Chapter Twenty Six

"Who the hell eats tuna sandwiches?" I muttered after wrapping the poorly made sandwich in a plastic bag.

Hiccup and I had gathered all the stuff Tony had 'required'. By now, I was fed up with the fact that he expected everything handed to him on a silver platter. While he had been through a lot over the past twenty-four-hours, that didn't make being ordered around any better.

"I'm sure Toothless and Snowfire would appreciate it," Hiccup replied with a knowing look.

I smirked at that after realizing he was right. Fish was part of a dragon's diet, and boy did they love it! I could still remember the first time I visited Berk and Toothless had a mouthful of fish the moment we'd reached the plaza. The look on his face when he was discovered was priceless.

Once the sandwich was made and we had everything gathered, we headed back to the abandoned farmhouse where Tony was waiting. Harley had to get the digital watch since he knew where the smaller things were hidden.

"So, are you really a Viking?" Harley asked Hiccup while Tony fumbled around with the objects we'd given him.

Whatever he was building, hopefully it would help find the Mandarin and put an end to this chaos. Harley's curiosity was amusing at best. I had to admit, Hiccup took the questions better than I expected. By now, he'd gotten used to having random people ask questions about where he was from and how he got here.

"Uh…" Hiccup glanced at me uneasily, and I just shrugged. Honestly, I wasn't even sure how to answer that question without making things more complicated than they already were. "Yeah," he managed to reply.

Harley looked he was ready to ask more questions when he thought better of it. Hiccup looked a little more amused than anything else. The fact that people from modern times were asking all sorts of questions would have put me on edge. But he was taking it surprisingly well.

Once Tony was finished constructing whatever he was working on, we took the chance to do some sightseeing over at the explosion sight he had mentioned earlier. Snowfire and Toothless had stayed to the shadows, but they were close by in case anything happened.

"The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do," Tony informed us. I only rolled my eyes at the comment on the sandwich. Maybe that's why people didn't normally eat tuna sandwiches. "By the way, when you said your sister had a watch, I was hoping for a little more than that."

As if to make a point, he showed us a limited edition Dora the Explorer watch. I couldn't help but laugh at that while Hiccup rose an eyebrow, not really getting what the big deal was.

"Do they follow you everywhere?" Harley asked after making a statement about his sister's watch.

It didn't take a genius to know who he was referring to. Snowfire peered around the corner, and from the look Harley had on his face, he was a bit nervous.

"They're just worried," Hiccup replied with a shrug. "Come here, bud."

Toothless warbled in response, all too happy to be with his best human friend once again. Anyone who was watching by now had probably gotten used to seeing strange things, especially with the Avengers around.

'I would rip the head off of anyone who dared threaten you,' Snowfire growled as she pressed her snout against my hand.

Harley's eyes widened as he heard that, and even Tony looked a little impressed by her response. Most people would never realize that a dragon could communicate telepathically. Snowfire was unique for that very reason.

"As long as they don't torch the place, then they can stay."

Tony didn't seem all too happy with having fire-breathing reptiles so close to an explosion sight, but at least Toothless and Snowfire were sort of well-behaved.

I noticed for the first time that this place was a memorial for all the lives that were lost. Candles and pictures adorned the stairs. Some of the pictures were of normal people, while others had pictures of soldiers in the background. I realized with a start that there were five shadows that decorated the wall. Tony had mentioned there were six people who died at the explosion. So why were there only five shadows? It wasn't adding up.

"What's the official story here? What happened?" Tony asked once he had a clear view of the sight.

"I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts, won a bunch of medals in the army. One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up right here," Harley explained with a shrug.

"Six people died, right?"

"Yeah."

"Including Chad Davis?"

"Yeah."

By now I could tell this was becoming a little daunting for poor Hiccup. Considering this was all new to him, I was surprised at how well he was handling the situation. Not once did he interrupt Tony or Harley to ask what the hell was going on.

"You okay?" I asked, my voice a whisper so I didn't interrupt whatever Tony was getting into.

"I'm just trying to figure out what they're talking about," Hiccup admitted sheepishly. "And why we need to be here in the first place."

Wow, way to get right on a good point. Honestly, I wasn't even sure myself why we were here. Tony was still alive. If he wasn't, SHIELD would've surely stepped in and taken over. So why was I here? Why did I suddenly feel responsible for what was happening?

'You, little one, are drawn to danger,' Snowfire pointed out as if she had read my mind. She looked at me knowingly, and I couldn't help but agree with her on that notion. 'Perhaps that is why you are so close to the red-head human.'

I only grinned at that, knowing full well she was right. There was a certain point though where running head-first into danger was a stupid thing to do. And maybe this was one of those points. I was ready to say something when I realized Tony was clutching his chest and taking deep breaths.

"Ah, man. You did it, didn't you? You happy now?" he demanded after trying to catch his breath.

"Should I even ask what's going on?" Hiccup asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"What did I say?" Harley asked, throwing his hands up in self-defense.

