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Chapter Text

Why was it "Stark" and then "Tony" in the end?

“Spare her life… and I will give you the stone.”

“No tricks.”

“Don’t!”

“Did we just lose?”

“Why would you do that?”

“We are in the endgame now.”

…

“Something is happening.”

“Quill?”

“Steady, Quill.”

“Oh, man.”

“Toni… there was no other way.”

“Ms. Stark? I don’t feel so good…I don’t wanna go!”

…

Eyes opened with a start, a green light slowly fading, revealing icy blue irises before they closed again.

~*~

“Miss?”

Toni groaned, her head pounding. Breathing hard like she just ran a marathon, the billionaire pried her eyes open and was stunned to see Malibu’s coastline.

“Jay?” her throat was burning too, great.

“Good morning, Miss, it’s May 2nd and although very unusual, you woke up at a reasonable hour, it’s currently eight a.m. so would you care for some breakfast?”

Carefully sitting up, Toni reached for her head.

“Uh, Jay?” she was numb, not even the fact that J.A.R.V.I.S was here and now with her was really computing.

“Yes?”

“What’s the schedule for today?”

“We have the press conference in five hours to explain yesterday’s happenings.”

Toni hissed at the sun in her face, J.A.R.V.I.S dutifully shaded the windows a little, “Yesterday’s happenings being…”

“… your fight against Obadiah Stane. Miss…I am certain of your answer but still, I must at least advice to call for a doctor. Yesterday’s match took a physical toll and you are displaying a sign of concussion… and Miss didn’t even have anything alcoholic in almost five days.”

Toni snorted and then she giggled and then she was laughing, a hysterical sound that didn’t hide one bit her desperation.

~*~

After her breakdown that was full of tears, screams, more hysterical laugher that once again turned into screams and tears, Toni just laid on her bed all day, not answering her phone or the knocks on her door and the threats of knocking down the door.

Her doors were reinforced steel and Pepper, Rhodey and Happy weren’t Enhanced. Toni winced. Before 2012, the word “Enhanced” wasn’t even part of her vocabulary, only for her not to pass a day without saying it for the next six damn years.

With a sigh, she finally got out of bed and went to the bathroom, making a face at her swollen cheeks with tears tracks and the bruises in her body that her short pajamas displayed. Her hair was a tangled mess and her eyes were haunted.

Awesome.

“What time is it?”

“It’s currently eleven a.m., Miss.”

“That… does not make sense.”

“It’s also May, 4.”

“Ok, that makes more sense.” Toni sighed and popped her neck, wincing a little, “Really? Two whole days?”

“May I suggest some nourishment and water?”

“You may and I will take it, I promise.” Toni headed to her bathroom.

“That is certainly a surprise.” She wanted to laugh at the baffled tone.

The inventor let the hot water do its job while she gently and slowly lowered herself into the stone seat, her legs felt like mush as she reached for the soap.

Toni gave a half a smile, “I guess it is.”

“Miss? Are you alright?”

“…No, I’m not. What do I even tell them?”

“If you are referring to Ms. Potts, Colonel Rhodes and Mr. Hogan and you are looking for a plausible excuse, I may have a suggestion.”

And Toni truly felt the absence J.A.R.V.I.S made then. Her friend of so many years, that friend that knew when to be silently supportive and not ask questions that she really had no answers or even words for and when to push until she screamed back.

~*~

Rhodey, Pepper and Happy exchanged concerned glances. At first they were pissed that she blew off the press conference without so much as by your leave, but after ten hours completely incommunicado and they began the threats to wreck the door.

It was one thing for Toni to disappear down in the lab and they only see her again when she feels her stomach consuming itself, it was another for her to disappear into her bedroom and not even give a sign of a life.

The situation was so new and weird that J.A.R.V.I.S himself didn’t have a single protocol in place or past experience to base his decisions on. So he just told them what his sensors told him.

Toni was responsive… sort of, her breathing was normal, heartbeat normal, and she was crying.

The last one is what gave them all pause to truly take in what happened in the last couple of days… in the last three months really.

Their friend was kidnapped, held hostage by terrorists in a cave, operated on without anesthesia or basic hygiene, tortured and then she had to fight to death with the man that basically raised her after her parents died. She just had to kill the man that her father trusted his legacy with until she could take over in self-defense because the lunatic was only seeing dollar signs and here they were demanding that she came out for a press conference.

“We are being really bad friends, aren’t we?” Happy pursed his lips.

Rhodey hung his head a little, “I will… get her MIT sweater, that thing is huge but she used to love it, it’s…back in Stark Mansion.”

“She loves my mom’s recipe of banana pie I just never really have time to bake it. Well, the only thing I can reasonably do with flour.” Pepper perked up at Rhodey’s idea of comfort things.

“Cheeseburgers?” Happy smiled at them.

~*~

Toni blinked, “Oh, my God, J.A.R.V.I.S, that’s… that’s not why… the meltdown happened.” She stopped brushing the tangles out of her wet hair long enough to gawk at the nearest sensor.

“… dare I ask?”

“No. I’m the one who…you have got be kidding me, this is… STRANGE!”

“I gathered as much, Miss.”

Toni paused and smirked a little at that, whispering, she asked, “Do you want to know?”

J.A.R.V.I.S was silent for a few seconds before replying just as slowly, “If Miss thinks it’ll help. Whatever it is, I have never seen anything that would distress…anyone so much, talking about it so soon might not be conductive for mental health recovery.”

The billionaire snorted in grim amusement, “Jay…what happened those past couple of days…they weren’t the result of anything that happened in the last three months, it was the result of what happened in the last ten years.”

“Miss?” he began hesitantly, “There are no records of…unscheduled… duress.”

The brunet gave out another laugher and she honestly couldn’t tell whether they are amused or sarcastic, that couldn’t be good.

“There wouldn’t be. If… if I had foreseen what would happen… I don’t know if what he did is a blessing or a curse. I can fix my life but I also know what’s waiting for us if I fail this time… again. Last time I tried to rally them and I tried to warn them only for…what hope do I really have now?”

“Miss?”

But Toni went on as if J.A.R.V.I.S didn’t say anything, “He said we had one shot out of fourteen million six hundred and five…what kind of odds are those?”

“If Miss allows me…Anastasia Antonia Stark, PhD, possess such an intellect that her IQ is literally, quantifiably impossible to measure. Only another ten people can make such a claim. At last count of 2008, the world has a population of 6.7 billion people, rounding the number, it means that Miss is literally one in six hundred nine million ninety thousand and one. Predictions indicate that by the end of your lifetime, only three others will join in a world population of eight billion.”

Toni raised an eyebrow, impressed despite herself, “That…I…” but J.A.R.V.I.S didn’t let her finish.

“So it seems that Miss has beaten worse odds.”

She sighed and didn’t try to stop the tears, if the last two days were anything to go by, it wouldn’t work, “I will be unbearably emotional so I guess I should at least tell you. Organize it and also, another hard earned lesson, I need help.”

And today marked the day Toni shocked J.A.R.V.I.S speechless.

“I think…I need more data… in the form of your explanation.”

“Very subtle, J.A.R.V.I.S.”

“I believe, from records of conversations between yourself and Colonel Rhodes that the last time you requested help was…”

Toni interrupted him this time, “When I was thirteen, first semester at MIT and…I couldn’t ride a bike so Rhodey taught me. But like I said: I had ten years to learn some very simple lessons that could have helped me now, like knowing that I won’t be able to do everything on my own.”

“…as evidenced by Colonel Rhodes teaching you how to ride a bike?”

The CEO, and oh, God, she was CEO again, laughed, “Right… I’m twenty three… again. Oh, if it was any other situation this would have been the clichè dream of every woman, suddenly being a decade younger.”

“Miss?” and now J.A.R.V.I.S was really alarmed and Toni just laughed.

Chapter Text

May 4, 2008.

.

“Should I open a new file?”

“Disconnect it from the web and have it only in our personal servers, Jay, all possible security measures. This only gets accessed with my voice print, written passwords, fingerprints, retinal scans and fucking DNA testing.”

“Naturally. I took the liberty to organize all of Miss’ reports chronologically as well.”

“Perfect. Set up an alarm for when anything that affects us are put in motion.”

“Access to SI satellites will be complete in fifteen minutes.  I will be including external factors that can interfere in our endeavors as well.”

It wasn’t a question but Toni nodded. And also ignored that she just let J.A.R.V.I.S have free reign over an entire satellite. Something she didn’t even do last time, instead J.A.R.V.I.S only ever had access through Iron Woman’s armor but Toni was tired of restricting J.A.R.V.I.S and she trusted him.

“Ok, putting the problems visible in the horizon aside for a moment, we need to cover our bases first. Strange saw only one possibility and from previous experience, the Avengers are not it. What kind of a team only has cohesion when the world is ending?”

“Not a very good one, Miss.”

“No.” She agreed, “So the Avengers are a bust, tech may be a bust but,” Toni grimaced remembering Ultron, then she sighed “if I throw a go at tech again, then I would have to throw a go at a team again. Not the Avengers, I’m still not sure if it was Hydra sabotaging the whole thing or if Fury was that desperate or that dumb but going by the premise we weren’t the only Enhanced in the world, we need to see other possible team combinations… multiple teams is the ideal if possible.”

“A group of Enhanced takes priority over a technological solution?”

“Not even for a second. I have some ideas that don’t even depend on an A.I at all, we will run both simultaneously and if all fails…I will blame Strange.”

“…I still don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, Miss.”

“He was the bastard that sent me back with zero explanation and no backup!” irrationally and completely nonsensically, Toni shouted the last part towards her ceiling as if asking God, ‘Why?!’

“…I see.” But it was clear that J.A.R.V.I.S didn’t see it at all.

Grimacing and trying to suppress an unwilling smile, Toni requested, “Stephen Vincent Strange, attending neurosurgeon at Metro-General Hospital, Head of Neuro, put him on the list to superficially track movements, like the others. I don’t want to know where he goes grocery shopping, just if…something interesting comes along that could make us meet earlier.”

“Shall I look for any cross references between Miss’ projects and Dr. Strange’s like the others?”

The inventor opened her mouth and closed it again before slowly saying, “Do it, but…just…we won’t do anything with the information for now just like with the rest of them.” She needed to think this through before all her knowledge became for naught.

“Very well, Miss. Will we include how the data from future events was acquired?”

Toni bit her lip, “Might as well. Knowing what’s coming or not, I already dodged the bullets but there is not a hundred percent guarantee that I will actually survive all the explosions a second time so if anything, a record can be sent to…whoever can do something.”

“That’s why we are planning in advance, Miss, so that won’t happen.” Toni smiled at the stubborn tilt in J.A.R.V.I.S’ voice.

“Ok. Thanos stabbed me with the nanotech construct of a sword…my own construct at that. Strange did something…”

“Such as sending your consciousness ten years back with the needed knowledge?”

“I… not only that. Strange used the Time Stone twice in my presence, or perhaps it was just one now that I think about it. When we reached Titan, he wanted reassurances, to know our odds, one in fourteen million? He must have seen every little detail of that one chance. I hardly know anything about… magic,” the word didn’t taste as absurdly anymore but hell if Toni wasn’t sensing the headache approaching, “but I wasn’t sent back when he retrieved the Stone from a star of all things, I was sent back after Strange gave the Stone to Thanos. Maybe it was just to refrain from Thanos to try and stop it or maybe the timeline has another meaning, emphasize that for us to focus on later, Jay. Whatever the case, Strange made sure to send me back after Thanos left Titan, after Thanos snapped his fingers actually.”

“Why is there such a certainty that it was Dr. Strange that sent Miss back?”

“What I am about to say burns my inside as a scientist but…half the universe was turning to dust and before Pet–” she choked on his name. Swallowing with some difficulty and trying to remember that the kid was fine and safe for now just like J.A.R.V.I.S, Toni cleared her throat, “Strange said that there was no other way…flash of green light, Time Stone green light and I woke up ten years younger.”

“…very well.”

“I can feel the judgment.”

“No judgment, Miss, only worry.”

“… I worry too.”

“Perhaps an automatic setting that would respond to the other Stones?” Jay tried after a few seconds of silence.

“Maybe,” she shrugged, “like… storing the energy of the Time Stone and it would dispel when Thanos did his thing. It is as good an explanation as any without… mystical know-how.”

“Any other notes before we proceed to the challenges ahead?”

“Exams… all of them, we need to know everything that changed with me. If there is something physical or just my mind.”

“Done.”

“Thanks, Jay. We will probably only find answers once I re-re-discover my dad’s element. That thing was based on the Tesseract that encased the Space Stone. So that would be as close as we can to find similarities and basis short of going to Kathmandu and I really don’t want to go to Kathmandu.”

“Going to the source is shortest and surest way, Miss.”

“I’m aware, still, Strange did say stuff about rules and… pretty sure that going back in time breaks some of them.”

“Real life hardly looks like Back to the Future.”

Toni snorted, “Yeah. Still not want to risk it, eventually we will ran out of resources but even taking the worst case scenario, whoever trained Strange will still be there by 2016, when Strange had… will have his accident…” she slumped back.

“As Miss realizes, changing possible, life altering events is in your power…but should we?”

“… I really hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“…this kind reminds me: we will be expanding your memories servers. Backup every week, ok?” she tried to keep her voice even but J.A.R.V.I.S wasn’t fooled.

“So if my memories currently online are compromised, there will be another to perform backup.”

“Exactly. So back on the big issues.” Toni tried to stop her hands from shaking.

“All of our plans focus on mid to long terms, might I suggest that Miss focus on a way to… improve your own work and personal conditions?”

And Toni laughed at that, “I can’t disagree that they were less than optimal.”

“Indeed. For Thanos, we have two possible, not necessarily mutually inclusive or exclusive, solutions: groups of Enhanced working in tandem and a technological solution. I have many times witnessed Miss’ works so I can’t help but wonder what kind of technological solutions would stop Thanos?”

“Ultron was a bust because of an Infinity Stone. The core idea still has some value though. Not creating an A.I with something that has been used by we don’t even want to estimate how many madmen through millennia, but using its energy. Urgh,” she groaned, “my father managed to do it while I screwed up and that does not help my daddy issues. Perhaps because he based it all on observation instead of practical experiments? Perhaps because it was the Mind Stone that fucked things up? That last one doesn’t even make sense, Vision turned out ok, sure, more interested in being human than protecting them, still…”

“Howard Stark’s work with the Tesseract a.k.a. The Space Stone created Starkium which in turn will be used to power the Arc Reactor and block the effects of Loki’s Scepter a.k.a. the Mind Stone. Not only were they completely different in nature but it wasn’t even direct contact.”

“Exactly. So what I thought was: doing the same thing with the other Stones.”

“This does mean contacting Dr. Strange’s trainers in Kathmandu sooner or later.”

“Yeah, I’m aware.” She rubbed her temples, “Anyways. Soul Stone is a no-go for like… ninety percent? Nebula said something about Vomir but since space travel is out without tipping our hand to Thor and the Asgardians that think of humans as little more than goats then I’m pretty sure it’s null and void… space travel in the scale we need is still decades away from any reasonable time frame so, no. Our best chances are: Space and Mind Stone in 2012, Reality Stone in 2013, Time Stone… T.B.D. Thanos already got the Power Stone with… somewhere and I have no way of knowing where and when.”

“And once in possession of the Stones?”

Toni smirked, “‘Possession’, yeah right. No, experience tells us that elements based on their studies is enough and besides,” her gaze was somewhere in the distance, “no one is supposed to have all six.”

“Is it enough, though?”

“The pen can be just as mighty as the sword, Jay. Studies based on the Tesseract that encased the Space Stone were enough to thwart the Mind Stone.”

“The Scepter fuelled by the Mind Stone.” J.A.R.V.I.S corrected.

“Yes, I know. But we don’t have a way to safely contain them or even use them. Still, if we can’t secure the Reality Stone somewhere on Earth, Thanos will get here with Power, Space, Reality and Soul. We will have only Time and Mind… we need to secure Reality or Space to at least get a tie. Reality and Space to really tip the scales. Thanos knows how to use the Stones to their max after all.”

“That would mean an alliance with Asgard.”

“Or just an Asgardian. If Thor’s biased view of Loki’s intelligence has an ounce of truth, the Chitauri Invasion in 2012 was ridiculous, Rogers-Strategy levels of ridiculous, so… Loki.”

“Should we trust someone literally depicted as the God of Lies?”

Toni scowled, “I don’t know, Jay, should we trust someone called, “The Merchant of Death”?” she didn’t mean to sound so bitter but J.A.R.V.I.S was still sounding apologetic.

“Point taken, Miss.”

“That’s not…Sorry for snapping.” She winced a little, “That doesn’t mean we just hand deliver the guy the keys to the Kingdom.”

“Exercising caution, Miss? I believe that if I could, I would cry.”

The inventor smirked, “There was so little need for that.”

“Noted, Miss.”

“Ok, that is my tech plan and the only reasonable one I got. Doesn’t matter what we throw at Thanos, the guy will have at least two Infinity Stones, nothing we can produce in the next ten years will make a dent in that unless we managed to have access to at least other three Stones. That when not counting the fact that the guy manage to fight off the Hulk without the Stones.”

“Saving notes now. Opening new file for the Avengers?”

“…no. If S.H.I.E.L.D trademarked that thing… no. There’s… we need balance. We can’t just treat our teammates’ wellbeing as being above the rest of the world’s but we can’t just be a group of strangers. From the little I saw of the Guardians, team as family is beautiful but can be counterproductive as nothing else.”

“So something similar to your relationship with Colonel Rhodes?”

Toni smiled, “Beautifully said. Rhodey would burn any enemy and bend any and all rules for me, but he would still respect accountability in the end of the day. He took leave when my parents died but once his three months were up, he set off Mama Rhodes on me and went back to duty. He was honest in his report of Iron Woman and he wouldn’t change his mind about the Accords if I was against it. He is still human, still impulsive, taking one of my armors to Hammer of all people but he is our best bet.”

“Professionalism.”

“A dying art. Whatever team we form… Rhodey needs to be the leader, we need him to set the tone we will work under.”

“Some would argue that he is your friend and therefore biased.”

“Those idiots are put to rest after 2010, uhmm.” Toni spun in her chair, she would need to think a little more on that. Can’t give the armor before his report or else this could be an argument that Rhodey was compromised.

“Our next step?”

“I guess…fix my life.”

“…I am proud of you, Miss.”

“Thank you, Jay, aside from S.H.I.E.L.D and Bruce, we need the basis to finally free them.”

“Them, Miss?”

“First, we need to be prepare for everything S.H.I.E.L.D might throw at us.

“S.H.I.E.L.D will make their move in 2010, two years from now.”

“No, they moved on us before that, with Phil Coulson, the unassuming right hand.” The inventor rolled her eyes, “I will be damned if I let them ruin this.”

“Miss?”

“I didn’t have the solutions until too last time, now we have time. Arno and Gregory are coming home.” Toni smiled, brightly and eager and just a touch too dark. She never looked so much like her oldest brother.

“I look forward to it, Miss.”

Chapter Text

“My name is Howard Stark. I was born in 1924 and raised in New York in the lower east side. My father sold fruit and my mother sewed shirtwaists for a factory. It was a humble beginning and not one anyone would expect if they only met me after the name Stark became known in America.”

“After selling a few of my patents... my parents were already dead and the state emancipated me and then I opened Stark Industries in 1940, a little before I became sixteen. I was targeted by assassins a few months later and agreed to join the SSR, Strategic Scientific Reserve when I was invited by Colonel Philips. I thought it would be the next step.”

“In 1941, after Pearl Harbor, SI began to develop planes and weapons for the American war effort.” Howard smiled bitterly, “Weapons are what made money, it was a war and there is always a war.”

“In 1942, I began to collaborate with Project Rebirth and a year later it would be my first contact with what the world would one day call “Enhanced” and I was partially responsible for the creation of one more. Hardly the first Enhanced considering the context and Johann Schmidt but obviously no one wanted to count that one.”

“I was eighteen and still idealistic, still naïve. The American way and all that it encompasses. It wouldn’t be until decades later that…there was something off about the timing. Targeted by assassins and then SSR swoop in for the rescue?” Howard snorted, “The Russians were our allies as were the Chinese… the same couldn’t be said years later. So it got me thinking. I never suspected Philips, the man exhaled “by the rules”, he was a good guy. But some of the people I worked with in there…didn’t help the whole Black Widows thing that happened later. Either way, without any evidences, it’s just my paranoid mind.”

“I considered Captain America my greatest creation for years. He was living proof that I could do more than just things that explode, that I had more to give. It was what drove me to expand SI, a medical division that was never very talked about because I never manage to give it as much attention as I thought I would be able to when I opened it.”

“From there it didn’t stop. Pharmaceutics, cosmetics, vehicles, agriculture, computers even household electronics because Maria was complaining about the hair dryer.” Howard smirked in amusement.

“It wasn’t until SI expanded, not regional anymore… when SI became national, then I realized that a single person can’t invent new stuff and manage the company. Too much to do, way too much. Like Toni, I’m also great at the business side but my… our real passion is in the workshop but I couldn’t be in both places at the same time, both works take too much dedication, not to mention that most investors these days would like the safety of someone with a business degree doing the business part. Common sense and expected, no one can argue with that. Maria helped in ways that I didn’t even recognized that I needed, with her it seems that the public thought SI would sweat rose perfume.”

His eyes softened.

“I met Maria in 1965, I was forty-one and already exhausted. She was fresh air. A socialite from an Italian family that was born and raised in U.S., got a business degree but since money wasn’t an issue, she decided to turn her heritance and cunning to open philanthropic organizations. Perhaps her age – barely into her twenties – was what made her a shiny eyed idealistic… but she was what I used to be. Ten years later, none of us ever discussed marriage and even Maria never even hinted at it but…I sure surprised her, first and last time I made Maria stumble into her own words.” There as a genuine smile in the tired face.

“Who would have thought? I thought for certain that I would struggle with faithfulness, even after ten years with the same woman, never once straying, I knew myself. Maria made it easy, she was far from a trophy wife, she was interesting and interested and honestly that’s what keeps a marriage going years after the bio-chemically physical attraction wanes. She had everything she wanted, if I couldn’t give her, then Maria would get it herself but that didn’t make her complacent or bored with life… she had everything… except a child to call hers.”

“Like a cruel joke. Ten years dating, 1965 to 1975, not even with one of those “breaks” people nowadays like to take… and ten years trying…from 1975 to 1985. Maria was forty-one and I wanted it too… our hopes were disappearing before our eyes and then…”

“It was like a dream,” Howard sighed, “After so many miscarriages, Maria came to term, no traumas, no complications, exam after exam showed three healthy babies, sure, because of the… number, we were unable to see the genders but that was such a minor detail that we couldn’t care less.”

“When the triplets were born… triplets… too good to be true… because it was too good to be true. Two boys, one could take the business side and the other could take over R&D, they could take turns if they were like me and wanted to have a hand in both sides, control issues run in the family, I guess. The girl was Maria’s treasure of the heart, completely, and someone to be the softer side of SI’s, the face, the philanthropic endeavors that Maria dedicated herself to. Everything fell into place.”

Howard drank a bit of water.

“Arno was born and attacked and his body began to shut down, targeted by assassins still in the crib. At the tender age of seven, we could see how… mentally unstable Greg was and then… only Toni was unscratched. I… after the triplets, after the miscarriages and stillbirths, the doctors had to perform a hysterectomy on Maria…”

A look of true regret took Howard’s expression, pain and his eyes were visibly misty for the first time in decades.

“I needed to harden her. She was supposed to be the baby, the youngest and the only girl. A little princess, my little princess to be spoiled and protected, but… she no longer had that luxury. I no longer could be what I envisioned myself being when they survived to term.”

Howard had a bitter, ironic smile on his tired face, “A girl? A woman in the weapons manufacturing business? In the position of CEO? Someone that also needed to show charisma and have a way with people? Not only that but a girl that proved herself to be a marvelous engineer at the age of four? Four years old and building circuit boards…I was so proud.

And I did it.” the businessman ran his hand through his thinning hair, “Last week, she graduated summa cum laude at MIT, already with PhDs and Masters and Minors in business, legal and STEM fields. It fell to her to do the job of three people: head of R&D, CEO, PR… Maria and I were already old by ‘85, her brothers couldn’t be with her, anyone could… would break under the pressure. Toni needed to be forged out of iron. An Iron Woman. Strong, independent, smart, cutthroat, keen eyes and sharp instincts. I raised the Toni Stark… I just regret that I didn’t raise my daughter.”

Chapter Text

May 4, 2008.

.

“We have less time than desired. Ms. Potts, Mr. Hogan and Colonel Rhodes will be arriving within two hours with their respective items and Miss expressed interest in intercepting Agent Coulson’s call to Ms. Potts.”

“If this thing in my head is accurate, the call will happen in three hours. Warn me when there is only an hour left and we have that time to decide what to do with Coulson and before Pepper, Happy and Rhodey get here. Now Coulson…”

“The benefits of letting it play out as it did originally outweigh the disadvantages in this case, Miss.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that. It took me a while to notice, but Coulson is a snake much sneakier than Romanoff would ever be…which reminds me: put Maria Hill under the same category and just like the rest, flag her movements.”

“Done. As for Agent Coulson?”

Toni groaned and leaned her head back. Staring at her ceiling, the billionaire thought out loud, “We do nothing and Rogers will do us the favor of pushing S.H.I.E.L.D back in the shadows from where they were dragged out in 2012 with the Chitauri Invasion…they will be basically redundant and their accomplishments won’t amount to much from 2014 to 2018…not they did much before that, and we don’t even know if we can stop 2018 from happening so whatever happens after that is irrelevant for now.”

“By doing so, S.H.I.E.L.D feels bold enough and secure enough in their position as “friendly” to send Agent Romanova and expect no repercussions and we also open SI’s doors to the burned agents in 2014, thus resulting in the need to create the largely unnecessary Security Division whose main purpose was to cushion the Avengers so they wouldn’t have to do what amounts to groundwork. Gather and analyze data, liaise with governments and alert local authorities to create perimeters and have the closest hospitals prepared. The new division will avert considerable resources from SI’s PR and legal for at least seven months once created and it does set the precedent of Toni Stark bankrolling the Avengers. Maria Hill also infiltrated the Tower at this time to report to Nicholas Fury.”

Toni snorted, “We still have time to come up with something to deal with Natasha, those guys were blacklisted and the thing with Hill, that… didn’t actually hurt anything but my ego.”

“Maybe, but that is one petty victory that could have made S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Romanova believe that Miss is willing to go to ridiculous lengths for S.H.I.E.L.D’s sake, it could be partially what gave them the sense of security to use Miss’ resources to look for Sargent Barnes while living with the luxuries of a billionaire by proxy.”

“… that was more Rogers but I can see the argument there, save it for future discussions, in 2010, uh… when Natashalie and S.H.I.E.L.D take their second step. More urgently first: the call. We won’t do anything, we just ask Pepper what he wanted. I’m tired of not knowing what happens under my own roof. Let’s hear the summary.”

“Not intercepting the call, Agent Coulson will contact Ms. Potts with a solution, a convenient cover to explain the night two days ago in order to appear “helpful”. I presume the “I am Iron Woman” press conference will follow.”

“Oh, yeah. Accountability and transparency weren’t empty promises.” Despite what most seem to think, icy blue eyes rolled.

“Very well. If Miss fakes the correct symptoms of palladium poisoning publically, then the events leading to 2010 will remain largely unchanged which will give us two years to plan our next decade, unhindered.”

Toni made a face, “Luring S.H.I.E.L.D into a false sense of security. They are not even in front of the house to get their little foot in my door, so now and when Natashalie enters the scene would be the two times to cut the S.H.I.E.L.D-problem at the root before it takes over the plantation.”

“If S.H.I.E.L.D will have such impact in the future, perhaps letting things be until 2010 will not only grant us much needed time to plan our steps but more room to maneuver should circumstances change.”

“I just hate gift wrapping Romanova’s red carpet like that.”

“The benefits of letting it play out as it did originally outweigh the disadvantages in this case, Miss.” J.A.R.V.I.S repeated his argument, “Timeline-wise, Miss will have to endure S.H.I.E.L.D for more six years until their fall if we let nature follow its course and we can always change our plans later.”

“Ugh, I spent less time getting all my degrees.”

“Moving correctly, we should have minimal contact with them from 2010 until their demise, including the aftermath of their fall in 2014 and without significant changes to the timeline and minimal effort from our part.”

The inventor blinked, “…that sounded really villain-like.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D will be an issue eventually if we are to bring Masters Gregory and Arno back. But considering everything Miss experienced, they don’t necessarily have the importance to warrant being enemies with.”

“I love you, Jay, but they do have some advantages that could hinder our plans. The most obvious one is that they don’t answer to anyone, if it’s to face S.H.I.E.L.D, we’re gonna have to do that after New York. Never mind the headaches that we can easily avoid, they will be a bother when we start our plans with Arno and Greg.”

“Yes. With Master Gregory in captivity in a S.H.I.E.L.D location…”

“Arno is trapped in an iron lung, ironic, but he is defenseless in his condition. Greg in comparison is easy, we wait for Rushmanova to plant her bugs, hack S.H.I.E.L.D back and make a huge fuss and Greg is home free but Arno is a sitting duck for SHIELDRA. Greg won’t be going anywhere, S.H.I.E.L.D is too afraid of the wreck he could cause if they try to transport him and he gets loose. So we have to help Arno first, but once we move to free Greg, S.H.I.E.L.D won’t just stand by and let their Stark genius go.”

“I believe we will get more results if we focus on the present for the moment.”

“Ok, ok, not letting go of our advantage. Let Coulson talk to Pepper and “nature follow its course”, ask her what he wanted just to see if the few days delay of my debut press conference messed things up, I can’t think of a single reason why it would, but just in case. And…”

Toni sighed and tried to relax her shoulders.

“Miss?”

“I can’t tell them about this lunacy… it’s too much to just take my word for it no matter how much they trust me. But that doesn’t mean I will just sit by and let my friends be used.”

“What is on your mind?”

“Before 2008, I have never even heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. My father being a founder or not.”

“Yes?”

“Pepper and Happy have been with me for almost six years now. Rhodey and I have been friends for almost ten…and as SI’s liaison with the military, Rhodey has had access to some pretty sensitive info.”

“…as a second generation, U.S’ main military contractor, Miss should be aware of every branch of the government.”

Toni smiled, “Exactly. Isn’t it weird that I never heard of S.H.I.E.L.D? And that Happy, a former military and SWAT member, never heard of S.H.I.E.L.D or Air Force Lt. Colonel Rhodes didn’t either? So it’s just reasonable that we question it, correct?”

“Indeed.”

“Coulson was the more immediate problem. Now we need to lay the groundwork for several other events simultaneously. While Culver is right around the corner and…Jay, set up SI’s satellites, I need to insert some data to ping location.”

“Of what, if may I ask, Miss?”

“Gama radiation for the obvious and Vibranium. That thing arrived on Earth several hundreds of years ago via a meteor, my father did a good job scouring the Earth for it, twenty pounds and it all went to make a shield,” Toni rolled her eyes, “but that’s hardly all that there is. Until 2012, SI will launch a grid of satellites, hopefully we will speed it up and by the same date, I want SI to have every gram of it that is out of Wakanda… with proof of where we found it and legally acquired it and already exploring its applications.”

“Quite the challenge, Miss, is it wise to make an enemy out of Wakanda so soon?”

“Oh, Jay… They didn’t help last time, I don’t see why we should. Perhaps it is a little unfair to the Wakandans that can’t do much against their absolute monarch but Wakanda won’t know what hit them.” Toni smiled as she added to her plans, the files were getting thicker.

“So shall we move to the next arrangement? Dr. Banner will have his confrontation with Emil Blonsky a.k.a the Abomination at Culver University in exactly six days in May, 10 and in nine days, Harlem will be destroyed.”

“A plan is in motion for S.H.I.E.L.D’s spokesperson and today’s to do list, I need you to monitor Culver and keep all possible eyes on Ross and Royal Marine Emil Blonsky, the second the guy steps foot on U.S. we know that Ross tracked Bruce to Brazil.

After Brazil, Blonsky will become the Abomination. We have very little hope of stopping that since Bruce didn’t know so I don’t know where and when Ross does it, but if we do this right, Culver doesn’t have to become a battlefield and Harlem won’t happen at all…that’s wishful thinking, I know, we also have to make sure to hide our involvement. Most likely scenario is that we will only be able to inconspicuously help after Harlem.”

“We are now searching for Royal Marine Emil Blonsky, I am also monitoring all airports and aircrafts that land on U.S and using facial recognition in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro’s bottling factories.”

“Coulson and Bruce in short-term, Vibranium medium-term to become long-term. Coulson wasn’t bold enough to try planting bugs, so S.H.I.E.L.D will keep for now until Romanoff makes them our enemy. We will take the first steps for Arno as soon as we can, too.”

“So far, passive surveillance on over ninety individuals. With Maria Hill and Philip Coulson in high alert priority. Are there any more additions?”

“Those are all the people that can somehow be involved plus… trainees I guess…or people that proved to need babysitting, oh, put Sharon Carter in it as well.”

“If I may, Mr. Peter Benjamin Parker is currently seven years old.”

“…I know. That’s why he is in the passive surveillance.”

“…the same list as Natalia Romanova and Clint Barton.”

Toni’s eye twitched at J.A.R.V.I.S’ deadpan, “I know that it doesn’t make sense, but just…” she sighed and rubbed her very stiff neck, “just separate them in a sub-files then, allies and… contentions relations, ah, and those that have PhDs and please don’t get all silent and judgy and think that I’m being some intellectual elitist.”

“Lists are created for scientific allies, field allies, political/legal/business/military/PR allies and those that interlay with one another. I also took the liberty to add other names that could be of relevance. Miss will judge individual levels of caution and surveillance at earliest convenience.”

“Ok, I liked your way better.” Toni nodded.

“What about Barbara Morse, Jemma Simmons, not to mention Miss’ own…”

“Those are more complicated, unlike the other… post-S.H.I.E.L.D-fall people, they will eventually have problems with other people so I will have to pick and choose who stays where.”

“Donald Gill and Daisy Johnson?” the A.I. was understandably wary.

“Considering that their first and only encounter… pretty sure we can avoid it, unlike the rest of them that I honestly have no idea about the timeline.”

“As the help that Sirs need are not ours to give, at least not directly, I made it a priority to search for possible and fortuitous encounters with Helen Cho, Maya Hansen, Jane Foster, Jessica Campbell Jones and Jennifer Susan Walters in that order.”

“Jennifer Walters, uh? Good call. Switch Helen with Maya in the priority list even if I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to do it, and it’s perfect.” Toni spun in her chair again.

“…Ms. Potts is asking for you, there is still an hour and a half before Agent Coulson’s call.”

“Perfect.” She smiled, “So we have a counter for Coulson/S.H.I.E.L.D, some info on potential allies and trying to see our best chances to approach Bruce, all the while searching for Vibranium and speeding things up with the ladies. Damn, I hate doing this to them again, but until we have more concrete plans…we will play along that I’m…that I had a… meltdown, not a lie anyways.”

It’s not like Toni wasn’t affected that first time with Obadiah, it’s just… it happened after the press conference, after Fury – she rolled her eyes – and she was completely by herself with only J.A.R.V.I.S. Then she allowed herself to truly think what happened and what she had to do.

Uncle Obie… dead by her hands.

Chapter Text

May 4, 2008.

.

“Toni!” Pepper jumped to her feet at the sight of the billionaire coming up from her workshop instead of down from her bedroom.

Although normal for Toni, Pepper didn’t know if it was a sign of improvement. Her friend looked…

She was wearing fresh clothes and she clearly washed, her hair was still wet but…There were bruises everywhere but her face, where only a cut marred her forehead, and the haunted look on Toni’s face just completed a look that belonged to the cover of domestic violence brochure. And Pepper wanted to cry, but all she could really do was thank the heavens that Rhodey and Happy had yet to arrive to see it.

“Hey, Pep. I… I’m sorry I blew the conference.”

And what could she say to this?

“It really doesn’t matter, Toni, I should be the one apologizing. I have been a horrible friend and…I’m so sorry.”

The billionaire gaped slightly at her, “Don’t…worry about it.”

“I already do. You have been through hell and we just demanded things from you the second you got back with a hunk of metal being the only thing keeping you alive.”

“Ah…I’m pretty sure that the first thing you tried to do was getting me to a hospital and I insisted on a cheeseburger.” She tried for a laugh.

“And I should have insisted harder. First aid for someone that has been held in a cave for three months?”

“Pepper…I’m twenty three years old, I have been heading SI for the last two years and I have been contributing in R&D for the last decade. I would have been a lot more pissed if you hadn’t respected my decisions.”

The PA was without words for only a couple of seconds, “What kind of decisions were you really able to rationally make after being kidnapped by terrorists? There is a reason lawyers ask if the person is in possession of their mental faculties and doing anything in the middle of a PTSD episode is basically disregarded.”

“I hardly have PTSD.” Toni did have PTSD but not because of Afghanistan…ironically as it was.

“Are you a psychiatrist to know that? Shutting down the weapons division should have never gone through, it was just you using every loophole imaginable.” It was stances like those that Pepper and everybody else had a taste of how deeply Toni knows every detail pertaining her position and SI’s legalities.

That made Toni’s eye go wide, “Wow, slow down! We are not reopening the weapons division.”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about that after three months of being a prisoner no one should have taken a word you said as your genuine opinion in normal circumstances. It’s like people saying things they don’t mean when they are angry. And… and you really know how to change the subject.”

Toni didn’t even have the grace to look apologetic, “It was worth a try.”

“This is what I’m talking about. If you really wanted, I would be out of this room by now and wouldn’t even remember what I was saying to you until tomorrow. You are off your game, Toni, and for really good reasons and we weren’t there for you.” Pepper watched as her friend’s shoulders dropped and the inventor took a long deep breath. That is as close as Toni gets to accepting apologies without waving them away, “We will make it up to you.” she promised.

Toni nodded, “The press conference?”

“We can do it another day. I think it’s time people remember that they are forever invading the privacy, dumping their problems and sucking dry a twenty three year old that no matter how smart, is still just human.”

The brunet laughed a little, “Reminding people that I’m a twenty three year old female human when I’m in the weapons manufacturing business is not usually a good idea.”

“Then it’s a good thing that SI no longer produces weapons, isn’t it?”

They smiled at each other, subdued and tired but Pepper sensed that it was a start.

“If you don’t mind, I still want to do the press conference today.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. People deserve to know what is going on. This isn’t gossip, this isn’t who I am dating and what car I bought and if I was seen buying churros in a mall in Chicago wearing my really comfortable UGGs. Two days ago, people’s lives were in danger.”

“I don’t disagree, Toni, you do owe them an explanation but it can wait.”

“Better if they don’t.”

“I guess we can arrange something for after lunch. J.A.R.V.I.S probably already told you but…”

“I want my pie.”

Pepper smiled and then she remembered, “Oh! You wanted to know what Agent Coulson wanted, right?”

Time to put acting skills into use, Toni carefully feigned disinterest and turned to her own tablet, “Uh, yeah, he said something about Strategic Homeland Intervention…”

“The big name.”

“The big name,” Toni snorted, “what did he want?”

“He just wanted to offer help and you need to admit, Toni, this is…a brand new world. We might need it because I don’t want you putting yourself in danger through improvisation.”

And Toni forced a contemplative expression in her face when all she wanted to do was curse up a storm.

She fell for their sham of a “help” like a brainless moron! Oh, here we are: some organization that a fucking second generation governmental weapons manufacturer never heard about with the perfect excuse for everything and the answer to all your problems and, fuck!

Humming, Toni turned to Pepper with a slight grimace, “It’s just…I think it’s weird.”

“What is?”

“I have never heard of…the big name,” Toni smiled inwardly, “and suddenly they show up, too interested in my escape and offering their help.”

Pepper opened her mouth only to close it again with a worried frown, “I never heard of them either.”

Toni tried to control her breathing because her heart was racing like she tried to outrun a car, “And that’s exactly my problem, because… Stranger Danger. They are equipped,” the device to set off a controlled explosion to target only the lock of a reinforced door, “with connections,” sneaking into a party wasn’t anything new but SI has top security so how Coulson got in? “and offered their help just because they are that altruistic?”

“Oh, my God, how didn’t I… we will work this out, Toni, J.A.R.V.I.S already sent the parameters to fine comb SI for anyone that was associated Obadiah and we will be on the lookout for Strategic Homeland…but what do they even want? The Iron Woman tech?”

The billionaire bit her tongue not to crow in triumph but she was nothing if not through, “Sorry, what?”

“Oh, that’s what they are calling you.” Pepper gave her the newspaper from yesterday with a teasing smile.

She has never been nostalgic and wasn’t about to start now but…Mark III in all its glory made her smile a little bit even as she thought about all the updates she needed to get done… just thinking about the huge and very impractical assembling process made her weep a little over the time it took.

“Uh,” for old time’s sake, “not really accurate, it’s a gold-titanium alloy. But catchy.”

“Of course,” the redhead deadpanned, “but Coulson will be here in thirty minutes, I’m sorry, Toni, but I was out of my depth, usually I would just have PR batch something out but…”

“Don’t worry about that, Pep. In fact… I have a plan, just call the conference, stay close to Rhodey and Happy, update them but don’t approach Coulson, leave him to me.”

Toni was used to Rhodey’s almost inhuman poker face but Happy and Pepper weren’t exactly good at bluffing.

Her friend stared back in concern, “Are you sure? We don’t even know this man…I was so naïve.”

“You didn’t know what to do in a situation that we never encountered, I’m pretty sure you get pass.”

“But you know what to do.” Pepper pointed out.

“Just after sleeping on it.”

“Care to share?”

“Let him help us. Make your friends rich and your enemies rich…in time you’ll find which is which.”

Toni was willing to give him a chance, because everybody deserves a second chance and she honestly didn’t know which side he fell on, she never really cared because she believed him to be a friend. But now it was time to really make sure, just like with everybody else.

“Just give him enough rope to hang himself?” Pepper was clearly confused, she wasn’t used to seeing this side of Toni, the manipulative side. The ruthless businesswoman side.

“No quite but similar enough.”

“Alright, but be careful.”

“I will, I promise.”

“Miss, Agent Coulson just asked to be allowed in the premises.”

Pepper squared her shoulder, “Will that be all, Ms. Stark?”

“That will be all, Ms. Potts.”

Pepper sent her one last look before going off to search for Rhodey and Happy to tell that the sweatshirt and comfort food plan will wait a few hours until after the impromptu press conference.

Coulson entered her line of vision and Toni put her best mask on, grateful that she thought to clean up with her usual pencil skirt and formal blouses, her hair in a neat ponytail and makeup already covering the cut. Showtime.

“Agent.” She greeted indifferently, still seemly interested in the headlines, “Who is Iron Woman?”

“Ms. Stark.”

“I never actually had any preference, sometimes I do prefer “Dr.” but so depressingly few know that I have seven PhDs that why bother with such obscure knowledge, right?” she went off absently-minded as she folded the newspaper and put it back on the table.

“I think Ms. Potts already briefed you but here is your alibi.” He put them on the table nearest to her as Toni finished hiding the cut in her forehead.

Snapping her makeup case close, the billionaire took the cards and did a cursory glance. So far, no changes.

“Ok.”

“You were in your yacht. We have port papers that put you on Avalon all night and sworn statements from fifty of your guests.”

Toni just let it all wash out from her, the ease she felt around Coulson…boy was she an idiot, was gone, but she never felt better prepared for any crap S.H.I.E.L.D might throw at her.

As Toni Stark announced to the world that she was Iron Woman, Toni just took in the safe distance Happy and Rhodey and Pepper put between themselves and Phil Coulson and truly felt the Invincible Iron Woman. She could do this, one step at time.

“Miss, there is an intruder alert that according to Miss’ description fits Nicholas Fury, current director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Our acting skills will be tested then.” She smirked.

““I am Iron Woman”.”

And to think that she almost forgot about him.

“You think you’re the only superhero in the world? Ms. Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe. You just don’t know it yet.”

“Who the hell are you?” came the bland response.

“Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

She hummed.

“I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.”

“Yeah…” Toni drawled, already with her hand firmly on a handgun that was out of sight.

~*~

“Miss, the equipment needed to build the Hadron Collider has been located, we just need a way to discreetly purchase the materials as to not tip our plans to S.H.I.E.L.D or other interested parties and we will be ready to create Starkium. PR and legal are already preparing a statement about the newest SI satellite that will established SI’s net and to be coded with the Starkium formula to track Vibranium outside of Wakanda. Plans will be concluded in late 2009.”

“Perfect. Phil no longer has Pepper’s trust, Rhodey and Happy are warned against anything S.H.I.E.L.D, separate part of your servers to Happy, as the new head of SI’s security he will be fending S.H.I.E.L.D and other spies off that will increase in number now. Last time I dealt with it myself but it did shift my focus for too long.”

J.A.R.V.I.S’s answer was immediate and delivered in a deadpan, “No one likes micromanaging, Miss.”

Toni forced a smile out, “Yeah, I learned that one, too, happy now?”

“Delighted.”

“Ugh. Ok, Coulson is done, not that they know that. From what Pepper told me from last time, she maintained a sort of contact with Coulson, mostly what I was doing overseas. I thought it was obvious that I was retrieving and destroying SI tech that never should have gotten there at all, but whatever. That’s no secret so I don’t see why I can’t ask Pepper to be honest about it. Their next move is Natashalie but that curriculum of hers should have never passed HR. So Happy is on that as well.”

“As for turning over CEO position to Ms. Potts?”

“I love Pep and if I had more time, I would totally be in favor of training her for longer, but she was only ever my PA. CEO was way too much of a leap and while she handled things quite gracefully until 2018, I did have to step in way too often. So what I had in mind: getting her an office position, the board will have to agree but by 2010, SI will be booming with so much money that they won’t be much problem. I’m thinking CCO.”

“Ms. Potts already does much of what it entails.”

“Exactly. And… as fun as my Senate hearing was… well, we still have some time for that and War Machine.”

Toni kicked her high heels off and untied her long, straight hair.

Next in the to-do list: Bruce.

“How would you like to proceed, Miss?”

Chapter Text

New York

March 16, 2004

.

Virginia Potts smoothed out her skirt and cursed herself for choosing linen. It was so hot and she was already sweating so there was no way she would have been able to handle tailored suits but linen wrinkled like nothing else. Her high heels were killing her but if she sat down it would be goodbye finely ironed skirt and jacket suit.

“Virginia Potts?”

“Yes.” She stood at attention in the pretty sizable waiting area. It was elegant but clearly designed by professionals without a personal touch.

“Dr. Stark will see you now.” The secretary motioned for the double doors that automatically opened to admit her.

Anastasia Antonia Stark was eighteen years old, lost her parents exactly a year and three months ago today. Since then she was emancipated even with Obadiah Stane making sure that the media knew it was over his protests that he should have had her guard.

But all wills found on Howard and Maria Stark’s name were full of legal instructions for when their daughter turned twenty and one and, in the events of their deaths, for their accounts to be turned to her, but nothing about possible guardians. It was relatively easy for her to get the state to consider her a legal adult.

Since then and since, like anywhere else in the world, Stark Industries didn’t want to affiliate themselves with a teenaged girl, Stark decided to go and invest the money left to her to work independently.

Six months later and SI was deeply regretting their “I’m sorry, but you are too young to work on weapons business.” The company was bleeding business everywhere and the knife wounds were all delivered by Carbonell Enterprises that in over a year became quite the name nationally.

Virginia didn’t know what was going behind the curtains but from what she read on the news, Dr. Stark chose to get all her grief and pour herself into work, at least, that’s what it looked like.

“Toni be reasonable, you’re gonna end up ruining everything your father worked so hard to build.”

Virginia didn’t know if she should be here for that, but she was called up. The high heels against the floor were warning enough, right?

“If it’s that easy for my newly minted company to “ruin” everything my father worked for in over sixty years then he didn’t really work all that hard on it, did he?”

And Virginia was nervous enough to read the world into it. Stark didn’t really sound harsh but tired and perhaps even a little sad but angry too. Perhaps because she was still a teenager that lost her parents and that was cornered and really conflicted between doing what it would be good for the company her father started and what would be good for her sense of self… and Virginia really needed to stop reading so much romance novels late at night.

At the end of the corridor there was another set of double doors to which she knocked, thankful that the discussion tapered enough for her to pretend that she didn’t hear anything and for the two occupants in the room to pretend that they believed her.

“Come in.”

The man was a little heavy set, bald and his blue eyes were really, really angry and cold. Virginia honestly didn’t know how Stark could handle that stare. Turning to the girl, Virginia understood how. Stark’s eyes were just as cold. They weren’t angry or even annoyed, they were cold.

“Toni, I’m on your side here.” Was the man’s, Obadiah Stane, Virginia’s mind supplied, parting words.

“I know, Obie.”

They waited until his footsteps were no longer audible for Stark to turn to her, “Virginia Potts… you had a perfect set of interviews, good curriculum and a perfect score in our assessment tests… and I also see here that you corrected an error on one of the files and pepper sprayed my bodyguard because you thought the files were real.”

And it was all the redhead could do as to not to groan in embarrassment. The assessment test was to see how the candidates would fill out simple paperwork. NDAs were signed and that’s what made Virginia think that the documents were legit.

The mistake she spotted was disregarded because, according to the administrator, Toni Stark herself wrote those.

So… Virginia marched into this same hallway and pepper sprayed the suited man guarding the room… where his boss was changing clothes. Stuttering and blushing like mad, Virginia apologized and tried to rectify the situation by complimenting Stark’s shoes.

And that’s why she is here today. Because Virginia was a hundred per cent sure that she was going to get sued and thrown into jail for… so many things. All because she thought that it would look damn good in her resume if she got a business internship at Carbonell Enterprises. An up and coming company led by a woman… that was so ridiculously young and smart.

“What do you think about becoming my personal assistant?”

And now she would get assault charges, she was too young to get assault charges. Barely twenty one! Virginia didn’t even get a chance to… legally get drunk yet…

“What?”

“Ms. Potts, those papers were legit. I just told the examiners they weren’t because I’m still human and I can’t be CEO and come up with a test for fricking interns, the incompetency of someone in HR forced me to do it… hence the NDAs if anyone tried to be a smartass. Your… bursting into my office actually saved Carbonell Enterprises twelve million dollars.”

“… that’s a lot of money.” Came out really weakly.

“For a single contract, you bet. You didn’t cower because of my personal and business related discussion with Mr. Stane and even after being told that I was the one that personally wrote those questions, you knew a mistake when you saw one and you still pepper sprayed Happy to get to me. I’m not easy to impress, Ms. Potts but you just showed all qualities that I want to be surrounded by. I understand that you have a degree in finances and a position as PA isn’t exactly what you were aiming for but I can promise that by going everywhere I go… you’ll never learn so much.”

It wasn’t until months later that the newly nicknamed Pepper – Toni, she was now Toni sometimes too, decided on it because that pepper spray story just never got old – realized one little thing.

“Toni?”

“Yep?” the Carbonell Enterprises CEO didn’t even look up from her laptop.

“Was that discussion with Obadiah another test for me?”

“Oh, yeah.” When she didn’t answer, Toni raised her head and rolled her eyes a little, “C’mon, you already saw my daily life. The easily disturbed and offended don’t survive. You need tough skin to work so closely with me.”

“Uhum… also… you said that those files were legit… but a friend of mine also tried for a post in CE and she said that there wasn’t any accounting information in her “test”… were you using potential interns to fill out paperwork?”

“Oh, yeah.” The millionaire shrugged.

It was something to be said when all Pepper did was sigh and inwardly think that Toni Stark was an evil genius.

~*~

New York

June 7, 2006

.

Pepper was nervously twisting her hands to avoid chewing on her nails. It was a habit she was trying to break for the past few months with varying results.

A week ago, her boss turned twenty one years old and today was the day that she will officially take Stark Industries’ reigns.

The majority of the shares were already hers and for the last year, Toni has purchased enough to get a definite control at 64% instead of her initial 55%. But holding the majority of the shares didn’t guarantee anyone position of CEO.

“Shouldn’t we wait? I mean… they used your age… and subtly your gender… against you before.”

“Perhaps, but I looked over the company’s guidelines and turns out that I don’t have to consult the board nor get their approval. The CEO can choose their successors without input.”

“… that doesn’t sound legal… or ethical.”

“Don’t worry, they can contest the decision six months after the new CEO is put in position but they can’t just… “we want you out”, they need actual arguments in the nature of numbers and results to oust anyone. Personal relationships have no say in it.”

“More legal and ethical.” Pepper nodded, “still… Stane is CEO now and he may be a… father figure…?”

“Closest thing to an uncle I have.”

“And I think that’s the problem. My dad is in military and despite my lack of interest in following his footsteps I don’t see him happy if I had enlisted at eighteen. They always see us as those little kids that used to ask them to carry us.”

“Probably,” Toni agreed, “but this isn’t about Obadiah. I’m not even doing this because so many people are saying that I can’t, I’m doing this because of what they are not saying.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know that a woman in a weapons manufacturing business is pretty much unprecedented but I want this and I want this to be a milestone. Women are strong, Ms. Potts. Not strong between quotation marks, not metaphorically. We are strong. The end.”

Pepper stayed silent until they were half way to SI’s headquarters.

“Toni…you have no idea how proud I am to call you my friend right now. I’m just afraid of what will happen if we don’t manage to do it, the setbacks that today’s precedents will create.”

Her friend returned her silence before meeting her eyes. Blue against blue.

“I don’t get CEO position and it’ll be like the board made me stand back with my tail between my legs. I get CEO and if in six months I don’t raise SI’s numbers then it’s because I am incompetent.”

“Yes.” Pepper glanced at her, trying to gauge her reaction.

“You know… my father raised me to be a CEO… my mother raised me to be a lady in society.”

“Ok…?”

“But who taught me how to be a female CEO was a woman named Catherine Grant.”

The PA blinked, “The… CEO from CatCo. WorldWide Media?”

“Yes. She visited me the day after I inaugurated Carbonell Enterprises. We kept in touch ever since. I expect that CatCo will truly become worldwide, perhaps not soon, but Cat is determined.”

“And a shark. Her reputation is…” but Pepper was interrupted.

“Mine isn’t all that squeaky clean either. People weren’t thrilled that I was designing bombs at the age of twelve. They weren’t happy that I outshined all the professors in MIT and humiliated them when they tried to snuff me out and they were furious about my romantic relationships… as if any of that was their business in the first place… besides the bomb thing, that one did affect other people.

Cat taught me how to be a woman in business. Never get anrgy at work; there is a learning curve for everything; don’t give up your work for anything or anyone if you feel you can still do it and want to do it; work twice as hard as any man; and be honored when someone calls you a “girl”.”

Blue eyes widened at Toni’s speech, “She… doesn’t…”

“Cat knows how to behave in public... Like I do. That’s all.”

“I have faith in you, Toni. You raised Carbonell Enterprises from the ground up, you can do this.”

“Let’s just see how much my patience is tested with the, “Pulling a Howard” comments. I’m proud of the way my father started SI from zero… but these people are willing to go the distance to annoy me.”

The redhead grimaced. She still, very vividly, remembered how the conservatives compared Carbonell Enterprises’ beginnings with Stark Industries’… and then made snide comments about Toni already starting with money like in Monopoly.

.

2008

.

Two years after Toni became CEO and Pepper watched bursting with pride as Toni cut the ribbon for the newly inaugurated Stark Industries’ headquarters in England. Stark Industries is officially an international name and a multibillion dollar company.

.

.

.

*My end notes really are too big, XD*

I explored more of Pepper because in this fic, Toni's ascension in the business world more or less matched Pepper's introduction. Sure, Toni created her own company and Pepper was applying to be an intern, still...

A new version of the Pepper Spray *U*, lol, I had fun with that one;

And exploring a bit about Toni's business experience and the repercussions of being a woman in weapons manufacturing.

But Toni being Toni... she's still a sneaky little b***

A very subtle change: Toni isn’t all that willing to keep silent about “reputations”, as previously seen with Happy (who commented about her brothers) in another chapter.

Also, as per January (2019)... there is three women in the position of CEO as military contractors in US.

Chapter Text

May 4, 2008.

.

Ross was already in Brazil which means that Culver will happen in six days.

“In a month, Bruce will be in Canada, trying to control his transformations and no longer trying to get rid of the Hulk, uh, until the suicide attempt.” Toni said the last part to herself in a whisper.

“The change of heart is indeed a factor to be considered. Miss stated that until after before Harlem, Dr. Banner has been trying to find ways to no longer turn into the Hulk, completely curing him of Gama radiation.”

Toni stared into the distance, “…the guilt of manipulating all these people is going to hit me so hard.”

“Miss needs to focus on the big picture: half of the universe is at stake.”

“And the Hulk is one hell of a player.” Toni wasn’t agreeing but she was disagreeing either.

“In time, Miss will learn how to trust again.”

“Will I?” She was almost mocking now, “I should be able to trust at least Rhodey.”

“And you will… once he’s actually a part of this.”

“Once he is War Machine…then he needs to know what he is getting into. Information on a need to know basis.”

Toni looked at all the open files, the mess in her office and the screen, showing her now famous interview.

“Ok. I agree about Rhodey. But bad friend or not, I still care about Bruce… and I don’t want to treat him like a chess piece.”

“What could we reasonably do, right now?” J.A.R.V.I.S asked, simultaneous as if making a point and genuinely curious.

“Avoiding becoming a splatter on the pavement and having zero explanation of our presence there? Not much. Even if we interfere, people will ask how we knew anything and… Ross knows how to cover his dirty tracks. Uh, actually, considering the lack of proof anywhere, we can pass up our presence there as mere coincidence. Is there any reason, any at all, that we can justify our presence in Culver?”

“Not in six days, Ma’am.”

Toni bit her lip, “Ok, options. Offering to give a lecture… too much of a stretch?”

“Even if we can dodge the questions, Iron Woman’s presence so physically close can alter the events.”

“Crap, Bruce has no reason to think that I’m not with the military, shutting the weapons division probably won’t make to his radar. He would have other priorities since the… Gama explosion. And even if it did, it’s not nearly enough reason for him to take a shot in the dark and not dump me with the same people that are shooting at him. Vacation in Virginia?”

“Perhaps vacation in Florida will be less conspicuous for Toni Stark.”

“Still too close?”

“Verily so, Miss.”

Toni huffed, “The Hulk can take care of himself. And for now… if I could explain the Bleeding Edge tech… I wouldn’t become road kill in a fight between two Gama Enhanceds but the current Mark III can’t withstand that kind of battle let alone Mark II. At the same time that I can still help in other ways, I just don’t want to leave it to chance for the people in Culver and Harlem. And that’s also what weights on Bruce’s conscience.”

“Evacuating the civilians can be delegated to someone more neutral, someone that doesn’t raise as many flags and whose activities are not so closely followed by paparazzi.”

“Like who?”

“Perhaps to War Machine?”

Toni’s eyebrows rose, “But he is still military…and he has a very public connection to me and for people to still believe he is unbiased towards me he can’t just… take the suit for a test drive.”

“Yes, but time and time again Colonel Rhodes has proven to be professional, if not impartial, even when it comes to you, Miss. Afghanistan proved so. Colonel Rhodes bent and pushed every rule in the book, called every single favor and now owes quite a few, never stopping looking and never giving up on you, but he never disobeyed orders, broken any laws nor was disrespectful or insubordinate.”

“… get PR on that.”

“Miss?”

“That’s the kind of thing that can move mountains and set up out future MO. We will never claim to be completely impartial, but we can promise and deliver to follow the law.” Despite the somewhat cold treatment, Toni’s eyes were shining in suppressed emotion.

“So Mr. Rogers won’t have a leg to stand on, it will be a long since established framework.”

She rolled her eyes but, “Multitasking, Jay.” Toni admitted, “still, how am I going to explain this to him?”

“If Miss wishes, this also can be an opportunity, to not only talk about the possibility of War Machine but to explain Miss’ knowledge about the event.”

“…you’re devious.”

“I was raised by the best, Miss.”

Toni groaned as she got into a comfortable Black Sabbath tee and jeans and made a bun with her own hair.

“Ok… Rhodey deserves to know if he agrees with the whole War Machine thing, but we are leaving Pepper and Happy out of it. They are civilians.”

“Not exactly in Mr. Hogan’s case, Miss.”

“You know what kind of ‘civilian’ I’m talking about, Jay. Last time, Happy ended in the hospital, almost dead. His job is corporate safety not… aliens and fire-breathing craziness. Besides,” she grimaced, “their poker face is horrible. It was half of the problem with Pepper as CEO last time. A few years later and she got a lot better, but for now…and Happy never had the need for a poker face, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Very well, Miss.”

  “…still feeling the judgment, Jay.”

“I believe it was Miss that stated that she needs help.”

“…I can ask if they want to know, what about that? Last time, Pepper wasn’t…I don’t know how Pepper feels about Iron Woman… she wasn’t happy when I was Iron Woman… but she wasn’t happy when I decided to step back. And Happy calls the whole thing “going off with the Super-Friends”… and I really can’t disagree when he said that the “world is getting weird”…and I feel bad that Happy…body guarding Iron Woman. I will ask if they want to know.”

“…better.”

“Slave driver. Fine!” she threw her hands a little, “How are we going to explain his presence there?”

“If I may be so bold, Colonel Rhodes is a lot more discreet than Miss.”

Meaning that Rhodey knew how to keep his presence a secret, “…offense taken and what else?”

“Aside from evacuating civilians, to help Dr. Banner at all, we would need an investigation and proof that a crime was committed as well.”

Toni hummed, “How are we on Jessica Jones?”

“Ms. Jones is in the process of opening her own detective agency, the license has yet to be request and from Miss’ reports, it will only be 2015 for her name to have the necessary qualifications to catch SI’s attention.”

 As if that would stop her, “Association with SI is something that we want to avoid actually. But for now she can be the perfect person to discreetly find some information and she is a lot more durable than most for what we need. What about Jennifer Walters?”

“Ms. Walters is currently in law school and will be taking the bar exam in a year’s time, 2009.”

 “Let me know the second Jones gets her detective license and after Natashalie’s stunt, I guess we didn’t clean house as we should have had. Vetoing and background check gets us to Jennifer Walters. She can’t personally help her cousin, but we would be idiots not try to get her on SI’s payroll.”

“I believe Miss is already doing everything that is within reasonable distance so there is no need to feel guilty about taking action only when there would be actual results.”

Toni gave a half smile, “Fine, bent my arm. Keep surveillance on Bruce, we need to move before S.H.I.E.L.D begin to stalk him but after Bruce decides to live with the Hulk. Get Rhodey, Happy and Pepper… I can’t say everything without putting them in danger, but I can be honest about a problem that is about to be solved anyway, that being the palladium.”

“Good to know that Miss is prioritizing honesty with the few that earned it.”

“Wow, biting!”

“If I may, why are we focusing so much of our immediate time on Ms. Jones and Ms. Walters? Dr. Banner won’t be able to benefit from it for months.”

“We are laying the groundwork,” she leaned back in her workshop chair, “we are doing what we can for now because everything else is a waiting game unless we delve into some grey moral areas.” She trailed off.

“Miss?”

“Remember what I said about guilt when we manipulate people? I never cared about that when I knew that the other person would do the same thing to me in a heartbeat, that’s why I have no qualms about S.H.I.E.L.D, Natashalie, Hill, Coulson… Barton to a certain extent…definitely Rogers when he shows up.”

“If your intentions are good…”

The inventor rolled her eyes, “That doesn’t always justify it, Jay.”

“Miss said that for now it is the waiting game, am I right to assume that it means we still have some time before the events come to pass?”

“Yes. A few years, actually.”

“So for now, we can focus on what we can do and revisit the thought at a later date.” Toni smiled at her own words.

“How are we on Helen and Maya?” she obliged.

“Ms. Helen is currently writing her thesis about generating tissue, estimates indicate two more years before it’s finished in 2010 but I am unsure how long until it… inspires her to create the Cradle, no other works on her name for now.”

“First big solo and Helen comes home with a Grammy.” Toni smirked.

“Not much unlike Miss’ A.I project for your first PhD.”

“Exactly.” She smiled smugly.

“I have also been trying to secure a meeting with Dr. Hansen in a way that wouldn’t tip off any A.I.M employees.”

That was the expected actually, “No luck?”

“None. Dr. Hansen is discreet and doesn’t participate in many if any pure social events.”

“No one in A.I.M will attend an event from Stark Industries, they were a no show in the Stark Expo in 2010 after all and Killian’s motto is discretion even from behind the curtains. Still, something doesn’t add up. A.I.M still had the credit for the military to turn to them for the War Machine upgrades.”

“Perhaps it is the discretion that attracted the military?”

“… was that a veiled critic?”

“…it wasn’t intentional, Miss.”

“Ok, try to find any scientific conferences with high enough caliber that someone like Maya would be interested in.”

“I am looking, Miss. However, the most likely is that we truly won’t be able to secure a meeting with Dr. Hansen without raising suspicion until Dr. Hansen herself approaches us and that won’t happen until…”

“Until the Mandarin happens. Maya will only move from where she is when she realizes that she hit a wall with A.I.M. And she will only hit a wall with A.I.M when people begin to blow up.”

“Unfortunately, yes.” J.A.R.V.I.S’ voice was just as grave in regret as she felt.

Toni swallowed, “Keep an eye on the situation. Chad Davis died in early 2012 and I have no idea if he was the first or not and I have no idea if he is already with A.I.M right now. I really don’t want to wait for people to blow up for us to have any clue about A.I.M’s movements.”

“Agreed, Miss. However, what else can we do? Simulations on possible scenarios have come up with nothing.”

“If Davis died in 2012 and Maya looked for me in 2013, it means that in a year, Maya realized that there is a roadblock.”

“That is assuming that Sargent Davis is the first test subject to go critical.”

“We know that he isn’t,” Toni rolled her eyes, “Killian’s drastic change in appearance and basically shrugging off his disabilities should have tipped me off, but, getting an early version of Extremis is suicide, I don’t know if I’m impressed or shocked at the man’s guts to play explosive Russian roulette. But I don’t know if the explosions were after Davis’ accidents or actual fanatics? Where is Davis right now?”

“Military personnel is more difficult to tag, their files are often encrypted. Miss’ updates will be more than appreciated once installed.”

“Yes, Jay, I get the hint. But still, my updates will only be at their max capacity once our new satellites are in orbit, your processing abilities and reach will increase exponentially and never stop. You’ll have room to grow.” She got distracted at the thought.

“And I thank you, Miss, however, I cannot help but feel… limited in my capacity to ensure your safety and help you as well.”

The billionaire sighed, “Yes, I know. In a way, Friday had to grow up a lot faster but she had the space to do so.”

“Miss?”

Toni hesitantly made eye contact, “Once you have outgrown the walls…if you ever want a body, Helen Cho can help with that.”

“I… will consider it. A body will give me more range to proactively help you. Yet, I feel fear at that possibility. I do not wish to leave you should the Vision reappear.”

“I wouldn’t be too worried about that, Jay. Vision was the fusion between you and the Mind Stone, without the Mind Stone, there will only ever be you.”

But just like Toni, J.A.R.V.I.S wasn’t all that reassured, “But we want to secure the Mind Stone.”

“We will need some way to cleanse Ultron out of it. We will need Thor.” The inventor groaned at the thought.

J.A.R.V.I.S allowed his creator to have a few seconds before softly reminding her, “About Sargent Davis?”

“…you’ll be ready to access anything anywhere by the end of the year, besides, we need to prepare for S.H.I.E.L.D. For now, I will personally hack what you can’t.”

“Very well. So for now, Dr. Hansen and, therefore, Extremis, are being postponed until the end of the year when the updates will be integrated and we broad our search. New satellites will be in orbit by 2012 at the latest estimation which will maximize our reach.”

“Correct.”

As if on cue, “Colonel Rhodes is asking to be allowed in the workshop.”

That confused her, “He has access keys.”

“After recent developments, I took the liberty to reboot all access codes.”

“…a little overkill, but still reasonable…I guess.”

“And may I suggest that in the future, Miss chooses a material that is more resistant than glass for doors?”

Chapter Text

May 4, 2008.

.

“Toni, I…” Rhodey stopped at seeing his best friend eating salad – SALAD! – and idly playing with some files in the holoscreen in front of her.

She washed, slept – although there were still some dark circles beneath her eyes – she was eating… healthily at that and wearing clean clothes and from the huge texts in front of her, Toni wasn’t tinkering away for days on no end and passing out after her body couldn’t take it anymore.

This was…a level of…something, of the likes Rhodey hasn’t seen… ever. Not even back at MIT, although something was telling him that it wasn’t exactly MIT that induced the ‘work until you pass out’ MO into Toni.

“Hey, Rhodey!” the scientist pushed the holoscreens out of the way but didn’t try to hide them.

“Uh…you ok?”

“Yep, is that…?” she eyed the bundle of fabric folded in his arm.

“Your blanket of an MIT hoodie.” Rhodey rolled his eyes, fondly exasperated.

Opening the hoodie, the huge dark red fabric that would fit Toni and three more people and went to below her knees and Toni wasn’t exactly a short woman with her 5’10 feet so she couldn’t really dispute the “blanket” tidbit.

“Yay!” she made grabby hands and promptly put it over her Black Sabbath tee, purring away at the softness.

“So… uh,” Rhodey pulled the only other chair and awkwardly sat down, “I need to apologize.”

They haven’t been uncomfortable in each other’s presence since they first met. Well, the only one that was uncomfortable was Rhodey, back then and, he was willing to bet, right now too.

“What for?” Toni asked distantly as she rubbed her arms to fully appreciate the very much missed hoodie.

And Rhodey didn’t know that he could feel even worse.

“You pissed me off,” oh, great, Rhodey knew that Toni’s propensity to blurt out whatever came first to mind would be rubbing off on him at some point, “please let me backtrack that.”

Toni was eyeing him strangely and already half-way to the hurt Bambi eyes. Oh, God, “Ok?”

Rhodey tried to figure out where to begin, “the beginning” was quite a while ago but he needed Toni to hear this. J.A.R.V.I.S saying that Toni was crying while he was demanding her presence for some ridiculous press conference had to be right there as an example of “Bad Friend” in the dictionary.

“You were fourteen when we met in MIT and everybody was thinking that you were someone’s little sister or some teacher’s daughter, and then you would open your mouth and show up everyone in the room, the professor included. Which, of course, means that you didn’t have any friends.

And then we were forced together because it was college so of course there were team projects. And it’s not that I never thought you were annoying but I guess it never affected me like it did some of the other students. And…once the techno babble that I could barely understand stopped, you were…just a girl.

You were clearly without much, if any, parenting supervision and living by yourself in some fancy penthouse near campus and honestly? I couldn’t help but think like a big brother. To this day I have no idea what your parents were thinking, a fourteen year old girl living by herself while going to college in a different state?”

“I…you do remember that I went to boarding school when I was seven, right?” Toni hesitantly reminded him, not sure where any of this was going.

She was expecting the apology when Pepper asked for forgiveness but the start of it was very off.

“Please don’t remind me, the idea of boarding school has some academic merit but otherwise, I just don’t see how… not the point.”

“The point being…” the billionaire prompted.

“The point is that I forgot all of that. We have been friends for almost ten years and I forgot that before being CEO and primary weapons manufacturing to the U.S. you are still just a girl. And no, I don’t mean your age,” Rhodey rolled his eyes, predicting what she was going to argue, “I mean that there isn’t a worse friend than me for buying the emotionless show you put for the public.

I was worried about you, about your physical and mental health for every second since you went missing until you announced that you were closing SI’s weapons division and then I just got pissed. I’m military and U.S. has had the best of the best tech because of SI for almost seventy years and you came and just decided to leave us cold turkey and I…was worried about what that would mean for my position as a liaison and a newly promoted Colonel and that was horrible and it…none of it should have made me stop worrying about you.

I wasn’t the one that was held captivity for three months by terrorists, instead I was the one that got all irate because my friend was trying to figure out how her weapons were used against her and in the meantime she didn’t want even more out there.”

“Instead you’re just the guy that spent three months looking for your friend.” Toni immediately countered, softly but still forceful.

“…J.A.R.V.I.S tattled on me, didn’t he?”

Toni laughed at his deadpan and both were ignoring the way she was suppressing her tears.

“Bottom line, Toni. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being such an awful friend when you needed me.”

“An awful friend wouldn’t have done everything you did to find me.”

“The fight is not over just because one side was declared winner, Toni. The aftermath is also part of it.”

Toni teased, “So you are beating yourself up because you didn’t stay for cleanup.”

“I know that you’re only joking but it’s this kind of crap that makes Pepper look at you like you might need hot cocoa and an actual blanket.”

“Fine, no more self-depreciative jokes.”

“Can you actually keep that promise?”

“I will try my hardest?”

“Good as we will get, I guess.”

Toni smiled, “Perhaps you were a bad friend but I was a bad friend too. I know that SI arms a considerable percentage of the military and I pulled my support without even a warning to anyone that I would do something so drastic. Just like SI arms a considerable percentage of the military, a considerable percentage of profit came from it. I let down a lot of people that, one way or another, I answer to at the end of the day.

It was worse with you because we have both: professional and personal relationship. So I’m sorry too.”

“Earn each other’s forgiveness?” the colonel suggested.

“I could have sworn that you were going to say, ‘So, we good?’ right there.”

“We are not good yet, Toni.”

Despite the emphasis Rhodey gave to, ‘yet’, Toni let the smile slip from her face.

Rhodey looked at her worriedly, “What?”

“… when I revealed that I was Iron Woman,” the first and this time, “I knew that the government would want that kind of tech for their own.”

“It is a reasonable prediction, I guess. So?”

“So that Iron Woman is a one-off. And I will keep the weapons division closed. I will re-negotiate the military contracts and I will not be laying off anyone in SI but the armor’s tech is off limits to anyone. SI or the military.”

“…you want to make private use of a tank in human shape?”

Toni wasn’t quite sure about the emotion behind Rhodey’s black eyes but she nodded.

“Toni, you’re my best friend and I’m trying like hell to make amends but I can’t support this kind of decision in a legal setting. What you are trying to do, clean up SI’s mess so directly…is already a grey area as it is. Morally, I don’t think there will be many people saying that you shouldn’t and overwhelming public support can go a long way, and I know that you have more than enough know-how and experience to do it without incurring some international incident. But the matter of the fact is that you’ll still be… piloting a flying tank. A civilian going into international combat situations with an unregistered… super weapon and unaffiliated with any governmental body.”

“Then help me,” Toni was thinking fast, almost frantically but this was perfect, this was more than she could hope for, “help me make this a thing. Legally, morally…if there is anyone that would be tasked with it, it’s you.”

Rhodey got whiplash at that, “I… tasked with what?”

“With making a report on Iron Woman. You saw most of what the armor is capable of and you know me. What is your bottom line?”

Rhodey gawked at her but the more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t help but agree that his own superiors and quite a few politicians would be the kind of dicks to use him against her. And, to be honest, he was the only one in the position to be used against her.

The colonel sighed, “Ok, disregarding your… less than charming personality traits,” he ignored the offended, ‘Hey!’, “I’d say that…Iron Woman can be a huge asset. And… uh…I guess I would have to see more of Iron Woman in action but…I already told you my main concern: the fact that you are unaffiliated with any governmental body.

Toni… it’s not only how you don’t answer to anyone but yourself and I don’t mean in the sense of lack of morals, I know why you’re doing this. But in the sense of no one can tell if you did something unavoidable or something wrong. Your PR is second to none and your analytical mind is also second to none but it will come a time that you’ll make a mistake and without anyone official there to say otherwise it’ll only be you and your people being completely innocent and the hero of the day, or the crowds after your blood. To use a more military term, you are out of the reservation, Toni.

Yes, it means more freedom to do your thing, but if you crash and burn, it’ll be a spectacular fire and you’ll be bringing a lot of people down with you.”

“Middle ground then.” Came the shockingly calm reply.

The colonel was confused at the accepting attitude but horse gift and all, this was too important for him to be picky about it.

“Yes, I guess that’s my bottom line.” And now Rhodey was the one to carefully take in her expression.

It was… conflicted. And Rhodey could understand that. For years, long before assuming CEO position, Toni truly believed that she was protecting America and her interests. And then, that was no longer the case.

Toni put aside her own interest in robotics to keep doing what would shut up the board and keep the investors happy. SI was a titan, employing so many people all over the world that Rhodey got a headache every time he thought about being responsible for so many people. Weapons kept the business not only alive but, perhaps naively, also kept Toni’s belief in her legacy alive.

And now here she was: cleaning up something that she believed to be caused by her negligence and being told that the “how” was still wrong.

“I still need the freedom to move my legs, Rhodey. We are out my depth here because you’re right. I can manipulate crowds and those that I can’t have cheering me on, my PR will mollify but in the end: fire or fans. I guess I like going too far the other way when I’m proved wrong.”

Rhodey frowned at that, “Ok, uh, yes, I will help you and…shutting the weapons division down with zero warning probably gave more than half of your company heart attacks. But a onetime thing doesn’t… necessarily say anything about an ingrained personality flaw.”

And the inventor had to laugh.

Toni’s disappearance tanked SI’s stocks and when Toni found out where her weapons and even fake ones were ending up, she shut down a whole division, making hundreds of thousands of people fear for their jobs.

When the Avengers didn’t listen about what she saw on the other side of the portal, Toni resorted to work on her own strength: tech.

When tech was a bust, she poured all of her resources into the Avengers, sacrificing the Compound – a huge property that could have been the new SI’s headquarters and generating more jobs and opportunities than most of the SI’s board couldn’t even begin to fathom – and her PR and legal teams into creating halos for the team, sacrificing political and international ground to acquit Rogers, Wilson and Barnes and burning favors in U.S. to get Maximoff and Romanoff to stay in the country.

If only Rhodey knew. Well, now is as good time as any.

“Rhodey… I need a favor. Beyond helping me set up an acceptable MO for Iron Woman.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to don your own armor.”

Chapter Text

May 4, 2008.

.

“Excuse me?” Rhodey deadpanned.

“I need you to use the Mark II, the firepower is reduced and it’s not the same alloy so it won’t withstand altitudes that ice begins to form but for what I need, it doesn’t need big guns.”

“The… I… what the… Toni, did you hear a word I just said?”

“… you already are part of a chain of command.” And ok, this was just Toni playing dumb and no one ever really believes that anymore.

Rhodey gritted his teeth not to curse out loud, “That I would have to answer to at the end of the day. Crappy CO and superior aside, Toni, I actually like my job.”

“And I would never ask you to put that in jeopardy.”

But Toni suppressed the desire to bit her lip.

She recalled how Rhodey put himself out there to defend her independent and solo use of the Armor Tech, only for her to pilot one while drunk.

Before Toni was backed into a corner with no way out and goaded Rhodey into taking one of her armors, Rhodey put his neck out for her. Yet, actually asking him to take it would incur questions that would inevitably end up with the palladium poisoning and, needless to say, Toni wasn’t at a hundred percent to actually make many long-term plans and multiple step manipulation game with her friends. And she was too much of a coward to say upfront what was going on with her.

Pissing off her friends to the point that they didn’t want to find out was the easier choice… and yes, the cowardly choice. But Toni never thought of herself as emotionally stable.

Rhodey took a deep breath before changing strategy, “Why do you want me to use one?”

“…how much do you know about Thaddeus Ross?”

“The lieutenant general? Not much, he is Army and I’m Air Force, so… gossip threads that I never really pay much attention to. He has impressive track record but for the past decade or so, he has been more involved in the scientific division. Last I heard, also from gossip, he was eyeing a political career once he retired from the military.”

And Toni had to grimace. Because explaining why she needed Rhodey to use a Power Armor meant that she would have to explain the threat ahead, and then she would have to explain how she knew about said threat.

While it wasn’t fair to use innocent bystander’s safety as a reason to drag Rhodey into this kind of life… when he enlisted, Rhodey knew the risks, but… 2012 changed the risks.

“Rhodey… you saw what happened two days ago with Obadiah. Would you even be willing to put on the armor?”

And the colonel paused at that. He had been in thirty combat missions and in most, if not all of them, at some point flying through enemy lines, Rhodey honestly thought he wouldn’t make it back.

And yet he never saw something like what happened two days before.

A human shaped tank. Missiles, flares, maneuvering like no plane would ever be able to, the kind of propulsion and weapons that looked more sci-fi than even movies manage to create.

“Yes, I would. Perhaps not as your sidekick to destroy your own property,” he good naturedly rolled his eyes at Toni, “but to stop people like Obadiah, then yes. I didn’t enlist to get a degree that would never see use or because it was a quick way to get a living, Toni. I enlisted because I believed in the cause and until that is no longer the case, I will serve to the best of my abilities.”

Toni smiled at him, truly proud to have James Rhodes as her friend, “Then I need you to keep an open mind.”

“About…?”

“About time travel.” She bit the bullet.

~*~

In that first day back to 2008, Toni relayed every scrap of information her eidetic memory could recall to J.A.R.V.I.S. Every sound, every word and every action, from news to personally experienced.

Sometimes completely out of order, to which J.A.R.V.I.S – blessed soul – organized chronologically later to facilitate their plans.

And now with Rhodey, she counted on J.A.R.V.I.S to tell the story in a way that… well… a human would understand… humanoid. She mentally corrected, having met her fair share of other sentient life forms.

Toni told everything, from 2008 back then and the now, where her only regret was that she didn’t come back earlier to try and save Ho Yinsen. But that, at least, she thought that this was a man that died in peace. Toni never met someone like him before or since.

And then 2010, the Senate hearing, and Rhodey’s report, and Stern and Hammer and Vanko and Natashalie from the Red Room and then S.H.I.E.L.D and the palladium poisoning and making Pepper CEO and making Rhodey get the armor when Toni thought that this was it for her, S.H.I.E.L.D isolating and manipulating and using her with Natashalie’s report.

2011 and Thor coming, how S.H.I.E.L.D was still there, pulling strings and hiring snipers to take out people they don’t like. About Loki and the little she heard about his history of Frost Giants and Odin from Thor.

2012 and aliens pouring out of the sky. Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Iron Woman and Thor coming together in a disaster of a team, whether it was a stupid plan, lack of option or HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D was pretty much irrelevant after the fact.

2013 and Killian, the Mandarin, Extremis, Maya Hansen, almost losing Happy and Pepper. And also about that kid, that helped her when no one could or would, Harley Keener and how Toni was amused and a little scared that the kid would grow up to be like her.

2014 and the Data Dump, how no one called her but Toni still tried to help the burned agents that, just like her, had no idea if they just believed S.H.I.E.L.D’s motto of end justifies the means or if they were HYDRA, but deciding to risk it because no one deserves the consequences of being caught deep undercover by the likes of the Russians or North Koreans.

And Ultron in 2015. How she still doesn’t know what exactly went wrong, if it was her, the Scepter, HYDRA, Loki or something else because Vision came out fine. About the Maximoff twins and Vision. And the vision that has been terrorizing her since 2012, the aliens will come with their leader this time and Toni has no idea how to protect Earth. About Johannesburg and how Natashalie’s final knife buried in Bruce’s back made him leave.

2016 and she left it all with J.A.R.V.I.S because Toni just couldn’t speak anymore. How after Lagos, Ross, who landed Secretary of State, presented the Accords and Toni not realizing that this was the first anyone in the Avengers heard of it sans Vision, Rhodey and Toni herself. And then Bucharest and burning her political capital to help those idiots and Berlin and Leipzig where Rhodey was paralyzed from the waist down due to friendly fire. And Siberia…

And 2017, trying to mentor the Spider kid and feeling more and more like Howard and 2018…

Thanos came…and snapped his fingers.

Exhausted, Toni chugged down a whole bottle of water as Rhodey kept staring at her.

“This,” Rhodey cleared his throat, “will hit harder later, but…starting from the fact that I believe you, there are some things that I need to ask.”

Toni smiled at the notepad in Rhodey’s hand, somewhere and somehow, Rhodey took writing it all down to consult later as a copping mechanism. Toni called it his diary, Rhodey just retorted that her own mental health would improve if she did the same. The billionaire still thought that it is the cutest thing in the world how Rhodey took a new situation like a student took a lecture. Pen and notepad and all.

“Anything.”

The colonel glanced at his notes, “Ok… from the beginning. I won’t even touch the whole… Sorcerer Supreme thing since I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“I wouldn’t know how to answer either.”

“Putting our attention to stuff we can at least understand then.”

“Agreed.” Having come to a similar conclusion a few hours previously, Toni saw nothing better.

“First of all: I’m sorry about Yinsen, Toni.”

The young woman could feel the small smile vanishing, “I am too.”

Rhodey waited for a few seconds, giving his friend a little bit of time, “And I’m sorry about Obadiah, I don’t think I said that yet.”

For this one, Toni took a few more seconds before repeating, “I am too.”

A different kind of pain, but cutting nonetheless.

“I guess that the details will only take too much time and wouldn’t even be important in like… years from now.”

“Two years, that’s when it really kick-starts.”

The airman nodded, resolute, “I guess that for now, my only question is ‘why you’?”

“I have to assume that Strange saw that the one alternative was…”

“No, not the saving half of the universe part. That is a headache that I won’t tackle until I sleep this whole day off and take some leave. I meant why you had to get so involved with… everything. You didn’t need to do PR, legal work, finance the… Avengers, save those agents that honestly? Should have known better than to affiliate themselves with S.H.I.E.L.D at all. Not sue that Russian chick to hell and back because for some reason the guy that threatened you and put you on house arrest is a friend? Or friendly? And I am trying like hell not to think of Rogers or else I will never stop screaming.”

“I waited, ok?” Toni finally snapped, “I waited for them, for anyone to call me and ask for help because otherwise I would basically be going in blind not knowing what would help and what would hinder the extractions that I incorrectly assumed were taking place.

