They call her Human Torch! Chapter 12

Justin Hammer was on stage, he had the microphone and kept screaming out 'Army' 'Navy' 'Marines' 'Air force' each time a new set of drones came out. I had a bad feeling about this. Hammer industries technology sucks, we are not actually going to replace our troops with these shitty looking things right? Suddenly Tony's friend in the other Iron Man suit pointed the big gun on the suit straight at him. Things came to a stand still and everyone became quiet. All the droids on stage had guns attached to them and they pointed their guns at him too. The audience started freaking out and falling to their knees behind the chairs. Tony started hovering and came flying up towards me, the droids followed his and started shooting up, all the glass around the roof exploded and as Tony passed me he grabbed my arm.

"Come on!"

He moved me out of place right before the shots got to where I had been standing. Half of the drones started flying and coming up right behind us. We were moving really fast and trying to dodge the bullets.

"Bella! Listen to me, they have a target lock on me, not you. You go back to the arena and try to melt or destroy, whatever, those droids that were left behind. He might try to activate them so I'll take care of this group and you go to those!"

"Tony I'm not going to leave you alone!"

"Those droids back there can hurt people in the arena! I can take care of myself, go help them!"

"I'll be back to find you when I am done!"
"Go!"

I flew up higher to miss the ones flying behind us and made my way back to the arena. Tony was right, they were walking off stage and terrorizing the people. There were 2 groups that were still on stage so I started with the ones in the crowd, I saw Natasha and she nodded at me before disappearing back stage. I had sent her a text an hour ago, telling her about Tony's suspicions that Hammer was working with Ivan. I had no idea how to start so I just flew directly into one and put my hands around the head part, I think that was where the receiver was at so if I could pop the head off then at least the rest of the body would stop working. Turning on the flames in my whole body I focused on my hands being as hot as I could make them, the metal started melting right away and when I got to the chip on the inside I melted that too, the body of the droid fell to the floor and I moved on to the next one. I had taken out all 8 in less than 10 minutes. People were still running around trying to get out but most of the fucking idiots were recording me and all the droids. I swear they deserved to at least get a broken arm for being so careless about their safely. Tony's friend and 8 of the droids had gone after Tony so now there were only 16 and they all so happened to turn on at the same time. I don't know where Ivan was at or how he was programming them but if I find him, I am going to give him the beating of his life! I think he did a target lock on me for all 16 because they all started shooting their guns at me and coming at me. I had to stay focused so I put a fire wall up to melt the bullets that they were shooting at me, from there I started shooting fire balls at their heads, it worked for like 5 of them but I really needed to work on aiming. I decided to do what I had done earlier with Tony's nose hairs. I focused on 3 of their heads and they started melting as fire surrounded their bodies. It worked! This is great! It served as fire practice but I wasn't killing anyone.

I started focusing on their heads and since I was doing so many at a time, my focus was on them completely. I should have counted because I heard shooting from behind me and a split second later I was propelled forward and felt a burning heat on my shoulder and mid arm. I let go of all inhibitions then. No more over thinking things. I tried putting the pain aside and got to work. The ones that had their bodies half burned were malfunctioning, I turned and saw only 4 of them were still in good shape. Those I put a fire bubble around and let them melt into a pile of goo. Turning around I did the same to the rest of them. I looked around to make sure nothing else was amiss, everything looked totally trashed and there were little piles of fire everywhere but I put my hand up and focused on absorbing all the heat. People actually started clapping when I was done piling up all the droids that weren't melted. I didn't acknowledge them, they were stupid for not running and I was in too much pain. I have never been shot before and I was just glad that I had a pretty high pain tolerance. I mean, I had to build one after being tossed around by a vampire and having your body burn from cosmic exposure right? Once the droids were all piled up I shot up into the air and took off in the direction that Tony had gone off to. I literally just followed the destruction. Eventually I saw the windows of the Oracle exhibit dome broken and they were both in there and Tony looked to be tapping his friends face armor.

"Snap out of it buddy, I need ya. They're coming, come on lets go. Get up."

"Ugh man you can have your suit back."

He laughed while he helped him get up.

"Are you both okay?"

They turned and looked at me shocked. Tony looked a little annoyed.

"I told you to go help at the arena."

"I did. I told you I would come find you when I was done."

"Done?! Don't tell you you took all of them out? Only ΒΌ of them came after us and we managed to lose them but they are on their way now."

"Yeah I got all 24 of them. Heat melts metal remember?"

