Chapter 32
"How'd you know it wasn't your mother?" Doc asks and I look at the corpse still.
"From what Keiko told me. Mom didn't swear." I look at the weapon and flip the safety on then unloading it, letting the ammunition fall into my hand. "Want a weapon to study?" I offer Rocket and he takes it, looking it over.
"Looks simple, like all of the other weapons on this rock."
"Tell me about it."
"What are you planning to do with the body?" I look at it and focus for a moment before the ground opens beneath it, allowing it to fall in before the ground closes above it again. "That works. What now?"
"Back to the cabin." I lead the way and Loki falls into step next to me after a moment. "Yeah?"
"Are you alright?" I don't respond for a moment and he waits.
"No. But, I should be at some point." He nods slightly and I continue to walk through the trees.
We go into the cabin and the kids run off to do whatever. "Rogue." I look at Martinex and he tosses me a bag. I open it and notice a bunch of books in it.
"'Preciate it, Sparkles." He nods and I sit in a chair, setting the bag next to it as I grab a book.
"You like to read?"
"Yes, Peter. I enjoy reading."
"You never do, though."
"Because I'm always busy doing something else. I read in my Quarters after I've worked."
"Yeah, speaking of which. When am I going to get those books back?"
"Oh, you want those back?"
"Yeah," He scoffs and I think for a moment. "Have you finished reading them?"
"Yeah. I've had them for a while."
"You have had them for a lunar cycle, Rogue," Loki points out and sets Quill on the floor by her siblings to play before coming to sit on the arm of the chair, looking at the book I had. "And you go through them quickly. Often tending to read them a second time instead of returning them to Martinex. What is this one about?"
"You'd be able to read it if you practiced Standard. Or used your visor."
"Can you read Standard without your glasses or visor?"
"Yes."
"Do it, then," Charlie says and I look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Prove that you have the right to talk shit like that." I take my glasses off and start to read the book. "Read it out loud."
"Seriously?" He nods and I roll my eyes slightly, reading a passage aloud. "Happy?" He nods and I put my glasses back on, continuing to read while Loki sits on the arm of the chair. "And I can give you back your books before we leave."
"Wait, so he's 'ow ya 'ad all 'a those books when ya was a lil' 'un?" Yondu asks and I glance at him, putting my finger in the top of the book to hold my place as I close it.
"Yes. And why does that matter? I would read them when I was done with my training, chores, and any work I had in the hangar so they never got in the way of doing the stuff I needed to do. Well, other than sleeping... But that doesn't count." Yondu rolls his eyes and I look at him. "Name the three places you'd see me the most on the Eclector from being ten to twenty-two."
"Huh?"
"What three places of the ship would you be more likely to see me in?"
"The Hangar, gym, an' Med."
"I was not in Med that often."
"Mess."
"That's more accurate."
"And you were in Med quite often." I look at Doc and they hand me a holopad of records. "You were in Med at least once a lunar cycle. The visits were not usually..."
"Due to self-inflicted injuries?" Loki provides and Doc nods slightly.
"Yes... They were usually due to other things. Such as the time you believed it would be a good time to risk the deep rather than wait for a rescue team on the planet."
"Because I got put in a fight to the death against a huge guy. And it was fine." There's a knock on the door and I look at it along with everyone else. "Tony, is that your guy?"
"No. My guy has a key, only knocks on the back door, and calls ahead of time." He does a few things and we can see who it is on the other side of the door. I recognize the face, despite how long it's been since I've seen them, and tense.
"Ain't tha'-" Kraglin cuts himself off when he sees my face, which had gone pale, and looks at me closely. "Kid. Ya a'ight?" I nod slightly and the knock comes again as a pound, making me flinch.
"Let me in, Andrea! You fucking ungrateful brat!"
"Who is that?" Peter asks and I clench the book slightly to get my hands to stop shaking from all of the memories that are flooding my head.
"A kid tha' was walkin' with 'er tha' day," Kraglin explains and I stand, setting the book on the table. "Kid?"
"H-H-He..." I take a deep but short breath and try speaking again. "He's a relative of Keiko that got adopted by the ones who sold me to the Skrull for liquor. So, he's my uncle..."
"Why was 'e walkin' ta anotha 'ouse?"
"He was going to a friend's house... Where he spent most of his time... He's the one that gave me a lot of my issues..."
"Then you don't have to face him," Tony says simply and I keep my gaze locked on the door as he pounds on it more.
"I wish it were that simple. I forgot he was even around and that he knew where this place was 'till he showed up." I go over to the door and open it after pulling a hoodie on. "Hey, Kevin. Been a while." He slides his other hand out of his pocket and punches me in the chest with brass knuckles on, making me stumble back a couple of steps with a grunt. "Good to see you too." He grabs my hoodie and pulls my face to his level before punching me just as he lets me go. I fall on my ass and wipe at my mouth, noticing a glass liquor bottle in his pocket. "Yeah, brass knuckles and glass bottles were always your go-to weapons, weren't they? Those and-" He kicks me in the chin and sends me sprawling on my back.
