Ashley sat there in the middle of her destruction. How long had she been up there for now? It felt like days, but she knew that realistically it had only been hours…if that. The forest around her was ruined, again. Trees were on the ground, small patches of dying flames dotted around the place, the undeniable stench of burning wood still lingering hauntingly in the air. She was curled up in the treehouse that she'd been using as a safe haven for as long as she could remember. Whose was it? She had no idea, till this day. It was a beautiful hand crafted treehouse that had been rudely abandoned for years. The interior consisted of a few old patchwork blankets, cushions to match and dusty children's books - but that was about it. An entire treehouse, frozen in time. It was rather haunting, but that didn't matter to Ashley - she found it comforting.
It was a place to go when she felt overwhelmed…so what better place to put an end to the madness than right here?
She tearfully stared at the flames that she had caused to ignite beside her, watching the wooden floor of the treehouse slowly begin to catch fire. Every time it did, however, she put it out with a water jet before it could engulf the whole thing. It was like something was telling her to finish it, and let the entire thing go up in flames - but something deep within was telling her to stop. Death was final, death was permanent - and she wasn't sure if she could handle dying…least of all by burning. But then she started up the fire again with a dry sob, this time blasting it towards the wall opposite her.
It was time to make up her mind, she had to just do it, she had to just do it, she had to just-
"ASH?! ASHLEY, SWEETIE?" came the distant voice that Ashley irritably recognised as her mother's. "Ashley, please answer me? Are you up there? The thing is on fire! Answer me!" Ashley narrowly avoided the window and huddled her knees to her chest to get as small as she could, keeping quiet - but to her bitter disappointment, a familiar suited figure hovered by the window in no time.
"There you are, Red," came Tony's slightly saddened voice through his Iron Man mask as he lifted the window. "I'm gonna need for you to come down now, buddy." But Ashley said nothing. She didn't even look up - she simply blasted another fireball out of her palm, this one significantly larger. It caught onto one of the beams supporting the treehouse roof - and the rest of the roof quickly caught fire and Tony knew that within no time, the whole thing would cave in with Ashley inside.
And that was when he realised this was exactly what she wanted.
"Red," Tony began to panic, "please, come out. We gotta go, and we gotta go now. This isn't worth it, dude!"
"Save it," Ashley murmured back, turning her back on him. "Go away, Tony." Tony let out a torrent of expletives as he quickly lowered himself to where the others were waiting anxiously on the ground.
"We're gonna need someone to break in there and talk to her pronto, she's started a fire in there and it doesn't look like she's planning to move. It looks pretty final to me," Tony informed them all seriously. "From the way the roof is connected, she's got around four or five minutes before the whole thing caves in with her inside. It's slow burning cos it's not entirely made of wood - unless she hastens it. Even if I put the fire out, she'll keep making new ones."
"Alright so then who's gonna go up? Someone needs to go up!" Storm rushed the entire group in a clear panic.
"I will," Christie adamantly held her hand up, much to her mother's dismay (who was watching via video call).
"Christie," Mella sobbed, her slender hand wiping her overflowing tears away. "Go up if you wish but please be safe. I can't lose the two of you in one day!"
"Christie, if it's on fire this might not be the best plan of action," Steve warned her quietly, standing in front of her to block her path before she climbed the broad trunk of the tree.
"What else do you want me to do, Steve?" Christie hissed back as she attempted to push past him. "My sister is suicidal, who cares about my safety?!"
"We care, Christie," Coulson interrupted, skidding over across the fallen leaves scattered across the ground. "Cap's right, you can't just turn up there and expect Ashley to listen."
"Ashley won't want anyone to get hurt by her doing, Coulson. She'll put out the fire if I'm there. We may have been apart for years but I know my sister," Christie muttered irritably before snapping back around to face Steve again. "Give me a boost, Rogers. Now!" Steve took one last look at her insistent face that was drenched in panic and sighed. He reluctantly knelt down and positioned the shield so that she could quickly use it as a boost.
"Fine, go ahead - but I'm right behind you," he told Christie as she took a few steps backwards.
