Work Text:
Kraglin had been unsure of the Terran boy, at first. He was small and weak, and for the first month he was aboard the Eclector, he cried himself to sleep each night. It was a stark difference from the boy they abducted, who had started swinging the moment his feet were set down on solid metal, taking at least four Ravagers by surprise and putting bruises on three more who didn’t restrain him quickly enough. The following weeks, Quill had been weepy and had hid in various cupboards and ducts until Yondu had to drag him out by his ankles.
By the third month, though, Peter Quill began paying close attention to how the Ravagers acted, and instead of curling up or running away when Horuz or someone else equally aggressive took a swing at him, he fought back. This usually resulted in a black eye or a bruised limb, but it showed that Peter was slowly losing his fear of the Ravagers.
By the time Yondu had decided they weren’t giving Quill up to his father, Kraglin had grudgingly accepted the fact that Quill would make a good Ravager one day, if he wasn’t already a somewhat passable one. The tailor outfitted him in the red Ravager leathers, and then Quill was a part of their ragtag crew.
Kraglin, closer to the captain than anyone else on the ship, knew that Yondu had other motivations for keeping Quill around, but Kraglin was smart enough not to question him. That could result in a hole in his body that wasn’t for bodily functions, regardless of how highly the captain regarded him.
“Kraglin, Quill, I got a proposition for you two,” Yondu said after they had all three sat down with their bowls of premium gizzard soup in the mess.
“What’s that, Cap’n?” Kraglin asked, clutching his spoon and gazing curiously across the table at Yondu. Peter, sitting beside Kraglin, watched with fascination. At fourteen years old, Peter was growing fast. Peter had nearly reached Yondu’s height, and Kraglin wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually shot past both of them. Kraglin didn’t like the thought.
“Well, there’s this lady, rich as all get-out, who wants a certain artifact procured for her. She told me she wanted no more than three men involved, because she seems convinced a lot of us Ravagers are going to want to steal the object for ourselves. She told me she wanted me to choose two of my most trustworthy crew members to join me on this job, so I figured I’d pick you two.”
Kraglin swallowed a thick mouthful of soup and frowned. “If she wants trustworthy people, why’d she choose Ravagers for the job?”
“Apparently the planet we’re going to has dangerous wildlife, as well as bandits and the like. No clean and reputable businessmen would be caught dead on it.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be caught dead on it,” Quill mumbled into his bowl. Yondu shot him a look.
“If you don’t want to come, boy, I’ll bring another Ravager who’s much less of a disappointment.”
Quill puffed up in his seat, gripping the edge of the metal table. “I’m coming with you. I just don’t want to get eaten by wildlife.”
Yondu side-eyed him as he took a mouthful of his own soup. “If some man-eating creature does get a little too friendly, you’ll be the one who gets eaten, boy. That’s how the food chain works.”
“If it wants a full meal, it’d eat you,” Peter shot back.
Kraglin snickered into his soup, only to be thumped on the head by the heel of Yondu’s gloved hand. “Oi, I ain’t the one who said it!”
“Yeah, well you’re laughin.’”
Kraglin rubbed a hand over his smarting forehead as Yondu turned back to Peter.
“Boy, you better watch that mouth of yours or I’ll personally feed you to the first interested animal we see.”
Kraglin wondered why he even bothered to stay around and listen to this bickering. Sure, he’d die for the captain and all that, but he was just barely tolerant of Quill, who did nothing but cause trouble and get all of Yondu’s favoritism without even realizing it. Kraglin, who had been loyal to Yondu for a good ten years before Peter had been abducted, couldn’t help but feel a little underappreciated.
The planet was called Biirmth, a small, ragged thing that mostly consisted of muggy weather, ruins, and bandits. A few of the neighboring planets had taken to dumping their worst criminals onto the uninhabited planet, and those criminals had taken to destroying the remnants of the ancient sentient life that had died off thousands of years ago, and creating crumbling towns of dirty shacks and little trust.
Luckily, the ruin they were headed to was far enough away from any of these settlements that they didn’t have to worry about fighting the habitants of the planet. Kraglin was never reluctant to get his hands dirty, but when he was already thinking about being eaten by a wildcat, adding sentient beings to the mix was just downright irritating.
They had left Horuz in charge of the Eclector and had bundled off in Yondu’s M-ship, two duffel bags full of Ravager excavating gear and weapons sitting packed and ready in the belly of the ship. Kraglin and Peter had a small scuffle over the copilot’s chair, which Yondu eventually batted Peter away from so that Kraglin could have the honor. Peter skulked, but he was the youngest and was lucky to even be included in this trip. Kraglin was the captain’s trusty first mate, regardless of how soft Yondu was on Quill.
Kraglin pulled up the scans of the planet, sending possible landing sites to Yondu’s display.
Yondu chose a small clearing in the jungle, two miles from the ruins they would be searching and brought the ship in for a slow, clean landing. “Good one, finding this spot,” Yondu said, standing out of the chair.
“Just doin’ my job, cap’n.”
The three of them climbed out of the cockpit and waited as the hatch opened to let steamy jungle air into the cabin. Yondu dug into the first duffel bag and handed Kraglin and Peter each a gun. Kraglin grinned, checked the ammunition, and stuffed it into the holster on his hip.
“Does this mean we have to walk through that jungle?” Peter asked, staring down the gangway to the thick trees beyond.
“What do you think, Quill?” Yondu asked, pushing past him. He was holding one of the duffel bags over his shoulder, which clanked with each step. Kraglin sighed, grabbed the other one, and followed Yondu down the ramp.
Peter clanked down after them, steps quick. “But what about all the dangerous wildlife?”
“That’s what the weapons are for,” Yondu responded.
The thick jungle pushed in on them from all sides. Kraglin was usually okay with heat, mostly because his thin frame didn’t keep heat very well and he got cold easily, but this heat was sticky and thick, which made it hard to breathe. Plus, vines kept snagging on his jumpsuit and boots, causing him to trip and nearly fall at least three times. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck.
“This is gross,” Peter grumbled behind Kraglin. “At this point I almost hope something eats me if it means I won’t have to be in this horrible jungle any longer.”
Kraglin shot a look backwards. “If you want me to kill you, I’d be glad to.”
“You wouldn’t kill me, because then Yondu would stop talking to you, and that’d make you cry—”
“Can it, both of you,” Yondu snapped, cutting Peter off. “You’ll bring all the pointy creatures right to us with your bickering.”
When Peter picked up his pace so he was no longer behind Kraglin, Kraglin stuck his boot out and tripped him. It would have been hilarious had Peter not stumbled into Yondu’s back.
Yondu whirled around, whistle already on his lips. Both Kraglin and Peter froze as the arrow hovered between both of them, glowing and very dangerous.
“If you two don’t quit it right this second, I’m doing this job alone and y’all will both be animal scraps.”
Kraglin gave up, holding his hands up and bowing his head, but Peter was either dumb or had a death wish. Or both.
“Kraglin started it!”
Yondu growled in irritation, tucking his arrow back into his belt and turning around to continue walking.
When both Kraglin and Yondu started ignoring Quill, he began humming Hooked on a Feeling brightly. Kraglin could feel his nerves beginning to fray. The music was fun, on occasion. Many of the crew knew the words to all the songs by this point, even chose to listen to it every once in a while, but when the music was being hummed by an irritating Terran, it was much less enjoyable.
