Just breathe. Remember to breathe, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Tony woke up in flames. His skin burned, his insides burned, his chest burned. He opened his eyes. Even his eyes burned. He had to take inventory. Toes, wiggling. Knees, slightly bent, hips, sore, should've stretched on the plane. Chest. Nope. Absolutely not. Moving on.
Fingers, wiggling. Face? Tony patted his face, carefully exploring. His hair was in place, no burn spots. Two eyebrows, two eyes, dry and itchy, but well and whole. Tony tried not to gag as he pulled out whatever tube or wire the man had shoved up his nose and down his throat.
Once Tony controlled his gag reflex, he leaned his head up enough to see the car battery on the table next to him. The wires led down to his chest, and beneath the thin gauze, a rudimentary magnet, keeping the shrapnel out of his heart, just like Grey promised. Breathe. I'm so sorry.
Grey had warned him, told him what to expect and what he could do to minimize trauma. But it wasn't enough. The magnet burned like an engine. And, in a sense, it was. Already, in his mind the wheels were turning. He could do it faster this time. Oh, he would protest at first, it wouldn't do to have them be suspicious, but eventually, if it got him tools, he could do it. It would be rudimentary, but he was Tony Fucking Stark, he could do anything.
"What did you do to me?" Tony asked, gasping as his fingertips traced the wiring exposed in his chest. Oh, God.
"I got as much shrapnel out as I could," Yinsen said, looking at Tony through his shaving mirror. "You even have a souvenir, look."
Sure enough, Yinsen moved to hold up a jar of tiny pieces of metal. Tony felt his stomach roll at the sound. Tiny pieces of metal, from his bomb, were working their way into his heart, except for that stupid magnet. In a corner of his mind, Tony was already running through the calculations needed to make sure his bombs stopped doing this type of damage. He also wondered why he didn't already know.
"I have seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead," Yinsen explained. "Because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs."
"And this?" Tony asked, even though he knew. He could picture the walking dead, suffering slowly for a week from his bombs and weapons. How many American Soldiers were hurt this way by Stark weapons? How many terrorists had his weapons that shouldn't have? Tony felt like he was going to throw up. This was worse than what Grey warned him was coming. I'm so sorry.
"An electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery. And it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart, hmm?" Yinsen glanced upwards, showing Tony the camera in the corner. Tony zipped up the blood-soaked hoodie to cover the magnet. "We met once, you know. At a technical conference in Bern."
"I don't remember," Tony said, his mind spinning with ideas. He knew he couldn't write them down, not with any ability to keep the list, so he created a chalkboard in his mind and started scribbling.
"I don't blame you. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."
"Where are we?" Tony asked, tired of the small talk. There was a bang at the door. Time to meet their hosts, Tony thought bitterly. Yinsen crossed the room with purpose and pulled Tony to his feet, hissing at him to do as he did. Tony put his hands up, wincing as it pulled the magnet.
Step one: Replace the battery with a mini arc reactor.
Step two: Escape.
Step three: Cancel Stark Weapons Program so they can't hurt anyone ever again.
Step four: Let Pepper and Grey loose on the world.
The terrorists walked in, all carrying Stark guns. Rage flared through Tony as he realized the extent of the betrayal that led him to this cave, with his car battery. Tony should've listened to his daughter. He should've stayed at home and just done the hard work. But... It was too late. Too late for action. It was time for revenge. And that was okay.
The man in charge spoke only Arabic, so Tony looked to Yinsen for a translation. The man was smug, proud, gloating over them. Tony couldn't let that stand. There was no one above him. Except for Pepper, but she belonged there anyway.
"He says, 'Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America.' He is honored." Yinsen translated the Arabic monologue from their kidnapper. Tony bit the side of his tongue to keep him from making a face. This was hardly this first kidnapping, but Tony could already tell this was going to be his least favorite. It made him miss Tiberius, sort of. "He wants you to build the missile. The Jericho Missile you demonstrated. This one."
Tony looked at the picture. It was the black and white shot he had sent to the Generals to convince them to see the demonstration. It was an official Stark Industries press photo. They shouldn't have that. Tony understood what he had to do.
"I refuse."
Line Break
"Is all that really necessary?" Grey asked Pepper, looking at her dubiously. She was perched on the back of the couch next to Jim, while Pepper stood in front of them. "We really have to go all the way to New York to put proof of my existence in a house Tony hasn't gone to in thirteen years? I would've been five, of course we would've packed everything up."
"Sure, but the room you'd have stayed in is currently a guest room that's a tacky yellow color. It doesn't look like a young girl lived there."
"So, we sell the house! We're never gonna use it anyway," Grey said. "Pepper, I've got too much going on here to worry about a house I'm never going to set foot in."
"It's a Legacy Safe House, Pepper, if we change it now, they'll notice we might as well leave it as is. You know it isn't as empty as we all think."
"Stop, wait, rewind," Grey demanded, throwing her hands up. Jim quickly put a hand on her back in case she fell. "Legacies?"
"Of the Howling Commandos?" Jim said, frowning. He believed that Grey had known everything about their universe, not just bits and pieces. "Sure, Tony had a falling out with Morita a while back, so they haven't gotten together in a while, but surely you knew of them?"
