Martha and Gwen leaned over the balcony from the second floor of Tony's mansion. On the main floor people were throwing bottles of champaign up and Tony was blasting them with his repulsors. The silver Mark II appeared and told everyone to leave. The party's attendees started rushing outside and the pair started a power armored brawl which quickly got out of control. Gwen noticed someone she recognized as a SHIELD agent because she'd seen her on a visit to Obadiah at the Raft. Things were getting more and more heated. Martha looked at Gwen.

"We should get somewhere safe."

Gwen nodded and rushed back to Martha's room. Martha ran off in another direction. Gwen decided it was time for Spider-Woman to teach both men a lesson in humility. She pulled her dress off and began tugging on her costume. The door opened and Martha blinked a few times seeing a half-naked Gwen pulling on Spider-Woman's costume. Gwen blinked innocently then lept to the side and fell on her ass tangled in her costume. A fist had come through the floor.

"This isn't what it looks like?"

Martha tossed her hoodie off and reached out her wrists and the pink Iron Man armor started solidifying around her. The necklace she always wore forming into the power core on the chest. Gwen didn't hesitate after that and started tugging her costume on. Martha spoke though now she sounded far more synthesized.

"Why aren't you aren't wearing your new suit?"

Gwen pulled her mask on and shook her head.

"Yea, I'm not so comfortable with beta-testing new hardware in a real fight. Y'know those explosives Sin-Eater was using? That was my first attempt at webbing."

Martha nodded and walked out of the room. Spider-Woman looked between the two men who were brawling below.

"I'll take the silver one. I need to take my frustrations out on someone I'd rather it not be Tony."

Martha nodded and leapt off the balcony. Spider-Woman did the same though mid-jump she reached out her hands and shot two webs at the Mark II. Whomever was piloting was caught completely unawares and found himself flung up into the air and into a spinning kick from Spider-Woman. He crashed into the floor unceremoniously. She yanked the webs again and clotheslined him. He rolled out of the way of a stomp.

"That armor isn't yours! Take it off! You suck at using it."

The pilot groaned. Tony was laughing at his foes predicament and stomping towards him.

"You're getting beat up by a girl!"

Tony was so focused on the beatdown Spider-Woman was giving the Mark II he didn't notice Martha do a repulsor powered flying tackle that knocked him down. The pair crashed through one of the plate glass windows of the house. The pilot of the Mark II held his hands up defensively as Spider-Woman reached her arm back to punch him.

"Hey, I'm just trying to stop Tony before he hurts himself or somebody else."

Spider-Woman wasn't listening. She really just wanted to smash something or someone tonight. Her anger from the blow up with Peter was still simmering under the surface. Her temper was her downfall as the Mark II swept his leg under her feet and she landed on her butt. Tony had tossed Martha off the edge of the island and she was trying to stabilize herself with her thrustors. While Spider-Woman was recovering she saw both suits of Iron Man armor putting their hands at each other and the repulsors lighting up. Her spidey sense started screaming at her so she lunged at Martha who was heading inside and knocked her down. A wave of energy blasted out of the house. Shattering every pane of glass. It swept over the pair of teenage girls.

When the air cleared Tony seemed dazed. The Mark II pulled itself up and started to lift off the ground. Spider-Woman wasn't willing to let him get away that easily, so she flicked webs at it and pulled him out the air. He slammed into the paved driveway.

"Oh no you don't! That's not your armor."

The pilot seeing he wasn't getting away without a fight raised his hands and shot at Spider-Woman with his repulsors. He was rather shocked to see her lift her bracers up and absorb the blast. He was even more surprised when she laughed at him.

"Bad idea!"

She flicked her wrists and the gauntlets came out. She saw Martha showing her a gauntleted hand and pointing at a spot on her knuckles. Spider-Woman did a flying upper cut. It caught the Mark II in the chin and unlike the last time she tried it, this time the energy from the gauntlet was all channeled into the punch. Every bit of energy they repulsors had hit her with went into the punch. The Mark II went flying several hundred feet and splashed into the water. Martha lifted off flew towards it. She was forced to dodge when the Mark II burst out of the ocean. It's pilot seemed to be pretty battered because the armor was not flying straight. Spider-Woman shouted.

"Shoot him down!"

Martha gave up and did not pursue him. She landed beside Spider-Woman who was annoyed at her.

"Why didn't you shoot him down?"

"My suit is not armed."

Spider-Woman face-palmed.

"Why would you build a suit of power armor with no weapons?"

Martha looked at the cracked pavement.

