Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Children…

They were just children…

But they’re dead, killed by their own father and thrown on a pile to rot away…

Yondu and Tullk just saw the horrific scene, walking away from the cave towards the Eclector. Both of them clearly feel guilt, remembering the kids they have brought to Ego.

Including the boy they have brought with them...

Yondu specifically feels a heavy weight on his conscious. He’s the one who agreed to that jackass’s deal to kidnap and bring him his children in exchange for units. And he was an idiot for not realizing earlier that those children were being murdered…

And they just brought another child to that monster…

“Captain?” Tullk finally manages to ask, his tone strained. “What should we do?”

“We will leave this planet immediately.” Yondu says without a single double in his voice. “Take the kid if he’s still alive.”

Tullk nods, planning to obey his captain’s orders despite heavily disagreeing on the last one.

The pair start to walk faster, intending to get to The Eclector as fast as they can. The others are already on or near the ship, so it’s only a matter of hoping that asshole doesn’t have any more jobs for them and flying off.

They are going to get off this planet and get as far away from that literal egotistical jackass as possible, preferably with the kid.

As they walk, Yondu and Tullk step into the sunlight, seeing The Eclector in sight, which is parked in the grass near Ego’s palace. Yondu can see Kraglin and Horuz standing near the ship. They’re going to get the hell out of here-

“Yondu.” A voice calls out to the Centaurian, interrupting his train of thoughts.

It’s Ego.

“Where’s the kid?” Yondu asks the celestial straightforward and firm.

“He’s exploring the palace.” Ego answers.

It’s clearly a lie…

“Anyways.” The Celestial changes the topic as if it’s nothing. “Can you bring me another one of my children? His name is Peter Quill, should be about eight years old, and is from Terra-“

But when Ego pulls a data pad from literal thin air does Yondu notice something, or rather someone.

Sitting in the grass a few feet away from Ego is a baby, who looks to be around 8 months old. The infant seems to be a girl, with pale skin, black bug-like eyes, and black hair with antennas on her head. She looks at the green grass in wonder as if it’s the most interesting thing in the galaxy, not knowing what a monster her father is…

Yondu keeps his stern composure, but dread takes over his conscious again. He’s sure this kid wasn’t among the ones he and his crew took and brought to Ego, which means some other greedy asshole must’ve done that.

And soon, that girl will join her siblings in that cave...

Unfortunately, Ego sees the Centaurian glancing at the infant with a seemingly blank expression.

“Oh, don’t mind Mantis. She can be a bother sometimes.” The Celestial says, glaring at the infant with annoyance before quickly going back to his usual friendly demeanor. “Anyways, how about fifty-thousand units?”

“Pay us those twenty-thousand first.” Tullk says, his tone pretty grumpy.

“Okay.” Ego simply says, and transfers the amount to the Ravagers. “Glad doing business with you again, boys. Until next time.”

The Celestial then turns around, and walks to his palace, leaving the baby named Mantis behind outside. He has better things to do than look after that infant. Besides, she won’t go anywhere.

While Tullk goes back to the Eclector, Yondu stays where he is, looking at the baby with dread.

Ego is gone now, probably doing jack-all, so it’s clear he doesn’t give a rats ass about his children.

But Yondu knows that if the Celestial returns, that baby will join her siblings among the stars…

Yondu has made his decision. In what feels like a split second, he grabs the babysits one arm, turns around, heads back to the Eclector, and doesn’t look behind him.

“We’re leaving!” Yondu commands to his crew, wanting to get the hell off this planet as fast as possible. “Set course to Terra!”

“Yes Captain!” Horuz and some others answers, and immediately get to work.

In no time, the Eclector is off the ground and flies into deep space, escaping Ego and intending to never look back.

But obviously, some notice the small passager.

“Uh, captain, you just took a baby.” Gef points out. “One of Ego’s children, no less.”

“So?” Yondu asks quite grumpy. No way will he tell them why.

“So now we have to return this hideous baby!” Taserface says, obviously not happy about having an infant onboard.

“No.” The Centaurian answers firmly. “We’re keeping her.”

All hell breaks lose…

“What?!” The Ravagers all say in union, utterly baffled at what their captain just said.

“This is insanity!” Oblo calls out. “We can’t have a baby onboard!”

“Someone can look after her on the ship.” Yondu says in defense, glancing at the baby for a moment.

“Can’t we just deliver her to a planet or something?” Gef suggests. “Maybe even her home planet?”

“No.” The Centaurian protests. “She’s staying here.”

If they drop her off on a random planet, Ego will definitely find her. And after what he has seen, Yondu won’t let that happen…

“Horuz, find the bio scanner.” The Ravager Captain orders. Whatever species she seems to be looks rare, so more informations is definitely handy.

“Yes Captain.” Horuz says, before going to grab the object in question to do what he’s told.

“Uhm, captain?” Kraglin asks a bit nervous. “What’s her name?”

“Ego called her Mantis“ Tulik answers the 16 year old’s question. Not gonna lie, that jackass can’t name an ant if he wants to.