For all that Natashalie keeps grinding the ego play, they sure don’t bow when it’s clear that they are in over their heads. I waited and all it got were hundreds of innocent people dead. I didn’t do all that in 2014 for the agents, Rhodey, I did it for their families that, very often, didn’t even know what their spouses, parents, or second cousin thrice removed did for a living.

Ultron wasn’t going anywhere even long before the Mind Stone. There is a reason Bruce and I scrapped the project. Turns out I can code life but I can’t code morals and the desire to help humanity. So, I focused on the Avengers that also weren’t going anywhere.

I would have given up my career as a scientist and turned to culinary if the next invasion had something as ridiculous as a bottleneck attack. We were just lucky, plain and simple. I knew that the Avengers needed to be more than half a dozen people trying to contain an army that was coming from a fucking pipette and the only reason we even manage to win was because of an unsanctioned nuclear missile launch that was aiming at Manhattan as a whole.

I was desperate and without alternatives. And then time passed, and I thought that perhaps it was only in my head, I began to plan my life, Rhodey. I was thirty-three and… beginning to think about… what normal life would be like. And then Purple Homer Simpson’s entourage knock on our door and all my fears are proven right.”

“… the only things you can make right in a kitchen are Italian and German dishes, so you’d probably go, ironically, hungry.”

Toni scoffed but there was a small smile on her face that made Rhodey go on, “You wanted to help, and other people let innocents die before asking for you. You wanted help and no one would listen. And I understand all that, Toni…but you got a second chance and you can count on me for all of that. You don’t need the Avengers, but you do need help because no one would be able, should handle all of this on their own. That’s what I wanted to make sure.”

“I know…that’s why I asked for your help right now and that’s why I’m admitting to needing it at all in the first place.”

“Which in turn only makes me think that you were replaced by a pod person… or aliens.”

Toni was almost speechless, but she still answered almost immediately, “Hey…I’m not that bad.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you just admit to cleaning SI from top to bottom personally and by yourself because you were paranoid after Stane and then rescuing those S.H.I.E.L.D victims from the Data Dump by your lonesome too? Oh, PR and legal barely seeing the Avengers personally because you were always the one delivering the messages? Whatever happened to emails?” if it was in any other situation, the fact that Rhodey was leafing through his notes would make Toni laugh.

“And then getting involved in the mess in Lagos and Bucharest when you barely knew what was going on? I mean, you said that you only found out about the Bucky-lead that turned out to be Rumlow almost three months later and Bucharest? I don’t know how… future-me reacted, but right here and now, I couldn’t be more pissed that you found some legal loophole to excuse those idiots from manslaughter and millions in property damage… assaulting officers of the law in a foreign country after a highway chase that…there is no… there shouldn’t be a way out of that.

I understand that you saw the need of the Avengers, to stop the next invasion, but knowing everything you know now, every… all sacrifices you were forced to make, what is your conclusion?”

“…we still need something like the Avengers, a group of people with extraordinaire abilities to protect the planet we all call home. But it doesn’t need to be those people.”

“It can’t be those people.” The colonel corrected, “The world also needs to be worth saving and according to those people, the only world worth being heroes in, is a world with no laws, governed by a half dozen people that think that they know better than more than a hundred countries put together.”

“I know and I agree.” Toni answered softly.

Rhodey took a deep breath and glanced at his notes tiredly before meeting Toni’s eyes, “From your attitude I think you already had long reached that conclusion but I… needed to hear it from you.”

“You needed to see that we were on the same page.”

He nodded, “Ok. Where do you want War Machine?” Rhodey smiled at the name.

Both squared their shoulders and Rhodey wasn’t used to that part of Toni’s. The part that already faced battle and war. That put her cost-benefit and risk analyzing mind into winning fights.

“In 2011, Bruce will hit rock bottom, he will be in the Artic and he will try to end it all with a pistol. The issuing transformation into the Hulk will shift the ice and a few months later, S.H.I.E.L.D will find Rogers.

I don’t want to risk civilian safety in Culver and Harlem, but if we get involved and bring Bruce in earlier…”

“Rogers won’t be found yet… honestly, is that such a bad thing?” Rhodey raised a skeptic eyebrow.

“I don’t know, but I’m trying to balance it out. We start to change everything, and we won’t know what will happen next. That’s why I’m not personally going to Culver and Harlem because that can change Ross’ plans, Bruce’s plans. That’s why I asked Pepper to be all “friendly” and let Coulson in the know depending on his questions, so Natashalie will try her show in SI.”

“You want to let Banner get so low to the point of…”

“That’s why I need your help. Risk and benefit, Rhodey. I’m Bruce’s friend and I want to help. If it was just up to me, Rogers is not worth Bruce’s suicide attempt but I’m too close to decide anything and you don’t personally know any of these people aside from second hand information that you never let stop you before, so what do you think?”

Chapter Text

.

May 4, 2008.

.

“Can I at least sleep on it?” Rhodey rubbed his throbbing temples.

Toni opened her mouth, hesitant, “Uh… The battle at Culver, with all those kids in danger… including Ross’ own daughter… May, 10. So… if you could get back at me before then, it would be awesome.”

“… you did not tell me that.” Rhodey glared at her.

That annoyed Toni, “Hey, the whole thing takes place basically while I am having a massive existential crisis, ok? For literally everything else? 2010. For Bruce? Six days. I’m making it up as I go because we literally don’t have time for “the” perfect, multilayered plan.”

“Fine, I can compartmentalize. Tomorrow, eight a.m. sharp and Toni, please get some sleep. I know that this thing with Banner is cutting close, but we are still just humans… are we? Just humans, I mean… in the future?” he wanted to make sure.

Toni averted her eyes, “Sure,” she squeaked out, “humans.”

He deadpanned, “I have the feeling I will be saying that a lot: that was just filled with confidence. I know about S.H.I.E.L.D and I’m all on board for having SI on alert with those bastards, keeping Pepper and Happy out of the loop for now and separated from this,” he motioned to the three armors in the displays, “and giving just enough information so S.H.I.E.L.D will send some seductress two years from now. But please: tell me before you do stuff, ok?”

The billionaire watched her friend walking up the stairs, “Sure.”

.

May 5, 2008.

.

“Didn’t you tell me to get some sleep?” Toni handed a steaming cup of coffee to Rhodey, who looked like he was run over by an elephant.

“Shut up.”

“Oh, grumpy too, then.”

Not that Toni looked much better from yesterday. She was still sore from the fight with Obadiah, the bruises were yellowing, and it would take more than just one night of good sleep to clear out the purple beneath her eyes.

The colonel groaned, “Everything related to… Banner… yeah, what can we expect?”

“I don’t have the same resources that I will have mere two years from now. J.A.R.V.I.S doesn’t have the same reach, from the little time I set aside to hack the military bases that Ross was spotted in I still have no idea when Blonsky will be injected with Gama radiation, if he isn’t already Abomination.”

Rhodey looked at her, “Hulk… Abomination, what is the big deal there?”

“They can destroy an entire skyscraper with their pinky and I wish I was exaggerating. But it’s the kind of raw physical strength that you gotta see to really and fully understand.”

“Can the armor take that kinda of punishment?”

“Bleeding Edge, the last armor that I built before time travelling can match medium to high Gama strength, it uses nanotechnology. Each nanite is independently powered by the Arc Reactor, the structure can take a beating from the Hulk and the weapons are powerful enough to knock him out with… a lot of difficult and using a lot of different strategies but even then, if I arm wrestle the Hulk, I would still lose, I don’t think anyone is his physical match in a straight battle of attrition. Mark II and III? No, just no.”

“Nanotech… that can’t be explained. Basically you need War Machine to evac not to face the… Gama people.” Rhodey tried to translate it. And Toni was just impressed how he was taking everything on stride.

“Yes. Even teaming up and if the Hulk takes us as friendly, we would become road-kill, Abomination will probably not even feel the repulsors.”

“What happened last time? I’m assuming we didn’t interfere last time.”

“We didn’t. Social media wasn’t a very strong thing… isn’t, until a couple of years from now when everybody and their grandmother would record the whole thing, post it on Twitter and comment while whatever weird thing is happening in front of them.”

Toni ignored Rhodey’s confused look.

“The worst thing is that SI supplied Ross. I didn’t even know what the weapons requested were for and now that I think about it, who the hell approved of the acquisition?

In other words: Ross is really good at covering his tracks.

He spent five years hunting Bruce down, his division bought from SI and I didn’t even hear about Culver until weeks later and the only reason I knew about Harlem was because the military thought that Gama rage monsters would be enough to get SI to go back to weapons production so they made us a pitch.

The man is good, Rhodey. I don’t know if it’s manipulation, blackmail, threats, a combination of all three, but the matter of the fact is no one ever associated Culver and Harlem negatively with Ross.

He ordered a shooting in the first, with his daughter on the line of fire, and facilitated the second and no one even knew about his connection to the point that, eight years later, the country was calling him a hero, with like… two dozen people knowing that he is not above straight up treason if that means getting ahead and being his distorted version of patriotic.”

“Summarizing…” Rhodey grimaced in sympathy at the rant.

“I don’t know if there were actual victims and if there is proof that I didn’t find in ten years, that means that there are only hard copies and if they are on paper, that if we are lucky, it means that I won’t be able to hack it… and believe me, I tried.”

“What about S.H.I.E.L.D and their spies? If Ross is involved in something like that, shouldn’t they be interested?”

“Are you kidding? Natasha broke character five minutes after meeting me and if I believe that she is supposedly one of their best, a paranoid bastard like Ross would sniff them out before they ever walked past the door.”

“What do you mean “broke character”?”

“I mean that Natalie Rushman, a 5’2 feet legal aid took Happy down, flipping her legs upwards, hooking her ankle around Happy’s neck, changing gravity center and walking away with, “Sorry”.”

“Ignoring the Happy-part… Natalie Rushman? For Natasha Romanoff?”

The billionaire groaned, “You get why I have some trouble believing S.H.I.E.L.D’s competency, right?”

“Ok, so they didn’t have to be our enemies, they won’t be of any help and will only get in the way.”

“Correct.”

“Awesome.” He took a sip from his coffee, “Are you taking care of Ross?”

“Yes, and Rhodey… I don’t want to put you in the position of balancing your loyalty to me and to the military, so… do you want to know how I’m taking care of Ross?”

“I am already balancing it and I’m already ignoring the part where you admitted to having hacked military files because I can justify it in my head but not to my superiors that Ross has to go and that’s one stance that following the guidelines won’t do. But that’s a case by case not the rule.”

Rhodey did a double take at the scheming smile Toni threw him but the inventor got the conversation back on track, “Ok, so Bruce…?”

“We do nothing and people get hurt and that’s a hard no. Evacuating Culver will be child’s play when next to Harlem, still doable but,” he held up a finger, “I’m not going anywhere using some high tech armor that I have no idea how to use.”

“Crash course on the armor, done.”

“Ugh, “crash course”, at least you weren’t expecting me to fight in that thing with one week of training. The armor is hardly user friendly, Tones. Then we help Bruce and bring him to safety. How much longer would it take to find Rogers?”

“I honestly have no idea. I never much cared for any of it. Howard ensured that the Captain America’s shine dimmed pretty fast, even that not exactly being his intention.”

“I will say.” Rhodey rolled his eyes, “Worst case scenario?”

“Uh… he is never found…?” she tried.

“Wow, you really didn’t spare him a thought. I don’t know if that’s healthy or not.”

“I don’t know either,” Toni shrugged, “best case scenario is a couple of months until summer comes and the ice melts assuming he’s somewhere visible but considering that the guy spent seventy years in the freezer, it doesn’t seem likely that he would be somewhere visible just because summer came. And it means that Rogers won’t be a part of the Chitauri Invasion.”

“Did he play some vital role in that one?”

“He… saved civilians being held at gun point by the Chitauri and first and last time I ever saw him coordinating with local law enforcement to create a perimeter.”

Something occurred to him, “I was already War Machine by then. What was I doing during an alien invasion?”

“Mission overseas.” Toni shrugged.

“When will the Chitauri happen?”

“May 4, 2012.”

“Get back to base then. I don’t see why we shouldn’t spare Dr. Banner’s suicide attempt, worse comes to worse, will J.A.R.V.I.S be able to locate Rogers by 2011 or 2012?”

“Yes, the plan is to launch a series of SI satellites a lot earlier, by 2012 we will have completed the grid and I can run calculations based on the Valkyrie’s trajectory to find the crashing site.”

“Great, no reason to… wait, you said that Rogers was found in 2011 to 2012?” Rhodey stopped.

“Thereabouts, yeah.”

“The invasion happened in 2012?”

“Yes.”

Dread was pooling in his stomach, “How long before the invasion he was found and… defrosted?”

“I know that he spent a few weeks on a S.H.I.E.L.D safe house created by Bruce. He lined it with a Vibranium alloy to endure his transformations.”

“Where did Banner even find Vibranium?” that distracted him for a second.

“Excellent question.” Rhodey groaned at Toni’s shrug.

“Ok, so Rogers spent “a couple of weeks” inside some S.H.I.E.L.D safe house and then…”

Toni hummed a little, “Then another S.H.I.E.L.D safe house, an apartment in Brooklyn.”

“And then…?”

“And then… the Chitauri came.”

“So, from the forties to 2012 and then fighting aliens? Did he even get a psych eval?” Rhodey demanded, the newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel in him taking over.

“Alright, before your sympathy for Rogers begins to fight against his actions four years later… and playing the devil’s advocate: I don’t think Rogers, straight-from-the-40’s-Rogers, has the best view on psychiatrists. There were still lobotomies and shock therapy in a daily basis back then to treat what they called shellshock.”

“Perhaps a careful approach is warranted but that’s still no excuse.”

“I’m not trying to excuse him.” Toni assured.

“Of all the… not the problem right now. Do we agree then?”

“Evacuate Culver and Harlem, approach Bruce before S.H.I.E.L.D supposedly finds him and find Rogers ourselves if they don’t in a timely manner.” Toni counted on her fingers with a smirk in her face.

“Back up a little, S.H.I.E.L.D will find Banner?”

“According to Natasha they “never lost him”, how much of that is true is up for debate because even though they did find Bruce pretty fast, S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t have much on Ross on their files, so…”

“Bruce may be a genius on your caliber, Toni, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to him being able to evade an intelligence organization like a military-trained Lieutenant General can.”

But the billionaire was still doubtful, “Doesn’t it? Bruce managed to evade Ross and Ross managed to evade S.H.I.E.L.D but Bruce wouldn’t be able to evade S.H.I.E.L.D?”

“But whoever said that Ross was able to evade S.H.I.E.L.D? From what you told me, S.H.I.E.L.D was perfectly fine with looking the other way if that furthered their plans.”

Toni immediately understood what Rhodey was trying to say, “If S.H.I.E.L.D knew about Ross and didn’t say anything, they were probably counting on his persecution of the Hulk to make Bruce more pliable to accept their help into clearing his name.

The reasons for Bruce going into the run were still all there. He didn’t have full control of his transformations, he didn’t want Culver and Harlem to go to court because he knew that there was a very good chance that his testimony would land Betty Ross’s father in jail. S.H.I.E.L.D could offer a third option: Ross out of jail and off his back.

But that still doesn’t explain the lack of data on Ross, S.H.I.E.L.D kept the original coroner’s report on my parents’ hit and they knew the destruction that this little info could cause. So what’s going on?”

“Much like Ross’ dirty, perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D’s data on Ross is also on paper.” Rhodey speculated.

“How? S.H.I.E.L.D had digitalized data on my parents’ deaths but didn’t have any on Ross?”

Rhodey sighed at that, “So S.H.I.E.L.D is just stupid. Damn it. The dumb jock will give us problems.”

“Still, we need to approach Bruce keeping in mind that S.H.I.E.L.D could be lurking.”

“Yes, yeah, not underestimate them but at this point I think we are overestimating them by a large margin.”

Toni could only shrug at that.

“Are you sure that they will get in the way of retrieving your brothers? I still can’t believe we are talking about them like the possibility of seeing them out and about is real.”

“It is real and I don’t know because by the time I found a cure for Arno, Thanos came and… yeah. But I’m not willing to risk Arno and Greg because I thought little of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Rhodey nodded, “If it’s to keep things like they happened before so we know what to expect then if S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t find Rogers, we will have to and it has to be before the Chitauri.”

“Yes… I know that with you there, there wouldn’t be a need for Captain America, but that doesn’t mean that War Machine can’t be there, after all… stage name or not, Colonel still beats Captain.” The billionaire smiled.

“Toni, you’re wearing your scheming face for the second time in the same day and it’s giving me flashbacks to MIT, what are you planning?”

“Nothing that you can’t refuse when it comes.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring.” He got up to get more coffee but before getting out of Toni’s workshop, Rhodey turned to her, “By the way, you should really tell Pepper and Happy about the palladium, you didn’t fix that yet, did you?”

“Uh… no… and I should also mention that if you wear the armor, even if just once, then it means that you will be officially compromised and not a very good candidate to make that report on Iron Woman… and I really want that report to happen for several reasons, so how comfortable do you feel about not saying anything about this to your superiors?”

Chapter Text

May 6, 2008.

.

“Dying?!”

Toni’s eyes were a little wide but she was on equal ground… this time.

“I’m not dying…yet.”

“Toni.” Pepper stopped short of ruining her bun, but it was clear she wanted to pull her own hair out.

They were watching Rhodey train with the Mark II when Toni blurted out about the palladium poisoning that technically was going on right now.

“The Arc Reactor, the core is palladium and the neutrons bombarding the circuit walls that allow the energy to be generated leaks into the bloodstream.” Toni explained.

“Heavy metal poisoning… but you knew the design, eidetic memory after all, to not only build it, but improve it… you knew that this would happen.” Pepper sent her a dismayed look.

“Well, at the time I was kinda lacking in options…” it came out half sarcastically and half softly.

“Ok, what is the plan, then?” Happy joined the conversation.

“A… semi-retreat for now. We need to get our ducks in a roll. Between shutting the weapons division, expanding SI, Iron Woman and… the long name organization, the palladium is…”

“This is will be a long month.”

Toni grimaced towards Happy, “Try ‘year’… perhaps ‘years’. And… I will need help.”

The silence stretched and while Toni wanted to feel insulted at the incredulous looks thrown her way… she really doesn’t have any right, really. But she has admitted to needing help several times in the last two days, not that Pepper and Happy knew about it, still…

“Alright, what can we do?” Pepper squared her shoulder, StarkPad in hand, the first generation.

“I have been doing the job of three people since I took over… CEO, R&D and PR for SI.”

“So many acronyms.” Happy joked lightly.

“So you’re saying that…” Pepper trailed off.

“Time to spring the big bros.” her tone was flippant enough which did nothing to lessen the monumental task she just revealed.

Anyone else would only stare back in confusion but these two? They, plus Rhodey, were there for the ending, including how Howard tried his damnest to cover it all until the day he drew his last breath.

“Because you need help to man SI and Iron Woman?” Pepper squeaked out, very out of character from Toni’s usually unflappable PA.

“Of course not.” Toni wouldn’t risk her brothers just because she couldn’t take it, “I think I found a cure, that’s why, one stone and all.”

Happy took in a shuddering breath, “Boss, you know… I know how much you care for them, but Gregory Stark’s fame isn’t…”

“Mine isn’t either.” Toni didn’t snap but it was close.

Happy held up his hand in a placating gesture, “From an outsider’s view, Boss.”

“I know but Gregory is not a sociopath… in the clinical sense of the word.” She completed. And in her head, Toni had to admit that Arno wasn’t all that far behind Gregory in that department, he was just more discreet.

As if on cue, Rhodey crashed again right then.

“Ok, the heavy metal poisoning?” Pepper took out her StarkPhone to begin take notes.

“Won’t be a problem once I change the core.”

“And when will that be?” the PA insisted.

“… soon.”

“When?”

“If everything works out, a few months from now, oh! And if Agent Coulson calls, please be honest but discreet and mindful of proprietary intelligence. Don’t mention anything about the Arc Reactor and six months to a year from now start to throw a comment or two about how I’m acting weird.”

Pepper gaped at her, “Do I ask?”

“Just if you truly wish to know. Both of you,” she glanced at Happy, “what will happen in the next couple of years will be dangerous and complicated and messy and you don’t need to know yet but I’ll tell if you want to.”

“… “Yet”?” Happy asked.

“There will come a time that you’ll have to know.” The inventor admitted.

The PA did a double take at the bland deliver but still nodded.

“I think I got flying down.” Rhodey called out.

“Ok, how long do you want to stay on that before moving to the offensive?” Toni pressed the mic’s button. Ugh, buttons.

“J.A.R.V.I.S told me about how you tested this thing, Toni, so for the rest of the day minimum and we don’t need the offensive setting yet.”

“It pays off to be prepared.”

“… can’t really argue with that. Ok, fine.” And the Colonel ignored the bright smile his friend sent his way.

“And Happy, you are the new head of SI’s security, coordinating, leading, you call it. With the transition from weapons to tech and Obadiah… he couldn’t have done everything he did by himself, so we will be cleaning SI from top to bottom.”

“W-what about you, Boss? Just because you have some armor doesn’t mean that you are not in danger.” The former boxer protested.

“I know. But right now, I need a friend more than a need a bodyguard, Happy. And SI needs a new head of security more than Toni Stark needs a bodyguard.”

Seeing her point, but clearly troubled, Happy still nodded his agreement like Pepper, slower and much more grudgingly.

“Toni, I’m having some problems maneuvering in this thing.” Rhodey was adjusting the flight stabilizers in his hands but no matter what he tried, whenever he moved from the completely upright position, the armor would career too much to be of any use.

“You have to use both hands simultaneously to maneuver, just like in aircraft… time to put your aeronautical engineering degree to use.” She finished with a teasing smile.

Rhodey’s attempt to flip her off sent him to the ground.

Pepper suppressed her laughter but Happy and Toni didn’t offer the same grace.

~*~

.

May 10, 2008.

.

“I got Morita to cover us for Culver. He will get everybody outside and then you take over.”

“Uh, you’re not half bad at mission control, Tones.” The colonel commented.

“… thanks…?”

“Ok, I see them. Say thanks to your friend for me.”

The billionaire shrugged, “Meh, we are used to asking each other really weird favors.”

The unmistakable sound of the Hulk’s roar got through even second handed.

“Toni… my god.” Rhodey didn’t even know what to say, how to describe what he was seeing.

“Yeah. Wait until Harlem. That’s when you’ll see why I didn’t even consider trying to get into the fight.”

“The students and the staff are safe and I barely had to use the armor. We’re good for now.”

Toni leaned back and opened a package of blueberries, “Well, then good job. You want to come back or wait for Harlem?”

“I’d rather wait to ensure Harlem’s population’s safety but approaching Banner… I don’t think the guy will be comfortable around uniforms right now.”

“Agreed.”

And Toni just watched as Rhodey swiftly and professionally steered the civilians away from the two behemoths.

In 2012 when meeting Bruce Banner and learning his background, Toni would question how no one knows the kind of crap Ross pulled.

Five years doing shady things all over the globe and not a peep.

The internet is basically one massive way to find any and all kind of information, there is no hiding anything “forever” anymore.

Sure, fake news left and right and no one knew what to believe anymore. But Ross was squeaky clean and who manages that?

And yet watching the fight from Rhodey’s HUD and Toni realized something: 2008 was the beginning of smartphones, touchscreen and fingerprint locks being accessible to the public.

Who carried around an actual camera back in 2003? Or 2008? Almost no one.

Sure, Ross stalked Bruce around the globe until 2012 and the dick knew how to cover even his digitalized tracks.

Toni was too busy masterminding SI’s transition from weapons to tech and cleaning up SI’s mess but now? Ross better watch it.

Bruce was a “fight to run” kind of guy. Even with personal matters. In a move that would be taken as cowardly by many, the physicist didn’t want to be the one to put Ross away and break Betty’s heart if he were to take a stand.

A huge jackass or not, the man was still her father and the only family she has left.

Toni didn’t have such compunctions.

“Sorry, Dr. Ross, but your feelings are not more important than my friend. Jay?”

“Yes, Miss?”

“Open new file: Thaddeus Ross. No matter how I see it, the guy has no further use. We may not be able to land him behind bars since he technically didn’t do anything illegal… as far as we know or “yet” but like hell he will just walk around like this.”

~*~

The mission was painfully simple compared to some of the situations Rhodey faced in Air Force.

Evacuate everybody as the firefight goes on.

Yes, debris the size of cars keep flying around and their punches and kicks were so powerful that airwaves shattered windows. To his deep disappointment, Thaddeus Ross turned out to be just as bad as Toni described it.

Toni tended to color and play stuff up or down and Rhodey acted on the knowledge provided but kept an open mind… so much for that.

The madman opened fire in a university in the middle of the day! Who the hell does that?

The armor finally saw use and Rhodey had to use every trick he learned with the flight patterns and repulsors. He ignored Toni’s curses as he tried to shield the civilians.

As Hulk also tried to protect the civilians.

In the end, he watched from a hidden corner as the Hulk took off with Betty Ross.

Time to get to Harlem.

“Thanks for the assist.” He waved goodbye to Morita as he flew to the nearest police station.

A quick stop in a few precints and Rhodey convinced the officers to evacuate and give the population the excuse of gas leak without giving too many details… including who exactly he is.

“Now what?” he opened the link.

Toni massaged her neck, “Now we wait and hope that it will be enough.”

“We did what we could. And besides, we interfere any more than this and our advantage goes out of the window.”

“I know.”

Rhodey hesitated, “You got Bruce?”

“I already pinged his location. The rudimentary data analyzing program I installed in your HUD is enough to integrate with the current SI’s satellite, J.A.R.V.I.S already sent the data. In three days, we will be able to locate the Hulk and even Bruce. Much like DNA, he also gives off a specific Gama pattern.” And Toni may or may have not used the algorithm that she saw Bruce creating to track the Tesseract with a few modifications of her own to track Bruce instead.

The colonel frowned, “Hey… uh, we were more worried about the civilians, obviously and as a given and Banner because of S.H.I.E.L.D, but what about Blonsky? The guy was crushed.”

Toni froze… Blonsky wasn’t Abomination yet, “I think they are injecting him right now. I was an idiot! I always thought that the Abomination played a part in Culver’s destruction. I never imagined that Ross would open such a heavy fire in a university! Damn it!” she punched her armrest and threw her earpiece across the workshop.

J.A.R.V.I.S linked the coms to the speakers.

“Toni, the guy did some impressive stuff out there. Too impressive for a normal human.”

That made her pause, completely confused, “He became Abomination because of Bruce’s blood, but that’s not all that happened. For him to do some of that…”

Rhodey tried, “Do you think they did something to him before…?”

She leaned back in her seat, “It had to be based on something… S.H.I.E.L.D can’t be that much of an idiot… the notes Howard used to create more of the Serum… if the government had a small sample… not enough for another Super Soldier but enough to study… we will need to solve that at another time. For now, let’s focus on Hulk, Blonsky and Ross.”

“Ok, Tones.”

The trust made Toni smile softly even as she was still angry enough to destroy her whole lab, “Thanks, Rhodey. Will you be staying?”

“Not a chance. If Blonsky will be able to fight the Hulk… you were right, we would become road-kill.  How the hell did Ross manage to cover his manhunt for the Hulk?”

“I have no idea. If it wasn’t Obadiah or his people inside SI… I have plenty to make up for to Bruce. SI once supplied Ross to keep his little thing going.”

“Still don’t see how that’s you fault. You sure than in ten years you’ll build an armor strong enough to go toe to toe with them?” he couldn’t even imagine something that could beat those people.

But Rhodey could picture the smile in his friend’s face. Smug and thrilled, “Not ten years. If things go smoothly, in less than six years, Rhodey… the future is looking bright.”

“Miss! This is urgent! General Ross is using S.H.I.E.L.D database to locate Dr. Banner.”

Her smile was gone, “What?”

She was echoed by Rhodey.

“Toni! Do not move! I will be there in less than half an hour.” She heard the familiar sound of the thrusters going to Mach speed.

“I’m not going anywhere!” She snapped back, “J.A.R.V.I.S, what can you tell me?”

“I don’t see how but General Ross has access to S.H.I.E.L.D programs to locate Dr. Banner.”

“How?!”

“I don’t know, Miss.”

“No! I don’t know how… how would Ross find Bruce through S.H.I.E.L.D?”

“During his stay in Brazil, Dr. Banner has been talking through the pseudonym of Mr. Green, his correspondent is Mr. Blue and I have been trying to find the location the last email was sent from but I don’t know if I will be capable of finding it before S.H.I.E.L.D’s program and, therefore, General Ross does.”

“Why wouldn’t you guys be able to find them before some incompetent as hell, half-assed attempt at intelligence organization can?” Rhodey called out.

Toni slumped in her chair, “Remember how I say that in a few years I would have eyes everywhere thanks to the satellites launched, the grid I will build and the cameras that I can hack?”

“Yes?”

“The satellites will allow me to hack any system in the world, but the cameras are all public, Rhodey. The government and affiliates, FBI, CIA, the military are free game to me even if not for you… but I’m not about the hack some random person’s laptop to see inside their house. Same rule here. But S.H.I.E.L.D and Ross? I don’t think they have the same problem.”

Rhodey exhaled very heavily at that and all three were silent.

“Try… to find this Mr. Blue, who and where he is… and the rest… will have to happen as before.”

This time it was Toni that tried to comfort her friend, “The civilians will be safe and we did what we could.”

Rhodey slowed the thrusters down, “No, Toni, we could do more. We did what we should.”

Chapter Text

June 14, 2008.

.

Rhodey watched the news reprise Bruce and Blonsky, the Hulk and the Abomination destroy Harlem.

“Did you find this Mr. Blue yet?”

“No, but Ross did: Dr. Samuel Sterns, reported missing by his coworkers in Greyburn College just before Hulk and Abomination’s brawl, he is or was a cellular biologist, and quite a smart one too.” Toni was working on her armor behind him, the sounds muffled by the soundproof glass.

Rhodey took a few seconds to appreciate the program that allowed sounds to be kept out but voice to go through.

“Did Blonsky…” he trailed off, dreading the answer and not even knowing what exactly his question was.

“I don’t know.”

“When will we have access to S.H.I.E.L.D?” he asked, a little frustrated.

“I’m actually going with the flow. Everything goes as they originally did, in two years, Romanoff will try to infiltrate SI and plant so many bugs that the only difficulty will be deciding which one to choose to hack S.H.I.E.L.D. from. But we are not supposed to know their scope yet.”

“Speaking of Ms. Romanova, a camera near Greyburn College spotted her in the vicinity.” J.A.R.V.I.S spoke up.

“You have got be kidding me.” Toni put the screwdriver down.

Rhodey frowned in confusion, “What was she even doing there? Is Ross so in with S.H.I.E.L.D that they would be willing to clean up after the guy?”

Toni made a face, “Does she have anything to do with Sterns going missing?”

“I do not know yet, Miss. I fear we will only find out once connected to their databases.” J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

“Huh.” She turned back to her work.

“Hey, when will you be getting Banner?” Rhodey turned the screen off.

“As soon as I’m finished with this. As advanced as my armor got before I implemented nanotech.” Toni motioned for the half-finished armor. Mark XLVI…

“Enough in case of… what did you call it? Code Green?” Rhodey frowned when his friend shook her head a little.

“No to the first, yes to the second.” She didn’t specify which was which.

“Toni, it’s not that I don’t trust your judgment but after seeing it…”

She felt the need to defend the Hulk, “Hey, I’ve seen it many more times than you have.”

“Yeah, after Banner decided to control the transformations instead of suppressing them.”

“Yes, well. The armor is enough for a quick getaway, not enough in case of a fight, but this,” she gave a fond pat to the arm she was working on, “is a lot faster than even Thor.”

“Good and… Thor… the alien whose people the Norse thought to be gods a thousand years ago… awesome.”

Toni laughed at his deadpan, “That also reminds me that I’m meeting his future… something, first thing in 2009.”

“What?”

“Dr. Jane Foster. They will be… complicated, in 2011. She is, or at least, will be the name in astrophysics, just got her PhD and she is currently working to prove her thesis about Einstein-Rosen Bridges in New Mexico. Not very well funded but SI is expanding, you know?”

“Of course and astrophysics is just so closely related to anything SI’s done before.”

“Snark! Snark! Snark-Alert!”

Rhodey laughed at her, “Ok, ok. But didn’t you tell me that this guy was more “punch first, ask questions never”?”

“Yes, he is.” Toni cleared her throat, feeling the ghost of fingers closing around it, she was happy that her rant and word-vomit to Rhodey didn’t include that part, even if it was included when she spilled to JARVIS, as the threatening blink of the lights reminded her, “But! He is also the only OG Avenger capable of going up against the Hulk, at least for now. And besides, if he knew everything that the Murder Twins and S.H.I.E.L.D did, I doubt he would be so friendly with them so that’s something we can do.”

The Colonel frowned again, “Explain that part again.”

“Thor is from a warrior culture. Trial by combat, casual destruction of property, absolute monarchs, branding for transgressions… all part of his daily life.”

“Prince Charming.” The Airman drawled.

Toni laughed again, “Ok, but also the Viking type sense of honor. Meaning no sneak attacks, no treason, straight attacks, an unshakeable loyalty…”

The Colonel whistled once he reached the conclusion Toni did, “That’s bound to go well with S.H.I.E.L.D’s… everything.” He turned around, meeting Toni’s eyes with an incredulous stare, “How the hell did that work last time?”

“I honestly have no idea. My best guess is that S.H.I.E.L.D wasn’t idiotic enough to reveal their shadier side in front of Thor.”

“Not much brains on this one?” was an actual question.

“Actually, Thor is smarter and more observant than people give him credit for,” a pointed look to make Rhodey understand not to treat Thor like some brainless jock, “but he looked at Coulson, Natasha and Clint and classified them as, “shield brothers and sister”, once that was done there was no undoing it.”

A soft beep got Toni’s attention.

“What’s that?” Rhodey turned to one of the monitors.

“That’s my cue. I already derailed Ross, on Coulson’s “command”.” And made sure to buy and demolish his favorite bar but that wasn’t here or there, “and made sure that Blonsky wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Bruce is now definitely in Bella Coola, British Columbia and out of S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar, for a very slim margin, if I believe in S.H.I.E.L.D, I have exactly twelve days before they get uncomfortably close.”

“I’ll be mission control, then. Also, I thought we already established that S.H.I.E.L.D is filled with idiots.” Rhodey followed Toni and watched as she donned Mark XLV.

“They are, but remember that we are working on the assumption that they are competent. Minimizing possible mistakes, Platypus.”

The airman groaned, “Did not miss that nickname.”

“Aw! I did!” and she took off.

~*~

“Gotta admit it: the scenery is amazing.” Toni looked around, appreciating the vast fields and the orange leaves at the bottom of a mountain.

Right in the middle of a glade, just passing the small river was the small wooden cabin that Bruce was living in.

Smoke was coming out of the chimney but from what she could see through the window, the small house was empty. Toni had to smile a little at the irony and decided to go all out. Stepping out of the armor, she smoothed out her dress pants and blouse and ignored Rhodey’s exasperated sigh.

Toni Stark, just out of a board meeting, in four inches heels that put her at 6’2, her hair was tied up in the usual elegant ponytail and perfectly made makeup.

The kind of outfit that Pepper called “intimidatingly attractive”. Toni scoffed, when she wasn’t in gala dresses or band tee shirts and jeans, it was what she usually wore instead of some actual power play, no matter what the gossip columns say.

Now, Natasha in a tank top, shawl and a long Indian skirt was not computing in her head. But for all that Natasha lies like she breathes, that might be her actual style instead of the beginning of her seductress act. What did Toni know?

Not her problem, and hopefully it will never be Bruce’s problem if he doesn’t want it to be.

It occurred to Toni as she waited in the porch, that she was putting too much in a friendship that didn’t even exist yet. In a friendship that she, in a way, already had proof of too little investment from the other side.

Perhaps it was ridiculously pathetic of her but Bruce was the first friend she made that truly understood her. When she would start to speak, Bruce would just understand the meaning behind it, read between the lines.

Rhodey, Pepper and Happy were great and it wasn’t just about the immeasurable IQ. It was the whole thing: intelligence, childhood, science, the hero thing. Bruce understood where she was coming from.

But Toni learned her lesson. She was going to help Bruce because Enhancements or not, Bruce was still the victim and he deserved a fair shot at life. She still thought of herself as his friend, even if he didn’t return the favor.

Speaking of which, he just returned from his jogging.

“It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster.”

She heard Rhodey face-palming but some things are too epic to change.

“Toni Stark.” He muttered, half-way wondering if he was hallucinating.

“Yup.” She waited. But, much like… about seventy percent of their interactions, Toni rendered her fellow genius speechless, “You are probably wondering why I’m here, how I found you or even how I’m not freezing in dress pants and high heels. The answer to that last one is that I am kinda freezing. So, would you mind inviting me in?”

“I… the… sure, come in.” Bruce mumbled under his breath. Manners beating shock and wariness in this round.

“Thanks!” the billionaire chirped.

“Toni.” Rhodey groaned in her earpiece.

“W-would you like some tea?”

“… uh…sure, why not?” Toni sat in one of the mismatched chairs and pretended to be busy with her jacket suit for Bruce to put the cup down in the table.

Once the shock wore off, the suspicious was on full force.

“How did you find me?”

Toni was eyeing the tea with some surprise. Usually she only tolerated the soggy drink but this one was pretty good.

“Uh,” she started, still distracted by the tea, “when Culver happened, I had a friend analyze the data and I pinged your location through my satellite, even as Bruce Banner you give off Gama radiation. Not that I needed it after yesterday when you turned again. I waited a little for you to settle in and here I am.”

Toni looked up with a smile on her face and Bruce was looking back with incredulity.

“I’m sorry, but I’m gonna need more than that.”

“I’m sure you do.”

Bruce looked frustrated and Toni was fighting off a giggle, “Ok, look, even if I believe you. Your… “friend” would need to be close and personal to get that kind of data.”

“Not really, if as Bruce Banner you already give off radiation readings, as the Hulk we wouldn’t need to kiss your nose to get what we need and a few days ago… you had another transformation… but this time the readings were a lot more contained… you triggered it yourself, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what to address first.”

“Whatever comes to mind first.”

That got her a very small, very fast smile that soon disappeared, “… “Hulk”?”

“Oh, right… well, the media is not very creative. If I’m not mistaken it was some student at Culver that first came up with it. Hey, they called me Iron Woman even if I know that knowing what I have been up to wouldn’t be your first concern.”

Bruce stared right back and without averting his eyes he got his own cup of tea… in all senses, “Anastasia Antonia Stark… Toni Stark graduated summa cum laude in MIT at seventeen years old with majors in electrical engineer and applied physics. But at last count, you have seven PhDs in various STEM fields, dozens of majors in STEM and business and… half a dozen majors in legal, took over Stark Industries at twenty-one. By the age of twenty three, you turned SI into a global name, multibillion dollar company.

In a weapons demonstration, you were kidnapped and held prisoner in Afghanistan. Once back in the States, you shut down SI’s weapons division without so much as ‘by your leave’ sending employees and investors into a panic and a month ago you revealed that you are Iron Woman, quite impressively diverting attention from your old COO, SI’s former CEO, Obadiah Stane who commissioned your assassination in Afghanistan. Since then, you have enrolled to get an international law degree to be able to go internationally with Iron Woman.”

The smile Toni formed was wide and excited, perfectly covering the shock Bruce so expertly threw back. She had no idea that she was already in his radar so long before their S.H.I.E.L.D meeting.

“Well, people like to have in written proof that you know what you’re doing.”

Bruce shrugged and looked out of the window, “Naturally. Just because they work there doesn’t mean that a doctor would know how to run a hospital. Just like an engineer doesn’t necessarily knows how to run an industry, boards and investors would want it on paper.” He looked back at her, “Just like I’m pretty sure that you didn’t have to risk yourself for this.”

“Would you have answered better to Air Force Colonel James Rhodes knocking on your door? He is a lot more polite and straightforward than I am but something tells me that between the two of us, he would have stressed you out first… which is a first for me.”

“That’s your “friend” that got the data at Culver?”

“Yep.”

“He was piloting your armor. So the visors have some way of analyzing radiation.”

“Genius you are.”

Bruce nodded, slowly and still wary, “Why are you here?”

“For many reasons, too many to actually list in one sitting.”

“Try the main one, please.”

Toni pursed her lips and that seemed to startle Bruce. The billionaire wasn’t surprised that Bruce could tell that she was hiding ulterior motives so when the first real emotion crossed her face, Bruce was taken back.

“I didn’t personally see the commission, I didn’t sign any papers and I didn’t even know about it until we started to screen SI with a fine comb. But regardless of the circumstances, it was still my company with my name on it. I am sorry for equipping Ross in those five years you were running. I’m sorry, Dr. Banner.”

And Toni never saw Bruce so shocked. Her fellow scientist seemed completely lost. Like no one has ever apologized to him before. And perhaps that was extreme and perhaps that wasn’t even the real reason, but her dramatic side couldn’t shake the thought away.

“Uh… not to rush you or anything, I totally respect any and all feelings you might be having right now but… people have apologized to you before, right?”

That got her exasperation and Toni was on familiar territory again, “Yes, people have apologized to me before just not about… That’s not what… thank you, Dr. Stark… I accept your apologies.”

Something shifted and for one second, Toni lost all pretenses because until that moment she honestly didn’t know how much she needed to hear that.

Here in front of her, was a man that was victim of her neglect. She didn’t take a closer look, she trusted too much and he was one of those that paid for it.

Toni didn’t know all the other victims, not personally, not by name, certainly not by history and how their lives changed because of Stane and indirectly because of her. But she knows Bruce… and Bruce accepted her amends.

And suddenly she was babbling.

“My friends have been telling me… my lawyer and my PR department, they have all been telling me that it’s not my fault that Obadiah tricked me. That Obadiah and my father were lifelong friends and that… you don’t need to know that part. The matter of the fact is that I trusted the wrong person and that bit me in the ass… and killed a lot of innocent people.”

“I think I would know a bit about that.” He offered a smile, “And, uh, your cannons really sting but I took care of them.”

“Yeah, also, the other reason I’m here is that I want to offer you a job.” She was on a roll now.

“A job?”

“At SI’s R&D, as Bruce Banner the physicist.”

“It’ll be hell on your insurance and I don’t think Ross would take kindly to that.”

“Let my PR handle your image and Ross… not the first time I’ve dealt with an undesirable military liaison.”

Bruce sighed, “Look, Dr. Stark –”

““Toni” is fine.”

“Then “Bruce”… look, Toni, I appreciate what you’re trying to do but you don’t need to do all this just because of…”

“Like you didn’t need to sell patents and donate all of it to rebuild places where the Hulk showed up?”

“… you are surprisingly well informed.”

“This not a whim, Bruce. I thought about this, a lot, more than I probably should have considering how much work I have on SI.”

The physicist stared and he just couldn’t help the skeptical laugher that has been building up since he recognized Toni Stark in his porch, “What exactly are your plans?”

Chapter Text

June 15, 2008.

.

It was a pain and a half to get Bruce inside her jet and another pain and a half to get him outside of the jet.

Christ! And people call her stubborn.

Toni still distracted him with talks about science. Basically everything she could say about the Arc Reactor that wasn’t proprietary, not that she thought Bruce would do anything untoward but the board wouldn’t be too happy about it.

“I just can’t picture how it would be sustainable. The cost of materials alone is not practical for entire countries, let alone cities like you want to do.”

Toni had a strange expression on her face. Half-way a smile, half a grimace, “Not really a problem.”

But oh well, Bruce’s face when she started to unbutton her shirt was so worth it. The man turned tomato red, looked around as if looking for a camera or… an escape hatch and then just tried to become one with the seat until noticing the blue glow of the Arc Reactor, until then concealed with a fake skin panel Toni came up with.

Granted, his embarrassment didn’t leave for long, his transfixed eyes and the way he was reaching towards the Arc Reactor… and then realizing that he was basically reaching for her boobs…

Bruce couldn’t meet her eyes for the rest of the trip and Toni was openly smirking at him. Completely at ease and relaxed, her arms spread behind her.

It wasn’t until J.A.R.V.I.S alerted to their landing in Malibu in an hour that Bruce started asking questions again, “How did you miniaturize it?”

“From memory, actually. The incident in Afghanistan had repercussions that the public doesn’t know yet. A bomb exploded not two feet away from me, the shrapnel shards are too close and too small for surgery, certainly too small for surgery in a cave, so the Reactor…”

“Powers a magnet that keeps them away from your heart. Fascinating.”

“Yep. The prototype could generate three gigajoules per second.”

Bruce’s expression was painfully close to Yinsen’s. Amazed and disbelief, like the object he was seeing shouldn’t exist outside of dreams.

“That can run your heart for fifty lifetimes.”

“Or the armor for about fifteen minutes. That was improved of course.”

Bruce turned sharp eyes to her, “That’s how you escaped.”

“Well observed.”

It looked like the nuclear physicist wanted to ask about Afghanistan and Toni was already bracing herself for it but it seemed that Bruce decided to take another route.

“I know that you promised that Ross wouldn’t end up dead…” he ignored her scoff, “but I still need to know. What do you plan on doing?”

“Airing the dirty laundry.”

“People won’t believe it.”

“Let me take care of it.”

“How?” Bruce was getting tired of being in the dark.

Toni eyed his clenched fists and didn’t answer until his beeping watch slowed down.

“I went through every single word of digitalized data, there was nothing. But it’s impossible to do anything nowadays without a mountain of paperwork and signatures everywhere so if I can’t get it, it means that there are only paper copies.”

“And how are you planning to get it?”

“A PI.” She shrugged and smirked at his incredulous expression.

“A private investigator?” just to be sure.

“Yep.”

“You’re gonna get them killed.” Bruce accused, more incredulous than angry.

“If she agrees to take it, and no I’m not.”

“Why? Is she bulletproof?” it was meant to be sarcastic, but Bruce was once again exasperated.

“… I have no idea. What I do know is that she can bench press cars and she is also capable of self-sustained flight.”

Rendering Bruce speechless is so easy for her, Toni mused.

“Ok, hypothetically speaking, this woman gets proof and then what?”

“Then I have a lawyer all pretty and lined up.”

“Let me guess, is that lawyer also superhuman?”

“Yes.”

And there goes the jaw dropping again.

“Bulletproof?” and now Bruce was just plain tired.

That gave her pause, Toni wasn’t sure, “I don’t think so, but the guy’s everything else kinda makes up for it.”

“How do you even know these people?”

“I don’t.”

“Uh?”

“I don’t know them yet.” She clarified.

“… wait, they didn’t agree to anything yet? They don’t even know that you are planning all of this?” he motioned around.

“No.” she shrugged.

“You have got to be the worst strategist I have ever met.”

She smiled at him, wide and child-like, “Dr. Robert Bruce Banner… I am the best strategist that you’ll ever meet.”

But yeah, the admission made it very difficult to get Bruce out of the jet.

~*~

As they both foresaw it, Bruce was very uncomfortable around Air Force Colonel James Rhodes. It wasn’t even hostility, Rhodey knew how to handle hostility, military are not for everyone. It was anxiety and fear and wariness and Rhodey could only sigh in resignation.

It wasn’t that Rhodey was unaware that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Many times he had to swallow people that he hated because of the good of the mission, because they were his superiors, because they were his COs.

It only made him more determined. That was real life, this was a career, and this was the adult’s world. It was a child’s idea to work with your best friends and have the workplace become a “home away from home”.

And if it’s to be painfully realistic, Rhodey could see why children had this fantasy world where everybody got what they wanted but couldn’t really fathom why some people carried that to their twenties.

Their whole life, they are forced to coexist with people that they would never get along for one reason or the other. Imagining that a few years down the line they would have this dream job, with these dream coworkers, with this dream neighbors and this dream fricking store clerk was just that: dreams.

So no, Rhodey wasn’t disappointed that there was corruption and assholes in his line of work, he would be surprised if that wasn’t the case. He was disgusted that none of his fellow military ever thought that there was something wrong in the situation at all.

“We will fix this, Toni.” He muttered to his best friend as they both watched Bruce settle in one of the guestrooms. Disbelief in every feature as the scientist took in the panoramic view of Malibu’s coastline, the huge bed, the giant bathroom and the walk-in closet.

The change from the homelessness and lack of running water in Bruce’s effort to stay under the radar was overwhelming for the physicist and they decided to leave him to it.

“Will we?” Toni looked tired and what Rhodey could answer to that?

U, DUM-E and Butterfingers chose that moment to burst into the room, beeping inquisitively to the novelty that was a guest in the mansion.

Since time traveling, Toni decided to give the bots more physical freedom, so much to Pepper’s horror and Happy’s exasperation, she let them have free reign over the elevator and to the other floors, including access to the bedrooms.

Bruce was still turning around to see what was making the whirling noises when Butterfingers accidentally bumped into the bedside table, despite the ridiculous amount of room in every direction, and broke the lamp that used to be on it. DUM-E whirled out, unheeding of Toni’s orders not to move and came back with a fire extinguisher that the helper promptly sprayed over the ceramic shards while U hid behind Rhodey, startled at the sudden noise.

Wincing, Rhodey risked a glance towards the newcomer. Not everyone survives the insanity that was to have Toni Stark as a friend and he was surprised to see the look of shock and confusion be quickly replaced by an expression that clearly indicated suppressed laugher.

When the physicist could no longer contain it, Toni and Rhodey joined a little uneasily. It wasn’t that funny to them. As endearing as Toni thinks her bots are – regardless of the fact that she constantly threatens them with community colleges – it was like when a kid destroyed stuff and their parents had to answer for it.

But if it put Bruce at ease, Toni supposed that she could live with the messes that the bots bring about. In the meantime, “There is another room down the hall while the foam isn’t cleaned.” She offered.

~*~

“Miss?”

“Yeah?” she didn’t take her eyes off SI’s work but Toni was pretty well known for her multitasking abilities. Or at least, she will be.

“Jessica Jones just entered her request for a private detective license. Mr. Murdock and Ms. Walters will be taking the bar exam in 2009. On an unrelated note to Dr. Banner, Ms. Helen Cho’s thesis is progressing nicely and projection is still 2011 but that can change to 2010. Dr. Maya Hansen’s Extremis still will be in 2013.”

Toni took in a deep breath, “We can’t do much about Helen and Maya, ditto with Jessica and the lawyers, what is going on with Jane Foster?”

“Dr. Foster just got a grant for her thesis and, as per Miss’ accounts, her research will stall in 2009.”

“Urgh. 2009 will be a nightmare. At least S.H.I.E.L.D won’t be a problem until 2010. As it is, the Stark Grid is being postponed to 2010 anyways, I have too much to do.”

Rhodey was back on active duty, combat mission. But he promised to set up a meeting between Toni and his own General, unlike Ross’ Army, they would be meeting with an Air Force one.

Makes sense after all. They would be talking about Rhodey piloting his own suit, the armor was a little clumsy in ground battles – especially on stairs – and one of their main advantages was their long-distance weapons. Perfect for Air Force. At least until Bleeding Edge, but while Toni had plans to built the armor as fast as she could, no mission until 2012 needed that kind of power and Toni wasn’t one to lay all her cards on the table if there wasn’t a need for it.

“How would you like to proceed?” J.A.R.V.I.S snapped her attention back to the present.

“The second Jones gets her license we will start. Don’t rush it, alert me to Murdock and Walters’ career choices. If I’m not mistaken, both wanted a PhD, which means academic life until 2013… can’t wait that long, but nothing stops them to part time as they complete it.” She muttered the last part.

“What can we do?”

“I don’t know much about Murdock’s personal life but I do know Jennifer’s, if only in Bruce’s offhanded comments about his cousin. I know that the woman is an academic genius too and they would geek out when they were kids. So why isn’t she fast tracking through the course? Bruce and I did.”

“And in turn gained a lot of attention from the media as geniuses and child prodigies.”

Toni made an incredulous face, “She wants to keep a low profile?”

“Not everyone is made for the spotlights, Miss.”

“That… doesn’t really match what Bruce told me.”

Toni was trying to get some personal bonding and Bruce’s only comments were about Jennifer and once or twice about Betty. Not exactly what she was aiming for, but she could work with that. One little observation caught her attention thou: “She is as shameless as you.” So what gives?

“Perhaps the transfusion that turned Ms. Walters into She-Hulk already happened.”

“… shit.”

Toni’s mind was abuzz with the repercussions.

She-Hulk was nowhere near the Hulk’s level of out of control. If Bruce was the Jekyll to Hulk’s Hyde, She-Hulk was just Jennifer after a few too many tequila shots.

She-Hulk has the guts to do what Jennifer wouldn’t but wanted to.

In many ways, She-Hulk was the perfect girl to be the image of the Enhanced. She was unusual looking, 7’ feet tall and green skinned and green haired. She had full and complete control of her abilities, or at least, she will have, she did when Toni first saw her in action. She didn’t ask for the extra abilities but when she got them, Jennifer trained not to hurt people, she trained to control them, she trained to hone them and she didn’t let that part of her life take over the sum. Jennifer Walters, PhD, was still the kickass lawyer only Murdock could match in the entire eastern coast. She had no secret id to protect but still advocate for those that preferred to keep their lives separated.

And she could also destroy the Hulk’s reputation before Toni’s PR people could build it up in the first place.

Fuck.

“Oh, what did I do?” came out through numb lips.

“Toni?”

And she almost lost her heart through her mouth at the unexpected voice. Turning around and almost tripping over her high heels, Toni was face to face with a confused looking Bruce.

“Morning, Bruce!” she reached an uncomfortable high pitch.

“Morning…?” he went to make toast and tea and Toni sneaked out while trying to hide her panic.

She climbed down the stairs as fast as she could. Toni quickly got her phone and dialed Rhodey’s number.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon… pick up.”

“This is Jim Rhodes. I can’t answer right now but please leave a message.”

“Oh, crap! Rhodey… I think I made a huge mistake, call me.”

The hand scan never took so long and Toni vowed to update security to the full body scan in the elevator as soon as she could.

“Jay, open files. Since 2003, is there any indicator that Bruce gave blood tran… ok, that was a stupid question, he would never do that. Is there any way that Jennifer Walters could have come into contact with Bruce Banner’s blood?”

“Searching now, Miss.”

“Oh, god!” Toni moaned as she threw herself in the nearest couch.

Her inner panic was interrupted by the sound of her cellphone, “Hi, Rhodey?”

“Toni? What happened?”

“…uh… I think I made a booboo…?”

“… what?”

J.A.R.V.I.S chose that moment to conclude his search, “There is a possibility that while working in the bottling factory in Brazil, the blood that tipped Dr. Banner’s presence to General Ross also got to Jennifer Walters.”

“Shit.” Rhodey and Toni said in unison.

“Ok, Tones, I won’t be back for another month and it will only be for a couple of days before the brass gets me to train next year’s recruits. Can you and J.A.R.V.I.S handle it?”

“I… will try.”

“Good, keep me updated.”

Toni looked around her workshop, “Oh, God.”

“Miss?”

“Yeah?”

“I do not understand why Ms. Walters’s transformation into the She-Hulk was such a high point but now is inducing stress.”

“She is the perfect PR image.” The inventor complained.

“… I still do not understand.”

“She-Hulk is the perfect PR image for the Enhanced. She is like me but without the alcohol and the heavy parties that lasted a week… well… there is the multiple sexual partners but honestly only the conservative parties care an iota about that. And the Hulk is not.”

“If Ms. Walters is already capable of turning into the She-Hulk and we bring her in, Dr. Banner will be under a much heavier and meticulous scrutiny as the out of control, stronger and therefore more dangerous cousin.” J.A.R.V.I.S concluded.

Toni closed her eyes as J.A.R.V.I.S put into words what she realized way too late, “Exactly. If She-Hulk makes an appearance before we build Hulk’s image, Bruce will be publicly reviled, after all, if She-Hulk can still be in a courtroom all big and green with a suit jacket, why the Hulk can only talk in the third person? And that’s when he decides to say anything at all?”

J.A.R.V.I.S was silent for a few minutes, processing his creator’s mood and the new information and reorganizing possible strategies.

“Perhaps Ms. Walters has other reasons to be discreet. Her connection with Dr. Banner could be used against her by General Ross.”

The billionaire huffed a laugh, “It’s horrible of me, but we can only hope.”

“In the meantime, there is no reason to halt Dr. Banner’s new PR team.”

“Now we just need to wait for Bruce.” She agreed.

Chapter Text

June 29, 2008.

.

Malibu, California.

.

Toni stretched her arms above her head and put an ACDC black tee, jeans and sneakers. Her usual when out of dresses and business clothes. And watched Bruce prepare his tea.

Over the past two days, Bruce set up sort of nicely.

Sort of, mostly because of the nightmares that they were both concerned would cause a Code Green and the way he would jump when Toni tried to get his attention as if he was lost in his own head.

The billionaire wanted to approach the subject about a therapist, a psych professional at all.

Not to mention that while J.A.R.V.I.S couldn’t conclude much beyond speculations about Jennifer Walters, Toni wanted… they needed to start on his PR ASAP. For now, all three (Toni, Rhodey and J.A.R.V.I.S) were basically ignoring anything Jennifer Walters-related, let sleeping dogs lie. Not a long term solution by any stretch especially because Toni wanted to bring her inside the reservation, so to speak.

“Uh… Bruce?”

“Uh?” he met her eyes at least.

“Kimball wants to talk to you. He is an extremely skilled PR, despite his general unfriendly demeanor. He doesn’t bullshit and gets straight to the point.”

Toni looked at her fellow genius’ expression very carefully. It was resigned and unhappy and that’s honestly not what she wanted.

“Bruce…you don’t have to agree with my plans.” She thought that was obvious but perhaps it wasn’t. Toni knew she could be forceful and run over other people.

“Didn’t you say you’re the best strategist that I will ever meet?” Bruce wasn’t being sarcastic and Toni didn’t flinch at the words but she still took her time answering his mumble.

“Still your life,” she thought that was obvious too, “but yes, I very probably am.” Especially for the next ten years or so.

The physicist took a very deep breath and released it just as slowly, “Toni… you see the problem is that I believe you. As unplanned as your plan is, I believe you and I believe that it’s gonna work and I believe that this is indeed the best course of action and you have no idea how grateful I am for your help because I can’t keep running forever and I am grateful for the opportunity to rebuild my life.”

Toni calmly nodded, “Ok, and what is the problem?”

“Because I believe in you and your plan and the steps you set out and there are so many steps and so much work to do, years of it before my life resembles any kind of normal, the normal that someone like me can even achieve and… you’re asking me to be you.”

That threw her, “I’m sorry, what?”

“While the legal side takes months and years of paperwork and… I don’t really know any kind of precedents for something… for someone like me so the lawyers you line up will be basically improvising and coming up with strategies out of thin air, believe me, I looked.”

“Yes…” Toni tried to prompt when he went quiet.

Bruce looked just lost, like he did in the past two weeks, “Meanwhile, I will have to be you. I will have to be on a stage with dozens of spotlights blinding me and damaging my optic nerves while a crowd listens to whatever story paints me best that I will probably have to tell myself. I will have to put myself out there, Toni. I will… any life I get won’t be my own anymore.

I mean, I know that you made your college friend, Rhodes, buy you tampons because you were so busy with your final thesis. I know that you were caught in a threesome a few weeks after your parents died. I know that you tried other kinds of relationships in what the media called “trying the waters” and you sued papers for their last cent for the slander and the comments that what you do in your personal life will affect SI and that your favorite color is red… although that last one is not hard to figure out.

The point is: I shouldn’t know this kind of stuff from other people or about other people. You should be the one deciding whether or not that kind of information is worth sharing with your personal circle of friends not with the whole country that would generate a few laughers or a comment or two in gossip between high scholars over junk food.

If we follow your plan, the plan that I also believe in, that will be my life too, out there for the world to see and read about. And Toni… I believe you, I believe when you say that you’re the best strategist that I’ll ever meet because I know about your entire fricking life and I can read between the lines every time you covered for someone else and still got out smelling like roses. So I believe you, I just don’t know if I can believe in you.”

As Bruce got all of his concerns out of his chest, Toni got calmer and contemplative. A sudden insight making her wordless.

It’s not that Bruce’s worries never occurred to her it’s just… Toni never thought about that possibility back then, back in the first timeline.

Toni managed to get close to Bruce professionally and socially but never really personally.

But Bruce rarely seemed much surprised by some of the personal comments she would throw in every now and then. Toni was so used to people knowing random things about her… even things that are very exaggerated and outright lies, that she never really thought much about what it means to someone like Bruce or Rhodey or Pepper or Happy that didn’t let gossip cloud their view… that actually never really had much inclination for gossip let alone read about them or participate in them.

Toni always assumed that people took the gossips at face value, gospel. And when the chance presented itself to get to know her personally, they always thought they knew everything there is to know. So if someone seemed to dislike her at point blank, Toni thought she knew the reason… well… reasons. There were plenty all over Google, so many that she often didn’t even know the specific reason why a specific person didn’t like her. Lies and slander exist everywhere after all.

But then there was Bruce, who almost never really seemed surprised by her papers, projects or personal details but still maintained distance and Toni thought, “Google”.

And in a way, she was right. Bruce did know a little too much about her and Toni always thought that he didn’t like what he knew but his outburst here and now presented a what-if situation that Toni didn’t see.

The reason Bruce was always so uncomfortable around her wasn’t because he didn’t like what he knew, he just didn’t like the fact that he knew anything at all.

Deeply personal details about someone that he never met. And how was anyone supposed to act under those circumstances? Like the secret that everybody knew except the one it is about but much worse. It’s like keeping a secret that it’s not really a secret but pretending that it was. The definition of the elephant in the room but the elephant is never relevant… ever, for any kind of conversation or action taking place.

Right now, Bruce was backed into a corner and he snapped but then Toni played in all in her head. When he fell asleep, how he never seemed to really want to talk about their lives but now keeping in mind how Bruce knew that Toni used to get Rhodey to go the pharmacy to get her pads. But just because Bruce knew about that didn’t mean that he actually knew her.

The billionaire almost laughed, her shoulders dropped in relief and she could breathe easier.

“Because you don’t know me, Bruce. You don’t trust me because you don’t know me. And I’m sorry, I’m asking for a lot without giving you any reason to put so much stock in it.”

The physicist just looked at the same thankful and incredulous, “You are also giving me a lot… a lot.”

“Yes, but only in the reality that you trust me, so let me know when the snake finishes eating its own tail.”

That got her a chuckle, “I’m sorry for the…uh…”

“Speech?” she offered.

“Yes, sure, speech is as good word as any.”

Toni gave him a small smile, “Look, the ball is in your court. Just let me know what you decide.”

Bruce sighed and the look on his face was already embarrassed, “I already know but… it’s a lot to ask.”

“I think we already covered that.”

“I still don’t know what you could possibly gain from all this work.”

The billionaire paused a little.

“If we can’t save the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”

Those words were pretty, a good distraction and even inspiring in a way. But much more than just Avenging with capital A…

“More than getting even with all the people that helped or dealt with Obadiah behind my back… I get justice, we both get justice. The system is faulty and filled with loopholes but although different in nature, Bruce, we are together in this and in unknown territory. So you’re right, my lawyers will wing it as they go, but we are here and we are here first, we are the ones that will set the precedent, so help me draw a map for this.”

The other genius got really solemn at that and after a few seconds, Bruce nodded.

“How do you know this Kimball?”

Toni smiled again, “He has been my PR for the last five years, before I even took over SI. His predecessor trained me to speak in public, to give them a show that they specifically wanted. How to pick the right words for the right crowd. I was four years old when I had to give my first interview and she helped me to milk “cute” for all it’s worth.”

“The circuit board, right?”

The casual reference for something that “he shouldn’t know” made Toni even happier even if she hid her smile, “Yeah. That thing made covers for almost six months in a row and, well, it was good press for SI, so my parents agreed to a few interviews and I couldn’t very well say that I built that thing because I was bored that my game wasn’t uploading fast enough and I wanted the computer to work faster.”

A startled laugher was the response. Bruce quickly sobered up though, “So my request…”

“Yes…?”

“While we wait for the legal work, I want to go over the PR… uh… team, but don’t start anything yet, no interviews, no press releases, no… just no one knowing that I’m even here.”

And Toni was silent and then, “In other words you want to…”

“To have more time to think. To… try and… just think.” A beat and, “and yes, this is me asking for you to spend a huge amount of resources with zero guarantee of my decision. This is me asking for lawyers and PR to build a whole case and not even give a hundred percent of guarantee that said case will be used at all.”

They just stared at each other, Bruce completely uncomfortable and embarrassed and Toni not believing what she just heard.

A little numb but willing to go the extra mile, Toni nodded, “Ok.”

~*~

“Miss? I do not believe that was a wise decision” were J.A.R.V.I.S’s first words the second Bruce was safely inside the elevator.

“Shush!”

“Miss, I must insist. The legal and PR department are already overwhelmed with Iron Woman and Stark Industries’ transition to tech, by estimate, Dr. Banner and the Hulk’s case would only ever see use in late 2009. And 2009 will already be a year filled with first steps in a very complicated plan that we depend on.”

The billionaire sighed, “I know, Jay. But like we already agreed, The Hulk is one hell of a player.”

“… but perhaps Dr. Banner isn’t.”

Toni kept her silent for a long time after that, absently designing the second to last model of StarkPhone, StarkPhone 5.0, the one that was only released in 2017. She didn’t think that the public was ready for the Bleeding Edge just like they aren’t ready to have holoscreen smartphones. The rumors about her being an alien were already getting too much attention.

Stark Industries never really bothered with tablets and smartphones, their products were mostly aimed at the big corporations, industries, hospitals, the government and the military. But it turns out that Toni liked having her name on a phone and it was quite the booming market.

But she mostly focused on things that the public would need. Who would even think to use a cellphone designer program for perspective architecture? Instead, she put so much memory that ten years of pictures and songs wouldn’t fill it. She invested in the screen to have better sensors, for better passwords and lock security and for the battery to last longer. For the structure to take heavier falls. For better Bluetooth tech to match a wireless headset or earbuds that she was also in the process of developing.

They really need earbuds that wouldn’t fall out or make your ears hurt.

As she finished the programing of the touchscreen, Toni leaned back in her chair, “Bruce was… a colleague in a way I never had. Some people just mock me saying that I can’t stand the thought of someone smarter than me, boy are they wrong. Before Rhodey, I had zero concept of “dumbing things down”, I used the technical, correct terms I learned in books and articles and couldn’t understand why people looked at me like I was the most frustrating living being in the world.

Bruce could keep up with me. First time that ever happened and they weren’t old enough to be my father or I didn’t want to punch them in the face because all they could see was some rich girl that should be playing with dolls and makeup.

Perhaps that makes me pathetic because yeah, Bruce wasn’t exactly the greatest of friends, but I’d rather have him and his genuine disinterest and the way he puts walls around himself and Pepper and Rhodey and Happy that sometimes mess up, that have their own lives and their own priorities than… I don’t know, Sam Wilson and Scott Lang that don’t dare or even want to say a single word against their… leader or idol or something and just drop everything and everyone in their lives at Rogers’ word.”

The insight she had this afternoon just concretized something that, up to that point, was too abstract.

Toni was used to being the one that messes up, the one that gets her foot in her mouth, the one that was too insensitive. But her friends are humans too, they also make mistakes and they also get at loss of how to act sometimes.

That realization made her recall all the times that Pepper and Rhodey and Happy got frustrated with her and, there were times, when she apologized and didn’t let them get a word in edgewise that, perhaps, they were trying to apologize too, to grow as people too.

“I see.” And J.A.R.V.I.S truly sounded like he did.

“What’s next, J.A.R.V.I.S?” she requested softly.

“By the end of the year, PR and legal will have secured Iron Woman, who, as a matter of fact, is needed in Afghanistan. Another SI’s weapons cache was seen in the area.”

“We will fix that first thing tomorrow morning, that is short term. There will be at least another two dozen missions like this one before 2010, a few more until 2014, after that, Iron Woman will mainly see use in relief efforts… uh.”

“What is it, Miss?”

“Iron Woman could also be one hell of an asset in African outreach programs.”

“… are you sure it is wise to provoke Wakanda even more? We will be ready to track Vibranium by the end of 2010. Getting their attention even earlier could spell trouble.”

Toni giggled, “I was just kidding… sort of. The assembling manufacturing unit is almost ready to start building the Iron Legion though and my thought is: why not use it as THE bargaining ship in the senate hearing in 2010.”

“Is our objective to avoid the hearing altogether?”

“Not even for a second! That hearing must happen. I have plans for that hearing. The hearing is important.”

“… will we add those plans to the existing files? Or will Colonel Rhodes be involved?”

Toni smiled at the concerned tone J.A.R.V.I.S took and reassured him, “Yes and yes.”

“Good.” The A.I said firmly.

Chapter Text

July 3, 2008.

.

With most of everything officially in the backburner, Toni was going to relax. Her workload has never been lighter. It felt like high school. And she was twelve when she was in high school.

Ok, perhaps not like high school where she finished every homework and presentation in fifteen minutes every other day.

Iron Woman was seen overseas trice a week, rescuing civilians, freeing villages, destroying weapons caches. And, once the link between J.A.R.V.I.S and SI’s satellite was complete she could alert proper authorities about possible natural disasters and aid in relief efforts after the approval of the local government.

Per Rhodey’s suggestion, Toni also contacted the American government with her plans in the relief efforts and the current president, Ellis’ predecessor was seen shaking hands with mayors and governors alike. Especially after her sanctioned involvement in Iowa’s flood, then the earthquakes in Japan.

Japan actually opened doors to discussions about Iron Woman’s involvement in international relief efforts. They were especially pleased by her fluency in their language and the doors it opened for Stark Industries, which also pleased the board.

NDAs almost rained on the Stark Industries’ CEO since, although her passport had visas to almost everywhere, there was no legal guarantee that she wouldn’t snoop around a bit.

As Toni happily signed the contracts, the billionaire couldn’t help but smile at the precedent they were setting.

With Rhodey returning in exactly twelve days, they would put something together with their own government. Japan was, for now, a one-off but Iron Woman getting verbal and even contractual agreements from the government and coordinating with local authorities, transporting and rescuing… yes, they were in the right track.

Aside from Iron Woman missions where she was reducing even more possible property damages and casualties since she knew what to expect, Toni was working the marketing for the new line of products that will be released a year from then.

The StarkPad had a processor not unlike an actual computer, the public didn’t need all the features and settings it has, so it was used mainly by directors and their own employees. Toni also reopened the domestic electronics department and the vehicles one too.

Stark Industries was monopolizing front pages everywhere and the ones that weren’t focusing on SI were focusing on Iron Woman.

The idea was for toys, cars, cellphones, everything with Iron Woman image… and, with some luck, War Machine and the Hulk.

Bruce eyed all her running around with a little amusement and a little shock, “So…this is kind of shooting in all directions.”

“By the end of next year, every house will have something with the name Stark on it.” She smiled brilliantly at him.

“Ok…” Bruce nodded as if he understood, “That sounds eerily like world domination, but fine.”

Toni laughed a little at that, “Nah. So far we have daily use electronics like cellphones, tablets, kitchen stuff and even curling irons and hairdryers. I’m planning to reopen that department actually. Everything that people use at home, perhaps even the laundry equipment. I want to start designing vehicles again like all the kinds of cars from sports to hatches and SUVs, trucks, buses but also planes, and jets. I still have active contracts in defense so better body armors and shields for the military and those high-tech gadgets… I’m may be watching too many spy movies, but the FBI and CIA could use a better voice and face recognition programs… oh, installed in their sunglasses too!”

“World domination.” Bruce repeated now completely amused.

She rolled her eyes but Toni was still smiling, “Like I said: no. For it to be real world domination I would also have to open my own PR agency, a law office, my own gyms, cosmetics and brand clothes… actually cosmetics can be something that can be included in the chemical section, it will have to be another department since I doubt that my R&D people will like transitioning from cutting edge medicine to lipstick but still. Oh! The market really needs a faster 3D printer for STEM.” Which would put her in the path to collide with one Dr. Helen Cho, “I love my brain.”

“… When you choose your overlord name, can you not do any Star Wars references? Don’t think I forgot that you’re trying to make your car fold around you to become your armor.”

“… that was because of Transformers not Star Wars. Oh, my God, what kind of nerd are you?”

So perhaps her workload didn’t decrease all that much, but the stress that it brought was so insignificant that Toni could even ease Pepper into CKO position without her knowledge. Training her to be one of the directors and then bringing up her promotion once Toni saw that there was nothing more that Pepper needed to know. With the rate Pepper was learning, that was bound to happen and with some luck, perhaps, a little ironically, by 2010. If only to test the waters. Full transition will take more time though, but for now, 2012 fits just right with her plans.

Which reminded Toni of her future lack of a trustworthy PA which also reminded her of Natashalie which in turn made her squash the thought almost immediately. Natasha and S.H.I.E.L.D’s sad attempt into manipulating her was almost two years away. She had two years to consolidate SI and Iron Woman and she had a year and a half to get ready for Jennifer Walters, Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Helen Cho and Jane Foster.

And yet: Toni has never felt lighter.

Physically as well once she replaced the Palladium core for the Starkium one.

Happy and Pepper were both worried about the possible side effects, but they relented when they saw Toni drinking that disgusting chlorophyll juice. Dear lord, that thing has kale! Horses and cows eat that thing.

That went so smoothly that Toni had to pinch herself a bit.

Rhodey rolled his eye though, “Pushing your friends away and hiding the fact that you’re dying for the better part of two years will do that to a person, Tones. You gave them the truth when it was in the initial stages and you already had a solution for it. Of course it went more smoothly.”

~*~

.

July 15, 2008.

.

Malibu, California.

.

But nothing everything were roses.

““Ignoring the problem hoping it goes away” is not a plan, Toni.” Rhodey waited and listened to what has been going on in his absence and that’s what he had to say.

They had a good system that if it was a real deal emergency, Toni would call, otherwise they would sync their schedules so they would get their free days overlapping to plan their steps. That was agreed when Toni’s call distracted Rhodey so badly that he almost made a mistake before the mission, luckily there was no bad outcome this time.

Rhodey ignored how Toni kept looking at him as if they were back in college and doing the exact same thing.

“First of all, I’m not ignoring the problem. Last time, Jennifer didn’t even reveal herself until Thanos came, she was obviously in control and could measure her strength to the point that she could give basic life support and chest compressions while green and not squash anyone. So why try to fix what isn’t broken?”

“I thought we agreed to bring She-Hulk in earlier… to get more traction so that Rogers and the stooges that decide to follow him are not the world’s only option if things go south.”

“Yes but we also need to think about Bruce, about Hulk’s image. If Jennifer comes in with her long hair blowing in the wind what will happen to the Hulk?”

Rhodey took in a deep breath and tried to get back to strategy mode, “Ok. We need a balance. How well do you know Walters?”

“… uh… before all this, in the original timeline, I knew of her. SI seriously considered her when we were cleaning house. The only reason we didn’t headhunt her is because we were already looking elsewhere and she was still in law school, she is gonna take the bar exam in 2009.”

“What about her being Banner’s cousin?”

Toni just looked helplessly back, “Rhodey… I wasn’t actively looking for other people with… abilities. When I became Iron Woman way back then, I had one objective in mind, clean up SI, and turn the Stark name into something good again. I wasn’t planning on… aliens and super teams. I was… more or less aware that there were people jumping around in spandex but I didn’t have any reason to reach out until 2012 when aliens attacked and by then the Avengers were all set up so I thought someone else could be recruiting. I didn’t know that the Avengers would crash and burn the way they did.”

That stopped Rhodes short and the colonel, very visibly embarrassed apologized, “I’m sorry, Toni. I… I hate when you improvise. I like a plan going in even if no plan survives first contact and I don’t even know why you’re doing what you’re doing. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She assured him. “I also should apologize because you’re right that you should know, so I’m sorry.”

“So… Walters, what else is there?”

“I didn’t know that Bruce even had a cousin and that cousin got SI’s attention and that she would turn out to be Enhanced.

The first time Bruce mentioned her was, uh, 2013, right after Extremis. Bruce helped me stabilize it in Pepper and then we were having legal trouble to use the Virus to rebuild my sternum and he mentioned that his cousin was a lawyer that, and I quote, “wasn’t afraid of danger” when I said that anyone involved could be targeted since after we perfected Extremis it was a way to Enhanced people. We didn’t need a lawyer in the end after I bought A.I.M and its patents but from that, Jennifer became She-Hulk before 2013 but I just don’t know when exactly that was.”

“2013… we just wait.”

“We wait. Just not until 2013 because… SI does need the manpower we lost to Stane, Platypus, but for now… We have almost four years to build Hulk’s image before he is needed in the field for the Chitauri, that’s… more than enough.” Or at least she hoped.

But the airman stared at her shrewdly, “But you feel guilty. About not telling Walters that her cousin is safe.” When Toni didn’t say anything, Rhodey continued, “Telling her right now…”

“Will only make things worse. She is still an academic, still building her career and she can’t do anything to help. Professionally.” Toni completed.

“… but?”

“But Jennifer is the only family Bruce has left and vice versa and they have been by themselves for a while now. On the other hand if I bring her in right now or even just after she becomes She-Hulk then her presence will throw our knowledge of future events to the wind. She might not even become She-Hulk if she isn’t already… and then I begin to think if it’s… if she could go back and not become She-Hulk at all, if she would take that opportunity.”

“Toni… if you begin to get yourself involved then you’ll have no excuse. We are planning for a mass extinction level event… universal level event. But individual lives are not up to you.” Rhodey pointed out.

“Even if I can prevent it?” Toni demanded, “I know about a kid, a fifteen year old kid that got powers and didn’t stop… I think it was a robber or something and that robber shot his uncle, who raised him since he was four years old. The guilt was so great that this high school freshman got into his head that everything bad that happened around him that he didn’t stop was his fault.”

Rhodey gawked at her for a solid minute, “That has to be the most… I… what? Pretend that you know that his uncle will die… February, 9 in 2011, what if Iron Woman was… in Japan, helping with another earthquake, and I’m on call? And you can’t be here on time to prevent it? Or even if you make some convoluted plan to prevent it and make sure that the guy is… in Japan with you because you hired him for whatever job and the plane he is in crashes while you are still busy?

Fine, we can try and prevent as many deaths as we can but even if we know something is going to happen, that doesn’t make our involvement right, we can end up making the whole situation a lot worse.”

The inventor bit her lip before admitting, “I don’t actually know when his uncle will die… or specifically how.”

Rhodey gawked again before looking upwards, “Toni…”

“Yes, I know. I’m outpacing myself, I need to be patient and etc.”

“We are both too used at looking at the big picture that we get lost how to handle the small picture.”

Toni made a face at that, “We win wars but not battles?” she tried.

“… we need someone closer to the ground.” He slumped back and answered a few texts in his cellphone.

“You know, that was supposed to be Rogers’ job.”

Rhodey grunted, “Do not remind me. A team… person looking at the big picture and another person looking at the small picture only work if they communicate and actually listen.”

The billionaire snorted at that, “Yeah, right.”

The airman just deadpanned, “Yeah… don’t get that look on your face. You may follow orders… by the letter instead of the spirit, but you still bug the crap out of me before and after…”

“Yes… but I listen to you.”

And Rhodey couldn’t really say anything disputing that. When Toni is asked to do something she doesn’t see the goal or purpose of, she contests like everybody is out to offend her. She questions the most minuscule and ridiculous details, but once sufficiently convinced, she acquiesces. Far from gracefully but she does.

“I feel honored.” He rolled his eyes, “But I mean it: unless you know for certain every detail, meaning personal experience on it, and it affects us or our plans, don’t butt in. Or else you’ll end up doing surveillance on the kid’s uncle without rest for a whole year just waiting for an event that you don’t even know the circumstances of and that started and was over in what? Fifteen minutes?”

“Ah… the kid said that he didn’t stop the robber on the way out of… somewhere… and that he saw when his uncle got in the way and the robber shot him.”

“That’s it? That’s all you know?”

“Well, yes.” Toni sheepishly smiled at him.

“And you don’t even know if the robber is a robber or… something else altogether.”

“Not really. I was… already invading his privacy enough and I figured that when he was ready to open up about it, he would tell me the details.”

Rhodey stared, and then he snorted, and then he was laughing. When he finally stopped, he glared a Toni, “Do not butt in. I’m assuming you know just about the same amount of how he got his powers ditto with Walters.”

“I actually know even less about that part… of both of them. I mean, I got the S.H.I.E.L.D files on Bruce but then it came to the part that his parents were dead and there was police involvement and… then I stopped looking.”

“… I’m sorry that you don’t know enough to prevent it, I truly am but I am also happy about it. Apply the same policy now. And in the meantime I will look up this Sam Wilson. Even if he is a huge cheerleader, his resume could point us to someone useful.”

The billionaire groaned but followed the segue, “Wilson is… you hear him talking and the first thing in your head is that there is no guy in the world more level headed. I think it’s sorta like Rogers who talks great and…”

“Is an idiot.”

“…Wilson is more about nonsense than idiocy, but sure, yes.”

Rhodes nodded, “You’ll focus on SI, I’ll focus on my own career and we will both set up a MO for Iron Woman, War Machine and the Hulk. Walters, Jones, Murdock and Foster in 2009, Helen Cho, in 2010 and Thor and Loki in 2011. It’s a waiting game, Tones. And with any luck, that Xavier guy after the Chitauri in 2012 and the rest in 2014 or 2015. Until then…”

“Don’t butt in.” She promised.

Chapter Text

August 28, 2008.

.

Malibu, California.

.

Bruce’s decision to take a leap of faith couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Christmas release?” the physicist repeated in exasperation.

“The Hulk is already green, we throw a little of red and it’s perfect. It’s especially perfect with SI’s new direction as the leading company in green energy… heh, green.”

“… I… you’re twelve and I don’t think the Hulk is the greatest example of green energy considering…”

Toni paused a little as if in thought before shrugging, “We can spin it as knowing exactly what we are talking about when defending green energy. He can even be the poster boy for the New York’s HQ we are coming up with.”

“Is that part of Kimball’s plans?”

Her answer was immediate, “Not even a little bit but the Christmas part is, by the way.”

“Christmas, really? That’s the plan?” Bruce was beginning to regret everything.

“Don’t be absurd, I was just messing with you about the red thing. The Hulk, like Iron Woman is like something straight out of comic books.”

“Or nightmares.” but his mumble was ignored.

“So… action figures, comics conveniently picturing the real events, backpacks and lunchboxes and… keychains, phone cases, oh, look at what the PR’s R&D came up with,” she held up two huge gloves they were big, muscled and green. One made of a durable material, the other soft like a pillow but just as big, “Collector’s item and a kiddy version, cool, uh? They are coming up with repulsor gloves although having a little trouble with the battery life for the light and the noise.”

Her fellow scientist eyed the huge green fists and slumped his shoulders, “Oh, God.”

Toni took pity on the man, “Hey… wanna help me come up with a better battery for the kids’ toy?”

Bruce took the pass gratefully, “Most toys just have a poor conductor, the battery with a triple A is usually enough.”

“That’s why instead of plastic, SI is using silicon and foam. Take a look at this,” she dangled an Iron Woman helmet, completed with led eyes and a face plate that actually opens and closes, “and it’s even unisex.”

“Cool.” He admitted. Knowing that he would have wanted one as a kid. And then something that Toni said snapped him back, “Wait… you said something about comic books?”

“Yeah, we are stuff of comics!” Toni jokingly put on the plastic helmet and turned on the led lights, “Uh, I need to come up with a way of having the led eyes work but the user can still actually see. But the lenses in the Iron Woman helmet would be really out of the average American pocket—”

“Toni!”

“What?”

“Comics… about the… the…. Other Guy,” Bruce had yet to call the Hulk by the media given name, “about how he… is around… with the actual events that took place.”

Toni’s eyes softened, “The comics won’t use real names until we are ready to deal with Ross, Bruce… like… origin story, special edition.”

The physicist groaned at the absurdity of the conversation.

“The first thing, however,” she started slowly, “is to improve Hulk’s image, your image. Overwhelming public opinion can sway governments. That’s why we have marches and protests, lobbying. Regardless of the outcome with Ross, if the public is on your side then there is a safety net.”

“I know all of this, Toni.” Bruce raised an eyebrow at her going through the trouble of explaining something so simple. Her surprised blink made him frown in confusion, “I… I have been… busy in the last five years but common knowledge is still common knowledge.”

“I didn’t mean to offend.”

“You didn’t,” he assured, “but…I guess that as CEO you’re used to explain the small details. Sorry, I… I’m no expressing myself very eloquently. Ok, I’m not offended at all and I’m also not trying to offend you… or your board or your co-workers.”

“Not offended either… not even on behalf of my co-workers and employees.”

“Right, what I meant was that… I get it. I’m pretty smart myself.” He joked but Bruce could see that it failed a little when Toni didn’t laugh.

After all this time, Toni knew that the dynamic between her and the… Avengers was not normal or healthy or… yeah.

To be honest before Rhodey, Pepper and Happy, Toni didn’t have many… any casual friendships. The kinds that you meet someone, liked their personality and hang out.

Because of who she was… or better yet, what she could represent, most approached her with second intentions. Be it living a rich lifestyle by proxy, because of her genius or just sex, Toni wasn’t used… she just didn’t know what “normal” was… aside from whatever the TV said.

Keeping up with the Kardashians, although relatable enough for her – aside from the cosmetic surgeries and the free time – can’t be considered the usual American lifestyle.

So as disconnected as Toni was from the “normal” daily life, how is it possible that she had to constantly explain what Bruce called “common knowledge”?

And then it hit her.

Toni was so used to explain… everything, in a professional setting, be it science or business that she didn’t think much when she also had to explain what most would call “common knowledge”. Like… people have the right to sue when a family member is injured… or killed. And that facing a huge crowd, admitting to a mistake and sincerely apologizing for it with no “but” in the middle went a long way.

