Chapter 21

Toni Stark sighed to herself, looking back and forth between Ava and Harry, who stood there facing her. Harry's arms were crossed with a determined look on his face. And while Ava herself looked rather sceptical of the conversation, stood there beside her brother.

"You're staying here," she said, as she held the torch to her helmet. "Harry, we just got you back after you were mind controlled by Loki. We have no idea what long term effects it might have had on you. You absolutely cannot just jump back into the field and hope that everything will be fine. That's not how this works"

"Toni," Harry told her softly, "I love you, Cousin, but I'm sorry. I'm going out there and I'm going to help fight whatever it is that Loki is planning on doing. I cannot sit back on the sidelines and let him hurt innocent people any longer. You of all people should understand not wanting to sit back on the sidelines when there are people in danger."

"I do," she sighed again, "That doesn't mean I like it, Harold Carter-Sousa. We just got you back. And we're so lucky that you weren't physically injured. But we don't know what it is that we're facing out there. We don't know what's going to happen when Loki opens that portal and what will be waiting for us on the other side. I can't just ask you to throw yourself into a battle where you have no idea of what to expect."

"You don't need to ask," Harry told her gently. "Besides, Fury's given orders to all available agents to assist the Avengers in any way possible. I'm an available agent. And I will be assisting."

"Son of a bitch," she swore lightly. She wondered if he'd planted the cards he'd all but thrown at Rogers and her during their last conversation.

Her helmet lit up then, coming back online, and she took a deep breath before looking up at both of them.

"I will not lose anyone else today. The both of you better be safe and sound after all of this is over," she told them. "And if I find out you needlessly put yourself in danger at any point, I will be telling Uncle Daniel on you."

"Fair enough," Ava nodded while Harry swallowed. While their mother might have a tendency to jump into danger, Uncle Daniel was more often than not, less than pleased with his family's actions.

"Fine," Harry said after a moment. "But the same applies to you. Don't go pulling any heroics that could get you killed Toni."

"I'll try," she smirked, as she grabbed the suit and let it piece itself together around her. "I'll see you on the other side, Cousins."

She met the other Avengers in Bay Six, as she nodded at the Captain. He gave her a tense smile, and she wondered if maybe they would be able to place whatever other issues they had aside for just long enough for them to bring Loki down.

"Ladies first," Rogers beckoned, and she smirked at him as she flew in front of the quinjet towards her city.

"JARVIS, place a call to the Parkers," she said to her AI.

"Calling," JARVIS said. She heard the phone ring for a few moments before Ben picked up.

"Toni?" Ben asked, sounding confused, "What happened, is everything alright?"

"I don't have much time," she told him quickly, "Something is coming for New York. Something that'll put the city in grave danger. I need you to get Peter and May to safety. Try and leave town if you can. If you cannot, stay away from windows, lock your doors, and go underground. Keep yourself safe."

"Toni-" Ben started, but she cut him off.

"I promise I'll come by and explain everything that's been happening. But there is no time now. An alien god is opening a portal, and I don't think we're going to like what's waiting for us on the other side," she told him quickly.

"Stay safe, Stark," he told her kindly. "Peter looks up to you, you know? I don't think he'd ever recover if you got hurt."

She swallowed then, unable to say anything.

"I'll let you go," Ben told her, "Good luck, Toni."

The call disconnected, just as she neared her tower. Her suit was still badly damaged, the thrusters barely keeping her up.

"Miss, I turned off the arc reactor. The device is already self-sustained," JARVIS told her.

"Thanks baby boy," she told him. While it was less than ideal that they'd stabilized the Tesseract, the last thing any of them needed was for them to supercharge it with her technology.

"Dr Selvig," she said, hovering closer to where the possessed scientist stood. "Turn the machine off."

"It's too late," the man said, looking as if he'd seen the light, "It can't stop now. He wants to show us something! A new universe."

She wanted to laugh at him but held her breath instead.