"And there are the steel-toes." I see his boots walking toward me and slip slightly into survival mode. I roll away and end in a crouch, looking at him. "I prefer keeping my teeth in my mouth and my tongue intact."
"I don't care, freak!"
"Wow. Hurtful." He throws the bottle at me and I duck to the side, allowing it to slam into the wall behind me. "Children are playing. Watch what you're doing, will ya?"
"Good. Need a new punching bag," He sneers with a smirk and I feel my shoulders tense while he walks closer to me. "My old one ran off for twenty-four years and got my parents and her sister killed. Told them they should have just accepted the money and meet the buyers in a field, not the house."
"What?"
"What? Did you think Mom and Dad were smart enough to get into contact with someone willing to buy someone as useless as you? If they were, they wouldn't have ever gotten stuck with you in the first place." He suddenly pulls out a gun and levels it at my head before changing his mind, pointing it at Gamora as I stand. "She looks a lot like you. At least she still has her hair." He pets it and she jerks away. He grabs a handful of her hair and she shrieks as he pulls her back toward him, gun pressed against her temple. "She yours? I guess someone finally found a use for you," He smirks and I clench my hands into fists.
"Mom..."
"Shh, shh. She can't help you. She's useless. She will watch you die before she could do anything. Because that's what she was taught to do. Ain't that right, Andrea?" I feel everyone's eyes on me and he smirks coldly. "She's also supposed to be in a certain position. She should probably get in it before I have to hurt you. Shouldn't you?" I don't move and he narrows his eyes at me, yanking Gamora's hair harshly.
"OW!" She gets tears in her eyes and I step toward him, freezing when he points the gun at me.
"Ah, ah, ah! Don't be stupid. Well... Anymore stupid than you already are," He smirks and barely moves the gun toward the floor. I look down slightly and had my hands clenched in tight fists. "Position, Andrea."
"Kevin..."
"Yes?"
"Fuck you," I snarl as I look at him, eyes glowing slightly with my implant, and he looks terrified as I stalk toward him, pissed. "I am not that kid anymore. You are not bigger than me or stronger than me anymore. You are the nastiest, cruelest, horrid, most awful, horrible person I have ever known and I take joy in the fact that you are going to burn and rot in Hell alongside your parents for everything you've ever done. You feed off of people's fear and insecurities so that you can make yourself feel good. You should have been thrown in jail or killed a long time ago." He had dropped Gamora and stepped backward until he was pinned against the wall. I pull Gamora off of the floor and put her behind me as I continue to stalk toward Kevin.
"At least I didn't get Katie killed, Andrea! That was you!"
"NO! That was you that killed Keiko! You are the one who got them into contact with the people who killed her! You and your parents killed her! I am sick and tired of having to feel guilty for something that was never my fault!"
"You caused the accident!"
"The people who killed Keiko caused it! I was three! I had an entire town making my life a living Hell for seven fucking years! I did nothing to deserve anything you jackasses did to me!" I slam my fist through the wall by his head and he jumps, looking at me as I grab him by the front of his clothes. "Get out of my fucking house and never come back. If I ever see your ugly mug again, I won't hesitate to kill you. Are we clear?" He nods and I take my fist out of the wall before throwing him away from me toward the door. "Then get out." He runs out and I look at Gamora.
"Mom...?" She takes a step back and was focused on my face. "Your eyes are glowing... M-Maybe calm down a bit?" I close my eyes and take a deep breath before opening them again, raising an eyebrow. She relaxes a bit and I go over to her, running my fingers through her hair gently.
"You OK?"
"Yeah... Are, um... Are you?" She hugs me and I hug her back, brushing her hair away from her face. "Mom?"
"I'm not sure yet, kiddo... I do know that I'm glad you're OK." She hugs me tighter and I let her for a moment longer. "Alright, let me go and go back to whatever you were doing." She nods and goes to do that as I pull the hoodie off.
"Ya a'ight, Girl? Yer lip's bleedin'." I wipe the corner of my mouth with my thumb and shrug one shoulder.
"Always seem to be bleeding," I scoff and look at the mess of the glass bottle, rubbing the back of my neck slightly.
"Tha' the kid who gave ya tha' scar, Kid?"
"He's the one that gave me most of them, along with his parents. Peter, you mind getting the garbage and vacuum?"
"On it." He goes to get it and I pick up Quill before she can cut her hands or feet on the glass, setting her back down by the other kids.
"Keep her over here for a bit."
"Need any help?"
"Nah." I go back over to the mess and crouch down, cleaning it up as a way to ground myself back in the here and now.
"Here. There isn't a vacuum here." I dump the big pieces in the garbage and look around a bit, grabbing a rug to cover it up. "Seriously?"
"No vacuum means I can't pick up the tiny pieces that could still get stuck in someone's skin. The rug covers the area and the tiny pieces. It's fine."
"OK..." I stand and go back over to my chair.
"Your book." Loki holds it out to me and I sit, feeling exhausted right now. I take the book and continue to read it, resting my right ankle on my left knee so the book can rest against them.
My mind drifts off while I'm reading and I rub my neck slightly, thinking about something. "If we're gonna visit this place more than once an annual cycle, we should seriously visit during different seasons."
