Chapter 10
She didn't spend long back in the base in Afghanistan. Just enough for a few debriefs with the military in charge of the area. She didn't let any of them examine her, not wanting the arc reactor in her chest to become knowledge to anyone, even if the military had a way of keeping secrets themselves. She didn't tell them either about the weapons the Ten Rings had. Her weapons. Because like it or not, she had no idea where they were getting it from, and for all she knew, there was someone on the inside who sold their weapons to them.
Someone had told the Ten Rings of the Jericho and of where the demonstration would be. It didn't matter how good the terrorists' satellites or intel might be, they shouldn't have known that sort of knowledge.
She couldn't do anything about it from here, and she knew she needed to get back to America before she would have any real power to make a difference. She needed to come up with a plan, find out exactly how her weapons were being stolen before she made any accusations.
The plane ride back to America was long and she was dying just to go home to her children and see her family again.
"I should have been there," Harry said after a moment, as he sat down beside her. "I shouldn't have let you go to the demonstration alone. SHIELD had intel of a possible terrorist cell making movements in the region, but I had no idea it would have anything to do with your presentation. Maybe if I had given the threat more credit, I could have stopped it. I could have been there for you and stopped you from being hurt."
"Harry," she said softly, taking her cousin's hands in hers. He refused to look up at her, and she could tell his eyes were slightly damp. He had always been so strong, and the only other time she'd seen him remotely as affected was when his mother was hospitalized, and he had locked himself up in his room for a week before throwing himself entirely into his work.
"Harry look at me," she said gently, as she tilted his head up so she could see him. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't Rhodey's fault, or anyone else's. No one could have stopped this from happening unless they knew in advance. You and Rhodey brought me home; otherwise I would have been wandering that desert for who knows how long. And if you did not come, it could have been them who found me again. I'm here, and I'm safe."
"I wasn't there though," he said bitterly, "I was off chasing a lead after the explosion you set off. I was on the other side of the mountains. I didn't find you, I didn't even find them. What kind of agent am I?"
"You're the best kind," she told him. "Harry, I'm safe. For all you both knew, I could have been in either location. It was smart to split up. You and Rhodey brought me home."
He nodded slightly, and she knew from her own experiences with self-blame that he didn't entirely believe her, so she simply took his hand in hers, holding her cousin tightly. She asked for stories on what was happening back home to help pass the time; three months was a long time for someone to disappear, especially someone like her who was so involved in the affairs of her company and her country.
"A few sites opened up Toni Stark Watchlists," Rhodey told her, "People could post any tips of places they saw you. It was always dead ends, and none of them were even in Afghanistan. But I think it gave people hope to know that you might still be out there. You're more important to the world than you think."
She swallowed at that.
She'd always been Toni Stark: Socialite, Play Girl, Drunken Mess in the eyes of the public. Or she'd been the Merchant of Death, Ruthless CEO who continued to revolutionize the world faster than any other company could even begin to compete with in any field she'd set her mind to.
But no one had ever wanted just Toni. The girl who struggled and fought every single day of her life to get to where she was.
"We land in an hour," the flight attendant said as she entered the cabin, saving Toni from having to say anything.
"You should rest," Rhodey told her gently, "It's going to be a circus when we get back, and I know you have an aversion to sleep, but you need some rest."
She nodded lightly as she leaned back. She knew sleep wouldn't come to her, but she could at least try and regain some strength. Galileo, Afghanistan really did a number on her body.
When the flight landed, she took a deep breath. She knew Rhodey had the Military clear out the landing site so that no one unwanted would be there, and she was grateful to him for that.
As the doors opened, she saw Pepper standing there in her pristine business suit, and Happy with his arms crossed in front of her. Rhodey helped her out of the chair that he had insisted she sit in, and Harry stood on the other side, trying to steady her without touching her broken arm.
She was wearing a dress outfit which she knew all too well that Pepper must have picked out for her, and she smiled slightly as Ava stepped forward the minute she exited the plane and threw her arms around Toni.
