Trying To Survive It
Bromely, England - 6 P.M. - November 5
Priscilla stood alone in her bathroom. She knew she had to tell Raava and Gravik that Fury and Talos were in her house. She was genuinely excited to see Fury again. She loved him once but then he was gone for so long. There was something so disingenuous about their relationship from it’s start. Varra could never be her true self—- she wasn’t Priscilla, she was’t a doctor, she wasn’t a human. And over time while she loved Fury back when she was younger, she admired him, she enjoyed his company, his everything. The toll it took on Varra though, emotionally was a lot. It was the same diminishing feeling of self worth that Raava felt as Rhodes for years, that every skrull felt having to live life on this earth and to never be able to truly be themselves. It was a heavier ask than the skrull refugees who arrived on earth ever realized it would be. Rarely living a single day in your own skin, sometimes going days without being able to see your real face… the skrulls were worried their kind would go extinct but as Varra experienced it, as they lived these lives on earth hey already had.
Varra reached those deep feelings on her own in the five years that Fury had vanished. When he came back and chose to leave again, those feelings were emboldened. She was able to live more freely as herself in his absence. It brought about a freedom that was hard for her to imagine before. She grieved her loss of a husband during the blip but she regained a sense of herself that she didn’t realize she lost. This was when she turned to Gravik.
She never thought Fury was coming back, and yet, he did, for a little while anyway. But his absence had changed her so much. She was already so intertwined in Gravik’s web. Varra felt such a tense mix of shame and confusion. Varra knew that she would be killed for defecting from the resistance, but if she admitted the truth to Fury, she’d lose Fury’s trust and love forever. Loyalty was everything to Fury, that’s what attracted Varra to him in the first place. Varra would have to come clean to one side or the other. But where should she hedge her bets? With a changed man or with the resistance? Gravik had good points even if he had bad methods and Varra could understand where he came from. She was close with Gravik. She was the one who introduced him to Fury and told Fury of his skills and talents. She thought they could be a great force together, and for a time they were. But Fury vanished and his absence changed the perspectives of people and skrulls around him.
Priscilla looked at herself in the mirror, and then she changed into her true self and stared back at Varra. She held her skrull head down for a moment like she felt a sudden twinge of shame but then she lifted it slowly and glared back at herself. Who was she? Was she Varra or was she Priscilla? And, who did she need to be right now with Fury and Talos here.
Varra changed back into Priscilla. It was almost like she never realized how deeply she was betraying Fury by joining the skrull rebellion, but now seeing him, being back with him and being faced with this pending order to kill him from Gravik, she truly did not know if she was going to be able to do it.
Priscilla returned downstairs to the kitchen where Fury and Talos were sitting eating pizza that she had ordered. She could hear them talking about Gravik and Maria and she heard them mention G’iah and a name she did not recognize, ‘Sonya.’ Although Fury knew he had troubles with Priscilla to work out, he never would have thought she joined the rebellion and neither would Talos.
“What’s going on?” She asked as she sat down at the table with them.
“Well, you tell me.” Fury said giving Priscilla a serious stone cold glare.
She paused, did she just get caught? Right now? This instant?
“There’s no sausage or pepperoni on this pizza.” Fury pointed out, changing his demeanor to a joking tone.
“Oh, yeah, processed meats are not good for you, and you’re getting old. We order veggie pizza now.” Priscilla explained and Talos laughed and nodded at her explanation.
Fury pulled a limp pepper slice off his pizza and held it up to the table.
“We have better vegetables in space.” He groaned.
“Well, if you’d rather be up there than with your family…” Priscilla grumbled.
“Now, now.” Fury shook his head.
“Talos, tell me, what do you think brings a man back to earth who has been off in space for years avoiding everyone he cares about and everyone who cares about him?” Priscilla asked making everything awkward.
“Good luck.” Talos said to Fury.
“He doesn’t need luck, he needs an explanation.”
“How long have you been back?” She asked taking a piece of pizza herself.
“A few days.”
“Interesting… you didn’t think to call?”
“I was going to call when I could.” Fury said innocently.
“And where were you?”
“Moscow.” Fury answered honestly.
“Were you in Moscow, yesterday?” Priscilla asked with raised brows.
“I was.”
She looked over to Talos.
“Were you?”
“I was there too.”
“Someone else you know was there too.” Fury said.
“Well, keep me in suspense, dear, please.” Priscilla joked.
“Gravik.” Fury answered and suddenly Priscilla felt like she was under suspicion but she couldn’t quite tell.
“Gravik?” She asked with feigned shock.
“That boy has turned.” Fury muttered.
“Are you going to turn him around?” Priscilla questioned.
“He’s too far gone.”
“Is anyone ever too far gone?” She asked tilting her head, but she wasn’t asking about Gravik.
“Killing innocent people to cause mass chaos is pretty far gone.” Fury mumbled.
“He’s had a hard life.” Priscilla tried to defend Gravik slightly.
“So have you, so has Talos, so have lots of skrulls. They don’t turn to murdering humans.”
“You’ve murdered humans yourself.” Priscilla said instinctively and Fury stared at her narrowing his gaze.
“He was just a troubled boy, and he’s still…”
“A troubled boy.” Talos interjected. Priscilla pressed her lips together and then nodded in agreement with Talos.
“Did he or anyone from his movement ever contact you or try to?” Fury asked Priscilla.
“Of course not. They wouldn’t dare, they know where my loyalty lies.” Priscilla answered quickly and Fury just chewed his food as he thought about Priscilla’s answer. He wasn’t asking if they tried to turn her, but just if they were bothering her or possibly trying to spy on her.
“There’s a group of them rising, fighting, and they’re silencing any one who tries to expose them or get in their way.” Talos explained.
“I’ve heard some murmurs maybe, rumblings, but I didn’t realize it was getting serious.” Priscilla lied and Fury knew instantly.
“We were out there trying to stop him before it goes to a point that we lose control.” Fury started to explain.
“It seems like you’ve lost control…” Pricilla paused, “What happened?” She questioned.
“He tricked us, and he set a bomb of that killed over one thousand people and then he disguised himself as me and shot Maria.” Fury said bluntly, boldly to Priscilla as now he was fishing for what lies she offered.
Priscilla put her food down. That was needlessly cruel of Gravik. Going after Maria was the same as going after family.
“What!? He killed all those people and shot Maria?” Priscilla exclaimed she was truly shocked about Maria, not surprised about the bombing though.
“Why was she even involved? You called Maria before you called me?” Priscilla asked a bit offended, she was a spy too after all and Maria didn’t need to be involved with skrull politics.
“She called me.” Fury answered with a shrug because he didn’t have a good answer for that question, Maria was involved because Fury was involved, and that was the truth of it.
“I asked her to call Fury because he wouldn’t return my calls.” Talos explained.
“He wasn’t returning mine either.” Priscilla glared at Fury.
“So, she’s… dead? Gravik killed her?” Priscilla was truly surprised.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so we think she was wearing a vest.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? Where is she, then? I don’t understand.” Priscilla grumbled. Maria being dead was bad but Maria being alive and in the wind and knowing of the skrull rebellion was also extremely problematic.
