"What the fuck?" I asked quietly as I immediately noticed the sheer amount of sunlight I shouldn't have in my bedroom. I looked up from my phone and yanked out my headphones. "This isn't my apartment."
"Who are you?" A voice came from above me. I looked up to see the ceiling. Not even a speaker, just a plain white ceiling. I looked around, hoping I'd figure it out soon, but my anxiety was starting to get to me. I pulled my vape pen out of my back pocket and took a hit. "I'll ask again, as reinforcements are coming, who are you, and how did you get in here?"
"I don't know! I was in my apartment! Who are you? Where am I? These questions can go both ways!" I tried to calm down. I hadn't been kidnapped. No one had broken into my apartment and taken me, they couldn't have, it was too seamless. But here I was, standing in front of floor-to-ceiling windows that I couldn't afford to even dream of having. Floor to ceiling windows that showed the ocean. Which couldn't be possible, because I lived in Ohio. "Holy fuck this is the Malibu Mansion!"
I sat on the floor and shoved my head between my knees. Once I s, I took another hit. Watching the smoke curl around my ankles helped ground me somewhat, and I was able to look up at the line where the ceiling met the wall. The man in the walls took the hint.
"You know where you are." It was the disembodied voice again, but this time I recognized it. Now that I knew where I was, I knew who was speaking to me. How couldn't I, it was the original sass-master.
"Yeah, Jarvis, I know where I am. And I know who you are. Who's the reinforcements? Tony? Rhodey? Don't let it be Pepper, she'll yell at me, and I'll cry," I babbled, still bordering on a panic attack. "House is still standing, so it's before Iron Man 3."
"What is Iron Man Three?" Jarvis asked. I opened my mouth to answer but had no idea how to explain without sounding completely barmy. I made an inarticulate sound instead. It didn't explain anything, but it made me feel like I wasn't ignoring him.
"Complicated answer, Jay," I said at last. "It was a movie that came out when I was... sixteen? After Assemble, before the DC Disaster? Took place around Christmas? Yeah, because of the giant-ass bunny Tony's gonna get for Pepper."
"If it came out when you were sixteen, how many years ago was it?" Jarvis asked. I could tell he was fishing for my identity to stall until a person showed up to arrest or interrogate me. I blew out a loud breath and sat up fully. My shoulders creaked.
"I'm twenty-four. It came out eight years ago. Give or take." I leaned back against the wall, finally relaxing as my slight high came back. I took another pull as I heard a door slam somewhere. "That'll be the reinforcements, right?"
"Who are you and where did you come from?" I looked at who spoke and choked. Smoke poured from my mouth as I coughed and stared at Tony Stark. Without the reactor.
Pepper was right behind him, wearing her black and white outfit, the one she wore before Tony went to present Jericho. I coughed a bit more and rubbed my throat. It was a useless gesture, didn't stop me from doing it.
"Oh, Rhodey is gonna kick your ass for being late," I mumbled once I could breathe properly again. I definitely burned my throat. Which was upsetting, because it definitely meant that I wasn't dreaming, and this was actually happening.
"Even the people that break into your house know you're late for the Jericho Presentation, Tony!" Pepper seemed shocked that I was there, but she didn't seem to find me a threat.
"Oh, no, we're not letting Tony go," I said as I scrambled to my feet. "Are you kidding me? I've no idea how I landed here, let alone here but I apparently have perfect timing, no way in the name of fuck are we letting him walk right into a trap."
"What?" Pepper demanded. This was Tony Stark's protector. This was Rescue. This was the woman that single handedly managed Tony Stark - and she was out for blood. Good, I could use that.
Tony was pissed. Someone had broken into his house, apparently just to get high, and now he was being ignored. I'd apologize later. At least he would be alive.
"A sect of the Ten Rings has been hired to kill Tony Stark. They don't realize it's Tony, so they're going to attack his escort back to base after the presentation. They're going to see him, change plans, and kidnap him to have him make them the Jericho. Fine, whatever, except he's gonna have shrapnel in his heart, make a mini-arc reactor from bomb-scraps, give himself near deadly heavy metal poisoning and escape." I paused and pulled my phone out of my pocket. "And I can prove it."
I quickly logged into my phone and fumbled for the Disney Plus app. But Tony spoke before I could even open it.
"I'm still going," Tony said decisively. I stared at him in open-mouthed shock. "I have to be the one to present the Jericho. I have to go."
I laughed. This was the laugh of a woman who had officially smoked too much to be of any help to anyone but had to do something. I was almost amused at his determination, stupid man.
"Tony, she just said someone hired a terrorist group to have you killed!"
"And you believe the word of this girl who's so high she can't see the ground?" I giggled a little bit. Tony cracked a smile but was quick to go back to his scolding. "Pepper, I might be a lot of things, but I don't just skive off things like this."
"Tony, she said you're going to die."
"No, she didn't," Tony pointed out. I hid a smile. I knew Tony was smart, but it was time to remind him that he was smart. "She said I would get sick. She said there were two different "here"s and wherever she came from, she's just as surprised as us to end up here. So, get in the car and start talking, you have until we get to the airfield to convince me to trust you."
"Sure. But first, Happy almost Birthday Pepper. I can't wait to see the dress he got you," I said, absently sliding my phone back in my pocket. I kept my pen in my hand and led the way out of the mansion.
Line Break
Happy wouldn't budge until I explained. So, I did. In broad, sweeping terms, turning Loki's (potentially) brainwashed attempt to take over earth into a minor skirmish with aliens. I explained away Iron Man 2 by blaming it all on Justin Hammer's stupidity and ego. The Civil War was called a misunderstanding that Thaddeus Ross turned into a problem, and Infinity War was considered a problem. But while I spoke, I had other ideas, wider reaching ones. When I explained that Tony invented time travel to fix the world, just so he could have his adopted son back, Happy was shocked, but Tony was floored. Pepper kept a neutral face, but I could tell that she knew it had been in him the entire time.
