A/N: This is a songfic to "Yoü and I" by Lady Gaga, and is a response/gift to Ao3 user hobbit_hedgehog and their fic "Defying Gravity." You can find that here: archiveofourown works/ 4193025
"You're sure it's today?" she asked, walking slightly more briskly than the other woman.
"I hacked the files myself," said Natasha, walking deliberately slower to perhaps keep her friend from breaking into a full run.
"I've been waiting a long time," said Jessica as they neared the end of the hallway, where a steel door was set into the wall.
"Jessica," said Natasha, stopping at the door, and looking her friend directly in the eyes. "you're acting like a nervous child. She's been gone a year. And she's back now. Don't psych yourself out. Just be happy."
Jess gave her a smile in response, and opened the door. The sunlight washed in over them, and Jess put up a hand to shield her eyes. The emerged from the S.H.I.E.L.D. base into a freshly-mown field with what seemed to be a very large helipad in the center of it. As the two women walked toward it, a few agents began to come to them and tell them to leave the restricted area before realizing who they were: not random intruders, but Avengers. The women strode to a paved section to the side of the large circle where a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in suits stood, some of them periodically eying the sky.
"Agent Romanoff. Agent Drew." Coulson, at the front of the small assembly, held out his hand to them, and Natasha took it. When he turned to Jessica, he continued. "Or should I call you Spider-Woman? Agent Spider-Woman, like Agent Venom? Nah… But remember when you were Arachne?"
"Coulson," said Jessica, cutting him off.
"Yeah?"
"I think you've shook my hand enough." He dropped his hand. And we've worked together before. I don't care what you call me." She paused. "Actually, don't' call me Arachne."
They both had a little laugh and they fell into line with the other agents. "how did you even know that…" began Coulson, but he grinned at Natasha. "She hacked Hill's files again." Natasha grinned. "You know, the Commander doesn't really like when you do that."
"She's fine. And she should consider more powerful firewalls, considering I got in there in under a half an hour."
"What time does Car—Captain Marvel's ship get back?" asked Jessica, breaking back into the conversation. "Or, at least, when was she estimating?"
"Time's a little weird in space," said Coulson, glancing at his watch, "but it should be about…" A shadow crossed over his face. "…now."
Jessica looked up to the sky with the other agents to see a large ship breaking through some of the higher-up clouds and blocking out the sunlight as it approached the large landing pad. The large jets on the ship whirred with a loud intensity and pushed back air as the ship slowed and lightly touched down. The engines took a moment to shut off, and then there was another moment before the hatch opened and a small ramp descended to the pavement. Jess watched the ramp intensely.
It was a moment before she caught a glimpse of the red and yellow suit, Carol coming out of the ship. She held her cat, Chewie, in her arms, and had a big grin on her face. She walked forward, not noticing Jess and Natasha at first, and greeted Coulson, who had stepped forward to her.
"Coulson, there had better not be any cameras out here," she said. "This might be Captain Marvel's triumphant return, but I ran into some trouble on my way back here and got in in a little tousle—my uniform's not as sparkling clean as I'd want it to be."
"You're fine," said Coulson, with a smile. Carol grinned, and glanced over his shoulder at the other agents who were there to greet her. That was when she dumped Chewie into Coulson's arms, Coulson unsure what to do with her, and bounded past him to where Jessica and Natasha stood, a few yards away.
She stopped short, suddenly unsure of how to approach. It had been a year since they had last seen each other, and there was the brief awkwardness of separation. Then, Jessica stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Carol, holding her close. Carol immediately reciprocated the hug, tilting her head down slightly onto Jess's forehead. Time seemed to stop for a moment, letting them hug, letting them be just them, without the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents or Coulson or Chewie or anyone interrupting them. That moment was what they both had been waiting for, waiting for about a year.
Carol hadn't spent much time at Avengers tower, though Tony had made it very clear that she was welcome there. Instead, she found her way back to Jess's apartment, which was much more personal, at least to Carol. They came to the door together.
"I'm sorry there's no big coming home party for you," said Jessica, letting Carol into the apartment first. "I mean, I only found out because I had Nat snoop around for info…"
"It's fine, Jess, don't worry about it." Jessica followed Carol inside, and Carol noted that not much had changed in the cluttered apartment since the last time she had been there, over a year ago.
"And sorry you have to stay here," said Jess, hanging her jacket by the door. "I talked to Kit and she said her mom said the rat problem is almost completely cleared up." She paused. "I would have gone to check personally, but…"
"It's fine," said Carol. Jessica had started to rush off into the kitchen, but Carol caught her by the arm. "Jess, it's okay."
