Saw Civil War last night! SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ivy here.

Absolutely nothing interesting happened that morning. None of us really spoke to each other or tried to work out any problems. I did call Mary to check how Phillip was doing, though. Unfortunately, visiting wasn't a possibility when everyone was like this.

In the afternoon, Ariel played with her nephew and niece on the porch. Natasha joined them.

I helped split wood.

There's something therapeutic about hitting things with an ax when you're angry.

Edward watched from a distance.

"You could be a gentleman and offer to help!" I shouted over at him.

He burst out laughing. "Oh, sure, I could. But you don't want me to."

"No, not really." I swung the ax, embedding it in the log.

He swallowed visibly. "You're a lot stronger than I'll ever be."

"Genetically, you have more potential than she does."

Jack's voice made me jump.

"No offense to Ivy, but female genetics are what they are. Granted, neither of us ever actually will be stronger than her. We don't have the motivation to train and work out that she does. She has plenty of time, too, since she wasn't spending any time with her friends."

My cheeks burned. I pulled on the ax and swung it again.

It went straight through the wood. Two pieces fell to the grass.

Jack swallowed hard. "Um... I'll just be on the porch."

He scuttled away, back to the porch.

I continued chopping wood, slamming the axe into the logs, splitting them straight down the middle. Chips flew everywhere. Edward ducked away.

"Ivy, I hate to be annoying, but you're starting to scare me."

I turned to glare. Then I realized that my pile had begun to equal Tony's.

I dropped the axe, narrowly missing my foot. "I'm going to take a walk."

Edward here.

Captain America and Mr. Stark stared after Ivy as she stormed off.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Captain America.

I shrugged. "When this is over? Maybe. She's taking all of this pretty hard. Betrayal isn't something she really understands."

"You haven't known her for long, have you?" asked Mr. Stark. "She betrayed all of us."

"I've known her for long enough. I was in that musical with her, remember? And you know we were friends."

"Friends? I don't think she's got any real friends. Kid, just because you've got a crush on her doesn't mean she's perfect."

Cap set down his ax. "That's not fair, Stark. She had a reason for disappearing."

"There was always something wrong with that girl. How can someone who's not crazy – especially someone who always prided herself on being so moral – let people to die and suffer?"

"I'm not dumb, Mr. Stark. There probably is something wrong with her after three years of doing things she felt so..." I searched for the words "... morally conflicted about." Miranda had used that phrase once. I had stored it in my memory for future use.

"What's that, Mr. Stark?"

I jumped.

Miranda stood behind me, teeth bared in a smile which strongly resembles that of an attacking shark. She is scary when she's mad.

"Mr. Stark, may I remind you that she is completely in control of her mental faculties? If she was not, S.H.I.E.L.D. or someone else would have locked her up ages ago. There are people who keep an eye on her to make sure of that. Do you think she enjoys doing what she does, or do you think she does it because she believes it serves a greater purpose?" Miranda's voice remained at the same level, calm tone, but her eyes were icy. "And do you think, even for a moment, that she would do it if she thought there was another way? I thought you respected her for it."

"That was before a lot of this stuff happened. And I though you were mad at her."

"I still am rather annoyed, but I'm putting it behind me because it serves no purpose."

Mr. Stark shook his head. "Spock. You're Spock in a human body. Do you feel anything either?"

Miranda went very still, eyes fixed on his eyes.

Mr. Stark went just as still, meeting her gaze.

"No, seriously. You've got that female Spock look."

"Give me a break!" Miranda's scream could probably have been heard all the way in Sokovia.

And she doesn't really look like a female Spock, for the record. She has dark hair, but that's about it. She told me once her dad was from the Middle East and she definitely looks like it. And she wears glasses. Definitely not Spock.

The tension could have been cut with a butter knife.

