He left. Victor, the strange man from the bar, he just stopped appearing. And as much as Morgan was infuriated by him, in a strange way she missed the fights they had. But Morgan told herself that it was only in the same way that she would miss any of her usual patrons. Yeah, she'd miss Jon if he stopped coming to the bar. What was the difference?

She'd taken some time off from working at the bar. It was the last official day of term before the summer holidays, some of the borders going back to their families for the holiday. Many didn't though, so Morgan decided that she'd take some time off to spend with the kids that weren't leaving. So, as Morgan's classes had finished for the week, she opted to help James with his final Physical Education lesson.

"Listen up kids." He said, standing in his tracksuit pants and shirt, beside Morgan who was in her running shorts and tank top. "We're going outside for today's lesson." The class let out a collective groan.

"Oh quit your whining," Morgan said, "Today we're having a game of capture the flag."

Together they made their way out to the basketball court which sat behind the school, the first stretch of the large grounds. James and Morgan lead the class out to where they met Scott and Ororo standing with a large group of students, larger than the class itself.

"Sup one eye." James greeted.

Scott opted to ignore the remark, "Heard you've got a game of capture the flag going on." he stated, "And we were wondering if you've got room for a few more players."

James eyed the group, noting the fact that most of the training Xmen were stood. "You got most the school here Cyclops."

"Better than sitting around doing nothing."

James thought about it. "We're doing this my way." he said to Scott, "Right, gather round." He called out to the group. "We're gonna change this a little then. Too many of yah for just capture the flag, we're gonna make this a different type'a team game."

He pointed at three of the smallest kids that had chosen to play with the others. "You three. You're the flag, we're gonna make this a rescue practice."

The children nodded at him seriously. Morgan caught a sense of their collective pride at having been singled out by arguably the scariest teacher in school. "The rest of yah," he carried on, "I want ya in three groups. I'll lead one, Morgan another, an' ol Specs the third. I want a mixture of abilities in yeh groups, not just yer friends, but people that are gonna be best for yer team. An' at least two training Xmen in each one."

He looked seriously at the oldest kids dressed in their Xsuits. "Its yer job to look after these kids. Decisions are up to them, but if they start doing stupid shit it's on you. An' keep the group together for God's sake."

It didn't take too long for the students to separate themselves into equal groups, with Marie unsurprisingly with James.

The three 'flag children' had been given walkie talkies which connected to their assigned group leader, an older student from each team that had been voted as the leader for the mission, leaving the adults and Xmen to assist where necessary.

"Okay." James barked, "You've got an hour and a half. Everyone is to come back here at exactly 6pm."

He looked over at Morgan. "On your marks," she said, "Get set. GO!"

The group had split, using the walkie talkies to determine where their team mate was being held. Gracie the small girl representing the flag for her team hiding under a tree in the orchard on the edge of the grounds.

"I need to talk to Miss Morgan" Gracie said suddenly.

Morgan looked over at the boy holding the walkie talkie, the team leader, a girl called Sam who had the ability to control plants. Silently Sam passed over the device.

"What's up Gracie?" Morgan asked.

"I need you to talk to me in my head." Gracie whispered, her words stiff and unjointed.

Morgan obliged confused, as she passed the device back to Sam. You alright sweetie?

There's a group of scary men climbing over the fence.

Morgan started to worry. She lifted her hand, halting her group silently, Can they see you Gracie?

I don't think so.

Morgan let out a small sigh of relief.

Miss Morgan they've got guns. Gracie began to speak quickly to Morgan, Oh my goodness there are loads.

Okay Gracie I'm coming. I need you to stay really quiet and as hidden as you can. Don't move. I'm not going to stop you from talking to me when you need to but I need to let the others know okay?

Okay.

Morgan looked through Gracie's eyes, she was right, there was a large team making their way through the grounds of the school toward the school. They didn't look military though, opting for plain black outfits rather than camo. She focused on their uniforms looking for any telltale signs of who they could be.

She found nothing, until she looked upon the shoulder of one of the men, a small recognisable symbol resting there. That of the FOH.

"Shit." Morgan growled out angrily. Sam looked at her confused.

