HER INITIAL SHOCK COULDN'T HIDE HOW COOL BRONWEN THOUGHT THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT IN HER POWERS WAS.
It then took her a moment to realise that Peter was stuck to the side of the bridge, carefully watching the people on the other side. It also took her a moment to realise that she was in full view of these people, and if they turned, they'd spot her straight away.
As silent as she could, Bronwen stepped back into the shadows, wishing she could teleport away from the scene. It was foolish of her to come anywhere near these guys! One sound and she'd be barbecue meat.
"You letting off shots in public now?" One of the men said, his voice carrying over the slight breeze.

"Hurry up. Look, times are changing. We're the only ones selling these high-tech weapons."

"I need something to stick up somebody. I'm not trying to shoot them back in time."

"I got antigrav climbers." A man leaning into a van called out, listing what they had in stock.

"Yo, climbers?"

Bronwen winced as a ringtone started playing out into the clearing. Guns were drawn, and Peter pulled out his phone.
"Okay what the hell is that? Did you set us up?"

Suddenly, Peter dropped, landing in a crouched position, "Hey, hey, man. Hey!" He waved his arms, Bronwen swearing that this kid was gonna get himself killed, "Hey, come on. You gonna shoot at somebody, shoot at me."

"All right." The man who was looking through the truck pulled out a metal-looking glove and blasted Peter.

Peter — Spider-Man — was thrown back. As the van packed up and drove off, Bronwen rushed out of her hiding place, hands thrown up to cushion his fall.
Well, cushion it as well as a solid wall wall of concrete could do.
"What was that?" Peter muttered, rubbing at his forehead.

He looked up and his masks eyes widened at the sight of Bronwen standing over him, "What the hell!" He scuttled to his feet, "Bronwen you need to get back. Like, right now."

Bronwen ignored him, the same sensation she felt with the guys at the ATM surrounding her. She could feel the ends of her hair lift as her power surged through her blood, "Race you to the van?"

"No — Bronwen!" Peter shouted as she ran off, "Get back to Liz's!" When she didn't answer, Peter shook his head, muttering something about wondering how a girl could be so broken but when it came to the dangerous stuff she was perfectly fine.

He yelped, his web had attached itself to the back of the van and it pulled him to the floor, dragging him behind.
Peter kept an eye out for his blonde friend as he tried to keep a hold on the van. It swerved and hit him into a pile of rubbish. His grip loosened, and the van slipped out of his grasp, "Great. Guess I'm gonna have to take a shortcut."

Meanwhile Peter swung through multiple civilians backyards, Bronwen was crouched on the top the van, watching as Peter rushed to keep up.
There wasn't much she could do, she'd jumped into the situation without thinking of any of the consequences. Peter was the hero — Spider-Man was the hero. Not a broken girl from Australia.
She stood as she saw Peter re-emerge, jumping, "Surprise!"

But before he could land on the van, next to Bronwen, something as dark as the night sky swooped down and caught him, two green dots were all she saw as Spider-Man was lifted into the sky, out of reach.
She gulped, jumping off the van and teleporting after Spider-Man. She couldn't let him get away — couldn't let Peter get hurt, otherwise she'd blame it all on herself.
Bronwen always considered herself a liability to those around her, and this time, she had proof.

She followed the red speck in the air to a large river, she waded into the freezing water. Peter was dropped. Without a second thought, she dived into the water, using her power to cover her eyes, creating her own waterproofing.
She spotted Peter as soon as he hit the water, material was wrapped around him and her heart panged as he went still for a second.
Bronwen reached him, shivering in the water, the darkness clouding her as her own mind had on the day of the accident. She bit back her fear and focused on the task at hand — she had to do this. If he... if he died, then it would be all her fault.
She unwrapped the material from around Peter, and in a flash the two where hurled of the water, both soaking, Bronwen's hair plastered to her face and neck.

As the pair looked up, and saw who their rescuer was, they sighed. They were flown to a clearing near Liz's house, Peter and Bronwen being set on the climbing frame.
Bronwen sighed again, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes. It was freezing, sure, but she'd rather this than the idea of Peter's corpse washing up on the shore.
"—and then he just, like, swooped down like a monster..." Peter said, retelling the story to the one and only Iron Man, hidden in his suit, hovering before them, "...and picked me up, and took me up like a thousand feet and just dropped me. How'd you find me? Did you put a tracker in my suit?"

"I put everything in your suit." Tony replied, "Including this heater."

Bronwen shivered as she watched steam appear around Peter, his eyes fluttered, "That's better. Thanks."

"What were you thinking? The both of you."

"The guy with wings is the source of the weapons. I gotta take him down."

Bronwen stayed silent as Tony turned to face her, demanding an explanation, "Take him down now, huh? Peter, there are people who handle this sort of thing."

"The Avengers?"

"...No. This is a little below their pay grade."

"Mr. Stark, you didn't have to come out here. I had that— I was fine."

"Oh, I'm not here." Tony said, and the mask of his suit popped open, revealing that the suit was only an empty shell, remotely controlled, "Thank God this place has Wi-Fi or you would be toast right now... Thank Ganesh while you're at it. Look, forget the flying vulture guy, please."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I said so! — Sorry, I'm talking to a teenager — Stay close to the ground. Build up your game helping the little people, like that lady that bought you the churro. Can't you just be a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man?"

Peter shifted on the frame, "But I'm ready for more than that now."

"No, you're not." Tony muttered, "Annie."

Bronwen flinched, eyes downcast, as Tony's attention was given to her, "I'm sorry." Was all she said, her hands shaking not just from the cold.

"I don't know what you're trying to do Annie, or what's happened to you during the time I haven't seen you, but the world doesn't need another sacrifice."

"I-I'm really sorry, Mr. Stark." She stuttered, "I-I don't know what's happening to me. This-this...I..." her hands began to glow as silent tears fell down her face.

"Kid, what's happening?"

Peter looked between Bronwen and Tony, "I don't know, Mr. Stark she's just shaking and — what do I do?"

Neither person knew what to do as Bronwen began to collapse in on herself, she fell through the bars and landed on the ground with a thump, her ears drowning out the voices of Peter and Tony. Her skin began to take on the purple hue of her power as she hugged herself, settling into the fetal position.
"Bronwen!"

"—I'm going to get her out of here—"

"Mr. Stark wait!"

She blocked out all noise as fell into her mind, drifting, drifting, into an endless sleep.

∆ ∆ ∆

Bronwen recognised the room she woke up in the next morning.
The same green patterned wallpaper on the walls, the sparse furniture — only a chest of draws for her clothes, a lamp flickering on top, and her iron-barred bed, the mattress feeling more like rocks than the springs and filling inside.
It wasn't until a knock on her door reminded her that this was her room, and Tony Stark managed to find his way inside. It wouldn't have been hard, considering anyone could open her window from the outside.
Bronwen winced as she pushed herself up, her lumpy pillow creating the gap between the bars and her back. She tracked the movement of the white-clad figure as they entered, a smile plastered to their face.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Stacy." Her feet were silent as moved to sit on the edge of Bronwen's bed, "But you can call me Gwen."

∆ ∆ ∆

Eek! Plot twist much??
School's catching up to me — starting in three days. God, it's so close, which means slower updates for everything! Ugh, I really wanted to get this even close to finished but, in my usual fashion, I haven't.
Anyway, till the next chapter!