Chapter 33 – A Controversial Press Conference

A/n: I'm really glad that everyone was enjoying my extra-long chapter from yesterday. This one probably won't equal it because I have less time to write on a Tuesday.

Squee the Magical Bunny: You're welcome :)

SparkleNicole: I'm glad you liked it and I think those scenes are going to be more fun to write than the Afghanistan ones. And I'm very flattered that you think this is the best one out there.

XxxBellaBellaxxX: I'm trying to keep this story a lyrics free zone don't tempt me :D Random Toni is very amusing and we have the brief mentions of Howard coming up soon. Yeah, Toni really hates hospitals just like me :)

LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books: Yes! Victory! Someone else who now likes Mondays :) Hello America indeed! :D

daddygirl52092: I'm glad you liked it; have some more :)

Dragones: Here you go, have some more :D

whitetigerwolf: I'm really glad you liked it. Enjoy!

Tanin: I'm glad that it's enjoyable enough that it's still readable from the very beginning :) And I hope you enjoy those parts when I write them. It's so cool the sheer amount of countries all my viewers and reviewers are from.

Littlest1: That's one of the best compliments an author can receive so thank you very much and I'm glad you're enjoying this story :)

IAMAWESOMESOAREU: Thank you for your lovely (if slightly creepy) review and I'm glad you're enjoying my story :) Iron Man 2 is straight after this one ends.

Booklover2526: I'm glad you liked the additional scene :) And I've come to love writing Clint so I'm glad you liked his part :D

nessa11997: I'm glad and you're welcome :)

LibraryGirl19: I'm very flattered that I'm currently your favourite author and I'm glad you like the story. The problem with updating every day is that I have to compromise on length of chapters to do so.

Post U Later: Yeah, Phil is totally going to regret that thought momentarily :)

Harm Marie: I'm glad!

ReadPaxJoy: I'm glad you liked the Hel and Thor thing because I didn't know if people had noticed it :) Your oneshot should be up tomorrow I think if I stay on schedule.

"Now I see why you still trust him," Natasha said softly, "even after what he did to you." She often felt bad at times about the fact that she had accused Toni of letting Rhodey steal her suit. Her friend had told her in confidence when they met up afterwards that yes she had been training Rhodey in how to operate the suit but he had ultimately taken it from her. She hadn't just handed it over because she hadn't been able to talk him out of considering it as a weapon that the military should be allowed unlimited access to yet and she didn't want that. It was how the whole mess with Hammer had begun and Toni hadn't needed another incident whilst she was dying helping her to feel even worse. Rhodey had arguably endangered Toni's life in more ways than one by losing his faith in her that he appeared to have had at least at this point in her life.

The scene changed to show a US air force jet touching down on a runway as Piper watched ringing his hands nervously with Happy standing stoically behind him next to the car.

"He was worried," Bruce said quietly, "no surprises there then."

As the rear hatch descended Rhodey helped Toni up from a wheelchair that she had doubtless been coerced into using. Piper watched closely as Toni descended the platform with her arm through Rhodey's, her arm was still in a sling and she was in the heels and dress Piper had sent over to Afghanistan for her.

"It was a good thing that dress was strapless because anything else would have been hard to get on with the sling that they insisted I should wear," Toni said obviously exasperated at what she saw as the ridiculousness of making her wear a sling for a 'minor injury.'

The others sighed similarly exasperated at Toni's total lack of care about her own safety but they knew at that point the constant pain from the arc reactor would already have been affecting her so she really wouldn't consider it that serious. Actually that was something to think about. How many times had Toni been severely injured after a battle and had brushed it off because it caused her less pain than the arc reactor did on a daily basis. Bruce was beginning to think up plans for an enforced rule for medical checks after every mission for if they we were separating from SHIELD's system of rules then they would have to come up with their own. If he told everyone else the plan the vote they made on the subject would make Toni abide by it even if she wouldn't like it at all. If you couldn't be responsible for your own health then someone would have to be responsible in your stead. That was one of the reasons that people had power of attorney over others.

