"The only survivors are the ones Thanos chose to adopt. I am, unfortunately, one of them." She didn't know who this Thanos guy was, but it didn't matter. She was Tony Stark's daughter. She didn't care what an immature, irresponsible, neglectful father everyone thought he was. Ana Maria Stark wasn't up for adoption.

...

While her father is being held captive in Afghanistan, the 17-year-old Ana Stark witnesses a different kind of horror back in Malibu, California. A warning from the future. To make the matters worse, the message gets interrupted by a murder in cold blood.

The first part of the Secret Sisterhood Trilogy, AKA the story of how the heiress to Stark Industries, the princess of Wakanda, and the Goddess of Fidelity are forced to prepare both themselves and their loved ones for the arrival of Thanos.

(Multiple Unreliable POVs. AU-Canon Divergence starts after CA:WS. Also, please note that this is a genfic, which means romance is NOT the main focus. The most significant pairings in this trilogy are Tony/Pepper, and Sigyn/Loki, but mostly they will just be hinted. There will be Agents of SHIELD cameos.)

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

—Newton's third law of motion

Some might say being a mid-year graduate sucked. As someone who liked doing things as quietly as possible, Ana begged to differ.

With fewer graduates attending, the commencement in December had been shorter, and less crowded than the one in June was going to be. The thought had made it easier for Ana to give the valedictory speech. Also, Pepper had taken the matter into her own capable hands and written something for her; all she had had to do was to read it out loud, word for word, while wearing a proud smile. But more importantly, her dad hadn't embarrassed her by not showing up.

Graduating summa cum laude from MIT. At the age of 17. It was kind of becoming a family tradition. But such things usually came at a price. Her case was no exception. She had always been the youngest, and therefore, the most vulnerable one around. When she was 12, her dad had shipped her off to a boarding school in New York, and there, she had been the perfect target for the bullies. She hadn't told anyone anything. After three years in New York, she had been admitted to MIT, and only then, she had told Pepper why she didn't have any friends.

At college, people were at least more mature, and most of the time they knew when to mind their own business. But when they approached her, it was always because they wanted something from her. If high school had been hell, MIT had been purgatory. But then, Ana would gladly settle for purgatory. She had learned not to expect much from people. Even from her own father.

But he, Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy had all come to her graduation. After the ceremony, Tony had taken them to the fanciest restaurant in Massachusetts. Ana had expected him to announce his decision to send her abroad for a graduate degree or something. Instead, he had said her research on the quantum physics was quite impressive, and offered unlimited funding to help her make time travel possible.

So, Ana had accepted the offer, and returned home. The boarding school thing had never been discussed since then. It was as if it had never happened. You didn't get to question your dad's decisions if you knew you had been dumped on his expensive doorstep when you were a baby, and he had been kind enough to take you in. Well, it wasn't like he constantly reminded her of the fact that she had never been wanted. In fact, he never had. Not intentionally, at least. Another reason not to be an ungrateful brat…

"You are not authorized to access this area."

The warning could faintly be heard from said area, which happened to be Ana's room. She sighed. It must have been another nosy bimbo, poking around the mansion. There had been no shortage of them since she had returned.

She could see the time on the glass panels. It was 07.05 AM now. Ana had woken up three hours ago, and had been contemplating about whether she should initiate a somewhat sentimental conversation with her dad before he left for Afghanistan since then. Well, his jet had actually been scheduled to leave about an hour ago, but as usual, he was apparently in no hurry.

Poor Rhodey, she thought as she dragged herself out of the bed.

Thankfully, she had a private bathroom, and a kitchen—as well as a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean—so that she could complete her morning routine without having to deal with any of the stupid "guests."

She was sipping her coffee and waiting for the eggs to boil when JARVIS said, "Miss Stark, your father is preparing to leave the house."

"Where's he?"

"In the master bedroom."

Ana decided to see him. Not that he would miss her terribly if she didn't, but it was still a part of the "not being an ungrateful brat" thing.

