Carmen here.

The plane went absolutely silent after Ivy left. The Maximoffs sat in the furthest corner from me, sending subtle glares in my direction. Ultron sat on the other side of the plane, toying with the scepter.

Who was flying? I have no idea. Some poor sap he mind controled into it, probably.

He reached out suddenly, pressing it against my chest again.

Blue flashed in front of my eyes.

He pulled it away.

A fog settled in my mind. What had I been doing... yes. I should tell Ultron Ivy's secrets. It was the right thing to do.

Why, again? Never mind, it just was.

I opened my mouth. A horrible squeak came out.

"What?"

I cleared my throat and tried again. Another earpiercing screeching sound. "I don't understand. What is this supposed to mean?" I could still speak fine. What a relief.

My next attempt made a sound like a squeaky doorhinge.

It took an hour before I accepted defeat. All my attempts to tell Ultron anything Ivy or Avengers related caused my voice to vanish. Soon my throat began to hurt horribly.

"That's enough," said Quicksilver. "Try writing it down." He gave me a piece of paper and a pencil.

The pencil tip skidded off the paper twice, three times.

"What could you have possibly done to cause this?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't remember anything like that."

Wanda extended her hands toward my head. "There's something blocking me. I can't get anything off of her."

Ultron groaned and retreated to another area of the plane.

Jack narrating here.

To be honest, we hadn't decided on our destination yet.

We had a few options available to us in one area, and we just headed in their general direction.

Edward and Ariel both fell asleep in the back, leaning against each other.

"They'd make a cute couple, don't you think?" asked Miranda.

I shrugged. "I don't think he likes her like that. What about Ariel?"

"No idea. She doesn't talk about boys much to me, never did. Ivy mentioned she had a crush on some stage actor for a while, but that's it. Unless you count online gossip." She laughed.

"Not really, no."

"Now that Ivy's back, do you think Edward will try again?"

I stiffened. "Um..."

"I mean, once he gets over being mad at her. I always thought they'd be cute together."

"Don't play matchmaker just yet, you're still mad at her."

"I ship people all the time, I just never tell you about it. I shipped you and Ivy for a few years."

"...Me and Ivy."

"Yeah. Then I realized you would probably kill each other if you were involved like that."

"Your vote of confidence in my self control is astounding."

"I have vivid memories of her chasing you around the room after you said she was impulsive during our recording session after Iron Man 3. And equally vivid memories of you both screaming at each other for ten minutes afterwards."

How times had changed.

"I thought it was over." Miranda shifted in her seat slightly. "Over. I'd never have to do this again. But no, I have to do it over and over again. It's not my fault, it's Ivy's power. Why do I have to be part of it? Why do I have to be there for her? I'm tired of this, Jack. I'm sick of it, and I want it to end, but it won't ever end now."

"You don't know that."

"I wish she'd stayed dead."

I gasped and twisted to stare at her. "You don't mean that."

"You think I can be her friendly support again? Like everything can just go back to normal? No, it can't. To be free for so long, nothing can be the same again. We'll have to talk to her, to spend time with her before this is over. When it is... I got into a nursing program. It starts in October."

"Wait, since when did you want to be a nurse? I thought you wanted to study English Literature."

"I kept it a secret in case it didn't work out – I didn't even tell my parents. Just your mom. She helped me. The program is out of state. I'll be leaving town."

"So soon? What about... us?"

"Us? You mean, our relationship? We can continue it long distance. It's not that far."

"It's not the same."

"Jack, we're growing up. Sometimes it's inevitable that these things."

She was being uncharacteristically dismissive of the whole thing.

"I watched you dying, Jack, and I couldn't do anything. That's why I need to be a nurse. So I can do something next time." She reached across and put her hand on top of mine. "Things change. Look how much things changed in the last few years. I can't live in the same town as Ivy anymore. Being near her would be too much. I might be able to avoid some of it..." her voice trailed off miserably.

"I understand. Do what you need to do. I'll support you in whatever your decision is."

"Thanks."

I glanced back at Edward. He was snoring.

There was that college out of state that I'd thought about... perhaps I should apply when we got this over.

Ivy here.

Watching the Avengers movies, you'd think it would be possible to get to Germany, Africa, and Sokovia in a matter of a few hours.

You'd be horribly wrong. It takes hours and hours and hours, just as long as a regular plane ride.

I slept for most of it.

Tony had been against my going with them, but when I had told him that either I went in the plane or I teleported, and I didn't care which, he had left me alone about it.

I wasn't there for them. It was purely for myself, and I told them that from the start. "I don't have much of anything I can do for you when your mission starts. I need to look for Carmen. She's got to be here somewhere."

Tony appeared none too happy with this. "I miss you when you did what we asked you to."

"And I miss the days when I didn't have to do any of this." Don't always get what we want, do we?

I didn't even go into the ship. Instead, I combed the surrounding area.

Carmen here.

Of course I didn't get off the quinjet when we landed.

Quicksilver stayed with me for a few minutes, sitting on the seat across from me.

"Why aren't you going with them? You'd be more useful there, wouldn't you?"

"I am. We're just waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"Sorry I didn't show up in time, Klaw needed me for a little longer." A young woman with long dark brown hair stepped through the open door. She turned toward me, brown eyes widening. "Carmen?"

I jumped up onto my feet. "Sharon? What are you doing here?"

Her face had gone white. "I... Ultron made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" I stood up and gave her a hug. "It's so nice to see you. I thought... wait, I thought you were fourteen." She certainly wasn't. And she was Canadian – why did she have a French accent? (Yes, I know, French is an official language of Canada and a lot of people have it as a first language there. She told us she was from British Columbia. There aren't really a lot of French speakers there.)

She glanced at Quicksilver. He gave her a small nod.

"I lied. I'm from France, originally. I work for HYDRA. Strike that. I don't anymore."

I sank back onto the seat. "Does Ivy know?"

"Ivy's dead."

Quicksilver got up and vanished in a blur.

Sharon sank down into a sitting position. She wore a dark blue skirt which pooled out around her. She always had liked those.

"I've been in Africa for months, kissing up to that idiot Klaw and worming my way into his good graces."

"You don't think much of him?"

"I had better not say anything else. So you're loyal to Ultron as well?"

"Of course. He's made me an offer I can't refuse, either." What was the offer, again? Never mind, his cause was important.

"You know about Ivy? Her... abilities?"

"Oh, of course. She told me about a year ago."

Sharon stared at me like I was crazy. "About a year? Um... hate to break it to you, but she died a year and a half ago."

"That's what you think. She survived. She's the Fortune Seller."

I'm sorry, Ivy. I'm so, so sorry.

Her face relaxed. "Good, now I don't have to pretend. You see, I know."