Chapter 52 – Traitor

A/N – Hey y'all! We're getting a lot closer to the scenes that everyone has been looking forward to now which means I am finally nearing the end of this movie. No idea when this is going to get out right now because I have heaps of homework for tomorrow that I totally haven't done yet.

youwannabekate: I'm looking forward to writing that part because I've really been looking forward to writing how Toni feels about them all being angry on her behalf. I love me dramatic irony and pseudo cliffhangers because I can't exactly put real ones in yet :)

exileena: Pushing on through is what I always try to do :) Yeah I have a feeling a lot of people would be worried if I didn't manage a chapter a day but I'm just like sometimes I get busy. You're welcome and I'm glad you like it.

XxxBellaBellaxxX: Enjoy :) Obie is going to be glad to be dead.

babyliss12: I'm going to go with 15% because I'm worth it so gimme :D Jk

Booklover2526: Yes we are finally getting closer to the end of IM and yes up next is IM2 purely because according to the time frame it takes place before Thor does.

Amara Calla: Hello again! :) And I'm glad you like that I do that because I've read many stories in this style because I love them but I do tire easily of the ones that just flat out ignore the fact that not everything in the movies is about dialogue. I was always going to be a little awkward but you're thinking a little too deeply although you have a good grasp on the possibilities which will be addressed.

ReenReen: Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

LianaDare8: I'm really glad that you're enjoying it and I hope you like this chapter as well.

Post U Later: Yeah me too especially at high speed. Poor Toni :( And whilst I'm not a big Rhodey fan his reactions are hilarious most of the time :D

Harm Marie: I'm glad :)

nessa

Steve too had realised that the moment Toni caused significant damage to a military plane that she was in a lot more trouble than she had been up to that point even with Rhodey converted over to her side. As far as most members of the military were concerned if an attack was made on a military vehicle and there was no absolute proof that it was an accident then the life of the person that did it wasn't as important anymore although they would still like to keep them alive to interrogate them. Obviously Toni hadn't been imprisoned or killed but still she really needed to stop getting herself into such tricky situations with people who had the authority to shoot her if she messed with them in a combat situation.

Smoke billowed from the remains of what had once been a wing and it began to blaze with fire turning the smoke an even darker black. "I'm hit, I'm hit," the pilot exclaimed over his radio.

"And they obviously didn't notice that you had no control over your actions," Clint sighed knowing exactly what had gotten the others so worried, "so you don't even have a witness to back up a story you would use to explain your presence there without bringing the revenge factor into it."

"You're forgetting that they obviously didn't imprison me for war crimes or kill me because I am sitting right next to you," Toni told him, "besides do you really think Fury wouldn't have searched through all of his military connections and found out from the horse's mouth if I had been."

"Midgard has talking horses as well!" Thor exclaimed thrilled to discover what was apparently another similarity between his world and the one that he now lived on almost full time.

"It's just an expression Thor," Natasha told him and his face feel briefly but he was soon back in his usual cheerful spirits so she figured that it hadn't done too much damage. Thor had proved on several occasions that when it came to emotions he was an open book no matter how many things Natasha and Clint tried to teach him about not showing everything on his face. But on the other hand it did make deciphering whether he was upset about something as easy as Toni making a high tech mobile phone.

"It's confirmed. He has been hit," one of the soldiers relayed as Rhodey looked on looking as if he had been struck dumb by the news.

"And now Rhodey is wondering what you're doing as well," Bruce said exasperated. Nothing was going Toni's way as usual it seemed.

The plane spun through the air as his radio blared with the voice of the pilot of the other plane shouting, "punch out, punch out," the pilot who was obviously terrified grappled with the ejection lever for a minute before he managed to pull it and his seat flew from the cockpit just in time as the plane became a ball of fire.

"He got very lucky there," Steve said relieved. The man was only following orders and so he didn't deserve to die for entering a situation totally blind and trying to make the best of it.

"He got very scared," Toni muttered. She was just glad that she had been able to save him in the end because it had partially been her fault for picking that as a hiding place even though she knew anything else would have been picked up on radar.

However the seat didn't slow down and just continued hurtling down towards the ground at a rapid pace. "Whiplash One down," came the exclamation as the target that represented the pilot plummeted across the screen.

