Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I am Groot.” The little tree said as he tugged on his tie and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Look, I know that you don’t like clothes.” Rocket told him as he straightened the tie that Groot was wearing. “But Quill is paying a lot of money to get you the finest education at the most prestigious preschool on Xandar.” He continued as Groot tried to take off his tie. Rocket then picks Groot up and places him on his lap. “Here, let me help you out.” Rocket then scratches Groot’s back to provide him some relief from wearing the suit that Peter insisted that he wore today to the interview from the Headmistress of the preschool. “There, better?”

“I am Grooooot.” Groot said blissfully as Rocket’s claws scratched his back.

“I know that Star-Munch doesn’t understand that you don’t like clothes.” Rocket reasssured Groot as he straightened Groot’s tie again and placed the tiny tree back on his own seat and Groot sat down. “But, if all goes well, and you get accepted into this preschool, with the type of hoity-toity people they are, you might have to wear a uniform to this school and sit like this.” The rodent mocking how wealthy people sit with one arm held upright with the wrist slightly bent downwards and Rocket’s head was held high as if everyone else was beneath him. Groot giggled and mocked Rocket’s body language as the door to the office that they were in opened.

“Subject 89P-” The Headmistress began as she stepped inside and closed the door.

“Um, it’s Rocket now, ma’am.” Rocket corrected her as she sat behind her desk and took out some papers.

“Rocket…” She said as if it was in a different language. “I understand that you want to enroll your son into our school.”

“I am Groot.” The sapling introduced himself as he stood up on the chair and leaned over on the desk and held out his hand to shake the Headmistress’ hand.

“Nice to meet you, Groot.” She returned his handshake. Groot then sat back down as she looked at Rocket. “Now, are you his nanny?”

“Nanny?” Rocket was taken aback at the word. Groot held back his laughter at the word. “No, lady, I’m NOT his nanny.”

“Then what are you?” She replied coldly. “The well-trained house pet?” Groot then let out a giggle.

“WHAT?” Rocket snarled as he resisted the urge to pull out the mini-blaster he snuck by the school’s extensive security check-in process, which DID include metal detectors, as well as a full-body pat-down and cavity search by the school resource officers. “I’m his father. HIS FATHER!” Rocket repeated the phrase a little bit louder in case she didn’t hear him the first time.

“Alright.” The Headmistress sighed as she began to write something down. “Now, back to Groot. What’s his IQ level?”

Rocket looks at Groot. He never had Groot’s intelligence tested before. “Well, uh, well…”

“I am Groot.” Groot said with pride as the Headmistress looked at him.

“He just recited his ABC’s.” Rocket told her as Groot grabbed a piece of paper and began to draw a picture on it and color it in.

“He does have an eye for art though.” The Headmistress looked at what he was doing and was amazed. “Did you teach him that yourself?”

“I am Groot.” Groot responded.

“No. He watches this Bob Ross guy on TV.” Rocket added as the Headmistress doesn’t look impressed. “I know, it’s an old show, but he loves it.”

“I am Groot!” Groot proudly exclaimed as he held the picture up.

“Is that all he can say?” She asked concernedly.

Rocket looked at Groot lovingly as he picked him up and placed Groot on his lap. “No, he can also say ‘we’ and ‘are’ on occasion too.”

“Well, communication between the staff and pupils is paramount to student success when they graduate from preschool and move on to kindergarten.” The Headmistress said snobbishly. “If Groot is unwilling to converse in more complex sentence structures-.”

“I never said that Groot was unwilling to talk to other people.” Rocket snapped back. “I was going to say that Groot can’t talk like you or I can.”

“That can be fixed.” The Headmistress began. “We have some of the finest speech therapists on Xandar that can cure Groot of his ‘problem.’ If that doesn’t work, we have some other ‘methods’ that will work.” She finished as she reached over her desk to hold Groot’s hand. Groot is scared of her and cowers in Rocket’s arms.

“What ‘methods’ are you talkin’ about here, lady?” Rocket wondered with a little bit of fear in his voice.

“Well, anything from having Groot either writing down his thoughts on a whiteboard or pointing to various pictures in a book to teaching him how to use a computer that would do the talking for him, or in the most desperate case, we will hire a one-on-one aide for Groot to have throughout the day that will be there to translate his thoughts, and if necessary, place him in a separate classroom where it would be just him, his aide, and a teacher all day in a room away from the other students to prevent them from taunting and bullying him because of his ‘differences.’ If all of that fails, we would do our best to transfer him to a school that would be better equipped to handle his needs.” The Headmistress explained as she showed Rocket various pictures of other students using the aforementioned devices and programs offered by the school.

The idea of forcing Groot to either have an aide do the talking for him or input what he was saying into a specially-designed device or point to various pictures in a book to even having to write down what he was trying to say on a whiteboard (especially when Groot couldn’t read or write yet.) didn’t sit too well with Rocket.

Another thing that Rocket wasn’t so sure of was the fact of isolating Groot from all of the other students and placing him in a tiny room all day where, at the most he’ll only see at the maximum 3 adults all day, all because Groot couldn’t talk like everyone else and they would probably ostracize him over it. Rocket then looked at Groot and Groot looked back at him.

“I’m sorry, but I think that we’ll be enrolling Groot somewhere else.” Rocket looked the Headmistress in the eye as he got up and placed Groot on the floor. “Thank you for your time.” He shook her hand as she opened the door for him. Rocket then grabbed Groot’s hand and they walked out of the office and went home.

Chapter Text

As Rocket carried Groot back to the house, (The Milano was in the shop for repairs and Peter suggested that they needed somewhere to call home when they were not out on missions and he was tired of staying in expensive Xandarian hotels when they had nowhere else to stay.) he couldn’t help but seethe at how he and Groot were treated. He would let the others know of what happened at the preschool.

“We’re home!” Rocket called out to the others as he opened the door carrying an exhausted Groot in one arm (Rocket forgot that since Groot was only a baby and that his legs weren’t as long as they were when he was big, he got tired easily and couldn’t go as far and Rocket didn’t bring Groot’s stroller with him on the way to the preschool. He wanted to prove that Groot was a “Big Boy” and not a baby anymore, even though he still slept in a crib, wasn’t potty-trained yet, still needed to eat in a high chair, among other things. Groot was already tired as they crossed from the street that the preschool was on. Rocket promised to Groot that he wouldn’t tire him out like that again.) Rocket then throws the house keys into a bowl that was on a table beside the door. “Hm, guess no one is home…” He said to Groot as he set Groot down on the floor.