"Fine," she muttered, as she lifted her arm up and tried to fire at the device. A force field of sorts lit up around it, as her own blast rebounded and hit her.

"The barrier is pure energy. It's unbreachable. The Mark VII is not ready to be deployed," JARVIS said.

She lowered herself down to her landing pad, where a very amused Loki was standing.

It looked like she needed a distraction. One that was long enough to get her new suit ready to be deployed.

"Skip the show, J," she said as Loki smiled up at her, "We're on the clock."

Her rims lifted, beginning to remove the suit from her body as she kept eye contact with the Norse God.

She hated strangers in her personal living space. It was why it had been afforded so many protections. So that only people she knew would be able to get in.

But clearly the God had gotten around them anyways.

It looked like she had some new projects for her and Ava to work on after all of this was over.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said, sounding absolutely gleeful.

"Yeah no," she shook her head, "I've known for years that men like you think you belong on top just because of some power you think you deserve. There will be no pleading, begging, or bargaining today."

She held her voice steady, knowing she probably could be killed at any given time.

But she was a Stark.

She was made of Iron.

She would not beak.

Nor would she bend.

"Then why have you come, Lady Stark?" he asked her, looking amused as he stepped closer to her.

"I've come to threaten you," she said, holding his gaze.

He scoffed at her, "You should have left your armor on for that."

"I don't need it to put people back in their place," she shook her head, "And you've got the blue stick of destiny, so it wouldn't really help now would it? Would you like a drink?"

She moved behind the bar, pouring herself a whiskey.

"Stalling me won't change anything," he said, looking down at his scepter in amusement.

"Threatening," she corrected him with a sharp smile. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

"The Chitarui are coming, nothing will change that," Loki told her, looking less than amused as she took a sip of the whiskey gingerly. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers," she said, without looking up. Loki seemed a bit confused at that and she decided to elaborate. "It's the name we've chosen to give ourselves. A team if you will. Earth's Mightiest Heroes."

"Yes, I've met them," Loki laughed, seemingly unimpressed with her.

"I'll admit, it took us a while to get it together," she said ruefully, thinking of her own rocky start with Steve Rogers. One pleasant conversation didn't exactly make them friends. "Let's see, we have your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kinda lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins. And you, Loki. You've given us something to fight for. Something to unify us against."

She reached under the bar table, placing a pair of her colantotte bracelets on her wrist. Toni looked into Loki's blue eyes as he moved closer to her.

"That was the plan," he told he said, as if he knew something she didn't know.

"Not a great plan," she shot back at him. "They'll come for you, regardless of what happens here. And they will get their revenge. Mark my word, Loki."

"I have an army," he said, "And you have, what again?"

"We have a Hulk," she said, hoping Bruce would get it together in time.

"I thought he'd wandered off," Loki rolled his eyes.

"You're missing the point, Prancer," she told him. "There is no throne. I don't know about how they do things on Asgard but if you think you're going to try and unify all of Earth to fall under your rule, you're delusional. Dynasties and Empires have been trying for centuries. There will always be those who oppose you. There will be no version of this where you come out on top. And maybe we won't be able to stop you. Maybe we will fail. But you can bet your sweet ass that if we can't protect Earth, we sure as hell will avenge it."

She held a bated breath as Loki came closer til she could feel his breath on her skin. He lifted the scepter.

"How will your friends have time for me, when you're so busy fighting you, sweet Stark," he asked her softly. "We could have been great allies in another life. But for now, I'll settle for having you bow down to me."

He lifted his scepter and touched it against her reactor.

She waited for the control to take over, but nothing came. She looked up at the man and smirked as he looked confused before trying again.

"I told you," she smirked back at him, "I bow down to no man."

"This should work," he said, growing angry.

"Performance issues?" she asked in mock sympathy. "It wouldn't be the first time that's happened to a man in my presence."

He lifted her by the throat in anger and flung her to the ground. She winced slightly, still fielding her earlier bruises, as she tried to sit up.

