Sparrows and Iron

Chapter 5

-Present Day, Avengers Tower-

Tony had a lot on his mind. Mostly Jenny. The way her face lit up when they talked, how her gentle laugh sounded when he told a joke...

What? No, no, no... He couldn't be... Could he? Could he, Tony Stark, actually be falling for this strange girl? He shook these thoughts away and went back to toying with a piece of his suit.

Meanwhile, Nat was mulling over every fact that they had about Jenny. She was determined to find out everything she could about this girl, which wasn't turning out to be much. Frowning, she called out to the resident AI.

"FRIDAY, where's the girl?"

Immediately, an automated Irish voice responded, "Am I correct in assuming that you are referring to Miss Jenny, Agent Romanoff?"

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Yes. Could you get her out of her room? I need to talk to her."

"Miss Jenny is not in her room."

"Then is she in the lab?" questioned the spy.

"No."

She frowned. Those were the mutant girl's two main hangouts...

"Then where is she?"

Silence.

"FRIDAY, where is the girl?"

If a robot could sound hesitant, FRIDAY certainly did.

"Miss Jenny is not here."

"Come again?"

"Miss Jenny left the building, not long ago."

Natasha's jaw clenched. Of course. Tony had done something for the girl--which no one knew what--and now she was gone.

"Get Stark. We're going after her."

---

The small coffee shop was mostly peaceful. An elderly couple sat in the corner booth reminiscing about the good old days; a few twenty-something-year-olds were busy with their laptops.

Suddenly, the little bell jangled urgently as a young woman wearing a dark coat burst into the cafe.

"Get out! Everyone, out right now!"

The few occupants looked at her strangely, unsure if they should take her seriously. But, they could see out the window, a few confused customers of the stores next door were slowly moving away from the row of buildings. Deciding to trust this odd stranger, they quickly grabbed their things and evacuated.

Outside, the mysterious girl herded everyone away from the structure that they had formerly been occupying. Once they were at a safe enough distance, Jenny sighed in relief.

Then, she was unexpectedly grabbed by the arm. It was Natasha.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

Jenny opened her mouth to respond, but Tony beat her to it.

"Romanoff! Let her go."

He pulled the two apart, inspecting Jenny for any injuries. Just as he was about to ask her if she was okay, an explosion rocked the ground and the building went up in a cloud of fire and debris.