“I AM GROOOOOT!!!!!” The pint-sized tree’s shouts echoed throughout the house as he ran to the kitchen to grab a snack.

“So much for being tired…” Rocket chuckled to himself as he watches Groot run throughout the house, realizing that Groot was only “pretending” to be “tired” so Rocket would have to carry him home.

“I AM GROOOoooOOOT!!!!” The tiny tree shouted from the top of his lungs as he took off the monkey suit that he was forced to wear today as he kept running throughout the house, waving the pieces in glee above his head before he tossed them away.

Groot then made another mad dash towards the kitchen, this time he used a chair to climb up to the cupboard where he knew Peter and Rocket hid his favorite candy.

“I am Groot.” Groot said with a cheeky smile on his face as he ate a piece of the candy in what seemed like slow motion.

What Groot failed to notice was the label on the packaging of the candy that said “SUGAR-FREE, FAT-FREE, GLUTEN-FREE, VEGAN-FRIENDLY CANDY.” Rocket then got a bright idea.

“Sure, Groot. Eat as much candy as you want.” Rocket encouraged his son as he winked at him.

Groot being unable to read, didn’t understand the words written on the candy bag. All he noticed were all the bright colors on it. So he ate all the candy that was in the bag. Groot, thinking that he was on a sugar high, continued his rampage throughout the house as the front door opened and the other Guardians came back from doing their errands for the day.

“There he is!” His favorite person, Gamora greeted him as she squatted down and held out her arms as Groot ran and leaped into them.

“I am Groot!” Groot said excitedly as he hugged Gamora as she picked him up.

She played with Groot for a couple of minutes before he wanted to be put back down. Groot then doesn’t feel well and lets out a tiny fart.

“Ugh, what is that smell?” Drax asked as he brought in some stuff from the car.

“Rocket, did you change Groot after you two got back home from the preschool?” Peter asked the raccoon as he pinched his nose.

“Yes I did, Star-Dump.” Rocket lied.

“Well, he needs another one.” Starlord ordered Rocket as he pointed to Groot’s soiled diaper.

“Oh, no no no no.” Rocket argued. “I was on diaper duty yesterday. Get someone else to do it! Get Kraglin to do it and have him start pulling some weight around here for once!” Rocket barked back as Kraglin snuck into the kitchen to make himself some soup.

“But I dunno how to change a diaper…” Kraglin said as Rocket growled in frustration. Kraglin then saw the cupboard that Rocket and Peter hid all of the candy from Groot was opened. “Uh, Rocket? Did you let Groot have some candy?”

“What kind of parent do you think I am?” Rocket snapped back. “No! Of course not!”

“Uh, huh… Then Groot climbed up on the counter all by himself and helped himself to as much candy as he wanted?” Starlord interrogated.

“Yeah! That’s why we need child locks on everything around here, but no, you said that ‘Groot knows better.’” Rocket retaliated. “Well, what now?”

Starlord can clearly see through Rocket’s lies. “Uh, huh. And who was supposed to put the locks on everything, huh? Including all of the weapons, equipment, and especially the ‘Death Buttons’ Groot has taken a certain liking towards?”

“OH, FINE! I was supposed to ‘Groot-Proof’ the house, okay, Star-Munch?” Rocket confessed. “But he did climb up on the counter by himself.”

Drax walks over to the counter where the candy bag was. “And was the dumb tree being punished for running throughout the house by you giving him the disgusting sugar-free candy?”

“What? No, I would never do such a thing.” Rocket’s lie was unraveling rapidly.

“Rocket.” Gamora said disapprovingly. “You should know more than anybody here that Groot can’t have the sugar-free candy. Shame on you.”

“Oh, wait a second!” Starlord starts to piece everything together. “Rocket wanted to get back at us for making him actually act like a father, so he let Groot eat the candy, knowing that he would get an upset stomach and would need a diaper change. He then pretends that he’s too busy with other things to actually take care of Groot. So, he would make one of us change Groot’s diaper as an act of revenge. Isn’t that right, Mr. Father of the Year?”

“No! I pull my weight here with the damn twig.” Rocket argued. “I have to do everything around here!”

“Hm, let’s ask the twig, then.” Peter challenges as he kneeled on one knee to get down to Groot’s eye-level. “Groot, did Rocket tell you to keep eating the candy even though he knew that you would get an upset tummy?”

Groot then nods at Starlord. Rocket then grabs the fur on top of his head and growls.

“Hehe.” Peter chuckled as Rocket picked Groot up and carried him to his nursery. “Oh, yeah, how about you take the garbage outside after you’re finished with Groot and live up to your name, Mr. Trash Panda?”

Rocket mutters something under his breath as he slams the door closed.

Chapter Text

Later that evening, the Guardians gathered around the TV to watch a movie. Rocket brings a freshly cleaned Groot (Starlord said that it was okay for Rocket to bathe Groot in his brand-new Jacuzzi as long as he didn’t let Groot use it as a giant toilet or ruin it in any other way.) out of his room.

“There he is!” Peter said playfully to Groot as Rocket closed the door leading to their shared room which acted as a nursery for now.

“I AM GROOOOOT!!!!!!” The tiny tree yelled playfully as Rocket placed him on the floor and Groot charged at the other Guardians who were sitting on the couch.

“Oh, you got me!” Starlord pretends to be injured as Groot punches him in his stomach playfully.

“Alright Mr. Killer Tree, that’s enough.” Rocket said as he picked Groot up and sat down with Groot in his lap. “So, what’re we watching tonight?”

“I believe that the movie we’re going to be watching is Mary Poppins.” Peter said as he held up the DVD case for the others to see. Kraglin, Drax, and Rocket cheered as Gamora joined them with a bowl of buttered popcorn from Terra.

“Cap’n woulda loved to watch this movie.” Kraglin said as a tear formed in his eye. The other Guardians nodded in silence.

