Chapter 9: Fighting Back

As the last molecules of the serum were burned away from her brain, Morgan tried to keep her empathy under control. It certainly wasn't easy. The pain of the initial administration didn't hold a candle to what she was experiencing now. The actual chemical properties of the rawest emotions battled William Stryker's serum for control of her brain. Her mind was a fucking battlefield. Her closed shields were keeping everything nicely contained, as to not alert anyone of her increasing control of self.

She clutched her head in her hands and rolled back and forth on the filthy cement floor, her jaw locked, lips sealed shut. This was quite effective in keeping her as quiet as possible. Besides, from the sound of the soldiers' voices in the hallway- they definitely had bigger fish to fry. 'Mutants had entered the base!' Morgan had heard through the door. Even without opening her shields, she knew that the X-Men were here and they were going to need her help. Scott Summers' optical force blasts made him one of the most lethal mutants known in existence, and Morgan knew that he currently was hell bent on stopping them from entering.

Time was not something that Morgan had an abundance of. She knew that. She also knew that she no longer could put off what needed to be done, even if Stryker still might be able to control her in some way. Morgan slammed her shields down and let everything come screaming out. The pain became instantly manageable. Morgan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She crawled to her feet, fighting dizziness and nausea as she got her bearings.

She didn't feel completely like herself, she still had a need to please that bastard. But since she thought of him as a bastard and it wasn't a thought that only existed deep in her mind, she thought that she might be able to do this.

"Jonathon? Are you here?" She whispered into the empty room, he shimmered into this existence.

"Welcome back, luv," he smiled, leaning casually against a wall, looking part sexy Bollywood movie star and part benevolent guardian angel.

"Was it the emotions that forced it out?" Morgan asked as she began searching the various cabinets and cubbyholes, looking for a weapon. Although she'd be happy with anything that could be used as a weapon, Morgan was hoping for a gun.

"Yeah, it was technically a chemical reaction, your emotions versus the crap that that fucking cunt put into your brain," he replied sneering. Morgan chuckled at him, and broke into a dazzling smile as she gestured to the loaded gun that she found in one of the cabinets.

"Do you think it will work for the others? If I overload their systems with strong emotions, cause a chemical reaction, like with me?" Morgan filled one of her pockets with some spare cartridges and tucked the gun into the waistband of her pants, hoping that she didn't accidentally shoot anything important off.

"It might… in theory…at least." Morgan walked to the wall that he was leaning against. Placing one hand on either side of his head and she leaned in to brush her lips over his.

"What color are my eyes?" She asked, staring intently into his.

"As blue as the sky on a beautiful summer day, Pari," he answered, his accent thickening with emotion, "you are ready, and I know that you can do this."

"Flirt…" she murmured, running her nose across his jaw line, rememorizing his scent that she remembered to be purely Jonathon. His face began to look translucent, and Morgan could smell the ectoplasm in the air, "You are fading, Jon."

"It's hard holding this shape for too long, I can't stay right now, but I'll be back." He vanished.

"Okay, that's okay. You're right…I can do this."

She scanned the hallway for soldiers, found it to be empty, and left the room to go to the lower level to stop Cyclops from killing those he loved.

Morgan decided to try and hone in on Jean, thinking that if they teamed up, they could take down Scott without hurting him. She followed Jean's emotions like a bloodhound through the darkened room. The hulking machinery that towered over her made her feel insignificant and small. This whole scenario had the makings of a very bad horror film, she thought, the kind that the heroine dies a fruitless and stupid death.

"Her lovers queued up in the hallway…I heard them scratching at the door…I tried to tell her…About Marx and Engels, God and angels…" she sang softly under her breath, hoping that the simple act of singing would calm her nerves, "I don't really know what for…but she looked good in ribbons."

Morgan experienced Jean's terror and anger the moment before the entire room flashed red, and the very foundation of the base shook. She had to leap out of the way when a huge chunk of concrete fell from above. Water began to drip from the large crack above her and there were broken electrical wires sending showers of sparks everywhere. Several leaks were now arcing out from the walls.

"Oh fuck me sideways, really?" she groaned to no one in particular, as she got up from the now damp floor, "murderous mutants, a crazy old fuck with control issues, some naked kickass blue chick, and now the fucking dam is falling down."

As Morgan came to the end of a corridor she saw Scott briskly walking to where Jean was on the ground. She appeared to be unconscious, and one of her legs was bent at an awkward angle. His hand was raised to his visor as he took deadly aim at her. Morgan should have just drained him, which would have been the smart thing to do; instead she panicked and tackled him. She wasn't a complete idiot; she aimed low, and went for his legs. Regrettably, no one had ever informed her that Scott Summer's butt and thighs were made out of adamantium and he does not respond very well to being attacked from the back.

