Fury carefully tucked the pager into his inner pocket: "I hope so too."
The final farewell was brief.
The Skrulls lined up in two rows and saluted Fury, not out of awe, but gratitude.
Gratitude that he hadn't handed them over to the Kree, gratitude for his help in repairing the ship, and gratitude for... treating them as dignified lives rather than monsters or trophies.
"May you find a new home," Fury said, one of his few sincere remarks.
"May Earth always know peace," Talos responded.
Carol and Fury locked eyes for a few seconds before she reached out her hand: "Take care, Fury."
"Take care, Danvers," Fury said, shaking her hand. "Show the Universe what an Earthling is made of."
Carol smiled, a smile containing both the sharpness of a warrior and the radiance of an idealist: "I will."
She turned and boarded the Skrull ship, and the hatch closed.
Fury returned to his small shuttle, started the engines, and disengaged the docking.
The two ships parted in low Earth orbit, heading in opposite directions—one toward deep space, the other toward Earth.
Through the porthole, Fury watched the Skrull ship activate its jump engine, warping, fading, and finally vanishing in a blue halo.
He sat in the cockpit, silent for a long time.
The voyage back to Earth was peaceful; Fury's shuttle pierced the atmosphere and landed at a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. Base in Nevada.
As soon as he stepped off the craft, a team of men in suits met him to escort him for his debriefing.
In a briefing room three levels underground sat three people: S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Alexander Pierce, one of the deputy Directors, and a middle-aged man whose epaulettes identified him as high-ranking Military, though Fury didn't recognize him.
"Agent Fury," Pierce spoke first, his smile warm but formulaic.
"Welcome back. We received your preliminary report... It's quite astonishing. Alien refugees, the Kree Empire, and an Earth woman with superpowers. Can you give us the details?"
Fury spent forty-five minutes giving a detailed report of the mission's events.
From the initial tracking of the Skrulls, to finding Carol, to the Kree ambush, to Carol awakening her powers to repel the enemy, and finally the Skrulls repairing their ship and leaving.
His narrative was fluent, detailed, and logical, except...
He completely omitted the part about Mavuika.
There was no mention of Asgard, no mention of the sun goddess.
In Fury's version, the main Kree fleet had been driven back by Carol.
This was a carefully considered decision.
Fury had made the judgment during his return flight: Mavuika's existence, and the Asgardian power she represented, were variables that Earth currently could neither understand nor handle.
Reporting this intelligence would only trigger two reactions: either disbelief or overreaction.
Disbelief would lead to ignoring a real threat, while overreaction might lead some fools to try and "contact," "study," or even "control" a deity, which would be absolutely disastrous.
So Fury chose to hide it, at least for the time being.
"...In summary, the Skrull refugees have left the solar system and will not return in the short term. Ms. Carol Danvers chose to go with them, partly to escort them and partly to intercept threats in space before they reach Earth." Fury finished his report, standing straight.
Pierce and the other two exchanged looks.
"This Ms. Danvers... how strong do you assess her abilities to be?" the high-ranking Military Officer asked, his eyes showing undisguised interest.
"Very strong," Fury said cautiously.
"She can single-handedly repel a team of Kree elite warriors, survive in a vacuum, and perform precision welding with her bare hands. But as for her specific upper limit... I'm not sure. She admitted herself she is still learning to control it."
"If she could be used by us..." the official murmured to himself.
Alarm bells rang in Fury's mind, but he remained expressionless: "Officer, Ms. Danvers has a very strong will. Part of the reason she chose to leave Earth was that she didn't want to be 'used' by any organization. I believe the best strategy is to remain friendly and offer help when she needs it, but do not attempt to control her."
Pierce nodded: "Agent Fury is right. These... special individuals need to be treated with caution. Force will only be counterproductive."
He turned to Fury, his smile becoming more sincere: "Regardless, you have completed an unprecedented mission and successfully handled a potential alien crisis. S.H.I.E.L.D. is proud of you, Agent Fury. This performance will be noted in your file."
This was the subtext for a promotion; Fury understood, but he simply nodded: "Thank you, Officer. I was just doing my job."
After the briefing, Pierce kept Fury behind alone.
"One more thing," Pierce said, his tone turning serious.
"Regarding that Skrull prisoner... the one you took over from Howard. Where is he now?"
Fury's heart tightened, but his expression didn't change: "He left with the other Skrulls, Officer."
"Why wasn't this reported?" Pierce asked, not as an interrogation, but seemingly out of curiosity.
"The Skrulls' camouflage ability is flawless. The existence of that prisoner had to be kept absolutely confidential," Fury explained.
"At the time, it was possible the agency had been infiltrated by Skrulls, so before ensuring safety, the fewer people who knew, the better."
Pierce was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Your concerns are justified. Then you continue to be responsible for it. Maintain the highest level of confidentiality. Report any progress directly to me."
"Yes, Officer."
After leaving the briefing room, Fury didn't go back to his office; instead, he went to the Base's library.
It wasn't a regular library, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified archives.
Using his highest clearance, he pulled up all files related to 'norse mythology,' 'Asgard,' and 'Records of Alien Civilizations.'
Then he returned to his office, locked the door, and pulled down the blinds.
Now, he was alone.
Fury turned on his computer, which was not connected to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s main server, but was a completely independent, non-networked encrypted terminal.
He organized the data he had just found in the classified archives; S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records regarding norse mythology were actually quite limited.
Most were seized from the Nazis during World War II. The Nazis were obsessed with the occult and had collected a large amount of relevant literature.
There were also some ancient manuscripts and inscriptions that Howard Stark had collected from around the World after the war.
Fury skimmed through them quickly and took notes:
Asgard, home of the Aesir gods, said to be a massive city floating in the Universe, connected to other Worlds via the Bifrost Bridge.
Odin, King of the Gods; Mavuika, sun goddess; Hela, Thor, Loki... and other major figures from the myths, as well as descriptions of the 'Nine Realms.'