Chapter 24 – Afghanistan
A/n: Here we go! The start of the Iron Man movie and I hope it lives up to your expectations. And I made Toni bisexual as a way to make scenes work without too much alteration. No regrets :)
XxxBellaBellaxxX: I'm glad you liked those scenes. And Fury will be kept out of the loop until the three hand in their resignations and yes he will take it out on Toni because he really doesn't like her under most circumstances.
paisley15: Outright laughing at your review right now… oh god! I couldn't resist giving Tasha her position back :) And I'm glad you liked the MOMENTS. AVPSY is amazing and made me cry and laugh within the same minute as usual and Darren and Evanna were simply incredible. The format basically just means some of them have scripts and you get someone reading the more complex stage directions that they didn't have time to set up.
Booklover2526: Yeah, that's why I included it to kind of make the pacing a little better. It will be revealed if they have left yet very soon.
ReadPaxJoy: Yes! It actually came across as cute /lol/ De nada :) I love all of my readers so replying isn't a chore at all :D
Guest: I think Toni does ship Clintasha and yes one of the sequels will be Bruce/Toni with Clintasha and Jane/Thor. In the parallel sequel Natasha is going to firmly tell Toni that she has no real feelings for Clint as that is going to be a source of conflict for her.
Dragones: Yeah I love the movie too so I couldn't resist the reference. Plus I'm from Scotland so :)
LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books: Whatcha crossing your fingers for? And yes Toni is going to freak out whilst watching the movie as she realistically should. It's a very personal time in her life that's going to be shown to everyone. I love him too :)
whitetigerwolf: As I said in the summary there is no watching of The Incredible Hulk in this story. It may be in a later one but the reasoning behind its absence will be speculated accurately on by Toni much later on in this story.
Harm Marie: I'm glad
youwannabekate: I couldn't resist the name change what can I say? :) SHIELD doesn't need common sense. Okay, maybe they do but we want rid of them anyway. You didn't offend me at all if I wasn't writing in the early hours of the morning I would definitely use that technique and I have in the past.
katie: I'm glad you think so :)
Clint and Toni emerged from the elevator in the midst of a heated discussion about what could be done to improve the archery range. As Toni had never used a bow and arrow before she had just gone for the first things that had come to mind but Clint had many suggestions and Toni knew she had the skills to implement them.
"And so I was thinking," Clint said oblivious to the stares the pair was getting from the rest of the team, "that you could probably set up a holographic simulation which I could activate which would be based on our real battles and seeing as it's possible to interact with the holograms here it would be an effective training system."
"And not only would it be an amazing test facility but I could use it for training and so could everyone else. Isolating weak points that you have in battles when you're not in any real danger is the best way to improve on them. Plus I can develop a system that cuts you out of the simulation if you take a death blow or something that would put you out of action in real life," Toni said excited by the possibilities, "it will work for team training sessions as well."
"No more having to borrow the training deck on the helicarrier," Clint said with a smile.
"Definitely not," Toni spat out, "that thing is nowhere close to the original design that was on my plans but SHIELD engineers will forever think they know best. I'll be quite happy if I never have to go back to that thing."
Steve cleared his throat loudly and the two suddenly remembered that the other Avengers had called them up to the lounge room for a reason and they were kind of delaying their progress. Both quickly apologised (even if Toni didn't really mind being delayed in getting to movies about her if there were any) and took their seats on the couch next to Natasha.
"Okay, JARVIS, let's see what our 'friend,' Amora has in store for us now," Bruce said inadvertently echoing some of Toni's sarcastic statements from earlier.
"Activating Digital Versatile Disk footage," JARVIS informed the group.
On the screen an image of a desert formed which while not barren was pretty close. In the background mountain after mountain rose up forming a scenic backdrop for the military Humvees that were approaching.
"Oh god," Toni muttered, "this is my life guys. And please just remember that I've changed a lot since the beginning of these events because this is going to be bad enough without you throwing hate at the me of today."
"I don't care how you were back then. I've told you, if you can look past the things I've done there is no way I'll not be able to look past anything you did years ago," Bruce reminded her as she got similar statements from the others. Still, they hadn't seen it yet.
Suddenly over the whistling sound of the wind a stereo began blasting out AC/DC's Back In Black.
"We're never going to be rid of AC/DC with Annie in these movies," Natasha laughed, "if she hadn't already told us this movie was about her life I would know purely from the soundtrack."
"That's because none of you are cool enough to listen to classic rock," Toni retorted.
Words were displayed on the bottom of the screen proclaiming this scene to be taking place in 'Kunar Province, Afghanistan.'
"So we're finally going to find out what actually happened when you were there," Clint said, "you kept mentioning it throughout the last film."
"Yeah," Toni said simply and Clint noticed that she was quite tense and probably had been since it had been revealed that this movie would be about her. He knew from her previous statement that she wasn't proud of some of her actions back then but what was making her so tense? He had a feeling that this was going to be difficult to watch.
