Omg guys, the reviews were on the money. Well most of them.
About tracking chips, and reflexive magic, there is an explanation! I promise! And magic will come into play, but I think it'll be even more interesting seeing the other characters' reactions.
As for Peter and Minnie, this is a multipairing story anyways. Pretty much everyone is going to end up liking more than one person by the time it's all said and done. So even if they got together/had crushes on each other, there's no guarantee it'll last. But it's too early for that anyways! Relax guys!
Luckily, the cuteness comes back after this chapter! For a little while! Sort of! XD I also have an outtake in the works, so woo!
Another thing- just so you know, I know absolutely nothing about New York City. Oops. Sorry. I live in Florida, I've never even been in the state, let alone the city, so please excuse me if my descriptions are frigging awful.
Oh, and did I really say he was her biological & adoptive father? Oops. He's supposed to be her biological father.
It was mentioned that I need a beta: Yeah, probably. Any takers?
And finally I'm on AO3 now! Find me under Saccharine_Riddle, if you care. :D
Chapter 2: Should Come With a Warning Label
Four years ago.
Tony sighed good naturedly as he picked his four year old daughter off of the display she'd been sitting on. Which was now displaying a blue error screen he'd only ever heard of before.
"Geez kid, do you have to break all of my toys before I get to use them?" He teased as she giggled.
The brand new Starktop Holo was supposed to be indestructible to anything shy of one of his ballistic missiles, yet Hermione, who wasn't even three feet tall, could still render it inoperable without even trying. Which was bad, because she was the main one he was trying to protect it from.
Childproofing where Hermione was concerned was something Tony was quickly discovering was fairly impossible. She quickly learned how to get past those gates you put on staircases, managed to hide in the most out of the way, impossible nooks and crannies in his house- on top of the fridge being a notable example- and get into all of his dangerous equipment, all of it locked away for that very reason. All of this apparently managed to happen in the split second he'd take her eyes off of her. Next he knew, she would be sitting on the chandelier in the entryway, or something equally impossible.
Then it was his lab. Well no, everything electronic in his lab, and everywhere else too. If Minnie touched it, it was guaranteed to at least freeze up until she put it down.
Quite a few more sensitive devices nearly blew up in her hands. Which was becoming a serious problem.
It was a shame. The girl could be really good- she learned exceptionally fast. But she wouldn't have much of a future in the business if the Minnie touch didn't go away.
So Tony turned to one of his connections.
A man named Charles Xavier.
The bald man knew how to arrive in style. He appeared, right in Tony's foyer, accompanied by a guy with a coat of blue fur and a wicked tail.
"Professor Xavier," he greeted, holding out his hand.
Xavier took it.
"It's very good to see you Anthony. This is my student, Kurt Wagner.
Tony shook his hand too, forcing down the very strong impulse to start questioning Wagner about his capabilities. This was about Hermione after all.
"Now, explain to me what you believe little Hermione can do."
Tony shrugged.
"Everything electronic goes haywire if she touches it, and she has a habit of…disappearing. She's getting way too good at hide and seek," he said with a smirk.
"Let's see for ourselves then," Charles said, gesturing for Tony to lead the way.
"Minnie, where are you?" He asked as he lead them through the house.
Charles noticed several large pillows placed conspicuously underneath the chandelier, the balcony, even a hanging lamp.
"Up here, Daddy!"
They heard from the left, and turning to look saw the little brown haired girl balancing on top of a crane-like device inside what could only be Tony's lab.
"Minnie, hold on! I'll-"
Hermione was slowly lifted in the air and placed gently on the ground.
Tony turned, expecting to see Charles with his hand to his temple in concentration. Instead the older man looked pleasantly surprised.
Minnie ran up and hugged Tony, smiling up at him brightly.
"Hi Daddy," she greeted.
Tony sighed, then grinned.
"Minnie, this is Professor Xavier, and his friend, Mr. Wagner."
The girl looked like she'd won the lottery when she saw Kurt.
"Wow! Mr., did you know you're my favorite color?"
She squealed, grabbing his hand in hers.
He looked down at her in surprise, while Charles laughed.
"Err… thank you?" the mutant said uncomfortably, before gently removing her hands and stepping back. With a meaningful glance at Charles, he disappeared, leaving Hermione even more awed.
