Ivy here.

We walked inside, onto the main floor, and took an elevator up to one of the more empty floors, where only a few scientists were around. Mr. Stark had certainly redesigned things.

"You have a lot of questions to answer. What happened, why did you lie –"

"I did not lie to you, Captain. I didn't plan any of this. I never meant for any of this to happen."

Black Widow gave me a none too gentle shove into an empty room full of science equipment that I can't really describe because I have no idea what it is. "Start talking."

"I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., like I told you. I trained, like I told you. I had that accident with the knife, like you heard. Stupid, clumsy me. And my body was taken off base by the Doctor, my alien friend, in hopes of –" Wait, they didn't know about that. "Uh..." I glanced at Black Widow.

Natasha nodded. We both knew the unspoken words – in hopes of saving the baby. Babies.

"But he had some kind of alien technology on his ship that he used to save my life. Then he told me that he'd told everyone I was dead, and that I had to stay away for a while. The more people who knew, the more dangerous it was for me and them. And a lot of the ways I had to communicate would be dangerous to both parties – turns out, my traveling between universes so often wore a hole in the fabric of the two realities and it needed time to fix itself."

There was a long moment of silence.

"But why now?"

"Because I couldn't avoid these events. It's another movie. And Mr. Stark has messed up very badly."

"Well, that much was obvious."

He had the decency not to protest at this.

"Is everyone here?"

"Do they know?"

"Just Edward and Carmen."

"Carmen? She knows and the others don't?"

"It's complicated."

Mr. Stark appeared in the doorway, his face white. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because it was too dangerous." I recounted my story to him.

"You still should have told us. You could have, in the last few months."

"I needed... the right moment. You would have thought I was some kind of crazy imposter or psycho. Now, with me not telling you, you seem to believe me well enough."

He stopped. "Yeah, how do I know you're not some kind of imposter?"

"Edward will tell you. And Carmen, she knows too."

"I'll go get Edward, then," said Mr. Stark. "And I'll call your friend."

"The others cannot know. Not yet. I didn't tell them and I don't think it's best to let them know quite yet, not until you're satisfied that it's me. Even then..."

Ariel here.

No, they didn't tell us.

We had all holed up in my room and were talking.

"I can't get in touch with Sharon!" said Miranda with frustration. "Has she vanished off the planet?" She slammed her phone down on the ground.

Miranda never acted like this, and it was starting to make me worried.

I reached across to the table and picked up my mirror.

Edward raised an eyebrow at me. Edward was the only person who knew the secret of my mirror, and I was determined to keep it that way.

"When are you going back to perform?" he asked.

"Once this is over, but the sooner the better. I can't stand not being onstage."

"The curse of being a performer, isn't it?" He smiled. "At least you'll never not have a stage. People will always want you."

"I just called Carmen's," said Miranda suddenly. "Pia says that two people stopped by. One was a guy with white hair. And now Carmen's gone out for a walk."

The room went still.

There was a knock on the door.

"C-come in," I said.

It was Natasha. "I hate to bother you, but do you mind if we borrow Edward for a minute?"

I nodded. "Yes, yes. Go ahead."

Edward got up.

"Oh, and could you give me your friend Carmen's number? It's important."

I made a small sound in my throat.

"About that..." said Miranda. She explained the situation with Carmen, ending with "We just figured it out a second before you came into the room. We don't know anything for sure – it could all be fine."

"I'll get it checked out, but right now this takes priority."

Edward here.

I met Ivy in the room where they'd had the party.

Black Widow didn't tell me what to expect, or that she was there. Actually, she didn't say a word to me on the way there.

She just led me into the room.

Ivy sat on the couch tranquilly. Her hair was as kept as short as it had been the last I'd seen her, and looked calmer than the last time I'd seen her. Healthier, too.

I glanced from Ivy to Black Widow.

"It's fine, Edward," said Ivy.

I broke into a run, kicking rubble and wreckage from the last night away as I sprinted up the steps.

She stood up from the couch.

I threw my arms around her neck.

She returned the hug.

"I think you get more gorgeous every time I see you," I said. "I love your haircut. How's..." he glanced back at Black Widow. Mr. Stark and the Captain were also there.

"Fine." Phillip spent more time with babysitters than with me, but he was fine and healthy. And I was doing my best to fix that problem.

"And how's..."

"Going badly."

I pulled out of the hug. "I suppose I should just ask a question to make sure it's you. What did I teach you last time I saw you?"

She leaned over and whispered in my ear. "How to waltz. You have a waltz playlist on your Ipod and we danced to it."

"Definitely you." I turned to face everyone. "How long have you known?"

"You just confirmed it for us," said Mr. Stark. "Dr. Banner is just running a test on her blood and DNA."

"You have DNA and blood to run it against? Of course you do." Ivy looked tired suddenly.

I took a moment, drinking in the fact she was back again. There were flecks of blood – my blood – on her face still and she looked like she hadn't slept – she probably hadn't.

"I owe you," I said. "You saved me."

"No, I owe you. They would never have come if I didn't exist."

"Ivy..." Black Widow's voice, clearly displeased.

"Don't worry. I'm past that, but it's still true."

I had missed something, apparently.

Ivy walked away from me, down the steps and back to her. "Don't worry. I'm done angsting about that. Well, mostly."

Black Widow stared at her for a moment. "Please tell me that's red paint on your face and not what I think it is."

"If you think it's blood, it is. Edward's. Yes, I was the one who took him out of the school."

"I guessed."

"You checked the security cameras?"

She glanced at me. "Something like that."

My face burned in embarrassment. Luckily, Ivy didn't seem to notice.

"I'm still here on for business, Agent – I mean – " Ivy's face went red. "Um..."

Black Widow laughed. "Natasha is fine."

"Natasha. Can I have my wig back please?"

She handed it back to Ivy, who pulled it on overtop of her red hair.

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying before, I'm here to offer you a deal." She glanced at Mr. Stark and Cap. "You know how this works usually, Mr. Stark?"

"Tony is fine. And yes."

"The fact is, I need information from HYDRA – Natasha can tell you what about, I'll explain everything later. In return, I can give you information about what's going to happen."

"And we're going to believe everything you say because..."

"Because I would have no reason to lie to you. My disappearing act wasn't my idea, and it was dangerous to come back. I needed a right time to do it, and this was it. There are things going on that you don't know about."

"Then tell us what they are! I can't fix things unless –"

"You can't fix a hole in the fabric of your reality, Tony! I don't care if you're a genius, you can't fix that! Some things can't be fixed – for someone like you, you might not realize that, but it's a reality for me that I have to deal with every day."

I decided now was a good moment to exit quietly.