Of Water and Salt

Thank you to Tree Licker and CLEEP for reviewing this chapter!

Vers looked about the tunnel, her eyes darting every direction to take in everything notable, as much as possible.

Well… as notable as a tunnel inside a mountain could get. There were a few security checkpoints interspersed from the entrance, though there wasn't another checkpoint that had a mode of transportation. Each was manned by a cadre of rifle-armed security guards in what looked to be a grey uniforms and black colored body armor with black cloth masks adorning the lower half of their faces. On one such occasion, a group of them adorned with odd masks with large circular owlish sockets where the eyes would be.

While she doubted any of them were Skrulls, all it took was one to sim into the boss and all these guards would be none the wiser that an alien was calling the shots, and that everyone here bore down on them.

She'd rather not have to kill Terrans just because they didn't know that their orders were from a Skrull.

With the window slightly rolled downwards, it was unnaturally cool being underneath the mountain. Although, that could have been because it was nighttime and that the ambient temperature to the desert had dropped considerably. She doubted that the Terrans had the capability of cooling what was looking to be a massive underground facility.

It was eerily serene. The quiet hollowness making the guards stationed at the various intervals seem more like statues than actual living and breathing Terrans. The orange glimmering lights only made the feeling more pronounced.

She looked in the central mirror back at Percy who was doing the same as her but also twiddling with the bracelet he was wearing on his wrist as if he was anxious or nervous.

"A little claustrophobic?" Fury asked, though his eyes remained on the road front of them as they continued to drive.

It was a long tunnel.

There was no response and Fury didn't probe further even though Vers wanted him to. After her photon blast in the bar, she decided she needed to be conscious of pushing the boundaries, especially with Percy since he was arguably the only person she could trust at the moment to not be a Skrull.

But his remark and anxiousness had also planted the seed of nervousness within her as well. With how disinterested and nonchalant he was previously, Percy didn't seem like the type of person to worry over much.

She digressed as she moved her thoughts away from him. That odd feeling that probed her mind being batted away. Fury was also not a Skrull unless he was playing the long con which for that reason alone, she would still be keeping an eye on the SHIELD agent.

There was an uneasy silence as they ventured further, coming to a brighter lit entrance to what was looking to be a wider and more open area. It was guarded by several other security guards, all of whom were in grey jumpsuits rather than the black body armor that the others wore, nor were they carrying rifles and instead had holstered sidearms.

It was dome-shaped with large bright and pale luminescent floodlighting cascading around them while they pulled into a lot for Terran transportation. There were several vehicles there, some if not most similar to the one she was currently in but also ones that were uniform in design.

Vers further cast her gaze about the place as they pulled into place and exited the vehicle. All of them took a moment to take in their surroundings, before walking together towards what seemed to be some sort of viewing area of an underground airfield.

The large hollowed-out section was shaped as the tunnel that they had just traveled down, but instead of being narrow, it was wide and taller than even the dome area. A hanger area dominated much of the space with several dozen planes arrayed beside each other parallel to the large empty strip of tarmac.

There were a couple of odd-looking aircraft closer to them with one already on the runway, with large engines attached to the rear, flanking the large tail wing. She guessed it to be some sort of VTOL-type aircraft given its rotors within each wing but looked to be more of a fixed-wing aircraft rather than something that didn't require a needed takeoff speed.

There were a couple of workers about but there didn't seem to be many. It was probably because it was night.

"There's more above ground in the valley. This is just for the more experimental aircraft." Fury clarified as they looked out.

The Kree was impressed. These aircraft looked like something that could be capable and dangerous space fighters given their comparatively, to the Skrull and Kree starfighters, smaller frames and if they were given the right technology.

But if she was correct in her assumptions, Terrans were centuries behind in space-age technology. They wouldn't be capable of fielding anything remotely close that could engage them in combat.

And that was taking into account their apparent ingenuity in technological advancement. A hundred years from horse to moon was a massive leap but it would take a couple more bounds to get to where the rest of the intergalactic community currently was.

She continued to look around. The sight, even this entire base, was oddly familiar as she felt like she was pulled into her mind. She blinked, the sensation being an uncomfortable and alien feeling to her, almost like the tinged whisper that constantly probed her mind.

When her eyes opened she felt as if she was standing in the middle of some holographic entertainment footage.

She froze in her place. Her mind burned with familiarity. Spectres of people wandering about working, that older woman and the dark-skinned Terran lady were there predominately, chatting animatedly with a ghostly image of…herself?

There she was. Vers, the Kree Commando of Starforce dressed in a Terran jumpsuit with her hair coiled in a tightly pressed bun, arms folded across her chest laughing and talking.

The other was her in Terran civilian clothing but slightly shorter and with some small creases at the edges of her eyes as she laughed along with the others.

She seemed to have spaced out long enough to have garnered a measure of concern as Fury's hand grasped her shoulder. "You alright?" Even Percy looked concerned though it was only slightly, and she figured it was more of a momentary lapse of his otherwise distracted expression.

Vers visibly shook her head from the daze that had overtaken her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said in a low murmur. Unlike all her other visions and dreams where she just played spectator to them. This one felt all too real. As if she had been here before.

Vers moved away from the hanger and followed Fury and Percy into what looked to be a lobby area.

The room had a sterile feel to it. White tiling and dark benches bolted into the floor while a receptionist sat behind a reinforced pane of glass, tapping away at the physical keyboard and looking between a boxy monitor and a stack of files beside her. She was separated by a thick layer of a bricked wall from the waiting area.

It looked more like something for a prison than a research facility.

There were a pair of large double doors that flanked either side of the central area from where the woman was situated.

She took a moment longer to take in the scene, though her thoughts were promptly consumed by the previous ordeal as she and Percy went to go sit down. Fury began speaking with the woman behind the glass pane.

She had amnesia. That much was made known to her when she had first woken up in the Starforce medical wards on Hala. A mission had gone wrong and in the ensuing chaos, she had suffered some major head trauma.

She had questioned it before. The doctors and Yon-Rogg had told her that the only way to save her life had been to try those experimental procedures that had given her enhanced abilities and since she had already volunteered for the programme, nothing was holding them back from attempting it.

However, they weren't allowed to tell her the details of her mission, by direct decree of the Supreme Intelligence, the Imperial Ministry and the Supreme Accuser.

A pit settled in her stomach. Was this the mission that had gone wrong? Was that why she had so many seemingly fractured memories of Lawson and the other lady? That pit grew further as the implications further set in. If this was that mission, what did that mean for Lawson?

She hoped the doctor was still alive.

Her thoughts turned to that ever-present memory of that firefight on the lakeshore, possibly the only vision that she could confidently say that plagued her more than all the others.

Her mind recoiled and she visibly winced as she was pulled into that particular memory but then she felt a hand grip tightly around her wrist with enough pressure that it snapped her back to reality. It didn't hurt, but the feeling was able to give her something else to focus on as she opened her eyes.

Her arms and hands were glowing with vibrant luminescent energy and Percy's hand had clasped around her wrist in a startling display of his strength, unfazed at the ambient energy that should've been burning his hand. She could still feel the cracking and ash that fell from the inside of her sleeves from when she had vaporized the Terran entertainment machine.

