'I know I don't deserve your trust but you were our only lead. We discovered that your energy signature matched Mar-Vell's core. Now, we know why. If only you knew, the importance of it to me. I just need your help decoding the coordinates to Mar-Vell's lab.' Talos started the conversation when everyone was finally inside and seated around the table.

Nobody had said anything when Carol and I came in late, but my red eyes told them everything they needed to know. The heavy feeling in my chest was still there, but she had taken away a lot of it, making it a little easier to breathe. It was going to be a long time before I had processed what we had discovered today, but it was nice to know I wasn't alone.

Carol listened intently to where Talos was standing across from her, he leaned over the table a bit to come even closer. 'Those weren't coordinates. They're state vectors.' She ignored the whole first part of his speech and got straight to the point.

I nodded my head at her words, earning Talos' attention. 'Orbital positioning and velocity.' I was very familiar with it, we used them all the time on Hala.

'You didn't find her lab on Earth, because it's not on Earth', Maria added, an iced tea in her hand.

'That was the location on the day of the crash six years ago. If we track its course, we'll find it, in orbit, right now.' Carol finished the explanation given by three people.

Maria couldn't help but make a sarcastic comment towards him, sipping on her iced tea as she did. 'It's just basic physics.'

Talos slowly turned to his minion, causing everyone else to do the same. 'In orbit? Was that so difficult to figure out? I mean, you're my science guy, right?', he said disappointed.

I kind of felt sorry for the Skrull when he shrugged his shoulders and looked down to the floor in shame.

'Yon-Rogg will catch up to me soon. We've got to get to the core before he does.' Carol's voice was stressed and exhibited that we had already lost too much time. This whole mission had enormous time pressure and the question was if we could get it done in time. I didn't even want to think beyond the mission, everything we had to figure out and face then. Those we all worries for a later time.

Fury was eating a sandwich again, or still, I don't know, and answered with his mouth full. 'Mmm. You're going to space?', immediately taking a new bite afterwards. I thought I loved my food, but this man was something else. He had been eating and drinking ever since we arrived at Maria's house. I was surprised there was still food left.

'In what?', Carol asked. We only had two planes around the house that weren't made for space, only for Earth atmosphere. They wouldn't be able to handle the pressure from outer space or even make it that far with those engines.

A voice I hadn't heard before, suddenly spoke up from behind me. 'A few tweaks to your vessel should do it. I can handle the modifications.' Talos' science guy had confidence he could change the simple aircraft into a spaceship, I would have to see that for myself.

I couldn't help but mock Talos a bit, gesturing to his minion, I said, 'Hmm. Your science guy.' It earned me a snort and a push from Carol next to me and a sarcastic eyeroll from Talos. It felt weird to joke right now, but also right at the same time. We all had had a rough day and needed a little lightness every now and then. Even though I had joked about it, I was very thankful the Skrull wanted to work on the plane and get it ready. Wasting no time, he walked out the house immediately.

It was getting dark out. The sun had disappeared behind the mountains. But that didn't stop the Skrulls from working on the plane. We had to get it ready as soon as possible, so there really was no other option. Fury followed them outside, sandwich still in his hand. This gave Carol, Maria, Monica and I some time to talk.

I plopped down on the big couch in the living room, but it looked like that was a wrong choice, because Monica came to stand in front of me, staring at the place I was sitting. Just when I wanted to apologize for taking her seat, she crawled on my lap, making herself comfortable. I stiffened for a minute, not used to handeling children, but she sat there so comfortably that I relaxed myself. I could feel Carol smile from across the room. Goose had jumped on her lap and she was stroking it softly.

'Can I ask you some questions?' Monica's big eyes looked into mine curiously. It wasn't hard to guess what she wanted to talk about, me being the first alien she had ever seen. 'I'm sorry if you don't want-'

'Monica-', Maria warned her, but I didn't mind answering them. I was curious to see what she wanted to know so badly. So I cut Maria's sentence off, letting her know it was okay.

'What do you want to know?' I looked back at the child and her eyes lit up again. Even Maria was smiling now at the curiosity of her daughter and I was happy she trusted me with her. She didn't know me a couple hours ago, but had made me feel more than welcome.

'What was the planet called again? Where you came from?', she asked carefully. I don't think I even told her that, maybe she just heard everything from the little conversation between Carol, Maria and I earlier.

