So here it is! Chapter 2, and one much longer than the first chapter.

Originally this chapter was going to be a bit longer, but I capped it where it is (mostly due to me being really really tired and wanting to get this uploaded before I crashed to bed)

This chapter mostly explores Toni/Darcy's initial thoughts after the end of the prologue, as well as setting up events preluding to the Thor movie.

Juggling two grocery bags in hand, Toni used her free one to fish out her keys and open the door to her apartment. Stepping in and kicking the door closed behind her, the custom security locks she'd made secured the door once more.

She quickly made her way to the kitchen and dropped the bags down on the countertop with a relieved sigh, tossing her keys beside them before making her way to the fridge.

Opening the fridge, Toni browsed through its contents before grabbing a can of red bull and closing it again, cracking it open and taking a few sips before retreating to her spare room which was opposite her bedroom.

The spare room being her makeshift workshop, a series of desks and tables with assorted equipment and gear, some finished while others sat half completed or left for her to tinker with, as well as multiple laptops and tablets, all Stark Tech though modified to her personal taste.

The room was well lit and showed off several large whiteboards she'd placed on the walls for quick note taking and equations.

Taking another sip from her can, she let out a small wince and placed it down on one of the more empty work desks before sitting down on a stool and tossing her jacket to the side, reaching down and peeling off the long sleeved top.

Toni reached for a silver aerosol can and shook it several times before aiming the nozzle at her chest above her cleavage and spraying for several seconds. Once she did this, she waited a few moments before the skin where she sprayed started to bubble and droop from her flesh.

Reaching for a cloth she had beside the can, Toni began rubbing down her chest as the skin seemingly melted away, revealing the familiar blue glow from her Arc Reactor.

Reaching across the desk she grabbed a cigar box and opened it to reveal a duplicate of the reactor before she reached down and disconnected the one in her chest, turning it and releasing the reactor she took it out with a minor grunt, before switching in the one she'd pulled from the box.

Taking a few calming breaths before looking down at the reactor she'd taken from her chest, she saw a minor flicker coming from the interior of the device and with a weary sigh, placed it down on the table and retrieved several micro tools and got to work on fixing the issue.

She was lucky that she'd had two reactors with her upon her arrival on this Earth. Something she'd begun implementing into her suits some time ago was a double reactor system, she would have each suit run on its own Arc Reactor which was placed within the suit itself, and in case of emergencies or damage to the initial suit reactor, her personal one within her own chest would then be switched in as a backup power source.

As she began her work, her mind drifted back to her current situation and how much things had changed.

It was now almost eight months since she'd arrived on this alternate Earth.

Almost eight months since she'd contemplated ending it all.

That night when she arrived Toni had spent hours walking along the desert road till she finally found herself in Las Vegas around daybreak. The day was spent wandering in an aimless daze, her mind couldn't stop playing those final moments in her head before she'd gone through the portal.

The last thing she saw after Thanos had beamed back to his ship had been fire, as her world was destroyed along with everyone and everything on it, all of her friends and family and everyone and everything she'd ever known had burned.

And yet she was still alive.

How was that fair? Why was she still breathing while everyone else had been killed. Why couldn't Rhodey have survived or Peter, or countless others.

So she thought of just ending it, there were a multitude of ways she could do it, and Toni had come so close to giving in to the urge. But something had stopped her, someone had stopped her.

Anthony Edward Stark

Toni had been shocked at first to see footage of a suit so similar to her own, as well as Rhodey's on the news. Having walked past a large screen showcasing a news story about an incident several days ago, where they had battled Ivan Vanko who had attacked the Stark Expo with a series of remotely controlled armored drones.

She had been transfixed at the sight, before the clips had changed to journalists footage of people following her alternate male self who stopped to talk to them.

He was older than her and looked to be in his forties making her about half his age, and he reminded her of her father somewhat in his appearance.

Though his visage didn't conjure up the same harsh cold feelings that reminiscing about Howard normally did.

She listened as he spoke to them about Vanko, assuring them that the threat was taken care of and all technology concerning it was either destroyed or had been retrieved. She also saw some side footage of Justin Hammer being led away in handcuffs, which sparked a faint feeling of amusement in her.

The Justin Hammer she'd dealt with had been a dick too, and had suffered a similar fate.

Her attention was quickly drawn back to Tony however as he reassured the people watching and the public that Iron Man was still here and that he would continue to do his best to protect the public to the best of his ability.

Watching him and hearing his words seemed to rekindle a small flame within Toni, in only a few minutes the feelings of hopelessness and despair had lessened.

She still felt the guilt and the remorse within her, but now there was a small sense of hope. Maybe it wasn't pointless to keep going on, perhaps she could still be of some use.

Perhaps this new world could be the next step in her journey.

She wasn't naive, Toni knew that these current feelings of hope would fluctuate and dim with the coming days, weeks, months and so on.

She knew that she would definitely feel this despair again. But at least now she had something to aspire to, someone to aspire to.

Even if weirdly, it was technically another version of herself.

Toni thought how Rhodey would think of her for wanting to give up so easily. This isn't what her friend would want her to do, this isn't what Pepper or Peter, what her Mother, what Aunt Peggy, Jarvis or Phil or so many others who had believed in her would want, for her to just end it all.

Not when there was a whole world here that could benefit from her.

