𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 on the sidewalk as the disguised S.H.I.E.L.D. issued vehicles pulled up to the curb. An amused look crossed her face as Jarvis limped around the vehicle he'd just stepped out of while Fury braced his own arm.

"Whoa." She chuckled. "You look like you've been hit by a train."

Richard frowned and rolled his eyes, but winced as if the action itself had caused some pain. "We may as well have been."

Genuinely curious, Lorene's brow furrowed as she asked, "What happened?"

"Ask Fury," Richard replied and scoffed, "I'm sure he'd just love to explain."

Lorene waited for a reply, but Fury simply gestured to the body bag being dragged out of the van by a few other agents who had shown up. "Need to get this body down to the labs ASAP."

"Can't it wait?" Lorene's brow twisted with concern. "That's a pretty nasty gash. You should get it checked out."

"Later."

Lorene rolled her eyes, but nodded her head and gestured for them to go on down to the labs. It was barely audible, but there was an incredulous tone to her voice as she muttered under her breath while shaking her head. "Men."

Fury and Jarvis wasted no time making their way down into the lab. There was an innate amount of shock as the examiner opened the body bag. His jaw slacked and his mouth hung wide open as his eyes glimpsed the green skin of the alien life force. After getting over his initial surprise, the examiner was quick to open up the chest and explore the anatomy of the creature. As Richard left the room to satisfy his hunger, the examiner slowly came to a conclusion: that everything he knew was relative.

"All life on Earth is carbon-based, not this guy," the examiner said pulling his hands out of the Skrull's chest as he finished up the postmortem examination. "Whatever he runs on, it's not on the periodic table."

"You're saying he's not from around here?" Fury asked, holding an ice pack against his eye.

"Hey, how's your eye?" the examiner asked, almost as a way of avoiding the question.

"Well, I'd say fine." Fury slowly lowered the ice pack. "But it can't believe what it's seeing."

The examiner nodded his head in agreement, slipped off his rubber gloves, and gathered his equipment together before leaving the room. As he left the room, Director Keller approached. The director wasted no time starting a conversation that didn't dodge the bullets of his objective. "You said that this thing looked like Coulson?"

"Talked like him too," Fury noted.

The director paused, as if hesitant to learn the answers to the other questions piling up in his mind. "The woman said that there were more?"

"The word she used was infiltration," Fury clarified.

"Believe her?" the director asked.

"Not 'til I saw this." Fury gestured to the Skrull lying on the table.

The director nodded his head, eyes never leaving the alien form as he asked, "What's your plan?"

"I got to find Blockbuster girl," Fury explained, "I got word on a motorcycle thief which fits her description."

"Great," Richard joined the conversation as he too entered the room. He may have missed everything said prior, but that wouldn't stop him from adding his own two-cents. "Looks like I arrived just in time."

Fury shot a glare in his direction, but that was all. He continued to explain his plan as if he hadn't been interrupted in the first place. "She can tell us why these lizards are here, maybe she can tell us how to kick them to the curb."

"Good." The director nodded his head, deep in thought before gesturing to the pair of agents before him. "Just the two of you handle this. Can't trust anyone else... not even our own men."

Fury grimaced. "You're sure you wouldn't rather I handle this alone? How do we know that Jarvis is even a trustworthy source?"

"Hey!" Jarvis feigned a look of insult. "I'll give you a break this once because of what we've been through today, but I take snips at my honor very seriously."

"Sure you do," Fury muttered inaudibly under his breath, briefly raising the ice pack back up to his head to conceal his eye roll.

"You boys are the only ones who've actually seen what these things look like," the director insisted. "As much as I don't approve of Jarvis's antics in the field, he knows how to look out for his partner's back."

"Maybe it's the front I'm worried about," Fury retorted.

"This isn't up for debate, agent," the director emphasized. "Now handle this before the paperwork grows any more extensive."

"Yes sir." Fury resigned then walked out of the room as the medical examiner returned. Jarvis offered a mock salute but ran off to join Fury as the director shot him a warning glare.

There was a beat of silence that passed as the director turned his gaze back toward the alien life form lying on the table. "Wow, they're ugly bastards aren't they?"

"Yeah, well," the medical examiner chuckled in agreement, "he's no Brad Pitt sir."