"No. I knew Morita was a high school principal in New York, we meet him in Spiderman: Homecoming. I knew Sharon followed in Peggy's footsteps from Captain America, the Winter Soldier, and I knew Antoine existed from Agents of SHIELD, but I've never once heard of the legacies." Grey hated not knowing things – especially Marvel related things.
"When the news breaks, they're going to know Tony's missing, and they're going to do what they can to find him." Jim put his hand on Grey's shoulder, calming her. "And when you're announced, whenever that is, they're going to come here demanding answers."
More people that could disprove Grey's relationship with Tony, just what they needed. They'd have to get creative to make sure they were believed.
"Okay, so we go to New York, we set up a room that I would've stayed in. Then we head to DC, do what we can to get Barnes out of Hydra, and then what?" Grey asked, absently chewing on the wrong end of her vape pen. Pepper pulled it out of her mouth.
"Depends on Barnes' state of mind. If he doesn't shake off the programming you talked about easily, he might have to stay in New York." Pepper didn't necessarily like the suggestion, but if the man was a danger they had to take precautions.
"No," Grey said firmly, her eyes flashing dangerously. "We keep him close, because if Hydra comes after him, all it takes is a series of Russian words and he's a mindless zombie again. If we break him out, we protect him."
"He's going to need a therapist," Jim said, running a hand over his hair. Grey leaned against him, sharing his exhaustion. He didn't know when she slept. She stayed in the lab after he left for bed and was still there when he woke up at five. "Even without the brainwashing, he's been a prisoner of war since 1945. He's been tortured, made to kill, and who knows what else?"
Pepper glanced at Grey before she could help herself. Grey saw it and sighed, looking older than a 24-year-old (turned 18) should.
"He was forced to train other super soldiers. Forced to train little girls to kill. Forced to kill not only his targets but any witnesses. He had thousands of volts of electricity run through his brain to wipe his memories and ensure compliance." Hearing it so blatantly made Pepper want to throw up. She couldn't understand how Grey could be so blasé about it. "He killed JFK. He killed Howard and Maria Stark. He killed adults, he killed children. And even once he's safe with us and he's no longer a danger, he will still remember every single thing he did."
"Oh God," Pepper said faintly, going pale. There was silence for a while. "He's going to need to stand trial."
"We have to keep it classified. Or wait until we can act against Hydra openly," Grey said immediately. "If Hydra reveals themselves early, God only knows what could happen."
"So, we let them keep operating?" Jim asked, turning to look at Grey.
"If they come out when I expect them to, in 2014, I can tell you which SHIELD locations will fall, what prisoners escape, and who the bad people are." Grey kept moving her arms around as if she were punctuating her statement, but neither Pepper nor Jim could tell what she was emphasizing. "If they come out sooner, I can tell you most of the bad people. But I won't be able to guess what the outcome could be. Would you rather go into battle knowing you're going to win, or hoping you're going to win?"
"Isn't Hydra going to know we know? You're planning on asking Undersecretary Pierce to just hand over his best asset. And you're likely to end up in front of the press before your birthday, meaning he will know that he'd been played."
"If you have a better plan, I'd love to hear it, Pepper," Grey said sharply. "Cause I'm pretty much just making this up as I go along, and praying every morning that I won't cause irreparable damage to the timeline. That I won't say the wrong thing and get everyone killed and myself locked up. On top of that, I have to grieve every person I've ever met, and there's nothing I can do to memorialize them in case it gives me away."
"I think you need a therapist too," Jim said bluntly.
"Yeah, except I can't even risk telling them. We're already scrambling to create a cover story for me that can stand up to the CIA, Interpol, SHIELD, and allows for any slips. Haven't you wondered why I haven't given anyone my real name?" Grey stood and shook herself, turning to pace. "How are we going to explain what I know to the rest of the team?"
"Team?" Jim asked, glancing at Pepper.
"Legacies, Avengers, basically anyone we might work with in the future."
"Because I can tell you," Grey said as if she hadn't heard them. She might not have. "Fury? Rogers? They're not going to blindly accept that I'm in charge."
"So, you get superhero powers," Jim said. "We're the Justice League, remember?"
"Yeah, but how did I get them?"
"You got them from your mom. She died during childbirth, so it's not like anyone can disprove it," Jim said, recalling the history he was given. Grey remembered her plan to use Emma Frost as her mom, except that she was a real non-mutant person. And Charles Xavier could still walk – and he was still a professor of genetics. Somethings never changed, apparently.
"The idea has some merit. We can say they come to you in dreams, which is why you're never going to be seen "having a vision" or whatever," Pepper added. "Hopefully by the time anyone thinks to question it publicly, there will be others with special abilities."
"We're meeting an actual Norse God in 2012, so we should be fine on that front," Grey said, finally stopping her pacing. She climbed over the back and sat on the couch, turned around to still face Pepper. "We've gotten off topic again. We're terrible at this. What do we do about Hydra and Barnes?"
"We get him out," Jim said, placating Grey with a hand to her knee. "But we find a better plan than you just breaking into a SHIELD building. Find a low-level grunt and ask them to bring you in. Do what you need to, to get Pierce to give you Barnes, and get the fuck out. If you think, for one single second that your life is in danger, you get the fuck out."
"Yes mom," Grey snarked. Then she grew serious for a moment, "we all need to remember that the minute Barnes is in our custody, we can't make a single mistake to my identity. He's the best spy and assassin this world has ever known. He will find out if we slip."
