Chapter 4
The only thing Toni Stark saw was the cloudy blue of the sky as she soared through the air. Toni was looking for SHIELD headquarters which was supposedly in floating around somewhere up here.
"Miss, I am detecting a significant heat signature 67 degrees to your right," JARVIS piped up.
Inside her suit, Toni's screen zoomed in on the area. Now that she was looking closer, Toni could detect the presence of an unverified helicarrier with deflectors to fool the eye into thinking it wasn't there.
It was an interesting piece of technology yet surprisingly simple. It consisted of an interconnected web of cameras that fed the image of the sky above the aircraft onto the belly of the plane that the world would see if not for the cameras. Toni knew she could easily make a more sophisticated system with a paperclip and some tinfoil.
She would have to work on that as soon as possible. She looked forward to the challenge; new projects always took her mind off things. If it wasn't for the iron man suit, Toni would have gone insane when she got back from the caves.
Toni shuddered at the memory of what happened to her in that god forsaken place. She could never escape the nightmares; the terrorists had etched them into her skin with a knife. It was a good thing no one actually saw the real her or else they would know the truth. They only saw the automated robot that was the legendary Tony Stark.
The creation of Tony Stark was Howard's crowning glory. Tony was created a couple of years before the real Toni was actually born. Toni presumed it was to keep up the image of a perfect, happy family. Howard crafted a robot that could be controlled from hundreds of miles away or actually have someone inside of it. A synthetic skin encased the inner-workings of the machine that felt real to all that touched it. It was even modified to appear as if it aged like an actual person.
Howard never let Toni control the mechanical man. She was locked away in the lab naïvely doing everything her father told her to do. Howard kept Toni under his thumb for many years, and it wasn't until he passed on that Toni took over Tony Stark's public image.
Toni's sarcastic attitude seeped into the robot which gave him the reputation of a careless millionaire playboy. Toni didn't mind this new evolvement because it allowed her to focus on her weapons manufacturing. Even though her father was gone, Toni still followed his every word and belief.
It wasn't until two years ago that she realized the truth of her actions.
Trying to put what happened in the past has proved exceedingly difficult for the young billionaire. Joining the Avengers will hopefully help with that.
Soon, Toni lowered herself onto the surface of the helicarrier. Despite her best efforts for a smooth landing, the impact jarred her wounds where the suit had collapsed in on itself. Toni was looking forward to when she could finally take it off.
No one came out to greet Toni which peeved her a little bit. Didn't they know she was coming? At the same time, this meant that Toni could find a place to transform into her alter ego.
She didn't want them knowing her secret. This had to stay strictly between her, Pepper, and Phil. Agent Romanov had come close enough to knowing last year when she posed as her assistant than Toni was comfortable with.
Still in her suit, Toni walked down stark white hallways. Fluorescent lighting blinded the few passerbies'. This area of the craft was nearly deserted which made the clang of Toni's footsteps against the metal floor deafening.
"JARVIS, call Phil."
"Your wish is my command, Miss Stark," JARVIS replied dryly.
Toni's lip curled up in amusement. "JARVIS, do I need to put you in time out again?"
If JARVIS could roll his eyes, Toni knew he would've at that moment. "Calling Agent Coulson, Miss."
The phone rang twice before Phil's surprised face showed up on the screen.
"Toni, what do you need? Shouldn't you be off somewhere discovering time travel or something?"
"Did you not read the schedule I faxed over? That's tomorrow. It just so happens that today as in this very minute, I'm standing in the middle of SHIELD headquarters looking for a place to ditch the armor. I can strip down right here if necessary, but I thought you would appreciate my need for privacy."
Phil cocked an eyebrow, not at all impressed. "I thought you would love the attention."
Toni immediately grew sober, and her eyes swirled with inner turmoil hardened by the past. Her voice was steely when she replied, "Not that kind of attention."
Phil looked awkward for a second before changing the subject. "I'll get you a room set up. Just give me a second."
Toni nodded, still troubled by where her thoughts had taken her. Contrary to what most people believed, Toni avoided notice as much as possible. Her alter ego let her avoid the public eye, and in front of the few people who Toni did know, she put on a convincing front.