"If we don't go now, Jim will send out a search party," Pepper eventually said, glancing at the slim gold watch on her wrist. "Tony, are you sure you want to go? We can completely avoid this."
"Please, Tony, please say you'll stay here," I begged, actually clasping my hands together and shaking them at him. "Please don't go through that. You're smart enough to do it all without that trauma."
"I have to go," Tony said, taking my hands in his. He had calloused hands, just like the fics always said. "Sometimes we have responsibilities we can't avoid. Pepper, Hapster, use Jarvis and get her set up as my family. You could pass as my daughter, maybe? Could we pull off sister? Doesn't matter, Jay, set it up. Name? Who are you going to be?"
It was a loaded question. Could I continue to be the same girl I was in Ohio? The twenty-four-year-old college dropout that still hadn't fessed up to her parents? The girl who's only accomplishment was managing to carry a queen-sized mattress by herself? No. So who? I could pull from the various fanfiction characters I'd created off of who I wish I was. Tala, Casey, Peggy? Maybe some of each? I knew I couldn't ever be them, not fully. But I didn't have to be them, did I?
"Who do you want to be?" Pepper asked. That was an easier question, I could've answered that from the age of ten, I wanted to be my little sister. But she wouldn't have a damn clue how to keep Tony Stark alive.
"Grey Maria Stark," I said, slowly gaining confidence with the idea. Tony beamed at me, and I could tell he liked my homage to his mom. "I'll have to be a few years younger to pass as your daughter, but I think with some hair dye I could pull off almost nineteen. I can draft a backstory later tonight. You can stay and help?"
I wanted Tony to stay, especially now that he was going to be my dad. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad. But he wasn't the best at being there. Physically present? Sure, but buried in his phone, reading who-knows-what, he never told us anything. I could tell it wasn't going to do anything though. I could feel it, like I'd swallowed a watermelon seed and it had actually grown into something in my stomach.
"I have responsibilities. You'll understand one day, kid." Tony – dad – tussled my hair before directing us into Happy's car. I pouted in the backseat behind Happy, more than sad that I hadn't convinced Tony to stay. Happy turned us onto the driveway, then onto the private road that dropped us (finally) onto a main road. "Starks are made of Iron, dad always used to say. I never understood. I think I do now."
I waited for him to explain, but he didn't. He put his arm around me, and we sat in silence until I could see the ocean out of my window.
"This might be the first time I've driven you somewhere since you hired me," Happy said from the front seat. I snorted and looked down at what Tony was doing on his tablet. "I think I'd almost forgotten how to drive."
"Better now, Hogan," Pepper teased. "I'll have places to be this week."
They all had places to be this week. I tried to stick with the lighthearted tone, but something in my heart was sinking. I think it was the realization that I was never going to see my mom again. But I put on a smile anyway.
"What are you doing?" I asked, nodding toward the tablet.
"Rewriting the fatality clause in the company. It'll kick in while I'm gone, and right now it has the company falling to Obie. You need to have the power to do things while I'm gone." I could see Pepper frown from here. "Plus, this is one less thing Pepper will have to do this evening. Just trying to help."
"We'll do better this time. That's what matters." There was a complicated look in Tony's – Dad's – eyes. He wanted to be hopeful, but he was scared. He wanted to be brave and confident, bordering on cocky, but he couldn't, not in front of someone that knew him better than he did.
"So, who's this big bad that you don't want to talk about," Happy asked from the front seat as we merged into highway traffic. It was really nice not having to drive myself. "You called him a problem, and I've spent enough time around Tony to know when someone is downplaying something."
"His name is Thanos, he's an alien from the planet Titan. He's considered the mad titan. His planet was dying, so he suggested genocide."
"I see why he's the fucking mad titan," Pepper interrupted, turning around to look at me in horror. I just scoffed. She didn't know the half of it, yet.
"He wanted it to be a random lottery, a perfect fifty-fifty split. So, he gathered followers and went from planet to planet, slaughtering half of the population. Some planets survived after he left. Some even thrived. But most planets, most civilizations collapsed after Thanos left." I thought about Guardians of the Galaxy, where it said Gamora was the last of her race. Thanos' methods hadn't saved them, it had destroyed them. And it nearly destroyed the earth too. I'm still not convinced that the snap and the undoing it five years later was any better. "But we can stop him from doing it again, we can stop him."
"What, we go into space and kill him? Kid, we can barely get to the moon and back in one piece," Happy said. I wondered if it was worth pointing out that I was only twelve years younger than them. My last boyfriend had been thirteen years older than me. (We don't talk about that relationship.) "No, Happy, but he's going to come here, if he sticks to the movies, in 2018, but definitely not sooner. In the movies, we lost. He won and destroyed half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers. We lost."
"How the fuck did we lose? Didn't we know what was at stake?" Tony was livid; I had to lean away from him to avoid accidentally getting smacked.
"We knew, but everyone was scattered. Captain America was a fugitive; Tony had retired to head up R&D and mentor his second son. Rhodey was paralyzed from the waist down. But I know how to avoid it."
"How?" Pepper asked, still turned around in her seat to look at me. I'd seen her taking notes on things I'd said, and I had no doubt she'd be trying to get more information out of me soon. Of course, I'd have to explain it to Rhodey again, but hopefully by then I'd have the SparkNotes down.
"The team shatters for two reasons. The biggest was that they didn't trust each other. Tony was hired as a consultant after a bullshit and rather insulting character profile while he was being poisoned – don't worry, I'm going to negate it, don't you give me that look Virginia – and Steve hated everything to do with the twenty first century."
"Still can't believe he's alive after all this time," Tony said. I quickly looked away.
"Tony and Steve have a knock down drag out about a secret Steve kept from Tony, that's why the team shattered and why they lost," I said. I could still throttle Steve for his stubborn tendencies. Thankfully, I'd had a few ideas that might help – as long as I could write I could change things.
