• Across The Stars •||• Peter Quill X Female Reader 2 •

Chapter 2 - Mission Complete

We step away from the beast's corpse for a second. We all need a break from that. I wipe my face off with a towel, including my hair. I definitely need a shower after this. Other than getting stabbed by Gamora, I'm unscathed by Drax's rescue mission I took. That would be a good thing if it weren't for Peter's nagging that I'm ignoring right now.

"...and you could've died! You realize how stupid that was?! It was Drax's fault, but you didn't have to jump in there, too!" I nod my head as I feel my hair for any extra Abilisk goo. "And you're not even listening to me, are you?" I perk my head up and insist, "I'm listening!" He gently grabs both of my hands. "I could've lost you," he adds, his voice in a low whisper.
"But you didn't. Can't you be grateful for that? You should be thanking Gamora instead of yelling at me," I argue, pulling my hands away to cross my arms. "One, I'm not yelling. Two, she almost killed you! Look at the blood on your arm!" he shoots back. Gamora gives him a dirty look. "You're yelling at me," I point out.

Peter takes a deep breath and shakes his head. Then, he turns away from me and takes off his Aero-Rig.

It seems like ever since we got together, he's extra protective of me. I can almost barely do anything on missions without him worrying about me. I guess it's sweet sometimes. I don't blame him, I just don't want him to stop me from doing what I need to do.

Drax seems to sense the tension and asks Peter, "What are they called again?", referring to the battery in front of us. "Anulax batteries," Peter says as he puts his jacket on. "Harbulary batteries," Drax mutters. "That's nothing like what I just said," Peter argues. "But they're worth thousands of units a piece, which is why the Sovereign hired us to protect them."

The six of us begin our way to the High Priestess' palace as Peter warns us, "Careful what you say around these folks. They're easily offended. The cost of transgression is death."

----

A pretty, gold-skinned lady sits on her throne in front of us. She looks the most elegant out of her people, which is saying something, considering all of the Sovereign have golden skin and nice hairstyles. All of them were designed to be "perfect."
"We thank you, Guardians, for putting your lives on the line." All of us stand before Sovereign's High Priestess Ayesha, awaiting our reward. "We could not risk the lives of our own Sovereign citizens." She adds, "Every citizen is born exactly as designed by the community. Impeccable, both physically and mentally. We control the DNA of our progeny by germinating them in birthing pods." Ugh, as if I needed to be reminded of that weird fact about these people.

"I guess I prefer to make people the old-fashioned way," Peter remarks. Are you kidding me? He did not just say that. "Perhaps someday, you could give me a history lesson in the archaic ways of our ancestors. For academic purposes," Ayesha flirts back. "I would be honored, yes, in the name of research," Peter says, giving a single glance toward me.

If he wants to make me jealous, it's definitely working. In fact, he's pissing me off. I know he's immature... Hell, even I'm not even the adult in most of these situations, but this is a whole new level.

My hands shake with anger, so I cross my arms to hide them. I give Peter a death glare. "I think that could be pretty, uh..." he glances at me again, noticing my reaction. "...repulsive. I'm not into that kind of casual-" "Oh, please," Gamora interjects. She walks closer to Ayesha. "Your people promised something in exchange for our services. Bring it, and we shall gladly be on our way."

She points to the right, not saying another word. Two Sovereign men bring out a hooded person, restricting their arms. They bring them to their knees and remove their hood.

I immediately recognize the bald, blue, and mechanic head. Nebula, Gamora's psycho sister. Gamora steps forward, with no expression on her face. Nebula returns this with a glare. "Family reunion, yay," Peter sarcastically cheers. "I understand that she is your sister," Ayesha tells Gamora. "She's worth no more to me than the bounty due for her on Xandar," Gamora declares as she grabs Nebula's arm and picks her up.

Ayesha stands up from her golden throne. "Our soldiers apprehended her attempting to steal the batteries. Do with her as you please," she instructs. Gamora shoves Nebula in front of her and walks away, leading her to our ship.

