Hail to the Queen!

Chapter 6 - Rambeau Family Reunion

Residence of Maria Rambeau, Louisiana

The cargo jet descended behind a row of trees. Carol had made a quick stop at Dr. Pym's residence in New York, where he picked up a deceptively simple suit.

The group, consisting of Carol, Fury, Goose, Pym, Talos (disguised as Keller), and Jular (disguised as Coulson), walked out of the jet. They went past the trees, seeing a large cropduster plane in a homemade hangar. Next to the plane was an African American woman, accompanied by a girl of similar descent.

The girl stood up and walked into the sunlight. If Carol remembered correctly, this was Maria's daughter Monica. Last she saw the girl, Monica was only five years old.

"Mom, it's Auntie Carol!" Monica shouted to her mother. Monica ran to hug Carol, who accepted it, happy to feel the familiar warmth of a hug.

Carol looked up to see her sister figure, Maria, walking toward her with a look of disbelief.

"I knew you were alive, Auntie Carol!" Monica cheerfully said. "They never found you!"

Carol looked down at her 'niece' and smiled.

"I'm too old to die like that," she joked, "Lieutenant Trouble."

Monica laughed and hugged Carol tighter.

Maria stood a foot behind her daughter. When Monica released Carol to let her mother talk to her, Maria got closer and started to tear up, almost on the verge of crying.

"Is it really you, Carol?" she asked tearfully.

"It's me, Mary," Carol said with a soft smile. The two friends hugged each other, glad to have finally found each other again.

Nick, Monica, Talos, and Jular were rooting through Carol's old stuff from before her disappearance. They had given Carol and Maria some space to catch up. Pym was in the jet, calibrating his suit.

Without warning, a loud shouting was heard, and the four turned their heads to the doorway.

"Sounds like she got to the part where she wants your mom to go with us," Nick said, grinning.

"Go where?" Monica asked.

"Outer space."

While the group flew halfway across the world, they had concluded that Dr. Lawson's laboratory was in orbit.

"Ooh!"

Maria suddenly walked in, yelling at Carol, who was following at a safe distance.

"You really think I'm gonna leave my daughter here so I can die in outer space?!" Maria shouted. "Right after you show up out of the blue with four men and a cat?!"

"I didn't expect you to go willingly," Carol replied.

"This isn't a goddamn joke, Carol!"

"Hey!" Talos covered Monica's ears. Monica moved her head away.

"She cusses whenever she has trouble with the plane," the girl explained. "C'mon, Mom! You're passing up the opportunity of a lifetime! You always wanted to go to space!"

"Stay out of this, Monica!" Maria shot her daughter a warning glare.

"I just think you should think about setting a good example for your daughter."

Everyone tried to hold in their laughter, except Maria, who sighed in exasperation.

"We need a second pilot, Mary," Carol said. "Nobody here can fly a plane except me and you."

Maria sighed again. She didn't want to leave her daughter here when she could die, but she wanted so desperately to help her 'sister.' It was a hard choice.

"When do we fly out?"

Monica sat on the stairs to her house. Her mother had called her grandparents over to look after Monica.

"Hey, Lieutenant Trouble," Carol greeted, sitting down next to Monica.

"Hey, Auntie Carol," Monica replied.

"Hey, I'm worried for your mom, too."

"It's not her, it's you. I don't want you to disappear again."

Carol sighed and looked at the stars.

"I may disappear, but unless I'm dead, I will always return."

Monica smiled.

"Now, I need to change my suit," Carol said. "I can't wear these colors anymore, and since you're obviously the only one around here with any sense of fashion..."

Monica laughed and stood up, Carol following suit.

After fiddling with the color settings on Carol's wrist for a while, Monica finally settled on a really cool design; red and blue, with yellow trim.

"Wow," Monica said. "This is certainly... a marvel."

Carol smiled. She now knew exactly what she was going to call herself, since she was a Kree captain, after all.