I had collapsed. Johnny's infant daughter had been brought back, and the timeline had been restored. Was it bad that I didn't want her to come back? Johnny and I were happy, engaged, and it just…seemed so perfect. I should have known it wasn't going to last.

"Another." I asked the bartender. The older man nodded and passed me a sixth Guinness. "Thank you." I took a sip. So far I hadn't felt anything, but I was hoping to soon.

"You got quite the tolerance." The bartender commented. It was quiet in the bar at four in the afternoon.

"So it seems." I said off-handedly as I drained most of the beer.

"Can I ask you something?" He began without letting me answer. "What's got you in here at four o'clock? Actually, what made you come in here at two-thirty?"

I took in the rest of the beer. "That's when you opened. I'll take another, please."

"Mm-m." He took my now empty glass and handed me one filled with water. "You need a break."

My eyes rolled as he walked away. The Guinness was starting to taste weird anyway. I took my first sip of water, and a bowl of pretzels was suddenly dropped in front of me.

"You can have another drink when you finish both of those." The bartender said nonchalantly as he walked away, to continue wiping the already clean bar.

I made a face, but did not argue. I never knew when or if the drunkenness would set in.

"Is this seat taken?" A deep-ish voice said behind me.

Without looking, I responded with, "Yup."

The man sat down anyway. "Can I get a Labatt's please?" The bartender nodded and slid one down the bar. "Thank you so much."

I gave a sideways glance at the man and almost screamed. I took another look and my nerves calmed slightly. For a moment the man looked exactly like Johnny: the short blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, muscular build, hell, even his face was the same shape.

"Can I help you?" I said from behind the opening of my glass.

"Maybe. I'm looking for an Andrea Wayne. You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?" He didn't look at me, so I kept staring ahead.

"Depends on who is asking."

He turned to me and stuck out his hand. "Steve Rogers."

I looked at him wearily. He was not Johnny. He was not Johnny. "Andi Wayne." I shook his hand and turned forward. "What do you want?"

He gently raised his shoulders. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is looking for you. Says you haven't shown up to work in a while."

"I don't work for Nick Fury." I grumbled.

"Fury isn't the one looking for you."

"If Natasha Romanov is looking for me, tell her I know what salon she goes to."

He gave a slight shake of his head. "It's not Romanov."

I turned to him. "Listen, buddy, this whole guessing game is getting old, so let's just skip to the end."

Steve took another sip. "Tony's looking for you. He got a call from your brother. Says you've been missing for a couple weeks."

I shrugged. "I've been busy." I grabbed a handful of pretzels and shoved them in my mouth.

Without speaking, but noticing my effort, the bartender put another Guinness in front of me. I nodded 'thank you' to him.

"Well apparently they don't care that much. They want you back."

"No." The first sip of a Guinness is always so heavy, so bitter.

"Why not?"

I gave him a glare. "Because it's none of your fucking business."

"Hey," He finally turned to me. "Can you watch your mouth, please?"

My eyebrow raised as I looked over at him. "Sorry, Dad." More heavy and bitter liquid. "You wouldn't believe me anyway."

"Try me." He faced me completely and expectantly.

"Are you serious? Can't you just leave me alone?" Stay strong, Andi. You can handle this yourself.

He would not budge. Steve Rogers just stared until I broke.

I groaned. "Ugh, fine. But I'm telling you, you're not going to understand."

Again, he said nothing.

"Okay," I finally turned to him. "You want to know so bad? Here. Four years ago, a man from the future stole my ex-boyfriend's daughter because she couldn't control her mutant powers, and in doing so, erased her from existence, so anyone who might have known her wouldn't know her. My memory couldn't be erased because I mind melded with an alien who had extraordinary telepathic powers and it wouldn't affect him. During that time, my ex-boyfriend and I got back together and he proposed to me a couple weeks ago. Seems great, right? Well, the bad news is, the morning after he proposed, I wake up and find that he's not in my home, which we had been sharing for three years. None of his stuff was there, no pictures of us, there was nothing. Now, I start calling and screaming his name. And I go to my kitchen and find his older self, from about thirty years into the future, and he finally clues me in. His daughter had returned in the middle of the night, and everything had been restored. Everything was where it was supposed to be."

Steve waited a moment before speaking. "Does the daughter remember anything?" His voice was barely a whisper.

