A/N: Hello peeps! Thank you so much for all your follows and favourites! I have decided to introduce a sort of competition, the best review for each chapter will get a shout out in the next. So REVIEW!
Last chapter's winner was: AgentFFW, with: I just have to say.
I love how the chapter ended with Toni saying "Shit." Because only Toni would say 'shit' when her deepest secrets are being exposed. Not Panicking. Not PMSing. Just "Shit."
Love this Story! :D
Enjoy the chapter!
Toni shifted uncomfortably in her chair as everyone stared at the screen and then at her. Bruce had a slight green tinge to his skin which was alarming,
"Uh, Bruce do you want to sit in the chair of calmness" Toni said jokingly. Bruce looked down at his skin and let out a dry laugh then looked straight at Toni,
"If he were still alive I'd kill him" he said seriously,
"Yeah well he's not and this was a long, long time ago so smile" Toni said leaning over to pull the corner of Bruce's mouth up into a smile. He raised his eyebrows at her but relaxed into his chair,
"Oh no. I think the soldier is crying" Loki said, amused, looking over at Steve who did in fact have tears of guilt running down his cheeks and small sobs coming from his throat. The rest of them looked over at Steve, worried for the unofficial team leader,
"Steve," Natasha said soothingly, "it wasn't your fault, you were in the ice. Toni doesn't blame you for anything, do you Toni?" she continued looking over at Toni who had a serious look on her face again. Steve too looked up at her with wet eyes for reassurance about who Toni blamed,
"Well… I wouldn't say I don't blame him for anything…" Toni said seriously, receiving shocked looks as she said it, "he did get me banned from that bar the other day." she continued cracking a grin. Relief flooded Steve's face when she said that. The others visibly relaxed, glad that there wasn't going to be a row between the two,
"Yes, yes… Cap is forgiven. Can we watch more memories now? I'm getting into this." said Clint slouching in his chair facing the screen waiting for it light up and play a memory, earning a smirk from Loki, glares from everyone else and a smack from Natasha. "Oww!" he exclaimed. The screen lit up promptly, cutting off the argument that was about to begin.
Toni looked about 7 or 8 in this memory. She was in what looked like a lab but everything was kid sized.
"Did Howard buy you a lab?" Natasha asked flabbergasted,
"Hell no! You think he would have spent money on me?" Toni laughed bitterly, "Peggy bought me this" she added softly staring at the screen. Steve stiffened at the mention of Peggy, he missed her so much but visiting the retirement home had become too difficult for him knowing she didn't really remember him.
Little Toni was covered in grease and triumphantly holding a piece of machinery.
"Why do you look like you had a bowl of grease dumped on your head?" Clint asked staring at Toni with a smirk on his face,
"That piece of metal comes from a car engine. I had to get it out, hence grease." Toni said as if it should be obvious,
"I knew that... I was just, um, testing you…" Clint muttered. Toni just looked at him with a raised eyebrow,
"Whatever you say Katniss." she teased,
Child Toni ran over to a bench where a small metal dog was slumped over. She carefully fitted the piece into the dog and closed a small metal hatch over it. She looked anxious as she carefully flicked a switch on the robots side. Its eyes lit up with a blue glow as it stood up and barked at Toni, "It worked." breathed Toni, holding her hands on the sides of her face, "It really worked!" she shouted again, jumping up and doing some very strange victory dance.
"Friend Toni, what is wrong with your body that causes these movements?" Thor asked worriedly, resulting in lots of laughter from the seated super heroes,
"It's called victory dancing Blondie." Toni huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting like a child,
"Ohh. Does widdle baby Toni-wony need a hug?" Clint asked with his arms out and a wicked grin when he saw Toni's sulking face,
"Shut up Legolas!" Toni snapped but she was smiling,
"What is a victory dance?" Thor asked still very confused,
"It's a dance that someone does when their happy Thor." Natasha explained,
"Okay back to the memory now." said Bruce, who was very interested in what Toni had created,
Small Toni stopped dancing to stare at her creation delightedly, a huge grin spread over her face,
"I've gotta show dad!" she said scooping up the puppy which was still barking adorably. Toni sprinted up some stairs to what looked like a dining room. At the table in the middle of the room there were two people seated. One of them was clearly Howard, though he had aged a bit with grey hairs starting to poke out the sides of his head. The other person was a woman that The Avengers didn't recognise,
"Who's that woman Toni?" Steve asked still a little teary from earlier,
"That Steve, is my mother, Maria Stark." Toni said then grinned. "I'm surprised you don't remember her! I mean, you did kiss her that one time."
