Chapter 57

Toni loved Pepper. Hell, the woman was probably one of her closest female friends. It wasn't to anyone's surprise that Toni Stark didn't have a lot of female friends growing up. Not that she had very many friends in general. But other girls always saw her as a threat, with her father's money and her brain, it was hard to win any of them over enough to truly form any sort of relationships with them.

And that had been fine with Toni. She preferred science to gossip anyways, and if all those girls were interested in was spreading rumours about her, then she wanted nothing to do with them.

Still, since hiring Pepper, Toni could absolutely say that her company had only benefitted from it. The woman took care of all the horrible business decisions that were too medial for Toni to bring herself to care about. It was why Toni had happily made her COO.

She had to admit that since becoming Iron Woman, she hadn't had as much time for her original makeshift family. How long had it been since she'd seen Pepper or Happy in a non-work-related environment?

It was why when Pepper asked her to lunch, she'd jumped at the chance to do so, happily agreeing to see Pepper. So she'd called in a reservation at Pepper's favourite restaurant, an nice Japanese restaurant on the Upper East Side, and gotten them a private booth in the back where they wouldn't be disrupted.

She'd arrived slightly later than she'd intended, and to her unsurprise, Pepper was already there. What did surprise her was that Rhodey was beside her.

"Honey Bear?" Toni asked, a bit surprised, "I thought I was just meeting Pepper for lunch?"

"I know," he told her, standing to give her a hug, "I decided to pop in and check on my favourite sister."

"Don't let Jeanette hear you say that," she warned him, "She'll murder you, and probably get away with it."

Rhodey simply shrugged, "What's she going to do about it? She's half-way across the country."

"Fair enough," she said laughing simply, as she sat down.

"I placed an order of food already," Pepper told her with a smile, "I made sure to get some of those salmon roses you love so much."

"Thanks, Pep," she said with a grin, "Now, not that I don't love the both of you, but what's really going on? You're both acting weird. And I know I haven't been around as much as I should have been lately, but that shouldn't be enough for both of you to be buttering me up this much. Is it because you're worried about me? Cause I'm doing fine. I have JARVIS back, and honestly he and Vision are getting along so much better than I could have ever anticipated. It's impressive really, watching him, and it makes me feel like such a grandmother, but I truly love seeing them together."

"I'm glad you're doing well, Toni," Pepper told her warmly, as she took her hand. "I worry about you. And I know you're a superhero and all, but I can't help but worry about the you when you put on the suit. I can't help but worry about both of you."

She gave Rhodey a look then that Toni couldn't decipher, and she glanced at both of them.

"This isn't about me is it?" Toni said, a smile forming on her face, "You didn't ask me here because you were worried about me. You wanted to tell me something."

"You were always way too smart for your own good," Rhodey sighed as he didn't even bother hiding it.

Pepper glanced at her tentatively, "I've been seeing James," she said finally. "Ever since the Mandarin Incident, I've had feelings for him, but it wasn't until a few months ago when he asked me out that we've officially been dating."

She grinned at them both, "And you Rhodey? When did you realize you had feelings for my Pepper Pot?"

"When she walked into the room and you introduced her as the woman who had pepper sprayed your men to show you a finance error," Rhodey said with a sigh, and Pepper looked at him in surprise.

"You didn't tell me about that," she said, a bit stunned.

"I wasn't planning on ever acting on it," Rhodey said with a shrug, "You were Toni's friend, and honestly, one of the only female friends I'd ever seen her make. And I wasn't going to do anything that would mess that up for her. You know what it's like, loving Toni. No matter how smart or brave she is, she'll always be that teenage girl I met all those years ago. Besides, I was never around long enough to do anything about it. The Air Force was keeping me plenty busy at the time. It was just a passing fancy, or so I thought. And then we nearly lost you."

"So why tell me now?" Toni said, "Not that I'm unhappy for you. But you kept this a secret for a few months, and apparently years that you've had feelings for each other. Why tell me now?"

"We didn't want to tell you in case it didn't work between us," Pepper admitted softly, "It was my idea. I didn't want to make you feel like you had to choose between us if something happened. And well, you and James have all this history, and I guess I was just terrified you wouldn't pick me. Forget working at the company, I don't know what I'd do without your friendship Toni."

"Never," Toni shook her head, "I'm so happy for the both of you; that you were able to find happiness in each other. But neither of you would ever lose me. You're my family, and I love both of you so much. You have no idea how truly happy I am that the two of you found each other, and I wish you both the best."

