"What's so important you need me?" I ask, crossing my arms while sitting in the backseat of the car. Natasha is driving, so Steve turns and faces me. I spent the first hour sitting in silence, waiting for Natasha or Steve to talk but they clearly aren't going to. In an ideal world I would have an apology for what they did.
"Ashton told us where to find Charles Xavier, but he'd already moved on from that location, we've now found his current location. Ashton also told us he'd be more accommodating if we brought you along" Steve says calmly.
"Are you still trying to find out who killed Ashton, or do you not care?" I ask, not sounding as venomous as I intended.
"A kid was killed, obviously we care" Natasha says, an edge to her voice. So now they care about kids, they didn't seem to when they came up with the brilliant plan to lie to me.
"Didn't care when I was being tortured" I mumble, but loud enough for them to hear. Natasha and Steve exchange glances, like I'm the troubled kid they need to parent. "You didn't even try to find me."
"Of course we searched for you" Natasha says, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. "We didn't mean for it to end like that." I doubt they planned on me getting kidnapped, that meant somebody else could manipulate me.
"Doesn't really matter now" I say, turning my head and looking out the window. "You've made your feelings, or lack thereof rather, crystal clear." I remember what Bruce said, they rescued me from being lied to and manipulated, so that they could lie and manipulate me.
"I'm so sorry, Storm, the more I got to know you the harder it became to tell you the truth" Natasha says, sounding genuinely upset. I close my eyes, she is a master manipulator, she probably isn't really upset. "I didn't think you'd be a decent person."
"Apologises can't fix this, I don't trust either of you, and frankly I don't have any respect for you" I snap, still refusing to look at either one. I can't forgive them, at least not yet, what they did hurt me so much, it physically hurt me, even now when I think about it for too long my chest starts hurting and I forget how to breathe.
"That's completely understandable, I hope we can work back some of that respect and trust over time" Steve says, I force myself to look at him and he gives me a genuine smile, I return it with a small smile. I can take baby steps with the two of them, but I don't think we can get back to what we used to be.
We pull up to a building and Natasha parks the car, I step out of the car and follow Steve and Natasha into an old building. There's a spiral staircase, and the floors are marble. I glance around, seeing several chairs tipped over. My eyes widen and my heart races as I see a trace of blood leading into a room. I nudge Natasha who glances at it, and we silently head over, Natasha has her gun raised and fire is at my fingertips.
The blood leads to a body, a man is lying on the floor, it looks like a government official. Maybe the x-men got here at the same time.
"I'm afraid some of the x-men and some government officials arrived at the same time this morning, the x-men didn't take very kindly to some of the government still trying to resist" a voice says behind us. I turn around and my eyes widen as I see Charles Xavier, I heard so much about him growing up, how he betrayed the x-men. That was obviously a lie, but his powers weren't a lie, he is one of the most powerful telepaths in the world.
"I've heard a lot about you, Storm, I know Mystique was very fond of you" Charles says to me. I look down at the ground, he knows all the horrible things I've done, he's probably disgusted at the sight of me. I wouldn't blame him if he threw me out. "I don't blame you, my dear, Magneto and Mystique have manipulated much older and much wiser people." Right, he can read minds, I should probably try to stop thinking.
"Will you help us?" Steve asks, walking over to Charles. "The x-men are working towards their end goals; they'll kill so many people if they aren't stopped." Steve is right, I don't want to imagine how many more people will die, even if we are able to stop Magneto, I'm sure many more lives will still be taken.
"I don't want to kill the x-men, but I do want humanity to continue on" Charles says thoughtfully. "I will help you stop them, but I want you to give the x-men who are trying to take over to me at the end."
"Why?" I ask before I can stop myself.
"I have an island, it's for mutants, I believe they will survive there and without humans to take over, I think they can reconnect with their humanity" Charles answers calmly.
"Deal" Natasha says, glancing at Steve who nods. Charles smiles and shakes Steve's outstretched hand.
*Author's Note* Thoughts on Charles' idea?
YOU ARE READING
Beautiful Ruins
Action"Maybe there was a fleeting moment where I wanted to be a hero and believed I could be one, but the truth is I'm not, I won't ever be. My past does define me, it made me a villain" - Storm. Fifteen-year-old Storm is the daughter of Black Widow and I...
