Chapter 16

"-dia" A voice spoke out. I was on the floor completely spaced out. My brothers leaving had destroyed a portion of my life. I was doing a lot to prevent dangers from affecting them.

"Lydia" The same voice spoke out. I was dazed. Sir's visit had affected me more than I thought. I was confused on what to do. I was unsure of what to do. I had cried for days in my lab.

"Lydia!" Astrid's voice finally broke to me.

"Yes?" I said. My voice was very groggy.

"Do you plan to stay here forever?" Astrid asked.

"Yes" I just responded.

"Well, I shall precede with my plans to end all human life on Earth then," Astrid said.

"What?" I asked. I had gotten up to from the ground and looked at the ceiling. I knew she wasn't there from it just helped to pick a direction.

"Oh, you're finally up," Astrid said.

"I'm up," I said and rubbed my eyes.

"Lydia, you need to move on. Everything you've built will be for nothing," Astrid said.

"Easier said than done," I said in respond.

"One step at a time," She said.

"What do I even do Astrid?" I asked. I was lost. I was not motivated.

"I had taken the liberty to respond to a give requests you had pending," she said.

"What requests?" I asked.

"NASA has contacted you inquiring if you could send one of your top scientists to help out with a project," she explained.

"Pegasus?" I asked.

"Yes," she responded. Maybe with access to it I could steal some more energy and with Astrid we can bypass any security they might have.

"What else?" I asked

"Thank you, Astrid! You're the best, Astrid!" She said mockingly. That got a chuckle out of me.

"Thank you…" I whispered.

"You are welcome. I had completed a number project while you were doing, whatever it is you were doing," She said. I sighed at her. She could be rather mean, but it helped.

"What did you complete?" I asked. She brought up several display screens and showed me the projects she completed. I was in awe she managed to do all of this. I had my mouth open from the shock.

"Yeah, I know. I'm awesome," She said.

"Astrid! This is incredible!" I said excitedly. She had completed the Sentinel MKII project, several applications for the nanites, and applications for the Pym Particle.

"You are most welcome," Astrid replied.

Astrid and I upgraded several systems throughout the house and to the suit. The Sentinel looked exactly like the future model. Astrid and I created a VI that would assume control of the Sentinel and would have several rules to abide by. That way I wouldn't have a repeat of the fight with En Sabah Nur. I doubt I could win against it in my current state. I would run out of energy pretty quickly after seeing it run through some fight simulations.

With my brothers gone, I had lost some of my ethical boundaries. I would still help but I won't go out of my way to safe everyone. It is impossible for me save everyone. There will be causalities no matter how hard someone tries. I might be able to use the nanites, but I rather use them for something else. I only have the three canisters and a couple integrated with other systems. The resource requirements for them are insane so I can only have a limited amount. Astrid had finished an application for them to be able to 'eat' matter and construct any material they have the formula to. They can even find the formula for a material after eating it. I could now create as much vibranium and adamantium as I wanted. The only issue was letting the nanites consume enough matter for them to be able to create it. I didn't want to consume the resources on Earth, so instead I looked to space. It would be perfect timing since I would learn more about propulsion engines from the Pegasus Project. My sights were towards the asteroid rings and let the nanites eat up enough that I don't have to worry about them running out of matter anytime soon. It could solve my problem of resources to make them, but I needed metals like vibranium for my other projects.

I left the house and made my way to meet up with the NASA officials. I had to complete several forms and they had performed deep background checks, but Astrid had covered everything. After a couple of weeks of waiting for my clearance to go through I was finally able to go to the facility. They had paid for a plane ticket to Nevada where a driver would later drive me to the location. It was all very secretive but anyone with the right technology could locate it. I was brought to an office where I had to sign a bunch of documents. They varied from pay to living arrangements. It ended up taking a couple of days before I could use the elevator to go down. That's when I met Wendy Lawson.

"Dr. Wendy Lawson! It's an honor to meet you" I said excitedly. She turned from the person she was talking with and look at me.

"Ah, you must be assistant. Give her the documents, hopefully she can keep up," She said and left.

"Assistant?" I asked to the person guiding me. That was rather rude, I don't remember her being like that.

"Sorry about that. She has not provided results, so the other agencies have asked for outside help to assist her. She refused, but she really didn't have a say in the matter. Technically, you are both in charge of the operation," the guy said. Guess that makes sense. I would also act the same if I was being treated like that.

"Can you show me to the documents she mentioned?" I asked.

"Yes of course, this way please" He said, and I followed.

