You know, life is a funny thing. One minute you’re breaking into Avenger headquarters. You know, just to see if you can. Just for the shear hell of it, and the next minute life just throws you through a loop and you’re trying to sort out a mess that your parents made years ago. Well, sort of, ish? (sigh oh you decide.
Anyway, I looked the part. Nice sharp suit, smart shoes, and a crisp white shirt. Oh, and don’t forget the shades. Momma said Fury says you gotta look cool. I was brought out of my reveries as I turned a corner and damned near walked straight into Maria Hill and some other S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. I didn’t realise it was Daisy (Skye) Johnson (I think you probably know her as Quake) until later.
I caught part of their conversation, “They’ve captured an alien. I never thought I’d ever see one. He’s so cute. He looks like us, but he has the most glorious honey coloured eyes you ever did see. Got a weird name though. Ron-Wogg I think.”
Without thinking I asked, “Yon-Rogg?” They both looked at me questioningly.
” And you’d know that how?” Maria asked me. Well what could I do apart from stutter and stammer some lame excuse? Well that led too “Where’s your I’d?” and “Lose the shades”. I sighed. I could blast them. But I was the one that was technically trespassing and was in the wrong here. “I said. Lose the shades” Maria repeated.
I slowly pushed the shades up until they sat on the top of my head. Then I was looking down the barrels of two guns. I smiled ruefully and raised my hands to the sky. “Start walking” so I did. I started to walk in the direction Maria pointed tout and found myself being led to the cell that contained Yon-Rogg. Well that was fortuitous. “Inside” Maria ordered me, and I did as I was told for once. Only because it suited me though. Maria and Skye looked at each other proudly and promptly left me in the cell with Yon-Rogg. Probably they were going to notify Fury of another Kree being found deep in the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Well. If that man wasn’t paranoid before, he will be now.
What was that? Another Kree? Yup. I’m mostly Kree. You see, Carol (Vers) Danvers is my mom. Anyway, I digress. I turned to face Yon-Rogg to find him studying me. Then he saw my eyes, “You are Kree. I feel like I know you. You look familiar. Are you Starforce? Accuser?” I just looked at him sheepishly and grimaced a smile. The look on his face was a picture. He recognised the key markers in my genetic makeup, “You’re Vers’ daughter” he groaned exasperated as I nodded, and I watched him intently as he scrutinised me. “You’re mostly Kree. Your father. He is Kree?”
” Yes”
” Do I know him? Who is he?” I could detect a hint of jealousy in his voice. My mother had told me that Yon-Rogg was a brilliant warrior. He was brave and strong. But he had a jealous streak and a temper that made Thanos look well adjusted.”
” You know him very intimately” I don’t know why I said that. I really don’t. I just felt a great urge to wind him up mercilessly. Yon-Rogg looked at me with distain. So, I quickly added, “You’re my father.” Hah haa, you should have seen the look of shock on his face. I wish I had a camera with me. I couldn’t help but snigger. Well, he looked funny. He really did. I was still laughing when he promptly swept my feet out from underneath me and grinned as I was now probably wearing the same look on my face that he had been wearing not 5 minutes ago as I sat on my butt in front of his feet.
” You know. I once told your mother that humour was a distraction. Thank you for proving my point”, now he was the one who was laughing. He held out his hand for me to catch hold of so that he could help me back to my feet which I took gladly. He pulled me to my feet and pulled me into his arms. “A daughter. We have a daughter Vers” he sounded so proud. He hugged me like his life depended on it.
” Am I disturbing something?”
“As a matter of fact you are” my father replied. Mother always said dad was an arrogant son of a bitch. “My daughter and I were having a private conversation.”
” Well you’ll just have to carry on that conversation later. I want a word with you Commander” my mother had always liked Fury, but I found myself disliking him immensely. He was disrespecting my father and ruining my first meeting with him. And truth be told, I was enjoying my hug.
” Do you want to get out of here?” I whispered in my father’s ear. He gave me a smile and a little nod. So, I pulled the Danvers maneuverer. I blasted a hole in the ceilings and the roof then I flew us both out. “I wish I could see the look on Fury’s face right now” I laughed.
” Do not be so cocky my daughter. This will not be as easy as you think. Um. What did Vers name you?” he asked me as we landed a few miles from home. You see, my thinking is with all the mutants, enhanced personnel and Inhumans S.H.I.E.L.D. has at their disposal they quite possibly could locate my photonic signature.
