iron woman 1 - chapter 3

[𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐦. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞?

At the inquisitive looks he received, Bruce forced himself to explain since most of them were not used to medical terms. This just reminded him of the great time he had spent alongside the genius, inside her own property, and barely giving her the time. "He's basically saying that pieces of the shrapnel from her own weapon lodged themselves next to her heart."

A terrible privilege indeed.

At the time, he had thought she had wanted to make him comfortable. A cynical part of him even thought she would not pass out on the chance to examine the Hulk and run experiments on him, but he had been wrong. Aside from her advice to "let off some steam every once in a while Green Bean ; i miss the little guy", she had never broached the subject. But she knew what it was to have other people take your choice from you. In hindsight, the news of Iron Woman (well, at the time, it was Iron Man, but people are sexist) single-handedly ending the conflict in the Middle East made sense. He did not want to think what the Hulk would have done in the same situation (lies, he knew and it would not have been pretty at all for anyone involved).

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 : [𝐏𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐧𝐞𝐥.] 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐫. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤. [𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢] 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭, 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐇𝐦𝐦?

Even Wanda could not contain the gasp of disgust and surprise at the information. No one could see the arc reactor - and Rhodes was 100% sure that she had it when he rescued her from the desert. The specs were confidential and even though the building was operated with the maxi-version, no one had ever been able to miniaturize it before her. Starks were famous for bending and breaking the laws of physics, so no one had given much thought about its creation.

Hope gagged and turned towards her father in order to hide her face in his neck. He had been her rock her whole life, always ready to defend her and to protect her whatever the cost. It was surprising that both of them had lived for so long, but she refused to jinx herself with that train of thought. She felt a soft touch on her hair and turned to meet the worried blue eyes of her grandmother, a trait they both shared. "She'll be alright, we know she survived it" tried to reassure Maria. Meanwhile, Fury was once again wondering how the girl's brain worked - following Rhodes' hunch.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐳𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.] 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐍𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬.

Howard winced and tried to ignore the pointed look his wife was giving him. "Remind you of someone?" He could admit he had been hypocritical towards her daughter while he was alive, condemning her lifestyle when he had done much worse at the time. Unlike her, he had been completely anonymous and by the time Stark Industries revolutionized the weapon industry and they made their fortune, he had calmed down and focused on his responsibilities towards the company and SHIELD. She had been hounded and harassed by reporters most of her life because of the succession matter concerning the company and some other nasty rumors that Howard had believed (in hindsight, he should have listened to his daughter's recount of some events).

"No anesthesia, open-heart surgery and abysmal medical conditions...How did she even survive the captivity?"

No one could answer Bruce's question since they were focused on the prominent hole displayed on the billionaire's chest. The placement of her arc reactor suddenly made more sense - instead of only using it when she was inside the Iron Woman suit.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞?

[𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩! 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐝𝐨. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧, 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩.

[𝐌𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬?

"How did they get my guns?" inquired Howard at the same time, startling his wife and granddaughter - but he was too scandalized to comment on his likeliness with Antonia. Besides, she reminded him of someone that he had met long ago, but he could not figure out where exactly. Maybe some long lost relative ? It could explain the situation.

"About that..." started Fury, wanting to prevent his former friend from more heartache. "Stane fucked you over. You were too busy with SHIELD and never noticed when he started double-dealing. It fell on Toni to fix it."

The inventor scoffed at Fury's use of his daughter's nickname : something he had always loathed. The spy and his genius had always gotten along, always ready to prank him or to disturb him while he was busy doing something else. Now that he had kicked the bucket and that Nick was the only one alive of their former generation, she heavily relied on him. Howard never would have thought he would be jealous that someone else had spent quality time with his daughter.

"Don't tell me more. I...I trusted Obie."

Jarvis and Maria exchanged a long look - not noticing everyone's attention on them and their silent discussion. Both of them never liked to spend time with the businessman, especially since he was too interested in Toni and her advancements. The socialite was not surprised that he used a moment of weakness to pry on her and get what he needed.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞? 𝐃𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐝𝐨. [𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜. 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫.] 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 "𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚." [𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜.] 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝. [𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜.] 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞. [𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜.] 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. [𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞.] 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞.

Rhodes cringed at the moniker - it was one thing to be called the Merchant of Death when you were tasked with protecting your soldiers, but with the emotional distress his sister was going through, he knew the comment must have stung. He had doubted her sanity many times throughout the years, but he knew she would never willingly provide weapons or protection to enemies of the state ; even at the expense of her own life. He never cared about SHIELD or "The Avengers" since he still reported to the brass on most of his missions, but he was sure they had been influenced by Natasha and Steve's behavior towards Toni. He knew how to recognize jealousy and resentment and that's exactly what he could smell on both heroes.