"JARVIS?" she asked her bot softly, "Any time now would be great."

The God stalked over to where she was as she tried to scramble to stand back up, but the man lifted her through the air once more.

"You will all fall before me," he told her, face close to hers.

"Deploy!" she cried out, as Loki threw her backwards with full force.

She'd fallen freely before. The first time she flew with the suit and run into the icing issue. But she'd had the suit with her, and it had come back online just in time to be able to save her.

When she was younger, she'd always wondered what it would be like, to fall from a great height with nothing there to catch her. No parachute, no suit, nothing.

She supposed it felt like this.

She held her arms out, as she heard the familiar sound of the red pod coming to her, trying to get a lock on her bracelets just in time.

The suit flitted around her and she let out a sigh of relief.

"JARVIS make a note for the next Mark suit to be able to come to me without a honing device," she said, knowing she was lucky she got the bracelets on without Loki noticing her.

"Noted, Miss," JARVIS said, as she flew back up just before hitting the ground.

She flew back up to where Loki was standing in her tower.

"And there's one other person you pissed off," she spoke, anger colouring her voice. "His name was Phil."

Loki raised the scepter, trying to strike at her, but she was faster, raising her hand to fire at the man. He flew backwards, landing on his ass, and she smiled in satisfaction.

She heard the Tesseract device power up then, as a blue light shot up towards the sky, tearing a rip into it. A black portal opened, as she saw hordes of aliens coming through it.

"Right," she said, mask scanning the portal. "Army."

She flew upwards almost instinctively, trying to shoot down as many of the incoming aliens as she could. But the speed of which they were coming in was far greater than the speed she was able to take them out.

She deployed missiles from her suit, taking out a batch of them, but it didn't stop the ones that slipped past her and down towards her city.

The Chitauri rained down on New York, and she could hear the screams below as the destruction began.

"Stark, we're on your three, heading north east," Romanoff said through his comm and she nearly laughed.

How long did it take them to get to the island? She'd nearly died twice already.

"What, did you stop for drive-thru?" she asked, slightly out of breath. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay em out for you."

She swung around her tower, looking unamused as the letters began falling off it. It had been hard enough to get them up there and now a bunch of super-powered gods were knocking them down like legos.

She flew next to a building, ducking at the last moment as a Chitauri soldier crashed to the ground. She saw the quinjet ahead of her, as Romanoff brought the machine guns down from the ship and began firing, taking the ones who had been tailing her out.

"Miss, we have more incoming," JARVIS said.

"Well let's keep them occupied then," she said, as she flew back up towards the portal.

She saw the quinjet come crashing down below, but she knew Clint was a good flier, and she trusted him to land the ship safely. Well, as safely as possible.

She watched in horror as the portal expanded, sending though massive ships that looked like mechanical sea monsters. It deployed more soldiers from it with every passing second and she groaned to herself.

Well, that was just great.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Roger's voice came over her headset.

"I'm seeing, still working on believing," she said, flying parallel to the Leviathan flying through New York her. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Rogers said in confusion.

"Just keep me posted," she instructed him. She refused to believe he'd fail to show up now. "JARVIS, find me a soft spot."

There were civilians below her, being blown up, attacked, and killed.

She felt anger flow through her then. Anger at Loki, at SHIELD for letting it get this far. At herself. If she'd stopped Selvig from opening the portal, then none of this would have happened.

She just prayed that Peter and the Parkers would be safe.

She flew by the Leviathan, wanting it to focus on her.

"Well we got its attention," she said, wondering how much of a good thing that really was. "What the hell was my step two."

"What's the story upstairs?" Rogers' voice came over the comms, as he talked to whom she assumed to be Thor.

"The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor said, sounding displeased.

"Thor's right," she said, remembering her own experiences with the cube. "We gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Romanoff asked.

"As a team," Rogers said, sounding confident in their ability to work together.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor told them all.

