Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 37

I walk slowly through the tunnels, my heart racing in my chest. This is the only chance at getting everyone back and it relies solely on Scarlett being a decent person, which hasn't been in the case in quite a while now. I smile bitterly, I'm relying on Scarlett to care about Henry when she murdered Mystique without hesitation. The irony of this isn't lost on me.

I close my eyes tightly for a second, then look up at the sky. If the universe had any compassion, it would let this work, haven't I been through enough?

I open the door, there's nobody watching the cameras. I frown, as far as I knew when I lived here, there was always somebody in this room. Maybe they're more focused on finding out why the x-men are getting put into trances and disappearing.

I walk down the hallway, half expecting to bump into someone. Most of the x-men would recognise me, most from when I lived here and the others from the story about me being a traitor and switching to the x-men side.

A black and white photo of Mystique is on the wall. It's her in her younger days, possibly before she turned into the heartless Mystique I knew. Growing up, I idolised her and wanted to be just like her, I trained hard every day in the hopes of making her proud. I frown as I glance at a photo of Magneto and Mystique, they're on a boat and both look young, I have no idea when this was taken. I don't think Mystique ever mentioned when or how she met Magneto, but I know she grew close to him and that caused her to drift from Charles. At the end of the day, her and Charles's morals were too different to continue a friendship, not unlike another friendship that I know of.

I keep walking, there's a lot more pictures up. I raise an eyebrow as I see one of Scarlett and Ashton, I'm in the background. I guess they didn't notice when they put it up. I see the lake in the background, I wish things had stayed that simple.

I turn away from the pictures, I'm not here to take a trip down memory lane, I'm here to save Clover and MJ. Possibly the other x-men if Scarlett has a heart, which isn't that likely. Seeing Mystique's photo brought back so many memories. Scarlett loved her, too and she still slit her throat open in the cave.

I continue walking down the white hallway, ignoring all the photos plastered on the wall. I have no idea who decided to add photos on the walls, clearly someone sentimental, possibly Hank. Definitely not Scarlett or Magneto.

I quicken my pace; I turn another corner and raise an eyebrow. I can't see or hear anyone, what is going on? There's always someone walking around to go somewhere, or people talking and laughing in their rooms. My eyes widen, what if they know I'm here and they've gotten a witch to cast a silence spell? Actually, if Magneto knew I was here he'd be here too, killing me for what 'I' did to Mystique.

I stop as I pass my old room, resisting the urge to go inside. I shake my head, there is nothing in this place for me anymore. Henry and Ashton aren't even here, and Scarlett is complicated, I just hope I can find her humanity, or this is going to be a lot harder.

I head towards the offices, my heart racing even faster as I don't run into anyone. Have they left the institute? My eyes flicker from side to side, I would've heard if the x-men up and left, right? One of the avengers would know something.

I get to the offices and glance around. Scarlett wouldn't be as obvious as to take Mystique's old office, not after she murdered her. I glance as I see a label. Scarlett – x-men leader. I blink. Leader? What the hell is going on in this place? Scarlett did not work her way up to leader already, did she? All the possibilities of what she would've had to have done fly through my brain. I close my eyes, trying to ignore the strong urge to flee and go back to Stark towers, I think Scarlett is beyond reason at this point. My assumption that she may care about Henry is naïve at best and utterly stupid at worst.

I open her office door; I jump back when I see her sitting on a chair. Scarlett glances up, she doesn't look surprised. Her red hair is slightly longer than when I last saw her, and her body is more toned but other than that she looks the same.

"You make a mistake coming here" Scarlett says, not bothering to look up from her computer screen. I blink, this is different. I was thinking she'd try to kill me the second I opened the door. I glance around, something is different here, something seriously weird is going on.

"Where is everyone?" I ask, why isn't Scarlett trying to kill me? I gasp, this is an illusion, isn't it? Loki somehow knew I'd come. I pick up a piece of paper and throw it at Scarlett, it hits her. She looks up at me with a mixture of annoyance and amusement on her face.

"I had it spelled the minute I saw you on the cameras. You can't hear or see anyone, and they can't hear or see you" Scarlett replies, standing up from her desk. She pushes a piece of long, red hair behind her shoulders. She pushes her black chair in and walks over to the window, glancing down at something on the ground.

I glance at the grey chair in the corner, half expecting Loki to appear suddenly. He doesn't. Scarlett must know I know where the missing x-men are, there's no other reason she'd want me to make it to her office without being killed or captured. I pick a cushion, tempted to throw it at Scarlett again, partly to see if she's actually here and partly because she deserves a lot worse.

"Where is Henry? How could you kidnap someone who used to be your friend!" Scarlett snaps at me. I roll my eyes, why would I kidnap Henry and a bunch of other x-men? I close my eyes and take a deep breath, I'm not here to fight with Scarlett. I'm here to save the missing x-men, and most importantly MJ and Clover, I'll do whatever it takes, I just hope Scarlett will work with me instead of me having to drag her to Loki.

"Loki has Henry and the others" I say, Scarlett whirls around to face me, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. She doesn't know, I can tell this surprise isn't fake. Scarlett heads back over to her desk and I notice a necklace on it, it has a ring attached to it. Henry had that ring, it belonged to his mother. Scarlett picks up her glass of water and takes a sip.

"Where's Henry? Is Ashton there?" Scarlett questions me, her eyes narrowed as she glances at me. Seriously, she doesn't trust me. She's the one who tried to kill me! I swallow my annoyance for now, Clover is more important. Still, Scarlett caring about Henry and Ashton is a positive sign, she clearly has some feelings despite how insane she's turned ever since I got kidnapped. My heart sinks slightly, why was it so easy for her to turn against me, yet she's willing to get engaged to Henry and rescue him. She's even asking about Ashton; we were so much closer!

"Loki wants you" I say, the cup in Scarlett's hand falls to the floor, smashing into pieces. Scarlett doesn't appear to notice, her face paling and her hands clenched into fists. I open my mouth to keep speaking when the door opens, causing both of us to turn around. I roll my eyes as I see who's here, I probably should've expected this.