“With Gravik, allegedly.” Fury said under his breath. He had no idea where she was and he had no way to find out.
“What! And you’re here, eating pizza?” Priscilla almost scoffed at Fury and Fury groaned. He knew he had to be doing more, but he didn’t know where Gravik was or what he was lying about to lure him to him with the harvest.
“He’s going after the people I care about, in a serious way, I think you’re next. I had to come here. I don’t know where Gravik is, but I know where you are.” Fury warned and explained.
“He wouldn’t kill a skrull.” Priscilla slightly defended Gravik again.
“He did.” Talos interjected.
“Who?” Priscilla asked with surprise.
“Soren.” Talos answered glumly.
“And he threatened to kill my daughter, G’iah, too.” Talos added.
“He’s not sparing skrulls.” Fury made clear.
“Being on my side comes with great risk.” Fury warned Priscilla and Priscilla sighed.
“Well, it always has.” She reminded casually.
Later in the evening, Talos noticed that the way he and Fury talked changed, they didn’t mention names or details and he could tell something was up. It was a good thing they didn’t spill that they know Rhodes was a skrull. Something did not feel right to Talos and as Talos laid in a recliner chair and Fury had taken over the couch in the living room he thought back at the conversation the three of them had at dinner. Fury’s marriage was so different than his and Soren’s, it kind of felt more like a duel than a partnership between the two of them now. He knew it wasn’t always like this between them, but it was clear Fury’s relationships with the people in his life had really, drastically changed.
Talos proposed to Maria at the bar that one night that she was the one afraid to leave Fury’s side even though it seemed like there wasn’t much of a place there for her anymore. But, as Talos thought about that comment he made to Maria, he realized he was really projecting his own feelings too. Everyone was leaving Fury behind and Maria and Talos were the hold outs, even though they had so many reasons to go. Talos thought about what it was that made them stay with Fury for all these years despite the things he did. What kept them coming back to Fury? Talos thought to himself. And then, Talos realized exactly what it was that kept him and Maria coming back to Fury time and time again, because they wanted to and that was just a valid reason as any reason there was to leave him.
Without saying a word Fury got up and left the living room, he went upstairs to the bedroom in the their house. Fury knocked on the door to the bedroom he sometimes shared with Priscilla.
“You can come in.” Priscilla said as she sat on the edge of their bed.
Fury entered their bedroom and he walked to the edge of the bed where Priscilla was sitting. “I think we’re going to leave tomorrow.”
“Going so soon?” She asked but she did not sound surprised.
“Are you going to make me breakfast in the morning?” She added with a little laugh. Fury smirked at her question.
“Yeah, left over pizza.” The two of them both lightly laughed but the awkwardness between them hung in the air.
“I know I owe you an apology, a thoughtful and meaningful apology for my absence, for being gone… It wasn’t right, especially after the blip and I am sorry.” Fury stated rather quickly yet with care.
“You being gone, I know that’s part of how we make this work.” Priscilla nodded.
“But, to choose to go after five years when I grieved you and missed you every day? Don’t you think I deserved more than you choosing to remain gone?” She asked with some desperation in her voice.
“Yes.” Fury answered considerately.
“Yes, you did, you do.” He doubled down.
“Do you remember back when I worked for you?” Priscilla asked.
“Well you didn’t work for me because your unit never existed.” Fury reminded. That was something Varra once said to him, when she first indicated she was interested in dating him. The both laughed a little.
“Even back then, all those years ago, I just met you and I thought to myself—if only that could be the man I spent my life with but then one day I realized that tied together with you or not, I’d never really get to spend my life with you, and maybe this isn’t the life I really wanted to live.” Priscilla explained and Fury felt that deeply. They way he disappeared for so long, kept Priscilla hidden—-forced Varra to hide—- he could understand it wasn’t the greatest life a former skrull spy could ask for.
“I fell in love with an idea, but I fell in love with a man too, sometimes I wonder if you really fell in love with me or just an idea of me, an idea of me with a face that’s not mine. When you’re gone I’ve really thought about that, and I’ve realized the toll it takes on me.” Priscilla continued.
Fury shook his head no.
“I’m sorry.” Fury said solemnly.
“I don’t think I’m the same person I was way back when, and that is what I am really sorry for.” Priscilla sighed.
“And who have you become while I’ve been gone?” Fury asked.
“I felt so tied to you for such a long time but then during the blip and when you decided to leave for years after that at one point I did feel lighter, easier, sad, truly, very sad but I felt myself coming back to me, my real self—Varra.”
“You can always be—you’ve always been Varra, to me.” Fury tried to assure.
“That’s not possible, I can’t be Varra to you if I can’t be her for me.”
“I failed you in a way that’s deeper and personal than all the other ways I have failed so many others, I can’t undo my wrongs and prejudices of the past, but I’ve learned how to change for the future, if you still want one with me.” Fury said a bit hopeful. Although he could sense that Varra had maybe been talking to Gravik or working with the resistance from the way she acted at dinner he did love her and his heart was breaking in this moment as he realized they were about to part ways for good after this night.
Priscilla looked over at Fury and she leaned back resting on her wrists on the bed. The two of them stared quietly at each other.
“I don’t know, are you going to be there for it?” Priscilla asked Fury boldly and Fury pressed his lips together because he really didn’t know.
Both Priscilla and Fury could tell this whole conversation was a performance, a shell of the real conversation they needed to have for years. The words had meaning but it still wasn't quite right. They were so close to having this much needed talk but somehow they both just knew this wasn’t the time or place to do this—yet they couldn’t not do it after being a part for so long. This was just a formality not the real talk.
Priscilla’s phone buzzed and she picked up the phone right in front of Fury but she turned away from him and stood up heading toward the bathroom but she stayed in view.
Raava was calling. Raava had a lot in common with Varra, they were both from an earlier generation of skrulls that Gravik wasn’t a part of. They both questioned his decisions but they did also both fall in line.
The true leader of the skrull rebellion was never Gravik at all. Gravik was just filling a void left behind from the deceased skrull queen Veranke. She originally started on the plans to invade and conquer earth as a new homeland for the skrulls twenty years ago. She was the one who started to set up New Skrullos as a home for all the skrulls secretly hiding on earth and she was the one who made the decision to start replacing important people in world governments, and eventually the Avengers. The former queen Veranke died unexpectedly conducting an experiment on herself in New Skrullos trying to make herself invincible. She was a polarizing figure in the skrull world but no one ever questioned her devotion to the skrull cause.
Veranke was the one who thought Rhodes was the perfect target to change into a skrull. First, his powers came from a machine not any kind of thing that a skrull would need a DNA enhancement from. Second, he worked in the government not just with the Avengers, so he had political influence and private sector influence as he was close with Tony Stark. He wasn’t the person that anyone would suspect the skrulls to go after either. Once he was injured during the civil war among the Avengers, Veranke knew that was their one chance to strike. But not long after that the blip happened and Veranke died. All the work Raava had put in, it was like she could not stop now. She had to keep going to see Veranke’s plans through to the end even in her absence. When Gravik took over, that’s when things really started to come together.
