(A/N): Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! To all my non-American readers, be thankful to have avoided all that family time for awhile longer.

Shoutouts to aiyaiy13, BratGirl1983, Nessa Kane, Kitten123130, Adharablack85-2, angel897, Sora Loves Rain, Westcoast222, alexaguamenti, Catzandbookz8, and Najada for reviewing! Your excitement makes me excited to hear more of your thoughts on what's to come!

To the readers who haven't seen Daredevil but are putting their trust in me, thank you. I promise to do my best to not let you down. To those who have seen the show and are excited, thank you for your support. I hope to still have it afterwards. We've got a lot going on in this chapter. A bit from the Wizarding World, a reappearance of a past enemy, and a first look at a character from Daredevil. I cannot wait to hear your reactions.

This chapter is unbetaed so any mistakes are on you this time because I'm tired of taking the blame. You shoulder some of this.

Thank you all for reading! Enjoy!


"Babajide Akingbade is a highly respected figure in the Wizarding World," President Samuel Quahog reminded Hermione as they walked down the hall. "He's the youngest appointed Supreme Mugwump in the ICW's history. So, no pressure, but if you piss him off, he can and will make your return a living hell."

Hermione forced herself to remain calm. She was past obsessively worrying about making sure everyone she met liked her- if Akingbade didn't like her and support her return, then he didn't and she would make do. "Are all Presidents as informal as you or are am I just lucky?"

Samuel snorted. "Your new brother is Tony Stark- nothing I do or say could be more shocking than anything he says and does on a daily basis."

"Fair enough," Hermione sighed.

Opening a nondescript white door, Samuel gestured for Hermione to step in ahead of him. Pasting a pleasant yet reserved expression on her face, she stepped inside and nodded in greeting to the large, dark skinned man standing by the windows of the conference room overlooking Manhattan.

"Ms. Granger," he greeted softly, voice even. "I am Babajide Akingbade." He held out his hand and she moved forward to shake it firmly.

"Mr. Akingbade, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to speak with me- I know that you are very busy with your duties at the ICW and your work back in your home country. I read that there was some flooding happening in the low-lying lands but I hope that there wasn't too much damage?"

A small smile flashed across his face as he waited for Hermione to sit before taking the chair across from her. "We are used to such an occurrence as it happens regularly, but immediate response is required in order to keep the damage as limited as possible."

"Preventative measures and immediate response are key when handling any situation," Hermione agreed.

Samuel gave a dramatic groan from over by a small table holding a carafe of coffee. "Must you two insist on attempting to have a conversation through subtext?" he asked as he poured himself a cup. "We all know what we're here to discuss- why waste time on clever wordplay?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Tell me, how did you manage to become the President when you act as though you can't stand playing any games of politics?"

"Oh, I can play them, I just don't enjoy doing so." Taking a seat next to Hermione, Samuel took a sip of coffee and sighed in relief. "Especially when I haven't had enough coffee."

"Is there ever enough coffee for you?" Akingbade inquired, also seeming amused.

"It hasn't happened yet but maybe one day," Samuel snarked.

"I look forward to seeing that," the Supreme Mugwump chuckled before looking back at Hermione, expression smoothing out. "You asked to speak with me and, while I can guess why you made the request, I think it would be best if you stated your reasons plainly."

Nodding, she stated, "It is only a matter of time before Wizarding Britain will be unable to hide- or ignore- the truth of my return. Samuel has already assisted me with gaining citizenship with MACUSA and all the protections that go with it, but I want to know if the ICW has any plans on… interfering."

Akingbade's expression didn't change. "Britain's standing and power within the ICW has declined dramatically in the last decade. There are few that would stand with them if they were to make any sort of challenge- and they would have to issue a formal complaint in order to try and get MACUSA to rescind what they have given you. However, there are already several members of the confederation asking questions about you. Should Britain be able to provide any evidence that there is something dark associated with you return, you may be called to speak in front of the ICW. But I doubt that is something the Ministry would want. They will want you to remain under their thumb, but they will not want to bring this fight to an international stage since they are certain to lose."

She had figured that that would be the case. "I'm not surprised that everyone has questions. If you think it would help though, I am willing to tell you- and only you- the truth of what happened to me so that you at least understand what happened and why I am hesitant to tell the world the entire story. I would need an Unbreakable Vow though."

