Forbidden | Carol Danvers

Chapter 39: Dream Team

Going from the familiar comfort and warmth of Carol to the awkward glances from Monica was like getting pushed into ice water. I could feel the temperatures drop as I climbed the stairs back up to the main level of the ship. She wasn't too fond of me, and I wasn't happy with her at the moment either. All we'd gotten from her was accusations and agitated looks, and it was getting tiresome, no matter how much understanding I had for her situation.

This wasn't the woman we knew as a kid, and not the person she must be. Maria was a kind woman who raised her daughter to be the same, and Fury didn't like rude people either. They would not be so close if Monica wasn't a good person at heart. It brought me faith that she'd come around.

For now, I purposely avoided looking at her as I took off the top part of my suit, but her eyes subtly followed me around the space as I pulled a long sleeve shirt on and re-tied my ponytail. I got a feeling she felt slightly guilty, that she wanted to say something about snapping at me earlier, but Monica stayed quiet while she fiddled with a device Carol kept lying around. At least she'd made herself at home.

There wasn't much for me to do with Kamala in the shower and Carol making repairs downstairs. I drank and ate something, read the message from Valkyrie saying the Skrulls were safe on Earth, and tidied up, rolling my eyes at the Crocs I found everywhere. It was quiet, and tense, and I willed Carol to hurry up so she could be the shield between me and Monica.

''I'm... sorry about earlier.'' I nearly jumped when Monica's hesitant voice came from the kitchen area, never expecting her to speak up, let alone apologize. Slowly, I turned to her, recognizing her grimace as regret. ''It came out harsher than I wanted to.''

I nodded in thanks, the ghost of a smile on my face. ''I'm sorry, too.'' We both knew I didn't mean our previous collision.

That was the end of it. We went back to what we were doing, feeling no less awkward. Water stopped running through the pipes above my head, a sign that Kamala was done with her shower. I listened to the door sliding open, her foot or arm banging against the glass, the quiet, ''ow'', that followed. If Monica wasn't so close to me, I would have chuckled.

To my relief, Carol came upstairs seconds later. I could have jumped into her arms with relief, but I settled for smiling instead. ''Done?''

''All done.'' She teasingly held up the empty energy bar wrapper and shook the drink can so that I could hear it was empty. I wasn't asking if she finished her food like a little kid, though, and she knew that. ''We're good to go.''

The bathroom door opened at that moment. Both Carol and I turned to look at it, seeing Kamala timidly step out. I smiled fondly at the sight of the pajamas on her. The shirt was oversized and the pants too long, like I predicted, but she looked adorable in it, her long black hair hanging in wet clusters from her head.

''Hey,'' Carol greeted her softly.

An unspoken tension formed in the air. All our minds simultaneously went back to how she yelled at Kamala earlier. From what I gathered, the girl hadn't wanted to leave Tarnax while there were still civilians on it, and Carol practically dragged her onto the ship to safety. Unkind tones of voices were used in the process. They hadn't been face to face since then.

It was odd to see Kamala so down, her gaze cast downwards with a kind of hurt in her eyes. I missed her bubbly self. ''I hope you don't mind,'' she said timidly, fiddling with the hem of the shirt. ''I didn't have any other clothes. Aayala gave me these.'' I offered her a soft smile when she glanced at me.

''It's totally fine. Looks good on you,'' Carol assured her.

An awkward silence fell. Kamala didn't look at her. A big part of her hurt must come from her expectations of Carol, the kind woman she'd pictured in her head. Suddenly, her hero was yelling at her, and so a fear crept into her body that maybe people were right when they said to never meet your heroes. What if the woman she'd idealized all her life turned out to be a rude person? It'd break her heart.