So I ended up in Coulson's office.
"You don't show up unless stuff's about to happen," he said, sitting down behind the desk. "You said that after the Battle of New York."
I stayed standing. "As far as I know, that is true, yes. Though I don't exactly pick when and where I'll pop up. Did anyone ever read the information I gave you before the battle of New York?"
"Not until it was over, no. There were a lot of disagreements over what to do with you. A few people thought that, to allow someone to die like you did, you'd have to be mentally unstable. But when the entire team of Avengers told the director they wanted you to go back home, we decided it would be best not to argue."
"But you weren't there for that, were you?"
"No, I was in Tahiti, recovering. It's a magical place, Tahiti. You knew I was going to survive, didn't you? Did they announce I was going to be in another movie?"
I hadn't known at the time, but decided not to say so. "Not a movie. A TV show."
The look on his face was priceless. But he quickly recovered himself. "So… what's going to happen?"
"It shouldn't be anything that anyone here can't handle."
"Is that reasoning the same reasoning you used when you allowed an alien invasion to occur in New York City?"
I inhaled and exhaled slowly. "As I've said before, I don't think it's a wise idea to tell people what their futures are."
"Is it also a good idea to let good people be killed? People have been killed because of you. The people in the attack on the Helicarrier, the attack on New York, the Mandarin attacks… you could have prevented all of them. I died, almost."
"I feel that the benefits outweigh the risks, Agent Coulson, and I don't think it's right to implicate someone for something they haven't even done yet." Which was why I didn't tell him about Skye being a mole for the Rising Ride. Yes, I know Skye's probably going to betray the team somehow, at some point. But does that mean I should take away her choice to do so? "And yes, Agent Coulson, I personally have seen exactly what affects my decisions can have on others. Do you think I like this? Do you think, for a second, that I would make that choice if I thought there was any other way I could do this?"
"Did you ever stop to think who might get hurt along the way? Miss Williams, please remember that you are sixteen. Did you ever think that maybe the decision might be best made by someone with more life experience? I've heard about the World Security Council's reaction to finding out what you did and trust me, they aren't happy."
"I didn't make this choice to make the World Security Council happy. I made it because I wanted to do the right thing. But the right thing isn't always popular, is it? And it's so hard to tell what the right thing is sometimes," I said, sitting down. "I could save lives by telling you what's going to happen – or I can run the risk of even more people dying by doing the same thing. What would you do?"
There was absolute silence for a moment.
"I don't know," said Coulson.
There was another moment of silence.
He stood up again. "I respect your choice. I just wanted to make absolutely sure you were aware of the possible consequences. There are people who don't respect your choice, and we can't keep them off forever. I'm surprised we've managed it this long. We should be at our destination tomorrow. We can have someone take you home."
"What are we going to tell my parents this time?"
"You wandered off, got separated from the group and didn't leave with them. Your friend Jack has already agreed to help us with it."
I opened my mouth to ask how in the world they knew about him, then decided if they were keeping such a close eye on me, they'd probably known about everything that happened during Iron Man 3 – including my having to tell Jack. "Thank you."
"You know, when you first told me what was happening – when I first met you – I didn't believe you. I didn't know how you'd found out all the things you had, but I thought you must either have been a good liar or be crazy."
"I don't blame you. I thought that I'd gone crazy for a while too." I still am, in fact, wondering if perhaps this is all something that my imagination conjures up - it's so bizarre I find it almost impossible to believe, even though I know it's true.
"But… after everything that's happened… I can believe anything now."
So could I.
