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Dante couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped at Laura's utterly bewildered expression.
"I'm trafficking you to Symkaria," he said, closely watching her reaction. "You'll live the rest of your life there."
The word "trafficking" made her eyes go wide. For a split second, her entire body went rigid, her fight protocols nearly activating beneath the surface.
Thankfully, she recovered.
"What will you gain from doing that?"
Laura had spent most of her life thinking everything had a price tag. Nobody did anything without extracting value.
"Well, what will you gain from going back?" Dante countered, tilting his head. "You'll only be sent to kill more of your kind."
"What are you talking about?" Her frown deepened. "I'm not a mutant. I'm an enhanced human."
Dante blinked, completely off-guard by her answer.
"You seriously believe that?" The disbelief in his voice was genuine "Laura, you can't actually—"
"I don't look like a seven-foot steel giant," she interrupted him, and with a familiar SNIKT, her adamantium claws slid out from between her knuckles. "Scientists enhanced my body and planted these claws in me. I'm a normal human besides the experiments."
"Oh, you poor child."
The words slipped out unconsciously, carrying far more pity than he had intended to show.
He shook his head slowly. "Does Sarah Kinney ring any bells?"
Laura's hand flew to her chest, pressing hard against her sternum like she was trying to physically hold something inside.
"Sarah…?"
Emma had destroyed all the psychic barriers in Laura's mind, which also should have awakened any suppressed memories. The Telepath who messed with Laura's brain had completely erased every memory related to Sarah.
The name clearly meant something to her on a level deeper than conscious memory. Otherwise, her breathing wouldn't become shorter, shallower, almost like she was having a panic attack.
"For starters, Sarah is your mother."
Laura's eyes shook before her body began trembling. Her expression went completely flat. Her eyes weren't calm; they were empty as if someone had flipped a switch and turned off her personality entirely. He had seen that look before. She was seconds away from reverting entirely to combat conditioning and going absolutely berserk.
However, before that happened, Dante reached out and grabbed her shoulders firmly.
'I can help her.'
Elixir's Resonance Link connected, and Biokinesis activated. Laura's entire physiology opened up to his senses. He could see the intricate workings of her brain, those billions of neurons firing in patterns. He also saw the electromagnetic pulses creating thought, memory, and identity—what actually defined a person.
There were also neural pathways that shouldn't be there naturally.
'They must be the trigger protocols.'
She was designed to act a certain way from specific stimuli, such as scent triggers, command phrases, pain, and emotional reactions.
They had taken a child's developing brain and carved away everything that made her human and replaced it with conditional responses like they were training an animal.
It was fucking evil.
He forced himself to focus. First of all, he made her unable to act, making her look like she was frozen in time. Only then did he carefully work on the protocols buried deep in her brain.
He carefully broke down the artificial pathways, the ones that forced her to kill whenever she smelled certain scents. It was delicate work since any hard push might damage her brain permanently and any gentle push wouldn't change anything.
A droplet of sweat rolled down his forehead as he pushed his enhanced mind to its processing limit. The mix of both Sue Storm and Elixir's knowledge had completely assimilated at this point.
He had also looked up some articles online to confirm everything before coming here.
Slowly, he felt the connections weaken and snap apart.
Next, he targeted the command phrases—the specific words that overrode her free will and made her obey without question. Finally, he worked on the pain responses they had rewired. Instead of pain meaning protect yourself, they had conditioned her brain to respond with 'go berserk and kill everything.' He restored the natural pathways, letting her mind remember what pain was actually supposed to mean.
Dante pulled back and wiped the sweat covering his forehead.
'I hope I didn't turn her into a vegetable.'
With a nervous touch, he restored her ability to function.
Laura blinked several times, like someone waking up from anesthesia. She looked at her hands, around the room, and then at him.
"Did something happen?"
He shook his head. "We were talking about your parents. Logan and Sarah."
"Hill said I didn't have parents," she whispered. "I was created in a lab."
Without the Weapon X behavioral protocols constantly whispering in the back of her mind, without the conditioned responses overriding everything, she just looked... lost.
"But this feeling I get…" She pressed both hands against her chest, right over her heart. "Why does it hurt so much when I can't even remember Sarah?"
The memories were erased, but the grief, love, and the sense of loss were still there. The only person who showed care for her in the Weapon X facility had left such a deep emotional impression in her heart.
Uncovering the truth about Sarah's disappearance was perhaps the only option strong enough to break Laura away from SHIELD.
"Your father is still moping around in the other room," Dante said, looking to the right. Logan was almost certainly growling at Emma to let him meet Laura. "You know he attacked a SHIELD facility alone to see you."
Laura's eyes widened in surprise. "Doesn't he know how strong the Nimrod machines are against mutants? Is he stupid?"
It was Dante's turn to be surprised.
