PART ONE: REDEFINING

Earth 312

Pre-Invasion

Carly found herself walking up a familiar trail. She couldn't stop crying, much to her own disdain, constantly wiping her nose and eyes with crumpled tissues. She miserably swatted the mosquitos away, the thought of turning back never crossing her mind.

She was a Stark and by golly Starks do not give in. They are stubborn and immature and downright annoying, but they are not cavers. So she trudged on, barefoot and scared, headed up the worn path behind her house—prison- and into the trees.

Tony burst through the doors to the facility and power-walked the entire way to the conference room. When he was there he threw that door open too and was met with grim faces and angry words.

"Tony, what the hell, man?" Sam was the first to greet him, followed by choruses of similar complaints. Tony nonchalantly raised an eyebrow behind his darkened frames, pointing to where Sam sat, feet propped up and arms crossed.

"Get your feet off my table, Wilson. I don't know how many times I have to tell you –"

"Uh, Tony, this isn't really the time—" Peter stood up from his chair, but Tony still saw him as a kid.

"He's got to learn, Parker, it isn't my fault he doesn't have any manners. I guess Cap didn't raise him right." It was typical of him to do this, to hide behind his words. He'd be attacked by all sides but he wouldn't let it show that it bothered him, no he'd just instigate further. It was meaningless – it took no effort. It allowed his mind to wander, close off any loose ends and focus on the now. The more words that came spewing out of his mouth, the more time he had to get his shit together. Right now, he needed a lot of time.

"You think this is a joke?" Sharon obviously still wasn't used to him. Tony couldn't recall them spending much time together – Pepper wasn't really a fan, which was funny because Tony could point out many similarities.

He put on an angry face. "No, I think he needs to get his feet off my damn table!" He was met with several groans and eye-rolls.

"Man, come on!" Sam slapped his hand on his leg and glared Tony down, making him crack a smile. They were so easy.

"Sam, just do as he says." Cap spoke up from the corner, his chin resting heavily in his hand. It irked Tony that he still looked like he did the day they met; young, spry, a natural leader. The rest of them had aged more than anyone cared to admit, but he and Thor, man they just stayed the same. Sam rolled his eyes and lowered his feet. "Tony, we've been calling you."

"Yea, I know," Tony said flatly, walking around the room. "I was in Paris, you know, enjoying some time with the Missus." He turned and pointed to Steve, pursing his lips. "I'm sorry, are you bored?" He mimicked resting his chin in his palm, confronting the rest of the room. "What gives?" He loved the way everyone's eyes followed him.

Steve wasn't pleased with his antics but he did look around and slowly sat up. "If you know we were calling you, why didn't you pick up?"

Tony gave a shrug. "Got tired of it constantly going off so I—" he snapped—"threw it out the window. Has anyone else noticed how annoying those things are?" He stopped circling the table and picked his spot between Nat and Strange. He turned to her.

"Hi, how are you?"

"Tony, I really don't think this is the time." Her voice sounded flat and cautioning, but Tony could easily recognize the amusement dancing in her dangerous eyes.

He nodded to her. "Right, right, my bad." He looked over his shoulder at Stephen. "Nice facial hair." Peter had to hide his laugh in a cough.

"Tony, this is important." Tony gave a sharp nod of his head and spun around to face Steve. The guy never did have a sense of humor.

"Hence why I'm here," he smiled innocently, watching the divide slowly spread amongst the group; those that were growing increasingly infuriated with him, and those with hidden smiles and unknown need for his tomfoolery. Tony had a knack for causing rifts.

"Tony." Boy, they sure loved to say his name. He recognized Stephen's voice and turned to face him. "We're ready."

And then so was he. Immediately his face fell, his hand coming up to slowly remove his sunglasses and reveal his tired eyes. His vexatious demeanor shattered away in broken pieces as he rubbed at his jaw and felt his shoulders slump ever so slightly.

