Chapter Four, Pregnancy and Escaping

Previously on Iron Queen:

If they had to hazard a guess they had been there for either a month and a half or two months, and morale was definitely at an all time low. Which is why Yinsen insisted they take a break, and taught Toni a game called Black Gamon, a game he used to play with his children.
"You still haven't told me where you're from Yinsen." Toni commented. She didn't like quiet, it's why she always blasted her lab with music.
"I'm from a small town called Gulmira." Yinsen explained. "It's actually a nice place."
"Do you have a family?" Toni queried casually.

"Yes. And I will see them when I leave here." Yinsen replied, taking his go. "And you Toni? Do you have a family?" Glancing at her wedding rings.
"Yes. I have twins, Peter and Katherine. They're two this year and are my whole world. They are much kinder and sweeter than I am and so smart. Kat is a Daddy's girl and Peter a Mummy's boy but they always want me to tell them a story in Italian over Daddy." Toni smiled sadly with her eyes shining with tears. She kissed her babies so much. "I have an amazing husband who was one of my best friends in M.I.T along with Colonel James Rhodes or Rhodey as I call him, Hope Van Dyne and...and Carol Danvers." Tony took in a fatted breath, looking down at the piece she fiddled with in her hands.

"They didn't care, they were saddled with a thirteen year old girl with Daddy issues and became the most important people in the world to me. They were there for me when my parents died, and then through my second parents deaths, they were there through everything. Rhodey even gave me away at my wedding. Both Rhodey and Carol joined the Air Force straight out of M.I.T, but Carol...she was presumed K.I.A nearly two years ago. Just before the twins were born. Then I have my robot babies, Dum-E who tries to put motor oil in any of the adults' drinks but he never puts it in Peter's or Kat's, Butterfingers, who is really sweet but she drops everything nearly as much as Dum-E.

U who likes throwing a ball with the twins and J.A.R.V.I.S my AI or Just A Rather Very Intelligent System who I named after my father's butler who was more my father than Howard was. My god-sister Sharon Carter, my godparents Nick Fury, and Peggy Carter-Sousa and her husband Daniel, and finally my friends/employees Harold 'Happy' Hogan and Pepper Potts-Hogan." Yinsen knew then that Toni didn't hold her self worth and vowed to show her that before they left this place.

"I'm sure they're doing everything they can to look for you, Toni." Yinsen reassured the twenty-one year old woman.
"Rhodey is. My family is, everyone else would've just given up after a week." Toni countered sadly.
"Tell me about him. Your husband." Yinsen clarified at Toni's confusion.
"His name is Stephen Strange." Toni informed, a smile appearing on her face.
"The Dr Stephen Strange?" Yinsen asked almost giddily, causing Toni to giggle. "The famous neurosurgeon that performs miracles with his hands?"

"The very same." Toni smiled, lighting up as she talked about her husband and children in a way Yinsen had only seen her do when they were working. It was then that he swore to himself that he would get Toni back home before these people chip any more of her away.

Chapter Four, Pregnancy and Escaping

Toni stared blankly at Yinsen, her face pale and drawn beneath the dirt and blood from the recent beating. The news she had just received was too much. Far too much! She couldn't be pregnant, surely.
"Are-" Toni's voice broke beneath the strain of emotions.
"Yes I'm afraid so." Yinsen confirmed, resting his hand upon Toni's. He could see she couldn't take much more no matter how strong she was.

Underneath the near daily torture and beatings, the lack of food and water, the pain from the shrapnel and reactor in her chest, and now pregnancy on top he could see she was fraying at the edges, and he didn't want that for her. "You will get out of here Toni, I promise. You'll go back to your twins and your husband, and you'll take this baby home with you, I swear it!" Bolstered by Yinsen's confidence in their escape plan Toni nodded, picking up her tools once more.

"We best get to work then, if they want the weapon by tomorrow we need to finish the suit tonight!" under Toni's fair and firm guidance the pair of them worked throughout the night barely stopping for a break. They were in a hurry to get the suit done. As the sun started to rise over the mountaintop of the cave they were held captive in, Toni rigged a set of explosives to the door to buy them some time as Yinsen bolted her into the suit and powered it up; but still it wasn't enough time as the men were already at the doors. As the explosives went off, blowing up the doors and the men, both started to panic as they could hear more coming.