"Maybe I spoke too soon," Steve admitted paling slightly at the idea of what could happen to a man who was falling from that high up. Dying quickly was the best thing that could come from that really especially at the speed that the man was going. Where was his parachute?

"Whiplash Two, do you see a chute?" Major Allen asked concerned about the speed that Whiplash One was plummeting to the ground at.

"Negative!" Whiplash Two replied, "No chute, no chute!"

Whiplash One was continuing to groan loudly into his microphone as he fell which was unfortunately still transmitting to the base where they were hearing every moment of his terror. He was still pulling frantically at the chute shouting, "my chute's jammed."

"That is a really really bad time for a parachute malfunction," Clint said pointing out the obvious fact, "I know chutes fail sometimes but not usually ones fitted as an emergency system when there is no back up chute for you to use if things go doubly wrong." They were usually checked, double checked and all the way up to quintuple checked before they were put on the plane and safety checks were done again on all equipment before take-off. How had a parachute malfunction ended up happening at that precise moment? That was a serious piece of bad luck.

The sand of the desert below was becoming ever clearer as the trail from Toni's suit arced through the air towards the seat as Toni swooped down to intervene. "Sir, I've got a visual on the bogey," Whiplash Two said spotting Toni's movements.

"So now you're going down to help and suddenly you're more of a threat than before," Bruce said outraged.

"To be perfectly fair and to see both sides of the story nobody other than Toni and possibly Rhodey actually knew that her intention was to help him," Steve said trying not to get Bruce any madder than he already was, "all they would see was a hostile target swooping down on someone who was already about to die and seeing it as some sort of game. They'll change their minds when she actually helps."

"Which is very generous of her considering that he was just trying to kill her a minute ago," Bruce mumbled proud of Toni for doing the right thing and saving him but still upset that she had to risk her own life to save someone who wasn't worth half of her.

"Whiplash Two, reengage," Major Allen told him clearly annoyed that one of his men was dying 'because of the bogey,' "If you get a clear shot, you take it."

Steve smiled a little at being proved at least partially right but he wasn't able to maintain it for long because it wasn't just the pilot who was at risk here. Toni was in just as much danger even if he knew that she had walked out of there okay in the end. She could still have crashed or something similar and the suit just hadn't been badly damaged enough to prevent her escape.

Whiplash Two swerved to the side and began to come around to a place that he would get the clearest shot as Rhodey attempted to reason with the Major on Toni's behalf, "Major, we don't even know what we're shooting at. Call off the Raptors."

"At least Rhodey came through," Toni pointed out trying to ease the tension in the room. She was glad that she had only added the 'this time' in her head because it did seem to make the others – aside from Natasha and Phil – relax a little because they were reassured that Rhodey was making up for his past mistake.

"That thing just took out an F-22 inside a legal no fly zone," the Major said angry at the suggestion, "Whiplash Two, if you have a clear shot, take it!"

Of course this statement resulted in everyone in the room minus Toni tensing up again which basically made Toni's previous efforts worth nothing in the long run. But at least she had tried and she would try again until something settled them down permanently. Or at least until Obie was revealed as a traitor because she couldn't guarantee that even her powers of persuasion combined with all the skill of the spies in the room could talk them into calming down after that news came out.

"You've been reengaged," JARVIS informed Toni obviously now sufficiently linked in to the military to give her information as it happened rather than on an immediate danger basis, "Execute evasive manoeuver."

"Please do," Natasha said wondering if Toni would have the time to avoid the missiles and still save the man who was falling. To be perfectly honest if saving the life of the pilot endangered Toni unnecessarily then she no longer cared about the fact that his fate would have been a gruesome one. He shouldn't have let her only female friend got hurt. Logically she knew that nobody could stop Toni when she got it into her head that she was going to do something but that didn't stop her wishing that somebody could. And her heart wasn't listening to logic anyway.

"Keep going!" Toni shouted determined that she was going to save the life of the man she had accidentally endangered through her momentary loss of control. It didn't take her very much longer to reach the chair and grab a hold of the parachute deployment handle. The strength of the suit was too much of the metal and the handle splintered like wood deploying the parachute.

