#{also if gamora would interject at all feel free to do that too}

[tarnishedxknight]

Soryn worked quickly to spread the word through the ranks of the Royal Guard that a plot was being uncovered. The guardsmen were told what to look for in Basch's twin, as well as a passphrase they were to require from anyone appearing as Basch did who tried to get close to the king. Once most of the guard on duty currently within the palace had been told, Soryn left the palace to continue to disseminate the information among the guardsmen keeping posts elsewhere in the city of Rabanastre.

Although the princess had not been named in the assassination attempt, she had still been a target of Vossler's, and so Basch left to find her, leaving a few guardsmen to keep an eye on the prince and king. She ought to know what was happening. When he reached her quarters, however, he suddenly felt so nervous, not knowing how he would respond to everything. Knowledge was power, though, and he did not believe in keeping Ashelia ignorant of everything as her father did...

- - - - -

Reks could not keep from smiling at the sweet little creature as he pet the lizard. He was happy to help in the process of holding the lizard, since it seemed to bring the creature so much joy.

"You are very welcome," Reks said when Drax translated. Although he only heard the same thing uttered by the creature in different inflections, apparently they all meant different things? What a fascinating language this was! "They are fascinating, indeed. My brother and I used to catch and keep them as pets when we were younger," he shared. "There are so many of them, all around the city, and in the surrounding desert as well."

"Hello, Groot. Well met again, Drax. My name is Reks," the young man said, his warm smile growing a bit more. "Is there anything either of you need at present? You are guests of the Crown, after all, and I know... I know things have not gone as they ought to have, since you arrived. I am sorry for that, and if there is anything I can do to help in any way, I would be happy to," he offered.

As he was saying this, another member of the guard approached. "Reks!" the man called.

"Hello, Arvin," Reks said. "What's wrong?"

The guard eyed Groot and Drax but continued nonetheless. "Dire word from the palace. These are two of the Crown's guests, are they not?" he asked.

"Yes, they are. Why?" Reks asked.

"An assassination plot against His Majesty and Prince Caelen has been uncovered by their comrades," said Arvin.

"What?!" Reks said, shocked by the news.

"Ser Vedrai is informing all of us of what we need know. Captain Ronsenburg has an identical twin brother, estranged, in Archadia. This twin is going to use their shared appearance to get close to the king and prince and assassinate them. You must know what to look for, and there is a passphrase you must ask anyone who looks like our Captain, should he come close to the royal family." Arvin looked at the Guardians. "Perhaps you should know all of this as well. The more who do, the less chance the plot will be successful."

- - - - -

The maids were very efficient in dressing Mantis, not wanting to waste the guest's time or risk upsetting her. They were friendly enough, though, if spoken to. Otherwise, they were quiet. Their low rank in the social hierarchy of the palace dictated that they not overly speak unless spoken to, but if they got the impression that the person they were serving didn't care to adhere to strictly to that, they loosened up a bit.

When asked to stay behind and help with the ribbon around Mantis' waist, the pregnant maid politely smiled. "Of course, m'lady," she said, having no problem in tying a beautiful bow at the small of Mantis' back. "There you are, m'lady. You look very fetching, if you don't mind my saying it." She was a petite woman with long sandy colored hair and brown eyes. Very pretty, she was, but there was sadness that seemed to follow her around, even when she smiled.

"Of course, m'lady," she repeated when asked to stay and talk. She wasn't supposed to dawdle, but if asked by a guest to remain for a conversation, then it was permitted well enough. "My name is Elin, Lady Mantis," she said softly. "What is it you wish to talk about?"

- - - - -

Back in the throne room, King Raminas seemed to deflate with each new bit of information Gamora shared about all of Vossler's treachery. Caelen stood by, concerned for his father. The man was not young anymore, and his health had declined in recent years. Caelen hoped this would not further exacerbate it, but it found it hard to imagine how it could not.

"Gods..." the king said, lowering his head into his hand. "This... All of this will need to be properly documented, taken down officially at Vossler's trial. I want the trial to happen soon after Ashelia's wedding. There is no excusing any of this... disgusting behavior. I am ashamed to say he was ever named Knight of the Order."

"Father..." Caelen said. "We will set it right now. As best we can."

"Perhaps, in some ways, it is too late," Raminas said with an air of hopelessness.

"It is not too late," Caelen insisted.

"This... was not the kingdom I'd hoped to leave to you, my son," Raminas said, his eyes turning sad as he lifted his head. "One tarnished and sullied by disgrace... with the Empire beating down its doors..."

"We will endure somehow, father. Wait for Munoh to return with word of the King of Nabradia's reply, and we will better know how to proceed from there," he said, ever the optimist and trying to keep Raminas' spirits up as much as possible. Caelen then turned to Gamora. "Thank you for all you've done. You and your comrades," he said, realizing he was going to have to take the reins a bit here. His father was collapsing a bit under the weight of everything. "Given what has happened, I naturally will not ask you to stay or help any further, but if you wish to... know that if there is anything I can do or anything that you need, you have my assistance and gratitude."

Just then, Munoh reappeared in the throne room, first only to Caelen, and then to everyone else present. Raminas' eyes widened nervously to see the Occurian again, but Caelen smiled. "Welcome back, my friend. Do you bring word from Nabradia?"

"I do," Munoh said. "Regards, the king sends," they said, looking at Raminas, "though he wishes circumstances were not as they are. The Archadian invasion was already known to him, the Empire's approach seen by scouts from the skies. However, news of the involvement of nethicite changes much for him. Perhaps bravely or foolishly, hist'ry shall decide, he intends to resist the invasion in Nabudis. Stand or fall, he requests that his children, Prince Rasler and Princess Eswynn, be granted sanctuary here. Even now, they are preparing to travel to Rabanastre by airship. They know nothing of nethicite, nothing of the impending ruin of their capital city. They believe they are arriving for the wedding and nothing more. The king asks that their ignorance be preserved, for if Prince Rasler discovers the truth, he will return to Nabudis and likely throw his life away."

Raminas appeared even more overwhelmed by this news, but Caelen took it in stride. "Then we must prepare to receive them. It is only a couple of hours travel by airship from Nabudis to Rabanastre. Perhaps we should welcome them with a dinner. Shall I tell the kitchens to prepare something, father?"

"Yes..." Raminas said with a slow nod. "We should prepare something to properly receive them, though it is hardly a time to celebrate."

"As far as they know, it is. Rasler and Ashelia are to be married. That is certainly something to celebrate, is it not?" Caelen said.

"Yes..." Raminas repeated. "She ought to be present at the dinner."

"As should Basch. He is the Captain of the Guard and of the Order, after all," Caelen said. "And I think..." He looked at Gamora. "I think we should invite our guests."

Raminas looked as though he wanted to disagree, but with Gamora standing right there, and with everything the Dalmascan experience thus far had thrown at them, he found it difficult to do so.

"I agree," Munoh said, floating slowly around Gamora.

"They must not mention the invasion to the prince and princess if they do," Raminas said. "Rasler is a headstrong lad. If he catches wind of a threat to his homeland and to his father, he will return to fight. His safety and perhaps his life depends upon his ignorance in the matter."

Another Time, Another Place (A Hollow Universe In Space) || closed with tarnishedxknight

@tarnishedxknight continued from here

The Guardians stood there, letting Captain Basch formally introduce them to King Raminas. They all then bowed respectfully except for Rocket, who only did so because Gamora pushed his head down. They trusted Basch for the most part, as he assured them no one would hurt them after telling them to leave their weapons at the ship. Quill and Gamora were the first ones to leave theirs; Drax didn't want to leave his knives, but did so after Mantis looked at him, while Rocket pulled a comical amount of retractable weapons from his pockets.

As they followed Basch, Mantis had stayed behind for a moment to approach Vossler. She felt much better after Munoh sent her some calm energy, and she smirked at the man. Suddenly, her hand was on his cheek, her antennae aglow. "Whenever you open your mouth to say something unkind, you will wail like a baby. Honestly, it might be more coherent than anything else you have said," she whispered. She patted his cheek twice as if to seal her whimsical behest, and hurried to follow the Guardians as Basch guided them through the palace of Rabanastre.

Quill straightened and cleared his throat to speak to the King. Mantis took his hand; Quill was a little confused, but he allowed it since he knew she wasn't feeling great.

"Your Majesty," he said, once again lowering his voice in an attempt to mirror Basch's formal tone and presence, hoping it would make the King like him more. "We come in peace. We thank you for your time, and we apologize for occupying one of your docks. I think I have–" He stopped talking rather suddenly, and swallowed. "Uh... I think... I have..."

What was happening was that Mantis was frantically reading his thoughts as he spoke, using her powers to interrupt him because he was going to say he had the perfect stuff to make up for it, wanting to show the King some Terran music with the Zune. While Terran music was excellent, Mantis knew not everyone would like it, nor find it an acceptable form of apology.

"I have no excuse," Quill said instead. "And I have to... shut up... now."

[soapsilly]

The Saviors of the Galaxy - Guardians of the Galaxy Imagine

Pairings: Guardian x Reader; Platonic!Rocket x Platonic!Reader

Summary/Request:   Soooo I wanted to ask about a guardiens of the galaxy one. The reader tries to steal something from the ship and the guardiens catch her. They kind of adopt her into their team and the reader becomes really good friends with rocket and together they built all this crazy stuff and mock peter and so on.