Raava was a rebel hold over from the Veranke years and she was in too deep to be pulled out and replaced by one of Gravik’s people. As it was one thing to frack the memories of a human in a pod, but the memories gained by a skrull and the mannerisms adopted by a skrull for a long time impersonating that human were hard to replicate and transfer. A human memory fracking pod didn’t work on a skrull. So Raava remained in her position of power for the long haul but her distaste of Gravik and his take over of the rebellion was obvious. Gravik barely considered her loyal, but she did deliver most of the time. She was not loyal to Gravik, but she was loyal to the underlying idea that she had spent years of her life working toward.
“Any news?” Raava asked in Rhodes’ voice.
“Yes, good news.” Varra answered vaguely as Fury was right in the room.
“Did he come by himself?” Raava said in an urgent tone.
“No..”
“With Hill!?” Raava tried to keep Rhodes’s voice down. Maria had not been found yet, by the Americans, the Russians, or the skrulls at least that Raava was aware.
“No.”
“Talos?”
“Yes.”
Priscilla smiled at Fury and Fury gestured to the door that he was leaving the room and Priscilla nodded.
“I’ll be right there.” She pulled the phone down looking at Fury and she used this as a cue to signal to Raava that Fury was nearby.
“No, no. Take your time, I am going to fall asleep.” Fury said in an old man voice.
As Fury left the room he closed the door but he put a listening device in his ear and pointed it toward where Priscilla had been standing.
Raava snickered hearing the conversation. Varra could take out two people they needed to take out rather swiftly and quickly and not make much fuss of it.
“He seems sad.” Varra said after Fury left.
“Talos?” Raava asked sarcastically.
“He’s hurting his world is changing, it’s hard for him.” Varra started to defend Fury but Raava cut her off.
“It’s not his world.” Raava reminded.
“I know.”
“I’ll be in London soon, keep him around until Gravik gives the order. This could all be done real clean and easy.” Raava said relieved.
“I just…” Varra hesitated.
“You think you love him, but you loved the idea of him. He never really turned out to be what he promised.” Raava reminded, this was what Varra said when she joined the resistance, people were wary when she first joined thinking she was spying for Fury. But Varra told them her loyalty was always truly with her people.
Varra sighed as she never really thought this day would come but here it was, Fury staring at her right in the face and Gravik moments away from telling her to pull the trigger. Could she really kill Fury to advance the skrull rebellion? She thought about it for a while and was quiet on the phone.
“If you can’t do this, bow out now because otherwise you are getting in the way and you know what happens to those who get in the way.” Raava reminded.
“I know. I can do it. If it has to be done I want to be the one who does it.” Varra answered.
Fury stood on the other side of the wall listening to Rhodes’s voice and Priscilla’s talk about killing him. He wasn’t entirely shocked, but after all he was gone for so long, leaving a void in her life that already suffered from so much loss. Would Fury be in Varra’s future? Certainly not. At this point, it didn’t sound like Fury had a future at all.
Fury sighed to himself as he went downstairs and joined Talos in the living room. Talos was snoring like the old man he was and Fury threw a pillow at him. Talos leaned up coughing a bit on his breath as the shock of the pillow alerted him.
“You going to snore all night?” Fury asked.
“Did you get your night cap—literally the little hat, you have one right? C’mon.” Talos asked referencing his joke from days ago when he woke Fury up.
“We are going to have to move soon.” Fury mumbled in a low quiet voice giving Talos a concerning look.
“Nooo.” Talos said shaking his head as he could see in Fury’s face what Fury was suggesting about Varra and Fury nodded.
“Yes.” Fury confirmed.
“Should we go now?” Talos whispered.
“No, in the morning, we won’t make a rush of it. We don’t want her to know we know.”
“So why did you wake me up then?” Talos grumbled.
“So you could stay awake and keep an eye out while I sleep.” Fury laughed a little and Talos rolled his eyes.
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November 6, 12:02 AM - New Skrullos
As G’iah and Gravik got back to New Skrullos they were both tired from the drive. Pagon met them at the gate and they drove to the compound where Gravik worked out of. Gravik still looked gleeful, so pleased with himself. Sure there were a few issues here and there, but everything was coming together so well for him. He had some loose ends to clean up but he knew he would, he’d have the harvest soon enough.
“Unload the car.” Gravik ordered G’iah as he and Pagon left to chat.
G’iah got out of the car and started to take things out of the back. She did like being in New Skrullos, it was the one place she felt like herself, but being there and doing things for Gravik was still limiting her experience. G’iah wanted to stay close to Gravik as she wanted to be up on any intel she could give back to Talos, so she kept doing what he said even when he was treating her like a servant.
Gravik and Pagon went into a room of the compound, the two of them opened beers and raised them to one another.
“I’ll call that a success.” Gravik smiled.
“Almost perfect.”
“Fury’s no match for me.”
“He never was.” Pagon coaxed Gravik’s ego.
“Weatherby called, he said he learned Hill his heading to a Russian/Finland border up in the woods to head to London the long way with some MI6 agents.”
“None of ours?” Pagon asked as this would make it real easy.
“Life is not that generous. But I did send some friends her way.” Gravik joked and Pagon laughed.
“I expect an update on that soon.” Gravik assured.
“I hope it’s soon, if Fury won’t tell you where the harvest is, she’s the last one to know.”
“He’ll trade for her if she doesn’t know.” Gravik rolled his eyes.
“Do you really think so? Are we spreading ourselves too thin? We have a lot to plan.” Pagon looked at Gravik with raised brows, would Fury really trade Avenger’s DNA for a human woman? That was a big ask, but it was better to risk betting a human’s life on Fury’s decision than a skrull’s life and since Varra swore her loyalty to Gravik and the resistance Gravik didn’t want to go after Varra. Varra could be useful in other ways.
Gravik looked at Pagon angrily.
“I wouldn’t have to do this if you could have found it. I told you where to look.” Gravik huffed.
“I looked everywhere you said. It’s not there and the Daltons say they can’t get the machines to work without the DNA.”
Gravik rolled his eyes.
“I’m working on it.” Gravik sighed and he was getting very impatient.
“Do you really believe you did all the work for the harvest and Fury would tell Hill where it was and not you?” Pagon practically baited Gravik, he knew Gravik had some lingering jealousy over this paternal relationship that he lacked with Fury.
“He never really trusted us.” Gravik growled.
“So his instincts were right?” Pagon pointed out.
“We did our part! We were loyal, we were faithful, he’s the one who shouldn’t have been trusted.” Gravik reminded.
“Has anyone found Fury, yet?” Pagon asked, Gravik had kept such close tabs on him before, but now Gravik was getting bogged down in too many things.
“There’s really only a few places for him to go now. He knows I can release that video of him any moment. If he doesn’t call back soon, it’s going out.”
“You think he went to Varra’s?” Pagon asked and Gravik nodded, that is where he believed Fury would go.
“Do you think she’ll really kill him if you tell her?” Pagon asked skeptically. It was a big ask to demand someone kill their spouse for this cause.
“She’ll do as she’s told or she won’t live to do anything else.” Gravik grumbled, but in reality, he knew Varra wouldn’t kill Fury. That’s why he was going to give her the order. It bought him time to get the harvest and still act like he wanted Fury killed. He could blame the failure on Varra and still get what he wanted too.