Groot, however, wasn’t impressed.

“I am Groot.” He said with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

“Groot, we’ve been over this.” Rocket began. “You said that it was okay if we had a family movie night and you would only miss a couple of episodes of Bob Ross. Heck, Star-Dork even promised you that you could watch them later, okay? So can we watch the movie without you getting upset and throwing a tantrum?” Rocket begged.

Groot thought about it for a moment. “I am Groot.” He said quietly as he nodded his head.

“Don’t worry, Groot, you’re going to love the movie.” Gamora reassured him. “It’s fun, there’s a few good songs, and I think you’ll love the dancing.”

“I am Groot.” Groot said as he looked at Rocket.

“What do you mean by ‘Next week we better watch Fast and Furious.’!?!?” Rocket asked, shocked by Groot’s statement. “You’re much too young for that kind of movie.”

“I am Groot.” The tree argued with his arms crossed. “I am Groot.” He added to his demand as he held up a Terran magazine and pointed to a picture in it as he handed it to Rocket.

“I know that Vin Diesel is your role model.” Rocket told Groot as he looked at the magazine. “It’s just, what those movies are about and what they show, I don’t think that they’re appropriate for a young sapling like you.” Rocket placed his hand on Groot’s shoulder in a fatherly manner. “How about next week we watch The Iron Giant?”

Peter then looked at Rocket as he knew how that movie ended.

“Problem, Star-Chump?” Rocket looked at Peter.

“Uh, Rocket…” He began, he then whispered in Rocket’s ear how The Iron Giant ends and how it would reawaken memories of that fateful day on Xandar.

“Okay, we won’t watch The Iron Giant then. And thanks for spoiling the movie for me, Star-Munch.” Rocket told the others. “But don’t worry, Groot. We’ll find a Vin Diesel movie that’s right for you. Now let’s watch Mary Poppins before it gets too late.” The raccoon said as Peter put in the movie.

As they’re watching the movie, both Kraglin and Peter tear up when Mary Poppins appears, as her flying in on her umbrella reminded them of Yondu. Mantis and Gamora both liked how motherly she treated the children. Rocket, surprisingly, took it all in, even the songs and cheesy parts, which shocked everyone, especially since they thought Rocket was all rough and tough and didn’t know that he had a soft side. Drax, as expected, didn’t understand any of it, forcing Starlord to explain everything.

The only unappreciative person in the group was Groot, who got bored after “Spoonful of Sugar” and started to get antsy. He got up, climbed down from Rocket’s lap, and grabbed the bowl of popcorn and took a handful of popcorn and ate a piece. Forgetting that he hated the taste of popcorn, he spit it out and threw it at Drax, who didn’t even flinch. Groot smiled at discovering a new game. He then grabbed another handful (or in Groot’s case, an armful) of popcorn and continued to chuck each one at Drax.

This continues for a bit thanks to Drax falling asleep on the couch, and since he’s a heavy sleeper and snores loudly, he doesn’t even flinch as Groot flings the popcorn at him. Drax woke up only after a piece of popcorn hits him in the face, near his mouth.

“Ungh…” Drax stretched as he yawns. He then looks at all of the popcorn that landed on his bare chest and pajama pants. He then bursts into laughter. “Hahahaha! So my dream was real!” He continued his laughing until Groot climbed up onto him and slapped him on his face.

“Groot!” Gamora said, shocked by his behavior as Peter paused the movie. “What was that for?”

“I am Groot.” The tree said stubbornly. “I am Groot.” He added as he pointed to Drax and frowned at him.

“What do ya mean by ‘Drax started it.’? He was sleeping!” Rocket replied to Groot. “No, no, no. You know what? I’m done arguing with you and you always getting your way. Bedtime, NOW!” Rocket took Groot’s tiny little hand into his paw and began walking him to their room.

Groot was trying to get free by any means possible: prying Rocket’s firm grip loose from his hand, sitting down on the ground, kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs, hoping Rocket’s raccoon-like frame couldn’t drag him down the hallway, and, since none of that was helping Groot’s cause, Groot began to beg, plead, and even apologize to Rocket, even crying, since he knew no one could resist his puppy dog eyes.

“Ugh, fine!” Rocket conceded. “You can stay up with everyone else!” He got down to Groot’s eye-level. “But, you gotta behave and apologize to Drax for what you did. And I get to read you The Giving Tree tonight.” He added as Groot rolled his eyes. Rocket then stared down Groot in the eyes. “Groot. You have to be punished. I’m doing you a favor by not putting you to bed and letting you stay up late with everyone else. So, what’s your choice? Early bedtime or me reading you The Giving Tree?”

Groot tilted his head down low. “I am Groot.” He said quietly with a melancholy tone in his voice.

“Thought you would say that.” Rocket said as he carried Groot back to the living room. “Just behave for the rest of the night, ‘kay?” Groot nodded as they entered. Rocket explained that he and Groot had a talk and that Groot would behave. The others accepted it and watched some TV.

Chapter Text

Groot fell asleep in Rocket’s lap a few minutes later, the evening news lulling him to sleep. Rocket then looked down at the sleeping baby tree in his arms and stroked Groot’s head, caressing his cheek as little snores escaped his mouth.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Groot stirred in his sleep, only slightly opening his eyes, before Rocket soothed him and Groot was back to Dreamland again.

“I’ll go get it.” Starlord said as he got up from his recliner. “These people need to learn that going from door-to-door to preach whatever god they believe in is just plain stupid and just wastes our time, especially this late at night.” He sighs as he goes to open the door.

As he opened the door, two government agents were standing at the entrance to the house. They had stern looks on their faces and didn’t move an inch.

“Good evening, Mr. Quill, I’m Agent Zorlok and this is Agent Kri’loch and we know that you’re one of Subject 89P13′s primary contacts.” The tall, skinny agent said as he and his colleague flashed their government-issued ID’s at Quill.

Peter then let out a nervous chuckle. “Haha. Oh, boy. What did he do now?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood. “Try to get intel on a top secret government project? Is he on Xandar’s Most Wanted? I didn’t catch this week’s episode, but-.”

