Chapter Text
It's too quiet, too quiet all around, but he keeps running as the ground shakes beneath him. No, it's not a crack, it's something exploding, his head races as he loses his balance, putting his hand out to try to shift his weight into a roll. Then a hellish pain flares in his palm, causing him to tumble sideways, trying to use his other hand to get up, because he needs to keep running. His hand throbs, covered in mud, and a wave of dust and dry dirt fills the air, his ears start ringing, and his head starts to split. He knows he has to keep running, that if he slows down even for a minute, he'll die. But as we know, life is a series of misfortunes, and that's precisely why a cannon shot hits his leg, either a ricochet or someone aiming for him, he needs to get going.
Just as he's turning to dash in the other direction, someone's body slams into him, pulling him in the opposite direction. He twitches, trying to pull away, but the man's grip is too strong, he continues to pull him, running, his leg is throbbing, the man seems to be saying something, I can't hear him, my head is buzzing, where am I?
The ground is shaking again, my legs are giving way and everything is blurry before my eyes, is it because of the dust that got there or is it the after-effects of a concussion? His ears continue to ring, someone is covering his mouth, he is saying something... Park... Peter! The ground is shaking again, his vision is dark... the next moment he is shaking, no, no one is carrying him, his breath seems to return, his hands are squeezing someone's neck, not Peter's. He is not alone. His vision is dark again, and his ears are ringing.
***
Peter checks for the third time, well... this time not a disposable phone Kitty created for emergency communication, turn it on, turn it off... and this is a damn emergency!
"Pete, calm down, we're alone here," Johnny repeats for the umpteenth time, though he himself isn't in the best of shape. "You really need to rest."
Yes, Peter knows this, because just five hours ago everything was fine, they found a safe place, more or less, with the support of Shield, where mutants could exist in peace, but no, he should have realized long ago that there is no such thing as a safe place. So what, they're separated again, Harley is unconscious, and the encrypted line isn't working... it better not work, otherwise it's scary to even think about what happened to the others.
There were so many of them and so unexpectedly, no one was ready, and fighting, everyone had long since realized that fighting was futile. Contrary to popular belief, not all mutants are soldiers. Those who could fought, distracted, the rest fled... Peter turned his wrist, checking his last remaining shooter, and even that was empty, to say nothing of Stark's equipment, and although Harley managed to reproduce this technology, he wasn't ready then, no one was.
Peter looks back at Harley, lying on the miraculously found, half-empty briefcase of supplies. Yes, he seemed to have suffered the most, perhaps most alarmingly, the burn on his right hand from the exploding repulsor, the wound on his right leg, and the head wound. No, Peter isn't a doctor, and he's very concerned about that blow to the head, because when, thankfully, he encountered Harley, he wasn't himself. It's quite possible he suffered a concussion, although it won't be known for sure until Keener wakes up.
Peter was lucky to drag Harley to this underground passage, even though half of it had already collapsed; here they could recuperate relatively peacefully. Johnny found them later; it turned out he'd been doused with some kind of liquid, preventing him from fully igniting, and he hurried away, causing a ruckus along the way, blowing up a couple of cars and starting a "small" fire.
"Yeah, Kitty's ability or Shuri's intelligence would come in handy here," Peter pocketed the communicator, clutching a warm mug of water.
"They'll find us, if not Kitty, then Wanda. I owe her a hundred..." Johnny said, either trying to be supportive or complaining.
"And I told you not to bet on the Avengers, Charles Xavier wasn't enough for you?" Many had guessed that this was how it would end, but the mutants weren't in the minority, not even counting enthusiasts like Harley, Lila, or shield. Most probably lost hope after Charles Xavier's death, and the Avengers, with their differences, quickly became... yeah.
"Oh, no!..." Everything happens quickly, the communicator vibrates, the spider-sense rings, and a figure emerges from behind the shadow of the chasm. Peter jumps up, firing his web shooter, forgetting about the lack of webbing, and automatically throwing the mug of hot water Johnny had tried to calm him with at the intruder. While Storm himself, shielding Harley, bursts into flames, illuminating Kitty Pryde's surprised face in a split second as the mug is being poured into her. "Kitty!"
