Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You look awful, haven’t you slept?” is the first thing Maria tells her when she comes back to Earth, roughly 3 months after she left with Talos and his family. It’s late, she’s not exactly sure how late, and she tried to make as little noise as possible when landind, but Maria still heard her.

The short answer to Maria’s question is probably yes. The long one, is that at some point during those three months she must have stopped and crashed on a bed for a few hours – probably.

Carol doesn’t answer with either of those explanations, because Maria has her arms crossed in front of her, and it’s never a good sign.

Instead, she just answers “Hi”, smiling tiredly.

Maria sighs, uncrosses her arms and pulls Carol into a hug.

Carol burrows her nose in Maria’s neck. It’s probably her favourite place on Earth – scratch that, her favourite place in the universe.

“Sorry I didn’t send any news”.

Maria holds her a little tighter.

“We will have a discussion on proper communication. Right now I fear you will collapse on the porch if I keep you from sleeping, so come on.”

Carol directs herself to the couch in the living-room – it’s quite comfy, she knows, from having slept on it before they went to save Talos’ family – but Maria catches her hand and declares “You need a proper bed.”

Maria leads her upstairs, to a room that Carol’s pretty sure is Maria’s own bedroom.

There are two beds in the room, one clearly recently slept-in, the other in a corner of the room, neatly made.

“I’ve been redoing the guestroom, so we’ll have to share the room for now” Maria explains, looking suddenly nervous.

But Carol is getting way too tired to analyse this. Being in a safe environment seems to be all her body needed to remind her of how many days ago she should have stopped to rest.

So, without much thinking, she kisses Maria’s cheek, murmurs “No worries” then strips down right where she stands to her undershirt and boxers, puts her suit at the end of the bed and is asleep before her head hits the pillow.

Maria stands there for a minute or so, flabbergasted. Carol had been apparently even more tired than she looked – Maria doesn’t expect her to be up before three in the afternoon. She contemplates Carol’s peaceful face for a while, only then realising how relieved she is that the woman has returned. She hadn’t been worried about Carol, exactly. After all, her friend had survived an explosion that should have killed her and come out being able to shoot concentrated light from her fists. But the idea that Carol would forget about Earth, about Monica, about her, had been in the back of her mind ever since Carol’s departure.

She resists the urge to tuck a strand of stray hair behind Carol’s ear and goes to bed.

She awakens sensing a presence near her, but her body relaxes almost as fast as it tensed when she remembers that she’s at Maria’s. She opens her eyes to find a pair of brown eyes watching her attentively, accompanied by a gigawatt smile.

“You’re back!”

Carol smiles. “I sure am”. She barely gets the time to sit on the bed before Monica jumps beside her and starts questioning her.

“How’s space? How’s Talos? Did you find them a home?!”

She’s so happy to be there, to be home, even if she’s not sure she has the right to name that place as such, that she’s completely willing to answer every single of Monica’s questions. But as soon as she opens her month, her stomach grumbles and she realizes she hasn’t eaten since leaving System 1698, a few Earth days before. She was in a hurry, sue her.

“Auntie Carol”, Monica asks, very seriously, “did you forget to eat again?”

“Is that something I do a lot?”. She hates that she doesn’t know the answer to that question.

“You used to get so focused on one thing that you could go hours without eating”. Maria is the one who answers her. Over the sound of her own self-doubt, Carol didn’t hear her approaching in the hallway. “But the second you realized you were hungry you became insufferable”.

Carol doesn’t get a flash, exactly, more like a succession of visions of Maria rolling her eyes while Carol complained that she would literally die if she didn’t eat right that minute. It seems it happened frequently.

“I mean, with my new metabolism, there is no way to know I won’t literally die if I don’t eat soon,” she answers, winking at Maria. Maria laughs, seeming lighter, less melancholic than she did a few minutes before.

Carol can’t give the woman her best friend back, but she can make sure Maria knows when and what she remembers. She will have to tell her what she remembered during those three months away. Monica’s birth. That Christmas they had spent just the two of them because Maria’s parents were less than happy about her pregnancy. Their first meeting.

Other things too, things that make Carol blush just thinking about it, things that maybe should remain unspoken – Maria might have moved on, or just not want to hear about those anymore.

And they also have to discuss the whole communication thing.

“Don’t say that Auntie Carol! We’re going to feed you before you die!”

But for now, Monica is intent on feeding Carol, grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the bedroom.

"Well, that's very kind of you".

And for now, Carol is rested, and happy to just spend the day with two of her favourite people.

Chapter Text

It’s a pretty normal day when her past decides to show up to haunt her.

“Hey, I’m home!”

“We’re in here, Carol”, Maria calls back from the living-room, voice strangely tense.

Carol freezes. Something is wrong. Maria almost never uses her name.

Which means they have company. The unexpected kind; Maria’s parents know better than to show up unannounced.

She accesses the situation: whoever is with Maria didn’t hurt her, but they might. Given the hour, Monica is probably upstairs for her afternoon nap. She suddenly regrets not buying that bat they talked about – in case of intrusions, totally not to teach baby Monica how to play baseball.

“Be right here!”

She doesn’t take her shoes off – she will do more damage if she keeps them, but hangs her jacket, forcing herself to breath slowly.

She probably should have expected the face that greets her when she sets foot in the living-room. Her father is sitting on the couch facing Maria, drinking tea.

Her father is here.

“Hey kiddo”. She hasn’t seen him in years and he looks way older and tired than he used to be. He still has that disdainful glare every time he looks at her, that much however hasn’t changed.

She resists the urge to look at Maria, he mustn’t know how much Carol cares. The man always had a tendency to destroy what she liked, and if he touches a hair of Maria or Monica’s head she’s not sure what she will do.

“What are you doing here?”

The coldness in her voice doesn’t faze him. “I heard you got promoted to captain, so I came to congratulate you!” he explains as he rises from the couch, approaching her. She hears the sharp intake of breath Maria takes when he reaches for Carol.

“Don’t,” she warns him. “Don’t touch me.”

She doesn’t move back, refusing to lose ground to him. He stops a foot away from her, close, much too close and she feels her hands form fists without thinking. He’s taller than her, but not by much and he’s over 55. She could take him.

