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thehoneyxbadger · 4 years

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gabby gets stabby pt. 4

Who: X23_GAB/Gabby Kinney, @rictorscales and @ladywolverines Where: Streets of New York When: 26th May 2020 What: Rictor tries to stop Gabby and is saved by Laura Kinney who knows exactly what to do to save her sister. Warnings: blood, violence, death, brainwashing

Part 4: Julio Richter/Rictor & Laura Kinney/Wolverine

GABBY: The scent lingered around her, even as she moved on through the crowd. The civilian population was quickly thinning as they were either whisked to safety, or they simply ran. But one person wasn't running from her. Gabby practically snarled as she attacked again, bloody claws raised to attack Rictor. To kill. That scent was still too strong for her to stop, clouding her brain.

JULIO: People were running. They were terrified, feet hitting the ground hard enough to make it vibrate just a little, just enough for Ric to pick up on it. If he were smart, he’d follow them… but he saw what they were running from. It took him a moment to recognize her. Her stance was all wrong, defensive and tense instead of open and relaxed the way it normally was. It was Gabby… but something was wrong. Something was off. He remembered what Laura told him, about Gabby’s sudden ‘transfer’ to some undisclosed prison no one would name. All of that, plus the way Gabby looked now? It added up to something seriously sketchy. And Rictor wanted to know what.

He’d have to find it out while also trying not to die, it seemed, because Gabby was coming at him all at once, claws out and not holding back. “Gab --- Gabs, what the hell?” Rictor threw out a hand, shaking the ground beneath her feet, but he didn’t want to go too hard. He didn’t want to hurt her. “It’s me, Gabby, it’s Ric! Just --- Chill out for a minute!”

GABBY: He stared at her like her knew her, but so had the others. She didn't even notice. She wouldn't remember any of this, any cognitive part of her turned off in favour of this instinct they'd buried in her brain. Carved it into her where she couldn't get rid of it, like they'd done to her sister before her.

When the ground shook beneath her, she had to pause, lest she be knocked off her feet. But in response to Ric's pleas for her to chill out and recognise him, she couldn't do anything. If she could have, Gabby would stop. She didn't want any of this. But she had no choice. She lunged at him again, jumping so the shaking ground didn't stop her.

JULIO: She didn’t stop. Rictor shook the ground beneath her feet and Gabby didn’t stop. She was moving like an animal, singular focus in mind, and he could stop her. He could quake her heart, her lungs, her kidneys, and she’d heal, but Rictor was frozen. With anyone else, he wouldn’t have hesitated, but this --- this was Gabby. This was Laura’s kid sister, Rictor’s kid sister. And if he hurt her she would heal, she would be okay, but he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to forgive himself for those moments that came before the healing. So Rictor froze, and Gabby didn’t. Rictor stood still, and Gabby kept coming.

She launched herself at him, and Rictor barely managed to take a step back in time to avoid being run through with her claws. She was close enough now for him to search her eyes, and they were empty. “Gabby,” he choked out, taking another step back, ”please. I don’t want to fight you.”

GABBY: That Rictor was like her brother meant nothing. She would've killed her own sister without hesitating like this. Rictor's hesitation only made it easier for her to attack him and she gave him no leeway in return. She kicked out, hard, to knock him down and make him easier to attack. His words washed over her with no recognition but the snarl she gave in return. He might not want to fight her, but he was going to have to if he didn't want her to kill him.

JULIO: The pain that reverberated through his chest as her kick knocked him to the ground was hardly noticeable, drowned out by confusion and desperation as he struggled to understand. Gabby was attacking him. Her eyes were empty. She was not herself. And Rictor’s options were growing more and more limited by the second. He wasn’t proud of that split second he spent considering the concept of just letting it happen, wasn’t proud of the fact that, when he did decide against it, it wasn’t for his own sake. If Gabby came back to herself with his blood on her hands, she’d never forgive herself and he knew that. So he threw out a hand, aiming a small vibration at her chest to knock her off him. He was still holding back, still unwilling to hurt her, but he wouldn’t let her kill him, either. He wouldn’t let her carry that weight.

