Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, The Avengers or anything that looks familiar.
A/N I've been reading fanfiction for a couple years but was previously too nervous to actually write/publish it. I hope you like it!
Lily Adelaide Barnes was a well-behaved student in her classes. Lily Adelaide Barnes got top marks on her tests effortlessly. Lily Adelaide Barnes was ostracized by her peers for being superior. Lily Adelaide Barnes hated her home life. Lily Adelaide Barnes was probably a genius.
Lily Adelaide Barnes was.
Lily Adelaide Barnes isn't anymore- not after she was smashed by a car on her walk home.
Or at least, she shouldn't have been anymore.
~{I'm just a line break}~
Pain: the physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury. For a disorienting moment, Lily could not understand why a dull pain lingered in her limbs as she woke up. Then the memory of a truck driver blaring its horn at her before it flung her onto the distinctly uncomfortable road returned to her.
Unwilling to open her eyes after her disconcerting revelation, Lily pondered the events which had occurred.
It had started out as a normal day. Two hours before school started, Lily awoke and quietly stretched before beginning her daily 100 push-ups and sit-ups, desperate to remain in top physical condition. Then she showered, got dressed, and walked to school. She was not able to eat breakfast, as her mother had already blown her paycheck on alcohol. Everything was normal.
At school, Lily suffered through her classes. She felt her classmates' hatred as her Spanish teacher announced that she was the only student with an A on their test. She loathed her math teacher as he sat at his desk texting rather than teaching. She questioned Mrs. Smith's sanity as the batty old woman enforced group work for the end of year history project. During lunch, she caught sight of her former friends and struggled to retain her passive expression. It wasn't as if she ever actually liked them-they were condescending, insecure fools- she just couldn't help but miss the protection they had provided, even poor acquaintances can be decent shields- protecting from isolation and despondency. After lunch, and two more anxiety-inducing yet remarkably easy classes, Lily was finally free to walk home. Everything was normal.
After the crash her former friends would probably claim that she had gotten hit on purpose, Lily had always said that she would die young. It hadn't been intentional on her part, but Lily had a sneaking suspicion that the crash was not the most important thing to worry about at the moment. She could hear too much traffic around her and there was a distinctly non-California sting of cold weather on her bare arms. Enjoying one last moment of peace, Lily opened her eyes to see a cloudy gray sky hanging over a vast array of skyscrapers and mazelike streets. Everything was not normal.
Lily Adelaide Barnes had never been more certain of the fact that she was not where she should be.
~{I'm just a line break}~
Lily Adelaide Barnes had never been more aware of the fact that she should not exist anymore.
Not when a truck had hit her, sending her flying through the air and landing on the hard street. Not when she could feel warm, sticky blood leaking out of her from countless scrapes and punctures. Not when her vision had become obscured by blackness, until there was finally silence.
Then her eyes had opened back up and she found herself in a city which she had only previously seen in movies- New York City. She dazedly swung her legs off of what she discovered to be a park bench and sat, contemplating what she should do.
By all accounts, she should be dead- there was too much blood loss for her to have survived a trip to the hospital-let alone a trip across the country to a random park bench in New York City. Yet here she was, an ache in her bones and blood on her shirt- now hidden by her hoodie- lacking any actual bleeding wounds of which she should have many.
Lily doubted that this was some sort of heaven, she had more than her fair share of mistakes and guilt weighing on her heart. Besides, heaven's entrance probably isn't a nasty park bench in New York.
She figured that finding food and maybe a newspaper seemed like the best course of action. And luck must be on her side because almost as soon as she started walking, she found a newspaper stand.
"Excuse me, sir," she stuttered out to the vender, "could I borrow one of your papers?"
Lily had feared that the man would be reluctant to give away a potential sale to some good-for-nothing kid on the streets, but when he saw her disheveled condition, his eyes softened and he muttered a "sure, kid" before passing her a wrinkled copy of the New York Times.
She accepted the paper with a soft "thanks" and continued her search for food. As she walked, she began browsing the paper, irking many passerbys whom she nearly bumped into.
Stocks: no, not necessary right now. Mysterious occurrence: none unless I'm going to count the man who ate forty hotdogs. Sports: irreleva- WAIT this says the date is November 24, 2009. That's it. I've gone mental. I'm in a coma. Someone slipped me drugs. This is just a crazy dream.
Lily slumped against the wall of a store, desperately attempting to avoid hyperventilating.
I just need to find a phone or a computer. That guy probably just wanted to pull a dumb prank. It's 2017. I'm almost done with high school and can escape to college soon. This is just a joke. It has to be a prank.
Calming down, Lily turned her gaze to a jumbotron hanging on a nearby skyscraper. It was just a press conference for some guy. Actually, he looked a lot like Robert Downey Jr. Curious, she stayed where she was, content to see a bit of the press conference before facing her many issues.
"There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop-"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you-"
"I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."
At this Lily smirked. It's must just be some sort of theater group getting recognized for re-filming Iron Man. I've gotta admit, their Tony Stark is almost spot on.
Lily refocused to catch the finale. "The truth is, I am Iron Man." The words were defiantly spoken, and Lily suppressed a smile at the wonderful acting. But, the end credits didn't begin and instead the camera showed Stark exiting with some military dude and an orange-haired woman- must be the actors for Rhodes and Pepper.
As the screen continued to show the reporters in chaos as Stark exited the press conference, Lily began to feel dread in the pit of her stomach.
The newspaper. The news.
It should be impossible, then again her survival should be impossible too.
Lily Adelaide Barnes should not exist anymore.
Lily Adelaide Barnes should definitely not be in the Marvel universe.