Chapter 7

Toni Stark: Woman of Letters

Nick Fury sighed. He watched through the monitor as the third operative screamed, fumbling as they readied their gun. The agent-in-training took aim and emptied their remaining clip of blanks into the darkness.

The shadow figure that the agent aimed at fizzled into the darkness. While the agent focused intently on the shadows dancing in front of them, they failed to notice its twin flashing behind them.

A cough beside him drew Fury's attention.

"So that's a no for fieldwork then," Coulson remarked, "Their research and arcane knowledge scores indicate that they'll still be very useful on the research team."

Fury leaned over to read the file Coulson was meticulously scribbling in over his shoulder. Six months of training, and this baby agent still panicked in the simulation room. Fury and Coulson watched as the flicker of darkness appeared behind him. Fury closed his eyes.

More screams filled the air as the shadows converged.

"Research it is."

Fury leaned forward, pressing the red button on the console. Everything in the simulation room paused as the dim emergency lights flickered on. The agent, arms flung up to protect their face, peeled their eyes open. Fury tapped the intercom. "If you didn't unleash your entire clip of salt bullets into the air screaming like a banshee, you might've had a chance to notice the blind spot over in the corner by the window."

The agent walked over to the shaded window, flinging back the curtain. Fury watched as the agent broke off one of the boards sealing the window, letting a bright beam of moonlight into the room, illuminating the makeshift altar against the opposite wall.

The agent groaned, pulling out a small flask and pouring it over the altar before tossing a lit match on top. The flames flicked through the room as the shadow figure snarled before disappearing entirely.

Fury continued on. "There was also a flare gun attached to the other wall if you had didn't panic and stopped to think. That's the end of this test. You're free to go."

Coulson pulled a lever on the console and everything in the simulation room disappeared in a flash. Both men watched as the agent slumped before exiting the room. Fury grabbed another file off the large stack, flipping through it as Coulson reset the room. "How many left?"

"Five sir," replied Coulson, "You failed the last three."

Fury grumbled under his breath, rubbing his forehead. Even after months of extensive lessons, it still seemed like barely any progress at all. "Send the next one in. Hopefully one of these brats actually remembers their training."

The simulation darkened, and the next recruit entered on the other side.

Fury pressed a button on the intercom, the speakers crackling as his voice boomed over the speakers. "Pay attention! Your next test starts now…"

"...I still can't believe you managed to swindle two extra desserts."

Toni smirked. "First of all I didn't swindle her, she offered-"

Rhodey threw his arm around Toni with a sigh. "After you almost burst into tears. She panicked and gave you two so you would stop staring at her with those big brown eyes."

Toni patted her bag with a satisfied grin. "You're just jealous she wouldn't give you an extra scoop of those potatoes-"

"Those roasted potatoes are the best! I don't understand why she can't scoop a little extra for a poor, hungry college student…"

A sudden chill came over Toni as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She glanced behind her, scanning the crowd of people wandering around. A dark haired man turned his head away at her glance. He wore a dark grey of a janitor's uniform that wouldn't normally set off any alarms, but she felt her stomach drop and twist into knots.

Something wasn't right.

"Toni, are you even listening?" Rhodey waved a hand in front of her face, "Earth to Toni? Toni? What's wrong?"

"Don't look behind you, and keep walking," Toni whispered. Rhodey blinked before he straightened, shoulders tense as he silently waited for her to continue. "Did you notice that man behind us? In the janitor's outfit? I think I remember seeing him when we walked past the science building andthe engineering block."

Rhodey casually stretched, glancing behind him as he adjusted his backpack. "Shit. I think I remember him, he's definitely following us. Okay, what should we do? Head to security?"

Toni shook her head. "At this point, I'm not sure if they're going to be able to help us at all."

Rhodey cursed. "Right. All that ghostbuster business. What should we do?"

They continued to wander around campus, tensing as the man slowly walked a bit closer. Toni ran her fingers through her hair. "Don't tip him off. Let's try and lose him while we head to campus security."

Toni's heart pounded in her chest as they slowly increased their walking speed. Every time they turned a corner, sure enough a few moments later, the man followed behind them. Toni's eyes scanned the crowd in front of her, for someone- there.

"Hey Charlie!" yelled Toni, cheerfully waving across to the red-headed girl. Rhodey nodded a Toni as he also greeted Charlie loudly. Charlie looked up from her textbook in surprise before she waved back."Hey you two! Come join me over here!"

Toni and Rhodey slipped off their backpacks and slid to the grassy lawn. Toni leaned in and whispered. "Could you talk really loudly? Don't look now, but there's a man dressed in a janitor's uniform that's been following us for a while."

Charlie's face darkened before she nodded, clearing her throat. She turned to Rhodey with a overly large grin on her face. "So, did you get a chance to decide on what option you're gonna take next semester? I was thinking of taking astrophysics as my elective, but I heard that Dr. Selvig might not be teaching-"

Toni clenched her fist around the strap of her backpack, readying herself to throw it if necessary. Tilting her head, she watched as the man slowly leaned across the far building to wait.

