𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐂𝐀𝐑 drove down the empty highway, Zaksolx kept his eyes locked on the horizon. There was something nauseating about the way Terrans traveled, and he hoped the green tint to his skin was due to motion-sickness above all else. It had only taken half a day on C-53 for him to appreciate the advanced technology of the Skrull civilization that the Terrans lacked. Which served as a second reason that his eyes remained locked on the horizons: playing look-out for his uncle and any Skrull soldiers that threatened the Kree seated beside him.

"So, the Skrulls sim alien races which infiltrate and overtake alien planets," Fury asked, turning to look back at Vers from the passenger seat. "And you're a Kree, a race of noble warriors?"

"Heroes," Vers corrected. "Noble warrior heroes."

"So um," Fury continued his laid-back interrogation, "What do Skrulls want with Dr. Lawson?"

"They believe she developed a light speed engine at Pegasus," Vers explained.

"Light speed engine?" Fury looked confused.

"What, like Star Wars?" Richard raised an eyebrow and looked at Vers through the rearview mirror.

Fury rolled his eyes at Richard's comment but nodded in thought. "I've got to admit, that's not the craziest thing I've heard today."

"Well, it's still early," she countered.

Fury paused, a look of thought crossing his expression before he asked his next question. "And you, what do you want?"

"To stop the Skrulls before they become unstoppable," she replied without hesitation.

"Like how Luke Skywalker wanted to stop the Empire." Richard nodded his head as if he understood.

"And...?" Fury shot Richard a look and shook his head before adding, "Look, war is a universal language. I know a rogue soldier when I see one, you've got a personal stake in this."

That same look of thought crossed Vers's face as she grew silent. Her lips twisted as if she wasn't even really sure herself. The silence that followed caught Zaksolx's attention and he finally turned away from the window, something that wouldn't go ignored by the driver.

"And what about you, Z?" Richard asked, glancing between the rearview mirror at his passengers and the road ahead of him. "You can't just be along for the ride."

Zaksolx hesitated. He hadn't really taken the time to consider why he was still following Vers. It's not like he had anywhere else to go, but at the same time every second he stayed he risked being found out. Neither situation was that appealing.

"Vers saved my life," Zaksolx replied, lying before leading into the truth. "I'm not quite sure who I am... I'm just looking for answers."

Richard seemed to accept his answer before pulling off the highway. The bunker slowly came into view, surrounded by a tall, chain-link fence with a security outpost attached. Richard slowed to a stop once they reached the gate, then rolled down the window and gestured for Fury to take over.

"This is a government property," the guard over the speaker instructed, "turn your vehicle around."

Fury shot Richard an inconvenienced look before leaning across the vehicle to show the camera his ID. "Nicholas Joseph Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Place your thumb on the pad," the guard instructed. Fury glared at Richard before leaning further over with a sigh to place his thumb on the scanner. The guard spoke again, "One moment."

"Nicholas Joseph Fury, you have three names?" Vers asked as if it had been a mouthful.

"Customary here on earth," Richard explained with a shrug.

"Everybody calls me Fury," Fury added pointedly. "Not Nicholas, not Joseph, not Nick. Just Fury."

A sly look crossed Richard's face as he jokingly asked, "Can I call you Nick?"

"Absolutely not," Fury snapped.

Vers looked unconvinced. She challenged the statement with a question of her own. "What does your mom call you?"

"Fury."

"What do you call her?"

"Fury."

"What about your kids?" Vers continued with her quick questions.

"And there's a nightmare that will haunt me for the next week or so." Richard shuddered at the thought of miniature versions of Fury running around. Being in the presence of one was more than enough in his opinion.

"If I have them," Fury shot Richard another look, "they'll call me Fury."

"You're cleared for access." The guard spoke up again as the gate in front of them opened.

"Thank you," Fury said then nodded his head for Richard to proceed. The car started once more and after another mile or so, they reached the tunnel of the joint NASA-USAF facility. The tunnel was dark, dimly lit by lights bolted into the walls. As they reached the end, Richard parked beside another car. The three of them exited the vehicles and closed their doors. Fury raised a hand and shook his head as he looked over at Vers.

"Oh, hold up. You look like somebody's disaffected niece." Fury tossed her a gray baseball cap complete with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s standard insignia. "Put that on."

"What is it?" She gestured to the logo.

"It's the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo," Fury replied.

Vers scoffed as she placed the cap on her head. "Does announcing your identity on clothing help with the covert part of your job?"

"Said the space soldier who was wearing a rubber suit," Fury countered. She shot him an annoyed glance, which Fury countered with another instruction. "Lose the flannel."

Vers begrudgingly removed the flannel shirt hanging from around her waist and tossed it back into the car. Richard looked Zaksolx over, shaking his head with disapproval before taking off his suit jacket and offering it to the Skrull-in-disguise. As Zaksolx gave him a quizzical look, Richard quickly explained his intentions. "The leather jacket doesn't exactly scream 'professional'."

Although cautious, Zaksolx accepted the jacket and switched it out for the leather one he'd previously been wearing. Richard took it off his hands without delay and tossed it into the car beside Vers's flannel. Once satisfied that the two aliens were presentable, Fury and Richard led the group toward the edge of the carpark, revealing a hanger full of planes set up similar to that of the 40s.

Richard whistled. "Now this must be what Rogers meant about the good ol' days."

The security chief approached with a pair of airmen flanking his sides. "How can I help you?"

"We're agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Fury handed the man his badge.

"We're looking for a woman named Lawson," Vers explained.