Mom named me Una-Rogg Danvers. Best walk from here.” I told dad. He was looking at me with a broad grin on his face. “What?”
” She named you after my mother” he looked so proud. “You are so much like your mother it’s frightening”, his tone of voice was nonchalant. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head with a grin on my face. That made him burst into raucous laughter, “Now that right there. That was all me. The amount of times I pulled that face where your mother was concerned was nobody’s business.” Then he sighed forlornly and looked at me again. I mean, he really looked at me. He brushed his hand lovingly down the side of my face and gently cradled my chin in his hand, “You look so much like her. My daughter”. He said the words my daughter with reverence. I couldn’t help it. I was beaming.
” Your mother is not going to take kindly to me walking through her front door Una-Rogg” but the statement flew right over my head as It slowly dawned on me. Something I should have picked up on a while ago. I stopped walking as it dawned on me. Maria Hill and Fury were decimated in the snap
“That wasn’t Fury and Maria Hill. I just remembered mum saying they were lost with the snap”
” Excuse me?”
” Fury and Maria Hill. They’re part of the dusted ones. So how are they at Avengers Headquarters? And why are the Avengers acting like nothing happened?”
” Because the Avengers asked us to step in love” OMG. A real live Skrull. My mother had told me stories about them, but I’ve never met one before.
” Talos” Did my father just actually bow his head to greet a Skrull? Even the Skrull looked shocked. Talos. That’s my mothers’ friend. I was curious though.
” How did you know where to find us?”
” It aint hard where these guys concerned kid. Anybody who’s anybody, knows Yon-Rogg loves Carol Susan Jane Danvers forward stroke Vers”
” You need not worry Talos. I’m just making sure my daughter gets home safely then I’ll be on my way” Wait, what did he just say?
” No. You’re coming home. I just got you in my life. You can’t leave now.”
” Una. You need to realise. I just wanted to check on things. Make sure that your mother was still in the Universe after the snap. To find out that she is O.K. and that I have a daughter was more than I could have hoped for. But you must realise that I put your mother through hell. She went through hell for leaders that I idolised as gods and what did they do to repay their loyal followers? They detonate a Nega bomb and wipe out 90% of the Kree and those of us that are left were seeded with…well I won’t disturb you with the specifics, but the Kree that are left are no longer Kree, they are Inhuman. I myself can now fire concussive photon blasts and stellar light from my hands.”
” I’m one of the lucky ones. Some Kree now have hideous mutations to deal with. I was afraid that the blasts aftershock might have reached C-53 and caused Vers more problems as she is half Kree.”
” I don’t understand. Why would the Supreme Intelligence do something like that?” Talos asked the question I was thinking.
” Apparently they wanted us to mutate. Our evolution had become stagnant long ago. They wanted to kick start it again. An evolution reset as it were. They killed billions of us” I had tears streaming down my face as I watched my father break down. “I didn’t see it coming. And in the end, I could not protect my brethren.”
” There, there mate.” Talos was comforting my father. I bet no-one would have thought that these two sworn enemies would find a common ground.
” Vers told me. She did. She told me you were not the enemy and I didn’t believe her. The Supreme Intelligence was everything to me. They would not lie about something like this I told myself. I did anything and everything they asked of me and they killed so many of us just so they could build better soldiers. My kids. Everyone of them died, be it with the nega blast or the snap. Not one of them were spared. You should just kill me now Talos. I destroy everything I love and care about.”
” You know. You didn’t detonate that Nega mate. That weren’t you. I once told Carol that my hands were filthy from the war too. Why should you be any different? We’ve all done things we’re not proud of mate. The thing we need to worry about now is how we move on. What do we do now to make it right?
” You know, the Avengers could use you on the team. They lost quite a few warriors in the snap.” Dad huffed a burst of laughter at that.
” Vers would just love that” he told Talos sarcastically and Talos grinned at that comment.
” Oh yeah mate. That’s a conversation I’m gonna love watching, she’s gonna kick your arse and I’m sorry to say. No. I’m not sorry. I’m gonna enjoy every minute of it. But then you can’t blame me for that one. I mean. You did try to kill me and my family. So, you kind of owe me a damned good show.”
Dad was smiling at that comment. “Yes. I do, don’t I?”
