Chapter 8
Sobs echo downstairs and I sigh, rubbing my temples. "Pietro?"
"I will get him." He goes upstairs and everyone looks at me, confused.
"You'll see. I'm getting a drink. Want anything?" I go over to my bar and Stephen portals water bottles to the coffee table as I grab one. "Never mind."
Pietro comes over with a toddler in his arms and I look at him. "Hey, Petey," I say gently with a small smile and he cries pitifully. "Oh, what's wrong?" I gently take him from Pietro and feel his face gently. "Poor boy... You're burning up... What did you feed him today?"
"Hm..." He looks in the minifridge and pulls out a container. "This."
"Pietro..."
"What?"
"Look at the label..."
"I can't read the label, Love."
"There's a danger symbol on it... As well as a face with an X over it..."
"Is that what that is?"
"Hilarious."
"What does the label say?"
"It says 'Toxic fruit, don't feed to the child'," I grit out slowly and he nods slowly.
"This is phorrot, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."
"Why do you have it in here, then? None of us can eat it!"
"It's for interrogation purposes!"
"Who are you interrogating with phorrot? It's only lethal to Terrans!"
"Other Terrans! How is that even a real question at this point?"
Petey interrupts the argument with a screech and I gently cup his face, shushing him softly. "It's OK, Petey. Shh, shh, shh. Move."
"I am highly capable of helping you care for our son, Raz."
"Says the one who fed him Phorrot! Move." He glares but does move and I crouch, taking out medicine for treating the toxins phorrot gives Terrans. "This. Five drops. Juice. Think you can manage that?" He zooms upstairs with it and I shut the fridge, trying to calm Petey. "Hey, look, buddy." I make water droplets float around my fingers and he calms down a little bit at the display of magic, making me smile slightly. "There we go. See? There was no need for all those tears." I gently wipe them away and look at the others to see them still confused.
"How?" Bucky asks and I sigh softly.
"Celestial males can become pregnant when they are in a homosexual relationship."
"Wait, so-"
"Yes, all of you need to wear fucking protection again."
"Damn," Bucky mutters and I roll my eyes slightly, rolling my shoulders.
"You've got to be kidding me," I mutter and shake my body slightly to shift back to my female form.
"OK, so you're genderfluid. Got it."
"Yeah, sure, sounds 'bout right." I hear a bottle break upstairs and rub the bridge of my nose with a sharp but soft sigh, looking to see Petey was asleep. "Hey, Tin Man."
"Hilarious, Razzle Dazzle."
"Yeah, I know. You mind holding the kid for a while?"
"Wait, seriously?"
"No, not seriously. It's the biggest joke I've ever done in my life. What do you think?"
"Alright, yeah, sure thing." He comes over and gently takes Petey from me. "Just... Let him sleep?"
"Yes. Try not to wake him up. Thank you." I head upstairs and shut the curtain behind me for some semblance of privacy. "Pietro...?" I carefully step over the broken bottle of juice and go toward the bathroom.
"Why did you agree to marry me?" He asks, sitting on the closed toilet lid, and I look at him, worried as I see blood dripping down his arms.
"What did you do?" I quickly crouch in front of him and hover my left hand over his wrists, healing him to leave me with a headache. "And what do you mean? Because I love you."
"What if we made a mistake?" My chest clenches at that and he looks at me sadly. "We only fight anymore, Raz... I... I think it would be better if we... Parted ways and that they stayed parted..."
"What? But... Petey..."
"I will take him with me."
"Wh-Where are you going to go, then?"
"I am going to go with Steve and Bucky back to their ship. Petey will be well taken care of, I promise."
"Then... If that's what you want... If that's what will make you happy again... You should probably go pack... And let Stephen know... There... There's no chance we could work this out?"
"I have already had Stephen send Petey's clothes to Steve and Bucky's ship. And no, there isn't... You had to have known this was coming...?" I don't respond and he gently kisses my forehead before he leaves. I don't move for a few minutes and rub my face, leaning against the wall. I keep my face buried in my hands and feel tears leak out of my eyes.
A gentle hand rests on my head and pets my hair, reminding me of Gamora. "You have aged," Her voice says softly and I dig the heels of my palms into my eyes, frustrated at my brain for giving me this hallucination right now.
"Kid," Gabriel says and I lift my head to look at him, shocked to see Gamora next to me while Dad was next to him. "This is real. You deserve this much at least after everything. And if you don't believe me, the others downstairs can verify that I've brought them back."
I slap myself across the face absentmindedly and Bucky rushes to the door, worried before he relaxes slightly. "You just slapped yourself with metal, didn't you?"
"Ow..."
"Yeah, you did. You're an idiot."
"Thanks, Buck. 'Preciate it. Also, you see them too, right?"
"Gamora and Quill? Yeah, I see them. They're real. Catch up with them, kid. Maybe that'll help you figure yourself out some more, alright? Alright. We'll be downstairs if you need us." He gently pats my head and leaves, shutting the door to the bathroom.
"We're getting caught up in the bathroom now, that's fine," Dad scoffs and I look at them, feeling guilt wash over me.