'I come from Atera. It is a neighbor planet of Hala', I explained. 'It looks a lot like Earth actually.'

Monica's eyes shone even brighter. 'Really? How?'

A laugh escaped me, her face was so cute. 'Grass is the same color, water too. Me and my family lived in the countryside with lots of space and freedom. Our house was very similar to this one', I gestured around. 'Only mine was blue.'

'Blue?'

'Yes. On Atera, everyone paints their homes in different colors. It makes it easier to recognize their own house and it has been a tradition for years. Besides, it just looks amazing.'

I could see the landscape forming in her eyes. 'Why didn't you paint it purple? Like your hair and your eyes?'

My smile faltered a little. Talking about my parents was still painful. 'My father painted the house when I was little. All our neighbors came to help us. He chose blue because it reminded him of my mother. Her element was water so he thought it was only fitting the house was blue too.'

Monica forgot the house and focused on the new information I had given her. 'Element?'

'You have a lot of questions, don't you?', I teased her.

'I have a million questions! You are an alien and you come from space! How can I not have questions?' I laughed again. I had missed this, the fun and pointless talking. It made me realize how cold Hala actually was, how lonely.

'Alright, little human. To answer your question; yes, element. Every Ateran has the ability to manipulate and control the four elements. You know what they are?'

She thought for a minute, looking to her mother for help. 'I have already given you one: water..'

'Earth, air, fire.' She suddenly remembered. 'You can control all of them?'

I nodded. 'Yes, but everyone has a dominant one, mine is fire.'

She basically jumped up and down in my lap. 'Show me!', she said enthusiastically.

'Alright', I looked around, trying to think of something to show her, when my eye fell on the glass of iced tea Maria had set on the table next to her. Returning my eyes to Monica, I asked her, 'What is your favorite animal?'

Thinking for a second, she decided on one. 'A horse!'

Nodding my head, luckily I knew what those were, I lifted one hand and looked at her one more time. 'Pay close attention', I winked.

She nodded furiously, her eyes following my arm down to my hand. Carefully, I lifted the iced tea from the cup, it wasn't a lot, but my powers allowed me to multiply the atoms to form a big bubble in front of all of us. A quiet gasp escaped Monica's lips, but this wasn't even it.

Very precisely, I forced the water into the shape of a horse and even made it move its legs so it was running. Now, I conjured up some fire as its mane and tail and a little air caused the flames to flutter in the imaginary wind.

Everyone was watching with big eyes, some (Monica, Maria) bigger than others (Carol). She was already familiar with what I could do, but had never seen me do this for fun.

'Wow', Monica muttered under her breath. I turned my head to Carol, who felt me staring at her and answered me with a loving smile. It must be weird for her to see me in this setting. A part of her 'new' life living in her 'old' life. But she looked happy it all worked and they had accepted me without any problems.

Deciding they had seen enough, I extinguished the flames, shrunk the water and dropped it with an arch back into the glass, destroying all evidence that something supernatural had happened here.

Monica was too shocked to say anything for a while and just stared at the place the horse had been floating. 'That was so cool!', she exclaimed.

'You think so?'

'Yes! Thank you for showing me.'

'Of course, no problem', I smiled. If I could make her happy with something as small as this, I would do it again without doubt. Maria also smiled at me, thankful for making her daughter so happy.

A nice silence fell over us, everyone lost in their thoughts. Monica was probably still thinking about the horse. I was lost in an old memory of Atera. Maria... I don't know what she was thinking, she was hard to get a read on. Carol was probably thinking about the mission again, now that the fun was over, and I was proven to be right when she spoke up.

'I could use another co-pilot.'

Maria looked up when she realized Carol was talking to her. 'No', she said immediately, shaking her head. 'No, I... I can't. I can't leave Monica.'

Monica was alerted by the sound of her name and let her know she didn't agree with her mother. 'Why? It's okay. I can stay with grandma and pop-pop.'

'There's no way I'm going baby. It's too dangerous.' I understood what she was getting at. It was going to be a dangerous mission and we couldn't ensure her safety. That would mean Monica would be left without her mother and I knew how bad that hurt.

But Monica didn't give in, wanting her mother to go on this mission. 'Testing brand new aerospace tech is dangerous and you used to do that.' She was smart, this child. Using all kinds of arguments to convince her mother.