"Get in line," Clint scoffed at the man.

"Save it," Rogers cut them both off, "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us."

"So, this all seems horrible," a familiar voice called out, and she smiled internally.

"I've seen worse," Romanoff said simply.

"Sorry," Banner said, a bit sheepishly.

"No, we could use a little worse," Romanoff said over the comms, and the super spy was right.

"Stark, we got him," Rogers told her, and she cheered.

"Banner?" she asked, confirming with him that she wasn't just delusional.

"Just like you said," Rogers confirmed.

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you," she said, as she flew the Leviathan towards them.

"I don't see how that's a party," Romanoff said wearily.

"Clearly you've never been to a Stark Party before," Clint smirked.

"Ah Clyde you know me so well," she grinned.

She watched from above as Bruce moved towards the beast approaching.

"Dr Banner," Rogers said, "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain," Bruce said with a pause. "I'm always angry."

She cheered, as she saw Bruce shift into the Hulk then, punching the nose of the beast in front of him. He slid backwards, as the Leviathan lifted through the air.

"Hold on," she said, as she raised an arm and fired a rocket towards the soft spot she'd found earlier, blowing it to shreds.

She hovered in the air, as the Avengers stood around her in a circle, ready to attack, and she thought in that moment, that they'd come together as the team that Phil had always wanted them to be.

She felt a pang in her chest at his loss, and she vowed to make sure he'd be avenged.

She looked up in horror when JARVIS warned her as more of the Chitauri fleet rained down on them.

"Guys," Romanoff said, sounding worried.

"Call it, Cap," she said, looking to the man.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash," he told the two of them and she nodded.

Clint turned to her, giving her a grin, "Wanna give me a lift?" he asked her, and she winked at him.

"Better clench up, Legolas," she said, and he laughed. She held onto his quiver and flew them straight upwards.

"Thor," Captain's voice came over the comms, "You've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up."

She placed Clint on the roof.

"Are you good, Brenton?" she asked him gently. "Harry is still a bit shaken up, even if he pretends to be fine."

"Now's hardly the best time, Stark," Clint said, clenching his jaw.

"Good a time as any," she said with a shrug. "We don't know what's going to happen today. I'm not going to miss any more chances to make sure the people I care about are okay."

"I'm fine, Stark," he rolled his eyes. "I'm going to put an arrow in Loki. But I'm fine."

"And Hulk," Roger's voice finished their instructions. "Smash."

She looked down as Hulk leapt through the air, breaking the soldiers below, and she grinned.

Looked like the Hulk had learned to strut.

"You can talk to me," she told Clint softly, "Whenever you want."

He nodded at her in acknowledgement, and she flew back towards the city, trying to wrangle in any of the aliens who tried to breach their parameter.

Lightning clouds swirled above them, and she could see Thor drawing it in as a source and channeling it towards the portal. She could see another Leviathan light up and fall backwards into the portal and she cheered.

"Way to go, Point Break," she said with a grin.

"And you, Lady Stark," he said, noting that she flayed a solider.

"Stark, got a lot of strays sniffing your tail," Barton told her, "And while I don't blame them, do us a favour and get rid of them."

"Barton you flatter me," she preened, "Just try and keep them off the streets."

"Well, they can't bank worth a damn. Find a tight corner," he told her.

"I will roger that," she said, as she turned tightly around the corner, coming up on where Hawkeye was. He drew back and shot exploding arrows at them and she grinned. Maybe arrows weren't as medieval as she'd thought.

Tight corners, huh?

Well, that was something she knew all too well about with this city.

It was how she'd taken out half the Hammer drones after all.

She rounded through the tunnels of the city, flying through parking garages, and just below bridges, before she looked back behind her. None left.

"Nice call," she told him, "What else you got?"

"Well, Thor's taking on a squadron down on 6th," Barton told her.

"And he didn't invite me?" she pouted.