'That's the real threat for mutants.'
He was kind of confused to hear X-23 being SHIELD's secret weapon stopping mutants from acting. Nick Fury having multiple Nimrod in his arsenal would definitely stop mutants from acting unruly. Only Omega-level mutants like Magneto and Storm stood a chance to fight Nimrod's ability to adapt to mutant powers.
Fortunately, Dante could just stop Nimrod's existence with Death's powers. He was steadily growing stronger to make the link last longer.
Laura stared at him. "I asked you something."
He couldn't help but smile. She was clearly angry at Logan, but at the same time, she was curious to know more about her supposed biological father.
"Because you're his daughter," he said. "He was caught and brainwashed to act as an attack dog for the Hand. And even after all of that, he still wants to see you."
She lowered her gaze, staring at her hands. Her claws had retracted at some point during the conversation without her noticing.
When she looked back up, there was a fierce look on her face.
"He should've done that when they were training me to kill," she growled. "Why show up now, when I have a stable life?"
The real wound showed itself.
This was exactly why Dante hadn't let Logan meet her yet. Laura had spent far more of her life as a weapon than she ever had with any kind of family. She needed to remember Sarah's warmth before meeting Logan.
"Is it stable, Laura? Do they love you there?" Dante asked bluntly. "Does Agent Hill tuck you in at night and tell you you're more than a killing machine?"
Laura fell silent for several long seconds. Finally, she shook her head. "They gave me food, clothes, and a place to live… and I don't feel pain."
"Basic survival needs and the absence of pain don't make a stable life, Laura. Even caged birds get more than that." He stretched his hand, offering rather than demanding. He gave her a choice. "Leave SHIELD and come with me. I'll give you everything without having to kill. I'll give you a normal life and… a family who cares about you as Laura."
He paused, making sure she was really listening.
"This is what Sarah would've wanted for you."
Using Sarah's name wasn't fair, but her mother would certainly not mind if it was to help Laura. Sarah's name wouldn't get such a response if she didn't care deeply for Laura.
Laura didn't immediately slap his hand away or trigger her claws in defensive aggression, which meant she was genuinely hesitating. She should've already noticed how her life in SHIELD wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.
"Don't you want to learn what actually happened to your mother Sarah?" Dante pressed her more, seeing the opening. "Don't you wanna know how you magically forgot the woman who gave birth to you?"
He slowly closed his fist.
"Or do you want Sarah to be forgotten like she didn't matter?"
"NO!" The roar came from deep in her soul. She lunged forward and grabbed his closed his fist. Her eyes had gone shiny with unshed tears. "I want to know… I want to learn more about Sarah."
She was almost crying as she spoke, "I want to know what they took from me. Please…"
The "please" at the end nearly broke his heart. This was probably the first time this girl had asked for anything instead of just obeying orders. And it was to learn more about her most likely dead mother.
"We'll contact Natasha Romanoff," he said gently, turning his fist over so he could actually hold Laura's hands properly. It would be a miracle if Natasha didn't sympathize with Laura since they had a similar childhood. "We'll find out what happened to Sarah Kinney. I promise."
"Why are you doing this?" She asked, still confused by someone taking such an active role in improving her life. "What do you gain from this? People don't just... help."
"Logan's going to owe me big time for getting you out." He gave a straightforward answer, squeezing her hand gently. "And I get to feel like I actually accomplished something good."
Like fucking up Nick Fury.
***
(Natasha's POV)
Natasha stood alone in a firing range, working through her daily training regimen. The Glock 19 in her hands roared, each shot punching through the target's center. If her target was a person, every bullet would've hit them right in the forehead.
Even though she had acquired supernatural powers, she never slacked off on the fundamentals. Black Widow's missions required skills that the supernatural power couldn't give her.
Besides, the power wasn't really hers. It was borrowed. If that connection ever severed, she would be right back to baseline human capabilities. Better to keep her skills sharp.
She ejected the spent magazine and slapped in a fresh one. Her eyes involuntarily went to the shooting lane beside her.
Usually, Clint would be there, taking a relaxed stance with a compound bow in hand. He would make the most absurdly difficult trick shots look effortless.
But Clint had been missing for a week now, his fate unknown after he had gone dark during a solo operation on Oscorp Island.
Under normal circumstance, Nick Fury would have launched a full investigation immediately. Hawkeye was one of SHIELD's top agents. They would never want to lose someone of his caliber.
This time, the Director only decided to act after the Hand had attacked Oscorp Island.
Something strange was happening both inside and outside of SHIELD's sphere. Something only the ones at the top were aware of.
'Should I judge everyone's sins?'
The chain in her chest pulsed gleefully.
She smirked. "Nope."
"..."
She was lining up another shot when her phone started buzzing against her hip.
Unknown caller.
