Mothers and Daughters
IVANOVO, RUSSIA —- 3:45 AM —- November 5, 2025
(Three and a half hours northwest of Moscow)
After driving for a little over three hours Oslo finally parked the car he stole. He parked the car in a communal lot and Maria and Oslo kept their heads down as they distanced themselves from Maria was now wearing the sweatshirt she found in the back of the car so she could pull the hood up over her head as they walked. The freezing sleeting rain had not subsided yet and as two of them got soaked again. At least the rain was helping to cover them making it hard for their faces to be seen on any surveillance cameras. Even though it made things tricky, it did help them in some ways.
Oslo acted like he hailed a cab driving by, and Maria looked suspicious at this as the car stopped to pick them up. A woman was driving the car and she didn’t say a anything as the two of them got in the car. Eventually she and Oslo started talking and she slipped Oslo a key. They spoke in vague terms that were unclear to Maria. She dropped them off at a single residence. It was an inconspicuous looking residence, it looks like all the simple surrounding homes. They were quiet getting out of the car and they went in through the locked side door that lead them into a basement. The car pulled away. Maria and Oslo were dripping onto the stairs as they went down into the basement. Maria tried not to shiver, but she was not dressed for the elements.
“C’mon.” Oslo said as he motioned to her to follow him as he went up the stairs to the main house.
“What, were you texting and driving?” Maria quipped.
Oslo shrugged.
“I’m skilled at multitasking.” He said as he led Maria upstairs into the main area of the safe house.
Oslo took Maria to a safe house he had utilized for extractions in the past. Once the two of them were inside, a man the same height as Maria greeted them, he was also British, he was a bit stout, and he had dirty blonde hair but a bright red beard that had a short trim. He gasped when he saw Maria in person. Oslo texted a code meaning he was coming in ‘hot.’ And when this man saw Maria, ‘coming in hot’ was an understatement.
He held his hand out to Maria eager to greet her despite that she was soaked.
“David ‘the Fox’ Foster, and it’s very nice to meet you.” He recognized Maria instantly, but Maria had never seen this man before and it put her a little on edge. He had just a twinge of a Scottish accent, almost like he worked to suppress it. David was obsessed with SHIELD, although he never worked there himself he found it all entirely fascinating. He was a ‘retired’ Secret Intelligence Service agent on paper, but he still worked behind the scenes to help.
“Uh, hi… Maria, sorry I’m kind of uh… wet…” She said casually as she didn’t really think he would want to shake her hand considering the places she’d been today and she looked over at Oslo. Oslo and David laughed at her response.
“Yes, I would recognize you anywhere, Ms. Hill. Wet and freezing from the rain or not. Two former SHIELD agents in here at once? I guess it’s my lucky day.” David asked with a chummy look at Oslo.
“What?” Maria asked and she looked at Oslo and then at David.
“It was before your time.” Oslo said to Maria quickly dismissing it.
“He got kicked out, way, way, before your time.” David added chiding Oslo that he was old.
“Kicked out?” Maria asked.
“Nobody calls him ‘the Fox.’” Oslo said swiftly and Maria looked annoyed as it was clear Oslo evaded her question and confusion.
David went over to his closet and grabbed two towels giving one Maria first and then another one to Oslo, as they both needed them. Even though it was warm inside, it was hard not to shiver from the cold
“In fact, Ms. Hill, everybody calls me ‘the Fox’ because there is no hole I cannot dig an any agent out of, and as it seems, you two might be in quite a big hole.” David bragged gleefully. He was a very useful person for Oslo to know even if he was quite a character. They were actually very good buddies but they seemed to have odd couple style chemistry.
“Just Maria is fine.”
People like David always made Maria suspicious, like if they had a gimmick or a nickname or gave themself a slogan. But today, she had no idea who to trust. She trusted Fury and he turned out to be a skrull who tried to kill her. She ran off with alleged FSB agent who was pretty awful to her and now he was trying to save her life. What did she know anymore?
“It wasn’t me.” Oslo said wiping his face off.
“I suppose we—I— have.” Maria agreed curtly, shooting Oslo a little look. Oslo was the one who didn’t let Maria escape from the hospital and got her all wound up in this mess at least partially making things much harder for them to get her out of Russia. But as Oslo saw it Maria was the one who messed up in the hospital and didn’t get herself out, he gave her enough time to sneak out, if she couldn’t figure it out that was on her. He never imagined he’d be helping her. Before Sonya said something to him he thought Hill was the rogue agent not Fury. Now Oslo was completely turned around, an alien invasion was here, pretending to be terrorists and all sorts of people and the only people who knew about it were being killed. He had to help Maria get out if anything to preserve the truth about what was happening.
“You two need to take showers, warm up, and change into things less … questionable…” David said eyeing their terrible clothes. The two of them could be spotted a mile away. They looked like they were on the run.
“Do we really have time for that?” Maria asked stunned.
“I am not suggesting it to be hospitable. It is a medical necessity and strategic one as well. You two cannot be moving around out in those wet clothes in this bitter air and you two are rather unsightly at the moment, I’m afraid. Sticking out like sore thumbs you need to find things to make you blend in. The thing about extractions is that most of them happen right in front of a hostile government’s face before they even realize it, or know they were supposed to be looking for you.” David rambled off.
“But for you, well.. if only we had all that glorious SHIELD tech, like in the old days.” David sighed.
“You’re telling me.” Maria mumbled, what she wound’t give for widow’s veil right now.
“Is there a…” Maria started to ask for a washroom or something. They had somewhat dried but their clothes were still wet and it was so cold outside that both of then were chilled to the bone.
“There’s a private bathroom down the hall after the living space attached to empty bed room on the left side. You take that one, Oslo can use the one off the main floor.” David pointed in the direction for Maria.
