Chapter Text
Gamora was the first of the group to wake.
When she did, she untangled herself from Peter and propped herself up on one arm, using her other hand to gently brush through his wicked hair that poked out in ever direction from underneath the edge of the blanket they were underneath.
"Yep. You're definitely his girlfriend."
Luckily, she was trained not to jump or flinch when she was caught off guard. She turned to face Yondu who was seated at the table, burying his face in to a mug of coffee.
"I am not Quill's girlfriend," She scowled at him. "And I have not submitted to his pelvic sorcery. Suggest something idiotic again, and I will slice your throat with my favorite sword."
"Well, good morning to you, too," the Centuarian grumbled, chugging down the rest of his drink. "There's coffee. Just, y'know, help yourself to it."
With a nod to show her thanks, because she wasn't a mannerless beast, she pulled herself off the floor, running a green hand through her hair.
Drax woke up next. He laid still for a few minuets until Groot woke from his 'sleeping' state. With odd gentleness, he pried the tree from Rocket's grip and moved him out of the way. Then he moved Rocket off of his chest and placed him beside Peter so that the two could continue to sleep.
In his slumber, Peter reached out and pulled Rocket closer, cuddling the fuzzball tightly.
"How long until we reach our destination?" Drax asked, getting to his feet. Groot did the same, reaching up with a small wooden hand and stretching thin green vines upward to wrap around Drax's fingers. It took Yondu a few moments to realize that Groot was holding on to Drax's hand like a tiny child. (That was pretty much what Groot was. A tiny tree child, only as tall as Rocket's shoulder.)
"Should be about 3 hours," Yondu said, watching as Groot jumped up and grabbed the edge of the table, attempting to haul himself up.
"I am Groot!" He squeaked at Drax, wildly kicking his small tree legs about in the air and he struggled to pull himself on the table top. Without even looking at Groot, Drax reached a hand out and grabbed Groot, placing him on the table. That must've been a natural occurrence on their ship.
"He likes to sit on top of the table so he can be level with the rest of us," Drax explained.
"And I like it when you all shut up and let me sleep," Peter retorted from his spot on the floor, uncurling himself and nudging Rocket awake. Yondu took a small box from the table and chucked it at Peter, hitting him in the head.
"Ow, dude!"
"Get up."
"I am up!" Peter pushed himself in to a sitting position and snorted out a laugh at the way Rocket's facial fur was smashed down.
"Shuddup, loser," Rocket mumbled, using a small paw to fluff up the fur to its original state. "At least I don't talk in my sleep."
"I don't talk in my sleep!" Peter shook his head wildly.
"Yeah, ya do."
"Drax, do I talk in my sleep?"
The large mass of muscle nodded his head, "You do."
"Gamora--"
"Yes, Peter. You talk in your sleep."
"Groot?"
"I am Groot!" The tree nodded.
"All of you are liars," Peter said, getting up and kicking the pile of blankets against the wall.
While stretching, he strode over to the table and reached out, taking Yondu's mug, "Aw you made me coffee, thanks!"
"Im 'onna make ya wish ya never set foot in space if ya do that again!" The Captain threatened, shooting a glare at Peter.
"Heyyyy, there's nothing in this cup!"
"'Cause I drank it all. "
"Damn. Well, I'm keeping the mug anyway. Im too lazy to get my own. So, when're we boarding the Elector? I miss my ship and my walkman."
"We get there when we get there," Yondu said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe.
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When they finally boarded the Elector, they were greeted by Kraglin.
Immediately, Peter sprinted at him, punched him as hard as he could in the gut, then body-slammed him.
"That's what you get for pointing a gun at me last time we met!"
"Peter what the hell! Get the hell off me. I'll shoot you for real this time!" Kraglin wheezed, reaching a skinny arm up to smack Peter.
"Unless ya wanna be scraping his ugly, useless brains off the floors, I wouldn't suggest that. 'Sides, I need him," Yondu said, kicking the pair that lay on the floor.
"Need him?" Kraglin looked up and raised a brow. "Why would you ever need Quill?"