"What?" I look at Stakar and notice he was slightly confused, closing the book on my finger.
"Yeah. There are four. Winter, spring, summer, and autumn, or fall because the leaves fall during it and Americans think they're smart."
"Which one of those are we in now?"
"Winter. Spring is when flowers bloom and the trees grow back the leaves. Summer is, well... Summer. Autumn is when everything starts to die again. And winter is where everything is dead and cold."
"What one should we visit during, then?"
"Well... Spring and autumn can be kind of unpredictable with the weather since it can be hot one day and cold the next. Summer would be best, I guess. Because the weather is usually a steady temperature of heat."
"However, people do tend to get more..."
"Ignorant? Stupid? Idiotic?"
"Yes. They tend to get more all of those during summer because of the heat and especially around the Fourth of July with fireworks," Loki reminds me and I nod slightly.
"Fair point. Luckily, we're away from most of civilization. It takes an hour to get into town, even going a hundred in that truck. Which probably needs gas..."
"Oh, I got it fixed up a while back, including filling it up," Tony says and I nod a bit.
"What the Hell are fireworks?" Gamora asks and I look at her, thinking a bit.
"They're like bombs and guns rolled into one, I guess."
"And people mess with them?" She looked terrified and I shrug.
"Yeah. It's the same as with a blaster, kid. You know how to use one so it's safe, right?"
"Yeah, I guess..."
"If people know how to use fireworks and not be a dumbass with them, then it's safe. Last I knew, a baseball park in town sets off fireworks after the games for a week straight. Would always get annoying to listen to after a while... It does look cool, though..."
"You got anything against leaving and coming back around that time, then?"
"Fine by me." I stand and Loki whistles to get the kid's attention. They look at him and he picks Quill up.
"Time to go."
"But we just got here," Kruthin argues and crosses his arms.
"Kruthin. Let's go," I say simply as I grab the bag of books and he pouts, getting up to storm outside. He slams the door behind him and I sling the bag over my shoulder. "Petey, will you get your brother on the ship?"
"Sure." He goes to get him and leaves the door open this time. The other kids get up without an argument and head toward the ship with the rest of the crew.
"Put me down, Pete," Kruthin yells and I see Petey carrying him over his shoulder back toward the cabin.
"If I do, are you going to run again?" There's no response and I notice Kruthin start to pound his fists on Petey's back. "K, stop that."
"Then put me down and stop being a jerk!" Petey puts him down and grabs his shoulders, crouching to be eye level before he starts talking too softly for me to hear. "We just got here and we're already leaving! I don't care if we have so much stuff to do! We never get to just have fun on the ship! Because we always have chores to do!"
"Ya ain't givin' 'em breaks, Girl?"
"Everyone gets breaks," I say simply and go out to them. Petey notices and stands straight while Kruthin turns to look at me, arms still crossed. "Kruthin." He stands straight and looks at me due to my tone. "If you had an issue with anything lately, what should you have done?"
"Come tell you about it," He mutters and I crouch to be more eye-level with him.
"Then why didn't you?"
"Cuz you're always busy with Quill or something else on the ship or going somewhere and you're never around," He says softly and I look at him.
"I'm sorry that I haven't been around that much. I'm trying, alright? I just need you to work with me. Can you do that?"
"Yeah..." I look at him and think.
"I'm gonna talk to Sparkles about keeping some of the books since I don't get gifts often. And if he's cool with it, I'll buy a bookshelf for them. You guys can come into my Quarters at... What time do you go to sleep?"
"Around 2230, sometimes 2300," Petey supplies and I nod a bit.
"You guys can come into my Quarters at 1915 and pick a book for someone to read to you guys, OK? Sound good?" He nods a bit and I look at Petey, who nods after a moment. "Good." I stand and notice Martinex coming out with the rest of my Misfit Family. "Hey, Sparkles. I'm keeping some of the books."
"What?"
"Consider them gifts from you to me."
"No! Just buy your own!"
"You already read them before you gave them to me."
"And how do you know that?" I take a book out of the bag and point at the spine. "Yeah, that's fair..."
"Your entire Quarters are filled with books. You finish a stack and you get a new one after giving her your finished ones to read. Let her keep some," Stakar scoffs and I put the book back in the bag.
"Fine. What books are you keeping?"
"That's a good question."
"I am going to kill you. In," He looks at his wrist com. "Five seconds."
"Yeah, OK. Sure you are."
"Four seconds."
"Chill, dude. It isn't funny."
"I'm not joking. You may want to start running. Three seconds."
"Sparkles, come on. Relax."
"If you manage to make it to your ship before I catch you, I won't kill you. Two seconds."
"Mom, I think he's serious," The boys say together and start backing up to start running toward the ship. "Are we involved in this?"
"Yes. One second."
"Fuck this!" Kruthin bolts and Petey follows after.
"Zero." Martinex runs at me and I nod slightly.
"Should've started running sooner... Regret that... Also, I apologize deeply for this." I punch him in the side and slow him down slightly before I bolt after the boys, my hand hurting. "Ow," I mutter under my breath and catch up with the boys easily.