Thank you so much guys for all of the favourite-ing (totally a word ;)), following and commenting! You all continue to be amazing! :)
*Yip, I still own nothing – very sad I know*
Toni's Point of View
Toni liked the lab. It didn't measure up to her own at home – but then she hadn't thought it would – but there was everything she needed and a more than one computer for her to use to her own dastardly ends.
There had been a few minutes crammed full of awkwardness while they measured each other up – but Toni hadn't expected anything else really. She bit her tongue during the silence, trying to resist the urge to be the first one to break it. But she wanted to so badly. She could feel her inner fangirl just itching to burst out and leap upon the nervy doctor. But she remained in control.
Only just.
They found a balance quickly enough. Bruce seemed to be in his element as he collaborated the machinery to scan the sceptre of doom and Toni was in heaven with all of the tech quite literally lining the walls.
The silence had finally ended - thank goodness, her nerves were beginning to crumble with it – when Bruce asked her for her opinion on the frequency levels he was setting the scanner to.
"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's report of the tesseract," Banner announced, running the scanner over the sceptre as she walked back over to her station and began to play about with the systems. "But it's going to take weeks to process,"
Phhh. Not if I have anything to say about it.
"If we by-pass their mainframe," she found the coding she needed and began to put in her own lines, "And direct route to the Homer cluster," she pressed and dragged what she needed, "we can clock this at around 600 teraflops," she dragged the screen to the side, clearing it, satisfaction coursing through her.
I really need to talk to Fury about his systems and rubbish security.
"All I packed was a toothbrush," Banner commented dryly.
She wanted to giggle at that but caught herself in time and it came out as a chuckle instead.
I'm going to have to watch that if I'm going to be here for long.
"You should come by Stark Tower sometime," she told him, making her way back over to him and leaning back against the table her arms across her chest. And then the shooting pain in her ribs and arm reminded her of her injuries and she quickly straightened up and lowered her arms.
"Top ten floors are all R and D, you'd love it. It's like candy-land,"
"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke…Harlem,"
Toni remembered reading about it and seeing some of the footage and winced internally, but before she could think of a reply the door to the lab swished open and Capsicle walked in. Still in his uniform.
Now, Toni was a girl, and although she didn't really like Steve she could still fully appreciate the dashing figure he cut in his uniform. But really, the guy had to own something else.
"How is everything going doctor?" he asked walking up to Banner and bypassing her completely.
Wow, thanks, just ignore me then.
She could read the confusion on Banner's face as he glanced between her and Capsicle. She shook her head slightly, telling him to not mind it.
"The sceptre is definitely linked with the Tesseract but it will take some time for the data to be processed," Banner told the other man, still looking less than comfortable.
The Capsicle's head bobbed up and down and Toni resisted the urge to throw around some big words and mind boggling terms just so she could watch him get confused and try not to show it. But she wasn't that mean…yet.
"What about you Mr Stark?"
Oh so now he decides to notice I am here.
"Hmm?"
What about me?
"What are you doing?" the Capsicle repeated himself his tine flirting with irritation.
The nerve!
She tried to take some calming breaths. She wasn't used to people questioning her and hovering. She worked alone, she always had and this was the longest amount of time she had ever been in anyone else's presence – except for Pip and Obediah. She wanted to scratch Miss America's eyes out! Or even better, ask him what the hell he was doing to help find the Tesseract.
Just…Just…Just. Agh! The nerve.
Well I am messing about with the internal systems and coding so that this can all get done a lot quicker. I am trying not to pass out because – NEWSFLASH – being treated as a punching bag by an ancient alien really takes it out of you. I am trying to breath as properly as I can with broken ribs. I am attempting to not give anything away by acting too girly and trying to deal with being around so many people. Oh and I am hacking into S.H.I.E. networks. Anything else?
"Stuff," she answered and went back over to her station.
She answered to no one – well, maybe Fury – and especially not someone who didn't even bother to acknowledge her when he walked into a room.
3 hours later
Toni was exhausted.
