Chapter 14

"The notary's here! Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" Pepper said as she entered the room.

She was currently in the boxing ring with Harry and Happy, both of whom insisted she continue to learn how to fight, even if she'd tried pointing out just how pointless it was.

"I'm on Happy Potter time," she said, before elbowing Happy in the face and hitting Harry in the ribs, "Sorry."

"What the hell was that?" Happy asked, looking less than impressed with her.

"It's called mixed martial arts," she grinned, "It's been around for three weeks."

Harry scowled, "It's called dirty boxing, there's nothing new about it"

A blonde man walked into the room then and she saw Harry tense up slightly. She looked over at him, but he simply shook his head, indicating that he would tell her about it later.

"I promise this is the only time I will ask you to give me a promotion," Pepper smiled, and Toni laughed. She'd already turned down the higher promotion anyways.

Happy tapped her on the head as she watched the man, "Lesson one. Never take your eye off-" she kicked him, and he flew backwards.

"That's it. I'm done. What's your name man?" she asked him.

"Brenton, Clyde Brenton," he responded a bit too quickly.

She pointed to the ring, and spoke, "Front and centre. Come into the church," she said, wanting to see what it was that Harry was so wary of. But if the man seemed to recognize her cousin, he didn't say a word.

"No. You're seriously not gonna ask," Pepper gasped, looking at her like she was insane.

"If it pleases the court, which it does," Toni shrugged.

Clyde turned to Pepper, "It's no problem," he said, and Toni tried to get a read on him.

"I'm sorry. She's very eccentric," Pepper apologised. Well that was one of the nicer words that had been used to describe her over the years.

Clyde entered the ring carefully as she took a sip of the horrible Chlorophyll which was keeping her alive temporarily.

"Can you give him a lesson?" Toni asked, gesturing to Happy to fight with him, as she stepped out of the ring.

"No problem," Happy winced, still a little sore.

"Who is he?" she asked Pepper, wanting to know where the man had come from. Harry sat beside her, looking a bit curious too.

"He is from legal. And he is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling him like that," Pepper said.

She turned to Harry instead, "What do you know?" she asked him.

"We'll talk when he's gone," Harry murmured.

"I need a new assistant, Pep," Toni said, "Now that you're gone, what do I do?"

"Yes, and I've got three excellent potential candidates. They're lined up and ready to meet you," Pepper said, trying to hand her a file.

"I don't have time to meet. I need someone now. I feel like it's him," Toni said, knowing there was something about the man that she wasn't aware of. "How do I spell your name, Clyde?

"B-R-E-N-T-O-N," Clyde said, dodging a punch, and Toni looked him up on her table computer quickly.

"Wow. Very, very impressive individual," she nearly whistled as half naked pictures of the man came up."

"You're so predictable, you know that?" Pepper rolled her eyes.

"So it would seem," she mused, as she looked over the tailored resume, "He's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?"

"No one speaks Latin," Harry said, and she nodded.

"Exactly. No one speaks Latin," she said. "He modelled in Tokyo too."

It was almost as if the resume was perfect to grab the attention of what someone thought she'd like based on the public persona she put out.

"I want him," she said, and Harry looked like he was going to yell at her.

A loud thud resounded through the room and she saw as Happy fell to the ground.

"Oh, my God! Happy!" Pepper cried, and Toni looked at him curiously.

"That's what I'm talking about," Toni said, gesturing at him.

"I just slipped," Happy looked displeased.

"I need your impression," Clyde said, as he exited the ring.

"I think you're a quiet reserved, old soul," she said, looking him over, "But there is a deep longing inside of you, to be a part of something."

"I meant your fingerprint," Clyde said, looking amused.

"Right," Toni laughed.

"Will that be all, Ms Stark?" Clyde said, flirted, moving close to her, and she took a step back.

"Yes. Word of advice, Mr Brenton, don't believe everything in the press," she said simply. If everyone who flirted with her got a job, then where would she be?

The man looked a little off put but didn't question it.

"Yes, that will be all, Mr Brenton. Thank you very much," Pepper said, walking out with the man, and she turned to Harry.

"Well?" she asked, and Harry looked at her.

"He works for SHIELD," Harry said. "Clint Barton, one of their top operatives."

"Why is SHIELD poking around Stark Industries?" Toni mused.

"To see what they can dig up," Harry said, "They already know I won't reveal anything to them about you. And they're under the impression that you don't know as much about SHEILD as you actually do. They want to get inside information about you and the Iron Woman suit."