“Out of the way, sir.” The other agent, Kri’loch rudely ordered him as he shoved Peter out of his way and the agents entered the house.

“HEY!” Starlord tried to get up. “WE HAVE A BABY IN THIS HOUSE THAT’S TRYING TO GO TO SLEEP AND BY YOU TWO BARGING IN-!” Peter then was tackled by the agents and they fight as they force their way to the living room.

The other Guardians hear the commotion coming from the foyer and are on edge from overhearing the exchange. Groot, though, was still fast asleep.

“ROCKET!” Starlord shouted to the raccoon before Zorlok zapped him with a blast from his stun gun, knocking out Peter. The noise of the gun woke Groot up, who was scared and crying hysterically.

“Hand over the child, vermin.” Kri’loch commanded as he pointed his gun towards Rocket. “Or you’ll end up just like your friend.” He let out a sinister laugh.

Rocket, looking at the other Guardians, hung his head low as he walked over to the two agents. As he was about to hand over a frightened Groot to the agents, he patted Groot on the back and kissed him on the cheek.

“Shh, it’ll be okay, Groot.” Rocket said to Groot as he handed the tiny tree over to the government agents. “I love you, buddy.” He added as Groot was grabbed by the back of his neck like a dog and was taken from him and Rocket walked back to the others, his head low and tail trailing behind him.

“Stand down!” Zorlok commanded as he pointed his gun at the other Guardians, who, except for Starlord, who was still unconscious from the stun gun, had their weapons drawn as Rocket rejoined them. But Rocket was not in the mood to fight, having to hand over his best friend for some unknown reason.

“Thought so.” He coldly said as the Guardians put their weapons down to comfort Rocket as the two agents left with Groot in tow.

Chapter Text

That night, Rocket couldn’t sleep. He was too traumatized to lay in his bedroom all alone. He looked over at Groot’s crib, saddened to see it empty. Right now, Rocket would either be tucking Groot into bed, singing him a lullaby, calming him down if he awakened from having a bad dream, or reading him a bedtime story.

Oh, that last thought. Rocket got up from bed and walked over towards Groot’s side of the room where his crib, changing table, the rocking chair that Rocket or one of the other Guardians used to rock Groot to sleep sometimes, and his toy box was. Most of the toys that were supposed to be put in the toy box were strewn out all over the floor. Just like a normal toddler’s room. Rocket picked up one of the toys only to place it back on the floor. It didn’t feel right to put the toys back into the toy box and not have Groot take it back out moments later.

The raccoon then approached Groot’s crib. The bedsheets on the crib were neatly made as if the crib hasn’t been used yet. Since Rocket had to wake Groot up early to go to that interview for that prestigious preschool that Peter said Groot should be enrolled in, he didn’t have time to make Groot do his chores and make his bed. So he did it himself to save time and so they wouldn’t be late. Thinking back on it, that interview was probably a gigantic waste of time considering how the staff, and especially the Headmistress treated both Rocket and Groot while they were there. When they got home from the preschool, Groot was too hyped up to be put down for his afternoon nap, which, in hindsight, was probably why he was so stubborn during the movie tonight.

Rocket looked at the crib again, running his paw along the crisp, clean sheets. He stopped when he got to Groot’s pillow. The pillow had a little impression of a tiny Flora Colossus’ head where Groot would lay his head at night. The pillow still had Groot’s scent on it. Rocket then shifted his gaze towards the teddy bear next to the pillow. This was Groot’s favorite toy and if he didn’t have it, Groot wouldn’t feel at home. The teddy bear was a gift from Peter who had it when he was a child on Terra and had it in his bookbag the night he left Earth. He gave Groot the teddy bear the day Groot resprouted to make him feel safe at nighttime. Rocket picked both the pillow and teddy bear up and tucked them under his arms.

Rocket then approached the bookshelf where all of Groot’s stories were placed, albeit messily and disorganized. The only form of organization that there was, was by the books’ conditions. The books on the top were Groot’s favorites, as they have been heavily used and the pages were worn, and in some cases, torn to the point were they were almost unreadable. The books on the bottom were brand-new, except for the dust collecting on them, almost as if they weren’t even used yet. These were Groot’s least favorite stories.

Rocket took out the book on the very bottom of the stack. This one had the most dust on it out of all of the other books. It was The Giving Tree, Groot’s least favorite book. As Rocket flipped through the pages, he can’t help but reminisce about the first time he read the book and the second time he read it, this time with Groot. Groot didn’t like the story much, but Rocket did, as the boy reminded him so much of himself, and the tree reminded him of Groot.

Rocket then took the book, teddy bear, and pillow over to Groot’s crib and climbed up on it. He placed the pillow in its usual place and propped up the teddy bear on the pillow and pulled up the blankets to the teddy bear, almost as if he was tucking Groot into his bed. He then looks at the book in his lap and runs his paw across the title. Rocket tries to hold back the tears as he opened up the book. Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“Rocket?” The door creeked slightly open. Peter was standing in the doorway. “Hey, buddy, what’cha doing?”

“None of your business, Star-Lump.” Rocket said as he sighed. Peter walks into his room and joins him in sitting on Groot’s bed.

Starlord saw that Rocket wasn’t coping well with not having Groot around. He pats the raccoon on his head. “I miss him too. He must be missing all of us right now. Alone and scared in some unknown place.”

“I know.” Rocket started to sob. “And I’m not there to protect him!” He dug his face into Peter’s chest to muffle his crying.

“We’ll find a way to bring him back home.” Starlord reassured Rocket as he stood up, but still had his hand on Rocket’s shoulder. “Hey, if you feel lonely in here, you can sleep in my room tonight.”

“Thanks, Quill, but I’ll be alright on my own.” Rocket said as Quill left for his room for the night.

An hour later, Quill is awakened by the sound of his door opening and a few seconds later, a raccoon-like body scurrying up onto his bed and curling up next to him in the darkness. Quill was about to speak when a single claw-like finger was placed against his lips.

“Say anything and die.” A voice warned him. Peter then went back to sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the Guardians were gathered around the kitchen table, eating breakfast. They were having waffles, bacon, sausage, cheese grits, toast, honey, jam, orange juice and coffee.