"What secret could possibly be bad enough to fuck up the team with a doomsday event looming over their shoulder?" Pepper demanded. "What did Steve do, sleep with Tony's wife?"
"Steve is canonically an idiot who thinks he is the only one that can handle things," I said, trying my best to not paint him like a bad person, because he wasn't. I think he's an idiot, especially after how his story ended. Which reminds me, I need to talk to Peggy about whether or not Steve actually went back in time for her. "During the 2014 mess that SHIELD is going to make, Steve discovers who specifically was responsible for Howard and Maria's deaths."
Tony was still next to me. Happy nearly swerved the car into a different lane but passed it off as a sudden desire to merge.
"Everyone knows how they died. It was a car accident because Howard was drunk."
"Howard Stark was killed by Hydra. They sent the Winter Soldier after him. The asset shot out the tire, causing the car to spin out into the tree. He strangled Maria. There were instructions, no witnesses, make it look like an accident." Tony was trembling as I took his hand. "Howard was beat to death. All for the super soldier serum in the trunk."
There was quiet in the car for a long moment.
"Okay, let's leave aside the obvious plot hole as to why Howard had the serum in the first place," Pepper said brusquely. "Not to mention all the other questions I have, and Grey, I will get these answered, today. But why would Captain America help cover up a Nazi organization's murder?"
"Because the Winter Soldier is his brainwashed best friend, Bucky Barnes," I said shortly. That time Happy actually did jerk the car. "He had been enhanced and they'd even started the brain wiping process, you can see it in the injuries he has on his face. He survived falling from the train and was found, I'm not sure if by Hydra's forces or ours, but he was taken back to Hydra, enhanced even more, and given a really advanced-for-the-time prosthetic, and turned into a cryostasis held wind-up murder doll."
"What the fuck?" Tony asked me quietly.
"Dude, I don't fuckin' know. It gets worse, the more you look at all the tiny details we can worry about it after," I said, aiming for reassuring. I don't think it worked.
"Pepper, add Barnes to the list of things to do," Tony said, louder so they could hear him.
"What?" Happy and Pepper demanded. Even I was thinking it.
"He killed my mom, and that is shit," Tony said, running his free hand through his hair. Happy pulled us off the highway. "But he doesn't deserve to still be in Hydra's hands, especially now. And he's a Legacy, that makes him family."
I filed that away for later. I'd always suspected the Legacies were actually a thing, especially after Tripp and Sharon were the best of the best.
"Mister Stark?" Pepper questioned.
"I'm sure Grey has six different ways to get him out of Hydra a few years early, let her do it. Until I get back, she's in charge. I trust her." Tony pulled me into a half hug. "My daughter. What do I need to know about Afghanistan?"
"Take a separate Humvee from Rhodey, the airmen with you don't survive. Don't bother with your phone, when you see the bomb, move. You want as little shrapnel as possible. Wear your protective vest. They're gonna make a ransom video. Just remember to breathe. No sudden movements. Be careful with water, it's going to hurt. You don't have to go, Dad."
"Will I come out of this alive? With everything done to me healable if not immediately, then shortly after?"
"What the movies did in three years I can do in a week, with some help from you and Jarvis," I said confidently. And I could. I knew about the Palladium problem and how to solve it. I just needed to build a particle accelerator. I get to be Cisco!
Happy parked the car in front of the jet, then came around and opened Tony's door. Pepper climbed out on her own, leaving her tablet in her seat. I glanced at Rhodey as I got out of the car behind Tony. His face was carefully blank, but there was a crease between his brows that he couldn't quite hide.
"You're late," Rhodey snapped from the top of the stairs.
"Be with you in just a moment, Rhodey-bear!" Tony chirped. He pulled Grey into a tight hug. "See you soon."
"Mister Stark," Pepper said, smiling gently. I could hear the tears in her voice.
"Miss Potts." Tony surprised her by pulling her into a hug. Happy got the manly hug/pat on the back combo before Tony jogged up the steps.
"That's not the woman you went home with last night," Rhodey accused.
"As if I'd sleep with my daughter, Rhodey, honestly," Tony said. "C'mon let's go, we're waiting on you now."
Tony jumped into the plane, a wide smile on his face. Jim glared at me. I couldn't help but give him a bright smile.
"Who are you?"
"Grey Stark." And that was all that mattered anymore.
Line Break
There were few things I would do in my life harder than watching my dad climb on that damn plane. We climbed back into Happy's car to watch the plane take off. Pepper, who sat in the back with me, reached over and took my hand, squeezing it once to remind me that I wasn't the only one feeling this wrench in my gut.
"I can still cancel the flight clearance," Happy offered, looking at me through his rearview mirror. "We can force him to stay here."
"I can't." I gave Happy a look full of mourning. "I swore I wouldn't take away anyone's free will.
"And there's nothing you can do to stop him?" Pepper asked.
"You don't think I tried?" I asked. They knew I had. They were there, but it was better than sitting in silence. We watched the plane taxi and take off. "Maybe Jim can talk him out of it."
We didn't move until minutes after the plane was out of sight. The silence forced Happy to adjust his collar, suddenly no longer able to stomach wearing a tie. Pepper shucked off her jacket, tossing it to crumple in the front passenger seat. She made short work of rolling up her sleeves.
"Starbucks, then back home, please Happy," Pepper said, flopping against the back seat. I clicked my pen again and kept scribbling everything down that I could remember just in case I forgot. Pepper preferred her tablet; I'd always prefer paper and pen. "Alright, what do you need to know?"
"How far are you willing to go to protect Tony Stark?" I asked, looking at Pepper. Pepper, who may have shown up to the final battle, pissed and ready to fight, but the same Pepper who walked away from Tony when he pushed himself to do better as Iron Man. The same Pepper who left Tony alone. My voice might have come out colder than I would've liked, but Pepper didn't seem phased.
"Shouldn't we ask you that question?" Happy shot back at me.
