Sparrows and Iron

Chapter 16

Needless to say, everyone was confused as to what Jenny meant by "altering the timeline", but she wasn't currently in the mood to explain the entire story.

"Hang on, I think you should explain, Jenny," Scott demanded, trying to keep up with her as she darted around the Avengers' lab. The X-Men were half concerned, half simply used to her weird antics, but the Avengers were obviously confused, standing back to observe as the winged girl gathered various supplies from all around the room, as if she'd been here before.

"No, no time to explain, I have to stop myself from changing everything..."

Scott fell silent and stepped out of her way. Tony, however, had finally reached the peak of his curiosity and stepped right into her path. Jenny faltered in her movements.

"Am I really that shockingly handsome?" the man teased. "Sorry, sweetheart, but I'm taken."

Jenny's eyes narrowed and she moved around him. "I don't need this from you right now, Tony. Are you going to help me or not?"

Tony gently grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her to stop and look at him. "Hey, come on... Talk to us. What happened? You had... like a vision or something?"

It was so hard to look at him and not even see a flicker of recognition. Jenny kept her eyes on the place where the arc reactor's glow shone through his shirt.

"I remembered... I remembered what I changed. When I went back in time, I mean... I know it's confusing, but this isn't how things are supposed to be."

He shrugged. "Then how are things supposed to be?"

Finally, she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. "You and I... We were..." She glanced at Pepper awkwardly.

Tony looked between the two women, putting the pieces together. "Oh, oh... And... You changed something? In time? Is that your thing, time traveling?"

Jenny shook her head. "No, but it's a longer story than I have time to tell. Please help me... I have to go back, I have to... I have to get back to my timeline."

Banner moved over to the desk and began writing things down. "So these separate timelines, they probably exist simultaneously... When you changed whatever you changed, you entered this one, our timeline, which is an alternate timeline for you. If we send you back, you fix what you changed, then when you return to the present, it should be your timeline."

Jenny nodded slowly. "Right... Okay, I don't know what HYDRA did to make that portal, but--"

"HYDRA?" Bucky demanded, cutting her off. "What did you have to do with HYDRA?"

The Avengers, including Tony, were eyeing her distrustfully now. Jenny knew she needed their trust or she'd never get back, so she gritted her teeth and, in a curt tone, began to explain.

"They shot my boyfriend, kidnapped me, and sawed my wings off without painkillers. And that's not even including everything they did while I was their captive for ten years. Like being tortured by the Winter Soldier, for instance..."

Everyone had gone silent. Bucky's face was unreadable.

"Don't question me." Her voice was low and even. "Maybe you don't believe me, but just humor me, for goodness' sake." Grabbing medical kit, Jenny turned to Dr. Banner. "You'll need DNA samples from me, in order to use my mutation to manipulate the timestream."

He nodded, then took what he needed to, following her instructions.

Suddenly, a thought occurred. "What will happen to my other self? When I stop her from changing things, will I disappear or will she?"

Banner put the samples away and looked over at her. "Theoretically, if this is a separate plane of existence as far as timelines, only one physical copy of you exists, and the consciousness is what travels between timelines. Your younger self would have remained, though, I'm guessing... because you remained in the same timeline and, therefore, the same plane of existence."

Jenny looked thoughtful. "Okay, so I'll go back and essentially wake up with more memories?"

He nodded. "That's right. Then, you just don't do whatever you did to change things, and return home the same way. Then, the Jenny Xavier from our timeline should forget all of this that's happened. Theoretically, all of us may forget this, or we could remember."

"Right... In that case, let's get to work."