Hey all. Long time? I had this finished over a week...just took me awhile to get this upload.
I hope you enjoy this chapter. After this chapter, all the real fun will start! :)
Chapter 12:
What must be done.
Toni took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. She didn't want the guys to see her like this, but she knew she couldn't hide this from them. She was a mess inside and out; there was no way she could control her emotions in her present state. Maybe, Rogers would be too pissed to notice and Barnes would be too distracted by a pissed Rogers. O' god, she hoped so. She couldn't deal with their questions right now.
She held her right arm close to her body with her left hand as she walked up the steps to the apartment. She felt so weak that she wondered if she would ever succeed in getting back to her own time. How could she break into her father's company and steal back her device if she couldn't defend herself? How could she get past the guards like this?
As she reached the apartment door, her eyes were watering. "Stop being a baby," she yelled at herself, wiping the tears. She needed to be strong and not a weakling. Taking a deep breath, she stepped to the door and opened it slightly enough to slide through. She poked her head in to scoop it out, and to her joy, all the lights were off, which would make it easy to sneak in. She slipped through the door and closed it softly behind her. Taking a deep breath, she headed to bathroom, where she could be alone, but she didn't make it too far.
"Toni," Rogers called, softly. Toni flinched at the sound of his voice. After getting over her shock, she could tell that he was worried.
She closed her eyes, not daring to look back at him. He couldn't see her like this. "Hey…Sorry, I'm late." she said slowly. Her own voice sounded broken and shattered. There was no way he wouldn't be able to tell.
"Toni, are you okay?" Rogers took a few steps toward her.
"I'm fine." Her voice was betraying her; she hoped he wouldn't notice.
"Look at us," Barnes said. It sounded like an order, which was something Toni didn't like. Out of principle, she would not listen.
"I'm fine." Why couldn't they leave her alone? Just thinking about what had happened to her brought tears back to her eyes and chills to her bones. She took a deep breath, as she tried to forget the stalker's breath on her face.
Light flashed on startling Toni, but she didn't move. "Turn around, Toni," Barnes ordered. His voice was hard.
"Easy, Bucky," Rogers stated, turning to Barnes. It was clear that he didn't like Barnes' tone. He turned back to Toni. "Toni, what happened? You had us worried."
She might as well show them now and get this over with as they would notice soon enough. She took another deep breath, as she wiped her tears again. "You guys are worrying for nothing," she declared, turning around. She tried her best to put on a smile as she stared them down. With his arms folded across his chest, Barnes was leaning against the counter, and Steve was standing in front of the couch. She could see the looks on their faces when they laid their eyes on her. She did not like it one bit.
"What happened?" Rogers asked, shock presented on his face. He took a few steps toward her, but stopped when he noticed the pain look on her face.
Barnes straightened himself up and walked to her. "Toni," he called when he was a few feet from her. He reached out to her, but she turned away. "He did this, didn't he?"
Toni closed her eyes as she took a few steps away from them. "Barnes," she uttered as she hid her face in her hands. She didn't want to them to see her like this.
"Did he?" he asked again, as he stepped to her. He pulled her toward him, and after a bit of struggling, he had her in his arms. It was clear that he wasn't going to let her go. "Tell me." He was angry, but she wasn't sure if he was angry at her or the stalker.
"Who is this he?" Rogers asked, as he eyed the two. There was something in his tone that Toni couldn't read.
Toni glanced at Rogers before giving a hard push to Barnes. "My stalker and yes," she answered, hating that she had to admit that she had a stalker. "And I don't want to talk about it." Before they could say anything, Toni bolted into the bathroom. She locked it as soon as the door was closed. "I really don't want to talk about it!"
The doorknob wiggled as someone tried to open the door. "Toni, open the door. Let us in, please," Rogers begged as he banged on the door.
"Toni, what happened?" Barnes asked, in the softest voice he could muster.
