Chapter 5
Rocket claps and we all look at him. "Alright. Now that those are done... Let's get this party started! You wanna leave, feel free. You wanna stay, feel free," Aleta says and a lot of the other Clans leave.
"Is this still going to last until tomorrow with only eight of the Clans being present?"
"Absolutely."
"How?"
"Loki," I look at him and take my glasses off. "It will last that long... These are going back on because I can barely see you." He shakes his head slightly as I put them back on and I smile. "It'll last that long because that's how we do it. We party and we don't give a shit."
"Mom! MOM! MOM! MOM!" Yondy and Kraggles yell as they run over and I look at them. "MOM!" They fall over each other and start shoving each other before they start to roll around fighting. "GET OFF!"
"YOU GET OFF!"
"IDIOT!"
"STUPID!" I look at them then look at Yondu and Kraglin and motion toward the kids.
"These two don't match your personalities? Not even a little bit?" They scoff and roll their eyes while I look at the kids when one of them yelps.
"HEY! NO BITING!"
"WELL, I JUST DID! WHA'CHU GONNA DO 'BOUT IT?" The other one bites them back and they continue to roll around on the floor.
"YO!" I bellow and they freeze, looking at me.
"What?"
"What the fuck did you want?" They look at me then at each other and were confused.
"What did we want again?" They talk to each other quietly and look at me when they remember. "OH! Right! Can you play that one song?" They stand and one of them shoves the other only to get shoved back before they're slap fighting.
"Dudes! Seriously?" They look at me, continuing to slap fight, and I step forward, shoving them apart by their heads. "Stay this far apart if you can't get along with each other."
"We are getting along, though."
"You were about to punch him in the face, Yondy."
"That's Yondy..." He points at the other one and I narrow my eyes at him, looking at his duster.
"You're wearing Yondy's duster, though." He looks confused and I point to the Y that's on the arm.
"You need a cheat sheet to know who is who for your kids?" He asks in shock and I look at him.
"You're identical twins! What the fuck is different between the two of you?"
"I'm better looking," They say at the same time and the others laugh while I sigh softly.
"What song do you want to be played?"
"Y'know... That one song... That we like..."
"OK... How does it go?"
"It has words and music and instruments..."
"Are you... Who sings it?"
"A... A person...?"
"OK. I'm done. Goodbye." I walk away and they look at me.
"Wait! Mom! It was a joke! We're sorry!" I stop and look at them.
"If you keep this shit up, I won't give a damn how old you are, I will kick your fucking asses. Got it?" They nod quickly and I stare at them for a moment before nodding slightly. "Good. Now. What song?"
"That one song we have you play a lot..."
"Kid... All of you have me play so many songs a lot... How does it go?"
"Um... It... It... Goes... Words...?"
"So tempting to dropkick you where you stand... What words?"
"Um... Teacher and astronaut and champion...?"
"Hall of Fame?"
"Yeah! That one!" They smile and I take a deep breath, sending the song to Rocket.
"Go annoy the rat."
"OK!" They go to do that and I rub my temples slightly, getting a message. I look at it and nod slightly, going over to talk to Stakar.
"Pops, I got a favor."
"What is it?"
"I'm going to leave the rest of Guardians here with the kids and take the Avengers to Xandar. You mind helping them make sure the kids don't die?" He looks at me then at the kids and raises an eyebrow. "It's important. Please? And we can finish the celebration some other time or on my ship as a small gathering of us, those idiots, Krugarr, Mainframe, and anyone else."
"Sure thing, Rogue. How are they getting back to your ship?"
"I'm having Nebula get the Milano out of the hangar now cuz I'm taking it and it's the biggest M-ship I have after mine. I'd normally take mine, but it's being worked on." He nods and I look at Loki. "You coming, Loki?" He nods and I head toward the Avengers, looking at Stakar over my shoulder for a moment. "Thanks, Pops. We got somewhere to be. Let's go."
