I follow her into a room just off the gym, and a shiver runs down my spine as she bolts the door behind herself. She peels off her brown, elbow length gloves and lays them on the small table, motioning for me to do the same. I nervously take them off, sitting them next to hers, noticing that they're the same, though hers are brown and mine black. I turn slowly, nervously, to face her. Her hazel eyes scan my body before she nods to herself. She's wearing jeans and a green and white rugby shirt, and her brown hair is tied up in a ponytail, with the white streaks framing her face. She's quite pretty, but her hazel eyes seem cold to me. She walks around me, her eyes constantly on me, but I don't move.
"Turn around," she says from behind me. I turn and face her, finding her standing about a metre from me. "I'm here to teach you to control it."
"What do you do?" I ask. "How do you know so much about this?"
Her eyes change at this, though I'm not entirely sure what changes. "When I touch someone, I take their life force. In mutants, I take their powers. For five years I worked on this, and I can control my powers now. I can remove them for a short time, I can strengthen them, and I can even form a shield on my skin, to protect against powers similar to my own, and send them back to their owners if I wish."
"And you think I can learn that?"
"Laura thinks you can learn that," she corrects scornfully. "I, on the other hand, think you're too young to be attempting something like this."
"Then why are you bothering with me?"
"Because Laura asked me to. I trust her, but I think she's got it wrong this time. I owe her a favour. That's the only reason I'm doing this."
"I'll do what I can," I say simply. "That's the best you're gonna get out of me."
"Well let's begin then. Hold out your hand." I do so, my hand trembling slightly. She notices, raising an eyebrow. "Scared? You should be. Keep your hand right there." She slowly raises her hand, and touches her fingertips to mine. Instead of her crying out like I expected, I find myself collapsing before I know it, falling down onto one knee, the shock rippling through my body.
"Did you have to do that?" I say through gritted teeth.
"Do you want to learn, or not? Do it again. Focus on letting it leave your body."
Her hand is still outstretched, and I raise my hand again. She raises an eyebrow, and I take a deep breath, meeting my fingers to hers for a second time. The shock still feels the same, though slightly less painful, whether from expecting it or this actually working I don't know. I still fall to my knees, though no sound escapes my lips.
"Try harder. Again."
Rage boils up inside me, but I force it back down, and touch her hand for a third time. The touch stings a bit more, but it has the same effect.
"Again."
This time I can't control my anger. It fills me and bubbles just under the surface, threatening to overflow. I raise my hand again and touch her, and instantly collapse, falling to the ground, my legs giving way completely. Waves of nausea roll through my body, each one hitting me like a fully loaded freight train until my breakfast makes a sudden reappearance in the bin. I look over at Rogue and see her with one hand at her temple, rubbing it gently. I slowly force myself up until I'm kneeling in front of her, the aftershocks still rippling uneasily through my slight frame. She looks at me, her eyes different again, but I still can't figure out what's different.
"Someone so young shouldn't have so much anger." A simple comment, but it angers me even further.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I ask, my voice weak and shaky.
"I'm teaching you," she replies simply. I'm about to retaliate, but she cuts in. "You see, your mind will eventually learn that doing this will cause you pain. If you keep trying, then your mind will adapt and you will be able to subdue your power enough that it has no effect if you wish to touch someone without harm, although it will still remain, but doing what you tell it to. So, if someone is attacking you, then you can concentrate your power, but if you were to touch someone without hurting them, or getting hurt yourself, you can temporarily remove your power. Until then, this is what we have to do."
"But that hurt you, didn't it?"
She frowns at me, clearly unimpressed with my comments. "Yes. My shield can't protect me from everything. If the power is too strong, then the shield breaks. I don't get the full force of it, but it still finds its way to me. You're too angry, and your power too strong. Focus on diminishing it, so much that it's gone."
"That doesn't help," I say tightly.
"I can't show you how to do it," she points out. "It's a mental thing."
I slowly stand, clutching at the table as another wave of nausea shudders through my body. She holds out her hand again and I sigh, shutting my eyes as I raise my hand, meeting her fingertips again. The pain is less this time, but with the after-effects of the previous attempt still rattling my body, I drop again, retching, but manage to keep it down. I stand again, tears welling in my eyes. She notices this, and her eyes change again.
"Do you want to stop?" she asks, her voice surprisingly softer.
I nod. "I can't do it," I say, my voice thick.
She hesitantly lays a hand on my shoulder. "It took me years to learn. I don't expect you to learn in one lesson. It's difficult stuff, and you're very young."
"Well you're not that old, either," I point out, shrugging off her hand.
"I'm 28, that's still older than you by a long shot, kid. Now put your gloves back on; we're done here."
