Age: 17
Word count: 4270
Summary: While working on something to bring back everyone who'd been blipped, Alena gets sucked into a prototype of the time machine Tony and her were working on, teleporting her back to the 1940s, where she gets to meet some familiar faces.

August 29th, 2022, Avengers Facility, New York:

,,Hey what happens if I press that button?"

Alena asked, pointing to a red button off to the side of their 'time machine'. For the past three months, her, Tony and Natasha had been trying to figure out a way to bring everyone back. The result was a prototype, which none of them were sure was stable yet.

Tony looked up from whatever he was tinkering on to look what the 17 year old was referring to.

,,Hey, no don't touch that, Mini Romanoff, that's the on button. We're not sure it works properly and if you get sucked through, I don't really know how to get you back"

He explained, making a hand gesture to guide her away from the machine. Time wasn't something to be messed with and not by a 17 year old kid of all people.

Alena backed away from the button, hands raised. She wasn't about to risk getting sucked through time to potentially end up with the dinosaurs by accident.

,,Свет (Light), can you check the right corner up there? I think the geometric angle is off by a few degrees"

Natasha butted in, holding up the sketch they made with the exact measurements for it to work. As Alena obliged, she tilted her head and pressed one eye shut to get a better look at where the problem was.

,,Should I flip the switch? That seems to be a major problem"

The 17 year old inquired, eyeing the blue switch suspiciously. It didn't look like it was all the way plugged in so it would do its job, not that she knew what it was supposed to do in the first place.

,,Hey guys, how's it going over here?"

Steve greeted the trio as he entered the room. He looked at his daughter, climbing down from he ladder she was on just seconds ago, before he leaned on one of the tables.

Next thing everyone knew, there was a beep followed by the time machine making noises. Alena's eyes widened as she looked at the blue portal-like opening that seemed to drag her into its vast masses. This wasn't good, she knew that.

,,What did you do? Turn it off"

She yelled into the room, trying to fight against the seemingly unescapable winds of the portal. Panic broke out among the other three, Steve pressing the button repeatedly to turn it off, which only resulted in the machine ejecting sparks among the edges, announcing its collabs. Natasha tried overruning their code in hopes of at least setting the date of the desired time to something reasonable and Tony tried getting as close to Alena as he possibly could without threatening to get sucked in with her.

Alena stretched her arm as far as she could, hoping to grasp Tony's extended hand, but the force pulling her in was too strong. Next thing she knew, she missed his hands by mere centimetres, before she was sucked into the time machines endless possibilities.

The room around her began spinning, flashing glimpses of what could have been in a speed of milliseconds, before she eventually lost consciousness.

....

29th August, 1947, Howard Starks House, Los Angeles:

,,I'm telling you, she just fell through the roof. Mr. Jarvis do I look like I am up for a joke today?"

A woman's voice with a British accent rang from afar. She didn't seem all too happy about what was going on and her voice held just the slightest hint of tension.

Alena opened her eyes, slowly regaining understanding of her surroundings. Everything looked so ... different ... so classy, almost vintage chic. With a deep intake of breath, she sat up, the fabric of the green couch-like object feeling smooth against her skin.

The 17 year old tried remembering how she got here and then it hit her. She was in the past!

Immediately, she began scanning the room in an attempt to match the style of furniture to the time period she ended up in. From what she gathered, it had to be the late 40s, possibly only a year or two after her father went into the ice.

,,Oh good, you're awake"

The woman, whose voice had rang through the room earlier approached Alena. When the redhead looked up and met the woman's eyes, her jaw dropped. It was Peggy Carter, her dad's old friend, his first love, from the 40s.

Her step was powerful, yet she looked kind. Although Alena couldn't help but notice the slight discomfort the woman's face held as she made a rapid movement.

,,Hi, I-"

The 17 year old decided to introduce herself, just to be cut off by Peggy's sharp gaze. It seemed like she was studying her, the longer she looked, the softer her gaze grew, almost as if it was something about Alena that threw her off.

