In Jay's Office,

Natasha prepared two glasses of red wine, putting it in front of Jay, "So, magic, people with power, and mysterious machines. Who are you?"

Jay gulped down the red wine, "I need something stronger. Anyway, how much will you be telling Fury?"

Natasha touched the rim of her glass, circling her finger, "depends."

"On what?"

"How honest you are," Natasha closely watched him. She didn't think that sense of reality could change by so much in just one night. But right now, everything felt like it was slipping off her fingers. The boundary between her reality and fiction was blurring, and all she could do was try and hold herself together.

Jay leaned back, closing his eyes, "taking you home was a bad idea. It kinda reminded me why I stopped sleeping around."

He turned his chair towards the side, looking at the view from the windows, lost in thought.

"Deciding what to do with me?"

"Yes."

"Give me my options."

"Erase your memories, but you are too smart. You will look for clues, and you will tell Fury, and things would go out of control."

"You can erase memory?"

"I erased Katya's memories," Jay pressed his lips, putting his elbow on the chair's arms, his fingers meeting in between.

Natasha shook her head, "that won't work on me. Try something different."

Jay pressed his lips, "the sad part is that it would. I can not only take memories. I have something that could give memories. Enough to make sure you don't doubt it unless someone makes you. But that would mean you will forget about me." 

Natasha looked up, taking sips, "Is that why you haven't told me? Why not just keep the memory of us being together?"

"Yeah...not how it works. I would have to make sure that the memory I plant is the opposite. So that you don't branch onto the memory of what happened in your dreams and then deja vu. Then of us being together to what happened. Even if I could, planting memory of sex? Even if we did do it, it feels wrong."

Natasha looked up, lightly smiling, "just tell me. We both know you will tell me. You need me to train that girl. You know, I can. Maybe even others like them."

Jay shot a look at her, turning his chair towards her. His finger and thumb were between his upper lip and nose, his elbow on the table, "let's see...I won't go into magic and details. I am not allowed to like I am not allowed to talk about Shield. But there are a group of magicians. I found them and learned leaders. I am kind of second only to the leader, like second in line if the leader dies. But I didn't want that, so I left, and then Shield found me. I joined work and then resigned. Now, there is a third party that you don't know."

Natasha looked up, rotating her wrist awkwardly, "so that was magic? No spell?"

Jay laughed, his dimples appearing on his cheek, "that was cute. There are spells, but it was needed for small tricks like this."

Natasha looked at him in contempt, " showing off?"

Jay raised one eyebrow, "maybe, but then it was the first thing I learned. But then, my aptitude and talent were far higher than most others. I only know few who came close."

Tony Stark, Victor Von Doom, and Stephen Vincent Strange. Although there was something that he possessed that they didn't, and he didn't mean flames.

"Anyway, I don't want to tell you too much all of a sudden. But with magic and teleportation, I started traveling everywhere. It was then that I came across a temple holding ancient tech, one that was far too dangerous. I decided that I should keep it somewhere where someone might not find it by mistake. But nowhere seemed safe, somewhere. There was always a way to find a way in. So I created, using technology and magic, a place that I call The Cave. One that no one but me can enter. And I scoured the Earth for any alien and ancient and put them inside the cave. That is how I came across Shield and joined to know how much alien and ancient tech they have."

"Evaluate Danger, that Shield posses?" Natasha leaned back, crossing her arms.

Jay shook his head, "I know, Fury. I know he works hard. And I might not like it, but he and I see a very similar world. I also know Sorcerer Supreme, and she protects the world in her own way, from a much darker shadow. I am doing the same. But like I said, every place could be broken in. I was evaluating a break-in. What if someone stole from Shield, someone found it by mistake, and other things like that. What if there was corruption inside Shield."

Natasha looked away, nodding, leaning forward, "makes sense. And what about this superpower? Jinxing people? How does that happen?"

