Chapter Seven

Power

December 13th

Nightwing really should've known something like this would happen.

He'd told Morgan that it was okay to use the credit card to make herself at home and to buy herself some more clothes.

And he really should've known that she'd end up doing it in the most annoying way she could.

So, when Morgan came to the gym the next day, sporting a black tank top with the Batman symbol on it, and a smug look on her face, Nightwing told himself that he really shouldn't be surprised. At all.

He also knew that anything he said, she'd be able to throw back in his face. He was the one who'd told her to, not only buy more clothes, but also get used to the idea of superheroes, and being one of them.

Nightwing allowed himself a weary sigh. "What is this?"

Morgan sported an innocent look that Nightwing immediately saw through. He could also tell that she'd meant for him to see through it, as she was usually good at keeping her emotions off her face.

"What ever do you mean?" Her innocent look melted away as she was no longer able to contain the stupid, smug grin that appeared on her face.

Nightwing, as he'd already concluded, knew he couldn't chew her out, so he closed his eyes, praying for patience. "Let's just spar." He sighed, deciding that was the safest route to take.

And, if he accidentally was a little harder on her during training than usual, it really wasn't intentional (It totally was).

Half an hour later, after Morgan had done a lot better than he'd expected, Nightwing decided that it was time for him to knock her confidence down a few pegs. Just to remind her that she was still a novice.

So he declared, "I think it's time we started working on your acrobatic skills."

Morgan gave him an absolutely incredulous look, for once keeping her mouth shut. She didn't need to speak anyway. Her skeptically raised brow and un-amused eyes spoke for her.

"Well, you need to be able to move around in various terrains, don't you?"

"I have wings." She deadpanned. "I don't need to jump around."

"What if you injure a wing? Or you're grounded for some other reason?" He argued, walking over to a small console that was settled into the wall next to the gym's main doors. "You need to be prepared for any kind of emergency. Besides," he punched in a few commands, "acrobatics gives you a great advantage when you fight. It allows for more flexibility and lets you experiment with your style." The gym rearranged itself, hoops lowering from the ceiling, various instruments moving around on their own, creating what looked like a really high-tech obstacle course.

"Allow me to demonstrate." Nightwing's voice was overly cocky. This was a field where he was the unchallenged master.

For a few minutes, Nightwing allowed himself to practically fly around the huge gym, never once touching the floor.

Because he needed it to look like he was teaching her and not just showing off to remind her that she still had a lot to learn, he kept explaining what he was doing, droning out acrobatic libido that he knew Morgan would understand very little of.

He approached the very end of the room, where three pillar-like landings stood with about three meters between them, each taller than the one in front of it.

"It's all about having a mental map of the landscape and being able to calculate how much strength you have to put into each movement to reach your next destination."

He decided to ignore the way she crossed her arms over her chest and muttered a "Dickface.." that, because of the gym's acoustic, could easily be heard.

"Like this." He took a few steps back and ran forward suddenly, somersaulting towards the first pillar, where he landed on his hands for only a second before shooting off for the next one. He landed in a crouch on it, his back to the last pillar. Without looking, he jumped into another somersault, intended to land him on the last pillar.

Instead, to his horror, he found that he just barely missed the landing, his left foot sliding off of the edge, his body plunging towards the hard wooden floor.

He landed with a dull thud, a small gasp leaving his mouth as all the air was punched from his lungs. Behind him, he could hear Morgan snickering.

For a moment he just lay there, thoroughly confused.

He was absolutely certain that he hadn't miscalculated that last step.

He should have landed right in the middle of the last platform.

Nightwing sat up slowly, his left shoulder aching from the fall and glared back at the snickering girl. Morgan burst into full out laughter at his sour face.

"Not as good as you thought, huh? Maybe you're out of practice." She mocked.

Nightwing narrowed his eyes even further at the overly satisfied smirk on her lips.

"I calculated that right." He grumbled and stood up. "I know it."

"Yeah, yeah." Morgan scoffed. "You fell on your ass. Admit it."

Nightwing looked suspiciously at the last landing once and then faced the girl again. He heaved a sigh and rubbed his sore shoulder.

I must be more tired than I thought.

"I think that's enough for today." Nightwing sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow, same time as usual."

Morgan saluted him and left the room quickly, obviously eager to get out of there.

Nightwing stood in the gym a bit longer and had a mental battle with himself.

In the end, he shook his head, internally scolding himself and left the gym.

