Work Text
Rocket POV
This planet is really small. One of the smallest that Rocket has set foot on. Technically he hasn’t actually set foot on it yet. They landed last night to make a stop on their way for supplies and fuel. They don’t actually know where to find those things yet but they got an alert for a fuel stop in this place and touched down before nightfall. Y/N is still asleep. Rocket has been up for a while now, tinkering away at things at his desk, lost in so many thoughts about everything. Her mostly. They’ve been doing this Guardian gig for years now. It’s not boring or anything but it makes him think if they’ll be doing this… Forever. Is this the kind of life he wants? Is it what Y/N wants? Or are they just here because of circumstance?Groot is nearly bigger than Y/N now. Things were different when he was smaller and they were important people in his life but now everything he says is sarcastic and rude. He isn’t interested in anything that isn’t on a screen. He’s still a kid but things aren’t like what they used to be. The jobs they get are both big and small, they make enough to live on. They are even famous in a lot of places now. They are protectors, warriors, mercenaries but heroes. It’s just their life now. It’s a good life. Mostly honest and mostly fun. Danger is usually involved which sometimes concerns him. He can handle it for himself but he worries about the others.If it were up to him he would keep them all safe where they can’t get hurt. Maybe find a house for Y/N and Groot. Settle down on quiet planet and live a soft life. They would never stand for it though. Y/N would never leave his side or back down from a fight. That’s probably the biggest problem. This is their life. He likes their life; he just needs to know that it’s enough.Looking over at Y/N in his bed, he knows that she will be enough for him, more than enough. Wherever she is, he’ll be there. Their lives are intertwined, they have been for years and one day… Rocket might make that official… If Y/N would want that. He knows her better than anyone but he’s never had to worry about this sort of thing before. Normal people get married and live in a house but their day to day is theft, killing, rescue or something else dangerous usually followed by nights of drinking and music. They aren't normal people. Rocket sure as hell isn’t. As Y/N rolls over all he can think about is that he doesn't want to lose her. He doesn’t want to lose any of the perfect things he has. He would do anything for her though. “Stop thinking so loud.” Y/N isn’t even looking at him. She has her face buried in the pillow and she sounds grumpy. The kind of grumpy she gets in the morning. It doesn’t last long but sometimes it’s a warning. For anyone other than him.He pulls himself off his chair to walk over to the side of the bed. She looks really comfortable, clouded by pillows and a large blanket that covers half her back. Half her scars. He’ll never get over how comfortable she is around him. It’s second nature to them after all this time. He’s never felt so relaxed about himself around anyone like this before. She knows every part of him. Including the way he works. When he reaches out to brush her hair from her face she makes the same, small sound she does every time. She doesn’t want to be awake but she is now. She turns her head to open her eyes and Rocket brushes her hair back again. She reaches out to touch his cheek. A simple move that calms most of his mind every time. “What are you thinking about?” She asks softly.She’s the only one that Rocket can be completely honest with. Or the one person he can actually relax around but there are things she doesn’t need to know. “You.” It’s not a lie. He just isn’t going to elaborate on that.“Oh yeah?” Y/N rolls over onto her back. “Good things I hope.” She whispers as she pulls him on to the bed.She doesn’t press for more information so Rocket goes with it, “Always.” He murmurs into her neck. The conversation doesn’t broaden any further from there after Y/N flips him onto his back.
Peter POV
It’s not like anyone is in any sort of rush to get off this planet but they only stopped here to pick up supplies, fuel the ship and get going. Peter isn’t too worried about the timing of things but he doesn’t want to lose yet another job because of it. He is the only one who seems to care about punctuality or professionalism. Even the ship is filthy. It doesn’t help that it hasn’t been washed in forever. They all take turns to wash the ship and of course it’s Y/N’s turn so she has put it off for as long as Peter can stand. He’s not going to let her weasel out of it this time. She always has a way to get out of doing things. “Not this time!” Peter slams his fist on the table, confusing the others and stands from his chair to go tell her off.“What’s that about?” He hears Drax ask before he leaves the kitchen and storms down to her room. He bangs his fist on the door and calls out, “Y/N!” No one responds. “I know you’re in there.” “She’ll be out in a minute.” Rocket calls back for her, sounding annoyed.It only adds to Peter’s annoyance, “Y/N. It’s your turn to wash the ship and it is disgusting!” He shouts back but she still doesn’t respond. “Y/N. I swear to go-”“Quill! You really need to shut the hell up right now!” Rocket shouts back but his words sound kind of choked, now he’s worried that something is wrong. Are they fighting? Or maybe Y/N is crying? “Pete-” Y/N tries to call out but stops.“No, no. Don’t stop.” Rocket whispers as he pushes your head back down again. So you don’t.Peter is yelling through the door, you can feel Rocket building up by the way he twitches and moans. He is trying to be as quiet as he can but his frustration with Peter is switching things. “Y/N… Are you ok?” My god, why can’t he take a hint?“Dude!” Rocket yells before his breath hitches and his hips buck. You know the moves, you know what’s going to happen and you know what you have to do.His breathing becomes ragged as the door handle rattles. “Come on-” Peter tries to open the door.“Quill!” Rocket shouts but he can’t help the way that his voice turns to a moan. He realises it too late. You think Peter might finally have an idea of what is going on now because he is absolutely silent out there. You stare wide eyed at Rocket. You don’t even have time to wipe your mouth before you erupt in laughter. You hear Peter make a disgusted noise from outside the door and Rocket is mortified. You manage to gather some clothes and throw a sheet on Rocket before opening the door, all while laughing your ass off. Peter is slumped against the wall. Frozen in place with his head in his hand. You snicker, dragging your thumb over your lip as you walk out, leaving Rocket with his shame. Your laughter has suffocated but the smile on your face still shines through. “Zune.” You hold out your hand to Peter. There’s no way you’re cleaning the ship without any music. Peter hands it to you but makes the mistake of looking up and making eye contact with Rocket. They both scream and you walk away in laughter again. You’re not sure anything could ruin this day, even if you have to wash the stupid ship.