“I see you’ve got a cozy place out of the deal. And an even nicer friend.” It’s in the way he sneers the word as he tries to tower over her, like he’s done all her life. She’s going to punch him, make him regret ever coming here... – suddenly Maria is at her side, firmly holding Carol’s right arm.

“You should leave”. Maria’s voice is steady, leaving no room for argument.

“Or what, lady?”

Maria closes her eyes for a second and sighs. Carol feels the hold on her right arm loosen.

“Or you will get your ass kicked by two Air Force captains and get thrown in jail for trespassing onto my property.”

He finally takes a few steps back.

“Your brother got married a year and a half ago, did you know?”

Of course she knows. She had received an invitation to the ceremony, less than two weeks before it was happening, as if the invitation had been sent as an after-thought. Or maybe too much thought had been put into whether or not to send it.

In spite of that, she might have gone to the wedding, if it weren’t for the fact that Monica had just been born, and there was no way Carol would leave Maria handle the baby on her own.

Carol had tried writing to her brother to apologize. They barely talked but he was still the one who had taught her about the stars, and given her her desire to fly. Ultimately she had realized that there was no way he could understand without explaining how much she cared for Maria and Monica, and her brother was certainly not someone she wanted to talk about this with. She hadn’t heard from him since that invitation.

So yes, she knows. But she won’t fall for her father’s attempt at guilt-tripping her.

“I do. I’m glad he found someone.” And she means it. “Now leave, please.”

“Kid, please, I need some money”.

There it was.

She thinks of the money she started putting aside for Monica the day Maria asked her to be Monica’s godmother (at least that’s what she tells herself, but she started putting money aside as soon as Maria told her she was pregnant).

She contemplates the man who raised her, belittled her, refused to give her a cent for her education despite her grades being much higher than Steven’s.

And she thinks of the child sleeping upstairs, who entered her life and her heart even before she was born.

It’s the easiest decision she’s ever made.

“No”.

His face contorts in anger. “What?!”

“I have no money for you. Now go, I won’t ask you again.”

“You fucki-“

“Okay, that’s enough”. Maria’s voice is even harsher than before. Something grey and shiny catches Carol’s eyes and only then does she notice the gun in Maria’s hands.

Joseph Danvers puts his hands in the air, all trace of aggressiveness gone from his face. He’s fuming, only now understanding who he tried to mess with.

Maria directs him to the door, Carol following her closely.

Once he’s at his car, Maria speaks again, the gun still directed at him. “You will never set foot on this property again, or near Carol or me. If I ever see you again, consider yourself a man in grave danger.”

He tries interjecting again “You c-“ before being neatly silenced when Maria cocks the gun.

He promptly enters his car, turns on the engine and speeds off the property.

They’re re-entering the house, Carol still buzzing with adrenaline, when she asks “How come you’ve never told me you had a gun in here?”

A slow smile appears on Maria’s face as she tosses the gun to Carol. “It’s a fake one”.

It’s a pretty normal day when her past decides to show up to haunt her and Carol has never been more in love.

Chapter Text

“Ouch!” Monica yelped in surprise. “I didn’t think it would sting that much”.

“Yeah well, maybe you shouldn’t have been climbing that tree back there.” Carol said as she continued to gently dab Monica’s wound with disinfectant.

Monica looked down.

“Are you gonna tell Mom?”

Carol hesitated. She had been back in the Rambeau’s life for a few years now, and while she loved Monica immensely, she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of lying to Maria. She sat on the chair facing Monica’s.

“What were you even doing up there?” she asked, hoping to gain a few seconds to think about her own answer.

Not meeting her eyes, Monica mumbled something about... a transmitter?

“Sorry, what was that?”

The girl huffed, crossing her arms, clearly displeased at the idea to have to repeat herself.

“Okay, fine. Don’t tell me, you can explain yourself to your mom when she gets b-“

“I was trying my transmitter to contact you!”

Carol blinked. “What?”

“I tried building a transmitter like the one you gave Fury, so that I could… talk to you”.

Carol considered the teenager in front of her, speechless.

“I didn’t tell Mom because I knew she would say that you’re too busy, but I miss you, and so does she!”

She hadn’t considered the toll her absences took on the two women – or rather she had, but Maria had dismissed her concern every time, saying that she knew that Carol was needed throughout the galaxy. She should have figured it wasn’t fine.

She had missed Halloween, Thanksgiving AND Christmas that year. Whose idea had it been to put all of the most important holidays in a 2-months span anyways? But worse than that, she had missed Maria’s birthday. And Valentine’s Day, but they had never really celebrated that one.  The year before, she had been late – as in, almost a week late – to Monica’s birthday. It was the reason why this year, she had showed up in the middle of May. Much to Monica’s surprise, who had been climbing the tallest tree in the garden when Carol had arrived. The youngest Rambeau’s landing had been less than graceful.

Carol stood up, opening her arms. “Come here”. Monica hesitated for a second, then stood up and let herself be engulfed in Carol’s arms. The small difference in height almost gave Carol a start, Monica was growing much faster than she expected. By the look of it, she might end up being taller than Carol. But for now, Carol could still enjoy being the taller one.

“You and your mom are the most important people in my life. I’m sorry I’m gone so often.” She needed Monica to know how much the two Rambeaus meant to her.

Letting go of Monica, she made sure to look her in the eyes when she said “You’re the best thing that ever happened to your mom and I. Never doubt that I will always find my way back to you both”.

Putting away everything she had used in the emergency kit, she pretended not to hear the sniffle that followed that declaration. And if her own eyes weren’t completely dry either, she could always pretend it was some space dust’s fault.

“Here’s what we’re going to do.” She said once everything was ordered, and her eyes a little dryer. “I’m going to help you build that transmitter. And I won’t tell your mom-“

“Thank you!” Monica exclaimed, her smile back full force.

“-but I never want to see you do this kind of stuff on your own again. You’re almost 15, you should know better.”

“You sound like Mom” Monica grumbled.

She knew it wasn’t meant as such, but Carol considered it a compliment. She had never been the one doing the tough parenting, but if it meant that Monica was safe, she would gladly take on that role again.

