Summary: Tony Stark finds himself in a world he has no memory of where Thanos isn't a problem. Yet. Is history doomed to repeat itself or will he discover a way to help his team in both the old world as well as the new? Will he find a way to return to his old world or will new bonds that he's formed make him want to stay?
Featuring: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, OC, All the Avengers, and others.
Setting: Post Infinity War. Sort of.
Notes: Alternate gem storyline loosely based off of one of the comics.
"Well we studied the intercepted communications and we have a pretty good idea of why they wanted her. Now obviously they wanted to study the modified serum. They're also calling her the prototype. They think they can create an army of Winter Soldiers because of her." Natasha filled the rest of the team in.
Tony shook his head. "That makes no sense though. If they created them the way my sister was created, it would be at least 18 years before they had their army."
"Not exactly. Take Wanda and Pietro for example. They were born with a mutated gene. Pietro has the power of super speed, but Wanda.. she could alter reality itself if she wanted to. If they had someone like her, they could easily grow their army from embryos to young adults fairly quickly." Helen explained to them.
Clint cleared his throat nodding his head in agreement. "They did actually mention Wanda by name, but there was no mention of any plans to grab her as of yet."
"According to the reports, they are only in the testing phases of Project THANOS. They have a working theory that they can unlock the original serum from the modified version. Basically they think they can make Elizabeth a full super soldier." The redhead continued.
Tony blinked in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but Project what?"
"Thanos. The Hydra Assassins Network Of Spies. Bit wordy, but that's what they call it." Natasha explained to him.
Bucky made a face as he listened to her. "That.. sounds familiar. They've been studying the files I stole from Howard for years now. In protecting your sister, he inadvertently led them right to her."
It was quiet in the Tower that night and also oddly cold. Despite that, Elizabeth was wandering through the building slowly. She was barefoot wearing a thin nightgown. Her dark hair hung loose around her shoulders. Though she was oblivious to it, Jarvis was tracking her movement. Elizabeth stepped down the hallway toward the labs. She inadvertently tripped a silent alarm as she tried to enter one of the labs. Silent to her, at least, as Tony had rerouted the noise to only be heard in the Avengers' rooms so that Morgan wouldn't be disturbed by the loud noise. Pietro had gotten there first then ran back alerting the others to the situation at hand. Elizabeth was standing there just staring at Tony's work bench when the rest of the group arrived a few moments later.
Tony approached her in concern. "Hey kiddo."
"Dad?" She didn't even notice Tony as she took a step toward the work bench.
Bruce studied her for a moment then stopped Tony from touching her. "Wait. Don't. I think she's sleepwalking."
"But I don't want to. I want to stay and watch you." Elizabeth pouted still looking straight ahead.
"Right. So we have to somehow guide her back upstairs to her bed. Clint and I had a mission like this once. Just an intel mission, but the target was a sleepwalker." Natasha commented keeping a watchful eye on the younger woman.
She pushed her hair away from her face and looked at Tony. "I could get inside her head. Make her want to get back in bed."
Tony considered it for a moment than shook his head. "Thank you Wanda, but not right now. We'll leave that as a last resort."
"Fine I'll go, but only if Tony reads me a story." Elizabeth turned to face Tony just then.
His face softened and he couldn't help smiling at her. "Of course kiddo. Whatever story you want."
"Yay!" She took his arm and started to walk back only to freeze when she saw Bucky. "Please don't hurt them. Please don't take me. We won't tell."
Bucky reached out tucking her hair behind her ear gently. "I would never hurt you, doll."
"Okay." Her face then lit up and she ran forward hugging the air. "Jarvis!"
"Hello Elizabeth. You know it's past your bedtime." The AI spoke up playing along.
"I know, but I wanted to watch Dad. I...I miss him." Elizabeth admitted letting go of her imaginary hug.
"Of course you do and that's perfectly alright. Now how about we get you back to bed and in the morning I'll have Ana whip you up some super special Jarvis pancakes." Jarvis responded soothingly.
"Really?" Her face lit up again. "Okay. I'll go back to bed then."
"Sweet dreams, Elizabeth."
Steve watched her walk out of the lab with Tony then looked toward the group. "Okay Tony sleeps longer than usual and loses half his memory. Now Elizabeth is sleepwalking. Should we be worried?"
Bruce shrugged his shoulders. "She has a history of being plagued by nightmares when she's stressed. It wouldn't be surprising at all if she is also suffering from PTSD after her ordeal at Hydra's hands."
