"Do you mind if I play some Black Sabbath?" The music blasted through the whole aircraft, causing me to look over at him in annoyance.
"Don't think you would've cared if I said no anyway." I grumbled unhappily, crossing my arms and glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow, holding his hand up to his ear and mockingly asking me to speak louder. I decided lunging at him now wouldn't be safe for my health, seeing as we were still flying a plane and I hadn't mastered the element of flying as of yet.
I took another look at the case file, opening the yellow folder on my lap and holding up his profile. He was a white male, around 50, with a large scar on his arm. He had been spotted in Loki's crew when they had first found him; S.H.I.E.L.D has been watching his movements since he's gotten back in the picture, and have decided he's too dangerous to have roaming the streets. Our job was to bring him in, interrogate him on what he knows about Loki, and then hand him over to the police. The problem was, the man was a retired pro-wrestler, and was probably about 3 times my size. Tony wasn't exactly a beefy guy either, but Iron Man would just be overkill.
What on earth did they expect us to do?
I reviewed the case files a few more times before we landed at a designated spot that S.H.I.E.L.D had prepared for us. I couldn't help but smile at the beautiful scenery of the small town in Georgia; I had always wanted to visit a small town like this. Never live here though, the quick paced city life was the only life for me. A short vacation was never too bad, though.
Tony didn't seem to like the countryside as much as I did; he winced every time he heard someone speak with a country accent. Which meant that ugly grimace remained on his face as we passed through town. We walked down the street, and towards the small area where the burglar would often strike.
"What do we do from here?" I asked him curiously. We were attracting plenty of attention to ourselves, although I wasn't known as an international superhero, Tony was known worldwide. I didn't enjoy the amount of attention being placed on us, or me for that matter. When a crowd had gathered, Tony began to suck up the attention readily.
"Yes, yes, it is I, Iron Man. I'll sign autographs later, yes I am fantastic aren't I?" He grinned towards a girl, causing her to swoon slightly. Even I had to admit he had a nice smile, but the hollow meaning behind it was what threw me off. It all just felt misleading.
I felt a strange feeling, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I turned quickly, enough to see a figure disappear down an alley. My curiosity piqued, I gave Tony one last glance before sneaking past the crowd. I crouched down behind the dumpster, staying low to the ground as I advanced. I stood up straight as I turned the corner and saw the dead end. I walked to the end, touching the wall and running my hand along the surface of it.
I could have sworn I had seen someone back here, but it may be my nerves just getting to me. The sound of gravel crunching hit my ears; I whipped around in time to avoid a knife being thrown at my face. Before I had the chance to strike back I was pressed up against the wall, the hand of my assailant gripping my throat tightly. I grabbed onto his wrist, squeezing as I tried to push away his hand.
"Don't follow me, little girl." The man hissed in my ear.
"Don't tell me what to do." I head butted him, sending him tumbling backwards from surprise. The punching bag was nothing compared to a live, moving target. I felt the adrenaline pump through my veins as he launched at me again and I ducked under his arms. I should have trained more with Steve.
It didn't look like I'd be having that chance.
I winced as I was easily overpowered again, being thrown to the ground with ease. The man let out a dark chuckle, retrieving the knife while I still lay in shock. I willed myself to stand, but the immense pain in my back stopped me from being able to move. I watched, helpless, as I was approached.
A loud cry came from the burglar above me as a force much stronger than him threw him into the wall. Iron Man sauntered past me, fist raised.
"Hasn't anyone taught you any matters? Hitting women is a no-no." I groaned as the pain subsided and I pushed myself up, only to see the egotistical jerk holding up the burglar we'd been sent to catch by his leg.
That mission had been over sooner than I had figured it'd be, with the burglar thrown in the small county prison to be shipped to a more secure area. We had tried our hand at intimidating him and accessing any information he held about Loki, but the criminal's mouth was sealed. Tony's constant condescending attitude and snarky remarks sealed the deal; we were getting absolutely no information from him.
I had fallen into an odd state of depression. I couldn't live down the situation I had cornered myself in; not only had I gone alone, I had gotten beaten too. I had gotten stage fright; if I had remembered my powers maybe I would have done better. But there was a new fear that had run through my body, I had panicked and been completely embarrassed. If I couldn't survive in a mere fight against someone as simple as a burglar, how could I expect to be of any help?
I was useless.
I didn't speak much, ignoring the jokes coming from Tony. He had finally seemed to get fed up with my attitude when we were flying the small aircraft back to the headquarters.
"Look kid, you win some, you lose some. It's a fact of life that everyone has to deal with. Well, not me, I always win after all, but-"
"If you're trying to help, you're doing a very poor job of it."
"Got you to talk, didn't I?" He winked. "You should drink more kid."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Not sure, sounded better than my last piece of advice." He shrugged his shoulders. "Drink more, stay in school, those are the only ones I know." A smile made its way to my face, and I avoided his smug smirk. Looks like if his goal was to cheer me up, he was still winning.
Maybe he wasn't as bad as I thought he was.