Minutes later, Phil turned his attention back to Toni. "A room is set up for you. It's on the D wing. Room 4. To get in it's 92347."
"92347. Got it. Thanks Phil," Toni said before ending the call.
Toni found her room with little trouble. Holographic keypad beeped as she entered the security code. Then, the door swished open to reveal another blindingly white room. The only difference was the lumpy looking cot and adjoining bathroom.
Toni sighed in relief when her mask slid up to expose her face to the fresh air. Parts of the suit slid off into the nearby case. It was an arduous process because parts of the suit had been crushed under Thor and Loki's onslaught. When it was finally all off, Toni slumped onto the hard pillow. Her white tank top was spotted with blood, and a red puddle had formed where her feet still touched the ground.
With a groan, Toni pushed herself to her feet from her sitting position. She rooted around for a first aid kit. Eventually, she found one under the sink in the bathroom. It was a good thing she found it because her ribs were really starting to bother her.
With extreme effort, Toni peeled herself out of her blood soaked garments. Then, she pulled out tape to wrap it around her torso. When the bandage seemed stable enough to support her bruised ribs, Toni used her teeth to cut the end of the tape. Now that that was done, she moved on to the multitude of other cuts and bruises that littered her body.
One particularly nasty gash blossomed on her forearm where Thor had grabbed her wrist. The metal of the broken suit had rubbed off the top few layers of skin which left a vulnerable, oozing sore.
A bottle of antiseptic, three boxes of band aids, and two rolls of medical tape later, Toni deemed herself fit for action.
With a sigh, Toni heaved her aching body onto the bed. The only thing on her mind right now was how good sleep would feel. Her limbs dropped against the sheets like concrete blocks. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she could feel the thrall of sleep dragging her in.
KNOCK KNOCK.
Toni was jolted out of her half sleep by the pounding on her door. For a moment, Toni was confused as to what was happening. Who was knocking on her door? No one else knew she was here yet. Then again, they did have cameras all over the place presuming that it was a half decent system.
Toni was about to ask who it was when she realized that she sounded like herself. She didn't know whether it was Phil or not and couldn't risk her secret.
Panicking, Toni attempted to make her voice sound lower. "Umm, uh, hold on."
She scrambled around for the Tony-bot. It was secured in another black case with an electrical lock that could only be opened by her command. Toni pulled out the mechanics that created her public image.
In mere seconds, the suit snapped onto her body. Then, the head locked into place effectively disguising her identity. Toni quickly glanced in the mirror above the sink. What greeted her was the sight of a middle-aged man with short dark hair and a goatee/mustache combination.
"Stark, are you in there?" A voice said from outside.
Satisfied with her quick change, Toni took a deep breath to prepare her façade before she pulled the door open.
On the other side, Agent Maria Hill stood impatiently. Agent Hill was dressed similarly to Agent Romanov in her skintight black cat suit. Her hair resembled Toni's in color but longer and with bangs.
"You called," Tony said with a gratuitous smirk.
"You need to go talk to the others. They don't know that you're here yet." Agent Hill crossed her arms over her chest. She really wasn't one to put up with any nonsense.
"Have you ever been to Maui? I heard it's great this time of year," Toni said just to annoy her.
"Stark, just get down to the meeting room." Now Agent Hill was exasperated.
Toni talked over the end of Hill's sentence. "You should take a vacation there sometime. I bet you would look great in a bikini."
It was the wink that really put Agent Hill over the edge. Her usual calm manner was fraying at the edges under Toni's act at being a womanizer. A slew of curses flew out of Hill's mouth, most likely aimed at Toni. Then, she turned sharply on her heel and paced away. Chuckling at her predictable reaction, Toni followed soon after.
Toni could feel her wounds rubbing against the inner workings of the machine. It was a good thing that the Tony-bot's facial expressions were under control because if it actually mirrored Toni's expression, it would be screwed up in pain.
The twisting hallways led back to the central meeting room where the Avengers gathered. Through the glass, Toni could see them sitting in awkward silence. Occasionally, Rogers tried to make small talk, but the other's silence shut that down quickly.
Despite the weariness that had set into her bones, Tony squared her shoulders and steeled herself from the first true introduction to her fellow superheroes.
Unfortunately for her, Toni knew that it was going to be a long day.