Chapter 1
I get home from school and Kat's after-school job to see my grandparents were there and had already been drinking. Kat tries to sneak me upstairs to our shared room but we get caught and Kat gets thrown into the room, our grandfather locking the door. They throw me down the stairs and I curl into a ball to protect my head, hitting the closet door at the bottom of the stairs while Kat was pounding on the door to be let out.
They walk down the stairs and beat me up, stopping to drink occasionally.
When they stop, they walk away to get drunker and I go upstairs, picking the lock before going into my room with Kat. She carefully cleans me up and helps me into my pajamas before we both go to sleep.
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I roll out of bed at the buzz of my alarm and quickly turn it off before getting dressed in the dark, sneaking downstairs so I don't wake my grandparents. I sneak into the garage and swipe the Walkman and tape on the workbench that had been for me under the pretense that it was for Kat. I go into the kitchen and move quietly. Kat, my sister, was already there and was making breakfast, toast with peanut butter, a banana, a bottle of water, and my medicine. She hands me mine and I quickly eat it, not knowing when my grandparents would be up.
"R, slow down," She scolds softly and I nod, grabbing my bag. "Have a good day and you know what to do with the peel. Oh, walk home with those kids that live down the street today. I've got a thing to do today so I won't be going to school. OK?" I nod and head to school, just to get out of the house before they wake up for my safety, as I slip the Walkman with the tape inside it into a pocket of my backpack.
I see my grandfather's truck pull in and duck behind the house to just sneak around, moving quickly. He goes inside and I head to school, tossing the peel in a dumpster on the way.
When I get there, students are being let in to go to class and I go in, moving quickly and silently through other students. A kid trips me and I catch myself, just quickly gathering my stuff before going to class. I was in fifth grade and go into my classroom, turning in the homework we had the night before to the teacher before I sit in my seat, which is positioned away from the other kids. I was OK with that because, one, I didn't have a choice and, two, the kids were jerks. Everyone in this town was a jerk and I get bullied a lot. My grandparents were usually drunk and would hit me and stuff. So, Kat and I came up with ways to avoid that from happening and it involves me walking the long way to school early in the morning to get to school on time, staying out of the house until Kat came to get me, and avoiding everybody but Kat. It sucks but I don't get hurt that often, so it works, and some younger siblings of Kat's friends are kinda my friends because Kat threatened to beat them up if they didn't make sure I stayed safe.
Kat is seventeen and is in one of the higher grades in high school. She's really smart and is making sure that I am too, having me work with her on some of her homework so that I can learn and know it for when I get her age. I look out the window I sit in front of and wait for school to start, knowing today was going to be a bad day. Per usual.
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So... I was right. School started with me getting called out for cheating because I got everything on the homework correct, got laughed at by the class, sent to the elementary school version of detention, had to eat lunch in there, and ended the day with getting beat up by the bigger kids in my class while the kids that are supposed to be my friends either watched or joined in. The teachers just watched and I get sent home with the kids from down the street, who were included in beating me up.
I walk home with the kids and decide to make some jokes, making them laugh.
-------Meanwhile, in space------
Yondu looks at the latest update to the Eclector II and sees that a Skrull ship was going through a jump ahead of them, heading to Terra's solar system. "Krags."
"Yeah, Cap'n?" He comes over and sees. "Wanna follow 'em?" Yondu nods and follows them through the jump, cloaking the ship to stay hidden from Terran forces. The ship sends a shuttle planetside and Yondu follows, landing behind them while the shuttle goes back to the ship after leaving three Skrulls behind the house, one of them holding a crate. Kraglin and Yondu look around while the Skrulls go inside and see that the nearest house was a decent walk away. Meaning, if anyone screamed, the other houses wouldn't hear. Which didn't seem to matter since the houses were empty and they get off of the ship, heading toward the house.
