Chapter 4
I show Indri how to land and he practices it a bit by jumping off to the side of the slope. "Yeah, good job." He grins at me and I gently shove at his head, grinning behind the mask. I look around a bit and notice that we can go down further than we have been. "Alright, c'mon. We're gonna go a bit further down this time than we have been, sound good?" He nods and we continue down the slope, weaving a bit still.
"Hey! Try to catch some air using that snowbank!" He nods and does that, sticking the landing before he drifts to a stop. I drift to a stop next to him and he was radiating happiness.
"I did it!"
"Good job, kid!" I give him a fist bump and he returns it, smiling brightly.
"Come on! I wanna keep catching air!" He continues down the slope and I follow, speeding up to stay close to him. "Watch this!" He goes toward a dead tree and I get a bad feeling, following him as I notice we're reaching the treeline.
"Don't use that tree, Indri!"
"I'll be fine! I've got this!" He smiles brightly and I see something moving through the snow as I get closer, lunging at Indri's leg.
I thrust my arm out and get bit by a snake, drifting to a stop while Indri does the same. I grab the snake by the rattle on its tail and yank it off of my arm, throwing it far into the trees while I yell "Yeet, bitch!" Indri looks at my arm and I follow his gaze, seeing the snake's fangs had gotten the one patch of open skin where my sleeve had ridden up while I was thrusting my arm out. "Well, fuck. Indri, contact Krugarr and have him open a portal."
"OK." He does that and we glide through the portal, drifting to a stop at the top of the slope before I sit down.
"What happened?" May asks and I take my gloves and coat off. "What are you doing? You'll freeze!"
"Peter, get your aunt to chill out." I hadn't left my leathers on and had changed my long sleeve shirt for a T-shirt. "And get the anti-venom, for me."
"The what?" He looks at me and I blink at him, tugging the mask around my neck before moving my goggles.
"The anti-venom. For snake bites."
"There are snakes up here?" Tony asks and I pinch the bridge of my nose, counting to ten.
"There are snakes here, yes. Don't you have any anti-venom?"
"No! We never needed it because we didn't know there were snakes here!"
"Colorado has a lot of snakes. Prairie rattlesnakes chill out by the treelines of mountains and in areas below nine thousand feet because it's scared of heights. Hey, Strange," I call and he looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "You able to anti-venom for a prairie rattlesnake bite?"
"I suppose so, yes. Why?" I just motion to the bite and he nods, getting started on trying to get some. "Stay there, don't panic-"
"Don't raise my arm above my head, try to hold still, yeah, yeah. I know. You wanna just get the anti-venom?" He nods and disappears. Indri was standing off to the side a bit, watching me, and I notice. "What's up, kid?"
"Are you OK?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm good. There's a good chance that I won't die." He pales at that and I feel bad. "I'm kidding, Indri. I'll be fine. Strange just has to get me some medicine and I'll be all good. Alright?" He nods a bit and sits next to me.
"I'm sorry..." I look at him and he wasn't making eye contact with me.
"I'm gonna give you a warning now, I'm gonna be pissed off as soon as Strange gets back with that crap to fix me up before I can get fucked up. And after I'm sure you're OK. So, enjoy me not being pissed for as long as you can, because it ain't gonna be for much longer." He just nods and we sit in silence, the others looking at us.
"What's going on?" Peter asks and I glance at him.
"None of your business." Doc Strange comes through a portal with a needle and I offer him my right arm slightly, the one that I got bit in. He ties a wrap around my bicep and finds the vein.
"Your veins are very easy to find," He comments as he injects the anti-venom in and I roll my eyes. "There. You're good to go."
"Great." I unstrap my board and set it next to Peter before turning to look at Indri as I pull my coat back on. "You good? No bites or scratches?" He shakes his head as I look him over and I nod a bit. "Good... Good..." I stand and dust my pants off, pissed as Indri stands too, his board still on.
"Now... Care to explain to me... Why you didn't think to listen when I told you not to use the damned tree to catch some fucking air?" I growl and he shrugs a bit.
"I thought you were being overprotective..." He mutters and I glare at him.
"You thought I was being overprotective?" He nods a bit and I cross my arms while he kinda shifts on his board. "Take your board off and set it by mine. I don't want you taking off."
"I'm not going to take off! I'm not you!" He yells and glares at me.
"What the Hell is that supposed to mean, little man?" I growl and he tenses a bit, realizing he fucked up.
"Nothing..."
"No. What was that supposed to mean, Indri?"
"Mom and Dad told me how you'd take off when you got in trouble," He mutters and I look at him.
"Take your board off and put it by mine. Now."
"Why?"
"Because I'm older than you, your sister, your guardian, and I said so," I bark and he sits to take his board off, tossing it by mine. "And lose the attitude, kid."
