Author's note: takes place at the same time as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode #20 'Nothing Personal'.
xxxxxxxxxxxx
"Entering Earth's orbit now, should be landing in about two minutes." Gamora said as the Milano began to engage the proper approach vector for the planet's exosphere.
"Looks like we gotta lock on that installation you told us about in the Canadian wilderness." Peter spoke turning to Carrie.
"Good."
"You want us to set you down on their doorstep?" Gamora asked.
"No, it would probably be better if we landed a little farther away but still within walking distance."
"Meh, ain't nothing on Earth that can track or catch this ship sweetheart." Starlord boasted.
"Well, better play it safe anyway. It has been over twenty-five years since you were here last. There have been some technological advances made since then."
"Has NASA or the military come up with anything that can follow us out in to deep space in under two minutes?" Quill asked.
"Well, not that I know of." Carrie confessed.
"Then we're good. No worries."
"Uh listen, before I go I just wanna say that I can't even begin to thank you all enough for this. For both saving me and getting me back home."
"Don't mention it." Quill replied.
"Fare thee well young Terran. For one so young you are a mighty warrior. I am proud to have fought alongside you." Drax stated proudly.
"I can say the same of you." Carrie responded.
She then turned her attention to Rocket.
"Goodbye Rocket, you are definitely the coolest talking raccoon I have ever met."
"Apparently I'm the only talking raccoon you've ever met, but just the same hang loose kid." he said back.
"You know you guys are pretty awesome, probably the best superhero team since the Avengers."
"Bah! Avengers smengers. I've heard about those clowns, those posers ain't got nuthin on us." Rocket proclaimed.
"They have a Hulk." Carrie said.
"So? We have a Groot." Rocket countered.
"I am Groot." The tiny tree being stated proudly as Carrie smiled with a chuckle.
"Goodbye Groot, thank you for freeing me." She said as she reached out towards, the miniature alien, who grasped her finger with its tiny hands.
"Thank you too. Goodbye." Groot thought as Carrie read his mind.
"Be safe." Gamora told Carrie.
"You too."
In no time the Milano set down in a clearing about a mile from the S.H.I.E.L.D. base as its hatch opened up.
"Hey, based on what you told us about what was going on down here, are you sure you wouldn't like us to come with? Also, it looks pretty damn cold out here." Peter said with some worry.
"No, it'll be alright. My friends and teammates are waiting for me inside. I should be fine from here." Carrie reassured him.
"Okay then, well, take care of yourself Carrie. And be careful."
"You too Pet-, uh I mean 'Starlord'." She corrected herself speaking his name in a very bold manner as he grinned.
She then levitated down through the hatch and began heading towards the base as the Milano engaged its engines and took back off into the upper atmosphere behind her.
When she got within visual range of the front door it was wide open for some reason. She could see what looked to be a hangar of some kind inside. Had they somehow seen the ship, were they expecting her? As she approached she passed by some standard issue military vehicles that were parked outside. As of yet there was nothing going on that gave Carrie any reason to be concerned. As she came around the parked vehicles she noticed two guards in camo stationed just inside the hangar doors.
"The military is here? Phil must've called in some major backup. Makes sense considering the mess that S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently in." She thought to herself.
But when they saw her they quickly drew their weapons.
"Freeze!"
"Really? Is that supposed to be funny, especially in this climate." Carrie joked suppressing a slight shiver.
"Identify yourself, now!"
"I'm Carrie, Carrie White?"
"The Carrie White affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D.?" One of the guards asked.
"Of course silly, who else would I be?"
"Hands in the air and down on the ground now, now!" They both started shouting as they advanced towards her with their guns still trained upon her.
"What? Why, what is going on? I don't understand." Carrie asked in total confusion.
"Surrender now or we will shoot, do you understand that?" One of them shouted back.
Carrie was beyond perplexed to say the least.
"If I do will you explain to me what is going on?"
"Get down now!."
"What is this some weird S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol? Is it because of Hydra, guys I can assure you that I'm not Hydra."
"Both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra are history, other than those we're still trying to track down."
"Track down?"
"We're here to take all known S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into custody."
"What! Why?"
"Betraying your country for starters."
