Ivy here.

He seemed to realize that saying anything else to me would be incredibly counterproductive, and so turned his attention to Gamora. "Did you bring what I requested?"

Peter Quill produced the orb.

The Collector took it and walked away.

"It's an Infinity stone," I said to Peter Quill. "Like the Tesseract. Or the Aether. Basically, it could be a huge problem if he has his hands on it."

Gamora and Peter Quill exchanged glances.

The Collector spun around. "You know a lot. And I know a lot about you. I know what would hurt you. About that little girl, Narissa."

I refused to let him intimidate me. "I have more power than you could ever dream of. Have you ever heard of the Doctor? He's a good friend of mine."

The Collector's eyes widened. "The... Doctor?"

"That's another reason why Ronan was looking for her," said Gamora to Peter Quill.

Behind the Collector, Carina closed her hand around the orb.

I dove for cover – accidentally, I ended up behind Howard the Duck's case – covering myself with my arms.

The blast still sent me flying against the wall.

I seriously had to stop doing stuff like this. It wasn't healthy, for me or the baby.

My first realization after becoming aware again was that my hands were glowing purple. Energy from the stone reacting with the energy that allowed me to travel between universes.

I groaned aloud and sat up. "Seriously? Again?" This couldn't be good for the baby.

The Collector stared at me for a moment.

I jumped up and ran.

Peter Quill and Gamora were behind me in a second.

Edward here.

We waited on Peter Quill's ship while Rocket and Groot went off to continue with their stuff.

Carmen, sat on the floor, staring blankly out the front. Her fingers seemed to be moving of their own accord as they knitting the rows of the blanket, unwinding the soft yarn.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Do you know what happened to Ivy?" Her voice was so low I could barely hear her.

"Well, she never exactly told me. But when she went missing, HYDRA – from that Captain America movie – they wanted information from her. And that's where it happened."

"I can't believe I said that about her."

"She understands."

"And I can't believe she tricked us."

"She was trying to protect everyone."

Carmen said something in German. "She always was like that. On some level, I think she needs something that depends on her that she can protect – it's how she is. It gives her purpose, and she clings to it and puts her energy in it. Having Ivy for a friend was like hanging out with a guard dog. Especially after Miranda and her got attacked in the woods. When she got back, she just kept muttering about being a coward. After that, she got so protective people eventually got scared to even look at her wrong."

That sounded like Ivy alright. I'd never thought about her actually needing something to protect, but judging by everything I knew about her, it wouldn't surprise me. Miranda had told me about how fast she had taken to her promise of not sharing information, about how she had been protective of everyone – almost like a guard dog.

"I didn't think she'd lie to us though," said Carmen.

"Technically, she didn't. She just didn't correct the misinformation."

"And that's not the same thing?"

"Ivy has enough trouble in life without worrying about us."

"That I don't doubt."

There was silence for a moment.

"I missed her," said Carmen in a small voice.

"So did I."

"Who else knows about the baby?"

"No one, as far as I know. I was the only one who knew she was alive. I only found out when I saw her."

Carmen started on another row. "So... I guess we're here as the movie plays out."

"Yeah."

"How do we get home?"

I shrugged. "We'll find that out."

Ivy here.

Of course, as soon as I got outside, Ronan's ships were everywhere.

My whole body was glowing like the infinity stone. That probably wasn't healthy – and it didn't exactly lend itself to avoiding attention.

I took off at a run – not caring where I was going, just wanting to get away.

And, due to a combination of my own insanely horrible luck and the fact that my abilities also pull me toward these things, I ran straight in front of Ronan as he was getting off of his ship.

I headed down a side street, turning to see Nebula after me. Again.

I've never been that fast a runner. With an enhanced person after me, I didn't stand a chance. I spun around and stabbed at her with my knife.

Despite what you might have seen in on TV, it's actually hard to stab someone repeatedly like that. There's these things called bones that are in the way. Not the mention the person is usually fighting back.

Still, it hurts.

Nebula knocked the knife out of my hand and put me in a headlock. "My father would probably like to adopt you."

I clawed at her arms, trying to pull them even slightly away from my throat.

My watch bumped against Nebula's arm.

I found myself at the end of the street.

Nebula stared.

I ran.

Yes, you get two chapters today! Consider it a Christmas present. And don't forget the real reason for the season!