“Great, thanks.” Maria mumbled.
“There’s also some clothes in that room, I’m sure something will work.” David shrugged making the offer, clearly Maria Hill couldn’t escape Russia wearing nurses clogs, soaked scrubs and an inside out sweatshirt that had giant pot leaf on it. It would be quite a funny story if she did but better to go for something that made her blend in more. Maria just nodded and she made her way over the direction David pointed. She’d make something fit, she had to get out of these clothes.
As Maria left the two men were quiet until it seemed like she found her way.
“I love helping the Americans, there’s always so much drama.” David smirked.
“It’s for Sonya.” Oslo corrected.
“Oh.. slightly less dramatic then.” David sighed a bit.
“We’ll see.” Oslo repeated with a groan as he headed toward the other bathroom.
Maria found the bathroom, it was attached to a small private bedroom that looked un-lived in right now but Maria could tell a woman had stayed there as she found some clothes in a plastic storage bin that was out. Maria just grabbed a pile of clothes from the bin to see what she could work with. She needed to shower and warm her body up.
She went into the bathroom and she pulled the phone out of her pocket, it hadn’t been working from the cold and getting wet earlier. She took the battery out and dried everything with towel. It was warm enough inside that the battery wasn’t chilled anymore. Finally she was able to get this old looking flip phone to turn on. There was one number on it for her to call. She called it.
“Did you decide? It’s gotten awfully quiet.” Sonya asked answering the phone expecting to hear Oslo on the other end.
“Uhm, decide?” Maria responded back her voice heavy and tired.
“Oh my!” Sonya exclaimed with shock.
“Where are you?” Sonya took a deep breath of relief.
“Are you in your office?” Maria asked not answering her.
“Do I need to step out?”
“I would.” Maria sighed as she recalled that a fake Fury may have been the one to plant a bug in Sonya’s office.
Sonya got up casually and didn’t look around as she exited her office without a fuss, but she knew what was Maria was suggesting.
“Are you going to give me some information?” Sonya asked more seriously when she got far enough away from her office and entered a private conference room.
“Somewhere in your office there is small circular recording device, a little bit bigger than a finger nail, I think it’s on the left side, likely attached to something midlevel height on a desk or table.”
“Someone is spying on me?” Sonya asked.
“Yes.”
“Who? Since when?”
“Since the night the you talked to Nick, he put it there, but because he wanted to know what you knew about the sale of some materials, at least that’s what he claimed.” Maria admitted.
Sonya gasped a bit.
“But I don’t think it was.. I mean it wasn’t really Nick, he… I…” Maria didn’t even know how to explain it.
“It wouldn’t have been okay even if it was really Fury.” Sonya said angrily.
“Is a skrull Nick Fury spying on me?” Sonya questioned.
“Yes. Well potentially, I don’t know, but I think so, and there’s a very good chance you are the next person these skrulls might be trying to kill.” Maria needed to tell Sonya this immediately because she could be the next hit for Fake Fury.
“Okay, well, thanks for the warning. Now, tell me where are you?” Sonya grumbled.
“I’m in David ‘the Fox’ Foster’s bathroom.” Maria said in a bit of disbelief herself.
“Oh, good! If they can’t get you out of Russia, then I’m afraid no one can. Except for maybe everyone in the secret S.H.I.E.L.D. and all your special friends, but for regular humans, they’re the best.”
“It seems like it’s going to be a bit of an undertaking.”
“What else would you expect? A spaceship beaming you up outside of Moscow?” Sonya joked a little.
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt for this.” Maria explained.
“This is what David does, he’ll make the best plan and you and Oslo will follow it.”
“I don’t know where the real Nick Fury is.” Maria said in a panic, rather abruptly changing subject, this seemed to be her most pressing concern instead of getting herself out of Russia.
“Yeah, I figured that out when I was sent a video from Director Allegra of him trying to kill you.”
“They have the footage?” Maria asked shocked.
“They are looking for him. Warning allies and friends. But of course with skrulls they can change their appearances so quickly… it’s going to be quite a search.” Sonya explained.
“How are we going to fight this?” Maria said a bit desperate now. They were all in over their heads.
“Well… let’s not discount ourselves so soon.”
“There’s others who were replaced, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Maria admitted.
“What others?”
“Other skrulls pretending to be .. I know of another one in the U.S. government, Colonel James Rhodes, he called a skrull who as pretending to be a CIA agent, we could hear his voice.”
“Well, Gravik’s little rebellion is turning into a full on invasion, isn’t it?” Sonya groaned.
“If they can get Fury and Rhodes, they probably have replaced a lot more people… and I don’t know that we know what we are truly dealing with here.” Maria suggested.
Sonya paused as she was aware of what they were going to be truly dealing with, super powered skrulls and she groaned to herself.
“You are one of the few people in the world who know about skrulls and I need you to get here, because I do know what they may be up to and and it is not good.”
“I’m not confident I am going to make it out, I think I’m being tracked by Russians and skrulls, so odds are not in my favor here.”
“Well. I have every bit of faith you will.” Sonya said confidently but she knew it was complicated.
“If not..” Maria started and Sonya cut her off.
“Oh, no. Focus on getting out, there are other people focusing on this.”
“Sonya. Gravik’s not done, you know? There has to be something else Gravik is planning to escalate what’s happened.” Maria said seriously.
“I know. But, this time, actually listen to me and get out of there.” Sonya said sternly. She didn’t forget that she told Maria to leave before the bombing and Maria didn’t listen.
“Yeah, for sure.” Maria agreed, also remembering that she she should have listened to Sonya before.
“Check in when you can.” Sonya said before she hung up and went to go find the bug planted in her office. The last thing Sonya needed was a skrull Fury spying on her.