Jessica stopped, looked at Carol's hand where it gripped her bicep, and then she was able to make eye contact.
"You're stressing yourself out over nothing. It's not a big deal, I…"
"Look, Carol," said Jess, cutting her off. "It might not seem like a long time, because of relativity or whatever space science it is, but it's been a year since we've been together. A year. And I can't pretend that I haven't been missing you. I can't just pretend you've been here the whole time. It's…" She ran out of things to say, and just looked to Carol, exasperated.
Carol tried to soften her features and let her hand slide down to Jess's hands, where she began to intertwine her fingers. "Jess, I…" She stopped, and let herself start again. "It's been a long time since I've been around, but I'm back, and now, I'm with you. And maybe I'm being too nonchalant, or whatever, but I just…" She moved her free hand to cup Jess's cheek. "I just want to skip all the sadness about being apart and stick with the 'us being happy because now we're back together.'"
Jessica felt the familiar and welcome warmth of Carol's hand on her face, and looked back into her eyes, the eyes she hadn't seen with such life for a year, only seen them in pictures, like the one on her bedside…
"Look Carol, it's been a long time since you came around…" She paused, looking down at her hands, damning herself for being so sappy and jealous. "It—it's been a long time, but you're back, and now…"
"Jess…"
"It's been twelve months since I let you go, you remember, and…"
"Of course, I do, Jessica, what are you worrying about?"
"Just—just sit back down there," Jess pointed down to the beaten-up cracked leather couch. "That's where you belong, where we…" Her mind flashed back to their lips meeting, their tongues touching, her hands moving all over her body… "Where we've spent so much time together."
Carol raised an eyebrow, but sank down into the couch, nonetheless. Jess sat next to her, at first too far away, and then scooting closer, too close. She settled back, her heart beating.
"Jessica, I don't know what you're so worked up about."
"I don't know what you're not worked up about!" said Jessica. "You have been gone for a year. I've been doing stuff, taking care of myself, whatever, but you've been gone! And I get what, one letter? I worry about you, Carol." She realized that "worry about" may have been standing in for something else. She ignored that realization.
"Jess, I…"
"Do you remember what happened? Do you remember what happened when the Skrull queen—you've been out there, in space, with aliens that could—Carol, I worry!"
"You know I can handle myself."
"There's something about it—the lonely nights, and I remember…" Jess shook her head and her hand found Carol's, their fingers interlacing without much thought from either of them.
"There's—there's not a day I didn't think about you, Jess," said Carol. She turned toward her on the couch, their eyes locking. "You know, I can't help but thinking about what you've been doing. When I got that letter from you about the business with the rats—back when we were roommates, remember? I loved that. And then—and then, I saw a clone, a clone of you, in space, and—Jessica." She grabbed Jess's other hand now, too, and held them both in front of her. "You know how doubtful I was about going in the first place. Because I knew I'd miss you. And I did. And now—now I'm back, and I—I don't regret going. It was important. I helped people." One of her hands slid out of Jessica's, and went to her upper arm, slowly and gently rubbing it. "And even through all of that, I'm glad I'm back. Because—because I'm with you."
"That's cheesy, and you know it." But Jessica had a tear in her eye, and she smiled as she scrunched up her eyes to try to dissipate the wetness. "Damn it, Carol."
Carol moved in closer, wrapping her arm around Jessica's shoulders and pulling her in, Jess's head resting on her chest and Carol's chin resting on Jess's head. Carol gently stroked the back of Jess's hand. "There's something about my cool Earthling girl," said Carol, taking in the feel of Jess, her familiar, neutral, non-pheromone scent she worked so hard to maintain, and her warmth, her closeness. "There's…"
"There's something about you and I," said Jess. She turned up toward Carol and kissed her, feeling her perfect red lips against her own. After just a moment, she broke it off, and they looked each other in the eyes, only inches apart. They breathed in the air, finally together, and finally comfortable. Carol leaned forward and kissed Jessica again, this time more powerfully, her eyes closed and her mouth just a little open. Jessica let herself be held, happy to feel Carol's strong arms. Even once the kiss was over, they lounged there in each other's arms for a long while. It was bliss, being with one another, and they knew this was where they belonged.
"Next time," said Carol, her finger absentmindedly twirling through Jessica's hair, "I'm not leaving without you." Jess didn't need to say anything to agree to this; she nuzzled in closer to Carol, and the two of them felt each other's presence and love as the sun set through the windows on the opposite wall, the same sun for the first time in too long.