"What!" Steve spluttered,
"Remember that woman who thanked you for bringing back all the women's husbands and then kissed you?" Toni asked as Steve paled remembering that incident and what had followed,
"Yeah," Steve replied, "that was the day I learned not to piss off Peggy." he said smiling fondly,
"That woman was my mum." Toni said. Steve's eyes widened and he did a brilliant impression of a startled fish. In the background, The Avengers could hear Loki's soft chuckles at the look on Steve's face. Toni completely lost it. She laughed so hard that she got tears in her eyes and fell off her chair. This set Natasha, Clint and Bruce off. Eventually Thor and Steve joined in and the laughter reverberated off the walls. Loki sneakily started the memory back up when the laughter started to die down.
"Look Dad!" small Toni said, extending her hands which contained the small robotic dog. Howard didn't even look up; he just continued to talk with Maria who gave a small nervous glance Toni's way before ignoring her as well. "Dad, I made this for you!" Toni tried again running up to Howard and placing the puppy on the table in front of him. He looked down at the robot wagging its tail and smashed it with his fist,
"Don't waste my time." Howard growled at Toni, throwing the dog against the wall and turning back to Maria as if nothing had happened. Toni stared at the spot where the puppy had landed and tears began to run down her cheeks. Howard glanced back at Toni, got up and walked over to her. He stared at her for a second, then slapped her, causing a crack to echo round the mostly empty room. He grabbed her shirt, "Starks don't cry!" he said throwing her out of the room. Little Toni hit the floor and the screen went white,
The happiness that had started to fill the room abruptly vanished,
"Why didn't the Maria try to stop Howard?" Thor asked, staring dangerously at the screen then glanced at Toni who was forcing Bruce into the magic chair because his skin was rapidly turning green.
"Mum was always scared of Howard, she never had the courage to stop him." she said turning to face Thor, "I relied on Peggy to stop him when he was going too far." Toni said, turning back to Bruce, "now you are going stay in the calm, magic chair because, as much as I love the Hulk, I don't want to see him today." she said, looking down at Bruce with a stern expression. Loki was chuckling at Bruce's face, which looked like a child's who had just been scolded,
"What if you need the chair?" Natasha asked with a sceptically raised eyebrow.
"Umm… I'll sit on his lap?" Toni said slowly, and then looked back at Loki who was chuckling at the look on Bruce's face after that suggestion, "Will that work?" she asked.
"No. The chair is not that powerful." Loki said still grinning, "But there aren't that many traumatic memories left." he said. Toni nodded,
"I'll probably be fine then." she said sitting where Bruce used to, "Let's get this show on the road!" she said pointing to the screen,
The screen faded into an image of an eleven year old Toni sitting on a metal bench with her hands tied tightly to a long metal pole in front of her. She had a dirty gag stuffed in her mouth and was held there by duct tape. Three men wearing balaclavas walked in and ripped the duct tape off her mouth. She winced, but looked defiantly up at her captors, "So it turns out that your daddy really doesn't want you back." one of them taunted,
"Yeah." the leader said, "he told us he couldn't care less if we killed you." he continued running a knife softly down her cheek. "And I think we will." he said, putting the knife to her throat,
"Stop!" Toni's captors all looked around to see Peggy holding a big wad of cash, "I have the money, now give me Toni!" she said holding the money up. The kidnappers looked at each other, one of them cut the rope that tied Toni to the pole and pulled her up roughly,
"Give us the money first." the leader said putting the knife to Toni's throat again. Peggy threw them the money and one of them caught it. The leader grinned, "Thank you miss." he said as he threw Toni on the floor. Peggy sprinted to where Toni lay unconscious from the impact of the ground.
"Oh Toni…" Peggy said, cradling Toni's head in her lap. The projection froze and the screen faded back to white,
Silence filled the room. The Avengers were too shocked to say anything. Toni was the one to break the silence,
"I take it back. I'm not fine." she said, as tears started running down her cheeks and she sat on the ground. They all moved to comfort her but surprisingly Loki got there first, he wrapped his arms around her as she started to freely sob,
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you watch that without something to calm you." he said gently,
"Why did they kidnap you?" Steve asked stupidly,
"I was a billionaire's daughter, why do you think they kidnapped me?!" Toni snapped before lapsing back into sobs, "I thought he would save me…" she whispered.
A/N: I am so sorry it took me so long to update. (Blame the fandoms!). I had all the memories typed up on a list but I got a new computer and it deleted all of it! Luckily I remember it all but still… Remember to review!