Kraglin was not going to break, though. No, he was going to ignore Peter’s humming and focus on the heavy tread of Yondu’s boots, crunching through the underbrush. A much nicer sound.
The jungle suddenly gave way, and they were standing at the foot of a huge temple of some type, crumbling at the corners, being eaten away by large climbing vines that wove through holes in the stone.
“It sure is big,” Kraglin breathed, neck craning back as he took in the whole structure.
“It looks like an Aztec ruin,” Peter said, mouth curling up in one corner. “When I was like seven, I went through this phase of being really obsessed with the Aztec people.”
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about, boy?” Yondu asked.
“The Aztecs were an ancient race on Earth that got eradicated by invaders, and they left ruins like this all over,” Peter explained. “They’re considered one of the greatest ancient civilizations of the continent I lived on.”
“If you’re done giving us a lesson on Terra, boy, we’ve got work to do,” Yondu said, setting down his duffel bag.
Kraglin set the duffel bag he was carrying down next to it and unzipped it, pulling out the handheld scanner. The scanner was already set to pick up the unique mix of minerals the artifact was made of, which made it easy to hold up to the ruin and watch as it pinged a spot under the ruins. Kraglin deflated slightly.
“This is showin’ that we have to go underground.”
Yondu peered over his shoulder at the scanner and then pulled away, slapping Kraglin on the shoulder. “Come on, Krags, it’ll be a blast.”
Kraglin grumbled, but when Yondu started making his way to the foot of the ruin, Kraglin followed. Peter was close beside him, still craning his neck to look up the slanted side of the temple.
“This is gonna be like Indiana Jones, isn’t it?” Quill murmured as they located a ground floor entrance and peered through the dank, dark opening and into the gloom.
It smelled stale and damp, and there was very little light that leaked through the entrance. Kraglin pulled a flashlight from an outside pocket of the duffel bag, clicking it on and illuminating a large chamber that ran straight back from where they had entered. The room was big enough that the light faded to dark before it touched the walls, and their footsteps echoed.
“What exactly is it that we’re stealin’ anyway, cap’n?” Kraglin asked as they made their way to the back of the chamber where they could just make out another door. He wasn’t quite sure why he hadn’t asked before, but honestly the item you were stealing didn’t matter so much as the price tag and the obstacles you had to get through to retrieve it.
“It’s a necklace. I don’t know what’s so dang special about it,” Yondu responded. “She told me not to touch it with my bare hands, so, uh, keep that in mind.”
Kraglin frowned. “She think it’s cursed or something?”
“Maybe. She didn’t say.”
“Guys, do you think this place is booby trapped?” Peter asked worriedly.
“This planet is full of bandits. If there were traps, they’d have sprung on the other poor sods who tried to rob this place before we did.”
“Then why is the necklace still there?” Peter asked.
Yondu didn’t respond, and Kraglin was getting more and more uneasy. Sure, he liked the payoff of difficult jobs, but the prospect of walking through a potentially booby-trapped temple was not his idea of a good time.
“We’ll just send Quill first,” Yondu said.
“Hey!”
Kraglin eyed the sensor in his hands for any incriminating flashes of metal that could mean weapons or traps. Unfortunately, this place was old enough that everything was made of stone and wood and was probably just as dangerous.
They found a doorway to a tight staircase at the end of the hall, and it was Yondu who took the lead, pointing his own flashlight down the steep, uneven stairs. “If one of you falls on me, there’ll be hell to pay,” Yondu shot back to them when he heard Peter’s foot slide off the front of a stair and the ensuing curse.
Kraglin, who was behind both of them, hoped he would be left out of it.
The signature on the necklace grew stronger as they went deeper into the ground, through different chambers that looked as though they had once been used as storage, but were now completely empty, echoing their footsteps back at them. Kraglin hoped this temple was strong and wasn’t in risk of collapsing, because that would sure be a terrible way to die. He also hoped they didn’t get lost down here. The beams of their flashlights danced off the walls, and the stone threw their footsteps back at them in a way that made it sound like they weren’t the only ones in the temple. The air got progressively cooler the deeper they went, and the silence was thicker. It felt as though it had been years since anyone had come this far into the temple, and Kraglin had to wonder why that was.
The scanner led them down a hall and into a smaller chamber, this one containing two large stone chests. It was also a dead end, on what seemed to be the lowest level of the temple. They were in the most protected room, where the most valuable items were likely to be stored. Kraglin grinned and stepped up to one of the chests.
“Says the necklace is in this one,” Kraglin said, pointing to the chest.
Yondu eyed it. “Do you think trying to open it is going to cause a trap to go off?”
Peter pointed his own flashlight at the floor in front of the chest, at the walls around them, and at the ceiling, squinting in concentration. “If there’s traps in here, they’re really well-hidden.”
Kraglin scanned the room, looking for any strange seams in the walls and floor, any suspicious holes, or unexplainable mechanics hidden behind the walls. It came up clean, but Kraglin still didn’t want to touch the thing. He liked his fingers.
“Alright, Pete, why don’t you give it a shove?” Yondu said.
Peter sighed and stepped up the chest, slowly and surely. All three of them held their breath as he laid his palms down on the edge of the lid, and when nothing happened, a slow grin spread on Quill’s face. He shoved on the lid, but it didn’t budge.
“Ugh, it’s heavy. Here, help me with this.”
Yondu and Kraglin stepped forward, and the three of them were able to get the top of the chest off. It hit the floor with a dull, heavy thump, throwing up dust. Inside, the chest was filled with sand.
“Alright, don’t go digging blindly,” Yondu said. “There could be weapons and bugs and shit in there.”
Kraglin held his scanner above the sand, which made it easy to locate the general area that necklace was hiding. The sand was deep, though, and to reach the bottom, Kraglin had to let his feet leave the stone floor and lean over the edge. The sand was cool and dry around his hand, and he was careful not to move quickly in case there was something sharp in there. Luckily, his hand hit nothing but clean sand, and then the cool of stone and metal.
He came up victorious, fingers hooked loosely around the necklace.
“Kraglin, your gloves don’t have fingers,” Yondu said, voice sharp.
Kraglin realized the problem a few seconds too late. He was touching the thing with bare skin, just like the lady had told Yondu not to do.
Yondu snatched it from him quickly, taking a small box out of his pocket, setting the necklace inside, and putting it back in his coat. “I’m buying you new gloves,” Yondu snapped. He stared at Kraglin, who was looking down at his hands. “You feel anything weird?”
Kraglin shook his head. “I feel fine.”
Peter was also staring at Kraglin’s hands. “Maybe you should take those gloves off? That way you’ll be able to see if something’s going on.”
Kraglin peeled the gloves off his hands and stuffed the worn leather into his pockets. He wiped his fingers on his pants for good measure. “Let’s get out of this crypt,” he mumbled, heart thumping in his chest. He didn’t like this one bit, and the lack of sunlight and general creepiness of the temple around them was not making the situation any better.
They started their slow progress back up to the surface, a difficult task when there were seven flights of steep rock staircases between them and the main chamber. Sweat began to collect at the base of Kraglin’s neck, underneath the leather collar of his coat. He felt clammy in the cooler underground air, and he was paranoid that this strange feeling had something to do with the necklace.
He told himself he would be feeling like this regardless of the necklace.
By the time they stepped into the chamber on floor-level, they were all breathing heavily. Kraglin wasn’t opposed to a little physical labor now and again, but there was something about this undisturbed temple and the unknown threat of the necklace that took the fun out of this expedition. He wanted to scrub his fingers off with scalding, soapy water, and he wanted to strap himself into the cushioned copilot’s chair of Yondu’s M-ship and get off this planet.