"You can't just replace Mom and Dad like that! Not when you weren't even here for seven annual cycles! You shouldn't even have been able to become a Captain again!" He glares at me and I clench my fists at my sides. "What? Don't have a comeback?"
"Indri, I suggest you shut the fuck up, right now." He snaps his mouth closed with an audible click and I glare down at him. "I'm not trying to replace Dad or Gamora. I'm trying to take care of you and keep you safe like they wanted me to do if anything happened to them."
"And something did happen to them! The Kree came back for you! And you could have just gone with them! If you had, they wouldn't have grabbed me and Morgan then Mom and Dad wouldn't have had to try to save us! It's your fault they're dead!" He yells then storms off and I'm frozen, not sure how to react or respond.
Then my emotions decide for me and I go after the kid, pissed off. I grab him by the shoulder and spin him to face me, glaring harshly at him.
"You listen and you listen good, you little shit! The Kree have no sense of honor! Or any reason to stick to what they say they're going to do! They promised to let Nova Corpsmen go on with their lives then blew them up! The Kree are a bunch of lying slavers that have no regard for basic decency when it comes to the way they treat anyone! If you aren't one of them, you're fair fucking game to them! It doesn't matter how old you are! It doesn't matter how rich you are! They will beat you down until you become an empty shell that will do whatever they Hell they tell you so that you can go one solar cycle without pain across your entire fucking body!"
"Then that's your fault for being weak!" I feel rage claw up my throat and turn to punch a hole in a nearby tree instead of hitting him, making my hand bleed badly before I turn to him again. He was frozen and his eyes were wide, staring at me. I step toward him and he scrambles backward until he's behind Kraglin's legs while I smirk at him, a decent distance away from them.
"Move," I snarl and he looks at me.
"Kid, ya need ta take a walk."
"I'm fine. Now move." I notice Indri looking at someone behind him and stoop down to gather up some snow, making a snowball with a bit of difficulty. Kraglin notices and moves to the side.
"Hey!" Indri looks at Kraglin and I beam him in the face with a snowball, knocking him on his ass. "What the Hell, Rogue?" He gapes at me and I cackle.
"You should've seen your face, kid!" I grin at him and he gapes at me. "That was one of my greetings into the family. Congrats, kid, you're in." He comes over and knocks me over as he slams his body into my knees.
"You're a huge jerk!" He hits at my arm and I flip us, pinning him easily while I smirk down at him.
"Watch it, short stack. I might have to eat you." I bare my teeth at him and his eyes go comically wide again. I stand and pull him to his feet, snickering. "I'm not trying to replace anybody and the Kree would've taken you guys anyways. After killing some people and taking the rest of them as slaves. And don't call me weak again. Or else I'll show you how weak bones can be. Clear?" He nods quickly and I pat my hand against his helmet, noticing my hand was still bleeding. "Oh, right. That's a thing that happened." I flex my hand slightly and notice Tex coming over.
"Thank you for making sure I'm never bored, Cap'n," He scoffs and I roll my eyes.
"No problem, Tex. Appreciate you putting up with my bullshit."
"Good crew an' good Cap'n. Ain't even crossed my mind to leave." He fixes my hand up and Indri watches. "You gonna stick the kid in Med?"
"I'm gonna stick him in every team for a lunar cycle and, once he's been through them, he can talk to the lead of the team he worked best in."
"Do I have to go through all of the teams?"
"Yes. It'll help you learn what you need to know to be a Ravager and teach you other skills."
"Why do I need to know how to sew?"
"Being able to make tight stitches in leather will help you be able to make tight stitches in your skin. And you can fix up anything that gets fucked up on a job to keep under the radar."
"Like what?"
"If you get stabbed, they're gonna be looking for someone with bloody leathers and a hole in them. You know how to sew, you can fix your leathers to hide the hole and work around the blood situation. Luckily, blood slides right off of them." I pat Indri's head and Tex bandages my hand up.
"I'd like you to not punch any more trees, Cap. If possible?"
"I will try my absolute best, Tex. Thanks." He nods and heads off to continue whatever he was doing. I look in the sky and see that the sun had shifted remarkably since we got here, looking at the time.
"Damn, 1400 already... You hungry, kid?" He nods and goes over to May and Pepper to get some food. "Alright, then," I chuckle and make sure anyone else got food too. It was just the Avengers, May, Morgan, and my family up there, with Tex for medical emergencies.
"What is with you and hitting stuff that shouldn't be hit?" Rocket asks with a raised eyebrow and I shrug one shoulder, catching the sandwich he tosses me.
"Better than punching people, dude." I sit next to Indri and he eats his food, glancing at me.
