Chapter 3
I wake to sunlight streaming through the windshield and squint, covering my eyes as I sit up. I turn away from the windshield and look at my wrist com, seeing it should still be dark out since it's 0345.
There's suddenly a huge ruckus going on outside and I get off of the M-ship quickly, grabbing a large blaster that's laying near the door to get planetside as I do.
The Kree are there and there's a huge fight going on between everyone. I see Dad and Gamora are shielding the way up the stairs to where the kids are and they see me. I put the butt of the blaster on my shoulder and look through the sights, aiming at some Kree before blasting their heads off.
"22-3-16, if you surrender now, we will leave the planet peacefully and not injure anyone else," Someone from a hovering ship says over the speakers and I flip them off before I continue to blast Kree. "Then you leave us no choice. Get the children." I see a window open and two Kree come out, dragging Indri and Morgan with them. I aim at them and they use the kids as shields. "If you shoot my soldiers, the children will fall and possibly die on impact with the ground," The Kree says helpfully and none of the Avengers were able to get to any of their weapons other than Thor with his hammer. "What will it be, 22-3-16? Surrender or watch as we turn the defenseless children into a battle slave and a breeder?"
I look through the sights for a moment longer and lower the blaster. Something hits me across the back of my neck and I growl loudly as shocks go through my entire body before I fall to my knees on the ground. "For the death of your Master, the deaths of other Kree slave Masters, and the escape of numerous battle slaves, you are sentenced to death." I feel a blade to my neck and see Indri and Morgan get dragged toward a ship while the others are trapped, unable to get to them right now.
Dad and Gamora jump over their obstacles and run toward them only to get blaster fire in their chest. "Mom! Dad!" Indri screams and I watch as Dad falls to the ground.
"Your turn," The blade leaves my neck and I grab snow in my hand, turning to throw it in their faces. "Ack!" I feel anger course through my veins and trees come closer, grabbing the Kree that was going to kill me. Indri and Morgan get dragged onto a ship and I open my hand at it. Trees wrap branches around it and keep it from being able to take off. I go over and see that Dad and Gamora were dead as I crouch next to them, eyes staring at nothing while their hands were interlaced. I close their eyes and stand, looking to see what was blocking the Avengers and other Ravager's ways.
A ship, huh? I open my hands and tree branches wrap around it, lifting it out of the way as I go toward the ship with my brother on it. "Get that damned door off," I growl and the branches worm their way between the door crevice and the frame of the ship, prying it open before I board it.
"Rogue!" Indri yells and I see him in a circle of Kree, holding onto Morgan to keep her safe. "Help us!" I growl at the Kree and slip into a sort of survival mode, mainly pissed off.
"Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to!" They both close their eyes and the Kree attack me. I fight them and get an electric thing from them, using it on them as I break their skulls.
"Rogue?" Indri calls and I can hear the fear in his voice, fighting harder against the Kree as I get more pissed off.
"Hang on, buddy!" Someone hits me across the back with a whip and I snarl, turning as they swing it at me again. I catch it and yank them forward, throwing them into a bunch of other Kree. That takes care of those.
"Can we open our eyes now?" Morgan asks and I go over to them, grabbing their shoulders gently.
"Just one more second," I say gently and see the Kree starting to get up as Tony, Pepper, and Steve appear in the doorway. "OK, open your eyes and run to those three, don't look back. Indri, stay with Steve. I'll be there soon." They do as I tell them and I tackle a Kree that tries to grab Morgan. "You aren't getting anyone else in my family, you fuckers!" I snarl and take the blaster from their side, blasting all of them.
Once they're all dead, I get off the ship and Indri hugs me immediately. "Mom and Dad..." He cries and I crouch to hug him properly.
"I know... I've got you, kid brother..." I hold him close and his arms wrap around my neck tightly. "It'll be OK..." He cries into my shoulder and I hold him tightly, kneeling.
Someone starts to clap and I stand, putting Indri behind me as I whirl to face them. I tense as I see a Kree Ruler, who happens to be Tressit's older brother, Stisseals, clapping as he gets off of a ship just landing and he looks at me. "I can see why my brother was so interested in you now, 22-3-16."
"Why do they keep calling you a bunch of numbers?" Indri asks softly and I keep him behind me as I back up a couple of steps, wanting to keep distance between us. Each step I take, he takes one to keep us close to each other and he stops about two feet in front of me.