"We thank you, High Priestess Ayesha," Peter says with a small bow. "I don't," I mutter under my breath, making sure it's not loud enough for any of the Sovereign to hear. We begin to walk away, but Ayesha asks, "What is your heritage, Mr. Quill?"
We both turn around. Peter answers, "My mother's from Earth." "And your father?" He pauses, then quips, "He ain't from Missouri. That's all I know." I begin to walk away again, but then Ayesha tells him, "I see it within you. An unorthodox genealogy. A hybrid that seems particularly... reckless." Peter's eyebrows furrow. He clearly takes offense at this.

What is her problem?! Whatever the hell was that insult? Is she really that stuck-up to just say something like that? "Excuse you?" I blurt out, marching closer to Ayesha. Peter stops me, gently grabbing my shoulders. "Hey, hey. Don't," he whispers, tilting his head toward Ayesha and her court. The crowd murmurs to each other as the High Priestess scowls at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a guard with a gun tense up. I sigh and squirm out of his hands.

"You know, they told me you people were conceited douchebags," Rocket says. Now, the attention is on him. "...but that isn't true at all!" He gives Peter and I an obvious wink. He really needs to get better at that...
The crowd gasps again, and another guard with a gun gets ready. Now, we should definitely leave. We begin to walk away. "Oh, shit. I'm using my wrong eye again, aren't I?" Drax picks Rocket up and turns him around so he can quickly follow us without saying more things that will get us killed.

I try to give a polite smile to the guards as I exit the palace. Honestly, I'm too mad to make the smile seem real.

----

"Here." Peter hands me one of his clean shirts to change into. Without saying a word, I remove my dirty shirt and replace it with Peter's. It's kind of big on me, but I can always just tuck it in my pants later. Peter pulls off his shirt and picks up a long sleeve shirt draped over a chair. I've been trying my best to give him the silent treatment. But, damn... If I said I wasn't admiring his body right now, I'd be lying.

He glances in my direction, and I quickly look away. I remind myself that I'm mad at him, and it's easier to keep my eyes off. Instead, I turn to Gamora, who is handcuffing Nebula to the roof of the ship.
"That stuff about my father... Who does she think she is?" Peter complains. "I know you're sensitive about that," Gamora replies, keeping her eyes on her sister. "I'm not sensitive about it, I just don't know who he is," Peter defends. Once he realizes I'm not looking at him, he tells me, "Sorry if it seemed like I was flirting with the High Priestess." I give him only a glance. "I wasn't." "I bet you are sorry, Quill," I sigh, crossing my arms. Gamora walks away with Nebula, leaving us alone. "Really, I'm sorry," he insists. "Can you please just look at me?"

I turn my body toward him but keep my eyes away from him. "Please... honey?" he adds. Ugh... He knows I can't help it when he calls me anything like that.
My eyes return back to him. "I know you're mad at me... Is there anything I can do?" I let out a sigh and look into his green eyes. "Just don't do that again," I tell him. "Got it?" He nods his head. "Got it," he affirms. "If I even lay my eyes on another person suggestively, I give you permission to kick my ass," he jokes while saluting me.

I roll my eyes, allowing myself to smile just a little bit. "Well, we can talk about more of that later when we have somewhere private," I flirt, walking closer to him. "Oh, yeah? Talk?" he echos, placing his hands on my waist. "Yeah. Talk." His lips move close to mine. It's my move to make to close the gap between us. Instead, I leave him hanging. "I should probably go check on Gamora and Nebula," I declare. He lets out a sigh and lets me go. "Tease," he mutters under his breath, smirking at me.

"Love you, babe!" I give him a wink and go to the other room where Gamora and Nebula are. "So... you're Nebula," I tell her. She stares me down with her fully black eyes.
"I don't believe we've met formally after you tried to kill me on Knowhere. The name's Y/N L/N," I say as reach my hand out to shake her hand, only to take it back when I purposefully look down at her cuffed hands. "You'll wish I had killed you on Knowhere once I escape," she scowls. "Ouch," I murmur, feigning offense with a hand placed over my heart. I turn to Gamora. "Where'd she learn how to talk to her captors? 'Cause she's not doing a good job."

"I will be free of these shackles soon enough, and I will kill you. I swear," Nebula declares, staring down Gamora. "No," Gamora coldly whispers. "You're gonna live out the rest of your days in a prison on Xandar, wishing you could." Nebula grunts as she struggles against her shackles.

Before I can make another witty comment, an alarm begins blaring.