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When it came to Xandar, Rocket preferred to get whatever business he had done as fast as possible these days. Sure, it had sucked before when people would gawk at him and Groot like they were a travelling freakshow, but it was so much more annoying having to deal with fans. Quill might have thought it was fun, but he never got asked the kind of questions Rocket always did.
There might have been another reason. Groot had died here. Not the little sapling sitting on Rocket's shoulder, but the partner that had stuck by him no matter how much of an asshole he was, that had cared and given him a reason to care when his own life felt worse than worthless. The pain of that loss was still fresh, fresh enough that when he closed his eyes sometimes those last few moments played out in his head. He wasn't dumb enough to think that would ever really go away.
Not when Lylla, and Teefs, and Floor were never far from his heart. Losing people didn't get any easier no matter how many times you did it. It just left new scars, and Rocket had more than he could handle already. He just needed to find a better way to live with them. Not for himself, but...
"I am Groot!" Groot complained, tugging on Rocket's ear.
Rocket groaned. "For the last time, we ain't goin' to that playground," he said. He pushed open the door to the parts shop, stepping in and earning a few scattered looks from the shoppers inside. The familiar scents of metal and oil filled the cramped store within, drowning out the smells of the other customers and the city outside. "I hate that place. Last time I was there some kid tried to pull my tail."
Groot folded his arms. "I am Groot," he muttered.
Rocket twitched his tail away from the closing door. "Hey, language!" he snapped. He glared at a nearby customer that gave him a confused look. "Come on, Groot, you got enough toys back on the ship. I literally just got you those block things Quill wouldn't shut up about. You don't need the frickin' swingset, it's way too big for you anyway. We can build that stupid castle thing when we get back."
Groot 'humphed' at that, which was as close to a win as Rocket was likely to get. He was a stubborn little twig, and when he wasn't trying to pester Rocket into getting him candy or playing with him when they were supposed to be working it was adorable.
If the old Groot could see them now, what would he think of how Rocket was raising his son? Rocket was a shit excuse for... whatever he was trying to be, but even if Groot could be moody sometimes he was happy more often than not. He was still innocent. He loved his family with his whole heart and didn't hold any of himself back from them. In a twisted galaxy like this, that was as rare as an Infinity Stone.
It couldn't last forever, like all good things. Rocket could still remember how it felt to have that ripped away all at once. One day Groot would be old enough to understand what the galaxy was really like, but as long as he didn't have to learn the same way Rocket had then at least Rocket would have done something right.
Rocket cleared his throat as he stepped up to the counter, climbing up on a display toolrack. "Hey," he said flatly, leaning on the counter. "I need a Karian fusion converter. I hear this is the only place sellin' 'em this side of Hala."
"You heard right," the clerk said. She was an Aakon with a neck almost as thick as a ship's fuel line, and she looked like she was already planning to advertise that one of the Guardians of the Galaxy had come to her shop. "That's a specialty part, it is."
Groot clambered down from Rocket's shoulder onto the display toolrack.
"I know," Rocket said. He turned to Groot. "Don't wander off, Groot. This ain't gonna take long." He glared back at the clerk. "Well, get sellin' already. I ain't got all day."
The clerk raised an eyebrow. "I can't legally sell you that if you don't have a Class Seven freight license."
Groot picked up a hydro-spanner from the display, eyes wide as he lifted it over his head.
Rocket snatched it out of his hand. "Groot, cut it out," he said. "You're gonna put somebody's eye out." He turned back to the Aakon, tail swishing in irritation. "I got a little thing called 'I saved your crappy planet from Ronan and Ego'. Yeah, you remember that blue goo stuff that looked like it was gonna kill everything and then it didn't?" He smirked. "You're welcome. Now how's that for a license, or are you really gonna get hung up on some dumbass technicasualty like that? Ain't a lotta demand for Karian tech these days anyway."
"I am Groot," Groot sulked. He climbed down from the display, shooting a grumpy look Rocket's way.
Rocket sighed. "I know this is boring for you," he said. "Just... gimme a few minutes and we can get outta this dump."
