AN: So happy St. Patrick's Day everyone, it's been a great few weeks since the last update. Erm, not sure what else to put other than apologies for the delay in updates XD


Chapter Six

"You know your parents are gonna kill me when they find out what you're up to," Tony muttered as we trudged through the snow.

Now we were dressed more appropriately for this cold weather. After grabbing my bags and heading back to the barn, I should have known Harley would be asking Tony questions upon questions. What I didn't expect to find was Tony asking me why I was here in the first place.

I wasn't entirely sure how to answer. Should I tell him that Fury didn't trust him? Or was it better to just say that I was sightseeing? Either question didn't seem valid to me. So instead I shrugged off the question and handed him the sandwich.

Harley was grinning from ear to ear as we reached one of the explosion sights.

"The sandwich was dry, the spring was a little rusty... as for the rest of the materials, they'll make do."

I rolled my eyes at his remark on the sandwich. Truthfully I never had to cook or make anything. Spending my life on the Grid had given me the opportunity to live off of energy.

"By the way, when you said your sister had a watch, I was kind of hoping for something a little more than this."

To prove his point, he revealed the watch that Harley had given him a few minutes ago. I tried not to laugh when he frowned at our expressions. It was a Dora The Explorer limited edition watch. He should be happy he had it.

While Tony kept complaining about the watch and how girly it was, Harley began asking more questions about the Avengers. It didn't take us long to reach the bomb sight, much to my relief. Harley had finally stopped talking when we reached it, aware that this wasn't the time to chatter on excitedly.

The townsfolk had turned it into a memorial sight for the people that died here. Flowers were placed throughout the area, and candles were lit. I took notice of a few photos that had been left behind of the victims and their families.

It was almost overwhelming. The people around here really cared about their families. And their families were torn apart by this horrible event. I wondered if this was what had happened when I was sent to the Grid. I couldn't imagine what my adoptive parents thought when I disappeared.

"So, what happened here?" Tony's question made me jump. I glanced at him as he spoke quietly to Harley.

"Well, according to the stories some guy from the military went crazy..." I didn't get the rest of the story.

My mind was on the sight itself, reeling with anxiety as I thought things over. I was beginning to wonder if this was really a good thing, going after Tony and finding the Mandarin. True that wasn't part of the mission statement. But as far as I was concerned, the only way to make sure Tony didn't get into any trouble was by finding the Mandarin.

"Think about it. Six dead. Only five shadows." I eyed the spot Tony was looking at.

Sure enough there was only five shadows. How did that make any sense?

"Yeah, People said these shadows are like the marks of souls going to heaven. Except the bomb guy. He went to hell, on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."

"And you buy that?"

"It's what everyone says." Harley shrugged as if it was nothing. "You know what these shadows remind me of?" To that question I raised an eyebrow. Was he really going to get into this? "That giant black hole the aliens-" Harley was cut off by Tony gasping for breath.

I noticed for the first time that he was having a panic attack. This was what had happened over the phone. For a moment I thought we might have to call the hospital.

"What did I say?" Harley did have a good question.

From the stories I gathered, Tony had almost been sucked into a black hole during the Chitauri attack. Maybe the event had triggered some kind of panic attack. But why would they start now?

When we first met these attacks had never occurred. He never acted this way around the team. So why start now?

Tony just stopped walking and stood there, eyes wide for a few more minutes before he turned around. Than he started moving again, this time at a faster pace. It took us a while to catch up with him, and when we did, he turned around and threw a snowball at Harley.

"What the heck was that?" I demanded as he finally calmed down.

His response was another snowball thrown at both of us. In retaliation I threw snow at him, well aimed at the face.

"Your fault, you spazzed me out." He glared pointedly at Harley, who looked more alarmed than anything else. "Okay, back to business. The guy who died, any relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis, where is she?"

"Where she always is," Harley replied.

I'm guessing he means the local bar. From what I've learned about Users, it's that they take depression or anger out on drinking. A lot. And people were probably trying to ask her questions about what really happened at the bomb sight.

After a few minutes he stood up and brushed the snow off. "See, now you're being helpful." Harley grinned at those words. "Now go home. Both of you." And down goes the happiness.

"Look, I appreciate your help, and the sandwich," he added to me, "But this ends now. You'll never see me in person again." He looked pointedly at the now disappointed Harley. "And whatever the boss has you doing, you shouldn't be part of this. Birdie would use me as target practice for the next few weeks if he found out."