GABBY: She raised her arm to strike, to drive her claw deep into Rictor's body and end their fight. Just as she was about to, vibration hit her, knocking her back and off his chest. She rolled as she hit the ground, ignoring the scrapes that began to heal as soon as they appeared, getting back to her feet. The vibration, even with no pain, felt strange. Any other time, it would prompt Gabby to ask Ric to do it again, so she could experience it properly. She'd think it was fun. Instead, she lunged at him again, aiming her claws to stab him.

JULIO: The quake barely slowed her down and, once again, Rictor considered his options. How long would she remain incapacitated if he quaked her heart in her chest, if he started a vibration inside her head hard enough to knock any normal person unconscious? How long would it take him to forgive himself after the fact? He didn’t have long to consider before she was launching herself at him again, and he couldn’t bring himself to try either option. It was Gabby, it was Gabby, no matter how cold her eyes were. It was Gabby, who brought her pet wolverine to parties and laughed at his jokes. It was Gabby, who was launching herself in his direction with her claws out. Rictor dodged, taking a step back, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. Her claws sunk into his lower abdomen, just above his hip, and Rictor cried out, throwing one hand out to knock her back with another quake while the other hand went to the wound, arm wrapping around his abdomen loosely. He was going to die here, he realized. Gabby wasn’t going to stop unless he stopped her, and he couldn’t do that without going all in. He was going to die or he was going to hurt her, and he couldn’t decide which of those options was worse.

LAURA: There was only one thing that drove Laura to act the way that Gabby had been acting, one thing that made Laura that disconnected. And that was the trigger scent. It had to be that. And the first thing that came to Laura’s mind, was that small town she had massacred when they dumped the toxin on her from the air. (Where would they send Gabby? And would they let her go about her normal life and drop more of the scent on her later? How many of their loved ones would be in danger?)

But the chaos of running people and a newscast showing a video captured, no, a live stream from a phone... it was Ric and Laura. She immediately recognized the area and started running towards their location. When she saw the two of them come into view, she quickly glanced at the open wound on Ric and set her jaw. He needed medical attention. Now. Laura moved quickly and definitively, coming up behind Gabby and putting her arms just under Gabby’s armpits and then bringing her arms up in an attempt to pull Gabby away from Ric. “Water,” she said simply and as calmly as she could, eyes darting towards Ric. “Get water.”

GABBY: She almost had him. Her claws almost sinking into the target before her, and she'd turn on someone else. But before she could, strong hands grabbed her. Pulled her back. She twisted and turned harshly, not caring for her wellbeing, nor that of whoever was holding her. Whereas before, when she'd come face to face with Laura, Gabby had managed to fight the influence on her mind long enough to know what was happening, the trigger scent left no room for that now. All Laura was to her was another target.

She ripped herself from Laura's hold and turned to her, ready to strike again.

JULIO: Adrenaline coursed through his veins, but even with its assistance, Rictor’s wound throbbed. His arm wrapped loosely around his side and, already, the blood was soaking through his shirt. This didn’t seem to deter Gabby, of course. She came at him again, claws out and ready, and Rictor swallowed as he prepared for them to sink in… but the second blow never came. Instead, someone was there, dragging Gabby away from him with no regard for their own safety. His eyes darted up to meet hers, and it took a moment for his mind to catch up to the situation. Laura.

For a heartbeat, he wondered if he’d imagined her. Rictor had experienced shock before, had been a superhero long enough to have experienced injuries intense enough to bring about confusion and anxiety so intense it invented new situations in your head. But then Laura spoke, the words clipped and confusing, and Ric’s brow furrowed. The command wasn’t one he understood, but it was Laura giving it, and that was enough. Glancing around briefly, his eyes landed on a fire hydrant on the other side of the street, and he threw his hand out to hit it with a quake. The vibration was sloppier than what he might have done without the injury to his abdomen, and it carried none of his usual flair, but it got the job done. The hydrant burst open, and the street and any bystanders who hadn’t yet made a break for it --- including Gabby, Laura, and Rictor himself --- were all soaked in a matter of seconds.