He walked up to the Zeta tube and through it, ending up in Gotham. There, he used one of Batman's secret tubes and appeared in the Bat cave.

He had some video footage he needed to look through.

All of Mount Justice was under surveillance, which included the gym. All of that footage could be accessed via the Bat cave's computer. Dick would be able to see exactly where he made a mistake during training. A small nagging voice in the back of his head told him that he hadn't made a mistake and that there had to be some other explanation.

He found the right video and skipped to the part he needed.

Slumping in the chair, Dick watched as he executed the first two moves flawlessly, inwardly cringing as he mentally made ready to watch himself fail miserably.

Dick's mask-less eyes widened and he sat ramrod straight when he noticed that, right as Nightwing kicked off of the middle pillar, the last one moved by itself, resulting in his inevitable fall.

He paused the video and rewound it, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the seemingly alive pillar.

Yes, it was definitely moving several inches to the left all by itself.

Or was it really doing it by itself?

Morgan was standing in the bottom left corner, standing with her back to the camera, visible from her hips and up.

He rewound the video again and focused on Morgan this time, not entirely sure why he thought she was involved.

His eyes widened in shock for the second time in just as many minutes when the girl's right hand shot out, her hand flat, palm first, and made a quick pushing motion into the air, just as the pillar moved.

Could that be? He rewound the footage again and watched it in slowmotion. Did she?

The second time around, there was no mistake. Though she was started several meters away from the pillar and only pushed at air, she'd definitely made that platform move somehow.

It felt like a flash of lightning went through him when he suddenly remembered the first time he'd seen her. She'd been cornered in that alley, but the would-be assaulters had been buried under a mountain of trashcans that had all suddenly fallen down, unprovoked, seemingly on their own.

He remembered the way she'd hesitated when Batman had asked her if she had any other powers.

He remembered saying that she was definitely hiding something.

And apparently, he'd been right.

I think I need to pay a certain feathered girl a visit.

December 14th

There was definitely something off about Nightwing today, Morgan decided ten minutes into their training session.

It was true that the teenage Boy Wonder wasn't usually a particularly chatty person, but he'd barely said a single word to her since his arrival, which was new. Usually, he'd at least grunt some orders at her. Today he just scowled and came with one-word sentences and answers.

She wondered what exactly she'd done to piss him off this time.

Maybe he was still mad about falling the day before.

Which was, technically, her doing, but honestly, if he hadn't been so infuriatingly smug and insufferable, she wouldn't have moved the landing, so it was arguably his own fault.

Besides, she'd regretted doing that as soon as she'd done it – not because he fell down because that part was incredibly satisfying, but because it had honestly been too big of a risk to run for something as petty as making your mentor fall on his ass.

Still, it had been very satisfying to watch.

Not that she currently had time to savor the moment right. She was too busy dodging his oncoming attacks to focus on much else.

It was a wasted effort though. No matter how hard she tried, the fact that he had every advantage there was on her, and he'd had ten years to hone his skills, made her own efforts feeble and pointless.

It was like a newborn baby fighting against a warlord.

Morgan would never admit it, but she was secretly incredibly glad that he was on her side – somewhat. Right now he certainly didn't seem like he was on her side. Anyway, she was secretly glad that he was usually on her side because Morgan did not want to try going against the tall teenager in a real fight.

She'd managed to hold her own against him for a full five seconds – a new record? – when he forced himself through and punched her right in her temple, making stars erupt across her vision.

"Ow!" She exclaimed and took several steps back to create some distance between them. "Watch where you're aiming, dickface! We're just training!"

"That wouldn't have happened if you'd concentrate for more than three seconds at a time." He accused, his voice only slightly louder than usual, but filled with an anger that couldn't be missed.

He didn't give her time to respond before coming at her again, harder, faster and stronger than before.

Morgan realized just how much he'd been holding back during all of their training and found herself truly intimidated by the teenager for the first time in the few weeks she'd known him.

She kept taking steps back to avoid his attacks, and suddenly she found herself cornered, her back pushing against the gym's wall. She saw his fist racing closer, aimed straight for her face, and acted instinctively.

She ducked under his arm and, tapping into the power she'd attempted to keep hidden, she braced her two hands in front of her, pushing forward, fingers only slightly coming into contact with his chest.

The effect was immediate, and Nightwing was flung away from her, landing several meters away on the floor with a groan.

Morgan gasped with the realization of what she'd just done.