"No, no, no wait a minute, that was the Hydra agents within S.H.I.E.L.D." Carrie tried to explain.
"Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D. As far as the president of the United States is concerned. It's all the same, and you're all going down."
"No, that's wrong you don't understand!"
"I think we understand just fine."
"Where is Coulson?"
"Inside being interrogated by Colonel Talbot as we speak."
At that moment, inside…
"I am offering you a lifeline here, Coulson. Don't thank me, just take it and we'll be on our way." Maria Hill spoke.
"Don't see how thanks are in order, considering you just sold me out and led the U.S. military strait to Fury's secret base."
"No, Phil. YOU led us strait to Fury's secret base as part of the deal we made."
"You can't be serious."
"You and I are going to turn over these abandoned tunnels to the U.S. government, who will be ever so grateful to take possession of an enemy stronghold in their backyard."
"What about my team?"
"They're gonna have to go through the system. Interrogation-"
"Not gonna happen." Phil cut her off.
"Look, talk to Talbot. Cough up some meaningless intel about this place. Nothing significant of course, nothing about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s other installations."
Coulson scoffed in disbelief after Maria's last statement.
"You're still protecting your secrets." He said disapprovingly as Maria hung her head for a moment with some degree of shame, "Is there anything specific you're afraid I'll talk about? T.A.H.I.T.I., maybe?"
"Phil-"
"I'm a liability? Is that it?"
"Grow up, Phil. Of course you're a liability. But I know you'll do the right thing."
"The right thing? That's funny coming from you. After everything you and Fury have done."
"Look, it was for-"
"For my own good, I know. I get it. But you should've been strait with me. I would've kept your secrets like a good soldier. I always have. But instead you were worried about me, when you should've been worried about anyone else!"
"You're right. We should've seen Hydra coming. But after DC they don't stand a chance."
"John Garrett does."
"Garrett? I heard Ward took care of him."
"Ward's his secret weapon. He killed Victoria Hand, then raided the Fridge, and now he's got Skye. Which is where we were headed until you so rudely interrupted to sweeten your deal.
Maria had to stop for a moment to absorb what Coulson just said as she shook her head.
"I vetted Ward."
"You wanna make this right? Stop wasting time." Coulson told her.
Just then Talbot walked in on them accompanied by a couple of guards.
"Can we move this along? I'd like to tear this room apart." He stated bluntly.
"Sure Colonel. Knock yourself out." Maria said…right before backhanding one of the guards.
Talbot quickly took a swing at Coulson, who ducked and then drove his right fist into the side of Talbot's head. The battle was a brutal one, but by the time the fight was done, Talbot and the guards were laid out.
"Get your people. We need to move." Maria stated emphatically.
"We?" Coulson shot back as she gave him a slight smirk.
Concurrently, Carrie was being escorted inside the base in handcuffs by several armed guards when Coulson, Maria and the others stepped into view at the end of the corridor.
"Phil?" She shouted.
"Carrie!" Coulson shouted back in mutual surprise.
But just then a message from Talbot came over the guards walkies, he had apparently regained consciousness quickly. Though he was still disoriented his intent was most certainly clear.
"Agent Coulson and Maria Hill have just assaulted us and are trying to escape! Shoot on sight!" He commanded as the guards raised their guns towards them.
Carrie's face went pale when she heard the order and her powers kicked into overdrive. She broke free of her handcuffs and sent every guard near her smacking hard into the walls on either side. She then ran past them placing her self between them and her friends.
"Go! I'll hold them back!" She yelled.
"No! You have to come with us!" Coulson protested.
"There's no time!" She told him.
"Coulson she's right we'll never make it out otherwise!" Maria assured him, "Is there another way out of here besides the hangar bay?"
"Yes, I've studied the base schematics, this place is honey combed with secret escape routes, the closest one to our current position is this way!" Fitz spoke up.
As the guards began to get back up and reinforcements piled in behind them, Maria and the others had to literally drag Coulson out of there.
As the guards lined up and simultaneously opened fire Carrie created a barrier that she then started to push towards them as she walked forward. The combination of her barrier and the ricocheting bullets eventually had them in full retreat. The battle eventually carried over into the hangar as Talbot's men tried to take up defensive positions. But once there Carrie turned the entire room into her weapon as she hurled anything that wasn't nailed down at them, including the things they were trying to hide behind.