Later that night, when Maria came back from work, she found Carol and Monica tinkering over the new and improved transmitter. They both were so focused that they almost didn’t notice her arrival.

Even later, after Carol had carried a conked out Monica to bed (it turned out, to both Maria and Carol’s surprise, that Monica in her teenaged years had still not lost her ability to sleep through anything, including being carried bridal style by her super-powered mother), Maria spoke softly “I knew about that transmitter of hers”.

“You did?” But then why…

“I was waiting for her to come to me. Not sure I would have been able to help anyways” Maria shrugged. Nearing their bedroom, she added “I’m glad you’re here.”

Carol smiled softly “Me too”.

“How long are you staying?”

She hated that question. She knew it was necessary, for the three of them, to know how long she would be here, but it always felt like she was intruding.

“At least until her birthday. Maybe a bit after? I’m still trying to find a way to make up for everything I missed.”

“That’s good to know.”

Maria suddenly looked at her with a mischievous expression. “How about you start with my birthday present?”

“Your birth-“ The look Maria was giving her was clear as day. “Oh.”

“You’ve got a lot to make up for, Danvers, so you better get started.”

“Yes Ma’am” was all Carol said before kissing soundly the love of her life.

Chapter Text

The Kree show up when they're still trying to deal with the fact that there are living beings on the ship, and it all goes south from there.

The dude with the creepy eyes (Yon-Rogg, she guesses, from Carol’s brief presentation of the Kree forces) says something along the lines of “What’s given can be taken away” and Carol’s powers seem to… not work anymore? Her hands fizzle then go back to being regular, human hands.

The fool - always trying to be the goddamn hero - still attacks the Kree and he rapidly has her under control. Fury stops Maria before she can get to Carol, and the other Kree take the Tesseract from her. She’s not foolish enough to try and resist.

Shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Sure, they anticipated that the Kree might be there, but she had hoped they would have the time to get the core – in and out, as easy as pie – and now, there are civilians from another species involved!? Why did Talos not mention his family was here?

Yon-Rogg knocks Carol out and Maria’s heart leaps.

They take them to another room, where Carol is forced to kneel in some sort of goo. Which… starts moving all over her and it’s terrifying – Maria doesn’t want to watch, but can’t stop watching, horrified.

Carol is moving back and forth slightly, her eyes still closed, obviously struggling against whatever that goo is doing to her.

“What are you doing to her?” Maria snarls. “Wiping her memories again? Seems you did such a great job last time!”

“Rambeau!” Fury calls out in a whisper, “now is Not the time to antagonize them!”

But Yon-Rogg has reported his attention on her. He smirks with satisfaction “We did actually. She doesn’t remember you, does she, Maria Rambeau?”

He might as well have punched her, and he must see it on her face, because he continues to gloat, towering over her. “Truly, we had to dig pretty deep to remove you because you were Ever-y-where, but I think we did a nice job, don’t you?”

She almost doesn’t answer, almost lets him win, because surely he’s right. Carol didn’t remember her or Monica when she arrived.

“So yes”, he continues, “we’re going to wipe her memory again and then we will destroy this wretched place with all its inhabitants, and you, in it”.

But then Maria thinks back to how Carol had interacted with Monica, how relaxed she had been around her. She thinks back to Carol sassing about not remembering the rules of their car race, back to how she hugged Maria in the exact same way she used to. Carol is still there, somewhere.

She's about to answer when one of the guards interrupts them, looking concerned. “She’s trying to break out”.

The lights flicker, Fury and Maria’s restraints fall to the ground, the whole ship goes dark and Carol starts glowing. Not just her hands, the light is cursing through her whole body. And she’s floating. Feet definitely not touching the ground.

She’s magnificent. Maria can’t stop staring.

Fury knocks out one of the guard and grabs Maria’s hand. “She can handle herself, now let’s go.”

Yon-Rogg doesn’t even try to stop them, too preoccupied with the glowing being currently wrecking his team.

They manage to get Goose back, and Carol joins them a moment later, trying to convince Fury to take the Tesseract. Then Goose… devours it.

Sure, why not. After all, she’s seen nothing but weird, alien things all day. They have to get moving anyways.

She has the brief thought that Monica will be severely disappointed to have missed all this. As she’s running down the hallways of the ship, she’s suddenly glad that her daughter convinced to be a part of this. As dangerous as it is, she would have never forgiven herself if she had let Carol go without her.

But right now, Maria has much more urgent things to think about, namely the guards shooting at them.

Much, much later, after everything has quieted down, she sits on her porch with Carol.

“I thought they were going to erase your memory again” she says softly, looking at anything but Carol.

“They almost did”.

Maria represses a shiver at the thought of losing Carol again. “Thank you for coming back to us”.

Carol watches her, then takes her hand – slowly, giving her the time to pull away if she doesn’t want it.

“No, thank you for taking me back even though I’m not… her.”

“You may not remember it all, but you’re still Carol, never doubt that.”

The smile Carol gives her could probably power a small city.

She’s going to have to go make dinner in a few minutes – for much more people than she expected to have to feed that day – but she takes the time to just breathe and enjoy the temporary quietness with the woman she thought she would never see again.

Chapter Text

They’re sitting at the kitchen table and the emergency kit Maria always keeps around has seen better days – they both use it much more than she would like.

“Ouch!” Carol yelps in surprise. “I didn’t think it would sting that much”.

“Yes well, you did fight a guy twice your size” is the snarky reply she gets for her suffering.

“That asshole called one of his buddy to overpower me”, she grumbles, flinching away when Maria reaches out to disinfect her wound.

“Yes I know love, but you gotta hold still. Wouldn’t want the mighty Avenger to die from infection, would we?”

But Carol won’t – probably doesn’t even know how to – stay still. Maria would gladly let her go if Carol hadn’t several deep cuts on her face that definitely need to be tended to.

“Not much of an avenger when I get beaten up” Carol answers bitterly, looking down – once again moving her head.

Maria has had enough, and catches Carol’s chin to keep her in place.