When they hit the ground, he rolled quickly out from under her, and sprung to a fighter's stance. Morgan was still in a daze from running into the Cyclops brick wall but she had enough wits to roll away when he shot at her. The force beams blasted a hole into the concrete about the size of beach ball. As he took aim again, she was ready. Morgan didn't over think this or allow any panic to cloud her judgment this time, instead, her survival instinct took over and she empathically drained him. Cyclops unceremoniously fell to the ground on his ass.

Morgan slowly got up, took one look at him and laughed out loud. The situation was so ludicrous, such a total cluster fuck, such a fubar that she couldn't help but laugh, "Didn't expect that, now did you?"

Even though he was immobilized with apathy, she could feel his determination, the need to finish what he was instructed to do, to kill. It wasn't too hard for her to understand this either, that feeling mirrored her own, only to a much lesser degree. Fucking Stryker.

When Morgan glanced over at Jean, saw the state that she was, what Scott had done, her anger boiled up, and took over. Before she realized what she was doing, Morgan had shoved Scott onto his back, straddled him, and grabbed the front of his uniform in her fists.

"What the fuck, Scott? What the fuck did you do? That's Jean. You stupid asshole. You almost killed her!" She yelled, spraying spittle in his face.

Scott's mouth was set in a thin, angry line; his fingers grasped her wrists in a tight grip, but they didn't break her hold on his uniform. He said nothing. He didn't have to. She felt his sadness and the utter helplessness that permeated his being, because deep down he was very conscious of his actions. He was begging her for help, using what he knew about her gift of empathy. Morgan released the leather and gently placed her hands on his face.

"Scott, my friend," she paused, knowing that his eyes were locked onto hers, even though his visor prevented her from seeing this. Her fingers caught a bit on the whiskers on his face that had grown during his imprisonment under William Stryker, "this is going to really fucking hurt."

It broke Morgan's heart to watch Scott, writhe and contort in pain but if it was any consolation she could definitely empathize, having been through it herself. However, even though she was compassionate about this pain, there was no way in hell that she was going to physically feel it again herself. Morgan blocked it from entering into her empathically. His fingers dug painfully into the flesh of her arms, as his screams filled the room.

He eventually threw her off as his back bowed up. She hit the floor with a thud, bruising her tailbone but that didn't stop the intense flood of anger and rage that she continued to pour into him. She doubled her efforts, thinking that more was better, since time was of the essence.

His screams abruptly stopped, everything stopped. The room went absolutely silent except the sound of dripping water, and their breathing.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice hoarse from screaming. Scott rolled to his side away from Morgan, his guilt, shame, and contrition choked the air out of her. She took a deep breath and countered it with love, courage, understanding and forgiveness. He shook under the sheer weight of all that had happened to him in the last seventy-two hours. She gave him a minute to collect himself; there wasn't much time but they could afford a moment or two.

"I'm sorry but we don't have time and you need to go to Jean, she's waking…" she whispered, her eyes darting to where Jean lay, moaning.

He jumped to his feet and ran to her, Jean cried out in when Scott clutched her body.

"Jean, no, no, no. It's okay. It's okay. It's me."

"Scott," she breathed.

"I'm so sorry."

Morgan watched as they wrapped themselves around each other in a desperate and longing embrace. She smiled, as their love for each other slammed into her. It took her breath away. Fighting back the tears, she turned away from them, giving them as much privacy as possible.

Her thoughts turned to the other mutant, Yuriko. Morgan wasn't sure if she could release her from the influence of the serum, she probably had been under for a long time. She had to try though; Morgan could not in good conscience allow this to continue, not when she had the ability to help. Even though Morgan wasn't sure what Yuriko was capable of or what her mutation was, it was infinitely better if she was with them and not against them.

Morgan sat on the ground, opened her shields, sought Yuriko out and began the process of reversal. She was correct in thinking that it was going to be difficult; there was so much serum in her system. Morgan clutched her head and concentrated harder, ignoring the searing pain in her own head. She laughed darkly because Stryker was going to lose his last little mutant pet.

"I thought I'd lost you." Jean whispered, clutching Scott tight.

"Oh God." He pulled back from her, took a deep breath and caught her lips with his own, and kissed her desperately. It felt like he just came home. Scott was home.

"I'm so sorry. I could see you but I couldn't stop myself," he explains needlessly.

I know Scott. I know.

"I tried. I'm sorry."

You have nothing to be sorry about. I could hear your thoughts underneath it all. You didn't want to hurt me. I know that.

"I love you so much."

As I love you.

Scott wrapped his hands around her shoulders to help her up and she cried out in intense pain.

"My leg."

I think it's broken, Scott.

"Okay, easy. Easy," he whispered, pulling her up into a standing position, supporting her weight onto him. He surveyed the room quickly for any threats. Cyclops, leader of the X-Men, was taking back his command.

His eyes fell on Morgan. She was sitting on the floor, her eyes focused on one of the massive bulkheads in front of her. Her whole body was shaking in exertion.

