"What the hell do they want?" I muttered to myself, diving into a bush again. This happened many times during the night, the muttering and the bush hiding. I was growing annoyed, but a strange part of me was enjoying this completely.
Once I was certain the car and plane had passed, I got back on my bike and continued driving down the desolate road.
~<>~An Hour Later~<>~
I found a plane hangar and ditched my bike in the bushes. I couldn't fly planes, but I was damn sure it didn't take too much to learn. Besides, a plane might've just been a great idea.
Well. They already want me captured. Let's give 'em another reason. I reasoned to myself. I searched the place until I found a small plane that looked pretty simple to control. It didn't look too much different than a video game I was great at, and assumed I could take care of myself with it.
To my surprise, the plane was ready to fly, no security, and there was a gun and some food in the back seat. Smiling, pleased with myself and my choice, I pressed a few buttons and continued grinning as the plane moved forward.
"Alright, so you've got it moving. Now to get it flying," I told myself, trying to keep my thoughts organized. This proved fairly easy, and in just a few minutes I was up in the air.
I knew that my small bi-plane was no match for the S.H.I.E.L.D. jets, but I guessed I had a good chance at getting away. After all, they probably wouldn't expect me to be in the air.
~<>~Several Hours Later~<>~
The plane was running out of fuel. I landed it, not so smoothly, on an empty road, not too far from a town. I flew it down the street as far as I could, then ran into town quickly to buy some fuel. It was quite funny, they actually sold gallons at the nearest gas station.
I bought twelve gallons, with the hundred dollars Tony gave me just a night ago. It hurt to think about it, like pricking your finger on a thorn, but I just ignored it and looked up to the T.V. screen instead.
"Just In: S.H.I.E.L.D. agencies are on the search for one young woman- Shania Marone. So far she has avoided capture using her motorcycle and a plane. We assume she is somewhere within the state of Tennessee. There is a three million dollar reward," the reporter announced, and a picture of me flashed on the screen.
Thankfully, my face was filled with grime so I was unrecognizable. Deciding taking chances wasn't a good idea, I hurried from the store and quickly filled up the plane, putting the extras in the back. I was shocked I meant so much to the Avengers, but I wasn't about to let them get me yet.
"So I'm in Tennessee, huh?" I queried, and lifted the plane back into the air, thinking about where to go next. I had several missed calls, from Ashley, Natalia, Tara, and Stark. I listened to the voicemails.
From Ashley- "Whoa! You're all over the news! I have a feeling this is about that man you were with yesterday, and let me just tell you this: get back soon. I'm always willing to help out if you need it.". I was touched.
From Natalia- "What's going on? I'm being questioned about you, and they keep asking if I know where you are. They offered me a reward if I told them, but I didn't know anything.".
From Tara- "I don't know what's happening, but good luck. I know you, and you wouldn't run for nothing. Stay safe, Shania. I'm here to help if you need it.".
Guess I knew who my true friends were. I looked back at my phone, and listened to the last one.
From Tony- "Shania, I know you're confused and I'm so sorry for this, but you need to turn yourself in. You're not in any trouble, we just need to talk to you about your powers. I personally promise you will be fine.".
This angered me. Like, ridiculously much. I dialed his number, and he picked up immediately.
"Shania! Where are you?".
"Where in the hell do you think I am? I'm running from your stupid organization!".
"Well stop. We just want to talk to you, Shania.".
I snorted into the phone. "No way. I was almost a science project once before, I'm not going to put myself in that position again.".
"Shania, no one wants to run tests on you," Tony tried to assure me over the phone.
"I don't believe you!" I screamed, and hung up. Bad move, girl. They probably have you being traced. I realized my brain was right, and threw my phone out the door. Flying was no longer a good idea either.
I landed the plane in a swampy place, I'm assuming in Florida. I grabbed the gun, a Glock, and packed the food into a survival bag. I grabbed a few other things I found back there, like a flash light, and headed off.
~<>~An Hour Later~<>~
My train of thought was interupted as I felt something sharp cut into my ankle. I looked down, but saw nothing and looked up into the tree I had stopped by. "Won't be a bad place to rest.".
The climb wasn't hard, there were plenty of hand-holds for me. It was actually really fun to climb, probably because it seemed so childish. The last time I had climbed a tree was in high school, and that was as a dare.
I sat down on a branch near the top, still suprisingly strong. I wasn't going to actually sleep here, just rest myself.
Then people crashed my good time. I could hear them calling my name, but I felt safe in the branches. My guess was that they wouldn't find me up here, and I was right.
The search party passed below me, but I almost called out to them. Wanna know why? Because Tony was there. He looked stressed, and upset. It seemed off character.
They studied my boot print in the mud, and saw it was fresh from just a few minutes ago. "She can't be far," someone said, and I watched Stark's face light up. It killed me to watch, but I still couldn't get the nerve to go down there.
I had realized during my walk that Tony was telling the truth, but I couldn't accept it. The question- "If they don't want me for a science project, what do they want me for?" -kept playing in my head.
The team split up, and to my dismay Stark stayed where he was and leaned against the tree I was in. He wore a t-shirt and some jeans, with thigh-high muck boots. It looked funny to me, and I stifled a giggle.
He took off his gloves and pressed his hand to his head, muttering something I couldn't hear. I could tell from the tone it wasn't too happy though.
