It’s been a long day. Insanely long. Lauri-Ell can feel the weariness starting to seep into her body, but she dare not let it overtake her. The traps she had laid to incapacitate the soldiers of the Alliance trying to apprehend her had all been used up at this point, and her ammunition was not at the best levels now. The only true advantage she retained was that, unlike those Kree that came for her, she was something a bit more than a mere soldier. She was made, perfected, the best that the Kree. And yet something had changed. Because a ship had landed, and that means there is something going on here. A change.
Suppressive fire is important, so she keeps firing, and realizes her mistake as the approaching woman in traditional Accuser colors raises a massive hammer. Lauri-Ell ducks behind a large bit of cover and then the blast comes. There’s barely a chance for her to dodge aside from the great blast that could be only from what could only be a Universal Weapon. An Accuser. Damn. Lauri scrambles into additional cover, firing as she does, listening to the shots pinging off of the hammer. Clearly this Accuser was very talented. Just as Lauri found herself situated she tossed a grenade as well, hoping that might knock the Accuser away.
Nothing was going to get through the armor, and frankly, Lauri had no intention of killing them. She just wanted to get away.
There was nothing to prepare her for the distant figure to fly up into the air, the hammer pulsing green, and the grenade exploding well before the blast could reach her.
“Soldier,” the woman called out, hammer pointing to Lauri’s cover as her eyes shone with the green light of the Weapon. “I am Captain Marvel, Accuser of the United Kree-Skrull Alliance. You are an enemy of peace, and you will surrender to me immediately so you may answer for your crimes.”
Crimes Lauri had not committed, but no one would believe her. That name, though. Oh that name. Captain Marvel, a title that had passed from the great Kree hero Mar-Vell and on to an Earth woman. A half-Kree woman. To the one person in this universe but the Emperor herself that Lauri-Ell would willingly turn herself over to. So she shed her guns, raised her arms over her head, and moved out of cover.
“Captain Marvel… Carol Danvers of Earth… I yield.”
Clearly the woman was shocked, hovering there in the air above while Lauri went to one knee. This was not what the Accuser had expected, and it was fair. But she did not know what Lauri-Ell did. Never had she expected to encounter Carol, here or anywhere. But one should respect shared blood. Sisterhood, Lauri knew, should matter.
“You level a city full of innocents and now you surrender so easily, soldier? I am surprised.”
The only answer she could give was honesty, so Lauri-Ell gave it the best she could, her eyes cast to the ground. She was likely not worthy to look at her sister, not when the woman expected her to be so horrid.
“My name is Lauri-Ell, and I have dreamed of nothing but this day, though I confess these circumstances are no part of any dream of mine.”
Silence took control for a bit, and then the woman answered her.
“Lauri-Ell, you stand accused of atrocities of the highest order: the destruction of a city of peace designed to solidify a fragile alliance and the murder of its citizens. Do you undersand these charges?”
Yes, even if they were wrong.
“I do, Captain.”
“And do you have anything to offer in your defense, soldier?”
Could the Captain not use her name?
“I am innocent, Captain. Though I was born and bred for war. I have no taste for violence. I never have. I would never commit these crimes against my people,” Lauri noted as the tears she’d been holding back for hours began to flow freely down her cheeks, “and the Skrulls with whom we have formed a long overdue peace. I mourn them all, as well as my crew, who were my only friends in this world.”
The Captain began to lower herself, clearly at a loss for words, and Lauri-Ell raised her hands to her helmet to lift it off. Once it was free she lowered her head.
“It is all right, Captain. I will accept the judgment of the hammer if wielded by you,” she said, because she knew that there was honor in her sister. The honor Earth taught. The honor their mother would have expected of her. “I know you are only doing that with which you have been tasked.”
Lauri waited for the Captain to land and then press the hammer to her head. The Universal Weapon were tools of justice, they could link minds, unite truth and history. It gave information, and was the tool of the law. It would tell the Captain what she needed to know. It would speak her innocence. She could feel the hammer reaching, feel the knowledge coming, and… Feel when the power faded.
“Your mother was Mari-Ell?”
There it was, and Lauri lifted her head.
“Yes. I was made from the DNA of two great Kree soldiers… She was one of them. But I never had the pleasure to know her.”
