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Chapter Text

VROOM! A black ground vehicle sped through the rocky ruins of a planet called Morag. It had the structure of a corvette convertible, but it was more technological; having a more hourglass-like body shape and blasters coming from both sides of it. As it continued its way around Morag, the blasters started aiming and firing at the Sakaarans that were guarding the crumbling temple behind them.

Once all of the Sakaarans were lying on the ground, dead or barely alive, five figures exited from the vehicle; a green beauty, a musclebound maniac, a walking tree, a talking raccoon and a man, who calls himself 'Star-lord'.

"Okay. Rocket, Groot, Drax; stay out here. Anyone comes, you know what to do. Me and Gamora will go inside, get the weapon and head back out as soon as we can." The man in the maroon jacket ordered.

The raccoon glared at him and wrinkled his nose. "I still don't know how you became leader."

"Because, Quill might be childish, but he's the most capable out of all of us." The green woman replied, as she walked over to the man in the maroon and placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"Thanks, I guess." He replied. "Anyways, just go along with it, okay? We'll be right back." The green woman and the man in the maroon walked into the temple and scoped around, attacking anyone who got in their way. They finally came upon the large, stone door, where the weapon was held.

"It's behind that door." The green woman said, pointing to it. She started to open it, until the man grabbed her, by her arm.

"Gamora, please. Be careful." She scoffed and rolled her eyes playfully, clearly irritating the man.

"Peter, I'll be fine. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

"I'm serious." He scolded with a voice that was deeper than usual. She nodded and gripped her sword tighter.

When the two entered the room, five Sakaaran surrounded a stone table that held the weapon. "There it is!" Gamora exclaimed, pointing to the stone table.

"Ready?" Peter asked grabbing one of his quad guns from his belt. Gamora nodded, as they ran towards the guards.

Two of the Sakaarans started to run towards them. Gamora stabbed one of the two in the stomach and back kicked the other one, sending him flying towards one of the stone walls. "Gam, watch out!" Peter yelled, as a third guard started to run towards her. He aimed his gun at him and pulled the trigger, leaving a huge hole in the guard's chest.

"I can take care of myself! Just get those two guarding the...weapon." She said, finally stabbing the second guard in the back. She pulled her Godslayer and looked over at Peter, who had just shot the other two guards in their chests. Gamora watched as the two guards slowly fell to the ground. She, then, followed Peter to the stone table and couldn't believe what she saw. Needles. Serum. IVs. And most importantly, a girl, no older than five, who was unconscious, lying on the table, connected to everything. This story was familiar to her. Thanos had done the same to her when she was younger. She was in shock. She couldn't speak or move. The only thing she heard was something metal slamming on the ground. She slowly looked down and realized she had sunk to her knees. She heard someone calling her name. Peter. She looked over towards him. She could see him, but everything was blurry and shaky. Gamora realized that she was the one who was shaking and slowly stood up, almost losing her balance.

She took another look at the girl, completely drowning out the commands Peter was yelling at her. The young girl was absolutely gorgeous. Even though her skin was dirty, Gamora could tell that it was a tone lighter that Peter's. She must have been Xandarian. Her long, burgundy hair, that was down to her mid stomach, was curly and tangled. The girl had thin, blood red lips that made her look even paler. She was very petite, both in size and length and was clad is a tight, black jumpsuit.

Gamora had finally snapped back into reality and felt Peter shaking her. "Gamora! We need to leave. Did you hear what Rocket said? They're coming at them like crazy! We need to disconnect her and carry her out." She didn't know what to say; she just nodded.

Peter carefully pulled the needles out of the girl and picked her up. "Come on!" He yelled, as he ran out of the door. Gamora followed shortly behind him.

A Few Hours Later...

Gamora could tell the girl was regaining consciousness, but was still asleep. She was slightly shifting on the blue couch that Peter had placed her on. Gamora was sitting on the edge of the couch, right next to her. She took a wet cloth and started to gently wipe the girl's dirty face. The girl didn't move. She must have been a deep sleeper. Gamora sat the cloth down on a metal shelf that was right behind the couch. She pulled a strand of hair out of the girl's closed eyes and gently rubbed her hand down the side of her face. She smiled a little.

"How's she doing?" A manly voice asked behind her. She jumped, and turned to see Peter staring at her with nothing but, concern shown on his face.

"Quill, you scared the hell out of me!" She exclaimed, quietly.

"Sorry." He whispered, as he started to approach her.

"She's doing fine." She finally said, turning her gaze towards the girl. "Better than I was."

"What are you thinking about? I know that look."

She turned towards him. "This is Thanos' revenge. This is what I got for leaving him. He wanted to replace me." Rare tears started to flood her eyes. No! She would not cry. "So, he genetically modified another young girl."

Peter sat next to her. "It isn't your fault, you know."

"I should've known I wasn't going to have lasting happiness. I knew he was going to do something to piss me off." Peter grabbed her hand and thumbed the back of it.

"You deserve happiness. Thanos is an asshole." He looked at the girl. "She'll be fine, now."

"I don't think it's wise for her to go to Nova." She said doing the same.

"Why do you say that?"

"She's genetically modified, Peter. She'll go insane. She needs someone to train her. Furthermore, Thanos is going to come for her. She would be safer with a group of people who survived holding an infinity stone." She turned towards Peter.

"Gamora, the only one who knows anything about kids, is Drax. No way in hell are we going to be able to care for her. I'm sure they can take care of her and if they can't, i'm sure they'll find somebody who can."

"It's not just about her safety, Peter. This is my fault. I need to take responsibility. I need to be the one who cares for her." Peter nodded. "I need your help." She finally said.

"Okay."

Peter didn't know why, but Gamora was one of the only people, he knew he could be himself around. He knew he felt something special for her; he felt something that he hadn't felt with any other girl. Maybe it was because she reminded him a lot of his mother; caring, nurturing and brave. There was also something very mother-ing about her. He knew that he was in love; in love with her. The only thing is, the last time he tried to show her how he really felt, he got a knife to the throat. Until he was positive that she felt the same, he wasn't going to try anything. All he could do was protect her and do anything for her.

He didn't know anything about kids, besides that they can be annoying and very vexing. But, he's doing this for Gamora. She was trying to make up for her past mistakes. That's one thing he knew he couldn't take away from her. So, yes, he did agree. He also knew that since Gamora was genetically modified, she understood what it was like. She could train the girl, teach her how to use her strength and of course, he would help. The only thing is; how are the rest of the team going to react to their new addition?

Then, when both of them least expected it, the young girl opened her eyes.

Chapter Text

Then, when both of them least expected it, the young girl opened her eyes. They were a beautiful shade of brown that had lost the light inside of them. All that was in her eyes was fear and darkness. Gamora and Peter studied her for a moment. The girl looked at them in horror. "Who awe you? Whewe am I?" She asked in a squeaky high-pitched voice.

"I'm Peter. This is Gamora. You're on our ship. What's your name?" Peter asked in a friendly voice, giving her a cheeky grin.

"Wu-Wu-Wuna." She stuttered.

"That's a pretty name. Are you alright, Luna?" Gamora asked in the gentle voice she rarely uses.

"Yeah, I guess." She replied, scooting farther away from Peter and Gamora.

"You're safe now." Gamora scooted closer to Luna, which made her stiffen. Her smile turned into a grave expression. "We're not going to hurt you, I promise."

"Why did you save me?" Luna asked with rage filling through her veins.

"I know what it feels like; what it feels like to be experimented on and feel like you're being torn apart. I know how you feel." She repeated. "We saved you because I couldn't bear the thought of anyone being treated the way I was. I saved you because I didn't want you to live the life I did. Do you understand?"

She nodded and looked at Peter. "I'm sowwy. I'm just scawed." A tear fell from her eye and rolled down her cheek as she looked away from them. Gamora placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, making her jump. She quickly turned her head towards her, as the green woman used her other hand to wipe the tear off her cheek.

"It's okay to be scared. I was too."

"Did Thanos huwt you?" She asked, pointing to the silver scars on Gamora's face.

She felt the scars on her face and nodded. "Did he hurt you, as well?"

The young girl nodded and hugged the sheet, that she was covered up in, close to her. The two adults looked at each other, gazing into each others eyes. After a while, Gamora broke the gaze, clearing her throat, and turning her attention towards the little girl.

"How about we get you cleaned up?" Luna hesitantly nodded and followed Gamora to the bathroom. Peter watched as the two girls walked away.

"Wait here." Gamora said, as she left the bathroom. Luna started stripping off her torn clothes, as Gamora walked back in with a long, black, tank top. She placed it on the sink and walked over to the silver tub. Luna watched, as she turn the dial and clear water started to fill the bottom of it. Gamora stretched out her arms to pick the young girl up.

"I can do it." She said, as she walked past Gamora's arms and tried to climb into the tub, when she fell back on her bottom.

"Let me help." Gamora said, picking her up and placing her in the tub. She didn't realize how skinny the young girl was until she picked her up. The poor girl's ribs could be shown through her pale skin and she had no source of muscle or fat in her. Gamora know how it felt to be starved and abused. She knew what it was like to constantly wake up from nightmares. She knew what it was like to keep an eye open every night to avoid being killed in her sleep. It wasn't until she met Peter (and the other Guardians) that she felt safe falling asleep at night.

She grabbed a washcloth off the counter and soaked it in the water. She grabbed a bottle of liquid soap that smelled like a mixture of oranges and apples and poured it into the washcloth. She gently wiped it across the young girl's torso, legs, arms and, eventually, face. The whole time, Luna said nothing, but stared off into space. As soon as Gamora finished cleaning her up, she grabbed a towel, wrapped it around the girl and picked her up out of the tub. She put Luna down and knelt down to her level. She helped the girl get dressed and started to brush her hair.

"Better?" Luna nodded. "Do you want me to braid your hair?"

"Um..."

Peter heard the conversation, while passing by the bathroom, and peaked through the door. Through the small crevice, he saw Gamora taking strands of Luna's wet hair and weaving them together. "There." She said. The green woman gave Luna a silver, hand mirror. "Do you like it?" She nodded with an expressionless face. Peter smiled, seeing the two bonding and walked away.

It had been an hour since Luna was put to bed. She still wasn't sleeping and Gamora didn't leave the doorway until she knew she was asleep. She leaned against the door frame, watching the young girl's eyes flutter open and close.

"Hey." A deep voice said from behind, startling her. He gazed at her intently. "How's she doing?"

Gamora didn't take her eyes off of the girl, but answered the man. "She won't sleep."

"Try singing her to sleep." Peter said, not taking his eyes off of her.

The woman finally faced him. "You really think I would do that?"

"It might work."

Gamora hummed, as her lips twitched upward. "I do not sing, Peter."

Peter smirked. "And I thought you said that you wanted to be the one who takes care of her."

She glared at him. "And I thought you said that you were going to help."

His expression grew serious. "Just try it. You never know."

Gamora threw her arms up in the air. "What do I even sing?"

"I don't know. How about that lullaby you said, your mom always sang to you."

