Secrets in the Stars

Steve felt an abundance of worry, thinking of Star and his growing relationship with her. The time they had spent together, from the moment he laid his eyes on her, had seemed to go by in a blur; it wasn’t like what he had with Peggy, where their mutual respect for one another grew to friendship, which grew to love (even if the love part was terribly, unfortunately short). It was a sudden, immediate love, and Steve couldn’t keep himself from acting on it this time.

And then he thought on Tony’s argument with Charles Xavier, “You’re right—there is something about Star that gets to me.” For seven years, he thought about Star and why he couldn’t stop thinking about her. It was as if she put everyone around her under a spell, and considering what she was, Steve was beginning to wonder if that was why he had fallen for her so quickly.

He was lost in these thoughts while aboard the Quinjet with the team, looking for Star. She had left the Tower just after telling them that her powers were a living entity inside of her, making it known now that she was likely the most dangerous thing on the planet; tracking her down and getting her somewhere safe was now priority number one.

Tony, thankfully, had placed a tracker in all of his cars, so they knew exactly where the Lamborghini was. Whether or not she was there though wasn’t an answer they had, especially since the car was parked at Xavier’s, which seemed to everyone as the last place she wanted to be.

“It was smart of her, actually,” Tony explained. “Taking one of my cars and using her powers to shut down the security grid. She probably figured that I had an auto tracker in her car and security watching it to make sure I knew if she left. If she hadn’t shut power down to the first ten floors of the building along with the garage, we probably wouldn’t have figured out that she left so quickly.”

“She stole your most expensive car, Stark,” said Agent Barton, who was called in at the last minute. “How are you not completely pissed?”

“The Lamborghini was a gift. I seldom drive it, and I’m more of an Audi guy, you know.” Tony replied.

Barton rolled his eyes. “Billionaires.”

They landed in the field just across from Xavier’s mansion, then walked beyond the gate towards the massive brick building. Tony smirked, “So this is the place.”

“And he opens it to the public as a school?” Steve asked, astonished.

“Well, he opens it to mutant kids who need a home. I’ve never heard of him taking in a normal kid.” Tony said.

“‘Normal’ wouldn’t be the right term to define your own childhood Stark, let alone in negative relation to the students here, so I’d be careful how you use that word, Tony.” Natasha warned.

“Smart, actually,” Storm said from behind them. “Good warning, Agent Romanoff.”

The team spun around, greeting the mutant with stunned looks.

Storm continued, “Star is asleep inside, I’d suggest that you leave her be.”

“No can do, Mother Nature,” Tony snapped. “She and I need to have a little chat.”

“Oh, you are not going to come into my house and take that tone with me, Stark,” Storm barked back. “And if you try it again, you can get your happy-ass back on that jet and take it back to the city. My patience for you is wearing incredibly thin.”

“Look, Tony is just in a bit of a mood, but we really need to speak with Star.” Steve explained, hoping Tony would just keep his mouth shut.

Storm gave her attention to Steve. “Like I said before, she’s asleep. But provided you act politely and follow our rules, you’re more than welcome to stay for the night and speak with her in the morning—if she says it’s alright.”

The group quietly followed Storm into the school, noticing few students roaming the halls (all of which stopped and stared at the passing Avengers). She led them to individual guest rooms in the left wing of the school, purposefully choosing the exact opposite side to keep them on. She had a feeling one of them might go looking for Star, so she woke Logan and asked him to keep an eye on her room.

Storm was incredibly protective of Star and always had been. The young girl was like a sister to her, perhaps even a daughter; she would stay up late with Star when she was a baby, feeding her and bathing her when she had trouble sleeping. Storm was the first to learn of Star’s “condition”, and fought Xavier’s choice to keep her from using her powers. “She has the right to make that choice for herself!” Storm would argue. “How can you keep her here and deny her the same rights you would provide everyone else!”

For Storm, Xavier’s treatment of Star had always been a hypocrisy, and it was the one choice he made that she could not understand, no matter how hard she tried. And when he sent Star to Seattle, Storm was almost sure she might not ever forgive him. But with time, she saw that it was more love than anything that drove Xavier’s actions, however misguided they had been.

Learning now that Star was never really going to have a choice made Storm worry for her mental health as well as her safety. While everyone else seemed to be worrying about civilians and how her very existence might affect the world, it seemed to Storm that no one was caring about how this all might be affecting the girl behind the power.

While Logan stood outside the door, Storm went inside Star’s room and did something she had not done in a very long time; climbing into the bed and under the covers beside her.

Star opened her eyes, a little groggy but smiling slightly. “Hi Storm,” she yawned.

Storm smiled, letting herself for a moment see the young woman as a little girl again. “Hey Star, I thought I would give you a little company tonight, like I used to.”

Star then eyed her carefully. “You’re worried I’ll have a nightmare.”

Storm nodded, she wouldn’t lie to her. “I am. You’d always get them after you had a bad day, or when you were really stressed or sad about something… You even used to shake the house like Jean did when we were kids. In fact, the Professor used to have Jean take the blame for your night terror-quakes. You two have a lot in common, you know.”

“Yeah, more than anyone ever wanted me to know, I guess.” Star sighed.

Storm wrapped her arms around Star and held her close. “There’s a lot to make up for, but we have time.”

Star sighed, wiping away a tear. “Do we?”

“Of course we do, my shining Star,” Storm tried to reassured her. “I won’t let anyone send you away again.”

