It was an Accident
The crew was taking Cosmo out and about, she had yet to get to explore outside of Knowhere, and she was having a blast!!!
Today, they were on the Moon 'Asballa', at Station 7-D31, a forested moon, with massive oceans, warmed by underground magma. It made it temperate and comfortable, with a cozily breathable atmosphere.
The station was a D-Class, which Peter explained meant it wasn't manned by any present Nova Corps personnel, but they were close enough to be called in an emergency.
"Why advertise y'ain't there?" Rocket asked as they landed the Olivia, one of the M-Ships from the Eclector, in the Landing Park.
"Well, it's not public knowledge, I learned because I read up on Nova stuff back... After um, Ronan." Quill explains awkwardly. "I don't think they wanted me to, but they didn't notice."
The Landing Park, rather than being a standard lot, were large circular patches of dirt, under clearings in the tangled, jungle-esque trees. Stones lined the dirt circles.
There were pathways through the trees, with wooden arches overhead, holding back the vines and plant life.
"Wouldn't be hard t' figure out." Rocket points out, "Jus' keep an eye out."
"Well, that's fair, yeah." Quill admits.
Cosmo happily trots out of the Olivia. 'Da, vould not be hard, Cosmo agrees.'
Groot and Gamora follow out, and that's the whole crew. Mantis, Drax, and Kraglin stayed behind on the Eclector.
Rocket glances over his shoulder at Groot, buried in his game of course.
He was pretty much a teen, Quill's said.
"Hey, Groot, look! Ain't this place gorgeous?" Rocket tries. Remembering how the old Groot always loved being anywhere with tons of plants.
"I am Groot. Whatever." Groot shrugs, and just looks around barely, before he looks back at his screen.
Rocket droops, and sighs silently. He looks at Quill and Cosmo, happily trodding on ahead.
He glanced at Gamora, and gives a helpless shrug as she looks at him.
She nods, understanding how he feels, while Groot slowly follows Quill and Cosmo.
The crew make their way through the dense shrubbery, guarded from any real struggle by the comfortable dirt paths, and the wooden arches.
Soon, more trees cleared, and metal buildings, with gardens on upper balconies, tiered in strange ways as if they were modular, carefully put together, the buildings' rounded edges softened their look slightly, but the cool blue metal reeked of colonialism, leaving a nasty taste on Rocket's tongue, but the others didn't mind much.
Rocket looked at the dirt, it looked less healthy than the dirt in the denser parts of the jungle walkways. He wondered if they could have built in some other way, if what they did damaged the environment, if anyone even cared.
Groot would care, or, the old Groot would.
Rocket thinks about some times where Groot would get upset about the planets they'd visit, the ways people damaged the plant life without even realizing. He thinks of how it was one of the few things that made the Colossus sad.
"Rocket, yo, come on." Quill says with a wave.
Rocket had just gotten distracted, staring at dirt. He perks up, looking at Gamora and Cosmo, who were looking at him with mild concern, Quill, who seemed patient, but not too worried, and Groot, who wasn't looking at all.
Rocket starts walking towards them.
He didn't wanna be getting in the way of what was meant to be Cosmo's fun day out.
"Sorry, just rememberin' somethin'." He says with a shrug.
"Somethin' good?" Quill asks, a sincerity on the edge of his tone, to invite Rocket to open up, if he needs it.
Rocket thinks. Groot's death was still up there with some of the most painful things he's gone through. Right there with his old gang, his first prison, batch 89, Yondu, the Casino Cosmica, and that one adventure with that Angela lady.
It broke him pretty bad. He had done some bad things because of it.
All of it broke him.
But now... Now because of all those things, things were the best they had ever been. No one was dying, hopefully. No one was suffering anything crazy in secret. They talked about their issues.
He was sincerely happy, for once.
He missed the old Groot, but even if they butted heads, this new Groot was his son. He wouldn't give that up for the world.
And the old Groot gave his life willingly.
So Rocket could have this.
Rocket thinks of a memory, one that never, ever leaves his thoughts for long.
"We are Groot."
He would never tell anyone what it meant.
He didn't need to. They got the jist.
He sighs, and smiles, wiping an eye. "Yeah. Somethin' good."