” Come on. No time like the present as the Terrans say” I thought I heard dad sigh again.
” Ok. Let’s go before I change my mind”
” That’s the spirit mate” Talos laughed and slapped dad right between the shoulder blades. We walked most of the way home in silence. I got the odd smile off dad and Talos was looking at me like he was my proud parent too. I’m not sure what to make of that. “Cute kid you two made mate. You know. I knew you two were close, but I didn’t know you were THAT close” Talos grinned and yet another sigh escaped my father. This time Talos got the eye roll and a head shake too for good measure.
” HEY CAROL. I FOUND A COUPLE OF STRAYS. I THINK THEY BELONG TO YOU” he shouted and laughed as we came within earshot of our little cottage on Maria’s grounds. At least someone thought it was funny because I didn’t see the funny side as mom came outside and saw me standing next to my father. She just glared at him and promptly blasted him clean across the yard.
” Mom. No!”
” Stay out of this Una-Rogg. This is between me and your father.” You know she looks like a woman possessed.
” Talos, do something. She’ll kill him” I was actually starting to cry. I never cry. It’s against my Kree biology. Talos was looking at me with sympathy.
” Don’t worry kid. I won’t let it get that far. But you need to let them work this out themselves or things will just fester then blow out of all proportion, and now your dad is practically a male version of your mum that could spell bad news for Earth. I kinda like this planet. It’s a home from home. Be a shame to see it blow up because your parents had a spat.” So, I watched. Mom was looking down on my very shocked dad.
” How dare you come back here. I sent you back to Hala for a reason.”
” Yes, I know. I was there you know. I delivered your message and was promptly tortured. Sent to a mining colony for 5 years and then exiled. So, thanks for that my love”
” You deserved a whole lot more than that.” Although, I thought I saw her look just a little upset at the predicament that she had put poor old dad in. “Why have you come back? I know you didn’t know about our offspring. I threatened everyone with violence so that they’d keep their collective mouths shut.”
” Why does that not surprise me? I wanted to make sure I still had you in the Universe. You know, after the snap. Oh, and a homicidal A.I. who decided to wipe out Hala and most of the Kree.”
” What?”
” Hala is now a white dwarf. You will be pleased to know that the A.I. is…. What is that Terran term? Ah yes, toast. You will also be pleased to know that I made sure that every back up it made of itself was obliterated. I couldn’t chance it controlling the Kree that are left. “He looked so sad
” The Kree that have survived are learning to be self-sufficient without interference, well that is if you consider the Inhuman royal family non-interference. But I do agree that the populous need to learn to use their newfound Inhuman abilities. We’re basically mutants now” he smiled ruefully as he lit up his hands to show mum that he was just like her now who was suitably shocked.” You were right. The Supreme Intelligence was toxic. It nearly made the Kree extinct just so that it could have a race of super soldiers. That was not for the good of all Kree. But I am confused. Why is most of your anger directed at me?”
” How can someone who can organise an entire attack force, strategize and carry out precise battle plans with precision not see why I am pissed at him? YOU LIED TO ME! YOU!”
” I know what I did was wrong, but everyone lied to you Vers. Why am I the one that you hold accountable?” poor dad was genuinely baffled. Even I could see that.
” You really don’t see?” mom seemed amazed when dad told her he really didn’t have a clue. I think she thought it should have been obvious. “Then let me spell it out for you.” She was stalking over to him. I looked over at Talos who was watching the whole debacle with glee. Mum crouched down in front of dad who instinctively backed up further, but he quite literally wound up with his back against a wall. I think he was expecting her to blast him into the here after and honestly, I thought she was too. But she just grabbed him, pulled him close and gave him such a passionate kiss I was considering therapy.
” That’s why I am so angry Yon-Rogg. The Intelligence, Minn-Erva, any off the others I could forgive. But You? You were my friend, my mentor and my lover. I trusted you. I loved you and I thought, no, I had hoped you loved me too. That’s why I’m so pissed at you. Why are you grinning? This is not a joke Yon-Rogg. I’m telling you how I feel” mom’s eyes were tearing up. I had never seen her so upset.
” I’m grinning as you put it because I do love you. It killed me every day that I had to lie to you, but If I didn’t I would have been executed for dereliction of duty and refusal to follow orders” dad composed himself as he explained himself to mom, “It was a no win situation for me Vers.” Mom touched her forehead to dads before catching his face between her hands and kissing him again.