"I knew it!" Nightwing sat up and looked at her accusingly. He quickly got on his feet and took a few steps closer. "You have powers!"

Morgan froze for a second before recovering. She snorted and sent him a look of disbelief. "Powers? Me?" she breathed out and leaned against the wall. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Nightwing scoffed. "Please. Like you'd ever be able to do that without."

Morgan's face turned into an angry mask. "Look I don't know why you suddenly think I have some kind of power, but I don't. I'm already a freak; I have wings. I don't need any stupid powers to add to that."

"That's it, right?" Nightwing didn't even sound angry anymore. He almost sounded excited. He sounded like a detective that was putting the last pieces together in a murder case that had been particularly difficult. "I had wondered why you felt the need to hide your powers, especially considering how useful they'd be to you as a superhero, but now I get it. You think you're a freak, and if you can't hide your wings, you're certainly going to hide your other powers." He eyed her and Morgan knew he was looking at the orange pendant around her neck. She'd been wearing it almost constantly since he'd given it to her, and Morgan knew he disapproved of it. Whatever. She didn't take orders from him. I actually do, Morgan thought wryly, but still.

Morgan sighed harshly. "You're insane. I'm leaving." She uncrossed her arms and moved herself off of the wall, heading for the door.

Nightwing walked briskly towards the exit himself and arrived just before her, cutting her off with an arm between her and the door.

"You figured if you kept them hidden, you'd still have some kind of hope, small as it is, that you'd someday be able to have a normal life again."

"Alright!," Morgan exploded. "I admit it!" She turned around and flung her arms out aggressively. Several of the instruments scattered closest to them moved on their own, some more than others. A few where knocked over, or flung several meters away, while some barely moved at all.

"Now move before I do the same to you." She threatened, voice dark. Nightwing didn't budge, so Morgan sighed, rolled her eyes, and slipped under his arm without another word.

She heard him follow after her and wondered how many times she was going to storm out of the gym with him on her heels for some sort of big confrontation.

Neither said a word as she walked down the hall and into her own room. Although Nightwing was one of the most soundless walkers she'd ever come across, she knew he was there.

"Morgan," he said, unusually soft, "You could've told us. Your powers, whatever they are, are a gift, not a curse, no matter what you seem to think."

She scoffed and flopped down on her bed, slipping the pendant over her head, untangling it from a few wayward curls, spreading her rapidly growing, grey wings out.

"I'm serious." Nightwing stressed. "You could achieve much with them, help many people. Save lives."

"Exactly." She murmured, an arm draped over her closed eyes. "Ever heard the saying 'with great power comes great responsibility?"

"That's from the Spiderman movie," Nightwing flatly pointed out.

"Well, just because it's from a movie doesn't mean it's not true. All I want from life is to just graduate college, get a job at some laboratory, and spend the rest of my life in there. That's all I want. It's not like I can get married and have kids with these," she grabbed the end of one of the wings and lifted it up. "But I can't even allow myself to follow that plan now because I can do more. I can save people, so I have an obligation to do it."

Nightwing looked at her like what she said was incredibly stupid, but admittedly true.

"You shouldn't help people because you think you have to. You should do it because it's a natural urge. An instinct."

Morgan finally removed her arm from her face and sat up on her bed, her feet planted on her floor, her arms leaning on her knees. "You heroes are cut from a different cloth than the rest of us. You have this drive that lets you do the things you do for the greater good without breaking along the way." She spoke with admiration and wistfulness in her voice because she had to admit she wished she was like that too. She wanted to be brave and selfless and helpful, she just doubted that she could. "A normal person wouldn't be able to willingly put themselves in mortal danger again and again for the benefit of others the same way you do. You make it seem like the most natural thing in the world."

"Why do you have so little trust in normal humans?" Nightwing sounded genuinely confused.

"They haven't exactly proved me otherwise." She said bitterly. She met his eyes and hated the look of comprehension on his face. He knew she was talking about her dad and the way he'd abandoned her and her mother all those years ago. Morgan hadn't mentioned much about her father's abandonment, but she'd let a few bitter remarks slip every now and again, remarks that she knew Nightwing had taken note of.

"Morgan." Nightwing said seriously. "If you don't want to become a hero, you don't have to. We'll help you settle down somewhere and you can get a normal life. As normal as you can get, anyway."

He looked at her blankly. For once, there was no scorn or smugness or anger, or any other expression on his face, not even his usual slight disapproval, which seemed to be the most common look on his face. It was open and blank, like whatever she chose wouldn't bother him, which comforted Morgan in a way.

