Chapter Text
She had gone to far. She knew it before she had even taken action. As her hands splayed out before her, shaking with the influx of electricity, the hairs on her arms raised and a new beyond comparison pain erupted. It started in her lungs, which felt like they were being pumped up to ten times their capacity beyond her control. That, however, was not the worst of it. Beginning at her hands heat broke out moving up her body spreading to her limbs and settling in her heart. It was as if someone had let fireworks off and they were making their way through her nervous system.
Despite it tearing her apart, it did not look as if she could hold off the sentinels and they would eventually reach the pair. Three of them were within ten metres of them, two within five and one sneaking treacherously close to three feet’s distance. To her credit their movements were slow and if at all possible painful. Tears fell from her eyes, which glowed due to energy, only to evaporate as steam before they hit her cheeks.
She slumped forward no longer able to keep herself upright. Only from that new position did she see bright red rings flying over her head. In distracting the sentinels she had rendered them incapable of developing their hard exteriors, leaving them vulnerable to Alex’s power.
“Y/N” he yelled. “Let go, I can finish this.”
You could call Y/N a lot of things but never a fool. Alex himself was tired and could not hope to take out six sentinels, even given their lower capacity. If she let go now, they would just kill them both.
“I can’t!”
Y/N yelled back just as the back row of sentinels had been wiped out by the rings.
“Yes you can. Trust me”
Was there a begging tone?
Y/N wished she could turn around, look at his face once more and reassure him. Unfortunately she could barely keep her hands on the ground as it was because she was so weak.
The next two sentinels creaked to a slow stop, seemingly drained completely.
While this may have taken a burden off of Y/N it also meant that enough energy to power over three sentinels was crackling through her veins. She could hear static electricity running through her hair which was raised and had started glowing as well. The tears that had been dissipating now burned at the back of her eyeballs, and all around her she could smell ozone, even taste it at the back of her throat.
The closest sentinel was moving so slowly and yet he would reach the couple in a matter is seconds if she let go. Already he had come to within two feet of her, and y/n swore she could see the beginnings of a hard exterior developing.
At the back of her mind she wondered why Alex had stopped shooting and realised that it was because he was afraid of hitting her.
without her permission sparks started flying off her arms, then blasts and then full on explosions. She willed them fly towards the sentinels rather than her friends. At this point she couldn’t see her or Alex surviving. If only she had have appreciated her time with him more rather holding on to a changeable future. The more her emotions warred the more aggressive the shots became. She had been so stupid and now they were both going to die.
Desperate to see him again she picked her head up and turned it towards him. He looked terrified and so small and even then when she looked at him he was taken aback. She must have looked scary with the glowing hair and eyes and steamy tears and electricity running over her skin.
In all this, Y/N wondered how she had actually been able to look at him. Two minutes ago she was barely more than a shell.
She directed her attention back to the sentinel and was shocked to see that it had taken a large step back.
As conflicted as she was she had not noticed the relief she felt with the explosions going off. She also had not noticed that each one had hit the sentinel and sent it back slightly. It was only slightly and yet it was enough.
Y/N could just about finish this.
She focused again on draining it, and once again eruptions through her nerves. She continuously shot at the sentinel but that really was only to help herself rather than deter him.
She was burning all over and could not help screaming in pain. Distantly she registered another person screaming out but she could hardly focus on anything else. The sentinel had resumed on its path, slower than ever but not put off by the shots. It would shortly be back at the spot where it had previously been. Y/N threw her head back when her flames broke out on her arms. If she did manage to stop the sentinel there would only be a pile of ashes left to identify her.
Her arms shook and she panicked when she felt the flames yet she determinedly kept her hands on the ground. The sentinel was close to her almost arm distance away. It was slow and creaking and yet it did not stop.
Unable to think of anything else she screamed out to Alex.
“I love you.”
Before Alex could say anything she placed a hand on the sentinel’s leg, which was so cold in comparison and shrieked.
She barely heard one final creak, and then the world went black.
........
there was a murmured silence as y/n blinked her eyes open. They had been sore and crusty and she felt like she had not slept in weeks. She had been awoken by the sounds of squeaky shoes and excited whispers making their way past her door.
She lifted one arm to drape across her face only to stop and stare at it. Her arm, which had once been so (s/t) now glowed with a barely perceptible white gold light. The slight hairs on it had themselves been dyed white and when she looked closely she could see little white scars on her hands where the flames had licked. Across from her bed was a mirror and when she looked at it she was met with a total surprise. Her hair, which she expected to be its usual h/c had also changed white, similarly to Storm’s but with more of a golden tone to it. And her eyes. Her eyes instead of e/c glowed golden. She was almost mesmerised but also freaked out. This was a lot of change at once.
Speaking of change, she looked at the space next to her in the bed. The empty space.
The gruesome memories of the mission came back to her and she almost burst into tears thinking about it. She stopped herself when she realised that she didn’t even know if Alex was dead or alive. Had what she done been enough.
She jumped up despite how weak she felt, threw on a robe and ran out the door.
Only to be met face first by a solid chest holding a cup of coffee and a carton of milk.
”Hold up there unless you want to recreate our second first meeting” Alex chucked smiling at Y/N.
“Good morning anyway.”
He placed the coffee and milk on their bedside table and turned to look back at Y/N.
Y/N whose tears were flowing off her face and who was having trouble breathing. She ran into him and felt his breathing become more laborious also.
“you just came back didn’t you?” He murmured into her hair.
She nodded unable to speak.
“I love you too.” he said quietly.