"Should I plan to do more, I'd be forced to worship him as my God," I said firmly without a glance up. When I did look up in the silence, Happy and Pepper looked at me like they'd never seen me before. "You forget, you think I've known Tony for a few hours. I've known him for thirteen years. I've seen Tony save the world and end it. I've watched him fight against terrorists, genocidal aliens, and people who think being snubbed gives them a villain origin story. I've seen Tony tell the world to go hang, and I've also seen him set the world on fire."
"Tony would never!" Pepper protested. But there was doubt in her voice. Tony was one to give in to his whims. If his mind talked him into something, there was truly little they could do to get him to stop.
"Tony would never seek revenge against those that murdered his parents in cold blood, then sat around and hid the answers he needed to save his life?" I asked, glancing at Pepper. I wasn't mad at her. I knew she loved Tony, and I could tell, in this life she'd pick up the mantle of Rescue with ease and joy. But if I was going to have this work, I needed less real-life logic and more "for the plot" logic. "Tony Fucking Stark would never let his team walk all over him while he shells out millions for them? Tony Stark deserves better than the shit he's going to go through if we stand around with our thumbs up our asses! Look, have either of you two heard about fanfiction?"
I shoved the anger at Civil War physically out of my body and shifted how I was sitting to face Pepper more fully.
"I did a few weeks with Big Brother Big Sister, and some of the kids I watched over mentioned it," Happy admitted, thoroughly astonishing me. "It's when people take a story that's already written and rewrite it, yeah?"
"Exactly. They take a story already published and change things. Harry Potter is the series with the most fanfiction written. Twilight has a good chunk as well."
"What does this have to do with Tony?" Pepper asked.
"You're taking his story and fixing it," Happy said, reaching the conclusion I wanted. I hummed a positive while scratching something out in my notebook. "Is his story that bad?"
"Tony Stark dies on October Twenty Third, 2023, sacrificing himself to save the universe. He leaves behind a wife and three kids," I said as gently as I could manage.
"Thirteen years?" Pepper shrieked. Happy briefly swerved the car, spooked by the timeline and Pepper's volume. Even I was left rubbing at my right ear. I sighed and leaned back against the door, compulsively checking that it was in fact locked behind me. I stretched out my left leg, absently rubbing my knee.
"Yes. Thirteen years unless we do something about it," I complained. And I had plans. No space for Tony Stark. He was officially not allowed to leave the planet unless on a diplomatic trip to Asgard or the Moon. I would allow him to argue for a trip to Mars, after 2018 ended.
"You didn't tell Tony he'd die saving the world," Happy accused. I grinned at him. Too many teeth were showing for it to be kind.
"Do you really want me to tell Tony Stark that if I change this, someone else will likely die in his place? You really want me to tell him that just as he's starting to gain a conscience?" I asked Happy through the mirror. He grumbled under his breath but gave me a petulant 'no' as he turned off the highway. "I didn't think so. Give me time to either find a way around the whole sacrificial lamb bit, I have two and a half ideas, but not enough information."
I was not going to admit to anyone that my two and a half ideas consisted of Hulk, She-Hulk, and myself. Nor was I going to tell them that Doctor Strange basically weighed the weight of Tony Stark's life against the universe and decided by himself it was a good play. Dr Strange would be offered a research position with Stark Industries for Neuroscience, and if he wanted to work with Helen Cho, I would make that happen. Stark Industries wanted medical advancements.
"Welcome to Starbucks, what can we get started for you?" I rolled the window down behind me before Happy could speak.
"Morning love, can we get a hot Grande French vanilla latte with soy milk and whip, an iced tall white chocolate mocha with almond milk, and a vente cold brew with a splash of cream and two packs of sugar?" I asked, sticking my head out the window. I paused carefully between each specification of the drinks, making sure she got everything.
"Okay, anything else today?" I glanced between Pepper and Happy, who both shook their heads.
"Yes, can I get y'alls turkey ciabatta with the avocado spread, but can you keep it wrapped for me? I'm not gonna eat for another hour or so," I said, practically beaming at the screen.
"Absolutely! That'll be fourteen seventy-eight at the first window," the associate said.
"Thanks sunshine!" Happy pulled us forward and paid. "Shit, I forgot how cheap shit was in 2010."
"That different?"
"My French Vanilla latte is usually eight bucks by itself," I said dryly as Happy paid for our drinks. "Inflation got bad in 2017 and then 2020 made everything astronomically worse. I forgot; you are all just off the housing market crash."
"Are you able to give us a rundown of what the economy is going to do?" Pepper asked, leaning closer to me in her excitement. "Do you know what that could mean for SI?"
"I know there's an energy crisis coming. The planet is dying. In 2011 we're gonna wanna be pumping out green energy like that's what we were founded to do. I can write something up for you, I've got a few ideas to throw to SI anyway."
"Alright, here's our drinks, Grey who gets what?" Happy asked, holding a drink carrier.
"Cold brew for you, White Chocolate Mocha for the ever-lovely Miss Potts, and the overly fancy one is mine. Thanks, Happy!"
"You think Jim is, okay?" Happy asked Pepper as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"I'm betting he's going to hit Tony," Pepper said, sipping at her drink. She made a surprised noise, looked at it again, then took another drink. Her tablet went off like a doorbell, then kept dinging until she muted it. "Oh, that's Jarvis. Tony finished the order for your room. And he's issued you a debit card – that's not coming in until tomorrow – with express orders of 'try and make me bankrupt, it'll be fun.' Please don't try to bankrupt him."
I laughed, bright and loud as Happy directed the car back onto the highway. Pepper joined me, relaxing more and more.
"What do we have planned for now?" Happy asked once they were on the highway. "What's the plan?"
"Today and tomorrow, we get me official. Jarvis has hopefully been crafting the identity we drafted this morning; I need clothes and a haircut and some dye. And shoes, I doubt Tony will let his daughter out of the house in socks and Birkenstocks for more than this week," I said, gnawing on my pen. Pepper hesitated, then reached over and pulled it out of my mouth. "I'd like a medical physical, at some point, since Dad is gonna be super nice and cover it for me, I don't think I've seen a doctor since 2018?"