The energy now doing her no favors as some more of the Terran lining continued to singe and burn to the point that small traces of translucent smoke began to rise from the cuff of the jacket. She thanked her lucky stars that she would be able to form her suit at a moment's notice if need be and that her Terran clothing had yet to burn away completely.

Otherwise, remaining incognito would be a lost cause.

"The last thing we need is you blowing up the place." He said quietly, but harshly. She nodded but she still didn't appreciate the fact that he was still annoyed with her.

Vers made her displeasure known as she focused a little and sent a jolt of electrical energy through her wrist and into the palm of his hand.

Instead of recoiling and massaging his hand at the electrical prod like she had expected, he automatically and seemingly instinctually thrust his opposite hand to the side where a lance of electricity lanced across the tiled ground, much to her further astonishment and surprise.

It left a small black burn in the floor and a minute smell of ozone began to emanate from the burn, but the action didn't seem to draw the attention of either Fury or the receptionist who continued to converse.

But at least he got the hint and let go of her wrist with a glare that they both shared before he reclined further into his seat and folded his arms across his chest. He may have had a point, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

The Kree commando sulked in her seat. Fury sat across from them but didn't say anything.

Get ahold of yourself, Vers. She mentally recanted and scolded herself, echoing the words of her mentor and forcing herself to put the mission first before delving into the mess of her fractured psyche.

Right now, the priority was reaching Lawson before the Skrulls did.

The sooner she got to Lawson the better this would all turn out. Maybe Lawson would be able to explain what was going on with her and why the doctor was in so many of her visions and dreams.

"How'd you do that?" She spoke, looking for something to keep her focus away from the migraine that was threatening to make itself even more known.

Fury began making his way to them, his face set in a tired frown but he seemed to be alright if a little peeved.

Percy shrugged, his eyes closed as if he was resting. "I can do more than just being a glorified lava lamp that's for sure." His deadpan voice had only a tinge of mocking in it.

Vers narrowed her eyes and sulked further. Lava lamp? Really? If she ever got the chance she would show him just how damn scary she could be.

Unfortunately, she didn't think sucking all the energy in the facility would go down all that well with Fury and she doubted that they would appreciate her leaving it as little more than a charred crater.

Sometimes, she hated that she couldn't show off her abilities more.

But her mind quickly went away from that. Percy apparently had more than just his little oceanic presence and fear inducement. He could manipulate energy. Like her.

His little puff of white mist-like energy as well as his discharging of her electrical energy was proof enough that he had more up his sleeve than he let on. Either he wasn't sharing because he couldn't or more likely the case, given his standoffish and disinterested nature, was simply keeping his cards close to his chest.

If she had access to her credits, she would bet her entire life savings on the latter.

And the fact that he didn't trust her (even though he had every reason not to) made it all the more infuriating. This entire time she had been as forthcoming as she possibly could. She told him of her people. She told them of the Xandarians and the Skrull and the near eternal animosity and constant erupting conflicts between the three empires.

Vers had made it expressly clear that she wanted to move the conflict away from Earth, to rid his world of the Skrull threat.

And even if he hid it well, his comment about Asgardians only gave away that he was much more aware of the wider universe than the typical Terran and possibly even herself. Though she doubted that since he didn't know who the Kree were.

They had the same goal. To protect the Earth and its inhabitants from those that would see it taken over or destroyed.

So why give her the cold shoulder? All it was doing was causing pointless friction. If they were on the same page, they could plan better. Not that there was a better plan. Right now, all they needed to do was reach Lawson before the Skrulls did.

But after that? Talos would not wait around for them to leave. He would make every attempt to get to Lawson and for that, she and Percy needed to be working together rather than being antagonistic towards each other.

Fury, having sat down across from them, spoke up. An eyebrow raised as he looked at the slight scorch mark across the tiled floor beside Percy. Though he didn't question it, he did let out a sigh of resignation at the sight. "The Chief of Security is going to meet us here in a moment. From there, he'll take us to Lawson."

Vers nodded. She was this close to getting to Lawson and not only would she be saving the Kree from a devastating loss if what the scientist was creating had in fact been weapons that could swing the war, but also getting to the bottom of her visions and dreams that she appeared so many times in.

Percy didn't react as he continued to recline in his seat but there was a slight bounce in his leg that gave away his anxiety. Being in the cramped transport plus Percy's own reluctance and downright refusal to also play nice was grating on her nerves more than she cared to ever admit and she attempted to also relax.

Fury relaxed as well if the small slump in his shoulders was any indication.

The moment lasted for about an hour before a loud buzz sounded, a fit Terran walked out of one of the doors that flanked the side. Instead of a grey jumpsuit or black body armor, he wore a black raincoat over a collared grey shirt and slacks with boots. He carried a clipboard and also looked utterly disinterested in his job. Other than that, he looked like any other run of the mill Terran. Though he did carry a sidearm that was holstered at his thigh.

Upon seeing him, the three stood to greet him. Fury unveiled his SHIELD badge.

"How can I help you?" The man took Fury's badge and examined it.

"We're with SHIELD."

The man looked them over. "All of you?"

Percy fumbled at her side when Fury glanced at him with a pointed look, reaching into his leather jacket and pulling a badge similar to Fury's and displaying it for the security officer to grab and also examine it.

"They're giving consultants badges now?" The man asked with an exasperated sigh. "I thought you all had lanyards?"

Percy shrugged, looking unfazed. "Guess I'm special."

"Guess you are." He looked it over once more before looking over them again and then handing the badges back to both of them. "How can I help you?"

"We're looking for a woman named Lawson." Vers quickly interjected before either could answer.

The man tilted his head at her as Fury spoke quickly. "A Doctor Wendy Lawson, she works as a scientist here."

He looked between them all seemingly both skeptical and thoughtful. "The name does ring a bell." There was a momentary pause as he seemed to recollect his thoughts before nodding. "Yep, I remember her. Follow me." The security officer gestured with his clipboard for them to follow, which the trio promptly did, with Vers taking the lead as she was eager to meet the woman that could not leave her mind.

The three were led through a maze of corridors. For the most part, it was bland, sterile-looking and similar to the lobby. She figured being a military and government research facility, not much was spent on comfort and it reminded her a lot of being aboard a starship.

The group had taken an elevator to what felt like deeper into the base, she could've sworn to have seen a twitch of annoyance from Percy when music had begun to play over the speakers.

She did admit that whatever was playing did grate on her nerves. Vers didn't think that the words of Stayin' Alive seemed to have a calming effect on them and only served to heighten their own nervousness.

They were led to a small room, where they were told by the security guard that he would be retrieving the doctor.

They chatted a little bit more, but it grew quiet before long, descending into an awkward silence as they waited.

It was only after two hours of waiting did Fury speak up as he looked to Percy. "So much for rolling out the red carpet."

"Red carpet?" Vers asked, unfamiliar with the phrase. During their time conversing throughout the drive, she had learned that Fury tended to use Terran metaphors that sailed way over her head most of the time.

She figured this was one of them considering she had yet to see any shred of red carpet around. Percy shrugged as he clarified for her sake. "Another metaphor." Vers and the raven-haired man watched as Fury attempted to unlock the door with a finger scan, only for it to blink black and red in denial. "You want me to break down the door?"