But in doing so, her thumb lands right besides Carol’s lips, and they both stop moving to stare at each other. She should move, she knows, but all she wants to do is to caress those lips that have been tempting her for months. All she wants to do is kiss Carol. She wishes Carol would lean in, kiss her palm, kiss her.

She manages to break the spell - breaking eye contact, and puts some more disinfectant on the cotton she uses to dab Carol’s cuts. She thinks back to what she wanted to say before having a mini-meltdown while staring into her best-friend’s eyes.

She continues cleaning the cuts.

“Carol, I appreciate what you were trying to do, but don’t do that again. Ever. Please.”

“But-“

“People are going to talk. You’re only giving them more reason to talk when you punch them.”

“So I’m just supposed to let them talk?!”

“Carol, I’m a black woman in America. I’ve been called way worse than that. In the army and elsewhere.”

Carol catches her hand, the one still holding Carol’s jaw, keeping it in place. “It’s not fair.”

Maria sighs. “Carol, do you remember what the doctor told us about stress during the pregnancy?”

The blonde looks at her questioningly. “To avoid it as much as possible, why?”

“I have enough stress sources in my life as it is. Please don’t make me worry.” So yes, she’s not above using the pregnancy card but she’s not sure how she would handle it if Carol got seriously hurt, pregnancy or not.

Carol lowers her head in defeat.

“Fine, if you don’t want me to punch people who insult you, I won’t.”

“Good.” She appreciates the gesture, truly, but she won’t let Carol get into even more trouble because she feels she has a duty to protect her.

“But I will give them the meanest stink-eye they’ve ever seen”.

She bursts out laughing. That woman will be the end of her.

“As long as there’s no punching, do what you want Danvers”.

She regrets that phrasing the second she says it, because Carol suddenly has a mischievous look in her eyes.

“Does that mean that I can kick them?” the smartass asks with a smirk.

Maria presses a bit too much on the cut over Carol’s eyebrow. “Oow, what was that for?!”

“For being a pain in my ass.”

“You love me anyway”. That’s the whole problem isn’t it? The blonde even has the nerve to look at her with her sweet, loving – even if deeply amused – eyes.

“Yeah. I do.”

Chapter Text

Monica Rambeau is 15 years 3 months and a few days old when she realizes that her moms are in love with each other. Now, that would seem like quite a long time to realize such a thing about your parents. But the thing is, she’s not sure her parents know it themselves.

She was raised by her mom and her mom’s best-friend until said best-friend disappeared when Monica was 4. Her mom had been devastated, and had never found love another bestie again.

But Carol came back 6 years later, with superpowers. Actual, for real, can fly and make water boil in 2 seconds kind of superpowers. And while her mom had seemed unsure at first, since this Carol wasn’t really Auntie Carol, Monica had managed to convince her to help the aliens quite easily. But after they rescued Talos’ family, Carol had decided that she hadn’t done enough, and left Earth (and Monica AND mom) to find them a safe place to live.

Maria had given her her blessings to do so, but Monica could see the sadness in her mom’s eyes.

Since her initial return in 1995, Carol has always made a point to come back to Earth regularly. Monica was delighted. As was Maria. And so, for 3 years, Monica has observed her mom’s reactions to Carol’s arrivals and departures, and as much of their interactions as she could monitor in between.

Obviously, she knew they loved each other, but it had taken a little bit longer for Monica to notice that they were in love.

And after that initial realization, Monica had first thought that her moms were together, but didn’t show it around her for some reason or another. So she tried dropping hints – would they be interested in spending a few days in Denmark, Norway or Sweden? Her moms had looked surprised, but had replied that those weren’t the most interesting countries in Europe, and wouldn’t she rather go to Italy or Germany?

So she had dropped the trip idea, and opted for the famous people route. Ellen DeGeneres had come out, and wasn’t it amazing that she was out and proud? Her moms had agreed that it was very brave, then Maria had asked Monica what she wanted for dinner.

It had finally dawned on her that her parents didn’t know they were in love with each other. It was almost painful to watch her two favourite people act and pine like two teenagers hopelessly in love. Her mom had an extra spring to her steps whenever Carol was on Earth and Carol’s smile had a special something when she was looking at Maria that she never sported for anyone – or anything – else, not even planes.

It came to the point when one evening, when Maria and Monica were watching Carol flying (the woman loved to show off her powers and could spend hours doing loops and shapes in the sky), Monica noticed the enamoured look Maria was sporting while looking at Monica’s other mom, and decided to do something about it.

“Mom, I love you, and I love Auntie Carol, but I swear to God, if you don’t kiss her at some point in the near future, I’m going to lock you in a room until you do”.

Maria stopped watching her best friend and turned to face her daughter, taken aback. “Sorry, what?”

“You’re in love with her!” Monica exclaimed, pointing at Carol, as if she could be talking about anyone else.

Maria chuckled, somewhat nervously. “What are you talking about Monica?”

Monica rolled her eyes, already exasperated. “I’m talking about the fact that you’re in love with your best-friend of almost 20 years, and that she’s in love with you!”

“Where on Earth did you get this idea?”

Monica crossed her arms and levelled her mother with a stare Fury would be proud of. “You’re both more obvious than two hormonal teenagers.”

“Well, I don’t know why-“

“Hey guys, watcha talking about?”

Too absorbed by their argument, neither mother nor daughter had heard Carol land and approach them.

“About how you and mom-“ Monica commenced, but Maria interrupted her.

“About how you and I are a great team.” Maria said with a smile to Carol, and a menacing glare towards Monica.

Carol looked at them with a puzzled look, but didn’t push the issue.

Monica waited a day or two, to see whether her mom had acted on Monica’s revelation or not. When it became clear that Maria had refused to do anything about it, Monica decided to carry out her threat.

“Mom!!” she bursted into Maria’s bedroom when her mom was preparing to go to bed. “There’s something wrong with Auntie Carol, she’s in her room!”

After her initial shock, Maria jumped to her feet, and ran to Carol’s room. Monica followed right after her, and the moment her mom was in Carol’s room, Monica slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Monica! Open that door!”

She heard Carol ask what was going on, and Maria giving her an answer in whispers.

“I’m not opening that door until you both talk about how you feel!”