"It's 2010," Happy pointed out. "How far away is that from you?"
"Today is October 26th, 2021," I said. Then sighed heavily. "So, I haven't been in three years. It's fine."
"That is not fine!" Pepper exclaimed, reaching over to swat me on the shoulder. I gave her an affronted look. "Grey! You have to take care of yourself!"
"Pepper, make her a doctor's appointment to get established, a dentist appointment, whatever kinda doctor you see annually, schedule her for," Happy grumbled from the front. "You're supposed to be better than Tony, kid."
I suddenly felt like I was reading an Irondad Spiderson fic. I was fairly sure that was a direct quote from at least five different fics. I flushed and nodded.
"PCP, Gyn, derm, dental, I'm scheduling you for an eye-exam too," Pepper said, not even looking up from her tablet. "Anything else?"
I kept my mouth shut. Forcing Tony to get healthy was one thing, I had no time to see to myself too. And that's not even mentioning the fact that if I wanted to take care of myself in my world, it cost an arm and a leg.
"Grey, anything else?" Happy demanded from the front.
"I need an orthopedic doctor to look at my left leg," I mumbled quietly. "But I can make do if I have a knee brace."
"What happened?"
"Fucked my shit up in 2011," I complained, looking out Pepper's window to see the ocean. "Got a screw put in but never had time to do PT. I don't even know if I knew I was supposed to go to PT. I limp. A lot. And it hurts, a lot."
"I'll get you an ortho appointment first, we can talk about a brace then."
"I don't like doctors, someone's going to have to come with me," I said bluntly. "Else I straight up will not go."
"Fuck, you are Tony's daughter," Happy complained. He turned off the highway and onto a private road. I could see the Malibu Mansion through the windshield and bounced in my seat a little bit. It was a beautiful house. "I'll drop you two off here, I'm going to the office to grab the list of things Tony wanted brought out of the labs there."
"Will you also arrange dinner for us, Happy?" Pepper asked. "I don't think we'll make it out anywhere."
"Sure, I'll do take out for us, and I'll get together a grocery order. Grey, make sure you let me know what things you want for yourself and the kitchen. Do that first thing so I can do it when I get back."
"Yes, sir mister Hogan sir," I mumbled back, already climbing out of the car. I leaned against Happy's open window. "Ya know, if you relax, you'll feel better."
"You're a punk, Stark," Happy said, reversing the car. I just smiled as he knocked me off balance. I spun with the movement of the car and made my slightly dizzy way up to the house.
"It's really nice to come in the front door this time," I said as I walked through the threshold.
"It's nice to see you come through the front door, Miss Stark," Jarvis said. I smiled up at the ceiling. "Sir has had several deliveries scheduled for this week and has included this recording."
"It's going to feel like a lot, Rhodey, give me a second to finish this, ladies, can we get lunch set up, with natural water for us both." I laughed, picturing Rhodey's confusion. "It's gonna feel like a lot, but there's gotta be nineteen years' worth of stuff and gifts crammed in there. I'm also sending Pepper an email to have her set you up with a personal stylist until you get used to being in the spotlight. I'll call you after the presentation! Love you kiddo."
"Thanks Jarvis," I said as the ceiling fell silent. "Lead me to whatever room is mine?"
"You have to choose one first, Miss Stark," Jarvis said dryly. I wondered if he was rolling his eyes at me.
"Is there another one with an en suite bathroom?"
"This way, Miss Stark," Jarvis said, flashing a red light at me from down the hall. It led to a giant room with even bigger windows, giving me a perfect view of the pool, and the ocean. "Mister Hogan would like to know if you wanted anything specific to be brought home for dinner. He also asks that you sit and knock out whatever items you need from the grocery store. Immediately."
"He does understand he's not by boss, right?" I half-heartedly complained. "Where can I get a laptop, phone and tablet?"
"In the lab, I'd taken the liberty of setting them up for you, you just need to retrieve them."
"I think I know how to get there from here," I said, and I turned on my heel, absently clicking on my vape pen. I took a long pull and shuffled off to the lab. "Jarvis, while I'm doing this, would you mind helping me with a personal project?"
"What type of personal project?"
"Well, I've only been to California once after being born here, so I've never been able to explore what makes California different from Ohio. Would you mind pulling together a list or a selection of restaurants that are only in California and not Ohio?" I turned a corner into the living room and grinned at Pepper, who was sitting in her chair, answering emails. "Like what are the best local spots? Is there a decent and affordable sushi bar nearby? What about farmer's markets where I can get fresh produce? I like to go out for walks in nature, where's the best hiking spot?"
"Grey, do you have a preference on the gender of your doctor?" Pepper asked. "Or do you care?"
"I'd have an easier time talking to a woman about my health. Men are stupid," I said as I kept walking. "Plus at least a woman doctors won't blame it on my period."
I got to the door of the lab and punched in the code I shouldn't have actually known and walked through Tony's workspace. And paused.
"Was there something you needed, Miss Stark?" Jarvis asked. I turned and looked around the space fully.
"I want to move the cars out of here, I'm going to need the lab space. I need to build a particle accelerator." I twisted my pen through my fingers as I walked the space. Dum-E followed me around, confused about who I was. "Hi Dum-E. Listen, Dad is going to be gone for a few months, do you mind if I work in his space?"
Dum-E's camera looked at me and I waited. It nodded up and down twice before moving closer to my hair.
"I believe he is curious about the color of your hair, Miss Stark," Jarvis helpfully translated for me. "And how you knew which bot he was, since he's never met you in person before."
"Dad talks about the bots all the time, and frequently sends me pictures," I said to Dum-E, patting him on his claw. "I dyed my hair pink, it's faded, and I'm gonna change it again this week. Maybe brown again like dad, or if I feel like freaking out the press, I could dye it the same color as Pepper's."