Xavier smiled, and shook his head.
"Miss Stark, you are a very incredible young lady," Charles said, earning a grin from the cheerful little thing.
"You know Hermione; you gave your Daddy quite the scare a minute ago,"
He mentioned.
Obviously, she had had this conversation before, because she sobered immediately.
"I know…I don't do it on purpose, I promise!"
He smiled at her kindly, and touched her shoulder.
"I know child, I know. Still, it's very dangerous."
She nodded resolutely, understanding.
"Hermione, could you maybe explain to me how you do it?"
She bit her lip.
"I don't know…I just…think about it, and it happens.
He smiled at her reassuringly.
"How do you feel when this happens?"
She frowned contemplatively.
"All fuzzy…and warm, like I'm flying. And tingly, like…static!" She realized, grinning at the connotation.
Charles' eyes widened with recognition.
"Little one, would you excuse me for a moment while I talk with your father?"
She pouted, likely having heard this many time before, but nodded, running off, likely to get into even more trouble.
"Well? Tony asked when he walked back in.
"What do you think?"
"One last question, do you have any other family that had the X gene?"
Tony shook his head.
"Not that I know of. I had a great Uncle who was on the weird side, but definitely no mutants.
Charles nodded with understanding.
"It will not be necessary to send her to my school, Tony. Your daughter is no mutant."
Tony didn't look all that convinced.
"Come on now Charles, I think it's agreed that teleportation isn't something people can normally do."
The elder man grinned.
Tony saw this and frowned, puzzled.
"What are you saying Minnie is, Charles?"
"Mr. Stark, that wonderful little girl is a witch," he said.
Tony blinked, opened his mouth to say "No, that's not possible," but thought about it and realized yes, yes it was.
"What do you suggest I do?"
Professor Charles Xavier smiled.
"You know Wanda Maximoff, correct?"
End Flashback
"I don't get it, Stark. I figured a guy like you would have a tracer on your kid, give 'em a cell phone at least. This has happened before, hasn't it?"
Tony nodded tensely as he worked to enhance the photo of Minnie's kidnappers.
He would've laughed, in another situation, recalling the time he actually had tried to give her a tracking bracelet.
The tracking device had been fried beyond repair before he got a lock on her location even once, unable to locate her even when he was standing right next to her. Even after a several years of practice, any device that was constantly in close proximity to her tended to have a very short…shelf life. He'd been in the process of developing ways to work around this- on the verge of a breakthrough even, but he hadn't finished yet. Not by a longshot.
Tony glanced up when a monitor on the wall lit up.
Pepper was standing behind a podium, holding a press conference for what must have been the third time today, a mob of reporters surrounding her, all clamoring for her attention.
"Ms. Potts, have there been any leads in finding Hermione Stark?"
"Why doesn't she have bodyguards?"
"Why isn't Tony here?!"
Pepper sighed visibly, and then cleared her throat loudly.
"Please, one question at a time," she said, her words polite, but Tony smirked as he watched her. Oh, they were going to get it.
"Mr. Stark is a very active part of the current investigation, I'm sure you all understand that his and everyone else's priority is rescuing Hermione, and Peter," she said carefully, reminding the vapid media that there had in fact been two children abducted.
The Media Liaison for the Police department stepped forward then, taking control of the conversation.
Tony turned his attention back to the computer, and sighed. No, nothing yet.
"We're asking the public to watch out for any suspicious persons moving in the city," the blonde woman was saying. "We believe that the perpetrators have taken the children to a place within the city- an abandoned building, a warehouse, where they are likely to be undisturbed.
We have confirmation that at last sighting, Hermione Stark and Peter Parker were being transported in a black Cadillac Escalade, the model year being fairly recent- 2002 at the oldest. If you see any vehicles matching this description, please call the NYPD."
The conference ended, and Tony moved to turn off the television.
"Hey Stark, what's this mean?"
Tony glanced up, and when he saw the flashing blue icon on his monitor, a devious smirk making it's way onto his face.
"It means I know who has my daughter," he said, typing with more ferocity than before.
"Where do you think they're taking us?" Peter whispered, craning his neck to see out the windows.
The kidnappers were talking loudly in the front seats, as if they didn't have two kids hogtied in the back of the SUV, where no one could easily see in and they definitely couldn't see out.
