Chapter 33
"Is this a normal thing for you?" Petey looks at me as we run and I look back to see Martinex running after us.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Why?"
"Training on Yondu's ship involved being chased on a planet with little to no inhabitance that had forests and having a meeting place set up, with just a map on a holopad that would scream with a siren and break if you tried to hack it or put your location in to see where you were going. That way, if we ever got separated, we'd be able to meet back up and leave the planet together. We need to get that started for you guys."
"Well, how the Hell do we get to the field where the ship is?" Kruthin's panting heavily and I see him lagging, the two of us slowing to let him catch up.
"By not slowing down, first off."
"Who would chase you with that training stuff?"
"Depended on who was free at the time."
"How often did he do it?" Petey looks behind us and his eyes go wide. "Shit!" I look to see that Martinex had nearly caught up and agree with Petey.
"This is fine. Run faster." I shove Petey's back slightly and just scoop Kruthin up, throwing him over my shoulder as I continue running.
"Hey!"
"You want to feel the wrath of that Plutonian? Cuz we don't."
"Uh... Nah... I'm good... Could you, like, run faster?"
"My pleasure." I run faster and see the ship in the distance, noticing Charlie leaning against a tree. "Fuck," I groan and think a bit. "Kruthin, when I say, activate your boots."
"What?"
"You'll be fine." I throw him into the air and he screams. "NOW!" He activates his boots and lands behind Charlie. Charlie turns to look at him and starts going toward him. "Dude! This cat and mouse game ain't over until you're on the ship! So, RUN!" He bolts onto the ship and Charlie nods slightly, looking at me and Petey.
"Uh, what about us?"
"Good question. Charlie will probably go for you while Sparkles keeps coming for me. You go left, I'll go right and you just run onto the ship."
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine. Despite what Sparkles said, the game's non-lethal. That's just how he would always introduce it or get it started. It's just been so long, I forgot." He nods a bit and I notice Charlie watching Petey. "Ready?"
"I guess..."
"Go." He runs to the left and Charlie follows him while I bolt to the right, into denser trees.
"Damnit," Martinex curses and I smirk slightly, weaving between some trees before stopping to catch my breath for a moment behind a thick trunk. I pant and use breathing techniques Doc taught me to get control of it again. "You catch him, Charlie?"
"Nah. He got on the ship before I could! Damned kid's fast!" I smirk and listen closely for a moment.
"Damn, Sparkles... Still as quiet as ever..."
"Unlike you. Boo!" I punch him in the face and only manage to hurt my hand. "Found you," He smirks and I smirk back.
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"For this." I kick him in the crotch and he groans, falling against the tree trunk. "Do whatever it takes, remember?" I bolt for the tree line and hit a patch of ice that wasn't there a moment ago as I turn, falling onto my side. "Damnit, Sparkles!"
"Whatever it takes, remember?" He smirks and I clamber to my feet since he made more ice on the ground.
"Asshole!"
"So are you." I bolt for the ship and see more ice being made. I hit it and slide toward the ship before I get my balance back, getting on the gangplank. "Damn! So fucking close!" He makes the ice disappear and I sit down, panting slightly. "Well, at least you don't try to take shortcuts anymore."
"Getting my eardrums busted for trying to get my location into the map helped me learn quickly," I scoff and look at Petey, Kruthin, and the other kids. "You guys have some new training to do."
"What? Come on, Mom!" Kruthin complains and I chuckle softly.
"It has as game put in with it."
"That was a game?"
"Yeah."
"You're all insane..."
"Yeah. It's fun."
"No, it wasn't! I got thrown around like a toy!"
"Yeah. That happens a lot."
"That's not cool!"
"Sure it is. And you used your boots smoothly. Good job."
"Thanks..." I nod and get control of my breathing, looking at Martinex.
"No hard feelings?"
"Nah. You ever pull that again outside of this training, and I'll beat the shit out of you."
