Hey! Ok, I was not respecting a response this quickly. Thank you all for that.

Here's the first chapter,

Chapter 1

The Past Comes Calling

2033

Northern Ireland

Toni looked out the window of her office with a smile on her face. She couldn't help it. She was proud and happy of her life. It had changed so much in the past seventeen years.

Seventeen years, had it really been that long? She knew it had, her heart still counted every second, traitorous thing that it was. It missed her life from before, a life she couldn't go back to even if she wanted to, and she didn't want to. At least that's what she told herself in front of the mirror each morning.

A small part of her did miss her life as an Avenger, though she would have to die to admit it. It missed the team. It missed the movie nights and dinners. It missed the companionship, the jokes, the laughter, and even the love. Most of all, it missed him.

No, she couldn't think like that. Relationships weren't her thing. She had tried, several times in fact. Each ended with her heart in pieces. The last one ended with her life being destroyed and her reputation shattered by something that wasn't her fault. The thoughts of that incident burned her mind and left her with a strong desire to hunt down Nick Fury and kick his ass so bad he'd be burping shoe leather. Why hadn't he listened? She wasn't an idiot, especially were this was concerned.

It didn't matter. He hadn't listened and she and Rhodey had paid the price, a high price at that. There was nothing she could do to change that. All she could do was bury the pain under her work and new life, pretend that it didn't hurt and it wasn't suffocating her. She could pretend that she didn't miss him so much she could barely breathe. She couldn't hate him, he didn't know the truth.

'Damn you Fury! I hope you rot in hell right beside Loki for this!' Now that was harsh and she knew that. Loki deserved his own special place in hell for what he had done. Fury, he just didn't listen and all she could do is wait for him to realize that.

She shook her head. The past hurt and she couldn't dwell in it and still be sane. It didn't matter what she lost; only what she gained. She couldn't think of him. Romance wasn't meant for her, and if she ever wanted it she knew the local world traveler wouldn't hesitate to be at her beck and call.

She couldn't do that to Tim though, or herself. Putting the two of them in that situation would only end in pain and heartache and she had had enough of both to last the rest of her eternity. She couldn't lose another friend, not now.

A knock on the door behind her brought her out of her musings. "Come in!" she called, clearing her voice of any emotion and replacing it with her practiced mask of indifference.

It was Makayla Stevens, one of the searchers here and her friend. The woman was strict and didn't mess around. The two of them butted heads quite often when they first met, they still did. When she and Rhodey told their story though, something changed. Mickey had seemed to develop a protective streak around the two of them, and the twins.

She had to stop her mind from wandering.

Mickey seemed to be agitated, annoyed and just generally pissed. Her green eyes were hard, and a scowl marked her pretty face. Her black curls were impeccable as always though she could see that the taller woman was doing everything in her power to not run her hands through the mass.

"What's wrong?" The question left her lips as panic seized her. Had something happened? Was one of the kids hurt? Were the twins hurt? "Did something happen to the kids?"

The raven haired woman shook her head. "No, Liz and Alex are fine. Liz is with Emily and Sydney at the lake. Alex is with Carson, Julian, Nathan, Jackson, Marcus, and Elliot at the basketball court."

"Then what is it?" she was confused. Her kids were fine. Rhodey was down the hall in his office with his wife. Taylor was at the pool acting as a lifeguard. Timothy was in Asguard for the day hanging out with Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. Doctor Selvig was in his lab looking at his notes for the millionth time. Pepper and Happy were in a meeting in Malibu. Siff was at her home, having just messaged her less than an hour ago. Odin and Frigga were fine. The vault was locked. The barriers were up and her supernatural senses had located every member of the facility. What was wrong?

The air of anger returned around the searcher. "We have a visitor."

Toni's eyebrow rose. A visitor? They didn't get those often. The magic around the place kept most people from finding it. Seeing the silent invitation in the green eyes of her friend, she looked through her mind.

No, it couldn't be. Not now, not after all this time.

"Send him in." she could hear how hoarse her voice was.

Makayla left the room to go fetch their guest. The brunette turned around and walked to the window, putting her hands on the sill. Why now? Her brown eyes looked out over the grounds of the place she called her home and life. It was a perfect day. The sun was shining. The sky was a pretty light blue with a few wispy clouds. She could see some of the younger kids laying on the lawn looking up, attempting to make pictures out of the white masses. Some of the older kids were playing frizz bee. Everything was perfect, how it should be.

