Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are all wonderful.

The first episode of Moon Knight was very intriguing. Remember, no spoilers in the comments.

Contact warning/spoiler: discussions of a death by suicide in the beta timeline after the snap.

Conversation 49: I could use a hug right now

BITC: I've received my unredacted briefing. Things are going to get really bad?

TMNS: Yes.

BITC: I'm sorry I freaked out when I heard about the kiss. I promise I'll do better with accepting your boyfriend. I just need time to adjust. I promise it's a Flash thing, not a boyfriend thing.

BITC: I was still working on him being your friend. This is just another level.

TMNS: Good to know. He's not quite my boyfriend yet. I know you know about the ex. Flash needs time to recover after that. It's not just you that needs to adjust.

BITC: Regardless, you guys can stop hiding now because I really need someone to talk about what I just read. Why did you let Simmons and Ana give me the briefing without you there? I need a hug right now. Simmons tried, but she's not you.

TMNS: We're not hiding. We're showing Silk her new uniform.

BITC: See, that would've been preferable to finding out I died and what my mom did after I died. That's a lot to process with the custody situation going on.

TMNS: Not dead. Just turned into dust. But that can be fixed if we get all the stones. Bonus, the purple guy won't have them, which means whatever your mom did won't happen here.

BITC: Which would be good considering she swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills and never woke up.

TMNS: Oh God, I didn't know that. Why didn't I know that?

Ana: You were not cleared to have that information.

BITC: I think I would have preferred not knowing.

BITC: Simmons told me a little bit about the plan to fix things after I started crying. Is it actually going to work? Sure, there are still Infinity stones, but they're not the Infinity stones that were destroyed. Can they actually undo what happened there? Or are our stones nothing more than pretty paperweights in that timeline? And they won't be able to fix my mom, right?

TMNS: Asked Simmons that question.

BITC: She and the Princess theorized that they should still work because we are a branching timeline from the original timeline. We're just at a different point in time, not a completely different universe. As for my other question, that's an ethical dilemma for the other Avengers.

BITC: We are just the timeline that went off the rails for the better. I hope.

BITC: I don't wanna die. I really don't wanna die. I am mad at my mom for what she's been doing, but I don't want her dead either.

TMNS: We don't want you to die. Or your mom, for that matter, even though I don't think she likes me anymore because I am not straight.

BITC: I am so sorry.

TMNS: We will do everything possible to ensure it doesn't happen.

BITC: I believe that. Are we forming our own little group of Avengers?

TMNS: That's the plan. We're going to need a man in the chair. Especially because the grown-ups want to keep us out of this.

BITC: Which is just something parents do, and I hate it.

TMNS: We're not going to let that happen.

BITC: At all.

TMNS: Are we OK?

BITC: Better but don't hide things from me. Even if you think I'm going to freak out, I still want you to tell me. I feel like that's the other reason that you kept your Flash crush from me.

TMNS: I mean, it's not really a crush. Also, until Friday, Flash had a boyfriend. He was a complete asshole, but I wasn't going to break that up.

BITC: Even when you should have. O'Reilly showed me some stuff on Facebook, and even I'm upset on Flash's behalf.

TMNS: Which is why we're not really together right now. MJ says that we're just taking comfort in one another. It's been a weird few days.

BITC: That makes sense when we are at the edge of an apocalypse. She's the smart one in our group.

TMNS: Exactly.

TMNS: MJ will appreciate that. She's coming to talk to you.

BITC: Oh, good. I'll be in the breakfast nook, having a second bagel. I need it.

TMNS: You deserve two bagels today.

BITC: Absolutely.

BITC: Please don't tell her what my mom did in the Beta timeline. I don't want to talk about that.

TMNS: I am very good at not telling friends other friends' secrets.

XXXX

As he put his phone down, MJ walked into the apartment's kitchen. It was huge. He would be very jealous if it wasn't really a safe house.

"How are you doing? We really didn't get to talk in the car." Ned asked as she sat down on the stool next to him. He would much rather talk about MJ and her cousin.

"Because you found out about Cindy, and then Peter was an idiot and told you about the kiss," MJ said as she grabbed a bagel. "Although, in his defense, I think he's wanted to tell you about it for the last year, and now he can."

"That weirdly makes sense. So really, both Peter and Thompson?"

"No, just Peter. I can handle dating just Peter by myself. Being Spider-Man's significant other is too much for one person. So, Flash and I have decided to change it to a group project." MJ explained, and Ned had no choice but to chuckle.

