Peter Quill/Delaney
“Get your filthy hands off of me, you stormtrooper wannabe!”
Peter’s head whipped around, frantically searching for the woman speaking English. “Shut up, Rocket! Do you guys hear that?”
“I hear those guns calling my name,” Rocket muttered as he stared longingly at the weapons booth they passed.
“No, you furball, I heard a woman speaking English!” Peter snapped, still searching for the woman in distress.
“Many speak your language,” Gamora pointed out as she inspected a piece of weaponry.
“Yeah, but how many know what a stormtrooper is?” Peter countered as he hurried through the streets, following the woman’s voice as best he could.
“I am…”
“Yes, I know. I am Groot,” Peter said. He stopped in his tracks as he heard the announcer’s voice from inside the slave auction: “...a rare female specimen from Terra!”
The woman being dragged up onto the auction block was beautiful, with milky white skin and wild dark curls framing her face, scantily clad, and seriously pissed off.
Panicking, Peter quickly checked their funds as the bidding began. It had already climbed ridiculously high before he got in his first bid. Just because she’s human, he thought bitterly. He felt strangely drawn to her, felt a need to protect her.
“Why would you buy a slave?” Drax asked as Peter bid for a second time.
Peter sighed as the beautiful woman was sold off to the highest bidder, a wealthy female Clowa, purple-skinned and pink hair. He shuddered as the alien inspected the human woman, its three-fingered hands lifting her chin, expensive rings glinting off the arena’s lights.
“She’s from Earth, where I’m from,” Peter said, his voice dropping. “She doesn’t belong here. Probably has a decent life back on Earth, and now she’s a slave.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“I have located her buyer,” Gamora said, days later. “Vertia Goraz. She is known for buying a wide range of species for her slave collection. Lucky for you, she’s willing to make a deal. She wants to meet tonight in Knowhere.” She crossed her arms and gave Peter a pointed look. “The last time we were in Knowhere, it didn’t go so well...”
“Knowhere, yeah, let’s go there. I won such a big pot from those idiot apes,” Rocket said.
“Goraz likes to gamble,” Gamora said, giving Rocket a thoughtful look. The raccoon bared his teeth.
“Rocket, would you…” Peter said hopefully.
‘If you let me buy one of those big guns, I might be persuaded.”
Peter considered it for a moment, but only a moment. “Deal.”
“Why do you not gamble for the woman yourself?” Drax rumbled. “If Rocket wins her, he will own her, not you.”
“I don’t want to own her, and Rocket’s going to free her right away. Aren’t you, Rocket?”
“I dunno, she looked like a spitfire…”
“I am Groot!”
“Okay, okay, yes, of course, I’ll free her right away!”
“He’s way better at cards and dice than me anyway,” Peter told Drax, who still looked bemused. “I’d just end up losing.”
“And since we’re already broke, let’s not do that,” Gamora concluded. “All right. Knowhere it is. But I’m not pulling your ass out of any fights,” she pointed at Rocket.
“Me?” the raccoon tried to look innocent. He failed miserably.
“I am Groot!”
~~~~~~~~~~
“What the actual fuck?” Peter muttered as he saw Rocket, Gamora, and Drax being hauled off by the Knowhere authorities in handcuffs.
“This is what happens when you take too long to do your hair, Peter!” Gamora called to him.
“Well, shit!” Peter muttered to himself. “Now what?” Going back to the ship would be pointless; Groot was there, but they’d left Groot on the ship for a reason. The sentient tree was as yet too small to be capable of self-defense, and on Knowhere that was asking for trouble.
He could go and try to bail the others out. But likely enough they’d be ordered off the colony immediately, and he’d lose his chance at meeting the slave-owner and maybe buying the human woman.
“Better hope Goraz is a bad gambler, then.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Should’ve listened to Matt, Delaney thought angrily. Stupid SHIELD, stupid Avengers, stupid aliens! She pulled at the ridiculous clothing she wore, angry tears welling in her eyes. Not only was it uncomfortable, but the clothing was too skimpy for her taste. She had to admit they weren’t as horrible as what she had worn to the auction.
