𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢

𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 around, feeling where all the stragglers lay or stood. She would grab onto one, teleport to another, grab onto them and then take them onto the helicarriers. The girl was exhausted, obviously, but she had felt exhausted before so even though her breath often choked in her throat, she carried on. Her head was filled with Wanda, mostly, but in the space of her consciousness she hid from her, she thought of Pietro; How he'd protected her just like that.

Maybe he'd do it for anyone, she thought as she teleported back and forth from person to person. Maybe what she felt was wrong, and he didn't feel the same way. Adelaide wanted to enter his mind, to see for herself what he really wanted, but to do so would be a violation, and that's the last thing Addie wanted to do to him.

She decided to let the notion brush past her and to just focus on the mission, which was getting harder and harder with Wanda's pressing thoughts occupying Adelaide's conscious.

'You need help at all?' Adelaide questioned across their telekinetic bridge. Her hands swirled and created a dark force which danced between her fingers, before she launched the energy into a group of legionnaires attempting to escape the flying rock.

'No, I'm fine. You focus on what you're doing, I'll focus on what I'm doing.' The witch replied, rather bluntly which took Adelaide by surpise. The girl sighed as she took a moment to rest on the side of a collapsed building so she could catch her breath.

'Well, alright. As long as you're okay.' Addie answered, to which there was no reply. Adelaide didn't sense any discomfort or hidden bad feelings in Wanda's head, and she sort of wished she did. At least that way she would know what she had done wrong, because obviously something had pissed Wanda off. What that was was a mystery to Adelaide, of course, but it seemed obvious to Wanda, who was taking her anger out on a broken legionnaire with cracks laced with scarlet.

When she was fairly certain she had grabbed everyone, she teleported next to a large group of fleeing robots. Adelaide blinked lightly, almost just batting her eyes, and all of the robots exploded violently and with a large crackle. Her stance was strong on the crippled stone floor, as she prepared for another wave of robots; A wave that would never arrive, to Adelaide's naïvety. Instead of escaping through the air, many of the robots were now focussing their blasts on Wanda and the church, but Adelaide would check up on the girl every now and again and felt her safety as if it were her own.

Adelaide decided she was needed not inside the main centre of the flying city, but near the outskirts and she was about to teleport there, to no avail. Adelaide was exhausted, but because of her sudden inability to travel without moving, she ran and ran as fast as she could to the other end of the city, to behind a car.

First she saw a little boy, no older than 9, with air escaping his mouth and next to him was Clint. They both held hands, neither noticing Ultron hovering about 10 feet above them, his hand aiming towards them. Adelaide's eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen.

'No!!' The scream tore her throat apart and she lifted her arms up so swiftly she felt as if they were going to tear off. Adelaide had ahold of Ultron with a force of black shadow which intertwined with his metal housing. When the shadow had a tight enough grip, Adelaide parted her hands so they were by her side and looked down to the floor in exhaustion. Ultron's tough shell was ripped and shredded like paper, bits of it haring through the air. Her head rose in angst, gazing upon the scraps as they landed on the floor and in the windows of shattered buildings. One piece however, did not meet such an untimely end; instead, Adelaide watched as it flew directly into Clint. Into his chest. Eyes widening, Addie ran next to him with all the speed she could.

He was sat, the child gripping onto his hand in fear of the teenager; the small boy's eyes were blinded by his innocence, and he did not notice the nice man sat beside him was bleeding, a hitch catching his breath as he tried as hard as he could to keep bringing air into his lungs. Adelaide however, did notice, and didn't care that when she knelt next to Clint on the floor, bits of glass and metal stabbed into her knees. Tears seared their way down her face, burning her cheeks, and Clint shook his head and cupped the side of her face in his rough hand.

'No, please!' She softly cried, the young boy still staring at her, until his gaze was stolen by a quick, silver boy who sped next to Addie with a fast pace, taking her waist in his hand. She shivered upon its arrival, only looking at Clint, with a burning sadness poisoning her deep blue eyes.

'Hey... ple-please just-' Clint whinced with pain as he tried to move closer to Addie. 'Just don't worry, okay? It's fine, I'm alright, you need to go.' Blood stained the floor around them. Adelaide cried and cried, and Pietro sniffled, as the hand in Adelaide's face began to turn cold and limp; It finally fell, next to Clint's body. Addie screamed, covering her mouth and tears pouring out her eyes.

She didn't take her eyes off the body, how could she? This man had been one of the few to bring her up, to help her and look after her. Now he lay, motionless on the dusty floor, surrounded by the ruins of a city.

'I didn't mean to-' But her sentence was cut short by a large lump filling her throat. 'It's okay.' She said, under her breath and unconvincingly. 'Get the kid on the helicarrier.' Adelaide commanded, forcing Pietro to look dramatically at the child with a face painted with fear. He hesitated. 'Now, Pietro.' Adelaide reaffirmed, her tone stronger. Pietro smiled as much as he could at the child, then grabbed his small hand and took him to the helicarrier in a flash of blue. Adelaide's mind numbed the pain, looking as Clint' eyes were still open, his hand still outstretched for hers. Shadow seeped off of her skin, boiling the blood that sat on the gravel and bits of people's shattered lives that now lay on the floor, just as lifeless as Adelaide's friend.

'Addie! Addie where are you? What's goin-' The earpiece in her ear shattered with the force of her grief, a grimace painted on her face in disgust of herself.

A wave of blue appeared next to her.

'They're going crazy on comms, Addie.' Pietro revealed to her, but Adelaide's expression didn't change, her body stayed limp in front of a lifeless Clint.

'I'm not just going to leave him here.' She finally uttered, the dark anti matter still dripping off of her in her pain and anguish. Pietro placed his hand on her shoulder as she knelt.

'I never suggested that.' He bent down and swept Clint up delicately and softly, a tear painting a film over his eye. The silver boy looked at Adelaide and smiled gently, before using a spare hand he had to hold onto her hand. She got up, and didn't let go of him, her hand warming into his.

They walked together, Adelaide shielding them effortlessly from blasts surrounding them and crunches emerged from underneath their feet from where stones shattered. The darkness still poured down from Adelaide's skin, but it dodged Pietro as he held onto Addie intently.

The helicarrier wasn't full so the two teenagers were able to sit down next to each other, Pietro laying Clint on the floor. Adelaide couldn't bear to look at his lifeless body, blood covering him, so she stared straight ahead, gripping tightly onto her friend.

Wanda walked towards them, entering Adelaide's head without her knowledge, and the girl felt all her emotions like a large wave. The witch immediately took her place next to Addie, and held her close as she sobbed, the shadow seeping for the last time, leaving only two teens, a murderer and a dead body.