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Being considered a Ravager Captain's adopted daughter wasn't easy. Especially when the Captain was the exiled Yondu Udonta and you were the only female on board. Yondu always protected you as much as he could; Kraglin did too, and Peter was always there for you, before the falling out and Peter left to captain his own ship and ragtag crew. You knew you could always depend on Tullk and Oblo and a couple other Ravagers close to Yondu as well, but where there was one kind crewmate, there were five that scared you, and no one scared you more than Taserface.
His name made you giggle the first time he introduced himself, but the glare he gave you with those sulfur-yellow eyes choked the laughter right out of you. He had a reputation, Taserface. Yondu kept him around because he was a great gunman, a good pilot, and had served with Yondu under Stakar Ogord. But for all his potentially good qualities, Taserface was also malicious, cruel, and greedy. He might not be the most intelligent Ravager, but he was cunning in his own way. He and the Ravagers he surrounded himself with always made lewd and threatening comments towards you, and you never felt safe in their presence unless Yondu was there. It was no secret that Taserface and Yondu were at odds with one another.
Eventually there was a mutiny. It wasn’t Kraglin’s fault and you knew it; the First Mate was just the match that lit the powder keg. Kraglin was as loyal as they came, but there had been mounting tension between him, Peter and Yondu for several years. He just picked the wrong time to bring it up. Taserface was the real mastermind behind it; he must have been planning the revolt for months, if not years.
You'll never get the image of Yondu’s implant getting blown apart out of your head – that, and Taserface’s triumphant, vicious smile at his apparent victory. It was the single most frightening moment of your life. You had no idea what to do or where to go. Thankfully Kraglin did. While Taserface was distracted, the First Mate hid you away as soon as you boarded the Eclector, pushing you into the ventilation system through a false grate in his room.
From the First Mate’s quarters, you moved through the vents that you and Peter used to play and hide in. Unlike Peter, you hadn’t grown too big to use them as an adult. You followed the loud noises of jeering and laughter until you found yourself in a vent high above Airlock 2. There, you watched with growing horror as one by one, crew loyal to Yondu - crew you had grown up with and had been your friends, teachers, and protectors, were shoved out the airlock by Taserface.
Meanwhile, Yondu himself was tied to a chair, the ropes cutting into his arms and chest, his implant demolished. You could tell he was in shock, unable to intervene or react to Taserface’s taunts and threats. It broke your heart.
You’d been tossed around and moved from place to place so many times as a child that the care, gruff as it was, that Yondu showed you meant more than anything in the galaxy. It was then that you finally realized how much you cared about him, and how much like a father he’d become to you. You wanted desperately to help him, but you knew making yourself known would mean the airlock for you - or worse.
So you crawled back into the ventilation system, until you found a shadowy corner to wait. You heard Taserface's voice echoing through the vents, so loud that it seemed like he was in there with you. You pressed your hands to your ears until it subsided. Quietly making your way through the tunnels, you peered down every time there was an opening. The mutinous Ravagers got slobbering drunk, and Taserface and several others had taken up residence in the Captain’s quarters to sleep it off.
That was when everything took a turn for the better. The little Flora Colossus, Groot, and the one called Rocket helped Yondu escape. The Captain dispatched the mutinous crew, and once you realized what was happening, you crawled as fast as you could back to Kraglin's quarters. From there, you located the First Mate in the Control Room of the Third Quadrant and helped him ready it for release. You all went to help save Peter from Ego, and you wept against Kraglin as Yondu's dying body was brought aboard.
Through some miracle - or maybe just because you knew the Captain was too much of a stubborn ass - Yondu survived.
It’s been weeks since then, but you still have nightmares, about that night of the mutiny. You can still hear Taserface's voice bouncing off the vents around you.
"Where is [y/n]? Find her!"
Taserface’s words make you tremble. Frightened tears in your eyes, you rapidly crawl through the vents, trying to put as much distance between you and Taserface as you can. His voice reverberates around you, no matter which way you turn or how far you crawl, pressing in on you. A grate suddenly gives way under you, and you go tumbling down - right into Taserface's waiting arms. You scream, thrashing out, hitting and kicking him, but he holds you fast. "Hello girlie," he grins at you. You turn your head away from the stench of his breath and rotten teeth.
"Let go!" you yell.