"Its not enough time." Yinsen mumbled to himself, his eyes fixed on the progress bar that was powering up the suit. "Toni, I'm going to buy you some more time!" he turned to her nodding and ran towards the doors picking up a discarded gun ignoring Toni as she frantically called after him. Toni could only wait in fear as the bar slowly crept along hearing the yells of the men and yells and gunfire of Yinsen. She begged it to hurry up as she prayed that Yinsen would be okay, that he would survive until she got there to offer him some cover.

'Finally!' Toni thought with a sigh of relief as the lights went off and the suit powered up. Through the darkened cave she attacked any of the men from the Ten Rings she came across until she finally came upon the exit but the sight before her broke her heart; a dying Yinsen lay prone on a mound of sandbags.
"LOOK OUT!" Yinsen croaked, using what little of his energy reserves he had to warn Toni of Raza pointing a launcher at her. Just in time Toni took her eyes off of Yinsen, dodged the launcher with ease and shot at him causing an explosion that sent him flying to a different part of the cave where he remained either dead or unconscious amongst the rubble, Toni didn't care he deserved death for what he did to her and Yinsen for the last three months.

He was lucky she hadn't lost her baby because of all the beatings and torture she had endured at his and his men's hands. She was at the end of her first trimester that she was supposed to be sharing with her husband, her twins and her friends but instead she constantly feared – since Yinsen told her – for her baby's life, feared it would be taken from them before he or she could fully grow, before she or her family could meet them. She hadn't made the connection at first as she had thought her lack of period was due to the lack of food and water and the constant torture and beatings she was forced to endure.

And when the sickness started she hadn't wanted to see it, didn't want to admit it to herself deep down in case her baby was taken from her; that is until Yinsen pointed it out after examining her after a particularly bad torture session.
"YINSEN!!!!" Toni cried, faceplate rising as she dropped to her knees beside him with tears pouring down her cheeks. "NO! No, come on! We have a plan! I'm taking you to your family, remember!"
"This was always my plan. I would help you escape, and now I'm going to see my family." Yinsen whispered, his voice hoarse but his hand that he rested over Toni's was as comforting as it was reassuring. "My family was killed by Raza before they captured me."

"I'm so sorry Yinsen." Toni sobbed. "Thank you for saving me."
"Don't waste your life, Toni. Go home to your family...and....do what makes you happy for...for a change." Yinsen wheezed, offering her wisdom in his last moments. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a phoenix necklace and placed it in her hand with shaky movements. "I want....want you to have this....it was my daughter's.... you...you remind ...me of her..."
"Yinsen, I...."
"P-please..." Yinsen wheezed, his breathing now rattling in his chest.
"Thank you. I will treasure it always and the friendship and wisdom you have given me." Toni promised, tears pouring down her cheeks as she placed it around her neck and tucked it securely under the suit.

Throughout his last moments Toni stayed with him, holding his hand, until he took his last breath as tears poured silently down her cheeks. As the kind man who had looked out for her as much as he could took his last breath, Toni cast a look behind her at Raza, her face hardening, the faceplate fell over her face as she climbed to her feet, making her way to the exit. Due to her long stint in a cave Toni had to shield her face from the sunlight that almost blinded her, causing her to nearly miss those waiting for her. Nearly being the keyword as they opened fire on her, but thankfully the bullets bounced off the suit.
"My turn!" Toni said darkly, flipping a switch on her left arm a flamethrower fell into her right hand which she turned on the terrorists and all of her weapons, blowing the place up.

Satisfied they had none of her weapons Toni flipped another switch that allowed her to take off into the air as explosions rang around her blowing up the base and all of the weapons, she hoped, as she flew across the mountains, that none of them survived; the world would be better off without them. However, as she reached the open desert the suit lost power causing her to crash-land into the sand, thankfully she had padded herself out with Yinsen's jacket (which he had given to her) and padded the inside of the suit so she and the baby were protected.