"How soon?" It was always a question of time. Back when he made his first arc reactor; how long would it power his body?—when it started to kill him; how long until it finished the job? The human species was conditioned at birth to fear only two things; falling and loud noises. Everything else they learned to fear based on environment, but Tony often questioned if the fear of time itself might be a third primal instinct. No one would ever have enough time. No matter how they planned, prepared or organized, upon the arrival of death they would always be left wanting more.

Stephan got a taste of what it was like to be timeless—back when he had the Eye of Agamotto and everything was simpler. He would just carelessly – because that's what they were back then– insert himself into time and announce how to conquer their current demon. But then Thanos had come and they were all so cocky and then they were all so desperate.

No one came out of that undisturbed. They had lost so much family; because that's what they were. No one lost friends or acquaintances, they lost brothers and sisters. Tony lost his sense of security and Stephen lost control when the Time Stone disappeared.

"T'Challa's installing the rest of the Vibranium as we speak." Steve's words seemed to trigger the finality of what was about to happen. The whole group became more fidgety, countless glances down and baited breath.

"And Thor? Where is he?" Tony tried to be the least phased. He'd done some pretty moronic things in his lifetime including flying into a wormhole to blow up an alien invasion, so what the hell was going through one little portal? The more Tony thought about it, the more he realized they had the same stakes; he might never come back. The only difference was that it weighed on him more now that he had Carly.

"Loki's spawn escaped again, so he's out looking for the little weasel." Clint gave a light smirk. Tony raised his eyebrows.

"He brought the kid?"

Steve looked at him with sympathy. "We all did. Thor didn't think Ozur should be left out and we all agreed."

Tony forced a smile. "Right." He rubbed at his face again, wanting nothing more than to rest his eyes for a bit. "Well, we're all set. Go say your goodbyes; I'll meet you at the entrance." Everyone seemed to get the clue – well, everyone except for Natasha. They filed out of the room slowly, knowing it would be the last time they would see each other for a while. Natasha stayed sitting even as Tony let out a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, clearly trying not to become emotional.

"Where's Carly?" He knew the question was coming. Quite frankly, he was glad it came from Natasha if it had to be asked at all. He puffed his cheeks and tried to give her a lively grin, but it turned out more sad than anything.

"Ah, you know, being rebellious, doing everything I would have done at her age." He pictured it; his mother and father leaving for the airport, the last time he saw them before their fatal crash. Before their murder. He had been just as audacious, just as spiteful as Carly was. And, oh, how he regretted it for every moment afterword.

A lonely silence filled the room, Tony staring blankly at the ceiling as Natasha left him alone with his thoughts. She had become the team's support system, oddly knowing just how to be the right source of comfort during each's time of need. She had known Clint the longest, of course, but then came Tony, and with him she learned that for a man who liked to talk; what he really needed was someone to sit in silence with. She got up and walked past him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Go get her, Tony. You know you'll regret it if you don't." He shook his head.

"We're ready to go. Our problems will have to wait until I get back."

"Thor's not even here yet. Besides, you're Tony Stark." She patted his shoulder and left the room.

He tried to imagine it, what would happen if he ignored what his very being was begging him to do and let the last conversation he had with his daughter be a fight. Could he really leave her with the impression that he hated her?

"God dammit, she's right," he said to an empty room, standing up and leaving the premises.

The path opened up to a small pasture on a cliff overlooking miles of trees below. Instantly the fear melted away and Carly sunk into the small wooden bench with sob. She had used all her tissues on the walk up and thus resorted to wiping her nose on her sweatshirt sleeve, sniffling and sucking in breathes like an infant.

Her hand traced the bench in old habit, back and forth over where Tony had carved their names into it the very first day they had moved here. She remembered it vividly because she was reliving it now; she had thrown a tantrum about living so far away from society and stormed away from the house. Her and Pepper had both been upset by the move, but it was the ever so worried Tony who found her lying face down in the grass, crying and refusing to budge. So he had picked her up and carried her back down to the house where he told Pepper to order a pizza and then he was gone, back down to the workshop to construct his next idea of what safety met.

