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Clarice walked over to Marcos, Lorna, and John.
“Well?” Marcos asked
“She doesn’t want to go but she isn’t fighting it as much as Andy. If she was arguing as much as he was I think we’d have a chance.” Clarice grumbles
“Well why isn’t she?” Lorna questioned frustrated causing Clarice to sigh
“She blames herself for Sonia. They wouldn’t combine their powers, Sonia even told them not to but the doctor shot her because they wouldn’t. She thinks people here blame her.” The green eyed woman explains sadly causing the group to sigh and John runs his hands over his face.
“ I think both of the kids are depressed right now and Reed and Caitlin are hoping that leaving will help.” Clarice explains “and as much as it sucks for us it might be good for them to get away. If not Lauren is stubborn enough to find her way back and bring Andy with her”
Later once they have gotten everyone safely back to Atlanta John goes to check on Andy and Wes. Both boys are still asleep with Lauren sitting in a chair between them. Her arm was resting on a cabinet and her head was resting in her hand. John could tell she was clearly fighting sleep. He walks over and gently touches her shoulder causing a Lauren to jump surprised and put a shield up around her
“Hey it’s okay. Just me” John assures her raising his hands and the shield is dropped
“Sorry” she sighs running her fingers through his hair
“You’re fine. You should get some sleep, you must be exhausted. How could you hold your powers for so much longer than Wes?” John questioned and Lauren just shrugged
“I’ve had mine longer than him I guess. Plus holding a shield is pretty easy. Doing it with water and other stuff it the hard part for me.”
“That’s still pretty impressive. Seriously though, they’ll both be fine, go get some sleep.” Lauren just sighs and shakes her head slightly
“Haven’t been sleeping much lately. Might as well have something to focus on while I’m awake” she explains noticing Johns frown “sorry I really shouldn’t be complaining to you about this.”
“Sonia wasn’t your fault Lauren. I don’t blame you. Lorna and Marcos don’t blame you.” John assures her and Lauren just shakes her head
“When my dad first got here the other mutants hated us. You and Lorna and Marcos might not have hated us but you didn’t like us and I don’t blame you. My family has done nothing but screw up your lives. I really wouldn’t blame you if you and you’re friends hated us now, I can’t understand how you don’t. What I worry about now is being feared by other mutants. As soon as the rest of the compound hears about Andy and I’s powers, they are not going to want us here and they have a valid argument. We could destroy this entire building with everyone in it” Lauren explains shakily “All these years I’ve been worried about people finding out. My parents and friends because I thought they’d be afraid of something they don’t understand. But mutants are going to be afraid of me now too.”
“We won’t let anyone kick you out anywhere you don’t wanna go and if anyone tries I’ll deal with it. As for the fear it will just take time for them to see there isn’t anything to fear” John explains and Lauren laughs.
“You don’t get it. Here come here you stand here” She says and motions slightly to the side of Andy’s bed “and I’ll stand here.” She stands slightly to the side of Wes’s bed. “Now we can both see Wes and Andy but we are seeing different parts of the wall. When Andy and I combine powers we wouldn’t see anyone in front of us and the different parts of the wall would combine like we are seeing out of the same eyes and the only thing we can do is destroy whatever is in front us. People have a reason to be afraid.” Lauren explains flopping back down in her chair letting a big yawn escape
“Look we can figure out the rest when Andy wakes up but we won’t let anything happen to you guys, okay? Now you seriously need some sleep so tell you what. I’ll sit with you and I’ll wake you up if you start having any nightmares okay? John prods
“You have more important things to do, I’m sure.” Lauren says shaking her head.
“Nope. Lorna and Marcos have everything under control. Now come on.” John stands and offers the younger girl his hand. Lauren signs but resigns and stands and follows John to her families room. She’s glad her parents aren’t there since they would automatically start asking her a million questions. As soon as she sits down on her bed she realizes how tired she truly is as her eyelids start to drop again causing John to chuckle a little as he kneels down to unlace her boots. She takes off her jackets and lays down pulling the blankets up with her. Every time she starts to close her eyes Sonia fills her vision. Lauren sits up exasperated
“Look I’m fine, I don’t need to sleep I need to me useful!” She exclaims and moves to get up but John stops her
“Woah woah calm down. You are exhausted okay? One sec I’ll be right back. Just lay down I think I have something that might help.” He reasons as he gently pushes her back down to the bed. Lauren nods reluctantly and pulls her knees to her chest. John goes to his room and gets his guitar and returns, when Lauren sees it she snorts a little
“What?” He asks smiling as he tunes it
“My grandma used to play. She said the nightmares couldn’t make it past music”
“Sounds like a smart lady to me.” He jokes as Lauren roles her eyes but lays down again as John starts gently strumming and humming along. It isn’t long before he looks over and Lauren has fallen asleep. True to his word he stays and reads while Lauren sleeps.