"Yeah, thanks for the warm welcome," Kitty said after the mug flew through her. "Hey, you can't judge, what if it was the feds instead of you!" Peter exclaimed. "Who's with you? Are you okay? What's wrong with the communicator?" Peter quickly pats his pocket to double-check the hidden line [47°13',39°43'] coordinates, apparently of where they stopped. In time, of course, although it is possible that Kitty's abilities somehow influenced him.
"Come on, I'm just saying... We're stable, Pietro was shot from a critical situation, Shuri has a burn on her back, but she will live, as well as Wanda and Lila, she was lucky to be right in the rear, she managed to get out." Her gaze falls on Harley. "We're on the other side, these may or may not be Morloch tunnels, thanks to Pietro we managed to find a couple of exits, and then we stumbled upon the rest." It seems that these tunnels were located right in the vicinity of the base, because they did not take anywhere far, as was written in the evacuation plans, although maybe this was supposed to be the Shield's backup plan for evacuation, well, you can hardly ask anyone, no, well, maybe you're a necromancer, then go ahead, there are many conversationalists for you there, although I do not advise resurrecting mutants, they will riot. Well, if all these sacrifices weren't in vain, then by all means the other mutants should already be on the other side of the state. So much for enthusiasts on the front lines, but together.
Further reports on the situation were accompanied by hasty gatherings of whatever meager supplies might be useful. Harley was snatched up by Peter like a bride, and with the help of Kitty's powers, everyone successfully crossed to the other side of the tunnel. "I just ran into you by accident; I wanted to know all the possible exits, and there are a lot of them." The team walked down a long corridor, seemingly endless.
"Quicksilver's powers could come in handy here." Johnny, as always, was cheerful, although perhaps that was precisely what saved them during all their misfortunes. Even not being, as some would say, true mutants, the bosom friends didn't give up. Even though they were outnumbered, they were together. The intelligence that Peter, Shuri, Kitty, and Harley comprise, the strength of Wanda and Johnny, the speed of Pietro, the keen eye of Lila.
"We are here." Kitty says, turning around the corner. She knocks on the door a few times, and it opens. "I found them," Pryde says to Wanda with a smile.
The room is small and neglected, most likely some kind of outpost or warehouse. Shuri sleeps against the far wall, her back covered in yellowed bandages through which blood is visible. Next to her, Pietro sits on the floor, pressing his hand to his stomach. He is clearly battered, there is blood on his face, and he still has the same grin. Against the other wall stands Lila, probably the youngest of them, but no less heroic than her father, because even without the mutagen, she continues to follow them.
"Put him here," Wanda points to the place next to Barton. The girl herself was visibly exhausted. And who wasn't?
***
Harley only woke up in the evening the next day, and even without taking into account the constant panic, everything was bad. Harley had a 100% concussion and hearing problems—he could hear, of course, but there was a ringing in his ears, not to mention his arm and leg. We had three whole team members incapacitated, no matter how much Pietro denied it.
They couldn't go anywhere yet, no matter how safe this place seemed; it was too close to their previous battle site, and sooner or later the military would arrive. While Lila and Wanda tried to care for the wounded, Kitty abandoned her attempts to explore the tunnels and tried to hack government documents, cameras (if there were any nearby, damn it), or communication channels, all through a reassembled phone of her own making. Meanwhile, Peter and Shuri sorted through the scrap metal left from their equipment, trying to find what could be salvaged and what could be restored.
Their food was also limited, and they had to either make a risky sortie, or continue through the tunnels, searching for the next exit. They had little choice. And they didn't really have any plans, because everything had collapsed and now they were completely alone. What should they do, where should they go?
On the third day, they began packing, mostly after Shuri convinced them that despite their injuries, they had to move. Kitty took the lead, walking ahead, followed by Wanda in case of an emergency. Peter and Johnny brought up the rear, in case of a backfire. In the middle were all the wounded. Harley, whose hearing had almost returned, hobbled along with Pietro. Shuri was already able to walk freely with Lila, though she couldn't help in the fight.
"So, in about three hundred meters, there should be another right turn, and then..." They had a map, but it was crooked and slanted, mostly due to Kitty's little exploration at the very beginning.
"Oh, my God, my legs hurt already!" Johnny complained again.