"Why do you keep threatening to eat people?" Tony asks around a bite of his sandwich and I look at Yondu, seeing him giving Tony his knife smirk.
"Family tradition."
"It's a family tradition to threaten to eat someone in the family?" Peter gapes at me and I grin, eating the sandwich. "Who did that even start with?"
"Gramps started it with Dad, did it with me, and still does sometimes... Now it's this kid's turn."
"Why?"
"Because Gramp's crew ain't never tasted Terran before," I quote with a smirk and Yondu chuckles. "Though I guess it would be Celestial now...Hm..." I take another bite of the sandwich and notice Indri kinda looking at me. "Y'know, if ya want, Ah can strike a pose so ya can take a picture," I say around the bite and he rolls his eyes.
"You're disgusting. At least swallow your food," He grumbles and I roll my eyes, shoving him lightly. "Do you have to shove me all the time?"
"Do you have to be so shoveable all the time?"
"That's not even a word!"
"Is now."
"How is it a word?"
"Older sister magic," I say simply with a slight wiggle of my fingers in front of his face and he glares at me, hitting them away. "Ah, yes. We're going to get along great, pipsqueak."
"I am not a pipsqueak!"
"Of course not," I smirk and hold him away from me with a hand on his face easily. He bites at my arm and bites my thumb. "You little bastard!" He glares at me and I chuckle, smirking. "Oh, yeah. We're gonna get along."
"He just bit you! How in the Hell are you going to get along?" Bruce looks at me and was confused.
"He is a male, Zehoberei version of me when I was his age. Kinda. In a way." He looks more confused and I think for a moment to find the right words. "What I mean is... He reminds me of how I was when Gramps picked me up. Which is a nice and subtle way to call the kid a little asshole," I smirk at Indri and he launches himself at me, knocking us both into the snow. We tumble down the slope a bit and kinda fight.
"Gods, a bunch of idiots in this family," Aleta mutters and we both freeze, looking at her. "What?"
"You called us a family. That's a victory for me." Indri looks at me incredulously and I raise an eyebrow at him.
"How's it a victory for you? I've known her for the past seven years!"
"And I've known her for the past..." I think about that for a second and he looks at me. "Longer than that."
"Oh yeah? How long's that?" He smirks and I look at him.
"I don't know whether to be annoyed or proud of how cocky that sounds... Bit of both..."
"That didn't answer my question." I flick him in the forehead and stand, helping him up while I think.
"Let's see... I'm about thirty-two now... Met all of these nutcases when I was ten or eleven... So about twenty-one to twenty-two years."
"Wow... You're old," He smirks as he runs off and I take my boot off, beaming him in the back of the head with it. "Ouch!" He falls to the ground and glares at me, grabbing my boot. "What the Hell?"
"Now give it back." He looks at the edge of the mountain and I narrow my eyes at him. "Don't. You. Dare." He throws it over the edge and the others howl in laughter. "Oh, you dared." I take my other boot off and throw it at him, beaming him in the face. "Oh, shit! You good?" I go over to him and his nose was bleeding. "Hey, at least my aim's still good!" He throws my other boot off the edge too and I nod a bit. "Yeah... I kinda deserved that one." He goes back over and I follow, both of us sitting down.
"Ya... Ya a'ight, boy?" Yondu asks through laughter and he wipes some blood off of his nose, nodding. "Good... Yer feet cold, girl?" He cackles and I roll my eyes, sitting with my legs crossed like a pretzel in front of me.
"Nope." He laughs with the others for a bit at my misfortune and I eat my sandwich, kinda grinning.
"Here, Rogue." Jay hands me another pair of boots and I raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm always prepared. I had a second pair of boots and we wear the same size, kinda."
"No thanks."
"It's about time to head back to the cabin, anyway," May says and I raise an eyebrow at her as I finish my sandwich. "We still have to make Christmas dinner and give out gifts."
"Right, that's a thing that happens. Very good point," Indri says and stands up, done eating. "Let's go!" He shoves Jay slightly and he grabs him by the back of his collar.
"Chill, kid. We'll get back to the cabin when we get there. Shoving me around isn't going to get you there faster. Got it?" He nods and sits back down once Jay lets him go. "Good." Jay looks at me a bit and I pause in drinking from a water bottle, wiping at my mouth.
"What'd I do?"
"You going to be OK to walk down the mountain with no boots and after getting bitten by a snake?" He smirks at me and I scoff, rolling my eyes.
"Yes, Fletch, I will be able to walk down the mountain." He just smiles and I look at the straps on my board, thinking. "Hmmm..." I decide against using the snowboard without boots and notice Yondu looking around a bit.
