It had been a relatively boring few days for certain members of the Vanguard. Ever since the failed attack on Hydra underneath Mercury Labs, nothing major had really come up from either them or from an independent force or supervillain.

Carol was off at work, at Ferris Air, walking around in a cloudless blue sky as two planes took off behind her in good ol' Coast City, California. After completing her training in the U.S. Air Force, and it was here, by the very spot she was walking by, that she met Hal Jordan. She didn't think that much of him at first. They were mostly just Facebook friends for a while, and didn't talk to each other too much.

That all changed when they got their powers.

And speaking of which, Hal was off on a mission in the Triangulum Galaxy. Ordinarily, he would have to bullshit a reason why he was absent, but he and Carol had both decided to just tell their boss who they were. It made life easier.

A slick-haired, big-nosed, and lean man took a look at Carol and let out a flirtarious whistle. She just rolled her eyes and walked away; she got that a lot, and she just ignored it every single time.

"Danvers!" A voice shouted out, and she turned around to see her boss…who just so happened to share her name. Carol Ferris. She was a black-haired, Caucasian, and blue-eyed woman in a gray jacket and black skirt, and Carol already knew exactly what this chat was going to be about.

"Danvers, have you heard back from Hal at all?"

Carol shook her head while making eye contact with the much shorter of the two Carols. "No, Ferris, I have not. But, um…" She decided to step in closer so she wouldn't have to talk as loudly about Hal's…other job. "Green Lantern work can take a while. And even if he is done, it takes a while to get back to Earth from where he's at."

Ferris than rolled her eyes. "Of course. I can just see him now, blasting away aliens and having the time of his life…"

Carol chuckled. "Right, that sounds like him."

"I should be off. Director Fury's still on my ass about that one incident…"

And with that, Ferris was off. She had said that last thing like Carol was supposed to know what that mean, when no, she hadn't the slightest idea. But it didn't really matter that much, she guessed. She was off the clock soon, and then she would going to the pub to meet up with Barry, Steve, and in a new twist of fate, Clark.

She looked up at the sky, and wondered how Hal was doing in the Triangulum Galaxy…as well as if the aliens who granted her superpowers were still out there. She actually didn't know who they were or why they had experimented on her like that, so she had no idea what they could be up to…and if they would ever return. All she could remember where flashes of a some sort of lab, with silhouettes continually looking down at her; they were experimenting on her, though for what purpose she never figured out.

'Well….at least I don't have an anal probe.' She thought to herself. '

It wasn't long before Carol was at the pub known as Broome and Colan's, a bar frequented by pilots and soldiers, so Barry and Clark would be exceptions rather than the rule.

She had already picked a booth table – the kind of table she preferred – and she was waiting for her friends to show up.

It was only a few seconds later that Barry, Clark, and Steve showed up, the latter seemingly jarred out with his hand on his chest.

"Man, I am never going to get used to traveling at superspeed." Steve said, moving his hand to the back of his head and sighing.

"My bad, Steve." Barry replied as he took a seat next to Carol while Clark sat on the opposite side of the booth. "You take it better than most, I'll say. Might be because of your super soldier serum. But really, as long as I hold onto your head to prevent whiplash, you'll be fine."

"Right." Was all Steve replied with.

Carol didn't have time to say anything at all because two African-American men, one with a buzzcut, a large jaw, and a large nose, and the other with a small beard and red tinted glasses, walked up to the three, their eyes focused on Steve. Carol knew who these people were, and they were still people she was on Facebook Friend levels with.

"Holy crap, man. That's Captain America." The buzzcut one said, his voice deep and actually sounding not too different from Aquaman. "My, oh my, this is a surprise. What are you doing here in Coast City, Captain Rogers?"

Steve let out a humble chuckle. "Just exploring modern day America, sir."

"Oh no, don't call me sir, Captain. Name's Stewart. John Stewart. I'm a Marine."

John held out his hand, and Steve smiled before shaking it. "And you can just call me Steve, John." He said, before his attention went to the man standing next to John. "And you are…"

"Sam Wilson, Ca – Steve. I used to do pararescue for the Air Force. Was honorably discharged a few months ago."

"It is nice to meet both of you."