,,Miss Carter are you quite- , Oh dear"

A man with a very British accent entered the room, his pace fast before stopping dead in his tracks. His gaze snapped between Alena and Peggy, almost as if he was trying to figure out who she was by observing Peggy's expression.

Alena finally decided to make a move, holding up her hands to show she didn't have any weapons, which of course, wasn't true. She wouldn't dare get caught without at least a small gun for defense. Habit she picked up from her mom early on.

,,Sorry about uhm, your roof. Didn't mean to do that"

She apologised awkwardly, pointing to the hole in the roof outside. Apparently she'd fallen right on top of what seemed to be a sparring mat, at least that's what she figured by the wood splinters and dust all over it.

Peggy came closer before sitting down at the end of the couch Alena was still sitting on. Again, she didnt look all too comfortable while doing so. Nonetheless, her brown eyes were fixated at the 17 year olds face, more specifically, her eyes, which by now flickered out of nervousness.

,,What did you say your name was?"

The brunette finally asked, her expression stern and a little bit intimidating. Alena knew from stories her dad told that if Peggy Carter asked something of you, you better do as Peggy says.

So, the redhead took a deep breath, holding eyecontact with the woman she only knew from stories.

,,I'm Alena. Alena Romanoff-Rogers"

She introduced herself, smiling at Peggy.

The brunette woman backed away a little, confusion and suspicion written all over her face. To be fair, Alena knew this must be a shock because for all Peggy knew, Steve died 2 years ago.

,,Rogers? Like Captain Steve Rogers?

She inquired, her eyes narrowing in on the 17 year old girl.

Alena nodded. Her baby blue eyes met Peggy's brown ones again, this time with a small smile. She began to find all this pretty amazing.

,,I'm his ... daughter. And, now Peggy I know this may sound very crazy, but I'm not from this time. I'm from 2022, so, I guess around 75 years from now"

She explained, her expression turning very serious. And although she normally resembled her mother in everything she did, this expression in particular resembled Steve more than anyone.

Peggy looked at Alena, scanning every inch of her face for resemblance to her former love. She eventually found that very resemblance in the girl's eyes, who were the exact same colour as Steve's once were.

,,Mr. Jarvis would you be as kind as to get Howard? I think we might've found someone he'll want to look at"

She asked of the man in the back, who obliged right away and went off to get this Howard person.

Alena got up from the couch, leaving Peggy sitting there alone. She needed to pace or she'd go crazy. Then again, who was she kidding, this whole situation was crazy.

,,Alena"

Peggy called out, making the girl stop. She was just as much confused as curious on how this girl who claimed to be Steve Rogers' daughter from the future and held the most accurate resemblance to him, got here in the first place.

Alena whipped her head around to the brunette, suddenly feeling very out of place in her sweatpants, Harry styles tshirt and black converse. Not to mention that her auburn hair just fell around her shoulders in its natural wavy form, which ... to be honest wasn't all that classy.

,,Sorry it's just, my mom and dad, Tony and I were building this time machine to bring back half of earth's population, including my best friend, because there was this big purple alien guy who loved rocks and snapped his fingers to 'bring balance to this universe' and it failed because my dad accidentally pressed the on button although we weren't done yet and I was sucked in and now I'm here"

She rambled in a speed even Peggy had trouble keeping up. Reality was crashing down on her in the worst possible point in time. When she was stuck in the forties with her dad's first love, a guy who was named like Tony's AI and some Howard guy she had no clue who it was.

,,Okay calm down for a second"

Peggy interrupted her, before she could go on, getting up from the couch with a sharp intake of breath this time. Alena knew there was some sort of wound there, but she didn't wanna push it.

,,You're Steve's daughter?"

,,Yes ma'am"

,,And you're from the future, where Steve Rogers is alive?"

,,Yes..."

,,Are you okay?"

,,Ye- wait what?"

Alena implored, thrown off by the sudden question about her wellbeing. All this just got weirder, the longer she was there.

Peggy examined the girl, a small smile making its way onto her face. From the short time she knew her, she'd already found so many things about her that reminded her of Steve.

