higher further faster

“Sometimes it’s smarter to learn how to take no for an answer,” Robbie replied, as if anything he’d ever done could qualify as smart. He was just as stubborn as she seemed to be, just as determined. The two of them meeting head to head on this, fighting on something that Robbie wasn’t even sure he actually wanted to fight on, it was an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, and something had to give. Something had to explode.

But… She made one hell of an offer. The authorities were a thorn in his side and had been ever since SHIELD locked him in that containment module. They couldn’t hold him for long, couldn’t even hope to kill him, but his life would be easier without them chasing him around. And maybe… Maybe it could allow him to rebuild his relationship with his brother, too. “No more cops coming after me,” he said flatly. “That’s nonnegotiable. And no questioning who I go after. I don’t take orders. And…” He trailed off for a moment, studying her carefully. “I have a brother. If I’m gonna be on your team, it means people are more likely to figure out who I am. He stays safe. I don’t care what happens to me, but he stays safe.”

/ – / .- / .-. / …- / . / .-.. /

“I’d rather be lucky than smart any day,” Carol shot back. She couldn’t say for sure where she first heard the phrase — sometimes in her dreams it was Yon-Rogg saying it. Sometimes it was Maria. And sometimes it was that smiling man, the one that didn’t make her want to put a fist through her wall, but actually made her a little nostalgic. That one felt the most true, but maybe it was just wishful thinking. Of all the strange memories in her head, he was the one she wanted to remember most. 

She gave him a look. “Wouldn’t be much of a second chance if the cops were chasing after us,” she said. For the first time in the conversation, she was genuinely shocked. But it all made sense, this hesitation. Carol didn’t remember most of the people who could be used against her — but she did remember how it felt. “Absolutely,” she said, face serious. “You tell me what needs to be done for him, and I’ll see to it that it’s taken care of.”

(✉ → carol): oh… well I guess I can meet you somewhere and then make sure you get home after. do you want me to contact the rest of the team? or tony or someone? I don’t really drink anymore so I’m not sure how much fun I’ll be.

Maddie couldn’t help her laugh, cocking an eyebrow at Carol. “Maddie is fine. I suppose I can allow Mads. Only because you’re entirely too charming.” She couldn’t help but tease in response. It wasn’t hard to tell if someone had bad or good intentions when you could read their mind. She didn’t do it on purpose, some people’s minds were louder than others and she always tended to catch a thing here or there even just passing people by. She could tell Carol was good, had good intentions so whatever proposition she had Maddie knew was for a good reason.

Straight to the point then. Maddie nodded once and let the woman finish before finally speaking up, “I can and I’m willing to help. It may…not be the most pleasant. Finding and bringing repressed memories to the surface can take a lot out of you. I may see things that you don’t want me to see either. I just want you to be fully sure before I do this. We can do it somewhere you are comfortable, a neutral ground, or I’m alright with taking you back to my home to do so. This is for you, it’s your terms. Remember that, especially if you want me to stop or if it’s too much.”

/ -- / .- / .-. / ...- / . / .-.. /

“Entirely too charming?” Carol repeated. “You say that like it’s a flaw.” She was probably over-compensating, but as far as nervous habits went, she wasn’t upset. If she could pretend she was half as confident as she sounded, then maybe she’d even fool her own mind. 

Or maybe not. Carol let out a long breath. “You really don’t pull your punches,” she noted, arching a brow. “I like that in a person. Wouldn’t have minded a little lie here though,” she joked. It was half-hearted at best, but she did what she could. “Your home,” she said instantly. She wasn’t sure why. “I– If that’s okay,” she said, meeting Maddie’s gaze. “You’re gonna peak in my mind, it’s sort of a quid pro quo, right?” 

At the woman’s response, Natasha couldn’t help but imagine how 2012 would’ve looked if she’d been one of the original members put forward for the Avengers – or, if Fury’s files were to be believed, available to come and deal with a ‘minor’ level threat that the Chitauri posed (clearly Carol was used to bigger and better things, something that Natasha wasn’t going to look into too closely). “Is that a short joke?” Natasha offered instead, shooting Carol an equally curved smirk, crossing her arms against her chest. “Fury trained me well. He kept you pretty close to the chest. A secret weapon would’ve come in useful more than a few times.”

The Kree. An alien race of elite warriors, from what little information was available within SHIELD’s systems. “Are they still out for your blood? People can hold a little grudge for so long.” Kovilsky still wanted Natasha’s head on a spike for a minor disagreement back in the early 2000s, after all. Carol’s next suggestion, though, did manage to quirk Natasha’s brow. “I wasn’t expecting that,” she said, more of a compliment than most people knew – but she was learning not to underestimate the woman in front of her. “If this is an olive branch to make me warm up to the idea of the Accords, it’s a little late. I already played nice once. Didn’t end so well for me.”