Quill softens slightly, giving a smile like a melted Popsicle, awkward but loving, tender but goofy. It was a classic, an all-timer.
Rocket snorts, and smiles at Quill, "I think I'm gonna grab a drink."
Quill goes from smiling, to frowning, putting his hands on his hips.
Gamora crosses her arms.
Rocket sighs. "Fiiine. I'll find a shake place 'r somethin'."
The two relax, and smile at him.
'Cosmo can smell bacon!!!' She excitedly ran in circles, tail wagging. 'please oh please may we go?'
"Of course, Cosmo." Quill says warmly, "Rocket, don't go too far off, okay?"
"Psh, fine fine." Rocket waves a hand at the Terran, as he starts to walk off.
Groot starts to follow Rocket, and he perks up, pleasantly surprised. His tail sways slightly, fur puffing up happily, and he turns to walk, leading the kid behind him. Groot chose to come with!
After a couple minutes, Rocket finally finds a little Creambowl place. Quill said Creambowls were like Yogurt with Stuff on top. Rocket didn't know what Yogurt was but it was fun to say.
"You want anythin', buddy?" He turns to Groot as he activates his Auto-Aero-Pack, ascending to hover at a conversation height.
"I am Groot. Water or something." He waves his hand dismissively.
"Well... Alright." Rocket turns to talk to the blue woman running the front.
"One bowl with Granola, an' whatever berries you got. Oh, an' a bottle o' water. The good stuff, or else." He half-jokes, giving a teeth grin that hopefully showed he wasn't too serious.
She nods, "20 Units, please."
He perches on the edge of the counter, and swipes his Unit Key. She hands him a water bottle, which he hands to Groot, and then he gets his bowl when she hands it over, and simply flies over to a bench.
Groot sits next to him, pouring water on his head, and drinking some. He's careful to avoid getting anything even close to his game.
"How is it?" Rocket asks, opting to put aside his annoyance.
"I am Groot... It's water..." He says, raising a brow slightly.
"I meant yer game." Rocket nods towards it. "It was Mario right? That's what you were on?"
Groot seems to perk up slightly, unconsciously growing a few sprouts of delight. Rocket had to hide his own joy seeing Groot so happy, didn't want him feeling embarrassed. "I am Groot?? You really wanna know about it??"
"'Course I do, buddy!" Rocket acts like he's shocked Groot would think he wouldn't, but it was a fair thing to think. Rocket had snapped at him more than once or twice about being on the game too much.
"I am Groot! Okay! I am Groot!! I'm trying to beat it as fast as I can!!"
"Y' told Quill, right? 'Speedrunnin''?" Rocket tilts his head.
"I am Groot! Yes!" The way Groot smiled, the way he perked up and seemed to practically glow with excitement.
Rocket recognized the kind of joy.
The joy of being known. Understood.
He smiles warmly, and listens as Groot rambles, and goes on, and on, and on.
. . .
Quill looked at Cosmo eating the bacon-esque thing, it smelled and tasted, basically exactly like Bacon, but was a dark, muddy brown color.
He didn't mind it personally, and Cosmo didn't, either. Gamora had walked off to the Olivia to use it as a relay point, and check if the others in the Eclector wanted them to bring anything back.
He watched Cosmo perk up, and looked over his shoulder, a blue woman with a couple big, buff guys behind her was walking over.
"Peter Quill!" She shouted with a growling tone. "You have some balls coming back here!"
Oh. So that's why he recognized the station's name.
. . .
Quill radio'd for help, and Rocket was getting his way through the streets, following the scent of the Vern meat Quill and Cosmo called 'bacon', and found Quill in the middle of a firefight.
He hovers overhead, looking down at the two buff guys shooting stun-cannons at the table Quill and Cosmo were hiding behind.
An angry blue woman was glaring in their direction, and another buff guy was approaching from the other direction, sneaking towards a position to shoot at Quill from an angle he wasn't expecting.
Luckily, they didn't know Quill had a family to back him up.
He quickly gets low, flying close to the ground as he zips past the table, to let Quill know he is there, that he is supporting him in the fight, and that he was being attacked from behind.
Rocket rushed along the ground, Aero-Pack no longer on Auto, and as the third buff guy rounds the corner, Rocket rockets up, and hits the guy with a jet-blosted Uppercut.