Rocket POV
If he just keeps his eyes on his work then he doesn’t have to think about anything else. This morning started with doubts about the future and his own value but if he starts to think about anything right now he’ll just feel gross. The insufferable beeping of that stupid machine is not helping his anger at the moment either. “Groot!” Rocket yells and turns to look at him. He’s sitting on a workbench, he’s pushed everything out of his way without any care for what it is. “Do you have to play that stupid game in here? I’m trying to work!”“I am Groot.” That snarky little bitch. Rocket growls at him but they both forget all that when Y/N’s head pops up at the window. They turn to look at her and something just calms them instantly. She can’t see them but they can see her. She looks happy. Happier than she should be for washing the ship. It makes Rocket smile because she looks like she’s having fun.“I am Groot.” He says with a soft smile as well. Rocket watches her sing along to something he can’t hear but he can imagine. “It does look fun.” Rocket mutters.Groot turns to him then races out of the workshop but Rocket just watches Y/N. She is washing the ship but she’s doing more dancing than anything. Bopping along the window with a soapy sponge. He thinks that her white singlet might be a choice she made on purpose because some parts of it are wet and show off her body quite nicely.“Damn it.” Rocket mutters, jumping off his stool and heading out of the room but not before grabbing an Aero-Rig. He doesn’t want to wash the ship but she does look like she is having a lot of fun. Y/N having fun is something that Rocket never wants to miss out on seeing. When he makes it outside he notices that not much of the ship has been cleaned. Quill made it seem like they were all in this huge rush earlier, Y/N clearly doesn’t care. “No place for beginners or sensitive hearts.” Y/N sings along to the music over the speaker below her. The music is… Groovy is the word that comes to mind but the way she moves is graceful. “When sentiment is left to chance.” She has always been a good dancer but this is different. Her Jet Boots are working with her movements as she glides one foot behind the other in sweeping motions. “No place to be ending but somewhere to start.” Like she’s skating on air. “No need to ask, he's a smooth operator.” Rocket wouldn’t say he’s starstruck. If he did, he would have to say that every day. No. He’s just fascinated, entranced, turned on. “Smooth operator.” Only because after all this time there’s still something new and impressive about her. “Smooth operator.” He watches the way she glides around in the air. Spinning around as her hair whips with the direction. “Smooth operator.” She has a sponge in her hand but she isn’t cleaning. Just singing and dancing, gliding really. “Coast to coast, LA to Chicago, western male.” Rocket could watch this all day but he has a better idea. “Across the north and south, to Key Largo, love for sa- Hey!” Y/N shouts when he turns off the music. She stops dancing and eyes him down. Rocket flicks his eyes up to her when he picks a new song. A slower tempo plays over the speaker, confusing Y/N. Rocket attaches his Aero-Rig to his back, feels it wrap around his chest and lift him off the ground. “Don't ask me. What you know is true.” Rocket drifts over to her. Slowly but with one thing in mind. “Don't have to tell you. I love your precious heart.” He watches her confused and sceptical look as he hovers in front of her. He reaches down, trailing his fingers along her arm until he touches her hand. The sponge she’s holding drops to the ground below them. Rocket’s other hand grips her waist lightly. She follows the movements without any prompting, placing a hand on his shoulder as he pulls her closer. “You should be careful.” Y/N whispers when his lips get close to hers. “You might make Peter jealous.” She giggles and Rocket tries his best to ignore that.His grip on her hip tightens and he lowers his eyes, “Shut up. You’re ruining the moment.” He says and starts moving slowly. Y/N laughs softly as she relaxes in his hold. He can feel every one of her fingers and where they are sitting on his body. He can feel the heat of her breath on his neck. “I. I was standing. You were there.” They’ve never danced before. In all these years they have known each other, Rocket has never danced with Y/N. He’s watched her dance on her own, with others but he’s never had the kind of balls to do it himself. He regrets that now. Without the Aero-Rig he would feel so small while dancing with her but he’s not sure he would care if it meant she’d look like this.She looks so happy, so complete, like it’s all she’s ever wanted from him and it very well could be. “Two worlds collided.” Rocket loosens his grip on her hip, moving backwards and guiding her back so he can twirl her. He never thought he could do something like this. “And they could never tear us apart.” When he pulls her back to him her hand rests on his chest and her leg lifts in reflex. Rocket grabs that leg as it curves around him and he dips her back with a soft growl. He could live in this moment forever. The way she responds to him just fuels him. He’s always felt a sense of equalness when it comes to Y/N but this is different. He might even say he feels like a man. “We could live. For a thousand years.” To hell with a clean ship when he can hold this girl in his arms and dance with her like anyone would. “But if I hurt you. I'd make wine from your tears.” To hell with anything that isn’t this moment.Y/N holds onto him with a great deal of trust that he can’t explain but has learned to accept along with everything else she’s offered him. The least he can do is dance with her every once and a while, he will definitely be doing this again. “Don’t you dare let go.” She says so quietly when he moves his hand along her hip to her waist.His grip tightens again and he spins them both around. The tip of his nose brushes along her neck, “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He matches her tone. Her hand trails along his neck and their faces curve against each other until their lips meet. If he could freeze time at any moment it would be this one. Romance aside, this feeling is unbeatable. “I told you. That we could fly. 'Cause we all have wings. But some of us don't know why.” He has one person in the galaxy that makes him feel like this. Secure. Safe. Even sure of himself. That’s the biggest thing for him, he has so much doubt that Y/N can make disappear.They both smile against each other’s lips, loving the greatest feeling in the world until he’s doused in water. Y/N jumps apart with a shocked gasp and they both turn to find Groot standing next to Quill with an empty bucket. “That doesn’t look like cleaning the ship!” Quill shouts out to them. Y/N grunts, flicking the water off her arms and eyes down her brother. She lowers herself to pick up a sponge so she’s armed. Both Quill and Groot pick up their own weapons but Rocket jumps in between them, “Wait!” He holds out his arms and they all pause in battle positions. Rocket glides down to the Zune and changes the song to something more befitting of a battle. “Arf! Arf!” Rocket looks at Quill. “Yeah, uh, yeah, yeah, uh.” Quill looks at Y/N. “Yeah, don't get it twisted.” Groot is looking at all three of them. ”This rap shit is mine, motherfucker.” The others walk out from the entrance of the ship. “It's not a fuckin' game, fuck what you heard.” Rocket picks up the hose to use as his own weapon. “It's what you hearin'. It's what you hearin'. Listen.” Y/N bends her neck twice as squares up against Quill. “It's what you hearin'. Listen.” Rocket is glad to see Groot away from that mind numbing game but now he’s ready to attack. “It's what you hearin'. Listen.” He makes a subtle nod to Y/N and they strike. “X gon' give it to ya. Fuck waitin' for you to get it on your own, X gon' deliver to ya.” Y/N whips her sponge at Quill’s head. “Knock-knock, open up the door, it's real. With the non-stop pop-pop from stainless steel.” Rocket shoots himself into the air and aims the hose at them. They split up, racing in opposite directions so Rocket picks one victim. The wrong victim because when he rushes towards Groot, Quill throws his sponge at him. “Go hard, gettin' busy with it. But I got such a good heart that I'll make a motherfucker wonder if he did it.” He’s hit in the face and drops his hose. Before he can reach it Groot grabs it and aims it at him as well. “Damn right, and I'll do it again. 'Cause I am light, so I gots to win.” Y/N picks up another sponge but Groot dodges her throw and it lands on Mantis. She joins in too, throwing the same sponge at Kraglin. Groot helps Drax fill a bucket of water that he dumps all over Quill. Gamora is watching from the safety of the steps but manages to catch a sponge that flies in her direction. Quill heads over to her and Rocket turns around to find Y/N and Groot fighting over the hose. Everyone is covered in water, laughing loudly and screaming with joy. Maybe if he could freeze time, this might be the moment he would choose. Everyone together. Everyone he loves, doing something without danger. Having fun without fear. The only fear that Rocket feels is when he watches the jets in Y/N’s boots start to give out under the attack of the water. She hasn’t seemed to notice or care. She’s just dodging Groot’s aim from the hose.When she does notice, it’s too late for her to land but there’s no panic in Rocket this time. Because the moment she starts to fall, he’s right there. Catching her before she has a chance to fear. Her hands cling to his shirt but the second she realises he’s there, she relaxes. Rocket smirks at her, “You have really got to stop fallin’ for me.” He says, sounding more cheeky than stoic.Y/N bites down on her lip briefly and looks him up and down, “Couldn’t if I tried.” She counters his attitude but they are interrupted by more water being thrown at them, this time by everyone.They all laugh again and Rocket lowers Y/N safely to the ground. “You know,” Y/N says to the group once her feet are on the ground, “This would go a lot quicker if everyone lended a hand.” Her offer isn’t as thrilling as she tries to make it sound. “Yeah.” Quill scoffs. “Not a chance.” He tosses a sponge over his shoulder and crosses his arms over his chest, “You’re almost finished anyway.” Then he looks at Rocket, “And you’re not helping at all.” He accuses him. He’s not wrong but, “Hey.” Rocket objects.“Nope.” Quill starts wiping the water off himself. “Y/N. Finish the ship. Rocket. You go get us some food.” “But-” Y/N tries to complain.“Nope.” Quill says again and Y/N groans. She scrunches her hair to drain the water and stomps back over to the side of the ship.Rocket sighs. He doesn’t even care about food right now. The thought changes when he hears Groot’s stomach rumble. “Fine.” He gives in, landing in front of him and shaking the water off his body, purposely flicking it at everyone. When they all groan, Rocket chuckles, “Come on, Groot.” They quickly dry off and Groot picks up his game again before they head out in search of supplies. He does catch a last glimpse of a drenched Y/N scrubbing the side of the ship.