She took a deep breath as she tried to get the nights events out of her mind. She hadn't felt this useless in a while and that was something she didn't know how to handle. "Please, leave me alone," she begged as she looked at herself in the mirror. She was a hot mess and not in a good way. Her hair was a mad mess and her clothes were filthy. She had a huge scratch on her face and a red hand print around her neck. "Please, just go."
"Open the door," Rogers said as he banged on the door. "You can't stay in there forever." If this was the future, he would have broken the door in, which he had done before at the tower. "Talk to me."
At that moment, he sounded like the future Rogers and Toni didn't like it. She liked the past Rogers so much better than the future one, and she wouldn't listen to him if he continued to sound like that.
"Toni," Barnes called. "Tell us what happened, so I can beat the asshole, who did this to you."
It touched her to hear that from Barnes, but she didn't need or that. What she needed was to get back to her time, and in order to do that, she needed to break into Stark Industries. She didn't have time to worry about her emotional state. Toni took the phone out of her pocket and stared at it. She closed her eyes as she slid down the wall and sat in the corner. Though she would deny it aggressively to anyone who asked, she was panicking. Tears poured from her eyes and she was having a hard time breathing.
"Toni," Rogers called, banging on the door again. Judging from his voice, he was out of breath and was sitting as well.
"Steve, I don't think she's coming out," Barnes stated. "We need to let her come to us."
"You can leave, but I'm going to stay here," Rogers replied.
If she wasn't crying and scared, she would have thought Rogers' determination was cute, but she didn't want to think about that. Toni shook her head as she took a deep breath, and she allowed her mind and thoughts to overtake her.
*O*O*
Toni didn't know how long she had been running, but she had been running for a while. Glancing over her shoulder as she ran, horror filled her; she hadn't been able to put any distance between them. The shadow was still behind her and it was closing the distance fast. Though she was running out of breath and energy, she pushed her body harder.
Remembering something in her self-defense class, she started to zigzag, but that didn't help her as the shadow was still able to keep up with her. In seconds, she was pinned against a brick wall with a hand firmly around her neck, and no matter how much she fought, she couldn't get it off her. She forced herself to look at the shadow, which morphed into a man with no-face. He was laughing at her with such an evil laugh that it sent shivers down her spine. "Pretty."
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
The no-face man's hand danced on the helm of her shirt. "It would be so easy to have you." His hands felt cold against her skin as his fingers moved down to the rim of her jeans.
Still no sound came from her lips. It was as if someone had cut out her tongue. She closed her eyes as she tried not to think about the man's fingers on her. She was filled with panic and…shame as her body started to react to his touches.
"However, my master would not approve," the man whispered in her ear. His breath was hot. His fingers left her skin, which relieved her, but it wasn't over. The hand, around her neck, started to tighten, making it harder to breath. She tried to claw his hand off, but nothing she did worked. "Don't fight me. It'll just make it worse. Just close your eyes."
But she didn't listen, and she continue to fight.
"You should listen," he stated as his free hand disappeared behind his back. She didn't have time to think why, before he stabbed her in the stomach with a long blade. She screamed as she never felt so much pain before in her life.
Toni woke up covered in sweat. She would've screamed if she could've, but her throat felt like it was on fire. The dream felt so real that she had to lift up her shirt to make sure she hadn't been stabbed. Though she knew it was a fucken dream, she expected there to be blood. "What's wrong with me?" she asked as she was bent over trying to catch her breath.
Her neck and back were in pain as she pushed herself up. She had slept at a weird angle with her head rested on Rogers' ripped jacket, and it hurt to move. She stretched herself out as she tried to work out the knots in her body. She had fallen asleep in a bathroom before, but this was the worst that she had ever felt the next morning. Maybe, she could convince them to add some pillows as this wouldn't be the only time she slept in here.
She didn't know when she had fallen asleep, but she couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours at the best. It was still dark out, when she woke, and that meant she could sneak out of the bathroom. She opened the door and took a step out, almost tripping over a sleeping Rogers.
