Bonds
*1972*
The man was exhausted because he had just gotten back from his multiple works and it was almost 1 a.m. But, what hurt him the most was that today was his daughter's 9th birthday and he didn't even buy her a single present.
"You're an imbecile, Joseph." He told himself when he was close to his house.
Although, he hoped and wished that his daughter had a happy birthday.
When he opened the door of his small and almost rundown house, he saw that his daughter was still in the living room and awake.
"Daddy!" His daughter said while she smiled and ran towards him to give him a hug.
After she hugged him, Joseph kneeled and asked her, "Sweetheart, why are you still awake?"
At first, his daughter looked at the floor, but then she looked at him and said, "I thought you were going to leave me… Just like mom left us."
Joseph hugged his daughter and told her, "Carol, I'm never going to leave you."
"You promise?" Carol, who was crying, asked her father.
Joseph gently wiped the tears from her daughter's face, kissed her in her forehead, and told her, "You should better go to bed. Tomorrow, you have to go to class."
"Daddy, I want to be a soldier!" Carol said.
"Why do you want to be a soldier, sweetheart?" Joseph asked her.
"All of the boys in the neighborhood are saying how awesome soldiers are and how I should be one if I wanted to be their friend." Carol said.
"Don't listen to them, you're fine the way you are. And, when someone like them wants you to change, remember that they are the ones who have to change." Joseph advised his daughter.
Carol nodded, then went to her room.
When Carol reached her room, she told her father, "I love you, Daddy!"
"Me too, sweetheart." Her father told her.
*1980*
Carol was already seventeen years old and, like her father had told her, she was studying to be a doctor. Although, she didn't to be a doctor instead she wanted to join the Air Force, but she knew that if she wanted to be that, then she and her father had to part ways. And, she didn't want to do that because he was the only family she had left.
After Carol finished her class, she took the bus in order to go home, but she made a quick stop to visit Walter Lawson, her friend.
And, like she expected, he was in his home, or, more specifically, in his little lab.
Carol knocked and it didn't take him long for him to open the door for her.
"Hello, Walt." She said.
"Hello, Carol. What are you doing here?" Walter told her.
"Just came by to say hello." She told him.
"D-do you want to come in? I'm cooking" Walter said.
"Well, then, I guess I'll accompany you for some time." Carol told him while she entered his house.
"What are you cooking?" Carol asked him.
"Chicken soup." Walter told her.
"Really?" Carol said to which Walter nodded.
"Fine." Carol said while she was sitting down and Walter put bowl of chicken soup on the table. Then, he seated down with his bowl of chicken soup.
While Carol was eating, Walter asked her, "So, have you told your father yet?"
"Not yet. If I told him that I wanted to join the Air Force, then believe me you'll be the first to know about it." Carol told Walter.
"Why do you want to join the Air Force?" Walter asked her.
"I just like the feeling of being in the air… Free and fighting for something that I believe in." Carol said with a smile in her face.
Walter smiled although Carol wasn't able to see that briefly he had frowned.
*1981*
Carol was in her house with her father whom she was having dinner with. Until she stopped eating.
"Is something wrong, Carol?" Her father asked with worry in his face and voice.
"Dad, I have to tell you something." Carol said.
"What is it?" Her father asked.
"I don't want be a doctor." Carol confessed.
"Well, what do you want to be? A teacher, an account, an actress, a-" Carol's father got interrupted when Carol said, "I want to join the Air Force."
"No." Her father said with an intimidating voice.
"Dad, I-" Carol got interrupted when her father told her, "You are NOT joining the Air Force! Do I make myself clear!?"
"I WANT to join the Air Force!" Carol said.
"Why do you want to join the Air Force!?" Her father asked her.
"I love being free in the air and I want to fight for a cause I believe in!" Carol passionately told her father.
Her father looked at her with disappointment.
"You think that's what you're going to do if the US ever goes into a war!? Are you really that blind, Carol!?" Her father said.
"Dad, I-" Carol got interrupted again when her father said, "A war is NEVER black and white! NOBODY except for the arms dealers actually WINS!"
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? I HAVE FAITH IN WHAT I'M CHOOSING TO DO!" Carol screamed.
"And, how do you think your 'faith' will be rewarded!? You think you're going to become a hero. And, if you believe that, then I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Carol, but in the end, if you manage to survive then you'll become a murderer not a hero and if you die then the world is going to consider you another nameless dead soldier." Her father told her.