The grew woman smiled sadly. "Yes, I remember that one. I will give it a try." Peter smiled as he watched her walk into the other room.

"Hey."

Luna looked up at Gamora. "Hi."

"You know what always made me go to sleep when I was younger?" She asked, sitting next to the young girl, starting to stroke the loose strands of hair coming from her long braided pigtails.

"What?" The young girl asked curiously.

"My mother always sang me a lullaby." She took a deep breath and started to sing. "Sleep, baby, sleep. What are you waiting for? The morning's on its way; you know it's only just a dream. Oh. Sleep, baby, sleep. I lie next to you; the beauty of this mess is that it brings me close to you." The young girl's eyes slowly began to shut. Soon, Luna was fast asleep. Gamora slowly got up and left the room.

Peter looked at her with a huge smirk across his face. He laughed, as she passed him.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked with a frown.

"You're being very motherly."

"No way in hell would I be considered motherly." She said with more of a sad expression. Peter's smirk turned into a frown.

"Why would you say that?"

"I'm a murderer, Peter; a cold blooded murderer. Why would any child want a mother like that? Plus,-" She turned her head towards the girl. "Even if I wanted to be her mother, I couldn't."

"You don't have to be her mother, just a motherly figure. And don't say that."

"Say what?" She argued.

"Don't say that you're a cold blooded murderer! You are a Guardian; you made up for your past mistakes. I see the way she looks at you and I see the way you look back." He said sternly. He subconsciously grabbed her hand. "You're probably the closest thing she's had to a mother in a while."

Gamora gave him a soft smile and walked away, letting go of his hand.

Chapter Text

She was lying on something soft and cushiony, yet, at the same time, it was hard and stiff. The scent in the air was sour, but it smelled better than the dry blood that stained the concrete walls of the cell she was kept in. She didn't want to open her eyes, in hopes that she wasn't dreaming. Eventually, she knew she had to. Her tiny, white eyelids slowly fluttered open, as she looked around the room she was in. Everything was mostly metal. There was barely anything in the room, besides the couch she was on and a large, stereo to the side of her that was softly playing music. She sat up a little bit to see five figures staring at her through the doorway; two of which, she had met earlier.

"She's waking up." Gamora whispered, looking at the young girl as she glanced around the room.

"Cool. I can crank up the volume, then!" Peter exclaimed, starting to walk towards the stereo. The green woman quickly grabbed the collar of his leather jacket and pulled him back. "Woah!" He exclaimed. "What the hell is your problem?"

"She is already scared to death. We don't want to make it worse." Peter glared at her and pulled out of her grasp. She caught her balance and glared back. "Peter!" She whispered.

He walked into the living area and approached Luna. She stiffened underneath her sheet.

"I do not understand. If she was scared to death, wouldn't she have already been dead?" Drax asked, scratching his forehead.

Gamora groaned and shook her head. "It's an expression, Dipshit!" Rocket yelled. The muscular man clutched his fists as the green woman pulled him back.

"Rocket, be quiet. Drax, calm down." Drax pulled away from Gamora and left the room.

Peter scanned the young girl and turned to face the stereo. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he turned up the volume.

"Um, bettew. I'm a wittwe thiwsty." She shyly whispered in a squeaky voice. It seemed as if the young girl had Rhotacism, since her r's and l's sounded like w's. Gamora wouldn't admit it out loud, but she found it adorable.

Gamora stepped into the room and stared at the young girl. "Would you like some-?"

"Would you like some water?" Peter asked, stepping in front of Gamora.

Luna looked at them, confusedly, and nodded. Peter pushed Gamora out of the way and ran into the kitchen. Gamora rolled her eyes. The young girl's lips twitched upward and a slight chuckle escaped from her lips.

"What?" Gamora asked.

"He wikes you."

"Yeah, yeah. We all know that. I don't understand why you two just don't make out already." A voice slipped from a small animal's mouth. Luna looked over at him and awe spread throughout her face.

The green woman turned to the raccoon. "Rodent, I swear, I will slap you."

"Don't call me Rodent!"

Luna pulled off her sheet and walked towards the raccoon. "I am Groot?" A tree asked in front of her. She looked up at him and smiled. It was the first time she had actually smiled since they had brought her there. Gamora looked at the young girl in curiosity.

She looked at the raccoon and smiled. "You'we so cute." She squealed. Gamora smirked and patted Rocket on the back.

"Have fun." She whispered, before leaving the room. The disgruntled raccoon folded his ears back in annoyance.

"Listen, Kid; you leave me and my tools alone!" Rocket started to walk away as the little girl, who was slightly taller than him, blocked him from leaving the room.

"My name's Wuna. What's youws?" She asked, trying to be friendly, yet ignoring what the raccoon had said.

"Rocket. Now, shut up and leave me alone." He pushed her out of his way and started walking towards his makeshift workshop, that was in the meeting area of a ship. It consisted of his tools and a small work table made from scraps of metal. The raccoon grabbed, what seemed to be, some kind of wrench and a bolt. He started working on building a new explosive, until he felt something, or someone, breathing over his shoulder. He turned around to see the little girl staring curiously at what he was doing.

"What awe you doing?" She asked, pointing at the small object in his hand.

He sighed. "I'm making a bomb. Leave me alone."

"That's vewy scawy."

"Luna?" A voice called from the other room. Peter walked in, with a glass filled with water and some kind of alien fruit. "There you are." He held out the glass and fruit towards her. She looked at the two objects with suspicion spread throughout her face. "I didn't poison them. They're fine. Right, Rocket?"

"Yeah. Sure." The young girl looked at the raccoon as he spoke, then turned her attention back to Peter.

She hesitantly took the food and water from his large, calloused hands. Luna quickly drank all of the water and bit into the fruit. It was sweet and tasted like apples, but had a sour aftertaste that tasted similar to a lime. She loved the taste of it and quickly devoured the rest. She let out a quick 'thank you' and left the room.

Not looking where she was going, she bumped into a large man with red tattoos spread throughout his body. Luna fell onto the ground. She slowly looked up and saw the man staring at her. She didn't know what to say and just stared at him, gaping. The man let out a deep chuckle.

"Hello. I do not believe we have fully met. My name is Drax. Yours is Luna, correct?" The young girl nodded, still gaping. He chuckled again and picked her up. He held her to the side of him. "You remind me of my daughter."

"Is she hewe?" She whispered. Drax shook his head. "Whewe is she?"

"She has passed on. Along with her mother." The young girl looked at her with sympathy in her eyes. The man sighed and put her down. "Do you know what your name means?" He asked her. She shook her head. "It means the 'Moon Goddess'."

She gave the man a soft smile and walked back to the living area, where she found a black dress, maroon jacket, and a pair of combat boots, lying on the couch. Was it true? Was she finally out of danger?

Chapter Text

The young girl looked curiously at the small clothes lying on the couch. Little did she know, a green figure was shadowing her from the doorway. She picked up the clothes and walked to the bathroom.

The green figure sighed and turned around. She saw a man staring back at her and jumped. "What the hell, Quill?" She yelled. Peter put his hands up in defense. He slowly approached her and stopped, only a few feet away from her. "What do you want?"

"Did she find the clothes?" He asked her.

She looked at him in confusion. What was he saying? Why did he care? He said he would help her, but she didn't think he really meant it. When he got the water for Luna, was it to impress Gamora? Was it to show her how 'caring' he could be? Or was it because he really wanted to help? She knew he could be annoying, but she also knew he wasn't 100% a dick. Maybe, 12%? The other 88% she saw something else in him.

He could be caring. He could care. Peter was also very sincere when he wanted to be. He had the personality of a child, but that doesn't mean he didn't have intentions of gold and that definitely didn't mean he wasn't serious at all. Gamora had to admit it; she had fun hanging out with him. She never wanted to admit it out loud, because she knew happy endings didn't last forever. Especially when you have a genocidal maniac possibly tracking your every move.

She also thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea to keep Luna with them. Yes, she was genetically modified, but she didn't know how to fight. She didn't know how to defend herself or others. When they have to go on missions, they can't let anything happen to her and they definitely can't go on a mission without all of their muscle, or their leader. Gamora didn't know the first thing about taking care of a child. Were they just like taking care of a sick adult, except smaller?

She knew, eventually, she would have to ask Drax for help. She also knew she had to teach Luna how to fight and to help prevent her from going insane. The young girl still had nightmares. Every time she closed her eyes, she would flinch. Hopefully, that would go away soon. But what if it didn't? It also seemed as if she felt uneasy going anywhere without any of them.

No matter what the problem was, she had to learn how to defend herself. Gamora knew that after she got dressed, she would have to start training right away.

"Gamora?" The green woman snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention towards Peter. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, i'm fine." There was awkward silence for a while, but Gamora broke it. "I'm going to have to train her right away. She doesn't know a thing about fighting; she can't defend herself."

"You have to remember, she's a kid. I don't think she knows what it's like to have fun."

"Peter, she needs to learn how to defend herself before she can have fun."

"She's a kid, Gamora. How long until she can be one? When she's thirty?"

"If that's how long it takes; then, yes."

"Whatever. I can't believe you." He started to walk away, when a strong, but feminine, arm forced him to turn around.

"I can't believe you think that fun is more important that death!" She started to yell at him.

"I never said that! You're twisting my words. I only said she can't just train 24/7." Gamora gave him a death stare and stormed away into the other room.

"Tell her to meet me in the living area in five minutes."

Peter did the complete opposite. He made her follow him into his bedroom, where a second stereo sat,next to his bed. He placed 'Awesome Mix Vol. 2' in the slot. 'The Chain' started playing. Luna looked at Peter in confusion. "What is that noise?" She asked.

"It's called music." He answered.

"What does it do? Does it make peopwe die?" She asked in curiosity. She sat on the edge of his bed, as he started to move his body to the beat. She started to giggle. "What are you doing?"

"It's called dancing. Try it! It's fun." He picked her up and started dancing with her in his arms. The whole time they danced, she didn't stop giggling.

Furious, Gamora stomped into the room. The two must have not heard her, since they continued dancing. A small smile slipped on to Gamora's face, seeing the child giggle out loud for the first time. Three figures followed her lead and stood behind her. They had huge smiles on their faces as well, including the always disgruntled raccoon.

The Guardians sat there and watched as the two danced around the room. After what seemed like hours, the young girl, who was covered in sweat, plopped down on Peter's bed. She giggled. "That was...um."

"Fun?" Peter tried with a crooked smile.

"Yeah. Fun." She said, returning the gesture.

Gamora cleared her throat and walked into the room, making Luna jump. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Luna." She turned her body towards Peter and placed a hand on her curvy hip. "Peter, it's time for her to train."

"Twain for what?" The young girl asked.

"You didn't even tell her? Peter, what the hell is wrong with you?" Gamora asked rhetorically, raising her voice. "You need to learn how to fight, if you want to prevent yourself from going insane." The young girl looked at her confusedly.

"Um, we're gonna go." Rocket said awkwardly, leaving the room with Groot and Drax.

"I'm sorry. She's a kid. Gamora, you're the one who's going to train her. Why didn't you tell her yourself?"