“Tomorrow, we’ll head back to London so we greet the Americans.” Gravik said in a ominous but gleeful voice leaning back in his chair.
“With our dutiful chauffeur?” Pagon joked about G’iah. The two men exchanged a glance at each other and laughed.
“I think she’ll be staying here this time.” Gravik and Pagon nodded in agreement with smirks on their faces.
“I’m going to bed.” Gravik groaned as he left Pagon on his own.
——
After G’iah finished emptying the car, she noticed how quiet New Skrullos was. Everyone was sleeping, it was very eery and she sighed to herself and wondered how she ended up in this great mess. She was working for her mother’s killer, emptying his car, carrying his bags. She had chances to get out and yet she remained.
She was the daughter of a great skrull general one of the bravest skrulls of all time. Before the bombing in Moscow she had a chance to do something brave too just like her mother and father did, and she didn’t do it. She felt deep regret over this still. She had never seen so much chaos as people running from the square in Moscow like that. G’iah knew that Gravik underestimated her, despised her even. He was just using her to get at Talos, he made that clear when they drove back.
G’iah wondered around New Skrullos and she found herself walking down a hall she had never been in. The concrete walls were covered in grime and she came upon a door just as filthy as the walls. Its frosted glass window blocked what was behind it. But G’iah could tell the door said ‘danger do not enter’ in Russian. G’iah looked behind her and then she tried the door knob to see if it was locked—it wasn’t! There couldn’t be anything too important in here if the door was open.
G’iah opened the door and she observed a dimly lit laboratory. It had all kinds of machines, gadgets, weapons, and a row of very old computers. She looked around to see if anyone was there but it was empty. G’iah observed the machines, one was large and spherical. There was smaller ones too, she also observed a number of syringes, attached to IVs with ‘extremis’ written in Russian. G’iah didn’t know what that was, she ignored it and observed the other medical and engineered things around the lab.
G’iah sat down at one of the computers, it was already on. She figured someone had been here not that long ago and she started to poke around on the computer. She found a list of “DNA SAMPLES” that piqued her interest. She started to scroll down the list as she read the samples that were uploaded into the computer SIM.
Groot, ‘Frost Beast,’ and then G’iah saw ‘extremis’ again. Each section described what the DNA would do to a skrull, how it would enhance their abilities. G’iah wasn’t unaware that some skrulls had been working on some type of enhancements to keep them from being erased. She heard stories about Queen Veranke, who died experimenting on herself, trying to make herself immortal. As G’iah read about extremis she pressed her lips together. That seemed to be the most useful enhancement that the skrulls had so far. G’iah read about how the extremis was injected by syringe in small doses. There was a warning of caution not to inject too much or a skrull wouldn’t be able to regulate their internal temperature and eventually the skrull would burn from the inside out and die. G’iah kept reading on about extremis, there were notes in here from Veranke and another note that over injection of extremis is what killed her. G’iah started reading about the dosing requirements, how to inject it, her curiosity kept her going. She wondered if Gravik had this and if this why he felt so invincible all the time?
G’iah heard some footsteps coming from the hall, and she jumped up from the computer and closed the screen she was on. G’iah started to leave the lab, as she did a woman, Dr. Rosa Dalton—-really a skrull in her disguise, entered the lab. The shock of seeing Dr. Dalton made G’iah ‘bump’ into the metal table where the extremis was. G’iah turned around to face Dr. Dalton, but she slowly reached her hand and grabbed a syringe from behind her. She moved away from the table and placed it in her jacket pocket slowly and inconspicuously.
“What are you doing here?” Dr. Dalton asked.
“I was looking for you.” G’iah answered.
“Gravik wanted to know…” G’iah started
“I told Pagon already, I cannot finish what I need to do if Gravik does not deliver the DNA. Tell Gravik, if he wants me to finish to bring the DNA to me.” Dr. Dalton huffed. She was sick of these men pushing her around. She did so much for them thanklessly.
“I’m sorry.” G’iah apologized and Dr. Dalton nodded at her. G’iah was just another woman caught up in this mess.
“I know you’re just following orders.” Dr. Dalton sighed and G’iah nodded as she left the lab. She went back to the room she usually slept in. She shut the door behind her and she pulled out the syringe she stole from the lab.
“Extremis.” She said quietly to herself. She knew Gravik was trying to make skrull versions of super soldiers, and that some of them had gone through experiments and treatments. She heard them talking about it before. Gravik was so vain and selfish he had to be giving himself the best boosts. Should she give them to herself? How much of it should she give to herself? What if she died like Queen Veranke, injecting something into herself—experimenting on herself? This was a really big risk. She needed to be here keeping close watch on Gravik to help Talos, but also Gravik was impulsive. He could order G’iah killed at any moment and he probably would if he found out or suspected she was a mole.
G’iah just wasn’t sure what to do, should she do something risky to help herself but at the cost of helping her father if she died? Or should she take a chance that she could outsmart Gravik and get away? G’iah held the syringe in her hand as she debated her options.
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—- 1 hour away from the Finland Border —-
The horrific scent of burning rubber invaded Maria’s senses, it was a sickening smell. She was afraid to move as glass that had shattered from the window near Oslo littered the roof of the car that Maria was using as a floor. The glass shards dug into her hands and she could feel them piercing into her but she remained still.
“Oslo.” She whispered again and she got nothing from him.
“Oslo, c’mon.” Maria said slightly louder but he hung from the driver’s seat with his eyes closed the left side of his face covered in blood and glass. He was held in place by his seatbelt, his arms and hands hanging limp.
The four skrulls who watched the horrific accident they caused stood there unamused. One even checked his watch as they waited for the dramatics to be over.
“Are they dead then?” One asked the other three. He was kind of hopeful they were because then they could just leave and they wouldn’t have to battle Maria and this MI6 agent and risk their lives. Maria and this agent had already taken out two of them in the interrogation location, and apparently they took out the two following them. If they died they deserved it, that’s what this skrull thought anyway. Gravik might be unhappy, but if Maria died it was purely her fault. They were just standing there and Maria and the agent crashed on their own.
“I thought I saw some movement.” Another skrull responded.
They all looked at each other wondering which one of them was going to have to go check. In the very least they figured an injured Hill as easier to move than a non injured one.
Maria knew the skrulls would be coming to see the damage in the car. She figured they’d kill her on sight seeing she was still alive. She couldn’t think and she really needed to think right now. She looked toward her seat where she had been sitting and she could see the strap of the bag that had their weapons in it. She was afraid to move too fast as she knew if they saw movement they might shoot into the car. She couldn’t find the gun she just had and she thought it might have fallen from the window when she almost fell out of the car during the chase.
Maria moved slowly but with intention, then she realized she couldn’t move quickly even if she wanted to. Maria hoped the shattered windshield glass was acting as a bit of cover for her as she moved her arm up to the backpack lodged under the front seat of the car. She could hear steps coming toward her and she turned her head to see, she couldn’t reach the bag without it falling on her and them noticing she was still alive.
Then Maria could see her gun from before, lodged between the damaged center console and the passenger seat, the handle hanging above her face.
Maria moved her hand forward up toward the handle of the gun, relying on the shattered windshield as cover. She wedged the handle a bit moving her hurt body.