But it had turned out differently that time. Tony had resurfaced after dinner, calling her sweetly to him and smiling. He had looked so foreign to her then, and even now she wondered if her memory was constructing the very way he had looked, detail for detail, or if it was too outrageous of a thing to even process. Her dad had been lighter that night, free of whatever daily burdens made his shoulders droop so low. Carly had drawn a picture of him the next morning – Tony floating in the air as they all watched in awe below – but he wasn't home. Along with so many other drawings, Carly ripped it up and told herself that she had imagined it. Over the years she told herself that very thing so many times that she started to believe it.

Tony brought her back up the makeshift path, telling her what a good find it was. He didn't yell at her for running away, didn't scold her or tell her to be careful. On the cliff he didn't worry. He was happy, the genuine kind of happy that erased him famous smirk and put a real smile there instead. The real kind of happy that made his eyes crinkle and his words sweet, the real kind of happy that made him construct a wooden bench, a simple surprise for his beautiful daughter, and carve their names into it under the stars. The cliff became a magical place then; a place where Tony was king and Carly was princesses; and Pepper was their queen.

They would have picnics here once a week, every week and her and Tony would race and be carefree and this was where she could study her father, and his weird, happy face, and try to commit it to memory before it stopped. Before everything stopped like she knew it would. She grew up; she wasn't a little kid anymore. Pepper became distant and the business became her world. Tony's face stopped being happy when he came up here, yelling at her to get back inside. So he had stopped coming, and then so did she because it had lost its magic and now it was dark and broken like everything else.

"That's a beautiful memory," Carly's head whipped about as part of the rotted bench gave way under her hand, the hair on the back of her neck rising in alarm.

"Who's there?" She called, rising to her feet and realizing how cold and numb they were against the hard ground.

Something moved in the bushes and she jumped, raging terror cursing through her. A shadow stepped out, a tall lanky boy with an ageless face and haunted eyes.

Roy ducked his head out of the door and whistled to the others. Just in case it wasn't obvious, he called out. "All clear!"

"Thanks, dimwit," a low female voice answered him as Jamie turned the corner, the others in tow. He gave a brief salute and held the door open as they filed in, locking it behind them for good measure. He stood watch in case the adults figured out what they were planning and waited for the others to get over the shock of the room's contents.

Sasha whistled. "It's bigger than I expected." Shay stared at it with slight fear and grabbed his hand for comfort.

Jamie tapped her foot impatiently. "Come on, they're going to be on to us soon. Let's get this show on the road."

Grant was wide-eyed. He still wasn't over the events of the night and the portal machine certainly wasn't helping. He placed a firm hand on the cold metal, shivering lightly.

"Relax, T'Challa and his crew just left. All we have to do is step through and ta-da, we're on another Earth in another dimension." Roy gave a wild grin. From the first moment he found out the old timer's plans and told the others, he wasn't even fazed. Quite the opposite he was excited, never having a doubt in his mind that he needed to be the one to go through. He would be ready for whatever danger awaited.

"All I have to do is turn the thing off when you get through, right?" Grant asked from his dazed spot next to the colossal machine, his blue eyes wide as he tried to process it all.

"It couldn't be simpler," Roy stated, "I've been watching them put it together. All you gotta do is flip a feel switches and stand back. Even you couldn't mess it up." His grin was sly as he glanced out the door window again, catching Sasha's eye and winking.

Grant didn't seem to hear him. He had turned to his sister and begged her with his doe eyes. "Don't go." Jamie rolled her eyes in embarrassment and glared at the younger male.

"Grant, the decision has already been made," she reminded him firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now don't be a baby and let Roy show you how to operate this thing." She nodded over to where Roy stood by the controls, his place by the door being taken by Shay and her husband. Grant turned back to her.

"He already knows how to work it, let him stay back instead!" He didn't want to give up; he couldn't stop feeling this emptiness in the pit of his stomach warning him that something bad was going to happen. "Let me come with you," his pleads where that of a whiny boy, not that Jamie ever saw him as anything but her annoying little brother. She gave out a sharp breath of a sigh.

