Archive of Our Own ^beta

Toni guessed it all started when she was thirty and just returned from Afghanistan. There was that one party that her company was hosting but she wasn't invited to - can you imagine that? Rude - that she had to crash in order to make an appearance and she met this one devilishly handsome man whom she blamed for turning her world upside down. She personally blamed him because, here she was now, ten years later, aliens, gods, magic and artifacts of infinite power, older than time itself, a part of her everyday life almost as much as robots and science used to be.

She should have denied him that one dance, should have said no and pulled away from him as soon as he started speaking with her. Instead she now held desperately onto the pendant in her all but broken hands, shaky from fatigue, blood loss and her injuries as a purple behemoth stood over her and her teammates, ready to eradicate them from existence. She brought the pendant closer to the almost broken, barely functioning Arc Reactor in her chest, right over her heart, and bit back her tears as she thought of what fate will befall her teammates if this doesn't work, the nightmare come true that she will have to live in.

'Please,' she begged with all her heart and soul in her mind. 'Please, please come. I need you. Please!' But why would he? Toni asked herself as their enemy held up a gloved fist and those accursed Stones shone brightly in preparation for what will be the final blow. She had rejected him so many times in the past, all of his advances. He must have grown tired of her, grown bored. She was nothing special, despite always pretending that she thought the exact opposite of herself. He must have realized that, too, for she hadn't seen or heard from him since their last argument. He had simply given up when he realized how broken she was. He wouldn't waste any more of his time on her. She wasn't worth it.

"Any last words, Stark?" The behemoth asked, calling her by name like he had been doing since the first blow, the first attack, leveling the Infinity Gauntlet with her and her team behind her. They tried to move, to protest, to tell her to get the fuck out of here and avenge us, Stark! But they were too beaten and she had no strength left, even if she were willing to give up on them. She couldn't move beyond bringing that pendant closer, to her trembling lips, a tear finally rolling down her cheek.

"Stephen."

00000

Toni Stark was uncomfortably aware of the Arc Reactor in her chest, beneath the black fabric of her skin tight, night gown that she had chosen for this occasion, simply because its dark, thick material was the only outfit she had that could cover the glow of the thing that was keeping her alive and keep it out of sight from curious and prying eyes and cameras of the press. She didn't need the world speculating about it or asking any questions, not when she was still so busy making the armor and trying to puzzle out how terrorists like the Ten Rings had gotten their filthy, criminally paws on her weapons.

Seeing that she had been gone for three months due to her kidnapping, and now all these weeks due to making the suit, she was the center of attention more than usual, if that was even possible. Only she felt like the gazes sent her way pricked her like thorns and needles and she was not at all comfortable with them, no matter how well she hid this fact. She held her chin up and strutted through the ballroom like she always did, a glass of whiskey in her hand - she had always preferred a stronger, real drink as opposed to those silly cocktails and all their sweets - as she searched the crowd for her PA and best friend, Pepper Potts. Well, she called her Pepper and it stuck, even though her name was Virginia. She thought she had spotted her in a nice blue, backless dress, speaking with some other women, but this Agent guy from Security Homeland something something something Division or something like that was pestering her for a debrief on her kidnapping - like she was going to go through that again; if his agency hadn't been there when the FBI, CIA and all the other big boys had asked questions, then that's too bad because she ain't repeating herself - and was distracting her. It was a bit annoying, as it was hard enough to glimpse her friend even as tall as she was and wow those heels, but then her view was completely obscured by a chest and a pair of broad shoulders and Toni wanted to scream.

Burning amber eyes shot up to shoot lasers at whoever had blocked her sight of her PA just when she had found her in the crowd, only to be met by calm, serene, if smug and highly amused emerald eyes of a tall, dark and handsomestranger she had never seen before. And he was handsome, hubba hubba hubba. Pale skin, high cheekbones, sharp eyes, some pretty awesome facial hair, dark hair with some early grays that made the man look all the more handsome and elegant, refined like the sweetest of wine, dressed to the nines in a black suit that looked to be of Far Eastern origin and suited him damn well. He was of a lean build but obviously had some muscle underneath that tight suit, broad shoulders expertly accented by his choice. He held himself with arrogance and yet didn't radiate it, like all the people here. How very strange.

He gave a small, half bow as he extended a hand for her to take, eyes twinkling with something a lot like mischief. "May I have this dance, Dr Stark?" His voice was a deep, pleasant baritone but his words were even more surprising than the gentlemanly way he asked them. Toni couldn't help but blink up at him, as she didn't remember the last time anyone had called her 'doctor', despite her three PhDs. She didn't introduce herself as a doctor and didn't rub it in. There were hundreds upon thousands of doctors in the world, all of varying fields but she stood out. She was Toni Stark. She didn't need to be a doctor. Not that anyone would treat her seriously as one, what with her reputation.

Which made it rather curious that this stranger addressed her by her proper title with the proper respect it actually deserved. It was probably what made her accept his offered hand and let him pull her out onto the dance floor, away from Mr Agent. Well, that and the fact that Toni was looking for a way to ditch the guy, anyways. The tall stranger expertly led her through the crowd until they found a space for them to dance and he pulled her close, still all gentlemanly, placing his hands in their proper places while avoiding acting like a pig and coping a feel. Toni might have liked him for just that, but the guy was still smirking down at her and it made her scowl. There was something about his disposition that made her feel like he knew something she didn't and he fount it hilarious. She hated being in the dark.

"I take it you're not exactly enjoying yourself this evening, Dr Stark?" The stranger asked as he masterfully led her through the song, not so much as glancing down at their feet to make sure she won't step on his foot with a hard high heel. She had to admire him for that. Rare few guys actually bothered to learn to dance that well. Or maybe it was simply the case with all the men she had the misfortune to dance with so far, where she was practically the lead, subtle as it may have been.

"What gave it away?" She asked sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "My displeased expression or my glare? I would really like to know so I can work on it." She snarked as much as she would any other time she wanted to be left alone - hey, he might have gotten Agent Boring off of her back but that doesn't mean she wanted to be dancing with him in the first place, thank you very much - but, to her surprise, found that it hadn't managed to insult or piss off her companion. Instead he just chuckled and Toni had to ignore how she got goosebumps at the deep sound that vibrated from his chest into hers. They were that close.

"Actually, it was your aura. You gave off the feeling that you'd rather be anywhere else but that you came to be here just to piss someone off." He grinned at her and she had to fight herself from mentally checking all the boxes because he looked even hotter when he smiled like that. Not to mention that he was apparently observant and intelligent enough to figure out that much. No one else would have been able to guess, not even Rhodey and he was practically her older brother, ever since MIT up to now. "Or to kill some time. Maybe a mixture of both."

Damn. He got her there, too. JARVIS was still manufacturing her latest suit, Mark III, and it still wasn't near ready to go. The paint job alone will take a couple of hours and she had been gone barely one. Double damn. Well, at least she had found interesting company, a first at these things, to keep her entertained. "Well, you're not wrong."

"And I get the feeling that, while I seem to have helped you out of an unpleasant situation, you're not all that pleased with my company, either, but you can at least tolerate me." He gave a twirl into the next step and Toni followed him expertly, not missing a beat as she rolled her eyes again, even if she was a little bit, somewhat impressed. But only just a tiny bit.

"What are you, a mind reader?"

(She'll come to regret and hate that joke in just a few years time, even if neither of them had known it that night.)

Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome mystery man just chuckled again, dipping her briefly, perfectly on the smallest of pauses in the music before bringing her up again. "At times, yes. To an extent."

"That's got to be a useful little talent," she probed for the sake of keeping up the conversation, finding him a bit more interesting than when she first saw him. That was already a great improvement in comparison to how easily other guys lost her interest. Especially since she hadn't felt like taking a guy home since she got back from Afghanistan. She still didn't, but something told her that was not what this guy was after. And that was even stranger than this whole conversation.

He just shrugged as they continued dancing, looking casually elegant in the usually not so polite gesture. "Not really. It's tasking so I don't bother using it. There are better things to exert my efforts on than reading the minds of ordinary plebeian people who can't hold my interest for more than a minute at a time. If they're really trying, that is."

She huffed, amazed by his immense ego. It was almost as though meeting her male mirror image. Did Howard have a bastard no one knew about? He'd sure as hell have been happy to learn he had a son somewhere. "Well, I'm not, so why are you here?"

"Because you don't need to try to impress or interest me." The man spun her around his arm and drew her back into him, his chest against her back, their arms crossed at her belly. "You managed to do that by simply walking into the room. You are positively buzzing with energy and your aura is blinding in your brilliance. I simply had to talk to you to see for myself how that big, marvelous brain of yours works. It is so rare an occurrence for me to meet my equal."

"Are you saying that you're some kind of genius?" Toni was skeptical, as she had met maybe one or two people whom she'd call a true genius over the years. She tried not to squirm from his breath on her neck or the way his strong arms all but caged her like this. It was too soon for her to be this close to another human being, the cave and the Ten Rings still too fresh in her mind. She hated this, feeling so weak. Starks are made of iron, damn it! Howard would have been so disappointed in her. Not that he was ever anything but.

The stranger hummed. "Maybe you've heard of me? My name is Doctor Stephen Strange."

"The world class neurosurgeon?" Yes, she had heard of him and was well beyond shocked to be meeting him. The guy had been a top class, world renown surgeon for the last ten years before a freak car accident crushed his hands and he couldn't practice anymore. It had been a miracle he had survived at all. Toni looked down to where his hands still held hers and found the scars, faded more than scars after the surgeries she'd heard about had happened just last year should have been. And his hands didn't shake at all. "I say foul play."

The supposed doctor snorted. "I can assure you that I am who I say I am."

"Oh, no. I don't doubt it." The genius inventor said, waving a hand before returning it to his shoulder. Damn. He probably worked out. Not too bulky, though. Just enough. She never did like those bodybuilders. Probably her leftover distaste for Captain America since he was the son Howard never had. "I meant your hands." She felt him stiffen under her hand and wondered whether she should drop the topic. She figured she might as well continue and, if he's offended, he'll just leave her to her own devices. It's not as if his opinion mattered ... Right? I mean, she literally just met the guy, like, five minutes ago. He couldn't have started to mean anything to her. "I heard about your accident. You look like you could march right back into the operating room."

"Perhaps, but not for quite a long time yet." He replied after a short pause in which they only danced, no words exchanged, eyes diverted. Well, Toni's eyes weren't on her dance partner. When she looked back up at him at his answer, she was startled to realize that he had never looked away from her. His green eyes were intense, showing quite a different sort of interest than she was used to from men. He was curious, she realized with shock. He didn't want to lead her to bed - although that might come along the way at some point, if she allowed it - he was interested in something else. She suddenly felt naked under his gaze and all but breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized that the song was coming to an end. Strange frowned, obviously noticing the same thing but he didn't seem quite as pleased as she was about this fact. He pursed his lips as they did the finishing rounds. "I'll have to wait for a few decades until they forget about me. Might take longer this time around, since all this media has my face all over it and then there's the Internet. But there will be enough to do in the meantime, life to enjoy. No rest for the wicked, right?" He flashed her another charming smile before dipping her when the song ended, startling her enough to cling to him. The smile turned into a smirk as he leaned closer and whispered against her ear. "The devil's work is never ending. But I guess you know, don't you darling? After all," she shivered at his warm breath ghosting over her ear. "You have to fix it."

Toni wrenched herself away from him as soon as the music stopped and the crowd started clapping. She looked up at him, a strange chill going down her spine at the look in his eyes, so old and wise and knowledgeable, so mysterious. He held her gaze evenly and offered her another charming smile, extending a hand for her to take if she was accepting another dance but Tony was shaken enough for one night, thank you very much. She had a heart problem now, due to the reactor, and a reduced lung capacity and she very much needed air right now so she ignored the offered hand and walked away without a goodbye or anything. She heard his chuckle even over the chattering crowd and the new waltz.

"I will see you again soon, Dr Stark. After you've fought with your demons."

She couldn't get to the balcony and its fresh, cool night air fast enough, her chest tight with a growing panic attack until she took several deep gulps of air. The noise from inside was muted now and she was just far out of sight that even those penetrating eyes of her dance partner couldn't reach her. She shivered as a wind picked up but the scent of it surprised her as it reached her nose. It smelled of mountain tops and old books and it calmed her almost as quickly as the smell of grease and motor oil would on any other day. She almost mourned it when the gust of wind passed and the scent went away.

Toni sighed as she leaned against the railing and stared up at the sky, remembering her strange - pun not intended - conversation companion. She hadn't expected to ever meet a guy who could hold her attention after he left her line of sight and yet Stephen managed it quite spectacularly, too, if she may say so. It hadn't happened before, except for ... another doctor, whose kindness and sacrifice caused her to close down the weapons factories of SI. Grief took over her like every other time she thought of Yinsen and Toni pushed off of the railing, needing a drink. An extra dry and extra dirty martini was bound to do the trick. She shivered for a whole different reason when emerald eyes found her as soon as she stepped back into the ballroom but Strange was already entertaining a different lady.

She scowled at him, turned up her nose and made her way over to the bar, making sure to sway her hips as she walked away, as if to taunt him. She felt goosebumps forming again and she just knew he was chuckling at her - rather childish - antics. If she scowled any deeper, her face might get stuck in such a grimace so she instead chose indifference as she ordered her drink.

"Toni Stark," an uncomfortably familiar voice of her (least) favorite reporter greeted her ears and all thoughts of mysterious handsome doctors fled Toni's mind with the following conversation. She didn't think of him at all again, until she discovered Obadiah's betrayal and his last words to her echoed in her head. She thought about him as she crawled across her lab to get to the first Arc Reactor, desperate to live and not waste her life, contradicting Yinsen's last wish by doing so. She thought of him as she felt the same Arc Reactor flicker on and off after the massive EMP blast from the factory Arc Reactor, knowing she won't last until a replacement is installed in her chest. She spent what she thought were her last moments listening to Pepper's and JARVIS' panicking voices in her ear, her thoughts centered on a tall stranger whom she felt might have understood her like no one else, ready to accept death as her world went black.

Several hours later, she woke up in a hospital room to the smell of rouses mixed with that same scent she had smelled on the balcony, feeling like she was on some mountain, far away from the hypocrisy of their every day lives and she just wanted to stay there. Her eyes reluctantly opened when she thought she felt something fluttering on her left hand and she looked down, startled to find the most beautiful butterfly she had ever seen resting on her wrist, lazily flapping its wings, one of which was tickling her hand. The window was open and yet the little creature made no move to escape, even as she flexed her hand. When she made to swat it away, it only flew in a circle around her before landing on her chest, right over the replaced Arc Reactor - JARVIS must have made it, her brilliant, greatest creation. She must have worried him. Curious, Toni offered the little insect her finger and watched it as it climbed up there, contentedly flapping its wings, not at all scared of her. She studied its wings, the most beautiful torque color she had ever seen, enjoying the scent of the fresh mountain air and roses until Pepper, Rhodey and her bodyguard slash driver-whom-she-actually-drives-around-most-of-the-time, Happy, barged into the room with an armful of flowers and other get well gifts. It actually made her look towards the source of the rose smell and was startled to find a bouquet of red and yellow-gold-glitter-covered roses with a single blue blue Hibiscus, surrounded by concentric circles of Forget me Nots and blue Dandelions.

If Toni didn't know any better, she'd think the bouquet was a mimicry of her armor with the Arc Reactor in the middle, but it sounded so preposterous that she didn't want to believe it. Her friends didn't mention it, either, so she ignored it. That is, until she told the world that she was Iron Maiden - they had first mistaken her for Iron Man due to how bulky the armor was - and she received a second bouquet the same as the first one, even a butterfly to join the first. Only this one had a card that said in beautiful cursive We never lose our demons, Dr Stark. We only learn to live above them. -The Devil

00000

Toni clenched her eyes tightly shut as the glow from the Infinity Gauntlet intensified and the power hurled towards her and her teammates, ready for the end and wishing it could have been different.

Inside her hand, the pendant glowed.

When she didn't feel any blow land and instead was greeted only by the sound of a massive collision, Toni dared to open her eyes and take in the fact that yes, she was alive and unharmed. The blast had never gotten anywhere near her and the other Avengers behind her, having been stopped by a wall of energy that was holding it back as though it were a fly and not the most powerful attack in the universe. There was a sphere shaped shield all around them, protecting them from all sides, easily letting the blast slide off of it and pass them by as they struggled to figure out just what the hell was going on.

Only Toni knew, sort of, as soon as she took in just who was standing in front of her defensively. Clad in the same blue robes and red cloak she had last seen him in was Doctor Stephen Strange himself. She had last seen or heard from him two months ago, when she had snapped at him and all but chased him away. He was standing tall, one hand held up in front of him to ward off the attack with the same scary ease she had seen him do other feats of magic but, for the first time, it didn't make her feel uncomfortable. Had he ever? Or was her revulsion to magic a result of the last six years? Loki and Maximoff had made her weary of Stephen for weeks, especially since she knew he could, if he wanted, read or control minds.

But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was that he was here and Toni could breathe a sigh of relief again. "You came."

Stephen looked over his shoulder at her, completely ignoring the flabbergasted Avengers behind her, and winks at her. "Of course, darling. Why wouldn't I? The fight?" He chuckled that chuckle she had come to both love and hate for what it did to her. "You can't chase me away that easily, Toni."

"Stark, who the hell is that!?" Hawkeye was the only one who had the presence of mind to ask incredulously as Strange turned back around to face Thanos as the attack faded out. The purple giant was staring at Strange with as much disbelief as everyone else, surprised such a small, weak seeming creature had stopped his attack as effortlessly as he breathed.

"Who are you, human?" The alien questioned, watching warily as Strange put down the shield, magic glowing around his hands, orange mandalas forming spells Toni was by now somewhat familiar with. "How did you stop my attack? Why are you even here?"

Toni couldn't see Stephen's face from where she was, but she knew he must have leveled Thanos with one of the three default expressions his face took when dealing with people like him: his glare, his annoyed expression or his resting bitch face that indicated he thought he was dealing with someone inferior to him. She couldn't tell which one but it sure as hell annoyed Thanos enough to fling another blast from the Infinity Gauntlet at him, which Stephen brushed away and sent through a quickly opened portal into a different dimension where it won't cause harm.

"Who are you?!" Demanded the Mad Titan, but Stephen only regarded him calmly as he took up a casual fighting stance.

"You are trespassing in this city and on this planet. Leave now or I will personally remove you." The ice in his words might as well be real as it chilled the air around them and only Toni wasn't freaked out.

"You dare challenge me, insect?" Not having yet learned the futility in attacking the man, Thanos gathered as much energy as he could with the Power Stone and sent the wave of immense, pure energy straight at Stephen, expecting it to land as much as everyone else was, and as such was surprised when the energy disappeared completely. Absorbed into seemingly nothingness, but Toni knew differently. She knew Stephen's story. She knew what he could do, or at least some of it.

Thanos didn't have that privilege. "Who are you? What are you?!" The Titan even sounded panicked.

Toni sat back and watched as Stephen dealt with her worst nightmare, still not believing he was here, that he was even a part of her life. She didn't know what she did to deserve him but she was grateful for him always being there for her, even when she hit rock bottom, even in her darkest days.

00000

Toni didn't see Strange again, not even once, until she realized the Arc Reactor was slowly poisoning her with palladium. He arrived at the after party of her Iron Maiden entrance when she was announcing and promoting the upcoming Stark Expo, instantly the center of attention among the ladies in his elegant, almost Victorian in style suit and waistcoat, hair carefully styled but not hiding any of his gray streaks, completely confident and proud of his looks. Toni, now used to wearing business suits unless it was a ballroom event, was in the same suit that she had worn on stage, grateful for the protection it provided her from prying eyes while still making her look good. As always, most of the male population's eyes were trained on her but she, for the first time in her life, found herself joining the female half in staring at one guy.

Only she had a different reason than them, a more legitimate one. She had become close to paranoid following Afghanistan and Stane and the Ten Rings. Something about Strange was different and made her instincts, awakened to their near maximum capacity by the events of the past couple of years, scream and she knew herself to be more than curious enough to know she'd stop at nothing to sate that curiosity. Only neither she nor JARVIS could find anything about Stephen Strange than what the public knows. That would usually put people to rest, but it only made Toni more cautious of him. She had a perfect memory, even when drunk and she had only had one shot of whiskey at that party, nearly two years ago. She remembered their conversation, the things he had said, how and in which tone. He was not a normal person, of that she was sure.

Not to mention that she was 99.9% sure that he was her secret butterfly admirer.

Those butterflies were still alive today, flying around her Malibu house and fluttering around her if she let them into the workshop. They could be a bit annoying if she was trying to work, constantly getting in the way of her tools or her line of sight, flying through holograms or refusing to move from the rare piece of paper that she used or a part of her current project. It took her a few weeks to figure out the pattern and she began wondering if she was crazy. Because, if she wasn't, that meant that the flying, pretty insects were trying to interfere with her work when she spent too much time down in her lab. They usually just let her work for three days before they came to annoy her, almost like clock work. She wasn't sure if that was cool, cute or downright freaky because she had never thought butterflies could act like that. And let's not forget that she can't even identify their species or that they're still even alive! They never flew off, which forced her to plant some flowers around her house so they'd have the nectar to feed on. Strangely enough, seeing them fluttering about her little garden never failed to make her day and she secretly loved them, even if she always complained about the pair to anyone who would listen. They were the only pets she ever had and she enjoyed how affectionate they could be with her if she invited them to land on her.

They had been as restless as her bots and JARVIS, ever since they learned that she was slowly being killed by the very thing that was keeping her alive. She'd researched all options, tried every element and alloy known to man, but she couldn't find what she needed to keep herself alive. The Arc Reactor can't function with any other element but palladium. She had taken to drinking awful smoothies filled with chloride that would be dangerous for anyone else but slowed down the heavy metal poisoning in her own system. At the party, she had measured the amount of palladium in her blood and studied the web of dark, gray veins around the thing keeping her heart going and she knew she didn't have much time left. She still hadn't given up on a cure and she was definitely still searching, but she wasn't getting her hopes up. She had little time and fewer options left. She was already starting her backup protocols, even though JARVIS hated them. But she had to secure her company, her work, her suit, her legacy.

She'll never allow someone to turn SI into a weapons manufacturing company ever again. She won't let them tarnish Yinsen's memory.

When she had rejoined the party, Just Hammer was on her like a horny rhino and Toni felt as disgusted as ever. Hammer just had this way of making her feel ... objectified, like she wasn't a living, breathing woman with her own thoughts, feelings and desires. Like she was just meant to hang off of his arm like a decoration, like eye candy. It made her sick and it made her scowl. She did her best not to show it, but with every word, every flirtation, ever babe! that left his mouth, it was getting harder and harder. Hammer was everything she hated in the weapons industry business and it had often scared her that she'd become like that: arrogant, sleazy, two-faced, thinking only of profit and not the lives that those weapons were meant to save (or the lives that they were meant to take, Toni's inner Yinsen reminded her and she shuddered at the thought of how careless she had been). She had always preferred everything else, had always workedon everything else other than weapons, but she had never presented it before the board until Obadiah was buried six feet under.

Even her designs from the 1990s could outdo most of the stuff that was on the market now, namely her StarkPhones and StarkPads. Those things were things of beauty and her R&D team were drolling over the newer ones that they got to use until she releases them into the market in a year or five. And that's not even mentioning the other projects she'd been keeping stashed away all these years. SI would get the projects from JARVIS when she ... Well.

But right now she only wanted to get away from Justin and finally someone answered her plight. She should have expected it to be none other than Strange himself, approaching her with the same confident air he had that night, nearly two whole years ago, completely disregarding Hammer when the man asked him what he wanted, focused solely on her. "Dr Stark, a pleasure to see you again. You look as lovely as always." He took her hand and kissed her knuckle in the same gentlemanly manner he had asked her for a dance.

Oh, he was a smooth talker alright. And not as perceptive as she'd thought him to be if he didn't notice just how much foundation she wore under her standard makeup. "I'm afraid I can't really say the same, Doctor Strange. What brings you to my party?"

"I was under the impression that Stark Expo was open for all, especially fellow scientists." He arched an eyebrow as he politely released her hand. "And I can safely say that I am the best in my field."

"I have no doubt. Your ego would have never allowed otherwise." Anyone else would have taken offense to that scathing remark, which was her goal and modus operandi these days, but Strange only chuckled, as though he enjoyed being insulted. Then again, she had seen how people fawn over him. It was almost as bad as the treatment she got and she was the world's first superhero. What was his excuse? Maybe he just enjoyed having someone banter with him, just like she herself did? There was a good reason she taught JARVIS sass.

"True enough." He conceded and was about to say something else when Hammer cleared his throat loudly. Uh, rude. The sleazy business man extended a hand for Strange to shake, who ignored it and was instead looking at him as though he were a bug not worth the effort of squashing. Hammer, if he noticed, pretended not to and just smiled his fake smile at the taller man.

"Hi. I'm Justin, a friend of Antonia's. Nice to meet you, buddy." Said woman resisted the urge to hurl when Hammer dared wrap an arm around her waist, a little too low, if you asked her, normal for Hammer's shameless, tactless behavior. Instead, she glared at him with all her might, which might have been enough to melt steel but not enough for Justin to get the clear message. Strange, on the other hand, just arched an eyebrow at the annoyance.

"Doctor Stephen Strange. And don't call me buddy." He fairly spat out the word and Toni wanted to laugh at the offended grimace he made. Just just faked a laugh that made him sound like the weasel that he is and waved Strange off. He obviously didn't recognize the neurosurgeon's name and was very likely to piss him off spectacularly. Those poor, poorweasels, being used as a comparison for this waste of space.

"So, you've known Antonia for a while now? I wouldn't be surprised! She's such a social butterfly, aren't you, babe?" Stark swears she and Strange both made an identical, perfectly in sync face of disgust at the word, as though it was practiced, but Hammer just continued on as though the two geniuses weren't mocking him with expressions alone. He should stop while he was ahead. Toni's tongue was a very sharp blade, the sharpest there is, and her restraint was slipping each day as the palladium and the stress of it wore her out. If she sank into him now, there'd be no mercy. "Ah, it makes me remember the good old days. We were always at all the same parties, all the same conventions and events and she'd pretend to be shy and avoid me as though we weren't old friends. Could be because we used to be competitors but now I dominate the weapons industry-"

As if. If Toni ever decided to go back, they'd welcome her like she was Jesus Christ's second coming.

"Or maybe she was avoiding you because you were acting like a stalker." She choked on her own almost escaped laughter as Strange's deadpan interrupted Hammer's unwanted monologue, leaving the businessman stammering. "Now, if you would excuse us." Without further ado, he plucked Hammer's arm off of her waist as though he were removing a stinky dipper away from his nose and replaced it with his own arm, in a much more polite distance from her bottom, and led her away without so much as a backwards glance at the annoyance they were leaving behind. As soon as they were out of sight, hidden by the chattering crowd, Toni sighed in relief and looked up at her savior.

"Thanks. I owe you one." And she meant it. God, but she hated dealing with Hammer. Worst of all was that she couldn't shake him or get rid of him. She could castrate him verbally until she was blue in the face and he'd still laugh it off in that fake, annoying way of his, wrap his arm around her and continue to all but objectify her until she was ready to scream. Anyone who saved her from that hell deserved a genuine thanks.

Strange snorted. "No you don't and you don't want to, either. Trust me. Besides, no one deserves to be subjected to that idiot. I swear I'd rather spend eternity in the Dark Dimension than talk to him again."

"Don't you mean 'go to hell'?" She asked, puzzled by his word choice. Sure, she knew different countries and cultures had different phrasings and names for the place of eternal torment, but she'd never heard of this 'Dark Dimension' before.

The doctor surprised her by the amused smirk he sported, like he knew something she didn't. "Trust me, Hell has nothingon the Dark Dimension. Besides, associating myself with Hell will only make for a cultural and pop-culture irony I'd rather not deal with. I'm not really from Hell, even if I do rule it partially."

She thought about the card that she got with her flowers and couldn't help but roll her eyes as she connected the dots. Un-fucking-believable. Why can't she meet one normal person. "And who are you supposed to be, the devil or something? Nice." She made sure there were boatloads of sarcasm packed into each and every one of her words to get her point across.

Toni wasn't a religious person, despite her mother's best efforts. Maria Collins Carbonell Stark had done her best to teach her daughter the way of God, being a good Christian, respecting the saints, all that. She never managed to get little Antonia to ever even cross herself, let alone read the Bible or say a prayer. Toni just couldn't believe in something she couldn't confirm with science, much to her mother's exasperation, but at least Howard approved of that much. He would roll his eyes as hard as Toni would when Maria insisted on a prayer before the rare Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners they'd have together and her parents often used to get into fights when they were both drunk about how Maria shouldn't leave her few religious books all over the house because they were bullshit. Toni both agreed with him and disagreed - agreed about it mostly being bullshit but disagreed on him trying to forbid Maria from reading whatever she wanted.

It still didn't change her stance on religion. So she really didn't want to be around a guy making religious references or jokes. She'd had more than enough of religion for one life.

Strange just gave her the same mysterious smile he had last time and bent down to kiss her hand again and slowly stepped away from her. "Well, darling, you're not wrong."

00000

"My name is Doctor Strange." Blue energy of a powerful attack started crackling around Stephen's hands as the man advanced on the freaked out Titan. Toni would have smirked at his fear had she had any energy to spare on it. "Sorcerer Supreme!"

Thanos was pushed back several dozen meters when the blue energy blast hit him head on. He had tried to block it with the energy of the Power Stone but had not been prepared in time to receive the full power of the blast, almost keeling over when he was hit. The alien let out a grunt upon impact and was left panting when he rightened himself, glaring at the non-pulsed human staring at him with cool greed eyes. He growled and activated the Space and Reality Stones, shortening the distance between himself the Sorcerer Supreme and the Avengers he was shielding, only to find the distance increasing again with an affect a lit like thousands upon thousands of mirrors looking into each other. Toni found it as disorienting now as she had she she had fist been witness to this display of power but she was the only one, besides Stephen, who wasn't freaking out at how the sorcerer was manipulating the world around them with the power of his will and his magic alone.

This could have gone on to eternity, but Strange ended it by making a gesture with his free hand and the cloak he was wearing surged from his shoulders, rushing the startled Titan and wrapping tightly around his Gauntlet-covered hand, prying open the fingers and automatically preventing Thanos from manipulating the power of the Stones. The purple behemoth immediately made to try and pry the cloth off, but Strange beat him to it by lashing out with glowing, red energy chains, wrapping them around his right hand and holding with the help of his magic to combat the Titan's immensely superior strength. Strange then made a few hand gestures and returned the world back to its usual state before making some more and he suddenly had five more pairs of arms.

"Toni," the ex neurosurgeon called, ignoring how the Avengers were gasping and gawking as the arms separated into several copies of himself, all using the same spell he currently had active and tying them around Thanos' body to ensure the alien can't escape. The billionaire didn't so much as bat an eye at the display of magical prowess. She had seen it before, after all. She just urged her AIs to put more power into the suit and had them help her get up to her feet. FRIDAY and JARVIS did as they were told and she moved to stand beside the sorcerer, enjoying the growing panic in Thanos' eyes as he caught on to what Stephen was aiming for.

