Chapters 9 & 10 (Final)

Toni Stark: Woman of Letters

With a thump, the last guard slumped over. Working together, Toni and Rhodey rummaged through their pockets, searching for something, anything, that could be useful.

"Yes!" hissed Toni with a grin. She held up a shiny black keycard. Finally, luck was on their side. The doors at the end of the hallway were reinforced and wouldn't open through sheer guard had a few weapons on them; one handgun, one baton, and two grenades. Rhodey handed Toni the gun. "You know how to use this better than me."

Toni nodded and checked the ammunition. She only had three shots left.

Rhodey grabbed the baton off the guard's belt. He glanced at the grenades warily. "What about these?"

Toni carefully examined them. "Not incendiary, but stun grenades. Still, we shouldn't throw them too close by."

Rhodey raised his hands. "You better take those too."

"They could be our ticket out."

With a final heave, they piled the guards into the broom closet, wedging a broom handle across the door to keep it shut.

The hallway was quiet for now. With a nod, they moved slowly towards the end of the hallway towards the secured sliding doors. Toni pressed her ears to the doors, listening intently. She could hear voices in the background but they were very faint, seemingly far off from where the door was. Toni sucked in a breath. "Seems like there could be people, but they sound farther away. Ready?"

Rhodey held onto the baton tightly, hugging the wall as best as he could. "Our only option. Let's go."

The metal doors slid open and to their relief, had no one to greet them on the other side. It led out into a circular room, more of a platform, that framed the edges of the room and overlooked the laboratory below. There was one set of stairs that looked like it led downstairs on the opposite end of the platform where they were. They crouched down, creeping to the railing to peer over the edge below.

A small group of people wearing white coats were focused on the whirring machines, attached to large computers. Large glass tubes gave a luminescent bluish glow all around them, filled with dark shapes.

No, filled with people.

Toni could feel her stomach lurch as she stared at them in horror. "Those are people in those tubes."

Rhodey looked like he was going to be sick. "Shit. Do you think this is some messed up Frankenstein lab?"

She counted about five or six of them in there, suspended and unmoving, but with the amount of machines and notes that the scientists below seemed to be taking on them, they seemed to still be alive. Only one of the tubes was currently empty. "Some sort of human experimentation. Lucrative enough to have security inside the lab."

There was one set of doors at the end of the lab, guarded by two heavily armed guards with bulletproof vests keeping watch, who at the opening of the doors, stepped aside.

Four more guards entered the room as they marched a man in between them towards the corner of the room where a giant chair with straps dangled. The man had dark, long brown hair with a muzzle over his face. His eyes were blank, before Toni could see a flash of fear as all guards dragged him towards the chair with straps. as the man struggled and screamed as he dug his heels in.

"Oh god."

"I know. But this is our chance, look- the guards at the door are leaving their post. We can make a run for it. We can go and get some help-"

The two guards at the door had moved in towards the middle of the room. If they were going to get a chance, this was it.

Toni and Rhodey crept down the stairs, trying not to make any noise as the attention of the room was focused on the man screaming in the chair. Toni couldn't help but wince as she saw them tear the man's shirt, sucking in a breath as she spotted a glint of metal. A shiny metal arm that looked grafted into the man's shoulder.

One of the scientists took a pair of tongs, gripping what looked like a silver brand, and pressed it against the man's arm. The man wailed in anguish, and Toni covered her mouth with her sleeve. She could almost swear the man glanced in her direction as his eyes widened a fraction.

Another man in a lab coat shook his head. "We need absolute compliance if we're going to be able to run our tests.

He grabbed the blindfold and tied it tightly around the man's eyes as he continued to struggle. "Wipe him."

Rhodey tugged on her arm. "Come on, we've got to go."

The doors were right there now, and Rhodey was waiting for her to scan the keycard to unlock the door. Toni bit her lip, giving one more glance to the man in the chair before she closed her eyes with a nod. She shoved a grenade into his hand along with the small business card in her pocket. "Whatever happens, don't stop running. Pull, throw, wait a few seconds, then run. Get to a phone and call for help."

"What-"

"Sorry honeybear, I can't leave him. I can't."

She couldn't sit back and run away, doing nothing. If Rhodey had done that back at that party, if he had simply walked by when she was trapped and unable to save herself, where would she be today?

Toni scanned the keycard. Thankfully, it popped open right away with a beep. She slipped a business card into his hand before she pushed him through the doorway. After he stumbled forward, she scanned the keycard again to close the door behind her.

He turned around just as the doors were closing. "Toni!"

"Go get us some help."