"What the hell?" she whispered as she had to jump over Rogers' body. "Idiot." She said, kneeing down. "That mustn't be comfortable." Hesitating for a second, she brushed the hair out of Rogers' eyes. "You're too cute for your own good," she admitted. She would never say that to his face as she would never hear the end of it. As she stood up, she looked over Rogers, who looked smaller than normal. He didn't take up much room on the floor.
Shaking her head, Toni was tempted to leave him there, but she couldn't. She kneed down again and put her hand on his shoulder to shake him. He moved slightly under her touch, but he didn't stir. "Rogers," she called, but he still didn't wake. "Rogers," she called again. She had no idea that he was such a heavy sleeper. "Steve," she stated, switching to his first name. It felt weird to say it. She shook him harder.
His eyes flicked. "Toni," he muttered as he opened his eyes. "Are you okay?" He pushed himself up into a hitting position and it was clear by his stiffness that his back hurt. "Toni," he stated as he reached for her. To both of their surprises, she let him put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm fine," she replied, having nothing else to say. "You shouldn't sleep on the floor. It isn't very good for your back." She stood up slowly and Rogers' hand fell from her shoulder.
"I wasn't going to leave you after what happened," he explained as he eyed her cheek.
Toni took a deep breath. She could see that he was exhausted. "Why don't you go to bed in your room?" she asked as she reached to him to help him up. She had no idea how long he had been asleep at the bathroom door. If she wasn't annoyed at him for his gentlemen qualities, she would hug him or something. He was so cute and adorable at this size.
"I-" he started, but Toni interrupted him.
"If you go to bed, I'll talk to you in the morning," she said, lying through her teeth. "I'll take the couch."
Though he looked like he wanted to fight her, he put on a small smile and walked to his room. "I will hold you to that," he stated as he disappeared into his room.
After a few minutes, Toni crossed to Rogers' door and peaked in. "Geez, asleep alright." She could only make out his form in the darkness, but she could tell by his stiffness that he was out. Shaking her head, she crossed back to the couch. She reached into her pocket for her broke phone and set it on the table before reaching for her tools that were still hidden under the coffee table.
Toni took the sling off so she could have better movement of her arm, and she took a seat on the floor in front of the table. She should go to bed, but one, she was a night owl, and two, each time she closed her eyes she saw that no-face man. She couldn't sleep with his haunting face…or lack of one. She wished she had her special pills that she had in the future, which no one knew about. She used the pills to sleep, because she had a hard time going to bed without them. With her genius mind, it was hard to get her mind to stop, and then, there were the panic attacks. It was hard to sleep without dreaming about the fall. The battle of New York affected her more than she let on. She took a deep breath as she hated to hear that lecture if the gang ever found out.
She took the back off the phone and pulled the battery out. Using the flat head, she pried the black hard covering off the phone to reveal the motherboard. She studied it, trying to see how badly damaged it was. To her luck, she could fix it. She also knew she could convert the camera into a scanner, and depending on her father's system, she might be able to hack his system using a radio frequency; however, she doubted his system worked on some kind of frequencies in this time. If she had some kind of hook up on this scanner, that might work.
Slowly as not to break it, she detached the screen, which she would still use. Gently, she pulled out CPU, which she needed for the scanner. If she ruined that, there would be no way she could fix it in this time. After that, she took out the chipset and separated the rest of the pieces. She laid them out on the table.
With her arms on the table, she rested her chin on her hands and stared at each of the pieces. She would need some kind of heating element to fuse them together. Maybe, there was something at the tool store that she could use…or there was that idea she had earlier.
Picking up the CPU, Toni stared at it as she wondered if she should just tell Colonel Salty the truth. She took a deep breath and exhaled as that wasn't something that she wanted to do. He might lock her in a psych ward… but if this device didn't work, she would have no choice but go straight to the Colonel and explain everything. She hoped he could keep a secret, because if he did tell anyone (like Rogers or her father), the future could be screwed.
"Whatta ya doin'?"
If Toni wasn't so startled, she would have laughed at Barnes' question. She was annoyed that someone was able to sneak up on her. She was really losing her touch. "Why are you up at time?" she asked, making no motion to hide her stuff on the table. She could try, but she wasn't willing to risk damaging them in the attempt to hide them.