Her mind wandered to the man who had bid on her a few times. He had been oddly frantic and upset when Goraz bought her. Her eyes had met his for only a moment; she could remember the curious flutter of her heart, vaguely recognizing not only him but also the raccoon creature with him.
That was ridiculous, of course. She had never been on another planet, though Thor had offered numerous times to take her to Asgard. She always declined, as she had a strong feeling Odin wouldn’t be best pleased by her presence.
She studied her three soulmarks carefully, one romantic and two platonic. The romantic one was on the back of her right calf, while her platonic marks were on the palm of each hand. On Earth, she had taken to keeping her hands covered in public; it wasn’t surprising how many people commented on them, given how odd they were. The possessive one was in crude handwriting on her left, and it was soft to touch, while the simplistic one on her right was rough to touch, the tall letters seeming to be written by a small child.
“What are those?”
Delaney turned her head, surprised to see a small girl peering curiously at her hands. If she had been a human, Delaney would’ve guessed her to be five or six years old. She pushed away the anger bubbling up inside her at the thought of the girl growing up in slavery; instead, she smiled indulgently.
“These are platonic soulmarks,” she explained. At the girl’s puzzled expression, she went on. “They mean that someday I’ll meet two people that will be the best friends I will ever have.”
The little girl’s eyes brightened with understanding. “That one’s funny,” she giggled, pointing to the rough soulmark. “Do you have any others?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
“A romantic one, yes. Whoever he is, he rescues me when we meet,” she said. It was so easy to talk openly with children; they would not judge you by your soulmarks.
The little girl’s eyes went wide before she started bouncing up and down with excitement. “There’s a man here gambling for you! It must be him!” she all but squealed.
Delaney’s smile slid from her face. She didn’t dare crush the girl’s hopes, but Delaney was certain whoever wanted her didn’t want her for good reasons. What limited information she had gathered in the time she had been here pointed to the fact that humans were incredibly rare and were never released from slavery. It took all of Delaney’s willpower to keep herself from crying; she couldn’t bear to imagine what a new owner would do to her.
“I wish I had one...I don’t have anybody. When Mother died, Mistress took me,” the little girl said sadly.
“Get up, Terran.”
The slave girl scrambled away from Delaney at the sound of the deep voice in the doorway. Delaney stood, determined to ignore the way the massive yellow alien eyed her appreciatively. “Where am I being taken now?”
“Quiet, scum!” he growled, prodding her out of the small room and into the room where Goraz and the man gambling for her were waiting.
Goraz glared at the man before looking to Delaney. “It seems this Terran has won your freedom. Remove her restraints,” she said, her tone almost bored.
Delaney backed away, pinning Goraz with her best death stare. “I am not leaving without the little slave girl.”
Goraz’s expression went cold. “You will.”
The hulking alien released her restraints, pushing her roughly towards her new master. The man caught her by the arm easily, hauling her off.
“Let go of me, you sex-crazed bastard!” Delaney pulled her arm out of his grip and all but growled at him as he grinned.
“Is that the kind of thanks I get for rescuing you?”
Delaney’s palm connected with his cheek, leaving an angry red mark. Her eyes widened as his words sunk in. I just slapped my soulmate! “So...you’re human?” she asked weakly.
“Sort of!” he said cheerfully. “Come on, let’s get you out of here and I’ll explain everything.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Delaney definitely hadn’t expected to be greeted by a huge alien with strange markings, a green woman, a talking raccoon, and a sentient tree.
“Delaney, this is Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot.”
She froze. “Groot?” she asked, kneeling down to the small tree’s level.
Its little face lit up into an expression that resembled a smile and offered her a tiny flower growing from it’s branches. “We are Groot!”
Delaney couldn’t help her smile as she offered the palm with the rough writing. “Aren’t you cute?”
The raccoon bared his teeth in a smile. “We have to keep you now!”
Delaney raised an eyebrow, turning towards the raccoon. “Don’t sound so disappointed.”