/ -- / .- / .-. / ...- / . / .-.. /

Carol just shrugged noncommittally, holding Natasha’s gaze. “Guess he thought you guys had it handled,” she said simply. “I told him only to call me if everything else went to shit. The more dire of emergencies. That’s the point of a secret weapon, right? You don’t use it until you have to.” 

She lifted a hand, waved it in the air. “They don’t come after earth. Too much trouble,” she explained. “I turned them off that idea once already, and they know I can do it again if I need to.” There was no hesitation in her words, no trace of doubt. The Kree were hers to confront, and she’d face them every single time. 

“That happens a lot with me,” she said. “I’m guessing it happens to you too.” She sighed and shook her head. “I just want to have a workout with someone who won’t cry when I’m done with them. No strings attached,” she said, spreading her arms wide. “Take it or leave it.” 

[ ✉ -> Cap Marvel ]:  yup! not dead! very much alive [ ✉ -> Cap Marvel ]: it feels pretty good too! you ever feel like you missed a bunch though? [ ✉ -> Cap Marvel ]: like wth is tiktok?

“You really thought this all out?”

Lucy blew out a breath, hands wrapping around the drink in front of her. New York City was full of old friends, it seemed. It wasn’t just business, or her sister. And maybe she’d thought it through, when the orders came down, but it hadn’t felt as much like a conscious decision at the time. Contrary to common belief, she had autonomy. At her rank, she had strong influence on her assignments, and there were places she could that didn’t have so many people.

She could say she hadn’t thought it out, but her orders said ‘New York City’ and ‘Supergirl,’ and all she read was Lois. Lois, and Jon, and maybe even a little bit Clark, and so many years spent bouncing around the world following orders that were always pulling her farther and farther away, until she was just a gift on birthdays and the occasional vaguely-drunk Aunt at Thanksgiving dinner. The truth was it hadn’t been a thought at all. She’d said “yes, Sir” and meant it.

Having friends at the other end was an added bonus. She looked up at Carol with somewhat of a sheepish smile, “I think I think too much. You know when something just feels right? No second thoughts, just moving forward.”

It sounded crazy, laid out like that. “Or maybe I should’ve just requested an assignment on the West Coast.”

/ – / .- / .-. / …- / . / .-.. /

Carol loved seeing how the world had changed. She remembered having to scrape and claw her way, just to be allowed in to the boy’s club that was the Air Force. And maybe there was still a lot of fight to be had today, but there were more and more women stepping up to take it on. Women like Lucy, who was, hands down, one of the coolest persons on the planet. 

“You definitely think too much,” Carol said, smirking at her. “That was a trick question, Luce. I think the best decisions are the ones you make without a second thought, just — going higher, further, faster.” Her smirk became a grin and she put an arm around Lucy’s shoulders. 

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p.’ “You’re stuck with me now. No take backs, no do-overs,” she declared, laughing. “We should go to a west coast beach though. I heard they’re awesome.” 

“Care to share how you wound up in this situation?” 

Which situation? The existential one, recent college grad and all-around human disaster fails his way up and onto the Avengers? High school kid turns vigilante turns genuine, experienced, sort-of knows what he’s doing superhero? Because Peter didn’t know either. It had something to do with dumb luck–or, from the other angle, a complete lack of it–and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of skill. He’d been trying his best, but the imposter syndrome he’d been nursing since he was fifteen had kickstarted, blazing back to life when he’d signed the paperwork. This was the big leagues now, the real deal. He fought the others on it, but he really was just a kid. 

In over his head again, but what else was new?

But Carol probably meant the more immediate situation, the one where the lounge was spattered with webs and Peter crouched on a wall, rumpled and nervous. It wasn’t his best look. He blushed, wishing he had a better, less embarrassing excuse, but no, he was tired and overworked and probably catching a cold, and he was clearly off his game. 

“There was a fly?”

/ – / .- / .-. / …- / . / .-.. /

“A fly,” she repeated. Her eyes slid back and forth, surveying all the webbing. Some of it stuck to the walls, some of it dripped from the ceiling, and in the center of it all, Peter Parker was crouched on a wall looking sweaty. 

She looked sternly at him for a moment. Maybe even two. Then she broke into laughter. She doubled over laughing, until her stomach ached. “This is the best thing. FRIDAY, please take so many pictures. Save this footage with the top security measures,” she gasped between laughing. Her eyes met Peter’s and she finally managed to catch her breath. “You are sort of the worst spider in the world right now, you know that,” she said, biting back more laughter. “You got got by this fly. I think he’s earned the right to buzz around free.”