She could see Hulk tackling another Leviathan, and she grinned. Looked like the man was having some fun.

"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," Romanoff said over the comms to Rogers.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," Rogers said, referring to her and Thor.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns," Romanoff said.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride," Rogers told her.

"I got a ride. I could use a lift though," she said, and JARVIS showed her a clip of Captain vaulting her into the sky with his shield.

"She's going to need back up," Toni told JARVIS, changing plans.

She flew behind them, taking out another chariot that was trying to take her own. She flew downwards to where Captain was taking on a dozen soldiers by himself and blew up one who nearly blindsided him. She landed beside him, and shot his shield, as the Captain used it to reflect the blast and take down the Chitauri around him.

She looked around, and he gave her a nod to show he could handle the rest, so she flew back upwards.

The national guard seemed to have chosen that moment to make an appearance, and she was relieved to have some assistance.

"Harry, where are you?" she asked, needing to know that her cousin was okay.

"Helping with ground evacuation," he told her, "These soldiers pack a mean punch."

"Are you hurt?" she asked him, needing to know that he hadn't been insured while fighting with them.

"I'm fine, Toni," he said, and she could practically hear the roll in his eyes. "The guns you gave me before all of this are really helping though. I've never seen anything pack as much of a punch as these."

"Stark Technology is the best," she told him. And while she stood by her refusal to make weapons, that didn't mean she couldn't make sure her cousin was armed with tech to fight against aliens.

"Captain," Harry said, and she wondered if Captain America and Harry Carter-Sousa were going to fight some aliens together.

"Mr Carter-Sousa," Rogers said, "Let's get these civilians out."

"Roger that," Harry responded.

God help the Chitauri.

"Hulk took down Loki," Romanoff said, "He's smashing him against your floor Stark."

"Big man's learned to strut," Toni said appreciatively.

"I got eyes on Dr Selvig," Romanoff said. "I think the compulsions broken."

"Get him to shut it down," Rogers instructed. "By any means necessary."

"He says there's a safe guard," Romanoff said, "I'm going to try and shut it down."

"JARVIS," she asked, looking down at the Leviathan headed her way. She knew she couldn't cut into it, not with the power her suit had. But she had another idea. "You ever heard the tale of Jonah?"

"I wouldn't consider him a role model," JARVIS sounded alarmed.

She flew straight at the beast, as it devoured her whole. Her thrusters lit up, as she flew through him, lighting him up from the inside.

She crashed to the ground, as the beast fell, and she nearly laughed. She couldn't believe that worked. Her suit began to flicker and she knew it had taken a lot of damage.

She looked up, groaning slightly as she knew the ships would not stop. More and more soldiers were piling out of the portal by the minute. They needed to get it closed.

"Stark, you hear me?" Fury's voice came over her comms. "We have a missile headed straight for the city."

She took in a quick breath, "How long?" She tried to stand up, as a solider attacked her.

"Three minutes, at best. Stay low and wipe out the missile."

She flew quickly, "Jarvis, put everything we got into the thrusters!"

"I just did," JARVIS told her, and she flew upwards.

"I can close it," Romanoff's voice came over her headset. "Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!" Rogers demanded, sounding slightly in pain.

"No, wait!" she said quickly.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Rogers sounded incredulous at her.

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it," she told them. There was no way she could stop it from detonating. And there was no where she could put it without it damaging where it landed. But she could stop it from destroying her home town.

Her mother's home town.

She caught up to the missile, grabbing it, as she pushed it upwards. She winced as she pushed her full weight into it.

Perhaps her family wasn't entirely wrong when they told her she needed training without the suit as well.

"Stark," Roger's voice came over her comm again. "Toni. You know that's a one-way trip?"

She swallowed, unable to respond.

"Save the rest for return, J," she told her AI instead.

"Shall I call Mr Rhodes?" JARVIS asked her and she let out a shaky sigh.

"You might as well," she said, trying to keep her voice level.

