Washington DC
1997
The Romita-Stern School for Higher Learning is one of the most prestigious private schools in America's capital with a reputable quality of education. Students who graduated there will have no problems getting a scholarship to any of the Ivy League colleges, such as Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.
It is also has one of the most expensive tuition rates in the country. The kind of tuition that requires families to either be rich or be very careful with their money. For 14 year old Monica Rambeau, she fits in the last category.
Her mother's job at SHIELD paid handsomely, but not enough to pay Romita-Stern's tuition in full. And so, Maria convinced the new director of SHIELD, Nick Fury, to use his connections to get the school board to accept Monica into a voucher program that would allow her to attend at a more affordable rate, allowing her daughter to receive the best education she could.
On the other hand, this means that Monica wouldn't be able to be with any of her friends as they attend a public high school. For the second time in her life, Monica was forced to leave her circle of friends. She begged her mother to let her go to public school instead, but Maria insisted on Romita-Stern. She wanted to provide her child with the best possible future she could provide. Naturally, there were arguments.
Some of them got heated, especially the one on the night before the first day of school.
It wasn't pretty.
As a result, Maria wanted Carol to be the one to drive her to school that morning.
When they arrived at school, Carol drove the Camaro up to the front yard of the school. She put on the brake and turned to Monica, who was wearing the school's black and red uniform. "End of the line, Lieutenant Trouble."
Monica didn't answer. She just stared out the car window with her back hunched and a face sapped of energy.
Carol looked at her daughter with pity and held her shoulder to comfort her. "I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet your new best friend in there."
"Right. Because some snobby rich kid wants to be my friend," Monica scoffed.
"I doubt that. Rich people love a good charity case," Carol joked. However, she caught on to how vulnerable Monica was feeling right now and scolded herself. "Sorry. Bad joke."
Monica looked down and said wistfully, "I wish my friends were here. I wish I didn't have to transfer again."
"Yeah... that sucks, kid," Carol hummed as she thought of the words that might comfort her daughter. "But let's look at it like this. A new school will give you the chance to explore your boundaries! Meet new and interesting people. Join some new clubs. Like sports! I heard their soccer team is top notch. I'm sure you'd fit in."
"But I don't wanna fit in. I wanna go to Colan-Thomas with my friends. I've only been with them for one year, Auntie Carol! It's not fair..."
Carol sighed. "I know, Lieutenant. I know. Just... don't be mad at your mom. She just wants the best for you. And so do I. And this school will be good for you. At least give it a chance. You might surprise yourself."
"Maybe...", Monica hummed unconvincingly.
Carol smirked. "Tell you what. I'll make a quick trip to a nearby Shi'ar colony while you're at school. When I pick you up at the end of the day, I'll give you a little surprise as a special gift to commend your first day. Or a reparation, depending on how your day goes. What do you say?"
Monica looked at her stepmother in surprise. "You're gonna give me an alien gift? What is it?"
"Nah uh uh, you don't wanna ruin the surprise. You gotta go to school first."
Monica sighed, more playfully this time. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you do. Otherwise your mom is gonna kill me!"
"Aren't you indestructible?", Monica remarked.
"Do you want your cool alien gift or not?", Carol said laughing.
"Okay," Monica said before opening the door. Before she stepped out, however, Monica suddenly jerked back and gave her stepmother a big hug. "Thanks for the talk, Auntie Carol," she whispered.
Monica then walked out the car and shut the door behind her. Carol blushed before she shook her head and smiled goofily to herself. "Best kid at the distribution. Right there," Carol said under her breath before driving away.
Monica walked through the halls of her new school, nervously shuffling as she did so.
Although she wore the same clothes as everyone else, her new peers have been looking at her in judgement and whispering amongst themselves. They must have a "poor people sense" that allow them to detect a non-rich person based on how said person presented themselves or even walked so that they would judge them with the utmost disdain. Either that, or they just don't like the look of Monica's skin. Neither option was very appealing to the young girl.
Monica felt alone and friendless among these people. Even the less antagonistic among them weren't really that approachable.
Thankfully, however, fate would cut Monica some slack when she sees a familiar face from Louisiana.
"Jackson?", she called out to the boy taking a sip in the water fountain.
The boy, who was black and had his short hair dyed blonde, looked up at the girl and smiled. He walked over to her as they gave each other a big hug. "Monica! What a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to see you in DC."
"It's good to see you too!", Monica chirped happily as the two separated, "How did you get here?"