"Thanks Sweetheart," Rhodey said, giving her a warm look, before wrapping an arm around Pepper.

"I'm glad we told you," Pepper confessed, "I've missed talking to you about things like this, Toni."

"I'm always here," Toni promised them, "And I promise to do better. I know I haven't been around as much as I should have been lately, but I promise to be here in the future. I'm so happy for the both of you."

She took both their hands in hers, and they both smiled at her.

"So tell me about what's going on with you and your Captain," Pepper said, lightening the mood.

Toni laughed, and she launched into a story about how Steve had recently found out about toys in cereal and had started a collection of Avenger related toys. But secretly, she thought he just wanted to get a toy version of himself and kept getting Clint toys instead.

They stayed at lunch for a few hours, and after it, she felt surprisingly lighter. She had missed her friends, and she couldn't be happier that they were together.


Harry was in the training room when Natasha walked in. He felt his heart beat faster, and could see her freeze, unsure if she should walk out of the room or come here to do what she'd come to do: train.

He could see her make up her mind as a look of determinism slipped on her face and she headed towards him.

"Mind if I train here?" she asked him, and he simply shrugged.

"It's Toni's facility," he said simply. And he wasn't wrong. While it may be the Avengers' Compound, she owned the building. If Natasha wanted to be here, he could hardly tell her no.

"That wasn't what I meant, and you know it," she told him simply. She sighed then, "Are we ever going to talk about this, Harry? About everything? Or are we going to keep pretending that everything is fine?"

"What's there to talk about?" he asked her, staring her in the eyes, "It's not like we were ever dating. Not really. So you didn't owe me anything, Natasha. You made your choices and I made mine. There's nothing for us to discuss because we were never anything. We were never together. We were just two ships in the night who could have had a moment, but we missed it. And now we've passed each other by."

"And yet you can't bring yourself to look at me," she said, and if he didn't know her as well as he did, he wouldn't have been able to have seen the vulnerability in her eyes. "Don't lie to me, Harry. At least give me the decency of telling me the truth. You're furious. I can see it in your face every time you look at me. Are you ever going to be able to forgive me for it? For kissing Bruce?"

"You think that's what I'm mad about?" Harry asked her with an incredulous laugh. "I know all about being a SHIELD agent, Nat. I know what it entails. I'm not mad you kissed him. I'm mad about why you kissed him. You kissed him to throw him off so you'd have the upper hand and you could turn him into the Hulk. You knew he didn't want to change, and you forced him to anyways. And in doing so, he left because you took away his will and he can't bring himself to trust himself around my sister. You forcing Bruce to turn into the Hulk hurt my sister. That's why I'm mad. Because you hurt my baby sister."

He sighed then, "I don't blame you alone though, for what it's worth. Bruce shouldn't have left, and I'm just as furious with him for leaving. And no matter what Toni says, about Wanda and Pietro, I'm still furious at them as well."

"You know why I had to do it," Natasha said, staring at him levelly, "You're a SHIELD agent. You've had all the same training I had. Do what it takes to get the job done. Ultron would have crushed us if we didn't have the Hulk. I know Bruce didn't want to change, and I hate that I had to force him to. But we needed him. We didn't stand a chance without him, not really. He's one of our strongest fighters, and you know that as well as I do. I didn't do it to hurt him, or your sister, or even you. I did it because it was what needed to be done. And I'd do it again if I had to."

"I know," he said looking at her. "And I know what it means to be a SHIELD agent. But I thought you knew me better than that. I thought you understood me. Family is the most important thing to me. Ava and Toni are my highest priority. I love them more than anything, and I won't tolerate anyone hurting them. You can bet that when Bruce returns, I'll be having words with him for what he put my sister through."

"So where does this leave us?" she asked him, softly. "Will you ever forgive me then? Or have we lost our chance for good?"

"I don't know what the future holds any more than you do," he told her. "You and I are on the same team, and we work together every day to achieve the same goal. I don't hate you Natasha. But it might take a while before I can trust you fully again. As for us, I have no idea. I cared about you. And despite everything, I still do care about you. No matter how much it hurts me. Maybe one day we'll have another moment and maybe next time we won't squander that one. But for now, I think we've lost that chance."

"Friends?" she asked him, "Can we at least be that?"

He nodded softly, "I think I can do that."

She offered him a smile, "I'll leave you to it then. I probably should go anyways. I promised Laura I'd visit her and the kids, and I don't want to leave them waiting."

