iron woman 1 - chapter 4

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩. 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩.]

"She's pretty buff ; I didn't know...," whispered Natasha. In her mind, Stark was nothing without her suit of armor, but it was clear that she was professionally trained and her body shape did not align with the seemingly drunk and weak woman they had on their file prior to infiltrating Stark Industries.

"Widow, her armor weighs almost 200 pounds. Even I have issues with piloting it - but she does it with ease," retorted Rhodes. That was a bit hypocritical of him since he had asked Toni the same thing when she had made him try War Machine ; he barely believed her when she told him hers was heavier since had a wider range of ammunition and weapons that she did not trust the military with.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞? 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝟒𝟏 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟔 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝟑𝟑 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

"Does she have a fucking eidetic memory ?," asked Bruce, looking at the woman in a new light. Some would compare the ability as a form of cheating ; but few could use the information as well as Toni. Her brain worked in a different range than them, but he would have never guessed something so drastic.

Natasha stiffened and looked pointedly at Fury ; it was evident he had been aware of that detail and had decided not to share it with them. From the moment she had met him, she thought she had him cornered and knew how to play him. Of course, he was difficult to speak to and did not trust anyone, but she was excellent at her job and that got his attention. She had sincerely thought he hated Toni Stark since he was adamant on keeping her away from SHIELD, but now, it was clear that the reason was personal. He cared about the genius and his way of showing his affection was to keep her as protected as possible. The assassin could not help but feel jealous : whenever she felt resentment towards the billionaire, she had consoled herself with the knowledge she was saving lives and that Toni did not have access to the same level of trust as the rest of them concerning the Avengers. In hindsight, it was clear she knew way more about what she let on. "They are usually...eliminated by the government," informed Natasha.

A yellow halo appeared in their vicinity, the Mind Stone had decided to stir some trouble and what better than shame a meddling organization? "And yet, you have two of them running around New-York ; and they're bound to meet soon..."

The Stone actually giggled and projected a sort of hologram of Stephen Strange - her brother's favorite Sorcerer. Time was possessive and vindictive ; which was why they kept him away from the Avengers until they understood the error of their ways. Well, Mind also wanted to see a certain Original Hybrid's reaction (and it was not disappointing).

Klaus had gone still from the moment he had learnt about his mate's ability and barely focused on anything else. The humans had barely understood the meaning behind such a contingency : it meant she had a distinct reminder of their injuries whenever she thought about them. Each pain, each betrayal and each torture was etched on her brain and on her skin. But the image on a dashing neurosurgeon got him of his musings when he noticed the tense look Hope sent him.

"You've got some competition Dad," could not help but add his daughter.

He growled - yes, actually growled - and huffed in frustration. "I'll just have to turn on my charm then."

[𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧.]

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤? [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

𝐌𝐚𝐧: 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐨. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚: 𝐆𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫. [𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐜]

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥.]

𝐌𝐚𝐧: 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧! 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧! 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤!

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭...

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞. 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.]

Steve gulped - he was aware that the woman was smarter than average, but he did not know she was actually capable of making everything literally from scratch, Even though she was not physically enhanced, she was far stronger than the rest of them with the range of weapons she carried, her loyal Artificial Intelligence and her ability to think on her feet. So why did she not kill him when they were in the bunker ?

At the time, he had been persuaded by his decision : he had to protect Bucky, his best friend that had given up so much for his sake. It was only fair that he repaid the favor in full and getting him away from every kind of threat was his primary concern. He did not care about the Accords since he knew they would be forgotten as soon as he opposed them in a press conference (he should have listened to Natasha and done it earlier), nor did he care about Ross and the governments. He had been a bit worried when the genius had not made any public appearances and when she had not called him once she received the flip phone. The Captain was getting more and more frustrated, especially since he had come to the conclusion that Howard would not defend him against his wayward daughter.

"She got that from me," Howard fondly pointed out. Well, Toni was more "drama queen" about it, but he still remembered the day he taught her how to avoid the kidnappings and how to escape in grandeur if she was ever locked up somewhere. Her ability to make weapons from an early age stemmed for her need to protect herself from outsiders with nefarious purposes.

Kol grinned evilly - which perturbed his siblings - and sat between Peter and Harley, holding each one of their shoulders. "I feel like I'll get on very well with my new sister. Who knows ? I may corrupt her."