"Whatever," Christie murmured, before running across the ground and launching herself off of Steve's shield, spinning in the air and swiftly grabbing onto one of the broad tree branches with ease. She swung herself across each branch like a monkey as her heart pounded dangerously against her chest. She didn't know what state Ashley would be in and she was extremely anxious to find out, so she literally held her breath as she reached the open treehouse door and poked her head round. The floor wasn't completely stable under her own feet, so she didn't want to take any further steps just in case. Ashley was towards the far end wall, her head buried in her arms and little helpless sobs escaping her lips. Christie felt her heart begin to crack as she distantly heard Steve make his way up behind her. "Ash," Christie breathed shakily, immediately gaining her attention. Her eyes were rimmed red and her cheeks were hollow - she didn't even look like herself anymore.
She said nothing back.
"Ash, please put these fires out. I'm here, Steve's here-" Ashley's head immediately snapped up at the mere mention of his name and she quickly noticed Steve standing behind her sister.
Then her eyes welled up with tears even faster than before.
"Steve," she cried shakily. "Chris, I'm s-s-sorry…I'm so sorry."
"Don't be sorry, just be safe! I'm coming to get you," Steve instructed her, taking a bold step towards her directly in the growing line of fire.
"No, be careful!" Ashley yelped, immediately bursting water jets from her palms to extinguish the flames again.
"And there's more growing, Ash-" Christie began. Bang in the middle of her statement however, storm clouds began to grow above them and rumbling shades of deep grey swirled throughout the sky. Within a few seconds, torrential rain was suddenly thrashing down on everything around them, including through the roof of the treehouse. The remaining flames quickly began to whimper and die out, whether Ashley wanted them to or not. Steve and Christie glanced at each other after staring into the sky with confused eyes. "Well, that was lucky," Christie muttered to herself with a disbelieving frown. Ashley let out an irritable scoff, leading them to look back over at her again.
"Not lucky - just Storm. She can control the weather - this was definitely her handiwork," she grunted before clamping her head back in her hands.
"Well how about that?" Steve murmured in wonder.
"Guys, the fires are out now - so please leave me alone," Ashley suddenly begged them, scrubbing her tears away so that she could see them properly. "Please, I don't want to hurt either of you."
"We're not gonna leave Ashley, because if we do that, you're gonna do something stupid," Christie stated firmly, taking another uneasy step forward. The noise of the unstable floorboards creaked out beneath her foot, and Ashley's head flew up to look at her again, her eyes wide at the dangerous sound.
"Don't you dare take another step, Christie," Ashely warned her shakily, keeping a solid eye on the floor. "This entire place is unstable-"
"Ashley, it's not like the drop down is large. We'd much rather rather fall a few feet to the ground than for you burn to a crisp," Steve interrupted her as he took a firm step forwards as well. "What are you doing up here anyway? We're all worried sick!" Ashley wiped her eyes with her sleeve once more before finally gathering up the courage to answer.
"I'm not wanted anywhere and I'm so…so tired of it," she sniffed in pure exhaustion. "If it's not S.H.I.E.L.D, it's this mansion, then the cycle starts again. I can't take this anymore - I just want to belong somewhere and I just…don't." Christie shot her a sad look, but took yet another large step forward, ignoring the creaking underneath her. "Christie!" Ashley hissed, shaking her head at her desperately with widened eyes. "Please-"
"So what exactly is the plan here, Ash?" Steve asked again, a littler softer than before. His eyes were still fearful but his demeanour still remained firm. Ashley bit down on both her lips and slowly reached into her pocket, leaving Steve and Christie to hold their breath as they nervously waited to see what she'd pull out.
A gun? A taser? A dagger?
No, it was-
"A syringe?" Christie crinkled her nose up as she frowned. "What's inside?"
"It can…supposedly…completely extinct your mutation," Ashley explained quietly, staring at the delicate but worryingly powerful instrument in her hands. "I was gonna use it if the fire didn't…kill me first."
"Ashley, no!" Christie gasped, taking a few steps forward again, this time a with a little more haste. "You can't get rid of your mutation! YOUR MUTATION IS WHAT MAKES YOU, YOU! Why the f*ck would you do that?"
"Yeah I know that's what makes me, me, Christie, that's half the f*cking problem," Ashley spat venomously, making Steve jerk his head back slightly. He had never heard that tone from her before. "I don't want to be me anymore! It's dangerous, tiresome and gets me absolutely nowhere. It's only part of me but it's considered all of me. Do you know how draining that is?"
