noise when she was picked up, and put her slender arms around Arties neck to hold on tightly. Laura could not remember being carried before. logically, she must have been. she had been an infant once after all. but she could not place any memory when someone had carried her, until now if someone wanted her in a different place she was going to do it under her own power no matter what. she had been raised to always be able to carry out commands under her own power, that asking for help was an unacceptable weakness.
This was comforting in ways she had not expected. Laura rested her head against Arties shoulder blade as he walked. "I am going to be fine." Laura agreed, it still not quite sinking in he thought this was far more serious then she did. Laura listened to Artie breath, and the working of his heart and knew this was all taking a toll on him. At first she wanted to tell him to put her down out of concern. but when she thought about it, she would do the exact same thing if the rolls were reversed, and she understood the desire to help overpowering care for the self. Laura knew she'd be annoyed if Artie would not let her help and it made her feel warm inside that he was doing the same for her.
Laura winced when she was lowered to the ground and let Artie go about with what seemed to be competent medical aid. The brace was needed, she was going to heal far faster if her arm did not have to force itself back into more or less correct place. idly she wondered what would happen if she tried to pop her claws right now, but thought better of it. "I am." Laura said, bracing herself as the planks started to move.
"AH!" Laura hadn't meant to cry out, and had thought herself stronger then that, but she could feel shattered bone grinding against shattered bone and it felt like her arm was on fire in so many places. her uninjured arm flailed and her fingers scraped against the floor of the plane to try and find something to clutch. the pain didn't stop and Laura grabbed a handful of Arties shirt and held it in a death grip. "Hurts." she murmured weakly. Laura tasted blood and realised she'd bitten into her lower lip enough to draw blood. Laura pulled her lip into her mouth and sucked the blood off until she felt it heal, whereupon she opened her mouth again, her lip bloodless and back to normal.
"it may take ten minutes to heal back to my full health." Laura said slowly, still shaking off the pain all over her body. it would be far longer then that before she stopped aching but she was not going to waste too much time on herself. "can we stay here until then? I do not wish to walk while my arm is still broken. the cold air did not help."
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Post by Artie Cade on Mar 9, 2017 16:56:15 GMT -5
Artie nodded and drew his oposite pistol, cocking it in his hand as he twirled it upright.
"Of course, you stay right here," he confirmed as he rested his pistol-wielding hand against the crook of his opposite arm and keeping it aimed at the open plane hatch, "You rest."
He kept himself sharp, looking for any movement in the snow-covered trees and behind the wreckage of the plane.
Nothing.
All quiet, save for the trees rustling in the wind, occasionally loosing a clump of snow onto the ground from up above in the branches.
Until voices came.
Voices? Artie stiffened. Someone had seen the crash. Or heard it. The smoke had mostly dissipated into the air...he hadn't anticipated any sort of human company.
But then he spied the small, brown forms coming closer. They were...hunters, perhaps? He couldn't quite tell, but Artie maintained his position, both of them out of general sight. The sun was on their opposite side, so Artie's pistols wouldn't catch the light, but he could see the shine of one or two rifles slung across the backs of the approaching talking people.
"Whoa...!" one of them declared, looking at some of the plane wreckage, "This is good scrap."
"Lord knows we could resell it...." another agreed, "...any survivors?"
"Don't see any." said the first."
Ten minutes, Artie thought, She said she needed ten minutes.....I can give her that.
He maintained his position, unmoving, like a statue, keeping his dark eyes on the men as they rooted around.
The younger of them soon made his way to the back of the plane, looking inside.
"Hello!" he called out, chuckling as he assumed no one was there to hear him. He moved inside, his foot setting onto the broken hatch up into the cargo area.
His step received a warning shot, catching him through the foot. The man yelped in pain and staggered back into the snow.
Artie swiftly stood and made himself visible, drawing his second pistol and aiming them both at the men, one at the wounded younger one and another at the one with his shotgun ready.
"Gooooood afternoon, gentlemen..." Artie growled, moving down the hatch's walkway, "Hope you don't mind avoiding my property. Caught a bit of a bad wind, ya see."
He cocked the pistols expertly, the man with the shotgun aiming it at him.
"The hell you doin' shooting at my brother?" the man asked, the third man with the gun slung over his shoulder slowly starting to draw it.
"AH Ah ahhhh..." Artie tisked at the third man, "Won't be needing that or you'll walk away just dragging your two buddies here and with no legs to run on."
"....we should kill this asshole," growled the wounded younger man, "Looks half dead anyway."
Artie scowled at this and touched the gauze clinging to the scarred side of his face.
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