Chapter 8
I finish the last of the holopads and hop off of the crates as I turn my visor off, rolling my shoulders slightly. "Ya done?" Kraglin asks and I nod, tilting my head from one side to the other to pop it. Jay comes over and smiles at me.
"Done already?" I nod and he smiles more, whistling before a couple of Ravagers bring out some engines. "How about a little wager?" He smirks at me and I cross my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at him. "Nothing bad," He chuckles and I motion for him to explain. "Whoever can figure out what's wrong with their engine and fix it properly first gets to choose a way to spend time with the other."
"Kid, that is so lame," Quill scoffs and I roll my eyes at Quill before looking at Jay again.
"So if I win, I get to choose what we do?" He nods and I smirk. "Do we get to have a partner?"
"Sure. I call Kraglin," He smirks and I gape at him. "He was the Lead Mechanic before he was First Mate." I look at Kraglin and he just shrugs, going over to Jay. I look at Yondu, Quill, Stakar, Charlie, and Martinex and I think. "Rogue, hurry up so I can beat you and you can spend the time helping me fix things."
"Shut up. I'm thinking."
"You just choose one! How does it take that much thought?!"
"You chose Kraglin and I was going to. So fuck you."
"When and where, Darlin'?" I look at him and he was smirking, slightly blue.
"You got a death wish?" Quill growls and I roll my eyes a bit.
"And he's out." I look between the rest of them and finally decide "I choose Yondu."
"Wha'? Why?"
"Sparkles is too spiky to be helpful, Quill won't be able to focus because he wants to kill Jay, and Stakar and Charlie are just too large. OK? OK. Let's go." I smile and he gapes at me while Martinex laughs.
"She's very convincing, Yondu." He flips him off and comes over to me to look the engine over after we both give Quill our dusters to keep them clean.
"Wha' ya think is wrong?" I look it over and bite my lip a bit as I think.
"I think it might be the wiring, something blocking the gaskets, and some other small things. If we each do one side, we should be able to get it done quickly." He nods and grabs the tools from nearby when Stakar yells that we can start fixing them up. I take off one cover while Yondu takes off the other and we work on fixing things.
"Taz, I found your next girlfriend!" I yell as I throw a dead thing behind me and hear roaring laughter. I finish my side and put the cover back on before going to help Yondu.
"DONE!" Jay yells, ignoring Kraglin trying to get him to stop, and they both step back while Charlie comes over to start the engine.
"Damn!" Yondu growls and starts to stand. I stop him with a hand on his arm and carefully pull him back down. "Girl. Wha' are ya doin'?"
"Keep going. Kraglin doesn't look happy about it, so something must not be right. Keep working. We're nearly done," I tell him and he nods before continuing the wires while I do the smaller things.
Charlie starts the engine and it sputters to life before dying a couple of moments later.
"Damn, girl. Ya were right."
"Told you. You done with those?"
"Yeah. Ya done there?"
"Nearly..." I tighten a couple of things and make sure they're clean before helping him put the cover back on.
"DONE!" We yell together and Stakar comes over as we stand. He starts the engine and it roars to life, staying on until Stakar turns it off.
"Yondu and Rogue win." I smile and notice Jay and Kraglin still struggling with theirs, going over.
"What's wrong with this one?"
"We can't figure it out," Jay scoffs and looks at me. "So, what are we doing?"
"Well, first off. We're going to fix this engine." I press behind my ear and look at it through my visor, scrolling to the problem when I see flashing lights in the corners.
"What's wrong with it?" I stick my hand in a small gap to connect a couple of wires and quickly yank my hand back out when the engine roars to life, nearly crushing my hand in some of its moving parts before it sputters out again.
"A lot more than expected..." I mutter and scroll through some more of the issues, making sure the engine is off this time. "Let's see..." I point out some of the issues to Jay and he helps me fix them while the others watch us.
"Anything else?" I see one more flashing light and scroll to see it.
"One more thing..." I go around to the other side and slip my hand into a small gap. "There's... Something stuck down here..." I reach down a bit deeper and feel something climb up my arm, having to pull it out slowly so I don't hurt myself as it climbs onto my shoulder and back. "There's something on my back... Get it off of me..." I say slowly and Stakar comes up, snatching it off of me.
"A damn orloni was living in there?! No wonder it didn't start!" Quill says and Stakar kills the thing while I brush specks of what I'm going to say is dirt off of me because that's the less gross option. I make sure no one's hands are in the engine and start it, smiling as it roars to life. It keeps going until I turn it off and I'm suddenly not on the floor anymore when Jay spins me around in a hug.
"Well, if this were to happen every time I found a problem wrong with engines, an older me wouldn't mind," I mutter and he sets me down, blushing blue.
"Sorry..." He chuckles nervously and looks at me. "So, what are we doing now?"