As they fled back outside in a panicked disarray Carrie began picking them off with telekinetic punches that both knocked them out cold and disabled their guns.
A few seconds later guards that had been occupying other parts of the base started to come up from behind her as Carrie turned and sent a massive telekinetic wave that tripped all of them up as they hit the floor. With that it was time to make her own getaway as she ran back into the forest.
Back inside the base a furious Colonel Talbot had just finished berating his men for their failure and incompetence at letting both Carrie White as well as Coulson and his team get away. Now he was in a private room making a call to his direct superior, General Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross.
"It's up to you sir. I can either divide my forces into two groups or focus on one." Talbot suggested.
"Well, as badly as the President wants all members of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra brought in, Carrie White is the bigger threat." Ross explained.
"I am to focus on her exclusively then sir?"
"For now yes."
"Is this still a capture and containment mission sir?"
"Yes. Carrie White despite her powers is still a civilian. She's not a soldier, not a survivalist. It should be relatively easy for you and your men to track her down."
"And if she continues to make things…difficult?"
"Do what you have to do Colonel."
"Yes sir."
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
As Carrie made her way through the Canadian wilderness she wrapped her arms around herself to protect her from the cold. A sharp biting wind rustled through the trees, heralding an approaching storm front that was guaranteed to make things even colder much to her chagrin. The realization had finally dawned on her that she really hadn't thought this through. She had been so concerned with saving Coulson and her friends that she really hadn't given any thought to what she would do afterward. Of course, she hadn't anticipated any of this when she got here. She now found herself regretting that she hadn't accepted Starlord's offer of help.
It was pretty much a similar situation to what she found herself in out in the desert, lost and alone. But this time, she was more than likely being hunted by the United States military, especially after the stunt she had pulled back at the base.
But a sudden distant howl cued Carrie in to the possibility that she was also being hunted by something else.
"Great, a wolf."
The sudden surge of adrenaline along with her fear served to warm her slightly, but she wasn't sure if it was worth it. What was the lesser of two dire predicaments? The freezing cold or carnivorous wild animals? Thusly, she quickened her pace, even though she had no real idea where she was going.
Sudden rustling in surrounding underbrush startled her as she looked all around but saw nothing. Then, there was another howl, which quickly turned into a chorus of them. And they sounded much closer this time.
"Scratch that, not 'A' wolf, wolves…plural…crap." She realized.
She knew that she couldn't outrun them, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying. However the terrain was very unforgiving and made fleeing anywhere in a great hurry difficult at best. As she hastened though the forest she could hear snarling close by.
"They're getting closer!" She thought.
After running so far a large black wolf finally appeared directly in front of her as she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Oh no!"
Other members of the pack followed suit taking position on all sides of her. They however were a mixture of grays. She then looked back at the black wolf ahead of her.
"He must be the alpha male." She assumed.
They all snarled and growled licking their chops as they slowly closed the circle around her, she could see the hunger in their eyes, and they could see the fear in hers. It was so odd. After all of the things that she had fought thus far including aliens and monsters no less. What was it about being hunted like an animal by something that wanted to eat you that unsettled her so? Perhaps a deep primordial instinct going all the way back to the earliest man, back when the human race was far from being at the top of the food chain.
Well, afraid or not, she wasn't about to make it easy for them as she slowly raised her hands preparing to bring her powers to bear.
"This meal will be more trouble than its worth guys." She challenged them.
With that the alpha male lunged only to slam hard into a telekinetic barrier. The others followed suit but couldn't get past it as they pawed and sniffed around the invisible walls that perplexed them so. Carrie then made the barrier surge outward smacking into the wolves and driving them back. As an explanation pint she began firing telekinetic blasts that shattered rocks and took sizable chunks out of the surrounding timber. This display finally sent the pack fleeing back into the woods from whence they came.
"Looks like I'm not on the menu tonight." She boasted with a shiver as she continued onward into the forest.