"Then you better get used to calling Tony dad real quick, hadn't you?" Jim asked. Grey flipped him off. She was still struggling to remember that he was her father; after thirteen years of considering him as someone under her protection, it was a hard transition.
Two quick horn honks were heard from the driveway, pulling the trio out of their thoughts. Happy was ready for them.
"Can we swing through a drive-thru before we get to the airfield?" Jim asked.
"Oh, yes please," Grey asked, lighting up. They walked out of the house, and Happy was there with a town car, already loaded with their small amount of luggage. When asked, Happy said no, because there was food already catered to the jet.
Jim turned on the radio as the ride was quiet while Grey studied the paper packet Jarvis put together for her about people Tony would know.
"Jesus, what is this, 2010, who picked this station?" Grey asked, glancing up before she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It is 2010. This is a new song. Almost forgot Pitbull existed."
"When was the last time you slept?" Pepper asked, looking at her in concern. Grey shrugged. "You don't have to work yourself to death, Grey. You can take your time."
"Pepper, I have less than a month to have all this information memorized. If the Legacies show up, and I don't already know everything I should, they'll have me disappeared. If Barnes thinks that we're lying to him in the slightest bit, he'll kill us all. So, I have a lot of work to do. For example, uh, this one here, General Morrow. Married his long-time domestic partner who is a history teacher. It's 2010, how did they marry? Isn't don't ask don't tell in effect? Isn't gay marriage still illegal?"
"D.A.D.T. was repealed in 2009 after President Obama got gay marriage legalized. He said it was past time," Jim said, confused.
"Oh, see in my world, it got repealed in 2011, and gay marriage was illegal until 2015," Grey said, squinting to remember the years. It was all a bit of a blur to her.
"Obama is getting reelected?" Happy asked, pleasantly surprised.
"I don't think so, in the second movie, Matthew Ellis was president," Grey said, chewing on her pen again.
"I thought he was a Democrat. Why would the DNC put forward another candidate? Obama's approval rating has been consistently high." Grey could understand Happy's question. Even she wanted Obama to have another term.
"For the plot, or something," Grey pouted.
"That's a terrible reason, do we want to change that?" Pepper asked. Grey's head shot up like she never even considered it. Her eyes danced back and forth like she was reading something.
"No," Grey said finally, an air of sadness clinging to her. "No, we will not get involved in elections. I think that's a bit too far, even for me."
Grey didn't want to mention that if she got involved with this election, she'd definitely get involved in the 2016 election. There was a line she had to draw somewhere, and even though she hated it, she didn't want to change the timeline too much. She knew enough to know that messing with time was dangerous.
Grey let herself get nostalgic about the songs on the radio as she went back to memorizing the various profiles Jarvis had printed out for her. The Legacies, important people in Stark Industries, Howard and Maria. Various people Tony had dated, as comprehensive a list as possible of everyone Tony had slept with, not to mention everything Tony himself had ever done. There was a list of teachers Grey would've had growing up. A list of various addresses she had lived at, as well as facts about those places, and pictures.
"Grey, we're here," Pepper said, startling Grey out of her studying. Grey yawned and climbed out of the car, shuffling to the trunk to grab her duffle bag, and up the jet stairs. Happy and Jim were quick to head to the cockpit to get them in the air. There would be no staff on this flight.
"I'm thinking Jack Rollins is my way in. He's hidden within STRIKE, didn't go to Hydra's prep academy, he was only recruited by Sitwell and brought into the fold after he joined SHIELD. So if I know about him, I probably know a lot."
"How do we find him?"
"Oh, Jarvis already did. He has a townhouse in DC near where the Triskelion's being built."
"Will it work?"
"Guess we'll find out."
Line Break
Grey was getting really sick of finding herself in places she didn't recognize. She woke up on top of a bed she'd never seen before, in a room she'd never seen before, likely in a house she'd never seen before. In the four days she'd been in the universe, she'd twice woken up somewhere she didn't know.
"Where the fuck am I this fucking time?" Grey left the room and turned down the hall, looking for an exterior door. She found a set of stairs leading down, and slipped down, trying to keep her steps quiet.
"You're awake, good. Welcome to Stark Manor," Pepper said, spooking the shit out of Grey, who shrieked. Pepper couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face. Grey put a hand on her heart and tried to breathe normally as she realized what was happening.
"You assholes could've woken me up when we landed, Jesus Christ, I thought I'd done it again," Grey huffed, glaring at Pepper, who's face turned apologetic. Grey could feel her anger subsiding and shook her head slightly. "It's fine, I needed the sleep. Clearly, if I didn't wake up. Is there food?"
"Pizza in the living room. Jim and I were talking legal options for Barnes, come on, there's wine."
"Oh, thank God," Grey sighed. She let Pepper wrap her arm around her shoulders and lead her away. Jim was already pouring her a glass when they stepped into the classy, but slightly dated living room. "This is where… dad, grew up?"
"When he wasn't at boarding school, yes." Pepper turned the box of cheese to face Grey in a silent hint to eat. "From '95 to '01 you two lived in a stand alone closer to the city, until you moved to Malibu in early 2002."
"Tony Stark lived in a normal house?" Grey asked dubiously.
