iron woman 1 - chapter 2

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

𝐉𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐒: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰.]

Howard and Maria shared a questioning look : they could hear their dear butler's voice but weren't able to see him anywhere. Rhodes decided to help them a bit since they had missed a couple milestones in their daughter's life.

"Jarvis died a few months after both of you - heart attack". He pointed towards the screen where they could see Toni's workshop in all its glory. "She created an artificial intelligence soon after she came back from New Orleans and replicated Jarvis's speech pattern. And, well, Just A Rather Very Intelligent System was born. Until now, we thought he was her first born."

He shared a conspiracy look with his goddaughter (at least, if Hope accepted, but in what world was he not the godfather of his sister's kids?). Even though everybody was now aware of the truth, seeing her childlike smile was enough. It was almost like sitting with Toni when she had been a scrawny teenager at MIT and was being picked on by the older students. Well, regular college students actually. She was the midget.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐋𝐨𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: [𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞.] 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝. [𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞.] 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐨𝐰'𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐠𝐨.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

Howard could not help but smile - it was clear the company was doing quite well and that his daughter's life was as calm as ever. He had trouble believing that she would run towards the fighting since he had previously established with her the importance of knowing your place. Antonia was too smart and sharp to be lost on meaningless endeavors such as SHIELD and their missions. Just the prospect of his daughter being involved in the organization he had helped create (to his despair) was enough to make him shake in his boots. His wife was just as worried as him, even if she decided not to display her emotions as freely as some of them. Instead, she kept throwing quick glances towards Hope, their granddaughter, who shared an uncanny resemblance to her mother when she was the same age. If she was not so well-behaved and shy, he would have mistaken her for "Toni" as she liked to be called. Unlike what he had predicted, the nickname had stuck (he seriously thought it was another phase to attract his attention, instead, it was Maria who had complained about the masculine misconception when you heard about the CEO heir of Stark Industries).

While the warmonger was in deep thoughts, the former Avengers team were sneering at the billionaire's behavior. "Hank was right, Starks know nothing of respect. You can't trust a Stark."

It was Mrs. Stark who heard him first and even though she tried to stir away from conflict as much as possible, she could not help but inquire more about the subject. "Oh, Hank has not changed then. How is Janet ? Last time I saw her, it was when Tony and Hope had a robot contest at home" lightly chuckled the blonde woman.

The "owner" of the Ant-Suit looked at her in disbelief. "You know the Pym family ?" he inquired. It was Howard's turn to get involved and offer them more explanation while huffing at his older rival for the trouble he must have given his daughter after his passing. "I knew the Van Dyne family, yes, that's for sure. Hank was just an unforeseen nuisance."

Rhodes looked at his father's best friend in complete shock and could not help but openly laugh. "You...Did you clone yourself and put your personality in Toni or something ? Because...it's creepy."

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭? 𝐘𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐔𝐦, 𝐧𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝--

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐒𝐨?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐍𝐨𝐭 "𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠" 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐔𝐦.. 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

Wanda sneered at the screen. "See, people are dying around the world and she's flaunting her money for useless things."

Hope wanted to interject and get involved - after all, she was a Mikaelson and they defended their own. Even though her biological mother did not share the same name, she had been screwed over by Mikael just as much as any of them and it was through no fault of her own if she could not have made contact with her daughter. It was a tough pill to swallow, especially when you take into account that Iron Woman was always busy saving people somewhere on the globe. But the "Scarlet Witch" as she heard others call her, was hostile towards everything related to the Stark family, which made it Hope's issue to resolve.

Klaus had seemingly followed his daughter's train of thoughts and jumped at the occasion. "That's how she helps artists : Toni Stark buying your paintings is a sure way to make a name for yourself."

Elijah looked deep in thoughts, discovering a new facade of Toni Stark. He had heard of his brother's involvement with her, but never tried to understand how a human could have enraptured the feared Niklaus Mikaelson. Looking at the genius on the screen, it was easy to see how the hybrid got dazzled by her easy-going attitude.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐈𝐓 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡...

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧...

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐛 𝐢𝐭. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐘𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡. 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞? 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐀𝐧𝐝?

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐎𝐡, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡.

𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬: 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬... 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 : 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉.

𝐉𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐒 : 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐫. 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬.

Vision smiled at the screen - and he was not the only one. An older man that had been hid by the towering figures of most of the Avengers sniffed and garnered people's attention as well as their suspicion. It was only when the Stark couple focused on what was bothering everyone that the atmosphere felt lighter. "Oh my dear ! Jarvis, we had no idea you were here !"

