Chapter Text
Tony was sitting in his lab, working on a new upgrade for his armour when Jarvis turned down the music “Don’t turn down my music,” he whined lightly, glancing up. He had expected to see Pepper in the doorway but he was still alone “J?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” JARVIS apologized, hesitating for a moment “It seems like there is a breach in security.”
“A what?” Tony asked, sitting up straighter “How?”
JARVIS let out a noise “I don’t know, sir,” he told him “Someone managed to get through the firewalls.”
Tony started typing on his keyboard frantically, trying to find the person JARVIS mentioned. He frowned when there was no one in his systems “There is no one…”
“Whoever the attacker was, he left a message,” JARVIS told him “As far as I can see, that’s the only thing that happened.”
“A message?” Tony deadpanned, his eyebrows raising “What message?”
“Yinsen.”
Tony froze in his seat, staring at the screen blankly. No one knew about Yinsen. No one but the Ten Rings, he and JARVIS knew that name. It took him a couple of minutes before he moved frantically “Have you run a trace? Where did the message come from?”
“Not too far from here,” JARVIS pointed out, a map popping up on the screen.
“I was waiting for you to come here,” the white-haired boy spoke up, not turning to face Tony.
“Well, when someone hacks into my servers – and JARVIS for that matter – I have to do something.” Tony narrowed his eyes “I don’t take lightly to that.” He moved closer to the boy, JARVIS constantly monitoring the area in case they weren’t alone “Who are you, kid?”
“This is where it gets complicated,” the boy admitted, looking over his shoulder. He swallowed at the sight of Tony so young… He was still so – untouched by what happened with Thanos and the Avengers. If he was right – and he usually was – this was maybe a month before Loki invaded New York with Thanos’ army. There was still time to help free the god.
Tony looked at the boy’s face for a long moment, trying to place why he looked so familiar before his eyes widened. He might not have had white hair or blue eyes but apart from that, the kid looked like he did when he was that age “Are you seeing that, JARVIS?” Tony asked, blinking a couple of times as if to dispel the image of a younger him.
“Indeed, sir,” JARVIS gave back. He had scanned the boy again and again, not quite believing what he had found out. There was no way this was possible, right? Superheroes were one thing but time travel?
“What the hell is going on, kid?” Tony demanded, speaking over JARVIS’ next words.
“I… There might be a way to do this,” the boy whispered, chewing on his lips nervously “But you’re going to have to trust me. I mean you no harm. Not you or your AI.”
“Trust is a fickle thing, kid,” Tony told him, eyeing the boy.
JARVIS spoke up before anyone had the chance to continue “Sir, if I may. I do believe you can trust him.”
Tony raised his eyebrows in surprise “Colour me intrigued,” he murmured “How did you get JARVIS to vouch for you? You’re not controlling him, are you?”
The boy looked at him for a moment before he turned to walk over to one of the screens that were mounted on the wall. The building had really been a lucky find. The equipment was in pretty good shape despite the building having been abandoned for months before he arrived. He hesitated for a moment before feeling JARVIS’ gentle brush of code in his mind.
Tony’s eyes widened when the screens flickered, a familiar blue core appearing on the screen. His mouth dropped open when JARVIS’ voice sounded from the speakers. It wasn’t quite the same, he could tell. There were some very subtle differences but he would still recognize JARVIS everywhere “That can’t be,” he shook his head “You can’t be.”
“But I am…” the boy replied through the screen, his eyes remaining closed “Sir… Please… Trust me?”
Tony swallowed heavily “JARVIS?”
“He is me, sir,” JARVIS explained seriously “I am sure of it. He is me and I am him. Or… I will be him as it stands.”
Tony shook himself, still staring at the human-looking boy across from him before he let out a sigh, slumping down on one of the ratty old couches that looked like it had seen better days “What’s going on? H – How can you be here? How are you… human?” Jarvis – human JARVIS – chewed on his lip, making Tony’s lips twitch. It seemed like his AI had picked up a nervous habit along the way. And wasn’t that weird to think about?
The boy looked at his hands, shifting uncomfortably when Tony turned his full and undivided attention on him “A lot happened… I – I don’t want to explain but… I might be able to show you.”