The Ghost Initiative (Avengers Next Gen)

Book 2 Chapter 5

Pepper's P.O.V

A week... It had been 7 days and 14 hours since I last drank alcohol, I promised Tony. I know he wasn't really there, standing around telling me how proud he was I was staying sober. After all, he had disappeared years ago, even if he had somehow survived there was no way he would look the same as that morning. Not even Tony could look the same after 10 or 11 years, besides, Ali wasn't really the smart one of the twins. Jamie...  was top of all his classes, heck he can even - could even recite half the periodic table when he was 8.

But Ali, she didn't quite catch on as quickly as he did. I mean sure, she makes a mean dinner. I've always assumed she will grow up to have my business mindset and that Jamie would have been more like his Father, a heartbreaker through and through. At least, until that horrible day, it had to have been almost a year since then but I could still remember it clearly, the gut-wrenching feeling that overtook me at Rhodey's words.

" Pep, I'm so sorry... There was an accident at the twin's school and... and they only found James. Pepper, he didn't make it and the..." Rhodey took a deep breath  " the girls; Melody and Lexi haven't been found in the rubble. A couple of students said they saw them get dragged into cars after the last explosion." he couldn't look me in the eyes and I could see blood on his clothes almost like he'd just been in a fight.

Everything after that seemed to blur together, I remember bruising my knees on the floor tiles when I collapsed and hearing my own screams and sobs ricochet off the walls of our entryway. I remember listening to Rhodes's voice drown out as cries left my mouth.

My kids, my perfect little twins were gone and I was suddenly all alone again. No more listening to them fighting, or hearing sarcastic acronyms from Ali whenever Jamie has a friend she didn't like. I almost wished she had gone ahead with building ROBIN just so I could laugh at what the name stood for.

Rather Obnoxious But Intelligent Network - R.O.B.I.N was some fun name Ali had come up with when James came home saying he had a girlfriend from his maths class and he was going to marry her. 

My trip down memory lane was cut short by a knock on the door, probably the same ghost of Tony, talking about all the great things Jamie and Ali had done. How smart they were and how She was a hero, just another cruel reminder that my children were with him now, that every little thing he rambled about - Him not approving of Ali's boyfriend, and how Jamie had loads of plans for the company come the new year. All of those were just wishful thinking of what my precious babies could have been.

" Miss Potts, you have a visitor. He says they work with the Stark Foundation " I looked up as an older man and a young lady around 20-ish walked into my room holding a bouquet of flowers. They placed the on the nearby table and picked up the scrapbook that had been collecting dust for months most likely. Some ideas of Olivia Stanes to help me recover.

" We wanted to personally give our condolences for your daughter. We understand it must have been hard finding out over the news instead of in person." I stared at them confused.

" What do you mean find out over the news?" I tilted my head slightly as the younger woman held a phone towards me, a video playing of a news story. I watched it intently.

It was coloured security footage, and you could see a girl fall from the top of the frame, people hanging over the edge reaching towards her. The video stopped right before she hit the ground and restarted again, the news broadcaster's voice played over the top.

" And there you have it folks, real-time footage of celebrity Alexandra Starks unfortunate death just two days ago. 

Alexandra Stark was known for many things throughout her time as CEO of Stark Industries, She implemented the Stark Housing initiative for victims of Hydra and reformed special agents. As a founding member of the new Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division of Stark Industries that works with the government to create safe and weapon-free solutions to global issues.

Of course, no one can forget the uproar she started when she offered free prosthetics to military veterans who were willing to be part of her in-school education programs. 

Miss Stark marks the end of the family line, so the question remains... Who steps up from here?" 

My blood ran cold, the footage was dated in the future, it had to be from the future... I had only been in here for a year at most. But, that would mean Ali; My sweet precious Ali was alive somewhere without me. I looked up from the phone towards the strangers, tears in my eyes.

" Where did you get that footage?" The younger woman couldn't look in my direction, but the older man who looked scarily familiar stared me down.

" Miss Potts, Unfortunately, you've been in this facility for quite a few years, that level of alcohol abuse may have caused you some memory loss. Your son was killed 14 years ago, Alexandra was found a week after she went missing but by that time you had already started drinking."  The man tapped the phone a could of times and the video showed up on my TV.

" I'm assuming you'll want to see it on a bigger screen before you believe us." sure enough, looking at the video on a bigger screen I could see her. I knew it was her because her face had been haunting my dreams for an entire week.

Scenes of smashed picture frames and that same scared face kept appearing throughout my dreams. Crying out in fear at first then the sound of people yelling and the image of her walking out. Her voice echoed through my head, telling me she'd rather have died herself than live with what I had become.

Oh god... How could I have wasted 14 years with one of my children, after losing Jamie I should have known better? The strangers walked out of my room, leaving behind an unopened bottle of vodka, if I truly had no one left, there was no real reason to keep trying for sobriety, and having a glass couldn't hurt could it?