"What happened? Where's my family? Did Alex move out after he grew up?" Carol's brow furrowed as she looked at the familiar yet somewhat strange house, her mind racing with possibilities.
Carol was unaware of Kara's existence. At the end of the 1980s, Carol, who had been captured and brainwashed by the Kree, returned to Earth. After recovering her memories and driving away a Kree fleet led by the accuser Ronan, she took several Skrulls into space to help them find a new home. During that time, she did return to Earth once to inform the Danvers family of her plans, then went back to space to deal with cosmic affairs. At that time, Kara had not yet arrived on Earth.
Since then, Carol had been fully engaged in cosmic duties, not returning to Earth for fifteen years. Now that the Skrulls were finally settling down, she had time to check on her home.
But what she didn't expect was to find no trace of her family, as if fifteen years had changed everything. This made Carol deeply anxious; if something had happened to her family during her absence, she would be filled with regret.
"Nick Fury..." Carol thought of a name as she looked around the empty house. She considered Nick Fury a close associate and one of her most important backups.
When Carol first returned to Earth, she met Nick Fury, who wasn't yet the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. They formed a good relationship back when Fury was less cynical and less suspicious.
Before leaving Earth, Carol had given Fury a pager that could send signals across space. If Fury faced any danger, he could use it to call her back. Fury also knew Carol's identity, so he was supposed to look after the Danvers family to some extent.
However, Fury had not contacted Carol in all these years, and she didn't even know whether he was alive or dead.
Besides Fury and his agent Coulson, Carol had few friends on Earth, especially ones she could still contact after so many years.
"Let's not go to Maria yet; she might be in trouble with the military. Let's see if I can contact Nick Fury." Carol's thoughts raced as she took out the pager to contact Fury. Soon after, her eyes brightened, and she disappeared from the spot.
At S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury's eyes lit up upon receiving Carol's message. Since the appearance of Superman and Saiyans, and demons running amok, Fury had been even more eager to assemble the Avengers.
Even as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., holding numerous extraordinary items, Fury could not use these artifacts to enhance his agents' powers.
After witnessing the power of Saiyans and Superman, Fury felt that the abilities granted by the artifacts were too weak...
Of course, Fury knew better than to try pulling Saiyans and Superman into the Avengers, not to mention Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, whom he hadn't managed to recruit.
Steve had gone back to London to stay with Peggy Carter after a slowdown in Hydra's pursuit, as he hadn't been with Peggy since Bucky appeared, and she couldn't tolerate being ignored any longer.
After Steve and Bucky left, Fury tried to ingratiate himself with Tony Stark, though Tony's capabilities were still far behind those of Saiyans and Superman. However, being a popular superhero and America's top capitalist, bringing Tony Stark fully onto Fury's side was crucial.
Unfortunately, Tony showed no interest in dealing with Fury, particularly after some awkward attempts using Howard Stark's legacy.
Fury's handling of Robert further alienated Tony, and Tony's disregard for Fury grew after seeing Fury falter in front of Steve.
For Tony, possessing nuclear-level offensive or defensive capabilities was crucial in this new era.
Thus, Fury failed to recruit any new members for the Avengers, which still included only his trusted agents, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton.
But now, things were different. Fury's trump card had returned, and he felt he could finally turn things around. Despite knowing the capabilities of Robert and Clark, Fury still believed in Carol's invincibility; after all, she had single-handedly destroyed an alien fleet.
Carol, able to obliterate fleets, stirred Fury's emotions, but he quickly composed himself and slipped quietly out of S.H.I.E.L.D. through a new secret passage he had built after a previous attack by Alfred.
Carol, however, changed her route upon noticing Fury's departure. She burst into a secret base where Fury had just arrived, not bothering with doors or walls—when Carol was in a rush, nothing could stand in her way.
"You... what's the hurry? I'm not running away..." Fury, slightly taken aback by the destruction Carol had caused to the newly constructed base, commented dryly.