Instead of gracing him with any type of response, Hope sent him a spell to shut him up while both teenagers scowled at him. Klaus did not give him the same consideration since he snapped his little brother's neck with elegance while smiling at his audience. "He'll wake up. Eventually," mused the Hybrid. "Oh well, at least I did not dagger him for ninety years this time around, so we should be good,"

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐨𝐰'𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐎𝐡, 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨𝐰!

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟏𝟏. 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐘𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 "𝐥".

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: "𝐈."

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: "𝐈." "𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫."

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: "𝐥" 𝐚𝐧𝐝 "𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫." 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐱 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐭.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠!

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧! 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧! [𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧.] 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧! 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧!

Rhodes had issues with holding his tears - it was not the time to outshine his best friend's momentum : the birth of Iron Man had been witnessed by its owner and terrorists who had died before they could recount what happened exactly. But it was jarring to think that he might have lost Toni if not for this man - this skinny individual who was able to perform surgery with the bare minimum and protect the woman's privacy. And he recognized the look on Yinsen's face when he first met her eyes when she woke up and took off her wires, already defiant : it was the Toni Stark effect ; when you were hit with the realization that the woman was not made of the same cloth as them. She could hate Howard Stark for his stern education her whole life, he had created one hell of a woman who had become an inspiration for women all around the world.

"He's a mighty warrior, ready to come to the defense of the fantastic Woman of Iron," reassured them Thor in order to make them focus on the positive aspect ; even though the options were scarce.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬, 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧. 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭. 𝐎𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧. 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧!

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭! [𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐨𝐮𝐭.] 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐭.] 𝐖𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨. 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞.

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

Maria could not hide her sniffles and tears any longer and decided to forgo social niceties. For the first time since she could remember, she was thankful for the lesson they had bestowed on their young girl. "He kept on looking out for her and saved her life knowing he was going to forfeit his." The Italian socialite did not know how to express the way she was currently feeling : she had seen men and weapons ready to strike down her daughter, but like a true Stark, she had defied them head on. Oh how Maria had despaired once she had finally understood Antonia had too much of Howard in her and would never make a proper lady - so she instead prepared her for the politics and the hypocrisies of her entourage. Unluckily for their family, they had died before they were able to explain everything to their Toni.

Pepper takes out a tissue from her purse and uses it to dab her eyes. She stares venomously at Maximoff, drawing parallels between both situations and how differently they coped. "He laid down his life for Toni - a woman that for all intent and purposes he should have hated. But the difference between both of you is that Yinsen craved peace while you coveted chaos and destruction."

The Scarlet Witch is too shocked to say much - but her anger and grief are etched on her face. When red thrills started appearing, the three witches - Freya, Davina and Hope - linked their hands together and erupted a power dampening field around the Sokovian. If she was as unstable as they said, it was better to let her marinate with her conscience.

[𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.] 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝.

Wilson could not help but whistle at the scene, remembering the ruthless woman that had dominated the industry before her kidnapping. When she came back, she had disappointed them when she decided she would not sell weapons anymore ; it had felt like a betrayal by their biggest supplier. Of course, they could have relied on another company, but even he nothing came as close to perfection as something made by SI, "Let me say this : we are lucky she's on our side."

"Oh my god, can you imagine a Iron Man supervillain while his identity is secret and Tony Stark makes everyone think he's too drunk to properly function while slowly and surely overtaking the world and becoming its overlord and...," the spider was about the keep on talking before meeting the amused looks of the watchers around him. But he was feeling particularly drawn to the Mikaelson family, probably because they were somehow closely entertained in his mentor's life.

"Awkward brother ? Check. I guess you're the sarcastic one ?," asked Hope while staring at Harley. But anyone who knew the tribrid knew it was her "make trouble and suffer no consequences" face and they could only hope she would not enlist Kol for his help.

"And you are which one...?,"

"The invincible one," she finally answered - showing them how her eyes slowly changed to bring out the wolf in her while absentmindedly performing some spells. She could not see her mother yet...but she could bond with the many children her mother seemed keen on collecting. She would have thought she would be jealous ; but the prospect of a sibling was too enticing to focus deeper on her lack of resentment.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭, 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐞𝐲! [𝐖𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.] 𝐇𝐞𝐲!