"Watch it, coming up here," Rhodey told Toni not loosening his grip on her arm as paramedics rolled forward a gurney but Toni shrugged it off, "Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them."

"Toni…" Clint sighed.

"What?!" Toni exclaimed, "I was standing on my own two feet and I certainly didn't need to be treated like an invalid and god knows the press would analyse it to hell. Besides I had no intentions of trusting another doctor ever again. I didn't want to have to cope with all the babbling about the reactor which would inevitably become common knowledge since nobody can seem to keep a secret about someone who is even moderately famous. Sure let's give every person in the world who wants to kill me for things I did or even things my father did an easy out. Hey! Isn't there a thing in her chest that I can pull out and she'll eventually die? That makes my job so much easier. Bruce only snuck past my shields because he is so damn trustworthy plus he can actually keep up with me and understands what I'm babbling on about."

Rhodey waved the team of paramedics away giving Toni a worried look as she walked towards a smiling Piper. "Hmm," she contemplated, "your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?"

"How long were you gone Lady Toni?" Thor inquired but he received no answer from Toni. She didn't even acknowledge the fact that Thor had spoken and they guessed that meant it would probably come up soon.

"Tears of joy," Piper said matter-of-factly.

"Wait…" Natasha said not understanding why Piper was being so positive. It didn't fit in with their witty rapport at all and they had already seen the evidence earlier on in the movie that their teasing had developed long before Afghanistan.

"I hate job hunting," he concluded.

"There's the punchline I was expecting," Natasha said relieved causing the others to laugh. It was gradually becoming easier to do so without the tinge of bitterness that had infected every laugh since Toni had been captured.

"Yeah, vacation's over," Toni told him the humour gone from her tone.

"You were planning something you knew a lot of people wouldn't like," Phil observed knowing what was just about to come up, "so I guess you really meant that although not in the way Piper thought you did."

The pair clambered into the back of the car fastening their seatbelts and Happy asked, "Where to, ma'am?"

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy," Piper attempted to order but Toni cut him off with a swift, "no!"

"Typical," Clint said earning another glare from Toni.

"No?" Piper said thoroughly confused, "Toni, you have to go to the hospital."

"No is a complete answer," Toni said not accepting any further coercion from Piper having made up her mind. Piper of course wasn't going to give up very easily having worked with Toni for so long and attempted it again, "The doctor has to look at you."

"And that's the final nail in the coffin," Phil said, "Toni's going to pull out the big guns now."

"I don't have to do anything," Toni told him firmly, "I've been in captivity for three months."

Steve blanched upon hearing that statement and the others were similarly affected (excluding Natasha and Phil who had already known how long she had been there and had gotten over their shock when they came to terms with how long she had been being so badly tortured.) Bruce's fists were digging alarmingly deep into the couch and the others were pretty sure the skin around them was a faint shade of green rather than its natural colour. Clint looked ready to shoot men who were already dead but that was of little consequence to the angry archer. He just needed to shoot someone who had been responsible in some way for Toni's capture and subsequent torture. Lightning was crackling in the air around Thor and while the others wanted to stop him before he destroyed the TV screen they were watching the movie on they figured it wouldn't be the safest thing to do. Approaching an angry Thor who was producing lightning was always a bad idea. So, Natasha, Phil and Toni attempted to soothe the other four members of their team with promises that all of the main people responsible for the kidnapping had been dealt with and anybody minor who was in some way responsible had probably been ignorant of the true consequences of their actions. It only worked when Toni pointed out that the only one with a major person left in causing her kidnapping was Toni herself and they could shoot her if they really wanted. That managed to calm them down for the time being.

"There are two things I want to do," Toni continued, "I want an American cheeseburger… and the other…"

"That's enough of that," Piper cut her off but Toni continued on not phased in the least by Piper's comment, "it's not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now."

"You don't have a good track record with press conferences within this time period do you Toni?" Phil laughed.

"Well," Toni said, "it's your own fault of annoying me right before I went in front of the cameras because if you hadn't I wouldn't have been so flustered by Christine and I wouldn't have been annoyed enough to reveal the information."