I sensed he was worried, and it hurt me to hurt him. Cliche, right? Deciding that if he stayed there I was gonna crack, I threw a can of food into the woods and heard them squelch. Someone yelled "Over here!" and Tony hurried off.
A sigh of relief escaped my mouth. I still felt terrible, and I considered coming down. I could tell no one wanted to hurt me, just find me. I truly didn't understand.
That's exactly what got me moving down the tree. The fact that I didn't understand. I trailed after Tony, following his boot prints in the mud.
The team of people were gathered around the can of food. "She threw this. There are no footprints around here. It was thrown to distract us," a man with blondish hair said. I glared at him for figuring it out, but gave him some props.
Someone patted Stark's back. "Don't worry, we'll find her," a man with sandy colored hair assured him. Again, that twinge in my heart.
The rest of the people nodded. Sighing, I stepped from the trees. "Stark?" I asked quietly. No one heard. "Stark?" I repeated, louder.
Five heads turned to me, and then I was smothered in a hug from Tony. I hated to admit it, but it felt wonderful to be there in his arms, and for the time being I felt I made the right choice. I hugged him back.
I could feel him crushing my ribs, and I pushed him off. "Hey, hey. I survived thus far, I don't need a couple broken ribs," I teased, and turned to the other people.
Tony coughed and nodded, then looked at the team. "Well anyway, this is Natasha Romanoff, otherwise known as the Black Widow," he said, and she stepped forward. I nodded and shook her head.
"Glad your safe kid. You had Stark so stressed, we couldn't accomplish anything until we found you," she chuckled. I laughed with her.
"This is Clint Barton, or Hawkeye," Tony went on. Clint shook my hand briskly. No words.
"Next, Bruce Banner.". I knew from the news that this man was the Hulk, so I didn't ask about the second name.
"Pleased to meet you," he said, shaking my hand.
"The pleasure is mine," I replied.
"Finally, here's Steve Rogers- or Captain America," Tony finished. I extended my hand, and he took it and kissed my knuckles.
"I've heard much about you, ma'am," Steve stated.
"And I, you," I replied politely, not sure how else to respond to the kissing of the knuckles. I knew the whole back-story about it, so I dismissed it.
Water started creeping into my boots, and I shifted around. "Um, not to crash the party or anything but can we get out of here? I'm swimming in my shoes," I claimed, and the group, whom were the Avengers, started laughing.
I cocked an eyebrow, and they saw I wasn't kidding. "Of course, ma'am," Captain replied.
"Call me Shania, please," I responded. Captain nodded and lead the way towards a small road.
~<>~Ten Minutes Later~<>~
We approached a large truck, which just barely fit on the road. A man with an eye patch of his face looked at me, and said, "So you found her,".
I could already tell I was not going to like this guy. A sense of seriousness radiated from him, and I got the idea it never really went away.
Natasha and Clint jumped into the flatbed part of the truck, pulling me up behind them. Tony and Steve climbed up after, making sure I didn't fall on my face or anything. It made me feel incapable, but I swore I would take care of it later.
I sat quietly, hugging my knees and watching the scenery pass. No one spoke, for there was nothing to say. Everyone was soaking, and the wetness was getting on everyone's nerves. Not to mention the fact I trusted no one, and felt betrayed by Tony.
Then I remembered poor Ashley and Tara. Natalia had completely slipped my mind. I made a mental note to call them, tell them I was alright. I knew they were worried, and I was worried about them.
What also hit me was the memory of Natalia's call. She said she had been questioned, so I assumed Tara and Ashely had been too, and I felt angry. I swore to myself that if they had hurt a single hair on either of their heads, they'd really have a problem.
"I didn't know you could fly a plane," I heard Tony say from across from me. I pulled out of my world of thoughts, and turned to him.
"Because I couldn't. I learned on the 'fly'," I joked half-heartedly. He nodded and I got a few looks of approval. Everyone was staring at me now.
"What?" I asked. They all looked away, without answering. I ignored it and went about drying my clothes with my 'powers' that had caused all this trouble.
Again, stares. I raised an eyebrow at them, and they looked at my clothes and back to me. "Oh. Now I get it," I said awkwardly, and silently dried all of them off as well. I pulled my messy hair into a ponytail and went back to watching the trees pass.
It was night, and very hot. Florida was Florida, I guess. I just wished I could enjoy it more, I had always wanted to be to Florida. I looked to the sky, smiling at the stars, and then back at the truck.
Everyone but me and Tony had fallen asleep, and Tony was staring at the stars like I had. I cleared my throat, and he glanced at me.
"Sorry for running off. I just didn't want to be an experiment," I apologized. Tony came over and sat by me.
"It's OK. I was just worried you'd get eaten or something," he replied. I chuckled and suddenly felt very sick. I figured it was just a bug I caught from trudging around in the swamps, but Tony looked quite concerned again.
"What's wrong?" he asked. I shook my head, feeling faint.
"Nothing," I replied calmly. He nodded, and turned away. I rolled my jeans up a bit, an just as I feared two bite marks looked up at me. My foot was a slightly purplish color, and blood glittered on the top of the wound.
I bit my lip, deciding if I should tell Tony. Why? It was probably just a water snake. Don't worry him for no reason.
Deciding I would be fine, I lay my head on Tony's shoulder and fell asleep.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It's bad decision day! Haha. I made a few terrible ones myself.