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The Girl in the Iron Mask

Chapter 8 – Mind If I Cut In?

The rest of the night that followed was unlike any Jasmine had experienced before, or since. Not only could she not sleep, but she could think of nothing except what had happened between her and her dad. She lost count of how many times she tossed and turned in her bed, how many times she tried to force herself to sleep, but failed each time. After six years she was again feeling the fear that she felt after her traumatic kidnapping. But now it wasn't the fear of being harmed by criminals, it was the fear of being discovered that she herself was one. She couldn't stand it. She wished someone would just come in and knock her out. Finally, after losing too many times to the insomnia that plagued her, Jasmine decided it was time to bring out the big guns.

She tossed the covers aside, went downstairs, and headed for the medicine cabinet. After a short but anxious search, and seeing on the clock – to her dismay – that it was nearly three in the morning, she finally found the Benadryl. She caught two of the hot pink pills in her hand, put them in her mouth, and swallowed with a couple sips of water before returning to her room.

After taking care of some other things, Jasmine crawled back into her bed. Before long, the diphenhydramine in the pills began to work its magic, and she fell asleep.

The following morning, she awoke to find herself glued to her sheets with sweat, the source of which she didn't know, whether it be the heat of the summer, or her own ever-growing anxiety and nervousness. Even so, deciding that she likely wasn't going to fall back asleep, she climbed out of bed and stretched.

After thinking it over, Jasmine decided to do what she always did whenever she felt anxious. She went to her bathroom, took off her clothes, and turned the water in her shower on hot. She loved hot baths every once in a while (who didn't?), especially when she felt particularly stressed out about something. Sitting in the hot water somehow made it easier for her to process her thoughts, and indeed, she breathed a sigh of relief once she sat down in the tub.

But then, she caught notice of the bruises that were beginning to form on her body: on her left leg, rib cage, and upper arm. She wasn't wearing as much armor as her dad was, so Jasmine knew she was lucky to grab those lines and let the lanterns break her fall, otherwise she would have broken a lot of things, maybe even been killed. She was surprised that the necklace hadn't been broken throughout the whole thing. The night before, she examined it, and although the glass casing did have a few cracks, the necklace remained intact. But the emotional consequences rested heavier on Jasmine's already weary shoulders than the physical ones.

As much as she wanted to avoid it, she'd confronted her own father, and he never knew it. She knew she shouldn't be mad at him for not knowing, yet she still wanted to be mad at something. But why did she need to be? Against all odds, she'd managed to take the necklace and conceal her identity. And here she was, feeling like a sick, twisted version of Robin Hood.

Jasmine wished her mom were here. She gasped slightly when she realized how much she missed her. Sure she'd missed her when she went on trips before but, never like this. While Jasmine loved her dad and thought of him as her hero, there were holes in her life that only her mom could fill, and she filled them well. She remembered how selfless Pepper had acted the night they were kidnapped, and found herself regretting that she hadn't given her credit for it. She probably would've caught on to Jasmine's plan to steal the painting before she went through with it. Her mom was good at that: almost always knowing what Jasmine was going to do before she did it. But what would she say now? Did she know about all this where she was?

Jasmine could only put her hand to her aching forehead. It was only one worry stacking on top of another, and now it was threatening to crash down in a miserable heap. She couldn't stand the idea of both her parents discovering that she was their little girl by day, and a master thief by night. Even worse, what if all this had been over nothing? What if was all a fraud, one giant mistake? She knew she'd seen the messages, and yet, not one brainwashed person had come after her. She knew it was likely due to protecting her identity, but the doubt still hung over her head like a dagger dangling by a string soon to break.

As Jasmine sat in the tub, she knew that she had to do something before she lost her mind, but what? She couldn't keep up this masquerade forever. The moment her dad found out…she began to shiver despite sitting in hot water. After then going over – seemingly for an eternity – over what she could possibly do to prevent this from getting any more insane, she reluctantly came to the most reasonable, yet still not easy, solution: she needed to turn herself in.

Feeling even more dirty than clean, Jasmine rose out of the tub and wrapped her bathrobe around her. She dried her hair as thoroughly as possible, and then left the bathroom to look for something to wear.

"Miss," Jarvis suddenly spoke, "what are you doing?"

"Jarvis," Jasmine replied, "this is gonna sound crazy but, this is getting way too out of hand. I'm giving myself up."

