The Damage Done

The metal doors of the elevator slide open smoothly. Light comes from the other side and into the elevator, welcoming the visitors to its home. Tony decides to exit first, followed by Steve and then Angela last. Tony continues his way forward in the room with Steve on his left. Angela, however, was intrigued at the very few items that were on each side of her.

Looking to her left, she notices items that were made of shiny metal. Some of them have vivid colors as if they were meant to be shown off. Others were calmer in color and looked like they were made for luxury. The Jedi also noticed that these things were touching the ground on what looked like black wheels, but not like the wooden wheels some societies would use, in fact, they looked like they had some give to them.

They look as if they are some sort of means for transportation. However, it's not like a cart or wagon. But for some reason, the vehicle is actually touching the ground even though it looks more like a pod for racing, but... these don't hover above the ground.

Stopping suddenly, Tony turns around to see that Angela has stopped to look at some of his toys. I'm pretty sure she hasn't seen stuff like this before. Steve had by this time stopped and turned to also see that Angela had stopped following them.

Angela looks away from the intriguing items and catches Tony and Steve looking at her. Thinking that he should clarify, Tony states, "The things you were looking at; we call them vehicles. Well, if you want me to be a little more specific, they are sports cars."

Angela looks back at the cars. "Do they... fly?"

Steve decides to answer her back first. "Um, no. they don't fly."

"Not yet, anyways, but if Marty McFly is actually a real person, then we should have flying cars and hover boards by the year 2015." Tony smiles to himself after coming up with the reference. Angela, however gives the look of confusion, looks back at the cars, and then walks away from them to meet back up with Stark and Rogers.

"You know," Angela stated. "If you are trying to make references to culture, then you might as well not waste your breath because… I don't get any of them."

"I know you don't get them, but I do." Tony, Steve, and Angela continue farther into the room. Along the way they pass some tool chests that Tony bought to keeps all of his advanced technology in a convenient place. After passing the one chest on their right, all three of them spot Tony's creation, which Tony called by the name of Dummy.

Angela's mind once again wondered from the integrity of her Starfighter, to the mechanical arm that was busy "trying" to sort all of the hi-tech work tools. "Whoa." Leaving the path she was walking, Angela walks right up to Dummy and starts looking it over. Dummy, not knowing who this person was, started to get uneasy. This was made clear to his creator by all the high and low pitched whining his mechanical hydraulics were making.

"It's alright, Dummy. She won't hurt you. She just wants to look at you. I mean, you're kind of outdated as it is." Tony snaps with the fingers on his right hand. "That reminds me. Jarvis?" Sounding from above, the humanoid voice bellows from above.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Remind me to update Dummy's software. It's probably outdated again."

Dummy, hearing the words of his Creator's mouth, gives off a series of more whining from his hydraulics to tell Tony that he would very much like an upgrade in his programming.

Angela turns back to look at Tony. "He's cute."

Tony's face is full of shock. "Cute? Cute...CUTE?!"

Steve leans to his left so that his mouth is closer to Tony's right ear. "That's what she said, Stark."

"I know that! I'm not deaf." The sudden raise in Tony's voice implies to Angela that she probably should not have used the word "cute". To ease the situation, Angela throws a different subject in front of them.

"Hey... Um... My Starfighter. Are we almost to it yet?"

"Oh." Tony starts off once more in the direction of the Jedi's aircraft. "Right. It's this way. Follow me." After finishing his sentence, Tony continues to go deeper into the room, but at a faster pace than before.

Leaving Dummy's side, Angela gets back onto the marked path and also continues down into the room, with Steve on her left side.

"Wow."

Turning to face Steve, Angela repeats his word. "Wow?"

"Yeah. Wow."

"What is it you are 'wow' ing about?"

Steve nods his head at the figure stopped a little ways ahead on the pathway. "Tony. That's what I'm 'wow' ing about."

"Why is that?"

"Ever since I saw him, after he brought you here to Manhattan, he's been acting...excited, like a little kid at Christmas time."

"Yeah. I don't know why he would be excited, even though he said that he hasn't seen a Jedi before."

Steve stops walking, and so does Angela. He is perplexed at what Angela just said. "Why would you say that? You are from a different planet that, according to our culture, is fictional."

"So? I've traveled across my galaxy, and I thought that some of the stories I heard as a kid were fake, made up, just stories. However, I realized that stories, whether believed to be fictional or not, tend to have some truth in them."

After saying those words, the Jedi turns and continues down the path to where Tony was standing, just about ten yards in front of her. Steve, however, stands in the same spot for a few moments, thinking on what Angela had just said.

All stories tend to have some truth. He looks ahead to where Tony was standing and where Angela was going, deciding that he should continue to where Tony was waiting as well. Still, he kept thinking about Angela's words. All stories...well, I know of several stories that were proven to be true or almost true. I also thought aliens were just some drunk people's hallucinations, but I saw some here in Manhattan, with my own eyes. He smiles to himself at his thought about Angela. She's smart... like Peggy. Sudden images flash in his mind that he remembers of Peggy. Her reddish brown hair. Her chocolate-colored eyes. Her...