Minutes passed, then half an hour passed.

Throughout it all, Charlie managed to chatter on, keeping up the conversation while Toni and Rhodey tried to force themselves to relax. Toni forced herself not to turn around and confront the eyes at the back of her head, staring at her, watching her. Charlie even pulled out her polaroid camera out of her bag.

With a meaningful look, Charlie waved her camera. "Since it's such a nice day out, why don't we take some pictures? Here, you and Rhodey pose this way! Those trees are a great backdrop!"

Leaning in with a smile, Toni and Rhodey posed as Charlie took the picture with a flash. Toni watched out of the corner of her eye as the man scowled, pushed off against the side of the building and left the clearing.

Charlie waved the polaroid with a grin. "I should've done that half-an-hour ago! I didn't think he'd wait that long though, sorry! Here, while this develops, hold still!"

Charlie snapped another picture. "One with the creepy stalker, and one for fun!"

Toni smiled. "Thanks Charlie. But where's our picture with you?"

Charlie startled, cheerily loading her camera for another shot "Really? Okay! Get in here Rhodey!"

Rhodey threw his arms around them both with a grin and Toni smiled for the camera. He picked up the first photo. "Okay. Let's look and see if we can recognize this bastard."

Toni, Charlie and Rhodey huddled together, watching as the picture came into focus. To everyone's disappointment, the figure in the background was a dark blur. It looked like he quickly realized he would be in the background of the shot.

"Sorry guys," fretted Charlie, "I hoped that you'd be able to see him. Maybe report him to the police."

"It's okay Charlie, you helped us out a lot" replied Toni, squeezing the girl's shoulder. Toni let out a long sigh. "I still don't know at this point if taking it to the police would really help anything, if you know what I mean."

Charlie's eyes widened and nodded. "Oh, oh! I see. Well, let me know right away if you need help. Anytime."

Toni tugged the girl into a hug, tension releasing as Charlie patted her back. "Thank you."

Charlie squeezed Toni's shoulder reassuringly. "Are you sure you both don't want to stay with me tonight? Just in case?"

Toni and Rhodey glanced at each other briefly before Toni shook her head. "No I think we should be alright. Thanks though."

Toni slung her bag over her shoulder picking herself off the ground. Her legs tingled and she grimaced as she bounced, trying to wake her legs up as Rhodey stood up beside her. Both of them brushed off the stray grass sticking to their pants. "See you later Charlie, thanks again."

Charlie waved, and started packing her stuff into her backpack. "No problem. Let me know if you need help finding more info on that creeper."

Rhodey and Toni turned the corner and relaxed as there was no janitor in sight. Half walking, half jogging, they quickly made their way towards their skidded to a stop in front of their door. The door was cracked open an inch and the lights off.

Toni walked backwards. "Nope. Nope, nope."

Rhodey frowned as he squinted at the door. "Aw man. It looks like someone jimmied the lock."

Toni pulled on Rhodey's arm, hissing into his ear. "We better leave in case whoever broke in is still here."

"Too late for that."

Before Toni could turn around, she felt a strong arm grip her from behind. Toni flailed and kicked as best she could but the arms that gripped arm smothered her nose and mouth with a strong smelling rag. The room started to spin and her vision started to blur as she felt Rhodey struggling beside her.

A few seconds later, both teenagers slumped over as darkness overtook them.

A sharp knocking on his office door had Fury scowling. He glanced down at his large stack of files and closed them with a sigh. Before he could even give a reply, Coulson burst through the doors. Fury frowned. Nothing rattled Coulson, ever . Seeing Coulson that disheveled and barging into his office without a response first could only mean...

"What's wrong?"

"Toni Stark" replied Coulson, "was kidnapped a few hours ago along with her friend James Rhodes in front of their dorm room at MIT."

Fury blinked for a moment before he shot straight up in his chair.. "What? I thought we had two agents tailing her! What happened to them?"

"Both were knocked out. By the time they were conscious again, both Stark and Rhodes were missing and their room ransacked."

Fury pinched his forehead. He could feel a large headache coming already. "Tell me you have someone looking into it."

Coulson placed the open case file on the desk. "I've sent the team out to investigate, discreetly. I was about to inform Director Carter and Howard Stark but-"

Fury coughed. "Inform Director Carter for now. Let her decide whether or not to tell Howard right away, or if she wants to wait for more information first. After you inform Director Carter, I want you to take the lead in this investigation. Level 5 security protocols."

"I'll check things out myself," replied Coulson, pausing as he stared at Fury's tense face. "Level 5?"

Fury closed his eyes at the unasked question.

You suspect a mole?

"You said it yourself," replied Fury. "Both our agents were incapacitated. From the timeline here," Fury tapped the case file, "this was a professional job, and for not just one but both of our agents were taken out that fast without anyone else noticing... someone is helping them. Find out who, and bring Stark and Rhodes home."

Coulson nodded. "Right away sir. I'll do my best."