"What? After all that you've done?" Jarvis asked in alarm.

Jasmine continued, feeling the irony that she behaved like him, and he like her, only a couple weeks ago, though now they felt like twenty years, and she'd clearly gotten more than what she bargained for. "Look, no girl should ever have to endure the stress I'm going through. Besides, if my dad unmasks me himself, he'll bury me alive and dance on my grave. But if I give up myself willingly, I'll still face punishment but, at least he'll appreciate my honesty."

"Are you sure you want to do this? Do you know what you could be facing?"

"Yeah," Jasmine replied, "But I can't think of anything else to do."

"I should have seen this coming," Jarvis said, "I only hope you know what you're walking into."

"I do," Jasmine nodded. But then, she couldn't help but stop and sigh, "At least, I hope I do."

Before long, Jasmine was dressed and ready. She was wearing clothes that hid her developing bruises, wanting to break the news to her dad without any suspicious feature. She then hurried down the stairs, through the living room, out the door, and into one of the cars. Soon, she found herself on the road, toward the last place she wanted to be, but the first place she needed to be: her dad's office.

She obviously had to go to him first. She didn't have any emotional attachment to the police, and maybe once Tony told them the truth, they'd lessen her punishment a bit. It seemed unlikely, but she couldn't help but think of it as a possibility.

She also couldn't help but think of what had been happening between her and her dad even before she made this discovery. She remembered their argument they had at the restaurant, how she accused him of loving his job more than her, of willingly missing her and Danielle being in "My Fair Lady", the school's play that year, where she and her best friend played the roles of Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins, respectfully. It was where she got the idea to use a British-accented voice, since her father likely never saw the recording of the dress rehearsal. If her life was a musical, this would probably be a part where she broke out in song, singing of the stress that she endured, and the solution she'd come up with.

But Jasmine now realized that those accusations weren't fair. True, she still resented that he didn't come and see her, but she found herself remembering all the times her dad did come through for her. Though she'd forgotten it at the time, she remembered that he did come just in time to see her perform in her last gymnastics tournament for the school year back in early May. In fact, all the times that he'd come to see her outnumbered the times he didn't.

She couldn't expect him to be perfect. No one was, after all. But she could expect him to be a great dad, and that, despite his faults, was what he most definitely was.

But now…Jasmine gulped loudly as she came to the building, the big, tall one with the name Stark across it. She'd been here before, but it never felt so massive and overwhelming. Still, as she parked, she knew that if she was going to tell Tony the truth, she had to have a worthy bearing. Thus, once she got out of the car, she stood straight and made sure her hair was in place, her clothes were hiding her bruises, and ignored her heart pounding as hard as ever, before breathing in a deep sigh, and walking in.

Inside, Tony stood alone in one of his meeting rooms, staring at the wall, but deep in thought. He was surprised he'd managed to get at least five hours of sleep the night before. When he woke up, he had a major breakthrough in a new plan to catch this most infuriating of opponents. He couldn't wait to show it to the police, and was eagerly awaiting their arrival. Were they not so busy trying to catch another peculiar suspect who was also getting popular with the news, a case he didn't care to get involved in – since one was stressful enough – he'd probably have a bit of a more relaxing day.

But for now, he had to narrow down on a possible picture of this thief who managed to outdo him in the field of intelligence. So far, he'd come to nothing but a blurred vision. Nothing seemed to make sense. Not only could he never track her signal, but from how old she was, to how she built the suit and why, to her bizarre behavior and personality, none of it added up. Tony was getting a massive headache, and he was pretty sure it wasn't a hangover. What he was sure of was that he had to stop her, or else he might lose his mind altogether.

"Hey Stark," a voice suddenly said. He turned around and saw Happy Hogan, his head of security.

"Oh hey man. Did the police call in?"

"No, it's your daughter," he replied.

"My daughter called in?"

"No," Happy replied with a bit of a chuckle, "She's here, and she wants to speak to you privately."

"Why?"

"She didn't say. Only that it was urgent and, she won't leave without seeing you."

Tony frowned, in concerned curiosity rather than frustrated resentment, and said, "Alright, bring her in."

Happy nodded and then left. Before long, Jasmine strode into the room, smiling, but – from what Tony could tell – had something on her mind.

"Hey Dad," she said, "You feeling better?"

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Uh yeah, thanks for asking. Who knew a little drink and a bit of sleep could work wonders?"