Okay, I had to grin at that remark. Clint would use him as target practice if he found out what I was up to. But this was part of joining SHIELD. And judging from Harley's confused expression, he had no idea what we were talking about.

"Okay, we're done here. 'Bye." With that, he got in the car in drove off, leaving us in the cold snow.

"You're gonna follow him, right?" Harley glanced at me nervously.

"Duh," I replied before following the tracks.

. . .

"You wanted to see me, Agent Romanoff?"

"I just wanted to know what you were thinking."

"About?"

"You know what this is about. Or I should say who."

"She won't be anywhere near the Mandarin, if all goes according to plan."

"Sir, the Mandarin is on SHIELD's top list of enemies. If anything happens to her, it's on you."

"I'll keep that in mind. You should know she called about Stark a few hours ago."

"I don't think it's Tony we should worry about."

"I understand that. We'll keep an eye on them both. I can assure you that they will be safe."

"For your sake I hope you're right."

. . .

For the next few minutes I was following the directions Harley had pointed me to. The town was small, and it was probably the kind of place everyone knew each other. In a way it was a bit like working at Able's garage.

Everyone knew each other. Even if they weren't close they still looked out for one another.

I've never been in a small town before, not like this one at least. So this was all new to me. It was kind of nice seeing how close everyone could be.

I stopped under a street lamp to get my bearings. People walked past me, holding on to their hats as a gust of wind blew through. It didn't take me long to find Tony, wandering towards what I guessed was the local bar.

Music blasted from outside, and even from this distance I picked up the scent of alcohol. Drinking was never really my thing. I suppose it was because I did spend most of my life drinking energy. That was about as far as I was willing to go.

Before I decided to wander in, I had to figure out whether or not this was a good idea. Past experience has told me that barging in was never the answer. Back on the Grid you could get derezzed for doing that. I wasn't sure how people would react if they saw me.

Now I was beginning to wonder if I had been better off going back to the motel. At least there I would stay warm and avoid drunk strangers.

Holding back a sigh, I decided to take the risk and headed for the bar. They were playing Christmas songs over the speakers as I approached. Tunes I had grown familiar with blared around me as people laughed and talked about the holidays.

Wow, it almost made me wish I had a normal life. Here these people could celebrate Christmas without worrying about getting shot at or worse. They were just enjoying themselves.

Just as I was about to head for the table, I bumped into a red-haired woman. She managed to stay upright and smiled.

"I'm sorry," I nearly squeaked. It was than I noticed the files she was holding. She quickly hid them just as I caught the word 'AIM' written at the corner of the file.

AIM. Why did that sound familiar? It felt like I should know that name from somewhere. Maybe Natasha or Clint had mentioned it once or twice. I took notice of the burn marks on her face and wondered what could have happened to her.

I was all too familiar with what it was like living with scars. But I've grown to see them as more than just a bitter memory. Thanks to them I've gotten stronger. And I hope that she saw them that way as well.

"An accident, but most of them have healed," she explained after noticing that I was eying them. Sheepishly I looked away, suddenly aware that I had been staring.

"Um, I should probably be going now," I murmured.

She simply nodded in response before wandering away. I wasted no time in searching for Tony.

People were shouting and laughing as the music blared on. This reminded me so much of the clubs on the Grid. Loud music, programs mingling and enjoying themselves. Almost made me wish I was back there.

The one thing I wasn't too fond of was how dark the room became. True there were lights dangling from the ceiling, but they didn't provide much light. Thankfully Tony wasn't too hard to find. He was sitting at a table, talking to a woman who looked like she had a few too many drinks in her life.

Hiding was something I had learned to do very well at an early age. Being stuck on the Grid had given me that advantage. Now I was hiding beneath a table while keeping a close eye on Tony, who was now speaking to who I guess was Mrs. Davis.

It looked like she was more confused than anything else as she handed him what looked like files. Clearly she was expecting someone, but I supposed that someone wasn't Tony.

Just as she did so, the red-head approached the table. I was too far away to catch what she was saying, but I could easily see what she was up to. Just as she was about to argue with Tony, the town's sheriff joined them. The woman sounded angry as she tried explaining what she was doing.

What followed was just a blur to me. People started panicking as Tony made a run for it. The sheriff was thrown across the tables and into the bar. And I was left wondering what in the Users was going on.