His door was open, and she found him choosing a tie. He wasn't wearing a suit, but he was probably going to change into one later, for the demonstration.

"Good morning."

"Morning, kid. Here to say goodbye?"

She nodded, and then asked, "When will you be back?"

"Why? Is your boyfriend coming over?"

"I don't have a boyfriend," she said, and it was true. But the question confused her. He had never asked her something like that before. Was he just messing with her, or did he really want to know?

Well, she had dated a couple of guys at MIT… But just like the so-called friends, they had thought being around the heiress to Stark Industries would make them rich, or at least famous. It had been okay, though. She hadn't let any of them use her. Actually, in a way, she was the one who had used them. She hadn't wanted to graduate from college a virgin. That had had to be fixed.

Don't give people another reason to laugh at you.

It was never about what she "gave" them, she had figured that out a long time ago. Still, old habits died hard. And she was definitely not going to tell her dad when, or why she had lost her virginity. Sex was overrated anyway. She had more important things to worry about.

"No? Or, is it a girlfriend?" he casually asked this time.

Okay, so, he did want to know…

"Why the sudden interest?" she asked, trying to keep her voice equally casual.

He shrugged. "Nothing. It's just… You don't talk much these days."

"Well, that's because I don't have much to tell. If you must know, I'll just be busy trying to figure out how to stabilize a hypothetical portal in the very fabric of the fourth dimension, and failing spectacularly at that."

Finally he picked a tie, and put it in the garment bag hanging on the wardrobe. It was the one she had given him for last Christmas. Coincidence, she told herself. He probably didn't even remember that it was a gift from her.

"I'll take a look at that simulation when I get back, okay? Just hang on for two days."

Of course, he was dying to be a part of this. What kind of genius wouldn't be interested in time-travel? Was it why he had suddenly decided to be so… decent?

"No."

He looked at her, puzzled. "Why not?"

"I don't want you to waste your time with this. My professors at MIT actually said the theory was too far-fetched to even bother."

"Yeah, that's what they always say… Just ignore them, kid."

"Are you sure? Maybe I should heed their advice. I mean, professors earn their titles for a reason."

"And they're all broke for a reason."

Ana wondered what his definition of "broke" was.

"Look, Dad, you taught me everything I know, but I need to see if I can do this on my own. You have to let me prove myself."

"Boss?" Happy interrupted them. "Hey, Ana."

She smiled at him, grateful for the interruption. "Hi!"

"Yeah, you go ahead, Happy, I'm coming down in a sec." Apparently, he wasn't going to be easily interrupted this morning. Which was unusual for someone who had the attention span of a goldfish.

Happy took the garment bag on the wardrobe and the suitcase on the bed. "Anything else, sir?"

"No… But hey, how about a race?"

Happy grinned. "You're on!"

After Happy left, there was a moment of awkward silence in the room. Ana wondered if he expected a hug or something, but it was better to play it safe.

"Dad," she simply said instead. If she didn't say this now, she was going to regret it. "Be careful over there."

He just gave a brief nod in response before heading out of the room, but she could see that her concern had made him happy. This had been a really weird goodbye.

Ana returned to her kitchen, and decided to check her e-mails while having breakfast. She sometimes received e-mails from other scientists who wanted to discuss her theory. Such an ambitious work wouldn't go unnoticed. But this morning, there was only one e-mail, a job offer from Momentum Labs. Last summer, she had had an internship there, as Dr. Lucy Bauer's assistant. It was something she had done to prove the world that she could get out of her comfort zone and work for other people if she needed to. But Ana had once overheard Dr. Bauer and her husband talking about some magic book that could show a person what they wanted to know the most, which, of course, went against every law of physics. It hadn't been easy to work for someone whose sanity she doubted after that. Or maybe, it was just some sort of scam. Either way, she wasn't going back there. Technically, she was working for Stark Industries anyway… from home. If her project succeeded, it was going to be used by Stark Industries.

After the breakfast, she went to see Pepper and give her her birthday gift. Pepper was in the living room, working, but she put her laptop aside when she saw Ana.

