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Lennie was not really a sadistic woman.
She had a slight sociopathic streak though, which was most likely why she was so excited right now. The school was in disrepair after the attack from Cap and S.H.I.E.L.D., but Lennie ran up. As she came into the mansion’s rec room, she was hardly surprised to see Logan pacing, snarling with his claws out. Scott was nursing a bruised jaw, glaring at the opposite wall. Jean watched Logan, lips pressed together and arms folded tightly over her chest. Gambit sat on one of the chairs, hands clenched together so tightly they were white. Storm stood at the Professor’s back glaring darkly out the window. The storm outside was a testament to her mood. The Professor was staring stoically ahead.
That was, until he caught her thoughts. He looked up. ‘How interesting.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Lennie responded.
Logan stopped pacing and whirled on her. ‘What?’ he snapped.
Lennie didn’t flinch. ‘Do you remember Bucky Barnes?’
‘Cap’s little best bud? What about him?’
‘Well, he fell from a train and was presumed dead in ’45. Turns out he was actually captured and brainwashed by the enemy. He’s been the Winter Soldier for the past 70 years, until Cap found out and de-brainwashed him.’
Logan paused. His claws began to retract and he cocked an eyebrow. His lips tugged upwards, making him look almost malicious. ‘And why ain’t anyone heard o’ this?’
Lennie smirked herself. ‘Because Cap decided he wasn’t guilty of anything he did because he was brainwashed, and therefore not responsible for his own actions. He even went so far as to conceal everything from everyone he could, but there were still a few cracks.’
Everyone in the room looked up. The mood in the room had lifted. They were all thinking the same thing. Most of them just needed some confirmation. Scott asked, ‘And what’s the Winter Soldier?’
Logan answered. ‘A secret political assassin. No one was ever sure if he was real or legend.’
Storm looked at Lennie. ‘How did you find out about it then? If no one was sure he existed and then Rogers hid the fact that he did exist, rightfully you should have had no way of knowing.’
‘Sure,’ Lennie said. ‘If Howard and Maria Stark weren’t on his list of victims. Barnes killed them and made it look like a car accident. Tony Stark found out, and Cap briefly tried to deny it. Of course then Tony told Potts, Rhodey, and Hogan. Now, Pepper Potts and I have a mutual friend who always suspected the Winter Soldier was real. Potts confirmed it to them. When they found out this school had been attacked, and why, they called me up and passed the information on.’
‘We can use this, oui?’ Gambit asked.
‘Most certainly,’ the Professor said.
‘Yeah,’ Lennie grinned, ‘and Sharee’s agreed to help us. I know just how to do it too. Have any of you ever met Matt Murdock?’
***
Laura sat in the chair, watching the two men argue over her.
‘What?’ the Captain demanded of what Mr. Murdock just said.
‘That was the best chance she had of a normal life and you took it away from her.’
‘She has killed hundreds of people, Matt!’ the Cap yelled.
Mr. Murdock held up the letter from her mother. ‘Did you even read this? It’s a copy of Sarah’s letter Logan gave her. It’s a confession, written by one of the murderers you’re after. Sarah claims responsibility for every death committed by this child. Every single one, including the execution of the other guilty parties at the Facility.’
The Captain waved it off. ‘That doesn’t change a thing.’
‘No, it changes everything.’ Mr. Murdock was clearly growing impatient. ‘Don’t you see, everyone you’re after is dead?! And Laura is as much a victim here as the people she was forced to kill!’
‘X-23 cannot just be let go!’ the Captain insisted. ‘She has to be held accountable!’
‘And do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to do that?’ Mr. Murdock demanded coldly. ‘That they’ll put her on trial or lock her up? They’re going to use her, Steve. You’re handing over a weapon to S.H.I.E.L.D. and they’ll use her like one.’
‘This conversation is over.’ The Captain reached for Laura’s chains.
Suddenly Mr. Murdock’s cane shot across, knocking his hand back. ‘No, it isn’t.’ He moved his cane to his other hand and laid a hand on Laura’s shoulder. ‘Now, speaking as her lawyer, I cannot allow you to—’
‘Don’t do this.’ The Cap got in his face and interrupted him. He reached for her chains again.