She quickly slips her gloves back on and leaves, and I pull mine back on and leave, shutting the door behind me. I head back over to the others, who are forming a circle in the middle of the gym, which Storm, Rogue, Kitty, Bobby, Pete and Logan stand inside. The main door opens and Laura walks in, joining the others inside the circle. I stand next to Morgan, not asking what's going on, just watching.
"It's time for sparring," Storm announces. "Morgan, you're next on the list. Who do you choose to spar with?"
Morgan steps out into the circle and glances around, suddenly locking eyes with me. "I pick Darcy."
I did Tae Kwon Do when I was younger, and I was a red belt, but now, I remember none of it. Morgan is older than me and bigger than me. She's trained while I've been on the run. There's no way I can beat her. But I still find myself walking into the circle and standing next to her. The circle expands as the others move out into the circle, and Morgan and I take up our positions on either side of the circle. There's no command, but she knows when to start, and runs at me like lightning. I don't have time to react before she slams into me, shoving me with her shoulder which sends me flying about four or five metres. I land on my back; the wind knocked out of me, and I see her running at me again. I force myself to my feet just before she reaches me and duck to the side. She runs past me, but I've already made my decision. I can't fight her, so I have to evade her, and wait for her to tire. I can't wait for her to lose her breath, because that will never happen, since she doesn't need air, so I need to try and outlast the rest of her body, which is going to take a while. She's spun around and is facing me again, ready to run. She takes off again, but this time I'm ready. Just before she reaches me, I step to the side and grab her, using her momentum to throw her away from me. When she stands, she looks shocked, but regains her composure a second later. She runs at me again, but this time I try a different approach. I stand still and relax my body, waiting for her to hit me. When she does, it's even more powerful than the first time, and she rolls right over the top of me and we keep going until she's on top of me. I tuck my knees into my chest and push up, shoving her off me. I force myself to my feet again, but she's quicker than I thought, already on her feet and looking straight at me. She charges at me again, but with my body still so weak, this, along with Rogue's training, has really beaten me down this morning, and I don't think I can keep going. While I'm thinking over my options, she's leapt at me, and I can't move fast enough. She lands right on top of me, one hand slamming my right shoulder into the ground. There's a sharp crack and a twisted howl rips from my throat as a stabbing pain blossoms from the point of my shoulder that Morgan slammed into the ground. The mats are on the floor, but they're pretty thin, not nearly thick enough to soften a blow this hard. Morgan immediately stands, a look of horror on her face, and offers me a hand which I don't take, since one hand is clutching my shoulder, and my shoulder hurts so much I don't think I can move it enough to raise my hand.
"Where does it hurt?" she asks me, dropping down on one knee beside me.
"My shoulder," I gasp, the pain shooting from my shoulder down through my arm and right to my centre.
Morgan shakes her head, her ebony hair coming loose and sticking to her face. "I don't know what to do," she concedes. "Laura, can you, please?"
Storm dismisses the others, but Morgan stays by me until Laura says she should go.
"You can come and visit her in a couple of hours, I promise," Laura says calmly, kneeling beside me.
Morgan slowly nods before laying her eyes on me for a second, looking away when she notices I'm looking at her.
"I'm sorry, Darcy," she says. I slowly raise my good arm and reach for her hand. She takes my gloved hand in both of her own and gently massages it, and I realise I've had it closed in a tight fist. As the blood starts flowing again, it slowly unfurls like a blooming flower. "I'll come visit you after lunch. If that's alright with you, Laura," she adds hastily.
"Of course," Laura replies, laying a hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Morgan. Go and get changed, go to class, and you can come down at lunchtime."
Morgan stands and heads towards the change rooms, and Storm and the others leave, too. But Kitty stays, taking up a position opposite Laura.
"You know, you don't have to stay, Kitty," Laura says placidly.
"I don't have anything on now," Kitty replies with a shrug. "Besides, I want to help."
This time Laura shrugs, before turning back to me. "Darcy, we need to get you back down to the infirmary to check you out. I'm pretty sure something's broken, but I need to X-ray it, and I don't have anything here with me. Kitty and I are going to sit you up now, and then we're going to get you down to the infirmary. Now just keep your arms as they are now, and support your shoulder. This is probably going to hurt, but it'll only be for a second."
Laura and Kitty each place one hand on my back and gently ease me into a sitting position. I keep my left hand around my shoulder, but it still moves, and I hiss in pain as I move.
"Laura, you should go down now and get what you need ready, I can take her from here," Kitty says. "Get everything ready so you can check her out as soon as we get down there."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Laura asks, beginning to stand.
"Trust me," Kitty replies. Laura tosses her a pair of thin, cloth gloves. "Thanks."
