Carol Danvers could not follow through on her quest for vengeance on the Kree while burdened with the care of a small child. She chose her revenge over her daughter, who has heard nothing from her mother since the abandonment (Source: REDACTED)
Alic...
Carol, even with her truly horrible people skills, manages to figure this out in less than twenty minutes. It's been a week since her impromptu visit back to earth and they have had exactly zero conversations.
She doesn't know whether to even try. There's always this air of hospitality hanging around the kid. She's all clenched teeth and suddenly straightened shoulders whenever Carol enters a room, always making some snarky comment of just straight up ignoring her. It's unsettling.
It's made perhaps even more unsettling by the little things the girl does that almost convince her of the contrary. The little smiles she thinks she's good at hiding, the stuffed animal she found sitting on her pillow, the changes in her file.
Complicated indeed.
It takes a week before they end up actually talking. Carol is in her room, once again reading over and correcting whatever intel SHIELD had managed to gather on the Kree when there's a few soft uneven taps at the door. She calls out "Come in," and starts bundling her collection of papers together when the soft thud of something hitting the mattress disrupts her.
It's a folder.
It's a familiar folder.
Or well it's not familiar, she hasn't seen it in nearly thirteen years - and it's weirdly charred? - but she recognises the title.
The Book Of Everything Alice
"A zoo is a big place where you can see different kinds of normally wild animals," Alice's voice sounds from somewhere above her. The girl reaches over, pulls open the book to a specific page and looks at her intensely.
"Humans have eight major organs," she continues, "Brain, lungs, liver, bladder, stomach, intestines, kidneys and heart." Her gaze drops back down to the book, "which is on the left side, that's why the left lung is also not insignificantly smaller-" she takes a breath then opens her mouth, seemingly ready to continue her waterfall of information.
"Alice," Carol interrupts, afraid she'd burst the girl's bubble or make her leave but unable to let her continue until they actually talked. "I appreciate it," she starts, looking back down at the pages filled with stupid questions, "but what exactly brought this on?"
"You didn't know what a zoo is," the girl says, suddenly unwilling to make eye-contact now that the moment is over. Carol just nods, unsure how that's important.
"I want to hate you," she says then and it hurts something Carol thought she'd managed to silence long ago. Even so she just sits there, looking up at the teenager standing in front of her. "I really wanted to-" The kid takes a deep breath and then steps back, hands coming up to wrap around her middle in an awkward attempt to self-soothe.
"You left me." There's tears running down her- down the girl's cheeks, she's wiggling from side to side and every trace of that pure venom and hostility she'd kept up like a shield fell away from her.
Carol doesn't respond, doesn't know how to respond. She wants to get up and hold the girl close, to protect her from everything like she would have some thirteen years ago. She knows that's not what the kid needs right now.
"Was I not enough?" the- her girl asks then and something in her breaks. She moves to get up then hesitates. Alice is crying softly in the sleeves of her sweatshirt, tilted slightly away from her. Carol sits back down.
"Oh, oh Alice- Isa no," she only barely manages to get the words out. She feels like she's choking on them, choking on regret.
Alice takes a step back, still stubbornly not looking at her. "You left," she accuses, "You- you chose revenge over me!" Carol shakes her head, unsure of what else to do.
"We weren't safe, you weren't safe," she emphasises, trying to- she doesn't know what she's trying to do. "If there'd been any other way-"
"I thought- I thought you," she stops, finally looks up to make eye contact then breaks it immediately. Some small, selfish, part of Carol is glad she doesn't have to maintain it.
"I thought you realised, like- you know, how much easier it was without a kid running around and-" she takes a deep breath, Carol feels like she's watching something she shouldn't be witness to, some deep private confession.
"I thought you just didn't want to be my mom anymore,"
It's quiet for a second, almost eerily so. Carol just looks at her- the girl, trying to process the words.
"You left," she says again, "and now- now you're back and you haven't even tried to talk to me! And I- I get it if you don't- if you don't want me anymore but, I want- I need you to tell me because I just-" She takes another shuddering breath then stops completely. She just stands very still, sobbing into her hands.
Carol stands up and slowly makes her way across the room towards her girl. "Can I hug you, Alice?" She asks, making sure to keep her voice soft. The little nod she gets is all the confirmation she needs before wrapping her daughter in a tight hug.
"I would never have left you if there was any other option," she murmurs against the girl's hair. "I was going to come back, I promise." She can feel the girl relax against her, sobs subsiding and posture losing its rigidness.
"I didn't think you'd appreciate it if I came back after thirteen years and suddenly started trying to force my way back into your life," she explains, needing the girl to understand her point. "You already have a parent, you have your dad. I didn't know if you'd want another."
It seems that was the wrong thing to say because Alice stiffens again, she pulls back a little to look at her, eyes filling up with tears again. "No," she says, voice breaking, "No- you're my mom!"
Carol shushes her softly, one hand coming up to cradle the back of her girl's head. "Of course, Alice. I'm here as long as you want me."
Alice hums, this time not trying to break away as she speaks. "I'm still mad at you though."
Carol rubs a hand over the girl's back and nods. "I didn't expect you magically not to be."
They're quiet for a while. Carol keeps up a steady motion, trying to get some warmth into her kid - seriously why is she so cold? - Just as she thinks she's starting to get somewhere the girl speaks up, tilting her head back with twinkling eyes.
"Do you want some ice-cream?"
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Authors Notes
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-Not my best work by far ngl, I'll probably rewrite this one at some point but okay it is what it is for now
-They finally talked who cheered (Tony, probably)
-look at the art @baldfinnwolfhard made honestly this sums up the entire book not sure whether I even need to continue writing
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