Jasmine gave a slight chuckle, but nothing else.

"So what you need?" her dad asked.

"Well, I thought I'd drop by to see how you're doing and…actually, there's something I need to tell you."

"Wait," Tony interrupted her, "I'm sorry but, I just remembered, I have something to tell you too. But, you want to go first?"

After briefly thinking it over, Jasmine shook her head. "No. You go first."

"Okay um…oh how do I explain this…" He then took a short moment to figure it out, and then said, "Jazz, you remember what happened last night? How I kind of went into a bit of a panic over not just being unable to find you but, about my plan falling through?"

Jasmine nodded, "Yeah."

"Well…" he began rubbing the back of his head. "Do you want to know the real reason why I asked you to come with me?"

"Yes," Jasmine replied. Though he didn't know it, her spine was tingling and her pulse pounded in her head.

"Well, like I said, I've been noticing the rift between you and me." The words he wanted to say were so simple, yet so hard to get out. "Truth is…I wanted you to think I was cool. I, wanted to impress you. See me like I was when I was Iron Man."

For a moment, Jasmine had a look on her face that Tony couldn't read. Was she angry? Confused? Either way, it didn't matter, because she slowly smiled and started chuckling.

"Dad," she said, "You're already cool to me, you don't need to impress me. In fact, that's what you've pretty much been doing my whole life. Remember when Mom and I got, kidnapped?"

Tony raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes briefly at that recollection of that memory. "Oh I don't think I've ever been more scared for either of you in my life."

"But you came," Jasmine said, "and before the police even did. And you weren't even in your Iron Man suit. Look, I don't care whether you're a billionaire inventor, or used to be this awesome superhero. You're my dad, and I love you for you."

Tony was mesmerized by her words, and he couldn't help but smile even though he'd done nothing but frown for what felt like forever. "You don't know how much those words mean to me."

"I had a feeling they would," Jasmine smiled back, "Mean much anyway."

"Yeah," Tony nodded, "Now then, you were saying?"

Jasmine's eyes immediately widened, and her smile left her. She genuinely meant the words she said, and used them as a way to put her troubling task in the back of her mind, but now the time had come to tell her dad the truth.

"Yeah," she said, "I was saying. Um…before I say it though, and now that I said I love you for you…you'd love me, no matter what, right?"

Her dad frowned again. He then rested his hand on her shoulder, but the touch felt almost foreign to Jasmine. "Of course I would," he said, "You're my little girl. You may not be so little anymore but…Oh I'll never forget how I felt when I held you for the first time after you were born, knowing I brought you into existence – with your mom's help of course."

Jasmine smiled again, but only for a second.

"And I did lose about a year of sleep after that. But I digress. My point is, no matter what I invent, or what I build, you are my greatest creation. And I'm proud to have you not just for an heir, but for a daughter."

Jasmine didn't know what to say. She was unsure now whether she could tell him the truth after all, not after hearing such simple yet wonderful words describing what he thought of her. But still, even now she could hear the voice of her conscience whispering to her, "He'll love you even more if you're honest. It's time to wrap up this number. It's time to tell the truth."

Deciding, against all other instinct, to go along with it, she looked into her dad's eye and, preparing for the most frightening of reactions, said, "Dad, I'm…"

"Stark!" a voice suddenly called.

Both looked down the hall and saw Happy, who now looked really urgent.

"What is it?" Tony asked, "Did they call in?"

"Uh huh," Happy nodded, "You don't have long."

Tony and Jasmine then looked back at each other. Tony, with reluctance in his voice, said to his daughter, "Jazz, I'm sorry but, I really gotta take this call. It can't wait."

Jasmine couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her dad was choosing his job over her. And after everything he just said! She wanted to cry, and indeed, she could already feel hot tears welling up in the back of her eyes, despite her best efforts to banish them. In a reaction fueled by a mixture of wild emotion, Jasmine did the one thing she wanted to do when she cried: she decided she wanted to be alone.

"Then neither can I," she said, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.

Before her dad could speak any further, Jasmine spun on her heels and walked hastily down the hall, and into the main lobby, aware that her dad was following her from behind.

"Wait, Jazz!" she heard him call, "Jasmine Antonia Stark!"