"No, he actually did. They ran a series of articles about it in '07, the press kept asking what he was hiding. It'll actually be hilarious when they learn about you." Jim was grinning at the thought. Grey laughed, able to imagine it well.
"Pepper said you were talking legal?" Grey prompted, finally taking a slice of pizza. There was a ranch dressing packet that Grey scooped up to drizzle over it before she ate.
"I have a friend in Stark Industries legal department. Samantha Kim is a genius lawyer. She spent time as District Attorney before coming to join us. I personally recruited her, so I'd like to bring her in as head of the legal department for the Avengers Initiative."
"I've met her before," Jim added. "Pepper's right to do so. Once we get the initiative up and running, Sam's a fantastic asset to have."
"Oh, we can get that running next month once the company temporarily falls to me," Grey said. "I have some ideas for that actually, but please know, these are the ideas of a creative writer, not someone with any real-world knowledge of running a business. Where's my bag?"
Jim passed it over, and Grey pulled out a five-subject notebook. She flipped it open to the fourth section and handed it to Pepper, who tilted it to read the scrawling handwriting.
"You want Stark Industries to buy Marvel Comics?"
"Right now, Marvel Comics writes about Captain America. They're tiny. I plan on adding to their franchise. Then we can use those profits to help repair things that enhanced people break. Or that we break."
"What can they write about?" Jim asked. "You can't give them the Avengers."
"I can give them the Howling Commando's. I can give them Agent Peggy Carter. I can give them the X-Men. And once something's already happened, we can give them that as a movie. Let them write comics about the superheroes that actually exist."
"People would go for it?"
"I've seen that they do. The Avengers had merch in the movies. T-shirts, comics, anything you could think of. Why not make sure that the profit will go to us? In my time, Avengers Endgame brought 2.8 billion in the box office."
"Yep, we're doing that," Pepper said, pulling out her tablet to start drafting a plan to purchase it. "We can scoop them up after Tony is announced as Iron Man. Give Marvel exclusive rights, use that money to fix anything that accidentally breaks, or invest it into Stark Industries to help expand."
"If you're sitting on those types of ideas, what the hell else have you come up with?"
Grey looked up with a manic look in her eyes, and Pepper handed Jim a blank notebook and a pen. Taking notes was a common thing when Grey started rambling. She'd give new ideas, then forget them immediately.
"Well, I was thinking about the company, and I really think it's time for new leadership."
Iron Man
"Tell me why I shouldn't shoot you for breaking into my house?" Jack Rollins asked the shadow on his couch, his gun already in his hands as he inched forward.
"Because I don't think Sitwell would like to learn that you sold him out for being Hydra," a woman's voice said. "Put the gun away, Jackie boy. Time to have a conversation like grown-ups."
The lamp flicked on, and Jack could see a young woman lounging on his couch, no weapon in her hands. He knew that it didn't make her any less of a threat, especially if she felt confident enough to talk so openly about Hydra.
"I haven't sold anyone out, and no one's Hydra. They've been stomped out since the end of the second world war," Jack said tersely, his heart hammering in his chest. He didn't lower his gun or loosen his grip.
"Mh, don't lie to me, sweetheart, I know what I'm talking about. Now, here's what I want, in exchange for keeping my mouth shut. You're going to bring me to Alexander Pierce, tomorrow, and introduce me as a very good friend. And then you'll go on your way. Back to your little Strike team, pretending you're SHIELD's good little soldier."
"What's to keep me from shooting you, and preventing you from telling anyone any part of your fantasy?"
"The fact that if I'm not back home in the next hour, my dad's gonna drop the name of every Hydra agent online. You didn't think I just came here with no insurance, did you?" She tsked at him, watching as he finally lowered the gun. "So, tomorrow morning, you'll take me to work and introduce me to Alex. You'll impress upon him how important it is he listen to me."
"What do you want with the Undersecretary?" Jack asked, glaring at the woman who backed him into a corner.
"Sorry, lover, that's classified," she said as she stood in a fluid motion. Jack yanked his gun back up. Two red dots appeared on his chest, causing the man to freeze. She took a step closer and put her hand on the gun, pushing it down gently. She inched up on her toes to whisper in his ear, "but don't worry, I've got big plans for you."
Jack was too stunned to move as she walked past him. The dots left as the door closed behind her. He wasn't sure how long he stood there after she left, but he could feel the stiffness in his hands when he finally holstered his gun.
Morning came too quickly and saw Jack trying to act normal as he waited for the woman to return. Part of him hoped he'd imagined it. When she didn't show, he relaxed and walked into his garage. She was sitting in his passenger seat, checking her reflection in the visor mirror.
"Morning Rollins, sleep well?"
"Fuck."
"Hoping I'd forget? Not a chance. I need a meeting, and I'm not just going to walk into his office alone. You're going to get me in, and I'll take care of the rest. Don't worry, it's not an assassination attempt, I'm unarmed." Jack climbed into the driver's seat and nodded. There was indeed no weaponry hiding under her tight dress. She had no identifiable tattoos on her arms or legs, and her only distinguishing feature was hazel eyes that looked a bit too yellow to be human. Even her long brown hair wouldn't stand out. Her tone shifted, no longer teasing or taunting. "I'm not a threat to you, Jack."
"But you are a threat," Jack stated as he backed out of the driveway. He didn't question why he was giving in, even he didn't know. "To someone. To Hydra?"