Bucky swallowed hard. "I visited her the night after we got her back. She had a nightmare. I don't think she's been sleeping well since."
"Well that would certainly explain the sudden sleepwalking." The redheaded Russian chimed in.
Rhodey narrowed his eyes a bit at the former assassin. "You were in Elizabeth's room?"
He looked over at Tony's best friend. "Uh yeah? I know what it's like to have nightmares because of what Hydra did. I just wanted to offer her some support. Let her know she wasn't alone in experiencing that."
Clint walked around them patting the workbench lightly. "Sounds like she was dreaming of a memory from a better time. Except official records state that Howard wasn't working on anything when Elizabeth was a little girl. He actually was trying to fix the mistakes he made with Tony and do right by his daughter."
"Sir? According to my files, that was more than likely a real memory. Miss Stark had a habit of waking up and wandering down to the labs to see what Tony was working on. Usually Howard was in there with him." Jarvis informed them.
Tony cleared his throat approaching them. "She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. And uh, yeah, from what I can remember, Dad would help me fine tune my projects sometimes. He was pretty much retired at that point for Elizabeth's sake. There was one thing he was working on, but he said it was for her."
Elizabeth yawned as she walked into the kitchen in the morning eager for that first cup of coffee. Sure she could have just had a coffeemaker in her living area, but she felt that she woke up better with the walk down to the shared kitchen in the mornings. An all too familiar smell wafted through the air. Her eyes widening at the sight of the stack of pancakes on a plate sitting on the kitchen island. Steve was at the stove cooking while Tony set a mug of coffee down next to the pancakes.
"What..."
Tony chuckled taking a sip from his own mug. "I might have burnt the first attempt so Steve took over. It's actually not that hard of a recipe."
"Super special Jarvis pancakes. I..I don't understand, but thank you." She smiled moving to take a seat on one of the stools next to the island.
"I did promise you pancakes in the morning, Elizabeth." Jarvis chimed in.
He noticed the shock and confusion on his sister's face so he spoke up. "You might have sleepwalked last night and Jarvis got you to go back to your bed with the promise of pancakes in the morning."
"Oh. Oh god. I'm sorry if I woke any of you guys up." Elizabeth blushed taking a sip of her coffee.
Steve smiled over his shoulder at her. "Hey it's fine. We're just glad you're alright."
Tony rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. "You went down to the lab to see Dad."
"I did? Oh. Yeah. He's been on my mind a lot lately, I guess. It was supposed to be our special project. He didn't want me feeling left out since he was helping you with yours." She smiled fondly at the thought.
Her brother chuckled softly. "Oh yeah? What did you guys end up building?"
"A special box that only I can open. Voice activation even back then. It was the poem he always made me remember."
Steve nodded his head. "A poem huh?"
"Yeah. Neither time nor space could ever separate me from you. The reality is that the power of a father's love is eternal. Tony may have my mind, but never doubt my dear for you are just as smart. No two souls have ever been blessed as much as your mother and I the day you were born. Ugh it was so wordy, but... it meant a lot to young me, I suppose." Elizabeth smiled taking a bite of her pancakes as the mug slipped from Tony's hands.
Pietro caught it just in time as Tony looked over at Elizabeth in shock. "What?"
"What? That was the poem. Well not as much a poem as it was just a sweet reminder. Hey they loved you just as much. I just wasn't as easy to bring to life. You know that." She assured him unaware of the real reason that he was in shock.
Tony recovered thanking Pietro before turning his attention back to his sister. "So what was in the box?"
"I don't know. He gave it to me, but shortly after he fell ill. I didn't want to open it without him. Mom told me he was gone and it just didn't feel right to open the box. It took me a while to even say the words without crying. I still have it on a shelf in my room." Elizabeth admitted tucking her hair behind her ear.
The front door of the New York Sanctum swung open a short while later and Tony walked in clearly concerned. "Strange?"
"Stark." Dr. Strange approached him curiously.
He sighed shaking his head at the man. "Project Thanos? A poem from my father that inadvertently mentions each of the Infinity stones? What is going on?"
"Yes, how peculiar. I do believe that when the snap occurred, the other me's last act was to send you here. Of course I'd know that if anyone could find a way to stop Thanos and reverse the snap, it'd be you." Stephen mused aloud.
Tony narrowed his brown eyes at the sorcerer. "You told me that out of all the ways you foresaw that there was only one in which we actually succeeded."