He nodded at her and watched her leave the room. Despite meaning every word he'd said, he couldn't help but feel slightly heartbroken as she left the room, taking his heart with her.


Peter had been with her in the lab when they'd gotten a frantic call from Ben that May had had an onset of seizures. He was in the ambulance with her at the time and had called Toni, knowing that Peter would want to know.

No matter how young Peter was, because really, he had just turned fourteen a month ago, the pair of them had wanted him to know the truth. He was a smart kid and leaving him in the dark would be worse for him than telling him the truth, where at least he was aware of what was happening.

She'd immediately called Happy, not wanting to let Peter be left alone with his own thoughts, as the three of them headed to the hospital. And the entire way, she'd wrapped an arm around him, holding him tightly as Happy navigated through the city and towards Queens.

They made it to the hospital within the hour, and she saw Ben pacing outside, as Peter immediately ran to his uncle and hugged him.

"How is she?" Peter asked immediately, "Is Aunt May okay?"

"I don't know," Ben said, sounding a bit broken himself, "She's been in there the entire time and I haven't heard anything yet. They want to give her a full examination to check on the aneurysm. The seizures have stopped; she had another one in the ambulance, so they want to do a few more tests to see what caused the sudden onset of it. But I have no idea if she's okay."

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Happy offered, "I can make a coffee run or get some sandwiches. Peter hasn't eaten anything yet."

"I'm not hungry," Peter said quickly, and Ben shook his head.

"That would be wonderful, Happy. I'm sure we could all use something to eat. I'm not sure how long we'll be here, and we could use something to sustain us."

"Thanks, Happy," Toni said to him, and he gave her a gentle smile.

"Make sure the kid is doing okay," he told her in a low voice. "I hate seeing him like this."

"I do too," Toni said softly. It broke her heart that there was nothing she'd be able to do for him. That she couldn't just make all of this better. That she couldn't make May better. Because there really was nothing they could do, not when she'd already hired the best doctors in the country to try and help May. Not when she had no medical knowledge herself. No, all she could do was be there for Peter and Ben and hope for the best.

She'd never been a religious woman, always choosing to focus on Science over Religion. But sitting here in the waiting room, she could bring herself to understand why her mother prayed often. Because really, when there was nothing she could do to make the situation better.

"Parker family?" the doctor said then, coming out of the room with a clipboard in her hand.

"How is she?" Peter asked, standing up, "Is she okay?"

The doctor glanced at Ben, before back at Peter, as if waiting for permission that it was okay to tell them what had happened when Peter was in the room. Ben gave a nod.

"I'm so sorry to tell you this, but the size of the aneurysm has grown," Doctor Rao told them, "It caused the onset of the seizures suddenly. We've done some scans and it appears as if it is cutting off more of the blood flow to her brain."

"But she was taking medication for it," Peter said suddenly, "It was supposed to make her feel better. It was supposed to make the size of it smaller!"

"We were hopeful that it would," the doctor said, "But unfortunately it doesn't seem to be the case. Open surgery still isn't a viable option, but we can begin trying for endovascular therapy. I cannot guarantee that it'll work but it might be our only option to be able to save her."

"Do whatever you need to," Ben said, closing his eyes, "Please, whatever it takes, just do it."

"It's an expensive procedure," The doctor said, "I must warn you beforehand. You should check with your insurance first to make sure if you can afford the cost. We can continue on the calcium channel blockers and increase the dosage to hope that takes better."

"The cost doesn't matter," Toni said, cutting in, "Whatever it costs, I'll take care of it."

Ben looked like he wanted to protest but she cut him off then. "No, Ben, please. I might not be able to do anything else to help in this situation, but I can do this. Please, let me take care of this. I can more than afford the treatment, and if it helps May, then I need to do this. Let me take care of this. Just focus on being there for May, okay? Consider it payment, for all those years of me getting free labour out of Peter."

"It's hardly free labour when half the time you're teaching him," Ben pointed out, "But thank you Toni. You've been so generous to us over the years, and I appreciate it. Please, if the stents will save her, then we want to go ahead with the procedure."

"Okay," the doctor nodded, "It'll take a few months, given we need to make sure she's stable for a bit longer before we go through the procedure. But we'll schedule the procedure, and if everything looks okay before then, we'll go ahead and do the procedure."

"Will she be okay?" Peter asked his uncle as the Doctor walked away to begin the paperwork.

"I don't know, Peter," Ben said softly, and she felt her heartbreak for the family.