“What kind of shitty name is that?” Taserface remarks, as if he himself has a perfectly normal one.

“She does look like a mantis.” Gef comments.

If he’s honest, Yondu just wants to go to sleep and his crew to stop talking about stupid shit.

While the conversation goes on, Horuz comes back with the requested bio-scanner.

“There’s not much about her, captain.” He tells everyone, now reading from the data pad. “First name: unknown, Last name: unknown, Species: Half-Celestial.” Horuz lists off what information about Mantis he has. “And, uh, her species apparently have…empathic powers?”

The Ravagers look surprised at that. No other species in the galaxy seem to have powers at birth.

But something in Yondu’s brain clicked. Ego probably already knew of Mantis’ powers, so he would probably put them to use for whatever that jackass had on his sick mind.

It reminds the Centaurian about the Kree, about-

Yondu tries to get those awful memories out of his mind before he goes too deep. He doesn’t want to think about it, but the potential similarities are undeniable.

Yes, they are keeping the kid.

“Take her to one of the rooms.” Yondu orders his crew, casually giving Mantis to Kraglin before walking away to the captain’s quarters.

The decision is made.

They’re gonna raise a Ravager.

Chapter Text

Now that the Ravagers have a baby onboard, there needs to be some obvious changes and adjustments.

To start, Mantis needs somewhere to sleep, so Oblo and Ratch decided to make a crib for her.

As expected from a bunch of space pirates, that “crib” consists of a wooden box and a few blankets in it. And they put it in Yondu’s room.

“You two put the kid in the captain’s quarters?!” Yondu yells at the two fellow ravagers. “Put her somewhere else!”

“Finders are keepers, Captain.” Ratch simply answers, before he and Oblo go to the halls, leaving Yondu in his room with the infant.

The Centaurian stands there for a moment, then looks at Mantis who’s in her “crib”, sucking on one of the blankets.

Yondu now dreads going to sleep.

=-=

“Okay Mantis, here’s your food.” Kraglin says, putting the plate of mashed food in front of the infant, who’s sitting on the dinner table.

“The hell did you make?” Tulik asks the 16 year old, looking at the food with utter disgust. “That isn’t food. That’s just trash with dogshit mixed in it.”

“I…uh. I couldn’t find anything else…” Kraglin admits, looking somewhere else. “It was this, or the Captain’s soup.”

Yup, Kraglin does have a point there…

Meanwhile, Mantis looks at the food in front of her, wondering what she is suppose to do with it. It doesn’t look colorful, or does it look like food. So what is it? What is she suppose to do with it?

Mantis looks closer to what’s on her plate, wondering what it is. Well, until she falls face first in her food.

“Oh goddamnit…” Tulik swears, obviously frustrated and done with this. He gently pulls the baby’s head and and out of her food, carefully holding her in a sitting position so that Mantis won’t fall again. “Just feed her, Kraglin!”

The Xandarian nervously does what he’s told, grabbing a spoon and scoops up some of the food on it and brought it to the baby’s face.

Mantis looks at the spoon full of food for a moment, still thinking it looks weird, and opens her mouth to be fed. But when she finally tastes the food in question, she spits it out and coughs, not liking it at all.

“See? She herself thinks it tastes like shit.” Tulik remarks to the Xandarian, Mantis letting out a coo in agreement.

Yeah, they really need to get better food…

=-=

“What’s the kid doing on the bridge?!” Brahl calls out after almost tripping over Mantis.

“Shouldn’t the Captain watch her?” Geff asks, picking the baby up with one arm, before he and Brahl continue their way towards the second quadrant.

“Should’ve dropped her off on the nearest planet…” Brahl remarks, despising that they have to take care of an infant.

They are Ravagers, they have better things to do than play family…

Unbeknownst to both Ravagers, Mantis senses Brahl’s distaste, but she doesn’t understand it yet.

=-=

To Yondu’s surprise, Mantis doesn’t cry that much, especially at night.

In the three days she has been onboard, Mantis hasn’t cried a single time. Well, except that one time when Kraglin attempted to feed her his shitty soup that was quite warm, but that was Kraglin’s fault.

But now it’s night, so Mantis is usually asleep in her “crib”. At most, she babbles when she’s awake in the middle of the night, so Yondu can sleep soundly.

But tonight, he can’t…

Laying in his bed, Yondu stares at the ceiling, thinking about everything and nothing.

He can’t sleep, not even when he has his eyes closed, and it starts to irritate him.

At least Mantis is asleep, so that’s good.

The Centaurian looks over at the box the infant sleeps in, hearing nothing but silence. Again, that’s good.

Yondu knows that the others (well, except Kraglin and maybe Tulik) aren’t happy with Mantis’ presence onboard the Eclector. He can somewhat understand. They are ravagers. They don’t babysit or play happy family.

But Mantis, as well as Quill, are exceptions.