"Wow, hey you are the Human Torch! I am Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, at your service ma'am."

"Nice to meet you. Please call me Bella."

"Alright alright, enough. We got company comi- Bella, is that blood? Are you hurt?"

"I got shot. Twice I think. Look don't focus on that. If I think about the pain I am in then I will lose the adrenaline that I got going and I won't be able to keep fighting so just shut up."

He nodded but then we fell into an awkward silence. James spoke up and I looked the other way to give them some privacy when I heard him apologize.

"Tony, look, I'm sorry, okay?"

"Don't be."

"No, I should have trusted you more."

"I'm the one who put you in this position. Forget it."

"No. It's your fault. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear.. Partner. They're coming in hot, any second. What's the play?"

"Well we want to take the higher ground, okay? So lets put the biggest gun up on that ridge."

"Got you. Where do you want to be?"

"Where are you going?"

"What're you talking about?"

"I meant me."

"You have a big gun. You are not the big gun."

"Tony, don't be jealous."

"No, It's subtle, all the bells and whistles."

"Yeah. It's called being a badass."

I rolled my eyes at these idiots. Slowly I made my way to the top of the ridge and they never even noticed.

"Fine. All right. You go up. I'll draw them in."

"Don't stay down here. This is the worst place to be."

"Okay, you got a spot. where's mine?"

"It's the kill box, Tony. Okay, this is where you go to die."

I cleared my throat twice before I finally got their attention. The look on their face when they saw me up here was priceless. I was about to say something but one by one 12 fucking drones came down. Where the hell did they come from? The guys put their masks on and Tony yelled at me.

"Bella! Flame on!"

I turned up the heat all over my body. All of them started shooting at Tony and James so it gave me a chance to come up behind 5 of them and burn their heads off. There were only 7 left and now they were shooting at all 3 of us. Tony and James were very good with their guns, they took out 4 of them quickly and the last 3 surrounded us. I was about to throw myself at one when Tony yelled out for us to duck. James and I trusted him enough to drop to the ground immediately. He did some laser trick that cut all the remaining droids in half.

"Wow. I think you should lead with that next time."

"Yeah. Sorry boss, I can only use it once. It's a one-off."

I saw both of them concentrating on something and I guessed it was the speaker on the suit.

"Agent Romanoff just told us there is one more droid coming our way, said the repulsor signature is higher."

"Let me guess..."

"Yep"

Ivan landed in front of us with the mask down and I had to admit that the suit was huge, it seemed well built. Man that guy was so ugly though.

"Good to be back."

Yeah, not for long asshole!

"This ain't gonna be good."

His suit turned on and the whip looking things turned on. They were sparking and glowing just like Tony's arc reactor. Now I knew what he meant on the phone call when he said he doubled the cycle. He made it stronger. James stepped forward a little bit.

"I got something special for this guy. I'm gonna bust his bunker with the Ex-Wife."

"With the what?"

A part of his suit came up and exposed a missile looking thing. He shot it straight at Ivan's chest but it simply bounced off and fell into the creek at out feet before fizzing a bit and dying out. We both turned to look at him and Tony asked "Hammer tech?"

"Yeah."

I laughed as I responded.

"Figures. Hammer Ind. Sucks. You should know not to trust that, they had to fight to get a spot at the Stark Expo. That alone should tell you which is the better company."

"Aww thank you."

I rolled my eyes at Tony but then I heard a chuckle from Ivan.

"You girl. You die first. You ruin my plans and kill all my creations."

"Yeah well they sucked."

"I got this."

Tony gave his all and was shooting at the suit but it was just not doing much, Ivan seemed to discard him and turned to me. He flicked his arm so that one of his whips wrapped around me. That fucking hurt! The shock and pain brought me to my knees before instincts kicked in and my whole body turned on again, I freed my hands and wrapped them around the whip. It still hurt but I was lighting up the wire all the was up to the suit. He let go when the heat started to bother him but he turned and wrapped the other whip around both guys. I ran at his back and tried melting the material of the suit, he started yelping in pain and reflex made him tighten his hold on the guys. I stopped right away but Tony had already came up with another plan with James.

"Put your hand up!"

"This is your idea?"

"Yep."

"I'm ready. I'm ready. Go, go, go!"

"Take it!"

They both shot out their repulsors at each other and when they met in the middle, it exploded. Unfortunately for Ivan, he was in the middle. He was shot back and as the mask came down so did the light of his arc reactor. He lifted his head and moved his hand to press a button there before smiling through the pain one last time.