The man gets knocked into the air, and falls to the ground unconscious.
He quickly drops to the ground, perfectly avoiding a shot aimed at him from the other two, grinning to himself.
Quill uses the distraction Rocket purposefully gave, to get up and shoot one of the guys, stunning him with electricity, and sending him dropping to the ground.
Cosmo was too scared to act, but that's okay.
Quill ducks back down to avoid shots, as the woman now grabs one of the cannons in a rage.
Rocket jets forward fast, sliding to Cosmo's side behind the cover.
"Cosmo, stick low and run to the jungle in a sec, it's safer there." Rocket commands, trying to be gentle.
Cosmo whimpers, but gives an affirmation nod, before getting ready. 'Da... Affirmative.' she sounds anxious.
Rocket looks to Quill, gesturing.
Left Top Split
Distract
Cover Right
Thumbs up?
Quill nods.
Rocket nods.
They give a thumbs up to each other in sync.
"Mark!" Rocket shouts.
He jets straight up, into the air, shooting in the direction of the woman and remaining guard with his sidearm stun-pistol.
Quill darts out of the left side, and starts to shoot towards them as well, before reaching the nearby cover of the wall for the meat kiosk.
Cosmo darts away, and to safety.
Rocket jets forward, and lands behind the two, one of the two following him with their shots.
He has to reload the battery, it doesn't have much charge, he didn't think about that, too focused on Cosmo and Quill.
He jets to the side, avoiding a shot, then right, then darts behind a different kiosk wall, getting his own cover.
The two were now pincered between Quill and Rocket. They lost their advantage.
Rocket reloads his pistol, and grins sadistically. "Give up now, morons!"
"Peter Quill broke my sister's heart! For that he will suffer!" The woman growls, and he can hear her gun charging up.
"Aw damnit Quill!!" Rocket says in mock-annoyance. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
"I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment!!" Quill shouts back.
Rocket jets out of the cover, sliding on his feet as he aims right for where he calculated the woman was, from her voice and footsteps, the sound of her charge.
"I'll smack him for yer sis, don't worry~" Rocket says as he shoots the woman, and she falls to the ground, electrocuted.
The woman had been focused on Quill's side, Rocket knew this would be the win condition.
Quill realized too, jumping out of his cover, and shooting the buff guy as he started to turn, stunned, at Rocket.
"Sorry big man, y'ain't faster than Star-Lord." Rocket says smugly, as the man falls to the ground.
Quill sighs. "Thanks, man..."
"S'all good." Rocket says, then hears a charge, and quickly jets forward, kicking Quill hard back into cover.
Rocket forgot to stun the third guy, he just punched him.
He jets into the sky, just barely dodging the stun-cannon's shot.
He glares over as he flies up, and then his eyes widen as he sees Groot running up behind the guy.
Groot had approached from behind, smart.
Groot quickly grapples the guy, vines wrapping around his arms to lock their movement as much as he can. He's struggling.
If Rocket shoots, he could hit Groot.
So he starts to fly towards them, as Groot keeps wrestling with the man.
Groot wrestles the man as the cannon keeps firing, and the electrical cannon shots trail up, and Rocket's failure to focus on the cannon, his failure to focus on anything but Groot,
Means he fails to dodge the shots.
Rocket feels the forceful electrical charges batter him, until he doesn't. Everything goes black.
. . .
Groot was in the middle of wrestling the man, the man endangering his family, his friend Cosmo, this random food street court thing.
He was focused on getting the gun away from him, he directed the fire up, so it wouldn't hit his Dad, or uncle Quill.
So focused on that, he didn't notice the sound of Dad jumping into action.
But he heard him fall.
The sudden thud, the jet powering down, and the sound of his body sliding across the dirt.
Groot had glanced over, as had the man he was grappling.
His dad was blacked out on the ground, something scraped open and there was a little bit of blood. He wasn't moving.
Groot felt something he hadn't felt in a long time, not since he was tiny.
Pure, unbridled, unstoppable rage.
"I AM GROOT!!! DAD!!!" He roars, and quickly stops trying not to hurt the man, lifting him, and throwing him into a wall.