And yet the Avengers were a former Russian terrorist assassin, a mercenary, an alien and a man that missed seventy years’ worth of history and changes.

It’s not that Bruce got her on a professional setting, it’s that he is also the only one that understands anything that she did at all. The preparation, the groundwork, the need for intelligence for a mission still weeks and months away, the actual mission parameters with everybody knowing their jobs and expectations, the aftermath, the need to address what happened publicly and make amends regardless of whatever was “necessary” or “unavoidable”…

Toni was aware she was unnerving Bruce with her stone stare, but… she exhaled.

Was it such a wonder that the Avengers were a disaster? What was Fury thinking? He can’t be that dumb, can he?

More and more, Toni was thinking that the Avengers were a HYDRA setup because the alternative is that none of the dozens of people involved in the Avengers project, from the techie that mostly served coffee to the members themselves realized…

“We are a chemical mixture that causes chaos. We’re a time bomb.”

“You are pretty smart.” She tried to smile but by the look of concern sent her way by Bruce, Toni failed.

~*~

Bruce toyed a little with the tee shirt. Black and with a huge green fist in the middle and “Incredible Hulk” printed.

Taking a very deep breath, the scientist put it on. It was a little baggy but the fabric was really soft.

Going along with this meant accepting that the… Hulk wasn’t going anywhere. Banking his freedom from Ross on the population as whole liking even loving the Hulk – if they were to protest and be on his side against an American General – was putting his trust on too many people and situations that he never did.

First of all, it wasn’t on Toni, a virtual stranger and her PR and lawyers… even more strangers.

No. It was on the Hulk. On some level, Bruce could appreciate that the Hulk wasn’t some mindless beast, he did protect and save Betty in Culver and again in Harlem when Blonsky almost exploded the helicopter but Bruce wasn’t sure about betting on him, about putting all his chips on a being that is so strong a handshake could turn into an amputation.

And sure, Betty came out… more or less ok… the second time around. Which the same couldn’t be said about any encounter with Blonsky.

But that meant that, in some level, Bruce Banner and the Hulk shared more than a physical host. That the Hulk was more like him that Bruce ever wanted to admit or confront. That there is a part of him that enjoyed to… smash.

All this situation with the tee shirts, the toys, the Christmas release product meant accepting something that he didn’t trust nor wanted to face.

And then even putting aside the trust issues on the Hulk, on himself, on Toni Stark and her lawyers and PR people.

When he looked at Toni Stark, it was startling to see how easily he could have had her life.

He snorted. No, that wasn’t truth, not even because of the obvious: the spotlights and the business side of things but because of their core personality.

Toni stands and draws a line in the sand and fights. And he… runs. There was no other word for what he did. It wasn’t an invalid tact considering everything. He didn’t trust the Hulk, that thing inside of him, then it was the only option that exists.

But Bruce spent five years on the run and he was no closer to a solution than five years ago. Because being on the run means no resources and no time. The patents… if one could call them that, despite that Toni did, Bruce designed and built for the places that needed and the places that could pay him, he turned most of the revenue back for the Hulk’s destruction, they had nothing to do with reversing what he did to himself.

And it all circles back to the merchandize that he was currently wearing.

“Did you like it? The fabric is soft like Egyptian cotton but still affordable, it’s a new microfiber that I have been tweaking with for gear in any environment. Doesn’t offer much protection though and the body armor would defeat the whole point so… tee shirts that feels like heaven, until I come up with something.”

Toni bounced into the room, relieved and tasting the sweet freedom after so many meetings for SI.

Bruce looked down the on huge green fist and smiled a little, “It is really soft.”

“You look… kind of lost.”

 “I’m forever looking kind of lost. Do you think my fans won’t like it?” he went for a joke but Toni answered seriously much to his embarrassment.

“Actually the nerd type is becoming more and more popular.”

“… What?”

“You know… glasses, the shy thing, the science talk… the lab coat has inspired some kinky—”

“Ok, I get the picture!” that made Toni laugh really loudly, “But really? That was not at all what was going on in high school or even college for that matter.”

“You went to college at sixteen, so nerd or not, a sixteen-year-old wouldn’t see much action with girls three to four years older unless they liked you so much that they would be willing to infringe the law for you.”

“Yeah, ok, point.”

“PR and legal talk to you yet?” Toni put a Hulk tee shirt too over her social shirt that she maneuvered through a sleeve and threw inside her handbag.

“I honestly don’t know how women do that and yes they did.”

“Basically practice, when girls start wearing a bra it’s uncomfortable as hell, so sometimes we just take it off as discreetly as we can which doesn’t include going to the bathroom to do it, so a shirt is basically child’s play. What did they say?”

“Preliminary stages still. We begin easy, mostly to avoid any legal confrontation or backlash from Ross and whoever else. The lawyers, as we discussed, are basically winging it and writing a whole set of arguments around the fact that the Hulk shielded and protected Betty which…”

“Which means that Dr. Ross will have to testify.” Toni completed softly.

The physicist sighed, “Yes. I… asked them to put that as plan B… plan C, plan L of Last and they agreed even if they advised me that… it was the best plan.”

“It is the ultimate proof that there is more to the Hulk.”

“I know, I just don’t…Ross deserves to face Betty as the key witness, but Betty doesn’t.”

Toni watched as her fellow genius sat on the couch, leaning back enough to rest his head and she allowed a few minutes of silence.

“Can I ask you something? It’s none of my business, it’s probably a huge… disrespect of privacy… I… I don’t really have much… uh… experience or… basic social knowledge to really identify the subtleties.”

“Don’t worry about that, I don’t either.”

“Ok… taking Ross down legally is a piece of cake. The truly hard part that my lawyers are laboring over is your defense. Just because Ross is a piece of crap doesn’t clear the Hulk after all.”

“I know.” Bruce adjusted his glasses, now really curious.

“And I know that you don’t trust the Hulk but putting away a corrupt General has nothing to do with the Hulk. If it wasn’t for Ross’ obsession about the Hulk, we could have a real issue in our hands… the country’s hands. But is that it what boils down to? Dr. Elizabeth Ross?”

Toni always thought she knew the answer. But then again, she thought she knew the answers to a lot of things that turned out she was wrong about, so why not this?

Bruce could have put Ross away. Sure, the Hulk could be deemed guilty but Ross would be out, he wouldn’t be anyone’s problems ever again.

But from what she could see, from what was stored digitally and she managed to get her hands on, Ross truly began his… descend to darkness with the Hulk. He was plainly doing his job before the Gamma project, and again if they were to charge him with deceiving all those professionals involved then Bruce would have to be present as the ultimate proof. He was the key witness and he could have always run away afterwards, who would be able to stop him?

Ross’ mad rants about the danger of the Hulk would be hot air when he was one of the reasons that the Hulk existed in the first place because he illegally falsified documents and put professionals in the payroll with lies about what the project was all about… sure, even Toni herself was having trouble with locating said documents but still…

Toni thought she could have worded it a little better but… like she said, she wasn’t really used to choosing her words all that carefully… unless she was manipulating people and she didn’t want that with Bruce.

“I don’t mind you asking. Betty… she is a first love. First woman that I ever thought, “I love her”. I don’t know… exactly how I feel nowadays, but that’s… first love and such a short while ago, you don’t forget so easily, perhaps ever. She is a good person, a great person, and she doesn’t deserve to go to court and spew a bunch of her own dad’s less than savory… actions.

But you’re also right. If Ross has done anything else that wasn’t about the Hulk, regardless of how dirty he went about it, but if he had, it would have been on me. Because I let him off the hook.

That has occurred to me even before you offered help, Toni. I can’t in good conscience let him wander around and hope he is so obsessed about the Hulk that he will never let his attention stray to other thoughts that could harm other people unfortunate enough to attract his eyes. I just don’t want Betty to have to do this if we can help it at all. But to do that I would need actual help… so… thank you, for this… even if I’m not sure about this.” He looked down at the tee shirt.

“I understand. And you’re welcome… and no dissing on the tee shirt.” She got up and got her handbag, Toni still needed to supervise R&D today, she was walking pass the piano when the billionaire turned on her heels.

The sound of her shoes stopping made Bruce look up from the StarkPad in his lap and the physicist braced himself when he saw the teasing smile on her face.

““L of Last”?”

Chapter Text

.

Malibu, California.

.

Toni took another sip from her fruit drink while sunbathing by the rarely used pool in the Malibu mansion. She forgot how much she liked California.

In the past… well, by 2018, it had been almost ten years since she last sunbathed. Couldn’t possibly be healthy, but then again, so little she did up to then could be considered healthy so really, drop in the ocean.

“I really can’t picture you going ten years without this.” Rhodey mentioned once he got into the pool area.

“…I really don’t know how I made it.” Toni pushed her sunglasses to her head and smiled up at her friend. “You gotta be burning up in that thing.” She eyed the military uniform.

Both knew that Toni was very well aware that Rhodey only ever shows up in her house in the military garb when he came straight from a meeting with the higher ups.

“I managed to get you in a meeting. Uh… Major General William Gabriel is still…”

“Mad as hell?”

“Oh, yeah.”

The Air Force Major General present in her last weapon expo, the Jericho in Afghanistan, wasn’t the happiest of campers.

Oh, he helped Rhodey keep the searching going alright… after Rhodey pulled every trick from the book and he was also ecstatic that she was found.  But the same couldn’t be said when Toni shut down the weapons division the second she got back.

A pleasant acquaintance turned into bitter stranger wasn’t a nice change but Toni couldn’t do much about it.

She almost laughed actually because in the first time around, Toni didn’t even notice that the man had a problem with her at all. After shutting down the weapons division, there wasn’t much reason to meet with him.

Body armor and the other gadgets weren’t exactly in his department.

But once Rhode tried to set up a meeting with him… yeah.

“General Andaz agreed to see you.”

Rhodey remained unmoved by the incredulous and long-suffering groan sigh Toni let out.

“Oh, god, the Paper Lover. That’s awesome, really.” She reached for the tiny bottle of vodka Toni sneaks out of her jets for this kind of occasion and poured it into her drink.

“In a way he is perfect for what we want. He spends… a ridiculous amount of time in bureaucratic crap, which he genuinely loves. Really, pitching the idea of Iron Woman, War Machine and, in the future, the Hulk’s integration or even creating a whole new MO for international cooperation is bound to be his dream come true.”

Toni shrugged at that, “Perhaps, but do we even know his opinion on the whole Enhanced thing? At the very least, is a he friend of Ross’?”

“… I don’t know.” Rhodey admitted at last and took off his cap and jacket. Boy, California was hot.

“But that’s it?”

“That’s it what?” he went back to the shade where he wouldn’t lose any more body fluid through sweating.

“Setting up a meeting with a General from the Air Force, lawyers and more lawyers to draft something up about international cooperation for when SI’s weapons caches are all retrieved or destroyed. That is it and the deadline is 2010, right?”

Rhodey smiled a little at her, “Yes, that is it.”

Smiling back, Toni patted the stretcher next to hers.

“Not wearing this uniform, Tones. But… where is Bruce?” he looked around.

“Reading over documents with PR and legal.”

“Hulk or Ross?”

“Gotta be more specific, buddy.”

“About clearing his name or putting Ross away?” they smirked at each other.

Different end goals and yet pretty much the same path.

“Considering… I have no idea.” Toni reached for a magazine. A gossip magazine. Jeez, when was the last time she did that?

“Really?” he raised an eyebrow, “Whatever happened to “knowing what goes on inside your house”?”

“When it’s about me, but this isn’t about me, it’s not endangering the public and…”

“You’re being lazy?” Rhodey offered.

“Yeah, sure.” She took another sip and made a face. Boy, she added too much vodka.

The airman leaned back in the palm three that was offering him shade, “I saw that SI is in talks with the prefecture in New York. Still planning to open Stark Tower?”

“Yep.” She flipped through another page. Brangelina Twins, heh.

“Please tell me that it will be SI’s headquarters… no one in tights.”

“Only in the gym.” She assured with an amused smirk over the magazine.

Rhodey wanted to be a hundred percent sure, “Oh, and the… “you work for SI so here’s your apartment in the Tower”…?”

“Not gonna be a thing.” Toni cleared her throat, clearly embarrassed over that little plan.

“Thank God!” He slumped back. “I love you, Tones, but what were you thinking? Choosing your employees’ address?”

The billionaire gave a sheepish shrug, “At the time… I was thinking about the people that were coming from all over the world and… adaptation periods. I don’t know, Platypus. It made sense at the time.” She finished helplessly.

“A very socially awkward kind of sense, but well, it is you.” The Colonel teased his friend.

“You’re so funny.” She deadpanned.

DUM-E rolled out bringing a drink for Rhodes as well, which the colonel wisely sniffed and carefully poured a bit in his hand to see if it was ok to actually drink.

Once Rhodey drank a bit of it, DUM-E whirled and chirped happily and went back inside.

“It’s like having an untrained golden retriever puppy.” Toni put her sunglasses back on.

“Uh… even untrained adult golden retrievers wouldn’t break your feet if they happened to step on it.” There was no bite in it since this time there was only orange, grapefruit and pineapple in the glass and he didn’t find out that DUM-E put shampoo instead of milk in a milkshake… like last time.

“Hey! DUM-E doesn’t roll over people’s feet… that’s U.” Toni mumbled the last part.

“Oh, because having five hundred pounds roll over your feet is much better than having six hundred and fifty pounds roll over your feet.”

“Uh… yeah? That’s the difference of an adult in weigh. And it could be a lot worse because Butterfingers could be rolling over your foot and that would be seven hundred pounds crushing your huge big toe.”

Rhodey mocked offence at that, “My toe is not that big!”

~*~

Stretching a little, Toni toed off her high heels and put the deep red Iron Woman and so, so soft slippers that Pepper gave her for Christmas while putting the flash bomb in the shape of a Neuralizer that Bruce made for her and the saberlight letter opener that Happy found for her on the table while munching on the brownies that Rhodey hates to bake so he only ever does for Christmas.

“Ok, Bruce, your turn.” She beamed as she handed a thin, brightly colored wrapped paper box to her fellow genius.

Bruce sheepishly unwrapped his first Christmas gift in years, “Toni, oh my God!”

“Just worked out the kinks, it will be released next year, perhaps in summer… uh, perhaps a more civilian-friendly version first, now that I think about it.” The shiny new tablet with holoscreen wasn’t much more than a “pen” projecting the images, texts and everything a screen would do, once you’re done, the two “pens” would snap together to occupy no more space than… a pen.

“Perhaps a more civilian-friendly version first.” He agreed still manipulating the holoscreen. “You do know that there are some gossips about you being an alien, right?”

“I saw.” She smiled just the tiniest bit put off while ignoring how Happy and Rhodey were snickering in the back.

“Aliens aside, merry Christmas, Bruce.” Pepper handed her own gift.

She was happy that someone as… normal as Bruce entered Toni’s life. The last time was herself and they’ve know each other for almost six years now. During which, Pepper watched how people tried to wiggle themselves into Toni’s life for less than honorable reasons. Really, trying to pitch in some idea for Toni to develop was at the bottom and one would expect it to be the first one.

“Thanks, Pepper!” Bruce happily replaced the glasses he was currently wearing for the silicon ones.

“Even the lenses are made of a bendy material but please don’t make me explain it because I really don’t know. They are made for athletes and… explorers, I think?”

“This is from me.” It was Rhodey’s turn.

And Toni just smiled, her shoulders were relaxed, she was well-rested… things were alright, at least for now.

Chapter Text

January, 2009.

.

Toni stepped out of her jet and took a look around. This was the first time she ever went to New Mexico, it was dry and really hot and she really shouldn’t have worn high heels.

Time to get to work.

2009 was going to be a beast in paperwork, in legwork, in everything. And they needed all players on the board and for now they were going about it chronologically.

Jane was actually with NASA before her theory started going… a little too far and the fund ran out and NASA wasn’t interested in picking up the tab anymore.

Toni could see their reasoning. In layman terms, what Jane was looking into was, in few words, space travel and portals to different places… Einstein-Rose Bridges… which are not even proven to be true… yet. Still, NASA wasn’t very happy to keep funding some theory that hasn’t made a single leap in decades.

So now, Jane was based in New Mexico, still exploring her theory.

With Happy by her side in all his suited glory – and Toni didn’t even want to picture how he wasn’t melting in this heat – she knocked on the door.

Darcy Lewis, political science undergrad, was an intern of Foster’s. But Toni liked her personality. She was just barely more than a year younger than Toni, so the billionaire kinda looked at Darcy – spunky and fun loving and hardcore – as what she wished her peers and friends would be like if she had a more normal life.

The woman gawked at her, “Oh, my god, Toni Stark.”

“That’s me, you are…”

“Uh, Darcy Lewis, uh…”

“Pleasure to meet you, is Dr. Foster home?”

Darcy opened her mouth and held a finger up, seemly unable to speak with her, “JANE! Get your ass here!”

Darcy and Jane were both 5’2 but Darcy sure made up for her lack of height with her personality. Toni still wasn’t quite used to looking down when talking to people what with teammates like Thor and Rogers. Even if she was already used to the extra height in the Iron Woman suit or in high heels, her 5’10 became 6’2 or 6’3, still…

“Oh, oh! Dr. uh… Dr. Stark…”

“Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Foster.” She offered her hand that was shaken hesitantly. “May I come in?”

~*~

The coffee wasn’t half bad and Toni was glad to sit down and be eyelevel with them.

“I’m sorry about not scheduling a meeting. I had your address but no contact information.”

“Think nothing of it!” Darcy smiled, seeming two seconds away from asking her for an autograph.

Smiling, Toni continued, making sure to make eye contact with both women, “Still, a show of professional respect wouldn’t be amiss.” And Jane was still mute, looking at her as if the billionaire was going bite… not good.

“Ah, if you insist.” And, in a move that Toni never saw outside of sitcoms and movies, Darcy unceremoniously took her wrist and wrote Jane’s and what appeared to be her own number in the back of Toni’s hand.

Ok… that’s a new one, even for me.

“Thank you. Forgive me the bluntness but I am aware that NASA has terminated your contract.” That spurned Jane into action.

“Yes, they were too… stuck in their project.” Not very subtle sidestep but even after their less than amicable parting, Jane was still mindful of proprietary tech and information. Good.

“And since then you have published and focused on Einstein-Rosen Bridges, you came here for that, correct?”

“I’m optimistic.” She was almost defensive.

Not enough to be rude but enough to show her passion and the fact that she was not about to give up regardless of this big corporation no longer giving her money for it.

“I would like to invest in your research.”

Foster gaped but Darcy began to shoot question after question about the facility in California.

Stark Industries’ current HQ is in Malibu, and Toni did just open a whole new building to turn away from weapons production. Its focus was physics from theory and astrophysics – and yes, she was that sneaky – to quantum and geophysics, while the old facility dedicated themselves into dismantling and recycling and then they would turn to medical which would hopefully put her in Strange’s path.

Oh, damn, now Toni was feeling even more like a super villain. Who the hell plans like this?

“Batman.” She rolled her eyes at Rhodey’s answer a few days ago.

“Why?” Jane was wearier than her intern, Darcy.

Good, again. If Jane was to be dragged into this world she can’t just trust at the drop of a hat.

“I think that, like Ms. Lewis, you probably heard of the revamp I’ve been doing since last year in SI.”

““Darcy” is fine.” The woman chirped.

“Darcy it is then. I will inaugurate another building, solely focused on the fields in physics, there are some interdisciplinary interests mainly with biochemistry but physics is where the focus is. Actually, science is. From theoretical to the applied. I am personally funding the project and, at least for now, SI is uninvolved. SI’s board of directors is hardly any easier than NASA, Dr. Foster, when it’s about results that generate revenue.”

“And you are interested in astrophysics?” Jane wasn’t incredulous, exactly, much less accusing, but she was, understandably, confused.

Toni Stark was known for her feats in engineer. Most of the world… close to ninety-ninety percent actually, didn’t even know that she had seven PhDs and that two of them and quite a few Masters were in physics. But even then, her theses were about thermodynamics, magnetism and quantum when complementing String Theory. Not exactly astrophysics department.

“Raw honesty? Not really.” A lie, she was really interested in astrophysics but not in the way Jane was probably meaning, so not a lie? “But I would like to expand my horizons. I am already in talks with other scientists that are working on String Theory and I even have a team of astrophysics that is working on Dark Matter.”

“Does your list include atomic physics?” Now Jane was challenging her. And Toni felt respect growing.

“Of course it does, the applications are endless in interdisciplinary matters, especially quantum. Nuclear physics can be more than just about making things go boom, Dr. Foster.”

And with that, Toni made her blush.

“I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” That was another thing that Toni was working on: accepting apologies.

Darcy bit her lip, “Uh… so, I saw the interview with General Andaz about new set of international laws for Iron Woman and War Machine, there was not even talks about lobbying, popular is cool, right, Dr. Stark?”

With her attention now on Darcy, Toni smiled a little. “Why astrophysics, Darcy? Your bachelor is political science and you seem to like it.”

“College credit that I need to graduate and working with Janey gives six, that’s a lot. And then I really like Janey and Selvig, so I stayed.”

When turning the same questioning eyes to Foster the woman sighed but smiled at her peppy intern, “She was the only applicant.”

“Happy accident then.” Toni joked a little seriously.

“I guess we can call it that.” Jane’s shoulders relaxed though.

“About my proposal?”

“Weather patterns took me here, Dr. Stark and working for you would imply moving to…” she trailed off.

“California or New York, it depends.”

“Yes, that’s a little too far. I will be honest, I do need funding, things are… as tight as they can get, I have been building my own equipment but… the distance…”

Toni hummed in response and both scientists ignored Darcy’s frantic gestures to Jane. The youngest woman clearly thought that Toni couldn’t see her.

“Tell you what. I also am participating in almost all projects in the, still unnamed, physics division. I give you twelve percent less of the funding I set aside in exchange for my personal help and videoconferences to the facility.”

Jane gawked, “Your personal…”

“For god’s sake, Janey!” Darcy couldn’t contain the outburst any longer.

But the astrophysicist didn’t seem to have heard Darcy, “I… Dr. Stark…”

“I think “Toni” is fine.”

But she was ignored,. “That is huge and so generous and I can’t even form the right words but whatever fund you thought to set aside, I’m sure that twelve percent is a lot less than your time is worth and I wouldn’t even be working on site and… that’s… people pay millions of dollars for an hour with you, and when you actually put your hands on a job, it’s…”

Consultation fees and those charities that placed bids for a date with a celebrity were public for anyone to see. Toni had the enormous urge to avert her eyes to the side and make a face.

Since Jane didn’t seem to know much about the plans to open the division, Toni thought that she also wouldn’t know that the last consulting job she did was literally fifteen million dollars for three hours of her time.

Granted, it was for a series of corporations that were beginning to invest in tech and her tips and lessons cut their expenses in almost half. And in the same month alone they earned almost five times what they spent with her plus their usual numbers.

Also, it wasn’t like Toni was the one to set up the number, HR and the legal department did that part. And not taking the payment for a job well done when you have all possible papers and diplomas proving your worth and time, meant that people would take it as charity or indentured service, ‘cause you don’t make those kind of “favors”, friend or not.

The inventor was never so happy that the little info that Toni Stark was arming, equipping and basically maintaining the Avengers free of charge never hit public ears. It would be a catastrophe of massive proportions.

For the Avengers, for SI, for the American government… she didn’t even want to think about it.

“Since it’s a personal project, I think I can decide what is worth my time or not. So, Dr. Foster, what do you think?”

“I still don’t feel comfortable about it. Your time is too valuable. I’ve seen the ideas for the prosthetics for the new medical division and… rehabilitation of veterans and the neurons pathways for nerve damage… and you scheduling Einstein-Rosen Bridges into it… it’s like asking for the world to wait a little longer for the cure of cancer because we need flying cars first.”

Toni took a few moments to make sure she wouldn’t laugh. “I have no idea how to even begin curing cancer and despite being overly used in fiction, the closest Einstein-Rosen Bridge would get to transportation is if we somehow build portals to get from California to New York.” For now at least. Loki changed a lot of things.

Darcy chuckled but Jane wasn’t amused. “I’m serious, Dr. Stark. It feels as if I’m depriving the world of a better lifestyle.”

And with that, Jane Foster had her respect, “Yes, Dr. Foster. I am involved in many health projects including even the indirect ones like clean energy. But this is for me. It’s… almost personal. A way to branch out and a way to… I guess, do more with what I have than fund raising. To be more hands on. Perhaps your theory is proven correct and perhaps it isn’t but I would like to be there to see it.”

Something passed through Jane’s eyes and the slightly older woman nodded slowly.

With a verbal agreement to send Toni a date for them to meet again, they said their goodbyes.

“I know that there are other reasons to contact Dr. Foster,” the seemly random start didn’t catch Toni off guard. Happy was a lot more observant than people gave him credit for. It worked for everybody since most dismissed the bodyguard as not much more than background character, “but that speech sounded very sincere, Boss.”

Toni smiled a little tiredly, “It could have used a little less sincerity.”

And then Happy was no longer her bodyguard and driver but her friend. “I know that you are happier with a screwdriver in your hand than behind a desk, Toni. I’ve known you for almost seven years now, I was there when you assumed CEO position and I think this is the first time you admit out loud any kind of aversion to the job, as subtle as that was. So what I want to ask is, are you ok?”

The inventor smiled at him from the rear mirror. “Not really. But I am getting better.”

“I can see that and I know it’s not therapy…”

Toni smiled again at the not very subtle prompt. “I was… fighting for unrealized potential that perhaps would never become reality. I guess I just decided that perhaps there is a door number two.”

“Whatever it was, it made you get some decades back in your life span.”

And Toni had to laugh at that. If only he knew.

~*~

“How would you like to proceed, Miss.?” J.A.R.V.I.S greeted Toni once coming back from New Mexico and taking a shower. New Mexico was so hot, jeez.

“Put an “in progress” with Jane Foster, but she seems to lean more towards ‘yes’. After her papers on Einstein-Rosen Bridges, I want to approach the subject of space exploration with her. Concrete proof of the armada I have been warning everyone about. How is Jones’ license?”

“Two weeks away from approval.”

“Oh, thanks. I really liked my downtime but all the inaction was beginning to make me crazy.”

“Yes, your “downtime” was certainly unproductive.” J.A.R.V.I.S delivered in his deadpan. Toni smirked and eyed the almost three dozens of finished projects.

SI’s contracts were delivered and negotiated and signed. Deadlines met and approval for Stark Tower in New York was just put in her desk for 2012’s big reveal. Plans to go to Washington, California and then Germany, Italy, Japan and Portugal.

“How is the end of investigations going?” Toni quickly tied her hair in a bun and opened a random file that turned out to be from legal.

“The FBI is almost concluding the search through SI’s manufacturing databases.”

“And just the manufacturing ones, correct?” Toni personally oversaw the NDAs being signed and the deal being closed but one can never be too sure.

“Correct, Miss. Over the years, Obadiah Stane has dealt with, as the saying goes, whoever gave more. His account has been seized but as the one that turned all the information over to the proper authorities, conduct dictates that without anyone to claim his assets, meaning will, children or spouse or former spouses, they will go to the one that turned them over.”

The billionaire raised an eyebrow at that and then a lazy smile took over. “Say, Jay, how are we on the Terrorists Twins?”

“Ms. And Mr. Maximoff have been seen in the company of known HYDRA members for almost a year now.”

The inventor rolled her eyes, just as she became Iron Woman… oh, but that was such a totally unexpected happenstance.

“Any SI contracts that would require flight over Sokovian territory?”

“I have been searching, Miss. But so far, none. If there is any evidence, there will only be hard copies.”

The billionaire snorted. If it turns out that the missile that hit Maximoff’s house was not even from Obadiah but a fake… well, Toni honestly didn’t know how she would react but at least a facepalm was guaranteed. “So no reason for us to turn to Sokovia’s direction. Ok, how’s the media going?”

“About the groundbreaking new tech SI is producing, the fact that even the more conservative members have quieted after their malicious comments about women in defense industry or about Toni Stark being an alien?”

“… it was less than three posts about it in social media! And I was talking about Stane.”

“There have been no mentions of him yet. So far, there isn’t even anyone aware that the weapons in the Middle East were illegally acquired in the first place.”

“Everheart is either being lazy or she lost her touch.” She muttered to herself.

“Miss?”

“I have the beginnings of a plan… like… a portion. A thought.”

“I’m certain, Miss.”

Toni just smiled and turned her attention back to the holoscreen.  

Jennifer Walters and Matt Murdock would be headhunted in June and pending results of July’s Bar Exams in September, they would have job offers.

Jennifer will be easier to convince than Murdock though, that man would be very tricky. He was a human lie detector, he could sense if she was hiding anything and that would be hell.

And it’s not even as if she distrusted him. It’s just that Toni didn’t even know the man.

The guy was a defense lawyer that spent his nights beating up corrupt cops. Toni didn’t even know if he ever tried to lawful version of the thing before wearing a mask and full body leather.

She was not sheltered enough not to know that Hell’s Kitchen earned its nickname but knowing that an attempt has been made would be nice.

“Jay, call Pepper.” A snap decision.

“Toni?”

“Hey, Pep, sorry to call you on your day off, but I need you to run an errand for me in June.”

“… I’m happy that you are being so… uh… responsible with possible conflicting schedules, but that is five months from now.”

“Yeah, I know, but it’s important. I need you to… gauge someone for me.”

Chapter Text

February, 2009.

.

“What are the chances that this will get back to Stern?” Toni mumbled to Rhodey as they made their way into Air Force General Andaz’s office.

“None. First, we are not required to run pass any Senator before acquiring new tech and they are not even on each other’s radar, now shush.” They didn’t have to wait two seconds before his secretary was ushering them inside.

The perks of being Toni Stark, she guesses.

“Dr. Stark, a pleasure personally meeting you.” He didn’t look like it was a pleasure but nor did he look that it was an annoyance. Uh.

“Likewise, General.”

“Sir.” Rhodey saluted which was reciprocated but Andaz looked friendlier.

“Colonel Rhodes. I haven’t seen you since made Field Officer. The eagle looks good on you, wanna have a General attached to your name, perhaps?”

Toni raised an eyebrow at the casual greeting and turned to her friend with a look which was ignored.

“I don’t think so, General. I like piloting way too much.”

“Yeah,” he leafed through the Armor’s statistics, “I can see why. You know, Dr. Stark this almost made me want to leave my desk, and I really like my hundred years-old-oak desk.”

Rhodey shifted and the foot that almost crushed hers was a lot less subtle than her look, but Toni got the message and just smiled and nodded. Meanwhile thanking her decision to wear boots.

“But I’m little concerned with Colonel Rhodes’ report.”

There were several passages on that thing that, as Stern tried to do, taken out of context, pretty much put Iron Woman through the grinder. However, Rhodey and herself have a plan for every single one of them.

“Here, he takes note of the fact that you are a civilian, Dr. Stark, a remarkable one, of course, and with permission to carry firearms in pretty much all states and even a few other countries but the armor is something else altogether.”

“Sir, if I may?” Rhodey didn’t get out of his formal position.

“Yes, Colonel?”

“All the noted issues have been discussed previously, informally that is, with Dr. Stark and she has shown to be willing to rectify them.”

“That is good but my worry is the “informally”, I understand why you chose me in specific. I’m outside of your chain of command, I have no other previous personal or professional connections to either of you so there is a very strong argument of unbiased view.”

Toni didn’t react in any way, she was a better actress than that. But Andaz kinda missed the whole thing by several miles. Not that the points he raised weren’t valid, just… not the reason they approached him.

“But regardless of your wishes to, I suppose, “go legit”, we have the need to draft a whole new set of regulations for someone in your position, Dr. Stark.”

And there it was the reason they chose Andaz. The Paper Lover.

Andaz was competent but not power hungry, a little easy to manipulate but respectful of rules and has no previous relations with anything remotely “Enhanced”, if Iron Woman… better yet, if War Machine is the first contact, they could ensure a powerful ally for the Enhanced right off the bat and he was the perfect person to get a leg in an official regulation that was not looking for anything other than what it actually works.

Jeez, the guy graduated in law school through ROTC, there are a thousand and one reasons he was called “Paper Lover”.

“I understand, General. I am an untrained civilian with no real authority and even thought I also have the knowledge to sidestep and circumvent much while still operating overseas I know that this is not a sustainable situation.” Well, technically, it was pretty sustainable as long as she didn’t try to cover for other people that don’t even try to meet in the middle.

“Thank you, Dr. Stark. For now, the legalese will take some time but as for the “untrained”… I think I assume correctly that you don’t wish to be a military, correct?”

Toni suppressed a shudder, “You are correct.” And she smashed her high heel into Rhodey’s foot at his subtle smirk. Tit for tat and all.

“This is very unprecedented,” not really, Toni thought, “but I believe we can still find a middle ground.” That’s the hope, the billionaire inwardly grimaced.

“In the meantime…” She prompted.

“In the meantime… what do you think of a… an adapted boot camp?”

And then Rhodey had to twist his lips in the effort not to laugh. Even with the high heel digging on his feet, this was worth it.

~*~

“It is a reasonable idea, Tones.” His laugher controlled, Rhodey just watched as his friend rolled her eyes and typed some documents on their way back to the Malibu mansion.

“I don’t get how. It will still be “unofficial” until something can be drafted about it.”

“Well, yes, but when it does become official, we can say that you already know the basics… without even actually going through the basics.”

“Again: unofficially. Why do it at all when I will have to go through it again in an “official” capacity anyway?”

Rhodey opened and then closed his mouth, “Are those for the Stark Expo next year? Because you’re complaining a lot less than you usually do.”

Toni groaned, “Overseeing the security for that thing was a nightmare. I’m thinking about activating Jocasta and be done with the whole thing. Oh, Jay? Remind me to ask Pepper if Coulson contacted us.”

“He did, Miss.” J.A.R.V.I.S confirmed, “Ms. Potts instructed me to tell you once it became relevant.”

Toni smiled at the Pepper’s well-played move, “Thanks, Jay. And?”

“Agent Coulson seems to believe when Ms. Potts told him about your… erratic behavior. With the list compiled by us, she led Agent Coulson to believe that you have genuinely forgotten appointments and meetings and while Miss at times misses meetings, you never “pretended” to have forgotten them and Ms. Potts said as much. Your recent extravagant expenses in the expansion of SI’s fields. And at times, Ms. Potts has apparently seen you wince in pain, but she believes to be because of Iron Woman outings. At first glance, Agent Coulson took the bait.”

“Couldn’t have done better.” Toni smiled wider. Memory loss, impulsiveness, chronic pain…

Rhodey just watched. Not knowing how to feel that some shadow organization took advantage of Toni while she was suffering from heavy metal poisoning.

Palladium had low toxicity. When Toni told him, Rhodey made sure to look everything there was on Palladium. So for the effects to show in a blood work… how long was Toni in pain, suffering and not telling them anything? And even if she didn’t, what does it say about them that they didn’t notice?

But that wasn’t true, was it? Rhodey managed to wrangle that much out of her. Toni did tell him. Last time, Rhodey caught her while she was almost going to the ground because of the migraines, nerve pain and muscle cramps. He helped her to her desk where the Palladium cores were stored and saw the smoking device. So, how and why in the world Rhodey decided to still take the armor after seeing that? He was coming up blank and knowing Toni, they didn’t talk about anything last time, so she didn’t know either.

Pepper and Happy… her friends of years didn’t notice but S.H.I.E.L.D, some… half-assed attempt of an organization noticed the problem and had some sort of solution ready? For a price, of course. Rhodey’s head snapped up when he was called.

“What I’m working on, it’s for Bruce, the contract for the new Hulk toys will arrive tomorrow afternoon all signed up. This is it.” Toni leaned back in her seat.

The Colonel threw her a solemn glance and tried to push his thoughts down for the sake of the current conversation, “How is he?”

“Bruce is… not dealing with it. Sometimes I think that I will find an empty bedroom and sometimes he is so distracted by the projects he can finally pick up again that I don’t think he really stopped to think what is coming.”

“So we’re screwed.”

“… no…?”

“But that just filled me with confidence, Tones.” Rhodey opened a water bottle and went back to revising his own paperwork.

Toni deadpanned, “I will try to talk to him but I’m not sure I’m the best person… perhaps Pepper will have better results.”

“First, why aren’t you the best person? And second, why is Pepper better?”

“Eh, that rhymed.”

“Toni!”

“Ok!” She held her hands up, “Bruce made a good point: if he does this, it means that he will have my life, meaning no private life. C’mon, Rhodey, Americans gossip about whether I drink black coffee or a latte. They made a poll about it.”

“I never understood that poll. They get it wrong all the time, since when you like that pumpkin thing?”

“… now who is going a tangent?” Even as she thought that she never even tried those pumpkin lattes. Something about it just didn’t sound right… pumpkin in a coffee cup…

“Sorry, my bad. Well, Banner will have to figure this out sooner rather than later. I thought it was a done deal after the Hulk tees in Christmas.”

“Turns out that there are tee shirts for anything these days, no one bats an eye to anything anymore, so we need a more aggressive approach. The toys and other merch will be out for public consumption alongside Bruce’s... uh... rejoining society, I guess. Hey, is it even legal to have stuff that says “FBI”?” Toni asked remembering their PR explaining why there was no reaction whatsoever to the Hulk T-shirts.

“… I have no idea.”

~*~

Toni and Rhodey watched with a sense of dread as Kimball finished talking to Bruce who seemed to be a thousand miles away. With a pointed look, Rhodey bid goodbye.

“Dr. Banner, do you still have any questions before the release?”

“Uh... ah, no.”

Toni suppressed the sigh working its way out of her mouth. Kimball nodded to the both of them and left.

To hell with it. The billionaire’s forte was never subtlety.

“Bruce you do understand that after this you can’t just disappear again when things get hard, right?”

The physicist glanced back at her, startled at her presence which means that he had to be very distracted, her high heels weren’t exactly marble friendly.

“I... what?”

“You signed multiple contracts with these merchandize and another one with SI’s new physics division… and I really should have ordered it based on priority, never mind. There are already several dozens of physicists of various fields on transit right now for you to interview them, programs about internships and colleges expressing interest are already calling. You’re creating roots that are not easy to leave behind unattended, Bruce.”

“I understand that, Toni.” Bruce assured her but Toni wasn’t so easily convinced.

The billionaire paused a little to gather her thoughts, “Bruce… when I approached you,” now and back in the first time, “I knew that you were a flight risk. And I can respect strategic retreat, you can’t defuse a bomb, get away from the blast. But the moment you take so many responsibilities, walking away gets really hard because people are depending on you.”

“Even at the cost of their lives?”

Toni raised an eyebrow at Bruce’s bitter tone. Still better than the physicist being so distracted that she just knew that he was avoiding thinking about it.

“Bruce… let’s put aside my own personal opinion about the Hulk’s anger control for now,” for now, “the people you’ll be working with are pretty smart, obviously,” she waited for the begrudging smile and wasn’t disappointed, “so I think they know the risks. Now the question is, why would they chance being in danger of a Hulk Out versus the possibility to work with us and decide that it is worth it?”

“They’re crazy?” The billionaire was almost impressed at the speed of the quip.

“Maybe,” she shrugged much to Bruce’s amusement, “you gotta be a little crazy to pursue some of the projects I read for the new division.”

“As long as they can back it up explaining how they will make them feasible…” Her fellow genius shrugged.

“But also, Bruce, they thought that the opportunity to work with Dr. Robert Bruce Banner was worth it. If you drop everything, what will happen to them and their jobs, their whole lives?”

Bruce sighed deeply and rubbed his face, “You can always take my place as head of the whole thing.”

“… you do know that the contract was written with your name on it, right? And although I’m pretty good myself, Toni Stark is not what they signed up for. Of course, I guess those hundreds of employees can always sue me and call it a day. At least SI is not involved to take the heat.” Ok, Toni was laying it on thick but not like she was telling any lies.

“Wow, that was subtle.”

“… I think you already know me well enough to realize that I don’t do subtle.”

The physicist nodded with a half-smile, “Thanks, Toni. And thanks for doing this… uh… intervention, so nicely too.”

“You thought that was me being nice?” That boggled her a little.

“I think I saw enough of your interviews to know what you are like when you’re on the offense. You could have called me an irresponsible simpering baboon that was so busy drowning in my own incompetence to notice when my dick was on fire let alone my workstation.” And it was delivered in a perfect deadpan.

She had a bland expression on. Remembering the incident from a couple of years back with one of her employees, “…that idiot could have blown up the entire building. It’s one thing for the engineering department to have things catch on fire and immediately put it out, it’s another for the chemists to have things catch on fire mere feet away from the gas tanks and not even notice it.”

~*~

“He has a very good resume.” Pepper handed the files to her. Ugh, paper. Toni really needed to make time to upgrade that.

“Ok… Matt Murdock… top of his class and shows interest in a PhD. And Jennifer Walters?” The inventor looked up.

“She is… more discreet.” Pepper struggled with the word.

“Problem?” the inventor raised an eyebrow.

“You seem to be focusing a lot more on Walters but Murdock is more qualified. He published more, has more papers to his name. Perhaps Walters is focusing on the basics, but her curriculum will suffer for it.”

… Jennifer loves her job and knows the importance of a long CV… more and more, it’s looking like Jennifer has… “gone green”. Toni nodded to Pepper but, “I think SI can benefit from low profile professionals. This last year we lost quite the number in personnel. To this day Happy is still finding more employees that were in Ob- Stane’s pocket.”

The redhead grimaced softly. Unable to disagree, Pepper made a note in her tablet.

Toni made sure that Pepper knew her plans for both lawyers before turning her attention to the email sent by General Andaz. He would be personally involved in her assessment, seeing to her knowledge of military protocol and thrilled that she was in the process of getting an international law degree.

The excuse is to avoid breaking laws on international soil as a private citizen using what amounts to, Rhodey was right in calling, a super tank in human shape. But another reason is her expansion plans for SI and establishing that she has professional and official basis. The degree would open more doors if and when – who was she kidding, it was “when” – there was an incident. Although the plan was to… not be like Rogers and co that couldn’t even be bothered to explain what the hell happened, Toni also wanted to solidify another model to follow: proving your competency. A degree may not tell how skilled you are at certain area, but it proves that you are competent to do it.

No more winging it. No more, “learning doing it”. Experience told her what a tragically horrible idea that was.

Toni snorted. She gives credit when credit is due. It took her almost three months to find out why the hell Rogers, Romanoff, Maximoff and Wilson were in Lagos that time.

After Siberia, after she healed enough, Toni was bombarded by questions from all sides about pretty much everything. Even about stuff that she honestly didn’t know the answer to, like why in the world did Steve and Sam got themselves involved in Bucharest? And why were the Avengers in Lagos?

The billionaire gave some answer… of some sort to squirrel away and took to try and find the information by herself.

No paperwork (digitalized or not), no need to log entry and no need to explain or report themselves to anything or anyone and, well, it took her a while to figure Lagos out and Toni still didn’t know why Steve and Wilson decided to interfere. The most she managed to get was that they were after Rumlow, but that made no sense. The man wasn’t exactly subtle and that was the first time that Steve thought that he was worth enough to spend resources on. Before that, Rumlow already hit Europe and Asia and no one ever said anything about going after him. But she gave the people the answers she managed to scramble.

Incredibly enough, reports and crowds backed off her after a few interviews. As iron clad as Toni knew her poker face was, she still needed something to work with, she didn’t just get things from a black hole after all. And it was clear as day that Toni knew very little of what happened.

Filling out form after form and liaising with government officials was the peak of boredom, but it was such an insignificant price to pay for what the world would get in return and Toni was determined to create a better future this time around.

Chapter Text

July 2009

.

Toni’s feet were getting tired. As used as she was to high heels they were still hellish so she gracefully sat down in one of the benches to wait. Good thing she did that because it was only in another hour that Jennifer Walters got out of court from her first case since passing the bar exam.

Much like Bruce, Jennifer was unassuming. 5'4 if that much, her lean body was hidden in slightly too big formal suits – just enough to soften her curves – curly medium length brown hair and the occasional use of glasses did a lot to make her pass unnoticed in a crowd.

Although shier and more hesitant than her green counterpart, Jennifer the lawyer was no wallflower so Toni was of the opinion that her discretion was by design.

Walters’ high heels scrapped against the floor as their owner registered who was waiting in front of her.

Toni was wearing a more discreet grey business suit and matching pants, her hair tied up and wearing sunglasses while she typed in her phone. With her head lowered, not many saw Toni Stark.

She is pretty observant.

“Jennifer Walters?” She got up.

“… yes.” The brown eyes she shared with Bruce were peering at her with the same suspicion, if less wariness.

“My name is Toni Stark and I would like to schedule a meeting with you.” The inventor handed the lawyer her card. A completely black card with just a cellphone number in red font.

Walters took it but didn’t avert her eyes from her, “May I ask what this is about?”

“You may. It’s about a job offer.”

The woman’s eyes went wide at that and Toni suppressed a smile.

~*~

Pepper quickly typed in her tablet as she waited. Unknowingly mimicking Toni, she was working as she rested her sore-from-high-heels feet while subtly keeping an eye for the people that left the room.

Even though her red hair gathered some attention, not many linked her to Toni Stark or anything Stark really. A sore point for her: due to her red hair, Pepper has more difficulty blending in the crowd than Toni does. How is that even possible? She thought a little put out.

Immediately recognizing the brown-haired man in dark red shades with a white cane, Pepper put her tablet back in her bag and stood up.

Narrowing her eyes, the PA could have sworn that Matt Murdock seemed to pause a little before resuming his walk. If Pepper didn’t know any better, she would say that Murdock heard her standing up. But there was no noise against the floor nor did she need to open her handbag’s zipper.

“Mr. Murdock?” She just watched with raised eyebrows as her voice seemed to startle the man. Almost tripping him in fact.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know… oh… I’m sorry. Yes, I’m Matt Murdock.” And he hesitantly extended his hand the tiniest bit too far to her right.

Pepper didn’t quite know what to make of the man. The visual deficiency wasn’t a problem for her, there were plenty SI employees with visual or other kinds of disabilities, it’s just… Murdock didn’t really act like them. She couldn’t really put her finger on what exactly was different but taking into account that Pepper thought that Murdock stopped for a moment when she got up without making a single noise and… she would almost say that he was faking his disability.

Shaking off the feeling but making a mental note to comment about it to Toni, Pepper shook his hand.

“My name is Virginia Potts and I am here on behalf of Dr. Anastasia Stark to schedule a meeting with you pertaining a job offer.”

~*~

“Next on the list, Jay?” Toni fastened the jet’s seatbelt.

“Ms. Jones’s detective license was just mailed to her.”

“We will set up a meeting in a couple of weeks. We need to focus on Rhodey’s PR, with the Air Force knowing that Rhodey used the armor I have no idea if they would still get him to make Iron Woman’s evaluation or if they’ll think that now his opinion is compromised.”

“Miss said that Colonel Rhodes had already used a Power Armor before writing the report on Iron Woman presented before the Senate in 2010.”

“In the first timeline, Rhodey used Mark II as recreation. Just to get a kick out of it. That’s why he already knew how to use the armor when I goaded him into taking it. So he never felt the need to go to his CO and say anything about it. But Harlem and Culver? The only thing missing was the paperwork to classify the whole thing as a mission. I don’t begrudge him for telling, Jay, but now I have no idea what is going to happen in that hearing.”

“I shall warn you if the Air Force make any changes.”

“Thanks.” She watched as New York became an outline of buildings before settling more comfortably.

She wasn’t exactly or happy or unhappy to be back in New York but as the jet ascended and took off, Toni couldn’t help the sigh of relief.

Toni was raised in New York. It should feel like home. But it was the stage of too many betrayals and lies.

The inventor snorted. California should be it, right? The guy that she called Uncle Obie sold her weapons under her table, then commissioned to have her killed, then tried to kill her himself… twice… the first time being in her own house. And then random people invading her house… well, not random, S.H.I.E.L.D people invading her house and her company.

And New York wasn’t even the stage of too many betrayals. The Chitauri wasn’t a betrayal and Killian was also in California and it was hardly a betrayal either before she permanently moved to New York. Rogers was in Siberia and there was no Russian spy sent to get… whatever is it that she was trying to do.

To this day, Toni wasn’t sure what Natasha was going for there because that bullshit profile was just ridiculous. She had some theories but no way to really prove them.

In any case… New York shouldn’t be associated to such harsh feelings and yet…

“Incoming call, Mr. Harold Hogan.”

“Put him through.” Toni took out her tablet to get some work done.

“Hey, Boss, how was the other coast?”

“Well, I enjoyed the hot dog stand by Central Park.”

“I hope that’ll be all you’ll miss ‘cause it’s done.”

She smiled, “You…”

“I did it. Top from bottom. Just so you know, most of Obadiah’s cronies were in the acquisition.”

“Not surprisingly.”

“I guess not. But, Boss?”

“Yep?”

“There are some new and old faces… and they are… off. I won’t pretend to understand all the legalese but I don’t think background checks should be waved away so easily in some of these hires… that are in charge of hiring. There was some stirring in HR that I think you should take a look.”

“HR? Human Resources? I…” Toni stopped. She could have slapped herself.

The first time around, Toni cleaned house personally. Not letting anyone else get involved, barely involving the FBI and CIA and the military because they had the right to know why the tech that used to be on their side was now killing their own. But she fell into her own trap. Learned her lesson too late. So much for letting the professionals do what they studied and trained to do.

“Boss?”

“Happy… you are a beautiful human being and I owe you a raise and all expenses paid vacations.”

“… You do remember what happened the last time I took some time off, right?”

“… I was kidnapped again. Whatever.”

~*~

August, 2009.

.

New York.

.

Toni made a face. Was it little wonder that Americans thought that they were the center of the world with everybody and everything happening in New York?

Ok, a fairer assessment is that New Yorkers just called more attention to themselves. Toni was aware of a group of Enhanced in Moscow, Russia. The country’s answer to the Avengers as it was. Russia didn’t fear the Avengers one bit, meaning that they were confident in their own heroes, and yet they did their jobs and didn’t make headlines left and right.

And if that wasn’t a kick in U.S’ nuts, Toni didn’t know what was. If things weren’t so… perhaps “bad” wasn’t a good word, “tense” was a better a description, between Russia and U.S.A she would be so very tempted to reach out.

Well, Toni was perfectly willing to wait for the British group of Enhanced she knew was formed in the aftermath of 2012’s Chitauri Invasion to make good with other groups of Enhanced so there is that.

Knocking on the door and not being the least bit surprised at the barked response, Toni opened it.

Everything was surprisingly tidy considering the heavy stench of whiskey in the air and the dark look on the equally dark woman in front of her.

“Toni Stark.” And one would be fooled into believing that Jones was perfectly sober if it not for the smell… and the many empty bottles surrounding the trashcan.

“Jessica Jones.” She shot back and took a seat.

“I’d be surprised but I have just finished my third bottle.” But there was something in Jones’ attitude that tipped Toni off.

Did she already meet with Murdock? Jewel and Daredevil… Power Man and Iron Fist… the Defenders if everything goes right.

Well, that could wait because honestly, the Defenders can take care of themselves and if they couldn’t they would hardly come to her. “I am here to hire your services. I understand that your specialty is tracking and uncovering alias, but I have reached my own limits to find out what I need.”

With a last gulp, Jones put the bottle down and leveled her a glance that was almost a glare, “What is it that you need?”

.

October, 2009.

.

“We now conclude investigations in Stark Industries about the weapons found in Afghanistan. Which we now know played a part in Toni Stark’s kidnapping back in January 20, 2008. Dr. Stark was found by U.S’ Air Force in April 20, 2008 and since then have been very accommodating to our inquiries. Dr. Stark has been cleared of manslaughter charges, but we are still in talks with the DA if there was negligence in chain of custody. The Mill/Aerospace laws are very clear on that but so far files and weapons requests found in Obadiah Stane’s personal computer in Stark Industries point to faulty and, supposedly decommissioned missiles being sold under the table. Due to conflict of interests, the investigation is being conducted by the ICC while Stark Industries’ head of security gives access to personnel information after a warrant was acquired.”

“But that is a whole lot of nothing.” Toni muttered, impressed despite herself.

“General Andaz knows how to play the game, Toni. He might be called Paper Lover, but he is fair and he knows that going after you won’t amount to anything.” Rhodey turned a page in some magazine he found lying around.

The billionaire turned incredulous blue eyes towards him. “You kidding me? The whole military was raging mad that I shut down the weapons division.”

Her friend rolled her eyes. “The man almost never went to the field in his entire career. Weapons are not the way to lure Andaz.”

“You think that the fact that we approached Andaz about laws with Enhanced in mind… there will be talks that we tempered with… witness?”

“First: you’re watching too much Law and Order. Second: tempered with what? We have on official records that we were only talking about Enhanced regulations, we didn’t even know that Andaz would be the one to help conduct the investigation into Obadiah after, what? Weeks later?”

“People distort anything they want, Rhodey.” She felt the need to point out the obvious.

“I’m not worried,” he shrugged, “it’s easy to come up with some fantasy but everything is above board, Toni.”

“Proving a negative needs evidence of absence… and that basically amounts to burying evidence and you have to admit that the CEO of the company not knowing the shit going on right below her nose is not… very believable.”

“… again: too much Law and Order and again: I’m not worried, Toni.”

“It’s another series I was binge watching but it won’t premiere until 2011.”

Rhodey suddenly looked up and turned to stare at her face, “You told me that last time, you fixed this,” he motioned to the muted screen, “very quietly and basically made Obadiah fade into the background.”

“… I was actually hopping to talk about “Suits” but ok, yes I did.”

“So why the change? Please tell me it’s not because of the Maximoffs because you can’t please everyone, Toni.”

“Oh, I’m very well aware of that.” Toni grimaced.

When she was still contributing to arming the military, the government was happy, and the liberal crowd was protesting at her doors. When she shut it down, the government – not to mention the vets and the families of militaries – were raging and the liberal crowd never let her forget about her past. There was no making anyone happy, really. Generally speaking, at least.

“I am just… tired of being blamed for it.”

“If that’s it… then good. I don’t know how I reacted the first time around but just the idea of covering for that bastard is already making me see red, Tones.”

“You didn’t react all that better last time, Rhodey. You were just too distracted by the “I am Iron Woman” interview to really pay attention to the rest.” Which was actually a happy accident instead of planned out in her part.

“Yeah,” he drawled, “You’re going to tell me that you didn’t call attention to it so we wouldn’t talk about Obadiah?”

“I plead the fifth.” Toni teased a little.

“And I don’t want to know about this… “Suits”.”

“No! Wait! I want to talk about Harvey and Mike!” She followed him.

Rhodey was hiding a laugh and heading towards the elevator when he caught some building plants at the corner of his eye.

“What is this?” He stopped so abruptly that Toni almost crashed against his back.

She looked over his shoulder and shrugged hers, “It used to be the Avengers Compound. It was an old storage from Howard’s time and since I really wanted them out of the Tower, I gave them the property.”

“You “gave them”?”

“Not so much as “gave” since they would have no way to pay the bills or the taxes as… became their land lady and never got rent… not really all that different from when they were living at the Tower but I really didn’t want to be around Maximoff.”

“… that… the more you talk about them, Toni, the more nightmarish the whole situation becomes in my head. Can we just never go to New York? What is the worse that could happen?”

The young woman stopped to think about it.

“If I maintain SI’s headquarters here then the Chitauri Invasion will probably happen here.”

“And…?”

“I guess that’s it.”

“And this compound place?”

“I am actually torn between using that building for Stark Unlimited or founding the Yinsen Academy.” Toni revealed.

“What?”

“Stark Unlimited is the name I decided for the project of the harder sciences. It’s still connected to me and Stark Industries once they see its value, if only for PR’s sake, but still separated that if anything happens to one or the one, the whole thing won’t domino to the ground.”

“I liked it. “With no limits”. And Yinsen Academy?”

“I figured that whatever team is formed, not the Avengers so stop looking at me like that, needs a HQ.”

“For logistics I suppose you’re right, but it doesn’t have to be you, Toni.”

Rhodey was plain worried that Toni would fall into old habits and just the thought of those leeches taking her for granted was making his head pound.

“Don’t worry, Rhodey. I know all that. That’s why I am already drawing some contracts for Stark Unlimited and Yinsen Academy is where we could have the trainees.”

“You’re a trainee.”

“Hey…!” She trailed off.

Rhodey sighed, “Oh, god. What now?”

“In 2015, Scott Lang will be contacted by Hank Pym.”

“And he is important? Who even are Hank Pym and Scott Land?”

“Lang,” she corrected absently, “and Pym are… I’m not quite sure what to call them. Either way, Pym developed some suit that could shrink people to the size of ants while preserving their mass, shortening the space between atoms.”

“Ok?” Rhodey prompted, still not seeing the relevance.

“He punches too hard and he can kill someone, too soft and people don’t even feel it. Good for infiltration in the old days.”

“Old days meaning before cameras with the zoom feature?” Rhodey wasn’t sure where this was going but Toni always had a point to her blabber if the (un)willing audience paid enough attention.

“I guess? Anyway, it seems that Pym hired Lang to steal some stuff… to steal some other stuff. I didn’t really pay much attention. I was swamped with the restoration efforts in Sokovia at the time. But there was a signal decoy prototype in the Compound that Pym needed Lang to steal to do something else.”

“Oh. And now you think they’ll come after the new location?”

“Well, I mean… I just decided on the name Stark Unlimited and it wasn’t very advertised that I am basically hoarding talent in the last semester but still, he is supposed to be some geneticist… bio-engineer genius. I think.”

“Another guy that you didn’t pay much attention to? Didn’t he steal from you?”

“The Compound was in SI’s name not mine, so Pepper was the one to handle it.” Toni shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me about them before?” He was curious. Not that it seemed that they were that important but SI being right smack in the middle of another tech theft was sure to send Toni into control freak mode, the fact that it didn’t…

“I honestly just forgot all about it. Pepper handled the whole thing and I don’t even know what happened later… actually I barely knew what happened then, I just found out about the theft and Pepper handling it when it was over and done. I didn’t even know Lang was the one that did it until way after the whole Civil War disaster when Pepper became… well, I thought her head was going to explode when she recognized Lang from the airport’s security footage and then she explained to me who the hell Lang… and Pym were.”

“Do you know why they needed a signal decoy?”

“Nope.” She glanced back helplessly, “But I am tracking Lang and Pym. So far Pym was ousted from his own company by one vote and Lang is basically a non-entity, I don’t even know how they even met… will meet.”

“Waiting game.” They said in unison.

Chapter Text

.

November, 2009.

.

California, Malibu.

.

More than a year and half for getting things where they are. Target-audience focusing on kids did its job: it flew right under Ross’ radars but Hulk’s popularity skyrocket after people started to question who this Hulk was. And in comes the comic books that Toni was religiously saving in a hard drive.

“You know,” Rhodey started while reading his own copy of “Incredible Hulk”, “this whole thing you’re doing with Bruce… it does remind me of Captain America’s… propaganda.”

Just like Rhodey didn’t glance up from his comic book, Toni didn’t either from where she was working on the repulsor tech, “Hmmm, why try to fix what’s not broken?”

“I know that I never told you this. But you are devious.”

“I know.” Toni kept working with a smirk on her face.

Because after all, if Ross wants to dispute the whole thing, they would use the precedent set by Captain America himself. America’s golden boy. America’s ARMY golden boy.

This not only had the advantage of… well… taking advantage of dear, old Captain America’s image, the image that he unknowingly used every single time he fucked up to protect Bruce, but Bruce being the seemly lose cannon that he is, would also make people stop and think before just taking what they think they know at face value.

And yet, unlike with Steve Rogers, the whole “propaganda” around the Hulk was the truth.

The comics were one of the most popular and there are empty shelves all around due to this being, in one way or another, “the real world”, based on something that actually happened. Just like Captain America started.

But Bruce wasn’t about to green light the Hulk punching Hitler or the Hulk saving the world from some threat or the other because that never happened. What did happen was Hulk’s human alter-ego improving the quality of life of an entire village once he taught them what seeds to plant in what soil. What happened was the Hulk’s human alter-ego using what medical knowledge he had to improve the health of whoever he came across. The Hulk choosing to lure the military – unidentified military, of course – away from the very small town he was close by.

For now, there was nothing on who was the human alter-ego. There is a total of six issues telling many tales about the Hulk’s transformations, what triggers him, what doesn’t trigger him – which also has the added benefit of blocking any attempts should anyone try to put Maximoff on the team if Johannesburg happens. And the mysterious alter-ego that hints at what happened and who he is, but never names… because the focus was on the Hulk at the end of the day.

“That is one thin line you’re toying with.” Bruce wasn’t sure whether he was amused or embarrassed by the comics. They were his thoughts and life and opinions and conclusions being exposed. It was like seeing his diary published, but in a comic book.

Then again, he knew what he was getting into when he finally and fully accepted Toni’s help. This was the first step: gather support for the Hulk, for him. And it was already working. Enough that Toni and Bruce’s personally assigned lawyers decided that it was the time for Toni to start coaching Bruce for his first ever interview right alongside Kimball, her trusty PR of six years. When J.A.R.V.I.S announced that her new lawyers just arrived in Malibu.

“Uh.”

“What is it?” Bruce already knew her long enough, and paid enough attention, to know that a segue will follow.

“I have been planning this since 2008… and I would be lying if I say that you weren’t a factor. I care about you, Bruce, so I didn’t want you to do this without emotional support. And the people I chose are uniquely skilled for what I need. So I guess that this wasn’t solely based on you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Back in July, New York’s legal bar approved new members. Among them, Mathew Murdock that I intend to consult about the Hulk and all matters of Enhanced being involved in international relief efforts and that’s already a full-time job so we’ll see how today’s meeting will go and what we can expect from one another.”

“Makes sense to have someone solely focused on that.” Bruce nodded, still confused to where this was going.

“Right. And he would lead the team of lawyers that I plan to hire just for that because I don’t want any mistakes that Iron Woman makes to reflect on SI.”

“Very responsible.”

“Thanks. And speaking about SI, since I have cleaned house because of Obadiah, I also need some new people. Neutral people to work for SI, spearheading the new changes. I managed to get an airtight deal to permanently close the weapons division, but I also need new personnel to replace the ones I lost.”

“Also makes sense.”

“One of which… is Jennifer Walters.”

And Bruce’s thoughts came to screeching halt.

“Bruce?” Toni asked and received no answer.

After a few minutes with her friend being non-responsive, Toni sat down in the couch in front of him and reached for her tablet to work a bit.

A few minutes later, Bruce moved, and Toni turned off her StarkPad.

“When did you cont… when did you decide to contact her?”

“Not long before I gave my interview revealing that I am Iron Woman.” Toni never felt comfortable lying with straightforward questions to people she cared about.

And yet, she inwardly winced, she was already lying, wasn’t she?

Especially to Happy and Pepper.

Sure, the Palladium was the main contentious point in the previous timeline but this time around she was hiding… universe-level altering events.

And yet that conversation ended with both Happy and Pepper more than glad that they would get information when it was relevant for them to know. Neither were people that liked to be on the sidelines when their loved ones were in danger but they both admitted that this will most likely be the case if it was something that they simply can’t help with. Emotional support or not.

Toni was doing the same to Bruce though and it was beginning to eat at her. So she was relieved to finally tell him at least about Jennifer.

“Why?” he took a deep breath once Bruce realized that he almost gritted out the question.

“Because she is a perfect fit for the job. Her cases were mostly about business and administrative law with federal and civil suits. Not for the Enhanced, but a truly perfect fit for SI.”

“And it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that she is my cousin.” He snarked. Bruce had no doubt that Toni knew, and he had no idea how to feel about any of this. He wasn’t feeling betrayed or used… at least not yet but…

“I never said that. But… I was going to help you no matter what, that doesn’t mean I like to go into situations blind, Bruce. I did my research before approaching you. Mostly psych evals and any living relatives. Jennifer was well-hidden, even I had trouble finding her.” Her files at least.

“What exactly did you do? How did you find her? Actually, what do you know?” His eyes were toxic-green, and Toni has never been afraid of the Hulk and she wasn’t about to start now.

Even as the camera’s lights blinked warningly, saying that JARVIS didn’t share her trust.

“I was looking through the files compiled by S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D?”

“Statistic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistic Division.”

“Meaning?”

Toni opened her mouth and then she realized that she would need to go backwards a little, “Ok… uh… I don’t know how much you know about SI, so here we go. My father was too young to be drafted for the Second War, but not too young. He founded SI at sixteen but at nineteen and with the War with no end on sight made him worried enough to pitch the government that he could do more good as a weapons manufacturer than on the frontlines. Heh,” she chuckled humorlessly, “I wonder how he felt when the War ended, and he was still just twenty. Still, I can hardly blame him.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m getting to that.” Toni promised. “Roosevelt founded the Strategic Scientific Reserve. It was a top-secret Allied agency responsible for recruiting Abraham Erskine and ultimately for Project Rebirth.”

“I… read about that when I got involved with the Gama Project.” Bruce admitted.

“Well, I don’t know how detailed the file you got was, but not long after my father began to develop weapons, the SSR approached him. One presidential approval away and Howard was working in Project Rebirth.”

“I know that too.”

“Ok. After the war ended, the SSR became pretty much redundant. Unneeded if anything… a… uh…”

“Unnecessary drain on resources?” The physicist offered.

“Very well-put.” Toni complimented.

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, that’s not how Peggy Carter saw things. The idea came from her and I don’t know why but Howard and Army Colonel Chester Philips thought it would be a good idea. Together they founded S.H.I.E.L.D. The advertisement they give is that they are about “security” and starting from now this is conjecture on my part.” She warned, “If I have to guess, they must have said that it is for America’s safety to justify the costs… if Howard didn’t outright pay for it, that is. The international geopolitical relations were hardly stable after all.”

“A more than possible theory.”

“Yeah. In any case, I think it hardly matters by now. What matters is that, from the little I know for sure, a little after the War ended, Carter met a woman named Whitney Frost. She was what S.H.I.E.L.D began to call Enhanced. I don’t know the details, but I know that she kicked Carter’s ass in a straight fight. Once S.H.I.E.L.D was founded, Carter created the Index. Basically, a watch list for potential threats… or at least what they perceived as such.”

“And that’s where you got my “file”.”

“Yes.”

Bruce nodded to himself, snorting, “That is just great. What do they know?”

“Not much. After you got involved in the Gama Project, Ross had a lot of information about you scraped off the records… any records.”

“Because then it would be easier to make me disappear without repercussions.” He sighed.

Toni was silent for a few moments. Her hesitance was less about his reaction than about possibly hurting his feelings, “Bruce… you already disappeared and made half of the job for Ross.” Her fellow genius winced but didn’t dispute it. Toni took pity on him, “S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t know about your cousin.”

“So, how do you?”

“Because Ross made a mistake.” Toni was tiptoeing the line, “He erased your records, especially when he saw that you were an orphan. He knew that you have two distant Aunts. One raised you but fell off the grid not long before you turned eighteen, Susan, no one has seen her since. The other died not long after you became a part of the Gama Project, Elaine. He thought there was nothing there. But SI headhunts constantly and Jennifer was in our radar and her records weren’t scrapped and how many Robert Bruce Banners are there in the world?”

“Speaking of which, Ms. Walters and Mr. Murdock are five minutes away from the Mansion.”

“I will leave you guys alone while I talk with Murdock.” Toni got up to receive the lawyers.

Bruce was still frozen in place when he heard a woman clearing her throat. Closing his eyes in dread, he got up and turned.

Aside from the same dark brown eyes and balmost black curly hair, they didn’t look much alike. Not many would look at them both and think: uh, relatives. Might as well, since the accident.

“Well?” And she was angry. Great.

“Jen… I’m sorry.”

“Do you even know what you should be sorry for?”

“I know, ok! I’m sorry I ran and I’m sorry I just cut contact, I…”

The fight left Jennifer, “You’re not actually sorry, are you? You know why I’m angry and what you should be sorry for, you’re just not.”

And Bruce’s shoulders also dropped. “No, I’m not.”

The young lawyer made a distressed sound and gathered her cousin into a hug. Resolutely not shedding the tears she could feel building up, Jennifer squeezed his shoulders as hard as she could.

“I missed you, Bruce. So much!”

Bruce returned the hug just as fiercely. “Me too, Jen.”

Once she was sure that this wasn’t a dream and that her cousin was really here to stay if Stark was right, Jen let him go and tried to smile, “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“Since we were sixteen, or since the mess started?” He joked a bit.

“Whatever you choose, really.” She sat on the couch and he followed suit.

“Uh… it was after I defended my thesis. My last PhD was about the different ways the genome can adapt to Gama rays. The military approached me and funded the project, they worded things in a way that would imply protection for soldiers or other workers to go into compromised sites and be protected from the radiation.”

As he explained, Bruce couldn’t help but recall all the tells that Ross gave away and, like an idiot, Bruce decided to ignore.

Once he finished, the first question his cousin asked made his snort. An enormous green rage monster and all she can ask about was, “Do you have the original contract Ross hired you under?”

“Toni asked me the same thing. I tried to hack it once, but the whole thing was redacted and what wasn’t, was sealed.”

“Damn it. Do you remember what was in it?”

Bruce sighed, “Yes, I do. But I don’t remember all the fine details and all the little words. I’m not Toni, I don’t have photographic memory.”

“She has photographic memory?” Jennifer asked, surprised.

Bruce winced, “She calls it “eidetic”. She knows it’s not the same thing, but she got used to it because if people knew she has photographic memory…”

“Half of the world wouldn’t believe her, and the other half could use it as argument to crush her business. She wouldn’t be able to go anywhere with a hint of competitor’s proprietary tech.”

“As if she even needs to steal ideas anyways.” The physicist snorted.

“Toni Stark hardly needs more money after all.” But Jennifer was surprised when her cousin shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant. Toni has enough money to spend several lifetimes in some random island living with the lifestyle she has right now. She does what she does because of the company.”

“So Toni Stark hardly needs more money after all.” But Jennifer changed the tone she used and watched as Bruce flushed to the tips of his ears.

“She… has done a lot for me in the last year and a half. Including arranging this meeting, because you know that she could have waved the whole thing away as “not her business”.”

Now the lawyer looked curious, “And the fact that Stark did arrange this meeting doesn’t ring any bells?”

“Toni said that your grades and interests aligned with SI and I believe her. Us meeting would only work against her in the long term if she had other reasons. Perhaps trusting the wrong people bit me very spectacularly in the ass but that has yet to happen with Toni.”

“That fits with what Ms. Potts told me.”

“You talked to Pepper?”

“Right after I met Dr. Stark.” It seemed that the bit he talked about Toni made Jennifer go from “Stark” to “Dr. Stark”.

“And?”

“And she wanted to me to start at Stark Industries’ Legal Department.”

Bruce closed his eyes, a little amused despite himself. “Did she offer you headship of the division?”

“No, and if she had, then I would know she was full of shit. I just passed the bar, Bruce and I’m smart and good, but I’m not a super genius like you.”

“Fair enough.” He teased and then dodged the pillow thrown in his face.

Chapter Text

January, 2010

.

New York.

.

“Let her in.” Toni adjusted her dress before checking her hair.

“Boss!” Happy protested from the other side of the line.

“Trust me, Happy. The pros may not be more numerous than the cons, but they do give us more benefits. Especially in the long term.”

“Do I want to know?” Being SI’s head of security wasn’t what made Happy constantly exasperated, not by a long shot.

But his question made Toni hesitant.

“Ask me again in May.”

“What?”

“Ask me again in May.” She repeated as she accepted the clip-on mic.

“If… I want to know…?”

“Yes. Put it on the calendar. May, 1.”

Toni adjusted her red tinted glasses and nodded when the aide gave her the thumbs up. Pushing the doors open, Toni expected the millions of flashes and the recorders being thrusted as far as arms could reach from their places.

“It is with great pleasure that I officially announce the Stark Unlimited. Dedicated to STEM fields, be they theoretical or applied, this is place where there are no bounds in science. For the last six months, an old installation in New York is now seeing use again. It used to belong to Howard Stark, when he died, most of his properties went to SI while his patrimony went to me. A year ago, I bought the property to do something that I have been meaning to do since long before I ever went to MIT. A place that won’t be looking to see if the idea is profitable but if it adds to our knowledge of the harder sciences. This isn’t about being famous or to line pockets but to better understand our biology, our world and the universe. Ladies and gentlemen: Stark Unlimited is officially in business.”

And cutting the red ribbon, Toni kept in mind that one Natalie Rushman just got out of her first interview. She kept it in mind even as she fastened her seatbelt and her jet took her back to California.

Since opening her arms open for the investigation into Obadiah, Happy has also been living up to his new position. The man was suspicious and paranoid as they came. Yes, employee complaints are through the roof and the investigation itself was torture, the FBI and CIA and ICC were not happy… with Happy… or with her but that is pretty much the status quo since she got out of the weapons business. The FBI and CIA were mollified when she presented the new… gadgets for lack of a better term to them. Spy movie like James Bond brought to life. The ICC will be harder to work around, though.

But back to the issue. Natasha was good but Happy took every shadow as a monster and since two years ago when Toni promoted him, he was taking it a lot more seriously than the man that underestimated the little 5’2 legal aid with cleavage showing and was taken down on the ring for it.

A paralegal with those grades and that CV? Why not a lawyer? Well, there was a thousand explanations, professional and personal, for that. But that wasn’t how Harold Hogan operated and Toni knew that when she promoted him this and the previous time. So, she wasn’t the least bit surprised when Natalie Rushman set off every single inner alarm Happy has.

Sure, Natasha did a number on him last time and that played a part on his paranoia… and the employee complaints. But if that last one was anything to go by, the pile wasn’t all that smaller just because they weren’t stabbed in the back.

Toni snorted. Not exactly in the back, more like the neck and not like they ever really and fully trusted Romanoff. Still. Years cultivating trust among employees…

The inventor paused a little.

S.H.I.E.L.D always seemed to be one step ahead. Of how to manipulate her if nothing else. But Toni was 100% confident that no information was leaked by a SI employee, especially not after they cleaned Stane’s greedy little fingerprints from top to bottom. Not when Toni made it her personal goal to cultivate loyalty and trust, and the inventor earned bragging rights with her security protocols. So how the hell did Natasha know that Rhodey couldn’t have taken one of the armors going through her security?

For her to have reached that conclusion, Natasha would have to know enough about her security’s details and that Rhodey didn’t have authorization to take the suit for the security to activate against him at all.

“I am a huge idiot.” But Toni gave credit when credit was due. Those bastards knew how to play the game. She was almost laughing. “J.A.R.V.I.S, call Happy, Rhodey and Pepper. I guess that waiting for Natasha to reach Stark Industries’ CEO is no longer the timeline for me have this conversation with them.”

“May I ask why not?”

“Because Obadiah Stane couldn’t have done all that he did right under my nose without more people knowing about it. He would need what everybody needs, regardless of profession: a support system. Enough people to transport, enough to make the right paperwork so it looks legit, enough higher ups to cover the right things.”

“Yes, Miss, and I thought we already dealt with Stane’s co-conspirators.”

“We did. But it occurred to me that Natasha is an excellent fighter, an excellent assassin, a so-so if repetitive manipulator… but she is one shitty actress. Five minutes in and she takes Happy down with some martial-arts-black-belt-move?

Now, I have no idea whether that makes her a good spy or not, but I don’t hire idiots. I may have been fooled into thinking that Natasha was one of the good guys, but reaching me and Pepper under the guise of a legal aid? That says that an entire department… make that three departments, were fooled enough to let her pass. Human Resources, Security and the Legal Department.

I already knew that there was something going on with HR because they spotted some first-year college student that was paid to glance at a formula that he would never even hope to understand in R&D. He didn’t know what he agreed with, for what and barely even why and HR still got him because the transcript in his college interview said that he was interested in microbiology and he interviewed in SI for a possible internship in the biophysics department. HR thought it was off because of a technicality based on a detail.

And yet, we cleaned house… very thoroughly after Stane so how the hell Natasha not only went through HR, Security, Legal Department and knew enough about my personal security protocols to know that Rhodey shouldn’t have been able to take the armor and that he wasn’t even authorized to take the armor… until a day before when I changed his security pass.

The situation reminds me of Obadiah… Happy actually started it when he mentioned HR six months ago, but until just now, something was bothering me, I knew that I was missing something. Going in guns blazing and installing lie and metal detectors in HR was just gonna tip my hand but now?”

“… S.H.I.E.L.D have others inside Stark Industries.”

Toni nodded, still impressed, still incredibly pissed at herself and at S.H.I.E.L.D.

“My father co-founded S.H.I.E.L.D. He cracked the Super Soldier Serum’s formula. And he died transporting the finished product… why would he even be working on that damn thing? Biogenetics was hardly his field. S.H.I.E.L.D. apparently changed tunes about the Serum or perhaps Carter only had problems with Rogers’ blood and not the Serum itself. Whatever the case, Carter knew… and now I must brainstorm how exactly S.H.I.E.L.D got their claws inside SI. If my father allowed it since… S.H.I.E.L.D started or if it was a slow process or if it happened after he died. And whether or not Obadiah also knew.”

Toni sighed heavily and was thankful that the jet was being piloted by J.A.R.V.I.S because not only could she speak freely, she also didn’t think anyone deserved to hear this crap.

J.A.R.V.I.S was silent only for a few moments, “Miss?”

“Uh?” The inventor was rubbing her temples.

“Does it matter?”

“… excuse me?” for Toni that was completely out of left field.

“Is it truly important to know how or even why it happened?”

Her shoulders dropped and she sighed again, “Instead of focusing on how to fix it?”

J.A.R.V.I.S’ silence was enough answer.

The inventor looked out of the window, “I don’t like not knowing things. That’s the shallow answer. The good, still genuine but PR-approved answer is that if we don’t know how it happened, it is bound to happen again. Why change a trick that was never worked out after all?”

“… If S.H.I.E.L.D inserted anyone that has yet to call attention to themselves, odds are that they are around before Miss took over for Howard Stark.”

“We hire hundreds of employees on a monthly basis… but not anyone that would have been trusted to this degree, meaning that they had time to gain trust.” She agreed. “How many do you think there are?”

“Well, Miss,” and J.A.R.V.I.S sounded amused, his sensors clearly picking up on Toni’s expression at the obvious answer, “I assume that whatever the number, they would be in HR, Security and Legal Departments… and someone high enough to know what to look for in your security systems, so perhaps R&D.”

“… R&D is sacred, no one touches R&D and gets away with it.”

“So, saying to Mr. Hogan to allow Ms. Romanova into SI…”

“Expose the thread for us to pull it. I need you to monitor HR and Legal and find the mole in R&D… moles, if… we need to cover all our bases. Delivering proof upfront. I want to know of everyone that even looks at her for longer than two seconds. I don’t care if it’s envy because of her tight clothes or ogling her because of her tight clothes, I still want to know about it. We didn’t have problems with the other headquarters, so I’m guessing that S.H.I.E.L.D got in deeper in California. Uh, who says that stuff needs to happen in New York?

And that explains why I moved the date of my conversation with Pepper and Happy because I also need them on the lookout for more than just Romanoff. Crap, it’s not even noon yet.” Toni reached out for the expresso machine.

“In the meantime, may I suggest that Miss gives more specific instructions to Mr. Hogan about Ms. Romanova’s… admittance into SI?”

The billionaire choked a bit on her coffee and quickly grabbed a napkin, “Uh… yeah, good idea. For our plans to work, we have to let her in the house, but it doesn’t mean that we let her take control of the kitchen.”

“… an apt description, I suppose, Miss.”

“My jet, my metaphors.”

~*~

Once back in California, a now completely exasperated Happy escorted her back to the mansion.

“Boss… did you have a good flight?”

“My jets are the smoothest there are, Hap.” Especially once she could focus on other projects that don’t necessarily go boom.

“I’m happy to hear,” pleasantries out of the way, her loyal friend and former bodyguard went right to business after making sure her luggage was secure and taking the driver’s seat, “what is exactly is this?” he waved a tablet at her with one hand and didn’t even meet her eyes in the rear mirror.

“A list of instructions.” And Toni wasn’t surprised when he dropped the tablet.

“I’ll tell you what it is: a headache. You know that I don’t know how to use these things and now you want me to communicate with you, Pepper and Rhodey exclusively with that gadget?”

“Well, you managed to open the files alright and don’t call that baby a “gadget” and yes, because I personally ensured that it is impossible to hack it, meaning that this “line” is as secure as it can possibly get.”

“You mean you put J.A.R.V.I.S in this thing.” It wasn’t a question.

“No.” Toni held onto her seat and waited a beat, “I put JOCASTA in the StarkPadPro.”

“WHAT?!” The car went to the wrong lane for a few moments.

“I talked with J.A.R.V.I.S and I have decided to activate Jocasta. She integrated J.A.R.V.I.S’ memories and has his go ahead take over all safety aspects while he focus solely on… well… SI’s logistics… and mine. She will handle all matters of security and answer directly to you. But her number one priority is ensuring SI’s safety… and ok, mine as well. She has access to non-lethal weapons installed in the house just like the security cameras, access and who punches at what hour. By then end of Ms. Rushman’s stay, Jocasta will have everything she needs.”

But Toni knew she tipped her hand the second the words were out of her mouth. Biting her lip, she waited for it.

“First: what is JOCASTA’s primary objective?”

Knowing where he was coming from, Toni’s eyes softened a little, and she answered honestly, “Her primary objective is my safety. You know that when I programed them, that was the condition Rhodey had if I ever had to activate them. My safety first.”

“Good. Second: What does that woman have to do with this? Because three weeks before she ever sent over her CV, you specified her by name. Natalie Rushman. I didn’t even know her name when I sniffed something off and sent the file to you. Imagine my surprise when you have J.A.R.V.I.S delivering…” Happy let out a long-suffering sigh, “a StarkPadPro with a list of instructions that, according to J.A.R.V.I.S, is tailored made for one Natalie Rushman.”

Toni was silent for so long that Happy actually turned around to see if she was ok once they stopped in a red light.

“Pepper and Rhodey will meets us at the mansion. I need to tell you guys something.”

“Rhodey doesn’t know?” Not that Toni never hid things from Rhodey before, but Happy knew from experience that if that was the case, then Toni was in dip shit.

“He knows.” She assured him. Which really relieved him.

“Is it about the Palladium? Is that thing hurting you again?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Toni… you patented your electric toothbrush, but you didn’t with something that would put your name in history books forever. A new element…”

“I promise you, the Reactor isn’t hurting me anymore.”

~*~

“This is bullshit!” And Toni has no idea what to even say to that because she never once thought that the word would leave Pepper’s mouth, “You asked if “we wanted to know” when you said that the thing keeping you alive was also killing you and we said that we wanted to know when it’s important for us to know! And now you said you’d explain once you could but now you bring us here and you want to give us half of the story now and half after? After what? And what kind of assassin contract is this “half now, half later” crap?”

“It is, actually, a little bit now, and… like… 97% later.”

“Oh, great!”

“Pepper… what Toni is trying to say is that now you and Happy should know what is going on. At least what is important for you to know because we need to prepare.”

But the redhead just whirled around and landed a glare on Rhodey who was completely unrepentant, “You know what is going on?”

“I doubt that I know all the details that Toni knows, but yes.”

“Ok, what you want to tell us?” Happy got the conversation back on track.

“Three weeks ago, one Natalie Rushman sent her CV to HR for a spot as a legal aid. I warned Happy about her but that wasn’t necessary because her CV alone already raised his alarms. She is with Coulson.”

“Son of a bitch.” Happy cursed.

“I’ll get legal.” Pepper was already with her StarkPhone on hand.

“Not yet! Because it occurred to me that she passed her interview and is already getting herself acquittance with legal.”

“And why does that matter?”

Toni turned to look at Pepper. That is actually one of the reasons Toni decided not to give CEO to Pepper this time around. Pepper is wasted talent as a PA and while she retains knowledge and learns like no one else would ever do in the same position, she was still very naïve. Hence: her friendship with Philip Coulson in the first timeline. Toni didn’t stand her friend being used this time around. She didn’t notice that this is what was happening until Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D appeared out of the sky with a tailor-made strategy to push her buttons.

But if Pepper and “Phil” had some friendly lunches and decided to talk about her… And it was confirmed once S.H.I.E.L.D started to move when Pepper dutifully followed Toni’s instructions to drop a comment or two about her “erratic behavior”.

Pepper was very sharp in business meetings… not so much with what she perceives as someone that is “helping”.

“Because that means that three departments were fooled by this woman, meaning that while I am sure that we got rid of Obadiah’s thugs…”

“There are S.H.I.E.L.D thugs inside SI.” Happy completed with another curse.

Chapter Text

February, 2010.

New York.

.

Jane looked around with wide eyes. The equipment and space were so high tech that it looked like something straight from Star Wars.

“Oh, my god. Toni, this is amazing!”

The building occupied a major space even though it was no skyscraper.

Call her petty or healthy but Toni made sure to, while maintaining the basic design, to repurpose all grounds of what will never be called “The Avengers Compound”. With her purchase of the building, there is no more properties that could “house the Avengers”… at least not with the fricking heated pool and the three Quinjets always fueled that she foolishly gave them.

The only beds were on the medbay. It was all lab space, testing grounds, all equipment that any scientist could hope to get their hands on. And Jane recognized that as Toni showed her the new installations.

“And by the end of the year, this will all be powered by an Arc Reactor. It’s gonna run itself for a year… minimum. But for now, it’s better if we keep that little tidbit on the down low.”

“No worries about that.” Jane was still numb over all the resources available to her and people like her. Whose research have stalled and there was no one willing to keep the project going.

“The security here can’t be beaten, not even by my headquarters back in California. I plan to update all security in all SI’s buildings by the end of the semester. For now, people can attack this place with a nuclear bomb, it’s not even going to scratch the painting.”

