Chapter 1
The Kree, who happens to be my new owner, Tressit, comes in daily and beats me with his whip to make me a better battle slave. My arrow is always out of range and, even if it were in range, I have a gag in my mouth more often than I don't. Tressit makes sure I'm healthy and the slave doctor fixes me up whenever he goes too far with the whip. He always avoids my implant and tattoos, which I find weird but whatever. I get fed twice daily and use that to keep track of how long I've been there, two meals marking one solar cycle. Tressit is always the one to take the gag out and the one to put it back in.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tressit comes in after a lunar cycle of meals twice a solar cycle and presses the button on the wall before I'm on the floor, face down. He comes over and takes the gag out. "Your arrow isn't close enough for you to be able to control it. I've made sure of that. You should be knowledgeable about the fact that you shouldn't speak by now. One can hope, I suppose." He starts to beat me with the whip and I close my eyes tightly, hands in fists. "Screaming, however, is something that one can't control. And I am well aware of that."
He finishes beating me and gives me my meal as he deactivates the magnet. I take it and eat it quickly, knowing better than to waste time when it comes to eating or he'll take it away. He pats my head and I tense for a moment before I just continue to eat, not wanting to be beaten anymore today. "I'm glad to see that you're learning. You will start fighting as soon as possible." I finish eating and he leaves the gag out, leaving a canteen of water as he walks out of the cell. "Enjoy your water. It will be refilled when it's empty." The door shuts behind him and I grab the canteen, drinking from it.
He stops by now and then to refill it and I retreat to the other end of the cell before he activates the magnet to pin me to the floor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About a lunar cycle later, Tressit comes into the cell and I move to be face down on the floor before I realize what I'm doing. He grins and looks at me. "Get up. You have your first fight." I obey and he grabs the chain on my collar, leading me out of the cell. "They took too long getting you your first fight. You're bound to be weak so they started you off with someone just as weak if not weaker."
We get to the ring and he unhooks the chain from the collar. "Fight, kill, win, 22-3-16. Fight, kill, win," He tells me and undoes the cuffs on my wrists and ankles before pushing me into the ring.
There was an old Centaurian with their fin cut off and they remind me of someone... No, focus. I push the thought out of my mind and get into a fighting stance seamlessly. The Centaurian rushes for me and I punch them in the face, knocking them flat on their back. "Kill them, 22-3-16!" Tressit yells and I attack them, knowing that if I didn't do as Tressit ordered, I'd get beaten.
The Centaurian throws me off of them and attacks me. I slip into survival mode and fight them easily.
I feel my arrow for the first time in lunar cycles and Tressit nods, giving me the go-ahead to use it. I whistle sharply from where I was pinned under the Centaurian and my arrow flies through their neck. My arrow gets caught by Tressit and he puts it in a box before I can't feel it again. He snaps and I go over to him quickly, keeping my eyes downcast. He attaches the chain and cuffs again before leading me away. I follow and keep my eyes on the ground.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One day, we land planetside and Master leads me to a ring on a planet that's freezing and has snow on it while it's still snowing. He goes through the same routine that he's made when getting me ready for a fight and looks at me. "22-3-16, this is not an ordinary fight. This is a fight where you don't stop fighting until you're dead or get defeated. If you're defeated, you will have extended your use to me and will be killed." He pushes me into the ring after saying that and holds my arrow in his hand since he decided to stop using the box to block my connection to it because he made sure to teach me to only use it as a finishing move on my opponent.
My first opponent steps into the ring and I slip into survival mode immediately as they charge at me. I fight them seamlessly and take them down with my arrow through their neck at my whistle. That had become a finishing move after my first fight and Master had decided that I would keep it as my signature finishing move. More opponents come into the ring and I fight them all.
After ten opponents, I was getting tired and they just kept getting bigger and stronger than I am. I keep fighting and opponent number sixteen gets the upper hand. I whistle and they catch the arrow, stabbing the mat by my neck before they're called off by their Master. Master comes into the ring with a blade that has always been at his side and snaps. I kneel and he presses the blade against my neck while I stare at the mat.
There's suddenly a sharp whistle and Master falls to the mat next to me. Everyone scatters and I stand, snarling softly. The whistles continue and blaster fire starts to echo around me. A hammer flies past my head and all of the Masters are on the ground while I'm surrounded, the other slaves having made a run for the ships.
A Centaurian with a metal fin steps toward me with a tall Xandarian that had a mohawk and scars above his eye and I growl wordlessly, shifting into a fighting position. They freeze with their hands up and I snarl as I turn to look at the people around me. There was an AI, a Lem, a Jovian, a Pluvian, the Guardians of the Galaxy, a bunch of Terrans, an Arcturan, one that looks Arcturan, two humanoid figures in robot costumes, a giant green guy, and most of them seemed to be Ravagers while the rest of the Terrans were in some type of costume.