"Not bad." Toni muttered gleefully, easing herself from wreckage quickly, as she had set the suit to self-destruct the moment it fell apart, ignoring all the cuts she had sustained from the broken metal. She was beyond glad to be out of that cave and away from those despicable people. She just needed to find a way out of the desert as she had to get rid of Stane, she knew this was his fault and hoped Rhodey would find her soon. Just as she crested a hill an explosion came from behind her as the suit self-destructed leaving no salvageable piece behind. "Good." She muttered, taking a small sip of the water she had packed with her, she was beyond thirsty, but she needed to conserve her water, who knows when she would next get a drink.

Three days. Three days she had wandered the desert hoping Rhodey would find her, and she was starting to lose hope, believing that she would soon die of either exposure or thirst as she had long since run out of water. She was smart enough to realise that if she weren't found soon she would die out here before anyone could find her. Her legs gave out as she came over a hill causing her to fall down and lose the jacket she had soaked in the last of her water and wrapped around her head to help. Sighing, Toni climbed to her feet on shaky legs. She was starting to lose hope she would be found but she was stubborn; when a familiar noise came from behind her. Helicopters. Army helicopters. With hurried movements Toni found the jacket and used it to try and flag down the helicopters.

An emotional laugh fell from her chapped lips, sinking to her knees in both relief and exhaustion as one of the helicopters landed and someone very familiar to Toni ran towards her with a few others she recognised. Toni threw up a peace sign as she couldn't speak for a mixture of reasons: a mix of an emotional tidal wave and a severely exhausted body and parched throat.
"TONI!!!" Rhodey sobbed with relief and guilt, dropping to his knees in front of her, gathering her into his arms. "You're safe now Toni. You're safe, I have you and we've caught those responsible."

The reassurance that those responsible had been caught, that she was safe, and actually feeling safe in her brother's arms caused Toni to break down in Rhodey's arms. Rhodey held her tighter, rubbing her back soothingly, his own tears pouring down his cheeks. He dreaded what had happened to his sister from the state of her, but he was also proud of her for getting herself out but also felt guilty that she had to do that as they hadn't found her. Turning to those behind him who were a mix of his subordinates and agents from S.H.I.E.L.D he ordered them to bring out a stretcher and to radio base as they needed a doctor to look her over the minute they landed.

"Come on Toni, let's get you home." Rhodey coaxed rising to his feet with Toni in his arms to place her on the stretcher, but Toni latched on to his wrist as he went to step back a look of pure terror on her face and her eyes dull. "Its okay, Tones, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay right beside you; I promise."

***

Rhodey's heart clenched as he looked at his sleeping sister, tucked under his arm with her head resting on his chest. What the doctor had told him at the base after she had looked over Toni caused him to have his own breakdown. She had shrapnel close to her heart which the reactor was keeping from her heart – Toni had shed light that there was a magnet connected to an old car battery to begin with – had made him both heartbroken and so angry. The doctor said she was lucky to have survived the open-heart surgery in the cave and while she was awake too. Her body and heart could have easily succumbed to the stress, shock and trauma and she could have easily died on the table or caught a severe infection.

To top it off she had said Toni showed signs of being tortured and beaten, severely malnourished and dehydrated, and she was three months pregnant. She had a broken left arm, several cuts from what looked like metal that were on the verge of being infected, severely sunburnt from the elements and suffering from heat stroke and dehydration from exposure. The doctor assumed she had been wandering the desert looking for help for probably three days at the most. The doctor had also advised that Toni needed to be on prenatal vitamins, nutrient shakes, and liquid diet until her body is used to food and fluids once again, but the vitamins were non-negotiable otherwise Toni WILL lose the baby.

To think he could have lost his sister right at the beginning from the horrific operation she had endured and would never know it; was a thought that Rhodey didn't want to think about. He knew that if Toni had lost her baby she wouldn't cope and would blame herself despite it not being any fault of her own. Feeling the helicopter start its descent to the airspace in California, Rhodey looked at the two drips that supplied Toni with fluids and antibiotics that her body desperately needed, were only half full. Waving Agent Clint Barton over to help him, as he was one of the Agents Fury and Peggy had assigned to help look for Toni.