After Maria hung up she finally started to take her wet clothes off. She knew she had to call Sonya first, she tried to call in the car a few times but the phone was so cold and wet it just wouldn’t work until it warmed up a bit. Hopefully too much damage wasn’t done with that bug. Maria should have warned her before the bombing, but she wasn’t thinking, or well she was thinking too much about trying to stop Gravik.
As Maria got undressed and took a quick shower, she was stunned by how great warm water felt on her skin, something she realized she maybe took for granted. It was hard for her not to be a little a grossed out by the grime and dried blood that washed off her body. Maria liked doing field work but she did forget how genuinely gross it could be. That stuff was always glossed over when you worked with superheroes. But Maria was simply human, despite the company she kept in the past and the things she experienced back then still took a human toll on her body and mind.
It all seemed harder as she got older, and she was also much harder on herself for making mistakes now. She should have known better, why did she think Fury was immune from the skrulls? Why didn’t she keep running with Watson? She’d be in London by now. Why did she let go of the bag in the tunnel? Fake Fury might have been right about one thing though. Maria was too focused on all he moves people made in the past—especially for herself. She could see where she went wrong, but what was she supposed to do now? Was Nick alive? Was Rhodes? Who else was a skrull and for how long? How was anyone going to fight this mess? How was she? Clearly she had a target on her back now just for knowing about Gravik’s plans.
It wasn’t a very relaxing shower, Maria just needed to warm up a bit and her mind was all over the place. When she got out she dried herself with a new towel. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and dried herself off. Maria caught a glance of herself in the mirror finally and she shocked herself. She definitely looked like someone who was on the run from something. She looked battered and worn. She she looked down at the awful bruising on her abdomen. There was a perfect small circle that was a deep purple with a much larger red, purple, with a surrounding blue and brown ‘cloud’ shape that took most of her abdomen and lower chest. It looked as bad as it felt. There was no question she would have been killed if it wasn’t for the vest. She tried to take a deep a breath and not think about it too much but the movement of her breath hurt so bad against the bruise.
Her adrenaline had been so high for a lot of the day that it helped mask the pain, now the pain was coming through full force. She was definitely going to need something for pain. She also had bruises on her arms and hands, and scratches from fighting Vosko, but they felt like nothing in comparison to bruising on her stomach. Her face fared no better as she had a very noticeable bruise on cheek from being struck there. Being this much a mess was definitely going to draw attention to her if anyone saw her and she knew she had to figure it out quickly, she didn’t want to look anyway that that the Russians last saw her.
Maria wrapped the towel around her and she dried her soaking wet hair with a hand towel, she just wanted to warm up, and maybe take an Advil or two if she could find one. She started looking in the drawers to see if she could find anything useful. She found what seemed like a very old look hair dryer. She wondered if it spark or even work if she tried it. She plugged it in quickly and surprisingly it had a very powerful hot blast. It actually made her laugh quietly to herself. But as she held her arm up to dry her hair she realized this was going to be much harder than she anticipated as it hurt her to hold her arms up or try and brush her hair. Instead she just sporadically held the dryer over her hair for as long as she could stand. She needed to not have wet hair anymore, simply because it was just so cold.
Finally her hair was dry enough that she could stand it and she pulled it back in in a low ponytail with an elastic she found in the drawer. She dried herself off too and then looked through the pile of clothes she had grabbed. She found enough stuff to make something work. Whoever Maria was stealing clothes from, she wasn’t too much unlike Maria herself. Maria pulled on an undershirt and a long sleeved button up flannel shirt. It was a tartan plaid of a darker blue, a bright green, and black. Maria picked it because it was the warmest option. She pulled on some jeans that were a little loose but they worked for what she needed them for, and she most excited to put on some wool socks she found because her feet were cold on the tile floor.
Maria started to go through the drawers, she doubted she could find anything to help cover up the bruise on her face, but she knew she should try. To her surprise, she did find this agent’s make up kit, it was rather bare bones just like Maria’s.
As Oslo waited in the kitchen with David, Oslo’s impatience got the best of him as he waited for Maria to join them. She really hadn’t been away that long, but it just took her longer than him to get dressed and clean up because she was injured, and for whatever reason, men could do this faster.
“Do you think she died in there?” Oslo asked.
“It hasn’t been that long.” David shook his head at Oslo. Oslo looked at his watch and then he got up and went down the hall to check on Maria, because a part of him thought she might try bolt off on her own.
Oslo went into the bedroom and found the attached bathroom with the door shut he knocked on the door. Maria heard knock at the door and she paused briefly. Was she taking too long? That must’ve been it.
“Uhm, yeah?” She asked awkwardly.
“Do you need help? Have you fallen and you can’t get up?” Oslo joked. Maria looked over her shoulder at the closed door and then she saw her own annoyed expression in the mirror above the sink. She turned around and opened the door to see the impatient Oslo.
“I’m fine.” She huffed at him and then went back to the sink vanity to cover up her bruise.
“You know, there are women’s clothes in here.” Oslo teased again and Maria just shook her head and rolled her eyes, then she looked at Oslo and narrowed her gaze at him.
“Do you by chance have an older sister?” She asked out of the blue but that’s what Oslo was like a nagging teasing little brother even though he was older than her.
“I have three older sisters. Why? Can you tell?” He smirked.
“Mmm. No kidding.” Maria groaned.
“C’mon, can you cover that right up so we can move on outta here.” Oslo said with an impatient sigh pointing to his own cheek.
“I wonder what’s distracting me?” Maria snarked as if this wasn’t what she was doing.
Oslo walked over to the vanity and he pushed some concealer toward Maria and she rolled her eyes and sighed, she shook her head no and pushed it away.