"Wow, I'm really feeling the love, Bro." Peter said, pulling himself off the floor. "But Kraglin has a good point, what do you need me for?"
"We'll worry about that later."
That meant it was important and would only be discussed between the two of them.
"Right...well, on that note, let's go say hi to everyone!" Peter said, grabbing Gamora's wrist. "I've gotta show you guys where I grew up!"
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"I'm beginning to think you just want to keep me here and work me til I'm dead," Peter said around a mouthful of food, glancing over at Yondu from where he sat. They'd been stationed on the elector for nearly a week. "Tell me what you want with me already."
"You already know why you're here."
"You said you needed my help. Im here. I paid Kraglin some extra units to repair my ship, so I'm available. If you haven't told me what you need by the time he's done, my team and I are leaving."
Yondu almost smiled. Peter definitely wasn't the broken, sobbing, mess of a kid they picked up off some watery mudball planet anymore. He had grown, in to a leader, made a name for himself, and gathered up a crew of his own. He felt as if he owed the boy a compliment or two.
"I need you on a job," Yondu said instead, standing. "You're the only one of us who hasn't been banned from this planet, and the only one who will blend in."
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"You want me to go on a spy mission for you?" Peter smirked up at Yondu.
"If that's what you want to call it, but when ya put it like that, it sound mighty stupid."
"No," Gamora shook her head, looking at Peter. She was there because Peter insisted she be informed of the job Yondu had. Incase anything went wrong, she would already know where he was. "He wants you to steal something from a king on a planet we've never heard of! That sounds very well like it would be a trap! Maybe he just wants you dead!"
Yondu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Peter had insisted that Gamora come along with them while they discussed the details of the job. "If I wanted 'im dead, I'd've killed 'im by now." He led them in the direction of the hangar, leaving them to banter over the situation.
"How can you trust him, Peter?" Gamora gave him a soft look of worry. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of Peter willingly taking a job for Yondu after the man had promised to kill him.
"He wouldn't put me in any real danger," Peter whispered back, making sure Yondu couldn't hear them. "It would bother him to no end knowing I'm in trouble and not being able to do anything about it."
"But how can you be so sure--"
"He has a Dad Sense," Peter shrugged.
"What?"
"A sixth sense. I call it his 'Dad Sense'. Or, the 'Peter Needs Assistance' Sense. And even sometimes the 'Peter Fucked Up Again' Sense." Peter said it as a joke, but the woman sensed a hint of self-hate in his words. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Basically, it's like he just knows when I need him…"
"I…don't understand." She stopped walking, and he stopped also.
"It's, like...Uh…just watch this; Hey, Yondu!" Peter jogged forward to catch up with the other man, who continued to walk on, and when he was close enough, forced himself to trip. Within an instant, Yondu was turned around with his arms full of 6+ feet of dorky Terran.
"Fuckin' klutz," Yondu grumbled, setting Peter upright. "Watch it before you hurt yourself."
"See what I mean?" Peter whispered to Gamora when she caught up to the pair. "He wasn't even paying attention to me, but as soon as something dangerous--although tripping is not actually THAT dangerous...well, whatever. I was gonna get hurt and he just knew it and his dad sense kicked in and he saved me."
She stared at him for a moment, "Sure. Whatever." She began to walk again and Peter jogged to catch up.
"Hey, you think it sounds stupid but in the future when you have my babies and I acquire a dad sense of my own, you'll be proud of me!"
She stopped, spun around, and punched him in the stomach as hard as she could.
"I would never have children with you, Quill!"
"Okay! Okay--" Peter wheezed. "I shouldn't have said that, holy shit, you punch really hard I can't breathe! Please don't do that ever again!"
Gamora gave him a satisfied smirk. "As long as you don't suggest anything stupid ever again. Besides, if we ever had children, YOU would be having MY children." She tutted and stalked away, leaving Peter gaping at her.
"Wait!" He puffed heavily, "That's actually really hot! Come back here!" He jogged to catch up with her again, "Is that one of your secret fantasies!? Gamora!"