Greeting new arrivals had never been Carol’s favorite part of working Defense.
Dealing with newbies was always a toss-up. Most accepted what they were told without much argument and allowed themselves to be taken to the DOA to debrief. Some would pepper her with questions, which she didn’t mind too much, but she usually just told them they’d get better answers from the Welcoming Committee.
Then, there were the ones who wanted to fight. She’d had a run-in with one of those types fairly recently — the green-haired girl who wouldn’t listen to reason and wanted to try to fight her with whatever insane powers she possessed. She’d ended up knocking her out just to save them both the trouble. She’d filed an incident report and called it a day, only to find complaints on the network for all to see the next day.
It bugged her. It probably shouldn’t have — she’d been accused of worse over the years, and she couldn’t always play nicely — but it had just rubbed her the wrong way. An impromptu blasting session and barbeque with Tony had gotten her head straightened out, but ever since then, she’d been cautious. She tried not to put herself in the position to deal with arrivals while she was working.
Unfortunately, inevitably, it was going to happen from time to time.
Every member of the team on patrol got an alert when a new arrival came through, and Carol was the closest that day. She sent off an affirmative that she had it handled and dropped down into the forest at the right coordinates to find the newest confused, displaced person to end up in Vallo.
Out of habit, she wore her uniform every time she was on shift. It had gone through some changes since she’d arrived — she was back to her original red-blue pattern, shortened the arms to just below her elbows, and changed to blue gloves. It looked a little more summer-y, if that was possible, but there was no mistaking who she was if you knew her. And most everyone did around here; a year taking to the skies would do that.
“Hey,” she called out, approaching from a good enough distance that if this was another powered scenario, she wasn’t getting whacked with anything too hard. “You’re new, right? I’m here to help you.”
Kamala fell backwards. Well, she thought she fell backwards, but she’d felt some sort of pull that started with her bangle glowing in a way she’d never seen before. And suddenly she was in a completely different place, spinning around in circles.
The last time her bangle decided to send her on a trip, she went back in time to help her own grandmother as a child back to her father to get her on a train to Pakistan. Had the bangle taken her forward in time now? Maybe slightly forward? Slightly backward? Wait, she was in a forest. What if she went all the way back in time before European colonization?
“Bangle, where did you take me?” she mumbled, staring up at the sky and the trees.
Hearing the voice behind her, she turned quickly as she scrambled to put her mask over her eyes. Okay, not before European colonization because that was certainly English she heard.
“Yeah, I–” But when she moved her hands down again, mask in place, she blinked, her throat metaphorically closing up in shock. Because this was a dream. Or she hit her head really hard and she wasn’t okay because she was not actually standing in front of CAROL FREAKING DANVERS!
Okay, so the last thing Carol expected was a kid — had to be a kid, she looked young — decked out in a superhero mask and what looked like a full superhero uniform. The look of her struck her right away; the red, blue, and gold reminded her of what she was wearing, and she found herself touching the star on her chest.
Was she supposed to know this kid? She was behind the times on what was going on back home, even with the recent memory update that had bumped her forward. But it didn’t matter; for now, her priority was getting this mini-superhero checked in at the DOA.
“Are you alright?” She turned concerned, brows furrowing together when the girl went silent after a couple of words. “I know this is a shock, but you’re safe here.”
Words. What are words? Words are hard. CAROL FREAKING DANVERS.
Kamala opened her mouth to say something but what was she going to say? She had a whole speech prepared for the first time she ever met her, but that was supposed to be in a controlled environment, and she had mapped out the entire situation with diagrams and pictures. This was not part of the equation at all!
She raised a finger to point at her. Then she pointed at herself. Mouth was still open. Then her hands came up to cover her mouth. How was this happening?!
Carol was trying to follow. She really was. She’d dealt with a lot of new arrivals at this point in her Vallo life. She’d dealt with a lot of people, in general, of every sort of species imaginable, for a long time now. She was usually pretty good at communicating; the universal translator was a big help with that.
Here, there was nothing to translate. Because there was no speaking happening. Eventually there had to be, right? The pointing was something, though. She could try to decipher that.
“Me…and— Do you know me?” she questioned. “Are we from the same world?” That had happened occasionally, too, and she’d gotten some fannish ‘oh, you’re my hero!’ type commentary before. This reaction was a new one.
Were they from the same world, she was asking. If she had only seen Kamala’s room!
Well, if she had, then Kamala would absolutely die. Was she proud of how she decorated it and all? Of course. Would someone from outside of her family and friends consider it an obsession, possibly an unhealthy one? Eh, chances were kinda high.
Kamala did not mention anything about her room to Carol because she still was having trouble finding a voice so all she could do was nod vigorously.
Nodding was good. Enthusiastic nodding was even better. They were getting somewhere now. At least they had some common ground, even if this kid had been struck mute for whatever reason. Carol was beginning to suspect it was because of her presence, but she couldn’t really confirm or deny that just yet.
“Okay, that’s good.” She flashed her best reassuring smile and decided the best she could for now was get into the initial spiel. She didn’t have anything else to work with until the kid decided to speak. “So, this place is called Vallo. It’s a magical world, and it plucks people out of their worlds all over the multiverse.”
Her eyes swept over the kid’s uniform again. “Since we’re from the same place, you know the Avengers. There’s a few of us here. And there’s a pretty decent amount of others from our world, too.”
