Tony Stark landed around three in the afternoon. Ma'at had stolen from him for the last time, he had decided. Jarvis had been working on tracing Ma'at's signal for weeks and had finally found it. He planned to arrive at the address and speak to the thief himself. S.H.I.E.L.D. had offered to help him with the search, but the last thing he needed was the government mapping out his every move.
He would do this his way.
When he found himself on the front porch of the house in question, he was so excited that he pounded carelessly on the big, white door. Very much to Stark's surprise, a teenage girl opened the door to greet him wearily. She had long, flaming hair that had obviously been died more than a few different colors. Her face was adorned with several piercings and a dark tattoo poked out of her shirt.
She stood there staring at him with her black eyes. Stark shook his head, regaining his thoughts and asked the girl, "Hicks?" She nodded. She raised a medal studded eyebrow in question and he quickly introduced himself. "I'm Tony Stark," he announced. "I'm looking for your parents." She smiled, amused. Then realizing she'd done something wrong, she beckoned him in. The inside of the house was as beautiful as the outside except for the fact that there was writing all over the walls. The poor kid must be crazy, Tony thought. It looked as though she was the only one living there. Her things were everywhere.
He followed the girl into the living room, which was full of computers and other electronics. "What's your name kid?" he asked. She turned around abruptly, the bottoms of her black leather boots squeaking slightly on the hard wood floor. "Erin," she replied simply. He looked into the abyss in her eyes and saw a bit of his own ridiculous humor there. Shaking his head, he turned to see if Erin's parents were there. "They aren't here," she said. He sighed, shrugging. "I can wait. When will they back?" She shrugged. "They're on a business trip somewhere in Europe and have been for a few days. I'm not sure when they'll be back," she replied casually, as though that was a regular thing.
Tony's eyes widened. The latest signal had come from this address yesterday, he thought. But that means… He turned around to see Erin studying him. She's the thief.
Fury rode away with a new interest in the child Erin Hicks. She hadn't confessed anything but he had a strong feeling that she was involved with the robberies. Parker, his young companion, seemed uneasy. "What is it?" Fury asked. Parker shook his head, unsure on how much he should say. "It's just—did she seem worried at all to you, sir?" Fury smiled, understanding the boy's concern. "No, she didn't. She is Ma'at, Parker. She's just been doing this for so long that she's gotten good at hiding it." Parker's jaw dropped. "But, sir! If you it was her, why did you let her go?" Fury shrugged.