"My sister made me take them all off of it."

Spider-Woman blinked under her mask.

"So, no rockets in the wrists? No repulsors? I thought that was how you flew."

Martha nodded.

"You need a focusing lens to weaponize them. She took them off of the gauntlets. I'm not allowed to have weapons, or she will take the suit away."

Spider-Woman gave a soft laugh.

"Now I am really glad my dad has no idea I'm Spider-Woman. I think I might have a few ideas for non-weapons for you."

Tony groaned and stumbled out of the house. He flew up in the air. Spider-Woman glanced at Martha.

"We should go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Martha nodded. Spider-Woman grabbed on. Martha flew into the air. The pair followed Tony for hours as he flew aimlessly finally landing at a donut shop. They followed him inside. The older Asian woman behind the counter looked pretty shocked to see them walk in. Tony looked at the pair over his glasses.

"Want anything?"

Martha pointed at the strawberry dip donuts. Spider-Woman pointed at the coffee and the chocolate donuts. He ordered them and the trio sat down in a booth. Martha's helmet sunk into her armor. Spider-Woman lifted her mask up so only her lips were revealed. Tony pointed at her.

"Gwen Stacy was wrong. You look human."

Spider-Woman did the fake deep voice she used when she was talking to people who didn't know her secret identity.

"I don't pee spider webs either. Why did you let that dude steal your armor last night?"

Fury had walked in the door and Spider-Woman quickly pulled her mask down. He sat down beside the Spider-Woman and looked across the table at Tony.

"Yes, why did you let your friend steal your armor? These two put up more of a fight then you did."

He glanced at Spider-Woman.

"Nice uppercut by the way."

Spider-Woman nodded and responded in a deep voice.

"Thanks, been working on it."

Nick Fury turned to Tony.

"So, why did you let your friend steal your armor?"

Tony pulled off his sunglasses. Martha started tapping something into her holo-display.

"I tried to stop him."

Fury raised his one good eyebrow as his phone vibrated. He read a text and looked at Martha.

"Your friend here, who we have no file on at all, which by all logic is impossible. If she was born in California like she claims. Just told me there are security features that prevent the armor from being stolen. So, tell me again how you tried to stop him?"

His phone vibrated.

"Oh, Kansas. Are you a mute or something?"

He looked at Martha. Spider-Woman spoke up.

"She doesn't like talking to strangers."

Fury nodded.

"But she'll somehow hack into secure government phone networks to send messages?"

Spider-Woman shrugged.

"It's not like it's hard. Your security is about as useful as a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest."

Fury rubbed his forehead.

"Could you two let me have an adult conversation with Mr. Stark here."

Spider-Woman shrugged, webbed the ceiling, pulled herself up and jumped over the table. A web grabbed the bag with her donut in it, and another grabbed her coffee. Martha stood up and followed her. They finished their donuts. Spider-Woman launched webs at a wall and flung herself up. She started swinging her way to her apartment. Martha followed her. Once she got home Gwen went into her room through her window and got changed. Martha landed on the fire escape and the pink armor retracted into her bracelets. Gwen motioned to the bed.

"Pull up a half. I'm exhausted."

Gwen fell face forward into the bed. When she woke up Martha was still asleep. Gwen wasted no time in starting to cook. She was starving. Martha must have smelled the bacon because she came out of Gwen's room. Gwen hadn't even bothered getting dressed past a long t-shirt.

"I hope you like bacon and eggs. I don't have anything else to cook."

Martha nodded and sat at the table. Gwen finished cooking and let Martha take what she wanted and took the rest. Martha didn't take much. Martha suddenly looked panicked. Gwen held up her hand.

"No worries, Tony asked me if I knew where you and Spider-Woman were, and I told him she dropped you off and you were so exhausted you passed out. He said we could take the day off, but he will have more research materials for us tomorrow. Oh, and we'll be at Stark Towers working. Also, he's moved your stuff to Stark Towers since his house was trashed."

Martha calmed down after Gwen passed along that information. She began eating Gwen had half expected Martha to be pickier. As they finished their meal Gwen started prying.

"Okay, SHIELD has no record of you. You have super high-tech gear. You're using an arc reactor that makes mine and Tony's look like coal powered plants. You gave me one like it was nothing. What gives?"

Martha stood up and started looking around the apartment. Much like Gwen did at Tony's lab she started touching things. Gwen did it because it made them feel real. She pondered why Martha did it. Finally, she lifted a picture of Gwen, with her mother and her father at one of her ballet performances. Or rather in Gwen's memories ballet failures.