Samuel stiffened next to her in surprise but the only change to Akingbade's expression was a small tugging on the corner of his lips. "A generous offer, but unnecessary." In response to the look of shock that skittered across Hermione's face, Akingbade gave a true smile. "This may come as a surprise to you, but not all of those with power believe that they need to be involved in everything happening in the world. I suspect that there is more to your return than meets the eye but, I am also equally sure that my knowing what is happening will have no impact on what is to come. Until I can actually be of use- or until I will actually be directly affected- there is no need to tell me anything."

Hermione struggled to understand. "But… aren't you worried about what I know? Aren't you scared that I might refrain from telling you something you need to know in the future?"

"No," he answered simply. "I know more of your story than you would think, Miss Granger. I do not need to know because, unlike many of my counterparts who would have considered your offer, I have something that they do not."

"And what's that?"

"Faith. And, the good sense to realize that, in this instance, ignorance may be bliss."

She couldn't stop the bark of laughter from spilling out of her. "I had faith once too and look what it got me."

"Are you saying you would not do it all again?" Akingbade asked. "Your new life- your brother, your friends- would you not endure all that suffering over and over again to ensure you ended up where you are now?"

Shaking her head, Hermione retorted, "Faith didn't bring me here and faith isn't what keeps them in my life. All faith gave me was a number of scars that will never fully heal and some severe trust issues. If I want to protect the people I love, then I can't rely on faith to do so- I can only rely on myself."


Racing down the hall after Tony, Mia demanded, "Where was the ship spotted?"

"Above a desert in Utah," he answered shortly. "Rhodey said that it just appeared out of nowhere- didn't even show up on any of the satellites."

"Utah?" Pepper repeated, her heels clacking against the floor. "Why Utah?"

"Well, clearly because the aliens were drawn to the overwhelming number of Mormon's there," Tony snapped. "How should I know?"

Striding into the living room, Mia darted towards the multiple screens projecting various images. On the largest one, Colonel Rhodes was sitting in front of the camera in his military uniform. "Tony," he barked. "Was it really necessary for you to run off on me just to get them? No offense," he told Pepper, completely ignoring Mia.

"Yes, it was," Tony retorted. "Now, show us what you've got."

"If we weren't in a state of emergency," Rhodes muttered. An image suddenly appeared on his screen of a large black spaceship. "Got any ideas on what the fuck this is?" he asked his friend.

Tony didn't, but Mia did. "Those are Kree warships," she whispered in horror.

"What did you say?" asked Rhodes, looking at Mia. "You know what those are?"

"JARVIS," Tony interrupted, and the screen went black. "Mia, what's going on?"

Swallowing, Mia tried to organize her racing thoughts. "The Kree are a race of scientifically and technologically advanced aliens. Their society revolves around war- it's all that matters to them. For thousands of years, they've spread out across the galaxy either conquering or wiping out races and planets that stood against them. Until Mom stopped them."

"You already told us that before," Tony reminded her. "And apparently she didn't, seeing as how there is currently a ship hovering over the fucking state of Utah!"

"I just said that they've spent over a thousand years spreading out across the galaxy!" Mia scowled, running her hands through her hair. "Stopping them isn't exactly something that can be done quickly. That's what Mom's been doing for the past 15 years or so and she's almost done- the Kree are currently in peace treaty talks with the Nova Empire- an intergalactic hegemony that rules over a large portion of the galaxy now and is made up of multiple races. This must be the last of the Kree opposition that hasn't been wiped out yet."

"Why are they here then?" Pepper interrupted. "Why come to Earth?"

"Because they think she's here," Tony growled, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm right, aren't I?" he asked Mia. "Carol used to be human until she got her powers and then she went off to destroy the Kree because of what they did to her. They want her dead now and they think she's here for some reason."

He was right. "They must have been alerted after what happened to the Chitauri. They don't know about my existence so they must believe that Mom was the one fighting here. If I had to guess, they most likely think that attacking Earth would catch her attention and bring her here. It'd be easier for them if they made her find them, rather than continue to search the galaxy for her. But they've spent years trying to defeat Mom and failing. If they're making a move this bold then… well, either they are truly desperate or very confident. Or both."

