Chapter 2
I pull into the garage and we go inside. The Avengers were waiting and look at us. Tony stands and comes over to Dad as he helps Indri out of his winter gear. "Quill, we need to talk." Dad looks at him and Gamora takes Indri once she's out of the winter gear she was wearing.
"I will watch Indri. Go see what he needs to speak with you about, Peter." He nods and goes with Tony to the kitchen to talk. I take the winter gear off and hang it up with their stuff too, just having a feeling that Pops died. Gamora sets Indri down and he runs over to me. He pulls on my jacket and leads me over to a bunch of toys.
"You want me to play with you?" He nods and plops down next to them, tugging on my jacket again. "OK..." I sit next to him and he hands me some blocks after looking at all of his toys. "OK... Thanks..." He smiles at me and I smile back a bit. He plays with the blocks, building stuff, and I help him, placing the blocks he gave me where he points.
"You are a very good builder. It looks amazing." I give him a thumbs-up and he giggles, making me smile a bit. He does some other stuff with the toys and I watch him with a small smile.
Dad comes in and goes over to Gamora, taking her into the garage which I notice. I stand and Indri tugs on my jacket. "I'll be right back, you keep playing, alright?" He nods and goes back to playing while I go over to Dad and Gamora.
"Pops died... They called Tony because that's the number I gave for emergencies with Pops... And they said he died three minutes after we left..." I hear him say and he sees me come in. "Pops died..." He says softly, his voice breaking, and I go over to him. "We could've been there with him... But we left and he died..." I wrap him in my arms for a hug and he hugs me back as he cries. "He was all I had left of Mom... And now he's gone..."
"No, he isn't, Dad... He's still here... He might have died, but he lives on in our minds and our hearts..." He sniffles and I hug him a bit tighter. "It's gonna be OK... And it's going to get better... I promise..." He doesn't respond and I just hug him until he calms down.
He shoves me away and rubs at his face quickly. "Where the Hell did you get that sappy crap from?"
"The last half was from you. The other half was from either Keiko or some sappy movie." He scoffs with an eye roll and I smile at him a bit. "You good?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Maybe don't mention this to Rocket or Drax?"
"Oh, definitely not telling them ever." He nods and sighs softly. "At least Indri should understand because he looks old enough to." He nods his agreement and finishes wiping the tears from his face. Gamora hugs him and he hugs her back. "I'll leave you two be." I wipe my jacket off with a towel in the garage before leaving and sit next to Indri again, seeing that he was building a tall tower of blocks. "Need some help?" He nods and I help him out with building the tall tower.
It starts to fall over and I move him so he doesn't get hit by any blocks as they topple to the floor. He smiles and cleans them up as Dad and Gamora come back in. He tugs on my arm and points to the door. "You wanna play outside now?" He nods and I look at him like he's crazy. "Kid, it's freezing and dark outside. That's a bad idea." He pouts a bit and points to the door again. "Nope." Dad comes over and picks Indri up.
"It's time for you to go to sleep, anyway. Come on, kiddo." He carries him upstairs and Gamora follows. I stand and go to get some food from the kitchen. Yondu's sitting at the table with Kraglin, Stakar, Aleta, and Martinex while Jay was leaning against the wall and Rocket's sitting on the counter, Groot leaning against the counter, Drax standing to the right of Groot, and Mantis standing to the left of Groot. Yondu kicks a chair out and nods at it.
"'Ave a seat, girl."
"OK..." I sit and lean back in it a bit, ignoring the slight pain.
"Hungry?" Rocket asks and I look at him suspiciously before nodding since Tressit didn't feed me before the fights either. Stakar slides a tray of food across the table to me and I stop it in front of me. Someone's arm goes toward it and I growl loudly, not thinking.
"Just giving you something to eat it with, Rogue," Jay says and sets down a fork before moving his arm. I relax slightly and pick the fork up, eating at the same pace I would with the Kree. Dad and Gamora come in and were surprised, not sure what to say about it.
"Yer gonna choke, kid," Kraglin says as he grabs my arm to stop me and I jerk it away. "M'bad, kid. Relax. Ain't nobody gonna take yer food," He says carefully and watches as I set the fork down, swallowing what food I had in my mouth.
