Disclaimer: Goes without saying but I do not own Bruce Banner nor the Hulk nor any other Marvel character herein included. They're the properties of the original creators as dictated by official documents, whom you can find out more about in Wikipedia or something. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics, etc.

The Anolians and every related character/lore are invented by me, as is the overarching plot, but obviously, I don't own it. Still Marvel.

Rating: T for a bit of violence. I censor profanity like they would in a comic, if I ever use it.

EPILOGUE

Carol was lying on her bed when there was a knock on the door. She snorted away the snot and sat up, cross-legged.

"Yes, come in."

The door slid open, and an old familiar face regarded her from behind sunglasses which hid his eyes made of pure energy. Simon watched her silently, and yet encouragingly, while the door slid closed behind him.

"We haven't arrived yet. Why aren't you resting?" She asked him, lying back down to face the ceiling.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Steve's not the only leader you've ever witnessed."

Carol glanced sideways at her friend, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"I can see he's the one you're thinking of all the time. But you've seen a lot of others. Tony Stark. Reed Richards. Hank. Wolverine. Rogue?"

"Yes, I did see Rogue," she said, slipping a bit of spite into her tone. It was still strange to consider how much that girl had impacted her life, and how much her powers had impacted hers.

"Right. Scarlet Witch and Havoc? And Cyclops."

"Double check," she said.

"But Star-lord. That's another good one," Wonder Man said, chuckling.

"A good one?" She asked.

"Well, there's only one thing all of those team leaders have in common, Carol. They're all who they are. They're themselves."

She sat up again, thoughtfully considering his words.

"You're a fun person," he said. "I'm not saying to be fun now, the Skrull really got us, but you've been tense from the start. You're spending too much energy being someone you're not and…it's not just that people can sense that. A lack of sincerity is something that a leader can't have. I think a leader's got to be true to the core, with their good parts, and the bad parts, or else no one will follow them to hell. Let alone back."

Wonder Man's words struck a cord with her. She had sensed the lack of trust and assumed it was due to incompetence. To the failures they had suffered. But maybe, as he said, they were sensing she wasn't being true to herself. That she was putting on an act.

He was right, that was a terrible thing for a leader to do unless they were the kind to hang back and have other people lead their men into dangerous situations, and tough choices. If she wanted to be in the frontline, those standing behind her had to know what she stood for. What she fought for. They had to know her, as Simon put it, down to the core. Good or bad, they had to know what was real.

"Damn," she said, scoffing. "You're right, Si." She looked up at him, smiling. "Why are you always hiding that wisdom of yours?"

He gave her a small smile, grateful for the compliment.

"I've lived a long time, I think people forget that. I don't necessarily hide it, but going out of my way like this?" He shrugged. "Only for a true friend."

The failure was still there, present and painful, but it no longer weighed that much on her shoulders. All her thoughts, which had been focused on how she would act once they arrived at the station, and what she should say, and what her team's impressions of her would be, they all vanished. They gave room to a realization, something she had actually heard the Skrull say.

Carol got out of bed and approached him, slowly hugging him.

"I'm glad you're here, Si. Thank you. Now you need to come with me, we need to send a message back home."

Wonder Man's brow flinched up in surprise.

"A message?"

"The Skrull said they knew we were coming." She grimaced at Si as he realized what that meant. "Yeah…I think they weren't just gloating when they said they were coming for us."

But she smiled. They had faced the Skrull before. They had faced much grimmer odds. If anything, she was thankful for their arrogance, because now the Skrull were revealed.

"They slipped up. Now we know," Carol said, contently.

A bit of her fighting spirit was back, and it was more than enough to deal with the entire Skrull race and whatever they were planning. And with these unknown Anolian gods as well this Unseen menace. Whatever it all was, and no matter how many setbacks stood in her path, she was going to pull her team through and save the day.

Captain Marvel would.

Part End: Thank you for reading, please consider leaving a review if you have the time.

And that's it. Hope you liked it. I would love to hear your thoughts.

More coming soon. Writing Thor next.

This story and Spider-man: Repulse are heavily connected by lore, even though they're not connected by plot. All my marvel stories are in the same universe, and following an overarching plot. Just in case you want to give that a read.