After talking with Renee, who was successful at calming her friend down and soothing her anger, Winona was sat in the infirmary treating a boy's minor injury. She was thoroughly contemplating on staying at the Underground. She didn't want to stay there anymore. Especially not after she found out the real reason that the others had wanted her to stay in the first place.

She finished taping the gauze down over a cut on the boy's arm and smiled. "All done. Now, be careful. I don't want to be seeing you here again, all right?" She said. He nodded and smiled at her. "I'll try my best," Sam said. She nodded, "Mhmm." Sam stood up and walked out of the infirmary. Once he was gone, Winona sighed and relaxed into her seat, closing her eyes.

"You're good at this," Caitlin said as she approached her. Winona was startled and jumped, her eyes snapping open. Caitlin held up her hands. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," she said, taking a seat next to Winona. "It's fine," Winona muttered. "Have you ever consider going into the medical field?" Caitlin asked.

"In case you haven't realized, I kinda can't do that," Winona replied, gesturing about the Underground. Caitlin shook her head. "I meant, did you ever consider going into the medical field? Before all of this happened," she elaborated. "Yes. I mean, I thought about it but I kinda also wanted to be a physicist too. Obviously neither of those things happened," she answered, muttering the last sentence.

"A physicist huh?" Caitlin questioned. Winona shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess. I had trouble figuring it out when I was in high school. At one point, I wanted to be an artist or photographer. I used to like to draw and take pictures. But when college rolled around, I had to really figure it all out. I finally decided on biomedical engineering during my sophomore year. My parents were happy that I had everything figured out. I had one more year of college to go when this all started," Winona answered.

Caitlin hesitated before asking her next question. "Your sister, did she have her life figured out?" She asked. Winona didn't respond for a moment. "She was already in college when I was still in high school. At first she wanted to be a veterinarian. Then after her first year at a community college, she decided she wanted to be a physical therapist," she answered.

"That was some change," Caitlin said. Winona smiled, "That's what my parents said." It grew quiet for a moment. "Were they upset that she changed her mind?" Caitlin asked quietly. "Who, my parents?" Winona asked and Caitlin nodded. Winona shrugged, "Not really. They were always supportive and helpful. They practically forced Elaine to continue living with us while she attended university so that she could save money. They were always thinking ahead like that." Caitlin nodded.

"They seem great," she said and Winona scoffed. "They were. And then they found out that Elaine was a mutant and they kicked her out," Winona said. Caitlin shook her head and looked down. "They were about to kick me out too. They were afraid that I might have been a mutant also. I mean, Elaine and I are both adopted and they didn't know who either of our biological parents were. It was possible. It's kind of why I don't like using my powers too much," Winona said bitterly.

Caitlin looked at her intensely, sensing that the girl would continue, which she did. "I tried to assure them that I wasn't a mutant and convince them not to kick Elaine out. I even said that I'd take that stupid test to see if I had the X gene. They just didn't want to listen. They changed their minds about kicking me out but, not Elaine. I couldn't stay there with them after that and I couldn't leave Elaine by herself. So, we both packed our things and left. And we never looked back," Winona concluded.

It became silent again for a long moment. The silence was beginning to grow unbearable and Winona fidgeted her seat. "I'm sorry," Caitlin whispered. Winona sighed softly. "Don't be. It's not your fault. I don't even know why I told you all that," she replied. Winona wiped under her eyes and felt the wet tears. She hadn't realized that she was crying.

Caitlin took ahold of one of her hands and squeezed it. "I'm glad you did," she said. Winona looked over at the woman and gave her a small smile. "What your parents did, is not something that they should've done. Whether they were your biological parents or not. And I'm sorry that you had to go through that," Caitlin said.

"It's okay," Winona mumbled. "No, it's not. It's not okay for them to have just abandoned you like that. You and Elaine are their children. They adopted you for a reason. They gave you a home. Cared for you. Loved you. And then you end up being mutants and then all of that just disappears. All that love and history. The memories. It doesn't add up. They raised you two. They should've stuck by you. That's what parents do," Caitlin said.