He lunged forward towards her, but the doors slid shut in his face.

At least if she didn't make it out alive, then at least Rhodey would.

Two of the closest scientists looked up at her in shock.

"What the- who are you?"

Toni pulled the pin from the second grenade and tossed it towards the guards clustered in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes for a second, opening them after the sounds of the guards screaming. With a sprint, she dashed for cover behind one of the giant machines, disarming the guards with guns closest to the door with a whack to the back of the head.

She swiped the guns off the ground, before running towards the man strapped to the table. She pulled the blindfold off before she worked at the straps holding his arms down. "We've gotta get out of here."

Toni glanced around them to the others floating in the cryogenic tubes. "I don't think we can get them now but once we're out of here we can come back for them- can you walk?"

"How touching. This seems like a good time to test out your work. Don't you think, Doctor?"

The large doors were opened again and a man in army green fatigues and a red beret walked through the door. He was flanked by two other armed guards behind him as they walked straight towards them, also wearing the same uniforms.

Her stomach clenched. They didn't look American, which likely meant that they would be even more adamant on keeping things top secret.

One of the scientists in the lab coats rubbed his eyes with a groan. "But sir, I thought our orders were to keep her in once piece until the ransom is paid-"

"And I am giving you new orders. Understand?"

"...yes Commander."

With a final tug, the last of the restraints fell off and Toni pulled at the man on the table. "Let's go!"

The man on the table stumbled to his feet, staring at her in surprise. "What are my orders?"

She tugged at his arm. "We're getting out of here! Come on!"

The doctor picked up a syringe gun. "Grab her!"

"Soldat," hissed the commander. "Seize the girl! Do not let her escape. Longing, rusted, furnace-"

The soldier stared at Toni for a moment, his eyes terrifyingly blank as the words had him glazing over.

Toni cleared her throat. She had an idea, maybe a very stupid one, but at this point she had nothing to lose. "I am your handler now. Do not listen to him, soldier."

Her heart pounded against her chest as he turned back towards the commander, his eyes swaying back between her and him.

"As you said," said the soldier, shaking his head as if he awoke from a daze, "orders change. You are no longer the Asset's handler."

With a flick of his wrist, the soldier grabbed the other flash bang off Toni's belt. She heard the pin seconds before he tossed it, the last grenade landing right between the remaining guards before it went off with a bang.

"DOCTOR! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

"WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO GET HIM FULLY UNDER-"

The soldier pulled her behind him and down, behind a stack of metal storage containers. He kneeled down behind her, somehow with a gun in hand. When the hell did he grab that?

He reloaded the pistol without looking at it, and wasn't that impressive? He snuck a glance over their cover, shooting twice. She could hear the screams and two thumps as he ducked back. "Reinforcements will be arriving shortly within the next two minutes. Likely armed. What are my orders?"

"Your orders?" echoed Toni. She shuddered as she glanced towards where he was strapped to the table earlier. The alarms were blaring now, more and more guards called in to assist.

"Your orders," Toni repeated, "are to help us both get out of here safe. Then, I want you to never follow any of these Hydra assholes ever again. After we get out of here, don't follow anyone's orders ever again unless you want to. Even me."

"Even you," echoed the man with a blink. He stared at her in confusion, in fear, before his face smoothed back out. "I will cover you to the door-"

"No can do John McClane. I'm not leaving you behind. This isn't a trick or a test, and I hate what they've done to make that seem normal for you... but I hope you can trust that at least right now, I want us both out of here alive, together."

The soldier blinked at her, assessing. "The only alternative where that makes sense is to eliminate all threats before leaving."

A heavy weight filled her stomach, but as she remembered the soldier's screams from before as they watched as if it were a normal sight. Maybe for them, it was. Toni reloaded her pistol without hesitation. "Only if necessary. I'll follow your lead."

"...Ready to comply."

"On your mark."

"If she dies in there, I'm going to bring her back to life so I can kill her myself", muttered Rhodey with a curse. "I'm sure there's a way to stab a ghost-"

One good thing about this place however, was that apparently, even secret evil labs had to follow building fire codes. The further away that he got from their cell, the easier it was to find a fire escape. He had to crawl through the bushes in order to avoid the cameras he was able to spot, but no one had tried to stop him so far as he stumbled through the trees. It didn't take long before he spotted a small outpost of guards.

He counted about five guards. One sat in the security toll booth, staring out towards the hidden dirt road, a phone sitting on the desk.. The rest wandered along the perimeter. It was sunny out, maybe early afternoon as the sun was still high in the sky. And while waiting until it got dark out might have been smarter, Toni wouldn't have much time.