She heard him enter the room and Mickey shut the door to give them privacy. No one said a word as she felt him study her.

He broke the silence after a few minutes. "Antonia Stark. It's been a long time."

"Not long enough." The words left her mouth and honestly, she didn't regret them.

He chuckled and she had to grip the wood beneath her fingers to avoid punching or sending a blast of power his way. "You haven't changed a bit. Well, physically that is. How have you been?"

She growled. "Cut the small talk. Why are you here? Why now, of all times?"

He sighed. "The world needs you Stark. They need you."

Toni scoffed. "They need me? It's been almost two decades. I think they could deal without me." Not one word. From what Pepper and Happy had told her, not one person had mentioned her. It made her want to scream or punch them, punch him. Did she really mean nothing to him? They were together for two years, friends longer. They were engaged for crying out loud! How could he?

She felt her heart break and tears come to her eyes before she blinked them away. Now wasn't the time to break. She was stronger than that, better than that. He made his choice, they all did. They didn't want her, and she wanted more than anything for that to be okay with her. But it wasn't, she could lie to the world all she wanted but she couldn't lie to herself. She missed them, missed him.

Her guest spoke again, pulling her out of her thoughts. "I know, and I have checked every one of SHIELD's resources before coming here. No one else can deal with this as well as you can."

"Deal with what?" What could be so bad that they would need her?

The man took a breath. "He's back, Toni. He has an army and the other two mind staffs."

She flung around to look at him. Her eyes widened as terror took hold of her. No, not again. Memories that she had done everything to block out her head came back and for just a moment, she felt as if she was locked back in her own head again with no way out and no one besides Rhodey realizing she wasn't in control of her own body.

Nick Fury had a grim look on his face, a look she remembered as well if she had seen it yesterday. He was a class A prick; she was the first to vouch for that. However, he wouldn't lie to her, especially on this matter.

'Oh shit!' were her thoughts as she staggered back and landed propped against the wall. Why? Why? Why?

His eye met hers. "Now you know the circumstances. After what happened, you and Rhodes seem to be the most experienced with these weapons. You also have resources and information that are invaluable. I believe you also have a score to settle with Loki." Damn right she did. She could almost see herself plunging her sword in his chest, or decapitating him with it. Sparks almost shot off her fingers at the thought of setting him on fire. A sadistic smile lit her face and Fury took a step back in trepidation. He really didn't know what she was capable of but he could feel the power radiating off her in waves that almost knocked him to his knees.

Yeah, Toni definitely hated Loki.

A chuckle left her. "Let's talk. But before we do, just know that you have to do some things before I agree."

Nick eyed her warily. "What do you mean? You want him dead and to be the one to kill him. Isn't that enough?"

She smirked. "Oh I will be the one to kill him. If I know anything, Thor will want Loki to face Asguardian justice for his crimes. Odin has already promised me the right to kill him, not that I wouldn't be the one anyway with my position. You however need my help and the help of my people here and elsewhere to defeat him. I am ready to give that help, but you have to do something first."

He gulped. "What do I have to do?"

Her eyes were hard and sharp and they felt like daggers were piercing him at all angles. "You have to tell them everything and I mean everything. They have to know what is going on. Every person I will bring into this knows the truth of what happened. This fight cannot be won if they don't. You were the one who decided not to tell them, therefore, you will be the one informing them. There is no option. You tell them."

He gulped again. "And if I don't"

She smirked. "How would the public like it if this information got out? Hearing that they have been hating me for something I had no control of, which you let happen? It would cause mass riots, hell the government might get overthrown. You tell them, or I'll send out the message."

Shit she wasn't playing around. The public couldn't know the truth, till he was able to come up with a story to explain everything. Everything could fall apart.

He would have to tell the Avengers, there was no other choice. Fear filled him at the thought of that conversation. Hearing that they had been hating Toni for that would kill them, hell, they might kill him. Rogers would definitely be after his head, as would Banner, Barnes, and Barton. Thor would come after him with the hammer. Romanoff would snap his neck so quickly he wouldn't have time to move.

Either way, he was screwed. He knew she was right. They needed to know for them to win this fight and he grudgingly admitted he should have listened to Toni years ago and not hid this. Now it was coming to bite him the ass.

Oh great, what had he done?

So, what did you think? PM, Follow, Favorite, Review! Give me something. I'll quote Glee for minute. "I NEED REVIEWS TO LIVE!"

So that's that. I may not have another chapter up this week or not. I have finals so it depends on how much time I have.

Luv You All!

mitkit99