The realization flashed over Carol’s face, “You’re my half-sister.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
Of course she had not. They were honorable warriors, no matter what people thought of Lauri-Ell. How could Carol not see that?
“It did not not seem fair to you, given what you are tasked to do,” Lauri admitted. An Accuser facing someone in a crime, especially when everyone knew Lauri had destroyed the city. Killed everyone she cared for. It would be wrong to tell her sister of their kinship in the face of that. “I did not want you to carry my death on your conscience more than I knew you would already. And I… I just felt grateful to have finally seen you with my own two eyes.”
Truly it would remain that for her. At least here, before the end, she might know her sister. To have seen Mari-Ell’s true born daughter. If there would be any justice, though, then Lauri-Ell would be glad it was at the hands of her sister. That if somehow she had caused this, which Lauri knew she had not, it should be Carol to mete out justice.
“I… I’m sorry,” Carol said, and then the energy swelled around the hammer again and into her eyes.
Until at last the light faded and Carol lowered the hammer.
“I can’t,” she said, and for a moment Lauri could not help the pride she felt swelling in her chest. Justice. Her sister was filled with it. “I can’t do this. You’re innocent. So there’s only one thing to do.”
Lauri frowned, “What is that?”
“We find out what really happened. After I put you somewhere safe.”
Carol had left, gone to find answers, and here Lauri-Ell was, in a place she never expected to be. In her sister’s residence unit, on Earth, staring at the small orange creature with the dark markings in stripes over its furred body.
“Mrrrrroow?” the creature vocalized as Lauri watched it, arms crossed tightly over her chest. She did not know the language but supposed she understood the sentiment.
“Yes, Beast, I can see that you hunger. I will aid you,” she resolved. That was the honorable thing to do, and her sister had admonished her to ‘get along with Chewie.’ So perhaps getting along involved feeding the creature. Immediately she started to open cabinets to consider what might be found. Quickly she found a collection of short cans with tabs on the top, with picture of a creature like this Beast printed on them.
“This one bears your visage, so it is either food for you… or it is made of those like you. Let us hope it is the former.”
Cracking the canister open was easy, and Lauri-Ell was met with the most repugnant smell she had ever encountered before. Was this truly food?
“Ahhh! By Hala the stench! Perhaps it is the former and the latter.”
“Mrrrrow?”
No, this was not a valid option. Lauri found the trash unit and dropped the can right into it, before leaning down in front of the Beast to meet it at eye level.
“I am sorry to tell you this, cuddly Beast, but I believe Carol may be trying to kill you. Do not fear, I will save you.”
The Beast seemed happy for that, and alighted front he counter to the floor, coming to inspect as Lauri approached what Carol had called the ‘refrigerator’. She opened this with a flourish and gestured inside.
“You may have whatever you desire.”
“Meow.”
The plaintive noise drew her attention from the Beast to the contents of the box and oh dear. There was so little there. A covered piece of confection, an empty jug, a jar with some lonely single green vegetable, some condiments, and a container that was clearly not easily opened.
“This travesty cannot be borne,” she insisted. “We must rectify this immediately.”
With that she closed the appliance, rose, and moved with purpose to her sister’s bedroom. There was nothing good to be said for the tactical decision of heading outside into the human city in her Alliance uniform. So a change was acquired. Lauri opened her sister’s closet and lowered her head to consider the contents, given she was well taller than the space.
“I am sure that Carol will not mind if I borrow some of her human clothing so that I may blend in among the people,” she said, narrating for the Beast who she had heard pawing over her.
Lauri reached in and lifted out some shirts with long sleeves and buttons down the middle, considering them as the Beast leapt easily to the bed.
“These are nice,” she observed, before working out of her uniform. First she donned a pair of pants, which once she wiggled into didn’t come down any further than her mid calf. The stretching material worked well to accommodate the thickness of her legs. They did not come up as much as she would want, but it would work for now. The shirt went on next and then… Well she tried to move her arms and the ripping noise was very obvious. The seams burst around her shoulders, over the top, and oh dear, shredded along her arms. Damn.
“It was not my fault,” she insisted to Beast.
“Mrrrrow!”
Well, looked like she’d have to delve into the closet once more. But Lauri would figure it out. She was resolved to see the Beast fed.