Peter POV
The ship should be clean by now but by the looks of his bedroom window, Y/N hasn’t even gotten to that side yet. What the hell is she doing? Rocket will be back soon and then the ship will never be clean.He sighs audibly and loudly as he pulls himself off the bed to yell at Y/N again. When he makes it outside, a weird, eerie feeling falls over him. It’s quiet. The music is still playing over the speakers but there’s no singing. Something he should definitely hear at a time like this.“Y/N?” He calls out around the ship. He can’t see her anywhere. “If you think you’re getting out of cleaning the ship you…” Peter’s words trail off as he walks around the back of the ship. He reaches for his blaster when a web of blue shadows spiral out into his path. He immediately reaches for his comm, “Guys. Code red." Or maybe blue? "Outside now.” Is all he can portray to them before he shuts his mouth.He hides behind the safety of the back of the ship and peaks around to see a figure floating above the ground next to his sister who’s also floating but surrounded by the blue shadows. A flashback of the tentacles from Ego’s planet fills Peter’s mind when he sees the similar image in front of him. This time, Y/N is unconscious. Lying flat in the air as the shadows swim in and out of her body, all of them moving through her head.“Interesting.” He hears the figure’s ominous sounding voice as it looks over Y/N. “This might be the final piece.” What the fuck does that mean?Peter has no idea what’s going on but he’s not going to let whatever this is happen. “Hey!” He shouts, stepping out with his weapon raised. “You better step the fuck back, man” He threatens with anger rising in his throat. The guy doesn’t seem worried at all and that both pisses him off and stresses him out. Ok, Shoot first, ask questions later. He fires his weapon rapidly, all shots directed at that figure's head and heart but none of them reach him. He’s got some sort of force field surrounding him. That’s when the others race out, weapons raised. “Who is that guy?” Drax asks like he’s supposed to know.Peter shrugs, “I don’t know.” He answers, “But I’m not liking his vibe.” He shoots him again. Y/N is completely still while this guy waves a hand, moving her body without touching her. She starts drifting away with the shadows and Peter attacks. Everyone does.The guy lifts himself higher with some sort of magic and Peter doesn’t have his jet boots on. Gamora runs at full speed with her sword to lunge at the guy with a scream but his force field stops her. She stabs into it hanging by her sword in the air but the man turns around, inches from the point of the sword. He has a hood that covers his face but they can see him tilt his head.The force field drops and so does Gamora but before she hits the ground, she’s caught by the shadows. Frozen and unconscious. Peter shoots again and Drax races with a knife. The man waves another hand, blocking Drax’s launch but Peter manages to clip him in the neck.He gains a bit of hope when something drops to the ground but it only angers the guy and he catches them in the shadows. Peter watches Mantis get trapped in them as he squirms in the tight grip and Kraglin is picked from his feet. The shadows move up to Peter's face, he tries to move his head away but everything goes dark when they enter his body.
Rocket POV
It’s well after lunch time by the time Rocket makes it back to the ship. He and Groot have a lot of food with them. They aren’t sure when the next stop will be so it never hurts to stock up a little. At least they won’t have to worry about dinner so maybe Rocket could try to convince Y/N to teach him some different dances.They walk towards the entrance of the ship where the music is still pouring from the speaker. “She’s still washing the ship?” Rocket mutters to himself. She should be done by now. Unless she’s procrastinating. No. If she was still out here she would be singing.Rocket thinks nothing of it and heads into the ship, making his way to the kitchen as Groot calls out, “I am Groot!” Letting everyone know they’re back with the food. There’s no response and that is the first thing that throws Rocket off. Quill was hungry so he would be the first to meet them in the kitchen but instead it’s empty.He puts the things down and walks back through the ship, “Guys?” He shouts, again to no response. He moves faster, heading straight to his room. Y/N isn’t there so he races down to the workshop. That’s empty too. Every room is empty. “Where the hell is everyone?” He asks Groot but he doesn’t seem to care.Rocket heads back outside in case they’ve all decided to hang out there but there’s no one around. He walks to the back of the ship and with his next step, he hears a crunching sound. When he lifts his boot up he finds a helmet piece, now broken and covered in dirt. That can’t be a good sign. He looks ahead and finds Quill’s blaster laying on the ground which encourages him to pull out his weapon that he doesn’t have. That’s when he starts to panic. “Groot!” He calls out in fear when he spots a sword in the dirt, next to Drax’s knives. “Groot!” Groot is right behind him when he turns around, “Somethings wrong.” He tells him and Groot lowers his game to look around. They both survey the area but there’s no one around. “Y/N!” He calls out, looking in all directions.“I am Groot!” He calls out and starts moving to look for them. They cover the ground around the ship. Rocket races back and forth to no luck. The only thing that catches his eye is a glint of light in the dirt. He races past the weapons on the ground and follows the light. He gets closer to find some sort of sparkly blue powder. “Glitter?” He questions because that’s a weird thing to find at a crime scene. “What the fuck happened here?” He asks, looking around. “I am Groot?” Groot bends down to question the glitter as well but something inside Rocket tells him not to touch it. He has a moment of panic. Sheer panic. Y/N is missing, the others are gone too and they obviously tried to fight their way out of whatever happened but someone with glitter was more powerful than all of them.Rocket collects the glitter in a tube from the Workshop to try and work out what this has to do with any of it. Groot looks distressed. He’s not on his stupid game anymore and that actually worries Rocket now. “Groot, go have something to eat.” He tells him as gently as he can. “I’m gonna try figure out what this stuff is.” Turning the tube in his hand, he looks closer at the blue powdery rock substance. He isn’t sure what it is but it looks significant enough to worry about.
Rocket POV
The music over speakers does nothing to calm Rocket’s worry. He has no idea where the others have gone. He has tried reaching them on the comms but there’s been no response. The mystery glitter hasn’t been revealed at all either. He’s run as many tests as he can on it but nothing known to him or his databases has come up positive. He did find the same substance on Gamora’s sword after testing the abandoned weapons.Groot has been in and out of the Workshop. He’s trying to look like he doesn’t care but Rocket can feel the stress radiating off him. He’s grown up a lot, quicker than Rocket would like if he’s being honest, but he’s still just a kid and everyone has just disappeared. With signs of struggle. It would be different if they were left with injury and defeated by whoever was here but they are gone. That’s weirder. Then it hits him. Y/N has a tracker on her. He’s never had to use it before and she doesn’t even know about it, well he has never told her but she has traded out her helmet piece for the necklace he gave her a few years back so for her to feel safe without it she must know he could track her on it. With a situation like this, he isn’t going to think twice about it. His nerves are all over the place. It’s the sinking feeling that something is wrong that takes him to the helm. Obviously something is wrong but this is something more than that. There’s something in Rocket, something he can’t explain but he is sure that if something happened to Y/N, he would feel it. He doesn’t exactly know what he feels right now and he doesn’t know if that’s worse. What he does know is that she isn’t safe. So pulling up the ship’s systems, he sets about loading the tracer device. He feels Groot’s presence behind him while he does this so he turns around to find him holding out a plate of food for him. He could never think about food at a time like this but that is probably why Groot is bringing him food. “Come here.” Rocket gestures to the seat beside him.Groot follows his direction, asking, “I am Groot?” as he drops into the chair, handing over the plate to him.Rocket shakes his head, “Nah.” Rocket has no idea what the substance is, “It doesn’t come up on any of our scanners. I think it’s a dead end.” He turns his direction to the screen in front of him. Coding runs over the screen as it loads the programming to the tracer. “But at least we’ll know where to find them.” The screen turns black momentarily before a little red light blinks in the centre of the screen. Rocket enlarges the screen over the front window of the ship and a map appears, surrounding the dot that he knows is Y/N. The weight of the plate in his hand becomes lighter as the relief washes over him. He can find her. With the feeling of that relief he takes a bite of food and shrinks the image.“Alright, let’s see where they are.” They both watch the map surrounding Y/N zoom out from its opening point but it takes longer than Rocket would have liked. The coordinates get further and further away until he realises she’s not even on the same planet as him. “How in the hell…” Rocket whispers as the movement stops.“I am Groot?” He questions the weird sounding name of the planet that Rocket has never once heard of. It isn’t that big, only slightly larger than the planet they are on now. “Never heard of it.” Rocket shrugs before shoving a Dosleberry in his mouth. “Alright,” He flicks the image of the map to the side and starts up the engines of the half washed ship, setting the coordinates to follow the tracker, “Let's find out what Nyxoria wants with our family.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Rocket POV
He landed the ship down in a lot as close as he could to the tracer’s coordinates. The first thought he got from this planet is that it feels… Ok. It looks like an ordinary boring planet with ordinary boring people. A mixed batch of species but… Ordinary. No impending sense of danger or doom, just a regular planet filled with beings getting to where they need to be. It would feel like Xandar if not for the darker atmosphere or lack of feeling of being watched.