He will never admit it out loud, but those kids remind Yondu a bit of himself. Like Mantis, he was taken as a kid to be a slave for someone else. And while he was forced to serve the Kree for 20 years, Stakar and his crew got him out of there, and offered him a place among the Ravagers…

And now, the Centaurian prevented years of servitude for Mantis to endure. Yes, Yondu is pretty sure that jackass knew about her powers, and probably had plans for her…

Given what he himself has gone through himself, Yondu doesn’t want to know what the Celestial had in mind for the kid…

But that won’t ever happen, hopefully.

That won’t happen for both Mantis and Quill.

Yondu glances back at the box the infant is sleeping in, and cracks a small smile.

Yes, for once in his life, he has made the right decision.

Chapter Text

Despite them being in space, another day has arrived for the Ravagers.

The crew of the Eclector have woken up, and eat in the dinner area. This time, Yondu fed Mantis when no one was looking.

When all of them were done with breakfast, Yondu lets the baby crawl around a safe area of the Eclector, that being one of the decks. They have not that much to do anyways. They’re making their way to Terra, after all.

So, Mantis crawls around the deck, looking for anything that seems interesting to her. She sees a huge box and a few stinking things, but those don’t really interest her.

That, until Mantis sees something shiny on the ground. She crawls towards it, wondering what it is. and picks it up with her small hands. Luckily, Mantis holds onto the non-shiny half while looking at the other half that she’s interested in, and clings to it.

“No!” Horuz, who so happens to be on the deck, calls out. He immediately grabs the shiny object away from the infant, which is a knife, and picks Mantis up with his other arm. He then heads to where the captain is.

The kid really shouldn’t be crawling around the ship at all…

“Someone look after the kid next time.” Horuz says after he entered the first quadrant where the captain and some of the others are. “And who’s knife is this?”

“Mine.” Half-Nut answers, to which he gets the weapon in question directly thrown at him. “The fuck?!”

Mantis giggles at it, finding it hilarious.

“Kid got her hands on it.” Horuz says, glaring at his crew mate.

“Look after her then.” Yondu simply says, hoping that his crew will get it immediately.

=-=

They don’t…

When Ratch is tasked to look after Mantis, he decides to drink instead, leaving the baby to cry out of hunger in her crib.

When Brahl is ordered to keep an eye on the infant, he dumps her in a box and continues what he’s doing previously.

And when Retch is put up with babysitting duty, he thinks it’s a brilliant idea to let Mantis drink alcohol.

All of them have been rightfully reprimanded by their captain, and are restricted from their bunks for the next month.

=-=

After a few days of this, Yondu has had enough of his crew being incompetent idiots (outside of Tulik, Kraglin, Gef and maybe Taserface), so he decides to look after the infant himself.

When having to command his crew, the Centaurian just holds a sleepy Mantis.

“Clean the quarters. They smell like piss.” Yondu orders to the others, holding the baby as he does so. He doesn’t like having to parent his crew around, but he’d rather have the ship clean.

Mantis shifts a bit, and gets a hold on one of the Centaurian’s fingers. In a split second, the infant gets quite fussy.

Yondu doesn’t know what to do about it, so he just ignores her until she calms down. Mantis rarely gets fussy, so the Centaurian guesses that she’s either bored, or her powers are causing it.

The infant calms down quite quickly (thank goodness…), so he suspects it’s the latter.

=-=

But when the others aren’t around, Yondu tries to teach Mantis something.

“This is a bomb.” Yondu explains to Mantis, pointing at the drawing of the weapon in question.

After a long day, the captain is currently in his quarters, trying to teach Mantis about different kinds of weapons in the form of simple drawings. Yes, she’s only 8 months old, but what else is he suppose to do when needing to raise a ravager?

While seeing the blue guy pointing to one drawing, Mantis is far more interested in another that looks like the shiny thing. She points at that one instead.

“No, that’s a knife.” Yondu corrects. “The round thing is a bomb. It goes boom.”

The infant looks at the round drawing in question, but goes right back to focusing on the knife drawing again.

“No! What did I just-” The Centaurian corrects again, but decides to just give up. The kid is not even a year old, obviously too young to understand any of it. What person remembers anything when they were a baby anyways?

Yeah, Mantis will get it when she’s a bit older.

Chapter Text

“No!”

“Taserface, look after the kid. Captain’s orders!” Tulik insists, clearly not going to back down.

“No!” The Ravager in question insists, taking a step backwards. “I won’t put up with that little monster!”

He isn’t gonna lie, Tulik finds it absolutely hilarious seeing Taserface scared shitless of a baby. Yet at the same time, it really starts to get on his nerves.

“Don’t you throw a tantrum like a little piss-baby. Just do your damn job like our captain tells us to!” Tulik yells at his fellow teammate, shoving Mantis to Taserface before walking off to do his own job on the ship. “I swear, Mantis is more mature than you!”

Taserface wanted to yell something back at Tulik, but the latter is already out of sight.

Now, it’s just him and the baby. What’s her name again? Oh yeah, it was Mantis. Tulik literally said it seconds ago. Oh well.