"Oh my god. Peter Jason Quill, you are an asshole."

"STOP!" A squeaky voice yelled behind them. "Stop fighting. My head huwts." Luna rubbed her temples.

Gamora and Peter both rushed over to her. "Are you okay, Luna?" Gamora asked.

"Yes. Just pwease stop fighting. I don't know why, but it's making my head huwt." The two adults looked at each other.

"Do you feel well enough to train?" The young girl nodded. "Come on." She said getting up. Luna looked at Peter and quickly followed Gamora.

"Do you like stories?"

"Yes, my mommy towd me some." Their voices trailed out of the room and into the halls of the Milano. Peter watched as the little girl reached up and held Gamora's hand. He smiled and turned to his stereo.

"She'll definitely make a good mother."

Chapter Text

"A ball? As in a dance?" Peter asked, with a irritated expression upon his face. Although he wouldn't admit it, going to a dance sounded like fun. The only problem was, there was no way in hell he was getting himself dressed up in a tux. He looked over at a young girl, who was slowly gaining the sparkle back into her eyes. Her mouth was wide open in excitement and her curly pigtails whipped around her face as she squealed and spun around.

"A dance! I wove dancing! Petew taught me how to dance, wight?" She asked rhetorically, smiling up at Peter. He returned the gestured and nodded. "Wait, wouwd I get to weaw a pwetty dwess?" He nodded again. "Yay!" She squealed. Luna spun around revealing a black skirt underneath her maroon jacket that was similar to Peter's. She was definitely a girly-girl, unlike Gamora, who seemed just as paranoid about the whole mission as the rest of the crew.

Nova Prime looked down at the young girl twirling around in her knee-length, asymmetrical skirt. She glared at Peter, mainly keeping her focus on the girl. "Excuse me, young lady, do you mind if I talk to your friends, alone for a moment?" She nodded her head and ran out of the room. The woman's smile faded and turned into a frown. "What are you doing, Mr. Quill?"

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but Gamora cut him off. "It wasn't Quill, Nova Prime. It was me." The green woman looked to her side, watching the young girl play with Groot, who made a swing out of his branches. The sound giggling and 'I am Groot's made it hard for her to focus on what she was saying. She forced her brown eyes back to Nova Prime. "On a previous mission, we found this young girl struggling for life. I couldn't bare myself to leave her at a random hospital, so I suggested that we should take care of her."

Gamora felt something warm rub her shoulder; it was Peter's large, calloused hand. She looked up into his deep blue eyes and together, they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. The woman in the hologram cleared her throat, quickly separating the two from their gazes. "I have a proclamation for you." The two adults stepped away from each other and looked at the hologram. "The child can stay with you. But, one mistake and she is to be taken into the custody of the Nova Corps. Am I clear?" The two adults nodded. "We appreciate what you are doing and we will see you soon." Peter ended the call with the click of a button and scratched his head.

"Well." He cleared his throat.

"I should-"

"We should-"

"Get ready." They said in unison.

"Right." Peter said, leaving the room, tickling Luna's neck on the way out, forcing her to giggle.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, still giggling. The young girl ran up to Gamora. The green woman stood still, watching as Peter exited the room. "When do I get my pwetty dwess?"

Gamora looked down at the young girl and picked her up. Luna wrapped her tiny arms around Gamora's neck. "We should probably find you one, huh?" The young girl nodded and tightened her grip around Gamora as she carried her out of the room.

Hours had passed and the Guardians finally made their way to the floral planet, known as Xandar, where the ball was being held. It was night and the planet was lit up by the different auroras of plants and lights coming from the buildings. The Milano finally landed onto the grassy plains and the Guardians made their exit.

All of the guys (besides Groot) were clad in tuxes that made Rocket's cybernetics itch like hell. As for the girls; Gamora was dressed in a black, long-sleeved bardot dress that came down to her knees. The top of the dress was tight were as the bottom was pleated and flew in the small breeze. She wore black heels that killed her feet and her hair was curled to the side. Luna was clad in a white, tea-length dress that had trumpet sleeves that came to her elbows. On the bottom right of her dress, a lunar eclipse was sequined on with various white and silver beads. Her hair was curled a pulled back with a silver scarf that laid like a headband. Her outfit was completed with a pair of white flats and a silver moon pedant.

Peter, who was the first to exit, helped the young girl down as she twirled in her dress. He took his eyes away from her to look at the beautiful green woman before him. Without thinking, he held his hand out to her. She gazed down at it and slapped it away. "I don't need your assistance, Quill. I can get down myself." The woman scaled down the ramp with ease and smirked at Quill, who was still staring at her in awe. "Quill. Are you alright?"

Peter cleared his throat and looked away from her. "Yeah. I'm fine." The two were silent for a minute as Gamora studied the man before her. "You look beautiful." He complimented as he looked back at her with a soft smile. A small blush appeared on the two adult's faces. Gamora snapped out of her thoughts and pushed Peter to the side.

"As I said before, your pelvic sorcery will not work on me, Quill." The woman grabbed Luna's hand and guided her inside of the large building.

The half-Terran man turned around to the rest of the Guardians, who all had wide smirks upon their faces. He groaned and pushed them out of his way. They followed him inside of the building, laughing hysterically.

Inside, there were hundreds of Xandarians dressed in their most formal attire. A foreign type of classical music was being played throughout the building. On the right side of the main ballroom, there were two large tables filled with everything from rich chocolates to beautifully decorated cakes. The left side was filled with tables and chairs. And in the very middle of the ballroom, was a golden chandelier that classed everything up.

As the Guardians entered, a beautiful pink Krylorian with bright, golden hair that was pinned up into a chignon, greeted them with a huge smile. She was clad in a very short, black, strapless chiffon dress. It seemed as if it was made for a night club instead of a ball. Gamora gave her a dirty look and clenched the small hand she was holding. She looked at Peter, who seemed to pay very little attention when she had approached them.

"Hello. You must be the Guardians of the Galaxy." She said in an Australian-like accent.

"Hello. You must be in the wrong place. The night club is down the block to the left." Gamora muttered under her breath.

"If you will follow me this way, I will show you to your table." She finished, smirking at Gamora. Peter stepped in front of her and kissed the Krylorian's hand.

"Thank you." The Krylorian giggled as Peter flashed her a flirtatious smile. She led the Guardians into the main ballroom. Before Peter could enter, Gamora grabbed his wrist to pull him back.

"Luna, can you ask Drax to dance with you? I'm sure he'd love to!" Gamora asked with a kind smile, kneeling down in front of the girl. Her eyes widened, as did the smile on her face. She nodded excitedly and ran inside of the ballroom to catch up to Drax. As the young girl left, Gamora's smile faded and she turned towards Peter. He opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted by Gamora. "What the hell? You're doing this again? And now when we have a child living with us? Peter, you can't do that!"

"Do what?" He countered. "All I said was 'thank you'!"

"Really? It looked like you were flirting to me. I swear to God, if you are planning to get la..."

"I was being a gentleman." He interrupted. Gamora stared at him, not convinced. "There's a difference, Gam."

"Don't call me, 'Gam'."

"I'm not trying to get laid, Gamora. I've changed."

"Really? That's funny because I distinctly remember a week before we found Luna, a woman snuck out of your room with one of your shirts on."

"That was-" Gamora, still unconvinced, was getting greener with every second they argued. A small smirk formed upon Peter's face as he pulled the pieces together. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous."

"I am not!" She yelled, attracting more attention than she intended to. "I am not jealous." She said a little more calmly.

"Yes, you are, Gamora! I saw your face when I kissed that girl's hand. When she came over, in that slutty outfit." Gamora scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I even heard what you said under your breath."

"You're unbelievable."

"Just admit it and i'll leave you alone."

"In your dreams, Starlord." Gamora crossed her arms and entered the ballroom. Peter smirked and followed her lead.

For the first few hours, nothing happened. Peter and Drax danced with Luna, Rocket and Groot occupied the buffet tables, and Gamora sat at their table, surveying the entire ballroom.

Gamora couldn't help but think of Peter the entire time she was alone. She thought of when Luna said that Peter liked her. She thought of how much Peter has helped her with Luna and even helped her in general. She thought about all those nightmares she had and how Peter wouldn't leave her side until she had fallen asleep. She thought about all of those times Peter tried to compliment her and all she did was hurt him. Was Luna right? Did he actually like her?

"Gamora!"

At the mention of her name, she shot out of her thoughts and looked up. Peter was in front of her with concern in his eyes. "You okay?" He asked.

"Uh...yes. I'm fine." She said, confusedly. "What did you need?"

"I just felt bad that you're sitting here by yourself. I didn't want you to be alone."

"Where's Luna?" She asked, ignoring what he just said.

"She's with Drax." Gamora nodded. "So, that Krylorian kept checking me out."

"Oh. Let me guess, you danced and made out?"

"Oh, you're funny. She's not my type."

Gamora laughed. "You have a type?"

"Yep. Everyone does."

"What's my type?" She asked, not realizing she was starting to flirt with him.

"I don't know. That's for you to figure out." He smirked. She smiled at him and laughed for a second. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, watching Drax spin Luna around in circles. Peter looked at Gamora, who was still smiling. He knew she was beautiful, but he never realized it until he actually took a closer look at her. Without thinking, he got out of the chair he was sitting in and stood in front of Gamora, blocking her view. Neither said anything. Peter held out his hand and gave Gamora a soft smile. She returned the gesture and grabbed his hand. He pulled her up and took her to the dance floor.

He put her left arm around his back and held her hand in his. He slowly led her across the dance floor. At first, she was stiff and tried to keep up, but she got used to it and caught up with him.

Luna was the first to catch the two dancing together. The smile on her face only grew. She started hitting Drax's arm to get his attention. "Dwax. Dwax!" She yelled. "Wook! Gamowa and Petew awe dancing." Drax looked up from the punch bowl. He followed Luna's sight and finally found the pair still dancing.

"I have an idea to make their moment more memorable." Drax said, walking towards their table. Luna followed him in step.

"See? You just need to learn to relax sometimes. Are you having fun?" Peter asked, looking down at her.

She looked up at him with a genuine smile upon her face. "Yes, yes I am."

All of a sudden a familiar pop song from Peter's mix-tape started playing over the speakers. A huge smile grew on Peter's face.

"Isn't this a song from your mix-tapes?" Gamora yelled over the loud music.

"Yup! Things We Do For Love, 10cc, 1976. Good song! Come on, dance!" He yelled back, as they started to pick up the pace.

At first, everyone besides the Guardians, were confused, due to the fact they were unfamiliar with the song. Eventually, they started to catch on to the beat and started dancing the quickstep/foxtrot to it.

"PETER! SLOW DOWN!" Gamora yelled as she laughed, trying to catch up with him.

The rest of the Guardians lined up next to Drax as they watched Peter and Gamora dance to one of Peter's favorite songs. "You told them to play this, didn't you?" Rocket asked, smirking at the pair.

"I tried. Unfortunately, they declined my wishes. Unlike me, this adorable child can convince anyone to do anything." Drax said, looking down at the young girl.

