Finding himself in Atlantis was the last thing John had expected and he found himself wrestling with the decision that needed to be made. Would he stay here and fight with them? Would he return to his own world where another kind of war was brewing? He could find arguments for either choice if he thought about it. He felt fortunate that he had been given some time to make up his mind. It was likewise helpful that he wasn't alone here. There were others from his world in Atlantis.
John wasn't sure how he felt about the prospect of seeing Lorna Dane again, after the way she had divided the mutant underground and led some good people to what he thought was the wrong side of things. John knew that her way wasn't the answer. Making people fear mutants more, giving them good reason to be afraid, wasn't going to help their cause any. He didn't like hiding anymore than she or anyone else did, but he firmly believed she was headed down the wrong path. It saddened him, after all they'd been through together.
Not ready to face his complicated feelings over Lorna's betrayal, John found himself seeking out the other young mutant he'd learned was here from his time. Lauren Strucker. He didn't know her incredibly well, but what he did know, he liked. Lauren seemed to have a pretty good head on her shoulders. She was a good kid and she'd been stuck here for who knew how long alone with Lorna. If there was someone here he trusted to give him the real deal on Atlantis, it was going to be her, so he went to work tracking her down. It was pretty easy to track her, thanks to his own mutant abilities. He located the young mutant and started to make his way to where he was confident he would find her.
Lauren was still getting used to the idea that she was in school again, and real school, not hey here are some books let's make a sort of school kind of school. She'd trained in the morning, gone to school and gone to training after school. It was a lot of work, but Lauren liked it, she felt like things were progressing and that maybe they'd be okay.
She was sitting at the Brew doing her homework when the arrival alert went off. She didn't look at she found it just disappointed her more often than not. She was working on a calculus problem that she was pretty sure she'd be asking her new roommate Ray about later when she glanced up and saw John walking through the door.
It took her a moment to believe it was true as she watched him walk towards her. Jumping out of the booth she practically lept at him giving him a big hug before it dawned her that, that was probably weird and backed up quickly. "Sorry, it's just, you're here." She said with an awkward smile. "It's just been me and Lorna from home, and I don't trust her, and it's just..." She stopped not really sure what to say.
John let his normal stoic mask slip enough to give Lauren a reassuring smile after he took a moment to hug her back. He’d learned enough to know she’d been alone here, save for Lorna, and he couldn’t blame her for not trusting the other mutant. He wasn’t entirely sure he trusted her, either, truth be told.
“It’s okay,” he said, stepping back a little more to look her over. “I get it. They told me you’ve been here a while.” He paused to grin at her more warmly. “Besides, it’s kind of nice to get such an exuberant welcome.”
"Long enough to know how crazy this place is," Lauren answered nodding towards the booth she'd been in. Retaking her seat, she pulled all of her books together to get them out of the way.
"So, do you think you're going to stay?" She asked curiously and hopefully. Lauren really would prefer if he stuck around.
“I’m thinking about it,” John admitted as he moved to take a seat across from her. He’d just arrived, so he hadn’t had time to really weigh the pros and cons, but based on what he knew about the fight, he was seriously considering it. What COS was doing here was going to effect their world at home, too. It was just as important as the fight there was.
“Well, I hope you decide to stay,” Lauren would love to have someone else around she knew for a fact that she could trust. “Have you seen her?” She asked after a moment of silence, she wasn’t sure how much John knew from home or if he’d wandered around before coming into the Brew.
John shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. “After what she did, I’m not even sure what I’ll say to her.” He paused as someone came by to ask if they could get him anything and he ordered a coffee before turning back to Lauren. “I’ll have to eventually. We’ve been through a lot together. It’s still hard for me to believe everything that’s happened lately.”
Lauren nodded, she hadn’t known her as long as John had, but she’d seen the change and she’d seen the change in her own brother which made it even worse for her. Watching her brother walk away like that was devastating to her. “I’ve seen her a couple of times, she keeps trying to tell me how she’s right and someday I’ll see the light.” Lauren shrugged. “I don’t know, sometimes it feels like a different person.”
“She’s been through a lot,” was all John could say. “Some of those things, they change a person, I guess.” He felt hurt, betrayed, confused by Lorna’s behavior as well. He believed just as firmly that their way was not the right way and it had hurt to see people he’d known and trusted for a long time go with Lorna. The fact that even here she couldn’t see how wrong she was... it bothered him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to her when he saw her, but he knew he couldn’t avoid her forever. What he could do, however, was avoid the situation for now.
“Other than Lorna, how have you found life in Atlantis? What about this fight they’ve recruited us for?” he asked Lauren, hoping to change the subject. There were things he would need to know if he chose to stay and fight with these people.
Lauren was about to insist that it didn’t excuse murder but she thought better of it. She also wanted to point out that they’d all been through a lot, she might not have been on the run for as long, but she had been hiding who she really was for years but she knew it wasn’t as long as others, she just didn’t think being through a lot meant you got to murder innocent people.
“It’s weirdly good, there isn’t any hiding who you are, you aren’t treated differently because of what we are, kind of the opposite, it’s looked on as a positive, but regular humans are looked at as positive too… It’s pretty accepting when it comes to the stuff we’re used to.” She frowned slightly. “COS, they’re crazy from everything I’ve learned so far. But, the operation here has gotten some of the tools that COS is after and they did get everyone back earlier this month after some people got kidnapped.” Lauren shrugged. “It’s a fight that is part of every world, even ours. If COS wins, what we do back home won’t even matter.”
John nodded, glad to talk about something else. Truthfully, he didn’t think everything they’d been through excused what Lorna had done. He was just grasping for something that would explain how the Lorna he knew, his friend could be capable of it.
Listening intently as Lauren explained a little more than he’d gotten from the hologram about COS, the tools they were after and the importance of the fight here, he let himself focus on that. One worry at a time and if he did decide to stay, as he was leaning toward this was important stuff to know. Lauren made a good point, he had to admit, and her words helped to sway him further.
“I have to admit, it sounds like a worthy fight,” he said as she finished.
“I think it is, I wasn’t really sure about staying here when I first got here either.” Although part of her reason had do with the fact that her family wasn’t here and she worried about them.
“Things are really weird here though too. One day pigs showed up all over the place, talking pigs.” She clarified. “People woke up in a swimming pool of popcorn, you just missed a weird roommate switch. The apartments used to be two rooms and now they are four, that happened over night and we all moved while we were sleeping. I have no idea how that’s even possible but it happened.” She didn’t want to tell him one of her roommates was a psychopath though.
John couldn’t help laughing when she described the kind of strange things that happened here. He was a mutant, he was used to unusual occurrences and strange new powers, but some of what she describe was weird even grading on the mutant curve.
“That’s... well, I guess life here stays interesting, at least,” he said, shaking his head. He paused a moment before adding, “is there anything else I need to know?”
“Um.” Lauren sat back thinking about it for a second. “The people in charge seem pretty good, I haven’t met the Admiral or anything, but the field people seem really on top of it. Lorna is training people but I’m working with someone else.” Lauren didn’t think she had to explain why.
“I think we could really use you here, I know it’s weird and the whole leaving our world behind, but this place is also great, you don’t have to hide who you are or worry about things like that, worrying about other things, sure, but it’s just, it’s different.”
No, she didn’t need to explain and John just nodded. He smiled when she mentioned that they could really use him. Staying was a consideration already, but it was nice to hear from a friend that she wanted him to stay. Hearing he didn’t have to hide here or worry about the same things he did at home was a selling point, too.
“I’m definitely thinking about it,” he assured her.