"22-3-16 is one of the best battle slaves my brother ever had. Seven years and no losses. Until yesterday. Isn't that right?" I clench my jaw and the others were watching the interaction. "Where is that demeanor that the Centaurian and runaway Skrull slave taught you?" He smirks at me and I hold an electric stick against my forearm, hiding it from his view. He presses something and shocks go through my entire arm, radiating to my entire body afterward.
I grunt softly and move the stick so that I don't get shocked while he smirks, leaning over to look at Indri. "Oh? Is that why you aren't attacking?" I throw the stick at his face and he catches it only to get a kick to the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. He wipes at his face and gets impaled by tree branches before all of the other Kree do too, except for the one who killed Dad and Gamora. They get grabbed by tree branches and dragged over to me.
"You filthy, ungrateful slave! Release me this instant!" She snarls and spits in my face. I wipe it off and look at Indri.
"Indri, this person killed Dad and Gamora. What do you think should happen to them?" He looks at her and she looks at him. He smiles and she relaxes as he looks at me.
"Kill her."
"What?" She screeches and I whistle sharply, my arrow going through her throat. She won't die immediately and I undo the branches holding her so that she falls to the ground before I have branches cover her so Morgan doesn't have to watch her bleed to death.
Indri and I go over to Dad and Gamora and everyone in our family and the Avengers had gathered around them to look down at them. Indri kneels between them and I kneel next to him as he hangs his head a bit. "They died trying to save me and Morgan..."
"Yeah, they did."
"Why would they do that?" He looks at me and I look at Dad and Gamora then at him.
"Because they're your parents. And parents are supposed to protect their kids, no matter what. Even if it kills them. They were being good parents to you." He scrubs a hand across his cheeks and I pull him close with an arm around his shoulders. "It'll be alright," I whisper and he wraps his arms around my neck again.
"Now what do I do? What do we do?" He sniffles and I rub his back gently, thinking.
"Now... We take it one step and one day at a time. When we leave Terra, you're gonna come with me."
"What about Drax, Rocket, Mantis, and Groot?" I look at the other Guardians and they were each looking at their fallen teammates, looking at me when they hear Indri ask the question.
"They can come if they want to."
"Why can't I stay with them? I don't even know you that well..."
"Dad wanted you to come with me if anything happened to him and Gamora. But, I don't think he knew it was going to happen so soon." He lets go of me and I offer him a rag from my pocket so he can wipe his face off. He takes it and does that while I wipe my jacket off from the blood of the Kree, his tears, and snot.
"Why you, though?"
"Kid, if I had any clue about that, I'd let you in on it. Dad had always been weird like that." He shrugs a bit and tries to give me back the rag. "You hold onto it."
"But your nose is bleeding." I put my hand to my nose and come back with an insane amount of blood, taking another rag out of my pocket. "Why do you keep rags in your pocket?"
"Huh. So it is." I press the rag to my nose to catch the blood and look at Indri. "It's easier to keep blood inside you when you have something that soaks it up and keeps it from getting on the floor or the ground." He shivers a bit and I stand, pulling him to his feet while keeping the rag pressed to my nose to catch the blood. "Let's get you inside." I lead him inside and we both sit in front of the fire next to Morgan.
"What happened to your nose?"
"No clue."
"Is it bleeding?"
"Yup."
"Oh. My Dad made hot chocolate."
"Cool. You think he'd give some to Indri?" Tony comes in and hands a mug to Indri, setting one in front of me.
"What happened to you?"
"Apparently I get nose bleeds now."
"Huh. Good luck with that."
"Yeah, thanks." Indri drinks his hot chocolate and watches me as I check to see if my nose is still bleeding, which it was. "What the Hell is happening?" I press the rag to my nose again and he leans against my side slightly.
"Is your ship nice?" He asks and I wrap an arm around his shoulders, watching the fire.
"Last time I saw it, yeah. It's nice."
"Is it big?"
"Pretty big, yeah. Most Ravager ships are."
"Cool. Like Grampa Yondu's ship?"
"Yeah, like Yondu's ship. Mines better, though. Don't tell him I said that, either," I whisper and he smiles a bit, kinda laughing. I smile and check to see if my nose was still bleeding. "Finally..." I mutter and put the rag up to figure out what to do with it later.
