Moira Mactaggert (scottish_moira) wrote in oh_marvelous, @ 2011-02-13 07:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | z: om1: !complete, z: om1: affiliation: x-men, z: om1: location: new york, z: om1: location: x-mansion, z: om1: past character: moira mactaggert, z: om1: past character: regan wyngarde |
What heart of stone...
Characters: Moira MacTaggert and Regan Wyngarde
Setting: Moira's Office
Content: Deception
Summary: Moira reviews Regan's file and activities at the school. After a conversation with Regan, she concludes that the girl is completely blameless and innocent, and a role-model for us all.
Regan Wyngarde.
The files lay open, side by side, on Moira's desk. One from Xavier, one from Fury. They said fairly similar things. Regan had come to the school to obtain her high school diploma, after a violent incident at her old school had tarnished her record. It wasn't pleasant, and everyone was grateful it hadn't been re-enacted in the months Regan had spent at the X-Mansion. Her file said that she was popular, in the superficial high-school way, and talented, although she lacked empathy.
This last part was underlined, and expanded upon. Lacks empathy. Shows warning signs of sociopathy. It was almost a footnote, and evidence was lacking. Even in such a unique academic environment, there was little that suggested to Moira it was anything more than typical mean-girls behavior. What high school queen-bee or queen-wannabe didn't show signs of sociopathy?
But the powers that be weren't going to dismiss it that easily, even if only because of her last name. Wyngarde. Jason Wyngarde, better known as Mastermind, was one of the slipperyest psychopaths the world had ever faced. His psychic powers of illusion were only surpassed by his genius and creativity in using them. He had raised Regan -- and her half sister, now missing? -- in wealth, though he had been born blue-collar. She had gone to all the best schools, until something had gone horribly wrong.
All accounts said that Jason Wyngarde was dead. All of them. But not one said why or how. There was a note that he had been going up against the X-Men when he died, but even the X-Men records provided no details. Good research had shown that the word originally came from the Hellfire Club. If anyone had more information, it was them.
But no one had a body. Regan had claimed he contacted her, before his death, and said he was sorry, that he regretted many of the things that he'd done, and he said he hoped the X-Men would forgive him, among other things. Her story wasn't corroborated anywhere. No one knew what had happened. No one had a body. So of course there was reason to suspect that he had faked his death--but it had been three years now. That seemed like a long time, to be plotting a come-back. Too long. Even the doubters began to forget that Mastermind was someone to be feared. He was dead. Move on with your lives.
Even Regan was finally moving on. The incident at her old school had coincided exactly with her father's death. She'd lost control due to grief, and blew up. No one doubted that part of her story. Whatever other deceptions the girl might be running, everyone believed her grief was genuine, and she was still barely capable of dealing with it.
A soft knock on the door heralded Regan's entrance. She didn't wait for a response before walking inside.
"Miss Wyngarde," Moira said, putting on her headmistress face. "Please have a seat."
The young lady who crossed the room and sat down suited the files. She was pretty and blonde, with all the indicators of being ruthlessly popular. She didn't bother to return Moira's smile, but her face was composed and polite, waiting to hear what this is about.
"I see that you received your diploma two months ago," Moira commented, closing the files, one at a time. "Congratulations."
There was an unspoken question in that. You graduated, but Xavier had never put you on the X-Men. Why are you still here, two months later?
"Thank you," said Regan. "Professor Xavier was very generous in allowing me to complete my formal education here."
"In the meantime, I'm told that you've been helping to tutor some of the other students, with excellent results, and you've been spending long hours in the danger room."
A slight wariness entered Regan's eyes. "Yes."
"I..." Moira had to pause. How to say this? She tried a more motherly smile on the girl. "I reviewed your sessions in the danger room, both solo and group sessions, and I must say that I'm impressed. Your control of the room's psychic interface is flawless, and the creativity shown in the environments and challenges of the room surpasses anything I've ever seen."
"Thank you," said Regan, again.
The girl wasn't offering anything. Moira would have to be blunt. "Why the intense training in the danger room, Miss Wyngarde?"
"Isn't that in my file?" It was borderline insubordinate, but Regan gave her a guileless smile to soften the question. "Same reason I've stuck around and helped tutor. I was working toward membership on the X-Men team. If I proved myself, I could have a spot on the team. Maybe even a teaching position in the school. Xavier didn't trust me yet. I guess I get that, but I'd been working harder and harder, and these past few months, it's like he wasn't even here, even if he was right in front of us. He checked out months before he actually left."
"And you stayed, even without the recognition you wanted?" Moira's thoughts itched. She began to understand that Regan wasn't aloof or insubordinate, she was just shy and unsure. Poor little orphan. And working so hard, supporting the X-Men, even though Xavier wouldn't let her on the team. She seemed like such a very, very trustworthy sort of young lady...
Regan shrugged. "I was helping. After I was given access to the danger room, people started requesting team sessions with me. They say I come up with the best challenges. And I like doing it."
Moira smiled, struck with a lingering sense of fondness toward the girl. She'd come from a tough situation, certainly, and Jason Wyngarde wasn't a model parent by anyone's standards, but look how she was making up for it! Hard work and team-building. It didn't take long for Moira to reach a decision. "Well, I don't see any reason you shouldn't be on the team, Miss Wyngarde. Since you've graduated, there's no need for you to be a junior member, but I would like to keep you on the team at a probationary level, for the time being. You'll earn your ranks soon enough. Meanwhile, how would you like to start teaching a class of your own? My notes say that you're remarkably skilled with higher-level mental control. We'll make it a senior-level class, very small, more of a seminar than a real class. Lots of working together and discussion, under your leadership and my supervision."
"That would be wonderful," Regan breathed, all smiles now.
"Make me proud," Moira advised her. She spent a few minutes discussing the details with Regan, then dismissed her, confident in the girl's abilities. Shaking her head, she took Regan's files and put them away. She didn't need those. Lacked empathy? Who could believe that for long. The girl was a role-model to her peers and an excellent student. Moira already trusted her completely.