'A few minutes' turned out to be much more optimistic than Rocket would usually consider himself. The clerk was a real stickler for the rules, and it took all of Rocket's (admittedly limited) experience with haggling to work out a compromise.
While he drew up a quick blueprint for the engine design he had been working on that needed the Karian fusion converter, scratching out his messy signature when it was done, the door kept opening and closing as customers came in, got fed up waiting, and left. He tried to keep an eye on Groot and keep him out of trouble, but it was easy to lose track of him in the crowd.
Getting the idea out of his head and onto paper was harder than Rocket had expected. The way the pieces all fit together in motion just made sense in his head, and building it with his hands was as easy as breathing, but finding a way to translate that into lines and numbers on paper for someone else to understand was tricky. Every time he thought he was done, he'd have to explain how his cooling system worked, or walk the Aakon through the math and then do it again but slower.
When it was done, Rocket smirked as he tucked the fusion converter into the bag he'd brought and slung it onto his back. "Was that so hard?" He turned without waiting for a response. "All right, Groot, let's... Groot?"
Groot was nowhere to be seen. Rocket's ears shot back as he scanned the small store. He didn't care one bit for the feeling starting to gnaw at his gut. He raised his voice.
"Groot, quit hidin'! We're done here!"
No response, except for a few confused looks.
Rocket's stomach plummeted. Shit. Of course he'd screw this up. The one thing that mattered most in his worthless life, making sure Groot was safe. Not only had he completely failed as a parent, he'd let down the old Groot at the same time. It took a special kind of pathetic to manage both in one day. But he had to get a grip.
If Groot wasn't here, he could be anywhere. What if some creep had decided to snatch him while Rocket was distracted so he could sell him to the Collector? Or some asshole with a grudge that had been waiting for just the right moment to hit Rocket where it hurt most?
He turned to the clerk. "You see where he went?" he snapped.
The clerk shook her head. "No, I-"
Rocket didn't wait for the rest of her answer. He jumped to the ground, glancing down the aisles before he turned to the door, shoving it open as he barrelled through. Whoever took Groot couldn't have gone far. They must have knocked him out, or put him in a bag, or something. Groot was smart enough not to go with strangers, and if he had the chance he would have called for Rocket, so...
Rocket let out a frustrated growl. So what? The shop was on a raised walkway that gave a good view of the plaza below. He jumped up on the guard rail, resting a hand on his blaster as he scanned the crowd for anyone that looked even slightly out of place. That was hard in a city like this where half the people in the crowd were in an obvious hurry, rushing from wherever to whatever like any of it mattered.
Only one thing mattered right now. The thought of how terrified Groot had to be made Rocket's heart race. Groot still had nightmares about the Ravagers sometimes, how they had locked him up and kicked him around. When he did, he couldn't go back to sleep unless Rocket was with him, humming a lullaby and promising that he would never let it happen again.
So much for that. The crowd was a bust. There were a few that stuck out, but none in a kidnapping asshole kind of way. If Groot wasn't in the plaza, he could be anywhere. No, not anywhere. Any bounty hunter worth his salt knew you didn't risk holding live goods on Xandar any longer than you absolutely needed to. So, they'd be heading to the spaceport. If Rocket could cut them off, then-
"Rocket!" A familiar voice drew his attention back down to the plaza, where Mantis was waving up at him from just below. She must have been right under the walkway while he was looking. Of all the stupid coincidences in the frickin' world...
She looked entirely too happy to see him. The two of them had barely even talked in the short time she had been part of their little family, but she waved enthusiastically as if he was one of her best friends.
Rocket groaned. "This just keeps gettin' better," he muttered. Bad enough he screwed up and let Groot get kidnapped, but if he didn't fix it and everyone found out then they'd all hate him and then he'd be alone again. He raised his voice. "Hey, Mantis."
Mantis jumped up, catching the rail and pulling herself up next to him. It was easy to forget she could do that kind of thing sometimes.
"Why are you standing on the rail?" she asked.
Rocket moved his hand away from his blaster. "'Cause I felt like it," he said. He crossed his arms. Every second he wasted here, Groot got further and further away. "I was just goin' for a walk. Why don't you go back to the-"
"Are you okay?" Mantis asked. She clasped her hands together in front of her like she didn't know what to do with them. "Where is Groot?"