In hesitation, he took a few steps toward her. "Couldn't sleep," he stated, shrugging it off. "How are you?"
Toni took a deep breath. "People like to ask me that," she answered, not wanting to answer that.
He rubbed his chin as he exhaled slowly. "And you don't like to answer questions."
She stared at him from the corner of her eyes. "Not to questions I don't like," she admitted. She hated talking about her health and her weaknesses.
"So are you going to talk about it?" he asked as he took a seat on the chair next to the couch. His eyes flecked to the broken down phone on the table, and from his spot, he could see some of the pieces were burnt. He didn't ask though.
Toni looked down at her materials. "No, I'm not." She wasn't sure what she could tell him, because she wasn't really sure what had happened. At first, she thought he was Colonel's tail, but now, she didn't think so. She doubted the Salty wanted her dead. Scared yes, but dead, no. He needed her for something. She closed her eyes as this could've been a trick and she was never in any real danger, but that couldn't be right.
"I see you talked Steve to bed," he turned to the bathroom. "He had fallen asleep at the door the last I checked."
"I said I would tell him what had happened to me in the morning, if he did."
"And you lied, right?"
"Yup," she smiled at him.
"You have to tell someone. You can't keep it in. I can see it is bothering you."
She pushed herself up and onto the couch. "Did you think it was because I don't want to talk to you?" she snapped. "I'm sorry that I don't tell strangers my deep dark secrets." She regretted her tone and words the second she heard them.
Barnes took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that I overstepped. I won't do it again." He stood up and turned away from her. "And just in case you wanted to know, Steve has been very worried about you. I would ask that you aren't this harsh with him as you were with me. He is too naive to handle it, and I'm not sure he would be able to handle that with me gone." With that, he headed to his room.
"Geez, you make me look like a bad guy. What's wrong with not wanting to answer questions?" She knew she should shut up, but it was hard letting someone else have the last word.
"It's not that," Barnes stated as he turned back to her for a second. "It's your I-don't-care-about-others attitude. You can't treat people like that and expect people to like you." He disappeared into his bedroom. She was going to open her mouth to protest, but she decided against it.
It irritated her that everyone thought Rogers was the one that needed to be protected. What was she? Chop liver? It annoyed her so badly, but she needed to let it go. This wasn't her time and she didn't belong here.
She picked up the pieces off the table and slipped them in her bag. Without bothering to change her clothes, she kicked her shoes off and laid down on the couch. She let herself drift.
*O*O*
She had woken up the next two mornings with tears running down her cheeks. Her hand went to her throat, and after talking a few deep breaths, she was able to convince herself that she was fine. She closed her eyes and told herself that everything was fine and she was safe.
"Are you okay, Toni?"
Toni jumped at the sound. "I'm fine," she said, trying to hide her fear. She hadn't been able to sleep lately and it had put her on edge. She knew she couldn't be able to keep this up.
Barnes crouched down in front of her, which she wasn't expecting. He hadn't talked to her since that morning as he was annoyed with her. Rogers didn't know what had happened, but he wasn't going to get involved. "Toni," he uttered as he looked up into her eyes.
She wanted to look away, but his eyes held her in place. He was wearing dress pants and a tan dress shirt signaling that he would be leaving for the Military soon. There was a part of her that wanted to tell him not to go, but she knew it would be stupid if she did. "I'm fine."
With a bit of hesitation, he wiped the tears from her eyes. "How often do you have nightmares?" he asked. He had a hand on her knee in a sign of support.
"Not too often," she stated, not wanting to admit how bad she had it.
Barnes reached up to wipe another tear. "I'll admit that I don't like to see you cry."
She hated talking about her emotions. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" she asked, as she nodded toward the door. He had his bags ready.
"I leave shortly. I'm just waiting for Steve to get dressed. He's walking me to the bus stop," he said with a smile. "But…" He paused as he thought for a second. He pulled her into a bear hug. Toni was utterly confused and not sure how to handle this. "I will miss your spunk."
