Ivy here.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

I twisted around, ready to defend myself. "Tony?" I breathed.

"Hi. Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure yet."

I followed him around the corner to his car.

"What happened?" asked Tony as I got in.

I couldn't tell him that Bucky was involved. "I… wandered around for a while. Didn't know what to do." After I escaped.

He pulled away into the street. "You should be dead by now. Falling off that helicarrier, getting beaten up the way you have been."

"Yeah. Probably."

I eventually fell asleep in the back, feeling safe for the first time in a long time.

I woke up to a door hinge squeaking.

I sat upright. I was in a strange room, lying on a bed.

"Sorry!" said Ariel.

"What's going on? Where am I?" I asked.

"You're at one of Mr. Stark's houses. He had one a few hours away from Washington. We're all here. Everyone's alive."

I sighed with relief and lay back down. "Did you ever find out if you got that part?"

"Yeah. I talked to Mom and Dad on the phone. I auditioned for a bunch of stuff, and I got offered a role. Funny, how important that seemed at the time. I mean, it still is, but… things feel different now." She rubbed her throat. "I will be playing Liesl in a production of Sound of Music in a few months."

"Congratulations. I knew you'd get it."

"You apparently knew better than I did."

Everyone came into my room over the next few hours and filled me in on the details – about how there had been HYDRA agents and they'd had to leave the hideout suddenly. Even Pepper came in and asked me how I was doing.

Tony came in last.

"How did you know where we were?" I asked.

"I heard Capsicle got himself arrested in DC. Figured you weren't far away."

"I could have been anywhere."

"Luck."

I sensed he was lying and raised my eyebrows at him. "I suppose that's also how you found Ariel and the others?"

"I put tracking devices in those shrapnel earrings. Figured if you ever got in trouble and you had them, I could follow. I just wish you'd been wearing them when you went missing."

Somehow, I wasn't surprised. And I was too tired to be angry. "Thanks. I guess you've probably got people banging down the door wanting to know about me, now everything's out?"

He nodded. "Happy and Pepper scared off six reporters off just this morning. It could have been worse, though. Your name and address weren't in the files, and only a few pictures, from when you were younger. You look a bit different now. Your friends weren't mentioned anywhere. People know you exist, but they don't necessarily know who you are."

Ariel's secret was still a secret. Which meant Agent Barton probably didn't know.

"I wish you could meet your brother," I said one afternoon while she was visiting with me.

She nodded. "But it's probably better this way. Less dangerous. For everyone. Do you even know what happened?"

I shook my head. "I asked the Doctor. He said he'd 'look into it'. I haven't heard back from him since."

As if on cue, the door swung open.

The Doctor. In a bowtie and a Stetson.

"Ivy, there you are! You have no idea how hard it is to get past the security here – well, it actually isn't that hard if you're a Time Lord, but you know what I mean. And this is Ariel? Perfect! I have news for you!"

Ariel stared at him. "This is the Doctor?"

"Yeah."

"Well, here's the thing. You remember, you met Ivy in Kindergarten? Your first day?"

Ariel nodded.

"Well, that was Ivy's first day of contact with anything that was from outside of this universe. The energy reacted badly and erased some of what made you important – your relationship to Hawkeye."

"Why didn't it erase it completely?"

"Because it was too big of a fact to erase completely. That's why those comics exist – you are in a few Marvel comics from different universes. And why your mitochrondrial DNA tests show it up."

"Comics?" I asked.

"Mito what?" Ariel just stared at him. Science had never been her strong point – especially biology.

"Mitochondrial DNA. The mitochondria are organelles which make energy. In you humans, anyhow. Your biology is absolutely fascinating! Anyhow, you inherit the DNA in those from your mother. You both had the same mother, hence, the same DNA."

"Okay…"

"Anyhow, the reaction destroyed it, mostly, but not completely. Which is why you still know."

"Thank you," said Ariel. "What are the odds? The sister of Hawkeye goes to Kindergarten with the universe traveler…"

"It's not chance. Ivy's body gives off energy from between dimensions. It draws activity from those dimensions toward her. Hence, why she managed to crawl to Captain America's apartment in particular, why the Tesseract just happened to fall out of a plane while she was nearby, that sort of thing."

"Thanks."

"Well, I've got to go before anyone sees me. But Ivy? I'm going to see you very soon. And I'd like to say that I'm sorry. In advance."

Before either of us could say a word, he ran out the door.

That was yesterday. Today was full of phone calls and explanations – most of which, admittedly, left out little details. We haven't reached my parents yet, but I did send them out of town, so that's no surprise.

We also decided to make this recording. Before I go home and face everything. Miranda's going to send it off as soon as I wrap this up. So… yeah.

Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

Don't worry, it's not over yet? There's still plenty of discoveries and events going to happen yet...