But she didn't answer, nor did she stop, or even look back. She ignored the curious looks of the workers, and made her way out the front door to the car. She started the engine, turned the car to the road, and was soon driving back home, with tears streaming down her face, but no sound escaping her lips.

She stomped through the front door of the house, not stopping until she reached the couch, where she immediately sat down. She looked down at the floor and crossed her arms. Her vision was blurred, but she could still make out her tears as they fell to the floor like drops of rain. She grabbed from the nearby box a piece of tissue paper, and wiped her eyes before blowing her nose, but still, the aching in both her head and her heart didn't vanish. In fact, she wished someone would come in right now and lobotomize her – a way to die without really dying.

Now that she thought of it though, she admitted she probably acted a bit rashly toward her dad. She'd felt the fight-or-flight feeling, and had chosen flight, like last night and the night before that. Why couldn't she be the hero she wanted to be? Why did this have to get bigger than she thought? If only...If only she had a friend to help her, like Danielle. If only she had some kind of backing…

Suddenly, Jasmine stopped mid-thought. Was she getting a new idea? Probably, but she hesitated. Her ideas lately had brought her nothing but trouble. Still, she'd managed to make it this far. She weighed the two choices in her mind, but after a while, the need to listen eventually won out.

Jasmine remembered back when she discovered the brainwashing message in the painting, how one of her options had been to go to S.H.I.E.L.D. Could she still get their attention now? Now that she had evidence to back up her claim against Loki? She'd already taken two art pieces, and there were still two left. Would it be possible for her to send a special message to them? How could she get them to turn their focus toward her?

Maybe she didn't have to reveal her identity yet after all. But if she was going to warn them about Loki, how was she going to do it? Before long, the answer became clear to her: She'd have to leave a message at the sight of a heist.

Maybe it was her logical side coming through, or the rebellious spirit of being sixteen breaking her, or both, but Jasmine now knew that she had a new trick up her sleeve. Now that she'd made a public name for herself, perhaps they'd take her seriously. It was a pretty complicated idea, but it was worth a shot. If they didn't listen, it'd be their loss, but she had to at least try.

"Jarvis," she called out.

"Yes Miss?"

Jasmine took a breather before replying, "I've been thinking and, I know I planned on turning myself in, but, I'm changing my mind. I'm getting back in the ring."

"You mean you intend to go back to stealing?" Jarvis asked, "Why?"

"I've decided to alert S.H.I.E.L.D.," Jasmine explained, "I obviously can't defeat Loki by myself. I'm gonna go through with another heist, but I'm gonna leave a message addressed to them for the police to find. It's pretty much the only way I'm gonna get it effectively to them."

"Are you sure about this? Just because you outsmarted your father twice doesn't mean you can do it for a third time. And besides, why are you so sure they'll listen to you, and especially when they see your record?"

"You forget whose daughter I am," Jasmine said, "And, I'm not entirely sure it'll work. But you know, I've been taking a lot of risks lately. It may be a longshot, but so were the first two heists. If I have any chance of clearing my name, I've gotta take it."

After a brief, silent pause, Jarvis spoke again. "It is a big risk, and your chances are very slim, but I will admit I did not believe you would make it this far."

"So, you're willing to help me?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes, but I can't guarantee that things will go as planned."

Jasmine reluctantly nodded. "I know, but I'm willing to try."

For the rest of that day, Jasmine and Jarvis collaborated and planned for a third heist, which would be a bit easier since she wasn't going to be attending any party, but at the same time harder, knowing the police, and likely her dad, would be more determined to trap her. The two decided that her next target would be one that had been causing a bit more controversy than the other – a small black mask with real diamonds on the border and around the eyes, known as the Mask of the Cat's Eye, located at the Museum of Fine Jewelry, one of the larger ones in the city. As before, Jasmine looked at digital maps of the building, and decided a course of action she'd take. She and Jarvis also deduced that it would probably be best to raid the museum at an earlier time than both her heists, which were done around ten p.m.

But she also had to write S.H.I.E.L.D. – specifically its commander, Nick Fury – a message. With gloves covering her hands to keep fingerprints off the paper, Jasmine took a pen and wrote her message in cursive – which she almost never wrote in. She was also careful to make sure she sounded like her alter-ego, with slightly different mannerisms. When the time came to seal it in an envelope, she used small droplets of water rather than her own saliva.