“Feelin’ alright there, Kraglin?” Yondu asked, shooting him a sideways look.
Kraglin nodded. “Just peachy, cap’n.”
The danger of the necklace and the budding feeling of success they were sharing as they moved closer to the sunlight-filled exit were a bad combination, because it meant that none of them were paying attention to their feet. A stone made a strange click under Peter’s boot, and he froze as a deep rumbling started under the floor.
“Shit,” Peter said.
The trap may have caught them off guard, but they were Ravagers, dammit, and no booby trap would deploy while they were flat-footed. They took off at a dead sprint for the door and the ground where Peter had been standing exploded, the concussive blast knocking them forward. Kraglin lost sight of Yondu and Peter as he dove through the exit and rolled, hearing the deafening rumble of collapsing stone behind him.
Kraglin scrambled to his feet and spotted Peter and Yondu who had both also made it out of the temple, sprawled in the dirt and coughing. Kraglin’s gaze canted upwards and to his dismay he saw that the whole temple was coming down. And they were too close.
“The thing’s collapsing on us! Run!” Kraglin shouted, and Peter and Yondu gave him only the shortest of baffled looks before shooting to their feet and sprinting after him. That was about when Kraglin’s vision went funny and the ground in front of him began to tilt wildly. He gasped and stumbled, trying to blink the fuzz out of his eyes. His hands had begun to tingle and he definitely wasn’t running straight anymore.
“Kraglin, what the fuck’s wrong with you?” Yondu asked, grabbing onto his arm.
Kraglin stumbled again, and this time he was saved from planting face-first into the dirt by Yondu’s shoulder under his arm.
“If we don’t hurry, we’re all getting flattened!” Yondu shouted. “Peter, grab his other arm! There’s somethin’ wrong with him!”
The corners of his vision were beginning to go grey and the sound of the temple collapsing behind them was dull to his ears. The sound of his sluggish heartbeat and his labored breathing was louder.
When they reached the line of trees, both Peter and Yondu dove to the ground, taking Kraglin with them. Kraglin was just barely aware of someone crouching over him to protect his head as the sound of debris hitting the leaves of the trees and distant rumble of collapsing stone filled the air. Kraglin’s cough burned his throat as he teetered on the edge of consciousness.
Some time went by. He wasn’t sure how much, but the sound of the temple collapsing had quieted.
“Kraglin, you better wake up, ya here me? Stop lazin’ around!”
Kraglin blinked as Yondu’s face came into focus above him. He groaned.
Yondu slapped his cheek. “Glad you’re in the land of the living.”
Kraglin turned his head just in time to vomit into the underbrush by his head.
“Oh, ew,” Peter said, peering over Yondu’s shoulder. “Uh, yeah, if we don’t figure out what’s wrong with him he might not be in the land of the living much longer.”
Kraglin’s head was spinning, and he felt like he was going to throw up again. Yondu’s face was spinning above him and refused to settle. Kraglin closed his eyes, hoping it would ease the dizziness. It didn’t.
He heard both Peter and Yondu’s voices, but the words stopped having real meaning to him.
“If it was the necklace, how did the poison get into his blood? Most toxins don’t get into your system that quickly without being injected or eaten,” Peter said.
Kraglin felt gloved fingers lift his hands. “What am I lookin’ for?” Yondu asked.
“A wound? Anything suspicious.”
Yondu cursed. “There’s a needle-prick or something on his thumb, and it looks fairly fresh. Is that enough for the poison to get into his blood?”
“I’d say so,” Peter said. “Especially if it was something on the necklace that did it. That means whatever punctured the skin was covered in the poison.”
A strange feeling was rising through Kraglin’s legs, up to his stomach and chest. His head rolled back on his neck and his eyelids fluttered. He couldn’t really feel his arms and legs, and his brain was going fuzzy.
“Fuck, he’s having a seizure!” Yondu yelled.
Yondu, as a rule, hated feeling like he couldn’t control a situation. And most situations he could control. He had an arrow as fast as a bullet with perfect aim, responsive to only his mouth. He had a fearsome crew at his beck and call, and he took only the jobs that he wanted. Very few people dared cross him, and many more respected him.
With Kraglin convulsing under his hands, his control was gone. His arrow would do not good here, with Kraglin suffering from an unknown poison on this damn planet filled with scraggly bandits and no official medical care. Their ship was a good three miles away, and even if they made it to the ship, the nearest planet with good medical care was a jump away, and a jump wasn’t good for the body on a good day. Kraglin was not having a good day.
Yondu had shifted Kraglin to his side to prevent him from choking and let the seizure run its course. Eventually, the tension drained from Kraglin’s body and he went limp, but he didn’t regain consciousness. Yondu pressed two fingers to Kraglin’s pulse and felt its sluggish beat.
“Peter, get my comm out of my bag and pull up my saved numbers.”
Peter did as he was told. “Alright, got it up. Who’re you calling?”
“Priz Treng. Her number should be near the top. Voice call her.”
“Got it,” Peter said, and the call sounded.
“Udonta?” came a deep, raspy female voice. “What is it?”
“Hey there, Miss Treng.” It was a struggle to keep his voice even. She had warned them not to touch the necklace, so she deserved some leniency, but that was hard to do when Kraglin was unresponsive under his hands. “How much do you know about the poison on this necklace here?”
“Oh, so you retrieved it. Good.”
“And we’re facing ourselves a bit of a problem because of it. My first mate didn’t realize his gloves didn’t cover his hands properly.”
“He touched it,” she responded. “Unfortunately, that necklace is coated with the highly poisonous juice of a berry native to that planet.”
“Well, how do I get it to stop killin’ my first mate?”
Kraglin was extremely pale, with dark bruising around his eyes. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat that beaded on his upper lip and made his hair limp.
“I don’t know of any cure, but the locals might. They live on the planet, after all.”
Yondu cursed. “The planet is filled with bandits.”
“Who can be bribed,” she responded, voice flat. “You’re a Ravager. Figure it out. I trust even with this setback, my necklace will not be delivered late.”
Yondu ground his teeth and closed his eyes. He could feel Peter practically vibrating with anger beside him, but Peter knew if he spoke out of turn with a client, he’d be in deep shit.
“We’ll do all we can to get your pretty trinket to you on time,” he said, voice tight, and then ended the call with a sharp slash of his hand.
“How dare she?” Peter shouted, voice raising in pitch like it always did when he was indignant. “It’s her fault Kraglin’s like this! No one should be touching that damn necklace.”
Yondu shook his head. “She did warn us. Not her fault Kraglin has shoddy gloves.”
Peter grumbled under his breath, shredding leaves in agitated clumps. Yondu made a split-second decision. Ravagers didn’t really go back for one another during a job when they were running out of time, but Kraglin was a talented first mate and knew him better than anyone. If he had to justify his actions, which he rarely did, he would merely mention that it’d be damn annoying to train another first mate to be half as good as Kraglin.
Yondu would be more likely to put his arrow through the person complaining than tell them how much he was panicking, thinking of Kraglin dying.
“Alright, Pete. We’re going to have to get him to the nearest town, and fast. The only chance he’ll live is if we find someone who knows an antidote, and sittin’ here in this jungle ain’t gonna do that.”
Peter nodded. “I can help carry him.”