“C’mon.” She muttered barely audibly as she could see the boots of the skrull heading her way through the open passenger window. Just as he got close she got the gun out as quietly and swiftly as possible. She put the gun over her chest as she crouched over the glass. The disguised skrull who walked up to the car wondered how he was supposed to get the car door open. With a lack of good judgement he instead bent his head down into the open window seeing Maria holding her gun he moved quickly to pull his forward but Maria shot him right in the head.
The disguised skrull jolted backward from being hit with the bullet and turned a bright green as he fell to ground head first.
“Motherfucker!” One of the skrulls yelled as he saw the shot hit his fellow soldier killing him instantly.
Suddenly Oslo felt numbness in his hands, his arms, then a blast of pain over the side of his face as he woke up from being knocked out from the accident. He opened his working eye right as Maria fired the gun from laying crouched on the roof of the upside down car and he saw the deceased skrull’s green head on the ground.
“Ok, you’re right, it’s skrulls.” Oslo quietly mumbled waking up from the crash.
Maria was relieved at the sound of his voice but she couldn’t do much to acknowledge him now with these skrulls getting ready to fire on them.
“Try and take cover.” Maria warned as she turned herself over onto her hands and knees.
“Uhhh…” Oslo paused as he tried to figure out his situation and how exactly he would take cover.
He couldn’t totally understand what happened but he saw Maria crouched down with bloodied hands holding her gun and a small streak of blood dripping down the side of Maria’s face from her hairline. She was about to aim out of the opened passenger window once again. Oslo shook his head. He couldn’t see out of his left eye as glass had cut him up over his face. He reached for his gun in his side and undid his seatbelt falling forward himself, so he too was now on the ceiling of the turned car.
“Fuck this! I am not dying for this.” The angry skrull cocked his gun aiming at the car but before he could he even fire a shot burst through his chest. The other two skrulls started to fire at the car and a rain of bullets came down on Maria and Oslo, one hitting the car engine and the car started to smoke from the hit. Another bullet took out half the shattered windshield that was providing some cover for Maria and Oslo as the skrulls couldn’t see through the heavily shattered glass.
Maria and Oslo could smell the smoke rising from the engine and they knew they had a very limited time before the car caught fire but the two of them knew if they crawled out of the windows they would be killed instantly by the firing skrulls, but they couldn’t stay in the car very long before it combusted. As the three remaining skrulls saw the engine was about to explode the stopped firing wondering if the two of them would crawl out and escape it giving them clear shots.
“Fire or bullets which one is it going to be humans?” One skrull joked.
Maria and Oslo stayed in the car, they fired back with their limited view of the skrulls, Oslo took out one other skrull as he fired a shot hidden in the smoke and sparks but then the cab of the car started to fill with smoke and Maria and Oslo started to cough.
A single skrull was left and he had a clearer shot of Oslo through the windshield that had now partially crumbled, but the smoke was making it hard to see. Before, the shattered glass was obstructing their view. Oslo aimed right at the singular skrull through the smoke that was obstructing his view quite a bit and forcing him to cough and the skrull knew he had him, but then Maria fired on him hitting him the arm and then fired again hitting him in the chest. The skrull was down.
Maria and Oslo knew they barely had a second to get themselves out of this car before the fire took over. They could feel the heat rising and then they could see the burst of orange start to spread in front of them. The fire had already started to engulf Oslo’s side so he couldn’t escape from his shattered window or the windshield. Maria moved quickly she crawled over the glass and out of the opening, Oslo pushed her from behind basically forcing her out of the car as fast as possible. She turned around quickly just as she made it out and Oslo started to crawl out but his foot got stuck. Oslo tried to dislodge it as he could feel the heat of the flames start to encompass his foot, he struggled and struggled to get it dislodged.
“I’m stuck!” Oslo yelled. Maria pulled on Oslo’s hands to help him out of the car but the rising flames were starting to come around the other side of the car.
The singular skrull that had just gone down from Maria’s shots could see them struggling to get out of the car as flames started to cover it. He had a clear shot on Maria as she helped Oslo. If he could just get the strength to use his gun and pull the trigger quickly it would all be worth it. He knew he was going to die, but if this stupid woman who caused all these problems was going to die too, so be it. He reached for his gun and moved it up slowly, the pain he felt as he bled out was substantial causing him sharp jerks when he tried to move.
Maria and Oslo were so distracted getting Oslo out of the flame engulfed car. This was the skrull's chance, he used all the strength he had left, everything he had in his body, this was for Gravik he thought ignoring that it was the opposite of what Gravik wanted. He pulled the trigger but right before he put the pressure down, Oslo’s foot dislodged and he was pulled forward by Maria, Oslo turned, his chest exposed and the shot the skrull fired hit Oslo directly in the lower left area of his torso.
“NO!” Maria yelled from the shock of the shot and she grabbed her gun from the ground quickly and fired without mercy toward the shot killing the already dying skrull she thought she had finished already.
“Oslo!” She yelled concerned and he rolled over onto his back grabbing his torso. They were barely away from the car fire.
“Oslo!” She cried again.
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.” Oslo groaned trying to catch his breath. Oslo’s hands were covered in blood but it was hard for Maria to tell if it was from the accident, or the glass, or if he was bleeding.
Oslo was gasping for breath and Maria moved his hands to check his injury as the warmth from the blaze caught up to them. Maria could see the bullet was lodged in his vest under his shirt and Maria looked relieved and she leaned her head back for a minute.
“Motherfucking fucker fuck!” Oslo yelled, he couldn’t believe how much that hurt.
“It’s in the vest.” Maria assured, she knew it hurt so bad but Oslo didn’t have time to dwell in the pain in this spot.
“We gotta move!” Maria said urgently and Oslo groaned loudly, he couldn’t even catch his breath. He could feel his ribs felt broken from the impact. Move? He could not move!
“I think it went through the vest!” He yelled not moving, and Maria who also was in pain and struggled to move just yanked on his arms to pull him away from the flaming car, and just as they started to move the blazing car started to make small crackling and popping sounds.
“Oh! We gotta move!” Oslo said urgently as he heard the crackles and he used every ounce of adrenaline and strength he had to turn his body and move as far from the burning car as they could. The two of them got up on their feet, Maria tried her best to help Oslo as they ran with energy they did not know where they found, ignoring their pain. The two of them raced over the dead skrulls and then hid behind their jeeps as the car Maria and Oslo had almost made it to Finland in imploded loudly with lots of small cracks one very loud one and some rush of flames taking over the vehicle. Everything they had brought with them was now gone.
The two of them hid behind one of the jeeps for cover. As Oslo stood there and tried to crouch, he suddenly started to gag and cough and then he tilted his head to the side and threw up from the pain and impact he experienced in his torso. He couldn’t help it, the smoke and the rushing and the near death experience of it all— it just happened—and this was an experienced guy!
Maria pressed her eyes shut and her lips together. She was luckily facing the other way, but she also knew getting sick like that after being hit in the vest was normal but it could also be a really bad sign. Oslo coughed and coughed for a bit until he was done.
“Did you do this when you got hit?” He asked as he caught his breath trying not to be embarrassed.