She drew back when he growled out a string of curses, most of which were foreign to her, but she got his point; she wasn’t wanted. She squeezed her hand closed which had Rocket’s writing on it. Don’t you dare cry, she told herself. You don’t want to be here. You want to go home. You have to go home. But with a glance at Peter, she knew she didn’t want to leave; it would be too painful.
“We are Groot!” One of the little tree’s branches reached out and smacked the back of Rocket’s head.
“Oh, give it a rest! She’s not staying. We’re taking her back to where she belongs,” Rocket said.
“She’s staying as long as she wants to,” Peter said, helping Delaney up.
“Why do you care? She’s just a humie!” Rocket yelled.
“Because she’s my soulmate, you idiot!” Peter yelled right back.
Rocket’s face fell at his words; he knew Peter wouldn’t be able to let her go.
“He’s not an idiot,” Delaney said, not sure what came over her to defend Rocket.
“You are wrong, rodent. Soulmate bonds are holy union. No one can reject their soulmate. Soulmate dies,” Drax said.
Delaney rounded on him. “Rocket is not a rodent!” she said, anger and frustration seeping into her voice. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I’m not going to stand by and let ANYONE disrespect any of my soulmates.”
“Easy,” Peter said, reaching for Delaney’s left hand. The simple touch allowed Delaney to calm down, to push her anger away.
“Drax is right. Soulmates are special, something to be celebrated. It’s wrong to reject her, Rocket. I have had a mark since the day that I was born. While I have yet to meet him, I somehow doubt he could accept me due to my past crimes. Sometimes we must choose who we surround ourselves with because of who we know will accept us,” Gamora said.
Delaney smiled at her kind words. “It isn’t necessary, Gamora. It’s not common, but there are soulmates -- platonic and romantic -- who have been rejected on Earth.” She glanced down as Groot tugged on her hand, his expression sad. He hesitantly touched a branch to the mark on her right hand. There was a dull sensation she could feel, the bond trying to form. “I’m sorry, Groot. I don’t think it can work without Rocket.” Groot made a sound somewhere between sad and angry, continuing to press the branch onto Delaney’s palm.
Rocket rolled his eyes. “Stop it, you look ridiculous,” he said to Groot. “Don’t you have a family or something?” he aimed at Delaney.
“Or something,” Delaney said. “They’ll be worried about me…” she muttered.
“See? She has to go back! She’s got people, Quill. She’s got a life!” Rocket said.
Delaney smiled; without saying it, Rocket had revealed that he didn’t hate her. “Just because I have people doesn’t mean there’s room in my heart for more.”
“We are Groot! We are Groot! We are Groot!” Groot smacked Rocket again.
Delaney shook her head. “Groot, if he doesn’t want to, he shouldn’t. If I bond with you two, it would be difficult for me to go back to Earth.”
Groot turned and looked up at her. “I am Groot?”
“He’s asking if you’d really want to go back…” Rocket translated.
She couldn’t stand to harm any of her mates that way; it hurt her to even think about going home, but she supposed she had to eventually. Peter had explained to her that his father was alien, so in a way, he could stay out here in space for as long as he wanted. But she was only human.
“I’m not sure. I would miss my friends…” she said, chewing on her bottom lip. “Regardless, I am not going back to Earth without that slave girl.”
“Enough about the slave girl! She’s not our problem,” he said.
Delaney raised her eyebrows. “You’re right. She’s my problem. Goraz will raise her to do what she wanted to do with me. I could never forgive myself if I left her to that hell.”
Peter clenched his jaw, choosing not to answer.
“You didn’t spend five days with her, Peter. That little girl is scared. She clung to the idea of my soulmate coming to rescue me, and you did. She has no one. No soulmark, no family. If you won’t help me, I want you to return me to Goraz. At least then I can protect her.”
“Why do you care so much about her?”
“Because she reminds me of myself,” Delaney said quietly. “I was an orphan from the time I was eight years old. No family ever took me in, not with my strange marks. My only friend was a boy who had suffered an accident that permanently blinded him while giving him enhanced senses.
“I fumbled through life until SHIELD picked me up, gave me a place to belong. After the Chitauri invaded, I was transferred to Stark Tower, where I lived until I was abducted.” She smiled. “Making sure five superheroes take care of themselves is harder than it sounds.”
