Layla

Chapter Two: The Lab

The second the heavy steel doors shut closed, Hank spun around facing Layla. Seeing that Hank was blocking her path, Layla stopped where she was. She let out an annoyed sigh while crossing her arms.

"Hey, what happened back there? You froze in the middle of training, and it took two hits from the sentinel just to wake you up. Are you alright?" Hank asked looking concerned.

"Hank, I'm fine. And I didn't freeze...well, I did freeze, but I was planning an attack on the sentinel. That was part of my plan." Layla lied cooly.

She managed to look up at Hank, and Hank stood there scrutinizing Layla. He remained quiet keeping his eyebrows drawn tightly together while his lips were pressed in a tight line. He wasn't sure if he believed what Layla told him was true or not. Looking back at what happened during training, Hank recalled Layla looking petrified, and unable to move her limbs. She allowed a sentinel to throw her around like a rag doll before she finally snapped out of it, and returned to the matter that was at hand. To Hank, that did not appear to be a strategic move played out by Layla. The whole group was watching with worried or confused eyes. At one point, he thought Peter was going to zip out on the field, and grab Layla because he had been worried. Luckily, that was when Layla decided to snap out of her daze and return to fighting.

Hank didn't know if he should believe Layla or not. Layla could have been telling the truth, but Hank had a feeling she was covering up what had transpired during training. The event only occurred once, and he knew he shouldn't make a big deal out of it, but given what happened last year, Hank knew Layla never talked about it. However, Layla never seemed to be troubled after that incident. Then again, Layla stayed quiet about things that were going on in her life, and as a friend that bothered Hank. After all, he and Charles didn't know much about her past or her friendship with Peter, until Charles went into her mind, hoping to wake her from her nightmares when she almost brought the school down. Hank would never know, and all he could do was go by what Layla told him. Hank's expression eased and he stepped to the side, allowing Layla to pass through.

"Alright. Just...don't do that again. You had me and the others worried because we didn't know what the hell you were doing." Hank said calmly.

"Okay, but it was training, Hank, and I had a plan. I had it under control." Layla said keeping her tone level, and expression calm.

Layla walked past Hank feeling a bit relieved, but the weight on her shoulders wouldn't budge until she was away from Hank, and in her room. She was surprised Hank had believed her, but she had a feeling he still questioned what happened. In order for Hank or the others not to question her, she needed to make sure what went on didn't happen again. Layla wasn't quite sure what happened, though. She had been having nightmares about the accident, but she learned to wake herself from those dreams. She was tired, but not exhausted like she had been previously. Was she scared when she thought about what happened a year ago? Yes, but she shouldn't be seeing him. Could she? What happened during training scared Layla, and while she told Hank she had the situation under control, she wasn't quite sure.

"Oh, hey." Hank interrupted stopping Layla on her way upstairs.

Layla spun around facing Hank. "Yeah?"

"Meet me down at the lab this evening." He said before he went back into the training room.

Layla never even had the chance to ask why, but she was too tired and sore to push on, and reminded herself to meet Hank this evening.

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Unknown

"I think we may have found something relating to the information you requested. It took some digging, but I believe we might have what you need. Here's the file." The recruit said in a flat tone, placing the manilla envelope on the desk.