"Yeah! We towd them to pway this song to make Gamowa and Petew have mowe fun!" Luna said, excitedly.

It was the end of the song and the music started to fade. Peter slowly dipped Gamora. Their lips were inches apart. At first, it seemed as if they were going to kiss, but unfortunately, that moment ended when a blast came between them.

Gamora fell to the ground and Peter quickly helped her up. "Drax, Gamora, Luna; evacuate everyone, now! Rocket, Groot; help me take out these bastards."

The green woman hiked up her dress and grabbed the Godslayer from her leg holster. "Peter, help them evacuate. I can handle this on my own."

"No, Gamora! Those are orders!" He yelled to her.

"Go! I can handle this, I promise." He nodded and followed Drax and Luna. "Rocket, Groot; forget what Peter just said! Go help them evacuate everyone!" The two nodded and ran back towards the rest of the Guardians. "It's playtime, boys."

As Peter helped evacuate the guests, he watched Gamora struggle to fight off the Sakaaran army that had attacked.

"Damnmt." He muttered under his breath. He grabbed his one of his quad-blasters out of his holster and turned to Drax. "Keep evacuating them! I'm gonna help Gamora!" Drax nodded and kept evacuating everyone. Peter turned around to see Luna following him. "Luna! Go help Drax!"

"No! I want to hewp you!" She yelled back.

"I don't have time to argue, Luna! Go back now!" He yelled to her more sternly. He turned his back to her and ran towards Gamora.

As she pulled her sword out of one of the Sakaaran soldiers, she thought that she had gotten them all, but she was wrong. Peter saw him, one more Sakaaran soldier who was close to Gamora, getting ready to attack. Out of reflex, he took his shot. Gamora turned around to see the Sakaaran soldier, falling to the ground with a huge gap in his abdomen. She then saw Peter freeze with a concerned look upon his face, staring straight at her.

For a moment, they said nothing-but it was the kind of nothing, that meant everything. Eventually, Gamora moved and sped-walked towards him.

"Gam, listen. I saw that you were in trouble and I needed to help you. I know you can handle yourself, but I just-" Before he could finish his sentence, green lips were passionately kissing his own. Gamora ran her fingers through his hair, gripping it gently. At first, Peter was shocked, but he returned the gesture, pulling her closer to him. The green woman pulled away slowly.

"Thank you-" She whispered. "For everything." She kissed him quickly on the cheek and looked behind him. Luna was nowhere in sight. "Where's Luna?"

"Drax! Where's Luna?" Peter yelled to him. Drax's eyes got big and he said nothing. "Shit!"

In the distance, there was a scream. It was Luna's scream.

Chapter Text

The scream. The scream made both Gamora and Peter's hearts stop for a second. Without saying a word, Gamora quickly dropped her Godslayer and ripped one of Peter's blasters out of his hand. She kicked off her four inch heels and ran towards the scream. What she saw was unbearable; Luna was unconscious and back into the hands of Thanos and the Sakaarans, only it wasn't Thanos or the Sakaarans. It was somebody she knew right before she betrayed Thanos; Proxima Midnight.

When they were younger, Proxima and her husband, Corvus, had looked after Nebula and Gamora when Thanos wasn't around to. The both of them were just as bad as Thanos. Had Gamora or Nebula failed a mission or test, they would get tortured by Proxima, herself. Gamora remembers waking up in the middle of the night, crying because of the nightmares she's had and getting slapped so hard, to the point of being thrown across the room, by Proxima. The woman was a living nightmare. In fact, the whole situation was.

Gamora was running out of time. Her options were limited. She could've shot at Proxima, but she would've had a chance of hitting Luna. She could've started taking Proxima and her crew on hand-to-hand, but once again, that could result in Luna getting hurt. What was she thinking? No matter what happens, the poor girl is going to get hurt.

The green woman then remembered something; before Gamora put Luna's pendant on her, she had Rocket installed a tracking device inside of it, in case something like this happened.

By the time she turned around to return to the Guardians, they were already behind her; each one having a pissed off look on their face. She knew what they had to do. They must have known what she was thinking, because the minute they made eye contact, they started heading back towards the Milano. They had to move fast. They had to save Luna. She had to save Luna.

When she woke up, the light was blinding and she slammed her eyes shut. Everything ached and she just wanted to cuddle with her fluffy pal, Rockey. Unfortunately, she was in an unknown place, in unknown clothes, lying in an unknown bed. She tried to open her eyes again, but this time she opened them slower. When she was able to focus, she realized she was in a lab.

She was scared. Where was Peter? Where was Gamora? Drax? Rockey? Groot? Where were they? They wouldn't just abandon her, would they? They couldn't have. They love her too much, right? What even happened? How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was following a strange figure out of the ballroom and into the streets of Xandar. After that, everything was a blur. She doesn't remember what happened.

She was scared and alone in this weird room. She just wanted to go...home. Was that place even considered her home? Or was she just a temporary being on the ship because pity was being felt for her?

Whatever the reason, she just wanted to leave this room. She tried to get out of bed, but she couldn't, due to the restraints holding her back on the bed. Luna kept trying to break free, but nothing happened. She was given a special treatment, right? Shouldn't she have gotten some kind of enhanced strength? She tried again, still nothing. Then, using all of the strength she had left-nothing. She gave up. It was hopeless. She wouldn't get out of the restraints unless somebody helped her.

Suddenly, she heard someone approaching the door. She slammed herself back onto the bed and shut her eyes. Just then, a muscular woman, with the skin color of a Kree, walked silently into the room. She sat on the edge of Luna's bed and brushed a strand of loose hair out of her face. "I know you are awake." The woman said softly.

Luna cautiously opened her eyes, seeing the woman before her. She sat up just enough to see the woman's face. "I wanna go home. Take me home. I want Petew. Whewe's Petew?!" The woman slapped her hand over the young girl's small mouth.

"Silence, my child." She said, removing her hand from Luna's face. "I...I saved you."

"You didn't answew my question." Luna whispered in a sassy tone.

"It doesn't matter who nurtured you. Those men and woman; they-" She sighed and gently caressed the young girl's cheek. "They were planning to rid you of their lives, my dear."

"What?"

"As soon as they were going to collect their reward from the Nova Corps, they were going to hand you off to Nova Prime and leave."

"No! They wouldn't!" She shook her head in disbelief.

"They said they wanted to treat you like part of the team, right? How could they do that, making you sit around, while they do all the work?"

"They wewe twying to pwotect me!" She said sternly.

"What about Peter? That is his name, correct? All he does is dance."

"He wets me dance with him and he's a good lead-"

"What about Rocket?" She interrupted. "Always been an ass towards you."

"Hey! That's not ni-"

"And what about-" She thought for a moment. "What about Gamora? Hm? She just loved to take away all of the fun you could've had. Training you to become some sort of assassin, like her."

"No! She was twying to-"

Once again, the woman interrupted. "She was not protecting you! She was manipulating you, child! Making you feel the same pain she once did, growing up. Making you suffer the same way as she."

"She wouwd-"

"You are in denial, right now. Face it, darling; they never loved you." A single tear fell from Luna's eye. The woman wiped it away. "Do not worry, my child. My crew and I will take care of you. You are safe, now." She patted the young girl's shoulder and walked towards the door.

"Wait!" Luna shouted. The woman turned around. "Can I come out of these?" She asked, gesturing towards the restraints with her head.

"Of course." A CLICK echoed throughout the room as the restraints were removed from Luna's wrists. "Unfortunately, your clothes were destroyed as we came to your rescue." She pointed to the pair of plain white fitted-long johns that Luna was clad in. "Hopefully, you will be most comfortable in that for now."

"Can I have my pendant back?" The woman sighed and pulled the necklace out of her pocket. She handed it to the young girl and started to exit, but once again, she was stopped by the young girl's high-pitched voice. "Um, what's youw name? I'm Wuna."

The woman flashed her a quick smile. "My name is Proxima." Luna returned the gesture, wiped the tear from her eye and grabbed the woman's hand as they walked out of the room together. But something didn't add up to the young girl; how did Promixa know all of this?

Gamora took a seat upon the grungy couch and rubbed a hand through her black hair. Peter's Walkman was sitting next to her. She picked it up and thumbed the side that showed the name of the cassette tape; 'Awesome Mix Vol. 2'.

She loved Peter's music, although she'd never admit it. There was something about it that soothed her when she was upset. Maybe it was the pleasant melody that escaped the speakers or the lyrics that meant something. Whatever the cause, she just wanted to listen to it, right now.

For a while, she sat there and stared at it. She had seen Peter use it a million times; surely it couldn't be that hard. She started to press a button when Peter walked into the room. She quickly placed it to the side of her and stared at the man.

"You could've asked." Peter said, taking a seat next to her. He grabbed the Walkman and turned it on. He tried to place the black and orange headphones on Gamora's head, but she pushed it away.

"I know." She got up from her seat and turned to face Peter. "This is all my fault-" She started out, shaking her head. Peter grabbed both of her hands, but she broke free of his grasp. "I shouldn't have kissed you." She said, turning away.

Peter quickly stood up. "What do you mean? Gam, you deserve happiness. I can make you happy. Jesus, I sounds ridiculous."

"I shouldn't have taken my eyes off of her. You shouldn't have taken your eyes off of her. Peter, God dammit!" Gamora ignored him and threw herself on the couch as a single tear fell down her cheek.

"Gamora-" Peter sat next to her, wiping the tear off of her cheek. "We're gonna get her back."

"I'm acting like such a pathetic child. Crying is a sign of weakness and that is exactly what i'm doing." She looked away from Peter and rubbed her arm.

"Crying isn't a sign of weakness; its a sign of strength." Gamora looked up at him with red eyes. She shook her head. "Listen, its okay to cry. Right now, you're worried about Luna. We're going to get her back, I promise."

She looked away from him once again. "I can't believe I fell for your pelvic sorcery." She said, in a shaky voice.

Peter got up slowly and tried to get in front of her. He was stopped by her hand hitting his chest. "Gamora, I-"

"Get out." She whispered. She gave Peter a death glare and pushed him. "I said get out!" She pushed him again with tears in her eyes. "Peter, get the hell out!" She yelled louder. Peter didn't move a muscle; he couldn't. He thought he was helping her.

After a few minutes of yelling and pushing, Gamora finally collapsed into Peter's arms. Peter was shocked that the 'Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy" had given up and sobbed into his chest. He couldn't help, but wrap his arms around her and hold her close. He ran a hand through her hair and rubbed the other on her back. The green woman had given in and wrapped her arms around him as well. It felt like they'd stayed like that forever.

"Peter, what do we do?" Gamora asked, after calming down. She didn't dare separate from Peter, but instead, gazed up into his mesmerizing blue eyes.

He gazed down into her beautiful brown ones. "Rocket is tracking the location of Luna's pendant right now. I promise we-" Peter was interrupted by a loud, high-pitched beeping noise. He pulled away from Gamora, grabbed her hand and lead her to the cause of it.

The two ran into the meeting room to find Rocket scattering around several data-pads.