“That little girl has potential. It doesn’t matter that she’s got green skin like Gamora, or that her entire family’s gone. I connected with her, and I need to make sure she gets a chance.”
Gamora stared at Delaney. “She looks like me?” she asked, advancing on her.
“...Yes? Is there something I need to know?”
Gamora roughly pushed Peter out of the way. “We’re going back and getting that girl.”
“We are Groot!”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Tony...I know you don’t want to think it, but we have to consider human trafficking.”
Tony glared at Bruce. “How are you so calm? Delaney has been gone for FIVE DAYS. She hasn’t called, she hasn’t e-mailed, she hasn’t alerted SHIELD.”
“You’re just proving my point.”
“Maybe a family emergency?” Steve suggested.
“Hate to say it, Steve, but not likely. Unless you count us and her blind friend. Look. She left the Tower for a date on Friday. It’s Wednesday now. No way she’s still with that guy. Bruce...might be right. New York isn’t exactly safe for single girls like our Dels. Wouldn’t take much for a pimp to grab her up…” Clint leaned against the wall, sharpening an arrow.
Steve stared in shock. “No,” he whispered. “You’re not suggesting...”
“What the hell?” Tony muttered. INCOMING VIDEO CALL flashed on the screen.
“Hi, Tony.” Delaney waved at them through the screen.
“Where the hell are you, Evans? You’ve been gone for FIVE DAYS!”
“Please, talk quieter. It’s been a rough few days. Kidnapped by aliens, sold as a slave, bought from my mistress by my soulmate, meeting my platonic soulmates...You know. The usual.”
It took a few moments because anyone spoke. “Dels, where are you?” Steve’s quieter voice asked.
“The quick answer would be space!” A man popped out from behind her said cheerfully. “I’m the soulmate, by the way.”
“Peter!” Delaney sighed. “I guess now would be the best time for introductions…” She stepped back.
“This is my soulmate, Peter, my friends Gamora, Drax, Nym, and my platonic soulmates Rocket and Groot.” She gestured to the human-looking man, a green woman, a huge man with interesting patterns on his skin, a young girl who looked like Gamora, a bipedal talking raccoon, and a sentient tree.
“Um. Great. So are you guys going to return our girl?” Tony asked.
“How about a visit?”
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a day later that the Milano was docked at Avengers’ Tower. Rocket had finally given it to Groot’s pleading after rescuing Nym and consented to bond with him and Delaney.
Delaney was barely off the ship when she was rushed by the Avengers. Surprisingly, Tony hugged her first. “Don’t scare us like that, Dels. We--I thought we lost you.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Tony Stark?” Her words were teasing, but she was tearing up.
She was then handed off to Bruce, who hugged her tightly as well. “I’m glad you’re safe,” he whispered.
“Thank Peter,” she whispered back.
Next came Steve, who promptly wrapped her in a bear hug, nearly crushing her. “Easy there, Cap,” she laughed as he set her down.
“God, Dels...are you okay?” he asked. “I thought you were gone.”
“I’m fine, Steve. Trust me.”
Clint’s hug was much gentler, careful. “Figures. You go find some green-skinned space babes and I don’t even get to come along.”
“I see you’re as sarcastic as before.”
Natasha was last. “Space treats you well,” she said with grin as she hugged Delaney tight.
Delaney looked back at her new family, her eyes softening. “Come on,” she beckoned.
Rocket bared his teeth in a grin and raced over, Groot lumbering after him. Nym ran to Delaney with a girlish squeal, quickly followed by Gamora, Drax, and Peter.
“So how is this going to pan out?” Peter’s voice was hesitant.
“What do you mean?” Delaney frowned, looked up at him.
“The Avengers are your family. I can’t take you away from them, it wouldn’t be right. And I can’t stay here. Earth isn’t my home anymore.”
“One step at a time, Star-Lord. We’ll figure it out,” she promised.
“Hey, Quill? Small problem,” Rocket called out.
“What now, furball?”
“Captain Pretty Boy and Gamora are soulmates!”