"But to me that sounds like running away." He finished.

Morgan realized that he was right. By now she was in too deep in this hero business anyway. She'd grown oddly fond of the Cave's other inhabitants, and found that she didn't want to leave them now. It was true that the thought of fighting villains and being in actual life-threatening danger did scare her, but she knew that was only normal. She'd talked with M'gann about it once and she'd told her that she'd been terrified on her first mission. But she'd also promised her that it got better after a few times and that you learned that there was always a way out.

Morgan took comfort in M'gann's words, and right then they lent her the courage to look Nightwing firmly in the eye and say. "I'm staying. I want this."

December 15th

The next day, Nightwing and Morgan spent an hour testing her abilities. She had admitted that she really didn't know much about them herself as she'd limited her use of them as much as possible.

"All I know is that's it's not the same kind of telekinesis as M'gann's. I can't make things float. It's more like a push, like an extension of my arms. And I can't just do it with my mind. I have to use my arms, or legs if I'm really desperate. Some things are easier to move than others; Like, I can't move plants very well, but metal and rock is easier."

They had their first outside lesson. Nightwing showed her a 'secret' way in the Cave that lead upwards and ended in a small hatch that you could open and you'd end high up on the side of the mountain. Here, he had her throw stuff around, using both her arms and legs.

They discovered that it was like her limbs sent out a force field of sorts that pushed things away or pulled things towards her. They discovered that she could also use it to strengthen her own punches.

"That explains that fist sized hole in the wall next to your room. I thought it had been made by Connor."

She shrugged and punched another rock, howling in pain when nothing happened except the sound of something cracking in her hand. "I forgot to concentrate!" She bit out, clutching her hand. Her knuckles were bleeding.

Nightwing turned his back on her so she couldn't see him trying to hide an amused smile. "Come on. Let's patch you up."

They were getting along oddly well, and he didn't want to ruin it by laughing in her face.

He could hear the girl's curses all the way to the infirmary, leaving him wondering how such a small body could contain that much fire. It was true that Morgan doubted herself and her strength, but Nightwing actually didn't, as much as he pretended to. She'd said that heroes where cut from a different cloth than normal people, and she was right, but Nightwing didn't think she realized that she was cut from that cloth herself. She had spirit and fire, and a stubbornness that he suspected would save her life more than once.

"Sit down."

She sat down on a cot, her wings spread out so she didn't sit on them by mistake.

Nightwing had had her practicing her flying every day and she was making progress with it. This morning, she'd flown up and touched the ceiling of the gym, and then flown an entire round around the gym before landing again. He could see their muscle mass increasing every day.

In fact, he could see her getting stronger overall every day. She wasn't too thin anymore, but well-fed and healthy, with toned muscles, a product of the hard training she'd been through for roughly a month now.

Nightwing got a clean cloth and made her clean up her dirty, bleeding knuckles. She flinched whenever the disinfectant touched the tender scrapes, hissing under her breath. Then Nightwing grabbed her hand, emitting a squeak of pain and probably surprise.

She was silent as he felt for any broken bones, perhaps awkward from their close proximity. Nightwing didn't mind. Or rather, he didn't care.

"Nothing's broken," He said, taking a step back, "But you probably shouldn't go punching anymore rocks, at least for a couple of days." He smirked slightly at her and Morgan rolled her eyes before hopping off the cot.

"I'll keep that in mind."

December 17th

On December 17th, Morgan was met with the sight of a letter leaning neatly against her bedroom door.

She hadn't received any letters since her arrival – understandable since the Cave wasn't really her official address, and she didn't know anyone who'd send her mail anyway.

She'd just finished practice and was headed back to her room for a long warm shower, which was sometimes the only thing that helped her viciously aching muscles.

Thanks, Nightwing.

Morgan had been walking down the hallway, water bottle in one hand, the other busy with rubbing at her sore neck, when she noticed the letter, stopping short. She kind of just stared at the thing for a while, thinking that surely someone had made a mistake.

Shrugging, she picked it up, spotting the insignia on the front.

"Gotham University." She mumbled under her breath, flipping the letter around once, then twice. It was indeed addressed to her, but she was having a hard time understanding why Gotham University was trying to contact her.

She had a thought.. but she dismissed it quickly.

Then Morgan opened the letter and confirmed her thought.