"How ya doin', girl?" Yondu asks as he comes in and I shrug slightly.
"Not dead yet." He rolls his eyes with a scoff and I take a sip of the hot chocolate Tony gave me.
"Tha' was somethin' else with 'em trees, girl." I shrug one shoulder and drink the hot chocolate, leaning against a wall. "Ya gave Twig a run fer 'is units," He smirks and I roll my eyes, finishing the hot chocolate. Indri leans against me and I keep him close to me, looking to see he fell asleep. "'Ere, Ah can take 'im ta bed," He says as he comes over and tries to grab Indri.
"No." He stops and looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "I've got him." He nods and sits on the couch across from the fireplace, keeping an eye on us. Pepper comes over and picks the sleeping Morgan up, carrying her upstairs to bed. I close my eyes as I rest my head against the wall and hold Indri close to my side, silently vowing to protect him until my last breath while almost everyone else goes to bed.
The Captains and First Mates in my family stay in the living room with the rest of the Guardians and Kraglin sits on my right, where Indri is, while Rocket sits on my left, probably thinking I was asleep. "You four idiots coming with me when we leave?" I ask and feel Rocket jump slightly as I rest my hand on his head.
"Yeah... We are..." He doesn't move my hand and I stroke his ears gently for a moment, opening my eyes. "Quill and Gamora were fucking idiots..."
"I am Groot," Groot says from where he was sitting in front of me and I notice he finally wasn't playing on his damned game.
"Yeah, yeah. They were just the first ones to get over the crap in the way," Rocket mutters and I smooth my hand over Indri's hair when he starts to stir.
"Shhh... You're OK..." I murmur and he settles back into a peaceful sleep.
"Yer good with 'im, kid." I shrug and he wraps his arm around my waist in his sleep, using it to burrow closer to my side. "An' he seems ta like ya," Kraglin chuckles and I rest my head against the wall again, trying to sort through everything that has happened in the past two solar cycles. "Ya a'ight, kid?"
"Mmm... Working on getting my brain to process everything... Which is proving to be difficult, to say the least..." I rub my temples with my left hand and drag my hand down my face after a moment. "Seven years... Nice... Moving past that... Huge fight on Terra... Come close to getting my head cut off... Didn't happen... Yay... Rescued... Yipee... Kree comes back... Tried to kill me again... Also didn't happen... Tried to take Indri and Morgan... Dad and Gamora get killed... Kree get killed in retaliation..."
"And what are you learning from this?" Rocket scoffs and I look at the ceiling.
"That these are all factors in the mental breakdown I'm currently going through. Whoo-hoo! Forgot how much fun those were! Yay!" I laugh and they look at me, worried. The laughs break off into a scoff and I rub the back of my neck. "Dad was an annoying asshole."
"Yeah, he was..." Rocket looks at his paws and looked miserable. "Super annoying..."
"And an imbecile who risked his life for his music," Drax adds and I scoff, smiling a bit.
"Not even surprised."
"And the idiot who told the Blue Idiot his location to save the Green Idiot..." I chuckle softly and gently run my hair over Indri's hair.
"And one of the first people to bitch at me whenever I'd say something about you or Yondu," Stakar adds from a chair and I smile a bit.
"I guess he was an OK Dad, then. When he wasn't being a jackass, that is." Yondu scoffs at that and I look at the time, seeing it's 0500 now. "Gotta admit... It's gonna be nice to not get woken up by Dad being loud as Hell."
"Oh, that hasn't been Quill's thing in a few years. It's been Indri's," Rocket tells me and I laugh a bit, rolling my eyes.
"Of course it has. At sunrise?" He nods and I look out a window, thinking. "Probably have two hours until then. Maybe more, maybe less." I shrug a bit and lean my head against the wall, closing my eyes to rest for now while I keep Indri close to me.
"Well, tomorrow ya git ta meet m'woman, girl."
"Can't wait, Gramps."
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I wake to a knock on the front door and a hand in my face, squishing it. "Rogue! Wake up! It's Christmas!"
"I'm well aware of the date, kid," I scoff as I remove his hand and Yondu lets in a woman with long brown hair Peter comes in and hugs her.
"Hey, Aunt May!" He smiles at her and she smiles back, hugging him back. I look at them as I stand and stretch, regretting sleeping the way I did already. May was looking at me and I look back at her.
