Work Text:
Gamora’s heart skipped a beat after Peter dropped his Zune. The ship was collapsing and Cosmo wouldn’t be able to hold it for much longer. She knew what he was about to do.
He paused mid-run, turned around, and went back for the Zune, sweeping it up off the ground.
Then, Cosmo collapsed on her side, unconscious. Gamora bit the inside of her cheek.
“Quill!” Drax shouted from across the gap between the ships, which was slowly widening. “Hurry!”
Peter ran up the incline of the ship, which had begun to fall through space. The gap was growing wider by the second, but it was still a manageable jump.
Then, the ground in front of Peter collapsed, sending him falling to the ship’s lower level. Her heart dropped as she lost sight of him. She thought back to their many close calls, and how they’d always made it out together.
Gamora didn’t remember it, but Peter had told her all about the time Nebula blew up her pod on the outskirts of Knowhere, leaving her stranded in space without life support. Peter had saved her.
She had saved him on Xandar, when he took the Power Stone in his hands, almost succumbing to its cosmic energy. She offered him her hand and he took it, the power of the stone shared between the two of them, then all of the Guardians in a group effort.
She thought back to Ego’s planet, where she thought she had lost him for good. The Guardians were forced to escape the dying, collapsing planet, leaving Quill behind with it. If it wasn’t for Yondu’s sacrifice, she would have lost him.
He had lost her four years later. Her father had sacrificed her for the Soul Stone, throwing her off the cliffs of Vormir. She remembered those few seconds of consciousness right before she died, something that would haunt her forever.
Then, five years later, she was brought back.
So, now, she was sure they would make it out together. Her eyes searched for any sign of Peter in the flaming, collapsing hull of the High Evolutionary’s ship. The seconds felt like minutes. Then, she found him, releasing her held breath. He jumped from the lower sector, holding onto a cord, just narrowly missing the flames of the exploding ship. He let go of the cord and it blasted him with high pressure, launching him backward, towards the opening of Knowhere, where Gamora and the Guardians waited anxiously.
He slowly turned towards them, a slight smile on his face as his eyes met Gamora’s. He soared across the gap between, towards a field of debris. From her perspective, it looked like he was going to perfectly dodge all of the debris from the hull of the High Evolutionary’s ship. He was going to make it, just like he always did. The ship exploded soundlessly behind him, casting orange and yellow hues on his face.
Then, she watched as a piece of mangled metal drifted in front of him, right in his path. He collided with it, stopping his momentum. Her heart dropped again. She knew he didn’t have his rocket boots or his helmet; nothing to propel himself or allow him to breathe in the empty space between them. She watched helplessly as Peter’s eyes widened with terror, his arm reaching out towards Gamora. His face began to crackle with the cold ice of space.
“PETER!” she cried out, tears filling her eyes. In front of her, Groot reached out with both hands, his wooden fingers extending into branches, reaching out into the depths of space, reaching towards Peter. For a moment, she had hope. This will work, she thought, he’s going to reach him. Then, the tips of his fingers broke off, frozen in the airless space. Her brief sense of hope fleeted.
There was no way the Guardians could save Peter Quill. Her heart sank deeper and deeper as she failed to swallow the lump in her throat, the silent tears pouring from her eyes.
Peter’s face started to bloat, the frozen depths of space chillingly freezing his terrified expression. His damning Zune floated out of his hands as his last breath left his mouth in a fleeting, misty cloud. This was it; he was gone. There was nothing she could do to save him.
Another explosion rocked the ship, momentarily blinding her. As her vision cleared, she looked back to Peter.
He wasn’t alone.
Adam was floating beside him, reaching out for him. He grabbed onto his wrist with one hand, wrapping his other arm around his waist. Gamora held her breath as Adam glided across the gap between the High Evolutionary’s ship and Knowhere, clutching onto Peter tightly. The smaller explosions behind them became one massive explosion, just narrowly avoiding them as Adam flew them to safety, entering Knowhere’s orbit, crashing into the ground with force, sliding past the Guardians.
Gamora and the other Guardians ran up to Peter’s seemingly lifeless body as Adam stood, brushing himself off, taking a step back.
Gamora knelt beside Peter, rolling him over from his side. “Peter!” she exclaimed. She couldn’t tell if he was breathing. If he was, it was just barely. His face was mangled and puffy but had begun to thaw. On the other side of him, Mantis knelt down, her hands hovering over him.
“Did that look cool?” Peter just barely forced out. Gamora let out a sigh of relief. She wanted to call him an idiot and all other sorts of names; she wanted to ridicule him for going back for the Zune. She didn’t. All that mattered was that he was okay.
“Come on,” she said, helping him sit up. She planted a tearful kiss on his cheek, then pulled him into a hug. Mantis followed suit, hugging her brother tightly. The rest of the Guardians joined in, hugging him and each other.
Cosmo jumped up and started licking Peter’s face.
“Cosmo!” Peter said. “I’m okay.”
Gamora felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up with teary eyes to find Adam hunched over the Guardians, hands extended in both directions, looking unsure. She gave him a thankful nod and he returned the gesture, then awkwardly joined the group hug.
They had made it.