” Ugh, get a room people. Oh, dear lord I don’t need to see this.” I cringed. “Aren’t you two too old for this kind of thing?” they both shot me a look that told me to shut it or something bad would ensue.
” Talos offered me a post with the Avengers” Dad just threw in there changing the subject.
” He did?”
” Yes. He did” I was smiling at this point but when she kissed him again my smile turned into a mere grimace causing Talos to laugh uncontrollably and made both my parents turn around to see what was so funny. Then they were laughing at me too.”
” You know if you’re joining the team, you’re gonna have to look the part” mom was grinning now. She had an evil little twinkle in her eye. “You do need to be punished you see” dad was looking confused again, and just a little worried. He looked positively horrified as she started to play around with an access panel on his left arm. His suit started to change colours before settling on the same colours as moms’ suit.
” You can’t do this Vers” dad whined. He was whining and that started Talos off laughing again.
” This is a great show people” mom looked at Talos and wiggled her eyebrows at him as she smirked which just made him worse.
”You said that to me just before I sent you back to Hala didn’t stop me then and it won’t stop me now, and anyway, I just did” mom was giggling like a school girl as she locked the colours in place with a secure passkey.
” That damned Skrull is never going to let me live this down” dad moaned as Talos just laughed harder. He was holding his stomach as a stitch developed. “Good enough for you” dad laughed. It’s true you know. Laughter is the best medicine, and you know something else? It’s contagious too.
” It’s a small price to pay for a life of happiness don’t you think? “mom asked.
” A life with you?”
” A life with your family, yes”
” A small price to pay indeed.” Dad is staying. I was giddy. Something good had come out of this mess after all.
” So does this mean you’ll be taking the job?” Talos was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
” Yes Talos. I’m taking the job. Or should I say Fury?” They were smiling at one another. Two enemies had come together to fight for a common goal, and dare I say it they have a newfound respect for one another and were becoming friends.
” You gonna tell him, or shall I?” my turn to grin.
” Tell me what?” dad was looking worried again.
” Congratulations dad. It’s twins” My brother laughed. He stood leaning against the house; arms crossed with one leg bent with his foot resting on the wall trying to look all cool.
” Bloody hell Carol. What ya do? Clone him?” Talos looked shocked. As did dad. I must admit though Zey-Rogg was the double of our father.
” Oh, and another thing” Zey had that dreamy devilish look in his eyes that made all the girls swoon. As he disappeared inside the house, I rolled my eyes. My brother did have a flare for the dramatics. When he returned outside, he brought out my nephew Hav-Rogg and placed him in our fathers’ arms. “This is your grandson. Hav-Rogg. He’s a little over 3 months old now”
” Do I get to meet his mother?” Zey looked like he had just taken a punch to the gut. Dad closed his eyes and pulled little Hav into a firm hug as if to console the babe. “She is one of the decimated!” Zey just nodded, his face contorted with grief. “I am so sorry my son”
” Hey, we’ll sort this kid.” Talos told my brother as he placed a comforting hand on Zey’s shoulder. “It’s not going to happen overnight. But it will happen.”
It’s been a busy 5 years and today we accomplished the impossible. We, the new avengers beat Thanos and retrieved all our dusted. But we paid a high price. We lost Natasha, Vision and Tony. As Tony passed away my father did something I did not expect. He kneeled before Tony to honour our great hero. As soon as he did this, one by one the new Avengers started to kneel and bow their heads to show their gratitude and love for our Iron Man also.
After the funeral, during the wake, we watched a video that Tony had recorded before we all headed out to the lake to watch Pepper lay a wreath with his old power source at the center that read Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart. I still can’t believe he’s gone. I had grown to love that man over the last 5 years. I used to love watching Tony and my father go through complex mathematical equations and come up with new inventions. Dad had said, “For a human he is very intelligent.” Tony had given him an over exaggerated bow at that comment and my father laughed at that. Yes people. My Kree father laughed, and in public too. Who knew huh?
I smiled at the memory as I watched the wreath float away. I started to look around and look at everyone as they paid their respects. Then my gaze met Fury’s who looked at me with wide eyes. Let’s face it. My brother and I were the double of our father and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who he was. I smiled at Fury and bowed my head in respect for our newly reformed leader. He repaid my salute with his own and a smile then looked to my father who I noticed was also staring at Fury.