Now what? What is he going to do with an infant glued to his side? Taserface rather wants to drink or steal shit, but he definitely can’t involve the baby with that, otherwise the captain will throw him out of the airlock.

Admittedly, the baby looks adorable, yet also hideous at the same time. It’s obvious she doesn’t fit in among the ravagers, maybe with a mini-costume and-

Wait…

An idea pops in Taserface’s head. Maybe she can be their mascot? She’s small, and doesn’t have anything to do for a few years or so. Besides, the ravagers never had a mascot, and the captain probably won’t mind.

Yup, they’re gonna have a mascot.

=-=

“What’s the nearest inhabitable planet?” Yondu asks Oblo. They need to land somewhere, otherwise the engine will overheat.

“Iobos.” Oblo answers. “It’ll take 9 jumps.”

“Than we land there.” The Centaurian orders. “Kraglin, go check if the others aren’t doing anything stupid.”

“Yes capt’n.” Kraglin answers, before leaving the third quadrant and going towards the bridge.

If he’s honest, the Xandarian doesn’t think his teammates ever actually do their jobs, let alone show loyalty and any moral values. With the exceptions of Horuz, Tulik, Oblo, and maybe Gef, all the others solely joined for being allowed to steal things and nearly drinking themselves into a coma.

Kraglin is glad that the captain isn’t like them, and that he has at least some morals, unlike the others…

Now that he thinks about it, Mantis really shouldn’t be around the likes of Taserface and Ratch. It’s clear that those two, as well as the rest, would probably traumatize the kid.

Kraglin wonders how it’s going…

As he has expected, nobody is on the bridge doing what they’re suppose to do. However, Kraglin does hear noice coming from the second quadrant.

Walking towards said direction, it becomes clear that the other ravagers are cheering something. Reaching the second quadrant, Kraglin is greeted with sober ravagers, and hears as clear as day what it is that they are cheering.

“Mascot! Mascot! Mascot!”

At first, Kraglin doesn’t know what it’s all about, until he sees it properly.

He sees Taserface and the likes of him jump up and down like children, the former holding a giggling Mantis, who wears a mini ravager outfit…

“What the heck?” Kraglin asks himself out loud. “Taserface, I thought the capt’n and Tulik ordered you to babysit Mantis!”

“I am.” Taserface simply answers.

“Not like this!” The 16 year old points out. “Go make a tree your mascot. Give her to me.”

Taserface agrees, and hands the baby over to Kraglin.

“And please go do your jobs.” The Xandarian says, before going back to the third quadrant where the captain is, taking Mantis with him.

While doing so, Kraglin checks if the baby in question is okay. Luckily, she is.

He’s still gonna inform the captain about this though.

“Tulik, look after Mantis yourself next time.” Kraglin says upon entering the third quadrant again.

“What happened?” Yondu asks without looking at the Xandarian.

“Taserface thought it was a good idea to make her as a mascot.” Kraglin explains.

Yondu finally looks at his second-youngest crewmember with anger, but his expression soon turns into his normal stern one.

“Tell him that he’ll sleep on the deck for the next 2 weeks.” Yondu orders Horuz, to which he obeys. “Tulik, you look after her next time.”

Both Tulik and Kraglin heavily suspect that Taserface will get a good nice threat of being thrown out of the airlock.

And while they weren’t there, they’re right.

Chapter Text

After days of traveling and jumping through the galaxy, the Ravagers have finally arrived at Terra.

Yondu looks out the window, seeing the Eclector getting closer and closer to the planet. They’re going to get Quill like Ego ordered them to, but no way in hell will they bring the boy to that jackass.

“Set to ST Charles, Missouri.” Yondu orders his crew that are flying the ship.

“Yes, capt’n.” Vorker answers, obeying the order in question as he and his crew mates steer the ship towards said direction.

Soon, the Eclector hovers over the dark location. It’s close enough for the Ravagers to see what’s going on down on Terra, but far enough for no one to see the ship. Not that it matters, since it’s night anyways.

They’re here…

“Don’t tell me that this brat is gonna stay too.“ Brahl complains, some others agreeing with him. “One is already enough.”

Kraglin, who’s holding Mantis, scoffs at that. Asshole…

“Are you deciding that? ‘Cause I don’t think so.” Yondu snaps, glaring at the fellow ravager. “So shut your ass up.”

“Captain, the boy is in sight.” Horuz informs the Centaurian, seeing the Terran kid, about 8 years old, run out of a building.

“Get him onboard.” Yondu orders, now having the chance. They’ve done this before, after all.

Horuz nods, and signs Oblo to activate the levitation entrance. The latter agrees, and does as he’s told.

The Ravagers watch as the light surrounds the boy, and a force levitating him on the ship. Seeing it happen, Yondu notices that the kid is crying and is obviously upset, as if something else had just happened.

The second the boy is onboard the Eclector, Tulik commands that they return to deep space. His fellow crew mates obey him, and steer the ship back to the direction of the galaxy.

