Morgan woke up the next morning stiff and uncomfortable. She pushed herself up but her wrist gave way and she fell off the couch.
James chuckled, "Smooth."
"Har har." she said sarcastically, pulling the sleeves down to her hands and wrapping the cardigan tighter around her, "I'm going back to my room, feels like winter came for the day." Morgan stood by the door, "Meet me for breakfast?" she asked.
"I'll knock for you in 15 minutes." he replied, walking over to the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
And sure enough 15 minutes later a sharp knock came at my door. She had pulled on a pair of black jeans and a light grey blue sweatshirt, tying up her hair into a messy bun. She looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn't clear she was a mutant, unless you started to look closer, her hair was naturally a very dark green, and her eyes an almost golden colour. She was of average height for a woman, roughly five six, taller with a pair of killer heels.
Another knock, "Yeah I'm coming." she called, pulling on a pair of sturdy grey boots.
She opened the door, James waiting patiently for her on the other side. "Good Morning New York," Morgan shouted, "It's currently a rather chilly 60degrees, 8.35 in the morning," she linked arms with James as they walked down the corridor toward the kitchen, "And we're welcoming you to a beautiful Tuesday morning on today, the 12th of November."
"Somebody's chipper." Logan quipped as they reached the kitchen.
"Nah," she smiled, "Just hungry." The staff kitchen was quiet despite the slightly later time that they had arrived, "You gonna make me something good then James?" she asked as her stomach gurgled loudly.
"You wish kid."
"Then I'm getting whatever everyone else has because I'm starving." She said, leaving the kitchen to head toward the dining room, where the students were mingling, chatting over their respective breakfasts. Don't get me wrong, these guys were growing on her, but so many in one place is a bit disorientating, she wasn't sure what to do with herself anymore. She thought James had noticed this, and as a result often took to eating together in the kitchen, rather than braving the crowd of teens.
But today she grabbed a plate and headed over to the long bar of prepared food, filling it up with bacon, pastries, and fruit. In her other hand she grabbed a large glass of orange juice. James followed suit, piling his plate full of meats and egg, the food stacked higher than you would have thought possible for such a small plate.
"You got enough there?" She laughed at him.
"Just about." he mumbled.
He led her to sit down at a table near the window where Rogue and Piotr were sitting, chatting over their cereal. Morgan thought Rogue had forgiven her by now, their small altercation three months ago now. "Morning guys." James said as he sat down at the empty seat next to Rogue.
"Morning sugah." Rogue replied.
Morgan sat down next to Piotr opposite James. "Morning Rogue." she nodded to her, "Dobroye utro -Good morning- Piotr."
"Zdravstuyte -hello- Morgan." he replied.
"Are you speaking Russian now?" James asked me.
"I always spoke Russian," she replied smoothly, "Just something I uh picked up over the years." She sniggered at herself. Sometimes, when absorbing a new power she had absorbed other traits, such as new languages.
Rogue looked at her confusedly. "I absorb mutations and I can use them for later." she explained, "But sometimes it meant I picked up other abilities, like speaking languages. Hence the Russian."
"That's you're mutation?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Yeah," she replied, "I just have to see a mutation I like, and decide to use it. Like I've seen how ol' shiny's works." Morgan motioned to Piotr beside her, "So if I choose to I can practice and use it. Some of the ones I've had longest are stuck though."
"How can you be stuck?" Piotr asked.
"Maybe stuck is the wrong word," she said, "One of the first mutations I absorbed was a feral, and now I have permanent feral traits. The lack of ageing, the healing factor and so on. But no claws."
"That's like mine." Rogue said, "But I can't turn it off."
She looked at Rogue, "I can show you how I learnt to control mine?" she offered, "It's not the same, but it's enough to stop me from copying someone immediately."
"Sure." she said.
James had stopped eating his breakfast to watch their exchange in fascination. Morgan looked down at his plate noticing he still had some bacon. "You gonna eat that?" She asked reaching over and grabbing a rasher.
"Not so fast." He said, defending his bacon and grabbing her wrist quickly.
She dropped the bacon immediately, yelping at the sudden pain. "Shit!" She exclaimed.
James let go of her wrist immediately, instead holding her hand, pulling her arm out infront of the group.
"Stop it James." She said seriously, using his name in front of his friends. Instead he used his other hand to pull her sleeves down, exposing her bruised wrists, the hand shaped bracelets of purple showing themselves proudly, the swollen skin rising up toward him.
"Woah, Miss Morgan," Piotr said shocked, "What happened to your wrists?"
"Nothing." she lied quickly.
She looked at James, who was slowly piecing together the events of last night to the bruises of this morning. "I did this last night?" he asked her lowly?
"Technically." she agreed.
"What happened last night?" Rogue asked.
"Logan confused me with someone else and grabbed my wrists a little harder than he thought." Morgan covered quickly. She finally pulled her harm away from the group who were staring at it awkwardly.
"I didn't know." James said guiltily, "I thought you're healing was better than this though?" he asked.
"It can be," She explained, "I don't need to rush the healing right now, so it's slower, healing fast makes me tired. It'll be fine by tomorrow."
The school bell rung across the school.
"9 o'clock guys. Time to get to working."
She'd agreed with Rogue a time to meet up and work with her to help get her powers in control. It was in the danger room a few days later that Morgan found herself waiting for the younger girl. The door opened and closed softly, the sound of soft footsteps announcing Rogue's arrival.
"Hey." Morgan greeted, "You ready?"
"As close as Ah'll ever be."
Morgan moved to sit on the floor in the center of the room, Rogue copying her. The two women faced each other. "To know how to help you properly, Rogue, I want you to take some of my mutation, touch my hand quickly. Is that okay? When you do, I'm gonna read your mind, not your thoughts or nothing, but I need to know what it feels like for you."