Laura leaves the room quickly, the door shutting eerily behind her, Kitty and I the only two left in the room. My shallow breaths fill the room, and I can feel my asthma starting to creep up on me. Kitty appears to notice, and gently places one hand behind my back to help me up.
"Hold onto your shoulder," she says, placing her other hand on my hip. "I'm going to pull you up on three, OK?" I nod, wincing as my shoulder throbs particularly painfully. "One, two, three."
I cry out as I stand, losing my footing slightly and bumping my shoulder against something, I think Kitty's arm, but I manage to stay on my feet. A single tear slips through my eyelashes and rolls down my cheek. Kitty notices and reaches out to me, gently wiping it away with her thumb. She looks down at me for a moment, and I notice her eyes are a warm hazel colour.
"Are you alright to keep going?" she asks, her voice soft.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I reply. "The sooner we get down there the sooner I can get drugged up."
"Let's go then," she says, keeping her hand on my back. I hold my shoulder as tightly as I can without making it hurt too much more, and slowly follow Kitty towards the door. She holds it open for me and I wait as she shuts it behind her. I still don't know my way around, so I need to follow her back to the infirmary. She walks slowly by my side, keeping to my pace until we reach our destination. Again, she opens the door for me, and Laura is waiting by the operating table.
"Darcy, do you think you'd be able to get changed first?" Laura asks concernedly. I shake my head, wincing slightly as it pulls on something in my shoulder. "Sit down then, and I'll give you some gas and air. It'll just relax you and take away some of the pain for a few minutes, alright?" This time I nod, heading for the table. Laura carefully lifts me onto it and pulls over a wheeled trolley with a whole bunch of things I'd have no hope of putting names to. She picks up a canister with a clear plastic mask and turns back to me. "This won't hurt; I just need you to take a few deep breaths of this so you can get changed."
"Then what happens?" I ask timidly. I don't want to be in any more pain than I already am, but if I have to be, I want to know why.
"I'll need to do an X-ray to see exactly what's wrong, I might give you a shot of local anaesthetic if you're in too much pain, and I'll have to give you a general anaesthetic if I have to operate on it. I hope it doesn't come to that, but if I have to do it, then I have to do it."
I nod slowly, accepting the mask and gently placing it over my mouth. I take a few deep breaths, sighing in relief as the pain fades.
"You've only got a few minutes before this wears off, so we'll need to be quick," Laura says. She removes the mask, leaving it and the canister sitting on the operating table and hands Kitty a white outfit, presumably the same as the one I wore when I was in here the first time. "Can you help her? I need to get the X-ray ready," she says. Kitty nods and helps me off the bench. "Give her some more gas and air once you're done, it wears off pretty quickly." She leaves the room then, going into another room off to the side with a warning sign on the heavy-looking door.
"Let's get this done quickly," Kitty says. "The last thing I want is for you to be in pain. Keep a hold of your shoulder while I get this off."
She unzips the front of my suit and carefully eases it off my left shoulder so I can keep a hold on my bad shoulder, then pulls at it slightly to get it over my right shoulder. I wince as it pulls tightly over my shoulder, but the rest is fairly quick, just pulling it down over the rest of my body. The white outfit is a thin gown, reaching a couple of centimetres above my knees and the sleeves just passing my shoulders. Kitty leads me back to the table and sits me up on it gently, handing me the mask while she unscrews the valve on the canister and I breathe in the gas, sighing as I feel the effect within a few seconds. Laura returns from the other room at that point, heading straight back to me. She nods to Kitty, who screws the valve shut again, and I hand her the mask. Laura picks up something I didn't notice before: an inhaler with a spacer attached to it. It can only be meant for me, and I frown. I haven't had to use a spacer for years, but considering I'm probably starting to hyperventilate and don't have a free hand, I kind of need one now. She holds the inhaler in front of me and I take the other end of the spacer. I take a couple of puffs and then Laura puts it back in a cupboard, turning back to me afterwards.
"Now Darcy, before we go and do that X-ray, I just need you to tell me where it hurts."
"At the back, near my shoulder blade."
"It could be your scapula, so we'll look at the back, because that seems the most likely," she murmurs to herself. "Do you want some anaesthetic before we do this? I might need to move your arm around, and the more you can relax, the better."
"That'd probably be a good idea," I say, nodding slightly, more to myself than anyone else.
"You'll still feel what I'm doing, it just won't hurt. It's more a feeling of pressure than anything else. It shouldn't hurt unless I don't give you enough, but I've got enough here for your weight, so that shouldn't happen."
I shift uneasily in my seat, but Kitty gently lays a hand on my good shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.
"She's already got her PhD, Darcy," she says softly. "She knows what she's doing."
I've already been the victim of too many people who don't know what they're doing.