"I see," she said, standing up, "Well if I turn away Clyde Brenton, they're just going to send more agents. So let's hire him and control the information he gets access to."

"If you're sure," Harry warned her.

"I am," she said firmly, "Better the snake you can see than the one hidden in the grass."


She landed in Monaco, ready to watch the Grand Prix as her driver raced for Stark Industries.

"Miss Stark?" Clyde asked her, sauntering up to her with a grin. He was wearing a tight black suit which extenuated his body as SHEILD probably assumed she'd like. "How was your flight?"

"It was excellent. Boy, it's nice to see you," Toni said, "I don't believe you've met Ava here? Miss Carter-Sousa is one of my most trusted employees and helps me get all my inventions out the door."

If the last name raised any flags in Clint's mind, he didn't react.

"Pleasure to meet you," Clyde kissed her hand and Ava blushed slightly. "We have one photographer from the ACM, if you don't mind. Okay?"

Pepper turned to her in surprise, "When did this happen?"

Toni laughed under her breath as she instructed Pepper to smile with her. The fewer people who knew about Clyde, the better.

"Right this way," Clyde directed, as he placed a hand on the small of her back.

Well, if she was going to be flirted with in the pretense of getting her company secrets, then she'd give as good as she got.

"You look fantastic," Toni purred, and Clyde winked at her.

"Why, thank you very much," he flushed, and she carried on as she asked for her schedule.

They arrived at their table and greeted Elon Musk and she nearly laughed as he floundered, trying to gain a contract with them.

If men were anything, it was predictable.

And almost like clockwork, "Antonia is that you?" Justin Hammer said, emerging from behind her.

"My least favourite person on Earth," she sighed, and Ava stifled a laugh.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said, coming over to her and trying to put an arm around her.

"Not your sweetheart," she reminded him, shrugging his arm off.

"How are you doing?" he said, without missing a beat, "You're not the only rich one here with a fancy car. You know Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair. You guys know each other?"

Christine flushed as Toni winked at her, "Hi, yes."

Pepper sighed, "Yes," as Toni thought back to her one-night stand almost a year ago. Christine Everheart, the woman who tipped her off to the corruption in her own company.

"BTW, big story," Hammer said annoyingly, "The new COO of Stark Industries. It's always great when women are given positions of power you know, because of their brains."

She wanted to throw her drink at him for insinuating she only gave Pepper the job because she was sleeping with her.

"I know," Christine gushed, "My editor will kill me if I don't grab a quote for our Powerful Women issue."

Pepper looked slightly embarrassed as she turned to the woman and started talking with her about female empowerment and she wished more than anything she could be a part of that conversation and not have to look at Hammer.

"She's actually doing a big spread on me for Vanity Fair. I thought I'd throw her a bone, you know. Right?" Hammer bragged.

"Right. Well, she did quite a spread on Toni last year," Pepper defended, and Toni could have kissed her friend. "It was very impressive."

"And she wrote a story as well," Toni added.

Christine shot her a smile as Pepper stepped away, and she tried to plead with her to stay.

"Hey, Sweetheart. How're you doing?" Justin wrapped an arm around her waist as he pulled her close for the camera. "Looking gorgeous."

She moved away from him, smiling at the camera.

"Can I ask you," Christine started, "Is this the first time you've seen each other since the Senate?"

"Since he got his contract revoked," Toni pointed out.

"Actually, it's on hold," Justin countered.

"That's not what I heard. What's the difference between 'hold' and 'cancelled'? The truth?" Toni questioned.

"Yes, what is it?" Christine leaned in, interestedly.

"No. The truth is, I'm actually hoping to present something at your Expo," Hammer said, and she nearly laughed.

"Well, if you invent something that works, I'll make sure I get you a slot," she said, knowing all too well that he wouldn't.

Clyde pulled her away then, and she was grateful to the man, for despite his untrustworthiness, at least he was good for a quick save. She slipped away to the bathroom, eager just to get a few moments to herself before she was forced to listen to another person like Hammer drone on about their own successes.

She supposed in hindsight, seeing 53% blood toxicity is what really set her off.

She knew she didn't always make the best decisions, but really, this was one of her worst. Or at least she figured, when she stood in a racing suit, walking towards the car.

"Well, what's the use of having and owning a race car if you don't drive it?" she asked the press and they cheered her on.

At least if she was going to die, she'd die in style.

She sat in the car and revved the engine as the race started. She'd always loved the thrill of fast cars and fast driving. Of being so in control of something and making it bend to her will. She loved feeling the wind in her hair as the world faded away.