"Come on, look at Harley, he's not even complaining," Peter says wearily, pointing at Harley, to the questioning and outraged cries of the wounded man himself. "What? Was that about me? Yeh! Why are you laughing?"
"Oh, uh, where are we going?" followed by several shouts of Johnny's name and how smart he is.
"Manhattan," Kitty said emotionlessly.
"Wait, seriously?" Pietro asked, stepping forward a little to check Kitty's communicator.
"What, no, of course not!" Kitty Pryde said, waving Pietro off. "We just need to head north to follow the evacuation plans," she said, falling silent for a moment, still checking her communicator. "Okay, I have no idea. We need food and medical supplies, and if we stay here, we'll die." They turned back into the seemingly endless corridor.
After a brief moment and a flurry of turns, they saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and it wasn't an exit, or rather, not quite. It was an exit, or rather, a hole in the wall. To say they were a little tense would be an understatement; their survival instincts kicked in.
Kitty gestured for them to keep quiet and move on, and Peter motioned for Johnny to close ranks as he moved slightly forward and toward the wall. Wanda took a step back, covering the others, while Pietro moved closer to Harley and Shuri, just in case.
As they neared the exit, Peter's senses tensed and seemed to explode, then he cried out, "RIGHT!" and everything exploded, literally. If not for Wanda's quick reaction with her shield, who knows what would have happened. Then Pietro grabbed Harley and Shuri and raced back.
"RETREAT!" Kitty ordered. Peter grabbed Lila, who had already drawn her bow, covering her back when Johnny stepped forward. "I'll cover the back!" The smoke had almost cleared when Wanda gave up her retreat. Johnny, without holding back, unleashed a wave of fire forward, setting himself on fire as he rushed back, releasing a large amount of flame.
They stopped at a door that Shuri struggled to open. Harley stood next to him, supporting Pietro, who was bent over in pain. "It's either a way out or a dead end," Kitty commented, running up.
"We're no strangers to taking risks," said Lila.
"Everyone, get in here!" Shuri said, throwing open the door. Everyone quickly ran into the darkness, Wanda helping carry Pietro in, when Johnny, the last one, rushed into the room, closing the door as he went, footsteps and gunshots could already be heard behind him.
"Are you injured?" Peter asked, as negative voices rang out. Kitty frantically looked around the room when Wanda knocked a cabinet over onto the door. "Damn," Shuri whispered. Yes, in any other situation, she would be glad, but not now. This was some kind of lab, no. A room, pipes, computers, documents, tabloids, and a bunch of other strange things. Kitty moved forward, examining the desks with documents, when Lila approached the wall with tanks containing a strange green liquid, when Wanda and Peter stood warily by the door, listening.
Harley had already pulled off Quicksilver's shirt, checking the wound, which had reopened when Johnny prepared to cauterize it. "This will hurt."
"Do what you have to," Pietro said, biting his sleeve.
"Wait, what?" Kitty whispered, shuffling through the papers again. Peter turned to watch Shuri approach Pryde. Wanda, meanwhile, was erecting a barrier.
Peter's instincts were still ringing, but not as strongly.Lila finally moved away from the containers when Peter realized something was about to happen. "Now!" Everyone tensed. Harley and Pietro stepped back while Kitty stepped forward. Lila stepped back behind the table, pulling back her bowstring.
Another explosion sounded, but this time from multiple directions. To the left of the door, Wanda's shield stopped the blast, but on the other side, the explosion damaged the flasks containing the green liquid. Grenades soon began flying, and Lila automatically fired an explosive arrow as Peter and Kitty tossed the grenades back. Wanda raised her shield even higher, telekinetically throwing it forward with Johnny's fire, just as one of the missed grenades exploded, collapsing the table on Lila, Harley, and Pietro, the latter of whom again, at super speed, carried them away from the blast behind Wanda.
Unfortunately, something behind them explodes again when Kitty maximizes her power, breaking electronics and manipulating the condensation of atoms in her opponents' space. When Wanda experiences a surge of energy, Johnny bursts into flames. Electronics buzz and spark, green goo is everywhere, something flashes, Wanda's power flares red, something explodes, and everything plunges into darkness...