He had to find a way to get to that phone.

Rhodey jumped as the phone rang. The man in the booth snapped to attention as he listened intently to the call, before quickly hanging up. He yelled to the rest of the guards and knots filled Rhodey's stomach as all but the man in the booth rushed towards him.

He dove into the bushes, heart pounding but the footsteps continued past him. He waited a moment, and then another before peeking through the leaves. They were making their way back to the main building.

He had to act now.

He clenched the baton tightly in his hand as he snuck towards the security booth. Thankfully, the guard wasn't even looking behind him, busy staring at the phone as if they were waiting for it to ring again at any moment.

Without hesitation, Rhodey swung the baton up and over the guard's head.

With a thump, the man slumped forward onto the desk, unconscious.

He silently pumped his fist in a cheer before he reached for the phone, glancing behind him before he pulled out the wrinkled card in his back pocket.

He held his breath as the line rang. It rang twice before a man picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is James Rhodes, friend of Toni Stark. I need your help."

There were very few moments in Toni's life where her body moved faster than her mind. Moments where everything was completely quiet as the adrenaline that rushed through her system took over. Following the soldier as he navigated both through the waves of armed men and scientists was like running at double speed, while everything around them drifted into slow motion.

And while Toni herself was a good shot, watching this man move in his precision, his perfect timing was like watching a professional dancer leap across the stage. Aunt Peggy had trained her to use anything and everything at her disposal as a weapon. A pen could be the difference between survival and death.

Not even she would've thought to use a clipboard that way.

Nevertheless, with the two of them together, it took a lot less time to clear out most of the room than she'd thought.

While the commander taunted them, even asked the soldier to fight him like a man, the soldier had wasted no time emptying a clip into him.

And now, the only remaining person alive left was the doctor from before, arms raised as the soldier pointed the gun at his face.

Which of course was when Rhodey burst back into the room, SHIELD agent on his heels.

"TONI!"

"RHODEY! Oh thank god you made it-"

A balding man in a suit flanked him with two other agents a step behind, guns drawn. They didn't shoot at them immediately, which meant that SHIELD was finally here.

She felt the soldier beside her tense. She reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "They're our backup. They're okay-"

The soldier didn't move his gaze from the doctor in front of him, but relaxed slightly at Toni's words.

She motioned to the soldier, as two more agents filled the room, guns trained. "This guy's with me, you can lower the guns now. Agent...?"

"Coulson," the man, the agent, behind Rhodey answered with a nod. She didn't know him, but at the look of recognition in his eyes, Toni knew that he was probably well aware of her. He scanned the room quickly before he focused back on themi. He cleared his throat, motioning to two of the other agents behind them "Secure the doctor."

"Yes sir."

Without another word, the agents tugged Dr. Evil to his feet.

The soldier slowly lowered his gun. He looked wary now, glancing back towards Toni. He still looked as tense as ever even without the guns trained on him.

"Orders?"

"Stand down for now, soldier," said Toni, "these are friends."

Thankfully, Agent Coulson seemed to be skilled at reading the room rather well. His posture was open, hands open and in front of him as he approached them. "Miss Stark, are you alright? And if you don't mind me asking, who is your friend here?"

"Someone who needed to escape just as much as we did-"

A loud thump echoed through the air as the doctor stumbled to the ground. His arm flashed forward towards Rhodey.

"Hail Hydra."

Multiple shots filled the air, the doctor was already dead before his body hit the ground, but it was already too late. All she could hear was Rhodey's screams filling the air as a dark red syringe was stabbed into his leg. She ran to him as he pulled the syringe out, clutching at his leg.

She could vaguely hear Agent Coulson in the background, yelling into his phone for a medic.

She caught him as his legs gave out from under him, she stumbled back a bit before she manouveured them both onto the ground. "Rhodey- oh god-"

His skin was hot, his face pale and clammy as he continued to writhe on the ground in her arms.

"Just hold on, just hold on-"

The world moved in slow motion again as the medics swarmed her vision. Someone firmly but gently pushed her back as Rhodey was loaded onto the stretcher, the doors to the ambulance slammed shut before she could even insist on jumping in.

A foil blanket was wrapped around her shoulders. "Do you need immediate medical attention?"

Agent Coulson was looking her over for any immediate injuries. Toni shook her head, steadying herself as she felt a bit dizzy. "I'm fine, not even a bullet wound."

Coulson stared at her knowingly but sighed. "I'm assuming there's no point asking you to be looked over by one of the medics anyways?"

"You know me well. I'm guessing they're going to SHIELD medical?"