"Not this time," she said, a hint of a smile on her face. Jack wished she'd stop speaking in riddles.
"Who are you?" Jack asked. She looked surprised.
"I guess I didn't introduce myself. You can call me Tala." Jack knew it was likely a fake identity, despite how fluidly she said it.
"What do you want with the Undersecretary?" Jack asked again.
"I need a favor," Tala said, the half-smile back as she looked out the window. "And I think, in order to protect this secret, Alex will give it to me."
"He's more likely to kill you. List or not, if you're a threat to Hydra, protocol is to eliminate you."
"You didn't," Tala said, glancing at him. "Not last night, not this morning. You didn't call any of your friends in Strike, not Brock, not Sitwell. You aren't driving me into a trap."
Jack didn't respond. The last mile of the trip was in silence. Jack's badge got them up to Pierce's floor, and Tala's attitude got them past the receptionist in front of his office. She slammed the doors open and smiled when she saw that Pierce wasn't alone. Nick Fury stood there, his hand on his gun at the disturbance.
"Rollins, what is the meaning of this?" Fury demanded.
"She needs to meet with Undersecretary Pierce. She has information on what he asked about last week, sir," Jack said, making something up in hopes Pierce would understand it's a Hydra matter.
"Nonsense, Jack, Nick and I are old friends, he's welcome to stay." Tala winked at Pierce, and his face twisted.
"Nick, give us the room, please," Pierce said, nodding to Jack. Jack sighed in relief that he understood. Jack wouldn't let Tala alert Fury to Hydra. No chance.
"Director," Jack said as he passed. Jack closed the door behind him, leaving Tala and Pierce alone.
Line Break
"Alex," Grey said in greeting as she crossed the room to sit on the couch. He glared at her as he was forced to walk from behind his desk to join her. "It's good to see you well. Glad to see Hydra hasn't killed you yet. Listen, I need to borrow your Winter Soldier. I won't tell you why, because that's my business not yours, but I will promise to return him in a week. I just need some specialized help."
"I don't know who you are, or what you're talking about. I think I'm going to have to ask Agent Rollins to escort you out."
"Oh please, Alex, unless you want me to chase down Fury and expose Hydra to eyes, you're not ready for, you'll give me what I want. Take me to the Winter Soldier. Order him to follow my orders for the next week and allow us to be on our way. Oh, and in case you think you can have me killed and ignore my request, my team expects me home in the next two hours, and if I don't, they'll expose Hydra anyway. You're not the first one I've had to convince. Why do you think Jack brought me here? I'm very persuasive."
Grey stared at him, watching the vein in his neck throb with his pulse. She tilted her head to the right and waited. Pierce stood up with a huff. He picked up his office phone and barked orders the moment it was answered. Grey stood gracefully and followed him out of the office.
"Agent Rollins, with me," Pierce ordered. Grey winked up at Jack as he stared at her in surprise. He expected her to be dead or escorted out in handcuffs. The trip to the bank was made in terse silence as Pierce seethed. Grey sat in the backseat, smug every time Jack or Pierce glanced back at her.
The Winter Soldier was ready to go when they got there. He was clearly armed, but dressed for discretion, his black shirt and pants might have been offensive to fashion but was better than people seeing him in full tactical gear. He had a duffle bag on his back with his gear.
Grey watched as Pierce instructed him to listen to her for the next week. In his distress, he didn't think to order the Soldier to return. Grey grinned as the Soldier walked over to her and nodded.
"Alex, Jack, it was lovely to meet you. I'll see you soon. Come on, sugar, you're with me." Grey walked out of the bank, the Winter Soldier on her heels. A black SUV was idling at the curb, and Grey led them there. She ushered him in the backseat and climbed in after him. "Jim get us the ever-loving fuck out of here."
"You, okay?" Pepper asked, turning around in the passenger seat. Jim pulled into traffic and sped off, taking random turns and short cuts to lose any possible tails.
"That was the scariest fucking hour of my life, I almost pissed my pants. Gimme my pen."
Grey took a long pull and cracked the window to blow out the smoke. She took a deep breath and turned to face the new addition. In the same motion, she tugged the brown wig off and tossed it into the bag at her feet. Her pink hair stood up in several directions.
"Introductions then! The man driving is US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jim Rhodes. This lovely young lady is Pepper Potts, I'm Grey Stark, and we are not Hydra."
"What are my orders?"
"Uh, can I order you to shake off Hydra's programming? Is that a thing?" Grey got a blank stare. She'd had a small hope that ordering him to ignore the programming would cause some form of loophole she could exploit, like she had done in a fic she wrote once, but she wasn't terribly surprised it didn't work. Logic will out, apparently. "Right, you don't have a sense of humor when you're fresh outta hell. Um, no orders yet, we've got a flight back to New York, and then we can talk."
"Jarvis?" Pepper asked, answering a phone call. Grey turned to her in surprise. Pepper listened for a moment, then ended the call. "Jarvis has changed our flight plan. We're heading straight back to LA, Hank Pym is holding a press conference tomorrow, and those typically end in disaster for us. Especially since his isn't until noon, and the news of Tony's disappearance breaks at nine."
"Okay then, hey sugar," Grey said, turning back to Barnes. She waited until he looked at her. "Change of plans. We're going to California instead of New York, is that okay? It's a longer flight."
"Is that where the job is?"
