Infinity War

Evie couldn’t help the smile that graced her face every time baby Morgan giggled or coed. The life of the Stark family was peaceful in their lake cabin. Evie was there just about daily. Even Pepper had taken a back seat to focus more on just enjoying time as a family. Everything was smooth sailing for the most part. Evie would get nightmares, but choose not to disrupt anything by bringing it to light. Along with other emotions she kept suppressed. Ever since the day her parents told her they were expecting, Evie made it her life’s mission to ensure that the baby grew up in nothing but love and joy. 

So her problems were set aside and she engrossed herself to being a good daughter and an even better big sister. Tony and Pepper at first were wary of her reaction to the news. But when they saw her face light up like christmas morning they were not just washed over in relief, they also felt ecstatic to see her beaming with life. Evie finally had a reason to get up in the morning that wasn’t just to watch over her parents like an over protective guard dog anymore. She was actually trying to live again and Morgan H. Stark did that for her. 

And as much as she loved spending her afternoons laying on the floor trying to get her baby sister to walk, Evie couldn’t help the itch her mind felt in the furthest reaches of her mind. The Void had been almost entirely caged. Evie only used her powers on occasions like not getting up to reach the baby wipes while changing a diaper or when the wildlife got a bit too close to comfort whenever she and Pepper took Morgan for her walks around the eco compound. Unfortunately there were zero cases of a squirrel uprising in the area, so Evie never actually did anything requiring violence other than swatting the occasional mosquito. 

Yet Tony could see it. Every tender moment she spent with the baby was very clearly bittersweet, she couldn’t help but think of her own child. Even seeing how loving and affectionate her parents were with each other made her mind drift to ‘what if’ scenarios with Loki. As much as she loved it there with them, as much as she tried to tell herself this was enough. Evie lost her sense of purpose a long time ago and was now trying to fill that emptiness with Morgan, Pepper, and himself. Never really straying too far out of fear of not being able to be there should danger arise. But never really being one hundred percent present either. 

Although her mind wanted peace, her heart and body were still under the constant battle mode even if she denied it. Everything was normal. All except for the distant longing within her to fight. The urge was still there no matter how hard Evie tried to suppress it. She adamantly refused to do anything about it for the sake of her own mental health.

After both of her parents stepped down from their positions, Evie saw an opportunity to take over the family business to keep herself busy. She wanted to distance herself from being an Avenger and everything associated with it, including old friends. Keeping a low profile, she focused on becoming more involved in Stark Industries. When she wasn't at the cabin, she spent her time managing the family business in the city.

Kind of like today….

Evie was fresh out of a board meeting regarding a future business endeavor when Clara approached her. Her ever loyal and trusted assistant. 

“Ms. Stark, did you ever get a chance to review your work emails for today?” Evie gave her a face of ‘seriously,’ and Clara understood without words. “Oh of course, silly me. Well I went ahead and sorted them out for you, most of them junk. But there are a few from someone named Gabriela Lopez. They looked like your run of the mill spam at first, but the more I went over them, well…” Clara handed over a tablet for Evie to take a glance at the information presented. There were dozens upon dozens of emails at first simply asking for a meeting in person, then they became more urgent. Saying things like it was a matter of life and death, Gabriela was a nurse and she suspected her employers of using biotech for all the wrong reasons. Whoever this nurse was, she claimed to have indisputable proof that Transigen Research was involved with possible bioweapons manufacturing and more. Yet never really stated anything clear up front.

“Clara, when did the last one come in?” 

“Just this morning. She requested another meeting with you. Like the last few, she says it's urgent. That she’s running out of time.” After thanking her assistant and dismissing her, Evie nearly sprinted to her office. Behind closed doors she instructed Friday to reach out to this nurse, and ask her to come in immediately if possible. Her gut was telling her this was something worth looking into.

It didn’t take long for Evie to pull up everything on Transigen Research. They were a division of Alkali. A corporation that focused on genetic research as well as developing biotech for medical purposes. Transigen's whole focus was biotech to use in the treatment of pediatric cancer. On paper they seemed squeaky clean. Nothing nefarious to be suspected. Friday’s announcement of a visitor broke Evie from her probing. She instantly swiped her hand to dismiss the projected documents and public records she was reviewing when a knock came. 

“Ms. Stark, this is Ms. Lopez.” 