"Don't speak about her like that. And don't imply that my reason is some form of detachment. Have you ever actually seen Star Trek? Doubtful. If they'd listened to Mccoy on a regular basis, the Enterprise would have blown up in Season one. Detachment isn't necessarily a bad thing. But I am not detached." She spun on her heel, then turned around. "I am a perfectly reasonable person. I'm going to nursing school in the fall, and I am fairly close in IQ to my genius boyfriend. Though, sadly, I am not on the same level intellectually. The first point is, how dare you call me detached because I attempt to apply reason to the situation." Her body seemed to vibrate, her hands, shaking with rage. "The second point is the more important one. Reason has been applied to this situation by myself, and by Ivy, and by many others with experience and mental capacity beyond ours – and even yours, Mr. Stark. Yes, such a thing is possible, and many people have achieved it. So don't you dare speak about my friend like that." Her chin quivered. "Don't you dare say a word against her in my presence. Ever. Again. Do you understand me?" Without waiting for an answer, she spun around on her heel and stomped off.

The only sound was birds chirping.

Jack climbed down off of the porch and walked over to me.

"I think I'll go make sure she doesn't do anything drastic."

"I think I'll come with you and take a look for Ivy. They went off in the same direction." I followed him into the flat area surrounding the house.

We found Ivy first, sitting in the upper branches of a tree.

She stared down at us with red eyes. "I'm not coming down."

I grabbed the branches of the tree and pulled, trying to climb up into the tree with her.

I wasn't strong enough and I instead hung from the branch.

"Um... could you give me a boost, Jack?"

He smirked and shoved me upwards.

"... Thanks."

Above me, Ivy giggled.

It was relatively easy to scale the remaining branches and perch on the one below her.

"I'll go find Miranda," said Jack below us. "You two can talk."

There was silence, except for the breeze rustling the leaves.

"I thought I'd be graduated high school and be going to school in a few months." Her voice was so soft I had to strain to hear. "I wasn't smart enough for university."

"Yes, you are."

"You never saw my grades, did you? No university would accept me. I had someone suggest modeling once but I'm not exactly photo shoot material. I thought about finding somewhere to go study martial arts. Somewhere quiet where I could focus, where that was all I could do. It was the only thing I was good at. Now... I have something else I'm good at. And I just wish I couldn't do it at all." She burst into tears.

I moved up a branch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She didn't even notice me.

Jack here.

We should never have go to that farm. What we needed was somewhere where the Avengers weren't. Where we could deal with our problems without interference.

Too late now.

Miranda was half a mile away, hiding in a patch of woods under a tree. The warm sun illuminated her skin, and her eyes were closed. Her glasses rested in her hand. If I had been an artist, I would have loved to draw her like that. Unfortunately, I am not artistic.

She opened her eyes and regarded me calmly. She hadn't been crying, her eyes were perfectly clear. However, as her friend of twelve years and her boyfriend of about one and a half, I could detect the storm brewing behind her eyes.

"He implied that I was stupid. That I am unreasonable. That I would do or say anything simply because she says it. Really, the man knows nothing about me." She pushed the round glasses back onto her face. "What right has he to talk to me like I'm a child?"

"You're seventeen. He's, what, ninety?"

The joke only seemed to make her angrier. "I've had life experiences he could never dream of having. He is a scientist. I prefer to study history, literature, theology, philosophy, logic. I know a good deal he doesn't."

I know better than to point out that he has life experience she doesn't, as well. Honestly, though, I have to side with my girlfriend on this one. Not just because she's my girlfriend, but because Mr. Stark was very rude to her. And she had good points.

"Let's go. I've had enough of this. Let's just get the car and go, Miranda. Anyone who wants to come is welcome." I offered her a hand.

She accepted it and I pulled her to her feet.

"Ivy's brought us nothing but bad luck," I muttered.

Miranda paused. "I've forgiven Ivy – I think. She does as she thinks best and hopes she can. I understand her, and I hold her no grudge for it. But you're right. Except for my romance with you, nothing much good has come out of knowing her. That's why I have to go to nursing school now. Somewhere out of state, where she'll leave me alone."

"It's your life and your choice, Miranda. I'm sorry I got so mad about it."