"You lose."

His reactor and all the droids start flashing red.

"All these drones are rigged to blow! We gotta get out of here!"

At the same time that Tony yelled out Pepper's name, I yelled out Expo. I took off into the sky but this time I was flying alone so I lit my whole body up hot, I was back at the Expo in less than 15 seconds. There were people taking pictures of themselves in front of the pile I had left. I landed and stood in front of it hoping I could somehow absorb the explosion like I had absorbed the fire earlier.

"These are going to explode! Run! Every one run!"

They took off towards the door but only got halfway when the explosion happened. I absorbed as much as I could but through the flames I could not see and had no idea if I was even helping. It felt like I had a heavy weight just sitting on my chest. I couldn't breath from the weight on my whole body. Finally I felt some of the weight lifting and I opened my eyes to see that I was absorbing the smoke of the explosion. I fell to my knees and almost felt like sobbing out in relief. I had absorbed all of it. People were standing 15 feet away and they were fine, not even the room or the floor was damaged. Finally when the smoke was completely cleared I was able to take a deep breath of fresh air, the contrast made me light headed and I fell forward coughing, I curled up in a ball and just wanted to fall asleep. The adrenaline that I had pumping through me was fading fast and the pain of the bullets was at the forefront of my mind now. People surrounded me instantly trying to help me but before they could touch me I saw Tony land next to me with who I assumed was Pepper. He put her down and told her to take care of everything here, then he bent down, picked me up and took off with me. Once I saw that we were on my apartment roof, I extended my hand so I could scan it for roof access. It hurt a lot so he helped me put my hand in place. Once we were inside I felt him lay me down in a lab, used up all the strength I could.

"Tony please, you have to check if I left blood back there on the floor, if anyone gets their hands on it-"."

"I didn't let anyone take my suit. I won't let anyone take your blood. Don't worry Bella. I'll keep you safe until you wake up and have Pepper take care of anything left back there."

I finally felt safe enough to relax and I passed out cold. I think I hear him say something else but I just didn't have the strength to think about if I heard something or not.

"Maybe even after."

.

.

.

I felt something, a hand? Near my head. Petting my head. I opened my eyes and they met Natasha's. She was running her fingers through my hair.

"I got a call from Fury and Clint. They were out of their minds thinking Stark had lifted and taken off with your lifeless body. They are on their way here now."

"I feel fine. What time is it?"

"It's only 7 am. I got here with Pepper 3 hours ago, we had been helping to clear everyone. Then we had to give our statements to the police about Hammer. I hope you don't mind but I gave Stark and her one of your guest rooms. It took a lot of convincing but I finally convinced him that I would watch over you and that he could go sleep for a bit. He seemed protective of you."

"Hm I wonder why."

She looked deep into my eyes and for the first time I saw her soften and let down her tough exterior for a second.

"I am very proud of you Bella. You risked your life to protect those people. You didn't even know if you could actually absorb that explosion did you?"

"I figured I could. You would have done the same thing. You and Clint have trained me well."

I gave her a lazy smile. I really did feel fine, nothing hurt and I was not sore. I just felt like when you sleep so well that you have trouble actually getting out of bed because you aren't really awake. I felt like today was a put yoga pants on and laze in front of the TV, sleep, and eat. Type of day. I got up from the lab bench and I checked my shoulder, it looked like nothing was there, like nothing ever happened.

"I saw that not 2 hours ago and it looked like it would leave a strange scar. You heal fast."

"Well in this case, I'm glad."

We took the elevator down to the kitchen and I got started on making some breakfast.

"I can order something if you want?"

"No, it's okay. I want to make it. Eggs Benedict good?"

"Yeah, I had it once and it was good."

"It's my favorite."

I started making the sauce and while it thickened up I started on some hash browns and cutting up some fruit. I was almost done and just like I had thought, the smell lured out my guests. Tony and Pepper looked tired but I could see some excitement in Tony's eyes.

"You are cooking! I was hoping it was you. Remember you set the bar high yesterday so I am expecting to be wowed."

"Tony!"

"What? Wait until you taste her food, it's like an orgasm in your mouth!"

Natasha and I were chuckling but she did nod.

"Her food is good. It has become tradition to eat here every Friday."

"Well, looks like I have to make my own day too, you got Friday, I think Sunday or Monday works best for me. That sound good to you Bella?"

"Ha! Sure Tony, drop in whenever you want. I am at your service."

"See Pep? You see how nice she is to me? Why isn't everyone like her?"

