A Place In This World (Beginnings and Goodbyes, #1) {Completed}

something to believe in

Mr. Stark stops short when he sees me exit the quinjet. The landing pad of Stark Tower soars up high above the streets of Manhattan, the wind whipping my hair around my face. I've never been so high up in a building before, the surrounding gleaming skyscrapers near us and the distant muffle of traffic far below messing with my newly unlocked vertigo. I keep my eyes on Mr. Stark's face, the way his eyes alight on mine. I smile.

"Barton, what's your mini-me doing here?"

"She's my stowaway, Stark. Don't tell her mother." The two share a joking glance before Mr. Stark directs his full attention back to me, that incredulous smile not leaving his face. He approaches us, the ramp, and the cradle beyond that. He lands a hand on my shoulder, and we walk back up the ramp together, Dad trailing behind us.

"Oh ho ho, my gosh." He shakes his head. "What a turn of events, Katniss Everdeen. Some teenage rebellion never hurt anyone. I mean, look at me. Rebelled when I could, and I turned out just fine." He winks, and I smile wider. "Glad to have you here, Miss Barton. I hope you're planning on carrying your own weight around here. Help me with this, would ya?"

Mr. Stark fiddles with a panel on top of the cradle and uncovers its power reserves. With a few commands typed in, the cradle hovers off the ground and needs only a guiding hand to lead it off the quinjet and through the seamless glass sliding doors into the tower. I blink, take in the futuristic interior, the light streaming in through every glass surface, the Stark technology embedded into everything.

"The lab's through here." Mr. Stark nods to an open double doorway to our right. "Once I've got this cradle figured out, I'll give you a tour. That is if it's alright with your dad." He gives a pointed look to my father.

Dad raises his eyebrows. "The last thing my rebellious daughter needs is being around your influence too long. Don't forget she's on probation. Not yet free to roam around wherever she wants. Her mother will be calling me some time soon, I'm sure."

A cell phone begins to buzz.

"Speaking of whom." Dad fishes out his cellphone, and my stomach drops, and it feels like my vertigo has worsened. He fixes me with a look after glancing at the caller ID. "Don't listen to anything he says, and don't touch anything. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," I say. But my words are timid as I watch my father walk down to the end of the hall, struggling to get a word in with my mother, as Mr. Stark directs me and the cradle through the open doors of the lab. The urge to touch every unfamiliar thing in the lab is strong as I take in devices I've never seen before. I recognize the basic monitors, power cords plugged into generators, and the transparent, blue screens of Mr. Stark's own invention.

Mr. Stark gives me a sympathetic frown when I meet his gaze. "You'll be lucky if you're grounded until you're thirty."

"I'll be lucky if I'm allowed to live."

He chuckles to himself as he glances down at the container between us. "I guess we'll have to bet on it. I've got a good feeling I'd win. Help me get this over here. I need to hook it up to an energy source and run some tests. Maybe I can show you what I'm hoping to find."

"Like what? What are you hoping to find?" I look down at the figure resting inside. Foreboding pricks the back of my neck, hardens the pit in my stomach.

Before he can answer me, a new voice cuts in.

"What is she doing here?"

"Ah, Dr. Banner. You remember Cara. She's playing hooky, skipping out on her chores to be here with us. The more the merrier at this point, am I right?"

Mr. Stark sounds sarcastic, maybe a little tense, but Dr. Banner says nothing as he emerges from what looks like his office. Everything looks so open with the glass walls, and as I step further into the lab, I marvel at the glass floor that reveals a room full of supplies and weapons and suits for missions directly below us.