Getting onto the planet was easy enough, the security was short and seemed welcoming to visitors so it has left Rocket feeling that someone in particular has taken his girl. He has already gone through the list of potential threats in his head. He doesn’t know who is left of the Stryker’s but he is sure they had nothing to do with this. Dando hasn’t gotten back to him but he has a feeling that he is right about that.
Ego is gone. He keeps reminding himself that. Thanos couldn’t be involved, he’s sure that there would be at least one casualty if that was true. They were doing nothing illegal on the small planet they were on but they aren’t there anymore. There’s the never ending list of unknown people that any one of them could have pissed off in the past but nothing springs to mind.
So he and Groot walk down the street following the blinking dot that will eventually become ingrained in Rocket’s permanent vision. Groot is still worried. Rocket is trying to remain calm for his sake but if he’s being honest… He’s scared. The thoughts that his brain is imagining right now are of course all worse case scenarios. If Y/N is in danger, if someone is hurting her-
“I am Groot.” He’s thrown from his thoughts with the alert that they are close. Rocket blinks hard to keep his tears at bay until they find her. The dot on the screen in his hand is directing them to the building around the corner. His heart is in his throat. The neighbourhood around them seems so normal that it worries him. It’s night. The street lights are on but the people are lively.
Couples are walking hand in hand down the street. A few drunk people are around, looking like they are having an innocent but amusing night out. He clocks every person who could be a threat but none of them are near. What they find when they turn the corner is not what he expected. It looks like some sort of bar.
There is security by the front entrance, dressed in suits with very visible weapons at their side but that’s not what makes Rocket stop dead in his tracks. What does, is the sign above them that reads, ‘Y/SHN’ There’s some other words surrounding that and then some lightbulbs surrounding all of that but Rocket can’t bring himself to focus on anything else.
Y/N is in there. She has to be. Her goddamn name is on the sign. Why the
fuck
is her name on a sign? This place doesn’t look
unsafe
but that’s even weirder. Nothing is making sense and it’s only stressing Rocket out more. He doesn’t know how long he stares at the name until Groot steps in again.
“I am Groot?” He has a similar confused look on his face as he looks at the sign and while also confused to see Y/N’s name up there, he’s questioning the text underneath that Rocket finally brings himself to read.
Nyxoria’s Darling.
Three nights a week.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Rocket says out loud because who in the hell thinks this is going on for three nights a week? Rocket grits his teeth, shoves the device into his pocket and cracks his neck before walking up to the door.
He is angry. Mostly because he is freaking out but the action of being stopped at the door is just as frustrating. When he looks up to the security guards he tries to compose himself at least a little bit. They don't seem to care. One of them looks him up and down while the other just stares at him. The one who examined him shakes his head and gestures stiffly to the sign beside him. “There’s a dress code, mate.” He says in a deep, uncaring voice.
Rocket looks up to the sign, reading that there is in fact a dress code and a weapons check and not to mention that this is some adult establishment which makes him angrier. One look at the situation he is surrounded by, Rocket knows that this will run a lot more smoothly if he acts casually.
Rocket relaxes his shoulders and gives them a courteous nod before turning and walking away as formally as he can. Groot hesitates for a moment but quickly catches up to him. “I am
Groot
?” He asks with a tone that worries him. He sounds stressed out and confused. All things which Rocket is feeling.
Rocket doesn’t say anything until they are close to the ship. “Ok. So to get into that place, I’ll need to change.” He doesn’t want to explain a lot of this but he can see Groot isn’t ok. “I’ll need you to stay outside, Groot.” He says in a softer tone as he opens the ship’s hatch. Groot doesn’t like this at all so Rocket takes control. “Y/N is in there.” He tells him. “But that place won’t let you in and I won’t be able to take my weapons so you can either stay here or wait nearby.” Rocket rushes to his room to find something to where but quickly decides he’s changed his mind. “No, you need to wait with the ship.”
“I am Groot?” He doesn’t want to tell Groot that he doesn’t know what’s going on and that he doesn’t want Groot to be in the same kind of danger as the others, whatever that is.
So while he buttons up his shirt he looks at Groot, “I need you to stay with the ship, if- I need you to stay here so nothing happens to the ship, ok?” He asks with the best smile he could possibly fake right now.
Groot looks at him for a moment then nods but he doesn’t look happy about it. He must understand that he can’t go in there and won’t want to stand around waiting. At least that’s what he hopes is going on in his head.
Rocket finds some decent pants and buttons them up, tucking his shirt into them before throwing on his matching jacket. He clips a small weapon to his waist, hoping they don’t have scanners and gives one last hopeful and flustered look to Groot before tearing back the way he came.
His heart is pounding so hard because of the confusion and the adrenaline of it all. There’s so many questions and so many things that could go wrong. Keep it cool. Play it smooth until you know the situation. If all the missions and jobs he’s done over the years has taught him anything, it’s patience. Though it’s a lot harder in this particular situation.
Making his way back to the entrance he slows his walking. He’s been in a number of these places so he knows how to act, the ones where he is actually allowed in. The guys at the door don’t seem concerned about what he is as long as he follows their rules, again, another thing he doesn’t know how to feel about.
One guard nods to him and holds back a red curtain for him to walk through, making Rocket feel like someone important. Stepping past the curtain, the smell hits him first. It’s pleasant. Flowery and smoky. It
reminds
him of Y/N but it isn’t her scent. The hall of black curtains he walks through is lit up by a path of dotted lights leading to another curtain.
He’s stopped in the middle when a soft charm sounds out above him. The gun. He doesn’t make a show of his disappointment, just unholsters the weapon to hand to the elegantly dressed woman by a podium. “First time?” She asks, with her seductive charm that almost feels natural.
Rocket is thrown off by the formality, how she hasn’t hesitated to treat him as a customer or equal or whatever. “Would you judge me if I said yes?” Rocket answers with a hint of seduction to keep match her tone.
The woman laughs elegantly and dainty into her hand, an interaction Rocket is not familiar with. “The one thing I don’t do is judge.” She holds her head high. “I suppose you’re here to see the darling?” She asks and Rocket freezes. “There’s no need to be shy.” She giggles again, “She loves all her fans. Go on in, you will just catch her.”
Confusion. That is all he can focus on. How does Y/N have fans? Is this planet obsessed with the Guardians? Then why don’t they recognize
him
? Rocket nods like he understands everything and the woman holds back the curtain for him.
Behind that curtain is what he expected and nothing like it at the same time. There’s various tables of people stretching out through the floor. A bar along the wall near the entrance he walks through and everything is pointing to a stage. Usually in this kind of establishment there are… Poles on that stage but Rocket doesn’t see any.
He moves forward. Spotting an empty table by the front of the stage, that has to be strange, all the other tables are full but this one is empty. He thinks nothing of it and finds his way into a seat. Just to add to the oddness, the looks he gets from the people around seem to be approving. Shocked but in a way that seems like they are impressed by him. What the hell is this place?
Sitting with his nerves and stress, he decides to get a drink when a different woman comes by. She looks like she is intrigued with him, so much so that she tells him the drink is on the house. It’s at this point where he starts to worry that he might be in danger, that people might realise he’s here for Y/N but the fact that there are no immediate threats in the vicinity is comforting and concerning.