"What was that about? You've never scarfed your food down that fast." Dad looks at me and I grab the glass on the tray before he takes it out of my hand. "You'll get your booze when you explain what the Hell that was about."
"Tressit wasn't a patient person. If I didn't eat within three minutes of having food put in front of me, I didn't eat until he decided I needed to. Which would usually be after he came in to beat me three times, so about three solar cycles. Sometimes more. So, I'm sorry if it takes me a while to adjust to not being with the Kree anymore because they fucked me up in just a few annual cycles, according to you guys. If we're being honest, it might've been faster than that."
"How soon do you think he fucked you up then?" Rocket asks and I shrug, taking my glass of booze from Dad before I take a drink.
"A lunar cycle..." Everyone is silent and I down my glass before finishing my food at a slower pace. Dad refills my glass and pours some for everyone else.
"You're too stubborn to be able to be fucked up in just a lunar cycle. What the Hell did they do to you?" Martinex asks when I'm done eating and I lean back in the chair with my glass in my hand, thinking.
"Destroyed the ship the Nova Corps were using to transport me, gagged me to keep me from being able to use my arrow, forced me into a two-piece raggedy outfit, destroyed everything but my weapons, kept me cuffed and collared constantly, used the magnetic equipment to arrange me how they wanted daily, used a whip that could go down to the bone on me daily, kept my arrow out of range so that I thought it was destroyed, and told me that all of you were dead. That anyone who would come for me, without a doubt, was dead. That was the thing that finished the job of fucking me up. Because what's the point of fighting to be saved if no one's there to save you?" I take a drink from my glass and they do too, not sure what to say.
"How did you know you were unable to save yourself?" Drax asks and I look at him.
"There were more Kree than I would be able to take down. Even while I'm in survival mode. I tried. Six times. I started by taking down five and each time I tried again, it would go down."
"Why would it go down?"
"I got weaker, they got smarter, they got faster, I got predictable? I have no clue. You choose whichever option you like best, Drax. I tried to save myself and failed each time. Pandora's box got opened and hope was released only to be shoved back inside before the box was destroyed." I finish my drink and they were looking at me, confused.
"It's part of Greek Mythology. A woman is created by one of the Gods to be given to humans as punishment for a Titan stealing fire from the Gods to give to the humans. She is married to another Titan, the brother of the one who stole the fire, and he took her as his wife because she was made as beautiful as the Goddesses, with the gift of speech to tell lies, an insatiable curiosity, and the mind and nature of a treacherous dog. She is given a box as a wedding gift by the Gods with specific instructions not to open the box. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she opens the box. All of the bad things in the world are released. Gossip, deceit, greed, envy, hatred, pain, disease, hunger, poverty, war, and death, which are all depicted as some type of monster. She closes the box before anything else can get out and only one thing is left inside. She opens it and a small butterfly flies out of the box, telling her that it's hope."
"That's, um... That's a nice story..." Dad says awkwardly and I shrug.
"Greek mythology is also notorious for the King and Queen of the Gods being married and siblings. And their father eating them, the King being the only one that escaped because their mother tricked him into eating rocks instead of the King as an infant." Dad stares at me and I shrug. "Mythology is fucked up, dude. So's my life. So... Yeah. You wanna pass me the bottle?" He does and I pour myself another glass, topping off anyone who wants it. "So... How close is it to Christmas?"
"Tomorrow..." Dad drinks from his glass and everyone's silent for a moment out of respect to Pops.
"This is gonna sound bad, but he was in pain so he kinda got a good gift... He's able to see your Mom and Grandmother again," I explain quickly when he looks pissed and he nods a bit, seeing the logic in that.
"OK... Fair point..." I nod and he raises his glass slightly. "To Pops," He toasts quietly and we raise our glasses too before finishing our drinks. "Rogue, you should get some sleep," He tells me and I look at him as I set my glass down, standing.
"That's a good idea. However, I'm not gonna be able to sleep right now."
"What are you gonna do, then?"
"I'll let you know when I figure it out myself. For right now, I'm going outside." I do just that and go down the porch steps, leaning against the railing. I whistle and my arrow comes soaring over to me before I catch it. I spin it between my fingers a bit and look at it, thinking.