"Grant, enough. What's done is done and you're not coming with! Besides, as much as we all hate to admit it – Roy is the most powerful of us here. We'd be stupid not to take him." She flipped her brown locks over a shoulder, giving him a small shove away from her.

Roy shot them finger-guns.

"So you just spend your days traveling around with Thor because you have no idea where your father is?" They were sitting shoulder to shoulder in the grass, Carly hugging her knees to her chest and Ozur leaning back on his hands.

He made a face and nodded. "More or less, yea," he agreed, taking a glance at her. "No one ever told you any of this?"

Carly gave a short laugh. "No one ever tells me anything." Her bitter voice resonated deep with him as he gave a low chuckle.

"Yes, me either." He tapped his temple, sharing a brief look with her, "Which is why I have to resort to reading minds."

Carly's eyebrows furrowed. "But you said you have to touch someone to read their mind," she reminded him of what he had told her only minutes earlier and suddenly became very conscious of their shoulders pressing together.

"Yes but you were sitting exactly where I was moments before. It took great concentration, but I could feel a thought forming in your mind and I tugged at the loose string, so to speak." She nodded her head in understanding, though she couldn't begin to.

"Oh," she said lamely, "cool."

Tony's driving was rather reckless. Screw it, he thought as he blew another red light, they can send me the bill. There was only one thing on his mind as he stepped on the accelerator, honking at cars as he swerved around them. After his brief conversation with F.R.I.D.A.Y. and finding out that Carly wasn't at the house, he had gone mad with worry and all other cautions went out the window.

He thought he knew where she might be. He prayed she was where he thought she was but with everything that was going on and with his luck, God only knew.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed as he slammed on the breaks, veering into oncoming traffic and barely avoiding an accident. The tires spun on the asphalt and left dark trails as he sped away, trying the house number one last time.

"This one?" Roy wanted to smash his face into a blender. He pursed his lips and turned to Jamie who simply gave him a shrug.

"No," he groaned with strained words, "the one that says on." He pulled at the short strands of his platinum hair, knowing Grant was just stalling for time. He glanced back at Sasha who gave him a thumbs up signaling that the coast was still clear. But it wouldn't be for long.

"And then?" Roy asked impatiently.

"And then the portal opens and I flick the off switch when you're all through." Roy couldn't hold himself in anymore. His hand lashed out, striking Grant at the base of the skull.

"Roy!" Jamie scolded, holding back a laugh. Roy held his hands up in apology and glared daggers at Grant.

He rubbed the back of his head, dejectedly giving Roy the answer he was looking for. "And then I go over to the control panels and make sure the levels are reading well and everything's going fine. When that's finished I activate the portal and when it's stable I give you guys the all clear. You all go through; I stay behind and close it when you're all safely there. When the adults get here I'm left to explain what stupid thing we just did and they'll figure out how to retrieve you so you can report back what happened and everyone can properly work out what to do next." He gave a sigh, his gaze wandering over to his sister.

"Be careful over there."

Tony pulled into the driveway and was ready to launch himself up the trail just as two figures appeared from it. He was confused to hear laughs and giggles as he rolled down his window.

"Carly?" They stopped talking and slowed to a halt, but she was spotted. Her red hair was as wild as her eyes, her mouth open in shock.

"Dad?" She took a step forward and looked behind her at Ozur who gave a shrug, but he looked slightly bothered.

"Get in the car," he called to her and his voice rose again as they both started walking. Carly was always amazed at how quickly the anger seeped into his words. "Not you Space Boy, just her, thanks. I'll call Thor and let him know where he can find you."

"You've got to be kidding me," Carly snapped, coming to a halt beside her new friend. Ozur didn't say a word, only looked less than impressed and took a seat on the house's porch, resting his head against a pillar. Carly bit her lip and ran a hand through her fiery locks, standing defiantly next to the house.

"Get in the car!" Tony's warning voice quickly turned demanding and Carly huffed. Hadn't he had enough of this tonight? For a lifetime? She was prepared to stand her ground again and refuse, claim that the only way she would get in that car would be over her dead body – though an argument could have been made for kicking and screaming – when Ozur decided to see that moment as his time to speak up.