"I see your point," Phil conceded knowing there was no point getting into yet another debate about that day with Toni.

"Call for a press conference?" Piper said still confused not knowing why Toni would want that of all things.

"Yeah," Toni said simply and ignoring Piper's, "what on Earth for?" she turned to address Happy, "Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first!"

"You really do get cravings after fighting your way out of situations I guess," Bruce laughed remembering what Toni had said about her craving for shawarma after she had come back from the dead during the Battle for Manhattan.

"Especially since it's hard to talk you into eating anything any other day," Steve added, "let alone doing so at a regular time. I've kind of given up on the regular time issue at this point though."

"Finally!" Toni exclaimed, "It was only a matter of time thank god! I had hoped that would be the case."

The car pulled away from the runway and in the next shot it was pulling up at the conference as people standing on the pavement applauded her arrival.

"I can probably count on one hand the amount of people there who were genuinely happy to see me back and two of them were in the car with me," Toni scoffed earning her a few pitying looks which she dismissed with a roll of her eyes. It wasn't like she gave a damn about more than the five people who might have given a damn about her anyway.

Obie stood in the crowd applauding the most fiercely and then he ran forward as the car drew to a stop laughing, "Look at this!" He pulled the door open and Toni clambered out wiping any remnants of sauce from her face elegantly with a handkerchief. Obie pulled her into a hug that looked very awkward with a boisterous, "Toni!"

"He should know better if he knew you for so long," Natasha said bitterly. She was upset that Toni had been taken in by the false affection the man showed for her at least a little while just because it was the only affection she had gotten since Peggy left her when she was young. She didn't know how to tell if it was false or not because she didn't have enough experience with physical affection.

"We were going to meet at the hospital," Obie exclaimed the picture of honest concern.

"No, I'm fine," Toni deflected as Obie continued to gush over her more interested in the Burger King bag Happy was bringing her with a second cheeseburger in it.

"At least you go through with your sudden cravings unlike some people," Clint said with a glare at Natasha. There had been several occasions when Clint had to travel for hours after not having slept for days to collect something Natasha had been craving after a mission only for them to get there and Nat would change her mind and just want McDonald's. It was one of the most annoying things that seemed to be more common in women than in men. One of the few as Toni and Nat were fond of reminding him.

"You had to have a burger, yeah?" Obie said suddenly disapproving of Toni's quirks despite his welcoming actions only moments before.

"Like I said," Natasha said as she contemplated whether it was worth hitting Clint over the head with something heavy for his previous comment, "he should bloody well know better."

"Well, come on," Toni said subtly reminding him that he couldn't change her strange habits.

"You got me one of those?" Obie sighed giving in.

"There's only one left," Toni said abrasively, "I need it."

"She needs it more than you," Phil practically snarled shocking the other Avengers. What had Obadiah Stane done to actually make Phil of all people angry at him? "She's been practically starved and worked to death for three months."

Toni polished off the last of the burger as she walked into the room filled with reporters instantly catching their attention meaning Obie's, "Hey, look who's here, yeah!" was completely unneeded. Once Toni was officially out of the immediate vicinity Piper sighed relieved and smiled gently obviously happy that she was the same old Toni she had always been.

"Well, you had changed but at least it was in a good way," Clint said noting that Piper's smile was probably for that very reason.

"Mr Potts," was suddenly heard and Phil was shown standing next to Piper.

"You were there," Steve said shocked.

"My official job for a while was being Toni's handler to try and draw her into SHIELD," Phil informed the group, "this was before we knew about the Iron Man suit and Fury got involved personally. Before we knew the new her we were nervous that with that much genius and a traumatic experience behind her she might end up on the wrong side."

"That's a fair assumption," Toni said quickly dispelling any arguments that might have broken out between the soon-to-be-former SHIELD agent members of the team and the Avengers who were only affiliated with SHIELD through the Avengers and other extenuating circumstances.

"Yes," Piper said politely.