“No. You have to color correct it first, otherwise it doesn’t work.” Maria took out the green eye shadow to hide the purple and brown mark on her face before she had to put concealer over it and she started color correcting her bruise.
“Oh, so you do know how to utilize the tools of this multi-billion dollar industry to fix your face.” Oslo joked for his earlier rude comments.
“Yeah!” Maria feigned excitement with a heavily sarcastic tone and Maria and Oslo stared at each other.
“Because I got to grow up watching my mom have to do this.” She said with a bitter sharp tone and then Maria raised her brows and looked at Oslo. He bit his bottom lip and then and he grimaced as he realized what Maria was saying.
“Oh.” Oslo paused, this was less fun for him now. Significantly so.
“Well that’s a bummer. Sorry.” Oslo said after a long pause.
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
“Now I feel like a huge asshole.” Oslo admitted.
“Is it still ‘really fun?’” Maria quipped back.
“No, not anymore.” Oslo said horrified with himself.
“Well, that’s a bummer.” Maria mimicked him with a little smirk on her face. Oslo pressed his lips together.
“So I am going to wait out in the kitchen…” he said gingerly.
“Yeah, great.” Maria fake smiled.
“I’ll be there in a second.” Maria spoke down to him like he was a child. Then Oslo left, he felt like a jerk. He didn’t mind Maria, really, but he loved pushing her buttons for sure. Although, he went a little too far, not intentionally of course but maybe he could be less irritating for awhile.
When Maria finished only a minute later, she went back out to the kitchen where David and Oslo were sitting at the table. It wasn’t unlike the way Maria, Talos, and Fury had been just a few days earlier, discussing plans and options.
“Don’t you both feel better, now?” David asked as the two of them. He handed Maria a mug of hot tea he had made but then he made a slight face and tried suppress it.
“Thank you.” Maria said for the tea.
“You couldn’t find any women’s clothes in there?” David asked with a slight grimace.
“Are you two a team?” Maria asked annoyed as she looked between them.
“Well, we do work quite well together.” David said unaware of what Maria meant.
“I’ll say.” Maria mumbled as she took a sip of the tea.
“You can take one of the jackets in the closet too.” David offered.
“Thanks, what about uhm any shoes or boots or something?” Maria asked.
“Aw, are you ditching the nurses clogs?” Oslo asked with a little laugh.
“They’re a little too feminine looking for me.” Maria quipped and David laughed.
“We’ll find something.” David assured. Then David put a paper map down on the table and Maria looked at Oslo for a moment, paper maps? What was this? The 50s?
“Here’s what you’re going to do.” David started and he pointed to a route on the map from the town they were in and he traced the route up to St. Petersburg then his finger went around St. Petersburg toward a remote town on the Finland border. It was about an 8-12 hour trip driving, depending on conditions.
“This is a remote border, almost never guarded, deep in the woods with Finland, they aren’t going to think you will make that trip, it’s one of the least direct routes out of Moscow or Russia. It’s also near a very popular skiing and camping area, as well as where many wealthy people have one of their many homes for winter sports. The policing there is just different even when things are on edge. Then, once you get over the border, into Finland an M16 agent will take you through and get you back to London where Sonya will take care of the rest.” David explained and Oslo nodded, easy enough.
Maria looked at them stunned.
“The plan is, ‘drive to the border?’” Maria asked thinking there had to be more.
“I thought about it while you two cleaned up and I think that’s the best plan.” David said like a proud professor.
“If that’s that plan why did we stop driving?” Maria asked Oslo.
“We can’t drive for hours in a stolen car and get around easily with you looking like you had just walked off the set of American Horror Story: Hospital.” Oslo said obviously with a little snicker at his joke.
Maria rolled her eyes.
“I can drive myself to the border.”
“Noooo.” Both David and Oslo said quickly. Extracting agents was the worst, especially ones like Maria who used to be in leadership. They couldn’t sit back and follow instructions.
“You can’t put this in any GPS devices or anything, you have to know the route. It’s a very remote area, in the hills and mountains and woods. Do you know the route? Do you know where to cross without getting caught?” David asked Maria and she shook her head no.
“If your car dies, or something happens you guys have to walk, so you need to bring stuff to walk in the cold, and this is up north, so it much colder, especially at night, you could die out there, so… it’s imperative to just drive there as close as you can get.” David warned.
“This is kind of a low tech plan, guys.” Maria sighed, with how things were going she did not love her chances.
“The best ones always are.” Oslo said confidently.
“Most people operate without the luxury of S.H.I.E.L.D. technology and today you happen to be one of those people.” David replied with a shrug.
“All you have to do is hide in a car and shut up. Do you think you can handle that?” Oslo asked Maria directly, she had the easy part, he was the one had had to drive.
“Are you going to be there?” Maria asked looking at Oslo and Oslo rolled his eyes.
“Well that inspires a lot of confidence.” David mumbled.
“Is this really going to work?” Maria asked doubtfully.
“We do this, this is what we do. We have gotten lots of people out of here safely without fuss. Well, you Americans always make the most trouble, but still. They are watching for flashy, for something unusual and high tech, this is the opposite of what they would expect for you.” David assured.
“Well… what if it doesn’t work?” Maria looked worried she did not have a lot of faith in this plan, it seemed simple.
“Then you and Oslo will spend the rest of your lives in the horrors that are Russian labor prisons in Siberia until you are executed.” David spoke casually and gave a little shrug.
“And I will probably be there too, so, make sure it works, yeah?” David said with a little plea. Maria sighed, she couldn’t think of anything better, so this was the plan… they just had to get there before and Russians or skrulls got them.
Maria and Oslo packed some things, they each had a backpack for some essentials in case they did get stuck in the woods, and then some weapons too, Maria would think they were overkill but with the skrulls after them they were going to need this stuff. They took warm coats and Oslo even grabbed bullet proof vests so they could protect themselves. Clearly, Maria knew what she was doing when she did that last time and she lost hers. Maria was able to find some boots they were a bit big but, they would do for now.