They were having a boisterous conversation about something, but Rocket didn’t feel like talking much. He just stared at his coffee, taking a spoon and mindlessly stirring it, lost in thought. Rocket then looks up from his coffee mug, which Groot made for him with the help of Gamora. It had a hand-drawn picture of Groot and Rocket crudely etched into it with the words “I am Groot” above the picture. But Rocket knew that it meant “#1 Dad”. The raccoon’s focus then shifted from the coffee mug to Groot’s high chair, which sat empty in the corner.

The raccoon then excuses himself from the table and takes his coffee down to his workshop to work on a new prototype gun or something.

After an uncomfortable amount of silence, Mantis speaks up.

“This is really bothering the Crabby Puppy, isn’t it?” She said worriedly as she glanced towards his workshop.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen Rocket this upset since-.” Kraglin trailed off his sentence.

“I got an idea.” Drax sat up straight and puffed out his chest. “Gamora, may I see your phone?” He asked as Gamora handed over her cell phone.

“What are you doing?” She asked as Drax tries to figure out how the phone worked.

“Getting help.” He responded as he found the number he wanted to dial. “I’m calling your sister.” He places the phone on speaker.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Gamora said as she got up as she heard her sister’s answering machine message play. It was about her thirst for vengeance against her father. Gamora snatches her phone back. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” The Destroyer asked.

“One, she’s a wanted criminal. Two, she’s hellbent on one thing, and one thing only, and three, why would she even want to help you or Rocket in the first place?” The green woman questioned Drax. “You’re only wasting your time.” She added as she sat back down.

“Ugh, fine.” Peter sighed as he got up. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Peter climbed down into the basement where Rocket’s workshop is. As he opened the door, the room was empty, the toy “Death Button” Rocket was working on for Groot to distract him from playing with the real “Death Buttons” was sitting on his workbench, halfway finished.

As he looked around the room, Peter saw the tiny window leading from the basement was open, a gentle breeze moving the curtain back and forth.

Rocket was nowhere to be found.

Chapter Text

The hustle and bustle of Xandar in the morning was quite hectic. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, people going every which way up and down the sidewalks, frequently bumping into each other.

Among them was a very depressed cybernetically-enhanced raccoon dressed in an orange jumpsuit that was walking on his hind legs as if he was a person. The raccoon hung his head low and dragged his feet as he walked, clearly saddened by something.

But no one cared about the raccoon’s feelings, as wherever they had to be was more important to them. This was apparently evident in one obese alien lady with 6 kids, who was clearly in a hurry to go wherever she needed to with her kids as she shoved the raccoon to the ground as she rushed past with her kids.

“Stupid trash panda, move!” She ignorantly spat at the creature as she went on her way.

The raccoon then looked at her. “THAT’S MR. TRASH PANDA TO YOU, LADY!” He snarled back. “AND MY NAME IS ROCKET, BY THE WAY!” It was too late, she wasn’t within earshot anymore.

Rocket got himself up off of the ground and dusted himself off. He spat in the direction the lady went and flipped her off. He looked around at his surroundings to get an idea of where he was in the city.

There was a tall, imposing building in front of him with a gigantic yard to the side. The yard had grass, a swingset, a basketball court for the older kids/teens, a few sandboxes set off to the sides, and a fairly impressive playground. There was a tall fence with a barbed wire and electrified spikes at the top surrounding the yard.

“This looks more like a prison than anything.” He said quietly to himself.

Rocket then heard the cacophony of children of various ages playing and laughing with each other under the supervision of adults. The playground and basketball court were filled with activity, as expected, the swings had a few of the little kids playing on it, while the rest of the kids played various games on the grass. The sandboxes were deserted, no pun intended.

Rocket watched the children in the yard. Just as he was about to leave, a tiny child walked to the sandbox that was right on the inside of the fence, opposite Rocket. This child looked lonely and dejected. The child sat in the sandbox, not looking up or around at anything, even the weird raccoon creature on the other side of the fence.

As Rocket looked at the depressed child, he couldn’t help but notice that this child looked and behaved a lot like Groot when he would get sad. The only thing that separated this child from Groot was the uniform that the child was wearing. But other than that, Rocket thinks that the similarities were too much.

“Groot?” Rocket asked the child. “Is- is that y-you?” His voice breaking as he is overcome with emotion.

The child then looked up, and then looks at Rocket. His eyes fill with tears. “I am Groot.” He said quietly so no one else could hear.

Rocket was speechless. He has found his best friend and unofficially adopted son! He had a million questions for him. Rocket tries to hug Groot through the fence, but the thick plexiglass in between the bars prevented this.

“Gr-Groot. When did you get here?”

“I am Groot.” Groot responded. Of course the scary agents would’ve brought him here, as it was the closest place for ‘children in distress.’

“Well, what about the other kids and adults?” Rocket asked Groot. “Do they treat you good?”

A tear formed in Groot’s eye as he hung his head low and shook it. Rocket saw how rejected Groot felt by the other children and the adults that cared for him. He didn’t even have one friend here.

Groot then tugged at his uniform, trying to scratch his back.

“Groot, Groot.” Rocket ushered the young sapling closer to the fence. “Here, let me help you take that monkey suit off.”

“I am Groot!” The tree responded, terror in his voice.

“What do you mean by ‘You get in trouble every time you try to take it off.’?” Rocket asked. “What do they do to you?”

Groot then pulled back his shirt collar, revealing a shock collar around his neck. He then makes a motion of someone pushing a remote control and Groot then mimics the shocking sensation he gets whenever one of the adults presses the button.

“Oh… my… god…” Rocket said as he realizes what Groot is telling him. “Groot, do you know what this place is called?” Groot points up to a sign on the gate that said in Xandarian script “Children’s Hope Orphanage”.

Groot then hurried over to one of the adults in the yard as they blew their whistle for the kids to come inside. Groot casts one last look at Rocket before he is taken inside. Rocket then rushed back home to tell the other Guardians what he found out.

Chapter Text

Rocket came home to find the other Guardians searching for him. He then caught their attention.

“Rocket, where were you? We have been-.” Peter was then hushed by Rocket.

“Cut the crap, Quill.” Rocket said as he entered the house. “I found out where Groot was taken to and I need to get him out.”

