Chapter 1
"I am Ironman", Tony said. He lifted the glove with all five stones. How does this work? He snapped his fingers. I wish everybody who Thanos made disappear would appear, he thought and felt a tremendous rush of energy and pain going through his body. I don't wanna die! I wanna live with Morgan and Pepper! He hadn't been this much afraid since he had been in Afghanistan...
Pepper was there on the battlefield which had been The Avengers Compound even some hours ago. She saw the fear in her husband's eyes. She ran to him but the life seemed to fade from his face. She felt dizzy and she couldn't feel her feet. She felt light and lost her consciousness.
She felt something softer than the ground under her. She was lying by her side. Her head was hurting like she had a hangover.
She opened her eyes slowly. She looked at a very familiar coastline. The sun was rising. The TV was on but muted and showing the news headline TONY STARK MISSING IN AFGHANISTAN on repeat. Next to her on the white sofa was her old, now charmingly old-fashioned laptop which had back then been on the top of the technological development.
This had to be a dream, a nightmare! As if she had returned into the morning after when Tony was kidnapped. She remembered it all like it had happened just some hours ago.
She had been spending her free night out with her friends when Rhodey had called her. She had called Happy, who had also been out in the city. He had driven them here, to Tony's house, ready to do whatever needed, but when Obie had finally answered their calls, he had told her that they would do just fine with SI's media department, and the less she or any others got involved, the better. He had told them to go home, but both of them had been too tired to leave. Happy had gone to sleep in his room, and Pepper had fallen asleep on the sofa.
The taste of last night's drinks faded from her mouth. She was still in her party clothes. She looked at her fingers. They looked younger. Her wedding ring was gone.
"Miss Potts, a toddler is walking around in the workshop." Jarvis the in-house AI's voice sounded a combination of amusement and disapproval.
Pepper ran downstairs without even thinking about her shoes. The glass door opened in front of her.
"Morgan!" Her daughter drew her hand away from the desk full of computers.
"Mom!" she shouted and ran to her. Pepper lifted her daughter into her arms. The kid held her tighter than usual. "Where are we? Is this the time travel dad was talking about? Did I just time travel?" She looked at her mother, observing. "You look different. Did you time travel, too?"
She carried her to the old brown sofa Tony had in his workshop and sat beside her. "Yes, we both traveled in time." She tried to understand what had happened, too. "We are fifteen years in the past. This was your dad's house back then. This is Dad's house. And this is Jarvis, Dad's first artificial intelligence. Jarvis, this is Morgan Stark, my daughter."
"Good morning, young Miss Stark", the AI worded.
Morgan didn't seem surprised at all about the talking house. "Good Morning, mister Jarvis. Can you tell Dad to come home soon?" This was the longest time she had been without seeing Tony who left for the Avengers Compound over a week ago. He had told them he didn't know when he was coming home.
"I will do my best", the AI said diplomatically. She trusted him not to show her daughter the news.
Pepper had seen her husband dying less than an hour ago. She tried not to think about it. At this time, he was still alive, wasn't he? Even though he was missing? That part hadn't changed, or had it? Did he know about her? About Morgan? She wasn't sure.
"Look! Dummy's there! And U!" Morgan saw the familiar robots and ran to say hi. She observed her interacting with them. She seemed much more familiar with the robots than they were with her.
"Morgan! Come here." She needed a nanny. She had things to do today.
She heard Happy walking into the kitchen. She smelled a fresh coffee.
"Miss Potts, Mister Stane's car is approaching on the lane. He will be inside in a minute", Jarvis announced.
Pepper carried Morgan into the guest room she was staying in when she had to spend a night at the house and put her on the bed. She had some spare clothes in the closet but she didn't have time to change. She needed to buy Morgan new clothes, too. And Mister Teddy before the evening.
"Jarvis, could you show my daughter something age-appropriating on TV while I talk with Obie and Happy?"
"Of course, Miss Potts." Did the AI treat her differently now? Or was she imagining it?
The small screen turned on. "What would you like to see, Miss Stark?" Pepper heard when she closed the door of the room.
Pepper wondered what would happen if she didn't open the main door for Obie, but it was wise to keep your enemies close enough to keep a close eye on them.
He had all sad eyes and a compassionate smile. He was well-dressed as usual and Happy had put a new suit on, too. She was in her little black dress and last night's makeup on her face. If she didn't have a kid to take care of... she almost burst out crying.
Her husband had died in front of her. Tony had died. Tony was dead. The thought finally reached her.