“Thank you Clara, Ms. Lopez would like something to drink, water or maybe some coffee?” Gabriela Lopez was very clearly of hispanic origin. Her long dark hair came down to her shoulders, and she looked so incredibly sleep deprived it made Evie wonder if that's how she looked whenever she wasn’t using magic to conceal the dark circles under her eyes. 

“No thank you, I’m fine.” Evie gestured for Clara to give them privacy before asking the nurse to take a seat.

“I gotta say, I’m surprised you came as fast as you did Ms. Lopez.”

“Just Gabriela is fine and I was actually already in the city. Since you hadn’t answered any of my correspondence I was going to try and catch you whenever I saw you coming or going from the building.” Evie took a deep breath. The woman was holding up incredibly well for someone who reeked of anxiety and stress. It hit Evie’s senses like a ton of bricks.

“Yes, I do apologize. I only recently came back to work after…” She had to clear her throat to break up the lump that wanted to form there, “after everything that’s occurred since the incident.” The other woman just nodded her head. Two years later and the remnants of Thanos were still very prevalent in the day to day lives of everyone left behind. 

“Yes, I understand. Look Ms. Stark I’m sorry for being so persistent, but given your position, I thought you’d be the right person to come to with this. I’ll cut straight to the point. I am a nurse as I’m sure you already know, and for ten years I have worked at Transigen’s research facility in Mexico City. They pay better than any Mexican hospital, which is why I stayed for so long. But recently I’ve noticed some disturbing changes happening and that is why I came here… to you.” 

Evie leaned back in her chair before asking, “if you're such a loyal employee, what caused you to all of a sudden turn on them? I know you stated something about making bioengineered weapons. But I gotta say Transigen is clean. I’ve looked into their history and public records personally. They’ve never even had an EPA red flag for not recycling properly. So what is it that has you all worked up and trying to blow the whistle on a company that seemingly looks only to end childhood cancer?” Gabriela shifted uncomfortably. She had her eyes casted down, and Evie got up. Moving to lean against her desk in front of the other woman, studying her. 

“Ms. Stark I know on the surface they appear to be saints. But…” Gabriela started digging in her purse and Evie tensed just a little. From her bag she pulled out a phone with a busted screen. “Here, please. I know you can extract the data from here. I risked my life for this. I fled, came to New York to find you. I just know that they’re after me for this. After you see what’s on there, then ask yourself that same question.” She got up unexpectedly and darted towards the door, leaving Evie perplexed by the whole encounter. 

Sure enough; later that evening alone in her office, Evie was able to recover and download all the video files from the phone Gabriela had basically shoved into her hands. And what she was seeing from the thumbnail alone was making her swallow dryly. On her screen was a grainy image of a blood splattered operating room. 

After a beat, Evie finally hit play. 

“My name is Gabriela and I’m a nurse for Transigen, the children… they took the children from the facility today. They’re all gone! But not before spent weeks testing them, putting them through horrible experiments. Some of them didn’t survive and we were instructed to cremate the bodies. I don’t know how much longer I can keep gathering evidence. Yesterday Pierce, Dr. Rice’s guard dog got suspicious of me. Told me I needed to be careful If I really cared about myself…” 

As she spoke from behind the camera, Evie saw images of children in a bleak colored room, all sitting in plain white clothing. There were sleeping mats on tile floors with exposed drains and hoses. Armed guards, Reavers as they had been referred to, which she spotted with missing limbs replaced with crude bionic-prosthetics, could be seen keeping close watch on them. A juxtaposed image against the cheerful sound of music that kept playing on a loop in the background.

“These innocent souls are being trained as soldiers but there’s more, I just know it! I’ve overheard rumors of some sort of ceremony or operation they’re prepping the kids for. They’re going to be tested and put through trials to see which them are the strongest. Any who fail are to be put down like animals. This is beyond cruel… It's unholy. No child of god should go through this!” 

This place was a disgusting cross between a children’s hospital and a deranged vet’s kennel room. Images of test tubes were seen next. Vials of liquids inside huge injectors with large needles accompanied by electron microscopes. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Had she eaten lunch like Clara and Pepper always insisted she did, it was surely to have come up again. Kids could be seen doing incredible things by the powers they had been granted, but performing for all the wrong reasons. Those deemed not acting accordingly were punished with cattle prongs. 

“I’m scared, but I'm more afraid for these kids. They’ve never seen the outside world. They don’t know the color of the sky, or the sound of the ocean. They’re in terrible danger. You have to get help, I don’t think I have any more time left.” 