“But maybe it’s best if I go… Even if I do get control of this, and I somehow find a way to live with it—with Her, it’s still pretty clear that the trouble that comes with my presence is going to be unavoidable. Especially in an uncertain, unstable environment.”

“Like the one you have with us?” Storm asked.

“And the Avengers,” Star answered. “I need you guys to train me, to find some way to help me. But once that’s over, I already know it’s likely that I’ll find myself locked in a cage, under constant supervision. For anyone else, I’d say that action would be cruel, but for me, I’d understand it. Still, I’m already a prisoner in my own body, I don’t want to be one in life.”

It began to rain then, and both Storm and Star knew which of them were making it happen (it wasn’t the former).

Storm then said, “Then don’t be one. Don’t let them make you one. You have the choice here.”

“Don’t even get me started on choices right now.” Star sighed, rolling her eyes.

“You have every opportunity now to live your life for yourself, Star. You don’t have to answer to anyone anymore, and you don’t have to hide.”

Suddenly, Logan came into the room with a flustered expression on his face. “Rogers wants to talk to the girl.”

“Her name is Star, Logan,” Storm then looked at Star and said, “You don’t have to see him if you don't want too.”

“No, I should. I should also apologize to Tony for taking his car.” Star unwrapped herself from Storm and sat up. “Thanks for letting me know, Logan.”

He looked at her seriously.“I’ll be in the room to left, three doors down, if you need me.”

“Thanks,” She replied to him. “Head to bed, Storm. I’ll be fine, but I’ll let you know too, if I need you.”

Storm nodded, climbing out of bed, then she and Logan went to exit Star’s bedroom, but Storm hesitated before closing the door. “Happy Birthday, Star.”

Moments later, Steve entered.

***

I stayed in bed, but I tried to smile at Steve as if nothing was wrong—I was kidding myself. “Hey Steve, I’m sorry I took off like I did.”

“You really scared me, Star,” Steve said sternly.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I just—“

“I don’t want to fight…” Steve let his voice trail off.

I suddenly felt a twinge of panic, examining his face in the light of the moon. “What’s wrong, Steve?” There were so many possible answers to that question, and after asking it I wasn’t sure I wanted any of them, but I knew I needed one.

“I… I don’t know how to handle this, Star. Handle what we have—handle you.”

I began to shake, and the rain outside came down harder. “What do you mean?”

He came over to the bed but didn’t sit down, took a deep breath and began, “Star, I’ve lived an abnormally long life in what feels like a short period of time; I’ve seen the world, I’ve fought for it. I’ve loved, I’ve lost, and in all that’s happened I’ve found that I can’t ignore anything, I have to question everything… Everything.”

My heart was pounding in my chest. “Okay…”

“You see, my problem seems to be that since we met, I can’t stop the questions, but at the same time I can’t seem to recall them. Everything feels… Jumbled, confusing… When you’re standing in front of me, it feels like time is standing still and moving too fast, all at once.” He paused for a moment, clearly hesitating to say the next words that were coming. “I love you, Star. I’m in love with you, and I want that to be the only explanation for why I feel this way.”

In that moment, I could have sworn that my heart had stopped. “I… I lov—“

He suddenly went on. “But I’m not sure anymore that it is the only reason.”

I held my breath for what felt like an eternity, then asked, “What?”

“You draw people in and you don’t even know how. Something about your power attracts people, Stark believes, Xavier practically confirmed… And thinking on it now, they aren’t wrong. It explains why things happened so fast, why I can’t stop thinking about you.”

I got up from the bed; the second my feet touched the hardwood floor and I stood, a flash of lightning went off behind me. I couldn’t handle myself either, it seemed. “Are you saying that you think I’ve put you under a spell or something? That I forced you to love me?”

Steve looked at me, his blue eyes filling with tears and his lips quivering. I could tell he wanted to say something, maybe even wanted to protest—but I no longer cared.

“Get out.” I said, nearly in a whisper.

Steve reached for me. “Star—“

“I said get out.” My voice got a little louder.

“Please—“

“GET OUT!!!” As I screamed, the windows blew open and so did the bedroom door; air and rain rushed in from behind me. I stood perfectly still, as if a statue in a hurricane, but Steve was lifted from the floor and thrown into the wall beyond my bedroom door.

Steve let out a shout of pain, but opened his eyes quickly and began to dart towards my door. Without moving, I slammed the door in his face and locked it. I could hear him screaming my name outside of my door, banging on the wood and begging me to let him back inside. The voices grew thicker then, from Logan demanding Steve to “back off” and Tony’s commands to know “what happened”.

I collapsed onto the floor, letting myself fall to pieces. The windows stayed open, the rain showering me so hard that I was soaked in seconds.

Suddenly, I was no longer alone.

“Miss Ray?” It was a voice I heard before, but not in many years.

I turned to see a man floating just beyond my windows; what seemed to be his skin was a deep shade of red, silver gleaming off of his body. He seemed more than human, more than robotic—and the bright gold gem in his forehead struck a cord with me, sending chills up my spine.

I climbed to my feet and turned to him, “Jarvis?”

“Actually, my name is Vision now, or Viz, as I have been so lovingly called sometimes.”

“I had no idea… How?” I had to ask, the rain starting to ease due to my distraction.

“It’s quite a long story, but I’ll have to tell you sometime. Anyway, what’s more important here is you.”

“What about me?”

He held out a hand and smiled at me, “I think its best if we get out of here and talk. Is that alright with you?”

I could hear people still shouting my name, the door knob shaking. I couldn’t keep that door closed forever, could I?

I took Vision’s hand, and the next thing I knew we were flying away.