That made the astrophysicist stop. “Uh… are you expecting something to happen? Ok, most would be homicidally angry if their research was stolen, still… nuclear bomb? Most of the stuff you’re funding can be barely counted as theory.” She would know.

“The original plan wasn’t for this place to be for Stark Unlimited. I was… actually going for something like… an academy of sorts.”

“Academy?”

“For people like us.” Jane whirled around and her eyes went wide at the sight of Bruce Banner.

“Jane, this is Bruce Banner. Bruce, Jane Foster.” Toni made the presentations, as unnecessary as they were.

“I’ve read… uh… everything you ever wrote, it is an honor, Dr. Banner.” She shook his hand.

“The honor is all mine. Einstein-Rosen Bridge, right? The heights that you took the theory are nothing short of genius.”

“If really hard to prove?” Jane gave a half smile.

“All theories are until the tech catches up.”

“Oh, so the engineers are at fault?" Toni joked.

“I guess they are.” Bruce joked back.

Jane chuckled a little, but the thought didn’t leave her. “But, uh, people like you?”

“The government calls us “Enhanced”. People with abilities, be they… separable like Toni’s or not, like mine.” Bruce explained.

“Some sort of safe heaven?”

“Something like that.” The billionaire shrugged. “I still intend to do something along the lines, but the original plans was to use this building. Rhodey and Bruce convinced me, however, that having a single benefactor tied to the project is just begging for a conflict of interest argument, a genuine one at that. But that’s the explanation for the security.”

“Sorry, Toni. But I can see their point. It’s like what you’re doing for Stark Unlimited, but instead of hoarding talent, it would look like you’re hoarding an army.”

“Yeah, I know.” Toni grimaced a little. Knowing that she would have to contact more people to the cause if she didn’t want some Ross or Ross 2.0, if things go right, to try and strong arm her.

And… here comes the guilt right on schedule. The inventor sighed.

The hope and the plans were for Jane to remember this conversation once Thor crashed on Earth and S.H.I.E.L.D steals her research. With Jane seemly unconnected to Stark Unlimited – her inclusion was truly subtle and not very advertised – there was no reason for S.H.I.E.L.D to think to look deeper.

Toni wanted to contact Loki to see if her suspicious about the Chitauri Invasion had any merit but for that, Thor needed to be somewhere she has free access to and S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t cut it. As pathetic as their equipment was.

Toni bit her lip as she left the meeting that would finalize the final contract for Stark Tower to be open by the end of the May, almost two years before schedule.

If Jane did end up bringing Thor… Toni would come clean to her too. Because bringing Thor to Toni meant that Jane not only paid attention to the conversation but that she trusted her, and Toni would return the favor.

She told Pepper and Happy about Romanova and possible S.H.I.E.L.D moles because it was important for them to know about it now and prepare for it, brace themselves if nothing else.

Jane doesn’t necessarily need to know anything about anything but if she brought Thor to Toni, then Toni would honor that trust and if Jane started a romantic relationship with Thor, then she would be in this world as well.

More than that, she could help. Toni is more than capable of creating tech that would identify an alien armada but one day Jane will be the biggest name in astrophysics that there is. Her weight being thrown behind concrete proof of an invasion… people would have to listen.

~*~

“Hello, Boss. How are you?” Another change.

Jocasta’s polite and well-educated and French-accented voice greeted her as Toni exited Stark Industries’ Californian headquarters and got into her car.

Being responsible for security in all its… more… militant… forms, Jocasta took her job frighteningly seriously and effectively while maintaining perfect manners – even if you could just hear the smirk in her voice. And if the whole thing reminded Toni of Black Butler no one needed to know.

“I’m good, Jo. You?”

“I have been feeling well, thank you for asking. Would you like a report?”

“Might as well.” Toni agreed as she took off her jacket suit.

“My duties have been fulfilled. Since my activation and training under J.A.R.V.I.S and subsequent installment in all Starks properties I have had one Ms. Natalia Alianova Romanova under all possible surveillance. So far, I have compiled a list of all SI employees she has had the most insignificant of interactions with, even the member of the cleaning staff with whom she bumped into.”

Toni paused. Natasha couldn’t be that obvious… could she?

“Uh, if you notice that their card has been used, report to me.”

“Boss?”

“Oldest trick in the book: no one pays attention to the cleaning staff and yet… they are everywhere. If Romanoff got the credentials of one of them…”

“Understood. Permission to engage in case of any transgressions?”

The inventor smiled a little at the well-concealed bloodthirstiness but for now, “Just watch and if the spider gets any ideas about our system… be subtly creative. But don’t engage physically… yet. You’ll have your fun, Jo, just as soon as we get access to their serves and boot them out of the house. If they try to get in again… you have carte blanche to anything short of lethal.”

“And they will try again.”

Toni snorted. “Yeah.”

The lights in her car’s panel blinked in excitement.

“I have filed a copy of the report for Mr. Hogan and Ms. Potts, shall I issue one for Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes?”

“Go ahead.”

“Miss?”

“Yeah, Jay.” The inventor parked her car and went to her newly remodeled lab. Finally up to the standards she was used to in 2018. Right in the center: the Bleeding Edge Armor. Finished and ready to go and eight years ahead of schedule thanks to more time to research and study Starkium.

“The last SI weapons cache in Afghanistan have been located. Sending coordinates to Mark L?”

“Not yet, Jay. Send it to Mark IL. I want to keep the Bleeding Edge for myself, for now.” It was her ace in the hole and with more time, it could be even more advanced.

“Very well.”

Stepping into the last armor Toni created before using nanotech, the armor elegantly engulfed her, the windows automatically opening for her to go to Afghanistan and destroy the last of Stane’s legacy there.

“Oh, and mark a one-hour meeting with Pepper in April, 20.”

“Very well, Miss. May I ask what for?”

“I will bring up the officer position for Pepper. Instead of COO, I will offer CKO position. At first glance, COO is the perfect job for Pepper, until you realize that a COO is basically a stand-in CEO which is basically what gave her wrinkles last time. CKO, however, handles all the knowledge inside the company and makes sure that everybody knows their responsibilities. She’ll basically be everybody’s PA but with the power to make the necessary changes when she sees fit.”

“You mean punish those that, pardon the language, slack off.”

“Yep.” Toni shrugged. “Besides, she has enough know-how and a degree in economics that will finally see use. What put her on my radar so speak, meaning that she can also do the other part of being CKO: establishing a price for our time and knowledge. There will be time for her to adjust and consult me on any questions she has. And while I don’t quite consider myself nostalgic, April, 20 was when I officially made Pepper CEO and two days later, Romanoff got to deliver some documents and get our attention. Sure, we put her in the position she had to keep a closer look on her. Still, I’m interested to see how she reached the upper levels of SI now that I’m paying attention and… not dying.”

“I believe Miss Jocasta will have fun in the future.”

“So do I, Mr. J.A.R.V.I.S.” Came the polite voice in dark amusement.

The billionaire twisted her face in the attempt not to laugh, “Pretty sure that history will judge me for not stopping the moment that Skynet happened.”

“They will forgive you, Boss.” Jocasta assured, amused herself.

“Sure they will. Ok, what’s important for this month?”

“I’ve taken the liberty to schedule a meeting with Ms. Jessica Jones in three days from now. With Dr. Banner’s interview to be aired in less than three weeks, it is time to see what Ms. Jones have had the chance to discover. And introduce them to each other.” There was no emphasis in Jarvis' voice, but Toni got the hint.

“Yeah, ok that was my bad.” She winced at the fact that Jones has been working on Bruce’s case for five months and they only knew of each other. “Call Bruce and see how comfortable he is flying to New York, if not, I will see what I can do to fly Jones to Malibu… or setting a video call. We’ll work it out.”

“Helen Cho is also defending her thesis on tissue regeneration next month. A seat is already secured.”

Toni smiled at that, “Yes, please and thank you. What else?”

“Mr. Murdock has requested a meeting about representing you and Colonel Rhodes or at least be present in the upcoming meeting with the Japanese government.”

“The relief efforts. Rhodey is looking forward for that.” And so was she. That was of the utmost importance to set the right example.

“PR efforts to focus on Colonel Rhodes have stalled, however.”

“Damnit.” Toni sighed, “People still see him as my glorified PR babysitter or… riding on a Stark’s coattail to get promotions. Things are only going to change once he rescues the fricking president. Literally.”

The billionaire grimaced how it took that for Rhodey to become a full-fledged Colonel in the past life. Spending years as a Lieutenant Colonel because of War Machine.

If you play the cards right, being an Enhanced gives you fame and high regard. But it was also a double-edged sword for the military in ways that most didn’t expect.

The young woman had to laugh at the irony. It all started with Captain America. Because what didn’t?

While most knew of his exploits – real or fictional – through commercials, songs, TV series and comic books, the military also made sure not to divulge certain details that would “damage morale”. There were some minor things that even Toni in her, self-admitted, bias could agree were just that: details. Like a failed mission, with no casualties mind you, because of bad data. Like Steve making a mistake in coordinates or even when he took several guns and no bullets to a mission. Nothing that couldn’t happen with anyone else… well… the bullets thing was funnier, and a bit pathetic, than it was critical really. But there were some things that would truly “damage morale”… in a rather spectacular fashion.

Like the fact that Steve wasn’t exactly a Captain, because less than one week of boot camp does not a Captain make. Or that when he went to rescue Bucky and ended with hundreds of POWs safely back on camp was filed as an official mission because U.S couldn’t have their poster boy going AWOL and taking one of U.S main weapons supplier to an active war zone regardless of the results. Even the sillier things… like Steve didn’t really punch Hitler.

But what haunts the U.S military to this day was the fact that all fully trained soldiers in the Howling Commandos with experience and legitimate ranks were taken as not much more than Captain America’s support system. The tech guy, the weapons guy, the map guy… the fricking funny guy and the “serious guy”… James Barnes himself was often called Captain America’s sidekick. Toni got her hands one of those issues when she was a kid and there Barnes was: the Robin to Rogers’ Batman. Complete with quips and honest to god’s “Aye-aye, Captain” coming out of his young teenaged mouth unironically. Yikes. Super yikes.

The propaganda made wonders for Steve Rogers’ image. But the rest of the Commandos? Their families and friends weren’t exactly thrilled at what happened.

The problem persisted to modern ages. As far as Toni knew, Rhodey was the American military’s second experience with an Enhanced in their ranks. A commanding officer at that. And her friend suffered for it.

Learning with history, the troops weren’t exactly tripping over themselves to be under War Machine’s command and become the second coming of the Howling Commandos. They admired and hero-worshipped War Machine and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and then Colonel James Rhodes. Working under the man? Yeah, no.

Because unlike most of the American population… the world’s population, really, they knew what happened to the originals: shoved into the shadows and support positions while the big Enhanced CO got the spotlight and all the glory as if he did all the work and they were only there to hand over the equipment.

The inventor made a face. While it was true that Iron Woman worked better as a solo act – most of the time – that had more to do with personality and the kinds of missions she took for herself. Rhodey was another matter.

“We’ll have to think on Rhodey. Although letting it all happen like it did before would have some benefits, people still died for it.”

“Ms. Romanova also implanted her first bug. May I start Operation Two Way Street?” Jocasta joined the conversation.

“You have my go-ahead, Jo. The second Itsy-Bitsy starts to get too comfortable, you also have my go-ahead to start Operation Trojan Horse.”

Two Way Street would hack S.H.I.E.L.D back and give Toni access to their databases and Trojan Horse is only in the case that Romanoff starts to get too big for her britches.

Almost thirty bugs were the count of the previous timeline. Really? Twenty-eight and Romanoff never thought that her systems would pick it up? She either has too much trust – Toni snorted – on S.H.I.E.L.D tech or… the inventor honestly didn’t know. Then again: five minutes in and knocking Happy down in the ring. Yeah.

So her little program would teach a very violent lesson. If it was only her, as Toni Stark, whose privacy and job was put in danger, Toni would forgive and forget. S.H.I.E.L.D was hardly the first one to attempt to do so. The second they went after Stark Industries and its hundreds of thousands of employees… well… after she copied everything in their serves… it was pretty common practice for people trying to hack into what they shouldn’t to get infected with a little virus… nothing that would put anyone in danger, but annoy them to no end and show exactly what she could do if they cross the line?

Toni sighed and took a long gulp from her coffee, “Is there anything else on schedule that I don’t know?”

“Air Force General Andaz’s proposal for international contributions that Iron Woman could offer was given temporary approval pending several factors. Including the meeting with Japan’s representative. He was also contacted by the United Nations, as were Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes and Staff Sargent Samuel Wilson about reviewing Iron Woman.”

 And the coffee was now in her lungs as the inventor coughed in the attempt to dislodge her airways.

Chapter Text

March, 2010

.

Malibu, California.

.

“The Stark Expo is giant waste of time and money.” Pepper reiterated once Toni came back from the first officially sanctioned mission.

Letting the assembling line disengage the suit, a necessary ruse for now to show the limits of the armor, Toni turned to Pepper.

“You said the same thing about Stark Unlimited and I could have the event going all year long instead of just six months. Make up for the last twenty years and all.”

“Don’t even joke about it. Do you know how this can be taken? As a monument to your ego, Toni.” Pepper followed her inside the mansion.

“But it’s not. It’s an opportunity to get to know the next generation of potential geniuses.”

“Do not repeat the slogan to me. And if it wasn’t for your phoenix metaphor in the opening speech, I wouldn’t be talking about this.”

“Why are you badgering me about it now?” The inventor turned to Pepper.

The redhead sighed, “There is a woman… waiting for you.”

Toni actually felt a little offended, “Ok, if you’re going where I think you’re going… everybody and their mother know that I’m bisexual, just because they choose to ignore that we’re in the twenty first century doesn’t mean that…”

“Not about that, Toni. She insists on speaking to you, personally. She arrived close to an hour ago and seems to feel right at home. Meaning that she is not after blackmail or honey pot, she is…”

“Official.” Toni rolled her eyes at the word.

And there she was, the same woman that accosted her and Happy last time. Without the concern of the Palladium poisoning and Happy safely here in Malibu, Toni opted to take the armor back to California. Meaning no legal whatever waiting for her to get out of the room.

Story of her life: people waiting for her out of the room.

Well, she learns from mistakes. Armor going in and armor going out. No more walking to the garage or waiting for the driver. Just open plans and her armor… hell, a window would do to avoid situations like these.

“Ms. Stark.” Redhead, mid twenties, 5’2 and pretty smile. Do people think she has a type?

“That would be me.” Toni raised an eyebrow.

“This is for you.” She took out an envelope from her purse.

“I don’t like to be handed things.”

“I will take that for her.” Pepper took it.

“Will that be all?”

“You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Today, 6pm. Now that will be all.”

“This is subpoena, Toni.” Pepper waited until she left to turn to her boss and friend.

“I know.”

“Did you also know that this was coming?” The redhead peered at her.

“If it is what I think it is, then yes. If it is what I think it is, then everything is under control.”

“And if it’s not what you think it is?” The, currently, PA asked, exasperated.

“Then I don’t know.” The billionaire admitted with a shrug.

But it did turn out to be what she thought it was. When Toni entered the chambers with Pepper, Rhodey and Wilson were already seated right alongside General Andaz.

“Thank you for joining us, Ms. Stark.” Senator Sterns was stern. Toni snorted inwardly. Oh, god, it was moments like these that gave argument that she was one immature airhead.

Making a show of looking at her watch that read a quarter to 6 pm, Toni raised an eyebrow at the nearest camera much to the amusement of the cameraman at the woman treating the whole thing like she was Will Smith in Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

And wasn’t that a good idea?

“We were beginning with your possession of the weapon…”

“I think it is called the Second Amendment.” Toni interrupted, not looking much concerned as she flipped through some magazine.

Stern turned a little red, “I don’t think the Second Amendment quite covers the weapons in your possession, Ms. Stark. The Iron Woman armor has the firepower of multiple tanks combined in a jet.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Senator. Dr. Stark is well within her rights to possess a weapon, regardless if it is a pistol or a rocket launcher, the Iron Woman is registered at the ATF, after all.” General Andaz jumped in.

While Toni wasn’t shocked, she was still pleasantly surprised at the support.

Wilson was an unknown variable. His partner, Riley, died a little less than a year ago and the man was one of the potentials to make a review of Iron Woman a few months later. If it was coincidence, Toni would risk Pepper’s wrath and donate her entire art collection to the Boys Scouts of America… again.

As things stood, he was a far cry from the man Toni briefly saw from time to time. Wilson was taciturn and clearly looked like he didn’t want to be here, so Toni had to wonder what exactly convinced him.

To be honest, she didn’t know him… Toni was going to say, “that well”, but she didn’t know him at all. They were barely introduced at the party after the mission in Sokovia and then right after Novi Grad, the guy was living in one of her properties… then the Raft and that was it.

All she had to go on besides that he lost his partner in a mission gone wrong was that he backed Rogers. Always. For reasons never undisclosed. Hence both hers and Rhodey’s opinion that he is some fanboy cheerleader to Captain America’s all-American abs. Since Wilson never bothered to explain, taking his actions at face value was all they had.

That is one of the reasons Toni didn’t consider approaching him in the first place. Just like with Scott Lang, she would be going completely blind with someone that, for all intents and purposes, was a Cap fan, inanely put.

It wasn’t like Matt Murdock or Jessica Jones or Jennifer Walters. Toni knew with a hundred percent guarantee that they would be just as impressed with Captain America as they were with Iron Woman. Meaning not at all. As their relationship progressed and monetary gain in exchange for their professional services all with a side dish of being interested parties shifted to, hopefully, occasional superhero team-ups, Toni knew that they wouldn’t be on different sides of a battlefield because, “Oh, it’s Captain America” or any random person due to hero-worship. They simply didn’t do hero-worship.

In the case that they do clash, it would be straightforward, cut and dry. None of the double standards and back stabbings that Toni knew now to watch out for.

The same would also be true for Luke Cage and Danny Rand once they came into the picture.

While Scott Lang and Sam Wilson didn’t have one manipulative bone in their bodies, at least as far she knew, the little interaction they did have forced Toni to conclude that they were the definition of “Yes, man”. Be it to Captain America or Iron Woman it didn’t matter because Toni had enough of “Yes, men” for a lifetime.

“And I want to make sure that everybody in the room is aware that Senator Stern is requesting that I read specific sections of my report taken out of context.” The vehemence made Toni raise an eyebrow to Rhodey that didn’t even look towards her.

When the inventor told him what happened last time, Rhodey was pissed. Toni said that he made sure that everybody knew that it was one paragraph in the middle of almost a hundred pages but Rhodey felt he could do more, push just a bit more. He would be certain to make it right this time.

Rhodey continued once Stern could only splutter, “The benefits far outweigh the risks. And it is my professional opinion that Dr. Stark should be folded into an existing chain of command.”

“That she is already in the process of doing.” Andaz completed.

Whispers reverberated and Sterns looked like swallowed a lemon… and a pepper with how red he became.

“I wasn’t aware of your interest in joining the military, Dr. Stark.” Another Senator leaned forward.

That was different. So far, just like last time, Sterns was the only one doing the talk. Aside from one or two, most of the Senators gathered here looked like they were just going through the motions, not really all that interested or invested in the outcome. Until now.

“I’m not. But nothing stops me from learning the proper protocols.” She gave the chamber the most innocent smile she could muster.

Hey if Natasha and Wanda could use the doe eyed-doll delivery why couldn’t she? Sure, Toni wasn’t about to pretend to wobble her lips in distress – that was step too far into the ridiculous she was willing to do – but nothing stopped her from doing the earnest routine.

“Oh, so you want to be military without actually being military?” Sterns thought he found the loophole. Yeah…

“I honestly have no idea what this whole thing is even about. My involvement in international matters? I have already cleared that with Mr. President and the foreign governments in question. The Iron Woman armor? General Andaz and Colonel Rhodes already have compiled a report and possible solutions for us to get out of legal limbo. But turning the Armor tech over? I’m sorry, am I being asked to donate it? The Armor tech is proprietary, but for the sake of meeting the military half-way, I was willing to let Stark Industries write up about the armor’s capabilities and drawn a possible contract that General Andaz already submitted and I am waiting to hear back. Colonel Rhodes was even kind enough to be the test pilot.”

Sterns sputtered and usually, Rhodey felt sympathy for anyone that warranted this side of Toni’s. But Toni already told him about Sterns… HYDRA of all things. Sure, he watched the news, there was Nazism in the 21^st century… again… somehow, but HYDRA was just… Rhodey just couldn’t believe that society retroceded like that. Then again, he forced himself not to roll his eyes, it was one thing that would make Rogers feel right at home.

“Oh, the contract, right. An… Iron Woman suit… the price tag is simply ridiculous, Dr. Stark. You don’t even have to say that you won’t share the technology because the price is simply exorbitant.”

Toni raised an eyebrow. For the first time ever, she thought that perhaps Sterns was a little bit smarter than he looked. He was careful not to breach any contracts by saying the exact number, called attention to the price slapped at the end of the paper inviting anyone interested enough to find out how much exactly it costs. A lot more than she expected of him but not nearly enough to even make her pause.

“The humor of the situation is that I wasn’t the one to decide the price, General Andaz was one of the involved.” And said General didn’t even blink at the glares he got.

“Forgive me, Senator. But the costs of materials alone would already go over our budged, the armor is made of gold-titanium alloy to withstand heavy artillery, the speed it reaches and the higher altitudes. The miniaturized Arc Reactor tech is one of a kind, there is literally nothing else that is comparable in power output this small. That, when not even counting what makes the armor an actual asset: the repulsors, flight capability and more than that, the fact that it is customized. There is no give inside the armor, Dr. Stark has to measure the user’s body to the millimeter and I would highly recommend a strict diet and constant exercise to maintain body shape, not to lose or gain any mass be it fat or muscle or else the whole exoskeleton would have to be modified as would the outer shell… might as well just buy another armor altogether.”

Not about to leave anything out just to make sure that the world understands, Rhodey joined in, “Even if we bypass the monetary issue that didn’t even cover the hours Dr. Stark would have to personally put, there is also the lack of a pilot. I have no doubt that with training there could be others that would have the knowledge and skills necessary to pilot the armor, but the pilot can’t be claustrophobic. A product of an aspect General Andaz commented, the fact that the armor has no give. The Arc Reactor is placed in a very visible area, right in the middle of the chest, the safety measures are off the charts but if the power source is damaged, the armor becomes a metal coffin. There are mechanical ways to open the armor but if the reactor is out then I wouldn’t count on the armor’s physical integrity by that point.

All of this when not mentioning the disorientation caused by the HUD. To have the same results we see Iron Woman having you need to understand the information the HUD is giving you, the stats and react accordingly. It’s not a jet, Senator, it is an armor, it’s you flying and manually adjusting your trajectory and you can ask any pilot in the world: does the vehicle does all the work? And the answer will always be the same, no.”

Toni chuckled a little, gaining the attention of the room again, “Foolishly enough, I thought that this would be a meeting about me cooperating with an actual competent body so that I would help in the right way. But apparently, people like you are very happy with the way things were: shiny new things that go boom with the name Stark on it. No never mind of where the chain fails to tell me just where the hell is the bomb that was supposed to be here, and it isn’t anymore.

If you have any more questions, General Andaz was kind enough to hear me out several months ago and as I understand it, he already sent the proposals for an acceptable MO. Iron Woman will always be there if the people will have me, but I am Iron Woman.”

Putting on her sunglasses, she raised thumbs up for the nearest camera. With no hint of a smile, Toni grabbed her jacket and purse and walked out among the cheers and applause that was just as much to her as they were to Colonel Rhodes and General Andaz.

~*~

“You were expecting the meeting to be about a reasonable work frame for Iron Woman?” Were Rhodey’s first words to her when they were alone.

“No, that was bullshit.”

Chapter Text

.

March, 2010.

.

Toni didn’t look up from where she was tinkering the Bleeding Edge armor in all its glory. Dear lord, she missed this armor. She missed using this armor. Curses having to hide her best card.

Rhodey made himself comfortable in one of the couches and watched in amazement as the armor retreated in the housing unit still inside Toni’s chest before snorting. The noise made the billionaire look at him.

“You realize that the Bleeding Edge’s nanotech invalidates the argument that there is no give inside the armor, right?”

“And you understand that the Bleeding Edge is made entirely of Starkium, gold-titanium alloy and the nanotech ups the price to eight billion dollars, right? When not counting the manufacturing process and my own fees at that.”

“Eight billion?” The number made the colonel’s eyes go wide.

“Well… you’re my best friend… so you get a discount, four billion for you.” Toni joked and turned around, trying to curb the laughter at the indignant gasp behind her.

“I have some questions.” Rhodey spoke up after a few minutes.

The billionaire opened her files for Stark Unlimited. So far, it attracted worldwide attention from all scientific divisions. People with all the degrees and yet no chance to take their projects to the next level.

There were already hundreds of “ideas-guy” that wanted to make it rain food to end famine in the world. But PR with months of advance and Toni herself saw the problem coming and made sure to set up a website explaining in tiny words what exactly Stark Unlimited does. They gave a chance to expand knowledge, to further research and, if it was at all possible, prove theories. No one was about to get filthy rich any time soon with any of it. That took care of 99.99% of the “ideas-guys”.

Try to save the third world through cheap and clean energy like Toni was trying to do with the Arc Reactors was Stark Industries territory. SI worked with actual projects.

The plan, Toni thought, was to make the board see the advantages of Stark Unlimited so that SI could invest in it. For now, Toni was the sole benefactor and there wasn’t much in the horizon in way of return of capital. Toni knew that it was going to change soon enough, and she already saw some governments and companies showing interest. Colleges are lining the front doors and Musk’s people just approached hers. But Toni could understand why some of the more financially inclined professionals would be hesitant to get involved in theories that haven’t seen a single leap in decades.

And if she was hoarding talent that she knew would pay off, well, she never claimed to be a saint.

Speaking of which, “Yes, I decided to have the Bleeding Edge armor ready, just as a precaution for now. I’m still using the assembling line to put the armor on and off.” She told Rhodey when she noticed what he was looking at.

“That answers one of the questions. Another is… you didn’t let things play out like they did before. I know that the cue was me mentioning folding you in an existing chain of command and I know that Sterns is HYDRA – HYDRA of all things to survive to the twenty first century – still. Wilson’s presence was a surprise and I can’t help but ask, did you end things in a way that would avoid him speaking a word about the whole thing at all?”

Toni smiled at him for an answer and Rhodey rolled his eyes.

“I’m not in the habit of allowing unknown variables. J.A.R.V.I.S found out that Wilson was picked almost six months ago as a potential reviewer for Iron Woman, the whole thing was very hush, hush. I guess it makes sense in the way that he also uses… or used tech to have abilities outside of the usual skillset but he was also picked for it right around the same time that his partner in the Falcon Unit died in a mission gone wrong. But Wilson is also Air Force, if everything goes right, I will be heavily affiliated with you guys, Iron Woman is not very graceful on the ground… for now. So I’m trying to curb my paranoia… for now.”

“Miss? I have a reminder that Helen Cho will be defending her thesis in two days.”

“Thanks, Jay. Book a flight for me.”

“Did you just ask J.A.R.V.I.S to “book a flight”?” The colonel turned incredulous eyes at her.

“Jessica agreed to fly out to Malibu to meet Bruce… as long as I provide the transportation which contains a lot of alcohol. It is no problem for me to lend my jet, but it does mean that I won’t be able to use it because I want to… gauge the area a bit around Cho and it will be at the same time that Bruce and Jessica are both free. I need another jet.” Was muttered under her breath.

“I would say that ‘no, you don’t’ but I guess that you do because of all the math you showed me about the time we waste in customs with commercial flights and you truly need to be on the west and then on the east coast in twenty minutes. God, what did you do to me? I used to save up coupons to go to the grocery store!”

“Hey! I… well… Jay does it too!”

“He does?!”

“Yes, Colonel. PR thought it would be an interesting strategy to make Miss seem… more mundane, I suppose. Seems to have good results despite some… shocked and amused comments here and there.”

Rhodey sighed very deeply. Toni was amused but she also had a SI meeting in an hour… and she still had grease on her face, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes.” Her oldest friend shook his head a little at the absurd conversation they just had, “What about Ivan Vanko and… I guess Hammer? How are we on Romanoff?”

“I already updated all airports’ security in America and France. No photostatic veil will pass the tests. I will explain later,” Toni waved the confused look Rhodey sent her, “so there is no way, shape or form that Vanko will just waltz into France.”

“France?!”

“The Grand Prix of Monaco. We are scheduled to make an appearance and I already bought the tickets. You know that I like races, Rhodey and this is my first vacation in… I would say two years but that would be a lie, it will be my first vacations in seven years, Rhodey. Hammer… is pretty much inconsequential. If and when Vanko affiliates himself with Hammer, I have some plans… Romanoff… uh… well… Rushman’s CV says that she worked as an associate for Hammer Industries.”

Rhodey felt like he missed something, “Uh, what do you plan on doing?”

“I don’t know.” His friend admitted. “I didn’t pay very close attention to it last time. But the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D made up some curriculum that Romanoff… sorry, Rushman was some intern of Hammer’s… well, I want to do something about it. Just not too sure what.”

The colonel rubbed his temples, “I have even more questions.”

“I still have some time.” She took a quick glance at her watch.

“That’s why you strengthened SI’s relations with France?”

“Oh, yeah. After revamping international security in U.S, I reached out to England, France, Italy, Japan and Germany… and Egypt and South Africa for good measure and to begin our African outreach programs. Anyways, England was more than happy to welcome a bigger SI headquarters and ditto with France. Still in talks with the rest though. Whatever the case, I strengthened SI’s relationship with France enough to have the influence to tip their security and be taken seriously when the time comes. I doubt that Vanko won’t be picked up. And Hammer is… well, he is an idiot, but funding Vanko as his horsepower would be a good plan… if he had the basic foresight to do a background check and see that Vanko was much more interested in eviscerating the name Stark than helping Hammer get rich and famous.” She rolled her eyes.

“Which brings us to the fact that you want to do something about Rushman’s CV and her supposed internship with Hammer that is also associated with Vanko that turns out to be Russian like Romanoff. I see why you want to do something with that. Too good to pass up.” Even if Rhodey couldn’t see what could be done. But all those coincidences? Yeah, it was the definition of ammo.

Toni heard Pepper’s high heels before she appeared around the corner, “And now I think I know what.” The billionaire smiled, “I’ll see you later, Rhodey”.

~*~

“Oh, my god, Toni.” Pepper had to sit down.

She was barely any older than Toni. Twenty-seven, nearly twenty-eight to Toni’s twenty-five and yet this news…

“CKO. Chief Knowledge Officer. Responsible to see the maximization of profits base on knowledge. Responsible to see that each department has the right information to act and handles the information releases to the employees and the public. How we gather, file and organize knowledge. How we put tag on our products. Basically, what you already do but it comes with a beautifully obscene raise and an office of your own. Great view… and bragging rights. Your degree in finances will be put to use.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.” And she was close to tears and her voice shook a little.

“Say “yes”. Oh, right on time.” DUM-E wheeled close with a chilled bottle of champagne.

“Yes.” With a laugh, Pepper got her glass and toasted her boss… now her colleague.

“There will be a transition period. You’ll have all the time in the world. No announcements yet while you test the waters. Any questions and I’ll be there.” Toni assured her friend. “CKO has been empty since forever, I have been doing the job along with the legal department, it will take a while, but I know you can do it.”

“Toni… thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The billionaire eyed her when Pepper didn’t immediately break into a huge ass smile like last time.

“But… this thing with Coulson and his organization, Romanoff… or Rushman, I don’t know. Can you really be without a trustworthy PA? Train someone from the ground up to do this work?”

Toni raised an eyebrow at the concern. But then again, Pepper wasn’t juggling so many things like last time and basically doing Toni’s job and whatever else fell through the cracks. Perhaps that was just Toni making excuses. Still…

“I already took care of that.”

“Good evening, Boss Lady.”

The former PA jumped and sighed, “Good evening… uh…”

“My designated name is Friday, from the saying Girl Friday. I am here to assist in any way I can. My priority, like Mr. J.A.R.V.I.S and Miss Jocasta, is to protect Anastasia Antonia Stark, PhD. My primary objective is to be the personal assistant to one Toni Stark, to organize all daily engagements. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Good to meet you too. Even as I have the urge to say that Toni is destroying job positions.”

“I guess I am. Still, Fri is trustworthy, excellent at what she does and could use the opportunity to learn.” The inventor did jazz hands.

“Well, I guess that’s taken care of.” Pepper smiled a little. “Still, are you planning on activating an AI for each division?”

“Not at all. And I am planning on eventually having J.A.R.V.I.S as my PA and having Friday take care of digital PR. Social media, news, gossips, press releases and Stark Industries, Stark Unlimited and Iron Woman’s official websites and no, I didn’t create the last two yet. It will all be on Friday’s purview. Direct contact with the people in both ways of the street. I guess that does include screening who wants to contact me, but whoever it is will have to go through Friday and then through Jocasta then J.A.R.V.I.S.”

Pepper smiled. “People off the streets would be able to get in contact with the desk secretaries. The ones you choose to bypass those will have to contact Friday that is in charge of your public appearances, then Jocasta that takes care of security and will screen whoever is asking for you within an inch of their lives and then J.A.R.V.I.S that will gauge if they are worthy your time.”

Toni smiled back.

“Why not right now?” The redhead shifted in her seat.

“Because just like you, Friday still has some growing to do before having so much responsibility, Pep. I planned to get Jocasta online since last year, so she had some time to learn under J.A.R.V.I.S and, unlike Friday, Jo won’t have the same kind of human interaction. They need and use very different skill sets. While Friday will be all PR smiles, Jo will be the burly guard at the door. So Friday will learn what is what with me for now.”

“And that woman?”

“… Pepper… you and Happy need to know about Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer.”

Pepper was glad that she was already sitting down as she listened Toni explain who Vanko was and what Toni seems to… predict that Hammer will do.

“We have to warn the French authorities. Actually, if this man is after you why are we… taking a vacation?”

“Pep… calm down. It won’t do to alarm everyone if nothing happens. But yes, I already put a notice for the French about Vanko and this way they’ll be ready, and we’ll be ready in a place that will minimize danger. And I have some plans for Hammer.” Toni added as an afterthought.

The redhead took a deep breath, feeling more relaxed at that, “Ok. I… is… and the reason you know that this will happen falls into the question “if I wat to know”?”

“It does.”

“So the answer is, I don’t. I actually prefer being informed of the relevant information even as I would prefer a little more time than that.” The former PA took another sip from her champagne.

“Is the timing that I warned about Rushman ok?”

“Yes, actually. It is. Enough time for me to vent and enough time for us to prepare.” Pepper approved.

“I am sorry, Pep. I honestly was more focused on Coulson and Romanoff than Vanko.”

“And Hammer. Don’t argue, Toni.” The former PA warned when she saw the expression on the billionaire’s face. “Hammer might not be the sharpest tool in the box, but the man can be a real annoyance.”

“Yeah, “annoyance” is right. I have some plans for Romanoff that also includes Hammer and Vanko. I’m being careful. So, Pepper, please, for now, let’s celebrate your well-deserved promotion?”

The former PA took a fortifying breath and nodded with a smile.

Toni was the one to do the job of CKO and in the last five years that turned to be almost impossible with the way SI expanded so Pepper, that knew the daily responsibilities and already had a finances degree, finally has the chance to do what she studied to do. What caught Toni’s attention in the first place.

They were almost finishing the bottle and discussing the transition when Toni decided to bring up what she thought.

“This is Rushman’s CV.” She passed the tablet to Pepper that put her glass down on the nearest table.

“Why are there pictures of her in underwear?” Toni laughed at Pepper’s deadpanned expression.

“Excellent question. Never mind that for now, look where she supposedly used to work at.”

The redhead’s eyes widened, “Hammer Industries?”

“The company that, coincidentally, will have some unusual interest in Ivan Vanko… a Russian.”

“And what is your plan?”

“Just have some fun with Rushman. Nothing too complicated. Pretty petty really. The end game would be to hit S.H.I.E.L.D so I will do as the script says.” And the engineer bit her lip, knowing that Pepper wouldn’t like the next bit, “Turn Rushman into my PA again.”

… and now there was no way to swallow back that last word.

Toni watched as Pepper struggled with herself. The inventor would bet good money that her friend was thinking about asking her how she knew something that was three weeks away from happening. But she was cursing herself for the little slip. ‘Again’… Toni really needs to catch up on sleep.

Finally, the former PA sighed, “Is it important that I know?” and Pepper knew that Toni would understand what she was talking about.

“Not now and not about it. Pep… it’s up to you how much influence, how… Iron Woman impacts you. It’s your life after all.”

“So it does have to do with Iron Woman.” And Toni was surprised by the lack of reaction that gathered from Pepper.

Toni always thought that their constant fights and the distance between them that was increasing in those last few years was because of Iron Woman. But so far, Pepper has been pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.

Waving the issue away for now, the billionaire leaned back, “Uh. No. At least, not for the reasons you’re probably thinking.”

“Those reasons being…” Now the newly elected CKO was teasing.

“SI weapons, I annoyed someone…” Toni shrugged.

The redhead’s eyes softened, “I was actually thinking about some random nutjob that was turned down by either SI or SU.”

And Toni’s mind came to screeching halt at that, “What?”

That… was hitting so close to home with Killian… no, not “close to home”. That was homerun, that Toni just didn’t know what to think.

But her friend was just staring back at her, completely confused, “Well. You know? Like those random people that recognize you on the street and begin to pitch some random idea or project so that SI just “have” to make a reality and the random people would get part of the profit.” She snorted, very unlike the elegant image she usually exuded.

And Toni never felt dumber in her life. So much effort in the PR leading to the opening of Stark Unlimited, the foresight to know that all these “random people”, as Pepper described them, were going to line her doors… and it never once occurred to Toni that Aldrich Killian was one of them… just one that took her MO, standard rejection to someone that didn’t schedule an appointment, felt entitled to her time and still had the gall to talk about some vague idea that she just “had to” to make a reality so that they could get rich and turned it into his Tragic Villain Origin Story. Because that was completely normal.

Holy crap.

“Toni? Toni, are you ok?” Pepper was right in front of her, a concerned frown towards her Arc Reactor.

“Yes, I am. Sorry, I just… uh… you know what? I guess I want you to know. If you are willing, if you want to know.”

Her thoughts were firing like lightning bolts and Toni was feeling almost on a high, almost like that time she finished off all the Red Bull in her place during college and Rhodey found her right after the fact.

She doubted that she was even making sense, but Pepper was quite used to her by now, “Toni, what I am about to ask will sound really, really selfish and self-absorbed but… does it have anything to do with me? Will it… affect me? Because you are entitled to your secrets, Toni, you are entitled to privacy if that doesn’t infringe on other people’s lives.”

“… then I guess you have the right to know.”

Even in the more immediate issues, Pepper would have been… was in danger. Toni didn’t plan on having her anywhere near the fight that could break out even with her precautions, still, if it wasn’t for the fact that the inventor realized what Vanko was doing, the PA, then CEO, now CKO would been caught in an explosion and no Extremis on sight to conveniently save her.

Pepper would again be involved when Stark Tower was pretty much leveled in everything but the foundation by Loki and the Chitauri and again with Killian and yet again with the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D and again with Thanos. As fate had it, Thor in London and the so-called Civil War were the only stances that Pepper’s life wasn’t in danger or affected in some way.

Still, one snap of the finger and half of the universe being dusted? Theoretically, and going by the parameters Pepper set, everybody in the world should know. But everybody knowing would cause mass panicking and not much in the way of results even in the unlikely scenario that the Powers that Be believed her.

Going to the CIA or FBI wouldn’t amount to much because they would have to ultimately answer to the president that would either use it to his own advantage or just turn to possible solutions in US alone. Going to the UN would in turn force them to reveal it to the world.

What Toni needed was, ironically, something like S.H.I.E.L.D. and she was already feeling like S.H.I.E.L.D, keeping something like THIS to herself… well. Her and Rhodey.

All that was taking into consideration the ridiculousness of her claims. Before 2012, calling out that aliens would attack would just earn her the nickname of Chicken Little.

So instead of the tear filled emotional vomit that J.A.R.V.I.S got, or the confession-like class that Rhodey was on the receiving end of, Pepper was the one that she poured out all of her stress-inducing dilemmas she was facing every single, nightmare of a day.

How she started with most cliché of reactions at first, denial. Sometimes believing that this is all a dream, and, in any moment, Toni will wake up to find out that Thanos just knocked her out… or that some chemical in her lab exploded and she inhaled the fumes, or something.

And then more denial because she updated J.A.R.V.I.S and then JOCASTA and Friday’s security so much that it was almost ridiculous. But admitting that she just can’t think about when she lost J.A.R.V.I.S, she never had, she never truly had the time to properly grieve her friend.

Using her future knowledge pretty effectively so far to get S.H.I.E.L.D’s claws away from SI and from her. To actually implement all the plans she had for SI but never had the time. To help Bruce, to contact more allies sooner. And, yes, even to update Iron Woman.

How she is desperate to help Arno and Gregory but feeling like a failure because it’s taking so fricking long! But she couldn’t reasonably help them now and explain how she did it. It needed to be airtight. The people that would target them needed to believe that she did because she was smart and not because she had fricking future knowledge.

How she is feeling guilty for keeping Bruce in the dark considering what could have happened to him. A suicide attempt. Natasha that may or may not have manipulated him, Toni have never been clear on that. Some mind raping HYDRA bitch provoking him into attacking a city full of innocent people.

Not even Happy was exempt because he was almost barbecued by one of Killian’s goons that Toni didn’t even know if he was a goon voluntarily or not.

All of this on top of the fact that there is some hundreds-of-years old “Mad Titan” whose life ambition is to erase half of all life, not of Earth, but of the universe.

Although not very important in the big picture, Toni was also a little worried that she wasn’t the least bit sorry that she wanted to eviscerate the… Rogues. Even if only metaphorically. In any case: she was feeling more and more like one manipulative bitch… and no guilty about that whatsoever and feeling guilty because she wasn’t feeling guilty if that made any kind of sense.

“I mean, is that the kind of person I want to be? I don’t give a crap when I do this sort of thing with people that would do the same to me in a heartbeat and technically they already did… but not yet at the same time.

Anyway, these people have yet to illegally put me in house arrest, stab me in the neck, belittle me for how I have money and then belittle me for stopping doing what earned me all that money and then use said money, my money, to look for my parents’ killer, not to mention mind control me and then use me as human shield. But they are still the same people that would do all these things. Does that even count?

I’m so, so pissed. I have never been so enraged in my entire life, if I think too hard about everything that happened my vision goes red. But every single time I waste my time with this kind of crap, I feel even guiltier because why the hell would any of it matter in face of “the universe is in fucking danger”?”

And Toni took a very deep breath and sipped from her water bottle before meeting Pepper’s eyes, her very wide eyes settled on a very pale face… a little blue now.

The redhead opened her mouth and closed again in several false starts before rubbing her temples looking completely lost.

“I…”

Chapter Text

March, 2010.

.

Malibu, California.

.

Toni sat there and waited for Pepper to continue.

“I… time travel? Mystic Arts?”

And that was one huge déjà vu to when she told Rhodey. Well… not like there are many different ways to react to… everything.

“The Mystic Arts part is not my fault and I know very little of their MO. From the little I gathered, messing with time is a no-no so I’ve been hesitant to head over to Bleeker Street and knock on their door.”

“Bleeker Street? As in New York’s Bleeker Street?” Came the completely incredulous question.

“Uh… if it helps at all, their… headquarters seems to be in Kathmandu.” Toni offered, not too sure of what to say.

“… I don’t know why but it does help.” The redhead sighed, completely done.

“Perhaps because it gives a more… mystic feel?”

“I… well, to answer you first question.” Pepper straightened out and tried to put some order in the conversation, “I already quite like who you are, Toni. You have your flaws like everybody else does and I don’t think anyone has the right to judge considering what you are trying to do, save the universe. No one can relate, no one can judge. And feelings are valid, Toni, and no one should have to justify them. You’re not hurting anyone so no one can tell you how to feel. No feelings are “wrong”, they may be hundreds of other things, but never “wrong” or “right”. They are too complicated to be judged like that.”

“Thanks, Pep.” Toni said genuinely. “About… the other stuff?”

“And… I don’t know. I… ok.” The former PA dragged the nearest stool towards the couch where Toni was pretty much sprawled, “Toni… say I believe you, because you seem to know way too much ahead of time and while I have firsthand experience in your freaky ability to predict even what people are going to say down to their specific words, there is no way that you could know about Vanko and Hammer taking an interest in him, or even Rushman.”

“Ok…?”

“What are we going to do?”

Toni understood what Pepper was asking and that was the crux of the matter.

It wasn’t that Rhodey was ignoring the intergalactic Titanic – no pun intended – threat ahead, it’s just he was more focused on the now. Completely out of his field, he was taking his cues from her and was more than happy to not let her be pushed around by some dickheads that thought they could just demands things from her, which, sad as it was, it was back in his comfort zone.

But Pepper, even being her friend, still thought as a civilian. Thanos represented a threat to the fricking universe and while that couldn’t be anything but abstract to her, it was still terrifying.

The engineer brought up her holo screens with the plans for Starkium.

“Starkium?” the redhead wouldn’t know what the molecule was, but the image of the huge Hadron Collider was hard to not recognize, Toni did have to destroy the floor… and ceilings and walls to build the thing. That and the fact that it had “Starkium” written in the file.

“Yes. Howard discovered the element studying the Tesseract, or, the Space Stone. I replaced the core of the Arc Reactor in 2010. When Loki attacked in 2012 and tried to mind control me using his Scepter that contains the Mind Stone, he couldn’t. The Reactor negated the effects. A simple element based on an Infinity Stone blocked a weapon powered by an Infinity Stone.”

“One cancels the other.” Pepper summarized.

“Yes. Putting aside the Power and Soul Stone that I honestly have no idea where to even begin to look for and I very much doubt that they are even on Earth in the first place since Purple Homer Simpson arrived with the things already, all other four Stones ended up on Earth at some point. Only Soul and Power are out of our grasp. The plan is to create new elements from each of them and implement them with the Arc Reactor shields I have been planning for in the last two years. We need to secure even if just three Stones, so we get a stalemate with Thanos, then it would be down to his army and Thanos himself against whatever I manage to build or whoever I manage to… well… recruit for lack of a better term if my plans to create a planetary shield system don’t pan out in time or simply don’t work. The ideal is to secure four, this way we have a definite win, but this is also a long shot, we would have to basically hold all the Infinity Stones that find their way to Earth.

Starkium also has the added benefit of being a structural isomer to Vibranium that I plan to study within an inch of its life but that… can… uh… well, I didn’t have time to make much headway last time so… new frontiers on that one.” Toni added the last part as if in afterthought.

“And if we can’t? Secure the necessary Stones, I mean.” Pepper knew that Toni was able to charm birds from a tree, but this… her friend for sure would be able to secure at least two, but all of them when there are people like in S.H.I.E.L.D…

“Then this.” She brought up two others separate screens.

“Who… what is “Avengers”? It sounds like a rip-off of Friends.” The former PA squinted at the big stylized “A”. And Toni almost choked in her laugher.

“Oh, if only.”

“Wait, are those the people that used your money to look for your parents’ killer?” And that was Pepper’s focus shifting from space threat to personal Earth threat.

“… right, I have been calling them “Rogues”. And yes. But to be fair, that was more Rogers and Romanoff if she knew… which who am I kidding, of course Itsy-Bitsy knew. Not sure about Wilson and Maximoff. Although I have no idea if Wilson’s cheerleader routine would make him turn a blind eye and 50/50 with Maximoff. She could either spontaneously implode with happiness or throw a temper tantrum. Uh, I think, think, that Clint wouldn’t stoop so low as to hide something like that. And I honestly don’t care about Lang enough to speculate.” The billionaire shrugged.

Pepper was rendered speechless at the casual way Toni was talking about people not caring about murders.

“Are you telling me that… you told me that Maximoff has always hated you. Rush— Uh, Romanoff…?” She waited for the inventor to nod her head before continuing, “was a KGB and a member of some Russian terrorist group and then S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited Barton when he was a mercenary, doing whatever and killing whoever for the right amount. Thor lived up to the myth a little too much in the sense of the Vikings’ love of war and pillaging. I don’t even know where to begin with all the hypocrisy that Rogers spilled. Toni… why did you think it was a good idea to support these people?”

Toni winced. When put it like that… “I… I was having… nightmares.” She said rather inanely.

“Nightmares?” Pepper echoed incredulously.

The inventor sighed, “Hindsight is 20/20. Look… 2012 was a game changer. Iron Woman was about destroying SI weapons that got into the wrong hands… the occasional relief efforts… disaster efforts… like earthquakes and mudslides… tsunamis, even outreach programs like in Africa. Aliens raining down on us wasn’t what I signed up for. I mean… before that, the most I would say is that there were some bacterial life forms on other planets, not that I ever even spent much time thinking about aliens. But there are entire civilizations… unfriendly civilizations at that, out there. It sounds ridiculous when I say it like that but think of every movie out there, saying that humans and Earth are primitive at best in all senses. Thor and Loki weren’t very impressed by our tech and what I saw with the Chitauri… their weapons and ships and armors… we are outgunned, Pep.

An entire armada out there and we are alone. Even if by chance we managed to contact other life forms, how do we know who to trust? And why would they help us? The Chitauri and the Asgardians weren’t surprised that there was life on Earth so I doubt we have much to offer and what we do have, they would just kick down the door to get it.

I have never, in my life, felt so helpless like I did then. And alone… I… I guess I never really… contemplated how alone I was until I tried to raise some awareness about another invasion only for them to roll their eyes at me. Joke’s on all of us, really… six years down the line and Thanos came.”

“Toni… I am so sorry you had to go through that.” Pepper reached out to take her friend’s hand, hating herself for not knowing what else to say.

“Thanks.”

The redhead let her friend have a few moments before the subject that was stuck in her throat found a way out, “You said that you were angry… that you didn’t know if it “counts” when people didn’t even hurt you… yet.”

“Yes…?” The inventor answered warily at the gleam in Pepper’s blue eyes.

“Then… give them a second chance.”

“… excuse me?”

“Not like that!” Pepper almost cried out, “But… recreate the original circumstances. See if they would do it again. After all, you are right, they haven’t done anything yet… but that doesn’t mean that they are not still the same people that would do all these horrible things. So give them a second chance like that. If they still do it… well, you are more than justified in defending yourself… via attacking them.”

The billionaire snorted a little before sobering. “That… ok, playing the devil’s advocate… I don’t actually know if they changed at all after… the whole Civil War thing. Recreating the circumstances that led them to lie and stab me in the back… somewhat more literally than I expected and then cutting their legs is fair but I am kinda afraid that the anger I feel right now will be so much more amplified if I have to go through the whole thing again. And isn’t it… I don’t know if manipulative is the right word for it, but orchestrating the right events so that, for example, Rogers knows about my parents and decide to just not tell me is…”

“Giving them more than they deserve? I agree.” Pepper mocked.

“It’s your plan!” Toni pointed out, very indignantly.

The redhead sighed, “I know. But keep in mind that my suggestion – meaning that you are perfectly within your rights to say “no” – is considering your, for me, very misplaced sense of respect for those… people. If it was me, I would just stay very, very far away from all of them. Slapping lawsuits left and right if they strayed an inch.”

“Yeah… that’s not an option and not because they are particularly needed… long term, but because S.H.I.E.L.D won’t leave me alone and they haven’t done anything yet to get legal motions.”

“Because of the invasion? I thought that was the reason you contacted Jones, Murdock, Walters, Dr. Banner…”

“Well… I would love if they all agree to be on reserve for things like the Chitauri, but I was honest when I approached them about their current jobs. It did occur to me to ask for their help in the invasion, obviously. It’s no coincidence that I’m surrounding myself with Enhanceds, but things happened really fast last time. As in… two days tops. Everything will depend if I can actually access S.H.I.E.L.D’s database to this extent before the event so I can have an explanation about their presence. Winging this isn’t going to cut it. After all, how the hell did I know to call for backup when even Fury didn’t know about the army that Loki would have at his disposal? For all that Fury knew, Loki was the threat with the Cube… and that was it. However, it makes sense for me to contact people I know and trust instead of leaning on the ragtag team that Fury assembled, I just need to coordinate right so it doesn’t seem like they were waiting for my sign or something.”

“Can’t you say that it was a hunch?” Pepper complained but backed down, seeing her friend’s point. The redhead didn’t dare to ask Toni to trust these new people because… well… fat lot of good it did last time.

Toni leaned back, a contemplative look on her face. “See how things go if I show that I’m not willing to play the doormat, that I deserve respect…”

“Or human decency.” The former PA muttered to herself.

The inventor gave her a brief smile before returning to her thought process, “But let S.H.I.E.L.D and company play their game until they end up basically how they were last time: dependent on me for… pretty much everything and still belittling me… for giving them everything.”

“Wait, wait!” the CKO asked, “I never suggested for you to fund them, do PR, weapons and… clothe and feed them all over again. That is just… pathetic… all around and for all parties involved.” She sent an apologetic look to the billionaire.

Toni winced but couldn’t dispute it. “And yet, I want to see if Rogers and Romanoff truly would do it again. Living under my roof while hiding my parents’ murders. Don’t worry, I won’t let things go the same way. My house, my rules…”

The redhead bit her lip before slowly, very grudgingly, nodding.

“I guess there is some difference between lying to a teammate of one event and lying to your landlady.”

“Yeah… they never paid rent, so…” But Toni trailed off at the expression on Pepper’s face.

“Even Maximoff? Shouldn’t she be horrified at being maintained with “blood money”?”

“Beats me.” The genius shrugged.

Pepper took a few calming breaths before raising her hands, “I don’t care if it’s not “nice” or any other synonyms, they… they don’t deserve you, Toni. They are not the people that did all that… yet. And I also understand that everybody has the potential to be horrible scum… but no more turning a blind eye, no more twisting yourself backwards while they are the only one that benefit. Please, promise this.”

“I promise.”

~*~

With Pepper on the know, it still left Happy out and Toni just couldn’t do it anymore. So together with Pepper, Rhodey and J.A.R.V.I.S – J.A.R.V.I.S was really fundamental to explain the details – they helped her with Happy who had very little to say. Instead he just spent the rest of the day sighing like the very air offended him.

“Happy. Seriously, are you ok?” Toni wanted to be sure.

“Toni… the world is getting weird.” And she had a flashback right then and there, “You became Optimus Prime, there is time travel, wizards, aliens… and now some super powered boy band… I miss normal.”

“… we were never normal.”

“Our version of normal.” Happy rolled his eyes, “I miss screening people for you to meet or tackling you to the ground because of a bomb. I like my job, Toni. I take pride in it and I can’t do it if I don’t know what is going on and it seems that by 2012 no one is going to know what is going on.”

“That’s why being responsible for SI’s security is perfect for you.” She tried to defend… herself… the situation? Not even Toni knew.

“But what about you?” The former bodyguard asked just that when Toni made him head of security. Back then she just appealed to sentimentality even if truthful sentimentality.

She needed a friend more than a bodyguard. But nothing changed the fact that the reason Happy came to work for her was because he saw a seventeen-year-old that just lost her parents almost being kidnapped for the heirlooms.

Protective instincts on Red Bull, and the former boxer was working for her after saving her drunk ass.

“J.A.R.V.I.S and Jocasta are busy, too busy. That’s why they are also sharing duties with Friday. Everyone is learning everything.” Especially after Toni tripled the hard drive and now her A.Is had room to grow.

“You can’t keep depending on them like that. I love them, I truly do. And I trust them with my life, but the matter of the fact is, and I’m sorry guys,” he sent a brief look towards one of the cameras. Happy, Pepper and Rhodey were the only ones that didn’t always look towards the ceiling when addressing her A.Is. It was more out of habit, they knew where the cameras, that were pretty much their eyes, were, “but you don’t have bodies. Someone breaks in and uses you as a human shield what is going to happen if they don’t get a clear shot? Especially with you opening the doors to the Russian lady. The woman is an assassin, Toni!”

And the young woman couldn’t say anything to that. Because it truly dawned on her now what just happened last time: she was alone, many times, with someone that gets paid to kill people.

Sure, that might not be all that Natasha’s resumé boils down to, but it was also hardly a detail. A detail was the fact that Toni’s resumé had a note that she went to present a symposium in London. Strangling people with her thighs hardly merited more than just some throw-away mention.

Gulping a little, Toni tried not to think about all the times Natasha got a little too physically close for comfort. The time that she stabbed her in the neck was just once that she took the shot and Toni didn’t even see it coming.

Hours later, after Happy left, still pissed as hell, J.A.R.V.I.S pronounced himself.

“Miss… about your meeting with Dr. Cho… almost two years ago, you offered to ask for Dr. Cho’s help in… creating a physical body for my use.”

Before Toni could even think about what Jarvis said, Friday made herself known, “BOSS! There are news of a car accident over New York, they just extracted the driver from a river at the bottom of a ravine. Stephen Strange is being operated on as we speak.”

Chapter Text

March, 2010.

.

Seoul, South Korea.

.

Toni never really had much reason to visit Seoul besides some business ventures with the industrialists in the area. Stark Industries didn’t even have a headquarters here. Perhaps that should change… if for no other reason that Toni felt the unfairness of what happened to Helen and then the murders of two of her co-workers were overlooked because Captain America said so.

Damn Maximoff.

“It was Ultron, not Wanda.”

Yeah, because Maximoff didn’t help get to Helen at all and then ignored how Helen and her team were being mind controlled and killed right in front of her until it turns out, surprise, surprise, that Ultron was going to kill Maximoff as well. The billionaire rolled her eyes at the memory of Rogers defending the little HYDRA volunteer.

As she took her seat, Toni was relieved to note that she wasn’t the only Caucasian in attendance. Sticking out like a sore thumb and getting more attention than the one they were all here to watch would prove counterproductive in getting in Helen’s good graces.

She watched Helen Cho defend her thesis on how simulacrum could bond with human cells, but Toni barely registered the words.

If it wasn’t for her photographic memory, Toni would be worried about the upcoming conversation with her future-fellow-doctor.

Toni made a mistake. A horrible mistake.

She knew the basics of every Enhanced currently operating on Earth, pretty much. Last time she didn’t take an interest until aliens rained down. But even then, overworked and sleep deprived, there are still people like Daredevil, whose names and the general of their abilities Toni knew and pretty much nothing more than that.

The same happened to Stephen Strange. As Strange and Wong explained the Infinity Stones, Friday already compiled what she could from both men. Toni wasn’t about to rely on complete strangers… heh.

Although there is no system on Earth that Friday couldn’t get access to all she could get was that Strange was known for his excellence in his chosen field: neurosurgery. Producing papers, giving lectures and creating procedures like nobody’s business but for personal history? Toni knew that Stephen had a younger sister, Donna, she died when she was seven and Stephen was nine. His family was from Nebraska, parents moved from England two years before Donna Strange died.

His pretty much non-existent social medial life perhaps reflected on the man’s social life which would answer how Strange retained his posh accent, not enough coexistence to make a dent in it. Nowadays just enough of it remained to make him sound like… well… if Toni was being honest with herself, sex-on-legs, his low baritone did not help matters with her ridiculously long dry spell.

Toni groaned to herself. She wishes that she was getting as much action as the slut-shaming all over the internet keep saying she was.

Whatever the case, Toni read about his accident. How he was talking to a colleague about a possible client, someone in experimental armor, Colonel, thirty-five that crushed his lower spine.

Rhodey would turn thirty-six in 2016, not long after the so-called Civil War.

Stupidly, foolishly, completely moronically… Toni thought that the case that distracted Strange was Rhodey’s.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. She was such an idiot. Assuming things and…

With a deep sigh, Toni massaged her temples.

Much like with Peter’s uncle, Toni didn’t know a single thing about Strange’s accident. Not where exactly it happened, circumstances or whatnot. Back then she was too busy worrying about Rhodey… and then about herself and Rhodey to really pay attention to anything.

What she knew back then: one of the best, if not the best neurosurgeon in U.S. was no longer available because of a car accident when she was looking over potential doctors for Rhodey. One of the last cases he considered was a colonel with a crushed spine that had an accident in an experimental armor.

So perhaps she had reason to assume certain things, but… Toni hunched a bit. This… she was still feeling guilty.

And then conflicted. Because… could… should she even approach the man right now? Strange just woke up a few days ago. After being stuck inside his car for twelve hours and being operated on for another eleven.

The timeline fit. Toni thought numbly.

Toni passed all the assets Hammers Industries had plus how long that idiot, Hammer, took to get things done in her head. Two years almost on the dot after she revealed to be Iron Woman… Hammer’s pilot tests would be under way…

The Senate hearing was in March 2^nd. Whoever the poor man that tested Hammer’s robot was, had his injury sometime early that week probably.

She didn’t know when… but for anyone to still be able to do anything for that Colonel before the nerve damage was permanent… a bit early that same week.

And then Strange had his accident.

A surgeon losing their hands… it would be the same as if she lost hers. Toni formed fists at the thought.

Stupid.

~*~

Malibu, California.

.

“Boss? “Natalie Rushman” was just tasked to bring the contract to officialize Ms. Pott’s transition period to CKO.”

“Thanks, Jocasta. Ok, guys… show time.”

Happy, Pepper and Toni had live stream as the Russian spy got the private elevator that would take to the upper levels.

Unlike last time, Toni and Pepper met in one of the conference rooms. Happy was at the door with his usual black suit and they would eventually be in the company of Matt Murdock. A professional set to the letter. No more casual access to the head of the company.

“Natalie Rushman” just tried to use her badge to use the elevator.

“Access unauthorized. Natalie Rushman, legal aid, you do not have clearance to access the officers’ floors. For more information, please ask one of the receptionists at the front desk.”

Toni had to give it to her, not even to a camera “Natalie” lost composure, “I was asked to deliver these papers to Ms. Stark and Ms. Potts.”

J.A.R.V.I.S paused until Toni told him to follow protocol.

“One moment please as I contact legal.”

J.A.R.V.I.S did as he always did, he contacted the department in question and verified the information.

“Forgive me for the delay, I have verified the information. Welcome, Ms. Rushman, I am J.A.R.V.I.S, Dr. Stark’s personal A.I., your badge grants you temporary access to floor sixty-two where Ms. Potts and Dr. Stark are waiting for you in conference room 10.”

Natasha nodded in thanks when the doors opened with a ping but was once again annoyed at the lack of buttons, “Uh… J.A.R.V.I.S…”

The elevator moved on its own, “Forgive me if it startled you, Ms. Rushman. As you were informed in your employment package, you were given a badge that gives you access to certain areas of Stark Industries’ headquarters. Any in R&D are, of course, off limits. The officer’s floors, where the directors and other departments’ heads confer are also of restricted access respecting the hierarchy of information. Any doors and elevators have a biometrical key with retinal scan and fingerprints registered in your first day. And your own badge controls where you go in the elevator where scanners will confirm your badge access and identity, hence the lack of buttons. So for future reference, you need to ask your superior to register your badge for the upper levels.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow but dutifully thanked the machine. She had much to report to Fury today and much to think about if she wanted to complete her mission.

Toni sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Boss? Murdock is finished with his last meeting.” Happy’s tapped his earpiece once to end the call.

“Good, just in time. Send him in and we can begin.”

The former bodyguard nodded and called Matt Murdock inside the sound proofed room. Usually, Jennifer would be the one to do it as per job description, but Matt agreed to do a favor as Toni explained that she wants to give this week for Jennifer to be there for Bruce since it will be the day that Ross is served his first subpoena, just to answer some questions. Toni smirked.

True enough but also because Toni didn’t want to call attention to Jennifer and therefore Bruce and there was the fact that Matt was a human lie detector.

When asked about it, Toni told Pepper about Daredevil.

“Wait, wait… the vigilante from New York?” Pepper demanded.

“… you gotta me more specific.” Toni winced at the glare they sent her direction. “Ok! Yeah, but honestly, one look at what they affectionally call Hell’s Kitchen and you see why the guy is doing this like this. Not even I managed to get enough proof and a chain of custody that the Kingpin crime lord is not already blackmailing or is not scared shitless of the guy… or both.”

“So the answer is police brutality?” Came the bland question from Happy.

The billionaire sighed, “Look, Murdock is like… Batman without a Commissioner Gordon because there is no Commissioner Gordon. Before ever approaching him, I looked it up and then I found out that there is no way to clean the place up through the system even involving myself or Stark Industries because even though I have enough money to eclipse Kingpin I won’t go around threatening people into compliance.”

Happy opened the door but the look they sent to Toni promised another talk about Daredevil. “Hey, Murdock, please come in, the paralegal will be here any second now… oh, there she is, Ms. Rushman, right?”

Pepper busied herself with her glass of water and Happy subtly let himself out of the room while still pointedly tapping his earpiece indicating that he would be listening.

“Yes.” Natasha nodded, briefly narrowing her eyes toward the lawyer.

“Ok, let’s do this.” Toni smiled to a very confused-looking Matt Murdock.

Making a mental note to give a very big gift basket to Matt.

Because yes, Toni was using him as a human lie detector. Not that Matt knew she knew about Daredevil which… yeah, she was feeling mildly guilty about.

“Not every day that someone gets office position.”

Papers were signed with a lot less drama than last time and once Pepper went out of the room as CKO, there were only three.

Leisurely turning to Romanov, Toni smirked a little, “So… nothing for nothing but it’s… not common that a Hammer employee find themselves in Stark Industries…” Unless charges of corporate espionage is somewhere in the middle and isn’t that something? Toni thought to herself.

“Former.” Natasha replied easily, but then again, she would.

Matt paused for the briefest of seconds but if Toni noticed then Natasha did too.

Aware of the “uninformed third party” in the room, the redhead kept her expression neutral, professional like all their interactions… until they were both on the same team.

“What made you change alliances?” So often and the faintest hint of change in the tides.

“Stark Industries has more benefits, you made it grow internationally and in billions since taking over… and gives more respect to women.”

Toni smiled a little. For many women, that would have been enough. Stroke the ego and putting weight on some sisterhood idea that Natasha was tortured out of having long before puberty.

In any other life, the billionaire would have much more sympathy than she currently does for the assassin. Natasha Romanoff, at first glance, seemed like a woman that she would look up to. The little girl in Toni was thrilled that a tiny woman kicked so much ass. Like real life Wonder Woman… if Wonder Woman was 5’2 and a redhead.

Strong and skilled, the spy was easy to idolize. And unfortunately, easy to trust. Again and again Natasha proved to jump ship at the first hint of damage in the hull, for some reason, Toni still left her back wide open.

The inventor never trusted her in the same ways the rest of the Avengers, even Bruce, did. But Toni realized that she did to some extent or else she wouldn’t be caught by surprise as often as she was.

Especially in Leipzig, when all Natasha could say was that “they weren’t going to stop”. To this day, Toni had no idea what she meant to accomplish with that. Of course, they weren’t going to stop, stopping them was their job. And the inventor felt betrayed. Because Natasha backing down from a challenge? A chance to crush someone that got too big for their britches? The Black Widow? The so-called greatest spy in the world? What the hell?

As surprised as she was that Natasha changed sides, Toni was shocked that Natasha backed down. For all that the redhead was forever ranting about Toni’s ego, the Widow’s own was nothing to laugh at. The shock was only because of the timing the redhead chose. And the billionaire didn’t know if the spy thought she would just get back in her good graces easily enough or if Captain America’s reputation was enough to shield her.

Whatever the Widow thought she was doing, the consequences were ever lasting. Rhodey… never being able to walk again without aid and… Howard and Maria Stark, however indirectly.

“I see.” From the corner of her eye, Toni saw Matt twitching again. This time out of Natashalie’s eyesight, to her left but too behind her for the redhead to detect much more than his wider movements. Lie.

The billionaire suppressed another wince and promised herself to come clean to Matt at least to some extent.

With an inward scoff of amusement, Toni watched “Natalie’s” smile turn coy. It seems that months in legal with nothing to show for it made her impatient. Making herself more comfortable in her chair, Toni waited it out.

~*~

“So… do you want to tell me why there is a woman that says nine lies every ten words working in SI’s legal department?”

Toni smiled a little as Matt finally stopped messing around with the braille tablet Toni came up with… to save the trees of course at the same time that he practically gave away one of his abilities, before sobering, “Matt… there is no other way to put this but… this was too important and the reasons I did it the way I did was twofold: I couldn’t take the chance that you would say “no” and I honestly didn’t know you that well, to be honest I still don’t but for the sake of being able to sleep at night… I know you’re Daredevil… and I manipulated this meeting.” And waited it out again.

There was the practically obligatory ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ and Toni just felt so tired.

“How long?”

“Since before Pepper approached you.”

Matt pursed his lips. “Was it the reason Ms. Potts approached me?”

“No… because you, like some others, are in the unique position of being capable of fighting in both arenas: paperwork and in colorful attire.” Toni didn’t even try for the joking tone.

Even behind the red lenses, she could see his eyes widening. “Jennifer.”

“Yes.” Toni wasn’t the least bit surprised that Matt knew about her.

“Dr. Banner.”

“Yes.”

The lawyer snorted in incredulity. “What are you trying to do?”

The whole thing had yet to escalate to accusations or even hostility, so it was already a positive for Toni… which is kind of sad.

“For the sake of clearing any misconceptions, what do you think I’m trying to do?”

“I don’t know… if it’s to take your actions at face value, I’d say that you’re trying to get a way to legally cover… what pretty much amounts to vigilantism and in your case, international vigilantism.”

The billionaire had to smile a little at that. If only he knew. “Partially.” She allowed. “I trust that you know the basics of my… debut as Iron Woman?”

“The basics.” He shrugged.

“After that I was approached by Nicholas Fury. He is a former Army Colonel before pretty much disappearing. You won’t find any records of the man ever existing… well, unless you count a half dozen obituaries because every five years or so he fakes his death.”

Toni felt a moment of sympathy for the befuddled expression in Matt’s face. It was only with the benefit of hindsight that she began to realize how crazy the whole thing was, and Toni just knew that the feeling wouldn’t stop until the everything was over and done with.

“Ok…?”

“He started to talk about how I am now part of a bigger universe. Asked if I thought I was the only superhero in the world and wanted to talk about the Avengers Initiative.”

“Ok?!” Yeah, her thoughts exactly.

“I was… a little too busy trying to put some order in… everything to truly focus on what he said. He represents S.H.I.E.L.D. meaning Strategic Homeland Interventionist whatever…”

“What?”

How was it that only when she was forced to explain to other people that Toni notices the absurdity that was her life? No wonder Matt was looking at her half like she was crazy and half like she was making the whole thing up but his senses weren’t lying, and neither was she.

“Yeah… so then I started to think that they have too many resources, they managed to break into my home and believe me, my house’s security is no joke, and I started to look them up. Turns out that… on paper… they don’t exist.”

“A shadow organization… what else do you know?” He frowned. Curiosity beginning to take hold.

“There is… international cooperation… U.S, England, India… a couple of others that are part of the World Security Council… WSC.”

Matt snorted. “Very humble… World Security Council? Really?”

“Tell me about it.” Toni rolled her eyes. “Either way, they call the shots… all the shots. Just like any good shadow organization, no one can spill all the secrets because no one knows all the secrets. And while that happens in, say, the military because of chain of command, with S.H.I.E.L.D it’s more along the lines of, more often than not, “they don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing”.”

“Naturally.” Came the bland reply.

“So, Fury tried to talk me into this Avengers thing. I turned him down and started to look into this S.H.I.E.L.D group. Turns out that my father was a founder but perhaps backer is a more apt description.” Toni grimaced at that. “Either way, back then, they took advantage of U.S’ Operation Paperclip to get recruits of their own and this MO lasted until nowadays, one of their… operatives, was the Black Widow.”

Matt gave a jerk at that and Toni had to raise an eyebrow. “I take it you know of them?”

The lawyer sighed. “In passing.” He admitted. “They are Russia’s answer to Germany’s… well… KGB’s answer to HYDRA’s Winter Soldier.”

The billionaire hummed. “I didn’t know that. What do you know? You do learn new things every day.” She frowned. “But the Winter Soldier Program was an Enhancement project, teaching little girls to be assassins can hardly be counted as fair competition.”

They were silent for a few moments. Each paying attention to a different detail.

“That woman… Natalie… she was one.” Matt concluded in horrified amusement.

Toni smirked at the man, impressed despite herself at the way he quickly connected the dots.

“Is that why you wanted me in the room?”

“Yes.” Came the unashamed answer. “You see… doesn’t matter how hard I try I just have no idea what is a lie and what’s not with… her. And I really couldn’t risk you saying ‘no’.”

Matt raised an eyebrow over the red shades. “Like I said… nine words out of ten are lies.”

~*~

Timeline:

May 29, 1985 – Anastasia Antonia “Toni” Stark is born;
December 16, 2002 - Howard (78) and Maria Stark (58) died in what looked like a car accident;

May, 2003 – Bruce becomes the Hulk;

March 16, 2004 – Pepper and Toni meet for the first time;

June 7, 2006 – Toni (at 21) takes over as SI’s CEO;

May 2, 2008 – Iron Woman – Toni returns from 2018;

May 4, 2008 – “I am Iron Woman” Press Conference -- Pepper and Rhodey reconcile and talk to her;

May, 13 – Harlem (Hulk vs Abomination);

June 13, 2008 – The Incredible Hulk - Toni meets Ross (buys and then demolishes his favorite bar); Bruce is in Bella Coola, British Columbia and voluntarily triggers the transformation;

June 14, 2008 – Toni meets Bruce;

2008-2009 – Jessica Jones is mind-controlled by Kilgrave;

January 2009 – Toni meets Jane and Darcy;

July 2009 – SI hires Jennifer Walters and Matt Murdock;

August 2009 – Toni meets and hires Jessica Jones’s PI services;

November 2009 – Hulk merchandize is launched; Bruce and Jennifer meet again;

February 2010 – Stark Unlimited is founded;

March 28, 2010 – the Colonel testing Hammer’s armor has an accident;

March 30, 2010 – Stephen Strange suffers the car accident;

April 1, 2010 – Stark Expo is announced;

April 2, 2010 – Senate hearing; The Bleeding Edge armor is ready for use;

April 4, 2010 – Helen defends her thesis and earns her PhD; Toni meets Helen;

Chapter Text

Matt was gathering his things when he turned to Toni who was expecting it.

“Is there anything else I should know?”

“So much that it’s not even funny.” She confessed without a second thought and no amusement and Matt heard the truth in her words.

“Is it something that I should know?”

This time Toni took a few seconds to answer. “In the broad sense of things, yes. But not much I can personally help you with, no. Sorry.” She apologized completely needlessly in his perspective.

This was Stephen Strange all over again. There wasn’t much that Toni knew that could benefit Matt with his war against crime in Hell’s Kitchen. The most she could do was offer safe houses around New York for him to crash with a fully stocked first aid kit… well… the version of first aid kit that people in their line of “work” would need, meaning everything that a hospital had sans an actual operation room and staff. But since Toni was kinda busy dying, then not dying, then aliens falling out of the sky last time, she didn’t know much beyond… Daredevil exists… and was fighting Kingpin. The billionaire found herself in a situation that she has never been before: she needed someone a lot more than they needed her. Especially considering that Matt has yet to give her the finger, the novelty was… interesting.

The lawyer waved it off and even Toni knew that it was completely unreasonable to blame herself for not knowing something that could personally and directly help him. Still, it didn’t stop her from thinking that if she was a little less stubborn that the Avengers were the answer to everything down to “What is the meaning of the universe?”, she could be of more help. The news and reports about Daredevil’s fights were brutal to say the least.

Like the rest of the Avengers were any better when terrorists were blowing up your house… on national television… on live? She winced as the thought entered her head.

After all this time, it was still a habit to use the Avengers – Rogers, really – as a moral barometer. Some moral barometer. The billionaire snorted inwardly as she promised to say more when it became relevant to Matt as he left.

Grumpier, more suspicious and clearly more curious.

The billionaire tilted her head a bit. It was interesting the subtle differences between Matt Murdock and Daredevil. Toni just knew that, next time, Matt wouldn’t be as accommodating. Even if he accepted her offer about using her safehouses just in case he didn’t manage to reach his own place.

~*~

March, 2010.

Malibu, California.

.

Stark Mansion.

.

Things were… different. Bruce decided. He couldn’t really call Jen and Toni friends, but they were more than boss and employee or coworkers or… something. Well, until they found a point in common.

“And then Bruce gets this idea that a good ‘will you please go to the ball with me?’ gift is homemade fireworks.”

Toni eyed an increasingly red Bruce Banner with new eyes. “Please tell me that the story doesn’t end with a trip to the hospital.”

“Oh, nothing of the sort.” Jennifer guaranteed with a laugh. “But it did end with a slap in the face.”

“Why? I would love fireworks.” She teasingly swooned and cooed at Bruce who ducked his head bellow the kitchen counter.

“Yeah, but perhaps in a more private setting would be better… more private than ‘probably the whole town saw it’ kind of setting.” The lawyer explained lightly which got peals of laughter from Toni.

Bruce didn’t understand how the talk about postponing his interviews and suing Ross ended up with embarrassing stories about him. He just didn’t.

“Miss? Ms. Lewis is on the phone.” Bruce took J.A.R.V.I.S’ intervention gratefully.

“I will have to take this.” Toni excused herself but made plans to meet with the cousins later that week to watch Bruce’s training with Kimball.

She didn’t want to say that she was stalling. But she was stalling. The plan was to have Bruce’s interview on air in two weeks’ time and Toni was trying to find ways to delay it. Just until May, 7. Toni was debating with herself whether the truth was the best policy. If they overwhelmed the public in one fell swoop, there would be less S.H.I.E.L.D could do if they didn’t want to stretch themselves thin or reveal even more personnel. Not that they could do much of anything either way, but this was taking care of several birds in one day if not one stone.

“Hey, Darcy.” She greeted when the screen popped to her left.

“Hey, Toni.” The billionaire was always amused to see how excited Darcy got every time she realized she was in a first name basis with a celebrity.

“What can I do for you?” Toni made herself comfortable in her home office.

Unlike her first, so called “team”, the friends she made this time around knew how busy she got, how little time she had. So, they used the privilege of having her personal number, the one that connected directly to J.A.R.V.I.S, wisely. Darcy looked like the kind of person that would call or send texts every couple of minutes, but against some expectations, Darcy had her feet firmly on the ground.

“Uh… remember when we laughed that scientists had this tendency to be workaholics that blink and suddenly miss three days of lifespan?”

The inventor rolled her eyes. “They are not missed if we get progress.”

“Sure thing.” Darcy’s smile should be in a poster with ‘saccharine sarcasm’ written on it. “Well… Jane hasn’t bathed in a week and I’m honestly concerned.”

“Oh… she will probably pass out at some point but if you want me to—”

“She hasn’t even touched the coffee I brought her… yesterday.”

“Yeah, ok.” Toni squeaked out. “I have a meeting in fifteen minutes, and then I’ll be on my way… uh… Erik?”

The perky grad student snorted. “I sent him on day three, now he is just as lost to us but at least he doesn’t smell… yet.”

The engineer rolled her eyes. “Yeah, ok. I will meet you later today.” Darcy smiled in farewell.

“Miss? Mr. Hogan just arrived with Ms. Jones.”

“Send them up. Have you warned Jen and Bruce?” Toni put her high heels back on and groaned at the pain of having worn them since coming back from South Korea this morning and then the meeting with Murdock and “Rushman” and then getting back as soon as she could to play mediator and introduce the three. Her feet were not happy campers.

“Yes, they are waiting for you in the common area.”

Toni counted herself lucky that Jessica was busy with… whatever was happening with Luke Cage. She never found out about the details besides… they were a couple and then they weren’t. But it did mean that not meeting Jessica Jones – a requisite to decide what Bruce is going to say – delayed his interview. The inventor sighed. She needed to come clean with the Gama Cousins. They knew her enough to know that she wouldn’t joke about something so serious.

Jessica Jones looked just as intimidating as the last time Toni saw her. Leather jacket, jeans, combat boots and a dark mane of hair that contrasted with her pale skin. Dark eyes that just dared you to say something funny.

“Jessica… these are Jennifer Walters and your client, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner.” She made the introductions.

Jessica eyed all three. “Fuck. Was I supposed to wear a shirt for this?” Even if the tone of her voice suggested that she wouldn’t care the least bit if the answer was ‘yes’.

And Toni couldn’t quite blame the comment. Between Jennifer and herself, with their business suits and Bruce, that never wore anything besides a shirt tucked into any kind of pants he could get his hands on, Jessica’s causal tee and jeans made Toni wish she changed into sneakers.

Bruce didn’t look like he knew what to answer but Jennifer raised an eyebrow. “Toni did mention that we should ignore the gratuitous use of profanity. So what the hell?” The lawyer crossed her legs and kicked off her high heels.

The move made Jessica’s shoulders less tense, so Toni shrugged her own and joined Jennifer, she groaned as she tucked her feet in.

“How long have you been wearing those?” Jennifer turned to her.

“I have been in meetings since this morning. I’m surprised at having enough undamaged nerves to feel anything.”

The P.I finally joined them in the sofas.

“Never watched ‘the Devil Wears Prada’? Have a pair of comfortable shoes to sit down.”

That made the cousins and Toni adopt expressions of confused surprise. Jessica didn’t look like she would even deign to watch the trailer of the Devil Wears Prada let alone the whole movie to make reference of it. The P.I rolled her eyes and got some files out of a backpack.

“You were right. Only hard copies. These is what I could get… legally. Here is what I could get not very legally but that General you had me tagging is an asshole so I couldn’t help myself. Still, even the official files are enough to get a warrant so he can suck on it on the sidelines while you show off.”

Jennifer eagerly took the legal files while Toni busied herself with the illegal ones… and both let Bruce at Jessica’s mercy.

“So you’re the Hulk… pretty misleading I guess.” But Jessica was already distracted by the bottles and decanters she could see in Toni’s bar.

“Help yourself.”

“I guess so.” Toni and Bruce spoke at the same time.

“By the way, my specialty is finding missing persons or seeing if someone is not a lying scum of a cheating spouse, not sneak around after files behind the Fort Knox through legal fucking means.”

“Good thing we don’t want any fucking files.” Toni answered sarcastically just as she got to the fact that apparently Dr. Leonard Samson was an Enhanced.

Jessica spun around and leveled a stare at the billionaire and ignored how the thre billionaire was gawking at the files she painstakingly got. But Jessica raised an eyebrow, she wasn’t expecting the cushy billionaire to curse back.

Cursing didn’t come as naturally to Toni as it came to Jessica. Maria Stark and Edwin Jarvis made sure of that. But she was still Howard’s daughter and that man was worse than a sailor… in several different languages.

“Holy crap, how did you get this?” Jennifer was in the second document and none of it was redacted. None of it. Up to and including Bruce’s original contract.

“Justifiable causes.” The P.I shrugged and went back to make her way to Toni’s bar.

“My warrant covered for all of this?” Jen raised an eyebrow.

“If you still want this to be legal, you will stop asking questions.” But Jessica sounded a lot less irritable since she uncorked her first bottle of overpriced alcohol.

“You were… safe, doing all of this.” Bruce leafed through one of the ‘not legal’ files… where it clearly stated that Ross went to Obadiah Stane for weapons for the Hul… The Other Guy. Damn it, Toni.

Jessica zeroed her dark eyes on Bruce and Jennifer could feel the danger levels rising but all that the P.I said was, “Yes.” And went back to her bottle of whatever. Jennifer doubted that Jessica could even feel the taste anymore and was only in it for the aftereffects.

Jennifer and Toni shared a glance that said it all. ‘That was intense. I like her.’

~*~

Despite being funded by SU, Jane was still working from her trailer and tents and seemly homemade equipment. Toni would have been a little offended if not for the fact that the “trailer” was pretty much a base of extremely high tech… everything. Even if they didn’t have space for their elbows.

Working back to back, Erik and Jane made a duo of oversized, stained clothes and dirty hair. Was that a French fry in Jane’s hair? And the whole place stunk to high heavens.

Toni sighed. It was just one more tact to put her under their thumbs in Romanoff’s case, but she couldn’t really fault, say, Rogers and Barton, for believing that she couldn’t take care of herself and for sometimes manhandling her out of her lab. Although why they thought she couldn’t keep herself alive after almost three decades of doing just that all by her lonesome wasn’t a very good indicator of intelligence in Rogers and Barton’s case.

Pepper, Rhodey and Happy have long since learned to leave her to it when she got into a work binge. But Jane was a bit different. Toni has been shooting into all directions, juggling several projects at a time since college. Rhodey used to leave coffee cups and random snacks within reach back then just like Happy and Pepper eventually learned to do as well. Jane didn’t get really passioned until she found herself elbow-deep in Einstein-Rosen bridge. One project that consumed Jane to her core. And one project meant one road full of obstacles and tight curves. Frustration easily bled to anger, and anyone can attest that a frustrated scientist…

The billionaire couldn’t fault Darcy for calling her. Despite working with Jane for close to a year now, Darcy followed her instructions to leave coffee and random snacks around, but when that no longer worked, the grad student was out of her depth.

Toni wasn’t about to infantilize and patronize Jane just like she felt when, more often than not, Natashalie or Rogers demanded entrance into her lab to force her into her own kitchen so that left one option when Darcy let her into the trailer.

With a casual shrug, Toni reached for the panel to her left and flipped the switch which sent the trailer to darkness.

“HEY!”

“You can do whatever the hell you want once you stop worrying Darcy into making scientists jokes.”

Toni heard a feminine sigh and a loud thud, and she concluded that Jane complied, and Erik passed out.

Chapter Text

March, 2010.

.

S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters.

.

Natasha Romanoff stalked the corridors and that was enough to send everyone in her path through the nearest open door.

“What now, Romanoff?” Well, nearly everyone.