"Morning, birthday girl!"

"Hey, Ana… I didn't know you were up."

"Yeah, I wanted to see Dad before he left." She handed her the small box wrapped in silver paper. "Happy birthday!"

"Ana, you didn't have to…"

"Go ahead, open it."

She opened it, and smiled when she saw her new smartwatch. It was much more elegant, and feminine than the other smartwatch models out there.

"It's just a prototype, but totally functional, and in sync with the Stark Industries Central Database, so it should serve you well," she explained.

"Wait, you made this by yourself?"

"I had to work with a jewelry designer, but yeah, the tech is all mine."

"Wow… This is so thoughtful, thank you."

Yep, she was impressed. "Dad didn't even remember, did he?"

"No, but he asked me if I had any plans today."

"Do you?" she asked, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to know the details. Pepper was just too gorgeous to remain single forever. One day, someone was going to steal her from the Starks.

"Well, I need to run some errands, but I can't go home early anyway."

"Why?"

"I think my friends are throwing me a 'surprise' birthday party at my place tonight. Would you like to tag along?"

And couldn't help but sigh in relief. "No, but you're welcome to hide here if you wish."

She laughed. "I don't think it will be that bad. Perks of not having too many friends, eh? Seriously, though, if you don't want to be alone…"

"No, it's fine. I'll be busy anyway."

"Building a time machine?"

"It's more like a portal, actually, but call it whatever you want."

"You know you have unlimited funding, right? You can afford to assemble a team."

"I'm more efficient when I work alone."

Her dad always said hardware was more reliable than humans, and he was right. Hardware didn't judge you, bully you, take advantage of you, or creep you out. Hardware just did its job.

"How long have you been studying this theory?"

Ana thought for a moment. "Two years, I guess… Why?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Why? Of all things you can focus on, why time-travel?"

It was easy to see where this conversation was going. But she was prepared. "It's because someone has to start from somewhere. And I want to be that someone."

"So, this has nothing to do with your mother?"

"No."

"You're a good daughter, Ana. Wanting some answers won't change that."

"Okay, maybe it has something to do with my mother," she finally admitted. "If I could go back to the day Dad found me—"

"Tony tried to find her," she said suddenly. "More than once."

"I'm sure he did…"

"It's not what you think it is. He wasn't trying to get rid of you. As a matter of fact, it was the opposite. He was going to tell her to legally give up her parental rights. I think the possibility of a custody battle scared him."

She looked at Pepper, taken aback. She had had no idea. But given his reputation, that was a battle he might actually lose. After all, he only had an army of lawyers, not wizards. Deep down, the thought unsettled her, but she reminded herself that there was nothing to fear. For seventeen years, no one had come for her. That was unlikely to change after this point.

"And?"

"Nothing… He couldn't find her."

Well, at least he had tried. It was nice to know. "Wait… Did he ask you to question me?"

"Believe it or not, he does care about you."

"Okay, that explains why he was so weird this morning."

"Weird how? What did he do?"

"Never mind," she said evasively. "I'll be in the shop."

She went down the stairs, punched in the passcode, and crossed to the holotable. "JARVIS, give me last night's test results."

JARVIS obeyed. Last night's test results were, as expected, a fiasco. So, even iridium wouldn't work as a stabilizer… She had to find something else.

…

"Miss, incoming call from Colonel Rhodes."

"What?" Ana grunted, rubbing her eyes in the dark. Indeed, she could hear her phone buzzing somewhere nearby. "JARVIS, what time is it?"

"It is 03.17 AM," JARVIS replied, turning the lights on.

She reached over the nightstand to grab the phone. "Rhodey?"

"Hey, sweetie… Sorry I woke you up. But there's something, and, uhm… I wanted you to hear it from me."

"What's going on?" she asked, still half-asleep.

She heard him let out a sigh before replying. "On the way back to the base, our convoy was ambushed. And Tony… They've captured him, Ana."

Ana shot up in the bed.