"I was so worried," Ava said, holding Toni tightly and she wrapped her good arm around her cousin.
"I'm here," Toni reassured her. "Your brother and Rhodey brought me home."
"JARVIS and I helped," Ava interjected, "We hacked the satellites after the explosion and tried to chart your trajectory if you had been thrown from the blast site."
"Of course you did," she said fondly, knowing all too well that it was the kind of thing they would have done.
"Careful Ava," Harry told his sister warningly, "She's hurt."
Ava stepped back, before examining her, as Toni watched a gurney be brought forward.
"No," she said flatly, and Rhodey gave her a disbelieving look. "No," she said again and Rhodey sighed before gesturing it to go away.
Pepper smiled at her as she walked forward towards her PA, and Toni beamed back.
"I might have ruined the blouse you chose for me," she said to Pepper, "I know you warned me about damaging it because it cost me a fortune, but it's gone now."
"Oh Toni," she said, with watery eyes, laughing slightly.
"Your eyes are red," Toni said softly, "A few tears for your long-lost boss?"
"Tears of happiness," Pepper assured her, "I hate job hunting."
She wanted to argue that point. Pepper's position at the company never should have been dependant on Toni's presence. But she knew Obie had hated that Toni had taken her on, despite his protests.
"Vacations over," Toni said, nodding, as she got into the limo. She was back, and now it was time to get to work.
"Where to, Ma-am?" Happy asked, as Rhodey slid into the front seat and Ava between her and Pepper.
"Take us to the hospital," Pepper said, and Toni shook her head immediately.
"No," she said, speaking over Pepper's protests. "I don't have to do anything, Pep. I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American Cheeseburger. And the other-"
"That's enough of that," Pepper said, immediately cutting her off, as Ava looked amused.
"It's not what you think," Toni started. There was a time and place for her to make innuendos, and she very much was not up for sex at the moment. Not when she'd had to bleed into rags for months because things such as tampons were not a luxury she'd been provided. Not when she'd seen the leery looks the men there had given her, and only not touching her out of fear from their leader.
"Then what?" Ava asked her, encouragingly.
"I want to have a press conference," Toni said firmly, as Rhodey looked at her surprised. "There are somethings I need to discuss with the world."
When she got to the press conference, she saw the clapping begin as Obie made a big show of welcoming her home. She wanted to roll her eyes at him, but she knew how worried everyone had been in her absence, so she didn't say anything about it.
She pulled out the last cheeseburger as he led her inside, joking about wanting one and she sighed at him exasperatedly. She was the one who spent the last few months in captivity while he was here and free to eat whatever he wanted. She deserved it.
Obie lead her towards the press, but not before she saw Pepper being approached by a man in a suit, who Harry was eyeing up warily. What did he know that she didn't?
She sat down in front of the podium, unable to stand any longer, but she crossed her legs. The last thing she needed was speculations about her health to get out and for anyone to question her ability to run a company. She had managed for this long, and this incident will not be the thing that set her back.
"Would it be okay if everyone just sat down?" She asked, "That way everyone can see me, and I can see them."
Rhodey moved towards Pepper, looking worried and she didn't blame him. She'd barely spoken in the car as to what she wanted to discuss with the press, and she knew her family was worried.
"I never got to say goodbye to my father," she started, "There were questions I would have asked him. Questions about how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels."
She took a deep breath before continuing, "I started making weapons to keep Americans safe during war. To protect them and ensure that they have the best possible advantage, so they come home safe. But I saw young Americans kill by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."
The clamouring began immediately, with whispers among the audience of what it was she was trying to say and what it meant.
"Ben," she said, pointing to a reporter raise a pen questioningly.
"What happened over there?" he asked her, curiously and she defected immediately.
"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up," she told him, as she stood before pausing. It was the right time for this decision. To finally do what she had wanted for a long time. And now she knew the truth of her weapons, she had no reason not to continue forward. "And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be."