"This is so obviously the first time you two met," Toni laughed. Piper had grown to dislike Phil because he drew Toni into dangerous situations whenever he turned up and Toni had to keep reminding him that it was just Phil's job and he was only following orders from Fury. Plus he often put himself in a lot of danger as well as the stabbing by Loki proved.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Phil inquired.

"I'm not part of the press conference but it's about to begin right now," Piper responded mistaking the smartly dressed Phil as a member of the press.

"You do look like a member of the Earth media Friend Coulson," Thor exclaimed, "I can see why Mr Potts mistook you for one."

Toni was quick to notice that the moniker of Friend was missing from in front of her ex-boyfriend's title whereas when they were together Thor had gone around calling him Friend Piper. Was her break-up with Piper affecting things already? Or had Thor always called him that when she wasn't around and if so why were the Avengers so hostile towards Piper when she had never seen him react negatively to them before this movie viewing session? It was more likely to be the second one actually for the others didn't react to Thor's 'change' of title for Piper.

"I'm not a reporter," Phil informed him gaining Piper's full attention and his interest; "I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful," Piper quipped taking Phil's card.

"I cannot believe it took you as long as you did just to look at the first letters of your title and realise it spelt out SHIELD," Toni laughed. Considering her father had been a founding member it was absolutely ridiculous but of course SHIELD agents mostly didn't know what common sense was so maybe it did make a twisted kind of sense. But dwelling on that would probably drive Toni insane trying to figure out how anybody could be so idiotic.

"I know," Phil sighed, "We're working on it!"

Toni sniggered again and received a dark look from Phil who the moment they had come up with had wondered why he hadn't spotted it before but that was probably because it hadn't been his primary concern as it had been him who originally spotted the acronym.

"You know," Piper said tentatively, "we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA…"

"Everyone?!" Bruce exclaimed, "Nobody even knew about the Iron Man suit yet. Jeez!"

"They still ask me every so often trying to draw me away from SHIELD but even now I'm cutting ties with SHIELD I'm not exactly going to use one of them as a new 'sponsor,' they just want to use my tech to start a war which makes them just as bad as SHIELD," Toni informed them.

"We're a more separate division with a more specific focus," Phil explained, "We need to debrief Miss Stark about the circumstances of her escape."

"I have a feeling that had that meeting not been arranged on the day it was you would have lied through your teeth about everything," Phil said with a small smile.

"Of course," Toni said matter-of-factly, "that's what I do."

"I'll put something in the book, shall I?" Piper said accommodatingly.

"Thank you," Phil said.

The present day Phil slipped into contemplation between the differences of the Piper today and the one who had been created as Toni stayed Iron Man despite his protests against it. This Piper would never have used Toni's tech to hack into SHIELD and change a file so that it slandered Toni as he wouldn't have felt that was morally right and he certainly would have been more accommodating of the Avengers rather than treating them with scorn and constantly warning them away from Toni. He was constantly saying they should exclude her from missions that her presence was vital for just because there was the smallest possibility that she could come out of it injured. Phil missed that Piper but if the Piper Potts of today was the price the world had to pay to get the Toni Stark/Iron Man of today then Phil knew it was absolutely worth it.

Toni was doing her best not to dwell on the pleasant interaction between Phil and Piper and instead was working out a way that she could reach Phil's cellist girlfriend (and future fiancé if she had anything to say about it. There was nothing holding him back now that he was leaving SHIELD) Audrey in Portland and tell her Coulson was alive whilst revealing that his new job was working with the Avengers and that she would love to pay Audrey double her current wage to play at Stark Industries galas just so she could live at the Tower with Coulson.

Obie stepped up to the podium that had been prepared at the front of the room as Toni decided to be eccentric again and instead took a seat in front of the podium pulling another cheeseburger from her pocket.

"You are blatantly lying to your father figure," Clint laughed, "tut tut Toni!"

"Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?" Toni asked confusing everyone but they moved to do as she had asked, "Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can… A little less formal and…" here she took a bite of her cheeseburger. Even Obie joined her on the floor his smile now very fixed.

