𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 on the outskirts of the small farm property, Vers quickly made the suggestion that she should walk up alone. She might not remember this Maria Rambeau, but if she was right, a familiar face might make their sudden appearance less frightening to the woman she believed she once knew in another lifetime.

The noise of the plane thankfully hadn't brought any unwanted attention, and as Maria carefully approached the barn, she understood why as she watched Maria continue to work undisturbed.

Vers remained silent for another three seconds. It was odd... she couldn't remember the sensation of fear, now it completely overwhelmed her senses. Clearly, some part of her understood this person was once important to her. She took a deep breath then breached the silence. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Maria Rambeau."

"Auntie Carol?" A small girl climbed out of the small two-seater plane positioned beside the work station. "Mom, it's Auntie Carol! I knew it, everybody said you were dead but we knew they were lying."

The small girl sprinted toward Vers, wrapping her arms around her waist as she pulled her close into a hug. Vers hesitantly looked down at the girl. "I'm not really who you think I am."

Maria Rambeau slowly wiped the grease from her hands using a rag on her work table before walking beneath the wing of the plane. She stood mere feet apart from Vers, but it looked as if she couldn't believe her eyes. She shook her head. "You best have one good explanation... and they are?"

"Friends of Charlotte and Lorene," Richard replied—even though the question hadn't been for him, "Have they arrived yet?"

Maria nodded her head. "They're inside the house... mentioned something about guests. Never said who to expect though."

As Maria began to lead them back toward the house, Fury leaned over to hiss a whisper that only Richard might hear. "You contacted the Rogers?"

Richard nodded his head defiantly. There wasn't an inch of room for hesitation. "Yes, you contacted your backup and I contacted mine."

"Possibly a very stupid decision." Fury shook his head.

"You have no idea if they've been simmed," Vers quickly added under her breath to prevent Maria and Monica from hearing.

"I'll test them myself." Richard lifted three fingers in the air. "Scout's honor."

Within the cozy home, Charlotte, Lorene, and Sam waited around the dining table with a glass of lemonade each. They were engrossed in their own conversation—although it almost looked like an argument as Sam and Charlotte spoke in hushed whispers as if trying to keep the conversation from the younger Rogers. As Lorene rolled her eyes and glanced to the right, that's when she noticed the others.

She lifted her glass toward Richard with a nod of her head and a wide grin. "So, who's your friend, Richie?"

Richard frowned. "It's them."

Fury's brow lifted as he turned to his partner. "You didn't ask her anything."

"The Rogers sisters are just about the only people to ever call me 'Richie'... especially knowing how much I hate the nickname," Richard explained begrudgingly.

Fury laughed. "This is what we call 'karma'."

"And this is Carol," Maria took over, introducing the one individual she knew with absolute certainty.

"Wait, wait, wait." Lorene's brow lifted as she looked Carol over. "This is your Carol. The Carol that disappeared six years ago?"

Maria slowly nodded her head, trying to decide whether she truly believed it or if it was time to wake up from the dream she'd been praying for.

Lorene chuckled as she looked Vers over. "I'm sure you've got quite the story then after everything I've heard."

Carol nodded her head. From her peripheral vision, she could see that her left palm had begun to tremble. Closing her hands into fists, she took a breath and then began to explain everything she could remember. From the flashes of the crash to her time spent on Hala, she shared everything. Once she finished, the eyes of the room were captivated solely by her. Lorene's grin had widened with each new detail, and by the end, she had turned to her sister as if she'd just heard the best thing ever. Meanwhile, Maria struggled to process everything she'd just been told. It was always hardest to believe without physical proof. And aliens...  well that was outside her area of expertise.

Vers took a step back and leaned against the counter. She patiently waited for a response, but as the time passed, she grew more concerned, allowing her brows to knit and raise as that human sensation of fear crept back in. Fury leaned back against the wall. And Richard tried to mimic the action, but completely lost his balance and fell to the hardwood floor with a groan.

Finally, Maria broke the silence. "That is the craziest shit I have ever heard."

"Green-transforming aliens?" Monica asked skeptically. "There's no such thing."

Lorene, Charlotte, and Sam looked at one another as if they knew the exact opposite to be true. However, they remained silent. Although it looked as if Sam wanted to speak up, Charlotte kept him silent with a warning look. If Maria was going to accept the truth, she had to do it in her own time.

"You're absolutely right, young lady. There is no such thing." Fury shot an accusing glance in Vers's direction as he slowly emphasized each sentence. "'Cause if there were, we would want to keep that to ourselves."

"You don't believe me." Vers noted. She turned and walked to the stove where an unboiled kettle waited. Without hesitation, she placed a hand on the kettle. As he hand lit up in a blue and orange energy, the water began to boil in reaction to the heat. Monica approached with fascination beaming from her face.