Rictor, for his part, wobbled when the quake subsided, legs trembling with exertion. “Hey,” he said hoarsely, “if somebody’s gonna kill me, can we just --- Can we get it over with? ‘Cause I’m about to…” He trailed off, less sitting and more collapsing onto the sidewalk. “Yeah. That.”

LAURA: Her eyes quickly moved away from Ric, as much as she worried about how much blood he had lost and his wounds, she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted. (Distractions got you killed.) And if all went according to her first plan, then she’d be at Ric’s side to help him in a matter of moments. But that relied on things going smoothly, and would they? Laura didn’t give it much thought beyond that. Gabby was turning towards her and Laura didn’t have time to get distracted. She had to keep moving, and Laura had always done her best thinking in the moment.

Gabby managed to tear herself out of Laura’s grip and Laura took two steps back, her fists clenched at her side, but her claws still hidden. The point of this was to pull Gabby back from this, not kill her to stop her. But there was a cold though that drifted through there... Could Laura kill Gabby if she needed to? (There was no question about Logan, if he needed to be taken out, Laura wouldn’t hesitate. But Gabby... Gabby was different.)

Laura felt the vibrations in her bones but she stayed steady and made no comment. Ric was injured, it made sense that he couldn’t focus his powers the way he normally might. “You did good, Ric.” The water started coming down and Laura let out a small breath of air and then moved without hesitation, her hand reaching out to grab Gabby’s wrist and using the momentum to sweep her leg and force Gabby to the ground. But that was Plan A.

GABBY: She stalked towards Laura, not for a second wondering nor caring why the other didn't have her claws out. Only made it easier for her if her target didn't fight back. She didn't pay attention to the other one--wounded already, he would be easy to finish off--as the trigger scent made her hyperfocus on Laura.

She felt the vibrations shaking everything around her, but she didn't retreat. It's only as she's about to strike that she feels water wash over her, drenching her and washing away that scent that had permeated her clothing, her skin, and everyone around them. Gabby blinked as she came crashing back to reality.

Conflicting memories in her head paralysed her long enough that she didn't resist as Laura swept her to the ground. Even as she was pinned, Gabby could only stare, as her brain tried to tell her that this was both Laura, her sister, and X-23, an escaped weapon.

JULIO: You did good, Ric. Rictor closed his eyes with a quiet hum, nodding his head. The sounds of the fight were more distant now, water soaking his shirt. (Or was that the blood? Ric couldn’t be bothered to open his eyes to check.) Eventually, there was a thud as something hit the ground, and then there was quiet. Ric kept his eyes closed for another beat, waiting to see if he felt the vibrations of Gabby making her way towards him to finish the job, but there was nothing. Cautiously, Rictor opened his eyes.

Gabby and Laura were tangled together on the ground, Laura pinning their sister down. The cold expression on Gabby’s face was gone now, replaced with a confusion that was far closer to the person Rictor was familiar with. Ric let out a quiet sigh, wincing as the action jostled the wound in his stomach. Unsteady and trembling, he got to his feet and just barely managed to stay there, taking a stumbling step forward as he struggled to keep his balance. “Are we good?” His voice was hoarse enough to make him pull a face at the sound. If that was what he sounded like, he could only assume he looked like absolute shit. “Family reunion over? Hey, next time, guys, let’s just do a picnic. I’ll make food, we can not stab each other. How’s that sound?” He let the question hang for a moment, eyes slipping closed as he almost fell again. He caught himself at the last moment, shaking his head. “Gabby, you good? Laura?”

LAURA: There was a moment, clear as day on Gabby’s face when she realized what was happening. But Laura didn’t let up the pressure on her sister’s shoulders. She needed to be sure before she let Gabby up again that the scent was gone, and that her sister was in her right mind again. Or at the very least, in control. Laura knew it would take more than a splash of cold water to fix what had been done. With any luck, maybe her sister would forget about killing her.

