Steve Carter was out foraging when he heard them.

It was always the noise that betrayed the AWSOMR agents first — the sound of pounding feet, shouts of men chasing after a helpless prey. More often than not, the prey of the agents was Steve himself. He wasn't sure if he was being chased simply because he was in a forbidden forest, or because they had recognized him. He left his characteristic pot-lid in the cavern, and so far he had managed to outrun them every time.

But that could change.

Because he preferred to err on the side of safety, Steve made his way towards his secret cave. If they had been closer he'd simply have climbed a tree and waited for them to pass, but he calculated that he'd have enough to time to get to the cave.

He was wading through the small stream towards the entrance when he heard a splash behind him.

He turned around quickly, prepared to fight, but was faced with a panting girl that could be at the most sixteen.

"What are you doing here?" He aked, and she looked up, fear evident in her eyes. 

"They're after me," she gasped, and she didn't needed to specify for Steve to understand. He made a split-second decision, and pulled her towards the low waterfall that sheltered the small entrance from view.

"In here!" he ordered, and she almost began climbing over the entrance when Steve redirected her. He pushed her down rougly, forcing her into the tunnel. He could hear the shouts of the AWSOMR agents coming closer as he slipped in after her, keeping his head above the steady stream.

The waterfall drowned out any splashes they made, but still Steve tried to stay quiet. A few moments later the stream carried them into a cavern, where it came to halt in a small pond. From there it trickled away into tiny holes, rejoining the river later at the surface.

The girl heaved herself out of the pond and onto the dry(er) floor of the cavern. She took a moment to catch her breath before taking in her surroundings.

The cavern wasn't really big, but most of the space was unoccupied. There was a blanket in one corner of the room that served as a bed, and beside it stood a pot-lid, leaning against the wall. Not far from there stood a backpack, and on the other side of the cavern lay some semi-dry firewood. The whole cavern was lit by fireflies, reflected on the water of the pond and creating stunning patterns on the roof. A loose shaft of sunlight streamed in through a hole in the roof, barely big enough to fit a squirrel through.

"Who are you?" The girl asked as Steve hoisted himself onto the cavern floor too.

"Steve Carter," he replied, holding out his hand for her to shake. The girl ignored it, raising her eyebrow at his words.

"Aren't you dead?" she asked in surprise, "you know; your house exploded, with everyone in it..."

Steve growled.

"That's what they want the public to think. They blew it up all right, but I was already out. I'm not actually sure if the AWSOMR even knows about that.  If there was anyone still inside, it was my mother."

"And your dad?" The girl asked.

Steve bit his lip.

"He... He died a long time ago."

"Oh, sorry."

There was silence for a moment, and then Steve asked;

"And who are you?"

The girl grinned.

"Tessa Stark, at your service. My friends call me Tess."

"You're a Stark? No wonder they're after you."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Tessa protested, "they're after me because I hacked into their Museum files!"

Steve raised his eyebrows.

"You did what? That's on the verge of stupidity..."

Tessa shook her head. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a wise thing to do. But why was everyone so on her case about it? She took her phone out of her pocket and put it on a ledge to dry. Luckily it was waterproof, otherwise it wouldn't have survived her spontaneous dive.

"Well," she defended herself hotly, "what I found was worth it!"

"What did you find?" Steve asked, his curiousity aroused.

"They're holding a part of THE Iron Man suit in the basements of the National AWSOMR Museum," she smiled triumphantly. She was a little disappointed when Steve believed her straight away.

"Cool. Which one would you refer to as the Iron Man Suit though? I'm pretty sure there were more than one."

"Really?" Tessa asked, "hmmm, could be. I haven't had much time for researching. Anyway, I plan to steal it back for the family."

"Big plans," Steve commented, using the blanket to dry his short blonde hair.

Tessa gazed around the cavern again.

"And you?" she asked, "I mean, I assume you're not planning on staying in hiding forever with a blanket, a backpack and... is that some sort of lid? It's a bit big, isn't it?"

"Hey!" Steve protested, "that's not just any lid."

"Really?" Tessa asked, attempting in vain to lift it, "because other than it's ridiculous size and weight, I don't see much special about it."

Steve was about to say something more when he stopped himself. He wanted to trust Tessa, and he did, but some things might better be kept secret from someone who tells everything to everyone she meets. Instead he walked over to his backpack, taking out an apple and throwing it to Tessa.

"I'm guessing that you'll be staying here a while?"

Tessa caught the apple, and took a moment to think.

"I guess so. I haven't had much time to come up with a plan yet."

Steve grabbed an apple for himself, cleaning it on his moist shirt.

"Feel free to stay as long as you like."

Tessa grinned.

"I'll remember that."