"Rocket? What the hell is going on?" Peter asked in concern.

Rocket slid a data-pad to him, projecting a huge, interstellar war ship in front of them. He pointed to the red light that started to blink in the middle of the ship. "This indicator shows that Luna is in possession of the pendant. The only way we can find her is if she doesn't get separated from it."

Peter set his hands on the silver table, not taking his eyes off of the projection. "Is there any way we can communicate with her?"

"Nope. The only thing I didn't install in that thing."

"Shit."

"We're almost there." Gamora chimed in. "Get ready." She left the room, wiping the last tear from her eye.

Peter looked at the ship they were approaching out of one of the windows on the Milano. It was identical to the one projected from the data-pad. "Don't worry, Lu. We're coming."

Chapter Text

"Sit there." Proxima said, letting go of the young girl's hand and pointing to a silver lab table. Luna cautiously looked over at the lab table. It was covered in a white sheet and had a silver cart, filled with numerous of needles and medical tools, next to it. She was scared; more scared than she had ever been in her life. She knew that something wasn't right. Why would the Guardians betray her like that? They loved her. Even Rocket loved her; despite the amount of times he denied it. Also, isn't it weird that Proxima knew every single moment she had with the Guardians since she met them?

"Why?" She finally asked, clutching the pedant.

"We need to run some tests to make sure you are doing well. We want to make sure you do not have any injuries."

"I haven't been huwt, though." She said, slowly moving towards the table.

"Its just a necessary precaution." Luna climbed up onto the table and sat on the edge with her legs dangling down. Still clutching the pedant, she looked at the hand Proxima held out for her. "You can't have anything on you, during the testing."

One by one, the Guardians took out the guards on the ship. They quickly moved through it as Rocket followed the blinking red dot on the data-pad. "She's over-" Once he had notice that the light had stopped blinking, he threw the data-pad against the wall.

"Rocket!" Gamora yelled, slapping his muzzle.

"Hey! I don't smack you're flarkin' nose!"

"What the hell was that for?!" Peter yelled back.

"Luna got separated from the pendant. Without it on her, we can't track her!" Rocket kicked the wall, ignoring the pain in his foot.

"Shit." Peter whispered. "We need to find her, fast. If she got separated from the pendant-"

"Something's not right." Gamora said, pacing the hallway of the ship.

"How are we gonna find her now?!" Rocket yelled.

"We know she is on this ship, do we not?" Drax asked rhetorically.

"I am Groot." Groot agreed, keeping an eye out for more guards.

"We should split up. We'll find her faster." Peter suggested, nervously running a hand through his hair.

"How do we know where to look? We don't even know this ship!" Rocket yelled, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"Gamora and I will take the east part of the ship. Rocket and Groot can take the west side and Drax can take the north side."

Everyone agreed and split up.

She knew she had to give up the pendant, one way or another. Luna handed it to Proxima. The woman gave the young girl a soft smile and placed the pendant in a small glass container. Luna stared at it as Proxima pushed her back onto the table.

"Stay still. This will only pinch a little, my child." Proxima forewarned, as she laid a cold hand on the girl's forehead and the other caressing a needle.

Luna looked up at the sharp object aimed for her head. She screamed and what happened was unbelievable; Proxima flew back as the needle fell to the floor. All glass objects shattered to pieces and objects of all sorts flew across the room. The white sheet flew out from underneath her.

She was frightened and fell to the floor. The scream was loud enough that it bounced off the walls, producing even more sound. The high-pitched scream that ripped from her throat, hurt her ears. She curled up into a ball and covered her ears, still screaming. She felt out of control. Luna couldn't control anything that she did. She just wanted it to be over.

"Luna?"

"Lu?"

"LUNA?!"

"LU?!"

Gamora and Peter's shouts, echoed through the halls. There weren't very many people on the ship, which made it easier for them to find Luna. Before they started shouting again, an explosion was heard down the hall from them. The pair looked at each other and nodded as if they read each other's minds. The two of them ran towards the explosion. As they grew closer, they heard a faint screaming. They soon realized that it was Luna.

They ran faster towards the lab room. When they reached it, they saw the poor girl, in her dirty, white long johns. She was sitting up against a wall in a fetal position, sobbing into her knees. Peter immediately ran towards Proxima, and cuffed her hands together. "Stay down there, bitch."

Gamora dropped her Godslayer and immediately ran to her. "Luna!" With tears in her eyes, the green woman knelt down in front of her and cupped her small cheeks in her hands. "Are you hurt?" She asked in a shaky voice. Luna looked up at Gamora. Her eyes were red and her face was paler than usual.

"Is it twue?" She said, her voice just as shaky as Gamora's.

"Is what true?"

"You'we gonna give me to the Nova Cowps, awen't you?"

Gamora shook her head. "No. That is not what is going to happen. Nova Prime made a deal with us that if anything happened to you-"

"They'we gonna take me away." Luna concluded, nodding her head.

"No. We will not let that happen, Luna."

"They'we gonna take me away." She repeated. The two girls stared into each other's eyes, tears building up inside of them. Out of no where, Luna flung her arms around Gamora and sobbed into her shoulder. "I don't want to go away. I want to stay with you." Seeing the small child, weeping into her shoulder, made Gamora do something she wish she hadn't; cry. She wrapped her arms around the young girl for a moment, and pulled away. She gave Luna a soft smile and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

With her hands thumbing the young girl's cheeks, she took a deep breath. "I will not let them take you away and if they do, we'll break you out. Even if that means we become criminals again." Gamora stood up and turned to Peter. He slowly walked over to the two girls and stood in front of the wrecked child.

She looked at him for a moment and jumped into his arms. She looked at Gamora with her strained, red eyes. The woman came over and hugged both, Peter and Luna. "I wove you." She whispered in their ears. Gamora and Peter looked at each other for a moment, then turned their attention back towards Luna.

Those three words. I love you. They're words that both Peter and Gamora haven't heard in years. They're words that confuse the living hell out of Peter and Gamora. Most of their lives they've been through hatred, pain, agony and even coerced to do things they wished they hadn't. They don't remember what it felt like to be loved and to be completely honest, they wished they wouldn't have heard those words used towards them ever again.

In their case, loving outlaws means getting yourself killed. Now, Luna was a target for all of the enemies of the Guardians. Maybe, handing her off to the Nova Corps wasn't a bad idea after all. They had more protection and could give her a normal life. Then again, it seems as if, like all of the Guardians, she found a place where she belonged; she found a family. She trusted the Guardians more than anyone else in the world. There would be no way in hell that Luna would survive through the pain of leaving the people that she trusts the most.

But, they couldn't stand there and think about that. They had to make their escape, get Luna safely back to the Milano, and bring Proxima back to the Nova Corps.

It was almost midnight in the time-zone they were in. Proxima was thrown into a temporary cell and being guarded by Drax. Rocket took Luna's pendant into his workshop, with Groot following behind and both hadn't exited,since they arrived. Peter was God knows where on the ship and all Gamora was doing was trying to get a scared five year old to go to sleep.

After getting cleaned up, Gamora helped her get dressed in her new white and silver nightgown, that was fitted to her midriff and became pleated to her knees with butterfly sleeves. She braided her hair into pigtails and guided the young girl to the couch. She climbed onto it, as Gamora covered her up with a white sheet.

Like always, Gamora sat next to her and softly sang a song, while playing with the loose strands of her hair.

"But now there's no way to hide

Since you pushed my love aside

I'm outta my head hopelessly devoted to you

Hopelessly devoted to you

Hopelessly devoted to you

My head is saying fool forget him

My heart is saying don't let go

Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do

I'm hopelessly devoted to you"

"Gamowa?" The young girl said, looking up at the green woman.

The woman stopped singing and looked down at her.

"I'm scawed. I did something today."

"What did you do?"

She sat up a little bit. "When I scweamed, evewything went evewywhere."

"You did that?" She asked in disbelief. Luna nodded. Knowing how it feels to be different, Gamora gave her a soft smile. "You are going to be just fine. We'll help you through this. And at least that means we know what they did to you. I promise we'll figure this out, but just...not tonight. Its late and you need to sleep, Luna." The girl nodded again and laid back down. Gamora continued to play with her hair.

"Gamowa?"

"Yes?"

"That song; is-is it about Petew?" Gamora laughed nervously.

"No. Its just a song that Peter showed me a while ago."

"I know you two kissed."

She laughed again. "I think you need to go to sleep."

"You wike him."

"I said go to sleep." Gamora said in a deep voice, clearly teasing the young girl. Luna giggled and closed her eyes as Gamora started to hum. Soon, after Luna had fallen asleep, Gamora kissed her forehead. "I love you, too." She whispered. She walked out of the room and smiled. As soon as she walked out of the room, a shadowy figure had grabbed her arm.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

It was just how he remembered it. From the chilly fall winds to the divergence in colors of the trees, Colorado was just as he remembered it. He remembered living on the outskirts of Denver, in the small town of Lakewood, just miles away from the mountains. He would always sit on the front porch of his house with his mom and they would watch the stars dance over the mountains. The faded grass was soaked with dew and the sun was still low in the sky, right behind the mountains. It must've still been morning.

The cloaked Milano landed on the damp grass and the ramp in the back descended slowly. Peter was the first one to step out. He stretch his arms up and sighed as he looked around at the scenery.

Gamora was just about to step out, when she heard a familiar voice. "Gamowa, wait!" The small child ran as fast as she could towards the pair. By the time she reached her, she was out of breath. "I...want...to come...too." She said in between deep breaths.

The woman knelt down to her level. She felt bad. The young girl was in her new black princess-fitted dress that was red across her chest. It had juliette sleeves and had a white petticoat underneath it. Man, that girl loved her dresses. Gamora couldn't help but admire her new taste in fashion. She was wearing brown combat boots with black knee-high socks. To finish it off, her hair was tied back with a black and red scarf.

She looked adorable and so happy. Gamora didn't know how to break it to her. She turned to Peter, who was anxiously looking at her. 'Please?' She mouthed. Peter sighed and nodded. She smiled and turned her attention back towards Luna. "Okay, but you have to stay with me and Peter." Luna nodded in excitement and ran out towards him. Gamora smiled and followed her.

She was in an unusual outfit. Peter had told her that the last time he was on earth, nobody really believed in aliens. Therefore, they had to paint her skin a light brown color. They also had to paint eyebrows on her face since she had none. She despised her outfit. It was a black empire dress with a silver belt around her middle. She wore a normal pair of black heels and a leather jacket that almost touched the tips of her feet. To be honest, she loved the jacket, but she hated wearing dresses when she didn't want to. And even though she had told him that she wasn't going to wear a dress, he convinced her otherwise. 

Peter picked up Luna. They all stood back as the Milano took off. "They'll be back around dusk."

He didn't know where to go first. The last time he was on Earth, there had been so many places he had love to visit. However, he knew he wasn't going to visit one place at all; his old house. He couldn't. He could barely go back to Earth as it is, but he did it for Gamora.

