Ablaze {Marvel} ||2||

9. Necessary Precautions

It's possible. Holy cow, it's possible.

I was doing it, I was legitimately doing it. Doing the impossible. Using my firepower to give me temporary flight, even if it was hovering.

I laughed in triumph but gasped when I tottered. This was my first successful attempt, and I was already trying to muck it up. I refocused, keeping my on-fire hands towards the ground. I was almost flying like how Stark could with his Iron Man suit.

I willed the flames to elongate, allowing me to gain height. This was just the first step in this find. I needed something to focus on. I needed something good right now.

In the wake of the Stark Tower incident, I began to think something was really starting to go wrong with my powers. Of course, those I discovered solely on my own and didn't allow anyone else to find out. I could manage this on my own, no Avenger help needed.

The first incident had been in the kitchen. The cereal I had been eating, what mush had been in the bowl, had burst into flames. I'd dowsed that, and I'd had the unfortunate event of Todd asking what was burnt in the kitchen. I'd told him nothing. He'd let it go in silence, but I knew he saw through my lie. I needed to work on that skill. Maybe I could ask Natasha to help me with that.

The next incident was on my own. It'd taken place in the apartment, like the last one. Only this time, a towel caught on fire. I ended up beating the fire out; my powers weren't on point enough to call the flame away.

My third incident wasn't necessarily noticed by just me; I had been out in public. A streetlamp had caught on fire. Not to mention a traffic light did around that same time. I'd let those burn, I couldn't risk exposing my true identity amongst the crowd. Besides, I wasn't sure then if I could get the fire away on my own.

Lately, my powers were hit and miss. I had no bloody idea why.

So, in light of those little accidents, I figured I'd head back to Stark Tower to prove to myself that those were mere mishaps. None of those incidents involved blood running down my nose or coming from other body parts, so I was a bit thrown off. This wasn't about maintaining stamina with my fire ability, it was more about remaining in control.

Lately, I seemed to not be the one in charge.

"Hey, look at you!" Stark cheered as he came into the training room. "The Girl on Fire flies now! I believe someone owes me a 'you-told-me-so, Tony.' 'You're always right.'"

I chuckled. "Not a chance." I yelled as I lurched forward, my fire suddenly vanishing on me. I hit the ground stomach first, feeling myself possibly dent the floor. "Damn."

"Did I jinx that?" Stark said uneasily.

"I don't believe so." I got to sit on my knees. "It's my first time. I need to build stamina with it."

"So...are you okay, you know, with your firepower and all?"

I was now on my feet. "Of course I'm okay with it." My brows furrowed. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you haven't been around in a while, and I was beginning to think that something was wrong. Guess I'm wrong on that."

I smiled weakly. "Guess you were. So, anything exciting going on, or are you just checking in?"

"Just checking in."

"You heard from Bruce lately?" I asked conversationally.