"I broke my promise to you... About protecting Indri..."
"Yeah, we know... The Avengers filled us in on what Dad and the others did under Indri's plan. Ro, listen- Or... What do you go by?"
"Think I might go back to Rogue."
"Alright. Ro, we get it. So no need to apologize or feel insanely guilty, OK?" He sits in front of me and I hug him, burying my face in his neck. "I missed you too, baby... Child." He hugs me back and Gamora gently pets my hair again, sitting next to us.
"I missed you guys... So much..."
"We heard." Dad gently presses a kiss to my temple and I sniffle a bit as I pull away, rubbing my face. "So, fill us in."
"Yikes... OK, so," I start and they smile slightly as they listen to me explain everything that's happened since they died.
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We had wandered downstairs at some point and I think for a moment before nodding. "That's about it."
"Wow... I- Just... Wow," Dad says as I hand him a glass of Rhone and I nod.
"Yeah. Chaotic, huh?"
"That's an understatement. How'd you manage to restart the Ravagers?"
"I was raised around a majority of the big Captains and paid attention."
"Fair enough." I look at my liquors and grab two bottles then an empty one. "Those say do not mix. Please tell me you aren't going to mix them."
"OK. I'm not going to mix them."
"Thank you." I make eye contact with him as I mix them easily and he sighs, rubbing his face slightly. "Walked right into that, didn't I?"
"Yep." I pour about half of each of them into the new bottle and shake it to mix it, pouring it into a glass. "Want some?"
"No, because I enjoy my brain cells. And liver."
"Coward." I throw it back and grimace with a slight shake of my head at the burn.
"You need therapy."
"Fuck therapy! I have alcohol that doesn't work unless I use magic! That's good enough. Who wants a glass?"
"What did you just mix?"
"The outlawed whiskey and the vodka mixed with Fireball from my hometown."
"You are clinically insane at this point," Dad kinda yells and I look at him, scoffing.
"You are just a coward. Tullk?"
"Eh, yeah. Why not?"
"My man!" I pour him a glass and slide it to him. He tosses it back and coughs, looking at me like I'm insane.
"Wha' the feck is wrong witcha?"
"Do you want me to make a bulleted list, presentation, or...?" I gesture slightly with my hand as I pour myself another glass and look at the ring from Pietro for a moment, spinning it slightly. "Wanda."
"Yes?"
"Give this," I take the ring off and drop it in her waiting palm. "Back to your brother."
"You aren't going to at least try to mend things?" Vision asks and I sip my drink, looking at him.
"He said there was no way it would be able to be fixed. Why should I try to fix it on my own? To put myself through more heartache than is necessary? No... Fuck that! I'd rather go back to the fucking Kree than bother trying to mend a relationship by myself while the other person puts in zero effort to make it work! So give him back the damned ring, I don't want it."
"Did you ever love Pietro?"
"What did you just say?" I snarl, eyes glowing, and she looks at me evenly. "Get the fuck out! NOW!" She glares slightly but leaves with Vision following after a moment and I clench my glass slightly, finishing it quickly.
I throw it against the wall opposite me and everyone jumps, looking at me. "Unless you're an original Ravager Captain, First Mate, Guardian, Ned, MJ, Peter, or Morgan, get out."
"Why do the kids get-"
"OUT!" They scramble to obey, except for Tullk who was already gone, and Morgan sits at the bar across from me.
"Can-"
"No."
"Not like Mom or Dad would know." She shrugs and I look at her in my Leathers. "So... Can-"
"Still no."
"Damn." I throw Peter a water bottle followed by two more immediately after and he catches them with ease. "Tired of stupid people in our family?"
"Dude, no. I'm tired of thinking any time I find someone who cares about me and I care about them, I lose them."
"Jay," Peter says sadly and I nod.
"Loki," Morgan says just as sad and I rub my lower face.
"And now the one whose face you can't rearrange because it would probably just make him look better," MJ sighs and I snort, rolling my eyes.
"You ever gonna let that go?"
"Oh, no way in Hell. That? That was glorious. Never gonna let it go or let you live it down."
"What are you talking about?" Gamora asks and I lean on the bar slightly.
"They raced Pietro, Speedy, whatever you want to call him with their motorcycle from my Dad, Tony. And he stopped in front of them after they almost got hit by a semi-truck. Then had to drag their totaled bike back to the tower," Morgan explains a bit and they nod slightly.
"Then went on a rant about how annoying, good looking, annoying, angering, how handsome he was, and how much they wanted to throttle him."
"What?" They all say as they look at me and I shrug.
"I was kind of a mess at the time. It wasn't long after I was ditched on Terra." They nod a bit and I cross my arms.
"I'm curious about something," Segs says and I look at him, quirking my eyebrow. "If you had the choice to bring Jay or Loki back, who would you choose?"
"I knew Jay for a lot longer... We made a lot of memories together... With Loki, I got to see things from Jay's perspective... And whenever I would think about that, it's just... Like a wave of content would wash over me... Like Jay was saying he was happy for me in that relationship... When I think about it now, it's a wave of wanting to punch Pietro in the face... I will always love Jay... He was my first friend other than my sister, my first teacher that helped me, first kiss, first etcetera... But... I'd choose Loki..."