"Hey hot wings, you wanna party?" Tony called over his shoulder. "You and me, let's go." And with that, they were both on the run.

So the red-head was after Tony, and it definitely wasn't a fangirl chase. I noticed for the first time that her hands were glowing an eerie red. Even from a distance I knew that wasn't right.

I wasted no time in running after them, ignoring the sense of danger that overwhelmed me. Tony was leading the woman to a building nearby. My heart was pounding as I followed them, still unsure whether or not this was a good idea.

Just as I was about tor each the building, someone grabbed me by the wrist. Without a second thought I grabbed my light sword and swung it into the attacker's leg. He let out a cry of pain as he stumbled back, letting me go in the process.

"I'm not such an easy target, am I?" I smirked as he glared at me. He was about to say something else when someone threw themselves at him.

That someone just happened to be Harley, acting on instinct rather than thinking things through.

At the same moment Tony had thrown himself into a shop. The stranger just continued following him as though nothing serious was happening.

Meanwhile Harley was struggling to take down the taller man, who overpowered him easily. Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I threw a snowball at him as hard as I could. I barely noticed that there was ice in the snow, but it became evident as the snowball sliced across his vulnerable arm. He didn't even wince as the fresh wound started to bleed.

I noticed for the first time that the cut on his arm was glowing. He let go of Harley, tossing him carelessly into a pile of snow nearby. He smirked as the wound healed almost instantly.

"You have something we need," he said in a scathing tone. I slowly began backing away as he approached me cautiously.

"And just what might that be?" I demanded as I raised my light sword. For all I knew he could be playing with my head. Though Users weren't all alike, I've learned in a short time that they were very manipulative.

"The Grid. Programs have an uncanny ability to heal themselves at will," he explained. "The boss wants to know if that would work on humans."

So that's what the Mandarin wanted with the Grid. In a way it made sense, even if this guy sounded crazier than ever. True programs had the ability to heal themselves. But it was only with the work of finding the right codes and fixing them. If enough code was missing from the program in question, their wounds would be almost impossible to heal.

"And here I was hoping we could be friends." His smirk faded in a heartbeat.

His hand started glowing again as he tried aiming a fist. Just in time I moved to the left, once again swinging my light sword into his stomach. He recoiled at the attack, hands raised as if to admit defeat. That was when he did something that made me wish I could derezz him right than and there.

He aimed his fist at my light sword. It was still glowing an eerie orange-red, and to my disbelief, his hand managed to slice it in half.

"Not so tough now, are you?" he sneered.

He was about to attack again when the building in front of us suddenly exploded, throwing us both off balance. It suddenly occurred to me that Tony likely built a bomb while he was hiding out in the building. It wouldn't surprise me if that was what he had done. Tony could make a bomb out of just about anything.

The explosion left us both trembling as we struggled to stand up. For a short while all of this snow reminded me just how cold it really was. I cringed after noticing that my light sword was now in pieces after being sliced in half by the attacker.

I've had it for most of my life, I realized. It was given to me as a gift by Castor, who took me in before I started exploring the Grid. Now one of the few pieces of the Grid I had was gone.

Holding back a sigh of frustration, I followed the source of the explosion. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or worried that there was no trace of the woman who had attacked Tony. Either she was killed in the explosion, or she miraculously got away.

"Help me! Help me!" I flinched as I recognized the voice.

He was standing in front of the debris, holding a struggling Harley up by the collar of his shirt. I really wish I could slap that smirk off his face.

"Mr. Stark, I'm so sorry!" Harley shouted as he tried freeing himself.

Carefully I backed away, ready to make the next move when Tony noticed me. His eyes were narrowed in confusion before he gestured for me to stay away. For once I did as I was told, knowing full well that something important was about to happen.

"It's not your fault kid. Remember what I told you about bullies?"

To that I raised an eyebrow. Either Tony was losing it or he had something under his sleeve.

Sure enough Harley grabbed something from under his own sleeve (ironically enough) and clicked what looked like a small pen. The man holding him stumbled back as a blinding light was thrown in his direction.

Tony didn't need to tell me twice to grab Harley and make a run for it. I knew he could easily handle himself; getting Harley to safety was the most important thing.


AN: So yeah, a lot going on at once. And yes, the Grid will be involved in this one. I'm sure that some of you will figure out why rather quickly ;) Big thanks to Kme317 and Sunofaia for reviewing! You guys are awesome!