All his thoughts are shoved aside when the lights start to dim. “Ladies and gentlemen,” An announcer’s voice appears overhead and Rocket notices that this club has a lot more women than any others. “It’s tough to see her leave but we love to watch her go.” The announcer’s voice sounds warm and friendly, “For those of you lucky enough to be here for her final performance of the night, I present to you…” The spot lights all move together to meet in the middle as they climb up to point at the ceiling above the stage, “Our darling. Y/SHN.”
Rocket follows the direction of the lights but they shut off as he looks up. The room is dark, not not dark enough for a regular person to see. There’s a soft rumbling noise, almost like thunder followed by a voice he could recognise anywhere.
“Baby, can't you see. I'm calling.”
That’s Y/N.
“A guy like you. Should wear a warning.”
Her hand is the first thing he sees, draping lazily from the ceiling but when she opens her palm that’s when he sits up.
“It's dangerous. I'm falling.”
A shower of the blue glitter falls from her hand, it doesn’t just fall, no it moves, before it hits the ground it blows out to the audience with a sound of cheers. No one is afraid of it, like they have all seen this before. Everyone he has come across seems to think this is just day to day. Has there been some sort of time lapse with how long they were gone?
“There's no escape. I can't wait.”
It’s really hard to science this situation when Y/N is right there. One foot lowers before the other.
“I need a hit. Baby, give me it.”
Then a long, blue fabric drops below her, her leg wrapping around it.
“You're dangerous. I'm lovin' it.”
The music stops and the whole room is silent. A sound of a gunshot rings out and Rocket’s heart stops when Y/N’s body falls.
The whole room gasps but she stops spinning and the fabric catches her, inches before the ground. She’s wrapped in the blue fabric and for a moment, he thinks that’s all she’s wearing until she lifts her head to the audience with a smirk. It’s so distressing how normal she looks, well normal in the sense that she doesn’t look harmed but that’s her. That’s Y/N. Her golden hair and blue eyes… The necklace that he is tracking.
The crowd relaxes and cheers again as she climbs back up that blue fabric. The gunshots are part of the music which is just… So Y/N. The fabric unravels from her body revealing a matching outfit in the same colour that covers the front of her… But not her back. Rocket would never be shocked at seeing her back, he’s seen it everyday since the first time. What does shock him, what freaks him out to the point of panic is that when she turns around, there’s no scars. No branding. Nothing. Just a plain, ordinary, naked back.
Y/N continues to dance with this piece of fabric to the crowd's pleasure but Rocket is stuck. Maybe this isn’t Y/N… Could she have been cloned? If so it’s a very good clone, the voice, the face, the body, everything except for the back is spot on.
She moves the same. Not that Rocket has ever seen her do this but if he had, she would have done it like this. Climbing the fabric, she wraps it around one leg and leans back as it spins her slowly,
“With a taste of your lips. I'm on a ride.”
There’s some hooting and hollering from the groups of tables she’s close to.
“You're toxic. I'm slippin' under.”
These people seem to be willing to die to get even just a little close to her.
Rocket would be proud if he knew what the hell is going on. Y/N up on a stage is something he would make happen often if he could but this is not right. It isn’t even the way that these people look at her, Rocket won’t ever get used to that but he can handle it. It’s everything else. Why is she up there? How is her back healed? Why is she this planet’s
darling
?
“Taste of a poison paradise.”
She’s upside down now. Leg wrapped around the fabric and her hands gripping it below her head. It is actually a good show. He doesn’t understand why the show is happening but he is still entertained under all the confusion. Y/N starts sliding down the fabric,
“I'm addicted to you. Don't you know that you're toxic?”
Her hands touch the ground first and the leg that isn’t wrapped in the fabric extends out, revealing more of her outfit, not that there’s much more of her outfit to reveal.
He doesn’t know how that outfit is staying on her body with those moves, it defies all laws of gravity. It covers her chest, not her cleavage. Covers her front torso but not her back and it’s so tight along her ass that it might even be painted on.
This music is so unlike anything he’s heard before. The only way to describe it is dramatic but when it comes to Y/N, most things are, which is why it’s hard to know if it’s her up there or not. Another voice appears as Y/N’s other leg comes down. She leans back, gripping the fabric as she lays on the ground then thrusts her chest up. That’s where Rocket starts enjoying the show.
Not that he hasn’t so far but he is relaxing a little now. He shouldn’t be, he should be planning a rescue but is a rescue necessary? She doesn’t look like she’s being forced to do this and no one is touching her.
She curls her feet underneath her and sits up on her knees. She lifts her head and her hair falls back over her shoulder. Then she slowly turns her head to the audience. She has the most gorgeous look on her face, one she usually has before she gets an idea that usually ends in something blowing up or the one she has after a few drinks and only has one thing on her mind.
The table next to him is the first to get that look and they lose their goddamn minds over it. Rocket has seen it so many times but he gets the same feeling when it’s directed at him. It runs right through him every time. Y/N tilts her head, she looks confused but only for a second then she looks intrigued, she looks him over, then the area where he’s sitting and back to his face.
They both look at each other for what feels like too long. He doesn’t know what to think of that. Rocket subtly lifts his drink to her with a smirk. There’s a quick widening of her eyes like he’s done something wrong but she smiles and the next thing she does is absolutely visionary.
She lifts her arm above her head and starts to rise like she’s being pulled off the ground. Rocket double checks, he doesn’t see any ropes or anything she’s attached to. She is strong but he doesn't think she should be able to do that. His thoughts are proven when she rises
above the ground.
Floating on air.
The audience is amazed. Rocket is too but he’s also confused. How in the hell is she doing that? There’s gotta be some harness set that he isn’t seeing. Y/N can’t fly. She spins around, her movements are slow but her hair reacts to the spinning momentum at the same speed, which is
impossible
but so breathtaking.
She floats higher and Rocket watches her move towards the balconies full of people reaching out to her.
“Too high, can't come down.”
She holds out her hand to a girl leaning over the balcony and kisses her hand. The girl screams in joy like she’s been chosen and Rocket manages to laugh about that instead of the jealousy he can feel building up.
“Losing my head. Spinnin' 'round and 'round.”
Y/N falls backwards in a flip, lowering herself over the audience. She walks over tables without even touching them.
“Do you feel me now?”
“We feel you, baby!” A man calls out, making her laugh as she walks on air around the room. She has this whole room in her control. She could do that without all these stunts but this adds so much power.
Y/N makes her way back over to the front, walking on air over Rocket’s table until she stops. Standing on the table. Rocket moves his eyes up her legs, slowly. He has just noticed his own breathing but he doesn’t care. When his eyes reach hers, she’s looking over her shoulder at him. Rocket doesn’t move, he wants to say something, anything but how could he?
Just as he makes a move to do something, anything, Y/N points her foot at a metal object on the table. He looks down at it and she turns it around with her foot.
Reserved.
Is written on it. He looks back up at Y/N but she smiles in such a cheeky way before she’s gone again. She is back on the stage with the fabric in her hand before Rocket can register what’s happening. He’s sitting at a table meant for someone else, that’s why it was empty. Who is supposed to be sitting here then? Those looks he got earlier make sense now. Whoever is meant to be here must be someone important.
“With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride.”
Well that person isn’t here so he doesn’t care. Y/N picks up the fabric but it slides out of her hand and starts lifting itself so both ends are up high, forming a swing that lifts her up.
“You're toxic. Taste of a poison paradise.”
Y/N lifts one leg, laying back and sliding off her seat to hang upside as the fabric lifts her.
She holds on with one leg extended before dropping the body to hang by her hand. The leg that was wrapped over the fabric is now tucked against her. She softens, turning her whole body to face Rocket.
“I'm addicted to you.”
Her wrist wraps in the fabric, her feet touch the floor and she bounces back up in another gravity defying way.
This time when she holds the fabric it moves so she’s suspended over the audience, not the stage but she still faces Rocket. One wrist and one leg wrapped in the fabric, her eyes on him. She looks at him like he’s the only one here. It’s how she usually looks at him but this is different.