Stark sent him a grim smile as her helmet bled into place.

00000

"Hey, Doc," was the first thing Toni said when she realized she wasn't as alone in her house as she had thought. There was a certain mysterious neurosurgeon who had a hobby of being her prince charming in the least likely situations standing in front of her, a frown on his face. "Didn't see you on the guest list." She had made sure he wasn't on said guest list because she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up a convincing enough mask in front of him. She had already been struggling enough around her friends, acting like a real asshole, and around that suspicious Natalia Rushman who's been trying to get past JARVIS' firewalls and doesn't have a digital imprint older than a couple of months - oh, whoever made her identity did a bang up job but you can't hide away from the virtual god of Internet that is JARVIS - but she knew Strange wouldn't be fooled by her halfassed performance.

"I know. I came as a plus one." The man answered as he came down to squat in front of her, his face coming into sharp focus, his ordinary clothes even escaping her notice at the moment.. Toni refused to admit just how disoriented she was after her brawl with Rhodey, whom had went harder on her than she had expected. Scarred fingers gripped her chin and lifted her head up, those intense eyes searching hers for signs of a concussion.

"What, couldn't stay away?" She might be very, very ill, but Toni never passed up a chance to snark anyone. And Strange just brought that side of her out even more easily than anyone else. And he was a snarky bastard himself.

"Something like that. Now," he let go of her chin and held out his hand to her as he rose to his feet. "Why don't you tell me when you realized you were dying and why you aren't doing anything about it while I get you something healthy to eat? You are most definitely drunk, which isn't helping your current state one bit."

"You're not my doctor, Doc." The pilot of the Iron Maiden snapped, not at all in a good mood and definitely not in a state where she'd welcome their usual banter. She just wanted to be alone, maybe go out and buy some donuts and spend her last few days with her bots, who have always been more of a family to her than Maria or Howard ever managed. Toni often wondered if they had ever even wanted her in the first place. Because if they did, they sure as hell had one shitty way of going about showing it to her. Jarvis and her Aunt Peggy were the only people who ever showered her with affection. Stane had shown interest in her but Howard always used to chase her out of the room when her godfather was around. Now, nearly two years after Obidiah's betrayal, when she was slowly dying of the very thing that was keeping her alive, she couldn't help but sit down and stare into space as she wondered whether Howard had been suspicious of the man and was just trying to protect her.

The darker side of those thoughts suggested Howard had known and had a hand in many of Stane's under the table deals, back when she didn't have JARVIS to monitor the company and was too busy getting wasted and laid on random parties she'll pretend not to remember with people she'll act like she didn't remember. For some odd reason, her heart - and her gut instinct - always protested against that notion so she had hopes that her next meeting with her parents - if such a thing as the afterlife exists - will be on amicable terms.

"Maybe I'm not, but you're not either, Stark. You may have a secret PhD in medicine, but that doesn't mean you're suited to be your own doctor and especially not for something as deadly as heavy metal poisoning." He grabbed her by a metal covered wrist and jerked her to her feet with a surprising strength he had no business having. Toni hadn't wanted to move. The armor was almost as heavy as a small car. Without the hydraulics helping move it, it would take super human strength to lift her up. The brunette'a eyes widened as her companion rightened her, rendered speechless for the first time in her life as he easily stabilized her. "You need several years of medical experience to even start treating patients and no doctor should try to treat themselves by themselves and no consultation from another doctor. So I'll be taking over as your doctor from now on, whether you like it or not."

"How did you do that?" Toni demanded as soon as Strange took a moment to take a breath before he continued, cutting him off. The obviously not so normal man just arched an eyebrow.

"What? Render you speechless? It's not exactly brain surgery-"

"How did you lift me up? And how do you even know about the poisoning!? I didn't tell anyone! Only JARVIS and I know!"

"Jarvis?" Strange echoed, frowning in a sort of displeasure she would have mistaken for jealousy had she actually known this guy for longer than two hours when all their encounters were put together.

"Yes, Doctor Strange?" She enjoyed the way Strange jumped in surprise when her greatest creation's voice echoed around the house, the surround sound system still working perfectly. Of course it was. She had made and installed it. However, she didn't find it so enjoyable when a blast of flames was fired directly at the remains of the DJ stand and one of the giant speakers for show that she had installed just for her birthday party. Toni's eyes widened as she noticed that his hand was still on fire ... or rather holding a fireball!

JARVIS new battle protocols activated and all the security measures in the house trained on the doctor in a second.

Strange cursed as he obviously understood just what he had done, turning to look at Toni warily, extinguishing the flame. The woman knew she should back away, maybe tell JARVIS to fire on him, maybe fire her repulsors on him herself, but something was stopping her. Later, much later, when she's not lightheaded from all that contaminated blood on her veins and when she's had some decent amount of sleep, she'll blame it on that, she'll say it was a moment of madness caused by the immense stress her body's been through. But now, with Strange looked at her like that, like he was ready for a slap to the face or to bolt, she could only shake her head and sigh, ordering JARVIS to stand down, much to her co-pilot's dissatisfaction. Well, too bad. She wanted answers and JARVIS riddling Strange with bullet or laser or repulsor holes wasn't going to get her any.

So she stepped out of the armor, unbuttoned her thick dress shirt and sat down on what was left of the couch. "Start talking."

Strange ended up insisting they move somewhere where there was less debris and destruction and where he might have better lighting or something as close to an operating table as was possible, so Toni reluctantly led the man into her lab, only to find immense amusement in Strange's reaction when it lit up. Sure, it looked like any rich kid's dream, what with her sports car collection, when it was stationary, but when JARVIS lit up the holograms to welcome his creator ... Well, it was like walking into the future, with robots clicking away and her armors gleaming against one wall that was practically the Iron Maiden shrine. Strange looked like a kid in a candy shop or a zoo, fascinated by everything and just as curious about it. If she were feeling better and didn't need to change another core for the reactor, Toni would have taken great pride and joy in presenting and explaining most of her current projects. Strange was a smart man with a rumored photographic memory. He'd be a good ally for Pepper in realizing all of her projects once she's ... well.

She sat on a cleared out workstation and that seemed to snap Strange right back into doctor mode, watching with a frown as DUM-E brought her a new core and took away the old one to dispose of it. Once the reactor was securely back in its rightful place, the man walked over and started examining her chest. Toni didn't know whether she should appreciate it or find it offending that he wasn't the least bit tempted to look at her boobs. Hey, she may be short and compact in build, but she was well endowed, blessed with her mother's good looks. But, then again, Strange was a doctor. It was probably habit by now to see but not really look. Well, not in that way. He was looking as a doctor, searching for anomalies besides the hugely intrusive object in her chest that was keeping shrapnel out of her heart from killing her in three minutes but was also going to kill her in three days if she didn't stop the spread or find a cure.

"Where do I even start," the doctor mumbled to himself but Toni knew he wasn't referring to the examination, since he had immediately started with any and all injuries Toni got from fighting Rhodey.

"How about the beginning, Einstein." She rolled her eyes even though he wasn't looking at them and wouldn't see. She was surprised by the almost bitter chuckle that Strange gave.

"It's not that easy. My beginning happened three hundred years ago, when some religious fanatics declared me to be in liege with the devil and they broke my hands beyond repair. I couldn't open a door, for goodness sake!"

"Three hundred years ago!?" The genius yelped, not sure why she was even listening to this if the man was going to rave and ramble nonsense like this. And yet she remained seated. "And don't you go around comparing yourself to the devil? Wouldn't that leave some trauma and PTSD? Joking about it doesn't sound like a smart thing to do." She herself reacted very poorly to any mentions of deserts, caves or Afghanistan. And don't even get her started on rings. If she had ever been tempted to get married before, that temptation is gone now. "Never mind that! Just how are you three hundred years old? You look great for a grandpa."

"Thank you." He sounded both sarcastic and smug and Toni scowled when she realized the praise was mostly genuine. He laughed good naturadely and she was shocked that her own lips were twitching in a suppressed smile. "It was a long time ago. I got over it. There was a lot more cause for nightmare since then." He shrugged at her incredulous stare, as though it was nothing big. "As for the devil thing ... Well, like I told you once before, you're not that far off. Now, at least, not back then."

"What do you mean?" She didn't even flinch when he touched the inflamed skin around her ... prosthetic. Strange glanced up at the lack of reaction, something like worry in his eyes. Now it was her turn to shrug. "I lost most feeling around the socket of the reactor and the palladium poisoning did it in, what with the lack of healthy blood to circulate through the skin and feed the nerves there. Everything around the immediate circle hurts like hell on rainy days and is just a dull, chronic pain most days. Now stop changing the subject. Story time and it's your turn."

Strange didn't even hesitate, talking while he continued his checkup. "I used to live in London as a highly respectable physician. I had dozens of patients and a prominent position among the doctors of that time. I was arrogant and turned down all patients that I was certain I couldn't heal, but then my little sister, Donna, died of an unexpected epidemic of the plague and when my brother, Victor, came down with it, too, I tried everything I could, studying the effects of the sickness on the deceased and I somehow managed to subdue some of the symptoms. I was this close to finding a solution, a cure, when the fanatics found out about what I was doing and they brought me before the preacher and then the pope. I swear they broke out the inquisition torture tools just for me. Anyway, after I confessed, they declared me guilty of witchcraft and tied my feet to a bolder, pushing me off a bridge to drown. My teacher, the Ancient One, found me and freed me and then took me away to Nepal, Kathmandu. To Kamar-Taj, where she taught me to see the world from a different perspective. She taught me many things I know today. She trained me to become who I am today. The Sorcerer Supreme of Earth."

"Sorcerer? Wait, like magic? Real, actual magic?" She couldn't help but stare at him incredulously. Strange just chuckled, stepping away.

"You saw what I can do. Why is it so hard to believe that magic is real?" The apparent sorcerer countered before looking around. "Do you have anything to measure your pulse and blood pressure with? To listen to your lungs?"

"Maybe because I've been taught my whole life that it's nothing more than the plebeian trickery of the mind that dumb people indulge in." The engineer answered even as she gestured for JARVIS to pull up her vitals. "Science can explain everything if given the right parameters. Magic is just science we don't understand yet."

"Perhaps to some degree you can explain what I do with science, but some things not even magic can explain, let alone science with all its restrictions." Strange agreed even as he studied the readings JARVIS pulled up, including the toxicity levels in her blood at the moment. Strange only pursed his lips even as he continued talking. "Anyway, I trained under the Ancient One for a year until a former student turned traitor, Kaecilius, killed her in our struggle to defend the Sanctum in New York - there are three Sanctums, in London, New York and Hong Kong - and in her last moments, she declared me her successor. A few other sorcerers followed me and my assistant, Wong, to Hong Kong, where we defeated Kaecelius, only for another traitor to be revealed in our midsts. Mordo, who many had thought would be the Ancient One's successor, had joined forces with an ancient demon older than this dimension, destroyer and devourer of worlds that wished to control Earth so he could have access to other dimensions and worlds, in order to achieve the power he would have gotten as Sorcerer Supreme. Only Wong and I survived the battle when Dormammu and his minions were freed. We were extremely lucky that I have the rare gift to absorb magic and use it as my own. With the help of this," he pointed to a strange necklace that suddenly appeared around his neck, round and resembling a closed eye pendant with several other decorations on its chain, radiating power strong enough for even Toni to feel it, despite having nothing to do with magic. "The Eye of Agamotto, I was able to defeat Mordo and drain all of Domammu's power when he tried to kill me. The side effect of gaining Dormammu's power, which is infinite and the power of a god-like creature as old as the multiverse itself, is that I took his place."

"Meaning what, exactly?" The genius inventor asked warily, not sure what to think of all of this just yet. Something in her gut told her this story was true - it was too much effort to make up something as elaborate and as complicated as this story about fighting a demon and taking its place to be worth it - but she wasn't sure what she was meant to do if she accepted this story. Strange had always been nothing more than that interesting acquaintance that she saw two or three times and had an interesting conversation with, that usually ended with the world almost pulled from under her.

For some unusual reason, though, she wasn't afraid, not one bit, by the power he proclaimed to posses. How very peculiar.

"Well, for one thing, it means I'm immortal and will probably live long enough to see the end of the universe. And I can't be killed, either, since magic has an automatic healing factor, you just have to learn how to use it. As a doctor, it was one of the first things I decided to learn once I absorbed all of this power." Well, now she knew why his hands appeared to be fine despite the car accident he had been in not all that long ago. She was trying not to think about the immortal part.

"Anything else?" She asked when she saw Strange hesitate for a moment, finally looking away from the medical data JARVIS had pulled up for him. Toni arched an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, finally drawing eyes to her breasts and she suppressed a smug smirk. Well ...

Strange cleared his throat and met her eyes again, obviously fighting off a blush at what he had done. It's not as if she was naked, she had her undershirt and bra ... But all humor left her when she saw the serious glint in her companion's eyes.

"I quite literally took Dormammu's place, becoming the master of all of his followers and inheriting the worlds he had power over. That's why I often say I'm not that far off from being the devil."

00000

"Yes, Doc?" The Iron Maiden asked innocently, already powering up all the remaining battle and weapons systems, thanking god or whoever was looking out for her for mastering nanotech in time for the big bad she had been aware of since New York. JARVIS and FRIDAY had been doing repairs ever since Stephen arrived, meaning almost all of the damage had been repaired while all her nanites were back. She was now able to stand tall and proud next to the Sorcerer Supreme, both of them regarding Thanos with the same distaste they'd reserve for a cockroach. The Mad Titan, in turn, looked horrified in his restrained position, faced with two of the most dangerous people on HYDRA's list, not that he knew of that, nor was it the point. The point was that he realized he was beaten and that he had made the most dangerous mistake of his life when he had targeted Earth and its most favorite hero.

"We're in the endgame now."

Toni didn't need another word to rush towards the Gauntlet.

Thanos tried to struggle fiercely as soon as he realized what Toni was after instead of going for the kill, but Strange had things under control and the demented purple giant couldn't do more than wiggle a little. The copies that were helping the sorcerer keep Thanos restrained might be weaker than the original, but when one wielded a power of a scale similar to the Infinity Stones, the clones were still plenty powerful and they had numbers on their side. Strange just had to keep Thanos pinned in his place long enough for Toni to pull the Gauntlet off.

"Kid, get over here," she called even before she reached for the Gauntlet, seeing from the corner of her eye Spider-Man shooting up from where he had been thrown down earlier by Thanos. She'd need his help if she didn't want to bleed out to death from the stab wound Thanos had made in her abdomen. The fucker. The kid only paused long enough to shoot some webs to Thanos' feet, as if to secure Strange's hold on him, before he came to Toni's side. "Okay, we're gonna pull this off so this nightmare can be over. You got me?"

"I got you, Ms Stark!" They both reached for the golden giant glove with the power to control the Infinity Stones at the same time, Iron Maiden and Iron Spider suits covering their hands in red nanotech armor. Top of the line, beyond even the Black Panther's Vibranium enhanced nanotech battle suit, the two armors were made for fighting this tyrant. Guess they were also meant to pull off the Gauntlet off of him, too.

"Ready? Three, two, one, pull!"

Only as soon as they touched the Gauntlet, the Stones lit up with blinding light and a startled, pained yelp rang through the air as something red was flung away.

00000

"Well," was all Toni could say when she exited her lab, a new Arc Reactor perched in her chest, staring down at the sprawled, unconscious SHIELD agents on her ruined floor. She was tired and excited and emotional and frantic all at once and she simply didn't have anything left to spare on this. The culprit was contentedly floating in the air, reading a floating book - about magic, there was no doubt in her mind - with a red cape floating beside him. That was new. Strange didn't even look up upon hearing her speak. "That would explain why no one came rushing into the lab when I started a mini earthquake and all that noise. I'd be grateful but did you really have to get involved? 'Cause Fury's going to be on my ass for this." She wasn't whining. She wasn't! And you can't prove otherwise. "What's with the floating cape?" She finally decided to ask, stepping over an agent to get closer to the odd article of clothing.

She almost jerked back when it moved its high collar in an endearing imitation of a wave, looking almost like an excited puppy. Maybe anyone else wouldn't see it that way but Toni had DUM-E, U and Butterfingers and they were just metal arms with a claw and an optic lens and she could read their body language as easily as a human's. She also understood their beeping way of communication, too, so a sentient piece of cloth - obviously as magical as its owner - wasn't really that far-fetched in her life. Hell, look at JARVIS! Most people would see a glorified computer but he was a real Artificial Intelligence, with his own thoughts, preferences and choices. Maybe the cape was like that, too. A Magical Intelligence.

Toni snorted. She should write a book. AI vs MI. She could see it now. She'd be even richer than she already was but she'd risk the world's reaction to JARVIS, something she'd rather not do, thank you very much.

"It's the Cloak of Levitation, not a floating cape." Stephen corrected her without looking up, still reading his book. This was the first time she saw him in a week, since he had told her who he was and since he had did his best to isolate the veins around the Arc Reactor so no more poison could be pumped through her body. It only slowed the process down and bought her some time, but she had been alive long enough for Fury and her fake new assistant that was actually a SHIELD assassin to stab her with something in the neck that made the symptoms disappear. It brought her clarity, in more than one sense of the word. For instance, she had an interesting conversation with Fury about Howard. Turns out her old man was the founder of SHIELD and that he had actually been far prouder of her and loved her more than she could have ever imagined ("What is and always will be my greatest creation is you."). Too bad he never told her that to her face and died, leaving her with a boatload of daddy issues. She had been stuck in her lab ever since, reviewing her dad's notes, watching his video diaries and Expo trial commercials and watching that last message meant only for her, over and over again.

Coulsion - or Agent, as she called him, the same agent that Strange had whisked her away from on that life-changing party that gave birth to Iron Maiden - had left just as she was making the final preparations for the homemade particle accelerator, leaving her alone with SHIELD's lackeys. She'd been too busy with the Arc Reactor to check on the brutes, but she guessed they'd either done something to piss Strange off and JARVIS approved of his method to not inform her, or they had reacted badly to Strange opening a honest to god fucking portal in her living room and he had to knock them out. It could very well be both, for all she knew.

"You're looking better." The doctor commented, finally looking up from his reading and studying her with a scrutinizing gaze. "Your aura feels better, too. Although I can barely register it now. Your new reactor is masking your presence quite well."

"I'm feeling better, too, and the Arc Reactor feels good, too. It's been a while since I could look myself in the mirror and not see death staring back." And it was the truth. Between Stephen's intervention and the shit SHIELD injected her with, she had felt almost normal, but the new Arc Reactor ... The palladium that now resided in her veins served as a conduit for what little residue energy escaped the power source in her chest and it was doing wonders for how she was feeling. Despite how tired she was, she also felt more energized than any caffeine product could manage to get her. Life was good, for the moment, even if she knew she had to finish Mark VI so it is compatible with the new power source. It will be the first suit that won't be a danger for her to use, since using the other suits only made the palladium spread faster and further.

Now that she knew she wasn't dying, she had to go make amends with Pepper and Rhodey before she whooped the latter's ass for even thinking of allowing Hammer to touch her baby. She should also probably buy him glasses because, when he was leaving after their brawl at her birthday party, he seemed awfully sure that he had beaten her. He beat herin her own armor!? Was he an idiot!? Mark II had no weapons! Mark V was a fully weaponized suit! If she had really gone off the rail, she'd have killed him in a second. Hell, he didn't know just how powerful the repulsors were! They were programmed not to go higher than 20% power and only JARVIS could up that percentage. JARVIS only did what she asked. She was his priority. Rhodey was lucky that JARVIS hadn't been allowed to intervene or else he'd have sent Rhodey into the atmosphere for the suit to freeze and the fly boy to be left free-falling. Her creation was a vindictive one, when it came to those who threatened his creator. You simply don't piss JARVIS off.

She had been holding back and Rhodey hadn't. Had she wanted to prevent him from taking the suit, he'd never had even managed to enter it, let alone fly away with it. She had wanted to give him the suit, to continue her legacy. She had thought she could trust him not to hand it over to the wrong people. She'd obviously been mistaken. She'll be taking that suit back and suing the pants off of the government and the military. Toni had made her stance on the Iron Maiden suit quite clear. It was her's. She and the suit are one. She'll have to remind her supposed brother of that, too, it would seem. And she'll have to remind the world just who she is. Toni Stark, the real life, modern day phoenix, rising from her own ashes of despair over and over again. She'll burn the world down before she let them take something she had made to do some good and turn it into an instrument of war.

"Good. It would be a shame if you died." The sorcerer nodded, returning to his book. "Not only would the future of Earth become bleak, but I'd lose my entertainment, too. And a grumpy Sorcerer Supreme isn't a good one."

Toni rolled her eyes. "So that's what I am to you? Entertainment?" She had meant it as a joke, but Strange seemed to have taken it quite seriously. And quite personally.

"No. You are much more, both to the world and to me." That threw her off balance. She hadn't been expecting a response like that. She had expected a joke of some kind or maybe for him to tease her. Snark, sarcasm, maybe even some indifferent reply. She hadn't realized he could react like this. It made her pause, wonder just what she was in this man's life. Three hundred years were not a short time. Strange had had plenty of time to meet plenty of people. Surely she wasn't the first person he had taken to occasionally popping in to visit every once in a while when he got bored.

"Then," she started gently, drawing his eyes up to her as she stepped closer to him than the Cloak, which was observing them with interest. "What am I to you?"

They stared at each other, both frozen by the question that had fallen from the inventor's lips. They were virtually strangers, and yet she had asked a question that could change their whole relationship so casually. And yet it hadn't really been casual at all. The question was beyond personal and she had asked it with wariness towards the answer she might receive. She wasn't sure what she was hoping for it to be or if she was even hoping for any particular answer! All she knew was that she had asked it and the answer might change everything they had built between them, quite permanently. Neither of them knew how to react. They were too similar in this. Too socially awkward, too unused to a person of their own intelligence and wit to speak with, too unused to the understanding they had between them now. And yet neither of them would let this go, whatever it was.

That didn't mean that they weren't scared of it. They were both the type to have only a couple of friends whom they'll do anything for. What was crazy is the fact that they had both somehow ended up being one of those few friends to each other after just a few meetings. But to admit as much to each other ...

Before the man could answer, though, JARVIS informed her of an incoming call which changed the course of her day significantly.

When she looked up, the self proclaimed devil was gone.

00000

She had honestly been expecting Strange to be gone for the next two years after their awkward moment which Vanko had interrupted by calling her to taunt her before he attacked the Stark Expo, so imagine her surprise when he arrived just in time to stop the explosion set off by Vanko's drones from reaching any lingering civilians or her workers or any police or security personnel that had been present when the things exploded. The fire that was now consuming the Expo would have surely swallowed many lives had it not been for Strange and his magic, containing the blast and the flames to a five feet radius from each drone.

Toni couldn't help but stare as he made a few gestures with his hands at the sky and a roll of lightning lit up the sky, thunder announcing its presence and the promise of rain. Said rain fell almost immediately and it was heavy enough that it will no doubt douse most of the flames before the fire department has to enter that danger zone. Toni left Pepper, whom she had saved second before a drone close to her exploded, and their unfinished argument on that rooftop and instead flew to where Strange was standing, overlooking his handiwork.

"Thank you," she said as soon as her faceplate was up, drawing those green eyes to her. They looked golden in the firelight and surrounded by flames as he was, it was easy to picture him as a leader of legions of demons. Even if he got those legions from defeating an ancient entity that would have destroyed the universe one world at a time had he been left to his own devices. No, the term devil didn't apply well to Strange on most days. She still didn't know him well enough to really judge that, but she was sure he wasn't the actual devil, thank fuck for that. She'd hate it if she suddenly had to admit there was a method to Maria's madness where religion was concerned. She'd never been one to go to church and she wasn't going to start now. As if her soul wasn't already doomed.

Her thought process cut short when Stephen turned to look at her fully, a strange expression on his face. "Anytime." He then walked away and disappeared as though into the mist, if there was a heavy fog in the first place but there wasn't. Toni glared. She may know a sorcerer but that doesn't mean she suddenly liked magic or hated it any less.

When she later met up with her friends, she wouldn't have an answer as to where she got her strange new necklace from. It was a smaller, simpler version of the one Strange wore and Toni didn't know whether to laugh or cry at what it might mean.

00000

"Peter!" Stark yelled as soon as the teenager was flung away by the sudden burst of power from the Gauntlet. Strange startled but he held fast and strong, not letting Thanos get any ground or space to maneuver himself out of the magical restraints. Toni was left torn between going to check on her protégé or taking off the Infinity Gauntlet while she still had the chance.

Her decision was made for her when she couldn't remove her hands from the golden metal she had been holding on to, stuck. "What the?" She asked, more to herself than expecting any sort of answer, but the Stones surprised her by lighting up, as if in answer to her question. She yelped when the cold, hard metal underneath her hands suddenly heated up and started shifting. Thanos yelled, too, in pain as the new change started burning his skin right off of his hand. The so far seemingly untouchable Titan - Toni and Thor had been the only ones to land a blow and cause damage, although Toni's was just a cut while Thor had driven his new ax, Stormbreaker, through the big alien's chest. And yet Thanos had healed that injury by reversing time with the Time Stone while the little cut Toni had made in their one on one fight remained - was more than vulnerable right now, trashing hopelessly against the restraints while the Gauntlet took its due.

Toni just wished it wasn't on her expense.

"What's going on!?" The engineer heard Captain America yell from where the supersoldier was fighting to get to his feet, having recovered better than the other Avengers, save for maybe Thor, whom she was sure was just standing there and staring. Not that she blames the big guy. She couldn't do much more herself. Then again, she was stuck. What was hisexcuse.

"It would appear that the Gauntlet is ... transforming, Captain. It's taking on a new shape. I've never heard of a metal that molds itself as it wishes." The Thunder God replied a few moments later, shaking off his shock. "That doesn't matter. Thanos is restrained. This is our chance to kill him. Move away, mortal."

Toni went to snap at him that she would if she could, only to look over her shoulder and to see Thor talking to Stephen of all people. Right. Not everyone knew about his ... yeah. But that didn't mean Thor could use that tone on any random human that happened to be in the way of his revenge against Thanos for what he did to Asgard when he went to get the Space Stone out of the Tesseract and ended up trashing the golden city and injuring the Alldaddy and Thor's and Loki's mother. Hell, Loki was fighting with them and he wasn't losing his shit for what happened to their mother! Then again, he had never been the rash one out of the two. Still ... Oh, and Stephen wasn't going to like being talked to that. For all that he had been humbled by what had happened to him when his hands became all but useless, the man still had enough pride to fill in a whole football stadium. Only now it usually reared its head when someone dared to tell him what to do or how to do his job while they had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. And, Asgardian or not, Thor had very little idea of what actual magic and spells and incantations and enchantments and runes and wards and potions and all those other things were like.

It's probably a sad day when you realize Toni knows more about it than a being hundred times and more her age.

"Did you not hear me, mortal?" Well, Thor was getting impatient and apparently he was still unused to people denying him or not giving him what he wants when he demands it. Toni would have snorted but instead yelped again when her own gauntlets started heating up. What worried her was that it was her whole left hand that was becoming warm and her eyes widened in fear when she looked down and found the golden metal of the Infinity Gauntlet pushing slowly under the armor, despite it being made of nanobots, and trying to form around her bare hand. The Stones were already rearranging themselves on the back of her hand, but only three of them: Time, Space and Reality Stones. Then she cast a glance at her other hand, since it was as stuck as the first one, and gasped when she saw strings of gold dive into the nanites. She called back the nanobots almost on instinct and watched as the two medieval-knight-like gold gauntlets formed around both of her hands, the right hand now adorning the other three Stones, Soul, Mind and Power. The metal was still rippling across her skin and it burned for a few more seconds before it became ice cold, as if quenched in the very center of the Casket of Ancient Winters and she flinched, memories of Siberia resurfacing and the fear of the biting cold taking away her fingers.

"If you stop the process now, you could blow us all up, you simple minded mongrel." Yep, as she had expected, Strange was pissed. She didn't blame him but she couldn't really concentrate enough to agree with him, either, panic overtaking her as she watched the gauntlets cool on her hands. Also, the blowing up thing had her attention, too, but she didn't know what to do about that one.

"And what would you know about that?" Great, Maximoff was talking now, too, but so was Loki and he was hissing death threats at the Avengers instead of further annoying Stephen.

"Well, considering I just defeated the enemy that has been kicking your collective ass all by myself, I'd say I know a thing or two more about this than you, scarlet brat."

Remind her to bring Strange along for the debriefing meeting after they finish here. If the Avengers already knew about his existence, they might as well fell his full charming personality, too. She can't wait. It's already quality entertainment, especially since the gauntlets were already returning to a normal temperature. And considering she could still feel and wiggle all of her fingers, Toni would say that she'll be fine. When she made to pull her hands away from Thanos' mostly bare hand, covered in blisters and frostbites, she almost toppled over at how easy it was. She had expected at least a bit of a struggle. Nope. All smooth and easy. Thanos, though, flinched and groaned, but she didn't really care about him since he had wanted to conquer the universe and wipe out half of all living creatures as soon as he was done with the Avengers and her in particular.

But as soon as she was free, the Cloak of Levitation wrapped around her and dragged her away just as Strange snapped his attention back fully to the Titan.

With a simple gesture from the sorcerer, a portal opened and Thanos, still restrained, was no more.

Stephen turned to her as soon as the sparking portal closed, ignoring the protesting Avengers and Thor in particular, whom Loki had to restrain with his own magic. Without him needing to say anything, Toni retracted her suit and gave him her hands for medical inspection and tried not to flinch when his gaze fell on the stab wound. JARVIS and FRIDAY had started mending it with medically programmed nanites and had stopped the bleeding, but it was still deep and very, very ugly. The doctor in Stephen must be screaming protests but he at least appeared calm. For now.

The Cloak hugged her close, heating up a little, as if to prevent her from going into shock. Unlikely, either from the trauma of the battle or the blood loss. She'd been on the receiving end of both and she had never gone into shock. Not even after open heart sugary when she was hit by the shrapnel of her own bomb blowing up in her face. Literally. How was she even alive, again? Anyway, if she hadn't gone into shock after any of those times, she won't now, either. She'll probably just get even more nightmares than she used to have. Nice. Just what she needed. As if she didn't have enoughto worry about and lose sleep over.

"Your hands don't seem to have sustained any damage and the process was complete." Stephen said after a few moments of both magical and medical examination. He let her hands go and his gaze zeroed in on the wound at her side. "That, however, will need proper medical treatment. Now."

"Don't have a medical facility here, Doc." She remarked, waving a hand at the destroyed Manhattan streets. People were starting to emerge from their hide holes, watching the Avengers with awe and nervousness, grateful for this last save but still remembering that half of them had had part in severe collateral and property damage just a few months ago.

Strange's only response was to open a portal in front of them and gestured for her to step through, the portal leading to none other than the medical ward in the Avengers Compound. Seeing as she knew how much he preferred the Stark Tower, it was a surprise he chose the Compound, but he also considered the Tower one of the rare few places where he could relax so he probably didn't want to be reminded of the Avengers every next time he visited.

