Hey everyone, so sorry this took so long to get out, but here's Chapter 3! I'll be posting Chapter 4 either tonight or tomorrow night, I haven't decided yet, but it will be within the nest 24 hours! I hope you enjoy!
Minnie was in a dark room, her knee hurting, the soft blue glow and hum of the massive arc reactor making her blink a few times before her eyes adjusted, looking around the room she hissed softly as she put weight onto her knee and then walked over to a control panel. Had the control panel always had a TV on it? Turning the TV on she could see the events unfolding upstairs, she could see the aliens coming through, killing first-responders, killing civilians, killing everyone and everything in their path. Tears streamed down her face as her breath caught in her chest, feeling her chest tighten as she tried to gasp for air before the TV screen suddenly went white, she could hear screams upstairs, and as she looked up she felt the entire building shake. It knocked her off her feet. When she tried to stand, she looked up, only to see the ceiling coming towards her, a scream ripped through her throat as-
"Mom!" Minnie opened her eyes with a gasp before looking around. She panted softly before looking over at Reagan who had taken off her headphones and was looking at her mom with concern. "Are you okay?"
She was on the plane. The flight to California from New York, they were sitting in first class, behind some b-movie actor that Minnie vaguely remembered from some TV show from her childhood. "Yeah- Yeah baby, I'm okay." she nodded as she ran a hand over her hair. "I- I didn't scream out loud did I?"
"No, you were just whimpering a bit." she explained with a frown. "Were you dreaming about New York again?"
"Yes," she sighed. "Yes I was." she let out a small chuckle, leaning down to get her purse and extradite her credit card before she then pressed the button to call a flight attendant. "Can I please buy a glass of white wine? Chardonnay if you have it, if not, whatever you have." she asked, holding out her card. The flight attendant left and then returned a few moments later with the card, the receipt and Minnie's glass of wine. "Thank you." she said as she signed the paper and then took her card back and taking a sip of the wine, leaning her head back against the seat for a moment as she swallowed. "What are you watching Reagan?" Minnie knew the answer to that, Reagan was watching her, but she hoped asking the question would make the girl refocus her attention on her phone screen.
"Hm?" Reagan looked at her phone screen and then back to Minnie before turning her attention back to the phone screen. "Oh it's a video talking about mysterious disappearances." Reagan explained.
"Oh yeah?" Minnie asked as she took another sip of her wine. "Who are they talking about? Amelia Earhart?"
"No I think she was on the first list, this is a second video. Right now they're talking about some kid from Missouri in the 80's." she explained.
"Oh yeah, Peter Quill," Minnie nodded. "I remember hearing about that when I was growing up. I was eight when it happened in Missouri but my parents were still adamant about not letting us kids go out alone.'
"I thought you grew up on a farm?" Reagan asked making Minnie chuckle.
"Well, yeah, but you know, the school bus would come pick us up, usually we'd be allowed to go to the end of the driveway and wait for it ourselves, but Grandpa would drive us to the end of the driveway, and wait in the truck until the bus came, and he's pick us up at the end of the day, we couldn't go to friend's houses, we couldn't go on trail rides by ourselves," she shook her head as she remembered it.
"That sounds like it sucked." Reagan said as she looked at her phone screen which had gone dark.
"Baby, you have no idea." Minnie chuckled as she looked at the girl.
"So they never found him?"
"Nope." Minnie replied. "Never found a body or anything."
"Huh." Reagan said before turning her eyes back to her phone screen, putting her headphones on and resuming the video.
Two hours later they had landed, collected their baggage and had gotten the keys to the rental car and were on their way to Malibu. "Do you want me to drop you off first or do you want to see Tony?" Minnie asked as she merged in the heavy LA traffic leaving the airport.
"I want to see Tony." Reagan replied making Minnie nod.
"Okay." she said as the teenager leaned over to start fiddling with the car radio, finally settling on an oldies station and singing along while she rolled down the window and propped her feet up on the dashboard. Minnie chuckled softly and shook her head as she continued to drive.
The ride from LAX to Malibu took about another hour, and when they got to Tony's house Reagan had been complaining for some time that she needed to pee. Pulling up to the gate Minnie reached out and pressed her thumb against the fingerprint scanner, when it beeped and the gate started to open Reagan groaned. "Oh my god could this go any slower?"
"You can get out and pee in those plants?" Minnie offered dryly making Reagan roll her eyes.
"God, mom, gross." she said with distaste before the gate finally opened and Minnie pulled up to the front door.