My head shook. "No. They put her in a cryostasis until they could figure out how to control her powers, before she destroyed herself and everything around her. She's still a baby."

Another moment passed. "What have you been doing the past couple weeks?"

"Mostly drinking and eating pretzels. I haven't gotten drunk yet, but I'm hoping to real soon." I grabbed another handful of pretzels and brought them to my mouth.

A small smirk played at the edges of Steve's mouth. "Now that problem is one I can relate to." He took another swig from is glass.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" I emptied my glass again.

"Oh it's the worst." He chuckled, which caused me to let out an almost non-existent smile, which I quickly swallowed. "Uh, can I ask you a clarifying question?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Those people from the future," he began. "Do they visit you a lot?"

I shrugged again. "Sometimes. Depends on where I am in my life, what I'm doing. I've been at this for weeks, doing nothing, so I haven't really given them a cause to come here and 'fix' me."

"Wow, that's really annoying."

Clearly. "Yes, yes it is." I agreed with him.

I was about to signal for another round, but Steve interrupted. "How long has it been since you've had real food?"

"Four days." The bartender said as he took away out empty glasses and the pretzels.

"Has it been four days already?" I mused to myself.

"Yeah." The barman said gruffly.

"Well, time flies when you're being miserable." I took out my wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing if you get out of my bar right now." He snapped.

"No need to be snippy." I laid down two twenties. "I'll be back later."

He shook his head. "Nope. We'll be closed."

My eyebrow raised again. "On a Saturday night?"

"It's Tuesday." The bartender said gruffly.

"Touché." I swiftly turned and began leaving.

Steve hopped off his stool. "Hey, wait up."

I ignored him and just kept walking.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"This is the best food I have ever tasted." Steve gushed over the large basket of French fries drenched in gravy and cheese curds. "What is it called again?"

"Poutine." I kept my smile hidden behind my burger.

We ended up at a small greasy spoon a couple blocks down from the bar.

Steve took another bite. "Oh my goodness, this is so good."

"Who would have thought that Captain America would love Canada so much?" I mumbled to myself.

He rolled his eyes. "I heard that." He took another bite. "What are you doing up here anyway?"

I picked at some of my fries. "Stratford Shakespeare Festival. It was a couple weeks ago. I came up here to see it, and I just never left." Cold and bubbly pop passed through my lips.

"Why not?" He asked between mouthfuls.

I shrugged. "Going home means that I have to face the fact that…in this reality…Johnny never loved me. Not like that, at least." I watched as the ice cubes circled around the straw I was absent mindedly moving to try and occupy my mind. Why did it have to be true?

"But what about your brother?" He asked, wiping his hands on a napkin. "Couldn't you tell him this? I mean, if you explain it, he'll probably understand-"

"My brother would understand better than most." I interrupted him. "But I can't go back into my house. Not yet. I can't go into that house and pretend like he never lived there." I unconsciously started taking deep breaths. Keep calm, Andi. Breathe.

Steve halted his eating and looked at me. "Well, is there somewhere else you can go?"

I took a deep breath. "There are so many places I could go, but the problem is: how am I supposed to explain what I'm feeling? Who is actually going to believe me? I mean, only like, three people know that sometimes people from the future show up to talk to me, and like…what would they say? You're a stranger, it doesn't really matter that you think I'm crazy-"

"Which I don't." He interrupted me.

But I continued as if I did not hear him. "But I can't tell these people who have known me a third of my life that I've been visited by future versions of myself and them. And I've been visited multiple times so that they could tell me what to do with my life."

He gave a slight nod. "That does sound a little crazy." He then looked and saw my eyes filled with tears and pain and confusion.

"But if I do go to them," I continued. "They're going to ask why I am depressed like this. And how am I supposed to tell them that a future version of my boyfriend of almost six years, suddenly has a child now that is not mine, and nobody seems to remember that we ever dated? How?"

And then Steve spoke without thinking. "You could come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with me. People there tend not to ask questions."

I snorted. "The people there make up the questions that get asked."

"What?"

I took the last bite of my food and motioned for the waitress. "I've been at S.H.I.E.L.D. before. All they do is ask questions. And if you don't answer, they find out for themselves. It is not a good place if you want to keep a secret."

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked, clearly confused. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is all about keeping secrets."

"Right." I gave a single nod. "The agency is about keeping secrets and using them. But do you really think anyone that works there is allowed to have secrets of their own?"