Carol must have said something about other ways to open the door that had Maria say “Danvers, you are Not shooting your photon blast to open it.” Followed by another threat directed at Monica, spoken more calmly than before. “Monica, you will be grounded until college if you don’t open the door right now.”

“Fine by me, as long as you two talk,” Monica declared, and started to move away from the door, “I’ll be back in a couple hours, so I’ll leave you to it!”

Two hours later, she was about to head upstairs to free her moms when she heard the characteristic sound of Carol’s landing in the garden. She had forgotten about the flight ability, dammit.

But when Carol and Maria entered the house, they had shy smiles and didn’t seem too upset about the whole locked-in-a-room-by-your-teenage-daughter thing. Her moms exchanged a look.

“So, we talked, as you ordered us to,” Carol said with a wink.

“And it took some probing from this one,” Maria added with a head gesture towards Carol, “but we discussed our... relationship.”

“Just tell me already! Are you guys a thing or not?” she had been through too many pining looks to wait a moment longer.

“Not yet, but - don’t interrupt – it’s because we want to take this slow,” Carol explained. “We don’t want to jeopardize what the three of us have right now. Does that make sense?”

Monica sighed. “You guys do realize that you’ve basically been married for the last four years right?”

Chapter Text

It was already late, and they all were at least a few drinks in, when one of the boys suggested they played Truth or dare. Carol and she were at some bar downtown, with Bianchi, Del Orbe and Pierre, their friends from flight school.

Maria sighed quietly. She had escaped high school practically unscathed by the game, and intended to keep it that way. She certainly didn’t expect 20-somethings to still be into that game.

“Come oooooon, Maria, it’ll be fun!” For some reason, Carol wanted to play.

“Yeah, please join us, it won’t be fun if it’s just all four of us boys!” Pierre said, winking at Carol – who stuck out her tongue at him -  then directing his pleading eyes in Maria’s direction.

“I’m not playing truth or dare,” was what she meant to say, but Carol suddenly pressed herself more tightly against Maria and looked at Maria with her much-more-effective-than-Pierre’s puppy eyes, and what Maria said instead was “Okay, fine.”

The four dorks who accompanied her all cheered, and Del Orbe emptied his beer bottle so they would have something to play with.

The first three or four times, the bottle stopped in front of the boys, and they all chose truth, at which point Carol decided that one couldn’t choose Truth twice in a row.

The bottle finally landed on Carol, who was dared to dance on their table – as if she wouldn’t have done it completely sober and without a dare.

The bottle landed on Carol again, and Bianchi – the only of the 3 boys who wanted to fly combat like Carol and Maria – asked her who her favourite person at the table was. The question felt loaded somehow, like maybe he was expecting an answer different from the obvious one, but Carol didn’t hesitate when she answered “Maria, obviously. She’s the only one who smells nice.” The butterflies in Maria’s belly were obviously due to the beers they had been drinking.

Maria’s bad feeling about the whole thing got confirmed when the bottle stopped in front of her. “Dare,” she said, because truth could always get messy.

“Kiss one of us!” Del Orbe exclaimed, and the boys whooped. Maria thanked her lucky star, because there was an easy way out of this one – she lifted Carol’s face and planted a kiss on her right cheek. They both laughed at the men’s gobsmacked expressions.

“That’s cheating!”

“You know damn well it’s not, phrasing is essential,” Carol defended with a slow, tipsy wink at Maria.

“But-“

“No buts boys, let’s get playing!”

“Thanks for defending my move back there.” Maria said when they were back at the base. It was way, way later than she thought it would be, and waking up the day after would be hell.

“I figured you already didn’t like the game, didn’t want you to hate it even more,” Carol replied. This was a strangely worded answer.

“You’re hoping we will play again, aren’t you?”

“Maaaaybe? There’s so many embarrassing stuff I wanna know about you,” Carol said, smirking, while burrowing herself into her bed. Maria always thought Carol looked like a cat looking for the perfect sleeping position when she did that. “Plus,” Carol continued, “I’ll always have your back, you know that right?”

That night, while drifting off to sleep, Maria thought that maybe, Carol’s friendship was well worth sharing a few embarrassing things.

Chapter Text

The first time they held hands wasn’t exactly… romantic. Carol likes to think it illustrates what kind of people they both are, but truly, admitting to your child that the first time you held hands with her mom is the first time you arm-wrestled with her is… mortifying.

Monica bursts out laughing, almost spitting tea on the kitchen’s table. “You arm-wrestled with Mom?! How badly did you lose?”

Carol scoffs. “What makes you think I lost?”

“I mean, I love you Ma, but those arms ain’t got nothing on Mom’s,” Monica declares seriously, emphasizing her point with a nod.

“I’ll have you know that I was the best of our flight at push-ups!” Carol’s offended expression makes Monica giggle anew.

“Sure you were,” Monica says while sipping her tea. It’s her favourite, an alien brand that Carol bought during her last visit to the Skrulls’ new planet.

“Hey, don’t tease your Ma too much,” Maria says, entering the kitchen and putting her hands on Carol’s shoulders, “she really was the best at push-ups.”

“Ah! See Trouble?” Carol looks up and shoots a smile at Maria.

“But I did win that arm-wrestling match”, Maria finishes. “And every single one of them after that first one.”

Monica and Maria both watch Carol’s reaction, who mumbles something about Maria being very pretty that night and rises from her chair to get some cookies from the pantry.

“What’s that, hon?”

Carol turns completely towards them, mischief in her eyes. “How about a rematch?”

Both wife and daughter stare at her. “You have powers now,” Maria reminds her.

“And you know damn well that I can control them”, Carol replies with a suggestive wink and a smile.

“Hum, guys, minor child here, please stop,” Monica interjects, mortified. Both her mothers chuckle.

“Come on, Rambeau, what have you got to lose?” Carol teases.

“My hand, for starters.”

“You’re afraid to lose, aren’t you?”

Maria sighs. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope!” Carol announces with a smug smile.

Monica watches the match between them with rapt attention.

“Okay, fine, bring it on, Danvers,” Maria finally relents while Carol whoops.

“For the record, I love you both,” Monica declares while Maria and Carol take place at the table. “I’ll be the judge.”