"Promises, promises," I smirk and he glares at me as I stand. "I'll get those books for you. Come on." The kids look at me and I motion for them to follow me as I go to my Quarters, with them following me. Loki holds onto Quill while Indri and Morgan come with us.
"What do you need us for?"
"Gather up all of the books in here and put them on the table in the common area." They nod and go to do that while I gather the books from up the stairs around my bunk.
"Why do you have so many books in here?" Jay asks and I chuckle.
"I like to read. You guys done down there?"
"Yeah."
"Come up here and help me out." They come up and help me carry a majority of the books down the stairs. "Alright. Go through and choose some books to keep that you think you'd like to read or listen to." They look through the books and they all choose things of varying genres, none of them choosing the same type. I watch with a small smile and Petey and Gamora help Stark and Leta pick books. Petey gets them some fantasy books and Gamora gets them some educational books.
Between all of them, there's a good balance of genres of books and I smile slightly. "Alright. Done?" They nod and I put the remaining books in the bag that came in the bag of books. "Put what ones you didn't want to hear in here." They do that and I close the bag, looking at the book-littered floor. "Gather them up and put them on the table and desk. Use a holopad to mark what stack is yours." They do that and I take the bag back to Martinex, leaving the bag of new books in my chair.
"How many are left?"
"What do you even do with these books after I've given them back?" He thinks and shrugs.
"Sell them."
"Dude. I could just keep these and pay you for them."
"Nah. I can't rip you off."
"I mean, you could."
"No. Blue taught you how to haggle." He rolls his eyes and Yondu scoffs. "You'd end up ripping me off." I tilt my head to the side slightly and notice Loki boarding the ship with Quill.
"If you do not mind my asking, when are you planning to have the wedding?" Thor asks and I shrug slightly since I've been stalling with it. "Do you know where it will be?"
"Not yet, Thor."
"Hm..." He bows his head slightly and boards the ship.
"Why are you taking so long to get this wedding done, Rogue?" Martinex asks suspiciously and I rub the back of my neck, thinking about that.
"I... Don't know. It's just taking a while."
"It might help if you found a way around the kids," Charlie's First Mate, Olull, says and I look at him. "I'm just saying, if you didn't have all of those kids, it would make it easier." I don't respond for a moment and hear small feet running on the floor of the ship.
"I had them taken away from me once. If someone wants to try to take them from me again, they'll have to do it over my dead body," I say simply and hear small feet running on the ship again before weight slams into my knees, knocking me onto the ground. "Yes, Stark and Leta?"
"Youse gonna git rid 'a us?" Leta asks, looking up at me with fearful eyes, and I sit up, looking at the two of them.
"Off of my legs right now? Yes. Permanently get rid of you guys? No. Who would I get to crawl through the vents?" They kind of glare at me and I pat their heads gently. "I'm not getting rid of anyone. I give you my word."
"Why dat good when ya lie lots?" Stark asks and I look at him, not sure how to answer that.
"Good question from someone that got stuck in their shirt this morning," I mutter under my breath and think for a moment. "A Ravager's word is better than anything you will ever get."
"Like gold?"
"Even better than gold, to an extent."
"Wha's tha' mean?"
"If it was a lot of gold then the gold would be better than the Word, but that's not-"
"How much gold is a lot?"
"Um... Like... I don't know... A thousand gold bars...?"
"Dat ain't 'nough!" Leta pouts and storms off with Stark while I'm confused.
"What the fuck just happened?"
"Two three-year-olds with questions and wisdom," Tony says simply as he boards with Pepper and I stand up, brushing the snow off of me.
"Ok, then..." Loki shows up at my side and I look at him. "What's up, Loki?"
"We need to go to Asgard," Thor says from my other side and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Our father wishes to see us." I look at Loki and he nods mutely.
"Hm. Let's go then. I'll see you guys later." Thor and Loki board the ship and I start to board when Yondu stops me with his arrow in front of my eye.
"Ya ain't answered us 'bout yet wedding, Girl."
"Loki and I have been busy. We'll let you know when it is as soon as we know."