“What?!” Yes, she finally speaks. It even surprised Kamala herself. But that barrier was now broken so she had to say something else. She could do this. First Meeting With Carol was not going as according to plan but there was time to save this.
“I’m… uh… I’m….Caro– uhh Camila. Wait. KAMALA!”
So much for that save.
Oh good, she could speak. It was all a little jumbled, but Carol would take jumbled over involuntarily mute. Now, at least, there were words to work with from the jumble instead of wide eyes and some miming.
Her lips curled in amusement, and she lifted a gloved hand to her mouth and forced herself to clear her throat. It was the best preventative measure she could muster to keep herself from actually laughing. She didn’t want to traumatize this little fangirl — Kamala — for life by making her feel laughed at. She was just hilariously adorable, stumbling over her own name like that, and Carol liked her already.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Kamala. I’m Carol, but you knew that, right?” Carol winked at her, reaching out to clasp a hand over her shoulder and squeeze gently in greeting. “Have to say I’m digging your uniform. We complement each other pretty well, huh?”
Oh, my god, OH MY GOD.
Were her eyes widening even more? She couldn’t tell because she thought she was already wide eyed.
“We– I– it’s yours. Your colors. My mom made my suit and my name means marvel– oh my GOD, it’s really you!”
“Alright, alright.” This time Carol let out a chuckle, both hands clasping Kamala’s shoulders while her head dipped to meet her eyes. “I need you to take a few deep breaths for me. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” She quirked an eyebrow and demonstrated, exaggeratedly lifting and lowering her head with the inhale and exhale.
She understood Kamala being hyped up — it seemed her guess that the stunned silence had been about her was probably accurate. (And she couldn’t say she minded being admired.) Getting the kid calm was the goal, though. They weren’t going to get anywhere if those eyes burst out of her head.
“I’m honored, by the way,” she added, giving Kamala’s shoulders in her grasp a little squeeze. “Are you doing the superhero thing or cosplaying?” She wasn’t sure what answer she’d prefer; cosplaying was probably safer, but she really was kind of touched that a young superhero would want to take inspiration from her.
Okay, she was right. She needed to calm down, because she was either going to hyperventilate and pass out or scare away her one true superhero in the world, quite literally. Never meet your heroes? Absolutely does not apply here, meet Carol Danvers, she’s worth it. She’ll even help you learn how to breathe properly.
“I’m… I guess, a superhero? From Jersey City? Only very recently though. I just had to stop the Department of Damage Control from shooting my friend whose powers were too much for him to handle.”
Damage Control. Carol was aware of them. How they’d transitioned from a glorified clean-up crew to a law enforcement agency was still beyond her, but it wasn’t her call to make. She’d have some words to say if she knew they were trying to take out a child, but there was nothing she could do about it at the moment.
What mattered most was Kamala had gotten breathing normally and speaking normally. “Superhero from Jersey City it is.” She brushed a finger across the edge of the mask over Kamala’s eyes and nodded her approval. “The mask is a smart move. I’ve considered one here and there over the years, but it would be wasted on me.”
Everyone knew who she was at this point. She had never tried to hide her identity, but she was a grown woman. A teenager taking up their own hero mantle was best off keeping their identity to themselves. The danger factor was very real, even for the fully-fledged adults who had become the Avengers. It was even moreso for a kid.
“So, come on, walk with me.” Carol turned, flinging her arm over Kamala’s shoulders and guiding her in the direction of the nearest Waypoint. She thought she’d probably get a kick out of flying, but she’d rather not have to get into breathing exercises again just yet. “We’ll get you all set up, but tell me about you while we walk. Like, how old are you, exactly?”
Oh my God, Kamala Khan, thou shall not pass out into a puddle from Captain Marvel’s finger being SO CLOSE TO YOUR FACE LIKE THAT.
It’s a miracle she didn’t just stumble and fall on her face.
“Uh, I’m… sixteen? I remember being sixteen. Unless this universe travel does something to age but as far as I know, I’m sixteen.”
“Nope, it doesn’t do anything to age,” Carol assured her with a chuckle. “Not biologically, anyway. You might be a little bit in the past, depending on when you’re coming, though. Last memory I have of home was 2024, and right now, it’s 2022.”
“Oh, wow,” was all Kamala could manage to say while trying to maintain her composure under Carol’s arm, being led out of the forest. It was a lot to take in. Not Vallo. That was actually pretty par on what she’d learned about interdimensional travel and at least this one wasn’t about to bleed into her Earth and destroy it all, but she… was probably going to meet the Avengers. VERY SOON.
“Okay,” she said, taking another deep breath. “Okay, Miss… Car– Captain. Danver–Captain Marvel. Miss Danvers. Tell me everything you need to tell me!”
“Carol’s fine, kid.” The arm around Kamala’s shoulders squeezed, leading her up to one of the Waypoints that littered the forest. “I’m gonna take you to the Department of Outlander Affairs. We call it the DOA, and they’ve got some people there who can give you the rundown and help you get registered here. Then, if you want, you can come crash with me for a while.”
Emme would no doubt be surprised by the appearance of yet another kid in their home, but Carol knew without a doubt she’d be supportive. Taking in strays was kind of her thing, and she was pretty sure she was going to keep this one.