"Sure, sugar. We'll eat on the plane too, so don't worry if you skipped breakfast, I did too." When it became apparent that he wasn't going to say anything else, Grey settled into her seat, putting the wig away properly, and taking another pull from her pen. Her hands were still shaking.
"Grey, how did last night actually succeed?"
"No idea. The laser pointer trick is actually used against Sitwell by Sam, Steve, and Nat in 2014, which was where I got the idea. Although Nat does kick Sitwell off the roof. Cinematic beauty." Grey smiled to herself a little as she thought about Natasha setting Steve up with various SHIELD agents. "And then, so get this, they're driving down the highway, Sitwell in the backseat as the hostage, right? This one here, snatches him out of the seat, yanks him through the window and throws him into oncoming traffic."
"That's a little violent, isn't it?" Pepper asked. Grey shrugged.
"Honestly, getting to watch Natasha and this one spar is a brilliant, beautiful thing." Grey had a dreamy look on her face. Pepper just laughed as they finally pulled off the highway and into the private airfield. Happy was standing outside the jet, waiting. Grey was the first one out of the car when they parked, crossing the open field until a shadow fell over her. She glanced up to see the Winter Soldier guarding her.
"It's too open here, there's no cover."
"I'm not under threat, sugar. That man there, that's Harold Hogan, everyone calls him Happy. He used to be a Marine, and a boxing champion. He's our head of security, should you feel like helping out, you'll likely work under him." Grey said, pointing out Happy, and waving to him as they approached.
"Coffee is in the kitchenette, we've got clearance for takeoff in thirty minutes, I'm just waiting on Jim," Happy said, glancing at Barnes. "Barnes, good to meet you. Grey didn't know your coffee order, so she had me get you a caramel macchiato. If you don't like it, there's black coffee brewing too."
Barnes didn't react to being spoken to, nor did he acknowledge the offer of coffee. Grey looked up at him fondly and rolled her eyes.
"Thanks for the coffee run, Happy, I appreciate you." Happy nodded and climbed the stairs, heading for the cockpit to do preflight checks. He knew that she was thanking him for more than just the coffee. Grey looked up at Barnes, who still had a blank face, and sighed. "Come on, Sugar, we have too much to do, and not nearly enough time for it."
Barnes sat in the jump seat near the cockpit, wrapping his bag around his leg. Grey brought him the coffee Happy got for him, but when he didn't take it, she took a sip.
"It's not poisoned. It's not drugged. It's two shots of espresso in milk with caramel flavor and syrup. Or do you just not want anything?" Grey held it out and waited for him to make up his mind. Pepper and Jim finally boarded the jet, Pepper getting settled on the couch, Jim joining Happy for the flight. Barnes eventually accepted the drink.
"Thank you."
"Of course, sugar. I know this is probably very strange for you, and I know I'm definitely weird. But you're not a prisoner here. And you don't have to go back if you don't want to." Grey privately thought that he'd never go back, even if he wanted to. As hypocritical as it made her, she wouldn't let him. "Try to relax. You're in no danger here. I'm going to go sit with Pepper, we have work to discuss. If you'd like to join us, you're more than welcome. Please, interrupt if you need or want anything, okay?"
Grey waited until he gave a hesitant nod, beamed at him, and headed to the back of the jet. Pepper was sitting on the couch, a notebook and a tablet sitting next to her. Grey's laptop was sitting up on the table.
"Do you know about Pym?" Pepper asked as Grey sat down and took a sip of her coffee.
"I know he thinks Howard stole from him back in '73," Grey said.
"What? No. Pym blames Howard for his wife's death," Pepper said. Grey nearly spat out her coffee.
"No, Hank thinks he stole his Pym particles in '73, because that's when Tony and… But I…" Grey paused and stared at the seat in front of her, a multitude of expressions crossed her face. Confusion first, anger, then something haunting – a realization that things were different in this universe. Something cold lingered as Grey shook it off. "Okay, so originally, after we lost the battle, time travel became the only way to reverse it. The tesseract ended up in Loki's hands, in Endgame, which meant they had to go back to 1973 ish to get it from SHIELD. Steve stole a few vials of the particles to enable them to get back to modern day. But with my plan, we won't need the time travel, which means Steve won't steal the vials, which means Pym shouldn't hate us."
"I didn't understand any of that," Pepper said, looking at Grey. "But no. In 1987, Janet and Hank were on some classified SHIELD mission. Howard was supposed to be involved but wasn't. No one knows why, but Howard was supposed to be on that mission. Janet died because he wasn't there."
"Janet isn't dead. She's stuck in the Quantum Realm right now, but Scott gets her out, eventually, sometime between Civil War and Infinity War. But that's still not the point. It's different. That means that I've already succeeded." Grey lowered her voice to a triumphant hiss. "If Pym hates us for a different reason, it means we don't have to go back in time to undo Thanos' plan. It means we win this time."
Pepper stared at Grey in openmouthed surprise. Not once had she considered Pym's irrational hatred of all things Stark a good thing, but here Grey was, practically bouncing in her seat about it.
"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Pepper asked. "So how do we handle this?"
"How visceral is his dislike? In the m… In my visions he'll usually only bring it up when someone mentions going to Dad for help."
"Ha, I wish," Pepper said bitterly. "Reporters make it a point to bring Tony up anytime they're interviewing him, because he goes rabid."