This was exactly what she had feared, why she had wanted to tell her dad something nice before he had left. Now her fears had come true, but her mind was refusing to process it. Human brain did bizarre things like this to protect itself.

"Ana? Talk to me!"

She had to gulp twice before asking the next question. "Is he…"

"No, I think they wanted him alive."

She wasn't sure if this was supposed to make her feel better. Why? Why had they wanted him alive? To torture him to death? To film his torture, then post it on the Internet, and make an example of him? She was too scared to ask these to Rhodey, though.

"What now?" she simply asked instead.

"Now, I won't rest until we find him." His voice was full of determination.

"Okay," she whispered.

"Look, I've already called Pepper. She must be on her way to the mansion by now, you won't be alone."

"Thanks."

"I got to go now, but I'll call you again as soon as I can."

"Be careful over there," she said, but shivered when she remembered that it was the last thing she had told her dad.

"I will. Stay strong, sweetie," he said, and hung up.

JARVIS was quiet. So was Ana. But she didn't think she could go back to sleep. She stumbled out of the bed, and started walking around the mansion, as if she had been hypnotized, until she found herself in the workshop, looking at the two framed family pictures on his desk. Tony Stark as a kid, with his father, and Tony Stark as a father himself, with a ten-year-old Ana.

Unlike some might think, he hadn't always been a terrible dad. They used to have a lot of fun here in the workshop when she was a kid. He would teach her how to build an engine, code a program, or use the holotable. Yes, in the meantime, he was still the egocentric playboy to the rest of the world. Yes, he loved drinking, partying, and gambling. But he also equally loved spoiling his little girl. At least until sending her off to New York and ruining everything.

Was it him who had ruined everything, though? Perhaps Ana should have just properly asked him why he had done what he had done, instead of giving him the cold shoulder. Perhaps he wasn't being weird that morning, he was just being a father again. And what had she done? She had scolded him. For trying to help her.

…

Ana was grateful to Pepper and Happy for the emotional support, but she eventually asked them to leave. They deserved a break. And they deserved to look for a new job if they secretly felt like they would soon need it. Right, after all this time, they were like family. But Ana understood that business was business. No one had to trust a teenager with their career.

Rhodey sometimes called her, to let her know that they were "doing everything they could," but Ana knew he only called to see if she was okay. Obadiah called once, too, and after a few cold words of consolation, he told her that the board of directors wished to know when exactly she was to turn eighteen, and what she was planning to do if the worst came to pass. If she had the guts, she would have told him and the board to go to hell. Business was business, yes, but Ana still expected a certain level of decency, like waiting for at least a few weeks before starting to ask such questions. But Stane actually frightened her a bit, so she meekly admitted that she wasn't sure about what to do. Indeed, she had never thought about what was expected of her if something happened to her dad. But right now, that was the least of her concerns.

More days passed, and nothing happened. Ana was finally ready to admit that she desperately needed some greasy comfort food, so she ordered a huge pizza. She didn't actually remember when was the last time she had eaten pizza. In boarding school, she had seen how cruel kids could be to the girls who were either too chubby, or too skinny, and learned to be careful about her own appearance.

Don't give them another reason to laugh at you.

It all seemed so silly now.

She had always prided herself on not taking anything for granted. Apparently, she had taken everything for granted.

She ate the whole pizza by herself as she watched another debate about Tony Stark's fate on TV. The so-called experts didn't sound very optimistic.

He's not dead, you idiots, she wanted to scream. If he were, we'd know about it by now.

Terrorism was all about evoking fear in people. Showing that even a genius billionaire wasn't immune to the threat was the perfect way to prove their point. If they hadn't killed him by now, they must have wanted him for something else.

She was getting tired, and there was now a sick feeling in her stomach, so she didn't bother to go to her room upstairs. The couch in the shop was comfortable enough. Damn, she shouldn't have eaten the pizza that fast. But she would be fine in the morning. At least her stomach would.

If only she could sleep…

"JARVIS, will you play some music?"

