Fic: In Another's Eyes (Chapter Seventeen)
Title: In Another’s Eyes
Fandom: The Avengers (AU-Cinematic Universe)
Characters: Antonia “Toni” Stark, Steve Rogers, others.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Toni/Steve
Warnings: Mentions of Non-Con, bondage
Summary: A stalker is targeting Toni, which skews how she sees herself and how she allows others to see her.
Author's Notes: This is a LONG one. Also, many thanks to my BFF hannibal_topaz for helping me out with this chapter :D
( Chapter One) ( Chapter Two) ( Chapter Three) ( Chapter Four) ( Chapter Five) ( Chapter Six) ( Chapter Seven) ( Chapter Eight) ( Chapter Nine) ( Chapter Ten) ( Chapter Eleven) ( Chapter Twelve) ( Chapter Thirteen) ( Chapter Fourteen) ( Chapter Fifteen) ( Chapter Sixteen)
Chapter Seventeen
May 2012
Steve Rogers hated the 21st Century.
At least what he’d seen of it, and most of the people in it.
The first medical checkup was necessary, of course. He’d been incased in ice for 70 years, super soldier or not, things were going to need to be looked at. It was every medical test he had after that that started to get on his nerves. He had just gotten back to his room-a small, grey room that looked more like a prison to him than a place he could call home-when there was a knock at his door. Normally, Steve would consider himself a patient man, but seriously, he had just gotten done being poked and prodded and ran on a treadmill two hours straight and had his force strength tested with something that looked like a piece of metal tied to a punching bag (he was assured it was the latest technology, so apparently there were computer chips in there somewhere) and he was honestly just a little tired of the 21st century. So when he opened the door, he was ready to yell at whoever was standing at the other side.
He found himself face to face with his shield.
“I was told you had a rough day, Captain Rogers,” said a female voice from behind the shield. “So, I didn’t know if you’d swing first and ask questions later or what, and honestly, I’m not putting this thing down until I’m sure.” Steve just stared at the shield in awed silence. It was cleaned up, slightly polished, but there were still all the scuff marks from bullets he’d deflected with it. It was definitely the shield Howard Stark made for him… “Please decide quickly, this blasted thing is heavier than it looks.”
“Right, sorry…” He forgot that not everyone was used to lugging his shield around. To him, the weight felt natural, almost like it was a part of him. To everyone else, not so much. “I’m not going to hit you… may I?”
“Yes, please take it.” She relinquished the shield and he slid it onto his arm. He couldn’t help smiling. “I cleaned it up, but I didn’t want remove the dents without asking… some people place sentimental value on those things.” He nodded slightly, finally looking at her. He had to consciously restrain himself from letting his jaw drop; had Howard Stark been female, she would have been the spitting image.
“I… thank you,” he managed to say. She nodded.
“Antonia Stark.” That explained the resemblance to Howard, at least. “Everyone calls me Toni.” She held her out hand to him; he took it in his, surprised at how firm a handshake she had.
“Steve Rogers, but I guess you knew that.” His tone was a bit more wry than he intended it, and it was clear she picked up on that fact.
“Sorry, do I annoy you?” she asked flatly, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I was going to get you out of here, but if my countenance repels you thus…”
“No, no!” he replied quickly, feeling his cheeks flush. “It’s not that… every time I go to introduce myself, people are like ‘yes, I know’, and it’s just…”
“Calm down, cowboy, I get it.” She grinned and Steve would be lying if he said he didn’t see Howard right then. “Happens to me all the time.” She turned on her heel and started down the hall. “Coming?”
“Wait, you were serious?” he asked, quickly putting his shield in his room and chasing after her. She walked remarkably fast for a woman in a perfectly tailored suit with shoes that appeared to have at least three inch heels. “You’re really taking me out of here?”