The director nodded, but as the examiner turned away, he leaned down until his face was just inches away from the dead creature. He closed the dead's eyes in reverence and leaned even closer to whisper into the unhearing ear. "Safe journey to the beyond my friend. I will finish what we started."

The medical examiner looked up from what he was doing and quickly warned the 'director'. "I wouldn't get too close there, boss."

The director stood abruptly, dusting off his hands. He turned to leave the room, but called over his shoulder before exiting the room. "No one in or out."

He didn't stay long enough to listen to the reply, but he knew he'd be obeyed. That was certainly one of the perks included when infiltrating through positions of power. However, there was still something uncomfortable about molding one's personality and exterior looks to match a life force other than one's own to survive. But General Talos was well-adjusted to the feeling. At times it almost felt like his second skin defined him more than his first as he rarely knew what was true when looking in the mirror anymore. That didn't stop him from shedding said skin as he entered a room of isolation where he'd arranged a meeting with the other Skrull soldiers he'd brought with him.

He discreetly shuddered and straightened his military uniform before turning toward the others in the room. "Where are we in locating her?"

As he was met by several shrugs, the corners of his mouth downturned into a frown. However, as he opened his mouth to voice his disapproval, his second cleared their throat and motioned him to step to the side.

Talos raised his brow, but didn't object. "Did you find something, Nox?"

Nox's tone remained hushed as they glanced over their shoulder at the others to ensure they wouldn't be overheard. "There's something you need to see... it's your nephew."

An eager look crossed Talos's face, one resembling hope and a fondness for the kid. "You've found him?"

Nox took an uneasy breath, hesitating to complete a full shrug while making a so-so motion with their hand. "It's... complicated."

Talos frowned. "Then simplify it."

"I was re-rolling the security tapes from earlier," Nox quietly explained, discreetly pulling up the referred to video on their wrist-comm, holographically projecting it just large enough for the general to see. "Perhaps it's my eyes playing tricks on me... but it looks like he might not be a captive after all."

Talos's eyes narrowed. "I don't like what you're implying, Lieutenant."

Nox defensively raised their hands, but did rewind the recording. Just as the Skrull lieutenant had said, Zaksolx entered the clip following behind the Kree woman that they were currently trying to locate. Her fists didn't even glow in his direction as they proceeded down several corridors toward the escape pods. Talos shook his head.

"My nephew is not a traitor."

"I agree." Nox nodded. "Which is why I brought this to you personally. It's not going to reflect very well should the others find out he voluntarily left with her while disguised as her kind."

Talos slowly nodded his head. His nephew's half-breed physiology had remained a secret up to this point and it would remain that way as long as there was breath in his lungs. "He's probably tracking her on his own."

"The thought crossed my mind," Nox again agreed, "but he hasn't reached out with coordinates to extract the Kree Warrior... I think you need to at least consider the alternative option—"

"That will be all, lieutenant," Talos interrupted, bristled but otherwise calm. "Return to your post... and I trust you understand this information is to remain between us."

Nox nodded their head, slow enough not to draw attention but quick enough to satisfy the general. "I'll continue searching for coordinates..."

"You do that..." the statement almost seemed like a threat as Talos narrowed his eyes. However, he remained still until he was left alone in the room. The lesser ranked Skrull scientists had left in the midst of the conversation between the general and the lieutenant, but now fully alone, he could think and finally breathe something other than the stale air of a tightly packed room.

From the moment he'd been shown the physical proof that his nephew had fled, Talos knew it to be true. The boy never did have the same stomach for what they were required to do... he didn't even really have half the stomach. Despite the light of this new information, his resolve remained unchanged. One way or another he was bringing that boy home. Whether the kid knew it or not, he possessed much of his mother's spirit... but there was also his father's irrationality that tainted his blood.

He was a good kid otherwise, and frankly all the general had left of his sister. He'd made a promise to her in her dying breaths and he intended to keep his word until the moment it expired, meaning the war was over and the kid was capable of taking care of himself... equally unlikely...

It did help having more than one set of resources though. He'd either hear from his own men on their whereabouts, or he'd utilize the director's assets that he had access to while using the Terran life form. All that was left was to wait.