Hermione thought for a moment.
"Whoever paid them to do this had connections, and money. Chances are they'd have access to somewhere out of the way, well secured. A warehouse, a factory maybe, where a lot of vehicles going in and out won't be noticed right away. Nobody would notice us getting brought in," No way of getting themselves out.
"So what do we do?"
"We wait, see what they want. If they're soft, they'll probably leave us alone while they put out a ransom notice, which will be plenty of time for my Dad to find us," she said, knowing full well that'd be unlikely.
Chances were, Peter would die as soon as they got there, because they didn't /need/ him. Then they'd beat her, break a couple bones, threaten to take off a finger or two, all so that when they sent word of how much they wanted, her Dad would know exactly how scared his little girl was.
Peter was staring at her.
"What?"
"How often does this happen to you?"
She bit her lip.
"This is the fourth time," she admitted.
"Who are you then? Some kind of Princess? Your Dad a mob boss? A secret agent?"
She smiled without humor, and shook her head.
"Tony Stark.'
Peter's eyes went wide.
"Oh. Okay then. That makes sense I guess."
It was silent for a moment.
"Okay then. You're the expert here. Let's make an escape plan."
Hermione looked at him long and hard. Peter looked halfway between excited and terrified.
She nodded.
"Okay."
The grin he sent her wasn't genuine, but it made her feel better all the same.
"Let me see your hands."
"Somehow, you don't seem like the type," she muttered, as Peter unraveled the knots that bound her hands and feet.
"For what?"
"I figured you'd be more Mathlete than Boy Scout," she admitted, looking at bit sheepish.
He rolled his eyes.
"Should I be offended?" He teased.
She shrugged.
"That's your prerogative."
He snorted quietly.
Suddenly, the sound of the wheels hitting pavement changed, and Peter and Minnie gave each other a look.
"We've left the freeway," Hermione confirmed, right before everything went dark.
"And we're going through a tunnel."
The car slowed, and the men up front grew quiet.
Peter pressed himself against the back door, trying to see through the windshield.
"Red light," he whispered.
Hermione gave him a questioning look, and Peter nodded.
It was harder finding the emergency release in the dark, but Minnie grabbed it, and gently opened the back door.
She held it carefully as it lifted up, and did her best to keep it from making a sound.
Peter grabbed it, held it in place, so that there was just enough room to slip out, and Hermione rolled through the hole, landing on the ground with a quite thump.
She was slightly disappointed that no one was behind the Escalade on the road. It would've been much simpler to find another person and slip into their car. No way were they going to risk walking in front of their kidnappers.
From the outside, Minnie grabbed the handle herself, staying crouched, and waited for Peter to pull himself through, giving him an odd look when he brought the rope with him.
"Come on, and be quiet," she mouthed, pushing the back door back into place.
They stayed close to the wall, doing their best to stay hidden as they rushed toward the waning sunlight outside.
"Alright, we made it!" Peter whisper-yelled when they reached the exit, but Hermione slapped a hand over his mouth.
"No, we're not. We need to find a cop, or a mother with children, someone we can trust. We didn't even see those guys faces. They could be anybody-"
The sound of an engine revving and wheels squealing could be heard echoing down the tunnel.
"Come on!"
They sprinted towards the nearest alley and ducked behind a dumpster.
"Dang, I was really hoping we'd get a better head start than this," she complained, searching her pockets for something useful.
Several bits of metal scrap fell out of her jacket, and she sighed.
Great.
"Any ideas now, Boy Scout?"
He shrugged.
"Figures. I guess we're running then."
So Hermione Stark and Peter Parker took off into the back alleys of New York City.
"Alright, our person of interest is Dennis Carradine. He's well known as a petty criminal, but he's had some connection to bigger crime if there's money involved. We believe it's safe to assume that he has been hired to kidnap Hermione Stark, and that he is not operating independently.
"Currently, Carradine's place of residence is listed as an apartment complex in Queens, however, this information is likely outdated. Instead we are cross-referencing several of his known hangouts with possible sightings of the black Escalade."
Tony stood leaning against a desk while the Cpt. Stacy informed his officers and the Parkers.
