By the time the X Men had returned home from Christie's apartment, the mansion was absolutely silent. They practically tiptoed through the large double doors, trying their best not to be spotted by anyone - particularly the professor.
But from the echoing words in their heads as soon as they stepped onto the premises…they could tell that it was too late.
Nothing got past him, after all.
"Come to the office," he instructed them all through their minds. Logan let out a tired groan and threw his head back whilst Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek worriedly, not wanting to get in trouble.
"Scott, I swear to god, if I get told off," she warned him seriously as they collectively headed to Professor X's study.
"You won't, he will," Logan assured her before shooting Scott an irritated look of acknowledgement. "Because somebody just couldn't let it lie. Again."
"Oh shut it Logan, cos if you were so convinced that Ashley was safe, you wouldn't have come with us either," Scott snapped back lowly as they approached the Professor's study.
"Both of you, just shut up," Storm hissed, knocking on the hollow door with an apprehensive sigh, all of them awaiting the familiar 'come in?' But it never came. "Professor?" she called tentatively, aware that there was someone in there due to the gentle orange lamp hue leaking underneath the door.
But there was still no answer.
"God, can we please just-" Logan grunted as he burst the door open forcibly and stepped straight through. Professor X was in fact in there, sitting at his desk like an empty shell of a man in a wheelchair.
He was staring at a holographic screen in front of him, sorrow in his eyes.
"Professor? What's happened?" Logan frowned. Charles simply spun the hologram across the room so that it ended up hovering in front of the small group instead. There was Ashley, floating in the air, shooting out those blazing fireballs with a tornado forming around her. She was completely out of it.
"Oh god," Rogue whispered in horror, clamping a hand over her mouth.
"When exactly was this taken?" Storm asked the professor abruptly, whilst Logan and Scott exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"A few hours ago," Charles responded coldly, zapping the holograph shut and resting his chin on his tightly clenched fist. "It was in New York too, not far from us."
"She was caught in public like that? Have you spoken to someone from S.H.I.E.L.D about it?! Is she okay?!" Scott blurted out, confused as to why no one else was panicking.
"I spoke to what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D and they gave me their word that she was fine. Apparently there's a counter organisation that tried to get a hold of her…who knows what for, but they claimed they're working on taking them down. They injected her with something and attempted to kidnap her in the toilets of a Thai restaurant but….clearly her mutation jumped in before they could do any serious harm," Charles recited everything he could remember before falling silent.
"Oh, my poor Ash," Rogue sighed with sorrowful eyes, placing an emotion filled hand on her chest.
"That can't be safe, Charles," Storm murmured, beginning to pace the room irritably. "We have to get her back. Can you imagine what a dark organisation would do if they got their hands on her?"
"They'd turn her into a villain and she'd be absolutely unstoppable," Scott grunted through gritted teeth. "What…what do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do, remember? There's a contract over her head, and we'd be breeching the hell out of it if we took a step near her to bring her home," Logan brought it back down to earth for them, leaving them to stare at him accusatorially as if he created the rule himself. "What? Someone's gotta bring you heavenly beings back down to earth, no? You're way out!"
"No, you're right, Logan," Storm gave a reluctant sigh of agreement before darting her eyes over to the quietly pondering Charles. "He's right, right Charles?"
"There is something we can do," Charles murmured, his eyes flickering up to face the small group. "And I won't feel good about doing it. But this is for her safety - and we have to at least try." The group didn't look so sure, remembering Christie's words to them earlier in the day. Could they actually be this sneaky? This intrusive?
Well, for Ashley - they'd do anything.
"What do we need to do?" Rogue was the first one to ask, confidently taking a step forward - much to the surprise of everyone else.
"We'll have to get in contact with an old friend of mine…and we'll have to do it sooner rather than later," Charles began with a deep sigh.
…
When Ashley woke up next, she was back in her bedroom in the Avengers Tower with Lady Bucky curled up on her chest, fast asleep. Ashley giggled at her innocent unbothered demeanour and scratched her little head with her finger, causing her to start purring. "Hey angel boo," Ashley croaked out to her, noticing how heavy her body still felt. She also noticed that she was wearing a large white t-shirt instead of the dress she was in last night, but a quick glance to the left of her showed the dress folded on the armchair with takeaway boxes stacked on top of it. She groaned to herself loudly, internally kicking herself at how yesterday ended up. She'd finally been on a date with the guy that she really liked and somehow, she'd chosen that time to see silver.
How stupid could she get?