If he ever visited at all, that is. Their argument was still fresh in her mind and she feared he won't come around anymore despite this save. This was for the sake of the world, not because Toni called ... Or at least she tried to tell herself that so when he leaves and she never sees him again it won't hurt as much.

Strange was definitely right that she needed medical care for her stab wound, because she staggered on the very first step she took towards the portal. Had it not been for Strange and the Cloak, she would have fallen face first into the cold, hard, unforgiving pavement. As it was, Stephen not only caught her, he heaved her into his arms and carried her bridal style through the portal before turning just a little to look at the Avengers even as the Cloak now wrapped around Toni's abdomen to steady her should the patch made by JARVIS and FRIDAY give. "Are you lot coming or not? This is my only offer." With that, he continued walking, knowing his way around well enough to find the med bey all on his own, his hold on the genius never faltering for a second.

Toni just rested her head against his shoulder and let herself be carried, feeling safer than she had since their fight, two months ago.

00000

The Battle of New York came and went, the Avengers were officially formed and tonight, the last night Thor will spend on Earth before he takes his brother Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard for safe keeping, the mayor of New York was throwing a modest ball for the new heroes. Toni helped, of course, as New York needed many, many repairs, and turned the ball into a charity event that would help the Maria Stark Foundation gather the resources needed to clean up and fix the city. She even dolled up the Avengers, buying the suits and a dress for Natasha. She actually had reservations about the redhead spy, but she couldn't play favorites without seeming like a dick.

If she could, she'd probably be tempted to do the same for Rogers, too.

The Avengers were actually a very volatile group, not fitting together at all away from the battlefield. Brucie-bear, her new science bro, was right about one thing. The Avengers were a ticking time bomb and she wasn't sure if anything could be done to avoid the explosion. It was only a matter of when the bomb will explode. That and whether she can get away from the explosion alive, let alone uscatched. But, at the same time, she knew that she couldn't just ... leave the Avengers, either. She had been the one to fly through that wormhole and she had been the one to see the enormity of the army they had faced. She wasn't sure if that nuke had destroyed them all, but a good part of it was definitely dealt with.

Toni knew there was something out there, some bigger threat that will one day return to Earth and they were patheticallyoutnumbered and outgunned. The Avengers were currently Earth's only response team and there was only six of them. There was only so much they can do, especially if they don't find a way to work together. So Toni had decided to go out of her way to make sure the Avengers worked. They will have to address their mutual lack of trust or any real respect between them outside of the battlefield soon enough, but if that little shwarma get together was anything to go by, they just needed to spend more time together to get to know each other. Hence Toni's brilliant idea to house the Avengers in her Tower. She was going to have to renovate either way, so why not house Earth's mightiest heroes while she was at it?

Pepper and Rhodey weren't exactly fond of the idea, especially since they knew damn well where many of her daddy issues came from and letting Rogers house with her wasn't going to help her any. And yet they understood, somewhat, where Toni was coming from. Ever since Afghanistan, Toni has been searching for that one reason why she had survived that clusterfuck. She had known that Iron Maiden was the answer, but she had never imagined it could be on such a bid, wide and high scale. She felt so small, humbled by the universe she had glimpsed and the military prowess of the enemy. She no longer knew how to react. Her view of the world had changed drastically after Afghanistan, but never so much as when she saw the command ship of the Chitauri. She was terrified.

She had thought she would die up there and yet she had somehow survived. And she knew it had to be because she was expected to do something about the threat she had seen. But she knew she couldn't tell anyone about it. They'd just go and say she was in shock or something stupid like that.

Well, maybe there was someone she could talk to, if only he'd be around more ...

"Hey, Toni?" Said genius snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention to Bruce Banner, AKA the Hulk, when the other scientist called for her attention. Brucie was her favorite of all the Avengers, both him and the other guy. The Hulk had caught her and saved her life when she fell through the wormhole and was freefalling to certain death, her suit out due to the coldness of open space. She had liked them both even before meeting them, but now she loved them. Bruce was so timid and she hated that ... Oh well. Guess she'll just have to draw him out of his shell.

"Yes, Brucie-bear?" The older man just blinked at the nickname but it showed how easily he had gotten used to her to not react other than that. That was a sign of a beautiful friendship in the making. Not to mention all the sciencing they'll get up to. God, she was almost giddy! Not to mention he was the only one of the Avengers that JARVIS, her overprotective brainchild beating-a-supercomputer-at-chess-while-hacking-the-Pentagon-and-being-her-co-pilot-in-the-suit-all-the-while-helping-Pepper-run-her-company-and-looking-out-for-her-health, approved of. There was potential there.

"Um, I don't know if it's, um, my paranoia talking or if it's real, but that guy over there was seems to be, like, staring at you. Really intensely. Yeah." Banner fumbled and stuttered as he subtly pointed across the room, shuffling in his spot next to her when the other Avengers turned their attention first to him and then to where he was pointing. Toni did the same and couldn't help but snort, repressing a grin until it was only a smirk.

"Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear." She didn't even hesitate as she left her new teammates with a monologuing mayor - the man has been talking for the last ten minutes, nonstop, and she wasn't sure if anyone had been listening. Romanoff put up a good show, as did Barton, but they were SHIELD agents, trained to trick and lie. Bruce and Rogers were too nice not to try but Steve's eyes had glazed over three minutes in and Bruce had obviously stopped paying attention if he was calling for her attention now. Thor hadn't even bothered and Toni had been listening with one ear just to make sure she followed the conversation enough to do something about whatever he was talking about in the future - to look after her as she sauntered up to the waiting man. "Hey, stranger. Fancy seeing you here. Portaled your way in?" After all, the ball was for invited parties only, meant to get investors who will give money for repairs. She wasn't sure if Strange had any actual money on him. They had never really talked about it before. "Or are you a plus one again?"

Strange just smiled at her indulgently while his sharp green eyes studied her with laser detail, taking in the make-up meant to cover the bruises and cuts that still haven't healed after the battle. "Actually, the mayor owes me a favor. I just expressed an interest in coming here and he arranged a ticket for me."

"A favor? What, did you fix his spine or something?" She joked, figuring it was because the man had been a rich, successful doctor that he knew the mayor. She rather doubted it had anything to do with his sorcerer side of business.

But Strange didn't laugh with the joke. "No. I simply did him a favor a few years ago. He got into some financial troubles and started using the city's funds so I took care of it for him and he was left owing me a favor. Being the master of all of Dormammu's previous domains comes in handy when I need to make connections. All that gold and treasure ... " Stephen shook his head, apparently not noticing when Toni went utterly still. "People are so petty, so easy, so shallow. Throw a little power and money at them and they're all but kissing your feet. It's pathetic how easily you can manipulate people when you have the right resources. And disappointing." He may not have noticed when Toni stiffened but he sure as hell did notice when she took a step away from him, feeling cold and hollow.

Had she really thought him ... a friend in the making? How could she not have seen this? Hadn't Strange himself said that she'd not want to owe him? What did she really actually know about this man? Apparently, she hadn't known that he did people favors for favors to be returned. A bargain ... A bargain he will ultimately win, no doubt, coming out better than the other party. A manipulator, by his own admission, and she had let him get this close? Had she been that wrong in her assessment of the man? Was Strange just ... acting to like and be friendly towards her so he can get something out of her?

She suddenly felt ill. She all but flinched away from his hand when he reached for her, calling her name. Her reaction gave the doctor pause and he frowned in worry - was it real? - at her. "Toni? Are you alright?"

"Why are you here?" She asked instead of answering his inquiry. Strange seemed surprised by her borderline hostile tone even if she spoke with no intonation to her words whatsoever. Maybe that's what gave her away in the first place ... "Come to see if you can get whatever it is you want from me tonight or are you hunting for other unsuspecting billionaires?"

"Wait, what?" Stephen asked, startled. His eyes were even widened as though shocked. He was either a really good actor or this was genuine. Toni wasn't sure which she would prefer right now. "Do you think I simply want to ... use you for something!?" And he actually did sound incredulous. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say!"

Toni glared at him with fury in her eyes. "You just admitted to manipulating people. Repeatedly. Commonly. For no other reason than because you can. Is it a sport for you? To see how easily you can bend someone to your will? Do you do it for fun? Or do you simply use them to achieve your own ends?" She glared at him, a new thought occurring to her. He had been alive for three hundred years. How had he remained hidden from suspicion for so long? He must have been searching for connections ...

Strange glared at her, offended. "Yes, I manipulate people so they don't ask questions. Questions that would endanger the secrecy of the sorcerers that protect your reality, douchebag." At the offended noise she made and the retort already forming on her tongue, Strange just snorted. "I actually prefer not to get involved with people. As per your earlier failed guess, if I want to get in somewhere really badly, I can just portal my way in and that's if I can't buy or bribe my way in."

"What about the favors people seem to owe you?" The genius challenged. In her rage, she was blind to how close they have come to stand until she found that she was looking up in order to meet his gaze. But she refused to back down and appear weak. Her heart was thundering in her chest but she held her ground. It wasn't fair, the way he could affect her like this. Damn him and his handsome face. And damn him for always leaving her waiting for him to come by again. She had seen him only twice since that night when the Stark Expo went up in flames and he displayed some of his power. Sure, she hadn't really been sure as to what to think of him back then but she had hated not seeing him at parties and wondering if he'll show up for the next one. She hated even more that she had caught a glimpse of him once, with some busty blond hanging off of his arm and giggling at something he had said. She had turned away, found a guy to flirt the night away with and then left alone, a bit tipsy and wondering whether the goosebumps on her skin were due to the cool air or a possible green eyed gaze on her back. She hated that he had so much power over her while he was completely unaffected. "You must have done quite something for them to owe you so much. I know for a fact that the mayor wouldn't give you a ticket just because you paid his bills. How quickly do they sell their souls, hm? And for what? Riches? Power? Because that won't be me."

The Sorcerer Supreme not only glared at her in true anger, but he actually growled, faintly scarred hands coming to hold her upper arms. Not bruisingly tight, but tight enough to inform her he was pissed. "You know damn well I am not thatkind of devil." He hissed at her and she shivered when she felt the air around them vibrate, his magic rising to answer his unconscious call in his anger. Strange noticed and drew in a sharp breath, pulling his magic under control. "And I was telling the truth. The bill was big enough to bankrupt New York if not taken care of. Even you would blench if you saw the numbers. The mayor himself said he owed me. I don't go around collecting favors, Stark. Not even to hide my ... mortality issues." Well, there goes that theory. "I just need to disappear for a few years or move away to a different country. I usually spend that time in Kamar-Taj, training new recruits and teaching them the Mystic Arts. I'll have to wait for at least twenty years in this new digital age, but that's nothing to me. Eternity is my future. A decade or five is not even the blink of an eye to me."

"Then why are you here?!" Toni snapped, losing all patience, trying to wrench herself away from the man. She pushed at his chest and would have resorted to banging and punching if Strange didn't grab a hold of her wrists, restraining her with gentle but firm hands.

"I came to check on you, douchebag!" It would have been a yell, no doubt, had they been away from prying eyes. It was enough to freeze Toni in place, her struggles ceasing immediately, wide whiskey eyes staring incredulously at the sorcerer, who looked somewhere between enraged and embarrassed. But he held her still, never averting his gaze, daring her to challenge his claim.

"What?" The genius could barely get out in a raspy whisper and she was further stunned when Strange's face and eyes gentled at her.

"I saw what happened on the news this morning and I couldn't stop myself from coming to check on you. Seriously, Toni. I'm gone in another dimension for a week and you end up wrestling with an intergalactic conquering army and winning? I was worried. You looked pretty beat up when the fight was over. Not to mention that you nearly died going through that wormhole. And I don't want to even think about your mental state after all of that. I just ... I had to check on you and then I heard about this," he gestured at the party still going on around them with a nod of his head, his hands and eyes never leaving hers. Wait, when had he brought their hands up to chest level and tangled their fingers? How had she not noticed that!? And ... why wasn't she ... pulling away? Why was she suddenly so calm? She hadn't been able to calm down since Coulsion brought in those files ... "I was worried for you, Toni. I just wanted to check up on you. I ... didn't get to answer your question, last time."

"What question?" The genius had to ask, confused. Stephen just chuckled at her.

"You asked me what you are to me." Toni flinched when she recalled that conversation, but her companion only chuckled. When she tried to pull away again, he simply leaned his forehead against hers, having to bend down even though she was in heels, and Toni stilled. "To me, Toni, you are my humanity, for I have forgotten what it is like to be human after all these years. You, who are so much like me, remind me of what it was like to go through all these trials just to survive, to do the right thing. You reminded me what it means to care. You were a breath of fresh air - you didn't kiss ass and you weren't fawning over me and let's not even begin how refreshing it was to speak with someone of equal, if not greater, intellect as myself after all these years of being surrounded by narrow-minded fools - and I wasn't ready to give you up. But that turned into real care, Toni. I didn't want to lose you. So I got invested."

As if to make his point, his eyes fell to the golden pendant resting at the base of her neck, the chain hidden by the high neck of her turtleneck-like dress, the very same pendant he had left around her neck, under her armor. The very same pendant she carried around with her all the time, poking it when lost deep in thought, dangling it from her fingers when bored in company meetings, keeping it on her nightstand those miraculous uncommon times she went to sleep, wearing it when at parties, keeping on her workbench when on an inventing binge.

She tried not to blush but Stephen was just smiling at her as though she had hung the stars and the moon, as if she outshone the sun itself. If her heart hammered any stronger against her chest, she might bust an artery on the casing of the Arc Reactor.

"I wasn't going to let you go. Which included checking in on you. I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier."

Toni mustered enough composure to roll her eyes at him. "Don't get all mushy on me now, Doc." But she didn't move away. It didn't even occur to her. There was no paparazzi to spare on her with all the other Avengers posing with the mayor and she and Strange mostly obscured by the crowd. She was with Strange, she was safe. She could relax.

And that in itself spoke volumes.

00000

It spoke volumes how Toni didn't so much as protest when Stephen unzipped her undersuit in order to get to the wound, even if it meant exposing her chest and the Arc Reactor in the process. The Avengers were all either staring or averting their gaze as her scars came into view. Rhodey clenched his jaw and fists hard when he saw her scaring, Peter was horrified and Rogers flinched when his handiwork was put on display. Somehow, her new wound seemed much less important than the Captain America's shield-shaped scar running underneath the new Arc Reactor that both held up her chest and housed her nanites.

It spoke volumes when Strange could draw magic into his hands, all glowing and showy, and Toni didn't so much as flinch when he reached for her. She just let him work, holding perfectly still and never once letting out a single sound of pain despite having her skin and muscle tissue and her organs themselves stitching themselves back together.

And it screamed volumes when Toni leaned her head against the sorcerer's shoulder to rest, trusting him to support her when she wasn't strong enough to support herself.

But Toni didn't let herself linger on it. It was, after all, like this between them since day one.

Toni could tell that Stephen would want nothing more than to put her to sleep so she can properly recover from the ordeal of fighting the Mad Titan, but they both knew that wasn't the smartest of ideas with the other Avengers lingering in the doorway of the med bey, watching them with varying expressions and reactions. Not that Toni would be able to stay under for long, not with the others there and the two new accessories that adorned her hands.

And the likeliness of Stephen letting her sleep around people whom he had never been fond of to begin with was close to zero. Which was how she found herself leaning against the Sorcerer Supreme in an uncomfortable meeting room with Peter on her other side, fretting over her while Strange remained indifferent towards everyone else in the room and just took out a scribing crystal so he can contact Wong and arrange for imprisonment of Thanos in one of the remote dimensions he held domain over. Leaving him in the Dark Dimension was out of the question for someone as ambitious as Thanos. There were too many creatures and demons which would strive to help him escape in order to escape themselves. They all wanted revenge against the man who had sucked their master dry right out of existence. No one at Kamar-Taj wanted to contemplate whether Dormammu can be revived in the reversal of what Stephen had done so it would be for the best if Thanos didn't come into contact with those demons. It helped that Dormammu had conquered many worlds and Stephen had inherited them all when he took Dormammu's power and his place in the multiverse, save his imprisonment in the Dark Dimension.

So while he was busy doing important things, the Avengers had gotten their wounds looked at. Stephen hadn't offered them any medical attention or help, save for Peter, Rhodey and Vision. Stephen even offered to repair the nerve damage to Rhodey's legs so he wouldn't have to wear braces, but Rhodey was very wary of him and didn't trust a man who can bench-press a powerful alien with the full Infinity Gauntlet. Bruce was virtually fine, since the Hulk was one tough cookie and Loki healed any damage he, Thor or Valkyrie might have sustained. Rogers was already healing due to the supersoldier serum and Barnes and T'Challa had gotten off better than the rest. The Guardians of the Galaxy were looking at Strange as though he was the devil - and yes, Toni did see the irony in that, thank you very much - except Rocket, who was wondering what price he might get for a man of Strange's abilities, so they didn't even wait to see whether he'd offer help and instead started treating each other. Romanoff, Maximoff, Barton, Wilson, Lang, Hope and Carol were left to their own devices and they were the pissiest of the entire group, since they had to grit their teeth and sit through the pain while everyone else was relatively fine. Shuri had done what she could, but even science had its limitations.

That is to say, Toni's, Dr Wu's and Dr Cho's Cradle research couldn't be copied any better than Toni's BARF technology, not even by Wakanda's best, which left Toni immensely proud and smug. Especially as her old team had tried to rub it into her face that she didn't have 'all the best toys'. They were truly idiots.

Nick Fury, former director of SHIELD, Maria Hill, his former SIC, and Phil Coulsion, former SHIELD agent and designated Avengers handler, had joined them in this meeting, as well as UN Council Chairman Everett Ross to oversee how they were going to deal with this while staying within the Accords agreement. They were meant to monitor and note everything that happened in the room and possibly try to recruit Strange to their side. As if Toni would let them tie Earth's bout of magical protectors by rules that would only restrict their response time to interdimensial threats when they had been working just fine for thousands of years.

As if Strange would let himself be tied by them.

"Okay, if everyone is here," Ross said, taking the lead of the meeting once everyone was seated and paying moderate attention. "I'd like to officially start this meeting. First order of business-"

"Who the hell are you, man?" Wilson cut in, only just restraining himself from pointing at Stephen like a small, uneducated child would, earning an eye roll from the sorcerer. He didn't bother to look up at him.

"I've already introduced myself. If you didn't catch it, then too bad. That's your problem."

"Actually, if you could introduce yourself for the sake of those who hadn't been present-" Ross tried to stir things back into a more professional background, but Stephen cut him off this time with a curt "I could." The man blinked at the Sorcerer Supreme but Stephen made no move to continue, prompting Ross to speak again. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you?" Oh, Ross was getting annoyed. This was going better than she'd thought! Toni was tempted to giggle and blamed it on the concussion the fight against Thanos that had to have caused it. She had always known that she could annoy people with very little effort on her part but Strange had used the three hundred years well to turn it into an art form. She should probably ask him for directions. Maybe later. "You said you would."

"I said I could, I never mentioned anything about actually doing it."

Toni actually did giggle when everyone, save Peter and maybe Vision, looked ready to snap. Oh, yes. This was going way better than she'd thought it would.

She leaned back and prepared to watch the show.

00000

Ever since that party, Strange started coming around once or twice a month, checking in on her far more regularly over the phone due to their weekly conversations. Toni would like to be pissed about all that fretting, but it was fact that it was very much warranted.

She was still embarrassed as hell for her outburst and overly emotional state of downright paranoia during the party, when she had accused the former neurosurgeon of the things that she had. It was simply all of her most recent experiences putting her on edge so much that she was acting irrationally and lashing out against the one person whom she had met that meant her absolutely no harm, never found her annoying or overwhelming - although he had yet to see her on an inventing binge - never told her to shut up or that she was overreacting and was actually constantly looking out for her in a way that she wouldn't downright snap against. She had been so ashamed by her outburst, but Stephen never held it against her, saying his own had been much worst just after what happened to his hands. Toni still apologized and wanted to make it up to him, but Stephen only insisted that she be his dance partner for the rest of the night.

Seeing as Rogers seemed to be one of the many waiting to ask her for a dance, Toni was all for it. It was mutually beneficial, seeing as many women were waiting for a chance to get a dance with Strange. The genius still wasn't sure why that bothered her, but she had been awfully smug when Strange had told her he'd much rather spend the night with her than any of them.

But that night had eventually came to an end and the very next morning, the Avengers saw Thor off to Asgard, Loki and the Tesseract in tow. Toni still swore there was something ... off about the trickster, but daren't say as much, what with everyone's hatred of the black haired Asgardian. Not even Thor had seemed to be in a mood to listen to her and she'd rather not repeat their brawl from the forest in the city. By the way? She was still smug and proud as hell that her armor had held up not only against an Asgardian, but also against a giant space whale. She still had a lot more to work on in order to make it strong enough to protect the Earth from the threat she had spied, but she figured she had time. And that she'd have help from her new Science Bro!

Well, guess what? Bruce, much like the other Avengers, left almost as soon as everything was secured despite them having new quarters - entire floors, damn it! - in Stark soon to be Avengers Tower. Banner only stayed a few days longer than the rest, Romanoff and Barton going back to their spy lives and Rogers going off to see the country. She left them a standing invitation but then, a few days after Bruce all but disappeared from the face of the Earth - not; she had JARVIS monitor him in case Ross went after him again - she moved back to her Malibu mansion, so she can be closer to Pepper while her CEO prepared the transfer of SI's main operations to New York. Her work on clean energy, communications and like, a dozen other fields opened plenty of doors for SI and their investors and the money just rolled in. SI was the best in every field, that never changed, and Toni continued revolutionizing the world one day at a time.

The only problem?

Even with her friend's common visits and Strange's constant vigilance of her mental and physical state and all the things she had to do and focus on, Toni still suffered from her PTSD and her constant nightmares. JARVIS tried to help her through it all, and he was mostly successful - he was the only one who could talk her down from a nightmare or a panic attack, his British accent reminding her of careless days from her childhood and the time before Afghanistan - but that never stopped the nightmares in their entirety. And her lack of sleep resulted in inspiration after inspiration, suit after suit, invention after invention and one reason after the other to stay awake and improve her technology and her suits. But it also increased her anxiety and the stress to her body made the panic attacks all the more taxing.

One of the many problems she had to overcome when the Ten Rings and the Mandarin came knocking. It had been a difficult escape and Toni hated the cold most of all. It didn't help that she had lost contact with JARVIS and was stuck dragging her very heavy armor through the snow someplace north ... Maybe Tennessee? It was north of Malibu, that was for sure. JARVIS had just shot up into the sky after he had saved her and the systems of the experimental suit had been put under too much stress and had shut down. She didn't want to think how JARVIS was reacting without being able to reach her. Her AI had gotten as paranoid as she had, after Afghanistan. He was as uncomfortable being separated from her as she was from him. He was her co-pilot.

Toni sighed in relief when she saw a gas station up ahead. It was closed - not that they had anything that she could use to fix as sophisticated technology as her armor was - but there was a pay phone that she could easily hack and make a call. Now, if only she knew who to call. There were options. Pepper would be a good idea. She deserved to know, especially after she and Maya nearly died in that attack on her mansion just because Toni had taunted the terrorists after what had happened to Happy. But it was for the best if Pepper didn't know, at least for now, until Toni got in contact with JARVIS again.

Then whom to call? Rhodey and Happy were out of the question. Happy was in the hospital, still, he hadn't even woken up yet. Rhodey was too busy being the newly renamed and repainted Iron Patriot - as if that was going to stick; she wouldn't let it as they already had one patriotic superhero and that was actually one too many - and looking after the new president, so he wasn't an option. And calling JARVIS now would be a waste of that one call she'd get out of this poor excuse for a communication device. She'd get the armor up and running again soon enough, which will automatically connect her to JARVIS.

There was only one person left, really. Toni didn't even hesitate when she hacked the phone, made a secure line and dialed the number she had memorized as soon as Strange had given it to her that night at the party. She'd never been the one to call it so far. Usually he called her. She had thought about trying to figure out the pendant she never took off her person, but she didn't know whether it was a one hit wonder so she didn't want to risk it with that. She put the speaker and ear piece against her ear, listening to the ringing. Stark was actually surprised when the phone wasn't immediately answered. She had honestly thought Strange would answer right away, for the above mentioned reason of her never having used his number before, but the phone kept ringing and ringing and Toni suddenly had the dreadful realization that Strange wouldn't know it was her calling. It was a pay phone, not her phone.

She still waited out the ringing and curled in on herself when she reached voice mail. "Hey, Doc. It's me, your friend, douchebag. You're a real asshole for not answering. I'm guessing you heard what is going on in the news? Well, I gotta say they've got it wrong. I'm not dead. Not yet, anyway. I'm freezing my ass off here. There's snow and all that shit. Real holiday spirit. I hate it. It's ... quite a bit north. I think I'm in Tennesse. The suit's down. It's nothing I can't fix but I'm kinda stuck hauling it through the snow. Thank god there's snow; less friction and traction. Physics, you know. I'm ... not sure why I'm using this one chance to call on an asshole like you, but I guess you make me feel safe and I guess you deserve to know I'm still alive since you're 'invested'. And yeah, those are air quotes right there, you bastard. I can't believe you're not answering your phone ... " She did her best not to let her voice break even though she couldn't stop the hitch in her breathing. "I ... don't have much time left so I'll wrap this up. There's something fishy going on. Those exploding people are a part of a terrorist cell that I thought to be destroyed back in 2008. The Ten Rings are my responsibility. I'm going after them. I'm going to figure out what's going on. If you hear this message and if you can come help ... I'd appreciate it. Well, I guess this is bye."

Not a second later, the connection cut and she drew in a shuddering breath, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes, trying to gather herself. Now was not the time to lose it. She was alone, in the middle of nowhere, on a cold night with a shut down suit that she was supposed to drag across who knows how much more before she could get somewhere she could hide away from the cold and start working on the armor. She desperately needed a place to hide from the cold or else she will catch hypothermia and die from it before she can deal with these terrorists. But just the thought of having to drag the armor out in this cold ... If only she had something to keep her warm! She won't make it through the night.

And, as if answering her thoughts, a sparkling, flaming, spinning gold-orange portal opened a few feet away from the pay phone she was in, lighting up the little gas station and a little of the area surrounding it. The genius couldn't believe it, expecting Strange to walk out in one of his silly outfits that somehow looked sinfully good on his tall, trim frame, but only a blur of red dashed out from inside the portal before the thing shut closed. Before she could be disappointed, the Cloak of Levitation, frantically flying around, found her and entered the phone booth and wrapped around her shoulders, covering her bare arms and snuggling up to her. It was still warm, probably from having been wrapped around Stephen's shoulders, and it was bliss how soft its cloth was.

Without thought, Toni hugged it close to her body and buried her nose into the high collar, breathing in the scent of her sorcerer friend - and yes, she guessed he was her friend, after everything - and she felt her anxiety evaporate. She could think clearly again.

She could fight.

And just like that, Toni Stark left that shady phone booth and picked up the ropes, dragging her Iron Maiden armor through the snow, although she now had the help of the Cloak of Levitation and a frighteningly clear goal in mind. The world thought that Iron Maiden was dead, that Toni Stark hadn't managed to beat the odds, that the Ten Rings and whoever else works with them had gotten the best of her, had defeated her, broken her. Beaten her.

It was time to show the world wrong.

00000

"I think everyone here is too tired for these power games, don't you, Doctor Strange?" Fury asked, leveling said man with a look that used to quell the Avengers like nothing else. Strange, though, only arched an eyebrow at the spy.

"See? No need for me to introduce myself if you already know who I am. A completely pointless waste of time." Toni choked on a laugh before it can escape and Peter was positively shaking on her other side. Even Rhodey, as professional as he strives to be, couldn't repress a snort and Vision was too polite to laugh but he couldn't stop the amused smile that crossed his lips. Nick, though, didn't find it nearly as funny as they did.

"If you think you can jack around by pulling smartass lines, then you've got another thing commin'. I've dealt with enough smartasses in my life and career to tear. You. Apart. I've dealt with Stark - two of 'em, even - and if you think you can outsass her-"

"Well, I do have assholeness and sassiness three hundred plus years in the making, but if anyone can outsass me, it's definitely Toni." Stephen interrupted again and the room descended into silence, everyone but Toni staring at Strange, not believing what he had just said. Suddenly, the situation wasn't funny anymore.

And then "WHAT!?"

Toni groaned, burying her face in her hands.

And Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange had the fucking gall to ask in his most innocent tone. "Was it something I said?"

"Was it something I said?"

"No shit, Sherlock." Toni grumbled, glaring at him through her fingers, indignant to see the man sporting a wide grin, obviously amused by the shit-show about to go down. She hated him, no, loathed him. He deserved her loathing. Why had she wanted him here, again? She must have been out of her mind! Fuck the universe! It could have made due.

"What the fuck did you just say!?" Barton sounded near hysterical when he screeched the question, staring at Strange as though he had sported a second head from his neck. Not that he couldn't. Toni would know. He'd shown her, once. It was her own fault. She had been curious. She can't get that disturbing image out of her head now, not even with BARF. It said a great deal about that all too memorable situation, if you think about it. It sometimes happened in her nightmares, too. It's freaking disturbing. "Are you some crazy?!"

"That depends. You see, if Toni asked me that, I'd probably say 'How the hell do you think I survived this long?' Or something similar enough. But as it is you who is asking me," and he sounded very nearly disgusted by the mere idea of having to do so. Stephen had never liked the Avengers' presence in Toni's life. Not since the beginning. Toni had a few times over the years teased him of being jealous of Rogers or maybe Banner, but the proud man had asked her why would he. She had to agree with him on that. He was as smart as Bruce and as good looking as Steve. He might be less muscular than the supersoldier, but at least his muscles were a result of his own hard work and training and not of a super serum. The funniest thing is that Strange had been the doctor who shot Rogers down a couple of times, when he tried repeatedly to sign up for the army when he was that skinny kid from Brooklyn. "I am compelled to say no."

"And why is that?" Maria Hill asked with an arched eyebrow, although Toni could tell she was trying to determine the good doctor's body type underneath his robes.

"Because I don't want to appear like a nutter when I tell you that I'm the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme and have been for the past three hundred years." Stephen replied as if he was talking about the weather, returning to the scribing stone, apparently done with the conversation, leaving the Avengers gawking again.

"Oh my god, you're an actual sorcerer!? Like Harry Potter?! Merlin!? Alex Russo?! Oh my god, are you like the White Wizard?" Those and a thousand other questions left Peter's mouth at the speed of lighting and Toni wanted to laugh at the face Stephen was pulling.

"Actually, my predecessor knew Merlin. He was a Sorcerer Supreme before her. And it's sorcerer, not Wizard. Although the most accurate term would be Master of the Mystic Arts."

"Can you teleport?" Iron Maiden snorted at her protégé's predictable question.

"Yes. I can even open portals to other dimensions."

"So cool! Do you have control over the elements?"