"Of fucking course, Stark makes weapons of mass destruction for Afghanistan and we welcomed her back to the country like she was the 2nd coming of Jesus. Seriously Rhodey, you have nothing to say?" interjected Sam.

"That'll be Colonel Rhodes to you, Mr. Wilson" sneered the older man. He had been almost giddy with joy when learning that Wilson had been dishonorably discharged after the offenses and crimes he had committed internationally in favor of freeing Barnes. He was able to piggy-back on the government's sympathy by using "Captain America" as his judge of character, and only a fool would refuse him.

"I can understand why SHIELD hesitated between terminating her and recruiting her" pointed out Natasha, still angered by the events and the billionaire's selfishness to let them fend for themselves after she had made a mess of their team. She was a Black Widow, she was not used to turning off the manipulative part of her brain - she was lucky Toni had not noticed yet.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞.

"LIAR" screamed Rhodes at the screen. "She swore she had accepted to make the weapons from the start to trick them" explained the military man at the incredulous looks he was receiving. He noticed Fury's look of disbelief. "What?"

"You believed her?" wondered the one-eyed spy. "Toni Stark does not cower to adversity, you should know better than that. She does not negotiate with terrorists" added Nick, looking pointedly at Howard who was fidgeting on his seat.

"I may...I may have stopped paying ransoms when she was nine. From then, she learnt to save herself."

For once, he looked sheepish while sharing the information about the lack of his parental skills. Even the former SHIELD's Director could not stop his snort of disapproval. There was no doubt about the love Howard had towards his daughter, but he did not know how to express it.

"What ? After the tenth kidnapping, it gets tiring."

"She's been kidnapped before?" asked Bruce. He had spent countless hours with her in her lab and they had shared a lot about their respective upbringing, up until the moment he had dismissed her while she was ranting about her issues. From there, their relationship had been cold and he did not know how she would react after seeing him.

"She's a Stark. It's like a monthly occurrence" pointed out Jarvis. As the family butler and primary carer for Toni, he had taken a lot of defense classes and learnt to use firearms in order to protect her more efficiently.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧.]

𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢! 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤. [𝐀 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧.]

"Oh Howie, what have you done to our Toni?" asked Maria while she was crying. Seeing her own daughter getting tortured because of their company and what they were manufacturing was heart wrenching. The blonde woman was aware that her dear Antonia would survive, but how would she cope ? She had been raised with an iron fist, expected to fail at every turn because of her young age and her sex. She had even surpassed every expectation they could have had for her.

Hope was used to violence, but she often stayed away when the subject of torture was broached, unlike her uncles and father. Klaus was just as affected as her and held her hand while she was trying to focus on something else - aside from her mother's whimper of pain and the water suffocating her.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬.

Wanda did not like the conclusion of the discussion : it was clear Stark had no idea where some of her weapons had ended up. It did not excuse her parent's death and she was still clearly disgusted by the other woman and her libertine lifestyle, but she could see the distress in the woman's eyes. She was not lying about her responsibility in the matter - but it did nothing to help the hatred in the redheaded woman's heart.

[𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬. [𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧] 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭. [𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐍𝐨, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: [𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢] 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤.

"We were," confirmed Rhodes. Thinking about those terrifying three months without any news was doing wonders for his psyche, but he was learning about so much from her time over there. He had foolishly believed her when she had recounted her version of events, while obviously downplaying every aspect that could have worried him. At the time, he had been so angry about her decision to stop manufacturing weapons, he had barely taken care of her. "I may have disobeyed direct orders, but I brought her back."

Fury acquiesced and gave one of his rare "smiles" (well, at least, a form of lip twitching that could be considered as that). "Aye, I've never seen a friendship like yours. MIT must have regretted your shared dorm."

Klaus looked pointedly at the Colonel after those informations : he had cared a lot about Toni after all and he had tried to shield her for most of his issues within the supernatural world, which meant she had not been ready when his enemies had targeted her. IT was reassuring to know someone else had taken up the slack for him, even though he was not happy to learn they had shared an apartment while she was in college. He was practically sure she had never shared that tidbit with him or he would have found a way to get involved. He was possessive like that (sue him).

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 : 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬.

The spectators could not help but wince, even though they were all avoiding the guilt-stricken look of Maria and Howard. They had both died before their time, barely enjoying their wealth and family - and it was now their daughter's turn to bear the burden that was to be a Stark. The patriarch would not admit it, but he doubted he could have held as long as his daughter under the torture.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 : 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤? 𝐎𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤.

"Fuck" said Natasha. "I have never seen her...so defeated. Even when she was dying of palladium poisoning."

"What ?" reverberated around the room while Rhodes, Happy and Pepper were glaring at her with hatred.