“Wha-“ The 8 year old boy, Peter Quill, exclaims, shocked and confused. With wide eyes, he looks at the aliens standing in front of him, not believing what he sees. Until he does… “No! Let me go! Take me back! Take me back home!”

The kid tries to flee, most likely to try and get off of the ship somehow, but Ratch and Half-Nut are one step ahead and each grab one of his arms, restraining him quite harsh.

Yondu can’t blame the kid for freaking out, at all. Something definitely happened beforehand. However, being taken by space pirates is the safest outcome compared to being killed by your own father…

The Centaurian wished he didn’t have to take the boy from his home in the first place, but it’s for his own good. Ego will find him otherwise…

“Take him to an empty quarter. Move Mantis there as well.” Yondu orders. The boy needs time alone and to adjust, and both kids can stay in one room for a while. Maybe Mantis’ presence will ease him.

Hearing their captain’s orders, Ratch and Half-Nut drag the boy to one of the empty quarters to dump him there. Kraglin follows them to bring Mantis there as well with a pitiful look on his face. Poor kid…

“Uh capt’n...” Tulik says hesitantly. “You do know that both kids have the same father-“

“I know.” Yondu says bluntly. He has made that connection a week ago, that both kids are siblings and have the same insane sperm-donor. That jackass doesn’t deserve to be thought about, let alone have the title of father… “Don’ tell the kids a thing.”

Tulik and some of the other ravagers nod, some simply obeying orders, others understanding where their captain comes from. And one, that being Tulik himself, feels sorry for both kids having to share DNA with that murderous asshole.

Yeah, it’s better if they don’t know…

Chapter Text

I’m not in love, so don’t forget it

It’s just a silly phase I’m going through

And just because I call you up

Don’t get me wrong, don’t think you’ve got it made

Peter tries and tries to focus on the music of his walkman, of anything other than his mother or the pirates that have kidnapped him…

The 8 year old boy sits on the ground in a fetal position against his bunk, wanting nothing more than be back home with his mother…

But that will never happen…

He’s stuck here, with these scary pirates…

He just wants his mother back. Is that too much to ask?

Apparently, it is…

Peter closes his eyes, letting the tears fall. While he doesn’t understand what these pirates say, he can tell they aren’t that nice. The two that grabbed him have literally thrown him in the room Peter is currently in, and some others stared at him with angry looks…

There’s one pirate, the one who put the insect baby here, who actually looks friendly, but still…

The boy slowly opens his eyes again, and scans the room he’s currently in. The walls and floor is the exact same as the rest of the ship, as far as Peter has seen. The room has a bed against the side of the wall, as well as a few boxes, including the box one of the pirates has just put here.

Then Peter notices the insect baby, who’s crawling on the floor.

He finds her strange looking. She has black eyes, fair skin and antennas attached to her head. The baby really does look like a bug. She reminds Peter of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, somewhat.

The baby looks at the older kid with big eyes, wondering what he does here.

Peter wonders if she has been kidnapped by these pirates as well, taken from her home and mom. Like him…

Be quiet, big boys don’t cry

Big boys don’t cry

Big boys don’t cry

Big boys don’t cr-

The 8 year old takes his headphones off, not wanting to listen to those specific lyrics. They make him feel crappy, reminding him of what happened in the hospital, of his mom-

Peter buries his face in his arms, trying to block out those memories. He doesn’t succeed, and drowns in his sorrow. He misses his mom and grandpa, he misses grandpa. He wants to be with them again, to listen music with his mom, to do yard work with grandpa, to have them back again…

More tears fall down from the boys eyes. He should have just stayed where he was in the hospital like grandpa told him to do…

Peter’s thoughts are cut off when he feels a tiny hand on his arm. Letting his arms relax at his sides, he sees the bug baby in front of him, looking like she tries to comfort him.

“Hey…” Peter greets her, sniffing while trying to hold back the burning tears in his eyes. “Di-did they take you as well, from your mom?”

The baby obviously doesn’t answer, instead hugging the older kid.

It surprises him a bit, but it’s not unwelcome. Peter just hugs her back, finally feeling a bit of comfort on this ship with all those scary pirates.

At least he has her, and his walkman…

Suddenly, Peter hears a knock at the door, jumping out of his skin at the sound and holding the baby a bit tighter. The person doesn’t wait for an answer, simply opening the door, and it’s a blue pirate with no hair, the one Peter first saw when he got on the ship.

The pirate in question looks grumpy, which makes the boy a bit nervous. Is he gonna throw him and the baby overboard in space?

But that luckily isn’t the case, as the blue pirate takes a few steps towards the two kids, carefully kneels down, and reaches his hand out to give the older one something.

Peter stares at it for a moment. It appears to be an ear piece, but what it does is still the question. He looks up at the blue pirate, not sure what to do. The pirate notices this, and points to his own ear.

Understanding what the pirate means, Peter puts the device in his right ear.

“You hear me?” The blue pirate asks him. It catches Peter by surprise, that he can now understand aliens, so he slowly nods his head as a yes. “Good.”