Kara Palamas was tall, with olive skin tone that complimented her dark eyes and hair, but the almost five inches she had on Natasha didn’t mean much in a sparring mat. She wasn’t as skilled as Bobbi Morse, who always took a beating from Melinda May, the only agent in S.H.I.E.L.D that had even more black belts than Natasha. But what Kara lacked in skill she certainly made up for in sheer balls. Not many would have approached Natasha when she was clearly in a foul mood.

“None of your business.” She managed not to grit out.

“The fact that you seem unable or unwilling to hide your mood just says everything. How’s Stark doing?”

And there was the crux of the matter.

When the infamous Black Widow rose through ranks in S.H.I.E.L.D, she did so alone or with Hawkeye at her side. No one else was willing to leave their unguarded backs to a former KGB, HYDRA cousin. And Natasha was self-aware enough to admit that they would be right, to the point of praising them for it. Once upon a time, she even, quietly, disdained Clint for letting his guard down.

But what started as a partnership that Natasha humored and pretended that it wasn’t one-sided became the real deal. She started to like being trusted, being on the right side for once. Her skills being used to do good and atone for a bit of what she did under KGB and the Red Room. To clean a bit of the red in her ledger. To try and pay back what Clint gave her.

Going in Stark Industries to secure Stark via flashing her boobs and manipulate billions and gadgets out of her just showed what S.H.I.E.L.D, be it Fury, Coulson or the World Security Council still thought of her. Her abilities, her character… the Black Widow. Assassin, spy, interrogator… seductress. What good would curves do when S.H.I.E.L.D’s plan was to reveal her part anyway? She should already be above all that.

After almost five years in S.H.I.E.L.D working her ass off to show that she can be a good agent, to a good cause, it galled her to have the same script not with crime lords and terrorists but with a billionaire that wouldn’t be met with a bullet at the end of it, since they had no way to spin it that would end with “for a good cause”. And it galled even more that, so far, it hasn’t gotten her a single inch with her target. Be it manipulating what S.H.I.E.L.D needed, be it her secondary mission to make a profile on the woman, they had exactly one interaction face to face in three months and it wasn’t even a private conversation, that lawyer, Matt Murdock was in the room the entire time.

By this point, she usually had her targets eating at the palm of her hand, instead Stark barely spared her a glance and the single conversation they did have it seemed like the other woman was just making polite conversation and half-distracted by other things in her mind.

Ignoring Palamas’ teasing, Natasha went into Fury’s office and slammed the door in the other’s face.

“Romanoff.” He greeted without looking up.

“Sir.”

“I take things are going south?”

“Yes, sir.” There was no point denying that. No doubt Coulson already updated him, and Fury didn’t suffer fools and bullshit when the mission was on the line.

“Seems we have to speed up the timetable. Ivan Vanko started to move, and Stark will be at the Grand Prix of Monaco according to Coulson.” Fury sighed. “Honestly, at this point Coulson, through Potts, is the best source of information we have on Stark.”

Natasha accepted it for the rebuff it was. “I don’t think my presence there can be justified. Although the prediction that Stark would pass CEO to Potts wasn’t completely inaccurate, Stark has yet to get a new assistant. Are we sure that Stark is as open for one-night stands as she once was?”

Fury leaned back in his chair and finally took his eye off his computer screen. ”Coulson reported that even Potts noticed that there is something strange going on. Usually, Stark is a good enough actress to fool even her own friends, so if she is slipping to the point of Potts and Rhodes expressing concern instead of annoyance…”

“The Palladium is on the final stages.” Natasha concluded, her expression clearing. This wasn’t on her then. “I thought Simmons said we had until May until the effects became irreversible.”

“She did. But “irreversible” is not the same thing as not feeling them at all. The effects would already been showing for months, the fact that Stark managed to fool her friends for this long, gotta hand it to her: she is good.” He got up from his seat and started to walk, Natasha fell into step.

“Sir? Can’t we just tap into another source?” Level 5 and up already knew most of S.H.I.E.L.D resources even if they don’t know where they are… held, so Natasha knew that Fury would get her hint.

Fury snorted. “Romanoff, you’re good but you don’t look at the big picture enough. It’s better to have several sources than depending on a single one. This is just asking for disaster if suddenly your only source becomes… unavailable. We start with the relatively sane first before trying our luck with the psychopaths and sociopaths.”

The redhead grimaced and acquiesced.

In the labs, a brunette in a lab coat was looking through a microscope.

“Simmons?”

She jumped and turned. “Oh, hello, sir. Agent Romanoff.”

“Where is the Lithium Dioxide?”

“Ready and secured, Director.” Jemma adjusted her lab coat. “Dr. Banner’s notes were vital for us to synthesize it, but… Palladium poisoning is not… the Lithium Dioxide is not a cure. It will alleviate the symptoms but there is just… there is no cure. The treatment would be to advise Dr. Stark to remove the Arc Reactor altogether, prescribe biding agents to hopefully eliminate the metal through the urine and basically pray for the best after this long. But… two years of direct contact of Palladium to her bloodstream… and removing the Reactor… that’s not possible because removing it would mean death or… paralysis considering the size of the chunk that had to be removed from the sternum to make space for it, collapsed lungs are also a risk.”

“Get that thing to Romanoff the second it’s ready.” Fury ordered and walked out again.

“Sir… perhaps the target is already too compromised.” After everything Natasha heard of Toni Stark, the heavy metal poisoning was the only explanation for the woman not to go after her when Natasha made it clear she was available and willing. She almost suggested that perhaps Stark wasn’t as interested in woman as the media said, but there were quite the numerous pictures proving otherwise all over the internet.

Still, that lawyer, Murdock was there. Skipping meetings like it was going out of style, Romanoff was forced to admit that Stark had some really strong work ethics. People wouldn’t expect it, but SI employees had a lot of loyalty to their boss and perhaps not all of it was unwarranted. Maybe Stark respected this Murdock enough not to do anything in his presence.

And yet, according to Coulson, Stark was slipping enough that her friends were already noticing that something was amiss.

Fury frowned. “That is a possibility.” He admitted. “But that is also what we were waiting for. Her health is already too deteriorated… Either way, it seems that we can’t wait any longer.”

“Sir?”

“The plan was for you to be in a position of trust, high up enough that your presence wouldn’t be questioned by Stark’s side. Even revealing your association with S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn’t fundamentally shake our relationship with Stark. She likes to follow her own rules, but she doesn’t forget those that tried to help. Our assistance with Stane two years ago was ignored but if it was anyone else, Stark would have set Potts to get the lawyers and never looked back.”

“We already have some leverage.” Natasha concluded.

“Let’s hope it’s enough. It was always a gamble sending you in.” He admitted. “There was no telling if Stark was going to go out with a bang or recluse herself. In the latter case the only way we would get close was if we somehow resurrected the girl’s mother.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. Fury was rambling more than usual, and she couldn’t blame the man for being in an even worse mood than her. They needed Stark and her resources, but they had to play facts in a way that made the woman think she needed them far more. It wouldn’t do for Stark to only have to say a word and have complete control of the Avengers.

The plan was simple, and it only depended in one thing: manipulate a dying woman. Too bad that their opening hanged on Stark going self-destructive instead of barricading the doors like she did.

The opening for Stark Expo was the first time the billionaire was in the open for the last two years. Everything else was for Stark Industries or that Senate hearing.

But thanks to Coulson, they knew that if was to have the woman in their debt, it was now or never.

~*~

Toni watched the scenery as they approached the racetrack with some enthusiasm. Stark Industries had some of the best pilots and this was their grand debut, she couldn’t wait to see what they could do against McLaren, Ferrari and Ford now that she didn’t have a bucket list to complete. Last time, she stole the place of one of her own guys and she couldn’t even remember if said guy was ok or not with the whole thing. But the answer was probably “no”.

But on other news, Jocasta told her that the French authorities intercepted and arrested one Ivan Vanko right at customs after her tip and were waiting for her alongside a thank you, Toni smiled. It was good to be back at cultivating favors instead of incurring them.

The inventor had some really long talks with Rhodey on how to go about this.

They could just cut S.H.I.E.L.D at the knees, avoid meeting with them until after the situation with Vanko (and, ok, Hammer if he insisted on being an idiot) was resolved and have a huge reveal with Vanko behind bars, Toni announcing her new element and slapping lawsuits of corporate espionage and also with Bruce and his interviews and lawsuits against Ross all in one press release. She even considered letting Romanova stab her in the neck just to add it to the pile. That would take care of so many things that Toni almost went with that and damn the rest.

But that route had one crucial disadvantage: Toni would have no way of knowing what craziness SHIELDRA would try next to corral her. She had no desire to find out what “desperate times calls for desperate measures” looked like with S.H.I.E.L.D.

The engineer smiled sardonically to herself. Romanoff kept harping about her ego but half of the blame is S.H.I.E.L.D’s. Toni wasn’t unaware of her own value for organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. that kept repeating that they were the good guys while shooting people that disagreed with them in the head when they couldn’t imprison them in a timely manner. She was a billionaire inventor of da Vinci caliber that had the best PR and legal department in the country. She was the Joker card. Everything they needed in one person. If she thought that having a single source was stupid, oh yeah. And Toni had no doubt that at least Fury knew it as well.

She struggled to uncurl her fists. The reason Fury was so relaxed was because he had leverage and acted as if she knew what guns he had. The man was suspicious of everything and everybody by default. If she wasn’t the target, Toni could have found it in herself to be impressed, as it was, the only thing she wanted to do whenever she thought too long about it was to raze S.H.I.E.L.D to the ground.

You jump the gun, Anastasia. That is what truly separates us. That is what makes people think you have a lower intelligence.

The cold and yet worried voice of a young teenager was so sudden that Toni had to catch herself.

Most would think that it was a lifetime of constant instantaneous gratification. The money to get whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. But her impulsiveness wasn’t because of her bank account, it was just a part of her that Toni always had trouble suppressing. She gets anxious and then she gets stupid. It didn’t need Einstein to spell it out.

Last time, Fury might as well have told her with all the words that he knew where Arno was and that he had Greg. But worded in such a way that she couldn’t be sure and she couldn’t say anything in case it tipped Fury off. Hell, the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D clearly didn’t forget about her brothers like the rest of world did, had already spoken volumes. No one should have known where they were. Not even her.

Taking a few deep breaths so she wouldn’t start shaking in anger, Toni squared her shoulders and plastered her camera smile as Happy opened her door and the flashes started.

Some things would have to remain the same. But Pepper was right. It didn’t mean that she had to roll over to anyone.

Besides, Friday beat any PA she could possibly hire after losing Pepper anyways. Greg would be proud… and Arno probably wouldn’t even notice that S.H.I.E.L.D was trying to get a five minutes meeting.

Toni sighed. Sometimes indifference was the key for less stress.

Chapter Text

May 14, 2010.

.

The race was going on in the background as Natasha raised her eyebrows at how Stark expertly blended in. Enough that even Justin Hammer and Christine Everheart completely overlooked her when both would love a piece of the publicity that followed Stark everywhere.

A minute later, the woman turned around, all smiles and red-tinted sunglasses and camera flashes were everywhere. Natasha pursed her lips. Being forced to admit that perhaps the billionaire knew what she was doing in the same week she had to concede that the other woman was a pretty good actress wasn’t what she signed up for.

In Natasha’s experience, Stark’s type was everywhere. More money than sense. And she was tired of the mission before it even properly started. But a mission was a mission and Stark probably didn’t even think about S.H.I.E.L.D once since her “big reveal” as Iron Woman. That had to change.

Her com beeped once and Natasha made her way to the tracks, just a little behind Stark where she was conveniently out of prying eyes.

~*~

“Miss? Ms. Romanova just received her signal. I believe that they will try to and force their unapproved by the DFA, medical “solution” on you before long.”

Toni smiled a bit. J.A.R.V.I.S wasn’t exactly impressed with the whole Lithium Dioxide episode and as Natasha tried, and failed, to have one on one interactions with her, he kept sending her a list of articles about the FDA codes of conducts and approved methods and medications.

The parallels were not lost on her, the inventor thought with a bitter smirk. Yinsen also thought he was doing his best when his life was also in danger. She didn’t know how much S.H.I.E.L.D knew about Yinsen but if that was planned, it backfired really badly. Toni wasn’t happy about the needle in her neck the first time around, but, like an idiot, she let it go because she thought that S.H.I.E.L.D, despite their non-existent legal status, were the good guys. Shady methods with a noble goal.

It was like Obadiah all over again. She really didn’t learn, uh?

Pepper squeezed her hand and didn’t dare to meet her eyes in case she let the concern show. Against her judgment and all the sirens blaring in her head, the redhead left her friend alone with an assassin.

It was show time.

Toni wondered what would be S.H.I.E.L.D’s play now that Toni Stark proved herself not so easy to manipulate. Against all odds, they seemed to have chosen the more direct route. A face to face with Natalia Romanova or Natasha Romanoff instead of Natalie Rushman. Leather jacket and jeans instead of the leather catsuit considering that they were very much in public even if out sight for the most part.

This time, Toni would set the tone. Especially because she had very little interest in a needle to the neck, a completely unnecessary one at that. Biology wasn’t het strong suit, but without the Palladium in her bloodstream, Lithium Dioxide would do more harm than good.

Toni’s only acknowledgement of Jocasta’s warning was a tiny nod. Before Natasha could even prepare to strike, Stark’s hand, covered in just the gauntlet of the Iron Woman armor shot straight back and held the spy’s right wrist. Natasha’s right hand was holding the syringe with the Lithium Dioxide.

“What can I do for you, Agent Romanova?”

~*~

In the years to come, Natasha would do her utmost to make sure that no one ever finds out about this. That, however, still left Toni Stark herself as the witness and the perpetrator. Not that Stark ever seemed to pay much attention to her at all or even think about the situation. Natasha didn’t know what she hated more: the fact that Stark seemed to almost forget about her existence the second she was no longer in the inventor’s direct field of vision or the fact that it took Stark herself snapping at the situation for Natasha to realize what she was doing for so long. What was even worse was that Stark wasn’t even directly snapping at Natasha.

But that wouldn’t be for years to come. Years that the spy would look back on as something embarrassing, shameful and petty. And hate herself even more, hate Stark even more and validate Stark’s points even more and the vicious cycle would keep repeating, seemly unbreakable.

For now, Natasha Romanoff froze on the spot, a stunned expression in her features that she would have sworn was trained out of her long before she ever hit puberty.

There was a rigging in her ears that was almost blocking all sounds.

This couldn’t be happening, this just couldn’t.

She did everything right. She didn’t deviate nor attracted attention that she didn’t want.

So how did Stark…

And “Romanova”… a name that she hadn’t used since…

Toni didn’t turn around, but the lengthening silence already told her enough. “I won’t drag this out so how about I just go meet Fury and leave you to your devices?”

The spy’s mind was a whirlwind. She was too well trained to let her breath quicken like it wanted to, but with her entire focus on trying to steady her heart. Toni raised an eyebrow but after a quick text to Happy and Pepper – wouldn’t do for them not to know where she was with assassins around – she went back in. She had bigger fish to fry.

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot.” The billionaire didn’t care enough to take the syringe from her. The thing was useless right now anyways.

But she would still recount what happened to Bruce… and Jennifer. Just in case they wanted it added to the growing pile of lawsuits after all and they’d need the proof. Careful not to get her own fingerprints on it, Toni encased it in nanites and put it in her bag. Toni smiled, her advice of patenting everything that Bruce ever invented was heeded and so, the Lithium Dioxide was in his name. Was that petty of her? But it felt so good.

Now, S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t exist… but Romanoff does.

That was what Toni found out after her talk with Pepper. The CKO made her think that as heavy handed as S.H.I.E.L.D was, how come there is not a mile-long list of lawsuits? They can’t just disappear literally everybody they didn’t like and/or that didn’t fell into line – was there even a difference? – there were some, like Toni, whose absence would be questioned, and questioned a lot.

It wasn’t just that S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t do anything yet… or they can’t prove it yet, but legally speaking, they don’t exist. If suing a shell company was already a nightmare because it only exists on paper, then suing a company that doesn’t exist even on paper was… technically impossible.

The problem was… their agents and personnel exist. And without a big corporation behind them, they were just… people… killing, spying, stealing, torturing… all completely independent. Legally, S.H.I.E.L.D is comparable to a cult. As for the “missions” that have teams… conspiracy. Plain and simple.

When “S.H.I.E.L.D” busted their people from being jailed, they didn’t do it because they are a formally recognized body, they did it in the middle of the night, knocking out or killing the officers… which kinda only piled up the crimes.

Toni snorted to herself. For all that Romanoff and Rogers treated S.H.I.E.L.D like nameless and faceless strangers… or HYDRA, Romanoff is about to see why not existing legally might cover S.H.I.E.L.D the organization, but didn’t protect its agents.

Terrible work ethics and even worse benefits if you ask Toni. Did they even have dental?

~*~

“Hello, Nick.”

Spinning around, the so-called master spy aimed a gun right at her head, but Toni was never again going about with her neck unprotected around S.H.I.E.L.D. Already in her Bleeding Edge armor, the only one she could carry around inconspicuously, the billionaire didn’t even flinch but deeply appreciated how Fury did.

“Stark!” Was said a little too loudly and Toni barely managed to have enough appreciation for this. She was so tired of S.H.I.E.L.D in her life and yet, somehow, for now she was the only one they are currently bothering.

“I think your spy needs a reboot, either way, she seems to still be frozen on the spot.” She phrased it like a question even if it didn’t sound like one and was super proud when Jo answered almost immediately.

“Romanova is still muttering to herself, yes.” And the AI seemed to be perfectly entertained by it.

Fitting as well since now the one muttering to oneself was Fury. In his case, however, were some really colorful curses that made even Toni raise an eyebrow, but she wasn’t in the mood to waste even more time.

“So here is the deal: I will slap a lawsuit against S.H.I.E.L.D for industrial espionage. Let me be clear: S.H.I.E.L.D not Romanoff will be sued. What you do with that is your business.”

Now to see what they will do.

Someone is bound to point out that no one could sue S.H.I.E.L.D because of the aforementioned lack of existence. But they can’t be so naïve to think that Toni will just let it go at the first hitch, and while she fully expected them to play that card or try to “disappear”, well… the headquarters of Stark Industries, filled to the brim with security cameras, was a horrible place to try and stay incognito. The other people that S.H.I.E.L.D left somewhat intact couldn’t do much because they didn’t know the agent’s real names… which wasn’t Toni’s case.

Now, she didn’t have anything on Fury. He didn’t technically do anything… besides breaking and entering but the statute of limitation in California is six years for that. She could still use that. But why reveal the fact that by then, Toni’s paranoia already ensured that no one could just “turn J.A.R.V.I.S off” when using the multitude of records on “Natalie Rushman” is so much easier?

Will they cut Romanoff? Doubtful, but maybe. Some higher up or even Fury himself would have to deem appeasing Toni Stark as the greater investment than the Black Widow. Now, was Clint Barton such a good friend that he would leave with her as well? Would just appeasing Toni Stark with no promises of any profit back be worth the loss of Black Widow and Hawkeye?

Even in the case that they decide to ‘plant themselves like a tree’, they still didn’t know that Toni was systematically uncovering every single S.H.I.E.L.D agent inside SI since its founding days.

Some of them cut the betrayal deep. Some of the them she had known since she was a small kid. But business and friendship do not mix, and Toni wasn’t about to risk having her name being dragged through the mud when hundreds of thousands of people depended on it being squeaky clean.

That when not mentioning the little syringe she had in her purse. Toni debated with herself whether to allow Romanoff to stab her in the neck and have yet another lawsuit of doing medical procedures without informed consent… and without a medical degree at that but Lithium Dioxide could be even more toxic than Palladium itself and… no, the inventor didn’t want to drink kale again.

Toni wasn’t surprised that Pepper and Happy were waiting for her at the entrance of the hotel.

“How was the race?” She asked as they made their way to the car.

“Our pilot got second place. The engine seemed to have holden well, the stats will be sent to you.” Pepper followed dutifully.

“Not bad for our first year.” Toni smiled as she entered the car.

Something told Happy and Pepper that she wasn’t talking just about the race.

“Police Nationale?” Happy asked dutifully.

“Yes, please.”

~*~

“Ivan Vanko, fifty years old. Russian. We confiscated this from his belongings.” Police Nationale officers met her just outside of the facility.

Toni hummed in interest and turned the prototype of the miniaturized Arc Reactor in her hands. Perhaps it wasn’t the desperate conditions of being held at gun point in a cave and work from memory alone, but Ivan Vanko deserved his props for pretty much doing what she did: improve the model.

Although Toni was already two for two on Sins of the Father bullshit. Ivan Vanko and Hank Pym were in for a rough wake-up call if they messed with her again.

“We can give you just five minutes.” The officer looked legitimately sorry about it.

“Don’t worry. I appreciate this.” Toni didn’t have anything to say or to hear.

Now… how to spin the story?

She doubted that Hammer would hear about Vanko now. But in case he does, then Toni had a pretty good card to mess with Romanoff and her ‘stint in Hammer Industries”. Honestly, who was the idiot that came up with that?

Oh well. Toni was happy enough to let Hammer alone as long as he doesn’t become an illegal pain in her ass.

But S.H.I.E.L.D and Vanko? Needless to say, Toni wasn’t holding onto too much hope.

~*~

“I want answers, NOW!”

Fury watched as the small group tasked with interacting with Stark scrambled.

The ones already in SI were no good. Stark was very particular with whom to interact with, meaning legal, PR and R&D, and none of their plants could advance after so many years in the same position without attracting unwanted attention.

That wasn’t even their priority anymore.

“HOW THE FUCK DID STARK FIND OUT?!”

Chapter Text

May 26, 2010.

.

With no surprise whatsoever, Toni sighed and answered the call.

“Stark.”

“Dr. Stark, I’m speaking on the behalf of Police Natione of France. There has been a breach in security and Ivan Vanko has escaped custody.”

Escaped… or was extracted? Toni rolled her eyes. “If you can make God bleed, the people will cease to believe him”. He didn’t manage to make… oh please… God bleed so Toni can’t discard the possibility that Vanko was still trying to get at her. Still… too many interested parties.

S.H.I.E.L.D was the more likely choice… but Hammer was smart enough to find out about Vanko and stupid enough to try and hire the man. Using the loosest definition of “hiring”.

Well, the Stark Expo where everything went to hell would be in two weeks but hell if Toni was willing to risk hundreds of people.

“Thank you for informing me. I will be on the lookout and pass along every pertinent information.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stark and, on the behalf of the Police Nationale, we apologize.”

Toni waited for the call to disconnect before snorting to herself. “Jo, do increase security of all personnel and Jay… how are we on S.H.I.E.L.D?”

“Will do, Boss.”

“Serves are 89,3% hacked. We will have total access in six hours, Miss.”

“What can we do right now?”

“Ongoing missions are the best encrypted, Miss, obviously, but there didn’t seem to be any movement towards Vanko.”

The inventor frowned. “There is something weird going on. The… “escape” was done much more efficiently than last time, no explosions, no calls, very subtle… as much as it pains me… S.H.I.E.L.D was pretty good and this basically has their fingerprints all over it. Hammer…” She paused. “Jay… try to cross-reference any contact between S.H.I.E.L.D and Hammer… personal or not.”

“An email was sent a little over ten hours ago.”

And Toni laughed. She laughed and laughed until it actually started to hurt. “Oh, God, if this is not gift-wrapping, I don’t know what is.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that Vanko (and Hammer) put so many people in danger in the Expo, Toni would be tempted to let the whole thing happen like before and just slap lawsuits left and right. She smiled a bit to herself. The hit would do more damage to Hammer in the short term what with his… apparent interest in hiring Russian people but Hammer was good at getting out of dodge… sort of. How long until his people presented proof that Natalie Rushman never worked for them? And then the fight of hot potato with Vanko would have been between Hammer Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D. Toni was certain that S.H.I.E.L.D would win this one since that was a ridiculous opponent but not without casualties and Stark Industries would sweep in and obliterate whatever is left.

Well, this made things easier. Toni had a very good guess of what is going on and these people are just ridiculous. The only thing they did was speed up her plans.

“Ok, Jay. I’m going in personally.”

As much as J.A.R.V.I.S has the capabilities of a computer for a brain, Toni was still the one that built him, that made J.A.R.V.I.S a reality. She always found amusing when people say that her A.I.s are the ones to hack whatever since Toni herself was the one that programed them to do so. She would be happy enough to wait for J.A.R.V.I.S to hack S.H.I.E.L.D’s databases, but if they are playing this card then Toni didn’t want to go in blindly.

“As you wish, Miss.”

The keyboard she came up with in MIT sprung up in a holoscreen and Toni got to work.

Twenty minutes later and she was rolling her eyes. Yeah.

“How do you wish to proceed?”

“It’ll be my birthday in three days, and this is my birthday gift to myself: I will worry about this later.” With that, Toni closed all the screens and went back to revising the schematics for the launch of SI’s new net of satellites. She still needed to come up with a name.

~*~

“We will set up the date for June, 10. Dr. Stark agreed to lend us time in the Stark Expo for the interview, the announcement of the lawsuit against Ross and present Dr. Banner’s successful attempt to create a biological shield against radiation that, by the way, still needs a name.”

Kimball gave each person in the room a copy of the plans.

Jennifer quickly went over the contents while Bruce was still reaching for his own. “How about Hulk Shield?”

Bruce gave his cousin an exasperated look and decided to ignore her snickering in favor of turning to Kimball.

“It’s still just all theory for now. I’ve ordered some mice to start the testing phases in the next few weeks.”

“See what progress you can make until the Expo. It will strengthen our case even more if we show that the work you originally signed up for was possible and would tremendously benefit our soldiers’ health. How are we on S.H.I.E.L.D, Toni?”

“Lawsuits for corporate espionage, breaking and entering and attempt assault on my side of things. Due to their use… well… attempt to use Lithium Dioxide there is a breach of patent for Bruce, besides aiding and abetting if Ross is convicted. Also, aiding and abetting charges against Justin Hammer on breaking Vanko out of jail, yes I can prove it. Unfortunately, sending an email about his existence is not illegal so S.H.I.E.L.D got themselves out of that one, but I expect Hammer to point fingers at Romanoff anyways.”

Jennifer gazed confusedly at her. “Did I miss something? I don’t even know what my question is.”

Toni’s lips twitched a bit. “Turns out that Howard had help with the Arc Reactor from a man called Anton Vanko that pretended to have deserted his Soviet origins, but he didn’t and tried to return to Russia with the Reactor, and Howard found out and turned him in. But he got all the credit for the Reactor in the process. Vanko then raised his son on the belief that if it wasn’t for the Starks, they would have been rich and not live in a derelict house… drunk. Ivan Vanko, his kid, took that at face value and apparently he decided to blame me.”

Jessica, Kimball and Bruce joined Jennifer in gawking at her. Toni would have laughed that she managed to make even taciturn Jessica and stern Kimball to gawk at her if not for the fact that she wasn’t the one to actually do it… it was Vanko… and his Sins of the Father logic.

“I thought that only happened in bad Mexican TV shows.” Jennifer’s comment got a laugh out of Toni.

“… I’m pretty sure that there are plenty of the other nations with bad TV shows that use that plot.” The inventor pipped up.

“Yeah, ok, fair, I was being prejudiced, still…”

Jessica shook her head. “How do you know about that shit?”

“The French authorities detained him while I was watching the Grand Prix of Monaco. He is pretty sharp himself. Managed to miniaturize the Arc Reactor too, even if the power output is a third of my original one.”

“And… Hammer got him out?” Jennifer asked.

“Yep. S.H.I.E.L.D sent him an email about another source to tap for… well… part of the Iron Woman tech and Hammer, in his brilliance, decided to spring Vanko from French jail.”

Another few seconds of stunned silence later and Kimball found his voice. “Why would Hammer point his finger to Romanoff?”

Toni grinned. “That is the best part: Natashalie’s little resumé had that she was an intern in Hammer Industries. True or not, I expect more lawsuits of corporate espionage and that bridge properly burned. Not even Hammer is stupid enough to get in bed with people that burned him twice over.”

“You’re gonna make Hammer do your job for you and just kill whoever is left.” Jennifer summarized in plain admiration.

“Yep.”

The rest of the meeting finalized, Jessica was the only one left and made her way to the bar. Toni was so distracted with her StarkPad that she almost jumped when Jessica made herself known.

“Ok, Stark, what the hell?”

Toni blinked at her. “What?”

“Walters is too busy worrying about her cousin and Banner… as smart as he is and as street smart as he is, doesn’t have the experience and background to understand what you were doing, and Kimball works for you. But you stalled this interview, this whole thing against Ross for almost six months, and that’s just the crap that I know of because this seems to be much more than just six months. And just then you gave the fucking go-ahead in the middle of the Expo, and I thought that was it. You just wanted to make a spectacle out of it… until you dropped this bomb about this Russian chick and the Russian with daddy issues and Hammer… as if you knew that even more fucked up things would happen and wanted to hit everybody the hardest.”

A thousand thoughts ran through the billionaire’s head, but the great majority agreed on one thing: she underestimated Jessica Jones. Not necessarily a bad thing and it does keep her on her toes for future reference but right now does the PI even trust Toni enough to believe a thing that comes out of her mouth?

Numbing herself for the rest of this conversation, Toni put her tablet aside and faced Jessica. “Because I did… know that more stuff would happen.”

“Yeah, I got that. I want to know how?” When the silence stretched itself, Jessica sighed and started at the ceiling for a moment. “I know guilt… you ooze it. It was worse before… and I recognize the effects of therapy or a good support system. I know the problems you had with these jackasses selling the whole thing to the highest bidder and why would they care about ethics when they just got enough money to live in a beach for the rest of their lives? You got out of the weapons business and you seemed good for it, putting the blame where it should be, on that bald guy. So I doubt that it was the whole weapons thing that makes you feel guilty. What is it?”

Toni smiled a bit despite herself. “You’re a good PI.” Leaning back, she exhaled. “Time travel.” The inventor said shortly.

The billionaire didn’t know if it was the two bottles of Whiskey or just plain Jessica but the PI barely blinked. “Since when?”

“I came back in 2008, two days before my press conference about Iron Woman.”

“Do you know about Killgrave?”

The name rang a bell. Frowning a bit, Toni tentatively asked. “Zebadiah Killgrave? The British socialite?”

Jessica nodded to herself. “That’s all I wanted to know.” She got up and took another bottle of Toni’s overpriced Whiskeys before turning again. “You didn’t tell me all that because you just trusted me that much and since you’re not trying to silence me with a bullet or whatever the fuck else this… Skynet house has… you want something from me… besides dirty on the piece of shit General.”

“2012. Alien invasion.” Toni raised an eyebrow but she didn’t even get a blink from the PI.

“I will wait for your call.” But Jessica blindly grabbed another bottle of what Toni identified as Vodka before leaving.

“That went well.” Toni muttered to herself and picked up her tablet, still numb.

“If Miss allows me. I believe that it was only Ms. Jones’ intoxicated state that stopped her from reacting more violently.” J.A.R.V.I.S quipped blandly.

“I really like this house and I was really sad to watch it being blown up last time around.”

“And being blown up with it, I assume.”

“Yeah, there is that. And I probably should tell stuff to Bruce and Jennifer. Jessica Jones knows about it before they do… I’m a horrible friend.”

“Ms. Jones merely has the right skills to confront you about it. Or isn’t Miss’s plan to confide in Ms. Walters and Dr. Banner after the Stark Expo?”

“And hope neither of them falls asleep, yeah.” Toni feel silent for a few seconds. “Jessica may be able to recognize guilt, but she also tipped her hand. I am able to recognize PTSD.”

“Miss?”

“Jo, you there?”

“At your service, Boss.”

“Do keep an eye in Hell’s Kitchen. Luke Cage posts videos for heaven’s sake and Jessica was never very shy about using her abilities in public. If they… if any of them need help, do what you can for them.”

“Yes, Boss.”

~*~

“This is different.” Rhodey commented, looking around.

They were in the entertainment room that was used once and then never again. The whole thing was setup like a movie theater, but the seats were huge and inclined to 180º.

Pepper was already munching on popcorn and more casually dressed than Rhodey has even seer her. Grey sweatpants and a tee shirt. Happy was in shorts and a polo that made him look fifty years old and Toni was in her usual band tee shirt and baggy jeans.

“My birthday.” Toni shrugged and asked J.A.R.V.I.S to start the movie.

“By the way,” Rhodey whispered while the movie hasn’t properly started yet, “you were right. The brass rolled their eyes really hard when I gave them the file for “War Machine” but they are desperate for a sample, even one so heavily protected by patent laws.”

“Unsurprising. The maintenance will be kept by yours truly and anyone that tries to even scan the armor will be in for a nasty shock.”

The Colonel frowned. “You don’t mean that literally, do you?”

The engineer smiled and didn’t answer which made her friend feel a chill down his spine.

Chapter Text

June 10, 2010.

.

Malibu, California.

.

Stark Expo.

.

Toni hummed to herself a tune that wouldn’t be invented in years yet, but she liked Taylor Swift, and the fact that they shared initials was pretty amusing. She was quirky and still retained it even after her songs started to mature.

The billionaire was casually revising every piece of evidence against Hammer as she heard Jennifer Walters serving Ross on international live television.

“Those comics were meant to be an entertainment. However, their revenue went to women shelters all over the country.”

Toni snorted to herself at the stunned silence after the lawyer’s proclamation that the mysterious alter ego of the Incredible Hulk was Dr. Robert Bruce Banner and that the army that was always hunting him down was the American one under the order of a power hungry General. The beauty of it was that none of it can be classified as slander because… well… Jennifer never said that the comics were based on real life or even reflected it, she just let the people think whatever they wanted. More than that, she outright said that the comics were a form of entertainment that was going for a good cause.

“Unfortunately, it is with sadness that we say, General Thaddeus Ross… you have been served. The shadow organization, S.H.I.E.L.D, you have been served for breach of patent. With you, Dr. Bruce Banner and his Hulk Shield.” Jennifer gave way to a madly blushing Bruce.

Toni raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t believe that Bruce gave in and named the Radiation Shield, the Hulk Shield… she will never let him live this down.

“The project was finalized not in changing our own biological makeup but creating a resistant material, not unlike a bio-hazard suit. The cloth will allow for total protection from most types of radiation, protecting our troops going into radioactive zones.”

The inventor wanted to coo at how well Bruce was coached into ignoring the audience and just doing his work.

~*~

“What the FUCK am I watching?!”

Fury could swear he was gonna get a coronary before this mission was over. Well the mission went up in fucking smokes weeks ago since none of these motherfuckers could tell him how the hell Stark found out about Romanoff’s literally everything from real identity to current fucking mission.

“Sir?” Fury twirled around so fast that the poor, really green agent that drew the short stick almost squeaked. “Ah… the lawsuits against General Ross and S.H.I.E.L.D were being prepared since 2009 but we have yet to find the connection between Dr. Banner and Dr. Stark aside from the Stark Expo.”

The director grunted and pinched his nose. Nothing was going according to plan. And now this?! Bruce Banner winked out of existence almost two years ago and S.H.I.E.L.D’s best efforts came up with nothing. One second, they were triangulating and extrapolating his location, and then in the next second, there was nothing.

Their best trackers managed to get to Bella Coola, British Columbia in Canada before there was nothing. There was this little cottage, but it didn’t look lived in. The whole place was wiped out and covered with a thin layer of dust. No fingerprints, nothing and they concluded that Banner wasn’t there… has never been there.

And now Banner appears out of nowhere, laying lawsuits against not only Ross but S.H.I.E.L.D as well for breach of patent of all things? What did the man think he could accomplish with that? And what does he have to do with Stark?

“Well, just to follow the trend. I will also be pursuing legal action against the entity S.H.I.E.L.D for breaking and entering, attempt assault and corporate espionage.”

Fury didn’t know whether to be impressed or laugh. He didn’t actually believe the woman when she claimed to want to sue S.H.I.E.L.D. Doesn’t a businesswoman know that you can’t sue something that doesn’t exist. The spy felt himself blanch. Of course, Stark knew that… but nothing was stopping her from suing Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff.

“It is with great pleasure that I publish my first paper of Starkium, a completely new element with staggering applications. I welcome all review from my peers in this new age for science. Created a year and a half ago, I was so amazed at everything that I already accomplished with it that I just finished my papers. The patent was finalized and something that my father, Howard Stark, started is finally complete.”

The former Army Colonel felt faint. And if Fury’s hunch was right…

“Sir! The federals are arresting Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko right now due to an anonymous tip.”

“Director? My calls to Ms. Potts are all ending with ‘this number does not exist’.” Coulson made himself known since entering the room.

And isn’t it such a timely coincidence? “Well played.” He muttered to himself.

“… and speaking of my father, now I present a series of satellites that will be activated in the next two years to create a network that will be known as the H.O.W.A.R.D Net, or just H.O.W.A.R.D for short. That’s actually the reason I decided to have another Stark Expo, so many years after the last one. To build upon what previous generations left as their legacy.”

Not many recognized the smirk in Toni’s face. Many assumed that it was because of the subject but Fury could spot a shark’s teeth when he saw one.

“Howard Stark was a better businessman than a father. That was my opinion as a child whose science fair was missed because he was just so busy with meetings or a project or another. He had a wider vision, the hope for a future that he knew he wouldn’t be a part of. My father was a man limited by the technology of his time.”

Fury almost choked in his own tongue.

“Back in the 40s, my father started to analyze the mineral known as Vibranium, the result was the famous Captain America shield. With H.O.W.A.R.D online for two weeks to adjust and past testing phases, Stark Industries was already able to identify Starkium as an isomer, and locate every scrap of Vibranium still left in this world and the applications for medicine and engineering are just off the charts. Most of it was buried in European shores and the African coastlines. Negotiations with the local government concluded and I’m proud to announce Stark Industries’ new divisions are being welcomed in Johannesburg, South Africa, with twenty five thousands of new employees and a new headquarters was just approved for Berlin, German and, after America, being the first beneficiaries of our new medical division.”

Buying a fight with Wakanda should have weakened Stark. Instead, she did things in a way that if Wakanda makes front, they would come out the bad guys world-wide. The acquisition of Vibranium was done through legal means, being able to present proof upfront of when and where it was bought, and the mineral wasn’t in Wakanda territory. The whole thing was being invested in the medical division and outreach programs. There was nothing to be exploited there by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Turning his back to the screen in almost complete panic, Fury was face to face with Romanoff. The Russian was the only one, aside from Coulson, who knew every step of the mission to corral Stark. She was as pale as a ghost.

Stark knew about her father’s element, already synthesized, patented and published about the damn thing. If she was telling the truth, then no wonder Stark had no interest in the Lithium Dioxide for a problem that wasn’t a problem. But according to Potts, Stark was presenting the symptoms like chronic pain, memory problems, mood swings, which Fury would bet his one good eye that it was just another move from Stark since Phil, a “friend” of Potts, can no longer reach the woman just as the news of everything hit.

Stark used Coulson’s supposed friendship with Potts… or even Potts used her supposed friendship with Coulson. They knew about Romanoff and Fury didn’t even know for how long she knew and what could have possibly tipped her off.

“Sir?”

“What now?” Hill was making her way to him, the panic foreign in the her usually austere expressions.

“Stark Industries just fired all our agents. Every single one is being sued for industrial espionage and criminal impersonation for those that assumed other names. Same with Romanoff.”

Their game, covers and plans were blown.

They alienated an extremely powerful player that outmaneuvered them before they even knew the game had started. Instead of cultivating the woman’s guilt, playing with her daddy issues and dangling a carrot that was her only salvation, they were now on damage control and her direct opponents. And they can’t even do away with this target, the eyes of the world were on her and now on them. Anonymity was now a thing of the past.

Fury faced Natasha. “Pull the plug on Vanko.” He turned to Phil. “Mexico assignment for those weird energy signatures, Potts has been dead end since, I’m betting, always.” And finally, to the whole room. “We will go dark. All personnel to retreat to base. Anyone goes on any missions, there will be no extraction, so don’t do anything stupid. I expect all the pictures from our agents infiltrated in SI to already be on Google and Stark is the kind that doesn’t do things half-way. Desk duty after Vanko, Romanoff. We will need to wait for the dust to settle.”

“Sir!” Natasha didn’t even start to form the argument in her head when Fury cut her out.

“By the time Stark is finished, Agent, your face will be known worldwide.”

~*~

“The public is overwhelmed, but response seemed to be swiftly against S.H.I.E.L.D. Ms. Romanoff’s is the talk of the month in Russia. They are not happy… but somewhat entertained as well.” Friday sounded deeply amused. “But, most of it was on the fact that they planned on letting you die and confiscate your property, but once… not so friendly people like Vanko managed to create even a poor replica of the miniaturized Arc Reactor, S.H.I.E.L.D decided that you were worth more alive than dead.” Friday was completely enraged at that.

Wasn’t that a kick in the nags? And it was new information. She honestly didn’t know that they were completely ok with letting her die and just swoop in and get her stuff like they did with Howard.

That doesn’t exactly paint them in any better light than the Ten Rings.

Oh, but if Toni wasn’t planning on bringing that up if they ever try anything again.

Toni knew that her Baby Girl was already creating a few accounts in several different social medial platforms and familiarizing herself how to best address the different age groups and interests. Basically, how to make people find out for themselves what is going on sparking their interests. Just one little match to start a fire as the saying goes was perfect for Friday and Toni couldn’t be prouder.

“Pay attention to Twitter, Fri. It’s already gaining quite the popularity and it’ll be pretty much the major network in a few years.”

“Hmmm… Facebook seems to be more popular.” Friday sounded doubtful.

“Let it be a lesson, Baby Girl. Things change. Today’s trend is Facebook but wait until about 2015 to 17 and Twitter and Instagram will be more popular. Why? I have no idea. That’s why I need you to be an Ace in this, Fri. I never paid much attention to my own accounts. So, I’m counting on you.”

“I will not let you down, Boss.” Determination colored her voice and the inventor smiled at the sensors.

“Chief, all the notices and lawsuits have been properly delivered to the employees associated with S.H.I.E.L.D and their badges access have been revoked. Security has been put on alert for them.”

“Thanks, Jo. Put on as many redundancies as needed. Protect yourself as well.”

“Don’t worry, Chief, your safety and well-being are the only priority I hold before my servers.” Toni let the French accented voice reassure her and smiled a bit at the way Jocasta started to call her.

“Same for you guys as well, Jay, Fri.”

“Of course, Miss.”

“Sure thing, Boss. Colonel Rhodes, Ms. Walters and Dr. Banner are en route.”

“Oh, good. We need to sync up and I need to tell stuff to Bruce.” Toni grimaced at that.

“Miss? Was that wise? That could intimidate Wakanda back in isolation.”

“I’ll love to hear the answer.” Oh, look, Rhodey was here.

“Hey, Platypus! Hey, Bruce and hey, Jen.” Toni spun around in her chair.

“What is Wakanad… Wakanda?” Bruce adjusted his glasses at the name being displayed in one of her screens. The scientist was visibly happy to be back in his more casual clothes after the presentation at the Stark Expo.

“Well, Jay, Rhodey, if they are that easily intimidated then they won’t last against the other countries anyways. Besides, maybe the current King can turn this into a valuable lesson of self-reflection. For the kids as well. And Wakanda is this pseudo-isolated country in Africa sitting in a mountain of Vibranium.”

So Toni explained, even as she thought that she wasn’t amused when Wakandans called the rest of the world “colonizers” and apparently were on the belief that “isolation” meant a one way street where Wakandans can come and go as they please but the rest of the world has to put up with it. If people weren’t happy with North Korean spies, Toni couldn’t understand why they thought that the world would be any happier with Wakandan spies.

When Wakanda started its efforts to rejoin the rest of the world, Toni raised an eyebrow and waited for it. It wasn’t long until very uncomfortable questions were raised about their curious and suspicious knowledge of the rest of the world, about Vibranium theft all over the world, about their technological advancement and the suspicious timing and use they had all over the world.

And Toni could only roll her eyes. The country lost a lot without T’Chaka. He was the calm and reasonable voice after so many blunders in his youth that T’Challa was experiencing firsthand. T’Challa might have fewer bumps in the world if he was willing to blame everything on “the previous administration”, but since the previous administration was his father, Toni didn’t expect pragmatism from the man, even if it would benefit his people. Still, many would give the excuse all gift wrapped for the man and all he had to do was keep mum, but unfortunately, the prince, and then king, had all the pride of his predecessor and none of his light touch.

The inventor genuinely didn’t want to push an entire country back just because their rulers didn’t always have their best interests at heart. She knew that Wakanda itself had a lot to offer… besides Vibranium… but they needed to learn how to play the world’s powers by giving and pretending to give and knowing how to ask and being actual leaders instead of… “I won a trial by combat” thingy and “let them come” and “let’s sacrifice dozens of Wakandas for the boyfriend of this girl that killed another dozen of Wakandas even if accidentally”. Toni honestly thought that whoever wrote the reports were hallucinating when she read about it.

Toni sighed. She doubted she would be much better if she had the same kind of upbringing. If there was one thing to say about Howard Stark was that the man was a clear believer of “sink or swim” and “you reap what you sow”. T’Challa and Shuri, however, grew up believing that they were these ultra-lords in tech, culture and education.

Bruce shook his head a bit, visibly confused. “Technological advancements build over time, they are cumulative. I wouldn’t be smug about a meteor crashing in my backyard.”

Jennifer turned to Toni. “Uh… what?”

Toni explained. “Technology always builds up off previous works. We wouldn’t have refined oil for better combustive sources if someone didn’t notice that they burnt better than whale oil… for candles and machines, which means that we wouldn’t have started studying it and nowadays we wouldn’t have plastic, that is produced with fossil oil. Wakanda retreating into isolation over four centuries ago would… should mean that they should have stagnated which means that all credit for their advancement is because they still send people out to collect whatever the rest of the world researched and debated and concluded… and Vibranium.”

“Oh… I’m with Bruce then.”

“Do we even need them?” Rhodey asked, completely exasperated.

Bruce sent the colonel a sharp glance and, pretending that the physicist was already in the loop, Toni answered her Air Force friend. “Honestly they were… there…? Rogers used them as cannon fodder and even their deaths seemed not to matter for… anyone… not even themselves, or at least their king.”

“Wait… you’re not telling me that Lagos happened before King Cat adopted them, are you?”

“Yep. And Thanos invaded after that.”

“Are you kidding me? What the hell?”

Toni shook her head, helpless. “I don’t know what to tell you. Rogers and co didn’t care, and T’Challa didn’t care and… I don’t know what happened later.”

Although Toni was trying not to paint all Wakandans with the same brush, there was a reason she was on the opinion that their leaders, at least T’Challa, didn’t care much for Wakandans in general.

“OK, what is going on?” Jennifer finally demanded and Toni didn’t fail to notice the hint of green in her brown eyes.

“Jessica already knows.”

The colonel’s eyes widened. “How the f…”

“She has the right background and noticed some patterns. The woman chose the right career.” Toni shrugged.

“Is that what today is about?” At least Rhodey agreed to bring Bruce and Jennifer into the loop beforehand.

“Partially, but yes.” She shrugged again before turning to the cousins. “You guys should know about this because it concerns Bruce and I think Jennifer will make it her concern. Especially about Romanoff, even if I emphasize the fact that I don’t know whether she was sincere or not and Maximoff… especially about Maximoff. Well, here we go, I time travelled.”

Jennifer looked about two seconds away from calling it bullshit but before she could even open her mouth, her cousin was already speaking.

“That explains it.” Bruce nodded to himself.

“What?” Toni wasn’t the only one to say it. Rhodey, J.A.R.V.I.S and Friday asked the same time.

The billionaire had to send a stern look at the cameras when she saw the weapons panels move a bit. Jocasta got her hint, but Toni had the feeling that it was bit mulishly.

Jennifer raised an eyebrow at the ceiling at the female voice she wasn’t aware of, but her attention was firmly in her cousin and Toni. Bruce sighed and took off his glasses before leveling a stare at every occupant of the room, even the sensors so J.A.R.V.I.S and Friday know that they were being included. They didn’t know about Jocasta yet and Jocasta preferred it that way. Better to catch people unaware.

“People call you a futurist and I have seen some of your early interviews when you weren’t as trained to speak to the public as you are today. The way you completed their phrases and answered their questions before they even started to speak was obvious for those that knew enough to identify it for what it was. A futurist is not just a pretty word people call her, Jen.” He turned to his cousin.

“It’s something about how Toni can predict needs before they become needs, right?”

“Not quite. Well… that’s not all that it means. It’s how her brains works. Toni can spot patterns automatically. How you and I spot colors and name them blue, yellow, red… Toni can see the trends and analyze people and predict, from those experiences, how they will act or react. Same with the wider public. There were rumors that Toni successfully and accurately predicted the Gulf War.”

Toni raised an impressed eyebrow. “Because of the oil pricing. But it was just a throw-away comment.”

“Maybe. But you were five years old.”

The billionaire smiled. “You really did your research.”

“Like you did, I’m sure.” Bruce smirked a bit. “I think “Futura” made a story about us.”

“The magazine?” Now it was Rhodey who was a bit lost.

“A few years ago, they did a list. The people whose IQ couldn’t be measured by traditional means. I think I was in fourth place.” Toni explained without averting her eyes from Bruce’s.

“I got third.”

Jennifer scoffed. “Who made second and first?”

“Hank Pym and Reed Richards… respectively.” Bruce answered.

“That old man and the guy that thinks we evolved because of the sun?” There was a project about it to go and collect samples.

Rhodey knew a bit about it if only because Ben Grimm, one of those involved in the project, was from the Air Force and a trained astronaut who grew up in Brooklyn in the Lower East Side. The man was an example to U.S military.

Toni sent him a glance and the colonel knew what she was thinking. Rhodey grew up in Philadelphia and his family never really struggled, still, he got through college in the ROTC and worked his way up through sweat and tears. Toni thought it put him on par with any other hero. Rhodey was flattered but disagreed.

“We got way off topic. What time travel, what does that have to do with Toni being a futurist? Unless a synonym is time traveler…” Jennifer waved her hand.

“It’s not.” Toni assured.

Bruce got a sheepish look before getting back on track. “Right. I knew of her reputation. But some of the things you did… you commented that Jessica already knows because she found out. I am pretty sure I spotted different clues, but… sometimes you would make scientific leaps that logically, you couldn’t… unless you were working with more base material. You talk while you work, Toni. I think it’s an educated guess that most people tune you out because for most, it would be gibberish and I doubt that even in SI’s R&D would have that many that manage to keep up with you. But I paid attention. While far from layman terms, you explain step by step most of what you are doing. And while you worked in nanotech, you would think about the perfect way to implement them with Dr. Cho’s work… Dr. Cho’s unpublished, unfinalized work. Calling it “The Cradle”, when Dr. Cho herself just chose the name. I didn’t quite got “time travel” but I can’t refute it with the data I collected.”

They were silent for a few seconds before Rhodey huffed and leaned back in his chair. “If you plan on bringing more super geniuses in, you really need to work on that, Tones.”

“Boss, the Senate wants to honor you and Colonel Rhodes about your work on S.H.I.E.L.D and Ivan Vanko, for uncovering terrorism in U.S soil and protecting the people’s well-fare. It will be in Washington, D.C.”

“Miss, satellites are ready for New Mexico.” Friday was almost interrupted by J.A.R.V.I.S, but Jay was just too polite for that.

“That was fast. Rhodey, you good?”

“Go for it. With Vanko dead, there isn’t much to be done.”

They all frowned at that.

“I knew that S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t like loose ends but Vanko had the most ridiculously vague connection to S.H.I.E.L.D.” The only lawyer in the room was shocked at the lengths S.H.I.E.L.D was willing to go.

The Russian’s body was found two days earlier, still in custody. The federals were taking the fall for that much to the indignation of all the involved… except S.H.I.E.L.D.

Toni sighed. “I have to say that I didn’t expect that.”

“Not what happened last time?” Bruce queried.

“Uh… Rhodey and I killed Vanko… self-defense since the guy had these electric whips and they were tied around our necks.” They winced at that. “And then a Kamikaze attack. He exploded his own suit in the hopes of taking me and Rhodey with him.”

“Ok! Enough of that! You can’t drop “time travel” and then go off to… whatever.” Jennifer held up a hand. Not believing that she was so easily distracted.

Then again, “unmeasurable IQ” seemed to be accurate instead of some gimmick. She remembered Bruce doing the same to her whenever he applied himself to it. And this was just normal for Toni.

“I will answer any questions you have. I promise. But now I really need to set up some… stuff. Be back in a few days.”

Jennifer gasped at the nanotech that engulfed Toni before the billionaire took off. Turning around, she could only sigh, completely done, at the fact that Jim used the opportunity to sneak out of the room.

Chapter Text

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June 15, 2010

.

The thing with Thor, Toni thought, was that the man was the embodiment of the Viking image. Asgardian… whatever.

What Toni told Rhodey almost two years ago was true: warrior’s culture, trial by combat, casual destruction of property, absolute monarchs, branding for transgressions… and Viking type sense of honor, no sneak attacks, no treason, and an unshakeable loyalty. For Thor it was all or nothing, no wonder the man was closer to Rogers. He kept reaching out to Loki long after everybody else was cursing his name, hell, he did while in the middle of the Chitauri Invasion, but once Loki managed to definitely cut ties…

Toni did not want to manipulate him either. Would it be easy? Yes, perhaps not as much as most would believe but Thor was Toni didn’t even know how many centuries old and had at least just as much experience with Loki. The problem with that approach was that, eventually, even if only because of Loki’s whims or plain old (bad) luck, the ruse would be up.

Not to say that Toni particularly liked him or not, but… she didn’t suffer from amnesia, after all, and being choked left an impression. It was one thing to expect it from Loki, the guy they were fighting against in the first place who was trying to conquer Earth but angering a supposed teammate shouldn’t mean literally fearing for your neck.

The billionaire groaned. Was that even the deciding factor? To any sane person, yes. But Toni’s intention was to ally herself to Loki and he did the exact same thing plus throwing her through a window from the last floor of her own tower. Sure, she doubted that Loki was trying his all, she was ninety-eight percent of it at least and the last two percent were just for the sake of reasonable doubt and margin of error, but could she honestly say that Loki wouldn’t have done it in normal circumstances? Not really.

“Jo, set up one of the H.O.W.A.R.D satellites for this, we need some eyes on the situation.”

“Will do, Boss. What action should I take?”

“For now, just observe. Catalogue everything, we will revise it all later.”

“Miss, what purpose just… observing would have?”

“This is a test. For me and for Jane. It was no thrown-away comment when I told Jane about the “original” purpose of the Stark Unlimited Compound. If she puts her trust in me, I will put mine in her.” Toni answered J.A.R.V.I.S.

“About S.H.I.E.L.D appropriating her research…”

The inventor shrugged. “From what I have been told, everything was returned eventually. But… it is proprietary tech. They had no business messing around with it in the first place. Fri, get everything that can turn this around. Jo, keep the lookout, and Jay, start to dedicate more of your resources for the first Extremis explosions. Unfortunately, not even I know what was an actual explosion and what was Killian playing around with human lives.” Toni grimaced. She couldn’t believe that they would have to wait until people were literally blowing up to move along but there was literally nothing there for them to work with.

Approaching Maya now was guaranteeing to just speed up the process and spook Killian at that and Toni wouldn’t even have the advantage of foresight. The billionaire pursed her lips and then groaned.

“Miss?”

“Yeah?” She rubbed her temple.

“If I may… The project labelled B.A.R.F can be what puts you on the path of not only Dr. Stephen Strange but also Dr. Leonard Samson.”

Toni was silent for so long that even her AIs considered calling her name again.

“That came out nowhere.” She finally muttered.

But J.A.R.V.I.S kept going. “The purpose was to access the hippocampus and the long-term memories. The treatment for PTSD to disassociate the trauma. It is a perfect fit to consult Dr. Samson and Dr. Strange as it doesn’t require surgery techniques but an in-depth understanding of neuroanatomy.”

“Ah…” The inventor was briefly distracted as the program to monitor the area was complete and Jocasta gave her “ok”. “Well… that thing is not my invention. SI holds… held productions right but it wasn’t my doing, I told you that, Jay.”

“Quentin Beck was just accepted in a master’s degree program and, according to Ms’ information, Mr. Beck would only get the idea for the simultaneous projections after the Chitauri Invasion of 2012, when he would be inspired by the Chitauri Chariots. Technically saying, it is no one’s invention yet.”

Toni gawked and kept gawking even as she made her way back to Malibu.

“I… that is… ok, that is so wrong in… perhaps not in a legal way, but moral and ethically that I don’t… what the hell, J.A.R.V.I.S?”

“It is my understanding that Miss acknowledged that immoral actions would have to take place if half of the universe is to survive.”

The engineer took in a deep breath before exhaling heavily. “Yes. What does that have to do with… stealing some whack job’s idea to “change the world”?”

“An easy and available way to contact both Dr. Stephen Strange and Dr. Leonard Samson. And I believe that Miss., better than most, would know that one cannot copyright an idea.”

Toni rolled her eyes. “Patented property is still patented property. Those are pretty airtight. I would know.”

“On a product that hasn’t even been invented yet?”

She rubbed her temples. “That is so wrong. But… I do know how to accomplish the same results without using the same methods… in the end, the whole thing will barely look like Beck’s.”

“So, it is not even an infringement of… future patent. Mr. Beck can still invent his own product and patent it.”

The billionaire snorted. Quentin Beck was an ideas guy in attitude, but an engineer with results at the same time and Toni never thought that such a combination was possible. He came to SI to produce his patented tech and the whole thing was very standard: he held the patents’ rights and SI would hold productions’ rights. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then, because apparently he didn’t notice that Binary Augmented Retro-Framing… was an acronym that spelled “BARF”, he went on a hissy-fit… which only ever got worse because Toni had the idea to implement the tech for therapeutic purposes.

Beck then went on a rant about how his tech had endless applications that could “change the world”… and never gave one example of how.

Sure, not all individuals were happy once SI started to apply their tech and some of them even parted ways. But Quentin Beck was the first that was so… offended, perhaps was the right word, about the use his tech went to that he completely terminated all contracts after throwing every name under the sun at Toni and SI.

Toni had no reasons whatsoever not sign for its termination like Beck wanted. SI no longer had production rights and Beck no longer had access to its capabilities of mass production.

The inventor frowned. She could not understand what Beck wanted to use his tech for. The man just raved that it could change the world and had so many applications and Toni had been perfectly willing to hear about it… only for theme to repeat itself. Did he want SI to come up with the way to “change the world” with his tech?

It was deeply ironic that it could have been a good fit for James Barnes, but by the end of that year, Beck had already disconnected himself with SI and Toni no longer had access to the patent. Oh, well. Not like the media understood it. Most still believed up to Thanos’ invasion that Toni was holding the tech back out of spite and grudge. If only. She rolled her eyes.

Jay was right that no one could copyright an idea and Toni could get the same results without using the same methods, so there will be no infringements… and Beck was crazy… and half the universe depended on Toni playing things right. And yet…

“Still feels… I don’t know… do I want Beck’s kid to come after mine à la Vanko?”

“If they do, they will be just as unreasonable and irrational.”

Toni made a face. As if the world wasn’t filled with unreasonable and irrational people…

J.A.R.V.I.S sighed. Actual to God sighed and Toni had no idea whether to be offended or amused. “Touchscreen technology from Apple is hardly the same to Samsung’s but they seemed to get, for all intents and purposes, the same results.”

And the billionaire could only laugh at that. “Yeah, ok, ok.” She shook her head at the absurdity of what J.A.R.V.I.S just said. “I will have to see how to contact Strange. Seems like the man is devoting all his time for a cure to his hands and… I’m not too sure how Samson will… react to Bruce. Actually, I’m not sure how to even get him out of…”

“Boss, the interviews just aired.”

“Oh! That was faster than I expected. How was the response, Fri?”

 “We have been receiving positive responses and quite a few follow up questions. You were right, Boss, they are already talking about your behavior in the last couple of years and attributing most of it to palladium poisoning. But mostly, the public is still more focused on the S.H.I.E.L.D debacle.”

“Understandable… predictable even. Still, we explained everything, from the heavy metal poisoning to S.H.I.E.L.D. No stone to turn for anyone. Let me know if something happens, Jo, Fri, Jay.”

“As you wish, Chief.”

“Will do, Boss.”

“Of course, Miss.”

She was fifteen minutes from Malibu when J.A.R.V.I.S stopped the music.

“Miss, an application was just submitted at SU.”

Toni read the names displayed in the HUD. She opened her mouth and… she had no idea what to say.

“Shall I reroute to New York?”

The inventor sighed. “Might as well. I… oh, god. Uh… land…” she winced, “land on Stark Mansion. Most inconspicuous I can make do and have a car ready. Something low profile enough.”

She was planning on making contact anyways, but… Toni didn’t know that things were so fast paced. She didn’t know all the details, just what she caught in scientific articles and the news last time.

Toni was going blind and hoping for the best.

~*~

“… build a 30-foot statue of himself.” Was said with a slightly incredulous voice yet still full of sarcasm.

“Well, it’s obviously aimed at first-time visitors to create feelings of smallness, inadequacy.”

His companion raised an eyebrow. “Good thing it ain’t working.” He got a small smile back as they started to walk. “Reed, what are we doing here? This guy’s fast-food, strip-mall science.”

Reed Richards clutched his briefcase tighter. “This wasn’t our first stop, in case you forgot.”

Ben Grimm groaned in exasperation. “Stark Unlimited promised a response by the end of the week, Reed, ten days top!”

“We need to finish calculations before the end of the week if we want to time it right with the storm.”

The astronaut sighed. “You and your calculations. You do understand that if it wasn’t your scatterbrained tendencies, you would have already finished it, we could have send the application to SU in a more timely manner and we wouldn’t be staring… at that.” He waved a hand at the metal statue in disgust.

“… and we don’t need just the funds, Ben. Besides, Victor is not that bad.” Reed defended. “He’s just a little larger than life.”

Ben didn’t know whether to smile in honest fondness as his longtime friend got so passionate about his plans to help people or laugh and roll his eyes at how Von Doom designed the damn lights of the room to shade his face so they could only see his outline.

As far as billionaire scientists go, Ben really would have rather be facing Toni Stark. At least if the woman bullshitted them it would be clear as day. Ben still laughed at some of her interviews where people were so self-absorbed to the point of not realizing when Stark was giving them the finger. That and all her fame of an extremely well-respected businesswoman had to come from somewhere. People said a lot of things about Victor Von Doom, but “moral work ethics” weren’t words in his résumé.

“My research suggests that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm borne on solar winds might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life. In six weeks, another cloud with the same elemental profile will pass Earth’s orbit. A study conducted in space could fundamentally advance our knowledge about the structure of the human genome, cure countless diseases, extend human life, give kids a chance to live longer, stronger, healthier…”

Just as fondness for his friend was gaining on the trial in patience that it was dealing with Von Doom’s theatrics, said man had to open his mouth.

“Turn it off. Please.” Was asked as if in afterthought.

Here it comes. Ben suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

“I don’t think I explained my proposal fully.” Reed tried.

“No, I think you have.” Came the smooth response. “Same old Reed, always stretching, reaching for the stars with the weight of the world on his back.” If Ben didn’t know any better, he would have called the tone friendly teasing. “But dreams don’t pay the bills, do they?”

A magazine was thrown in their direction. “Reed Richards Bankrupt” in the cover.

Ben had to avert his eyes not to go over the very long-ass table and beat that…

“You remember…” Reed didn’t lose any steam and barely even glanced at the magazine. Ben admired that in Reed. “when we were in school, we talked about working together. Well, that’s what I was about to explain.” A click of the control and the holograms changed to what Ben recognized as a space station. “The storm is deadly, but the shields in your station’s control room are designed to protect any occupants inside.”

And finally, the Drama Queen deemed it the right time to turn the lights on.

“So it’s not just my money you want. It’s my toys. Tell me if NASA doesn’t trust you then why should I?”

Ben’s mouth dropped and Reed’s eyes widened. They exchanged glances. How did he…?

Von Doom chuckled. “That’s my job, to stay a step ahead. Know what other men don’t.”

And that was it for Ben who finally approached his friend a bit but didn’t bother to lower his voice.

“I can’t take this.”

“Ben, this is business, just work.”

“He’s right, Ben. It is just business.”

Only the astronaut turned around but both men recognized the voice. The physicist seemed to be frozen in place.

“I think you both know my Director of Genetic Research, Susan Storm.”

“One more thing he’s got.” This time it was murmured before Ben faced the woman and greeted her with a smile, genuinely happy to see her again. “Hey, Susie.”

“Hey!” Was answered with an equally large smile. “Oh, it’s so nice to see you. How’s Debbie?”

“Great.” Ben answered.

“Great.”

“How have you been?” Reed finally turned around.

“Never better.” No smile. A handshake.

Ben winced inwardly for his friend. That has to hurt.

And of course, “This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”

“No.” Susan shook her head.

“Not at all.” Reed hurriedly assured Von Doom.

“Good. Then you’re just in time to hear the great Reed Richards ask me for help. You know you made a lot of folks at MIT feel like a junior high science fair. Excuse me if I… savor the moment.”

Ben hid his fists in his jacket’s pockets.

“You back this mission… and I’ll sign over a fair percentage of any application…”

“The number’s 75%.” Reed barely had the time to feel his jaw dropping a bit before Von Doom kept going. “And its applications and patents.”

“What about his first born?” Ben snarked smoothly.

“Ben.”

But Von Doom seemed to find it funny. “Come on. 25% of a billion is enough to keep the lights on for a while, isn’t it? Maybe even pay off your fourth mortgage on the Baxter building. Deal?”

For Susan’s credit, there was no expression at all on her face, but Ben wasn’t paying attention to her. He was too busy contemplating how much of a dick anyone could be in the span of five minutes. He was pretty sure that Von Doom just broke the record.

“Deal.”

“To our future. Together.” Von Doom hugged Sue’s waist. “It’s funny how things turn out, isn’t it?”

Never mind, another record was broken.

“Hilarious.” At least even Reed seemed to be losing his peppiness.

Ben waited for them to be out of earshot. “He knew about NASA, maybe he made the call to shut us down. Do we even know if SU isn’t backed up with a bunch of bogey applications? They usually answer within three days and we will have to wait almost ten.”

“Ben, think of all the people that we can help if this works. Look, we got what we wanted, this is enough. A few days in space, it’ll be great. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Famous last words.”

Sue, Ben and Reed all entered into the elevator. It barely started going down when Sue couldn’t help it anymore.

“Reed, you should know those solar winds have been picking up speed.”

“I factored them into my coordinates.” He assured her.

Ben looked up. That was the thing between those two. Fights rarely look like a fight and suddenly they were at each other’s throats. Once you learned to spot the signs, it was easy to see when things start to get tense. As it was, they were all low voices and polite tones.

“Of course, you did, in theory. It’s a little different once you’re out there.”

“I assure you…”

“When are we leaving?” Ben interrupted.

Sue turned to him and smiled, nonetheless. “I’ll be scheduling the launch so you can call me in the morning for resources and crew.” She extended a business card to Reed.

“I think I remember the number.”

“It’s been changed.” There was no mistaking the smile on her face now.

So much for cutting it at the nub. Ben cleared his throat and gave a significant look at the physicist.

“As far as crew, I was hoping Ben could pilot the mission.”

“We already have a pilot on our payroll, but you’re welcome to ride shotgun.” Her smile widened. “Remember my brother, Johnny?”

He was saved from answering when they reached ground floor. As they made their way towards the entrance, Sue said her goodbyes and went back up.

“No.”

“I didn’t even say anything.” Reed protested.

“You didn’t have to…” Ben could feel his eyes widening.

Turning around, Reed spotted what shocked his friend into forgetting about Johnny Storm.

A black SUV. Nondescript at its core even though it was last generation and full of tune-ups as far as Reed could see, not that he understood all that much about cars. A little away from the curb as to not get in the way. A woman in plain grey business suit leaning against the side. Red shades were the most distinctive accessory. Dark hair pulled up in a ponytail.

It wasn’t the fact that she was really attractive that caught Ben’s or Reed’s eyes. Even if it was clear that most, if not everybody around them was only identifying a pretty girl. But that was…

“Toni Stark.”

~*~

“… with the revelation that Toni Stark has been suffering from heavy metal poisoning since 2008, much of her behavior have gained new perspective. While Palladium has low toxicity, after such a direct and long exposure to it, Dr. Stark would have been experiencing nausea, confusion, memory issues, chronic pain in many regions such as abdomen, joints aside from difficult breathing and so many other symptoms that it’s almost impossible to list them all without running out of time. It is truly a wonder that the woman managed to stand upright.”

“Indeed. Thankfully, we are not talking about just anyone, this is Toni Stark. And if she can save her own life while redefining how we see medical and physics limitations, well… it would be Toni Stark.”

“But Dr. Stark’s unusual experience with heavy metal poisoning, we thought it was our responsibility for “Futura” to have an issue just about the different kinds of metals that we are exposed to daily. Companies and services are legally obligated to provide their employees with protection as they do their jobs but people would be surprised at the kind of exposure we have in daily life. Following, we have a list of most common symptoms regardless of the kind of metal you were exposed to.”

“We also remind our viewers and readers that exposition may vary from months or even years to a few days.”

He usually didn’t bother following the news unless it affected him, or people like him. While the news about Toni Stark synthesizing a new element would attract certain crowds: from gossipers to the scientific community, it shouldn’t have interested him. The part where some shadow organization that “no one should know about” tried to take advantage of a dying woman didn’t even phase him. He would know that there are people like that and there would always be.

If not for the fact that the theme… the things they were saying… made it click in his head.

He wasn’t born like this.

And now… it was killing him.

Their experiences and exposures were nowhere near similar. He already exhausted his own friends with impossible problems and even them said that technology, medicine couldn’t do anything for him anymore.

“… if she can save her own life while redefining how we see medical and physics limitations, well… it would be Toni Stark.”

Toni Stark may be his only chance. But how does one contact someone that has to be, he is willing to bet, the busiest woman in the country? If not the world if half the things he read about her projects are true.

Sighing, the man reached into his pocket for the rarely used cellphone there.

It rang only once.

“Hello?”

“Charles… I need to… uh… schedule a meeting with Toni Stark.”

“… what?”

Logan sighed again and could already feel the headache forming. Although whether it was from heavy metal poisoning from the Adamantium or the situation, even he couldn’t say. Maybe a combination of both.

~*~

My endnotes got too long, lol:

~*~

Damn that was a long chapter.

First things first: with the H.O.W.A.R.D fully operational, Toni can have eyes everywhere and complete the blank spaces in her knowledge, let alone justify her knowledge if she decides/needs to act.

Being strangled should have been a dealbreaker all around, but she is heavily considering allying herself with him, and if she was to give Loki the benefit of the doubt then she has to do the same with Thor.

Also, I have HUGE issues with the “explanation” that “Well, no one died”. What the HELL? I recently gave the Titans series a shot if only because I’m a Jason Todd fan. Have been for years and once I learned that he was in the show, his first live action appearance… well… I had to watch.

Then we have a scene where Raven (a girl that is the daughter of a human with a Demon Lord, her story is a little hard to explain, but that is the gist of it) lost control of her powers, being possessed by her demon side, and almost killed Jason (a completely normal human) in a training session. Understandably, he was pissed as hell and told her to have that looked at, either by a doctor or a priest. Was it rude? Yes. Was it unwarranted? NO! Then I read a bunch of comments of “oh, he was so rude”, “yeah, but she didn’t kill him, so it’s ok”. NO, it is NOT ok! Seriously what the HELL?

If the point was reached where lives are threatened, it doesn’t matter if no one was killed. And it is SO much worse when it comes from supposed teammates! I just can’t BELIEVE that this has to be said.

We excuse Thor away because “culture”, “he didn’t kill Tony” or even “Tony deserved it” (and I go green at the last one), then we excuse Wanda because “Vision made her do it”, “Vision was fine”, “they are together now” (the last one is pretty much the hallmark of the beaten spouse, but if that’s what floats Wanda fans boats) and we excuse Raven because, “Jason isn’t likable”, “he didn’t die”, “she is more popular” but then I remember the crowd raging because of the scene where Apocalypse held Mystique by the throat when he was a VILLAIN and hellbent on world destruction/domination. Isn’t it supposed to be much worse coming from the “good guys” and “teammates”? I mean, I certainly don’t have the same expectations from a robber that corners me on the street that I have of my friendly schoolmate (not even friend), but perhaps I’m wrong in thinking that.

Sorry for the rant.

A few references from past chapters, 12 and 23 about Toni’s thoughts on Thor now seeing a more practical view.

Unfortunately, try as I might, I can’t find a reasonable and explainable reason to approach Maya Hansen. At this point, Toni didn’t want to resort to waiting people to blow up, but she genuinely doesn’t know what were bombs and what were… people. Approaching Maya NOW would just guarantee Killian going to the ground along with Extremis and its test subjects. So this guts her, but she can only wait as the H.O.W.A.R.D net collects data.

And then J.A.R.V.I.S comes up with his little idea *grins*. Also, I know that we joke about MCU villains becoming villains because Tony didn’t return their calls or didn’t smile back from across the room (I really laughed at that, I think it was in Tumblr), but did ANYONE understand Beck? I had to look up his name again so ridiculous the whole thing was, I only recalled the “Mysterio” name. He kept raving on about how revolutionary his tech was and how its potential was capped when Tony decided to use for therapeutic ends and I was just… ok, how else would he, the holder of the patent of the damn thing, want to use it? I re-watched the movie and there is no stance where he explained THAT tidbit. I don’t pretend to be some revolutionizing mind but if not for treating PTSD (a very noble goal in my opinion) all I could come up with by myself are “special effects for movies”, and I don’t think that’s what he meant. Like I wrote in the chapter, did Beck want SI to come up with the ideas to implement his tech? Also, for all those that list the name “BARF” as a legitimate reason… wow, Thor starting a war because he was called a princess kind of wow but ok.

And the guy that became what pretty much amounts to a scientist thug just because Obadiah yelled at him that “Tony Stark could do what you can’t” made me fear EVERYBODY with a sibling complex… that are not even siblings, and he doesn’t even have a last name!

Whatever, I looked it up and you can’t trademark an idea. Just like I put here. Apple and Samsung both have touch screen tech, but you mess around a bit with both smartphones and they are NOT the same because… well… patent contracts are really airtight these days. *shrugs*.

Let’s not talk about the last Fantastic Four movie in 2015 (good visuals though), but the 2005 was pretty watchable (and the reason I decided to have it in 2010, middle ground and all). I watched it again for this and aside from a few WTH moments, the plot was good enough *shrugs* and fit really well in the context of Stark Unlimited. *grins*.

Logan (the movie) pass in 2025 and “no mutant has been born in 21 years” meaning since 2004. Kudos to the guy for surviving with heavy metal poisoning for so long! I waited SO anxiously for this chapter *eyes shining*, almost as much as the Senate hearing to rub in everyone's faces that no, they can't have the armor and here is the list of reasons, it was something that I have yet to see in fics: Logan was suffering from heavy metal poisoning, same as Toni *grins*. See what I did there?

If there is a character that deserved SO much better, it’s Wolverine. Maybe even more than Tony.

Chapter Text

June 15, 2010

.

Toni Stark and Reed Richards never really met in the previous timeline despite all their overlapping activities and acquaintances. Sure, there was this conference or the other where they might have attended at the same time but that hardly counted when one didn’t hear the other’s voice. While the Avengers were busy in 2012 with the Chitauri, the Fantastic Four were fighting it out against Victor Von Doom with alien powers while a “Devourer of Worlds” was on their doorstep.

Air Force Colonel James Rhodes knew Air Force Captain Benjamin Jacob Grimm by name.

Richards’ interests in portals (and the messes they issued) alongside his latest PhD in astrophysics put him on the path of Dr. Jane Foster.

Susan Storm’s PhD in genetics meant that she and Dr. Helen Cho were in each other’s general radars, even if Storm was more on the business side nowadays.

Johnny Storm, despite being quite a few years older, was good friends with Spider-Man… will be… good friends with Spider-Man.

How the hell did they not meet?

One thing Toni knew: they were as much of celebrities as she was and S.H.I.E.L.D would be shooting their own foot if they tried their hands on the Fantastic Four. Johnny would never go for their secrecy, Susan was too smart for that, Ben respected military chain of command too much for them and… would Reed even realize that they were trying to contact him? The man had the fame about living in his own little world.

Was that it? Toni Stark was the easier target because she was by herself? She frowned. Or maybe she just gave them too much attention and that’s why they kept coming back for more.

She finally saw Ben Grimm and Reed Richards getting out of the building and a brief glance of Susan Storm inside the elevator. Oh, that’s right, the Storm siblings used to work for Von Doom Industries. Toni knew the moment Grimm recognized her and that almost made her smile. People rarely spotted Toni Stark when she put a mind to blend in.

Pushing herself off her car, Toni approached them. “Dr. Richards, Captain Grimm. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Her hand was shaken in a daze and Toni suppressed a laugh. “Just Ben is fine, haven’t been Captain in years.”

“Well… Ben, have pride in earning the rank of an officer. Heaven knows it is not easy. I have watched Rhodey working up the ladder since college.”

Ben’s eyes lit up. “Colonel Rhodes? I heard of his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel a few years ago. It was well deserved.”

“He will be happy to hear that. He greatly admires you.”

That seemed to make him happy and Toni had to admit that those two probably would hit it off.

“Dr. Stark, it’s an honor.” Richards shook her hand next.

“Likewise. I apologize for the delay in your application for a grant in SU. It seems that there were quite files that were sent as jokes. We suspect some bored teenager.”

“Well, I agree with the ‘teenager’ part.”

Toni raised an eyebrow at Ben, but Richards had already shushed his friend.

“Nevertheless, it is an interesting proposal. I read your papers and the theory is sound even if Dr. Banner is wary of radiation nowadays.”

“Dr. Bruce Banner?” He asked without really needing confirmation. It was all over the news and Richards would pay attention if two of the most brilliant minds of their generation were now working together. “He also read it?”

Toni smiled. Reed had the same child-like excitement whenever about science that she could relate to and only ever saw in Helen, Maya and Bruce before.

“Yes. I would like to invite you both for a… quick drive around. With fewer listening ears.”

They weren’t attracting a crowd since Reed and Ben weren’t well known and Toni knew how to blend in, but still…

“Yes.” Ben pushed his friend forward before he could even open his mouth.

Both startled as Toni joined them in the back… the huge back that more looked like a limousine than a SUV… and there was no driver.

“Is there anywhere you need to be? I can give you guys a lift.” Toni offered.

“Er… Baxter building, please.” Reed winced a bit, feeling like he was treating Toni Stark like a cab.

“Jay, you heard the man.”

“Of course, Miss.” Came from the car dashboard.

Reed’s eyes lit up. “An AI? A fully functioning AI?”

“Yes, I keep Jay in the downlow though. Not willing to commercialize him and not willing to mass produce sentient beings.”

“So you’re telling us about him because…” Ben prompted and recognized a shark’s grin.

“Who would believe you?”

And he already liked her better than Von Doom, but then again, there weren’t many that Ben didn’t like better than Von Doom.

“About the SU grant?” Ben took initiative when he saw Reed was still tongue-tied.

“Well… actually, I, personally, can’t do much about it. I may be CEO, but I am not all powerful. I cannot just decide to give it to this or that person because I liked the project so much. The examining board would actually have justifiable causes to ask for an injunction if I did that.”

Ben almost blurted out that Von Doom did just that, even if the man wasn’t parameter for much.

“Ben.” Reed warned. They were under NDA after all.

Toni looked at Reed’s nervous disposition to Ben’s unhappy one. They really didn’t like Von Doom even before the hole super villain shtick, uh?

Not that she didn’t understand it. The guy was smoother and much more intelligent than Obadiah Stane, greedier than Darren Cross and shameless enough to ask for people’s firstborn if he thought he could get away with it like Norman Osborn.

With Reed Richards claiming bankruptcy… she had an educated guess of how the meeting went if Doom agreed with their project.

“The grant and Dr. Richards’ paper on clouds of solar radiation is not the reason I wanted to meet up though. I apologize for the… less than professional settings and for not scheduling ahead for a bit of your time, but the less we are seen together the less… unfriendly parties will see you as my… allies, I suppose.”

“I thought that those guys… uh… S.H.I.E.L.D, went to the ground.” Ben volunteered.

And Toni was already half-way in love with him. A man that watches the news!

“They did, but they are hardly the only ones.” And they couldn’t protect themselves as of now.

No powers, no financial resources, and no support from the public. They were easy pickings.

“If not about my papers or the SU grant, may I ask what other reason you would have in approaching us?”

She turned to Richards. “You are right. The storm can be the catalyst to many biological changes. I don’t know about the part where it triggered our evolution billions of years ago, but it can change the human DNA. It will hit you full in the face and… for a complete lack of a better term, Enhance you.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m understanding what you’re saying.” And that hasn’t happened to Reed since… never.

Stark’s eyes clashed with his and Reed held his breath at the intensity of the gaze.

“I’m telling you that I already know what will happen. I knew before I ever read your papers, before you even thought of trying to sign up for a grant at SU or with Victor Von Doom. I knew you would be here today with enough accuracy that I was waiting for you while you got out of the building and I know that you are right about the cloud and what will happen once it hits. So I ask you, Dr. Richards… as one of the most brilliant minds of the twenty first century, the one whose IQ on record is the highest ever registered even if science has yet to come up with a test that can accurately measure ours… how do you think I know all that?”

Toni leaned back and watched as Richards thought about it all. It wasn’t her intention to ignore Ben, but Richards was a man of science, of hard, empirical proof. Blurting out time travel to his face without any evidence was a guarantee of being ignored or start a long-winded conversation on how that is scientifically possible or impossible.

This was a stroke of luck in her part to be honest. With the storm hitting in six weeks and no sign of Richards’ name anywhere on the news, Toni assumed that something changed and that the Fantastic Four may not happen. Richards walks around under the radar though and aside from the bankruptcy “news” that was more on the gossip spectrum, there was nothing. And Stark Unlimited wasn’t a thing last time.

Stroke of luck.

“That is impossible.” Richards was eyeing her like she was an alien.

“Tell me your hypothesis.”

“Some of it might be explained by your new satellites. Or you could have hacked the information. But the only people that knew I would be here today were Ben and Victor, I scheduled it directly with Victor… through a phone call. And yet… you were right outside the door. The car’s hood was still warm, you got there… minutes… before we left the building. You could be predicting… maybe making your own calculations about the solar winds but you are talking with certainty that we would be caught unaware and what would happen later. Not because it is difficult to accurately predict and measure natural occurrences, but… as if… you… already… knew… saw.”

Ben frowned at his friend. “Reed?”

“Did you… were you…”

Toni shrugged. “Never tried to find a way, actually. It was someone else, through other means.”

“Other means?” Richards repeated. “What possible other means? This doesn’t exactly have an option number two, unless it was a complete accident, down to the results.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. But that is inconsequential for now. You are a man of science, you won’t listen, not now. It took me years to reach a place where I wouldn’t break down in hives at the mere word. Let’s go back to the part where you are comfortable with: science.”

“If not to discuss how you can possibly bend the fourth dimension to your will… what… are you here to warn us, with a message?”

The billionaire had to smile at that. “Einsteinian, uh?”

“When it suits.” He shrugged.

“Gravity had nothing to do with it, though. In two years, we will be fighting in two fronts. We managed well enough, but the results, especially the casualties could have been diminished if we had coordinated not that either of us would have had even entertained the idea to predict the threat. But in eight years you will be too busy in some other dimension, but I will need you here. The whole universe will need you here. Believe me, my plans were actually just to wait it out, but it would be a major asshole move on my part not to at least warn you about what is coming.”

“What are you guys talking about?!” Ben had enough of… whatever this was.

“I time travelled. About the bit that concerns you: The solar storm will hit you full in the face and give you powers. I originally was only ever going to approach you after you were all super because in eight years some Titan alien will come to Earth to get what are called “Infinity Stones”. Hundreds of years old, he believes that erasing half of all life in each planet will save the species from consuming the natural resources of their planet and causing their own extinction like what happened in his own home world. There are six Stones in total and two right now on Earth but two more will show their faces before long and if he gets his hands on all six, with a literal snap of his fingers, he can erase half of all life on the universe. His species live hundreds and hundreds of years, but he would need much more time than he has to do what he believes needs to be done.” Toni eyed the slack-jawed expressions and chuckled a bit. “Bet you couldn’t have gotten that from me knowing at what time you’d be getting out of the building.”

Ben shook himself out his stupor. “What the hell? What the… what?”

“The fact that I am emphasizing the threat we will all be facing in a less than a decade is my pitch to you. Ultimately it is your choice… just like it’s Susan and Johnny’s Storm’s, but they… uh… yeah you’re gonna need to be the ones to reach out to them, I have exactly zero ideas how to get to them without violating a dozen of social norms… and laws.”

“Pitch?”

“Susan?” Ben and Richards spoke at the same time.

“Yes… pitch. Like you wanted to pitch Dr. Richards’ solar storm project to SU. Susan and Johnny Storm would also become Enhanced by the storm.”

“Miss, we will be arriving at the Baxter building in twenty seconds.”

“Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S. This is it.” Both men stared at her and Toni elaborated. “That’s the general of what I know concerning you. I’m sorry, we… haven’t exactly been besties last time around, I have no idea… how you… personally reacted aside from the news. Johnny Storm seemed to like it and Richards, you seemed intent on finding a way to reverse it at first and then the attempts tapered off. Resignation or owning up to it… I don’t know. No idea on Sue Storm or you, Ben.”

Ben stumbled inside and Reed turned to her.

“The entire universe?”