"Go on," he urged her, a gentle smile crossing his features, "What if it's important?"

"It's never important," she grumbled as she trudged forward and reached for the door handle, because, what if it was? She sat in the back.

They rode in uncomfortable silence for a long time. Carly recognized the drive to the facility easily from where she sat with her face pressed against the window, her head thumping against it every time they drove over something in the road. They were more than halfway there before Tony decided to speak up. He had been looking forward and giving the wheel a death grip since they had left.

"Are you trying to kill me, kid?" Carly gave a loud groan and fell over in her seat. The fabric was cool against her skin as she let the silence soak in, but she knew he would just bring it up again.

"Well obviously it's not working," her words were muffled by the soft leather of the seats but Tony heard her anyway.

"I see you've met Loki's son, and you seem to like him – go figure." His sudden change in subject shocked her.

She sprang up so fast that her head hit the roof. "What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded, wide-eyed and furious.

"Don't think I haven't notice that you've got a type. I mean, I heard girls marry their fathers but I never thought I was that bad."

"Dad!" She didn't know what to do or what was going on. How could he be so aggravating and embarrassing at the same time? She paused. "Wait, are you laughing?" He was! It was just a light chuckle, Carly didn't even know if he meant to or not. He certainly didn't acknowledge it.

"So, we're running away from home now?" He wouldn't give up but at least he was beginning to calm down. Stark's don't cave, she remembered. Maybe that was a bad thing, maybe they should.

"I don't want to talk about it." It was new territory. She eyed him warily, wondering what his reaction might be. She could imagine them all. 'Don't give me sarcasm, kid.' 'What, are you dying or something?' 'Well too damn bad because you don't really have a choice.' What she didn't expect was for Tony to cave as well. It's like the domino effect.

"Fine." That one short, beautiful word nearly gave her a heart attack. She opened and closed her mouth, staring intensely at the back of his head and she came to a simple conclusion; for the first time in her life they had ran out of thing to say. They had pretty much covered it all – sure they could word it differently, or maybe they hadn't outwardly said it and it definitely wasn't over because it never would be, but the yelling and screaming and fighting was over for now. And then, because if miracles were already happening what was another one?

Laughter. Her dad was actually laughing, not big and loud like he used to and definitely not with much gusto but it sure was contagious.

"If pepper where here she'd be pissed." Was that what was so funny? Carly looked at the empty seat in front of her and imagined her mother sitting in it, legs crossed, lips pressed together, the blistering fires of hell trapped in her blue eyes.

"She'd tell us to knock it off," Carly decided, her own laugh bubbling up under her skin and suddenly she burst like a balloon. Tony watched her from the rearview mirror, his quiet chuckles fading into a gentle smile.

"I'm sorry, kiddo." His words cut through her laughter like a beam of hope. She caught his gaze in the mirror and matched his calm small.

"Yea, Dad. Me too."

And just like that they were good. Nothing was forgotten but all was forgiven, at least for now and until it was brought up again, as they both knew it would be. But they were both done being mad, being so angry that the only thing they felt was white hot rage and disappointment. Tony was done making his daughter cry and Carly was done feeding the fire. They settled into a brief yet comfortable silence as Tony turned the radio on for a quiet backdrop.

"So, moving on to more important stuff; why aren't you wearing shoes?" Carly snorted as she glanced down at her dirt-ridden feet, wiggling her toes in entertainment.

"It's a long story," she told him, though it really wasn't. The waves had just settled and she didn't want to start anything up again. She struggled for something to keep the conversation going. "Why are we going to the facility?"

She was met with silence. For a moment she wondered if she had said something wrong, going so far as to even be mad at herself for ruining the moment. Having an actual conversation with her father, if she what had just happened even qualified as that, was something that happened once in a blue moon. She was sad to see it go so soon, but that slowly filtered into confusion when she saw he was back to gripping the wheel with an iron grasp, his face like hard stone and his eyes filled with raw emotion.

"We need to talk."

