Fic: In Another's Eyes (Chapter Nine)
Title: In Another’s Eyes
Fandom: The Avengers (AU-Cinematic Universe)
Characters: Antonia “Toni” Stark, Steve Rogers, others.
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: Sorry it took so long, Toni wanted a vacation and who am I to tell her no?
( Chapter One) ( Chapter Two) ( Chapter Three) ( Chapter Four) ( Chapter Five) ( Chapter Six) ( Chapter Seven) ( Chapter Eight)
Chapter Nine:
After Toni had pushed past everyone, she went down to her workshop and locked herself in. Against his better judgment, Steve listened to his teammates and left her alone. The team spent that night looking over surveillance footage, trying to figure out who this bastard was. Unfortunately, the cameras were just as before; they could see figures, but not details.
Steve may have broken a coffee mug as he watched the stalker come up behind her, grabbing her just as she’d said; one hand tight around her throat, the other twisting her arm behind her back. He seemed to whisper something into her ear, causing her to struggle harder. “Hello, Sweetie”, Steve assumed. He hated that someone had ruined that phrase for her. The stalker then hit her over the head with something-what is was or where it came from, he couldn’t see-before shoving her into the pool and running off. Toni struggled in the water; he had somehow made sure she’d gotten right in the middle. She managed to get to the side just before Thor spotted her, only after going under two or three times. One of those times, Steve almost thought she wasn’t going to come back up…
“Son of a bitch is good,” Clint remarked. “He knows when she’s alone, messes with the camera…”
“But how?” Steve asked. “It’s Toni’s cameras we’re talking about, how could anyone… Jarvis, how did he even get onto the property?”
“I do not know, Captain.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“No intruders showed up on my scans before or after Miss Stark was attacked.”
“How is that possible?” Natasha asked. No one answered her; no one knew.
“I do not want to be the one to admit it, my friends,” Thor said quietly (even quietly, Thor’s voice somehow boomed throughout the house). “But we should suspect my brother.” Everyone stared at him in silence. “His magic is strong. And as you said, these are Lady Iron’s cameras; who else could not only know when she was alone, but make it so we could not see him?”
“Find him.”
The next three days were spent searching for clues, for Loki, for other options. For Steve, they were also spent alone; Toni hadn’t come out of the workshop since going in and he missed her. He was now in a house with two ninjas, a Norse god and a scientist and he still felt so alone…
At the end of the fourth day without her, he grabbed a few slices of the pizza they ordered and went to check on her. Unfortunately, the door was still locked when he got down there. Steve punched his passcode into the keypad on the side of the door; still locked.
“Jarvis, can you let me in?” he asked.
“I’m afraid not, Captain,” came the reply. “Miss Stark has made it clear that she does not want anyone to disturb her.”
“What’s she doing in there?”
“I believe she’s finished the rocket boots she started and may be creating you an Iron Man suit.”
“Can you tell her to stop?”
“It would be pointless, sir.”
“Yeah…” Steve thought for a moment. “Jarvis, is there an override code for the lock?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did Toni specifically tell you not to give me that code?”
“…No, sir, she did not.”
“Give it to me then?”
“74RD15.” Steve punched in the code, shaking his head slightly; she would pick that, wouldn’t she?
“Thanks, Jarvis.”
“You’re welcome sir. Please don’t let her reprogram me?”
“I won’t.” Steve looked cautiously around the workshop; he had been in there once or twice before, but he’d never been given a grand tour. It was honestly what one would expect Toni Stark’s workshop to look like: robotic parts and empty coffee cups everywhere. There were also a lot of Chinese take-out boxes, some of which were still warm. “How does she get food delivered down here, Jarvis?”
“There’s a back door.” Steve looked to his left; sure enough, there it was. At least she’d been eating something.
“Where is she?” Steve asked, setting the pizza down on one of the workbenches. “Did she leave?” He didn’t think she would have, not after what happened… but then again, she probably wasn’t thinking clearly after what had happened.
“Miss Stark has a private workout room in the workshop, Captain,” Jarvis replied. "It is on the other side of the room, behind the red tool chest.” Steve made his way over, finding the slightly open door easily. He looked inside; Toni was in just a pair of shorts, a sports bra and a pair of sneakers. Her hands were taped up and she was beating the living hell out of punching bag, her entire body slicked with sweat. She looked exhausted… how long had she been at it?