"Steve?" A whistle from Tony's lips brings Steve out of his trance, but Tony wants Steve to tell him that. "Are you here?"

Steve looks at Tony, then behind him. He had walked all the way to where Tony had stopped and did not even know it. He turns back to face Tony. "Yeah...I'm here."

Tony just shrugs off the fact that Steve had blanked out. Everyone blanks out at least once in their life. However, Angela, being trained in the ways of the Force, sensed that Steve had remembered something or someone from his past, long ago. She keeps her thought about the situation in her mind, but pushes the thought to the side. Right now, she was worried that Tony, who was now reaching down to pull off the cloth that was covering something up, was going to show her the Starfighter, with damage all over and the engine crushed into a mangled piece of mess.

"Angela, I present to you", Tony yanks the cover away. "Your Starfighter."

As if on cue, the cloth flies from Angela's line of sight to reveal to her yellow-colored Jedi Starfighter. Her mouth fell open in disbelief. The whole body of the craft was as if it did not wreck at all, however, she also noticed that somebody, more than likely Tony, had went over her craft and had polished it until it reflected images and light like a mirror.

"Well, how did I do?"

Angela looks away from the fighter and at Tony.

"Is it cleaned up enough?"

Angela tries to explain the situation as painless and as nicely as she can. "Uh. It's certainly more beautiful than what I began with, but.."

"But?"

"It's...polished."

Tony looks at the Jedi's craft then back at her. "Yeah? You don't like it?"

Angela can't help but smile at Tony. "I actually love it. A lot."

Steve, having just as confused a look as Tony had, asked, "Then why did it sound like you were disappointed?"

Angela shifts on her feet. "Well, the problem is that I fly my Starfighter in both atmosphere and in space. If I flew it in just the atmosphere, I wouldn't have a problem with it looking like it is. However, in space, if I'm near a bright planet or star, the light would reflect so much that it would blind me or it would alert anyone else in space that a craft is near, and by anyone, I mean specifically enemy craft."

A light bulb turns on above Stark. "Oh, right. I..I'm sorry. It's just that...perhaps I got a little carried away in taking care of it."

Feeling Tony was embarrassed about what he had done, Angela moves forward putting her left hand on his right shoulder. "There's no need to be sorry. In fact, thanks. It's the thought that counts anyways."

Angela smile spreads to Tony. She really knows how to make a guy feel better even though he made a huge mistake. How could I be so thoughtless about that?! I have seen and read about air and space craft in every Star Wars movie and book. Oh well. What's done is done. I'll just have Dummy take off the waxing job later.

"Anyway," Angela removes her hand from Tony's shoulder, while turning to look at her Starfighter. "It's looks good on the outside." She moves back over to the craft and leans forward. "Let's see about the inside."

Her right hand reaches to the edge of the dome that covered the cockpit and pulls up on it. A loud hiss escapes from the inside. Using both hands, she grips it firmly and raises it upward and back until it can go no farther.

"Hey." Reaching deep into her Starfighter, she pulls out a helmet. Her helmet. As if by instinct, she flips it upside down and looks inside. She immediately notices a red and slightly wavy streak on the right side.

"Blood? I guess I should have suspected that. I did crash."

"Um,"

Angela looks up at Tony. Her instincts told her that Tony knew more than she did.

"Actually. You didn't really crash here. I...stopped your craft before it crash landed in the Sahara Desert. Let me tell you everything that happened."

Tony started from the beginning. Telling her everything from the time he was almost hit by the Starfighter, to him taking her to the nearest hospital in Manhattan, then him getting permission from the doctor and hospital to release her into Tony's care, all the way up to her distracting the Sith that was about to slice Tony and Steve into pieces.

"That Sith will more than likely be back. They don't quit, even if they know they will lose the fight." Bending over, the Jedi places her helmet on the floor right next to her fighter. Stepping up onto the left wing of the craft, she puts in her left leg into the cockpit and then, her right leg.

"And since he's not here, or anywhere nearby as far as I can sense with the Force, I'll just see how bad the damage is to this lovely piece of machine." After finishing the sentence, she sits down in the black-colored seat of the craft.

"Did you do anything else to the craft besides make it shiny?"

Tony takes a moment to answer, but only one moment. "Uh...no. I dared not try to fix anything mechanical that isn't my own tech."

The sounds of button being pressed and switches being flipped were all mixed together.

"Well, according to the computer system, everything is still intact and together. I going to have to test it though. Do you mind if I just turn on the engine to see if it is working properly?"

Tony shakes his head. "Not at all. Please, start it up. I want to hear if it sounds like it does in the movies."

Ignoring the last sentence he spoke, Angela stretches her hand out forward and presses a green-painted button.

Click. Silence.

Angela lets out a disappointed breath, but tries again.

A click sounds which is immediately followed by a different kind of sound. A whoosh and mid-pitch whining sound emits from the back of the Starfighter. Hearing the sound, Steve's instincts told him to back up a little bit, Tony's, however...

"THIS IS AWESOME!" He steps as close to the Starfighter as he can without touching it.