Yondu shook his head. “I want you to run ahead. Get there first and get help.” He passed him a unit chip. “This has nine hundred units on it. Tell them if they know a cure and get Kraglin up and walking again, there’ll be more where that came from.”
Peter pulled a datapad out of the bag and configured a map on it. “It looks like the closest settlement is that way.” He pointed to their left. “It’s two miles from here and it’s fairly small.”
Yondu peered at the screen, eyeing the lifeform markers on the map. It was a decent sized settlement, but it wasn’t the capital of Xandar. It would have to do.
Yondu got his arms under Kraglin’s lanky form, hefting him bridal style and feeling very thankful that Kraglin wasn’t the size of Horuz.
“You hurry on ahead now, Peter,” Yondu said.
“Let’s hope these bandits like money more than they like being violent.”
Yondu grunted, attempting to move Kraglin into a position that made him easier to carry while walking. “Just don’t tell them you’re Terran. They might try to eat ya.”
Peter rolled his eyes. “They’re not Ravagers, so I doubt it.” Peter gave Kraglin one last worried look before taking off at a brisk jog into the jungle.
The situation was already terrible, and Yondu knew it had potential to get even worse. Peter was headed straight into a town full of murderers, and they weren’t under the threat of an arrow through the skull if they did anything to Peter.
Kraglin, every once in a while, complained that Yondu was too soft on Peter and treated him better than he did any of the other Ravagers. Yondu never mentioned the fact that Kraglin was the only other crew member that could get away with saying things like that to Yondu, but Yondu decided to let Kraglin think Peter was the only one he favored. It wouldn’t do for his first mate to be getting a big head.
Kraglin, who was currently dead weight in Yondu’s arms. Yondu looked down at him, watching his head loll on his neck. Yondu should probably be supporting Kraglin’s head, but he didn’t have four arms. He was moving as quickly as he could through the thick forest, following the path of trampled leaves that Peter had left for him and knowing that if he tripped, Kraglin would get most of the impact.
The walk felt terribly long, and the trees didn’t change around him at all, making him feel as though he was walking in place. Sweat was dripping down his back, and his arms were aching from taking Kraglin’s weight. He kept watching Kraglin’s face for any signs of change in his condition, wishing he could check his pulse without having to jostle him too much.
His comm crackled to life. It was strapped to his wrist, under Kraglin’s back, but the sound fed directly into his ear when the device sensed he was going hands-free. “Yondu! I found a doctor who’ll help! He knows a cure, but you gotta get Kraglin here fast. He’s worried it’s already too late.”
“Copy that. What part of the village you in?”
“Northern side. Building with the green sign.”
“See you—”
His voice faded when he heard a loud rustling in the leaves beside him and remembered that this planet was known for its dangerous wildlife. He gave a short whistle to unsheathe his arrow and allow it to float in front of him. He slowed to a stop and eyed the underbrush.
“Yondu?”
The rustling sound moved and Yondu made sure to stay facing it, pointing his arrow at the movement and hoping the thing didn’t spring out at him. He was limited in movement, but as long as he could see the creature’s head, he could take it down.
“Yondu, what’s wrong?”
The creature appeared from behind the vines, and it was already growling. It was a big feline-type thing, as high as Yondu’s hips, with thick fur and large, sharp teeth. There were black spines running down its back that glinted dangerously in the light.
Yondu whistled, and his arrow stuck itself right between the creature’s eyes, and it fell to the jungle floor unceremoniously.
A shame, having to kill such a cool looking beast, but Yondu had precious, dying cargo in his arms.
Another whistle, and his arrow was back on his hip.
“I had a furry friend for a moment there, but the crisis seems to be averted.”
“Hurry, Yondu.”
“Dammit, boy, I am!”
Yondu picked up his pace as much as was possible, and nearly sighed in relief when the line of trees broke, and he stepped into a small town made of wood buildings. Some were crumbling and had holes in their roofs, but most of them seemed livable. Yondu had stepped into a path that ran between a few of the buildings, so he pushed through until he was standing in the main street. What passed for a main street in this little village, that is. There were only a few people milling about outside and in front of some of the buildings, and they barely gave Yondu any of their attention, which Yondu didn’t mind.
He turned northward and quickly spotted the green sign. As he reached the front door and stepped inside, he hoped that he wasn’t too late.
“Yondu, thank god!” Peter called, rushing forwards. They were in what appeared to be a shoddy medical examiner’s office, with a table in the center and supplies lining the shelves. The medic was a short, purple man with thick black hair slicked back like a helmet.
“Put him down on the table,” the man instructed, flicking the barrel of a syringe and watching the liquid settle.
“That gonna cure him?” Yondu asked, laying Kraglin out on the wood table as gently as he could.
“Help me get his arm free,” the doctor commanded instead of responding. Peter got to his knife quicker than Yondu did, taking it to the red leather around Kraglin’s shoulder and slicing it open. Kraglin was not going to be happy about that.
When a pasty forearm was free, the doctor inserted the needle into a vein in the crook of Kraglin’s elbow and pressed the liquid into Kraglin’s bloodstream. He set the syringe aside and checked Kraglin’s pulse, pushed his eyelid back and shone a penlight into it to check pupil reaction, pried his mouth open to peer down his throat. The whole time Kraglin stayed perfectly limp.
Peter stood beside Yondu, staring at Kraglin as intensely as Yondu was. They were both on edge. Yondu’s mouth was half-pursed, ready to whistle if the doctor tried anything funny.
“You’re lucky you got him to me when you did. A few more minutes and he’d be too far gone,” the doctor said, shaking his head. “He’s not entirely in the clear, but he’s hardy for a Xandarian.”
Yondu crossed his arms. “’Course he’s hardy. He’s survived Rigilian Mud Flu, getting his leg caught in the doors of a turbolift, a bite from a Perha worm… he’s like a spaceroach.”
The doctor raised a puffy black eyebrow. “Dumb luck, I’d say.” He wiped his hands off on a cloth that was hanging on one of the shelves, this one containing bottles of all different colors, labeled in tight black scrawl. “There’s an extra room upstairs for you to sleep. I would like to observe him overnight. And then collect the three hundred more units you owe me, of course.”
Yondu checked the timepiece in his pocket. They were scheduled to deliver the necklace in thirteen standard hours, and the planet they were traveling to was a good four hour journey. Yondu scraped a hand down his face that bristled against his facial hair. “We’re on a time crunch. What is the absolute earliest we can leave and be assured that he won’t keel over the moment he’s out of your sight?”
The doctor tilted his head, regarding Kraglin with intelligent eyes. “He should gain consciousness in about four hours. I’d like to give him an hour after that to make sure the poison is completely out of his system. I want to run an IV, get some fluids back into him. That should be enough to keep him from dying.”
Yondu wondered how this small, serious little man fared on this planet of bandits. Of course, many of the people there were children of bandits, these settlements having been around long enough for them to grow and change. Birrmth was still known for its lawlessness, though Yondu was beginning to wonder how much of that was true. The little town seemed nice enough.
Yondu eyed the purple humanoid and wondered if this could be a scam. Yondu moved up to the table, lifting Kraglin’s wrist in his hand and feeling the pulse there. It was stronger than it had been before, and a little bit of color was returning to Kraglin’s face.
“How often do people around here get poisoned by that berry?” Yondu asked, not looking up from Kraglin’s slack face.
The doctor began setting up an IV bag with the ease of someone who did it often. “Every other month, I’d say. The plant is fairly common, though most people who live here are accustomed to the smell and texture and know how to avoid it. Every once in a while some of it gets into someone’s morning tea.”