The phone kept ringing, and for once in her life, she knew Rhodey wasn't going to pick up her call.

"You have reached Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes," her brother's voice came on the answering machine, "Please leave your name and number and I'll try and call you back as soon as possible."

"Rhodey it's me," she said, keeping her voice steady as the recording started. "I just wanted to let you know that I love you. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me. You were my first friend, the first person outside my family to care for me, and you mean everything to me. I know you wanted me to stop doing stupid things, and I want you to know that I'm sorry. There was no other choice. There was no more time. Tell Pepper and Happy that I love them. Tell Peter to keep on conducting science experiments even though I'm gone. Tell the Carter-Sousas that they mean the world to me. Tell Jeanette I'm sorry I haven't sent her any chocolate recently and your mother that she makes the best apple pie I've ever had. I love you so much, and if there is anything out there for us after life, I hope I get to see you again."

The call ended, and she knew she had tears streaming down her face.

But now wasn't the time for such emotions.

She could not break or bend.

She was Iron Woman.

And she had a city to save.

The portal neared, and she threw the missile into it with everything she had. Space surrounded her, and perhaps in another life she would have admired all the stars sparkling around her, shining brightly. But today was not that day.

Her suit began to give out, as the systems powered down, oxygen getting cut off, and she fell backwards as she watched the missile fly towards the mothership of the Chitauri army, hitting the main ship and exploding.

She fell backwards for the second time that day, free falling down.

Except this time there was nothing that would catch her.

This time she was on her own.

Her eyes closed as she lost oxygen, and she thought to herself, at least if she died today, she would have saved everyone she loved.

The darkness surrounded her as a smile filled her face.

At least if she died today, it would have been as a hero.

Except.

She didn't die.

Because the next thing she knew, the Hulk was screaming in her face.

She could see Captain Rogers looking at her, visibly relieved.

"What the hell? What just happened?" she groaned, "Please tell me somebody kissed me?"

She looked over at Thor and winked and the Norse God gave her a wide grin.

"We won," Rogers told her, looking stressed still.

"Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys." She said, as Clint helped her sit up. "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what that is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor said softly, looking up. Because there was still one more person to deal with.

She sighed, knowing he was right. Rogers gave her a hand and she accepted it with a smile as he pulled her gently to her feet.

"That was a brave thing you did," he told her softly, as the two of them walked behind the rest of the group back to her tower.

"I guess I'm able to fall down on the wire for everyone else sometimes," she told him without malice in her voice.

"I was wrong," he told her gently. "I'm sorry. I know the two of us didn't exactly get off to the best start, but I was wrong about what I said about you, and I know that know."

"Perhaps if we'd met under less stressful circumstances it would have been different," she said lightly. After all, it was hardly the first time she'd been judged by someone she didn't know.

"If it isn't asking too much, I would like to re-introduce myself to you," he said, facing her. "Properly. Without the duress of the end of the world on our door. Hi, I'm Steve Rogers, Soldier, Man out of Time, and just a boy from Brooklyn."

"Hi," she greeted him, taking his hand to shake in her own. "Toni Stark. Genius, Philanthropist, and just a girl trying to deal with the cards she's been dealt."

"Nice to meet you," he told her, as Clint hollered back at them.

"If the two of you could stop flirting for just a second, we still have a God to deal with," he screamed, and she flipped him off.

Rogers blushed slightly and she simply laughed it off. "Don't pay any attention to Barton, Captain. He's just jealous his attempts at flirting with me to spy on me for SHIELD didn't go his way."

"SHIELD did what?" he spluttered as they entered her damaged, newly built building.

"Guess there's a lot of things we need to bring you up to speed on, huh Pretty Boy?" she asked, as they piled into the elevator. "JARVIS, to the penthouse pleases, Baby Boy."

"Right away, Miss," he told her, and Steve looked up surprised.

"You have a man controlling your elevator?" he asked, looking around a bit amazed.

