Chapter Text
“How come I’m not allowed to go?”
Carol loads the last duffle bag into the trunk of her car and shuts the lid. After a sigh, she leans against the vehicle and comes face to face with her greatest weakness: Monica’s wide, brown, pleading eyes. Though she’s been brought to her knees more than once by the very opponent standing across from her, she’s determined to stand her ground and not fold this time. Carol Danvers is, very gently and with much love, putting her foot down.
“Your mom and I need this trip. We need time together. To bond and create new memories and relearn one another and…,” Carol tilts her head, her eyes squinting just so, “hang out...alone?” Carol shrugs her shoulders up high. Monica doesn't waver. “Give me something, Monica.”
“ I need time with you to bond and form new memories. I was there too when you went missing for six years!” Monica throws her hands up. “I’ve suffered!”
“No, I know. I know. And I’m sorry for the suffering. If I knew I could’ve flown back home to the coolest kid in the universe I would’ve! And now that I know you exist I’ll fly home a million billion times.” Monica raises her eyebrow at the made up number but doesn’t call out Carol’s patronizing tone. Carol recognizes her mistake and resorts to something more mature. “Look, this next week is about me and your mom. Gotta be. And I need time with her. In a different way than I need time with you.”
Monica takes her time thinking over Carol’s words, her mouth twisting in concentration and debate on whether or not it’s worth it to continue chasing the same argument. Figuring it’s better to move on to a different issue, Monica sighs and whines, “Well, does it have to be so far? What if there’s an emergency, what if I’m in trouble?”
“That’s what the communicator is for. You hit that button and I’ll come flying. For emergencies only.” Carol starts walking towards the house with Monica scampering after her.
“What classifies an emergency,” she asks and skips up the steps, two at a time to keep up with Carol.
Carol turns to face Monica outside the front door and looks up at the awning as she thinks. “Floods, fires, and earthquakes. And aliens.” Carol looks down at Monica and points. “Bad aliens, not Talos aliens.”
Monica squints and grunts before she grumbles out, “Fine. But I want to go somewhere tropical for my special vacation. Out of the country.”
“Deal.”
“And space!”
“I cannot promise that…. But I will work on convincing your mom because that would be cool as hell and I’ve been trying to get her to say yes for months now.” Carol leans over and kisses Monica’s nose and then both of her cheeks over and over again until Monica is giggling and wrapping her arms around Carol’s neck to get picked up before they go inside.
. . .
It’s a 36 hour drive from Louisiana to Washington and Maria insists on taking the first leg. Something about Carol plus her eagerness to get on the road plus her “need for speed” plus the icy roads they’ll encounter in the middle of January makes her less than keen to let her behind the wheel. At least not this early on. So while Maria drives them to Armarillo, Texas Carol’s in charge of music and placing the proper snacks in Maria’s hand when she needs them. She points out strange sights on the side of the road and flicks off drivers when they get too close to Maria’s tail – which only happens once after Maria gives her a stern scolding about not knowing what the person behind them could be capable of. This, of course, makes Carol laugh and shout, “Let ‘em try!” in response, hands glowing and body humming at the idea of an easy challenge.
They switch off in Texas once Maria thinks Carol’s calmed down enough to drive but even in her lazy state Carol’s driving still has risks. She keeps one hand on the wheel and one eye on the road, the counterparts to each of these being on Maria when they can. Carol keeps a hand on her thigh and at times will lace their fingers together. When the road hits a particularly long straight away Carol will bring her hand up to the back of Maria’s head and massage her fingers through her hair or drag her knuckles across her jaw or gingerly grab her chin between her pointer finger and her thumb.
She’ll turn her full head to get a good look at Maria even while pushing 80 miles per hour. Maria panics each time and tells her to watch the damn road and Carol will respond with something smooth: “You gotta stop being so distracting” “I don’t want to miss a second of you” “The view to my right is so much nicer” and while Maria wishes she could keep her expression serious, she falters every time. Her smile breaks through and Carol whines over how beautiful she is until Maria physically pushes her face forward. The cycle repeats in different ways every twenty minutes or so until Maria falls asleep.
Even then Carol can’t stop looking at her.
. . .
The cold wakes Maria up. It comes rushing in when Carol opens the passenger side door and she groans and tucks in on herself at the same time that Carol leans in and starts apologizing.
“Sorry, my love,” she whispers and kisses Maria’s temple while pulling a blanket securely around her shoulders. “Come here, I’ll get you inside and get you warm.” And before Maria could come up with a protest (not that she necessarily would) Carol has her in her arms, tucked in against her chest as she makes her way up the porch stairs and into the warmed walls of the rented winter home. “While you know I’d looove to give you an exclusive ‘bridal style’ tour of the place,” Carol says while turning in a circle, getting Maria to chuckle and bury her face closer to her neck, “I could grab our bags a lot faster if I put you down.”