“And you can cure all of them, this easily?”
The doctor nodded. “If they are in good health and get to me quickly, yes. Once people started dying off from the poison, we needed to figure out a cure, and quickly. A few of our most skilled medics, some scientists, and goods stolen from trading ships, and we had a decent supply of antidote. Fifteen years now, I’ve been saving people from the poison of the Night Berry.”
IV in place, the doctor turned to him fully. “Now that your friend isn’t close to dying, can I know his name? And yours?”
Yondu frowned at the thought of losing anonymity, but the man could clearly see their Ravager patches, and Yondu himself wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. “That’s Kraglin. This here’s Peter. I’m Yondu. Pleased to meet ya.”
The doctor nodded his head. “I am Dr. Plu. I am glad to have been able to save your friend. You two do seem to care for him.”
It was always fascinating how someone like Plu could thrive in a world of bandits. Yondu saw it once in a while with the Ravagers. Their own ship doctor was like Plu, determined to save anyone they could without condemning the Ravagers for their way of life. Plu was in it for the money, yes, but he seemed like he was at least a little invested in Kraglin’s wellbeing.
Yondu glanced down at Kraglin again and felt something twinge in his chest. It didn’t bode well for being the badass, infallible captain. Here he was, standing between the two people he’d likely give his own life for, something that was never meant to happen. Yondu stifled a sigh.
“You have two more chairs?” he asked Plu.
Kraglin felt like he had been run over by a bilgesnipe. Not that he had ever been run over by a bilgesnipe. It was worse than the time he had been bitten by that Perha worm and gotten an infected wound on his calf which had left him bedridden for a week. This was worse. His skin was burning, his head was throbbing, and his stomach felt like something was trying to claw its way out of it. And he had the most horrible taste in his mouth, stale and gritty.
Maybe he had eaten something that ended up containing a really terrible parasite, and it was trying to claw its way out of his stomach.
Maybe something in that awful temple had gotten under his skin.
The temple. Right. He had touched that fucking necklace with his bare hands and it had done something to him. He remembered Yondu yelling at him and pulling him from the crumbling temple, throwing up in the bushes, and then nothing else. Was he still on the forest floor? His senses started to settle slightly, and he realized he was lying on something much harder than spongey dead leaves and wet dirt.
He tried opening his eyes, but evidently his brain hadn’t taken the controls yet. With a lack of anything else to do, Kraglin allowed himself to drift back into sleep, which was much more comfortable than consciousness.
The next time he woke up, he was feeling marginally better, and he was aware of voices nearby.
“Boy, now is not the time for dumb questions.”
“It’s not a dumb question! It could happen.” The second voice was higher, more frustrated than the first. “I could easily get hurt on a mission, and I just wanted to know if you’d do the same thing for me that you did for Kraglin.”
“There’s no need for ethical questions if you’re not a dumb shit.”
“Are you calling Kraglin a dumb shit?”
Kraglin’s voice was raspy when he spoke, but it was audible. “I may be that, but my taste in music is better than yours.”
There was a split-second silence in which Kraglin opened his eyes to the dim room, and then Peter was jumping out of his seat and Yondu was grinning, big and crooked.
“Glad you could join us in the land of the living,” Yondu said, crossing his arms and shaking his head. “Caused a lot of trouble, you did.”
Peter rolled his eyes. “I’d say the whole nearly dying thing was punishment enough, right Kraglin?”
Kraglin glanced at Yondu, whose gaze was calm despite the words. He didn’t seem upset that Kraglin had made a mess of this job, though sometimes that was hard to tell before you had an arrow through your skull.
“It’s the cap’n’s choice. I do what he says. If he thinks I deserve punishment, then I deserve more punishment.”
Yondu’s chair was only a few feet away from the table Kraglin was lying on, which meant he could easily stick his hand out and clap Kraglin on the arm. “Relax, Krags, I’m not punishing you for having shitty gloves.”
Yondu’s hand was warm on his skin, which was how Kraglin noticed the destruction of his leather jumpsuit. God, this day was just getting better and better, wasn’t it?
“Good, you’re awake. Let me check your vitals,” a new voice said, on the other side of the table. Kraglin looked up just in time to see a purple man reaching for his face.
Kraglin bared his teeth and snapped, only to be foiled by a hand over his mouth.
“Hey! Kraglin, no biting your doctor. He saved your life,” Yondu said, squeezing Kraglin’s jaw. His hand was even warmer when it was against Kraglin’s mouth. Yondu was about the only person who could tell Kraglin who he should and shouldn’t bite. If it hadn’t been for Yondu, this purple man would have had teeth marks in his hand.
“I won’t,” Kraglin said, but it was mostly just mumbling since there was a hand across his mouth.
Yondu gave him look of warning, but removed his hand. “You can check him. He won’t be tryin’ that again,” he said to the doctor.
“Mr. Kraglin. I should have introduced myself first,” the man said, unfazed by Kraglin’s attempt at biting him. He must see weird shit pretty often. “I am Dr. Plu. I only need to check your vitals, and then you and your friends can be on your way.”
Yondu had given Plu their first names, so that meant that Yondu had a little bit of trust in the doctor. Not enough to give full names, though if Plu was curious enough, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who they were.
Kraglin lay still as Plu poked and prodded him with gloved fingers and a small penlight.
“Open your mouth, please.”
Kraglin did, exposing his capped molars. At this point, Kraglin was pretty sure he had more metal in his mouth than bone, but he figured it was just more intimidating that way, plus it was cool and shiny when light shone on his mouth. He gagged when Plu used a flat stick to push Kraglin’s tongue down so he could peer into the back of Kraglin’s throat.
“You are no longer dehydrated, the color of your throat and skin is good, and your blood pressure and pulse are right where they should be,” Plu said, gently removing the IV from Kraglin’s arm. “You are safe to travel.”
Kraglin grinned, realizing how much better he felt. His stomach had settled, he was no longer sweating, and there was only a faint ache left in his back. His grin wilted when Yondu handed over a unit card. Of course some random doctor on this backwater planet hadn’t decided to save his life for the fun of it. Kraglin had not only wasted valuable time, but also hard-earned units.
Kraglin wondered why Yondu hadn’t just left him in the jungle, or better yet, in the collapsing temple. It would have been easier and would have kept their mission on track.
“Alright, time to test those sea legs, Kraglin,” Yondu said.
Kraglin sat up quickly, blinked the dizziness out of his eyes, and then swung his legs off the side of the table. “Thanks, doc,” he said, dropping down to stand. If Yondu had to place a steadying hand on his back, no one said anything about it.
“Try to stay away from poisonous berries,” Plu said, shaking his head.
“I sure as heck don’t want to repeat that experience,” Kraglin responded. They left the small building as Plu began cleaning his equipment carefully, hands steady. Kraglin owed his life to that man, and the two that were walking beside him as they made their way out of the village. Kraglin didn’t like owing his life to people, that was for sure.
“Are we gonna make the rendezvous time?” Kraglin asked, eyes tracking the habitants of the city. It was a quaint little town that didn’t seem much like the bandits and murderers that Kraglin had imagined. Fill a planet with Ravagers, and it would definitely not look like this. Maybe the rumors were exaggerated, or maybe the inhabitants had calmed down over the years.
“With some time to spare, if we hurry,” Yondu responded, checking his timepiece.
Kraglin rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable. “Tha’s good. I’m glad I didn’t fuck it up entirely.”
