Toni Stark POV – Chapter: "His Light in My Darkness"
Date: January 12th, 2008
Location: Kunar Province, Afghanistan
POV: Toni Antonia Stark
Pain.
That was the first thing she felt.
Her body was screaming. Smoke filled her lungs. Her chest was heavy—burning. But she was alive. The arc reactor thrummed against her sternum, faint but steady. There was a hole there—shrapnel had torn through her—but she'd survived.
Not because of luck.
But because of him.
She was wearing the lightweight, nanoweave bulletproof undersuit that Lance had forced her to wear any time she left U.S. soil. "Humor me," he'd said, "You're too smart to die because some idiot couldn't keep track of a roadside IED."
Now that suit had saved her life.
She lay on the cold ground of the cave, bruised, bleeding, but conscious.
And in that darkness… she remembered.
Flashback – Two Weeks Earlier
Location: Lance's Private Terrace, Washington D.C.
Time: Midnight
They sat under the stars, high above the city. He'd cooked—badly, but she'd eaten it anyway—and they were halfway through a bottle of scotch neither of them needed.
Toni had her legs in his lap, and he was massaging her ankles with military precision.
"You know," Lance said, "for a genius, you're surprisingly slow."
She raised a brow. "At what, exactly?"
He gave her a look. "At realizing you don't need to build death to matter. You could be the Einstein of our time… or the Oppenheimer. You still haven't decided."
She took a long sip. "Funny. You act like I haven't made my choice."
"You haven't," he said gently. "But I see it. That doubt in your eyes every time your missiles hit the news."
Toni rolled her eyes. "Don't psychoanalyze me, Mr. President."
He leaned in, his voice low. "And don't pretend you don't want more than this."
Silence.
Heavy.
Electric.
Her gaze flicked to his lips. His to hers. She smirked. "Be honest, Lance. You ever fantasize about me in the lab? Grease on my arms? Sparks flying?"
His hands paused on her calves. "Only every time you call me 'Mr. President.'"
She laughed—really laughed—for the first time in weeks. But when the laughter faded, all thatremained was the silence.
And tension.
He leaned in. So did she.
But she pulled back, barely. "If we cross this line…"
"I've already crossed it," he said.
And just like that, she knew.
So had she.
Flashback within Flashback – 1991
Location: Stark Manor Guest Room
Toni, Age 14 | Lance, Age 16
The rain outside was merciless. The funeral had ended just hours ago. Her parents were gone. The world was gone.
And only he remained.
He crawled into bed beside her without asking. His arms wrapped around her like armor. She cried until her eyes were swollen shut, and when she stopped… he was still there.
Toni," he whispered, "I'm not leaving. Ever."
She kissed him. Desperate. Innocent. Wild.
And he kissed back.
That night, two broken souls clung to each other beneath warm sheets and shattered hearts.
It wasn't just a kiss.
It wasn't just sex.
It was the moment she realized what love felt like.
She whispered it between gasps. Over and over.
"I love you, Lance."
"I love you…"
"Don't leave me…"
"Please…"
She never stopped saying it. Not then. Not now.
Back to Present – Afghanistan Cave
The Ten Rings left her for dead after her failed escape attempt.
Blood pooled beneath her, and the arc reactor dimmed.
But her lips still moved. Just one name.
"Lance…"
The Sky Breaks
There was no warning.
Only sound.
Like the earth inhaled… and screamed.
The sky outside cracked—a deafening, concussive sonic boom that shattered the cave ceiling and threw men off their feet. Dust and sand whipped through the air like a sandstorm possessed.
Guards ran.
Bullets fired.
And then—
He descended.
Stephen Lance Carter.
But not the man she knew.
This was something else. Something more.
He dropped from the heavens in a streak of golden light, his crimson cape billowing like a god's banner. He looked 26 again—youthful, radiant. The Homelander-like suit hugged every muscle, the eagle crest on his chest shining like molten gold.
His eyes glowed—not with rage.
With purpose.
He landed with enough force to crack the earth. A shockwave pulsed from his boots and threw every man in the cave against the walls.
Toni stared, wide-eyed, too weak to move.
He looked at her—and for a second, the whole world stopped.
"Toni," he said. His voice was quiet. But it commanded the cosmos.
She reached up with a trembling hand. "You came…"
She reached up with a trembling hand. "You came…"
"I told you," he whispered, lifting her into his arms. "Always."
High Above the Desert – Later That Night
They sat under the stars again.
But this time, in the sky itself—floating above the clouds, wrapped in the wind. Her injuries had been stabilized. His heat vision had cauterized the wounds. The arc reactor pulsed gently beneath her shirt.
She looked at him, brushing her hair from her face. "You should've let me die."
He looked at her like she'd insulted the sun.
"I couldn't," he said.
Silence fell. A soft, cosmic silence. The kind that only exists when you're sitting in a god's arms above the world.
She leaned in. He met her halfway.
And they kissed.
Beneath the stars.
Beneath their memories.
And beneath all the unspoken truths they were finally brave enough to face.