"Is this why you use ballet slippers on your costume?"

Gwen shook her head.

"No, sort of. My mom was in the ballet before she retired. I wanted to honor her with part of my costume. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I could do what I do."

Martha put the picture down.

"Does she know Spider-Woman is you?"

Gwen shook her head and cracked a joke. It's how she coped.

"Hard for her to know anything, she was murdered last year."

Martha didn't show much outward emotion. She rarely did. Sometimes Martha's mannerisms and tone remind her of Spock. The only time real emotion and a sparkle entered her eyes was when she was discussing technology or a new discovery.

"My mother was murdered too. They never caught who did it. My sister tried really hard. I'm still looking."

Gwen blushed.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Martha carried on looking around seemingly unphased by discussing her mother's death. Like she couldn't feel the pain of it, or perhaps that was how she dealt with it. Being analytical.

"My sister found out I was looking for them. Amber was very upset. Especially when she found out that they are very dangerous people who have bribed a lot of people in our government and federal agencies. They caught on someone had found them. Amber sent me here for the summer, until things cool off."

Gwen stood up and approached Martha.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Martha shook her head.

"No. It is not possible. You belong here."

Gwen was growing more confused.

"Here? What do you mean here? In New York?"

Martha shook her head.

"No, moving to a different state would not have helped, or even country. So, she sent me here."

"Define here."

"I am not a normal person. I have abilities."

Gwen shrugged.

"Join the club?"

Martha didn't look at Gwen but she continued speaking in her oft-monotone voice.

"How did you get your powers?"

Gwen ran her fingers along a wooden table that held framed photos of her mother and family. The shrine to her family as it was before James Fisk shattered it. Her fingers were covered and dust when she lifted them. Her heart fell a bit. She'd forgotten to dust the table. Would she forget her mother's laugh soon? Her voice? Gwen's eyes grew moist. She wandered off to the kitchen and pulled a paper towel off the wall and put water on it. Just as she was about to start wiping the table down Martha spoke up.

"You should wipe it down with a soft cloth then use wood polish. It will get cloudy."

Martha started gathering the photos and placing them down gently on the kitchen table. Gwen dug for one of the soft cloths her mother would have used and started wiping the dust off the table. Martha did the same with the framed photos. Gwen was kneeling down and wiping the bottom shelf of the small antique wooden table.

"We were at a visit to Stark Industries last year and my friend Peter got nosy. We ended up in what we thought was an offline particle accelerator. It wasn't offline. There was a spider. It's complicated but the spider had been used to purify a serum that was used to make super soldiers…"

Gwen sprayed some polish on the wood and started rubbing it in like her mother used too.

"There was a polymorphic retrovirus that was used on the spider to insert different spider DNA and among other creepy crawlers, the person experimenting was trying to make a new kind of silk ballistic weave before the spider's were repurposed. Got hit by the accelerator. Got infected. Coughed up spider gooped and here I am, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Woman. I'm apparently part spider now. As human as a I look."

Martha started handing the framed pictures to Gwen one by one. Gwen organized them as they had been. She wandered into her mother's sewing room and started digging for a frame. She went to the folder containing her father and stepmother's wedding photos. She pulled the one out where she was in her maid of honor's dress between her father and Erica. She put it in the frame and placed to the side of the one with her mother, father and her. She smiled at it. She hoped it would make Erica feel like she belonged. Martha spoke as Gwen continued to arrange the frames to accommodate the new picture.

"When I was younger, I was diagnosed with something called ASD. A company told my mother I could be cured, and they used a genetic treatment on me. It did not cure me. It mutated me and I became even more… autistic. It also made me super intelligent. It involved alien DNA. I was helping Amber and some other super powered beings and absorbed alien energy. We still do not understand it. Now I can travel to different places. Planets. Universes. There is an energy network it connects everything, everyone, everywhere. Some would call it magic. It is not. Even if we do not understand it. The aliens used the energy to travel through space. I woke up here one night and Tony found me. I was eleven. He helped me get home. When my sister realized how much danger I may be in because of my investigation she sent me here Tony does not know why I am here. He assumes it is because he asked us for help."

Gwen held up her hands.

"Wait, you have aliens?"

Martha nodded. Gwen blinked a few times.

"Freaky and cool. So, can I visit? Can you take people with you?"

Martha nodded.

"You could theoretically but it is not healthy for you without an adaptation device. A space suit? Universes treat foreigners like a body treats a disease. You need to trick them into accepting you as part of them. Because of the energy inside of me I can go anywhere. It is difficult to explain without experiencing it."

