15 ~ First Piece of the Puzzle

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Nora's crush was rapidly slipping into something more, especially after what happened at the coffee shop, but she wasn't about to stop, instead, plunge right on ahead. And it seemed like Carol wasn't about to stop either.

Things were a little different between them now, not a bad different, but now both knew how the other felt should things move forward beyond where they were now.

The phone rang the following morning. "Hey Nora, it's Randy."

"Hey Randy, it's Nora."

He chuckled. "Long time no talk."

"Indeed."

"How was your date?"

"Good, thanks. Really good, yeah." She could still hardly believe it. "Yours?"

"The best!" Nora couldn't help but smile at the obvious excitement in his voice - excitement that rivaled hers. "So, you know that piece you brought in along with the crusader sword hilt? You didn't know what it was?"

"Yes. The potential vampire spike?"

"Yeah, that. Well, crazy as it sounds, now it's glowing, and I thought you might want to take a look..."

"Glowing?"

"Yeah, weird right? A kind of dim pinkish, redish light. It's awfully strange. Haven't a bloody clue how or why it would be doing that."

That was enough to have her out the door and on the next underground train to the museum.

"Glad you came when you did, cause, get this: it's glowing more, now. Brighter." Randy met her at the door and led her to the back room where the artifacts were stored.

"What the hell?"

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"What the hell?"

Randy chuckled and opened the door to the back room - Nora could make out the glow before even laying eyes on the strange artifact.

"See, weird right?"

"Yeah..." It was exactly as he had described, a pinkish, redish glow, though now not so dim. In fact, a glow that looked rather familiar...

"Hey Randy, might I be able to get some water, please?"

"Oh, yeah. Here, I'll get you some. Be right back."

"Thanks, Mate." As soon as he stepped out, she held her hand up beside the glowing artifact, igniting her fist. Just as she suspected, the glow was the same colour. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Examining the artifact more closely, it started to seem familiar, unlike before when she hadn't the faintest idea of what it was.

"Here's your water." Randy returned then, baring a glass of water.

"Thanks. Hey, would it be alright if I took this home with me? I think I might have a better idea of what it could be after going through more of my parents' stuff." It wasn't a total lie.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, it is technically yours. What do you think it is?"

"A old fighting staff. Well, a piece of one."

"Oh. Oh, cool."

"Yeah." Space-magic. It was becoming more relevant than she originally thought.

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She may have startled Randy a little by how quickly she grabbed the glowing object and dashed out of the museum.

As soon as she was home she activated the gauntlet from the suit Carol had given her and accessed the image of the full staff Carol had sent her. After fiddling around for a few minutes she managed to figure out how to zoom-in and could better make-out the detailing - the image was actually surprisingly clear.

Her suspicions were proven correct: this strange object was indeed part of the staff, the middle section judging by how both ends looked broken. And the glow it emitted seemed to have grown brighter still since she had gotten a hold of it - could it be her power connecting with that of the staff, the staff willing her to imbue it?

Whatever it meant, they were one step closer than before. She fiddled around with the gauntlet some more and called Carol on hers.

"Carol, I've got it!" she exclaimed excitedly when a holographic image of the blonde appeared. "A piece of that space-magical staff thing! It was in my parents' collection and I'd brought it to the museum. I got it back though, and it's glowing."

"Interesting. I wonder where your parents got it."

"Yeah. Or if they knew what it was."

"Yeah. Well, that's one piece down. Now we just have to find the others."

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Carol's visit was lasting longer than intended. 

She had expected to visit Earth and the few people she knew there and then be off again, back to space, traveling around the galaxy until there was more trouble and she was needed to put an end to it. But now, she found herself somewhat Earth-bound, and honestly, she wasn't unhappy about it.

She was glad to help Nora, and had told Fury she would help her, and she really, genuinely wanted to help Nora the best she could.  She knew what it was like to feel alone, scared, and uncertain about what was going on around you.  She had had friends to help her through it all, and that's what Nora needed, a friend.

A friend.

A friend...

What she hadn't expected was to be charmed along the way, charmed by the funny, sarcastic, doctor with a passion for archaeology (even if she denied it).

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to stick around," Fury admitted the next time he and Carol met up for a 'progress report' on Nora.

"I have a mission here. I'll stay until it's finished."

"Always efficient."

"Well, if you start a job, you see it through and finish it.  You know how it goes, Director."

"Indeed I do. And well, luckily for you, this is the kind of mission that's ongoing."

They shared a knowing and amused glance from across the table.

"Hello, Folks." Speaking of - Nora arrived then.

"Saved you a seat, Doc." Carol gestured to the chair beside her.

"Ah, thank you. We're you talking about me?"

"Yeah, about your progress in training."

"Ah, well, good things then."

"Well, you sure seem in good spirits," observed Fury.

"You know what, I am.  I haven't felt this great in years!"

"Well, it seems like you two are getting along very well." Fury sent another knowing glance at Carol who just raised her eyebrows back.

"Yeah, I would say we are," agreed Nora. "Wouldn't you say, Space-girl?"

"Yeah, yeah we are." Carol nodded. "Very well."














(So, I'm already planning a sequel to this story, post-Endgame Carol and Nora :) I need more of these two! ;) Got to finish this one first, though!

Thank you so much for reading and the votes and comments and I hope you enjoyed! :))

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