"I don't doubt that Ashley, but we want you. I want you," Steve told her quietly, the look of sincerity practically bleeding through his eyes. Ashley stared at him hollowly, literally unable to believe the words coming out of his mouth. They were words she would've died to hear a few days ago, but now it felt as if they didn't mean a thing. "And I'm not the only one, either. Both your families are down there, your dad is down there, even your mom is on her way. We all care about you, and you come with your mutation." Ashley scrubbed a tear away from her eye and shook her head stubbornly.
"Plus, your mutation kicks ass! Your mutation is what saved you from HYDRA agents, your mutation is what saved those two kids, remember? Your mutation also saved one my my best friends!" Christie reminded her quietly. "Do you know how amazing that is? I'd kill to have that - I have to do everything by hand."
"I get it," Ashley mumbled back bitterly. "I get it, and good for me and everything - but my mutation is also what got me thrown out of S.H.I.E.L.D and before that, embarrassed in front of the entire school-"
"It did not get you kicked out of S.H.I.E.L.D," Christie and Steve simultaneously interrupted her. Ashley closed her mouth abruptly and frowned over at them both.
"Did Fury not tell you? Cos-"
"Coulson is down there on the ground," Christie smiled comfortingly, glad to finally get the truth out. "He wants you back. So does everyone else. There was a bit of a mix up, but I think it's important for things to be discussed on the ground where it's safe."
"Please, Ash. Just put the syringe down and we can talk about it down there," Steve insisted lowly, taking a few more steps toward her. The floor really creaking now, they had to get out soon. Ashley felt how much it was wobbling underneath her and, regardless of how emotionally drained she felt, swiftly realised that she didn't want to put her sister or the man she secretly adored in harms way. "Put it down."
"Fine, just…just stay there," she murmured, making slow and steady movements to heave herself up again. Christie and Steve did as they were told, freezing in their tracks so that she didn't change her mind.
But suddenly, Ashley whipped the syringe out of her pocket and shoved it straight into her forearm, immediately breaking her skin.
"NO!" Steve shouted, as Christie leapt across the treehouse floor to tackle her to the ground before her thumb could make contact to the plunger. Ashley landed on her back with a loud grunt as her head made contact with the floor, and Christie shoved her knee into her stomach whilst pinning her down by her shoulders.
"You stupid girl!" she shouted in her face, absolutely enraged. Tears were dripping from her eyes onto Ashley's sodden face, whilst Steve called down to Tony for back-up in order to get Ashley down safely. "What the hell is wrong with you?! There is nothing wrong with your mutation! Stop being such an idiot!" Christie was shaking Ashley with each word, and she couldn't even argue back.
What could she say? Her sister was only doing this because she cared.
"Christie, I got it," came the cool voice of Steve from above them, as he placed a reassuring hand on her tensed shoulder. Christie gave one last fleeting look at her sister and slowly prised her hands from her shoulders, before standing up straight and yanking the syringe out of where it was still sticking out of her arm. She bit down on the back of her jaw and spun around, storming out of the same door that she came from and jumping down from branch to branch until she was back to the ground where the rest of the group were anxiously awaiting.
"You, can take this," she hissed tearfully, breaking the tense silence as she carefully but forcefully shoved the syringe into Scott's gloved hand. The physical action may have been directed towards Scott, but the undeniable anger was directed straight at her father and he could tell.
All eyes fell straight onto the syringe.
Each member of the group was either frowning in confusion or looked absolutely horrified.
"Now what the hell is that?" Natasha fluttered her long eyelashes. She gingerly prised the syringe from Scott's outstretched hand and flicked it a few times, staring at the swirling blue liquid and holding it into the air.
"Oh god," Logan murmured to himself whilst Rogue stood next to him covering her mouth in horror. "That, is the liquid that pretty much kills our mutation."
A hush fell over the unsuspecting group.
"Wait, what? Are you telling me that Ashley tried to kill the most badass thing she's got going for her?" Tony spluttered in genuine disbelief. Storm gave a solemn nod back before stepping away and walking off to go and compose herself. She couldn't help but feel partially responsible for at least half of what Ashley was feeling right now. She shouldn't have agreed to such a stupid plan.
