Mischief's Heir

Mystery

  "Hey," Nat said quietly as she walked into my dorm around 3 am.

  "Hey."

  "Did you find anything in the file that we may have missed," she asked as she walked over to me, sitting on the edge of my bed next to me.

  "Absolutely nothing, I've scanned these over, but I think I'm going to try again because I know my mother wouldn't have just died in the middle of the woods," I said as she gave me a sympathetic smile.

  "You should get some rest, the real training starts tomorrow," she said as I looked at the files in front of me, both the digital, and paper.

  "Something just doesn't add up Nat," I sighed as I looked at the pictures a little closer.

  "I need to go to this forest, like as soon as possible," I said as I looked at something I found slightly odd in the timing of the pictures.

  "I'll make a deal with you, go to sleep, and train tomorrow and I'll take you there," she said as I nodded.

  "Fine, but you have to."

  "Alright Nancy Drew it's a deal," she smiled before walking out. When Nick and I had talked only about an hour before Nat came in he was surprised that Nat acted like an actual human around me. He explained that she's an ex assassin that was raised in a place called the Red Room, and they hurt her, they changed her. The only person she acted any type of kind to was Clint, and I could see the difference towards other people and then Clint and I. I didn't care how she was raised, she was the same in my mind, and nothing would change that. I slipped into some pajamas and got into bed, closing my eyes, and falling asleep in an instant.

  "Miss Stark, it's 5:30 am, and Director Fury would like you out of bed," Quinn, my Jarvis said as I groaned, reaching for my contacts as I realized I fell asleep with them in.

  "Shit," I mumbled as I groggily stumbled my way to the bathroom, having to pull them down as I noticed my phone sitting on my bedside table.

   "Quinn, has Tony called," I asked as I finally got my contact out, and placed it back in.

  "He called just a while ago."

  "Is he still up?"

  "Mister Stark is always up," she said as I laughed and he called before I could.

  "Hey Uncle Tony," I smiled as I grabbed my phone.

  "Hey kid, how was your first day yesterday?"

  "I got my ass beat, but it was good honestly," I said as I set it down, putting it on speaker as I just threw on a tight, green workout shirt and black leggings before grabbing my sneakers and slipping them on.

  "Working on anything new," I asked as I heard a few tools drop.

  "It's hard without my right hand," he laughed as I smiled.

  "Yeah, it's weird to be so far away," I said lowly as I brushed my hair out of it's snarly state, and straightened it slightly, just leaving it down for today, but bringing a hair tie with me.

  "How about I grab you over the weekend and we hang out for a bit, just you, me and Pepper, sound good?"

  "That sounds perfect," I smiled as a knock came to my door.

  "I have to go, I'm sorry, but I'll call you tonight, bye," I said as I hung up.

  "Fury said that we could go to the forest you wanted to go to today, says we can field train there," Nat smiled as my door slid open.

  "Good morning to you too," I laughed as I put on a very small amount of makeup, and stood up.

  "You ready to go," she smiled as I nodded, grabbing the files so I could examine them a little more on the two hour flight in the quinjet.

  "Yeah, let's go," I sighed as I put my phone carefully into my backpack, and grabbed everything so we could leave.

  "I want you to be in the co-pilot seat so maybe I can teach you how to fly," Nat smirked as I nodded, not feeling in the best mood this morning. I wanted to know about my parents, but with only knowing who my mother was, and then finding out she magically reappeared after being off the radar for two years made me curious.

  "Copy that," I smiled as we walked into a quinjet in the dome where they were kept safe, and started it up, well more like I watched Natasha press random buttons.

  "Alright, sit down, and get buckled in," she smiled, handing me a headset, and putting one on herself as we took off. Once we were in a place where it was safe to unbuckle I did.

  "I'm going to look these over one more time in the back," I said as she nodded from the pilot seat, and I walked to the back, sitting on the floor and spreading each individual file out, and projecting the digital ones into the air.

  "How could I miss that, Quinn zoom in on autopsy picture number five," I said as the picture enlarged in front of me, and I looked at the markings that looked like frost bite burns covering her body.

  "Frost bite, but from where," I asked myself out loud as I looked closely at the other pictures of her in the forest.

  "Nat, I'll connect Quinn to autopilot, come look at these," I said as I pressed a button on my coms, and pulled a cord out of my bag, connecting Quinn to the jet.

  "Quinn autopilot," I said as a loud ding went off before Nat walked to the back with me.

  "Do you see what I see," I asked as I sat back on the floor with her, zooming in on the pictures.

  "I don't see anything," she said as I looked right at it, pointing at the markings on her arms, legs, face and torso.

  "Nat, it's right there, don't you see," I chuckled as she shook her head, and I sighed.

  "All I see are oddly shaped red marks, probably from whatever her captors did to her."

  "How was I found," I asked as she looked at the floor, ignoring the question.

  "Natasha, how..was..I found?"

  "Your grandfather found you on his doorstep when he came home one day. They raised you until they died, and Margaret Carter was going to take you in, but Tony took you, and seeing as though he was actually related he got you," she said sadly as my thoughts swam.

  "How long until we land?"

  "Twenty minutes," Nat said as I felt my blood boil with anger.

  "Quinn full speed," I said as I felt the speed increase.

  "No, Quinn slow down," Nat said, but the AI ignored her.

  "She only listens to the people she's programmed to listen to," I said as I buckled myself in the pilots seat, and watched the clouds blow by. We landed ten minutes later, and as soon as we landed I ran out of the jet, running to the spot as Quinn directed me.

  "Jessie, wait you don't know what's out there," Natasha yelled from the jet as she followed me, twisting through the trees as I saw the exact spot.

  "The markings in the dirt, Quinn translate."

  "I'm sorry Miss Stark I don't see anything except for the crater," she said as I crawled into it, feeling the cold ground as I saw markings in the center of it, and when I touched them it was cold as ice, and I saw my hand start to turn an icy blue so I pulled away.

  "Miss Stark I suggest not touching that again," Quinn's voice of reason sounded as the blue faded back to normal.

  "And I refuse to listen to that suggestion, I said as I placed my fingers back onto the same spot, as the icy blue covered me completely, and I heard Nat stop behind me.

  "Jessica," she asked worriedly as I turned to face her, my skin still the icy blue as she looked at me with her guard up.

  "What is this," I asked as the blue began to fade, taking all the energy in my body with it as I became lightheaded and dizzy, falling onto the ground as I closed my eyes, and everything went black.