Toni closed her eyes and laughed. "Trust me, you won't miss this spunky mess." She tried to push him off, but Barnes wouldn't let her go and just held her tighter. "And you can let go now."
"Only if you promised that you'll be good."
"I promised," Toni stated, not sure if she could or not.
Barnes let her go and gave her smile. "I will hold you to that." He stood up and walked to the door for his bags. "And I expect my bed to be nice and warm when I get back." He gave her a wink that could get any girl hot at the knees, including her. "I hate a cold bed."
"You'll find it is harder to bed me than other women," she teased with a smile.
"I like a challenge," he replied, with a wink. Toni just laughed. "I can think-"
"I can't leave you two alone for a minute, can I?" Rogers stated as he entered the room. He had a smile on his face, as he was clearly glad that they were talking again. "Anyhow, we better get going, Bucky."
Toni watched them leave, not knowing if she would see Barnes again before he died. She felt a rush of guilty and she felt sick to her stomach.
*O*O*
The next few weeks went by faster than Toni expected. After she got the correct tools, she was able to convert her smart phone into a portal hacking device. Though she had yet to test the device, it should be able to hack any computer system and unlock any computerize lock; however, just in case her father only had manual locks, she had obtained a small lock picking kit. She had honed her skills on a few different locks that she had found at the hardware store.
She also uses these weeks to watch Stark Industries, in which she had noticed a small hole in the security that she could sneak through. Now, she just needed to pick the time to sneak in, but that would have to wait until the cast came off. Hopefully, it would be in the next week, or she would take a saw to it herself. It was the itchiest thing on the planet.
Toni took a deep breath as she thought about her growing relationship with Rogers. Since that night he slept outside the bathroom and with it being just her and Rogers in the apartment, she had become a little (she refused to be any more than a little) closer to him. The closer she got to him, the less she could hate him, and she loved to hate him. Then there was the fact that it was getting easier and easier for him to read her, which annoyed her. He had been able to see that she wasn't sleeping.
On the plus side, she hadn't seen her stalker since the night in the alley…though, it didn't mean he wasn't still following her. He could be and she might not be aware of it, which scared the shit out of her. As she took a deep breath, she told herself that she couldn't allow it to get to her. She had shit that she had to do and she couldn't waste time on feeling scared.
Toni walked into the apartment to find Rogers on the couch with a depressed look on his face. "You tried to enlist again, didn't you?" she asked as she took a seat next to him.
"Yes, and I got turned down again." He looked so small, hunched over.
She wasn't sure what to say to him, as she knew the future. She could tell him to keep trying and that he would make it through, but how could she say that? No sane military recruiter would take Rogers. He had asthma, he was anemia, and there were other countless things wrong with him. However, she didn't want to kill his dream, because he needed his dream. It was the reason why he became Captain America, and this country needed that. "Are you going to keep trying?"
He looked up at her and weakly smiled. "I don't know. It would be pointless." He looked so defeated. "I think I might give up."
"NO! You can't." If he did that, the whole damn future would be messed up.
Rogers laughed. "Why shouldn't I? My asthma alone makes me ineligible." He stood up and crossed to the window. "And let's not forget my color blindness."
Toni blinked a few times because she was never aware that he was color blinded. "Rogers."
His shoulders fell. "I hate that you call me Rogers. Why can't you call me Steve?" He sounded depressed.
She stood there unsure of what to say to the depressed Rogers. "I call everyone by their last name. It's my thing." She closed her eyes. There were only five people that she didn't refer to by their last names: Pepper, Rhodey (yes it was a play off on his last name, but that didn't count), Happy, Bruce and Clint (which was a recent development). Okay, there was also Thor…..but he really didn't have a last name besides Odinson, and she didn't consider that a last name. With Rogers, it was on principle that she called him by his last name.
Rogers looked back to her and opened his month to say something but decided against it.
