Chapter 29
The next morning, dad and James were waiting at their place for Carol so they could head off on this new mission. Dad got a message from Theo. "Hey, James, I just got a text from Theo" he stated.
"What's he saying?" James asked.
"He said that he wants to see the two of us first thing tomorrow" dad replied, reading the text.
"Better let him know we won't be here" James said.
So, dad called Theo and put him on speaker phone. "Hey, Theo, James and I won't be able to come in tomorrow" dad stated.
"Yeah, we'll be off world for a personal mission" James added.
"Well then, I guess I'll have to do this now, then" he stated.
"What are you talking about?" dad asked.
"Pigma told me what happened yesterday at the funeral" Theo explained.
"What did he tell you?" James asked.
"That you threatened him and accused him of killing your wife, which I'm sorry to hear that she died" Theo stated.
"What's your point, Theo?" dad asked.
"I'm not talking to you guys as your friend right now, but as your army general" he began, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to discharge James from the Corneria Army, effective immediately."
"What!" James exclaimed, "But, Sir, I didn't even harm Pigma."
"From what he told me, if Maverick hadn't stepped in, you would've done a lot worse than just pinning him to a wall" Theo stated, "I'm sorry James, but we have a strict policy that our soldiers don't try to harm one another."
"Sir, I hope you know this means I'll be stepping down from my position on the army too" dad said, sticking up for James.
"Then it has been a pleasure having both of you serve our planet" Theo sighed, "you may come collect your things once you get back from your mission."
They hung up the phone in disbelief. "I can't believe it" James stated, "we're not part of the army anymore."
"I can't believe Pigma actually told Theo" dad exclaimed, "that guy is such a weasel!"
"Well, we can't worry about that right now" James shrugged, "we are going on a wild goose chase."
"Speaking of which, where is Carol?" dad questioned, "I figured she'd be here by now."
Just as he said that they noticed a bright streak of light flying in their direction and stopped right above them. "Morning boys" came a feminine voice from the light.
"Mav, did that mass of light talk to us or are we dead?" James asked.
"No, we're not dead, James" he chuckled, "I heard it too."
The light faded and the body of Carol Danvers became visible, while still flying. "Carol?" James questioned, "How are you flying?"
"That's the question you're asking and nothing about her glowing like fireworks in July?" dad asked.
"Both are great questions" she smiled, "you know how I told you that I had absorbed energy from the Tesseract?"
"Yeah, I don't know what that is, but it sounds intense" James replied.
"Yeah, well, the Tesseract gave me powers" she explained.
"Clearly" James smirked.
"Alright, kids, shall we get this show on the road?" dad asked.
Dad and Uncle James walked onto the Berserk and noticed Carol hadn't come on board. "Carol, are you coming?" James asked, pressing the speaker.
"I'm fine out here" she said, "I'll come in when I get tired."
The two canines looked at each other, shocked. "Okay, if you say so" dad stated, "where are we headed first?"
"Hala" Carol said, "Yon-Rogg is the only one who knows where Aki might be."
"You named her Aki?" James questioned.
"Yeah, it's Japanese for Sparkle" she explained.
"Let's get going" dad said.
As they were traveling, dad asked, "So, since Carol is single, would you consider getting back together?"
"Mav, I think it's too soon to even be thinking about that" James stated, glancing at the wolf.
"I know, bud, it's just something to consider" dad countered, "especially seeing how you had a kid with each other."
"I don't even know what she's planning on who will be taking care of Aki" James stated.
"You two seem to be civilized enough to make a rational decision" dad stated.
"Since we're asking random questions, what would you say if I was trying to locate your birth parents?" James asked.
"I'd ask, why are you wasting time with such things" he replied, "you're not actually searching for them, are you?"
"No, you made it clear that you'd rather not know who they are" James replied, "but if Vixy's death has taught me anything, it's that we should never miss our chance to love our family members."
"I do that every day" he stated, "you guys are the only ones who really wanted me as part of their family."
"What are we talking about?" Carol asked, finally entering the ship.
"We were talking about family and how you shouldn't take time with them for granted" James stated.
"My father was a bit more aggressive toward me as a child" Carol stated, "because of that it pushed me to join the air force."
"Do you still talk to him?" dad asked.
"No, when I joined the air force I met an awesome woman named Maria Rambeau, who practically took me in as part of her family" Carol explained, "kind of like how your family brought in Maverick, James."
"Oh, so she's more of a family to you than your biological family?" dad asked, glancing at James.
"Exactly" she smiled, "they're the people who actually care about what happens to you."
There was an awkward silence after this conversation had finished. "Better get some rest, Carol" dad stated, looking at the navigation chart "we'll be getting to Hala in a few hours."
When they arrived at Hala, Carol told them to hang back while she scopes the place for Yon-Rogg. After a couple minutes, she came back saying, "I have located Yon-Rogg, he seems to be sleeping."
"You know, I'm surprised with how advanced the Kree seem to be, they don't have a security system to inform them of incoming spacecrafts" James stated.
"Actually, they do" Carol said, as she gave a concerned look.
As she said that, a large fleet of spacecrafts swarmed the three of them, as they were just outside the planet's atmosphere. "Oh, look it's my Terran traitor, Vers!" Yon-Rogg shouted, through the speakers.
"It's Carol now, asshole" she replied.
"It's not nice to be name calling the guy who gave you his blood so you could live" he stated.
"Don't patronize me, Yon-Rogg" Carol rebutted.
"Wait, is that Maverick O'Donnell and James McCloud over there?" he questioned, "Hey, James, how's the wife?"
Dad glanced at James and noticed how quickly James became enraged. "Uh, Carol, are you sure we need to keep Yon-Rogg alive?" James barked.