Grey made a disgusted noise and buried her face in her hands as the jet started taxiing. One hand braced her coffee as they started take off. She sat there until the jet leveled out, before looking up.
"What if we played distressed daughter?"
"I don't follow."
"Right now, only like six people know who I am. We let the news break, let Pym do his feral routine, then put me in front of the press to defend dad's legacy. We play up the father daughter connection. Make Hank look like the worst person in the world for being glad Tony's likely dead."
"Gloating bad guy versus grieving daughter," Pepper translated. "Can you do it? You could only do last night because you were too high to be scared. You won't be able to be high in front of the cameras."
"I'll need an Ativan. D gives me one of hers anytime I need to do something adult-ish that my anxiety won't let me. I doubt I could cry on command, but I can be angry. Think that would work?" Grey took another drink of her coffee and turned to glance over at Barnes. He hadn't left his seat, but she could see that he'd relaxed into the seat, his legs spread in front of him a little.
Once they were at cruising altitude, Jim and Happy came out and joined the girls as autopilot flew them home.
"So, what are we doing, once Tony's back?" Jim asked, flopping down next to Pepper and tossing his arm over her shoulders. "How does he come back, and how can we help?"
Happy sat across from Grey at the table.
"He's gonna get himself out of the cave, making the first Iron Man suit – flamethrower powered. He's going to create a giant explosion that will allow y'all to find him. When he gets back, he's going to need trusted medical care – I've already suggested Dr Helen Cho out of South Korea. We should bring her in as early as we can." Grey had mentioned her before, so Stark Industries was already doing some research on her.
"But, more to your question, Dad's going to come home and demand a press conference. During the conference, he declared that effective immediately, he's shutting down weapons manufacturing."
"That would kill Stark Industries, we'd be bankrupt in a month. Two if the military doesn't crucify us," Pepper cried, looking horrified. Grey held up a hand and gestured to herself.
"Which is why we are going to pause manufacturing pending a thorough and legal investigation on how exactly our weapons got in the hands of people that definitely should not have them. And we can assure our employees that they won't be forced out of work, since in the same breath we're going to announce the new direction, our company is going to go in. Pepper, we're sitting on so much brilliance that I can guarantee you that if you give me some more time to write, I will triple the profits of Stark Industries before the next election."
Pepper gave her a smile, and Grey finally understood the term sharklike. She leaned forward almost lazily and kept full eye contact as she held out her hand to shake. Grey worried for her kidneys as she accepted the challenge.
"Poor Tony," Happy lamented. "He has no idea what he's coming home to."
"Might be safer in Afghanistan," Rhodey added, shaking his head. "Should probably tell the bastard to stay in his hole a while longer. We might be able to put out these two's fires in a few years."
"Decades."
"Generations."
"Centuries."
"Are you two idiots done?" Pepper asked, shaking her head at the boys. Everyone fell apart laughing for a moment at the twin looks of disappointment on Grey and Pepper's faces. Jim and Happy roared with laughter, Happy doubling over to put his head on the table.
"Then what?"
"Eventually, some terrorist group – I believe the Ten Rings – is going to use the Jericho in Gulmira. Dad's going to suit up and destroy it, saving the civilians."
"We can't get into Gulmira, they're using civilians as human shields," Jim said, shaking his head. "The Air Force won't give clearance."
"Which is why we won't be asking for it," Grey said. "Unless you can convince them to give us a trial run, we'll go in alone and contract afterwards."
"You want to contract with the Air Force?" Pepper and Jim asked. Happy looked at Grey in surprise.
"We need legitimacy. We need permission to get into places where our weapons are being used by the wrong people, and we need to destroy those caches. If, in the process, it leads to more ease when the initiative kicks off, the better."
"We'll be considered private military contractors, is that really what we want?" Happy asked. "I worked with PMC's in the past; they're not always good men."
"We contract with the Air Force for now, but once the initiative is up and running, we contract with the UN. Get permission to act as an independent organization internationally," Grey said. "We might need Samantha early because I'd like her to negotiate with the Air Force on our behalf."
"And that's it?" Pepper asked, optimistic.
"Ha, I wish. Stane starts moving against T-Dad, more openly, eventually going so far as to yank the reactor out of his chest to power his own suit, the Iron Monger, a bigger heavier version of the one he built in a cave." Jim pinched the bridge of his nose.
"How do we avoid that? If Tony has to fight against Stane, we will not survive, emotionally."
"The news breaks first thing in the morning that Dad's been taken," Grey says, looking to Pepper for confirmation. "Once that happens, the Air Force will release to us a slightly redacted statement of how it happened. There's proof that it was Stark Weapons used during the kidnapping. We leak that to the press, Stark Industries comes under fire, we get investigated, Stane gets discovered and should be in jail or at the very least, out on bail by the time dad gets home."
"And once he's in jail?" Jim asked, suspicious that there was more to the plan.
"How do writers get rid of characters they no longer have use for?" Grey asked, one eyebrow raised.
"They kill them off," Happy answered, a little hollow. "You'd kill him?"
"Me? No, I don't think I have the guts to pull the trigger on anybody. But I can pay to have him killed, sure. Either in prison, or after he's sentenced. Either way, the man won't make it to 2011." Grey was slightly flippant with her answer, showing the rest that she still considered them fictional characters, even though she was trying not to. "He's a threat, not only to dad, but to me."