Fury finally bit the bullet and walked over to where we stood and looked my father straight in the eyes, “Come over from the dark side have you?”
” I trust Talos filled in the blanks Fury.”
” Yeah. But I got to get at least one dig in you know.” Fury smirked as he playfully punched dads arm causing dad to smirk right back at him.
I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it, “Who are you? And what have you done with my father?” I asked which caused quite a few people to giggle and snigger at the comment. Dad just rolled his eyes and shook his head like he usually does. Then dad’s face just lit up like a Christmas tree. I followed the direction that dad was looking and saw Zey-Rogg and his mate walking towards us. She was carrying Hav-Rogg in her arms with a dazed look on her face
” I’ve missed so much Una” She had such a look of pain on her face that my heart just went out to her. Zey pulled her close and nuzzled her to show his support. She seemed to relax after that.”
” Come my love. I want you to meet my father.”
” Your father?”
” A lot has happened in the 5 years you’ve been away my love. Dad. This is my mate Jessica Drew”
Fury grinned, “Well hello spider woman” and bowed his head to her as he started to walk away. “Oh, and Yon-Rogg. I like the suit. The colours look good on you” he shouted as he got into his car. Dad swore blind he heard Fury laughing.
Talos walked over to us and Zey-Rogg proudly introduced him to Jessica. Talos greeted her politely and then excused himself as he had news for my father. “Look. I don't know how it happened. But my spies tell me that Hala has returned from the dead and a few million Kree have just rematerialized on that very same Hala. Just thought you’d like to know that your race is no longer an endangered species my friend.”
” Tony must have managed to work a little magic with that snap of his. Thank you my friend. That is great news. You know this whole incident did have its benefits”
” How’d you make that one out?” Talos was taken aback by the comment but I knew what dad meant.
” We had become the endangered species Talos. The few of us that were left learned at first hand what you went through. Alright, we weren’t being hunted down like you were, but our own leader decided to kill us off. We didn’t have a chance to run. It was not a nice feeling and you have my apology on behalf of my people. Not that that makes anything right, but you have my word that the Kree will be re-educated. One way or another, the Kree/Skrull war is over.” My father offered his hand to Talos and with a smile he graciously accepted my father’s outstretched hand.
” That’s not going to be easy.”
” No. It won’t be. But we have a whole new command structure in place now and the dusted are just regular Kree. They will have to deal with the Inhuman Kree and trust me when I say that we Inhumans like this peace that we have adopted over the past 5 years and we will not see the old ways come back.”
Talos raised an eyebrow at my father’s comments and smiled.
” Never thought I’d ever hear those words come out of Yon-Rogg’s mouth. Just let me know if you need any help, our numbers are back up now”
” I’m hoping that won’t be needed. But I will keep it in mind”
” Does that mean you’re going home?” Mom asked warily
” Vers. I am home” dad told her. Although he did state he was going to have longer commute to work now which started a few people off laughing.
” Did you just make a joke Yon-Rogg Danvers?” mom grinned and gave dad a playful punch on the arm. “Humour is a distraction Yon-Rogg”
” Vers. What in the hell am I going to do with you?” his laughter was cut off as an emergency beacon sounded through his and mom’s com bands.
” Sorry everyone, we have to leave. Duty calls.” Mom announced and went to grab dad to take him with her, but he was already on his way.
” So Your dad flies too?
” Yeah. It’s a new thing that kicked in in the battle.” I replied
” Hi. I’m Harley Keener.”
” Pleased to meet you Harley” and wouldn’t you know it, he offered his arm to me. “Care to join me for dinner? Say about 8?” Wow. He was forward. He reminded me of Uncle Tony.
” I don’t mind if I do” I smiled. We been married now for nearly 2 years. We have twin boys. Yon-Rogg Jr and Antony Edward. Oh, and in case you were wondering. Hala is a peaceful haven for all who need assistance and a place to stay. There wasn’t much of a fight. I had to laugh as it seems most of the higher up military that re-materialised were all part of the Kree resistance anyway. But we use Hala as a base of operations for the Universal Avengers and yes, even the Skrull live openly among us. The S.I. was destroyed and doesn’t have a hope in hell of returning and we also have a New Xandar. You know. Life couldn’t be better.