Without a word, JARVIS started to play her favorite bedtime playlist. Ana closed her eyes and hoped that would help.

About half an hour later, the music suddenly stopped. She wasn't asleep yet, but she was getting there.

"JARVIS!" she scolded the UI, "I didn't tell you to stop."

There was no response.

"JARVIS?" she asked again.

Silence.

She got on her feet and went to turn on the lights manually. It took some time to find her way around in the dark, but she finally found the switch.

The lights weren't working either. But the power came back on before she could find a flashlight.

"JARVIS? What the hell just happened?"

"I am not certain, miss."

It must have been a glitch. "Okay, whatever… I just want to sleep."

"Miss, I am detecting the presence of a wormhole in the front yard."

"What?" she cried. He was talking like as if wormholes were something one could always find in a front yard. Like a mailbox, or plastic pink flamingos. "An Einstein-Rosen bridge?"

She wasn't an astrophysicist, but anyone who was interested in wormholes would know that the Einstein-Rosen bridge was the most common type. And by "the most common," she actually meant "the least rare."

"The characteristics do not match with anything in any known database."

"Was it the source of the outage?"

"You might want to see this, Miss Stark."

Ana turned to the desk and looked at the monitors. JARVIS was showing her the main entrance.

There was someone else just outside the front door. She was… she was someone who looked just like Ana. She was examining the door with her hands, her head tilted to one side, as if she had never seen a door before. She then straightened up and looked directly at the hidden security cam.

"What the hell? JARVIS, is this an LMD?"

"Based on the heat signature and other vitals, I would say she is a human being. Do you want me to turn on the outdoor lights?"

"No. Whoever she is, I don't want her to know the power is back on. Not yet. Are you recording this?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes!" Her instincts told her that it was the smart thing to do. Not that she had absolute faith in her instincts, but they were all she had right now.

"It feels so strange to be here," the other Ana murmured. "After everything I've been through. But terrible sacrifices have been made, just to make sure I get to deliver this message. And we don't have much time."

"Ana. I know you're there. I know you're watching me. I'm you. I've come from the future to warn you. Thanos has the Infinity Stones. All of them. He's unstoppable now, and there's nothing any of us can do. The Earth's been destroyed; the only survivors are the ones Thanos chose to adopt. I am, unfortunately, one of them. Forget about your dreams of time-traveling. Because if you don't, you'll be stuck in a time loop, just like I did. What you have to do is to finish what Howard Stark started. You have to build the Nexus. Only then, we might be able to destroy Thanos for good. Loki, he despises him as much as any—"

She paused, and turned around, as if she had felt something behind her. Two gunshots were heard. The time-traveler fell down to her knees, and placed a hand on her chest, where she had been shot.

"New York," she said in her dying breath. "You must be in New York."

She was now lying on the ground, in a puddle of her own blood. Two men in black masks came into frame.

"She was talking to someone," one of them told the other.

"There's no one else here, man. Crazy bitch was talking to herself. Come on!"

"What was she doing out here?"

"Who cares? It's done. Let's just take her to the boss."

They carried the body away, then came back and cleaned the blood up.

The Ana in the workshop was shaking so badly that it was a miracle she hadn't passed out yet. Yet somehow, she had been able to put a hand on her mouth in order not to scream.

With each passing second, the silence was becoming more and more unbearable, but it took two hours before she could speak again.

"JARVIS?"

"Miss Stark?"

"Is it safe to go upstairs?"

"I assure you that the mansion is perfectly safe right now."

Someone had tried to kill her. And she was only alive thanks to a time-traveler. Were the killers from the future as well? Their brief conversation indicated that they most likely weren't.

Dum-E brought her a glass of water.

"Oh, thanks, Dum-E…" she mumbled and drank the water before heading out.

"JARVIS," she spoke warily as she climbed the stairs, still feeling a bit dizzy. There was something comforting about the UI's voice. "I'm freaking out… Help me."

"Perhaps some music can help?"

Well, what was the harm? "Okay…"

"What would you like to listen?"