“I could elaborate, but I won’t.”

“Hm,” Lois hummed, drumming her fingers against the bar. Carol Danvers might not have been around Earth for as long as Clark or Bruce or the Avengers, but she had made quite a name for herself in the time she had been on the planet. And she was being pointedly evasive and that only made Lois more curious than she had been before. “And that is your right,” Lois said but it was clear that she wasn’t done prying. “But you said you weren’t from around here so… what do you mean by here? The city? Earth?” Lois knew she was reaching, but how did someone with Carol’s sort of power go unnoticed for this long?

/ – / .- / .-. / …- / . / .-.. /

Carol arched a brow. “Ms. Lane, are you calling me an alien?” she asked, smirking wryly. “I am actually human. Mostly,” she shrugged. It was a harder question than people realized, and truthfully, Carol wasn’t sure how much of her was ‘only human’ anymore, now that she had fully embraced the powers inside her. “I’m not from the city,” she clarified. “And when I said I could elaborate, well... That was a lie. I really can’t. I know I’m not from here, but the memories of where I am from — that’s a little bit blurry.” She looked over at Lois. “I’m not an alien, but I did get screwed up by a bunch of them.”

A small smile twitched at Cassie’s lips and her shoulders finally sagged down, less tense now. Her lasso was still coiled around her fingers, twisting up in an almost nervous fashion, but she didn’t feel like a cornered wild animal. There was just so much swirling around in her head, in her life, really. It felt like she was losing control on it all and she didn’t know what to do. All she really did know how to do anymore was to fight—that’s how it always had been anyways. Since she was gifted these powers all she ever did was fight. 

“I mean, he’s an asshole, but you’re probably right.” Cassie looked down at the man and then back at Carol. The offer took her by surprise, almost off guard completely, but after a moment’s hesitation she finally nodded her head. “Sure. I’d like that.” The anger still sizzled underneath the surface, like it always did, but Cassie pushed it down and away. 

A quick call was made anonymously to get the guy an ambulance and Cassie turned to Carol with a small smile. “Lead the way,” pausing before adding in, “I’m Cassie, by the way.”

/ – / .- / .-. / …- / . / .-.. /

“Yeah, but if we start killing everyone who’s an asshole, eventually we’re gonna run into some population issues,” Carol quipped. She really wasn’t all that concerned, her main focus was on this stunning young girl, so the call was quick and to the point. And once it was done, they shared a smile. 

“Cassie’s a pretty name,” she said, nodding. “But I’m gonna call you Princess. You look like royalty,” she said simply. She didn’t mind staying on foot for now, so she led the way down the street. Sirens passed by them at one point, but Carol barely even heard them. 

She pointed to a restaurant up the street. “Best burgers in town, swear on my life,” she said. “I eat here like, religiously now. Might be the best on the planet,” she said, a teasing smile on her face. “You are a real show-stopper, Princess. How come I’ve never heard of you before? Been hiding in a tower somewhere?”

“Both,” Sam replied with a laugh. Tony, like she’d said, exaggerated everything and anything. He had a way of making even the smallest thing seem larger than life. Everything was a show, every conversation a performance. Steve was typically a little more subtle, but when it came to talking up the people he cared about? He could be just as bad as Tony. “But, lucky for you, I’m pretty good at meeting high expectations. Being able to fly helps with that.” A joke. He was good at those.

Grinning, Sam nodded furiously. “Right? Like, shit, at least their basic was on the ground. And don’t get me started about special ops training.” It took a lot to earn the title of pararescueman, and Sam hadn’t had superpowers to get him through it. “I am absolutely in. I got a hell of a story for you… but you may have heard it before.” Popping in from an alternate universe was a little less exciting when all your friends had been hanging out with your buddies with the same wild story for months on end. 

“There’s this place in Harlem my dad used to take us when I was a kid,” he replied with a shrug. “No idea if it’s still there, but it’s worth a shot, right? If it’s gone, we’ll just walk until we find something. It’s New York — you can’t throw a rock without hitting a decent restaurant.” 

/ -- / .- / .-. / ...- / . / .-.. /

“I like to fly without all the heavy machinery,” Carol said, matching his laugh. “But you get points for style, I’ve seen videos of you in action,” she said, nodding her head. It was pretty cool to watch him spin and dive the way she did, without the alien energy glowing all around him. He did it just as he was, and that was really, really cool. 