During all this, Jasmine wondered why her dad hadn't called to try and talk to her. Was it because he feared she wouldn't talk to him? Maybe. But then, Jasmine remembered the important call her dad had to answer. Had it been a call from the police to discuss their new plan? Once she realized that she couldn't help but slap her forehead at her stupidity. Now she'd never be secure enough to evade them. Then again, she did have Jarvis, and he'd helped her uncover the invisible lasers last night. But still…this was definitely going to be an incredibly risky job.

When everything was finally ready, and when she calmed her own nerves – not completely, but good enough – Jasmine donned her black outfit, gloves, and boots, which she'd recovered earlier from Chinatown. The sun had not fully set past the horizon, but that was just what she wanted. And she'd made sure to put in some necessary precautions at home. Her door was locked, in case her dad came home at the usual time, which she doubted. She also wouldn't be able to answer her phone in case he called, but that was okay. Both would be playing under the same assumption: that she was still angry with him. Jasmine couldn't help but wonder if this dance of deception would ever end.

"Okay J," she said after taking some breathing exercises, "Time?"

"Seven-thirty p.m. Miss," he replied.

"Perfect," Jasmine managed to smile, "You ready to do this?"

"I suppose," he replied, a bit of nervousness in his own voice.

"Alright," Jasmine nodded. She then went over to her balcony room, where she stood on the railing as she did the first night. In the same manner, she jumped and yelled, "Deploy!"

In a matter of seconds, she was again in her silver and purple armor, though regrettably, she wouldn't be using it most of the time. She then went back in, got her case – which, this time had some necessary essentials, not just the message – took one more deep breath, and flew toward the city, toward a possible trap.

She flew low for a short while, weaving between buildings, hopefully out of the sight of drivers, until Jarvis advised her that she was a twenty minute walk from the museum. It was part of her plan. Instead of flying – which they would undoubtedly expect – she would walk. Again, she weaved in and out between alleyways, following Jarvis's directions. Though the alleyways for most people wouldn't be safe during the evening, Jasmine felt a rare confidence. If she could take on her father then she could take on any bad guy who came her way. She did walk behind a seedy looking bar and was a bit concerned about two men she saw at one opening, speaking in gibberish and drinking what she assumed to be alcohol, but she managed to sneak her way between the buildings unseen. Silly Germans and their beer.

At one point, Jasmine came across a building that looked a bit familiar. Sure, most of these buildings she saw looked similar to each other, but she messaged Jarvis anyway.

"Jarvis," she whispered, knowing that she was now closer to the museum, "Is this it?"

"Yes," he replied, "the museum is in front of this building."

Jasmine nodded, but before she could think of her next move, she heard what sounded like a walkie-talkie going off. She looked in the direction of the sound and caught red and blue lights in her vision. Taking one baby step after another before stopping at the corner of the building, she looked around it slightly, and her heart sank when she saw the police cars parked in front. She'd had this hope in the back of her mind that the police – and her dad – wouldn't be there, or that they'd arrive later to find that she'd beaten them to it, but she had devised a plan that she believed should have a strong likelihood of working, with or without opponents in her way.

She snuck behind the building again, and proceeded to the top of the building as planned. She climbed on top of a dumpster and then jumped for a rusty but still sturdy ladder – broken, but low enough for her to grab onto. She then hurried up the ladder as fast as she could, until she made it to the top, and beheld the roof of the large building in person for the first time.

Meanwhile, inside the building itself, in an otherwise unimportant area, Tony and a couple other policemen stood at the ready, as they'd done since seven p.m., eagerly awaiting the moment the iron-clad lady fell into their trap.

"No offense Mr. Stark but, are you sure this is going to work?" one officer asked.

Tony was the most eager of them all. After what he had done after he had his revolutionary breakthrough, he felt certain there was no way his plan could fail. And after what happened between him and Jasmine, he had to turn to something to vent his ill feelings, and catching this thief at last seemed to be just the right thing for the job. "Believe me, if this doesn't work, I'm gonna fire myself. She may have gotten past the motion detectors, but there's no way she's getting past these, no matter how good she is."

From the looks of the officers, they seemed to be slightly nervous at just how eager he was. "I only hope you're right," one of them said to Tony.