Morgan turned to the rest of the group. "All of you, back to the Mansion now." she ordered, "All of you down to the Danger room. She looked at the Junior Xmen in her group, Piotr, Kitty and Bobby. "Kitty, I need you to get everyone in the school down there, you know the code. And stay with them. Bobby and Pete, you're with me."

Nervously Kitty led the group toward the Mansion. "Oh my God." Morgan shouted at them, "Hurry the fuck up. Run!"

Piotr and Bobby looked at her fearfully, "What is it?" Bobby asked breaking the tense silence.

"We've got visitors." She said, "FOH."

Shock swept across their faces. "How many?" Piotr asked.

"I don't know, too many." She said running a hand across her face, "I need you to get Gracie away from them, she's gonna be the first thing they see. I'll distract them. When you've got her bring the other groups into the Danger Room where it's safe."

"What about you then?"

She shook her head, "I'll be in when it's safe for you guys."

Gracie? Morgan called out telepathically.

I'm here.

I'm sending Bobby and Piotr to come and get you, they won't be long. And I'm gonna send the bad guys away.

Okay. I'm scared.

That's good. Morgan replied seriously, What's happening right now is scary. But I've got to stop talking to you to get to the others. You stay tight and you'll be fine.

"Meet you back at the house." she said to them seriously, and began to run toward James' group.

She called out to him mentally. James!?

What? What is it?

The perimeter's been breached. FOH by the orchard, you need to send you group back to the mansion.

Shit! Fuck! How many?

I don't know!

Kids are headed back to the mansion. Got M'rie with them. You spoken to one eye yet?

She found James standing still waiting for her to arrive. "Not yet." she replied to his mental question. She paused, holding a hand to her temple.

"He knows." she said, "They're all going back to the mansion. Scott's going to gather the Xmen, he wants us back at base."

"So we headed back?" he asked.

"Oh fuck no Jimmy." She replied cracking her neck, "It's time to kick ass."

Morgan had developed a wide range of powers from collecting from other mutants. It was at times like these that she had found it most helpful, digging down into the dirt, she was able to form two guns, and a small set of knives which she was able to tuck into her bottom of her boots.

"That's neat." James said when she'd finished.

"Trick I learnt along the way." She nodded.

They headed in silence toward the group, splitting up when they approached them. Morgan was not particularly subtle in battle, and chose this as the best time to introduce herself to the intruders.

She swaggered out of the treeline and into their sight. "Who the fuck are you?" she asked.

Guns pointed at her dangerously, eyes focused on her and the clicks of guns cocking.

"You human?" one of the masked men asked.

"Oh baby," she laughed at him, "You wish I was."

In one clean sweep she grabbed her guns and shot at the man that had spoken, sweeping through the line with a spray of bullets. By this time the other soldiers had worked out what was happening and started to fire at her.

She ducked behind a tree, pulling out a bullet that had found itself stuck in her shoulder. It didn't look like a bullet though, it was a long blue vial.

"Oh shit!" she hissed. She sent out a message to James, Watch out. They're not using bullets, it's the cure. Thankfully, Morgan's many mutations meant that she was somewhat immune to the mutant poison.

She stepped out again, disarming as many men as she could with her telekinesis, throwing their guns to the side, but not all of them. Resulting in more 'bullets' being lodged into her back. She carried on though, fighting against the men burying her knives into their bodies wherever they could find purpose.

A soldier grabbed at her other gun, shooting at her awkwardly, her body swallowing the bullets painfully. She turned toward the man who had grabbed her gun. Squinting her eyes and watching it explode in his hand.

"Smooth." James commented from behind her, having clawed his way through the group.

The ground was littered with bodies lying around them. "Go see if there are any by the school James." she said, "I think that's all of them, I'll do another perimeter check, to make sure though."

He nodded, turning away toward the school.

She started toward the place that the group had entered the grounds. Everything was quiet, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

She walked around the edge of the school grounds, when suddenly a twig snapped. She turned quickly, and a spray of bullets met her as she did, covering her in bullets and the cure.

Her head spun, her vision beginning to blur. She growled at the group angrily. Running at them, slashing at anyone she met. But her actions began to grow clumsy as the cure began to work its way through her system. And slowly blackness began to take over.

AN- And at Chapter 10 the story actually starts!
Thank you so much to those who have reviewed, I thought about singling you out to thank but you know who you are.

So I wonder what will happen next...