Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 40

I walk around the building with Peter, looking for a way in, one that ideally won't lead us straight to Loki.

"Do you think there's a chance Scarlett will run off?" Peter asks me, sounding concerned. The only chance of rescuing them is if Scarlett does distract Loki, and we can't exactly trust Scarlett, my biggest concern is her finding Henry and bolting, she doesn't know Clover or MJ, she wouldn't care if they died. Hell, she probably wouldn't care if I died either and we were actually friends.

"Probably" I admit to Peter, I just hope we can all escape to safety. MJ is one of my closest friends and Clover is so important to me. Peter's willing to do whatever it takes, just like I am, but it still might not be enough.

I glance at all the apartments, there's no signs of anyone living in them. Loki can create illusions, is this even an apartment building? I've never considered if he can create illusions on computers and phones. He's an Asgardian, he could be capable of so much more than what the avengers have seen. I blink as I suddenly remember he's not an Asgardian, he was adopted. I guess that means the avengers know even less about him.

"Let's just smash a window" Peter says, he taps on a window, and it breaks. I blink. I have enhanced strength but I'm not that strong. I'd never admit it out loud, but Peter probably is more powerful than me, but I think it also depends on our situation.

I glance around at the room; the blinds are pulled down which is odd since it's during the day. A single bed is against a white wall, there's no sheets or covers on the mattress. A black chair is turned on its side, like someone has thrown it or tipped it over. A grey lamp is on the floor along with a black top and one white runner.

"I think there was a struggle in here" I say, everything's messy and tipped over, like somebody grabbed onto things to prevent them from being pulled out of the room. I doubt it was Loki, I don't think many people would be able to put up much of a struggle against him.

"Is that blood?" Peter says, glancing at red small circular stains on the white carpet. I kneel down, it certainly looks like blood. It's dried into the carpet, whatever happened here could have happened ages ago, or Loki could be creating an illusion.

"Who knows if this is even real?" I point out, heading towards the door. I open it and glance out into the hallway, I can't see or hear anything which isn't surprising. As nice as it would be to find Clover and MJ in the first room we checked, I didn't think it would be this easy, nothing ever is.

I stop walking when I realise Peter isn't following me, I turn back around and see him still staring at the blood. Please tell me Peter isn't afraid of blood, that really won't work if he wants to be an avenger one day. Peter looks up at me with a vulnerable expression on his face.

"What if it's MJ's?" he asks, causing my stomach to feel like it's tied in a knot. The blood isn't MJ's, it's also not Clover's, it can't be. They're both fine, scared out of their minds but fine.

"It's not. But we need to go so we can get them home, okay?" I say firmly, they need our help, and we need to be quick if we want any chance at escaping. I doubt Scarlett will be able to distract Loki for long and there is a chance she could run off when things start to get dangerous. I just hope she cares about Henry as much as I think she does, that's the only thing that will give us even a slight chance. The odds aren't in our favour.

Peter nods and begins to follow me down the hallway, the walls and carpets are white, the paint on the walls is being to peel. If this is an actual building, it's clear nobody has done anything in years, it seriously needs a renovation.

We head up a flight of stairs, I can't hear anything, but the rooms could be spelled to be silent. I stop as I hear something. Peter pauses too, glancing back at me, I nod. We both heard the same noise, I don't even dare to breathe, not wanting to risk missing hearing anything else. My eyes widen as I hear a voice and I head towards the noise with Peter right behind me, so close he's almost stepping on my ankles.

I open the door and gasp as I see MJ and Clover. They're wrists are handcuffed to the wall, but they both look physically okay. Peter immediately runs over and breaks MJ's handcuffs, then Clover's. Clover runs over to me, and I embrace her tightly, closing my eyes in relief.

"I'm so glad you're alive" I whisper, not daring to let go of Clover. Clover pulls back and smiles at me. She has a cut on her cheek but other than that she looks okay. "Are you alright?" I touch her cut with my finger, it's dried and looks like it's beginning to heal which is good. I just wish she'd never gotten it in the first place.

"I'm fine, I knew you'd come" Clover says, grabbing my hands. "We both knew you'd come." I glance over at MJ who smiles at me and walks over, giving me a hug. I glance at MJ, she looks okay. I'm so glad we found both of them and that they're both okay. I look behind MJ and see Peter giving Clover a hug. The two walk over to us.

"We were so worried" Peter says, grabbing MJ's hand. I don't think I'd ever felt more scared in my life, I felt like my world had frozen when I found out they were missing, and that feeling increased tenfold when I discovered Loki was involved.

I glance around the room, it's completely empty. I wonder whether it was always empty or if Loki didn't want to risk anything being used as a weapon. Some objects I can't imagine as weapons, but I guess if you're desperate enough you might find a way.

"Let's go, Scarlett can only distract Loki for so long" Peter says, walking towards the doorway. MJ and Clover glance at each other in confusion.

"Scarlett helped, it's a long story" I say, wondering if that's actually true. As much as I want to believe there is still good in her, I won't be surprised if she never even entered the building. I'm not sure if I believe Henry means more to Scarlett than her own life, I've come to terms with the fact I don't really know Scarlett, maybe I never did.

"Yeah, Scarlett helped Mystique kidnap us" MJ says, staring at me and then looking over at Peter. Why would Loki make them believe Mystique was involved? Clover saw Mystique die with her own eyes.

"Loki kidnapped you, Mystique's dead" I say slowly, he's also kidnapped a bunch of x-men and wants Scarlett. I still don't know why he couldn't brainwash Scarlett like the other x-men, but I don't care now that Clover and MJ are safe. Well, we do still have to get out of here.

"No, he didn't. It was Mystique" Clover says, glancing at me. "It wasn't her in the cave." I blink, why would Mystique kidnap MJ and Clover? Maybe she thinks that I know too much and is convinced I've told Peter, MJ, and Clover everything, which I have. After we're dead, Ned is probably next.

"I was having these dreams of Loki calling out to me, but it wasn't Loki, it wasn't even a dream. An x-men was making me see Loki, it wasn't him" MJ tells us.

As thrilled as I am about not having to fight Loki, this is not an ideal situation. If this really is Mystique, that means Scarlett is working with her, which means we have just walked into a trap and this time I don't think it will just be Scarlett and Mystique waiting for us.

"You really are too predictable" a familiar voice says behind me. I turn around and glance at Scarlett. My eyes widen as I see Mystique and Magneto behind her. 

*Author's Note* ... the x-men are back.