Back outside, Jasmine was preparing herself, both physically and mentally, for perhaps the most dangerous part of her mission. She was planning on leaping across from the roof of the building she was on to the roof of the museum on the other side. When looking at a map of the building she saw that the only vents were at the back, where she was sure there were guards. But after observing the two buildings side by side, she deduced that she could most likely do it. The distance wasn't too far, the heights of the two buildings were roughly the same, and being an experienced gymnast, she was pretty agile and had done similar moves such as vaulting.

Not only that, but she'd heard of a non-competitive sport called free-running, which Danielle had showed her a bit of. Though free-running was dangerous and difficult to master, Danielle seemed to do it with a sort of ease, being of mixed blood.

But now, Jasmine was standing at the back of the roof and concentrating as hard as anyone could concentrate. She wished she could use her rockets, but the police and guards were likely to see them.

"Miss," Jarvis suddenly said, "are you sure this is safe?"

Jasmine shook her head slightly. "I don't know," she said, determination dripping from her voice, "but I'm about to find out."

She then closed her eyes, and took a long, deep breath, daring to defy the laws of nature, before she finally took off as fast as she ever did, arms stretched behind her for maximum speed. She could feel the pressure of the wind against her, when she jumped onto the edge of the building, and finally sailed across the gap, almost as if in slow motion, her arms stretched in front of her, her legs stretched behind, and her eyes instinctively closed to await her demise.

But it never came. Instead, she found herself landing in a soft spot of gravel, flipping forward, and then feeling her feet touch the ground. Immediately, she stood up again, and, once she saw that she had successfully made it across, gave a silent celebration at her most daring accomplishment as a gymnast, never mind if she didn't get an award for it.

But now that she was on the roof of the museum, there was no time to stand around. She proceeded with the next part of her plan, heading to the roof door, unlocking her case with it still on her back, and taking out her knife to unlock the door. Whether or not the door was set on an alarm, it didn't matter to her. In fact, it likely wasn't, since it looked so simple.

After a few seconds, she finally heard the moving of a lock, and no alarm. Breathing a sigh of relief, and keeping the knife in her hand, she then on went her way down the stairs, into the lair of danger that awaited her.

As Jasmine navigated her way through the dimly lit halls, she took every single one of Jarvis's warnings very seriously. Since they weren't hacking in to do anything to the cameras tonight, Jasmine found herself being glued to walls and corners, desperate to avoid any camera in sight. Whenever she heard even the slightest of unusual sounds, she hid behind the nearest corner.

Luckily though, her next destination wasn't too far from the stairs that led to the roof. She looked behind one corner and saw a dark looking door down the next hall. Thinking it might be the place, she asked Jarvis in the quietest of voices, "Is this it J?"

"Yes," Jarvis replied, "but be careful. Two guards are coming your way."

She didn't need his warning. Not only could she hear their footsteps, but she could also see the beams of their flashlights. Inching further down the hall and just past the previous corner, she sat down and hugged her knees to her chest as hard as she could. She bit her lip as she heard the footsteps get louder, and one flashlight beam come into view. It was directed down her hall, but she never felt it touch her. Before long though, the light disappeared, and after a while, so did the footsteps.

Jasmine rose back up, and headed for the door. After unlocking it with her knife, she locked it again behind her and turned on the light in the room. Once she saw the power box, and the vent above it, she knew she was in the right place. But now she needed to hurry. She put away her knife and then took out her screwdriver, using it to pull out the bottom screws of the vent. She hoped they hadn't figured out she'd used a vent to sneak into the other one.

When that was done, she opened the power box and then opened it again to reveal all sorts of different colored wires, but there was only one she was looking for. Her plan was to cut off the power to the whole building, lest they find her in the halls or she set off an alarm. She deduced that since she'd hacked in the first two times, they wouldn't expect her to cut off the power altogether.

Let's see, she observed, If I'm going to shut this place down, I'll need to cut…this one.

Putting down the screwdriver and screws, Jasmine took out of her case her next major essential: a wire-cutting instrument. She searched the forest of wires, and once she was absolutely sure she found the right one, she grit her teeth, and clamped the instrument down.

Darkness instantly fell over the room like a black veil. Jasmine was surprised she could see at all. But she had to keep moving. She put back the instrument, closed the box back up, grabbed the screwdriver and screws, and hastily climbed on top of the box and into the open vent. Luckily for her, the vent was slightly larger than the other one, making it easier for her to turn around in. She put the screws back into place, then turned back around and proceeded forward, using only her arms since her legs would increase the noise.