[𝐀𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧. 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫.]

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "𝐟𝐮𝐧-𝐯𝐞𝐞"? 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞, 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?

Bruce smiled at the reunion he was currently witnessing. Since saving the world from threats seemed like an everyday job, they barely had the time to scratch the surface of the billionaire's personality. Her speech about the Hulk made more sense now that he made an effort to speak with his alter ego - that was the same way she felt about the arc reactor. It was not just some statement when he proclaimed that Toni Stark and Iron Woman were one and the same. They could not be separated since the arc was literally in the middle of the billionaire's chest.

"Why wasn't any of this in her file?," questioned Barton, still disturbed by the torture scenes he had witnessed. Toni was a civilian - trained to escape from kidnappings, but a civilian nonetheless - who had been in the hand of one of the most ruthless group of terrorists and had come back unscathed (almost unscathed).

"That's Stark. You think she's going to let anyone say she's weak ?," saif Fury while laughing derisively at the notion. "She would rather you call her vain than share how her suit came to life. Now, I understand why."

[𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.]

Hope holds her breath : she had always known that Toni Stark was beautiful - and now that she was aware of their family relationship, she marveled at the similarities she could pinpoint between the two beautiful women. If put side by side, it was clear that they were related - if not her mother, Toni could at least pass for her older sister.

But to see her emerging from the plane and walking her famous "power strut" as the media called it while she was looking around was a surprise to the tribrid. If the billionaire had been a vampire, she would have been a broody one with too much control over their blood lust.

Even with the sound of the engines and the many discussions between the employees, the sound of Toni Stark's heels reverberated and intimidated directly. It was obviously a mask - and it was only her supernatural abilities that helped confirm her diagnosis. She would use the occasion in order to speak to someone concerning Maximoff's power and in which depths she could control others around her. The Originals would not appreciate to be around someone that could bring them to their feet.]

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫.] 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐬?

"Again, must I point out that you have irrevocably shaped our daughter's life - whether it was voluntary or not. Even her disdain for hospitals for god's sake !," interjected Maria. She was not sure if she ought to be amused or worried about their similarities - at least, Howard had lived a long enough.

"Must I remind you she was taken from the hospital five times since she was born?," defended the Stark patriarch. He had his reasons - and he was not keen on showing his vulnerabilities to a group of superheroes, especially since half seemed adamant on hating his daughter for literally doing her job.

"Little Miss's safety has always been paramount for me, but I must agree with Mr. Stark," shared Jarvis. The young heiress had been subjected to many atrocities for her young age and he had hoped her future would be delightful and as calm as it could possibly be when one involved Antonia Stark. "Just like her hatred for being handed anything after a chemical attack on her when she was still a toddler."

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐨𝐲. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫.]

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨, 𝐦𝐚'𝐚𝐦?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐍𝐨? 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫...

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: ...𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧, 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭.

Happy, Pepper and Rhodes winced : at the time, they had noticed the way they had smothered her with attention as soon as she was within their vicinity. They had barely taken into account her months in captivity and how it could change her - even Pep, her supposed best friend had jumped on the occasion to chastise her when she was only asking for her favorite meal.

If she had called her bodyguard Hogan instead of his beloved moniker, it meant she was more frustrated than they had thought. The genius was known for her eccentrics and her famous nicknames (her own form of endearment) and she had forgone tradition and showed clear displeasure at their outburst - but they had not taken the team to read the signs in front of them and expected Toni to go back to the way things were before she was taken hostage. A part of her was still sure that she should have died within the convoy or while she was taken and operated on - but Starks are made of Iron which was why they should not have been surprised at her new outburst and will to change what was messing up.

[𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐐, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬.]

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬! 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞! 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡!

Howard smiled at the screen when his partner and closest friend made his apparition - but the feeling lasted a few seconds. Now, he was aware of his reputation and he used it to his advantage and wore it like a suit of armor. People often mistook him for a sort of mad scientist who preferred to spend time with his hand made creations - and they were probably right in some aspect, but he had grown up as a genius in an era that did not value intelligence as much as it should and had worked tooth and nail to get to the top. Social interactions were not his forte and providing a stable future for his daughter had seemed like a better alternative than disappointing her with his attitude and personality.