Everything was ready. Roy and Jamie were situated where the portal would open; itching for that sense of exhilarating danger that so often fueled them. Grant was ready to throw the switch as soon as Sasha and Shay joined the others. Sasha shared a glance with his wife, knowing how scared she could get but ever so grateful for her bravery. It was one of her many great qualities that he absolutely loved about her.

"Ready?" She whispered, her eyes searching his as he nodded to her.

"We're doing the right thing," he knew he was trying to convince himself. She had been so ready to volunteer to go with when Jamie had visited them and explained everything. She had took into consideration everything they had to lose and decided to go for it – that was how he knew it was the right decision. Sasha, if we're going to risk all of this, imagine what they've already lost to get to the point of sending out a distress signal across different dimensions.

He took a deep breath, casting one more glance out the door before turning and – he did a double take.

"Carly?" He walked back over to the door, looking through it and then back at all the expectant faces. "Carly's here," he said, bewilderment displayed clearly on his face.

Roy's head snapped up as everyone fell into quiet shock. Carly was just about the one person they hadn't expected.

"Well?" Roy demanded, shifting his weight, "Let her in!"

Sasha raced for the lock on the door, opening it just as Carly reached to knock. She entered calmly, giving them a small wave.

"Hey guys."

Grant shied away from her, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as she was greeted weekly by the others. He wished with all his might to be invisible.

"How did you know we were here?" Roy asked, motioning for Sasha to close the door again.

That's when he saw that she had been crying. In fact that's when he noticed that she hadn't really stopped crying; the puffiness of her cheeks and her swollen eyes said a lot. The only thing he was confused about was why she wasn't wearing shoes.

"Dad filled me in on what's going on—the portal, their plan – everything. I figured I had an easy shot on where to find you guys." Her words were filled with pain as she stood before them, wiping her eyes angrily. "T'Challa had agreed to go instead of Dad but Shuri fell sick and it's not like he can just abandon his nation," she had started a slight ramble but her words stuck in their hearts. "He has to go because he's the only other one who can remake the portal from the other side if something goes wrong, if-if they can't get it back open from over here."

Roy had been slowly getting closer to her, inching as if he would scare her if he made any large movements. As soon as he clasped her hand in his own, gave it a gentle squeeze, her eyes snapped up to his.

"Why did you guys never tell me any of this?" He was amazed at how badly he wanted to blame it on everyone else. He would have done anything to stop her from looking at him like that, like he was going to take her whole world away. He dropped her hand. Because that was the truth – maybe it wasn't his fault directly but he didn't do anything to stop it and none of them told her the truth.

Jamie came to his rescue when she gave out a slight shrug and inspected her nails. "You're not really part of the team." It was the harsh truth put out in the open for them all to see. It wasn't Jamie of course; she loved Carly like a sister though they had hardly met a dozen times. Jamie was good at taking the blame. She never really let it bother her because it felt better to be hated than to deal with someone you love being hated.

Roy cautiously turned to Carly. He could see an astounded Grant in the distance, disbelief that his sister would say something so rash and disrespectful. She nodded her head, running a hand through her hair and tangling the strands further.

"Right, sorry." Roy longed take it all back. It wasn't her fault she wasn't part of the team, she had her own family stuff to deal with. He had never judged her, never done anything to purposefully harm her. He just wanted to see her smile, though she always took it the wrong way. He stared at Grant's feet and frowned.

Nobody said anything for many long seconds before Carly spoke up again. "They're all talking in the conference room again. One last quick debriefing before they get here. We should go now."

"You are not going," Shay was the first to voice what they were all thinking. This angered Carly.

"And you are?" She demanded, her fists clenching and her gaze switching over to Sasha. "You both are? How could you even do that to her?"

Sasha couldn't meet her gaze. Shay squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up. "We're doing this because of her. Winter's a big girl, she'll be fine."

"She's seven." Carly looked at Roy and Jamie for backup but they couldn't look her in the eyes either. They had all come to terms with their choices, Carly would have to learn to be okay with that or deal with it anyway. "It's bad enough that one of you is going, what if neither of you come back?"

