Subject: [OTL]: (Timewind Arc, Morgan Summers/Maya Logan) Cauterize (PG-13; slash) Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 18:59:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Timewind Arc: Cauterize by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: The kids are mine. Their parents are Marvel's. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. WARNING: F/F slash themes - NOTHING graphic, but it's there - harsh language, angst, etc. NOTE: Some may note similarities between Morgan and a certain other daughter of Nate and Domino's ... believe me, they're very different. In other words, this is not meant to infringe, in any way, shape or form, upon Alicia McKenzie's Pantheon work. Just thought I'd get that out of the way ... -------------------------------------------------------- 9/9/2020: -------------------------------------------------------- She wondered if she even realized she was there. #Probably not. Maya's never been one for noticing anything she doesn't want to notice,# Morgan Summers thought, half-smirking as she watched her classmate go through a combat drill in the Xavier Institute's primary Danger Room. The 13-year-olds had found their first week at the school to have settled into a somewhat predictable routine, albeit shot through with the occasional round of chaos. #Aaron getting tossed back and forth in the timestream, Aislinn almost getting prosecuted for temporal crimes, Aidan healing and freeing Ninaeve Cassidy - yeah, I'd say that's chaos,# Morgan thought (SEE previous Timewind stories for details). Her smirk grew, reminiscent of her mother's own frequent sardonic expression. Morgan took after her father in appearance - short brown hair with two somewhat long bangs in front, piercing blue eyes, and Caucasian skin. She was, however, lanky and unsteady with the onset of her growth spurt. #Damnit, I HATE being gangly. 'It's what everyone goes through,'# Morgan thought, making a face into thin air. ~SUMMERS ! Are you spotting me or WHAT ?!~ "Yeah, like you needed it. Another five combat-sims ?" Morgan said into the microphone, trying not to blush as Maya Logan glared up into the Danger Room. Only slightly shorter than Morgan, with more muscle and a nearly-identical black skinsuit, Maya resembled the best of her own parents. Her father Logan's unruly black hair and whipcord musculature and her mother Elektra's graceful bone structure and Grecian facial features combined to make Maya appear unsettlingly wild even during her most innocent moments. Her blue eyes pierced Morgan, making the Summers girl flinch involuntarily. "You flinched ? How unusual," Maya purred, her mask of outrage flickering into a thoughtful grin. "Oh perfect. I suppose you want to fight me," Morgan mock-whined over the intercom from the control booth. #Foolish, Maya ...# "Hey, bring it if you want, sister. I'm in a mood to inflict some pain on a real opponent," Maya crowed, snickering malevolently on the last word. Morgan deactivated the "Trademark Post-Apocalyptic Ruined Cityscape" holo-setting Maya had been fighting in, and restored the Danger Room to its normal configuration, gravitic crash-fields manifesting around the edges to prevent anyone from hitting the wall too hard. #That healing factor won't help you prevent a TK-toss, Maya ...# -------------------------------------------------------- Two minutes later, Morgan had walked into the Danger Room. Five seconds after that, the only sound was grunting and the occasional thud of bone-driven meat hitting bone-driven meat. Among the "Gang," as Morgan's generation of X-offspring called themselves, there were certain universal truths the children had come to accept. Among them were three items which were governing this particular match. First, Morgan Summers was, by far, the deadliest member of the group, due to her near-obsessive training in armed and unarmed combat skills since preschool. Second, Maya Logan was very possibly Morgan's equal, due to her Logan genes, her own training regimen, and her suspected insanity. Third, both girls had never gotten along that well. Ever. If the girls had bothered to make sure they had a spotter in the control booth - a rule which neither particularly cared about - said spotter might have been forgiven for hiding from the resulting conflagration. -------------------------------------------------------- She was staying ahead. Barely. #Damn, she's improved,# Maya admitted to herself deep beneath her psi-shields. She was managing to block Morgan's attacks, but only just. And her healing factor was managing to blunt those which got through ... #But she's getting more through ...