That was a good question. Whatever he'd said, it threw Tony in an anxiety attack. Then I remembered how he had acted during our phone call, and I realized the same thing must have happened back there. Tony chose that moment to run off. Hiccup and I exchanged wary looks before I decided to give chase. If there's one thing I knew, it was that Snowfire was right. I was prone to getting myself into trouble, especially when it came to helping others who clearly needed it, even if Tony would deny that help.

It took us a while to catch up with him. He stopped to catch his breath and suddenly threw a handful of snow in Harley's face. That finally seemed to calm him down. While he was still sitting in the snow, we approached him cautiously.

"What the heck was that all about?" Hiccup asked, and I only shook my head in response.

"Tony, since when did you start getting panic attacks?" I asked.

Instead of a response, Tony just threw snow at our faces like an angry child.

"Your fault, you spazzed me out," he retorted, looking pointedly at Harley as his face darkened with shame. "Okay, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died… relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis, where is she?"

Mrs. Davis? Why did that name sound familiar?

"Where she always is," Harley replied.

I'm guessing that this had something to do with that explosion those two had talked about earlier. Part of me wished I had paid attention and understood what the heck was going on. Yet another part of me was afraid I was delving in too deep. I had a feeling that Tony was getting himself into some major trouble.

Tony stood up and dusted off the snow before speaking, "See, now you're being helpful." Hearing that made Harley smile for just a brief moment. "Now, go home. And you two can go as well, back to whatever it is you people do."

I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes at that while Hiccup was ready to make a quick retort, then he seemed to think better of it. Once that was said and done, Tony left us alone with the wind blowing past us. Snowfire and Toothless chose that moment to join us, nearly causing Harley to leap out of his skin when Toothless nudged him playfully.

"You're going after him, aren't you?" Hiccup asked with a knowing look.

'I would not advise you to do such a thing,' Snowfire informed me. She cast a glare towards Harley as he rubbed Toothless' snout warily. 'These humans cannot be trusted, and you always seem to place yourself in harm's way, little one.'

"I don't think it's really a matter of trust," I muttered thoughtfully. "It's a matter of responsibility. And I have a feeling that if we don't do something, it's going to blow up in our faces." And I don't want to mean that literally. "Hiccup, you're more than welcome to go back to Berk, I'm sure everyone's missing you. But I have to go through with this, one way or another."

He actually looked a little hurt by my suggestion. And for a moment, I regretted saying that. But it was the truth. We really did lead separate lives and worlds. I couldn't place him in danger if it meant risking the heir to Berk. Stoick would be beyond pissed off if he knew what I was up to. And there's no telling what my mother would say when she found out, if she hadn't already.

"When did I ever say I was leaving?" he asked sheepishly after a few awkward seconds of silence followed.

Harley was still standing there, looking all too aware that there was more going on here than he realized.

I couldn't help but let a faint smile play along my lips. Something told me that would have been his response no matter what the situation.

…

I wondered if waiting for a certain time would be too long. Tony wouldn't make it too far without the Iron Man suit. As far as I knew, he wasn't much of an athlete. Even Hiccup could probably keep up with Tony on his prosthetic leg. But that's what we had our dragons for.

Harley disappeared after Hiccup and I discussed what we should do from here. It was a bit of a difficult choice because frankly, Hiccup wasn't all up for putting his life in danger. Honestly, I didn't blame him. I kept reminding myself that it if I had the power to stop whatever imposing threat was looming ahead, I had to take responsibility. It was hard imagining what could go wrong at this moment.

Toothless was able to track down Tony's scent (let's be honest, even a Terrible Terror could probably track him down), and through Snowfire it was pretty easy to pinpoint which direction Tony had gone.

'What is that horrible stench?' Snowfire asked when we reached what looked like the local bar.

"That, my friend, is the combination of cigarettes and alcohol," I replied grimly.

If there's one thing I couldn't stand, it was either. My father had smoked when he was still living with us. Between that and drinking, I'm not sure what was worse. The worst part of it was, he would usually take his drunken rage out on me when my mom wasn't home.

"I take it you're not a fan?" Hiccup asked suspiciously.

I bit the bottom of my lip and looked away. It wasn't really something I liked talking about. Only SHIELD knew about my father's violent history, and I'd prefer to keep that a secret. The less people who knew the truth, the better off everyone was.

"It's nothing, really," I reassured him, hoping that would convincing enough. "Look, it might be a good idea for you to wait out here with Snowfire and Toothless. Having two teens enter a bar isn't exactly the most appropriate thing in this world," I added.

'If they do anything to hurt you, I will rip their throats out,' Snowfire growled, eyeing me suspiciously as she said that.

"What's so strange about a couple of kids going there?" Hiccup tilted his head to one side.

Oh, this was gonna be fun to explain. I forgot there weren't any drinking age limits in Berk. Luckily, I made it a point that someone needed to keep an eye on the dragons while someone else went into the bar. If they made a scene, things would get ugly fast.

Once that was said and done, I managed to slip away before things got anymore awkward than they already were.

Just when I was about to enter the bar, I cashed into a red-headed woman. She maintained her balance while I ungraciously fell to the ground. Something fell on the ground seconds later, and I noticed it was her phone.