As she walked, time lost meaning considering that her phone was still dead and cloud cover from the storm obscured any view of the sun to use for direction. As the snow came down the cold only intensified. She considered stopping to try and build a fire, her pyrokinesis would probably come in handy for that. But she couldn't risk staying in one place for too long, or drawing Talbot's men to her with a fire that would surely alert them to her presence, so she kept moving.
Eventually she came across what appeared to be a church of all things.
"A house of worship? Out here…in the middle of nowhere?" She thought.
She wondered if she were seeing things, but as she drew closer the odd looking structure that seemed to be made of some kind of mud and sandstone looked to be very real. Suddenly, she could hear singing from within.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me...I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.
Carrie decided to venture closer as she eventually came up to the doors of the cathedral and pushed against them. As they swung open the singing ceased and the people within all turned towards the doorway.
As they stood, Carrie couldn't help but take note of their unusual appearance. They didn't look like any kind of people that she had ever seen before, in life or in pictures. There was nothing she could think of to compare them to. Not American, not European, not Asian or Mexican. Equally perplexing were their clothes. They looked like something from another age. Something old and out of place that didn't belong. But again it looked like nothing she could place or figure out.
She began to wonder if it was a mistake to come here, but then one of them approached her, an older woman who looked to be in her fifties.
"Please come in out of the cold child."
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt your service."
"Nonsense child, please come in." The woman insisted as she walked up to Carrie and gently took her hands in hers as she led her inside.
After this the doors were closed behind her.
"You look chilled to the bone, please stay and warm yourself a while." The woman spoke.
Just then the pastor who had been leading their singing stepped down from the altar to address Carrie as she was seated in the front row of pews. Once again Carrie found herself confronted with strange garments that befuddled her to no end, for it did not look like any kind of robe she had ever seen any other kind of minister wear before. Then he spoke.
"What happened to you? Were you lost?"
"Yes."
"What were you doing out there?"
"I was supposed to be meeting some friends, but we got…separated."
"You are lucky you found this place then."
"So it would seem. I guess God chose to show his grace down upon me this day."
"You are a believer my child?" The pastor asked her.
"Indeed I am."
"Then indeed you do belong here with us."
"Maybe, I saw no signs outside. I don't even know what religious denomination you follow. I may not be welcome here."
"Do you believe in the one true God above all and everything?"
"Yes."
"Then you are welcome here child."
"Thank you."
"Think nothing of it child. Do you have a name?"
"Yes, Carrie."
"Welcome to our humble church Carrie. I am pastor Marcus."
"Again, I thank you."
"And my name is Adelina. Have you traveled far?" The older woman spoke up.
"Yes, but even I'm not sure how far."
"We have come a long way as well to worship here." Adelina informed her.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get here, did you walk?"
"Of course, how else would we get here?"
"I see."
"Why would you ask such a question?"
"I guess because of how dangerous it is out there. The cold, the isolation. I was almost beset upon by a pack of wolves before I found this place."
"That is because you were alone. There is strength in numbers, and in God's protection." The pastor cut in.
"I guess so. How long has this place been here?"
"Oh a very long time indeed." Adelina responded.
"Does anyone now exactly how long? It seems kinda of funny to me that a place like this would be out in the middle of the Canadian wilderness miles from any kind of civilization."
"That is why we come here. While there are many synagogues closer to where many of our congregation live, they choose to come here because of the divine purity of his word. In the modern cities it seems that many so called houses of God are more interested in the almighty dollar rather than the almighty himself." The pastor explained.
"That makes sense."
"You seemed stressed Carrie, what is troubling you?" Adelina inquired.
"It's…of a personal nature."
"This is the perfect place to be if you have sins to confess." The Pastor reminded her with a comforting smile.
"At the end of the day we're all sinners, but at the moment let's just say that it's the sins of others that I find myself more concerned with of late." Carrie expounded as she thought on the recent events concerning Hydra.
"Please Carrie, come worship with us, we would be honored to have you." Adelina beseeched her.
Though Carrie in all truth was anxious to learn if Coulson and the others got away, as well as finding a way out of her current predicament with Talbot and his men, she also had no desire to be rude to those who were only trying to help her. Thusly, she agreed with a polite nod and a smile. Pastor Marcus then turned to face the altar with his back to the rest of the assembled worshipers as Carrie joined in song with them.