“Twice, on my way to the hospital.” Maria admitted, she she was just human after all and her body paid a very physical toll for this kind of work.
“So, I beat you.” He started to brag a little and then started coughing again and got sick a second time. Maria patted him on the back, like a friend soothed a buddy after a night out. She knew how much being struck in the vest hurt and she had much better vest on when she got hit than what she and Oslo were using now.
After Oslo finally finished he hung his head for a moment. He was lucky not to get anything on him but what he wouldn’t do to clean his mouth out with anything right now.
“I guess it’s a tie.” He said leaning back from the mess.
After the two took a brief recovering moment they forced their wrecked bodies into one of the jeeps left by the skrulls. Oslo got himself up into the passenger side and Maria ended up in the driver’s side. Oslo could not drive anymore, he could barely see.
“You finally get to drive!” Oslo tried to joke over his gasping breaths from all the pain he was in.
Maria ignored him, the keys were in the ignition already and Maria just pulled away quickly continuing up the road.
“Do you think I can pull off an eye patch like Fury?” Oslo asked he couldn’t help but try to joke as the situation was so tense and they were both in so much pain.
“You have to get to a hospital.” Maria said seriously, being shot in the torso even with a vest your ribs could break and puncture your organs. It was really serious. He also needed the glass pulled from his face.
“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll get to one eventually.” Oslo added.
Maria looked at Oslo very concerned.
“It’s less than an hour to the border.” Oslo assured.
“I don’t know the route.” Maria reminded.
“Well drive the way I tell you and then you will.” Oslo laughed a little.
“How are you functioning like this?” Oslo asked. Maria had been in this pain for over 24 hours, and she was still doing all this. Oslo wasn’t sure he would ever move again after being shot in the vest.
“Well. I had a much better vest than you but it hurts a lot.” Maria said sternly.
“Remember when you were like ‘do we really need a grenade launcher?’” Oslo mimicked Maria’s voice. “That’s why.”
“Oh, Yeah. It came in real handy.” Maria snarked.
“It would have been perfect.” Oslo sighed
“Yeah and then we could have walked to Finland…” Maria rolled her eyes but Maria was concerned about the way Oslo was talking, like he had a rushed urgent tone in his voice like he was hiding that something was wrong.
“We can call for help you know? We have to call someone at least to get medical help at the border.” Maria said concerned again.
“This car is going nonstop to Tampere, Finland, so you can get on that plane if I have to drive you there myself with half a god damn eyelid open.” Oslo said loudly and confidently. They were not going off plan now.
“Tampere!! That’s like six or seven hours away! Not ‘less than an hour!’” Maria exclaimed.
“I said the border was less than an hour, not the destination.” Oslo pointed out smugly.
Maria sighed as she picked up the speed for them.
“I’m sure we can find a hospital on the way.” Maria added.
“If you can navigate around all the moose.” Oslo joked with a painful laugh.
Maria’s phone buzzed and she answered it quickly putting it on speaker. She had to focus on the rough driving. Only Sonya had this number.
“Are you close?” Sonya asked and Oslo and Maria looked at each other.
“We’re closer.” Maria grimaced and Sonya was silent as she was not expecting anything other than an ‘almost there’
“We had a hiccup…” Oslo interjected.
“I detest hiccups.” Sonya said plainly.
“Yeah, well, we ran into some skrulls.” Maria admitted and Sonya was quiet again because Oslo did not have the security clearance to learn about skrulls, in fact most people who had that clearance still weren’t privileged enough to know about skrulls.
“I had to tell him… they turned green in front of him, I don’t know how to explain it any other way than what it is.” Maria clarified.
“Ah. Well. I guess that makes sense.” Sonya muttered into the phone.
“Maybe warn a guy next time that they’re dealing with space invaders, Sonya?” Oslo asked.
“Oh, but why would I ruin the surprise.”
“A surprise? On an extraction? What’s the one rule on these? No surprises!” Oslo reminded in a loud voice.
“Well now you’re all caught up, I assume.” Sonya mumbled.
“What exactly happened?” Sonya asked.
“Skrulls tried to run us off the road and then we got rid of them and then more skrulls tried to shoot at us and we were in an accident and now Oslo has glass lodged in his face and eye and might be seriously injured because he got shot in the vest in the lower torso.” Maria said quickly.
“Right in the ribs.” Oslo added.
“But I’m fine.” Oslo groaned unconvincingly.
Sonya sighed. It must’ve been Weatherby, he must’ve figured it out.
“I am afraid this might be my fault. I think someone near me is a skrull in disguise. I wasn’t sure at first, but now… I’m so sorry, I thought I protected you both enough.” Sonya admitted.
“Not your fault, Sonya. We’re fine, we’re going to make it just fine.” Oslo kept repeating ‘fine’ like someone who was anything but.
“I have someone I trust ready to meet you both on the other side. I’ll alert them to the medical needs, they’ll know what to do.” Sonya said to Oslo.
“Hey, Sonya, who do I bill about my car that was just totaled?” Oslo asked loudly into the speaker.
“Oslo, you send that bill right to Nick Fury and he will take care of it for you, I promise.” Sonya lied confidently and Maria tried not to make a face.
Oslo looked at Maria to see if that was true and Maria shook her head no.
After Maria and Oslo hung up the phone Oslo sighed pathetically.
“I loved that car.”
“Aww, let’s go back and get it.” Maria mimicked Oslo when he made fun of her before about her boots. He couldn’t really laugh though, as he had to take very short breaths as every breath a little too deep felt like a knife into his lungs.
Neither Maria or Oslo had any time to decompress the horrible scene they just escaped. This was Maria’s second one in two days and it was getting to her, but she just couldn’t think about it. Oslo was right, getting over that border was do or die to them now. They could process, they could get help later—hopefully they could withstand the time it took to get there.
Maria gripped the steering wheel tightly, if her hands weren’t covered in scratches and drying blood her white knuckle grip would be evident. As her hands stretched over the wheel she could feel shards of glass embed deeper into her skin.
Oslo instructed Maria where to go the best he could. After awhile they were no longer on a road, but a path that looked liked 4-wheelers and off road vehicles went on. Maria was rushing as she knew they wouldn’t escape another attack from the skrulls or get away from any nearby Russian authorities.
“I don’t think this is right.” Maria warned. She couldn’t really go that fast anymore.
“It is.” Oslo assured.
Maria kept driving.
“You’re going to see an old stone wall marker, on the left side of you, and there will be a six foot stone beam on the end.
“No fences?”
“Not since the last time I’ve been, we’ll hit a marker and then a few miles out some signs, and then we are in Finland on a six hour journey to Tampere. Can you speak or read Finnish?”
“Nope.” Maria said with a strange pride.
“Ugh, Americans.” Oslo groaned.
As Maria and Oslo drove on Maria finally saw the marker, they were just a few miles away. It was bizarre out in these deep woods, it was so cold and there wasn’t a soul around. Maria had to go really slow and Oslo made her turn the headlights off as they approached the border. After a few more minutes of driving Maria stopped as they came upon a parked car off in the edge of the woods. At first Maria thought it was abandoned. Oslo leaned forward to look at it. The parked car had something in Finnish written on the side. The red brake lights flickered.
