Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 68

I sit on top of a building, glancing down. The city's almost empty which is probably normal for four am. I should be at Stark towers, especially since people came after me, but I can't face Peter after what he said. If people find out Peter's identity and anything happens to MJ or Ned, it'll be all my fault. I care about Ned and MJ, and I'd do anything to protect them, yet I might've just put their lives in danger. I glance down at a streetlight near a bus stop, there's nobody waiting for the bus. I've never been on a bus before, which makes sense considering my upbringing.

My mind flickers to the people who came after me, how did they know I'd be there? If they've known where I was this whole time, why'd they wait until now? Sometimes I walk to and from school, it would be easy enough to try and attack me there. Did they wait until I was with a friend as they thought I'd stand down and not risk anyone getting hurt? My mind flickers to Clover and then to Ashton, maybe the person who killed Ashton decided I was their next target. I frown as I hear something, I stand up and turn towards the sound. Are people fighting?

My eyes widen as I see two men fighting someone, a boy who's around my age. He has black hair and green eyes. One of the men goes to punch him, but the boy grabs their wrist and twists it behind their back, shoving them forward against a wall. I blink, I know that fighting style, it's how I was trained. I gasp as I realise it's Henry. I immediately head to the stairs, all three pause and stare at me.

"Get out of here little girl" one of the x-men says. I smirk, I'm not an innocent little girl, I never was. I jump over the railing and land next to Henry.

"She has fire powers" Henry warns the men, glancing at me. Fire emerges from my fingertips and the men glance at each other. The streetlight gives enough light for me to observe the men, they look in their forties. One is wearing blue jeans and a black shirt, the other is wearing black jeans and a white top. I've never seen them before.

"You're coming with us too" the one with blue jeans decides. "Our boss will like you." Their boss? They clearly aren't x-men, I'm guessing that their human and they wanted to capture Henry and use his powers.

"Leave before I burn you" I reply, they should realise that they can't take on two mutants, even if we're 'children.' A strong gust of wind sends them flying back and they fall to the ground. I raise an eyebrow; will they be smart enough to run away without engaging in a fight?

They stand up and leap forward. One grabs Henry by the neck and shoves him against the wall. The one in the white top grabs my arm, I tear it out of his grip and shove him, I bring my leg up and kick him in the stomach. I punch him hard and blood starts pouring out of his nose. I glance over at Henry; he's towering over the other man.

"Run" I say, both stand up and flee. I smirk as they climb into their car and speed off. I glance over at Henry who's looking at me. I have no idea who their boss is but it's clear they haven't been trained; not like we have.

Henry's wearing black jeans, a blue shirt, and a red jumper. The jumper has been ripped and his jeans have dirt on them. His dark hair is pushed back, and his green eyes are staring at me. "Thank you but I had that" he says. I nod in agreement; he could've handled that on his own.

"What are friends for?" I say, though I'm not sure if we are friends. My heart sinks as I realise, I might have to tell Henry about Ashton. "Are you on a mission?" I should figure out if I need to run away before I start talking to Henry as if we're friends.

"I've left the x-men" Henry says, looking away from me. "You were right." I close my eyes, it wasn't something I wanted to be right about, I wish nobody had killed Scarlett. I wish the four of us were still alive and close, that we'd all gone to the avenger's side.

Henry glances at me and it's clear neither of us know what we're supposed to do right now. "Ashton's dead, somebody drowned him" I say, I blink at my directness. I said it differently in my head.

"Ash is dead?" Henry asks me, the devastation clear in his eyes and voice. I bite my lip and nod, I don't want to mention that Clover is the last known person who has seen him, I can't imagine Clover killing Ashton. Henry closes his eyes and walks away from me, sitting down on the stairs, he places his head in his hands.

I sit down next to Henry, wordlessly placing my hand on his back. There's nothing I can say, if there was any way to bring Ashton back, I would've done it by now. Nothing can make this better for Henry, Ashton was his brother, his family.

"Who killed him?" Henry asks, looking up at me. His eyes are red and filled with so much pain that I have to look away for a second.

"The avengers are looking into it, but they're not sure yet" I say honestly, I know they suspect Clover, but they don't have any evidence yet. I think the x-men found Ashton, or maybe Ashton got desperate and went back, Magneto wouldn't have exactly accepted him back with opened arms. You can't leave the x-men and return unless you have something that's big enough to make up for your betrayal.

"We need to find out who did it and make them pay" Henry says, his eyes filling up with anger. "I don't care if it was Magneto, I'll rip him apart with my bare hands."

"We're not going to kill anyone, but we are going to make sure they spend the rest of their life in a tiny, dark, cold cell" I say, glancing at Henry. Spending the rest of your life in prison is worse than being dead, you get nothing to do.

"I'm really glad you're here" Henry says softly. There's never been anything romantic between us but when Henry opens his arms, I gladly hug him, I'm so glad that he's alive and away from the x-men.

"I'm glad I found you" I say, Henry has always been the ultimate insider, knowing everybody's business. The two of us can help to defeat the x-men, we can make them pay for what they did to everyone, for all the little kids who lost their innocence too young. "Come to Stark towers with me, help us defeat the x-men."

Henry looks away from me. "They accepted Ashton, they'll accept you too" I say, Steve is beginning to trust me, I can get him to trust Henry. Tony already knows that Scarlett and Henry were in love, and I told him about what happened when I was kidnapped, how I could tell Henry was realising that I might not have killed Scarlett.

"Okay" Henry says uncertainly. I smile at him, and he returns the smile.

*Author's Note* Storm and Henry are reunited! How do you think it will go?