And remember: Requests are open!

This one really took a lot longer than the other ones I feel like but it’s been a few busy weeks for me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shit!” The Guardians were awoken by loud cursing followed by the sounds of rattling metal. In just a matter of seconds the intruder was sourrounded by Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Peter Quill, every one of them with some type of weapon. 

“Who are you? What are you doing on our ship?”, Gamora asked firmly with her weapon aimed perfectly at the girl’s nose. 

“Who cares who she is? She shouldn’t be here!” Rocket shouted, excited to try out his newest invention.

“Wow. You’re the Saviors of the Galaxy. If I had known who’s ship I was robbing I would’ve brought my pen and paper”, the girl seemed genuinely surprised but not intimidated.

“Guardians. Were the Guardians of- nevermind. How did you not know what ship you were robbing? We’re superstars!” for the moment Peter didn’t care that the girl was trying to steal from his ship, how didn’t she know him?

“Well, do you know what spaceship Nova Prime flies privately?” she answered his question with another question. The girl wandered off, unbothered by the weapons that were still aimed at her, looking at the multitude of bits and pieces that littered the floor. 

“I mean who lives like that? This ship is a mess”, she murmured.

“Hello?! We’re still here!” Peter exclaimed, confused and a little irritated that the intruder was completely unbothered and insulting his home.

Gamora lowered her weapon, realizing that the girl didn’t care anyways. 

“Who are you and what were you looking for?” she asked her.

“My name is (Y/N) and I was trying to find something useful. Nothing in particular. Ravager ships usually have all kinds of interesting stuff on them. By the way no need for you to introduce yourselfs. I know you”, she explained.

“Here we have Gamora, of course. Then there is Drax the Destroyer, nice nipples”, she sent him a wink, “here’s Mantis, Rocket and Groot. And lastly Star-Prince”

“Lord!” Peter exclaimed. 

“Are you sure? Isn’t a prince kinda better than a lord? Why would you go for Star-Lord if you could go by Star-King even?”

Before Peter could start arguing with her more, Rocket interjected “I like that one, Quill. She’s got a point. Can we keep her?”

“Yes, I’m sensing a really positive aura from her”, Mantis agreed. 

“I am Groot”

“Indeed! She seems like a highly competent young lady”, Drax agreed.

And before Peter could argue with them, (Y/N) interrupted him “Alrighty then, we’re can I leave my stuff?”

*******************************************************************************************

It’s been a few weeks since (Y/N) joined the Guardians. She knew exactly how to interact with every single member, as all of them have a distinctive character. But she and Rocket hit it off immediately. They bonded over their love for tinkering and building new stuff - extra points if that stuff happens to be explosive. 

“Nonono, this doesn’t belong there. That goes over here!” Rocket groaned “what do you even know?”

“I know what I’m doing! Just trust me”, the girl shunned him. 

Rocket threw his hands up and watched her with no further interruption but muttered something inaudible under his breath every now and then, which (Y/N) just kept ignoring.

After she connected a last wire, the device started glowing blue and a humming sound emitted from withing it.

Rocket turned towards the device with a surprised expression.

“Told you so..” the girl told her friend.

“So whomever we shoot with this baby will completely lose their sense of balance? No way to walk a straight line?” he inquired.

“Now listen. This thing has only enough energy for three uses, so we can not use this carelessly.” she explained.

“Wanna shoot Quill?”

“Definitely.”

*******************************************************************************************

“I don’t get it. Where are we even going?” (Y/N) asked.

“Would you be quiet? We’re trying to break into this facility and free the animals they’re doing illegal testing on, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t bust us before this mission has even begun”, Peter hissed.

“Yeah, genius and just walking up to the front door would not achieve exactly that?”

The Guardians stopped in their tracks and turned towards her.

“What do you mean?” Gamora asker the girl further.

“Well, there’s a back entrance? The security guards only come by there every twenty or so minutes because you’d have to get through a swamp to get there. Most people wouldn’t bother. The door opens via numeral code that changes every day but I got a device for that”, the girl shrugged.

“How do you even know all that?” Quill was getting irritated.

“I’ve been here before”, she explained.

They stood in silence for a few seconds until all of the Guardians started to bicker.

“What the heck Quill?” Rocket shouted.

“Okay okay okayokay OKAY!” Peter shouted, “if (Y/N) knows best why doesn’t she lead the way then?”

“Quill, don’t shout. You just told (Y/N) to be quiet as to not bust the mission”, Drax informed a lost looking Peter, with Mantis nodding eagerly.

*******************************************************************************************“I don’t know, Gamora.  Who is she? Where is she coming from? We basically know nothing about her but still we just let her stay with us. And besides... she doesn’t like me” Peter complained to his girlfriend.

“Peter, of course she likes you.  Maybe you’re just a little jealous? I mean she gets along great with everybody - especially with Rocket”

“Yeah, that’s another thing! We don’t need another Rocket! That’s madness” Peter exclaimed.

“I think she’s calming him a little bit. I think-”

Gamora was interrupted by a loud explosion sound which was followed by a ‘are you kidding me’ look from Peter.

A coughing and soot covered (Y/N) entered the room. Rocket followed her, one of his left whiskers still smoking.

“Hey Pete? We might need to get a new temperature calibrator”, (Y/N) sheepishly informs him.

“You see what I mean?!” Peter turned to Gamora and pointed at them with his two arms fully stretched out.

*******************************************************************************************To get the replacement and to stock up on groceries they had to make a pit stop on Knowhere.

When they arrived the Guardians were instantly swarmed by the people on the street. Eventhough Knowhere was not considered the most friendly of all places, the group had fans all over the Galaxy.

(Y/N) sort of just trailed behind and watched how everybody pooled around their ‘favourite’, with the children generally being drawn to Groot and Rocket - much to Rocket’s dismay.

Groot was creating and handing out little daisies, Peter was playing around with the kids and Mantis was just over all happy with the friendlyness.

Gamora, Rocket and Drax, however seemed slightly overwhelmed with the newly gained attention.

(Y/N) stood by and watched her new friends with a smile. She really liked every single one of them. They were all outcasts of some type so it really felt good to have a place where she felt like she belonged to.

While she was occupied with her thoughts a little girl tugged on her shirt.

“Excuse me? Are you also a Guardian of the Galaxy?” the girl asked with big eyes.

(Y/N) smiled at the girl and crouched down to answer, “No I’m not, but I am friends with them. Would you like me to introduce you to them? I’m sure Groot has a little flower for you”

As the two of them started to make their way over to the group of people a guy was calling over to them.

“Don’t go over there! They aren’t even worth it. Just a bunch of wannabe heroes that are actually just no good criminal scum!”

(Y/N) stopped in her tracks and told the little girl to wait for a minute. Then she turned towards the guy that was snickering and still trash talking the Guardians with his friend group.

“Oi! What the heck did you just say? That criminal scum, as you’ve just called them, saved the freaking galaxy from Ronan, which includes your sorry ass too. So if I were you I’d shut my fucking mouth before I come over there and make you shut up, jackass. Every single one of them is more of a hero than you’ll ever be”, she hollered at the group.

“And who the fuck do you think you are? You little-” the man started to get angry and marched over to her.

But before he could even finished his sentence Star-Lord himself stood next to her with his hand already placed over his gun, in case he’d need it.

“Who she thinks she is? She’s part of the Guardians of that Galaxy and she’s right you are indeed a jackass”, he told the man firmly but sent (Y/N) a reassuring wink.

The other Guardians were making their way over to them aswell.

“Yeah, we’re the Guardians and we don’t like anybody insulting our friends. And this one” - Rocket pointed to (Y/N) - “I am especially fond of, so I’d recommend you get outta here before something bad happens”

As Rocket was about to pull out his gun, Peter reminded him that they didn’t want a fight if not necessary. Rocket groaned because the dude did deserve it but put away his gun nonetheless.

The Guardians were just about to turn away when Groot decided that the guy really did deserve it and extended one of his branches and swung it at his feet, knocking him straight on his ass.

When the man regained his footing he scrambled to flee the scene, while the Guardians all just looked at Groot, who just slowly made his way back to where he was before, “I am Groot”.

“So he’s allowed to do it but I’m not?” Rocket asked.

*******************************************************************************************

Epilogue

“Sooooo I’m a Guardian of the Galaxy or what?” (Y/N) got out of the group hug and asked Peter with a suggestive grin.

[qandnoablog]

Titan (Marvel Imagine)

Title: Discovered

Pairing: There is no final pairing (since I follow along with the movies as accurately as I can) but [Y/N] does gravitate towards Loki

Warnings: Based on the movie - Avengers: Infinity War

Part: 13, [12], [11], [10], [9], [8], [7], [6], [5], [4], [3], [2], [1] Short story: [3], [2], [1]

Key: Y/N - Your Name Y/L/N - Your Last Name

Word Count: 2,627

Summary: Taking the fight to Thanos seemed like a straight forward plan, but [Y/N] knew first hand just how capable their enemy was. Now that he had more stones in his arsenal, she couldn’t help but feel like the odds were against them. Still, they are the Avengers! They faced impossible odds before. This time shouldn’t be any different, right?