Monica announces in a surprisingly accurate TV show voice: “The contestants look each other in the eyes, and take each other’s hand! It’s a match for the ages ladies and gentlemen!”

Truth be told, Maria could probably win this game fair and square. She doesn’t have the muscle build she had when she was in the military, but is still very lean.

That said, it certainly wouldn’t be fun if she played fair, and she doesn’t expect Carol to do so either.

So when she feels Carol starting to push, she resists for a few seconds, then winks at Carol and reaches across the table and kisses her wife. She feels Carol’s hold loosening for a split second, and it’s all it takes her to…

Carol’s hand stops just a few millimeters from the table, and a familiar heat courses through Maria’s arm as she notices Carol’s hand glowing softly.

“You’re cheating!”

Before Carol can reply, Monica announces in a solemn voice, eyes mirthful. “As the judge, I allow one cheat per person, since you’re the one who started it.”

Carol smirks and accentuates her push, her hand just slightly warmer than usual. Maria’s hand gets closer and closer to the table…

“I scratched your Mustang”.

The reaction is immediate, and exactly as she expected -  “You WHAT?!” – and she slams Carol’s hand on the table.

“And Mom wins!” Monica announces.

“She cheated again!” Carol exclaims.

“Since when is talking to the opponent cheating?” she asks, teasing smile firmly in place.

“Since it… oh, I see what you did there.”

Monica hugs them both. “See Ma, told you Mom would win”.

Carol hums. “Maybe I’ll ask for a rematch someday.”

Maria kisses Carol on the cheek. “Bring it on, Danvers.”

Chapter Text

Lawson comes looking for Carol while she’s tinkering on the new experimental plane.

“Follow me”, the scientist says in a voice that doesn’t leave room for discussion. It’s a voice she rarely uses around Carol, and Carol knows something’s happened.

She expects Lawson to lead them to her office, but Lawson leads the way to the parking where Carol’s Mustang is parked at its usual spot.

“Listen to me Danvers, there was an incident at Maria’s house”, she raises a hand before Carol can react – respond – in any way, “she’s okay. But I want you to go check up on her. Take care of her and her daughter –“

Carol’s already in the Mustang before Lawson can even finish her sentence.

She’s probably never driven that fast.

She barely takes the time to turn the engine off before rushing towards the house. There are a few medics and a policeman there.

When she finally – after almost yelling at the policeman that no she isn’t family but she’s the wounded’s best-friend and support system – finally, arrives before Maria, she freezes. Her friend is sitting on the patio steps, a huge bruise near her left eye starting to swell. Her lower lip is split.

“What happened?” Carol asks when she can finally recover from the shock.

“It looks worse than it feels,” Maria attempts to joke away.

Carol is by her side in a flash. “Maria, what happened?”

“Your father showed up, completely drunk.” Thankfully the drunkenness had made him slow, but he still had managed to land a punch before she was able to restrain him.

“He attacked you?” Carol knows her father and his ways, but attacking someone is a new low, even for him. He’s usually more on the barking-threats side of the line.

Maria nods.

Carol’s eyes turn cold. “I’m going to kill him.”

Maria catches Carol’s arm with her good hand – the one where the knuckles are not scrapped.  “No you’re not. He’s in jail for now, and we will make sure he stays there for a while.”

“He hurt you, Maria.”

“And I hurt him back. I’m fine Carol.”

Carol clenches and unclenches her fists, fuming. “Look at you, clearly you’re not fine!”

“Carol, please, you can’t…”

Carol grabs Maria’s hand like it’s her lifeline. Voice cracking, she declares “Let me do something”.

Maria reaches out to cup Carol’s face, wiping away the unshed tears in her friend’s eyes.

“I’m fine, I promise.” They’ve known each other for years, but seeing Carol almost cry is such a rarity that she’s surprised by the reaction.

“Go pick up Monica at my parent’s, if you really need to do something. They forbade me to drive for the rest of the day.”

Carol nods, breathing deeply. “That I can do.”

She stands up, checks behind her that no one is close, then kisses Maria’s forehead, lingering there for a second. “I’m so relieved you’re okay.”

She continues: “Should I tell your parents? And what will you tell Monica?”

Maria hesitates. She can’t really tell her 3 year old that Auntie Carol’s father tried to hurt her. “Let’s tell her that I tripped on the stairs. Say the same thing to my parents, no need to worry them.”

Carol nods, but she stays near Maria, looking unsure. “Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?”

Maria rolls her eyes. “Yes, I’ll be fine. Now go.”

That night, Carol can’t sleep. She turns and turns in her bed, but every time she drifts off to sleep, images of her father hurting Maria, hurting Monica appear behind her eyelids and she. Can’t. Sleep.

Pushing her blankets away, she avoids looking at the clock before putting pants on. It’s probably way too late for a visit, but she knows she won’t rest until she sees Maria.

When she pulls up beside the house, she notices that the kitchen’s lights are on. She enters cautiously, not sure what to expect.

She finds Maria waiting for her, two mugs of tea on the table.

“How-“

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep,” Maria says, “and to be honest neither can I.” The kitchen isn’t well lit, and the shadows hide most of her left side, but Carol knows her bruise is there. She can’t find the words – should probably apologize for putting Maria’s in harm’s way.

“Whatever you’re thinking right now, it’s not your fault,” Maria says calmly.

Carol sits on the other side of the table. “What if it is? I’m the reason he even attacked y-“

“Don’t.” Maria interrupts. “You’re not your father’s keeper, Carol.”

The blonde sighs. “I know, I just-“

Maria takes her hand. “I know, you care. Maybe too much,” she adds.

“Is that a bad thing?” Carol realizes just as she asks the question that she is terrified of the answer.

“No, not necessarily,” Maria says with a soft smile. She looks like she finally has the answer to a question she’s been asking for a while. ”Now, let’s go to bed, you’re staying here tonight.”

Chapter Text

Maria tells Carol who she was, who she is, and the memories from way before the crash start to make sense.

“Do you hear me?”

She can’t help but smile.