Coulson nodded, already steering them towards the exit. "I'll drive. And once we get there, you'll also be seeing a doctor. I'll do what I can to find out what's going on with him."

Toni closed her eyes as they sped away from the complex, her nails digging into her hands as she clenched them.

He couldn't die, not after everything she did to keep him alive.

If he died now after all of that...she didn't know what she'd do.

"Here."

Agent Coulson handed her a small paper cup, the smell of coffee a comfort. She curled her fingers around the paper cup. The hospital hallway was relatively empty, everyone too busy running around to stand and linger. A benefit of being whisked away to a private SHIELD hospital.

Coulson nodded down the hallway. "We can borrow one of the rooms for now."

She followed him into an empty examination room. She sat on a rolling stool as Coulson closed the door behind her. He leaned against the wall, facing her.

"He's alright for now."

She exhaled deeply, that ball of tension held tightly in her stomach for the past few hours, finally released. "For now?"

"They're not really sure what kind of tests to run. They thought he had a fever when he first came in but his body temperature has been holding consistently at over 104. But strangely enough, no signs of infection or toxins. At all. All of his tests have come back clean. When you were in the lab, did you overhear anything about it?"

Toni frowned and shook her head. "I already told you everything I know. They were running some sort of human experiments, torturing that soldier and those other people- what happened to him by the way? He might know more about it."

"...we were unable to locate them."

"Seriously?"

"They slipped away in the chaos. We have agents searching for them. For now, we have people combing through the lab. But we think we know who he was at least."

Coulson pulled a file from his binder. "We believe that he's the one known as the Winter Soldier. Most of the intelligence community didn't believe that he existed. He was known as a ghost, until now."

"They were using a series of words to control him. Some sort of conditioning or mind control that forced them to follow orders."

"We're looking into it."

"With Hydra running around with mind controlled soldiers, I'd hope so. Especially since they were supposed to be destroyed years ago."

Coulson sighed. "...Fury knows that you've already hacked into the system multiple times. You don't have to pretend that you don't know anything about it."

She raised her eyebrow. The amount of people Fury trusted was less than could be counted on one hand, so if he told Coulson about her...she relaxed a bit.

"...so things have gotten worse then. You need to clean house?".

"No doubt about it. I don't believe I need to inform you of the importance of needing to keep this information to yourself."

"Even here?"

"Especially here."

A series of three beeps rang out. Coulson pulled a pager from his pocket with a frown. "I have to take this. I'll keep you updated as I find out more. Come on, I'll take you to Jim's room."

The smell of antiseptic hit her nose first, the steady beeping of the monitor ringing in her ears as she entered the room.

He had always seemed larger than life whenever she saw him. He was always moving, never really stopping. This time though, this was the first time she had seen him so still.

She reached out to grab his hand. Like Coulson said, it was much warmer than she was used to, but he still slept on.

"I'll be back in a bit," said Coulson, "remember what I said. Don't go anywhere, with anyone, until I come back."

"Got it. Thanks."

Coulson's footsteps faded away and soon it was only the sounds of the beeping of the machines. Toni squeezed Rhodey's hand. "Please be okay. You have to be okay."

She didn't know what she'd do if he wasn't.

Minutes turned to hours as she curled up on the chair in the corner, her eyes sliding shut as the steady beeps of the monitors had her drifting asleep.

The ring of the phone had her launching to her feet.

She rubbed her eyes, frowning as no one ran in to pick it up. She waited - it rang once, then again, before she ran over to the receiver.

"Hello?"

"I'm sorry."

Toni's breath hitched. "Who is this?"

"...you called me John."

She frowned. It didn't sound at all like Uncle John, and the only John that came to mind was...

"...John McClane, of course. Soldat, so they called you. What's your name anyways?"

Toni glanced around her. Not only was this a private room in a top secret SHIELD hospital. It was highly unlikely he tried to sneak in, which meant..

She moved over to the window. The blinds had been cracked open to let in just a bit of light.

"I can't remember. I think- I think my name was James."

"James. I can see it. Are you okay?"

"For now. They have not found me yet. I am sorry for what they did to your friend."

"What did they do to him?"

"...I don't know. Every time they put me in the chair, they wiped us clean. I woke up an hour before we escaped."

"Fucking Hydra. Whatever those assholes did, it's not your fault. I've seen the files."

"..."

"Look, if you ever need a place to stay, look me up. The enemy of my enemy is my friend right? We can make things better, help each other out."

"It isn't safe."

"Well, I don't know if you know who I am-"

"Because of me, not you. They will not stop until I am back under their thumb."