"Where are my parents and my sister?" Carol didn't want to waste time with Fury. She was desperate to find
out about her family, so she directly asked.
"Your parents aren't home?" A flicker of doubt crossed Fury's eyes, followed by a sudden change in expression, "I'll have someone check right away, don't worry..."
"Haven't you been keeping an eye on them? What is your position now?" Carol frowned slightly, unsatisfied with Fury's response.
"I have been... but my current position is a bit special. I can't expose myself too much, so I only keep a distant watch to avoid attracting attention..."
"Special position? What position are you in now?" Carol asked, skeptical of Fury's explanation.
"I'm the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. There are many eyes on me. If I were to keep a close watch on your family, it would be easily noticed. I haven't even been able to visit my own family..." Fury spoke with a hint of melancholy.
"Is that so?" Seeing Fury's demeanor, Carol's dissatisfaction faded a bit. After all, she had been away for over a decade and didn't know the current situation. Depending on Fury to find her family, Carol chose not to pursue the matter further.
"Found them! Alex, formerly working at the Bureau of Paranormal Research? Now after the takeover by the Eye Society, she became the minister of their Paranormal Division. Is that her?" Coulson's report came through Fury's earpiece, surprising him; he hadn't expected Alex to be Carol's family member.
Had he known, he might have intervened when the Eye Society merged with the Bureau. If he could have recruited Alex, his relationship with Carol could have been closer. But alas, at the time, Fury had no precognitive abilities and wasn't interested in a small bureau, focusing instead on artifacts and then being distracted by Hydra and Saiyans. He even decided to let the bureau go...
"Found her?" Carol noticed Fury's expression change and asked directly.
"I found your sister. Do you want to contact her, or should I?" Fury nodded, pulling out a phone to offer Carol the choice.
"I'll do it!" Relieved that Alex was safe and assuming her family was alright, Carol took the phone. The number was already keyed in by Fury, and she dialed without hesitation.
"Hello?" Alex answered, initially hesitant to respond to an unknown number, but with recent increases in calls to the bureau, she decided to pick up.
"Alex? It's me, Carol!" Carol didn't beat around the bush, not even giving Alex time to doubt who it was, "Did the family move? Why aren't mom and dad home?"
"Carol? You're back?!" Alex, whose memories of her sister Carol were still from childhood, was thrilled to hear that Carol had returned after so many years.
Growing up, Carol had gone to space, which had shocked the young Alex. Even without knowing what the cosmos held, Alex had always believed it to be dangerous...
And after witnessing more and more extraordinary events, Alex had been convinced that her sister Carol must have encountered dangers in space—after all, Earth itself was dangerous enough.
And if it hadn't been for some mishap, why would Carol have been gone for fifteen years without a single return?
But now, hearing that Carol was back, Alex felt a wave of relief, "Tell me a place, and I'll come to you now..."
"Great! We'll meet at..." Excited, Alex hurriedly left the bureau; there was nothing pressing there anyway, and her subordinates were hardly discreet about slacking off, so why couldn't she, the largely powerless minister, leave early? No one would mind...
"Nick, I'll go handle some family matters first, and I'll come back and thank you later!" Carol, equally relieved, ended the call and addressed Fury.
"Sure, your return is timely. Earth is indeed facing quite a few problems now..." Fury nodded seriously, "Between Saiyans and Superman, both pose a threat to Earth's safety. Once you're back, we'll need to discuss them thoroughly!"
"Superman? Saiyans?" Carol paused, frowning at Fury, "Who are they?"
"I don't know their exact identities yet, but they act with total disregard for authority, and most importantly, their destructive power is immense. If we don't restrain them, all of humanity could be in danger!" Fury expressed his genuine concerns, not acting but truly believing that Robert and Clark, beyond his control, posed a great threat.
Although Carol's return was slightly late, Fury believed she could help resolve the issues with Clark and Robert.
Of course, rather than outright eliminating Clark and Robert, Fury preferred to recruit them, though he knew the difficulty in doing so...
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