Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 15

I hear something beeping and frown. What the hell is making that noise? It doesn't sound like an alarm. I wince as I move slightly, pain jolting down my entire body. With effort I open my eyes, squinting at a bright light. I see wires in my arms and grab them, about to pull them out when a hand grabs mine.

"Don't, they're helping you. You're safe, I promise" I glance and see Natasha sitting beside my bed. I glance around, everything in the room is white – the walls, the bedsheets, the chairs, it's all white. I'm in a hospital room. I let my hand fall to my side, I'm back at Stark Towers.

Everything comes rushing back all at once. The train station, fighting Mystique and Scarlett, Peter turning up and saving me. If Peter hadn't arrived, I would either be dead by now or getting my memories erased or twisted by the x-men. I doubt Mystique would be nice enough to actually just kill me without letting me suffer majorly. My eyes widen, is Peter safe?

"Peter was-"

"He's fine, he wanted to stay until you woke up, but his aunt was worried and ordered him to go home" Natasha interrupts calmly. "Everyone's okay because of you, you put the fire out." I sigh in relief hearing no one was hurt; it would've been all my fault. I don't know what the hell I was thinking, going after Mystique all alone thinking I could bring her in.

"How's your head?" Natasha asks. "You needed a couple of stitches, but Bruce said you'll be just fine." My head is pounding but it's good to know I'll make a full recovery; I do tend to heal a lot faster than the average human. When I was twelve, I broke my arm and it healed within a few hours, I didn't even need a cast.

"It's sore" I say honestly, turning my head to look at Natasha. I wince as another jolt of pain shoots through my head.

"Here are some painkillers" Natasha hands me two pills and a small cup of water, I swallow them and take a sip of water.

I fiddle with a strand of brown hair, waiting for Natasha to lecture me for going after Mystique by myself. I could've been killed and then I wouldn't have been able to put out the fire, obviously, and more people could've died. "Where's Tony?" I ask.

"He's still at the train station, a train ended up running off the tracks, but Tony managed to get everyone to safety, he's trying to explain the situation to the authorities, you were only out for about an hour" Natasha answers, yeah, the police would have a lot of questions for the avengers after this, I wonder if the police will ask about me. Tony's willing to let the crimes I committed slide, but the police might not be so lenient.

"I'm sorry" I say, glancing at Natasha. Our relationship was starting to get off to a good point but of course I had to ruin it by doing something stupid, all I seem to do is ruin things lately. Maybe I was born for the purpose of destruction and chaos, maybe we're born with destinies and mine is to destroy.

"For what?" Natasha asks, looking confused. "Storm, you saved a lot of lives at the risk of your own, that's called being a hero, being an avenger." I'm not a hero, I'm just a stupid teenager who has done terrible things and doesn't think before diving into dangerous situations. I'm still a villain, I don't think I'll ever be a hero – how would I wipe off all the blood on my hands?

"Mystique got away because I went after her alone" I say, a tear rolling down my cheek. "I'm trying to help, Nat, but all I do is make things worse."

Scarlett being there threw me off, though I should've suspected it, of course Mystique would use Scarlett against me. I couldn't harm Scarlett; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to her because of me. I know who Scarlett really is now and yet I can't bring myself to fight her, not to the point of possibly injuring her.

"Look, you shouldn't have gone off alone, that was dangerous, but you still managed to save lives and you almost won. Besides, the avengers turning up might not have changed the outcome, Mystique has been evading us for so many years" Natasha says calmly, sitting next to me on my bed and placing her hand on my back. Mystique has been fighting the avengers for longer than I've been alive, she's good at hiding from them, she's good at hiding from anyone honestly. She's powerful because of her cunningness and manipulation. "I was proud to call you my daughter today. I thought you were too much like me, but you have the very best of both of us in you, you have Tony's determination to help people and my willingness to fight even if it seems hopeless."

Tears roll down my eyes, nobody has ever said they're proud of me before. Natasha embraces me tightly, placing her arms around my shoulders. "You're okay" she says soothingly. "You're safe now, we're going to protect you, I promise."

None of this is okay, I just got my head bashed in by my ex best friend! To top it off, a bunch of innocent people almost died because of me, I'm just thankful Tony managed to save everyone who was on the train.

"Scarlett was going to kill me" I sob, Natasha hugs me even tighter, rubbing a soothing hand up and down my back. She doesn't say anything, I think she knows there is nothing that can make me feel better right now. I'm torn between feeling angry and miserable, Peter was right about anger being healthier, but how can I erase my feelings of sadness? I cared about Scarlett more than anyone else in the world and she didn't even blink when Mystique told her to kill me. Why am I wasting tears over someone who is psychotic? Peter had a point when he said she willingly chose to kill people in order to join a company who kills innocent people for control.

"I know it's hard to hear this but if Scarlett was happy to kill you, then maybe you need to accept the fact she was never your friend" Natasha says gently, I close my eyes, trying to stop more tears from falling. I take a deep, shaky breath as I consider what Natasha said. Even if Scarlett was never my friend, I was hers. "Maybe it's time to let go."

"I don't know how" I say honestly, I have no idea how to leave my past in the past. I don't think I can just switch off and stop caring about Scarlett as easily as she has.

The door opens and Tony walks in. He sighs in relief as he sees me and comes over and hugs me. "Are you alright?" he asks me, his face filled with concern. I nod, smiling at him to reassure him.

"Bruce said she's all good" Natasha informs Tony, squeezing his shoulder. Tony gives Natasha a grateful smile.

"Bruce said you're fine to leave here, he said you have enhanced healing" Tony informs me and starts to undo all the wires that are hooked up to me. A machine begins to beep, Natasha reaches over and fiddles with it, causing it to stop.

"You did really well today, Storm" Tony tells me, giving me a small smile. "You scared the hell out of us, going after Mystique alone, but you did well. You put out the fire quicker than we could have, they're all alive because of you."

I'm glad I saved lives but I shouldn't have been so reckless, I gave Mystique exactly what she wanted by following her into that stupid bathroom and as a result got my head bashed in and almost died. If Peter hadn't of turned up, the fire might have killed a lot of innocent people.

*Author's Note* The parents Storm deserved all along