Peter doesn’t reply, hoping that the pirate will walk out of the room and leaving him and the baby alone, but he doesn’t.

“That’s Mantis.” The blue alien says, pointing at the baby. “She has empathic powers.”

The 8 year old doesn’t know what that exactly means, but he does understand that Mantis has superpowers. That’s cool.

“Don’t cause any trouble, boy.” The blue pirate warns him, standing up before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Peter lets out a breath of relief that he doesn’t know he even had. Feeling Mantis reach for his headphones, he gently pushes her tiny hand away and hugs her again.

Maybe some of the pirates aren’t that bad. But that doesn’t change the fact that Peter wants to go home. He wants it more than anything.

But he isn’t alone on this ship. Mantis is here as well, and that has him feel a tiny bit better…

Chapter Text

“Capt’n, there’s a bounty we can do. It’s worth a lot.” Oblo informs Yondu, who doesn’t seem all that interested.

The Centaurian has had multiple crew members inform him about bounties with cheap prices, so he guesses its another one of those.

“What’s the catch?” Yondu asks Oblo, obviously unimpressed.

“70 thousand units.”

Now that catches the captain’s attention.

“Who do they want?” Yondu asks, wanting specifics.

“Doctor Olaso Sobors.” Horuz explains, reading the information from his data-pad. “A famous child physiologist working in a hospital on Xandar who committed fraud against his clients multiple times.”

Oh, how fucking great…

“And why hasn’t his clients got his ass in jail yet?” Yondu asks out of curiosity. It doesn’t really matter for him anyways.

“Corruption.”

Yeah, makes sense.

“Than we’re gonna get him.” Yondu decides, wanting those units. “Where are the kids?”

“Kraglin is in the kitchen area.” Tulik answers, having just been there. “Mantis and the boy are in one of the quarters.”

The Centaurian nods, before walking off to find the three kids in question. He needs them for the mission, after all. Well, maybe except Mantis. Tulik probably won’t mind looking after her for a few hours.

Yondu enters the kitchen area, and sees Kraglin sitting at the table eating a cup of his soup. Something is definitely wrong with that boy if he likes that shit.

“Kraglin, we’ve got a job. You’re coming with us.” Yondu says to the 16 year old, ordering to stop whatever he’s doing.

“Yes, Capt’n.” Kraglin answers, taking his soup with him as he gets up from his seat, and follows the Centaurian to wherever he’s going, which is to the quarters where the two kids are.

It’s been a few days since the boy, Quill, has joined the crew. In that time, he has barely left his quarter, unless one of the ravagers dragged him out of there to eat or drink or whenever he has to be around the others. Kid is too stubborn to even speak, though Yondu can somewhat understand.

But the boy will learn.

Yondu and Kraglin arrive at the quarter-deck, and enter the second one on the right. That’s the one where the kids stay in.

“You’re coming with us, boy.” Yondu says to the boy, not really waiting for an answer.

But Quill stays silent, looking at the Centaurian and Xandarian with a bit of fear. Where are they going? He just wants to continue playing with Mantis…

Yondu however, doesn’t have time for protest.

“Take both of them to the main deck.” Yondu orders to Kraglin, before already heading to that area of the ship himself.

He needs to form a proper strategy.

=-=

“What’s the plan, capt’n?” Kraglin asks when he, Peter and Mantis are on the main deck with the others.

“We get in that hospital and get this bastard.” Yondu explains quite simply, pointing at the person in question they’re gonna get, before looking at Kraglin and Peter. “And you two are coming as well.”

At the mention of the word hospital, Peter tenses, holding Mantis a bit tighter.

“I assume as bait?” Kraglin asks.

“No.” Yondu answers. “He’s a physiologist for kids. You two will be his clients.”

“You should bring Mantis along as well.” Tulik suggests, earning a confused look from the Centaurian. “You’ll look less suspicious that way.”

“And how?”

“Just imagine. A single father of three seeking help because his two oldest are behaving like little shits.” Tulik explains.

Yeah, he has a point.

“Then she’s coming as well.” Yondu says, before grabbing a data-pad and heading to the captain’s quarters. He’s gonna make an appointment. “Set the coordinates in one of the m-ships.”

=-=

About an hour later, Yondu, Kraglin, Peter and Mantis are on the M-ship on their way to Xandar.

The Centurion had made an appointment under the name Fonnal Tilarna, explaining that his “sons” constantly act out and that he was at his wits end with them.

They’re gonna get that asshole.

“W-what are we again…?” Peter asks, stuttering. He really isn’t looking forward to this…

“We are the capt’n’s kids who act out and need to go to Doctor Sobors.” Kraglin explains, pointing to Peter and himself. “We don’t want to be there because our “dad” forces us to, so we have to act grumpy.”

That’ll be easy…

“Da.” Mantis suddenly says, looking at Yondu, catching everyone by surprise. But the Centaurian brushes it off.