“Not if you don’t walk faster, I swear if I get cornered by Coulson because you won’t keep up, I will pull your super soldier ass in between me and his Taser…”
“What?” She didn’t slow her pace, which was amazing; she made it look like she was merely taking a brisk walk, while he was almost jogging just to keep up with her. She was soon at the door, Steve just behind her. A moment later, they were in the parking lot
“Get in,” she said, opening the driver’s side door of a beautiful convertible. It was hot rod red with gold trim and Steve had never seen a more beautiful car in his life.
“This is yours?” he asked dumbly, getting into the passenger seat.
“Twenty-Thirteen Chevy Corvette 427,” she replied with a nod, buckling her seatbelt and starting the car. “Seven liter LS7 aluminum-block V8, five hundred five horsepower, top speed of one-ninety, can go from zero to sixty in three-point-eight seconds.” She grinned at him. “I could have gone with something flashier, but I figured why not stick with a good American car?” Before he could answer, she put the car into gear and took off. If she noticed how tightly he was gripping the arm rest, she didn’t say a word.
“So, do you work for SSR?” he asked once he swallowed his heart back into his chest. “Or whatever they’re calling it now? SHIELD?”
“Yeah, SHIELD,” she replied, not taking her sunglasses covered eyes off the road. “But no, I… freelance, I don’t work for anybody, though I occasionally allow Fury to have his delusions.” She slowed the car to a stop as they got into traffic and they sat in mostly silence. “So, what kind of tech are they letting you play with?”
“Nothing,” he replied bitterly. She finally looked at him, tilting her sunglasses down so he could see the complete disbelief in her eyes.
“Seriously?”
“They get all weird about showing me any kind of technology… or anything after the 50s. That's all they've let me see yet.” She shook her head, muttering something under her breath. “I’m sorry?”
“I just called them all something that probably shouldn’t be repeated in polite company,” she informed him.
“Oh.” There was a pause. “I just wish they’d let me decide when I’ve had too much, you know?” Tony nodded.
“It’s obvious you’ve got questions; I am, if nothing else, a brutally honest person, so I’ll answer what I can. If you want.”
“I've got a lot of them!” Steve exclaimed, taking note of how she jumped slightly. “Sorry, it’s just… mostly I just want someone to treat me like my head won't explode if I see something from this century. I read sci-fi as a kid! I even went to one of Howard's world of tomorrow expos, I want to know how much of that ended up happening and what's still science fiction.” He waved his arms at the world around them. “Kids learn what's around them first and then the history, why can't they just do that with me?” He sighed heavily, frustrated; he didn’t mean to be excited about it, but he hadn’t been able to talk with anyone at SHILED about this, and not for a lack of trying… and Toni, for some reason, was incredibly easy to talk to.
“Oh, honey,” Toni said with a grin. “The stuff he did back then and the stuff we have now? It’s like comparing a Moped to a Ferrari.” He had no idea what she meant, but managed to laugh anyway.
“Never got that flying car to work, then?”
“Oh yeah, he got it to work. World’s just not ready for it yet.”
“Still?” He would say he wasn’t pouting a little, but that would be a complete lie.
“Too many people to misuse the tech.”
“I suppose.” They were driving a bit faster now, but Steve still had no idea where they were heading. He watched the people as they went past, most of them talking on what looked like miniature walkie-talkies… no, they were called something else. “Does everyone have a cellphone?” he asked, once he remembered what they were called. He remembered Howard talking about the technology, hardly able to believe that someday a phone would be cordless and small enough to fit in your pocket.
“Pretty much,” Toni replied. “Why, would you like one? I can get you one, Stark Enterprises makes stuff like that all the time.”
“Would you teach me how to use it?”
“Sure, if you want.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“What would you like?” He thought about it for a moment.
“A hotdog,” he said. “A good, New York hotdog.” Toni grinned.
“Jarvis, you there?”
“For you, Miss Stark, always.” The random voice made Steve jump a little, causing Toni to chuckle.
“Jarvis is my butler,” she told him.
“And… a computer?”
“A little more complex than that, but yeah. Jarvis, don’t be rude; say hello.”
“Hello Captain Rogers,” came the reply. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Hello, Jarvis.”