“That’s yet to be determined,” Laura said carefully, watching the expression on Gabby’s face. They’d all live, it seemed, but were they good? She couldn’t say. Ric was full of jokes, as he usually was, even when he was suffering from blood loss. But Laura... she couldn’t pretend to be normal. Not right now at least. She glanced in his direction, looking at the pooling of blood, worrying that his time would be upon them soon if she didn’t start to put pressure on it. “You need to stop holding yourself up. You’re wasting your energy. Flat on the ground, keep talking.” It sounded harsher than she intended, but she meant to keep Ric talking so she knew he was conscious. Laura’s attention snapped back to Gabby. “Who am I?” She asked. The one question that had a right answer. A clear one. If Gabby was still under, she’d be X-23, and if Gabby was Gabby... they’d know immediately.

GABBY: Gabby didn't pay Ric any attention, not even looking at him when he asked if she was 'good'. Her focus stayed on X-23--Laura--pinning her down. She didn't know how she got here, or what had happened. The last thing she remembered was running away from Laura--X-23--after stabbing her. And both names conflicted in her head. Clashed with what she thought she knew.

Who am I?

She hesitated.

"...Laura."

She wanted it to be true. She wanted those memories not to be some falsehood she'd made up. But, she feared that this might still all be a trick. Like whatever had happened the other day, when Laura had appeared in her cell. A test? A trial? Any second, this could all disappear again. Only, it felt real. It sounded real. It smelt real. She could smell so much blood--on Ric, on the street, on her. What had she done?

JULIO: This moment was not for him. Not really, not entirely. Rictor had done his part, had doused them all with water from the hydrant that was still spewing, but what happened next? It was between Laura and Gabby. Ric had seen some shit in his day. He’d been tortured to compliance, been poked and prodded and shocked until he’d have done anything, anything just to make the pain stop. But this? This was out of his wheelhouse. That look in Gabby’s eyes when she’d come at him, the way she’d been willing to kill people she loved just to feel the blood soak her shoes… That was nothing he’d ever felt before. He suspected Laura couldn’t say the same, suspected there was a reason for the intensity behind her gaze, the way she held Gabby to the ground. Laura knew what was going through Gabby’s mind now. Rictor didn’t.

If he could have, he might have walked away. They were a family, the three of them, but Gabby and Laura were the only two who shared the DNA to prove it. It was difficult not to feel self-conscious about that, hard not to wonder if they might have thought of him as less than what they thought of each other, and if he’d had the strength to run in that moment, he wasn’t sure he would have stayed. But there was blood dripping from his gut to the wet concrete at his feet and his limbs were heavy with exhaustion and the world was getting a little dark around the edges, so he stayed. He lowered himself to the ground, propped his back up against the wall because he was incapable of following instructions properly even when Laura was the one giving them, flipped her off even though she wasn’t looking anywhere near him. “I want you to know,” he said, letting his head drop back against the bricks, “I’m sitting down because I feel like it. Not because you told me to.” It was a weak joke, but he didn’t have anything stronger. He barely even had breath in his lungs while he waited for Gabby to answer, waited to hear whether this thing was over or not.

Finally, finally his younger sister’s voice broke through the silence, a single word that had his shoulders slumping with relief and his lungs exhaling a quiet sigh. Laura. The name had never sounded so sweet before. “Yay,” he said flatly, lifting his fingers in a lazy attempt at jazz hands. The ground shifted, and he figured it might be a good idea to keep his hands still when his mind was still in fight-or-flight mode. Accidental earthquakes wouldn’t help anyone here. “Anybody want a drink? Laura’s buying.”

LAURA: Ric spoke and Laura should have expected it by now — he had done it a few times in the last few minutes already, joking and talking back despite being deeply wounded. Laura shot him a look, a subtle frown curving her lips. But, he was doing what she had asked of him. He was getting back on the ground and he was talking. So, even though she didn’t have her hand on his wound yet, she knew that he was alive, he was breathing — he was aware. And all of those things pushed forwards to a future where the three of them would make it out of this chaos alive.