"We're gonna have a sword fight," I smirk and he looks at me.
"What? Why?" Quill scoffs and I look at him.
"Dude, we're basically space pirates! There is a major lack of sword fights! Honestly, it's like you remember nothing about stuff from Terra. Pirates in movies always have some sort of sword fight at one point or another." I look at Jay and he was a little nervous. "Or we could keep working on old engines. Keep you inside your comfort zone," I tease and he shrugs.
"You won so you get to choose." I think and shrug a bit.
"Gamora would probably be more interesting in a sword fight. Old engines it is. Besides, this is fun." I smile at him and he smiles back.
"Come on, I'll show you where we keep the spare engines so we can make sure there aren't any more orlonis in them." Jay leads me to a back room and I follow, grabbing my duster from Quill as I do.
"Thank you, Alfred."
"Shut up, idiot!"
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"Gramps, could I ask you to do something for me?" Stakar looks at Quill, away from the others, and nods. "Would you take Jay back to your ship as a new mechanic team member?"
"What for?"
"Dad has plenty of talented mechanics here already and he won't be able to get to work on anything because of that. I figure if you take him to your ship or Aleta's, he'll get even better at it." Stakar nods a bit and agrees. "Thanks, Gramps." He smiles and goes to find Gamora.
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A while later, Jay and I come out of the room and Stakar calls Jay over, waving me on to follow Yondu and Kraglin.
"What's that all about?" They shrug and we go to mess together to get something to eat. We sit at the table with Quill and Gamora and they talk as I think of the fun I had today with Jay, fixing the engines.
Jay comes in a bit later and runs over to me at Yondu's table. "Sorry, Captain. I just really need to talk to Rogue." He motions for him to go ahead and I look at him, noticing he was happy and excited.
"What's up, Jay?" I smile at him and he smiles back.
"Captain Ogord is taking me to his ship to be a part of his mechanic's team so that I have more opportunities to excel. Not that I wouldn't here, Captain," He says quickly, and Yondu nods. "Anyway, I just wanted to say bye and that it was great meeting you. I've gotta go pack, we're leaving right now." He smiles at me and I smile back, making it look real.
"That's awesome, dude! Congrats! Go get packed! It was great meeting you too and I hope I'll see you around." He smiles and runs out of the mess hall. My smile slowly falls and I keep it on a bit as I force the food down my throat.
"You OK, Rogue?" Quill asks and I smile reassuringly at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess that I'm just a little tired."
"Your day was kinda busy, wasn't it?" He smiles at me and I nod. "Finish up and head to bed." I nod and finish my food before dumping the tray on the cart, going to my room.
I sit on my bed when I get there and wrap my arms around myself a bit, before deciding to do something that was probably really stupid. I pack all of my stuff into my bag and quickly go to the hangar, noticing Stakar was busy talking to Jay and the rest of his crew on the other side. I quietly sneak onto his ship and hide in between some crates. I hear some heavy footsteps and then the door is shutting.
"Strap in, boy!" Stakar hollers and I curse myself, forgetting about that part, as I carefully move to grab hold of a pipe to keep myself steady.
"Aye, Captain," Jay responds and I nod a bit, not caring if this was a stupid idea. I was not going to let my first true friend leave me alone on the Eclector and with my insane family. I feel us leave the hangar and go through a jump before we dock again, in Stakar's hangar. I listen as people get off and walk away, the door staying open. I start to get up and freeze when I hear more people coming onto the ship, right where I am. Someone suddenly grabs me by the back of my bag and drags me off of the ship, throwing me at Stakar's feet.
"Caught a stow-away, Captain." I get up and look at Stakar, seeing his shock.
"What are you doing here?" I see Jay standing nearby and he smiles at me. Stakar follows my gaze and nods a bit, scoffing slightly. "You stowed away here because of Jay?" I nod a bit and he looks at me.
"Please, either let me stay or take both of us back. He's the first real friend I've ever had and my heart sank when I heard he was leaving," I say softly and he looks at me sadly then something dawns on him as he looks pissed. I notice and take a step back.
"This ain't for you. Rogue, Jay, follow me." He leaves the hangar and Jay and I fall into step right behind him as we go to the control room. He sits in a chair and barks "Call Yondu. And send a message for Quill to be there too."
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"Captain, Captain Ogord is calling you. And he sent a message that he wants Quill with you." Yondu stands and drags Quill to the control room while Kraglin and Gamora follow. He sits in his chair and answers the call.
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Jay and I stand on either side of Stakar and can see Yondu and Quill's shock when they see me there. "How in the Hell did she get there?!"
"Quill, shut up unless I speak to you," Stakar growls and Quill snaps his mouth shut quickly. "Yondu, did you know Quill was the one to approach me with taking Jay onto my ship?"
"No, Sir. I didn'." He glares at Quill and he looked nervous.