"Sorry, James, I need him alive to answer our questions" she said.
"Better make it quick" dad said, "James is really pissed off after that last remark."
Carol's fists began glowing and she said, "Listen, Yon-Rogg, tell me what I want to know."
"Oh, no, not your scary hands!" he replied, sarcastically.
"Just tell the girl what she wants to know, asshole!" James shouted.
Yon-Rogg sighed, "You three haven't changed a bit. Always in a hurry to get straight to the point. What do you simpletons want?"
"You took my daughter from me, shortly after she was born" Carol explained.
"Tell us where the little girl is!" James demanded, interrupting.
"Hmm, you might have to be more specific" he stated, "there have been many daughters born on Hala in recent years."
"And how many have you personally shipped off the planet, with some guardian?" Carol asked, as her eyes now started glowing.
"Only one" he smirked, "but you'll never find her. The chosen caretaker was tasked with moving from planet to planet and never checking in."
"What was the first planet you sent her to?" Carol asked.
"A planet all of us are familiar with, Kuebos" Yon-Rogg stated.
"Okay, great" Carol replied, "let's get going guys."
"Where do you think you're going, Vers?" the voice of Att-Lass spoke up over the speaker.
"Don't test my patience, Att-Lass!" James shouted, "I will not hesitate shooting you down!"
"I'd like to see you tr…" he began, before being interrupted by gunfire.
"James!" dad shouted.
"What? He asked for it" James stated, "now, let's go to Kuebos."
Carol got into the Berserk saying, "James, you never cease to surprise me. I didn't think you'd actually shoot him."
"Would you guys calm down" James stated, "I only hit his ship. It's not like I physically shot Att-Lass."
"I wasn't saying that because I was mad at you" Carol said, "it's just that you've never been prone to violence. You typically try to talk your way out of tough situations."
"Yeah, James" dad chimed in, "I've never seen you get this aggressive."
"Well, maybe this is the new me" James stated.
"James, I saw how fast your facial expression changed when Yon-Rogg asked about Vixy" dad pointed out, "you're still grieving her death, but you shouldn't use that as a reason to be aggressive."
"That's not what happened, Mav" James said, "they weren't letting us leave, so I took it upon myself to get us out of there."
"If they really wanted to prevent us from leaving, Yon-Rogg would've had them be more prepared to take us on" Carol stated, "if this mission is too personal for you, you might as well just go home because your emotions are way too sensitive."
"I'm not going anywhere but to Kuebos with you guys to find our daughter" James declared.
"Then maybe you should take some time to really accept what has happened" dad offered, "you've been putting on a brave face for Fox and the public, but you know it's okay to cry over this tragedy."
"I'm fine, Mav" James stated.
"Clearly you're not!" dad said, "It's okay to admit you're sad."
James got up from his seat and walked away. "Why is he so stubborn about this?" Carol asked, turning to dad.
"I'm not sure" dad stated, "I think he's still in denial about Vixy's death."
"Are you going to go talk to him?" she asked.
"Maybe in a bit" he said, "I think I'm going to leave him alone for a while."
"Do you think he'll be okay to continue on with this trip?" she asked.
"I think he'll be fine" dad said, "I'm worried he came on this to get his mind off Vixy."
"Sometime distraction is good" Carol stated, "but if that distraction keeps you from making good decisions, then that's a problem."
A few hours went by and James still hadn't come back out to the cockpit. Carol turned to dad and said, "Maybe you should go check on James to make sure he's doing alright."
Dad got up from his seat, after he had turned the autopilot on, saying "Yeah, I'm worried about him. I'll be back."
He made his way to the bedroom. When he was standing outside the door, he heard the sound of weeping on the other side of the door. "James?" he questioned, knocking gently on the door "Are you okay?"
"Yes, Maverick, I'm fine" the fox replied, between sniffs.
Dad opened the door to find the fox laying on the bed and still crying. "Oh, James" he said, sitting on the side of the bed, while James was facing away from him. He gently placed a paw on his arm saying, "You know you don't have to put on a brave face and act like you're okay one hundred percent of the time, right?"
"Mav, I'm fine" the vulpine said, rolling over.
"James, if you've been in here crying all this time, then you are not fine" dad stated, calmly "and it's okay if you're still upset about Vixy. No one is expecting you to just suddenly bounce back."
James sat up and sighed, "I know. It just feels easier sometimes to put on a brave face in public."
"I get that you don't want to show emotion around Fox or some others" dad stated, "but as I've told you many times before, you don't have to act that way around me. I will always be here to listen and talk if you need to."
James hugged the lupine and continued to cry. "She's gone, Mav" he said, through sobs "she's gone and she's never coming back."
"I know, James" dad said, gently caressing the fox "I'm sorry about that. There's nothing worse than losing someone you love."
They finished hugging and James said, "I know I've been acting different since Vixy died, but I can't help how I've been feeling."
"I know it's tough, but you can't just get pissed every time some jerk brings her up" dad said.
James sighed, "I know, it's just something I'm working on."
"I can help you work through these tough times" dad said.
"I would love that" James smiled, sheepishly "but by help me, what exactly do you mean?"
"If you ever get emotional, about anything, you can talk to me about it" dad said.
"Thanks, Mav" James said, hugging the wolf again.
"Alright, you lovebirds, that's enough of that" Carol walked in, wrecking the moment.
James took a deep breath, wiped away his tears, and said, "What's up, Carol?"
"Put your game faces on, we're about to land on Kuebos" she said.
"Maybe we should go ask Aguntasz if he's seen a Kree here in the past couple years" James suggested.
"That's a great idea, James" dad smiled.