Rogue nodded her head at her, "Okay." she said pulling off her gloves.
Morgan held her palm out, gently probing at Rogue's mind with her stolen telepathy. Rogue touched her hand so quickly that if Morgan had not been so focused on her actions she would not have believed it had happened.
She laughed, "Maybe a little longer than that kid."
"Logan calls me that too."
Morgan pulled her hand back, leaning back against her wrists, "We're old, James and I. Everyone is a kid to us, even the Professor."
"You're the only one who knows him before Alkali Lake."
"Yeah." Morgan nodded, "We used to work together, in a uh branch of the military."
Rogue looked at her uncertainly.
"It was an all mutant team," Morgan explained, "Weapon X, or sometimes we went by Earth 616. We started out as good guys, but I uh think we just became Stryker's hit men."
"Did you leave then?"
"I tried." Morgan groaned uncomfortable at sharing so much with such a stranger to herself, she felt a close link to Rogue, she liked her, and could see them becoming friends later in their lives, but right now this was just too damn much. "I'll tell you more when we've got this sorted." She held her hand out in front of her, "A little longer this time." She prompted.
Rogue stretched out her hand, her fingers gently held against Morgan's palm. It took ten seconds before Morgan felt a painful sucking feeling coming from Rogue's hand.
Rogue pulled back suddenly. "Ah'm sorry."
"Why?" Morgan asked, having regained her composure immediately, "You did exactly as I asked you."
"Ah haven't got anything from you."
"I blocked you from being able to take any of my mutation." she explained, to which Rogue nodded her head, "Rogue, when you absorb mutations, you pull them out of them. So to speak. But you don't control what you're taking or how much of it. With practice, you could take only a person's energy for example, sending them to sleep, if you need to put a human down. Or just a certain aspect of a mutation."
"You really think I could do that?" Rogue asked her.
"I think it'll hurt like hell, but yeah, eventually."
They worked together like that, meeting each other in the danger room weekly. Rogue was progressing well. She was now able to keep from absorbing Morgan for almost a minute with absolute focus.
"Yes!" Morgan praised, "Rogue, you did it! That was a minute!"
She jumped up and hugged Rogue excitedly.
"Oh my gawd ah'm tired now!" Rogue exclaimed, lying down to face the ceiling and putting her bare arm against her forehead.
"Well I'm not surprised, but by the time we've practised a few times it'll be a breeze!" Morgan said as she lay down next to her friend.
"How'd you know how to do that?" Rogue asked.
"To control it?"
"Mhmm."
"Remember how I told you I worked in a special unit for the military?" Morgan asked, but didn't bother waiting for a reply. "It started to dissolve after James left. I never really met the other guys, apart from Wade. He was the one who told me James had quit. I lived in this separate part of the facility. A suite, locked up within the base. I couldn't get out, but Wade and James were allowed to visit me sometimes."
She sighed. "And then one day, James had said he'd meet me, but he never came, instead it was Wade going on and on about how James had quit, and how his brother was furious. After that, the team just started to leave, or so I was told. Agent Zero and Wade stayed, and so did I- but not through choice.
"And when they were gone, everyone just got so… Angry. Stryker had lost his team, and to try and fix it, he started experimenting." Morgan swallowed thickly, "On Wade and I."
"Gawd," Rogue whispered, "You don't hafta..."
But Morgan carried on, "Stryker had always called Wade his perfect soldier, and I was the perfect weapon. I was forced to absorb so many mutations, Stryker was stealing kids off the street, out of houses, from their schools, and keeping them so that he could use them. And when I had absorbed all of them he tried to put my mutation in Wade. That's how I learnt to control it, through so many practices in that place."
"Ah'm glad I don't have to learn that way." Rogue said softly.
"I wouldn't wish it for anyone."
"What happened to Wade, did you give him your mutation?"
"I had no choice, it worked for a while, or it would have done, I'd made sure that he wouldn't be able to have it forever."
"When did you leave?" Rogue asked.
"Don't think leave is the right way to put it. One day, I can't tell you when but after a few years of absorbing and passing on mutations, the ceiling in my room started to collapse. The base was being ripped apart, and I was trapped in it. By the time I got out, everything was gone, and I found Wade."
"Was he okay?"
Morgan laughed, "Nah, he lost his fucking head."
"He what?"
"Decapitated." She motioned with her hands.
"Gawd!"
"I got out about 15 years ago, and since then I been drifting. Seemed to have landed here alright though."
"I hitchiked here." Rogue said.
"Wow."
"Met Logan in Alberta, an' he crashed his truck. Next thing I know we're here."
"That sounds like James."
Rogue laughed, "It's weird. Finally settling in one place."
"Yeah."
Rogue turned to face Morgan. "Morgan?" she asked.
The other woman rolled over to face the girl.
"My real name is Marie."
Morgan smiled, "Thank you."
"Jus' don't call me that in front of the others."
"Of course."
"Do you have a mutant name?" Marie asked.
"Accipit. It means 'borrower'."
AN; HI! I thought it would be about time for me to post an authors note on here with the obligatory disclaimer; none of these characters belong to me, apart from Morgan, and I don't make any money etc.. You know the drill.
This chapter is much longer than the others, do you like that? I'm happy to post this in longer chapters, so far they've been around 1,000-1,500 words whereas this is roughly 2,200.
Thank you so much to tiamaria89 and AquaJMgirl for the reviews so far! I'm glad that you are enjoying it but to everyone else reading please do let me know what you think, I appreciate feedback. Reviews are like cookies, they keep us writers going!