Chapter 39
[Emily's POV]
I curled in on myself, shaking horribly as sobs racked my entire body. My worn out fingers scraped at the hard stone underneath and old scabs opened up, bleeding out over my already torn and dirtied clothes. My wings laid limply behind me. They had yet to move since my last 'treatment', as had I. I felt drained, with very little energy. The only thing I seemed to be able to do was cry.
There were no indications of time for me. The meals were brought in at irregular hours, sometimes as short as what felt like five minutes after each other. No sunlight was allowed in due to the giant stone wall; the only light source I had was a filthy light bulb that hung outside my prison cell. The prison bars casted a disfigured shadow over me and it resembled monsters.
I shivered in fear and clamped my hands over my ears, trying to silence out my own thoughts. I couldn't focus on that. I needed to keep my head attached to my shoulders. But, that was hard, as I was trying to figure out my new powers.
I had seen so many mutants use their powers that I couldn't count that high. My body constantly ached, mostly as a side effect from the seizures. Whenever the aches were about to go away, Ultron would show up with a new mutant for me to observe.
The worst part of it all? He showed me mutants whose powers could have helped me escape, but at the end of every session, just as I was coming back to the land of consciousness after my seizure episode, Ultron would inject me with some formula that would inhibit me from using my powers, all barring my wings. But because I was weak and fragile, they weren't much use either.
I bit my lower lip and tried to stop the next round of sobs. I had never felt this hopeless. Even through the four years of physical abuse I withstood from my mother, it had never felt like this.
My dear Emily...
A horrible shiver ran down my spine and I coughed, my aching back seizing up. Of course he had to show up. I was at the lowest point in my life.
Welcome back, Titan, I grumbled angrily to myself, gritting my teeth in pain. Come to gloat?
When have I ever gloated, Emily? Titan chuckled in my ear and I slammed my fist into the ground angrily. More tears sprang into my eyes and I weakly wiped them away. Give me control, Darling. You know that you want to get rid of all this pain and hurt.
How are you even able to speak to me? I growled inwardly, my hands tensing up in anger. You are one of my powers, Titan. Whatever this formula is, it should prevent you from doing anything.
You forget, my dear, that Ultron only injected you with the formula. He has yet to inject me. Even though we share the same body, we are completely different people.
I was silent for a moment as I let the thought play out in my head, away from Titan's prying ears.
If I did give in to Titan's control, he would be able to get me out of wherever I was. However, I could lose some of my powers that I was connected to, like my telepathy...
On the other hand, Titan could take all the other powers I had adapted. My body burned at the thought of being able to be free from the pain I was enduring.
If I give in, you have to follow my conditions, I ordered. First off, if for some reason my friends come for me, you are not to harm them. Secondly, you will take all the powers I have adapted because of Ultron away. Third...
I want to see Ultron burn for everything he has done to me and my family.
I love it when you go malicious.
:/:\:
[Bucky's POV]
My hand gripped Wanda's fiercely as the X-Avengers all stood in a circle within the hanger, watching as Hank McCoy pulled out a small, circular helmet from one of his many, many bags.
When I had brought up the fact that none of us knew where Ultron was stashing Emily, Hank ordered all of us outside of our jets and into a large circle with the Professor sitting in the middle of it. All the X-Men seemed at ease with the plan, so I shook my tense muscles out and tried to think of something that calmed me.
Emily.
I casted my mind back to the first time we had met. She had ordered an almond-milk hot chocolate from NYCA and saw me sitting all alone at a table. Emily purposefully came over and sat across from me, even though there were plenty of seats where she wouldn't be bothered by anyone. She took time out of her life to do that. No one, out of the three years I had been going to that cafe, had ever done that.
"So, Thing Two, what exactly does this do?" Clint asked, gesturing towards the whole contraption. Since Bruce and Hank were two nerdy scientists who both went 'primal' (as Clint described), he had taken to calling the two of them Thing One (Bruce) and Thing Two (Hank). They both had shot him a death glare when he first started, but he seemed impervious to it. Wanda supposed he had built up an immunity with the help of Natasha. "And please, small words. I was a jock in high school, not a nerd."
"Back in England, we have an entire room built for this one machine," Hank began, beginning to place the helmet on top of the Professor's head. "We call it Cerebro. Basically, Charles is the world's most powerful, experienced telepath, except he can't connect with very many people mentally. However, with the help of the helmet, he can connect to every person's mind on the entire planet."
"With that puny thing?" Wanda asked curiously, pointing towards the helmet. Hank gave her a geekish smile and shook his head slightly.
"This is only a fraction of the actual one," Hank explained. "It can cover a 300 mile radius. So, we have to hope that Emily is still near New York."
"That is amazing," Wanda whispered, slightly in awe. Hank turned back to the Professor with a bit of a blush on his face, and I snorted. Looks like somebody has a crush. "So this thing can find Emily?"
"Her mental walls are still not superb, unfortunately," Xavier sighed unhappily. "This time, though, it will work in our favor. I should be able to connect with her a lot sooner."
The wheelchair-bound man took a deep breath before giving Hank a thumbs-up. Hank pressed a button on the side of the helmet and the Professor sucked in a sharp breath, clenching his fists together and screwing his eyes shut. Everyone waited in tense anticipation, and I saw Clint leave the room more than once to pace outside in the hall. After the second time he left and came back, Professor Xavier let out an unearthly scream and threw his eyes open. Everyone leapt back, and I instinctively shoved Wanda behind me. Hank and Bruce immediately raced to Xavier's side, but the man shooed them off with a wave of his hand.
Xavier took a shaky breath and his white-knuckled hands gripped the sides of his wheelchair with such ferocity. "We need to hurry. Now." He licked his lips and his eyes became filled with tears. "Never, in my entire life, have I ever seen someone fill with such much pain. She has already switched into her Titan mode; he was the one I spoke to. Emily has made a deal with him." He let out a strangled sob and ran his hand over his eyes. "She just wanted the pain to go away."