A series of frantic sounding beeps, and a truly impressive spin was the answer to that. I laughed.
"You're right, not until they start dating on their own first," I agreed. Dum-E whirled off deeper into the lab and I shook my head. "Hey, Jay, I don't suppose you know how to create a new element, do you?"
"It is impossible to synthesize new elements, Miss Stark," Jarvis said gently.
"Look, if Dad can do it, so can I," I said shortly. "I have the atomic structure, or whatever, I just need the ring. Tony made a ring-shaped structure that looked like a particle accelerator. Would that, theoretically, result in an element being synthesized?"
"Theoretically, with the correct atomic structure, it could be possible, but very unlikely. It would be more likely to result in an explosion of catastrophic proportions. I strongly advise against it." I hated logic like that. Tony could do it; he was a genius. Me? Well, the less said about that the better.
"Well, we're still a way off from that, but I want to have it ready to go for dad when he gets home. I still have to find the plans for the 1974 Stark Expo to show you the atomic structure." Dum-E came whirling around the corner again, this time with U just behind him, a basket on his back. I could see that U was carrying the promised laptop and tablet, but the phone was clutched proudly in Dum-E's claw. He braked in front of me, and stopped soon enough that he didn't hit me, but U ran smack into him, causing the phone to drop out of the claw.
Too many years of dropping my phone had me moving before I thought about it. I kicked out my foot, bouncing the phone back up to grab reach.
Dum-E and U started beeping at each other, and the basket tilted precariously. I reached over and grabbed it too.
"Now that's enough out of you two," I scolded, tapping U's head like I did my cat's when they misbehaved. "Dum-E, watch where you're going, you cut U off, that's rude and reckless. U, sometimes we have to let things go, even when we don't want to. It was an accident, no one was hurt, and I got to do a cool trick. Accept his apology and move on. Thank you for the tech. I'll come down again in a few days, okay?"
A few more pats on Dum-E's claw and U's head and I was able to swipe two empty notepads off Tony's desk and a blue pen. I darted back up the stairs and flopped on the couch next to Pepper.
"So, I've got an ortho doc coming over at four," Pepper said with no preamble the second I stopped moving. I looked at her in surprise. I'd expected this month, not same day. "Don't look so surprised, surely even where you're from money talks."
"Well yeah, but I've never had money, Pep. My rent is due in five days, and I've got, like, ten cents to my name." I laughed as I rolled over to look at her. "I work as a receptionist; all of my doctors are scheduling out like five months. Someone called in yesterday wanting an appointment within a week and I had to put them on hold I was laughing so hard."
"What about your parents?" Pepper asked, genuinely surprised. "Don't they help at all?"
"Mom would buy me groceries on occasion, but they're buying my sister a condo in Chicago so she can go to Dental School. I'm lucky mom let me keep the Honda." I shrugged. My parents weren't bad people. They just had their favorite child, and it wasn't me. That's okay. "They were paying for my car, my car insurance, and my phone bill. I'm also – I was also mooching off mom's Netflix and HBO max accounts. Disney plus was mine through and through though."
I shifted enough so I was slightly propped up and started on my grocery list. I was very specific on the things I wanted, even specifying tampon brands that I preferred.
"Well, we'll take care of you from now on," Pepper said. I was certain she was looking for a therapist for me. Probably wouldn't hurt. "The Ortho doc is coming at four tonight, and I'll take you to the salon and mall tomorrow. Tony did schedule a personal stylist, but they're meeting us in New York over the weekend."
"We're going to New York?"
"There's a SCIF there. The four of us are going there after Jim gets home and then you can elaborate a bit more. Tony wants us to take our time and do it right, so if you can prep us for, maybe everything we're going to deal with before the 2012 team up?"
"Yeah. I can do it. I'll tell you now though, what the movies did, and what I want to do are gonna differ," I warned. See, here was the thing. In 2016 I wrote a self-insert Harry Potter fanfiction that I never posted. It in, fifteen-year-old me fell asleep clutching a Harry Potter book after a fight with her parents, and woke up in Diagon Alley, where she created an identity as Sirius Black's daughter. That character, I named Carina, who saved the world. Then, instead of dying of old age alongside her husband, she woke up back in her original life, but was still a witch with all her powers. Carina then went on to different fictional universes and took care of her children. And in one of them, not only did she rescue Bucky from Hydra's bullshit, but she also raised Tony away from Howard's less than good parenting. She had taken care of everyone, and that's what I was going to do.
"Good, because even your vague descriptions were full of shit, and we cannot let that shit happen." Pepper glared into the middle ground between us and waited.
"We need to get Barnes out of Hydra's grasp," I said. "Not only because he'd be so freaking useful if he wanted to fight alongside us, but also because he doesn't deserve that shit."
"Save it for the SCIF." Pepper soothed. She nodded though, telling me that she agreed with the sentiment. I finished off the list of things I wanted Happy to bring me and sent it off. "Hopefully Tony is looping Jim in, and not just freaking him out."
Line Break
James "Jim" Rhodes was freaking out. Tony went home with a blonde reporter last night and showed up late. That in itself wasn't unusual, even if it was annoying. No, the unusual thing was that Tony showed up, being driven by Happy. And then he was sitting in the backseat with his arm around a girl with pink hair that Jim had never seen before.
Tony hugged not only the girl with the pink hair, but also Pepper, who looked distraught, and Happy, who looked pissed. Jim was off balance, and Tony's attitude wasn't helping.
"That's not the woman you went home with last night," Jim accused. He didn't know what he was accusing Tony of, but he didn't have a better thing to say.
"As if I'd sleep with my daughter, Rhodey, honestly," Tony said. "C'mon let's go, we're waiting on you now."
Jim turned and glared at the girl with the pink hair. He knew Tony better than anyone, he didn't have a daughter, legitimate or otherwise. Especially not one as old as this girl. Tony clambered into the plane, smiling, and saying hi and thank you to the crew.