“Jarvis, sweetie,” Toni continued. “I need the fastest route to Jimmy’s Hot Dog cart, if you could bring it up please?”
The rest of the afternoon was honestly the best time Steve had had in a while. Toni didn’t treat him like a toddler, she told him how things stood and didn’t sugar coat her opinions. She asked what he wanted to do and they did it with no questions asked. They stopped at Stark Tower-which, Toni bragged, was almost as high as the Empire State building-where she not only got him the cellphone she promised, but a small handheld computer that she called a StarkTablet. She then proceeded to teach him how to use both; she didn’t do it for him, she told him what to push and let him do it on his own. He appreciated that more than he could say.
After she brought it up, Steve asked if they could go see the Empire State Building. They were there not ten minutes later, looking out over the New York skyline as the sun was just beginning its descent. Toni had bought them both a cup of coffee and they were standing against a railing, watching the sky.
“Thank you, Toni,” he said, not taking his eyes from the scenery before him. “I really needed this…”
“Least I could do, Cap,” she replied, sipping her coffee. “Especially after what those morons did when you first woke up.” She shook her head. “Honestly, they’re supposed to be paying me to consult…” It took him a moment to realize she was talking about the way SHIELD tried to make him believe he was still in the 1940s when he first woke up. The trickery, while supposedly in his best interest, did not inspire confidence in anyone at SHIELD.
“What would you have done?” he asked, turning his whole body towards her. She looked at him, thoughtfully.
“I would have been there when you woke up,” she replied. “I would have told you flat where you were and what happened. And then… we would have had today.” She took another sip of her coffee while Steve thought about what she’d said.
“I would have preferred that.”
“Most people would.” She tilted her head slightly, still looking out over the city. “…Cap, you might want to duck.” Steve had been in enough battles to know to duck when told to. He hit the ground just as some sort of projectile whizzed past where his head had been and crashed into the roof a few feet behind him, causing a small explosion. He looked up at Toni; she hadn’t moved an inch.
“What the hell was that?!” he demanded, getting to his feet. Toni nodded towards something out over the city; a green man, riding some sort of silver glider.
“Oi, Goblin!” she yelled, pushing her sunglasses up on her head. “You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a baseball bat!”
“Come out and play, Iron Man!” the green man taunted, throwing another projectile-Steve was sure it looked like a pumpkin-at her. She looked behind her to make sure there was no one there before side stepping the device. She shook her head, muttering; Steve heard something along the lines of “have to call Parker, this is ridiculous”. She then reached down and picked up her brief case. There was something different about that brief case, Steve noticed. She had let him hold it for a brief moment when they were at Stark Tower and he had just felt there was something… odd.
When the briefcase somehow turned into a full suit of armor that could fly, Steve realized that his feelings had been correct.
What came after that had been a blur; Steve had busied himself with getting civilians to safety, leaving Iron Man… no, leaving Toni to take care of the strange green man-Goblin, that’s what she called him-with the pumpkin bombs. It was only until he heard her now slightly robotic voice yell “And STAY down!”, did he realize that the danger was over. He used a set of binoculars on the roof to find her and the Goblin; he found her hovering over her car, which she had apparently picked up and thrown at the Goblin, trapping him underneath. There were no words for this.
“Glad that’s over,” she said when she got back to the roof. She lifted up the faceplate of her armor, smiling at him. “You alright?” He nodded.
“Your car…”
“Yeah… I liked that car. Better my can than someone else’s though. I’ll just buy myself a new one.” She looked back down at the ground. “Awesome, SHEILD’s down there, they can handle the cleanup. We’ve got one more place to go before I have to take you back.” She held out her hand to him; when he took it, she pulled him close and wrapped an arm around his waist. “You hold tight now.” Before Steve could say anything, she shot up into the air. One of his arms was around her waist as well and he was aware of the fact he gripped her tighter.
“Where are we going?” he asked. She chuckled a little.
“I was thinking,” she replied. “And I think a lot, this is something you’re going to need to get used to… during the fight, I was thinking that I didn’t know if anyone told you…”
“Told me what?” Toni stopped in mid-air; they were slightly over the ocean, Steve realized, and she was pointing at something further out in the water with her free hand.