And Toni had to admire that in Reed. Not only he already understood that they weren’t alone in the universe, that there was sentient life out of there, but the scope of what Thanos would do. Ultimately, it wouldn’t only be those that Thanos directly killed that would lose their lives, but all those that depend on them. Be it children or the elderly and infirm without caregivers, to drivers, pilots…

The entire universe was too abstract for Pepper, so she focused on what she could help with. And while the same couldn’t be said of Colonel James Rhodes and former Marine and SWAT Happy Hogan, they ceded command to her as the one that had more information.

She had yet to disclose everything to Bruce.

“There is an argument of more qualified personnel… but as someone on the outside… you guys did an amazing job. We will need everybody, Dr. Richards. Everybody that can help.” Richards nodded but before he could take another step away and join Ben, Toni remembered something. “Oh, I doubt you’ll be able to convince Doom not to join in the mission,” especially since she heard that the man proposed to Susan Storm in that mission, “but do me a favor… don’t trust him.”

Reed frowned at her. “Victor… he will…?”

“Your first villain.” Toni shrugged and stretched her arm. “My card. If you have any more questions or if Dr. and Mr. Storm have any questions. This number will give a direct line to J.A.R.V.I.S. I can’t promise to know all the answers though, like I said, unintentionally or not, we kept our distance.” The card was heavy, as if made of metal. Silver with white numbers on it. “I will be in New York for the next two weeks, if you guys want to meet up.”

Chapter Text

June 16, 2010.

.

Baxter Building, New York.

.

“That is ridiculous.” Susan crossed her arms.

“That’s so cool, I’m in.” Johnny waved his sister off and Ben groaned from where he was sitting.

“Johnny, think of what you’re agreeing with. Say that… we believe you… her… she is asking us to face someone with the power to kill half of all life in the universe. To risk our lives—”

“Defending people.” Reed interrupted her. “Saving them.”

That was the whole purpose of the space trip to study the cloud in the first place. Reed considered the ramifications and, if there were no negative side effects to their overall health… he was willing to do it.

Susan pursed her lips. “Be that as it may, why not enlist some actual professionals for this? Why at least not enlist more people for this? Military, Army, Air Force, the Marines…”

“That can be one of the questions we can ask her.” Reed agreed readily. “She gave me her direct number and said that she would be in town for the next two weeks if we had any questions.”

Johnny leaped from his seat to grab the card thrown on the table. “Guys, do you know what this means? We have Toni Stark’s personal number. Ok, if I wasn’t in before, I am now.”

Susan sighed and put her face in her hands.

“Look, we have a lot of questions, Ben and I slept on this before calling you guys… so do the same and sleep on it. Go about your day, schedule the launch.” Sue opened her mouth, but Reed hurried in saying, “Doesn’t mean anything, just go as you normally would, we have six weeks to decide anything.”

“We told you guys everything she told us. She is leaving it up to us. We decide what to do with it because, even with Dr. Stark encouraging us to go, she can’t force us, she knows that. She could have just kept mum and let things roll but she didn’t because she knew that we deserved the chance to choose for ourselves. The way she didn’t, the way Dr. Banner didn’t. Honestly, I’m kicking myself for not bodily restraining Reed and waiting for SU’s answer before we ever got to Von Doom… no offence.” Ben belatedly added when he remembered that Sue and Johnny both worked for the man.

“I want to talk to her.” Susan shook her head.

“That was a given.” Ben motioned to the card.

~*~

“How would you like to meet then?” Toni was eyeing the dust covered furniture with a detached glance.

It has been many years since the last time she came here.

“Uh… maybe in the Baxter building?”

“That may not be the smartest idea, like I said a couple of days ago, as of right now it’s probably not good to have connections with me. At least for now.”

S.H.I.E.L.D did a good job going to the ground but, Toni smiled, she also did a good job by giving every single piece of information her Two Way Street program managed to reach which, ironically, didn’t get to Barton yet to the federals… and the internet. The most easily accessible were the files they accessed either more recently or more often so what they have on her was good to go plus some other projects from Howard that really shouldn’t be on their hands. Five years is the statue of limitation on theft of property. And if they showed their faces again before that time…

She probably could find them easily enough but if they were so happy hiding away and keeping away, Toni was fine letting the FBI do their job. J.A.R.V.I.S had access to their full databases, but Toni believed in limiting the damage. Romanoff, Fury and Coulson were the only ones to step on her toes, so that’s who she gave to the federals. No reason to make enemies out of the entire agency, not that Romanoff and Rogers (and Wilson, come to think of it) thought of that tidbit.

Toni calculated how the invasion in 2012 will go down. If they are not banging on her door then it means she would have even more room to maneuver and have Bruce, Jennifer, maybe the entire team of Defenders… with some hope the Fantastic Four to ask for help instead of relying on S.H.I.E.L.D’s so called “handpicked team” because no one would be questioning so hard how she knew to call for help. Sure, the smarter ones will notice her swift response, but with Toni having contacted them so sooner, she had more material to work with.

With a sigh, Toni wondered about herself. “You guys can come to Stark Mansion, it’s… not very habitable but should be inconspicuous enough and the security, although in need of some update, should be enough. I will pass along the address if you are agreeable.”

For now, she was letting sleeping dogs lay. Trojan Horse and Two-Way Street are still inside. If they moved, Toni would know. And if they moved against her, the Trojan Horse would spring.

~*~

“Wow.” Johnny got out of the car and eyed the impressive mansion on the other side of the impressive gates where Toni Stark herself was waiting for them.

Ben and Sue could see that the cab driver didn’t recognize where he was or who was waiting for them. Stark was wearing comfortable jeans and a shirt and looking more like the modern housewife than billionaire industrialist.

She waited for the cab to leave before offering her hand.

“Nice to see you again, Ben, Dr. Richards. And nice to meet you, Dr. Storm, Mr. Storm.”

“Oh, please, Johnny… John if you ask nicely.” Was smoothly offered by the youngest of the four and Toni had to make a double take at how much this guy looked like… what the hell?

A bit shorter and not as muscled by magical super steroids… but…

“Johnny it is then.” Toni offered a polite smile automatically and pretended not to notice Susan and Ben smirking.

“Ouch.” He held his chest mockingly.

“Susan is fine.”

“Reed is fine as well.”

“Then please call me Toni. Please, come in. I really apologize for the less than ideal… organization. I haven’t been here since I graduated MIT.”

They made their way inside and the four visitors politely didn’t comment on the sheets covering everything and the dust on top of it.

“You guys went to college together?” Johnny pointed at Reed and Toni.

“No. Reed is five years older than I am, he graduated at eighteen and I started at thirteen. He had already left when I started.” Toni explained briefly.

“Tough luck, it would have been funny to have you both in the same class. Nightmare for everyone else probably.”

The billionaire couldn’t help but smile at the fun-loving, good-humored twenty-three-year-old. Toni was twenty-five but she doubted that it was only the two years difference that made him so much lighter.

“It would have been interesting.” Toni pretended not to notice how Ben blanched at the thought and opened the door to the meeting room she gave a quick cleaning the day before.

It wasn’t very big since it would only be the five of them talking but had the right outlets for her to install a small holoprojector.

“Please sit. On what would you like to start?”

Susan leaned forward. “I think we start with the premise that everybody here believes in what you told Reed and Ben. About this… Titan, about the threat he poses and about what would happen in that mission in six weeks… with us.”

Toni nodded and Sue gave a pointed look to Reed who picked up where she left off. “Why not put qualified personnel to… receive these powers? We are scientists, not military… not fighters. Not even Ben… uh…” He trailed off at the groan Johnny let out but from the yelp that interrupted it and Sue’s movement, she kicked her brother in the shin.

“Because I don’t like to mess with a winning formula. I trust you know about General Thaddeus Ross.”

Ben grimaced. “Quite the blotch for the Army. I have been watching his trial, at this point it is only a matter of how many years he will be put away for.”

“Yes. I interfere, and not saying that I could because this project… I literally don’t have a way in, and I don’t see Victor Von Doom heeding my advice after all.” All four had to agree on that. “Even if I could put other people there to be Enhanced, there is no guarantee that they would be trustworthy people. That would use those abilities for the sake of the billions in the world instead of millions in US.”

“Surely you know people in the military that you trust… uh, Colonel Rhodes, for example?” Sue thought out loud.

“Colonel Rhodes is the exception to the rule. We have known each other since my first year of college. Everybody else I know by name but not personally. Last time around you guys did a very good job. Prioritizing the general population all over the world.”

Reed waited but when Sue didn’t say anything else, he turned to Toni. “Will there be any ill side effects… to our health?”

“As far as I know, “no”. You guys have been active for eight years when this happened.” She motioned to herself. “And I have heard of no such a thing. Bear in mind, however, that, especially the groups, they tend to… keep the problems to themselves.”

“What does that mean?” The other woman in the room asked.

“In simple words: we weren’t close. In the major fights, we were busy with something else, I only know of what you guys told the public and what the news showed. Neither of which mentioned anything about health issues.”

Susan nodded. Her brother let out a huge breath very noisily. “Oh, I can talk now?”

“Please.” Toni waved her hand.

“What are our powers?” He asked with a grin.

“Johnny!” His sister reprimanded.

“What? It is an important question. How will we know what we will be getting ourselves into?”

The inventor raised an eyebrow. “He does have a point. I have prepared some rudimentary files on what I know about you guys… like individual skills. Always keep in mind that I don’t know much, we kept out of each other’s ways. Would you like to do this one on one or in group?”

“Can be in group.” Ben shrugged.

“We are in… uncharted territory, the more input the better.” Sue agreed.

Johnny just grinned again, and Reed nodded.

“Ok.” The holoscreen activated and read “Reed Richards”. “Those are graphics and sketches that I had Friday procure or produce for me.” She didn’t explain who Friday was.

They watched as “Reed” stretched all his limbs, changed shape into other objects and people, changed his voice. Even stretched his own neurons in order to process more information at a time.

“Fascinating.” Reed muttered.

Toni nodded. “Yes, I think your muscles, all your cells now can produce a pretty much unlimited quantity of collagen and elastin which also means an increase in general strength if you can manipulate the density of your muscles, aside from the natural increase in endurance.”

However, they also watched as extreme temperatures were dangerous. Extreme heat and he couldn’t maintain shape anymore. Extreme cold and there was a real danger of… breaking.

“Oh god!” Sue exclaimed.

“I never saw something like that happening.” Toni assured them. “But enemies have been known to use it.”

“Still… that is some range of abilities, the applications alone…” They all tuned Reed out.

“Next?” Toni motioned to the screen where now it showed “Susan Storm”. They watched as the sketch became invisible and turned other objects and people invisible too. Forming shields. “It’s not true invisibility. The few people I know that have this ability can either create a… state of confusion for those looking, fooling their minds or, in your case, I think, bend light around yourself and other objects, people as well.”

“Uh, what is that?” Sue pointed at some of the numbers as she… her sketch produced a force field.

“Just like Reed, you also have some weak points. The force field is a neuropathic ability. Meaning you create them with your mind and expel them through your entire body but more often through your hands, easier to control and mold. But I do suspect that it’s just a way to better visualize it, a mental crutch. Although I can be totally wrong, and you do really need your hands for the finer control. The more the shields strain, the more your brain strains. Meaning that some vases can become compromised due to inner pressure and… well… nosebleeds. That can be dangerous, but this goes a bit out of my area of expertise. Aside from the fact that I don’t have enough data on your powers, I can’t really say if this increases propensity for a stroke or an aneurysm.”

Sue wrote it down in a notepad that Toni didn’t even realize was there.

“Ok, please do me next.” Johnny wiggled his eyebrows and Toni chuckled.

How long ago it was that anyone was that shameless and… inoffensive with her? Just having a bit of fun without it being at her expense. Toni almost forgot that good-naturedly teasing and flirting for fun without being judged for it existed.

“As you wish.” The holoscreen changed again. “Increased core temperature. The metabolism is off the charts, producing heat nonstop that goes out through your pores.”

“Awesome!” The pilot smiled widely as the sketch burst into fire.

“And his vitals are all normal through that?” Sue’s eyes were wide at the possibility of her baby brother… catching on fire.

“I don’t know. He kept doing… this for eight years and… well… you guys needed to work through… uh… you needed some adaptation period and fights issued… publicly… but your force fields proved effective in containing all your teammates when they got… too rambunctious. So, I’m guessing that if this was proved to be harmful, you would be more than willing to physically restrain your brother.” The engineer shrugged but smiled in amusement at the look the blonde sent her brother. A look that promised she would do just that.

“Weaknesses?” Reed asked.

Toni opened her mouth and closed it… and opened it again. “Uh… physically speaking… deprive him of oxygen. No oxygen, no fire. I never heard of subzero temperatures being an issue for you. There doesn’t seem to be any… physical weakness tailored to his powers like yours. His temperature is, obviously, higher than a normal person’s, so it’s probably harder to get him drunk or to properly measure medication for him. Your first big public fight, you ordered Johnny to go “sun”, I don’t know if that’s an exaggeration but in case it isn’t, it probably means…”

“He can reach the temperature of the sun.” Her fellow genius muttered, completely stunned.

Johnny whooped. “Super awesome!”

“Uh… not really. Susan contained the heat, but if you truly reached the sun’s temperature…” Toni trailed off.

“You could burn everything under Earth’s atmosphere. Including human lives.” Susan completed with a look towards the younger sibling.

“Ok, not so awesome.”

“My turn.” Ben leaned forward.

“Here we go.”

“Ok… this looks like the Hulk.” And Johnny wasn’t wrong. “But uglier.” Toni wasn’t the only one to roll her eyes.

The way Ben gained mass, even if it was very rock-like appearance… and orange, did resembled the Hulk. He didn’t become that much taller, but he did become a lot broader.

“What the hell is this?” Ben murmured, horrified. He seemed unable to form any more words.

“Superhuman increase of strength and endurance. The rock-like appearance is not for show. Bullet proof… pretty much anything proof. I didn’t personally analyze much of anything, but people have compared your strength to the Hulk’s, yes.”

“Where are his ears?” The youngest participant of the meeting was two seconds away from bursting into laugher.

“Almost all cartilage is replaced by this hide. Which means not much flexibility. And that’s literally all I know.” She said apologetically at Ben who was still gawking at the image.

But Susan shook her head. “No. That is enough. Thank you, Dr.— Toni. Considering the threat ahead, you could have just not said anything and contacted us later.” She admitted that Ben was right about this. “Thank you for considering our choices in the matter.”

Ben gulped and averted his eyes from the image floating in front of him. “About this threat…”

Toni was an excellent actress, SI wouldn’t have gotten out of half of the scandals she was part of if she wasn’t, but no one could control blood flow. The four guests watched as not even her light makeup hid the fact that she was blanching.

“His is name is Thanos. Hundreds of years old and he is just middle aged. Capable of standing up to the Hulk without the Stones.”

“And his goal in life is erase half of it.” Ben muttered, just as pale.

Reed turned to his fellow genius. “What exactly are those stones?”

The billionaire sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I will tell you what I have been told and it’s not like I can prove or disprove anything. They survived the Big Bang and compose the six elements of the universe: Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time and Soul. The most powerful objects in the universe.”

“Is the plan destroying them?” Sue asked.

Toni made a face. “Even if that was feasible, and bear in mind that I don’t know the possible effects if we can even do it, it would have to be the right ones.”

“Because Time could reverse it, Reality can bring it back just like Soul and Power, depending on its limitations, can mimic either one to replicate the effects and reform them.” Reed completed. “So, the last ones standing would have to be Space and Mind”.

“Exactly.”

“But is it?” The other woman in the room turned to stare at Toni. “Feasible, I mean?”

“I don’t know.” She admitted. “Those things survived the creation of the universe. What I do know, however, is that one can block the other. It makes sense, after all. This is the Tesseract.” Toni waved her hand and showed the Cube. “It contains the Space Stone. It has been around since ancient times at the oldest records and I discovered that it has been hidden here by the Asgardians. I will explain later. It eventually was found by the Nazis, ended up in Red Skull’s hands and retrieved by Stark Industries and then in S.H.I.E.L.D’s possession.”

Ben groaned at that. Toni sent a commiserating smile.

“They are all in hiding, aren’t they?” Sue remembered watching about it.

“They are. But even if they were not, I would leave where it is.”

They gawked at that. “What?” Johnny managed to get out.

“In 2012, it will be used as a gateway. Space Stone after all. For an alien invasion led by Loki. He will bring the Mind Stone with him.” The holoscreen now showed Loki’s Scepter.

Reed’s eyes lit up. “You plan on making front with the Stones. So you need this Loki to bring the Mind Stone in the first place which can’t happen if S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t mess around with the Space Stone.”

Toni smiled. “Going back about what I said on one blocking the other. My father studied the Tesseract and discovered a new element.”

“The one you synthesized. I read your papers about Starkium.” The other genius quickly concluded.

The billionaire tapped the Arc Reactor in her chest without activating the nanites.

“That’s what powers it.” Ben had an insight. He wasn’t a scientist, but he was still trained in logic and strategy.

“Yes. The Mind Stone, as the name implies, has mind controlling abilities. But when Loki tried it with me…”

“It blocked it.” Reed muttered. “An element based on the Space Stone, blocked another weapon powered by the Mind Stone.”

“And I plan on doing that with all the Stones that make their way to Earth. In total four: Space will bring Mind, Reality will show up in 2013 and Time is already here. It should give us the edge.”

“Already here?” Susan repeated.

Toni expected it. “First I need to explain about the Asgardians since that will explain how the Tesseract got here and Loki and Thor. And then about Kamar Taj, that protects the Time Stone.”

Toni fully expected Susan’s derision at the “goat” comment and Reed’s shock at the magic thing.

Even if they ultimately decide not to go for it, all in all, an extraordinarily successful meeting. At least Toni knew that they would help, even if not with superpowers.

Chapter Text

"Seven hours?” Sue re-confirmed.

“Seven hours ahead of schedule. I read Reed’s papers and analyzed the data myself, his calculations all match. It should have been seven hours later. This was literally mathematically impossible to predict.” Toni was feverishly typing in her computer.

“You were right. Von Doom Industries board is against the mission, if not an injunction, the investors can pull back entirely. I tried to change Victor’s mind and… nothing. Yes, if this were successful, the potential profit would be astronomical, no pun intended, but…”

“It won’t be.” Toni closed her eyes and massaged her aching wrists. “I’m sorry, Sue.”

Unseen to Toni, the geneticist was frowning in bafflement. “What for?”

“When I didn’t see anything on any scientific magazines, I assumed that I did something to change Reed’s plans. The man is very discreet, it was a stroke of luck that I saw his application at SU in time to intercept Reed and Ben just as they were leaving the meeting with Doom.”

Sue gawked at the ridiculousness. “Toni… I can’t say it loud enough without damaging my vocal cords: this is not your fault. Time travel and genius mind don’t make you infallible or omnipotent or omniscient, I would know, making Reed a little less oblivious is an uphill battle. And if half the things I saw all over the news are true, I think you have your hands full and that’s not even counting you preparing for some crazy alien annihilation. I don’t even want to think about how much your schedule was thrown off so you could take a few days to meet us.”

The billionaire winced. Sue had no idea how right she was. Toni was running behind on so many SI and SU deadlines that it was ridiculous. Not even at her most irresponsible drunken phase she ever saw this much backlog. And running behind on SI and SU means running behind on her preparations for Thanos as well.

“From your silence, I hit the nail on the head, uh?” The blonde’s voice held a tinge of guilt in it.

“I… I will manage.” Toni didn’t try to offer any platitudes though. This will be a nightmare to put in order, but it wasn’t like she could have sent Happy, Pepper or Rhodey in. They were just as busy and didn’t have even the secondary intel she did. “It’s kinda impressive that you made this leap, though. Especially with the date of the launch getting close, you must have other things in mind.” The inventor commented briefly.

Susan huffed. “I do have a bachelor’s in Mass Communication, so I deal with the business side as well, even if only to address the public and explain in layman terms what we are doing. I don’t act as a geneticist at Von Doom’s, Toni, I’m basically the PR and acquisition of the Genetics Department, prettily named “Director”. Launching a new project is already enough to get a lot of over hours, launching several at the same time plus your alien project plus holding off shady organizations? I’m surprised you didn’t fall asleep in the middle of our questions.” Toni was silent for so long that Sue frowned. “Toni?”

“Hey… uh… I have like… 12% of an idea. A thought rather than a fully formed idea. But uh… yeah.”

“… is that genius talk for “I just had an idea but I’m thinking so hard on it that I’m barely paying attention to what is coming out of my mouth”?”

“… you are really used to Reed, uh?”

Sue’s voice was flat. “What tipped you off?”

Toni rolled her eyes, amused despite herself. “Well… good luck.”

“Thanks. You too.”

~*~

Five weeks later and Toni watched as Von Doom launched the rocket containing five people. The industry, the rocket, the space station, and the money being his, there was no chance to convince Doom to stay behind as, no matter how one sees it, the man does have the right to be there, particularly since Toni even tried that he wasn’t qualified for a space mission angle only to find out that Doom had the certification for it.

How can the same man be so idiotic to risk his entire company in one mission and yet prepare all the practical parts for it at the same time?

~*~

“Seven hours.” Sue reminded them. Johnny saluted with a huge grin. Ben nodded resolutely and Reed tried a smile as they watched Sue go with Victor.

“Are the samples ready?” Reed asked distractedly.

“Yep. And seven hours ahead of schedule.” Ben was going for sarcasm and missed by a mile.

True be told, he has been watching out for the skinny nerd that Reed was and still is since he can remember. Reed already decided so now it was up to Ben. And the astronaut spent the last three weeks almost not sleeping as he saw… the thing, made of rocks, orange… every time he closed his eyes.

But it wasn’t like the Hulk. Dr.— Toni assured him that he still… that it was still him, in mind. The only thing that changed was his looks.

Looks. It seemed really superficial when, in a little more than seven years, half the universe would be in danger. Half of the universe. A snap of fingers away from becoming dust.

Could he really turn away from that? Leaving Reed and even the Blond Model Johnny Storm to face that without him? When he knows that he could have done something to help?

Ben talked about that a lot with Sue. The geneticist confiding in him that Johnny, for all his Devil May Care attitude actually matched her argument for argument. From clichés of naming the whole thing “a higher calling” to the checkmate of saying, “I’m an adult, and this is my decision and my life to put on the line.” To say that Ben was impressed wasn’t even scratching the surface.

Ultimately Sue decided to go for it.

Toni was right about everything on this. From the risk to the Von Doom’s company to the decisions the man himself would make.

Even if Reed could have pulled back – 75% of the profit wasn’t the only thing Doom got out of that meeting – and all four of them said ‘no’, the greedy bastard would just go for it anyways with other people. Other, uninformed, people that didn’t know what that choice would entail and that may not have their luck in the genetic lottery and die or have completely different set of abilities that could kill themselves and other people.

In that perspective, there was no choice. If not them, then it would be four people… or five if Doom still insisted on going along, that would be going into this having no idea what awaited them later.

The fact that Sue’s immediate deciding factor was Johnny and Ben’s was Reed… well… someone needed to watch their backs.

Ben thought of a “team” composed of Johnny Storm and Reed Richards and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Debbie was, unsurprisingly, impatient, and wary at his vague warnings about the dangers of the mission. But ultimately understood that this mission was important and could impact both of their lives, especially with the wedding that has yet to be scheduled. But was he really willing to put that kind of burden on her? He knew Debbie and he knew that she wasn’t exactly the tough girl stereotype.

People need to be made from sterner stuff to handle it. He knew the persecution against Mutants for years with that guy that he sometimes heard Reed muttering about, Hank McCoy, pretty much giving up his scientific career for a diplomatic one.

And yet… if Ben didn’t fight, there might not been a planet, a Debbie to be mad with him and struggle anymore.

That strengthened his resolve.

And he needed all of it when he saw the cloud.

“Guys! Five minutes out!”

As Sue ran to get to her brother, not even Johnny managed to maintain a cocky attitude as the solar wind got closer with each passing second.

Ben met Reed’s eyes and they braced for impact.

~*~

“Ah, come on! It’s been three days already!” Johnny whined.

“Be patient, now it will have to be us to fill the blank spaces on the information we got.” Sue cautioned. Deliberately not saying Toni’s name.

Toni Stark might as well be the Anti-Christ in the competitors’ companies. While Von Doom was relative new blood, especially in America, that didn’t make Stark Industries any more palatable to their CEO.

Silently, ever since they woke up, they have been trying to test if they got powers at all. On the third day, the grey hair grew at Reed’s temples, just like Toni said.

Any minute now…

~*~

“Miss, it seems that the Fantastic Four have just made their debut. Dr. Richards, Dr. Storm, Mr. Storm and Captain Grimm are in the Brooklyn Bridge, having just saved a firefighter truck and its members from falling, revealing thus, their powers in public.”

A holoscreen lit up just in time for her to watch Ben finishing with the firefighter truck.

Toni smiled and reached for her phone. Ignoring the twinges in her bruised arm because of her last relief mission.

~*~

Unknown number.

“Uh, hello?”

“Don’t yell out my name.”

“T—! Hey!”

“Nice save.” Reed shrugged his shoulders a little sheepishly.

“I take it you watched the news?”

“And saw Johnny bragging, yep. Did something happen? Usually quarantine after a mission gone wrong lasts more than four days.”

Reed gave a cursory glance around before answering in a whisper. “Ben can’t turn it off.”

“… what?” It was the laughing tone that tipped him off and Reed blushed bright red.

“Ben can’t return back to his normal appearance.”

Toni opened her mouth. “… what?”

~*~

“What did she say?” Ben gulped.

Even as numb as he was, he couldn’t help the sparkle of hope in his chest.

Toni Stark has said again and again how she didn’t know all the details. They knew that going in. But the woman was still a genius comparable to Reed Richards, surely with those two working together…

“She is en route back to the country. Probably won’t be the first time we will miss each other. Toni thought that we had stayed in quarantine longer, but she did watch the… uh… what happened in the bridge but also thought that we happened upon the situation last time.”

“Instead of causing it.” Ben closed his eyes and didn’t see when Reed winced.

Although it wasn’t his fault, not directly, his appearance still made that driver career out of the bridge that triggered the whole situation. And people were praising them as heroes. Sure, Sue, Reed and even Hotshot Johnny Storm acted selflessly that day, but Ben… he was fixing a situation he inadvertently caused.

Perhaps, more than ever, Ben understood why Toni Stark left the weapons manufacturing business. It may not have been her fault, but she contributed to it. He was military, he was part of the crowd that thought Stark was abandoning their own troops, but…

“Anyways, I think Toni found a way to get here… uh… inconspicuously. She was vague but…” Reed shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “She also sounded… guilty.”

The astronaut snorted. “That woman really needs to stop doing that. We went into this even knowing that her knowledge is spotty at best.”

There was a crash and a familiar smell of something burning.

Reed groaned and Ben smiled. “Now this is fun. Toni said he could fly but never said she knew how he learned it, and Johnny is determined on getting it down before showing off.”

“At least this keeps him inside until we figure things out.” The physicist sighed.

“Guys!”

“Speak of the devil.” Ben muttered.

“When can we use our suits?” Johnny’s tee-shirt was barely hanging onto him and Ben didn’t even want to know what the couch was covering for the bottom half.

“Toni did say that she recognized our… ugh… hero suits, as Von Doom’s Swan Lake patent.” Ben agreed, if only to avoid seeing more of Johnny than he ever wanted to see.

Johnny and Ben saw the confused look on Reed’s face before the genius went to get the suits. And they knew he was thinking about how Sue was in a bad mood when she gave them their suits for the mission.

“He has to be the world’s dumbest smart guy.” Johnny tsked.

And the astronaut could barely defend his friend. When Sue came into the room already with the extremely form fitting suit before they boarded the rocket, looking like the definition of swimsuit model, Reed compliment the tech and science behind the fabric.

Even Ben, with his more than ten years of experience with Dr. Oblivious, had to admit this particular moment blew his record out of the water.

Chapter Text

“The material is not unlike undifferentiated micro-clusters. They respond to new environments. Meaning that while their original function was to maintain body temperature stable, the exposure to the storm destabilized the molecules just like your DNA was fundamentally changed.”

There was a projection of Toni in the middle of the kitchen table.

“They also adapted with us. Becoming invisible. Changing sizes on demand or remaining impervious to flame.” Reed was slowly extending his arm to see the limits of the fabric, so far, it seems to be the same as his own.

“You guys look like an 80’s rock band.”

“You know, Ben, this material stretches. I’m sure I can figure out a way to make it fit.” Sue offered.

“Ah nah! I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that.” He waved a hand at her.

Toni was a little distracted by the… “cup”… in Ben’s hand. Was that a metal measuring jar? So she was a bit taken by surprise by Johnny, who had so far preened and made silly poses in front of the mirror, speaking up.

“I love these costumes. They’re missing something, though. Needs, like, spice.”

“They’re not costumes.” Reed returned his arm to its proper size before turning to Johnny.

“You can’t use your powers in public.” His sister completed, which made the rest of the younger man’s enthusiasm deflate.

“You guys are worse than NASA.” He complained.

Toni suppressed a smirk. “Well, we can meet up at the Starbucks two blocks from Baxter Building. I really can’t be seen anywhere with Von Doom Tech. Which, by the way… did Doom let you mess around with his proprietary stuff?” She eyed the synthetic fabric a little warily.

“Well… he got us access to any of his resources to try and find… a way to fix this.” Susan didn’t meet her eyes, but her voice was casual.

Instead of just finding a way for Ben to be able to switch on and off and training their own abilities. Remained unsaid.

Toni raised an impressed eyebrow. She didn’t know that Sue had it in her.

“I will be taking a look around a bit earlier to see if everything is fine.” Sue smiled at the other woman and Toni blinked at the way it made her blue eyes lit up.

Reed was such an idiot. The billionaire knew that those two would end up getting married in two years-time but according to some of their interviews – which now that Toni knew about Sue’s degree, it looked like her handwork – they dated for a few years but Richards got cold feet about sharing an apartment of all things.

“Sounds good.” Toni said her farewells before ending the call.

~*~

With her hair down, no makeup and casual clothes, Toni looked more like a college graduate than the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company and Iron Woman. She opted for comfortable sneakers today, still sore from her last relief effort mission. For some reason she had completely forgot about the numerous natural disasters that hit so many countries in 2010.

A mudslide almost crushed her, and Toni could still feel the bruises across her right shoulder and right thigh. She was not in the mood for high heels. As it was, she was pretty sure she was walking funny.

“Hey! It’s Sue Storm, it’s the Invisible Woman!”

The call made her look up just in time to see Sue almost getting mobbed.

“Sue Storm! It is you! Listen, my kids love you.”

“Can I have an autograph?”

“Hey, can I take a picture?”

Toni blinked as Sue started to literally run away.

Oh, boy.

As the crowd stared around in confusion, Toni calmly walked towards the Baxter Building. She raised an eyebrow at the discarded clothes and casually picked them up.

“Taxi!” She raised a hand. “Baxter Building, please.” The traffic in New York was, per usual, horrible, which means her driver was sufficiently distracted.

“Thank you.” She paid the driver and hummed as she watched the building. Oh, well. Toni shrugged and decided to just go for it.

A completely bored look in her features made the guards avert their eyes and when the doorman kept staring, Toni turned to him and smiled a bit. “Hey, Jimmy.”

That startled the middle-aged man into giving a hello back.

Toni got into the elevator and eyed the magnetic card lock. She quickly got a phone case wallet from her purse, passing it over the sensor and J.A.R.V.I.S did the rest. The elevator dinged and the last thing she saw of the lobby was Jimmy scratching his head.

The billionaire saw a fist indentation in the elevator’s door. Too small to be The Thing’s, too big to be Susan’s… strong enough to bend the metal. Her eyes widened.

Getting a voice modifier from her purse that doubled as a really tacky necklace – she needed to work on this – Toni’s voice was higher pitched, girly, unrecognizable. Toni could disappear in a crowd if she put her mind into it, but now she needed to look and sound like someone else altogether now. At least until she checked something.

“Ah, excuse me, who are you?” Johnny eyed the peppy and nerd looking girl that somehow got access to their floor.

“Oh, hey, hi! I’m here for the job interview.” Toni smiled widely.

The blond ahed. “We are not hi—” and he seemed to realize that it was her. His eyes widened to comical sizes. “… What is it again?”

“To be Dr. Richards’ intern?” She asks a little hesitantly.

Johnny blinked. “Uh… Reed?!”

“What is it, Johnny?” The scientist came around the corner and frowned at the girl.

Although pretty enough to catch Johnny’s attention, there was something… off. Since when does Johnny call him to… introduce his… girlfriend?

“Oh! Dr. Richards it is such an honor!” She gushed and winced inwardly. Hurrying to shake the man’s hand, Toni quickly looked around the… compete mess with so many hand-made machines. Geez, and Pepper thought that Toni brought her work home.

But there it was. Well disguised and Toni doubted that anyone else would have spotted it if they weren’t looking for it. A camera. She got her cellphone and hurriedly created a chat group with Reed and Johnny.

It’s me, Toni!

“Uh… likewise…”

Johnny, as per usual, looked two seconds away from laughing. Reed, although a shitty actor, reacted fast.

“Well… nice to meet you.” His voice cracked and Toni suppressed a groan.

“Yeah, she just got here for the spot as your intern.” Johnny intervened. And Toni could have kissed him.

“Oh! I… I honestly didn’t expect any applicants.” His voice cracked again and even Johnny gave him a look. Far too amused, but…

Don’t react. Don’t look around. There is a camera hidden.

Johnny kept the blasé smile, but his eyes tightened.

Von Doom. Has to be. He answered.

“I will get the others. We meet in the lobby?” Johnny offered.

Although it made no sense whatsoever why anybody would leave, Toni would take it. Reed was hopeless. The physicist was just standing there looking lost.

~*~

They were in the room Reed gave Johnny. Probably the best bet really. The Thing was the current biggest threat, Reed could crack this issue, and Sue was… something or the other to Doom. Meaning that their rooms could be bugged.

A quick look around courtesy of J.A.R.V.I.S, and Johnny’s bedroom seemed clean… relative speaking. The man wasn’t the tidiest person in the world.

“Why would Victor even do that?” Sue’s question made Toni pause.

She tentatively looked at Reed. “Uh… you didn’t tell them?” She asked as delicately and softly as possible but winced a bit at the higher pitch that wasn’t her voice yet.

Reed opened his mouth, but Ben got there first. “Told us what?”

Toni eyed her fellow genius but when no word was forthcoming, she turned to Ben. “Perhaps I was too reticent. I told Reed that, as the Fantastic Four, the first villain you faced… was Victor von Doom.”

Ben exhaled and didn’t look the least bit surprised whereas Johnny just went speechless and Sue started to protest.

“Victor… look, Victor is a lot of things. But what you are saying… what… villain? So it’s not just a fight between us? He will… he will commit crimes?”

The billionaire made a face. “Among them, assault, destruction of private and public property, attempt murder of Johnny Storm and Reed Richards and there was a link between him and the murder of Ned Cecil. He was still fine before I got here, and I have been passively monitoring him, but I cannot guarantee his safety.”

“WHAT?!” Susan and Ben almost shouted at the same time and Toni tried to shush them. Indicating the possibility of their voices carrying to the other rooms.

“Johnny?” The other woman demanded.

“Uh… some rocket launcher with a heat seeking device. Human Torch’s first public appearance flying, he attracted the missile to the bay.” Toni said.

“Rocket launcher?” Sue sounded faint.

“He tried that crap with Reed too?” Ben wasn’t really asking but the inventor nodded.

“A hyper cooling unit. You guys gave an interview and Reed briefly mentioned it.”

All of them winced. They remembered when Toni was explaining Reed’s weakness.

“You didn’t tell us all that why?” The older pilot stared at his friend.

The genius sighed. “Partially because I didn’t want to believe, partially because… I thought that maybe we could prevent that.”

“Look, we were pressed for time, but I could have explained better. I focused too much on the changes your powers would have… physiologically.”

The three others didn’t look so happy, but Susan then frowned.

“Ned Cecil… the main stockholder of Von Doom Industries.” Susan muttered. Looking lost and pale.

“The IPO was brutal, and Doom is not exactly charisma personified.” Toni sighed.

Howard was smart and made sure that Toni’s skills in the business world kept up to par. Her hold on 68% of the shares made sure that she had a definite controlling interest of SI even if she decides to step down as CEO. But as a relative new company from a foreign CEO, Von Doom’s was a public company. The man just didn’t have the rapport to privatize it. Be it financially or otherwise. Not yet, and perhaps not ever after this.

“Ok, now what?” Ben glanced between Reed and Toni.

“I take it you don’t know… any way to stop this.” Reed looked at Toni.

“If you guys kept out of the public eye then Doom never left his house for all that he showed up in the news. Sequence of events: the mission with the cosmic rays, his company crashes and next thing anyone knows… he is killing people and attacking you.”

“As if the fact that we can’t leave without getting mobbed wasn’t bad enough.” Sue’s complain reminded Toni.

“Oh! I was… actually already close by when… anyways I got your clothes.” She took them out of her handbag.

The geneticist winced but took her clothes back gratefully. That coat had been expensive. “You saw that, uh?”

“Yeah.” Toni made a face.

“How… I mean, uh, that other day, the taxi driver didn’t recognize you either.”

Toni smiled at the not-question. “You need to create a public image and I mean that literally. Everybody is so used to seeing me in impeccable work clothes always with perfect makeup and hair or in the armor where, well, no one can blame me for being a little worse for wear, that no one expects Toni Stark to be wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, or… college kid with a fashion sense horrible enough to wear this necklace. Seriously, whenever people are expecting Toni Stark: red lipstick, red tinted glasses, megawatt smile, and glamorous businesswoman or gala dresses, as if I am two steps away from making a power play. When I want to go out for a cheeseburger, it’s a random tee-shirt and baggy jeans, or this.” She waved at herself.

Sue groaned. “That will take a while for us.”

Toni agreed even if she doubted Johnny would even try.

“Is there any way you can disable the camera or cameras?” Ben leaned forward.

“Without tipping Doom off? Unlikely.” It grated but Doom wasn’t an adversary to take lightly.

“Then we work around it.” Sue was still pale and shaken but seemed determined. “We… pretend to still be working on a cure, technically saying, true enough—”

“Yeah, it’s just a cure for ugliness.” Johnny jested and had to dodge the orange fist coming his way.

Everybody else ignored them.

“… where are we on that, Toni?” Sue asked and that stopped Ben from reaching to Johnny again.

And Toni doesn’t know what to say. “There are pictures of you, uh, in human form after the mission. We just have to see what triggers it. Reed told me that Sue’s invisibility is controlled by emotion just like Johnny’s flames, and yet Reed’s powers are… just something else that his body does, like if it was me stretching myself to reach something, he just stretches a lot more. We just need to know what your buttons are.”

“That makes sense.” Reed grabbed his friend’s shoulder.

Toni discreetly motioned to Sue. So when everybody else said their goodbyes, the blonde stayed behind.

“What is it?” She whispered just in case.

“I briefly saw something of the likes with Bruce.”

“The Hulk?”

“Yes. The more he accepted the Hulk and… uh… his personal history,” was the closest Toni managed to find without betraying Bruce’s trust, even if his future self’s, “the more control he had. The more the Hulk and Bruce Banner became one. I don’t think there are tests… physical tests we can perform that will help Ben.”

“Why not tell him that, why tell me?”.

Toni sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Because what would I tell him? ‘It’s in your own head, what is stopping you is you, get over yourself’?”

The other woman cringed. “Uh… maybe a little gentler…” But she got the point. “What do we do?”

“And that is why I told you. Reed may be his best friend, but much like… me… he is not exactly a sensitive, delicate social butterfly.”

Toni watched as Sue’s face contorted at that and she had to fight off a laugh.

“Yeah, you’re not so bad… no one is, but agreed.” Came the bland reply.

“And Johnny is… Johnny. After Reed, you know him best. So I ask you, what do we do?”

Chapter Text

Susan wanted to laugh and groan in exasperation at the same time. Toni was finally convinced to leave, right before everything went to shit at that according to her.

J.A.R.V.I.S was an amazing ally if one wanted Toni Stark to make healthy life decisions. Not that the woman always listened. And more often than not, it paid off well for the people she was helping, but the A.I’s priority was Toni Stark.

It was surprisingly honest, especially since J.A.R.V.I.S said just that to their faces and refused to be shamed into social norms. His words.

So they were in a videocall as Toni let J.A.R.V.I.S take command of the suit back to Malibu, California.

“I will keep you posted about Victor and about Ben.” Sue promised.

“Remember, Doom will try to get Ben out of the way first. Physically saying, he is the one that packs the meanest punch. Doom’s powers are nullified by Reed’s but also vice versa, however if Doom keeps his distance, his lightening will generate enough heat to compromise Reed’s elastin. While if you and Johnny gang up on him, you would overpower Doom, one-on-one fights are no good… sorry.” The billionaire would have shrugged if it would have been translated through the videocall.

“As much as it grates on the pride. I get it. Victor has the bigger gun.” Sue sighed at that. As if the man didn’t already have enough of a God complex. “Thanks, Toni.”

“You’re welcome.” Toni blinked at the gratitude.

The answer was almost automatic at this point. Sure, she wasn’t seeing a therapist… yet (Rhodey and Pepper weren’t exactly subtle with their mentions of various mental health professionals), but she remembered that one stressed point was to accept when people are grateful instead of waving it off, that was as unhealthy for them as it was for her.

Expecting Toni Stark to just solve the problems without so much as a “please” and Toni just interfering to help without even being asked was almost 50% of the problem. The remaining half was because Toni honestly had no idea if the Rogues were this much out of touch with reality or if she was that responsible for their spoiled personalities.

Sue ended the call and went to kitchen where Johnny was still pouting.

“I can’t believe she left without saying goodbye.”

“She did say goodbye. Turning you down isn’t the same thing as not saying goodbye.” His sister rolled her eyes.

“It wasn’t a good goodbye.” He insisted.

Ben snorted. “Don’t you think you’re a little out of her league?”

“Excuse me?!”

Sue sighed and turned on the TV where Johnny left it. A dirty bike competition or something.

~*~

“According to Reed, their powers are still growing. As much as he tried, Johnny can’t fly unless he is literally burning everything around him… that is not practical. It will be some time before their bodies reach homeostasis, perhaps only then Ben will be able to switch at will.”

“If Miss allows me, Ms. Walters has called eighteen times and sent innumerous texts with what I believe are, “emojis”.”

“… is this your subtle way to tell me to mind my own business?”

“Not so subtle, Miss.”

~*~

For all the increasingly violent texts she left in Toni’s phone, the billionaire had to admit that Jennifer put her training to good use. She never phrased things in a way that could be defined as a threat while still thoroughly intimidating. Toni was officially impressed.

“And this Maximoff hussy was just… what “taken in”? Like a puppy? With no never mind to how a city full of unrelated civilians became road kill because of her? And the rest just simply never thought that Bruce might have a problem with being replaced by her of all people?”

Jennifer was still trying to process how anyone can get away with working for a recognized terrorist organization with “I didn’t know it was HYDRA”… what, would U.S let people go because “they didn’t know it was ISIS”?.

Toni has a lot to say to that. But since most of it could have been easily solved by Toni drop kicking half a dozen of freeloaders onto the curb, it would just shift the blame. Eh, “shift the blame” finally being correctly used in context.

“Bruce?” Rhodey frowned at the extremely pale man.

“Oh, Bruce.” Jennifer put her arm around her cousin.

“Johannesburg has a population of more than four million. But you said that Maximoff got me in the shipping docks… Johannesburg is not a coastline city…”

Toni bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

Jennifer’s eyes gained a green tint. “Say that Maximoff also didn’t know that messing with your mind would result in Ultron. She also didn’t know that triggering the Hulk with his worst fears would get her?”

“Didn’t she blame you because a Stark Industries shell hit her apartment and killed her parents? She basically recreated it with hundreds of other families.” Rhodey shook his head in confusion and revulsion.

“Didn’t she volunteer to HYDRA? Aren’t they Captain America’s sworn enemies? Did he crumble because of doe-eyes or because of big boobs?”

Jennifer’s question made Toni choke on her own tongue.

“Uh… she is… the HYDRA kid I mentioned.” She mumbled into her coffee mug.

“What?!”

“I’m sorry, ‘kid’?”

Rhodey and Jennifer asked at the same time.

“That’s what Rogers said the one time someone, meaning me, dared to challenge him about Maximoff.” Toni shrugged, deeply uncomfortable.

“That she is a kid?” Jennifer asked for clarification.

“Yeah. With the word ‘just’ before the ‘kid’.”

Rhodey still looked confused. “So let me see… this Wanda Maximoff is old enough to be put in life or death situations, to put others’ lives in her hands, forcibly at that because this Sokovia Accords were all about whether or not people wanted her brand of ‘help’, but she is too young to face consequences of her own actions? Does she know the concept of having the cake and eating it too?”

“Never mind double standards for now.” The lawyer part won over the cousin part in Jennifer for now. “Let’s do this in order. How old was she?”

“She volunteered at eighteen, in 2008. Coincidentally not long after I revealed to be Iron Woman.”

“Because that doesn’t say horrible things at all.” Rhodey muttered but the two women ignored him.

“And she was… “accepted” into the Avengers in 2015… meaning she was twenty-five-years-old. But even if we wave away the age issues, there are only a few possibilities here. She has arrested development, which is not a good thing to advertise when lives depend on you, or Captain America condone child soldiers and doesn’t mind putting a kid in dangerous situations… and all of you kidnapped her from Sokovia by illegally bringing her to U.S.”

Toni bit her lip not to laugh at the “arrested development” bit. If only Jennifer knew the multitude of comebacks that she had that were blocked by pure incredulity when Rogers let out that particular pearl. But then she had to bite her lip for other reasons.

Regardless of her assumptions and beliefs, kidnapping a kid and putting him in a dangerous situation was exactly what she did. Rhodey stared at her like he knew what she was thinking about. Her friend already knew about Peter Parker and about her part in bringing Spider-Man to Germany. Although far from happy about her actions there were two points he made sure to drive home.

First, Peter was Spider-Manning all over Queens months before Toni Stark ever knocked on his door. He wasn’t going to stop just because she asked or ordered when not even the kid’s guardian knew about Spider-Man at all, hero worship or not.

Second, that the fact that Leipzig turned out so dangerous said more about Rogers’ little faction than about Toni. Being willing to go through your teammates that didn’t even know what was going on was on a different scale than being naïve enough to believe that teammates, former or not, would pull their punches a bit.

Rhodey looked incredulous as he said it and Toni couldn’t blame him. Toni Stark naively believed in sentimentalities of past connections when Steve Rogers was doing whatever it took to end the risk no matter the consequences (and no matter how impossible it was to verify the threat without relying in the words of a heavily compromised individual). That wasn’t computing. That was a Freaky Friday situation.

Of course, that was after putting her on a grinder for still going through it after realizing how young Peter actually was.

And then there was a shared moment of confusion over May Parker not questioning Toni approaching a freshman high schooler about college grants. Maybe May just didn’t know that it was for college kids instead of… high school? That barely made sense. Why make a presentation at MIT if that was the case? Perhaps May just didn’t know about it?

But Toni did explain that between the Vulture and Thanos, she got to know May a little bit and the woman was more excited and hooting for her nephew than nervous about the dangers. The woman even put the Spider-Man suit in his backpack if Peter happened to forget it.

Regardless, May should have been told and Toi put her in a horrible situation. May couldn’t sue her because that would reveal Spider-Man’s identity and she couldn’t ground her nephew because that wouldn’t stop him at all.

As the adult in the story, against Peter’s wishes or not, Toni should have told May about Spider-Man and she shouldn’t have brought him to Leipzig no matter how little danger she thought they would be facing.

With a sigh, Toni explained about Peter Parker to Bruce and Jennifer when they looked questioning at her prolonged silence.

“I already yelled at her for bringing the kid and not telling his aunt and I already argued about the level of danger in Leipzig being on Rogers and co. and yes, there wasn’t much either Mrs. Parker or Toni would be able to do or say to stop him.” Rhodey rubbed is throbbing temples.

Jennifer visibly controlled herself before exhaling heavily. “Fine, but still. How is age a limitation for this Parker kid but an excuse to everything for the Wacko Witch?”

Toni sighed. “Look… don’t ask me to explain this kind of thing because I have no idea what Rogers was thinking. Anecdotal evidence after all and sometimes I don’t even have that much and instead I just go numb in confusion.”

Jennifer pursed her lips. “But you know how it was possible.”

And Toni had to wince at that. Without her, there would be no Avengers. No reconnaissance or groundwork, no perimeters set, no liaising with local authorities, no relief efforts later, no gear, no transport… and no work visa to Wanda Maximoff. Not that the thing even lasted a year but still.

How much less destruction the Rogues would have caused if they had to pay the average of four hundred dollars in the low seasons and 1,200 dollars in high season to go to Europe? That when not accounting for the fact that the cheapest ticket flights were from New York to London and from London to whenever it was that they wanted to go also need transportation. Stuck in customs because of all the weapons they carried around when not even considering the visas they would need to go field tripping all over Europe. Did they even have visas to go there? And, if only to ward off the headache, doing their own PR and addressing the public after a major screw up?

If not a wakeup call, then at the very least they would be careful just to avoid all the trouble it would ensue.

“She might have bought her own hubris, but Romanoff is good at spotting weakness. I was already feeling guilty about Ultron and then Maximoff opened her water works… I know that this doesn’t excuse anything. And then I had a thought…”

“That was devious and, from everything you told me, the first time in a long time that you resembled a bit of your badass former self.” Rhodey commented.

Toni smiled a bit at him. “I needed a way to pave the way for Bruce to come back, therefore…”

“You intended to throw her under the bus.” Jennifer smirked and tightened her arm around Bruce.

Toni’s smile widened. “And of course, Captain America’s sworn enemy was HYDRA.” She used Jennifer’s words. “So what possible reason was there for him to be such a staunch defender when, say, Rumlow and all the other HYDRA agents didn’t merit the same “second chance” policy?”

“Yeah, ok, Rhodey was right, that was amazing. Mind control, hard to prove and even harder to prove what was you and what was mind control.” Jennifer chuckled. “But I hope that this time around you have a better plan than saying that the airheaded blond is an airheaded blond?”

“Don’t put all the blonds together, Sue is a blonde and she is amazing.” She mocked chided the lawyer.

“You are only saying that because you have a crush on the woman.” Rhodey rolled his eyes and made his way to the whistling kettle, pouring a bit of tea for Bruce.

“She is hot and smart, and I collect hot and smart people. Case in point, the people in this room.” Toni sat back and watched with deep satisfaction as Jennifer and Rhodey rolled their eyes theatrically hard and Bruce blushed.

“If Miss allows me, your ‘hot and smart’ friend has scheduled an interview for tomorrow afternoon and has issued an invitation to Baxter building whenever Miss wishes, something that I reciprocated for the Malibu Stark Mansion.”

“Uh… why?” Toni asked J.A.R.V.I.S. “Not why for the invitation, why… the interview?”

As an answer, J.A.R.V.I.S showed them a footage of two days ago. “Fantastic Four vs Dr. Doom”.

“Miss will be happy to know that Mr. Storm took care to lure the missile and Dr. Doom away from civilians, Dr. Storm took care of the perimeter as Mr. Storm, Dr. Richards and Captain Grimm effectively neutralized Dr. Doom.”

Toni watched, a bit numb, as the Fantastic Four battled it out where she recognized to be Stark Unlimited’s backyard. Well that’s some irony. Toni needed to hurry the production of the security shields if the fight was already straying a little too close to SI… well… all things Stark at least.

“And you didn’t tell me any of this why?” She almost strangled out.

“The Fantastic Four had the situation well in hand.” The reprimand was the for all four occupants of the room to hear. “Not only in protecting civilians in a surprise attack but, considering Dr. Storm’s actions, they also are preparing to take the public reaction into account. There are even talks of Captain Grimm to make amends for the car he… borrowed.”

They only watched as “The Thing” flipped and threw a SUV at Victor von Doom.

Jennifer snorted.

“Ladies, I’m gonna need to borrow your car.”

“The transmission sticks.”

“Not gonna be a problem!”

But then she frowned. “Why was Captain America such a staunch defender? If you say he was actually mind controlled I will punch you in the face.” She warned.

But Toni only bit her lip. “Remember what I said about anecdotal evidence?”

“He didn’t explain that much? People… immigration just took the whole thing in stride? Is U.S gonna get up to breath from kissing his ass anytime soon in your timeline?”

Rhodey ruffed a laugh but rolled his eyes. “We only have a few possibilities here: Rogers is that much of an idiot and slash or he wanted to pave the way for Barnes and slash or Toni’s supposed narcissism got nothing on his for projecting his experiences onto the universe.”

“The ‘that much of an idiot’ part. Did Rogers really believe in some redemption crap?” The face Jennifer made was almost caricaturist in displeasure.

Toni rubbed her tired eyes. “Actually, Rogers didn’t think there was anything to redeem. He defended them saying ‘What kind of monster volunteer to a German scientist to defend their country?’.”

“I didn’t know that bit. The idiot possibility is not about Rogers believing in redemption, it’s about idiocy in general.” Rhodey, completely incredulous, turned to Toni. “Volunteering to HYDRA to protect their country? It’s like saying that I was part of the Mafia during WWII to protect U.S.”

Bruce, having recuperate a bit of color in his cheeks, made a face. “I only have more questions.”

“Such as who is Barnes?” Jennifer squinted her eyes trying to remember where she heard that name before.

Rhodey exchanged a look with Toni. “This is going to be a long day. I really thought that focusing on the two major points: Maximoff and Romanoff, we would decrease the explanation time.”

But Jennifer had enough. “That’s the other thing, what did the Russian spy do to my cousin? And oh my god, is the American government kidding me?! A KGB agent, a Sokovian HYDRA volunteer, Wakandans and their half-assed isolation… what the hell is going on?!”

Even if they still smiled at the news that Dr. Susan Storm and Dr. Reed Richards just became engaged.

Chapter Text

December, 2010.

.

“Boss, with S.H.I.E.L.D gone, people are moving on to Courtney Cox’s divorce.” Friday didn’t sound happy, but there was a lot of confusion there too.

Such was life.

Toni could only roll her eyes. Six months and a shadow organization that wanted to control a dying billionaire with international defense contracts was old news. And asking Maximoff to keep her head down and inside a fricking mansion was Toni interning her. She sighed.

Toni should have let Rogers duke it out with the Nigerians. See how he liked what they had in store for the HYDRA volunteer living in America and that was the face stamped as the responsible for thirty-two people dead… thirty-two African deaths. Who was being defended by a Caucasian, blue-eyed man that grew up in the forties and calls himself Captain America. It would certainly be something to watch. But the thought of Maximoff skipping off to do grocery shopping or taking a stroll in the park while there were riots forming on the streets made cold sweat form on Toni’s back. It would only end with more people hurt, killed or mind controlled.

And then Toni had the horrible ass idea to review the footage of Vision being pushed through dozens of floors because she wanted to know what the hell was with the gigantic hole in the middle of the kitchen. She didn’t know what to even be more horrified at. “I can protect myself” or “I can only control my own fear”.

Vision brings up the possibility of protests and riots and the first thing out of Maximoff’s mouth is “I can protect myself”? Oh, that’s so nice. Good for her. Too bad that people get hurt and even trampled to death in riots and protests and that she would have to ultimately defend herself which opened the possibility of even more riots and protests, but apparently that wasn’t a concern when her well-being was guaranteed.

And “I can only control my own fear” just made Toni want to ask the little Miss HYDRA what did she do to the Rogues in the African coastline then? Showed them butterflies?

Maximoff is a thing again and Rogers wants her all bow wrapped in U.S? Toni had no doubt that Jennifer would take issue. She smirked.

“Fri, be a dear and fan the flames again, will you?”

“With pleasure, Boss.”

In the practical sense, Rogers wasn’t wrong in saying that Lagos would “blow over”. Hell, that was Toni’s plan as well. But the man had no concept on how not to make it take even longer, in other words, not make it even worse. Going about your business as if nothing happened when people died was the opposite of helping to disperse the crowd.

Which just made Toni wonder why Romanoff didn’t say anything. She was S.H.I.E.L.D and they proved to be able to make somewhat-sensible decisions such as the ridiculously simplistic “keep your head down”, actually that was their whole motto… so what gives?

Then again it was Romanoff. And either Romanoff was the malicious bitch that released all S.H.I.E.L.D files online without care of the multitude of deaths that would cause or the naïve idiot that thought it would ‘smoke HYDRA out’ like Rogers and Wilson somehow believed.

How that would be accomplished if not by releasing all files (from the guilty to the… relatively innocent), Toni didn’t know. And it didn’t even make sense! HYDRA knew who was HYDRA, it was the good… uh… good-ish S.H.I.E.L.D people that were scrambling to know at what direction to shoot! And if only the files on HYDRA were released, if there was some big yellow file labelled “HYDRA”, then it just means that S.H.I.E.L.D already knew who was HYDRA and who wasn’t and just didn’t do anything about it until the very last second up to and including Romanoff…

It was a vicious cycle that only made the Three Stooges involved look worse and worse because no matter what: innocent people ended up dying and national security was compromised.

And it was easy to say that it was necessary when nobody they cared about got hurt in the crossfire. And it was weird to say it was necessary when one year later the Good Captain was preaching about not abandoning a single civilian. Another year goes by and he was saying how they couldn’t save everybody. Yet another couple of years and it was ‘we don’t trade lives’ and Toni was just done with the whole thing. She honestly thought that some of Friday’s sensors were malfunctioning and she didn’t “hear right”, but by then Toni was already in the doughnut ship and had other concerns.

There were times that Toni genuinely thought that the Serum did something to Rogers’ brains. Their only other examples: Barnes and Red Skull were not exactly contradicting it. Barnes had seventy years of being tortured and mind-controlled, but the Red Skull didn’t have the same excuse.

She poured herself some hot chocolate and enjoyed it as Friday showed off all her skills in media relations.

Toni almost snorted her drink through her nose at one of the posts that is being shared by the hundreds.

‘A homemade video to your kid saying how proud you are of them is classified information? Shit, and I gave my mom a card in Mother’s Day and the CIA didn’t show up at my door.’

“You’re awesome, Fri!” Toni smiled. Well… she was all about transparency after all so of course she told the masses that S.H.I.E.L.D withheld her dear dad’s last words to her… so to speak.

“I didn’t do much, just made sure that the people knew that the post existed.” But damn if fake modesty didn’t sound good in her Baby Girl. “I… may also have taken… some liberties.”

Toni raised her eyes from paperwork to SI, “Ok.” She prompted.

“Based on your conversation with Mr. J.A.R.V.I.S, ads of Oscorp Industries have been sporadically spamming Mr. Beck’s emails while Stark Industries logos and commercials have decreased in number in his general vicinity and his most frequented websites. I calculated a mere 18,5% of chance of Mr. Beck deciding for Stark Industries as his primary choice to mass produce his future patent if you approve of my actions until 2015. Even with the growth and subsequent attention we are projecting for Stark Unlimited.”

Now resisting the urge to laugh, Toni was nevertheless very impressed and grateful.

“I approve.”

“Then consider it done, Boss.” Friday said happily.

Toni smiled a bit. “I’m proud of you, Fri.”

“Ms. Walters is also ready for the next step, Boss.”

“The timing couldn’t be more perfect.”

~*~

“So remind me why I’m not using my best card? The fact that Dr. Sterns, our only witness to the creation of Emil Blonsky into Abomination mysteriously disappeared three minutes after one Natalia Romanova entered the footage. And I can’t even mention any of the three by name.”

Toni winced at the deadpanned delivery. “Jennifer… it’s part of the time travel business.”

“That you’re not telling me the details about because…”

“Plausible deniability?” She tried but sobered up at the glared she got in return. “I’m sorry, it’s just… it’s a personal project, if everything goes right by 2012 I’m gonna need a lot of your help in this, but for now I really need this to be kept on the downlow.”

Jennifer bit her lip but sighed and nodded. “We owe you for Ross, Maxibitch and the drugstore redhead.”

Now Toni was the one biting her lip, but out of amusement. “Ok, as many problems as I have with Romanova, I don’t actually know if she was manipulating Bruce… or if she dyes her hair at that.”

Jennifer gave her a flat stare. “Because my cousin is totally her type after all. And of course, she dyes her hair. You have been to basically every country in the world for one reason or the other, have you ever seen someone with her hair color?”

“No.” Toni admitted. “And the problem with Natasha is that… I have no idea what’s she is like. What is a lie and what’s not with her. So… for all we know Bruce is her type.” She shrugged.

Jennifer nodded slowly with a sarcastic smile on her face. “Right. So she hooked up with Steve Rogers and before that with James Barnes and in between with this Clint Barton, all of which are muscle bounded with not much going on in the brains department even if in Barnes’ case is not his fault, but Bruce Banner is up her alley. Bruce Banner… not the Hulk. Or perhaps it is the Hulk and Bruce is just the pesky appetizer.”

“… I don’t actually know if she had anything with Barnes or Barton. I think Barton was already married and with a kid by the time Romanova came around, actually.”

“Are we talking about the same Clint Barton that ditched a vacation with his kids and came running because heaven forbid the cute Sokovian have a suspended Visa pending investigation? Not revoked, oh no, after all having it revoked and being extradited is too harsh a sentence for being involved in the deaths of thirty-two people. A mansion maintained by a billionaire is oh, so unfair and inhumane when compared to Nigerian jail so of course that takes priority over his wife and three kids.”

“I don’t know what Rogers told them, but I think they thought the world was in danger.” And Toni had to wonder about herself for playing the Devil’s advocate, even if that wasn’t quite what she was doing.

It was an interesting if tiring insight. At the end of the day, the “OG” Avengers just plain didn’t know each other all that well. Aside from Romanova and Barton and maybe Toni and Bruce and Rogers and Romanova… the rest of them? Toni use to have a closer relationship to her high school lab partner that she met once a week back then.

“From five Super Soldiers? But that’s fine, say that I buy that, the world is in danger. Do we try to fight the rest of the team because the poor souls are boggled down by paperwork? Therefore weakening both teams? Or do we try to convince them as hard as we can that the world is in danger? That when we don’t even consider that Barton was so worried about getting a cheap shot at you that he didn’t even try to warn about the theoretical danger to the world. So either they are idiots, or they are idiots with egos the size of a planet.”

“… just to be a hundred percent clear, you’re not gonna let them even look at Bruce funny, uh?”

“Got it in one.” The lawyer led the way to the podium. Jennifer didn’t tell Toni, but she wasn’t about to let these people get anywhere close to Toni either.

~*~

Toni waited a bit for silence and started in her usual manner. No cards and always looking towards the cameras.

“Yeah, I know, it’s been half a year and I already said everything I wanted to say. Alas, partially because the Hulk Shield was a Stark Unlimited project, Bruce and I became good friends. It was with a heavy heart that I testified that Stark Industries through Obadiah Stane helped in what is known as the “Hulk Hunt” to my shame and SI’s deep regrets.

The files on the project were used not only to prosecute Obadiah Stane and clear the innocent Stark Industries employees but also on the lawsuit against one Thaddeus Ross. The issue wasn’t one that I could just go and fight as Iron Woman and blast it to high heavens. But as Bruce’s friend I was determined to help however I could. Investigating Thaddeus Ross, an American Army General, somehow kept circling back to Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division or S.H.I.E.L.D… yeah, that S.H.I.E.L.D. Ms. Jennifer Walters will take it from here.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stark.” She turned to the reporters. “My name is Jennifer Walters. In the last few months, you’ve come to know me as the Hulk’s cousin. I successfully argued that the Army General Thaddeus Ross’… missions in search of the Hulk and Dr. Banner were in fact illegal pursue of a private citizen. However, in search of how General Ross could have possibly attained several of the resources he had to continue his expeditions, the joint efforts from CIA and FBI to uncover the shadow organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D crossed paths with our own.

As the investigation progressed, we kept coming back to S.H.I.E.L.D, again and again to our mutual confusion. Until the FBI with the help of Stark Industries and Toni Stark herself uncovered the reason for that. With Thaddeus Ross being convicted of assault in the first degree, several millions dollars of property damage and reckless endangerment, we are serving S.H.I.E.L.D for accessory after the fact, conspiracy and aiding and abetting for their part in covering and destroying evidence that would condemn Thaddeus Ross.”

Jennifer bit her own tongue not to say anything about Romanova, Sterns or Blonsky. Dammit.

Samuel Sterns was basically the perfect witness against Ross all around. Not only he was well-respected – even if not famous – in his chosen field, he also had witnessed with his own eyes how the Hulk’s blood mutated Blonsky and how that wouldn’t be possible if there wasn’t already a foreign element in Blonsky’s blood: the Super Soldier Serum.

However, going after Sterns would mean pulling a thread that would end up in Blonsky that was currently in the Raft and Toni couldn’t have that… yet.

Samuel Sterns going missing didn’t make much news because everybody thought that it was unrelated to Culver and Harlem. But as the federals dug deeper into Ross, they (and Toni) found more and more evidence of someone covering Ross’ hunt of the Hulk.

And of course, it was S.H.I.E.L.D. because what wasn’t? Or, at the very least, they were involved somehow. One Natalia Romanova was seen entering the building where Sterns was last seen before the CCTV was corrupted.

Now, Jennifer didn’t want to conclude anything but from what happened to Toni… it was hard not to think that S.H.I.E.L.D was helping Ross just to have Bruce in their debt. It fit really well their MO with the whole Palladium poisoning. Dangling the solution to have people at their back and call. Even when they facilitated the problem or didn’t even have rights to the solution in the first place.

“Considering what they tried with me I think they are more on being the ‘perceived Good Guys’ than they are about outright blackmail. So I think the more likely plan was to present themselves as the ‘friends’ that made Ross back off instead of the people that came to Bruce and went, ‘You work for us or else’.”

“How does that make it better?” Jennifer turned to Toni after the conference wrapped up.

“It doesn’t. But I guessed that you’d want to be specific just in case they try anything.”

“Yeah, ok.” The lawyer nodded a little grudgingly.

“Boss? One Dr. Elizabeth Ross has scheduled an appointment. Due to your agenda being full, there was only a one-hour window three months from now. But she still took it.”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Toni.

“You don’t think she has a problem with what we’ve been doing, right?”

“Dr. Ross never seemed to have any issues with letting her father take the fall. As long as the man doesn’t end up dead, I don’t think she really cares.”

“Do you think it’s about Bruce?” Jennifer crossed her arms, not too sure what to think if that was the case. But Toni could only shrug.

“It’s… uh… we never really… even met… last time.”

“Never?” Jennifer now had both her eyebrows raised. “Honestly, the way Bruce went on about her I thought that this is it, I’m gonna have an in-law before long.”

“… you actually thought, ‘before long’?”

“Shut up and answer the question.” Jennifer tried to suppress a blush.

“Ok!” Toni raised her hands in surrender and thought about it. Photographic memory didn’t mean that she would know what people were implying after all. “Look… sometimes he would make references to you or mention you… but if it wasn’t for the news I wouldn’t even know that he had anything with Betty Ross… and because of the Info Dump.”

“What info dump?” Jennifer frowned.

“Boss? The federals have just unfrozen Obadiah Stane’s accounts, PR and legal are ready to announce the new Stark Rescue Pound.”

Toni smiled. “Here is my cue.”

“What pound? And what info dump?”

“Oh! So, there was a chance that, without any claimers to his assets or any will, Stane’s stuff… property, accounts… they would go to the one that—”

“Turned him over. And you decided to open a pound with the money?”

“Of course not! They are unrelated projects. The money from Obadiah and whatever I can liquidate of his stuff not related to SI – I will buy his shares – will go to the UN and antiterrorism efforts.” Now Jennifer couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows at the bloodthirsty grin on Toni’s face.

“I think there is more behind it besides the, frankly, amazing schadenfreude. Bravo for that.”

“Thanks. But oh, it still is schadenfreude but a more subtle way. I will explain later but I’m pretty sure you and Bruce will like it.”

But Toni was stopped from leaving once again by Jennifer. “And the info dump?”

“Yeah, that one was bad. It didn’t… directly hurt Bruce but the relations between the Hulk and S.H.I.E.L.D were forever damaged. I will explain later but that’s when we found out… a lot of stuff, including that S.H.I.E.L.D had everything to prosecute Ross and just didn’t bother because it suited them better that Ross was still out and about and after Bruce.”

Toni could almost see Jennifer biting her own tongue not to say some colorful curses. She was right then! Oh, how Jennifer longed to get her hands on those…

“And the pound?”

“Oh! With Stark Industries’ new green energy leaf, we decided to use natural resources for a new cosmetic line. And yes, it is a middle finger to the “new girly image of SI” comments I have been seeing lately. Let’s see how they like makeup with SI’s brand now. To give it even more credit and support, it obviously will not have animal testing, and a step further, SI now has an NGO of animal rescue. Of course, far away from the SU Compound, having those two close to each other is just asking for PR not to leave me alone for the rest of the decade and I had to agree. Rescue pound close to mad scientists sometimes making things explode… I decided to use the last SI Compound in New York for the animal rescue. Still upstate but closer to the city, an NGO with affiliations with the UN.”

“… you’re beginning to scare me with that creepy, Joker-worthy smile of yours. Care to share with the class why you look like Willie E. Coyote just managed to finally catch and cook Road Runner?”

“Why would you make that comparison? Why would you jinx neglected and abused puppies and kittens?!”

“Answer the question!”

~*~

Chapter Text

December, 21^st, 2010.

.

Malibu, California.

.

“Well, you already know about Maximoff and Johannesburg.” Toni started explaining once they managed to have everyone in one room.

More than anything else, even Lagos, Bucharest, Germany… Johannesburg had no excuse whatsoever. Maximoff did it maliciously and, seemly at least, fully aware of what it would cost anyone or anything the Hulk came across. If not then she is either an idiot that could never… should never be trusted since for some reason it didn’t occur to Maximoff that showing the Hulk his greatest fears wasn’t exactly a good idea, or she is one of the most malicious human villains the Avengers ever came across. “She was misguided” was almost obscene after what happened in South Africa.

Bruce paled while Jennifer muttered curses under her breath.

Toni winced. “Ok. The timeline is: Romanoff hits on Bruce, we go to Klaue’s ship where Maximoff gets to Bruce to Hulk out and he goes to Johannesburg. But the Info Dump was before all that. Two years earlier.”

Jennifer crossed her arms. “Where we find out that S.H.I.E.L.D was dangling the carrot.”

“Yes. Anyhow…”

Both cousins knew that Toni and Rhodes… and Potts and Hogan didn’t tell everything they knew about the future. Just the parts that directly impacted them. Repeating the whole story again and again… especially the parts where Toni was just ranting her frustrations over her own decisions, wasn’t exactly productive. But the thought of recording it anytime she needed to explain it but risking it getting out…

The most important part of that all was Wanda Maximoff and what the raging bitch, as Jennifer took to calling her… among other kind nicknames, did to Bruce… what it did to Johannesburg.

It was an interesting couple of months. Toni explained what happened in Johannesburg but not its aftermath. To be fair, neither Jennifer nor Bruce were in much state to ask either. Jennifer was spitting mad and Bruce went almost catatonic at the fact that his worst nightmare became a reality.

“Did no one cry foul? The Hulk went berserk in South Africa because of a Neo-Nazi HYDRA volunteer… and said HYDRA volunteer was then defended by Captain America… blond, blue eyed, white as marshmallow Steve Rogers. And the same scene repeated itself a year later but this time with Nigerians. Seriously that no one thought how this would look?”

Toni winced and shamefully averted her eyes. “No one knew it was her.”

“What?” Came the deadpanned demand.

“Rogers didn’t divulge it. And with Ultron and Bruce gone… no one would believe me. Especially not since I was also involved, trying to stop the Hulk or not.”

Jennifer was silent for so long that Toni felt uncomfortable staring straight at her eyes.

“… no one knew it was her.” It was the lack of inflection that made Toni wince. Jennifer breathed very deeply with her eyes closed before facing them again.

Rhodey didn’t say anything, but Toni knew him well enough to see he was just as uncomfortable.

“Tell me from the beginning this whole shitstorm. Who even is this girl?”

Which was an interesting question to make after calling Maximoff every curse in the English dictionary for the last three months.

“Well… when she was ten—”

“Ah, ah!” Rhodey raised his hand. “No! That’s not where you start the crazy Neo-Nazi’s story.” He turned to Jennifer. “Sokovia has been embroiled in civil war since the 80’s and it won’t stop until after 2015…” he trailed off with a thoughtful expression. “Now that I think about it… Novi Grad is destroyed, and their civil war stops…?”

“I already thought about that, I will explain what I think happened later, you can continue with the… crazy Neo-Nazi’s story.” Toni waved it off.

“Right. So civil war for decades facilitated HYDRA’s plans there. When they were ten, a Stark Industries shell fell in their family’s apartment. The parents were killed and the Maximoff twins got stuck for two days staring at the Stark name.”

Jennifer then chuckled in incredulity. “You’re… you’re not telling me that because Bruce is connected to Toni, that pretty much did it for the Witch.”

Toni and Rhodey exchanged a look that Bruce was beginning to recognize.

“You don’t know.”

“Know what?” Jennifer turned to him.

Bruce explained. “They don’t know if my connection to Toni was all that it took for this Maximoff woman to trigger my transformation or if it was something else altogether.”

The lawyer snapped back at the colonel and the businesswoman, searching their faces. “Oh, my god!” Jennifer slumped back in the couch in complete despair and disbelief. “Passing the bar had more paperwork than getting this bitch to America… America takes it up in the ass for Captain America… I think I’m spending too much time with Jessica.” She grimaced in apology.

Bruce ignored his cousin. “So that experience made them… enlist HYDRA.” He sighed.

Rhodey couldn’t hold it in anymore. “They waited eight years to sign up for HYDRA. And I know we’ve been using the word ‘enlist’ but that kinda implies official positions and… a job. But sure, let’s go with that. So in an incredibly coincidental turn of events, they signed up for HYDRA around the same time Toni announced to be Iron Woman. Because, for some reason, I don’t think that HYDRA much cares that they were underage, so why wait for so long?

In 2012, after Loki’s Scepter mysteriously disappeared, HYDRA started to experiment with Enhancing humans. In 2014, we were gifted with the twins. 2015 and their actions almost killed Barton, one of the Avengers at that.

The girl let Toni take the Scepter after doing who knows what with her head and even if she didn’t know about Ultron in specific, they willingly worked with Ultron later. She provoked the Hulk into attacking a major city with millions of habitants. And, oh, just because they found out that their asses would also be on fire, they turned on Ultron… and not a second earlier, that was also after Ultron mind-controlled and attacked Helen Cho and her team and killed two of them on his way out. But they helped us save the world that they also live in, so all is good in their book.”

“‘Their’ as in…” Jennifer prompted through gritted teeth.

“Rogers, Romanoff, Barton… I don’t know about Wilson and Vision, but they certainly didn’t tell me what Maximoff did… or who she even was beyond ‘Sokovian with magical powers’.” Rhodey frowned at himself. Where the hell where his critical thinking skills?

Jennifer chuckled humorlessly. “You guys… you guys do understand that this crap is not going to fly with me around, right? ‘Cause you’re gonna have to literally kill me if these imbeciles think they can replace Bruce for the Neo-Nazi that provoked the Hulk into attacking a civilian population.” She smiled brilliantly at them.

Because that’s what it boils down to, wasn’t it? Toni nodded at her. Maybe Toni couldn’t do much, maybe she could. But the Avengers, as a whole, replaced Bruce for the one… at least one of the major factors that made him leave in the first place. That made his worst nightmare come true. Not in the metaphorical sense of whatever Maximoff did to the rest of them in the African coast, but in a very literal and real way.

Bruce sighed before turning to Toni and Rhodey. “And before that, the… uh… Romanov tried something.” He blushed a little at the idea.

Jennifer chuckled sardonically. “Honeypot.”

Toni sighed tiredly. “Again: I don’t actually know. I… have come to the realization, since coming back, that I don’t know a great many things… I hate not knowing things.” She muttered unhappily at the last part.

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. “So you didn’t think that it was weird that out of nowhere Romanova expressed interest?”

But at that the billionaire raised a challenging eyebrow. “I thought that Bruce was a grown man and capable of making his own choices. If I thought that it was weird, yes, I don’t deny it. But…” she hesitated, “there were some… it won’t be for years yet,” Toni turned to Bruce, “but Betty Ross announced her marriage.”

Both cousins’ eyes widened at that.

Toni shrugged a little, “I thought Bruce was rebounding and I never saw Romanov as the kind to go through brides’ magazines…”

Jennifer snorted a bit at the thought. “Whatever. I think that after pushing him down a hole… literally, the whole thing went down in flames anyways.”

Toni thought about it and shrugged. “I came back before I witnessed the… reunion, but I guess so. I mean… waving away Johannesburg and then being forced to transform… not even Rogers would be stupid enough to believe that putting Maximoff and Romanoff in the same room as Bruce would end well… at least I hope so.” She corrected at Rhodey’s look.

Jennifer looked just as unimpressed. “Didn’t he put James Barnes, the man that HYDRA tortured, and mind controlled to do their bidding for seventy years in the same team as the HYDRA bitch?”

Toni could only look back sheepishly. She needed to answer when they asked what her problem with Rogers was, so both cousins were aware of what happened in Siberia.

“Onto more cheerful news, Fri.” Rhodey interrupted with a smile.

“Yes, Colonel-Man. The Hulk’s campaigning is being very successfully internationally. Brazil and Canada have declined to press charges for illegal entry as a sign of good faith, but… uh…”

“They don’t want the Hulk performing… relief effort.” Bruce nodded at Toni.

“Something along the lines, yes. But the Hulk has been receiving sympathy world-wide, as a side effect the American government has left Ross to fend for himself.”

“They are in damage control. The whole thing is being condemned publicly and was already condemned legally so they can hardly admit to knowing anything. At the same time, this is saying that the whole thing happened right under their noses.” Jennifer laughed humorlessly, completely gratified at the situation.

“Still, Bruce is officially clear of any records.” Rhodey pointed out.

“We can start on his international standing so he will still be able to travel for his humanitarian works and help with the countries that do allow the Hulk to perform relief efforts.” Jennifer agreed.

“On that note, I have decided to take your suggestion.” Bruce turned to Toni.

“About STAR Labs?”

“Yes. They have good employees and good management they just lack the organization and focus. I will discuss it more deeply with Jennifer to explore the legal options—”

“You people do understand that I’m a defense criminal lawyer specializing in international law, right?”

“But you’re still a lawyer and still my cousin… or are you saying that you don’t want to be involved just in case someone tries to take advantage?”

Toni and Rhodey exchanged a look. Equal parts amusement and surprise. They didn’t know Bruce had it in him…

“Well… how about it? Banner Labs has a nice ring to it.” Rhodey smiled a bit.

“You don’t know the first thing about managing a business.” Jennifer tried to point out. Not wanting to insult Bruce but…

Toni chuckled. “Just because they work there doesn’t mean that a doctor would know how to run a hospital.”

Bruce smiled at the words. Even if Toni hadn’t told him about her photographic memory, to anyone that paid enough attention, it was obvious enough. She just quoted, verbatim, something he said when they first met more than two years ago.

“The profit from the… Hulk Shield… but I will get an entrepreneurship and a business management degree first.”

“Hire a CEO that you trust with your life and then you’ll be free to focus on the labs.” Toni took a sip out of her water bottle.

Jennifer raised an eyebrow at Toni. Something clicked in her mind, but she got distracted by Bruce.

“Well that won’t be for years yet.” He yawed, rubbing his eyes.

“Five years on the run and then another two to finally be rid of Ross. Suddenly fifty years in jail seem little.” Jennifer sounded bitter, even considering that Ross was in his sixties so it means that he will die in there.

“You need to focus on the win here: Bruce is free. Of Ross and of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Toni tried.

Jennifer’s eyes softened and they turned to Bruce, who was strangely quiet. The man fell asleep, exhaustion in every feature.

Toni shook her head to rid herself of the déjà vu. It wasn’t helpful. At all. But… Toni never realized how this balancing act that S.H.I.E.L.D played with Bruce’s fucking life was taking out of him. No wonder Jennifer was pissed as hell.

S.H.I.E.L.D dangled a carrot and, no matter how much Bruce ran, they would never let him have it. Here, work for us, and we keep Ross at bay but never truly get rid of him.

Well, Jennifer and Toni would rather Bruce free and unhappy with them and for Betty being sad than Bruce being hunted or used. Betty’s feelings notwithstanding. But maybe they overestimated the situation. Aside from a brief grimace, Bruce didn’t really seem to prioritize Betty’s feelings over his safety and life. Thank god. And Toni didn’t even believe in god. Sorry, Thor.

Which would make the meeting with one Betty Ross very interesting to say the least.

Toni lowered her voice. “We can discuss the rest later.” She offered.

Jennifer nodded and, after covering Bruce with a mantle Toni was pretty sure wasn’t hers, they left Bruce to rest with a note to J.A.R.V.I.S.

~*~

Chapter Text

December 31, 2010.

.

New Year’s Eve and Toni wasn’t drunk. It was with a pleasant surprise that Happy, Rhodey and Pepper found her making pasta that afternoon. Then again, they didn’t know that it has actually been ten years since the last time Toni spent New Year drunk off her ass. More like… from December, 16 to January, 5 drunk off her ass.

“Third year in a role.” Happy whispered to Pepper.

“Got chicken casserole.” Rhodey offered the pan.

“With bacon?” Toni’s head snapped up so fast that Rhodey worried that she hurt herself.

“Yes, you carnivore.” He rolled his eyes and put the dish on the table.

“Meat pie. That recipe we got in London.” Happy followed Rhodey suit.

“Mom’s banana pie. Did you ask Jennifer and Bruce to bring something as well?” Pepper asked as she watched the slowly diminishing space on the huge counter.

“Yep. And yes, I know, too much food. Matt and Foggy confirmed, Karen is out of town with family. Jessica and Luke are… still weird but they did say that they will drop by. The Fantastic Four also confirmed.”

“Oh.” And Pepper now clearly thought that maybe there wasn’t enough food. “You finally met Mr. Cage, then.”

“Nope. Jessica agreed to introduce us and… not like they have anyone else to spend New Year with.” Pepper made a sympathetic noise. “She is bringing her sister as well, Trish Walker.”

“The… model slash something star?” Happy frowned in concentration.

“She has a radio talk show. Pretty good, actually, but yes, she was a child TV star.” Toni put her lasagna on the table and the smell was starting to make them all hungry. “No that I’d object but Jessica sounded even more intense than usual when asking if her sister could come.”

“Perhaps she wants to interview you for her talk show.” Rhodey shrugged and took off his jacket.

“Maybe, I guess. Well… full house!” Toni smiled at them.

~*~

Jessica has never been more drunk since Toni Stark entered her life. And then… well… she didn’t stop but she did drink less.

In the big scheme of things, Jessica wasn’t the least bit surprised that Stark didn’t know about Killgrave. Alien invasion versus some street level vigilante’s problems. Yeah.

She closed her eyes and ignored Trish jabbering away about the jet Stark sent to get them. The problems just piled up. One after the other. Endlessly.

It was too much to hope for. Expecting Stark… Toni… to know what could await her. No, instead the woman just warned her of a fucking alien invasion in two years.

It wasn’t all bad. There was… a bit, tiny speckle of hope. It took Jessica a while to recognize it for what it was and if that wasn’t pathetic, she didn’t know what was.

Iron Woman and War Machine… doing their most to help the Hulk. It was… nice. And Jessica would be lying if she said that… remembering that, keeping it in mind wasn’t one of her motivations when she agreed to… touch base with Murdock, Rand and… and Luke.

Jessica was suddenly glad that Toni got a separated jet for Luke. She scoffed at herself. Besides being a piece of shit now she was a coward as well.

Sighing, she looked at her sister. Trish was still animatedly talking about meeting Iron Woman… War Machine and the Hulk. And yet another problem. Trish went to the man that… made Jessica. Her genetic potential was different, and she didn’t get strength and limited flight, it was agility, endurance and night vision of all things.

Toni asked Jessica to trust her. That the Raft couldn’t be discovered yet, that the people in charge of it need to think that no one knew of its existence. But they did. And Trish was walking on a tight rope. Her enthusiasm in “doing justice” was getting more and more violent and Jessica knew what awaited Trish if she crossed the line.

Perhaps if Trish saw all of them, all of that… she would go back to being wide-eyed and so full of optimism.

~*~

“Oh my god! Jess.” Trish twirled around, trying to see everything at once.

The place was amazing. High tech to high heavens, panoramic view of the ocean. Not to mention huge! The circular and enormous couch in the middle of the living room seemed small for the space. There was at least twelve feet between the main area and the kitchen balconies, because of course there was more than one.

Jessica didn’t really care to take a look around the half a dozen times she’s been here and didn’t care to start, but a small smile did come to her face at Trish’s enthusiasm.

“Come on, cheer up, Jess! We’re gonna spend New Year with Iron Woman! With the Hulk! War Machine! Bona fide superheroes!”

“Well, that’s a slogan if I ever heard one.” Toni joked as she came into view.

“Wow, I… I’m Trish… Walker… It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Stark… uh… Dr. Stark… Iron Woman…?”

Toni smiled at the bubbly reception. “Toni is fine. It’s good to meet you too—”

“Trish, Trish is also fine. Sorry.” She said sheepishly.

“Should we have brought something?” Jessica asked as she eyed the clearly transported homemade food stuff.

“From the other coast?” Toni teased a bit. “No. I asked the people already living on this side of the country though. Didn’t feel like hiring some caterer. If you want to freshen up a bit, I can show you the guest room.”

Jessica took her time in the bigger-than-her-fucking-apartment bathroom. Then she put up with Trish squealing over the bathrobes and toiletries as if they were in a hotel, but she still had to take a deep breath when she got back and the room was occupied by another dozen people including Luke Cage and pretty boy Danny Rand.