He runs over, dropping to his knees, and hesitantly reaching towards him.
Dad's whiskers by his nose were moving. Was that wind?
Dad's tail was twitching, that PROBABLY wasn't wind.
Groot reached towards his dad, and felt his breath on his vines. Alive. Alive. Alive.
Groot felt so relieved.
He gently flipped his dad over, whimpering as he sees a cut on his arm had opened up.
He looks around, seeing Uncle Quill and Cosmo running over. Uncle Quill shoots the man Groot had been wrestling. Cosmo whimpers and sniffs at Dad.
"I am Groot... He isn't dead..." Groot says, voice filled with anxiety.
"Oh thank God..." Relief washes over Uncle Quill's face. He crouches next to Groot.
Aunt Gamora was finally arriving, and Uncle Quill quickly turns to her. "Olivia has a medbay, right?"
"Yes, why-Rocket!?" She's suddenly enraged, and glares at their attackers, as if she wanted to kill them. But, Groot knew better.
Groot had pushed the gun to shoot up, he didn't know Dad went up, too.
They were using stun guns. They weren't trying to kill anyone.
"I am Groot. I did this." Groot whimpers out.
"I am Groot! It was an accident, I promise!"
Aunt Gamora relaxes, shaking her head as she turns to go back to the Olivia. "It's okay, Groot. I'll get the medbay ready."
Uncle Quill was looking at Groot with pity filling his eyes. "It was just an accident, bud. It'll be okay. Rocket's made of tough stuff."
Groot's nerves are high, he just looks at Dad, and nods.
"I am Groot... I'm sorry Dad..."
'We must get officer Rocket to Medical Bay Ay Ass Ay Pee.' Cosmo orders.
Uncle Quill flashes an amused smile for a second, before nodding, and gingerly taking Rocket into his arms, cradling Groot's dad.
The three rush to get Dad back to the Olivia.
The day was ruined, but no one really cared.
All that mattered was that Rocket be okay.
After Rocket still hadn't woken up after an hour, Peter decided they would return to the Eclector.
Something seemed wrong, the stun-gun blasts did something to him, his vitals were harder to read, but they were slowly realigning to normality.
He was in a comfortable green bed, they opted to set up a temporary medbay in a bedroom, so he didn't wake up thinking he was being operated on.
It was currently Drax's turn to watch over him.
Peter Quill, Gamora, Groot, and Cosmo had all explained to Drax, Mantis, and Kraglin how Rocket got hurt. Drax wishes he had gone with, so he could enact revenge, but Groot blamed himself.
Apparently, Groot was unaware of Rocket's positioning in combat, and redirected the gun's fire into him.
Thank everything it was set to stun.
Drax sat by the bed, looking at the slight burn marks in Rocket's light grey jumpsuit. Which they had unfortunately removed to ensure he wasn't suffering further injuries.
He had very minor electrical burns, along with some scraping and bruising.
Drax sighs, looking at Rocket.
Why was he taking so long to wake up...? It had been four hours now...
And as if he called forth the consciousness of the little warrior, Rocket's eye starts to twitch.
Drax quickly stands, and walks to the hall.
"He is waking up!" He calls through the halls. The others were all lurking nearby, he knew that much. They couldn't go too far, they wouldn't allow themselves to.
He hears many footsteps approaching, and turns to look at their little brother.
Rocket was starting to sit up, rubbing his eyes.
Peter arrived first, sliding in behind Drax, Gamora was next. Mantis and Kraglin lurked in the hall, Cosmo was approaching slower, and Groot's steps were hesitant and slow.
Something was wrong.
Rocket seemed confused and panicked, looking at everyone looking at him.
Drax starts to step forward, and Rocket gets up suddenly. He notices the status-checker wrapped around one of his arms, and quickly yanks it off, jumping off the bed.
"Rocket??" Peter asks nervously.
Rocket scrambles towards the living room part of the bedroom, staring in confusion.
He opens his mouth to speak.
"Wh-Where am I?? Who a you?? Who am I?? What is this?? Why do I know so many things??"
Groot drops his game to the floor behind Mantis, Kraglin, and Cosmo.
He hadn't really been focusing on it.
But hearing that made him stop even pretending he was trying to cheer himself up.
It was an accident.