I walk into Tony's lab, I glance around, it doesn't look like he's here, maybe he's gone out somewhere. I turn around and see Natasha standing in the doorway.
"He's not here" I inform Natasha, aware she can see that for herself. We haven't spoken much since everything, I think we've only properly spoken two or three times since I found out the truth, that Nat and Steve lied to me.
"What do you need him for? Can I help with anything?" Natasha asks, looking uncharacteristically uncertain, like she's afraid I'll push her away.
"I just wanted to talk to him, it's nothing" I resist the urge to snap at Natasha, she did help me after the Zed situation, she stayed with me while I slept so I'd feel safe, it's unfair to say she doesn't care because she's shown that she does.
Tony appears before Natasha can answer me, he looks surprised to see me in his lab but gives me a warm smile. "Storm, I was about to find you, let's sit down" Tony says. My stomach turns itself into a knot, what is he about to tell me?
I follow Tony and sit down on a chair without saying anything, Natasha sits across from me, and Tony sits across from both of us, sort of forming a loose triangle.
"I've been helping Charles look into your mother" Tony says, looking sympathetic and a little hesitant. My heart drops, she's either dead or some evil powerful mutant, I'm not sure which is worse.
"Is she dead?" I ask, if my mum was an evil mutant, why would Mystique and Magneto not want her to raise me?
"Yeah, Storm, she's dead" Tony says quietly, looking closely at me. "Her name was Estella Raven." I wonder what she was like, there's so many things I want to be able to ask her and learn about her. I wonder if she was like me, did she have powers? It's possible I got my powers from Charles, but perhaps both my parents are mutants.
"Estella?" Natasha asks, her head snapping up to look at Tony. I glance at Natasha and then at Tony, Natasha knows my mother, this will either be very good or very bad, my mind flickers to little Natasha in the red room, having to train for hours each day, being brainwashed, and turned into a master assassin. Is that how she knows my mum? "That's why she left S.H.I.E.L.D" Natasha says to herself.
"She worked for S.H.I.E.L.D?" I ask, that must mean she was good, that she didn't want the x-men to rule the world. I guess the world isn't split into good people joining S.H.I.E.L.D and bad people joining the x-men, there's a middle ground somewhere in there.
Natasha's eyes are filled with memories and Tony looks unsure of what to say, I wonder if they're figuring out how much they think I can handle hearing.
"She did, she was a wonderful woman. She had the sweetest and most gentle soul" Natasha answers, I raise an eyebrow, Natasha isn't mushy like this, she obviously really liked Estella. My heart aches slightly as I realise that I'll never meet Estella, I'll never be able to form my own opinion on her, it'll just be made up from what people tell me about her. "She always wanted kids."
"She wanted me?" I ask before I can help it, I close my eyes. Obviously, she didn't want a kid like me, she wanted a normal child. "Well, a better version of me."
"Storm, your past isn't your fault, you were brainwashed and had no reason to suspect the x-men were lying, and you didn't know about the bomb. Estella was every bit as caring and kind as you are, I think she'd be proud of you" Natasha answers, she glances over at Tony. I wonder if Tony knew Estella well.
"I didn't really know her, but I did hear great things" Tony says, glancing at me. He gives a small smile. "She died roughly nine months after you were born, she was trying to flee with you as the x-men knew you were Charles' daughter."
"I killed her?" I whisper, how can Charles look at me? They obviously were somewhat romantically involved, and I got his whatever-she-was killed. "Does Charles know?"
"He didn't know at the time; we're thinking Estella realised the x-men wanted you, so she decided not to tell him and wanted to go to another state with you. Mystique told Estella she wouldn't be harmed if she handed you over, but Estella refused" Tony answers softly, standing up and placing a hand on my shoulder.
"She always wanted kids, she's the type of mum who would do anything for her children, she'd never let the x-men take you away" Natasha says, I can see sadness in Natasha's eyes and it's obvious that she cherished and loved Estella.
"Charles found out a couple of years ago that there was a possibility Estella had a child and the timeline matched up for when they were together, he looked into it and saw that you were the right age and you looked like Estella" Tony replies.
"Did he love her?" I ask.
"Yeah, I think he did" Natasha answers.
*Author's Note* We'll find out more about Estella soon.
YOU ARE READING
Beautiful Ruins
Ação"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...
