When we arrived in the dining room, the child (whose name was apparently Monica) had put a big box on the table. A glance inside told me it held years' worth of memories. 

Pictures were laid out around it and Monica couldn't wait to show them to Vers, reminding her off all they had done together before she went missing. 

I stood back and leaned against the wall, giving them some space. I wanted to see them too, but would hopefully have some time later.

'This is me and you on Halloween.' Monica showed Vers a picture of them together, dressed in weird outfits. I had no idea what Halloween was, but judging by the smiles in the picture, it looked like a lot of fun. 'I'm Amelia Earhart and you're Janis Joplin.' No idea who these people were, but again: fun.

Vers didn't react to her, her back rigid and sad she had so many lost memories that she may never fully get back. 

Monica picked up another picture to show her, one that held a little girl I recognized from the video in the Skrull ship standing next to a big man. 'Oh, this is you when you were little, you didn't get along with your parents so Mom said we became your real family.' Maria walked forward and came to stand next to Vers, wanting to see her reaction to it.

The girl kept picking up picture after picture. Every time explaining what was happening on them and where it was taken. Pictures from them together at Christmas, another picture from when she was little, one from right after she had graduated. It just continued and continued and if Vers wasn't overwhelmed, I certainly was. But the way Vers' shoulders were hunched over and she hadn't said anything the whole time, I knew she felt the same way.

Suddenly, Monica remembered something. Jumping up and putting the picture she was holding down. 'Oh wait, I forgot. Your jacket. Mom doesn't let me wear it anymore after I spilled ketchup on it.' I chuckled at that. I liked the kid, she was funny and clearly meant a lot to Vers. When she ran off, Vers turned around and looked down at the pictures again, shuffling through them a bit, trying to jog her memory.

This was when I decided to step in, wanting to take a look at them too and maybe be some sort of support to her. She smiled sadly at a funny picture of her and Maria and said woman stared at her with the same smile. 

Then Vers' hand hit something metal, something I recognized because I had seen the other half of it before. It was part of a dog tag the people in the human army wore around their necks. That way, when they died in combat, they could easily be identified. 

On Hala, we had other methods for that. Easier, infallible methods that maybe had prevented what had happened here. Part of the tag had broken off, probably by the blast that almost killed her too. With the result that she believed her name was 'Vers' for six years, when in reality, if you put the two pieces together, it read 'Carol Danvers.'

So she had been right. Her name sounded weird because it was wrong. 

Looking at her now, I could see it. 'Carol' fitted her way better than 'Vers' ever did. Maybe it was just because it was her real name or I saw what I wanted to see, but it sounded right.

'That was all that survived the crash.' Maria said when she saw her picking it up. 'Or so we thought.' 

Vers- no, Carol, just stared at it, piecing everything together in her own head. I could see the gears spinning.

A loud knock on the front door broke all four of us -I had forgotten Fury was here again- out of our heads and back to reality. Our eyes flashed to the front of the house and a shadow could be seen through the windows next to the entrance. Someone was at the door.

Carol and I were at high alert immediately, knowing the danger we had put this family in when we came here. Skrulls were still after us, looking for the light-speed engine and it looked like they had finally caught up.

Maria moved to open it, but Carols voice stopped her from moving. 'Don't answer that.'

'It's just my neighbor', she said, looking at her a little weirdly.

'They can change into anyone', I joined in, hoping I could make her see the danger. 

Fury, who did know the seriousness of the threat, took out his gun and moved to the side of the door, staying hidden but ready to jump in if needed. 

I took to the other side of the door so it hid me when Carol opened it, also ready for any sign of danger. I formed a little fireball in my left hand and felt Maria stare at it. I had maybe left out a tiny detail in my explanation about me.

Carol opened it quickly, blocking the whole entrance with her body, letting whoever was on the porch know he wasn't welcome. I couldn't see her face from where I was hiding, but it wasn't hard to guess what expression it held.

'Hi there', a low manly voice came from outside. It sounded friendly enough, but you could never be sure with Skrulls.