"Being Spider-Man's BFF is exhausting, so that makes sense. This day has already been a mess, and we need to leave for classes soon." He really hates that he found all of this out on a Tuesday. He's blaming his mom for that. He could've found all the stuff out Saturday and had time to adjust if she would just let him go with the Princess. He has way too many conflicting emotions about her right now, and he has to process them on a school day. Worst of all, Laura was in another timeline, and he really could use her right now.

"It is, but I wouldn't have it any other way, neither would he."

"I know. I'm just worried about getting locked out. We've always just had each other, and now there are other people, and it's weird."

"I promise I won't let that happen. But you have other friends too. I'm one of them." MJ pointed out.

"I know."

"This is a chance to prove that you're really a friend. Ana, activate blackout protocol." All of a sudden, they were encapsulated in a holographic force field.

"Oh, this is not good," Ned said as MJ handed him a Stark pad. Ned really hopes this isn't more details regarding his mom. He can't deal with that.

"Do you know about Robin?" MJ asked.

"Yes. Robin emailed me a picture of Peter holding hands with you and someone with blonde hair I didn't recognize about six months ago. The third person was Flash?" Ned asked.

"Probably. A lot of Robin's drawings don't make sense until after the fact."

"They also don't always come true. I know about her earlier drawings of the world cracking apart."

"That happened in Deke Fitzsimmons' original timeline," MJ explained.

"But not here because we make different choices?" If they make better choices, then he can save his mom. He may not want to talk to her right now, but he wants her to live.

"Or in the Beta timeline because they called in Mr. Stark in the end. Basically, if we make different choices, things don't happen. I want you to help me make sure that the pictures I'm about to show you don't come true." MJ said just as one of Robin's drawings showed up on the screen.

"Is that a picture of Mr. Stark dying?" Ned asked. He does not need to see that right now.

"Yes, although we don't know if that is our Tony or the other beta timeline's Tony. Ana, show Ned the picture we got from the other timeline." MJ ordered the AI.

"That's two different Tonys in that picture, and thankfully only one is dying," Ned remarked, concerned. "Also, that Robin is a better drawer."

"She's also five years older."

"This time travel stuff is giving me a headache." Like coming to terms with the fact that his mother is dead in another timeline.

"I'll give you Tylenol once we're done. This is going to get worse because Robin's been drawing pictures like this since Christmas 2016."

"Shit. Does Afia know?" Ned really hopes she doesn't. Ned really wished he didn't know about his own mom.

"She knows, and so does the Princess. I didn't know until Saturday because our friend doesn't tell us stuff because she doesn't want to burden anyone. She gets it from her dad. However, it was decided by the Princess that I needed to know. She wanted to tell you but couldn't because your mom wouldn't let her talk to you." MJ explained.

"Which is why she had to bring you in even though you're dealing with Daisy." The Daisy situation was the other reason why he didn't want MJ to know what happened in the beta timeline.

"I'm good at multitasking," MJ remarked. "It doesn't matter which version of Mr. Stark is in the pictures because it's going to devastate a lot of people. That's also not a chance I'm willing to take."

"So, what's the plan?" He didn't want his friends to deal with this.

"We are forming our own Young Avengers group."

"I am the boy in the chair, and you are a spy liaison. What is Flash?"

"Keeping Peter and Afia calm and possibly media relations," MJ answered.

"Useful skills."

"We are bringing in other people, too."

"Who?" Ned asked.

"Ms. Marvel."

"She's 11."

"Only in our timeline." It was the last thing MJ said before lifting the blackout protocol. Unfortunately, it was time to leave for class. Ned really hates high school.

xxxxx

Earlier, in the beta timeline

Friday: Your father has safely arrived in Norway.

KKMR: Good. Is he going to try to get Thor tonight? Are they planning to bring him back here? I don't think I ever met him. I was still in foster care the last time he was around. I hadn't even moved in with my cousin yet.

Friday: They're waiting until morning to visit.

KKMR: Good plan.

KKMR: So, are you going to tell me more about what's actually going on? Mom and dad explained some things, but I feel like it's more than going to another timeline to get the stones and then bring everybody back.

Friday: Unfortunately, I cannot share those details with you.

KKMR: Friday, come on. You know I need to know what's happening. Dad looked so sad last night.

Friday: He's worried about you going back to your biological parents.

KKMR: I don't know if I'm going to move back with them right away or at all. May and Steve are my parents too. We will always be a family even if they divorce and dad marries Uncle Tony. Which, according to mom, happened in another timeline.

Friday: They are just currently engaged. They're looking for a new wedding date after discovering the current one corresponds with the day Thanos attacks New York in our timeline.

KKMR: They should definitely consider a different wedding date. If they actually succeed in having the wedding, I want to be there.

Friday: I will make arrangements.

KKMR: So, you can tell me that, but not what else is going on? This is entirely unfair, Friday.

