I didn't really know which category to put this under, so it ended up here. Morgan is an OC I'm working on for another story. I originally meant for her to be a love interest for Kurt, but I realized their relationship worked better as a mentor/mentee sort of thing. So I wrote this little one-off to see how well it works.
Kurt here has more of his personality from the comics (and possibly some Evo) rather than the movies. I thought exuberant friendly Kurt would better fit the story than shy damaged Kurt would.
It was Morgan's first night in the mansion—well, the first night that she was consciously aware of. Jean had informed her that she'd actually been dropped off about two weeks ago, unconscious on the front steps. Left with her was a note detailing her mutant specifications, not failing to mention that she was very dangerous—of course, she didn't know that. Jean and the others had neglected mentioning it to her. They figured that she didn't need to know.
In another couple of days, she would start classes. She hadn't met anyone yet, and had been given some time to adjust to the pace of life at the school. Professor Xavier had suggested that Jean should introduce her to a few of the more outgoing kids in the morning. She'd lived a fairly isolated life, and had never really had contact with any kids her age in all her sixteen years.
She was wide awake staring at the ceiling, trying desperately not to fall asleep. If she slept, the nightmares would come. And if they did, she would scream and wake everyone up. And then—well, what would happen? Would they beat her? Toss her out and leave her to fend for herself?
She felt her eyelids drooping and snapped them open forcefully, clambering out of bed. Jean had showed her where the kitchen was; she would just go down there and see what they had as far as caffeine. Morgan did this whenever she felt the night terrors were going to be a problem. Pills, energy drinks, coffee, whatever it took to keep her awake. It was beginning to take a toll on her health. She had been given a full physical earlier that day and the telepathic doctor had expressed her concerns regarding a fast and somewhat irregular heartbeat. Morgan had chalked it up to stress. No need to be under any more scrutiny than she already was.
The door creaked as she stepped out into the darkened hallway. Moonlight spilled in uneven slats through a gap in the heavy curtains at the end of the hall, illuminating the double row of what seemed like endless doors like something out of a bad horror movie. Barefoot, her feet made muffled thumps as she crept her way along the hardwood floor. She had one foot on the top stair when she saw it—a pair of glowing eyes peeking out of a doorway directly opposite her. Morgan froze at the sight of the figure before her—what she could see of it anyway. It was almost completely shrouded in darkness, backlit by the window behind it. It had a long tail and stood on its toes, its feet resembling a bird's. Not a scrap of light touched it, save its glowing eyes. It was like staring into a humanoid black hole.
It took a step forward and Morgan took one back, swallowing a scream as her shaking legs gave out from beneath her and she fell back against the banister. Her vision wavered, but she managed to stay conscious.
In an instant, the thing was crouched in front of her, practically on top of her, staring at her with those bright yellow eyes and muttering something low and guttural.
"Are you all right, fraulein?" asked a heavily-accented male voice.
"Y-yes," she managed to stammer through chattering teeth. "It's just…I mean…"
"You've never seen the likes of me before," he said, a statement rather than a question.
"Yeah," she agreed, her tone suddenly sheepish. "I'm…I'm sorry."
Bright teeth flashed in the moonlight, revealing sharp fangs. "Well, despite my outward appearance, rest assured you have nothing to fear from me!" he grinned. "My name is Kurt. I don't believe I've seen you before, Miss…?"
"Morgan," she supplied.
"Now, Miss Morgan, where were you headed at this hour?" he smiled warmly at her. Morgan felt herself relax a bit under his gentle gaze.
"I couldn't sleep, so I was going to the kitchen to get a drink."
"What a coincidence," he said. "So was I. And I know a shorter way, if you're up for it." He offered a hand to her. She hesitated as her fingers came into contact with only three, index, pinkie, and thumb. In the end, she decided to trust him, deciding he was probably harmless. He grabbed hold of her arm to steady her as they stood. "Ready?"
"What do you…" she began, but was instantly enveloped in smoke. Suddenly she found herself grabbing the edge of a table, Kurt guiding her to a chair and flipping on the light.
"Sorry," he supplied. "Sometimes I forget that can be kind of rough on my passengers."
"No kidding," she grimaced, willing herself not to throw up. "What was that?"
"You're new here, aren't you?" he asked, busying himself with the tea kettle. "It's my power—my mutant ability. I can teleport."
"Are—are you a student here?" she asked, still a little nervous. Kurt looked a bit older than the others she'd seen in passing. She'd guess he was in his mid-twenties at least. Up close, he looked less threatening than he had in the dark, but still, he'd pretty much hit the nail on the head when he'd guessed she'd never seen anything like him before. Almost. Until tonight, the only place she'd ever seen creatures like him was right before she woke up screaming.
He seemed so nice. She didn't want to tell him that his was the face of her nightmares.