,,I'm fine, yea, thanks for asking"

The girl in question answered, still too overwhelmed to properly think about anything important. She scanned the older woman's face for some sort of indicator on how she was feeling. This sure must be a surprise, finding out the person you lost is actually alive in the future and has a daughter.

Alena pursed her lips, continuing to stare simply because she was too afraid she'd say something wrong.

,,Do you have anything to say, Alena, or are you just staring for the fun of it?"

Peggy inquired, narrowing her eyes at the girl once more. Her lips were etched up into a slight smile indicating that the question wasn't meant to be asked in a rude way.

The 17 year old exhaled sharply, pulling the hood of her shirt over her face. This earned her a quite confused look from Mr. Jarvis and Howard, who'd just returned to check out the situation.

,,Peg, who's that?"

Howard asked, his accent contrasting greatly against the two British ones Alena had encountered before. Additionally to that, she noticed he looked and sounded familiar, almost as if it was Tony but in the forties and younger.

Peggy looked between Howard and Jarvis and Steve's timetraveller daughter, before clearing her throat and introducing her:

,,That's Alena Romanoff-Rogers. Steve's ... daughter"

,,Hi"

The girl in question greeted the two men, growing slightly more confident by the second. At least Peggy believed her, so she wasn't at risk to be denied help. And after all, this didn't seem half bad anymore.

Howard's expression was the first to change, followed by Mr. Jarvis's. Both men looked as though they had merely misheard the brunette woman.

,,Sorry, come again? It sounded like you said Daughter"

Jarvis questioned. Although he'd only known Steve Rogers briefly, he knew how much he meant to Peggy and most importantly, he knew that he was supposed to be dead for 2 years.

Alena decided to step in and help Peggy out. After all, this was her mess and she had to fix it.

,,Yea, but not 1945 Steve's, I'm from the future, year 2022 to be exact. Don't ask me how, I seriously don't know why I ended up here out of all places. Maybe luck?" 

She explained, shrugging at her last sentence. Her eyes darted between the three people she'd heard countless stories about. Most of them were from her dad but some from Tony as well.

Peggy gave a nod of approval. It seemed that by that time, nothing could surprise her anymore. After all, she had a sorta-ghost in the broom closet, was recently impaled while attempting to make said ghost solid again and was about to go save the world from Zero matter, before Alena came crashing through the roof.

So, the 17 year old girl in Howard's living room was the least of her worries.

,,Okay so Alena, this is Howard Stark, the idiot I had to clear his name for because he had lost inventions too dangerous for this world and this right here is Edwin Jarvis, Mr. Stark's butler and my ... well adventure buddy, as he would say"

The brunette introduced the two men properly, the small smile she'd lost minutes ago returning. Something about Alena felt familiar, maybe it was the fact she was related to Steve, maybe it was because she seemed to have a similar attitude to herself.

Howard gave a wave for hello, still in shock about the whole time travel thing, while Mr. Jarvis approached the redhead and shook her hand.

,,Nice to make your acquaintance, Miss ... Romanoff-Rogers, was it?"

He greeted her, his expression friendly, yet still a little bewildered. Alena smiled at the man, wondering if there was a connection between him and Tony's former AI.

,,Please, Alena is fine. Only teachers call me by my surname. Or my mom if shes mad at me"

She assured with a chuckle. As soon as she thought about her mother, the worry of never seeing her again returned to her mind. What if there wasn't a way to bring her back? What if she'd never see any of her family or friends again? What if she was stuck here in the 40s?

Peggy caught the shift in her behaviour, gently putting an arm to her shoulder.

,,Let's get you home, Alena. I'm sure Howard and Mr. Jarvis can work something up before we join them in a bit. But first, you and I need to have a chat, mmh"

She explained, nodding at the two men before softly pushing the 17 year old out of the room. Truth was, Peggy was incredibly curious about the life Steve had made for himself and Alena could answer those questions. The upside was, maybe they'd find out how to get her back along the way.

Alena went along with the woman she'd grown to adore in just that hour that she knew her. Peggy reminded her of her mom in a way. Her dad definitely had a type, she knew that now.

