At MIT the next day Bessie couldn't concentrate. She carried on with her experiment, attended an interview with the director who informed her that she'd successfully won a scholarship for the next year, sprinted back to Manhattan from Massachusetts, paid her rent (shocking the landlord) and pulled the address from her pocket, wondering what to do.
It was an address in LA, a part of the state she'd never heard of. It wouldn't take long to get there, 10 minutes possibly.
Bessie sighed and rummaged around in the bag that Tony Stark had given her, hidden under her bed.
She pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, a black vest top and a red sweater, pulling them on and then digging out a pair of brown converses from the bottom.
Tying back her hair, Bessie pulled a map out from under her bed and consulted it.
Finding the place on the map, she planned out the easiest route in her head, left the flat and stepped out into Manhattan.
It was 8 o'clock and the city was buzzing with activity. Bessie crept along behind the throng of people until she arrived in her usual 'starting point'. An empty alleyway 6 blocks from her flat.
Bessie crouched down and started to run, heading west towards California. The world whipped past her as she ran, and not for the first time Bessie wondered what on earth she was doing. The cool wind was like a drug to her, she loved it more than anything else. It kept her alive, kept her alert. Fields and cities flashed past, the ground beneath her new converses barely touched her feet as she flew through the air.
Arriving in LA, Bessie caught up and stopped, staring at the massive city below her. Malibu. She was stood on Point Dume, gazing out over the Pacific Ocean. Looking up, she saw the huge mansion that Tony Stark called a 'house.'
Bessie started running again, consulting the map and heading north. The place she eventually arrived at was a huge white building in the middle of nowhere. The lights were on and she could hear laughter coming from inside.
Bessie stepped into what appeared to be the reception. A computer stood behind a curving desk. The walls were white; it reminded her of a waiting room, there was even a bell on the counter to press for assistance.
Bessie eyed the bell nervously and checked under the counter to see if there was anything underneath it. A good idea, as it turned out, because there was an ominous looking red wire leading into an even more ominous looking black box.
'Good idea, I should really do that more often,' came a voice from behind her.
Bessie spun around. There was a man stood behind her, she would guess he was in his early 30s, quite muscled with a thin beard and short brown hair.
'I'm Bruce Banner,' he man said, holding his hand out.
Bessie shook it, 'Bessie Sprint.' His grip was strong.
The man looked guilty. 'Sorry,' he said. 'I don't know my own strength, that's what Tony says anyway.'
'Is that… Tony Stark?' Bessie asked gingerly.
Bruce nodded. 'He told me you may be coming. Follow me; I'll introduce you to the team.'
Bessie followed him down the corridor, taking care to memorise where she was going, just in case.
The room they finally entered into was large, about the size of an Olympic gymnasium. There were computers everywhere, even an overhead computer projected onto a screen on the opposite wall. The room also contained various sofas and cushions, with a sink and a fridge in a corner.
Many of the computers were already turned on and Bessie spotted various designs already up. At least 10 of the computers in one section of the room had the Stark Industries logo on them.
There were a few people in the room, who looked up when they saw her.
'This is Bessie Sprint,' Bruce said. 'Be nice.'
'Um… hi,' Bessie said waving nervously, and then feeling greatly relived when she spotted Peter Parker over in the corner.
'Hey Bessie!' Pete said waving. 'You made it then?'
'Yeah, just about,' Bessie said.
'You probably know this lot,' Bruce said, motioning towards a group of people crowded round a computer bank in the centre of the room.
Bessie turned to face them.
She did know them.
There was only one female there, a thin blond-haired woman, possibly in her late 20s early 30s, there was a tall man with black hair and curious grey stripes in his hair just above his ears on both sides, there was a young man, probably in his 20s, muscled and with short hair and a cheeky grin, and the fourth member of the group…
He looked like a giant rock.
'Sue Storm, Reed Richards, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm,' Bruce said. 'Also known as the Fantastic Four.'
'Nice to meet you,' Reed said nodding in her direction.
'Hey,' Sue said, coming over to give Bessie a hug. 'Nice to have another girl around here with a super-ability, there's nowhere near enough.'
'Unless you count Pepper Potts,' Johnny said grinning. 'Multi-tasker champion extraordinaire.'
'I think everyone counts Pepper Potts,' said a brown haired woman who walked into the room at that moment.
Bruce grinned like a loon, 'this is Dr Betty Ross,' he said, taking her hand. 'Betty, this is Bessie Sprint.'
'Another Elizabeth then?' Betty asked, shaking Bessie's hand.
'Yes,' Bessie replied, smiling. 'But no-ones called me Elizabeth in a long time.
Betty smiled, 'same,' she said.
'Bessie! You made it!'
Bessie looked up in time to see Tony Stark step into the room. He was wearing baggy jeans and a t-shirt with a strange light shining through it, and he was covered from head to foot in oil.
'I would shake your hand, but I have an oil problem,' Tony said, indicating his shirt.
'What's that light?' Bessie asked, motioning towards the light in the centre of his chest.
'It's an Arc Reactor,' Tony said, crossing over to one of the many computer banks. 'That's a long story.'
'Fixed that car yet?' another voice asked.
A tall black man in a pilot's jumpsuit stepped into the room.
'No,' Tony said, pulling a face at him. 'You bashed it up good and proper.'
The black man looked slightly apologetic, but only slightly. 'I saved your life, buddy,' he said. Then he spotted Bessie.
'Hey,' he said waving. 'I'm James Rhodes, but everyone calls me Rhodey.'
'Or platypus,' Tony mumbled from the computer. Rhodey shot him a dark look.
'I'm Elizabeth Sprint, but everyone calls me Bessie,' Bessie said, returning his wave.
'Tony, did you sign those…? Oh, hi,' a red-headed woman had just stepped into the room wearing the most amazingly high pair of heels that Bessie had ever seen.
'Hi,' Bessie said.
'This is Pepper Potts,' Tony said, grinning like a looney at Pepper. 'She's my girl Friday.'
Pepper grabbed a cushion off one of the sofas and threw it at him. Tony ducked and it headed towards Sue who thrust out her arms and caught it in a force field, bouncing it back at Tony who didn't duck in time. Tony pretended to stagger back under the 'force' of the cushion and accidentally tripped over the sofa behind him, flipping onto his back and rolling onto the floor, bringing a pile of cushions down with him.
Pepper laughed and Bessie could hear Bruce and Rhodey chuckling.
'Very mature,' Tony mumbled from under a mound of cushions.
'Says the guy who's just spent the past 3 hours swearing at a car,' Rhodey said, turning to pour a glass of water.
Tony picked himself up off the floor with as much dignity as he could muster (which was, surprisingly, quite a lot) and threw a cushion at Rhodey, which met its aim at the back of his head while he was turned, causing him to drop water all down his front.
Tony laughed and handed a pile of forms to Pepper, 'early Christmas present,' he said. 'I thought lingerie would have been better but Rhodey disagreed.'
Pepper took the forms and whacked Tony softly around the head with them.
'Will you be staying here?' Sue asked Bessie suddenly.
'I… don't know,' Bessie said.
'Well, you don't have to decide straight away,' Pepper said, 'there are hundreds of rooms here. Even if it's only to have another room to go to if you need to.'
Bessie mulled it over, 'well… I'm okay with the rent on my flat for the next year, but it would be nice to have a heater that works.'
Tony grinned at her.
'If you want to have another room here then I'd be happy to show you,' Pepper offered.
Bessie nodded, 'yes please.'
She could hear Tony and Rhodey arguing about Audi's as she stepped out.