Six kids.

As the video progressed the number of kids seen dwindled down to just six little faces getting seared into her memory. Religious biases aside, something deeply rooted within her started to stir. Void was growing uneasy with Evie as the revolting images went on. This was exactly what had merged Evie with the Void. Childhood ruined when Hydra operatives decided to use her as a guinea pig in hopes of creating a new kind of weapon that could blindly follow orders without hesitation. Much Like these kids.

She forced herself to look away and glance at the time. It was getting late and fast. So driving to the cabin was a no go. But she had to talk with Tony in person, her internal debate about getting involved or not was chewing at her conscience like a hyena gnawing at bones. Evie grabbed her coat and bag before taking a deep breath and focusing on traveling the shadows after what felt like ages. 

After three failed jumps, she finally made it to the front porch. It was dark, well past suppertime which meant baby Morgan was asleep. Like a sence from a teen movie, as she snuck inside the man she was looking for flipped a switch on the lamp beside his reclining chair revealing his presence. “Aren’t you a little old to be sneaking home?” He had a playful grin that Evie tried to mimic but her father always had a special way of reading her like an open book. It only took seconds before his concernment was etched into the fine lines of his face. 

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” As she sat her things down, Evie thought of how to put her predicament into words. After a slight pause she met his gaze.

“I’ve had something brought to my attention today and I really need some guidance, dad.” She took a seat on the ottoman beside him and started picking at her painted nails. “I got some pretty damning evidence on a biotech company operating out of Mexico City. Apparently they're posing as a pediatric cancer research center, but in reality…” she took a second to try and quell her anxious jitters and suppress the cold shiver wanting to run down her spine. 

“In reality what, sweetheart?” 

Evie ran a hand through her hair as she huffed out a heavy sigh. “They're doing some sort of genetic testing on kids. Some, possibly as young as five years old, are developing powers or in most cases, dying in the process. Those that make it are then forced to undergo all kinds of training, but from what I saw... Some chose to take their own life instead of becoming mindless tools or continue suffering.” Tony leaned forward and took her hands in his. The warmth providing some much needed comfort to her.

“So what advice do you need from me? Are you asking permission to go after this?” She kept her eyes casted down as she nodded. 

“I’m scared that if I pull on this thread I'll be dragged back into something I left buried behind. Or what's worse, that while I’m away you guys need me more and I won't be here for it…” Tony contemplated her words for a moment as his thumbs traced small circles over hers. 

“Evie, what’s your gut telling you?” 

The girl shook her head adamantly, “no, I-I can’t trust it. Trusting my gut only got me into trouble. More than I ever could handle. It’s…” She blinked away the moisture stinging in her eyes. “It’s how I lost just about everything. You guys are all I have left, and I’d rather swan dive off the Empire before letting something happen to you, mom, and Morgan. I love her so much… all of you. I-I couldn’t live if anything were to happen!” She gave her dad a broken smile as her eyes went red around the rims. 

“Oh honey…” He opened his arms and she wasted no time embracing her father. As he stroked her hair, he whispered reassurances into her ear. “There is no way you're losing any of us. But you need to move forward with your own life now. I know as much as you keep telling yourself that you’re happy with the boring nine to five and staying home, I know you want more. You miss the action and that’s okay! Baby, you have always wanted to help others and we both know your special skill set makes you perfect to do so. Just cause I’m out of the game after all that we collectively lost, doesn’t mean you have to be. I’m happy to have you home, so is your mother and Morgan adores you more than us. But you can’t deny your calling any longer sweetheart. Maybe this is the push you needed to spark that fire to life again.” Inhaling slowly, she pulled away to regard her father, searching him deeply. 

“I only ever wanted to be like my favorite superhero, dad.” Tony chuckled before asking who it was. And even after so many years, after meeting and even working with so many others.

Her answer always remained the same. 

“You daddy, you’ve always have been, and always will be my favorite superhero.” He kissed the top of her head as he held her close again muttering into her hair, “and you’ve always been mine, kiddo. You’ve surpassed every single one of my expectations with how amazing and resilient you are.” Holding her at arm’s length he cupped her cheek sweetly, “promise me, even if all else goes to shit. You’ll always move forward. For me, can you do that?”

She didn’t quite understand the profound meaning of it then, but she promised nonetheless.