They then resumed singing Amazing Grace. After which the Pastor spoke a few words.
"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts."
"Amen!" The congregation spoke in unison.
"I thank God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."
"Amen!" The churchgoers spoke again.
"Thank you also for the gift of immortality that we all share as a part of your incomparable majesty! The ultimate gift that you have given us in exchange for the life within us!"
"Amen!" The parishioners spoke yet one more time.
At that moment Carrie stopped and looked up at the pastor with an odd expression. The first two verses he spoke were known to her from the bible. Psalm 105:1-2 and Philippians 1:3-4 to be exact. But what he had just now spoken, Carrie knew for a fact that it did not come from any version of the bible that she knew of.
But still the pastor preached on.
"Thank you also for the gift of foresight, which shows us the glorious day that you shall return to us and cleanse the world of the nonbelievers in fire and blood. For there shall be no mercy for those who dare to stand against you!"
Carrie's face grew even more concerned after that statement, but he wasn't finished yet.
"And thank you also for delivering to us your blessed child, she who shall be your vessel through which you shall reenter this world once more." The preacher spoke as Carrie cocked an eyebrow in bewilderment.
"What?" She muttered as the pastor looked down at her, but when he did, his eyes were blood red and pupiless.
Instantly Carrie recoiled as she got up. As she did so she accidentally bumped into Adelina. But when Carrie turned to regard her she saw that her eyes were red as well as she flinched.
"There's no need to be afraid Carrie." Adelina said as Carrie looked out at the rest of the disciples to see that their eyes were the same as well.
"What is this?" Carrie asked in a mixture of confusion and fear as she backed away.
"Do not be troubled my child, we are all but servants of the one true God." The reverend told her.
"What God? Not the father of Christ!" Carrie protested.
"No, we worship the true God, the Great Shadow!"
"He isn't my God!" Carrie protested.
"But of course he is child, for it is from he that your power flows." Adelina added.
"What?" Carrie said in disbelief.
"You are the chosen one, it has been so ordained." the pastor proclaimed, "Praise be to the almighty and his endless might!"
With that the rest of the flock repeated what the pastor had just said and then broke into song once more. But this time what they sang was no bible hymn. In fact it wasn't even a language that Carrie could understand. Not that it was foreign in nature, but that it didn't even sound human at all. Carrie looked on utterly mortified as the very church itself seemed to transform around her. The holy crosses upon the walls slowly twisted and morphed into a symbol that defied explanation that made no sense to Carrie at all. Likewise the scriptures written upon the walls transformed into a language that seemed entirely alien in nature. The stained glass windows that before were showing various types of Christian imagery changed as well, showing things of a terrible and seemingly demonic nature.
Carrie then spun around to face the altar. Upon the wall behind it where a large statue of Jesus upon the cross once was now stood a towering figure in a hooded cloak with its arms outstretched.
"Come embrace your heritage Carrie!" Adelina implored.
"I want no part of this!" Carrie argued.
"It is a great honor to be chosen, can you not see that?" Adelina continued.
"No! No, I cannot!" Carrie shouted as she turned to flee, only to bump into the pastor.
"But it is your fate, your destiny."
"No! MY God gave me free will! Gave me the right to choose! It is whatever I want it to be!"
"When the one true God comes, all false gods shall be swept away, and he shall reign supreme!" Adelina declared.
Carrie looked away from her as she started to move towards the doors, but found the pastor blocking her path once again.
But when she looked at him, his face was nightmarish to behold. Along with his red eyes there was now hideous malformed teeth and black veins running through his face. Carrie screamed as she tried to run in the opposite direction only to see that Adelina and the entire congregation now looked just as ghastly. Suddenly the pastor spoke again, but the voice that came from him this time was one that sounded anything but human.
"A long time ago, when the world was so new nothing had a name, something awakened. It learned all about what was and what would be... but most of all it learned what couldn't be, what shouldn't be. And it gave those things names, because a namer has mastery of the named."
Adelina spoke next.
"Hundreds of years ago, we were a part of a dying race of people afflicted with a terrible plague. When our traditional deities failed to answer our prayers for salvation we reached out to the Great Shadow. And he answered our prayers! He saved us!"
