Chapter 80 – A New Element
A/n – We're finally nearing the end of IM2 and I'm sure Toni is just as happy about it as I am. Because I am ready to move onto something else. And for those who were wondering yes I have seen Civil War.
Nisse – I did some considerable nerve damage to my hand three years ago but it's gotten worse lately. Thank you for caring.
"You guys feel like coming up yet," Toni asked via the intercom but she received negative answers from both Phil and Natasha. It was what she had been expecting but she had thought it best to ask anyway.
"Don't tell me there's more," Bruce sighed, "please tell me there isn't enough material for another movie about your life hanging around."
"No, I think that's about it," Toni said after a moment's thought, "the movies have covered pretty much everything. So whatever is in the next two movies it will no longer be causing me cringe attacks."
"As much as I'm looking forward to this ending because these movies have been incredibly depressing I'm not too keen on the thought that one of the remaining ones is about me," Steve said receiving a nod from everyone else in the room who wasn't Toni.
"Believe me, it sucks," Toni drawled.
The scene changed to show Toni zooming along in one of her cars stopping briefly to have a chat with a Spanish man at the side of the road and throw him the keys. The man seemed more excited about just having met Iron Man than the fact that he now owned a sports car. "We believe in you," he called after her.
"You always do things like that when nobody's watching," Bruce said with a slight smile, "you don't like taking credit for most of the good things you do."
"It just feels too much like bragging," Toni said with a shrug, "besides it's not like I can't afford it. I could give a random person on the street a million dollars every day and still not be anywhere near not being rich anymore. But that's bragging too in a way so I stick to just doing it when I get the impulse to."
Steve considered this wondering if this was another reason that Toni's image seemed so terrible in the media when that really wasn't who she was. People assumed that her charity events were just her showing off how wealthy she was and most of the real good she did for people never made its way to the public's eyes. It had certainly affected how he viewed her and he knew her personally so he could see how much harder it might be for other people who knew her only through the tabloids to see the real Toni Stark. He wanted to change that though. Now that he'd finally been awakened to the reality that Toni was in fact one of the best people he knew he was going to make sure that everyone else knew it too.
"It was an illegal seizure of a trademark property," Piper said clearly on the phone to someone in the company.
"Mr Potts," his assistant said as she opened the door with Toni behind her.
"Relax," Toni said obviously trying to calm down the obviously nervous assistant.
"I always feel sorry for the assistants," Clint noted, "they're so used to having terrible bosses or even decent ones that occasionally have bad days that they have trouble doing their jobs properly."
"That was always one of the main problems I had with assistants. They were always so in awe of me and nervous of doing something wrong that they were actually more likely to mess up in the long run. But I always preferred that type to the greedy ones that Obie always tried to foist on me. Hence the math trick that meant I could hire someone at least semi-intelligent," Toni explained.
"Miss Stark…" the assistant started.
"…is here," Toni finished for her.
"He refuses…" the assistant tried again.
"I don't. It's fine. I'll just be a second," Toni assured her.
"How did you get past Phil and get out of the house by the way?" Clint wondered.
"I sent him to watch reality TV on a TV that was far enough away from the entrance that I could sneak out. That was after he fell off the sofa when he realised my TV's were AI's. And yes before you ask I do have footage of that. His face is hilarious," Toni snorted.
"Do not show anyone that Toni!" Phil shouted over the intercom.
"Too late," Toni said sounding not at all sorry, "just emailed it to everyone. Enjoy!"
The gang spent a couple of minutes chuckling over the video of Phil falling off the couch which was far more entertaining to watch than the movies before reluctantly putting their tablets away and turning back to the TV.
Piper held up his hand to indicate Toni should wait until the end of the phone call while continuing to talk, "Listen, it's our position that Stark has and continues to maintain proprietary ownership of the Mark II platform."
"That makes the changes that the military made to it technically against the law doesn't it," Steve pointed out.