Rhodes bristled at the screen : he had never appreciated him since Stane was too interested in how Toni lived and insisted on being aware of each one of her ventures. He had implied she needed to be "moderated" since she could be unstable after her parents' death and her few months of disappearance to New Orleans of all places after their funeral. He should have noticed that she was practically making weapons under duress - but he was too caught up in his missions and the bureaucratics to focus on anything else.

"He gives me the creeps...really," uttered Peter, feeling uncomfortable at the sight of his mentor's deceased grandfather. He did not know how exactly he had perished since the news covered differents stories and theories about what happened with Stark that day - but he was glad he never met him.

𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐘𝐞𝐬.

𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐄𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥.

𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐎𝐃, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐁𝐈, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐈𝐀...

𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐌𝐬. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈?

𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Natasha, Clint, Thor, Bruce and Steve looked at each other - full of sorrows. Coulson had been a mentor for most of them ; while also a source of comfort for others. His death had hit them hard, especially since it was during the first invasion and the archer could not help but feel like he was somehow at fault.

Pepper scowled at the screen ; regretting her benevolence towards the Agent and finally understanding how much SHIELD had sabotaged her best friend's life. With the guise of asking for a meeting with Toni, they were aware they had to go through her and sending her a reasonable middle-aged agent would make her more at ease with the professionalism of the matter. Her thoughts were interrupted when Howard punched Fury in the face - it all happened so fast. The Avengers wanted to get involved and help their former Director, but the spy was fervently asking them to step away.

"You promised ! You swore you would not get in contact with her until it was time for her to take over the organization, not before !," roared the Stark patriarch, surprising everyone with the news.

"What ? SHIELD does not belong to Toni. Please Howard, be reasonable," tried to calm Steve.

It obviously did not work since the older man scowled at him, in a manner so reminiscent of Toni, that it broke her former coworker's heart. "Of course it's hers. I created the organization with the help of Peggy and Daniel - both who raised Toni for the role and both left her their shares. Whatever you call SHIELD is hers by right."

They all deferred to Fury who just acquiesced and sat back, feeling drained for the first time in so long. He just did not want to be present when Stark would see his daughter flying with a nuke towards a wormhole at his orders - definitely not. No one would save him from his wrath ; especially if Maria somehow got involved.

Hope's heart soared - she had gathered from their innuendos that her mother and grandfather never got along and it was probably due to the generational transition between their era and their lack of communication skills, something she shared with them. But it was evident he deeply cared about his daughter and that he had done everything capable to protect her, even preparing contingencies upon his death. It reminded her of the gratitude she felt towards her family and the bitter hatred when she thought of Hayley. The woman who had tried to separate from her father as a child and who had succeeded in driving her mother away, none the wiser.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐮𝐡...

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧? [𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦.] 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧... 𝐀 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝... [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐬, 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧]

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞-𝐢𝐧?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐝.

Howard was not sure if he wanted to look at the screen or not - but either way he was going to be forced to listen to her speech. He was impressed by her ability to push her limits and to inform the press as soon as she landed in the country. He was not even sure he could have handled the stress and the after effects of the torture by the time - but no, Toni exceeded every expectation people could have of her and walked right into her work.

She was dressed in a professional black suit that hid the blue halo of her arc reactor ; which was a smart prevention. It was better to hide it while she still could and while she looked for capable surgeons to save her.

"That press conference made the news for weeks," mused Scott, remembering his initial shock and the joyous smile on Pym's face. They had thought she was out of the game and would not fare for longer ; only for Stark Industries to come out on top.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 : 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐬. 𝐎𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬. 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

"Oh dear," uttered Maria.

"My God, Toni...," whispered Howard - looking at his daughter in a different light. She had always told him how she despised making weapons but he had known that no one would accept such a change if his daughter got her hand on the company. He did not know how the investors were going to react, but could not begrudge his daughter for the decision she had made. After being confronted with the harm her weapons could do, it was only fair she felt like it was time to turn tides. He could not help but be proud of her and wished she was here so he could plainly tell her.

"What's so scandalous about that ?," asked Kol, who still had some issues with the technology of this time. He had successfully caught up on history and technology improvements, but had never cared much about current wars and weaponry. He had barely made the connection between the multi-billion dollar company and his niece's mother - just thinking it was some business tycoon who had a great team.