"Where would that be?" Vision asks and I look at him.
"Xandar. Let's go." I head toward the Milano and they follow. I board it and toss Loki a change of clothes, noticing Frigga and Odin had boarded too. "Get changed in there and I'll get changed below deck." I point toward the bathroom and he nods, going to do that. "Rhodey, get the ship started and Tony set a course for Xandar." They do that and I slide down a ladder to get below deck, working on getting changed quickly. I pull on the pants of my Leathers and pull my boots back on over them, putting my weapons back where they belong.
I notice a mirror as I'm changing my shirts and see the scars and tattoos, staring blankly as the memories flash behind my eyes. "Rogue?" I'm snapped out of it and look at the mirror slightly to see Frigga standing at the bottom of the ladder. "Are you alright?" I pull my tank top on then the long sleeve shirt and nod slightly, situating a neckerchief around my neck.
"I'm fine. Is Loki changed?"
"Yes, he is." I nod and pull my duster on, motioning for her to lead the way back up the ladder. She climbs it and I follow once she's up, sparing a glance at the mirror before I do.
"Are you going to keep your piercings in?" Loki asks and I start to answer when I get an incoming video transmission. "Who is that?"
"Rhodey. Answer it." He does and Nova Prime pops up as I work on taking out my piercings.
"Rogue."
"Irani. We're on our way now. How are they doing?"
"They are shaken and frightened... They refuse to come out of the corner of the room they are residing in... It is not a cell, it is much like the room where we found evidence that you were not behind the kidnapping. And they have attacked anyone who goes in."
"That long with the Skrull will do that to anybody. They OK other than that?"
"There are mental, emotional, and physical scars. We had our medics treat them while they were unconscious from a sedative we gave them. They were a danger to themselves and others, that is why we sedated them," She explains and I nod slightly.
"We'll be there within five minutes. Would you mind having a few Corpsmen waiting to escort us to where they're residing?"
"Of course. They will be waiting in three dash three." I nod as thanks and she nods back before ending the transmission. I go to the bathroom to finish taking my piercings out and put them in a small container on the counter before closing it.
"Who are we picking up?" Steve asks and I ignore him for the time being as I see us outside Xandar's atmosphere.
"Land us in Bay three of Dock three." Rhodey nods and does that. "Let's go and you'll see who we're picking up." I disembark with them following and four Nova Corpsmen were waiting, including the one who didn't quite like me.
"Captain Laufeyson," He grits out and I look at him.
"Corpsman Nahisa. Please, lead the way." He leads the way with the other three and we follow while I glance around slightly, hands in my pockets. "Have they eaten since you found them?"
"Yes, they have. They also have been given clean clothes. I am unaware as to whether or not they have taken them, let alone put them on." They stop in front of Nova Prime and a door. "Captain Laufeyson, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Corpsmen. You are free to go." They nod, leaving, and she looks at me. "Rogue. Nice to see you."
"Nice to see you, too, Irani. Is he in there?" She nods and moves to the side as I give Loki my weapons. "Wanda, Clint." They come forward and I look at them for a moment before I open the door. "There's someone you guys should see... Leave any weapons with Loki and Vision." I go into the room slowly and see the flash before I'm on the floor, a man with blonde, almost white, hair standing a foot in front of me. "It's alright... Not gonna hurt you..." He watches me and I hold my hands up in front of me. "I'm gonna stand up..."
I slowly stand, keeping my hands where he could see them, and he stares me down as I do. "I'm gonna put my hands down now, alright?" He doesn't react until I lower my hands and he shifts slightly like he's going to fight me. "Alright, alright. I'm gonna take this off so you know I don't have anything to hurt you with." I slowly take my duster off and toss it toward the door. His eyes are drawn to my arrow and I whistle softly, making it fly into Loki's hand. "I forgot about that and I apologize. You good if a couple more people come in?" He stares and nods slightly after a moment. "Alright." I look at Clint and Wanda who are behind him and to the left before they come in.