"Surprise me."

But when the music started, she sighed and shook her head. Smooth Criminal. Like, seriously? Still, despite the shock, JARVIS' dark humor had made her smile.

"Thanks for ruining my favorite song, JARVIS."

She walked around the house to find something, anything that could prove that what had just happened wasn't some crazy nightmare, but there was nothing.

She had witnessed her own death. How was she supposed to live with that? And that wasn't even the worst part.

"The only survivors are the ones Thanos chose to adopt. I am, unfortunately, one of them." She didn't know who this Thanos guy was, but it didn't matter. She was Tony Stark's daughter. She didn't care what an immature, irresponsible, neglectful father everyone thought he was. Ana Maria Stark wasn't up for adoption.

So, she returned to the shop and rewatched the footage, twice. It was a horrible thing to watch, but she had to make sure she didn't miss anything. The Nexus, Infinity Stones, Loki… What did these even mean? And New York? Why did she have to be in New York? She hated that city.

"The last name she said… Loki. It sounds familiar. Wasn't he some sort of evil god or something?"

"Loki is the god of deception and mischief in Norse mythology," JARVIS enlightened her. "There are also several Scandinavian variants of the name, such as Lokki, Lokkemand, Luku—"

"Yes, JARVIS, thank you… Maybe it's just a nickname. What about the Nexus? She said I had to build the Nexus."

"Perhaps she was talking about the NEXUS Internet Hub in Oslo, Norway?"

That was what she had thought as well. Also, it was quite possible that there was a Norwegian computer scientist, working at the NEXUS hub and using a Norse god's name as his alias. But there was one major problem with that theory. "Did Grandpa Stark have anything to do with that hub?"

"I haven't been able to identify any correlation between the NEXUS Internet Hub and Mr. Howard Stark."

She turned the holotable on. "Damn, it has to be something Howard Stark started. See if you can find anything about Thanos, or the Infinity Stones. In the meantime, show me the energy readings of the wormhole. I'd like to analyze them myself."

JARVIS showed her all the data he had been able to collect.

Although it was impossible to tell what had been on the other side of it, the numbers were too precise for the portal to be an anomaly. She had never seen anything like this. There could only be one explanation.

"The future me knew where, and when exactly she was supposed to be. She'd come here to warn me and then die… And by doing that, she broke the time loop and created another parallel universe, which happens to be our reality."

Or, had she? The irony was that only time could tell. But it sounded so brave, so selfless… Would Ana become that person one day? Did she even want to?

Right now, she had more pressing concerns, though. If she wanted to save the world, first, she needed to stay alive. "Someone wants me dead, JARVIS."

"An excellent observation, Miss Stark. May I ask what your plan is?"

"Whoever they are, they think I'm dead now. I must keep it that way. I can't trust anybody."

"You can always trust Ms. Potts or Mr. Hogan."

"I'd never doubt those two, JARVIS. But I don't want to put them in danger."

"Mr. Stane?"

Yes, Stane was an old family friend, and he could definitely pull some shady strings to find out who was behind this, but…

"After all that bullshit about the company and board of directors? Thanks, I'd rather die."

"What of Colonel Rhodes?"

"He's busy looking for my dad. He shouldn't be distracted. Open a new folder, index as The Nexus. Let's keep it offline for the time being." She quickly dragged the footage, and the data on the wormhole into the new folder.

"You have never worked on a secret project before…"

"Yeah, even my dad won't know about it." If he ever comes home…

"Miss Stark, my protocols don't allow me to keep secrets from—"

"Don't worry, JARVIS. Even you won't remember what happened tonight once I'm done with you."

…

It was always easy to be a smartass while alone in the safety of the shop. But once she was done in there, Ana started trembling again. She had to leave home. She had to disappear. At least until her dad was found, alive or dead.

She couldn't take her phone, her backpack, or one of the cars. She could only use cash. She just had to walk, until she found a place where she could lay low. She didn't exactly know what she was doing. But it was better than doing nothing.