She knew something was wrong as she saw smoke ahead on her on the race track, and as she drew closer, she saw a man with two electrified whips, aiming straight at her car.

The front broke off as her car flew through the air, turning over, and crashing straight into the barrier.

She crawled out of the car, trying to survey the damage to her body. She had a few cuts, but nothing appeared to be broken.

The man walked towards her, as an explosion of cars lit up behind him, and she heard the screams of horror.

She moved behind him, grabbing a piece off the car that had broken off and tried to hit the man on his head while his back was turned to her. To no one's surprise, the man barely flinched as the metal came in contact with him. He turned in rage, hitting her with one of his electrified whips, and she felt her heart race as she crashed to the ground.

Where was her suit when she needed it?

She rolled over as he brought his whip down again, burning the spot that she had been in a few seconds prior.

She vowed in that moment to never go anywhere without a version of her suit on her, and if she lived long enough to survive any of this, she would see it through.

She tried to run, get to cover, or at least wait it out until she knew what his weaknesses were enough to defeat him. Funnily enough, in all of Rhodey's training, they never taught her how to fight hand to hand with someone who had two electric whips.

One of the whips caught her leg and she fell to the ground, the world starting to blur around her.

Was this the moment she died? Not of alcohol and drugs like the press often speculated she would, or of torture from terrorists, or palladium poisoning. But of a madman bent on killing her whom she didn't even know.

She saw the man approach her in the reflection of the headlights of the car, gasoline spilling out of the broken car, and like that, she knew what she needed to do.

She could hear his swings begin to rapidly increase in pace, and she timed it out, waiting for him to strike, as she dodged out of the way and the race car went up in flames.

The man approached her again, looking barely fazed and she tried to move backward again, as a loud honk came and she watched as a black car crushed him into the fence, just inches from where she stood.

"Are you okay?" Toni asked, checking on the two of them carefully, "Were you heading for me or for him?"

"I was trying to scare him," Happy shrugged, leaning to look her over.

"Are you out of your mind?" Pepper screamed at her. "Get in the car now."

"I was attacked," she defended, "We need better security."

"Get in the car," Happy demanded and she rolled her eyes as she moved towards the other door.

She opened it carefully and blinked as the door came apart in her hands, sliced in half from the remainder of the car in a perfectly straight line.

Happy reversed the car, slamming him back into the fence, "I got him!"

"Hit him again!" Toni screamed, trying to take her briefcase from Pepper.

The man began slicing into the cars amid Peppers screams. As the left side of the car came undone, Pepper threw the case at Toni, and she nearly smiled.

She stepped on the box, placing her arms in their gloves as the suit moved to attach itself to her.

This man thought he could hurt her friends without any repercussions? Well he had another thing coming for him.

She kicked the car out of the way, getting them out of his reach, and turned to face the man.

She raised her repulsors, only for him to hit them with his whips. His whips grabbed onto her suit, bring her in tightly, as he flung her onto the track. Well she would be damned if he used her own technology against her. She grabbed onto the whips, using it to bring herself closer to him. He couldn't hurt her with whips if she had them all wrapped up around her little fingers.

She used his own move against him, and threw him onto the ground, before quickly moving to remove his arc reactor from his chest, as his suit powered off instantly.

Within seconds, the CRS had him surrounded, and she took a step back and took a deep breath for the first time since the entire fight had started.

He spat back blood at her as he was being dragged away, "You lose. You lose Stark."

She looked down at the arc reactor in her hands and clenched it tightly, crushing it in her hands.


She walked into his prison cell later, despite Peppers protests, and Happy's insistence that he went with her.

She had turned them both away; Happy would keep Pepper safe. And if "Clyde Brenton" really was a SHIELD agent, then he would keep Ava safe. She didn't need anyone else hurt because of her.

"We ran his prints. We got nothing back, not even a name," one of the government agents spoke to her in French.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she followed them down the hall.

"Over there. We're not even sure he speaks English. He hasn't said a word since he got here," the guard responded to her.

"Five minutes," she asked, knowing better than to try and push her luck. The guard nodded at her, as he opened the door. She walked into the holding cell as the door was closed behind her.

She walked behind him, moving to see his face, "Pretty decent tech. Cycles per second were a little low. You could have doubled up your rotations," she said, as he barely lifted his head, "You focused the repulsor energy through ionised plasma channels. It's effective. Not very efficient. But it's a passable knock-off. I don't get it. A little fine tuning you could have made a solid pay cheque. You could have sold it to North Korea, China, Iran, or gone onto the black market. You look like you got friends in low places."