A Terran in a cape comes towards me and I growl louder, knowing I won't be able to take another fight because I can feel every single injury that's on my body currently. He stops and I move a bit so that I'd be able to see all of them. I lose sight of the Jovian and his hands wrap around my waist.
I go into survival mode and attack him, grabbing his head to launch myself over his body to land behind him. I kick him in the back of his knees then his back when he falls and I whistle sharply to have my arrow go through his neck. The Centaurian with the metal fin whistles and knocks my arrow off course, sending it into the snow. The Jovian stands and moves away, keeping his eyes on me. I see Master's body on the mat and all of the other bodies of the other Master's, realizing I'd get blamed for this. Something worse than death or a beating. I start to walk backward and whistle to make my arrow fly in front of all of their faces before bolting into the woods around the mat.
The ground suddenly opens underneath me and I fall behind the Arcturan, the one that looks Arcturan, and the Pluvian while the Lem waves their hands to close the portal I fell through. I put some distance between us and snarl, teeth bared. One of the Terrans in a costume does something with their hands and I'm on the ground, caught in something sticky.
"Git tha' off 'a 'er!" The Centaurian barks before whistling and the sticky thing falls to the ground, freeing me. I roll away from it and look at them, chest heaving as I come out of survival mode while crouching.
"You gonna try and kill us anymore?" The Terran that did the thing with their hands asks and I don't respond, not sure how they'd react and not wanting to find out.
"Ya can talk, kid... We ain't gonna hurt ya..." The Xandarian with the mohawk says and I look around at them again before shaking my head slightly.
"Cool..." The Terrans in costumes take their masks off and the Guardians start to come over to me, stopping when I start to growl.
"Alright. We'll stay here." The tree looks at me, head tilted, and comes closer. I growl louder and it keeps coming closer.
"I am Groot," Groot says and was too close for comfort. I move back a bit more and grab handfuls of snow in case they try to come closer.
"Rogue, I don't know what they did to you, but you need to snap out of it," The Terran Guardian says and comes closer. I throw snow in his face and he trips over a log as he stumbles backward, falling into the snow. "Or not. Look. You need to be fixed up. Cuz you're bleeding a lot and probably have broken bones judging from the size of the last few guys you fought and how hard they hit you."
"Krugarr, we can't risk losing her again. Open a portal to the cabin so the Docs can look her over." The Lem, Krugarr, nods and a portal opens under me before I'm falling onto a bunk. Another portal opens near the door to the quarters and I get off of the bunk, putting it between the people who step through the portal. The Centaurian, Xandarian, and two species with the medical symbol on their arms look at me and the bigger one looks at the other three as the portal closes.
"I thought Cap'n was dead..."
"She ain't. Fix 'er up, Docs." They come toward me and I growl but they just inject me with something. My head swims and I stumble backward, growling again when they come closer.
"You're alright, Rogue. Just go to sleep," The smaller one says and I fall to the floor against a wall before passing out. The big one picks me up to lay me on the bunk before they fix me up and the Centaurian and Xandarian stay.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I come to in a lot of pain and sit up, gritting my teeth against the pain as I notice the collar is gone. I look around and tense as I see that I'm not in my cell, standing up to get off of the bunk I was sitting on. Where am I? I look around and the door opens with Krugarr, the Centaurian, Xandarian, Pluvian, and the one that looks like an Arcturan standing there.
"Hello, Rogue. It is good to see you again." I look at the Lem and could barely feel my arrow in my implant but whistle softly to get it closer. "We are not going to hurt you. We just want to know what has happened to you for the past annual cycles." I stop whistling and he seemed happy about that. "Would you mind telling us about it?"
I keep the bunk between us and they stay near the door. My mouth was dry and the Centaurian seems to be able to tell. "They still ain't known fer givin' ya water 'fore a fight?" He sets a canteen on the bed and I shrug one shoulder. "Drink tha'. Yer gonna feel betta when ya do." I grab the canteen and down half of it while they watch me. "Today yer first fight?" I shake my head and close the canteen, looking around the quarters a bit. "Today yer first 'till ya drop fight?" I nod and he looks me over. "Tha' arrow in the neck. Tha' yer idea or tha' Kree's idea?"