"'Sup?" I lift my hand slightly in greeting and she smiles at me.
"Hi." She looks at Peter and he smiles. "Is she going to be joining us on the slopes?"
"On the what?" I look at all of them and Indri jumps a bit. "What am I missing?"
"A new tradition. We're in the mountains of Colorado, dude! We ski and snowboard!" Peter explains, smiling brightly, and I nod a bit.
"Well... Y'know, I'd love to... But, I don't have skis or a snowboard! So, guess I'll just have to stay here!" I shrug and Bucky shows off a snowboard from the side of the stairs.
"Tony had it designed for you and got it delivered last night," He explains and I give him a thumbs-up.
"Wha'? Ya scared, kid?" Kraglin smirks at me and I roll my eyes, taking the board from Bucky.
"I do not get scared. Where's the rest of the equipment?" He points to a box and I go over to it, crouching to look in it. I see all of the equipment I need and even a specific helmet for me. "Thanks, Stark."
"No problem, Katniss," He smirks and I roll my eyes slightly.
"How'd you get my sizes?"
"Took a body scan when we saw you in that fight."
"Creepy, but cool." He shrugs one shoulder and I put the stuff back in the box, for now, laying the board on top of it. Someone whistles from the kitchen and I head that way with Indri, seeing Yondu, Stakar, Aleta, and Martinex dishing food out. "You guys know how to cook?"
"No. A couple of the cooks on the crews cooked, we're helping dish it out," Martinex explains and I nod, taking the plates he gives me. "For you and Indri." I nod and Indri sits down before I give him his plate, putting mine next to it. He starts eating and I give him some juice while I get myself a mug of coffee.
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We go to the top of the mountain that Tony, Pepper, and James had deemed safe once everyone has eaten and Pepper and Aunt May make a basket of food. Indri puts on the equipment that he hadn't put on at the cabin and I do the same, sitting on the slope next to him as I strap my feet onto the board, my helmet already on with the goggles. "Is your fin gonna be safe in that?" Indri asks and I shrug, not sure.
"Won't know until we try, right?" He nods with a smile and I pull my mask up, covering the rest of my face since I'm strapped onto my board. Bucky slows to a stop in front of us and pulls both of us up, giving me his metal hand.
"Think you can keep up?" He asks, smirk evident in his voice, and I pop my knuckles slightly, a little nervous. "You know what to do?" I shrug and he looks at me before explaining the finer points of snowboarding while I listen. Indri does too, wanting to wait for me, and the other start snowboarding and skiing.
"Alright, it's on you, now." He gives me a slight push and I start going down the slope, feeling at home right now. Indri was managing to keep up, my mirrored image, and I smile.
"Wanna see something cool?" I holler and he nods. "Watch this!" I steer toward a snowbank and put more weight on my lead foot as I bend forward slightly, gaining speed.
"Be careful, Rogue!" Someone yells and I hit the snowbank, catching air. I do a flip and land a bit past it before I drift to a stop.
"Hell yeah!" I laugh and punch a fist in the air while Indri drifts to a stop next to me. "So, what'd you think?"
"That was awesome!" He laughs and I give him a high five. "Uncle K has a portal open so we can end up back at the top!" He points at it and I nod.
"C'mon, then!" We move to be going back down the slope and drift to a stop at the top after going through Krugarr's portal.
"I thought you didn't know how to snowboard!" Bucky accuses and I lift the goggles to look at him, moving the mask down.
"I didn't say I didn't know how to. Just that I didn't have a snowboard."
"Where'd you learn to catch air like that?"
"My sister, Keiko. Every year, she'd scrape together the money to get me a new board or new equipment cuz our grandparents would destroy mine from the year before. She'd bring me up here and we'd practice for most of the winter break." I smile a bit and look at Indri, seeing him look at me. "And it makes it better that I get to do it with my kid brother, too." He smiles at me and I put my stuff back where it goes, gently shoving at his head.
"Catch me if you can, old lady!" He goes down the slope and I scoff, following him after a few moments.
"I'll show you old, you little shit!" I weave around trees and rocks, using some snowbanks and dead trees to catch air cuz it's cool.
"Are you even trying?" He laughs and I bend forward a bit, gaining more speed to catch up with him.
"'Sup, little brother?" He laughs and I reach out to tag his arm. "Caught you!" I look ahead and he does too, both of us trying to hurry to a stop while we curse loudly.