Carol stood up and walked towards the door, but, before she left, her father told her, "Carol! If you take one more step then you'll never come back."
"Well, then, this is goodbye… Joseph." Carol said before she left.
Carol left the beautiful house that her father managed to obtained for them after he worked non-stop throughout her childhood.
Carol took a bus and went to Walter's house.
After knocking the door, Walter opened the door and Carol told him, "I told my father."
*1991*
Carol Danvers was in an Air Force Station when Walter, who was working there, said, "Carol, I need your help with something. Can you come?"
"Is it important, Walt?" Carol asked.
"Yes." Walter told her,
Carol and Walter went to a dark room, then the lights were turned on and everyone told Carol, "Happy Birthday!"
"Thank you!" Carol said with a smile in her face.
Despite the fact that Carol loved the fact that all of them remembered her birthday, she was still sad that her father, whom she had not talk for ten years, was not among them.
"What's wrong, Carol?" Her friend, Minerva, asked her.
"Nothing." Carol said.
"In that case, cheer up a little!" Minerva told her while she handed Carol a piece of cake.
"You don't have to worry, I can assure you that Walter managed to cook an edible cake… Probably." Minerva told her, which made her laugh.
After the party, it was back to the usual schedule. And, the first thing was to practice which Carol loved due to the fact that she was in the air… Free. But, during the practice, her sensor picked up a strange object.
"Danvers, return immediately!" Danver's boss, Nick Fury, told her.
Carol tried to return, but something impacted the plane she was in and then… Nothing.
Some time after, in the house of Joseph Danvers, Joseph was watching the photos of him and his daughter during happier times.
Joseph opened the little box on his desktop and he put the photos in the little box, which was also all of the letters that he had not the courage to give to Carol ever since she left.
Joseph received a phone call and, when he answered, Walter told him, "Mr. Danvers, your daughter has been in an accident and-" Joseph interrupted him by saying, "Where is my daughter?"
After Walter told him where she was, Joseph didn't hesitate to go see his daughter.
Yet unbeknownst to both Joseph and Carol, Walter had to use Kree technology to save Carol's life and right now Walter was looking at Carol, who was in the intensive care unit and in a coma.
"I can't believe you actually did it! You fool!" Minerva told him.
"What's foolish about saving a life?" Walter asked her.
"First, she's a human not a Kree and second we are supposed to observe and inform nothing else or have you forgotten that… Captain?" Minerva said.
"No, I have not. But, you must remember that Carol crashed against a Kree ship that you summoned for some reason and thus it is our responsibility to safe her. Do I make myself clear, Minn-Erva?" Walter said.
"Yes, Captain Mar-Vell." Minn-Erva said.
After some time, Joseph Danvers entered the Hospital and went to where his daughter was. And, he found his daughter inside intensive care.
"Hello, Mr. Danvers." Walter told him.
"Hello, Dr. Lawson." Joseph told him.
"She's in a coma and visitors aren't allowed inside due to the state she's currently in." Walter told him.
"What happened?" Joseph asked.
"There was a malfunction in her plane." Walter said.
Joseph looked at Walter and realized that he was lying to him.
"Really?" Joseph said.
"It's the truth, Mr. Danvers." Walter said.
Despite the fact that Carol (when she lived with Joseph) would tell Joseph about how a wonderful person Dr. Lawson was, Joseph felt that something was off about Dr. Lawson. Thus, Joseph didn't fully trust nor believe in Dr. Lawson.
"Right." Joseph said.
While the two were talking, Minerva had managed to sneak away after all, despite appearing and acting like 'friends' with Carol, Minerva didn't really care about Carol and only saw her as a puppet that she could break at any second. But, for now, her attention was in the secret files that she managed to discover and she knew that if she used this information wisely then the Kree empire would reward her.
For an entire month, Carol remained in a coma and the two people who never left her side were her father and Walter. When Carol woke up, she was surprised that she saw her father.
"Hello… Joseph." Carol said.
"Hello… Carol. How do you feel?" Joseph asked her.
"I'm feeling fine." Carol said.
"All right. Then, I think that it is better for me to go." Joseph said.
Joseph began heading out, but he briefly stopped and Carol almost told him to stay. Sadly, none of them took the first step to reconciliation. Thus, they parted ways.
*1992*
One year later, Joseph received a phone call.
"Hello, who are you?" Joseph said.
"It's me, Joseph… Carol." Carol told him.