The entire room stood up in uproar, Obie looking at her as if she'd lost her goddamn mind. Obie pushed her aside roughly and she held back the wince as he took over the mic.
"I think we're gonna be selling a lot of newspapers," he tried to cut her off.
"What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well," she ended before walking away. She could see Rhodey look at her tensely and she wondered if he would hate her for what she'd decided to do.
"What we should take away from this is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with the follow-up," Obie tried to contain the room, she knew he would be furious as well, but she didn't care. Stark Industries was her company and she refused to allow it be used to do more harm than good.
She got home a little over an hour later, and Rhodey had yet to say a word to her since her big decision. She tried looking over at him a few times, but he hadn't made eye contact with her.
It killed her a little, knowing he was angry with her and her decision to shut down the weapons division of her company.
"Rhodey," she said softly, as Happy pulled up to her Malibu home. "Please say something."
"What's left to say?" he asked her, "You made your decision, without even talking to me about it."
"It wasn't like that," she said, as she got out of the car, and saw her uncle waiting for her.
"Toni," he breathed, upon seeing her. "Thank God. Harry told me they found you, but I couldn't truly relax until I saw you with my own eyes."
"I'm fine, Uncle Daniel," she told him with a smile as he held her tightly. "Is Aunt Peggy doing okay?"
"She was ready to lead a one-woman army to come find you," Daniel said with a tired laugh, as he lead her into the house. She wasn't really all that surprised that JARVIS had let them all inside in her absence, since she had given him the code to trust her family. "She still has her off days but she's doing well, all things considering."
"Are you okay?" Ava asked her softly, as she took off her suit jacket and the arc reactor's blue light glowed through her shirt. "What happened? Why does it look like a smaller arc reactor is in your chest?"
"I was hit with shrapnel," she said, and Pepper let out a gasp, as Rhodey finally met her eyes. "From my own bomb. It had the STARK Industries logo on it. My own weapons killed all the troops in that unit with me."
"Are you hurt?" Harry asked her immediately, looking her over.
She shook her head, "There was a man in the cave with me, and he removed most of the pieces from my chest. But there still is a piece in there that was too dangerous to remove. I created the miniaturized arc reactor to stop it from reaching my heart."
"Toni," Rhodey said painfully, "You need to go to the hospital. You need to let someone else look at it."
"It won't make a difference," she told him with a sad smile, "It's a part of me now. There is no way to get it out without killing me. This," she said, tapping the circle in her chest, "is the only thing keeping me alive still."
"That's why you shut it down," Ava nodded, "The weapons production. You've wanted to shut it down for years. To build anything else, and now you've finally have the chance and the reason to do so."
"What?" Rhodey's head turned to face her, "You've never told me this. Why did you never tell me that you hated making weapons?"
"Because you joined the Air Force!" she shot back at him, "You joined the military, Rhodey. And my weapons were the only thing keeping you safe, so I made them. But then my own weapons were used to hurt your troops. It could have killed you. You can't expect me to keep making them knowing you could have been hurt."
He closed his eyes, "Toni, if you don't want to make weapons, it's your choice. This is your company. But talk to me. Don't shut me out, please. I can't read your mind. I don't know what you're thinking; if you're angry with me for not protecting you or if you never want anything to do with me again."
"Honey Bear," she said, taking his hands in hers, "I don't blame you or Harry. It was a horrible thing that happened, but you are not to blame."
"No," Uncle Daniel said, "None of you are. But someone out there wanted you dead, Toni. Someone sold you out. And we need to know what happened. We need to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Otherwise they're still out there and they can hurt you."
"Someone in Stark Industries or the Military sold you out," Harry nodded, "Someone is selling your weapons. And I'm going to help you find out who."
"I can poke around on the internal SI systems," Ava volunteered, "If there is any trace of the weapons coming from our end, I'll find it in the system."