"Well, not all parents are like you and your husband," Winona said. Caitlin smiled, her eyes teary. "Lauren and Andy are lucky to have you two," Winona added. "Well, now you've got us too," Caitlin said. Winona smiled, a lot wider this time.

····

A glint of silver hair was all John saw as Winona briskly walked past him. Her hair swished from side to side as she quickly made her way toward the stairs. He contemplated on following after her. He knew that the girl had been looking for Clarice and was probably worried sick. He had to tell her that she had left.

"Winona!" He called. The girl sighed in annoyance and continued walking to the stairs. He quickly caught up to her and stopped her stride by stepping in front of her. "Look, I don't know if you realized but I kinda don't want to talk to you right now. Or ever," she said, pushing past him and walking again.

"I know. But I need to talk to you," he said, following after her. "That's too bad," she replied. "It's about Clarice," he said. This got the girl to stop and she turned to him. "What about her?" She asked, taking a few steps closer to him. John sighed, "She's gone." Winona's eyes widened and she stared at him.

"Gone? What the hell do you mean by 'gone'?" She asked in worry. Realizing his poor choice of wording, John quickly shook his head. "Uh, she left. The Underground," he clarified. Winona sighed in relief before her eyes narrowed. "I wonder why she did that," she said, her tone accusing. Her glare on him remained as he continued speaking again.

"Dreamer did something to her. Put a memory in her head in order to get Clarice to open a portal to help us the other day," he said. "Yeah, I know. What does that have to do with anything?" Winona said. "I knew what Sonya did and--" Winona cut him off. "Wow! You really are an asshole," she stated before turning around and walking away.

"What?" He asked. "Sonya used Clarice and you knew about it. And you were okay with it," she said, continuing to walk to the stairs. "I wasn't okay with it," he defended. "Really? Because you didn't tell Clarice about what Sonya did. Did you, John?" She said. She spat his name out with so much venom that he had to stop himself from flinching.

"All right, what's your problem? I understand that you're mad about the situation with Elaine but--" Again, he was cut off. Winona whipped around to face him, her glare hard. "But what? You know, I'm just so sick of the bullshit," she said. "What bullshit?" He asked, trying to keep his anger under control. "The lies. The using people. All of it," she snapped.

"Using people? No one is using anyone," John said. Winona scoffed in disbelief. "Really? So Sonya didn't use Clarice to open a portal?" She asked him. He sighed and opened his mouth to speak but she continued. "And you haven't been using me because of my powers?" She said.

John's eyebrows furrowed in confusion before realization hit him. "You heard the conversation between Sonya and I," he stated. She nodded with false enthusiasm. Another sigh escaped his lips. "Am I just some sort of mutant mystery to you? I have more than one ability and you wanna know why," Winona accused.

"We all want to know why," he said calmly. "So, you are using me. Because what, you think I'm some special mutant?" She said. "No. Nobody's using you Winona," John said. "Admit it, you wanted me to come here because I have two different powers," she said. "No, I wanted you to come here because you were in danger and I wanted to help you," he said.

"But that's not the only reason, is it John?" She questioned, her eyebrows raised. He didn't reply. "What's the matter? Cat got you tongue?" She said. He sighed. "Look, if Sentinel Services got their hands on you, who knows what would've happened? It's rare to come across mutant with two different mutations. Who knows what they would've done to you? What they would've used you for," he said.

"So, in order to ensure that they didn't get to use me, you got to me first so that you could use me instead. Now I get it," she said before starting to walk away. John stopped her. "No! That's not it. You don't understand," he said. "Oh, I understand perfectly, John. Everything you've ever said to me was a lie. It was all bullshit," she said.

"That's not true," he replied. "You've lied to me before. How do I know you're not lying to me now?" She said. "Because I never used you!" John said. "Not yet!" Winona snapped back. "I never would have. You have to trust me," he said. "Trust you? Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to trust you when you keep giving me reasons not to?" She exclaimed.