Maria and Oslo went down into the basement of the residence but they didn’t exit, instead David showed them a tunnel hidden behind the wall. It felt very old school spy movie. Maria looked confused.
“Where are we going?” Maria asked as she followed Oslo through the tunnel.
“To get my car.” He smiled as Maria followed him. The underground tunnel connected to the basement of a heated garage or shed a few blocks away. In the basement Oslo went over to his tool cabinet—or what looked like one but when he opened it Maria could see it was a weapons cache. Oslo started grabbing some things for them. He really wasn’t sure to bring to fight skrulls, but he knew they needed to be smart, practical, and do a lot of damage quickly.
He handed Maria some of them to hold.
“Do we really need a grenade launcher?” Maria asked looking at what Oslo was grabbing.
“You tell me.” Oslo said looking at her. The skrulls who chased them down had automatic weapons and military gear. Maria and Oslo had protective vests, and backpacks with cliff bars and blankets. Maria shrugged as she put the weapons in a spare bag.
“What happens if you get caught with all of these?”
“Then, WE ‘spend the rest of our lives in the horrors that are Russian labor prisons in Siberia until we are executed.’” Oslo quoted David’s earlier warning.
Maria and Oslo were quiet as they went up the stairs and listened for anything before they went into the main area of the garage. Oslo looked at his phone, he was checking surveillance in the area to see if anyone was outside the garage. Once it was clear he had himself and Maria move toward the car. It was a update luxury off-road Lada. It was like the mix of a sports car and an trail vehicle, SUV like but not boxy. Oslo loved this car, it could do anything. It was all black and Oslo looked the happiest he had ever looked with Maria around. Maria did not understand men and their cars.
“That’s like …” Maria looked at the car and then at Oslo.
“It goes, real fast, too, perfect for where we are going.” Oslo said proudly like he was a kid talking about his hot wheels.
“Functional luxury.” Oslo added and Maria shot him a look of disbelief.
“We can’t drive in that we’re going to get stopped. It’s a giant red flag.” Maria said obviously, what was Oslo thinking?
“No no, it’s not like America, here, in Russia, rich people get special treatment and they don’t have to follow any of the laws or rules and the police just leave them alone.” Oslo explained. They had to use a car like this where they were going, escaping through a border near some wealthier ski towns.
“That’s how it is in America, too.” She sighed.
“Then why are you complaining, let’s go.” Oslo said as he unlocked the car and opened the passenger door.
“Wow! I get to sit in the front?” Maria joked.
“No! That’s for my bag.” He pointed to the back of the car for Maria to hid behind the seats.
Maria looked at him.
“You have to sit in the back there’s facial recognition in so many of the traffic cameras now, lots of people are looking for you. C’mon.” Oslo rolled his eyes, she knew this.
“Won’t they recognize you?” Maria asked. Then Oslo pulled a baseball cap out of his bag and put it on over his head.
“Got it covered.” He smirked and Maria really shook her head and scoffed at him.
“Be glad, you aren’t going in the trunk.” Oslo tried to make it better.
“It doesn’t even have a trunk.” Maria snickered.
“It has a compartment where I can fit a human, you know, where toxic assets usually go.”
“Aww an asset?” Maria joked with notably fake sincerity and rolled her eyes.
“Emphasis on the toxic part.” Oslo snarked, as reopened the back door for Maria apparently being a gentleman and she glared at him as she then got in the back of the car and Oslo shut the door and got in driver’s side of the car turning it on and loud, heavy Russian metal music started blasting. He sighed as he tapped the wheel with his hand and the garage opened, he turned the music down a bit so they weren’t heard by people outside. It was early morning now, people were going to be out driving soon and they’d be able to blend in the the traffic.
“Sorry I don’t have any Reneé Rapp to play for you.” Oslo joked laughing to himself.
“I don’t really listen to rap.” Maria muttered having no idea what he was talking about and Oslo really laughed at her response.
“Shouldn’t we be listening to the police channels, anyway?” Maria asked, and Oslo sighed as Maria was right. She seemed like her whole vibe was just ruining people’s fun and making them do work.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
London, U.K - November 5, 2025 - 12:45 AM
Fury debated what to do after he exited the train and found a low key spot to hide out for a bit. Should he reach out to Sonya? Should he collect the harvest and give to to Gravik to save Maria like Gravik demanded? Fury knew Gravik was lying about something when he talked to him but he just didn’t know about what. Fury also knew he needed to make up with Talos. Talos and Maria had been right this whole time, Fury couldn’t do this alone—-and in fact, he shouldn’t. Fury had to wonder who saw the video Gravik sent him and who was looking for him and how soon they would come. He couldn’t be left to his own devices like this, with what Gravik was planning. Clearly, he wasn’t up for this fight just like Sonya and Maria had been saying the whole time.
Since Fury returned from the blip and went up to S.A.B.E.R. he felt the way he was feeling right now, empty, unsure of himself, angry, over protective and yet unmotivated. Now he felt these things amplified. Gravik pulled one over on him and Maria was paying the price for it, and Fury figured he soon would too if he didn’t deliver the harvest. Gravik would probably kill Maria and or release the video or something. Gravik had a lot of leverage here and Fury had to think, he had to really think about his options. He waned to go back to his house and see Priscilla and regroup but he knew he would have a great deal of explaining to do to her. Fury already had too many problems to deal with a marital problem too.
He had to find to Talos, they couldn’t break up, not right now. Gravik was already employing a divide and conquer strategy, so Fury and Talos needed to make up and move forward.