Jasmine held her breath as she traveled through the vent, knowing that at any time, her plan could fall through. For all she knew, there could have been lasers inside the vent itself, but Jarvis didn't report anything to her, and she had no reason to doubt him.

"You're almost there Miss," he messaged her at one point.

"Good," Jasmine whispered, "Do you see anything?"

"Nothing," Jarvis replied.

Jasmine couldn't help but frown. Hmm, that's weird.

But she continued on. She could feel her heart pound against her chest, leaving her to guess that if they couldn't hear the metal of her suit against the vent, they'd definitely pick up that. Before long though, she finally came to another vent opening.

"Is this it?" she asked Jarvis.

"Affirmative."

Jasmine nodded, took her screwdriver, and hastily loosened the bottom screws. She then turned around, crawled out, and let herself down on the floor. All around her she saw black, minus two windows that were letting in whatever light there was from the outside, now that the sun had set. But even in the darkness, Jasmine made out her target – the Mask of the Cat's Eye – by the diamonds that gave off the slightest hint of sparkling.

Remembering that Jarvis had seen no threat in here, but still prepared for anything, Jasmine slowly walked forward, until she was right in front of the mask. Taking a deep but silent breath, she took off her case, opened it, and then proceeded to open the glass casing that held the mask. Not willing to waste any time, she took out the mask, and replaced the letter with it. It seemed like she had pulled off her intensely risky plan as she put the mask and the screwdriver in the case and then closed it, when she suddenly caught a small glowing light behind her.

She froze where she was before looking back at the glass casing, and then let out a frightened gasp.

A large shadowy figure with glowing eyes lunged for her, but Jasmine was quick to react. With the case in hand she dove past the shadow, but then, she came upon another pair of eyes that looked identical to the first, and dropped the case in surprise. Even so, she fended this shadow off too by firing a ray at him. She was about to fire another at one of the windows, but her arm was caught and pulled behind her by the first shadow. She stomped his foot and fired at him with her free hand, causing him to release her, but the second shadow caught her. And before she could do anything else, Jasmine found herself being pinned to the floor by both shadows, arms held behind her back and her legs being pressed on to keep her from flying away.

Just then, the door to the room burst open, and two police officers stormed in, their guns raised.

"Freeze!" one of them yelled, as if she had any other option.

After they came in, in walked the last person Jasmine wanted to see: her dad. And he wasn't in his Iron Man suit, but in regular clothes. Looking up, she saw that the two figures that pinned her down were identical looking suits – like the one her dad wore the previous two nights – and Jasmine realized that the worst had happened. She'd been set up. But when did her father have time to build two suits? And how did he control them? Through Jarvis? Whatever the answers were, Jasmine knew that she'd failed in her plan. She then reluctantly looked at her dad, who now grinned in his victory, and her heart sank.

"Surprise!" Tony said, "You're not the only one who can put a cloaking device in their suit. Looks like you're not as brilliant as you thought."

Trying even now to clear her name, Jasmine insisted in her disguised voice, "Wait, you have to listen to me!"

"Oh I'll do plenty of listening," Tony said, "Once we get you downtown."

Jasmine then looked up at one of the policemen, who held a pair of handcuffs like the ones she'd seen last night in his hands. "Iron Girl, you're under arrest for two accounts of burglary and one of attempted burglary."

Tony then held up his hand. "Wait. Before you detain her, I think it's time we finally see who's behind all this insanity."

Jasmine's heart sank even further. It was the one thing she wanted to avoid now coming into realization. It was like a nightmare coming true. As her dad got closer and reached for her helmet, Jasmine shut her eyes and bit her lip, her heart beating harder than she'd ever remembered. This is it. My life as I know it is over.

But suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a feminine, British-accented voice that was not Jasmine's was heard. "Let her go!"

Everyone looked around, wondering where it had come from. "Who said that?" Tony asked.

"Hey!" one of the officers shouted, pointing his gun at the window, which was suddenly smashed whole by what appeared to be the blade of a sword. Once the glass stopped falling, Jasmine looked and saw what appeared to be a young woman with long blond hair dressed in white and desaturated pink, with a short cape, a short sword in her hand, and a viking looking helmet on her head – with a mask attached to it – keeping Jasmine from seeing her face.

"I said let her go!" she demanded.

"Who are you?!" Tony himself demanded.