Note From Author: Another part is now out! I should be updating more regularly now so if you all are still keeping up with the Discovered series, please make sure to check in every week :)

Part 13 - Titan

A lot happened after that.

After saving Strange, sending the pale alien out into open space, “knighting” Peter as an official Avenger, and finalizing their objectives, the group decided to face off with Thanos on Titan. Rather than bring the fight back to Earth, it was better to surprise him on his own turf. Of course, [Y/N] had strong objections with this plan at first, but thinking about it objectively, she had to agree. There would be countless casualties in a battle that Thanos had envisioned for Earth. Rather than allow such an event, it would be safer for everyone to have them face off the root of the problem far from their loved ones.

When the ship crashed onto the planet, the team was unprepared for the sudden landing. The metal broke apart right as it hit solid ground. Tony and Peter tried their best to steer the ship, though they didn’t know how to properly work the controls, while Strange and [Y/N] worked hard to protect the group from the impact. He utilized his magic to protect the area around them while [Y/N] used her powers to provide a sturdy barrier that draped around each individual person.

Everything was sparking, the machines all torn apart, but due to Strange and [Y/N]’s joint efforts, none were harmed. Though a bit disoriented by the landing, they were all safe and soon quickly got up.

Before the team could feel at ease with their situation, trouble had to come knocking. Right when Peter finished warning the team with another one of his movie references, an object rolled on the ground and stopped in the center of their small circle. [Y/N] could barely collect her thoughts when it suddenly opened, a flash of light and energy propelling each and every one of them backwards.

Her powers instinctively shielded her from the blast, allowing her to come out with no broken bones but with some minor bruises. She was starting to feel very annoyed, and immediately shrouded herself in a blanket of air and energy, promptly turning invisible before anyone could lock onto her.

“Thanos!”

A gruff and unfamiliar voice yelled out, a mixture of anger and impulsive rage, as Strange quickly protected himself with magic to stop the flying knives from finding their mark. The stranger roared, his skin a grayish color with odd tattoos, that looked more like engravings, all over his body. Before he could get another sound out, however, Strange sent out his cloak that swiftly tied itself around the new arrival’s head, muffling all his incessant shouting.

Iron Man and the stranger with a weird helmet fired at one another, the two flying with their tech. When it seemed like Tony had the upper hand, the helmeted man chuckled to himself as he pressed a button. Looking down at his chest, Tony saw a foreign object near his arc reactor that hummed with energy and a strong magnetic pull forced him onto one of the metallic objects of the ship.

“Tony!” [Y/N] called out, causing the helmeted man to be momentarily confused when a voice seemed to come out from nowhere.

She ignored the attacker’s confusion as she used her powers to help wedge Iron Man off of the metal he was stuck to. It wasn’t easy. The magnetic force of the object was surprisingly very strong. It was a joint effort to pry him off.

When Iron Man was finally free, he immediately rushed off to the fallen alien, who was still struggling with the sentient cloak. The moment Tony had his arm out, ready to shoot, the cloak let go of its prisoner and returned to Strange. Seeing this, the helmeted man grabbed Spider-Man, who was entangled by a strange, possibly electrical, rope and pointed his gun to the kid’s head.

[Y/N]’s heart skipped a beat, seeing her friend being held hostage in front of her, and quickly shot out a wave of energy to enclose around Peter’s body. She wasn’t sure how strong the weapon was nor if her powers were able to defend from a fatal blow at such close range, but if she was stupid enough to take on an infinity stone [Author’s Note: Part 7 - War], then she was damn well brave enough to take on a hit from an alien gun.

“Everybody, stay where you are!” The man yelled with the weapon still pointed at Spider-Man’s head, “Chill the eff out!”

[Y/N] was just about ready to send out her powers to wrench off the stranger’s arm away from Peter when the man reached over to his helmet and pressed a button. It quickly came off him, revealing a human face underneath that mask. She was stunned, surprised to find someone who looked human rather than an alien like his other comrades.

“I’m gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?”

“Yeah, I’ll do you one better,” Tony instantly replied, his helmet coming off too, “Who’s Gamora?”

“I’ll do you one better,” the alien under Tony’s foot challenged, “Why is Gamora?”

Now this left [Y/N] baffled. Their demands were something that none of them were expecting. The sudden fight didn’t really startle them too much, considering they were now on enemy territory, but the reason behind the battle left all present very confused.

“Tell me where the girl is or I swear to you, I’m gonna French-fry this little freak.”

The moment that man said those words, something in [Y/N] just snapped.

“Do that and I’ll burst your body like an overfilled balloon,” [Y/N] warned, her voice dripping with an icy, murderous tone.

This was a first for her. She was even startled by how calm she felt even though those bone chilling words had exited her own lips, but upon further thought, she found this change to be natural. After witnessing so much, fighting alongside many people, and seeing first hand how some of her friends had fallen… How could she not have hardened her heart? Besides, in this line of business, killing wasn’t unusual. It’s just… She’d never actually openly taken a life. It was all in self-defense. Would she come out of this battle unscathed?

It wasn’t just her that was shocked by her words. Both her own team and those against her were also surprised. The group that had started this fight was startled to hear a voice without some sort of body. Clearly, [Y/N] was still invisible. Her friends, on the other hand, were feeling many emotions. Strange might not have known [Y/N] the way Tony and Peter had, but he still understood her character enough to know she wasn’t a hardened killer. That’s when everyone’s emotions shifted from shock to distressed.

Her friends were especially distressed when the two realized that the conviction in her voice held no trace of a lie. It was a promise, those words she said. Seeing how far she’d go, it was enough to show how much she endured this whole time. She did not want to lose any more of her friends. She did not want to sacrifice any more of her loved ones’ lives. Just how much did she see? Just how much did she suffer to come this far?

“Just try it, creepy disembodied voice,” the man taunted, calling her bluff.

The sad part was… [Y/N] wasn’t bluffing.

Before she could do anything rash, Tony quickly interjected.

“Let’s do it. You shoot my guy and I’ll blast him!” Tony indicated with his outstretched arm, his suit shifting into a blaster that was equipped and ready to shoot at the alien’s head.

“Do it, Quill!” The gray alien under Tony called out, his eyes never leaving the barrel of the blaster pointed right at his face. “I can take it.”

“No, he can’t take it!” The female alien countered, clearly worried for the gray alien’s life.

“She’s right. You can’t,” Strange agreed.

“Oh, yeah?” The man, Quill, scoffed, “You don’t wanna tell me where she is? That’s fine. I’ll kill all three of you and I’ll beat it out of Thanos myself. Startin’ with you.”

The moment [Y/N] heard his gun hum to life, her whole body went stiff. Her energy that was sent to wrap protectively around Peter began to twist and turn, being fed more and more power as [Y/N]’s focus zeroed in on her friend’s captor. She was just about ready to attack when Strange interrupted her murderous thoughts.

“Wait, what? Thanos?” Strange repeated, puzzled. “All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?”

“What master do I serve?” Quill mocked, clearly not understanding what Strange was getting at. “What am I supposed to say? Jesus?”

“You’re from Earth,” Tony concluded, a bit annoyed and no longer feeling the need to fight.

“I’m not from Earth. I’m from Missouri.”

“Yeah, that’s on Earth, dip-shit. What are you hassling us for?” Tony questioned, now completely fed up with this man.

“So, you’re not with Thanos?” Peter asked.

“With Thanos?” Quill repeated, now completely confused. “No, I’m here to kill Thanos. He took my girl. Wait, who are you?”

He finally put down the gun, and [Y/N] followed and withdrew her powers that were building up, ready to explode. She was still wary of these strangers, but she now knew that they were no longer their enemies.

“We’re the Avengers, man,” Peter replied as his mask came off.

Hearing those words, Quill released Peter and let out an exasperated sigh. He was also irritated to hear that his long-awaited revenge had not been fulfilled.

Seeing this, [Y/N] dissipated the energy shrouding her, becoming completely visible for all to see. Those that didn’t know who she was were stunned to find a woman appear out of thin air. Now they knew where the “creepy, disembodied voice” was coming from.

“You’re the ones Thor told us about!” The female alien said.

“Thor?” [Y/N] exclaimed, no longer showing the icy emotions she felt when Peter’s life was in danger. “Did you say Thor? He’s alive?”

~

[Y/N] was very clear on the plan, but never was she so disgusted with the enemy that she wanted to abandon all logic and just bash his psychotic head into the ground.

His plan was sick. Just a snap of his fingers and millions - no, trillions - of innocents would just vanish from the face of the universe. No one would be spared by such a feat and yet that was his ultimate goal. To purge the universe of its over accumulating population so that none would have to go hungry to the point of extinction again. He acted like a prophet, sacrificing his time and efforts for the good of the universe, but it was just the twisted ravings of a madman.

Mercy? More like cruelty. Everything he spouted was inhumane. A monster in every way.

“I think you’ll find our will equal to yours,” Strange said.

“Our?” Thanos repeated in confusion.

That was the signal. Following that, Tony barreled into Thanos with a piece of the alien spaceship, crushing Thanos beneath the unimaginable weight of the metal. Dust clouds emerged from the ground and flew outwards from the impact, draping the vicinity in a thick layer of dirt and dust. But even that wasn’t enough to stop Thanos.