Fury thought for the briefest of moments before he shook his head and stood, gesturing for him to step out of the way as he began to rummage through the desk.

Shame. Vers would've liked to see that. If only so she could show that she could do it with much more finesse.

Percy stepped away from the agent as he fiddled with what looked to be a piece of tape. Vers, having stood up as well, wandered the small room looking for any sign of where she may be able to find Lawson. It was clear that the Terran security officer was going to be of no help here.

It was also entirely possible that being a scientist, that the woman could very well be a civilian and not even on the base.

A small laminated list attached and stuck to the table caught her eye. None of the listing particularly drawing her attention as most of them were labs and engineering bays or barracks. She didn't want to walk into one of those unless she knew in the absolute surety that Lawson was in there and she definitely didn't want to walk into a housing unit for soldiers.

So, she settled for the next best thing. If she couldn't get to the doctor, then she would have to delve into their records. If these Terrans were as half as paranoid as either Fury or Percy, then they would have documented near everything about what they were doing here and thus whatever Lawson was working on and where she would be located on the base.

And if not, at the very least she would be able to get another address to locate the doctor.

Vers turned around and leaned on the table beside Percy where they watched Fury continue to fiddle with tape and his badge.

This would have been a lot faster if I had just melted the lock. Vers concluded as they watched the agent stick the fingerprint enameled sliver of tape to the scanner where it blinked green and buzzed open the door. She had to hand it to him though. She would have never thought of that and given that they were trying to lay low, breaking down the door would have drawn all sorts of attention.

At least now they had some time before the security guy realized that they were no longer in the small office, instead of probably racing against the clock if they had broken down the door. Vers was sure that it would have triggered some sort of alarm had that happened. "Impressive." The Kree commented. Even Percy looked impressed albeit begrudgingly.

Still, the duo stood from their leaning positions and followed the SHIELD agent along the path towards the elevator that they had taken to get down here. It was eerily deserted but given that it was the middle of the night, it probably had a right to be.

It was quiet. The three not making a sound, save for their soft footfalls against the tiles. The elevator was quick in its arrival and upon entering it Vers quickly pushed the button that would take them to the Terran archives.

Then the elevator music started.

Percy's annoyance was audible this time as Stayin' Alive played once again.

"It's good music." Fury said in its defense, with slight humor in his voice though even he looked slightly uncomfortable at it.

Vers laughed lightly at the absurdity. Here they were, in a top-secret Terran military research facility racing Talos, the most infamous and ruthless general that the Skrull Empire had to offer, to a Terran scientist that had created weapons that were capable of swinging the war in either side's favor. A seasoned Kree Starforce commando, a grim war veteran SHIELD agent and an enhanced Terran that was entirely unamused by the whole affair.

If anything else, Percy seemed more inconvenienced rather than invested. At least, Fury was concerned about the implications.

They arrived on the 5th sublevel only a moment later with a minute ding signaling their arrival. Vers poked her head out as did Fury, looking down both ends of the corridor to check if anyone else was around before stepping out.

Conveniently, there was signage plastered against the wall directly across from her that told the Kree which way to go to get to where she needed to be.

With it all clear, the two men followed her towards her chosen destination.

They continued casually down the hall. They were lucky that it was night. This place is probably packed with foot traffic during the day.

She stopped in her tracks when a Flerken sauntered into view. However, knowing what it was, Vers decided to play it safe and simply do her best to ignore it.

What the hell is that thing doing here? There were very good reasons why the Flerken species were quarantined to their homeworld. The first and foremost of which were their toxicity and invasiveness.

If that didn't stop governments across the universe from making it universally illegal to own a Flerken then their psychic allure was.

If someone's arm were to even get scratched by one, they might as well cut off the limb to even have a chance at living.

And no empire wanted beings capable of creating entire populations of their invasive and parasitic creatures on their worlds.

The less said about how most people were unaccustomed to psychic and telepathic intrusion and thus susceptible to the Flerken parasitic relationship had with other developed societies, the better.

She did not favor her chances against one that was so close to her. She could definitely and easily take it out from range but with it just a couple meters from her, it would be an incredible risk to try and fight it.

Fury held no reservations as the hardened and grim man knelt down and cooed at the creature. Luckily for them, the Flerken didn't appear to be aggressive or hostile so she wasn't too concerned. They were weird in that way. They were either overly affectionate or wanted to tear your face off.

There wasn't any in-between. Not that she knew of at least. Kree crash courses in hostile alien fauna didn't particularly care for the nuances that an individual lifeform may exhibit. It was either dangerous or not.

And Flerkens were near the top of that list simply for the fact that no one was brave enough to approach one in the first place. Better to shoot on sight than the risk of it invading your mind with its façade of cuteness.

She made her way past it, though keeping it at the edge of her vision.

Percy seemed to do the same. Only instead of walking past Fury petting the cat, he gave the duo a wide berth as if he knew that it was also not just any regular Terran house pet.

"Goose." Fury remarked a slight smile on his face as he continued to fuss over a creature that could quite literally swallow him whole and not bat an eye or rather eyes in this case. "A cool name for a cool cat!" It was probably a good thing that he didn't know either. Ignorance is bliss after all. There was no telling what this…Goose…might do if Fury suddenly became aware that this cat was, in fact, not a cat.

As much as she would've liked to watch the hardened and grim SHIELD agent act like a child over an alien space monster, they needed to get going. Percy seemed to be also of the same mind, although there was a hint of amusement as he kept a suspicious gaze locked onto the Flerken.

"Nick." She popped her head to the side with an arched eyebrow, gesturing that they needed to continue on their way. Vers didn't know if it was her pulling the agent from the psychic allure of the creature he knelt in front of, or if it was her use of his name, but it seemed to snap his attention from the Flerken to her with narrowed eyes.

She guessed it was probably both.

The agent scratched the creature's head once more before pushing himself from the floor and whispering slightly, probably hoping that either of them wouldn't hear. "I'll be back." The agent looked at her and grumbled. "I thought I told you to call me Fury."

The three continued on their way. Though Percy did comment with a small chuckle and a tone of mocking. "So, you…" He paused as if he were searching for the correct word. "like cats?" Fury visibly scowled and made it a point not to look at either of them.

Vers could swear the man was flustered and embarrassed at his previous actions. "I have a certain preference for them." Was all he said on the matter as they arrived in front of the Records room. Fury immediately moved and used the scanner which buzzed open and blinked green.

"Convenient," Vers said as she walked on into the hall.

Rows upon rows of grey filing boxes sat upon tan aluminum shelving as large pale floodlights began shuttering on with loud bangs.

"It makes sense that only Security is where I wasn't keyed in." Fury responded as they continued on inside. At the very least, the Terrans had these shelves alphabetized. It would make finding what they were looking for that much easier. "Everywhere else though, I have free reign. It doesn't make sense to remove me from the entire system if they were just going to try and bog us down in red tape. It's why I didn't want you breaking down the door, then they would've had grounds to detain us. They're hiding something here."

Red tape? The Kree hoped they didn't actually mean swathes of actual red tape. She had thought that Terrans were a lot more inventive than using rolls of adhesive to keep them inside a room. Though she guessed that it was more than likely a metaphor for bureaucracy.