"M- Tressit's idea..." My voice was rough and I cough a bit, drinking from the canteen a bit more. I look at them and the memories from before the Kree come back from where they had gotten buried because I was told they were dead. "They kept my Yaka arrow in a box that wouldn't let me feel it... Even if I could feel it at the beginning, it wasn't gonna be any help since the asshat always kept a gag in my mouth when I wasn't eating the shit he gave me... Once he was sure I couldn't use it, he left the gag out..."
"When was ya able ta feel it 'gain?" Kraglin asks and I wipe some blood off of my knuckles from the fights, thinking.
"A fight against an older Centaurian who had her fin cut off... Tressit had taken it out of the box and allowed me to use it to finish the fight..."
"How many fights ya been in, girl?"
"Too many," I scoff and flex my hands a bit, unable to relax. "Do you guys got some leathers I could wear or something?" Stakar gives me his jacket for now and I pull it on since he's the only one in the room that matches my height for the most part and with the broadness of our shoulders.
"Ya know, kid, ya ain't built like a normal Terran woman."
"You don't say," I say drily and do the jacket up, noticing my hands shaking. "Are we on Terra?" Stakar nods and I let out a huff of breath, understanding why my hands were shaking. "Christmas party... Woo-hoo..." Yondu looks at me intensely and does something on his wrist com while I lean against the desk, crossing my arms to try to warm up a bit.
Dad comes in with a set of leathers and I watch him as he sets them on the bed. "We ransacked the ships that were left but we couldn't find any of your weapons. We'll make sure you get new ones." I nod and they all leave so I can get changed after I give Stakar back his jacket. I get changed quickly and put on the neckerchief to hide new scars on the back of my neck. I pull the socks and boots on then the gloves and look in the mirror, seeing that I'm dressed in layers which is perfect.
"At least that's back to normal... Black is a good color for a Ravager crew... Doubt that I'll get my crew back that easily... Jay's probably a better Captain than I am anyway... Or a better one than I'll be now..." I rub my face and sigh into my hands, looking at my reflection. "No... I can't think like that... If I can become Captain again, I'll still be a good one... Just more scars and issues... I can get through those and grow..." I murmur and lower my hands, blowing out a breath. I leave the quarters and head downstairs.
Everything falls silent and everyone looks at me, shocked. A little green kid with Dad's hair color toddles over to me and I crouch, looking at them. "Well, hello. And who might you be?" They just smile at me and I pick them up as I stand, smiling a bit.
"This is your younger brother, Rogue," Gamora tells me and comes over, looking at me. "How are you feeling?"
"What's his name?"
"Indri."
"Isn't that a constellation in the Prithivi System?" She nods and I look at Indri, pushing his hair out of his face. He giggles and smiles at me, making me smile a bit.
"He was born after we killed Thanos. A pregnant Zehoberei doesn't present a stomach as prominently as Terrans do," She explains when I look slightly confused and I nod. Indri pats my face and I chuckle softly, looking at my younger brother. He looked like he was about five, maybe older.
"Sister!" He smiles and I push his hair out of his face again, not noticing the Guardians watching us in shock at me being tender.
"Yeah. I'm your sister. And I can guarantee that as long as I'm alive, you'll be protected," I murmur and he smiles, hugging me around my neck. I hold him and sit with him in my lap.
"Can I have my son?" Dad comes over to take him and backs up with his hands up when I bite at him.
"No. I'm holding him. Screw you." I hold Indri closer and he cuddles happily, just an adorable little boy. "And if you don't teach him how to pilot an M-ship once he's big enough to so he can come to see me, I will personally kick your ass, Quill."
"Wouldn't dream of doing anything different, Rogue. So there will be no need to kick anyone's ass." Dad rolls his eyes and I hold my little brother close, finally able to relax.
"He developed quickly. Both in size and other development," Gamora says and I nod.
"Cool." Indri was playing with a little toy happily and I watch him as the crews go back to whatever they were doing. I look around a bit and don't see Jay or Nebula. "Hey, Tex," He looks at me and waits. "Where are Jay and Nebula?"
"I'm not sure. They don't tell us where they're going or when they'll be back. But, they should be back soon." He continues what he was doing and Indri had fallen asleep against me, holding his toy close to his chest, looking adorable.
"Rogue," Dad says and I look at him, raising an eyebrow at him as he sits on the table in front of us. "The rest of the Guardians are good with Indri but if anything happens to me or 'Mora, we want you to take care of him. Think you can do that?" I nod and he smiles, patting my knee gently before he goes to do something.
Nebula walks through the door and freezes when she sees me. Jay comes in after her and looks at her quizzically before he sees me, also freezing. The crews leave until only my family is in the room and Jay stares at me while I stand, carefully laying Indri on the couch before I look at Jay. He comes over to me slowly while looking me over and I fight the urge to launch myself at him. He stops in front of me and looks me in the eye.