Suddenly, there was a rapid knock at the door. "Come in?" Ashley called out weakly, propping herself up by her elbows. The door swung open and there stood none other than… "Fury?" she gasped, feeling herself rooted to the spot.
"Ashley," Fury began gravely, shutting the door behind him. It's like he had no reaction to her reaction to him being alive - at all. "I'm not sure how to say this but…we've made the executive decision to remove you from The Avengers Initiative, with immediate effect."
Ashley just stared at him blandly, the words having no effect on her because she simply couldn't comprehend them.
"I-I-I'm sorry?" she found herself spluttering after a few moments of silence. Not only was this guy alive, but he was also now kicking her out with no prior warning? This didn't feel real. She didn't know whether to scream, cry or laugh - or even all three? "Fury, what are you actually saying?"
"Yesterday's situation has proven that we can't keep you here, and we've agreed to return you back to the school with immediate effect. There are drivers waiting for you outside. I'm sorry, Ashley. We're done here, and it's for your own good."
"For my own good?" Ashley laughed ludicrously, even though her voice sounded as if it was about to crack. "What the hell does that mean? I'm 25, don't I get a say in what I do with my own body?! I can't leave, you can't send me back there, Fury, please-"
"I'm sorry, Ashley," Fury muttered again stiffly. "Please gather your things and be on your way. We don't…require you here anymore."
And with that, he left.
Ashley waited for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened before she suddenly leapt to her feet, placed Lady Bucky on the bed and scurried over to her door, swinging it open so that she could confront him properly. But he wasn't there. There were just a bunch of broad shouldered suited officers, ready to take her away.
That's when she felt her heart shatter, finally understanding that she clearly wasn't wanted here anymore. She didn't understand what she did wrong, or where this came from, or where anyone else was in the apartment and why they weren't trying to stop them - but now she just wanted to get out. She had never felt more disregarded than this, and she didn't want to feel this way again for as long as she lived.
"Come here, bubba," Ashley murmured to her kitten, lifting her from the duvet and gently placing her in her cushioned portable carrier, zipping the door shut behind her. Lady Bucky let out multiple cries, wanting to be let out already, but Ashley bit her bottom lip and ignored her, continuing to shove her clothes into her bags in a flurry. There were tears spilling out of her eyes and down her cheeks, her hands wouldn't stop trembling, so it took her a little longer than expected…but eventually she got herself packed and ready to go.
She gave one last fleeting look at the room that she had grown to love before releasing a little sniff and leaving, following the guards straight out the tower and into the car they had waiting.
…
The school looked exactly the same as it did when Ashley was last there - and that wasn't a good thing. She shivered at the sight of it towering over her, feeling so queasy that she could barely keep her eyes open. She never wanted to come back here - she didn't want to, ever again.
And yet, here she was.
The car pulled up in the drive as it usually did, the sound of the tyres scraping against the gravel as undeniable as it always was. Her driver hopped out of the car and went to retrieve her stuff out of the boot, giving Ashley a few moments alone to compose herself. She picked up the carrier that Lady Bucky was still curled up in with wide eyes, watching everything happen around her anxiously. "It's okay honey," she whispered quietly, hearing her own voice shake much to her horror. "We'll get ourselves out of this again. We always do" Her driver swooped round to her door and opened it for her so that she could get out. "Thank you," she muttered coldly, swinging her legs out and taking Lady Bucky with her before standing in front of the tall building with complete hatred in her eyes.
"Ashley!" came a familiar excitable voice from the left of her. She already knew who it belonged to, and she wasn't in the mood to try and act like she was glad to see him.
Because she sure as hell wasn't.
"Scott," she mused back unenthusiastically, barely looking his way. Scott frowned at her lacklustre reaction and continued making his way over to her, but Ashley rolled her eyes and turned away from him on his eager approach. It was nothing against him, per se - but the last thing she wanted to discuss was why she was back there again when she still didn't understand it herself.
"Hey! So good to see you again," Scott decided to smile, opening his arms for a hug. But Ashley blinked at him slowly. None of those butterflies she once had for this guy existed anymore. His pure presence did absolutely nothing for her - and that was how she knew that she was in the wrong place with the wrong people.
"You too mate," she answered blandly, beginning to follow her driver up those grand stone steps where he was already heaving in the bags. Scott hurried after her, still confused at her attitude.
"Hey, are you coming to chill with us tonight?" he attempted again once he had caught up with her. Ashley barely raised an eyebrow at his question, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Last night she was just with the man of her dreams, eating Thai food that he had then wrapped up for her to eat in her own time after saving her from HYDRA agents.
