Beautiful Ruins

Chapter 77

I step out of the shower, glad to have washed the blood off my body, though it does little to make me feel cleaner. I pause as I see my reflection in the mirror, covered in bruises and marks. I look away as I change into the black leggings and grey hoodie Peter gave me, thank god MJ leaves clothes here. I open the bathroom and I smile as I see MJ and Ned.

"Storm!" Ned exclaims, giving me a hug. "We missed you." Peter hands me a drink bottle, I drink almost half of it straight away.

"We really did, I told Peter he was being an idiot when he was mad at you" MJ says, stepping forward and hugging me tightly. We head into Peter's room, I sit down on the floor, my back against the wall. MJ sits down next to me, and Peter and Ned sit across from us, their backs resting against Peter's twin bed. I smile as I see a picture of me, Peter and MJ on Peter's wall, most of the pictures are Peter with MJ or Ned but I've turned up in a few.

"Storm, I'm sorry I-" Peter begins

"It's okay, you don't have to apologise" I interrupt him. "You saved us today." Peter has shown how much he cares about me, I don't need an apology, especially when it's not necessary. If Peter's identity is revealed, the people he loves will be in danger.

"No, I do. If you didn't use your powers Flash would've died, and he has no idea I'm spider-man" Peter replies. "MJ and I had a proper fight over it."

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have gone involved with Flash, we're from different worlds and it wouldn't have worked out unless he knew the truth" I reply, I think I was selfish allowing myself to get involved with Flash, it was always going to end with him in danger. 'I was being selfish; he could've been killed that night."

"You're, like, the least selfish person I know, well you or Peter" Ned says. He glances over at MJ and Peter, and I see the three of them giving each other meaningful looks.

"What happened in that place?" Peter asks me quietly, looking apprehensive. "Clover said you were electrocuted."

"I was" I answer, glancing down at the carpet on Peter's floor. "And beaten. They wanted me to kill Iron Man, but I said no."

"Tony's upset" Peter says softly. "He was losing his mind when you were missing." That could've been because he thought I was off trying to kill people; it wasn't necessarily concern that I was missing.

"Not now" MJ says quietly to Peter. I don't look at any of them, I don't want to discuss what I found out, I just want to pretend I was never told Tony and Natasha were my parents. I believe Tony believed it, but it doesn't really change what's going to happen now. I'm not his daughter, he has no reason to care for me.

"Are you going to break up with Flash?" Ned asks. I like Flash, but he has a life free from all this drama and I want it to stay that away, there is no turning back once he goes from his world into my world.

"I think it's what's best" I say, ignoring the sinking feeling that creeps into my bones, he was nice to me, and he wasn't complicated, it was really nice spending time with him.

"Is it what's best or is it because Clover's back?" MJ asks. Peter and Ned give her a pointed look but she shrugs. "Is there a you and Flash when Clover's around?"

Clover helped us escape, but she also stood there for a week while I was tortured. I don't think Clover is a horrible person, but I don't think she's a good person either, she's somewhere in the middle. She's like Henry I suppose, happy to do bad things if it suits her vendetta, though she's crossed lines Henry wouldn't.

"Where's Henry?" I ask, a thought occurring.

"Him and Clover are in the living room, I think they wanted to give us space" Peter replies. "Don't worry, I told them Storm will be very upset if she comes out and they've killed each other." I smile at Peter's comment, he spent all of ten minutes with them and can already pick up on how much Henry seems to dislike Clover.

"Can I have a minute alone with Storm?" Peter asks Ned and MJ; I notice MJ open her mouth as if to argue but she shuts it and nods. She stands up and heads out of the room with Ned who gives Peter a look, I'm not sure what he's trying to communicate. I hear the front door open; they must be going home. I take a few sips of water, realising how thirsty I am.

"Storm, you need to come back to the avengers" Peter says, getting up and sitting down next to me. I close my eyes, I understand Peter's loyalty to Tony, but surely Peter can realise that what happened is fucked up.

"They lied to me, Peter, they lied to me so they could use me for their own personal vendetta just like Mystique did" I reply, my voice quiet and tired, I'm not in the right space for this argument. "I'm not going back." I stand up, glancing at Peter.

"This is bigger than you, the x-men are planning something big, and the avengers can't do this without you, the group is falling apart. Tony isn't talking to Natasha or Steve, and Bruce thinks it's bad that they captured you to do what Mystique did and-"

"I'm not going back" I interrupt Peter. "Thank you for saving us, for saving me, but I'm not going back."

"Storm, I'm giving you the chance to come back willingly" Peter says, grabbing my wrist. "Please take it."

My mouth goes dry as I take in what Peter said. I stare at Peter, what has he done?

"You didn't" I say. Peter looks away from me, biting his lip.

"Clover agreed" Peter says. Why would Clover agree to this? She tried to kill Steve; she wants him dead. I open my mouth to scream at Henry to run when a wave of dizziness washes over me and I stumble, my body collapsing onto the ground. Black spots appear in front of my face, my eyes land on my water bottle and I realise I've been drugged, I try to call out to Henry, to tell him run, but my body isn't listening to me. My eyes shut slowly, the last thing I see is people coming into the room.

*Author's Note* Storm will be back with Tony, Natasha, and Steve when she wakes up ... how do you think that will go?