Chapter Text
“Sir, Alex has left the premises.”
Tony’s hand stuttered over the next keystroke. “Left the premises? As in?”
“I am unable to locate her, Sir.”
He pushed to his feet then, chair tipping over with his momentum. His heart began to thud in his ears, “Give me something to work with, Jarvis, show me.”
The monitor in front of him blinked, as it switched from the line of coding he’d been working on to a video of Alex. She stood in front of the fridge, as she took out a number of Juice boxes. As she turned, closing the fridge with her hip as she went, the screen pixelated before flaring bright, in the next instant she vanished, leaving behind the abundance of juice boxes.
Tony straightened, “Did she teleport? She could be anywhere.”
“If she had, Sir, her signal would still be intact.”
On unsteady legs, Tony made a mad dash for the kitchen, “Give me a read on the rest of the kids!” He barked.
“Ana, Chryssy, and Athena are in Alex’s room, Zeus is using the facilities, Hades and Poseidon are in the game room.”
“Still no sign of Alex?” he asked, hoping for all the world that it was a glitch, because Alex couldn’t just be gone! They didn’t leave the tower without an adult, and up until now that rule had been followed to a T. “Try the Sub-dermal tracker.”
It had been a last resort, putting a tracker under her skin, but a necessary precaution with the life he led, and had subsequently dragged them into. Each of the kids had one, and only Jarvis and himself were aware of it. He didn’t have the patience to contemplate ethics on the topic, they were his kids and they could yell at him when they were older.
There was a moment, a minute pause as Jarvis must have attempted to reach the tracker remotely but it was enough that he’d broken out in a cold sweat, panting for breath where he now stood in the kitchen. Three Juice boxes lay where Alex previously stood.
He wanted to suit up, to scan the streets for her, but he’d seen the feed. Seen the way it had… glitched.
“Jarvis run a scan, see if we can pick up on any signatures, foreign or homegrown.”
*********
Alex grinned as she stepped back into her room, fruit punch sweet on her tongue as she sipped at the juice box she’d gone down to the kitchen to retrieve.
Athena, situated on the bed glanced over at her with a pout. “Where’s mine?”
“You didn’t ask for one,” Alex defended, moving to retake her seat beside Ana, who was currently eyeing her juice box. Pausing in her next step Alex let out a long sigh. “Does anyone else want a juice box?”
Athena smiled as Chryssy, not turning away from the computer, raised a single hand, “I’ll take one, please.”
“Three juice boxes, coming right up,” she grumbled, setting hers on the side table. She sent them each a narrow-eyed glare, “don’t touch mines, I’ll know.”
She raised her foot, imagining stepping into the kitchen in front of the fridge, and by the time her foot hit the ground, she was there.
Juice boxes in hand, she nudged the refrigerator door closed with her hip, the way she’d seen Momma do, before imagining her room, and its fluffy white carpets.
A sickening pull at her core made her drop the juice boxes, curling into herself in an attempt to alleviate some of the ache. In the instant it happened, it was gone, and she found herself curled up on the cool tiled floor of the kitchen. She let out a groan, unclenching her arms from where she’d clamped them around herself.
Letting out a shaky breath she pushed to her knees with a groan, “That was weird.”
Standing on shaky legs she looked around, the light had gone out in the kitchen where it had previously been lit by the light over the stove.
“Jarvis, can you turn the lights back on? it’s really dark,” She reached back down as she spoke, to retrieve the juice boxes that had fallen to the floor, but as she felt around, she didn’t find them, and the light didn’t come on.
“Jarvis?”
At the lack of response, she let out a groan. Widening her eyes, she looked into the darkest crevice of the kitchen until her sight adjusted. A nifty trick she’d learned from Sei. Whatever feline-like attributes she’d received when they’d found the cubs in the woods, still stood.
She turned, eyes sweeping the room, and paused as she surveyed the kitchen, or what used to be the kitchen. Everything was gone, aside from the piping for the sink.
“What the…What?” She tapped her wristwatch twice and the screen lit up. It was usually on standby mode in the tower, but outside it had its own version of Jarvis.
The watch beeped once as she spoke, “Jarvis? Can you hear me?”
After a long moment the watch vibrated against her wrist, “Good evening, Miss, the time is currently seven pm eastern standard time.”
“I don’t want the time, J, what’s going on?” Her gaze went to where the living room should be, but aside from the fireplace, the room was empty. “Where’s all of our stuff?”
“I am unable to connect to the Stark satellites, at the moment.”
Well, that was… worrying. She turned toward the light filtering into the room, from where the dining area should be, but like the kitchen it was empty. The Large windows remained, but as she took a step closer to view down at the city and its bright New York lights, she screamed.
It was short in its entirety, but shrill enough that she winced, clamping her mouth shut as the sound echoed.
Below her was a New York she’d never imagined. Empty cars gridlocked the streets, the bustling city appeared lifeless, remiss of the bright lights and crowded walkways she’d grown used to. It was abandoned.
She turned away from the scene and ran, her breaths coming in heavy pants, as she darted into the hallway.
“Papa?!” she screamed. Screamed because if she was loud enough someone might actually answer.
She opened the third door down the hall expecting to find her room. Instead, she found it empty, no proof of ever having habitants. She slammed the door, opening and closing others as she went raging down the hall.