"I did, but how do you know this isn't part of that way?"
He grumbled at him. "Stop speaking in riddles, Stephen."
"Elizabeth has to open the box. No, before you ask, it won't harm her. If you wish, you may let her open it here." He assured him with a wave of his hand.
Tony rolled his eyes at the doctor. "So you know what's in the box. Why don't you just save us all a lot of time and just tell me?"
"I could, but then that could change what is actually within the box."
"This box?" Elizabeth spoke up from behind Tony as she stepped inside of the room flanked by half of the Avengers.
"Hello and yes that box precisely." Stephen smiled slightly at the younger woman.
Steve stiffened a bit going into Captain America mode. "What exactly is going on here?"
"The contents of that box might be the key to saving the universe." Dr. Strange responded.
"Oh please. It's just a box." She rolled her eyes at that.
Tony sighed moving to stand near her. "Hey kiddo. I think it's time that you finally opened that box."
"I can try, but I can't promise it will recognize my voice." Elizabeth shrugged then gazed down at the square box in her hands.
It was a mixture of metal and wood with intricate designs carved into every side. Elizabeth took a deep breath before she began to recite the words that she knew by heart. With every mention of the name of an Infinity stone, the box lit up with the color of that specific stone much to Tony's surprise. The box shook as she finished speaking then it stopped. The lid popped open and she peered inside only to gasp softly. Inside the box lay a medium sized polished stone on top of a piece of pink silk fabric.
"It smells like Dad's cologne." The brunette teared up a bit at that realization.
Tony's face softened a bit toward her. "Yeah it does. So a rock huh?"
"I think it's a gem stone actually. I was always pointing out cool looking rocks and stuff to dad when I was a kid. I guess I thought I was finding him cool looking materials to use for his projects." Elizabeth lifted the stone out of the box carefully.
The stone itself was darkish red in color, but glowed bright in her hands. Elizabeth was mesmerized by its glow. Her brown eyes widened as the stone grew warm in her palm. Bucky stepped closer to her in concern. The warmth of the gem stone grew and a red glow appeared in her eyes. She stood there frozen in shock. Images flew throughout her mind of war and death. The stone grew hotter and she cried out in pain as it burned her palm. Bucky helped her drop the stone back into the box. Strange stepped forward taking the box.
"Tony!" She screamed out collapsing in Bucky's arms.
He brushed her tears away trying to comfort her. "I'm right here, kiddo. It's okay."
"Tony?" Elizabeth looked at him in confusion as she started to calm down.
"I believe the stone gave her a look into a possible future." Stephen explained to them.
Bucky held her comfortingly. "It's okay, doll. We're not going to let anything happen to you."
"No, but he will." She pulled away from Bucky and approached the doctor. "You lied to him, you asshole."
"I assure you, Miss Stark, I did not." Dr. Strange spoke calmly to the still clearly upset woman.
"You..." Elizabeth started pounding against the man's chest in anger. "You knew this was going to happen. You saw it. You let them die. You let my brother die. After all he has been through, I refuse to believe that the only winning outcome involves him sacrificing himself."
Bucky slid his arms around her waist pulling her back gently. "C'mon doll, why don't we take a breather?"
"I didn't send him here in that future you saw, Miss Stark. That's the difference." Stephen admitted.
"That's just it. I didn't just see it. I felt it. You just crumbled into dust in front of Steve. Peter did the same in front of Tony. Then I saw this huge battle. Tony..." She trailed off shaking her head.
Bucky draped his arm around her pressing a gentle kiss to her head as they sat in a different room in the Sanctorum. "Hey, you heard Strange. He already changed that future by sending Tony here."
"I have to go check on Pepper and Morgan." Elizabeth started to panic a bit.
He tried his best to keep her calm. "They're fine. Half the team are still in the tower guarding them."
"Thank you." She smiled softly at him as she began to relax in his arms.
Bucky smiled slightly trailing his hand up and down her arm soothingly. "You're welcome."
"So I have to be honest with you, James. I've known for years even before we got you back that you were the Winter Soldier." Elizabeth admitted to him.
He appeared stunned by her confession. "What are you talking about?"
"The Captain America exhibit in D.C. was where I realized it. I went on a trip there shortly before Tony got kidnapped and became Iron Man. Anyway, this one area had a moving image of you and Steve. When I saw your face, I just knew. They were much gentler, but I couldn't forget those eyes."