“Where is he?” Mantis inquires as Rocket sits down on the couch. “Is he okay?”

“He was taken to Children’s Hope Orphanage. Apparently the government considers a raccoon an ‘unfit parent’ for a Flora Colossus and since there’s no other known members of his species, they’ve put him in that prison that they consider an ‘orphanage’ until some other kind of plant species comes forward to adopt him.” The raccoon told them as he got off the couch and went to a safe hidden in the wall behind a family portrait of the Guardians. “Since the odds of that or some other thing happening are low, I’m going to bail him out.” Rocket then opens the safe that was filled with various guns, rifles, pistols, shotguns, etc. He takes out a mini blaster and loads it.

“WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!” Starlord exclaimed as he shuts the safe and took the gun away from Rocket. “Not like that you’re not. We’re going to do this the legal way, with a lawyer.”

“No, we’re not!” Rocket fired back. “You haven’t seen the place that they put Groot in. It feels like a prison. Groot is treated like a prisoner by the adults and the other kids.” Rocket then explains what he saw today.

“Rocket, look.” Peter started. “We’re going to try our best to get Groot out of there. But it’ll be tough. Since the orphanage is run by the Nova Corps, they’ll have access to the best lawyers money can buy. It’s going to be an uphill battle.”

Kraglin is sitting in Yondu’s old E-Z chair, eating some tomato soup that would surely stain and ruin the chair that Yondu handed down to him should he ever die in battle. “I got an idea, Cap’n.”

“What is it?” Starlord sat down so Kraglin could have the floor.

“I say let Rocket do his own sort of investigatin’ while you do the thing with the lawyer and combined, we might have somethin’.” Kraglin suggested. “But no guns.” He added as Rocket handed over a pistol to Peter.

Rocket excused himself to go to bed.

Chapter Text

The next day, Rocket walked back to the “orphanage” he found Groot was at to find out more about how Groot was being treated there. He walks up to the 20 foot tall barbed-wire fence and looks at the play yard. Sure enough, the same kids that were there the day before, with one noticeable difference: Groot was nowhere to be found.

“Hey, kid! KID!” Rocket called out to a chubby youngster about Groot’s age.

The kid walked over to the raccoon. The kid, like all of the other children, wasn’t wearing the uniform and shock collar that Groot was wearing yesterday. Leading to Rocket’s suspicion that the adults were restricting Groot’s freedom.

“What do you want, freak?” The kid, who went by the name of Billy spat at Rocket as he ate an ice cream cone.

Rocket kept his cool, even though the name calling irritated him.

“Have you seen a tiny tree ‘bout this high around here?” Rocket held his flat palm up to his hip, which is how tall Groot is. Billy looked confused. “Okay, have you seen a tiny tree around here?” Rocket gets out his wallet to show him a picture of Groot.

Billy didn’t answer. He was more interested in the fat wad of cash in Rocket’s wallet. He held out his hand to the raccoon.

“What? Oh, FINE! HERE! A 1,000 UNITS!” Rocket handed the spoiled brat the money through the fence. “Now tell me where Groot is.”

On cue, Billy ran away from the fence to the other children who pointed and laughed at Rocket.

Seething, Rocket walked away to go home when the doors to the orphanage opened. Instinctively, Rocket dodged and hid behind a set of trash cans.

Moments later, two ladies who worked there were holding a screaming toddler dressed in a uniform by his arms, one arm each being held by each woman and the toddler’s feet were being dragged along the hot concrete sidewalk. One lady had a child-sized backpack slung across one of her shoulders. The backpack had a crest emblazoned on the smaller front pocket. The same crest that was sewn on the toddler’s navy blue blazer.

“Shut up and behave.” The other lady snarled at the child. “You’re going to school whether you like it or not. Now, let’s go or you’re going to be late for your first day of preschool.”

They then crossed the street to the school in question and took the toddler inside. This preschool was all too familiar to Rocket: It was the preschool that they visited the other day.

It all then clicked for Rocket. The screaming toddler being dragged to the preschool was in fact Groot and the orphanage found someway to enroll him there.

Rocket then runs back home to tell the others what he saw.

Chapter Text

“Guys! Guys!” Rocket exclaimed as he entered the house.

“What is it, Rocket?” Starlord asked as he handed the exhausted raccoon a bottle of water.

“The people in charge of Groot at the orphanage have enrolled him in preschool.” Rocket explained as he took a sip of water.

“Oh, that’s fantastic. Maybe Groot will make some new friends or something.” Peter told Rocket. “You’re always saying that he needs to interact with kids his age instead of hanging around us. This will help him.”

“No, Quill.” Rocket then looked him dead in the eye. “This is the same preschool that wanted him to be separated from the other kids just because he doesn’t talk normal. He’s probably going through hell now.” He explained as Gamora came out.

“Rocket, I was just on the phone with the lawyer that we hired for Groot’s custody hearing. He wants to meet with you right now.” Gamora told Rocket.

Rocket nodded and walked back outside and got in the car so he could drive himself to the lawyer’s office.

Chapter Text

After a few hours, Rocket returned home. By the looks of things, he had a successful first meeting with his lawyer. He sits down with the other Guardians for dinner.

“So the custody hearing is in a week?” Peter asked as he passed around the salad bowl.

“Yeah. Something about he needs some time to get stuff together. But don’t worry, I have a plan.” Rocket said confidently as he cut into his steak and took a bite of it.

“Oh, here we go.” Peter scoffed. “You and your infamous plans.”

“Hey, at least I GOT a plan!” Rocket fired back. “And it’s a full-fledged plan and not 12% of a plan!” He added, eluding to the time that they saved Xandar from total annihilation.

“But it worked, didn’t it?” Starlord argued.

Rocket was about to say something, but then excuses himself and goes to his room. He had a plan, and it wasn’t 12% of a plan either.

Chapter Text

Rocket walked along the same stretch of sidewalk that he walked before, but instead of stopping by the orphanage, he crossed the street to the entrance of the preschool. He was about to enter the school in his usual clothes when he realizes something.

“Crap!” He said quietly to himself as he hid behind the same set of trash cans that he hid behind yesterday. “I can’t go in looking like this. Think, Rocket, think!”

