The evil had been vanquished. Good had triumphed, but not without loss. LaF and JP were gone. The library imploded one final time, taking them with it. Danny was dead, again. Mattie had gotten her revenge. It..well it wasn't pretty. They'd gotten Perry back but not without a fight. Mattie had called in some pretty hefty favors from some suspicious guys in robes, and the Dean had finally been removed. Robe Guys said they'd "contain" her. No one cared what that actually meant as long as she was contained far away from them.
Laura was leaning against Carmilla in what was left of the Dean's mansion, looking out over a pockmarked campus. No more Fish. No more Gates, Corvae or Dean. It was finally quiet.
Until it wasn't.
In the distance, a speck in the sky was getting larger and the unmistakable sound of propellers was getting nearer.
"What..what the hell? If this is more Corvae goons I'm definitely going full-Buffy on them and bazooka-ing them into the next dimension"
Carmilla squinted toward the sky. "No. No it's not them. I don't recognize that from any local military. Or foreign for that matter."
Laura looked at her.
"What? I've lived through a lot of wars, cutie. I know what some of this stuff is from." She moved to stand slightly in front of Laura, reaching back to link their fingers together.
"Should we run?" Laura asked.
"No. If they'd wanted to kill us they probably would have already."
"I shouldn't find that comforting but in light of everything we've just been through..." Laura trailed off with a sigh while Carmilla laughed and squeezed her hand.
"LauraaaAAAAAAA. YO LAURAAAA"
Carmilla groaned. "Why couldn't the library have taken him with the other two? I thought it was on our side."
Laura's response was a glare and an elbow to the ribs.
"He's such a manchild."
"Carm, play nice".
Kirsch came running up to them. "Yo did you see that? It looks like something out of a Captain America movie!" He held up a pair of binoculars. "There's only one dude in there that I can see. Maybe it's a bro coming to save us!"
The trio turned to look as craft came closer. It was a helicarrier and it did indeed look like something out of a Marvel movie.
The noise was deafening. Mattie and Perry stumbled out of the ruined mansion just in time to see the machine set down on the lawn. The group watched as a hatch opened slowly to reveal a very large, bearded man in a bomber jacket and helmet. Who was also waving happily at Laura.
"...DAD?"
Their visitor removed his helmet to reveal a large grin and twinkling eyes.
"Hi sweetie! Nice parking job, hey?"
"DAD? WHAT?"
"Shit. Dad? SHIT." Carmilla immediately untangled herself from Laura and moved a few inches away.
Mattie looked Mr Hollis up and down a few times.
"My my. The little reporter comes from good stock."
Kirsh whipped around to look at Laura. "DUDE IS YOUR DAD PART OF S.H.I.E.L.D?"
Mr Hollis walked down the ramp and grabbed Laura into a bone-crunching hug. "Hey kiddo. Glad you're safe. This place is a literal hellhole. C'mon, get your friends and your stuff. We're leaving." He looked over Laura's head at Perry, Mattie, Carmilla and Kirsch. "Where do you kids live? I'll drop you off. You guys need any bear spray?".
Kirsch picked up his backpack and ran giggling toward the ship. Mattie and Perry turned to look inside the mansion one more time.
"Ah! Carmilla! Nice to meet you finally." He extended a big beefy hand to shake one of Carmilla's slightly trembling hands.
"Uh, yeah, you too, uh sir."
"Laura, you know I worry but I'm very glad she's not a werewolf."
"Oh my god dad, no."
"Well they're just so darn unpredictable! I'm glad I gave you that bear spray just in case."
"Dad please." Laura turned several shades of red.
He looked around at the ruined campus. "We really should get going. Laura, go grab what you need. Carmilla, I hate to stereotype but do you need to bring a coffin? No? Ok!"
After a few minutes of scrambling to get whatever remained of their lives at Silas, they were ready.
"Ok kids, onto the helicarrier! We're off! Yes, Wilson you can 'have shotgun'. No I will not 'do a sick barrel roll'. This is not a toy. Sit down and buckle up, Wilson. I'm not moving an inch until everyone is fastened in. Safety first!".
The ship lifted off. Laura looked at Carmilla as they rose above the destroyed campus. She had a small smile on her face and her eyes were shining. Snuggling into Laura's arms, she sighed happily.
"I'm free. I don't have to come back here, Laura. I'm finally free."
Laura felt a lump in her throat. She didn't know what to say so she just hugged Carmilla closer, hoping it could convey what she felt.
After a few minutes, Laura gave a start, shifting Carmilla slightly.
"Wait, Dad, how the hell did you get this thing?"
"Well I had some free time since you weren't home. I had to pick up a hobby. No, Wilson, we are not stopping in Munich for some 'rad brews', I don't care how authentic they are".
***********
They set down in Berlin and found a cafe to get some lunch, and park the helicarrier in a nice park nearby. Mattie, true to form, was glaring at her food and quietly complaining that there was a much nicer (and most likely expensive) cafe 20 minutes away. Perry was muttering "just be nice. Be nice. We can go there later. Don't eviscerate your tomato just eat it normally" under her breath in between trying to have normal conversations with everyone else. Everyone else meaning Mr Hollis since Carmilla and Laura were distracted by each other.
"SO MR HOLLIS! That, um, that air freshener in the helicarrier is VERY lovely - Mattie i swear to every god if you don't stop swearing at your salad...CARMILLA YES these scones are VERY good and I bet they are delightful dunked in O-Neg - you two are NO help right now stop having eyesex over your coffee".
Mr Hollis didn't seem to mind the light bickering. Even Mattie's complaint about their current location was met with a jovial "ehh the parking at that cafe is atrocious. Paid valet only. They'd gouge me for a ship this size."
**********
They set off again. Laura mumbled something about "showing Carmilla around" the back of the ship and they disappeared. Kirsch was dozing near the back and jolted awake.
"Dudes do you feel that? Is that turbulance? Geez, it's rockin' back here."
Mr Hollis looked at the instrument panel and frowned. Realization dawned on him and he smacked at various buttons to shut down all security cameras and recorders.
"YEP THAT IS IT. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE GOING ON. TURBULENCE FOR SURE, WILSON". He took a deep, calming breath. There are some things that parents just need to ignore.
Some time later, Laura made her way up to the front of the cockpit to sit with her dad. He glanced over at her, sighed heavily, and said "sweetie, your shirt is on inside out".
Laura turned 15 shades of red, Kirsch gave Carmilla a high-five and Perry and Mattie just rolled their eyes.
"Well it's like i said sweetie - at least she's not a werewolf".