We didn't see the Skrull when we walked out of the train, although Vers thought she did, almost punching a random guy in the face. 

Making our way outside, up the stairs, I was trying to find a quiet place to talk to her. In my hand still sat the crystal the Skrull had dropped and something told me it may be a clue for us to follow. So when we walked through a closed off alley, I put my hand on her shoulder to halt her.

'V.' She turned her head so she could see me and hear what I was going to say. But I decided that showing was easier than telling, opening my hand and revealing the stone. Her eyes immediately went to my hand when she saw me move it, and they widened in confusion to what it was and where I got it. 

'Where dit you get that?', she asked, picking up the purple stone and admiring it. 

I shrugged. 'The Skrull dropped it while we were fighting him. It looked important so I picked it up.'

 'Do you know what it is?', she asked curiously, shifting her attention from the stone to me. Her big eyes studying my face.

'I believe it is a Memoriae crystal, able to store someone's memories. Some species use them to pass knowledge down to the newer generations, making sure it is never lost', I explained to her. I had never seen a Memoriae crystal, but had read about them once. Powerful memory storers that lasted eons. It was no coincidence this Skrull had one on him. Vers and I were just kidnapped and brainwashed, so there was a big chance it contained our memories.

She thought the same thing. 'Well, I think it is no hard guess as to whose memories are on these', she said. I nodded. 'Let's see', she mumbled to herself, looking down at her Com. Putting the stone in the tech, the computer started analyzing it. Immediately, Kree glyphs came up. 

Vers tapped on them a couple of times when suddenly, images popped up. They were blurry and pixelated, but we could still make out what they were. 

So when a woman showed up, I recognized her immediately from the memories I had seen on the screens in the Skrull ship. This was probably the one Vers saw as the Intelligence. When she tensed up next to me, my suspicions were confirmed. Even more so when the next image literally displayed the woman's name. Dr. Wendy Lawson. Next to the words was a logo that I didn't recognize and also the word P.E.G.A.S.U.S.

I glanced at Vers' face and saw she had her eyebrows in a frown and looked very dazed. A lot of things probably came back to her right now. 

The next picture however, caused me to go rigid. It was a memory they plucked out of my head and it wasn't the one showing Starforce information. It was the one in the meadow, but this time, my mother was there. I did not remember her being in it. Maybe they cut off that memory while I was dreaming it, but here it was. In full view. 

I really didn't care that Vers saw it. I had always wanted to show her my parents and what they looked like, but I had no pictures and they had been erased from the database when they died. So finally seeing my mother's face again outside of my own mind was shocking, to say the least.  

When the woman next to me figured out who it was, I heard her take in a little breath and she turned her head, trying to read me. But I didn't meet her eyes, just kept staring at the Com that had already moved on, ignorant of the impact it had on me.

Next up came another woman. Not Lawson, but she looked just as friendly. Next to her head was a big sign that said Pancho's Bar. I knew what a bar was, we had bars on Hala too. Even though I drank alcohol, I never went to one. I always drank at home. 

It looked like this was going to be our best clue, because the Com started crackling and smoking and Vers threw the stone out just in time to save it from damaging her suit permanently.

'Right. Let's try and find that bar', I said quickly, trying to get away as soon as possible because I knew she wanted to confront me about my memory she saw. But before I could set my second step, she was already in front of me. 

'Hold up. Not so fast, Miss. We are talking about what we saw', she said authoritative. She knew if she didn't ask, I would never talk about it and would run away from the subject. She had to ask while it was still fresh, knowing I actually felt better once I had talked to her. 

So rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for her to speak up again. She looked happy I didn't complain or tried to run.

'Who was that?', she asked carefully, not wanting to make me angry by pushing the wrong buttons. 

'You know who that was', I said sarcastically, trying to find shelter behind my humor. But she didn't fall for it. 

'Yes, but I want to hear you say it.' I swear, she was my mother sometimes, but she knew exactly how to handle me and unravel my defense. 

I rolled my eyes again, but I was not annoyed with her, I just didn't want to talk about this. But I knew she would leave me no choice. Looking at the ground, I whispered, 'My mother'. I didn't look up, so I didn't see the way her eyes and face softened at my words. She knew I missed my family, but I never talked about them. 

She took a step towards me and put her hands on my upper arms. Ducking a little, trying to get into my line of view, she said softly, 'She is beautiful.'

'She is', I sniffed, wiping away the tears from my eyes and looking up at Vers. 'I am glad you finally got to see her. Even if it was just on a little screen', I smiled sadly.

'So am I', she smiled. 

'Thank you', I said to her tenderly. She knew what I meant. Thank you for forcing me to talk about this instead of letting me run away from it again. 

'You're welcome', she laughed lightly. 

Giving her a small kiss on her cheek, I suddenly realized the time pressure we were under and straightened my back. 'Let's find that bar, shall we?', I asked her with a smile on my face. 