Not something she ever had to deal with. If Starforce was held back because of politicians, then Starforce teams were obviously not needed in the first place. Plus, with Yon-Rogg as the commander, it was up to him to deal with that sort of stuff.

"Keeping us locked in a security room is red tape?" Percy questioned as they followed her. Vers was more focused on getting to Lawson's records rather than whatever they were talking about, but she did want to learn more of these metaphors that Fury kept using.

They were oddly amusing and endearing to her and she could definitely see herself using some of them.

Especially since it would get on the nerves of her squadron.

"With the exception of one or two organizations and certain military commands, SHIELD jurisdiction trumps just about everything. The worse they can do is slow us down if they don't want us to know something. Locking us in there was probably the best the guy could come up with."

"I figured that already." There was a momentary pause as they continued. "They won't get pissed at us for bailing on them, right?"

"Pissed? Definitely. Nothing they can do about it though." Fury chuckled in response.

It wasn't long before she took a left turn into the row of filing boxes that were marked with L. Hopefully, hers were alphabetized according to her last name and not something weird. She didn't bet on it though. Terrans were weird but when they wanted to be, they could be incredibly efficient and seeing as how she was in a military research facility this was probably one of the times where they wanted to be organized.

The duo followed while her gaze scanned the labels of the boxes. She was getting close as she ventured further and further.

Ah, here it is. There were four of them. One was of Lawson herself while the other three were marked with Project Pegasus and her name. Probably detailing her work on the base and more importantly what exactly she was up to.

She pulled one of them off to hand to Fury. The agent frowned but didn't say anything as he opened it and began digging through its contents. That one held the most pertinent information on the Terran scientist as she figured that having Fury read up on where she was would benefit them better than if the Kree warrior did.

After all, Vers didn't have the slightest clue on how to navigate this world. Sure, her tactical pad could give her the cardinal directions, but she didn't know nearly enough about Earth or even this facility to take charge on that front. She didn't admit it when they were in the Terran vehicle but when she was on the speeder bike, she had gotten lost more than once.

She envied Fury in that regard but left only one more parting thought on the matter. Better to leave the nuances of Terran culture and structure in the hands of the people who could get away with giving authority the proverbial finger as she was sure that specific gesture was universal in its use.

Vers handed another to Percy though that one was more on the project itself rather than the doctor.

He scowled as he begrudgingly began going through it all, although, he sat himself on the floor to get comfortable.

Fury sat down offset but across from him as the agent pulled a beige folder from his box.

The Kree took the second to last one. The one that was set before the others and quite clearly marked as the one that held the most pertinent information regarding the project itself rather than its many experimental techs though she expected to find some of that in here as well.

After following the lead of the other two and sitting beside Percy, she was proven right when upon opening the box and pulling the first thick blueprint open to reveal something that she had guessed right from the beginning.

It was blueprints for an aerospace tactical fighter jet, that looked eerily similar to the ones parked and lined in neat rows in the underground hanger of the base.

Not only that, she could see that not only were these ground-based spacecraft but, if she was reading this right and she had every reason to believe she was given her engineering and technological aptitude, these fighters were capable of contending with space fighters from across the universe easily and far outstripped current generation Kree and Skrull space fighters in every way.

With further improvement, these designs could easily give the dominant Nova Corps and Sovereign fighters a scarily level playing field in the hands of trained pilots.

And as much as the two empires detested it and how much she didn't want to admit it considering her pride in her people, they were no pushovers when it came to galactic warfare.

She sucked in a breath in disbelief. Though on the bottom corner, there was a distinct bright red stamp that said the words, 'PROJECT TERMINATED' in bold lettering,

Talos was not lying when he said that Lawson was making weapons and developing technology that could turn the balance of intergalactic politics on its head.

As she folded it back up and gazed back down into the box sitting before her, her eyes gradually widened in further disbelief and terror.

There were dozens of neatly folded and archived plans within her box alone.

And Percy's box was the same as she glanced at it and there was still a whole other box sitting innocently above her.

They had just barely set foot on their moon.

And these designs and plans held the key to their expansion beyond just a simple planet…but to becoming an intergalactic contender.

She needed to find Lawson. Fast.

"Got anything over there?" She spoke up suddenly looking to both Fury and Percy though her gaze was locked onto the SHIELD agent. It had just become even more imperative that she reach Lawson before Talos did. She dismissed the slightly shocked and concerned expression that was on Percy as he looked inside the manila file in his hands, figuring even for his oddness that he would be unused to technologically advanced warfare.

He did use a sword after all. But then again, so did the Kree.

Now that she thought about it, many intergalactic empires had some sort of sword type weapon. Even the Nova Corps had their energy batons.

"Uh, she might've gone a little crazy. All I have is a bunch of chicken scratch." He opened a small notebook and displayed it for her and Percy to see. It was only the first page.

Vers not only recognized those supposed scratches but understood them and she sucked in another breath. This day was just full of unwanted surprises. "Those aren't scratches. Those are Kree glyphs."

Vers quickly leaned over Percy and snatched the book away from Fury's hands, uncaring of the agent's voiced expletive and Percy's grunt of discomfort and both of their subsequent glares. Her eyes quickly scanned the first few pages of contents of the notebook.

Her name wasn't Wendy Lawson.

She wasn't even a Terran.

Lawson was a Kree.

And that Kree's name was Mar-Vell.

It told her of Mar-Vell's assignment by the Supreme Accuser and the Ministry of Imperial Sciences to investigate an artefact that had been identified by a formerly embedded and undercover Kree spy and the initial days of her life on Earth.

She stopped reading after that.

The revelations proved too much for her as her mind vibrated and burned in pain as memories began to flood within her. She clutched at her head slightly in pain but quickly pushed it away, repeating a Kree mantra of focus and duty. She could feel her arms flare with energy and the lights slightly flicker before returning to their normal luminescent and pale glow as she further calmed herself.

"Does-" She swallowed deeply, a pit began to settle in her stomach. Vers looked to them both, Percy unnaturally concerned as he looked to her, Fury was much the same way. They probably both now understood that Lawson was one of her people even if she had been undercover. "Does it say where she is now?"

"It says she died." Fury's voice was a slight whisper and soft as he flicked through a file. A stark difference from his usual carefree but hardened tone. It was clearly an attempt at consolation. "Says she crashed during an unscheduled test flight of the ASIS reconnaissance aircraft. Took a pilot down with her." He mumbled the next part though she heard it easily given their close proximity. "At least that gives us the why on the head honcho's cold shoulder. They're covering up a mistake that cost the project billions."

He pulled up a set of black and white photos that looked to be aerial shots of the crash site in question.

If her mind had hurt before, the migraine that assaulted her felt something akin to a liquid fire being poured on her. She saw herself, a reflection in a cockpit's canopy as she looked wildly around. She felt a cold pressure. It was an odd and alien feeling but one that she focused on. It was a better alternative and a more than welcome cooling sensation to the burning of her mind.

Vers opened her eyes slightly the light flickering violently before returning to their normal state. Her arms were flaring in energy and had burned away the sleeves of the jacket she wore revealing the Starforce uniform underneath. Splotches of the uniform were visible underneath her smoldering white Terran shirt as she had almost entered Binary.

The excess energy cascaded off her form as she regained a semblance of control of her emotions, taking deep breaths to not allow them to get the better of her.