The Humvees continued down the dirt track as the AC/DC was revealed to be coming from a CD player within one of the Humvees which the soldiers were regarding with looks of bewildered amusement. Either their focus was on the stereo or on the woman who sat in the back sipping on a Scotch. This woman was revealed to be Toni Stark.
The soldiers were clearly too nervous to talk to Toni and eventually she became annoyed enough that she spoke, "I feel like you're driving me to a court-martial. This is crazy. What did I do?"
"Only you could silence a military vehicle," Steve laughed having been in plenty in his time and they were usually loud and boisterous places. It was quite a feat to be able to silence them completely.
"I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me," she continued, "What, you're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forrest!"
"We can talk, ma'am!" the soldier opposite her said nervously.
"Oh, I see. So it's personal," Toni quipped.
"No, you intimidate them," the soldier driving said making it clear that she actually a woman.
"A female warrior," Thor exclaimed, "I have not met many on your planet besides Lady Natasha and Lady Toni."
"Well, they're more common in the military these days," Toni informed him, "although there is still a large gap between the numbers of female and male recruits."
"Thank god, you're a woman. We've got to break into other fields someday right? Female soldier is a good start," Toni exclaimed happily.
"I'm an airman," the soldier replied, "and I would think that you would be the prime example of a woman in power yourself Miss Stark considering all the things you've done."
"Well, I guess I'm just encouraging everyone to be like me then," Toni said without a hint of sarcasm.
"I can see that you haven't changed your opinion on empowering women any since then," Natasha interjected.
"Well, that was one of the things that I had right back then," Toni said with a shrug, "don't fix what isn't broken and all that."
"Ma'am, I have a question to ask," the soldier in the passenger seat said.
"Yes, please," Toni said relieved.
"Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?" he asked.
"Wait, aren't they all women?" Steve said confused, "why would he ask that?"
"How has he not picked up on it?" Phil asked bewildered. He had thought the fact that Toni swung both ways although more seriously towards men had been fairly obvious. She wasn't exactly shy about her past conquests even if she didn't go out looking for them anymore ever since Afghanistan. Of the people in the room Phil was the only one who knew most of the story about what had really happened in Afghanistan as he had gotten the spoken report from Toni before she had wiped the digital records. But he respected her decision not to know all the details of what had happened to her. He'd had trouble hearing the full report at the time and that was before he had gotten close to Toni.
"That is an excellent question," Toni said removing her sunglasses, "Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins. Anything else?"
"Wait, what?" Steve blurted out.
"I swing both ways Steve which means I'll happily be with a guy or a girl," Toni explained, "sure I mostly go for guys but I won't turn a woman down either. I knew a lot of them weren't actually attracted to me and were going for me just because of my money and my fame but at the time I didn't really care. I haven't done that since the time in my life that Amora has apparently seen fit to show you all."
Steve was left to digest this information as JARVIS restarted the movie and the others turned their attention back to it.
"You're kidding me with the hand up right?" she said to the soldier she had jokingly called Forrest.
"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" he asked nervously.
"Yes," Toni said with a kind smile, "it's very cool!"
"That was nice of you," Bruce said eager to point out good deeds that Toni had done back then to show her that he was right about her inherent good personality. It might not be working yet but over time it would be sure to do something. Well, he could hope.
The soldier quickly pulled a camera out of one of his uniforms many pockets and handed it over to the man in the passenger seat who smiled and said, "all right!"
"I don't want to see this on you MySpace page," Toni told Forrest seriously as he threw up a peace sign, "please, no gang signs," he quickly put it back down again but Toni changed her mind, "No, throw it up. I'm kidding. Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace."
"So you're still a weapons developer at this point," Steve said seemingly having recovered from the shock that Toni played for both teams.
"Not for very long after this but yes," Toni told him, "I am!"
"Come on," he said impatiently, "Hurry up! Just click it. Don't change any settings just click it."
But before the picture could be taken the Humvee in front was blown to smithereens and the Humvee with Toni in had to be stopped abruptly with a shuddering bump as pieces of debris fell on top of the bonnet. Toni herself ended up taking a knock to the head as it slammed up against the seat behind her.
"How bad was the head injury?" Bruce asked concerned.
"In light of everything that happened after this I really didn't stop and check to see if the wound had healed," Toni admitted, "it felt superficial anyway as head wounds always look worse than they actually are as you would of course know."
"What's going on?" Toni asked as the female airman began screaming, "Contact left!"
"What have we got?" Toni tried again determined to get some answers.
"It's better to be informed but in a crisis situation people don't remember that," Natasha told the group.
As soon as the airman exited the vehicle she was taken down by a gunshot prompting the man in the passenger seat to shout, "Jimmy, stay with Stark," before exiting himself. But his luck was no better for as he fired back he took a shot to the chest which shattered the windshield. "Son of a bitch!" Jimmy shouted preparing his own gun as he moved to depart the Humvee.
