Chapter Text
“Kraglin?” Peter was perched on top of one of the engines. Kraglin was fiddling with something that didn't need fixing. The teen sighed.
“What is it, Pete?” he asked tiredly. Peter frowned. There was something wrong with everyone, and he couldn’t figure out what! For the last couple days, they’d all been moping around as if there was no more ice cream left in the galaxy. And there definitely was- Peter had checked the freezer that morning to make sure.
“How come everybody’s sad? Papa seems most sad of all.” Kraglin froze. Of course the kid would pick up on the crew’s mood. They’d been walking around in a slump since they’d gotten the news. Yondu had holed himself up in his room, leaving Horuz in charge. Poor Peter had sort of bounced from the care of one Ravager to the next. Normally he’d have enjoyed hanging out with all of them, but the entire crew was ranging from horribly depressed to furious. Kraglin had been hoping that maybe Peter wouldn’t pick up on that, but that had been naive. Pete was perceptive.
“It’s kinda complicated,” Kraglin admitted.
“Hedge says I’m pretty smart.” Kraglin snorted. Sure, the kid was bright, but how the hell was he supposed to explain about being exiled to him? Of course this job would fall to him. Of-fucking-course.
“You got a smart mouth, maybe.” Peter blinked at him, missing the joke. “Look. You know there’s other groups of Ravagers, right?” Peter nodded. He’d never met any other Ravagers, but Yondu talked about them sometimes. “Well, the leader of all the Ravager groups- he kicked us out.”
“S’akar?” Peter gasped. “Why would he do that? I thought he was nice. He’s like Papa’s dad.” Kraglin ignored that comment in favor of addressing his first question.
“Well... Our Ravagers broke some rules. We went against the code.” Peter frowned.
“What rules?” Kraglin shook his head. No way was he going there. He’d simplified the explanation as much as he could, but he wasn’t going to try to explain to Peter about his dead siblings.
“’S grown-up stuff. Cap’n’ll be all right in a little while. Don’t worry about him. Crew’s already gettin’ back to normal.” Peter eyed him doubtfully. “’S true. We’re landing on Dakkam tonight, and lookin’ for jobs in the morning. Everything’ll go back to normal.”
“Can I come?” Peter asked eagerly. He knew they were probably going to a bar, and those were Not for Kids™, so he only got to join them on the least seedy planets. Kraglin made a face.
“Ask the Captain,” he said, and then immediately regretted it as Peter ran off. Yondu hadn’t exactly given instructions in regards to Peter, but Kraglin was pretty sure he wanted to be left alone.
Peter slammed his hand on the access panel for Yondu’s room- it had been coded to his biometrics months ago. Yondu gave a start on the bed. Peter noticed he was holding a dark colored bottle, one usually kept on a shelf out of his reach. Any weapons Yondu kept in the room were also kept up there, along with Peter's small stash of bubble soap. (Peter loved bubbles, but he had made one too many messes to be allowed to play with them unsupervised. Kraglin swore his bunk still smelled like bubble gum.)
“Hey, Petey,” Yondu said, giving him a sad smile. He’d nearly forgotten about the kid in his grief, and he was damn lucky he had such a good crew. When he felt better, he vowed to buy them all a drink for helping with Peter.
“Hi Papa,” Peter said, climbing up on the big bed to sit next to him. “Can I go with the crew tonight?” Yondu frowned. He’d suggested to Horuz that they land somewhere and let the crew get drunk for a night. He knew he needed to stop sulking like a child, but the banishment hurt.
He’d been able to keep the investigation a secret from all but Horuz, who he’d needed in order to produce the necessary documents. The proof was there; there were electronic receipts from when Ego had wired them the money. At the trial, Yondu had had no choice but to plead guilty.
And Stakar, the man he’d admired and striven to be like his entire adult life, had turned him away so coldly…
It didn’t help that he’d lost at least twenty crew members over the ordeal. Yondu had given them all the option to leave when he finally ‘fessed up to them. To larger factions, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but Yondu hadn’t had his crew for nearly as long as the other factions. He didn’t blame those who’d left, but he felt the loss keenly. Having a fifth of the crew up and leave was affecting everyone.
“Papa,” Peter whined, tugging at his arm. Yondu blinked.
“Hm. Maybe.” Yondu certainly wasn’t letting Peter go without him, but he still felt like lying in his bed and continuing to nurse his whiskey. And he had to be mostly sober if he was going to watch out for Peter…
“Krag told me why you’re sad,” Peter offered, curling up next to Yondu and hugging the arm he’d been pulling. Yondu felt a brief flash of anger, but he knew Peter was going to notice something was wrong eventually. And he hadn’t specified that no one tell Peter, either. Kraglin was doing his best.
