Gabie

III

"Allie told me about your guys connection," Tony grumbles to me once Harley is out of earshot. We're sending him to sit a safe distance from the bar just in case. "Can you feel her?"

"No, but she's alive. Right now she must be sleeping or something," I mutter. "By the way that stupid hat sucks."

Harley gave Tony some of his dad's old clothes, which is fitting because his dad was a douchebag and Tony is a douchebag. On the other hand I'm wearing Harley's moms clothes, which are bellbottom jeans and a halter top with an ugly leather jacket. They're the only things Harley said his mom wouldn't notice had gone missing. Tony may have gotten the better bargain this round.

The bar seems to be the only place in the whole town where people gather.

Tony walks a few steps ahead of me and mistakenly bumps into a red-haired woman just outside the bar. She drops a small metal object on the ground.

"Sorry," he mutters and bends down to pick up the item.

It looks eerily familiar to something I've seen before.

"Lady, this uh...," Tony trails off in confusion as he looks at the thing. She turns around quickly and takes it back from him.

"Thank you," she replies and smiles.

There's a burn scar on her face and for a split second I swear I see a tinge of red.

"Nice haircut, suits you," Tony compliments.

"Nice watch," she returns with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Yeah, limited edition," Tony remarks and waves it slightly.

"Oh, I don't doubt it," she responds coyly.

There's a moment of pause before she speaks. "Well, have a good evening." She turns and walks off with my eyes following her. There was something about her, something I should know.

"Come on Gabie," Tony says and shakes me from my daze.

"Right," I mutter and follow him into the bar.

Inside the bar music is playing, people are chatting cheerfully, and drinking.

In the corner a sad looking woman sits at a table alone drinking a glass of whiskey.

"That's Mrs Davis," I whisper to Tony and he nods. Together we approach her with polite smiles on.

"Mrs. Davis, mind if I join you?" Tony requests and the tired looking woman gives us a suspicious look.

"Free country," she replies and we both sit across from her. The woman with light red hair and a face worn from stress avoids our eyes.

"It sure is," Tony agrees.

"Alright. Where'd you like to start?" Mrs Davis questions and I raise an eyebrow.

She's expecting someone else to meet her about Chad.

"I just want to say I'm sorry about your loss. I want to know what you think happened." Tony speaks with kindness and empathy.

"Look, I brought your damn file. You take it and go," she snaps and drops a military file with a set of dog tags onto the table in front of us. "Whatever was in here, he wanted no part of it."

Tony pulls the file closer and opens the first page for us to look over.

"Clearly, you're waiting for someone else. Yeah? Supposed to meet somebody here?" Tony inquires and Mrs Davis stares at us curiously. I keep my eyes on the file and flip over the top sheet.

"Yeah."

A few photos of military men sit on the second page, two of them being Chad Davis and Taggert. The man, Taggert, I saw him at the theater. I remember seeing staggers pulse red.

"Tony, Taggert was at the theater," I whisper to him. "I think he was the bomb but I'm not sure." The memories are still fuzzy.

"I know I saw the dog tags in the crime scene reconstruction," Tony utters back and we share a nod.

"Mrs Davis, your son didn't kill himself, I guarantee you. He didn't kill anyone. Someone used him," Tony states clearly for the upset woman.

"What?" she stammers.

"As a weapon," Tony clarifies and she inhales deeply. There's a sense of relief and gratitude in her eyes.

"You're not the person who called me after all, are you?"

Suddenly a cell phone is slammed on our table violently. Tony and I both jump in alarm and I instinctively hold my arm in a defensive position.

"Actually, I am."

It's the woman from earlier, the burned woman, and right now she looks a little angry.

Immediately I peer into her mind and search for something useful. Her last name is Brandt, she knows Savin, she knew Taggert, and she knows about me. I try to look deeper but that same burning feeling I got from Savin erupts in my mind.

Out of nowhere the woman grabs Tony's arm and twists it, slamming his head onto the table. I yank myself from her mind and jump to my feet. Tony manages to quickly grab up Chad's dog tags and pocket them.

The Sheriff and several other people in the bar all jump up and rush over.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's all this about? What the hell's going on here?" the Sheriff demands.

"Let him go!" I snarl and grab hold of her arm.

"It's called an arrest," she retorts and harshly pushes me back. She handcuffs Tony and throws him to the ground.

I lurch to punch her but a man behind me grabs my arm and stops me.

"Just calm down honey I'm sure we'll get this sorted and get those cuffs off your husband," the Sheriff assures to me and I frown. Honey? Husband? Gross. Tony gives me a look so I roll my eyes and play along.

"Sheriff, is it?" Brandt concludes.

"Yes ma'am, it is. And you are?" the Sheriff counters gruffly.

"Homeland Security," she replies and holds up a phony badge. "We good here?"

"No, we're not good. I need a little more information than that," the Sheriff responds sternly.

"Well, I think it's a little above your pay grade, Sheriff," Brandt demeans and the Sheriff glowers.

"She didn't even read my poor husband his rights! She has to be a fake cop!" I exclaim indignantly.