She moved closer to his face, and she finally saw a reaction.

"You come from a family of thieves and butchers. And now, like all guilty men, you try to rewrite your own history. You are no different because of your gender, Stark. And you forget all the lives the Stark family has destroyed," he said, and she wondered if he was yet another person her father had screwed over in an attempt to leave behind a legacy.

"Speaking of thieves, where did you get this design?" she asked him curiously, sitting beside him on the bench.

"My father. Anton Vanko," he said, like the name was supposed to mean something to her.

"Well, I never heard of him," she shrugged simply.

"My father is the reason you're alive," he spat, and she wondered just how he meant. Because of the reactor? Something that happened before that with their fathers?

"The reason I'm alive is because you had a shot, you took it, you missed," she told him simply. She had long since given up on other men taking credit for own designs. And she'd be damned if he was one of them.

"Did I?" he laughed, "If you can make God bleed, the people will cease to believe in him. And there will be blood in the water. And the sharks will come. The truth, all I have to do is sit here and watch as the world will consume you."

She nearly punched him. She had never once claimed to be a god or a perfect human. She knew who she was, with all her flaws and weaknesses. Her father had shoved them in her face every chance he got. The world had shoved them in her face.

Her gender, her lack of propriety, her intelligence.

They hated her for it but loved profiting off of it all the same.

"Where will you be watching the world consume me from? That's right. A prison cell. I'll send you a bar of soap," she said, as she stood to leave.

"Hey, Toni. Before you go, palladium in the chest, painful way to die," the man laughed, and she left the cell, not wanting to give him any more attention than he had already received.


She had Pepper cancel her party in the wake of learning of Ivan Vanko and the government's displeasure in her. Rhodey already came over and let her know how the National Guard was ready to storm her door to take her suits.

Typical.

America can't let anyone have anything nice without them trying to take it from her.

She covered up her bruises and put on a nice dress, as music played in the background, her family and her friends all around her.

If she was going to die, she wanted to die surrounded by people she loved. Not hundreds of her "closest friends" or business partners or anyone related to her because she had money.

She wanted those who had fought for her through her entire life to be there for her last birthday.

"Happy Birthday, Toni," her uncle said, as he pulled her into a tight hug. She held him tightly, wondering briefly how he would explain to Aunt Peggy that she was gone when the palladium finally killed her.

"Thanks Uncle Daniel," She said with a smile.

"It's not every day my cousin turns thirty-nine!" Ava grinned as she hugged her.

Harry simply grinned as he pulled her into a one-armed hug, "Happy Birthday Cuz."

"Now that you're all here, the real party can begin," she beamed, as she raised her hands and waiters and waitresses brought out carts of food and began placing it on the dining table.

"Toni, did you organize all of this?" Pepper asked her with a slight gasp. She knew her friend was wary when she said she wanted to take over control of preparations, thinking Toni wanted to throw a rager and get wasted.

"I did, with the help of Clyde," she said, winking at her new assistant, before he nodded and took his leave. "I just wanted all of you here for my birthday. I know over the years we've drifted apart, because of life, school, work, family, and the different paths we are given. But each one of you mean the world to me, and there is no one else I'd rather spend my birthday with."

She sat down at the dinning table as the others followed suit, Ava on one side of her and Rhodey on the other.

"Toni," Rhodey said softly, "We love you too, you know that right?"

"Aw Honey bear," she beamed up at him, "I know how much you love me."

Happy sniffled slightly and she could see her manly bodyguard trying to pretend like her words didn't get to him.

"You would tell us if something was wrong, right?" Ava said suddenly, and Harry elbowed her. "What, we all know she's keeping something from us. How long are we going to keep pretending that everything is okay? Don't we deserve to know the truth?"

She let out a shaky breath as she looked around the room, realizing that clearly every single one of them was aware that she was hiding something from them.

"I never could fool you guys, could I?" she exhaled, and she saw her family watching her intently. "The arc reactor is in my chest to keep me alive. I was hit by my own bomb in Afghanistan, and a piece of shrapnel was embedded in my chest. There is no way to remove it without killing me in the process, and the arc reactor is the only thing that is keeping it from entering my chest."

Ava took her hand carefully, as she explained to them just why it was important she had the reactor. Even if she had before, they needed to know that it was vital to her survival.