"Why?"
"Loki would always find a way to make me smile, would go out of the way to do it... Jay would too but it was just... Different with Loki... I don't think that him being First Mate helped much, but Jay was always as busy as me, if not busier... Loki could just wait for me to finish and we'd spend time together... Time with them was always amazing, in a way that was different with Jay... I think Jay was getting broken down by the fact we couldn't seem to manage to have a kid together... Loki didn't care... It was similar with them but so different at the same time..." He nods a bit and I look at my hands. "But, I can't bring either of them back... So... Single forever, Morgan?"
"Here's to being single forever!" She toasts with some Rhone and I shake my head slightly, clinking the glass lightly with my right hand. "That's not a toast, dude!"
"Close enough."
"What name are you going by now?" I hum softly in thought and she sips on her drink as she waits for my answer.
"Probably back to Rogue, much more gender-neutral."
"Yeah, it is. Better than Raz. Dad's probably going to still call you Razzle Dazzle, though."
"And I'm still going to call him old so it works." She laughs and I smile, gently ruffling her hair before I notice the time. "You work Double S tomorrow, right?" She thinks and curses. "Yeah, you do. Hang on." I dig around under the bar and produce a bottle, reading it. "Uh... Two when you wake up and a big glass of water while eating the vilest shit you can find onboard. It'll help."
"You want me to puke at 0830, don't you?"
"I said no for a reason. You made this mistake all on your own. It's time to pay the piper."
"For the pants I unbuckled?" I snort and she grins. "Any chance-"
"No, you are not getting moved from Double S."
"Please?"
"OK."
"Seriously?"
"Mhmm. FS."
"That's worse!"
"Those are your choices, Sis. Sorry."
"I'll talk to tentacle boy at 0845."
"Thought so. Go get some sleep, Squirt." I ruffle her hair and she rolls her eyes with a slight smile. "Go."
"I'm goin', I'm goin'." She leaves with the bottle and I look at the other three.
"You two think about what I was talkin' 'bout earlier?"
"It's a good idea. Who would-"
"You and Pepper would both be in charge because you're the only two with enough brain cells that can communicate, MJ."
"True, very true. Would we each get a First Mate then?"
"Pepper would- Hang on. Pixie Dust."
"Yes, Razzle Dazzle?" Her voice asks above us and the Ravagers and Guardians flinch slightly.
"Tell Pepper to come back in."
"With or without Mr. Stank?"
"Up to her."
"Right away."
"And we've been over this. It's-"
"Captain Razzle Dazzle, my apologies."
"Smartass AI," I scoff and Pepper comes in with Tony. "So, I've decided something."
"That the Avengers are going to become a crew?"
"Yes... How-?"
"I'm a mother, I know everything. And PIXEL told JARVIS who then told me."
"PIXEL!"
"In all fairness, you did not say that I could not tell JARVIS."
"Whatever... You against that?"
"I'm assuming I'll be in charge?"
"With MJ."
"Makes sense. Then Tony and Peter can be the right-hand men."
"Sure. Once you choose a ship to use, have at it and deal with them. But-"
"I will."
"Thanks, Pep." She smiles and the five of them leave me to just my family.
"So... First thing you do is replace us?" Dad teases and I roll my eyes.
"That was with Steve and Bucky. Tony and Pepper are like grandparents and Morgan is the little sister I never knew I wanted. Same with Cassie Lang. Those two are amazing to- Oh my fucking God!"
"What?"
"They share Quarters."
"So does most of the crew."
"They. Share. Quarters," I say slowly as I move around to the other side of the bar and they look confused before everyone but Drax and Mantis seems to get it.
"I am still confused," Mantis says slowly and it dawns on Drax.
"They think that the two of them are lovers."
"Yeah, put simply."
"Ask Morgan, then."
"I could do that but I'm not going to right now because they both need to get their sleep."
"You are the saddest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting."
"Gabriel." I don't turn to look at him behind the bar.
"And Cassie is fixed on thanking you properly for giving Raza a life source too. So... Turn around." I do and see him holding a snake.
I'm across the room so fast, my eyes never leaving the snake, and Dad snorts. "Shuddup!"
"It's not going to hurt you. Get back over here!"
"NO! I don't fuck with snakes!" He appears in front of me and backs me into a chair.
"Just touch the head of it!" I lightly tap the snake's head and snatch my hand back. "OK, this is just sad." He puts it in my lap and I tense, staring at it while it stares at me.
"It's... Staring... At me..."
"Pick it up, Rogue," Dad encourages and I do after a moment, holding it awkwardly.
"Um... Hello, Mr. Danger Noodle... Mr. Nope Rope..."
There's a flash of green light, making me close my eyes, and the snake's out of my hands but I'm instead holding a face in my hands. "Open your eyes." I slowly do and freeze when I see whose face I'm holding.
"Hello again, my Dear Captain."