Just then, one of the school’s custodians came walking by, whistling some sort of song that was terribly out of tune and off-key. Rocket then had an idea. He took his backpack off of his back and got the smallest blaster gun that he owned out. He set it to “stun” and fired it at the janitor. The janitor collapses and writhes in pain until he is rendered unconscious a few seconds later. Rocket then drags the body behind the trash cans and looked at the body.

Amazingly, the janitor that Rocket attacked was the same size as he was. As Rocket stripped the janitor of his uniform (except for the boxers that had little hearts on them, because, ew!), the raccoon didn’t have to make any adjustments to the jumpsuit to make it fit a raccoon’s body.

Rocket then took a look at the janitor’s ID card, took out the laptop in his backpack, and with a little help from Photoshop, altered the ID to replace the janitor’s photo with Rocket’s.

Rocket then clipped the ID badge to his uniform and placed his computer back in his backpack and hid the bag in some bushes behind the school.

As he was finishing up, he heard a couple of ladies dragging a defiant toddler to the front door of the school. This was Groot. Rocket rushed to the front of the school to greet them.

“Enough!” One of the ladies hissed at Groot. “You know how you’re supposed to behave. Now you’re going to school and that’s it!”

“I am Groot!” The toddler screamed as he tried to break free of their grasp. The other lady then took out what appeared to be a leather switch and raised it above Groot’s head as if to hit him.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Rocket interrupted to get their attention before they hit Groot. “Ladies, I could take him inside for you. I know that he’s late and the Headmistress will certainly give him a detention or take away his recess time, but you two go do your thing and I’ll take care of him.” Rocket said as he winked at Groot.

The two ladies then gave Rocket a disapproving glance before they left. Rocket then used one of the keys on his keychain to open the door as he and a frightened Groot step inside.

“I am Groot.” Groot said shyly as Rocket closed the door.

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t act so scared.” Rocket reassured Groot. “Those mean old ladies are gone now.”

“I am Groot.” Groot whispered as they both heard a classroom door open down one of the hallways.

“I was only kidding about detention.” Rocket told Groot. “Just to make them leave.”

“I am Groot.” Groot said as he took out a children’s book detailing why he shouldn’t talk to strangers and handed it to Rocket.

“No, I’m not a stranger.” The raccoon told the tiny tree. “You know who I am.” He added as he took off his hat.

Groot’s expression changes and he goes from being on the brink of crying to showing the biggest smile he’s ever had as he hugged Rocket.

“I am Groot!” Groot tries to hide his tears of happiness as he dug his face into Rocket’s chest.

Rocket then pulls Groot away from his chest and looks the sapling in the eye.

“I- I’m sorry, Groot.” Rocket tries to hold back the tears as he looked at Groot. “But I can’t take you home yet.”

Groot’s expression changed yet again as he started to cry.

“No, no. I do want to take you home, more than anything in the world, actually.” Rocket struggled to tell his best friend. “But I can’t yet.”

“I am Groot?” Groot asked him, staring at the floor.

Rocket searches for the right words. “There’s going to be a meeting soon about who your parents are. I’m going to fight like hell to bring you home and for my right to call you ‘son’ and your right to call me ‘dad’. You just gotta put up with it for a few more days and then we’ll have a big party at the house when you can come home.”

They then hear a noise and footsteps coming from someone that was wearing high heels. A few seconds later, a tall, skinny woman in a dress approached them. She didn’t look too happy with them, especially Groot.

“There you are!” She scolded Groot as she grabbed his arm. “You’re late for class.” Groot squirmed as she was cutting off blood circulation to his arm by holding it tight like that.

“Wait a second lady, what do you think you’re doing?” Rocket asked her.

“Taking this child to class.” She responded snobbishly. “Now if you’ll excuse me…” She pushed Rocket out of her way as she took a squirming Groot to the classroom.

Chapter Text

A couple of hours pass. Rocket is mopping the hallway floors. At first he grumbles, uttering something about this not being what he was meant for. But after a few minutes, he gets over his anger and passes the time humming various songs that he was listening to on Quill’s Zune (that he stole from him this morning.) and dancing with his mop to the beat.

As he was putting another song on, he heard a door from one of the classrooms open. He looks down the hallway and sees 3 silhouettes of 3 different adults walk towards the office. Two of the adults were carrying a screaming child. One of them held the child by his arms, while the other adult held the tot by his legs. The third adult had her arms full of various papers.

As they walked closer, Rocket could at least identify two of them: The adult carrying the paperwork was the lady that he met earlier who took Groot to his classroom and treated both him and Rocket badly. The other person that Rocket recognized was the screaming toddler, Groot.

The raccoon then realizes that he would be better off if the group that was approaching didn’t see him, especially Groot, since the tiny sapling was probably in enough trouble as it is and he couldn’t imagine what fresh hell awaited Groot when his “caretakers” at the orphanage found out about his outburst. Rocket hid in a nearby locker and took his cell phone out to record whatever was about to happen.

Groot continued his screaming as the two other adults placed him down and his “aide” made him look at her in the eyes.

“Shut up.” She hissed at him. “You were a bad boy with your speech therapist today, were you not?”

Groot looked at her angrily.

“Yes, you were.” She answered for him. She then got out a computer-like device that was meant to help him communicate better with everyone around him out of its carrying bag and held it up to the angry little tree. “Now, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Groot looked insulted by the device that he was forced to talk through instead of letting him use his own voice. Was everyone at this school too stubborn to understand him the way Rocket understands him? Groot wasn’t going to have anymore of this and knocks the communication device out of his aide’s hands, making it fall to the floor, shattering the screen and ruining the device.

His aide got angry with him and promptly slapped him across his face. Groot then responded in kind and returned the slap. His aide then got furious with him and brought out a remote and pressed one of the buttons. Groot then let out a helpless little yelp before he collapsed to the ground and writhed in agony on the floor from the shock that he got from the collar around his neck.

“Throw him in the time out room.” His aide instructed the other adults who picked a still-shaking Groot as she opened the door to a tiny semi-soundproof room that only had a small light as they threw Groot into it and locked him in.