"Exactly this is an illegal arrest, so, why don't you get on the horn to Nashville and we can figure this out?" the Sheriff reasons. Brandt is completely turned away from Tony and Mrs Davis now so I give him a look. Tony gestures to Mrs Davis to hide the file, and she slides it under a booth a few tables away.

"Alright, you know what? I was hoping to do this the smart way, but uh...the fun way's always good." Behind her back she holds the badge and her hand seems to be rapidly heating up. Her skin looks like molten lava and burns the badge in her hand.

Oh something real bad is about to go down.

"Deputy, get this woman and-"

Before he can finish and just when Brandt moves to shove the burning metal into the Sheriffs face I latch onto her arm and pull her back.

I act on instinct while adrenaline fills my veins and memories of Clint's lessons in combat come back.

She whips around in surprise and presses a burning hand to my face.

I smirk as her grin fails upon seeing the burn have no affect.

"Honey you're heat has nothing on me," I growl and shove her back into the bar. Brandt barely loses her balance and in retaliation grabs hold of the Sheriff.

He screams as she burns him making me falter. Hastily I turn my attention to a sink behind the bar and pull water from the pipes. Dousing the girl and the Sheriff I cool her and surprise her enough to release him.

"Evacuate these people!" I call and jump forward tackling Brandt. "Tony get out of here!"

Brandt pushes back at me, her whole body heating up and flaring red as she does.

A loud and sudden beeping noise coupled with seering pain in my shoulder forces me to go still. Looking over frantically I find a pulsing object embedded in my skin.

Brandt shoves me off and uses the gun she must have stolen from the Sheriff to then kill the fleeing man and his deputy.

I watch in horror as he shots ring out and the bodies fall, I feel as if I can't move.

Reaching my hand out I attempt to disrupt the earth before her but nothing happens. I can't feel the nearby air, earth, water, or fire. My powers aren't working, it must be the stupid thing in my flesh.

"Come on!" I shout in frustration and shakily get to my feet. Brandt winks at me and saunters out of the bar.

I have to follow her so I force myself to move forward.

Outside people are running and screaming in fear of the burning woman.

Tony is outside waiting for her when he sees my disgruntled form his face goes from defiant to concerned.

"Hey hot wings, you wanna party? You and me, let's go," Tony taunts and turns around to run.

Behind him Savin is getting out of a sleek black car with a gun in hand. Instantly I sprint to Tony's side elbowing Brandt as I go.

Savin raises his gun but just as he fires Harley throws a snowball at him, and he misses.

Tony nudges me and we duck behind a van.

Underneath the van a man is hiding.

"Crazy, huh?" Tony pants out.

"Yeah," the man agrees and I roll my eyes.

"Watch this." With that Tony spins around and jumps through the glass windows of a diner.

"Tony," I groan but jump in after.

Once inside I glance back to see Brandt aiming a rifle at us.

"Behind the counter!" I exclaim and push Tony along. We both jump over the counter as she fires and duck behind it.

For a moment it's quiet.

Then her face appears right next to us.

She grabs my jacket and slams me into the wall. She holds my arms and effectively traps me; I'm weakened by the stupid pulsing device and all my injuries.

Tony comes up behind her and rams his head into hers. She staggers and I clock her in the jaw.

Brandt grabs Tony and throws him behind the counter before kicking me aside.

My whole body is wracked with pain and it keeps me down for a minute.

Tony, the genius, holds himself against her and manages to get his cuffed hands back in front.

She pulls at him and places a glaring hand on his forehead.

Instantaneously I leap to my feet and smack her upside the head with a metal napkin dispenser. This dazed her, so I push back and press her against the open window between the counter and the kitchen.

Tony hops through and wraps his arms around her head making the handcuff chain pull against her neck.

She giggles maniacally as it melts straight through her skin.

The handcuff chain snaps, allowing her to get back up.

"Shit," I swear and she grins before tossing me right through the window. I land on the ground hard beside Tony.

"Stark we're in trouble," I whimper. "This thing keeps me from using my powers."

"I got this don't worry," he assures and kicks an open jug of gasoline across the floor to the door separating the kitchen and the storefront. Tony then kicks a still burning piece of the handcuffs into the gasoline and it ignites the whole doorway.

"You walked right into this one, I've dated hotter chicks than you," he taunts. I watch him in surprise as he calmly throws Chad's dog tags into the microwave, starts it, and then pulls the gas hose from the wall.

Adrenaline and terror spike as Brandt walks into and then through the fire. Her entire body is burnt and her eyes glow like the devil.

"That's all you got? Cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?"

"Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography," Tony retorts and grabs my arm as he scrambles out the back door.

We escape the diner just as it explodes in a bright fireball.

It knocks us both down and leaves an awful ringing in our ears. This awful soreness and continual pulsing pains make my head spin.

Brandt's corpse is dangling from the phone lines.

"Oh god," I gasp and hold my head. Tony slowly gets to his feet and comes to my side. "I am so traumatized for life."

"Are you okay?"

"Three explosions in a matter of three days Stark," I deadpan but allow him to help me sit up.

"You know we make a pretty good team wifey," he jokes and I hiss.

"Shut it Stark."