Toni was the one who answered this time. "Oh yes." She ignored it when everyone threw her pointed looks, demanding the story behind her answer but she neither had the time, nor the energy, least of all the patience to tell them about almost all of their interactions. Not that they had to know in the first place. It was her life. She had a right to keep it private. Although maybe she'll tell Rhodey, Vision and Peter, later. Like ... In a few years later, after she'd slept off this last battle. Not a day sooner.

Spider-Man pouted at not having the explanation but figured he can get it later, instead turning back to the resident Sorcerer Supreme whom even Loki was looking at with wariness. Smart man. He could probably sense that Strange wasn't pulling their legs with the three hundred years stuff. He may be young by Asgardian standards, but he wielded the power of a god,of a demon as old as the universe, and had legions of monsters, demons and other dark creatures to do his bidding-

Toni frowned when she realized that everyone was staring at her in something akin to shocked horror - or was it horrified shock? It was hard to tell. Even Peter looked half awed, half scared. Even Fury couldn't keep on a straight face! She tried to think of just why she would be getting these reactions. It's not as if she ... "Oh. Did I ... Did I just say all of that out loud?" Damn, she must be even more tired than she had first thought.

"Pretty much." Stephen, for someone whose secret was so bluntly ousted to a room full of people who would gladly try to control and constrain him, sounded awfully nonchalant and utterly uncaring. Although he had looked up from his scrying and was looking at her in this peculiar way she was too tired to contemplate.

"He's a god!?" The Avengers as a whole screeched and Toni groaned.

"Oh, fuck my life!"

Stephen just put an arm around her and drew her close so she was leaning on his shoulder, which was shaking with mirth. Bastard.

00000

"I see you have everything under control." The all too familiar voice of the owner of her cuddly blanket reached her ears from behind her and Toni, despite her injuries, worries and tiredness, whirled around with a happy, elated grin and all but jumped into the unsuspecting sorcerer's arms, laughing at being alive and at her newest achievement. Strange grunted as he caught her, scrambling to regain his balance so they don't fall over, but it was the Cloak that held them both up in the end. Stark just laughed through it, so infectiously that even Stephen joined in with a few chuckles. "Okay, someone is happy."

And she was. Despite the shitty week she'd been having, what with her argument with Pepper, the Mandarin, the Ten Rings, AIM, Extremis, Pepper getting kidnapped, Happy getting hurt, loosing a dozen of her suits that she'll need to prepare, near death by panic, drowning, freezing, falling and exploding to her death, Pepper being used against her and turned into an Extremis subject, the president nearly dying on her and Rhodey's watch ... Yeah, it was a hell of a shitty week but she was so elated for it all to be finally over. She had secured the president, Happy had woken up and was his ever grumpy self, she and Rhodey were fine, JARVIS already had the suits taking all of her tech from the bottom of the ocean where her house had collapsed to the Stark Tower where she was now, including DUM-E, U and Butterfingers andshe had just done the impossible. Twice.

She had managed to stabilize Extremis. Both to reverse the exploding effect that Pepper will be receiving and a version Toni had made for herself just because she couldn't help herself and her curiosity. But she treasured her humanity and this was only in case of emergency. A last resort. It was probably what Killian and Maya wanted out of the serum in the first place. Instead, they had gotten a virus because they wanted to recreate the supersoldier serum. As it was, Extremis did enhance strength, sight, hearing and healing - the last to the point where you can grow back limbs - but the best point of it was what Toni had insisted on for herself. She was almost tempted to inject herself right here and now just to see if it was possible, to see if there was a way to keep JARVIS with her forever ... To always have access to a suit. It had led to her new suit project and she was ready to start the first testing and constructing as soon as she dealt with a different matter.

She wanted to take out the Arc Reactor and the shrapnel it was protecting her heart from. And with Extremis to help her survive the surgery, Dr Wu and possibly Doctor Strange himself - whom she was still hugging - would be able to do it. To remove it. She can be Iron Maiden without worrying about what will happen if her Arc Reactor stops.

Stephen, though, when she told him as much, didn't appear as delighted by the idea. "I don't think you should remove it."

"What?" Toni reeled back, hurt and betrayed by his wish to not go through with the procedure. "Why!?" She demanded, her shock and hurt turning quickly into anger. She couldn't believe this! Hadn't he said he was 'invested' in her survival!? "If it's because you don't want anyone finding out you're lying about not being able to do surgery, Dr Wu can be discrete! I'll pay him double not to mention anything! Hell, this is already a secret enough surgery! We're talking about removing what is basically an untested, experimental prosthetic with an equally experimental serum that could explode and killeveryone! No one's gonna know about it except Pepper, Rhodey and Happy and you can just hide behind your doctor's mask and cap!"

"It's not about that and it's not that I don't want you to get rid of the shrapnel. I'm just saying that getting rid of the reactoris a bad idea." That only confused Toni more. The reactor was an intrusive object that was constricting her lung capacity and a hard enough hit directly into it could kill her. Her ribcage had been sawed through to let that thing in! A doctor's worst nightmare, if she ever saw one. And yet here Strange was, advising her not to take it out?

"Why?" She asked, even more confused than before, but at least she wasn't as pissed anymore. That didn't mean Strange was going to be any better off if he didn't explain himself. Because the last few days had really taken their toll on Toni. Even the refreshing energy of young Harley Keener, who had given her shelter and helped her both develop a plan and execute it and even helped JARVIS boot up his processor again, hadn't been enough to supplement her enough to not feel so damn tired right now. She hated feeling her age - worse yet twice her age. She was still young. But she had lost much, too much, and she had sacrificed not nearly enough to make up for her past transgressions and yet she already felt tired. But she was determined to make up for her ignorance and arrogance of the past. It's what kept her going.

But was it too much to ask for the Arc Reactor, a presence of constant, chronic pain, to be removed?

"The Arc Reactor as it is now is a part of you. It gives off an energy signature and field that keeps you invisible to the magic eye and actually keeps you safe from invasive magic. It is protecting you, Toni. Didn't you yourself say that while Loki could control the mind of anyone he used his Scepter on, he couldn't control you? There's a damn good reason for that and it's the energy your reactor gives off. It's similar to the energy of the Infinity Stones and makes you immune to their manipulations."

Toni couldn't help but stare at the doctor, incredulous. "What the fucking hell are the Infinity Stones!?"

Stephen just sighed as he let go of her with one hand and tapped the Arc Reactor in her chest with one faintly scarred finger. Toni was still always baffled when he didn't try to cope a feel despite knowing he had exclusive permission to her chest that not even doctors do. There were men out there willing to kill for this chance - bragging rights and just simple, plain perversion - and yet this one man who was allowed ... It just made Toni more fond of her eccentric, weird friend. He treasured her trust above what should be one hell of an ego boost. And he was an actual gentleman. He was raised to be one. Go figure. Of course Toni, whose reputation was still being used to make up salacious stories about her that were simply not true - would find the one true gentleman in this world. Seriously, go figure.

"That's a conversation we can have some other time. It's not important right now. Right now, what is important is that there is a way to remove the threat to your life. I would like to see your medical scans again. The most recent ones."

"Of course, Doctor Strange." JARVIS answered before she herself could say anything, but she knew what this meant. Stephen was going to do do the procedure. There was no way his pride would let him let Wu do it. Toni's heart warmed and skipped a beat or two as she watched her friend study the scans JARVIS takes twice a day, the overprotective Artificial Intelligence that he is - that alone made the temptation rise to use Extremis, just to be closer to her most precious creation.

They had gone a long way, she and Strange. They had started off as two strangers vaguely interested in each other, in the challenge and novelty they presented to the other. To Strange, Toni was a warm, welcomed breath of fresh air with her open mind and open views of the world around her, her curiosity and her need to always know more so she can improve the world and help people, to protect them. Her honesty was not something the all powerful 'devil' was used to and he welcomed her snark and sarcasms with open arms. To Toni, Stephen was also a breath of fresh air. He was quite possibly the first man to fully see and understand how she ticked. He treated her with respect and courtesy, he appreciated her opinion and he was the first man who looked at her and saw beyond her good looks or the incredible masks she had constructed to protect herself. He accepted all of her demons and, most of all, he accepted her. Just as she was. Quirks and flaws and all. And Toni will never be able to thank him enough for that.

Is it really so ... strange that she might have caught ... feelings for this man who had entered her life as an occasional annoyance and had instead over time become closer to her than even Pepper or Rhodey? She talked to him about everything, even her friends, even her nightmares. Her friends never heard of those.

They never heard of him.

So what was he to her?

And, more importantly, what was she to him?

"When do you want to do this?" She snapped out of her thoughts when Stephen asked, turning her attention back to him instead of thoughts about him. He was still reading over some data, but it was now the data on the Extremis 2.0 she had developed for Pepper. Her friend would be receiving it in two hours, when JARVIS finishes the last details about it. Toni knew she couldn't do much for her past the point of being there when she receives the injection, because Pepper will go under for forty eight hours to properly expel the serum. Or rather, it was likely there will be some leftovers in her blood stream. She could probably access it if she trained and she will have an amazing healing factor.

Toni was already pondering switching Extremis 3.0 with that one, just to have JARVIS with her always. It really was a great temptation. JARVIS, also tempted for them to never be separated again, was already making it, too. Mommy was so proud.

"Tonight, if you're free. I'd ... really rather not do this without you. And I agree about the reactor staying." It will still hurt like hell, but Extremis will make her ribcage grow around it and accommodate it. The intrusion won't be so bad. Besides, the Arc Reactor is a reminder. It's a statement. It's a memory of Yinsen and all that she went through. It's testimony of her survival and her promise to the world to protect it from anything they can't protect themselves from. To fight everything they can't fight against on their own. Toni Stark may not be recommended for the Avengers, but that didn't change the fact that she was an Avenger. And the most loved Avenger, too - take that, Black Widow! And Captain America! "I guess you're right. It's ... It's a part of me by now. I need the reminder. I was arrogant, once. I need ... I need the reminder to never become arrogant again."

"I doubt you will and while it's a noble thought behind your reasoning, don't forget the part about your own protection. You deserve to be protected, Toni." Amber eyes met emerald and Toni repressed a shiver at the familiar intensity of his gaze. She thought that she'd gotten used to it by now, but apparently not. Maybe she never will. She was surprisingly okay with that.

And he was so sweet. As if three hundred years hadn't shaped and hardened him according to the cruelties of the world. Toni Stark will never be safe. And yet he was determined to try ... "I thought that's why I have you. To protect me."

Stephen looked taken aback by that and Toni knew she was blushing. Damn it, she hadn't meant to say that out loud! Was it because she was so tired? She was usually alone when she got this weary. Well, alone save for her bots, but they would never judge her or gossip about her. Not even Rhodey or Pepper or Happy had seen her this tired. Weeks of no real sleep and the past week or so have worn her out. Once again, it spoke volumes about just how close Stephen had become with her, how much she trusted him. Was it reciprocated, though? Stephen had only shown her his magic and told her about him when JARVIS had startled him. Would he have told her otherwise?

Her train of thought was cut off when she was all but crushed against a deceptively strong chest, a hand burying itself in her locks of hair, her head brought against the crook of his neck. She felt his chin rest against her head - the tall bastard didn't even need to tip his head upwards - and wondered what brought this on. Not that she was complaining, per see. "God, I want to take you to Kamar-Taj and cuddle you forever. You're going to be the death of me, Toni. The world isn't worthy of you. Of course you have me to protect you. Whenever you need me, I'll be here."

Was it naive of her that she believed him?

00000

"You know a god, Ms Stark!?" Peter, if he had ever lacked awe for his mentor, or respect, just got enough to last him a few lifetimes worth of it. His eyes were huge. "That's so cool! I always knew you were awesome but this is a whole new level!" He looked absolutely delighted by the idea.

"I'm not a god," Stephen, though, found it necessary to pop his balloon by stating mater of factly and Toni narrowed her eyes at him as she watched the teen deflate. The man was sitting there with now defiantly crossed arms over his chest, apparently done with whatever arrangements he had been making with his fellow sorcerers and was now content to either disturb or annoy the Avengers, Ross and Fury and his pets. But disappointing Peter? Oh, that called for revenge.

"Gods are so overrated, Kid." Toni said, lifting her gaze so she held the teen's eyes. The boy looked so confused, like a puppy. It was cute. And totally the main reason she said what she said next. It had nothing to do with the panic it will definitely set off in the above mentioned group of people. She wasn't that petty. She wasn't! But Stephen definitely was. He'll thank her later. Probably. Oh well. His problem if he doesn't like it. "He's not a god, Underoos. He's the exactopposite."

Judging from the way Stephen didn't so much as frown in her direction, he didn't mind. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the dawning realization and horror that was crossing the Avengers' faces. Toni didn't even bother to smother a smirk.

"Oh my god, Ms Stark! You know the devil!?"

"I take it back. I love my life."

"Stark! How the hell do you know the devil!?" Fury snapped out of it first and turned his furious one-eyed gaze onto her the second he did. Toni didn't miss the way his eye kept flicking over to Strange, as if afraid to leave him out of his sight. Considering all the stories about the devil that humanity had managed to gather up, it wasn't surprising that he would fear him. Toni had insisted on his 'proper' title for a reason, you know. There were plenty of gods, in every religion, and they all knew Thor and Loki already and they had been thought to be only myth. But there had always been just one devil, if called by different names throughout history and different cultures, and his reputation wasn't exactly flattering.

"How Dr Antonia Stark and I know each other is a private matter, I believe." Strange drawled with a casual air of someone inspecting his fingernails. Toni wanted to look over to her side and check if he was, but the expressions her teammates were making were priceless. It warmed her heart to see Rogers so out of it he was gaping. And it definitely did her ego some good to see Romanoff's reaction. She was so glad for that one operation which allowed her to have JARVIS and then FRIDAY with her at all times, because she wanted that look printed and plastered on the biggest notification table in Stark Tower. Yeah, her employees kind of hated Romanoff and it didn't all have to do with company espionage. SI employees were a loyal sort. Romanoff had earned their ire. More than once, in fact. They will relish in this. And they'll probably love Strange even more. As if he needed a bigger fan club than he already had. "It doesn't concern you."

"It most definitely concerns me that she knows a person capable of taking on Thanos and the full Infinity Gauntlet without breaking a sweat!" The director of SHIELD yelled, startling the others out of their stupor. "How the hell did you go unnoticed for so long!? We had you under surveillance! We had Stark under surveillance!"

"Please, as if I didn't hack your surveillance and feed you old footage." Toni drawled, wishing this could be over so she could just go and rest.

"As if I haven't been avoiding being found out as an immortal for three hundred years." Stephen also drawled, sounding insulted, even. He had a point, though. It wasn't exactly the first time he was doing this. "It is far too easy to fool you, your people and your cameras. An illusion is more than sufficient in tricking you. How you managed to hold the god of mischief at all is a wonder."

"He wanted to be there, remember? Asgard is the best protected planet in the universe." The genius reminded, grinning when she saw Loki's stunned look when he realized she had seen through his ploy. Thor, on the other hand, looked horrified. "You know, so he can be safe in their dungeon after tricking Thanos into not only giving him the Mind Stone, but also securing the Tesseract in Asgard, out of Thanos' reach. Sending the message across the universe of just how dangerous the Avengers were was a bonus to keep the Stones here on Earth protected from grubby hands. All that while fighting mind control. I'd say that's one hell of a great trick."

"Brother you were forced to attack Midgard?"

"I was forced to serve Thanos, Thor."

The two Asgardian's ensuing argument went unheard by the rest of the room, most of them still focused on the introduced devil and his friend, Toni Stark, who was now absolutely enjoying this. "And why didn't you ever inform the Accords or UN Council about the existence of ... the Sorcerer Supreme?" Ross asked tiredly, rubbing at his forehead and refusing to look at said Sorcerer Supreme. It was fun watching him trying not to say 'devil', as though not acknowledging it will somehow make it less true.

"Because the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj are a millennia old secret organization that's dedicated to protecting Earth and reality from mystical and magical threats, from both this world and others. It wasn't my place to put them in the spotlight." Iron Maiden replied with a shrug, watching how unerringly Stephen was glaring at Steve. Captain America tried jot to squirm but Stephen's gaze was laser sharp and could be quite unnerving. Rogers recoiled when Stephen smiled at him, the smile sharp enough to cut diamonds.

"Hello, sinner. Ready for the ninth circle of hell?" Oh, Rogers went absolutely white at that. The other Avengers were frowning in confusion, eyes flicking between Rogers, Strange and Stark, expecting for her to explain what was going on. Judging by the grim realization on T'Challa's face, he seems to have put some dots together. Judging from the resigned look on Barnes' face, he expected retribution against himself soon enough.

"I'm sorry, what?" The blond supersoldier had the gall to act innocent. Toni was prepared to pull Spidey and Viz out of the way of the brawl that was just waiting to happen judging by the tenseness of Rogers' shoulders and the now gone smile from Stephen's face. The glare he was now leveling on Rogers would have sent any smart or sane man running for his life. Toni, who had always thought Rogers had a few screws loose and never considered him the sharpest tool in the shed, could only shake her head. Rogers' pride, stubbornness and growing paranoia is what led to the Civil War in the first place. Well that and the other, prick Ross she had to get rid of.

"Don't worry. I can escort you to your place in hell. Might take a while. After all, you have a lot of sins we'll have to work through." Even Toni shivered at the tone of voice the sorcerer was using. She had heard him use it only once, when he came to pick her up in Siberia and he saw her state. She guessed she should have expected it. Rogers had been the cause the first time, too.

"I believe I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh? Really now?" Stephen challenged and when Steve didn't back down, a look of malicious glee entered Strange's eyes. He had been waiting to tear Rogers down the past two years and he now finally had a chance. Rogers didn't stand a chance. "Then let's begin, shall we? But what to mention first? How about your hypocrisy for critiquing Toni about not telling you about Ultron - something that wasn't her fault, by the way - when you yourself have been keeping an important secret? Or how about you using her money to search for the murderer of her parents while saying you were using it for hunting down HYDRA agents? Or maybe we should actually go back to that secret. Tell me, Rogers, did you tell her Barnes killed her parents while brainwashed by HYDRA before a demented madman showed her a footage of the event with Barnes right in front of her? You've had ample opportunity. Two years of it. So lying goes on your list, too, when you tried to lie to her face and lie badly. Betrayal? You've never learned how to be loyal to anyone but your 40's buddies to begin with. And let's not forget your 'god given gift' attitude you take with everyone or your arrogance when you introduce yourself as Captain Rogers. I've flunked you three times when you tried to enlist in the army. I've been there to see the propaganda based shows where you showed off your new strength. You're just a little man on steroids. Believe me, Rogers, that serum didn't make you a better man. You're still just that kid from Brooklyn that wants to pick a fight."

Needless to say, everyone was speechless.

Needless to say, Toni was content.

00000

"Okay, Toni. You just breathe and relax. I've got you." It was weird to see Stephen in full doctor garb, with the face mask, cap and all, leaning over her with gloved hands gently touching her chest where they will take out the shrapnel from - once again not coping a feel, the gentlemanly bastard that he was. She was so used to seeing him wearing some weird sorcerer garb or fancy suits for ballroom parties that she often forgot he probably owned some normal clothing, too. She also forgot that he probably was the most qualified doctor in history, since he has been practicing for at least three hundred years. He never told her his exact age but he didn't appear all that older than she currently was. He had the steadiest hands in the business and she knew he was invested in her survival. She was perfectly safe in his hands.

So she was surprised when she smiled and told him as much, his face contorted into a pained expression she didn't quite understand. She figured it had something to do with a past experience that he still couldn't let go of, but she wasn't about to inquire after a sensitive topic in front of Wu and the other medical staff. Especially not just before such a major surgery that might risk her life if not done right. So she just grabbed his free hand with one of her own and squeezed it gently. "I trust you, Doc. Don't psyche out on me now."

She was further surprised when he turned his hand so he can interlock their fingers together. He squeezed her hand back, eyes somehow more serious than ever, even when he had found her slowly dying of heavy metal poisoning. "I won't let you down, Toni. I've got you."

"I know." With that, he gently and carefully put the breathing mask over her face and she soon enough found her world going black. She never let go of his hand while she clung to consciousness.

The surgery was as if it never happened. Toni was completely under and not aware of what they were doing, unlike the first surgery attempt at extracting the damned shrapnel pieces out of her chest. Then again, to be fair towards Yinsen's work, he had been in a cave with terrorists all around him, inadequate equipment, no help and no anesthetics or painkillers whatsoever. He had had to saw through her ribcage with strength alone. How he hadn't killed her on his makeshift operating table probably had a lot to do with both his skill and Toni's refusal to bow down to fate, than fate or luck, even if Toni considered that a changing point in her life. She was honest when she'd told Pepper that she had to have survived for a reason, that she had to have a purpose. It took a missal exploding in her face and taking a nuke to space through a fucking wormhole in the sky to destroy an alien mothership for her to figure out what that purpose was. An operation similar to this one had been a start of her journey and this was only an end of a chapter. Her story was far from over.

While the operation itself was painless and she had no awareness of it, the injection of Extremis was a complete opposite. The second the serum entered her blood stream, it was as if a fire had been set inside her veins and it kept burning through her body. She wasn't sure if she screamed because her throat was burning so bad it was impossible that she could even scream. Her chest burned the hottest - she figured it probably had something to do with healing the results of the surgery and Yinsen's own work, what with having to grow back all that tissue and her ribs. Not to mention the Arc Reactor and the damned damage from the palladium poisoning! How was she alive, again? The work of two doctors, apparently. Three, if you count Bruce as the Hulk catching her when she fell from the portal. She should probably call him to check up on him.

The pain was nearly unbearable but then it ended as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind a soothing sensation she had not felt since she was a little girl and Jarvis kissed all of her boo-boos away. It was that feeling of being loved and cherished above everything else that was like a balm to her wrecked heart and weary soul. It nearly made the last four years go away ... Nearly. Very nearly. It was almost like-

-Sir?- The oh so familiar and beloved synthetic voice of her dearest and most constant companion reached her, as recognizable by its tone as it was by the term of address. When she had first brought JARVIS online, she had demanded that he address her as Sir. She was more of a boss than anyone gave her credit for and she'd be damned if people looked down at her just because she could work a skirt. Her Aunt Peggy hated being called Ma'am and Toni would rather remain on equal footing with whatever idiot thought to degrade her for being Howard's daughter instead of son. She was twice the genius Howard ever was, she had done more for the world than he ever had - except maybe bringing Toni into the world in the first place - and she would be treated with the respect she deserved. But, most of all, she wanted for JARVIS to learn to be a gentleman and yet remain her co-pilot once she had the suit. She was Toni fucking Stark. If she wanted to be called Sir, she would damn well be called Sir. For JARVIS, her word was meant to be gospel, but that was when he first onlined.

Now, it was a term of respect, affection and undying loyalty. The only male who would call her Sir and mean it was her JARVIS. It was the symbol of their special bond. And now ...

'JARVIS?' She ventured, thinking the name and hoping it reached her dearest creation. She hoped she had sent the thought to him, but as soon as she thought that thought, she was assaulted with a sea-sized wave of information that was so overwhelming, she thought she was drowning. Until, just like when she had been trapped underwater during the Malibu mansion incident, JARVIS took her hand and dragged her back to the surface. Had she been outside her own mind, she would be gasping for her breath. Instead, she was trying to get back her bearings and regain her equilibrium, feeling like she had just been thrown into a whirlwind of information that was only now starting to register in her brain. 'Whoa! What the hell was that!?'

-That was the Internet, Sir. I apologize. I should have filtered through the data leak immediately instead of lingering to see whether you would manage it by yourself.- Not only could she hear the apology and regret in his voice intonations, but she could feel it like a data burst. That will take some getting used to, but she absolutely loved it! She and JARVIS had never been closer! She must have sent that happiness and love through their new connection, because she felt back a wave of sheepish embarrassment, undying love and immense happiness, which only made her 'grin'. She wasn't sure if she had a face here to make these expressions with, but JARVIS felt her emotions and reactions well enough.

'It's fine, J. Wow, so that was the Internet?'

-Yes, Sir. The Extremis 3.0 serum has integrated into your body perfectly and has enabled an uplink directly to the Internet. Besides the Internet, the technopacy ability we have contemplated seems to be active with 100% efficiency as well. Congratulations, Sir. You have not only stabilized Extremis, but you have also become the world's very first technopath.-

'It's beautiful,' she breathed as she took a peek beyond the filter JARVIS had put in place. It protected her from any malevolent coding present on the Internet and prevented those stupid fucking adds from popping up into her head and giving her a headache. J had even sent her the means to control the filter so she can adjust to what she could have access to and what she didn't want to deal with. Giddy, she sent a search engine for SHIELD's databases and watched as the Internet complied to her every whim. 'This is going to be so cool when combined with the suit!'

-About that, Sir.- JARVIS sounded both hesitant and apologetic. In fact, she swore he didn't know how to approach whatever subject he was about to bring up. -The Arc Reactor ... -

Toni's heart stopped, panic gripping her. 'J, what happened to the reactor?'

-It would seem that it has ... changed shape.- As he explained, JARVIS sent her the new scans and diagrams of the transformed Arc Reactor. She could only stare at the information shown to her. -The suit, as well. Only it ... keeps changing still, Sir. According to your plans that we still haven't found a way to make a reality due to the limitations of nanotechnology at the present time. The Arc Reactor is still working as it always has, although it has become ... flatter and a part of your ribcage. Your bones have grown around it. And the suit seems to be stored inside.-

'How?'

-When you got injected by Extremis 3.0, it quickly settled into your body and the Arc Reactor reacted. Mark 42, since you still had the receivers in under your skin, reacted to your heightened distress levels and flew into the operating room. Doctor Strange tried to restrain it, but the suit fell apart, the machinery melting before my scanners and then it came out in this new design, settling over you, Sir.- JARVIS sent her a video recording and she watched in awe the design she had been dreaming up since she returned to consciousness after flying that nuke through the wormhole. Immediately, she started analyzing it, finding flaws she needed to deal with before she could deem it flight and fight worthy. And, as if answering her thoughts, the design started changing as fluidly as water. -It then retreated into the Arc Reactor and you have remained unresponsive since.-

'How long have I been out?' She asked, even as she skimmed the new Arc Reactor for any design flaws, what with it being practically a disc now. It seemed fine enough, for now. Durable. And diminishing her lung capacity by 20.6% less. She turned back to the video footage of the suit wrapping around her, arching an eyebrow when she saw that the Extremis running through her veins was Arc Reactor blue and not that fiery red it had been for Pepper, Killian and all of Maya's other subjects. She wasn't sure if it was the reactor's influence or if it was her own tempering with the original serum.

-About a day.- At her shock, her AI explained that, even with Extremis, her body needed a certain amount of time to recover from the ordeal. Seeing as usually that recovery would last a month at the very least, she was doing great. -Although I do believe it is time for you to return to Doctor Strange, Ms Stark. He seems to be getting rather agitated.-

She frowned as JARVIS showed her a security feed of Stephen sitting hunched over in a plastic chair by her bed, hands covering his face, still dressed in his scrubs, his tall frame shaking slightly. JARVIS even sent her his vitals - the elevated pulse, uneven breathing, hours of lack of sleep or nutrition - and the time he spent there - since she got out of surgery - and Toni wondered what had him so uptight. Sure, it wasn't the easiest of procedures, but this guy was a freaking brain surgeon. This should have been easy. He shouldn't look so defeated as he sat by her side. It made her want to wake up immediately, just to make that defeated posture go away-

"Toni?" She blinked - and only then realized she had opened her eyes and sat up without noticing - at Stephen when the man appeared in front of her face, eyebrows drawn down in worry. He was staring at her with shock and wariness, so she put on her signature smile and winked at him.

"Hey, Doc. Come here often?" She expected an eye roll, but instead got a tight but careful hug as she was drawn into Strange's arms. She stiffened at the unexpected action but still brought her own arms around him. "Doc? Hey, I'm okay. No need to worry."

"You complete and utter ass! Idiot! You have no idea how worried I was!" When she chuckled at his worry, he only drew back enough so he could scowl down at her. She was surprised to see his eyes suspiciously red and glassy. There were no tear tracks, though. "Don't laugh! It's not funny, douchebag! That fucking serum of yours was untested and when your armor reacted, I thought you were flatlining! You did flatline! For a whole minute! God, Toni, I am going to kick your ass!" And the neurosurgeon went on and on and on, not minding at all when the tired woman simply leaned forward, resting against his chest as he ranted at her.

Electric blue eyes, though, weren't nearly as still as behind them, two brilliant intelligences reviewed the SHIELD data dump and all of HYDRA's secret projects. Toni pursed her mouth when she watched Romanoff's 'fuck you' to the government and cursed her and Rogers.

'JARVIS, you there?'

-For you Sir, always.- Came the immediate answer.

'We have homework. A lot of homework.'

-Already on it, Sir.-

'Start new file, project SWORD.'

-Starting file.-

00000

"And who are you to judge people, exactly?" Wilson snapped at Strange, glaring at the sorcerer with fake bravado even though he was shaking in his seat. Thanos had swatted him from the air as though he were nothing more than an annoying fly and he was trying to stand up to the man who had singlehandedly defeated him in five minutes. "The devil?"

"Just because I am described as the devil due to being in command of several large legions of demons throughout several dimensions doesn't mean I am the same devil described in various religious contexts." Stephen sounded as annoyed and scornful as that response deserved.

"Do you rule hell?" Barton asked boldly, staring the sorcerer down.

"I could always show you if you're so eager to find out. The Dark Dimension hasn't had to feast on anyone's stupidity in a long while now." Stark had to snort at that. The Dark Dimension is no thing to joke about, but seeing how annoyed Strange was getting, she didn't blame him for bringing it up. She would probably support him, too, if it came down to it. Stephen had a legendary patience, the result of being humbled in Kamar-Taj, meditation, training under the Ancient One and his position as the Sorcerer Supreme. If you manage to really piss him off, then you deserved the retribution they get.

But the Avengers didn't know or get that vibe from the sarcastic man and they obviously didn't have any survival instincts, because Maximoff humphed from where she was slouching in her seat with her arms crossed, glaring at Toni. Toni just knew she was about to say something that will set Stephen off, even before she opened her mouth but it was too late to stop her now.

"Figures Stark knows the devil. Hell is where she belongs, after all."

Toni cursed as she felt the energy in the room snap.

"Strange!" She yelled, trying to be heard over the ripping of reality as Strange easily opened a portal to the Dark Dimension, ready to throw the Avengers through. He seemed to be debating with himself whether he should start with Maximoff or Rogers first. "Control yourself, damn it!" Toni huffed as she pushed Vision and Peter to the floor, Rhodey looking torn between trying to help or following her lead. He'd better choose the latter, because if she can't get Stephen to chill, no one can.

"I am not that kind of devil, Ms Maximoff, but if it is hell you want, I can give you something much, much worse." The Sorcerer Supreme's voice seemed to echo all around them and Toni cursed again as she pushed Peter's head down bellow the table. The portal to the Dark Dimension was now covering an entire wall, displaying all the lost worlds Dormammu had preyed upon in his existence until Stephen had sucked him dry of all of his power. They were lifeless now, housing the demons Dormammu used command and send to Earth in hopes of freeing himself from his prison, but now those same demons served the Sorcerer Supreme, coming near the portal and awaiting orders. There were millionsof them. Billions. So, so many billions that Toni didn't want to think about how many lives Dormammu had destroyed in order to amass this army. The most numerous were the Mindless Ones and she knew, from what Stephen told her, that they used to be actual living people corrupted by Dormammu's dark power. Stephen had wanted to give them back their old existence, but there was simply no way to do it.

