The Disappearance of Jessica Stark

21. New York City

      I emerged at the top of the stairwell. Nobody noticed me popping my head through the cracked door to get an understanding of what the situation was. The plane was about to take off at any second. I'm sure if I make myself present to Happy, he probably won't let me get on the plane no matter how much I try to explain my reasoning.

      He has always been stubborn, since the first second we met. There were a dozen people standing in my living room, they were making sure that the plane was ready for take off. I knew for a fact that I wouldn't make it to the terrace without being spotted.

      I closed the door again and leaned against the hallway wall, thinking about the layout of this complex building. My bedroom up stairs overlooks the terrace, and from where the plane is positioned, my bedroom window is only about fifteen feet above the roof of the plane. I started up the stairs again and slipped into the upstairs hallway. Nobody was up here, all of the furniture had been removed.

      I pushed open my bedroom door, finding that everything was gone. It took me by surprise even though I knew this was coming. My bed was gone, my dresser, chairs, photos, decorations, and even my tiger stuffed animal. That was disappointing. I took a good look around before running to the window.

      The plane was below just like I imagined. I pushed open the large glass window carefully, feeling the cool wind hit my face and blow my hair back. It was nearly November, two months since I went away.

Now I'm back New York City, are you ready for me?

      I stood at the ledge of my window, angling my body and preparing for the jump. In one swift movement, my feet propelled from the window, and my body fell with style towards the jet. The engine of the jet was loud enough to cover the sound of my landing.

      I landed on my feet and rolled, coming to a low crouched position. Nobody could see me in the shadows. Happy was focused on the tablet in front of him. The self-driving plane was rumbling below my shoes. I slid towards the hatch which was beginning to close. I made it in the knick of time.

      My body slipped through the open hatch and I dropped down to the floor. Without the extremis, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to do any of this. I'm certainly not the strongest member of the Avengers.

      The hatch closed behind me, cutting me off from everyone else. That's when the plane lifted off the landing platform. Tons and tons of boxes loaded with technology and furniture surrounded me. Names labeled each of the boxes. Thor's box had some of his clothes, also his... magic belt. He told me the name of it, but unfortunately it's a bitch to pronounce so I just call it 'Thor's Magic Belt'.

      Another crate carried the new prototype for Steve's shield. One of my Fathers Iron Man suits was inside a tall crate. I remembered being only nine years old when that suit was created. Dad modeled it after a doodle I drew in class. The teacher caught me drawing and took the paper away, then she sent it to my Father to show how distracted I was in class.

      He liked the drawing so much, he decided to model the entire Iron Man suit after it.
I smiled at the memory. Another smaller sized box sat next to the Iron Suit. It was labeled 'Jessi' in my Dads handwriting. I became interested and lifted up the top. My eyes opened wide when I saw the blue and silver Iron Man gloves along with the similarly colored boots.

      "My babies" I whispered, taking them out of the crate. They fit on my arms and legs perfectly, it's like I never went away. I wiggled my fingers as the repulsers grew white. Dad helped me build these last year. We sat together for two whole days, just constructing and forming the custom made gloves.

      Then I remembered my mission. I put the top back on the box, keeping the boots and gloves, and I went to the control board of the jet. It was a self driving jet, set for a specific location. I started to type in the access code.

"Access Code failed"
Friday's voice spoke out.

"Friday, I need access to this jet" I said, looking up to the window "It's Jessi, access code A113-"

"Sorry, but that code has not been used in some time, and has been erased"

"My Dad erased my code?" I whispered, feeling very annoyed.

"No, I did" Friday said simply.

      "Well, I'm back now and I need to manually control this plane. Something bad is going to happen"

"Let me contact Mr. Stark, and-"

      "No! Friday, please. Just... I need to fly this plane. A man is planning on taking over, and if I don't get us to safety then all of this tech will fall into the wrong hands"

"If you wish to gain control, then you must enter the Authorization code set by Mr. Stark"

"Well I don't know that"

"Too bad" Friday replied.

      I frowned, leaning my head against the dashboard. If Jarvis was here he would certainly let me in. Maybe I could just guess the code "Okay, um. Stark" I said, raising my eyebrow "is 'Stark' the code?"

"Failed"

"Ugh, um... Maria?" I tried his Mothers name.

"Failed"

"Shit!"

"Failed"

      I groaned, slamming my Iron fist on the panel, some of the buttons flickered. I thought long and hard about the code. Four years ago during the Battle of New York, I was running through the Tower, searching for weapons to use against the aliens. There is a closet with a passcode lock in the hallway.

      That's where we kept the guns and other weapons. Dad never liked me in that room because of all the dangerous weapons. He told me specifically not to go in there, but aliens were attacking and I needed something to fight back. You can break rules for a safer world, right?

      I remembered the passcode for that lock... it was me "It's me" I breathed "Friday, its me, I'm the code! Jessi! Capital 'J' lowercase 'e-s-s-i'."

      The screen in front of me turned green, signaling that the code was correct. I smiled, Dad hadn't changed the passcode.

***

      Stephanie carried Henry out the back exit of the building. He gritted his teeth in pain, but kept going. The pair could see Stark Tower in the distance. Stephanie looked up to her Father, suddenly feeling the ground shake below her feet. She made sure to keep a strong grip on Henry as the vibrating intensified.

      The building behind her began to crumbled on top of itself. Something was causing it to fall, and Peter Parker was still inside "No!" She yelled, turning around to face the warehouse. The building collapsed, crushing anything and anyone who was inside "No" her voice faded.