She laughed lightly, "He's an AI," she said, looking at the confused look on Steve's face. "Artificial Intelligence. He's not a human, not in the same way as you and I. I coded him a few years back. And he controls a lot more than my elevator. He helps manage everything in my life."

"He's a robot?" he asked, looking up in awe.

"It's a bit more complex than that," she smiled, "He's a learning AI. It means that he makes decisions himself. I gave him the code to make his own choices, just as you and I make any choices."

"Is this a common thing for the future?" Steve asked, a bit amazed, as the doors opened to her penthouse.

"No," Harry's voice called out from her living area, "Our Toni is just a genius like that."

"Harry," she breathed, as she moved forward to hug him. She pulled away, assessing him carefully, trying to make sure that he hadn't been injured in any way.

"I'm fine, Tonia," he told her gently, "But you won't be. Dad's been calling me nonstop since you nuked the portal. You're going to have a lot of explaining to do."

She groaned slightly, knowing she was going to have quite a bit of unhappy family to deal with.

"I'll call him," she said with a sigh, "After we deal with him."

She gestured over to Thor's brother laying on the ground, looking pained, where Hulk had left him smashed. He was surrounded by SHIELD agents, but it didn't stop her from raising her armoured hands for protection.

"JARVIS, in the meantime, send a quick note to the family and let them know I'm safe. Check in with the Parkers too, make sure they're okay," she said carefully,

The Avengers moved towards the man, holding their respective weapons up, and she saw as Loki blinked at them, groaning.

"If it's all the same to you. I'll have that drink," Loki said, blinking back up at them with bright green eyes.

Hulk snorted at him in anger, and Loki flinched away. She watched as Thor slapped a pair of handcuffs on him, ready to drag him back into SHIELD's custody.

"Wait!" she said, grabbing Thor's hands. The Asgardian Prince looked at her in confusion. "Look at his eyes."

"Please tell me you aren't admiring the colour of his eyes," Natasha said, rolling her eyes at the CEO.

"They're green," she said, ignoring the spy. "Earlier, when I spoke to him in the tower, they were blue. Bright blue."

"You mean," Harry said sharply.

"Like yours and Clint's were when you were under his compulsion," Toni said, gesturing to the pair of them.

"You think he was controlled?" Thor demanded, as he turned to her.

"Please," Clint snorted, "No one made Loki do anything."

"Brother?" Thor asked, looking back at him, "Is it true? Were your actions not your own?"

Loki didn't say anything, simply looking down.

"Why did you not say anything, Loki?" Thor moved closer to the man.

"Would you have believed me?" Loki asked with a shallow laugh, "You were always so quick to believe the worst of me."

"That's not true," Thor argued.

"Isn't it?" Loki asked him with a frown.

"We still have no proof of this," Natasha pointed out.

"JARVIS, do we have footage of my encounter with Loki earlier?" she asked, "One we can specifically make out the colour of his eyes?"

"Hold on," Clint protested, "He's a shape shifter. He could have just changed them to fool you."

"We scanned yours and Harry's brain earlier, so we can scan his brain for similar activity," she reminded him. "Clint, I'm not saying we should excuse his actions. New York has suffered badly because of it. Phil died because of him. But just as your actions under the compulsion were not your own, if there was a chance that Loki was not acting under his own accords, don't we owe it to him to try and find out?"

She looked over at Harry, "Make sure SHIELD scans his brain when you take him back. Even if he is to face Asgardian justice, he deserves to have a fair trial."

"You would do all this for me, Midgardian?" Loki turned to face her, masking his emotions, and she felt a small wave of sympathy towards him. "Why?"

"I know what it's like to be judged for actions that were not entirely my own," she said with a simple shrug. "I just want to make sure you get a fair trial. If you did the things you did out of your own free will, then I want you punished for it. But if not, then you deserve the chance to explain your side of the story."

Rogers was looking at her carefully, as if he was analyzing her words, but she refused to put any weight into it.