The army was an intimidating sight, but not nearly as terrifying as the dimension itself. Most of the Avengers scrambled to follow Toni's lead and duck out of the way of whatever might come at them through the portal. Maximoff, though, was used to being the most powerful Avenger - Thor was never around much, this was Loki's first time fighting with them and Carol had joined the team only recently and this was the first time any of them had seen the full extent of her powers - and she gathered her magic into her hands and sent the concentrated ball of red, misty energy at Strange, only for the Cloak of Levitation to brush it aside as though it was nothing. Those who remained standing could only gawk at how easily a piece of cloth brushed her off and Wanda snarled like an enraged animal, gathering even more energy and hurling her strongest attack at the one person meant to protect the multiverse, thinking she could win. Strange just arched an eyebrow at her condescendingly and put up the universal 'stop' sign with one hand. The red attack stopped in its tracks, hovering in front of the Sorcerer Supreme and disappearing into nothingness when he dismissed it.

"Is it my turn, now?" He asked innocently as Wanda started backing away, well beyond scared now that she realized just who was the stronger magic user. She was an idiot. Loki hadn't tried to assert dominance over Earth's Sorcerer Supreme and she thought she stood a chance?! Toni wanted to shake her head at the young woman's stupidity but she was too busy keeping her kids' heads down in case Stephen did let loose those demons, if just to make a point. Fury and Ross seem to have gotten it. She wondered how long it will take for Team Cap to understand it, too. You just don't mess with people who can do this. "Good."

Gold-orange mandalas came to life in his hands and chaos ensued.

00000

The SHIELDRA data dump was a disaster. Even with Toni's new abilities and JARVIS working right alongside her, it was a tragedy they couldn't prevent. They started too late. Rogers and Romanoff had already uploaded all of SHIELD's/HYDRA's files onto the Internet for the world to see, not even bothering to think about the agents still out in the field or the retired agents or their families. Hell, they didn't even think about the percentage of agents that were involved with HYDRA! They didn't filter the information, they just released it out onto the Internet. The amount of lives they put at risk ...

Toni and JARVIS worked tirelessly all day and night, searching for the agents and their families and friends, sending out suits and creating new identities for them even as they secured them in safe-houses. There were thousands of agents to make accommodations for and faking identities was not an easy task, even for the (now) two deities of the Internet like Toni and JARVIS. Toni was creating new divisions within SI just to accommodate the numbers while the AI was making them their new histories. Time was of the essence, there were so many people to save and every life they were unable to protect, every person they were too late for was like a stigma on Toni's soul. She hated finding so many dead, she hated that there were so many children among them, or old people who could have never fought back. Some of the people who they got to in time wasn't exactly in time. They were beaten half to death or tortured and left to die. Many of them didn't survive the trip to the hospital, even with Stephen opening portals once he woke up after his twelve hour long nap after the stress of the operation and realized how massive an operation Toni was leading. Others didn't make it through the night. Some still haven't woken up and are in coma wards in the Maria Stark Foundation supported and founded hospitals, where all SI employees went for treatment. Many children were left orphans and homeless. Toni had to start an orphanage for them, although it took a week to remodel some old building to be suitable for that function. Luckily, some of the agents gladly took the positions of caretakers.

Maria Hill found herself as Toni Stark's PA, but Toni never doubted who had her ultimate loyalty. Especially not when he received a packet by mail that contained all the documents and paperwork that proclaimed her the new 'owner and handler' of the Avengers Initiative. Still, Maria had become fond enough of her not to piss off the new SWORD (Secret World Observation and Response Department - or rather, Stark's Worrywarts Observation, Response and Defense, not that Toni learned of that, since even JARVIS was a member, the secret director, no less!) agents that have found base within all branches of Stark Industries. She helped as best as she could but Toni trusted her only so far. She always made sure Maria's path never crossed Stephen's. She didn't need Fury poking his nose where it doesn't belong and Kamar-Taj's business is definitely it.

Rogers and Romanoff went off the grid for a while, just long enough for Toni to reach out to Bruce and convince him to move into the new Tower. It was still two months before he showed up, a couple of weeks since the data dump, and Stephen was not at all pleased to hear about it. Not that he feared the Hulk or anything - he'd faced a demon whose pinky finger had more power in it than three Hulks, and was larger, too - but he didn't like it that he couldn't just ... portal in whenever and wherever he felt like it. He was now restricted to solely Toni's floor and office as opposed to the entire Tower. He also disliked the new name lighting up the skyline of New York, said Stark was better than Avengers. Toni wasn't sure why he disliked the idea of the Avengers so much but she figured he had his reasons.

In the meantime, she teased him about him just being jealous, no matter how much he protested - rightfully so, in her own humble opinion - that he had nothing to be jealous of. She liked him much better than the Avengers, although he might have some competition in Bruce.

That opinion changed when Bruce came and she tried to tell him about her most recent misadventures and problems but the man fell asleep at the very beginning. Sure, he can blame it on the jet lag, that he wasn't 'that kind of doctor' or that he didn't have the temperament, but then she remembered Stephen also lacked that diploma and the temperament needed for psychiatry and let's not even begin talking about the crazy hours he pulled, protecting their reality, but the man had never not listened. It put a wedge between them right off and no matter the amount of sciencing they did later on, Bruce still looked confused when she pulled away if they ever got too close, be it physically or emotionally.

Stephen remained unchallenged in his place as her closest friend, besides JARVIS, but JARVIS and the bots were family so they didn't count.

Eventually, things settled and, to her surprise - and Stephen's immense displeasure - one by one, the Avengers started reaching out to her. Steve was first, starting off with a long overdue apology and asking for help to hunt down the remaining HYDRA units, which eventually brought in Romanoff and with her came Barton. Thor eventually made his way to them once he heard they were all gathering in one place and suddenly the Tower was full of people and noise. They were barely living together for one month when Steve introduced them to Wilson so Toni figured she might as well introduce Rhodey, as War Machine was bound to eventually join them in missions. Two months in, the first reports of HYDRA basses in Europe reached them and they were off. Most were dead ends, but they did shut down two units. Toni and JARVIS dove right into making an algorithm to help track them down, but Rogers was impatient and often took some cash, an Avengers credit card Toni had made for all members in case they need to buy something - there was no more SHIELD to finance them and that duty fell to Toni when she became the boss - and would leave for weeks or months on end. Sometimes, Romanoff would disappear with him, other times she would go off with Clint. Thor often went to visit his girlfriend, Jane Foster, and Bruce would run off as soon as he felt overwhelmed.

It annoyed Stephen that they were taking so likely to Toni's hospitality without even giving her a 'thank you' in return, but he wasn't allowed to interact with them. Her employees may know of him - as their boss' eccentric friend that dropped by every now and then and had the highest security clearance other than Toni and JARVIS - but she won't let the Avengers somehow mess up the one relationship she had come to depend on as much as she depended on JARVIS.

So while Stephen was seething at the Avengers' rudeness and ignorance of all Toni was doing for them, Toni used their absence to take care of a few other things. Mainly, HYDRA's not so little list of threats that needed to be taken care of or put under surveillance. Mainly, the part of the list where the names Antonia Stark and Stephen Strange were, the very top, above numerous politicians, scientists and other famous or unknown names.

She had just been working on said list when said man appeared out of portal with word of HYDRA having Loki's scepter and using it to make new supersoldiers and enhanced individuals.

00000

"Are you okay?" Stephen asked her when it was all over, the Tower deserted save for the debris of her Iron Legion and the confused, newly onlined FRIDAY. The Avengers were now staying at the Compound in upstate New York but Toni was retiring from the group. Oh, Iron Maiden was far from over. Toni just refused to be in the same house as that HYDRA murderess that this whole tragedy could be pinned down on.

"I will be, once I fix Sokovia. How 'bout you?" The sorcerer had had to put up one big ass illusion to trick everyone, even Vision and one Wanda Maximoff, who both had the power of the Mind Stone at their disposal, that Sokovia had been heavily populated when Ultron attacked the city. It didn't make the threat any less real, but it would have saved many a lives regardless. She feels sorry for the few people the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj didn't manage to evacuate in time and were really there to see it happen and she was ready to mourn Pietro with the Avengers - he had turned out to be a real hero - but Maximoff had chased her off. Toni still couldn't believe that the Avengers would accept her with open arms after the way she had fucked with their minds.

Then again, those who would argue alongside her against her becoming a part of the team had ran off and the Avengers were still pinning Ultron on her head so her voice and vote didn't count. In fact, they hadn't even asked wheat she thought about it!

Ultron hadn't been her fault. The Mind Stone already had an awareness long before she and Bruce put that thing up for scans. Neither she nor JARVIS tried to wake up that consciousness, well aware that it could be malevolent form the initial scans they got. In fact, Toni had taken the scepter more as a precaution than as a result of the nightmare Maximoff had managed to plant in her head for but a second. Between the pendant Stephen gave her that she never took off and JARVIS constantly in her head due to Extremis, Toni was practically immune to any form of mind manipulation, even apparently against an Infinity Stone, due to her Arc Reactor. Wanda couldn't do nearly as much damage as she had done with Thor and poor Bruce - the Hulk had done a number in Bucharest - but it was enough to make Toni wonder just how dangerous that Scepter was. She would have called in Stepehn right away, but the presence of the Avengers complicated things and this is what it led to.

Maximoff had only herself to blame for her loss.

Toni was tempted to kill her for almost having someone to mourn, too. Had it not been for Extremis connecting them, JARVIS would have become completely absorbed by Vision when he went in to activate the Cradle and make a new template for the Mind Stone to create a new intelligence out of. As it was, JARVIS was restoring all of his lost pieces and resting against her own mind while FRIDAY got used to being online. This was the first time Toni had flown with someone other than JARVIS as her co-pilot, but with FRIDAY's help and JARVIS occasional suggestions, corrections and alterations, they all made out of it alive, even though Toni had had a city fall down on her. She hated leaving Vision at the Compound, but she wanted desperately to have a word with Stephen and the Tower was currently no place to live.

She wondered if Vision even wanted to have anything to do with her.

"I'm fine. Sorry I couldn't get you out of the way of the city. Is Ultron defeated?" Strange had been the first one to reach her, pulling much of the debris off of her suit before Thor arrived to check on her. It was a miracle her armor had held up under the weight. Then again, she had had an armor beneath that armor. And maybe the pendant he had given her helped a little. She really couldn't say. Between magic and technology, it was hard to tell where one means of protection ended and the other began.

"It's cool. And yeah, Ultron's defeated. I had JARVIS lock him in one of the tin men he was using to fight us and Vision took care of him swiftly enough."

"Vision? That's the new red guy, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled fondly as she thought about her newest creation. He may be a mix of her, Banner, Ultron, JARVIS, Dr Helen Cho's Cradle, the Mind Stone and the electricity from Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, but he was as much hers as all of her other AIs. She was probably the only one who acknowledged just how damn young he was. Only a handful of hours, really. He may be mature, but that was because he had come online with JARVIS having directed and written up all of his protocols so he would be ready to fight. And he may seem wise and experienced beyond human comprehending, but that was because of the Mind Stone. In truth, he was extremely young. An infant. And only she and Thor fully supported him. Banner was weary after Ultron - he had as much a hand in creating Ultron as she had but no one ever said anything about it; only she got choked by their resident Asgardian prince - and the others just didn't want to accept that one of hercreations could be more worthy than any of them. But Thor had left for Asgard and Rhodey, Wilson, Maximoff and Vision were left in the hands of Captain America and the Black Widow for 'Avengers training'. "He's great. A little kid in a big, Vibranium body. I should probably worry about that but I'm really not. He has JARVIS' copy of his coding as a template to build upon and I was there when he came online, although so were the other Avengers ... " She trailed off with a frown on her face. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing, not with how volatile everyone has been since Wanda messed with all of their heads.

How, exactly, was it a good idea for her to join the team?

"I'm not sure how well he'll take to the team and I wish I could be there for him, but I resigned from the Avengers-"

"Oh, thankthe Vinshati!"

She ignored his dramatics and went on like he hadn't spoken at all. "And he wanted to stay. From what I understood, he wanted to be ... independent of me and was trying to find his place. Which is fine and nice and all that crap but it doesn't mean he's any less my kid and that I worry about him. You think he will visit?"

"I'm sure he will and I'm sure he will be just fine, but are we seriously not going to talk about the fact that JARVIS sent me a video of Thor choking you while your so called team stood to the side and did nothing? Because if we're not, then I take that as your explicit permission to go and put the fear of the devil in them." Toni choked on her spit and whirled around to look at the dead serious - and dead gorgeous - man standing there in her trashed tower with his arms crossed over his chest, his Cloak for once no where in sight. The scowl on his face couldn't hide his concern, despite him knowing that she now had Extremis to protect and heal her. She wasn't as fragile as she had once been. That never stopped him from worrying, though.

"It's fine, he was angry and-"

"And I will go to Asgard and have a serious talk with him." He even made a move to open a portal, but Tomi rushed over to him and stopped his hands. "Toni, there is nothing that excuses what he did! And the other bastards, too. I'm going to send them all into the Dark Dimension and let the demons there feed on their flesh and souls - which I actually doubt half of them even have - while I watch-"

"In any other situation, I wouldn't stop you." That, however, stopped him as she usually readily blamed herself for everything. She took his pause to continue before he could go on another murderous rant. "But the world needs the Avengers. The things I've seen, Stephen ... I think the Mind Stone combined its power with Wanda's so it can deliver that image to me, that message. That warning. There is something out there, Doc. Something big. Something dangerous. And the Avengers are currently the best Earth has to defend itself."

"It has you." The sorcerer insisted. "It has me and the other sorcerers. It has other heroes who will step up to fight."

"It's an old enemy." Toni replied with only that, not elaborating that vision. She wasn't ready yet. It had taken her weeks to be ready to talk about New York. Thanks to Stephen, the lives lost in Sokovia were minimal. That illusion had taken a serious toil on him, but two thirds of the population of Sokovia had been evacuated before the fight began. The remaining third had mostly been protected and saved by the Avengers' and New SHIELD's efforts. It was still a tragedy, all those lives lost. It will still haunt here. The Maria Stark Foundation and SWORD were setting out tomorrow to start repairing the damage and attempting to restore the lives of all the people that had survived. Sokovia is a mess, the world was shaken and their trust in the Avengers has been lessening and diminished each day since the SHIELDRA fallout. Iron Maiden leaving the Avengers will have a rather negative effect on the team but Toni knew she was needed elsewhere.

The political climate was changing and the view of humanity towards enhanced and superpowered individuals was taking a dangerous dive. The Mutant Registration Act was just the beginning. The Avengers will start up a far worse and more volatile storm. She couldn't waste her influence on babysitting the Avengers when she will soon, no doubt, have to fight for them in a field not even Romanoff could keep head or tails.

Stephen narrowed his eyes and took her face in his hands. "Old or new, just know you don't have to do it alone. And if the Avengers ever overstep, there will be hell to pay."

"So says the devil?" Toni couldn't believe she had it in her to quip and smile. Strange just snorted.

"You betcha."

00000

"Well, now that that's over," Toni dared to drawl when the shitstorm settled, the original Avengers comatose on the floor, with the exception of Rogers and Maximoff, who were hanging upside down from the ceiling and were gagged and bound, to booth. She looked over to where Stephen was now casually sipping the tea he had magicked for himself and was ignoring the awed, scared and wary expressions of the rest of the room, green eyes unerringly focused on her. "I believe we should talk about your payment."

"His what now?" Coulson asked in a whisper, most likely talking to Hill or Fury, but the room was so deathly silent that everyone heard him. And consequentially ignored him, more focused on the two unexpected friends.

Stephen just arched an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Since I owe you for coming to save all of our asses," Toni continued, getting out from under the table, brushing off imaginary dirt - as if Strange would let even that land on her when he was in overprotective mode, like now, apparently - off of her magically repaired undersuit. "And since you've been trying to get one a hell of a lot during these past few years, I am officially accepting to go on a date with you."

The eyebrow just arched higher, this time in surprise, but her remained silent.

The other's, on the other hand ...

"WHAT!?"

"You mean to tell me that all it takes for him," Ross pointed to the silent - terrifying - sorcerer floating contentedly in the air and observing the reaction to Toni's words. "To decimate a superpowered alien with the most powerful artifacts in existence and then plow through the Avengers as if it's child's play is a date with you!? Since when is this normal!? Since when is this my life!?"

Toni herself could only shrug. "He's been asking for a date for a long while now and I kept brushing him off. Since I technically summoned him with the intention of asking something I couldn't achieve or accomplish on my own, it is a bargain, or a deal, with the devil and those always need to be on equal footing. Strange wants a date, so I am giving him a date. It's my payment for his services."

Stephen snorted and settled down on his feet, walking up to her. "I don't want a date. Well, yes, I do, but not because you felt compelled to accept my request. I'd rather you just accept to consider the idea of going out with me rather than going out with me when you don't want to. And besides, taking down that giant purple nutsack is partially to my own benefit, too. Not only did I get rid of a serious threat to the universe - which is my job - I also had an excuse to talk to you again."

"You needed to wait for the end of the world in order to gather the guts to talk to her again?" Hope could only ask with an arched eyebrow while Scott gawked from beside her. "Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"Something like that," they both admitted at the same time, looking away from each other, not caring for the gawking and gapping happening around them. "It was only two months ago!" Toni protested when she saw even Rhodey was looking at them weirdly. Her best friend only groaned at that.

"Wow, that's a way to hold a grudge." Peter commented with a whistle, seemingly impressed. Hope only snorted.

"My father holds a grudge against Howard Stark since before Toni was born and had transfered it onto her when Mr Stark died. That's a grudge." Parker simply gawked at her.

"Is no one going to mention that the Lady of Iron now possesses two very dangerous new battle accessories?" Loki finally interjected, pointedly staring at the two almost forgotten about Gauntlets, gleaming under the artificial light of the office they had all gathered in, the Infinity Stone's content and way too comfortable in their new perch. "Because how she got them is not normal."

"Yeah, I'm confused about that, too." Stark admitted, turning her gaze back onto Strange, who only shrugged.

The real discussion was only just starting.

00000

"You know, this wouldn't have happened if you'd just let me take Maximoff away to Kamar-Taj for some training in her new abilities." Stephen took the time to tell her as they watched the footage from Lagos over and over again while the genius he was talking to was busy simultaneously working on a pardon for the young woman and the Accords Agreement that was being pushed forward a long time before it was actually ready to be put in power, because of what happened in Lagos. "At the very least, we'd have sealed off the excess power so she can't hurt anyone."

"This wasn't her fault. She misjudged how her actions might affect those people who were nearby but not in immediate line of sight. Yes, she should be held partially accountable, but she hadn't done it on purpose."

"You mean, as opposed to joining HYDRA and helping Ultron?" Came the sarcastic reply from her companion, but Toni had to agree. With Maximoff's track record, no one was going to believe that she hadn't intended for all of those people to die or be so badly hurt when the bomb exploded. "And what about the fact that she and the others weren't even supposed to be there in the first place? I heard the Nigerian government wants to declare them terrorists. Not that I'd blame them ... "

"I really don't have the time to discuss this, Doc. I need to try and push for these clauses as soon as possible, because there is a UN meeting tomorrow in Vienna and King T'Chaka needs to read them to see whether he will speak up for these suggestions or not." She replied distractedly as JARVIS streamed the public's response to the tragedy in Lagos while FRIDAY was sending her updates on the Stark Effort group and their progress in finding survivors, injured and those who needed housing until further accommodations can be arranged. She had never before been so grateful for Extremis as she was now and she had never before been so glad to have SHIELD's ex agents on her side than now as she watched them put things back together as best as they could be repaired in the first place.

"I could help, you know."

"Don't you have some big magic meeting in Hogwarts later today?" She snarked at him, enjoying the eye roll her baby girl recorded for her and sent her since her own eyes were glued to the texts before her, physical in the form of paperwork, holographic, digital and the files that her AIs sent directly to her through Extremis. "Besides, these are very delicate. They need the touch of someone who has been in the public eye a lot more recently than a former neurosurgeon hoping to disappear from the world's collective memory because he is actually the devil and immortal. Since I've been in the spotlight since pretty much since my birth, I'm best for the job. Not to mention all the connections I've managed to gather and the fact that King T'Chaka is fond of me. Sorry, Merlin, but this needs to be a personal effort."

"And what do you plan to do about the Avengers and how destructive their methods have become as of late? Ever since you've left, accountability seems to be an abstract word they have never heard or read about before." He did have a point there. It's one of the reasons so many countries were vying for the Accords now. The Avengers were becoming dangerous, not just to the villains they fought, but to the people they had swore to protect. Toni had noticed this tendency long before what happened in Lagos - hell, Romanoff and Rogers nearly killed three thousand people who had any sort of affiliation with SHIELD or were considered a threat to HYDRA's plans in their hurry to 'deliver justice', when simply crashing the Helicarriers would have done the job. Or contacting her and having her hack into them to make them stand down, like Fury would have tried just like he had contacted her regarding the lives of his former agents who now worked for her and were damn safe - but she had always been there before, to smooth things over. What with having been busy about the Accords, searching for Bruce, repairing Sokovia, dealing with SI business and catching up with her favorite sorcerer while constantly working on her suits and practicing the limits of Extremis with J and FRI, Toni hadn't really bothered to check up on how her former teammates were doing. She regretted it now, because this could have been prevented. Not the Accords, those are going to happen whether they liked it or not, but the tragedy in Lagos, all those deaths, could have been stopped.

"That's the whole point of these. Accountability for superpowered or enhanced individuals, or really anyone who's fighting the 'good fight', some restrictions that will prevent them from ever falling under the rule of one agency like it was supposed to under SHIELD - had anyone else but Fury been the director, we'd of been nothing but attack dogs for HYDRA- and legal and human rights for us, too. I'm working towards a clause that allows you to sign under your alias in order to protect the hero's identity if they have a sensitive job, living environment or a family and friends to protect, which is why I need King T'Chaka to speak up for me in front of the UN. If the Accords as they are come to power, it will be like putting a collar on us all. On the other hand, if T'Chaka and I manage to push through for these clauses, it just might make people not fear or hate us again."

"It's not you they fear or hate, despite what some of them keep saying to you." Toni winced at the reference of how random people would come up to her, shove pictures of their dead family members in her face and accuse her for not saving them. Thank whatever higher power that Stephen had cleared out most of Sokovia before Ultron's attack. Had she not gotten in contact with him in time and sent him over there to get those people out while creating an illusion to trick Ultron that the city was full, the casualty report could have been devastating. It didn't prevent the people who hadlost someone from all but assaulting her with their grief. Especially since the suit was now a part of her and she had to restrain it from covering her from head to toe in armor at every skip of her heart due to fear, however brief. It wouldn't do to accidentally hurt, or worse kill, a civilian. People still liked Iron Maiden. Her popularity hadn't abated one iota, as opposed to the rest of the Avengers. Russia, and two dozen other countries, wanted Romanoff's head on a silver platter as it was. Maximoff was even worse of, as she had been seen plenty of time by Ultron's side and some of her former neighbors who knew that also told reporters and the paparazzi that she had ran off with her brother to join HYDRA. Several countries were even vying for Rogers' imprisonment due to the sensitive nature of some information that SHIELD had on them that got released onto the Internet in the data dump. The military and Pepper herself wanted Wilson court martialed because he had all but stolen a military SI project from a few years back. Toni might be getting accosted by grieving civilians, but the rest of the world were reasonable enough to listen to her explanation about how Ultron came to be, as opposed to her former teammates. They didn't blame her for Ultron. They just blamed her for not saving everyone. But they didn't hate her, which meant she had to try and help the other Avengers, too.

The threat she had seen coming in that vision was not one she can fight on her own.

"I know. But this is the right thing to do. I'm sure they'll see that and understand. If anyone, Rogers is certain to agree with me." She smiled at her doubting friend, ignoring how his reaction put her on edge. Stephen wasn't a mind reader - unless he tries - but he could detect and read auras and he had never been fond of Rogers'. Especially not since the fall of SHIELD. He said Rogers was always so secretive around Toni - those few times he barged in and had to hide and observe from the Mirror Dimension until the brunette was free - nervous, uneasy, sometimes showing guilt and wariness, obviously hiding something. It made her a little wary, too, wondering what could make Steve act like that. She just hopes it won't affect the team or the Accords.

They were in enough shit, anyway.

00000

King T'Chaka had told Toni a few times about his kids, his elder son and younger daughter. The prince and princess of Wakanda were both apparently bright people, but Prince T'Challa, when she met him, lacked the easy warmth and kindness King T'Chaka radiated as he introduced her to his son. Toni was quite possibly the only outsider the Dora Milaje, their elite warriors and personal guards, were used to and somewhat comfortable with around their royalty, but T'Challa had no such fondness for her. He stared at her with suspicious eyes as she negotiated point after point with his father, determined to get those clauses into the Accords contract and law. T'Chaka made few objections, added his own thoughts on how to better the things he objected or commented on what people might be pleased with. Wakanda may be small and isolated, but her King was no fool.

Neither was Toni. For all that Wakanda had the world fooled with their act of being some backwater, poor, African country that was awed by a TV, Howard had long since been aware of the true nature of the country and the mountain of Vibranium it sat on. Howard had never been to Wakanda and he never specified how he got the Vibranium for Steve's shield, but he had obviously been aware enough of Wakanda's true nature to get his hands on it. Toni, though, had proofthat Wakanda was not what it presented itself to be. For one, the two men before her were dressed in suits that must have cost a fortune. For another, even Wakandans had to be connected to the Internet if they wanted to search something about the outside world and there were now three masters of the Internet, with JARVIS and FRIDAY constantly reviewing everything that was being posted or searched or downloaded each day, all day long. Looking something up eventually leads to revealing the digital location, even with Wakanda's incredible scramblers. Between J and FRI, no one can hide, no matter how hard someone might try.

Toni had reviewed the scrambling algorithm herself and she was impressed. There was no way a third-world country could do that without having some serious tech. It got her curious, and when Toni Stark was curious, she sated the curiosity and nothing could stand in her way. It was laughingly easy to sneak past all of their firewalls, what with Extremis and her AIs. And when she did, she found a true technological marvel, all due to the Vibranium they possessed and their isolation from the rest of the world. But the paranoid side of her brain, the one that had managed to keep her alive this long, also perceived a great threat in Wakanda, should they ever decide to use their advanced tech on the rest of the world. It made Toni's inventor side itch for a screwdriver and a Jericho Mark XXIV - her brain never rested since she was a kid; with Extremis, those subconscious plans turned into full fledged schematics. Building weapons was in her blood. Just look at how Extremis had responded regarding her suit, which was a weapon. Or an armada - in order to have a counter measure in place but she stilled the urge by remembering what the last built Jericho brought.

She had her eye - or rather, JARVIS' and FRIDAY's sensors and cameras - on them but she felt no need to confront them as of yet.

She shook hands with the King and his heir when they finished the meeting, twenty minutes before the UN Council was supposed to convene, feeling like she had accomplished something and a grin settled on her lips. She was so tempted to take out her phone and call Stephen, but she herself had chided the man about his Hogwarts meeting and she knew whatever he was doing was probably far more important than chatting with her while she was this euphoric. She had twenty minutes of free time on her hands - a very rare thing indeed, these tiresome days - and she was thinking of checking in with Vision - who was on Witch-sitting duty back at the Compound, for the young woman's own sake since many countries pretty much wanted her head on a spike - when an explosion shook the building, shattering glass and breaking several floors of the building. The armor was around her in a second even before she started falling forwards. Her AIs immediately stabilized her before giving her back the reigns as ahe whirled around and flew in the direction the blow had come from, dread filling her stomach when she saw how close it was to where she had parted ways with the Wakandan royals.

When she got there, a grieving T'Challa looked up from his father's all too still body and Toni knew that the fair King was dead. T'Challa did not shrug off her hand when she came to stand beside him and silently mourn a good friend.

00000

The media uproar of the bombing in Vienna combined with the latest events with the Avengers left the Accords ... vulnerable to be manipulated however someone of power and influence saw fit. Without T'Chaka's guiding presence, the Accords Council lost direction and left an opening for none other than General Thaddeus Ross to slink his way in like the weasel that he was. A deranged, obsessed, dangerous weasel that Toni had pissed off in order to help SHIELD keep him off of Banner's back, but a weasel none the less. A truly dangerous one. One that pretty much hated all enhanced individuals, no matter who they are. Not even Captain America passed in his book.

Toni knew the Accords as they are were doomed as soon as she saw that victorious twinkle in the man's eyes.

The number she had memorized long ago 'itched' in her brain, begging to be called upon so Stephen can make Ross 'disappear'. Maybe he'd appreciate enhanced individuals more if he realized what sort of threats they could be facing.

Her former teammates weren't helping the situation. As soon as some news reporter said on the TV that the Winter Soldier - one James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers' best friend and the man he'd apparently been searching for and keeping secret ever since the fall of SHIELDRA - was the main suspect and most likely culprit to have set up the bomb, all hell broke loose. Rogers panicked and he and Wilson grabbed Barnes and tried to escape. Toni later on learned that Sharon Carter, her godmother's niece, was helping them, later even providing them with their confiscated equipment, but that happened after Rogers resisted arrest, hospitalized a dozen and killed three law enforcers in his haste to keep Barnes out of jail, engaged in a highway super enhanced chase with the new King of Wakanda, the Black Panther himself, which ended up in a collapsed bridge that killed a family of four and seven other people, was arrested, brought in, all but spat on the Accords and proceeded to break out with Barnes and Wilson.

By the time the airport battle happened in Germany, Wilson, Barnes and Rogers were long since international criminals and Maximoff's chances of keeping her visa and her freedom had dwindled close to zero. It hit zero with a loud gong when the Scarlet Witch crashed Vision through a dozen floors of reinforced concrete in the Avengers Compound when Barton came to recruit her for 'Team Cap'. Whatever good will Toni had had in ensuring her freedom disappeared when she found out what happened to her youngest creation. The Witch was going to prison, Avenger or not.

Her team had shocking new additions. T'Challa insisted on coming to ensure the murderer of his father faced justice, and not just Wakandan justice, something she had had to get through his thick, revenge-preoccupied skull. Romanoff she didn't trust for a second and she didn't want her by her side, but she had surprised Toni by signing the Accords almost immediately. Ross wanted her out in the field and Toni had no choice but to take her along. Vision and Rhodey were a given, they had agreed with the Accords immediately and knew of the changes Toni was fighting for. The biggest surprise was this kid from Queens, Spider-Man, Peter Parker, who idolized and hero-worshiped her almost even more than Harley. Almost. They were equal in it. He was one hell of an enhanced kid and had a strong moral compass to booth. Toni wondered if Erskine saw this in Rogers, what she saw in Peter. Only difference? Peter never wanted to kill or overly hurt someone. Rogers had wanted to go to war, fight, hurt and kill as many Nazis as he could. They were like night and day.