“Come here.” And she does. She lets herself be engulfed in her friend’s arms. She’s surrounded by Maria’s smell and she doesn’t refrain herself from melting into the hug. She takes a deep breath of everything Maria, and she remembers.

She remembers the room they shared during their first year at the USAFA, as fourth-class cadets. She remembers their first hug, after they had just flown a plane for the first time. She remembers Maria’s satisfied and proud smile when she managed to do a perfect barrel-roll in front of the jury for the Flying Falcons.

She wants to tell Maria. But there’s no time – Talos is right there, waiting for them to figure out where the core is.

“It’s hard for me to say goodbye too.” She hopes it’s enough, she hopes that her eyes can convey the myriad of emotions she feels, that Maria will understand all of this.

That second hug settles in her mind the memory of many nights spent together, studying at the Academy, drinking and dancing at Pancho’s, learning every single inch of each other’s body.

The smile Maria gives her, that nod before saying “Go on” are all the encouragement Carol needs. The faster she’s gone, the faster she will be back.

She doesn’t wear her jacket too often, not certain that the leather would sustain the interstellar void as well as she does. And she doesn’t want the scent of Louisiana, of home, that is embedded in it to wear off.

During those months off-Earth, she thinks of the hop scent of cheap beer, of the smell of disinfectant and cleanliness that surrounded her and Maria when Monica was born. She thinks of Maria’s shampoo, that she liked to steal borrow when they had to spend time apart during missions. The smell of Maria’s coffee before their day began at the Academy, and the satisfied smile on Maria’s face that always accompanied it.

On their quest to find a new home to the Skrulls, they pass planets and markets and endless forests but still nothing smells as good as Maria’s cooking.

They land on planets almost entirely made of petrol and gazoline, and she cherishes the memory of motor oil and gas, forever linked to flying in her mind - even if she doesn't need those anymore.

During those months off-Earth, each day erasing a bit more the Kree’s influence, she remembers more and more. She falls in love again with the woman who let her go.

She finally comes back to Earth. Takes a deep breath, inhaling the scent of humus and jasmine. Monica almost knocks Carol off her feet with the impact of her hug. Maria takes more measured steps towards them. Carol can’t wait. As soon as Maria is within earshot, Carol yells “I remember!”.

Maria doesn’t move faster, watching Carol intently. Carol uses that time to watch her as well, noticing a dozen tiny new things about her love. When Maria finally reaches them, she asks “All of it?”.

Carol nods, smiling, barely containing her joy and excitement.

Maria hugs her, murmuring “Welcome home.”

Chapter Text

Maria was not used to hear Carol scream. So when she heard her partner yell “Maria! Come quick!”, she climbed the stairs of her parents’ home faster than ever before. When she arrived in the room where they had installed Monica’s crib, Carol was pointing to a tiny grey and white spider about a meter from Monica.

“There’s a spider near Monica’s crib!”

“Yes, I can see that,” Maria said calmly, raising an eyebrow as if to ask why that was a problem.

“What if it is a Black Widow, they’re venomous!”

Maria stared at Carol in bewilderment. “Babe, that’s a Fishing spider. It’s completely harmless.”

Maria had been born and raised in Louisiana, she was more than used to spiders. There were only a few that were venomous, and they rarely entered houses.

“You’re letting that thing near our… near Monica?!”

Maria blinked. There was a lot to unpack in that sentence, and it didn’t feel like the right time to address Carol’s slip. For now, Maria could focus on something with a little less feelings.

“Are you… afraid of spiders?”

Carol scoffed. “Of course not.” But she kept eying the spider, in an obvious attempt to not leave it out of her sight.

A slow, teasing smile formed on Maria’s face.

“Danvers, are you telling me that you’re afraid of a teeny, tiny spider?”

“I told you, I’m not!” Carol knew she was losing ground rapidly, but she would be damned before admitting her stupid fear of those arthropods.

“So if I ask you to take care of this spider and put it outside, you will do it without a problem?”

Carol crossed and uncrossed her arms – visibly uncomfortable. But then the spider moved, approaching Monica by a few centimeters, and Carol took a deep breath and sprang into action: she took a small hard cover book that was on the table, approached the wall cautiously, and got the spider to move all of its 8 ugly legs on the book. The chill that ran down her spine had nothing to do with the fan that was blowing barely fresh air in the room. Slowing her movements, she took a large turn around Monica’s crib – after all, she was doing this for her – and approached the window, watching the spider carefully.

Finally, she opened the window and… the spider moved towards her thumb. She barely contained a shriek and threw the whole book plus the spider out.

“Shit.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Maria burst out laughing. “Did you just throw the book as well?” she asked before laughing again.

The noise woke Monica up, who, seeing her mom in such an humorous mood, started laughing as well.

“Oh hi baby, your Auntie Carol saved you from the biiiig spider,” Maria said as she lifted Monica from her crib.

Carol watched them for a second, then chuckled too, vaguely embarrassed.

“Hey now, it was no easy feat!”

“You really don’t like them, huh?” And here she thought she knew everything there was to know about Carol. Somehow, the subject of spiders had never been brought up in all the years they had spent together.

Carol shrugged. “Not really.”

“And yet you approached one to protect Monica?”

Carol shrugged again, rearranging books on the shelves that absolutely did not need rearranging, clearly avoiding Maria’s gaze.

“You know I would do anything for her,” Carol finally declares.

Maria approached her, Monica still in her arms. Carol was still looking away from her, and Maria used her free hand to gently turn Carol’s face towards her.

“You’re not allowed to make this kind of grand declarations without looking at the person you’re saying it to, Danvers.”

Carol raised an eyebrow. “You want me to say that again, to Monica?”

“Start with me.”

Carol smirked: “What makes you think I would do anything for you?”

“Because you already have,” Maria said before kissing her softly.

Carol was rendered speechless, and looked at Maria with wonder, until a hint of mischief appeared in her eyes again. “I would do anything for you, except save you from spiders. I reserve that right to Monica, until she’s old enough to do it herself.”

Maria laughed. “Fine by me Danvers, but you still have to go get that book back before my parents notice that you’ve thrown a bible by the window.”