A purple glow shot out from where Thanos was hit and the metal broke apart, revealing himself to be uninjured and free. He yelled out in anger from the surprise attack, using another stone to change the metallic debris into a swarm of bat-like creatures that rammed into Iron Man.

Everyone worked together after that. There was no time or room for a breather.

Hitting in any possible way, propelling one another towards Thanos for another hit, and dodging so as to not lose their lives. That was the fighting style that everyone took part in. It was complete and utter chaos, yet still there was some semblance of rhythm. There was no gap to allow Thanos time to use his infinity stones. Even the surprising new addition, the blue woman who was also looking for the girl named Gamora, didn’t hinder their plan. In fact, she followed along and joined in on their battle. And no one seemed to question it. As long as it was an enemy of Thanos, she was deemed a friend.

Strange and [Y/N] were on support. He would portal several of the team towards and away from Thanos while [Y/N] used her powers to protect them from most of the damage on behalf of the others. Her hands were now bruised all over, taking hit after hit, but she disregarded that familiar pain and pressed on. The others threw punch after punch, causing Thanos to be bombarded with attacks from all around.

The goal was simple. Get that gauntlet away from Thanos.

Finally, all their efforts were paying off as they had succeeded in getting Mantis, the female alien on Quill’s team, onto Thanos and forcing him to go under. With everyone struggling to keep the purple giant in place, it was Tony and Peter’s job to pry off the gauntlet from the semi-unconscious Thanos.

But everything went to hell in just a single moment of impulsive anger and grief.

“He… He mourns,” Mantis cried as she felt the swirl of emotions going through Thanos’ head.

“What does this monster have to mourn?” Drax, the tattooed alien, questioned as he strained to keep Thanos’ arm down.

“Gamora,” the blue newcomer answered, realizing the truth.

“What?” Quill asked as he turned away from Thanos and towards the blue alien.

“He took her to Vormir,” she replied, “He came back with the Soul Stone. But she didn’t.”

Tony knew what those words meant and tried to calm Quill down. The whole team was already struggling to pry off the gauntlet from this monster, so it was unwise to let one act of anger mess up the whole plan. But even [Y/N] could sense the unrest within Quill that the truth had ignited. She understood the anger and pain he was feeling, but she also knew this wasn’t the time to act. Not yet.

“Don’t!” [Y/N] pleaded as she struggled to keep Thanos down alongside the rest of them. “It’s not time yet! Don’t!”

But it was too late.

Shit! [Y/N] internally screamed as Thanos finally broke out of his trance.

Everyone holding onto Thanos was flung off the moment he regained his senses. The plan was crumbling before everyone’s eyes as the monster regained the upper hand and separated the team into all different directions. Some fainted from the intense blow of the infinity stone while others were desperately trying to evade the onslaught of debris from the destroyed moon that Thanos had sent their way.

Tony tried to fly away in time but was caught up by a massive piece of the moon while Peter and [Y/N] quickly set out to save those that couldn’t dodge for themselves. However, before she could actually put in the effort of saving a few of her new comrades, something appeared below her feet. Her brain couldn’t process what was happening in the heat of battle, and she couldn’t stop what came next.

Gravity worked against her and just as [Y/N] recognized the magic at play, she heard his voice.

“You are needed elsewhere,” the culprit said, his voice cracking with exhaustion.

“Stephen!” [Y/N] yelled with all her might in both disbelief and fury as she fell through the portal to places unknown.

That was all she could scream out right before disappearing from Titan.

[PART 14]

Tags: @themeanestlittlewitch  @stressedandbandobessed7771 @moistpotatobear @fxckingfat​ @e7here4l

[maxawello]

Saving Nat - Alternate to Avengers Endgame

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT A  SPOILER!!!!

you have been warned.

Plot: Nat doesn’t die in Endgame.

Also please don’t come at me with potholes with regards to this. I’ve been roasted already about it and I just want a happy ending okay? ahahahah ha ha ha :(

“Wait.”

Little did they know that that one word would have so much impact. Little golden lines were moving from their original position, time moving along its newly regulated path.

Nebula stepped into the heart of the Avengers headquarters, almost having skipped the group meeting, but making the last-second decision not to, finally feeling as though she was part of the group.

All of the heads turned and in a split second she felt bashful. If her skin hadn’t been blue, she was sure a red tinge would have shown up. Petty humans. Somewhere in the back of her now-machine mind she had room enough to chortle and to remain composed on the outside.

“What do you mean wait? This is our chance.” Natasha was the first to speak up, voicing what everyone else was thinking as the girl who had been on the other side for too long began to plant a seed of doubt in their already doubtful minds. Especially Tony’s.

Nebula took in a deep breath, surprised at the lack of training war had given her for situations like these. It was always so much easier to just eradicate something - a blessing and a curse of being a daughter of Thanos.

With every single eye on her, she looked at the drawing board.

Three in New York, one in Asgard and one each in Vormir and Morag.

“Do you remember what happened when my father collected the soul stone?”

Steve cocked his head, trying to think back to any mention of it. Rocket looked to Thor and Thor looked to the beer bottle in his hand.

“We don’t have time for this,” Tony said, tapping the screen. The glass sound echoed through the room. “Hurry up with your story.” His mind was racing and every second that they didn’t begin to work, he doubted whether or not it was worth it to leave. After all, he had two, who were waiting back home, who loved him 3000.

Nebula fought to stop her eye roll, although her optical implants were hindrances to them spotting it. “My father – ”she stopped for a second. “Thanos,” she corrected, swallowing hard. It was a habit. She had only wanted to please him her entire life until so little ago she had seen what was wrong. She sighed. “He left to Vormir. With my… Sister – ”

“But Gamora never came back,” Rocket finished, understanding the meaning behind her story.

It flashed before Tony’s eyes. He had been so close to taking the gauntlet off the purple giant but then one imbecile had knocked the giant head and sat him loose from the weird girl’s spell.

Tony grit his teeth. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could three words rang out.

“Whatever it takes.”

Natasha and Clint spoke the words at the same time, eyes immediately looking up to meet each other’s gaze.

“I’ll do it.” Again, they spoke at the same time.

She glared at him although there was no anger behind it. “If this works – ”

“And it will,” Steve interjected.

She sent him a soft smile, knowing he couldn’t help it and that it was exactly what she needed. “When this works,” she corrected, “you’ll have your family back.” Her words rang true and deafening to the rest of the Avengers. “Don’t you think Laura should see you again? Your children?”

Clint hung his head, holding his face in his hands as he thought back to the five years without his family. “I’ve done bad things. I can’t let you take this one.”

“So have I.” She took in a deep breath and then let it out. “But I don’t have a family waiting for me.” She looked up, her eyes met the combination of Bruce and the Hulk. He knew her secret even if no one else did. She gave him a smile as well before nodding away her fate. “It has to be me.”

And in the midst of all the drama, Steve had actually been thinking. He would hate to sacrifice his old friend in the process. He was always never able to trade lives. “Wait.”

Everyone turned to him.

“I have an idea.”

“Do you really think that’s gonna work?” Nat asked, sceptical but hopeful at the same time.

Steve nodded. “If we return it to the exact same time, then yes. He’ll never know.”

“I have a really bad feeling about this plan,” Scott said, checking his suit as they flew closer to Vormir. Natasha’s newly learned flying skills had been put to the test and had generally worked with the help of a couple programmed coordinates. After all, how hard could it have been if the Hulk had been able to do it?

Scott on the other hand, he’d been set as the highest stake player in this timeline with one and only one objective. Not to die, and to get the soul stone back to the future.

He did a mini jog on the spot, psyching himself up. “I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.”

Natasha watched him, pitying him, but knowing why it had to be him. No one could manipulate the equipment as well as he could.

Someone small enough that Thanos doesn’t notice.

We have one shot.

“Approaching the drop in three, two, one…”

Scott exited the spaceship, Peter Quill’s flight tech on him with a couple advancements from Stark. It would be a silent drop in so that Thanos wouldn’t hear him coming. The plan was to get as close to the mountain as possible, grab the stone and then get as far away from Thanos as possible.

“Nat, I’ve entered the atmosphere.” And as he dropped, he prayed that the bottom of his suit wouldn’t light on fire as he tried to slow his entry, careful not to turn on the boosters too loud. He couldn’t shrink yet or he would take too long to descend and be a sitting duck as he did. But as he fell, a light emanated from the mountain, shooting up into the clouds.

“Are we too late. What was that?” he questioned before he spotted a purple body lying in the water. Thanos.

He frowned, shrinking as he hit the ground, close enough to the body to run towards it. Stealth had to be key and in the midst of all of the dirt he was sure he could make it. The whole crux of the plan lay on Thanos being emotionally affected enough to the point that Gamora’s death would bring him one step towards foolishness. They just needed him distracted for a second.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he asked, more to himself than anyone else because he knew that whilst they could watch, any communication from the ship back would be dangerous. While he could omit a small signal, the ship would overpower that by many times and any neighbouring ship would be able to find the signal. “Is it just me or is it too easy?” Much like the coincidental rat had been. And in how many other universes had the rat stepped perfectly to trigger the sequence?