“Exactly.” Yondu says, glancing at Peter. “You better stick to the plan, boy. Or I won’t stop the others from eating you. They’ve never tasted a Terran before.”

Peter swallows a lump in his throat, obviously scared at the Centaurian’s threat.

They’re soon approaching Xandar, and the hospital where the target is comes into sight. As Yondu expects, the M-ship is allowed in the hanger structure without question, and they’re allowed to enter the building.

They’re in.

Yondu, Kraglin, and Peter make their way to the child physiology department, the former carrying Mantis.

Throughout the time they’re walking, Peter grows more and more nervous, clearly not wanting to be here.

“Good afternoon, sir. What can I do for you?” The Xandarian receptionist asks Yondu once he enters the department, not suspecting a thing.

“We have an appointment with Doctor Sobors.” The Centaurian explains, dropping his usual accent in favor of a proper one. It even surprises Kraglin a bit.

“Name?” The receptionist asks.

“Fonnal Tilarna.” Yondu answers.

The receptionist looks up the name in question in the system. And it’s indeed there.

“Alright. The waiting room is on the right.”

“Thank you.” Yondu says, before he and his three “kids” head to the room in question.

He expects to have some quiet there, but that isn’t the case. Because when Yondu opens the door of the waiting room, it’s quite the opposite…

A Xandarian mother with her eight children are already sitting there, and it’s chaos. Two kids are fighting over a toy ship, the youngest who’s an infant is crying on his mother’s lap, and what looks like the oldest of the kids just sits there looking like he wants to escape the room.

Yondu can’t blame him.

He, Kraglin and Peter each take a seat, sitting across from the woman and her kids. While Kraglin pretends to be grumpy and not wanting to be here, Peter remains nervous and on edge.

“Good afternoon.” The woman greets Yondu in a friendly tone. Seeing the Centurion’s tired expression though, she looks around at her kids. “Oh, my apologies for my children. They just a bit tired.”

“It’s okay.” Yondu simply says.

He fully expects the woman to be quiet and focus on her kids, but she doesn’t.

“Aw! Who’s this cutie?” She asks, obviously looking at Mantis.

This catches Yondu by surprise. Shit, he hasn’t thought about the kids’ names.

“Lua.” He answers, making it up on the fly.

“That’s a pretty name.” The woman says, looking at the 8 month old in question.

Mantis herself however, gives the strange lady a confusing look. She then turns back to the nice blue man and closes her eyes, simply wanting to go to sleep.

Yondu wishes he can do that too right now.

“You know, my youngest is also quite sleepy.” The woman says, glancing at the toddler on her lap with a smile. “She even slept through a check-up once, and-”

The Centaurian quickly lost interest in what she has to say.

Meanwhile, Peter glances at the other children that are in the waiting room as well. Some of them look weird, like Yondu. One kid has pink skin with brown hair, another kid has blue skin with dark blue hair, and another kid has yellow skin and is bald. The rest of the kids look more like humans, but a bit different.

“Mr. Tilarna?” Doctor Sobors calls out, opening the door and stepping out of his office.

Finally…

Yondu, Kraglin and Peter get up from their respective seats and enter the doctor’s office, preparing themselves for what they’re gonna do.

“You have stated that your two oldest have behavioral problems and act out?” Doctor Sobors reads from his notes, having already closed the door. “Do not worry, Mr. Tilarna. Your sons-“

The second the physiologist turns back to his clients, Yondu and Kraglin point their blasters at him, Peter holding Mantis now.

Sobors slowly raises his hands up, looking at the Centaurian with fear.

“You’re coming with us.”

=-=

The second Yondu, Kraglin, Peter and Mantis are back on the Eclector, the former throws the target to the other ravagers.

“Throw him in a cell.” Yondu orders to his crew. “Keep him unharmed and alive.”

“Yes captain.” Horuz answers, before he and Oblo drag Sobors to one of the cells.

Having to lead the ship to the destination where the drop-off is, Yondu gives Mantis to Peter. The baby herself however, doesn’t agree.

“Da-da.” She says, reaching her small arms out to the Centaurian in question.

This obviously causes Peter to be a bit confused.

“Are you her dad?” He asks Yondu.

“What? No!” The Centaurian answers, clearly baffled at the boy’s question.

“They don’t even look alike.” Tulik adds from a distance away.

Having better things to do, Yondu leaves the deck and goes to the captain’s quarters. He doesn’t want to discuss it any further…

“Head to Vetov.” He orders to some of the other Ravagers, wanting that bastard off the ship and delivered to the client as fast as possible.

What Mantis has just called him though, he tries to forget…

Chapter Text

“Captain! We just found the easiest bounty ever!” Ratch cheers from across the deck quite loud, startling a few Ravagers and scaring another few…

“Do you have to be that loud?!” Horuz asks, obviously annoyed at his crew mate.

“What’s the target?” Yondu asks out of curiosity.

“A space cat from a planet called, uhm…” Ratch attempts to explain, but tries not to gag saying that name. “…Fluff-E.”

