LAURA KINNEY

Bobby tried to just start as a basic level and see how his students got on, less and less of them had the gift of a tradition, or happy, upbringing, but they were all intelligent, just not familiar with traditional schooling. A few classes in and a little extra attention and more often than not they picked it up fast. Especially when they were willing to put the work in; often his handmade (literally) snow cones were good motivation.

He had a feeling, though, that Laura may not go for the idea of a snow-cone reward so the usual method it was.

“That’s good to hear, and Josh? I haven’t had a chance to get down to the clinic in a while.” He’d been down there quite often in the summer, just keeping the place cool more than anything else, “Is it still busy there?” So many of them needed help and he honestly wished he could do more in that regard.

He nodded, blinking far to many times and too quickly before answering with a slightly, high-pitched, “Great! Has he umm… Mentioned anything interesting lately?” He asked with an awful attempt at casualness.  

Even though Laura always accepted the snow cones, she was never first in line when it came to receiving them. The reward she had in mind was nothing beyond the practical application of what Bobby was teaching her. That was all she wanted. It was strange that the other students seemed to expect some sort of reward for doing something that would ultimately benefit them, but she knew by now that she rarely thought the same way others her age did. 

“Josh is doing well.” He seemed fine, at least, but she often had difficulty recognizing emotions. At the very least, he didn’t seem to be tired all of the time like he used to be. Something had changed for the better while she’d been gone. “It’s always busy, but Emma and Scott have offered assistance.” That was something Josh seemed conflicted about, even though he’d accepted it. 

Laura Kinney

@iamnotyourexperiment

It had been a very long time since Nate had been in the present. Things had gotten very bad in his time, so bad it wasn’t safe for him to be there anymore so using his suit he traveled to the present. Because of his suits ability to shape shift he made it transform into a normal outfit: black beanie, black denim jacket, white tee shirt and jeans.

Nate walked around the streets of Star City, looking for anybody he knew, but his search got interrupted by a group of NOVA agents. They questioned him about why he was out passed curfew and informed him that he would have to come to with them. He was ready to shapeshift his clothes back into their Iron Lad form as one of the agents forcefully grabbed his wrist, but he refrained as he noticed a familiar person approaching. “Laura?” he asked in a rhetorical whisper.

There was no reasoning with the NOVA agents, but that didn’t mean Laura employed lethal force unless she were forced to do so. Before the agent could turn she’d struck him hard in the back of the head, knocking him out in one well placed blow. 

Julian had always believed that seeing Laura again would be… different. He thought he’d be able to just play it cool and not let it show that it actually bothered him. He hadn’t wanted her to go — of course not, why would he? But, it wasn’t up to him. It never had been. 

When she emerged from the shadows as stoic and untamed as she had been the day she left, Julian didn’t feel an ounce of surprise. If Daken was here, Laura had to show up at some point. He had that hope ever since he made it into the city, ever since he saw her brother, and saw Josh, in the District. He didn’t think it would be like this, in the darkness and loneliness of the street corner. They were only illuminated by the streetlamp; it acted as a sort of halo between them, casting their shadows in long, stretched caricatures of themselves

He found himself start to smile, but it dissipated once he lowered his head and looked over the worn edges of his boots. “Yeah, I figured,” Julian replied quietly before he looked back up at her. He swallowed, but that too had proven difficult. “Why’d you leave?” The question was out before he had a second to over think it.

If Laura were uncomfortable at the silence that stretched between them, she didn’t show it. Her gaze was even and unwavering, betraying little, and she lifted her shoulders in a slow shrug. “I had to.” It wasn’t a real explanation and she knew that, but sorting through her internal motivations and how she felt and how those things contributed to her decision was close to impossible.

There was no doubt she was better at understanding and navigating emotions and complicated situations now, but that didn’t mean that she was ready to self-reflect or analyze. “I don’t know,” she finally said, frowning. “I just know I couldn’t stay.” It wasn’t only because of what she was experiencing. She’d had no idea how to handle what Julian was going through. She lacked the tools for it. 

“Hey,” Bobby greeted the young woman awkwardly as he approached. “You, uh, need your drink re-chilled?” He asked, holding up a couple of fingers and letting a chilly fog drift from them for a second before he lowered them again. Bobby only had vague information to go off of when it came to Laura. He knew ‘who’ she was by reputation, but that was the extent of his knowledge. “You enjoying yourself?” He asked.

@iamnotyourexperiment·

Laura didn’t have time to respond before the chilly fog turned her glass much colder than it’d been a second ago. Frowning, she glanced down at it briefly before looking up again. It wasn’t just the power - there was a familiarity about him that she could sense. “Bobby?” She hadn’t planned to go to the party, but several kids in the safe house begged her to go and she’d finally given in. One of the girls had stuck a pair of cat ears on her head when Laura admitted not having a costume. 