The two women walked in silence for a while, neither of them uncomfortable though. Sure, the younger of the two was a little bit more tense, but only because this was practically her dad's ex she was talking to.

,,So, Alena, what is it like in 2022? You seem pretty young, is Steve still alive?"

Peggy broke the silence, causing Alena to release the breath she was holding. The redhead looked at the brunette, thinking about what she was gonna say.

,,Well yea, something happens in the future so my dad is still alive. Barely aged. Him and my mom are still together, they got married when I was 5. Howard has a son, his name's Tony. He's so much like him"

The 17 year old began, smiling at the thought of her family. She glanced at Peggy, thinking to have caught her wiping a tear from her eye.

Mere seconds later, the woman winced after making a sudden movement. Alena observed her carefully, as she clutched her lower right side.

,,Are you okay? I've seen you be uncomfortable since I came here"

The 17 year old inquired, eyeing the agent's attempt to hide her pain. She'd seen this kind of behaviour often enough in her own mother, sometimes to the point of almost bleeding out because she was too proud to admit she was in pain.

Peggy leaned on Alena for a minute, until the two women reached one of the countless sun benches around Howard's pool: 

,,Hmhm, fine"

Alena hit her with the 'Romanoff glare', one of the many things she'd definitely inherited from Natasha. She knew it worked, but she also knew Peggy knew what she was doing.

The woman in question rolled her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek, before clicking her tongue:

,,We were in a bit of a situation before you crashed through Howard's roof, Miss Romanoff-Rogers"

,,What kind? Aliens, another Red Skull?"

The redhead of the two asked, her eyes lighting up more than they should've. Alena definitely was up for fighting against an out-of-her-time villain, she just had to know what they were dealing with.

Peggy smirked, recognising the need to do what's right in her former love's daughter. Still, getting her back to her time was more important than defeating zero matter at this point in time.

,,No, you're not fighting our mess, Alena. Besides, before he can defeat our uhm, situation, we need to get you back to 2022"

She shut the topic down immediately, redirecting it back to the initial problem. With a small smile, she attempted to rise from the sun bench, inhaling sharply as she did.

Alena got up as well, seizing Peggy's arm to support her. She was dying to ask, but didn't know If it'd come across as nosy to do so. In the end, she decided to anyways.

,,What exactly happened? According to the way you've been wincing every time you made a rapid or sudden movement, it must've been something requiring stitches, down at your right lower abdomen-"

Her eyes widened, when she saw the woman holding the exact spot again. Only that this time there seemed to be blood seeping through the fabric of her blouse.

,,Oh shit you're bleeding"

,,Language, Alena!"

Peggy more or less snapped at the 17 year old. She pressed her lips together in attempt to suppress the pain she was in.

The girl in question gave a short smile before pressing a tissue to the bleeding agent's wound.

,,Well now I know why my dad's after me for swearing so much"

She joked, holding on tighter to Peggy as they made their way back to the house. Peggy gave a small smile.

Luckily, they hadn't gone all that far, so getting back to the house was the easy part. What turned out to be rather difficult though was finding the habitants of that house, due to it's almost ridiculously huge floorplan.

Alena eventually decided to resort to just shouting names she remembered, so, Mr. Jarvis and Howard alternately.

,,I don't think anyone's here anymore. Or they're somewhere they can't hear us"

She sighed, letting herself fall back onto the couch she originally arrived on. Peggy sat next to her, her wound fixed up with a bandage by this time. Once more, she studied the girl's face, still slightly fascinated by the fact that this really was Steve Rogers' daughter.

,,Alena who's your mother?"

The agent asked, her tone genuinely interested, yet holding a little bit of sorrow for what could've been if Steve had never gone into the ice.

,,Uhm, Natasha Romanoff. She's a lot like you, you know. Strong, independent woman, hella stubborn but right about the things she's stubborn about. My dad says she tried setting him up on dates when they first worked together ..."

