X-23 had found herself a seat towards the rear of the cabin, kind of isolating herself from the rest of the group. This time isolation comes physically, not just emotionally as had been the case to this point. She sits leaning back in her chair, her slim and muscular form strapped in properly. Her green eyes, they stare towards the deck of the cabin, her hands lightly grasping the straps of her seat. Were she anyone else, she would probably be shivering right now. A dip into freezing water, and then into cold air does not make for fun. Or warmth. But she ignores the discomfort she feels. There are people on this ship that have it worse at the moment.
And as Susan approaches her, her eyes snap towards her. Unwittingly her hands clench a little, but she immediately notices the blanket Susan is carrying. The whole time Susan approaches, it is lost on her what the woman intends. It never once occurs to her that the blanket is for her. She finds herself leaning discretely and slightly away from Susan as the blanket is draped around her shoulders, just out of habit. And then without her realizing, her hands have come up to grasp the edges of the blanket to pull it closer to her. It's now she finds herself unable to look Susan in the eyes, and so she looks once more towards the apparently fascinating floor in front of her, uttering softly.
"Thank you."
Once more, she finds herself withdrawing inwards. She listens to Fandral's storie (perfectly understanding them despite the language spoken), and she listens to the others. Weapon X making idle chatter with deputy director Hill… Captain America absently questioning the one armed man (technically one arm, since one is fake)… Jessica Jones and Agent Campbell quiet… and Wanda trying to deal with all that happened.
But as for the rest of the trip home… Laura is, herself, just as quiet. She has been in… so many… fights in her life. Literally she has lost count… well she lost count years ago anyways. And there is only a handful of times where she has felt so… helpless. Useless. Against that man on the island, and against Kimura. Neither she wants to come across again.
The Quinjet makes the trip home in quite the fast pace, surely faster than most other aircraft possibly could. But still, to Laura it felt like it was juuuuuust short of eternity. The Quinjet comes down gently upon the launch pad that has been assembled outside of their little Shield base, and as soon as the ramp starts to lower Laura has unbuckled herself from her seat and headed out. Agents from Shield are there waiting for them, and they help the children out of the Quinjet itself. Each agent seems fluent in the differing languages needed to properly communicate with the children, assuring them over and over that they are safe. Laura stands a little away from them, watching the agents as they begin to tend to the group of children. For some reason… a few of the children make eye contact with Laura, as if silently asking if this was the right thing to do. And as if she knew the question given with the discrete looks, she would nod a little to them. Perhaps the children can sense what Laura senses… that they aren't so different at all. Her arms cross over her midsection as she watches… as she waits for the next world breaking crisis…
Speaking of…
(Translated from the German)
"So… while things haven't gone as we mapped out, the results are the same. His Howling Commandos have been reassembled." It's a dark room, somewhere in Europe. Darkness encompasses the whole of the interior, save for a line of monitors. 3 of the 10 monitors upon the wall showing the confrontation between the 'Avengers' and the man code-named Magneto. 3 figures sit in the darkness, as if enjoying a movie. One of them now stands and approaches the monitors. Baron Zemo… the 'head' of Hydra as it exists now. His fingertips brush across one of the monitors as he continues to speak.
"You said he would be sent, and he brought his new allies with him. And just as you said… we have much more information. We now know these genejokes are allied with him…" he motions to Wanda and Logan.
"This woman, she is unknown to me." he motions to Jessica Jones as the monitor freezes. The shot on said monitor looks like it was taken from high above the confrontation. Perhaps from a drone.
"This man, we have leads on who he is. But nothing definite." Zemo now motions to Fandral.
"And these two…" Maria and Lincoln
"monkeys in the employ of Shield. But… my friends… this child." Now his fingertip rests upon the image of Laura, just as she is pulling herself from the water.
"Nearly 5 years ago an assassin was shopped to us, originating in the land of plenty… America herself. Look at the blades, her features. It is her. So given what we were able to synthesize when we hired her… we now have an additional agent inside of Captain Rogers' force… and perhaps it is passed time the child is activated… and that will be the end of the good Captain's allies…"