"Yeah," Toni confirmed, "I could have sued them over it but it seemed fairly pointless. I mean I would have won the case but all it would have done was create more ill will between myself and the military. And I couldn't be bothered dealing with that at the time to be honest. I may push it at some point if they ever go too far. I made sure to retain the rights to do that just in case."
"You always cover all the contingencies," Clint said approvingly. It was the kind of quality that was useful in both businesspeople and spies.
The TV in the background started playing while Toni hovered, "When Toni Stark announced that she was indeed Iron Man she was making a promise to America."
"No, she wasn't," Steve said, "it wasn't like she joined the military when her identity became known. She put a patent on the suit clearly indicating that it was to remain private property. They're just taking advantage of the fact that most people don't know about that. I joined the military because I wanted to and hence they had a right to my skills but Toni did no such thing."
"Plus while I did make a promise to America it was more along the lines of agreeing to do my best to protect it," Toni agreed, "and not the bullshit that these people keep coming up with."
"No, the suit belongs to us," Piper continued, "Yeah, but you're not… Burt…"
The man on the TV continued only now he was casting aspersions on Piper's ability to run a company since he had just been Toni's PA before. Although he derogatorily used the word secretary.
"Okay, Piper and I may not get on but that's out of line," Bruce said, "anyone doing basic research into Stark Industries can see that Piper had been handling Board of Directors meetings for a long time before he took over as CEO so he has to have some qualifications. As much as I personally don't like the way he treats people I know for a fact that he's a good CEO."
"No!" Piper said sharply obviously bothered by the continuing slamming of him from the TV.
"This is the point where you turn the TV off because the person talking is an idiot," Toni noted, "the minute it starts getting to you it is a sign that you're getting too invested in what other people think. I learned that one a long time ago."
"Mute," Toni said obviously realising that Piper wasn't going to stop it. The TV immediately fell silent.
"No," Piper continued on the phone, "Burt… Burt… Burt, listen to me. Don't tell me that we have the best patent lawyers in the country and then not let me pursue this."
"Let me get this stuff out of here," Toni said as she walked over the boxed up stuff in the corner.
Piper didn't acknowledge that she had spoken instead continuing his conversation, "Well, then, tell the President to sign an order."
"How close are you exactly to the President?" Steve asked.
"Well, I have his phone number if that was what you were wondering," Toni said, "he calls me on occasion to ask for my advice on superheroes and technology policy. Most of the time he listens to me. On the occasions he doesn't he ends up regretting it when it goes badly for him."
Piper sighed at a clearly unsatisfactory answer on the other end of the line, "We'll talk about it at the Expo. Hammer's giving some presentation tomorrow evening. Will Toni Stark be there?"
He sounded uncertain about that last part as Toni pulled up a chair and asked, "Will I?"
"No, he will not. Bye," Piper deadpanned before hanging up.
Toni commented, "I would like to be."
"Since I didn't know about Vanko I was really looking forward to Hammer embarrassing himself," Toni sighed, "I mean he still did that it was just a little more violent than I was expecting."
"Got a minute," Toni asked.
"No," Piper said flatly.
"Come on," Toni sighed, "you just got off the phone. You're fine, 30 seconds."
"Have you ever actually scheduled an appointment with anyone other than Coulson?" Clint wondered.
"It depends on what you mean by scheduled," Toni sighed, "I've arranged to meet people at certain times but it was never anything official. Most of the scheduling was done by people who wanted to meet me."
Piper looked at his watch and began counting down as if to tell Toni to get to the point.
"Okay," Toni started, "I was just driving over here, and I thought I was coming over here to basically apologise but I'm not."
"Oh, you didn't come here to apologise?" Piper deadpanned.
"Look, that goes without saying, and I'm working on that," Toni told him, "But I haven't been entirely upfront with you, and I just want to try and make good."
"You're not going to be able to get him to listen are you?" Bruce predicted.