"What's wrong?" Joseph asked.
"I… I would like for the two of us to have dinner together." Carol said.
"Where?" Joseph asked.
"In my house." Carol said.
After Carol told her father where she lived, Joseph said, "I'll be there at seven."
After he hanged up, Joseph went to his room and looked at the photos that he still had with him. All of the photos that he had were like a summary of his life. It began with him getting married with Marie, having Carol, his wife leaving him and Carol, him raising Carol, Carol working hard and becoming the first student in her class throughout her school life, and finally the last photo they had together was of Carol's 18th birthday.
Joseph stopped looking at the photos, then he looked at the letters he had written for her. And, decided to take one.
Meanwhile, Carol was in her house preparing the food that she and her father would eat. After she had finished cooking it, Carol began thinking about what she could talk about with her father and she definitely didn't want to tell him that she had gained superpowers after her accident, that her friends Walter and Minerva were aliens, that she was training to gain control of her powers with her alien friends, and that right now she was working for S.H.I.E.L.D.
After she though of that she saw the necklace that she was wearing, she loved that necklace because of the memories it made her remember. She still could clearly remember that when she was thirteen she encountered her mother had come back and told her that she was going to buy her a present for her birthday, but when they reached the store it turned out that her mother had married another man and had two children with him and the only reason she returned to see her was just out of curiosity of what her life had been like. As for the 'present', her mother had given her a lottery ticket and told her to see if it was worth anything. When Carol returned home with her useless lottery ticket, she told her dad about what had happened and immediately she and her father went to the most luxurious shopping mall and her father bought her the necklace, dresses, and shoes. Then, her father took her to have dinner in the most expensive restaurant in town and, while they were eating, he father told her, "Happy birthday, my Queen."
Carol stopped thinking about that memory when she heard someone knocking the door.
"Carol, may I come in?" Her father asked her.
Carol opened the door and said, "Hi."
"Hello, Carol." Her father told her, then he came in.
Soon, they began having dinner together and none of them had spoken a single word to each other until her father told her, "How have you been?"
"Good. After the accident, I got dispatched from the army and right now I'm working as a receptionist for a small company." Carol lied to her father, who just nodded.
"How have you been?" Carol asked.
"Fine." Her father responded her.
After a few seconds of silence, Carol's powers were activated although she did manage to control them at the last second which made her father believe that her hand was shaking.
"What's wrong, Carol?" Her father asked her.
"Just a little aftermath of the accident, nothing to be worried about." Carol said.
"Do you honestly think I'm that blind?" Her father said as he stood up.
"You have to go to a hospital or get some kind of medicine." Her father said, then came closer to her.
"Come one, I'll take you to a hospital nearby." Her father said while he extended her hands towards her, but Carol said, "I'm already getting a 'treatment' from Walter."
As soon as Carol said that, she regretted it immediately because she knew how her father would react.
"What kind of 'treatment' is he given you that makes your hand shake nonstop!?" Her father said.
"It's nothing to worry about. Look, it has stopped." Carol said while showing him that her hand had stopped shaking.
"Carol, you need to get checked by a real doctor. Not that phony, son of a-" Joseph got interrupted by Carol, who told him, "If you're going to address my friend in that way then leave, Joseph!"
Joseph headed out of the house and Carol closed the door. But, before he left, Joseph managed to slip the letter that he had brought below the door.
A few months later, someone knocked the door of Joseph's house. When Joseph opened the door, he saw that Dr. Lawson was there.
"What do you want?" Joseph venomously asked.
"Mr. Danvers, I would like you to attentively hear what I'm going to tell you." Walter said.
"Why? Let me guess, I know that you and Carol are close so I'm assuming that you and Carol are getting married and that you have come to visit me in order to get my blessing or some money. In that case, forget it." Joseph said, but Walter gave Joseph Carol's necklace and softly told him, "Mr. Danvers, your daughter has passed away. I'm sorry."
"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" Jospeh said, then, despite his age, began beating the hell out of Walter.
"YOU'RE LYING! SAY IT! TELL ME YOU'RE LYING! MY DAUGHTER CAN'T BE DEAD!" Joseph screamed. And, after some time, Joseph stopped and, while he was crying, he said, "Please, tell me it's a lie. Please."
"I'm sorry." Walter told Joseph.
