Miranda here.

Ariel and Edward fell asleep in the back of the car as night came.

Jack and I remained awake, keeping an eye out for any Ultron-bots that might come after us.

"There's something I haven't told you, Jack," I said after a while.

"What?"

"You remember how I was away for a few days last month?"

"Yeah? It was a camping trip, right?"

"No. I applied to a nursing school out of state. They've accepted my application, and I'm leaving in the fall."

"What?"

"Yes. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I think it would be more practical than studying English literature."

He said nothing for a moment. "English literature... but that's what you love. It's what you've always wanted to study."

"I've had a change of heart. Nursing is more practical."

He turned to look at me. "You're sensible, Miranda. I love that about you. But this is so sudden... out of state?"

I needed to get away. Ivy's abilities... I can't escape them. Even when she was dead, they still affected me. "Yes. I think I need a change."

"What about our relationship?"

"Long distance relationships aren't exactly impossible, Jack. Unless, of course, you want to propose." I didn't expect him to propose right out of high school. We hadn't even graduated. Would I like to marry him? Yes, one day in the near future. Oh. Oh! Please tell me he's not listening – oh good. He knows, but... Yeah, now is probably not the best time to get engaged.

"Are you dropping hints?"

"Jack... it's the best nursing program I could get into. I don't dislike the study and science, and it would be a good step up. Literature professors and teachers don't really make a lot of money."

"I don't understand you, Miranda. I'm trying to understand you right now, but it's like trying to break a brick wall with my head. Is it because of Ivy?"

"I didn't know she was alive when I applied. What's so surprising about changing my mind about things?"

"You don't change your mind. Ever." His voice rose.

"Well, I do now!"

The tension and the lack of sleep were making us both short tempered.

"Why is honesty too much to ask for, Miranda? I'll understand if you tell me the truth, but I can't understand you if you won't tell me the truth!"

"I am telling you the truth!" We were both yelling now. Not the first time we'd raised our voices at each other, but probably the most serious one.

"No, no you're not. You girls want us guys to listen to you and understand you, but if you won't be honest and tell us, how can you expect us to be any good at it?"

"You got shot!"

The words came out in a scream.

"And I couldn't do anything. I watched you dying, and there was nothing I could do." My tone was low and soft. "That's why I have to leave, to be a nurse, to get away from her, any of those reasons, take your pick."

Jack returned his attention to the road.

Ivy here.

I set Ryan up at the little apartment I used to rent in England. I used to live there, but there was... complications (S.H.I.E.L.D.). However, the place is still available for my use. The woman who owns the building owes me a few favors. Don't ask.

"If anything happens, I want you to go down the hall to the Watsons. Mrs. Watson is keeping an eye on Phillip. There's food in the fridge, books under the bed. Anything else?"

"Phillip is my nephew."

"Yeah."

"Can I see him? Now?"

Was this some kind of attempt to reach out, or genuine curiousity? I'd never really been good at reading my brother. "Sure, why not?"

Mrs. Watson was, of course, at home. She eyed my brother with suspicion. "Who's this?"

"My brother. Ryan. Do you mind if he comes in? He wants to meet Phil."

She brought my son to the door. He hadn't done much walking yet – my habit of carrying him around probably had caused that. I just like him being near to me, okay?

Ryan stared at the little boy. "He doesn't look like you."

"No. His looks come from his father."

"Who is his father, Ivy? I never thought you would do something like this."

He hadn't got it last time? "Do you seriously think I consented?"

His face went white. "Oh. Oh."

"And no, I'm not going to tell you who the father was. The fewer people who know, the better. Maybe in a few months, a few years."

"I just wanted to know who I should beat up." His face had gone slightly pale.

"Unless you're very, very unlucky, you'll never meet him."

"You don't sound particularly... upset about it."

"Oh, believe me, I am. Remember what happened when those guys tried flirting with me?"

"Yeah, they stabbed you when you ignored them."

"Sort of. They started the fight, I escalated it to that point. In hindsight, that wasn't one of my more shining moments as a human being. I sort of made it worse. You should have heard the lecture I got... but the point is, you know my policy on that sort of thing. However, the situation is kind of complicated and beating him up for it wouldn't help matters." Though he probably wouldn't blame Ryan for wanting to.

"I need to go now, Ryan."

He didn't seem to hear me, staring at his nephew as if he was the most interesting sight in the world.

Ariel here.

Miranda and Jack had, of course, woken us up, but we didn't say anything. It seemed safer.

Eventually, the sky grew pale, then began to turn to blue.

"Are we almost there?"

"Yeah," said Jack. He pulled out a map from the glovebox. "Just a few more hours."

Edward snored loudly next to me.

Miranda grinned. "You know, school only starts in January for me. Let's go on a trip, all of us. You, me, Edward, Jack. Carmen, if she wants to come too. She's traveled, she's got experience and can tell us all the tricks and best places to go."

"Actually, that sounds great." Jack looked to me for approval. "What do you think?"

"Depends on where."

"Europe. Oh, definitely Europe."

Jack shrugged. "Europe sound okay to you?"

Europe didn't really seem like Jack's thing to me – I think Asia would be more his thing. Japan, China, those kinds of places. But if anything was his thin, making Miranda happy was. "Sure. We can start planning when this all is done."

"Or now. We could do it now. Where do we want to go see?" All I could see of Miranda was her curly dark brown hair, but her tone was bright I knew she must be beaming with happiness.

"Austria. I want to go to the Vienna Opera and see all the tombs of the great composers."

"There'll be plenty of those, if Carmen's pictures from her trip are anything to go by."

"Since when do you talk to Carmen?"

"Since I made a point of knowing all of Ivy's friends in one way or another. We were in choir together, remember? I would talk to her about pronouncing words in some of our songs – you know she speaks four langauges?"

"Four?" Jack sounded doubtful. "I know she speaks German, but what are the other two?"

"Russian and Dutch – though she did say that she's not fluent in either."

"Are you sure you believe her?"

Miranda shook her head vigorously. "She's from Europe. In Europe, it's more common to understand multiple languages. Think about it. The countries are way smaller and closer together. You can drive a couple hours and be in a completely different country where people speak a completely different language. Why wouldn't people understand more of them, in that situation? Anyhow, aside from Vienna, what other ideas do we have?"

"Paris," said Edward.

I jumped. Since when had he been awake?

"England," said Miranda.

"Agreed. Definitely England – but haven't you already been?"

"You can never see England too many times."

It was so strange, planning our vacation to a continent which could be completely destroyed if we didn't keep people from finding out the future.

"So, where is this hiding place?"

Miranda and Jack glanced at each other. "It's... a farm."