"Well, you nailed that prediction," Toni confirmed, "I had this whole speech planned out and everything."
"Can I move this?" Toni asked indicating the spinning contraption on the desk, "This is crazy. It's like a Ferris Wheel going. I'm trying to get some…"
"No," Piper said still in a deadpan tone.
"This is going to be one of those conversations where Mr Potts rejects everything you say just because it is you saying it isn't it Lady Toni," Thor observed.
"Pretty much," Toni agreed, "it's what he usually resorts too when he's mad at me. It doesn't work but it is getting kind of annoying due to overuse."
Toni scooted her chair over to get the contraption out of her field of vision and continued with her speech , "Do you know how short life is? And if I never got to express... And by the way this is somewhat revelatory to me. And I don't care… I mean, I care. It would be nice. I'm not expecting you to…"
"You're really not good at expressing your feelings are you," Clint said sympathetically.
"Nope, like I said I'm working on it," Toni said, "but I wasn't exactly brought up to be good at this stuff so it's kind of a learning curve for me. I can't be good at everything after all."
"But you sure as hell know how to come pretty close," Steve said with a smirk.
"Look, here's what I'm trying to say," Toni said clearly setting herself back on track, "I'm just gonna say it."
"Let me just stop you right here, okay?" Piper interrupted, "Because if you say 'I' one more time, I'm gonna actually hurl something at your head I think. I am trying to run a company. Do you have any idea what that entails?"
"Yes," Toni pointed out.
"That seems like rather a stupid question considering how long you'd been running the company before you gave it to Piper," Bruce said.
"People are relying on you to be Iron Man and you've disappeared, and all I'm doing is putting out your fires and taking the heat for it," Piper continued.
"Well, if you'd just stopped talking for two minutes you would have realised that an explanation for that was literally what she was trying to offer you," Clint sighed. The amount of miscommunications in this movie was getting incredibly frustrating. He just wanted to shout at Rhodey and Piper to actually listen to what Toni was saying no matter how it might sound. He was certainly going to make sure that it happened from now on.
Toni skittered some kind of object across the table and received a glare from Piper for it while he continued, "I am trying to do the job you were meant to do."
"Like you weren't thrilled to get the job when I gave it to you," Toni muttered slightly resentfully.
In a way this pleased the others for if Toni stopped making excuses for everything her friends did then it was certain to set her on the path to having better friendships with both of them.
"Look, I'm trying my best here," Toni pointed out, "but you won't actually let me talk to you. I was going to buy you something to make it up to you but the only thing around was strawberries and I remembered you were allergic. I'm doing my best to be more considerate so can we actually talk about what I wanted to talk about."
"I need you to leave now," Piper said coldly.
"I think Mr Potts needs to learn to show more consideration too Lady Toni," Thor concluded.
"Mr Potts?" Natasha said as she tentatively stepped into the room.
"Hi, come on in," Piper said obviously relieved that a distraction had come up.
"It is so weird seeing Piper being nice to Natasha," Clint noted, "considering how hostile he is to her these days."
"Wheels up in 25 minutes," Natasha told her as she walked over the desk.
"So tell me Tasha," Toni said slightly bitterly using the intercom, "were you shocked to see me out of my house/prison that day."
"Yes," Natasha admitted seeing no point in hiding it, "but then again you seem to never be out of surprises Annie."
"Thank you," Piper said.
"Anything else Boss," Happy asked only to receive answers from both Piper and Toni.
"Ouch," Clint said noting that that had just made everything just a little bit more awkward.
"I lost both the kids in the divorce," Toni quipped in reaction to this development. When she received a negative reaction from Happy to her laughing about it she quickly changed the subject, "Are you blending in here well, Nat? Here at Stark Enterprises?" It was clear that she was trying to be jovial but her resent made her tone sound stiff, "Your name is Natalie, isn't it?"