"Where have you been?"
"Kree. Found out I'm good at fighting to the death. Worked out OK for me, not so much for the other guys..." I pop my knuckles slightly, not sure what to do with my hands right now, and he looks at me.
"What's with all the layers?"
"What's with the interrogation?"
"Just trying to understand what the Hell happened with you the past annual cycles and what happened the day those Nova Corpsmen arrested you."
"Alright. A Kree got in contact with them, said I was wanted by them, and they'd let them live if they surrendered me to them. They did, ignoring my common fucking sense, and they got blown to bits. The Kree boarded the ship, took my weapons, gave the Corpsman holding me the holopads, and took me back to the mothership with a gag in my mouth so I couldn't whistle them away. They used a whip on me after throwing me in a cell with cuffs on my wrists and ankles and a collar around my neck that would be attracted to the floor when Tressit pressed a button outside of the cell door."
"Rogue-" I cut Dad off with a wave of my hand and keep my eyes on Jay.
"No, he wants to know what happened, so he's going to find out."
"Alright..."
"The only way I knew the passing of a solar cycle was Tressit coming in to beat me with that damned whip or to give me something that could have classified as food if we were in the age of the dinosaurs. He kept me disconnected from my arrow and kept the gag in for a lunar cycle, putting it back in whenever I wasn't eating the shit he gave me. He must've studied up on Terran psychology because he became the nicest once he had broken me into knowing how to act and react around him to keep from getting beaten more than he already did."
"That still doesn't answer what's with all the extra layers," Jay scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest.
"Fine." I undo the jacket and take it off, tossing it on the couch.
"What are you doing?" He furrows his eyebrows at me and I toss the neckerchief on top of my jacket, scars on the back of my neck showing.
"Actions speak louder than words, right?" I pull off the long sleeve shirt and that leaves me in a tank top and my pants. "This is what's with all the extra layers." I turn in a circle and look at him once it's done. "Those and the fact that it's fucking freezing outside, which is where I had a... What'd you call it?" I look at Yondu as I pull the shirt back on and he looks at me.
"A 'till ya drop fight, girl."
"That. Against too damn many people that were getting bigger and stronger than me at the end. And his response to me losing, after nearly getting stabbed in the throat with my arrow, was to try to cut my damned head off! So, I'm sorry if I'm a little fucking touchy after a few annual cycles of being a damned slave with the Kree and breaking down easily!" I growl and he looks at me as I put the layers back on.
He takes off a chain and hands it to me. "What's that supposed to be?"
"Look at it and you'll figure it out." I look at it again and see my ring on it. "You left it in your quarters on the bar. I've been holding onto it with the hope that you were still alive. Nova Prime told us that you were-"
"Blown up in an escape pod during an escape attempt? Yeah, I'm aware. The Nova Corpsmen didn't try to hide lying to her from me. Guess they didn't think I'd survive the Kree." I shrug and pull my jacket on, noticing my flame with the knife and arrow crossed in the middle sewed onto the left breast while the traditional Ravager Flames are sewed on the right breast, over the heart.
"You're back so you should have this back." He holds my ring out to me and I take it, holding it in my palm. "I'm glad you're back..." He smiles gently at me and I tuck the ring into an inside pocket for now. "Because, I prefer being the First Mate to you, Captain. As long as Stakar can give the go-ahead..." He rolls his eyes slightly and I look at Stakar.
"Welcome back, Captain," Is all he says and I bow my head slightly.
"Thank you, Stakar." He nods and the other crews come back in before we can continue the sort of conversation.
"Is the other Udonta back as a Captain or do we still have to put up with Fletch as a Captain?" One of the other Captains who I don't recognize asks and Jay rolls his eyes.
"Barkley's replacement," He explains and I nod slightly. "Yes, she's back as Captain and I'm back where I believe I belong. At her side as her First Mate." He smiles at me and I quirk the corner of my mouth up slightly in response. "I've always got your back, Rogue, especially now," He whispers and I barely nod.
"We're happy to have you back, Captain," Nebula smiles and I nod slightly.
"Well... It's good to be back," I smirk slightly and look at my crew, Jay by my side. "And it's gonna be even better when we get back to stealing shit." My crew cheers and Jay smiles.
"Hey! Food's out!" Someone yells from the kitchen and I look around a bit, noticing that I don't see Pops anywhere as I furrow my eyebrows slightly. Dad sees and comes over.
"Pops is in a hospital that's nearby... He... He isn't doing too good..." He tells me softly and I notice he looked really upset. "Do you, uh... Do you wanna go see him?" He swallows and I look at him closely as he clears his throat.