“That lady is a jackass, and I have half a mind to show up late on purpose.”
Peter laughed. “Oh Yondu, you should! All she cares about is that dumb necklace that kills people.”
Yondu shook his head. “I think we should just collect the money and get out. With Kraglin almost dying and all, we deserve the full payout on this one.”
“Kraglin dying for her necklace was only an inconvenience to her!”
Kraglin looked up from his feet, eyes wide. “You called our contact and told her I was sick?”
Yondu shrugged. “You were seizing and all unconscious, so I figured she’d be the one to know what was on that necklace.”
Kraglin was mortified. “Now she knows I’m an idiot.”
“She told us to talk to someone who lived on the planet, and it saved your life, didn’t it?” Yondu shook his head. “I didn’t tell her your name, so your dignity is spared.”
Kraglin stared glumly at the ground as they trekked back to the ship, listening as Peter and Yondu bickered but not feeling up to joining in.
The ship was untouched when they got to it, and their departure from the planet was uneventful. Feeling stupid in his one-sleeved getup, Kraglin found his fabric poncho and pulled it over his jumpsuit. It made it so he didn’t have to keep looking at the result of his stupidity.
Kraglin wondered, if he had died back there on that planet, if he would have gotten a Ravager send-off. He had seen only three of them in his life. One had been the captain before Yondu, the other two, senior officers that Kraglin didn’t know. You had to be a senior officer to get one, and the timing had to be right. If the other captains weren’t in the position to come and fly their colors, then that was that.
Kraglin was glad he hadn’t died on that planet. What a dumb way to go. The amount of trouble they got into as Ravagers meant that Kraglin honestly expected to die in combat one day, and he didn’t mind the thought of that. To almost have that death snatched from him by a stupid poisonous berry smeared on an ugly necklace was pathetic.
Thinking about that whole ordeal just made Kraglin’s face heat in anger and embarrassment, even as he sat in the copilot’s chair and they flew further and further away from that planet. Making a quick decision, Kraglin messaged Peter privately.
How much did Yondu pay that doctor?
Peter’s response was quick. 1200 units.
Shit.
Their trip to Amath to exchange the necklace for units felt terribly long. At one point, Kraglin excused himself to the small bathroom to splash some water on his face and clear the awful taste from his mouth. He looked in the tiny mirror and wished he hadn’t. His hair was limp and his face was sallow, making him look even gaunter than he normally did. He tried scraping his hair up into a semblance of his usual mohawk, but it wouldn’t cooperate. He gave up and made his way back to the copilot’s chair.
After Yondu had docked the M-ship in Amath’s wealthiest city, he turned in his chair to look at Kraglin and Peter. “You two are staying here while I do this.”
Peter opened his mouth to complain but Kraglin shot him a look that caused the fight to die in Peter’s face. They all just wanted this mission to be over with. Normally, Yondu would have at least taken Kraglin with him, but Kraglin was grateful that Yondu had decided to spare him the embarrassment of facing the woman whose necklace had almost killed him.
Yondu clanged off the ship, leaving Kraglin and Peter alone in the cockpit. Kraglin pulled out a datapad and decided it was as good a time as any to transfer 1200 units to Yondu’s name, to pay him back for the money he had spent saving Kraglin’s ass. It made him feel a little bit better about the whole ordeal.
Kraglin was picking at his one remaining sleeve when Peter spoke.
“You know, if Yondu had any hair on his head, I think you almost dying would’ve made it turn grey today.”
Kraglin’s brows drew together, confused. “How does me almost dying make his hair turn grey?”
Peter sighed. “You stressed him out a lot.”
Kraglin groaned. “I know I stressed him out, I know I jeopardized the mission, I know I’m an idiot, okay?”
“That’s not what I’m trying to say!” Peter huffed, frustrated. “I’m just sayin,’ Yondu cares for you.”
“He’da done it for you too.”
Peter shrugged, fiddling with the buttons on his Walkman. “Maybe. But he practically raised me. It’s something different with you, I think. Thought he was gonna murder that lady through the comm when she told him to get the necklace to her regardless of whether you died or not.”
Kraglin stared down at his hands, pink from being scrubbed by the doctor to get any leftover poison off his fingers. “I’m a good first mate, that’s all.”
“No, I don’t think it’s that. He carried you to the village, all by himself. Killed some freaky cat that got in his way. Nearly whistled like three times when the doctor got anything pointy near you.”
Kraglin swallowed, thinking of being lifted by Yondu, of what that must have looked like.
“I’m not gonna do any more emotional work for you, though. You guys need to figure it out before one of you actually dies.”
Kraglin bristled in his seat, but then they both heard the clang of the ramp opening, and then the sound of boots on metal and cheerful humming.
“All right, boys, let’s get out of here!”
Kraglin grinned, swinging back around to face forwards and prepping the ship for flight. “Deal go well, cap’n?”
Yondu settled into the pilot’s chair, smile wide and crooked. “Sure did. Was smooth going after the mess that was the rest of this mission. I’m still smellin’ that dust from the temple we destroyed.”
“What’s she doing with that necklace anyway?” Peter asked, his headphones up loud enough that Come and Get Your Love was filling the cockpit.
“She didn’t say, and I didn’t ask,” Yondu responded.
“Probably for the best,” Kraglin said, pulling up the coordinates for the Eclector on his display and plotting a course that would get them there in four hours, with only one jump. “I can only imagine what violence she’s planning. I feel sorry for the poor sod.”
“Poison is such a cowardly way of killing someone,” Yondu muttered, shaking his head. “Can’t even be bothered to do it to their face.”
Kraglin shook his head. “I’d rather die from blood loss than poison. That was terrible.”
“It was terrible to look at, too,” Peter said. “You were all puke-y and sweaty.”
“Yeah, well, you coulda left me there.”
“I considered it, but Yondu likes you too much.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. Kraglin wondered if Yondu would kill Peter or him first for that crack.
“Kraglin, why the hell did you transfer 1200 units to my account?”
Kraglin hadn’t realized Yondu was looking at his funds. Except, of course he was. He was probably figuring out how to divvy the payout between the three of them.
“I’m repaying you for the doctor.”
Yondu’s glare was surprisingly angry for a man who had just been repaid 1200 units. “You think I’m cheap?”
Kraglin’s mouth opened and closed a few times in surprise. “No, o’course not, I just....” He trailed off, at a loss. “I just thought since I caused so much trouble for you on this job that it was only fair that I pay you back.”
“It’s an insult, is what it is. I paid to save your life. You don’t give that money back to me. S’not how it works.”
Kraglin frowned. “I was trying to be courteous-like, boss. I made a fool of myself and you paid the price. I wanted to make up for it.”
Yondu made a few angry swipes on his datapad, and then Kraglin’s own pad pinged. He picked it up and saw a transfer of funds notice.
“That’s your share of the payout on this job, plus I’m refusing to accept your money, so take that back too,” Yondu said.
Kraglin stared down at the screen, baffled. There were times that he understood his captain as well as he understood his own mind, but there were times Yondu was completely foreign to Kraglin. Since when did Yondu disagree with someone paying him what they owed him?
“I bet you would have made me pay you back,” Peter mumbled.
“Shut up, boy!” Yondu snapped. “I shoulda left you on that bandit-infested rock! Or better yet, let the crew eat ya when they asked me to!”