"Got it," Harry said, as the SHIELD agents began to lead him away.

"So, shawarma?" she asked, turning to the group.


It was indeed several hours later before she got her shawarma. Later, after Loki had been taken into custody and his brain activity monitored. After the clean-up of the city had begun and no one was left in immediate danger in the aftermath of the attack.

She'd walked into the store and paid them the full amount to repair their store, if not more, only asking that they got some food.

The owners had been a little dazed, but when they saw the wad of cash, they quickly nodded and began to cook for them.

She was exhausted, and she knew the rest of the team was just as drained as she was, and she was sure she was going to fall asleep at any given moment.

Clint had his head on Natasha's shoulder, slowly dazing off, while Natasha picked apart her plate carefully. Bruce looked like his head was going to fall down onto his plate, while Ava kept poking him carefully any time he got too close to falling. Harry kept stabbing the same fry in the sauce, like he was lost in thought, and Steve, poor Steve, looking like he just wanted to go back out there and keep helping, even though he was dead on his feet.

She was about to place a fry in her mouth when she heard a familiar whirring of thrusters outside, and she quickly leapt to her feet. She saw the team's attention snap around her, all of them grabbing their weapons in case of another attack, but she didn't stop to tell them off. Instead, she watched as her Rhodey Bear moved towards the shawarma joint.

"Antonia Stark," his voice boomed through the mask, "What the hell were you thinking? Out of all the ridiculous, hairbrained schemes you've ever had, and trust me, you have had a lot, this has got to be your stupidest idea ever."

Steve stepped forward, raising his shield slightly like he was worried for her safety, but she ignored him. She watched Rhodey take the suit off carefully, before moving closer to her.

She threw her arms around his neck and Rhodey held her tightly, as if he was worried she would disappear.

"I was so worried," he said softly. "When I heard your voicemail, I was already flying to New York but I was hours away. And then I saw the report the you took the missile into the portal. They didn't know if you were alive, Toni. And I missed your call. If you were dead and I didn't get to talk to you before it happened. If you had called me before you died and I didn't pick up, I don't think I ever could have forgiven myself. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay," she told him gently, "I don't think I could have talked to you before doing it. I think I would have broken if I had to say goodbye to you. It was easier to leave a message."

"Easier for who?" he asked her carefully. "It would never be easy to lose you, Toni. I thought you knew that by now."

"Is everything okay here?" Rogers asked, as he carefully came up to them. He was looking at Rhodey suspiciously, and she nearly laughed. As if her Sugar Plum could ever hurt her willingly.

"Everything is fine," she said, pulling away from Rhodey, as she wiped a tear she didn't even know she'd shed. "This, Captain Rogers, is my best friend and brother, Honey Bear."

Rhodey rolled his eyes at her, as Steve looked a bit unsure at his name.

"Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes," Rhodey said, and she pouted at him. "Pilot of the War Machine armour, and the reason this girl is still alive."

"Mean," she said, glaring at him slightly.

"Accurate," Ava piped in and Tony gave her a disapproving look.

"I'm taking away your lab time," she said, and Ava rolled her eyes.

"I'd like to see you try, Stark," Ava said, and Toni laughed.

"I also would like to inform you that my mother wants to have a word with you," Rhodey said, looking at her seriously, as Toni paled. "She is less than pleased with your actions."

"I saved the world!" Toni threw her arms up in the air, "Why does everyone keep wanting to yell at me for it."

"Because you nearly died," Harry told her calmly, "And no one would be okay with losing you. Not after we went through your Palladium scare a few months ago."

She winced, rubbing her chest slightly.

"Well it's good to meet you, Lieutenant Colonel," Steve said, shaking Rhodey's hand firmly. "Would you like to join us for some shawarma?"

Rhodey nodded, sitting down with them at the table.

"I would like that quite a bit," he said, sitting down at the table they were at earlier, next to her.