Book Two - Part One: Spectre

Chapter Twenty-Six

"I think we're all set," he tells them.

.................

Bruce, Laurie, Betty, and Samson eat together at a kitchen table. Convivial, determinedly light, staying off the obvious weight of it all for a moment. Samson is telling a funny story.

"..and I said, "Miss So-and-so, I've been analyzing your 'condition' for nearly three months and I think I can say conclusively that your issues are more Caffeinated-UnCaffeinated than Manic depressive..." They all laugh, even Bruce chuckles.

"...You're not so much Multiple Personality as Spoiled Brat..." Betty adds.

"Your problem isn't ADD so much as laziness" Laurie teases Betty who shoots her a smirk.

"It makes you sound cruel. But Samson takes a few of these to pay for all the free work he does" Betty then offers for Samson.

"Pro-whiners to pay for the pro-bono..." Samson offers. Bruce looks down at Laurie who smiles a little pushing her food around her plate, she's barely eaten anything. He touches her shoulder, she turns to him, his hand finds her cheek and he gives her a smile. Normality. Dinner with friends. He can almost imagine this as their life once he gets his cure. Babysitter at home looking after their child. Probably Scott or Jean. She searches his eyes, sees something in them that softens her gaze slightly.

..................

Bruce sleeps curled around Laurie who sleeps in his arms. His hand has subconsciously moved to rest on her stomach. He's feeling better about her pregnancy. Not great but..better. With the cure so close he can imagine a normal life, with the cure....he could cure his child of his altered DNA. He thought about it as he watched her sleep earlier. If the cure works on him, why couldn't it work on his child? Take away his radiated side and leave in the mutated DNA. The child would just be another mutant. He brushes his nose over her neck and holds her closer to him.

..................

Laurie pulls on her jacket as she and Bruce get ready to leave. Betty waits near Laurie, ready to hug her goodbye.

"Thank you, Betty," Laurie tells her warmly, Betty smiles and nods.

"Promise me you'll both be careful" Betty counters, Laurie smirks.

"Promise" Laurie assures her before pulling her into a hug. Bruce watches from the door to the garage, a soft smile on his lips.

"Laurel" Bruce hurries her along gently. She nods and pulls back from Betty before moving to him, her fingers around the car keys in her pocket.

................

Laurie drives her car around the campus roads, Bruce watches her, can't stop watching her. Now he feels better about their future. About their family. He's lighter. He glances out the window and then lets out a breath.

"Stop a second..." he tells her. She pulls the car over. Bruce gets out of the car and steps up onto the grass and across the walking paths to a spot with a tree and bench and a view of the buildings and lawns. Laurie moves next to him. "What were we doing here? I mean what were we really trying to accomplish?" he looks at Laurie. "Do you ever ask yourself that?"

"We were trying to...understand" She answers. "Crack a puzzle. Advance things a little"

"I think that's what we told ourselves. At least the General was honest about what he wanted out of it. I don't think we were as honest"

"No, you've turned this on yourself too hard. You do this" she turns to him, his eyes following her. "We did talk about it and we were all comfortable. The worst you can say is that you rushed it...but you took your own risks, you didn't ask anybody else too" she scolds him.

"But it wasn't me that died"

"Nobody thought something like that was possible..."

"I don't know...Nature took a long time to build us like we are...this whole delicate wonderfully sophisticated system refined over billions of years. We come in and monkey with it...think we can improve it overnight. Sooner or later it's going to blow up in our face..." Laurie's cell phone rings in her pocket, she touches Bruce's arm before she pulls the device free and answers it.

"Professor" she greets, Bruce watches her features shift, terror and panic taking over, she spins on the spot, eyes searching the people around them. "Thank you" she whispers and then hangs up the phone, she turns to Bruce and he realizes.

"They're here" he offers, she nods. He stares at her only a moment before he grabs her arms. Eyes taking in every line of her face. His hand hovers on her waist before he takes it, his thumb pressing to her stomach, it's all he can show without letting her know he knows. He takes a breath. "You've got to get as far away from me as you can, right now" she shakes her head.

"Go!!"

"No" she argues. "I'm not leaving you, not now...." she tells him firmly. "We're in this together" she whispers taking his hand. He looks down and clutches to her before nodding. He knows that he doesn't have time to argue with her.

"Stay close" he offers, she nods. They run just as soldiers appear through the trees. 

A/N - I THINK I AM GOING TO STRUGGLE TO GET THIS TO FIX INTO 30 CHAPTERS. NEXT FEW CHAPTERS MAY HAVE TO BE ON THE LONGER SIDE.