Her eyes narrowed. Nobody should have her official number except her direct SHIELD contacts, and none of them would show up as unknown.
'Could it be Clint?'
She holstered the Glock, pulled off her ear protection, and answered the call.
"Who is this?"
"Your skullmate Dante."
The name crushed her hopes. He must have gotten her contact from Laura.
"Why are you contacting me?" She asked coldly. "Is it about Laura?"
"Correct." She heard the noise of metal scraping against the floor. "Laura is also hearing you by the way. Hey, say hello to your colleague."
A beat of silence, then Laura's voice came through. "Natasha, I need your help."
Laura seemed quieter than usual.
Dante's exasperated sigh crackled through the speaker. "I told you to say hello. Not to cry for help, jeez."
"I'm not asking for that type of help." Laura's tone carried the faintest feel of what might have been... annoyance, or so it felt like this. "Natasha, help Dante…"
Natasha was quite confused. Shouldn't Laura be asking Natasha to rescue her since she was, well, a hostage? Why was her fellow agent asking Natasha to help the man who took her hostage? Why was Laura getting along with Dante?
'Stockholm syndrome? No, it won't kick in after one night.'
She clenched her left fist. If Dante had done anything to Laura, she would unleash the full power of her Spirit.
"Natasha." Dante's voice again, and this time, he sounded serious. "We need Laura's friend right now, not SHIELD's agent. Can you do that for her?"
Natasha immediately recognized the manipulation tactic—classic emotional leverage designed to create false conflict. Position himself as Laura's ally while framing SHIELD as the adversary. It was almost certainly part of a larger strategy to convince Laura to cut her ties with SHIELD and stay with Logan.
Natasha hadn't known Logan was Laura's biological father. Even knowing that, she didn't particularly want to return Laura to Wolverine's custody.
Logan's past was long and troubled. He had been a weapon for various organizations, a man who carried too much guilt. That history didn't make him a terrible father, but it didn't exactly inspire confidence either.
At least in SHIELD she could look after Laura and make sure she wasn't exploited too badly for her powers.
Still…
"What do you need?"
She chose to humor Dante because Fury had ordered her to maintain positive relations with him. She would receive another warning from Hill if Dante said he didn't want to join SHIELD because a certain redhead wasn't very cooperative.
Playing along with him would save her a lot of trouble.
"Natasha, can you confirm if Logan attacked a SHIELD facility in New Jersey?" Dante asked. "Official records should have reports."
"He did. He was neutralized within minutes."
She had only heard about the incident in passing. Wolverine going feral wasn't exactly unprecedented, so nobody had made a big deal out of it.
"Can you check who defeated Logan? I think that person is behind wiping a portion of Laura's memories." His voice had gone cold, hiding a fierce anger. "Bring them to me. I want to see everything in person."
Black Widow saw a prime opportunity to lure the prey in her web. Then she remembered Fury's words.
'I should stick to orders.'
Besides, she was also curious about Laura's missing memories and how it connected to this 'Sarah' Dante kept mentioning yesterday. How a mutant ended up being a SHIELD agent was still a mystery.
"Oh, and while you're accessing classified databases—" Dante spoke in a friendly voice. "Get me every facility operating under Norman. Shell companies, sites—every location linked to him."
He started making more demands now that she had agreed to help with the first request. Being kind and helpful only makes others exploit you in this world.
"Why Norman? What did he do?"
"He harassed my mom, killed my dog, and robbed my father's grave. I'm on my way to destroy everything he owns."
"Be serious."
"I'll share it when we meet. I'll text you the meeting place later," he said. "Don't let anyone else know you accessed these files. You know how to do that, right?"
Natasha couldn't stop the amused smile from spreading across her face.
He was asking if the Black Widow, the woman who had become a legendary black ops agent in the international circle—he was asking if she knew how to stay covert. It was like asking a spider if it knew how to spin a web.
"I'll manage. Laura, are you listening?"
"Yes, Natasha," Laura said. "I am right here."
"Laura," she spoke in a soft voice. "Are you sure about this?"
Silence stretched on the other end of the line.
"I don't want to go berserk anymore," Laura said in a low, uncertain voice. "I don't... I don't feel good after it happens. I don't like it."
She knew that feeling intimately. That specific feeling of self-disgust and helplessness was what had drawn Natasha to turn her back on the Red Room in the first place.
And Laura was expressing the same desperate need to be something more than a programmed killer.
Closing her eyes, she said, "I'll help you."
If Laura truly wanted to get out for a peaceful life, Natasha would help.
Even if it meant crossing Maria Hill.
Even if it meant defying Nick Fury's direct orders.
After all, Natasha Romanoff had joined SHIELD to perform good deeds, not watch a girl be helplessly exploited mission after mission.
'Fury might be right. Dante is fit to be the cornerstone of Avengers initiative.'
***
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