There was already one Stark here doing so much good, how much could come about from there being two?

So after making her mind up, Toni then set out to do the next thing that came to mind while in Las Vegas, acquire some currency.

She considered going to her male self and laying things all out on the table, but the thought filled her with anxiety and unease. She had no idea how to start that conversation, and with everything with her world still fresh in her mind, she decided to spend some time taking a step back and acclimating to this Earth first.

She needed to learn as much as she could about this Earth and how it differed from hers, apart from the obvious inclusion of her Male self. And to do this she would need funds, though as she was in Vegas the obvious solution presented itself.

Toni had brought along a thousand dollars in cash in a wallet stashed in the duffel bag, which to her had been the equivalent of pennies and dimes.

Her first course of action was to buy a second hand laptop from a pawnshop, nothing too fancy but she was able to use it to create a fake ID for herself with enough legitimacy to be used in case she was carded.

Afterwards she made her way to a nearby casino which was familiar from her world, and began to use her remaining cash on several games, staying away from the slot machines, she chose to focus on cards.

By the time she left that evening she had raked in an even three hundred thousand dollars. She was tempted to stay and increase her winnings, the thrill and allure of gambling presenting itself, but Toni didn't want to draw too much suspicion to herself, and thus left with her winnings.

Finding a hotel for the night she was able to plan out what to do next, as well as take a relieving hot shower and buy some more clothes besides the single change of clothes she'd brought in the duffel bag aside from her armour.

She'd initially considered going to California, as well as New York as she decided on laying low for the time being, and a good identity cover she could use would be a college student.

Plus it didn't hurt to get some more studying in, in the meantime. She eventually settled on Culver University in Virginia, it had some good programs and courses, as well as some impressive former staff and familiar names from her world.

Bruce, Betty, Erik Selvig, Leonard Samson and even Andrew Garner.

So two day later she set off to Virginia, later crafting herself a more solid identity and backstory, airtight and undetectable. She had a birth certificate, social security number, bank account, drivers license and every other piece of identification she would need.

It did require her to create a new alias for herself, which meant she couldn't be Toni Stark anymore, but instead Darcy Lewis.

A part of her considered it to be symbolic, a new name and identity for a new world.

Soon after arriving in Virginia she secured herself an apartment, she worked on two things. One of which was placing some wise investments in Stark Industries, and the second was securing her place in Culver University, she chose Political Science as her major as well as Computational Biology as her minor.

She did find it somewhat amusing as she already had multiple doctorates and master degrees, not to mention the areas she'd studied on a whim or for specific purposes.

But nevertheless, she was accepted and several months later she was settled into her place.

Bringing her mind back to the present, Toni was still working on her spare reactor, pausing to take a more liberal gulp of red bull.

It took another twenty minutes of slow work to finish the job, before she placed the reactor into the cigar box and let out a relieved sigh and reached for another aerosol can, this one was also silver but had a black ring of tape around it to differentiate it from the matching silver can.

Pressing the nozzle on the new can, Toni watched as the reactor was covered in a skin like material, a chemical synthetic skin she'd created to better help mask the reactor's appearance and not have to be concerned about the glow appearing through her shirt or any thin material.

Giving it a once over upon completion she nodded to herself and got up and stretched her legs and arms, she was about to exit the workshop when a notification sound came from her laptop.

Walking over and opening it up, she saw that it was a dual notification. Toni received emails and updates from Culver on her classes as well as standard news that was sent out to students.

She also set up a specialized alert which would cross reference any college news both to the students or private information which also contained specific names.

Specifically names of people she knew from her world, either from knowing them personally or through association. She had done this after discovering the aforementioned staff members both past and present whom she was aware of.

As she read through the alert, a small smile tugged at the corner of her lip.

"Jane Foster huh, let's see what you're coming to campus for" Toni said as she sat back down and began going through the information with interest.

And there is chapter 2 all wrapped up.

While I was writing this chapter, I did have to look up where Culver University was, as I hadn't seen 'the Incredible Hulk' movie for quite awhile, and was under the mistaken impression it was in New York, luckily I did and was reminded it was in Virginia.

As for Leonard Samson (aka Doc Samson in the comics) he was in the MCU, some of you may remember him being portrayed by Ty Burrell (some of you may know him better as Phil Dunphy in 'Modern Family') in the Incredible Hulk movie. Though annoyingly, he had many more scenes that were in the original cut but where deleted for the theatrical and dvd release.

However the 'Directors Cut' of The Incredible Hulk restored many of his deleted scenes. And Ty Burrell did say he was interested in returning to role in the MCU in future, wanting to portray the super powered version of Doc Samson like in the comics (where he possessed gamma powered muscles and super strength)

Set photos for 'Falcon and the winter soldier' have showed signs for a company called 'Samson Developtment' which could be teasing his appearance. Though I would be happy as well to see him in the 'She-Hulk' series given the characters connection as an ally and friend of the Hulk family in the comics, plus as Ty Burrell is on board for returning to the role (and now that Modern Family has concluded) it would be a great opportunity for him to explore the character again, especially if they bring in his comic abilities.

Anyway, I do hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if so please don't hesitate to leave a comment down below, your feedback and kudos are always a treat to see.

And if you're able, a tip to my Ko-Fi account would be forever appreciated :)