"He's around," Rocket said. His ear twitched, his tail curled, but he did his best to keep a good poker face. "Why are you askin' so many questions?"
Mantis frowned. "You are afraid," she said. She looked around, her frown deepening. "Is Groot inside the building? Did you lose him?"
"Frickin' empath," Rocket muttered. His tail lashed. So much for taking care of this on his own. Mantis would tell everyone how bad he had screwed up, but... maybe she could help him get Groot back before then. "I didn't lose him. Someone took him. You happy?"
Mantis gasped. "That is horrible!" she said, her eyes wide. "Why would I be happy that someone took him?"
"'Cause..." Rocket sighed. "Look, that ain't how I meant it. Whatever. We still got a chance to cut 'em off before they get to the spaceport. We get there, we figure out who's got him before they get away, we get him back." And then everyone would hate him, and never trust him with Groot again, but at least Groot would be safe.
"You did not see who took him?" Mantis asked. Her brow was furrowed like she was working through some kind of equation. "Then how do you know that somebody took him?"
Rocket jumped down from the rail. "'Cause that's how the galaxy works," he said. "You let your guard down, there's always gonna be someone there to take advantage of it. Doesn't matter if you're on Xandar or some backwater mudball."
"But it does matter," Mantis said. "This is Xandar. Who would be stupid enough to try to kidnap Groot when you were right there? And what about the Nova Corps patrols? And wouldn't Groot fight back? He can be very loud when he wants something." She smiled slightly, looking Rocket in the eye. "I do not think that he was taken."
What she was saying made some kind of sense, but that didn't mean it was true. Years of hard-fought experience had taught Rocket to expect the worst, and he hadn't been wrong about that yet. Still... it wasn't like he'd even considered other possibilities.
Rocket sighed. "So what do you think happened?"
Mantis shrugged. "I think he might have walked away," she said. "He is still a child, and there are many things to see on Xandar."
Rocket scoffed. "Like what?" he said.
"Like buildings and people?" Mantis suggested. "I do not know. I remember..." she looked down at her lap for a moment, uncertain. "When I was a child, Ego did not let me leave his ship when he would go to other planets to pick up his other... his children. I do not know where a child would want to go in a place like this."
Rocket sighed. "That makes two of us," he said. His tail curled around his leg. It wasn't often he thought about what Mantis' life must have been like before they had met. Somehow, despite having even less of a childhood than he had, she had managed to hold on to some kind of innocence.
"Maybe we could get Drax?" Mantis suggested. "He had a daughter. He must know how children think."
"No," Rocket said. He rubbed his forehead. "Just... gimme a minute to think, Mantis. We don't gotta drag anybody else into this."
Rocket tried to imagine how he might have felt if he had been here in what passed for his childhood. All the people, the open sky full of ships going back and forth, the scent of the sea breeze... he would have been paralyzed by all the wonders and possibilities, and he would have wanted to see it all and bring it back to his family. 'Everything' wasn't really a helpful answer, though.
He could imagine how much Lylla would have loved to meet so many new people, how Floor might have scuttled underfoot trying to go everywhere at once... Teefs would have liked the fountain at the center of the plaza below them. Maybe he would have asked where all the water came from. If they'd heard Quill's dumb Terran crap about wishing fountains they'd all want to flip a coin into it...
Rocket let out a shuddering breath. Now really wasn't the time to torture himself thinking about what would never happen, not when he still needed to find Groot. Even if Mantis was right and Groot wasn't in any danger, he was still too young to be alone. Which... Rocket wouldn't have been alone, if he was here as a kid.
Where would Rocket have wanted to take his family if he was a kid in a place like this? When they'd seen everything there was to see and that got boring, he would have wanted to play. And if Lylla had insisted they didn't have time for that, he might have snuck off so that everyone had to come find him and he could pull them into some game.
There were places just for playing that he might have snuck off to, places he hadn't thought about when he was so caught up worrying about what might have happened to Groot. And what had Groot been talking about when they were in the store?
"Rocket?" Mantis asked. She stepped down from the rail.