Peering through the cracks, she could just make out the rooftop of the building next door. There was too much light behind her to make out anything clearly, but she was sure he was there.

"Think about it okay? Take your time. And if you remember anything about what they did to you or whatever they injected in Rhodey, let me know, please. I'm going to keep looking into it."

"Don't trust them."

Toni shifted a bit. She suspected she knew who he was talking about, but needed to be sure. "SHIELD?"

"Cut off one head, another grows back. SHIELD. Anyone. Don't trust them."

She rubbed her head. This problem was growing bigger and bigger by the minute.

"That includes you then."

"Yes. Especially me."

"...we'll see. The enemy of my enemy and all that. Be careful. And remember, find me when you're ready."

A long pause filled the air. She was about to check to see if the line cut out, before a response came back.

"I'll find you."

Toni closed her eyes. "Stay safe."

The phone clicked. Toni hung up with a sigh.

"What was all that about?"

Rhodey groaned as tried to shift up. Toni rushed over, helping him carefully sit up.

"Oh thank fuck. I'll tell you later. Don't move. I'll go get a nurse-"

Rhodey grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"One sec."

He wrapped his arms around her, wincing slightly as pulled her tight against his chest, refusing to let go.

"Don't ever do that again."

"I can't promise that-"

"Promise me then that you won't leave me behind. If we do something, we do it together. We're partners okay?"

Toni blinked rapidly, rubbing at her eyes as she tried to clear her vision. Even as Rhodey lay there injured, he still was worried about her leaving him behind.

"Okay."

Rhodey relaxed, groaning a bit. Toni jumped out of his grip, her hands hovering.

"Shit, don't move. Where's the damn nurse?"

Arthur Ketch frowned at the broken phial. SHIELD had cleared out the abandoned Hydra bunker hours ago, but it was easy enough to slip past the tired guards unseen. While most samples were carted away, he was able to find pieces of a broken one under the rubble.

He would reach out to Toni Carbonell later, after she'd been debriefed from SHIELD. Her friend however-

Ketch narrowed his eyes at the phial. Traces of dried dark liquid that had pooled at the bottom could still be found. He pulled out a lighter, warming the glass carefully in the small flame. It didn't take long for small silver wisps to spark.

Ketch closed his eyes with a sigh.

It took some time to find an office with a phone, but eventually he found one a few levels up. Moonlight filtered in through the small window as he moved towards the small desk in the back. He held the phone receiver to his ear with his shoulder, waiting a few rings before it was picked up on the other side.

"We've got a problem. They've been experimenting with werewolf blood. If Rhodes is lucky, it's skinwalker blood."

Ketch bent one of the blinds and peered through. So far, no one seemed altered to his presence, but he couldn't help but shake the feeling of being watched.

"...we'll keep an eye on him. With the whispers of successful subjects from the winter soldier program, I doubt the shift is uncontrollable. We could be working with something new….yes, I'll observe for now. I'll take as many samples as I can back-"

From the building across the compound, James exhaled slowly. He continued to follow the man peering out of the window through his scope.

He wasn't familiar with the man, but that didn't mean that he wasn't with Hydra. He shifted slightly. He'd destroyed the lights across the entire rooftop for this building and the one beside him. Unless someone was looking for him specifically, it would be almost impossible to spot him.

His finger hovered over the trigger.

Friend or foe, James would figure out which side he belonged to. For the first time in a long time, his mind was finally clear. Not only did he gain new allies, for once, there was something new blooming in his chest.

Hope.

A/N: And that's a wrap! The last two chapters are bundled together to wrap this story up - this was the last fic I'll likely be updating here as I've fully migrated over to ao3.

This was the first fic I started writing years ago when I first starting writing in the Marvel fandom. And while I had a bunch more scenes in my mind outlined, I didn't really have a definitive ending that I was ever happy with, so I thought this would be a good place to close it out.

Rhodey is okay; he was injected with a modified version of werewolf/skinwalker serum (an updated version of the serum Bucky was injected with...) He and Toni are offered positions within S.T.A.K.E. with Coulson as their handler - Toni and Rhodey are at MIT a few years before Sam's in Stanford, so eventually their paths would likely cross again. I'd like to think that things are a little less bleak in Sam and Dean's world with Toni and Rhodey helping them out. I imagined a bit of a power struggle between S.T.A.K.E. and the Men of Letters, but the Men of Letters at this point in time to mostly withdraw back to the UK, biding their time.

If you've read this far, thank you for sticking around. I hope you've enjoyed the journey!

For more recent Marvel fics, you can find me over on ao3 under the same name: justanotherpipedream