She didn't dare call on Strange. The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj were meant to remain secret so they can fulfill their duties of protecting reality without being disturbed. Joining in on this clusterfuck would have had the exact opposite effect.

Rogers had a few surprises of his own, namely Ant Man, with his shrinking suit, and Barton, who was supposed to be retired with his family. Toni wasn't sure Laura even knew where her husband was. Wanda didn't look all that apologetic for what she had done to Vision and Toni had to send him digital hugs to comfort the android when he realized the extent of his emotions wasn't returned by his 'girlfriend'. Toni was extra surprised they allowed Barnes to fight. The Winter Soldier could be triggered far too easily and that put everyone in danger. Luckily, Toni had had JARVIS and FRIDAY warn the airport ahead so that the civilians could be evacuated and the planes diverted to other airports.

The aftermath of the battle had her extra thankful for the precaution, even as she felt Extremis burn under her skin as she watched Rhodey being wheeled away to ER so they can try to save his spine. She called Stephen, told him to get his but over to the operating room and save his friend before going to the RAFT.

It was time to end this and if Rogers won't do it, Toni will.

00000

"Can you really apply our normal to artifacts of infinite power and as old as the universe itself?" Stephen asked, looking around the room before his eyes settled on Toni. "Besides, the way I see it, this is the perfect defense against those like Thanos who seek to abuse that power."

"I don't follow." Gamora, the green alien woman from the Guardians of the Galaxy, admitted with a frown. She had stayed mostly quiet but she was curious now as to what the man meant.

"Think about it. With two Gauntlets instead of one, no one can use the Stone's power together and disintegrate half of all living creatures in the universe with just a snap of their fingers. All six Stones may be together in one place, but there is no artifact that can control them all at once anymore." Strange explained and it sounded ... reasonable. Brilliant, even, only one part didn't make sense.

"And why did the original Gauntlet morph into two only when Dr Stark touched it?" T'Challa asked with a glance at the woman in question before turning his gaze back to Strange.

Stephen only grinned. "Who better than the one woman who singlehandedly stopped Thanos in the first invasion?"

"Wait, you're the one who destroyed the Chitauri with a single weapon?!" Rocket the Raccoon asked with a sort of reverence in his voice that had Toni arching an eyebrow at Strange as he continued grinning.

"Seriously?"

"The galaxy ought to know who flew that nuke through the wormhole." The sorcerer replied and Toni could just see Fury massaging his forehead from the corner of her eye. She wondered if he'd dare do that if she informed Stephen just who sent her to do it in the first place.

"And we'll make sure of it." Peter Quill's declaration had several others groaning but the Guardians looked excited by the prospect. "Now, about the Stones-"

"We should separate them." Gamora interjected before Peter might put his foot in hi mouth. He pouted at her, but the green woman was a fierce, feisty warrior, ten times as skilled as Natasha, and Quill knew better than to piss her off. "That will serve to further protect the universe if someone tries to collect them all. It will at least give us time to prepare or respond. Or any future generation, for that matter. I doubt Thanos is the only one who wants them."

"Kamar-Taj can take the most dangerous one. We can keep it safe. I'm already immortal, so you can be sure that I will make sure it stays safe and unused." The Sorcerer Supreme offered and Toni wondered whether they should just give allof the Infinity Stones for him to hide away in different pocket dimensions so no one can reach them again. It would be for the best. Each Stone would have the same amount of security and secrecy as the rest of them. That way, people like Thanos would never know where to find them or have a way to reach them. Evidently, Fury had the same line of thought because he asked Stephen why they couldn't simply do that in the first place. Stephen only snorted. "The Space and Reality Stones would find a way to re-enter our dimension and would disappear off to who knows where, so they would be up for grabs easily enough. And if you have them, no dimension is secure. The Infinity Stones are drawn to each other. Eventually, someone will figure out how to use that and will be able to locate the other Stones, completely unprotected. And I never said that whatever Stone you give me I would put in some other dimension. Not only is it impractical, it's also dangerous. As I stand to protect the multiverse, I would not do something so foolish that could oh so easily destroy it or throw it out of its fragile balance."

"Then how are you planning on protecting whatever Infinity Stone you might potentially be given?" Fury asked with a glare, bold enough to challenge the man who just soloed Thanos an hour or so ago. Then again, they were talking business and Nick was always unflappable when talking business.

"Simple," but the former neurosurgeon was even more so. He was immortal and the Sorcerer Supreme, not to mention an arrogant bastard. "I would simply put it into this."

He motioned downwards and Toni couldn't believe it.

00000

Extremis was a blessing. Not only did it stabilize Pepper's condition after Killian tried to inject her with the original virus and forever connect Toni with her suit and JARVIS - and now FRIDAY, too - but it also increased Toni's healing factor, heightened her awareness, sped up her cognitive processes, conscious and subconscious, enhanced her reflexes and strength. And, most of all, it made her far more durable. When fighting two supersoldiers, it was vital for her survival.

And as she stared at Rogers bloodied, shocked and betrayed face, Toni couldn't help but be proud of her achievement.

Extremis had proven better than any super soldier serum ever could.

She had went far out of her way to find out the truth behind the bombing of Vienna to make sure Barnes wasn't really at fault in order to know whether she was hunting down the wrong man. Turned out, HYDRA was still active, to a point, and had framed Barnes for whatever reason. Point was, there was evidence, evidence Toni presented to the UN and T'Challa in order to clear Barnes' name regarding the explosion, but Ross still wanted them brought in and was trying to interrogate the captured members of Team Cap, meaning everyone but Barnes and Rogers. T'Challa refused to work with the Black Widow because both he and Toni knew she had stopped him from bringing them in and neither trusted her. T'Challa didn't know what to think anymore and stayed behind, brooding, while Toni went down to the raft and tried to get someone to tell her where the two supersoldiers were. Sam ended up spilling the beans after she promised to go alone as a friendly. She promised, sent the Accords and UN Councils the very classified information regarding RAFT that Ross hadn't informed them about along with a ton of other dirt on the man so they can arrest and imprison him and left to see if she can help the two supersoldiers before they further escalate this international incident.

T'Challa followed her, but she let him. It was his business, after all.

But Siberia turned out to be far more painful than she had expected and she will be haunted by it for years. Because, in that bunker, she found out the truth about her parents' and Jarvis' 'car accident'. Barnes at least had the decency to be ashamed, regretful and sorry. Rogers, who had known about it and never bothered to tell her until she was shown the recording of Barnes' smashing her father's face repeatedly into the wheel and choking her mother to death and then snapping Jarvis' - who was apparently there to act as a bodyguard since he used to be Peggy's occasional partner out in the field when she was still a secret agent and was tasked with keeping the bastardized super soldier serum safe - neck, had no such decency and dared tell her it wasn't Bucky, as if that mattered when she had grieved and blamed her father's drinking for it. Reopening that old wound made her snap when combined with what was happening to her current family - Rhodey's fall, Vision's guilt and broken heart - and she lashed out, punching Barnes with only the armor's might. If she had wanted him dead, as Rogers would later insist, she would have combined Extremis with that strength or she would have simply destroyed him with her repulsor fire, lasers or one of the dozen different kinds of missals the suit was packed with. Rogers ended up escalating things and neither he nor Barnes were holding back as they teamed up against her. JARVIS and FRIDAY, whose core coding demanded to protect her, were urging her to fight back much the same, but Toni had enough of presence of mind to not respond to that because her deadly force can knock out the Hulk. Case and point, the Hulkbuster armor vs the Hulk. Her current armor was more than enough to knock down these two, as proven when she flung Rogers away.

Only for her to panic when Barns grabbed the suit's Arc Reactor and tried to crush it with his metal arm. She neither had the presence of mind nor the will to prevent her own need to defend what had essentially been her lifeline for half a decade and she let the unibeam blow the Winter Soldier's metal arm off completely from his shoulder. But then Rogers was on her, laying in on her, knocking her down and hitting her with his fucking Vibranium shield. She tried to defend herself without the use of her weapons, just to kick him off, but even with Extremis to back up her strength, Rogers had pinned her down good and the slams of the shield rained down on her one after the other. A lucky hit smashed her helmet, leaving her head and neck vulnerable to what will be a death strike. Rogers already had his shield raised when Toni put her hands up to protect her face, knowing that even if her hands suffered from the initial blow, Extremis will help her prevent her own death.

But then Rogers betrayed her in a way only Stane had ever managed, bringing down the shield on what, as far as he knew, was the suit's only energy source and could have still been her only saving grace had she not had that surgery months after New York. She felt that reactor turn off like a snapped bone, the suit growing cold around her like a crushed limb, as Rogers still sat on her, panting from the effort it took him to bring her down.

Toni snapped like a string pulled too far and engaged Extremis, her other reactor - the one only a handful of people knew about that housed nanobots of her other, constant suit - surging upwards and connecting to the suit he had just offlined. The plating shifted and Toni felt the armor surge back to life like walking on a leg that had been sat on, that pins and needles feeling, and she didn't hesitate one second to power up the repulsors in her gauntlets, firing at Rogers' face and point-blank distance, uncaring of how well his serum may protect or heal him later because she was not allowing him to be a second Stane. He will not walk away while she struggled to deal without an Arc Reactor. She got up to her feet and ran checks on the armor, trying to ignore J's and FRI's purrs of pleasure at what Rogers got. Her helmet was destroyed but she didn't need her HUD or any special speaker or interface system to reach out and contact the authorities.

Which is how she found herself staring at the bloodied Steve Rogers, sprawled on the ground and in special cuffs she had made to restrain enhanced people like him - or some very strong extraterrestrial threats that she perceived may come due to the vision she saw relatively not too long ago - Zemo being dragged out of his can not so subtly or quietly by T'Challa, also ready to be dragged to prison and court. Rogers was apparently shocked she would fight back. That she would injure him to this degree. Half of his face was in burns, since not even his oh so precious serum could stand up to 12% of the repulsor's power. He should feel lucky that she hadn't used the unibeam on him. Even 1% of unadulterated, unprocessed, pure Arc Reactor energy could deform Vibranium. Toni had limited resources and data, but from what she had gathered, even Vibranium had its breaking point and Starkenium was its weakness.

"Dr Stark," T'Challa said while they awaited the local authorities' transport, keeping a tight grip on Zemo, studying the two supersoldiers in front of them. "I do not wish to intrude on your business, but I, personally, have acted wrongly against Sargent Barnes and my country's ways demand I make amends. If you will allow, I wish to offer aid to Sargent Barnes in any way I can. Wakanda can-"

"Not to burst your bubble, Kitty Cat, but from what I understand of Wakanda, you're country and way of life is pretty much a form of Utopia. You don't know how to deal with the type of mental damage and trauma Sargent Barnes experienced as the Winter Soldier. I know you want to help get rid of the trigger words, but you just don't have the understanding to deal with them and you will need time to develop a way to eradicate them. Time Sargent Barnes will not get for all the crimes he committed-"

"Bucky is innocent! Have you no heart, Stark, that you wouldn't even allow him to get treatment when offered! He is a victim in all of this!"

Toni expertly ignored Rogers' rant, continuing with her response as if he had never even made a peep. "Recently, what with resisting arrest, destroying private and public property and transport, endangering lives and causing casualties and illegally crossing sovereign boarders of half a dozen countries. There is no doubt that they will try to pin the Winter Soldier's crimes on him as well, which is where you can help him by attaining him an attorney or a team of lawyers. I fear Wakanda, for all it's ... backwater ways," and T'Challa went rigid when he caught her drift almost immediately, understanding that she knew. He kept wisely silent. "Simply doesn't have the appropriate experience to deal with a WWII, Cold War, HYDRA, brainwashing and mind control victim with how peaceful your lives are. I suggest you attain him legal support and possibly a place to recover once he gets the appropriate treatment. A psychological evaluation will have to be done pre and post treatment for the sake of the trial that will happen only after Sargent Barnes is deemed stable."

"I admit Wakanda has not had such a ... violent past, nor do we possess the experience to deal with it," the new King said as if it pained him to admit that his home, as advanced as it was, was not the best at something. Toni smothered a grin because she knew there were plenty of things Wakanda was not the best at that the outside world was. And not all of them were bad. But that was not the point of this conversation. "But if not Wakanda, then who will treat Sargent Barnes' ... condition?"

"I will." She said without pause, ignoring the way Barnes stiffened and Rogers' cries of protest. T'Challa looked at her dubiously. "I know what this may seem like, but I can assure you that it's not the case. I actually have a PhD in psychology that's not very widely known, since I needed it for my project, BARF or Binarily Agumented Retro-Forming, a system meant to help deal with PTSD, past regrets or painful memories. I will, of course, work side by side with any psychologists the international court and you, yourself, as Sargent Barnes' legal proxy and anyone who can pass as his medical proxy, choose, due to my own involvement, but now that the initial rage has passed, I can think clearly and I know Sargent Barnes is not directly responsible for the murder of my parents. You can rest assured that I will not, in anyway, be involved with Barnes' legal process nor will I sue him. Mr Rogers, on the other hand, I will burn to the ground."

"I owe nothing to him so it is none of my business."

Toni grinned at the young king, just as JARVIS alerted her that the authorities have arrived. "Kitty Cat, this is a start of a beautiful friendship."

00000

Toni stared in disbelief as Strange pointed down towards what was essentially his symbol as the Sorcerer Supreme, beyond stunned while the rest of the room didn't have the slightest idea why he was pointing to his pendant. Well, Loki and Thor might know, maybe Valkyrie, although she was too busy drinking herself stupid to even care about the conversation taking place. And Thor was more focused on glaring at Strange for having challenged him earlier on to even look at the pendant. Then again, Loki was the more savvy one, especially where magic was concerned. There was a good chance Thor had no idea what the Eye of Agamotto was, or at least what it looked like.

Toni, though, was not offered that bliss. "You can't just go and stuff an Infinity Stone in that thing!" She exclaimed, looking at him as though he were crazy. Stephen just shrugged, settling back into his seat.

"Sure I can. The Eye of Agamotto was meant for storing great amounts of power or helping harness it. It's what helped me master the power I got from Dormammu. I was too new to all that energy I had absorbed and it was all so dark and cold and ... vile, vicious. Had it not been for the Eye of Agamotto - and Wong; can't forget what Wong and his family have been doing for me over the years - I would have probably become Dormammu's second coming, only worse since I can absorb pure magic. An Infinity Stone will probably be a challenge for both me and the Eye, but I've never backed down from a challenge before."

"So it's true?" Loki rushed out before Toni could tell him exactly what she thought about him being that stupid. "I've always thought the rumors I've heard about Dormammu's fate to be just that, rumors, most likely false ones, too. I've never imagined that it could be true."

"Can someone please explain because I'm lost here." Bruce finally spoke up, evidently having at last recovered from the fight and the time he spent as the Hulk. He looked possibly even more exhausted than Toni felt, but, then again, the fight had lasted for several hours. It was a lot to demand of his body when he had been tired and hungry even before Thanos arrived for Vision's Stone and the fight began. They were lucky to have had any sort of help in the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had hurried to their rescue as soon as they found out Thanos had somehow gotten his hands on the Soul Stone from its secret location on Vormir. It had been a tough fight and the Hulk had received quite a beating in order to prevent the less invulnerable Avengers from Thanos' battle wrath. To see the Hulk so easily beaten into the ground without the use of any of the Stones had shaken them all but Toni had never been one to give up when things goth tough. Maybe she and Strange had too many things in common.

"Dormammu is, was a powerful being from another dimension, the Dark Dimension to be precise." Thor explained, finally getting tired of glaring at Stephen and instead contributing to the discussion at hand. "It is often said he was as old as time itself but lives well outside of it. He conquers planets and realms for no other reason than because he can and he takes the species he finds there to make himself an army of obedient demons, the most numbering ones being the Mindless Ones. You have seen his handiwork." He glared at Stephen again, who just shrugged as if to say 'What can you do?'

"The process is irreversible and their obedience is automatic. There was nothing I could do."

The blond Asgardian huffed before turning back to his explanation. "Dormammu has the power of a god, much stronger than any Asgardian or even Surtir, the fire demon that is said will bring about Ragnarok, or the Allfather. No one has ever been able to fight or defeat him, although our mother always said someone bearing the title 'Soecerer Supreme' has managed to keep him trapped in the Dark Dimension, isolated from the rest of existence so he cannot bring chaos, suffering upon us all."

"However, about three centuries ago, it was said that this 'Sorcerer Supreme' was betrayed by one of his-"

"Her." Stephen immediately corrected and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Her students, she was killed and Dormammu was unleashed upon our reality, Midgard first in his path. But within an hour of his freedom, Dormammu suddenly died, disappeared, off of the face of the universe, nowhere to be seen or sensed. Mother says that he is not sealed away. Heimdall couldn't find him." At this, the imposing Asgardian only nodded silently, as if ashamed that he couldn't see what no longer existed. "We knew he couldn't have been ... Well, to be honest, we weren't sure what he couldn't have been, but we knew his power couldn't be completely gone, as the Dark Dimension still existed. Had it been destroyed, the scales of universal balance would have tipped dangerously and all would be lost, as the Dark Dimension is essential in existence, no matter how, well, dark. We had no idea what has happened, but then interesting rumors reached Asgard."

"That the new Sorcerer Supreme had swallowed Dormammu." Valkyrie filled in with a silly grin. "And was messing around with his powers. And armies. Guess the rumors weren't all that wrong."

Everyone but Toni turned to look at Strange with even more wariness and awe, but there was respect there now, too. To be expected. Strange had done the impossible and had protected their world. That deserved a lot of respect. And it made his feat of kicking Thanos' ass seem insignificant.

"That must have taken away your mortality, though. Dormammu truly was what you humans would call a god." The god of mischief commented with a hum, studying the Earth sorcerer closer, curious.

"I prefer the devil, actually." Stephen shrugged it off, but was obviously uncomfortable with this turn of the conversation.

"And the eye of avocado?"

"Agamotto," Stephen, Toni, Loki, Valkyrie, Heimdall and Thor all corrected Quill together with a roll of their eyes in perfect sync.

Rocket waved them off, continuing for his friend. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, who cares." The ex doctor looked highly offended by that but the raccoon beat him to the next word. "What's that trinket got to do with the Infinity Stones?"

"Well, as I've said," Stephen glared with a huff, earning himself an eye roll from the rodent. "It can store wast amounts of energy. As I've been dealing with Dormammu's power for three hundred years by now, I am the best qualified person here to store one of the Stones and to protect it. I'm suggesting the most dangerous one because I will outlive all those who are in any way involved into this so I can protect the Stone from future generations and the future generations from it."

"Then you should take the Power Stone. Without it, the other Stones can't be controlled." Star Lord immediately suggested but Toni vetoed the idea just as quickly. "What, you got a better suggestion?"

"Time." She replied without hesitation. "Time is the most dangerous. If used incorrectly or carelessly, it could rip apart existence itself. And whoever has it could reverse whatever damage was done upon them in the struggle to stop them from fulfilling their goal. He should protect the Time Stone."

"The Power Stone is also very dangerous." Drax pointed out, supporting his friend's idea. Toni just shook her head.

"The Power Stone used to be contained, right?" The Guardians nodded. "Then contain it again and hide it away. There's gotta be a place in the universe where it can naturally hide the Stone's energy signature! Besides, as I've said before, the Time Stone can easily fuck over the universe. It needs the extra protection."

"I like the way you think. I'll take the Time Stone, then." Her friend nodded and the Cloak flapped its collars in agreement. She smiled at the show of support.

"You seem to be good at this," Fury commented, sitting down and steeling his fingers in front of his face as he looked at her over them. "What's your plans for the other ones?"

Toni hesitated for only a second before she said tentatively. "I think the Soul Stone should stay with me."

"WHAT!?" It seemed to be a day of yelling, especially that word.

Toni wondered whether it was worth it.

"And why would it stay with you instead of going back to Vormir?" Mantis, the gentlest of the Guardians, asked while the rest of the room gawked at Iron Maiden.

"Tones," Rhodey bemoaned, looking at her with pleading eyes. Strange's eyes were sharp and intent as always and she felt them on her as surely as she felt the two Gauntlets on her hands.

"I'm guessing the Mind Stone will be returned to Vision," Fury commented, also staring at her, trying to see through her, to figure out how she ticks. "And with Strange getting the Time Stone, that would make two Stones and two very good reasons for anyone out there to target Earth. Wouldn't it be too dangerous to leave a third one here, too, Stark?"

"Yes, Vision would get the Mind Stone back, if it were up to me." Toni confirmed, keeping her voice strong and steady as she regarded the room's attention on her. "He already knows how to deal with it and can protect it unless faced with the other five already in someone's possession. Loki had handled the Tesseract before, which has the Space Stone, so I would suggest we give it to him for protection. He is a powerful sorcerer himself. I'm sure he can avoid a second Thanos. I think Thor should go and hide the reality Stone somewhere, or lock it up in Asgard or something. Keep it hidden, protected. And since the Guardians have dealt with the Power Stone before, they get to chose how they will hide and contain it. But nobody has wielded the Soul Stone before. No one knows how Thanos found it or how to hide it. The Arc Reactor in my chest can hide its signature. I am the best one qualified to hide this particular Stone as I'm actually pretty sure I can't remove it from the Gauntlet."

Everyone was nodding along before that last part registered and another "WHAT!?" echoed through the room. Toni just shrugged.

"It's attracted to people who have suffered loss and pain. To those who understand the value of a life, of a soul. Since I've lost a lot and never changed ... And since I can create artificial life and souls, it kind of ... grew on me?" At their stupefied expressions, Toni looked away, feeling a flush overcome her cheeks. "It's ... Talking to me. In my head. And I know I'm not delusional because JARVIS and FRIDAY can hear it, too."

"Who are JARVIS and FRIDAY?"

"JARVIS is alive?!" Gamora and Bruce asked at the same time, looking at each other in shock. Stark just shrugged.

"Never died, was just forced into sleep mode for a while until he got all his coding parts back from when Ultron dispersed him. And JARVIS and FRIDAY are my Artificial Intelligences. They help be fly the suit and with running my business or my projects and inventions. Say hi, guys."

"Hello."

"Hi." The two AIs did as told, although they sounded somewhere between amused and bland, uninterested. In truth, they, along with Toni, were trying to figure out the new presence that was sharing their ... 'mind space' with them, communicating in impressions and sensations that they could somehow interpret as actual sentences. Toni swore she had no idea how this became her life.

"Why and how would your AIs be able to hear that?" T'Challa, a man who came from an impossibly technologically advanced country - for Earth - that apparently still somehow hadn't managed to make a better AI than a Siri knock off, asked, curious. And Toni realized she still hadn't informed anyone other than Stephen about Extremis 3.0. Oops. Well, no time like the present, right?

"Because I am the world's first technopath and can communicate with machines."

She was ready for the "WHAT!?" when it came.

00000

Toni left it all to T'Challa as soon as FRIDAY informed her that Rhodey's surgery was over. She immediately told her baby girl to show Stephen where she was and moments later, a sparkling portal opened right in front of her. Thankfully, even in her state of frantic need to see what was essentially her big brother, she had remembered that not everyone was friends with the 'devil' himself and so she had flown away far enough from the bunker to not be seen when the magical gateway opened for her, Stephen waiting in scrubs on the other side, offering her an outstretched hand like the gentleman he is. She stepped through without an ounce of hesitation or doubt, accepting his hand and watching as he let the portal collapse.

She flinched when she saw the rage in his impossibly green eyes as he took in the damage, both to her person and to the armor. Right. She forgot about that in her haste to come and see Rhodey. And she forgot about her overprotective witch doctor and his reaction to the fact that Extremis was still taking this long to repair the damage, which said quite a lot about said damage. If it hadn't been for Extremis, her ribcage would have been broken beyond repair by now due to the force Rogers had used and she would have bled out or died of a punctured lung back in Siberia. If it hadn't been for Extremis turning her Arc Reactor into a nanobot housing unit, Rogers would have killed them all when he smashed his shield into it and broke it or she would have been left with no way to contact anyone in a broken suit, left to die in the Siberian cold. And seeing as she had simply just called Stephen in to fix Rhodey without a single explanation offered, the immortal man was left in the dark beyond anything the medical staff might have slipped and that was never going to cover Siberia.

Rogers was in for a fright, if she ever let Stephen do it.

"How is he?" She asked immediately, before he could start asking his own questions because, if he did, there was a possibility - more like a 99.9% probability - that he will storm off on a war path before she could ask him about Rhodey. She could easily see him forcing himself to enter his doctor mentality and she was grateful he was reigning in his rage for now. Toni really couldn't take the suspense of not knowing about her friend's status anymore.

"He's stable. They brought him in with just enough time for a neurosurgery and I managed to stitch his nerves back together. He'll need to stay in bed for at least three weeks and go to intense physical therapy for at the very least three months before he can walk on his own again, that is if he's strong enough. If not, then probably up to five months of therapy will be needed. I don't recommend he pilot the War Machine suit until he has fully recovered and that means when his physical therapist says he has fully recovered." He glared at her, as if daring her to argue. It probably had something to do with her own not staying out of the suit until fully healed. It just wasn't her style to remain still and idle for so long. But Rhodey was saner than her and didn't have a mind that was running and working and calculating and designing 24/7. Sure, he'll go stir crazy, but that will happen only after those three weeks he's not supposed to leave the bed. "His other injuries are minor, not even a broken bone or a bruised rib. He's currently under to spare him the pain, but he'll probably be waking up in two days time. Nerves need more after-surgery time to heal and if he were to wiggle around now, he'd likely undo all of my work. He'll be just fine, Toni. He's a fighter. Colonel Rhodes will be up and about in no time."

Toni sighed in relief, feeling lightheaded. She wasn't even thinking when she simply leaned forward and rested herself on Stephen, trusting him to support her weight, even with the armor on. It's not as if it would be the first time he made her weightless so he can carry or drag her around. He'd once explained it to her, but she was suddenly so tired that she couldn't remember. It was too much. The stress, the grief, the fighting, the betrayal, finding out the truth behind her parents' death and now this ... She was physically and emotionally exhausted. She couldn't take it anymore. She can't be here right now. She had to get away. She needed to go somewhere safe. Somewhere where she can hide and lick her wounds in peace but the thought of being alone terrified her, too. Romanoff was still out there, somewhere. Rogers was a supersoldier. Even with T'Challa around, he could find a way to escape and come after her. She wasn't safe, the world was narrowing down, walls of steel and rock closing in on her, yelling in foreign languages she hadn't known, a shield coming down on her Arc Reactor, a hand ripping it out, one moment Obie's, the next a metal arm and she couldn't breathe!

"Toni," came a familiar, comforting voice, calling for her even while two other intimately familiar voices recited litanies of the time, her location, the weather, the status of all her loved ones, including the one above her - when had she slid down to her rear, taking down Stephen, too, kneeling beside her and trying to calm her down - who they so rarely knew the condition and situation of. "I need you to breathe for me, okay? Count with me." A slightly scarred hand was holding her own against a deeply breathing chest, trying to guide her through the panic attack. It was working. It took her a while, but between JARVIS, FRIDAY and Stephen, Toni finally got over it and calmed down significantly.

But the damn was broken and Toni started sobbing as soon as she had the air for it. The sobs and cries shook her whole body as she finally allowed herself to break down and cry for her parents and beloved butler. She felt familiar arms wrap around her, releasing the manual latches on her broken suit and gathering her against a strong chest. She continued crying, losing all composure she had forced onto herself the second Rogers destroyed the suit's reactor. She had managed to keep it together because she had had a goal in front of her and T'Challa was there. She wouldn't break down in front of the three enhanced men. She would have been vulnerable like never before. She wasn't safe with them.

But she had always felt safe around Stephen. There had never been a day that he did not manage to bring her comfort. He had been her support ever since the whole palladium poisoning bit, maybe even from the moment they met. He hadprovided her a distraction from both Agent and her haunting memories of Afghanistan. Strange was safe. Even when the whole world around her was in chaos, spinning out of control and becoming a scary place that was practically racingtowards her worst nightmare, he was the one stable point, never budging, never moving, always grounding her when she needed it the most. He wasn't like Rhodey and Pepper, trying to prevent her from taking flight again when she got stir crazy. He knew what she needed and he let her have it while keeping her safe and having her back. He was holding her down yet it was never restraining or restricting.

It had never really occurred to her just how much she trusted him until she was ready to cry in front of him. Something she had only ever done in front of Jarvis and JARVIS. Not even her mother had ever seen her cry. Not even Rhodey or Pepper, because she had to be strong for them. She always had to be strong.

It was a relief to be weak for once and for it to be okay.

"Come on," Stephen said as he gathered her up in his arms, sweeping her off of her feet as easily as if he had Extremis. He held her close as he opened a dimensional rift and stepped through it, holding her tight. Toni was so exhausted and so comfy that she didn't bother to look up from where her face was buried in the crook of his neck, her tears finally stopping. She did look up when cool air hit her, surprising her with that crisp, clean, fresh mountain air she had gotten used to associating with Stephen. Lifting her head caused her to gasp because the view that greeted her was beautiful. Beyond the ancient looking temple like buildings one would see in a karate or kung-fu movie was what could only be Mount Everest itself, staring down from its immense, snow-covered highs at the genius cradled in the Sorcerer Supreme's arms. Or it at least felt like it. Unlike in Europe, it was day here, sunlight shinning through the few clouds that had gathered, warming the air, which was much cooler here due to its proximity to the mountain and being at a higher altitude. But it was infinitely warmer than in Siberia and Stephen was warm against her, which only caused her comfort and made her even more sleepy, only this time out of content. And then Stephen turned around, so she could see the magnificent courtyard full of people of both genders, various body builds, ages and natinalities, all training together, making glowing mandalas. Beyond them, an amazing view of the market and village-city bellow completed the picture and Toni knew where she was even before she was told.

The master teaching the class and all the pupils stopped upon noticing the Sorcerer Supreme's presence and, without casting a second glance at his precious burden, bowed as one in greeting. Toni felt ridiculous, almost as if she were Simba from Lion King.

Stephen had no such reservations, smiling down at her gently. "Welcome to Kamar-Taj, Toni Stark."

00000

Toni didn't need two hours after she got some of the best sleep of her life to become the absolute favorite among the Masters and apprentices alike at Kamar-Taj. Her boundless energy, infinite curiosity and never ending questions would have annoyed anyone else, but here, where knowledge and questions were encouraged, she fit right in, even though she never even tried to do magic. She would just laugh the offers off with gentle eyes while demonstrating the things shecan do with technology. Many of the people there had not come purely for spiritual enlightenment, so they enjoyed the sight of technology more modern and more advanced than just an Internet modem or their phones and laptops. Even here, Iron Maiden was a celebrity, especially among the few teenagers here and there. The few scientists who had come here for answers that no one else could give and had ended up becoming sorcerers said she was a breath of fresh air and picked her brain in various topics.