There was a moment that was too long for Laura’s own comfort, where she thought that Gabby wouldn’t say her name. That she’d call her by what they had called her before, and the thought of hearing that letter and number fall from Gabby’s lips was... It hurt. Even if Gabby didn’t say it, Laura imagined it and that was enough. But those feelings, that fear that lurked in the shadows of her heart, it didn’t reach her face or her eyes. She felt the hesitation, the stillness in the air while she looked into her sister’s eyes.

What would her sister say? What name would she call her? Or was her sister so far gone that she’d only know Laura as a thing now?

Her name slipped out and Larua felt a rush of air escape her lungs as she moved her hand behind Gabby’s neck and brought Gabby’s head up to her chest, holding her in a brief hug before rolling off of her and quickly moving towards Ric. Gabby, Laura knew, would need more than a splash of water to recover from this. But Gabby was at least aware of herself. (Laura was being pulled into too many directions to be focused. To be the scalpel that she had been described as before. Her heart was beating too fast and there was, just below the surface of her calm, fear for the life of her brother and of the lasting damage to Gabby once she realized what had happened.)

“I need your hands, Gabby.” Laura was forcing Ric onto his back so that she could place even pressure on his open wound. “We need to call — ” someone. Laura wasn’t sure who. Jean was likely not equipped to deal with a wound of this magnitude where she was staying... but he needed this stitched up quickly. “The hospital might be our only choice,” Laura murmured allowed before meeting Ric’s gaze. “And I’m not buying any alcohol. I don’t have any money.”

GABBY: Gabby felt the relief in Laura, and it seemed to seep into her too. Her muscles stopped being quite so tense, and she could breathe again. It felt like this wasn't so much of a trick. She didn't have time to hug Laura back before she was rolling off her, leaving Gabby free.

I need your hands, Gabby. Gabby sat up, and for the first time since regaining herself, saw what she'd done. There was blood everywhere. People lay on the ground, injured, dead and dying. The same blood coated her shoes, her clothes, her hands. Her claws were still out, and Gabby noticed with a start that they were metal.

Now wasn't the time to think about it. Later. When Ric wasn't dying from wounds she'd inflicted. She came to Laura's side, pressing her hands where needed and saying nothing, nor meeting Ric's eyes. Her gaze stayed firmly on her hands. She felt like she was waiting for someone to try to arrest her (hadn't they arrested her for just using her powers already?) or worse.

JULIO: Blood loss and the sudden draining of the adrenaline that had been keeping him going during the altercation made the world fuzzy, left Rictor in the floaty in-between space that existed just on the edges of consciousness. Laura was on top of Gabby, and then he blinked and she was hovering over him instead, looking down with concern in her eyes. He opened his mouth to comment, to ask when teleportation had been added to her stack of mutant abilities, but then the world was shifting and the only noise that escaped his lips was a faint cry of protest as he was laid onto his back. He didn’t have time to process the new position before hands were applying pressure to his wound, making the world narrow to the tiniest window of agony.

He might have lost consciousness for a moment, but the next word he heard was hospital and he shook his head too quickly for comfort, nostrils flaring at the sudden influx of pain. “Hospital’s a no-go,” he said quickly. “They’ll want to do a police report. You know, the kind where they bring in cops who might remember the fact that we’re probably all wanted for some reason or another?” And the kind where they’d ask who stabbed him, though Rictor didn’t say that part aloud. They probably weren’t quite to the ‘casual discussion’ phase of being stabbed by your brainwashed little sister quite yet. “You could borrow money,” he added sullenly. “For beers.”

He let his eyes slip over to Gabby, who’d come over at some point when the world was still dark. She hadn’t said anything, and concern gnawed at the parts of his gut not currently trying to escape through the stab wound she’d left him with. “Hey,” he said quietly, shifting painfully so he could put his hand on top of hers. “I’ve had worse, you know? We’re good, Gabs. Promise.” Glancing back to Laura, he raised a brow to indicate his concern to her, though he suspected it was unnecessary. She looked like she felt much of the same. “We can’t go to a hospital, but we can’t stay here. Let’s go to XFI. One of those assholes will know what to do. We’re always getting stabbed. Comes with being a dick.”

#c:ric #c:laura #gabby gets stabby #blood tw #violence tw #death tw #brainwashing tw

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