John looked away from her. "Well I don't trust you, John. And I don't think I ever will," she said. Winona ignored the look of hurt on his face and walked away from him.

····

The backpack on Winona's shoulders bumped against her back as she bounded down the stairs of the Underground the next day. She quickly descended the stairs and headed toward the door. Lorna's voice, however, caused her to stop. "Going somewhere?" She asked loudly.

Winona sighed and turned to the girl who was looking at her with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised expectantly. "What gave it away?" Winona asked sarcastically. Lorna pushed herself off of the wall she was leaning against and stalked over to Winona. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"As far away from here as I can get," Winona replied. "Why?" Lorna asked. Because I don't want to stay here," Winona answered. "What's going on? Is this about your sister?" Lorna questioned. "Among other things," Winona muttered. "What happened?" Lorna asked. Winona sighed, gripping the straps of her backpack.

"I know why you guys really came after me. Why you decided to 'help' me. I don't appreciate being used nor do I appreciate being lied to," Winona said. "I don't know what you're talking about. We never used you," Lorna said. "I'm sure you were going to, weren't you?" Winona said. Lorna stared at the girl for a moment before shaking her head.

"We probably would've utilized you and your powers if it came down to it. But-- Look, in case you haven't realized we're kind of at war. And we could use all the help that we can get, sure. But we didn't risk our lives to come find you just to use you in a war. One that we have a chance at stopping before it gets really bad," Lorna said.

Winona looked away from the girl and Lorna sighed. "You have every right to be mad at Marcos and John concerning the situation with your sister. But, don't be mad at John because you think he was using you. John would never do that. Especially not to you," Lorna said.

Winona's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "John? Why are you bring him into this?" She asked. Lorna rolled her eyes at the question. "Your little argument with John was a lot louder than you might have thought. I saw the whole thing and I'm not the only one," the green haired girl explained. Winona didn't respond and Lorna sighed.

"Look, I don't know what the deal is between you two but with everything going on, we all need to have each other's backs," Lorna said. "There is no deal," Winona denied. Lorna narrowed her eyes, not believing the girl. "Right," she dragged out the word and Winona rolled her eyes. "You should talk to Marcos and John. They're good guys and I know that they want to help you find your sister. But they also want to protect everyone here. They don't want you or anyone else to get hurt," Lorna said.

"Marcos wasn't really thinking about the possibility of people getting hurt when he was hellbent on finding you," Winona pointed out. Lorna sighed and shook her head. "That's because sometimes Marcos is an idiot," she said. Winona cracked a smile. "Don't leave," Lorna said.

"I might have to," Winona said. Lorna's face fell. "Clarice is out there somewhere and I gotta find her and bring her ass back here," she continued. "You might need John's help with finding her," Lorna said with a smirk. Winona's eyes narrowed and Lorna chuckled.

"Where's Marcos?" She asked the green haired girl. "He left with Reed and Andy to that building in Baton Rouge," Lorna replied. "I guess you're gonna have to start by talking to John," she added. "I'm kinda tired. I think I'm gonna take a nap," Winona lied, faking a yawn for added affect. Lorna chuckled again, "Do whatever you want. Except for John."

"What?" Winona asked quickly. Lorna laughed loudly and clamped a hand over her mouth. "That was a joke," she said in between laughs. "I don't understand why you would make a joke like that," Winona said, her voice laced with confusion. Lorna looked at the girl in amusement before shaking her head. "Nevermind. Go take your nap," she replied before she began walking away from the girl.

She continued to laugh, muttering something to herself. Winona stared after the girl, her eyebrows furrowed. "She is so strange. I see why she and Marcos are a together," she mumbled before turning around and walking back up the steps.

°°°°

These people will never let Winona leave! Lol here's chapter fourteen. Another fun chapter to write. I'm sorry for the lack of updates but ya girl just had stuff to do. I hope it was enjoyable. Please leave feedback because I like reading your comments. And also vote if you liked the chapter. Have a great day.