The next week a funeral for Carol was held, but Joseph didn't attend because he had found out that Carol's body was never found and that the details surrounding her supposed death were 'top secret'. So, Joseph used everything he had like money, connections, and friends to find out what truly had happened to his daughter, but everyone who saw him could agree that he looked like 'a dead man walking'.
While Joseph was investigating, Walter would visit Joseph, but Joseph would either slam the door in Walter's face or screamed at Walter to never come back again.
Walter felt bad about Joseph after all it was clearly visible how sad and broken the man was and Walter couldn't tell him what really happened in the day of 'Carol's death'. After all, Walter or better known by the Kree and Skrulls as Mar-Vell couldn't allow himself to tell the truth to Mr. Danvers because if he did then Mr. Danvers would become a target.
Yet, one day, when Walter wen to visit Mr. Danvers, Walter found out that the door was opened and that Mr. Danvers was on the floor with a fractured skull and blood coming out of it.
*2001*
A 34-year-old man was in a wheelchair and writing a letter until a 32-year-old man came closer to him and gently moved the 34-year-old man to the table.
When the 34-year-old man reached the table, he turned around to see the other man and said, "Thank you, sir. But, who are you?"
"I'm Gene Starlin." Gene lied.
"Why am I here?" The other man asked.
"You were in an accident." Gene lied once again.
The 34-year-old man looked at the letter he was writing, then at Gene and said, "Can you give this to my daughter Carol for me? Today she is turning nine and I don't want her to stay awake all night to wait for me."
"Sure." Gene said.
Gene received the letter and put it on his pocket. Then, he saw that the 32-year-old man was falling asleep, so Gene got closer to the man and told him, "I'll take you to your room."
"What's my name?" The 32-year old man asked.
"Does the name Joseph Danvers sound familiar?" Gene asked.
The 32-year-old man said, "No… Should it?"
"No, it shouldn't. Your name is Roy Starlin." Gene lied.
Roy nodded and then closed his eyes to sleep.
Gene, who was in reality Mar-Vell, felt sad for Mr. Danvers because, after finding him on death's door, Mar-Vell used his Kree technology to save the man's life, but there were consequences. One was the fact that Mr. Danvers had brain damaged and the other one was that he was younger and apparently couldn't age externally.
Meanwhile, in a Skrull ship, a woman was inside in a chamber and barely conscious when a Skrull appeared before her.
"I see that you're still conscious." The Skrull told her.
"You think?" The woman said, then she spit which landed on the glass of her chamber.
"And, that you haven't lost your fighting spirit yet, Ms. Danvers." The Skrull said.
"I'll get out of here and, when I do, you're going to regret the day you captured me." Carol said.
"I doubt it." The Skrull said, then the chamber was filled with a gas that knocked out Carol.
The Skrull left Carol and headed to see Minn-Erva, who was in reality a Skrull agent named Una.
"How has your experiment gone?" The Skrull asked Una.
"Excellent. I now posses as much power as her." Una answered.
"When will you go to Earth?" The Skrull asked.
"When I manage to be more powerful than her." Una said.
"I'm still surprised at how your plan worked out." The Skrull confessed.
"With all due respect, it wasn't that difficult because it only consisted of murdering a Kree, taking the Kree's identity, going to another world, and making an accident happen." Una said while she smiled.
Author's Note
When I heard about the Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) movie, I was to put it bluntly disappointed because, asides from EMH, I don't like her character nor stories. So, I decided to write a pitching idea of what I wanted the movie to be about and, when I learned it was taking place in the 90s, my pitch was: Lets make her 30 years old (thus she was born in the 60s) and lets explore her dynamic with her dad (whom I changed to being a single parent) who is totally against her joining the military due to the fact that he had seen the soldiers that had returned from the Vietnam War and that he knew Vietnamese who suffered during the war, next lets explore why she wants to join the military (specifically the Air Force) and what her beliefs are for joining which throughout the movie get crushed after the revelation that her commanding officers have either been working with the Krees, the Skrulls, or both. And, in the finally scene it is this amazing fight of her vs. the Krees and Skrulls and at first the ending is not clear on wethear she survived or not, but the post credit scene will reveal that she was captured by the Skrulls and that Minn-Erva was actually a Skrull in disguise, takes Carol's forms and convinces Nick Fury that she is Carol. Thus, in the end of Part 2 of Infinity War there is a secret reveal that the supposedly 'Captain Marvel' is a Skrull.
So, that inspired me to make this one shot. I'm sorry if my idea is stupid or something like that. Anyways, feel free to comment on what you think.