The boy, Jackson Hyde, shrugged. "Long story short, I was caught in the middle of a custody battle after my parents divorced. I didn't want to go back to my father, so my mother took me as far away from him as possible. Then, one thing led to another and now I find myself in this... charming little institution. So how did you get here?"
"Mom finally got her dream piloting job with SHIELD," Monica's smile gave way to an irritated pout, "I was suppose to go to a regular school, but then she thought it would be a good idea to throw me into this overpriced, snobby... rich people school. I'm still kinda mad at her for that..."
Jackson chuckled. "I can tell. You look like you're about to sock someone in the jaw. Just like..."
"Louise Lincoln in eighth grade!", they both chanted at the same time. The two old friends laughed over old memories.
Monica said, "She was such a diva in our school's Peter Pan production. She didn't like that I was picked for Wendy instead of her. Although to be fair, she came at me first!"
"No argument here, sister," Jackson hummed happily along, "Louise had an ego as big as her obviously fake hair extensions!"
"I know right? What's worse was that she didn't realize how fake they looked!", Monica laughed back, "I'm glad you're here, Jackson. It's good to see a friendly face around here."
Jackson nodded. "I'm glad too."
The bell then rang, signalling the official start of the school day.
"I guess it's time to face the wolves," Jackson said.
"I've got Chemistry for first period. You?"
"US History. I have lunch on fourth period, though."
"Hey! So do I!", Monica said nodding happily.
"Then I shall see you around," Jackson said as he patted Monica in the shoulder, "Good luck."
Monica smirked. "I make my own luck."
The two friends then parted to leave for their respective classes. They won't be seeing each other again until lunch, but at least Monica met one friendly face today. The rich kids were still snickering behind her back, but this school didn't seem so scary now that she knows she has a friend to share the burden with. It was a small comfort, but Monica was fine with that.
It's not like she'll be making any more friends here, right?
As Monica entered her classroom with a whole mess of other students, the young girl decided to go for the seat in the back, where she would get the least attention from her snooty peers.
In her corner, Monica placed her bag next to one of her desk legs as she waited patiently on her seat for class to begin. As the class size here wasn't that big, she was able to find a nice little bubble away from her more well-to-do peers (not that they made the effort to include the "commoner"). That, however, changed when a blonde girl with amber eyes travelled to the back of the class and claimed the seat to the right of Monica's.
"There goes my peace and quiet," Monica thought to herself sighing.
The teacher of the class then stepped through the door. She was a woman of Pakistani descent wearing a maroon hijab to match her uniform. The twenty something woman spoke with a noticeable accent. "Welcome to General Chemistry I. My name is Muneeba Khan, and I hope you are ready to learn, because I'm going to put you through your paces for the entire school year..."
As Mrs. Khan lectured about the syllabus, Monica noticed that the girl next to her was staring at her. Her gaze was starting to get uncomfortable, so Monica whispered to her, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
The girl narrowed her eyes to size up Monica. When she was done, she smiled and whispered back, "Don't worry. I didn't change my eyes."
The amber eyed girl then faced forward to listen to Mrs. Khan's lecture.
Monica was left puzzled by the girl's statement. She found it vaguely familiar, so she picked her mind to find out where she came. She eventually realized that it was something she said once, and it was to...
A big, goofy smile crept up to Monica's face as she turned to look at the girl. "You look very pretty today."
The smile on the girl's face grew as she replied, "Thank you. I've been working on this face all morning."
Once class has ended, Monica led her Skrull friend to the bathroom so that they could be alone together. When the two confirmed that they are indeed alone, Monica practically threw herself at her friend's arms as they hugged tightly.
"Mavell!", Monica chirped before pulling away, "It's so good to see you! How did you get back to Earth?"
"I boarded a spaceship," Mavell answered coyly.
Monica scoffed playfully. "Cute. I meant why are you back here? I thought you moved to that planet Auntie Carol helped your family find. What was its name again? Darn-Axe?"
"Tarnax," Mavell corrected, "And yes, I was living there for a while. But with my dad being the high chancellor, he inadvertently painted a target on his family's backs. Not just from the Kree, but also the Chitauri, the Dire Wraiths, the Universal Church of Truth... a lot of bad people want to exploit the new Skrull Federation, so dad thought that it was best that I stay on Earth, where it is safe. At least for a while."
Monica looked at her old friend sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I know how much moving away sucks, Mavell."
"Thanks," she said smiling back, "And it's Mabel Altman now."
"Mabel? That's a bit too on the nose, don't you think?", Monica teased.
Mabel looked at Monica strangely and squinted at her in innocent confusion. "On the nose?"
Monica shook her head. "Never mind that. Where are you staying?"