"What now?"
"Now we try to make sure we don't make him uncomfortable and let him have control. And try to remind him who he really is..."
"Which would be?" Wanda looks at me with a quirked eyebrow and he turns to look at her.
"Pietro Maximoff... Your brother..."
"But, he got shot... A lot..." Clint looks at me and I nod a bit.
"There was something weird about that video... And, if you were to slow it down... You would see three blurs instead of one... If you slow it down more... You see him and a Skrull being switched out by another one... They used blood packs to make it seem as though it was him that died instead of a green bleeding Skrull..."
"And you know he isn't a Skrull now, how?" I carefully move toward Pietro and Wanda and they look at me.
"Can I see your hand?" He slowly offers it to me and I prick his finger with a thin blade, barely dodging a hit as his finger bleeds red. "That's how." I pass the blade to Loki and he takes it, cleaning it off. Pietro had his eyes narrowed and I raise my hands slightly again. "I don't have any more weapons."
"I do not believe you."
"That's fair. You can search me if you want to or have someone else do it." He steps forward slowly and his eyes narrow at my hands. "Here... I'm gonna put 'em on my head... That alright?" He barely nods and I lace my fingers behind my head.
"Wanda." They look at each other and have a silent conversation before she nods, coming over.
"I'm going to search you for him, Captain."
"Have at it." She nods and searches my person. "Leave my pockets alone, though. If I do have stuff in them, we want it to stay deactivated." She nods and takes two knives out of each of my boots, handing them to Loki.
"Wow, Cap. You packed light today."
"Tell me about it. Geez." Pietro was watching me and I slowly lower my hands. "I'm not entirely sure what happened to you, but I am sure that it was nothing good. If you want to, you can come with us back to my ship. But, be forewarned, there's a lot of kids. Do you want to come?" He looks at Wanda then at me and nods. "OK. Then let's go." Loki hands me my duster and I slide it on while the other three head out of the room. "Thanks, Irani. I appreciate it."
"Of course, Rogue." She escorts us all out as I put my weapons back where they go and, once we're outside, I hear the snap then whistle of something flying through the air before something is flying toward Pietro.
I step to my left and get an arrow to my torso, everything silent. "Huh. That's interesting. Clint?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I borrow your bow and an arrow or two?"
"Uh... Sure...?" He hands it to me and I nock the arrow, activating my glasses to map the trajectory of the arrow in my torso.
"There you are... Good distance, too... Must have a Nova Corps bow..." I let the arrow loose and zoom slightly to watch it hit someone in the shoulder, smirking a bit. "Gotcha. Appreciate it, Clint." I hand him his bow back and look at Strange, giving him the coordinates. He nods and opens a portal beneath them so that they fall in front of me. "So... Care to explain why you tried to shoot somebody with an arrow in their throat?" They glare at me and I look at them calmly, taking the arrow out of my torso. "Might I also add? Ouch."
"He killed my husband," She growls and I look at Pietro to see him look away slightly.
"When?"
"What?" Pietro looks at me, also confused, and I look back at the woman.
"When did he kill him? Judging from your wrists, you had been bound recently, by metal that has shocking devices in them. From how little they've healed, I'd have to guess they were taken off earlier today. So, I'm assuming you were freed from the Skrull. Yes?" She doesn't answer and looks away. "Thought so. He kill him in a ring?"
"Yes..."
"Then fuck off."
"What?"
"I don't want to hear any more of your bullshit. Fuck. Off. Go away. Get away from me. Get out of my sight. Do you want any more variants or have you gotten the hint?"
"He's a killer! Ravagers don't let killers in!" I look at Pietro and he doesn't look at me while I look him up and down in an assessing manner.
"Hmm... Interesting... Interesting..." I crouch to talk to the lady and she looks at me. "You're right about that."
"Then make him leave!"
"No."