"Carly, that's enough." Jamie put both of her hands on the younger girl's shoulders, squeezing tightly. "You're not going because, whoever's fault it may be, it's basically a promise that whatever's over there is incredible dangerous and Tony has done a divine job keeping you safe. We can't promise that for you on the other side, especially if you can't defend yourself."

Carly looked completely dejected. "Then what do I do?"

"Start the portal!" Grant suddenly spoke up from his place by the controls, the gears turning rapidly in his head. "You can be the one to stay behind and explain everything to the rest when they find out."

"Grant-!" Jamie rolled her eyes but he cut her off with more words.

"No, Jamie, listen! You guys will probably need more help over there. You won't be able to get back out until Carly or someone opens the portal again so you might need me over there." He looked at each of them in turn, daring someone to tell him he was wrong. No one could because he wasn't; he was making perfect sense.

"I'll do it." Carly nodded to him as he gave her a sheepish smile, going over to stand next to his exasperated sister. Roy clapped his hands and grinned.

"Carly Stark to the rescue." He was quick to grab her arm and drag her over to the controls where he found that she learned much faster than Grant, though he hadn't exactly been trying.

"Right, got it." She muttered to herself, flipping the switch and scanning the screen for readings.

"Hey, Carly," Roy knew this was going to be goodbye, at least for a little while. He really hoped his dad wouldn't petition against reopening the portal, it seemed like something he would do to teach Roy a lesson. His brain raced for words as everyone gathered across the room. Her chocolate eyes scanned lines of code, her fingers tapping the screen in urgency.

"Huh? Oh, yea, bye," she muttered distractedly, biting her lip in concentration. She had never really done anything like this before, so it took everything she had not to mess it up. Roy stared at her for a second before nodding his head.

"Yea," he echoed. "Bye."

With a few more screens tapped and buttons pushed there was a flash of color in front of them, but it quickly sputtered out as Roy took his place by the others.

"What happened?" Grant asked as it occurred again, beginning to blink in and out of existence at a rapid pace. Carly was pursing her lips as they all waited for her.

"Beats me," she answered, her eyes squinting as she looked back at them. "Everything's good form this end. My guess – interdimensional travel is a lot easier on paper. Just give it a sec."

So they waited, and Carly was right. A portal opened in front of them in all its blue and purple glory, a few rocks and pebbles flying at them as they ducked.

"We've made contact with the other side!" Roy declared as they all laughed and hollered, but it was short-lived as the portal blinked out of existence.

"Well shit." Roy stood up from where he was crouched gathering rocks, a rather disappointed look on his face. No new portals were appearing. "Carly?" He called.

She wiggled a few switches. "Hold up, let me try something." She went over to the power source, examining the wires and random bits of scrap. "This thing is a piece of shit," she called out, returning to the controls and upping the voltage.

When a new portal appeared they all glanced at it warily. It seemed to be stable, for the most part. Roy gulped and took a step forward, pushing his arm into it and taking it back out, everyone relieved to see him uninjured.

"Well, no more rocks," he joked, flashing everyone a grin. "That's got to be good, right?"

Carly let out a sigh of relief, releasing the breath she didn't know she had been holding. "I'd go before it closes," she warned, waving them off with a painful smile.

Roy was the first one to go through. "Geronimo?" He winced, gritting his teeth before fully committing and swan diving in. Jamie took a running start to get over her nerves. Sasha and Shay grabbed hands and went in together, leaving Grant and Carly by themselves.

"I'm sorry," Grant started, but Carly just about had enough with apologies.

"I'm great at being a disappointment," she smiled at him warmly, "because I don't know anything else."

"I'll see you soon, Carly," he held her gaze another second before he too disappeared. Carly reached for the control panel, ready to shut everything down when a bolt of lightning came racing through the portal into the room, frying the machine and sparking out the lights. She dove for cover as the glass shattered in a flash of brightness that temporarily blinded her before she was left in complete darkness.

She pulled herself to her feet and brushed the bits of glass off her clothes as she turned to the doorway and was met with the angry face of Tony Stark.