Laura saw Mr. Murdock nod towards the door though. The door opened. A bright golden beam of light shot through and hit the Cap moments before he grabbed her chain. He was thrown across the room and into the wall. Laura immediately smelt Lennie, Logan, the Professor, Gambit, and one other.
The other one was a young woman in her twenties who walked in. ‘Captain, I highly doubt you had a warrant for this girl’s arrest. They don’t bother issuing them for mutants. That makes your arrest and detainment of her quite illegal.’
The Cap looked up at her, glaring.
Mr. Murdock stepped aside as Logan strode over. SNITKT! His claws came out and he cut Laura’s chains away. Tears burned behind Laura’s eyes as Logan pulled her up out of the chair and against his chest. She curled into him. She may not have understood why, but Logan made her feel like she was really safe.
‘What the…?’ The Captain seemed to find his words.
‘To be fair,’ Mr. Murdock said, ‘technicality would classify him as her father, so he does have a right to be here.’
‘Matt?’ the Cap demanded.
‘They called me five minutes before you did,’ Mr. Murdock said. ‘They told me you attacked the mutant school to get her, Steve. That’s why I brought them along when I came here.’
‘You overstepped your bounds!’ the Cap barked.
‘So did you,’ Mr. Murdock stated.
‘I was bringing a murderer to justice!’
Logan growled. His arms tightened around Laura.
‘So you attack a bunch of other kids?’ the other woman asked sarcastically. ‘Yup, that makes perfect sense!’
The Captain glared at her.
Mr. Murdock turned. ‘Who’s your friend, Lennie?’
‘Sharee Pertinicle,’ Lennie said. ‘She’s an archaeologist with a bit of experience in interdimensional powers. She’s also saved the world a few times without the fanfare the Cap here insists upon.’
‘Who are you?’ Cap demanded of Lennie.
‘You don’t know?’ Mr. Murdock sounded incredulous. He looked over at Lennie.
‘I don’t like him,’ she said. ‘So I don’t particularly care if his job is hard.’
Laura was surprised, to be honest. She thought Lennie helped all the superheroes in the city. She helped the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Iron Man. And, in many cases, she went out of her way to meet them so she could help them. She did it to make their jobs easier. It was an enormous benefit for them to know things in advance. But she had decided not to extend this courtesy to the superhero that was revered above all others?
‘What?’ Cap demanded, rising to his full height.
Mr. Murdock chuckled. ‘Lennie can see the future. You’re actually the first superhero I’ve heard of that she doesn’t offer her services to.’
The shocked look on Cap’s face was quite amusing. Then he became affronted. ‘Just because you don’t like me? That kind of petty, isn’t it?’
‘Admittedly.’ Lennie had never been one to shy away from her failings. ‘But why should I work with someone I don’t like if I have another choice? Your skill-set isn’t unique.’
‘Not to mention his ridiculous overconfidence in the system,’ Sharee said.
‘That too. I wouldn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D. with my powers as far I could spit them.’ Lennie smirked at him. ‘But we seem to have strayed from the point. I know S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury are racist piles of shit who wouldn’t think twice about attacking a school of mutants because of what they are, but you? Aren’t you supposed to be all about truth, and justice, and freedom for all?’
The Captain tried to stare her down. ‘I was bringing a murderer in.’
Logan growled again and his claws shot out. He shifted, pulling Laura back. The Professor rolled up beside him and, Laura presumed, told him to calm down telepathically. Gambit moved to her other side.
‘Murder,’ Lennie mused. ‘Such a harsh word.’
Laura had never heard that tone before. From the way he relaxed, though, Logan obviously had.
‘Steve, do you know what the actual definition of murder is in this state?’ Lennie asked.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘It’s the act of taking someone else’s life.’ He opened his mouth again, but Logan cut him off.
‘Wrong.’
Matt sighed. ‘Murder is defined as killing another person with malice aforethought.’
‘In other words, you need to have killed with the intention to kill.’ Lennie smirked. ‘When Laura killed, she was blacked out. You have no intentions when you’re blacked out. You’re not even aware of what’s going on.’
The Cap’s face closed off. ‘That makes no difference.’