Friday: I apologize, Ms. May-Rogers.

KKMR: It's never good when you use that last name.

Friday: Although I cannot give you details, I can pass along a message sent to you from the other timeline.

KKMR: Who sent me a message? Mom? The one in the other timeline. Although I guess she wouldn't be my mom yet. I would still be in Jersey City, right?

Friday: In the other timeline, your parents moved to the Avenger compound after the Watchdogs attacked again. Your family has been there since.

KKMR: That makes sense. The cousin used his contacts to get us into protective custody for a little while. We were able to go back to the house eventually. Then the decimation happened.

Friday: The message is from ATCU consultant Michelle Jones.

KKMR: I do not know who that is. Why is she contacting me? What's the ATCU?

Friday: The US replacement agency for shield. Michelle Johnson is a student at midtown high and a friend of Peter Parker in both timelines. She was lost to the decimation in this timeline.

KKMR: So she was at least connected to an Avenger here.

Friday: Yes. She is also the cousin of Agent Daisy Johnson. However, that fact was unknown in our timeline.

KKMR: She is the cousin of mom's other daughter?

Friday: Yes.

KKMR: Is she reaching out to me about mom?

Friday: I think you should read her letter.

XXXXX

From: ATCU consultant Michelle Jones

Codename: The New Consultant

To: Kamala Khan May-Rogers

Subject: We need your help

My name is Michelle Jones, and I am a consultant for ATCU's Superhuman, Inhuman, and enhanced liaison division. Better known as New Shield.

I don't know if we met in your timeline. In my timeline, I'm one of your primary babysitters. Your brother decided he didn't want to be in protective custody anymore, especially when the merchant of death was involved. I've also betaed some of your fan fiction stories. Although that's mostly Ned. He's one of my other friends. Do you still do that?

It's weird writing you this knowing that you're my age when in my time you're 11. You're also on your way to Malta because the adults have decided that the kids do not need to be around when the purple one comes to get the stones. You know that's not going to matter. If he wins, half of us are gone regardless, and other people might die in the process. Maybe they could have saved Yo-Yo if the Princess wasn't taken away. She would have come up with the best prosthetics.

By now, I'm sure you know what your parents are trying to do. They're going to help our timeline by helping us get the stones before the purple one. We're going to give them to not necessarily fix your timeline but bring everyone back.

At least I hope you know that much. My friend Afia has Steve Rogers as her other father, and he usually tells her stuff. However, he's also ridiculously protective and leaves out the details. This is why you're getting an executive summary of what we know so far. It wouldn't hurt for you to have this since the purple one is really dead where you are. There's no risk of him getting his hands on our battle plan.

I think we will be successful. But at what cost? Because there's always a cost. I know you know Robin. She's your sister in your timeline. Here she lives in Wakanda, and Bucky Barnes will be her stepdad soon. Yes, I know, but we're all happy that Polly will get a happy ending. Sorry, you don't need those details.

I've attached some images to this letter from our Robin. My friend Afia, Tony's daughter, is convinced they are pictures of her dad dying in my timeline. I think they are pictures of Morgan's dad dying. This would be worse for you because I believe it would destroy your dad if he lost him.

Here's the situation, the parents don't want us to be involved. Actually, we're pretty sure they're going to send us to Malta, but we're going to tell them no. Instead, we want to form our own Young Avengers group. We want you to join us as well as any other young superheroes. We need your help.

Will you help us?

XXXX

Miss Marvelous: Friday is sending you something via the special email account. Let me know if you're in?

Spidey pink: Is this related to time travel being a thing? Because I already know. I may have had Friday send a message to the other side. They needed to know what Ross did to S.

Miss Marvelous: Of course you did, and you didn't tell me.

Spidey pink: You know my mom is at the compound. That's why I had to stay with Ganke this weekend.

Miss Marvelous: Read the message, Spider-boy.

Spidey pink: Spider-Man

Spidey pink: Reading now.

Miss Marvelous: Are you in?

Spidey pink: I am in. I'm sure S will join.

To be continued…

A/N: Spidey pink is Miles. In the beta timeline, he is now Spider-Man. His costume is based on the new outfit that debuted in Spider-Man: Miles Morales 30. The primary difference is his colors are now hot pink and black instead of red and black. The S in the last conversation refers to Silk, a.k.a. Cindy Moon. After her surviving four years of torture at the hands of her government, Miles is wary of referencing her directly, even in a secure text message conversation.

As of right now, Kamala Khan May-Rogers's powers are closer to her comic book counterpart. That could change after the show comes out, and I might merge the two versions. However, she is very much inhuman here. She also got her powers a lot earlier. That will make a difference.