"Oh Virginia", Obie hugged her warmly. "This must be so hard for you. And you too, Harold. You were not only his employees but his closest friends. I mean, you are."
Yeah, we are. And I know what you are. What you've done. She couldn't say a word and her angry sight was hidden by running tears.
Happy put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Mister Stane. I will take care of her." "I will be fine", Pepper said quietly. She tried to sound meek like the insecure Virginia Potts she used to be the time before everything she had gone through during the last decade and more. She did quite well.
"You two, both of you... Just don't worry, take some days off. Go to a vacation and see your families. Take a good rest. Rhodey and our boys will find him. It will be no time he will be here again bossing you around." Obie smiled and held their arms with that fatherly way of showing I'll take care of you. "Don't hang around here and worry about Tony. He's tougher than we think he is."
Yeah. He surely is. "That's excellent advice, Mister Stane", she lied. Happy was hard to read. "Yeah, that would be the best", he admitted.
Obie tried to guide them out. "I'll just collect things I've got in the guest room and check everything is okay in his workshop. Just in case it takes a bit longer before he gets home", she smiled apologetically, "I'll come right after you."
"I can drive you home." Oh, Happy was always so sweet. "Sure, sure. Take your time. No hurry." Obie hugged both of them warmly for goodbye. "And don't worry. I'll take care of everything." Oh, sure, you will.
When the door closed after him, Pepper's mask fell off. That lying maggot! He was using Tony and Stark Industries to accelerate the conflicts around the world for his profits!
"We are not in such a hurry. Do you want coff---" Happy went silent when he saw her face.
"Yes, thank you. I'd love to have coffee." She took the mug and smiled. He kept looking at her. "Pepper are you okay?... I mean, for the situation. "
"Yes, thank you for asking. I am...", she softened, "I know what I'm gonna do. Come." He followed her into the corridor of Tony's guest rooms. She was still wondering how much to tell him when she opened the door. Her daughter was watching a BBC Nature film about great whales. "This is Morg-"
Morgan jumped from the bed and ran to hug Happy's feet. "Happy! Did you time-travel too?"
So much for choosing what to tell.
"What the..." "This is Morgan Stark, Tony's daughter who time-traveled from the future into his workshop earlier this morning." Happy looked at Morgan and Morgan looked at Happy. Then he looked at Pepper.
"You're kidding me?" "She isn't, Mister Hogan. Young Miss Stark is with 99,9 percent certainty who she claims to be."
"Thank you, Jarvis."
Morgan stepped back from Happy's feet. "My dad invented time traveling a week ago", she explained with a very serious face and then climbed back to bed and turned her attention to the whales. Happy instantly recognized the I'm done with you action from Tony. From him, it had always seemed arrogant, from a little girl, well it was just her natural way of orienting to different things.
Pepper winked Happy to follow her and closed the door.
"So Tony is alive."
"Of course he is." She wasn't sure back then, not sure at all.
Happy sipped coffee slowly from his mug. They walked back to the living room. "This is the weirdest thing I've ever encountered."
Wait 'till you see the aliens. "Well, the development of technology will be tremendous during the becoming ten and more years."
"Don't tell me you went into the future while I slept."
"Not exactly.." Happy looked at her like he didn't believe her. Okay, she had to continue. "I didn't 'go into the future' but I.. I kind of got the memories of fifteen years for the future. Or updated my old self's memories into my body." Happy still looked at her. "Okay, I went into the future but not in a few hours but I lived through it all day by day."
"So you know what happened to Tony? What's going to happen?"
"Yes. One version of it. It's not going to happen the same again."
"You know what? I kind of don't believe what you say at all. It's just too unbelievable. But when I look at you, I see the difference. You're a different person now than you were just some hours ago when I drove you here. I don't know all that's changed, but a lot has. Your posture. Your way of speaking. You show emotions more freely. You are more you. Like you know who you are and what you want and what you're doing instead of trying to please everyone around you." Pepper was blushing. "And the way you interact with the kid... She's your daughter, isn't she?"
"Yes, I'm her mother."
"How are you and Tony, I mean, in the future?" She wasn't sure if there was some sadness in his voice as if he had been interested in her, too.
"We married before she was born, but I don't know if he knows anything about it now. We'll see how we are." She truly felt more like herself again, ready for everything. Ready for creating the future.
"What happened to Tony? Where is he?"
"It's a long story. Let me tell you right from the beginning..."