Amongst the Stars // Peter Quill

How About No

Body filled with numbness, head aching, Charlie couldn't bring herself to announce she was awake. She managed to wiggle her torso enough to roll off of Peter. She had to instantly stop right beside him, something holding back her left foot. She lacked the strength to glance back and see what her foot was caught in.

In the distance, she could've sworn she heard Ooh Child playing, though it was debatable, since her ears were ringing.

"Charlie?" Peter muttered.

"Peter," Charlie whispered back. 

Gaining the security of knowing that they were both alive, they mutually agreed to shut up.

"Ah," A voice sneered, "Here you have it. Your so called, Guardians of the Galaxy." 

Charlie took a deep breath, hanging onto her anger. She couldn't believe that he was still alive. 

"You killed Groot!" Rocket cried, running towards Ronan. 

The Accuser sent Rocket flying with a flick of his hand.

Charlie flipped her body over as best as she could, not wanting to watch from an upside down angle anymore. 

Ronan went on to deliver a speech about how the team had 'rightfully' failed to defeat him.

At the end of the first righteous sentence, Charlie gave up on listening.

She dug her free foot into the ground, attempting to spring her body forward with enough force to detach her foot from where it was stuck.

In the first try, a crunch sounded. For a quick second, she didn't know what the crunch was. The dots connected rather quickly after a shot of agonizing pain shot up her left leg.

Biting down on her cheek to hold in the scream, she buried her head in her arms. Common sense told her she broke something in her leg. 

Peter, hearing the crunch, snapped his head over to her. The look of pain on her face broke his heart. 

"Hey," He sharply whispered, glancing between Ronan and Charlie, "Are you okay?"

Charlie, not being able to speak without feeling like it would be a scream, just shook her head for a no.

"Just hold on," Peter muttered, reaching out to her.

Charlie gripped onto his hand like a lifeline. In many ways, he was holding her together.

Charlie flinched as something hit her cheek. Spinning her head around, she found it was Rocket who threw a pebble at her. 

Her eyes fell onto the scattered pieces in front of the raccoon. He was subtly working on rebuilding the gun. From his expectant expression, he needed more time.

Charlie tuned in on Ronan's speech, gathering that he was nearing the end, where he would kill the entire planet. 

Ronan moved his scepter above his head, ready to swing it down to the ground.

Charlie slapped Peter's hand.

"Distraction, now," she urgently whispered.

There were many options when it came to distractions Peter could pull, and yet, Charlie was still surprised when Peter chose the goof distraction.

Peter pointed at Ronan, his body moving nervously to the beat,."Ooh child, things are gonna get easier. Listen to these words: Ooh child.. things will get brighter.. Ooh, child, things will get easier-- now bring it down hard!"

Peter dragged his hand down and began shuffling, then did a spin and performed one of Michael Jackson's most famous moves.

Charlie tore her surprised gaze off Peter and glanced at Ronan. He looked distracted enough.