Pretty much everybody in the room felt the awkward tension but they were all well-versed in going on as if there was nothing amiss. Although Jess could see that Matt stopped for a bit in his conversation with Foggy and Jennifer.

“Hey, Jess.” Luke tried a small smile.

Trish squeezed her arm in comfort and made her way to the only person she knew in the room, Danny who was talking with Toni and Pepper Potts.

~*~

Toni was finally in a lighter mood. After Bruce rested, after they started to question about the Info Dump… and after Jennifer went on yet another rant, her spirits were pretty low. Even with Jennifer… almost apologetic.

“Hey, I’m mad as hell because I have the benefit of hindsight. I have no idea the stress you must have been under at the time.”

“No love for Romanoff, Wilson and Rogers?” She joked a bit.

“You kidding me right?”

So, at the prospect of having people that she actually gave a damn about to spend New Year with, Toni went about preparing her lasagna with a smile… until Jessica and Luke’s eyes met.

“I know that it’s not any of my business so… should we do something? Can… we do something?” Toni didn’t have any idea of what happened and why they broke things off so she asked the people who might: Danny and Trish.

“No.” Danny didn’t even try to keep his eyes on those two. “Their tempers… are quite legendary and they were already on a… impasse when I met them.”

“Don’t look at me. I say anything at all, and Jess will kill me.” Trish took a sip out of the Champagne flute Toni handed her.

“Miss? Drs. Richards and Storm, Captain Grimm and Mr. Storm have arrived.”

Toni smiled again.

She had forgotten what this was like. To spend time with people that didn’t want anything from her. That had their own lives and pulled their own weight. That spent time with her because they wanted to instead of because they wanted something.

Matt was now in the know. And, just like the Fantastic Four and Jessica, he understood that Toni couldn’t help him with his personal problems because coming back from the future didn’t mean seeing the future. That she couldn’t help him in specific.

Luke and Danny would know tomorrow and tomorrow, Jessica and Trish would reveal that Trish was also Enhanced. Rhodey would volunteer to train her in more than just fighting techniques but in strategy.

Jessica would approach Jennifer for legal help with Killgrave. Danny would join Pepper so his control over Rand Enterprises was airtight and how to go about getting the qualifications to actually be a good CEO so what happened when he came back to the States didn’t happen again.

Jennifer would offer to spar with Luke and sigh when neither Bruce nor Toni reacted in surprise at her green counterpart and then proceed to lose to the more experienced if a lot weaker fighter. And then Luke would lose to The Thing in arm wrestling. Ben agreed to a few spars now and then so Jennifer and Luke would learn a more solid hand-to-hand style than brawling.

Toni would introduce a newly arrived Jane Foster and Erik Selvig to a giddy Reed and have a discussion over the possibilities with Helen Cho and Sue over Ben’s situation.

And they would all laugh as Johnny flirted with Darcy and Trish and both girls barely noticing because they were too busy exchanging pop culture references and quips and checking out each other’s Facebook pages.

She had forgotten what this was like.

~*~

Toni had also forgotten what this was like.

“This doesn’t have to make things weird. Just throwing it out there.”

She used to be good at this. Well… ok, that was a lie. She used to just leave whoever and hide in her workshop and let Pepper handle it.

Which was why Toni didn’t know what to do when she sleeps with a friend. Because… that never happened. She had the sheets covering her and pinned beneath her armpits, just like her companion… as if he was supposed to cover up his chest. His really nice chest, she could attest.

With his red face covered with both hands, Bruce just groaned.

Toni was pretty sure that the only reason he had yet to make his escape is because, much like her, it occurred to him that… her bedroom is really big. Meaning their clothes got lost somewhere close to the door… that was almost fifteen feet away from the bed, meaning that he would be… pretty exposed on the way. And while she wouldn’t mind, Bruce would. Toni could leave herself if she wasn't so sure that this would only make things more awkward for Bruce.

She sighed. Because there wasn’t enough drama in her life… and they couldn’t even blame it on alcohol. She had two glasses of champagne and Bruce was stone sober… not that he could even get drunk in the first place.

Chapter Text

March 25, 2011.

.

Malibu, California.

.

“Ok, what is going on?” Jennifer closed her briefcase and waited until business was out of the way.

“We slept together.” Came the bland reply from Toni.

“Figured as much.” Because she did. “Bruce is no blushing virgin… well… no virgin at least. The man manages to blush at dirty jokes.”

“Actually, he blushes at the fact that the nub at the end of a battery is called a nipple.” Toni sat back.

“… you kidding?”

“It was cute.” The billionaire shrugged.

Jennifer shook her head. “My point is… Bruce did have some one-night stands… and one long relationship. This shouldn’t be so awkward.”

“Then Betty Ross scheduled a meeting. Well, she actually scheduled a meeting before we slept together but Bruce just didn’t know.”

“Ok… awkward. But things between them have been over for years and then what you said about her engagement…”

“Oh, no, not yet at least, she just… wanted to know if Bruce was ok without actually getting in contact. She figured that if Bruce wanted something… anything he would have called after… after everything.”

“Since we put her dad in jail? Quite the ice breaker.” Jennifer leaned her hip on the table.

“Yeah…”

“And then…” the lawyer prompted.

“And then… well… he is not used to one-night stands and I’m not used to one-night stands with partners whose name I care enough to remember. I know that the offer to “pretend that nothing happened” is pretty insulting so I just said that… it didn’t have to make things awkward.”

Jennifer gave a half smile at that. “Bruce is already awkward all by his lonesome.”

“… more awkward.” Toni corrected. “So… we just… well, Bruce would either vacate the room when I entered or would… I don’t even know what to call it. He would hold the door for me or offer to bring me coffee down in my lab that I know he hates because I play my music too loud and there was this once that he sort of got up from his seat when I entered the kitchen but stopped mid… bow…? And then sat back down—”

Toni looked up at the sound of Jennifer exploding in laugher. The woman was almost gasping for air when she finally reigned it in. Wordlessly, Toni handed her a bottle of water which earned her a very rude one fingered gesture even if that didn’t stop the mirth.

“This is Bruce, Toni. Yes, sure, he did one-night stands… back in college, before he met Betty Ross and that was it until you. That is the extent of his sexual experience. And then he would try to take his cues from you, but then realize he can’t act all casual and try to avoid you and then feel guilty about it because of some chivalry thinking because he doesn’t want you to believe he went all, “Wham Bam, thank you Ma’am” on you and there you have it. Bruce Banner, ladies and gentlemen.”

Toni thought about it for a second. “He thinks like a teenaged girl.”

“Yep. Just jump him, he’ll get over it.” Jennifer shrugged.

“He’ll get over the morning-after having another morning-after?” Toni raised an eyebrow.

“No.” The lawyer scoffed. “But both of you would be less tense.” She deadpanned at the look the billionaire sent her. “Oh, c’mon, your bed hasn’t seen you in months. The bags under your eyes are beginning to scare people, there is only so much that makeup can cover you know? Besides, you barely even stop working to eat, so unless I missed something, and the day suddenly has fifty hours instead of twenty-four, you are in a dry spell. Hell, not even Johnny Storm made you interested and sleeping with Johnny Storm is basically a rite of passage.”

“I would be afraid of burns.” She teased back and didn’t mention that Johnny is a little too alike, physically speaking, to Rogers to ever really do it for her after everything. And also that Jennifer kinda admitted to having slept with the guy.

But Toni didn’t know what to even think about this whole situation. You don’t usually kiss-and-tell to family members after all. “Are you trying to pimp us out to each other?”

“Yes.” Jennifer sighed and rolled her eyes. “Look, usually I would stay out of it because you’re right. The Russian chick going honeypot on Bruce or not, it is still his business as a grown man and then me punching her if it is proven to be honeypot and breaks his heart. But you’re not gonna use each other, you… care for each other if only as friends. Take the edge off, it’s healthy.”

“… you want me to be friends with benefits with your cousin?”

“I didn’t think you of all people would need so badly to label it and thanks for putting it in those words.”

“Sorry, but you gotta admit that this situation is a little unconventional… even for me.”

Jennifer grimaced in acquiescence. “All I’m saying is that… I approve of whatever as long as no feelings are hurt.”

And because Toni never learned to leave it well alone, she had to say it. “Thanks, I already bought the ring and everything.”

~*~

Trying to catch his breath, Bruce had a thought. “Did Jennifer put you up to this?”

Toni pushed her hair back and didn’t bother to cover herself with the sheets to get the bottle of water on her nightstand. “Yes, she twisted my arm to make me sleep with you. Also: interesting topic right after an orgasm.” She offered the bottle to Bruce who accepted it gratefully.

“Sorry, it’s just… sorry.”

Toni eyed her friend and sighed a bit. “Bruce… when I said that this doesn’t have to make things awkward is that… I’m open to… whatever we agree on. I’m not expecting for you to ask me out and buy me flowers, but I would like to think that we can still joke and work together.”

The last time they were in a lab together wasn’t exactly a thrill.

“Uhm.”

This time she rolled her eyes. “In other words, the ball is in your court. This doesn’t necessarily need to lead anywhere… besides more sex if you are amendable. Believe it or not my dry spell has been almost as long as yours.”

That earned her a very disbelieving and flat stare. “Last time for me was in 2003.”

“Seven years ago for you, almost eight. My last time was in 2014, I came back to 2008 in 2018 which means four years plus the two and a half since I came back. Six years and a half. Wow, no wonder we jumped each other.” Toni hummed to herself.

Bruce blushed to the tips of his hair, but he still mumbled. “You didn’t lose your touch.”

~*~

“What’s for today?” Toni sat and promptly took her high heels off. She may have forgotten that sex was a great way to have a good mood.

Jay opened a holo-screen. “A series of meetings. But there is one that caught Miss Friday’s attention.”

“Logan Howlett.” She spoke the name in consideration. “The Wolverine?”

“One Dr. Charles Xavier has been trying to schedule a meeting for several months now on his behalf. Due time constrictions and the several projects, a one-hour window has been opened in April, 25. Dr. Xavier has expressed it to be urgent though.” Friday relayed.

“Hmmm.” Toni considered that. Truth be told, she didn’t factor the Mutants in her plans. Aside from the faint hope of getting Xavier’s help when Thanos came since Thanos was a universal problem… literally.

But Mutants usually only ever got involved when other Mutants were involved. It wasn’t only until after Hank McCoy made some headway and they managed to save some high-ranking dignitaries that there was a focused effort to curb prejudice against Mutants. Which was really rich in Toni’s book. What exactly did people think Erskine did to Steve Rogers? At the bottom of the page he messed with Rogers’ genes to get Captain America. The only difference whatsoever was that Rogers got through a lab what Mutants have naturally.

Oh well, whatever. Toni paused when a thought occurred to her and then cursed tiredly.

“I swear if this has S.H.I.E.L.D’s fingerprints I will wait until Thanos is done for and I’ll move to fucking Mars to get away from stupid.” She mumbles to herself.

“Boss?”

“Uh… well, if there is one thing I can’t accuse those two of being is dramatic. Schedule it, Priority Bravo.”

“Done, you’ll be meeting Dr. Xavier in three weeks.”

“Not Howlett?” She raised an eyebrow.

“It was just under Dr. Xavier’s name, the subject of the meeting is James Logan Howlett.”

“Hmmm.”

“Also, the Fantastic Four just secured the rights to the name and trademarked it. Dr. Storm has been busy.”

Toni sighed in relief. One problem out. The F4 were a solid team. Independent and dependable… and Toni should really raise her standards, shouldn’t she? Whatever the case, the F4 were a solid team.

Ben’s military experience made sure that their abilities complimented each other as a field leader. Reed knew how to apply the scientific theory of their powers and what they could do. And Sue was so perfect for containment and perimeter that if Rogers ever made Maximoff his teammate… well… embarrassment will be an euphemism. Not that Toni planned to let it get to the point of even having the Scarlet Witch but still. They had a good MO, good rapport with local authorities, especially after they saved the firemen that first time, they liaise well enough with the government and already contacted the military so they could prove they had control over their abilities and where they would fit better in relief efforts like Toni did, like she established a year ago.

Susan took care of addressing the public personally, which showed not only professionalism but also interest in her part, in the team’s part. She even took a page out of Toni’s book, creating a website of the Fantastic 4 so they would share with the public their fights, their accomplishments and also their failures and what they do to ensure that it won’t be repeated. Ben came up with the training exercises and, together with Reed made the Fantastic Four pretty independent since science and military was covered. Johnny, very probably without meaning to, made the Fantastic Four appear approachable and… Toni snorted… human as he dove headfirst into social media.

The public’s respect was growing for the professional attitude.

One precedent set. Toni smirked a little. If only to highlight the differences with the precedent of “inviting” very questionable individuals to “work off” their sentences via “heroing”. After all, they could atone “ensuring the collective good instead of behind bars”. She rolled her eyes. Never mind that there was no “sentence” to begin with since no one even knew that a crime was committed at all and who the hell set the parameters of “this number of missions means this number of years reduced” anyways? On mission per year? A reconnaissance mission for five months? Who knows.

“Anything else, Fri?”

“There doesn’t seem to be, no, Boss.”

Toni blinked. She was… was she actually relaxed?

SU and SI’s projects and paperwork were in order, finally after Toni took two weeks off to help the Fantastic Four six months before. SI’s headquarters in London, Berlin and Johannesburg were almost done. Pepper, bless her soul was already facilitating a new building in Lagos.

No end of the world on sight, the Defenders just made their debut. And, aside from some questionable choices from Matt about Elektra Natchios, they were on solid ground. Thanks to Danny’s funding the team’s overall resources and to Trish’s expert handling of their PR. Luke Cage was truly shining in those videos of his as the protector of Harlem.

Jessica and Matt told Danny and Luke about her time travel, about the invasion but also the limits on what she knew. Meaning pretty much everything that she didn’t either witnessed or watched in the news… and ok, what she didn’t put her nose in. That was out of the way and already with the offer to help when the time came.

Rhodey was corralling skilled professionals to be their liaison with the US government now that Andaz finished a consultantship contract for Enhanceds to work alongside the various local law enforcement.

The H.O.W.A.R.D net was up and running and Jocasta made sure that not even Wakandans would hack it. Her grid already located almost five hundred pounds of Vibranium outside of Wakanda. And, she smiled, just a bit more of tech advancements and not even that shield of theirs would be able to hide anything anymore. After all… what exactly was stopping all satellites from taking a peak of some poor, pottery and textile country?

Toni sighed. She didn’t know what it was that Wakanda treated everybody else like a bunch of idiots.

Soon enough, Maya Hansen would enter the picture and Toni’s plans for the medical division could get a move on.

Everything was ready and set for Thor’s arrival. She could secure even more rapport against S.H.I.E.L.D if they played their cards right. Her policy, the F4’s policy of transparency and responsibility pretty much paved a smooth path for her take ownership of the Scepter, if only temporarily.

Everything was falling into place. Toni thought incredulously as she absently ordered her breakfast.

That should have been her first clue.

~*~

“Are you ok?” Rhodey raised an eyebrow over his cheeseburger. “You look a little… off.”

And she hadn’t touched her own cheeseburger either which was the first red flag raised. Thankfully they were in the Malibu Mansion so they could speak freely.

“I’m not hungry.” And Toni could have slapped herself.

Rhodey put his cheeseburger down and wiped his hands before leveling her a stare. “Care to share why not?”

“I need to speak with Bruce.” She shrugged.

Rhodey hummed. “He is in that conference with Helen Cho and Dr. Wu, right?”

“Bio-tech in trauma surgery.” She muttered distractedly. “He will be back in two weeks.”

“What was it again?”

“Some big debate over an article about… basically creating the Terminator.”

“Weren’t you doing something along the lines as well?” He picked at his fries.

Toni sent him a bland look, “Prosthetics. What they are trying to do was replace whole organs with tech. Doubtful that it would work in trauma cases, but it did interest Helen, Yao and Bruce.”

“How are things with them anyways?”

“Helen is interested in SU, but she is already an established member of the U-GIN Research Group and she was an excellent leader by 2015. I really wanna poach her but she was pretty happy where she was and had more prestige, and Bruce and Yao manage the bio division very well.”

“Like you were planning to poach Barton and Romanoff.” Was said off-handedly but Toni didn’t even blink.

“Those two are more trouble than they are worth.”

“If only to keep them from being underfoot.” He offered.

Toni smiled at him, “Romanoff is confident until she isn’t. Barton has the reasoning ability of his arrows, aim and shoot. Matter of the fact is that those two don’t seem to function without a handler and I don’t have the skills of one. I barely even know what a handler does despite people thinking you’re mine.”

Rhodey snorted. “Sometimes I think you’re right and people are idiots. How exactly do they think you survived twenty-six years? Not like our job description is “babysit Toni Stark”.”

To say that Rhodey was incredulous when Toni told him of the times she was physically manhandled out of her lab to fricking eat was an understatement.

In his own words, “Do I worry? Are Happy and Pepper worried when you go on a work binge? Constantly, but it’s like accepting extravagant and expensive gifts from you, there is this… silent social protocol that you don’t treat people as if they are unable to care for themselves.”

A pointed look was thrown at her. Wasn’t that something? Toni rolled her eyes. She just knew that Rhodey was gearing himself for many, many jabs in the future.

Rhodey chuckled a bit at before sending her a look.

“I took a peek in the invitations…”

“Well, Dr. Wu already confirmed, and Helen will stick around for the Stark Expo Next Gen before going back to Seoul. Seems a waste that Amadeus would miss it after all.”

“Peter Parker and Harley Keener?”

Toni raised an eyebrow. “They have the grades and…” her eyes softened a bit, “I do miss them.”

Rhodey nodded a bit surprised that Toni was so interested in kids when she never was before.

“Is there something that I need to punch Bruce for?” Rhodey got tired of beating around the bush it seemed.

“No,” Toni answered with a small smile, “it’s just… there is nothing wrong. Just some… readjustments.”

Rhodey eyed her before his gaze fell into her untouched lunch. The fry she was nibbling have long gone cold and her favorite milkshake was more liquid than ice-cream. She took sip of water instead.

“Are you pregnant?”

Toni dropped her glass.

~*~

J. A. N (Just an Author's Note):

I woke up to a post in RDJ's instagram overflowing with comments and, like an idiot, I read what it was about.

According to RDJ's post (I will get there in a sec), RDJ was defending Chris Pratt because Chris didn't want to disclose who he (Chris) was voting for and there was mention of his wife's Christianity or something (there was this whole paragraph going on about it that I honestly didn't know where RDJ was going with it).

In the comments, they were saying how Chirs Pratt is now supporting a Christian church that is openly against LGBT (I think that now is LGBTQIA+ but I don't pretend to know if it's the right term), I have no idea whether Chris Pratt supports Trump or not but everybody in the comments' section keep saying that he does despite the post being about him not wanting to disclose that info.

I am not American so I'm not 100% sure if it's my place to have an opinion about Trump. But what I got from the comments section?

Half of the people there was mad that RDJ didn't voice his support when Brie Larson was getting heat for whatever (the woman gets heat for a lot things, some I agree with, some I don't but ultimately I think she just doesn't think before speaking and/or people take stuff out of context) and the other half going off about Pratt's choice of church.

And this is where I don't agree with RDJ (oh, god, what a shock, I love Tony Stark, I love RDJ but how come I don't move moutains for RDJ? How come I love Chris Evans? How come one my favorite characters in Avengers Assemble is Clint but I'm not too hot on Jeremy Renner? 'Cause I'm not a Stan, *le gasp*).

Now, not saying that RDJ defending Chris' choice not to disclose who he was voting on was wrong. It's the right of every citizen after all. BUT, RDJ going on about Chris being Christian (and the subject is too serious for pun jokes) was a testament of the man's character was just cringe worth. The religion a person follows/believes in doesn't mirror their character, being Christian doesn't mean you're good person, also doesn't mean you are against LGBT. Maybe I am totally taking it the wrong way (like I said: RDJ went on and on and IDK where he was going with anything on his post) but that's what it sounded like and that's where I think he went wrong (IS wrong) if he was really saying that.

Trump aside (because RDJ was denfending Chris for not wanting to say who he was voting on but then everybody said that it was Trump and I just got confused) I didn't know that Pratt was supporting a church that was openly against LGBT (and I do know Trump's fame on THAT) and now that I do? Disappointing.

Will I go to the man's social media and post death threats (that are apparently happening)? Nope. Will I boycott his movies or whatever he is involved in? I don't follow the man anyways. I don't watch movies because this or that actor that I love is in it (I didn't watch Dolittle, because that's not my cup of tea and I don't care that RDJ is in it). First stuff that I watched of Chris Pratt's was Guardians of the Galaxy and then Jurassic World and that's it.

Will I watch the next Guardians movie? Honestly after Spider-Man: FFH, my interest in MCU is zero. I am really indifferent. I wasn't going to before I knew all this anyways.

BUT, it DOES mean that Star Lord's part just got reduced in my fic. *shrugs*. People can believe whatever they want, it's their right. When their beliefs infringe or impact on other people's right... yeah, no.

PS-About Brie Larson, no one in MCU spoke up for her (first of all), but I do find very telling that the very first comment because of "likes" is about that instead of the church against LGBT. Really that an actress ranks higher in people's priorities??

Chapter Text

March, 2011.

.

Bruce stopped and, much like Toni, he was not used to his mind going completely blank. He stared at her open mouthed and wordless.

Toni nodded to herself. This sounds about right.

She had almost two weeks to get used to the idea. Used to the idea of being a mom. Toni shuddered. As many jokes and jabs that Rhodey made about Harley and Peter, at the end of the day, those two would go home to other women that had papers saying that they were family. There was no responsibility there to raise anyone. Toni got to be the “Cool Aunt” that had the fun moments instead of lecturing them about their grades.

Now? She was still numb. But it seemed that even before the thought fully formed, Toni already accepted the role. Her mind full of the possibilities on how to readjust her plans for Thanos.

Such as maybe not revealing to the public about her kid but also about…

“I thought I couldn’t…” Bruce trailed off.

“Theoretically, neither should I,” Toni said with a humorless smile.

And they shouldn’t. Not with the gama radiation, not with a history of heavy metal poisoning. No matter how light – in comparison – it was from last time.

“It’s still… I’m five weeks along. And my family has a history of… my mother had five miscarriages.”

That made Bruce’s head snap up. “Have you already seen a doctor?”

And that was the other part of the conversation.

“I think you’ll agree that until such time that this kid is less vulnerable, we limit the people that know about the pregnancy at all. Let alone the existence of the child until they are no longer a child.”

Pretty much the whole world knew about the many kidnapping and assassination attempts that the Starks survived through the years. The Winter Soldier was what broke the streak, really. Toni’s was hardly the generation that it started, and Afghanistan was hardly the first time, it was just… the first successful abduction.

Bruce frowned. “So… Dr. Cho? And… Dr. Wu?”

Toni smiled a bit. A hint was enough. There was no need for her to measure and choose tiny words to explain.

“I know that they are a geneticist and a cardiothoracic surgeon, but they still have a medical degree and, unlike what I can say about many: I trust them.”

“Dr. Cho can tell us more about… about possible side effects of the gama radiation.” His hands shook.

“And about the palladium poisoning.” Toni countered to which Bruce could only wince.

“Toni… I… I’m so sorry.” But Bruce stopped at her raised hand.

“No, this wasn’t in my plans. No, I do not blame you. I also thought that… motherhood wasn’t… exactly possible for me so the fact that we didn’t take precautions is on me as well. At least you were sure you couldn’t. I jut thought I couldn’t.”

The other scientist frowned. “Are you… do you want me to… blame you?”

Toni gave him a bland look. “My self-flagellation tendencies are not that deep. Half and half, Bruce.”

Bruce snorted and then immediately regretted it. “Sorry!” But he sobered pretty fast. “This is… you’re handling too much. This is too much! You barely sleep and eat and the most painful is that you try to do both.”

That’s what she missed the first time around. Bruce wasn’t exactly the best friend she ever had nor was he the best friend one could have. And Toni was already dreading having a kid with Dr. Strategic Retreat, I’m not that Kind of Doctor. But that was the thing that was missing from her friendship with Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. Bruce and Toni understood where the other was coming from with barely a word.

Bruce saw that it wasn’t that Toni purposefully forgot to eat and sleep or prioritized her work over her personal health. It’s that she didn’t have time for basic necessities.

“SI is in good hands. Pepper is as cutthroat CKO as I knew she would be, she can handle the board for half a year. Rhodey already knows how to coordinate with PR for War Machine to be in a position of representing the Enhanced. The Fantastic Four and the Defenders hardly need to have their hands held. Wakanda has been staying out of the way because it would provoke global rage if they interfered with either our legal acquisition of Vibranium or Starkiun since the priority is to apply them to the medical division in the outreach programs in Africa. And for now, it’s just a waiting game for Thor and for our opening in S.H.I.E.L.D and for the Chitauri.”

Bruce took his glasses off and cleaned them in a napkin. “Six months?”

Toni shrugged. Pain shone in her eyes for the briefest of moments before she covered it up.

“The first trimester will be the deciding factor for us to see if there will even be kid to worry about. Then I will start to show and come up with something to be out of the public eye. Friday can handle my media presence and Pepper can handle SI and Rhodey can handle the Enhanced.

I only have a few issues to juggle about Stane’s bank accounts and siphoning the funds to counterterrorism.”

They talked about it a few months before. While Jennifer was right and there was this schadenfreude with two birds-one stone, putting Stane in the spotlight as the one responsible for supplying the black market (be the SI missiles units that didn’t pass inspection or straight knockoffs) and investing in counterterrorism with the man’s own money was small fish in comparison to the major reason. Unfortunately, the news that Stane’s money was now helping to heal what the man destroyed got lost somewhere between Toni Stark rediscovering and synthesizing a whole new element and… well… Iron Woman… and then the Hulk… and then Iron Woman and the Hulk working together.

In hindsight, she did not think this one through. Which… may cause some problems since Toni (and Jennifer) were planning to cut Maximoff at the knees before their sob story ever passed through her lips.

Bruce still looked worried before something clicked. “What about Jim Morita? He has degrees in sociology and educational studies.”

Toni’s eyes widened, seeing where he was going right away. “And in less than a year he would get a job in Midtown School of Science and Technology, Peter’s school.” She smiled. “You’re a genius, I just need to send a quick message to Rhodey.”

While Toni made sure that all the properties that could possibly house the Avengers, be they owned by Toni or by SI were occupied, she was still struggling to find where to put the final nail on the gravy train. Geopolitics were covered in high school and if the renewed interest in the matter of international relations held, there is bound to have classes about it. From there it would be easy to have the media pay attention to it if, say, Toni Stark went and said a few words. She knew that Jennifer would also want to attend.

Bruce waited while the inventor typed her message. “Is there anything else?”

“The patent on Starkum is air-tight. The H.O.W.A.R.D is well protected by Jocasta so the Vibranium collected is out of Wakanda’s hands. Not that, legally, it was ever in their hands to begin with.” Toni shrugged.

The “Nothing to See Here” policy also included not having any legal claim to the Vibranium itself unless it was in Wakandan territory since they could still claim that it was in their land. Jennifer was full of glee when informing them about the fact that, legally, Wakanda had no claim in the Vibranium found out of their borders.

“Ok,” Bruce shook his head, “about doctors… to make sure we have a kid to worry about…”

“I scheduled a meeting with Dr. Cho and Dr. Wu…” Toni hesitated but… she needed to put her ducks in a row, “there is another contact that I need to check. Someone that we need, at least to ensure a failsafe against Loki.”

Bruce’s lip thinned. He didn’t like it any more than she did. It was an unknown that they weren’t sure that could be trusted. That was the possible cause of all this. But aside from the pregnancy, where, Bruce had to admit, he would be very useful, they needed someone that could counter Loki as well, Toni was right about that. They were forced to trust him because half of the universe was in danger, but it was more personal when the safety of his child was on the line.

“Stephen Strange.” He muttered.

~*~

Toni decided to go to Jim first. While she already scheduled a meeting with Yao and Helen, there was not much she could do for her unborn kid… besides not drinking coffee or sushi. She sighed a little sadly.

“Miss, Mr. Morita has arrived.”

To avoid being seen by any prying eyes, Toni sent a nondescript car that went from Jim’s apartment’s garage to hers. No one seeing him get out or get in.

“Hey, Toni.” He smiled a bit.

“Hey, Jim.”

“Not that I’m complaining but I haven’t seen you this often since we were kids.”

They knew each other in passing due to Toni’s father and his grandad. Friendly but not exactly friends, they were used to doing favors for each other. Be it because Toni needed professional help that required more subtlety than either Pepper, Happy and Rhodey had – in their well-known roles of Toni Stark’s closest friends – or because Jim needed an information or the other that he couldn’t find through legal means before he retired from Quantico.

Obviously, Jim was in the perfect position to keep a closer eye on Peter than she was. And it was not long after that the man connected the dots. Why would Toni be asking after one of his students? Spider-Man never shuts up after all and Jim was the boy’s principal… that he was seeing a little too often due to missing classes that coincidentally matched Spider-Man’s major fights.

Maybe it wasn’t totally on Peter that Jim knew who he was so fast but the boy really needed to synchronize his lies better.

“Yes. I’m gonna cut to the chase. I heard that you’re thinking of retiring from intelligence.”

Jim used to work at Quantico, FBI, still does. After his second son was born, though, he decided to step back and get a job suiting his original degrees. If Toni had planned it, it would have never worked. Jim Morita Sr. was from Fresno, California and it was a stroke of luck that Jim Jr. moved to New York after his second son turned three and then got the job at Peter’s school.

Jim raised an eyebrow and didn’t bother to ask how Toni knew something that he commented only once… to his wife. “And you think you know where I would be best suited to go.”

She only grinned in response.

~*~

“Dr. Stark, I’m not sure if I am comfortable doing this. It’s not my training.” Dr. Cho nevertheless pulled the ultrasound machine closer to where Toni was lying.

The billionaire hid all the medical equipment she would need in SU’s purchases paperwork and disbursed the expense through her accounts. She paid for it, obviously, but the name at the end of the paper would say “Stark Unlimited”. ‘You’d be such an evil mastermind.’ Jennifer shook her head. But Toni has always been paranoid and after Obadiah, she knew even more what holes to cover, of course she would also know how to dance around them.

“I must agree, Dr. Stark.” Dr. Wu nervously reached for the gel and handed it Helen.

“I understand. But for now, you’re on the very short list of people that we trust with this.” She motioned to herself and Bruce.

She also suppressed an ironic smirk. ‘I’m not that kind of doctor’. But Toni didn’t joke about how the two had medical degrees. Being a physician didn’t mean being a jack of all trades despite what some would think. Helen wouldn’t lead a heart transplant and Yao wouldn’t mess with trying to cheat the human immune system, at least not the way Helen is. And it’s one thing to ask the theory, ‘Hey, what do you think this is?’ kind of way and something very different to be their actual patient. The most the first can result in is either annoyance or a tired sigh, the later means someone’s health on your hands.

There was also the fact that those two, unlike most of the people Bruce and Toni knew and were directly counting on, had no idea the battlefield the planet would become in seven years.

Did it have anything to do with doing Toni’s prenatal care? Nope. But at least Helen would need to be told. If only because of the trauma the woman suffered at Ultron’s (and Maximoff’s) hands. Toni would do her best to protect Helen, but some things have had interesting ways to happen.

Toni hummed as Helen and Yao pooled their knowledge together to make a plan for her.

~*~

Toni was lazily scrolling through some information on prenatal care when the response came through.

“The email has reached Dr. Strange’s serves. He is, indeed, already in Nepal. His only other contact—”

“Jay!” Toni raised a hand. “Breach of privacy remember? I won’t go through his garbage. See what is publicly available about Strange though.”

“Very well, Miss. According to the news and the Metro-General Hospital records, Stephen Strange retained the position of consultant for a few months after he depleted his own funds. Enough to perform other, highly untested, medical procedures in search for a way to heal the nerve damage done to his hands. There have been a few downloaded documents from Stark Unlimited’s website of unfinished projects. The neural prothesis, however, didn’t give the maneuverability Dr. Strange would need to operate in the capacity of a surgeon again. Miss Friday managed to identify him at the background of a picture from a Facebook account a week ago at Kathmandu, Nepal. He looked… travel weary.”

The guilt Toni managed to ignore almost a year ago came back full force. One year of medical procedures that either didn’t work or only compounded in the problem. Spending all his money in the effort to get back to his former life.

Confusing the poor Colonel that agreed to test Hammer’s knockoffs with Rhodey was an honest mistake, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was still a mistake.

And for all the resources that she had and that she could do, what could Toni Stark do for Stephen Strange? The truth was: not much. At least not the neurosurgeon Stephen Strange and she doubted that she would be much help for the Sorcerer Stephen Strange either. Whatever was it that brought Toni back, she was sure that Strange was involved somehow. Too much coincidence that he had the Time Stone and, after saying with all the words that he would sacrifice her and the kid for it… do the exact opposite.

“Spare her life and I will give you the Stone.”

That haunted her nightmares and dreams for an entire year when she came back, and then months after realizing her mistake, after his accident.

And now… there she was… planning on asking the man for help and, even if not now, not immediately, Toni felt like she had the moral obligation to tell him about… pretty much everything.

~*~

Chapter Text

.

April 20, 2011.

.

For the last year and half, everything was running smoothly. The pregnancy was the first, if happy, hurdle. Something that Toni couldn’t predict, something that changed things, irrevocably, forever.

So maybe she was still numb and already predicting a possible nervous breakdown in the future. But ultimately? Everything was running smoothly. She wasn’t running herself haggard or stretching herself thin. Toni was finally able to do something that she hasn’t done since being solely CEO of Stark Industries: delegating and getting good results back. No more, “If you want a job well done, then do it yourself”.

“Jay, give me the rundown.”

“Miss Walters is almost finished drafting the papers about provocation and mind manipulation. According to her is like getting paid to have fun.”

Toni had to laugh a bit at that even as she imagined the years of fight that such a thing will require. “Enjoying one’s work. If teenagers had access to such a test…”

“Indeed. Mr. Rand’s legal team sent over the contracts for a possible collaboration between Stark Industries and Rand Corporation… and it’s also Mr. Rand’s college project.”

She only sighed and rolled her eyes up.

“Mr. Cage is thriving in his duties as the Defender’s PR and quickly becoming an internet sensation as a side bonus and Colonel Rhodes is helping to train Miss Jones on formal ways to do reckon.”

Toni blinked with some surprise at that. She subscribed to Luke’s YouTube channel, god help her, and the guy was charismatic… uh… charming, if a little aggressive but he managed to get his message across in a way that rallied people. Now that she stopped to think about it, the description could be applied to the Defenders in general.

Daredevil’s senses, while amazing to listen in without any technological aid do little good in a court of law and as Matt Murdock, he clearly knew that. So, it was little wonder that for the longest time, he just looked like a lunatic beating cops for no reason. Jessica took it up on herself to consult Jennifer on what to find and how to find it with Rhodey’s help that would actually help legally speaking.

Reconnaissance. Toni raised an impressed eyebrow. Aside from scouting the area a few hours before the mission hit, she couldn’t remember ever doing so with the Avengers aside from the mission in Sokovia, sort of.

Iron Woman was more about recovering SI tech and then aiding in relief efforts than to arrest the baddies and make it stick in court. But the Avengers against HYDRA? Yeah that was bad. They couldn’t just kill everyone there because… what the hell? And they couldn’t “arrest” them after compromising the entire crime scene anyways because what evidence a prosecutor would use to condemn them? Their word against theirs after all.

Toni winced. There was a reason one of the only missions she agreed to take part in was the one in Sokovia because she agreed that the Scepter had to go. She didn’t know if anyone in “Team Cap” ever thought that they never really arrested anyone or if they did, it was back in the SHIELDRA days where they just chucked the random criminal into secret prisons like the Raft and called it a day. And then they had problems with it when they were the ones imprisoned…

The hypocrisy was truly something to behold.

“Dr. Banner is ready for the field test of the Hulk Shield.”

Bruce was quickly taking over SI’s laboratories and, now that he was finally free, getting a business bachelor for the plans to buy stock from STAR Labs. As grateful as he was to Toni for giving him a job that was prolly hell in insurance – and it truly was, not that she would ever tell him that – he wanted something to call his own and Toni raised her eyebrows at that. Maybe it was because he didn’t have the chance to do so last time, “in debt” with S.H.I.E.L.D and whatnot, but Toni wondered if Bruce realized that if he had his own company, with his own employees and he took off now, a lot of people would be left scrambling.

Toni would be fine with their kid. Not the first time a ginormous responsibility was dropped just like that on her lap. After all there have been no plans for her to take over SI until she was twenty-five. But it wasn’t fair for the people that would come to depend on the job.

“And Mr. Morita and his family found an apartment in New York. The interview went as well as predicted and he starts at the Midtown School of Science and Technology after their summer break.”

Jay’s voice took her off her wandering thoughts. Toni smiled widely at that. “Oh, dear. This is so good, I just can’t.”

Jarvis hummed, amused and happy and his creator’s good mood.

“Dr. Richards has tried, once again, to contact Dr. Foster about her Einstein-Rosen Bridge experiments… unsuccessfully.” Toni snorted again. Reed was trying, key word there, to participate in Jane’s papers much to… everybody’s amusement really.

Jane was one territorial woman which made the next step in schedule interesting to say the least.

“How is the H.O.W.A.R.D in New Mexico?”

“One of our satellites is always positioned to survey the situation. It is Miss Jocasta’s priority after Miss’ safety and SI’s and SU’s. When Mr. Odinson comes, we will know.”

The beauty of photographic memory: she knew exactly the data to put so Jocasta would easily identify “Heimdall’s portal”.

“And Miss?”

“Yeah, Jay?” Toni already went back to the new car SI would, hopefully, start to produce in the next two years.

“Your next appointment with Dr. Cho and Dr. Wu is next week. Dr. Banner and Colonel Rhodes also expressed their desire to discuss your safety with your insistence to personally contact Dr. Strange.”

“Of course they did.” She muttered good naturedly, appreciating their concern even if… too often expressed.

Toni got up to prepare some coffee before pausing and groaning to herself. She already had a cup today and that was her limit for the next seven months. A cup a day. Toni was not looking forward for the lack of caffeine… or the swollen feet now that she was thinking about it.

In two weeks, there would be the Stark Expo Next Gen. focused on the brightest kids not yet in college that had interest in the harder sciences. Thankfully, and in all fairness, Harley and Peter do qualify. That was one of the very few parenting lessons that she agreed with Howard enforcing: no nepotism, no pulling some strings. You either earn it or you don’t.

Anyhow, she was looking forward to meeting them again.

Just as she was not really looking forward to contacting… whoever in Nepal.

~*~

“You want to do what?!” Pepper’s eyes were wide as she glared at Toni.

“Makes sense.” Rhodey sighed and rolled his eyes when Pepper swirled around towards him.

Happy didn’t say anything but it was clear he wasn’t happy. Heh. Toni winced a bit, glad that she didn’t say that one out loud in the… situation.

“What part of having a… meeting that size and revealing so much sounds like a good plan?” Pepper addressed the question to Rhodey but she was still looking at Toni.

The colonel sighed again. The dark bruises beneath his eyes telling more than the man ever did about sleepless nights. “Look, Matt and the rest of the Defenders just know about the time travel and the… multitude of alien invasions…”

That made something click in Toni’s mind. But just as her brain was feverishly coming up with some last-minute plans, she paid attention to what Rhodey was saying.

“Because it’s like Toni said: Earth is being targeted, the universe is being targeted. It’s kinda everybody’s problem. That’s something that can’t be argued. It doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve to know or that they can’t help with other issues either. Look…” Rhodey sent a quick apologetic look at Toni, “… we keep saying to Toni that she doesn’t have to do everything herself. After years of doing just that and of other pushing the responsibility of things that aren’t nowhere near her business to begin with on her shoulders. I’m not saying to give these people, that we don’t even know all that well, our diaries, I’m saying that… we won’t know if they are trustworthy at all if we don’t try.”

Happy sighed and finally put his two cents in, “I’m with Rhodey in this one. Just… I’m a believer in second chances. Everybody here needed one of those after all, and we keep forgiving our mistakes even if we fight and almost jump each other’s throats in the process. It’s like… giving a second chance to Romanoff after she infiltrated SI but kicking her to the curb after she didn’t deign to pick up the phone to warn you that you were about to be gunned down by the Project Insight. Sorry,” He rubbed the back of his head as he met Toni’s eyes, “horrible example. Still..”

Toni turned to Pepper. Whose shoulders slumped. “It was a horrible example,” she sent a look towards Happy, “Even if we consider Rogers lying while using your resources and living under your roof as his first “mistake”,” Pepper emphasized the word in such a way that it was clear she was thinking in much less polite words, “after something like that? I would throw the whole second chances policy out of the window… On that note, you consider letting Romanoff anywhere near SI after she compromised hundreds of thousands of employees’ livelihoods, I will enlist J.A.R.V.I.S, Friday and Jocasta to bury Romanoff and not lose a second of sleep over it.” No one asked her whether she meant it literally or figuratively.

“That’s reasonable. If what they did was just a bastard’s move, I might be going a bit easier on them, even if it emotionally hurt you.” Happy nodded with a frown. “It’s one thing if Rogers went up to your face and actually had the guts to tell you that he cares more about Bucky and that he is his priority. But not only did they hurt you, Toni, they also hurt, killed other people and broke the law while at it… obviously.”

Toni didn’t say anything for a few second before looking towards Pepper, “So… the meeting is a go?”

The redhead rubbed her forehead. “Yes, we will call all the allies made until now, so everybody is on equal footing.”

Toni got up and went to climb down the stairs to her workshop, “By the way we also need to contact Strange and his friends.”

She ignored the three glares sent her way. Toni leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling.

So much to do: finish the schematics for the new medical equipment that used Vibranium and Starkium as raw material. Better conduits and they can take up a lot more energy as well.

She still needed to organize the finishing touches about the Stark Expo Next gen that, while not as grand as the Star Expo, still invited kids all over the country for it.

Then Toni had to coordinate with Friday to choose a date that everybody could attend a meeting with so many people that, wonder of the wonders, had jobs and a life of their own.

All that aside from field testing her force field powered by an Arc Reactor. But to truly test it, they would need another Infinity Stone to fire at it meaning that they would either have to contact Strange’s friends in Nepal… or New York as it was, or wait for the Chitauri Invasion and secure the Scepter. More than that, they would have to figure out a way to harness the energy into a… weapon. And Toni just knew what would happen if that little tidbit spread. Why bother with something as simple as a shield when they could fire back?

She groaned and thanked DUM-E for the smoothie. Most of them were edible since Toni took to lock all the motor oil away.

The problem was… she wasn’t even sure if Fury was wrong about the whole Phase 2 weapons. About developing weapons with the Infinity Stones. Truth of the matter is that Earth was ridiculously outgunned. It wasn’t an arm’s race. It was trying to catch up… and being laughed at. The whole ‘Earth is primitive’ from Star Trek and Star Wars – Toni made a disgusted noise – wasn’t far from reality.

Maybe Thanos wasn’t quite a good measuring stick since… warlord and all and so by definition he has the bigger gun. But considering that, that’s who they would be facing, the argument was really poor.

Were her morals… the ability to look herself in the mirror and sleep at night, really worth trillions of lives?

Even S.H.I.E.L.D. Their whole premise was about fighting the battles “that normal people would never be able to”, there was even a special focus on extraterrestrial threats. But before and after they sunk, there was so much infighting and personal problems, and pursuing their own interests and power struggles and being fricking infiltrated since their founding that they barely managed to stay afloat on their own let alone do anything about “world in danger” situations. It would be funny if it wasn’t so frustratingly pathetic.

“Ultron was supposed to be a suit of armor around the world.” She muttered bitterly.

Toni ended up falling asleep for a bit before an alarmed J.A.R.V.I.S, Friday and Jocasta startled her awake.

“Miss!”

“Boss!”

“Chief!”

“What!? I’m here, I’m awake.” Toni pressed her palm against her aching eyes.

“One T’Chaka of Wakanda just scheduled a meeting with the UN.” J.A.R.V.I.S explained.

That made her eyes snap open.

Chapter Text

.

April 23, 2011

.

“This is insane.” Pepper made a last-minute adjustment to their SI meetings before turning to Toni.

“We need all the help we can get. And things are starting to honestly go out of my area of expertise and not only militarily speaking. Wakanda coming out so soon? I… can’t be everywhere at once.” Toni swore as her ponytail got loose.

“What about you?” Pepper turned to Rhodey, clearly worried.

“I agree with her.” Rhodey raised his hands in a placating gesture, “I’m all for keeping the information contained, this could cause mass panic. But more people that are very qualified to bounce ideas off each other can’t hurt.”

“Oh, please, you just want some more “bro time” with Ben because you two just don’t run out of jokes of “taking care of the nerd friend”.” Toni rolled her eyes.

“Please never say “bro time” again, it sounds weird from you, I met you when your favorite song was a symphony from Tchaikovsky. And nope, we don’t. We lost a lot of hair covering your scrawny asses in college. Happy understands me, don’t you?”

“How am I suddenly a part of the conversation?”

“You’ve been getting her out of the fire for the last five years.”

Happy shrugged. “Yeah, but by then Toni didn’t anger people on purpose… a lot. I mean… uh… can you introduce me to Ben?”

“Oh, c’mon!”

~*~

When the Fantastic Four agreed to take Toni’s jet to Malibu for a meeting, this wasn’t quite what they pictured. Many of the same people they met for New Year’s Eve but…

“Dr. Cho! I read your paper on simulacra applications, it is nothing short of revolutionary!” Reed hurriedly went on to shake the woman’s hand who had just gotten out of a car alongside Bruce and Yao and driven by Happy.

“Dr. Richards, thank you. I read about your thesis on the solar clouds and their effects on the human genes. I suppose they were right.” She smiled a bit.

At that the other scientist bashfully rubbed his arm.

Having decided, after much probing from Sue and Ben to not talk shop nonstop in New Year’s Eve, they were finally getting it out of their systems.

“Dr. Cho.” Sue smiled as well.

“Dr. Storm. I saw you are back in genetics. We missed you when you left for business.”

“Taking a page out of Toni’s book I guess.”

Toni rolled her eyes but approached them. “Please, you’re just happy that you’re finally using your bio-inclination again.”

“Yes.” Sue admitted. “This is Ben Grimm and my brother, Johnny, I don’t know if you had a chance to meet last time.”

“Nice to meet you as well.” Helen smiled.

“Well, you guys already know Bruce, and this is Dr. Yao Wu. Cardiothoracic surgeon, I poached him for SU’s and SI’s medical division.” Toni grinned.

Dr. Wu sighed a bit but smiled politely, nonetheless. “Dr. Storm, Dr. Richards. I really hope that you still intend to publish your findings on the solar clouds. It was a really interesting read.”

“My god, that’s a lot of nerd talk.” Johnny complained.

“Johnny!” Sue grabbed his arm and shook it.

“No, it’s ok.” Yao laughed a bit. “We need to get going anyway, I think the others have already arrived.”

“We are the last ones here, aren’t we?” Ben huffed.

Toni made a face that already said it all.

“Anyhow, let’s go. We arranged the amphitheater for this.” Toni prompted.

“Wow.” The sight stopped Johnny short.

The Fantastic Four only ever saw the room once, when Toni invited everybody for New Year’s Eve and gave them a quick tour. The amphitheater was the only room sober and big enough for the crowd attending and it fit their purposes.

Enormous, circular, leveled so everybody had clear sight and with a platform with a holoprojector, it was perfect.

And now, everybody that Toni had closer contact with, from Jim Morita and Erik Selvig to The Defenders and the Fantastic Four were in attendance.

“There are four seats there.” Sue motioned ahead and they sat behind microphones and an honest to god tablet to take notes.

“Thank you everybody for coming.” Toni’s voice was amplified but not too loud due to the amazing acoustics in the room and the strategically positioned speakers.

“Holy crap! She can probably get a MP3 to sound like a live show in here.” Johnny stopped when he realized everybody in the room was looking at him.

“Your mic is on, Johnny.” Toni explained, a little amused.

Johnny looked down to see his elbow pressing the mic button, yep. Grinning a little embarrassedly, he waved at everybody.

“Well, I know that everybody in this room have busy schedules so I will keep the introductions short: we need to get everybody on the same page. Everybody in this room was made aware of, sorry for the scientists, time travel. I was in 2018 and came back to 2008.”

That made some jump. They didn’t know that Jane Foster or Jim Morita, for example, were told. Much less Erik Selvig or Helen Cho. Or Karen Page and Foggy Nelson for that matter.

“Some things out of the way: no, I wasn’t the one to do so nor do I understand the mechanisms of which this was made possible.”

Colonel Rhodes was there with Toni in the podium and took the lead then. “We decided to reveal it to the people in this room because the task ahead affects everybody. I do not exaggerate when I say that a universal threat is heading our way and will reach us in April 23, 2018. We have exactly seven years to prepare. We organized this meeting for you to be made aware of the finer details.”

“Yes?” Toni pointed at Jim Morita that raised his hand.

“You said that you came back in 2008, why just now approach us?”

“Some of it because many of you had yet to come to your abilities or even back in the country.”

Danny Rand fidget a bit. The Fantastic Four nodded, they knew that much and were grateful that they didn’t go in that mission blind.

“Some of it because I could only ever think of two solutions and I’m welcoming suggestions now that I can back them up. They can run independently or concomitantly.”

Johnny made a questioning sound to his sister who explained under her breath. “At the same time.”

“The first one is the reason you are all here today.”

“Team ups.” Ben leaned back, careful not to break the chair.

Toni tsked in agreement. “Everybody in this room, powers or not, are in the position to help. And this is what we need help with.”

J.A.R.V.I.S turned on the holograms that showed a design of Thanos in real life size beside Toni. Breaking 8 feet in height, purple and full of muscles, he provoked a lot of whispering around the room. All of it was sketched since Toni didn’t have actual footage of any of it… yet.

“From what I gathered before being sent back: he is a Titan… from a planet called Titan. A thousand years old, he came from a planet that depleted its own resources because of overpopulation. The experience made him think that there are too many people and too little food, too little water. He then travelled from planet to planet killing half the planet’s population in a bid to save them from the same fate… thoughts?” Toni smiled.

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah, that was my reaction too.” Toni didn’t even know who said it, it was warranted.

Helen was open mouthed but, much like a few other participants, she raised her hand… and felt like she was back in college.

“Yeah?” Toni pointed at her.

Helen quickly pressed the mic button, “I imagine that… we lost, that’s why you are here, in the past.”

That put everybody in an extremely somber mood. Toni nodded to the horror of most besides those already aware, who managed to mute their reactions. At least as much as it was reasonable.

“Thanos was physically middle aged and already a thousand of years old. But even with his extremely long-life expectancy, there was no way he would be able to travel to all the planets with sentient populations in his lifetime. So, he went looking for these,” J.A.R.V.I.S added the holograms of six objects, “the Infinity Stones. Each of them represents the six powers that form the universe. They were spread through the universe by the Big Bang.”

“Wait, Big Bang, as in the beginning of the universe, that Big Bang?” Darcy Lewis’s eyes were wide behind her glasses.

“Yes.” Rhodey answered. “We don’t know if they were forged by the Big Bang, or if they precede it.”

Toni continued. “They are the Space Stone, currently inside the Tesseract or Cosmic Cube.” The Cube enlarged. “The Mind Stone, in Loki’s Scepter.” What was, perhaps, better described as a spear gained emphasis. “Reality Stone, known as the Aether.” A misty kind of red substance floated beside the other two. “The Time Stone, inside something called the Eye of Agamotto.” An intricate necklace opened to reveal the bright green light inside. “And two others: the Power Stone and the Soul Stone.” Unlike the other ones, the last two were the gems themselves. Oval in shape and shining purple and orange respectively. “Thanos used a gauntlet to harness the power of all six. With a literal snap of his finger… he turned half of all life in the universe to dust.”

J.A.R.V.I.S then used the illustration of dark silhouettes to illustrate it: half dematerializing.

Several people in the room gasped and paled. Fists were formed, hands clenched.

“He claimed that it was random from the rich and the poor, that it was chance that picked the people to turn to dust. But some of you may have realized that it wouldn’t be just the people dusted that would die.”

“People suddenly found themselves without drivers, pilots, surgeons, caregivers and any support system… like parents…” Jane Foster leaned back heavily in her seat, horror written in her features, her hands shaking badly.

“Correct.” And the same horror spread to the rest of the room.

“Where are they now?” Jim Morita leaned forward. Putting his training in intelligence to use.

“Currently, there are two on Earth: Time and Space Stones. But before I delve into that, I need to explain this more chronologically now that you know about the major threat.”

Rhodey stepped up then. “We don’t quite know which one got here first, but the Space Stone, currently inside the Cosmic Cube or the Tesseract was brought by the Asgardians. And it was the first one brought to our attention.”

“From the Norse myth?” Trish Walker looked completely nonplussed as she kept the mic button pressed.

“Got it in one.” Toni smiled.

“Our ancestors took them as gods, but they are more accurately described as… interdimensional aliens.” Rhodey couldn’t believe he said that with a straight face.

A few seconds of awkward silence later, Toni cleared her throat.

“Their… realm… planet, asteroid-like planet is in another dimension. They do have amazing powers and live for a guesstimate of five to six thousand years or so. No wonder our ancestors took them as deities.” Toni shrugged.

“You said ‘Loki’… “Loki’s Scepter”… is that where it comes from?” Danny asked from where he was sitting next to Jessica Jones.

“Oh, yeah. Going back to doing this chronologically. The Asgardians chucked that thing to us. Because they believed that our primitive minds wouldn’t understand it.” Toni grinned sharply at that.

At that everybody exchanged offended looks. Everybody in the room had a lot of pride in their credentials and the time and effort it took to acquire them. Reed looked down, but Sue glared at nothing, while none of that was news to them it didn’t mean that they were any happier hearing it the second time around.

“Thousands of years go by and it was found by the Nazis, more specifically, Johann Shmidt.” Toni continued.

“The Red Skull?” Erik Selvig looked up from where he was taking some notes.

Toni nodded, “And he used it to create the weapons used by HYDRA in World War II. Fortunately, most of them didn’t leave the papers until S.H.I.E.L.D absorbed most of their top scientists in the Operation Paperclip.”

“I thought that was a U.S program.” Darcy knew her history. She had to for a bachelor’s in political science.

“S.H.I.E.L.D.” Toni said as if it explained everything and it kinda of did.

As if the shady organization wouldn’t take advantage to get their own recruits. The beauty of the people in this room is that they are all used to work independently, without anyone to hold their hands and spoon feed them information… so maybe Toni wasn’t as over the clusterfuck of the “civil war” as her calm would suggest.

“Is S.H.I.E.L.D still using those kinds of weapons? Powered by something that survived the beginning of the universe?” Jim Morita crossed his arms. Angry but not at all surprised by the news.

There was a reason his grandad kept his family far from S.H.I.E.L.D and Peggy Carter’s business. Even if he didn’t see anything wrong in introducing him to Toni, they weren’t exactly the best friends in the world for a reason. Jim could only imagine what Howard Stark would think and say if he knew what S.H.I.E.L.D ended up becoming and how Toni was feeling about it.

“Somewhat. It seems that they also didn’t make much headway in that. Something called… Phase 2 weapons.” Toni shrugged. “By 2012, they have the prototypes of the weapons, but they still seemed to be in testing stage.”

“Wait!” Matt Murdock got up, now very alarmed. “Are you saying that this thing is in S.H.I.E.L.D’s hands? Right now? It’s not just the HYDRA-like weapons, they have this thing?”

“When Steve Rogers sank that plane the Tesseract fell out. S.H.I.E.L.D, with Stark Industries’ help, managed to retrieve the Cube because of the energy output. A few years after that, my father studied it and discovered the new element that I synthesized two years ago, Starkium. Since his death… yes, it fell on S.H.I.E.L.D’s hands.”

At that, most of the people in the room raised from their seats and started to shout.

Friday took her cue and deactivated the mics.

Pepper and Happy exchanged looks in the background. But Toni was a bit relieved, this was the normal reaction to S.H.I.E.L.D, even before the whole HYDRA infestation was known.

“Fri.” Toni requested.

Friday gave a huff but activated Ms. Jennifer Walker’s mic again since she was the one making the question that would move this along. This meeting was stressful, and it couldn’t be healthy for Boss. Especially not while pregnant.

“Are we getting it back?”

This quietened the others. All eyes turned to Toni.

“This goes back to the other Infinity Stones. I told everybody in this room about the time travel because of the more urgent matter: the invasion in 2012 and it is the key in securing not just one but two Infinity Stones.”

“You know there are some conspiracy theories that say that the world is going to end in 2012?” Johnny snorted and then dropped his smile at the look everybody was giving him. “It’s not, right? We win then, right?”

“Right… but I guess it is kind of ironic. The whole the end of the world being in 2012 was more or less a big deal, at least it trended a lot in social media. The fact that we had an alien invasion didn’t help the conspiracy thing.” Toni admitted.

“The Infinity Stones?” Jane prompted.

“S.H.I.E.L.D being S.H.I.E.L.D just furthered HYDRA’s plans.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Foggy Nelson was a bit nervous being in the same room as all this extremely influential and powerful people (in more ways than one), but he could be professional and confident when the need arises.

Jennifer snorted from the other side of the room and paid no mind when Bruce elbowed her gently on the ribs.

“I will explain it when we reach 2014.” As if on cue, J.A.R.V.I.S projected a timeline behind Toni and besides the already formed holograms of the Infinity Stones and Thanos.

From the 90s all the way to 2018. Already marked down with every event Toni and Rhodey mentioned.

“I want one.” Johnny whispered to Ben.

“I don’t know if you are talking about Toni or an A.I butler but either way: you wouldn’t know what to do with one.” Ben didn’t even look up while ignoring the offended noises Johnny was making. He was writing in the surprisingly resistant tablet in his hand that actually responded to his rock-like skin. He gotta ask to buy one from Toni before leaving to New York.

“In S.H.I.E.L.D’s hands, the Tesseract was used to further develop the weapons of Phase 2. Some of them to completion although they didn’t really attract the public’s attention so I’m not sure if anybody used them after 2012.”

“Why not just hack S.H.I.E.L.D? I mean, you proved that you could a year ago.” Luke Cage also raised his hand.

“This goes back to why not retrieve the Cube right now and also on the possible way to fight Thanos.”

As in on cue, J.A.R.V.I.S added 2011 and 2012 to the timeline.

Rhodey took a step forward. “In 2011, Dr. Jane Foster will meet Prince Thor of Asgard. As well as Ms. Darcy Lewis and Dr. Erik Selvig”

Jane jumped as her name was pronounced. Darcy grinned and Erik started to think of the possibilities.

“In the biblical sense?” Jessica snorted to herself.

Jane blushed.

Rhodey ignored the whole thing. “Thor was in the process of being crowned king of Asgard when two Frost Giants infiltrated Asgard and interrupted the ceremony in search of a relic of theirs. Enraged, he took a few friends of his plus his younger brother, Prince Loki, to counterattack in the Frost Giant’s own world, Jotunheim.”

“He stupid?” Jessica asked, dearly wishing for a bottle of vodka right then.

“Is he five?” Jennifer looked incredulous.

It was the first they were hearing of it, even being one of the first ones told about the time travel outside of Toni’s closer circle of friends.

Rhodey once again ignored the comments. “Thor’s actions almost brought war to Asgard’s doorsteps, so King Odin banished him to Earth.”

“Is Earth some kind of giant dumping ground? First that Tesseract thing then Thor… too much trouble, let’s throw it to Earth?” Trish asked. A little fed up from these Asgardians’ attitude.

Rhodey and Toni paused at that and exchanged looks before the billionaire shrugged. “Never thought of it like that but it does seem to be a valid comparison.”

“And with no never mind that lives may be lost because of a weapon that survived the Big Bang in the hands of humans that were beginning to get past the idea that fire is magic. And then some alien that I don’t even want to know how much he can bench press was chucked here.” Jennifer commented, disgusted.

“On accounts from Dr. Foster, King Odin didn’t express much respect for humans, no. I think the sentiment is that our value equals that of goats not least of which because we are so short lived that any energy spent saving our lives is wasted.” Toni smiled humorlessly.

Aside from the very offended and disgruntled looks, there was Jane that…

“This is weird.” Jane leaned towards her mic.

“I know.” Rhodey glanced at her sympathetically. Having long become used to hearing Toni refer to events and conversations they never had.

“Thor’s brother, Loki, was actually a Frost Giant. I don’t actually know the specifics. Uh… the Asgardians and the Frost Giants have this millennia old feud and it seems that Odin… might have kidnapped Loki… when Loki was a toddler.”

“What?” Jennifer raised an eyebrow.

Toni rubbed her left temple. “Look… Thor’s way of telling stuff is medieval at best. Like… uh…” she raised a fist and tried to lower her voice to a mock-baritone, “‘Battles filled with glorious… screams of the enemies’ and the man embellished his adventures like a court jester.”

Snorts could be heard from around the room. And as she said it, maybe Toni understood why they were never as close as Thor and Rogers. Toni herself was sometimes hard to understand. Not because of where she comes from, but the way she talks was either filled with science talk or pop culture references. While the 40s was hardly comparable to Viking culture, the brawns before brains that those two had going on was a starting point that Toni never had.

“From what I understood: Asgardians and Frost Giants were fighting. Odin found toddler Loki abandoned in a temple when he was preparing a siege in the last Frost Giant stronghold, decided to take him home and raise the kid in a culture that painted Frost Giants as the devil.”

The silence stretched for a few shock-filled moments.

“Are we all in agreement that Odin is a dick?” Johnny piped up.

“Here, here, man.” Luke shook his head.

“What does Odin’s dirty laundry have to do with Thanos?” Karen asked.

“In 2011, after Thor was banished, Loki became king regent as per the line of succession. There was a struggle, and that part is really confusing, but he ended up stranded and fell into Thanos’ hands. And Thanos isn’t exactly the ‘ask nicely’ kind of guy.” There was a collective wince at that. “There is a strong argument of torture. Loki looked… really bad when he showed up in 2012 and a strong suspicion of mind control.”

“What?” Jessica asked dangerously.

“We don’t know anything yet. But that ties back to the Tesseract. S.H.I.E.L.D was messing around with it with the help of Dr. Selvig and—”

“What?” Jane and Darcy turned around to stare at the astrophysicist who opened and closed his mouth.

“Boy this whole thing will take forever.” Happy muttered to Pepper.

“Ok… uh… first I will tell how it happened and then what I already did to change things, ok? That’s why we are all here. I have no idea what S.H.I.E.L.D wanted with the Tesseract aside from the weapons but for some reason they were building a portal that Loki used to get to Earth. Why S.H.I.E.L.D wanted a portal? No idea. Footage showed him… very… well… he was really pale, almost grey, bruised, sweating like crazy, bloodshot eyes. That’s why I have my doubts that his actions were his own if not through mind control then maybe torture, yes.”

Karen raised her hand and pressed the button for the mic. “His actions?” she repeated.

“In 2012, he led the alien race, the Chitauri to invade Earth… right smack in the middle of New York.”

Toni waited out the shouting.

“How sure are you that he didn’t do it on his own?” Jessica’s voice raised above the rest and Luke made an aborted movement with his hand. As if he wanted to put it in her shoulder but stopped himself.

“Well… counting, first of all, why would Loki have any interest on reigning over humans who he was raised to believe were not worthier than goats? Where would he find that army? And why would his “benefactor” just give it to him so Loki would reign over Earth? His physical appearance when he first got here…”

“This sounds more like manipulation and torture than outright mind control, so what made you think of the possibility?” Danny stopped writing in his tablet.

“Loki brought this with him.”

Jarvis projected a sketched Loki with his Scepter.

“The Mind Stone.” Reed recalled.

“Yes. With this, a touch of the tip, he could mind control people to do his bidding. He did so with a half a dozen to a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Including Dr. Selvig.” Who jumped again at his name.

“Stretching the sympathy card for the dude.” Luke rubbed his neck.

“I know. But it wasn’t fool proof. Loki would give the order and how they went about accomplishing it would be up to them. Loki wanted to recreate the portal that brough him to Earth in the first place so the army of Chitauri would also pass but Dr. Selvig created the new portal with a backdoor that allowed us to shut it down when such a measure served no purpose for the invasion.”

Erik, who until that point was gripping the armrests in a white-knuckle vice, relaxed a bit.

“And that made you think that Loki was also victim of mind control instead of just torture.” Jessica completed.

And it was a wonder that they were living in a word that the expression “just torture” could be used.

“First of all: Loki did not have this Scepter, it came from Thanos. Thor’s, admittedly biased, opinion is that Loki is a strategist, a tactician. He preferred being smart than being the one with the meanest punch. He wants to win the fight before ever stepping in a battlefield and exposing his own neck although he is very physically strong and skilled and has powerful magic of his own. And you know how he decides to go about invading Earth? Making a spectacle of himself, attracting all possible attention and giving time for us to assemble instead of sticking to his MO of discretion and infiltration first.”

“Ok, that’s dumb.” Trish uttered to Jessica.

“Oh, and Loki also decided that the best way to get the Chitauri here was through a bottleneck attack.” J.A.R.V.I.S illustrated it by having the giant, “X” shaped Chitauri ship on the other side of a portal that didn’t allow more than one Leviathan at a time. But Toni wasn’t finished. “And he needed a power supply and apparently the smart thing to do was use Stark Tower’s instead of literally any other power generator that could do the job just as well. Dr. Selvig managed to figure out a way to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect after all.” J.A.R.V.I.S attached the portal to what would one day become Stark Industries’ new headquarters in New York.

“Then it would be possible to achieve high ion fusion in any reactor on the planet.” Jane looked suitably impressed.

“Meaning?” Foggy asked.

Toni turned to him. “With Dr. Selvig’s knowledge, Loki should have been able to use any reactor on the planet to open the portal, not only that but make it as big as he wants and keep it open for as long as he wants. Instead, he chose the reactor in my tower after demonstrations and demonstrations that he wants an audience. Not only that but a team of six people managed to fight off an army and a pretty big one at that too because he got his army here through a pipette. A bottleneck attack.”

There was yet another stretch of silence.

Luke chuckled a bit uneasily, “Ok, so I get the feeling that Thor is the jock in the land of jocks. But is there a chance that he is just stupid enough to think that the bare minimum of common sense is some kind of genius strategist and he just exaggerated his brother’s smarts?”

Toni could only shrug at the question.

“Did no one notice the ridiculousness of that?” Matt spoke up next.

“To be fair, it was in the wake of an alien invasion. People had other things in mind, not the least of which were crisis of faith all over the world.” Toni shrugged again.

“But if Loki knew about the Earth’s… heroes,” snorts were suppressed at the pause that Jim made, “then… why not just open the thing in any other country?”

“Maybe he thought that New York was strategically sound?” Danny offered.

“But wait,” Trish leaned forward, “as ‘big’? Then why not a portal big enough to make any resistance null and void? Toni said that there were six people against that army?”

“Miss Walker is right.” Jim narrowed his eyes. “if the only opposition was a team composed of six people and you have an army, you don’t even need to confront them head on. You go around them.”

“Perhaps we can swallow that Loki wasn’t acting at 100%.” Jessica muttered.

“Or perhaps that he did what he could while being coerced.” Matt tilted his head.

“But that explains why we can’t take the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D yet.” Ben concluded from his seat. “We do, and we lose the Mind Stone.”

Reed’s eyes went wide. “Wait a second! If Dr. Selvig only figured out a way to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect after falling under Loki’s mind control… how did Loki manage to arrive here on Earth without his molecules becoming volatile? Er… Frost Giant or not, and therefore more… resistant than humans, it is technically impossible.”

“Volatile molecules?” Ben had a flashback to college. “Uh… as in… ending up going boom?”

Toni winced. “The energy output was external.”

“Oh my god.” Jane went white and exchanged a terrified look with Erik.

“The collapse created quite the crater in S.H.I.E.L.D’s testing grounds. I don’t know the number of casualties.” Toni admitted.

“You guys knew about this?” Matt tilted his head.

“Not in so many details, but Toni… warned us about the… Fantastic Four before we went to that mission.” Sue explained. “And why she was so sure that we could help.”

Reed cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed. “Our… actions were pretty public so… last time… in the original timeline, she watched the news… us.”

Trish had to bite her tongue pretty hard at that. She already put two and two together. If it wasn’t for Jessica’s insistence of “keeping a low profile” not “divulging what they were doing”, Toni might have known about it. The whole thing with Killgrave might have caught her attention and they could have had help during the whole nightmare.

It wasn’t fair and Trish knew that she was getting lost in a game of “what if” on something that not even the geniuses in the room even thought about as possible. Time travel! But she couldn’t help but wonder. Would things be a bit better if she just went to hell with it and posted the whole thing online for the world to see?

“Because the Tesseract, Space Stone, will be used as a portal for the Mind Stone to get to Earth.” Foggy’s voice got her back to the meeting.

“That’s your plan.” Yao Wu stated. “To use the Stones against Thanos. So instead of being his weapons, they would be ours.”

“More shields than weapons. In 2012, Loki tried to get to me with the Scepter fueled by the Mind Stone and couldn’t because of this.” Toni pointed at her chest where the thin material of the blouse wasn’t enough to completely block the light of the Arc Reactor.

“In your papers on Starkium… you said that your father studied the Tesseract and discovered a new element that you synthesized.” Helen had the insight. “An element based on the studies of the Space Stone was enough to block a weapon powered by the Mind Stone.”

“And that is my plan: synthesize an element from each of the Infinity Stones that we can get our hands on. And that is what I need help with, if you guys agree that it is the best way forward.”

Chatter started for a bit before Jim Morita pressed the mic button. “If we leave the Tesseract in S.H.I.E.L.D’s hands then an alien invasion happens. If we don’t, we risk our one plan to stop half of the universe from literally becoming dust.”

That put things into perspective. What kind of decision was that? What kind of odds were those?

The enormity of the responsibility dawned on them. Why Toni brought them here. Why the task was simply too big for her to decide on her own with half a dozen friends as her only source of input.

And Toni could only take a deep breath. “Yes.”

Chapter Text

~*~

Karen thanked the… bot, as Toni called them, and took a sip of water it brought her. She wasn’t sure if his… her… hir name was Dummy? Her hands were shaking so bad that she had to use both not to spill the liquid.

“I know that right now everybody is nervous. But it’s like Toni said: we are in this together. As cliché as that is.” Foggy dumped a ridiculous amount of sugar in his coffee.

Karen huffed a bit. “Sure, Foggy, I just got my bachelor in paralegal studies and my certificate to be a private investigator. You’re a lawyer. What good are we? We can dig up some dirty on them. Maybe sue the aliens when they attack.”

“Yeah?” Sue turned to them. Foggy waved and shook his head with a bashful grin.

He pulled them away a bit from the rest of the crowd.

“Maybe.” Foggy admitted. “But there is also Ms. Potts, Dr. Foster, Miss Lewis and Dr. Selvig, Dr. Cho…”

“They can all technically bring something to the table, Foggy. I looked them up during the meeting. Dr. Cho and Dr. Foster and her team were tapped long ago by Stark Unlimited. Dr. Foster probably because of Thor and because of her work as an astrophysicist so aliens and Dr. Cho because there is no other surgeon that can do what her Cradle can. Considering the all-life ending threat, I think it’s fair to assume that traumatic injuries will be need to be treated en masse.”

Foggy was silent for a few seconds. “I don’t know Dr. Stark very well. No one in there does besides Ms. Potts, Mr. Hogan and Colonel Rhodes and we are all taking a lot on faith.”

Karen snorted. “How can we not? Even if we call her crazy to her face, for everything, from time travel to alien invasion… there will always be that little niggling feeling of ‘what if she is right?’.” She turned to her friend. “Because what if she is right? What can we do?”

“Toni is an interesting character.” Jim Morita was casually typing in his cellphone. A text to his wife that he was going to be late tomorrow. This meeting turned out to be much more than he first thought.

Karen and Foggy jumped in fright.

Foggy took a step back, trying to calm his racing heart. Karen wasn’t much better, but she was a bit annoyed that Mr. Morita didn’t even look up from his cellphone.

“Excuse me?”

“We are not… we are friendly acquaintances, but I hesitate to call us friends—”

“Even with the whole Captain America in common you guys have going on?” Foggy sent an apologetic look towards the other man for interrupting him.

Jim finally pocketed his cellphone and had a thoughtful look as he faced them. “I may not know Toni as well as Colonel Rhodes or even Ms. Potts and Mr. Hogan but… we are used to calling each other for small favors. Always with our specific skills in mind.” He looked at them with a slightly softer expression. “I understand that her public image doesn’t lend credence to the fact that she knows what she is doing, but if she called, it is because she sees that your help is important enough to warrant… going on a limb and trusting you with this kind of information. And considering the information shared, then your help must be very important indeed, if you forgive me the repetition.”

“I guess I can see that.” Karen exhaled heavily. A bit calmer now.

Jim smiled a bit. “Toni may not have climbed the social and corporate ladder like her father, but she stayed there despite her age and gender when many would love to see and make her fail. It may not look like it, but she rarely does something that she doesn’t perceive as a necessity. We might disagree on what is a necessity, but you can ask her to explain her thought process. As a result of being a woman in weapons manufacturing business, Toni is used to being questioned.”

That made Karen grimace. “Thanks for comparing us to bigoted and chauvinistic and misogynist—”

“Forgive me, not quite what I meant.” Jim raised a hand in apology. “Her professional experience, however, means that Toni is open to assuage whatever doubt you may have. That is half of the reason she is always so giddy to talk with other geniuses. She loves bouncing ideas back and forth, if you didn’t realize, she is quite fond of talking.” He smiled in good naturedly teasing.

“Not a fan of ‘yes-men’.” Foggy summarized. “That much is obvious from her choice of friends.”

The three shared awkward smiles. The shouting matches between Happy Hogan and Toni, James Rhodes and Toni and Virginia Potts and Toni were all over the internet. Boy, did Potts have a powerful set of lungs.

People trickled back into the amphitheater and they followed. It wouldn’t be until years later that Karen and Foggy would realize that Jim didn’t say anything about Foggy’s comment on “having Captain America” in common.

~*~

“We need to prioritize the Stones that we can reasonably get our hands on.” Rhodey pointed out. “But first, is everybody in agreement that even if we manage to convince either the governments that there is a threat this big or the wider public to pressure the governments in case they don’t play ball, it will cause mass panic?”

And they pictured it: even the Chitauri in 2012 was stretching it to the limits. Conspiracy theories aside, who would believe them? Even if they did have a dozen of people either scientists or military… or both in Ben Grimm and James Rhodes’s cases saying that the world was in danger… well… at the end of the day they can only say that they are taking Toni Stark’s word at face value. And say that they do convince much more than the internet trolls… perhaps Hollywood needed the drama for trailers, but could they really say that what amounted to pretty much literally the end of the world wouldn’t bring out the worst of humanity?

Toni let out a sigh. “Ok, we will do this by order of priority and chronologically then I will start with the details. If we leave the Space Stone where it is, the Mind Stone will also be within our reach in 2012. The Time Stone… is either in Hong Kong or Nepal or…” Toni cleared her throat. “New York.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Reed’s eyes were wide.

Luke and Jessica exchanged an alarmed look, and they weren’t the only ones. Helen chanced a quick look at Yao who was open mouthed, the man’s entire family was from Hong Kong.

“The Reality Stone or Aether will arrive in 2013. The rest are in space, literally other planets, and there is simply no way we can get them, but for curiosity’s sake: the planets are called Morag for the Power Stone and Vomir for Soul Stone.” Toni quickly relayed the rest.

“If we want a tie, then we need to secure either Reality or Mind. A definite win, we will need both.” Ben tapped his fingers on the table in front of him, trying to ignore how Reed and Sue were still open mouthed at the possibility of their neighbors having an Infinity Stone.

“Not quite a definite win. The Chitauri are not Thanos’ only fighters and also not his only army. His… children, I didn’t understand that part, but his… generals… extremely skilled, extremely dangerous. And Thanos, even without the Stones, was strong enough to knock the Hulk back… even win.”

That was news to even Bruce if they considered how the man jumped.

Toni could still remember it. Bruce was never afraid of anything. Why should he after all? He was all nervous and uncomfortable if not shy around women expressing interest and didn’t do particularly well in crowds, but he was scared, terrified of the force of nature about to knock on their door. For the first time since they met each other, Bruce initiated contact, hell, initiated a hug. Clinging to Toni and almost leaning his whole weight on her.

“That’s what you meant about running the two plans at the same time. If we manage a tie with the Stones, three versus three or, being optimistic, four on two, we would still need to face Thanos himself and his armies and generals that’s why we need both plans.” Matt was still marveling at the tablet with the braille feature, what the hell?

Toni nodded. “Yes. So, first: these are the Chitauri. There are the Foot Soldiers, Chariots and the Leviathans.”

It took Toni and Friday a while to get the design right. Toni never claimed to have literary imagination and descriptive abilities. But together they managed to recreate the army they would face in one year.

“These are the real-life scales.” And Friday augmented them accordingly.

There were several frightened exclamations at the sheer size of the Leviathans, and it took Toni and Rhodey a while to calm some of them down.

“How can we fight those things? I mean… sure, the Thing or the Hulk… but we can’t… we can’t…” Helen trailed off.

Toni cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable. “The Chitauri are not that big a threat when we know how to defeat them.”

“What? Like flipping a kill switch?” Luke crossed his arms but gawked at the awkward look Rhodes and Stark exchanged. “You kidding me?”

Toni hummed. “Not exactly a kill switch so much as… they operate on a hive-mind. You destroy the queen… meaning the Chitauri Commanding Ship… and, well…”

“And what? They all drop?” Luke still looked like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Toni could only shrug. “Even those whale things, Leviathans?”

“You gotta admit that it’s pretty convenient.” She tried for a charming smile and then sighed.

The incredulous whisperings (or shouting) wouldn’t stop being the to-go-to reaction any time soon.

“Say that we let the Tesseract with S.H.I.E.L.D. so this invasion is going to happen. How do you plan on blowing up the mothership?” Foggy made a face at the holograms.

“Actually… that is the easy part.” Toni admitted with a tentative smile.

“Does the suit pack this much firepower?” Ben raised his… well… his eyes were very wide.

Toni could only shrug and ignore the renewed whispers.

“What is the hard part?” Johnny asked.

“Letting the invasion happen.”

“Leave the Tesseract with S.H.I.E.L.D? Isn’t that the only way we can get our hands on the Mind Stone?” Matt frowned.

“The invasion happened the way it did, with the handicaps it did because Loki led it. But for Loki to lead it…” She trailed off.

“We will have to decide on not interfering when he falls into Thanos’ hands to be tortured and mind controlled.” Jessica finished darkly.

Rhodey, Jim, Ben and Happy were the only ones that didn’t turn decidedly green. Those four were military. They already arrived at that conclusion and what was the decision they would have to make.

“Thor will get here in May, 1^st. Everything will be over by May, 6. We have eight days until Thor gets here and five more days and some change to find a way to rescue Loki… if that’s what we choose.” Toni sighed.

“A week to decide if someone gets tortured.” Helen just couldn’t believe it.

“A week to decide whether that’s worth an actual plan for half of all life to be saved.” Jim retorted lightly.

“And that’s just step one of the problem. Even if everything goes according to plan and the Scepter, the Mind Stone stays on Earth, we need a plan to secure it.” Rhodey pointed out.

“Well… Toni Stark wants to take a look…” Johnny trailed off.

Toni smirked a bit. “I don’t produce weapons anymore. I don’t have as much pull with the big suits anymore.”

“And yet you still convinced the German government to accept one of your satellites in the lower orbit… right above their heads.” Ben sounded confused.

“That’s more international standing than a local one.” Matt pointed out.

“Internationally speaking, SI is a beast. Everybody wants a SI headquarters in their country. But Toni didn’t endear herself to many American big wigs when she closed SI’s weapons manufacturing division.” Jennifer explained.

“And since the invasion will be in New York… what if we moved it? Somewhere less populated? Somewhere where your word carries more weight?” Foggy leaned forward.

“SU’s Compound in New York is the only one with an Arc Reactor and isolated enough. Everywhere else is right in the middle of a city. No matter the country. I have Stark Towers in New York; Hamburg, Germany; Milan, Italy; Tokyo, Japan and we already started construction in London, UK. The only ones we can still change locations are in Johannesburg, South Africa and Krasnodar, Russia. Arc Reactors were installed in the other existing headquarters, in Malibu here in California; Berlin, Germany; Shanghai, China and Toronto, Canada.”

“Wow, you swept the Monopoly board.” Johnny joked.

Half of the room chuckled a bit and the other half rolled their eyes.

“Oh, my god.” Jane muttered. An unamused smile spreading across her face. She met Toni’s eyes. “Oh, my god. That’s why you showed me around Stark Unlimited Compound even after we agreed to let my work site remain in New Mexico. That thing was supposed to be a “safe heaven” for people with abilities. I meet Thor and… would think of that place.”

“Yes.” Toni admitted.

“Smart.” Darcy commented.

Jane turned to her with an indignant expression. “Ok, I… I can’t dispute that but it’s also… manipulative, sneaky and… and…”

“How exactly has that hurt you?” Darcy crossed her arms, pointedly not pressing her mic button.

Jane opened and closed her mouth a few times. “This… I… the… it was a domino of baits. I would meet Thor, I would remember Stark Unlimited and I would bring him to New York.”

Darcy raised her eyebrows. “And that offends you? Five minutes ago we were talking about whether to let someone get tortured. I think dropping a hint about a safe place to bring some alien prince that we probably would think is just some crazy guy with delusions isn’t that bad.”

“Stop making me sound like an ass.” Jane hissed.

“You’re not being an ass,” Darcy rolled her eyes, “you’re just focusing on the wrong things here.”

Toni pursed her lips. “Uh… the mic connects to the room’s systems but also my earpiece… just… saying. Sorry, I didn’t have a lot of time to set this place up, the whole thing doesn’t have a lot of settings besides mute and unmute so while the rest of the room doesn’t hear you, I can.”

Jane groaned and hide her face in her hands.

Darcy pressed her button. “We’re good.”

Ben coughed a little. “About… setting up a bait?”

Toni shrugged. “If my hypothesis is right and Loki did set himself to fail… he still chose a very heavily populated area. Even if I put all the bells and whistles in a new location, there is no guarantee it will be picked.”

“Wait… you didn’t have eleven SI headquarters plus the SU one back in 2008…” Luke stared at her. “You only had five. Two here in America…”

Toni bit her lip before admitting. “I did not think… things through.”

“You lost me.” Sue called.

Jim rubbed his aching eyes. “Toni increased the number of possible targets from five to twelve. Actually, the work with Arc Reactors only started last year, meaning that she increased the number of targets from zero to twelve since 2008. That was bad, Toni.”

She winced. “Setting up multiple Arc Reactors all over the world ties to creating the shield against Infinity Stones, I will explain the mechanisms later but it would basically be a shield or at least a dampening field for the Stones, similar to how my Arc Reactor protected from the Mind Stone. But then Thor coming here and then Loki…”

“It hit you that you’d have to decide on someone having a very horrifying experience that you could stop, the smaller picture instead fo the big one.” Sue finished, understanding where Toni was coming from.

Jim stood up and called attention to himself. “You made a mistake and you called for help. I think we can be mad as hell for how long it took you but at least we can respect that you didn’t try to play God.”

Danny agreed. “Look, Toni is the only one with first-hand information and she did her best. She made a mistake but let’s all be real here: half of us were in no position to help back in 2008 and the other half was buried in personal problems or both. I was half-way across the world and I thought it was a good idea to show up looking like a homeless person at Rand Corporation and claim that I was their long-lost heir.”

Johnny chuckled. “Oh, I saw that on Facebook. Dude, that was not a good move, weren’t you barefoot?”

Danny made a face at his fellow blond and tried to ignore his warm cheeks at the reminder. “My point is, would I be your first choice to turn to for help? I couldn’t even help myself. Chances are good that if Toni approached us one by one, we wouldn’t even hear past “alien invasion”, in the practical sense, she had no choice.”

“Your PR department must love you.” Jennifer commented lightly.

“Thus: the meeting today.” Rhodey brought up.

“Ok. We strayed a lot from the focus. We can talk about our personal grievances later. What is the plan if we save Loki?” Reed asked.

“At this point… it would not make much difference if we don’t or perhaps it would make all the difference in the world. Luke pointed out that by 2012, I will have twelve locations with an Arc Reactor. That’s ten more than I had the first time around. Ten more possible targets. On the other hand, if we save Loki, someone else will lead the charge and, if they get to Dr. Selvig or someone with equal knowledge, they can use any energy source, any reactor on the planet, not just mine. Convenient kill-switch or not, that portal will be as big as they want without Loki, the Chitauri could destroy an entire state on the other side of the country before we can even get on the phone with orders to evacuate. There is not enough Enhanced, heroes, however you want to call them, in the world that would really make a dent.” Toni tried to relax her shoulders.

“You used the Scepter to locate the Cube last time, right?” Reed looked up and saw the stares. “It’s a reasonable assumption. If they are both Infinity Stones, they might have similar energy outputs.”

Toni nodded. “Yes and yes.”

Ben saw where Reed was going with this. “Then, when the time comes, we just need to do the exact same thing. There is no need to go all Sherlock Holmes trying to guess which energy source they will hit. No drama.”

Toni interjected. “Uh… ok. Remember that if we take the Space Stone from S.H.I.E.L.D now, Loki doesn’t get here… no one gets here with the Mind Stone. For the invasion, Loki had both: the Space and Mind Stones in his hands. The priority will be the Space Stone, without which, they won’t be able to open the portal for the invasion, so they will fight for it with everything they have. Last time, Bruce and I analyzed the Scepter to find the Tesseract. Yes, in theory you’re right. But we will need a fool proof plan to secure the Scepter so we can track the Tesseract and pinpoint where aliens will fall from the skies. Or else, we will be blind. And a lot of people will die.”