Kurt laughed. "I was," he said. "But now, I'm a full-fledged member of the team! I'm the baby of the group though, so Scott and Logan still like to push me around a bit."
"I haven't met anyone else yet," she said. "I just got here."
"I figured," he replied, shifting in his chair, pointed tail twitching. "I just hope I didn't scare you too much, I was afraid you were going to fall down the stairs!" After a moment, he added, "I would have caught you, of course."
"No, it's fine." she said. "I was just startled."
He gave her an apologetic grin. "That's okay. I'm used to that sort of thing. You'd be surprised how many people I've probably given heart attacks…" There was a tinge of sadness in his tone. The kettle whistled then, and he got up and busied himself with getting mugs from the cabinet.
"Chamomile okay?" he called over his shoulder.
Morgan hesitated. "Actually, I was hoping for something a little stronger. Got any coffee?"
"At three in the morning?" he questioned.
"I don't sleep," she replied. "Well, I try not to anyway."
He shot her a quizzical look. "Is it because of your mutation?" he asked.
Morgan bit her lip. "Well…um…I guess you could call it a side effect," she supplied. "I get…nightmares."
"Ah," he nodded sagely. "I've had my fair share of those. Luckily they started going away after I'd been here a while. Hopefully the same will be true for you." He turned his attention back to the cabinets. "Now, the tea?"
"Chamomile's fine, thanks." she said, smiling at him. "And for what it's worth, I hope you're right. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in ages."
He smiled back warmly, handing her a steaming mug. He'd found a package of cookies in the cabinet and slid them across the table.
"Would it help you to talk about these nightmares of yours?" he asked, resuming his place across from her with his own cup of tea. "Or your mutation?"
Morgan took a sip of the scalding drink and nearly choked. "You…probably won't like me very much if I tell you," she said, instantly worried about what he would think and simultaneously kicking herself. The man had blue skin and a tail, for God's sake. He probably knew a thing or two about being misunderstood. "Before I tell you anything…do you mind me asking…are you human?"
It was Kurt's turn to look nervous. He clasped his hands together at his chest as he sank back in his chair, casting his gaze downwards. "Well…" he said shakily. "Yes and no. There are human mutants, and then there are two more ancient races—the Neyaphem and the Cheyarafim. Demonic and angelic mutants. My father was…is…one of the Neyaphem. And so am I, unfortunately." He pulled something out from the neck of his t-shirt and showed it to her. It was a small silver crucifix on a chain. "You can see why that gives me some trouble."
"Yeah," she sighed, drawing back warily. This man was half demon, a member of the species that plagued her dreams and made her life a living hell, no pun intended. "So…you're not evil, then."
"No!" he exclaimed. "At least, I hope not! Why…"
"My mutation," Morgan replied. "Some call it necromancy, or witchcraft, but that's not what it is really. Sometimes I think it's much worse than that. I can bring people back from the dead. Not just reanimate corpses, but really and truly bring them back to life. I can mentally pass into the afterlife and find their soul and drag it back to their body." She fixed Kurt with a stare and took a swig of tea before continuing. "There was a woman who took me in to 'train' me, but really all she wanted me for was what you might call black magic. She forced me to go there and take people back, and…turns out, some of the more, well, shall we say sinister powers that be weren't happy with that arrangement and now they…ahem…send things after me. In my dreams."
Kurt blinked. He didn't know what to say. There was a decent chance this girl had tangled with Azazel himself, though he didn't imagine it would be much comfort to her to know that.
"I thought," she stammered, suddenly fascinated with the contents of her cup. "When I first saw you, I thought…I thought you were one of them. I'm sorry, you've been nothing but nice to me and…God, I'm so sorry, Kurt."
"It's all right," he said, patting her arm. "At least you're not afraid of me anymore, ja?" he asked hopefully, not wanting to admit that her words stung.
"Um…" she began. Kurt looked absolutely crushed. "I don't think so," she hurried. "I mean, I don't really know you, but you seem like a good guy. Give it some time, okay? I'd like to think of you as a friend."
"Good!" he grinned, taking a cookie from the package. "It's a start, anyway."
"I guess so," she replied, following suit.
They talked for a bit longer, Kurt telling her a bit more about the school and its students. Morgan had to admit she felt a lot less apprehensive about being here than she had a few hours ago. If the others were as understanding as Kurt made them out to be, she didn't have much to worry about.
When she started nodding off at the table, Kurt led her back upstairs—the long way this time—and bid her goodnight.
"Pleasant dreams, Miss Morgan." he said. "I'll keep you in my prayers, if you like."
"That would be nice," she told him. "Thank you."
With that he departed, and she closed her door and climbed back into bed. The dim light of pre-dawn was shining through the curtains before she finally allowed herself to close her eyes again, not wanting to forget that she was safe now. Maybe her life would finally start turning around.
Let me know what you think! Reviews are always appreciated!