"K, ya mind?" Krugarr shakes his head and opens a portal to the cabin, which everyone goes through with their equipment. "'Ey, Darlin'," Yondu grins at a woman with a medical symbol on her arm and they kiss while Indri runs into the kitchen, wanting to help the others with Christmas Dinner. I look at her while I put my snowboarding gear up and see that it was a species that had four arms. A Kivax, I think. She sees me looking at her as she pulls away while I pull my leather jacket on then my rocket boots and kneel to lace them up.
I take the damned helmet off last and set it near the rest of the gear before I stand, making eye contact with her. "You must be Rogue."
"You must be Yondu's woman."
"Yes." I look her up and down and say nothing, just wanting to watch her squirm. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine."
"Girl. Be nice."
"I am being very nice."
"You sound more sarcastic than I do, kid," Rocket points out and that was true. I shrug one shoulder and look at her still. She clears her throat awkwardly and I smirk slightly, going over to her. I circle her once and she watches me with her eyes.
"Um, what's she doing, Yondu?" He shrugs and I stop in front of her, looking down at her. "What was that about?"
"Making sure Yondu hasn't bitten you."
"Well, not where one could see currently," She says with a smirk and a blush, making Yondu blush purple. I laugh and grin at her.
"I like you already. Good to meet you." I offer her my hand and she shakes it. "How long have you known the blue idiot?"
"A few years. Kraglin and the crew helped us get together." I smirk at Yondu and he kinda glares at me.
"To a couple of idiots realizing they love each other." He tries to hit me in the head and I dodge it, leaning back while I chuckle.
"What?" She looks at me in confusion and I grin.
"Most couples in this family are a bunch of idiots when it comes to love. It takes us years to realize it. You guys probably took the least amount of time but the most amount of effort from the people around you." She chuckles a bit and nods. "Did they tie you up and leave you in his quarters? Or on his M-ship?" She blushes and I grin, dodging an attack from Yondu easily.
"Now... Did you two get back together yet?" I ask the Ogords and Yondu stops attacking me to look shocked.
"Nuh-uh. Ah ain't gittin' in the way 'a this." He moves and leads his woman out of the way too.
"Why do you care?" Aleta asks and I look at her.
"Because it's obvious you two still at least like the other one. Even if the circumstances surrounding you two breaking up were rough."
"And what do you know about those?" Stakar growls and I realize I fucked up. Too far to back down now. Damn.
"More than you think I do." He advances and I watch him closely, eye level with him now. Took long enough.
"And how's that?" He snarls and I notice his hands in fists at his sides.
"The Kree like to gloat," I say carefully and dodge the punch he throws at me. Damn, he's fast for his age!
He gets a punch to my gut in and that knocks all of the air out of my body but I stay standing out of sheer stubbornness. He swings at me again and I catch his hand, looking at him. "I chose the wrong time to bring it up. I'm sorry. But, now's not the best place or the best time for you to show how displeased you are about my timing," I say softly and he looks at me, realizing I'm right.
"This isn't over."
"Wouldn't dream of this being the end of it, Stakar," I say with a slight bow of my head while I let go of his hand to show respect and he turns.
Once he's out of the room, I sit on the stairs and breathe slowly for a moment. "That looked painful," Yondu's woman says helpfully and I don't respond for a moment.
"What in all of the Hells is Stakar's hand made out of? Gods..." I stand once I have a handle on the pain and reflexively brush my hands against my legs, still getting used to the fact that I have more clothes than I was used to. Indri comes back in and comes over to me. "What?"
"You can dance?" He sounds so shocked and I'm slightly hurt by that.
"Yes, I can dance."
"And you haven't shown off yet?" I roll my eyes and he looks at me. "Aren't you gonna show off?"
"Nope."
"Why not? Loki said you were good at it and Thor backed him up!"
"Want to know a good thing about being older than you and your Captain?"
"What?"
"It means that I don't have to explain myself to you. So drop it."
"Come on! Don't be so boring! I want to see you dance!"
"Indri!" I bark and he looks at me, shutting up. "I said no and that's final. Drop it or else I'll drop-kick you. Got it?"
"Yeah," He mutters and goes back into the kitchen. I notice the others looking at me and Jay raises an eyebrow at me.
"What?"
"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Yondu's woman asks and I look at her.
"Don't you think you should mind your own business?"
"'Ey, don'cha talk ta Lumes tha' way, kid!" Kraglin growls and I growl wordlessly at him.
"I'm going for a walk," I say simply and walk out of the door after turning on my heel as I grab my warm coat, slamming the door behind me before walking into the woods. I practice with my arrow as I walk and just let my feet lead me wherever I'm going.
I end up at the graveyard and pull the hood of my coat up, going over to Mom's grave. I crouch down in front of it and wipe the snow off of it, looking at it closely. I gently brush my fingers along it and say nothing.