"I have secrets from them." Steve defended as the waitress dropped off the check.

Another snort escaped from me. "Are you really sure about that Captain? Because I would've thought a man from the World War II-era, the time when espionage basically began, would know better." I pulled out some cash from my wallet and paid the bill. "Enjoy the rest of your poutine. I have more drinking to do."

And I left the diner, without Steve in tow.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"I want you to find her." Batman sat with J'onn J'onzz in the cafeteria of the Justice League Watch Tower. "It has been weeks with no word. Tony even has someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. looking for her. But you have a direct line into her head."

The Martian Manhunter was getting angry. He kept being pestered by people. People who wanted him to use his abilities for very wrong reasons, reasons he did not understand. "I will not use the mental connection that Andi and I have to locate her. She does not want to be found."

Batman gritted his teeth. "This is my sister we're talking about, J'onn. She has not spoken to me in weeks. She fell off the face of the earth and you're not going to help me find her?"

"Looking into her mind to discover her whereabouts is an invasion of privacy." J'onn defended himself calmly. "One that I promised her many years ago to not violate unless she was in danger. She is not in danger, so I will not enter her mind to learn her location."

"Damnit, J'onn!" Batman slammed his fists on the table, causing other members of the League to turn their heads and notice them. "I need to speak with her!"

Keep it together, the alien coached himself. "Then I suggest you wait for her to call you. Andi is grieving, and she wants to be alone."

"Grieving? What is she upset about?" Batman was starting to let loose his 'voice'.

J'onn restrained himself. "It is not my place to disclose that information."

"Well what can you tell me?!"

"Tone it down, Bruce." J'onn's voice was low, warning.

He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, J'onn. It's just, ever since that Johnny Storm's wedding, Andi has been very fragile, and I've been worrying about her more than usual lately…" He trailed off, seemingly lost or confused by what he just said.

J'onn leaned forward slightly, "And, how long ago was this wedding?" Due to his high level of telepathy, J'onn was also unaffected by the return of Anita and the time-rewrite that came along with her.

Bruce gave a small shrug. "About a year ago. His daughter's a couple months old now." The Martian nodded silently, taking in this new information. "I just," Bruce continued. "I thought Andi was doing better."

"Considering the circumstances," J'onn treaded lightly. "I think she is handling this better than she has other things in the past."

Bruce shook his head. "She's never been gone this long before. And she always lets me know that she's going for a while, but she didn't this time."

"Bruce." J'onn stopped him before his temper flared back up. "Things have happened that you do not know about. That nobody knows about except for her and me. I wish I could tell you, but I promised her that I would not. Trust me when I say, that this is extraordinarily painful for her, and she is trying her best to cope."

"But-" Bruce began.

"Stop." The Martian interrupted him, and he took a deep breath to calm himself again. "This pain is mental, Bruce. And as you know, I feel everything she does. It is difficult to concentrate on my work, and it is not easy to answer the same questions over and over again because all I want is to stop feeling like this!" As he talked, J'onn's tempo quickened and he took several deep breaths, but they did not work.

"Okay, okay." Bruce yielded. Seeing J'onn like that finally helped him understand. "I get it. You are both in a really shitty place, and I promise I will not ask about it anymore."

Hearing that seemed to calm the alien a bit. "Thank you."

"And…I'm sorry that I never asked how you were doing. Sometimes I take your connection with her for granted, and that's pretty shitty, so I'm sorry." Bruce kept his voice low to make sure no one else heard him.

But J'onn heard him, and a very small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Thank you, Bruce. Your apology is very much appreciated."

Bruce returned with a smirk. "Don't expect another one."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Bzzzzt.

Bzzzzt.

Bzzzzt.

Bzzzzt.

Bzzzzt.

Bruce's name dimmed again and my phone stopped vibrating. He's been calling every day at five-thirty for a week. He left a voicemail the first call, just telling me that he did not entirely understand the situation that I am in, but that he would be available if I wanted to talk to him. He must have been trying to keep himself calm because he never spoke that formal with me.

"Did your brother call again?" Steve asked. He had followed me to another bar and forced me to leave occasionally. He even paid for a hotel room and would stay awake until I fell asleep to make sure that I got some rest. It is weird, S.H.I.E.L.D. almost never employs genuinely nice people.

"Yup." I said from beneath the covers. Today was not a day to go to the bar, it was a day to lay in bed and move as little as possible.