"And there she goes being all passive aggressive," Steve said with a smile, "I know that technique well."
"Well, I am very good at it," Toni said acknowledging the slight teasing since it was an improvement over the arguing.
"I thought you two didn't get along," Toni noted.
"So did we," everyone in the room but Toni chorused.
"No. That's not so," Piper lied.
"It's just me you don't care for," Toni said resentment pouring off of every word, "No? Nothing?"
"Actually," Piper said, "while you're here, maybe you and Natalie could discuss the matter of the personal belongings."
"Absolutely," Natasha said although it was apparent that being in a room alone with Toni was not what she wanted.
"Wow, I can actually detect what Nat is thinking," Clint deadpanned, "she must be rattled. That barely ever happens."
Piper exited the room with Happy and Natasha immediately commented, "I'm surprised that you didn't blow my cover."
"Boy, you're good. You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. How do you do it?" Toni drawled clearly only partially making fun, "You just tear things… You're a triple imposter. I've never seen anything like you. Is there anything real about you?"
"What? She is good," Toni said at the incredulous looks from the others, "Also I was still very mad at her hence the snippy comments."
Natasha was clearly uncomfortable with Toni's clear feelings of betrayal and so simply said, "I believe Mr Potts would like you to collect your belongings and drive yourself home. Do so or I'll have Coulson collect you." She walked after the room after that clearly wanting to get away as soon as possible.
Toni sighed as she got up to leave but froze at the door upon spotting the diorama from the video. She whipped off the sheet that was covering half of it and eyed it carefully as if suddenly realising something.
"So I take it that's important somehow," Steve said, "I guess you were right about the fact that you would have died if not allowed out if the key to the cure was in Piper's office."
The scene changed to show Toni whizzing down the highway in her car again only this time she had the diorama stacked up in the passenger seat.
"That cannot be a safe way to operate a vehicle," Thor observed.
Back at her lab Toni blew dust off of the diorama and spoke to JARVIS, "Jarvis, could you kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wire frame? I need a manipulatable projection."
JARVIS complied as a blue light ran over the diorama and created the hologram once he was done he confirmed, "1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, ma'am."
"There's something hidden in the design isn't there?" Bruce said realising what was about to happen.
"Gold star Brucie," Toni confirmed.
Toni lifted up the hologram while asking JARVIS, "How many buildings are there?"
"Am I to include the Belgian waffle stands?" JARVIS asked.
"That was rhetorical. Just show me," Toni told him.
"I was craving Belgian waffles for ages after this but I was busy," Toni sighed, "probably going to have to eat some later now."
"Uh-huh…" Toni said as Jarvis span the hologram so the globe was at the centre, "What does that look like to you, Jarvis? Not unlike an atom. In which case the nucleus would be here," she indicated the sphere, "Highlight the unisphere."
Once Jarvis had done that, Toni pulled the sphere out into a 3D model and considered it before giving Jarvis another instruction, "Lose the footpaths. Get rid of them."
"What is it your trying to achieve ma'am," Jarvis asked as he did as he was told.
"I'm discovering…" Toni started, "Correction, I'm rediscovering a new element I believe."
"Something that can power the arc reactor without killing you," Clint realised.
"You're going to do one of your insanely genius things like building a particle accelerator in you basement now aren't you," Bruce laughed.
"Pretty much," Toni said, "it was an interesting challenge."
"Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, the trees," Toni continued with Jarvis following her every word, "Parking lots, exits, entrances. Structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework."
As the atom began to take shape Toni sighed, "Dad," and she clapped her hands to enlarge the atom so she was sitting in the middle of it. "Dead for almost 20 years and still showing off," Toni noted although it sounded a bit more fond than her usual insults.
"I'm always impressed by my dad's inventions," Toni said, "I just don't always agree with what he did with them. And sometimes I had ways of improving them."
"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium," Jarvis confirmed, "Unfortunately it is impossible to synthesise."