He couldn’t disagree. Of the two, the clinic required someone’s constant presence. The safehouse could go (at least for periods) without someone manning it all the time. As long as no one new showed up, it was just about maintaining.

At her question, Josh sighed. His explanation wasn’t necessarily a good one, but he still felt it deeply. “I started the clinic in my old apartment. I’ve always been able to decide who I treat, whether they’re mutants or not.” That was almost exclusively who he’d meant it for, but Josh had helped a fair number of humans, too, and had opened his doors to metahumans and even Kara. “I don’t want to accept an agenda by accepting help.” And he knew, he knew, the potential for that happening. It was bad enough that things ran on Wayne money, even if he trusted Dick.

Laura had always been of the staunch belief that everyone should be in control of their own bodies, their own powers, and this was really no different. Even though she had started up the safe house with the desire to help, she had never forced specific criteria onto Josh when it came to how he ran the clinic. That was his territory. 

Bobby had to teach the younger kids the usual curriculum, if only to help if they wanted to take state exams and get qualifications; but he also tried to fit in useful math that could actually help them in life like managing their taxes or balancing business books or even mortgage applications. Right now he was working his way through how tax write-offs worked and to be fair they were paying more attention now than in calculus.

He heard the door open and looked up to see Laura of all people walk in, instantly he thought of Daken and him living together and half… being together and dorkily raised a hand to wave in a totally non-weird way, “Hiiiii!” he half-sang, the other students pretty used to his antics went on with the tasks he’d assigned while he grabbed a few more worksheets and meandered over.

“So how ya doing Laura?” he asked lightly, putting a few sheets down on her desk, “These are umm, a few tasks to get started with, we’re looking at taxes and legal ways to manage them.” he said with a smile then couldn’t help but add, “Have you… by any chance, spoken to your brother lately?”

Even though Laura had little trouble following basic concepts, she had never been taught how to manage money; simple, human interactions and what others learned by observation were lost on her because of how she’d been raised. She always took notes fastidiously, her handwriting methodical and near perfect, and she had memorized most of the pertinent information she’d come across in her own research. 

Somehow that still hadn’t translated to successful real world application. That was why she was here. 

“Thanks. I’m doing okay.” She took the sheets, frowning as her gaze moved over the information. It didn’t look much different than what she’d seen online, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t learn anything new. The internet had always been a mishmash of useful and useless information; she counted on this class to give her some direction. 

The mention of Daken threw her off guard. Laura blinked, her brow furrowing. “Yes.”

“You won’t get any argument from me. I’ve been making it work but,” he shrugged, “it’s better when you’re here.” Josh had been splitting his time between the safe house and the clinic when he could, but the latter always had to be his priority. It had meant relying mostly on whoever would volunteer to keep the shelter sort of running while neither he or Laura could be in it.

“Emma’s offered to give me a staff to train for the clinic. I thought about turning it down but…that’s stupid, isn’t it?” Laura would give him a blunt answer, which he assumed would be yes. He needed to stop being petty. With all the other things he’d managed to move past, he needed to let things go with Emma and Scott, too. Easier said than done.

“You have the clinic. That’s more important.” The safe house could run itself to some degree. Josh, on the other hand, was integral. There was no clinic without him. He couldn’t be expected to handle the day to day business of the safe house on top of those responsibilities. Those who had offered to help hadn’t done a terrible job, but certain things had fallen to the wayside in her absence. 

“Oh! Then I’m surprised I haven’t seen you sooner. You haven’t been avoiding me have you?” He asked it teasingly, though frankly any answer wouldn’t surprise him. He smiled at her as she walked closer. Sure there was some… history, but it was just nice to have another person around who wouldn’t get weird about him. “And how was the big apple? I haven’t been there in a long time.” Not since… well not since there had to be an explanation of which Warren he was. He tried to read her expression but whatever it meant flew over his head. “I’ve been… I’ve been good. Training has been a killer but isn’t it always?”

“No,” Laura said simply, her brow furrowing. “I wouldn’t avoid you.” Well, maybe she would, but she’d like to think they were beyond that. It was something she wasn’t willing to acknowledge; that meant discussing things that she wasn’t comfortable discussing - and she wasn’t certain if she would ever be. There had been instances when she’d taken steps toward handling emotions in a more normal way, but it was still something she struggled with. “I wasn’t there long. I was taking some kids out of the city.” She smiled slightly. “I suppose I wouldn’t know. You’re at the institute?”

“God, how painful it is, being angry.”