A waitress came along and began taking Barry and Carol's orders, but Steve kept on chatting with Sam and John. "So, Steve," Sam said after shaking Steve's hand. "I used to love reading about you in school. One of my favorite subjects was learning about the Liberty Brigade."

Steve nodded. "That's nice. Glad I got people to pay attention in school."

"I was somewhat fascinated by the Brigade back in the day as well," John added on, "And I actually met Alan Scott when I was a kid. That was a real treat. Got him to sign a baseball glove, as that was all I had."

That inspired Steve to tell a story. "You know, I technically wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Alan," He said, making motions with his hands as he did so. "The year was '43, and we were in Mont Blanc over in France. We were taking out a Hydra base, as usual, but I got myself hoplessly outgunned at one point. I mean, Hydra agents were circled all around me, and people like Jay and Namor were at a different part of the base. But then Alan came along and disposed of every one of them with a green mallet like they were nothing. And he quite enjoyed himself, too."

Sam began to laugh while John walked away towards the bar. "I recall learning about that in like seventh or eighth grade. Man, I hope you don't mind me asking…where do you live?"

"I live in the Vanguard Tower. Still haven't tried to find a job or my own apartment yet."

"Ah, I see. Say, do you mind if I run some random names and events by you, see how caught up you are with today's world?"

Steve shrugged. "Why not?"

"Star Wars, Star Trek, I Love Lucy, Nirvana, the Moon Landing, the Berlin Wall…." Sam paused for a moment, as if thinking of what else to say, before continuing. "…Thai food, Vladimir Putin, the Gulf War…Calvin and Hobbes, Jurassic Park…Richard Nixon, the European Union, and YouTube."

Most of those names sounded familiar to Steve – and he grimaced in disgust at the name of Richard Nixon, a fact he felt he should clarify. "Sorry, the name of Nixon just…ugh…I guess the only thing I'm not familiar with there is Nirvana. I just thought that was something related to Buddhism."

Sam laughed again, this time louder. "They were a band, man. They disbanded for tragic reasons, but their music was the bomb. …Wait, are you familiar with rock music at all?"

"…Kind of."

"Captain, you are missing out on a lot."

It was then that John Stewart walked back up to the two, with Steve assuming he just went to take another shot or something. "I heard you guys change the subject, but there's something I have to say about Alan Scott. I honestly think he's way cooler than the Green Lantern we have now," he said, before an somewhat apologetic look appeared on his face. "I don't meant to insult one of your teammates, Captain, but that new Green Lantern just seems like a glory hound."

Brining up Hal Jordan now proved to be impeccable timing on John's part, because the entrance door opened and Steve turned around to see Hal himself, looking somewhat tired out on top of it.

John cupped his chin, as if he was on to something. "He reminds me a lot of Hal, actually. Sam, do you feel me there?"

"Honestly…yeah, I do." Sam replied while watching Hal look around.

Carol, Barry, and Clark all seemed rather surprised to see Hal, with Barry getting up to greet him. "Hey, Hal! You're back earlier than we all thought you'd be."

Hal looked around again, with Steve figuring he was trying to make sure no one was in earshot, before whispering something in Barry's ear. Barry sat back down, and Hal walked up to Steve, John, and Sam.

"Hey, guys. How's it rolling?"

Sam smiled. "Well, with Captain America here, it's rolling quite good, actually."

Hal paused for an awkwardly long moment before looking at Steve. "Oh….yeah. Steve Rogers. It is a true honor to meet you, sir."

Suddenly, a vibrating noise could be heard, and John pulled out his cellphone. "Oh, excuse me for a moment. Gotta take this call."

John walked away, and Sam looked at him, and then at some other folks on the other side of the bar. "I should probably get going, too. My sister over there really wanted to talk to me about something."

Steve watched him turn his back, but then tapped his shoulder a minute later. "Wait, wait. My teammates have been telling me about this 'texting' thing you can do on phones now. And I really need more contacts, so…I….I guess."

"This is not happening!" Sam shouted as he laughed. "Hell yeah, you can have my number, Captain America. Holy crap…."

And so Sam gave Steve his number before walking away, and he and Hal sat down with their teammates. Steve sat down next to Clark while Hal pulled up a chair.