'What do you want?', Carol's demanding voice asked him immediately, not even bothering with a hello. Maria cringed at her tone. She had a lot to explain if this really was her neighbor.

'Ummm...' The man was totally taken aback by the reaction he got and was temporarily lost for words.

Something in the corner of my eye moved and I shook my head lightly at Maria who walked to her friend, probably to save the conversation. She ignored me and came to stand behind Carol. 'Hey Tom. This is my friend Carol.'

He came back to life when he saw his neighbor and a friendly face. 'Ah, pleased to meet you.' 

I couldn't see anything, but after a little pause, I heard a little electric shock and it wasn't hard to guess where that came from. Or better, who it came from. 

'Yow! Static electricity out here's no joke.' Yup, she had shocked him and judging by his voice, it hurt a little. A smile found its way on my face. She was really something.

But nothing seemed to scare the man off. Not even my girlfriend who I could only imagine looked very frightening at the moment. 'I noticed that peculiar bird you got parked by the road, and I was just wondering if you'd mind if I bring the boys over to get a closer looksie?'

He probably meant the plane we had flown to get here. Carol had parked it in a meadow off the side of the road. It wasn't like we could store it in a hanger around here somewhere. I honestly don't even want to know how she landed that thing on these country roads. Luckily, I was asleep for that part.

'A closer looksie? To see the bird parked out by the road. You're really working overtime to sell this one, aren't you Talos?' 

I could feel Maria's embarrassment through the door and she had finally had enough of this. To be honest, I didn't think this man was Talos either. My gut was telling me he wasn't.

Maria closed the door slowly, trying to end this torture by just slamming the door in his face. She had guts, I'll give her that. 'I'm sorry. Tom, this isn't really a good time. I'll come by tomorrow? Okay?' When it fell into the lock, Maria turned to her friend immediately with a 'really?' look. 

But I didn't have time to see it, because another presence in the room had grabbed my attention and it wasn't Monica. Where did that child go anyway? Shouldn't she be back by now?

The fireball I had in my hand was gone, but it didn't take long to form a new one and before anyone else had even noticed the Skrull standing at the other side of the dining table, I had already thrown it at his head. He dived to dodge it, but it still clipped his shoulder, leaving a little burn mark that wasn't big enough for my liking.

This finally got everyone's attention and they all whipped around to see the green alien too. Fury pointed his gun at him, not that it would do much damage, and Carol lit up her hands, stepping in front of a very confused Maria, threatening to blow him to pieces. 

'You know, you really should be kinder to your neighbors. You never know when you're gonna need to borrow some sugar.' He casually sipped on a drink, completely ignoring the threats, but he couldn't anymore when Carol stepped closer and closer. 'Now, hang on a second, before you go swinging those jazz hands around', he gestured to mine and Carol's hands, both lit up, 'making a mess in your friend's house - and... it's a lovely home.' 

But Maria didn't hear it. Her big eyes looked out the window and saw her daughter talking to her, only she was standing right here. 'Oh my God. What the hell?' I couldn't even begin to understand what she must be feeling right now. We had told her what the Skrulls could do, but seeing it with her own eyes was completely different. As if she hadn't fully believed us before but couldn't ignore what was happening right there. 

Talos slowly walked around the table, getting closer to us with little steps. This made me be even more on egde, wanting to protect everyone in this home. 'No one's gonna hurt the girl. Just, don't kill me. That would really complicate the situation.'

'I'm about five seconds from complicating that wall with some ugly-ass Skrull brains', Fury warned him.

'I'm sorry I simmed your boss.' Talos tried to calm Fury down. 'But now I stand before you as my true self. Without deception.' Uhu, right, and who was that standing with Monica then. Picking on the weak ones, there was nothing less cowardly.

Carol thought the same thing and shook her head in outrage. 'And who is that out there?' 

Talos immediately realized his mistake and wasn't afraid to admit to it. 'Okay, that's a fair point. But I'm sure that you understand, I had to take some precautions.' Maria was shuffling impatiently and uncomfortably behind me, afraid for her daughter. 