'Let's do that', she smiled back, allowing me to lead her to a place we could find more information about this bar. 

~~~~~~~~

We had asked around for this Pancho's Bar, until someone pointed us in the direction of an internet café. We would find more information there, the woman said. 

So a little while later, we found ourselves sitting in front of something I guessed these people saw as a computer. Comparing the big, chunky machine with the tiny one on my arm, it confirmed once again how far behind this species was. 

Vers sat in the chair in front of the screen and I leaned over her shoulder from where I stood behind it, not wanting to miss anything. I had to keep myself from laughing as she tried to work the keyboard by pressing the keys extremely slowly. Opening my mouth to make fun of her, she cut me off, already knowing I was going to say something sarcastic.

'Not a word', she whispered dangerously. 

'Yes, ma'am', I said, trying to hide the smile in my voice. 

She then grabbed the weird pointing thing that was also on the table and pressed it, the computer starting to search the internet for our bar. We both leaned forward a bit, not wanting to miss anything this screen was going to spit out. I could just make out that it was in a place called Rosamond, California, before a warning popped up, saying that the computer wasn't connected to the internet. 

I groaned at this centuries old technology. We wouldn't find anything this way. 

Vers grabbed a map that lay beside the computer and took it with her outside. Following her quickly, having no clue as how to work that thing either, I watched as she clumsily tried to unfold the thing. 

It wasn't long after that we heard a motorcycle come closer and stop next to us. 'Nice scuba suit', the man said to us loudly. Already annoyed by this man, I did my best to just ignore him. But Vers pulled down one corner of the map so she could glance at him and the man nodded a what's up.

I rolled my eyes and Vers didn't seem all to impressed either, letting go of the corner and focusing on the map again. But the man was persistent to get a reaction out of her, revving his engine and calling out again. 'Lighten up, honey, huh? Got a smile for me?' I was then and there prepared to give him a reaction of my own, but Vers stopped me, clearly having a plan.

'Freaks', I heard the man mutter under his breath before he got off his bike and walked into the store. Vers put the map down again and glanced at the motorcycle, then to me. Knowing what she was trying to say to me, I laughed. I had never thought of her as someone who steals things, but here she was. 

When she saw me staring at the motorcycle enthusiastically, she quickly called shotgun, wanting to drive it herself. 'Noooo', I pouted, trying to get her to change her mind. But my puppy dog eyes didn't work on her this time. 

'Nice try, but I'm driving', she said triumphantly, walking over to it. But before climbing on, she suddenly looked down at her suit, and then over to me. 'We are drawing too much attention wearing this.' Inspecting her surroundings, her eyes fell on a clothing store and a smirk appeared on her face. It looked like we were going to steal more than just the bike today. 

We changed in a little corner and stored our suits into the Com's we put in our pockets. She handed me a helmet and put another over her own hair, getting comfortable on the bike. 'Do you even know how to drive this thing?', I asked, getting on behind her and tightening my arms around her waist. 

Practically feeling her smile, she answered when she started the motor. 'No.'

'Wait. What do you mean 'no' ?', but she was already driving away. Wobbling a bit, she took the corner out of the parking lot way too wide and we almost crashed into an oncoming car. 'Vers!', I scolded her when the car avoided us just in time. 

I could feel her body shake with a laugh at my little yell. 'Sorry!', she screamed back over the sound of the wind. It would be a miracle if she didn't kill someone today.

When she increased speed, talking became impossible and so I just decided to relax a bit. It had already been a long day, but I had a feeling it was far from over. Resting my head on her back, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the little moment. Realizing this was the first time we had ever been together out in the open, I felt my heart sink at the thought that we had to go back into hiding on Hala. I loved her and I wanted people to know that. I didn't want to hide anymore. 

But those were worries for another time and so I let them go and just enjoyed the feeling of her body against mine and the sound of the wind. 

After a ride that was way too short for my liking, Vers pulled up at another row of buildings along the highway. Turning off the engine, she patted my leg as a sign for me to get off so she could too. I sighed, disappointed that my little Zen moment was over and I had to go back to the problem at hand. 

'Enjoyed your little nap?', she teased. 

'I did actually. After I let go of my fear of dying', I baited her.

'Hey! I was an excellent driver!', she exclaimed indignantly and pushed me a little.

'If that is what you want to call driving then yes, you were excellent.' She was so easy to push into defense. It was very funny and only made it more pleasing to me.

She shoved me again and just laughed. 'You're the worst.'

'Why, thank you.' She just shook her head, still laughing.

I looked at the bar behind her that had 'Pancho's Bar' written clearly on the facade. She noticed my sudden shift in attention and turned around herself, following my line of sight to the bar.

She stared at it a couple seconds, as if to gather courage to walk in and finally stepped forward, to the door. Pulling it open, she peeked in carefully, as if the suspected to see someone there. But the bar was empty so she stepped in, only to stop immediately. I stayed behind her, wanting to give her some space. It looked like she was lost in memory, staring around and seeing things everywhere. 

Music blasted from the jukebox while I waited for her to walk further or say something. The bar was very cozy and looked like fun. Everything was wooden, which gave it a warm feeling and the bright signs on the wall screamed for attention. But it was not what grabbed Vers' attention. 

Continuing to walk between two pool tables, she made her way over to the photo wall. Lots of different frames displayed different images and I saw her stop before one with a plane. Walking up, I went to stand beside her and looked at the picture myself. She pointed at the sign on the rear wing of the plane. It had the same design as the image we saw on the Memoriae crystal next to Doctor Lawson's name. 

We looked at each other hopefully. It seemed like we were on the correct path to find this woman. I was just about to say something when I heard a clatter behind me. Both of us turned our heads around so we could see what was going on. A man was standing there, drying off a glass with a towel. 'What can I get ya?', he asked us, hoping to sell us a drink. 

I was going to blow him off, when Vers took advantage of the man and asked, 'Where was this photograph taken?', her thumb pointing over her shoulder to the picture we were just looking at. 

The man's face changed into an unsure expression when he answered, 'Eh, an airport?' Yeah, wow he was not going to be much help. But Vers didn't give up and continued questioning him. 

'Where's Pegasus?', she asked again. This time however, not the man in front of us answered, but another man who walked in just behind the sound of his voice. 

'That's classified.' Great, the suit-guy was back. This was going to be fun.

~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading!

Still stuck in quarantine, so I have written a lot in advance.

(2600 words)