Maybe she will... nah.. she wouldn't let someone like me in a Starfighter... would she? Should I ask her? There's no harm in asking right? I'll ask her later. I don't want to sound pushy or anything.

Pressing the green button once more, Angela exits the craft with a huge smile on her face., which quickly spreads to Tony and Steve. All three were smiling at one another.

"It works!" Her smile lessens a bit, but she is still just as happy. "It will fly off this planet for sure. All I have to do now is check the hyperdrive." Angela walks to the back of the craft. Her smile almost immediately disappears at the sight before her eyes. The outside of the hyperdrive looked as if someone had shot it with a military blaster.

Sudden images come back to Angela and suddenly, she remembers everything. She remembers flying beside Luke above Yavin. She remembers being shot from behind by a custom-built Tie-Fighter. She remembers sensing the living being and that it was connected to the Dark Side of the Force. Then, it all came together when her mind played back the moment when Angela stopped a Sith from slicing Tony and Steve into two.

IT WAS THE SAME GUY! The realization makes Angela mad, not because the Sith had gotten away, but because of the fact that she did not remember and piece it together sooner. She slams down on the yellow craft with her right fist.

"Is something wrong?"

The Jedi remembers that Tony and Steve were right there with her. She turns her head to the right to face Steve in the face.

"Yeah. In fact, two things are wrong." She holds up her left hand, which was tightened into a closed fist. She raises her pointer finger. "One: The hyperdrive is ruined. It's been precisely hit in the main ignition and running components. I'm going to have to repair, and hopefully not rebuild, the thing from scratch." She raises her middle finger right beside the pointer finger. "Two: The same Sith that tried to cut you two into pieces is the same one that shot the hyperdrive. He followed me here and almost finished the job. He probably saw me with my black hair though."

"He more than likely will come back though. A Sith usually finishes his mission, one way or another, or dies trying." Tony words were truth, and Angela knew it. She nodded in agreement.

"He won't bring an army, though. My instincts are telling me that he'll either come back by himself or with his master or apprentice. Also, I sense that this planet is far away from any other habitable planet, as if it's the only planet with life on it." She looks back at her ship. " Since the Sith won't be back for awhile, I guess I could start working on the hyperdriv. and hopefully he will bother with this planet, but..."

Tony cuts in. "But what?"

Angela is hesitant to answer. "Well, It's just that... I don't think... that... well, technology on this planet is not looking promising. I mean, your door on the elevator was automatic, but the door for the room I was in had to be opened by hand. I have a gut feeling that technology on this planet isn't sophisticated enough to help me repair the hyperdrive."

Angela looks at the floor, trying to figure out a different plan for repairing the craft, but she looks back up at Tony, who was now chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny?"

Tony, with his wide smile, states "Well, actually, technology on this planet isn't close to what it is where you are from...but my technology might be able to help."

A confused look forms on Angela face. "Are you saying that you could be able to help me repair my hyperdrive?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I am saying. Besides Jarvis and Dummy, I have made other things as well. In fact, I'll take you to see some of my technology. It's on the top floor."

Tony starts walking quickly back up the walkway, heading straight for the elevator. "Come on."

I can't wait! I mean, showing off my inventions to the world is one thing, but showing them to an actually Jedi. This is one of the best days of my life! Maybe if I'm lucky enough, she'll will let me actually swing her lightsabers around!

After this thought in his mind was gone, Tony passes Dummy. Stopping short, he gives Dummy a different job to do.

"Dummy."

The mechanical arm rises to Tony's eye level.

"You see the yellow aircraft over there? I want you to take off all wax. Make it as dull as it was before it was waxed. And Dummy?"

The mechanical arm once again answers by giving off more high and low-pitched whining noises.

"Don't scratch the paint, okay?" The droid answers and heads on over to the craft, passing Angela and Steve along the way.

Angela, walking back up the walkway with Steve right beside her, remembers the question Steve tried to ask earlier and decides to answer it.

"You remember when you tried to ask if I had sons? Well, um, when I said I would remember 'being a gentleman' for the boys back home I meant something different."

Steve looks over to his right, making eye contact with Angela but continuing to walk with her. "You did? Well, what did you mean by 'the boys back home'?"

Angela smiles at Steve. She couldn't help it. "The 'boys' I'm talking about are the soldiers I lead in the New Republic Army. Normally, Jedi don't or shouldn't lead or fight in wars. We are suppose to be peacekeepers, but since there are few people in the New Republic Army with experience to lead, some Jedi are still leading sections of the army. Like me."

Angela keeps on walking and is just about to the doors. Steve, however, stops short at the statement the Jedi just said.

She leads part of an army... More images of Peggy play through his mind. This time, though, they are images of her giving command to people around her. She was born to lead. It seems whatever Peggy has done, Angela has done as well.

"Hey Steve, you coming or what?"

His thoughts shatter away at Tony's words. Looking up, he sees the billionaire holding the elevator doors open and also sees Angela just entering the elevator. He jogs all the way back to the elevator and walks in. Tony stops holding the door open. In turn, the elevator shuts tight and begins it trip upwards. Upwards to the room where Angela would see if Tony's technology would be able to help in the repair of the hyperdrive for her Starfighter.