"Great," Tony drawled, and Mia was surprised that the amount of sarcasm he had imbued into one word hadn't cause him to choke. "So, there's a spaceship filled with pissed off aliens looking for your mother in order to settle a decades old grudge match hovering over Earth and guess who's not here? Don't suppose you know if she's anywhere nearby, do you?"

"Mr. Stark," JARVIS broke in. "Colonel Rhodes requests that you reestablish the connection."

Taking a deep breath, Mia let it out in a rush. "I don't know where my mother is but I doubt she's anywhere nearby; I don't think we can count her coming to our aid. We need to deal with this ourselves, Tony. Military-grade weapons won't be enough to take out that ship. Last time the Kree came to Earth, Mom was able to destroy most of their ships just by using her powers. I should be able to do the same thing."

He instantly shook his head. "Not on your own you're not."

"I know." Smiling softly, Mia reached up to grab Tony's hands and squeezed them. "Tell Rhodes you're going to head out now while I get changed and we'll leave together."

Breaking away, Mia turned and raced down to her floor.

The last time she had done something like this- actually suited up to fight- was during the Chitauri invasion. Then, all she had been able to do was use magic to impersonate Carol. Honestly, she was lucky that her S.H.I.E.L.D. suit hadn't been destroyed in the flight. Fortunately for Mia though, this time around she wouldn't need to do that again.

Striding into her study, Mia went to one of bookshelves and pulled on a copy of Matilda- Tony's idea of being clever- and the shelf slid back, allowing her to slip through a narrow opening into the room behind. Technically, this room was supposed to be her personal panic room in case the tower was ever under attack, but Mia used it to store her most valuable possessions.

Walking over to a small chest in the corner, Mia knelt down and grabbed a small dagger that had been crafted by the finest Asgardians blacksmiths and gifted to her by Loki. Pressing the tip of the steel into her pointer finger, Mia waited for a small pool of blood to appear before pressing her finger to the lock on the chest. The face of the lock shifted then to show a keyhole- even if someone were able to get ahold of her blood, they would also need to possess the key.

Stretching out a hand, Mia opened up a pocket in space and reached in. Along with the key that was always stored there, she felt a piece of paper and a small object. Collecting all three things, Mia pulled her hand out and shut the pocket.

Setting the paper and box aside for the moment, Mia unlocked the trunk and threw the lid open. Sitting on top of a pile of books, bags, and tiny boxes was a suit identical to the one that her mother always wore. Carol had had it made for her not long after they were reunited just in case she ever needed to don her mother's mantel again. Her mother may still resent the Kree for what they did to her, but there was a reason she still wore a variation of their uniform after all these years. They were bulletproof, waterproof, came with an air mask, and regulated the wearers temperature so that they could survive in even the most hostile of climates.

Stripping out of her skirt and shirt, Mia carefully slipped the red, blue, and gold armor on. A shiver ran down her spine as she finished tugging her boots on. Wearing this uniform, Mia felt like she was actually her mother in that moment- an independent, fierce, brave, unstoppable hero.

Exiting the room, she stopped in front of a mirror and debated whether or not to start pretending to be Carol Danvers then or wait until later. Ultimately deciding that it would be fine to wait until she was closer to the Kree ship, Mia headed for the stairs.

Mia.

Mom. Were you alerted about the arrival of the Kree warship?

Are they already there? I was only just now given a heads-up that a ship had been spotted heading towards Earth. This part of the galaxy isn't travelled to very often because it's usually watched over by the Asgardians.

No Asgardians have been spotted yet, but the ship did just arrive. Tony and I are heading out now.

Pausing outside the entry to the living room, Mia listen to Tony arguing with Rhodes. "There isn't any time to wait for the military to give a thumbs-up to us saving the world! That is a warship, Rhodey- whoever's on it isn't here to have a chat. They're here to blow up the planet and this isn't the first time they've tried!"

"And how exactly do you know that?" demanded Rhodes. "Where are you getting this information?"

"It doesn't matter how I got it," Tony told him shortly. "What matters is that it's true and that I'm going. I'll call you when I have more information."

I don't want you involved in this.