Alena described, an adoring smile appearing on her face. Though when she saw Peggy's expression, her smile faded. The woman who'd been nothing but strong and confident up to this point had tears in her eyes.

,,Are you ... okay?"

The redhead asked, her blue eyes meeting Peggy's brown ones. The woman in question looked away, quickly wiping the few tears that managed to escape, before she gave a murmur of confirmation.

Alena couldn't help but feel responsible for her dad's first love's sorrow. Sure, he was the one who moved on and made a life for himself in the future, but she was the one who came and told Peggy all about it, all on accident of course. Not once had she considered how much it must hurt to know that the person you saw a future with and then believed to be dead, was happy with someone else 75 years from now and all that just two years after the whole loosing-your-love thing went down.

Yet, Peggy had probably moved on, well up until Alena came and told her what happened in the future:

,,Look, Peggy I'm so sorry. I ... I don't know why I'm here out of all places, but maybe it wasn't the smartest decision to tell you about ... everything that happens in the future. Must be hard to hear about how my dad ... has me and my mom and everything-"

,,No. No, it's just a little overwhelming to think about what could've been. I'm happy he's alive and well ... even if it's a long time from now. Apparently we just weren't supposed to be and that's fine"

The agent cut across the girl's rambling and took hold of her hand, squeezing it tight. She was happy for Steve, very happy. After all, she'd come to terms with his death and was on her way to write her own story. This foreshadowing incident was a shaping moment, but a happy one:

,,You're a great girl, Alena. You remind me a lot of your dad in a lot of ways. Don't loose that, Okay"

Alena smiled at the woman, tears glistering in her eyes. She knew that if Peggy had found a way to make it into the future, Natasha and her would've been great friends.

,,Thanks Peggy"

She smiled, blinking away the tears. Peggy gave a nod and returned the smile the redhead shot her, before giving her a hug.

The moment was interrupted by a sudden spark appearing in the middle of the room. Alena whipped her head around, staring intensively at the now normal looking spot. Seconds later, something that looked like a portal opened.

This was Alena's chance. She guessed her parents and Tony had somehow found a way to re-start the time machine and tracked her down. So, this meant it was time for her to go home.

,,I guess I'm going home. I'll tell my dad I met you"

The redhead implied, looking back at the brunette woman as she approached the portal.

,,Tell him Peggy says hi and that ... that she's very proud of him"

The woman responded, giving the 17 year old one last small smile and a wave for goodbye.

Alena returned the smile and the wave, taking a last look back into the past before stepping through the portal. This time, the room around her spun not all too hard, making it possible for her to see three figures standing at the other end. She took a deep breath and before the 17 year old redhead knew it, she was right there, back in her time.

August 29th, 2022, Avengers Facility, New York:

Natasha was the first to run up to her daughter, trapping her in a tight embrace. Only a few hours ago, she thought she'd lost the one person she loved most in this world forever.

,,Mama"

Alena mumbled, holding on tight to her mother. God, it felt good to see her face and smell her perfume again. It was moments of uncertainty like these that she cherished her family more than ever.

Tasha pulled away from her daughter, cupping her neck and taking in every little detail of her face, before placing a soft kiss to Alena's cheek.

,,Peggy says hi, Dad. And she told me to tell you she's very proud of you"

The young redhead smiled, looking at her dad while leaning into her Mom's side. Steve gave a small smile before embracing both his daughter and his wife.

Alena was happy to be back in her own time, happy to be held by both her parents and happy to have made such an amazing memory back in the 40s. It made her realise how many endless possibilities there were, influenced by only a single choice a single person made.

A/N: Oh my god, this is longer than I inticipated it to be. 4k plus words, only because I didn't wanna make 2 parts and didn't exactly know where to make a cut. Anyways, huge thanks to everyone who read this entire thing, I put my heart and soul into this and tbh, I think it turned out pretty amazing.
Lmk what you thought of this concept, would you want more time travelling and meeting old characters or should we just stick to the present?
Okay, that's about it from my part, I've stretched this oneshot for long enough, have a great day/night, beautiful people, stay amazing and I'll see you around <33