Chapter Text
Life was full of ups and downs. Myra knew that, everyone knew that.
But damn it, this was such a down.
Myra was familiar with the concept of an isekai, but she knew it was fictional.
Or at least she thought that was the case.
She hoped it wasn’t real because a lot of the media she consumed was violent. God forbid she woke up in Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer.
Myra was on her way to class, driving to Native American Perspectives the day before Halloween.
She was only half-paying attention when a car swerved into her, sending her tumbling over the hill on the side of the highway.
Her vision faded slowly, the mix of panicked voices of the car next to her and Nirvana’s Bleach album filling her senses.
She was dying, she realized, unable to move.
Myra closed her eyes.
But she didn’t expect them to open again.
Voices still muddled, vision bad. Had her contacts gotten knocked out or been taken out in the hospital?
She knew she was in the hospital; nothing else could be that white.
She first noticed something was off when she was being held. Carried by a nurse.
How could that have been possible? She was pretty tiny — only 5’1” — but a nurse shouldn’t be carrying her like the way she held her older brother’s cat.
Then she noticed that the room looked huge.
And then, she was lying on a random woman’s chest, who was crying and cooing at her. A man was beside her, holding her hand and stroking Myra’s head.
Oh god no, she was a baby.
“Please be a dream, please be a dream?” She squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke. But she didn’t hear that, just crying. Like her vocal chords didn’t connect with her brain.
“Jade.” The man said, like it were simple. “That was your engagement ring, and I was thinking Halle for a middle name, after your mom.”
“Jade Halle Loxley.” The woman said, rubbing down Myra’s arms. “I like it, it sounds nice.”
Shit. She really was a baby.
Her life wasn’t that strange. At least, it wasn’t at first.
Myra — No, Jade — was told stories all the time. Her dad was at her crib all the time, reading her and showing her the images of comic books. The old ones, the original run of Captain America, which she would’ve given her life for. Her dad just had them.
Everything was pretty normal. Her parents let her sit in on movie night, even if she’d fall asleep during act 2. Everything she watched before when she was a kid. The OG Star Wars trilogy, Breakfast Club, and Indiana Jones.
While her mom was setting up for Christmas, since Jade had learned that she had the same birthdate as before, her dad was watching the news.
The date flashed on screen. December 17th, 1991.
It was 1991? How had she gone back in time? She died in 2025.
“Good morning, unfortunately, we start this morning with tragedy. Early this morning, a car belonging to the CEO and founder of Stark Industries, Howard Stark, was found crashed on Long Island. He and his wife, Maria, were found dead.”
Holy shit. Howard Stark. Stark Industries. This wasn’t the normal world.
Last night, the Winter Soldier killed Howard and Maria Stark.
Aging was strange. She did start to feel like herself again. Like when Myra was a kid, her science obsession led to her getting posters of Elon Musk. Although she regretted that when she was old enough to pay attention to the crazy shit he said, he was a cool guy back in the day.
Jade did something similar; she got posters of Tony Stark. A Billionaire science guy, who wasn’t a Nazi.
Jade didn’t completely hide that she knew things. She could write by age 3. She spent her time writing everything should could remember about the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a college-ruled notebook she had taken from her dad’s desk. She hid it inside her pillowcase.
Who could she go to for help, if she needed it? Who would believe her? Maybe the Eternals? Tough luck trying to find them. Myra had only half paid attention to the film; it was so long that her ADHD started hating it.
It was 1994. Tony Stark was just made the CEO of Stark Industries, taking over for Obadiah Stane.
God, Jade hated him. As soon as she remembered that he was responsible for the deaths of the Starks, after she remembered What If? Season 3, episode 3, she knew she was gonna hate him. Everyone did, at least.
Jade powered through school; she knew she would. Myra was already advanced the first time through, so doing it again was, walk in the park.
She didn’t want to do a world record; she didn’t want to beat Michael Kearny’s world record. So she took it a bit slower.
Jade walked the stage with 18-year-olds when she was just 13. She had looked it up; Tony Stark graduated from high school at 14.
Jade did it a year sooner.
She was soon accepted into Caltech. The hardest college to get into in the United States. Double Major, Astrophysics and Political Science. She had plans. Big plans.
She completed both B.S.s at 16.
Then, she mailed an internship application to Tony Stark’s office.
Jade packed up her room, tossing street clothes into suitcases. This was the first time she’d live out of her home. Her parents lived in El Monte, so it wasn’t too far of a drive to Pasadena for college.
Even if it wasn’t a far drive to LA, Jade wanted her own space.
Hell, she probably needed it. She was so close to getting a corkboard and red yarn, stringing up events and people. Like Ben Urich would in his office at the New York Bulletin in a few years.
Her notebook, aged and with water damage, was last. Setting it on top of all her clothes, she zipped up the case.
Stark Industries awaited her.