The two got out of the car and Minnie unlocked the door to the house, looking over at Reagan. "You remember where the bathroom is?" she asked, noticing Reagan was already on her way there. "I'll be downstairs, come find me when you're done. And be quiet, I'm sure Pepper is sleeping."
"Kay!" Reagan called as she shut the door to the bathroom behind her. Minnie chuckled softly and then walked down the spiral stairs to the lab she knew Tony was holed up in. Punching her access code the cool voice of JARVIS greeted her as she entered.
"Welcome Ms. Strong."
"Thank you JARVIS," Minnie said as she stepped in, noticing Tony working at his workbench.
"How was the flight?" he asked as she walked into the room a little further.
"We sat behind David Hasselhoff." she shrugged making him look up with a raised eyebrow.
"That's pretty cool."
"Yeah, Reagan knew him from the Sponge-Bob Movie so that made me feel old."
"Made you feel old? God, I feel ancient." he grumbled before looking back at what he was doing. "Where is she anyways?"
"Bathroom, she'll be down in a minute." Minnie explained before she opened her work bag and pulled out a few folders. "The updates on the tower, the updates on the cleanup, it's all there." she told him as she set the folders down at his elbow.
"Oh, great," Tony said, setting down the soldering iron and picking up the folder on top. "How's Bruce?"
"He's overseeing everything very closely," Minnie said as she looked over Tony's shoulder at the paperwork she'd given him. "That's the new lab," she said as she pointed to the pictures she'd taken when she had been there.
"I can see that." Tony replied making her give his shoulder a small push. "Why are you avoiding the question."
"Which question?" Minnie asked.
"How's Bruce?"
"Okay, is there some sort of universal plot where people are trying to get me and Bruce Banner together?" she asked, a hint of exasperation on her voice.
"What? Why would you ask that? Who else have you talked to?"
"My daughter," Minnie replied making Tony grin as said daughter walked downstairs and punched in her own code to get into the lab.
"Speak of the devil- Hey Princess!" Tony beamed as he stood up and held his arms out making Reagan grin and rush into them.
"Hi Tony," she beamed up at him.
"How you doing kiddo? You driving your mom crazy?"
"Other way 'round." Reagan laughed making Minnie roll her eyes.
"Yeah I bet," Tony replied as he turned to look at Minnie, grinning at her widely, keeping his arm around Reagan's shoulders. "Hey, Rae, There's a present for you in one of the cars." he told her making her perk up.
"Which one?"
"Which one's your favorite?"
"The Roadster," She looked up at him excitedly making him chuckle and pat her between the shoulders.
"Go look." he encouraged her making her run over to the car excitedly.
"What did you buy her?"
"Nothing. I made her something." Tony replied as he watched the teenager rip the plain brown paper wrapping off of the box he'd put her gift into.
"It's a new phone!" Reagan said excitedly as she looked up at the two adults. "Oh this is so cool."
"Glad you like it Kiddo," Tony said to Reagan before lowering his voice to talk to Minnie. "You got one too, unlimited call, text, web, plus a tracker that allows you to track her, track everyone with one of these phones, myself included, and there's a tracker in all of the suits. Rhody's too." he explained making her look at him with a small frown.
A tracker in every suit, one that she could use and control to see where he was and where each of the suits were, as well as her daughter, as well as Rhodey, that was a little unsettling. "And you'll be able to see where we are won't you?" she asked making him nod.
"Yeah, of course." he replied, reaching out to put his hand on Minnie's shoulder. "It's just smarter this way." he told her. "I'm going to send one back with you to New York, for Banner." he explained.
"Oh my god, there's JARVIS on this!" Reagan looked up from the phone excitedly.
"That's right Kiddo! You've got J wherever you go."
"I'm happy to know you approve Ms. Reagan." the AI replied from within the walls of the lab making Reagan look around the room and then back at her new phone as she beamed.
"There's no cell disruptions, there's no service issues." Tony continued in the lower voice to Minnie. "And that power won't ever die. It's got a miniature arc reactor running it."
"How miniature?" Minnie asked looking from her overjoyed teenager to Tony, her eyes flickering to the arc reactor in his chest and then back to his eyes.
"Smaller." he replied, giving her arm a gentle rub. "Gotta keep in touch with everyone, right?" he asked and she gave him a gentle smile.
"How are you doing Tony?" she asked making him lick his lips before he let his eyes meet hers. He was quiet for a long moment before Minnie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He was tense for a moment before his arms snaked around her waist and his forehead dropped to her shoulder. "Some days are better than others," she whispered. "Right?"
