Illyana -
Illyana was running, running, running, just running without purpose. Or was there a purpose? She’d been running for far too long to remember; the drive to survive urging her forward as the adrenaline rush never stopped. It was strange—Illyana never ran from a fight, it simply wasn’t in her nature. She always dove headfirst into battle, summoning her sword if even the mere hint of a challenge arose.
So why was she running?
She tried to stop, take a deep breath, take in the dark orange glow around her, but couldn’t. Her legs wouldn't listen to her, just running aimlessly as she dug her nails into her palms, hitting her thigh as a desperate attempt to stop moving. As a last ditch effort, she tried to change direction, successfully throwing herself against a jagged boulder. Hissing in pain, Illyana finally stopped running, now bleeding from the side of her arm—not that it mattered, at least she was able to take a deep breath.
Opening and closing her eyes tightly, she could finally take in her surroundings, almost chocking on the dust making its way into her lungs as she began recognising the barren wasteland. Tugging on a strand of her hair, she shut her eyes again, praying that when she opened them she’d be somewhere—anywhere else. She stumbled backwards against the cold boulder as he breathing grew more rapid, frustratedly hitting her own thigh again. “No- fuck fuck fuck- no-!” Illyana crumpled onto the floor with a shout, teeth grinding against each other as she tried to summon her soul sword, failing to even grasp the handle as she made a choked noise.
”Belasco- I’m not joining you! Let me go-“ she yelled into the void, trying to conjure up portals to no avail. A voice spoke in her head, and Illyana couldn’t tell if it was her imagination or if it was really him, infiltrating her mind and digging his filthy fingers into the depths of her thoughts. “Get out of my mind-“ it came out as an angry sob, tears welling up into her eyes as she made another hurt noise. Ghost hands crawled over her arms and stomach, an invisible voice seeming to wrap around her throat to choke Illyana as she clawed at the air like a wounded animal.
Darkchylde was calling out to her on top of that, the demon’s tail wrapping around her like a snake as visions flashed through her mind—her mowing through enemies, leaving lifeless bodies in her wake, hurting her friends. Hurting Mantis. A sob tore through her throat, escaping her lips as she curled up into a ball on the floor, aimlessly shouting empty threats and desperate apologies.
Someone was calling out to her, but Illyana just dug her nails further into her arms, scratching at the places where hands seemed to ghost over her body.
“-ana?- y- kay-?- Yana-!”
A hand touched her shoulder as she jolted up, gasping for air as the temperature surrounding her suddenly changed. She let out a growling whimper, shoving whoever was touching her away as her chest heaved, the familiar tang of iron filling her mouth as she bit the inside of her cheek.
”Illyana, it’s okay, it’s just me. It’s just me, can I touch you? You need to calm down.” A soft voice spoke, slowly moving their hand towards Illyana as she looked up, vision blurred with tears as she bared her teeth. The hand cupped her cheek, all of Illyana’s anger and panic seeming to seep out of her as she slumped, soaking up the warmth radiating from the hand. “Muhh-“ she mumbled weakly, nuzzling more into Mantis’ touch as she recognised the woman.
“Are you alright? You seemed to be having a nightmare.” The empath asked worriedly, letting Illyana crawl into her arms as she nuzzled her head into the crook of zir neck. “M fine. Thank you” she sighed, burying her hands in the other’s hands woolly sweater, inhaling zir scent. She stayed like that for a moment, before frowning, shooting upright; her eyes widening in horror, much to the confusion of Mantis.
”I hurt you- gods- I shoved your are you okay?” Illyana rambled, holding the other’s face in her hands as she checked for any visible injuries, muttering apologies. “Yana, I’m fine, you didn’t hurt me-“ Ze spoke softly, too softly for what Illyana did to her, wrapping zir own hands over her’s, gently prying her fingers out of their grip. “No- I hurt you- and Darkchylde-“ she clenched her eyes shut, digging her nails into her palm as Mantis held them, rubbing circles over the back of her hand.