“Mmm, put me down somewhere warm. Only way I’ll allow it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Carol, after playfully ‘getting lost’ throughout the house and effectively giving Maria that tour after all, finds the primary bedroom upstairs and smiles at the sight of thick quilts and duvets on the bed and a fireplace built into the opposite wall. To the right, she spots a door connecting to the bath and instead of going for the bed like originally intended, she steps into the bathroom and places Maria on her feet. “I think the tiles are heated in here,” she says when Maria wraps her arms around herself and backs up against Carol’s chest. “And it’s a dual shower so you can have two hot water streams coming at you.” Carol presses a kiss to Maria’s temple and steps around her to get the water running. She shakes her head in awe and mumbles to herself, “Who built this place?”
“Someone with money,” Maria guesses. “How did you find it?”
“Your parents helped me.”
Maria shrugs and makes a face like she’s both unsurprised and not interested. “They know some people with money I guess.” She shivers and Carol steps up to her, hands going to her arms and rubbing them up and down to generate some heat. Maria starts to lean forward, her tiredness from earlier coming back the warmer her arms get.
Carol kisses her forehead “Get in the shower.” She leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind her and leaving Maria with the dreaded task of stripping down to nothing in a still relatively cool room.
When she’s finally in the shower, the warm water both soothes and relaxes. Pain in her muscles from the drive and the awkward sleeping positions she found herself in dissipates under the streams and the goosebumps from the cold air melt away. In her head she’s telling herself to grab the soap, hurry up with washing down and be done for the night. She envisions the bed and the quilts and the fire Carol’s going to set and as much as she wants to be wrapped up in that room, all the images do are further lessen her desire to move.
So thank God for Carol.
Carol washes them both down when she gets into the shower and lets Maria lean into her as much as she’d like. Carol kisses her shoulders and her neck and wraps her arms around her waist when they rinse off. For some time they stand together under the water and Carol kisses her; full and slow and until they both can't breathe.
Maria thinks about how it's exactly like how Carol used to kiss her when they were younger, in front of an audience of stars that twinkled above them, sending heaven’s approval before the world would give it. She smiles against Carol’s mouth and then Carol moves her lips to her ear. “You still tired?” She’s already sliding her hand down Maria’s back and squeezing her ass. “Or do you wanna celebrate the first night of our vacation?”
. . .
Carol’s seen stars burst into life. She’s seen skies alive, their colors shifting under three suns. She’s seen galaxies twinkling, giving the illusion of them grazing and gliding across the expanse of space, a powerful unit moving in harmony. She’s seen the universe forwards and backwards. And no view will ever compare to seeing Maria underneath her, blissed out from Carol’s three fingers being deep inside her.
The sight alone almost pushes Carol over the edge. She leans forward and pushes her hips against her hand, pushing it further into Maria and eliciting a drawn out moan. Carol smirks and readjusts her hand so she can brush her thumb over Maria’s clit. Maria’s hips lift and Carol pushes down on her abdomen and starts to pump her fingers.
Maria's moans break off into whines and Carol slides her lips against hers, just skimming the surface, capturing Maria’s sounds between her own lips.
“I fucking love you,” Carol breathes.
Maria manages to cry out, “I love you too.”
Though they have no qualms about it now, intimacy didn't come easy when Carol first made a return to Maria’s life and after Maria had known a past Carol who seemingly couldn't get through the day without at least holding Maria’s hand, the shift was intense. Especially when she had Carol and Monica's relationship to compare herself to.
With Monica it was like the two hadn't missed more time than a blink. Carol would come home from an assignment and Monica was in her arms, on her shoulders, tucked against her hip. Carol would throw her in the air and catch her again without fail. They would watch movies together and Monica would fall asleep in her lap, they would read stories at night and Carol would fall asleep in her bed. Maria had been happy for that hole in Monica’s life finally getting filled again but she'd be kidding herself if she said it hadn't brewed up a small amount of jealousy. While Carol melded with Monica like tea and honey, she avoided contact with Maria like she was the hot kettle.
Carol didn’t touch her if she didn’t have to. She stood with at least two feet of distance between them at all times. If Maria happened to be in her way she didn’t scoot or squeeze by. If ever there was the opportunity to hug it was quick, never long enough for Maria to feel satisfied. Carol would sit on opposite couches and diagonally across the table. She would dry dishes on a separate countertop. Though she’ll never tell her now, Maria thought the close distance was worse than the one between galaxies. It had sent her to bed at night crying so hard she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs and panicking at the thought that this new form of heartbreak would kill her.
