Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 22

I walk into my bedroom with Steve right behind me. Steve's apology sounded genuine, I wonder if he'll trust me if I successfully do whatever he asks, I'm just not sure how difficult it will be. Surely, Steve can do this himself, he might not have my powers but his a super solider, that counts for something.

"Is Rhodey okay?" I ask as soon as his shut my door. I should've gone to see Tony the second I was back, but I guess I was scared, scared he might've changed his mind while I was out and decided I was to blame.

"He'll be okay, he's paralysed but Tony is going to try to build him some new legs" Steve says, I close my eyes. The tight feeling in my chest disappears, though I know this situation isn't ideal. Rhodey being paralysed isn't fair, I just hope Tony can build something. Mystique had no reason to do this, Rhodey was in Stark towers.

"What do you want?" I ask bluntly, I don't care about being polite to someone who has called me a traitor multiple times and wanted to arrest me for something I clearly hadn't done, he didn't stop to think before trying to throw me in a cell.

"I know we got off to a bad start and I am sorry for that" Steve says earnestly sitting down on my white chair. I sit on the edge of my bed and bend down, untying my shoelaces, waiting for Steve to continue. "I know you could be a valuable asset to the team, and I want to give you a chance to prove it."

He has a mission for me, it's just like the old days just with some kind manipulation involved, Mystique's manipulation was never caught on because I trusted her. "What did my parents say?" I ask Steve.

"I thought this could stay between us" Steve replies, I hide my smile, unsurprised with his answer. If for some reason I never return, he'll never have to admit he sent me on my mission, it won't ruin his chances of getting with Natasha. "I don't want you telling Peter, if he tells his friends there's a chance they could tell other people, you never know who's a spy." Steve picks up a beige cushion off the floor and places it on the other chair.

I glance at a crumpled up grey t-shirt lying on my floor, I have no idea if I should listen to Steve or not. Him not calling me a traitor every time something goes wrong would be nice, but the fact he doesn't want me to tell anyone or even the fact he isn't going himself is making warning bells go off in my ears. I reach for my pink water bottle and take a small sip.

"There's a mutant cure" Steve tells me, causing me to begin choking on my water. I cough and then glance at Steve who looks a little amused.

"Sorry" I say, causing Steve to chuckle. He's acting so normal towards me, it's causing my heart to race a little, I'm not going to like this mission, am I? "What do you mean a cure?" Does Steve want to use it on me?

"There's one cure, I think our best shot is using on Mystique and I want you to get the cure" Steve announces. He wants to cure Mystique, turn her into a normal human. All of her shapeshifting and other powers would be gone, she'd be like the humans she wants to rule. Her brain would still remain whole though, she'd still be as smart and manipulative and cruel as she was before losing her powers.

I close my eyes, something about curing x-men feels so wrong, like it's almost not a cure. Mystique might be evil, but does anyone deserve to have their powers and abilities ripped away from them? Mystique prided herself on being different and that was hard for her, she spent her whole childhood hating herself.

"She'll still be a mastermind, she's the one pulling the strings, you can't remove that" I inform Steve, she might be easier to physically defeat but she can still come up with plans and manipulate kids into doing her dirty work.

"Once she's arrested her power is gone. Every single minute increases the chance of another kid doing what you did, you might not be able to change your actions, but you can help us" Steve says earnestly. I close my eyes, I thought we'd have moved on from my past actions but even when Steve is trying to be my ally, he still manages to bring it up.

The issue is he's right; curing and arresting Mystique can stop people from ending up like me and that is something I want. I don't want children to turn into killers, that's been my main aim ever since I decided I was against the x-men.

"Where is the cure?" I ask, causing Steve to hand me a sheet of paper. I raise an eyebrow, it's in a cave in a forest, the forest isn't too far from here, maybe a couple of hours drive. There is the possibility it's already gone, the minute the x-men find out they will go straight to it and destroy it immediately. Mystique and Magneto won't risk keeping it to use it against anyone, not when it can be used against them too.

I run my fingers through my hair, looking over into the small mirror at my desk. The fact Steve doesn't want anyone to know means he isn't sure if I'll make it back, meaning he believes the x-men know about the cure and where it is.

"Okay" I say, closing my eyes. "But that's it, after this I'm not doing anything without telling Tony." I trust Tony with every cell in my body, if he says something is good, it's good. I want to trust Natasha but I'm not sure how much faith I have in our relationship at this point, I trust her but I don't think she'll trust me and that makes my chest physically ache and causes my heart to begin to flutter.

"Of course, you can leave in the morning" Steve agrees immediately, standing up. "Thank you, Storm, you're helping to save the world." He walks out and I release a breath I didn't know I was holding. I'm not sure about this saving the world, even if we arrest Mystique there's other x-men who are powerful and manipulative, Magneto will just get someone else to become his second-in-command.