“Don't you know that you're toxic?”
The song ends. The lights dim and over all the cheering and noise, Rocket can see she’s still looking at him. The lights change again and there’s a cloud of that blue glittery stuff again then Y/N is back on the stage. Rocket blinks, looking around because all of this is not right. There seems to be magic involved and Rocket is not a fan of magic.
Y/N doesn’t bow which is just so great. She looks out to the audience with a subtle nod, her body language is elegant, like everything she is doing is a performance and Rocket is again, confused. He’s reminded of the way she has been with situations involving higher status. In old footage of her on Lilon or back on Scyllark with Tressa. Even when she has a lot to drink and starts talking in a formal manner. This feels very similar.
“Always a pleasure.” Y/N says to the audience in a suggestive voice that gets them all riled up again. “I hope we’ll all be here tomorrow night?” She says with the slightest undertone of threat. Everyone of course cheers in response and she lets out a satisfied chuckle under her breath. “Well, thank the gods for that.” She flutters her eyelashes and that only distracts Rocket for a second then he realises she said
gods.
Plural.
That makes no sense. Y/N has never mentioned more than one god before. “I love you Y/SHN!” A woman shouts to her from the back.
“And I love you, random citizen.” Y/N shouts back. It makes Rocket laugh but not loudly. “I suppose you’re excited for ladies night.” Her voice is teasing and playful but she remains somewhat elegant. A roar of women's voices cheer from the back and up on the other level. “You know I love my ladies.” Y/N teases again while walking across the stage, stepping gracefully down the stairs, “The rest of you are ok too, I suppose.” She makes eye contact with Rocket and grazes a hand over his arm. That's when Rocket catches her scent. That's Y/N's scent, it would be hard, if not impossible to replicate that... He thinks.
The move causes a mixture of gasps and excited “Ooh’s.” but she turns back to the stage and smiles at the audience.
“Now, who’s ready to get dizzy?” Y/N asks with a heightened enjoyment. Some of the crowd cheers but most aren’t very loud. “Have a lovely night everyone.” She announces to everyone's disappointment. “Don’t worry, I’ll always be back.” She says before a cloud of blue glitter and dust blows out through the whole room and she’s gone again. He isn’t sure what is going to make everyone dizzy but it must not involve her if she's leaving.
Rocket doesn’t know how to feel about any of that. He still can’t tell if that was really Y/N. She didn’t seem to show any recognition of him but she made a move and he's know her scent anywhere. Maybe it was just part of the act. Surely she would have sent a signal to alert him to danger. Then there’s the fact that she has no scars. Her body is completely healed. It can’t be her.
To hell with this. He has to find out. Rocket downs his drink and looks around the area. Some of the people at the tables have left after her performance but it looks like someone else is going to perform as well. Rocket couldn't care less about that. He gets up from the table and tries to remain casual as he looks for a way to find her.
Checking the tracer again, it shows that she’s still in the building so he steps out from the centre of the room towards the wall. He manages to get a glimpse of a backstage area and thinks that’s the way to go but it’s guarded. Rocket curses internally until he gets a look at the guard.
The man is tall, well built and wearing a black suit with an earpiece connected through his collar. He looks alert and calm while surveying the area like it’s his job. It’s not his job though.
“Drax?” Rocket questions out loud before making a move to go over to him. “Drax.” He repeats louder and Drax looks down at him. He doesn’t say anything, just tilts his head at him from the distance between him. “Drax, what’s going on?” Rocket asks him as he tries to step forward.
Drax raises his hand out as a warning, “No guests past this point, sir.” Rocket nearly laughs at him for the way he addresses him but that means he’s not Drax either. Rocket stops where he is to look at him. It looks like him. Sounds like him, kinda.
“Drax-” Rocket tries again.
“I am not who you speak of.” Ok that sounds more like him. Rocket doesn’t know what to do. Y/N is back there. Drax is right here. Neither of them seem to know him and there are certain things that make him believe that they are not really them. Drax flat out denying that he is Drax doesn’t help. Neither of them have given him any signals which could mean that they are being watched or that they have been cloned.
Why would either of those things happen though? None of this makes sense. He has so many questions and he only gets more with every new discovery. All of that is pushed to the side when he sees Y/N again. She walks up to Drax and whispers something to him but makes eye contact with Rocket as she does. She’s too far away for him to hear but the smile on her face tells him all he needs to know.
Y/N walks away again and Drax takes a step forward to undo the rope in front of him, “Your presence has been requested backstage.” Drax holds the rope up for him and doesn’t look in his direction. Rocket just stands there.
He doesn’t know if this is a trap. It very well could be, they haven’t given him any sign that they know him or that they are in danger. They could be copies of the people he knows and they could be leading him into danger. They could also lead him to more information or where the real versions of them are. He has no weapons, only the tracer that tells him that Y/N is back there… Or whoever is wearing her necklace.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Rocket POV
He stands still for too long, confusion pinning him in place. Drax’s clone looks at him when he doesn’t move right away, maybe sensing his own confusion. Rocket makes a move and steps forward. As soon as he’s past the boundary, Drax puts the rope back and another guard steps into his place. It happens so smoothly and quickly that Rocket doesn’t even question it. He does feel Drax’s presence behind him as he follows the direction that Y/N went.
This could be a trap with how closely he is being watched but they could be trying to get a chance to talk to him. Either way, Rocket is super aware of his surroundings right now. The backstage area isn’t as fancy as what he’s already seen but it still manages to keep the atmosphere of the front. There’s a lot of colour, half naked girls of different species but everyone seems happy.
There’s still no sign of anything that looks dangerous, that being said, the feeling he has is enough. The door he approaches is closed but he knows it’s where he’s meant to be. Drax reaches over him and taps his knuckles on the door. A soft, “Enter.” calls out and Drax opens the door.
He gives Rocket a nod so that's when Rocket steps into the room. Drax stands to the side of the door with his hands placed together in front of him, waiting. He turns away from the door to look at the room. It’s mostly dark, lit up by… Floating candles? That’s not reassuring in the slightest.
Movement in his peripheral vision makes him turn. He can see a figure behind a curtained partition. The lighting shows a silhouette that he would know anywhere. She is undressing behind the screen, Rocket can easily tell that. It isn’t until she places another piece of clothing over herself that she finally speaks, “Either you are new around here or you have a lot of balls for someone your size.”
Hearing Y/N’s voice is a small comfort but her choice of words don’t seem like her. He isn’t sure if he isn't offended just because it’s her or if she’s somehow complimented him. Y/N walks out, wearing a silky looking robe and very clearly not much else underneath. Her eyes meet his as she walks over to a small table, pouring out a drink.
Rocket has realised he hasn’t answered her yet but he’s a little distracted. “You
can
talk, can you not?” Y/N asks, pouring a second drink before turning her head to him.
Her voice is hers but her words are a little odd, he’s not sure what to think of it. The way she is presenting herself is so dignified that it’s hard to pay attention. It can’t be Y/N. It has to be some clone or other version in her place. “Where’s Y/N?” Rocket asks to her surprise.
She has the smallest look of shock before she smiles like she’s won something, “Arthur owes me ten units.” He does not know who Arthur is but he actually doesn’t care at this point. She’s deliberately ignored his question. “I’m afraid I don’t know any Y/N’s.” Y/N walks over to him, glasses in hand. “What makes you think I would?”
Rocket takes the glass she offers but doesn’t drink from it, he wants to think she is just lying but it’s more proof that she isn’t her. Y/N steps over to a long couch and lounges against it, again elegantly. “You’re wearing her necklace.” Rocket accuses her, looking at her neck.
She touches the necklace reflexively with a concerned look then she’s confused again. “Well, I can assure you this one is mine.” The way she clutches it is strange. If she were Y/N she would have this attachment to it but she doesn’t seem to recognise him at all. They’re alone now, surely if she were to know him she would explain something. “Who are you?” Y/N asks. Her bare leg slips out of her robe as she places it over the other, “You don’t seem like a problem but you do have trouble written all over you.”