Meanwhile, Harley was looking at his parental figure with something akin to awe. Their meeting had been struck of fate or luck, but she had uprooted his entire life - the first person to see him for the little genius he was instead of the peculiar poor boy in the middle of Tennessee. He had always known she was strong, even though she had a lot of unresolved trauma, but it was difficult to reconcile the strong Iron Woman with the fatigued billionaire on the dirty floor. Noticing the stiffness in Peter's shoulders, he put his hand on his arm in order to calm him down.

"Don't worry, our Mom always survives"

Peter started spluttering and throwing cautious glances at the vampires and werewolves on the other side of the room. "M...Mom? She's not my mom. No. No. She's my mentor and boss, that's it." After a few seconds of thinking, he could not help but add a few other pieces of information. "And sometimes, she feeds me, but that's it. And she drops me off at school sometimes when she doesn't work. Oh, and the lab of course."

"The lab ?" inquired Rogers. "She never let us in, why would she let a kid ?"

The Captain once again felt disappointed in his former teammate. He could not wait for her arrival so they could clear up the air and focus on their Avengers gig, but he would talk to her about involving teenagers.

"That's a rite of passage for Starks my boy" said Howard while looking at the young Parker. His mannerisms and his awkwardness reminded him so much of Toni when she was his age that it ached his heart. From Colonel Rhodes' saddened look, he could only imagine he saw the same similarities as he did.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭? 𝐇𝐦?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: [𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠] 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐥𝐢𝐭. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐩. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐮𝐩. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. [𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬.] 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤?

Rebekah, Freya and Hope started clapping at the sight : it was a breath of fresh air to see the only woman in the room taking control of the situation. In that moment, Toni and her daughter looked so much alike that the Mikaelson family could only hold their breath at the look of defiance the Starks were so fond of. Even though she was worried sick, Maria could not help but join, quickly followed by the rest of Toni's "family".

"She's an expert at working the crowd" informed them Pepper.

"Well, she has been subjected to the press since she was four years old. That's a given," scoffed Howard. "It's harder to kidnap a celebrity child," explained the former CEO, informing them of some of his parental dilemmas.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜, 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮, 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐢, 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐨, 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧, 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢, 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐦𝐚'𝐚𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. [𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐓𝐕.] 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐔𝐡-𝐡𝐮𝐡. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞.] 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦, 𝟎.𝟏𝟓 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟏.𝟔, 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏?

Bruce held out his breath, looking around him at the search of someone that could understand his excitement at the scene. Since Hope and the Mikaelson clan could overpower his own alter-ego, he felt less awkward in his moves and more self-assured than he usually was, "Don't tell me she's doing what she's doing."

Howard was just as fascinated as him, looking at the screen, fully displaying his daughter's genius. "I've tried to do it for twenty years, no result, nada. And she's doing it in a cave..." whispered the older man. He had been aware of her achievements and what she could accomplish if she put her head into it, but he never thought she would figure it out without outside help or a deeper understanding of the reactor.

𝐌𝐚𝐧 #𝟏: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠? [𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

𝐌𝐚𝐧 #𝟐: 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. [𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐌𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧. 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐨𝐨. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬.] 𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟓𝟎 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡. 𝐎𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬.

While everyone was enraptured in Toni's work, Rogers and Barnes shared a panicked look. The Captain had not even considered they would watch the scene at the bunker : in his mind, Siberia was long gone and they only needed the billionaire's get go in order to come back to their country. But they had been unaware by the fact that the device was also used in a medical capacity - and Steve had shattered it with a vibranium shield. He gulped down and started thinking of a plan ; a way to make sure their team and the Stark family would not watch that scene.

He scoffed at his silliness : he was Captain America, a good guy and the good guys always win. He knew some people might not like the way he had behaved and what he had hidden, but he was sure that Howard would understand. Maria was calm and collected, so unlike her daughter, so he knew not to worry about her. It was too bad she had not been a constant in Toni's life : maybe it would have facilitated the future relation between Toni and Steve. After all, they had been close before and it could show the rest of the world that both teams were united and that the co-leaders (even though he was the only one that really mattered) were involved.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: [𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢] 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤. [𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐎𝐡, 𝐰𝐨𝐰. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞.

"What is that ?" asked Maria, letting her curiosity shine through. Since no one deigned to answer her, she turned towards Fury : the first agent she had ever trained. Of course, her involvement in every kind of spy mission was quickly forgotten when she had started focusing on Stark Industries, but she still had the same interrogation skills and knew all of his tells. He was clearly nervous and evading her line of sight, for the first time cowering behind someone else.

"My dear Maria...," started Nick. "It's Toni's fault."

He left at that : a sort of reminder of the many hours he had spent in the company of the woman when she was still a young child and his tendency to blame her for his missteps. Unfortunately for him, she had started talking too young and was too skilled with a computer, thus finding a way to prove she had been innocent of some of the offenses. That day, he had brooded a bit after being humiliated by the little Stark - but he had seen her potential that day, and it had endeared her even more to him.

[𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.]

"I'll advise you all to look around when she's barely dressed," almost growled Klaus. He was lucky that Yinsen had found a way to preserve her modesty after her surgery - the looks of lust she was receiving from some of her captors were worrying. For the first time since they had parted ways, he felt guilty about their separation. He had thought her heartless and capable of turning away the prospect of a future and family with him, never once suspecting foul play. And while he had an anchor within his anger towards her, he had never thought her three-month-long captivity had been daunting for her. He was aware that she had a dangerous lifestyle for someone so wealthy - but to see them manhandling his mate because of their greed was pushing the wolf to come out.

It was only Kol's reassuring hand on his shoulders that calmed him down ; Hope was busy going through the intricacies of the specs in front of her with her grandfather (who was delighted with her level of intellect.)

"Did she make the suit in a cave ?" asked Bruce. The first time the modern superhero had made his appearance was when the billionaire was cleaning house and targeting the terrorists that owned her weapons in order to use them for their nefarious purposes. He had wondered, of course, how the woman had been able to escape their clutches, but he did not expect to learn that the best piece of technology of their century was created within a cave in a hostile country.

"I guess we will see," excitedly joined Peter. The smile and reassurance he had gotten from Howard Stark were still making him blush at the thought he could be somewhat considered a Stark, or at least, eligible for some of their traditions. Besides, even in captivity, Toni Stark's brain was brilliant and he could not pass up the opportunity to learn more about his personal hero.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤?

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐍𝐨? 𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

The proclamation hurt many people throughout the room that had known her before. Of course, the woman was adept at keeping her distance and since JARVIS was controlling her whole house, she could just banish you from her property without needing to leave her lab. After all, Antonia was an orphan with a godmother hospitalized because of Alzeihmer, a spy guardian/godfather and Obadiah who was working her to the bone. Pepper and Happy were still her employees and with the amount of work she had, she did not have the time to make new acquaintances.

Now that they were aware she had a daughter who had been forcibly taken from her, everything concerning her behavior made sense - even her lack of attachment to people. And that was without even breaching her issues stemming from her childhood.

"She has me. She has us," insisted the Colonel.

"Rhodey...she's kidnapped in the middle of nowhere being tortured for weapons while no one was supposed to know where you were going to be. That was obviously an inside job," pointed out the driver. He had been her bodyguard when he defended her against an abuser who tried to roofie her and she hired him instantly - and from there, a unique friendship started out where they both barely needed to talk to one another. Unfortunately, she often asked him peculiar things...such as taking care of an hyperactive wall-climbing headache-inducing spider teenager.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.]

𝐌𝐚𝐧 #𝟏: 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

𝐌𝐚𝐧 #𝟐: 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

𝐌𝐚𝐧 #𝟏: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

𝐌𝐚𝐧 #𝟐: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

"They're not very bright, are they ?" couldn't help but ask Clint. But still, the terrorists were too overconfident in their actions and had believed Stark since they were counting on her fears. He admired her somewhat for the way she was taking stand against something she believed was wrong - which contradicted everything he had heard about her behavior during the Accords.

"They should know better than to stick a genius in a room full of technology," added Elijah with his smooth and enrapturing voice. He had a soft spot for the blue-eyed woman who had been able to get through Klaus' defenses and had been a firm believer of her innocence, unlike the rest of his family. Oh well, he would rub it in later.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧.]

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱. [𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫.] 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧. [𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢.] 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮.]

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: [𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧.] 𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐞? [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱. 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮.]

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: 𝐎𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬. [𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮. 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬.] 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥? 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮.]

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭?

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧? 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮. 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨. 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭? 𝐀 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞? [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫.] 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭.

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞.

For the first time, the group was confronted with a terrified Antonia Stark. From the start of the movies, they had seen her with many emotions - but never fear. Even while being tortured by her assaillants and even when dealing with the fact that she had shrapnel in her heart - but her facial expression while Yinsen was threatened had sobered them all up, reminding them they were present because Toni had given her life for the Universe.

She was always confident and ready to do a job in order to lighten the atmosphere ; but it was clear she could not even fathom the thought while holding Yinsen's hands.

[𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 : 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐱𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 : 𝐈...𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭, 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧. 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 : 𝐈 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 ; 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐱 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐮𝐬.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.]

Pepper sighed and looked at the screen, finally getting a better understanding of the woman who had come back from Afghanistan. "She never told us any of this," whispered to the CEO, feeling a bit betrayed by this turn of events. She was aware that her boss liked her privacy - but after they were best friends after all. They had shared everything ; from their happiness to their sorrows. Why would she hide something so daunting if it could explain her behavior ?

As usual, everything about Toni Stark was a mystery.