6.

Malibu, California, 2010

Okay, so the security guard lady was also a surprise.

The next thing Kass knew, she was getting knocked off her feet. The arc reactor fell from her grasp and rolled across the pavement, being promptly scooped up by one of the suits.

She shot at it, shooing the reactor right out of its hands, only for the gun to be kicked from her hands moments later, followed by her landing on her ass.

A red haired woman in a black stealth suit of her own was who had knocked her down.

"You Stark's girlfriend or something?"

The woman scoffed. "Oh, please. We work together."

"How do you stand him?"

"Somehow." The woman cut off their conversation and wasted no time in kicking Kass in the gut just as she was getting to her feet again - and she had a mean kick.

Her breath was knocked from her for a moment, but she quickly recovered and lunged back at the woman. The woman was a very skilled combat fighter, her movements sharp and quick.

Stark's mansion sat right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, literally perched on the edge. The view was beautiful, and she could see why he had chosen this spot - the sunrises and sunsets must be spectacular.

Soon they were fighting on that cliff's edge at the lookout - it was a significant drop down. She wasn't sure if the impact of hitting the water would kill you from this height, but she didn't want to find out.

However, the woman had other plans. She backed Kass up along the cliff's edge and one strong kick knocked her right over the edge.

To think of all the dangerous and crazy situations she'd been in over the years, and this was how she was going to die, how she was going to meet her end?

She got major whiplash when something broke her fall - a suit had flown in at the last moment and scooped her up before she hit the water.

The suit flew up and tossed her back onto the ground. She was now sprawled out in front of armed agents.

"Stand down," said the suit's automated voice.

"Yeah, yeah shut up." She raised her hands in surrender.


She was definitely not in a police station.

She was in an interrogation room in a swanky building full of people in dark, professional attire.

The door buzzed when it opened, and a man in a suit and tie walked in. She didn't move her legs from where they were kicked up on the desk she was handcuffed to.

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement Logistics Division."

Ah, the intelligence agency. "Yeah, yeah, I've heard of you. Quite the title."

"And we've heard of you."

"Have you?"

"Yes-" Coulson opened his briefcase, withdrawing a file folder. "You, Ms. Konstantin, are in our records."

"Lucky me."

"And now you are also in our custody."

"Lucky me."

"Director Fury will see you now."

The Director? Lucky her indeed.

Coulson left and the door buzzed a few moments later signalling someone else entering the room.

"Well, I gotta hand it to you." A man in the long coat and eye-patch with a tablet tucked beneath his arm sat across from her. "Not too many people could break into Stark Industries and get away with it, let alone Stark's own house. But you didn't get away with it."

"Almost."

"But not quite. Hence why we're here." He opened and scanned her file. "You've got quite the rep, Ms. Konstantin. We've got a whole damn file on you, paper copy and digital. Tech seeking mercenaries, now that's something we should know about."

"Not all of us are threats."

"But I'm sure there are lots who would fall under that category. Who's your boss?"

"Me."

"Who do you work for?"

"Myself."

"Who sent you?"

"Nobody. This was my job for myself. I'm not a merc for hire, I don't do that anymore."

"So what do you do now?"

"I'm a survivor. I've been invisible my whole life. Instead of letting it bother me, I used it to my advantage."

"And became a thief. But it still bothers you."

She shrugged.

"About a year ago, some of our cloaking tech was swiped from one of our bases in Europe - that was you, wasn't it?"

"Cloaking equals invisibility."

"And the Stark tech?"

"If I had access to this kind of tech, I could be invisible. Really slip into the shadows. Become a shadow, become a ghost. Unseen and armed with all the gadgets one can think of. I had to look to the high places to find such things, for they're not just floating around. Sometimes you'll find a few gems on the black market, but that's rare."

"And so what's it all for, all this stolen tech? You said you weren't a mercenary anymore."

"I'm not. Now I just work on my own projects."

"Like what?"

"Like finding ways to make thieving a little easier."

"Hmm. But, say, if someone came to you offering you a job, what would you do?"

She eyed him. "Depends what you mean by 'job'."

"What about stealing back something that was stolen?"

"Wait, you're telling me that you, Director of a fancy intelligence agency, is hiring a mercenary to do some dirty work?" She nearly laughed out loud.

"We're not hiring to do our dirty work."

"But someone is."

"Yes."

"Who is then?"

Buzz! The door opened again. "I am."

"Tony Stark. We meet again."


"Just can't get rid of me."

"Guess not. Coming to a mercenary for help - won't this taint your precious reputation?"

"Not if we keep it quiet. And it's for a good cause. You're welcome for saving your ass, by the way. I didn't have to do that. Nat's got a really mean kick."

"My hero," she sneered back.

Now both Stark and Director Fury sat on the other side of the desk facing her. Fury tapped the tablet, pulling up some footage.

"That's you, isn't it?" He showed her the images and short video clips on the tablet. "Picked up by security cameras. And oh, there you've gone and disappeared. They call you the Shadow, gone and disappeared before they could even trace you, or try to."

"All until she came to me," said Stark.

"Don't flatter yourself," she shot back.

Stark leaned back in his chair. "A gala is taking place in Rome in three day's time. There's going to be black market items up for bidding on, including some of my designs - some of my stolen designs. A while back some files were stolen with designs for new tech, stuff that could be weaponized. And there's a lot of buyers out there who are interest."

"I bet."

"We need to steal them back. Get them out of the wrong hands and back into the right ones. I would draw too much attention, but you, you're invisible."

"Thank you."

"You said it first."

"So, what d'ya say, Ms. Konstantin?" said Fury. "Think it's doable?"

She stared back at them. "I'm sorry, I'm just so confused - I thought you were arresting me. But you're not, you're sending me on a mission?"

"Consider yourself lucky. We could very well detain you ourselves, or hand you over to other people who would love to detain you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Cause if those weapons get into the wrong hands, it could get ugly. A lot of lives could be at risk," said Stark. "I would love to swoop in and save the day, but that's our worst-case scenario, that is, if the weapons get passed on to whoever the buyer is. Our best case scenario will be to intercept them before that happens, before they get a hold of them, and bring them back into the right hands."

"You're really sure yours are right hands?"

"Well, yeah, I designed and built them."

"Tell me, what do you think these buyers will do with your designs?"

"Keep them and use them for some not-so-good stuff, or sell them to others who will do the same."

"And what will you do with them?"

"Use them to save the world, if necessary."

She eyed him. "Why not just arrest me and be done with me?"

"Because I want - and need - some help here. Look, I've seen first-hand what those designs can do when they fall into the wrong hands. They're used for things they were never meant to be used for, and I'd like to prevent that. They're meant to help stop threats, not to be the threats themselves."

His cockiness had fallen away when he said this, and he looked - desperate? Maybe not quite, but he definitely wanted to stop this before it was too late, and he was nervous that they were rapidly nearing 'too late'. It was clearly important to him. Kass was just glad - and surprised - that they weren't arresting her, as they had more than enough reason to do so.

"If I do this, do I get to keep the arc reactor?"

"You mean my heart one? No."

Not a big problem - she'd find a way to get it back. "So in return?"

"We don't arrest you. I'd say that's 'in return' enough."

She leaned back in her chair and eyed them both. "Yes, I think it's doable."

Whew, this chapter took me a lot longer than I'd hoped!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Next chapter takes place during 'Age of Ultron'! :)