I followed him to an office which had my name outside. It was the other name I was using, Jennifer Howlett. Inside the office was a bunch of boxes and journals. I chuckled at the work. I guess she thinks this would deter me from being here. If anything, this only encourages me more. I spend the next few days reading the documents and journal entries. I had Astrid help me as well. In a way we were both learning and answering each other's questions. Astrid and I could now communicate through thoughts after I injected myself with a few nanites that traveled to my brain. It was easier to have her talk with her without having to activate the suit completely for her to do stuff. She could tap into the nerves to use my senses and be able to see. She could take control of my body, but I trust her not to do that. Even if she did, at most she would just make me trip. Astrid and I gained a lot of knowledge from all the reading we did. I was now caught up to speed regarding what Lawson was doing. She was genius in the way she was doing things. She was running a dummy project to hide her real intent. No one would be able to figure that out unless they knew what I knew. Her current problem with her dummy project was stabilizing the prototype jet fighter. The jet fighter could travel at an incredible speed, but it couldn't maneuver at all after a certain speed as achieved. I went out to look for her and found her in the hangar bay. I could see the Jets were still in production. I was surprised all her notes were all theoretical in a sense.

"Dr. Lawson," I said politely. She turned to me and raised one of her brows.

"I'm surprised you're still here. I can't explain anything to you. If you can't figure it out then you should look for another project to work on," She said and turned to walk to an older jet.

"I have finished all the documents like you requested, Dr. Lawson. I have a few recommendations to help with your problem," I said as I extended a clipboard. I didn't move closer to her. I wanted her to walk to me. These small things were part of a larger psychological battle between us. She stopped walking and turned to look at me. She waited to see if I would move but seeing as I was perfectly still, she moved to me and grabbed the clipboard. She began reading fast by looking at her eye movement. She started to slow down and reread some parts again.

"Well, I'll admit this will safe me some time. It's a pressure to work with you Dr. Howlett," She said smiling while extending her hand to shake mine.

"The pressure is mine Dr. Lawson," I said smiling and shock her hand.

"Please, let's just use our first names. I get tired of people calling me that all the time," She dismissingly.

"Of course," I said smiling.

"Come on, I'd love to get your thoughts on this," She said as she entered the cockpit and pointed to several glitches that were occurring.

We spend weeks like this before we submitted our plans to complete the jet fighters. I was also given access to see the Tesseract. I had begun to store storing several containers with the energy. I was called into Lawson's office to see the new pilots. I didn't know if we would have to go through a few before we got to Carol. I knocked at the door and waited.

"Who is it?" I could hear Lawson speak.

"It's Jennifer," I spoke.

"Come in," She said. I turned the door handle and entered. When I walked in, I saw Carol sitting in a chair. She stood and turned to greet me with her hand extended.

"Hello Dr. Howlett, it's good to meet you, Colonel Carol Danvers," she said.

I reached my hand to grab hers but froze when I locked eyes with her. I could feel my knees getting weak and my face instantly warmed up. The calluses and her soft skin pressed against my hand. Her smile was the next to hit. She's beautiful. I was speechless.

'Maybe you should close your mouth to keep from drooling,' Astrid said.

'No one's drooling! She just caught me off guard…' I said. It was a lie. She was truly beautiful.

"I-It's good to meet you," I struggled to say. Damn it Lydia, get it together.

'Your heartrate has increased. Would you like me to plan escape routes?' Astrid said.

'Shut up,' I said. I turned to Wendy and saw the grin she had in her face. Perfect, just what I needed. I took my seat and looked at the desk and my hands.

'Subtle, real subtle,' Astrid said.

'Stop talking,' I said.

'Initiating video recording' Astrid spoke. Before I could respond, Wendy spoke.

"Let's continue, shall we?" Wendy spoke.

"Of course," Carol said.

"Why don't you take over for a bit Jen. I'll go grab us something to drink," Wendy said with a sly smile. I snapped my head towards her and before I couldn't even say anything before, she left leaving Carol and I alone. The room was filled with silence as Wendy closed the door.

'Maybe look at the interview questions?' Astrid said. Right, interview questions. I looked at the desk and saw the clipboard Wendy was using. I grabbed it and saw the note she had written. It read "She's cute right?" to the right of the paper. I sighed and clear my throat to start asking the questions.

"So, Colonel Danvers, can you tell me what makes you qualify for this project," I asked.

"Yes, I believe my record speaks volumes of my dedication and commitment to anything I do. I have faced a lot of struggles during my time, but I can promise you that if given the opportunity you will not be disappointed," Carol spoke. I looked at her again and stopped paying attention to what she was talking about. Looking at her made my senses go dull.

'You know she stopped talking right?' Astrid snapped me from my daze. I cleared my throat again and read another question.

"Can you tell me about your pilot experience?" I asked. Again, I fell into my dazed state and just looked at her.

'Seriously, you starting to embarrass yourself,' Astrid spoke.

"And no family or love ones that might miss you while you are here?" I asked.

'That's not one of the interview questions. Are you that madly in love with her?' Astrid spoke again.

'I'm not madly in love! I am just gathering information to make sure nothing about this Carol changed from my memories…' I said.

'Sure sure…' Astrid responded.

"No ma'am" Carol spoke. Wendy returned with water bottles before I could get a chance to ask more questions. Wendy asked more questions while I just continued to observe.