"With Mr. Fury. He's the one who arranged my asylum to Earth. Listen, I have to get to Economics class. Can we talk more later?"
"I have lunch on fourth period."
Mabel nodded happily. "Me too."
"And while we're there. There's someone else I want you to meet. He's a friend from Louisiana. I think you'd like him," Monica suggested enthusiastically.
"Any friend of yours is a friend of mine," Mabel then turned to leave, "I'll be seeing you, Monica."
"Later," Monica said as she watched her Skrull friend exit out the door.
She's met two of her old friends in her first day at school. They even share the same lunch period. This must be fate at work.
"Maybe this school isn't so bad after all," Monica hummed to herself as she exited the bathroom. "Perhaps I can fit in here."
With hope alive in her heart, Monica Rambeau was ready to endure the rest of the school day.
3:00 pm
Maria and Carol drove to Romita-Stern as soon as the latter arrived back on Earth.
Maria was sitting nervously on the passenger's seat. She looked over Carol and asked her, "I made the right choice in sending Monica to this school right?"
Carol removed one hand off the steering wheel and held Maria's under the dashboard. "Of course you did, my love. As much as I hate the upper-crust atmosphere of this place, it does get results. Why? What's bothering you?"
Maria sighed. "You weren't around then, but Maria and I... we were having actual arguments over this school for a month now. It got... bad. There was complaining, begging, silent treatment... it was a mess some days. And yesterday, Monica told me that she hated me. Right to my face."
"How rude of her. We should ground her for that. That's a groundable offense, right?"
"Can you be serious this time, Carol?", Maria said tiredly.
"Okay. I'll be... 75 percent less sarcastic," Carol remarked. When Maria gave her the stink eye, Carol straightened her face. "Don't think about it too much. Monica's a teenager with hormones and not enough life experiences. A lot of kids her age act out for less."
"But it's the second time I uprooted her life," Maria confessed with a heavy sigh, "First with the move to DC and now this. Both times I didn't think to talk things through to Monica to see how she felt about it. Both times I justified not involving her in the conversation by thinking that I know what's best for her. It wasn't until she told me that she hated me that I finally realize what I put her through."
Carol looked at her girlfriend with the utmost sympathy. "It doesn't mean you're a bad parent."
"I know. I just... I wanna to do my best for her. But what if my best does more harm than good?"
Carol held her girlfriend's hand tighter. "You wanted Monica to get the best education she could. You shouldn't be ashamed of that. And being a SHIELD pilot is your dream job. You shouldn't be ashamed of that pursuing that either. I know Monica is upset now, but I know that she still loves you. I mean, out of the two of us, you are around her more often. More than me, anyway."
Maria smiled at Carol. "You're not so bad yourself, Carol. You try your best to be around as often as possible."
"And that's my point. There's no such thing as a perfect parent. You can't possibly know exactly how your decisions will affect your kid. All you can do is your best and hope that's enough. And after being with you for so long, I can honestly say that your best is enough."
Maria blushed. "That was... surprisingly wise and down-to-earth advice."
Carol shrugged. "Just repeating what my mom told me about parenthood. She's better at this sort of thing than I am."
"But still...", Maria then moved in to kiss Carol in the cheek, "Thank you."
Carol blushed heavily as she moved her face away from her girlfriend's gaze to hide her goofy grin.
Maria spoke up, "Do you think we should do something special for Monica? You know, to cheer her up?"
"You mean before or after we ground her?", Carol remarked.
"Very funny. Yes, of course I mean before."
"Well, I did get a little gift for her during my trip to Ilium," Carol said as she pulled the gift out of her jacket. It was a small silver ring with a center engraving of a black star.
"You're planning to propose to our daughter?"
Carol shook her head and chuckled. "No, it's a nano-cloth ring. It stores a bunch of nano machines inside, which assemble into a neat little outfit when you push this putton. Best part is that it's one size fits all."
"Let me see that," Maria said as she took the ring off Carol and placed it on her finger. She eyed the black star curiously before pressing it. In under a minute, the nano machines shoot out from Maria's finger and assemble the outfit over Maria's own clothes. When the nano machines were finished, Maria saw that she was wearing a slick, full-body uniform colored white and black with a black star in the center of her chest. Maria nodded impressed. "That's pretty fresh."
"I know right?", Carol excitedly, "If Monica ever wants to get into the superhero business with me when she grows up, she'll already have a cool costume to do it in!"
"Doesn't she need powers for that?"
"That didn't stop Batman."
"True enough," Maria said as she removed the ring, taking the uniform with it, and giving it back to Carol.