"Who are you?" Jim asked instead of the thirty other questions and accusations he could taste on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't truly control the over-protective big brother routine he'd perfected around the time of Sunset Bane. Early enough to save Tony the heartbreak of her, but too late to protect him from Tiberius Stone.
"Grey Stark," she said like it was the only thing in her world that mattered. Jim swallowed the hateful things he wanted to say as he watched Happy open the back door for her to get in. Pepper didn't return to the front seat but slid in next to this mysterious new girl with faded pink hair.
"C'mon Honeybear, we're waiting on you now!" Tony cried from the seating area of the jet. Jim sighed heavily and wondered what bullshit Tony was going to drag him through this time. "Rhodey!"
Jim entered the plane, removing his cover as the flight attendant moved to close the door behind him. One last glance through the window saw Happy turning around in the driver seat to talk to Pepper and the girl.
"Tony, you don't have a daughter," Jim said as he sat opposite his longest friend. "If anyone would know it would be me."
"She's not biologically mine," Tony said quietly as the jet started to taxi. They were alone for now. "We found her this morning, she just appeared out of thin air, even Jarvis couldn't find where she came from. One moment it was just me and Pepper, the next moment she was there."
"And you just believe that she's your daughter?" Jim demanded, incredulously. Sure, he knew Tony could be irresponsible, but this was a whole new level of insanity for his best friend.
"Jim, I'm not that stupid," Tony said shortly. Jim reeled back in his seat as the jet started taxiing. Tony didn't call him Jim, Tony called him an increasing number of ridiculous nicknames. The last time he'd been called Jim was the day Howard and Maria died.
"He killed my mom, Jim! Mia Madre!" Jim was still haunted by the sound of Tony's cries for his mom that year.
"She actually tried to stop me from going to the Jericho Presentation," Tony said, smiling fondly. "Something's coming, Jim, and we need your help."
Jim listened patiently as Tony pulled out a small stack of index cards with unfamiliar handwriting on them. He went over each note and gave Jim the rough timeline "Grey" said they were working with.
"And you believe her?"
"She had a video on her phone that was proof," Tony said. He didn't bother to state that he didn't see it. Jim didn't need to know that.
"And you believe her?" Jim asked again. Tony looked at his best friend, even reaching out to take Jim's hand.
"I believe her," Tony said, serious in a way he'd never been before. "I trust her. She has these plans for us, for me and for Stark Industries, and Jim, she knew everything, she knew about Bane and Ty. She knows the joke about Ivan. All she wants is to protect me from what she knows is coming."
"And what is coming?"
"A new era, an era of heroes," Tony said firmly, confident in a way he hadn't been before. "She wants you and Pepper to be by my side the whole way."
That would be a change. Tony's main MO is to do things on his own until he gets stuck in a mess and Jim and Pepper have to bail him out of it.
The flight attendants were up and about the cabin before Jim could think of a response that wasn't slightly insulting. Tony quickly ordered them lunch with water. Jim gaped as Tony denied the offered Sake. When the girls came out to entertain, Tony turned them away.
"Who are you and what have you done with Tony Stark?" Jim demanded, a little too seriously. Tony pulled out another index card.
"I'm not a Skrull, an alien shapeshifter, a time traveler, or a Shifter, whatever that means. I am still me. I just had my eyes opened two days early."
"Two days early?" Jim demanded. "What the fuck does that mean?"
"Oh, yeah, this is for you," Tony said and pulled out a letter, sliding it over to Jim. "The Ten Rings is a terrorist organization that is going to kidnap me after the Jericho Presentation. You have to be in a different vehicle. They're gonna kill the airmen traveling with me."
Jim tore open the letter. It was written in the same handwriting as the index cards. He read through it quickly while the flight attendants brought out their food and drinks. They brought the sake, l out of habit, but Tony sent it back. Told the girls to enjoy it themselves if they wanted, since they'd already heated it up.
Rhodey,
Sorry for what's to come. Tony is going to give you the basic timeline we're looking at. After Afghanistan, come back to Malibu and I'll walk you through the rest. If you think you can convince Tony to NOT get kidnapped by terrorists on Obadiah Stane's orders, please do. I tried, but he's a stubborn asshole.
Do NOT join him in his Humvee, I can't guarantee you won't get hurt in the fight. He's going to be gone for three months, and then he'll escape. The terrorists have Stark Weapons. Stane is dealing under the table.
I know Tony is your brother, and you want this even less than I do, but ask him if he's willing to avoid this. He'll out stubborn us both.
Protect him as best you can, then come home, we're going to need your help here. There's nothing you can do in the desert.
I'm so sorry,
Grey.
"What the hell is this," Jim demanded after reading the letter. He crumpled it up and threw it at Tony. "You can't seriously be considering letting these terrorists take you?"
Tony took care to rip the letter into tiny pieces and scatter them over an empty sushi plate. Most of the pieces fell into the soy sauce, ruining the chance that anyone could read it.
"I have to destroy their store of my weapons," Tony said. "Grey doesn't know where they are, and while it's just one cache, they're dangerous."
"Stane is behind this?" Jim finally asked, picking up his chopsticks and joining Tony in eating the sushi brought out.
"Yeah. They're gonna make a ransom video to send to him. They don't know it's me they're kidnapping. They're actually being paid to kill me, but they're gonna try to use me instead," Tony said, explaining what Grey told him. Jim went slightly green the longer Tony spoke, but with regret churning in his gut, Jim agreed to his plan. Reluctantly.
"If I don't have you home, safe in three months, I'll abandon her to come find you," Jim said plainly. Privately, Jim thought that if he didn't have his Tony back in three months, he might kill the girl.
"I think that's understandable. But I'm going to try my best to get out sooner. If I can," Tony said. "I'm certainly going to try. I don't exactly want to be a kidnap victim. Again."