# #To hell with it.# Maya ducked a spin-kick, and lashed out telepathically with a mindbolt - - #WHAT THE FLONQ !?# The psionic blast PINGed off of an adamantine wall around Morgan's astral self, provoking an annoyed reaction from the Summers girl. ~Tacky tacky tacky, Maya,~ she psi-spoke, smirking. The telekinetic punch was neither subtle nor unexpected. #I hate this,# Maya thought, scowling as she struggled to get out of the gravitic crash-field. "C'mon, Summers, let me out of here." "Oh, but I thought you liked hanging around," Morgan deadpanned. Maya's disgusted look provoked a snicker from the telekine, who shrugged and turned towards the nearest control panel. #It'd be worth the demerits to scorch her psyche for that -# Maya sneered, lashing out with another psi-bolt when she sensed Morgan's shields thinning - - and then everything turned inside out. ~cantbelieveshedidthatgoodlookscoldheartItriedtocare-~ "WHAT !?" Maya shouted, severing the link and pulling herself free of the crash-field with an incoherent scream. Waves of red and black filled her vision - who was Morgan to think of her in THAT way - #Whoa - down, girl. Dad's the feral maniac in the family,# part of Maya's mind told the snarling rest of her psyche. #But I'm STRAIGHT ! Damnit, for all the flirting I do, she should know -# "Wait a minute. Miss Stereotypical-Stoic-Summers is a lesbian ... ?" Maya purred, shaking her head and looking over at where Morgan had been standing. She cursed, far worse than before, at the sight of her opponent curled in a fetal position on the floor. "Oh, tell me I didn't fry her," Maya pleaded, strengthening her shields and tip-toeing over to where Morgan was starting to twitch. She knelt down and extended one hand, slowly, to shake Morgan's shoulder. The Summers girl rolled away with a noise that might have been a denial or a curse, then got to her feet with tearful eyes. "I - I - just thought -" Morgan whispered. "You thought what? We'd roll around and then share feelings over a Melissa Ethridge CD !?" Maya snarled again, the anger returning. "I like guys, Summers. Deal with it." Morgan's eyes widened, and something akin to actual horror lit in them. "Geez, Summers, relax," Maya said, squirming at the empathic storm coming off of Morgan. "I'm not really pissed - you're acting like I mind-cored Payne or something." #She's giving off some VERY odd vibes,# Maya realized, sensing a fresh spike of panic from Morgan when the Summers girl heard her twin brother's name. "Y-you - leave him out of this - leave my family alone -" Morgan stammered, provoking near-panic from Maya. "Jesus. You're falling apart, Morgan," Maya whispered, her eyes widening at the sight of Morgan shaking in fear. "So you're a lesbian. It's -" "IT'S NONE OF YOUR DAMNED BUSINESS !" Morgan screamed, hurling Maya aside telekinetically and throwing open the door to the girls' locker room. She removed her skinsuit quickly and stepped under the shower, turning the hot water on full. #She knows - damnit, she knows -# Morgan thought, panic and rage fighting for predominance in her mind. #it's MY choice - why of all people did I think of HER - a LOGAN - i'm not a freak - I kept it quiet for a REASON -# She almost tore the hot water knob off with a telekinetic "hand," then teked a towel to herself and dried off rapidly before dressing in a fresh skinsuit. She found herself on the campus lawn, then shook her head. #She'll tell everyone. EVERYONE,# Morgan thought, shuddering inside at the thought of laughter, teasing - #I'm done - I COWERED - who'll follow me now - even if they're OK with my - choice -# ~Mor ?~ Morgan "heard," flinching at her twin-link with her brother Payne. She slammed down her psi-screens and mindshield, damping the link, and flew. And flew, until the school was a dot behind her and Payne's panicked mindcalls faded. #Anywhere,# Morgan thought, fighting fresh tears and windburn. #Just not there -# -------------------------------------------------------- NOT the end --------------------------------------------------------