Post Fight Talks | CW: Referenced Fighting | ~600 Words
The battle was over. It had been a long struggle, but in the end the little human girl had been saved. Darkness had started to cover the sky above them, though there was no stars picking themselves out above them. This city was very much too bright to offer space to them, though Lauri did miss it. Still, she could look up and enjoy the sky, the warmth radiating from the ground she laid upon, the heat and vibrations of the purring of the Beast on her stomach. Her arms were tucked comfortably behind her head to pillow it, and they didn’t need to be concerned over her hands being in position to not protect herself, not when her sister laid beside her, able to protect each other.
“There’s something really terrible about having to think of plants as the enemy, isn’t there?” Carol asked.
Oh but the pain that brought to Lauri. For her there always had been and always would be a love of flowers and other plants. But she was Kree, and knew enough of Kree history to know that the Cotati had always been a possibility. But this? This was something that had always been a chance, and it hurt.
“Yes, there is.”
“So, you’re pretty good at the whole war thing, huh?” Carol asked, a bit of appreciation coloring her voice.
It was meant to be a compliment and Lauri knew it was supposed to be appropriate and welcomed. Thing was, she knew better than that. She knew what fighting meant to her.
“Thank you. I hate it.”
There was a moment of silence, surprise no doubt, before Carol kept going, “Really? You’re a natural.”
Of course she was. Had Carol not touched her mind and memories with the Universal Weapon? Did she not know? Well, she might tell her then.
“It has been burned into me since birth. It comes to mke like breathing. Whether I want it or not. It is not the life I would have chosen.” To the point where Lauri immediately tried to redirect the conversation away from all of that weight. “May we have some pizzas? A woman told me about them today at the fish shop and they sound… full of cheese.”
And cheese was something that no doubt was the same for the Kree as for humans. And cheese was tasty.
“Heh. Yeah, we can order pizza. After I call Hulkling and let him know things are getting worse down here by the second.” When Carol spoke Lauri could hear her shifting, going up on one elbow and twisting onto her side, and Lauri could see her sister out of the corner of her eye. “But then I have to run an errand. And this time you’re staying put, even if I have to get you a babysitter.”
Well clearly she was not a child and thus did not require watching, so she supposed she would stay put. Was even about to agree to such when she saw her sister looking over her.
“Also, you have totally ruined my tank top,” Carol added on.
That must be the term for the shirt Lauri was wearing, though she did not know what Carol’s objection was. Perhaps it was that the thing had possibly stretched some.
“Sorry?”
That earned a chuckle from Carol, one that made Lauri smile. She liked noises of relief and joy from Carol. They belonged with her.
“Such a little sister thing to do.”
Well, she wasn’t going to argue if it marked her as a sister.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Meeting Carol | CW: Violence, Guns, Referenced City Destruction | ~1100 Words
Suppressive fire is important, so she keeps firing, and realizes her mistake as the approaching woman in traditional Accuser colors raises a massive hammer. Lauri-Ell ducks behind a large bit of cover and then the blast comes. There’s barely a chance for her to dodge aside from the great blast that could be only from what could only be a Universal Weapon. An Accuser. Damn. Lauri scrambles into additional cover, firing as she does, listening to the shots pinging off of the hammer. Clearly this Accuser was very talented. Just as Lauri found herself situated she tossed a grenade as well, hoping that might knock the Accuser away.
Nothing was going to get through the armor, and frankly, Lauri had no intention of killing them. She just wanted to get away.
There was nothing to prepare her for the distant figure to fly up into the air, the hammer pulsing green, and the grenade exploding well before the blast could reach her.
“Soldier,” the woman called out, hammer pointing to Lauri’s cover as her eyes shone with the green light of the Weapon. “I am Captain Marvel, Accuser of the United Kree-Skrull Alliance. You are an enemy of peace, and you will surrender to me immediately so you may answer for your crimes.”
Crimes Lauri had not committed, but no one would believe her. That name, though. Oh that name. Captain Marvel, a title that had passed from the great Kree hero Mar-Vell and on to an Earth woman. A half-Kree woman. To the one person in this universe but the Emperor herself that Lauri-Ell would willingly turn herself over to. So she shed her guns, raised her arms over her head, and moved out of cover.
“Captain Marvel… Carol Danvers of Earth… I yield.”