“We’ll get 85 thousand units.” Ratch says, totally ignoring his crew mate. To prove this, he shows his captain the amount in question, along with an image of the bounty above.

Of course, that’s all it takes to convince Yondu. They need some more money, after all.

And he will never admitted, but the space-cat looks adorable…

“Set to Fluff-E.” The Centaurian orders his crew that steer the ship to do, trying not to cringe at having to say the planet’s name. Which dumbass even thought of that?

“Yes, Capt’n.” Tulik and the others answer, before obeying the order they were just given.

They will have this bounty in no-time.

=-=

About twenty minutes and twelve jumps later, the Ravagers are in front of Fluff-E. Like many of them have expected, the planet’s colors are of bright pinks and purples. It’s clearly a planet where cute and adorable animals live, something a child would make up.

After the Eclector lands on the surface, Yondu looks out of the window at the area. It looks extremely colorful and cute, a perfect place where an adorable pink cat can be. The area looks pretty safe, so the kids can come with them.

And they’re gonna get that cat.

“You three will go east.” The Centaurian orders, pointing at Taserface and Gef. “Take Quill with you.”

That results in complaints from the former ravager, but their captain doesn’t want to hear it, and send them on their task.

Yondu then orders Ratch and Brahl to search west, and Horuz and Oblo to search south. That leaves Kraglin and himself to search north, taking Mantis with them.

Soon, everyone goes on their way as they are ordered.

“How do we know where that cat is?” Kraglin asks the captain, who’s holding the data-pad with the picture on it.

“The client has send us here.” Yondu simply answers. “The others will let us know if they find the bounty instead.”

Kraglin seems to be content with that answer.

As they continue walking and searching, Yondu glances over at Mantis, who seems to keep up with them on her small legs.

The now 8 month old is having the time of her life. She runs after small colorful lights, rolling around in the soft blue grass, and is just laughing and giggling.

It almost put a smile on the Centaurian’s face, almost…

He doesn’t really watch where he’s going, and it results in him bumping into something fluffy. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel the impact though.

“The hell?” Yondu exclaims, looking up to see what he bumped into. At first glance, he thinks that it’s a fuzzy bush. The Centaurian can’t be more wrong…

He and Kraglin just bumped into their target, the cat that they are looking for, and the animal is ginormous. The cat has to be just as big as the Eclector, if not bigger.

The cat itself just purrs and looks at the Ravagers with curiosity, even letting out a meow.

“How are we gonna get this one on the ship?” Kraglin asks, his tone a bit scared.

“We don’t!” Yondu yells at the Xandarian, obviously frustrated and questioning why his first mate just asked such a dump question.

“But we-“

“Ain’t no way you’re fitting that giant feline onto the ship!” Yondu doesn’t even want to imagine it.

Meanwhile, Mantis, who’s laying in the grass and hears what the two ravagers are saying, looks up to see them. And she soon sees the most fluffiest, most biggest and the most adorable animal she has ever seen.

“Kit…ty.” Mantis attempts to say, having heard her dad say it too. “Kitty!”

She gets up from the grass, and runs towards the adorable animal as fast as her small legs can go. Mantis soon feels the soft fur of the giant cat, which only makes her hug it tighter.

“Kitty!”

“At least Mantis is having a good time.” Kraglin says, looking at the kid hugging the giant creature. It’s quite adorable.

The cat itself however, looks at the infant with curiosity, and lowers itself so that it looks directly at Mantis.

But in a split second, the giant cat raises its paw and quickly puts it where Mantis stands, as if hunting a fly.

Seeing it all happen, Yondu and Kraglin obviously panic, the latter even letting out a yell. The former however, doesn’t let his concern show, but he’s really freaking out on the inside, even tempting to get his arrow involved.

The moment only lasts for a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity. Eventually, Mantis appears from a gap in the cat’s paw, and is giggling as if what just happened is the funniest thing in the world.

Thank goodness she’s okay…

Yondu can’t grab her quick enough, and along with Kraglin take a few steps away from the creature.

“Capt’n, what should we do…?” Kraglin asks, drawing his gun at the creature.

But the cat doesn’t like that its snack has been taken away, not one bit. It growls and screams, its face turning into the one of a monster.

That’s when Yondu has his answers.

“Get back to the ship!” He commands, before running back towards the ship. While doing so, he contacts the other Ravagers. “Get back to the Eclector, or you’ll all be cat-food!”

He hopes they’ll get the message.

Eventually, the ship comes into their view, but the monster’s screams are still hearable behind them.

In no time, all the ravagers are on the ship, Kraglin frantically closes the door, and the Eclector

“What the hell happened?” Tulik asks his captain, utterly confused. Currently, Yondu and Kraglin look scared out of their minds, and poor Mantis is crying her eyes out.

The Centaurian doesn’t answer, but his expression says it all. He gives the crying infant to Peter. No doubt the poor girl has been traumatized.

“Check the fucking sizes of these creatures next time.” Yondu says, obviously pissed off to the moon and back.

The rest immediately get the message.