"This is the most bizarre press conference ever," Natasha stated.

"It was even weirder being there," Phil informed her, "and I certainly wasn't expecting what Toni pulled out of the hat next although I did admire her for making such a bold statement in front of so many people instead of just sending out a memo."

"What's up with the love-in?" Rhodey said as he arrived and sat down next to Piper.

"Don't look at me," Piper replied defensively, "I don't know what she's up to."

"Good to see you," Toni told Obie who echoed her words.

"No," Bruce said, "I agree with you. This press conference is definitely the weirdest one ever. I've seen some weird ones in my time but this definitely wins."

"I never got to say goodbye to Dad," Toni started directing this statement to Obie.

The Avengers especially Steve became very wide eyed as Toni voluntarily made a statement about her father. It didn't even appear to be negative mind you it was Toni. She could put a negative spin on anything.

"I never got to say goodbye to my father," Toni said turning back to the reporters who were furiously making notes, "there's questions I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts," Piper watched on nervously knowing Toni didn't like talking about Howard, "Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels."

"Ouch," Clint muttered as Steve flinched. Maybe he didn't want to know what had happened to Howard after he'd gone into the ice. The snippets he'd gotten so far were not of a person that he would have wanted to know back in the forties.

Rhodey was shown back on his feet chuckling lightly at Toni's comment as the woman herself took on a more serious tone, "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them."

"Which was not your fault!" Bruce exclaimed quickly always eager to defend his friend seeing as even these memories couldn't be easy for her to watch as they kept referencing her experiences earlier on in the movie.

Obie's expression had darkened significantly suspecting that this train of thought was going in a direction that he didn't wish it to. "And I saw," Toni continued, "that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."

The team stiffened remembering Toni's snarled comments on zero accountability when they had been watching the pilot who fired the missile on New York. How many of Toni's comments would suddenly make a lot more sense after watching the movie reserved for her?

"Miss Stark," came a chorus of voices and Toni decided on one she obviously knew, "hey Ben!"

"Yes, I slept with him before you ask," Toni said sarcastically seriously wishing that she had gotten a drink before they had gotten to this movie. She was definitely getting several during the next break they took.

"What happened over there?" Ben asked simply.

"I had my eyes opened," Toni said pushing herself up to her feet and making her way behind the podium that had been set up for her to use, "I came to realise that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up."

"You actually did it at a press conference," Clint and Bruce exclaimed in unison.

"And that is why effective immediately," Toni said speaking quickly so nobody could stop her, "I am shutting down," here Obie sprung to his feet attempting to pull Toni away from the podium as the reporters sprung to their feet cameras and Dictaphones held as close to Toni as they could get them, "the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International," she continued despite Obie practically wrestling her away as Piper's jaw dropped, "until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be."

"You really are a piece of work Toni," Phil laughed looking at the chaos that Toni had managed to cause with one simple statement.

"I think we're going to sell a lot of newspapers," Obie said attempting to recover the situation but Toni was still talking as she was shoved to the side, "what direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well." That was all she managed to get out before she finally was dragged away from the podium under Rhodey's disapproving glare.

"He was not happy that I cut off his primary source of weapons," Toni laughed, "he could have been more subtle about his distaste for the situation though!"

"What we should take away from this is that Toni's back!" Obie said as Toni walked head held high through the crowd of clamouring reporters. "And she's healthier than ever! We're going to have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with the follow-up."

"I really don't like him," Steve admitted. He would be very glad when the movie about Toni's life was over and they moved onto the movie about one of the other Avengers even if it was about him. At least there weren't going to be as many secrets displayed on the screen in a movie about him because he was more open about his experiences. The others thoughts were following a similar line although many of them were hoping there wasn't a movie about them anyway.

A/n: Poor naïve Avengers believing there's only one Toni movie. Look out for ReadPaxJoy's prompted oneshot for this verse titled 'Another of Asgard.' Looking forward to seeing what reviewer number 350 wants me to write for them :)