Oslo looked at Maria.
“What?” She asked.
“It’s Finnish border patrol.” Oslo said he could tell from the markings on the side of the vehicle.
A blonde man got out of the parked car, he had a uniform on, he shined a flashlight at the two of them as Maria and Oslo were still. He used his flashlight to read the license plate of the car.
“Don’t move!” He said in Russian to the two of them.
Maria wondered if she should gun the car in reverse but she stayed still as she wasn’t sure Oslo would make it without medical intervention much longer as he did need to be checked for serious injuries.
The man walked up to the drivers side of the car and brought his light up into Maria’s face and made a gesture at them to roll down the window and Maria complied.
“We need to go to the hospital.” Maria said in Russian and as the man looked at the two of them he did agree with Maria.
Oslo looked over at the man and he squinted his working eye at him.
“Hari?” Oslo asked as he thought he recognized the voice.
The man used his light and shined it over Oslo who was in rough condition.
“Oslo! You’re looking a little run down mate.” Hari said as he looked him over and switched to English.
“I thought he would be driving.” Hari said to Maria as he realized these were the people he was waiting for.
Maria felt her heart skip a beat as she thought they were going to have an issue.
“And, I thought you were coming in a different car.” Hari added.
“We had a change of plans.” Maria mumbled with some relief in her voice.
“Well, sorry for the worry I caused, I just wasn’t expecting this so I had to play along. Thanks for not killing me.” Hari said with a little snicker.
Maria nodded as she realized he was probably just as afraid as they were that he was running into the wrong people. Maria parked the car where Hari told her to and Maria, Hari, and Oslo changed cars to the border patrol vehicle. Maria and Oslo sat in the back. As Hari, a trained spy, intelligence services officer in Finland who worked with MI6 agents quite often, drove them. They drove right through the border in Finland, he wasn’t stopped or suspected of anything and drove like he was driving two people he found in the woods to an immigration processing center—just like normal. Instead he kept going past the fences and signs, and right onto the road.
“Welcome to Finland!” Hari said as they made it past the border station and Hari started driving on the highway but after a few exits he stopped in a parking lot, where he parked the border patrol vehicle and switched cars to a black sedan. Oslo sat in the front with Hari and Maria sat in the back.
“So, what kind of mess are you two in?” Hari asked and Oslo just laughed. Maria shook her head.
“It’s somebody else’s mess and we’re just trying to survive it.” Maria mumbled.
“Isn’t that always how it goes in this line of work?” Hari asked with a smirk and Maria nodded because that was definitely the case.
Hari drove Maria and Oslo a little while before he pulled into a parking garage and even though it said NO ENTRY he started to drive down under ground, from the parking garage he scanned a badge and then a wall appeared to open and they were driving down a private underground tunnel.
“You have these in Finland!?” Maria asked surprised.
“You didn’t think SHIELD, North Korea, and Disney World were the only places who did this, did you?” Hari joked and Oslo laughed.
Maria sighed, the world had really changed in the five years that Maria had vanished. She used to know about all kinds of things like this in countries all over the world but apparently Finland had really stepped up its spy game.
“We have to, with Russia so close by you never know what they may be up to and we need people to move in private.” Hari said and Maria nodded.
The tunnel was illuminated by lights on the walls, only two cars could fit passing each other, not a single car went by them though. Finally Hari pulled out of the tunnel and he parked the car at a very basic looking facility that had no markings or indications of what it was.
“No we have to move to Tampere.” Oslo said as he saw them pulling into the building.
“Hill and I will go on to Tampere and you my friend are going to see a doctor.” Hari said and Maria nodded as Oslo really did need to be checked as he seemed like he was fading a bit.
Oslo looked back at Maria, she didn’t look as bad as him but her hands were covered in blood and she had blood running down the side of her face from her hairline.
“No one is putting you on a plane looking like that.” Oslo said pointing at Maria. He was right, if airport security saw her she looked like she just escaped a car accident… which she did, literally.
“I didn’t bring any make up.” Maria snarked.
“Oh, she’s going to see medical too.” Hari said quickly assuring Oslo.
“I’m fine.” Maria said with a short tone.
“Yeah, you look it.” Oslo teased with a little laugh.
"I look better than you." Maria quipped.
"Considering what he looks like that's not really the insult you think it is." Hari laughed and Oslo joined him.
The three of them entered the facility and took an elevator up a few floors. It was an industrial looking space with some hospital like aesthetic, but the place was empty except for the staff who worked there.
Oslo struggled to stand up and walk as Maria was right, he was starting to fade. The pain was getting to him. He was getting a blistering headache now as well. Some of the medical staff helped him move to a gurney Hari spoke to them in Finnish as they wheeled him off.
Hari walked Maria to what looked like a regular hospital room but there was no one in it. Maria and Hari waited in the room and Hari checked his watch. Finally a member of the medical staff appeared, a blonde woman. Hari said something to her in Finnish and then she just grabbed one of Maria’s hands looking at it and Maria jerked back a bit then she ran her hand over Maria’s head looking for the wound and she could see that she been hit with some debris or something during the accident that gave her a shallow wound on the side of her hairline.
“That just needs to be cleaned.” She said in English but she looked down at all the glass in Maria’s hands and she looked at that skeptically as that was going to be a real pain.
Suddenly Oslo was brought back into the room on the hospital bed. Maria and Hari looked surprised. They hadn’t done anything for him yet or so it seemed.
The woman helping Maria didn’t flinch as Oslo was wheeled into the room.
“Uh, can you help him?” Maria asked her pointing to Oslo who had glass in his face, and potentially a broken rib piercing an organ.
“He got shot in the vest on the ribs, he could have a pierced lung!” Maria told her concerned.
The medical agent lowered one brow at Maria and then turned and she spoke in Finnish to Hari after Maria tried to dismiss her. Hari spoke back to her and shook his head no. She returned to helping Maria.
“Someone is coming to help him.” She said to Maria in her thick accent.
And she started to wipe the blood away from Maria’s head and the wounds from the accident.
“It’s scratches and bruises.” Maria said quickly.
Maria hated being handled for any reason, but especially in a medical way. She had a very independent I can do it myself attitude about it. And she always thought she had a much higher pain tolerance than most people and those people could use the assistance of trained medical professionals. The real reason Maria didn’t like it? She just wanted to be in control of body at all times.
The medical attendant grabbed some tweezers from her supplies and she started to pull the glass out of Maria’s hand.
“I can do this! He has glass in his face!” Maria said very annoyed now.
The woman looked back at Hari and he nodded and she left Maria with the tweezers and then got a new pair to help Oslo. Maria started pulling the glass out of her own hand now.
Oslo, the medical attendant, and Hari all started talking in Finnish, Maria didn’t understand what they were saying but they did all laugh at once and Maria looked up and directly at Oslo.
“It wasn’t about you.” Oslo said unconvincingly to Maria and she went back to trying to remove glass from her hands which was harder than she thought it would be as the glass was very hard to see in her blood stained hands.
“It was actually nice.” The medical attendant said, assuring Maria.
“Well now I know for sure it wasn’t about me.” Maria mumbled and she started to use some wipes from the counter to try and rub the blood off her hands.