"Morgan?"

She did not answer, nor acknowledge him. Scott turned to Jean in alarm. She gentle touched his jaw, running her fingers over his skin. He let a slow breath out.

"Give her a moment Scott, she is working to free the mutant called Yuriko," Jean explained, after speaking to Morgan telepathically. She was absolutely fascinated by Morgan's process that apparently acts as an anecdote to the serum. Morgan was empathically forcing pure emotions in Yuriko, which then changed into hormones, chemicals that counteracted the serum. Simply amazing.

Morgan let out a deep breath, stretched her arms in front of her, turned and grinned at them.

"One more for our side," she reached up and swiped at her nose, looking at the blood on her hand before shrugging.

"You okay?" Scott asked, extending his hand to her, offering a hand up. She gladly took it, hugging them both once she was on her feet, paying heed to Jean's injured leg.

"Well, I certainly could use some Tylenol right now, but yeah I'm…um…" she stopped in midsentence, took a shaky breath in. Morgan's face split into a wide smile, mirroring Jean's because she heard their thoughts the very moment Morgan felt their emotions.

"Good news, Cyclops, reinforcements just arrived."

John had his shark faced lighter in his hand.

Click

Whoosh

This is fucking retarded. Making us wait here. Fuck! With my fire and Bobby's ice, they should have begged us to go in there with them.

Click

Whoosh

We are fucking Alpha level mutants, for fuck sake! Who the fuck gives them the right to tell me what to do?

Click

Whoosh

Magneto is right. I am a god among insects. Fucking Homo sapiens, one tiny little step above the apes. I am St. John fucking Allerdyce. Pyro. My real name is Pyro. I am Pyro.

Click

Whoosh

Fuck this shit.

"That's it," John growls as he gets up and hits the switch to lower the gangplank of the jet, and grabs his jacket. Bobby looks up, and sadly sighs.

"Whoa. Where do you think you're going?" Bobby asks, already knowing the answer. He was surprised that John had lasted this long.

"I'm sick of this kid's table shit. I'm going in there," John explains, smirking at them, daring Bobby with his eyes to come with him, knowing that he wouldn't.

"John, they told us to stay here." Rogue whined. John stared at Bobby, not Rogue. She would stay because Logan told her to, but perhaps Bobby might…

Come on Bobby, are this whipped? Really? For a piece of ass that you'll never be able to tap? Whatever. Stay here and be Xavier's golden boy, you can take Summer's place, when he gets too old to kick ass.

"You always do as you're told?" John said as his final parting shot. He walked onto the snow, wrapping his jacket a bit more snugly around himself. He then turned and started to walk in the direction of the military base.

John Allerdyce was gone less than five minutes.

Bobby and Rogue were startled by loud voices raised in anger, they both turned around just in time to see John being frog marched back up the gangplank by Remy LeBeau. He shoved John down into one of the chairs, grabbed the hand rests with his fingers, and leaned in until his face was mere inches away from John.

"Y' keep y'r fuckin' mouth shut, boy!"

John tilted the chair back, trying to put some distance between himself and Remy, and wisely obeyed the order to remain silent. Ever since coming to the school, John had made a point to avoid Remy LeBeau. John like to think that he can read people very well, and after months of observation he concluded that Gambit was unpredictable, had a volatile temper, and had powers that he didn't talk about. John instinctively knew that those characteristics where a big red flashing light that screamed 'danger'. And up until five minutes ago, John had flown under this particular radar.

"Y' think y' so smart. How dare y' even think about threatenin' me? When y' are given an order, Pyro, y' obey!"

John nodded his head quickly. Never in a million years would John have expected that Gambit took his position in the X-Men so seriously. He seemed to be so lackadaisical around Cyclops, forever pushing buttons, and disobeying orders. John didn't understand the dynamics of their relationship. That mistake nearly cost him his life when he challenged Gambit's authority by saying there was no way in hell he was going back to the jet, threw a fireball at him, and then tried to continue on to the base.

"Y'r lucky I didn't blow y'r sorry ass up," Remy yelled, his eyes flashing in anger. He wanted to take this kid out into the woods and cut a switch. He wanted to shake the little fire starter until he understood the danger he just put himself in. But most of all Remy wanted to yell at himself for reacting as badly as he did, the kid did what he would have done at his age.

"I'm sorry," John mumbled under his breath, his eyes were still wide in fear, "I just couldn't stay cooped up in here anymore."

"That is understandable, young man," Hank McCoy replied, placing a large blue paw on Remy's shoulder to calm him down, "but next time, please consider the ramifications of your actions."

"Right," Remy breathed, turning towards Bobby, "alright, Iceman. Tell us what you know."

Bobby didn't get a chance to convey any information that he knew of.

All the mutants fell to the floor and writhed in pain.

The song: Ribbons by The Sisters of Mercy