The lights flicker. Old security alarms still echo faintly in the background, glitching into silence.
Logan moves cautiously through the wreckage, sniffing the air.
Something familiar.
Then — click... click... click...
The sound of light footsteps.
He turns just in time to see her step from the shadows.
She was X-23. No hesitation. No emotion. Clad in Hydra black, her twin adamantium claws gleam like fangs.
X-23 murmured to himself. "Target located."
"So, it's you." Logan said, seeing her.
"Yes, it's me, your death."
She charges.
WHSSH!
The first swipe misses his face by inches. He ducks, sidesteps, and blocks with his forearms. Clang! Her claws rake his flesh, but he doesn't retaliate.
X-23 shouted at him. "Why aren't you fighting back?"
Logan calmly replied, "Because I know who you are — even if they tried to erase it."
She flips, kicks off the wall, and slashes again. Logan grits his teeth, taking the hit across his shoulder, blood spraying the wall.
He grabs her wrist mid-strike, but gently — not to hurt. She twists away violently, launching another flurry.
X-23, angrily shouted at him, "You're the reason I exist! And you are my mission."
Logan denied her, "You are not some tool kid."
Another strike — blocked. A spin kick to his chest sends him skidding across the floor. He coughs but doesn't get up to fight — just kneels, hands open.
He again said, "You're not their tool, Laura. You're my blood. And you deserve better than this."
She freezes.
Just for a second.
Something cracks in her armor. Her breathing changes — more human. Less controlled.
X-23 said in a shaking tone, "But… I was made to kill you. The twenty-third in line. That's why… They all called me X-23."
Logan appeared behind her, like a father figure, "That's not a name. That's a label. A number."
She flinches, as if the truth hurts more than his claws ever could.
"You're not a number. Not a weapon. Not their experiment. You're not X-23. You're Laura."
She looks up at him. Her eyes are glassy. Her lips part, uncertain.
"Laura...?"
Logan nodded, "Yeah. From now your name is Laura. Your real name."
She clenches her fists. Her claws retract with a soft snikt, her arms slowly falling to her sides.
"X-23 — no, Laura."
"I don't… I don't know how to be anyone else."
"You don't have to be anyone else. Just be you. For the first time. No mission. No orders. Just... breathe."
She collapses to her knees.
Not out of weakness, but release — of everything she's been forced to hold in.
Logan kneels beside her. He doesn't touch her. Just stay there. Silent. Present.
"They took everything from you, kid. But they couldn't take your soul. You still got that. And I'll help you find it — if you let me."
"Laura…" She repeats it like she's testing it — as if tasting freedom for the first time.
"That's me?"
Logan smiled and nodded. "Yeah. That's you."
And for the first time, Laura doesn't look like a weapon. She looks like a lost child — finally found.
The two sit in the darkness.
Laura is still kneeling, her claws retracted, trembling from everything — the memories, the pain, Logan's words echoing in her ears.
Then—
FOOTSTEPS.
Boots. Several. The X-Men arrive — Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Ray, and Iceman. They pause at the end of the corridor, weapons lowered but ready.
Scott asked, "Logan, is she—?"
Logan without turning, raised his hand, "Hold it. Don't move. Don't speak."
They freeze.
Laura's shoulders twitch, sensing more threats. Her fingers twitch. Her breathing quickens.
"Laura. Look at me".
She doesn't.
"They're not here to hurt you. They're just… worried. Like I was."
She finally looks — at the X-Men, at their cautious eyes. She expects fear. Hatred. But see... patience.
Storm gives a tiny nod. Jean lowers her power-charged hands. Iceman actually looks a little sad.
The tension in Laura's face begins to melt.
She rises slowly, still fragile, but something about her stance is changing — less cornered animal, more human child.
But just as a moment of peace begins to settle—
BOOM!
The front wall of the facility blows open. Tactical vehicles pour in. Lights blaze.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has arrived.
Nick Fury, flanked by armed agents, steps forward, grim and direct.
"Stand down, Logan. We need the asset. X-23 is coming with us."
Laura's claws flick out again. Her breathing becomes panicked. The fear returns like a flood.
Logan became angry hearing it, stepping in front of her.
"She's not an asset. She's not X-23."
Fury didn't back down, "She's a product of illegal experimentation. Unstable. Dangerous. We can contain her. Treat her."
Logan mocked him, "Contain? You mean cage. Like Hydra did. You want to study her. Control her. Use her."
Fury again shouted, "She's a threat, Logan!"
"She's a child. A girl who was never given a chance. And she just started to breathe. I won't let you take that away."