But then there was Monica. Sweet, nosey, meddling, perfect Monica who had ignored her mom’s warnings on bringing up her and Carol’s past and decided to interrogate the blonde anyway. Maria doesn’t know when, how, or why the conversation happened but she was in the living room curled into the corner of the couch with a book in her hand when Carol burst in blurting, “We didn’t break up?” without preamble. Maria looked up, confused and scared and waiting for an ounce more context. “Before. Our relationship didn’t end?”
Maria’s heart pounded hard once and then dulled down. “I mean- You died. ”
“No, no, I know but…but we were together when that happened?”
“Yes, wh-” Maria glared. “Why are you smiling?”
They both learned that day that memories don’t always come back in order. Whatever fight Carol thought ended her relationship with Maria never got resolved in her head. She had spent the last year or so avoiding being too much in the way of a nonexistent ex.
After that, intimacy still didn’t come easily. Even after the awkward stages.
They both still remember the night they stayed up late, catching up on movies Carol had missed over the years. Though, that session had been a bust when they ended up making out a quarter of the way through the first movie. Maria had made the first move to push into something more by sliding her hands up Carol’s shirt and against the bare, smooth skin underneath. Carol had tensed up immediately; she stopped kissing, she stopped breathing, she didn’t move.
And then she started crying. After years of having people and creatures only touch her to maim or instruct, Maria’s gentle caress had been overwhelming. And it was another hill they had to climb but eventually conquered.
Those battles were long behind them though, both grateful to have moved on from them. Especially because now they get to reap the benefits.
Carol pulls away from a slow kiss and bites softly down on Maria’s bottom lip, tugging on it just slightly before reconnecting their mouths and pushing her tongue inside. She moves her hand from Maria’s throat and lifts one of her legs to wrap around her waist. She pushes her fingers in deeper and curls them. Maria whines and Carol says, “Tell me what you need, darling,” against her jaw. She trails her lips down to her neck and leaves a wet kiss. “I’ll give you anything you ask.”
Maria pants and wraps a hand around Carol’s wrist, tugs on it and pushes it, a silent ask for her to speed up, which Carol does. Maria cranes her neck and moans, spreads her legs wider and moves one hand to Carol’s shoulder and the other into her hair.
“Gotta use your words this time, sweetheart,” Carol whispers with a smirk before dipping her head and sucking one of Maria’s nipples into her mouth and swirling her tongue around it. Maria tightens her grip on Carol's hair and grinds her hips down on her hand. “Tell me, Maria,” she says against her chest and moves to her other breast. “C’mon.” She presses her thumb into her clit and rubs slowly up and down. “Tell me.”
“I need your mouth, Carol,” she cries out and pushes on her shoulder. She pants out, “I need your mouth,” and raises her hips. Carol grins against Maria’s chest and leaves a hot trail of kisses down her torso before she gets in between her thighs. Her mouth is on Maria’s cunt and her tongue pushes its way in with her fingers.
Maria’s past whining and moaning and instead lets a string of curses start to flow from her mouth. Carol presses her hand harder against her abdomen, pumps her fingers faster, sucks Maria’s clit into her mouth and rolls it between her teeth.
Maria cries out her pleasure, the leg around Carol’s waist moves up to her back and presses her in closer. Carol doesn’t relent and keeps her eyes locked on Maria’s face until she can see the exact moment she cums. Her eyes squeezing shut and her mouth falling open. Her chest falls heavily with her first full breath and her hand pushes through her hair. Even then Carol doesn’t stop her ministrations and Maria, in time, starts moaning again and thrusting her hips against Carol’s mouth. Her head falls to the side as her body relaxes even as her hips continue to move.
Carol pulls back just slightly and kisses Maria’s center. “Am I still going?”
“Mmm,” Maria sighs. “I want you to.” Carol kisses her center again and drags her tongue upwards. “But,” Maria says and threads her fingers through Carol’s hair. “I want you up here even more.”
Carol doesn’t need to be convinced. She makes her way up Maria’s body with kisses pressed into her skin. At the same time, she throws her fist out in the direction of the fireplace to give the dying flames new life. Finally, when she gets to Maria’s mouth, she kisses her slowly, gently, and with such careful movements that it feels new again, like it's their first time and they’re savoring every detail in case it also happens to be their last. She lays herself down next to Maria and pulls her body onto hers, still continuing the kiss as she pulls the sheets over them. When she breaks from Maria’s lips, she goes to her cheeks, her jaw, her neck, her forehead, her nose…. Kisses are pressed with tenderness and precision as if Maria is the canvas that Carol’s lips paint their masterpiece on.
Maria falls asleep to Carol kissing her and Carol falls asleep kissing Maria.