The attendant glared over at Maria hearing her put the tweezers down.
“I am going to clean and wrap your hands!” The attendant said impatiently to Maria.
Finally a doctor came in the room, a stunningly beautiful Finnish woman. Hari couldn’t help but smile at the doctor endearingly. Maria didn’t even notice her and Oslo didn’t care about women in that way but he couldn’t see that great as his singular working eye was starting to blur.
The doctor and Oslo exchanged some words in Finnish and Hari started talking with them too. The medical assistant moved over to help Maria.
“What are they saying?” Maria asked.
“They’re taking him to x-ray and they are going to remove the glass from his face and check the damage to his eye. They need a specialist to remove some of the glass near his eye. He made it this far for this long so he’s probably free of internal injuries but they have to check.” The attendant explained.
The attendant started to rub hard on Maria’s hands trying to clear her blood away with solution. As the blood was clearing Maria could see the countless small scratches and punctures on her hands. They just looked awful but then Maria looked over at Oslo, the whole left side of his face was covered in scrapes and punctures from the glass just like her hands. He got shot because of her, he got in the accident because of her, all of this happened because Oslo got involved with helping Maria and she couldn’t help but feel terribly guilty as the only reason any of this happened was because she didn’t leave the bombing with Agent Watson… she ran to Nick because she literally could not leave him behind and it was all just a trick.
Two other medical staff came in the room and they were all talking with the doctor in Finnish. Then the doctor and the two medical staff left and Maria looked confused as they didn’t take Oslo with them.
Part of her was relieved as Maria did not want to separate from Oslo, they had made it this far together and she worried separating now was a bad idea. She started to shake her head no without realizing it.
“We should wait to make sure Oslo is okay.” Maria said unexpectedly.
“It’s okay.” Oslo nodded. He trusted Hari. Maria would get where she needed to go with him.
“I can get to Tampere myself.” Maria said confidently. She already got Oslo hurt badly, she couldn’t involve another person in this skrull mess.
“How? You can’t read a map.” Oslo joked.
“Moving agents is the worst.” Hari sighed in his thick Finnish accent and Oslo laughed as he thought the same thing.
“She doesn’t listen either, so, good luck.” Oslo smirked but then grimaced from pain.
Maria groaned loudly. The medical attendant wrapped Maria’s hands after putting antibiotic ointment on them and then she started to clean the wound on Maria’s hairline.
“We can’t leave you here.” Maria said sternly.
“We can’t wait for him. He will be fine. He’s among friends.” Hari confirmed.
“Don’t worry, Yoko, you had to break up the band eventually.” Oslo snickered to Maria.
“Does that joke work if I’m in the band?” Maria asked.
“You’re not in the band.” Oslo and Hari said in unison.
Maria looked up at both of them annoyed.
“How I’ve spent my life always surrounded by boys clubs I’ll never understand.” Maria sighed to herself.
“Once they know he can travel on a plane without dying we’ll get Oslo to London.” Hari assured.
“This does not feel right.” Maria grumbled.
“You can’t wait.” Hari and Oslo reminded Maria.
Maria’s phone buzzed and buzzed and she answered it.
“Are you on the road?” Sonya asked.
“No, I’m at…” Maria looked at Oslo and Hari what did she call this elite medical bunker they were hiding in “a… medical facility.” Maria explained vaguely.
“Are you stable?” Sonya asked.
“Yes.”
“Are the others stable?”
“Some of us.”
“So what reason is preventing you from moving?” Sonya asked rather harshly.
“Someone is not… cleared.” Maria explained in an uncertain voice.
“I understand but they are where they need to be and time is of the essence, I need you to get on that plane in Helsinki as soon as possible.”
Maria turned her head, Helsinki? Oslo told her they would go to Tampere. Was there a change of plans because the skrulls found them? Maria wasn’t sure.
“O—” Maria started and Sonya cut her off immediately before she said another syllable.
“There is no second flight. There is nothing I can do for you if you miss it. Get there now. Do you understand?” Sonya ordered in a stern harsh tone.
Maria looked at Hari like they had to move.
“Yes, we’re on our way.” Maria confirmed and the two women hung up.
Maria looked at Oslo as she and Hari were about to leave him.
“I hope they fix your face because you definitely can’t pull off an eyepatch like Fury, you'll look like the stock photo image of a pirate for a halloween costume.” Maria said to Oslo and he laughed lightly because he thought she was right.
“Also, I only threw up one time after being being hit.” Maria laughed as a little brag and then she smirked.
"You had a better vest than me!" Oslo whined.
"I win." Maria said smugly. She and Hari left. Oslo groaned loudly as Maria left with the last word, he thought that was so annoying but also funny of her. She put up with a lot from him, so she deserved a win however unpleasant it was.
Hari and Maria went back to the car.
“Tampere?” He asked Maria and she paused. She didn’t know what to say. Helsinki or Tampere? Both Tampere and Helsinki were the same distance from where they stopped in Finland, a little over five hours. But Maria just wasn’t sure if Sonya changed the plans and she was now supposed to go south instead of north. Maria thought about what exactly Sonya said to her on the phone and she narrowed her gaze at Hari trying to decide what to do. She knew there was a message in Sonya’s words she just had to make sure she understood the right one.
After Sonya hung up the phone on her end she broke it in half as she suspected Weatherby was up on any and all of her calls. She took the battery out as well and she sighed. Sonya realized she likely couldn’t work out of her office anymore. She hoped Maria understood the message she sent her.
Sonya was right. Director Weatherby was able to get up on Sonya’s secret phone with Maria and he heard Sonya change the plan to Helsinki. Weatherby immediately called Gravik.
“Hill got out of Russia.” Weatherby said immediately.
“How?” Gravik asked impatiently. The farther Maria got away from Russia the harder Gravik’s plan to use her to lure out Fury with the harvest became. If Maria reconnected with Fury, Gravik was probably out of luck with that.
“Six skrulls went after her on the route you told us.” Gravik asked annoyed.
“It sounds like there was a firefight because someone did get hurt, but it wasn’t her.”
“Where is she now?”
“She’s in Finland, she’s going to Helsinki and taking a flight to London in a few hours.” Weatherby explained.
“Do we have a flight number?” Gravik asked.
“No, not yet.”
“Private, government, commercial? C’mon!” Gravik asked. Weatherby thought about something Sonya had said to him during their little chat earlier. Sonya had said jokingly ‘don’t worry, it’s not a commercial flight.’ For some reason this stuck out to him. He didn’t know how Sonya would do it but he suddenly suspected that Sonya was going to try and sneak Maria onto a commercial flight to London.
“It’s going to be a commercial flight.” Weatherby said certain of himself.
“Do not let her get on that plane! Get them to cancel the flights. Do not let it take off. She could expose all of us!” Gravik ordered and he hung up the phone angrily slamming his hands into the desk in front of him. God, why didn’t Maria just die when Gravik tried to kill her the first time? Gravik thought he stumbled into a good idea to leverage Maria for the harvest but now he was being undermined by her repeatedly and he was sick of this. The plan wasn’t going to work if she was going right back to Fury and that had to be what she was doing, right?