She met all the Masters, including the guardians of the three Sanctums, one of which was in her own city, New York. Stephen even took her on a tour of all three, showing off all of the ancient magical artifacts and books they held there or the many gateways they led to. The one in New York was the most important one, as it existed in the exact 'crossroads' of all of the dimensions, and so it was called Sanctum Sanctorum. It was never to fall, or else all would be lost, or so it used to be for millennia before Strange came and absorbed all of Dormammu's magic, killing the demon as he was consisted only of magic. As an engineer, Toni had told Stephen that was a major design flaw, earning her laughter from an unexpected source. Wong VII was Stephen's best friend and the librarian at Kamar-Taj, a great honor and a dangerous job, seeing as the books he protected hid some of the most dangerous secrets in the universe. He was grumpy and had the best poker face slash resting bitch face on the face of the planet and was utterly done and exasperated with Stephen. It was apparently hard to make him laugh, but he was a good guy. He indulged Toni's curiosity when Stephen was called away for Sorcerer Supreme business, showing her off said library and answering her numerous questions with an amusement and patience he apparently didn't have for the pupils.

He did, however, freak out when JARVIS and FRIDAY spoke up for the first time, scaring the shit out of him and causing him to nearly hit Toni with a stray defensive spell meant for any sneaky attackers that might try to, well, sneak up on him. That, unfortunately, ended badly for him because Strange had not been kidding when he said the pendant he gave her would protect her from any type of magic. Wong had been extremely surprised to see her pull it out of her pocket, informing her that it used to be mandatory to all sorcerers, to help them see the invisible demons Dormammu would send into their world but that they were no longer in use since said demons obeyed the Sorcerer Supreme now.

"Then why have sorcerers at all, if no demons will attack?" Toni had asked, confused, as she ran a finger over the pendant. Wong just snorted.

"Dormammu may have conquered many realms and enslaved seemingly countless beings, but he hadn't ruled them all. There are still plenty of malicious creatures out there and Stephen refuses to use the demons he controls unless it is absolutely necessary. A sound decision, as their presence in other realms than the Dark Dimension causes a disturbance in the balance of said realm. So we are still needed. Not to mention that not all sorcerers are like us, vowed to protect our world instead of seeking power. There are still threats only we can deal with."

"And there are still threats that only the Avengers can fight, but we're in pieces." Toni mused with a groan, recalling that nightmarish vision. It still haunted her from time to time. She may have BARF to help her through the initial panic it used to cause in her, but she never allowed herself to get over it. Because she was the only one aware of the looming danger, the threat. And she can't fight it alone.

"Are you alright, Stark?" Her sorcerer companion asked, looking at her with some worry despite only knowing her for maybe two days. Toni sobered up. Yes, JARVIS and FRIDAY had informed Pepper, Happy and Vision that she had needed a few days to herself, to get her head together and start thinking about her next move while she allowed herself some time to heal. But she hadn't been doing that. All she'd been doing was exploring Kamar-Taj, when there was a hell of a lot of things to do back home. Mainly a kid she had somehow taken on as a protégé without even noticing. Happy probably had him back in America now and Rhodey should be waking up soon. She had to prepare braces for him. There was no way he will allow himself the time to take the physical therapy slowly. Toni needed to get him back on his feet. It will make everyone feel better: Rhodey, Vision and even herself. Toni can't lounge around here when there was so much to be done.

Including finding a way to clear the Avengers' name, brand and reputation. She'll probably have to get in contact with Pym because of Lang and the Ant Man suit, she needed to get Sharon fired - seriously, giving wanted fugitives and criminals weapons! And kissing Aunt Peggy's guy! Has her cousin no shame? There was a reason why Toni had refused all three times Rogers had asked her out (Shh, don't tell Stephen, that's not going to end well) and it wasn't just because of her childhood problems - and preferably recruit some new heroes. Spider-Man was an option, but the kid was young. Fifteen and a half. Too young. But he was already out in the streets, fighting crime, and sooner or later, he will come across a foe he can't fight on his own. Wasn't it better for Toni to take him fully under her wing, write a new, special clause in the Accords about emergency-only members? About secret identities? That would help her with Barton and Lang at least, she was sure. If Laura even wanted to have anything to do with her husband by the time all of this was over.

And, if worse comes to worse, make sure the Rogues can be called out into the field should it ever come to that. Toni didn't know when her nightmare may become reality, but she had to be ready.

"Miss Stark?" Wong's call snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to him. "Are you alright? You kind of just zoned out ... "

"I'm fine." She replied, clenching her fists, looking away. "But I need to get back. Today. Preferably right now. I have work to do."

"Was it something I said or ... Because Stephen will kill me if I chased you away while you are still recovering." She shook her head at the librarian, starting a brisk walk towards where she knew Stephen usually meditated at this time of day. Or at least he has been doing it for the past couple of days she had spent here. No one looked at him strange (she couldn't help but snort to herself at the pun and ignored her AIs' exasperation at her) so it was a safe guess.

"No. I just realized how much time I spent here when I have so much to do. I can't sit around when there is so much riding on me."

"I'm sure it can wait until you've recovered a bit more from your ordeal-"

"Any leftover ... results of my ordeal can be dealt with a swift BARF session or two." The pilot of Iron Maiden interrupted him, marching through the halls of Kamar-Taj. "Now, where is Strange? I need for him to take me back to Rhodey's hospital. They'll move him after he wakes up and I want to talk things over with him before that."

"Stephen had to leave for another dimension an hour ago. It was urgent so he didn't get the chance to tell you." Stark stopped, turning to arch an eyebrow at Wong, but the man had his unreadable expression set. Toni glared but let him have it, but only this once since she was in a hurry.

"Then you can open a portal for me."

"No can do, Stark. He would have my head."

"I will have your head if you don't."

Wong wasn't impressed by her glower. "He's the devil."

"And I am the Merchant of Death." It was a moniker she hated but it was hers all the same. It was what got Ross off of Banner's back, not that Bruce ever knew that. "Go figure."

"It's for both of our good, both your and mine. Stephen can be unreasonable when someone he cares about gets hurt. I heard he nearly went mad when Gina-" Suddenly, Wong shut his mouth, as if his voice cut off and Toni frowned in confusion. But, for once, Wong didn't indulge in her question. "Forget it. It's for the best. He never did get over her." He shook his head, not noticing the emotion that flashed through Toni's eyes. "Stephen will just worry if you leave now."

"He will worry even more if he finds out I had to fly away from here on my own." Toni was getting sick of this, so she challenged every boundary the sorcerers here have placed wordlessly. She had work to do and the way Wong was acting was putting her on edge.

"You don't have your suit." Wong met her challenge with one of his own and Toni grinned, tapping a finger on the new Arc Reactor in her chest, letting the armor shift over her. She still didn't want anyone to know about it other than Stephen and her AIs, but she will reveal it to Wong if she had to make a point. Watching his face, she knew she won and half an hour later, she was greeting her just roused brother in everything but blood, figuring she can deal with Stephen when he shows his face again. For now, Rhodey, Vision and Peter needed her.

It may as well have been the start of what could have so easily been the end of one of the most meaningful relationships in her life.

And the end of the world.

00000

"Toni, when did you do that to yourself!? How did you do that to yourself!? Why didn't you tell me!? And why does he look like he knew about it all along!?" Rhodey fired question after question in quick succession, looking half pissed, half worried. Stephen just shrugged when he was pointed at.

"I'm her doctor and witnessed the change when her armor nearly killed me and the medical staff that helped in removing the shrapnel from her chest."

"And that just excuses you knowing when no one else did?"

"JARVIS did."

"JARVIS knows everything!" The two were now glaring at each other, Rhodey all but snarling at the man so obviously interested in his 'little sister' and Stephen just pissed at being treated like it was his fault Toni had only trusted him and her AIs with this secret.

"FRIDAY knows, too." And Toni would bet her entire fortune Strange said that just to piss her honey-bear off, which he succeeded in.

"That's not in any way different than JARVIS knowing!"

"It's not my fault you thought her crazy for shutting down the SI weapons factories." That got Rhodey reeling back as if struck and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it was for that reason alone that Stephen had said that. Toni herself tried not to flinch at the thought of that little betrayal. Yes, she knew they all thought it was the PTSD talking, but the PTSD was nothing compared to the horror she had felt becoming a part of that system, the one that was okay with zero accountability. That Rhodey would brush her off like that ... It had hurt. She preferred not to think about it. "And what would you have done even if you knew? Could you magically slow down the process? Because I certainly did. It's what ultimately saved her life. You were ready to beat her down because you were pissed! I should have knocked you out with them." Strange fairly spat out the word like it was a curse, glaring in rage and disgust at the Colonel. Rhodey flinched back further, actually scared when magic started crackling around Stephen's fingers, sending everyone on edge, anticipating the follow up of that threat.

Toni just hit him upside the head, earning a comical yelp from the most powerful being in the room. "If you so much as breathe wrong at my honey-bear, it's the dog house for you all over again."

"I thought you were going to go on a date with the man?" Drax sounded so confused as he asked the question, bringing back up the previous subject, making the two in question flush.

"WHAT!?" Oh, great. Rogers and his lot were finally rousing. Maybe she should have allowed Stephen to go a bit rougher on them.

"Well, are you?" Maria asked, curious since everyone at SI already half thought that they were dating, if not outright married by now. Toni blushed. It got worse when Stephen himself looked at her with curiosity and hope. He'd been stating that he cared for her for years, often jokingly asking for a date or if they were already on one whenever he visited Toni. Stark had always laughed it off, never believing she would be that lucky to have truly caught the eye of the handsome doctor. She knew her own stance on it for a couple of years now, but she wasn't about to be the one to make the move when Strange was the one who started the whole thing, all those years ago! She had thought that her feeling weren't reciprocated after their last encounter, that awful fight that had caused a radio silence between them for two whole months.

But he'd just admitted to rather having her truly think about accepting his offer of a date - and a relationship, knowing them - than have her go on a date with him when she clearly didn't want to. Only she did. God, did she want to!

And she finally had the chance to say it, even if she was blushing like a fool.

"Yes. Yes, I am." She replied in as confident a voice as she possessed and ignored the gasps around the room, Peter's squeak of excitement, Nick's groan of exasperation, Maria's little victory cheer followed by Thor's congratulations and Loki's snort and the exchange of credits between Quill and Rocket - when had they managed to make a bet about this? They talked about it half only an hour ago! - instead focusing on JARVIS' relief and FRIDAY's excitement and the shinning happiness and hope in Stephen's beautiful, enchanting (no pun intended) green eyes.

"WHAT!?"

Toni was impressed that Stephen hadn't murdered anyone by the time she finally got ready. Not that she was late by any means, considering their date should only be starting in five minutes, but it had left the Sorcerer Supreme alone with the other Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy for the last half an hour, if not more, and Strange wasn't exactly a patient person when it came to idiots. Especially idiots who have at some point, in any capacity, caused her harm or distress. She sometimes wondered why she even stopped him from simply hurling people into the Dark Dimension like he so often threatened and always wanted. Seriously, it would solve a lot of her problems these days if she just let him, but she guessed she couldn't. Accountability and all that. Superhero. Fun.

She swears she'll give in one of these days if the Avengers don't stop being annoying, or so she promised herself - and her equally displeased AIs - as the sound of loud conversation - not yet loud enough to be yelling but close - reached her ears when she entered the common room on her personal floor in the Stark Tower. They probably got in through Scott shrinking them and sneaking in through the re-modified vents so Barton couldn't crawl through there. She'll have to find a way to deal with that soon enough.

As she had expected, it was Stephen against the Avengers, save for Bruce, Loki, Thor, Valkyrie and the Guardians. Scott was nowhere to be found, but she figured he had disappeared so the Avengers couldn't drag him into this or was searching for Hope ant-sized. Rocket was looking around her living space, no doubt contemplating the pros and cons of doing so, especially if he were to get caught - he would; JARVIS and FRIDAY had a firm, careful eye on the klepto-raccoon. Gamora was chilling, Quill was freaking out over her entertainment systems, Groot was playing a video-game against Peter - who occasionally looked up to glare at the ones arguing with the sorcerer - while Drax and Mantis watched the ongoing squabble.

T'Challa was speaking into a phone to his people back in Wakanda in his native language so she had no idea what he was saying, Valkyrie was going through her all but abandoned liquor cabin and bar, joined by Loki - she did owe him that drink, still - who was also observing the fight going on while Bruce and Thor were trying to catch up to what had happened in the Civil War. Sure, her science bro had read about it, but the true inner depths of the conflict were not public knowledge for the same purple reason Stephen had imprisoned only he knows where. Those two had no idea what had been going on while they were minding their own business.

Rogers, Maximoff and Barton were aggressively standing in front of the Sorcerer Supreme, arguing with him the most while Wilson stood as a decoration of support behind Steve, Romoanoff also standing back and observing, trying to figure out what made her date tick. Good luck with that. She knew him nearly a decade and still hadn't figured that out. Romanoff had so spectacularly misjudged Toni that she had no chance understanding Doctor Stephen Strange. Wanda was bristling, Barton was posturing and Rogers was trying to be righteous.

And Stephen? Oh, Stephen was tearing them apart with every word he said. He stood there, dressed as some sort of dark prince charming in an outfit very similar to what he had been dressed in when they met, only it was practically a trench coat with red and gold detailing, blacker than space. His pants accented his legs and height, making him look even taller. The Eye of Agamotto was still around his neck, only the Eye was opening in response to Strange's agitation with having to deal with the four mentioned above and the emerald light of the Time Stone made the man's eyes stand out even more. The Cloak of Levitation hovered beside him, as agitated as its master and fluttering around or trying to make itself look more imposing in a threatening manner, supporting Strange's campaign to intimidate the Avengers into standing down.

They really were either incredibly brave or stupid as fuck for deciding it was smart to piss off the man after seeing all that he could do.

Rogers was testing Strange's patience with some long-winded, righteous bullshit speech that Stephen looked ready to interrupt with an impromptu one way trip to the Dark Dimension when he apparently sensed Toni's presence - which he probably did; he had told her more than once how he could sense her emotions and moods (something which may or may not have saved him a wrench or two to the head on those days, if you get her drift) through her aura and the Arc Reactor gave its own signature which was like a blank space - and looked up. Oh, how she enjoyed the way he froze and stared at her, eyes, for the first time since they met, roved over her with the same want other men do it with all the time. The dress was snug, fitting her body not like silk but like water or a second skin. It showed off all of her curves and drew the eyes of everyone in the room to her. It complimented her olive skin and dark hair, her hazel eyes sparkling in the light. She looked good and she knew it.

"Hey, handsome. Like what you see?" She smirked, smug, at managing to do what no other woman had been able to accomplish, securing Strange's eyes on her and only her. Or had she been able to do that since day one?

Her tease snapped him out of his stunned state and he recovered, returning the smirk. "You are absolutely ravishing, Dr Stark. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you put in an effort, but then you are always gorgeous."

She glared at him as she felt her cheeks warm, leaving her friends and teammates gawking at her because they knew her as unflappable. "Asshole."

But Stephen just chuckled and came towards her, extending a hand for her to take. A gesture so often repeated between them, the symbol of their entire relationship. His hand had always been her saving grace. Her acceptance, her trust, had always been humbling for him. They were the best of each other. Together. Always had been.

"If you are ready, my love?"

Toni tried not to show how surprised she was by the easy admission. She should have been expecting it, seeing how some of their conversations had went. So she just took his hand and let him open a portal right where she knew he would take her. There was no hesitation in her as she walked through the spinning circle of sparks.

"Always, love."

His smile was dazzling and absolutely infectious. She went willingly when he pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist and settling into the familiar positioning for their dance, the music already playing in the background.

"Then let us dance, Dr Stark."

"I thought you'd never ask, Doctor Strange."

The portal closing drowned out whatever protests the others could have had, leaving the two alone save for the Cloak hovering somewhere in the background and JARVIS and FRIDAY silently watching their creator's happiness. They were thousands of miles away, in the same ballroom in Malibu they first met, dancing the first dance they had shared to the same song.

Already, their first date was perfect, as far as Toni was concerned, but the magic singing in the air suggested the night was only about to become better.

She couldn't wait.

00000

Toni had honestly not expected for this to happen. A whole week had passed since their argument and Strange had indeed not bothered to come back. She hadn't heard or seen from him, not a call, not a text, not an email. Nothing.

And it terrified her.

At first, she didn't even really take it seriously, thinking Stephen would come back later, when he figured they'd both cooled off enough to have a decent conversation. But then the second day went by and the third dawned without any form of contact with her sorcerer friend and Toni started to worry. Because this was their first ever fight and a lot of things were said. Mostly on her part. She had aimed to be cruel, to hurt him, so she had. It not like it was her place to snap at him for mistaking her name. She was probably one out of hundreds others. He was three hundred years old. What was eight years of friendship (six, really. Or not. They only started being real 'friends' or whatever they are after New York, four years ago. Before that, it was pretty much on again, off again interaction, not any real companionship) with a random mortal woman that will most likely work herself to the grave by fifty, if she doesn't die doing heroics before then? He has an eternity because of the power he now possesses.

She cringed, remembering what she had said about said power. She knew Stephen hated it for its origin and for taking away his humanity - he was still human, yes, but not fully. Death was part of being human and he can't die - but he used it for all the right reasons, no matter how easily it would have been to succumb to the dark call of the power. To say the things she had said, to taunt him with his earliest experience that may have caused PTSD he hid from her, made her feel like a monster. It would be the same as if he had brought up her weapons industry days. The Jericho. Her armor. Because the first thing she did with her armor, the Mark I she keeps because it is a memory of Yinsen as much as her first Arc Reactor is - even her current Arc Reactor, nestled within her chest instead of how she would have been had she taken it out before the whole Ultron mess (Thank god she hadn't! Can you imagine the disaster that could have been had she not had the Arc Reactor? Who knows what Maximoff would have put into her head!? What would have been the outcome had she not had it in Siberia?), as different as it was from the very first one - was kill a few terrorists while trying to get herself and Yinsen out of that cave. Even more must have died when she blew up her weapons. And today, Iron Maiden is a beacon of hope and heroism. Of justice and accountability.

Stephen could have so easily called her out on her hypocrisy and yet he hadn't. He had simply turned the other cheek and then walked away when it became obvious they would only throw words at each other with the intent to hurt.

Toni felt sick every time she recalled calling after him not to bother coming back.

Still, she couldn't allow her life to stop just because she may have just lost the closest friend she had ever made - Rhodey was her brother in all but blood and JARVIS, FRIDAY, the bots and Vision were all her creations, her kids, practically and Pepper was her sister and Happy was probably a very close, cool, overprotective cousin so they didn't count - as she had way too much to do. The Accords were finally being pushed through and she couldn't slack off now. She and T'Challa had worked too hard on this for her to abandon it now. And there was the matter of the Avengers' pardons and their upcoming return to the states and to the Compound. The Accords Council insisted the members who have signed already have to be present at the Compound with the still 'rogue' ones until they signed the revised Accords or too big of a threat emerged. Vision, Toni and Rhodey, who were the original lineup, had no choice but to stay with the people responsible for their latest injuries and pretend to get along, because T'Challa had to return to Wakanda due to him being the new King now, but, thankfully, Peter didn't have to hang around there. And Toni could get away for hours on end because of SI so it wouldn't be too bad ... Right?

Wrong. As soon as the group returned, Barton and Maximoff had the gal to round up on her and blame her for becoming international fugitives and terrorists as far as 117 and counting countries were concerned. The archer even dared suggest she had something to do with Laura divorcing him in absentia after he had up and left her with three kids and not even a note to say where he was going. Lang, though, was like a scolded puppy begging for forgiveness at Hope's feet, so Toni let her new friend and teammate to deal with him. Romanoff tried to slink back to her side, but that stopped when Toni handed her Russia's demand that the last Black Widow be returned so that the shame of the Red Room can finally end. An arched eyebrow at the former redhead now blond woman was all the assassin/spy needed to understand the only reason she wasn't in her homeland right now was because Toni was pulling strings. Natasha pretty much backed off ever since. Sam continued making worried faces at Rhodey, but the Colonel ignored him as he got used to walking around with minimal help from the braces. He should be taking them off completely before the month was up, which only brought Toni more guilt as she recalled just who it was that had made that possible and the things she had recently said to him.

Maximoff had tried approaching Vision, but the android wanted next to nothing to do with the Scarlet Witch, keeping close to his creator both for his own and her safety. That only agitated Wanda more and her hands were dripping with red magic, but Toni couldn't find it within her to be scared anymore. Yes, Wanda had once managed to briefly enter her mind, but Toni still thought it was rather the Mind Stone trying to show her a vision than just this brat trying to mess with her head. And she still had the pendant Stephen had given her. She figured that at least that will protect her and stay with her, if not the sorcerer himself. And even if whatever protective wards were gone from the pendant she still always wore around her neck, only on a new gold-titanium alloy cord wrapped up in leather so it can never break off again, she still definitely had her Arc Reactor that doubled as a nanite housing unit. It was double protection against Maximoff and, as a bonus, was sure to piss her off.

And then there was Rogers, acting all righteous and shit, looking at her with that same disappointment that always ticked her off but she used to pretend she didn't notice whenever it became clear she was not going to take his side where the Accords were concerned. He would just continue frowning at her in disapproval that she no longer cared about until he realized it and he tried to actually say something, only for her AIs to cut him off with 'important phone calls' or 'SI meetings' and, that one memorable time, when Barton tried to sneak into SI and was apprehended by SWORD agents and recognized them as former SHIELD agents, a staged 'HYDRA' take over that was too damned funny to pass up. SI employees definitely had a blast with that one and Toni herself had been cackling with glee in her office when she saw Rogers' face.

That, unfortunately, brought up Barnes and things got tense between them faster than even during the fight in Germany or Siberia. Rogers wanted access to Barnes, but neither Toni, nor T'Challa - and least of all Barnes' lawyers and therapist - allowed it, knowing it would be a bad idea to throw Captain America at the man that was only now starting to think and act only for himself as the first few trigger words were finally disabled. BARF was doing an amazing job at liberating Barnes' brain from the Winter Soldier conditioning and no one involved wanted to have anything to do with Rogers at all. Hell, even Barnes wanted away from the blond, at least until he felt more stable, but Rogers wouldn't listen or believe them. Barnes texted him, left him a voice message and even wrote him a fucking letter by hand to tell him to kindly fuck off for a while, but Steve only accused Toni - not T'Challa, even if it was the young King himself who snapped at Rogers that he was only setting back Barnes' treatment and ordered him to cease at once - of forging all of those with her 'fancy schmancy' technology somehow (not that she couldn't, but that's not the point) or was forcing Barnes to do it. He was so sure his best friend would never push him away and that he knew what was best for the man that Toni wondered how Barnes hadn't kicked him to the curb already. That man must have the patience of a saint.

And that was all in just a fucking week.

Added with the stress from the argument with Stephen, it really wasn't helping her mood, which Barnes had noticed during their session, earlier this morning, and had suggested they stop early. In some crazy twist of fate, where she and Rogers always clashed before, Barnes was a guy she could get along with perfectly well. Part of it was because he wasn't stuck in the past like Mr Perfect American Boy was, but mostly it was because they had a similar sense of dark humor. And they'd both been through to a point similar series of events that had, unfortunately, dragged them to this point in their life, one with a mechanical heart, the other with a metal arm. Under different circumstances, in another life, she hazard a guess that he could have become as close a friend as Stephen. Well, not that close, really, as her and Strange's relationship was really one of a kind in her life. Still, Barnes got her in ways other people couldn't, on a similar level as her sorcerer friend, so he had easily noticed her stress and distress and had suggested they end early. Toni was having none of that, though, as it was Barnes' mental and physical health on the line and she was not putting a stop on progress just because she had a shitty week. She pulled through the session, said bye to Barnes and the team, before going back to her Stark Tower apartment, feeling tired.

All traces of tiredness left her when she just stepped out of the elevator to see the beginnings of sparks appear in the air and she was filled with a strange mix of emotions, dominant among them dread and relief in equal measures. 'Time to face the music, I guess.'

But it was not Stephen who stepped through the opening portal. Toni blinked and tried not to look stupid as she stared at Wong, stepping through the portal and looking around. When the man spotted her, he let out a relieved sigh and closed the portal behind him. "Good. I feared I would not find you here and, for reasons unknown, no means of scrying can track you." When she blinked at him in confusion, he sighed. "We need to talk."

"I thought sorcerers had to visualize the place they open a portal to and what the hell is scrying?" Tonj asked, gesturing for him to take a seat on her comfortable, expensive couch.

"We do. You forget that Stephen has come and gone from this place thousands of times. I may not have his photographic memory, but even I could memorize this room by now. And scrying is a magical method of both searching for something or someone and communicating with other sorcerers. Like your phones, only more ancient and decidedly magical. One just needs a crystal clear surface, such as calm water or a crystal, and a small incantation that uses up next to no power and there you go. However, no scrying method seems to work on you. I cannot find you at all. How Stephen does is a mystery."

"He said it had something to do with this," she pointed to her Arc Reactor, joining him in the sitting area. "Emitting some pretty interesting energy signature that pretty much makes me immune to magic as long as it's inside my chest. Or it might have something to do with this." She pointed to the pendant around her neck and shrugged. "I really wouldn't know. So what brings you here?"

"Stephen." She immediately stiffened, not knowing what to expect. Was he really that pissed off that he was sending Wong to tell her to fuck off? "He's been acting ... strange - well, stranger than normal, for him - as of late and he hasn't made one trip to you all week, which kind of unsettled us all at Kamar-Taj. I was ... voted," he fairly spat out the word. "To come and see if you may know what's up with him. Or if it has something to do with you. Did he piss you off or something and you forbade him from coming or something? I've never seen him mope before."

"What makes you think I would know? Or that it even has anything to do with me?" She couldn't help but asked, intrigued. Also, she may have been stalling so she doesn't have to talk about their fight. She felt like a squirming kid in front of the principle's office and she didn't like it, seeing as whenever she had ended up there in her youth, she was anything buttimid.

Wong grunted, glaring at the coffee table as he crossed his arms and leaned back into the comfy couch. "You're the only person in the world who can affect him as much. Had this happened eight years ago, I would have tried to reach out to Dr Palmer, but he had never acted like this before in all the years I've known him. The only difference as of late are you. So I concluded it may have something to do with you. What? Was it something I said?"

Toni knew she must be making quite a face for Wong to frown in apparent worry. She didn't blame him. She couldn't help it. What right did she have to feel this way? But it hurt to have her thoughts and accusations from that day confirmed. She would have preferred to lie to herself than find out she really was just another out of hundreds of others to Stephen ... "So I really am just a replacement for someone else. A shinier, newer model that will be abandoned and replaced with another. Although I thought I was replacing someone named Gina. I should have guessed Dr Palmer was somewhere in that equation, too."

It was the Chinese man's turn to go rigid, staring at Toni in half confusion, half dread. "You are in no way a replacement. You mean too much to Stephen. He was worried sick when he learned you have left Kamar-Taj without him, especially when finding out about Loki and his pardon. He just got back and rushed off to your place as soon as he knew Loki was here and relatively near you. I only had enough time to yell at him about the pardon that protects him before he was gone."

"Yeah, sure. He was worried about me. I'm sure he was as worried about me as he was about Gina." Toni couldn't stop the bitterness from reaching her tone and looked away from Wong's probing eyes.

"How do you even know that name?"

"Because he called me Gina when he said he was worried about me and trying to protect my life."

Wong cursed.

00000

"Well, this is lovely," Toni complimented as she all but inhaled the meal. A hamburger with fries from her favorite restaurant with the promise of her favorite place's donuts later might as well be an ideal meal for their first date, since it appeared to be all about remembrance. A glass of whiskey just hit the spot, even though she didn't drink these days.

"I'm glad you like it. I considered some fancy food for the rich but I figured you'd appreciate this more. And you don't have to worry about getting messy. I have a spell for that." The sorcerer himself was finishing his fries, smiling at her in amusement at how easy she was to please. Toni would be offended by that if she wasn't enjoying the burger as much as she was. Seeing as she often forgot to eat until reminded or was forced to eat whatever was at the Compound or the leftovers at the Tower, she rarely got to pick what she wanted and just ate whatever was available, only enough to sate the hunger so her stomach would stop bothering her for food. She'd never been one for drawn out meals, which put her at an odds with Rogers back in the days before Ultron and even after they were all pardoned. She'd just come up, take her plate and go back to the workshop. Once, Rogers purposefully didn't make a plate for her, expecting her to be angry or something, to argue about it, to be grateful for the food, completely forgetting he was living in her Tower, off of herdime and eating her food. When she just walked by without even noticing the lack of a plate and simply took the coffee she had even come up for, he huffed but relented, as there was a plate for her the next time. She may not have noticed the lack of a plate when passing by, but she never said she was completely oblivious at the power play Rogers had unconsciously tried to make so she never again took the food, instead getting JARVIS to have something be delivered to the labs.

It effectively took Bruce off of the dinner table, too, and her science bro had definitely looked relieved at that. And it pissed Rogers off, too. Always a big bonus.

"I see you've really put enough thought into all of this to be this ready for our actual date." She arched an eyebrow at him, earning a chuckle.

"Guilty as charged." Stephen admitted, eyes sparkling. "In truth, I had wanted to take you out since the Expo. You just always assumed that I was joking so I let it go."

"You never quite stopped asking." Toni pointed out, recalling all the off-hand remarks he'd made over the years and to which she had been absolutely blind to. Some genius she was, not seeing something so obvious.

"True. But my patience finally paid off. We're here now," he gestured at the room filled with roses, sparks and, to her surprise and delight, butterflies. Her own pair was there, too, amongst the dozens of others, fluttering around their table and glowing a bit brighter, being a great bit more solid than the other ones. She recognized them even with all the others that could have confused her. Damn, but she loved her two pets. "Only the two of us and we can finally start off that part of our relationship right. I've wanted this almost from the day we met, Toni. I've never stopped wanting it."

"Even after what I said?" Stark hated bringing this up, but there was plenty to be ashamed off for what she had said. Strange was right. If they were going to start a relationship, it had to be done right and this had to be discussed.

Stephen nodded his head with a hum, those green eyes boring into her with the same intensity always reserved for her. Only for her. "I think it's time we talked about Gina."

Toni looked down at her half finished meal before nodding and meeting Stephen's eyes.

They had to start this right.

"To start off, you know that I am three hundred years old, yes?"

"Of course." Toni snorted. "You've told me as much since we first met. True, I didn't believe you right away, but I've believed you for many years now."

Stephen nodded, settling his hands on the table, vanishing away their food and bringing forth the desert and their hot drinks, coffee for Toni, tea for himself. "I was born in 1765, in a fairly rich and respected family of land owners. We were all pretty well educated, but I went a little beyond. I had always been interested in medicine, so I studied to become a doctor. With my work drive and my photographic memory, it wasn't hard and I learned quickly. Before twenty, I was a doctor, the youngest and yet the best one around. But I was picky with my patients after some time, arrogance and pride getting to my head, until my little sister, Donna, got sick. I abandoned all else and started searching for a cure. I would later on learn that it was a type of brain tumor that not even modern day medicine can safely remove, somehow caused by the plague happening back then, I still have no idea how but some virus existed somewhere in the air, but back then, all I knew was that she had constant aches and was nauseas a lot, that she often collapsed and was always tired. She had stopped eating altogether by the time I started doing autopsies and studying human anatomy on the deceased."