I have to be involved- it's doubtful any weapons possessed on Earth have enough power to break through the hull of that ship, but our powers can.

And they know that, Mia- they'll be expecting that if they really are there to try and capture me. This is too dangerous. If the Kree find out about you-

It doesn't matter what they know, Mom. We don't have another choice.

"Are you ready?" Mia asked, walking into the room and watching as Tony finished suiting up. Pepper was standing off to the side and watching him with a worried look on her face.

"Always." Before Tony put his helmet on, he walked over to Pepper and pressed a kiss to her lips. "See you in a bit."

"Be careful," Pepper requested, twisting to look at Mia. "I expect both of you to come back to me in one piece."

"Since there are two of us, wouldn't you want us to come back to you in two pieces?" Mia wondered. "Otherwise the implication is that we're supposed to fuse together into one being."

"And it's that sort of thought process that made the other kids pick on you," Tony told her, helmet on and eyes glowing. "Let's roll."


It was as they were flying over Iowa that JARVIS patched Steve through to their comm units. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine, Steve," Hermione reassured him. "We haven't even reached the ship yet."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. have anything for us?" Tony asked.

"What, are you no longer hacked into their system?" Steve asked, a faint note of humor in his voice.

"JARVIS is kind of juggling a few things right now," defended Tony.

"I'll bet. Unfortunately, we don't have much more info than what I'm guessing you guys have. Natasha and I are about to head out there with the STRIKE team. We're taking a quinjet so we should get there shortly after you do."

"Well, I would be there much sooner if Tony wasn't slowing me down," Hermione grumbled.

She could feel Tony rolling his eyes. "Just because you can travel at the speed of light does not mean that you should run off and face an alien army on your own."

"You know there is a chance that there's only a few rebels on that ship right now and not an entire army, don't you?"

"Yeah, and there's also a chance that the only thing on that ship is Charlie the Unicorn, but that chance is as equally unlikely as yours," Tony snapped.

"Pardon my interruption," came JARVIS' calm tone. "But the ship has changed position."

"What's going on?" asked Hermione, who, unlike Tony, needed JARVIS to describe what was happening instead of being able to see the footage for herself.

"While I cannot be absolutely sure, it does appear as though the ship is preparing to fire."

Without another word, Hermione pushed herself to go as fast as she could, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Damnit," Tony swore.

"What's going on?"

"Mia just took off. JARVIS, put all power into the thrusters."

"Sir, no matter how much power you use, you won't be able to catch up with her."

"Just do it, JARVIS!"


They wouldn't fly so low if they were really aiming to destroy the planet, would they? Mia asked, remembering the memory her mom had once shown her of a group of large ships high above Earth and how Carol had destroyed the missiles they'd shot at the planet with her bare hands. It had been that memory that had taught Mia that there was nothing to fear when flying- that she was unstoppable.

No, they wouldn't, but this is clearly a trap and they really want to get our attention sooner rather than later. Their minds were linked deeply enough that they could see what the other was seeing but all Mia was getting from Carol was the blur of spacing flying by.

Well, they certainly have it.

The Kree have had years to plan this, Mia, Carol warned. If they're doing this, then they must be feeling confident enough in their plan to take me out.

But it's not you they'll be facing. I'm not just your daughter- I'm also the daughter of Loki. They won't be expecting me and all that I can do.

Ah, I remember that feeling of confidence. And then how it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I know you're scared, Mom, but we don't have any other options. If we wait, people will die.

And if you do this, you might. If something happens to you…

Nothing is going to happen to me. Everything will be fine. I promise.

Mia relished in the rush of being able to fully use her powers. For the past year, she had kept her abilities leashed in an attempt to not draw attention to herself. When Carol had told her what it was like for her on Hala and the amount of energy it took to constantly keep her powers under lock and key, Mia hadn't been able to fully understand. Her parents had always encouraged her to embrace her powers- even when they would escape her accidentally, they never got frustrated or tried to curb her.

Now, after a year of suppressing a large piece of who she was, Mia finally understood. She understood at least a bit of what her mother had gone through and couldn't imagine what it must have been like to have to live six years fighting against who she was.

Hurtling over the state line into Utah, Mia headed towards the coordinates where the ship was located. It was time for her to finish what her mother had started all those years ago.