“That your lady still stands.” Steve looked where she was pointing; sure enough, standing tall on the water was the Statue of Liberty. She looked gorgeous; no one had told Steve she was still around, nor had he ever asked… “She’s a bit older,” Toni continued. “And her dress is a little singed, but your lady is still there.”
“Thank you,” he replied. He didn’t know what else to say, which lead to another silence.
“Your team made it through the war, Cap. I met a few of them, good people… Peggy Carter was one of them.” Steve looked at her.
“She… is she…?”
“She passed away last year.” She took a deep breath. “I won't tell you not to be sad, because that is a fucking stupid thing to say to anyone. Seriously, you be sad if you want to, it is a sad thing… I will tell you though that she missed you, but she was happy. She got married sometime after the war, had kids... she named her first son Steven Roger.” Steve couldn’t stop the grin from covering his face; Toni was wearing one too.
“Nice of her…” He’d been side stepping the question all day; now was the time to ask it. “And Howard? He’s is your dad, isn’t he?” He regretted asking when the grin instantly melted off her face.
“He was,” she replied. “He and my mother died about twenty years ago… and I’m gonna stop right there, if you don’t mind.” He nodded. More silence. “I better get you back before I get into too much more trouble...”
“What do you mean?” Steve asked. The grin came back and he was glad of it; he didn’t want today to end on a sour note.
“This may come as a complete surprise to you, Cap,” she said, a mischievous tone in her voice. “But I didn’t have permission to take you out on the town today.” His jaw dropped.
“You… you didn’t…”
“I basically kidnapped you for the day.” She giggled, flipping her faceplate back down. “Man, Fury is going to lose his shit when he gets his hands on me.” Steve wasn’t aware they had been flying back to SHIELD until she landed on the roof. “I had a great time today, Cap.”
“I did too,” he wholeheartedly admitted. Before he could say anything more, he heard a very loud, very angry voice coming from behind him.
“STARK!” Steve turned slightly to see Director Fury heading towards them, Agent Coulson following close behind. He looked back at Toni; he couldn’t see it, but he could somehow feel her grinning.
“Later.” She had been standing on the edge of the roof and allowed herself to fall backwards. Steve hurried and looked over the side, just as she shot up past him, flying off into the distance.
“I’ll kill her,” Fury said as he got to Steve’s side. “Iron Man or not, I will kill her.” He looked at Steve. “I would like to apologize…”
“Don’t.”
“…what?”
“Don’t apologize,” Steve said. “I had a great time today with Toni.”
“You… what?”
“I had a great time.” Fury just stared at him.
“What exactly did you do?”
“We grabbed some hotdogs,” Steve told him. “Then we hung out at her offices for a bit, she gave me these…” He took off the Stark Enterprises backpack Toni had given him and showed Coulson his new phone and tablet. “She took me to the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, answered some questions for me and then brought me back here. Honestly, after being stuck inside with all your doctors, it was great of her to get me out. I hope she does it again.” There was silence for a moment.
“Coulson,” Fury said flatly. “Deal with this.” He walked away without another word.
“Sorry, Captain,” Coulson said. “The idea of Toni doing something responsible tends to blow his mind.”
“I see,” Steve replied, though he really didn’t.
“I’ll show you her file sometime.” Steve nodded, but he didn’t really plan on taking Coulson up on the offer.
Later that night, Steve went down to the gym. He liked the gym, it still had that 1940s feel and it made him feel more at home than his small SHIELD quarters did. The first thing he noticed upon walking inside was the new punching bag; he had destroyed the last one recently, imagining that it was really one of the doctors that had really annoyed him. The new bag had a note on it, which he read.
This one should last you longer. Let me know if it doesn’t; I love a challenge. -TS
Steve gave the bag a punch; it was stiff enough to barely give when he punched it, yet it somehow didn’t hurt his hand at all. He smiled; he would have to call Toni later and thank her.