She had finally been shown to her quarters by a member of the crew after both she and Banner had decided that it was best to call it a night. She had dragged her feet all the way back down to the storage-bay so she could grab her hadn't even made it to the end of the first corridor on her return trip when she was met by a representative of Phil's (bless his heart) and escorted through the ship.
After Capsicle had left the lab – there had been a lovely awkward silence after her 'stuff' announcement – it had taken them longer than either she or Banner had predicted to set the scanners. It had taken seven complete trial scans to get the levels right Each scan taking just over ten minutes to complete.
There was nothing much to do during these gaps so she had put her time to good use by watching the interview between Loki and Fury that she had missed earlier. She nearly choked on her coffee and Fury's leaving comments – 'let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," Classic! She doubted even she could do any better than that.
She rewound the footage and watched it again and again until she nailed what she didn't feel right about.
"JARVIS zoom in on-Oh yeah," she had cut herself off feeling stupid when she caught Banner looking over at her with raised eyebrows. She pressed some buttons and tapped the screen.
The image had lost focus for a second before zooming in on the figure behind the glass. The figure re-pixelated and settled on the screen and she began to play the clip again. She had kept her eyes fixed on Luki's face and began to nod her head.
Something was off…
She shook herself from the memory and concentrated on the space that was going to be hers during her time on the hellicarrier.
As far as rooms went it was…basic. There was a single bed, a bedside table complete with a wall lamp and a desk that doubled as a set of drawers. And then there was the door that led to a shower, sink and toilet. It had everything that was needed and it was obvious that it was made to serve a function and that was it.
She dropped her bag onto the floor and took out her phone – bug protected to defend against nosey parkers like one Nicholas Fury – and pressed the icon that had a silhouette of Mary Poppins in the little square and putting the phone on speaker she popped it on the bedside table.
She was actually nervous.
Was this how normal kids felt when they broke their curfew? It felt horrible.
After several rings her call was answered.
"Philip Potts,"
In a split second she realised one thing and decided another. She realised that Philip hadn't looked at his caller ID and she decided this was a good thing because it gave her the chance to talk before he yelled at her.
So she launched straight into things.
"So I nabbed a bad guy who I don't actually think is entirely a bad guy today," she rushed.
"Toni! Where the hell are you?" came the angry reply. She cringed.
"Umm, classified. Sorry," she mumbled, feeling edgy.
She needed to do something to keep her hands busy.
She started by switching of the hologram and sliding the cuffs from her limbs. Then she lifted her bag from the floor and dumped it on the bed, rummaging for something to sleep in.
"Classified! I asked you to do one thing Toni. To keep me in the loop and the first thing you do is zap off without so much as a 'don't wait up',"
Oops.
"And where do you go speeding off to? Germany of all places. GERMANY! I thought Fury wanted you for a project here! And what do I see you doing – you are all over YouTube by the way – playing whose-is-bigger with some crazy psycho in Europe!"
Woe, Pip was really angry.
"And what do you mean he isn't a bad guy? Because he looks like a pretty fine example of an open and shut case to me," he snapped.
Yeah, that's just the problem.
Toni could just imagine Pip pacing and running a hand through his hair in that way he did whenever she gave him cause too. Which, in all fairness, wasn't all that often. Well, lately anyway.
She didn't like making him worry and she was sorry that he was now.
"I'm sorry Pip. I should have let you know but you would have tried to talk me out of it," she told him (although she knew it didn't excuse her keeping him in the dark) pulling her t-shirt over her head and replacing it with the baggiest of the comfortable t-shirts that she had packed.
"Yes I would," Pip answered.
"And they need me," she continued like he hadn't spoken, sitting down on the bed to undo her shoes.
Pip chuckled darkly and she rolled her eyes.
"You know that Fury wasn't happy with me being on the team after he found out about everything," her shoes off, Toni slowly lay back on the mattress and winced. There were definitely painkillers in her near future.
"Besides it is mainly research he wants me to lend a hand with-"
"Research?" Pip scoffed, "How did research land you in a face-off half way across the world Toni?"