"It's called sarcasm Tony."

I plated the food and was happy to finally use the dinning room. It was gigantic and so I had never used it but today there was enough people to make it acceptable. Everyone opted for orange juice, even Tony, although he wanted champagne to make a mimosa but after Pepper glared at him he just took the plain juice. I thought both of them together were hilarious and I could tell they really cared for each other. I raised my glass to get their attention.

"I don't know what kind of beliefs you all have, but I just want to take a second to thank God. Yesterday was my first 'mission' type of thing where losing my life was actually a possibility and so I just want to thank you Natasha for training me so well with Clint and thank you Tony for literally making me fly. I never would have tried doing it on my own but now I think I will be using the roof access a lot more than the lobby."

They laughed and we even chinked glasses.

"Oh my god!"

"I told you, its like an explosion in your mouth isn't it?"

"Tony!"

"What? To soon to make explosion jokes?"

"Yes!"

"This is really good Bella."

"Yes and you will be proud to know that it is just as good as yesterday's meal."

"Thanks."

"Oh! I almost forgot. I spent hours avoiding your phone but it kept ringing and ringing so I finally picked up. Your friends with the Washington area code were very worried but a bunch of guys on the speaker phone where glad that Iron Man was with you. Some girls started crying hysterically because they thought you were dead so I told them you would call them back and I hung up because I don't do well with crying. Same thing with 2 girls called Jane and Darcy, they were crying and said they were taking the first flight up here. Lastly, another little girl called, she wanted to know if you were okay and I told her you would call as soon as you woke up. Ironically, the little girl was the only one who didn't cry."

"Oh geez, thanks. I will call them in a bit. I feel like lounging all day but first I want to shower. I smell smokey."

After I showered, Natasha left, saying she wanted to go home to shower and that she was going to report at S.H.I.E.L.D. she said she wold be back at night with Fury and that Clint should be here at that time too. I made my calls and spent over an hour talking with the pack. I spoke with Kitty and assured her I would visit next weekend if I could. When I called Jane and Darcy they didn't answer so I figured that they really had hopped on the first flight out here. I spent the whole day just lounging with Tony and Pepper. They were very laid back and Pepper kept saying apologizing for crashing at my place but I assured her it was fine.

"It's really fine. I never get visitors. Just on Friday's when Natasha and Clint come over. I like having people over and I have so many rooms so please stay as long as you need. It's better than staying in a hotel anyway."

"Thank you so much. And really if you get bored or just want to do your own thing then you don't have to be here with us, don't think you have to entertain us."

"Really Pepper you have to stop apologizing!"

"Okay okay, but really, thank you."

Tony thought it was funny because he had never seen her so flustered but he kept holding on to her hand and stroking her cheek. I thought it was cute, I had a feeling that not many people saw this softer side to Tony. Around 8 pm I got a text alerting me that Natasha, Clint, and one other person was in the elevator. I figured the 3rd person was Fury so I let them up. Fury came in and actually smiled at me before putting an arm around me.

"We are all proud of you at S.H.I.E.L.D. you showed strength, bravery, and courage. We are very glad to have you on our team. I heard you are all healed up?"

"Yes, Tony stitched me up well before I healed. He said I had 2 gun shot wounds but only 1 bullet was still in there."

"Good. I am glad he took care of you."

"Yeah. I think we make a good team. don't we Tony?"

"I would be lying if I said I wouldn't work with you again."

"I'll take it."

Fury stared at us and I saw him exchange glances with Natasha and Clint. I don't know what it was suppose to mean but I hoped that they saw that Tony was a good person and different from the exterior he put out to the public eye. Clint came up next and gave me a tight hug, he was more expressive that Natasha and Fury, I suspected it was because he had kids. They stayed over until 10:30 pm but left right before Jane and Darcy got here. They hugged me for a very long time and made me go through every detail of last night. They were very excited when they saw all the videos of me on the news flying, they wanted to see and Darcy even asked me to buy a harness so that I could fly and she could experience it too. Finally 2 hours later we could not keep our eyes open. Jane and Tony hit it off and got talking science while Pepper found Darcy's quirkiness fun. I was so happy to see her spirit lift a little at making a friend in Pepper, I don't know why she was having a hard time in school. Usually everyone that meets Darcy loves her instantly. Around 1 am I fell asleep dreading to see what else they came up with on the news, today in the morning they were singing my praises for 'being so brave and selfless' then they moved on to Tony and James. Who knows what else they will milk from this tomorrow.