"Sir," one of the Kree sitting at the navigational panel called. "Something's approaching the ship at lightspeed."

Yon-Ragg smiled. He knew that Vers would be unable to resist coming to face them herself. Though really, she wouldn't have had a choice either way. The inhabitants of C-53 were still too primitive to be able to defend themselves against the might of the Kree Empire. Despite Vers' attempts to stop them, the Kree were still a warrior race and every person on the ship was prepared to join the Collective should they fail.

They wouldn't though- of that Yon-Ragg was sure. Years had been spent preparing for this moment as Vers tore through the galaxy, doing her best to destroy everything that their empire had built.

I'm so proud of you. You've come a long way from that day I found you by the lake.

He truly meant what he said to Vers that day. Yon-Ragg had always known that she had the potential to be a fantastic warrior if she could only learn control. The problem was that he had tried to force her to learn how to suppress her powers, rather than teach her how to control them. If they had only done that from the start, then things would have been very different.

Vers would have destroyed the Skrull that had taken her before they were able to fiddle around inside her head and turn her against them. With her powers, they would have destroyed the Nova Empire and taken control of the entire galaxy.

Taking a deep breath, Yon-Ragg reminded himself that soon they would be able to do all those things. They would take back what was theirs.

They would retrieve their weapon. They would take back their empire.


Once Mia was finally able to spot the ship, she created the illusion that she was Carol Danvers.

Mia.

Dad, she sighed. It seemed that Mom had filled him on what was going on. Any advice on what I should do now?

Seeming to know well-enough that there would be no talking Mia out of this course of action, Loki advised, You saw your mother's memories- the ships outer defenses won't be strong enough to stop you. Go in and destroy the engine room as quickly as possible. They will have already noted your arrival, so you need to focus on moving as quickly and efficiently as you can.

Shouldn't I focus on destroying their weapons? If I don't, they might still be able to fire a missile before I can destroy the engine, Mia argued. And that's not even factoring in how much damage may be caused by the ship falling.

There will be far more destruction if any Kree manage to escape and start attacking civilians. There can be no survivors left on that ship.

He's right, Carol told her flatly. You need to be as quick as you can. They have to have some sort of plan, so you need to move too fast for them to put it into action. Don't stop for anything and don't let them distract you.

Taking a deep breath, Mia flew at the ship and broke straight through the metal side.


He watched him through the scope of his rifle. Things really had changed while he had been gone, hadn't they? Super soldiers back from the dead, a man that could turn big and green in a split second, fucking Norse Gods of all things, and aliens coming through portals in the goddamned sky. Out of all that though, he had to say that this was the dumbest shit he had seen so far.

What kind of name was the Devil of Hell's Kitchen anyway?

The guy had skill- he'd give him that. The man in red moved lightning quick and seemed to have good instincts since no one had gotten the drop on him yet. Didn't change the fact that he was really nothing more than a little boy running around pretending to be a hero.

The one thing the Devil seemed unable to comprehend was that nothing he was doing actually made a difference. He could knock down bad guys left and right and gift wrap them for the cops all he wanted but at the end of the day, they would be right back on the streets doing the same shit. Nothing would change- these pieces of shit weren't going to suddenly be reformed after getting a couple of limbs broken by a vigilante and being thrown in jail for a few months.

If he really wanted to help people, he'd make sure that the garbage he took down, stayed down. Maybe if he had, then his…

No. That was his fault. He should have been better- reacted faster, done his job.

He was supposed to protect them. That was his one job in this world, to keep them safe. And instead, he'd done nothing, and they'd been gunned down in front of him while he'd just watched in horror. Now, all that was left for him was to make sure that no one else ever had to go through that.

But, if Red had actually protected people like he apparently claimed to do, then maybe things would have been different too. Instead, it was up to him to actually clean up this city and he was more than prepared to do the job.

Moving back, he disassembled his rifle and slotted it back into its case. Striding across the rooftop, he climbed down the fire escape and into the dark alley below. Slipping out onto the mostly empty street, he quickly made his way towards a bar a few blocks away where a couple members of the Cartel were; he had some bullets with their names on them.

One batch, two batch. Penny and dime.


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