Kraglin decided he needed some time away from Peter and Yondu, otherwise, he was going to go insane. Sure, he could deal with Peter, and sure, Yondu was probably his closest friend, but Kraglin needed space to think, and Peter picking at Yondu for how much he cared about Kraglin was really too much.
When Peter’s Walkman had played through all the songs, Peter rewound it manually and listened to it again. Kraglin had gotten used to the music, so by this point it was nothing more than background noise to his internal suffering. Yondu was staring straight forward out into space, and Kraglin tried to busy himself with making sure they weren’t being followed, but there was no life for lightyears around them, which made the job a little too easy and allowed his mind to wander.
Why the fuck had Yondu refused to take his money? Kraglin had just wanted some of his dignity back, but apparently Yondu wanted to keep that to himself. Maybe it was, in some twisted way, part of Kraglin’s punishment for making a mess of that job.
Well, maybe not that much of a mess. Split three ways, they had each gotten 9,000 units for completing that job. Kraglin didn’t think the job had been that difficult and had it gone completely to plan, it would have taken them no time at all. She had paid a lot of money for them to retrieve that necklace for her, on a planet that turned out to be a lot tamer than they thought.
“Quill, can you turn that racket off? If I have to hear hooga chacka one more time, I’m flying this thing into a meteor,” Yondu snapped when Peter rewound his cassette again.
Peter grumbled about Yondu having no taste in music, but he turned it down so only he could hear it. Kraglin was glad to be spared the repeated Terran music, but now the cockpit was silent, and that might have been worse. Kraglin didn’t usually feel this awkward around Peter and Yondu, not when he spent so much of his time around them, but Kraglin was in a strange mood. Maybe the poison had altered his mind, somehow.
By the time they were docking in the Eclector hanger, Kraglin was bone-tired and agitated. His mouth still felt sour, his skin was gritty, and he wanted nothing more than a shower and a nap.
“Hey, Kraglin, I need your help negotiating a deal. Horuz told me Yippat has been calling him nonstop and he was waiting for my approval. I want to take him down a few notches because he’s been getting arrogant. Remind him he’s talking to Ravagers.”
They had just stepped off Yondu’s M-ship, and Kraglin had to blink and let the words process for a moment before he understood what Yondu was saying. “Uh, cap’n, I’m. I’m not sure I have the ability to be intimidating right now.” His voice cracked on the word “now,” making him sound even more pathetic. He was pretty sure he wasn’t even standing straight anymore, and he knew he looked terrible.
Yondu stopped walking and turned around to look at Kraglin, eyebrows raised. “Kraglin, just by standin’ there, you look intimidating.”
Kraglin shifted on his feet. “Not if I fall asleep standing up, sir.”
Yondu’s gaze shifted up and down Kraglin’s body, taking in his dishevelment. “Fine. I’ll get Taserface or someone equally scary to stand behind me. Get some sleep.”
Kraglin nodded, feeling terrible about ditching the captain but feeling even worse about the thought of having to appear cool and collected for a client. He would make up for it by working twice as hard for the next few days.
Kraglin walked back to his quarters in a haze of exhaustion. He wanted to simply fall onto his bed and sleep, but he needed a shower to rid himself of the grime of that planet, and the sticky, gritty remains of sweat. He stripped off his poncho and his torn leathers and climbed into the small shower stall that he had to himself, one of the perks of being the second-in-command.
Even though they had a rationing system for water on the ship, there was always hot water when they needed it because it was run past the engines. It felt wonderful on his skin and helped to ease some of the tension out of his shoulders. After showering, he cleaned his mouth out, pulled on underclothes, climbed into his bed and fell asleep immediately.
Kraglin woke to his door buzzer going off. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and climbed out of bed to shuffle for the door. The bright light from the corridor streamed into his room and he had to blink a few times to realize it was Yondu standing there, arms crossed.
“It’s been eleven hours. Were you still in there sleeping?”
Kraglin’s eyes widened. “Eleven hours?”
Yondu’s squinted at him. “You may not have died from that poison, but you sure as heck ain’t your usual self.”
Kraglin dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m feeling better.” He straightened out of his slouch. “Actually, I’m feeling much better.”
“Good. Take a walk with me, Kraglin.”
Kraglin glanced down at his boxer shorts and grey undershirt.
“Put clothes on, then walk with me.”
Kraglin nodded and hurried back into his room. He pulled on the first clean pair of pants he could find, and an old leather Ravager jacket he had stopped wearing when he had gotten his jumpsuit tailored. It was a little short, but it worked, and it still had the Ravager badge which he didn’t like to be without.
Yondu was leaning against the opposite wall when Kraglin came out of his room, humming something that sounded suspiciously like the piña colada song. He looked at Kraglin and narrowed his eyes. “It’s weird, seeing you in that old jacket. You wore that when you first became my second-in-command, right?”
Kraglin plucked at the bottom of it. “Yeah, it’s pretty old.” He remembered the day he became Yondu’s first mate, how excited he was to help the new captain be the best he could possibly be. He believed in everything Yondu believed and was ready to get his chance to truly prove his loyalty. Yondu never had to question his choice in second. Kraglin had been efficient and loyal from day one, and Yondu had never expected anything else.
Yondu pushed off the wall and began walking. Kraglin fell into step beside him easily, like it was second nature to walk alongside the captain, even with their different heights.
“How’d the negotiation go, boss?”
“We came to a solution, but damn it Taserface is not the same kinda backup as you are. He don’t know when to laugh at my jokes or bare his teeth, and he almost started arguin’ with Yippat instead of lettin’ me deal with it.”
“He did? That’s rule number one of negotiating alongside you! Don’t comment unless directed to!”
“Yeah, well, Taserface doesn’t have your discipline.”
Kraglin looked away guiltily. “Sorry I didn’t help you with that.”
“Nah, it’s better you got your sleep and recovered. Don’t want you keeling over or anything like that, not when you’ve already done that in the past 48 hours.”
They were carving an aimless path through a portside deck of living quarters. The walkway was fairly empty, with only a crew member here or there with their heads down, hurrying to their shifts. It must have been the start of beta shift, when most people were either in their stations or sleeping. It meant that Yondu and Kraglin had a little bit of privacy, which made Kraglin a little braver.
“I didn’t properly thank you,” Kraglin began. “You know, for savin’ my life when you could have easily let me die back there, on Biirmth.”
Yondu stopped walking and turned to face him. Kragin lurched to a stop and gave Yondu tentative eye contact. Yondu’s gaze was hard to read.
“You’d think I’d just let you die on some horrible planet?”
Kraglin shrugged. “It woulda been smart, considering the effort it took to help me, and the likelihood that I was gonna die. Woulda given you more of the payout too.”
Yondu frowned, and before Kraglin could flinch, he delivered a hard open-palmed blow to Kraglin’s shoulder. “You think you’re replaceable?” he shouted. “You think you’re worth less than one measly payout?”
“I wouldn’t say 27,000 units is measly, plus you spent that money on the doctor and wouldn’t let me pay you back and—”
“Shut up, Kraglin,” Yondu snapped, cutting him off. “I’m not gonna let you die a terrible death for a few thousand units, okay? You’re a damn fine first mate, and I know you’d do the same for me.”
The praise made Kraglin’s ears burn and his face heat. He ducked his head. “Thanks, cap’n.”
“I am blaming you for Peter’s insistence on knowing if I’d save his life the same way.”
Kraglin stifled a grin, looking back up at Yondu. “Peter’s jealous, huh?”
“If I’da known how needy Terrans are, I woulda never kept him.”