As steam whistled from the spout of the kettle, Monica's eyes widened with awe. "No way. That's so cool!"

"Oh, ho." Fury shook his head. "She can do a lot more than just make tea with those hands."

"Like what?" Monica asked. "Show us."

Vers sighed. "Maybe later."

Monica grew more excited. Having the mind of a small child, she was constantly moving onto the next thing. "I kept all your stuff, I'll go get it."

"You want to give her a hand with that?" Vers asked implying that she'd like a moment alone with Maria.

"Mmm?" Fury asked with his mouth full of lemonade as he pointed to himself.

Vers nodded her head and Fury started to follow after her. Charlotte stood and motioned for Lorene to follow. "We'll help Monica. The boys can head out to the garage. There's some stuff up in the attic that could probably be brought down."

Sam stood from his seat with a nod of his head and a low stooping, but playful bow. "Right away, m'lady."

Charlotte rolled her eyes as Lorene laughed quietly under her breath. After a beat, they walked off in opposite directions: Richard, Fury, and Sam out to the garage while Charlotte, Lorene, and Monica climbed the staircase to the attic. Once they were left alone, Vers moved to take the seat on the opposite side of the table from where Maria sat.

Maria was quiet for a moment, but it was clear she was broken-hearted as she asked, "You don't remember anything?"

"I see... flashes. Little moments," Vers explained, "but I can't tell what's real. If I could just piece together what happened that morning, maybe it'll all make sense?"

Maria clicked her tongue. She took a second to think then began to recant the morning the way she remembered it. "You woke me up, banging on my door at dawn. Your usual move. Back then we had to get up so early, the Air Force still wasn't letting women fly combat, so testing Lawson's planes was our only shot at doing something that mattered. And you wanted to race to base, in your old Mustang, and I wasn't about to argue, 'cause I knew my Camaro would dominate. But you cheated, took a shortcut."

"Since when is a shortcut cheating?" Vers asked with a small smile.

"Since it violates the predetermined rules of engagement," Maria retorted with a snort.

"I definitely don't remember those." Vers's smile grew a bit wider as she held back a chuckle.

"Mmm, of course you don't," Maria replied. They stared each other down for a second before opening up in laughter. "When I got to the hanger, Lawson was agitated, she said 'she had lives to save'. She and Walter had argued quite a bit that morning. She was trying to take the Aces up herself, and he didn't agree, but you quickly volunteered saying—"

"'If there were lives at stake, I would fly the plane'," Vers interrupted as the memories slowly returned.

"Yup. Big hero moment." Maria shook her head. "The kind of moment we'd both been waiting for. The Doc was always unique. Walter too. I'd thought it was just a family trait. That's why I liked them. But, now you're saying they're from another planet."

"I know this must be hard for you."

"What, this part right here? No, no." Maria shook her head. "Know what's hard? Losing my best friend, in a mission so secret they act like it never even happened. Hard... is knowing you were out there somewhere, too damn stubborn to die. And now you come up in here after six years... with your super-charged fire-hands and you expect me to call you... I don't even know what... 'Vers'? Is that really who you are now?"
Vers shook her head. There was hesitation in the action. "I don't know."

They stared at each other in silence until Monica's voice from the foyer called them over. "Come look!"

The others who had helped Monica gather Vers's old things and bring them into the foyer took a step back to provide the two with some more space. Vers slowly entered the room as Monica quickly pulled a group of photos from the box, showing them off eagerly.

"This is me and you on Halloween.," Monica said, pointing to the photo of herself dressed like a pilot sitting next to Vers. "I'm Amelia Earhart and you're Janis Joplin. Oh, this is you when you were little, you didn't get along with your parents so Mom said we became your real family." Monica quickly jumped from photo to photo, giving Vers little time to process much less remember. "This is us on Christmas. I got more... Here's another picture of when you were little. And this is you right after you graduated..." Monica's words slowly jumbled together as Vers became absorbed in her own thoughts. "Oh wait. I forgot, your jacket. Mom doesn't let me wear it anymore after I spilled ketchup on it."

Monica sprinted back up the stairs to retrieve Vers's jacket. While she waited, Vers took a step closer to the table and rummaged through the pictures before she came across her old dog tags.

"That was all that survived the crash," Maria said, standing in the doorway. "Or so we thought."

Vers wished more than anything that she'd remember everything she'd been told, but for the time being, they only remained stories. Her memories still began and ended on Hala. There were brief sensations of deja vu, and a flicker of a memory here and there, but most of it all remained blank. And just when she was about to explain that, there was a knock on the door.

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𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞| And finally this chapter marks the end of act two. Let me know what you think. As always don't forget to vote and comment. Thanks for reading!