Rocket isn’t sure what to say. The fact that she doesn’t know him is alarming. If that’s not Y/N and that’s not Drax at the door then why are they here? Why don’t they see him as a threat? The first thing Rocket thinks to do is lie, use a fake name. Using his real name could go either way so he plays it safe for now, “Westley.” He answers.
If she were to have any memory of Y/N’s she would react to that name. She does react but not the way he would like. “You don’t look like a Westley.” She tells him, sounding sceptical. She leans forward, a challenging look on her face, “Now, why would you have a reason to lie to me?”
Y/N takes a sip of her drink, waiting for his answer. Rocket shrugs and does the same before answering. The drink is smooth as hell. Sweet but musky. “Why should I trust you?” Rocket asks, matching her tone. This seems to please her. She places her drink down beside her, in the air… It sits there like she’s put it on a tray.
“That’s an odd question.” She muses, looking him over, “Why do you
want
to trust me?” She looks so intrigued, it reminds Rocket of when they met but the question is something else he can’t tell the truth about.
He just wants to know where Y/N is but she doesn’t seem to know anything. “I haven’t figured that out yet.” Rocket replies and takes another sip of his drink. “I know you are lying to me so there’s no point trying.” Rocket shrugs, leaning back casually.
“Oh?” Y/N- Y/N’s clone sits up straighter as her eyes darken on him, “As good of a liar as I am, I can assure you that I have said nothing untrue… Mr
Westley
.” She emphasises the name he gave her so she already knows he’s lying to her.
She is lying too though. “Where did you get the necklace?” He asks sharply, keeping eye contact as he sips again from the small glass.
She lifts her chin, unintentionally showing off the necklace in the light. Her eyes briefly flick to the side but Rocket catches it, “It was my mother’s.” She lies. “It’s all I have left of her now.” As much as Rocket knows that’s a lie, she would fool anyone else with how emotionally she talks. “But, I know you didn’t come here to talk about jewellery.” With another accusing look, she flicks her finger and the bottle from the table is lifted into the air to refill the glass that Rocket didn’t notice she had finished. “You do know who I am, do you not?” She asks.
Who the
hell
is sitting right in front of him? “Should I?” He tilts his head and finishes his drink.
This intrigues her again. With another flick of her hand the bottle floats over to him so he holds out his glass for a refill. “I suppose that
could
be a refreshing change of pace,” She mutters as Rocket watches the magic bottle fill his glass. “If I were convinced that you were
only
here to see a show.” Her eyes meet him strongly before she stands. “My guess is you either don’t know how to keep a low profile or wanted to draw attention to yourself, based on the seat you chose.”
She walks across the room slowly and clutches the bottle from the air. “Or I just didn’t see the sign.” Rocket offers, unbothered by the exchange. He’s clearly getting nowhere with this so he needs a new lead. “Whose seat was I in?” Rocket asks out of pure curiosity.
He takes another drink, watching her cunning smile as she leans closer to her. She smells like Y/N but how is that possible? “Someone you never want to be on the bad side of.” She says in a low whisper. Rocket looks into her eyes, captured by them until a quick flash of glitter passes across them and Rocket sucks in a breath.
That’s
not
a clone. She
isn’t
lying to him. That's
mind control
. She’s Y/N and someone is fucking with her mind. That’s Y/N! His whole body is screaming to do something but
what?
That must be Drax at the door but then where are the others? There’s so many questions running through his head right now but all he can do is stare, trying his hardest not to freak out.
He needs to find out what the hell is going on because even though Y/N is being controlled, he isn’t sure why. “This doesn’t make any sense.” He doesn’t register right away that he said that out loud but it shows on Y/N’s face.
She looks amused with what he’s said and turns back around, “I suppose it doesn’t,” She sounds so casual that it stuns him. “But I stopped making sense of things a long time ago.” She says as she sits down in front of a mirror, picking something up, “Now are you going to tell me your real name or should I have Arthur escort you out?” When she says this Drax steps into the room as if being summoned.
They both turn to look at him, waiting for his answer that comes out nervously, “Rocket.”
Y/N places her leg over the other again and smiles at Drax, “You know, for some reason I believe that.” Drax smiles as well, looking professional as he does. “Thank you, Arthur, I can take it from here.” Y/N tells Drax, who is
Arthur
now and he nods before taking his post by the door.
Rocket starts mentally jotting down everything he is learning to work out where to start. There has to be meaning to all of this. “Is that your muscle?” Rocket asks, gesturing at Drax.
Y/N turns back to the mirror to put her hair up, “Well, my father insists on a body guard,” That makes Rocket turn his head to her. Father? Ego is dead. They blew him up. “But I kind of like Arthur. He makes me laugh and doesn’t interfere unless I want him to.”
“Who is your father?” Rocket asks, not being able to move past that.
Y/N ties her hair up on her head and turns around to him, “Interesting.” She hums, turning back to the mirror, “Refreshing to say the least again but somewhat confusing.” Y/N places what she was using on her hair on her table and rests her chin on her hand, looking at Rocket in the mirror. “Not many things confuse me nowadays.” Her eyes move over him through the reflection.
“So, we’re both confused about things.” Rocket adds to the conversation and takes a drink.
Y/N’s smile feels relatable enough for him to smile. “How exciting.” Her voice is so soft and inspiring that he’s prone to believe her.
Having her sitting in front of him does help calm his fears and she seems fine but… “Maybe we can help each other then.” Rocket offers, causing her to turn to him. “I have questions, you have questions...” He tries to sound like he knows what he’s doing and it feels like it’s working.
Y/N stands up to walk over to him, this time she sits beside him, “The problem is,” Her voice is low and sweet next to him, “Once those questions are answered, the mystery is gone.”
He wants so badly to play along with this, she doesn’t seem to be in any danger but that makes this whole thing weirder. “You don’t like solving mysteries?” He asks, remembering an old show that she and Quill have mentioned about a talking dog, surely it would strike some memory for her.
“Can’t say I’ve had that many.” She responds. He doesn't know how to play this at all. She doesn’t remember him, or pop culture references from Earth so her brainwashing is very specific.
She also doesn’t know who Y/N is… “So what should I call you?” He asks trying to sound confident but he doesn’t know what name she thinks she has if not Y/N.
Y/N smiles but not at him, “Everyone just calls me darling.” It doesn’t sound like a real answer but he takes it without pushing. She stands up in a way that suggests he should follow, so he does. “We’ll start there,” She says with her arm extended to the door, “And we’ll see how it goes.” Rocket takes the hint to leave but he’s reluctant. “The table is yours, Rocket.” He looks up to her as he nears the door, “If you wish to return.”
There has to be enough of her in there that she’s responded to him like this. No one else would ever look at him like she does. “I’ll be back.” He promises. He will get her out of here and find the others. That’s a promise. They share a smile then he heads for the door.
When he looks back, she’s already turned around, doing something else but humming along to a song that he recognises. A song that maybe no one else would recognize. That helps him breathe calmer again. She’s in there somewhere, she still knows him somehow.
As he leaves, he turns to Drax to nod, “Arthur.” And almost laughs as he walks away. He has some information, not much of it is useful but he knows part of what’s going on, he just has to figure out why.
Heading back to the ship he finds Groot waiting outside and not playing his game, so that worries Rocket. “I am Groot?” He says as soon as he sees him.
Groot almost stumbles towards him and Rocket puts his arms out, “Yeah I found her.” He says quickly, "Drax too.” He walks them both back onto the ship and Groot runs after him.
“I am Groot?” He sounds distressed which is fair enough because he didn’t return with them.
Rocket heads to the glitter again, “They've been brainwashed.” He explains as he pulls up the same schematics he’s been over so many times. "Controlled somehow."
Groot leans over to look as well, “I am Groot?” He asks what Rocket is thinking as well. Who
is
doing this?
