Carmen narrating here.

There are two particular pursuits in life which I find to be theraputic. One of them is knitting. The other is cooking.

After I made the carmels with Pia, I made peanut butter fudge. Then a batch of pink lemonade fudge (I found the recipe on Pinterest and wanted to try it). After that, almond brittle and almond roca. Followed up by a batch of brownies, sugar cookies, and a chocolate cake.

Cooking things that don't have ridiculous amounts of sugar doesn't have quite the same effect.

I ended up using all the sugar in the house and spent the whole day at it. Pia sat at the kitchen table, staring at me worriedly and occasionally helping herself to some of the peanut butter fudge or a cookie.

"You know," said Pia when I slumped down into a chair, "you still haven't used up the wool Aunt Pia sent you from when she was in Scotland."

Yes, Pia is named after her aunt.

I picked up the needles and yarn off the chair next to me and continued work on my current project, a pair of gloves. "I don't have a project that would suit it right now."

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Pia. "You can stay here. Maybe fall asleep, if you want."

The funny thing was that I actually did fall asleep – and promptly fell off the chair.

"Are you okay back there?" yelled Pia.

"Just fell. I'm fine."

"Someone's here to see you."

I scrambled up off the floor and picked up my knitting. "Who is it?"

"Someone here about last night."

"Ich will nicht mit jemand sprechen." (I don't want to talk with anyone.)

"I think it's important."

"Wer ist es?" (Who is it?)

"Ich weiss nicht. Ein Mann und eine Frau." (I don't know. A man and a woman.)

Footsteps sounded in the hall. I adjusted my apron and sat up straight, then realized I'd never changed out of my prom dress from the night before.

Maybe not the best thing to have been cooking in.

It was ripped up and dirty anyhow.

The man who stood in the doorway had white hair. Not blond. Just white. He looked far too young to have gained the hair by aging.

Quicksilver.

And here I was in my flour covered dress, with my hair in that stupid 12 year old girl braid.

"I hope we're not interupting anything?"

"Oh, no, no. I've just finished." I stared around for the first time, realizing just how much I'd made. "Peanut butter fudge?" I offered, my cheeks feeling suddenly warm.

He took a piece.

His sister appeared behind him. "We only need a few minutes."

Pia appeared. "Soll ich bleiben?" (Should I stay?)

"Nein." (No.)

She left, heading upstairs. Probably to play video games or watch one of her anime shows.

"You're German?" asked Scarlet Witch.

"Dual citizenship. We moved here was I was eight."

"So it's been ten years, then? If you're graduating this year."

"Eleven, actually. My family travels between the countries and I dance. Between the two I thought it would be better to take an extra year so I could do well in my courses. Would you like to sit down?"

They sat down at the kitchen table.

I didn't know what they wanted – some kind of business of Ultron's, probably. Why were they in the States so soon? My fingers tangled with my knitting.

"So," said Quicksilver, "we need to ask you about what happened at your school."

My entire body tensed. The needles moved faster. "I was outside. I ran. The end. I saw nothing, I'm not even entirely sure what happened. I've been here since, I haven't left." I gestured to the platters of sugar. "I've been engaging in... therapy."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It doesn't work unless it's dripping with calories. I don't know why."

"What were you doing outside?"

"I had pulled a friend aside to talk to her. I saw something going overhead, then everyone was screaming and yelling. I just ran as fast as I could until I got here."

"And what then?"

"I told my sister to barricade all of the doors and windows. Anything that flies can get in through a window and I was panicking."

Quicksilver took another piece of fudge.

Is it just me or is that accent just... wow? I hadn't been in the same room with someone this attractive since I was dragged by Pia to a fan convention (as the person to chaperone her) and met Sebastian Stan.

"Were you injured at all?" asked Quicksilver.

"Just shock." My accent was coming out – it never did that anymore. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern."

He reached out for another piece of fudge, but Scarlet Witch knocked his hand away.

"Help yourselves. I have six siblings. It's too much even for them, and they're not here." There was a short silence. What would be a logical thing to ask? "A bit late in the conversation to ask, but are you with the police?"

Quicksilver shook his head at the same time as Scarlet Witch nodded.

"We're with S.H.I.E.L.D." The lie came out too quickly. "Is that a problem?"

"No. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who wants to figure out what happened is welcome to do so. Two people were killed. One of my friends was shot. That makes me very angry."

"Does the name Irene Ward sound familiar?" asked Quicksilver.

I could listen to that voice all day... "No. Should it?" It was one of Ivy's aliases.

"Rebecca Brown?"

I shook my head. That one I'd never heard before.

"And Ivy Williams?"

Oh no. There was no way to deny it. "Ivy... Williams. Yes. I went to school with her. I took ballet with her. I sang in choir with her. We were chorus girls in Phantom of the Opera together." I allowed myself a small smile at the memory. "Ivy Williams was the most interesting girl I ever met. Sadly, something happened to her last year and she died. Don't know quite what happened to her, though, now I come to think of it. Who are the other girls?"

Quicksilver stood up. "I can't tell you that."

I stood up as well. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

He glanced at his sister, who shook her head.

I thought that meant there wasn't anything else. Haha. I wish.

Turns out it meant, "No, there still are things." The fact Scarlet Witch can get in your head had escaped me.

It only occurred to me again when I noticed the funny red threads floating in the air.

"Where were we?" she asked.

I sat down again. "Ivy Williams."

"What do you know about her?"

A funny thing about the mind control she was using – turns out, it reacts funny with the energy that Ivy spreads. I was under mind control... but there was a little hitch.

"Was möchten Sie wissen?" (What would you like to know?)

They stared at me blankly.

"We don't speak German," said Scarlet Witch. "Could you use English, please?"

"Nein, ich kann nicht." (No, I can't.)

Quicksilver groaned.

"Warum sollten wir nicht mal Deutsch sprechen?" (Why shouldn't we speak in German?)

"Can you make her translate herself?"

Scarlet Witch shook her head. "There's something in there that I can't get past." She sighed in annoyance. "I suppose we'll have to use our second plan."

I found myself standing up and walking to the bottom of the stairs. "Pia? I'm going on a walk for a while, all right?"

"Sure you don't want me to come?"

"I need the time alone."

"Okay. When should I expect you back?"

"A couple hours."

"What did those people want?"

"Just a few questions about what happened. All over now. I'll be back soon."

"Okay. Have fun!"

I turned around to face them.

I collapsed and everything went black.