There's suddenly a teenager screaming at someone and they pause to listen. "You sold my sister to be a slave for space alcohol? You sold my sister to be a slave? How could you do that? She's your granddaughter! She's ten!"
"She killed your mother! She killed our daughter! How are you not as upset about that as we are?"
"She was three! She couldn't control another driver! Mom had been having nightmares and wasn't sleeping! My sister had no control over the accident! You two are just a couple of abusive and drunk dumbasses that can't cope with the fact that their daughter is dead and instead of seeking help from a professional, they seek help at the bottom of a liquor bottle and beat their youngest granddaughter until she's bleeding and can barely move without any pain!"
There's a bang from something and Yondu and Kraglin quickly go in to see a teenage girl on the floor of a room with chairs and a couch while a Skrull shapeshifts to duplicate her. The other two Skrulls blast the other two while they were drinking from a liquor bottle, killing them instantly, and Yondu whistles through two of them while Kraglin blasts the third one. They kneel next to the teenager and Kraglin carefully injects her behind the ear with the translator chip since she was still breathing.
"How old are ya, girly?" Yondu asks and Kraglin holds her head in his lap while Yondu puts pressure on her chest, which was bleeding from a hole. "Wha' happened ta ya?"
"Seventeen... That... That green freak took my grandfather's gun and shot me..." She looks at Yondu then Kraglin and groans softly, coughing up some blood. "They... They sold my sister to those freaks... For alcohol... She's just ten..."
"Ain'tcha 'sposed ta be in school or somethin'?"
"Yeah... But I had to get my check... And buy food before they could... Use the money for booze..."
"Ya got a job?" She nods and her eyes were starting to close. "'Ey, keep yer eyes open fer a bit more," Yondu rumbles and presses harder on her chest despite the pool of blood forming beneath her.
"Can... Can you do me a favor?"
"Wha', girly?"
"Watch out... For my sister for me..."
"Yer gonna do tha' yerself," Kraglin growls and she shakes her head.
"No... I'm gonna die before... She can get home... From school... Just... Keep her safe... Please..." She looks at both of them and they both nod.
"A'ight, girly... Tha' girl gonna be safe..." Yondu murmurs and she nods, closing her eyes.
"Thank you... And... Don't let her... See this... Or know... About what... They did... Selling her... For booze..."
"A'ight... Ya got it..." Kraglin brushes her hair out of her face and her eyes close fully before her chest stops its steady rise and fall. "She gone, Cap?" Yondu presses his finger against her throat and nods after a moment. He moves and gently rests her head on the floor. "How we gonna keep tha' kid from seein' this?"
"Light 'er up," He says simply and they set fire to the house.
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When they're done, Yondu waits in the back and Kraglin waits near a tree in the front. "Lissen up!" The crew looks at Yondu and he glares at all of them. "Tha' girl is not ta be touched! Ya lay a hand on 'er, ya ain't gonna have it no more! Git it?"
"Yes, Cap'n!"
"Good," He growls and crosses his arms to wait.
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Kraglin sees a group of kids, one of them walking backward, and rolls his eyes. The one that was walking backward turns and goes pale while shaking their head slightly, walking slowly toward it at first before breaking into a run, kicking up dust. "Kat!" The kid yells and he runs over, grabbing them. They hit him and he drops them, turning to see the kids snickering. They quickly sober up though and he narrows his eyes at them.
"Oh, no! Don't let her go in there!" One of them says sarcastically and Kraglin glares at them, growling.
"Git," He snarls, nodding his head down the street, and the kids bolt while he goes to catch the kid. "Jus' had ta say we was gonna keep 'er safe..." He grumbles and catches her, taking her to the backyard where she just fights him harder. Ain't bad... She got potential ta be a good Ravager... Scrawny 'nough she can fit in them vents an' shit...
"...Cunt bucket!"
"Wha'?" He scoffs and sets her down, holding onto her jacket. "Lissen, we is 'ere ta help ya."