1963-08-25 - Routine Maintenance
Summary: For the first time in days, David has someone to talk to.
Related: Not So Sweet Dreams, Missing Pieces plot
Theme Song: None
laura maverick 


White. Everything is white. The walls, the ceiling, the floors. Even the hum of the lights overhead, somehow, feels white. Only the vibranium bars separating the four cells in this room provide relief from the overbearing white of the facility.

David has long since lost track of how long he has been here. Most of his time here has been spent in solitude, trying to stay awake… but he has nodded off a few times. He knows that much. It's why he's trying not to do it again. He's had nightmares before, but these…

And so, David paces his cell with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, staring down at the clean white floor.

*

An access door to one of the adjoining cells opens, and X-23 steps through quietly. She's wearing a shapeless, knee-length smock as white as everything else in this godforsaken place. Her hair's as freshly-trimmed as ever, and she seems… somehow immacualtely cleaner, as well. Not like last he saw her, when she was wet and half-frozen and somehow a lot less-kempt for it all. But then, she'd been here as part of a punishment that time. Now she was back in their good graces again.

"We're short on room, twenty-three. You're staying here today."

The man speaking isn't visible, but it hardly matters. They're not going to answer anything Maverick asks them anyway. The girl doesn't respond to the information, as there is no need. She simply crosses the room, and settles crosslegged against the wall opposite Maverick, hands loosely clasped in her lap, back straight, eyes forward.

*

David's pacing stops on a dime as soon as the door opens and he's immediately grasping the bars of the cell, trying to see out with very poorly-veiled desperation in his eyes. Don't be Katherine, don't be Katherine, don't be Katherine.

The good news is, it isn't Katherine. The bad news is, David has no idea what to make of this. David blinks slowly and leans away from the bars, his eyes following X-23 as she is left in a cell of her own. He remains silent until the man has left and then, slowly, he drifts towards the bars that separate his cell from the girl's.

Why does he want to call her 'Joan'? That isn't her name.

"What are you doing down here?" David asks, his voice a bit hoarse.

*

X-23 gives a slow blink, and when she opens her eyes again, she's looking up at him. Still has that emotionally detached, disinterested look about her, but that seems to be a constant. She is under strange orders that she does not entirely understand, but she is not required to understand why she is allowed to talk freely with David. Only that she is supposed to. "They are short on room," she repeats evenly. "I am staying here today."

*

Why does he find that expression so much more disconcerting today? David lightly touches his forehead and blinks hard, looking away. Maybe it's the exhaustion. Must be.

"You're not free to roam the facility when you are not needed?" David asks and, slowly, he lowers himself down to mirror her posture. Next to the bars, back to the wall, legs crossed.

*

The girl tilts her head to one side, like he's a particularly puzzling talking rock she's found. Free? Roam the facility? "When I am not needed, I wait," X-23 replies, as if it's self-evident it would be the case. There's… a peculiar weight to the words. It's not just that it's one of the stock phrases she's been conditioned to repeat. It… resonates, has a subtle allure to the idea. It's so simple, uncomplicated. Why wouldn't you simply wait until needed?

*

One of David's eyes narrows very slightly. That was… unusual. Why does that sound appealing? He gives his head a shake and draws his knees up to his chest, loosely curling his arms around them. "That sounds very monotonous," he notes, watching her with a thoughtful crease of his brow. "They allowed me a great deal of autonomy. Too much, clearly," he adds, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling.

*

She tilts her head back in the other direction, processing this. After a while, she asks a question of her own. "You were Defective?" Laura asks, the barest hint of genuine curiousity in her voice. Defects were something the scientists were always very concerned about, debating whether this or that detail of her reactions or abilties fell into that category.

*

That gets David's eyes returning to X-23 real quick and, for a moment, he is silent. "I don't understand. What do you mean?" he asks slowly, feeling his fingers curl to grasp his wrists a bit more tightly. He thinks he knows the answer and he does not like it one bit.

*

"You said something was done incorrectly," X-23 points out promptly and in a matter-of-fact manner. "If there is a defect, you should correct it. They do not like defects. Too many and you will not be Viable."

*

That gets David's brow to twitch again. Not what he was afraid of, and yet there's something about it that just seems correct. "Oh. Yes, of course. I don't think I was defective, just… out of the loop," he grunts, his fingers loosening their grip on his wrists. "Now, though, absolutely. I am too furious to be Viable."

*

Laura considers that for a few moments. "That is unfortunate. Do not worry. Perhaps…" she pauses, as she's forced onto a brief tangent. "I do not know your designation."