And he was really, really cool as it turned out. Carol felt the weirdness, that blurry sort of feeling, slipping away as she talked to him. “Oh, tell me about it,” she said. “Pararescue is some real shit right there,” she said, giving him a small nod of approval. “They didn’t let me sign up for it. I was more into the planes anyway, and they barely let me in one of those,” she said. Carol shrugged her shoulders at his next remark. “Probably. But not the way you’re gonna tell it.” She flashed him a small smirk. “I used to hear that, in school or something. The idea that no one could tell a story exactly like you could. Real self-esteem boosting stuff,” she laughed. 

“Harlem it is,” she said, leading the way in that direction. “If you had your wings on you, I’d say we could race there, but I guess we’ll have to try that next time,” she quipped. “So, you gonna tell me that story, or you gonna wait until we have food to stuff in our faces?”

“I think Erik had a drink with him, when all was said and done. Somehow it wasn’t the most surprising thing I heard this week.” They had so many similarities that Jean could pick up on, even if she hadn’t met Stark in person. She’d only read him through the mind of the person who loved him, and while she knew that sounded like a biased perspective, she found it to be the most enlightening of all. No one knew her like Scott, after all – if they wanted an accurate picture of her, he would be the best one to go to. “That was probably Rogue,” she said with a slight smile. “Remy explodes the cans, sometimes. They like making it rain in the common room. The kids ask for it every time they complete exams.”

The Kree were a race Jean had never met, never even heard the name of on Earth, but the Phoenix recognised them. She recognised them and Jean wondered if that meant they were involved in the destruction of their world, but they weren’t – it was just war. Bloody, ceaseless, pointless war, the same as all the others. “Did you find what she was looking for?” Jean asked. She couldn’t think of a better end to fight for. It was what she had been doing since she was a child, after all, what they’d finally accomplished. “You weren’t on the other side of us,” Jean replied. “You were advocating for heroes like the Avengers to be registered. You never suggested people needed licences to live how they were born. I know the difference.” And she knew Carol, too. Jean held out a hand towards her, shooting her a small smile. “No need to make up for something you didn’t break. Come on, I’ll show you around Genosha.”

/ -- / .- / .-. / ...- / . / .-.. /

“Yeah you know what? That doesn’t shock me either,” Carol said, smirking lightly. It was all fine. Everything was fine. Stark was fine, and Genosha was fine, and registration was better than ever, and everything. Was. Fine. “I think that’s the best end of exams celebration I can think of,” she said. “The Kree wouldn’t even let us have poppers. It was all very serious, very stoic,” she said, making a face. 

She turned her head and met Jean’s eyes. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I think I did. The Skrulls are out of Kree reach, and their new world isn’t perfect, but it’s a place to start. And that’s all they want.” Beginnings were wonderful. They were so filled with potential. Carol wanted to chase every beginning she ever saw, because the middles and the ends were still so confusing. Blurred together. But Jean held out her hand, and Carol took it, surging into this beginning, and pushing all other worries aside. “Yes, please,” she said, beaming at Jean. “You need to take a break anyway. I know you do,” she laughed. “Where’s your favorite spot so far?”

Trish’s eyes pierced through the dark to take in the sight of Carol in sweats and an old t-shirt, more relaxed than Trish had ever seen her, despite the fact that she’d been shot out of the sky just weeks before. This Carol was the one that had Trish coming back for more on the days when her past threatened to drag her back to Hell where she’d come from. Trish looked out over the city. Even in the middle of the night the lights were almost blinding and there was still the hum of traffic. Trish wasn’t sure how to even begin to answer Carol’s question, opening her mouth and then closing it with a shrug. The city was so goddamn loud sometimes. But there was one quiet place she knew. She looked back over at the other blonde. “Think you can fly us somewhere if I tell you how to get there? Or do you have a license for something besides a plane?”

/ -- / .- / .-. / ...- / . / .-.. /

Carol knew what sleepless nights were like. When your head spiraled in and in and in until you wanted to tear your own skin off just to make it stop for a second. She usually got up and found a bottle to help that process along, but some nights, all she needed was this. The stars spread out in front of her. The solid memories in her head, of racing through them, soaring, dipping, diving, shining. If she held onto that, then she was just fine. 

He grinned widely as the hero entered his office. With the planning of the expo well under way he figured it was about time that he begin to put some of his plans in motion, and that would begin with Carol Danvers. He had seen her in action and it was hard not to be awed by her abilities, besides, she knew how to drink and that was always something a man like Max could appreciate. 

“Thank you for coming to see me,” he began, rising from his seat to round his desk and head to his drink cart. He usually didn’t drink during work hours, but a bit of social lubrication never hurt anyone, especially in a time like this. “I’m sure you’ve better things to do than sit here in my ivory tower.” he grinned, pouring himself a drink before turning to her, “drink?” 