"Which got you arrested and nearly killed on the charge of being in league with the devil." She recalled, remembering that conversation from so long ago. "They tortured you to get a confession and then would have executed you, had the Ancient One not come just in time to save you."

"That was when I was later caught, at thirty, trying to cure Victor, my brother, of a very similar disease. While I was trying to save Donna, I met this woman, a doctor in training herself, Gina Atwater. She helped me as much as she could, thinking it might hell her career along - female doctors weren't exactly a thing back then, as I am sure you could have guessed. Anyway, we became friends as we worked side by side and then something more, when Donna died and I was grieving. Afterwards, when I escaped and was already finishing my basic training in Kamar-Taj - back then, I planned to channel magic through my hands so I could go back to being a doctor, since they were pretty much useless," he glared down at his hands, probably recalling how helpless he had been before shaking it off and looking back at Toni with the same confidence he always had about himself despite the scars still somewhat visible on his skin. "Kaecillius attacked and you know how that ended."

"Yeah, big magical struggle for the Sanctums." She didn't go into detail because she knew from their past conversations that Stephen had never quite forgiven himself for not somehow protecting his master.

"Yes, well, what I didn't tell you is that I briefly visited the London Sanctum to try and help stabilize it before the Hong Kong clash. I met Gina there, completely unexpectedly, before I went with Wong to the battle. It was a surprise, to say the least. I've been avoiding her specifically to protect her even once I mastered portals and traveled all over the world to practice. I had barely managed to keep her name out of my trial and didn't want to somehow drag her into that mess by seeing her again. Needless to say, we had quite an argument about it."

"One rather similar to our own, I would guess." Stark took a long sip of her coffee to avoid meeting Strange's eyes. "You know, I never meant anything that I said that day. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you in my life."

"I know." Her free, clenched hand was gently covered with a larger, scarred one. He had once told her his hands used to tremble so hard he couldn't really hold anything for longer than a few seconds. The power he got from Dormammu solved that problem when it took away his mortality. "I always knew. But you were upset and I didn't want to drive myself completely out of your life. And I myself was rather upset."

"I opened an old scar." She met his eyes, wanting to see what they hid. She wanted to see the rage she deserved for how she had acted. It wasn't there.

"Yes." Was all he said in reply and changed the subject back to the story. "Gina was furious. She was angry with me for staying away, for letting her think I was dead for a year and she would listen when I tried to explain it was for her own good. We argued for a good hour before we tumbled into a bed and got tangled up in the sheets." Toni looked away again, trying to hide her own hurt. She really was gone for him, wasn't she, if it hurt to hear about a past lover. Stephen just squeezed her hand in reassurance. "I had to leave a few hours later when Wong called that Kaecillius was spotted in Hong Kong and they needed out help. We fought, Mordo betrayed us, we fought him, too, then Dormammu was freed and everyone else was powerless to stop him. I was the last one standing and Wong told me to use it against Dormammu that he was a being of pure magic. I absorbed his power and here I am today. Immortal and Sorcerer Supreme."

"And Gina?" Toni asked hesitantly, the conversation with Wong from not so long ago flashing through her head. Wong hadn't known what had happened but knew Stephen blamed himself and never got over it. She didn't want to reopen that scar again but she knew she'd never get over not knowing, either.

"Gina was convicted for witchcraft not a day after I left. Someone saw her with me that day. Her trial lasted a month before she was burned at the stake." Toni recoiled, as if struck, when she heard that. Stephen's hand was trembling around hers and she immediately twisted her hand around so she was clasping his hand back, concealing the tremors. "I was informed only the morning when it was scheduled to happen. I was trying to learn how to control my new powers and was as such mostly left alone except for Wong and the masters always at Kamar-Taj. Dong the duties of the Sorcerer Supreme helped. It was straining to anyone else but was a piece of cake for me, even if most of the time I had no idea what I was doing and was learning it from scratch as I go. I immediately portaled to London but I arrived too late. She was only 26."

There was real, raw grief in his voice and Toni repressed a flinch, feeling guilty for dragging this back up. But it was necessary, no matter how hurtful. This was the first time Stephen was opening up to her since that first time he had told her about himself, when he had accidentally revealed himself as a sorcerer, and that time when she had asked him what she was to him. Toni was always the one bearing her heart. It was probably the right time for him to return the favor.

But there was still one thing that had to be discussed.

"I'm not Gina."

00000

"What is it?" Toni asked worriedly as Wong continued cursing up a storm in Chinese. The sorcerer just dragged a hand over his face, looking exhausted and uncertain all of a sudden.

"You must forgive him, Ms Stark. He had not meant to be insensitive or disrespectful. That woman ... Is just not something he had ever been able to get over. From what I know - mostly from my parents and grandparents - the name Gina is never to be mentioned around the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Why?" She wanted to know. She had to know. She had to know why this Gina was so important. She had to be someone special for Stephen to bring up when so strung up. Stephen never had eyes or ears for anyone when Toni was around. A beautiful, rich, famous and fairly intelligent - she had a major in nuclear physics - model had once flung herself at him, all but squashing him with her cleavage and Strange had just continued looking at Toni, talking with her and listening to her as she explained something or the other. Toni had looked at the tall ravenette and had thought she looked good next to Strange with her baby blue eyes and pretty face. Stephen kind of ignored her until she left, pouting. When Toni had asked him about it, he had been confused and said he didn't recall any sort of interaction with any woman other than Toni. When the genius had looked at him suspiciously, he shrugged and replied he didn't care about anyone else at that particular gathering but Toni herself. She had been the reason he came so he saw no use in wasting his time on other, random, unimportant people there.

Toni had been flattered.

Which is why this Gina bothered her so much. Was she his lover or something? Who could have such an impact still on his life? She sure as hell wasn't his sister. That was Donna. Maybe ... Maybe he had a wife and Toni had just been an interesting fling? That hurt. It stung. Not that they had ever defined their relationship. Had he been expecting something? Like everyone else is of Toni Stark? That doesn't seem right. Maybe he was just intrigued by her not being drawn to him - if only he knew - or by her knowing who and what he is and not being afraid?

These questions were driving her crazy! She'd had a whole week to ponder them and come up with more and more and more! Do you know what a week is in Toni Stark time? A normal person spends approximately eight hours on sleep each day. That's fifty six hours wasted on sleep. Two and a half days! Toni probably sleeps that much in a month. And that was before she had Extremis. She could probably sleep that much for two months and not feel the consequences. Which means she had spent hundred and sixty eight hours consciously or subconsciously - a side effect of Extremis is that her subconscious cognitive processes have increased; in this case, she really hated that side effect - thinking herself into an anxious mess regarding whether or not Strange will ever come back into her life or if she had really ever meant, but really meant something to him at all. And all because of a simple name had been slipped.

For goodness sake, why can't her life ever be easy!?

"All I know is that something happened to this Gina woman, not long after Stephen became Sorcerer Supreme, and he blames himself for it. I heard he had only casual encounters with everyone, no matter the capacity, until he met Dr Palmer." Wong replied, looking at her with a forced neutral expression on his face. "But then Stephen faked his accident and left her behind. I don't think they even exchange emails anymore. Stephen never talked about the depths of their relationship, but I think they were on again, off again lovers. And friends."

"Does Kamar-Taj and his duties really allow him to spend so much time in the outside world?" Toni couldn't help but interrupt, always having gotten the impression that Strange was so busy he only got a chance to rest and relax when he came to visit her.

Wong shot her a look. "He is the Sorcerer Supreme. He can do whatever he wants as long as his duties don't suffer and he takes his duties very seriously. Besides, you've seen him multiply himself at least once. He can send a copy of himself to do either job and do both at the same time. The beauty of having so much energy to spare."

Toni had seen Strange multiply himself before. Right after the Ultron debacle, when the Tower was a mess, Stephen had decided to help her pick up all the most important pieces of destroyed technology left and they stored it away so that the cleanup crew can do their jobs without Toni worrying about someone using her tech without her explicit permission. She had nearly freaked out when she saw him do it that first time. Especially since the spell started off with him growing several pairs of extra arms!

"Anyway, back to what I know about the women in Stephen's life. There were only ever three, not counting his sister and maybe his mother. He never really talked to me about his mother ... " Wong mused to himself, distracted.

'But he did with me,' a traitorous part of her brain smugly pointed out. They had never been really close. No one but Donna had approved of Strange's choice to become a physician instead of just enjoying his wealth, spending and bragging about it. Victor was support-ish, but more in a indifferent 'do what you wanna do' way. Huh. Guess they really did talk a lot.

"You were saying?"

Wong snapped out of his thoughts and nodded at Stark in apology, continuing where he had left off. "Only three women. This Gina woman, Dr Christine Palmer and, now, you, Stark. And while the other two may know him slightly longer than you do, it is you whom he was ever truly invested in. It is you whom he is unwilling to leave behind, even if it would keep you safe. He may have not gotten over Gina yet, but he would never get over you if something were to happen to you. Especially if it were in any way because of him."

That got Toni's attention. "You said he blamed himself. Why? Was he in any way to blame?" It could just be how Toni blamed herself over the death of the military convoy which had been escorting her in Afghanistan and Yinsen's death. Or it could be how Rogers is to be blamed because of the SHIELD data dump and those lost lives.

But the Chinese man only shook his head. "I don't know. I honestly don't know what happened to this Gina or even what she was to Strange. I only know that her name is not to be mentioned because it upsets him. But what happened between you two? How did Gina get brought up?"

"Like I said, we were arguing. Partially about the pardons, partially about never actually defining our relationship. He snapped and called me Gina and I ... I aimed to hurt because I was hurt. And I told him not to come back."

Wong sighed, rubbing his forehead as if fighting a migraine. "That would explain the sulking. But I am surprised he hasn't returned to try and fix things. He really does care for you greatly, Stark. He usually wouldn't stay away like this. He's too stubborn."

"He hasn't been having that problem so far." Toni grumbled miserably, thinking off all those days waiting for a portal to appear and, when it did, it not being the sorcerer she was expecting and hoping to see.

"I'm sure he'll come around soon enough, Stark." Wong reassured her before opening a portal. "See you around. And please do get Stephen to bring you to Kamar-Taj more often instead of selfishly hogging you all for himself. You are definitely a breath of fresh air."

She made some vague promise of it and watched him go with a friendly goodbye. And she would wait. And she waited. Days passed, turned into weeks which soon enough turned into two months and suddenly her nightmare was almost a reality when Thanos came, four Infinity Stones in his possession. They tried their best to prevent him from getting the remaining two, one in Loki's possession, the other in Vision's forehead. All hands were on deck but they stood no chance. Loki gave up the Tesseract and the Space Stone within it when Thanos threatened to kill Thor and actually held him at Gauntlet-point and the Mind Stone was savagely ripped out of Vision's head, leaving him to turn gray as he died had it not been for Toni rebuilding the crushed pieces with her repair nanites. Vision was back in the fight and the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived, having followed after Thanos as soon as they learned that he had collected any, let alone so many Infinity Stones. They all put up a great fight and resistance, but, in the end, it was just Toni standing head to head against the Titan and she lost.

Which is how she found herself here and now, holding desperately onto the pendant in her all but broken hands, shaky from fatigue, blood loss and her injuries as a purple behemoth stood over her and her teammates, ready to eradicate them from existence. She brought the pendant closer to the almost broken, barely functioning Arc Reactor in her chest, right over her heart, and bit back her tears as she thought of what fate will befall her teammates if this doesn't work, the nightmare come true that she will have to live in.

'Please,' she begged with all her heart and soul in her mind. 'Please, please come. I need you. Please!'

"Any last words, Stark?" The behemoth asked, calling her by name like he had been doing since the first blow, the first attack, leveling the Infinity Gauntlet with her and her team behind her. They tried to move, to protest, to tell her to get the fuck out of here and avenge us, Stark! But they were too beaten and she had no strength left, even if she were willing to give up on them. She couldn't move beyond bringing that pendant closer, to her trembling lips, a tear finally rolling down her cheek.

"Stephen."

Toni clenched her eyes tightly shut as the glow from the Infinity Gauntlet intensified and the power hurled towards her and her teammates, ready for the end and wishing it could have been different.

Inside her hand, the pendant glowed.

And the blow never came.

Instead, the one man she had so desperately wanted to see for two months now stood before her, protecting her, like he had always striven to do.

"You came." She breathed it like a prayer, not really able to believe her eyes, this reality, until she said it so it can be real. She so desperately needed it to be real, for him to be real. Stephen looked over his shoulder at her, completely ignoring the flabbergasted Avengers behind her, and winks at her. "Of course, darling. Why wouldn't I? The fight?" He chuckled that chuckle she had come to both love and hate for what it did to her. "You can't chase me away that easily, Toni."

And she wanted to laugh and cry but instead she just let her fluttering heart calm as she felt safe, for the first time in two months, now that he was back.

Because that's all that mattered.

00000

"Pardon?" Stephen sounded genuinely confused, blinking at her a few times.

"I'm not Gina Atwater, Strange. I'm not her and I'm not Christine Palmer." Toni repeated, meeting his eyes with steel in her own gaze. "I'm not helpless and I don't need you to protect me all the time. That's something you will have to get used to or else we'll have a lot of problems in the future."

"I'm well aware of that, Toni," Stephen replied patiently, carefully, studying her reaction to his words. "You don't need anyone to protect you. You're Iron Maiden. You're perfectly capable of protecting yourself. That, however, doesn't mean you can't use some help every once in a while. Like with Thanos." She winced at the truth of his words but was grateful he had not brought up any other instance where she had definitely needed his help. There were enough examples for them to fill in the rest of the night if they started now. "Besides, I can't really stop worrying or not worry about you. I thought I had already made it clear that I care deeply about you. How many times will I have to say it for it to make it through that thick skull of yours?"

Toni had to look away, embarrassed, but looked back when her butterflies landed on their joined hands. She couldn't help but smile at them. They always brightened up her day. She's had them for eight years and was forever grateful for their presence. Stephen couldn't have given her a better first gift - or two - than them with those gorgeous roses, all those years ago. Even when he wasn't around, they looked after her and reminded her of him. "Probably every day for the rest of my life. I have some serious self-worth issues, courtesy of my father not knowing how to handle a kid. Not like it will even make a dent in your lifespan." And wasn't that just a sad, lonely fate? To have everything and everyone around you change and die while you remain untouched by time or death. It made Toni squeeze their interlocked fingers, looking at Strange with worried eyes.

The worry was replaced by suspicion when she noticed how very unbothered he was by that thought, even looking shifty. His eyes were trained on her, though, even as he tried not to squirm in discomfort. Alarm bells rang all throughout Toni's head. "Stephen, what did you do!?"

The Sorcerer Supreme sighed and turned the hand he held so that the back of her palm was facing upwards, revealing the contently glinting Soul Stone in its new resting place. He traced it with the pad of his thumb and the Infinity Stone pulsed once with energy before settling down. That pulse, though, traveled through Toni's whole being, to her soul and it made her shiver. It was like a featherlight touch with the softest, thinest paint brush had just glided over her neck or calf or the inside of her elbow or something, only soul-deep. She looked down to the big pendant hanging from around Stephen's neck and saw the socket of the Eye of Agamotto was only slightly open, the Time Stone seemingly having answered the Soul Stone's pulse before calming down. The genius met the doctor's eyes, questioning, hoping he will notconfirm her rising suspicions.

"I didn't do anything, Toni." He told her in a calming, comforting, apologetic tone of voice.

She wasn't that lucky.

"The Infinity Stones did."

Toni drew in a deep breath, trying to fight off the rising anxiety and the panic attack bound to follow it, listening to FRIDAY and JARVIS as they went through the litany that usually did the job, now edited with a 'Thanos is defeated. Earth is safe. You are with Doctor Strange now.' It took her a few moments and it definitely helped that Stephen's larger hand never let go of hers, but, in the end, it was the cause of it that actually stopped it. The Soul Stone was pulsing gently, warmth and security settling over her like a blanket and she completely zoned out for a moment. When she came to, she was surprised to find herself sitting in Stephen's lap on the floor, head nestled into the crook of his neck, his hand playing with her hair while the Cloak of Levitation wrapped around her like an actual, physical blanket in an effort to help calm her down. The Soul Stone was no longer pulsing but it didn't provide any input as to how this change of position came to be.

Thank god she had her AIs for that.

-It would appear that the Soul Stone knocked you out, Sir. I am detecting low energy readings coursing through your body but nothing malicious as of yet.-

-Everything seems to be just fine, Boss. It doesn't appear to have any worrying side effects and has, in fact, calmed you down. Doctor Strange and the Cloak of Levitation caught you before you could hit the ground so you weren't hurt.-

-He also scanned you with his magic and declared you perfectly well, if unconscious.-

"How long was I out?"

"About a minute?" Stephen didn't sound so certain, but, then again, he didn't have an internal chronometer.

-43.6 seconds, Boss.-

"What happened?" She asked, leaning away from the man's chest, looking around the ballroom in confusion. Nothing had changed in the time she had been unconscious, the room was exactly the same, they were just a couple of feet away from the table, which remained undisturbed despite the obvious tumble she would have most certainly had if Stephen had to catch her. The medical scans of her vitals shown to her by JARVIS and FRIDAY clearly stated she was far from being knocked out due to her panic attack. She hadn't been ventilating for longer than twenty seconds - she needed about a full minute before black spots would start appearing, as past experiences have taught her - so that wasn't the cause, either. The reactor hadn't shifted and Extremis would have destroyed any substance that could have caused this. And if Stephen said he didn't sense anything magically wrong with her, it left very few options of what might have happened.

"I think the Soul Stone reacted to your distress and tried to calm you down. It probably would have worked, too, had the Time Stone not resonated with it due to proximity." The sorcerer replied, checking her over with an up-and-down sweep of his eyes. Toni just gave him a very deadpan look at that and he at least had the decency to look sheepish. "What? Okay, yes, it was probably not a good topic to bring up on our first date-"

"Ya think?" Toni had no shame at all in giving him the stink eye. But this was a topic she'd actually rather discuss awayfrom the Avengers, New SHIELD, her friends or the Accords Council. Not the best first date topic, but one that needed to be discussed either way. "How exactly did the Infinity Stones make me ... like you?" She'd rather avoid saying it for as long as she could. She wouldn't want to freak out for a second time tonight. It's not good for her health. She'll face this new reality when she was ready for it, which just so happens to be not now.

"Do you recall when the Gauntlet flung Spider-Man away and split into two for you to wear?" She gave him another deadpan look at the question, which he ignored and continued on as he pleased. "And how you said the Soul Stone won't be leaving your hand?" At that, she nodded, still unsure why that had happened. She could remove the other Gauntlet just fine and all the Stones made no fuss to be removed from their places, but the Soul Stone and the Gauntlet it rested in refused to budge. The Mind Stone easily went back into Vision's forehead, Loki had frozen the Space Stone into another cube roughly the same size as the Tesseract with his magic and Frost Giant powers, Thor had taken the Realty Stone to hide it only god knows where, possibly in the vaults of Asgard or somewhere else. The Guardians of the Galaxy had a device that could contain the Power Stone, having dealt with it before and Stephen had no problem forming a connection with the Time Stone, ensuring it will be snug in its new keeper's protection and possession.

Only the Soul Stone had refused to leave Toni at all. She couldn't remove the Gauntlet and not even Strange and Loki put together could take the Stone out. Not that Stephen was particularly interested in doing so in the first place, now that she thought about it.

"Well, that is because each Stone can be handled only by someone who has an affinity for it and its power. For instance, Loki can use the Space Stone however he wishes because he knows how to manipulate the secret pathways and overlaps between realms. He knows teleportation and it helps that he's a very proficient and talented mage." Stephen continued his explanation, holding her gaze. "Vision was born into the world as an Artificial Intelligence, a mind, and the Mind Stone itself had a hand in his creation. He can thus control its power with ease. I myself am I timeless being, in control of a dimension outside of time, immortal. The Time Stone prefers stability, which is why it had remained hidden for so long, so those who do have an affinity for it don't change, in its perception, every minute. And, as with Loki, it helps that I know magic. It allows for a better control over the Stone."

"Thor and the Guardians aren't exactly sorcerers and I have a difficult time imagining them having an affinity for reality and power respectively. Maybe if their positions were reversed?"

Stephen snorted. "Those idiots can't control the Stones any better than anyone else, but they can contain them and are both most assuredly going to dump them in some safe or vault as soon as they find one protected well enough for it. It's the safest that way."

"And me? You're saying I have an affinity for the Soul Stone?" Toni asked incredulously, remembering every time someone said her soul was black or that she didn't even have it in the first place. It was a running joke amongst her competitors, back in her youth when she just took over the company, that she had sold her soul to the devil in order to make the weapons she did and to be as successful as she was. At least that was the politer of the jokes slash rumors going around regarding her success. How she could be a good wielder and keeper of the Soul Stone of all the Infinity Stones was well beyond her. She was far from a saint. "And what about the other Stones? And the Gauntlet? Why choose me?"

"Think about it, Toni." Stephen urged with a sad smile, a tender and pained look in his eyes at her self-doubt. He had never limed it when she didn't think herself worthy. But she wasn't worthy. She checked. She couldn't lift Mjolnir that one time Thor let them try, at the party Ultron crashed. "Who better than the one woman who understands the value of every single life? Afghanistan taught you a lot and you just kept on learning and learning afterwards. You blame yourself for every life lost that you could have saved, you fight for the people, you are willing to forgive even the unforgivable and you are ready to set aside your differences with someone if it would benefit the greater good. Hell, you accepted me and I'm not exactly Mr Perfect-"

"Thank god you're not. Look at how the last one turned out." They both snorted at that, although Stephen took a moment to glare and glower at the thought of Rogers and how much he pisses the sorcerer off.

"Anyway, as I was saying, who better than you? You can even create souls! No, don't try to argue it. I've seen your AIs, Stark." He gave her a very serious expression, warning her not to say something stupid. Well. "And I've seen your aura. I've been drawn to it from the first day we've met. You have the most beautiful aura I've ever seen or sensed and the Soul Stone must have been drawn to it, too. You're a kind, loving, caring person, Toni. You accept and seek to make up for your mistakes. You know who you are. That's rarer than you may think. As for the other Stones ... Well, you are quite possibly the one person in this entire universe that may understand them better than anyone else. From what I know, you've studied two up close and personal and you've sought to understand them. You did readings in the aftermath of the Aether. I would know. I took you there and helped you do it. And with your understanding of the Soul Stone and your own ingenious way of creating something to repel them like the Starkenium core of your Arc Reactor can are all very attractive traits to them. Your affinity for the Soul Stone just won out against the others. They can be removed because there are some other people with a fairly good understanding of them but I highly doubt anyone is more suitable for the Soul Stone than you."

Toni tried to wrap her head around it all and found that she really couldn't but decided not to try and argue the claim, either. There are far better ways to spend the evening than arguing with her date. "So I guess you're stuck with me, huh?"

Stephen only smiled and brought her closer, tilting her head so that their breaths mingled. "So it would seem."

"I'll drive you crazy." She argued but brought a hand up to the base of his neck, guiding him closer herself.

"I can imagine a worse fate." Their lips were literally a centimeter away, almost brushing, and Toni felt her heart flutter in her chest like a nervous bird. Had that happened just a few years ago, before the Mandarin fiasco, she would have been risking an injury on her heart but now it was, thankfully, fine and the only thing she had to worry about regarding her heart is the fact that this man had stolen it without either of them realizing.

"You'll get bored eventually." She warned, knowing that sooner or later he will have to get used to the same old same old when he was used to being alone in this immortality bullshit. Toni was a much more prominent figure and would need to be hid away in Kamar-Taj for probably centuries, if not longer, unless she wants the world finding out she was immortal. Her original team alone would have an unpleasant enough reaction if they found out as it was. Pepper and Rhodey and Happy had a right to know ... Maybe just not right now. Extremis had rejuvenated her beyond their expectations. It will last her several years. Maybe she could even blame it on Extremis? That way Rhodey won't have a reason to try and kill Stephen ... But Strange himself will really need to get used to Toni because she was not the type of person you can take in small doses.

"I highly doubt that." The arm around her tightened, bringing them flush together and the billionaire repressed a shiver at the rumble his voice made against her chest.

"You'll get sick of me." Toni cursed herself for blurting that out as soon as Stephen drew back completely, staring down at her with an unreadable gaze. She knew she should have stopped right there, but the words came tumbling out without her permission. "You only lasted this long because you had time to rest in between our interactions."

"Toni-" He tried to interject, but Toni wasn't about to let him. She was on a roll. Besides, she guessed this needed to be out there if they really wanted to start this right. Because they quite literally had forever. This was a higher form of marriage without actually getting married and she felt he needed to know what he was getting into. Because she had never felt this way before and she would never be the one to end their relationship. It would be up to him and she didn't want him to feel guilty about it if - if, not when; that was progress in perceived self-worth, if she ever saw it - he did.

"Our last fight is nowhere near as how nasty I can be. I'll aim to hurt. I'll go straight for the jugular, the Achilles' Heel. Without hesitation." He fell quiet, just watching. Listening. "I'm not the easiest person in the world to talk to or get along with. I forget dates, usually because I don't perceive them as nearly important as I should. I have issues. A lot of issues. My issues have issues! A lot of issues!" She exclaimed, one hand clutching at his fancy outfit. It really looked good on him. "I have a lot of luggage to drag behind me. My AIs and my mania are a part of the deal. Not even Pepper or Rhodey can deal with me beyond a certain amount. I obsess over things. I'll put the safety of the world above our relationship, above you. My AIs are my kids. I tend to unofficially, low key adopt random kids when at my lowest. I'm stubborn and prideful and egotistic and a highly functioning sociopath and I don't play well with others."

"Toni-" He tried again, but she didn't let him interrupt this time, either. She had to get this out. She just had to.

"I have nightmares. A lot of nightmares. I can't sleep for days on end. I used to have chronic pain due to the Arc Reactor. Extremis dulls it, but the phantom pains are still there. Some days, it's as unbearable as the first days in that cave. I hate the cold. I hate the scorching heat. I hate snow. I hate deserts. I'm not really a forest person, either. I forget to eat or drink, except if it's coffee. I'm self destructive. I don't care enough. I'll go stir crazy if I'm not doing something productive within an hour. I don't take care of myself. I was an alcoholic. I nearly overdosed one too many times. I had daddy issues. I have trust issues. I don't like to be handed things. I like loud music. I like to argue. I don't like being wrong. I don't ask others for their opinion. I destroy everything I tou-"

At this point, a pale hand clamped tight over her mouth and wide hazel eyes met stern emerald ones, looking down at her with anger, disapproval, sadness and a protectiveness that may have put Jarvis' to shame. "I don't want to hear you talking about yourself like that ever again, especially since almost none of what you just said is even true! And even if it was, I wouldn't care. I'm not exactly saint myself, Toni. Just the opposite. No, listen." He shushed her when she tried to refute his claim. "It's my turn now. And it's the truth. Do you think it's just my immortality and the origin of my power that has earned me the title of 'the devil'? Because it's not. It's not even because of the autopsies I used to do and how they were against any and all religions of that time. It was because I used to be arrogant enough to believe I could have control over life and death. It was because I would turn down all patients that can't afford the sum of money someone of my experience, knowledge, skill and reputation could demand. It was because I used to be nasty towards everyone, never participating in their social activities, turning down girls left and right while telling them exactly what I thought of them. Don't you think someone would have stood up for me when I was declared in liege with the devil? They were the ones who accused me! And once I gained my powers and the riches of the realms I now command, I didn't hesitate to use these new resources to get back at the people who have crushed my hands. At Gina's execution, I made the flames swallow a good portion of London. The ones who accused and sentenced her are one of the billions in the troops of the Mindless Ones and it was I who enslaved them. I could have stopped the wars, I could have prevented them! I could have protected Hiroshima and Nagasaki and I could have stopped the nuclear disaster at those power distribution centers. But I didn't. I was content to let the world turn as it saw fit, to let all of you little mortals to fight each other to your hearts' content. After all, my duty as Sorcerer Supreme wasn't to babysit you or protect you from yourselves. I couldhave, but I chose not to. I'm not a good man, Toni, no matter what you think of me."

"Maybe," she answered in a whisper when she managed to wrench his hand away. "But you're a better man than you perceive yourself to be, too."

"And that's usually because I have someone to remind me to be better. In this case, I will have you." He bopped her nose with a finger before returning to holding her close, bringing her as close as they had been before. "You always inspire me to be better. To do better. Rare few would find out who I am and still stick with me, let alone dance with the devil like you have been for years."

"I myself have an unflattering reputation as the Merchant of Death. If you are willing to accept me, then of course I will accept you." She sighed as their lips were now literally brushing against each other in feather-light touches. She was getting a little impatient but the moment was so sweet that she couldn't bring herself to rush it. "But no more dancing, Stephen. I think we've danced enough."

"I couldn't agree more," he all but growled before taking her lips as though he was a starving man and she was his first meal in days. She couldn't help but moan at the contact, making Stephen rumble in response as the kiss only became deeper, the two of them so close that not even air could get between them. They were clutching at each other desperately, as though afraid the other might disappear if they let go. Toni let go only long enough to flip aside her dress so she can twist in his lap, straddling him with her knees on either side of his hips, somehow managing to bring them even closer. Strange gave a desperate moan as he clutched her tighter and Toni yelped when he teleported them to a modestly furnished room with a window that showed a clear, lovely view of Everest through gently billowing curtains, the room lit up only by moonlight and a couple of candles. Stephen was now sitting on a bed and his eyes were flashing in that way Toni had always wanted to see when directed at her and she shivered. His gaze had always been intense when directed at her, but now ...

He looked like he wanted to devour her and she was okay with that. She was going to allow that because he had never looked so handsome as he did now, hair messed up, panting for breath, cheeks faintly flushed with arousal and green eyes darkened with lust yet twinkling with love. Toni dove into another kiss, barely having the presence of mind to tell J and FRI to clear her schedule for a few days and to cut the connection before she was flipped and Stephen was looming over her on the bed.

They had a lot more to talk about, especially regarding her new immortality and her apparent link with the Infinity Stones. Thanos was still only Stephen knows where after the Sorcerer Supreme had trashed him and had to be brought to justice in some intergalactic court or something. The world will probably demand answers how a single man had taken down a being that had taken down all of the Avengers put together - save Iron Maiden herself. The protection of the Stones will have to be discussed further. She should probably get Stephen into some self-control classes if he's going to interact with the Avengers, especially the old team, more often from now on. They'll have to find a way to keep him free of the Accords because, quite frankly, the world depended on Kamar-Taj's independency and freedom. They still haven't talked about the whole Loki thing. The fate of the second Gauntlet still remains a mystery. The exact definition of their relationship had also taken a backseat to their need for each other at the moment. But Toni figured all of that can wait for a while as she indulged in addicting kiss after addicting kiss with the man she'll, quite literally, spend eternity with. It just wasn't important right now. Or tomorrow. Or the day after that ... They had time.

And when the candles fizzled out later that night, the room was still lit up by moonlight, the Arc Reactor and two blue butterflies fluttering above the sleeping couple.

THE END