“I don’t know, kid.” He sighs, researching different forms of brain reprogramming, “But we’ll figure it out…” The screen loads with images of people and devices. “And kill ‘em if we have to.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Rocket POV
There is so much that Rocket doesn’t understand about the situation he’s in. He has explained what he does know to Groot but it hasn’t seemed to have helped to ease his mind at all. Mind control is not something he really knows about. Tressa comes to mind first of all but this is different to her powers.
Y/N doesn’t seem to know who she is but that isn’t at the top of his list of things he doesn’t understand. She seems to have some sort of magic but she is singing at a club. Who would go to the trouble of capturing her and giving her magic abilities just to have her sing. That makes some sense now that he thinks about it but it’s still a mind fuck.
Rocket has been up all night trying to analyse the substance he found. He knows he won’t sleep until he gets them all back and this is the only thing he can think of to do. The tracer moved when he left last night and is still in another area. He thinks it may be where she is living. At least she isn’t living at that club.
Rocket told himself that he would work for another hour before trying something new but that was over two hours ago and the suns are starting to rise. He’s managed to isolate the components of the substance. He’s started referring to it as the Mindfuck stone for various reasons and the Mindfuck stone is not that different to something he’s seen before.
Putting what he doesn’t know aside, he decides to stretch his legs. Y/N wouldn’t be the first person to drop a project when things get difficult but she would try to clear her mind. Usually Rocket would help with that but right now he needs to think of a new angle.
On his way out he checks in on Groot who’s asleep in their bed. He can’t remember the last time he slept in their bed, not since he was as tall as Rocket. Not having the others around is really not good for either of them. There’s no one to keep the balance.
With one look at the blinking dot on his screen, Rocket heads out the door. There’s a soft light over the city that changes how everything looks. This place seems nice. There doesn’t seem to be any crime, there’s even a fresh baked bread smell that seems to follow him around every corner. The streets are easy to navigate and every passerby has a friendly, welcoming look. That wouldn’t concern anyone else but Rocket knows something is up here.
He watches his blinking dot grow closer as he walks. He walks by buildings, shops, houses and neighbourhoods that have a strange feeling to them. Like no one lives in them even though he can see people and families through the windows. The air doesn’t seem real either. He can feel the wind on his fur but it feels… Perfect, the temperature is warm but not too warm, you could wear any item of clothing and be comfortable. This planet is strange but there isn’t anything to complain about and that’s just more annoying.
Rocket stops moving when he is led to a road. It’s windy and fancy and leads to a gate up ahead that seems to be guarded. His blinking dot is behind that gate, somewhere in that hilltop mansion that’s guarded by men at the gate. Well, so much for that idea. If anyone recognises him from the club his cover will be blown. Even if he could find Drax, it wouldn’t help his situation.
He’s just here for information. He has to lay low. Which is exactly why he goes around the back. This house is so pretentious that it takes him at least ten minutes to walk around it. He gives up eventually and activates his Aero-Rig. The house is as tall as it is wide but he can at least move quicker this way and there’s no guards on the roof.
He lands on a flat surface and starts walking around which could take him all day. If Y/N lives here what does that mean? She’s in this huge house all by herself, isolated and possibly imprisoned, judging by the guards. There’s a rush of pure anxiety in him for a moment. Only because she isn’t by his side. It’s been so long since they’ve been apart like this. He didn’t even notice how dependent he had become until she wasn’t there.
He’s starting to realise the pressure he has on him now. It’s up to him to bring her back. He still has no idea where the others are and not to mention breaking through mind control. How is he supposed to do this? What if he can’t? Rocket is part of a team, a team that have worked together for four years. He can’t do this without them.
The sound of voices pull him together and he scurries quietly across the roof to peak over the edge. “I want the shipment out tonight, no later.” A deep sounding voice says from an angle that Rocket can’t see. There’s a table outside under a shaded area and he can see three figures sitting at it.
Two of them he can see clearly, they are wearing the same outfit that Drax was wearing last night but the third is at the head of the table. He is shorter than the others but he can’t see his face. His outfit is somehow nicer. The other’s are dark and uniformed but his is a cleaner, brighter look.
“But boss-” One of the men in black try to say but ‘the boss’ cuts him off.
“You get it done. No questions.” His voice sounds calm but the way that the men react to him is serious. “Our guests will arrive in two days and I expect everything to be in order. The arrangement must go according to plan.”
So, there’s a lot to unpack there. If anyone in the same place as Y/N is being referred to as ‘boss’ then that is most likely a lead. What is the arrangement and who are the guests? Is that even important? Who are these people?
“We’ll get it done, boss.” The other man says with more confidence, no talking back, no questions.
“Tonight.” The boss repeats. “Then we will begin plans for the union.” These guys have a union? Seems progressive for how shady this business sounds.
“Good mornin’ daddy.” That voice makes him freeze. He watches the men shift, sit straighter and the conversation topic is switched like it never happened.
The boss turns his head as another figure walks out to the table. He would know that silhouette anywhere. “Good morning, darling.” The boss answers her and Y/N walks up beside him to place a kiss on his cheek while setting down a plate of food.
Rocket can’t move. It isn’t just confusion anymore, it’s down right insanity. Someone has led this man into believing he’s Y/N’s father. Who would mind control these people into believing this and why?
“You hungry, boys?” Y/N asks, using a voice that gets most people to do what she wants.
The men look at each other then to the boss before nodding, “Yes mamm.”
Y/N laughs softly and elegantly, “I had Garth prepare you a meal, it will be out in a minute.” She walks around the table to playfully pat them on the shoulder so she either knows about this business and is ok with it or knows nothing about it and has been told something different.
Y/N walks past and Rocket follows her with his eyes. She has a long robe on. It’s different to the one last night, more casual while still elegant. It could just be the way she wears it. She walks out past the patio and over to the large pool that instantly reminds Rocket of the security footage from Lilon.
His gaze focuses when she removes her robe to reveal a swimsuit that she may as well not be wearing. For a split second, he thinks he sees the scars on her back but he’s so used to seeing them that he just expects them at this point. It is still a shock to see her without scars. She must feel so normal… He doesn’t want to take that away from her.
No one else is talking, Rocket’s suspicions are only confirmed when he turns to see the men watching Y/N. That rouses an anger in him but only for a moment until he hears a splash. He turns back to see Y/N swimming up and down the length of the pool. No fear. No hesitation. Like she does this every day.
Rocket observes her until the tinking sound of a plate touching the table distracts him, “Thank you, Garth.” The boss nods to the man who placed the plates down and Rocket nearly slips off the roof. That man is not Garth. That man, with his skinny but tall build and scruffy short beard would be more recognizable if the tall hat he was wearing wasn’t covering his fin.
Kraglin is accounted for. Working as a cook or something for the boss that thinks he’s Y/N’s father. Drax is Y/N’s guard, though he doesn’t seem to be here but he’s connected to this as well. That just leaves Gamora, Mantis and Quill. Surely they are around here somewhere.
“Eat.” The boss says to the men, “The car will arrive in thirty minutes.” They start eating their food and Kraglin nods respectfully before leaving. Why is he Garth? Why is Drax, Arthur? He still doesn’t know what Y/N thinks her name is. This can’t be that important. Rocket needs a better visual of this situation.
He has thirty minutes where everyone will be outside, that gives him time to scope out the house for the others. If he can at least locate everyone, he will feel better about them being missing.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Just a bit of an important update.
I need everyone to know that I am still writing but at the moment I am planning to go through the series and do an edit to update some things and add some things I’ve thought after but I want everyone to know that I really want to change this entire fic so that our main character has a name.I know I created this as a reader insert but I am starting to hate that. The only reason I won’t change it is if any of you are truly attached to having your own name in there.PLEASE let me know soon if you really don’t want me to do this. If you really like the Y/N then I will leave it but I need to know because it will make me a lot more motivated. Thanks for sticking by this far and I hope to add new chapters soon. Work is just so crazy and it was my birthday and then comic con so I have just been flat out.Love you all!