Chapter 7 – I'm In

A/n: I was so worried about posting the last chapter because I wasn't sure if you guys would like what I had done with Toni. Seeing as y'all liked her I added a bonus Phil/Toni phone call in this chapter. You're welcome!

SPECIAL DEDICATION: LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books and XxxBellaBellaxxX, you two are the primary reason I'm updating so fast. Love to you both :)

LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books: I was so relieved when I saw that you had reviewed. Yay, so glad you're loving my fem!Tony and thank god I met your expectations of the chapter.

Booklover2526: I'm trying to stick to the movie as much as possible but I've added a bonus Toni scene in this chapter so I hope you like it. Tony has always been my favourite Avenger so I'm adding as much in this story as possible.

FudoTwin17: I'm glad :) Here's the update and yes parts of it were a little sad but that's the nature of the movie and conversation which would occur from it. Hopefully this one is more cheerful.

XxxBellaBellaxxX: I was waiting anxiously for a review from you and I'm so glad it came :) I'm glad you liked Piper and I couldn't resist the Toni/Phil interactions

whitetigerwolf: I'm being pretty fast with updates on this story so here you go :)

The scene changed to show a plane flying over the ocean. "We're about 40 minutes out from home base, sir," the pilot relayed as he and his co-pilot adjusted some switches on the dash.

Coulson then removed the headphones he had been wearing and made his way over to where Steve was sitting examining a computer screen.

"Now we get to see how much of a fan Phil became when he was talking about you," Toni laughed, "sometimes I think his interest in you was at an insane level but he's Phil so… it almost seemed in character for him."

"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Steve queried.

"I didn't make the best first impression on you I guess if you were reading from those files," Bruce said quietly. He knew that many people saw his actions whilst in Hulk mode back then as repugnant as he still did but it wasn't who he was most of the time and the only person who had seen that at first sight had been Toni and he still didn't understand how.

"A lot of people were," Coulson confirmed, "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way did it," Steve muttered darkly.

"Not so much," Coulson agreed.

"Not at all more like," Bruce said darkly.

"It was a good theory though," Toni said, "gamma radiation might have unlocked several of the components of the original formula. Although I doubt it would have replicated it precisely."

"You could figure out how to recreate it; couldn't you," Steve cut in quietly.

"Maybe," Toni said hesitantly, "I've never tried and I tend to think it's best if something of that value and power never exists again. There are too many opportunities for sabotage and theft which would result in a culture of people gaining super powers with no regards to whether they will use them for good. You should know that more than anyone."

"When he's not that thing, though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking," Coulson continued.

"I'm going to take that one as a compliment I think," Bruce said knowing he wasn't likely to get many of them throughout the movie. Other than the ones about his intelligence from Toni.

Steve gave Coulson a confused look as he didn't get the reference causing Coulson to quickly explain, "He's like a really smart person."

Steve seemed to accept this and took one last look at the screen before it turned off and Coulson got an expression on his face similar to a fan at the concert of their favourite pop star.

"Phil's going into fan boy mode," Toni laughed.

"I gotta say, it's an honour to meet you, officially," Phil said nervously as Steve gave him a smile, "I've sort of met you," Phil continued, "I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."

"Bit awkward," Natasha said wincing, "hope someone saved him."

"I mean, I was present when you were unconscious from the ice," Phil attempted to recover as Steve stood up and made his way to the front of the plane, "you know, it's really just a huge honour to have you on board this…"

"I hope I'm the man for the job," Steve replied.

"Oh you are, absolutely," Phil said glad he'd regained control of the situation. Just then his pocket blared as his phone rang saving him from any further embarrassment. He took one look at the caller ID which read 'Stark,' before sighing and answering, "You are not supposed to have this phone number."

"You hacked into a private phone network just so you could call Coulson!" Clint said shocked and a little impressed. Phone numbers of SHIELD operatives were kept completely secret and had to be memorised as any written record of them had to be burnt within a day of its creation according to company policy.

"It didn't take much to extrapolate the data from the phone call he made to me through JARVIS earlier in the day and get the phone number. Took me about a minute," Toni said with a shrug. It was clear that she didn't think it was a very big deal.

Steve now looked infinitely more interested on who was on the other end of the phone. The scene changed to show Toni standing in the same room in Stark Industries where Coulson had left her with her comm unit back on her ear and screens with data on the future Avengers surrounding her. "You know me," she quipped, "I've never been one for following rules. Now I want some more info."

"Never been one for following rules is a bit of an understatement Annie," Natasha said good naturedly.

"I would follow them if they made any sense to me and made things more convenient," Toni said with a shrug, "most of them don't so I don't follow them. I'll follow orders that make sense but only if I respect the person who is giving them."

This made Steve feel slightly honoured for in battle she had accepted his leadership and followed his orders which means that even if he didn't have her full trust he at least had her respect.

"I gave you all the relevant…" Coulson began before Toni swiftly interrupted; "now you and I both know Phil that isn't strictly true. Now I am not asking you to reveal anything that would cost you your job. I just want to know more about what we're facing. I've read up about this team that Fury is attempting to assemble and may I say I reckon it's going to take something big for this team to gel at all. There are far too many loose cannons."

"You suspected it wouldn't end well," Natasha said incredulously.

"I suspected a major event would be needed to resolve any conflicts within the group, I didn't know what it would be. I certainly didn't predict the events on the helicarrier although they were always a possibility which you knew," Toni resolved quickly and effectively.

"Anyway," Toni said getting back on track, "I just want to know if you have any idea of what the motivations of this Loki guy are."

"What?" Phil asked bewildered.

"Nobody wakes up one morning and decides, 'hey, today I want to take over another world,' he has to have some sort of reason," Toni explained exasperatedly.

"We don't know much about him but from what we do know he doesn't seem to get along with his brother so familial dispute," Coulson said not knowing he was hitting the nail on the head.

"People have tried taking over the world for less, I can work with that," Toni said after considering it for a moment.

"Lady Stark, you are the only one who thought to ask. You are wise for your kind," Thor said which was in his own way a compliment.

"Thank you," Toni said recognising the remark as what it truly was.

"Is that all?" Phil sighed.

"No, despite the fact that Piper will probably kill me for saying this, I'm in! You know how to contact me," Toni said as she removed a small silver device from the table nearest her and inspected it, "I'll see you when I get to your base. Send all Intel to the e-mail address you have for me and JARVIS will redirect it to the suit."

"Thank you! We appreciate your help," Phil said before hanging up on her and turning to face the co-pilot, "please radio Director Fury and tell him that Recruit 5 is a go."

"Yes, sir," the co-pilot said as he reached for his radio.

"So were you interested or very interested in the side of that conversation you could hear Steve," Clint inquired.

"Very," Steve admitted, "I didn't know who he was talking to of course but I knew it was probably someone else for the project who wasn't in my files."

"Sorry," Coulson said turning back to Steve, "anyway we made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."

"More like he stood over the shoulder of the people making it and told them what they should be doing," Clint laughed.

"The uniform?" Steve said clearly slightly baffled by the sudden return to the former conversation topic, "Aren't the stars and stripes a little… old-fashioned?"

"With everything that's happening and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned," Coulson explained.

"I suppose he was right," Toni admitted. Steve knew that was probably the highest amount of praise he had got from Toni and was probably going to remain that way for quite some time.

A/n: This was more of a filler chapter as the events of this chapter minus the phone call are actually part of the same scene in the movie as the Toni scene which was better as a standalone. There's a little more to it as well but I felt that was better tagged on to the beginning of the next chapter instead.