Her surroundings had just begun to blur, when she felt a vibration against her wrist. “Please, take a breath, Miss.”
She tried, she really did, but what came out was a broken sob. This was the tower, it had to be, because she’d only been trying to go from the kitchen to her room but this place?
She held her breath, imagining Papa’s lab, the bots, the glittering floors, and the cars that lined the walls. She took a step. She’d closed her eyes and hadn’t realized it until she had to force herself to open them.
Empty. The lab was empty. She turned in her spot, the place looked bigger without the cars, bots, and half-finished projects her father usually worked on. The glass walls remained, but nothing else.
Her legs gave out, and she found herself sat on the floor, “Jarvis, what’s going on? Where is everyone? c-can you call Papa?”
“I apologize miss, but it seems I am unable to connect to a viable signal.”
She closed her eyes as more tears trailed down her cheeks. “Chryssy, Ana? Can you hear me? Where are you guys?”
There was no resounding answer, and Alex for the first time in her life felt emptiness echo inside of her. “I can’t feel my sisters, Jarvis, what’s going on?”
“I fear, I’m not sure. I am unable to connect with my main server. And seeing where we are now, it would appear that Sir has moved locations.”
A frown crinkled her brow. “Jarvis, how? I was here the entire time! Papa wouldn’t just move! Not without me!”
Her gaze did another sweep of the empty lab. “And I can’t reach Chryssy and Ana. That’s never happened before. Even when I want it to,” she grumbled the last part. She could block them out, but occasionally a thought or two slipped through. She wished something would slip through now.
“I have a… Theory.”
Jarvis’ hesitation over the last word brought her to a pause. She’d walked over to the wall where the Iron Man armors were usually housed. Even the glass cases were gone maybe she could track the suit? And if she tracked the suit she’d find-
“-given that, I think it’s a strong possibility that you time traveled.”
Alex blinked. “Given what? Time travel? Jarvis, I can’t time travel! That’s not even possible!”
Jarvis seemed to sigh, and in any other situation, her ability to exasperate artificial intelligence, let alone Jarvis, would make her giggle.
“I said, given my limited capabilities from your watch I was able to connect to the available network to update my GPS location. We are at the tower in Manhattan, New York. The time is seven twenty for the eastern seaboard, however; the date, Miss, or more specifically the year is twenty twenty-three.”
She sat down hard, the air leaving her lungs in a huff.
She was in the future.
She glanced down at her hands, her eyes roving over her purple pajama pants dotted with pink hearts. “b-but I’m still me, J, I haven’t aged. Have I?”
“No, Miss. The event seems to have skipped you.”
Drawing her knees into her chest, she shivered. “Then why can’t I talk to my sisters? They might be older than me now, but we should still be able to talk to each other.”
“That, for now, remains a mystery. In the meantime, I’ve located a few places Sir could have relocated to.”
She was on her feet in seconds. “Thank goodness, where to J? California? Florida? Vegas?” she asked, bouncing in place to warm up.
Her watch vibrated, and she held it up as a hologram materialized. The trick to their mutation they’d learned, was visualization. She couldn’t very well teleport to a place she’d never seen, but with enough detail in an image, they could transport almost anywhere.
It was a cabin in the woods, she didn’t think she recognized the place. Focusing on it, nonetheless, and the woods around it, she imagined stepping into the woods. Blades of grass tickled her ankles, as a soft breeze swept past. She could almost smell the lake the cabin had been situated by as she took a step.
******
Tony sped down the hallway, throwing open Alex’s door as he stumbled into the room. Chryssy, Ana, and Athena startled as they looked over at him.
Ana leaned forward, “Papa? What’s the matter?”
Tony shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. “Have you seen Alex?”
The three frowned.
“She went to the kitchen for more juice boxes,” Chryssy supplied off-handedly from her position on the fluffy pink lounge chair against the wall, a tablet precariously perched on her knee.
Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Ana slid her own juice box out of sight.
“Could you try asking her where she is?” Tony managed to say.
Chryssy shrugged, but Ana inhaled.
“Alex! Where are you?” she yelled.
Tony tried not to grimace, even as Athena and Chryssy let out peals of giggles. Chryssy’s laughter cut off abruptly, a hand going to her chest as she shut her eyes.
“I can’t feel her,”
Ana huffed. “Don’t be silly, she’s- “
“Alex?”
“Alex?!” The two took turns calling down the bond, before turning wide eyes on Tony.
“She’s not here,” Ana whispered, her own hand going to her chest.
Chryssy shook her head. “She’s not anywhere.”
Athena stood already shaking her head. “What do you mean she’s not...” she sniffed the air a perplexed frown forming on her lips. “That’s not possible.”
The door to the HUB flew open, Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus tumbling in on top of each other.
“What do you mean Alex is gone!?” Hades practically shrieked.
Sei pulled himself from the pile, making a beeline for Tony.
“Papa, what’s going on? Is Alex okay?”
Tony scooped up the boy, praying as he spoke aloud. “She’s fine, buddy, I know she is.”
Already Jarvis was notifying the others of the interference. If someone had taken her… Tony hissed in a breath at the thought. “We’ll find her,” he promised.