I hear music playing after about ten minutes and go inside, going to the living room to see the leads of my crew in there with the Avengers and the rest of my family, Indri too. Jay was finishing a drink and grins at me when he sees me. "Hey, Cap'n!"
"Jay. Having fun without me?"
"Naw, jus' gittin' it started, Darlin'," He hiccups and was drunk. I look at Dad and he shrugs.
"Didn't seem too bad to let it happen since all of the other crew members have started sleeping in their quarters on the ships. They got tired of walking in on people making out or of Indri playing pranks on them," He explains and I look at Indri, nodding a bit.
"We're gonna get along well, kid. Don't try any pranks on me, I'll get you back twice as hard," I smirk and he smirks back. "Ooh, I like this kid," I chuckle and look at Jay as he 'dances' around me.
"C'mon, Cap'n. 'Ave some fun with me!" He grabs my hand and spins me, making me chuckle. "Tha's betta!" He chuckles and I roll my eyes, smiling as a favorite of his plays.
"Oh, Gods... Don't even..." I mutter to him and he grins widely at me. "And you're gonna even..." He grins wider and nods.
"Hey, baby, won'cha look m'way?
Ah can be yer new addiction
Hey baby, wha'cha gotta say?
All yer givin' me is fiction
'M a sorry sucker an' this happens all the time
Ah found out tha' everybody talks
Everybody talks, everybody talks," He sings terribly on purpose and spins me around, making me laugh a bit. He sets me down and gives me that stupid smile that makes me feel all gooey inside and like we're the only people in the galaxy.
"It started with a whisper
An' tha' was when Ah kissed her
An' then she made my lips hurt
Ah could hear the chit chat
Take me to yer love shack
Mama's always gotta backtrack
When everybody talks back," He sings terribly with me kinda singing the words too and he smiles brightly at me while Indri runs over.
"You can sing?" He gapes at me and I shrug one shoulder, looking at him. "What else can you do?"
"A lot of stuff. More than our idiot father," I joke and he laughs while Dad rolls his eyes at us. Indri looks at me closely and I raise an eyebrow at him, crouching to be a bit more eye level with him. "What you looking at, kid?"
"You've got some cool tattoos."
"Well, duh. I had to get cool tattoos to match my level of awesome." Dad scoffs and I flip him off easily, making him smile.
"If you're so awesome, why'd you have to get tattoos to show it off?" He smirks at me and Dad, Rocket, Drax, and Mantis laugh while Groot was playing his game. The others kinda snort and I smirk at him.
"We're gonna get along great, kid brother."
"Yeah, but I'm cooler," He says with a shrug and I scoff. "What? I am." I was still holding my arrow and twirl it between my fingers while he watches. "That's kinda cool, I guess... Is it like Yondu's?" I nod and he looks much more interested at that. "What can you do with it?" His eyes were twinkling and I move so that I'm on one knee in front of him.
"You really wanna see?" He nods and I smirk. "You're sure?" He nods again and looked like he was getting annoyed while I smirk. "Absolutely, positively, one hundred percent sure that you wanna see?"
"Yes, you imbecile!"
"Ooh, little man has big words," I chuckle and he glares at me a bit. "Have some patience, short stack." I pat his shoulder and he crosses his arms.
"Are you gonna show me or not?" He glares at me and I whistle. My arrow flies to the ceiling and circles around us, waiting for my next whistle. It plummets down and goes for Indri's throat at my next one. I whistle sharply to stop it as I move Indri and it flies past us, plunging itself into a wall. "Cool!" He laughs and I pat his shoulder as I stand. "Can you do some other stuff?"
"Some other time, kid."
"OK." He yawns a bit and I gently push him toward Dad and Gamora. He goes over and Dad takes him upstairs to bed. The leads go in different directions to go to bed and I grab my arrow out of the wall, twirling it between my fingers slightly as I turn to lean against the wall. Jay looks at me and I motion for him to go to bed. He smiles at me and leaves to find somewhere to sleep, ending up in the basement.
Dad comes back down and glares at me as I straighten up. "What the Hell, Rogue? You just met him and you're already trying to kill him? Why didn't you stop the damned arrow?" I twirl it between my fingers still and he watches me, waiting for a response.