Fury sighed, he didn’t know how to get Talos back with him, so he sent Talos the video that Gravik sent him of Fury shooting Maria and it cutting out before they saw what happened after. Suddenly Talos called Fury right away.
“What is that?” Talos asked concerned.
“She didn’t get out.” Fury responded with surprise snark.
“She was going the other way!” Talos said he barely caught a glimpse of her in the chaos but Maria was running the other way she was leaving with the crowd.
“What is this?” Talos asked again.
“It’s a video that Gravik sent me.” Fury explained.
“I’m sorry.” Talos said empathetically.
“He said she’s alive.”
“No one gets shot there and lives.” Talos said and Fury knew that, too. Well, no one lived without S.H.I.E.L.D. or Stark medical intervention and Fury wasn’t there to make sure she got that.
“Where are you?” Fury asked and Talos let out a sigh. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Fury yet.
Fury groaned at Talos’s silence.
“If Hill is alive how long before Gravik uses her to connect the dots to G’iah?” Fury asked and Talos was now annoyed that Fury was dragging his daughter into this, but Fury was also right. G’iah was at great risk and Talos knew he had to do something, he was the one who convinced G’iah to help him despite her reservations. Talos resented Fury using this to bring him back in though.
“I’m at the all night diner on Monroe Court.” Talos gave himself away reluctantly.
Fury met with Talos at the diner and Talos looked away from him, avoiding eye contact. Fury had a way of drawing people in, even if they were mad at him. Hill just through that.
“Talos.” Fury said as he sat next to him. It had only been a bit over six hours or so since Talos and Fury last talked.
“Oh no.” Talos huffed angrily. He already regret giving himself away.
“Talos, please.” Fury said like a partner trying to make up with a spouse.
“No, you’re done. You don’t get to rope me in after the way you talked to me, and treated me. The balls on you to come in here and ask me for help.”
“Ask you for help!?” Fury said stunned.
“That’s what you want, you tried to manipulate me to come back and help you bring up G’iah so you can try to fix things and save Maria.” Talos grumbled and Fury rolled his eyes.
“Or did you come here for the food?” Talos asked and Fury leaned his head back against the booth.
“I care about G’iah. I am concerned, Gravik is playing things personally.” Fury clarified.
“No.” Talos shook his head at Fury.
“You sat there alone, the way you wanted, and you saw that video and then you realized with me gone and Maria gone you really had absolutely no one to use, to rely on, you had to do something yourself for once.” Talos spoke angrily.
“Talos, I’m sorry.” Fury said like Talos was crossing a serious line with him.
“No, you said things to me that no friend says to another friend.” Talos reminded.
“We were here trying to help you, now you don’t have that help and all the sudden something is changes?” Talos pointed out with raised brows.
“You’re right, I’m truly sorry.” Fury apologized.
“I can’t do anything for you. I can’t help you. You want this fight by yourself, so go have it.” Talos shook his head.
“Talos, c’mon.” Fury pleaded.
“I was wrong, I can’t do it alone.” Fury added.
“What? Say that again?” Talos said a bit eagerly.
“I cannot fight Gravik alone, I can’t stop the skrull who replaced Rhodes alone, I can’t do any of this alone. I was wrong, I have been wrong this whole time. You and Maria were right.” Fury repeated.
“What else?” Talos asked, he had never heard Fury say he was wrong like this before and Talos was pleased by this.
“Help me Talos, I am useless with you.” Fury added seriously.
Talos took a pause and he leaned back against the booth gloating from that statement Fury just said. Then Talos leaned in over the table.
“I know you are, mate.” Talos said as he pet Fury’s hand affectionately.
“You want to pay for this so we can head on out?” Talos asked with a slight smirk.
Fury put some cash down on the table and then Talos headed out of the diner before Fury. Fury sat there for a moment, he took Talos’s fork and stabbed it into the egg on his plate, the egg yolk was runny and ran out over the potatoes and beans on his plate. Fury tilted his head he felt nauseas watching it for a moment and then he got up and left.
Fury met Talos outside and the two of them got into a car parked outside the diner.
Talos had a little smirk on his face as he sat in the passenger seat. Fury looked over at Talos and groaned.
“I’m going to meet Gravik.” Fury started to explain.
“No.” Talos said like he was correcting a child.
“Yes.” Fury corrected Talos in the same tone.
“You’re not going to go see him, he’s going to manipulate your emotions, prevent you from thinking. He’s holding something over you that’s emotional. I’m going to talk to him.”
“Talos wants something from me that’s what he wants me to bring to trade.”
“Oh well, you don’t negotiate with terrorists.” Talos said with a shrug as if this was easy.
“And Maria?” Fury asked a bit stunned, Talos was the emotional one, the merciful one, he was never the hardliner like Fury was.
“Is dead. You’re in denial, you are holding onto hope because you don’t know for sure. I am so sorry, but… ”
Fury shook his head no for a moment.
“He killed her, that’s what he does. He killed Soren, now he killed Maria. And even if she wasn’t dead, he will kill her in front of you if you go back to him, just for you to see, to cause pain. You know how I know that? Because I watched Soren die the same way. He sets traps, we plays with your mind. Do not give him the chance.” Talos sighed.
“The bullet didn’t go out the other side.” Fury said, realizing himself for the first time.
“In the video.”
“Sometimes they don’t. Or maybe you can’t tell.”
“No. At that close range they do unless it’s blocked.”
Fury didn’t really want to watch the video again, but he was sure he would have noticed that and he realized now that he didn’t. So he took out his phone and he Talos watched it together and Talos gasped a bit to himself.
“It didn’t come out the other side.” Talos repeated in a bit of shock. The video cut out before they could see anything after Maria falling from it.
“Because it might have lodged into a vest.” Fury said realizing it. He didn’t want to rewatch the footage and it was all so hard for him to process but as he thought about it talking to Talos and rewatching it now that’s when he realized.