We had veered off course during the race and were heading toward a cliff. I stop and he slides into me, knocking us both to the ground. I hold him and turn my board slightly so we stop moving, stopping on the edge of the cliff. He tries to climb back up and I help him, throwing him back up toward a tree. He grabs it and pulls himself to be behind it.
"Rogue, come on!" He hisses and I roll over to crawl that way, my board slipping over before I follow. "Rogue!" I grab the edge and pant a bit, thinking as I see the cliff drop down to a frozen pond. "Tony!"
"I'm fine, Indri! Calm down!" I holler and grab the edge with my other hand, trying to find something to grab onto so I can pull myself up. I get to my elbows and see Indri trying to come over. "No! Stay right there!" He stays and I notice Thor, Tony, Steve, and Bucky coming over. Thor throws his hammer and it lands in front of me where I can grab it.
"Pull yourself up using that! I doubt that you are still worthy!"
"Thanks, Thor!" I grab the handle and try to pull myself up only to move the hammer, starting to slide off the edge. "Shit!" I throw Thor the hammer and grab onto a loose rock to stop myself from falling to my death. Bucky comes over and pulls me the rest of the way up.
"You good?" I nod and pat his shoulder slightly in thanks, going over to Indri to check him over. He hugs me as soon as he's sure I won't fall again and I let him, wrapping my arms around him a bit.
"I'm sorry! If I hadn't slid into you, this wouldn't have happened!" I pull him away and take my board off to crouch comfortably in front of him so we're eye-level.
"Hey, it's alright. We veered off course while we were screwing around. We had a clear path and didn't realize we screwed up. Mainly me, though, cuz I should've been paying attention. Look, point is, it isn't your fault, alright? We're both fine, right?" He nods and I gently pat him over, which he permits. "See? We're all good. Gramps is bound to be pissed we went off course and almost fell to our deaths..." He looks scared and I redirect the conversation.
"Almost doesn't count!" He looks at me with narrowed eyes and I grin a bit. "It doesn't!"
"Grampa Yondu isn't going to see it that way! He's gonna eat us!"
"Let me worry about Gramps. And I lived this long without getting eaten. We'll be fine." He looks at me skeptically and I pat his arms gently. "Trust me. Let me worry about Gramps, alright?"
"Alright..." I pat his shoulder and stand, grabbing my board. "How are you gonna deal with him?"
"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it, alright?" Tony says something to someone and a portal opens before we go through it.
"Wha' the Hell is wrong with the two 'a yas? Don'cha know how ta follow a damned path?" Yondu yells at us as soon as we're through it and the others avoid us, knowing better than to get between a yelling match.
"That's on me. I should've been paying attention. That's my bad, Gramps. We're sorry."
"Damn right it is, girl! We a'ready lost yer Daddy an' his Momma! Don'cha dare make us hafta send tha' boy into the stars too, girl," He snarls and I clench my fist slightly.
"I already admitted I screwed up!"
"We almost died, why are you yelling at us?" Indri asks and Yondu glares at me.
"Ya wha'?" He bellows and I wince slightly at the volume while Indri jumps, hiding behind me.
"Almost doesn't count! We're fine!"
"He ain't lookin' fine, girl!"
"That's because you're screaming at us and scaring him! We get it! We fucked up by not paying attention! What the Hell do you want us to say? We already apologized!" I yell back and Kraglin looks surprised from where he was standing off to the side with Senso. Indri looks at me and I take a deep breath to calm down. "We're sorry and we'll pay better attention, alright?"
"Ya betta," He growls and looks at both of us before walking away, not skiing or snowboarding right now.
"That was you taking care of it?" Indri hisses at me and I shrug a bit, patting his shoulder. "Can we keep going for a bit longer?"
"Sure, kid. Let me get my board back on, alright?" He nods and waits for me while I strap my feet back onto the board, sitting next to a tree so I can use that to stand.
"Ready?" I pull my mask back up then settle my goggles back over my eyes and we drift down the slope together after I give him a thumbs up. I weave around as we go down and he does too, trying to catch some air.
He doesn't stick the landing and tumbles before he can drift to a stop while I do the same, looking at him. "You good?" He nods and I help him up. "You caught some good air, though. Just got to work on the landing." He nods and we continue down the slope, staying on the path this time.