Soul of an Engineer

Prologue

Toni was trying not to cry out as the clang of the Captain's shield echoed through the otherwise empty bunker. Her body was throbbing and it felt like something inside her chest was moving, pressing against her lung. She wanted to scream, to beg them not to leave her but... Why should she? It wasn't like the Captain had ever cared for her. The only thing he wanted from her was money and weapons. She was never enough for anything. Never good enough to be an Avenger, never good enough for a friend... Toni was Toni. It was as simple as that. Only her team – former team, she reminded herself – never really cared for anything she had to offer. Oh, they took the money and whatever else she gave them without a thank you but did they thank her?

Over the next hours, her thoughts kept circling over what went wrong. She hadn't been enough for the Avengers. Was it her fault? Could she have done more by being... not herself? She wasn't sure why they never cared for her, why no one told her that the Winter Soldier killed her parents. That was another wound that had been ripped open.

Both Peggy and Obadiah had been called to identify the bodies and they never told her. It hurt. It really did and she was glad that the Doctor had taken her away back then because she wasn't sure how she would have coped with everything. Howard had been a shitty father, she knew that but he helped her in a way. Without him, she wouldn't have pushed herself. Without him, she wouldn't have made sure that she was miles ahead of people in terms of technology. Without him... Without him, she wouldn't have been the person she was today. Howard taught her a lot even though it might not have been the lessons a child needed.

Toni grimaced as the sharp edges of the armour dug into the soft skin of her chest with every breath. It hurt. She was alone, it was cold and it hurt. Blackness was starting to close in on her when a familiar sound reached her ears. Had she been more coherent, she would have been happy but as it was, the only thing that happened was that her body went limp as everything turned black.

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The Doctor startled when an alarm rang through the console room "What?" he frowned in confusion, hurrying over to the console as his current Companion covered her ears. He glanced at the screen "What?"

"Doctor, what's going on?" Martha asked as he managed to turn off the alarm "Doctor?"

"This is impossible," he muttered to himself, dashing around the console. He started throwing daggers left and right, stumbling over his feet more than once in his hurry to get the Tardis to lock onto their new destination. Not that he had any problems manoeuvring her since the Tardis was doing most of the work (not that the Doctor was aware of that particular piece of information) "No, she should have been fine. She should be happy."

Martha watched him with worry in her eyes. In the time she had spent with the Doctor – little as it had been – she had never seen him react that way. Not even with the Daleks after they had created their Dalek-Humans "Doctor, what is it?"

The Doctor shook his head, running over to the doors to throw them open "Toni," he called, disappearing from view.

Martha had just reached the door when the Doctor came back into view, carrying an unconscious figure. It was a woman from what little Martha could see and her top seemed to be drenched in blood "What happened?" she gasped, moving over to the Doctor's side as her medical training took over.

"I don't know," the Doctor shook his head "She should have been fine."

"Well, she isn't," Martha couldn't help but point out.

The Doctor shot her a glare "Thank you, Captain Obvi...," he grumbled before his eyes widened "It can't be, right? He wouldn't..." He was trying to keep his mind off of what could have happened as he made his way to the med bay. Toni was deathly still in his arms as her skin slowly gained a light blue hue. She was still breathing but it was laboured and he wasn't sure whether it would be better to let her die and wake up or help her in any way that he could.

He knew from her that dying was a bad experience but maybe it was better that way? Although if Captain America had something to do with what happened to Toni then he was sure dying and waking up would traumatize her more than she had been in the first place. From what little he had heard about Toni – he had tried to stay away as she asked – she had enough trauma for people four times her age.

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After he finished treating what injuries he could, the Doctor sat back in the chair next to the bed "Oh, Toni," he sighed, cupping her hand with both of his "I shouldn't have left you. Not for this long. I'm so sorry."

"How is she?" Martha asked quietly, leaning against the doorway. She had stayed away during the past hour mostly because she had seen that the Doctor wanted to be alone and had everything under control.

The Doctor shook his head and sighed "She... She's in a coma."

"I'm sorry," Martha told him quietly "How do you know her?"

"Oh, you know her as well," he told her with a small grin "Toni travelled with me just after her parents' death when she was seventeen."

Martha blinked "She doesn't look much older than me. How long has it been?"

"Quite a while," the Doctor shrugged "Toni... She's a bit of a special case. I'm not going to tell you more than I already did. It's her story to tell."

"Toni," Martha mumbled, glancing at the girl "No way. That's Toni Stark?"

The Doctor hummed "Indeed. She is a marvel. For a Human, that is."

"Of course," Martha snorted, shaking her head "I imagine that's a compliment?"