Instead of looking relieved Fury looked more conflicted. A part of him did think Maria was dead even if he would’t admit it fully. It gave him peace of mind slightly not to bring the Harvest, but now, Fury had to do it.
Talos looked frustrated. Maybe Gravik didn’t kill Maria yet, what information was he getting from her and where was she? They couldn’t help Maria, stop Gravik, and stop the fake Rhodes all at the same time. There was only two of them.
“What does Gravik want from you?” Talos asked.
“DNA.” Fury muttered.
“Your DNA? Who would want that?” Talos scoffed.
“No, the DNA of Carol Danvers and other Avengers.” Fury explained.
“And you have it?” Talos looked at Fury surprised.
“Yes.”
“You can’t give it to him.”
“I know.”
Talos and Fury both groaned because Gravik was playing with fire and the only way to put it out was going to cost the lives Fury and Talos were closest with. Talos realized Fury wasn’t manipulating him when he said Gravik would go after G’iah too. Fury was warning him, Gravik was coming at them personally, in a deep way. Talos and Fury looked at each other as it was difficult to figure out what to do.
“I’m going to talk to Gravik alone.” Talos said.
“Are you…!” Fury started to yell at Talos. What would stop Gravik from killing him instantly.
“You don’t understand, you aren’t one of us, he will talk to me. He wants to brag. We have to separate so he thinks I’m coming on my own.” Talos explained, then he got out of the car.
“Come back.” Fury said as a warning just like Maria had said to him days before.
Talos nodded at Fury. He knew he could get Gravik talk to him, skrull to skrull, if Talos made out of alive, that was another question.
Later Talos reached out to Gravik, he sent him a message, through a mutual skrull they both knew. It was message to the new Skrull General from the former asking to meet at the National Gallery in London to discuss a truce. Gravik wasn’t dumb as he figured Talos maybe had something up his sleeve but Gravik was high on his successes as of late. Gravik was slightly dismayed though as his skrull team who went to recoup Hill had failed, he knew it was just a matter of time. Gravik was willing to bet he’d find Hill before Fury did.
Around 1 PM in the afternoon Gravik was waiting at the National Gallery, G’iah was outside in the car. Gravik couldn’t help but laugh to himself as he kept G’iah around as zombie prisoner for himself, just something to hang over Talos’s head, to dare Talos to go to far. It was game Gravik really enjoyed. He knew she was playing both sides but she was so much more useful as a pawn for Gravik than she would ever be helping Fury and Talos. In fact, Gravik already had ideas to feed her fake intel.
As Gravik admired a war painting Talos walked up behind him. Talos knew Gravik had security with him, he couldn’t just take him out in the middle of the gallery anyway.
“I want a parley.” Talos said from behind Gravik and Gravik just snickered as he turned around to face Talos.
“Well then, C’mon.” Gravik said as he started walking down the hall and Talos followed.
“That’s all you want a chat?” Gravik asked as the two men walked to the museum cafe and sat at a table to talk more privately.
“I want you to stop killing innocent people.” Talos added.
“People are the creators of their own travesties.” Gravik said casually.
“Where is Hill?” Talos asked and Gravik scoffed immediately.
“What a surprise, your first concern is the humans, and not your people.”
“I’m asking about a friend.”
“But not about your daughter?” Gravik baited and Talos glared at him.
“Don’t you dare.” Talos grumbled.
“You old men should have told your ‘kids’ to stay out of my way. Be grateful I haven’t sent her back to you in a body bag.” Gravik laughed and Talos reached across the table to choke him for threatening her but as he reached for Gravik everyone sitting around them, every person, stood up and changed into Gravik. Talos stopped and looked around he removed his hands from Gravik.
“Does it hurt, knowing your only child put her faith in me and not you?”
Talos didn’t take the bait this time but he wanted to as he stared at Gravik angrily.
“Maybe she put it in the wrong place, I don’t know…” Gravik threatened menacingly.
“Careful.” Talos warned in the coldest voice he had ever used.
“She’s such a good little soldier for the cause, she doesn’t even care her mother died on the other side of it.” Gravik played again, he even snickered at Talos’s anger trying to rile him up again and see what he could get.
“Do you think she’ll care if I kill her father too?” Gravik chuckled under his breath.
“Maybe I’ll kill her first.” Gravik continued taunting Talos.
“You think you are so tough? What a brave strong skrull general going after mothers and daughters.” Talos sighed.
Gravik just laughed.
“I’m a much better leader than you ever were. You’ll see, well, probably you won’t. You can’t even see why the skrull council would want me to lead them and not you, you a failure of 30 years in the making, or is longer?”
“Anyone can get a group of people to do something by force.” Talos remarked with a scoff and Gravik smiled.
“Ah, if only, they were eager for someone to finally stand up for their rights, their interests, their dignity.” Gravik gloated.
“Don’t you mean ‘our’?” Talos corrected and Gravik let out a laugh through his nostrils.
“What have humans ever done to you that they deserve to be slaughtered?” Talos asked.
“What did we ever do to the Kree to be slaughtered and chased through the universe for a thousand years? Huh? It’s just how it works, one civilization takes over another, it happens all over the galaxy, the universe, everywhere.”
“We aren’t going to win a fight against the humans, we will be annihilated, there’s billions of them, and a million of us. You will kill our entire species for a war you cannot win and no one is brave enough to tell you otherwise.” Talos explained.
“The humans aren’t up for a fight they can’t even see coming.”
“I’ll make sure they see you coming, you won’t get to do this in hiding. I’ll pull that shell, that mask right off your skin.” Talos threatened.