It was that look that killed her. "I'm sorry, Steve." It felt weird on her tongue, but it was worth it to see the smile on his face. He had asked her before to call him Steve and she didn't. This time, she would try her best to call him Steve. "But I still don't think you should give up."
"Why is that?"
"Because your drive is impressive." She smiled. "They'll want someone with that kind of drive." Rogers…No, Steve. She would refer to him as Steve. She liked past Steve and she would refer to him by Steve; however, future asshole would still be Rogers to her. "I don't like it when you're depressed."
Steve crossed to her and putted on a smile. "Then I will smile."
"Just make sure you don't quit."
"I won't. I promise."
"I will hold you to that."
*O*O*
Toni had decided to take another look at Stark's security before heading home from work, which was annoying as ever. She really couldn't stand the sexist attitudes of the assholes who walked by. Did they really think they were going to get in her pants that easy? Really? Were they stupid? Why in earth would she want to sleep with anyone of them when they kept insulting her because she was a woman? Just because she was female, it didn't mean that she was stupid or obedient to man. Just because she was a working girl, it did not mean she would spread her legs for anyone. Yes, she had a reputation of being a slut (one that she had started to regret), but that did not mean anything. She was not easy.
She took a deep breath as she forced those assholes out of her mind. She had other things to worry about like Rogers…Steve. It was so weird to refer to him by his first name and she still hadn't gotten used to it yet. There was a part of her that wanted to keep calling him Rogers, but she had seen the way he smiled when she called him by his name. If she was going to try and befriend him like Barnes wanted, she would call him Steve….It was still weird.
During her walk to the apartment, she kept an eye open for any possible danger, because even if she refused to be afraid, she still had to be careful. She had to be smart about this and not let her mind run wild. She needed to be logical, because if she allowed herself to get emotional, she would not accomplished what she needed to do. She needed to get her device back and find some way to power it, which would be difficult. There wasn't any that she could think of, but she would find something.
A color flier caught her eyes. It was an army recruitment poster, which had seen better days. The ends of the poster had started to peel and rip. The bright colors had started to lose its color, making her wonder how long it had been hanging there. She was surprised that it hadn't been replaced, considering there was an army recruitment station a block down. Toni could see the long line from here. "I wonder if R-Steve is there." She wasn't sure if he would be, considering their conversation a few nights ago. She really hoped he wasn't an idiot and gave up. If he did, she was going to beat his ass.
Exhaling, Toni continued her walk back to the apartment, but she didn't make it too far, hearing something. "What is that?" she asked herself, as she turned in the direction of the noise. It sounded like a fight, and she knew what a fight sounded like as she had been in a lot herself. Against her better judgment, she headed toward the sound. Her heart stopped when she arrived at the location of the sound…It was an alley. "Stop being a chicken," she yelled herself.
She took a step into the alley and froze. Her nightmare returned, almost forcing her to her knees, as she could only see a hand around her neck, choking her. It was getting hard to breathe and she thought she was going to faint. "It's just an alley," she told herself as she tried to relax herself. She focused on the voices and not the images in her mind. "Just listen."
"Just keeping it coming. I can handle it."
Toni's eyes widened at the sound of Steve's voice and the sound of him getting his ass beat. It pissed her the hell off that someone was beating up Steve, the Shrimp. Why would someone beat him up? He was small and not a threat in anyway. Using her anger, she looked forward and pushed herself forward. Her heat beat rapidly.
"I will," came the bully response.
Exhaling, she forced herself to think about Steve and not her nightmares that plagued her. As she rounded a corner in the alley, she saw the asshole that was beating up Steve, and she saw red. He had Steve by the collar against the wall. "Hey, asshole, get your stinking hands off him," she demanded.
The bully dropped Steve and turned to her. He put on a creepy smile. "Look what we have here. You're such a pretty thing. Maybe, when I'm done with him, we can go out."
"No way in hell would I go out with a jerk like you," she stated getting in his face. "Why don't you get lost before I make you cry?"
A worried Steve looked up from his spot on the ground. "Toni, stop. I got this." He pushed himself up and wobbled as he tried to stand. "I don't need you to stand up for me."