“Toni,” he said softly, putting his hand on her right shoulder. He barely moved in time to miss getting struck with she swung a left hook at him. “Toni, it’s me!” She continued to swing at him; he was able to block most of them, but she was able to land a few blows to his abdomen; it was definitely hurting her more than it hurt him. She came in for another jab to his side and he was able to get his hands on her and push her away. “Toni!”
“Goddamn it, Steve, fight me!” He had never heard her voice like that before; the anger, the hurt… she was usually so good at keeping those separate. She never let anyone see that the work was getting to her. She was able to see people losing their homes, their loved ones, their lives and somehow never show it hurt her. She drank, of course, or at least used to; she was trying to stop, Steve knew that. But this wasn’t about the innocent people she worked to save every day. This was about Toni.
Toni was scared and Steve could plainly see that. She wasn’t scared because she felt unsafe; she was scared because she felt weak, vulnerable. She didn’t want to be vulnerable. She wanted to prove to herself that she wasn’t weak. And apparently, the best way for her to do that was to attempt to beat the hell out of Captain America. Steve moved quickly, grabbing a pair of boxing gloves and putting them on, not bothering to lace them. He couldn’t go easy on her; she’d never forgive him for it. All he could do was make sure he was padded up enough not to hurt her too much. He looked her in the eye and put up his fists, positioning himself in a basic boxing stance.
“Okay.”
She launched herself at him, landing a blow to his right hip and swinging her left arm towards his shoulder. He blocked the lower strike with his arm, landing one of his own to her thigh and another to her ribs. He didn’t hear anything crack, thankfully. If she was hurt, she didn’t let on; she came at him with everything she had and he gave it back to her. Steve could see how tired she was, but her anger and hurt overpowered her exhaustion. She wasn’t going to stop until she collapsed. That was something Steve was more than happy to help her with; when she came in for a low strike, he swept her legs out from under her. He followed her down to the floor, pinning her shoulders in place. She struggled underneath him, but couldn’t get up.
“Are you done now, Toni?” he demanded. “Are you fucking done now?!” She was panting hard, her chest heaving up and down.
“No.”
Before Steve could react, Toni grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him deeply. It was not unwelcome and Steve did his best to show that. It was sloppy, but he was still able to feel her passion, her yearning and he hoped she could feel his. She broke the kiss a moment later, panting harder now than she had been before the kiss. A smile curled the corners of her mouth.
“Okay…” she whispered. “Now we’re done.” Steve looked at her for a moment.
“The hell we are.” He kissed her again and it was beyond better than the first. He was able to work his tongue into her mouth, which she opened readily for him. His hands were away from her shoulders, one on the floor by her head and the other resting lazily on her breast. She put a hand on top of his, making him squeeze lightly.
“Tell me now,” she said, breaking the kiss to look up at him. “If you don’t want this, tell me now and…”
“Shut up, Toni.” He kissed her again, sliding his hands under her sports bra and pulling it up over her head. She gasped slightly and he looked at her, wondering if he’d hurt her. That wasn’t it though; Steve suddenly noticed the marks on her breasts. They were scars, burn marks… and it wasn’t just on her breasts, Steve realized; there were scars all over her torso in places that were normally hidden by her clothes. Remnants from her months in Afghanistan.
She whimpered softly and Steve looked back up at her; she was crying. He laid down next to her and held her close, kissing her on the head.
“It’s alright, sweetheart,” he promised, smoothing down her hair. “It’s alright.” He held her close as he carried her up to her room, managing to avoid anyone else (Steve didn’t care if he and Toni were both consenting adults, he still had no desire to explain this). He turned away politely while she put on a nightgown and started to say his goodnights, ready to take his leave…
“I don’t want you to go.” He turned to look at her; she still looked completely exhausted and it worried him. “We’ve known each other for a year and… you work with me better than people who’ve known me for most of my life.” She was fidgeting slightly as she spoke, shifting her weight back and forth. “I’m not ready for…” He walked over and took her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it tenderly. She blushed. She smiled. “That’s okay then..?”
“Ye…”
“Because if it’s not okay, I could find you a prostitute…”
“I don’t want a prostitute, Toni…”
“It would be a pretty one, but it’d have to be a blonde or a redhead…”
“Toni…”
“I don’t know if I could work with her being a brunette…”
“Shut up, Toni.” He scooped her into his arms and fell onto the bed with her, kissing her gently. She giggled into his mouth, snuggling close to him.
“This is okay?” she asked. “You don’t have to stay…”
“Toni, I want to stay.” Steve held her face in his hands, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “There is no place on earth I’d rather be.”