"Right, well let's give you a tour of the facility," Wendy said. She motioned Carol to follow the guard so she could get another pass to use the elevator.

"You know you were supposed to write down her answers, right?" Wendy whispered to me while we were waiting.

"What?!" I asked surprised.

"My god, you have the hots for her, don't you?" She asked.

"What!? No!" I raised my voice which caused the guards and Carol to look at us.

"Just don't get in trouble. I like her. I would really hate to write some stupid report about fraternization,�� She said.

"That's not going to be a problem. I mean that's not going to happen," I said. What is wrong with me.

'Based on my readings, I believe the term love struck would apply here,' Astrid said.

'I am not! I was just caught off guard' I responded.

'Do you think she'll go with you? It's worth a shot to see right?' Astrid asked.

'Yeah…' I automatically replied.

'Just imagine…' Astrid whispered.

'Yeah…' I again replied.

"Jennifer!" Wendy spoke while she shook my shoulders.

"Ah! Sorry!" I said. Carol was standing next to Wendy with her new badge. I had lost track of time in my daze.

'If only I could see what you imagined…' Astrid whispered.

'Shut up!' I replied.

We continued the tour of the base until Carol left. Wendy had already selected the other pilot which I am going to assume is Maria Rambeau. I had returned to my room and asked Astrid to perform the usual sweep of listening devices. Once everything was clear, I teleported back to my lab. I had several containers to absorb and I could us the others for other projects. This was my routine for several months. I would only absorb the energy after a workday, so I had enough time to recover from the burns. I haven't really interacted with Carol or Maria since they came to the project. It was mostly Wendy. My energy had increased by a large amount. I could now match against En Sabah Nur's attack if they collided. I was focusing on the speed of bringing my attacks and force fields. I was trying to match En Sabah Nur's speed when it came to that. He outmatched me by a huge margin. I decided to teleport back since I had a narrow time frame where I could absorb the energy and work on some projects.

"Jen!" I heard a knock on my door. I increased my senses to outside and tried to read the mind of who was there. I couldn't read the person that was there, but I knew it was Wendy. Since she's a Kree, I can't read her mind.

"Yea?" I asked.

"Hurry! The prototypes are here, come on!" Wendy yelled.

"Coming!" I said as I put on my clothes and opened the door. Wendy was there waiting with her hands on her hips.

"About time, come on!" Wendy said and went to the hangar.

When we arrived, we saw the two prototype fighters being put into their respective areas. Honestly, they were okay. Astrid and I made better improvements on them. We only made one and it could be capable of space flight however, it was incredibly slow. My aim now was to try and get my nanites into her spaceship that she had in orbit. It was hard to pinpoint its location. It was perfectly stealth. I would have to travel around the Earth's orbit and see if I could detect anything using my magnetic powers but that would take a while. I decided to instead send my nanites in orbit and slowly travel to see if they hit something. It'll be slow but its better than having to excuse myself from the project.

"They look amazing!" I said and saw Carol and Maria already in the pilot seat messing with the controls.

"Hey, look it's your girlfriend," Wendy said next to me.

"She's not my girlfriend!" I whispered intensely.

"So, when are you going to ask her out?" Wendy asked. I didn't respond. I knew she would just give her more fuel to continue her harassment.

We oversaw all the delivery of spare parts and got a debrief of all the equipment and features of the jet fighters. It was a long time before we were all done. I was the first one out of the dumb briefing room before I felt a hand on my shoulder reach out.

"Hey Dr. Howlett, we were going to go to a bar to celebrate. Would you like to join us?" Carol asked.

"O-Oh, N-"-I tried to say.

"She'll go! She's been dying to spend some time with you…and Maria" Wendy said. I threw her a glare.

"Great! We'll see you there," Carol said smiling and left.

"Oh, don't be like that. You should be thanking me," Wendy said.

"For what? I didn't want to go…" I said. She laughed.

"Here's the place, they go there all the time," She said and wrote down the name on a note.

I looked at the note and saw it was a bar outside the base. I'm pretty sure it the same bar that Maria and Carol in my memories.

'You should go' Astrid said.

'I don't know' I responded.

'What's the worst that could happen?' she said.

'Really?' I asked.

'It's okay to do things for yourself you know. The world won't end if you develop a relationship with her or someone else' Astrid explained.

'I suppose…' I said and was thought deeply.

I decided to go and see what would happen. If anything, it'll be fun. If something else develops than I guess, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I went to my room and picked something casual to wear. I didn't have a car, so I just decided to take a shuttle van. It was one of the perks of being stationed here. You could take the shuttle van to drive you to a location you needed to go to and then take a taxi back to the main gate. I entered the shuttle and took a seat. I was looking outside the window as the van started to drive. The scenery was mostly sand. It made me a bit sad because I was used to being in a forest. I kept watching until the van parked. I sighed and exited. I stood in front of the bar and entered.