“Oh sh-“

Chapter Text

Christmas day, 00:01

“Monica, what are you still doing up?” Maria asks, upon finding her daughter downstairs in the living-room. “You know we’re not opening the presents until 9 tomorrow.”

“But Ma, what if she shows up?” Monica replies, looking at her mom with as much hope in her eyes as before Thanksgiving.

“Sweetie, you know that Carol can’t always make it on time to celebrate with us.” Maria hates having to do that, because while she knows that Carol had to help the Skrulls, there’s also a part of her brain who – much like Monica – had been fairly disappointed when Carol hadn’t showed up at the end of November.

She sends her daughter upstairs, then turns off the Christmas tree decorations. She's about to climb the stairs when she notices that the photograph of their family, usually hanging by the stairs, has been removed. After checking that it hasn't fallen, she returns to the living-room - the photograph has been placed carefully under the tree. Sitting next to the tree with a sigh, she touches the frame of the photograph lightly and makes a silent prayer.

Christmas morning, 8:30

Maria wakes up with an arm wrapped loosely around her midriff. She stills for a second, before noticing that the arm is covered in red and blue. She feels Carol’s slow breathing on her neck. The woman clearly needed the sleep, if she hadn’t even taken the time to remove her suit.

Maria rolls slowly on her back, but her efforts to not wake Carol are for naught, the blonde is sound asleep and would probably sleep through a hurricane.

It’s been a few months since Carol’s last visit in Louisiana, and while Maria hates the distance and the precious time they lose, she loves finding Carol fast asleep on the bed with her.

Maria takes the opportunity to gaze at her lover’s face. She looks peaceful when she sleeps – and the frown that used to crease her brows when the influence of the Kree was still strong had disappeared after a few months.

Maria briefly closes her eyes, thanking whatever deity is listening for giving them a second chance.

“I can feel you staring,” Carol accuses, not even opening her eyes.

“I am definitely not doing that,” Maria replies.

“You’re not fooling anyone Rambeau,” Carol mumbles, burrowing her head in Maria’s neck. Her hair smell faintly of ozone, a smell Maria has come to associate with those blessed mornings when Carol comes back. 

“When did you get here? I didn’t even hear you come in.”

“Around 3 I think. I hovered over the floorboard so I wouldn’t wake you.”

Maria smiles at the attention and kisses the top of Carol’s head. They lie there for a few minutes without talking, just enjoying each other’s presence. Maria checks the alarm clock and sighs when she realizes that it’s almost 9. Getting out of bed really doesn’t sound enticing right now. But she knows that Monica is going to knock at the door at 9am, her daughter as punctual as a sergeant training recruits – at least when it comes to gifts.

Carol breaks the silence before Maria can suggest that they get up. “Sorry for missing Thanksgiving,” the blonde murmurs.

“It’s alright." They’ve had this conversation before.

“Is it though? I keep missing holidays and the Kree situation is not getting any better.”

Maria watches Carol for a few seconds.

“We knew what we were getting into when we started this,” Maria says as she gestures between them.

“But did Monica?”

Maria blinks. “What about her?”

“It just… doesn’t feel fair. To you. To her.”

Maria tries to reassure her. “She knows how much you care for her.”

“Does she? I’m away so often, I feel like –“

Christmas morning, 8:59

Before Carol can finish, Maria’s eyes widen slightly and start glinting, and someone throws themselves on top on Carol. “Oof.”

“You’re home!”

Carol quickly recovers and smiles at her daughter’s enthusiasm. “Hi Trouble.”

“You’re here! I knew you would be home on time!” the thirteen year-old exclaims, and Monica proceeds to hug Carol tightly.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

After a few minutes of cuddles, Carol decides it’s time for presents and lifts both of her girls off the bed, so that everyone is hovering two feet off the floor. Maria refuses to get out of the room that way, but Monica holds on and Carol flies with her to the living-room.

Monica rushes to the kitchen to prepare tea for Carol, and Carol follows her in order to prepare coffee and hot chocolate. By the time Maria joins them, the beverages are already ready – what good is having powers if they can’t be used for the little things?

“Hey slow poke,” Carol teases while handing Maria her coffee.

Maria is about to retort something but the smell of the coffee stops her, and she inhales deeply. “Is that…?”

“It’s that Colombian brand you like so much!” Monica exclaims.

“I was charged by Trouble to grab a few pounds whenever I had the time,” Carol explains with a sly smile.

“Now the gifts!” The teenager drags her moms to the living-room the second everyone has their mug in hand.

Besides the coffee, Carol brought back from her travels a few pieces of jewellery for Maria and a strange little plant for Monica. Fury would probably have her head if he knew she’s bringing alien objects on Earth without notifying him, but SHIELD has probably other fish to fry.

There’s a final thing she brought home, a weird cubic box of about a foot in height.

“What is that?”

“It’s a holographic transmitter.”

“Like in Star Wars?!”

“Yeah, kinda. And before you ask, you’re not allowed to send me anything Star Wars related with this.”

“Come oooooon. What’s the point of this if it can’t do a rendition of Leia’s cry for help to Obiwan!?”

Carol can only smile at her daughter’s love for that weird film saga. She has only seen the movies once, but she knows from Maria that Monica has seen the movies dozens of times.

“Hum, I don’t know, talk to me more regularly?”

That stops Monica dead in her tracks. “Wait. We can really send you messages with that thing?”

“Yes. It took me a while to put it together, I was missing some pieces to make the messages untraceable.”

It’s Maria’s turn to be curious. “What do you mean untraceable?”

Carol explains, without too much technical details, that if the messages get intercepted they can’t be traced back to Louisiana. She then explains exactly how the transmitter works, so that both Monica and Maria know how to use it.

“Did you make one for uncle Fury?”

“Nah, I only made one for you guys. He has a way of contacting me if there’s a problem.”

While Monica’s playing with the transmitter, Maria takes Carol’s hand and kisses it softly. “It’s an amazing gift.”

“It’s the least I could do. I’ve missed you both. So much.”

“I hope you’re ready for the dozens of Star Wars re-enactings.”

She almost says she was born ready. But it’s Christmas day, and she’s finally with her family, so she settles on cheesy. “With you two? I could never be ready. But that’s why I love you.”