Jim rolled his eyes at Tony's notation on his own history. They would have to talk about his trend of getting kidnapped.
"What do you plan to do, moving forward?" Jim asked, nervous about the answer. The post-daughter Tony was as unpredictable as the pre-version. But this time there was a driver behind the wheel. Jim just didn't know where he planned on going.
"Stark Industries has to be held accountable for the weapons it's been dealing under the table. There needs to be a full investigation by people that aren't us. Find the people in the company taking advantage of us and have them arrested." Tony looked at the cards again. One of them just said Iron Family. "I've got an idea for a way we can clean this up, without pissing off the military too much. Then we're going to expand."
"Stark Industries is going to branch out?" Jim was floored. Tony had tried to expand Stark Industries when he took over the company. Stane had put all his plans on hold, telling him to focus on weapons. Tony didn't, of course, taking over as the Head of R&D, in addition to his CEO duties. It was a disaster, of course. Tony would get so lost in the lab that he wouldn't get anything done. The company stagnated for two days, but then cranked out so many new types of protective gear for the troops that it made Jim's head spin.
"I've wanted to for years, but Stane wouldn't let us," Tony admitted. "Even before Grey said that she wanted to take a proactive role in the company, I've had designs and blueprints set aside for ages."
The flight attendants were back, swooping in with bright smiles to take away the plates, and bring out something sweet and coffee. The girls started setting it up, while one brought out a tea caddy for Jim.
"Thank you," Jim said, taking a decaffeinated tea.
"And I've got more ideas, just rattling around up here," Tony pointed to his head with his coffee spoon. "And her? Jim, Grey has ideas that I'd never have thought of in a million years. She has this list of ideas she wants to put into production, Green Energy, sustainable materials, she's going to take this company into a new era."
Jim watched as Tony went on about the different ideas this girl had had. Prosthetic advancements, medical advancements, even different crops that could be changed to be better.
Tony talked about his and Grey's plans for Stark Industries for three hours. At one point, he even pulled out his tablet and sketched out a blueprint, losing himself in the middle of a word. Jim hadn't seen this side of Tony since MIT.
"I'll trust her," Jim said quietly several hours later. "But if you don't come home, I'll find a way to hold her responsible."
"I think that's reasonable," Tony said, putting his tablet down. "What do you think of these?"
"What is it?"
"Eyeglasses, like mine. They can connect to the users phone and show text messages or directions in the corner. The lenses can't be prescription, yet so I think we'll stick with sunglasses, but if we could get someone in R&D to crack how to have a prescription on the glass without warping the hologram, these could be huge," Tony said, passing the tablet over to Jim.
"Tony, these are brilliant!" Jim looked at the specs and could easily see where Tony's ideas had changed to be user-friendly. Tony didn't mind if his personal interface was complicated, but others would. He took the time to change it before his company got their claws in it. "What code would you use?"
"No idea. I'd need a mass-producible AI so that people can give verbal orders or whatever. I could use some of Jarvis' code, but I'd rather not open him up to scrutiny." Tony frowned at the tablet, his nose scrunching up, showing he was working the problem.
Jim felt like he'd been sucker punched. He hadn't seen that face since their senior year at MIT together. Their capstone had gotten stuck, and Tony walked around with his nose scrunched for six days until he came up with the solution. Howard had seen it and had scolded Tony for hours. Jim never saw that face again. A realization settled in his bones. This woman, Tony's daughter brought back a version of Tony Jim had thought lost to the legacy of his father. He truly didn't know whether he would love her or hate her for being able to succeed where he failed.
Line Break
Tony thought the Jericho presentation went perfectly. The Jericho Missile was the first of many projects to bring about Repulsor technology. Tony knew he could do so much more with this discovery. He wondered if things would change enough so he could go back to inventing. He had so many projects shelved because Stark Industries was a "weapons only" company since 1991. Maybe not anymore.
Tony let himself get lost in his thoughts as the various generals chatted amongst themselves, discussing not only the new missile system, but the price, how often they would use it, and how many they wanted. Before the presentation, the army had pre-ordered three dozen Jericho Missiles. Tony and Jim were both expecting that ask to triple before the end of the day.
Tony took a too-deep breath and nearly choked on the arid desert breeze. He wouldn't admit it out loud, not here anyway, but he was scared of what the next hour would bring. Tony let his gaze settle on Jim, who was watching three air force officers argue back and forth about whether or not they could even use the Jericho Missiles from their current birds. (Tony knew they couldn't.) The Navy had already been informed that this version of the Jericho was useless underwater, but they were quickly working on one that would work even when fired from a submarine.
"You could just ride with me," Jim said almost too quietly next to Tony. "I don't like this, Tony."
"You think I do?" Tony asked back, looking at his best friend. Rhodey's glare softened. His frown didn't. "It's funny, I can hear Howard in my head. Starks have responsibilities, son. It isn't going to be fair, that's why Starks are made of Iron. He used to say that all the fucking time. I always thought he meant the constant keeping everyone at arm's length for safety, don't trust anyone. I don't think dad was who I thought he was."
Tony could see he had surprised Jim, bringing up his father so easily, so surprisingly.
"Ask Grey or Pepper about his death," Tony said. His shoulders were a tight line. "It wasn't an accident."
"Tony?"
"I can't Jim, not yet." The pain in Tony's eyes was real. So was the tiny tremor in his hand. Tony was terrified of facing what was to come.
"I just can't talk about it yet. Please don't make me," Tony nearly begged. It was a whisper, a prayer. Jim clasped him on the shoulder.
"It's okay. I won't, not yet, when you have time to understand it all, I'll be here," Jim promised. He would always be there for Tony. They were brothers, a closer bond than Jim had with some of his airmen. "But Tony?"
Tony looked at Jim, too many emotions on his face for anyone to read. Jim could see fear and anxiety clearly. Regret, sorrow, and rage simmered in his eyes. But there was hope, visible and bright as the sun. Tony having hope again, to Jim, that's all that matters.