Maria turned to Carol, who had a smug smile on her face, proud of Monica for helping her out. 'Your plan is to leave the atmosphere in a craft not designed for the journey, and you anticipate hostile encounters with a technologically superior foreign enemy. Correct?' Carol shrugged and nodded her head. Saying that was basically what we were planning to do and knowing it sounded bad.

Monica didn't get scared off by it, it only made her more determined. 'That's what I'm saying. You have to go!'

'Monica...'

'You have the chance to fly the coolest mission in the history of missions. And you're gonna give it up to sit on the couch and watch Fresh Prince with me? I just think that you should consider the kind of example you're setting for your daughter.' Monica glared a little and turned to Carol for help, but she was laughing and giving Monica a thumbs up.

After that, it was clear to Maria she wouldn't get away from it and just gave in, standing up and walking to the phone with a sigh to call her parents. She sent Monica upstairs to get her overnight bag ready to go, leaving me and Carol alone to suit up. The plane wasn't ready yet, so we had to stay the night and fly out in the morning, but we needed Monica's help with something before she left.

Putting on the Kree suit felt weird. To be totally honest, I didn't want to wear it. But it was designed especially for me, to keep my own fire from hurting me, and it was the only one I had right now, so it would have to do. The green had never suited my hair very well, so I actually didn't mind a color change.

We found her on the porch, hugging something tight to her chest. Sitting next to her, Carol studied her with a smile for a second before speaking up. 'Your Mom's lucky. When they were handing out kids, they gave her the toughest one. Lieutenant Trouble.' I loved seeing her interact with children, her kind personality on full display.

Monica's whole face lit up at the nickname. 'You remember!'

Carol laughed before her eye fell on the material Monica was clenching tightly. 'Is that mine?' Monica nodded and wanted to give it to her, but Carol protested, pushing it back to her. 'No, no. You hang onto it until I come back.' It was a silent promise she would come back and Monica seemed to understand.

'But there is something that we need your help with.' She gestured to me standing behind her and Monica's eyes flickered to me. 'We can't wear these Kree colors anymore, and since you're obviously the only person around here with any sense of style...'

She got what Carol wanted to say and followed her when she stood up, swiping her Com one time to show her how to work it and then holding the arm out for Monica to try. 'Wow', the girl said, her eyes going up and down the now blue suit.

Trying it out, it first turned to a pink, which Monica didn't like. 'No..'

Then it became black, too dark for Carol's light personality. 'Uh-Uh', Monica agreed with me.

Next came a bright neon suit that hurt my eyes if I looked at it for too long. 'Definitely not', Monica quickly said, earning her a laugh from both of us.

Now a white and green suit followed, which we also didn't like. It looked like this was going to be a long session, until Carol suddenly noticed the shirt the girl was wearing. A red one with the American Air Force symbol in the middle in blue and yellow. 'Well, since we're on the same team...', she gestured to the piece of clothing.

I immediately knew this was the one when a blue, red and golden suit appeared. The color scheme was perfect and it suited her. I nodded, but she couldn't see me from where I stood behind her.

'How do I look?' She asked the girl.

'Fresh', she smiled, clearly satisfied.

They both turned to me when I also muttered one word. 'Hot.' I didn't mean for Monica to hear it, but she just laughed, knowing what I meant and not caring.

Carol glared a little at my remark, but I think she was more uncomfortable than mad, still not used to me complimenting her.

'Now it's your turn, Aayala', Monica motioned for me to step forward so she could change my suit colors too.

She stared me up and down a little, until her eyes fell on my hair. Nodding to herself, she swiped over my Com once and took a step back, admiring her choice. Carol hummed in agreement, clearly also liking what she saw.

My colors fit me perfectly, the biggest parts were black, the parts that were blue on Carol's suit. Her red parts around her shoulders, lower arms, hips and feet were a deep purple on my suit, matching my hair perfectly. And where Carol was sporting gold, I was dressed in silver.

It felt like a different suit immediately now that the Kree colors were gone. And I felt like a different person. Changing the colors of our suit felt like an act of defiance, a rebellious act. Letting the Kree know we were no longer with them. A decision has never felt so right in my life and apparently, that showed on my face.

Carol saw the emotions in my eyes and asked me exactly the right question. 'How do you feel?'

'Free'

~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading!

(2888 words)