"Well, Rogers," Clark began, putting down his menu. "You seemed to hit it off with those two guys pretty well."

"Oh yeah," Steve replied as he held up his own menu. "You guys are great, but it feels nice to socialize with other people for a change."

There were a second or two or silence before Carol turned her head to face Hal. "So how'd the Triangulum mission go?"

"Oh, it went well. Trying to prevent an intergalactic war between two space empires was easier than I'd thought it be. And…" Hal said, pausing to lean in. "I solved two missing persons cases along the way."

Everyone looked at Hal, confused, and he just leaned back with a smile on his face.

"Peter Quill and Adam Strange. Both cases have theories of aliens behind them, and both would probably be right. Peter is traveling around the universe with a gun-toting raccoon – space is weird – and some other alien creatures, and Adam Strange is on a planet called Rann, He was accidentally teleported there by its residents, but he didn't seem ready to come back to Earth. And also, I got proof of what they've been up to."

Carol and Barry nodded. "Well, way to go, Hal," Barry stated sincerely. "Their families should be quite pleased when they find out Peter and Adam are alive and well."

"I certainly hope so, Barry."

Then their waitress came up to the five, and they began to take their orders. Once all of that was done and out of the way, they resumed conversing about their lives.

"So, Clark, I must wonder…" Carol began to ask. "When is that Job Fair of yours coming up again?"

"Oh, that." Clark replied, adjusting his glasses. "Um, about a week. We really have to pull through, with journalism dying and all –"

He abruptly stopped, and stood up, looking up at the roof. Everyone one was just confused. He seemed to be muttering something, though absolutely no one knew what that was.

Their questions were answered when Iron Man came crashing through the roof.

Iron Man crashed onto the ground pretty hard, and everyone lit up in confusion and bafflement. The five Vanguardians in civilian attire all looked at each other in confusion, and then they all looked at Steve. He was the only one who could speak to Iron Man and ask what was going on without blowing his cover, as his identity was public. Steve nodded to them.

"Iron Man?" Steve asked, kneeling down. "What the hell is going on?"

Iron Man groaned as he got up. "I….I tried to fight off some alien forces by myself, but they are powerful and persistent. I believe they called themselves the Kree."

Hal's eyes widened. "The Kree? Here?" He whispered to Carol, Barry, and Clark. "Damn!"

"Who are the Kree?" Clark asked.

"They're an alien race from the Large Magellanic Cloud. Very advanced, and very militaristic. Their empire is one of the biggest rivals to the Corps, and they have no qualms about mercy."

"Well…that's good to know."

They then looked back at Steve and Iron Man. "Damnit, my systems have been heavily damaged. Blasters are offline, jets are offline…goddamnit. I do know what the Kree are coming for, however. They are here for –"

Iron Man was not able to finish, because nine alien soldiers crashed down into the bar before he could. These soldiers donned white armor with green helmets, green gloves, and green boots, and they had blasters in their hands that wouldn't look out of place in a sci-fi movie. They also bore the image of a planet on their chests, one that looked a lot like Saturn with its rings. Some of them appeared to have pink skin like a Caucasian human, while others bore blue skin.

Then, what looked like a Kree female landed down onto the floor. She was dressed completely differently from the soldiers – she bore a red outfit with blue gloves, blue boots, and a blue cap, and she had cerulean skin and long hair. And she also bore a different symbol on his chest.

The symbol, however, was identical what Carol wore on her Captain Marvel outfit.

Then the Kree woman looked right at her. "There she is, right there. Seize her!"

One of the Kree soldiers blasted towards Carol, and it must've been set to 'stun' because she fell unconscious immediately afterwards. The Kree soldier quickly lifted her up and carried her, walking back towards the rest of the soldiers.

Hal gritted his teeth. "What do you want with her?!" He shouted out.

"We need to verify some lab results we made a few years ago," the Kree woman answered. Then, she and all the soldiers flew away on their rocket boots.

All except for one soldier, that is. And his helmet visor began to flash red.

Steve and Hal furrowed their eyebrows, unsure of what was going on. Iron Man, however, jumped, and Hal's eyes widened.

"Oh, Jesus, it's –"

But it was too late. Before John, or Sam, or anyone knew it, the restaurant blew up in a firey blaze.