The older couple had come out of their shock, he could see, because their expressions were of that same kind of soul-crushing misery that he'd been feeling this whole time. He knew it too well. It was the feeling you got when you felt completely to blame but knew there was nothing you could do. Not really.
The thing was, this had happened before, again and again, and the only thing Tony had learned from the experience was that as long as he was Tony Stark, and Hermione was his daughter, all he could do was prepare her, do his best to guard her, and hope to God nobody got through anyways. It wouldn't work. But he could damn well try.
The fact that he had tried didn't make this any easier though. Especially not now, with another innocent kid involved.
"Alright, you all know your assignments," The Captain said, and his deputies filed out of the room, just as another woman walked in.
Tony sighed as the others processed the woman's appearance. Dark hair, pale skin, drop dead gorgeous, and a skin tight, red jumpsuit with matching red boots with stiletto heels. And a cape. He would never understand why she wore that in public, though honestly, he wasn't complaining.
"Wanda," he greeted, not liking the look on her face.
Murderous was the only way to describe it.
"So, Tony, when were you going to tell me that my favorite student's been kidnapped? Again?"
"You were supposed to be in Transia for the rest of the month. There was no way to reach you in time."
She huffed.
"Yes well, plans change. How long has it been since she disappeared?"
"Five hours," he told her, crossing his arms.
"Who do you have out there?"
He gestured to the nearly empty police station.
Wanda rolled her eyes.
"Really though, who do you have out there, who will actually find your daughter?"
"Xavier sent out a team. Said it was the least he could do."
She nodded with approval.
"I assume Wagner's leading it?"
Tony nodded. Probably; Kurt was damn protective of Minnie.
"Good. I'm heading out then. Don't worry too much, okay Stark? I think you'd like your odds," she said, before opening the third story window and jumping out, much to the Parker's and Cpt. Stacy's shock.
"Don't worry about it. Odds are, she'll even land on her feet."
It was getting dark fast, and cold even faster, and Hermione was running out of ideas. She had no idea where she was, no way to find her way out, and she had no illusions that those men weren't still after them in that very moment.
"Don't you live in New York? How come you don't know your way around?"
Peter narrowed his eyes at her.
"The same way you don't know every street in L.A. Sorry I'm not a walking GPS," he muttered, and Minnie instantly felt bad.
"Sorry. I just don't like this. Being lost in a place like this is even worse than being kidnapped. At least kidnappers plan on giving you back mostly alive. And God, what does it take to find a payphone around here?" she almost shouted.
Peter dragged her back into the alley when a pair of headlights flashed on, and a truck could be heard driving past.
"Is that them?" she squeaked.
"Let's not find out, yeah?" he advised, leading her deeper into the alley.
They turned a few corners, until they weren't sure how they'd even gotten this far from the street, with only dirty walls of old buildings meeting them at all sides.
"Okay, that settles it. I officially wish we were still in the back of that Cadillac," she muttered.
She expected Peter to make some kind of comment, at least to remind her that no, she didn't prefer being the clutches of some shady thugs over being desperately lost but not immediately in danger. But he didn't say anything. She turned around; a "what's with you?" look on her face, but then froze, her expression slipping into cold fear.
He had the same dirty blonde hair as the man who had first grabbed her, but the mask was long gone. But now he had Peter in a chokehold, and curved blade held to his neck.
"Come on now Princess, you've wasted enough of our time. Get over here, or your little friend gets it."
She flinched. What a cliché. They were caught.
Unless…
Did she dare?
Apparently of its own volition, the wind began to pick up.
"Tony, you're going to want to see this," Kurt said, appearing in front of the distraught father.
"What? Did you find her? Where's Minnie?"
"We think we may have found her magical signature. The rest of the team has already left to respond to the alert. I've come to collect you," the mutant explained.
It wasn't every day a non mutant got to ride in the X-Jet, even Tony had never had the privilege, and he'd had a fair bit more than a hand in developing the thing.
Kurt flew it well, and managed to keep him calm the whole way through.
"Look here Tony," he said, pointing to a monitor on the dash.
"This judges several different types of energy, including chaos magic. Hermione's is similar enough that it'd be reasonable to assume it can read hers as well. A few minutes ago, we got a massive spike, bigger than anything Scarlet's ever put out, maybe bigger than Jean. And it's maybe two miles away from one of the warehouses we thought Carradine might be taking the kids."