"Indri should come to."
"His green skin kinda stands out, Rogue," He scoffs and I roll my eyes a bit.
"He's a kid and people buy it when you say they loved their Halloween costume so much they didn't want to change out of it. That, and there's such a thing as coats and scarfs to hide it."
"Who would he have been for Halloween that's green?"
"Kermit. Or Hulk. They can figure it out."
"Why do you want him to come with, Rogue?"
"Just... Trust my judgment on this, alright?" He looks at me and nods.
"Alright." Indri sits up, rubbing at his eyes, and looks at us.
"Daddy..." Dad goes over to him and picks him up, holding him on his hip.
"Hey, buddy. You have a good nap?" He nods and I smile at them a bit. "You wanna go see Papa Quill?" He nods again, more awake now, and Dad chuckles. "Then let's get your winter gear on, huh?" He goes over to do that and a Nova Corps recruit hands me a scarf and winter coat with a hood.
"To hide your face and implant, Captain." I nod and pull the coat on over my leathers, putting the hood up. It hides the implant well and he smiles before leaving.
"Not bad," Dad says as he comes back over and I look at him, raising an eyebrow. "Hides your implant. You ready?" I nod and he tosses me the keys to the truck in the garage. "You're driving."
"Oh, fun."
"Yeah. Don't kill us."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Anytime," He smirks at me and I roll my eyes as I head to the garage. He puts Indri in the back seat and I get in, starting it. "How confident are you in your driving abilities?" He asks as he and Gamora get in, Gamora in front with me while Dad's in the back with Indri.
"More than you are in yours, I'd have to guess." He scoffs and I smirk while I wait for the truck to heat up. "You like music, Indri?" He nods and I chuckle, turning up the radio. "How's this one?" He nods and Dad looks less than interested. "Looks like I've got a fellow metalhead in the family. Took long enough." I turn around to give Indri a high five and he gives it to me happily, smiling mischievously. I turn back around and open the garage door, shifting the car into the moving position before driving while Dad directs me to the hospital.
When we get there, I put the scarf on and Dad gets Indri out, bundling him up while Gamora does the same. We go inside and Dad leads us to Pops room. He sees us and smiles a bit. "Hey, Pete, Indri, Gamora. Who'd you guys bring with you?" I close the curtain and take my scarf off, smiling at him.
"Hey, Papa Quill... I'm not dead..." He smiles at me and motions me over. I go over and he grabs my hand.
"I didn't think you were. It's good to see you, Rogue." I smile at him and squeeze his hand gently.
"Good to see you too... How are you feeling?"
"I've been better," He chuckles and starts coughing. Dad gets him some water and helps him drink it when he stops coughing. "Thanks, Pete..."
"No problem, Pops. The Docs said that you were getting better last time I came by."
"I am. It's just a little rough on my old body, the road to recovery." He smiles at us and Indri smiles brightly at him. "How are my great-grandkids doing?"
"Indri's doing good," Dad tells him and they all look at me.
"I'm doing better than I was earlier today. At least you guys are still alive. Looks like everybody surrounding us lied about how the other was doing." Dad scoffs a bit and I smile at Pops a bit. "I'm glad to hear that you're doing better, even if it's rough on you." He smiles at me and pats my hand.
"Can you guys give me and Rogue a minute to talk?" Dad nods and the three of them leave, making sure Gamora and Indri are bundled up so their skin isn't shown. I carefully sit on the edge of the bed and look at Pops.
"What's up, Papa Quill?"
"I just wanted to say that even though I didn't know you for very long, I'm grateful that we did meet... I love you, Rogue..." He smiles at me with tears in his eyes and I smile back a bit.
"I love you too, Papa Quill... I'm glad we met... It was nice to learn more about Dad and his mom..." He smiles and I lean down to hug him. He kisses my cheek and pats my back gently before I let him go. We talk for a bit and he coughs.
"Want me to bring them back in?" He nods and I do that after standing up, going over to the door. "Guys," I call softly and they come back in, going over to him. He hugs each of them and whispers things in their ears.
Indri hugs him and he hugs him back, kissing his head gently. "Papa Quill loves you, little buddy." Indri hugs him more and Pops holds him for a few moments before he lets him go, looking at the time. "Nurses are gonna make their rounds and kick you guys out in a few minutes... You guys should head out..."
"Alright, Pops. Say bye, Indri." Indri waves bye as Dad picks him up and bundles him back up while Gamora bundles herself up. I pull my scarf back up and we leave after we all say bye to Pops. Dad makes sure Indri gets buckled up and we all get in before I drive back to the cabin.