Steve was used to images like that. People dying that he didn't know but still had to find some way to get over as seeing their deaths was traumatising enough. Especially if it was someone who you had one brief exchange with even if it was only civil and not as pleasant as Toni's exchange with these soldiers had been. But Toni had been a civilian; some of the things she had said led him to believe that she was no stranger to death at this point in her life but it still couldn't have been easy for her to cope with.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Toni shouted as he slammed his door shut yelling at her to, "stay here," before promptly being taken down by a rain of bullets of which several ricochets and misses managed to take out some of the glass of the window of the Humvee.
"Even I didn't know about all this," Natasha admitted, "Phil did you…?"
"Phil was the one who debriefed me Tasha," Toni answered for her friend, "he knows all but the most minor details which aren't of any great import anyway. But he knows most of the things that I later wiped from my file the minute Phil put them on there."
All around Humvees were blowing up and Toni clearly realised it was only a matter of time before she was next so she threw open the door to the Humvee and stumbled out.
"That has advantages and disadvantages," Clint said blankly trying to hide the fact that despite knowing Toni was here and fine he was worried, "it gets you away from a prime target but there's still shrapnel and weaponry flying around for you to get hit by. Mind you there is probably a greater chance of survival outside the vehicle."
She quickly sprinted across the ground which had to be difficult in the low heels she was wearing and dived for cover behind a rock.
"Always learn how to do things in heels," Natasha said approvingly, "women are more likely to get caught in inconvenient outfits for fighting than men so we just have to learn to adapt."
"Even if it means ripping up dresses made by Louis Vuitton to get any kind of manoeuvrability in a crisis situation," Toni agreed wholeheartedly.
She neatly pulled her phone from her pocket and flipped it open beginning to message someone on it when a bomb collided with the ground just feet away from her with the words 'Stark Industries,' printed on the side of it.
"Oh god!" Bruce said voicing what the others had all been thinking.
Toni scrambled back to her feet but she didn't have enough time to get to minimum safe distance and the bomb blew up throwing her back in a fiery explosion landing on her back with astounding force. As bloodstains began to come through her white shirt her eyes closed and the screen faded to pure white light.
"Wait, it was something that traumatic and then you came back and refused hospital care and therapy," Natasha said shocked causing the others to all stare at Toni incredulously.
"By the time I got back I had problems that I didn't trust a single doctor in the world with," Toni told them, "I didn't know Bruce back then and too many people would try and make off with everything I had left if I let them in. Plus I didn't need a shrink to tell me that I did have PTSD but that it was channelling it into my work and hence had a coping method. I could manage that myself even if my doctorates aren't in psychology."
"Wait you have doctorates?" Steve said puzzled.
"I have 3 PhD's, 4 Masters degrees, and one Bachelor's degree," Toni informed the stunned group, "mostly just got bored and decided I might as well get something out of my intellect to prove how awesome I am."
"What are the PhD's in?" Clint asked however it was Natasha who gave him his answer, "if I'm remembering correctly you have one in engineering, one in physics and another in chemistry. Your Masters are in English, French, Biology and Computer Science and the Bachelor's is a Spanish one."
"Congratulations! This is why I'm rehiring you as my PA," Toni said with a smile surprising Bruce, Steve and Thor who hadn't known of this development.
"I'm surprised you haven't extended the two remaining science Masters," Bruce revealed.
"Haven't had the time lately or I would have," Toni said with a shrug, "I don't need the PhD's to prove I can do things."
"Okay," Steve said seeing her point, "but why does nobody call you Dr Stark?"
"Because they're ignorant I guess," Toni said, "I don't really mind that much. Plus most people call me Toni anyway."
As the light faded a man could be heard speaking in Urdu as a bag was pulled off Toni's head showing that she had a mess of cuts across her face and her normally immaculate hair was like a rat's nest. As her eyes opened she quickly took in her surroundings noting that the scenario was being filmed.
Steve's only thought was, 'oh no!' One of the other Avengers – he thought it had been Clint – had mentioned a war in front of him a while back and they had told him about Afghanistan and Iraq. If Toni was where he thought she was then his meagre apologies were simply not going to cut it.
As the shot pulled away from Toni's face it showed that her entire torso was bandaged up with blood soaking through it. She had been given a black shirt to go over it but for the purposes of the video it was left hanging open as one terrorist continued with his demands.
The room was generally speechless upon seeing what had actually happened to Toni which led up to the events where she changed her ways. They hadn't thought that anything too serious had happened. Even Natasha who knew more than anyone in the room but Phil about Toni's situation hadn't suspected it was that bad. Plus she was ready to shoot someone upon seeing the state of undress they'd left Toni in. That was if Toni hadn't already used her significant power to destroy them in which case she might have to go down the range Clint and Toni had been describing when they walked into the room and shoot some targets. Urgently!
A/n: Again, this is shorter than usual just to kickstart the events of Iron Man. I'll probably cover all of the flashback in the next chapter although I offer no guarantees of course. Several nods to my headcanons in this chapter so see if you can play spot the headcanon! :D