☑ THE SHADOW | Peter Maximoff

o n e - y e a r - a g o | t h r e e

~ 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 ~

The ground was rough beneath Peter as he sat on it, trying to go over in his head what just happened. The battle continued on the other side of the wall he was propped up against, and Raven was sitting beside him, the both of them trying to catch their breaths. But he was hardly paying attention to the battle anymore. 

That girl. Aya. 

What... what was she? 

She had been able to stop everything that "god" was throwing at her with ease. Everything: the building; the powers; even the speed. What was she?

And what happened to her? Was she okay?

It was hard to see through the mess of her power - it was almost like a black tornado circled around them, with the wind picking up any object it was close to and bringing it along for the ride. But he could faintly make out was going through the cracks; she got distracted by something. 

And that was what finally got to her. That was when she was thrown somewhere behind him, and a heavy sounding crash crumbled to the ground.

Someone screamed behind him, and he blinked. An explosion occurred. And everything went silent. 

Peter looked over at Raven, who nodded once.

"I think it's over."

He sighed in relief, and the fatigue finally settled in. 

Raven stood up a minute later with an audible groan, and when the lady with the white hair made her way over, both women held their hands out and helped him stand. He hissed in pain and thanked them as they let him rest his arms over their shoulders, but when he stood up tall, he was given just enough height to see the massive pile of rubble where he presumed Aya landed.

"Aya!" Jean screamed, immediately running over to stare at the pile with horror. He assumed correctly. 

She used her telekinesis to lift the debris and scramble through it all in search of her friend while Scott, Kurt and Hank did their best to help. Peter gulped, hopping over with the help of the women as he tried to look around as well. 

Only a minute later, there was a small, unmoving hand peeking through the rocks that made everyone gasp.

Jean's hands flew to cover her mouth. "Aya!"

The ground shook when she used her telekinesis to throw all of the rocks away, then fell to her knees and cradled the girl's head in her hands. 

"Aya, come on," Jean called, her voice growing thick. "I'm sorry, it was my fault. Please wake up." 

Peter swallowed thickly, the sadness of watching Jean desperately try to shake her friend awake growing while everyone else could only stand back and watch. 

"Please, Aya. I can't lose you, too."

Kurt sat down on Aya's other side and gently pulled back her hair, which finally showed everyone the true state Aya was in: she had a massive scrape running from her cheek to her neck, a deep purple eye, and blood dripping from her head, nose, and mouth. 

The heat of Cairo wasn't helping the mood. Sweat dripped down Peter's back as Raven and Ororo defeatedly began to lead him back to the ship, but everyone stopped when Aya suddenly began coughing violently. Her coughs were thick and her breathing was tight as more blood dribbled out of her mouth, and her hands were clutching onto Jean tightly, who was half-laughing, half-crying, and cradling Aya's face.