Tracking Down the Metal Arm

Chapter One

My day was actually going great, I had a coffee downtown and was able to get a chapter of my book done. It wasn't until I was walking home that my calm day withered away. It was near Fifth Street that the explosion happened. The second I blacked out I hoped it was a dream. My life flashed before my eyes and I pictured my parents sitting on that train, wondering if they had experienced the same. My head was pounding so hard I thought it was the end. Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a group of weirdos.

Now it's been two hours and these people won't stop staring at me. There's three unnaturally muscular men and a redheaded women scattered around the room, all of which look oddly familiar. No one has spoken a word and I'm getting sick of it. I decide to sit up but am immediately pushed back down by the guy with short blonde hair and kind blue eyes.

"Nope. You can't get up yet," he says soothingly. He turns to the redhead. "Can you go grab some painkillers?" She nods and walks out of the room.

"So is someone going to tell me where I am?" The question comes out more as a whisper, barely finding its way out of my vocal cords. The redhead comes back in with a cup of water and some pills. Scared of what they might do to me if I don't take them, I obey when they hand me the meds.

"This is Stark Tower. You'll be safe here until you're healed," she says more professionally than I was expecting from people who basically kidnapped me, given I probably should be in the hospital right now. "I'm Natasha by the way; Natasha Romanoff."

"Shouldn't I be in the hospital?" I question. The dude with the goatee, who stereotypically looks like the richest of them, comes up and looks at me judgingly.

"Probably," he shrugs, "but at least here there's no copay."

"Well in that case I expect top notch medical performance."

"That's where I come in," the dark haired guy with glasses walks up, shaking my hand. "Bruce Banner, doctor and scientist."

"Well, doctor, you think I'll survive?" I joke.

"Honestly, I'm not so sure. The pipe hit you pretty hard and even though it wasn't from one of our battles, it was still an intense blow. You're pretty lucky you landed in front of Steve. God only knows he would have to be frozen in the ice to not save you."

The blonde haired one, I mean Steve, rolls his eyes. He pushes Dr. Banner out of the way and sits in the chair next to the couch I'm on. "How about you guys leave and I'll catch her up on what's going to happen to her?"

"Well we all know you can handle that," the rich guy laughs.

Natasha smacks his arm. "Knock it off, Tony." She turns to Steve. "We'll go take a walk."

They all leave and I'm left with Steve. We sit in awkward silence for a few minutes until he shifts uncomfortably in his seat, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm really sorry about what happened to you. I know how hard it is to be clueless about what happened to you."

"I'd love to hear your story but can you please help me up first? This is a very uncomfortable couch for a millionaire house," I ask politely, hoping he missed the last part of what I said.

"I don't think that would be safe, sweetheart, but we can try." He grabs my arm and helps me up. The bump in my skull feels like I'm balancing three copies of Le Miserables  on top of my head. "A-are you okay?" he asks sounding really worried.

"I'm fine. Don't worry," I lie. "Maybe I should try to get right back on my feet. I never liked being helpless or lying around, even when I was a kid and had the flu."

"Spoken like a true soldier. Did you serve?"

"Can't say I have. What about you?" My question paints a look of confusion and shock on his face, as if I should know this fact about a guy I just met.