He had a feeling that he would be calling her a lot.
Fandom: The Avengers (AU-Cinematic Universe)
Characters: Antonia “Toni” Stark, Steve Rogers, others.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Toni/Steve
Warnings: Mentions of Non-Con, bondage
Summary: A stalker is targeting Toni, which skews how she sees herself and how she allows others to see her.
Author's Notes: This is a LONG one. Also, many thanks to my BFF hannibal_topaz for helping me out with this chapter :D
( Chapter One) ( Chapter Two) ( Chapter Three) ( Chapter Four) ( Chapter Five) ( Chapter Six) ( Chapter Seven) ( Chapter Eight) ( Chapter Nine) ( Chapter Ten) ( Chapter Eleven) ( Chapter Twelve) ( Chapter Thirteen) ( Chapter Fourteen) ( Chapter Fifteen) ( Chapter Sixteen)
Chapter Seventeen
May 2012
Steve Rogers hated the 21st Century.
At least what he’d seen of it, and most of the people in it.
The first medical checkup was necessary, of course. He’d been incased in ice for 70 years, super soldier or not, things were going to need to be looked at. It was every medical test he had after that that started to get on his nerves. He had just gotten back to his room-a small, grey room that looked more like a prison to him than a place he could call home-when there was a knock at his door. Normally, Steve would consider himself a patient man, but seriously, he had just gotten done being poked and prodded and ran on a treadmill two hours straight and had his force strength tested with something that looked like a piece of metal tied to a punching bag (he was assured it was the latest technology, so apparently there were computer chips in there somewhere) and he was honestly just a little tired of the 21st century. So when he opened the door, he was ready to yell at whoever was standing at the other side.
He found himself face to face with his shield.
“I was told you had a rough day, Captain Rogers,” said a female voice from behind the shield. “So, I didn’t know if you’d swing first and ask questions later or what, and honestly, I’m not putting this thing down until I’m sure.” Steve just stared at the shield in awed silence. It was cleaned up, slightly polished, but there were still all the scuff marks from bullets he’d deflected with it. It was definitely the shield Howard Stark made for him… “Please decide quickly, this blasted thing is heavier than it looks.”
“Right, sorry…” He forgot that not everyone was used to lugging his shield around. To him, the weight felt natural, almost like it was a part of him. To everyone else, not so much. “I’m not going to hit you… may I?”
“Yes, please take it.” She relinquished the shield and he slid it onto his arm. He couldn’t help smiling. “I cleaned it up, but I didn’t want remove the dents without asking… some people place sentimental value on those things.” He nodded slightly, finally looking at her. He had to consciously restrain himself from letting his jaw drop; had Howard Stark been female, she would have been the spitting image.
“I… thank you,” he managed to say. She nodded.
“Antonia Stark.” That explained the resemblance to Howard, at least. “Everyone calls me Toni.” She held her out hand to him; he took it in his, surprised at how firm a handshake she had.
“Steve Rogers, but I guess you knew that.” His tone was a bit more wry than he intended it, and it was clear she picked up on that fact.
“Sorry, do I annoy you?” she asked flatly, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I was going to get you out of here, but if my countenance repels you thus…”
“No, no!” he replied quickly, feeling his cheeks flush. “It’s not that… every time I go to introduce myself, people are like ‘yes, I know’, and it’s just…”
“Calm down, cowboy, I get it.” She grinned and Steve would be lying if he said he didn’t see Howard right then. “Happens to me all the time.” She turned on her heel and started down the hall. “Coming?”
“Wait, you were serious?” he asked, quickly putting his shield in his room and chasing after her. She walked remarkably fast for a woman in a perfectly tailored suit with shoes that appeared to have at least three inch heels. “You’re really taking me out of here?”
“Not if you don’t walk faster, I swear if I get cornered by Coulson because you won’t keep up, I will pull your super soldier ass in between me and his Taser…”
“What?” She didn’t slow her pace, which was amazing; she made it look like she was merely taking a brisk walk, while he was almost jogging just to keep up with her. She was soon at the door, Steve just behind her. A moment later, they were in the parking lot
“Get in,” she said, opening the driver’s side door of a beautiful convertible. It was hot rod red with gold trim and Steve had never seen a more beautiful car in his life.