At her proclamation, Clint rose on his feet and looked at the well-groomed "butler" if his uniform was right. "I was so overwhelmed by little Miss's kidnapping I could not be preoccupied by much else. My apologies Mr. Stark and Mrs. Stark." The archer furrowed his brows and shivered at the butler's voice - the same one as the Artificial Intelligence their former teammate loved. "Toni has never spoken about you. Who the hell are you?"

With a light chuckle (even though the pain in his eyes was as clear as day), the man walked towards his former employers. "Edwin Jarvis, nice to make your acquaintance. I am, well, was, the Stark family butler."

"You mean her father figure" interjected Rebekah. She had barely spoken since the movie had started. SHe still felt guilty - she should have known her friend would not leave her daughter without as much as an explanation and go back to her merry life of booze and sex. Instead, she had played right into other people's expectations and had let her judgment overpower her feelings concerning her sister-in-law.

Howard and his butler exchanged a look - they only needed a few seconds to communicate with each other. The deceased millionaire turned towards the 1000-year-old female vampire and smiled at her, turning on the Stark charm and offering her a smile to placate her. She was about to press the issue but shivered when the posture and the countenance was identical to her dear friend. Hope was silently watching their discussion while glancing at "Team Cap" with suspicion before finally getting enough bravado to inquire the Stones about her mother's whereabouts.

A yellow halo advanced towards her, seemingly floating before taking the form of the famous Loki, God of Mischief (Kol had a temper tantrum when he was forbidden to follow him with his plans to enslave the planet, thank god Davina knows how to deal with him. "I rather like this face. He was the first victim of the Mad Titan, tortured for years before finally answering to his whims and "conquering" Earth. And still, no one noticed his predicament, not even his brother" joked the yellow Stone under the hurtful gaze of Thor - but even the God of Thunder was aware he could not do anything against an entity as powerful and volatile as an Infinity Stone.

"Well met, Hope Klausdottir, I am the Mind Stone. To answer your question, your mother and a few others are in a form of limbo because of the physical and mental injuries they sustained. We are trying to stabilize them and pluck them from the right time period. Besides, this was the worst era for Antonia Stark, the Stone Guardian. We don't want her to relive it" explained "Mind" in a rare show of compassion towards the genius and her heir.

The tribrid took him at face value and faced the screen, watching how her mother skillfully drove. It surprised her to see the ease she felt behind the wheel since her own parents had died this way a few years prior.

[𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝, 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐬. [𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤.] 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮? [𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲.]

Even he was surprised with the venom in his own voice - and how he had somehow ignored the distressed and tired look of his best friend at the time. Now that he knew better, he understood her reluctance to create weapons this destructive. The problem was the precedent because they will always want more from her and one day, they would not give her the choice. HYDRA and the participation of "Thunderbolt" Ross had shown to the Army man that governments could not always be trusted and the chain of command could be screwed over easily if you had power and people who owed you favors.

He felt a pair of eyes fixing him - and meeting the heated and furious glare of the famous hybrid he had heard so much about (without his "furry" problem at the beginning, he had known that a few weeks earlier actually, just after he had woken up and his legs were working because she had given him vampire blood and kept him in observation for twenty-four hours to reduce the probability of him dying and turning into Count Dracula 2.0).

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐮𝐩! 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥!

[𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐞𝐭.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐮𝐬?

Bruce looked at the screen, smiling and a bit nostalgic. Toni was the youngest of their team - even though most of them seemed completely alright with leaving her with most of the work since they had deemed her the genius of the group. From the first time he had met on the SHIELD Helicarrier, he had felt a sort of kinship with the billionaire - and she was completely alright with his alter-ego. She was not even fazed by the Hulk and even with the threat of his transformation hanging over her head, she had made conversation and focused on his ability as a Doctor with multiple PhDs instead of the raging beast that could level cities. "So she was always prone to nicknames ?"

"They make people uncomfortable but she doesn't care how others feel. Typical of white Americans and Stark is the perfect embodiment of those values with her promiscuity and her habit to spend money on useless things" sneered Wanda, clearly raising many red flags (no pun intended).

"Let me get this right, it's not only Toni Stark you don't like, but our culture ?" asked Harley who had been mostly silent once he felt comfortable with Peter, his mentor's other protege. It had taken him two minutes to figure out he was the spangled vigilante roaming around New-York (and his reaction was wholesome enough that it burned a little bit of the ice around Harley's heart - he could understand why the Mechanic had almost adopted the damn kid. Well, his new brother if everything went well.)