Kraglin knew that was a lie, but he nodded. “Peter sure is needy.”
Yondu’s face grew serious and he poked Kraglin in the chest. “I want to warn you, Kraglin, that I won’t take too kindly to a repeat of this. You nearly dyin’ is not something I’d like to live through again. You’re my best crewmate, and damned if you’re not my closest friend, either, more than anyone else on this damn boat. You’re important to me, idiot.” Yondu’s voice got raspier as he said it, as if the sentimental words were sticking in his throat. Kraglin had to be bright red at that point, with how hot his face was.
“Yer my friend, too, boss.”
Yondu made a face. “Don’t call me ‘boss’ when I’m about to kiss you.”
“About to—”
Kraglin didn’t get to finish his question, because there was a mouth against his own. Though the kiss started soft, it didn’t stay that way. They were Ravagers, after all, and they weren’t really accustomed or practiced in softness, and they weren’t good at being tentative for long, either. Kraglin’s back hit the steel of the bulkhead and he hitched a leg over Yondu’s sturdy hip that was pressing him against the wall. He sure hadn’t been expecting this but he definitely wasn’t complaining. This was an exciting, wonderful development.
He was glad he had brushed his teeth and showered.
“You gonna break or throw up if I take you to bed?” Yondu asked, pulling back to peer up at Kraglin critically.
Kraglin shook his head quickly. “No, I feel good. Great, actually.”
Yondu’s grin was sharp. “I was hoping you would say that.”
When Kraglin woke up again, his bed was empty, the sheets rumpled. It took him a moment to remember what had caused the rumpled sheets, but his memory came back, quick and sharp and made Kraglin smile lazily. The empty bed wasn’t a surprise, of course, but when he turned over to glance at the clock sitting on his dresser, something strange caught his attention.
A pair of nice leather gloves, sitting next to his lamp. Kraglin picked them up, admiring the supple leather and the rich brownish-red color. These were tailor-made, expensive, not likely to rip or wear. A slip of paper fell out of the left glove when he turned it in his hands. On it was messy, scrawling handwriting.
Maybe these will keep you from getting poisoned again, you idiot.
Kraglin grinned, clutching the gloves tightly, a strange, warm feeling spreading in his stomach. He would have thought it was remnants of the poison, if it wasn’t so pleasant.
Kraglin slipped the gloves on, and marveled in the fit, the way a nice, non-ripped pair of gloves was supposed to feel like. He clenched and unclenched his fingers, twisting his wrist to admire the dark leather and the thicker patches on his knuckles for protection. Dang, these were some nice gloves that would probably last him years and years.
His alarm went off, and he nearly jumped.
Alpha shift. It was time for him to go to work. He climbed out of bed and realized he felt a little sticky. It was nice to remember why he was sticky, but that was not a feeling he would enjoy half way through alpha shift on the bridge, standing among fifteen different Ravagers. He stood under the spray in the shower for a few seconds and then quickly toweled off and dressed. He would take his jumpsuit to the tailor tomorrow to get it fixed, but until then, the jacket would have to do. He pulled his new gloves back on, combed his mohawk into place, and headed to the bridge.
Yondu was already there when Kraglin arrived, arms crossed as he leaned over the navigator, speaking low enough that Kraglin couldn’t make out what he was saying to her from across the bridge. Everything seemed to be running like normal. Kraglin made his way to his station, relieving his beta shift replacement and settling into the swiveling metal chair. He had a backlog of paperwork, possible jobs, and messages waiting for him when he logged into his console. They were currently traveling through empty space, on their way to refuel and restock, so now was a good time to start making a dent in all this mess.
He was leaned close to his screen, trying to make out what a scribbled bit of cursive on a receipt for a prized jewel said when a hand landed on his shoulder.
“Those gloves look good,” Yondu said, grinning when Kraglin looked back at him.
Kraglin held his hands out, admiring the gloves himself again. “They’re really nice, boss. Where’d you get ‘em?”
“I nicked them from a genuine leather trader on Rigel IV a few weeks ago, thinkin’ I’d give them to you. They looked like they were your size. I sorta forgot I had them until your fingerless gloves got you in trouble.”
“Thanks, cap’n. You sure do spoil me.”
Yondu leaned in closer. “Shhh, you can’t go lettin’ the others hear ya say that. They already think it and hearing it out loud will just make it real to them.”
Kraglin swallowed, thinking about how just a few hours ago, Yondu had really been spoiling him. If that was going to continue, and Kraglin really hoped it would, they would have to learn how to separate it from their professional relationship. Kraglin knew they could figure it out, but it would take time. And practice. Lots of practice.
Yondu winked at him, and then strolled to his chair. “Any particularly interesting jobs, Kraglin?” he asked, loud enough for the whole bridge to hear. Horuz, who had been eyeing the two of them critically, turned back to his station.
“There’s a guy who wants us to steal a dog from his ex-husband and torch the house afterwards.”
Yondu shot him a look with raised eyebrows. “You think we should take it? What’s the payout like?”
“It’s good, sir. This man really wants that dog.”
Yondu grinned. “Why the hell not? Batri, get the coordinates from Kraglin, and after we’re docked at the station, get them loaded into the nav system.” He leaned back in his chair, the perfect image of a calm and composed Ravager captain. “We’re going to steal a dog.”
Kraglin was a little enamored, he had to admit.
Peter, who had just walked onto the bridge, headphones looped around his neck, looked up with big eyes. “Ooh, Yondu, are you getting me a dog?”
Yondu made somewhat terrified eye contact with Kraglin, who shrugged.
“No, Quill, I am not getting you a dog. Now shut up and get off the bridge!”
“I bet you’d get Kraglin a dog, if he asked.”
Yondu gave a whistle, and Kraglin got to watch from the relative comfort of his chair as the Yaka arrow chased a spooked Peter off the bridge. Kraglin looked back over at Yondu, who caught the arrow and shoved it back into his belt, shaking his head and grumbling about irritating Terrans.
“Would you get me a dog, if I asked, sir?”
Yondu looked over at him, opening and closing his mouth a few times in disbelief. Maybe that hadn’t been a smart thing to say.
Yondu’s face settled on an expression of mild amusement. “Sure thing, Kraglin, but you’re walking and taking care of the thing. I already have a Terran to worry about.”
Kraglin crossed his arms. “I was the one who untangled the kid’s cassette when it got all ruined. And knew how to deal with him when he got the flu and the chicken pox. Plus, I get him out of at least half of the scrapes he gets into on jobs and shore leave.”
“Well then, that just goes to show Peter is enough of a pet for the both of us.”
Kraglin thought about the amount of work they put into that Terran. “You’re probably right, boss. We’re practically his parents.”
They both shuddered and decided Ravager business was much more desirable than thinking about the stress of childcare and the fact that they had co-parented a child who wasn’t turning out to be half-bad.
Thanos forbid that Yondu and Kraglin raise a child who ended up being a good person. Of course, Peter was still young, which meant they still had a few years to finish instilling Ravager values in him. Peter may be stubborn, but you didn’t survive a life with the Ravagers without learning to live like them.
Cutter, who worked the security station, turned in his seat to give both Yondu and Kraglin a look. “Captain? Commander? Your kid is wreaking havoc on deck C.”
Yondu cursed. “Kraglin, it’s your turn to take Quill duty.”
Kraglin stood up and made his way off the bridge, grumbling as he went. Well, he had even more incentive to stay on Yondu’s good side now, and it might be cathartic to yell at the kid.