"I'm sorry," I quickly apologized.

Picking up the phone, I couldn't help but catch something etched on the back of it. It looked like custom made technology, with the words AIM on the back. Why did that sound so familiar?

"Thank you," she replied with a smile.

Well, I was more relieved that she didn't make a big scene out of this. That was when I got a good look from her. She had short red hair, and red burn marks covering the side of her face. Scars were never something I could stare at. It suddenly made me feel self-conscious of my own scars, at least the ones that were visible.

The woman seemed to notice my staring and smiled while explaining vaguely, "An accident, but most of the scars have healed." And with that, she walked away.

Needless to say, I was a little creeped out by the way she talked and stared at me. I kept check of my mental connection with Snowfire, in chaos things went downhill fast. One good thing about having an angry fire breathing and ice breathing friend was that they always had your back. Snowfire was no exception to that rule.

One thing I'd forgotten about bars was how dark it was in here. The lights were dimmed to the point that it was hard to see. Not only was it dark, but it was busy as well with men and women laughing and music blasting in the background. Over all, I was not a big fan of this.

Just when I was about to take another step into the room, The Paradigm by Capital Kings started playing on my phone. I winced at the sound as people started looking in my direction. The silence was almost deafening.

"What?" I demanded in a somewhat harsh tone.

"Alex Hendrickson, where in God's name are you?!" Mom's voice exploded from the speaker, and I had to hold the phone away from my ear as people shot me weird looks.

"Uh… It's kind of a long story," I explained, my voice dropping to a whisper as I ducked underneath a table. "Look, mom, this really isn't a good time—"

"It's Christmas Eve," mom cut me off in a tone that said she was more than just pissed off. "Don't tell me that you're off with that Haddock boy again, or the other Riders." Well, she wasn't technically wrong.

"Mom, you don't have to worry about anything happening between us, trust me," I muttered after realizing what she was probably worried about. "Besides, he isn't that kind of person."

"Hey, hot wings, you wanna party?" Tony's voice made me look up in time to see the same red-head from earlier facing him. "You and me, let's go." And he ran away with her hot on his trail.

"Mom, I have to go," I told her before hanging up. Mentally I slapped myself, because I knew that I would get an earful once this was over with.

This was bad. Tony being chased by some red-head should have been hilarious, but in this case, I had a feeling that no good would come from this. The moment I followed Tony outside was when the chaos started.

A silver car drove by and stopped for a moment, dropping someone off before driving away. That someone happened to be holding a gun that was pointed in Tony and the red-head's direction. I had a feeling that he was working with said woman. I was ready to warn Tony about said gun when someone suddenly pushed the man holding it out of the way.

That was when I chose to kick him while he was still down, using whatever means necessary to keep him from hurting anyone else. And of course, it barely left a cut on his arm after that. What scared me the most was when his arm started glowing.

"Do you know what it is like to feel real pain?" he sneered after getting up and dusting the snow off. I was ready to make some retort when he suddenly grabbed Harley, who was making a break for it. "Help me! Help me!"

Moments like these really made me wish I had superpowers or something. I hated it when someone picked on smaller people. And the worst part of it was feeling so powerless to stop them. I knew I had the power to stop these jerks. The real question was whether or not they would follow through with my orders.

"Let him go!" I shouted, hoping that would be enough to catch Toothless' keen hearing.

Or even Snowfire. But the chaos and noise outside was too much.

"The boss was interested in your history with Hydra and SHIELD," he informed me. "Wants me to bring you in."

"Boss?" I repeated, shooting daggers at him.

"What do you say? One life for another?"

Harley was struggling against his grip, and for a moment I was tempted to disagree with him. Yet even that wasn't enough to stop me from giving myself up. Harley was just a kid who didn't need to go through something like this, especially at his age.

"Alright, fine. But you have to promise to let him go," I replied after holding my hands up in defeat.

The guy in question grabbed hold of me the minute he released his grip on Harley, who immediately made a run for it. I only glared at him as he held a firm grip around my arm, his hands beginning to turn that bright orange from earlier.

For a moment I panicked when I felt the heat from his hand. But then nothing happened, and his eyes furrowed in confusion. All at once I was reminded of the serum Fury had told me about. Was this the serum protecting me against whatever he was doing?

I didn't have much time to think about it when I felt something hard hit me against the back of my head. Pain erupted within me the moment I felt it, and soon my vision began to black out before it faded completely.

AN: And cue the angry reaction from Snowfire when she finds out what happens. She's not going to be happy ;) Anywho, sorry for the long delay. I sort of had writer's block and didn't honestly know where to go, but I've finally figured out where to from here. I also updated Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, so I'm on a roll :D

Sil - He does, and considering how cool he acted around Tony, he's definitely got more patience than I could ever have ;)

TheSilentFury - He'll be in the picture later... probably towards the end of the story. Or maybe I'll throw him in the near future just for kicks :P As for Alex and Hiccup getting together, it might not happen for a while either.

Wild Cat 214 - XD Of course it is! Who doesn't want a tuna sandwich in the middle of all that chaos? :P

riptidedarkphoenix - Thanks!