Wanda let out a terrified squeak behind me and even Natasha had to look away.
"Charles, I need you to push past all the pain you are feeling from Emily," Bruce gently, but firmly, ordered Xavier, gripping onto his hand tightly. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, both men looked like they needed it. "Search through your memories: where is Emily?"
"Here," Xavier gulped, looking towards the entire group with tears running down both of his cheeks. "In New York City. She's been here the entire time. Ultron has her at the Avengers Tower."
:/:\:
[Clint's POV]
I let out a yell and slammed my fist into the side of one of the QuinJets. I focused on the burning, throbbing pain I felt as I watched the blood from my cut knuckles cascade down my hand. I blocked out everyone's yelling as they tried to make me stop.
She had been here the entire time. Emily, the girl who was basically my daughter, had been kidnapped by Ultron and taken to the last place we expected. Gone for two days, and we still didn't know what was happening to her. And to make matters worse, the Titan had taken over. No...Emily had given him control.
"Take deep breaths, Barton," a baritone voice ordered me, and I wanted to do nothing more than punch that voice to oblivion and back, but I restrained myself. "Focus on the task at hand. Emily needs all of us right now. You cannot help her if you are too injured to do so."
I took a shaky, deep breath and put on my best poker face. If Ultron wanted to dance, I was ready. First, he took Pietro away. I was not going to let him take Emily away too.
I turned around and gave T'Challa the briefest of nods as a thank you before I steeled my gaze at Xavier and the X-Men. "We're going to make one thing clear right now: I will be the one to put an arrow through Ultron's chest. I will be the one who makes sure he never messes with my family again."
Everyone nodded solemnly, but I swore I heard Bucky whisper under his breath, "Get in line, pal." I chose to ignore it and headed straight towards my QuinJet, alongside my crewmates: Jean, Steve, Alex, Bruce, and T'Challa. Once inside, I headed straight for my corner and brought out my rebound bow, triple-checking it to make sure it was all in order before we left for the mission. Plus, it gave me some time to creatively think of ways to kill Ultron.
"You two are close, huh?" a younger voice interrupted my malicious thoughts and I jumped around, facing Alex Summers. I hadn't talked to the kid much and he had kept his mouth shut for most of the discussion. His shaggy blond hair constantly fell into his eyes and he brushed it aside with the slightest hint of annoyance. He continued on, "You and Emily?"
I huffed and directed my attention to my quiver, stocking it up with a variety of arrows. "When Emily first joined the Avengers, I was assigned to be her mentor." What a good job I was doing, I thought darkly to myself. "Over the few months we've spent together, I guess I've grown attached. Like a father."
"Emily hasn't had one of those for quite a while," Alex informed me, taking a seat a few ones down from where I was standing. "However, she does trust men more than women because of what her mother did to her."
"We figured that one out, unfortunately," I murmured softly, shoving a couple of boomerang arrows into the bunch. The night of the 'Midnight Madness' party flashed into my head and I shook my head, trying to rid myself of that memory and how helpless Emily had looked. To distract myself, I asked Alex how he had met Emily.
"It's an interesting story, actually," Alex chuckled, running his fingers through his thick hair. "Emily was running away from the X-Mansion when we first met." I raised an eyebrow at the new information. Emily had never told me of that. I would have to ask her about that when we got her back. "She was fifteen and so freaking stressed out from all the pressure. Imagine being a fifteen year old on a team like the Avengers. She was constantly in fights with our enemies, while at the same time, she never got to do anything. One of our former leaders, Storm, actually confided in me that Emily was only brought along for some missions for the sole purpose of, if she was needed, to bust out some mutant moves the enemy hadn't seen before."
I clenched onto one of my arrows so hard I bent the shaft. Cursing softly, I threw the arrow to the ground and went to stack another one in its place.
"I was walking alongside the lake at midnight," Alex further stated, fiddling with his thumbs. "A bit of an insomniac. I remember being tired, and deciding it was probably time for me to head back to bed. Just as I was about to turn to leave, Emily ran into me. Literally. Hit me so hard I nearly fell back into the lake if she hadn't caught me. Before then, we hadn't really talked. We were never put on the same mission since my powers were too versatile and deadly to be adapted by her; if she had adapted them, we could all be doomed. After I had surprisingly convinced her to stay, we met up with each other every night, just to discuss how our days went and if there was something we needed to get off our chest."
I paused and I looked at him with a grateful expression. "Emily is lucky to have two families that care for her like this."
"Yes, she is."
A/N: I'M SO FREAKING SORRY!
I just realized that I haven't posted in like, three months, and I apologize so much for that! School has been tough and I've been in between major projects, so there hasn't been much time for stuff.
Now that this chapter is out, Imma fangirl real quick:
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You guys seriously don't know how much it means to me that people are taking time out of their probably very busy schedules in order to read this story. It literally means the world to me :) (and the fact that people are probably doing a victory dance or something just seeing that this chapter is posted XD).
UPDATE: Thanks to Katie MacAlpine (I hope I spelled your name right!) I changed a little detail because it definitely makes more sense the way she put it. Hope y'all enjoy!
So, yeah. There will be a sequel, don't know when tho (I was considering making this the first chapter of the sequel, but I'm too attached to Solace's Wings to make the second book just yet).
I've thought long and hard about the second title name, so I want to YOU to vote for it.
It's down to these two:
1. Solace's Fury
2. Solace's Reckoning
Please review (if you do) and put a vote in! Thanks.
And remember, please review with any comments, questions, concerns, or conspiracy theories. I also take ideas XD.
Love y'all and thanks for reading the story!