Natasha watched from on board the ship, chuckling and shaking her head. “Easy is good,” she said to herself. To her, Thanos was only a dot on a screen, and the small ant sized man was running towards him, just another dot on the screen.

She took a break from watching the two collide. Nebula had educated them on Vormir but nothing had prepared the earthlings for its beauty. Dark, but beautiful. Enticing. It reminded her of a reflection of herself.

Meanwhile, below on the planet, Scott jumped into the water, guided by signal on his forearm. “Getting it now.”

In a delirious hand, it was easy to fit and to get a good hold.

“Got it!” He wrapped his arms around the stone and launched himself back through time to 2019, sacrifice free.

[thatcrappypuppy]

Fic request from Grootiez!

This is a lot different than what I normally do, but I think @grootiez could use some cheering up. Hope you like this and thank you for the request! I can’t put the request up here because it would spoil the story.

It’s a long request so I thought I’d at least write some angsty-teen Groot going to school first chapter. Couldn’t say for sure how long it would take me to continue or finish it!

Takes place after Endgame, so there are definitely spoilers.

//———//

Earth wasn’t Peter’s idea but Missouri was. School wasn’t his idea, either. That was Rocket’s, since he thought he Groot could use some socialization. Come to think of it, Peter didn’t really like any of this. Not even the Missouri part.

And since when had Rocket warmed up so much to humans? Being cooped up on Earth should’ve been more torturous to Rocket than it was to Peter, but he couldn’t ignore how much his friend had changed.

To most of the Guardians, they’d only been gone an instant, and in that instant, everything changed.

“See, Rabbit? I told you it wasn’t far.” Speaking of changes, Thor’s voice brought Peter back to reality. “Groot could easily walk here on his own.”

The entire Guardians of the Galaxy, minus Gamora and plus Thor, who Peter was reluctant to include into the family, was walking Groot to high school.

“You don’t decide what’s best for Groot,” Rocket snapped.

“I should get some say,” Thor muttered, then added, while pointedly looking at Peter, “as the team leader.”

“You’re not the leader,” Peter interjected, “and we’re not just a team.”

“Yeah, we’re a family,” Drax insisted, nodding with confidence. He and Mantis beamed at each other.

“No!” All eyes turned to Peter, who had just blurted the word without thinking. “I mean - yes, we are. But, more importantly, we’re heroes. You can’t just have anyone step in and become leader. It’s gotta be somebody who’s responsible.” When Thor looked like he was going to argue more, Peter continued, talking over him, “And! Someone who’s been responsible for the Guardians for years. Which is why I’m-“

“I’m the leader,” Rocket interrupted.

“What?” Peter shook his head, “No…”

“In case you’ve forgotten, Nebula and I have been the only Guardians of the Galaxy for five years! And she sure as hell wasn’t diplomatic enough to be leader!”

The Guardians turned to see if Nebula would argue, but she was making threatening faces at a nearby group of gawking teens as they made their way to school, only stopping when she felt their eyes on her.

“It’s true,” was all she said.

“AND,” Rocket continued before Peter could say anything, “at the very least, I am the leader of Groot!” He pointed at the teen in question with his thumb.

Peter couldn’t argue with that.

Groot, meanwhile, scowled. He didn’t feel like himself in their new home in this new neighbourhood. And he didn’t like toting around a backpack full of heavy textbooks and school supplies.

“I am Groot?” he asked rhetorically if anyone was going to ask him what he wanted.

“No, we’re not. We - or, more accurately - I am not gonna ask. I’m gonna tell you what’s best for you.”

“I am Groot?”

“You can’t bring yer holotab because you’d just play with it all day. Besides, they don’t publish Terran textbooks for you to download there. And none of the other kids will have that kinda tech.”

“Yeah wouldn’t want him to stand out,” Peter said sarcastically.

“Shut it, Star-Munch.”

“And, hey! Did it occur to you that if Earth’s textbooks aren’t published on the intergalactic web that they may not be accurate? Or useful?” Peter walked backwards as he spoke.

“I am Groot?” Groot agreed, asking the age-old question of “why do I have to learn this bullshit?”

“Watch yer frickin’ language!” Rocket barked. Then, he turned to Peter. “Don’t you think I know that Earth’s the most backwards, barbaric planet since Hala?”

“Woah! You’re saying we’re worse than the Kree planet?” Peter asked, his face scrunched in disapproval.

“I think the Kree are worse,” Drax stated.

“All I’m saying is this planet sucks and school sucks - ya probably already know more than most of those idiots-”

“I am Groot?!” rather than wait for Rocket’s explanation, Groot burst out his frustrated question.

“If you’d let me finish!” Rocket waited a moment to see if anyone would interrupt him. “You’re there to make friends. Learn what it’s like to be around people your own age ‘n all that crap.”

“I did wish for real friends my own age when I was a teen,” Mantis chimed in.

“There ya have it. We’re sending you to school so that you don’t end up like Mantis.”

Mantis squeaked, but couldn’t quite place whether Rocket was insulting her or if he was just stating that he didn’t want Groot to be lonely like she was. Ever the optimist, she went with the latter, and, in any case, was quickly distracted by a long building in front of them.

“This is it,” Peter confirmed.

The chain-link fence beside the sidewalk they had been following finally ended at a set of yellow, metal bars that served as the gates to a massive parking lot. The school itself was white at the base and red at the top and looked more like the back of a strip mall or a warehouse. The Guardians looked left and right, but the only indication they had that this was, indeed, a high school and not a prison yard or sketchy back alley was a small, tilted sign that said “DRUG-FREE SCHOOL ZONE.”

“Haha, yeah right, right?” Peter stood by the sign and pointed at it, grinning. Most the Guardians ignored him, except for Rocket, who looked pissed.

“Alright, you guys stay here. Office said to sign him in at building one…” Rocket stepped forward and Groot obediently, albeit reluctantly, followed.

The buildings were plain, undecorated, unless you counted the large white numbers indicating which building was which painted on the second story, too high to be vandalized. Groot observed that the first floor walls were not so fortunate, as the inconsistent paint jobs suggested their habitual desecration - that and the fact that it seemed the school’s janitorial staff wasn’t even bothering with the latest obscenities painted on the walls.

The students who attended this school clearly didn’t like or respect it. Groot supposed he could be thankful that he already had something in common with the people who would become his peers.

//———//

Sadly, it seemed the only thing the students hated more than school was Groot.

He was blamed for half the universe disappearing for five years. “It was one of you aliens that did it!” Which was why he was blamed for their families falling apart. “Mom didn’t think dad was ever coming back. Do you have any idea what an asshole her new boyfriend is?!” Not to mention, he was also blamed for ruining their lives. “If you aliens hadn’t’ve started your alien war, my friends and I would have graduated together, like we promised! Why does Earth have to pay for your problems? You should just go back to space and stop being our problem!”

Groot tried to reason with them. They were all enthusiastic about being all-inclusive of race, gender, and sexuality. He’s point out that he was one of billions of billions of aliens out there, and it wasn’t his fault that Thanos did what he did. He’d point out that it was, indeed, racist to define all aliens by the actions of just one man, Thanos, and that it was also racist and stupid to think that Groot was just like any other alien.

Thor once had the good intention to walk Groot to school, since Rocket always insisted that somebody walk with him. He walked with Groot all the way up to the school doors. For once, nobody made any comments at Groot.

“There, that’s better, isn’t it?” Thor amicably patted Groot on the shoulders as he said goodbye to make a show of their friendship, but that only silenced the other students while Thor was still there. As soon as he was out of the parking lot, they were back at their usual jibes and glares.

There were a few students that tried to talk to him, to tell him how immature the bullies were acting and not to take those assholes seriously. But, after a while, just like the rest, no matter what Groot tried to say, to bullies or otherwise, he would eventually be met with frustration on their part.

“Who the fuck cares?! We know you’re Groot!”

School had just become a routine of sitting at the back of class because, even though it was easier for students to throw garbage or spit at him, it was also easier for him to see it coming and stop or dodge it, hiding in the bathrooms during the shorter break of the day, and sneaking food into the library because it seemed the librarian understood that Groot couldn’t eat peacefully in the cafeteria.

He was hurt. The Guardians weren’t the most popular group in the galaxy, and he certainly wasn’t anyone’s favourite, not like the Hulk or Thor of the Avengers, but he wasn’t used to being universally hated.

He was confused. Rocket insisted that this was best. How was this learning to get along with people his age? He was quickly learning to hate people his age. Or perhaps all people in general, since the teachers equally ignored him, despite being informed about the language barrier.

“The school can’t afford for every teacher to have a universal translator, are you kidding?” Rocket told him noncommittally as he worked away. He was busy getting a freelance repair business off the ground since, aside from Mantis and Drax, most the Guardians would be able to help with that and they’d be able to make extra money. “You’ll figure it out - you always do everywhere else.”

But everywhere else had a universal translator at best, or they were used to meeting people they didn’t understand. Groot would point this out, but Rocket would just tell him to deal with it since he was too busy to do so.

Groot couldn’t even skip school the way he’d seen other kids do, since he was walked to and from school, and any missed classes promoted the school to call Rocket, who would take away gaming privaleges for the day when he found out.