"But the arc reactor has a palladium core," she said simply, and she could see Ava's mind begin to race as she put together pieces.

"That was why it was smoking when you took it out, wasn't it?" Rhodey said sharply, "Because palladium is toxic to humans."

"Yes," she said, as gasps filled the table. "The arc reactor, meant to keep me alive, is poisoning me slowly. Last I checked, my blood toxicity was at nearly sixty percent."

"Toni," Pepper inhaled, "Are you dying? How long do you have left to live?"

"Not long," she admitted, "This is probably my last birthday. It's why I wanted you all here. I wanted to be surrounded by those I love. By my family."

"Are there no other suitable cores?" Harry demanded, "Nothing else that can be used?"

"There is no combination of known elements," she said softly, "I had JARVIS run all the simulations. There's nothing else I can use as a substitute."

"So what, we're supposed to just let you die?" Ava's voice cracked slightly, "I can't accept that Toni. There has to be something else we can do. Anything else."

She squeezed her cousin's hand tightly, "There isn't Ava. I've accepted it already. It was why I tried to make Pepper CEO of SI. It'll at least make it easier to transition from COO to CEO after. And I want you to be the head of R&D. Your mind always was brilliant, and I know you'll be good for the company."

"I like working there because I like being with you," Ava said softly, "Because I love inventing with you Toni. Not because I want a title or recognition. How do I keep living if you're gone?"

"You have to," she swallowed, "All of you do. My death can't mean that the rest of you just fade away. You have to keep going."

"Easy to say when you're not the one losing a sibling," Rhodey said, looking broken, "Were you ever even going to tell us, Toni?"

"I didn't want to hurt you," she said, looking at their faces. "I didn't want your last memories of me to be coloured by the fact that I was dying. I didn't want to be treated any differently."

"Screw this," Harry said, standing.

"Harold!" Uncle Daniel said firmly, "Sit down."

"No," he said, "We are surrounded by some of the brightest men and women in this room, "Rhodey is in the Military and I'm a part of SHEILD. There has to be some cure, somewhere. And if you think I'm going to sit back and just let my older sister die without doing a thing to stop it, you have another thing coming. We will find something, Toni. I promise you that. You will not die if I have anything to say about it."

She didn't want to tell him it was futile. Hope gave people courage to go on, to keep living and fighting another day.

"We won't let you die," Ava nodded determinedly. "Harry, we'll look first thing in the morning, I promise. But this is Toni's birthday; we can wait for one more day."

"Okay," Harry exhaled. "But we won't give up on you, Toni. I promise."

She smiled at both of them.

"I can't do it, Toni," Pepper said shakily, "You were always meant to be CEO. Working for you and seeing you pave the way for the rest of us has been extraordinary. This is your company, your legacy. I can't take it over."

"You'll be perfect at it," she told her friend softly, "You've already taken to COO astonishingly well. It's just another step up. The Board loves you. There's no one else I can trust to keep the company safe and to honour my legacy. And you'll have Happy and Ava with you the entire time."

Happy grunted and she smiled at her friend.

"Toni," Rhodey said softly, as he looked at her, "It'll devastate my family to lose you. It'll devastate me. How am I supposed to go on without having you in my life? You've changed it in more ways than you ever could know, since that day I met you all those years ago. You're family; my sister."

"I want you to have the suit," she told him softly, "The world needs someone to protect it and keep it safe. I know the military wants it too, and well, this should keep them satisfied. There is no one else I trust but you to pilot the suit. I already wrote in an algorithm that won't let anyone else fly it but you."

"Toni," he started.

"They were always going to try and take it, one way or another," she said with a shrug, "At least I can control how they get it, and what they can do with it. Even if they let someone else like, Bohr forbid, Hammer, tamper with it, they will never be able to achieve what I've done. But I want you to be safe, when you continue to fight for us. And I know you'll make me proud when you don't it."

He pulled her into a tight hug.

"This isn't goodbye," Uncle Daniel said softly, "Toni, none of us are going to stop fighting for you. Not now, not ever. I know if Peggy were here, she'd be so proud of everything you've done so far. You've made all of us extremely proud. We love you, and this will not be how your story ends. I promise you that much."

"Thank you," she told him softly, "Thank you to all of you. For everything you've done. No matter what happens, I love all of you so much. But enough of this sappy stuff. It still is my birthday and I have a reputation to uphold of the kind of parties I throw, and this is putting a damper on it."

She heard laughter, as she gestured for them to dig in.

If this was to be her last birthday, then it was by far her favourite.