“This is yours?” he asked dumbly, getting into the passenger seat.
“Twenty-Thirteen Chevy Corvette 427,” she replied with a nod, buckling her seatbelt and starting the car. “Seven liter LS7 aluminum-block V8, five hundred five horsepower, top speed of one-ninety, can go from zero to sixty in three-point-eight seconds.” She grinned at him. “I could have gone with something flashier, but I figured why not stick with a good American car?” Before he could answer, she put the car into gear and took off. If she noticed how tightly he was gripping the arm rest, she didn’t say a word.
“So, do you work for SSR?” he asked once he swallowed his heart back into his chest. “Or whatever they’re calling it now? SHIELD?”
“Yeah, SHIELD,” she replied, not taking her sunglasses covered eyes off the road. “But no, I… freelance, I don’t work for anybody, though I occasionally allow Fury to have his delusions.” She slowed the car to a stop as they got into traffic and they sat in mostly silence. “So, what kind of tech are they letting you play with?”
“Nothing,” he replied bitterly. She finally looked at him, tilting her sunglasses down so he could see the complete disbelief in her eyes.
“Seriously?”
“They get all weird about showing me any kind of technology… or anything after the 50s. That's all they've let me see yet.” She shook her head, muttering something under her breath. “I’m sorry?”
“I just called them all something that probably shouldn’t be repeated in polite company,” she informed him.
“Oh.” There was a pause. “I just wish they’d let me decide when I’ve had too much, you know?” Tony nodded.
“It’s obvious you’ve got questions; I am, if nothing else, a brutally honest person, so I’ll answer what I can. If you want.”
“I've got a lot of them!” Steve exclaimed, taking note of how she jumped slightly. “Sorry, it’s just… mostly I just want someone to treat me like my head won't explode if I see something from this century. I read sci-fi as a kid! I even went to one of Howard's world of tomorrow expos, I want to know how much of that ended up happening and what's still science fiction.” He waved his arms at the world around them. “Kids learn what's around them first and then the history, why can't they just do that with me?” He sighed heavily, frustrated; he didn’t mean to be excited about it, but he hadn’t been able to talk with anyone at SHILED about this, and not for a lack of trying… and Toni, for some reason, was incredibly easy to talk to.
“Oh, honey,” Toni said with a grin. “The stuff he did back then and the stuff we have now? It’s like comparing a Moped to a Ferrari.” He had no idea what she meant, but managed to laugh anyway.
“Never got that flying car to work, then?”
“Oh yeah, he got it to work. World’s just not ready for it yet.”
“Still?” He would say he wasn’t pouting a little, but that would be a complete lie.
“Too many people to misuse the tech.”
“I suppose.” They were driving a bit faster now, but Steve still had no idea where they were heading. He watched the people as they went past, most of them talking on what looked like miniature walkie-talkies… no, they were called something else. “Does everyone have a cellphone?” he asked, once he remembered what they were called. He remembered Howard talking about the technology, hardly able to believe that someday a phone would be cordless and small enough to fit in your pocket.
“Pretty much,” Toni replied. “Why, would you like one? I can get you one, Stark Enterprises makes stuff like that all the time.”
“Would you teach me how to use it?”
“Sure, if you want.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“What would you like?” He thought about it for a moment.
“A hotdog,” he said. “A good, New York hotdog.” Toni grinned.
“Jarvis, you there?”
“For you, Miss Stark, always.” The random voice made Steve jump a little, causing Toni to chuckle.
“Jarvis is my butler,” she told him.
“And… a computer?”
“A little more complex than that, but yeah. Jarvis, don’t be rude; say hello.”
“Hello Captain Rogers,” came the reply. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Hello, Jarvis.”
“Jarvis, sweetie,” Toni continued. “I need the fastest route to Jimmy’s Hot Dog cart, if you could bring it up please?”