Fury takes a step forward. Laura panics, claws still out, backing away toward the shadows. The X-Men are frozen in place, torn.
Logan gritting his teeth, turns to Laura, and subtly nods at her, "Run, kid."
Laura hesitates — looks at him one last time.
Then, she bolts.
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents raise their weapons.
Logan roars and slashes down a support beam, collapsing debris between Laura and the S.H.I.E.L.D. squad. Dust fills the corridor.
Nick Fury shouted through the smoke, "Logan! Dammit! You let her go!"
Logan emerged from the dust, he was little bloodied, he growled towards them.
"No. I set her free."
Fury storms forward, "We could've helped her."
"She doesn't need more men with guns and chains. She needs time. A home. Peace."
"This isn't over."
Logan mocked them, "It never is."
Fury looks past him, toward the corridor where Laura vanished.
He exhales slowly, then signals his men to pull back.
"Stand down. We'll find her another day."
S.H.I.E.L.D. withdraws. The facility falls into silence.
The X-Men regroup. Logan leans against the wall, breathing heavily, clutching his side. Jean steps beside him.
"You gave her something no one else did."
Logan looked out at the rain beyond the hole in the wall, "She deserved it."
Scott asked, "What now?"
"We wait. She'll come back... when she's ready."
And somewhere out there, in the night, Laura runs — not from who she is, but toward who she might become.
---
While Rogue updated everything to Ben, about Laura. She was a little happy, because Ben had woken up.
Mostly she cared for him most of the time, while complaining about herself, she is the reason for his condition. And for that reason her mood was becoming unstable sometimes.
"It's okay babe, I just need to reach Wanda's house, and I will completely recover." Ben told her.
"Okay," Rogue nodded.
—
It's nighttime, while everybody should be asleep in the Institute. It turns out, someone's roaming around the corridors.
This person enters the professor's room, and moments later; a slight moan can be heard.
Next, the person goes to see Jean asleep. Jean isn't aware there's somebody entering her room and another moan is heard from her room.
Kitty is awoken by another moan, coming from Scott's room. She jumps out of her bed, but as she goes towards her door, somebody opens it.
She hides behind the door, and phases through the wall. It freaks her out, but the next moment, she's down.
Rogue has followed her and has absorbed her powers.
—
Next morning, Kitty's awoken by her alarm clock. She's reluctant to wake up, suffering from a headache. It isn't until she looks at her clock; she notices she's overslept.
Moments later, she phases into Kurt's room. He too is reluctant to wake up, until Kitty phases him right through his blankets and tells him they're gonna be late for school. Kurt teleports them both down.
Rogue's in the bathroom, not feeling too well. "What's a bizarre dream, I think I need some therapy," Rogue murmured, she thinks she's just had a bad dream.
Downstairs, the other kids are preparing breakfast, with or without using their powers.
Kurt was putting plates on, Rogue enters the room but doesn't feel like having breakfast.
Not much later, we see the kids outside High School, running to be in time for their lessons.
Rogue, however, suddenly hesitates and stops. She turns around and steps into a black limo that has just pulled over.
As Jean and Ben are walking to their classes, they're talking about the fact it's their last day at Bayville High.
But Principal Kelly comes and warns them to not be present at the Graduation Ceremony, he wants the Ceremony as mutant free.
"Don't try to put your ideas on me, I am not like other ones, who can calmly hear you," Ben said and gave him a smack.
Jean quickly tried to control him, and took him from there. She knows how to calm Ben, so she is able to do it.
Meanwhile, in the home of Wanda. Rogue gets to the front door then rings the doorbell.
As Wanda goes to open it, "Who rings the bell, there is not anyone," she's confused and looks around but sees nobody.
Going back indoors, Wanda's suddenly lifted into the air and sees Rogue floating above her. Wanda gets touched, and she is knocked out.
Rogue then gets to the Brotherhood's house and rings the doorbell. Lance's having some breakfast too, he goes to open the room, but he is also knocked out.
Fred goes to get his lunch, till he notices Lance lying on the floor. He's surprised, but the next moment, Rogue got him too.
In the living room, when Toad gets the bowl out of his face, he sees Rogue and manages to dodge her assault.
But Rogue ports right in front of Toad.
"I hate this part!" Toad murmured before being knocked out.
Pietro, meanwhile, gets downstairs and finds the others unconscious. He suddenly notices Rogue there.
"What's going on?" He asked, but she only opened her eyes and looked at him with two glowing red eyes.
Pietro tries to run away, but Rogue pulls him back with telekinesis. Moments later Rogue leaves the house. Mystique's waiting for her.