Hmm...I use the word "damn" a lot in this story, so if you're a youngling whose pure soul might be irrevocably scarred and polluted, then you HAVE been warned.

Anyhow. Enjoy.

"Aren't you damn tired of having to be rescued all of the time?"

Morgan twitched, coming out of her chloroform coma. "Aren't you tired of killing my brain cells?" she grumbled angrily, the fuzzy visage of Magneto coming slowly into focus. Her smoky brown hair was sticking up at odd angles, her t-shirt torn across the bottom, revealing part of her olive-skinned stomach. She blinked her watery eyes repeatedly.

He smirked, pulling away. They were in The Box, or something very similar to it; a stone cell with a heavy iron door and bars in the round window, a view of the nighttime sea stretching on forever outside it. Magneto used it to test his "followers;" the faster they could get out of it, the better. Unfortunately for them, she held the current record.

Several of his cronies had accompanied him; he took the time to inform her of their roles in her capture. Toad had drawn her from the window, Sabertooth had overpowered her, and the rock thrower was…

Pyro leaned up against the cool stone, watching at her with his gray eyes. He flicked his lighter on and off nervously, his gaze flitting back and forth between his master and his victim. Her glare intensified, fury boiling in her veins; she struggled against her bonds.

They were of the same alien material that had prevented her from using her powers before, though far more extensive. She examined them with her mind…or tried to. As much as she tried to wrap her thoughts around them, they slid around the metal, refusing to touch it. She closed her eyes, concentrating…

She yelped. A sharp pain in her wrist brought her out of her reverie, and she found herself staring once more into the smirking face of the head of the Brotherhood.

"I suppose a warning would be unnecessary at this point," Magneto said dryly, drawing back from the chair to which she was bound.

Slumping back into the chair, she smiled benignly up at him. "Well, then. Congratulations! You have succeeded in capturing a disinterested, defenseless human-being once again…"

"Spare me, darling Morgan. You are neither defenseless…nor human." Magneto tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially. "Techno! Are you listening?"

"Of course, boss-man." The high-pitched, irritating voice of the young Chinese mutant erupted from the corners of the room. "What can I do you for?"

"How long will it take for you to finish repairs?"

"Nearly done, chief. Maybe an hour…three at the most. The thing was shot clear to…"

"Thank you, Techno. Have it ready in an hour," Magneto purred, cutting him off. Shaking his silvered head gently, he leered at his ruffled captive. "And now, Ms. Oleander, we must part company. Do not fret; I'll shall return soon." Winking in an infuriating way, he glided towards the door. The others followed, pausing with him as he shut the door forcefully.

"You two, come with me. Pyro, you stay here and guard the door. I'm not taking any chances." His icy cold eyes flicked back through the one-way window at Morgan. "I expect that this event shall not proceed as that last catastrophe." He glanced at his watch, the tiny hands powered by his own magnetic pulse.

"So much to do, and so little time in which to do it. Come," he commanded and swept off down the corridor, his inferiors drifting along in his wake.

Johnny leaned exasperatedly against the door, seething quietly. Well, that was a creative way of telling me I'm worthless. "Gee, John, you screwed up bad last time! Why don't you just stay out of the way and let the big boys do their job? Thanks!"

"Hey."

He ignored her, flicking open the lighter in his hand.

"Hey. I know you can hear me. Open the goddamn door, I'm frying in here."

Johnny released a bark of laughter, changing his position so he could talk to the door. "Anything else, your majesty? The key to your bonds, perhaps?"

"That'd be nice, but I don't figure they'd trust you with anything like that." He watched her as she leaned back in the chair, stretching her neck. "So. Why am I here, then? Doesn't your boss know the meaning of 'bugger off?'?"

Johnny chuckled, then caught himself. "Dunno," he said, feigning ignorance. He flicked the lighter open again, watching the dancing flame.

"Liar. Look, just because I got kidnapped twice doesn't mean I'm an imbecile. It's not everyday a girl has to worry about being chloroformed." She looked up, staring right at him through the one-way glass. "Tell me. I'll find out soon enough."

"That you will," he said, looking away quickly. She had nice eyes. What are you thinking, Allerdyce? She's the enemy!

Morgan stopped talking, concentrating on her bonds instead. Xavier's lesson sprang immediately to mind, but how to practice without drawing attention to herself?

She glanced around for cameras, but it seemed that Techno had finally gotten his wish; he had replaced the old surveillance systems with his own. The cameras were minute, appearing on the cold stones as mere shadows or pits.

Damn.

She closed her eyes, her mind bobbing gently along her bloodstream as unobtrusively as possible. At her wrists, she was jolted firmly back into her normal perspective. She swore loudly, bashing the constraints against the chair.

"Hey! Hey!" Johnny grabbed for the door handle, wrenching it open. "Stop it, you crazy bitch! I'll kill you! You watch me, now!" he yelled, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.

Her head lashed forward, her skull catching him full in the face. He grunted and careened backwards, clutching his nose.

"Sorry!" she whispered, massaging her forehead with her bound hands. She hobbled out of the cell, the remaining fog of the chloroform drifting around her brain. Slamming the door shut, she leaned against it, dizzy and disoriented. She locked the door and beat the chain of her handcuffs against the iron handle. The links bent slightly, but didn't give.

"Damn," she whispered, then took off down the hall.