The woman held up her sword. "For Earth and for Asgard, the Valkyrie has come!" She then threw it at the suits holding Jasmine down, causing Tony and the two policemen to back away, and the blade rammed through the heads of both iron figures before it stuck to the wall. The woman then hurried across the room to take it. She swiftly pulled out the sword, pressed a button on the hilt, and the blade disappeared back into it, all while saying to Jasmine, who was now free again, "Hurry, get the case and come with me!"

"Oh no you don't!" one of the officers yelled, "Stop them!"

But Jasmine, who didn't really know what was going on but decided to take the chance, had already grabbed the case she'd dropped and pulled it on, and at the same time hurried to the opening the smashed window left with the woman – who had put the hilt of her sword into her belt – by her side.

"Go!" she insisted. Jasmine nodded, deciding now wasn't the best time to figure things out, and fired her rockets. She looked back for a moment to make sure the woman was catching up with her, and the two hurried as fast as they could away from the museum, away from Tony and the police.

As Jasmine flew between the buildings, she saw that the woman was free-running from one roof to the other, not stopping at all. She didn't really know what happened back there at the museum, right when she was about to be unmasked, but she realized she practically owed this woman who seemed to come out of nowhere to help her. She realized she had to talk to her.

Getting her attention with a wave of the hand, Jasmine pointed downward, and the woman nodded. Before long, she landed in a dark alley, and the woman above her grabbed a latter. She watched as she went down a few rungs, and then dropped down to the ground. Jasmine then pointed to what seemed to be a darkened room past an opening where a window might once have been, and the two rushed into it. They then found themselves kneeling underneath the opening in the room together, facing one another.

Jasmine pulled back her mask immediately. Though she'd never done that before, she felt she could trust this woman, and she couldn't help but smile. "Okay, I don't know who you are, but you saved my butt!" she exclaimed in her normal voice, though softly, knowing the police were likely looking for them.

"Hey, what are best friends for?" the woman asked in a different voice than before, one Jasmine immediately recognized.

"Wait." She then put her hands to her mouth and said happily, "No!"

The woman smiled big and nodded. She then reached for her helmet and slowly pulled it off, and the face that was revealed, surrounded by blond hair and with brown eyes, was one that Jasmine knew all too well, and she instantly felt all sorts of happy emotions.

"Dan!" she exclaimed.

"Jazz!" her best friend exclaimed back.

Had they been in any other place, they would have squealed loudly, but they still hugged each other like long-lost sisters, if only briefly.

Jasmine spoke first. "What are you doing here? How did you know it was me?" she asked, dozens of other questions threatening to spill out.

"Long story," Danielle replied, "What about you?"

"Long story too," Jasmine said, "And, I'm not sure this is the best time or place to explain."

Danielle nodded in agreement and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

Jasmine was already hurrying out the opening. "Follow me, we'll go back to my place."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Jasmine replied, "It's safe. Though it may not be for long."

"I don't care as long as it's not here," Danielle nodded again as she too climbed out, her helmet back on her head, "I just can't believe all this."

"In a good way or a bad way?"

"A bit of both," Danielle said, "But come on, we need to hurry."

"Right," Jasmine nodded.

Before long, she was flying through the city again, while Danielle was jumping across buildings, and both were determined to evade the police and get to their destination, as well as eager to hear each other's stories. Two assumed criminals, two best friends, two young girls ready to take on the world, hurried through the night and the city of New York, neither knowing for sure what the future had in store for them, but whatever it was, they would face it.

To be continued…

Reviews would be appreciated.

Whew! Well, that's the end of that story! It wasn't easy (fixing plotholes, correcting and adding things here and there, etc.) but it was a lot of fun! And thank you all for reading and reviewing. You've all been really encouraging! If you want to see what's coming up, read on!

The Valkyrie Has Come: Danielle's story, which takes place at the same time as Jasmine's. Some similarities but mostly different.

Daughters of Iron and Lightning: Jasmine and Danielle combine efforts and even get the backing of S.H.I.E.L.D. to stop Loki.

And for all you Loki fans out there…

Not Your Average Cinderella: When Loki is rescued by a mysterious masked woman, he's determined to find out who she is and make her his bride. Little does he know that his heroine is a servant girl named for ashes. Pre-Thor or an AU, whichever you want. Cinderella with a bit of Anastasia thrown in, along with action, intrigue, and yes, romance!

Well, until next time, adieu!