“He did?” Yondu asked neutrally. Peter nodded.
“I’m sorry your papa’s mad at you.” Yondu snorted. Try as he might, he couldn’t convince Peter that Stakar wasn’t his father. (“You said he adopted you!” “No, Peter, I said he raised me- there’s a difference!”)
“It’s my fault, Pete. I broke the Ravager Code.” Peter frowned.
“You don’t get mad at me when I break the rules.” You never killed any children, Yondu thinks, but of course he doesn't say that.
“It’s different,” he said after a moment.
“Did you spill something on his console?” Peter asked knowingly.
“What? No. Wait, what did you spill on my console?” Yondu asked suspiciously.
“It was just my juice! Krags helped me clean it up,” Peter said guiltily. Yondu chuckled, shaking his head. Peter peeked up at him meekly, relaxing when he realized he wasn't in trouble. Maybe spending time with Peter and the crew was just the distraction Yondu needed.
“Okay, fine. You can come with us tonight,” Yondu said finally. Peter cocked his head to the side in confusion, then beamed. For a moment he’d forgotten why he originally went to find Yondu.
“You’re coming too?” he asked in surprise. Yondu felt like a piece of shit for the kid just assuming he wouldn’t come. That was a fair assumption though, considering Yondu hadn’t left his room at all in the past few days. Yondu nodded, getting up with a groan. Damn, I'm getting old, he thought.
“Yeah. Now come on, let’s getchu a bath. When’s the last time anybody cleaned you up, anyway?” he muttered, tossing the kid over his shoulder. Peter giggled, shrugging good-naturedly.
Yondu wasn’t terribly concerned with keeping the kid clean on the ship (in his limited experience, kids stayed messy) but anytime they went planet-side, he scrubbed Peter down. Kids were less likely to be snatched if they looked like someone was taking care of them. So, Yondu tried to make sure he was clean and his hair was sort-of combed before they docked.
That night, all seemed to be going well. They’d picked a bar with a restaurant, and the place could almost be considered kid-friendly by Ravager standards, so Peter didn’t stick out much. He was sipping on some fruit juice, tucked away in the corner, learning the very basics of poker from some of the crew. His participation mainly consisted of trying to make matches with the cards, but he knew that if he had several of one kind, he was doing well.
All things considered, things were going well until Stakar’s faction showed up.
Yondu saw them as soon as he walked in, so he caught the full extent of the disgust on Stakar’s face when they made eye contact. Stakar’s eyes swept the room, already ready to tell his men to leave. He wasn’t going to make a scene, and Yondu could keep the fact that they’d seen each other here a secret. That was, until Ogord’s eyes landed on Peter.
“Another one?” Stakar bellowed, stalking across the room towards Yondu. Stakar grabbed him by the collar, glaring down furiously. Somewhere Yondu felt the old, juvenile resentment that Stakar was taller than him. “Are the two dead children not enough to deter you from the practice? Was banishment not enough?” Yondu glared right back. It was easier to get angry than to let himself feel grief at disappointing his mentor.
“He ain’t one of them,” Yondu said fiercely. “All right, well, he was, but-”
“I don’t have time to listen to your lies, Udonta,” Stakar hissed. He motioned for his men to take Peter, holding a knife to Yondu’s throat to prevent him moving. The men didn’t handle him roughly, and Peter, bless him, didn’t notice anything was amiss. He giggled, used to being passed around by Ravagers in coats. He didn’t notice that these men were wearing blue, not red.
“You let ‘im go,” Kraglin demanded fiercely of the man who had Peter, but the burly man just shoved him away. The other Ravagers were rising to their feet, but it was too late. Peter was already being carried away.
“Krag?” he called worriedly, once he realized he was being carried out of the bar. “Krag, where’re they taking me? I ain't finished playin' poker yet!”
“Stakar, it ain’t what you think! Just lemme explain-” Stakar punched him squarely in the face, a blow with enough force to stun him.
“Next time, I kill you,” he said coldly, and he left with his crew as quickly as he’d come. Yondu tried to run after them, but he was a little wobbly on his feet from the blow Stakar had dealt him. Vaguely, he wondered if Stakar had summoned a bit of his Starhawk strength. The crew, most of whom had been drinking, rushed to follow, but Stakar’s men were faster and unaffected by alcohol.
Just like that, Peter was gone. And there was nothing he could do.