Gwen realized she'd missed something in Martha's statement and backtracked.

"Wait, your sister is a superpowered being?"

Martha nodded.

"She is very powerful. She was adopted."

"Yet she sent you here?"

Martha frowned. Which was a very uncharacteristic show of emotion for her.

"She is very overprotective of me. She was twelve when I was born. She is also nearly indestructible so she thinks everything will hurt me. It is very frustrating."

Gwen nodded.

"My dad is totally the same way. I've been shot and survived with a bruise. He thinks I'm going to get blown over in a strong wind!"

Martha nodded.

"He does not know you are superhuman. It is a parent's responsibility to keep us safe. That is why I do not push against Amber more."

Gwen nodded.

"Your Earth… what year is it there?"

"2042"

Gwen sighed and lifted an old photo from the collection on the table. With that pulled out the new one fit perfectly. She looked at it. It was her mom and dad on their honeymoon. Times were changing. She looked at the picture.

"How does that even work? How is there eighteen years difference between two universes that should have started at the same time?"

"I do not know. There is a logical explanation for it, but I do not have all the variables. It is impossible to say."

Gwen nodded.

"Maybe your calendar is off by a minute off ours by a minute or something. So that is how your tech is so advanced?"

"I am unsure. Our societies have evolved in parallel ways. However, we have been dealing with aliens and supers for decades. It is likely my world was forced to develop technology more quickly to defend itself against new external threats. My suit and your new suit are more advanced than my Earth's tech level. I utilized technology from my sister's spaceship. And my arc reactors are not arc reactors any longer. They are powered by the alien energy I absorbed. It allows for a more intimate experience with technology. You will see when you wear the suit. It will adapt to your thoughts and needs."

Gwen blinked a few times.

"Intimate?"

Martha nodded, then decided to correct herself.

"Perhaps that is the wrong word. The energy links to living things so anything powered by it is more adaptive to its user."

"Wait, your sister's spaceship?"

Martha nodded.

"I did say Amber was adopted."

Gwen's eyebrow raised.

"She's an alien?"

Martha shook her head.

"No, she is part alien. She is a hybrid of human, two other alien species."

Gwen's mouth formed an O.

"Wow your family and life are way weirder than mine. I am blown away and now some of the things you've said are making so much more sense. Like there is no technology on this earth that can create synthetic Vibranium. Wait, is there tech on your Earth that can do it?"

"No. I believe my sister's ship could synthesize it; However, my sister has been very clear on how much technology I can share with your Earth. I would prefer she not find out about your new suit, or the Luthor corp holo-phone I gave you. Also just providing enough for one arc reactor would be insufficient. We need to ensure Tony can produce more. I want to make sure he is safe. I owe him that much."

Gwen wandered into her bedroom and put the framed photo on one of her shelves. Martha followed her. Gwen glanced back at her.

"I'm with you on that. He has given me a lot of chances. Did you sleep alright? I know you said you have difficulties if things are too loud."

"I did. Your presence seemed to calm my mind. I am unsure why."

Gwen turned to face Martha.

"Do you want to stay here? I have another three weeks before dad and Erica are back. Maybe that will give Tony time to get his house at least fixed to the point where you can stay there again. I don't have a tech lab, but I do have a freezer full of frozen meals."

Martha didn't answer she just opened up her holo-display and dialed a number. Her sister Amber answered the video call. She must have been at work because she was wearing a business suit and seemed to be walking somewhere. Amber's smile brightened when she saw it was Martha.

"Hey sis, how are you doing?"

Martha didn't smile. She rarely did. Gwen suddenly felt bad for Amber. Who looked anything but alien-like. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. By all accounts was a very attractive twenty-something-year old woman. To have such love for someone and likely never feel like it was reciprocated. Martha spoke.

"There was an incident at Tony's home. Another intern has offered to let me stay with her until it is repaired. May I?"

Amber's bright smile dimmed.

"Were you experimenting with something?"

Martha shook her head.

"No, I was not, Amber. I was with the other Intern. My friend Gwen. We were talking when it happened. I am okay. No one was hurt. But the house was damaged."

Amber's face brightened once again when Martha said the word friend.

"You made a friend? That's wonderful. Well, if Tony is okay with it, then I am. I need to go; I have a meeting. I love you, Martha."

Martha replied.

"I love you too, Amber. Thank you."

The call disconnected. Martha looked at Gwen.

"I will stay with you. If Tony says it is alright."

Gwen smiled and settled down on the couch. Martha sat beside her.