"I know where he went," Rocket said. As much as it hurt to remember his old family, it was better than forgetting. Their memory could bring more than just pain and regret... today they had helped him, the same way they always had when he was smaller. "That sneaky little tree... I kept tellin' him we weren't goin' to that playground, but I guess he don't take orders any better than the rest of us do."
Mantis grinned. "He obviously learned it from you," she said. "You never listen to Peter." Her smile faltered. "What were you thinking about? You looked-"
"I was just focusing on tryin' to put things the right way in my head," Rocket said, a little too quickly. "I've been thinkin' about that new engine I'm makin' all day, and uh, some stuff kinda got jumbled in with the numbers I guess. Had to untangle what Groot was sayin' from what I was workin' on when he was sayin' it."
Mantis frowned. "Being a genius sounds confusing," she said. It was far from his best lie, and he was lucky Mantis was still innocent enough to just take him at his word for that and not see how desperate he was to keep something hidden.
Rocket let out an internal sigh of relief, tinged with a little guilt over lying. "Beats bein' an idiot like Quill," he said. "Now let's get goin'. I think me and Groot gotta have a talk about him runnin' off."
Rocket tried running through what he would say when he got there, but it was hard to focus when people kept stopping them to talk. Mantis was new enough to the team that he had to keep introducing her to people and explaining who she was.
For her part, Mantis was happy enough to meet new people. Even if she didn't exactly know what to talk about, and Rocket had to keep reminding her they had places to be. It was adorable in an awkward kind of way, and thinking about how lonely she must have been for so much of her life he couldn't exactly hold it against her.
Sharing that stupid picture of him helping Groot brush his teeth, though, that Rocket could hold against her. Even if it did get them a confirmation that Groot had gone to the playground from some Xandarian kids who had seen him heading in its direction alone while they were 'cutting class', which as far as Rocket could tell had nothing to do with actually cutting and just meant they were skipping their lessons.
When they finally got to the playground, Groot was sitting on the edge of a small merry-go-round, staring at the empty swingset. He waved nervously when Rocket stepped in front of him.
Rocket scowled. "There you are, you little gremlin," he said. It was hard to really be mad at Groot, especially when this whole thing was his own fault anyway. He folded his arms. "Groot, you wanna remind me what the rules are when we go out?"
Groot looked up at Mantis as if she'd give him a way out, and turned back to Rocket when she didn't. "I... am Groot?" he said.
"That's one," Rocket said, sticking out one finger. "Keep goin'."
"I am Groot," Groot mumbled.
Rocket nodded, holding out another finger. "That's two, good," he said. "That one's important. You're missin' something, though."
Groot looked down guiltily. "I am Groot," he said.
"Damn right you stay with me!" Rocket said.
Groot flinched.
Rocket sighed. "I get worried, okay?" he said. He needed to do better than snapping and yelling if he wanted Groot to understand. "You're still real small, and the galaxy ain't as nice as you think it is."
"He was ready to start shooting people if he did not find you," Mantis said earnestly. She put a hand on one of the merry-go-round's bars, turning it slightly.
Rocket looked up at Mantis. "You can solve a lotta problems with a blaster," he said, shrugging. If she hadn't been there he would have lost his cool, maybe even wound up shooting some innocent loser at the spaceport. As far as new additions to their family went, she could have been worse. "You, uh, you're okay, Mantis. I guess. Mostly. I mean, you ain't the biggest dumbass I ever met."
Mantis beamed. "Thank you?" she said. "I think?"
"Keep thinkin' that," Rocket said. He turned back down to Groot. "Listen, you can't just wander off like that again. You ain't just puttin' yourself in danger, you could give somebody a heart attack when you just disappear. You get that?"
Groot nodded slowly.
Rocket held out a hand for Groot.
Groot looked up at him, opened his mouth to say something, closed it. He stepped onto Rocket's hand and let himself get lifted up to Rocket's shoulder.
Rocket sighed. "But... I get why you did it," he said. "You're just a kid. You get bored when I'm doin' adult crap, and I wasn't really helpin' you out, was I?"
"I am Groot!" Groot said, grinning with vindication.