"Uh-huh," Toni said with a smirk as Dummy chirped at her, "Get ready for a major remodel fellas! We're back in hardware mode."
"You know I don't think you believe in the impossible," Steve said.
"Well, I certainly try not to. It limits the imagination," Toni said with an identical smirk to the one she was wearing in the movie.
The next scene showed that Toni had grabbed a sledgehammer and was using it to batter down the walls in the lab.
"You're a lot stronger than you look if you can handle that thing," Clint noted.
Then she took a pneumatic drill to the floor to find an electrical box that she promptly began rewiring. Then Dummy was shown looking up as the drill cut through the ceiling of the lab. Toni threw rope through the holes before moving on to use forklift to bring in the materials she needed. She then proceeded to lift the piping out of its box and begin connecting it all up to make a particle accelerator.
"Just when I think I can't get more impressed by you, you go and do something like this," Bruce said with a whistle.
"Well, I like to keep people on their toes," Toni said with a satisfied grin.
Coulson was seen entering as Toni worked opening with, "I heard you broke the perimeter."
"Uh, yeah," Toni deadpanned, "That was, like, three years ago. Where you been?"
"I was doing some stuff," Phil said.
"Cough, Supernanny, Cough," Toni said not even trying to be subtle. Phil's shouts of indignation over the intercom were ignored.
"Yeah, well, me too and it worked," Toni said with a smirk on her face obviously knowing what Phil had actually been doing.
"Hey, I'm playing for the Home Team, Coulson," Toni said as she discarded a spirit level, "you and all your Fabulous Furry Freak brothers. Now, are you going to let me work or break my balls?"
"I was not aware you had those Lady Toni," Thor said puzzled.
"It's an expression Thor," Toni explained.
"What's this doing here?" Phil said as he held up a greatly dilapidated Captain America shield.
"Wait, he kept that," Steve said shocked.
"He kept most of your stuff," Toni told him, "most of it's in a storage cupboard somewhere although I can't recall which one at the moment. I'll have a look for you."
"I would appreciate that," Steve said with a slight smile.
"That's it," Toni said once she caught sight of it, "Bring that to me."
"You know what this is," Phil said clearly about to go into fanboy mode.
"It's exactly what I need to make this work," Toni said taking it from him and telling him to, "Lift the coil."
Phil did not look happy about this turn of events but nevertheless did as Toni asked. Toni quickly slipped the shield underneath the pipe and took another reading with the spirit level that indicated that it was now, "Perfectly level."
"Well, I'm glad that old thing could be of use to someone," Steve said, "it doesn't look like it would have been much use as a shield anymore."
"I'm busy. What do you want?" Toni asked.
"Nothing," Phil said, "Goodbye. I've been reassigned."
"Huh," Toni acknowledged.
"Director Fury wants me in New Mexico," Phil explained.
"This is when you came and met me Friend Coulson," Thor said excitedly, "Does that mean my movie will be next?"
"It seems likely Thor," Toni said.
"Fantastic. Land of enchantment," Toni deadpanned.
"So I'm told," Coulson agreed.
"Secret stuff?" Toni asked.
"Something like that," Coulson said, "Good luck."
"Bye, Phil," Toni said shaking his hand.
"We need you," Phil told her.
"More than you know," Toni joked.
"Not that much," Phil joked back.
"I wish I'd known about this before I was insensitive," Steve said.
"No use dwelling on things we cannot change Friend Steven," Thor told him, "it is better to look forward."
"Hey Phil," Toni called out to him as he was about to leave.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Check your inside pocket," she said before going back to work.
Phil reached into it and pulled out a Captain America trading card with a sticky note attached reading 'This is the one you didn't have right.' He smiled before exiting the lab.
"That was really sweet of you," Steve acknowledged.
"Just don't tell anyone," Toni said, "you'll ruin my rep."
A/n – That felt like a good place to end it. Hope you enjoyed it everyone