"When did the crash happen?" The Kree kept her eyes glued to the shut notebook in her hands, not daring to open it. Though she could see that Percy had his hand pointed towards her. That wisping white energy that he manipulated inside the bar coating his hand and small trails of it floating serenely towards her on an unfelt wind. He lowered his hand slowly in response to her question and returned to the documents in his lap though he did keep a wary and concerned eye on her.

The Kree guessed that the cold pressure was from whatever he was doing though didn't mind it as much as she should have because it was distracting her from quite possibly blowing the place up and bringing the mountain down on top of them.

Vers didn't think that anyone besides her would survive from that.

"Six years ago. 1989." She recoiled slightly as the pit in her stomach grew further as if it were an ever-increasing weight. Her assumptions and insinuations running wild. It couldn't be? Could it? It would explain what her mission was and why it was so imperative that it was kept secret.

If word got out that the Kree were manipulating the Terrans to build experimental weaponry for their wars, the Xandarians would get involved.

And the last thing the Kree needed was to get into a war on two fronts.

"The pilot?" Could it be her? It was a reaching conclusion but it only

"Most of the report is redacted." Fury continued to speak. His voice was still soft, but his words were calculated and measured. "But there is a testimonial here from a Maria Rambeau, who was the last person to see them alive."

Something buzzed, and she looked up to see Fury twist his body to look at something at his hip. "I'll be right back; my boss wants a report." He looked at Percy. "You got this?" She assumed Percy nodded as she saw him stand and adjust himself before moving away from the corner of her eye.

She took another steadying breath as she looked at the photos in front of her.

Vers looked up. "Hand me the file please." She spoke softly, her voice cracking slightly. Percy did so absentmindedly as he continued to inspect the documents in his lap, handing the red folder that Fury was looking at only moments before. She began going through it, confirming Fury's words on it being mostly barred in black ink.

The woman however was the one often seen in her visions and one she had seen herself interact with, in more than a couple of her dreams.

She continued to flick through the files.

Her breath hitched and the Kree woman had to make a conscious attempt at containing the rush of emotions that ran through her in that singular moment.

In the foreground was the now identified Kree, Mar-Vell and the Terran woman, Maria Rambeau smiling at the photographer.

And there she was in the background, climbing into the seat of one of the Terran aircraft, the name CAPT Carol 'Avenger' Danvers emblazoned with white paint on the front of the fuselage.

She was here.

This had to be the assignment that had gone wrong. Was she the security assigned to Mar-Vell? It was only logical that they had Starforce protecting the scientist.

Something happened, a simple plane crash that resulted in Mar-Vell dying and Vers being left near dead that only an experimental procedure had the barest hint of saving her life.

Just what in the hell happened here six years ago that could've caused all of that?

She reached across Percy and nabbed the file that was most officious, having a detailed cover of PEGASUS on it though there was still the bright and bold red lettering of PROJECT TERMINATION stamped across the cover.

She quickly flicked through it.

If Mar-Vell was dead, then at the very least she could prevent the Skrulls from obtaining the thing that powered all her designs.

For nothing else than to make sure that her death was not in vain and that she hadn't lost her memory for nothing.

There was no way that the Terrans had the means and capability of developing these weapons unless they had someone helping them. The Ministry of Imperial Sciences would have never sent someone unless they were assured that it could have provided tangible results.

Even the first pages of Mar-Vell's journal alluded to them having some type of energy core. The Tesseract being mentioned a couple of times in the first couple pages of her journal. That had to be the key to all of this.

So, she needed to find her labs or any hint as to where the Terrans might be keeping it.

A small sample picture of a bright blue and radiating cube was clipped to the corner. Tesseract deemed missing. Efforts made by Consultant Howard Stark to locate and recover the object have proven unsuccessful.

She bit out an expletive in her native tongue and flicked through the pages.

Howard Stark was dead. Car crash two years later.

All other project managers either resigned or were forced to retire from the incident. Their own documentation being expunged.

She cursed under her breath once again.

The only one left that would have any clue where Mar-Vell's lab would be this Maria Rambeau but even that was a longshot as she looked to be nothing more than a test pilot for the experimental aircraft.

At least that was what she told herself. The woman, in what she was beginning to suspect was her fractured memories, may be able to share some personal information into what exactly happened.

"We need to take this with us. We need to speak to this Rambeau." She held up the file and journal that he took so he could hold onto. It wouldn't do if she accidentally incinerated them. If Mar-Vell was dead and the Tesseract missing, at the moment, Talos wouldn't be able to do anything with these designs. Not unless he had the energy core that powered all of them.

And thus, she needed to get to it first.

Percy was not having a good day.

First the time-travel debacle and trying to get his jumbled and encroaching thoughts of preventing everything off of his mind. The second was that stupid whisper that kept pervading his mind whenever he looked to Vers. That one specifically had gotten old real fast though luckily, he was able to push it from his mind near entirely at this point.

He figured this whole mess with the Skrulls and Kree would be something wrapped up in a neat little bow in just a couple of hours and see both races off-world as soon as possible then Mist everyone at SHIELD before moving onto things that actually deserved his attention.

He was wrong.

After sitting for a lengthy and uncomfortable car drive through the Mojave only to arrive at this Pegasus base and have to sit for a couple more hours. He was decidedly more than a little peeved and regretful if this was how it was going to turn out.

But the demigod kept it in check. The last time he was involved in something interesting underneath a mountain, he was forced to bring it down and kill everyone underneath.

Originally interesting but something that ended terribly for all involved.

So he followed his usual mantra to keep the annoyance at bay. 'Boring days are good days.' And hoping this interesting but boring race between the Skrulls and Kree would simply be that.

He had taken several moments to dial his senses upon entering the underground base.

Even if it was highly unlikely that any monster was here, Percy was not in the mood to be getting ambushed again.

At the very least, it kept his mind away from the subject of either trying to stay or go back home but he knew sooner or later that he would have to confront that particular dilemma head-on and that was something he was going to avoid for as long as possible.

Percy figured that he liked to take his world-ending problems one at a time.

So right now, he was trying to figure out what a pillar of creation was doing on Earth.

His little crash course in the Battle for the Aether had clued him in on the nuances of the Infinity Stones and consequently, he was informed that the Tesseract was in actuality, a container and focus for the Space Stone created by the King of Asgard many millennia ago.

But what was it doing on Earth? He remembered that it was here before. Well, in the future. Of his time that is.

That's confusing to think about.

During the Battle of New York, he had seen the cube being used to create the portal for the Chitauri to invade, but he had figured that Loki had whisked it away from Asgard in the first place and that was what led Thor to be sent there.

Then again, it was entirely possible, especially considering the fact that right now it was somewhere on Earth at this very moment, that it was never on Asgard to begin. Loki stealing it from SHIELD would give credence to the fact that Fury and the Avengers in his time were so worked up about it from what he had seen on the helicarrier.

Percy didn't know the exact details though. His entire part in that engagement was just to get Loki and Thor off-planet as soon as possible to avoid war between Olympus and Asgard. The Tesseract was one of the last things on his mind at the time, if at all, as he hadn't been clued in on its true nature then.

The demigod still wanted nothing to do with the artefacts. His previous experiences only reinforcing the idea that all they did was bring death and destruction wherever they were.

