Shattered (Sequel to Shadowfax)

Yikes

Pre-Sokovia Sanctions

            Jade crammed her last shirt into the large black duffel bag that lay on her bed, huffing as she forced the zipper to cooperate. Heaving the suitcase off the bed, she attempted to tiptoe out of the room with the luggage slung over her shoulder. Jade froze as the door closed a little too loudly behind her. As the door across the hall creaked open in response, Jade pivoted to face Wanda Maximoff.

            "Jade? It's late. What on earth could you be doing at this hour?" She questioned, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Catching sight of Jade's duffel bag, Wanda's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You're leaving. And Nutsy and Sphinx? I expect they'll be going with you."

            "Yeah," Jade sighed, gently setting her bag down on the floor. "That bloody cat's coming, too."

"And Loki, what if he comes looking for you?"

"That ruddy little insect can fall into a pit and rot for the rest of eternity for all I care!" Jade whisper/yelled back. A memory flashed across her vision. Taking a deep breath, Jade composed herself.

"With all these ridiculous sanctions and such, it won't be long before this all goes south. This is simply the government's way of amassing a list of potential weapons, no matter what rubbish about 'peace' they're shoving down our throat. They're fixing to start something-something big." Her eyes blazed. "The others are waiting for me outside the complex. I'll see you around."

            Jade picked her bag back up, walking down the hall a few steps before pausing once again. "You could come with us, you know. Trust me Wanda, this whole deal with the Accords is going to send the entire team to hell in a hand-basket. Get out while you can."

            Wanda shook her head. "These people took me in when I lost everything. They're all the family I've got left." She smiled a bit sadly. "I wish you would stay, but if you're really leaving I won't tell anyone."

            Jade nodded in gratitude, shooting her friend a small smile before she turned away. She and Wanda had grown close since the arrival of Jade's team to the Avengers' training facility. Leaving her behind felt like a betrayal.

Jade's feeling of guilt followed her all the way out the door. Seeing Nutsy wave at her from the tree line, her shoulders slumped with relief as she beheld the anxious faces of her teammates. Her family. They came first.

Putting her foot on the threshold of the compound's front lawn, she shook off any trace of doubt in her mind. One thing the Scottish teen had learned over the years was to go with her gut-and her gut said to get the heck away from the Avengers. Without a single backwards glance, Jade walked forward into the forest with her family.

Ten Months Later...

Jade slammed her shoulder against the clear glass wall of her cell, grunting with exertion. In the cell beside her, she could hear Sphinx pacing nervously and wincing every time Jade hit the wall. Neither had seen Nutsy since their captors had moved the technopath the previous week, and Jax had been taken just a few hours previous. That had been when Jade finally snapped.

            Retreating to the back wall of her cell, Jade rolled her neck and lowered one shoulder. Through the wall, Jade heard Sphinx's pacing slow before stopping all together. "Jade? You're not about to do what I think you're about to-" THUD...squeeeeeeak.

            Sphinx's question died on her lips as she heard the shrill squeaking of Jade's body hitting the glass wall and sliding down its surface. Leaning her head against the wall adjoining both her and Jade's cells, she whispered, "Are you alright?"