”That was just a nightmare, ‘Yana, I’m safe.” Ze hushed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head—not even using zir empathy to calm Illyana down as she let out a whimper. She hugged the other woman tightly, pressing their foreheads together as she made noises akin to that of a wounded animal. “I’m sorry-…” she whispered, feeling oddly vulnerable in only a way Mantis could make her feel. Ze hummed, rubbing circles over her back as they sat together on the bed; Illyana’s breathing calming down again until it was a steady rhythm accompanying Mantis’, soaking up each other’s presence as their limbs entangled in a warm hug.
“I’m- I don’t want to accidentally hurt you- I’m dangerous-“ Illyana whispered, head buried in Mantis’ hair as their chests pressed together. The empath just sighed, kissing her gently before smiling. “I know you’d never hurt me, I can quite literally feel it. And, even if you did, I still love you ‘Yana, I don’t care.”
Illyana was glad she didn’t need to say anything for her girlfriend to feel the immense burst of love that exploded in her chest.
Mantis -
“Angel? Are you okay?” Illyana frowned, peeking into her and Mantis’ shared room before walking over to the medic, placing a hand on zir shoulder. The other had tears streaming down zir face, painting zir rosy green cheeks in a glistening light as zir lip wobbled. “Hey, did something happen? Are you okay-?” She asked in a mild panic—looking around and scanning the room for any obvious threats as Mantis wrapped zir arms around her waist, pulling her down.
Illyana complied easily, taking the empath onto her lap and carding her fingers through zir soft black hair. “Love, what happened?” She murmured softly, mentally already summoning her Soulsword to fight whoever made the woman cry like this. Mantis shrugged, resting zir head on her shoulder whilst she kept stroking zir hair. “Johnny- he’s hurt because I couldn’t reach him-“ ze sniffled, tears already beginning to soak Illyana’s undershirt. She made an ‘oh’ noise, frowning as she tilted Mantis’ chin with her free hand so the woman was looking at her.
“Sweetheart… That’s not your fault, why would you think that?” She murmured, circling her thumb over Mantis’ cheek as her other hand kept playing with zir hair—knowing that it was usually an easy way to calm zir down. Ze shook her head, tears still spilling out of zir eyes as Illyana wiped them away gently. “I couldn’t heal him- I promised Susan-“ Mantis’ voice was still shaky, chest heaving slightly as she tried to calm zir down.
“You did the best you could Angel, we all know that.” Illyana reassured, pulling zir closer to herself so she could fully embrace zir in a protective manner. She felt a pang of sadness well up inside her as she cradled Mantis close; not sure if it was the empath accidentally projecting, or just her own emotions going wild at seeing her girlfriend in pain. The healer just let out a soft sob, nuzzling into the hand that was running through zir hair in a soft rhythm.
“I promise, Love, I’ve fought a lot of battles, and you’re one of the best medics I’ve ever seen. Saving everyone is not possible, but you’ve done a wonderful job so far.” Illyana stated firmly, hoping that it sounded more like a genuine reassurance than just an empty lie—she’d never been good with emotions and talking. Mantis sniffled, but seemingly calmed down a bit more as ze nodded; curling against Illyana.
”We can visit the Human Torch later, alright? Just try to sleep Angel.” She mumbled, gently shifting the both of some so Mantis was in a more comfortable position, head resting in Illyana’s lap as she pressed a kiss to the healer’s forehead. Ze smiled slightly, tugging on her arm. “You too, ‘Yana, you haven’t slept in a while either.” Ze said accusingly, letting out a giggle as Illyana rolled her eyes dramatically, slumping down.
“Fine, just this once” she huffed, smirking fondly as Mantis hummed, making zirself more comfortable as ze laid down on Illyana’s chest.
Illyana ruffled the other’s hair a bit, letting the tiredness that the empath was definitely projecting to her take over.