"A'ight." I board the ship once his arrow's out of my way and close the gangplank.
"I have set a course to Asgard, Captain. Or as close as we may be able to get to it," Thor says and I nod.
"Nebula, take us there."
"Aye, Captain." She does just that and I keep an eye on Loki.
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We land on a planet I'm not familiar with and Thor disembarks, yelling something. "What the Hell is he doing?"
There's a sudden flash of light and we're on a completely different planet once it's gone. "What the fuck just happened?"
"Welcome to Asgard, Captain," Thor says as he stands just inside the gangplank door and disembarks before we follow him. "I will lead you all to our father." He leads the way and nods at a guy in a golden suit of armor.
"Hello, Thor, Loki, Captain Fletch, children, and her crew," He says and I look at him, noticing him staring straight at me despite being blind. "Your father is waiting, Thor."
"Thank you, Heimdall." He nods and Thor leads us away from him.
An older guy with a golden eye patch is waiting for us and Thor and Loki kneel in front of the steps leading to his throne. "Father," They greet and he raises his hand slightly.
"Thor, Loki. You have both been busy."
"Yes, Father." They stand and I notice Loki looked uncomfortable, stepping forward.
"And you are?" He looks at me and the brothers do too, Loki's eyes widened.
"No one, Father." He raises his hand and Loki is grabbed by guards.
"Silence. You may take him away." They start to move and I have two blasters trained on them easily while keeping my eyes on their father.
"No, you may not."
"Rogue, Odin will not hesitate to kill you," Loki hisses and I narrow my eyes at Odin.
"Does it look like I give a fuck, Loki? Order your goons to stand down or they're dead then I'm coming for you."
"That is not the best idea," Thor warns carefully before his hammer is going flying into Odin's hand and I keep my blasters leveled on the guards.
"Lower your weapons."
"Tell them to release Loki."
"Why do you care for him so much?"
"That's none of your fucking business. Tell them to let him go or their heads are being blown off in two seconds then it's your turn." I charge my blasters up with the flip of a switch and stare Odin down.
"Release him." They throw Loki behind them toward me and I quickly holster one blaster as I turn the charge of it off to catch him, keeping the other blaster switching between one of the two guards.
"You OK?"
"I am fine. That was a terrible idea."
"It's fine. Why would it-" I see Thor's hammer come flying at my face and duck with Loki, making sure it goes back to someone's hand before I pull him back to his feet. "Your Father's fucking insane."
"Adopted Father," He mutters under his breath and I look at Odin.
"What is he to you?"
"Rogue... Do not tell him..."
"He is my Harmonious Solar System. And if you ever lay a skin cell on him again, I'll cut your head off."
"Your what?" He looked confused and I walk forward two steps before Loki stops me with a hand on my wrist.
"Rogue," He hisses and I glance at him. "Stop. Please," He whispers and I see fear in his eyes, getting pissed about that.
"No. As your Captain, I'm ordering you to shut up, stand aside, and not stop me again. Clear?" He lets my wrist go after a moment with a slight nod and I nod back slightly. "Good." I gently push him toward Thor and look at him. "Do not let the guards grab him again," I hiss and Thor barely nods. I go over to the steps and he looks at me with contempt.
"Who are you?"
"I'm one of the Ravager Captains of the One Hundred and One Clans."
"And your name is?"
"Rogue."
"Is that it?"
"Rogue Quill Obfonteri Udonta Fletch."
"I regret asking." I roll my eyes, my blaster ready in my hands if I needed to use it, and he notices. "You may put your weapon away."
"Yeah, that ain't happening." He looks me over and my skin prickles slightly as I tighten my grip on my blaster.
"You would make an excellent Valkyrie."
"Not interested. I've already got a gig and, gotta say, I dig it."
"What?"
"Never mind." I roll my eyes again and he comes toward me, making Thor's hammer come flying for his hand again. I level my blaster on him easily and he keeps coming toward me while I back up slightly with each step he takes.
"You seemed willing to kill me a moment ago. What has changed?"