"Correct! She thinks her mutation is what's causing all of these mysterious misfortunes to happen," Christie explained to them all as she slowly made her way towards where her father helplessly sat. She bent down and got dead in his face, looking him coldly in the eye, inches away from his nose for the first time in many, many years. "I don't care about anyone else here. You are to blame. And if anything were to happen to her, you'd be the first person I'd come for, father or not," she muttered with words full of venom. She wasn't even blinking - she barely even flinched. Coulson ran his tongue over his lip and lowered his head uncomfortably. This was the confrontation he had been expecting since Christie was 17 years old, when he first ever took her under his wing. He knew it was coming.
She was 23 now - so this was long overdue. Six years overdue.
"Christie, don't use your resentment towards me as an explanation for your sister's feelings. These are two separate incidents and should be considered as such," Charles told her sternly - but he still couldn't meet her stare.
"You act as if my resentment was unwarranted!" Christie laughed disbelievingly back, still not tearing her eyes away. "Like it came out of nowhere, right? Enough. Recognise how you made me feel, recognise that you, the almighty Charles Xavier, can do wrong - and maybe, just maybe you'll be able to see how you contributed to my sister's pain just as much as her mutation itself. How could I, Mum, Aunt Meredith, Fury, Tony flipping Stark who doesn't compliment anyone - aside from himself…even your own team encourage Ashley to feel like the badass she is - but her own father makes her feel like a walking talking hazard?" Christie was on a rant, and no one dared attempt to stop her. Storm and Scott exchanged awkward looks with one another. They hadn't ever looked at it that way, they had never considered how all of these accumulated warnings would have an impact on one emotionally sensitive woman. Natasha just watched Christie go as she leant on Clint's shoulder, quietly impressed, whilst Coulson and Thor could only watch on in wonder. This was actual logic, yes - but logic coming from a place of sincerity, and none of them had never seen that from Christie before.
"Listen to me. Everything I did," Charles suddenly choked out with truthful pain registering all over his face, "everything I ever did, said or implied was out of love. I thought I was protecting her. Losing Jean was bad enough - imagine my own daughter-"
"She isn't Jean!" Christie interrupted him loudly. Scott flinched.
"Christiana, you don't understand what she-"
"Dad, look at me!" Christie barked at him, forcing Charles' eyes to finally land on hers for the first time in that entire conversation.
Dad? She never called him 'Dad'.
"Ashley, is not Jean. I don't even know who the girl is - but it's becoming a dangerous comparison for you to make, so please stop doing it," Christie finished with a solemn whisper. Charles stared at her for a few more moments before glancing away again, leaving everyone to stand there in an awkward silence once more.
Meanwhile, back in the treehouse, Steve was attempting to get Ashley to calm down. He was kneeling on the floor with her gathered up in his strong arms as she sobbed away, her head buried in his chest just like that time in the kitchen. He rested his sturdy chin on top of her head and kept both arms wrapped warmly around her, giving her some time to get all of her sobs out.
Once the tears had started to subside, he finally spoke up.
"Your mutation isn't a curse, Ash. You know that, right?" he clarified quietly. Ashley gave a reluctant nod without even lifting her head. "No, I need to hear you say it, Ashley. Your mutation is a blessing-"
"I know," she sniffed miserably, absentmindedly drawing patterns on his suited chest with the tip of her finger. She just felt so safe there - she literally didn't want to move, ever.
"Come back down to the ground, Ash. You'll be able to hear what happened and I swear to you, you'll feel better about it as soon as you do," Steve promised sincerely, running his hand up her back to give her shoulders a little squeeze of encouragement. Ashley shivered at his touch and slowly allowed her eyes to flutter up his neck, then up his tensed jaw to finally land on his face.
"What if they try and take me back, Steve? What if they force me to stay in the school?" she murmured weakly.
"Trust me, I won't let them. I don't actually think any of us will," he assured her firmly. Ashley couldn't help but let out a little tinkering laugh then, amused at his consistent heroic patriotic stance.
"What are you gonna do, Cap? Beat 'em up in the name of justice and freewill?" she teased, lightly prodding his chest with a small playful smirk. "You know the big guy with the claws can't die, right? He's literally invincible." Steve released a knowing chuckle back.
"Trust me, with how dirtily they've played this whole thing - I think they'll have no choice but to let you do what you want for once," he responded confidently.
...
a/n: bank holiday weekend means double chapter! either tomorrow or Monday x