Clearly the woman was shocked, hovering there in the air above while Lauri went to one knee. This was not what the Accuser had expected, and it was fair. But she did not know what Lauri-Ell did. Never had she expected to encounter Carol, here or anywhere. But one should respect shared blood. Sisterhood, Lauri knew, should matter.
“You level a city full of innocents and now you surrender so easily, soldier? I am surprised.”
The only answer she could give was honesty, so Lauri-Ell gave it the best she could, her eyes cast to the ground. She was likely not worthy to look at her sister, not when the woman expected her to be so horrid.
“My name is Lauri-Ell, and I have dreamed of nothing but this day, though I confess these circumstances are no part of any dream of mine.”
Silence took control for a bit, and then the woman answered her.
“Lauri-Ell, you stand accused of atrocities of the highest order: the destruction of a city of peace designed to solidify a fragile alliance and the murder of its citizens. Do you undersand these charges?”
Yes, even if they were wrong.
“I do, Captain.”
“And do you have anything to offer in your defense, soldier?”
Could the Captain not use her name?
“I am innocent, Captain. Though I was born and bred for war. I have no taste for violence. I never have. I would never commit these crimes against my people,” Lauri noted as the tears she’d been holding back for hours began to flow freely down her cheeks, “and the Skrulls with whom we have formed a long overdue peace. I mourn them all, as well as my crew, who were my only friends in this world.”
The Captain began to lower herself, clearly at a loss for words, and Lauri-Ell raised her hands to her helmet to lift it off. Once it was free she lowered her head.
“It is all right, Captain. I will accept the judgment of the hammer if wielded by you,” she said, because she knew that there was honor in her sister. The honor Earth taught. The honor their mother would have expected of her. “I know you are only doing that with which you have been tasked.”
Lauri waited for the Captain to land and then press the hammer to her head. The Universal Weapon were tools of justice, they could link minds, unite truth and history. It gave information, and was the tool of the law. It would tell the Captain what she needed to know. It would speak her innocence. She could feel the hammer reaching, feel the knowledge coming, and… Feel when the power faded.
“Your mother was Mari-Ell?”
There it was, and Lauri lifted her head.
“Yes. I was made from the DNA of two great Kree soldiers… She was one of them. But I never had the pleasure to know her.”
The realization flashed over Carol’s face, “You’re my half-sister.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
Of course she had not. They were honorable warriors, no matter what people thought of Lauri-Ell. How could Carol not see that?
“It did not not seem fair to you, given what you are tasked to do,” Lauri admitted. An Accuser facing someone in a crime, especially when everyone knew Lauri had destroyed the city. Killed everyone she cared for. It would be wrong to tell her sister of their kinship in the face of that. “I did not want you to carry my death on your conscience more than I knew you would already. And I… I just felt grateful to have finally seen you with my own two eyes.”
Truly it would remain that for her. At least here, before the end, she might know her sister. To have seen Mari-Ell’s true born daughter. If there would be any justice, though, then Lauri-Ell would be glad it was at the hands of her sister. That if somehow she had caused this, which Lauri knew she had not, it should be Carol to mete out justice.
“I… I’m sorry,” Carol said, and then the energy swelled around the hammer again and into her eyes.
Until at last the light faded and Carol lowered the hammer.
“I can’t,” she said, and for a moment Lauri could not help the pride she felt swelling in her chest. Justice. Her sister was filled with it. “I can’t do this. You’re innocent. So there’s only one thing to do.”
Lauri frowned, “What is that?”
“We find out what really happened. After I put you somewhere safe.”
Feed The Beast | CW: None | Words ~600
“Mrrrrroow?” the creature vocalized as Lauri watched it, arms crossed tightly over her chest. She did not know the language but supposed she understood the sentiment.
“Yes, Beast, I can see that you hunger. I will aid you,” she resolved. That was the honorable thing to do, and her sister had admonished her to ‘get along with Chewie.’ So perhaps getting along involved feeding the creature. Immediately she started to open cabinets to consider what might be found. Quickly she found a collection of short cans with tabs on the top, with picture of a creature like this Beast printed on them.
“This one bears your visage, so it is either food for you… or it is made of those like you. Let us hope it is the former.”
Cracking the canister open was easy, and Lauri-Ell was met with the most repugnant smell she had ever encountered before. Was this truly food?