"I'll dig around the Military," Rhodey sighed, knowing he was getting pulled into this one way or another, "I hate the idea of it coming from either of our ends, because that means someone has been exploiting us to make a profit. I sincerely hope somehow it was some sort of stolen shipment or something, because otherwise, it's unthinkable."
"Then it's time to get to work," Toni nodded, "We will find out how this is happening and end it. But in the meantime, it seems as if I need to finally push the plans I've had in the making for years to take Stark Industries in a different direction before we lose too many investors."
"Go to sleep first," Pepper demanded for the first time, "We all need rest. It's been a long few months and if you burn out, you're no use to anyone."
Daniel nodded, "I agree. Toni you need some rest. If you're not going to a hospital then at least let Ava, Rhodey, or Harry examine you. At least to make sure that there won't be any other long-term consequences of this arc reactor inside your chest."
"Tomorrow," she sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of it. "You all still have your rooms here, so let JARVIS or I know if you need anything."
Pepper nodded before leaving the room as the others tailed after her, leaving her and Rhodey alone with her.
"Do you hate me?" she asked him softly, "For shutting down the weapons industry? I know the Military won't be pleased."
"Fuck the Military," he said before wincing at his word choice. "I care more about you, Toni. Are you okay? Did they do anything to you there? Did they torture you? Did they hurt you? Did any of them touch you?"
"They didn't rape me," she said, shaking her head to deny the question.
"But they tortured you," his jaw set, reading in between the lines of her words.
"They did," she said, shaking lightly, and he moved over to pull her into a tight hug.
"I'm going to find every single one of them," he promised her, "And make them pay for hurting you. They won't get away with this, Tones."
"Rhodey," she said after a second, vulnerable. "I. I don't know if I can sleep alone tonight. Can I stay with you?"
It had happened a few times in the past; the night when Tiberius tried to have his way with her, the night her parents had died, when Jarvis had died. She'd have nightmares of it all night long, and Rhodey would hold her tightly, helping her sleep as his presence quelled her fears and her pain. Her brother who would protect her from anything in the world.
"Of course," he told her, looking a little angry with himself, "I should have asked if you wanted to. You just spent months in captivity. Of course, you can stay with me. No one will hurt you, Toni, not anymore. I promise."
She nodded as he helped her towards her bedroom, and she climbed gently into her bed for the first time in months.
"Good night, Ms Stark," JARVIS' voice called out for the first time since she came home, "And welcome home. The bots missed you."
"Thanks J," she said to her child, "I'll talk to all of you in the morning, I promise."
Rhodey climbed in after her, and she laid her head on his chest, as his arms enveloped her. She closed her eyes as she listened to his heart beating, using it to steady her breathing.
She was finally home, and she was safe.
She woke up hours later to see Rhodey gone from the bed, but on her side of the table he'd left her a cup of coffee to make up for his absence.
She wasn't all that surprised; he'd always been an early riser, even at school, and the Air Force had only solidified that particular habit. And after her little bombshell with the press yesterday, she didn't blame him if he had to take care of certain things as a result. She knew the Military would be clamouring, trying to work with the Board of SI to stop her from actually shutting down the weapons division of the company, what when SI brought in most of their money still from the deal.
And whether she liked it or not, Stark weapons were the best, and that meant that any other company the Military tried to use would not be as good. Though she supposed Justin Hammer would be pleased at her decision, as it would put his company next in line to take over.
"JARVIS, how long ago did Rhodey leave?" she asked, as she gingerly took the cup of coffee from her nightstand and sipped it. It had been a while since she had the drink that had provided her more sustenance than any food on earth and she took a moment to truly appreciate the coffee.
"An hour ago, Ms Stark," JARVIS told her gently, "He asked me to let you sleep in as long as possible, without going about your regular morning wake up routine. As he has the right access and codes to do so, I did not wake you earlier."
"That's okay, J," she told her slightly guilty bot, "I think I needed the rest. But I'm up now and there is work to do. How have the baby bots been without me?"