"At what cost?" Carrie asked with horror.
"Our immortal souls." The pastor answered for her, "But we shall live forever as a part of his limitless power! AND SO SHALL YOU!" He commanded pointing at Carrie.
In that instant the very walls of the church itself began to bleed profusely as Carrie bolted for the doors and flung herself through them!
She ran blindly away from the tabernacle in terror…and right into Talbot's men.
"Freeze!" One of them ordered with guns raised.
"No you don't understand, the church!" She tried to explain.
"Huh?" The officer spoke in a puzzled manner.
"What church?" Another soldier asked.
"THERE!" Carrie shouted looking over her shoulder and pointing back at where it was…but now it was gone.
"What?" She pondered in confusion, "But it was right there! The building, the people…the demons. Did I…did I imagine it all?"
"Looks like you were out here in the elements too long girl!" Talbot suddenly shouted snapping her out of her contemplative stupor as the Colonel stepped through his men.
"What just happened?" Carrie said, more to herself than anyone else.
"You just made the biggest mistake of your life." Talbot answered nonetheless.
"You have no idea." Carrie responded, referring to something else entirely.
"Considering I had a front row seat, I'm pretty sure I do." Talbot countered.
With that Carrie gathered her wits about her and focused. Despite the horrendous ordeal that she had just been through, at the moment, Talbot and his men were the immediate threat as she finally turned her attention to them.
"I just want to talk." She shouted back.
"Little late for that don't you think?" Talbot spoke back.
"I'm not here to fight you."
"Oh, but back at the base was okay?"
"Well, considering that you were about to execute my friends I think-"
"I really couldn't give a damn less what you think."
"You don't have the whole story Colonel."
"I think I have enough."
"You really don't."
"And you think I'm going to believe you?"
"If I was really the monster you think I am your men would already be dead. I could've killed them back at the base but I didn't. Maybe that should tell you something."
"Doesn't matter, you still can't be trusted, and I have my orders." He said as he motioned for his men to take her into custody.
"I'm not going anywhere with you." Carrie said defiantly.
"That a fact?" Talbot asked.
"Give it a rest Colonel, you already know that your men and their guns can't get through my force fields." Carrie challenged.
"Trust me, that won't be an issue."
"Why is that?" Carrie asked.
A split second later Carrie was suddenly blasted from behind by a sonic cannon. The same kind that General Ross had used on the Hulk at Culver State University in Virginia. Granted it was set at a low setting. They didn't want to kill Carrie, just incapacitate her so she could be taken into custody. But even at a low setting the cannon's effects were devastating. Carrie hit the ground screaming in pain and clutching at her ears, her concentration shattered and with it her protective barrier.
Talbot then motioned for one of his men to pump a tranq dart into her.
But then, just as the trigger was about to be pulled, all of them just…stopped.
Carrie looked up to see the very same thing, and was puzzled by it. She then picked herself up off of the ground awkwardly still trying to shrug off the effects of the cannon. She then looked closer at them, some of them seemed to be locked in rather awkward looking positions. Talbot himself was standing there with his right hand up in the air and his index finger extended in preparation to give the 'fire' command, but never got beyond that, his mouth was also frozen open as if he were in the middle of trying to speak a certain word.
It was as if they were all suddenly frozen in place.
"What in the world?" Carrie said, understandably confused.
She then decided to try something else, as she reached out with her mind trying to read their thoughts…but she got absolutely nothing from any of them. It would seem that their bodies weren't the only things that had been halted.
"What is the cause of this?" She pondered.
But then suddenly, there was a powerful downdraft of wind from the sky above as Carrie looked up to see a large black aircraft of some kind, the likes of which she had never seen before. It came down for a landing nearby and she remained cautious as the landing ramp slowly opened. Carrie's face lit up in a heartbeat whe she saw Professor Xavier roll down the ramp and then stop at its base.
"Professor?" She exclaimed happily as she ran up to him.
Other members of the X-men then walked down the ramp behind him.
"Hello Carrie, I'm glad to see that you are well." He responded with a smile.