But he couldn't exactly ignore them. He didn't trust that particular Infinity Stone in the hands of anyone save for Asgard given it was technically supposed to be in their custody. He couldn't call upon them right now given that if they did show up, they would draw the attention of the Olympians and that just drew him back to his dilemma of being out of his time and him not knowing whom he could trust.

He especially didn't trust one in the hands of races that would use it to fight their wars, much less, ones that didn't even know what they were dealing with.

For now though, he would take it one step at a time as he always did. It was better that way, it made things simple and easy to follow. Percy would worry about what to do with the Tesseract after he recovered it, not before.

Though he figured, if anything, keeping it under wraps with SHIELD would be the better course of action. He could just leave it in their custody until he found a better place for it.

It was better to leave it in their hands and on Earth until he found a better place to keep it or figured out a way to get it to Asgard without igniting a war. Even if SHIELD didn't know exactly what it was, it would be better if it was close by, so he could protect it if needed.

It was something to think about until he was able to get his hands on it.

His list of tasks growing, as always.

Deal with Skrull and Kree threat.

Recover the Tesseract.

Secure the Tesseract.

Decide on whether or not to stay here.

Then do something about it.

It brought his mind back to the present. It was time to take charge. This woman was almost as unhinged as he was and that was saying something, given her little light show and the way this whole…adventure was affecting her, it was best not to leave her calling the shots any longer.

Comparatively speaking, he had his head on straight and wasn't as prone as letting his emotions get the better of his actions.

"I'm guessing we are going after the Tesseract, right?" He asked while holding up a picture of the odd cube. A determined expression had wormed its way onto his face, it was something more for her, rather than himself.

It was a rhetorical question as he would be doing so with or without her help and while he would've very much liked to do this by himself, he wouldn't mind a few extra pairs of eyes considering that their main enemies were shapeshifters.

If Fury was anything like his future self, and he was, then the SHIELD agent would be tagging along regardless of whatever Percy or Vers wanted.

And Vers would want to see this through. After all, her entire spiel had been about removing the shifter threat from Earth. It was an added convenience that if he kept her close, these Skrulls would follow and would make it so that he didn't have to go after them.

That seemed to snap Vers from her stupor when he began standing as she quickly followed his lead.

If he was looking behind him, he would've seen her nodding with an expression of surprise, but he was much more interested in getting this show on the road and thus only had eyes for the exit. "The Skrulls can't get their hands on it."

"And neither can the Kree." He voiced as he made his way towards from where they originally came, absently tucking away the two files and journal into the satchel at the back of his waist.

He would be taking pictures of this journal the first chance he got and if possible, get Vers to translate it. If the Skrulls were after this, then it would be better to destroy it as soon as possible and unless they knew the password to his phone then it was doubtful they would ever get the information.

"What do you mean?"

She visibly scowled as he didn't answer, Percy's entire demeanor doing a one-eighty as he looked both ways of the hall from outside the archive. "We'll grab Fury on the way out, hopefully, we can get out of here without any trouble." The last thing they needed was to get stopped by an uptight security chief.

And then klaxons started blaring throughout the hallway.

Percy just had to open his mouth…

He looked to Vers who scrunched her eyes in amusement. "You know, it's usually me that says the wrong things at the wrong time." She quipped as they began running down the corridor. Percy internally scowled at her words. It seemed they were both in agreement that the alarm was for them. Better to be on the side of caution and all that. "It's refreshing that it isn't me for once!"

Just as they arrived at the elevator, it dinged.

"Fuck." Percy muttered, he immediately leapt into action, his reflexes and intuition of the situation reacting much faster than Vers though she was only a moment behind him.

The demigod would give credit where it was due however. It was a testament to the security officer's training and experience that he had reacted almost as fast as they did although, considerably slower and dumbly, if throwing himself forward with all the force he could muster upon the doors opening was any indication.

It was a smart, brave and yet stupid moment for the man, if not for the fact that he was mortal.

And Percy was decidedly a huge leap from that.

Even if the demigod was not an Asgardian or a child of a war deity, he still possessed a strength that outstripped anything a normal human could ever hope to bring to bear.

So when he collided with Percy, who had also prepared to meet him on instinct, the man was easily put into a sleeper hold. Percy was still pushed against the wall of the corridor as Vers also used her Kree strength to cover the man's mouth and prevent him from calling out.

The mortal attempted to break the headlock and also grasped for his shoulder-mounted walkie talkie, only for Vers to roughly rip it off and crush it in a simple clutching grip.

The security guard did not stand a chance with Percy holding him though.

And now he was being silenced by what Percy was beginning to suspect was the Kree's equivalent to a special forces operator.

The man was out in only a handful of seconds and Percy allowed him to unconsciously slump against the wall, the elevator having long already slid shut and with the light indicators going upwards.

Percy was going to assume that they were after them.

The man's reaction to them all but gave it away that something had gone down. If they took the elevator, there was no guarantee that the base's security wouldn't be waiting for them at the top. Plus, he didn't favor his chances of being caught in that apparent bottleneck and right now every second mattered.

With shifters around, there was no telling who was human and who wasn't and if he started indiscriminately killing, that would only place them in an even tighter bind than they were already in.

Doors began slamming open and close further into the hall as both Vers and Percy pressed up flush against the wall as much as they could. The small alcove that led into the elevator providing just enough obscurity that they weren't standing directly in the open.

Though he pitied the unconscious security guard. Percy didn't think that having a demigod and a Kree step on them felt all that well.

"Where are we going?" She harshly whispered. Percy's mind continued to move as the woman peeked out from around the corner and down the hall before quickly recoiling backwards. "Armed guards. At least a dozen of them."

He pushed to take her place and peeked as well, looking for a specific sign that had to be nearby.

A neon red illuminated EXIT sign with a stick figure going up a set of red stairs was quickly seen. Consequently, he also saw the guards she mentioned.

But they weren't the ones he hoped to see. These ones were armed with rifles and looked to be dedicated soldiers rather than rent-a-cops like the guy they had just taken down.

And the stairwell was between them and the security, but luckily for them, they were still some ways down the hallway.

"We're taking the stairs." The words tasted like vinegar as they fell from his mouth. With stairs, they had the option of choosing the set they wanted and hopefully, they would be able to go both up and down. He turned to her. "No killing."

"I thought as much." She retorted and readied herself.

Vers' entire body flared for a moment and Percy could see the slight shimmering of a suit being formed around her. The stolen clothing subsequently being overtaken as an odd green and black suit with an eight, pointed silver star emblazoned across her chest with additional silver trim was revealed to be worn underneath. She also wore what looked to be a kama skirt-like adornment on her left hip and attached to some sort of utility belt.

A skin-tight helm that seemed to be both metallic and fabric molded around her head and temples leaving her face exposed and the top of her head and thus her hair exposed.

"Stay behind me," Percy spoke and schooled himself, taking a moment and summoning his armor to his body. He didn't bring his helmet to bear, for the time being otherwise, he wouldn't be able to clear doorways as fluidly as he would like, nor would it be easy to hide the large frill at the top.

He was already a sore thumb with his golden armor. He didn't need to stand out anymore.

