𝒊 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.

she smiled when she asked about her blood, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. “sure is,” she said. “it was a kree thing. couldn’t have me thinking i was anything other than one of them, obviously. let’s call it extreme societal integration.” it bothered her sometimes to know that the blood flowing through her veins in some way connected her to yon-rogg and always would – but she didn’t allow herself to think long on the matter. yon-rogg was gone. “i don’t understand much about blood transfusions but i always kind of thought i’d bleed red again one of these days.”

“uh... yeah. i mean, sure.” she stood up straighter under the scrutiny, lifting her chin a little higher. though the concept didn’t sound entirely unfamiliar, leaving her sure that it was something she’d heard or been asked before, carol couldn’t put her finger on what it might have meant. whether it was literal or metaphorical. but jean grey was a member of the x-men, and there were few such organizations that she would trust as much as she trusted them. besides, jean seemed... sweet. and sad, somehow. “do you need me to glow? because i can do that. if it makes it easier.”

a lot of people knew carol for her optimism, but even that was getting difficult to hold onto. usually in a bad situation she had a plan by now – some way to put things back where they were supposed to be and save the day. but she had nothing. the few ideas she’d come up with in the beginning were now used up, having all been dramatic failures of the embarrassing kind. but there was something about the way he talked that tugged at the part of her that remembered why it was important for her to keep hope. it was a groundwork to help others. “if you ask me, kid, that kind of counts for everything,” carol said, smiling. 

she groaned as she sat back up, stretching her neck left and right with two satisfying pops. she touched her nose, and when she pulled her hand away she saw blue blood staining her fingers. “jesus,” she whispered, and turned her face to the sky above her. that damn oval shape was some kind of invisible force field – whether it was keeping them in or something else out, she couldn’t be sure, but she suspected it was the former. carol picked herself up off the ground and made eye contact with someone nearby. “this isn’t a planet.”

good news. god, she wished. there was nothing carol would not give for some good news right about now – even if it was as small as ‘nick’s here’. but she knew better than to get too excited. she the type of person to hang on to hope, but knew better than to set herself up for heartbreak. “oh god.” she squeezed her eyes shut comically and shook her head. “i haven’t had a beer in so long. at least three years.” after the snap she spent her time helping planets that didn’t have the avengers, stopping in only every now and then – mostly as a courtesy to check up on the people who’d quickly become more like friends than colleagues. she sighed. “i already did the preliminary fly-around-the-place look. the whole place looks pretty much like... this.” she waved her hand around her vaguely. “wherever we are is, it’s not any planet in any galaxy i’ve been to.”