‘That makes all the difference,’ the Professor said in a calm, even tone. ‘Aside from that, her culpability can be easily called into question.’
‘What?’ the Cap demanded.
‘That’s right, Cap.’ Sharee smirked. ‘She's blacked out through the whole thing. No recollection whatsoever, and no willful intention to do any harm. She was a gun to be pointed and fired. She can't be held responsible. That's the job of the guys that set her on her victims.’ She pointed to the letter in Matt’s hand. ‘Her mother did do that.’
‘It doesn’t change a thing!’ the Cap insisted yet again.
‘Oh, please!’ Sharee waved it off. ‘You just want to punish someone. Newsflash, sunshine: the guilty party has been punished! They’re dead!’
‘X-23…’
‘She has a name, connard!’ Gambit snapped. ‘I suggest you use it!’ He regarded him with disdain. ‘Unless you want an ace of hearts in your spleen.’
Steve froze for a moment. He then drew himself up again. ‘Fine. Laura has killed hundreds of people. She has to be held accountable.’
Lennie looked him right in the eye and said, ‘You mean like Bucky was held accountable?’
The Cap went white as a ghost.
‘Oh, that’s right.’ Lennie gave him a cruel smirk. ‘He wasn’t. You’ve been protecting him from that for three years, haven’t you?’
‘How…?’ Cap sounded shell-shocked.
‘The hotline,’ Sharee said. ‘Tony told Pepper. Pepper told me. I told Lennie. Lennie told the X-Men.’
Matt looked over at Lennie. ‘Is this the thing you promised to explain?’
‘It is.’ Lennie then went on to explain it. As she did, Laura found herself wondering. From the sounds of things, this Bucky person had suffered a similar problem as her – except he wasn’t born into it. The Captain had forgiven him and let him go. So why was he now trying to persecute her for the same thing?
The more she spoke, the more stiff the Captain became.
At the end, Matt’s lips were twisted in displeasure. ‘Steve, do you realise what a hypocrite you’ve just made of yourself?’
‘You can’t seriously compare what happened to Bucky to this!’ The Captain insisted.
‘Oh, but I can,’ Matt said. ‘Bucky was tortured, brainwashed, and forced to kill hundreds of people, correct?’
The Captain remained stoic. ‘Yes.’
‘And Laura was tortured, brainwashed, and forced to kill hundreds of people.’ Matt gave him a hard look. ‘The only difference is that Bucky had a life before this. Laura didn’t. Bucky was a fully-grown man when this first happened to him. Laura was an infant when this first happened to her. You forgave Bucky, and you want to persecute Laura.’ He shook his head. ‘That’s not justice, Steve. That’s you playing favourites. If you want to punish her, then he’ll have to be punished too.’
The Cap’s mask suddenly broke. He stepped forward, insisting, ‘Bucky wasn’t in control of himself!’
‘Neither was Laura,’ Sharee said. ‘Justice needs to be consistent, Cap. It can’t be one way for Tom and another for Dick. That’s called a Double Standard. So, the choice is yours then. If you chose to persecute Laura, then Bucky will also have to be arrested and persecuted. If you keep Bucky’s pardon, though, then you have to pardon Laura also.’
She seemed confident.
***
The X-Jet took off.
‘How did you know he’d let me go?’ Laura asked.
‘Because I knew about everything he’d done to protect Bucky from being thrown behind bars,’ Sharee said. ‘He lied to the media, he lied to S.H.I.E.L.D., he even once beat up a guy who was investigating Bucky, he had the Black Widow do a computer cover-up for him. The Walking Flag would do anything to keep Bucky from being punished. It was a no-brainer that threatening him with just that would solve the problem. And, if it didn’t, Tony Stark had agreed to release certain details to the media.’
Gambit looked curious. ‘What certain details?’
‘The only thing he wasn’t going to let them in on was the fact that Laura’s a mutant,’ Sharee said. ‘He would have passed her off as a little girl born in a laboratory who had powers forced upon her to be made into a perfect killing machine, started at a young age, and currently in the middle of a rehabilitation program.’
The Professor smiled. ‘The public would eat him alive, hero or not.’