She hoped more than anything that May would be okay.


She'd always known that when Thor and Loki came to earth, there would come a day once more where they would have to leave.

It was how it always went, what with Loki ruling Asgard while their father still slept and Thor leading the armies. It wouldn't do well to have both the members of the royal family gone for too long, lest it led to unrest and unruliness.

"I must say, Lady Stark, out of all my brother's compatriots here on Midgard, it is you I find myself missing whenever I return to Asgard," Loki said, as he kissed her hand gently. "Perhaps one of these days I'll be able to convince you to come back with me and see another world."

"One day, perhaps," she said with a smile. "But I want you to know, Loki. You are not simply just a guest here due to your brother. You are a guest here in your own right. And any time you wish to visit, you are more than welcome to. I know you have your hands full on Asgard but any time you want to take a break and come and visit, please feel free to drop by. You have a home here on Earth as well."

"You are most kind, Lady Stark," he said again, "One of these days, perhaps I'll woo you away from the Captain. You would make a wonderful Queen. You already rule this planet so brilliantly and you have a wonderful leadership quality to you."

"Stop trying to poach my girlfriend," Steve said without any heat to his voice, despite wrapping an arm around her waist. He grinned at the god anyways, and Toni knew there was no real malice in his actions.

"Treat her well, Captain," Loki nodded at her, "She is a goddess among you mortals and deserves to be treated as such."

"That she is," Steve said, looking at her gently. "She could do way better than me, but as long as she is willing to keep me around then I will gladly stay by her side."

"And if I always want you by my side?" she asked him with a grin.

He pressed a kiss to her cheek, "Then I shall remain here by your side and with you forever and always."

"The two of you are disgusting," Harry said with a shake of his head, and Ava hit him gently.

"They're adorable, shut up," Ava said, and Harry poked her.

"No I'm with Harry," Clint said, faking like he was about to vomit, "Absolutely disgusting."

"Of course they aren't," Rhodey said as Sam agreed.

"Okay, okay," Toni laughed, "We're not here to discuss my relationship with Steve. Whether you like it or not doesn't really matter to me. I'm going to keep being disgusting with him and there's nothing any of you can do about it."

"Damn straight," Steve said, and a chorus of 'language' filled the room, much to his dismay. "Let it go," he groaned. "Please, just let it go."

"Never, Babe," she said with a laugh, pressing her lips to his. "You made your bed."

"I hate all of you," Steve sighed.

"No you don't," Clint laughed, "You love us. Not as much as Toni maybe, but you love all of us."

"You Midgardians are indeed strange," Loki sighed, "But you're right. Perhaps I will find myself missing the lot of you, even if sometimes I find myself wondering why indeed I tolerate you. Midgard is as always, an interesting experience, and I do hope that I will be able to make a trip to come visit you all at some point within the next few years or so."

"Try to come by sooner rather than later, Magic boy," Clint said, giving him a nod. "Things tend to get dull when the two of are not around."

"Did you admit say you'll miss us?" Thor boomed, grinning at the man, "We shall miss you too, brother Clint."

"Yeah, yeah," Clint rolled his eyes.

"Don't be a stranger," Natasha said, hugging them both. "Try and keep in touch, okay?"

"Of course," Thor promised him, "We shall do our best to keep in contact. But for now we must go. There are several other of these infinity stones out there, and something is coming for them. We must be prepared."

"They already tried once with the Tesseract," Loki said softly, "We cannot let the rest of the stones fall into unsafe hands. We must find them all before the wrong people get them. The Tesseract is on Asgard safely, the Aether is with the Collector, and now the Mind Stone is guarded by Vision. However, there are still three stones unaccounted for that we must find. We must go and track them down. And there is no one I trust more to find them over you, Thor."

"Thank you, brother," Thor said with a nod. "I shall do my best to recover them."

"Something is out there," Toni said with a sigh. "Something has been coming for us from the moment they sent an army down to earth to get the Tesseract. And whatever it is, we need to be ready for it. Ultron wasn't the solution, but we still need to prepare. We need to face whatever it is together."

"And we will," Steve promised her. "All of us, when the time comes, will stand together, and face it head on."

"For now, we must take our leave," Thor said, and she pulled both Thor and Loki into separate hugs, as the group said their goodbyes to their friends.

"We shall see you again," Loki told the group. "Hopefully under lighter circumstances than the last few visits. But until then, take care."

She smiled at them both, as they both were beamed up via the Bifrost, and taken back to their world.