The rest of the afternoon was honestly the best time Steve had had in a while. Toni didn’t treat him like a toddler, she told him how things stood and didn’t sugar coat her opinions. She asked what he wanted to do and they did it with no questions asked. They stopped at Stark Tower-which, Toni bragged, was almost as high as the Empire State building-where she not only got him the cellphone she promised, but a small handheld computer that she called a StarkTablet. She then proceeded to teach him how to use both; she didn’t do it for him, she told him what to push and let him do it on his own. He appreciated that more than he could say.
After she brought it up, Steve asked if they could go see the Empire State Building. They were there not ten minutes later, looking out over the New York skyline as the sun was just beginning its descent. Toni had bought them both a cup of coffee and they were standing against a railing, watching the sky.
“Thank you, Toni,” he said, not taking his eyes from the scenery before him. “I really needed this…”
“Least I could do, Cap,” she replied, sipping her coffee. “Especially after what those morons did when you first woke up.” She shook her head. “Honestly, they’re supposed to be paying me to consult…” It took him a moment to realize she was talking about the way SHIELD tried to make him believe he was still in the 1940s when he first woke up. The trickery, while supposedly in his best interest, did not inspire confidence in anyone at SHIELD.
“What would you have done?” he asked, turning his whole body towards her. She looked at him, thoughtfully.
“I would have been there when you woke up,” she replied. “I would have told you flat where you were and what happened. And then… we would have had today.” She took another sip of her coffee while Steve thought about what she’d said.
“I would have preferred that.”
“Most people would.” She tilted her head slightly, still looking out over the city. “…Cap, you might want to duck.” Steve had been in enough battles to know to duck when told to. He hit the ground just as some sort of projectile whizzed past where his head had been and crashed into the roof a few feet behind him, causing a small explosion. He looked up at Toni; she hadn’t moved an inch.
“What the hell was that?!” he demanded, getting to his feet. Toni nodded towards something out over the city; a green man, riding some sort of silver glider.
“Oi, Goblin!” she yelled, pushing her sunglasses up on her head. “You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a baseball bat!”
“Come out and play, Iron Man!” the green man taunted, throwing another projectile-Steve was sure it looked like a pumpkin-at her. She looked behind her to make sure there was no one there before side stepping the device. She shook her head, muttering; Steve heard something along the lines of “have to call Parker, this is ridiculous”. She then reached down and picked up her brief case. There was something different about that brief case, Steve noticed. She had let him hold it for a brief moment when they were at Stark Tower and he had just felt there was something… odd.
When the briefcase somehow turned into a full suit of armor that could fly, Steve realized that his feelings had been correct.
What came after that had been a blur; Steve had busied himself with getting civilians to safety, leaving Iron Man… no, leaving Toni to take care of the strange green man-Goblin, that’s what she called him-with the pumpkin bombs. It was only until he heard her now slightly robotic voice yell “And STAY down!”, did he realize that the danger was over. He used a set of binoculars on the roof to find her and the Goblin; he found her hovering over her car, which she had apparently picked up and thrown at the Goblin, trapping him underneath. There were no words for this.
“Glad that’s over,” she said when she got back to the roof. She lifted up the faceplate of her armor, smiling at him. “You alright?” He nodded.
“Your car…”
“Yeah… I liked that car. Better my can than someone else’s though. I’ll just buy myself a new one.” She looked back down at the ground. “Awesome, SHEILD’s down there, they can handle the cleanup. We’ve got one more place to go before I have to take you back.” She held out her hand to him; when he took it, she pulled him close and wrapped an arm around his waist. “You hold tight now.” Before Steve could say anything, she shot up into the air. One of his arms was around her waist as well and he was aware of the fact he gripped her tighter.
“Where are we going?” he asked. She chuckled a little.
“I was thinking,” she replied. “And I think a lot, this is something you’re going to need to get used to… during the fight, I was thinking that I didn’t know if anyone told you…”
“Told me what?” Toni stopped in mid-air; they were slightly over the ocean, Steve realized, and she was pointing at something further out in the water with her free hand.
