Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 33

The bell rings and I stand up, all too happy to leave school for the day. I don't hate high school as much as I thought I would when I first started, but I still don't love it either. Everyone races towards the door, wanting to be first out. I push my grey chair in and start heading towards the door.

I walk out of the classroom and head down to my locker. Clover is going to be starting here on Monday which I am quite excited for, we have two classes together. Her and Peter get on quite well and MJ and Ned seem to quite like Clover, too.

"Have you seen MJ at all today?" Ned asks, appearing at my locker. I shake my head, she wasn't in physics, and I didn't see anyone at lunch, I was working on a report in the library. Peter comes over to us, he's walking quickly and looks stressed. Ned fiddles with the strap on his blue backpack, looking down at the ground.

"MJ wasn't signed in at all today, I just called her dad, she's not at home" Peter says, talking really fast. If MJ was just skipping school, she'd would've text Peter.

I place my books in my grey locker and pull out my schoolbag. Tony should have some kind of technology that can find MJ, right? If he can create iron man suits, surely, he can find someone or even track a phone, nobody goes anywhere without their phones these days.

"Tony might be able to track her, should we go to Stark towers?" I ask, glancing at Ned and Peter. MJ going off without telling Peter is weird, Peter is constantly texting Ned and MJ, it's gotten to the point where I've muted the group chat. I tried to leave the group, but I was constantly added back so I accepted it.

"Yeah, let's go" Peter agrees so we start walking out of the building. Students are walking up and down the hallway, stopping when they reach their locker or see a friend. I glance into an empty classroom, half hoping to see MJ somewhere. All I see is empty chairs and white, dirty desks.

Tony got his driver, Happy, to drive us to and from today which is good as he's already waiting for us the minute, we exit the school. The car ride home is silent despite Happy's attempt to ask us about the day. He doesn't seem to care when none of us say much, I think he was probably hoping we wouldn't engage in a conversation.

Peter practically jumps out of the black car before Happy has even stopped, I wonder why he didn't just swing here if he's that worried. My heart races a little as I think about all the reasons no one has seen or heard from MJ all day, but I shake the thoughts out of my brain, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation.

I walk into the lobby and frown as I see Nick Fury waiting for us. He glances briefly at Peter and Ned but locks his glance on me. His standing at the front desk, looking at something on the computer. He turns it off before I get a chance to see what he's looking at. "Storm, I need to speak to you." I resist the urge to roll my eyes, I'm almost certain Fury has eyes in the back of his head. Peter glances at me and shakes his head ever so slightly, Fury raises an eyebrow at this.

"We're in the middle of an emergency, it's going to have to wait" I reply, he won't like my response, but my priority is making sure MJ is okay. Once we find out she's fine and just skipped without telling any of us, I can go listen to whatever Fury has to say.

"It involves Michelle, I think you should come too, Peter" Fury says, causing Peter and Ned to glance at one another in surprise. "Ned, it's best you go home, Peter or Storm can fill you in later if they wish."

I get out my phone, ready to text Clover and tell her to come but Fury grabs it. I open my mouth to protest but stop when I see Tony, Steve, and Thor heading in. Why is Thor involved in this? I can't imagine MJ and Thor have had any contact. Steve has no reason to be here, but he does seem to insert himself into just about all situations so I'm not overly surprised.

"I'll talk to you later" Ned says, walking out of the building. I watch until the doors have closed behind him. I follow Fury into the meeting room where we all looked at my file.

Peter looks at me with questioning eyes, I give a slight shake of my head. "Is Clover coming?" Peter asks Tony.

"No" Steve answers before Tony can even open his mouth. I roll my eyes, making a mental note to tell Natasha to inform Steve he doesn't need to be involved in every situation and answer every question.

"Sit" Tony says, I sit down next to Peter, Tony sits down next to me. Thor and Steve sit on a couch together and Fury stays standing up.

"Can I have my phone back?" I ask, Fury doesn't even bother to look at me. "Okay, fine" I mumble under my breath, causing Peter to smile slightly.

Steve pours himself a glass of water. I glance at the clear cup, frowning at it like the cup is responsible for us being in here.

"MJ's missing" Peter tells Tony, turning to face his mentor. Tony doesn't look surprised and glances at Fury and then at Steve. Things are bad if Tony is willingly letting Steve take the reins, they argue all the time.

"Clover's missing too" Steve says, causing everyone in the room to look at me. I blink. What does he mean Clover's missing?

"She left in the middle of the night and attacked three guards" Thor says, I rub my face, what is going on? Clover wouldn't just up and leave, let alone attack people. Tony hands me his phone and presses the play button, I see Clover walking out into the lobby, dressed in her black bodysuit, and holding a bag. My eyes flicker to Tony's but he isn't looking at me. I glance back, Clover isn't looking around her, simply just walking in a straight line. A guard goes over and says something, Clover doesn't even acknowledge him. He grabs her wrist and I gasp as Clover turns around and stabs him, then she keeps walking like nothing has happened. I see all the blood pouring out, I can already tell that the guard hasn't survived that. Two more guards walk over to Clover, I stand up and look away, closing my eyes to stop tears from falling.

That wasn't Clover, she was clearly in some kind of trace or something, she didn't even seem to know or care where she was. My eyes widen, Ashton. Oh my god, please tell me I didn't sign Clover's death sentence when we brought Ashton here. Before anyone can stop me, I sprint out of the room and down the stairs, the lift might be faster, but they'll catch up to me before it shuts. I ignore Peter and Tony shouting out my name.

My lungs are burning but I continue running, Clover and MJ are in danger, and nothing will stop me from saving them. I press the green button, opening the door to Ashton's cell.

Ashton's cell is tiny with just a bed and an empty bedside table with a lamp on it. Ashton stands up as I walk in getting up from sitting on the dark, cold floor. "Storm, what's-"

I push Ashton back, pinning himself against the wall. Ashton's look of confusion quickly turns to a look of fear. "Where are they?" I snap, my lungs are still burning, and I haven't caught my breath, but I don't care, seconds count in situations like these. "Where are Clover and MJ?" I yell when Ashton doesn't say anything.

"I don't know, I promise" Ashton says, sounding calm which irritates me even further. Of course he's calm, I'm apparently the only x-men with a conscious. I resist the urge to slam Ashton against the wall and that urge is strong.

"Ashton, if you don't tell me right now, I swear I will-" Hands grab me, causing me to stop speaking. I struggle but I'm not strong enough to get out of the person's grip.

"Storm, stop" a gentle yet firm voice says. I stop struggling. I'm not going to get into a fight with Steve. Steve leads me out of the room and shuts the door behind us. I don't look back at Ashton. I let Steve lead me into another room, if he locks me in a cell, I'm going to be furious. I glance around, this isn't a cell. It looks like a workshop, maybe Bruce's, Tony's is a lot messier than this for certain.

*Author's Note* I feel like Storm is the sweetest until her loved ones are in danger. What do you think has happened to MJ and Clover?