'Thank you,' Steve mouthed to Toni as the others managed a smile at her for doing a good thing whilst in considerable danger herself. Although Natasha's view that she should have saved herself first and the pilot later was a common thought in the room at that moment in time.

Toni sped away as Whiplash One relayed the words, "good chute! Good chute!" clearly very relieved although he didn't relay that Toni had done it. The base erupted into cheers at the news glad that he would be safe.

"The least he could have done in thanks was tell them that the 'bogey' just saved his life and therefore they should probably stop shooting at it," Phil said displeased that someone could be so ungrateful for their life being saved.

The remaining jet seemed to decide to leave Toni alone having seen what triggered the chute and Toni performed a few loops mid-air as Rhodey slid his phone back up to his ear to talk to Toni, "Toni, you still here?"

"Hey, thanks," Toni said gratefully.

"Oh so you can be polite," Bruce joked relieved that particular crisis was finally over. It seemed as if the scene had lasted for a lifetime with all that had happened in one little air battle.

"Oh, my god, you crazy son of a bitch," Rhodey breathed out relieved although he also sounded amazed by the feat that Toni had just pulled off, "you owe me a plane. You know that, right?"

"He saved you a pilot," Natasha said, "I think you're even."

Toni chuckled a little before informing him, "yeah, well, technically, he hit me. Now are you going to come by and see what I'm working on?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no," Rhodey insisted, "the less I know, the better. Now what am I supposed to tell the press?"

"That was a sensible decision," Steve acknowledged, "it means he can't even indirectly reveal your secrets to the military and that he can't lose his job if they find out that he knew how the air collision went down from both sides."

"Training exercise," Toni quipped, "isn't that the usual BS?"

"It's not that simple," Rhodey informed her.

Natasha suddenly remembered seeing a report about this incident on the news and chuckled a little when this statement was given. Not that simple huh. Well, then how did it work out just fine when you used that excuse Rhodey?

The next shot showed Rhodey giving a statement to the press the first lines being, "An unfortunate training exercise involving an F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday. I am pleased to report that the pilot was not injured," the scene changed to show Obie watching the press statement on the news, "As for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who or what intervened, but I can assure you that the United States government was not involved."

The others now realising what Natasha had been chuckling about joined her in her laughter finding it funny that despite dismissing it Rhodey had gone with Toni's solution to the problem anyway. Toni smiled a little but couldn't help but think that the merriment was not going to last.

"Hey," Toni's voice echoed as Piper made his way down the stairs towards the lab staring at the glass Toni had destroyed earlier in complete bewilderment.

"It is a tight fit, ma'am," JARVIS informed her and as she continued to groan about her movements he continued, "ma'am the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."

"Oh I know what's happening," Clint said his smile not fading knowing that this event wouldn't cause Toni any long term pain so Natasha probably wouldn't scold him for laughing at it.

"Be gentle," Toni told him, "this is my first time." Here Piper spotted what was going on and his eyes widened even more. Standing on the podium robotic arms were grabbing at pieces of the Iron Man suit as Toni insisted, "I designed this to come off so…"

"There was a slight design flaw in the first prototype," Toni huffed offended as the others continued laughing at her misfortune.

"I really should be able to…" Toni said trying to say something else but JARVIS interrupted, "Please, try not to move, ma'am."

"What's going on here?" Piper said confused as he walked further into the lab and Toni turned only just realising that he had entered the room. "Let's face it," she told him, "this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

"I don't even want to think about it," Steve said blushing slightly. Poor Piper! He might not like the guy but if what he was thinking was correct then walking in on that had to be severely uncomfortable.

"Are those bullet holes?" Piper said breathily identifying the holes in the suit for what they really were.

The cheerful mood died a little at the realisation that some damage had actually been done to the suit but they tried to stay in good spirits for a little while longer.

Back in what was clearly the Ten Rings camp a visitor was approaching in some very fancy black cars indicating that they were probably not a native of the country.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Bruce said nervously hoping that his hunch was not correct.

As Raza watched on Obadiah Stane emerged from the backseat of the first car in the train.

To say all hell broke loose at this sight was the understatement of the century and was probably the only accurate use of that phrase ever.

A/N – And yes I am being mean and ending it there. See you next chapter xx Love ya