Tony clenched his fists, with anxiousness, staring fixedly at the ground below them, hoping to see anything he could take as a sign that Minnie was down there.
Then he saw an entire city block sheeted in blinding white.
"What on Earth," he murmured.
They landed in an empty lot, and exited the Jet, shocked when they stepped onto fresh snow.
"Snow? In July? Is Storm on this squad of yours?"
Kurt shook his head.
"No, and that…concerns me."
They followed it toward the center, where the snow was the thickest.
They found an alleyway, right at the middle, where the snow was all a foot deeper or more, when Tony saw them.
Two men, completely encased in solid ice, their eyes terrified.
And in the middle of it all, two eight year olds huddled together, shivering.
And now for the long ass end note!
About the Characters- there's a description at the bottom- but also, the information there is just so you have a general idea of their back-story so I don't have to write into TSE. That said, what's here is what you get. If you're really into comics and you know all the history and storylines, that's great. Most of the people reading this don't. Very little will be included in this story outside of what's occurred in movies, except for a few plotlines of my own design. If you're waiting for me to go into every arc, I'd be writing this fic til the day I died. This goes for every character I include in this. Comic book continuity is so convoluted and confusing that it would be impossible to understand if every detail was put into this. Basically, this story is movie canon, okay? Okay.
Alright, guessing game!
First one's stupidly easy- Who's the Jean Kurt mentioned when they were looking at the energy readings?
Second, she's not actually a Marvel (or comics) character, but what's the name of the Blonde Media Liaison who led the Press Conference?
And finally, if you can tell me what else Dennis Carradine is infamous for, you win virtual cookies! Yay! XD Btw, that name is technically only canon according to Sam Raimi's trilogy.
Charles Xavier (Professor X)
Charles Xavier was the son of a Nuclear Physicist, who died in an accident (of course), and is basically the most powerful telepath in existence except for Jean Grey, who literally gets extra power from the powers that be, which is cheating. His mother later marries a gold digging Kurt Marko, who moves into their fancy house with his son Cain, who is not a biblical reference at all I /swear/. You know, since they're brothers, and Cain grows up /evil/ and all. (Google Juggernaut from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants if you're curious. I don't even think he'll be getting a cameo here.) According to First Class this apparently doesn't happen, or the fact that he has horrible relatives just isn't relevant, but sometime around here meets Mystique, and they bond over the fact that they can do things that human beings can't do for good reasons. (I'm kidding. Their powers are awesome.) He studies genetics at the fanciest schools Stan Lee knew the names of and then goes on to create the Goddamn X-Men. And for the majority of the time he was doing this awesome stuff, he also happened to be paralyzed from the waist down. No, seriously.
Kurt Wagner (Night Crawler)
Kurt Wagner was raised by a gypsy woman, but he was actually the son of Mystique and a Demon called Azazel. Can you say Daddy issues? Of course the Village People were scared of a little blue baby, so they attempt to murder him, which becomes typical for the poor guy, because unlike his mom, he's doesn't have the ability to transform into whoever he feels like screwing over that day. He is however, able to teleport short distances, as well as climb walls and use his tail as a fifth limb. He's basically a monkey if monkeys were blue and awesome. And wore pants.
Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch)
The Scarlet Witch was probably guaranteed to be powerful from the moment she was conceived- she's the daughter of Magneto, as in arch-enemy of the X-Men Magneto, and twin sister of the mutant Quicksilver- and she was born with the ability to manipulate probabilities to her advantage. Which is exactly as ambiguous as it sounds. But she got an even greater advantage when the Elder God Cthon altered her DNA in the womb, giving her the ability to control chaos magic. Add that to her natural powers and she becomes one Witch you want to have on your side, because things /usually go her way/. She's fairly ambiguous when it comes to loyalties too. She spent a lot of time with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (the bad guys, if that wasn't clear), considering her father leads them, but she's also got a stint with the Avengers on her record. She even married and later separated from her fellow Avenger the Vision, who happens to be an Android, but let's not judge, okay?
Oops corrections XD- I orginally said that Night Crawler's father was Abaddon. That's wrong. I've been reading too much Demonology lately apparently. And for the record, Biblically, both /are/ demons. However, Azazel is just a mutant in Marvel canon. Sorry! XD