She straightened her dress. “Let him stay in there all day. He needs to learn how to treat others with respect. Don’t worry, his caregivers at the orphanage will hear about this.” She added as she and the other adults walked away.

Chapter Text

As soon as the adults were gone and out of earshot, Rocket came out of hiding. He went up to the nearby camera and hacked it, so that it and every other camera throughout the school wouldn’t be working and no one could see what he was doing. He heard muffled crying coming from the time out room. He used one of the keys to open up the door to find Groot huddled on the floor curled up into a tiny ball, still shaking and feeling the after effects of being tasered.

“Hey, hey.” Rocket picked Groot up and placed him in his lap as the tree shook as he cried. “You’re okay, no one’s gonna hurt you.” He said soothingly to Groot as Groot stopped crying and shaking.

“I am Groot.” The sapling meekly said as he looked at Rocket.

“I know. The people around here are jerks.” Rocket agreed with his son. “You’re a good kid. Why would anyone want to treat you like this is beyond me.”

“I am Groot.” Groot told Rocket of how everyone here and at the orphanage treats him on a daily basis. This horrifies Rocket and strengthens his resolve to win Groot’s custody.

The rest of the school day passes by. Rocket then has to leave the room so that no one knows that he spent the day with Groot. Groot’s aide comes by the room with his backpack and jacket and takes Groot out of the time out room and back to the orphanage where Rocket was 1,000% sure that Groot was going to have a bad night when the people over at the orphanage found out what he did today.

Chapter Text

When Rocket got home, he didn’t even acknowledge the other Guardians and went directly to his room to think things over.

There was a message waiting for him on his phone. He played the message back: It was the lawyer. His lawyer had good news, he was able to convince the judge to move up the date of the hearing to tomorrow. Meaning that if he played his cards right and he became Groot’s legal guardian, Groot would be home by tomorrow night.

Another bright side to this latest development was that since the case revolved around Groot and Groot’s wellbeing was integral to said case, that he had to be brought to the courtroom in person so that the judge could see what condition he was in both physically and mentally. Meaning that Groot would have to stay home from preschool tomorrow to go to the hearing and if Rocket won the case, one of the first things he’d do for Groot was to pull him from that preschool and enroll him somewhere where he would be treated as an equal to everyone else.

He went downstairs to tell the others what just happened.

Chapter Text

The next day, Rocket shows up to court. He is dressed in the most formal suit that he owns, but he still looks like a circus animal. The fact that the suit was extremely itchy and uncomfortable to him didn’t help matters much.

“Now I know why Groot hates wearing clothes of any kind.” He said quietly to himself as he walked down the aisle of the courtroom and placed his leather briefcase onto the table.

As Rocket took his seat at the table, he took a look around at the scene. The people from the orphanage were seated at the table on the other side of the room. They were soon joined by another person pushing a baby stroller. This stroller contained a very scared and anxious Groot, who was dressed in the orphanage’s jumpsuit so that he could look “presentable” instead of him wearing nothing which he much preferred.

As Groot’s caretaker parked his stroller at their table, Groot saw Rocket and began to squirm in his stroller. Unfortunately, since he was buckled into the stroller and his hands were too small to undo the restraints, he was unable to move much except move his tiny little arms and cry to be held in Rocket’s arms again.

Suddenly, Rocket felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, don’t let that get you down.” The voice said. Rocket turned around and saw the rest of the Guardians sitting in back of him.

“You guys didn’t have to come here.” Rocket said as he tried to fight back tears. “I- I’m fine.” He added as he shuffled around some papers.

“Rocket. We know how much getting Groot back means to you.” Gamora told him. “We didn’t want you to be here alone.” She added as the judge walked in and the hearing began.

“Alright. We’re here today to discuss the wellbeing of Orphan 89P15, otherwise known as Groot.” The judge, who went by the name of Gru’nok began as Groot smiled as he heard his name. “But for the purposes of this hearing, will be referred to by 89P15.” Groot’s smile then disappeared from his face as the judge didn’t even consider him a person, just a number. “Now, my first question before we start the testimonies, is does Orphan 89P15 have a prospective family that’s willing to adopt him?”

The owner of the orphanage stood up to address the court. “Yes, Your Honor, he does. They’re here in court right now.” He motioned to two other plant-like beings seated just behind them.

“Those two aren’t Flora Colossi.” Peter whispered. “Look at them, they don’t even look like Groot.” He observed as the judge slammed his gavel calling for all chatter to stop.

The testimonials began. First up was the orphanage. The owners told the court of how much a “Problem Child” Groot is and how he must remain in their care until they find the “perfect” family for him. Rocket sighs and rolls his eyes at this statement, knowing that it’s all a lie.

A while later, it was Rocket’s turn to testify. He tells the court that Groot isn’t a “Problem Child” as the orphanage makes it sound like. Rocket then delves into how the adults and the other children at the orphanage treat Groot on a daily basis. He then tells of how the preschool treats Groot when he goes there and plays the video that he took when he saw Groot’s one-on-one aide and two school officers treat Groot as if he was a criminal by zapping him through his shock collar and promptly throwing him into a time-out room.

“Thank you, Subject 89P13, you may take your seat now.” The judge ordered Rocket as the raccoon went back to his table and sat down.

“I will now go back to my chamber and decide the fate of Orphan 89P15.” The judge got up and walked back to his chambers.

Chapter Text

An hour later, the judge returned to the courtroom to deliver his final verdict.

“I’m going to keep this short and sweet.” The judge began as he noticed that Groot was tired and about to fall asleep in his stroller. “In the end, the fate of this child is very clear to me. Even though I personally don’t agree with his parenting methods, I hereby award custody and full parental rights of Orphan 89P15 to Subject 89P13 and his associates. Bailiff, if you could reunite the child with his rightful family.” He proudly announced as he slammed his gavel down to make it official.

One of the officers in the courtroom walked over to the orphanage’s table to collect Groot. He then pushed a happy little tree over to Rocket and friends.

“I am Groot!” Groot excitedly said as the Bailiff undid the seat belts to his stroller and the sapling stood up at lightning speed to hug Rocket, his now official dad.

“Alright.” The raccoon said as he picked up Groot to carry him to the car. “You deserved it. We’ll go home and watch The Fast and the Furious.”