Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 11

I slam my door shut as soon as I head into Stark towers, not interested in being lectured right now. Tears stream down my face, Scarlett is gone and she's not coming back, at least not the way I want. I sink down to the floor, placing my head in my hands.

I never thought this through, never allowed myself to imagine the possibility of life without Scarlett. She was the only family I had growing up, yet tonight she was willing to fight me and drag me back to the x-men, knowing what would happen.

I run my fingers through my hair, unable to stop the tears streaming down my face. I need to face facts, Scarlett is on the x-men side and I'm on the avengers' side, we're not on the same side anymore.

I scream, throwing the pillow next to me across the room. I stand up, clenching my fists. The pillow suddenly bursts into flames. Breathe, Storm, breathe. I breathe in and out, focusing on breathing as deeply as I can. The fire slowly dies down then disappears altogether.

I resist the urge to keep throwing things, burning down my room is only going to add to my list of problems and it's not exactly going to solve anything. Despite all my powers, there is nothing I can do to fix this.

If I hadn't of chased Scarlett, I could've held on to our friendship a little longer. A fresh stream of tears roll down my face, I'm completely and utterly alone. I have no idea how to move forward, I don't want to be on the opposite side to my best friend. My eyes widen as a strong gust of wind knocks a white chair in the corner over. I need to calm down before my powers trash the entire room.

I lie down on my bed, breathing in and out. Scarlett was the only person who was always there for me, no matter what. I trusted Mystique, but I knew that she wanted me to go on missions for her, I guess deep down I knew her love was conditional of my success. Scarlett wasn't, she didn't care about me because of my powers.

The door opens and Tony hovers in the doorway. He comes over and sits down next to me, not say anything. I wipe my tears off my cheek, waiting for Tony to start yelling at me for being reckless and putting myself in danger. He's changed out of his iron man suit into dark jeans and a black short-sleeved top. I was half expecting him to waltz in here in his suit and start lecturing me about chasing Scarlett and putting us all in danger.

Tony wordlessly pulls me into his arms. I stiffen at first, only at first, but let myself relax into his embrace. "It's okay" Tony says soothingly. More tears roll down my cheeks as Tony hugs me, this isn't okay. I'm not sure if I'll ever be ok again.

I don't want to live if I'm fighting against Scarlett, the thought of fighting her again makes my heart feel like it'll break into pieces. How can I fight the girl I used to call my family? I don't want to be on opposite sides, but neither of us are going to switch sides.

"She was my best friend" I sob, clinging to Tony, needing the feeling of physical comfort. How could Scarlett do this to me? She was ready to throw everything we had away without any hesitation, I thought our bond was stronger than that. Everyone used to say how we fought together so well because of our bond, but if our bond is so strong, how could it break so easily?

"I know, I'm sorry" Tony says quietly. I sit back against my pillows, not breaking eye contact with Tony. Tony coming in and giving me a hug instead of yelling at me is surprising, but the yelling part can still come.

"Are you going to punish me for following Scarlett?" I ask, flashes and images of what happened when I failed a mission entering my mind. Mystique and Magneto didn't tolerate failure, but I didn't fail often so it didn't really matter to me.

Tony raises his eyebrows, and his eyes start narrowing. "Tell the x-men did not hurt you if you disobeyed them" he says, his voice tight and controlled. His eyes are filled with anger and hurt. I shrug, what does it matter now? I'll never be there again.

"Scarlett knows what they've been doing, she doesn't care" I say, my voice cracking. I take a deep breath, a single tear rolling down my cheek. I was only eight and I bombed a building, it replays through my mind every night when I'm lying in my twin-sized bed, but Scarlett hasn't stopped to consider the effect of their actions.

Tony sighs quietly, his face not showing any emotion other than concern. I can't recall anytime Mystique was concerned when I was upset which just highlights Fury's point that she never cared about me, just my powers. She cared about the parts of me that were useful to her, the parts that got her what she wanted. In other words, she simply didn't care about me.

I look up and see Natasha standing in the doorway, she walks in and sits down in the white chair beside my bed. She glances at Tony and then over at me. "I'm sorry, I know Scarlett was important to you" she gives me a sympathetic smile.

I have no idea what to say to either of them, not sure how to express these feelings and put them into words.

"People's opinions and beliefs can change over time, it's not something that's stuck in stone" Natasha says, looking intently at me. "Wouldn't you say you've changed considerably over the last week?"

I've changed because of the information I've learnt, because the few morals I had said that this was wrong, this isn't what I want. Scarlett's more or less learnt the same information, yet she's still supporting the x-men and now will be actively helping them kill innocent people – I don't think her views are going to change.

"Scarlett knows everything I know, and she picked them" I say hollowly. A war is coming, there's no middle ground, not for people like me. The people like me have to choose a side to fight with because if we have the power to help and we don't, we're just as bad as the x-men. Ashton and Henry will probably feel the exact same as Scarlett when they find out, Magneto will probably tell them everything as soon as Scarlett reveals I'm alive so that if I try to tell them, it won't matter. All my friends are going to be the opposite side – I can't fight against them, I won't.

"All my friends are fighting with the x-men, how am I supposed to fight them?" I ask, looking at Natasha. This seems like more her territory than Tony's, considering she was actually a spy for an evil group at one point, but she left.

Another tear rolls down my cheek and I wipe it away quickly. I am sick of crying; I feel like all I've done since I arrived here is cry. I'm stronger than this, I have to be. I don't want to sit around and cry while kids are being turned into weapons, I want to use my pain to stop it.

"You need to realise you're not fighting your friends; you're fighting the x-men's idea that they're superior to humans and you're fighting against all the crimes they've committed. You fight to stop them from doing what they did to you to other little girls" Natasha answers. I nod, fight the idea, not the people involved. It's easier said than done, but she's right. If I sit back and do nothing, there could be hundreds more deaths and more children tricked into losing their innocence and unknowingly committing terrible acts of violence. What I did can't be taken back, I have to live with it for the rest of my life, I can't let that happen to others.

"Turn your pain into power" Tony advises me, lifting up his chin. They're both right, I am going to stop the x-men, I'm going to make sure no more children are forced to endure what I endured, that the x-men are forced to stop using children to do their dirty work. "Scarlett could end up realising it's wrong, Nat was right when she said people's views change."

Scarlett's chosen her side; I have to pick mine. If I do nothing, I'm just as bad as Magneto and Mystique. I can't imagine Scarlett switching sides, but either way I need to find a way to live with it. I refuse to let this destroy me, at least not before I help take down the x-men.

*Author's Note* Tony being the best dad as always.