Chapter Text
Laura Kinney: Age 12
“Well, look what we have here? A nice girl with no where to go…” The strange obese man said as he looked X-23 over in a way that strangely made her skin crawl. It wasn’t like the scientists, it was darker, somehow more evil. She was tired, so very tired. She had been running all day and all night to escape the Facility, and her stomach grumbled loudly in protest as she began to pop her claws. Her ears twitched though as she heard something strange pass through the air… It was a man. Roughly 5 feet and 10 inches in height, weighing under 200 pounds, and he seemed to be flying? No, swinging. Her ears picked up a strange sound that repeated at regular intervals as he grew closer and closer. ‘THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!’ X-23 hadn’t ever heard anything like it before, but apparently the strange men had. They shouted in alarm and pointed behind her as if someone was there. ‘Is this a trick?’ She thought as her weary senses detected a strong heartbeat grow closer as light footsteps made contact with the… wall?
She winced as his voice echoed through her still too-sensitive ears. “Well now, what’s up doc?” The man asked in a strange Brooklyn accent. “I hope you boys were just showing this little lady here to the bus stop. It is getting late, you know.” His voice grew serious as all of that strange warmth left it. “You know, there are few things I hate more than traffickers. Especially ones that prey on children.”
“S-Spider-Man!” The lead man shouted in fear as X-23 turned around and saw white lenses almost glowing in the shadows. He crawled closer from the wall, and she saw a red suit, lined with black webbing and with a blue secondary color. It highlighted his muscle groups as they contracted and released with finely tuned power and grace. His lenses narrowed as he looked at the men. Like lightning, his hands shot up and that sound emerged again as strange blobs of white matter emerged around the men. On examination, they appeared to be some sort of synthetic webbing. ‘Curious.’ She thought tiredly as she saw him leap down in front of her and begin hitting the men. His blows were incredibly restrained. His muscles barely contracted at all as he collided with the edges of their faces. Again, X-23 was confused by how even though he was radiating such anger - one of the few emotions she was familiar with - he was holding back so much. As the last one fell to the ground, after she had counted at least 5 broken bones per man, the enigma turned to face her and… knelt down?
“Are you alright? What’s your name?” The man asked with a strange warmth. It bloomed from her chest, and it reminded her of her mother. She felt something wet slide down from her eye as the man’s hand wiped away the moisture. “Who are you?” he asked again.
“X-23.” She said with a suppressed yawn. Weapons aren’t allowed to be tired, yawning was unacceptable. Even if this ‘Spider-Man’ seemed so nice…
“That’s not a name.” He gently admonished before frowning through his mask. ‘Have I displeased him?’ X-23 thought worriedly before he sighed and patted her on the top of her head. “Come on, kid. What’s your name?”
X-23 thought back to her mother and the secrets they shared, and one name came to mind. It hurt, drawing out more of that moisture from her eyes as she whispered out “Laura, Laura Kinney.”
The Spider-Man smiled, the gesture visible through his mask as he straightened up. “Well, it’s nice to meet you Laura. Now, do you have some place to call home?” X, no Laura, shook her head softly as the man sighed. “Well, that’s not good at all. Tell you what, I’ve got some friends who have plenty of room. They’re a wonderful family that’s let me stay over whenever I’ve had no place to go. Why don’t we swing by and see if they can help you out?” He asked with a genuine warmth that radiated through Laura again. ‘What is this feeling?’ She thought to herself. ‘It-It’s nice…’ The moisture returned, flowing down her face as she collapsed onto the man’s chest. When she opened her eyes, she felt the wind rush through her hair as she looked up at the city. Spider-Man was swinging with one arm while cradling her with the other. The warmth returned, with another feeling. Comfort? Safety? Laura wasn’t sure which it was, but she leaned closer to his chest and listened to his heartbeat as she fell back to sleep.