"No, I ain't sayin' what you did's okay!" Rocket said. "But... maybe we can spend a little time here before we go back to the ship. You just gotta promise me you ain't gonna wander off again. If you do that, I'll promise to take you to places like this more. You promise?"
Groot nodded. "I am Groot!" he said.
"I'm gonna hold you to that," Rocket said. He held out his hand. "And I promise I'm gonna take you to playgrounds and stuff more. High five on it?"
Groot slapped Rocket's palm. "I am Groot!"
Rocket stood up. "Alright, let's get started. What do you wanna do first?"
Mantis clasped her hands together self-consciously. "I should probably go back," she said. "I will tell everyone you two are busy."
Rocket scoffed. "You ain't tellin' 'em nothin'," he said. If Mantis had had even less of a childhood than he did, she deserved a chance to experience even some small part of what she had missed. Besides, now that she was offering to leave he kind of wanted her to stay anyway. "Look at this stupid place. That frickin' swingset's way too tall for me to push Groot on it. You're gonna have to help him out. And this merry-go-round thing? My stupid legs are too short to get it goin' fast enough. And the slide? It'd take Groot forever to climb up to the top on his own."
Mantis smiled. "Oh..." she said. For a fraction of a second something sad passed over her face, but it didn't last. "I have never been asked to play before. I do not even know where to start."
Groot tugged on Rocket's ear, pointing at the swingset.
Mantis giggled.
Rocket winced. "Groot, use your words," he said. As much as he hated that Mantis was probably thinking they were being stupid and cute or whatever, he'd let her get away with it this time. He owed her for today. "That ain't just a fun handhold for you to play with, it's part of my head."
Groot let go of the ear. "I am Groot," he said excitedly.
Rocket rolled his eyes. "You're supposed to say sorry," he said. "Jeez, Groot, you got no patience! It's always 'now, now, now' with you." He looked up at Mantis. "Groot says he wants to go on the swing first. You know how swings work?"
"I suppose," Mantis said. She walked over to the swingset with a bittersweet smile and pushed one of the seats. "I can learn."
"You better," Rocket said. He made his way over and set Groot down on one of the oversized seats... which was way too big for him, just like Rocket had thought.
He sighed. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. He picked Groot up again and put him on top of his head, setting the fusion converter down beside the swingset and clambering up onto the seat himself.
"Alright, Groot, until you're big enough for the seat we're goin' together," he said. He glared up at Mantis. "If you ever tell the others about this, next time you go for a shower I'm gonna make sure it sprays you with oil straight from the engine."
"I can keep secrets," Mantis protested through her smile. "Groot is lucky to have you for a dad."
Rocket huffed. "Whatever," he said. "If you quit sayin' that kinda crap you can get a turn on the swing."
He did his best not to tense at the feeling of Mantis' hands on his back starting to push him. He felt like an idiot sitting on that stupid thing, but it wasn't for him. Hearing Groot whoop with joy when they started to get some real air time made it all worth it, and once they had enough momentum to keep going Mantis took the swing next to them and gave it a shot. It didn't take her long to figure things out at all. Not that he'd ever admit it, but it felt good to see her having fun like this. And maybe he was having a little fun, too.
Rocket had a sinking feeling that everyone was going to find out about this even if Mantis didn't tell them, but he could deal with that. As much of a failure as he felt like, maybe Mantis was right that Groot was lucky to have him, if only because he could have had so much worse. Next to Ego, or the High Evolutionary, he didn't look so bad. He was at least trying. He cared as much as he knew how to.
Maybe that put him on the same level as Yondu? That didn't seem bad. Yondu had screwed things up a lot, but Quill still missed him. And... well, Rocket hadn't screwed things up as bad as Yondu had. He'd been heading that way before, would have if Yondu hadn't told him better, and shown him better.
He never had a father, not unless the asshole that mutilated him into the freak he was today counted, but he'd had a family before. He hadn't been that different from Groot in some ways, an unexpected addition to a family that had all loved him.
And maybe if the old Groot could see him he'd be proud. Not because Rocket was a perfect father, because he was pretty sure he was just mediocre at best, but because he was doing his best and he had let himself care. Maybe that much was enough.
Maybe for just this one thing Rocket was enough.