"Toni...At the time, Toni had almost as much political power as any president in the world," explained Vision in his calm and logical words. "Stark Industries is a weapon company and has always been ; she was barely trying to implement new projects by the time she was kidnapped. In less than five years, the company went from a multi million company to a multi billion company, all within the hands of Toni..."

Howard and Maria gasped - shocked at the improvements Antonia had made in such a short amount of time.

"...and the economy completely collapsed when she was in captivity. She's the perfect representation of the American Dream : she's the daughter of two immigrants but also patriotic to a fault."

"Howard was American !," exclaimed Steve, scandalized by what the Colonel was saying.

"I may be American, but I was born a German Jew while Maria is Italian," shared Howard to the room - everyone was stunned by the news. "That's how I got on working with Dr. Erskine by the way."

𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤!

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐁𝐞𝐧.

𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐁𝐞𝐧): 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦.] 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲, 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 [𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.] 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬. [𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞.]

"Don't touch The Mechanic, you bastard !," screamed Harley at the screen, taking them out of their stupor at watching the public's reaction to Toni. They had watched the press conference on television and some of them had even been present, but it was different to watch him from a different point of view. Toni was truly radiant in her outfit - and if they didn't know better, they would have thought she had just broken her arm.

"Language," berated Steve.

Harley rolled his eyes and looked at the Captain directly in the eyes. "Fuck. You." Kol was delighted with his mischievous expression and sat next to his good sister's protege, eager to learn how they encountered each other.

Howard looked at the interaction with one of his closest friends and his daughter and felt uncomfortable for the first time looking in. He had been so focused on his work that he barely noticed the interest Obadiah had always given Toni, even though she used to be reluctant to spend time with him. After being forced by her father, she had relented and let her guard down. He could begrudgingly understand why since he was currently manhandling her during her own speech and making a fout of her in front of the media.

He sighed - not particularly interested in seeing how he may have failed his daughter, again.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐮𝐩. [𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.] 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞?

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲: 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.

[𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫.]

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭..𝐮𝐡... 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝?

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐔𝐡, 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝟒𝟎 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐀𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐞𝐩.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐎𝐛𝐢𝐞, 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐌𝐘 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐄 𝐝𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐛. 𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐀𝐡, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐭! 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐀𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐇𝐮𝐡? 𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲. 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞? 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫.

"It wasn't me !," interjected both parties when they received accusative looks from the people surrounding them. Rhodes winced : technically, he had betrayed Toni's trust once even though it had not happened yet, but only a few people were aware of the technology on her chest, so it was only fair that she assumed it was them. In hindsight, the hit had been ordered by Obadiah which meant he had been in contact with the Ten Rings who surely had provided any proof of her captivity with them before she rained hell on them. The answer was so obvious once you had all the fact that he could only hate himself for not noticing anything earlier.

"That motherfucking bastard," roared Fury at the former CEO of Stark Industries. He did not provide more reasons for his outburst, he scowled instead and sat more comfortably, as if he was aghast by the mere mention of Stane.

"Is he making decisions in her own company ?," wondered Hope, not understand the intricacies of the corporate world.

"Your company you mean," mused Maria, looking at her beautiful granddaughter.

"Their company actually," added Pepper while pointing at Peter and Harley, both clutching their caregiver, stunned by the fact they had been incorporated.

"Whaaaa...What do you mean ?," gulped the teenager.

Aside from amused and fond looks from the adults surrounding him, no one deigned answering him.

"I knew I was right to call her Mom," joked Harley in order to the defer the attention back to him and save Peter. "Now, I got two of them. Anyone has a father to spare?"

"We killed ours," informed Klaus with his signature smirk, making everyone around him tense. "And our mother."

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐲. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭.]

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬-𝐮𝐩, 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝...

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 "𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐢𝐦" 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐝'𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐰.

"Man, am I the only one creeped out by his need to touch her all the time ?," questioned Wilson, still uncomfortable by the dynamic Stane wanted to impose between him and the genius. It was clear she was making efforts to put boundaries between them, but he was forcefully implicating himself in her life.

"And asking Toni to lay low?," scoffed Pepper. "That's a recipe for disaster, trust me."