THE BALLAD OF FERAL HEART
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FANDOM
MCU
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GENRE
ANGST
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WARNINGS
CHARACTER DEATH, SUICIDE
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RELATIONSHIP
NONE
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NOTES
I like making people suffer
~○~
Beth strummed a chord on her guitar. It had barely been a week since Catty had died. She still felt...numb to it. She'd lost her teammate, her friend. Her drummer.
Ilya was asleep in the next room. At least, she hoped he was asleep and not trying to kill himself again. She got up to check on him, though her mind was elsewhere.
~○~
A week earlier, Ilya burst into Georgie's apartment. He had blood dripping from his temple. "Georgie," he wheezed, before promptly passing out.
A while later, Ilya woke up on the couch. Catty stood over him, a little too close for comfort. He could smell the salt and vinegar chips on her breath.
"Hi," she said. She poked his shoulder-- the closest she came to showing affection. She turned away. "Yo, George! The Russian's awake!"
The girl's aunt came in, fresh bandages in hand. "I can see that, Catty," she remarked, nudging her niece out of the way. She sat on a stool next to the couch. "Alright, kid. What happened?"
Ilya carefully sat up. He took a breath.
"There's a bounty hunter looking for me," he explained. "Well, looking for Brown Recluse. I'm wanted for the deaths of the Skrulls that killed my parents. Gravik, one of the leaders, he hired someone to find me. He doesn't care if I'm dead or alive, though."
Georgie nodded. "Well, I'll patch you up. You can stay here until you've healed. You'll be safe."
~○~
Ilya woke up, again, to Catty standing over him. He sat up, feeling groggy and confused. "Cat...?" he mumbled.
Catty shushed him. "I know a safehouse. If we sneak out, we can get there. You'll be safer." Georgie will be safe, she didn't say. She didn't like to show concern for people, especially her aunt. But if someone was after Ilya, she wanted them far, far away from Georgie.
The Russian rubbed his eyes. Well, if he'd be safer... "Okay. When do we leave?" he asked.
"Now," Catty responded, grabbing his hand. "Let's dip. Beth's outside." Beth was the only Young Avenger with a driver's license.
Ilya nodded, carefully standing. Catty grabbed him by the collar and dragged him outside, where Beth was waiting in her truck.
Little did the trio know, they wouldn't make it to the safehouse.
~○~
Beth was driving, gripping the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grasp. "Ilya, can you please play something other than Barbie music?" she asked. It had been four hours since they left. The sun had started to rise.
"But it's the best music!" Ilya protested.
Catty idly drew on the fogged up window in the backseat. "What about Cat and the Hearts? Or Sunshine Wasteland?"
Beth opened her mouth to say something, but the truck suddenly lurched. The tires popped. "Jesus fuck!" she swore. "Son of a shit!"
Catty rubbed her head. She'd hit it on the window. "What happened?" she asked.
Ilya's eyes went wide. "We need to get out and run," he said, fumbling with his seatbelt. Catty and Beth understood immediately. The three went for the woods near the side of the road.
As they ran, a knife flew through the air, narrowly missing Beth's head. The woman squeaked. Ilya swore.
"He's found us," he said. "We can't run. We have to fight."
The two girls nodded, standing back to back with Ilya. The fight was on.
~○~
Ilya didn't know how it happened. The bounty hunter, a big Romanian, had been ready to stab Ilya. Then suddenly Catty was between the two with the bounty hunter's knife in her stomach. Beth Hulked out and killed the bounty hunter as Ilya kneeled beside his fallen teammate.
"I'm gonna have to apply pressure to the wound, okay?" Ilya said gently. He pressed down. "It may hurt."
Catty gave a shuddering breath. "It doesn't hurt," she said.
"Good, that's good," Ilya said gently. It wasn't good.
"I'm scared," Catty whispered, grasping desperately at Ilya's arms. "I don't wanna die. Please don't let me die." Blue blood leaked from her wound and soaked into the ground.
Ilya cupped her cheek. "You won't die," he assured her. "I promise. Beth'll get us out of here." He wasn't too sure about that, since, well, Gamma Hulk was running loose, and Beth's tires had been shot out.
Catty clawed at his arm, as if trying to ground herself by scratching his flesh. "Don't make me go. I don't wanna go." Tears welled in her eyes.
"You don't have to go," Ilya said, tearing up himself.
"I love being a Young Avenger," Catty whispered. "Don't-- just don't make me leave."
"We love you here, we don't want you to leave," Ilya told her, pressing harder in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.
"I-- pl-please don't--" Catty was gasping for breath, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Just don't make me go. I don't wanna go."
Ilya almost sobbed. "I love-- it's been lovely being here with, with you." He moved a hand to brush her hair out of her face. "You can stay here as long as you like, Catty." He took a shuddering breath. "You're my favorite, everyone knows that."
Catty's grip loosened from his arm, her hands finally falling limp. Ilya pulled his hands away, his flesh stained with blue. He watched the light fade from her eyes.
Beth ran over, back to being just Beth. "Ilya, you have to keep the pressure on!" she shouted.
Ilya looked up at her, nearly crying out. "No, I don't, Beth," he whispered.