"How old's Indri?"
"What does that have to do with what I just asked?" He growls and I look at him.
"How old is Indri?"
"He's seven, Rogue. Why?"
"Just trying to figure out how long I was with the Kree. I stopped keeping track after, about, the second lunar cycle. Looks like I've got to practice with my arrow for a bit before I can be sure I don't try to kill someone again when I'm trying to stop it." I push off of the wall and stop twirling my arrow, holding it at my side.
"Then I guess you better practice. See you in the morning." He turns and leaves the room with Gamora following after looking at me for a moment. I slip my arrow in my pocket for now and lean against the wall, listening to the music that was still playing. I head into the kitchen and get a drink, leaning against the counter now as the music gets turned off.
Tony walks in and grabs a beer, offering it to me after he opens it. I take it and he grabs a second one, opening it too. He clinks his bottle against mine and takes a swig before I do the same, licking my lips with a slight grimace after I've swallowed it. "What? Can't hold Earth booze?" He scoffs and I roll my eyes, not responding. "It's a fair question. Seeing as how you're used to the space kind." He shrugs one shoulder and takes a drink of his beer.
A blonde woman comes in and had a little girl next to her. Tony smiles and sets his beer down, hugging the little girl while I watch, curious about this. "Hey, 3000, when'd you get here?"
"Mom flew us here!" He stands and hugs the blonde woman. I sit on the counter and continue to drink my beer while watching them.
"You flew here?"
"Madame Secretary wouldn't accept any other kind of transportation," She says with an eye roll and kisses him. "Morgan, come on. It's time for you to be in bed."
"OK, Mom. Night, Dad."
"Night, kiddo. See you in a few minutes, Pepper." She smiles and gently touches Morgan's shoulder. Morgan was looking at me while I was about to take a drink and I lower my bottle from my lips, looking at her.
"What's that thing on your head?"
"A fin."
"Are you a fish?"
"Nope."
"Why do you have a fin, then?"
"Why do you have hair?"
"Because it grows on my head. Does that fin grow on your head?"
"Nope."
"Then what does it have to do with my hair?"
"Just wanted to see if you could figure out how to ask any more questions after I asked one."
"I can always ask more questions. Wanna see?"
"Not particularly."
"Are you grumpy?"
"No."
"You seem grumpy."
"I'm not." I take a swig from my bottle and she looks at me. "Your Mom said you had to go to bed, so you better get going before I eat you."
"That doesn't scare me. Dad would beat you up before you could even grab me. Mom too."
"Well, can't argue with that logic. How about you go to bed because I'm tired of this conversation?"
"You're grumpy."
"Not grumpy. I've just had very little social interaction for a while."
"How long?"
"A specific length of time that you're not going to learn. Night, kid." I finish my beer and Pepper takes Morgan upstairs. Tony finishes his beer and looks at me as he throws our bottles away. I tilt my head to each side to pop my neck and pop my knuckles before hopping off of the counter.
"You gonna go to bed soon?" Steve asks from where he was leaning in the doorway of the kitchen and I look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"When did you people become my keepers?" I scoff and grab another beer, looking at Steve. "You want one, Cap?" He shakes his head and I close the fridge, noticing the bottle opener on the counter. I grab it and open the beer before taking a swig, tossing the lid on the counter with the opener. I notice that the rest of my family had gone to bed and that it was going on 2330, leaning against the counter again.
The other Avengers come in and look at me, Pepper included. "Ah, yes. Time to become a science experiment. While that sounds like a riveting experience, I'm gonna pass."
"What?" Bruce looks at me like I'm insane and I take a swig of my beer, holding the neck of the bottle between my index, middle, and ring fingers with my index and ring fingers on one side, my middle finger on the other. "It might be time for you to be cut off because that made no sense, kid." I finish my drink and toss the bottle in the garbage, looking at them for a short moment each before settling on Bruce.
"Well, there you go. I'm done drinking. Night, idiots," I head into the living room and notice a wrist com on the coffee table with a note saying that it was for me and was programmed the same way as my last one was, picking it up. I tap a few things and nod a bit, noticing the Milano outside. I go outside and board it, the only person on it. I lock it up and lay on the bunk, falling asleep after a while.