affliction

three

Beth's POV

I've been at this compound for over an hour now strapped to a chair. A few people have come in to question me, but I've just stayed silent.

Then, Tony Stark walks in the door. "Well hey there, sour patch, why the long face?"

I roll my eyes, but still don't speak.

He sits in the chair on the opposite side of the table. "Oh, cmon. Not even an 'I'm sorry Tony for planning to kill you?' Nothing?"

I finally decide to speak. "I was told you wrongfully murdered a man's wife and kids. For a few hours, you deserved to die."

"Yeah well, had to get you somehow. Now why don't you tell me your name?"

I laugh but don't answer. I still haven't even directly looked at him since he walked in.

"No answer, alright. We'll find out eventually. I'm finding it a bit shocking you're in no databases. Your face and fingerprints are no where to be found, it's like you don't exist." I still stay silent.

"Alright, I was willing to strike you a deal, but I'll just go ahead and call the FBI and get them down here, they're the ones that wanted you anyway." He starts to stand up.

I look up at him finally. "Wait, no! What do you mean a deal?"

He turns back around and sits down. "Answer my questions and we can figure it out."

I roll my eyes but nod my head.

"What's your name?"

"B."

"B? That's it?"

"That's what I go by."

I taps the table. "Alright, I'll settle for that. How old are you?"

"I'm 21."

He leans forward on the table, seeming like he's super intrigued. "WHAT? 21 and you're a freelance, cold-blooded killer that can take down countless grown men? How the hell does that happen?"

I shrug. "Proper training. Daddy issues. Next question."

"Who trained you?"

"Myself."

"There's no way, you almost had Barnes and he's a super soldier."

I shrug. "If you're strong in your mind you can beat almost anyone. Plus, I'm generally misread being a 5'3, 21 year old girl. Always underestimated."

He genuinely looks interested and nods at my answer. "Understandable. Now why do you murder innocent people?"

"Who said they were innocent?"

"I'm not seeing any criminal charges on their names, minus a choice few."

"When there's no justice served, I handle it myself."

"What did Alec Poler do?"

I think about this for a minute. "I'll tell you, but you can't go after the person who sent me to them."

He lifted his hands in surrender. "Deal."

"He beat his wife and kid. Both of them hospitalized multiple times over it, you can check hospital records. He also stole her families five million dollar family ring, then tried to propose to his girlfriend with it. Who, by the way, was one of the women he cheated on Carol with during their marriage, and she knew about the abuse. Was there every time the police would come around, she'd always be his character witness."

He tapped his chin with his finger. "What about Tate Wheeler?"

"Have you looked into him?" Tony nods. "Then you know he had a wife and a baby on the way?"