Shadowbreath: The New Avenger

Chapter 7

Edit (02/01)

Natasha Romanoff curled her lip in frustration. She and Tony had gotten to Maryland too late, and the three trucks transporting the dismantled alien parts had already been torn apart. Dammit.

From what she could gather, the drivers had been knocked unconscious and thrown out of the trucks while the vehicles were moving. The poor bastards were nursing their wounds in the hospital, but at least they were alive. From what Natasha had seen, this girl could have killed them easily if she wanted to.

It had been four weeks since she, Rhodey, and Fury had arrived in New York and they weren't any closer to catching her. Only two reports of a sighting had come in and both times she had vanished before they got there.

"Whoever this girl is, she's getting on my last nerve." Natasha huffed, depositing a small piece of one of the crushed trucks back onto the scorched asphalt.

Stark's helmet retracted, and his irked expression matched what she was feeling. "How does she get away so fast? My software hasn't been able to lock onto her face long enough to have it registered. I'm going to have to make some adjustments when we get back to the lab."

Natasha smirked at that, "Maybe you can have Peter help you."

Stark's eyebrows reached for his hairline. "Interesting. That's the first time you've mentioned the kid."

She shrugged, "I like what you're doing for him. It's obvious that he worships the ground you walk on."

"He does not!" Stark scoffed, then rolled his eyes at her disbelieving leer. "Okay, maybe a little. I kind of like it."

"You like anyone who boosts your oversized ego, Stark." Natasha turned on her heel to walk the perimeter of the crash site again. "It looks like a bomb went off here. The Enhanced really did a number on these trucks."

He nodded, scanning the scene one more time before switching on his thrusters and pushing into the air. "I'm going to do another sweep around the area and see if I can find anything. Are you good to get back to the compound?"

"Yeah, I've got the Quinjet over there." She tilted her head towards the cornfield. "When the kid gets there this weekend, we should all do dinner together. Minus Fury, of course."

Iron Man stared at her for a moment, "Are you serious? I can never tell."

She waved him off and turned back towards the wreckage. "Of course I'm serious. I expect something exquisite. If you burn my food, I'll cut out your tongue."

"I'll make sure to warn the kid." Tony said with a smirk before blasting off into the air.

Smart man.

XX

"Karen, what time is it?" Peter asked as he swung upwards and flipped down onto the top of an old building in the industrial side of town.

"It is currently two-fifteen a.m., Peter."

He groaned, collapsing onto the building's ledge and letting his feet dangle to take a breather. It had been a long night of patrolling. He had stopped four muggings, six robberies, and helped the police with two high-speed chases. Did all of the criminals in Queens just up and decide to go be evil tonight or something? Geez.

Peter pulled off his mask, happy to have a little bit of fresh air and time to rest. He had missed a few calls from May, but he texted to assure her that he was fine, and that he'd wake her up when he finally made it home.

At least he'd get to see Tony tomorrow. Happy was supposed to pick him up from school like he did last few Fridays, and Peter hadn't gotten any indication that the plan had changed. Despite how busy Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, and Director Fury were with trying to find the new Enhanced lady, his mentor still gave him plenty of attention.