"You going to answer him this time?" Steve asked. When I did not answer, he turned on the television and flipped through some channels until he found a show he recognized. "Are you going to go outside today?" He asked gently, sitting on his bed and looking at the lump I created on my bed.

"Probably not." I admitted, sliding my phone underneath my pillow so I no longer had to look at myself in the black screen.

He just nodded. "Okay. Do you know what you want for dinner?"

I pulled my knees closer into my chest. "I'm not hungry."

Again, Steve nodded. "Well, I'm going to bring you back something anyway." He stood up and went to the door. "I'll be back soon, and I'm going to lock you in, okay?"

"Okay." Echoed from across the room.

"Okay." He answered back, shutting the door behind him.

I took a deep, shaky breath. Finally. I haven't been alone since Steve showed up. I mean, he has been nothing but nice to me, supportive even. But I am pretty sure that he was given orders to stick to me like glue once he did find me. Inching down the comforter, I peered out at the dimly lit room. He left the TV on, but muted. Probably to give me something to do if I felt like crawling out of the covers. M*A*S*H was on. I smiled very slightly. Of course he would pick a show about war. I watched in silence for a few minutes, but my smile quickly faded when I saw BJ Hunnicutt lying on the ground, crying, and drinking.

Ah shit. I turned the sound on.

"…I can see him standing there, holding her hand, laughing. I see Peg smiling…wearing that perfume she wears. I can see him giving Erin the present I sent for her. Touching her hair. Getting the hug I should've gotten!"

Keep it together, Andi.

"Radar's home, Hawk, I should be glad for him. But I'm not!"

Please keep it together. Please.

"I'm so torn up with envy I almost hate him!"

Stop rubbing your eyes, they hurt so much. Please stop, you're not hydrated enough to cry again.

"…I've been gone so long, Hawkeye. A lifetime. Erin's lifetime. Even if I go home tomorrow, I'll never get that back…"

I couldn't stop myself from rolling over and buried my face into a pillow. Was this even real? It feels real, but it didn't happen like this. This isn't right-No. This is right now. This is real now. What I remember never happened. It never happened. We never happened.

"It wasn't real." I mumbled into the pillow, trying to convince myself.

"Andrea Hojem of Earth…" A distorted woman's voice called. I turned over and saw my old Star Sapphire ring floating over to me.

I shook my head and backed away from the ring. "No." How did it get in here? I have not taken it out of the box underneath my bed since the Silver Lantern War.

"…You have great love in your heart." The woman's voice continued as the ring inched ever closer to me.

"No! No I don't!" I yelled, falling off the bed and crawling away toward the bathroom.

The ring did not want to hear my objections, and it was persistent. It backed me into a corner. "Andrea Hojem of Earth…" It repeated. "…You have great love in your heart."

"No I don't." I shook my head again, tears streaming down my face. "I really don't. Please don't do this."

But it was too late. The Star Sapphire ring found my finger, and once again I felt the overwhelming power flow through me. My brain was being soaked in the idea of love, fighting to squash the pain I was feeling. I felt like I was drowning. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't. I cou. I.

"Welcome to the Star Sapphires."

My body took in a jagged, involuntary breath. A coughing fit emerged, and I rolled over onto my stomach and let myself cough it out.

There was a faint knocking on the door. "Andi? Are you alright in there?"

Steve?

Another knock. "Andi? Can I come in?"

My eyes finally opened and I shook as I tried to crawl to the door. I almost made it when the door opened and Steve stared down at me in surprise.

"Are you alright?" He leaned over and started to stand me up. "Where did you get those clothes?"

My head drooped as I was being stood up, and the low-cut pink leotard with a large starburst on it and silver sleeves, and the pair of thigh high pink high heeled boots I was wearing made my heart skip a beat.

"Gettheringoff." I mumbled, trying to find my footing.

"What?" He stood me up, not noticing the ring on my finger emitting a violet glow.

"Ring!" I got out. It glowed brighter at the mention. "Ring off!"

He looked at my hands to find whatever ring I was talking about and his eyes widened. "It-it's melted to your finger."

"Oh God, no!" I reached over Steve's arms to try and get it off myself, but I was too late.

"Transporting to Zamaron." The woman's voice returned, and my whole body was covered in this violet light.

"NO!"

Steve heard my cry, but he was blinded by the light. "Andi!" He called for me, but there was no answer. When the light finally dimmed, he was alone.