So Groot was trapped. Trapped in the back of the class, the bathrooms, and the library. Trapped on a planet that couldn’t understand his language - refused to, in fact. Trapped alone with a family that equally refused to understand his problems. Well, Peter seemed to get it - he had hated school, too, but he couldn’t convince Rocket to leave this damn delusional planet.

Groot was known for being outspoken in his grumpiness, he was known for being loud with his complaints, and he was known for being upfront with his negative attitude. But, now, trapped, he knew that it didn’t help him to argue, yell, scream, or cry. So he became silent. And since Rocket didn’t seem to have time to realize that Groot wasn’t talking to him, Groot realized that his family wouldn’t care if he was gone.

His only company became his games and some books in the library. There was a whole section of “Teen/Young Adult Drama” devoted to conflicts like the one he found himself in.

He read about teens who were at a disadvantage because they were different, and were bullied for it.

He read stories about friends turning to enemies over a mutual love interest and the triumph of overpowering the enemy with wit and intellect. But Groot couldn’t prove his wit or intellect because no one would listen.

Mysteries about why a quiet kid at school had used narcotics to kill himself - the journal he’d left behind for his friend had to discover and decipher. But Groot didn’t have even a single friend who would care if he was gone.

His life had become a routine of being trapped. And he desperately wanted to escape.

One day, he was pushed over that edge, when he got in trouble for leaving the school premises. He knew Rocket would find out but he didn’t care.

“I don’t want you skipping school and I DEFINITELY don’t want you leaving the property! What were you even doin’?!”

“I am Groot!”

“What do you mean what do I care? Of course I care!”

Groot yelled one last time, a voice-cracking scream that everyone in the house could hear before slamming the door to his room shut.

“Groot! That’s not true! And don’t you slam that door!” Rocket stomped towards his son’s room, but Peter stopped him.

“Rocket, wait. Don’t you see what this is doin’ to him?”

To Peter’s surprise, Rocket did wait. And he sighed, his ears drifting down shamefully. So, he continued.

“You know first-hand how mean and judgemental people can be. It’s not just teens, either. And Groot can’t even stick up for himself! We’re lucky he’s not getting into fights or anything because he could probably kill them.”

“I know…”

“Groot’s actually a really good kid.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you putting him through this?” Peter asked. “Why are any of us doing any of this? He doesn’t need the education and he’s not learning how to get along with people.”

“I know!” Rocket turned to look at Peter and his eyes were wide, wildly so. “But it’s safe.”

Peter then realized that Rocket’s tough guy act and his obsessive need to tinker with technology was still, first and foremost, a front to hide his fears. Of all the things in the galaxy that had changed, this remained true.

While Earth was boring at best and brutal at worst, few creatures inhabited it that could harm Groot. And, secretly, Groot was gentle. He knew when he could overpower someone and was careful not to unless they really forced him to. He was part of a team that protected people, even if the people they protected were assholes like the ones he went to school with. This meant that he would never give the world leaders of Earth any reason to wage war against him, but it also meant that he would pretty much never defend himself if it meant hurting a human being.

Peter had more to say.

“Right now, Groot is dealing with one of life’s hardest challenges. You don’t know because you never went to school. And when he says you don’t care about what he’s going through, I think he really believes it. It’s gotta stop. You’ve gotta let him live a good life, even if it’s not particularly safe.”

“You’re right…” Rocket looked to the floor. “I shouldn’t’a… I should go talk to him.”

Rocket knocked on Groot’s door, trying to show that he wasn’t still mad and that he was willing to respect Groot’s privacy - a major improvement from just a minute ago, but found the door wasn’t even fully closed.

“Groot?” Rocket pushed the door the rest of the way open. Vines, let loose and unkept, as usual, littered the floor and even crept up the walls and out the open window, but there was no Groot in sight.

//———//

To be continued???

[justawriterofthings]

It’s Because I Care

Requested: Could you write a Drax x Reader Story where the Reader is also a guardian and they're together and the reader gets hurts during a mission and Drax is worried?

Word Count: 3,867

Warnings: Reader gets injured (but nothing big)

Author’s Note:  Oh my gosh I am so sorry this took so long.  I’ve been so occupied with work, my writing slipped through my fingers and got put on hold.  But, now I’ve got more free time and hopefully I can get all of these requests done.  I will do my best to get them up in a timely fashion my loves.  Thank you so much for the patience and for liking my stuff <3  Again sorry it took so long and sorry for the mistakes....

You were sitting quietly on the lower deck of the ship taking a nap with Rocket when you were startled awake by Drax’s loud bumbling footsteps.  Rocket jumped to his feet, ready for anything.  You jolted up hitting your head on bunk above you. “Son of a bitch.”  You mumbled, rubbing where you hit it, feeling the bump start to form already.  Rocket yawned, jumped down and waited for you to get up.  “Come on, come on.  You gotta go tell that oaf of a brick wall to walk like a normal person.”  Rocket complained as his tapped his foot impatiently. “Yeah, like he’ll listen to me when it comes to anything besides- well anything really.”  You slowly got up off the bed and headed to the ladder that led to the main deck.  

“You don’t give him enough credit.  He listens sometimes.”  Rocket was acting out of character.  “Are you sure you didn’t bump your head too?”  You joked, climbing upstairs.  Rocket just let out a short ‘Ha’ before following you up.  You looked around to see Drax frantically searching the main floor for something.  “Hey big guy, maybe keep the steps light.  Like you’re sneaking up on someone right before you take ‘em out.” You suggested as he continued to rummage through every box he could find.  Drax stopped what he was doing and looked at you first with wide eyes and then confusion.  “Where would I take them?”  He was genuinely confused by your wording.  “It’s another expression for killing someone, sweetheart.”  You clarified, but your pet name earned you another confused look.  “You don’t literally have a sweet heart, it’s like another name to show affection to someone you like.”  You explained.  You found yourself doing that a lot with Drax, though you didn’t mind it.  

Rocket wandered off after your small conversation with Drax, you assumed he was going to check up on baby Groot.  “So yeah, just maybe keep the footsteps a little quieter.  Rocket and I were napping and ya know, neither of us are happy right now for being woken up.”  You tried to stay as kind as possible since he was a large man and couldn’t really help how loud he was when he walked.  “Okay, sweetheart.”  He repeated your phrase back to you and you couldn’t help but smile.  Peter and Gamora walked over then.  Peter was looking rather pleased with himself and you knew that only meant one of two things.  Either he just got laid or you all had a mission.  

“Lay it on us.”  You commented, seeing how giddy he was getting it was a mission and apparently a good one at that.  “Pirate treasure.”  Peter finally spit out with such enthusiasm you almost couldn’t make the words out.   “No. Way.  Really?”  You started to match his grin, but the rest of your group was confused.  Rocket walked in with baby Groot who was finally out of his pot and walking around.  “What did he just say?”  Rocket asked, unsure of why Peter and yourself had been so happy.  “Yes!  Space Pirate treasure!”  Peter started to jump up and down like a child and you couldn’t help but match his movements.    “Real pirates!”  You squealed.  The rest of the team was even more confused now.  But you were too excited to explain to them that all of you could be richer than you ever imagined by the time the mission was over.  

Peter raced over to the ship’s control consol and you followed suit, though you beat him there when you used your gift to teleport yourself there.  “Y/N, we need you to explain.”  Drax called through the main level as he walked to the front of the ship with the rest of your friends behind him.  “Pirates!  Like Ravagers, but on Earth they have more of a reputation for being rich and ruthless. If this mission is what I think it is, we could all be bathing in loot by the time this is over.”  You bounced on your toes while Peter pulled up the coordinates he was given.  “Why would be bathe in loot?”  Drax asked. “I am Groot.”  Groot answered him, but still confused since he couldn’t understand the little tree yet.  “Of course he still takes things as literal.”  You replied to Groot, then directed your attention back to Drax.  “It’s another expression.  Meaning we’ll be richer than ever before.”  You clarified.  

“These, Pirates.  They are like Ravagers, so they are as dangerous?” Drax asked you, unsure of the new concept of Pirates.  “Well, yeah I guess if they have a lot of valuables, then they want to protect them so probably just as dangerous.”  You thought about the question a moment before answering him and when you had you regretted it.  “Then you will not go.  It will be too dangerous.”  Drax countered.  

“Look, you and I and everyone else on this ship know I can take care of myself.  Just because you have- what a few hundred pounds on me- doesn’t mean I can’t kick any less ass than you.”  You said before teleporting behind him, tapping him on the shoulder and then ending up in the place you started.  “I’m a Guardian, same as you.  We saved the universe together, remember?”  You brought up when you all took out Ronan since you had been there by his side helping him in case he forgot.  

“You are my sweetheart, so I worry.”  He explained which caused your face to heat up.  The rest of the team watched the exchange and the tension was growing slightly in the cabin.  “Okay, time to head out before this gets anymore uncomfortable.  Baby Groot you didn’t hear any of that.”  Peter was blowing the slight affection shown by Drax out of proportion before setting some coordinates and taking off.

You took your seat next to Peter, coming up with all sort of crazy ideas as to what the treasure could be. “Maybe it’s a ship full of gold?” You pondered.  