"Dear Miss Morgan Louise Jørgensen," it started, before continuing with congratulating her on getting accepted to the university with a full Wayne Foundation Scholarship.

There were three things Morgan knew for sure.

First, she hadn't applied to any university or any scholarships.

Second, she found that she actually really wanted to go. She'd been out of school for a month now and, honestly, she'd been itching to go back before her education was permanently ruined.

Third, she was still going to murder Nightwing for enrolling her without her permission.

Holding the paper in her clenched fist, she marched towards the main room of the Cave, where she knew Nightwing was in the middle of sending a small squad on a mission.

She arrived just in time to see the telltale white light fade from the Zeta tube, and she knew the squad had already left. Fine. She'd be able to confront him without creating a scene in front of the others.

"Hey, dickface!" She shouted before she could stop herself. Nightwing stood with his back to her and finished typing something on the holographic computer, shutting it down before turning to her slowly, a look on his face that clearly showed that he did not appreciate the nickname.

Not missing a beat, Morgan slammed the letter against his chest. "What's this?!" Nightwing caught the letter and, still not speaking, looked it over.

"I'm assuming it's exactly what it says. A letter of acceptance."

"Yes, I can see that." She growled out, snatching the papers from him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What, you think I enrolled you?" he shot back, his tone incredulous.

"Well, if you didn't, who did?" Morgan pointed out, her arms crossed over her chest and her right hip jutted out. Her wings were bristling with annoyance.

"I did."

The two teenagers both turned around to spot the tall, dark and imposing figure that had spoken.

Morgan didn't even bother wondering how Batman had entered the Cave unnoticed. Maybe he had entered through the garage. Either way, he was Batman. He could do stuff like that.

"Batman? You enrolled her?" Nightwing asked, an undertone of anger in his voice that Morgan hadn't thought anyone would ever dare use against Batman, least of all Nightwing.

"Morgan needs to resume her education before it's too late." He informed in a tone that left no room for arguments. "She will begin after the Christmas break." He shifted so he was mainly facing Nightwing. "I trust you will make sure she is given the necessary equipment."

"Yes, Batman." Nightwing bit out after sighing loudly. Morgan sensed that he wanted to protest quite a bit, but she was unsure why. Other than perhaps making sure she had a pencil and a backpack, this really wasn't going to involve him, and shouldn't pose a problem for him at all.

"Good." Batman said shortly. "Dismissed." The two teenagers both scuttled off at his dismissal.

"Not you, Morgan." Batman suddenly spoke up, making the girl stop in her tracks.

Nightwing sent her a look of disbelief and – was that jealousy? – before walking off again.

She took a deep breath and turned around to find Batman studying her intensely behind that mask of his.

"Yes, sir?" She said politely, not sure if she was supposed to call him 'sir' or 'Batman'.

"Nightwing has informed me of your other superpower." He explained shortly. Morgan wasn't really angry with him for telling, she had supposed it would have to come out eventually. She hadn't expected him to keep quiet.

"Yes, well.." She forgot all of her previous politeness and shrugged. "Surprise?" She shrugged uncertainly.

"If you would allow it, the League is interested in running a few tests on you to discover the nature of your abilities and perhaps shed a light on what exactly you are." Batman went on, somehow making it sound more like an order than a 'friendly suggestion'.

Morgan held up both hands defensively. "I swear, I'm just a normal human." As an afterthought she added. "Who happens to have wings and telekinetic powers."

Morgan sighed and started over. "Look. As far as I know, both of my parents are perfectly normal humans, as am I. But if it would make you feel better, sure, do your experiments. As long as it doesn't hurt."

Batman inclined his head once. "Expect to be collected tomorrow at noon. And pack so you have clothes for several days. We can't know for sure how long these tests are going to take."

Morgan took a small step back, suddenly petrified with the thought of leaving the Cave for more than an afternoon.

"Where am I going?" she asked, her voice betraying the uncertainty she felt.

"Star Labs."

So a lot happened in this chapter I guess. I'm still really not a fan of the whole 'short scenes' thing, but I also don't want to make the story boring, by adding unnecessary scenes and details so..

Funfact: The idea for Morgan's power came to me as I was doing the dishes and this pot almost fell of the counter. I instinctively reached out for it even though I couldn't actually reach it from where I stood, and the pot stilled immediately and didn't fall to the floor. The whole thing kind of looked like I'd mentally stopped the pot and because I was thinking about my fanfic while it happened, I decided to incorporate it into the story.