Starlight › Marvel [1] ✓

039. wakanda

This wasn't him. This was someone who watched half of a population get murdered; someone who has lost too many people in such a short period and isn't able to process it properly. Someone who was in pain; who had lost five months of their life due to spending it in space. The same space he lost his best friend and mentor in. This was someone who was letting these things affect him negatively.

The only thing these two people had in common was the need to stop the villains before they spread any more pain.

Letting the mirror shard fall from his hands, he left the bathroom and the spare bedroom. Entering the hallway, he shivered from the silence. The last time it had been this silent was when Loki left him by himself in his apartment. It was weird to think he preferred that time over what was happening now. At least then, he could pretend everyone and everything was safe. Now Thanos was a global and universal threat and Infinity Stones were real, and they couldn't let the two intertwined anymore than the two are.

As he walked down the hallway, his footsteps echoed, making him hyper-aware of his movements. They were so harsh amongst the silence... deafeningly loud. The echo only faded out when he found muffled chattering, so he followed the sounds and as he got closer, he noticed a large door ajar. Light spilled out of the room and through the small sliver, he could see Bruce pacing. He was explaining the situation about Thanos and what happened before Tony was taken.

Then he heard the deep and rough voice that he and his classmates were forced to listen to about everything and anything informative.

He didn't let Steve Rogers finish what he was saying before he pushed open the door. The room went silent and everyone's eyes flew towards Raleigh Ridley; however, his own landed and stayed on Captain Rogers. It was immediately obvious that the year on the run from the government hadn't been good for him. Even though he still stood tall and proud, his navy suit was faded and torn up, and his hair had grown out along with a beard. As he looked around the room that the others that had sided with Captain America stood, he found Vision, the golden-yellow stone was still in his head, but he had obviously endured difficulties considering he was leaning against a breakfast bar, holding his stomach. None of their lives had been easy and the last hour had proved to be even harder.

"Um..." Raleigh's hands found one another. "Hi?"

Bruce sensed the tense atmosphere and attempted to clear it by introducing the teenager to the adults. "Uh, this is—"

"They know who I am." He cut the scientist off and moved to his side with a tight smile. His gaze found Steve once more. "Captain Rogers."

Steve let out a sigh. "What are you doing here, Raleigh?"

"Honestly?" Raleigh let out a sardonic laugh. "It's such a long story."

He was about to explain that his story didn't matter and that they needed to make a game plan, when thundering footsteps echoed behind them. He turned around just in time to witness the door open the rest of the way and a disheveled looking brunet standing in the doorway. His dark hazel eyes landed on Raleigh immediately and he didn't wait another second before pushing past Bruce and pulling the lost boy in a hug.

The familiar warmth brought tears to Raleigh's eyes and to stop himself from blubbering, he slung his arms around his guardian. The feeling of being hugged by someone he cared about, after everything that happened brought on a wave of emotions. His hands curled into his guardian's t-shirt and he pulled himself closer to the man he trusted. He dug his face into his shoulder and bit his lip to refrain from sobbing.

Trystan Dagher searched for answers, not understanding why the child he took responsibility for was holding onto him like he was his only lifeline. He knew about the aliens and about Tony and Peter's abduction, but that was about it since Rhodey had been cautious about revealing anything over the phone. Everyone watched them with pity, but the only one who seemed to hold the answers for Raleigh's distress was Bruce Banner. A man Trystan and the rest of the world had thought was gone forever. He narrowed his stare on the scientist, but before Bruce could try and calm down the angry adult, Raleigh pulled away from his guardian.