The Mist could only do so much especially if he was using it and he wasn't sure if there were other clear-sighted people around or mortals that wouldn't simply brute force their way past his active Veil Magic. He wasn't about to risk hiding if he wasn't sure of all of his advantages. The events of New York cemented that people could see him regardless if he wanted them to or not unless he actively concentrated on maintaining a cover.

She looked at him appraisingly for a moment. "Nice…armor?" The statement was more of a confusing question. His initial encounter with Sif flashed before his mind. She had said much the same thing back in the Asgardian Healing Chambers. He nodded in response.

As it was, it wasn't everyday people were able to witness someone decked out in what was essentially pure gold enchanted armor and given her reaction to his manipulation of the Mist, it was a given that she was clear-sighted.

"You ready?" He curled his wrist and Aegis sprang to life. It was a welcome weight and he felt his blood begin to turn frigid. Being in such an alien…time and place was grating on his nerves and uncomfortable.

But feeling the familiar surge of adrenaline and the hefting the weight of Aegis brough him a sense of security and comfort.

She nodded once more, and he leaned forward bracing against the shield. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

Percy was fully prepared to do a countdown.

He didn't know exactly whether she intended it or not as it could have been a gesture of reassurance. Not that he needed one, but to him from years of fighting with Reyna and some of the more veteran of the Hunt, and being the one that typically went into the fight first, that particular gesture was essentially giving him the green light to go forward.

He only hoped that she would be able to keep up because Percy was not going to be stopping.

Raising the Aegis and rushing forward, the demigod willed the shield to enact its enchantment. He felt the familiar feeling of innate energy in his hand as the magic in the shield pushed outwards. He could see the slight sea-green glow emanate from the edge of the shield.

It provided a much-needed moment of respite and allowed him to get halfway to the stairwell before the guards unleashed a hail of lead towards them.

His ears began ringing from the claps of the gunfire, but he soldiered on and focused on getting to the stairwell.

Percy growled his annoyance as he continued to step forward against the wave of bullets that crashed against the disc of celestial bronze with some even impacting against his cuirass, angling Aegis to send the sparks and shrapnel into the area around and in front of him.

The armor may be bulletproof, but he would be feeling it when the adrenaline wore off.

He barked an expletive in his ancient Greek as something dug into his exposed thigh, shrapnel had hit him most likely.

He pushed the pain from his mind as it was nothing that a shower or a salve of nectar wouldn't fix.

But that pain had annoyed him and quite frankly pissed him off. He peeked over the shield and looked to where they were, a dozen actions in his mind ready to end this delay once and for all.

That was until a bright beam of light shot forth from beside his head, impacting the ceiling between them and the soldiers. An explosion rounded and there was a distinct shudder throughout the corridor as a cascade of rubble fell from the top. A wall of metal, dirt and sparks fell in between the two groups.

He could feel the wave of vibrations emanating from the focal point. Blowing things up in such a confined area, especially underground, was inherently stupid.

Percy would know.

Percy hissed in displeasure and stomped roughly against the ground as he maneuvered to crash into the stairwell door, focusing his own seismic powers and divine authority to force the rock and earth to still. He didn't need the base dropping on them while they were trying to get out.

He ignored the flaring pain in his leg that the action had caused him.

The seismic activity stopped immediately, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief, Vers right behind him as they began ascending the stairs. "Next time, tell me when you're going to do that!" He shouted over the din of the klaxons.

"Sorry! It was a spur of the moment kind of thing!" She retorted from behind him, using the railings to pull herself faster up the stairs.

They only went up another flight before Percy was able to hear the stomping of boots from above them.

They both simultaneously turned on their heel and went back and further downwards. They would have to find another way to move upwards in the base and to the exit. Whoever that is, was most likely going to investigate that explosion.

"Fury and the consultant are colluding with the target, rookie. Just follow your orders." A female voice said loudly in an exasperated voice.

"Then why would Fury call us in? This isn't making any sense." A voice that Percy recognized as Coulson's, asked in concern and disbelief. It was a good point, if Fury was working against SHIELD, the last thing he would want to do is call them in.

If Percy had gathered anything from the SHIELD agent, it was that he was a smart man. He wouldn't have done something so stupid unless he was intentional to catch them flatfooted.

In that case, the demigod would need to be careful if he saw the man again. If Fury was a shapeshifter this whole time, then like Vers said these Skrulls were not afraid to kill each other to cement their positions.

There was only one place that Fury could have possibly been shifted from and that was the SHIELD Branch Offices. If that was the case then there may be more among their ranks.

"All I know is that we take them both in. Dead or alive."

"Dead or alive?"

The voices trailed off as they heard the door they had just left. Vers stopped in her tracks and Percy had very nearly ran her over. "We can't leave Fury." She said, turning to him.

Percy frowned as that cold feeling from before began to spread from his back and into his blood, that serene and melodious whisper started to edge his mind once again. Thoughts of simply leaving the SHIELD agent filtering through his instinctual blockade of the pervading murmuring.

Even entertaining it for a moment completely allowed for his more calculating and cold mentality to take hold and that icy venom to seep into his muscles.

The mortals were already fully willing to use lethal force against them. It was becoming increasingly apparent that a shifter had taken on the guise of someone with the authority to place the entire base on lockdown, he didn't think it would be conducive if they remained here any longer than necessary.

And unless they were prepared to begin something that could be equated to a purge of the base, which he didn't want to do mostly because of their ignorance, it would make their fight and thus escape a hell of a lot harder.

The thought of simply dropping the mountain edged his mind and he internally recoiled. Images of a tear-ridden and shell-shocked Hazel at the base of a collapsed cavern flashed through his mind and the looks of disbelief and shock across the faces of the few spectators that were in the area burned into his mind's eye.

Allison's chief among them.

She was there. He realized. The Son of Poseidon quickly discarded the thought. Right now, he had much more pressing concerns.

No. I won't leave behind any others. He determined. Frank and Nico were two too many. A single demigod or legacy was one too many to be left behind.

Percy would not have a repeat of that sacrifice here. He was not prepared to leave anyone behind.

And thus, the demigod wouldn't leave Fury behind.

Percy's thoughts ran near-instantaneously from the moment Vers had spoken her declaration.

"Damn it." Percy voiced, mostly because of the pointed look sent his way by the blonde woman and then proceeded, back up the same flight of stairs that he had traveled twice now, three times already.

If the Son of Poseidon didn't already hate stairs, which he did, he certainly developed a personal hatred for them now.

Percy took the lead once again, his shield at the ready as he peeked around the corner. Luckily, with the collapsed ceiling, there was only one way for them to go and that was back the way they came. They just had to reach Fury before the entire base descended upon them.

And then he could Mist them to the car at least.

Besides that, and on the bright side of things, it would get the day's life or death situation out of the way and there was nothing quite like getting a good run to get the morning going.

The duo moved quickly to where they were previously as that would most likely be where Fury would have returned to if he was looking for them.

His senses, as dialed as they were, told him that there were numerous people on this level. He could feel the vibrations echo through the floor. The thought of using Veil Magic to confuse everyone crossed his mind but was quickly disregarded. He was still unsure of his ability to pull it off against people that knew they were there and were specifically and actively looking for them.

And unless he was absolutely positive that it would be something that would work, there was no use trying if he could stick to something that would in fact work.