"They were frightened, Miss, as I was," JARVIS confessed to her, "DUM-E was ready to go looking for you himself. It was only me promising him that I was dedicating all my processing power towards finding you that he relented. U has been particularly distressed about your absence however. You might need to talk a bit to it to make it up to it."
She sighed softly, as she pulled on a pair of leggings and one of Rhodey's old Air Force training sweaters that she had long since commandeered from him as she tied her hair up and headed towards the lab.
It took her less than a second between opening the door and DUM-E barrelling straight into her.
"Hi Baby," she cooed gently as DUM-E moved its arm to try and make sure she was really there. "I missed you so much."
DUM-E beeped back in happiness, as it held out it's arm for Toni to take a hold of. She gently took it as it led her through the lab where Butterfingers was.
Butterfingers beeped cheerfully as DUM-E brought her close and she could hear the questioning words between its beeps.
"I'm not leaving again," she promised Butterfingers, and U turned slightly towards her. "I promise. I never wanted to leave you all. But I did not have a choice. I'm here now, and I promise I'll make it up to you all if you let me."
"We're happy you're home," JARVIS interjected, "None of this was your fault, Miss Stark. You did not ask for them to take you and to hurt you. But they did anyways. Do not blame yourself for the action of others."
U guiltily came over then and nudged Toni, and she stroked her youngest child carefully. "I'm sorry, baby. I know how worried you all must have been. I never wanted for you all to worry about me. I'm sorry to have left you alone for so long."
"You're home now," she heard a soft voice behind her and saw Ava standing with a StarkPad in her hand as she came closer.
"How have you been, Ava?" she asked her cousin carefully.
"Worried," Ava admitted after a moment, "We all were Toni. Dad barely slept, Harry and Rhodey were running themselves ragged. Even Sharon decided to join SHIELD to have a chance of finding you."
Toni took in a breath of surprise at the mention of Sharon Carter. While she and the young girl had interacted a handful of times over the years, she didn't think her absence was enough to set the girl on the path of becoming an Agent of SHIELD.
"I'm glad you're home," Ava continued, "It's been horrible without you here. Pepper won't admit it, but Obie was giving her a rough time in your absence. He wanted you declared legally dead so he could take control over your shares. But since the Military was still searching for you, he didn't have the grounds to do so. And Mum's had a rough time with all of it. She wanted nothing more than to be with us looking, but she's not well enough. And I think for the first time since she's been diagnosed did she truly understand what it meant for her ability to help others. Even when Pierce all but demanded her retirement, she stood back gracefully."
"Thank you," she told her cousin, "For never giving up on me. I thought about all of you every day, about getting home and being with my family. It was what kept me going."
Ava smiled at her, and after a moment she pointed at the object in Toni's chest, "So how about we build you a proper heart and not just something that was shoddily built in a cave?"
"I have never built a shoddy think in my life," Toni gasped in mock offense, "How dare you, Ava Carter-Sousa? And after I gave you a job."
Ava laughed as Toni brought up the specs for the arc reactor, as the two of them began to discuss how she had finally managed to finally miniaturize the device her father had tried to shrink for decades.
Together, they began to build, with JARVIS' input as he calculated different simulations for the best possible combination of materials.
And hours later, when it was finally done, when the arc reactor was complete, Ava stood back and marvelled.
"Toni, with this technology, you could change the world," Ava breathed.
"Stark Industries could make a market in clean energy," Toni nodded, "We could truly help better the world. It's one of the initiatives I want to put into place now that we no longer will be making weapons. Stark Industries can become so much more than a company that makes weapons. We can make the world a better place."
Ava beamed at her, "I'm glad to help be a part of the process."
"I could use your help sooner rather than later," Toni gestured, as she lifted up her sweater, standing around in her bra. "I need to remove the old one and put in the new one."
"I don't know all that much about medicine," Ava said, slightly wary, as Toni removed the old reactor from her chest.