Now what?
Back in that forsaken staffroom, chatting about how she was going to lessons the next morning?
No thanks.
"No offence, Scott, but I'm just gonna go to bed and chill by myself tonight. And probably every other night after this," she broke the news bluntly, spinning on her heel to face him one on one. Scott's head recoiled slightly at her tone and he crossed his arms.
"What? But you love chilling with us," he pointed out, his tone edging on accusatory. He soon realised that saying this was a mistake, as Ashley let out a tired chuckle and spun back around again.
"Clearly, what I do and don't love no longer matters to anyone," she grumbled, continuing to walk back towards her old room. Scott just stood there and watched her leave with an incredibly uncomfortable disposition.
This wasn't right…this wasn't the Ashley he remembered her to be. And for some odd reason - he blamed S.H.I.E.L.D for changing her.
Once Ashley reached her old room, she took the deepest of breaths before opening the door, revealing the place that she knew all too well where her bags were already waiting for her. Her room was tidied, that dated Victorian quilted bed was made neatly for her arrival. She paced across the thin threadbare carpet to place Lady Bucky's carrier-bed on the mattress, unzipping it so that she could come out and explore her new home. But she didn't come out because she didn't want to be there - and Ashley understood, because she didn't either.
A few hours later, Ashley had collapsed onto her bed, watching reruns of Friends episodes on her mounted TV whilst unenthusiastically eating copious amounts of cold Thai food that Steve had packaged up for her. Lady Bucky was curled up comfortably by her side, snoozing away again. The food was still nice, but wasn't as nice as she remembered it to be back when she was with Steve.
Steve.
Ashley didn't ever want to forget how he made her feel on that evening. From the singing in the car, to the way he was looking at her as she took a bite of his 'spicy' meal…it felt like a distant memory although it had only happened the day before. Then, all of a sudden, it was as if she couldn't handle the thoughts because the tears were flowing and they wouldn't stop. And as she reached over to her phone to call her mum, totally heartbroken and wallowing in self pity, she didn't even bother wiping them away.
Mella picked up almost instantly, because she recognised the number all too well.
"Ashley? Sweetheart?" she blurted out in a panic. "Why is this your mansion extension number? Darling, why are you crying? Oh…oh no…."
"Mum," Ashley sobbed with a shudder, muting the TV so she could hear her better. "They brought me back here. F-Fury said I couldn't stay in S.H.I.E.L.D anymore." She felt so stupid, like a little kid, but realistically those were her true feelings.
"He what?!" Mella shouted in pure rage. "On what grounds?! You're twenty bloody five, Ashley-Rose! He doesn't have the RIGHT-"
"He said that i-it wasn't safe for me anymore," Ashley cried, the tears still streaming relentlessly down her sodden cheeks. "He had people waiting for me in the hallway, right outside my room, and they brought me back home within moments, Mum. I d-didn't even have a choice."
"Why wouldn't it be safe for you anymore?" Mella frowned angrily, already opening her laptop to contact Fury.
"Because HYDRA tried to capture me on my d-date with Steve," Ashley sobbed, starting to hyperventilate. Mella's face fell at that point, knowing how that must've looked to what was left of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Oh, sweetheart…" she breathed.
"But I handled it, Mum! I killed the agents and I saw silver but-"
"You saw silver?" Mella clarified a little sadly. "In public, Ashley? Oh god, how many this time?" Ashley quickly shook her head, not wanting her to get the wrong idea.
"No, I'm pretty sure I only hurt those that tried to kill me. There have been no other casualties, as far as I know," she rushed out defensively, holding up her hands into the camera. But that just confused Mella even further.
"So no civilian casualties and Fury still kicked you out?" she spat, her face going back from sorrow to one of anger all over again.
"Yes," Ashley confirmed tearfully, wiping her non stop running her nose.
"That's it, I'm going to call him-"
"No!" Ashley blurted out in a panic. Mella stopped in her tracks and stared at her devastated daughter.
"What?"
"Please, Mum. No more embarrassment. They don't want me there so I'm staying here. Please, please don't fight for me anymore. I'm done with them - Fury was pretty f*cking loud and clear," Ashley begged back, her sobs stirring Lady Bucky awake. Mella looked so torn. "P-please, promise me you won't speak to them?" Her mother's tense shoulders finally dropped and she gave a reluctant nod.
"Fine. I…I promise."