“Or a billion units!” Peter exclaimed, practically salivating at the thought of that much currency.

“Do you think they’re Terran?  I mean, no one else seems to grasp the concept of pirates.  And who would call themselves that if they didn’t know what they were?”  You asked, mostly to yourself since you were sure Peter was still ogling at the prospect of a billion units.  

“I am Goot?”  The small tree interjected.  

“No, it’s not really common now.  More so two hundred years ago.  So they’d have to know of Terra history or be Terran themselves.”  You answered.  You could feel Drax watching you and listening to the conversation, but he was holding back his questions.  

Little Groot looked over to Drax and then back at you.  “I am Groot.” His little voice was full of concern.

“No you idiot.  They don’t need a room to go talk.”  Rocket yelled from his seat as he messed with one of the many guns he had stockpiled.  

“I might do just that, Groot.”  You smiled at the small plant, then appeared next to Drax and grabbed his hand.  In a split second the two of you were below the main deck where Rocket and yourself had been taking a nap earlier.  “You looked like you wanted to talk.”  You let go of his hand and sat on the bed.  

“Give me a warning next time you do that.”  He yelled and you could hear Rocket laughing from upstairs.  You ignored it and so did Drax.  Then he sat next to you, his face lighter.  

“So what questions did you have?”  You finally asked after the both of you sat in silence for a moment.

“You said these Pirates would be as dangerous as the Ravagers.”  Drax stated.  

“Yes, I did say that. But it should be something different if memory serves correctly.  They’ll be less space-like and more Terran.”  You tried to explain but his confused look only stayed.  “Back home they would sail the oceans with huge ships and they would attack other ships, sometimes naval ships run by the countries they would call home.  They had cannons and muskets and swords.”  You went on and noticed the smile on Drax’s face even though you knew he understood about half of what you were saying.  “But more importantly, they were notorious for having vast treasures.”  You continued.  “They would supposedly burry treasures, and sometimes their loot would be lost with their ships when they sunk to the bottom of the ocean.  But out here, they would have to keep their treasure with them unless they found a planet far away enough.”  You pondered how they would hide their loot out here.

You thought he would ask you questions but instead he looked you dead in the eyes, nodded his head for a moment.  “We will find the Pirates and take their loot.”  He smiled, repeating the words you had used.  

“Damn straight.”  You giggled, then teleported the two of you back upstairs. When you got to the front of the ship and looked out the window you saw that Peter had taken you all to a part of the galaxy that had yet to be settled.  “Wow.”  You were caught off guard at how beautiful the scene was.  Drax stood beside you and tilted his head slightly.  

“I am Groot.”  Groot responded to you.  

“It really is a sight.” You added to the small tree being. You then looked around the cabin to see the rest of your companions were in less awe than you or Groot.  But it made sense since they all spent time out here.

“From the information I got, we’re pretty close to the coordinates.”  Peter spoke up.  You looked around in slight disbelief.  “But it doesn’t look like much.”  He added, mimicking your thoughts.  You kept an eye out for any other ship, but you didn’t see anything.  Then the ship started to shake.  

“Guys?”  You held on to Peter’s chair.  

“It’s coming from above us.” Gamora hurried to the back of the ship and you could hear her rummaging around for who knows what.  Then there was a flash, the ship shook once more, then you were no longer on Peter’s ship.  

Your vision went black for a moment, and when you finally opened your eyes you were alone in what looked like barracks.  “Drax?” You called.  “Rocket?  Groot?” You didn’t know your surroundings so you couldn’t risk teleporting and ending up in a wall.  Taking a look around, you noticed you were most likely below deck since there were no windows and rows of hammocks.  “YES!”  You tried to whisper but it came out as almost a yell.  You were on the Pirate’s ship, which meant you and your friends were in danger but you couldn’t help but feel giddy.  You wandered around to see what they were like, since you could always tell how a person was by their living conditions.  

“Y/N?”  Drax was in panic mode.  He looked around the deck of the ship for you but he noticed you and Peter were gone.  “We must go get them.”  Drax was the first to jump into action.  Rocket looked back to Gamora, with some hesitation but nodded in agreement.  

“I am Groot.”  Groot agreed.  “We’ll have to get onto the ship first.”  Rocket added.  

You saw a stairwell that you assumed brought you up to the deck of the ship, hesitantly you took it, knowing you could get yourself back down here in an instant if you needed to. “Peter.”  You whispered, heading up the set of stairs but you quickly made yourself quiet when you heard more voices.  Creeping up the steps you started to see more and more shadows of who you assumed were the pirates.  Peeking around the corner you saw a handful of terrans.  And you thought to yourself that you were right.  Which also meant that you might be able to talk yourself out of this situation you’ve found yourself in.  “Anyone bother to check up on the two people we just took aboard?” One man asked from behind the control consol.  “Sure thing, Captain,”  Another replied.

You heard a pair of footsteps come closer to you and you teleported back down stairs.  A few seconds later a man dressed in fancy slacks, a black vest, and black dress shirt with a red tie was standing in front of you.  “Uh. Hi.”  You waved awkwardly at him.  “Care to tell me why you brought me and my colleague aboard?”  You asked, hoping to get an answer out of him.  

“The names Ash.”  He greeted, ignoring your question.  

“Where’s my colleague?” You asked, hoping he would answer this time.  

“The deck below us.” He answered as he strode towards you. “Are you also from earth?”  He asked, caressing your cheek with the back of his hand.  You quickly teleported back as far away from him as you could.  

“What’s it to you?” You asked, watching him more closely now.  

“Your friend there was and asked a hell of a lot of questions about pirates.”  Ash responded after he took in your power for a second.

“Yeah, I’m from Earth. I take it you are too, by the way you’re dressed and the way this room is.”  You said, motioning towards the very obvious earth items.  “Now, why are we here?”  You asked again, hoping this time he would answer.  He started to move closer to you but stopped when there was a thump on the side of the ship.  “Why are we here?”  You asked again, louder this time.  Then you heard Peter yell your name from below you, but he voice was strained.  

“You’re here to help us get the biggest treasure any of us have ever dreamed of.”  Ash answered then walked back up, leaving you there.  But he left you free and conscious.  

“Big mistake, buddy.” You snickered and tried to find a way down stairs.  Wandering around the barracks again you found a door that you hoped led you to Peter. You tried to open it, but it was locked so you pictured yourself behind it, hoping that there was nothing directly behind it.  Letting out a sigh of relief to see the stairs and that you managed to not be impaled by anything.  You quickly headed downstairs to find Peter tied to a post.  “Oh man.”  You took in the sight of him and ran over to undo his restraints.  

“Did they hurt you?” Peter asked when you finally got him free and he could look you over.  

“No.  Are you okay?”  You asked, looking for any sign they hurt him too.  

“Yeah, now let’s get the money and get out of here.”  He smiled, but it fell when he saw you didn’t return his grin.  

“We have to leave, get back to the others.  I have a bad feeling about these guys.”  You told him, grabbing his hand and getting ready to teleport the both of you back to the deck of his ship.  He ripped his hand away just as he felt you gather your energy.  “At least let me go get them then?”  You asked, knowing you and Peter wouldn’t be able to take all of them on your own.  He gave you a skeptical look but nodded his head in agreement anyway.  You were then gone in an instant but back with Rocket just as quick.  Peter informed him of the plan as you grabbed everyone else.  And once everyone was there Peter and yourself went back over the whole plan.  

“We’re taking their loot guys, as of now we’re also pirates.”  You should have seen you were going down the rabbit hole, since you yourself had said you had a bad feeling about those guys.  

“This is not smart.” Drax said, mostly to you.  He always worried about you.  You gave him a look before teleporting upstairs, now that you knew the layout you didn’t have to worry about being impaled .  You were back in the barracks, then snuck up the stairs to the upper deck.  You got a good look so you could use your gift later if you needed to, then went back down with the group.  

“There are six of them on the upper deck.  Which should be easy peasy, since Groot alone, could take on six guys with his eyes closed.” You shrugged, sitting cross-legged on the floor, ready to go over the plan again now that you knew how many you were dealing with and the layout of the deck.  “Drax and I will go up and take out the two who are patrolling, one of them is the guy who was with me downstairs.  Rocket, you take Groot and take out the two closest to the control panel. Peter, you’ll get the scary looking guy with the arm tattoos and Gamora will take on the last one with the weird Mohawk.”  You got up, went to the door that was locked and tried to open it from this side with no luck.  “I’ll get everyone on the other side, then it’s a clear shot to the upper deck.”  You said before grabbing Drax’s hand and bringing him to the other side of the door.  

Once everyone was in the barracks room, you all made your way up the stairs and continued with the plan.

It didn’t take long to take out all six guys.  You chose to knock out Ash, but before you could get behind him he managed to slice you with a hidden blade he concealed in his sleeve.  Drax saw this and you could tell his vision went red.  “Go back to the ship.”  He ground out, holding the guy in a choke hold.  

“I’m fine, he just grazed me.”  You argued back, while punching Ash square in the face.  The rest of the gang watched on after already doing their part.

“You will go back to the ship, the mission is over.”  He didn’t bother keeping his voice down in case there were more.  He dropped the pirate he was holding and moved towards you. You quickly backed up towards the door the two pirates were guarding and opened it.  But you stopped dead in your tracks when you saw what was inside.  