Laura Kinney: Age 13
He was on the news again, Laura’s Spider-Man. Even though she denied it fervently whenever Pryde or Lee teased her about it, it was sort of true. Spider-Man was Laura’s hero. Why else would she feel that warmth whenever she caught a glimpse of him? Why would she painstakingly cut out the few positive articles about him and pin them to her… well, shrine? The warmth had been spreading recently, and Laura was worried that the others might find out about it. Her cheeks felt warm now when she saw his likeness. Pryde called it ‘blushing’ when they were at that infernal mall. Why would Laura blush when she looked at a soft, cuddly version of her already cute hero? Wait! ‘Did I just admit that he was cute?’ Laura asked herself as the warmth returned to her cheeks. As she opened her door, she saw Lee sitting on Laura’s bed with a gaping mouth. “Lee, shut your mouth lest flies enter.” Laura commented as she walked over and saw her open closet. Normally, the shrine was obscured by a wall of hanging clothes, but when a messy teenage girl starts flinging them off the rack, they don’t do any good. “Lee, GET OUT!!” Laura shouted as the warmth returned and she slammed the closet door shut. ‘Nobody can know about this… They’ll think I’m weak…’
Laura Kinney: Age 17
She had been distracted by Spider-Man’s silhouette when she got blindsided by a piece of rubble. She fell into the bay below and lost consciousness. When she woke up, HIS lips were on hers. ‘It’s like one of Pryde’s childish movies…’ Laura thought at first until she realized what had actually happened. ‘Noooo! He saved me from drowning! I’m not 12 anymore, I can’t just get saved by him every time!’ She thought before acting on instinct. And, as both Logan and Laura would testify, their instincts are often violent. She slapped Spider-Man in the face before quickly standing up and backing away. “What do you think you were doing?! I would’ve been fine! There was no need for you to lay your hands or your mouth on me!” She looked away to hide her blush from it all, even as Spider-Man stammered out an apology and her father sighed before walking away with him. When both men were out of sight, she reached up and touched her lips before blushing heavily and following after them.
Laura Kinney: Age 18
‘Okay, I followed Spider-Man’s scent to this building, now to just figure out which apartment is his…’ Laura thought to herself as she snuck around the outside of an older apartment complex. ‘I’ve known him for 6 years and barely managed to get his first name, much less his address.’ Laura thought with a huff. ‘I’m just glad I was able to get Father drunk enough to tell me the general location of Spi-no, Peter’s house.’ She continued to sniff around until she found a window with the calming scent she associated with the webslinger. ‘Wait, is that, blood?’ She asked herself as she smelled the metallic scent just beyond the windowpane. She peered through, and caught a glimpse of a bloody costume with a few holes in it. She listened, but didn’t hear any heartbeat, so she snuck in. “This place could use some cleaning.” Laura commented as she looked around it. Peter was out on patrol, most likely, but he had left a bit of a mess behind. Laura was tempted to just leave and wait, but a rather childish thought entered her mind.
‘What if I can get closer to him by cleaning? I won’t have to worry about saying anything weird as long as I do it all before he gets back!’ Laura thought she had a good idea, but she had forgotten one thing: how Peter would know it was her! Such details were insignificant to the girl in love though, so she focused on cleaning and tidying up the apartment for him. She even had time to run out and return with ingredients for snickerdoodles, Peter’s favorite cookies. Again, she had to get father drunk to find that out.
The next day, she stopped by and found him asleep on the couch with his bloody costume still on. She had brought a handwoven blanket to drop off for him, but decided to go one step further: she finished her repairs on his backup costume and draped it over a nearby chair before treating as many of his wounds as she could without waking him. She then carefully laid the blanket over him and wrote a short note before making her exit.
Every trip she made built her confidence a bit more, and finally, she was ready to ask him out! She had patched up his costume last night after meeting with him and having a nice conversation during his patrol. They had been getting closer and closer, and she was finally ready! All she could do now was hope for the best.
The End.