After walking into town, Peter looked around only to see that a lot had change since the last time he'd been there. Their technology was still nowhere as advanced as the technology in space, but it has improved. Some of the places he wanted to show Luna and Gamora had been torn down or replaced with something new. Luckily, he found the old arcade, where he always hung out with his friends at.

"Jesus!" He exclaimed, letting go of Luna's hand and running towards the arcade.

Gamora, still holding onto Luna's other hand, ran over to Peter's side, as she normally did. It annoyed her that she always did that, but she got used to it. "Peter? What's the matter?"

"Hyperspace Arcade!" He exclaimed. The girls both raised an eyebrow in confusion. Peter sighed and pointed to the old building. "Hyperspace Arcade. I used to hang with my friends here all the time. Those were the days." He grabbed Gamora's hand and pulled both of the girls inside. She knew she had to rip her hand away from him, but she couldn't. She didn't want to.

Eventually, he let go to buy some tokens. Gamora didn't know where he had gotten Earth currency, but he did. He came back to them and split up the tokens. "Come on, Lu. I wanna show you something." Peter grabbed her hand and took her over to a yellow arcade machine that had different colored balls with eyes and mouths on the sides. The poor girl couldn't reach the controls. Peter bit his lip as he thought of a way to help her reach them easier. He found an empty bucket near the back wall of the arcade and brought it to her. She stood on it and was easily able to reach the controls. "Its called Pac-Man." Peter said, as he taught her how to play.

The first few times, she failed. However, as she continued to play, the more successful she became. Gamora watched as Peter continued to show the young girl tips and tricks to winning. She smiled at how excited the both of them were playing the strange game, but she wanted to try some too.

She peered around the arcade and found a dark blue machine with the shadow of a space monster on the side panel. She walked over to it and put one of the tokens that Peter had given her, into the slot. As she started the game, white alien-like figures descended down from the top of the screen and starting shooting at the ship she controlled. She started to use the controls to get the ship to shoot back, but, like Luna, she failed. Failing was something she was not used to and she quickly got irritated by it.

Peter saw her wrinkle her nose in frustration. "Just keep doing what I showed you." Luna nodded and inserted another token into the machine. Peter walked over to Gamora and stood to the side of her.

"This game does not work properly. I cannot seem to win." She stared at the screen, fidgeting with the token in her hand.

"Well, maybe you need practice. Here,-" He placed one of his tokens inside of the slot and stood behind Gamora. He grabbed her hands and placed them onto the controls. "I'll move the ship, you shoot." Together, they passed through the levels and eventually, they won.

Gamora scoffed. "We won." She looked up at Peter, who was looking down at her. He leaned into her and closed his eyes. Gamora placed a finger to his lips. He opened his eyes and looked at her in confusion. "Pelvic sorcery won't work on me, today, Starlord."

"Okay. So, when will it work?" Gamora turned around and stood on her toes. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Suddenly, a young girl ran up to them. "Lu, what's wrong?" Peter asked, picking her up.

"I'm hungwy." She said, her pigtails a mess.

"Oh, right. How long have we been here?" Peter looked outside; the sun was starting to go down. "Shit, its almost dusk. Food?"

"Food!" Luna agreed, hugging him tightly.

After walking for a few minutes, the trio came across a Mexican restaurant known as, 'Max's Mexican'. When they sat at their table, a waiter came and took their order. Since Gamora and Luna had never had Earth food before, Peter decided to order for all of them.

When the food arrived, everyone downed their tacos and left the restaurant without leaving a tip. Gamora smacked Peter across the head because of it, but what's new?

After roaming around for a while, the trio realized that it was getting darker out and knew they had to start heading back. Halfway there, Luna's eyes got heavy and Peter ended up carrying her the rest of the way back.

They beat the rest of the Guardians to the meeting point. It was pitch black by the time they got back and the stars lit up the small grassy field surrounded by trees. It was beautiful, but that wasn't what Peter was staring at. He was staring at the beautiful woman, who was gazing around the field. He cleared his throat, snapping Gamora back into reality.

"Is she out?" He whispered. Gamora walked behind him and pushed the loose strands of hair out of Luna's face. Her eyes were closed and her arms were wrapped loosely around Peter's neck. She didn't move a muscle when Gamora moved her hair, so she assumed she was in a deep sleep.

"Yeah. She's not waking up anytime soon." Peter shifted her position to where she was being carried bridal style. She barely opened her eyes, yawned and fell back asleep. Both Peter and Gamora watched as she slept.

"You're gonna punch me for saying this, but-" He waited for Gamora to respond, but all she did was hummed near his ear and placed her head on his shoulder. "You realize we look like parents watching their kid sleep, right?" The green woman chuckled.

"Yes. We are the closest thing she has to parents. I can see why you say that." She nuzzled further into his shoulder.

Peter smiled. "Now are you falling for my 'pelvic sorcery'?" He asked with a cheeky grin. Gamora lifted her head off his shoulder and stood in front of him.

"I guess I am." She placed her hands on his cheeks and stood on her toes. Their foreheads touched and Gamora forgot what she was going to do. She was so focused on staring into his blue eyes. Peter leaned in closer and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "Peter, I-" Before she could finish her sentence, the Milano flew down and landed in the fresh, green grass.

The ramp desended and their raccoon friend, hopped down. "Come on, lovebirds. We gotta get a move on before somebody discovers us." The two blushed in embarrassment as they followed the raccoon inside. As soon as the ramp closed, Drax cloaked the Milano and they flew back off into space.

Later that night, Gamora found herself unable to sleep. She tossed and turned, but nothing happened. She couldn't stop thinking about Peter; about how fatherly he acts towards Luna, about how he much he has matured over the past few weeks. She saw a change in him and it was for the better. Sure, he still had his childish ways, but he was starting to become a man. The one thing that confused her was how many beautiful woman flirted with Peter back on Earth and the only one he could focus on, was her.

Gamora always knew that Peter had a crush on her, but she couldn't tell if it was sincere or if she was just another starry-eyed waif to him, as she said before. However, he has proven to her that she means more than the world to him and that just made her even more confused. Peter was always known to be a womanizer; he would always flirt with the first beautiful woman he saw. Gamora just didn't know what he saw in her. She was an assassin, a cold-blooded murderer, who gave no mercy to anyone, until she met him. It wasn't until she met him, that she realized she could change for the better. She always said that she was going to sell that orb to be her escaoe from Ronan and Thanos, but she knew that it wouldn't be possible without Peter.

Actually, a lot of things that have happened to her, wouldn't have been possible without him. She wouldn't have been forgiven for her sins. She wouldn't have a home. She wouldn't have been able to save Luna. She wouldn't have even met the young girl. Luna could've been dead or worse; she could've been turned into an unstoppable weapon. Half of the time she didn't know what she would do without him.

She still couldn't fall asleep. Gamora finally decided to give up and get out of bed. She had decided to check on Peter and Luna. When she reached the living room, Luna was still fast asleep on the couch. She was clenching onto a green and brown dragon plushie that she got from a stuffed animal store that Peter was talking about. So, of course, Luna got excited and wanted to go. Therefore, they took the half an hour bus ride to 'Build-a-Bear Workshop' and back. The young girl was smiling in her sleep, which made Gamora smile.

Then, she went to check on Peter.

She quietly slid the door open. Peter was lying on his side with an arm under his pillow and the other to his side. She slowly slid the door close and walked over to the bed.

Subconsciously, she sat on the edge and started running her fingers through his hair. He moved his head a bit and was waking up. Gamora panicked and couldn't move. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at the woman, whose hands were still loosely entwined in his hair. Her eyes widened, as a smirk formed on his face.

"Just couldn't stay away, huh?" He asked rhetorically, in a low, sexy growl. It was clear that he had just woken up.

Gamora cleared her throat and removed her hand from his hair. "I cannot sleep. I wanted to make sure you were sleeping well."

"I'm sleeping fine. Well, I was until you started playing with my hair. That felt really good. Can you keep doing it?" Gamora scoffed and started to get up, when a hand grabbed hers. "Please, Gam. You can't sleep just stay in here for a while." She looked at him in suspicion. "I'm not gonna do anything stupid. I'm not that guy anymore."

She hesitated, but eventually climbed in next to him, facing his front. Peter hesitantly put an arm around her, which made her stiffen. She laid her head on his chest, forming a sweetheart's cradle position. Peter rubbed his hand up and down her arm. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into his chest. Peter planted a kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes and smiled.

"Night, Gam." Peter whispered in her ear.

"Goodnight, Peter." Gamora whispered back.

Peter held her closer. "I won't let anyone hurt you, ever again." The woman, with her eyes still closed, raised her hand and smacked it against Peter's head.

"I can handle myself."

"I know."

Eventually, the two found themselves in a deep sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

They had landed on Xandar near the Nova Corps building. The Guardians gathered one more time behind the ramp of the Milano. They were suggesting ways on how to keep the Nova Corps from taking custody of Luna. However, no matter what they came up with, in the end, they knew it would fail. Now, it was time for them to hand Luna off to them and they had no idea what was going to happen after.

That said young girl finally made her way towards the ramp, with the dragon plushie clutched tightly against her chest. She was clad in a maroon, long sleeved collared dress. She wore a black peacoat and her long, burgundy hair was braided into pigtails. She took a deep breath and grabbed Gamora's hand with her free one.

Together, the dysfunctional family walked out, in unison, as the ramp descended downward. Before reaching the end, Luna stopped, pulling Gamora's arm. The green woman fell back and knelt down to the little girl.

"Lu, what's wrong?" Luna shook her head. "You're going to be okay, I promise." She shook her head again, staring at the ground. "We have to go now, Lu." Gamora said after a few moments and picked up the girl.

She carried her out into the shimmering daylight of Xandar. It was just how they remembered it; full of life and...plants. Xandar was beautiful for the most part and was almost completely finished with the construction they had to endure after the Battle of Xandar. However, right now, the most ugly part on Xandar was having to watch the little girl, whom all of the Guardians had fell in love with, be stripped from their lives by space police. Not to mention that the only reason this was happening to them was because of a mistake that could've been made to anyone. There was nothing they could do to prevent it from happening (that they knew of at the time), but they did rescue her.

As soon as all of the Guardians reached the end of the ramp, two Nova officers were standing before them, alongside Nova Prime. When Gamora stopped walking, Luna tightened her grip. Peter looked over to the pair and watched as a single tear fell down Gamora's cheek.

The woman in charge walked forth as most of the Guardians stiffened. She stopped, just feet away from them. "Welcome Guardians." She greeted with an expressionless face. "We will allow you to share a brief goodbye with the child. Then, you must leave."

The ex-criminals gathered around the green woman with the young girl clenched firmly against her chest. Luna loosed her grip and turned to Peter, reaching out for him. He took her out of Gamora's arms and hugged her, planting a quick kiss to her forehead. "Remember, when you're scared, sing those jams I taught you, okay?" She nodded as Peter passed her off to Drax.