"Huh?" She said, her ears still recovering from the cannon as the professor realized that her hearing was somewhat impaired at the moment.
He then mentally conveyed what he had just said to her and did so for the remainder of what he wanted to say.
"Was that you? Did you freeze Talbot and his men?" She asked with wonderment.
"Yes, once we leave I shall release them, they'll never even know we were here and it will seem like you vanished into thin air."
"Sounds good to me. How did you know I was here?"
"I used Cerebro to find you."
"So do you know about the whole The S.H.I.E.L.D./Hydra fiasco?"
"Yes, it's all over the news. I decided to check up on Phillip in the aftermath."
"Do you know where Phil is, is he okay? Did he get away from Talbot and his men before they came after me?"
"Yes, I contacted him first and offered my aid. But he decided it was best if he and his team struck out on their own. He did ask me to find you however." The Professor explained as Carrie shivered again.
"Let's get you inside and warm you up." Kitty said as she threw a blanket over her shoulders and led her up the ramp way.
"Let's go home." Xavier ordered as everyone else followed suit.
xxxxxxxxxx
A few hours later at Xavier's school…
"Thanks again for coming to my rescue Professor." Carrie said as she walked alongside him.
"Carrie, you are more than just my pupil you are a friend as well. Never forget that."
"I won't. Especially now, it seems that friends are in short supply for anyone affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Whatever may happen with S.H.I.E.L.D. know that you will always have a home here if you choose."
"Again, thank you."
"How are you feeling now?"
"Well, my ears are still ringing, hopefully that ain't permanent." She said with a slightly worried chuckle.
"How are you holding up?"
"I don't know. This whole Hydra inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. thing came out of left field and caught me off guard. I'm still processing all of it to be honest, it's allot to digest."
"That it is. And with the core of what was this country's primary intelligence network in total collapse I fear that things may grow even more chaotic in the weeks and months to come."
"I've already seen that firsthand."
"But for now, on the off chance that the Blackbird didn't manage to evade all radar I am prepared to temporarily relocate you to one of my personal safe houses."
"You think Talbot and his men will come here?"
"It is a possibility. We're under constant surveillance as it is."
"Professor, it's not that I don't appreciate everything that you've done for me, but if it is all the same to you, could you please take me to Coulson and the others instead?"
"It was Phil's idea for us to keep you safe and out of harm's way while he fights the good fight as it were. And I promised him that I would do just that my dear." Charles began, "After all how could he even begin to focus on what he has to do if he had to worry about you at the same time. He said he would come for you when it was all over."
"I understand that, really I do. But I've gone through too much to be kept from him now. I would rather be fighting at his side than be anywhere else. Safe or otherwise."
"Carrie, please try to understand, both me and Phillip only want what's best for you."
"I know, and I appreciate that I really do, but did either of you stop for a moment to ask your selves if this was what I wanted?"
"I admire your loyalty Carrie, but do you really think that is wise?"
"Perhaps not wise…but it is the right thing to do, and its what I want more than anything." She began as she stared at the Professor, who seemed to be contemplating her request, "Please." she implored.
After some serious thought, the Professor finally relented.
"As you wish Carrie."
Carrie let out a sigh of relief. Finally she was going to be reunited with Phil. Then they would kick Hydra's sorry butts all over the place.
For the first time in a while, Carrie felt genuinely optimistic. Perhaps the worst was finally behind her.
Still, she couldn't quit thinking about what happened out in the forest with the church and the cultists. She still wasn't entirely sure if what she experienced was even real. It seemed more like a terrible hallucination than anything else. Yes, a hallucination brought on by the extreme cold, that's what it had to be. I mean, it couldn't have been anything else. Something that horrible couldn't have been real…right?
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Meanwhile from a hellish otherworldly place that existed as a dimension that mirrored Earth in proximity, an evil being of immense power watched all that transpired with malevolent glee. He had been watching Carrie White for some time and bore a special and significant connection to her power, for every time that she used it, the barrier between his realm and the Earth grew weaker and weaker.
Carrie White had experienced a tiny sliver of it out in the forest, soon the time would come.
Soon he would come through.
And when he did…the world would burn.
"Just a little…bit…more." He spoke with a grim certainty.