"Yeah." he replied shortly before he let go of his assistant and pulled back, moving his hands to her arms. "Keep an eye on her huh?" he nodded towards Reagan who was squealing over the different options her new phone had.
"Always." Minnie replied. He nodded, let out a sigh and then ran his hand over his face. "Tony- I'm only in the canyon you know? If you need anything at all or you want to come for dinner-"
"No, no." Tony shook his head. "No, I- That's your family stuff." he explained with a shake of his head and a chuckle.
"Well you and Pepper are more than welcome." Minnie insisted making him smile.
"Thanks Min," he said gently, brushing a finger over her chin. "Now- Why don't you guys get out of here. I've got some more work to finish up." he told her as he rubbed his hands together. "I'm sure your family is waiting for you."
"Rae," Minnie called as she looked over at her daughter. "Come say thank you to Tony, we've got to head out." Reagan scrambled to her feet, running over to Tony and throwing her arms around him making him chuckle.
"Ooh- Gotcha." he laughed as he looked down at Reagan. "You happy?" she nodded. "Good. You decide you want to get away from all the cousins and your mom says it's okay you text me and I'll come rescue you. Cool?"
"Cool." Reagan grinned making him stroke her hair affectionately.
"Cool." he replied before letting go. "Go on get outta here, I'll see you later." he assured her making her nod.
"Tony, just in the canyon if you need me at all." Minnie reminded him making him nod.
"Got it." he said before picking up a box and handing it to her. "One for you, one for Bruce." he reminded her and she nodded back.
"Got it." she replied.
When they got to the property Minnie punched in a code on the call box outside the gates to the Bad Ox Ranch, thinking about the difference in technology between the house she had grown up in and the one Tony currently owned and the few miles between them. Approaching the house Minnie chuckled at the sight of her father moving down the steps to the house and walking over to Reagan's door, opening it for her. He'd obviously been waiting outside for them when she'd texted from Tony's saying they were on their way. "Hi Grandpa!" Reagan beamed at the older man, squeaking at the huge hug he gave her.
"How's my little Sugar Snap Pea?" he asked making her laugh.
"I'm good." she said, picking up the backpack she'd brought as a carry on.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Nathan Strong asked as he looked at Minnie, making her laugh as she opened the trunk of the rental.
"I'm going to get my bags." she replied.
"No ma'am, not on this property, on this property your dad will get the bags. It's bad enough you didn't let me come get you at the airport after I said I would."
"Dad, I needed a car in case Tony needed me, I can-"
"I know you can, but I'm going to." he told her before winking at Reagan who giggled. "Go on inside Sugar Pea, your cousins are real excited to see you." Reagan went inside without another thought and Minnie stepped away from the trunk, her hands raised in a surrender.
"I know when I've been beat." she said and he chuckled before holding his arms out to her. She walked into his arms, letting him give her a long hug before he pulled back. "How you doing dad?"
"Had a physical a few weeks ago, fit as a fiddle." he reported with a grin. "How's the knee?"
"It's on the mend." she replied with a nod.
"Good, glad to hear it," Nate replied. "Now why don't you go on inside and say hi to the family. I'm going to bring your stuff to the guest house, you're bunking with Tabby and Paul." he explained making Minnie pause.
"Yeah, how is that?" she asked a little uncertainty, Nate wincing in reply.
"It's… Not great." he answered honestly. "They've been sniping at each other all afternoon. Me'n'your mom are hoping it's just a phase."
"Yeah, fingers crossed." Minnie replied softly before she walked into the house to greet the whole family.
After the greetings, the catching up, having some food and declaring herself exhausted and it was late, being after midnight, Minnie was finally able to escape to the guest house where she plugged in her old phone, she'd deal with getting everything done with her new phone in the morning. As she settled into bed, the exhaustion starting to get to her the phone lit up making her look over at it. One unread text message from a few hours before.
"I hope you and Reagan had a good flight. Happy Thanksgiving, See you in a week. :)" Minnie smiled as she read the text and bit her lip before typing out a reply.
"Thanks! See you then, can't wait! :)" She smiled as she set her phone down and rolled over, pulling the blankets over her shoulders and let out a sigh, as she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Alright, I hope you liked this chapter, admittedly it was a little bit of a filler chapter, but the next chapter will be a lot better, I promise you that! I've got some great plans for how to disrupt the MCU timeline and bring my own story into it all.
I hope you all enjoy!
Please don't forget to review if you feel like it!