"Stay strong, little one." He said petting her head. Drax finally handed her off to Groot, who had a surprisingly teary-eyed Rocket on his shoulder. Groot grew a small, purple daisy-like plant on his free hand, and placed it behind her ear. A tear fell from her eye as she quickly wrapped her arms around the trees neck. Rocket's nose twitched as he put his paw on her head. She gave him a soft smile, as more tears fells down her face. Luna took one of her hands off of Groot's neck and petted Rocket.

Groot eventually handed the young girl back to Gamora. As soon as she was in her reach, Luna clenched her tightly. Both girls broke down in tears. The Guardians, who had rarely seen Gamora cry in general, experienced the pain of a mother being separated from her daughter.

As much as Gamora wanted to deny it, Luna was very much so, her daughter. In just the few months they knew each other, they had developed a special bond that could only be formed between a mother and daughter. For sure, they got in fights when Luna took Peter's Walkman without asking or eating sweets for breakfast, but didn't all mothers and daughters get in fights like that? And Peter, for sure, was just as much of a fatherly figure to Luna as Gamora was a motherly figure. He too had gotten in small fights with the young girl when she disobeyed him. Lets not forget how much Peter and Gamora fight like an old married couple at times. And Rocket, Drax and Groot were almost like her uncles. So, yes, they all found their family, but that family was now being ripped apart.

"You're going to be okay, okay?" Gamora sobbed into the young girl. "They're gonna take good care of you, I promise."

"NO! NO! I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!" Luna yelled, crying hysterically. "GAMMY, DON'T WET THEM TAKE ME!" She dug her fingers into Gamora's back. "PETEW, WOCKEY, GWOOT, DWAX! DON'T WET THEM TAKE ME!"

The green woman shushed her. "We're going to save you, I promise."

Without a warning, the Nova officers walked up to the Guardians and started to pull the little girl off of Gamora. The rest of the Guardians moved to the side, knowing it was best to not get in the way. Gamora let go, but Luna gripped her tighter. Continuous muffled screams of 'NO!' ripped from the young girl's throat. Small bursts of energy blasts from the screams, were knocking down the officers. But, no matter how many times they were knocked down, they got back up and kept trying to disband the two.

"You have to go now-"

"NO!"

"Luna, please-"

"NO!"

"Please, let go-"

"NO!"

"You have to go-"

"GAMMY, NO!"

After several moments of arguing, cries of agony and struggles to ripping the pair apart, Peter walked up to Nova Prime, who remained stoic in watching the officers struggling to disband the duo. He pointed to the scene. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Is this really what you want? I had been taken from my family before and its some pretty messed up shit. This kid finally found a place where she feels safe and you're taking her away from that! You are just as bad as Yondu, when he stole me from MY home and MY family! I am NOT going to stand here and watch you do the same to Lu."

"I am sorry, Mr. Quill, but this was the deal."

"Do you really think we could have avoided her being kidnapped?!"

"Yes, I do."

Peter remained silent and thought for a moment. "Whatever. We made a mistake. Everyone does. What matters right now, though, is Luna and what's best for her. What's best for her right now, is being with us; being in an environment where she feels safe-"

"What's best for her right now, is being in the custody of the Nova Corps, where we can ensure her safety." The whole time, tears had been building up in Peter's eyes and Nova Prime had not moved a muscle. They both glanced over at the Nova officers, who were still struggling to rip the two apart. "I am giving you one more chance Mr. Quill. I advise you to leave the manner alone."

Peter stood in a moment of silence. He took one more glance at the scene and turned his attention back towards Nova Prime. "Just,-" He sighed. "Let me talk to Lu for a minute."

"Of course." She shouted an order in a different language and the officers stood still in their tracks. Luna stopped screaming, as did the energy blasts. "You have one minute."

Gamora put the young child down and watched as she ran to Peter, who was kneeling down. Luna dropped her dragon plushie right next to her and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Peter whispered something inaudible into her ear. She nodded, sniffled and wiped the tears off her face. The man grabbed the toy that was tossed next to him and made it 'bite' Luna. She smiled and gave Peter one last hug.

"Remember, what I told you." Luna nodded and walked to Nova Prime with a serious expression on her face. It was kinda cute to them, to be honest.

"Nova Pwime!" She shouted, looking up at the woman, as if she was a skyscraper. "I made a pwa-cwo-may-chen!" Gamora wiped a tear from her eye and giggled as she glanced over to see what the young girl was up to. "I wiww stay with you, but I want the Guawdians to be abwe to caww me, whenevew they want."

The woman looked down at her. "Very well." She grabbed the child's hand and smiled down at her. "Why don't we go see what its like inside?" Luna, who was still pissed, glared at her and nodded. Still trying to remain friendly, Nova Prime gingerly pulled the child along. Luna looked back at the Guardians, who were a mix of tears and pissed expressions. She specifically looked at Peter, in which whom mouth 'Remember.' to her. She nodded and focused back onto where she was going.

Although Gamora didn't hear what Peter said to the young girl, she knew the two of them were up to something...

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Gamora walked out of, what was now considered, her and Peter's room and pressed the button to close the door behind her. After binding Luna's wounds and giving her pain medication, she had carried the young girl to their room and tucked her into their bed, making sure to not move her leg too much. She didn't know why, but after hearing Luna scream out in agony, something changed inside of Gamora. Out of all the Guardians, she had the steadiest hands and was always the one to bind everyone's wounds. Now, it seemed as if she couldn't stop shaking. She wasn't cold, she was nervous, for once. She was nervous that she was going to hurt that young girl even more so. It was one thing to hear Peter scream out in pain, from being patched up, but it was another thing to hear Luna do the same.

Peter was waiting on the other side of the door, waiting impatiently. He had the rare look of concern on his face, that now became a common expression ever since Luna had joined the team. "Does she need to go to a hospital?"

The woman shook her head gently. "She'll be fine. I took a closer look at it. She was just nicked. It wasn't as bad as we thought. However, we should keep an eye on it."

He nodded. "Yeah. You're right." Peter studied her facial expression and looked down at her hands. He realized that they were shaking badly. "You okay?"

Gamora nodded. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You're shaking."

"No, I'm not." She said, trying to control her hands.

"Gam, I may be dumbass at times, but i'm not stupid. Your hands are shaking badly. What's wrong?"

The green woman sighed and sat herself on a crate that was next to the door. "I don't know. After hearing Luna scream out in agony when I was sterilizing her wound, I just-I don't know."

"You didn't want to hurt her even more."

"I knew I was helping her by disinfecting the burn, but I just couldn't stand hearing her scream like that. Especially, since it was my fault." She stared off into space. Peter knelt down to her level and placed a hand on her leg.

"It wasn't your fault Gam, it was mine. I should've known that there would've been at least one person guarding that damn building."

"We both weren't paying attention. We were so focused at the task at hand-" Peter patted her leg and stood up. He held out a hand for her and she playfully slapped it away and stood up.

"Its getting late. We should go to bed." Gamora nodded.

"Yeah." She hesitantly grabbed Peter's hand and guided him to her old room.

It was as neat as it was a few days ago, when Peter was in there last. Gamora was rarely in her room, ever since her and Peter started sharing one. She was only in there to get clothes. Other than that, it was just an empty room.

On her bed was a pair of Peter's pajamas that she had managed to grab before putting Luna in there. She picked them up and handed them to him. Without saying a word, she opened the top drawer of her dresser and pulled out a black sweatshirt and a pair of black shorts. She gave Peter a look that told him to turn away and for the fear of his life, he did.

He heard her unzip something and assumed it was clothing. His Star-Lord side told him to turn around, but a bigger part of him, this new side that he had discovered not that long ago, told him to respect Gamora. He took a breath and started to strip himself of his clothes as well.

After changing into their pajamas, Peter finally said something. "Hey, uh, did you want me to sleep on the cou-"

"No!" Gamora responded suddenly, whipping around to face Peter. "I mean-I don't want you to sleep on the couch."

"I know. It's just-"

"Peter-"

"I know you come in my room when you-"

"Peter!" She finally cut him off. "I was hoping you would."

Peter let out a small 'O'. He gave her a cheesy smile, in which she responded with a slight chuckle. The man could hardly tell what she was thinking. There was something about the way she smiled sometimes. At times, her smile looked devious, even if she didn't mean it intentionally. Gamora was a hard book to read. However, Peter was the only one who has been able to analyze her hard enough to get a good idea of what she was thinking and it seemed as if he was the only one she let in.

Gamora walked over to the right side of the queen sized bed. She sat down and pulled all of her hair to the side. Peter sat down on the other side of the bed, next to her and started running his fingers through her hair. Gamora hummed as he started to braid it. As his hands made their way towards the end of her hair, she leaned into his touch.

Peter stretched his legs out and leaned back against the pillows. Gamora followed his lead and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. He chuckled causing the woman to look up. "What?"

"Who would've thought that a few months after we first met, a bunch of outlaws who suck at working together, would be who we are right now?" Peter looked down at her. "I mean just think about it; an isolated assassin and an immature thief fall in love, find a young girl and decide to basically adopt her and literally change each other's lives for the better. You learned how to open up, how to have fun, how to actually be free. I grew up, mostly anyways,-"

Gamora lifted her head and chuckled. "I was going to say..."

"Hey, i'm talking." He teased. "Anyways, I learned how to be selfless, how to...I don't know."

The woman smiled softly. "You learned how to love somebody."

Peter smiled back. "Yeah, I guess we both did." Gamora laid her head back on Peter's chest as he continued to rub her upper back and shoulder.

"Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"This person you love is Luna, correct?"

Peter made a low noise that sounded like a motor. "Well, I mean, yeah. I guess I love her, but-"

Gamora looked up at him. "But what?"

He looked down at her. "I fell in love with somebody."

"Wait-You fell in love with me?"

"Yeah." Peter scoffed. "I guess I did."

"How?"

"You're beautiful. You've got a heart of gold. You're just amazing." Peter huffed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his other hand. "I sound pathetic."

Gamora laid her head back down. "No. That was sweet." She rubbed her hand across Peter's stubble and brushed them along his cheek. "Thank you, Peter."

"For stating true facts?"

"For everything." Gamora sat up quickly and pecked him. She pulled her hand away from his cheek and placed it on his chest. She moved herself into a fetal position, nuzzling into Peter's chest. "I love you." She whispered quickly.

Peter looked down at her, surprised of what she had said. He held her closer and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too."

"I know." Gamora whispered. Her eyes fluttered shut as she exhaled loudly. "Goodnight, Peter."

"Night, Gam." He looked down and watched her as she slept. Slowly, he drifted off into a deep sleep as well.

A high-pitched scream came from across the ship. The scream was familiar. It was a scream he heard before. Back at the ball. It was Luna's scream. He ran towards it. When he opened the door to his room, she was gone. The sheets were covered with blood.

Peter slammed his fist against the metal door.

'Let go of me, assholes!' Another familiar voice yelled. Peter turned around to see Gamora getting dragged out of the ship by Sakaarans. He ran after her. He ran for what felt like miles, ending up in the Sanctuary. It was empty. Nobody was there.