“Guys.”  Your voice was just above a whisper.  Groot and Rocket were quick by your side.  “I am Groot.”  Groot’s tone was somber.  “Yeah, this is big.”  You replied to the small being.  You looked around the rather large room and saw cages, both full and empty. Creatures from every part of the galaxy of all sizes resided in this room and you assumed that they were endangered. “We found our loot, I guess.”  You entered the room and took in the site of all the creatures.  Drax was quickly by your side, hovering.  “Drax I’m fine.  We have to get these little guys home though.”  You saw the sad eyes peering at you and your friends.  When you got to the back of the room, Drax still hovering, you saw the crates stacked up to the ceiling.  Peering indie you couldn’t help but smile.  “This whole room has to go back to the ship.”  You sounded so triumphant.

“What’d you find?” Peter strode over and peered inside a different crate.  “We’ll never have to work again.”  He laughed, after taking in all of the precious items the crates had to offer. You and the rest of the group managed to get everything from the room onto the ship before the pirates woke up.

You made it safely away and that was when Drax blew up.  “You can’t put yourself in danger like that!”  He yelled. “What if he had cut you worse?  I don’t know what I would do if I lost you too.” His tone lowered at the thought of losing yet another person in his life he cared for.  

“I can take care of myself, Drax.  And you’ve gotten hurt worse than I have.  You don’t see me babying you, or hovering.  When either of us do that, we’re in more risk.  You can’t put all your focus on me you have to be present when we’re on a mission.”  You tried to reason with him.  But you could just see that your words weren’t getting through to him.  

“You are terran.   You are fragile and small.  Look at how you bleed just from what you called a graze. What if it was worse?”  Drax pointed to your side where the knife got you. You finally looked down at it and saw it was a little deeper than you first thought.  Your adrenaline had been going and you couldn’t even feel it when it happened.  Only now was it just starting to sting slightly.  But you didn’t show any outward sign that it was bothering you, you were too stubborn to do that.  

Drax lifted your shirt to take a good look at your wound, you didn’t bother stopping him.  But you were glad you brought the two of you down stairs instead of doing this in front of everyone.  “See.  It is bad. And you lied about it.  How can I trust to fight alongside you again?  You knew that it was hard for me to fight with you to begin with.  You are my sweetheart.  I can’t lose you.”  He repeated when he was crouching down to your level and trying to clean your side with his large hands and a damp cloth.  You took the cloth from him and moved his hand away, cleaning it yourself.

“I know you’re worried, and I know you care.  Drax I know you only act like this because you lost your wife and daughter.  You don’t want it to happen again and it won’t. Not any time soon, anyway.  You’re stuck with me for a while.”  You tried to smile at him but it never met your eyes. Then you gave in.  “I’ll be more careful.  I’ll listen to you more, okay?  If you think something is off or wrong and you want me out of there I’ll leave in a blink.  I promise.” You compromised, which earned you a reluctant head nod from the large man.  

The two of you stayed down in the second level for a while. Drax cleaned your wound and the two of you talked about his wife and daughter.  You talked about earth and what life was like back home.  But you knew the closer you two got, the more reluctant he would be about letting you go on missions even though you have proved yourself before.  Drax asked if you would stay on the ship when the rest of the group gave the creatures to the Nova Corps.  You agreed to stay put, to appease him and gain his trust that you would keep your word, even though every part of your being wanted to go with since you were as much a part of the Guardians as him.  But you knew where his feelings were coming from.  And deep down you wanted the same for him.

[trashpandaorigins]

Can you do a fic about the first few days after Rocket replanted Groot and discovered he could regrow? (If you can, include him coming out of the pot too.)

Thanks for the request @grootiez you are the first! Here you go! 

Rocket deserved no kindness. No second chance, no redemption. At least he thought as much. He didn’t deserve his best friend back After everything he’d done, after how he treated the only creature that ever cared for him. He did not deserve a second chance. “I called him an idiot,” his nightmares sounded with that insult. How many times had he called Groot an idiot? Answer: too many. No amount of booze, no amount of artillery rounds, could make Rocket forget what he’d done. But against all odds, Groot had come back. So unassuming, just opening his little mouth and yawning, stretching out in his lap in the tiny white pot Rocket had bought on Xandar. Bought, not stolen. Like Groot would have wanted. The sight of Groot regrowing elated Rocket’s heart and soul. That self-hatred lifted, the nightmares receded. At least for a little while. 

The following days after Groot regrew were filled with meticulous care on Rocket’s part. He watered him three times a day and bought a sun-lamp the next day, even though it was 15,000 units. Rocket didn’t care. 

“Still can’t believe it bud,” Rocket said, setting the watering can down. “I didn’t think you’d come back. I mean, I knew you could regrow limbs and stuff but….your entire body?!” He laughed the relief washing over him again. Groot looked up at him with those dark eyes and Rocket knew, he could see that they were all at once the eyes of the old Groot and a new younger one.  Groot only reached up, tiny arms pulling on the raccoon’s whiskers. 

“How does our small friend fare?” Drax’s voice boomed as he entered the flight deck. 

“He seems good,” Peter smiled, sparing a glance from his pilot’s seat. Drax loomed over Rocket’s chair. 

“Has he left his pot yet?” Gamora asked. 

“Not yet,” Rocket answered. Privately he wished his best friend would hurry up and walk. 

“Well give him some time it’s only been a few days since…” Gamora’s voice drifted off and the rest of them settled into shared silence of that fateful day. Rocket only had eyes for Groot, who smiled up at him. 

“Team meeting!” Peter called five days later. Rocket rolled his eyes,

“We don’t need another glarkin “let’s sit around and talk about our feelings” meeting!”  

“C’mon Rocket, Groot will be fine for now, we are right down the hall,” Gamora said as she briskly walked to the common area. Indeed the little plant snoozed in his pot. Rocket sighed, sparing a last anxious look at his friend before going to sit at the table with the others. 

Voices. Groot could hear muffled voices close by. He opened his eyes to the world of scents and sounds. He wiggled and looked down. Roots itched. The voices called. The one that was called Rocket, his yelling made the plant smile and he looked around. Light, from down the hall. Same direction as the voices. I am Groot, Groot thought. More voices, the deep one, the reasonable one, the one that was usually singing. He knew those voices. His roots knew those voices and ached to follow them. With a tug Groot tried to lift himself up. Push, pull, pull, the soil was tough but not impenetrable. Groot stopped, wriggled more, tried again. He blinked as the pot rocked to the side. I am Groot! He could do this. Four more times he tried, roots breaking free. It sent pangs up his thin trunk, a little painful, but worth it. 

“But was on bathroom chores last week!” The deep voice.

“Rocket…I think your messing w the chore wheel. When was the last time you cleaned the bathroom?” The sing-song voice. Groot pulled against the dirt.

“I haven’t messed with anything Star-Dork!” The voice that yelled, but never at him. Groot thrust his leg upward with all his might and relished as one large trunk like foot was freed. Then the other. He toddled in his pot, waving his little arms as the whole world buckled and he fell against the table. More of the voices. He shook his head, now to follow them. 

“Rocket we all know it’s been a tough few days for you looking after Groot…” Gamora tried, “but we all need to pitch in if we’re going to live on this ship together.” 

“I do pitch in! But I’m also looking after Groot until he grows back capiche?”

“We can all take turns taking care of Groot,” Peter said. “I know you’re a proud daddy but…”

“I ain’t his daddy!″ Rocket’s ears flattened against his head. 

“He is right,” Drax interjected. “Rocket has not reproduced with a female to create this new Groot. How could he be a father?” 

Gamora rolled her eyes. The yelling intensified, Peter going on about his chore wheel and giving Rocket a break. Rocket opened his mouth to shout again when something small and brown caught in the corner of his vision. Groot ambled towards the table, stopping every few steps to catch his balance.

“Groot!” Rocket jumped down from his seat. The others turned, wide eyed and smiling. “Buddy! You’re out of your pot!” Rocket knelt before him. Groot outstretched his arms, smiling dumbly. He teetered, tottered. “That’s it bud! You can do it!” Rocket’s joy unhidden as he stretched out his arms to catch the plant. Groot’s grin widened as he took three more steps, then half fell, half stepped into the raccoon’s outstretched arms. 

“I…I am….”

“Yes?!” Rocket’s voice cracked that dam which held back his emotion now cracked. He felt that old feeling return. The feeling he had when he escaped Halfworld, the feeling he had the first time Groot soothed him from his nightmares and he fell asleep nestled against that wooden chest. 

“I am…g…groot!” Rocket sniffed, arms wrapping around the tiny twig.

“I….I love you too bud,” he whispered. 

“Aren’t you a proud dad now?” Peter mused. But Rocket didn’t snap or curse, he just held his best friend as Groot had done for him so many times before. It was his turn now. 

“I promise bud, I’m gonna do better by you this time. Ain’t nothing gonna hurt you.”

“I am Groot!” Rocket smiled, three tears running down his grinning face.

“Yes….yes you are buddy.”

The End!

Fic partially inspired by this piece https://www.pinterest.com/pin/509047564122266043/