"Um…fluke?"
Silence.
"Look Pip, I am really sorry I didn't tell you. But I am fine. I'm all in one piece,"
Kind of.
There was a deep sigh and a grunt from Pip and Toni smiled, feeling that knot in her chest loosen.
"Do you forgive me?" she asked.
Please say yes.
"Yes Toni, I forgive you," came the grumpy mumbled reply.
Now it was her turn to sigh as relief flooded her.
"I would get you to promise me that you would never do it again but then that would be a pointless exercise,"
"Yeah, it would be,"
She began to turn onto her stomach and thought better of it when her ribs screamed
"So other than thwarting the plans of evil villains what else have you been up to?" Pip asked her, his tone not as light as it could be but the strain was definitely leaving it.
"I am working in the same lab as one Dr Bruce Banner! Can you believe it?" she almost squealed.
"Wow. No I can't,"
"Don't be sarcastic," she whined.
Pip chuckled and she knew for certain that she was forgiven.
"Ok, so you stopped a potential evil dictator in his tracks and now you are breathing the same air as Banner. Anything else?"
She totally wasn't telling him about the whole Thor thing. Maybe later though, when Fury was around for him to yell at instead of her.
"I met Howard Stark Junior," she grumbled.
There was a few seconds silence as Pip no doubt tried to figure out who she meant.
And then it clicked.
"Really? And how did that go?"
"The guy is a self-righteous fossil who doesn't approve of me," she bit out, grabbing a pillow and slamming it over her face.
"What did he say?" Pip sounded angry now on her behalf and she flopped the pillow next to her head to answer him.
"Oh nothing out right. He gets this tone and I can tell he doesn't take me seriously. Well…Tony Stark seriously anyway,"
"You have to remember that Toni," Pip told her and she knew that if he was in the room right now he would be hugging her.
"Sweetie, none of those people know you for YOU. Don't let him or anyone else upset you. And if they do you just dredge up all that ego bashing sarcasm you keep on tap and let them have it!"
Toni couldn't stop the giggle that erupted from her and she heard Pip chuckle over the noise that she was making.
"Thank you Pip," she murmured once she had herself under control.
"So tell me, how is the site hunting going?"
Steve Rogers Point of View
Steve walked through the corridors, following the directions a member of the crew had given him.
He was heading to apologise to Mr Stark.
He felt guilty for the way he had spoken to the other man. Although he may have deserved it with his flippant way of approaching things Steve realised that if they were to work together one of them had to be the bigger man.
Coming up to the door he raised his hand to knock when mumbling voices inside stopped him.
There was someone inside the room with Stark.
He didn't want to interrupt anything but then at the same time he would much rather clear the air sooner rather than later.
He went to knock again when the voices grew a little louder.
He couldn't make out the words but he could make out one thing.
There was a woman in the room.
A giggling woman.
And from the deeper gruffer voice he could hear Stark was in the room too.
He had read about the other man's 'playboy' tendencies but he would have thought he could control himself while the safety of the planet was on the line.
Clenching the hand he had raised to knock he turned and stalked off. His face twisted in disgust.
Hi everyone.
Again I am so sorry for the delay in posting this. It has taken me the best part of 3 weeks to get it all typed – LIFE wouldn't go away. I could have posted something last week but I want to give you guys substantial updates as much as possible :)
But here I am finally. YAY!
Yay, I finally got to deviate more from the original *happy dance*. Wahahaha, I couldn't resist throwing in that little bit at the end with Steve – that's what happens when you eavesdrop.
I couldn't resist throwing in that Toni isn't blind to Steve's cuteness either but that she still thinks he is a prat lol.
They are going to be on the hellicarrier for a bit longer than in the film, so some things are being shuffled around – just if you are wondering why the scene with Toni, Bruce and Steve was different. And I couldn't imagine MY Toni zapping Bruce just after they had met…I don't think so anyway…
I really hope you all have had a good and safe weekend.
Take care guys and remember feedback makes the fairies happy :)