"And how will Tony react to coming home to find his daughter killed his Godfather?" Pepper asked.
"Virginia Potts, I know you know better than to think I could get Stane arrested and tried in three months. Trials take time. Evidence needs to be gathered, people need to be questioned, we have military contracts, the Patriot Act is likely to be applied here." Grey shook her head and leaned back in her seat, glancing over her shoulder to check on Barnes, still in the jump seat.
"We get the ball rolling, invite the appropriate people to investigate SI on our behalf, citing Tony's disappearance, they find whatever exists of his paper trail, and they'll handle the rest," Pepper realized. "By the time Tony's home, the investigation will be thoroughly underway."
"And when Stane moves to lock dad out of the company, we can use that as the final nail in his coffin. After we let him, of course. We're going to make Pepper CEO, it was actually Dad's idea," Grey said. She had to keep pausing, forcing herself to call Tony her dad even though it felt weird to her.
"Okay, that's going to be addressed later, we don't have time for that right now. What complications can we expect?" Pepper asked, pointing her finger at Grey.
"SHIELD is going to send Phil Coulson to investigate T-Dad's escape from the cave, wanting to debrief on his methods. We like Phil, we don't currently like SHIELD."
"Yes, we know, Hydra galore, we're going to have to do something about that eventually," Jim practically demanded.
"That has to wait, we have other problems. Stane, then Hammer, then Aliens, then AIM, then more fucking aliens, then we can worry about Hydra. Okay?"
"More aliens?" Happy groaned. "More? How often do aliens happen?"
"2012, 2014, technically 2016, although not for us. Um, 2017, again not likely for us, then 2018, definitely for us." Grey lowered her voice so even with enhanced hearing, Barnes wouldn't be able to hear her. "I only know about the Infinity Saga; I don't know what happens after. I know they're leaning toward the Secret Wars, but I don't know that storyline."
"That's okay. One problem at a time," Jim said. "Hogan, they're aliens. Can they really be that bad?"
"The Kree are," Grey said, nodding her head until everyone laughed again. "Everyone else seems chill to just exist. And even then, the Kree won't be a problem for us, actually ever. Daisy gets to punch a few, and we'll face a few Kree-adjacent problems, terrigenesis namely."
"So what aliens are going to be a problem?" Happy wanted to know.
"Well, the Asgardians. Well, technically Thor is an Asgardian, Loki is half-Jotun. Thanos is from a planet called Titan, the Chitauri are the ones we'll see in 2012 in New York. Thanos' Black Order has a few different species, but I couldn't tell you about them. Groot is technically his name, species, and language. He's a tree," Grey said, trying to tick them off on her fingers. "Thanos' cannon fodder are outriders. Outworlders? Outriders. Something like that."
"And they're all bad?" Happy asked, dubious.
"Groot is a friend, love him. The Asgardians are onside, so they're fine. Loki might be a problem; he might be Barnes 2.0. We'll figure that out later."
"If you two don't leave the aliens for the future and get back to discussing what we need to know, I'm going to throw you out of this plane," Pepper hissed, leaning forward to glare at them. Happy and Grey pretended to pout but leaned back against their seats. "Is there anything else we need to know for this… movie?"
Pepper mouthed the last word, not knowing how else to phrase it, but also really hating the way it sounded.
"For this crisis?" Jim suggested, pushing against her, a teasing smile on his face. She looked up fondly.
"That works as well as anything else. Is there anything else we should know for this crisis?" Pepper looked at Grey.
"Apogee award, kidnapping, all the time in the cave, rescue, press conference, argument with Stane by the reactor. The creation of the suit, the firefighter family fund, straight to Gulmira. Argument with Rhodey, argument with Pepper, Pepper finds the video, grabs Coulson. Stane pulls the reactor from Tony's chest to power his own suit. Don't worry he's fine, Rhodey shows up on time. Iron Man versus Iron Monger, press conference where he announces he is Iron Man. There's an end – there's a smaller, shorter vision with Fury, where he tells him that it's a stranger world than he knows, or something bullshit like that."
"That sounds like it all happens at once. Once Gulmira is in play, it's off to the races." Grey frowned at Jim's comment, realizing he was right.
"That's okay, it makes it easier. Get it over with and then we have, Grey?"
"Oh, uh, May, of next year, when the Expo opens," Grey said, knowing what she was asking.
"We're not cancelling that?" Jim asked, surprised.
"Why should we?" Grey asked. "Pepper, we need to sit down, heiress to eventual CEO and start discussing changes to Stark Industries. I want them in effect by then. And the minute dad's home I want to start on the initiative."
"So, we have a lot of work to do," Happy said, standing and stretching. "Which means it's a good thing it's time to land, too. Jim?"
"Right behind you," Jim agreed, sliding to his feet. They walked up, but Jim paused at Barnes. "You still doing, okay? You need anything?"
"No, thank you." Barnes spoke very quietly, barely glancing up at him. Jim noticed his coffee cup was empty in the trash.
"Alright. But you let us know if that changes. You're allowed to want things," Jim said. He'd seen prisoners of war before. He understood what trauma could do. Barnes looked up at him in well-hidden surprise. Jim felt his heart break a little. "You've had a shitty past, and while you've done terrible things, you're with us now. That's something that matters."