“That your lady still stands.” Steve looked where she was pointing; sure enough, standing tall on the water was the Statue of Liberty. She looked gorgeous; no one had told Steve she was still around, nor had he ever asked… “She’s a bit older,” Toni continued. “And her dress is a little singed, but your lady is still there.”
“Thank you,” he replied. He didn’t know what else to say, which lead to another silence.
“Your team made it through the war, Cap. I met a few of them, good people… Peggy Carter was one of them.” Steve looked at her.
“She… is she…?”
“She passed away last year.” She took a deep breath. “I won't tell you not to be sad, because that is a fucking stupid thing to say to anyone. Seriously, you be sad if you want to, it is a sad thing… I will tell you though that she missed you, but she was happy. She got married sometime after the war, had kids... she named her first son Steven Roger.” Steve couldn’t stop the grin from covering his face; Toni was wearing one too.
“Nice of her…” He’d been side stepping the question all day; now was the time to ask it. “And Howard? He’s is your dad, isn’t he?” He regretted asking when the grin instantly melted off her face.
“He was,” she replied. “He and my mother died about twenty years ago… and I’m gonna stop right there, if you don’t mind.” He nodded. More silence. “I better get you back before I get into too much more trouble...”
“What do you mean?” Steve asked. The grin came back and he was glad of it; he didn’t want today to end on a sour note.
“This may come as a complete surprise to you, Cap,” she said, a mischievous tone in her voice. “But I didn’t have permission to take you out on the town today.” His jaw dropped.
“You… you didn’t…”
“I basically kidnapped you for the day.” She giggled, flipping her faceplate back down. “Man, Fury is going to lose his shit when he gets his hands on me.” Steve wasn’t aware they had been flying back to SHIELD until she landed on the roof. “I had a great time today, Cap.”
“I did too,” he wholeheartedly admitted. Before he could say anything more, he heard a very loud, very angry voice coming from behind him.
“STARK!” Steve turned slightly to see Director Fury heading towards them, Agent Coulson following close behind. He looked back at Toni; he couldn’t see it, but he could somehow feel her grinning.
“Later.” She had been standing on the edge of the roof and allowed herself to fall backwards. Steve hurried and looked over the side, just as she shot up past him, flying off into the distance.
“I’ll kill her,” Fury said as he got to Steve’s side. “Iron Man or not, I will kill her.” He looked at Steve. “I would like to apologize…”
“Don’t.”
“…what?”
“Don’t apologize,” Steve said. “I had a great time today with Toni.”
“You… what?”
“I had a great time.” Fury just stared at him.
“What exactly did you do?”
“We grabbed some hotdogs,” Steve told him. “Then we hung out at her offices for a bit, she gave me these…” He took off the Stark Enterprises backpack Toni had given him and showed Coulson his new phone and tablet. “She took me to the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, answered some questions for me and then brought me back here. Honestly, after being stuck inside with all your doctors, it was great of her to get me out. I hope she does it again.” There was silence for a moment.
“Coulson,” Fury said flatly. “Deal with this.” He walked away without another word.
“Sorry, Captain,” Coulson said. “The idea of Toni doing something responsible tends to blow his mind.”
“I see,” Steve replied, though he really didn’t.
“I’ll show you her file sometime.” Steve nodded, but he didn’t really plan on taking Coulson up on the offer.
Later that night, Steve went down to the gym. He liked the gym, it still had that 1940s feel and it made him feel more at home than his small SHIELD quarters did. The first thing he noticed upon walking inside was the new punching bag; he had destroyed the last one recently, imagining that it was really one of the doctors that had really annoyed him. The new bag had a note on it, which he read.
This one should last you longer. Let me know if it doesn’t; I love a challenge. -TS
Steve gave the bag a punch; it was stiff enough to barely give when he punched it, yet it somehow didn’t hurt his hand at all. He smiled; he would have to call Toni later and thank her.
He had a feeling that he would be calling her a lot.