Wanda was about to answer before she was interrupted by Natasha, the spy throwing her daggers with her eyes. She huffed and decided to huddle up closer to Steve - even though he was definitely colder after her little speech. She had thought his proclivity to hate governments and his disdain with Stark would help her with her attempts at manipulation.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲.

𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 #𝟏: 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐢. 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞...

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 #𝟏: 𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐥?

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝... [𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐥] 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?

Klaus certainly did not enjoy the "friendship" between Rhodes and Toni - and even though she had tried to show him the depths of their quasi-familial relation, he had gotten jealous and spiteful. The fact that she was pregnant at the time which seemed ludicrous when he first heard about it had cemented his suspicion of an affair between them. The hybrid investigated and was delighted to learn he had been wrong. But the paranoia had not left him : and seeing the look of unease and heartbreak in his mate's eyes while her brother was chastising her was wrenching. He had been at the other side of the same stern reprimands (a few carnages do not count as an alarming situation in his mind).

"Everyone who has ever worked in close contact with Howard would share your grievances James" joked Maria Stark while looking at her daughter's best friend. "He could not manage a day without me around the manage him."

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐞𝐲! 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐨, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠... 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐩.

𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 #𝟐: 𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐰𝐨, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐨. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭-- 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲.

[𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.]

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐦 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞? 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤!

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭...

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐨, 𝐧𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞! 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐨! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰! 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞! 𝐖𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.

Klaus knew Toni was not particularly attracted to women - but she always said that the feminine body was truly a work of art so he's not even surprised to see her ogling the dancing "troupe" that had accompanied them. "She can take me with her anywhere" chipped in Kol who had managed to make himself scarce while amassing information about this additional member of their family. He would not lie, after spending an eternity with his dull brothers and (bratty) capricious sister, the inventor was like a breath of fresh air.

"She never went all in for us like this," complained Clint.

"That's not professional Clint, you know that" berated him the super soldier. They had spent less than an hour in the same room and they were already enraptured by the enchantress that was Antonia Stark. Steve would not lie : from the first moment he had seen her, he had been hooked on her. Still, he did not appreciate some facettes of her personality so he took it upon himself to help Howard's daughter and attempt to "fix her". He knew his friend would be grateful for his intervention : after all, the genius inventor had spent countless millions and hundreds of hours searching the Arctic to find him. That's loyalty ; something Toni does not share with her father.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥.

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐖𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬.

They all watch as Antonia "Toni" Stark does what she does best : turn on the charm and dazzle those around her. It's almost jarring for the people that do not know her to see her change into a relaxed and regal smile, instead of the troubled facial expression she had a few seconds earlier. Natasha furrowed her brows at the scene - she had profiled the billionaire herself and nothing could have led her to believe the woman had any type of coping mechanisms nor that her ease at selling dangerous weapons was a facade. She filed the information for later and scanned the room, noticing the brunette teenager throwing angry glares at Wanda.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡? 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐈 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐣𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬' 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬. [𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.] 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨. [𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞]

The rest of the room was completely silent, even Fury did not know how to react to the scene in front of him. They were aware of the capacity and strength of her inventions but from the moment they had met Toni, she was entirely focused on fixing her mistakes and green energy for the sake of their planet. They had never encountered the famous "Merchant of Death" - and even the Mikaelson shivered at the intensity of the explosion on the screen. The only ones that seemed delighted by the range of destruction were the Stark couple who were exchanging theories on how she had managed to create such precise explosives.

"I knew she was...talented and that she would take the company to new heights. It's reassuring to know that my mission to protect my country has transcended my own existence."

Steve was the first one surprised by his friend's words but especially at his expression of pride and longing. "You're proud of...of this ? She's no better than HYDRA if that's what she creates" protested Captain America with his usual tone of voice while Wanda and Clint heartily agreed with him.

Rhodes could not help but laugh, as if mocking him. Before anything escalated, Sam Wilson decided to add his grain of salt. "Without Stark Industries, the United States would have lost countless wars and territories around the world. They saved American soldier lives. You have to remember that Toni's a civilian who has been raised for this role."

"She made her first bomb at six" proudly informed Howard before noticing the looks of horror he was receiving. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You mean...that making weapons was literally her childhood hobby?" asked Rhodes, a little bit horrified after this information. He had heard from his "sister" that she had been practically groomed to become the next warmonger, but he had never understood the depths of her words. A child has a maniable brain : when you make him think that engineering dangerous weapons are akin to protecting her own country, no wonder she continued on the same path.