Carol looked out the window to see Monica approach the car with a noticeably more happy expression on her face. "There's the girl of the hour."
Carol unlocked the doors to allow her stepdaughter to enter the car along with two surprise guests. The two parents looked at the new kids from their rearview mirror a little weirded out.
Carol turned to Maria and asked, "Did you adopt two more kids while I was away?"
Maria ignored her girlfriend's comment and asked her daughter, "Sweetheart, who are these people you just invited into our car."
Monica's face lit up as she said, "These are my new friends. Well, old friends that I found today. You remember Jackson Hyde from New Orleans, right?"
Maria stared at the boy for a moment or two before smiling. She turned around and gave Jackson a handshake. "You've grown so much, Jackson. I almost didn't recognize you."
He laughed. "It's good to see you again, Ms. Rambeau."
Carol looked at Mabel and asked, "And who's your other new old friend? I don't recognize her."
"Me neither," Maria agreed as she and Carol eyed her.
Mabel laughed nervously and answered, "You probably don't recognize me under all this makeup, but I met both of you a couple years back. You helped my family out of bad situation. My name Mavell by the way," she said in a way as close to 'Mabel' for the uninitiated Jackson Hyde.
"Mabel?", Maria said scratching her head.
Carol was quicker to deduce Mabel's true identity. She smiled at her. "Oh yeah... Mabel. You're Talos' daughter. Long time no see."
Maria looked at Carol with surprise and then at Mabel. She hummed under her breath in pleasant surprise.
Mabel answered, "Yeah. It's good to see you again too, Ms. Danvers."
"Please. Call me Carol," she said as she moved in for a handshake, which Mabel readily reciprocated.
Jackson looked at Mabel and asked, "Talos? Is that Swedish or something?"
"I... yeah. He's... Swedish," Mabel awkwardly answered not understanding what a 'Sweden' is.
Carol asked. "Why aren't you two with your parents?"
Jackson answered, "I'm living with one of my mother's friends and her husband. She said that I can hang out with these guys for a while."
"And Mr. Fury lets me do whatever I want as long as I come back in time for curfew," Mabel added.
Monica told her parents, "So can you do us a favor and drive us to the arcade at Weisman? I really want to introduce these guys to my public school friends."
"Sounds like fun," Carol then turned to her girlfriend, "It's your call."
Maria thought to herself for a moment before nodding. "Sounds like a plan... as long as we chaperone you all."
"But mom...", Monica whined.
"Either we chaperone or we go home, sweetie," Maria restated firmly.
"Okay..."
With that confirmation, Carol returned to the wheel and began driving. It was an overall nice day. Monica managed to keep in touch with the friends that she had made in DC while rediscovering some old ones at school, her relationship with her mother has been mostly restored, and the visit to the arcade was a fun time for the teens.
Of course, Monica was grounded for a couple days for saying "I hate you" to her mother, but even she knew that she had it coming. At least she got a cool superhero costume from Carol by the end of her sentence. All needed she now was a codename and some superpowers, but those are priorities for another day.
Perhaps this school year won't be as bad as Maria thought after all.
That's a wrap.
I just watched Avengers: Endgame the other day by the time this chapter is published. It was awesome, and I totally recommend you watch it ASAP, especially if you've been following the MCU closely for over a decade like I have. It's the perfect ending to that decade long saga, and it definitely helped me cultivate my ideas for this fic universe that I'm building.
Speaking of which, some people may be confused to as to why I decided to put in Jackson Hyde AKA Kaldur'ahm AKA Aqualad in a Marvel fic. I made this choice for two reasons. One, I love DC as much as I love Marvel. In fact, I happen to be more well acquainted with the lore of DC than Marvel due to its various movies, cartoons, TV shows, et cetera. And since I'm not constrained by copyrights, I decided to incorporate DC elements into this universe and some from other franchises if I'm feeling up to it. But this will first and foremost be an MCU and Marvel fic series, however. I also wanna help build to that "Monica and her Avengers team" fic, and Jackson Hyde happens to be on the roster. So I might as well plant the seeds now.
Also, yes. Talos' daughter will grow up to be Mrs. Altman from the Young Avengers comics. If you don't know, Mrs. Altman is the foster mother of Hulkling, a teen/young adult hero whose powers derived from his Kree/Skrull heritage. I also have plans for him in the future, and (warning: shilling immanent) read Voyager Takes Flight if you want to see how this plot thread might develop.
I also have plans for Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, so I put her mom here just because. I like grouping the Captain Marvel family as close as possible.
That's about it for now. Thanks for the read and have a nice day.