Forbidden | Carol Danvers

Chapter 16: NASA

After a little while of silence in the car, Fury started the converstation again. This time, he seemed to be more careful with his questions, as if he had learned something from the last one he had asked. Maybe he finally saw how big the differences were between Hala and Earth and had he been thinking about that while everyone was quiet.

'So ehm, what do Skrulls want with Doctor Lawson?' Keeping his eyes on the road as he said it. He looked comfortable driving the car, one hand on the wheel and sitting relaxed in the seat. 

'They believed she developed a light-speed engine at Pagasus', Vers answered him. I could see she trusted him a lot. It was one of my favorite character traits of hers. She was very trusting towards people. But it also came back to bite her in the ass sometimes.

Fury's face pulled into a frown when he thought about the existence of a light-speed engine, as if it was something out of movies. 'Light-speed engine?' Looking at me in the mirror to see if Vers wasn't joking, I just shook my head. It was very real. 'I've got to admit, that is not the craziest thing I've heard today', he looked back through the front window. 

'Well, it's still early', Vers joked. It was still early. We had crashed into the Blockbuster about an hour before dawn and the sun had subtly climbed higher and higher in the sky. I was really tired, so I had closed my eyes again, trying to get a little rest. Vers didn't seem to have any problems with tiredness. Well, she did run on energy, so. 

'And you? What do you want?', Fury sensed there was something else. Another motive for our little mission. Wanting to see what she would say to that, I opened my eyes en tuned into the conversation.

'To stop the Skrulls before they become unstoppable', she answered him. But it didn't sound convincing. It sounded like she held something back and Fury looked like he knew she did.

'And?' When Vers didn't answer, he looked to me, but I just turned my head away. This wasn't my story to tell. Lawson was in Vers' memories so she had to decide whether to share this with him. 'Look, war is a universal language. I know a rogue soldier when I see one, you've got a personal stake in this.' I was right about him. He understood us, because he had been a soldier himself. Knew exactly how we were thinking and if we were hiding something. It made me feel uneasy to be honest. I loved hiding and hated sharing things. But with him, I couldn't hide.

Vers didn't say anything to that either, she just had that lost look in her eyes again. That look I really hated. Reaching forward, my hand found her shoulder and she looked at me thankful. She was not alone in this, I wanted to remind her of that. 

It became quiet in the car again. Everyone lost in their own thoughts and taking in the scenery outside. I got nervous when Fury pulled up at a gated fence. We were so close to finding something out, I knew it. 

The window at the driver's side went down and a voice filled the car. 'This is government property, turn your vehicle around.' Fury let out an annoyed sigh, as if he was tired of hearing this warning. 'Nicholas Joseph Fury, Agent of SHIELD', showing the badge to the camera in the little box at the side of the road he was talking into. 

Vers' and my eyebrows went up at the mention of three names and I knew she saw another opportunity to make a joke. 'Place your thumb on the pad.' Reaching out of the car, he placed his finger on the scanner and waited for it to finish. 'Nicholas Joseph Fury?' Ah, there it was, the joke I had expected. 'You have three names?', she said amused to the man next to her. 

'Everybody calls me Fury. Not Nicholas, not Joseph, not Nick. Just Fury.' He said it in a way that was like a little warning or a suggestion. He wanted us to call him that too. Well, we would see about that.