Toni spared him a glance before turning back to the bully. "Go," she ordered. Her good hand was balled, ready to punch the asshole in the face. Even with a broken arm, she could still kick ass...Her mind frozen for a second as it flashed back to the hand round her neck again.
"Why would I leave such a pretty dame alone?" he asked as he put an arm around her. "We could go out. Why would you want to be around a guy like that?"
It took her a few seconds to realize what the pig was doing and where his hand was. She slapped him hard crossed his face and kneed him in the family jewels. He went down in seconds. "I don't date slim balls," she glared down at him. "Now get lost."
The asshole struggled to get to his feet. "That wasn't very nice. Someone should teach you matters. I would be happy to do so." He stepped to her, too close for Toni's liking, but she did not move. She stared him down. "You have some balls."
"Why thank you." She paused as she put on a smile. "You don't. It's a shame, isn't it? Picking on someone smaller than yourself?" she mocked. She glanced toward Steve, who was looking intensely at the ground.
"Why you-"
"Why I what?" she interrupted. "Why don't you leave before I beat you again?" Her heart was still beating rapidly as the bully did not move. He just stood still.
He glanced at Steve before taking a step to the side. "So not worth it," he stated as he turned to leave. "But if you change your mind, Fire Rocket, let me know." He slapped her on the ass before leaving.
Fire Rocket? Toni turned. "Next time you touched my ass, I will shove your foot up your ass," she hissed as she watched him wobbled away. Shaking her head, she turned to Steve, who had gotten to his feet. "Steve, are you okay?" she asked, reaching out to him. Steve stared at her hand before walking away. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"I didn't need your help." His back was toward her. "I could have handled that."
"He was beating you up." She recognized the tension in his shoulders, which was the same tension she had always seen in him when he was talking to her in the future. Why was he so pissed at her? "Did you want me to let him? He could have killed you."
Steve turned to her. "Yes!" There was a pause. "I don't need you to save me. Why kind of man gets saved by a dame with a broken arm?"
She suddenly got pissed at him. She never expected him to get sexist on her. "Geez, Rogers," she stated. He frowned at the use of his last name. "You would rather get beat up, almost die, just to save your manhood? I'm not good enough to save you?" She paused as she tried to calm herself, but she failed. "I didn't think you were a chauvinist pig." She stated as she stormed off, not waiting for him to response. He reminded her too much of the future Captain which she didn't like.
*O*O*
After that fight, Rogers (he was Rogers again to her) and Toni hadn't spoken in a few days. She knew Rogers wanted to talk to her as she caught him staring at her, but she wasn't going to make the first move. She refused to make the first move, because she was Toni Stark, damn it. People came to her, not the other way around. Besides, it would be best if they didn't make up. She didn't need him missing her.
Shaking her head, she laid in Barnes bed and stared at the ceiling. It was strange to sleep in his bed as she still couldn't get pass the smell of his room, which smelled like him. Even the colors and fabrics of the room were so strongly him. Toni could almost see him laying in bed with her, and it made her sick. Rolling over, she covered her head with his pillow as she tried not to think about Barnes' death.
Toni rolled back over and stared at her left arm, which was cast-less. She had seen a hot doctor (yes, she flirted), who had stated it had healed quite well and the cast could come off. He had told her that it was going to be sore, which it was, and that she should avoid any heavy lifting, but it was useable. Even with the pain, she was still glad it was off, because the cast was the most annoying thing on the planet and she would do anything to avoid getting another cast.
Toni exhaled as she still had things to worry about. She still had to figure out how to power the damn device. If only her arc reactor was working at 100%, she could tap into that, even though it was risky. She took another deep breath as she tried to think of something. What do you have access to that you can use? She thought to herself. There wasn't much she could think of. Maybe, the Colonel had something; he had access to a lot of things.
Taking a deep breath, Toni pushed herself into a sitting position and stared at the wall. She had things to do and she couldn't spend all day hiding from Rogers. She did have to go to work, which meant she would have to leave the room. She couldn't understand why she was being foolish about this whole thing. It annoyed her.