The archer had a sad, compassionate look upon his face as he glanced at Toni's bruised, sunburnt and cut face. Carefully he grabbed the IV bags and hooked them to the stand attached to the wheelchair as Rhodey gently lowered Toni into it causing her to wake up and panic.
"Hey. Hey, hey, shh. Shh, Toni. You're okay. You're safe." Rhodey reassured her, noticing she was starting to have a panic attack. He was a dab hand at helping her through panic attacks, no thanks to Howard, all of their group from M.I.T were. He had already reassured her that he would be there when she needed to talk, but he was realistic to know that Toni also needed to talk to someone. But only when she was ready. "This is Agent Clint Barton. He works at S.H.I.E.L.D, he helped me find you." He hurriedly explained when he saw Toni had spotted Barton.

"Take deep breaths, Toni," Rhodey coaxed gently, squeezing her hand comfortingly and to ground her. "That's it. In. And now out. In...and out. In...and out. One more Toni, in and out. Well done." Rhodey kissed her forehead after she had calmed down.
"We're about to land." Agent Barton told Toni. "You'll be with your family again soon." He reassured her, a sad smile hiding the anger that built inside him when she covered her stomach in a very familiar motion to Clint who had seen his wife do that multiple times throughout her pregnancy.
"Thank you." Toni whispered hoarsely, nodding to Clint as they landed.

As the ramp descended Toni took a steading breath, tears gathering in her eyes, especially when she saw her beloved husband with eyes red-rimmed holding their twins who had equally red eyes. Beside him stood Hope, Pepper, and Happy. All of them looked like they were going to start crying again at state of her.
"MAMA!!!" Peter and Kat screamed, squirming to get out of their father's arms the second they saw their mother being pushed down in the wheelchair by their Uncle Rhodey.
"My Babies!!" Toni sobbed, opening her right arm (The one attached to the drips) as her left had been broken when the suit crashed, and she hadn't realised it at the time due to adrenaline.

To begin with Toni had feared the paparazzi would hound her the minute she landed, but Rhodey had told her that Uncle Fury, Uncle Dan, Hank Pym, her cousin Sharon and Aunt Peggy would be absent when they arrived as they would be securing the area so no paparazzi would be there so she could reunite with her family in peace. Not wasting any time Peter and Kat ran straight into their mother's arms sobbing with such a force that Toni had her own tears trailing down her cheeks as she tried to console her babies.
"We missed you Mama. Don't leave again!" Peter and Kat sobbed, holding her tightly.
"I missed you too, my babies. I love you so, so much." Toni cried, ignoring the pain as she comforted her babies, kissing any part of their faces she could reach.

"Wuv you too, Mama!" Peter and Kat whispered, slowly calming down the longer they were in Toni's arms as Stephen kneeled beside the wheelchair enveloping his wife and twins in his arms, sobbing in relief as he kissed Toni's forehead, nose, cheeks and lips.
"I'm never letting you leave again!" Stephen swore seriously, fully intending to hold her true to his proclamation. "I love you so, so much Toni. I cannot even express how happy and relieved to have you home again!" He cried, kissing her once more and then kissing their twins.
"I love you too, Stephen and trust me I'm never ever leaving again!" Toni cried, resting her forehead on Stephen's while clutching tightly to her twins. "I'm so happy to be home, our little family is going to have another addition in six months."

"What!?" Stephen asked, shocked, his eyes wide.
"Found out I'm three months pregnant." Toni whispered tiredly; her body severely exhausted from her ordeal. "Pete, Kat, how do you feel about having a little brother or sister?" She asked, assessing her babies' reactions shrewdly.
"We have a little brother or sister?" Kat asked, Toni nodded her head warily. Peter and Kat shared a look before a happy smile broke through their tearful relief as they celebrated, hugging their mother tighter still as they spoke to her stomach.
"What?" Toni asked, seeing Stephen staring at her.

"I love you." Stephen said simply, kissing her with so much emotion it left her breathless. "How about we get you home and have our private doctors come and look you over. Then we can all have a nap together in our bed."
"Sounds good to me." Toni agreed tiredly. Behind them their friends and family watched on with tearful happiness as the Stark-Strange family reunited after the past trying and horrific months. Toni was home and was finally safe. Yes she was suffering and severely injured but they would be there throughout her healing process, every step of the way. She was family after all, and family looked out for each other.

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Author's note: DO NOT ask me to update in any way shape or form. There are other ways of telling me what you thought of this.