She stood in the lobby of a building she knew to be fictional. Yet somehow, there it was. Willed into the world by man, standing proof.
April was dreaming. Or dead. She had to be. Because there was no other explanation. There was no way.
She turned slowly, unaware of the smile pulling at her lips.
"Ma'am, can I help you with something?"
April twisted to face the voice, face dropping as she faced a woman in a business suit. She blinks, once, twice. The woman raises an eyebrow, shifting the folders in her hands.
April recognizes the woman. Of course she does. Ginger hair, a beautiful face matched with blue eyes.
"Oh, wow," she said quietly. Pepper's second eyebrow rose to join the first. April's hand came up, hovering just above her hip, then fell back to her side.
"Can I help you?" Pepper asked again. She tapped her fingers lightly on the files, the only sign that she was annoyed.
April cleared her throat, acutely aware that she was taking up too much time just staring at her.
"I need to speak with Mr. Stark," she says. The woman in front of you frowned, and began to turn away.
"I'm sorry, but Mr. Stark doesn't like to accept drop-ins. Check with the front desk and then you can possibly get an appointment in a few weeks," she said. With a panicked heartbeat, April reached out quickly and grabbed her shoulder.
Pepper turned back to her, eyes wide with a mix of shock and fear, and she let go quickly. Apologies fell from her lips, but she shook her head and fixed her face into one of pleading.
"Please, Miss Potts, I need help. My name is April, and I'm definitely in the wrong universe."
She stood in a meeting room, in the corner, waiting for someone, anyone, to come in and speak with her. She was amazed that she somehow convinced Pepper to let her up.
The door handle clicked, and she looked over. April fought to keep her jaw shut, because there stood RDJ, or, Tony Stark, she was guessing.
"Alright kid, you have some explaining to do," He said, shutting the door behind him. "You got Pep to bring me down here, so give me something worthwhile."
"I don't think I'm from this universe," April said. Her bluntness shocks even herself, and her mouth hangs open in a gape. The Avenger in front of her freezes, then advances slowly.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He growls out quietly. Before April's knees can buckle, she pulls out one of the wheeled chairs and collapses with a huff.
"I live in New York, that I know. I also know that where I come from, none of you exist. The Avengers, I mean. Well, where I come from, you're all fictional characters, played by actors who are very real."
The billionaire froze, muscles taught under his expensive looking suit, which still had dark stains on the cuffs, which she could only discern as oil. He reached up to tug at his tie, loosening it to the point that he could tug it out from under his collar.
"Jarvis, would you mind bringing Jolly Green down here?" He asked. April looks up at him, question in her eyes.
"Jarvis?"
"Yes, he's my-"
"I know who Jarvis is, but what I don't understand is... Wait, what year is it?" She asks. Standing slowly, she casts a glance out the window. From such a high vantage point, she can make out the destruction still evident on some of the Manhattan sky rises.
"What year? It's 2012," He answered. April's eyes widened, and she shook her head.
"No, no that's not possible. It was 2020 when I got into that taxi. It was raining, and there was-" She fell silent, looking back over the city. The destruction from the Chitauri still littered the streets. She could see a number of tent like structures, one over Grand Central where she knew that Adrian Toomes was right now.
April could see rubble, still not cleared away. It was fresh. She looked back to the inventor, to the faint blue glow under his shirt.
She collapsed again, this time, missing the chair, and smacking her head against the table, blacking out as she crumpled to the ground.
She awoke to the smell of antiseptic, and a faint beeping noise. Looking up to a white ceiling, she blinked.
"Awake, I see."
April looked over to the sound, too quickly, and her head swam. With a groan, she slipped her hand over her eyes.
"Oh, no no. Nope," she whispered to herself. After a moment, she forced her eyes open, looking to who was speaking.
Bruce Banner was standing in the corner, looking over papers. April nearly fainted again. This was not happening.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"April Barnett. Oh shit this is not happening," she says, swinging her feet off the hospital bed. She was still wearing her jeans, but her sweatshirt had been removed to show off her Avengers shirt.
"Alright, new question. What are you?" He asks. April looks over at him, jaw slack.
"Uh, human? Like you?"
"You see, I don't think so. I ran a brain scan, and I got some weird results. Your brain waves are running on a frequency that shouldn't be possible for a normal human. So you're either not human, or something else entirely."
She blinks, unable to generate a response.
"Tony sent me the footage of both his and Miss Potts' initial interactions with you. Alternate universe. That would definitely fit with your brain scan."
She nods. Then scrub her hands over her face, slumping over.
"I don't know how, and I don't know why. All I know, is that I got into a taxi in the pouring rain, then ten minutes later, I was here," she whispers. Her head shoots up, and she scrambles to her feet.
"Taxi!" she shouts, racing to the window to look down on the hundreds of yellow cars far below her. She knows it would be impossible to see the one that she had gotten into, even if it hadn't seemed to have disappeared, but that didn't stop her from trying.
April's mind spins as the words from the article swirl through her brain. Taking them not where they want to go, but where they need to go. But was this where she really needed to be? Stuck in a world that she had only ever dreamed about entering?
Yes, it is.
She sinks to her knees, tears streaming from her eyes.
A few days pass. Days that she spends convincing the Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and about 20 different Shield officers that she was really from an alternate universe.
In the end, they came to a decision.
"We're sending you down to Washington DC. There, Shield will be setting you up with housing, and close watch."
She sat quietly, twisting her sweatshirt in her fingers, and nudging her bag closer to herself, which she had not let anyone look in over the last four days.
April nods slowly.
"To the triskelion?" She asks. The Shield agents freeze, then look at her slowly.
"No one should know about that," One of them stated. She swallows, and nervously plays with her fingers.
"Uh, right. Sorry," you apologize. They watch you carefully for a moment, then stand one by one. They beckon you forth, and you follow quietly.