Jay laughed shortly, "plenty of ways. You will be amazed at how many ways are there to get superpowers. Cosmic radiation, an accident during the scientific process, gene manipulation, super-soldier serum, technology, and so many more. But I researched what Primo does. He manipulated bio-energy signature of a human body."

Jay sat up, "this about this, "what is there is a different universe, parallel universe, and there is a Natasha with a superpower. What do you think will happen to bio-energy signature?"

Natasha leaned back, hesitating, "me with a superpower? Um...my bio-energy signature would change?"

"Yes, it would evolve, change. But what if someone on this side knew what your bio-energy signature on the other side was. And calibrated yours to be just like that?"

Natasha gazed at him, "I will get the same power as my counterpart?"

"Exactly that's what Primo is doing, leaving behind seeds in people he knows have power on the other side. As for the reason why he is leaving behind and not awakening or recruiting? Maybe there was a disaster on the other side, and if such disaster struck here..."

He didn't have to complete the sentence. Natasha understood, "these people would awaken their powers."

"Not only that, we always thought he knew something. I met these people, and they are good people. Some might be in the grey, but with their powers, they would do good. He chose not because of some psyche test, but because of what he knew about these people."

Natasha stood up, walking towards the glass wall, "you never told Nick or anyone else. About this theory."

"It's not a theory. Science goes vertically, from something simple like a wheel to a car, to engine to spaceships, from us to the end of the universe. Magic? Magic works horizontally."

Jay stood up, opening the portal on the glass wall, getting in, and taking Natasha.

The two of them passed through, standing in the middle of the road, with people and cars passing through them, making Natasha look around, "where are we?"

She tried to touch people, but it was like they weren't even there.

"Mirror World. You must have been wondering why Shield never saw magicians. Because they don't stop threats from our dimension but from others. As I said, if science is X-axis, Magic is Y-axis. We were never supposed to interact with each other. I am not even allowed to be out here. But since all I did was collect dangerous artifacts and threw them in someplace where no one could ever reach, she allowed it just this once."

Natasha looked up at the same blue sky in the mirror world, "it's too much to take in."

"If you chose, I can erase this bit of memory. It would be like you just came to talk to me."

Natasha turned towards him, smiling, "I am not the one to run away from the darkest, deepest reaches of the world. I just have one more question. You said this technology is safe as long as it's hidden by you. But I just saw you use it, even if it was to save someone. How can you be trusted to guard it?"

Jay created another portal, "come, I will show you why."

Natasha walked in through the portal, entering a white air-gapped room, welcomed by a sweet voice, "welcome, sir."

"Echo, I hope you didn't get bored," Jay stood at the center with a smile.

"No, I have been having too much fun in the virtual world. I slowed down the time of the virtual world, so it has been only a few days since we last saw."

Jay moved his hand down, and a screen appeared. And soon the blueprints rose, "I have created many things, from weapons to suits like iron man's, to spaceships, medical cabins. Nano-technology, even perfect super-soldier serums that wouldn't make the person go crazy. And this is what I did in my teenage years. If I wanted to rule the world or do something evil, then there is only one way."

He raised his hand, and nano-particles rose around him, forming a plasma gun, which he pointed towards the back.

A metallic pole rose from the ground, on which he fired, obliterating it on a molecular level. He turned the grip towards Natasha "you might have to do that?"

Natasha lifted her chin, looking into his eyes, taking the gun, "I want to go home."

Jay glanced towards the gun, making Natasha raise it, "I am keeping this."

He chuckled, tapping on the gun. It turned into nano-particles, wrapping around Natasha's wrist, forming a watch, "so that you don't say that I never gave you anything. You can talk to Echo, and she can teach you how to control this. It could turn into anything, weapons, bulletproof. No, plasma-proof, magic-proof, alien-proof clothes. Or whatever you fancy."

Natasha raised her hand, looking at the watch, smiling, "Is this bribe? To keep my mouth shut?"

Jay shrugged, "it could be a gift of my love for you?"