“Ahhh! By Hala the stench! Perhaps it is the former and the latter.”
“Mrrrrow?”
No, this was not a valid option. Lauri found the trash unit and dropped the can right into it, before leaning down in front of the Beast to meet it at eye level.
“I am sorry to tell you this, cuddly Beast, but I believe Carol may be trying to kill you. Do not fear, I will save you.”
The Beast seemed happy for that, and alighted front he counter to the floor, coming to inspect as Lauri approached what Carol had called the ‘refrigerator’. She opened this with a flourish and gestured inside.
“You may have whatever you desire.”
“Meow.”
The plaintive noise drew her attention from the Beast to the contents of the box and oh dear. There was so little there. A covered piece of confection, an empty jug, a jar with some lonely single green vegetable, some condiments, and a container that was clearly not easily opened.
“This travesty cannot be borne,” she insisted. “We must rectify this immediately.”
With that she closed the appliance, rose, and moved with purpose to her sister’s bedroom. There was nothing good to be said for the tactical decision of heading outside into the human city in her Alliance uniform. So a change was acquired. Lauri opened her sister’s closet and lowered her head to consider the contents, given she was well taller than the space.
“I am sure that Carol will not mind if I borrow some of her human clothing so that I may blend in among the people,” she said, narrating for the Beast who she had heard pawing over her.
Lauri reached in and lifted out some shirts with long sleeves and buttons down the middle, considering them as the Beast leapt easily to the bed.
“These are nice,” she observed, before working out of her uniform. First she donned a pair of pants, which once she wiggled into didn’t come down any further than her mid calf. The stretching material worked well to accommodate the thickness of her legs. They did not come up as much as she would want, but it would work for now. The shirt went on next and then… Well she tried to move her arms and the ripping noise was very obvious. The seams burst around her shoulders, over the top, and oh dear, shredded along her arms. Damn.
“It was not my fault,” she insisted to Beast.
“Mrrrrow!”
Well, looked like she’d have to delve into the closet once more. But Lauri would figure it out. She was resolved to see the Beast fed.
Post Fight Talks | CW: Referenced Fighting | ~600 Words
“There’s something really terrible about having to think of plants as the enemy, isn’t there?” Carol asked.
Oh but the pain that brought to Lauri. For her there always had been and always would be a love of flowers and other plants. But she was Kree, and knew enough of Kree history to know that the Cotati had always been a possibility. But this? This was something that had always been a chance, and it hurt.
“Yes, there is.”
“So, you’re pretty good at the whole war thing, huh?” Carol asked, a bit of appreciation coloring her voice.
It was meant to be a compliment and Lauri knew it was supposed to be appropriate and welcomed. Thing was, she knew better than that. She knew what fighting meant to her.
“Thank you. I hate it.”
There was a moment of silence, surprise no doubt, before Carol kept going, “Really? You’re a natural.”
Of course she was. Had Carol not touched her mind and memories with the Universal Weapon? Did she not know? Well, she might tell her then.
“It has been burned into me since birth. It comes to mke like breathing. Whether I want it or not. It is not the life I would have chosen.” To the point where Lauri immediately tried to redirect the conversation away from all of that weight. “May we have some pizzas? A woman told me about them today at the fish shop and they sound… full of cheese.”
And cheese was something that no doubt was the same for the Kree as for humans. And cheese was tasty.
“Heh. Yeah, we can order pizza. After I call Hulkling and let him know things are getting worse down here by the second.” When Carol spoke Lauri could hear her shifting, going up on one elbow and twisting onto her side, and Lauri could see her sister out of the corner of her eye. “But then I have to run an errand. And this time you’re staying put, even if I have to get you a babysitter.”
Well clearly she was not a child and thus did not require watching, so she supposed she would stay put. Was even about to agree to such when she saw her sister looking over her.
“Also, you have totally ruined my tank top,” Carol added on.
That must be the term for the shirt Lauri was wearing, though she did not know what Carol’s objection was. Perhaps it was that the thing had possibly stretched some.
“Sorry?”
That earned a chuckle from Carol, one that made Lauri smile. She liked noises of relief and joy from Carol. They belonged with her.
“Such a little sister thing to do.”
Well, she wasn’t going to argue if it marked her as a sister.