*

David's brow furrows slightly as he finds himself trying to decide what name to give. That's odd. "…David," he finally replies, a hand coming up to his forehead. His head hurts. "My name is David."

*

She seems satified, anyway. It allows her to continue the train of thought. "Perhaps David-2 will be an improvement in that case." She seems to feel this is some kind of comfort. They didn't really teach her to people.

*

Suddenly, David is very grateful that he's already sitting down. He's having enough difficulty thinking straight without also having to try and keep his balance.

"David-2," he echoes, watching her through the bars. Focus, David. The mission isn't over just because you're stuck in here. "Where would they find him, I wonder?" After a pause, he tilts his head slightly to the side and there's… something different in how he looks at her. "Is that why you're Twenty-three?"

*

Laura simply nods once. If she wasn't so stone-faced, one might almost think she was pleased by the answer to his question. "None of the others could be used. All Defective. I was the first declared Viable." She frowns at him thinly, and her tone becomes firmer. "David. If you are Defective, you must correct it. Uncorrectable Defects are unacceptable."

*

Focus. He has to focus. "Where did the others come from?" David asks carefully, planting his hands against the floor and using them to scoot closer to the bars. As if that will make any difference. All it does is make it even easier for her to hear his pulse. "Were you recruited?"

*

It's clear from her expression that the girl doesn't understand the question. Like, at all. She has probably never even considered wondering where she or the others came from. All she knows is there were others, they were Defective, and she is not. All she can think of in response to the question is "I have always been here."

*

"Always?" David's brow furrows and he reaches out to grasp one of the bars that separate their cells. "Do… your childhood. You remember it?" he asks slowly, his eyes briefly flicking towards the door she had come in through. She's being very talkative, which could be good. Or terrible. Or both.

*

He is acting very strangely indeed. It's… a little bit interesting. She doesn't get to interact often outside of controlled exchanges or just people talking around her. Her head tilts again. It takes Laura a little bit to work out what he's *probably* talking about. "Yes." What an odd thing to ask about. She was younger. Smaller. Who cares.

*

"And it was..?" David gestures with his other hand to indicate the facility, watching her with a rapidly growing sense of nausea in the pit of his stomach. "…it was here? Like this?"

*

He probably knows that nausea's justified as soon as she looks a little confused. "I have always been here," X-23 repeats, like he's a particularly dense child. "I am a Weapon. Weapons belong in an Armory."

*

His brow twitches slightly and David swallows back a fresh wave of nausea. It isn't easy. "I see." He can't bring himself to ask what happens to Weapons that are no longer Viable. He already knows. All he does is tighten his grip on the bar and try to keep his pulse under control.

"I was recruited," David finally says, his voice quiet as he watches her. "They told me that I could better protect people if I was working for them. Stop bad things from happening to people who don't deserve it." His jaw tightens. "They lied to me."

*

Laura watches him react, waiting for… something. A response that doesn't come, a parameter that isn't met. "Weapons belong in an Armory. Defective Weapons must be fixed or disposed of," she says, ignoring him, then X-23 brings her eyes back to his. "David. Did you check the mail?"

*

It doesn't take the ability to hear his pulse to know that David is growing agitated. That anger he'd felt upon hearing Stryker's voice outside the van has returned and this conversation is only intensifying it; the bar is held in a shaking, white-knuckled grip. "They lied to me," David repeats, his voice a harsh whisper that's beginning to increase in volume.

Right up until she asks the question. His eyes immediately snap to hers and the tension he was carrying just… vanishes. "I'm sorry," he replies by rote. "I'll do that now."

*

"They will be pleased. We will begin again," X-23 informs him, closing her eyes to review the next set of instructions she is to carry out. "You fell asleep. Someone has been delivered to the next cell. It woke you." A precisely timed pause, while she lets it sink in. "Proceed."

*

He's motionless until she says to proceed. Then, without so much as a twitch, David uses his grip on the bar to pull himself up to his feet. Two smooth strides carry him to the bunk in his cell and he lowers himself down onto his back, pillows his arms behind his head, and closes his eyes.

For a five-count, nothing happens. Then, David whips his head up and blinks hard, a hand going to his forehead as his eyes dart around. They fall upon Laura and he raises his eyebrows, visibly confused.

"What are you doing down here?"

*

X-23 open her eyes slowly, fixing her gaze on his.

"They are short on space," she repeats evenly. "I am staying here today."

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