"A Dr. Wendy Lawson," Fury clarified further.

"Do you know her?" Vers asked.

The security chief handed Fury back his badge, eyeing the group skeptically, before motioning for them to follow. "Follow me."

"Hmm." Vers looked almost impressed.

Zaksolx on the other hand, wasn't so sure. He lingered behind a moment before one of the airmen nudged him to move along. The four followed the security officer; however, the walk was short as they were directed toward a holding facility. As the door shut, and locked, behind them, Zaksolx had that uneasy feeling of being trapped. The other three weren't as fazed, only impatient. After half an hour in the small room, Zaksolx felt as if his chest were being compressed. Subconsciously, he'd drifted toward one of the corners of the room then taken a seat, curling his knees up into his chest as he stared at the ground with wide eyes. The puffs of air exhaled under his breath were quiet, but heavy as he began to hyperventilate.

To make matters worse, Richard had begun to click his tongue, having lost his patience only ten minutes of being isolated in the room. Vers sat with her back against the wall, her arms crossed, but she did occasionally cast a look in Zaksolx's direction, noticing the rising panic in her presumed ally. She'd noticed a similar reaction from him in their brief time spent in the escape pod as well.

Vers stood and walked across the room, crouching down so that she was eye-level with Zaksolx. Her voice was a low whisper as she broke the silence. "What's going on, Z?"

Zaksolx's gaze had yet to register that anyone had moved in front of him yet. In fact, the room wasn't even in his conscious scope of vision. His eyes gradually began to dart back and forth, focusing on everything and nothing all at once. Fantasies of illusionary nightmares danced before his eyes, formulating the worst possible outcome in every imaginable situation. (1) Vers had caught him red-handed. She knew he wasn't who he said he was, and his synapses were already trying to imagine what it would feel like to be fried by her radioactive laser hands. (2) Fury and Richard had double-crossed them. They'd told their "S.H.I.E.L.D. allies" all about the aliens they'd captured and now they were just waiting around to be dissected by crude technology in a society severely lacking. (3) His uncle had found them. Any one of the soldiers they'd met with could have been a Skrull and gave up their coordinates. Now they were just being contained until—

"Z?" Vers tried again to gently capture his attention. With an annoyed huff that she again received no confirmation that he was listening, she subtly punched him in the arm with just enough force to leave a light bruise, despite only actually using about an inch of space. She hissed his preferred name again, finally capturing his attention, "Z!"

Zaksolx blinked, eyes briefly rolling up inside his head before focusing on Vers. She was fire incarnate, but her spirit was oddly calming in that moment. It was as if she'd offered him a spark of hope that he was going to be alright... that is before the paranoia of his first thought returned.

"What was that about?" she questioned.

Zaksolx looked over her shoulder, noticing that since she'd kept her voice low, she hadn't drawn any attention to them. Richard continued to click his tongue, oblivious to the others while Fury leaned forward, placing his elbows over his knees to press his face down into his hands with a heavy sigh.

Zaksolx awkwardly cleared his throat. "I—I'm not quite sure... It's like I was trapped again on that Skrull ship, only this time there wouldn't be an escape."

It was obviously a lie, right? Except his mind was slowly growing convinced that maybe it wasn't. He was able to lie for this Ze-Los far too easily to logically explain. The exact truth of each statement was more sentimental than fact, and he was beginning to realize more about himself than he'd ever been comfortable with before this point.

Fury finally looked up and over at the door before turning his head toward Vers and Zaksolx to his right. "Are you familiar with the phrase 'Welcome Wagon'?"

Vers shook her head. "No."

"Well, this ain't it." Fury shook his head. Richard clicked his tongue once more, snapping whatever remained of Fury's mental wall. "Jarvis! Please for the love of—"

"Shhh..." Richard held up a finger, shushing Fury. "You might disrupt the others in the room next door."

Fury deadpanned, but there was wrath concealed in his eyes. Zaksolx wasn't quite sure how much longer the four of them would survive should they be locked in the roo any longer. Fury stood and attempted to leave the room by placing his thumb on the scanner nearest the door; however, it blinked red as it rejected his fingerprint. He sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out his pager.

"Is that a communicator?" Vers asked raising an eyebrow.

Fury began to pace across the room as he typed. "Yeah. State-of-the-art two-way pager."

"State of the art?" Zaksolx wrinkled his nose as he scoffed under his breath. He'd met kids who could put together scrap-metal more functional than the looks of that pager—he'd been one for that matter.

"You've had that the whole time?!" Richard sounded incredulous.

"Who are you paging?" Vers asked as Fury ignored Richard.

"My mom," Fury replied and sent his message. "Don't worry, I didn't mention you."

Vers stood and tried to open it with her fingerprint, but she was also denied. Zaksolx wasn't even willing to try. As Vers walked back across the room to look at a map of the facility, Richard also attempted to see if his fingerprint would unlock the door. It did not. While he did, Fury took out his badge and looked at it carefully under the lights. He pulled a roll of tape out of the desk drawer before using it to gather the fingerprint remnant of the chief security officer then placed it against the scanner. After a moment of hesitation, the scanner glowed green and the door opened.

"After you." Fury grinned, satisfied with his work.

"Don't mind if I do." Richard quickly stood and exited the room. Zaksolx couldn't follow quick enough. The stale air of the room they'd been trapped in was quickly refreshed as he inhaled, appreciating the freshness of the open hall.

Fury rolled his eyes, but Vers nodded her head with approval as she walked by. "Impressive."

"Oh, you should see what I can do with a paperclip," Fury bragged as he followed her out of the room.