Miranda here.
Jack passed out on the way to the hospital.
The doctors took over the second we got there, taking him off to be treated.
Carmen and I sat outside, waiting in silence.
It wasn't Carmen's fault, it was Dottie's. If I saw her again, I'd happily strangle her.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" asked Carmen in a small voice. She had produced a half knitted sock from somewhere and her fingers worked on it quickly, methodically.
I shrugged.
Agent Carter appeared. "Good news. He'll live. And they managed to save his leg."
We both breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I see him?"
"Not yet, he's still recovering."
I'd been to a hospital maybe a handful of times in my life before. I have been blessed with good health and a lack of injuries.
The doctors encouraged me to "go home and rest for a while". Agent Carter offered to find me somewhere to stay, but I refused.
It began to grow light again.
A blond lady in a nurse's uniform, covered with a baggy jacket, appeared, emerging from a nearby door. She offered me a bag. "Here. I saw you'd been sitting here all night and I thought you might be hungry."
I reached in and pulled out a sandwich. Ham. There was another one, too, chicken.
Carmen stared at the blond woman for a moment.
The woman turned and left.
"You recognize her?" I asked.
"She looks like someone I used to know. But it's someone who wasn't alive in the 40s, so it's probably coincidence."
"Suppose not."
We sat in silence for a while longer.
Then a doctor appeared. "You can see him now."
I jumped up and all but ran inside, to Jack's room.
Jack was awake when I walked in.
"Hey," he said.
I burst into tears and ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck.
"Ow!"
I let go at once. "I'm so sorry."
Carmen trailed in behind me.
"Hey. You okay?"
She nodded. "I just want to go home."
"That makes two of us. Well, three, right Miranda?"
I nodded and sat down next to him.
We sat in silence for a moment.
"How do we get back?" asked Carmen.
"Not sure," I admitted. "I think it just happens. When it does, we'll need to have quite an explanation for your mom, Jack."
"No. I'm going to tell her the truth. What harm can it be? Ivy's dead, we won't be going anywhere else."
Won't be going anywhere else. My adventures and connection to Ivy dead. We'd be safe to live nice, safe lives. No unusual drama. No life and death situations.
I couldn't say I felt anything but relief.
"If we're not going back..." I produced my notebook. "Let's leave an explanation. Of everything. About Ivy, about her abilities, how all of this works."
"Why?" asked Jack.
"Because that way, when everything in the future happens, they'll believe her. Ivy said she was surprised at how easily they accepted what she said. What if it was because we told them?"
"Actually, that's brilliant. Even for you."
Between the three of us, we brainstormed a letter explaining the whole thing.
I ripped the pages out of the notebook, folded them, and scribbled To Agent Peggy Carter on the front. I tucked them into my pocket.
Then Agent Carter came in.
"All right. I need you to tell me what happened to all of you. We're still trying to figure out exactly what was going on."
For the next few hours, she went over the events of the last few days with us in every detail.
At the end, I produced the letter. "Here," I offered. "This is for... later. Open it in five months."
She gave me an odd look.
"It's complicated." The five months were to make sure we'd be gone first. The contents would be too complicated to explain.
"Oh, Howard wants to talk to Carmen."
Carmen's face paled slightly, but she nodded and stood.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yes."
Carmen here.
Howard Stark was waiting outside in his car.
I got in. Here it came. Questions on how I'd known what I did.
"I did a little bit of homework on you after I got off that plane."
"Oh?"
"Yes. You don't exist."
"Of course I do. I'm right here."
"There's no record. Nothing. And you never were my secretary."
"Had to cover up for what I knew somehow. Look, my family... we have a lot of knowledge and connections. Not ones we're necessarily proud of. I came here after the war. Trying to get away from everything. Does that answer your question?"
"Well enough. Do you want a job as my assistant?"
I stared. "What? You've known me for a day. And you have no idea if I have any of the abilities I'd need." Not to mention that I was related to a well known Nazi politician.
This was... awkward. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Stark, but my life circumstances are such that I cannot accept it."
"If it's about being German, it's not a problem."
"It's not just that. I'm grateful, I really am, but my life is such that I can't accept a position like that." I have none of the skills required for being a secretary. And I want to be a dancer. And I want to go back to the 2010s, where the being German thing wouldn't make everybody stare and look at me funny.
I made myself promise I'd never look at someone differently because of family or heritage ever again.