"You know about technology and circuits," Toni argued, "It's basically the same thing. Just connect up the right wires and you have a functioning unit."
"What on earth are the two of you doing?" she heard a voice cry out as Toni sat back in the chair while Ava carefully looked at where the new arc reactor would need to go.
"Science?" Toni tried and Pepper shook her head.
"On yourself?" Pepper demanded, "Toni, you need a doctor. Or at least someone who knows what they are doing in regard to biomedicine and tech. You don't have the first idea what you're doing, and neither does Ava."
"But I trust her," Toni argued. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"The exposed wire under the device could touch the socket wall resulting in a short, which could cause you to go into cardiac arrest," Ava said drily after finishing her inspection.
"It's a good thing you have steady hands," Toni quipped back at her cousin.
"I can't watch this," Pepper moaned as Ava carefully lowered the device into her chest.
"There's pus," Pepper groaned as a pink discharge appeared on Ava's hands.
"It's an inorganic plasmic material from the device," Toni shrugged, and Pepper paled.
"And you're putting it into your body?" Pepper demanded, "Couldn't that kill you?"
"It'll kill me not to have this device," Toni pointed out, "Beggars can't be choosers."
"I don't think that's a reasonable argument," Pepper sighed, and Ava withdrew her hands.
"It's done," Ava breathed out, "Congratulations Toni, you have a new, powerful, heart in place."
"What do you want to do with this?" Pepper asked, holding up the old reactor which she had built for herself.
"Destroy it," Toni shrugged, "Incinerate it."
"You don't want to keep it?" Ava frowned, "That thing saved your life over there. And you just want to throw it away?"
"I've been called many things," Toni looked at the both of them carefully, "But nostalgic has never been one of them."
Pepper shook her head, taking the device with her as she left the room.
And well, if when Toni found it later in a box and mounted in Lucite with the inscription "Proof Toni Stark Has a Heart" and cried ever so softly, well then no one needed to know.
She began drawing right after; creating specs and sketches of her new designs. Of something that would truly change the world and make it a better place.
The welding came slightly after as now she finally had accesses to the best materials and equipment, and finally had a chance to make it the way she always intended it to be.
The first time she tried wearing just the boots she flew up straight into the air and crashed.
She crashed the second time as well as the third and the fourth. But each time she flew higher and better the past attempt, with JARVIS recording each attempt on her part.
She created the flight stabilizer right after, only for Pepper to interrupt as she announced Obie's presence.
An injunction had been filed against her.
By her own Board.
She wanted to be furious, but she knew this was how the game worked. Her company always did want to look for a chance to oust her as CEO and put in a more respectable candidate. The wanted a man. They wanted someone they could control. And Toni Stark was no show horse.
They could try all they liked. She hadn't lasted this long by bowing down any time anyone asked her to step backwards.
She would take control of her company back.
She would bring it forward with the new innovations she had.
Even if it meant fighting her way back to the top.
She refused to let her weapons continue to hurt any other innocents. Not like the soldiers who had died by her side trying to keep safe.
But it had been her own bombs in the end that had killed them.
She wanted to be better; she needed to be better. And one way or another, she would change the world and she would keep it safe.
"Miss Stark, I must strongly caution against this. There are terabytes of calculations still needed-" Jarvis protested as she wore the suit she had been working so hard to create.
"We'll test it in-flight," she simply said, and with that, she was off.
She flew up into the air, like an Icarus with iron wings, urging to fly towards the sun. She flew over Malibu, turning and gliding over the waves, towards the Santa Monica Pier.
But like Icarus, she had flown too close to the sun.
And the ice crystals began to form over her helmet and the warning systems lit up in her suit.
She began to fall, as JARVIS scrambled to restore power to her suit, as she took over the control and tried to land gracefully into her home.
But had actually crashed through her glass ceiling and on top her expensive cars.
None of that had mattered to her, as she lay on her back, laughing for the first time in months at the exhilarating experience.
In that moment, she was truly free.