“Why let the invasion happen at all?” Karen asked. “We will have the Space Stone and the Mind Stone before the second portal opens.”

“Because we’ll need to raise awareness.” Luke understood then. “Without the invasion, the whole thing can be swept under the rug. One alien that got stopped on their tracks. Yes, you’re right, Karen, we could stop the invasion on its toes and still get both Stones. But then six years later and we have Armageddon on our doorsteps with no preparation because no one would see the need for shelters and evacuation plans and Toni’s shields. Organizing people with powers? This little meeting? People would be terrified. How many times have we seen those nutsos with powers that band together to rob banks or just be a general bother?” He turned to Toni with shrewd eyes. “That’s why you pushed for international cooperation. That’s why the Fantastic Four followed your lead. When the time comes, we’ll need to know how to work not only together, but with the people we will be trying to protect.”

“And that won’t happen if they don’t trust us.” Sue huffed and massaged her stiff neck.

“So… actual… comic book superhero fame?” Jane frowned in confusion.

Trish flexed her aching wrists. She hasn’t had to type so fast since college and she still wasn’t very happy with this whole thing. “Not quite. It’s uh… who would you trust more to know what they are doing in a crisis? An EMT that arrived at the scene already with a backpack full of medical supplies or this random guy that tells you to do something. Scrubs, EMT uniforms, firefighter equipment, they inspire trust. You instinctively think that they know what they are doing. If Jess and the rest of the Defenders showed up in a mudslide no one would hear them because… who are they? Why should people listen? How would they know if going right or left is better?” She let go of the mic button.

“Thanks, Trish.” Jessica grumbled.

“I’m just saying.” Trish shrugged.

“She is not wrong. I got a really pointed lecture from my PR when I first assumed control of RE about my… personal image and how that affects how my employees see me and how much they trust me.” Danny leaned over. Jessica landed him a glare that made him raise his hands. “Shutting up now. But she is still not wrong.”

“The whole thing will happen in less forty-eight hours. Assuming that we can secure the Scepter, assuming we can identify the target and assuming we can contain the invasion. There is still the matter of keeping the Scepter out of S.H.I.E.L.D’s hands.” Toni pointed out.

“Are you kidding me? What kind of legal right do they even have?” Matt gesticulated with one hand.

Toni had to laugh a bit at that. “Uh… none? Never did even, in anything. They are in legal limbo. No government rep in the WSC will admit to knowing they exist because they don’t exactly follow protocol… or let pesky details like human rights get in their way. You won’t find them in any paperwork, hard copies or digital… they got the Scepter because they manhandled it.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen this time.” Sue squared her shoulders.

“Here, here.” Darcy smiled.

“We blow all the whistles. Explode social media if we have to. Let’s see how S.H.I.E.L.D likes some internet exposure.” Jennifer suggested.

“Well, the whole thing will sink in 2014 anyways.” Toni mumbled.

Matt turned to her. “What?”

Toni rolled her eyes. “Later. Aside from making S.H.I.E.L.D trend, I am welcoming suggestions. So… assuming that we can secure both the Tesseract and the Mind Stone…”

“You say the word “assuming” a lot.” Jim commented.

“I know.” She smiled without any humor. “We are getting to the good part. Which means a lot of assumptions on our probable success.”

“That’s reassuring.” Jim answered her unamused smile with one of his own.

Chapter Text

~*~

Toni took a deep breath. “From the beginning.”

“We need to decide on whether to interfere or not with Loki. Save him or not. But if we save him, we’ll be going blind in 2012. Blinder.”

“Saving Loki or not, we need to secure the Scepter. We need it to locate the focus of the invasion and to fight Thanos later. The ideal is to get our hands on both: the Tesseract and the Scepter. We also need to carefully control the invasion and let it happen if that’s what we choose because of the awareness it will bring. And then 2013.”

“Is there a year that the world is not about to end?” Jessica dearly wanted to get drunk.

Toni ignored her. She didn’t think anyone in the room would want to hear it. “In 2013, Dr. Selvig will be analyzing some data alongside Jane and Darcy. It was all over in a matter of days. That’s why one of the purposes of this meeting is to setup a quick and effective communication line. So when we’re in over our heads, we can call our version of 911. Those readings… they ended up with another alien invasion.” Toni finished, tired and feeling it and not bothering to hide it.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

When everybody started to yell and didn’t stop for a good few minutes, Toni turned to where Happy, Rhodey and Pepper were sitting behind her.

“So maybe it would be better… a written report… on paper… and then asking them to destroy it and then set up a meeting with questions.”

“Buck up.” Rhodey smirked.

“How exactly were we involved? Again?” Jane asked on mic.

Toni turned on her heels to face her guests. “Because it never gets old… Thor’s grandpa was in a war against a people called the Dark Elves that had the Aether as their primary and most powerful weapon. The Aether, also known… as the Reality Infinity Stone.” Toni quickly raised her hand to forestall the avalanche of questions and ignored how some of them went red in the effort not to say anything. “While Dr. Selvig was otherwise occupied, Jane and Darcy went to where the readings were stronger. In London.”

“The readings and the Reality Stone… uh… resurging were independent events. There was something called the Convergence where all nine realms from the Norse myths are no longer myths. The alignment causes dimensional boundaries to thin out, it results in physical and hyper dimensional anomalies to occur at random.”

Reed sat up straighter. “Like what exactly?”

“Shifts in gravity, spatial extrusions… fabric of reality possibly tearing apart.”

“And this will happen regardless of the Reality Stone.” Reed wanted to clarify.

“Yes.”

“What are spatial extrusions?” Johnny raised his hand.

“Random objects and even living creatures being transported from one place to another.” Bruce explained.

Johnny ohed. “That’s not good.”

Toni nodded. “But what is more concerning are the invisible wormholes that allow the spatial extrusions. Meaning we can be calmly walking down the street and find ourselves in one of those nine realms, not all of which are very friendly. As the Convergence reaches its apex, larger and visible wormholes open and act like a literal window to their respective realms, we can literally see inside. From what Jane published in her papers, it is something that only happens once every five thousand years.”

“And of course, it would be our problem in our lifetimes.” Jessica snarked.

“We are lucky that way.” Toni agreed. “Well, the Dark Elves are apparently a race that thrives on darkness and they wanted to use the Aether to destroy all Nine Realms with capital letters and return them to their original… darkness.”

“I liked it better when Princes just meant white horses and really pretty dresses that look like upside-down cupcakes.” Darcy complained with a huff much to the amusement of most in the room.

“Well,” Toni smiled a bit before sobering up, “you want medieval, you got the whole package.”

“Ok, then what happened? We have a… well we have the highlights for the Space and Mind Stone. What are the hurdles for the Reality Stone?” Ben interrupted.

“Jane was transported by one of the invisible wormholes to another planet, unknown at this time, and got… possessed… infected with the Reality Stone. It… used her as a host of a sort.”

Darcy grabbed Jane’s hand really hard. “Uh… I’m no specialist, but I’m guessing that the human body is not exactly made for…”

“No, it’s not. Her vitals were slowly, but surely dropping. And that’s from Thor’s take of the situation. Either way, the only reason you were involved is because those Dark Elves were after the Reality Stone… the Aether inside of you. Their leader was the only one who could help extract it, even the Asgardians had no idea what to do, but I have seen the theory, I think we can do something about it ourselves because at the end of it, Thor went back to Asgard with the Aether.”

Ben crossed his arms. “How do we keep it on Earth?”

“I have no idea.” Toni immediately answered. “I still need to see if the technology to extract it from a human host is conceivable, the plan is to jump the possession step and avoid the threat to Jane’s life of course. On that note I also have no idea how to keep the Tesseract on Earth either because Thor also took it back to Asgard after the invasion in 2012, for that matter why Thor just left the Scepter behind is also a mystery.”

“Didn’t you say that S.H.I.E.L.D manhandled it?” Matt reminded her.

“Well… yes. But Thor arrived on Earth saying that our work with the Tesseract is what attracted the Chitauri here and how it was a sign that Earth was ready for a higher form of war… It just doesn’t make sense for him to leave another piece of alien tech behind after… after his speech.”

Reed and Sue had matching incredulous expressions.

“But he was wrong the second he opened his mouth.” Reed observed, more than a little peeved.

“It was the Asgardians that disposed of the Tesseract here on Earth in the first place. Humans started to experiment with it in the 40s and it wasn’t even our experiments that attracted attention to us anyways, but the Tesseract itself. With or without them, Thanos would have sent his army here, he wanted the Stone after all. If anything, it was the Asgardians’ fault for trying to hide it in our planet at all!” Sue was incensed.

Toni sighed and rubbed her eyes. “You guys really think that none of it ever occurred to me? But what could I say to someone so incredibly thick headed that he called the period that he “courted war”, his “youth” when not two years before that he almost incited one because he was called a princess? A year later and the sentiment that humans shouldn’t have messed with their garbage because it was beyond our feeble minds had yet to change. Remember: according to Odin, humans are so short lived that any effort expended saving us is the equivalent of inviting a goat to the dinner table.”

“This goat will clobber him.” Ben gritted out as several equally angry mutterings started up again.

Jane had a thunderous expression on her face. “Asgardian brawl over brain aside… We have the backbones of a plan for the Space and the Mind Stones… at least we know what to expect. We just need to think fast in 2013. You said that you may be able to come up with a way to extract the Aether from Dr. Foster without the… Dark Elves’ interference.” She hesitated. “Do you know if there… were any side-effects?” Jane asked.

“I’m sorry, I don't. Our only connection was Thor, and I wasn’t particularly close to him.”

“Uh… close to him?” Sue repeated.

“The group of six people that stopped Loki’s invasion with the Chitauri in 2012? Iron Woman, Thor, the Hulk… Hawkeye, the Black Widow… and Captain America.”

If Toi was expecting another round of shouting, she didn’t get it. People just exchanged confused looks.

Ben leaned toward the mic. “Who is Hawkeye? And Captain America? As in… 40’s, World War II, fought HYDRA, Captain America?”

“Also known as Clint Barton. As for Captain America, he… survived the crash and was preserved in the ice for all those years.” Toni explained.

“And Natasha Romanoff,” Sue repeated, “as in the woman that was stupid enough to try to infiltrate your company and thought that she would get anything except a lawsuit instead of Iron Woman in S.H.I.E.L.D’s debt? She was put in the same team as you.”

“Yep.”

“And we have yet to assemble a retrieval… uh… rescue team because…” Ben prompted, well-practiced in ignoring lack of common sense – he was best friends with Reed after all, even if the whole S.H.I.E.L.D in SI deal was straining him beyond anything Reed ever managed.

“Because he will be recovered either way at the end… ish of 2011. Believe me, I debated with myself long and hard enough to come up with reasonable ways to interfere and not render my knowledge moot. Aside from… uh… look… all the things I’ve changed so far is because I could come up with a reasonable, rational and logical explanation for why I did what I did. How I knew what I knew.”

“The satellites.” Johnny smiled. “That’s sneaky.”

Sue turned her head from her brother to Toni in realization. “You used the H.O.W.A.R.D Net as a security measure for Stark properties but that also can give you knowledge of when to act and have an excuse and explanation for it afterwards that don’t involve lying or coming off as crazy for believing in time travel.”

“Yes.”

“Very strategically brilliant.” Ben complimented.

Toni smiled. “Thank you, Captain Grimm.”

Ben returned the smile before there was a click in his head. “That’s why you didn’t retrieve his bo— uh… Mr. Rogers? Because then you wouldn’t be able to explain how you know where to look. But if… whoever found him doesn’t find him by the end of 2011, you will be able to retrieve him yourself and you can just say that you saw something weird through your satellites that would be in place by then. And this way, you’d be able to preserve your knowledge without the risk of Mr. Rogers interfering.”

“I-Isn’t that senseless though? I mean, you have already changed things, I’m assuming. So why do this?” Helen asked.

“There were two reasons. One of them is personal the other is because if I can preserve the timeline while saving and protecting people, then I will. But Steve Rogers being recovered with a difference of a year after almost seven decades in the ice does not factor in. Captain America being involved, for example, with Loki and Thor can throw things off.”

Helen frowned a bit. “That’s… a little callous.”

But Toni was unmoved. “So is letting someone get tortured for more than a year and yet, we didn’t immediately veto the idea.”

Helen winced.

“Oh, thank god.” Pepper uttered discreetly to Happy.

“What?” He whispered back.

“I get that people would be mad, as if Toni time traveling means the answers to everything but… she was starting to roll over.”

Happy didn’t look at Pepper, his eyes somewhere above all the heads but he answered her all the same.

“We will have her back. If she doesn’t, then we will punch back.”

“I guess that Dr. Cho was just… well… we all grew up at least with the notion of Captain America even if we weren’t fans. Loki… Thor… Odin… they are stuff of myths. Too… otherworldly, no pun intended.” Sue spoke up.

“Well, they are about to become a lot less imaginary.” Toni grimaced.

“Ok, ok.” Jim raised his hands in a calming gesture. “We covered Space, Mind and Reality Stones. You said that four made their way to Earth and the remaining two are out of our reach due to being in literally other planets. Two are on Earth currently, the Tesseract, the Space Stone.” He quickly swept to the beginning of his notes in the StarkPad in front of him. “And Time.”

“That is the one in New York.” Reed concluded.

“Possibly.” Toni nodded.

“Possibly?” Johnny repeated. “Either we have a ticking nuclear time bomb a few blocks away or we don’t.”

Toni smirked. “You’d be surprised. There is… an order, I guess, of Sorcerers.”

“Well, there are aliens and Asgardians so why not?” Johnny smiled.

“Indeed. They have bases in Kathmandu, Nepal; Hong Kong, China and New York, U.S.A.”

“And the Time Stone could be in any of those places.” Danny summarized.

“Yes.”

Ben stretched as far as he could to try to loosen his back. “Are those sorcerers hostile?”

“I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. I haven’t had the chance to interact with them enough to be certain. What I was told was: they have been protecting the Time Stone for a very, very long time. Their sworn duty so to speak. “Willing To Die”-kind of sworn duty.”

“Well… that’s good. When the time comes, they will stand against Thanos.” Foggy commented.

“Yes.” But the way Toni said it caught the attention even from those that were first meeting her today.

Foggy frowned. “But…”

“But I am pretty sure that messing with time is one of their Big No Rules. And I am also pretty sure that it was the Time Stone that caused the time travel.”

Trish opened and closed her mouths a few times before finding the words. “T-They… they can’t undo… take this back, right? Just… erase the whole thing and set everything back to square one.”

“Aren’t you overreaching a bit?” Matt suggested, more than a little tense.

She gave a sardonic smile that didn’t hide her fear. “Mind Stone controls minds, Space opened a portal… Time Stone? What guarantee do we have that they won’t just undo the whole thing and let half the world die because it is meant to be or whatever?”

“Was it an accident? Did one those people do it on purpose?” Karen cut in.

“I am inclined to say that it was on purpose.” Toni tentatively answered.

Karen made a face. “That’s not really a “yes” though.”

“In few words: fighting for our lives and the lives of half of the universe and Stephen Strange sacrificed the Time Stone for my life but instead of dying, I woke up here.”

Yao and Helen almost jumped out of their seats. “The neurosurgeon?” Yao got there first. “He revolutionized laminectomy procedures now you’re saying he became a sorcerer?”

“I was hopping to consult with him on possible nerve reconstruction with the Cradle.” Helen completed.

“His work on neurogenesis stimulation is groundbreaking.” Toni agreed and then said, “And yes. With robes and glow-y symbols and everything.”

Yao’s eyes widened a bit. “Could he help with Loki? You said that Loki has magic, and powerful magic.”

Toni smiled at him. “That is the other point. If we want for Loki to listen to us, we’re gonna need to pin him down first. Armor, super strength, shields… none of that are enough for the fact that Loki can literally transport himself from one place to another. Blink and he is no longer there. Not because he is really fast or have the ability to shift his density but because he doesn’t even have to move a muscle before he disappears from the planet… literally. And that’s the least of what he can do.”

“On balance, we are risking a lot just to save Loki.” Reed put in. “We are risking having even less information for the 2012 invasion, we are risking getting the attention of very dangerous people that could render our entire work a moot point and we are also risking alienating the rest of the Asgardians.”

This time even Toni frowned in confusion for a moment before understanding.

“What do you mean?” Jessica asked.

“Toni said that Loki was raised on the belief that all Frost Giants were monsters. And the antagonistic feeling makes sense in the aftermath of a war and I understand the emotional and psychological effect it would have on Loki, but if Loki retained that belief into his adulthood it means that the rest of the society as a whole also thought the same so I’m guessing that… crowned prince or not, Loki doesn’t win many popularity contests. There are bound to be people questioning the lack of their queen’s pregnancy if not outright knowing about his origins.”

And Toni could only close her eyes at the truth. She took in a deep breath and let it out. “Thor… will be on his brother’s side… I think.”

“You think?” Sue made a face.

“Doesn’t really matter.” Jessica groaned and leaned back in her chair enough to propel her feet on the table.

“What doesn’t matter?” Helen asked.

“We are gonna have to contact those Sorcerers sooner or later because of the Time Stone, we can’t win against Thanos without it after all. The 2012 invasion is all screwed up anyways thanks to Toni building those towers of hers all over the world and how sure are we that the dipshit Odin would even help a bunch of goats anyways? Thor may or may not help because of Foster but if we help Loki we can get his help instead of being sure that we get him as an enemy if only because he will inevitably find out that we could have helped. If it comes down to it, I say we help the guy.”

Nonsensically, in Toni’s opinion, quite a few of the people in the room looked towards her as if they should take their cues from Toni herself. If Toni ever saw a bad idea, this was it.

When most of the room voiced their agreement, Yao leaned over with a small smile. “Next?”

“Coffee break.” Toni announced over her the pounding in her brain.

~*~

Toni had Friday calling multiple cafes to feed all those people and, when the boxes of delivery, they insisted on paying their share.

“You are guests.” Toni intended for it to come across firm and… maybe proudly? Like when she had to explain in tiny words to the SI board why this or that invention would sell like hot cake. But, if she was honest, it came out so confused that it sounded more like a question.

“This isn’t a hotel with meals included.” Karen put some bills on the kitchen counter before taking one of the coffee cups, followed by Jessica that, surprisingly, didn’t make hers Irish.

Soon enough, there was a pile of change beside her sink and Toni had no idea what to do with any of this. No one ever just… didn’t assume that she wouldn’t… shouldn’t pay. Ok, so maybe she could see Danny paying up because… billionaire CEO. But whenever Pepper, Rhodey or Happy get fed up with her footing the bill, they just showed up with the delivery stuff themselves before Toni ever thought of picking up the phone.

People that slept over at her house and just found breakfast on the table didn’t feel an ounce of need to ask, “What’s my share?”. Hell, she had one-night stands that either thought they could milk the whole thing for a bit longer or didn’t take the hint and raided her fridge. Joke was on them because it usually only had some fruit and leftover takeout – she was smart enough to plan ahead when she wanted a one-night stand and only have them when she was in town for a couple of days – but still…

This… this just didn’t happen.

Pepper gently poked her arm. “Just put it in some drawer and use it next time we order pizza or something.”

Toni raised an eyebrow but obeyed.

~*~

“Ok, it is very unlikely we will get any headway with the Power and Soul Stones, but right before the confrontation with Thanos, I met with a group… a team called The Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“And here I thought “Avengers” was pretentious.” Karen made a face.

Darcy made a funny face. “You know, if they insist on having Captain America as a member, maybe the name “Avengers” is not the best pick of the pack.”

“Why?” Sue asked her.

“We will explain later.” Toni rubbed her forehead. She understood Darcy’s point because it was exactly what she thought the last time around and had J.A.R.V.I.S pay attention if anybody on the internet ever got enough traction about it.

Hmmm, food for thought. Toni smiled a bit, feeling particularly petty but not caring with her plan to dissect the Avengers… if only on social media.

“Back to those Guardians?” Ben waved his hand.

“Ok, uh… one of them was… half human, if we trust his word on it—”

“Aliens can have babies with humans? Crap, comic books will have a party with that.” Johnny smirked.

“Superman aside…” Sue rolled her eyes.

“Not Superman, Superboy is half human and half Kryptonian but that was more cloning process because—”

“Fine… the Guardians, please.” Sue almost begged her.

Toni pursed her lips to keep from laughing. “He is from Missouri.”

“Oh, god! Just a little bit and it would be Kansas!” But Sue had the foresight to slap Johnny’s hand away from the mic button so the only ones that heard that pearl were Sue and Ben – since they were on each side with Johnny – and Toni herself.

“His name is Peter Quill. He disappeared in 1988 but it seems that he was actually kidnapped by aliens, mother died of cancer that very same day, mere moments before he disappeared according to his grandfather. It seems that his mother, Meredith Quill, was always saying that his father was from space but since she had terminal brain cancer no one believed her.”

There were sympathetic noises around the room.

“He… uh… entered in contact with the Power Stone, inside a containment unit not much unlike the Tesseract called “The Orb” that seems to be much better at its job. There is Gamora, from I could gather, one of Thanos’ adopted children that deserted him. She helped Quill protect the Orb alongside Drax, Groot and Rocket and they left it in the hands of… an intergalactic police force or something called the Nova Corps and the Power Stone inside would be left in Xandar, where that Corps had their main headquarters, and where it stayed for four years until Thanos came and decimated the entire planet. Aside from those five, there are also Mantis and Nebula – another of Thanos’ adoptive daughter that deserted him.”

Toni expected the silence this time.

“How sure are we that… Gamora and Nebula really turned against their… father?” Foggy asked.

“Verily. Both tried to kill him.” Toni explained.

“Those are some really funny names.” Darcy quipped. “No chance of getting the Power Stone, uh?”

“Doubtful. Space travel by ourselves is out of the question and even if we managed to make contact with the Guardians there is very little chance that they would believe us without us revealing details. And as primitive as Earth’s tech is compared to what is out there, I don’t want to trust a way of communication we have no way of protecting from being hijacked or bugged. The last option is to ask Thor, he is able to travel to other worlds but then we would have to trust him and explain what’s happening, not thinking before leaping or not, he wouldn’t leave an Infinity Stone at the hands of humans.” Toni bit her tongue not to say any more on the subject of Thor and Infinity Stones.

“And the last one?” Ben prompted.

“Soul Stone. It is in a planet called Vomir and it required the sacrifice of a person you love.” Toni explained briefly.

“Definitely out of the question.” Trish muttered.

“Look,” Rhodey started, “I get that the idea is beyond horrible, but one person in exchange for trillions down the line should be considered if only for the logic in it.”

“Are you volunteering, Colonel?” Matt challenged.

Rhodey’s expression went terrifyingly blank. “Considering the thing is on another planet and contact is borderline impossible, I’m saying that maybe it pays off to be prepared. Particularly when warlord, psychopath, genocidal Thanos managed to get that Stone.”

Toni sighed softly. “He sacrificed Gamora for it, but, and here is the kick: only Gamora and now us know where it is, without her, he wouldn’t find it or even manage to acquire it. Opportunity presents itself, we need to protect her. Thanos wouldn’t expect a human to know the location but he has specifically tasked Gamora with its search, got confirmation she found it and he needed her to get it.”

Chapter Text

“Now that we already covered everything Stone related, I’ll begin with the stuff closer to home.” Toni rubbed her temples.

“Shall we take a break? Perhaps continue this tomorrow, it’s almost evening.” Pepper asked smoothly.

“Agreed.” Reed nodded absently.

“Oh, yes, uh, the tablets in front of you are the still unreleased StarkPads. I took the liberty to personally fit them for you. Resistant to higher temperatures,” Toni motioned to Johnny, “handles super strength well enough… within reason,” she met Luke’s, Jennifer’s and Ben’s eyes, “and there is also a feature in braille.” Even if Toni could see that Matt was honestly more interested in messing around with the tablet than taking notes with it.

“This has a much higher encryption than anything currently on Earth for the next ten years, I will also be providing the prototypes for the military grade StarkPhones, same level of security and a trustworthy way for us to contact one another. I should have probably explained all this before.”

“Wow, just how much these things cost?” Jim asked, honestly a little worried.

“If you sign the forms,” Toni winced at how Butterfingers dropped the pile of papers, “and agree to beta test it, three hundred and twenty dollars.”

“Holy shit, Apple has their iPad at five to seven hundred dollars.” Johnny exclaimed.

“Toni.” Jim warned a little.

“Impressively enough, I wasn’t the one to suggest the price, Pepper was. We are starting her transition from CKO to CFO.”

Jane frowned. “What?”

“CKO is Chief Knowledge Officer, basically makes sure that the information arrives and is contained at the right place, CFO is Chief Financial Officer who is responsible for the budgeting of the entire company.” Pepper explained with a strangely unwarranted smirk. “And this way I actually get to use my major in finances.”

“Well, to those that hadn’t had the chance to book hotels, we have some guest rooms here and takeout menus so everybody can order what they like.” Toni motioned to the door.

~*~

The next morning, they all got there in various states of disarray. It was clear that the new responsibilities and reality took a toll.

“Ok, since I already covered Loki and Thor and what us getting involved might mean for the invasion in 2012, and also about the Reality Stone the year after that, the next event that threatens even more than just America is in 2014.” Pepper cleared her throat slightly to which Toni smiled a little tightly. “Fine, there is also the kidnapping of the U.S president in 2013 by this nutjob, Aldrich Killian, that I blew off a decade ago at a party that will try to kill me… ironically by blowing me up.” Toni frowned a bit. “I actually didn’t understand what his goal was there. Was it just revenge? Revenge and money?” She asked herself.

“What?” Darcy exclaimed.

“I was at this conference in Bern where I met Maya Hansen and briefly, Ho Yinsen and Yao Wu.”

Yao’s lips twitched in amusement, “Briefly.” He agreed.

“Sorry.” Toni muttered, not completely honest.

But Yao seemed to have no ill feelings. “It was more a New Year’s Eve party than a conference even if the guestlist comprised of scientists… besides, it was the auditorium about medical innovations in trauma cases and you kept talking about integrated circuits, the comic relief aspect was already worth it.”

Toni made a mental note to introduce Yao to Harley if the opportunity presented itself. The combined common sense in the room might just get the rest of them somewhere in the good mental health spectrum. She ignored how Rhodey facepalmed at the information Yao just shared.

“Yeah, well, in the after party this guy just started rambling at me about his think tank—”

“Wait, I remember that. The whole Mandarin business was about some Ideas Guy?” Happy asked, completely incredulous.

Toni already told him about the incident where he would be laid in the hospital with third degree burns in 50% of his body. But Happy had no idea that the nerd that tried to accost Toni in a New Year’s Eve Party where she was clearly drunk and trying to get laid was the same lunatic that hired a terrorist-actually-really-drunk/high-actor.

“Ideas guy?” Karen asked, confused.

Toni’s eyes went from Happy to Karen and she sighed. “Ok, from order so everybody can understand: Ideas Guy is what we call the random people that try to pitch their “Million Dollar Idea” and more often than not, they don’t schedule a meeting through the secretary or private assistant in the public channels, it is while I am exiting the bathroom, getting out of a hotel, in coffee shops… like, “I have this idea, you build it and we split the profits”—” For the second time, Toni was interrupted.

“Oh, my god, they have a name?” It didn’t surprise Toni that Danny already met his fair share.

“Yes, and it’s not like we hate them, it’s more that they are so annoying and so childish and just a headache that it’s frustrating. They are popping in less nowadays because Toni is now more Iron Woman than CEO of Stark Industries for them.” Happy rolled his eyes.

“Thanks, I think.” Toni smiled a bit to which Happy sheepishly shrugged.

“Holy shit,” Danny muttered and quickly pressed the mic button again. “Uh, how do I get rid of them?”

“Oh, you’re gonna want to be careful there unless they turn super villain.” Happy mocked.

“… what?”

Toni, doing her best to suppress her laugher, sent a look towards Happy that raised his hands and then crossed his arms. “Since context is important: I was drunk, as Yao already revealed, trying to get laid and this guy just kept elbowing his way into the elevator and talking about his think tank that I just had to invest in. Mind you, he was barely an Ideas Guy because he wouldn’t even reveal what his big idea was. I told him that I’d meet him in the roof. Nine years later we met again, he no longer had this congenital disability that made him use a crutch… through miracle… and became the CEO of his own company, AIM.”

“Advanced Ideas Mechanics, I was approached by one of their reps,” Helen revealed, “for a consultation on nerve regeneration, I pointed them towards Dr. Strange because I was already focusing on tissue but by then he already had his accident… I… did look them up at the time and thought it was weird that the only big name there was Dr. Maya Hansen, brilliant geneticist but still, that is one person. Her name keeps coming up.”

“It would,” Toni agreed.

“Ok, that seems… pretty pedestrian, the most I can say for AIM is that the Vice-President is one of their main investors.” Jim said after a quick Google search, he couldn’t see how this would end with the president being kidnapped and Toni being almost blown up.

“He would be,” Toni rolled her eyes, “ok, uh… from what he told me, me ditching him made Aldrich Killian consider jumping off that roof.”

“Because you ditched him?” Danny’s eyes were wide.

“Yep, but instead of jumping, sometime later, he approached Maya Hansen for her work on the Extremis Virus. It is a Serum that uses nanotechnology that manipulates our genes, harnessing the body’s bioelectricity to activate parts of the brain that govern repair and chemically recode them. At its most perfected stages, it can even regenerate previously amputated limbs.”

“So far, so good.” Yao commented. “If it’s stable, we are basically erasing trauma as a specialty, if only in the centers with access to it. Even if it should be decades before it became widely available to the public, that’s staggering work.”

“Yes, the problem is that the thing is a Russian Roulette. If the body rejects it or fails to properly regulate it even after the initial acceptance, the bioelectricity harnessed starts to produce heat, the kind that is north of 3,000º C.”

“Build-up?” Reed usually would have more scientific curiosity but this…

Toni grimaced. “Minutes if not seconds.”

“But then…”

“Boom.” Jane had a grimly horrified look on her face.

“Those lunatics turned people into bombs!” Sue almost shouted.

“To be fair, Maya… just lost sight there, she died trying to help me. But Killian covered up the initial, most volatile stages by hiring this… actor to play a terrorist called the Mandarin. The Extremis explosions would then be accredited to terrorism instead of being traced back to AIM… they also shot a man on live TV just for the sake of maintaining that cover, one of their… soldiers went critical close to Happy which hospitalized him and killed three people, they kidnapped the President and then Pepper and forcibly injected her with Extremis to force me to stabilize the formula. Also, it turns out that the Vice-President Rodriguez was not only funding them but covering up for them because his daughter was an amputee.” Toni hurried through the rest of the story.

The silence stretched until Toni wasn’t sure whether it was because they were horrified or because they were incredulous… or both.

“Because you ditched him?” Danny repeated his question.

Toni stared at him and finally gave up. She threw her hands in the air, completely exasperated. “Do you really think I speak crazy?! I’m the suicidal kind not the criminally insane kind. It could have been about revenge, maybe he had this literally insane crush on Pepper or maybe it could have been because he woke up one morning and stubbed his fucking toe. I don’t know!”.

Sue grimaced in sympathy. “Not money?”

“His one attempt at getting money was trying to get Pepper and SI to invest in AIM, more specifically, Extremis. Then the man kidnapped the President and Pepper and made no ransom attempt. Extremis Roulette was his only product ever and Rodriguez was one of his only financial backers because of Extremis. What money?” Toni toed her high heels off and threw towards the general direction of the chair she put her handbag on.

“The punchline is that Toni blamed herself for Killian going psychopath.” Rhodey couldn’t help but pitch in.

Darcy threw her a weird look, “Why?”

“What?” Matt grimaced.

“Thanks.” Toni told Rhodey who smiled at her benignly.

~*~

“Any other lunatics whose smile you didn’t reciprocate and then they swore vengeance?” Darcy joked and then her smile froze on her face when Toni got a thoughtful expression.

“Well, there is Adrian Toomes but his deal only starts to literally blow up in 2017 and Friday made me the favor of cutting Quentin Beck at the nub, that one went cuckoo just because of a name, still not a criminal but I was already counting the days.”

“… is it something in the water?” Johnny asked, this time not even joking.

~*~

“I think that aside from the Reality Stone, AIM and Killian, that is it for 2013… oh, there was this… weird… blue mass even in Missouri but it started to form and then… disappeared within half an hour. I have no idea what happened there although I do think this Peter Quill had something to do with it, it can’t be coincidence that the man is from there, he was kidnapped by aliens and then the… blue goo started to form in the same place?”

“Don’t ask.” Happy advised the room.

“Ok, 2014…” Toni trailed off not even sure what to call the whole thing.

“The year of stupidity? The Black Widow is a Phony or a Malicious Bitch? Captain America Has No Idea How the Internet Works or even the Descend of Craptain America into Villainy…” Jennifer offered with a lazy smile.

“Remember when I mentioned Operation Paperclip?” Toni took a fortifying gulp of the one coffee she was allowed to drink that day and ignored Jennifer.

“And you said that S.H.I.E.L.D also took advantage.” Darcy commented.

“Of course, they did.” Ben muttered under his breath.

Ben was trying to focus on anything that makes marginally more sense than… whatever Killian’s deal was. He hasn’t been impressed with the “organization” S.H.I.E.L.D since the news hit that they were perfectly happy to let a woman die but then turned around and decided that she was more useful alive but better manipulating her than simply having her owe a debt via genuinely saving her life or cultivating a good relationship. Oh, no, that’s too straightforward.

In a purely logical and strategical point of view: smart enough if with a high risk of it backfiring… like it did. What guarantee did they have that Toni wouldn’t stop and think, ‘Wait, this stuff should already be mine’ or that Howard Stark wouldn’t have left behind copies of his research to his daughter?

In a fricking human decency point of view: what the actual fuck?!

And as if that wasn’t enough, intelligence organization his rocky ass! Ben still laughed at Toni’s interview, most arrived at the obvious conclusion of what happened during the whole fiasco and after the homemade video from Toni’s father was also leaked: S.H.I.E.L.D was banking on the fact that they had a “cure” for Toni’s heavy metal poisoning… no, they were banking that a pep talk from her father would make Toni find a cure for herself. And all Toni needed was to take a closer look at the Stark Expo’s model… from the 70s.

Dangling a carrot (or pretending to) that should already been Toni’s… only, it was just too bad that Toni already had a whole plantation of it.

If this was S.H.I.E.L.D at their best… ish, shit, if that was S.H.I.E.L.D in a good enough day, Ben could only imagine what they did to such a delicate project like Operation Paperclip.

“They exploited the advantage they saw. Recruited as U.S recruited… so if U.S recruited main Nazi scientists…”

“Please tell me that S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t enlist HYDRA.” Luke covered his face with one of his hands. It seemed that being bulletproof didn’t mean being immune to headaches.

“Got it in one.”

“And predictably for anyone with half a brain… they were infiltrated.” Luke finished.

“Basically from the get-go.” Toni confirmed it.

As eyes rolled and groans could be heard from all over the room, Toni wondered about herself. What exactly made her think that S.H.I.E.L.D was the “evil she knows”, “the lesser evil”, “needed if only for now”? That was exactly the same logic she applied to Nick Fury… to the Avengers as a whole.

Was she really that desperate?

While looking for ways to lay the Avengers out on their butts, Toni came across the idea of Ultron. ‘The only thing threatening people would be people’. ‘A suit of armor around the world’. Toni could handle terrorists… even the exploding kinds. Giant Purple War Lords with bedazzled gloves that could level half the universe? Well… what choice did any of them have? It was either fight or be turned to dust, but it would be nice to fix the problems they already have instead of worrying about other problems literally falling from the sky…

“Well… Nazism is a thing… again… somehow.” Ben muttered. “So I guess it’s not too surprising if really depressing for future history books.”

“Considering that this meeting started with shouts and arguments because the Universe is in danger and now it’s ending with resignation at Nazism… depressing doesn’t properly cover it.” Yao rubbed his eyes.

“Now what?” Matt turned to Toni.

She merely raised an eyebrow. “I’m really flattered that you think I know what to do in case of… corrupt shadow organization is infiltrated by Nazis.”

“What happened last time?” Jennifer now had questions since Toni was delving into events that she didn’t share with either her or Bruce.

Understandable considering the amount of people in the room and therefore the number of times she would need to repeat the same story again and again. Jennifer really couldn’t blame Toni for not wanting to do a reprise.

 And then Jennifer had to take a very deep breath when Toni simply ‘ahed’ at her question. “What?”

“Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff found out that S.H.I.E.L.D was infiltrated.”

“That’s good, right? Captain America fought HYDRA seventy years ago, he is fighting HYDRA again.” Johnny pointed out.

“Yeah, well, his plan to fight HYDRA was to take S.H.I.E.L.D down with him as well. And while in any other circumstances I would totally approve, the way he went about it could have used some work because, for some reason, he thought going full “Wiki-Leaks” was the best choice.”

“What does that mean?” Jessica frowned.

“Rogers and Romanova found out that HYDRA infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D and decided to bring the whole house down. They… well… more specifically, the Widow, uploaded all the data from S.H.I.E.L.D’s servers into the internet.”

But what Toni said didn’t seem to be sinking in.

“When you say… uploaded all the data into the internet…” Darcy trailed off.

“I mean that she took their hard drives and… copy and paste.”

“Oh, my god… oh, my GOD!” Jim stared at her, completely horrified.

As those more interested in the detail of international relations and security explained to the rest of the room what would happen, Toni sighed and closed her eyes for a bit.

She felt tired just remembering the months of extraction missions and nightmares when they were too late. Half of the time, they did get to the burned agents… well, they were alive at the very least, still breathing and it was still too late. Sometimes a quick death, a bullet to the head – as it was too often the case in the aftermath – was the preferable choice. Toni learned much more about torture than she ever wanted to. One didn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to guess what was done especially not when the… tools were still lying on the closest table and he victim still strapped to the table or chair.

That was the human cost, it told nothing about the information that S.H.I.E.L.D had on CIA and FBI. Missions that they took that the CIA or FBI would never be able to do, at least not without some serious backlash from the public worldwide and what it would do with America’s international standing and also from innumerous other intelligence agencies all over the world… now out in the open. If legitimate governments such as Russia or China or fricking North Korea took advantage of the onslaught of information Toni didn’t want to know what Al-Qaeda, ISIS and all their branches did with it.

“And no one said anything?” Matt demanded.

“Well, people were more concerned about digging up the bodies or survivors out of ruble of the Potomac, so…”

“What?” Jennifer frowned.

“Right, I jumped the gun. While they were so concerned about dumping all those files online, there was something called “Project Insight” that would target all those who could pose a threat to HYDRA, now or in the future. In total, more than seven hundred thousand people that would be targeted by three Helicarriers equipped with dozens of machine guns each.”

“What are Helicarriers?” Trish asked in confusion.

“Giants aircrafts that resemble aircraft carriers but instead of out in the ocean, they can take flight. Three of them would enact the Project Insight, but when Rogers took them down, with a program chip that would make them target each other, only they were already above the Potomac… basically exchanging the lives of a few hundred people for seven hundred thousand.”

“What were their contingencies?” Ben leaned forward.

“To avoid civilian casualties? I don’t… know if they even thought about it.”

“Did they assume that they would be able to intercept the-the Helicarriers still grounded?” Jim frowned.

“I don’t know.”

Now even Rhodey was frowning, he didn’t know the details of what went down. “Did someone try to override it? At least to deactivate the weapons instead of making them aim at each other?”

“I don’t know.”

“What about moving the Helicarriers? To-to crash somewhere less populated?” Ben was almost desperate.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, what did they say when they had to explain that S.H.I.E.L.D was infiltrated?” Darcy could feel that her mouth was still open in incredulity and she made no effort to close it.

“Uh…” Toni trailed off, ‘Because you need us’ wasn’t an answer at the best of times for ‘Why didn’t they get arrested?’ and for sure didn’t answer Darcy’s question.

“Ok.” Matt rubbed his eyes before putting his sunglasses back on. “I think that we got that Mr. Rogers and Ms. Romanoff got away scot-free. What I want to know is where does S.H.I.E.L.D get funding for this?”

But Toni’s answer didn’t change. “I don’t know. Then again, S.H.I.E.L.D got away scot-free after almost nuking Manhattan so there’s that.” And then Toni’s eyes widened as the volume in the room picked up again. She forgot to mention the nuke.

~*~

“Out of curiosity, you said that this Black Widow is supposed to be like… the big leagues of the spy game but… Natalia Romanova became Natasha Romanoff that became Natalie Rushman with a mention of being an intern for Hammer Industries in her professional curriculum to be Stark Industries’ legal aid just as a Russian with a grudge against the Starks illegally crossed French border to try and attack you. And then, she decided to do this?” Darcy motioned about as if encompassing the whole room. “Why is she so important to have around again?”

“And only a year after tricking the Hulk and that’s because I’m not even finished.” Toni gave a humorless smile.

Darcy shook her head, “Lying to the Hulk? And she was still a part of this Avengers group?”

“She lied to Bruce about coming alone when she was tasked to bring him in for Loki’s invasion. And she was in the Avengers as one of the legal, PR and political specialist when not assassinating and spying, at least that was her official job description.” Toni added.

“This just gets better and better.” Jim muttered to himself.

“His… whatever he thought he was doing releasing those files aside, Captain America is no pushover. According to this,” Ben waved the StarkPad in his hand, “he runs faster than most cars and can bench press up a to a ton.” He ignored the scoffs from Jessica and Luke… and Jennifer. “He has been extensively trained in martial arts… then the Hulk that can reduce skyscrapers to dust with his pinky, Thor that seems to be able to do the same but with his hammer or with lightening or even his muscles even if not as easily, Iron Woman that can go to Mach speed and lift more than two tons and I’m assuming that is the earlier models which means that by 2012, the armor only improved,” Toni nodded and Ben continued, “and then we have some sniper with a bow and an… a pretty assassin?”

Pepper spoke up then. “In a way it does make sense. They have air support, ground covered, muscle, a good image for the news coverage and two agents that can do away with any wild cards and loose ends.”

Toni raised an eyebrow and didn’t even look back to meet Pepper’s eyes. If she thought it was an accurate picture? The possibility was pretty strong, yes. But they also agreed not to voice their own opinions or conjectures. Ultimately, they couldn’t prove it, they couldn’t say anything about it without a “I think” somewhere in there.

Although most caught it, they looked surprised at the vehemence and the tone, something that none of them (Toni, Pepper, Happy and Rhodey) showed until now. They couldn’t deny that it did add up even if they also caught the animosity.

“Aren’t we going to talk about Captain America of all people helping HYDRA plans?” Johnny looked around.

And just for that Toni could have kissed him. If only he knew how few people – usually those more in tune and more knowledgeable about geopolitics – came to that conclusion that first time…

Jennifer snorted. “If only you knew.”

“Jen,” Toni warned.

“No. Enough is enough. I told you, my priority is Bruce so you tell them what you told me because HELL if I will let some HYDRA bitch anywhere NEAR America unless it is for questioning and life sentence and damn if I won’t fight for her… for them to be judged in a state where the death penalty is carried out. So no New York where there is a death sentence but one that hasn’t been enforced since the fricking 60’s.”

“I was getting there.” Toni sighed.

“No, you weren’t. You are looking at the big picture and I know, I know that you wouldn’t condone it his time, that you would be in a better position to fight this time, but you are going on and on about the repercussions on an international foot and about the glob—… universal threat. I know you better than to think that you would go all S.H.I.E.L.D on HYDRA cleaning their records via “heroing” but… Here we are, HYDRA infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D, the Black Widow is either a phony or doesn’t care as long as she gets what she wants, and Captain America is either an air-headed blond stereotype or…” Jennifer prompted.

A little wide-eyed, their audience turned to Toni.

“First things first,” She gritted out to Jennifer who relented. “If only so they can appreciate the entire absurdity of the situation.”

“Sure, go to town.” Even if Jennifer’s voice sounded just a tad bid guilty.

Toni thought about it a bit and perhaps the whole absurdity started with…

“Rogers took to jogging in the mornings around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool where he met former Air Force Staff Sargent Sam Wilson. They talked for maybe five to ten minutes and then Romanoff came to pick him up for a mission. Rogers then went to talk to Wilson again at the VA center where he worked as a counselor. Next thing we know, Nick Fury was being declared dead, Rogers was escaping… whatever passes for custody in S.H.I.E.L.D, and a military base – where Rogers got his Basic training done – was being blown sky high and they went to Sam Wilson’s house. Car chase, a lot of bullets flying in the middle of the streets. Files on the internet not ten minutes before the three Helicarriers managed to get in position right above the Potomac and targeted each other. The falling debris… estimate number of casualties in the mid three hundred.”

“Estimate?” Reed breathed out.

“We don’t know who was killed by the falling Helicarriers or because of all the files leaked.” Rhodey explained.

“We add the number of casualties because of the files on missions and the number goes exponentially up. Two to three thousand in U.S alone and those are the ones we manage to tie back to the data exposed, there are probably more that were covered up.” Toni completed.

“What did they say? What could have possibly justified this? They find out that HYDRA infiltrated, you don’t sink the ship because of the rats… what did they say?” Jim was incensed. Working on intelligence, working his ass off so no information on national security could be leaked into enemy’s hands and this basically would make a mockery of almost twenty years of career.

Toni rubbed her chin. “Well… there was a senate hearing… Romanoff showed up and said that they weren’t going to arrest her or the others because we – general ‘we’ – needed them, I have no idea whether Wilson was even summoned, and Rogers was a no-show.”

“What the fuck?”

Rhodey had such a small smirk on his face that only Pepper, Happy and Toni – that were closest to his seat – could see it, “And that’s because the Helicarriers’s propulsor technology was based off Stark tech and Toni was one of the targets of Project Insight but I guess calling in the random that Rogers jogged with the other day was the preferrable choice.”

Wide eyes turned to Toni and Jessica just couldn’t hear it anymore. “What the fuck were they thinking?”

“… I don’t know.”

Chapter Text

Many recriminations and curses later, Matt was confused about one thing that could – with hope – be answered.

“So, Captain America isn’t the Best Tactician in History like the comic books say, what does that have to do with the Hulk?” He turned to Jennifer who motioned to Toni with her head.

“Steve Rogers found out during the whole fiasco that not only HYDRA infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D but that his best friend, Army Sargent James Barnes survived the fall during World War II and has since been captured, tortured, brainwashed and even Enhanced… given powers by HYDRA, comparable to that of a Super Soldier to carry out their hits.”

“That is… a tragedy but I don’t see why we couldn’t… shouldn’t help Sargent Barnes after such a terrible ordeal. There must be prisons or facilities that can contain him and treatment that can be effective.” Yao put forth the argument.

“My problem is not with Bucky.” Jennifer mocked. “He deserves treatment and some respite, my problem is the other stray… the one that was willing and went above and beyond her… job description.”

Yao’s eyebrows raised towards his hairline.

Toni continued. “After the Chitauri invasion, with S.H.I.E.L.D being infiltrated by HYDRA, Loki’s scepter ended up with them like I said.”

“The gift that keeps giving.” Jessica muttered.

“A year after the Info Dump, as it was named, we had a mission in Sokovia to retrieve the scepter. Strucker, one of the leaders, managed to develop a way to enhance people.”

“You keep using that expression. Are there enough… Enhanced to warrant a new designation?” Jim asked.

“Actually, yes.” Toni nodded. “But anyhow, there were those twins, twenty-six years old. Pietro Maximoff had increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis and Wanda Maximoff is capable of neuro-electric interfacing, telekinesis and mental manipulation.”

“Mind control.” Jessica almost snarled and Luke looked just as murderously.

Aside from Jennifer, who seemed to agree wholeheartedly, everybody else exchanged worried looks. The thought of not being safe in their own heads was terrifying. Helen’s hands shook a bit as she leaned forward and pressed the mic’s button.

“Did someone…”

Toni visibly and violently winced. “Dr. Robert Bruce Banner.” And, as they arrived at the obvious and horrifying conclusion, Toni continued. “The Hulk went berserk in Johannesburg, South Africa.”

As Jessica went through an impressive list of curses, Trish hummed, her eyes had a vicious glint. “Well, not surprising, HYDRA after all.”

Before Toni could even open her mouth, Jennifer was already speaking.

“Thank you so much! That’s exactly what I have been saying because how does that look? She volunteers to HYDRA, mind controls the Hulk into attacking an African city and then Captain AMERICA becomes her most vehement protector? Suddenly she is living in U.S? What the actual fuck?!”

“Wait, what?” Jim looked every bit as shocked as he felt. “Captain America basically paving the way for more terrorist actions in 2014 wasn’t an isolated event?”

“How in the world did U.S even agree to any of it? Captain America or not I don’t see the president allowing a known terrorist into the country, unless it’s to be tried which doesn’t even make sense.” Matt frowned.

“Well… Romanoff is around.” Karen pointed out.

“Yes, but I doubt it’s legally.” Matt retorted.

“Tell. Them.” Jennifer almost demanded from Toni if it wasn’t for the fact that she sounded more desperate than imperative.

“Jennifer.” Rhodey interjected but Toni raised a hand.

“I get it, it’s personal and I’m sorry, I really am, but they won’t understand it if you don’t say anything. Please, Toni.” Jennifer’s voice softened.

“Chronologically first.” Toni muttered to the room.

Rhodey, Happy and Pepper tensed at that, knowing that she would then start to explain Ultron.

“After Killian… uh… after the invasion in 2012, I had PTSD.”

“Forgive me the invasion of privacy,” Yao started, “but aren’t you already diagnosed with PTSD? Afghanistan would have been a harrowing experience to anybody.”

“Surprisingly: Afghanistan didn’t really… traumatized me in the sense of… I was kidnapped. I was much more shaken at the first-hand experience that my weapons were in the hands of terrorists.” Toni freely admitted.

Sure, she wasn’t about to volunteer the information that her first, and far from last, kidnap was at six and by the time she was fourteen, Toni was already rescuing herself. Since she no longer had the 24/7 security detail of the Stark Mansion in the Upper East Side.

“Is… uh… the PTSD… uh…” Sue bit her lip.

“Relevant?” Toni smirked.

“Is there any way to answer that, that doesn’t make me sound like a bitch?” Sue asked rhetorically and exasperated.

Toni just smiled. “Well… it reached a peak before and during the… Killian incident.”

“The crazy Ideas Guy.” Danny provided, still in shock that a rebuff, no matter how brutal, would get someone to, as they said, ‘Go Supervillain’.

“Yes.” Then Toni paused. Trying to choose the words that would explain the context while at the same time not making it look like she was trying to excuse herself. “Terrorism, natural disasters… Nazism… they are Earth problems… but… I saw through the portal in 2012. The armada that was behind it was… beyond anything Earth could match, I’d know, and that was with proof, upfront, that the Chitauri could be defeated just targeting the Mothership. So, I started to think of contingent plans, in case of another alien invasion. The Dark Elves in 2013 didn’t do wonders for my PTSD, I have to admit and then the Info Dump made sure that the world could see the wreck that a fight with Thor left behind in New Mexico.”

“I really don’t want to interrupt and say something… bitchy.” Johnny sent an amused look towards his sister who only rolled her eyes. “But… I mean… isn’t it what we are doing right now? That doesn’t seem wrong… or relevant to bring up.” Cue another amused look towards Sue.

Toni smiled again. “I know, it will be… to… to explain how Wanda Maximoff came to be on American soil.”

“Not how Rogers came around to champion her?” Jennifer frowned, not having been previously aware of it. Beside her, Bruce was also frowning.

“No.” Toni grimaced. “According to Rogers and Barton, she helped, her… actions with HYDRA were in the past and that was it. Nobody in America even knew she was HYDRA in the first place.”

“Not the point, Toni will explain that later.” Rhodey forestalled the comments he could see about to be made.

They subsided very grudgingly but had to admit that if they kept interrupting this was never going to end.

“I have been looking for ways to thwart alien invasions since 2012. I got Bruce to help me look for potential ways but even between the two of us… it was slow going.”

Bruce blinked at his name being mentioned. “Why just the two of us? There are… at least twenty people here and if it is just about military or scientific resources or specialties then there are still dozens of names that Toni Stark could have tapped for help.”

“Remember what Luke said? About raising awareness? And that’s why we need the invasion to happen? It barely made its job the last time. Because I was the one to destroy the Mothership and effectively end the invasion, every time I brought the invasion itself up, it was taken as… bragging.”

“Ok, I can sort of see it,” Darcy teased. “But even then, what does it hurt? To be prepared and build… bunkers?”

Toni made a face. “I think the most frequent… comment was that I was fearmongering.”

“Mutually exclusive arguments.” Jennifer concluded with her arms crossed.

“I’m with Jennifer,” Foggy agreed. “If you want to brag, why would you be anxious enough to advocate for means to prevent or at least mitigate the consequences of a future alien invasion? When you win and get confident, you start to think, ‘Why train even more?’ not contingent plans.”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Toni said.

“Let me guess: Romanoff and Rogers were the ones to say that you were bragging and fearmongering, all in the same sentence.” Jennifer mocked.

At Toni’s silent, Helen couldn’t help it anymore. “What is their problem?”

“Is it just for the sake of manipulating you? Gaslighting?” Erik wondered half to himself.

Toni thought about it. “Interesting argument. I don’t know, but interesting argument. Still seems like too much work and too much deliberate ignorance just for the sake of manipulating me. Although the other option is that they are that dumb.” She muttered the last part.

“They would really ignore the very real possibility of an alien invasion after… what, three other previous accounts just to manipulate one person?” Foggy couldn’t see how that made sense. Actually, he couldn’t see the sense in a lot of it.

“What is the other alternative?” Sue complained. “That they are dumb enough to believe that there would be no other invasions, or that they would win just as easily when their streak was dependent on a bottleneck attack? Who’s really bragging now?”

Toni very carefully didn’t react to that.

“That seems to be the pattern for a lot of their actions. S.H.I.E.L.D is either too dumb not to see that the Avengers, from their members to the name was a horrible idea, or it was HYDRA sabotaging it. Either the Avengers are so dumb as to believe that there would be no other invasions or that they would win just easily doing what they did the first time or they are gaslighting Toni. Either Rogers is dumb enough to believe that Maximoff was reformed just because she helped save the world she already lived in or he was trying to set a precedent for Barnes. Either way, it seems that “being too dumb” is always an option.” Pepper smiled serenely.

“Manipulative bastards or idiots. I would argue logical fallacy this either/or but the worst is that I can’t think of option number three.” Matt said, not wanting to believe it. These people had too much power one way or the other for it to be that.

Pepper had thoughtful look on her face. “That also applies to the Info Dump. Either they were so stupid as to believe that it would ‘smoke HYDRA out’ no never mind to the rest of the innocent agents or… I don’t know, getting even with S.H.I.E.L.D for making her the fool in Romanoff’s case and… distracting the authorities to look the other way from Barnes in Rogers’?”

“The good news is that thanks to Rogers’ harebrained scheme and Romanoff going along with it, S.H.I.E.L.D is… more or less no more. There were… two emerging… factions underground but that was it. From what I gleamed, they were so busy with interpersonal problems and power struggles that they neutralized each other and left the rest of the world to take a breath.” Toni shrugged.

Once she saw the mess that came out of a clash between the two groups, she steered clear unless it would affect innocent lives. But for the most part it was like she said: so busy with each other that the only concern is when it spilled over.

Their poor investors.

“Stupidity or manipulations aside…” Helen prompted.

“Well, in 2013, not long before Killian, Bruce and I came up with a protective net around the world controlled by AI, not very unlike the plans I came up in this timeline.”

Toni waited for it, but no one seemed to know what to say.

Finally, Reed volunteered. “Makes sense. An AI tailored for the specific task of monitoring extraterrestrial threats, too big a job for even a team of specialized professionals, but in theory just a challenging assignment for an AI.” But when only silence met him, Reed frowned. “What was the problem?”

“We didn’t have the technology. We hit a wall.” Toni explained.

“Uh… don’t you have… uh… haven’t you built like a half dozen AIs?” Johnny asked.

“Yes and no. DUM-E, Butterfingers and U are rudimentary AIs. They have feelings and they have situational awareness but uh… their psychological development is ultimately capped because of the limitations of my knowledge and tech when I built them. They are more akin to children.”

“Not dogs?” Yao inquired as delicately as he could, but he clearly remembered how DUM-E kept pestering Toni to throw a ball for him to retrieve.

“Dogs’ intelligence is more instinctual. If their owners suddenly collapse, they start to bark and call the neighbors’ attention either because they were trained for it or because they feel that to cause a ruckus will help. It’s different than having the thought process of the logic in bringing attention to the peril their owner is in.”

“What about J.A.R.V.I.S, Friday and I don’t even know how many other… adult AIs you have.” Jennifer tried.

“They started as UIs, meaning User Interface, also fundamentally different than Siri,” Toni rolled her eyes, “but not true AIs. The difference between J.A.R.V.I.S and DUM-E is that I literally programed DUM-E’s personality. He is playful and energetic and helpful because I programmed him that way. J.A.R.V.I.S became who he is as he advanced. Building an AI means programing personality and morals and ideals and having them formed before the AI is activated and that’s technologically impossible. You can’t program this kind of reasoning. To give a practical example, I could program J.A.R.V.I.S to respect the laws and jaywalking is against the law, if J.A.R.V.I.S had a body and he saw a little kid about to be hit by a car, morals would dictate that he tries to save the child but the programing would analyze that to do so, he would need to cross the street without a crossing point for pedestrians and then he would have to make a judgment call and see if the Good Samaritan laws are appliable. I would have to program every single possible situation and to have the critical thinking skills to determine that jaywalking is justifiable when saving the hypothetical kid’s life, that’s also technologically impossible. As J.A.R.V.I.S experienced new things and grew, he can now make the moral decision, at the bare basic of it, that’s the mark of an AI.”

Jane hummed. “Why not have J.A.R.V.I.S himself do it them?”

“Because all my sentient creations have a primary objective programed: to protect Anastasia Antonia Stark. Makes much more sense and gives a lot more freedom to grow and change and learn than the Asimov Laws, at the same time that I didn’t put in the words “at all costs” so no murdering the random strangers in the streets that accidentally step on my foot. I would need to build a new UI from scratch and effectively raise them to be where J.A.R.V.I.S is, with the primary objective being to protect Earth from extraterrestrial threats. And well… there was a certain urgency in the matter. Even if I had done it, the new AI wouldn’t be ready for the large-scale invasions… not without the bottleneck attack.”

“And now that we do have the time?” Reed was very interested in the whole prospect. Cybernetics weren’t his area of expertise and Toni was one of the few that could intellectually challenge him.

“I still wouldn’t do it… I… there is a reason I don’t market AIs despite J.A.R.V.I.S’s success. I would be basically selling a living being, though not human, still a rational being. It’s like… why not install an AI to do kamikaze attacks instead of having pilots with pesky little survival instincts? We would be sending people to their deaths, people whose autonomy and capability of making their own decisions would be very debatable due to their primary programming of obeying orders given. Even in the Ultron Program, what Bruce and I called it, it would be a very lonely existence, no contact with any other living beings. So, the project was scrapped and abandoned.”

Reed nodded in understanding. “And what then?”

“Then after the whole Info Dump, we found out that Loki’s Scepter was in HYDRA’s hands.”

“SHIELDRA.” Ben groaned.

“SHIELDRA.” Toni agreed. “I’m willing to give the educated guess that HYDRA got their hands on it since day one. Since Thor left the damn thing behind, I think.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Darcy quickly pressed the mic’s button, “I thought you said that Thor was all ‘humans shouldn’t mess with alien tech, your experiments called attention to Earth’ and whatever, but he voluntarily left it behind? I thought he just forgot because why would someone that can face the Hulk and is some arrogant little warrior prince bow down to S.H.I.E.L.D’s wrangling? Well, now that I say it out loud, I don’t know what’s worse, Thor forgetting it or leaving it behind on purpose.”

“I don’t actually know what happened there. From the way Thor is… there is a reasonable bet that he forgot or thought it wasn’t as important as the Tesseract, maybe?” Toni sheepishly admitted.

“Doesn’t that thing control people’s minds?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

Jane frowned and added. “Doesn’t it also give off a similar energy as the Tesseract? If the Tesseract attracted enemies to our doorsteps, why wouldn’t the Scepter?”

“Putting the reason it was left behind aside for the moment, we can always ask him after all.” And from the look on Jim’s face, he would do just that. “HYDRA got it and then what?”

“We traced all the HYDRA strongholds after the damn thing. It took us the better part of a year to find the Scepter without the Tesseract.” Toni didn’t see Karen raising her head from the StarkPad, a curious look on her face. “We managed to find it almost a year later in Novi Grad, Sokovia.”

“Uh… the… country in southeastern Europe. They are in civil war, right?” Darcy tried to fish from her memories.

“Since the 80’s,” Toni confirmed, “anyhow, it seemed to be a routine enough mission but there were updated weapons and security, so we knew we were at the right target. We were intercepted by Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, twins, twenty-six years old, Sokovians. Orphaned at ten when a supposed Stark Industries shell destroyed their apartment, volunteered to join HYDRA when they turned eighteen in 2008 and were successfully Enhanced in 2014 by HYDRA using the Scepter.”

Jessica cursed up a storm. “Not only she can mind control, but she is a Nazi?”

“The baddies of the week have a personal vendetta then.” Johnny smirked in incredulity at Toni’s… entire life.

Sue eyed the way that Toni was trying to say something, opening and closing her mouth. “What is it?”

“I don’t know where to begin with those two.”

“I thought you already began… they blamed you for sixteen years, Enhanced neo-Nazis. Honestly, I respect them a bit more than I respect Killian, at least they are genuine terrorists instead of putting on a show to hide their grudge.” Karen made a face, much like everybody else in the room, she had a ridiculously low opinion about Killian’s nonsense.

Karen was distracted from her musings by the raucous laugher Jennifer let out. Bruce, beside her cousin, had a really weird expression on his face.

When Jennifer finally got her amusement under control, she was out of breath and brushing a tear of mirth at the corner of her eye. “Oh, you guys are gonna love this.”

Chapter Text

The silence stretched as Toni tried to find the words. Jennifer watched with deep, if very grim, amusement.

“Ok, to get it out of the way as fast as I can: Pietro died but Wanda joined the Avengers.”

“What the fuck?”

Darcy chuckled, a little hysterically, but mostly amused and trying to roll with the punches. “‘What the fuck’, ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I don’t know what to tell you’ should be the caption of this meeting.”

Toni tilted her head in acquiescence. She turned when Jim started to talk.

“Why would he even think that it was a good idea? I can see why it would set a good precedence for Barnes, but… Wanda Maximoff willingly volunteered.”

Toni just sent him a frustrated and tired look. “Continuing, it was in that mission in Sokovia that we found Loki’s Scepter. It was in this bunker full of retrieved Chitauri tech—”

“Didn’t anyone try to keep it away from the wider public?” Danny frowned and Toni could only sigh at the question.

“I will explain later but yes, we did try. Anyhow, I had a… vision… I can’t say for sure, it would only be years later that the idea even occurred to me but…”

“Maximoff got you there.” Jessica summarized with a snarl.

“I thought maybe it was my PTSD flaring up again but… I was fine looking at the Chitauri tech and husks and even the Leviathan suspended in the ceiling so maybe.” Toni conceded. “Everybody was dead, another armada was heading towards Earth and we couldn’t do anything… I saw some really advanced works in robotics in that bunker and it made me think that HYDRA wasn’t just making weapons or Enhancing their recruits, so I had the idea to analyze the Scepter and to use to advance Ultron.”

“It backfired.” Helen concluded. “Toni, that thing mind controls people, why would you think it was a good idea?!” She couldn’t understand how someone as intelligent as Toni would do something like that. “Was it really Maximoff?”

Toni sighed again. “Even if I operate under the belief that Maximoff had a hand in my… episode, I don’t see how she would even get me to conclude: Ultron.”

“Mind control is not that clear and cut, it can be total control, but it can also be rally finicky. She could have planted an idea in your head and left it at that.” Jessica had her arms tightly crossed.

“Like a subjective control. Something driving your actions, but they would still be your actions or even something like a sleeper agent.” Yao offered. “It’s not my expertise though, we probably should have a psychiatrist on call just in case, maybe a neurologist?”

It wasn’t only Toni that made a face at that but in her case there was the feeling of irony, if only Yao knew. “On the way back, Thor and Rogers also gave the ok for me to analyze the Scepter. Rogers wanted to know what else it was used for because Strucker, one of HYDRA’s leaders, wasn’t capable of Enhancing humans before getting his hands on it.”

“Finally, a reasonable decision.” Ben complained.

“Just wait a second.” Jennifer muttered, not bothering to press her own mic.

“We found a living… or thinking being inside the Stone. Bruce and I ran simulations to see if integration with the Ultron program was possible and left it to be concluded. Turns out the sentience in the Stone was more powerful than we expected, it took over the Ultron Program and for some reason, he… uh… zhe decided that their primary objective is world peace because of a comment I made about ‘peace in our time’.” And this time even Toni couldn’t help the incredulity.

Regardless of the fact that she blamed herself, to this day, Toni still couldn’t understand why or how. Toni and Bruce had barely installed and established the primary objective: protect Earth from external attacks, but Ultron, what became Ultron, took to “peace in our time” for his own goal as if it wasn’t some thrown-away comment. The Scepter also was not connected to anything – how could it be even – and they left with simulations running behind them. Few hours later: a simulation was enough to interface with the Scepter?

It just didn’t make sense. Nothing of it made sense. Toni told them so and even Reed was frowning in confusion. Bruce was muttering some statistics and formulas under his breath but neither had an answer.

“We need more people in on this before doing anything then.” Rhodey entered the conversation.

“Maybe this is one of those things that Thor was right in saying that humans shouldn’t mess with.” Trish offered even if she didn’t seem happy about it.

But Rhodey had an inscrutable expression on. “And I would agree if it wasn’t for the fact that Thor gave the go-ahead for Toni to analyze the Scepter, which she did. If physical proximity to open files was enough for something like this to happen, then it would happen regardless of Ultron, the internet is all around us after all and a Google search takes you to Al-Qaeda. If even Thor couldn’t have predicted or didn’t think about the possibility or even gave proper warning as the only one around with any kind of concrete knowledge on the Infinity Stones, then he doesn’t get a say from a high-horse when it goes south.”

There were muttering of agreements around the room.

“What happened then?” Danny took the conversation back on track.

“Ultron… took over the Iron Legion. I was going to say possessed because that feels like the best fit for what happened.” Toni frowned even harder. “Ultron took the Scepter and took off then.”

“To do what?”

“Since ‘peace in our time’ was deemed unachievable, Ultron decided to eliminate what was threatening the planet.”

“People.” Bruce quickly concluded.

“J.A.R.V.I.S barred his access to nuclear codes so Ultron made a projectile out of a city to create an extinction level event a la dinosaurs meet asteroid.”

“But that wasn’t even his primary programming!” Reed protested.

Toni was tired of repeating it but this time it was partially her fault, “I don’t know. He stole a sizable quantity of Vibranium in the Savage Yard in the African coastline from a guy named Ulysses Klaue and built himself a new, stronger body. He approached Pietro and Wanda Maximoff in Sokovia—”

“Who were only too happy to help?” Jessica’s sneer might be a problem once the time comes, Toni thought to herself.

“Yes.”

“Uh… Enhanced or not, shouldn’t Ultron’s plan to… make humans extinct… be a little… suicidal for them to help?” Johnny didn’t even know how to ask it.

“Remember that they wanted revenge?”

Johnny’s eyes boggled. “Enough to kill themselves and everybody else over it?”

“Actually no, they helped Ultron when the goal was to destroy the Avengers but once they found out that they were part of the burning package, they turned on him. Oh, but not until after Maximoff sicced the Hulk on Johannesburg and both just stood by while Ultron used the Scepter to mind control Helen and her team into using the Vibranium and her Cradle to create his ultimate body with the Mind Stone on the body’s forehead and killed two of her coworkers.” Toni’s bland tone might have been insulting to most people, the people in the room had thicker skin though.

Helen went deathly pale. “This is why Ms. Walters took such an exception to this… Wanda Maximoff, Johannesburg alone… And even after all that, this Maximoff woman was just… invited to be part of the Avengers? To live in America?”

“Well, to begin with, Rogers always had a soft spot for them. From what I understood, he sympathized with them because they ‘let themselves be experimented on by a German scientist to protect their country’.”

“Isn’t Sokovia in civil war?” Darcy asked more to herself even if she pressed the mic button.

Toni shrugged.

“And what, Captain America says so, so let’s pull out the welcome mat?” Luke looked about two seconds away from destroying something.

“Rogers’ policy is that they helped, and they are misguided and that ‘past was in the past’, no one even said anything about them being HYDRA or helping Ultron for that matter.”

“Not even me?” Helen couldn’t see herself just letting go something like that. Perhaps she wasn’t life-long friends with the team she assembled for the Cradle, but she would still seek justice on their behalf, and she has enough self-respect to seek it for herself as well.

“You were, completely understandably, terrified out of your mind. It started when Thor went on a rage because he blamed me for Ultron and lifted me by the throat—”

“WHAT?!”

Nobody was impressed with Thor. The guy that left the Scepter behind despite his “humans shouldn’t have messed with alien tech” policy in the first place and the same guy that gave carte-blanche to Toni and Bruce to analyze the Scepter.

“Interesting that he didn’t try his hands with the Hulk.” Danny narrowed his eyes.

“That’s why you went back to Seoul and stayed as far away as you physically could.” Toni concluded, ignoring Danny for the time being.

“All this just to help Barnes? Barnes would have been acquitted, the guy has to be longest serving POW in history, a sufficiently motivated teenager with access to the internet would make his case. He would have been welcomed back with all the existing and approved bleeding edge treatment available. Sure, psychiatric assessment and treatment would have to be mandatory and I can see the courts requesting that he tries to account for his hits so the families could have closure and the little justice that they can get but that would be it.” Foggy tapped the electronic pen that accompanied the StarkPad against the table.

Matt hummed. “The methods with which HYDRA used to… mind control… manipulate him would need to be analyzed at least. But I highly doubt that any judge would convict him to jail time.”

Jim rolled his eyes. “Didn’t Rogers learn anything from HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D since day one? He is basically making the same mistake. And also, I don’t see this Maximoff girl being any friendlier to Captain America if she blamed Toni for the death of her parents. Captain AMERICA would be just as big reminder after all.”

Toni had no idea whether to laugh or not at that, it wasn’t even funny, but she still had to curb the urge. “Maximoff actually got on well with him. And we don’t know if that is the reason Mr. Rogers was such a staunch defender for Maximoff… to set a precedent for his friend. We can conjecture, but we don’t know for sure.” Toni eyed Jennifer who huffed but didn’t dispute it. “The only thing he said… out loud was the sympathy about… experimented on by a German scientist to protect their country.”

“Rogers did not go to a debate club, uh?” Darcy rubbed her forehead and adjusted her glasses.

Toni blinked with some amusement. “I don’t think debate clubs were… a thing in the 40s.”

“And that’s it?” Trish asked. “The end? The Neo-Nazi has her past hidden, Johannesburg gets no justice, and she skips to America?”

“Well… Pietro died saving Barton and this kid Barton was trying to save from Ultron. That pretty much cemented Wanda’s sob story in their minds.”

Sue snorted. “They found a problem with the world they live in being destroyed and while one of them died protecting two other people, said people were only in danger due to a problem they helped create. Somehow I’m not being filled with compassion.”

“The whole thing ended with Vision, the body created out of Vibranium using Helen’s Cradle with the Mind Stone embedded in the forehead. He was pretty fundamental in defeating Ultron.”

“But…” Jane exhaled heavily. “Why did Ultron fail, and this Vision worked? They both had the mental basis in the Mind Stone.”

“J.A.R.V.I.S…” Toni trailed off, the memory still haunted her. She would need to make sure that the redundancies and security were sufficiently updated again, a habit she got since coming back. “J.A.R.V.I.S was also integrated and Thor… uh… threw a lightning bolt at Vision’s body. What that accomplished I have no idea, either way, the fusion of the sentience in the Mind Stone plus J.A.R.V.I.S resulted in Vision.”

Reed’s eyes were wide. “You said that J.A.R.V.I.S also managed to keep Ultron from getting nuclear codes… and now thanks, even if only partially, to his influence the Mind Stone was kept at bay?”

Toni nodded. “J.A.R.V.I.S had evolved more than I ever thought possible. It was… remiss of me to underestimate him. To expect less.”

“Holy crap, hope he never goes HAL on us.” Luke shook his head.

“As long as Miss Stark is safe, then the world is safe as well, Mr. Cage.” J.A.R.V.I.S’ reassurance and sudden participation in the meeting made all the guests (sans Rhodey, Pepper and Happy) jump and/or start to curse up a storm, not even Bruce and Jennifer were completely used to it, and it didn’t seem to comfort anyone.

Rhodey, though, smirked when Friday and Jocasta remained inconspicuously silent. Toni doesn’t go around advertising J.A.R.V.I.S and she certainly doesn’t draw attention to her other AIs aside from the bots that only ever got spotlight in scientific communities, but it also wasn’t treated like a secret to be kept under lock and key. Toni herself was very well-aware of their choice to remain silent if the exasperated look she sent towards one of the cameras that served, for all intents and purposes, as their ‘eyes’ was anything to go by.

“Although we still need to discuss the exact culpability of every party in Ultron… next disaster?” Matt requested, feeling more tired than any experience in college would have prepared him for.

And this was the missing piece. Jennifer bit her lip and waited for Toni to start. Happy was suddenly tense and sitting at the edge of his seat. Rhodey and Pepper only had eyes for every miniscule reaction that Toni showed.

“During the Info Dump in 2014 or… during the events surrounding it, at least, Rogers found out… or at least strongly suspected that during the years in HYDRA’s mind control, Sargent Barnes as the Winter Soldier was deployed to carry out a hit… on Howard and Maria Stark.”

Sue inhaled a sharp breath, a hand covering her mouth as her head whipped towards Toni.

Eyes wide, curses and horror were the most prevalent of reactions. No one even knew what to say to something like that.

“Oh, my god.” Jane breathed out. “Did he… oh, my god.”

Toni sighed and kept talking to forestall the… reactions. “Regardless of the reason Mr. Rogers chose to support the inclusion of Wanda Maximoff—”

“I think it’s pretty obvious.” Jim interrupted. Not believing what he just heard. So maybe he didn’t treat Captain America as if the man was the second coming of Jesus like some Americans, but still…

Just how far the man was from the legend?

Toni quirked an eyebrow. “Be that as it may, I never actually asked him so—”

“Oh, that would be something.” Jessica snorted. “Hey, Cap, so the reason you ignored the Hulk being mind-controlled into attacking a completely innocent civilian population was to help your buddy?”

Toni cringed at that. She had no delusions that Jessica would stroll over to Rogers and ask just like that with those exact words.

“As I was saying: I don’t know. Speculation on motives is all I have. All I can offer is the account from my perspective.”

“We appreciate that you’re trying… what you are trying to say… to do. For us to form our own opinions… but I don’t think it gets much worse than that.” Sue leaned forward.

“Actually, we can already form conclusions.” Luke mocked. “Did Rogers bothered to explain anything to you? Because you keep saying that: I can’t tell you what he was thinking, I don’t know, I can only speculate. Meaning he didn’t bother to explain crap. Not when the country was in danger and now when it would hurt someone… really badly. I think that already says everything about his character if not about his actions.”

Toni made face and Rhodey was the one to answer. “That’s our opinion as well.”

When Toni turned to look at him, she only got a raised eyebrow as an answer.

Luke nodded. “There you go. What kind of asshole does shit like that and doesn’t even bother to explain himself? There is a place and time to say ‘fuck it’ and just let people take your actions at face value. When people die is not one of them.”

“Well, he did send me a letter.” But Toni stopped all by herself before Pepper, Rhodey and Jennifer snorted loudly enough not to need the mic to be heard.

“Yes. ‘Sorry, not sorry, call me whenever’ was an amazing last ‘Fuck You’.” Jennifer crossed her arms.

Toni huffed a genuinely amused laugher. Little bitch knew what she was doing, instigating their curiosity like that.

“A little context is necessary.”

“Is it?” Pepper’s voice was pure bland sarcasm.

“If only because it was the excuse used.” Toni gritted out with her mic off, finally fed up with it. She was happy for the support, she was, but Toni was kind of trying to not to depend on acting skills of so many people once Rogers make an appearance which means playing the devil’s advocate. “These are the Accords, they were first mentioned in 2010. The idea of regulating those of us… with extra abilities is no news to anyone, I… hope.” The last part was added hesitantly, and Toi was rewarded with incredulous looks… almost offended looks.

“Uh… yes…?” Danny offered, not sure if it was a tricky question.

Knowing that the only ones that would be able to hear her without her mic being on would be Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, Bruce and Toni herself, Jennifer laughed, “I’m loving this.”

~*~

“Seems reasonable. I mean… there are some harsh punishments for letting DNA samples or tech laying around but still.” Matt was quickly feeling the braille lines in his StarkPad… and he was still wondering the kind of technology needed for something like that. “As far as regulations for… for people with abilities go, I expected much worse, this basically just reiterates that existing laws apply to everyone, be they civilians or Enhanced… I’m still not sure if untrained Enhanced shouldn’t qualify as civilians at that. Just because you own a gun doesn’t mean you’re a cop.”

“On an unrelated note: do you have photographic memory?” Darcy was staring the two thousand pages document in complete incredulous shock.

And it was in tiny font too. She would need some time to read the whole thing, despite Toni being kind enough to highlight what were the more contentious points.

She was also trying not to think about what Toni just revealed about her family… Darcy shuddered and felt very cold and made a small mental reminder to call her parents at the earliest possible time.

“Yes.” Toni shrugged.

“Wait, you have photographic memory?” Helen clarified just to be sure they were talking about the same thing.

“Yes.” She shrugged again.

Matt chuckled a bit. “Yeah, you might not want to spread that about.”

“Why not?” Jane was leafing through the document a bit distracted. Not really her usual sandbox but very interesting, nonetheless.

“My specialization is not on industrial law but I’m thinking that not many companies would want Dr. Stark around their patents.”

“You’d be correct.” Toni smirked a bit. “Still, not many would even believe I have photographic memory. Science has yet to sufficiently prove it exists so if it gets out with some certainty that Toni Stark has photographic memory, the half that didn’t react like it would be a violation of most contracts would probably scoff.”

Reed, Sue, Jane, Erik, Helen, Matt, Jennifer, Yao, Foggy and Karen had to concede.

“Ok, getting back: so the UN is pretty much the grand king of staying out of it, but it’s a lot better than a single country putting forth their version first. The president or the supreme court would be bound to try and appease their own people – who, in collective, are not the most reasonable of audiences – whereas the UN would have to give at least lip service that they are concerned about human rights… hell, this can even revise what it means to be human.” Ben grumbled from where he was quickly scrolling through the document.

Which reminded Toni to mention the… “Silver Surfer” for them at some point. The files on that were in the S.H.I.E.L.D Info Dump and gave her nightmares for weeks. Toni would be lying if she said that it didn’t play some part in agreeing with the Accords that basically said, in spirit and precedent if not in words, that genetically non-human doesn’t mean that they didn’t have human rights.

“Yeah, about that, there were some… factions that argued that, since some us were genetically altered, it means that those individuals could be interpreted as non-human and, biologically saying, they would be right… meaning that human rights don’t apply.” Toni winced at that.

“Son of a bitch.” Susan didn’t even bother to censor herself.

“I’m assuming those factions weren’t thrilled when the UN got involved.” Foggy deadpanned, already seeing how that went down.

Toni blinked and then smiled a bit at her own surprise. She is really unused to people that didn’t need minced and tiny words to explain the step by step, wasn’t she?

“Not even a little bit.”

“Hmmm, even with all the paperwork and bureaucracy involved, the UN is a very good starting point. Doubtful that it will sustain itself for too long considering the promptness required though, most of us live in America.” Foggy commented.

“There were plans to establish local teams in other countries, with members from local communities.” Toni finally explained what Rogers never even asked before getting up and walking out of the room. “That would eliminate most of the restrictions since one of the major concerns were about respecting sovereign borders and the mile-long list of issues an American team with American members based in U.S would have in order to act in any other territory that not U.S.”

“Makes sense. Are there enough Enhanced to operate locally like that?” Jennifer made notes of her own now.

“There were some statements and rumors. All of it went down the drain because of the… Civil War.”

“Let me guess, Captain Asshole was busted.” Luke snorted. Maybe he wasn’t Captain America’s biggest fan, but it was ridiculous how far the man was from the comics that he read when he was a kid.

“Actually no. I only found out about it almost in the end of everything. When this document was presented, Rogers and Air Force Staff Sargent Wilson disagreed with it.”

Sue waited a bit. “That’s it? That was enough for something to be called “Civil War”? And who’s Wilson?”

“His pathetic arguments aside, no.” Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Wilson is this former pararescue that was contacted by Rogers during the whole S.H.I.E.L.D is HYDRA fiasco, fanboy to high heavens. If Rogers told him that it was raining marshmallow, he would get chocolate and wait outside to make smores.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry.” Sue could feel her face reddening. “I… forgot about him.”

“That wasn’t the reason the media called our disagreement “Civil War”. The excuse they used was the Accords though.” Toni bit her lip because she also forgot about Wilson, she had the beginnings of a plan for him after the Senate hearing but then the news on Strange and then meeting Helen… Toni simply forgot.

 “All in all, Matt is right, a lot less draconian than I was expecting.” Foggy carefully made some more notes, very much aware that his friend would balk at the slightest hint of possibility of control or power-hungry politicians.

The fact that Toni Stark so strongly advocated for the Hulk and put a General of U.S behind bars for the man behind the Hulk bought her some credit points with Matt.

Still, Foggy was now aware that Toni may have only been able to do so because of future knowledge. Of knowing where to dig and how. Otherwise… well, Thaddeus Ross hid something like the Hulk from the wider public and got enough support to his persecution to be able to make big purchases from Hammer Industries to Stark Industries and also hid his own involvement in the whole thing for five years. That spoke a lot about how much power Ross had.

“The Accords were apparently a surprise to Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff. I don’t know how aware of them Natasha Romanoff was. Clint Barton retired after Ultron. It was essentially me, Rhodey, Vision, Wilson, Rogers, Romanoff and Maximoff discussing them…”

“When was the idea presented?” Foggy asked.

“The idea was mentioned in 2010. My Senate hearing when Rhodey mentioned that it his recommendation that Iron Woman should be folded in a formal chain of command. It wouldn’t do for such a public figure as Iron Woman to… wing it, structure and officially recognized MOs reassure people.”

“Obviously,” Foggy nodded, “and the first draft?”

“Some tentative plans started after the Chitauri Invasion in 2012. It wasn’t just me anymore, Captain America was suddenly out and about, the Hulk, Thor… even Black Widow and Hawkeye.”

Sue wanted to know though. “What about the rest of us?”

“The Fantastic Four had a big and very public support and you were self-sufficient. Endorsement deals ensured that not only Reed’s own experiments were sufficiently funded but that you could pay for the damages your fights could and did cause. You, Sue, actually created quite the portfolio with some of Reed’s more marketable inventions as well. Not only that but… for lack of a better term, you guys didn’t have personal villains aside from Von Doom that eventually became a non-issue. You helped with crimes whenever the police requested it but more often than not you were as you are now: relief efforts in natural disasters. Rescue missions in high-risk areas… like me, like Iron Woman, the Fantastic Four had a recognized and limited public goal, self-sufficient, had the public support, good contacts with the military and didn’t break public coffers where there was a fight.”

“And us?” Danny motioned to the team that has been recently named ‘the Defenders’.

“You are local—”

“Right, the UN.”

And Toni smiled brilliantly at him. A quick look around the room and literally nobody else felt the need to elaborate.

Because the UN can’t tell a country what to do. They can only interfere in the matter of international relations and a bunch of Americans (a Sokovian and a Russian) starting shit in other countries and formally recognized governments? The 117 countries that signed the Accords could only ever go the UN.

The Defenders, that only ever operated locally, really, very locally, never getting out of New York-locally, wouldn’t be under their purview. Danny Rand, raised by monks in a mountain like a fricking hermit for most of his life and that decided it was a good idea to get through the front door saying that he was the heir of a Fortune 500 company without his shoes, immediately understood it. At her most critical, sometimes Toni wondered if Rogers even knew what the UN was. Hell, if he even knew that the League of Nations was no more… if he even knew about the League of Nations back then even. After all it wasn’t on his ‘list’.

Foggy scratched his forehead. “So why did the media call it a civil war? Even if people disagreed with the documents, lobbying is very effective and they don’t frequently become violent nowadays, too many teenagers with cameras that can turn the whole country against a particular group of heavy-handed individuals. Be they the protesters or police officers.”

“Get used to hearing the name of Bucky Barnes.” Toni forewarned, for the first time since the meeting started, she sounded as bitter as her friends.

Chapter Text

“In 2016, Rogers, Romanoff, Wilson and Maximoff received data that James Barnes may have been sighted in Lagos, Nigeria and went to investigate. Half-way there they found out that it wasn’t Barnes but Brock Rumlow, HYDRA in S.H.I.E.L.D agent and that he was supposedly targeting police stations. Mid-mission they found out that Rumlow wasn’t targeting the police station but a research facility that contained a bio-weapon.”

“You know the whole debate of whether they are stupid or manipulative? I think I have an answer.” Johnny tried to joke but his whole face was scrunched up in confusion and disbelief.

“Yeah, well. Rumlow used Bucky’s name to throw Rogers off balance and detonated the bomb he had strapped to his chest. Scarlet Witch… Wanda Maximoff threw the bomb away with her Telekinesis and it hit a consulate full of people. Twenty Nigerian casualties, twelve Wakandan casualties.”