“Although the company is, objectively, spectacular I actually did ask you come here for a reason. You see LordTech is beginning a new program, one in conjunction with our upcoming security expansion and I think you would be a perfect, say, poster child for it. It would be an honor if you would even just hear me out. No pressure.” he assured. 

/ -- / .- / .-. / ...- / . / .-.. /

Carol got summoned a lot. Whether she listened was a matter of whether she felt like it at any given moment. But Lord had been interesting, and he knew how to drink, so... here she was. “You know me so well,” she quipped as he moved towards the cart. She strode over beside him and poured herself some of the scotch. “I hate being waited on,” she said, smirking gently at him. 

“Actually, I do, but it seemed like you might have something to say worth hearing,” she said, taking a sip. She glanced around the impressive office, everything stylized and perfectly in place. All of it so sharp looking. She wondered if it intimidated people. 

She turned back to him as he spoke, explaining why he had called on her. She arched a brow, and took another slow sip of her drink. “All right,” she said finally. “I’ll listen. But I’m not promising more than that. Last program I was a poster child for sort of fell apart on me.” 

Day 3: The Queen of Wands

Day 2: The Ten of Cups

“Oh, I’m sure I’m not the first to make a wish on you,” Dinah teased the woman who seemed ready to give the sarcasm back in turn. “Though maybe I’m the first to get a wish granted from it.” Company. That’s all Dinah really wanted most days. She hadn’t been on her own in so long that without Ollie or the Birds constantly around the days could get long and lonely.

/ – / .- / .-. / …- / . / .-.. /

“Aren’t you a charmer,” Carol said, smiling bright. “I’m happy to say that you’re correct, and that I usually do my very best to grant those wishes. I do have my limits, but I’m pretty spectacular when I put my mind to it,” she said, spreading her arms wide. She took a step forward, let only a shimmering shadow of the glow remain dancing on her skin. Just something a little bit pretty. “What wish were you making, hmm? Tell you mine, if you tell me yours.”

“I deserve more than one point for it,” he argued, returning her grin. The smile faltered just a little, and he shrugged. “I didn’t watch a lot of it.” His father hadn’t seen much of a use for television, and honestly, neither had Rictor. He’d liked books, as a kid. It was something that often shocked people, something Skids hadn’t believed the first time he said it. There’s no way you even know how to read, she’d teased, and Ric had acted like it didn’t sting. He was good at that.

The ledge under his feet was a familiar feeling, but in a sick, sinking kind of way. It was familiar the way blood drying under his nails was familiar, the way standing in a cemetery in the only suit he owned was familiar, the way things you didn’t want to be familiar were familiar. He could feel the woman’s eyes on his back, could practically hear the question in her mind. And then the ground shook and the building trembled and nothing else mattered. It never did. He turned to look at her, watched the blast shoot up from her arm. “That’s pretty cool, too,” he allowed, eyes sparkling with the reflection of the light she’d shot off. He stepped off the ledge and onto the roof, letting the shockwave of the impact carry up his legs and into his knees, pretending he hadn’t considered, even for a moment, taking that step in the other direction. “Sometimes it’s the only thing I feel connected to,” he admitted, and he wouldn’t have said it if not for the alcohol coursing through his veins. “I’ve got people, you know? And they love me, and I’m pretty sure I love them, too, but there’s days when I don’t feel it. There’s days when I don’t feel anything except the ground under my feet. And I think — I think, if I were flying, I wouldn’t even feel that. I’d just be… Nothing. I’d feel nothing. Kinda freaks me out a little.” At least on those days when he couldn’t get out of bed, he still had the Earth. “Opposites aren’t so bad. I can vibe with opposites.” 

/ – / .- / .-. / …- / . / .-.. /

“Take what you can get,” Carol replied, smirking playfully. In reality, he’d won a lot of points. It was rare that she found someone who could just... go with things, the way he did. He had a flow to him, something simple but more powerful than most people realized. Maria had been the same way. He reminded her a lot of Maria, but she didn’t say that aloud. That would be throwing a stone in a pond, and she liked how it looked right now. 

They both stared up at the light, and her eyes fellow to his for a moment, watching the reflections dance in his irises. Like he had an entire universe inside him, and that was probably how it felt. That’s how it felt for her. Carol landed on the roof and walked over towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Feels like you got weight to me,” she said. “Having people... it’s great, it really is. But it can’t be everything, ya know? You gotta know what you feel like alone too. So it doesn’t feel like nothing.” She smiled at him, and nodded. “Vibe. I see what you did there,” she said, laughing under her breath.