He drags his tongue over your cheek, then drops you unceremoniously to the floor. You start to scramble away, scrubbing an arm at your face, but a group of Ravagers blocks your path. You feel Taserface clench a hand in your hair and begin to drag you away. You scream for help, from Kraglin, from Yondu - but no one comes, and no one answers. Amidst the crew are the shadows of Kree and Skrulls, former masters before you were saved and brought into the Ravager ranks. In terrified desperation, you call out to them, too. You'd rather be under the whip than at Taserface's mercy.
He throws you to the floor in front of the airlock, and crouches down, taking your face roughly in one hand. "You have a choice, girlie: me, or you can join your family in the Deep." He whirls you around so you can look out the airlock window, and you sob openly as you see the figures of Kraglin and Yondu and Peter, floating in the void, covered in ice. You collapse against the floor.
"Me or the Deep?" he prompts. His hand wanders from your hair down your back, nearing your hip.
You scramble away, smacking violently at his hand. "Get away from me!" you scream at the top of your lungs.
"Have it your way, girlie." He reaches for you, pulling you up by your shirt. You scream as he opens the airlock and throws you inside. You run to the window, pounding on the glass with all your strength, but it holds. Taserface presses the release button, and you feel the air sucked out, even as you try to scream again.
You can’t breathe. And there's a pain in your shoulders. You didn't think the cold would feel like this, like a hard pinch, like a clench of hands.
"Wake up! Lil'bit! Wake up, girl!"
With a gasping start, you wake from your nightmare, tears streaming down your face. Yondu has his hands grasped on your shoulders, one knee on your bunk and one foot on the floor. His eyes are wide with concern.
"Yondu!" you cry, flinging your arms around him.
“It's a'ight, I'm here. I'm here, girl."
You squeeze your arms around his chest, and you hear a rattle in his breath. “Oh, I’m sorry!” you gasp out, pulling back. “I didn’t mean to-”
Yondu shakes his head in dismissal of the apology, but has to turn away to cough violently, the spasms wracking his body. You grip his arm, digging your fingers into the sleeve of his duster. The vaccum was hardest on his lungs, and he’s still got a long recovery ahead of him. “Do you need the mask?” you ask, half-rising from your bunk.
He shakes his head again, taking hold of your arm to keep you from rising. He takes gulps of air and coughs again, trying for minutes to regain an even breathing pattern.
You can’t stop a fresh tear from escaping your eye. You almost lost him.
"Was it Taserface again?" he rasps out at last, turning back to you as if the coughing attack hadn’t happened.
You let out a small, sniffling gasp of air and nod, leaning forward to bury your face into his chest.
He pats your back. "Aw, lil'bit. Taserface ain't gonna hurt ya or scare ya ever again. C'mere." He pulls you onto his lap, like he did when you were small. Somehow, he still feels just as large and comforting as he did back then, and you wind your arms around his chest, snuggling deeper into the folds of his duster. He rocks back and forth, gently. "Tell me. Who found ya and saved ya from the slavers, huh?"
You sniffle. "You did."
"Who told the crew to all fuck off when they scared ya when ya first came on board?"
You let a wet little laugh escape you. "You did."
"Damn right. And who got ya out when ya got stuck in crawl space under the engines?"
"You."
"Right." The words are a little strained, and he pauses to clear his throat. "Who got rid of the mutinous crew?" he asks, more softly.
"You did."
"Tha's right. I shot 'em all through with my arrow. And then what did I do?"
"You blew up the ship."
"And who was on the ship?"
"Taserface."
"Tha's right, lil'bit." He hugs you closer against him. "That betrayin’ bastard is dead, and he's gonna stay dead. He ain't gonna come back to life like I did." He holds you out and grins.
Being reminded once again that Yondu was almost gone forever causes tears to come to your eyes and you hug him fiercely.
"Aw, aww baby. It's okay."
"I almost lost you."
"I know, but ya didn't. And y'ain't gonna."
You sit in silence for several minutes, listening to the droning hum of the engines and the distant, faint sound of Ooh Child from Peter's Zune, playing somewhere in the Quadrant. The slightly-metallic, smoky, musky smell of Yondu's coat surrounds you comfortingly, and you hug him firmly. "I love you, Dad." It’s the first time you’ve called him that, though it’s been an unspoken title for many, many years.
He goes very still, and then you feel his lips press against your forehead as he hugs you tight. "I love you, [y/n]. Yer always gonna be my lil'bit, and I'm always gonna be here for ya."