'I saw you' he waved his hands between me and Carol, 'crush twenty of my best men with your hands bound.' That's right, we did that. 'I just wanna talk.' He knew he couldn't win a fight with us.

I was fed up with this, with him. I had no desire to talk to him and this conversation was getting tiring. 'Last time we talked, we ended up hanging from our ankles', I said angrily, reminding him of our time on the ship.

'That was before I knew who she was.' He turned to Carol, speaking the next words to her. 'Before I found what made you different from the others.' She had no idea what he was talking about, but it probably had something to do with her memories and her life here. 'I have an audio recording from Pegasus, of your  voice, from a plane crash six years ago. On a device I believe you call a 'black box'.' 

Now I was interested. This recording could tell us more about what happened that day, maybe we could finally complete the whole timeline. I had no idea why he was helping us. He was probably just using Carol to get to the light-speed engine, but my gut told me he was being totally honest right now and he had another more important reason for needing our help.

Maria's expression turned shocked at his words. 'They told me it was destroyed in the crash. How'd you get it?' Eyebrows raised at the question.

'Does she not understand?' He asked us before turning to her. 'Young lady I have a special skill that kinda allows me to get into places I'm not supposed to be.'

She was really offended by his usage of the words 'young lady' and wasn't afraid of telling him that. 'Call me young lady again, and I'm gonna put my foot in a place it's not supposed to be.'

I had to hold back a laugh when I saw Talos' questionable face. He had no idea what place she meant. 'Am I supposed to guess where that is?', he asked unsure.

All four of us answered at the same time. 'Your ass.'

He seemed to get it now. We all didn't trust him and we had no desire to work with him. 'Okay, I get it. We're all a little on edge here. But look, I just need your help decoding some coordinates.' He looked desperate, we were his only hope, which only confirmed my suspicions for another motive. 'If you sit down, you listen to this, I assure you, it'll be worth your while.'

Carol was running all possibilities through her head and finally decided it was worth a shot. Looking at me for confirmation, I nodded my head, telling her I agreed. 'Call your buddy back inside and we'll listen.' Referring to the Skrull that was still talking to Monica outside.

Letting out a deep relieved sigh, Talos was really happy he had gotten what he wanted. 'Deal.'

But his relaxed state ended quickly when the cat I had completely forgotten about, stroke against his legs, letting out a little meow. 'Oh my God! Get that thing away! How'd that get in here?', Talos jumped back in shock, away from the ginger creature. He seemed really afraid of the little thing.

Carol immediately saw a chance to tease him with it and use his fear to her advantage. Picking Goose up, she held it towards him with two hands, the cat swinging inbetween her hands. With every step towards Talos, he took one back. 'The cat? This isn't what you're afraid of, is it?', a teasing smirk on her face.

 'That's not a cat. That's a Flerken', Talos said. A Flerken? It sounded like something to be afraid of, but it couldn't be this cute little cat could it?

Fury thought this was all very funny and laughed at him. 'A Flerken?', he asked in disbelief.

Then Monica walked in, interrupting the fun we were having. Seeing her mother stand in front of her, on the other side of the room, made her stop in her tracks. 'Mom?' She believed she had been talking to her mother outside the whole time. Her little head tried to wrap itself around the situation and she swiftly turned around. The Skrull behind her transformed back to his true self and Monica's eyes widened. He shrugged in a little gesture of sorry. 

Her entrance had brought us all back to the situation at hand. We were going to listen to a tape that was hopefully going to tell us more about everything that happened six years ago. To say I was nervous was an understatement, and I couldn't imagine what Carol was feeling right now. This was her life that was slowly unraveling itself. 

I was scared the tape would be a disappointment and we were stuck in our investigation yet again. Besides, we couldn't forget about the fact that Yon-Rogg and his team were closing in on us fast. Precious time was ticking away and I got more aware of that every second.

~~~~~~~~

A little filler chapter? I don't know, but I actually really liked writing this. Everything is slowly coming together. 

Thanks for reading!

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