"What? What do you mean no? You just agreed with me!" I grab her by the front of her clothes and my eyes glow slightly, making her fall silent.
"I don't see a killer when I look at him. I see someone who got fucked up by the Skrull. What do you see when you look at me, lady? A killer? A murderer? Captain of the Xandarian Orphan Killer Crew? Tell me... What do you see when you look into my eyes?" She was shaking slightly and I tilt my head slightly.
"Rogue, let her go." Someone rests their hand on my shoulder and I let her go, standing as my eyes go back to normal.
"What... What are you?" She asks, terrified, and I look down at her.
"Me?" I smirk and scoff softly. "I'm the one you don't make enemies with or I become your worst fucking nightmare." My eyes flash at her and she screams, scrambling away. I look around and see a crowd had formed around us.
"Rogue, we should leave," Loki hisses and I hold my hand up slightly, looking at the crowd.
"In a second..."
"Rogue..." I move past Tony and look at the crowd that had formed as they step backward slightly.
"Kid Killer!" I glance to my right and catch a rock that was coming for my head, tossing it in the air slightly.
"Spread the word... Pietro Maximoff is under my protection... Because he's going to be initiated into the Ravagers and become part of my crew... I won't be putting up with anyone's bullshit anymore. Any one of you touches my crew... My kids..." I glance at the people with me then back at the crowd and tighten my grip on the rock. "If any one of you touches my family, I will come down on you with a force equal to all of the Ravager Clans by myself. Don't fuck with me," I growl and someone steps forward, looking at me.
"We aren't scared of you. Felon. Freak. Criminal. Murderer. Kid k-" He doesn't finish because I have his hair gathered in one fist to yank his head back while I shove the rock between his teeth with my other hand and he tenses as I lean down to talk in his ear.
"Spread the word... Don't fuck with the Celestial with issues..." I lean back up and look at him. "I have so many good reasons to just force you to break your jaw on this rock. But, not a single reason to not do that."
"Rogue!" I look at Frigga and she was concerned. "He is not worth it."
"Looks like it's your lucky day, buddy. I found a good reason to not do that." I take the rock out of his mouth and let his hair go forcefully, watching him stumble before I throw the rock at his feet. He jumps back and there's a hole where his left foot was. "Let's go." I turn to head toward the docks where the Milano is and the others follow, silence echoing behind us. "Oh, hang on." I turn and grab the lady from earlier before she can run off, taking the bow. "Mine now. Run along." I let her go and she bolts.
We board the ship and I set the bow against the bunk, sinking onto it after a moment. "Loki. Get us off of the planet." I rest my head against the wall and close my eyes, trying to keep control of myself.
"OK. Are you alright, Rogue?"
"Loki."
"Getting us off of the planet. Destination?"
"Off of the planet."
"Alright." I feel us take off and was struggling to keep control, jaw clenched slightly. "Rogue?"
"What?"
"Captain Ogord wants to know if we'll be heading back to the celebration or going back to the ship."
"Pietro, you feel up for a celebration or meeting other people?"
"I suppose...?"
"Destination is the celebration, Loki."
"Got it." He sets a course to it and I hear the beep of a transmission end.
"How long was the transmission on and how long was he trying to get my attention?"
"Not long."
"Loki."
"Five minutes is how long it was on for and he was trying to get your attention for two additional minutes."
"Lovely..." I hadn't moved from my position and the ship was silent. "How long 'till we're there?"
"Five minutes."
"Cool." I cross my arms over my chest and take measured breaths to try to stay in control.
"You are the infamous 22-3-16?" Pietro asks and the ship goes silent again while they wait for my answer.
"That's what they called me, yeah. I'm infamous now?"
"Yes. You are one of the few people that have managed to evade the Kree and Skrulls for as long as you did. And the only one to have taken that long to break. Or to even put that much effort into trying to escape."
"Hm. Interesting."
"Um, c-"
"Shut up, Thor."
"OK."
"Anything else about me that's infamous?"
