Chapter Text
You looked out your third story apartment window, holding a cup of hot cocoa and shivered. Snow battered against the windows, frosting up the panes and sending an eerie fog along the once bustling city. Despite extra layers of clothes and socks, gloves and a coat, you shivered.
This was the third day of the snow.
In July.
The grey overcast sky showed no signs of letting up and the city’s infrastructure was barely handling it.
Citizens were encouraged to head to makeshift storm shelters that were being assembled, particularly those who couldn’t fend for themselves or keep enough heat or supplies.
You watched a red streak shoot across the sky and smiled.
Your second cousin Tony Stark. He was doing everything he could to keep his home city from falling into disarray. Your smile faded, not every city had a Tony Stark though.
Flipping on the weather channel and bundling up under a blanket, you watched the country’s news. People in the south were freezing in droves, ill equipped to handle such cold weather. Those further to the north were better equipped but even still, people were suffering. The military was assembled, distributing supplies to everyone, but supplies would run out eventually. The freeze had killed farms. The Avengers were scrambling to assist in any way they could, publicly urging people to assist their neighbors in any way they could.
The weather channel went global, and you saw that though the freeze had started in the states, it had spread quickly to the rest of the world. You watched the cold weather graph spread across the globe, temperatures dropping lower and lower. Snow beginning to fall more and more. Soon even Africa was in sub-freezing temperatures.
The reclusive Wakandans promised aid, but they would not admit how hard they had been hit either. Strong rumors suggested they were not immune to this calamity either.
Your cellphone buzzed.
Luckily cellphone service had not gone down yet. Tony Stark was working extra hard to keep communications up and running. Without communications, humanity would fall into darkness.
“Hey Tony.” You said, biting back shivers.
“Hey kiddo. Where are you, have you gone to one of the shelters?”
You sighed, “No, I stayed home.”
There was an angry pause, “Why?” You could hear Tony’s grit teeth.
“I didn’t want to take up someone’s place at the shelter, someone who needed it more than me. I can fend for myself. I know I can make it there and back if I need to, to get supplies and I have you if things really get bad.”
Tony grumbled, “Yea, you and everyone else rely on me.”
“You know you like playing savior.” You could practically feel him rolling his eyes over the phone.
“Look, just, stay safe alright.” Tony sighed, “I gotta get going.”
“Wait, Tony, I used to hang out with you and your buddies every day. Even after the blip for a little while.”
“Yea, I know.”
“Be honest with me, what’s going on?”
Another long pause.
“Tony?”
“I… I don’t know. Strange doesn’t know either. He doesn’t like it. He’s the Sorcerer Supreme he says, supposed to know all this crap, all the outside threats that threaten the Earth. Nothing. And without his eye of whatsit that we used the second time to bring everyone back, yours truly included.” Tony trailed off.
“Which we’re all eternally grateful for.” You smiled, choking up a bit.
“Yea.” Tony was quiet for a moment, “Listen, I gotta move some more supplies and check on the power grid. The tower is putting out a lot of energy for the city and I don’t know if it can keep up with how cold everything is.”
“Sure. Sure. Take care out there, ok?”
“You too. I’ll try and drop in sometime, maybe we can have dinner. I’ll see if I can get some of the others to check on you from time to time also.”
“You don’t have to, Tony.”
“You’re my niece.”
“Like, second cousin or something, how are we even related?”
“Cousin’s, aunt’s niece?”
“Something like that. Take care of yourself, stay warm.” You hung up and looked sadly at the phone as your apartment went quiet once more.
Your television had clicked off as unnecessary power was cut to your house at certain hours. The city had an ordinance ban on certain electricity. Only heat could stay on constantly. You had to make special exceptions to keep anything else running to keep the electric load on the city light, given how frigid it was.
Closing all the doors in your apartment, you dragged everything into the main room and the kitchen. Putting the bed out by the TV and using spare blankets to block the window for any drafts. You tried to insulate the place as best you could, limiting yourself to one room, and closing off the heat to the other room of your apartment. If you had less rooms to heat, you might stay warmer and use less electricity and perhaps be rewarded. And with all your movement, you ended up warming up a bit.
By the end you grew tired and crawled into your bed and curled up to sleep. That’s what people seemed to mostly do these days. Stay warm and hope the cold would go away. If they were called upon to do something productive, they did it. If not, they huddled with their families and prayed to whatever deity they believed in and hoped this possible ice age might pass.