The SHIELD agents he had caught in his time were by themselves and caught unawares. He was much more used to using brute force to sway someone's mind than doing something like an area-of-effect manipulation. That was best left in the hands of those that were more practiced in their abilities like Calypso.

Percy quickly barged open one of the side doors and most likely one of the emergency exits as there was no way that they were going to be able to make it into the main entrance with all of the security in that direction.

The demigod heard a groan of pain and the monologuing of someone, he guessed that Vers had heard it as well as they both rushed forwards.

A man that Percy recognized as Fury's boss and what he was told was the branch director of SHIELD on the West Coast was standing over his subordinate with a raised sidearm. Fury's stitched brow was broken and bleeding while the man himself was laying on his back on the ground eyes scrunched in pain.

Percy, acting on pure instinct, as he was sure Vers was as well, raised his shield as a beam of light flew past him and a gunshot resounded.

The man in the suit had been thrown into an unceremonious heap as Percy was able to block the ensuing bullet from hitting Fury having interceded in a blur of movement and the bullet deflecting off.

After hearing shouting, Percy curled his wrist and placed Aegis back into its smaller enchanted form. He wasted no time in grabbing Fury by the scruff of his jacket, who groaned in response, and Vers by her arm.

Another shout, a voice he recognized as Coulson's, "Hold your fire!" A gunshot rang out and Percy willed the trio into a cascade of mist.

It was near instantaneous as the three were subsequently deposited right beside Fury's car.

And Percy suppressed the hiss of flaring and absolute pain that erupted in his injured leg as soon as his mind and body formed. He grasped at the wound in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. Whatever shrapnel that had made his leg hate him, had been violently torn out when he had misted.

Note to self, bullets don't mix well with Mist travel.

Vers appeared to be in the same state as he was as she clasped at her bleeding shoulder, blue blood seeping from the open bullet wound. She pressed herself up against the side of the car, beside him and Fury. The agent though was knocked out cold.

Still, inside the base. Percy looked up, agents were milling about as well as the more well-equipped security officers who hadn't noticed them yet.

Percy's mind raced with plans as he looked frantically around. The front door was decidedly not an option. Not with this much security here lounging about. That icy and cold feeling began to further course through him.

Flashes of being trapped and being overrun in the mountains and caves of Greece ran roughshod in his mind. The Earth Mother's malformed gaze encroached on cavern and tunnel walls as Earthborn broke through dozens of undead. Nico and Frank led the defense of the few legacies and demigods that were able to be mustered on such short notice, while he started breaking the roughly hewn tunnel walls with his seismic powers.

He stamped the thoughts away as the lights above flickered and trails of dust fell from the ceiling, the luminescent aura around Vers growing and his own emotional blocks began giving way to one of his most demoralizing and regretful decisions of the Second Gigantomachy came to the forefront of his mind.

The demigod heard shouting from around them.

It was becoming increasingly likely that they were about to get captured.

Percy would rather die than allow that to happen.

And he had the added ability of being able to essentially teleport.

But in their current states, misting was something that he would rather avoid but if it came down to it, he would break this mountain and get them out of there. Parallel events be damned. He would not be trapped underground. Not again.

Vers was the first to bring herself from the sudden pain as she looked over the nearby railing. She wasn't losing the contents of her stomach at the very least like Jane had when he had first misted with her. "Percy, get us to that ship!"

He looked over, following her gaze. It was an odd-looking white and grey jet with large engines strapped to the tail wing.

It looked like an older version of the jets that he had seen on the helicarrier.

"You can fly that?"

"We won't know till I try." Her answer was decidedly not the one he was looking for.

But at this point, any alternative was better than simply collapsing a mountain and reliving a memory that he would rather leave in the past.

That was a last resort. If he had to go through that again, he wasn't sure that he would be able to keep his mindscape in check long enough to not spawn a hurricane.

He didn't even bother waiting for her verbal affirmation and merely grabbed Vers by her arm and Fury by the scruff of his jacket and misted them to the open ramp. Percy, being used to his form of travel already, quickly hooked an arm around Vers and the unconscious Fury, steadying them as he pulled them further into the cargo hold of the aircraft.

The wound erupted in pain as his form coalesced into being. His leg was burning from the added exertion and weight. The demigod could feel the blood running down his wounded leg and a slightly numbing sensation began to coil around it.

He was definitely going to be feeling it whenever he got out of here.

Vers was able to regain her bearings quickly and moved to pilot the craft while Percy strapped the unconscious Fury into one of the seats that lined the side. He took a moment to look him over, with his face cut on his cheekbone and the open wound on his brow, he looked like someone that had gotten the absolute shit beat out of him and that was not even counting the forming purple bruises around his face and what felt like a dislocated shoulder.

Percy was never a healer, he left that in the capable hands of the children of Apollo. His own healing notwithstanding as that was more innate power than his own skill. The demigod pulling Frigga from the brink of death was something of an outlier and had drained him of his power and even then, he had to resort to giving her a drop of nectar to keep her alive and to restore her fully.

He could help him though but now was not the time. First, was leaving this damned base before he lost his patience and whatever tolerance he had left and simply brought the mountain down around them.

Percy limped as fast as he could to where Vers was sitting in the cockpit and fiddling with the controls. He spied a trail of blood running from her shoulder. She must've gotten hit when the shooter had fired his weapon just before he had misted them from the Records room.

"How are we looking?"

"Going to need a moment." She bit out as she continued flipping switches and turning knobs. "Come on, you piece of junk! Start already!" She shouted as she flicked another pair of switches. The aircraft subsequently turned on.

And their temporary respite now lost.

"Stop that jet! Close the hangar doors!" Shouts from where they originally were, Percy guessed.

"Now would be a good time to get us out of here!" He murmured with a bit of impatience.

"I need a moment!" She exasperated again and gestured to the empty seat beside her as she continued to work the controls before her, wincing as she did so. "I'm working for two here!" He looked over his shoulder as the ramp began to be pulled upward.

Shouting was heard followed by the distinct cracking of gunfire and the impact of bullets against the metal frame.

The aircraft began moving forward. "Hold on!" She shouted as she pressed forward a large handle and he felt the aircraft lurch forward. Percy instinctually braced himself on the stacked crates and grabbed hold of the straps attached to them.

The gunfire that continued to fire was drowned out by the firing jet engines and then subsequently lost altogether as they cleared the runway, the mouth of the hanger, and into the dawning sky.

A rather anticlimactic and mostly bloodless ending, to a sudden and almost death filled night.

'One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.'

-Agatha Christie

Happy Holidays! I hope you all have/had a great time with your loved ones!

I don't have much to say here other than that. I do want to hear your thoughts so far however. Especially on how I am portraying Carol and the furthering of her own growth. I was left unsatisfied with her character in the MCU. They had an awesome concept for her yet, in my opinion, left her character and story stunted overall.

I figure I may get some flak for not making her bulletproof but I'm playing around with her energy absorption powers in terms of what she can absorb and when she can absorb it. This'll be built upon in the future.

Other than that (and as always), you can also find me on the Emerald Library Discord! I am on there talking about real-time progress of chapters and generally just chatting and chilling with other amazing authors and readers! You can also find an update schedule for 'Of Water and Salt' here!

You can find the link to that on my profile!