"You are the only person that was sold to the Kree that survived. All of the other ones were killed soon after."
"Do the numbers mean anything?"
"Yes. The first one is for how old you were when you were captured, the second one is the planet you were born on, and the third is confusing."
"I see."
"You are also infamous for how long you lasted in your last fight. They were trying to get you to give up or for the others to kill you. But you held your own very well and the last person you battled was a soldier."
"Not even remotely surprised about that. They didn't get to me kill me, though. They got killed instead and nearly all of them are dead. Same with the Skrulls."
"Why did you kill them? What if that's what they wanted?"
"The best way to keep them off of my ass and away from my family. And if they wanted it? I don't care. They're going to leave my family alone or the rest of them will die too."
"And the one's who are children?"
"I'll burn that bridge when I get to it."
"Alright." The ship is silent and I feel it land, still not moving as the others disembark. I open my eyes to see Loki looking at me and I stand, disembarking with him.
"Go join them. I will too soon enough." He nods and kisses my hand gently before doing as I said. I go to find the gym and see a punching bag hanging from the ceiling of an otherwise empty room, going over to it. Gloves were next to it and I ignore them, shedding the clothes of my upper half for everything but my bra as I get closer and closer to losing control.
Music plays from the Mess Hall and I start to beat the crap out of the bag, not holding back as I slip slightly, every sound turning into an annoying buzz while I can still see everything.
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I stop after giving the punching bag a Chuck Norris kick that breaks the chain and sends it across the room as it breaks against a wall, panting softly. Someone claps and I turn to see all of my former owners in front of the closed door, Voluptuous the one clapping as my heart starts pounding in my chest. "Not real... They aren't real... You're fine..." I murmur and they fade.
"I see that you have hallucinations as well. Are they worse when you don't sleep?" I turn to see Pietro sitting against the opposite wall from the bag and he stands. "You weren't kidding when you said there were a lot of children. All of them are yours due to the Kree?"
"Yep. To both of your questions... You good?"
"It's a lot to adjust to... I was told for years that Wanda was dead... And to find that she isn't..."
"Yeah..." I still feel out of it and look at the bag. "Kinda pissed that I broke that... And Pops will be too when he finds out..." I sigh softly and rub my face, leaving the room with my clothes as Pietro follows. We both end up outside and he looks at me.
"Are you good at sparring?"
"Yeah... Are you?"
"Yes. We're both known for being good in fights." I look at him and he had gotten his Leathers at some point.
"Those comfortable for you?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"No problem. You want to spar?"
"It might not be the best idea, but yes." He peels his duster off and appears in front of me. "I'm at an unfair advantage, however. I'm much faster than you are."
"That just makes it more interesting." He nods his agreement and I shift into a better position before we start to circle each other slowly.
"Rules?"
"No killing each other, break it up if either of us feels like we're about to, and break it up if one of the other Captains or one of the four First Mates says to." He nods and I watch him carefully. "And powers are allowed."
"Lovely." He zooms around me and aims a punch to my stomach.
"Damn!" I jump back and aim a kick at his head but miss because he zooms away from it, pushing my leg slightly. I lose my balance and fall but roll to end in a crouch, narrowing my eyes at him. "I regret adding that last part. Quick question... You got anything against being grabbed by vines?"
"What?" Vines surge from the ground and catch his ankle, knocking him down when he tries to run. "I see. That is an interesting power."
"I'm surprised it still worked." The vine loosens its grip and I look at him. "How about this? Instead of sparring with each other, we practice with our powers? Like tag."
"Tag?"
"Yeah. I try to catch you with nature and tag you while you try to not get caught by me and tag me. Yeah? We can make it a competition. What do you say?" He thinks and I wait, still crouched.
"I say..." He zooms and lightly taps my shoulder. "Tag." I chuckle and nod a bit, rolling away quickly.
"Alright... Let's play," I smirk and pop my knuckles slightly.