Bucky tilted his head to look at her. "Did you tell anyone?"
"No. Tony got kidnapped soon after and I got caught up worrying about all of that. After he was safe back home, I wanted to tell him, but I didn't think he'd believe me. I was just a kid when the accident happened. I'm an unreliable witness. I'm so sorry. Maybe if I had just tried..." She trailed off as his lips brushed against hers gently.
He pulled back slightly to look at her. "It's not your fault. Even if someone had believed you, they wouldn't have been able to find me. Not then anyway."
From afar, Tony watched them with a frown. "This is weird."
Steve chuckled slightly at that. "A bit, yeah. I don't think I've ever seen him like this with a girl before. It was kind of hard maintaining a relationship while in the army back then though."
The older Stark sibling shook his head. "Elizabeth has dated here and there. I don't think I've ever seen her like this with a guy either."
"They're finding comfort in each other. Both were kidnapped by Hydra. Both unwillingly injected with the serum. Both haunted by the nightmares and the PTSD." Natasha spoke up softly to the two men. "It might be a little weird since he saw her when she was a kid for all of what, like, fifteen minutes at the most. If it helps them heal a little bit, I say let them be. At least you know she's safe."
The group returned to the tower with Dr. Strange in tow. They all gathered in a conference room where he and Tony explained everything the best that they could. A question lingered within Tony's mind as they went over everything though. It was something that just didn't make any sense to him.
He turned toward the doctor once they were done explaining. "If the snap already happened, why didn't it happen here?"
"When you were sent here, you basically were sent this universe at a time prior to the snap. So no it hasn't occurred here yet." Stephen assured him.
"So then how do we prevent the snap from happening at all?" Elizabeth asked looking very concerned as she sat between Bucky and Tony.
"Thanos has to collect all of the stones first. If we replace the Reality stone with the stone from your box, it should stop the snap from occurring." He assured them.
Steve nodded his head at him. "So where is the Reality stone now?"
"Asgard. It was supposed to go to a man named the Collector for safe keeping, but he had ulterior motives so in Asgard it stayed." Strange explained.
"I believe I can help with that." A familiar voice spoke up.
Looking alarmed, Tony stood out of his seat blocking the view of his sister. "How the hell did you get past all of my security protocols?"
"Frigga sends her congratulations on the birth of your little one." Loki smiled at them.
"Tell her we said thank you." Pepper smiled back at him.
Tony gave him a confused look. "Frigga's dead."
"Watch your filthy mouth." He grew upset.
Pepper quickly explained what was going on and Loki relaxed.
"In this universe, Loki is more of a .. frenemy of sorts. He's the one that closed the gap. Elizabeth talked him down." Dr. Strange explained to Tony.
"What can I say? Little Stark can be quite persuasive." He smirked playfully at her.
Bucky narrowed his eyes at the god. "Cut it out, Loki."
"Back to the topic at hand, Thor and Loki, can you guys retrieve the stone from Asgard?" Elizabeth subtly gave Bucky's arm a gentle touch calming him a little.
"Way ahead of you." Loki pulled out a clear box with a red stone nestled in the center of it then handed it over to Strange.
Tony shook his head. "This is still weird. So what happens now?"
"Thanos is tracking the stones. I'll put this one somewhere safe where he can't track it. We'll let him track the stone from your sister's box instead. Once he has all the stones, he'll do the snap and take himself out of existence instead." Strange explained to them.
"What happens after that?" Natasha asked him curiously.
"Tony will return home to his normal timeline and your Tony will still be here."
He frowned at that idea. "No."
"Stark, you very well can't stay here." He scoffed.
Tony narrowed his eyes at him. "I said no. You let me remember this Tony's life. You let me love a son and a sister that I have never had. Now you're telling me to just leave it all behind?"
"If you stay, both universes very well may collapse." Strange warned him.
He pushed away from the table with a huff and walked out of the room. "Go to hell, Stephen."
"Just let him cool off." Elizabeth bit her lip once her brother was out of view.
Steve frowned in thought. "Is there really no other way of keeping him here?"
"Unfortunately no. He was only really supposed to be here until we found the solution to the Thanos problem." Stephen sighed.
"It really wasn't fair letting him get close to Morgan and I. Jesus, you let him get close to Mom again knowing full well that he would have to go back to his world where she is still dead. That is just so cruel." Elizabeth snapped at him.
"It was either that or he die on the battlefield. Which would you prefer?" Strange asked her before disappearing.