Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 6

"You're aware you can leave this room, right?" Tony asks walking into my room. "The door opens like this." I stare at Tony as he shows me how to open the door. After they moved me from the hospital bed to an actual room, I haven't left. It's been three days but I have nowhere to go and nothing to say to anybody. Peter's come by a few times and surprisingly isn't the worst company there is.

"Wow, thank you so much for showing me that, how did I survive without a father for so long?" I ask, Tony chuckles at my response and sits down. I'm not surprised he's the one visiting instead of Natasha, I don't imagine she would know how to handle this at all, she's made for missions and spying, not being a mother. I can't exactly imagine Tony as a dad, but he seems to have done something right in his relationship with Peter.

"I thought you could maybe go with Peter Parker to high school." Tony looks at me and I stare back, my eyes wide and unblinking.

I begin to choke on the water I just took a sip of. High school? Normal high school? I wouldn't even know where to start. Yes, I've been taught normal classes like math, biology, and English, but how am I supposed to pretend I'm normal?

"I can control the elements and breathe underwater, what's the point of high school?" I ask once I finish choking, I understand the importance of learning, but I have powers, I'm not going to become a doctor one day.

"Going to a normal school can open up a lot of doors for things like college, you don't know what you'll want to do in a few years" Tony answers. I don't think I'm going to be going to college ever, unless it's to spy on someone and even then, I still can't imagine myself attending classes and graduating.

"The x-men are turning children into mass murderers, and you want me to put my energy in math class?" I ask, I should be helping to tear down the x-men, it's the least I could do after everything I found out. "Wouldn't my time be better spent focusing on that?"

"It's not a good idea for you to get involved in that, you're too close to it all" Tony answers. The closer the better, the more chance anybody has. I know things that only the people within know, nobody has ever left before, I'm the first one.

"That's exactly why I should" I argue, wasn't the whole point of bringing me here because I was close to it? Why is he suddenly trying to shield me away from everything? I was brought here to help them tear down the x-men and that's what I'm going to try and do, especially while my friends are there. "My best friend is there!"

"Yes, Peter's told me about Scarlett" Tony says, sighing. "I will try my best to get Scarlett, but I can't make any promises."

I don't want the avengers to 'get' Scarlett, the only reason I'm not in a jail cell right down is because of who my parents are, Scarlett isn't safe here.

"No, just leave Scarlett alone, please" I say, Scarlett is safe with the x-men, so it's better she's there for the moment than here, I don't know what would happen if she ended up with the avengers and I don't want to risk anything. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to Scarlett, she's too important.

"If that's what you want" Tony nods, agreeing a little too quickly. I stay silent, I don't completely trust the avengers just yet, I believe that they mean well but I'm still worried about my friends becoming collateral damage. I'm also aware that me wanting my friends to stay safe is naïve, if the x-men somehow find out that I'm alive, they'll probably send Scarlett after me to test her loyalty, it seems like the kind of thing Mystique would do.

"Wait, if I went to school, I'd have to leave here" I say, a thought occurring. That means that to some degree, he believes I'll come back and won't go running home as soon as the door opens. He's right, I wouldn't go back home, I'm not even sure if it was ever was a home. I don't think people using you to their advantage is what a home is supposed to be.

"Peter would be with you" Tony reminds me. I doubt we'll have every class together; I don't think Peter's interested in babysitting me. "You interested?" It would've been nice if Peter gave me a heads up.

"Sure" I say, a pit beginning to form in my stomach. If I say no, the option to be able to leave this place is closed, I don't think I have much of a choice. I need the option to leave to stay open, even if I don't actually have anywhere to go, I need to be able to flee if I can sense something's off.

"Great, I love it when things are easy" Tony says. "I think Pepper's interested in meeting you, but I can hold it off if you want."

I blink, a future is forming in my mind and it's weird. Images of me sitting around a table with Tony and Pepper, or with Steve and Natasha – the two might not be together but I've heard rumours. Family dinners are something so normal, yet I've never had that and I'm not sure if I want to, how is this supposed to end? If the avengers succeed, am I going to leave here and move in with Tony or Natasha?

"Storm?" Tony interrupts my train of thought.

"Sorry, this is just a lot to process" I reply, my upbringing worked for me. I was independent enough but always had Mystique if I needed anything, and then of course Scarlett was hardly ever not by my side. I never yearned for anything more or really gave any thought to it, I guess I thought my life was already sorted out. "I don't know if I'm ready to meet your family." Your real family.

"That's fine, I think we're all finding this overwhelming" Tony informs me. "It's a strange situation for the three of us, but I want to do what's best for you, I just don't quite know what that is yet." Tony sort of has to step up, Natasha clearly isn't ready for this – not that I blame her, if I found out I had a long-lost kid I think I'd flee to the other side of the world.

I don't think I even know what's best for me right now, but I'm getting insight into Tony's thought process. I think his plan is that I'll just be a normal teenager and attend school while him and Natasha figure out the whole parent thing, it's either school, joining the avengers or sitting here doing nothing so school wouldn't have been much of a choice.

"Maybe school is the best option until we figure it out" I say, giving Tony a small but genuine smile. Things will be easier if we're a team. I need to remember that him and Natasha have just found out they have a daughter, they're every bit as confused and uncertain as I am.

"We'll take it one step at a time and do this together, deal?"

"Deal" I agree. The best way forward is by doing this together.

*Author's Note* Who is ur favourite marvel character? Mine is Peter Parker and Tony Stark.