"Well, of course. She did not want to inherit S.I, but you were military and it convinced her to work towards the company and create better weapons" added the famous socialite. Rhodes felt almost sick at the news ; Toni was the type of individual to blame herself for every mistake made in the world and if he had been hurt on the field, she would have blamed herself.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: [𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥]𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞! [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠.]

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: [𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭] 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐎𝐛𝐢𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩?

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐇𝐨𝐰'𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬.

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐇𝐞𝐲! 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨, 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥! 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 - 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐄𝐎. 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡?

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞: 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢. [𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞.]

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢. [𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐢𝐧.]

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "𝐟𝐮𝐧-𝐯𝐞𝐞." 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐡𝐮𝐦-𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐦-𝐯𝐞𝐞" 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤: 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞.

Scott cringed a little bit after hearing their conversation : he would have never let anyone speak to his own daughter this way. He had heard a lot about Stane and his loyalty to the Starks, how he had handled the company after their CEO was busy traipsing around the globe and only bothering to send the bare minimum to her office. He had empathized with the man, but in hindsight, he wondered if Stane was the reason why she stayed away. With a quick glance at the other side of the room, he was met with a confused look on Howard's face and a curious Maria.

"I have...never judged her for her sex. I was actually glad I had a daughter and not a son" explained a mortified inventor. "Did she really think that?"

It was Fury's turn to intervene in order to bring order to the room and watch more about her time in captivity. "Stane was a bastard who groomed your daughter into being complacent, pushing her to drink in order to drown her sorrows over your death and cut all ties with her formed friend. Turning her against you was the least of his offenses." Barnes had stayed silent but had to learn more about the famous Stark that held her power with an iron fist. "Was ?"

The one-eyed spy smiled - and if that was not enough to break everyone's brain, he had to talk and stun them even more. "Peggy Carter taught her something important : it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you. You learn not to let your enemies live and plot against you." The entire "Captain America Team" was surprised to learn Toni had any type of relation with the former SHIELD Director and flame of Rogers. "SHIELD belongs to her after all, she's the last one eligible to take it over."

[𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬.]

𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧: 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

[𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲.]

Hope had seen her fair share of violence : she had never begrudged their family for what they had to do in order to survive because she understood their vow better than most. Always & Forever is more than a promise and she intends to make right by the Mikaelson's decision to stay together through hell and high water.

Learning she was actually Toni Stark's daughter and that she had been forced to abandon her had shook her to her core and the only way she could cope was to extend the vow to the woman who had given birth to her and had wanted to keep her, even though she had a clear aversion for motherhood. Hope's life would have been completely different : she would have had threats after her since she was a Stark, but the supernatural life would have seemed impossible if she was raised by someone so adamant about "everything has a scientific explanation". Seeing her writhing in pain because of a terrorist group (didn't her "Uncle Rhodey" say their location was completely secure?) was enough to awaken her instinct and let escape a growl of indignation. At the same moment, she met her grandparent's eyes and braced herself for their disgust and fear. Instead, Howard (Pops soon) decided to tear his concentration from the screen and almost jump in excitement.

"See Maria, every generation of Starks surpasses our expectations" whispered the old inventor while receiving looks of complete bewilderment from the Mikaelsons.

They were not even afraid of her... Instead of musing about the implications, she focused on the green monster that decided to make his apparition. "TIN GIRL HURT. BAD MAN TOUCH TIN GIRL HEART." Before he could make any type of carnage in their beloved Abattoir, the teenager vamp-sped and subdued the beast with a few punches. She was about to regain her seat and let Dr. Banner recuperates when she meets the consterned looks from the room.

"What? You've never seen a sixteen-year-old punch the Hulk?" she joked. "Happens every Sunday around here."

"Did Stark experiment on you young lady?" asked Rogers while gripping her arm. He was not hurting her, but she did not appreciate the gesture nor his familiarity with her. Besides, he was keen on criticizing her mother at every turn and she was not about to give him any type of leverage on him. "It's genetic douchebag" retorted Hope.

Klaus interrupted their confrontation by finishing his drink, breaking the glass with his hands (leaving everyone stunned at the speed of his healing) and threw the shards at the Captain. "That will teach you to touch my daughter without her explicit consent, bloody wanker."

That was the moment Banner decided to make his apparition - looking warily at Hope and the rest of her family (but still, pleasantly surprised that there were people on Earth who could actually stop him on going on a rampage, little did he know they would rather follow him).

"Can we just talk about the fact she's awake during the surgery while they were...touching her heart with their bare hands?" he passionately asked before puking on the floor.