“Then you’re the one who will sentence us to extinction, not me, and how fitting for you. The skrulls, live and die by your name Talos. Isn’t that what you and Fury always wanted?” Gravik asking menacing.
“Fury has done nothing but help you, give you a place to live, a job, taught you skills.” Talos defended and Gravik looked the angriest he had looked since they started talking.
“Help me? I was a child, I lost everything, he took advantage of me, of us. We were desperate and he saw an opportunity, not friends, not people, he saw us as tools for himself. You can’t see that? You are that blind?”
“Pfft.” Talos dismissed with a noise.
“Every skrull lost everything, he gave you a purpose, and a place to live.” Talos now taking the opposite side of the argument he took on the train with Fury.
“You think he asked a thirteen year old Hill to kill for him? You think she learned on the condition of pleasing Fury or being booted into nothing and nowhere out in space?” Gravik pointed out with wide eyes at Talos.
“You’re so jealous of…” Talos started but Gravik cut him off.
“I am jealous of no one and nothing! Fury took something from me, and he took something from you and all of our brothers and sisters. You are blinded by your friendship, you can’t see he has done nothing for you and you have done so much for him. You will not leave his side despite everyone showing you that you will never be enough for him, nothing but a servant, barely even a friend, you mean less to him than any human ever will. He causes his own problems, he makes his own mess. If he doesn’t want the people he cares about to get hurt then he shouldn’t rope them in.” Gravik paused.
“I am giving you a chance to pledge your allegiance to the skrulls, your people, once again. You will not get a second chance.” Gravik scowled and Talos glared at him.
“Or you can burn in the fire with the humans if you are going side with them.”
“Humans aren’t your enemy. You just want an enemy so badly and you don’t even know why. You have spent your life searching for one because you don’t understand the war you were born into.”
“I understand that Fury failed to deliver on a promise, so I’m delivering instead.” Gravik corrected.
“No one wins a war that’s really a vendetta in disguise.”
“All wars are vendettas, you, a master general of all people should know that.” Gravik snapped and Talos didn’t break his eye contact. The tension between the two men could erupt any moment.
“No wonder all you did was fail us, over and over again. Just admit what you really are, a washed up, out of touch, old man, who let his people down, who let them suffer.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Talos shrugged trying not to fall into this rage trap Gravik was setting. Talos already walked right into one of Gravik’s traps he wasn’t going to do it again.
“Finally! You are seeing the light. Too bad it’s thirty years too late.”
“I’ve messed up, but Gravik, you are doing something that…”
“Will what? Finally help the skrulls? We will finally have a leader that cares about us.”
“You guys didn’t come to play.” Gravik said dismissively at Talos who showed up here alone unprepared. Gravik wondered about just taking him out right now. He messed up trying to take out Maria, he could try again with this old man.
“It’s not a game!” Talos yelled.
“That’s all it is.” Gravik rolled his eyes.
“And you two old sad and pathetic shells of the men you used to be are wasting your time.” Gravik’s said in sinister tone.
“You..” Talos started in a hateful voice but Gravik cut him off.
“You! You are out of your league.” Gravik reminded again.
“Don’t end up paying for it the same way Fury is.” Gravik again uttered a thinly veiled threat at G’iah. Talos held in an angry sigh as he glared at Gravik. He could tell Gravik felt like the king of the world. He clearly thought he already won.
“You’re wrong.” Talos shook his head, as he listened to Talos say these things so hatefully. Talos had said something similar to Fury earlier, he wasn’t unaware of some these problems but hearing them from Gravik’s voice hit different.
“Heed my warning.” Gravik stared at Talos intensely.
“You’ll get us all killed, every last one of us, for nothing.” Talos said against.
“I know a few skrulls this world can do without, I’ll start with G’iah then.” Gravik smirked vilely and Talos grabbed a butter knife from the table and stabbed it into Gravik’s hand. Gravik grimaced but he contained his pain.
“Until the end of time, my daughter’s name stays out of your mouth.” Talos said bitterly, his hand around Gravik’s neck and his mouth against Gravik’s ear. Then Talos left.
The surrounding skrulls stood up ready to take arms and Gravik waved them down as he sat there still. He slowly pulled his hand from the knife that Talos stabbed him with. He pulled his hand out and watched the extremis heal him. Gravik smiled to himself, these were very emotional men, emotional over females no less, it made Gravik laugh he could manipulate them so easily. Talos was done, G’iah was done, Fury was done for sure. Gravik knew this, but he had to admit he enjoyed watching them spiral out over trying to stop the inevitable.
As Talos left the gallery he walked over to the car where Fury was parked. A man stopped him and Talos looked suspicious.
“Sir, you dropped this.” The man said and Talos took a flip phone from the man’s hand.
“Eh, sorry I did not notice, thank you.” Talos said as he looked down the road to see G’iah off in the distance before she turned the corner.
Talos froze as he wanted to go get her and take her right then. He didn’t want her to go back with Gravik anymore, he was already threatening her life repeatedly, but part of Talos knew that Gravik was keeping G’iah alive on purpose, a way to keep Talos at the table. Fury was right, Gravik was going after their weak spots, and making it known he was going to hit them where it hurt the most.
Talos got in the car and groaned.
“And?” Fury asked unhopeful they resolved anything.
“No truce, nothing on Hill.” Talos grumbled. Fury did not look surprised.
“But, I think G’iah just dropped us a phone.” Talos said looking at Fury and showing him the phone.
“Smart girl.” Fury praised.
“Brave just like her mother.” Talos agreed somberly.
“She’d be proud of her daughter.” Fury said fondly.
“But, right now G’iah is the prey in a lion’s den.” Talos sighed worried about G’iah with everything Gravik said. He should just go grab her right now.
“Nah, she’s the lion.” Fury assured and Talos thought about this and leaned back and smiled then Talos nodded.