Acting like an adult, she walked out of Barnes' bedroom and into the kitchen. Rogers, who was sitting at the table, looked up then looked back down quickly. He hadn't made eye contact for more than two second, which bothered her. He sat very still and positioned a newspaper in front of his face so she couldn't see his face. "Rogers, we need to get over this," she stated, deciding she would rather make up with him than suffer this awkwardness anymore.
He put the paper down slowly and turned to her, but his eyes didn't stay on her for long. "It came out wrong before."
"Did you mean it? You didn't want me to save you?" she asked.
"…I did mean it." There had been some hesitation in his voice.
"So how did it come out wrong?" she asked. It annoyed her that he didn't want to be saved by her, but she guessed she could understand. She wouldn't want to be saved by anyone as well. She could save herself.
Rogers stood up and took a few steps toward her. "I wanted to explain, but I couldn't find the right words." He took a deep breath. "I….It isn't about you saving me. I just don't want to be saved. I want to be strong enough to save myself." He paused. "I hate being useless, which is what I am." He closed his eyes for a second before looking up. "I want to say sorry; it wasn't meant to be an insult. Please understand."
She knew how he felt. "It's fine, Steve." She would be insulted as well if someone tried to save her.
He smiled at the use of his first name. "At least, I'll always know when you're mad at me by the use of my last name."
Toni let out a chuckle. "This is true."
"I see your case is off."
"Just got it off." Toni waved her arm in the air. "I can move it! It feels so great." She paused as she noticed his smile, which seemed to take up his whole face. "Anyhow, I need to get to work."
"I will walk with you." She had no interest in turning him down, because the attack was still fresh in her mind.
*O*O*
Toni let out a loud laugh as Steve tried to act something out. Having decided to stay in, Steve and she were playing charades. Since she had started to call him Steve (the second time), everything had come together with them. She never did talk to him about the night she had been attacked or about the many nightmares that she had been having, but they did talk about things: his love life being one of those things. She kept trying to play wing man and get him a girlfriend, because he needed love in his life…. He also needed to get laid. She wouldn't let him be a 90 year old virgin, which could loosen up the future Rogers; however, Steve wanted no part in it. "Really, I have no fucken idea what you are," she stated with another laugh.
Steve made a face at swearing, which he always did when she cursed. He wasn't a big fan of her cussing. "I'm an elephant," he stated. "And you're just bad at this game."
"Hey, Hey, Hey. I'm not bad at anything!" she smiled with a wink.
He let out a snort. "You're just as bad as Bucky."
Toni pretended to be hurt. "C'mon, I'm not as bad as Barnes."
Steve snorted. "Maybe." She opened her mouth as if to say something in protest. "I was kidding."
"I know."
"So it's your turn," he stated as he took a seat next to her.
"You don't want to do something else?" she asked. She was so up to playing wingman. "We can always go out."
"You just want to hook me up again," he muttered annoyed. "I thought we learned this the last time that no one wants a guy like me." He sounded depressed.
"You need to have faith!" She cheered as she grabbed onto his arm. "Any woman would be proud to have you. You just need to show them your personality."
He let out a chuckle. "That's what they say about losers."
Toni's hand dropped to Steve's knees. "You can't believe that. If you do, I'll beat you," she threatened as she lifted up her arms.
Steve smiled weakly. "Can't we just stay in? I'd rather be here…with you." His voice was soft.
"Sure, we can," she answered, as she tried to think of some ways that she could get his confidence up. She couldn't get over how different he was from the present day Rogers. "Let me think of something I can be." She stood up and put her hand to her head to think. "I got it. You really?"
"I am."
Toni would let him be happy today, because he would probably not see her again. Either she succeeded and got back to her time or failed and ended in jail. Though she felt bad at the thought of leaving him, she had to do it. She had to get her device back, and now that her cast was off, there was no stopping her from breaking into Stark industries.
MUAH.
In the next chapter, we'll see if Toni will be able to break in and steal back her device.
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