When he turn around, he saw him; Thanos. The person who tortured and stripped Gamora of happiness. The person who tried to turn Luna into a living nightmare. Peter took out his blaster, about ready to end that bastard, but something stopped him. The child who helped him learn to love and the woman he gave his love to, right before his eyes, bleeding. Dying. Both in the hands of Thanos.

Then, Thanos disappeared and somehow, he had gotten closer to the two girls who meant more to him than life. He knelt down next to them. They were both lying on their stomachs and didn't move a muscle. Peter rolled Gamora over and her eyes were wide open. Her pupils were dilated and she could only focus on one thing; Peter.

'Peter-' She weakly placed her hand on Peter's cheek.

'Gam, i'm right here. You're gonna be fine.' His voice broke as he spoke.

'Luna.' She looked over at the motionless child. Peter followed her gaze and they both broke down in tears.

'I'm so sorry, Gam. I'm so sorry.'

'Peter-'

'Gam?'

'I lov' you an'-'

'And what? Gam!'

'An'-' Gamora's eyes started to roll in the back of her head.

'Gam?' Peter shook her. 'Gam?!' He shook her harder. 'Gamora?! Babe, come on. Gam?' He finally gave up and looked at his hands, which were covered in blood; Gamora's blood.

All of a sudden, it started to rain, but the weird thing was that Gamora or Luna wasn't getting wet.

Two Weeks Later...

Peter woke up, gasping for air and covered in sweat. He looked beside him to see Gamora shifting slightly in her sleep. He exhaled and laid his head back in relief. Trying not to wake the beautiful woman beside him, Peter lightly kissed her cheek and got out of bed, carefully. He took his shirt off and sat it on the bed.

He quietly exited the room and slid into his room. Luna was curled up in a ball, fast asleep. Her abdomen rose and fell with every breath she took. She twitched here and there and hugged her dragon closer to her.

Peter slowly crept to his nightstand, grabbed his Walkman, clipped it onto his sweatpants and placed the headphones around his neck. He sat himself on the edge of his bed and gazed at the little girl while she slept.

"I'm so sorry, Lu." He whispered. "I was so focused on rescuing you, I didn't keep my guard up. I promise, I will never let anyone hurt you, ever again."

He look up to see a black figure in the doorway. For a moment, they both froze and sat in silence. Peter slowly stood up and walked over to it. The closer he got to the figure, the more familiar it became.

Gamora looked at him as he walked over. He grabbed her hand and lead her to her room. When they got in, Peter closed the door behind them. He stared at the ground, rubbing his face.

"Peter, what's going on?" Gamora asked in concern.

"Nothing. It's just after everything that happened with Luna, I've been have this recurring nightmare and-"

The woman put a hand on his shoulder. "Peter, she'll be fine. She has five outlaws looking after her."

"Its not just-" Peter looked her in the eyes. Then, quickly focused on the hand on his shoulder. He put his hand on top of hers."Yeah. You're right." She softly smiled at him as he kissed her cheek.

"Lets go back to bed. We still have a few hours before we have to get up."

"Yeah, good idea."

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The sun was going down when Gamora and Peter had scaled down the ramp. They had packed more supplies than they had wanted to, knowing they would possibly camp out.

Luna, who was clad in her white nightgown already, had ran after them. She was barefoot and her feet hurt from running on the solid, dry rock."Gammy! Petew!" She called out, still running after them. The pair had turned around.

The young girl stopped in front of them, panting. "Luna?! What are you doing out here?" Gamora said as her eyes widened.

"You forgot Godswayer!" She said, handing Gamora her beloved sword.

The green woman took it out of her hand. Out of everything she could have forgotten, how could she have forgotten her Godslayer? She knelt down to Luna. "Thank you. Now, go back inside before we leave." Luna nodded and ran back into the ship. Rocket closed the ramp and cloaked it.

Gamora sighed and turned back around. Peter was staring at her. "What?" She snapped, giving him a dirty look.

"Nothing. Just looking at your beautiful face." He said with a genuine smile. Gamora scoffed and walked in front of him, pushing him out of the way.

"If you want to come with, we leave now."

Peter, no longer used to this side of her, watched her walk away in the distance, astonished by her actions. He snapped out of it and followed slowly behind her.

They had been walking for hours and it was already pitch black outside. Peter turned on, what looked to be, a futuristic flashlight. They stopped in front of a large rocky cliff that led up to a grassy plain. Peter exhaled loudly. "Is there any way around it?"

Gamora walked in front of him and firmly gripped onto the rock. "No." She said. "We're gonna have to climb." She started to pull herself up, before Peter pulled her down.

"Its too dangerous. Rocket started fidgeting with my thrusters and I had to leave them behind. I can't catch myself or you, if one of us falls. We need to find another way-" Peter looked her in the eyes in concern. She hesitated on climbing back up.

"There is no other way up. We have to climb." She gripped the rocks again before Peter cuffed her wrist with his hands and pulled them back.

"No, i'm not letting you. I'm telling you its too dangerous." Gamora escaped his grasp and whipped her head around towards him. "What happened to you always saying that? What you're thinking about doing is some pretty stupid shit."

"There's a difference between taking risks and getting into bar fights." She pushed him aside and slowly scaled up the wall with ease. Peter attached the flashlight to his belt, sighed and followed her up.

As they climbed up, Peter thought of something to say. However, every time he tried to talk to her, she ignored him.

"Maybe when we get back, we can go on an actual date. Ya' know, without Lu? I mean nothing against her, but we should do something fun or relaxing, whichever you want, just the two of us." She continued to ignore him and grunted as she pulled herself higher up the mountain. He caught up, climbing right beside her. "I mean we're both new to this dating thing and we've barely done anything alone together. I don't mean it like that, I just-"

Gamora had enough and turned her head towards him as she stopped climbing. "Shut up." She interrupted. Gamora faced the front and continued to climb again.

"Jesus Christ, Gamora. What the hell is your problem?"

Before she could answer, Gamora took another step and the rock, that her left foot rested on, broke. She had nothing supporting her legs and dangled from the small crevice, her hands were gripping onto tighter than ever. Her hands started to slip and she felt like she was going to fall.

Peter stretched his arm out and grabbed her, helping her up, while trying not to lose his balance. Gamora was able to find support on another rock and regained her balance.

"Thank you." She whispered as the breeze blew loose hair into her face. She flipped her hair to where it wasn't in her face anymore and continued to climb up. Peter continued to climb as well and eventually they were able to make it all the way up.

After several minutes of walking across the grassy plains, Gamora and Peter came upon large forest. They walked through it in silence. Peter grabbed a stick of the ground and started twirling it in boredom. "How do we even know that this planet isn't...deserted?"

"We don't." Gamora responded, keeping her focus on the path they were on.

"Oh, fun..." Peter moaned. "So, wanna talk about why you're so pissed?"

"I'm not."

"Okay, then there's something going on. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." She said, getting pissed.

"Listen, Gam, you're acting strange-"

"Shut up." Gamora stopped and put a hand on Peter's chest, not looking at him.

"Hey, i'm just-"

"I said 'shut up'." She put a hand over his mouth and finally looked at him. Howls could be heard in the distance.

The man-child took the woman's hand off his mouth. "Gam...are those wolves?"

Gamora nodded and slowly reached for her Godslayer. Peter did the same with one of his quad blasters.

Out of nowhere, a wolf, with its fur black as night, tried to attack the pair, but was decapitated by Gamora. Another came charging at them until Quill shot it with his quad blaster. It yelped and rolled backwards. Suddenly, they were surrounded by wolves that were harder than hell to see. There was a full pack getting ready to attack.

"Jesus Christ, are you seeing this?"

"Yes. I have enhanced vision."

"Of course you do." He activated his helmet that soon covered his face. "Ready?" Gamora nodded. Together, they both attacked the wolves, slaughtering them. Wolves were more aggressive than he remembered. However, they were 'space wolves'.

In a manner of minutes, all of the wolves lied on the dirt path, dead. Gamora pulled her Godslayer out of the last wolf and wiped the fresh blood off of her face. She looked over at Peter, who was digging in his bag. Curious to what he was looking for, she looked in the bag. Inside was something that Gamora hadn't seen in a while; the note from Peter's mother. She felt something new; it was almost sorrow, but in a way, different. Peter must have seen it too because once he came upon it, he stopped searching and thumbed the old piece of paper.

It wasn't long before one more wolf caught Gamora off-guard and slashed her arm with its claw. Gamora cried in pain as blood started trickling from her arm. Unable to do anything, she tightly grasped it and sunk to the ground.

Peter, hearing her in agony, whipped around, shooting the wolf in its tracks. He ran over to Gamora, kneeling beside her. "Shit. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, i'm fine. I'm just bleeding a little." She tried to get up, but fell back down. Her arm stung. She could feel the pain and it hurt like hell, but she also had worse. She could also feel her arm going numb and she started to loose all feeling in her fingers.

"No, you aren't." After finding a safe place to stay for the night, Peter dug through his bag and returned to Gamora, who was sitting on a log, with a first aid kit. He sat next to her and started patching her up, the same way she always did to him. "You never lose your guard. What happened?"

"Nothing! Okay?! Just finish, so we get out of-"

Peter tied the last stitch and cut off the access. He threw the needle into the first aid kit and stood up. "Listen, I don't know what the hell happened, but i'm tired of you treating me like a piece of shit tonight! What the hell is your problem?!"

Gamora, about ready to pop, didn't have an answer. She forgot why she was so pissed at Peter in the first place. Was it because he was holding her back? Or was it because he actually cared about her? Maybe she was pissed at herself for making assumptions and took her anger out on Peter. Whatever the reason, she couldn't think right now and needed to sleep. She took a deep breath. "We should go to bed soon." She stood up and started to grab her bag, before Peter's hand cuffed her wrist.

"No!"

"Peter, i'm not going through this again! Let go of me!"

"Not until you tell me what you're so pissed about? What the hell did I do?!" Gamora escaped his grasp and looked him in the eye.

"I don't know." She finally answered.

"Then, why are you treating me like a piece of shit all of a sudden?! I'm just trying-" The pair stared at each other for a moment, in silence. "I'm just trying to do something right for once. You're the only girl I've ever cared about in this way. All those other ones, I treated like shit, but for some reason I don't want to...I can't-"

"You can't-what?"

"I can't lose you. That's why I didn't want you to come with. That's why I kept being strict to you. I can't lose you, Gam."

"I can handle myself."

"I know you can, but there are gonna be times, like that wolf attack, where you're gonna be caught off-guard. I don't wanna see you get killed."

"God dammit, Peter, why must you care so much?!" She crossed her arms and looked away.

"Because-"

"Why?!" She threw her arms up in the air in exasperation. She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"Because I love you." Peter muttered. "I've said it before and i'll say it again."

Gamora turned around and looked Peter in the eye. "I know you do and I feel the same."

"Then, why would you treat me like that?"

"I'm not used to people caring about me in a way like that. I guess I took my anger out on you." Peter scanned her as her gaze fell to the ground. "I'm sorry, Peter." That said man wrapped his arms around her. She returned the gesture.

"Its okay."

"Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"If I promise to care for you, will you do the same for me?"

Peter chuckled. "Always."