"Well, he did. To keep him away from Rogue. And strip her of her first real friend." Quill winces a bit as if he'd gotten slapped in the face and I glance at Jay slightly. "And take Jay away from his older Ravager brother, Fang. Did you know about those two things, Quill?"
"No, Sir, I didn't." He nods and looks between the two of us.
"I'll bring them both back tomorrow. And Quill. Lighten up." He hangs up and looks at the two of us. "I only have one empty room..."
"We can share, Captain," Jay and I say at the same time and he just nods.
"Marty, lead them to it and make sure Jay eats something." Martinex nods and leads us to the room before coming back with some food for Jay.
"Thank you, Sir." Martinex smiles and leaves us be. Jay sits and eats his food as I sit next to him.
"This is a cool thing..."
"It was cool that you stowed away. Just to stay with me." He smiles at me and I smile shyly at him. I suddenly lean over and peck his cheek before sitting back up, blushing. "Wh-What was that for?" He gapes at me and I blush more.
"Just, um... Just as like a thank you... And as an, I like you kiss..." I blush more and look to see he was too, just blue. He leans over and gently pecks my cheek.
"Well, um... There's an I like you kiss back, then..." He blushes more and I smile brightly. "Your smile is so pretty..." I look at my lap shyly and can feel all of the day weighing on me. He notices and quickly finishes eating. "Let's go to bed. You look as exhausted as I feel." I smile and we both climb into the bed to stay warm, making sure there was enough distance between us so Quill wouldn't freak if he found out, but we do hold hands under the blankets. I fall asleep and had a smile on my face.
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Jay wakes when I'm squeezing his hand very tightly and looks at me. "Rogue?" He whispers and lets his eyes adjust, seeing that I'm still asleep. He gently pulls me close and wraps his arms around me, holding me close. I whimper softly in my sleep and he pets my hair. "Shh... It's alright..." He hums softly and I relax, one of my hands in his shirt. He sits against the wall and sets my head on his shoulder, petting my hair. He falls back to sleep like that and we both sleep through the night.
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I wake up and rub my eyes, sitting up quickly when I realize I had my head on Jay's shoulder. Someone's coming towards the door and I quickly move to the other side of the bed, rubbing my eyes as Stakar comes in. He raises an eyebrow at us in bed together and I look at him. "What?"
"Why are you both in that bed?"
"We didn't want the other to be cold. We stayed on opposite sides, Pops. I promise," I say as Jay starts to wake and he hears, nodding a bit.
"The whole night, Captain," He yawns and Stakar nods, trusting us.
"Well, get up. We're leaving for the Eclector now. You can both eat when you're back on your true ship. And Jay." Jay looks at him as we get out of bed and I watch them. "If you want to come back to the Starhawk later on, I'll welcome you. The offer still stands on the condition you two stay friends. Or more if that's what you wish to do." He smiles at us and I busy myself with grabbing my bag from under the bed to hide my slight blush.
"Thank you, Captain. I'll keep that in mind. Will it stand after a while?"
"Of course." He smiles and we both head with Stakar to the hangar before boarding his ship. "Both of you strap in." We sit in the seats behind his and strap in. Jay looks over at me and smiles charmingly. I smile back and watch as Stakar pilots back to the Eclector, loving to watch people pilot so that I can try to learn that way.
Stakar docks in the hangar and Jay and I unstrap before following Stakar out of his ship, seeing Yondu and Kraglin waiting in the hangar. I look around a bit and see the Milano was gone, glad that I don't have to be around Quill for a while before noticing both Yondu and Kraglin looked pissed while looking at me. I gulp a bit and Jay just barely nudges me with his elbow, making me calm down a bit.
"It'll be OK," He whispers to me, his lips barely moving, and I quirk the corners of my mouth up for a moment before lowering them again.
"Thanks," I whisper back and he brushes his hand against mine as we walk side by side behind Stakar towards the two of them.
"Girl, yer insane." Yondu looks at me and I nod a bit. "An' both'a ya are gonna be cleanin' all'a these ships." I open my mouth to argue and Jay stomps on my foot slightly.
"Aye, Captain," We say at the same time and Yondu waves for us to get started. I punch Jay and he rubs his arm, looking at me.
"Ow!"
"Now you know how my foot feels!" I hiss at him and we work together to clean the ships. "I'll work on the tops, you work on the bottoms." He nods and we do just that, talking through our earpieces as we do.
By the time we're done, we're both starving and go to mess to get food, no one else in there. "This is nice... No other noise... It kinda reminds me of nights on Terra when I'd sneak out to watch the stars..." I say once we're sitting down and he nods, eating.
"What's it like?"
"Terra?" He nods and I tilt my head to the side a bit as I take a bite, thinking. "It's colorful... We have four seasons... Spring, where all of the flowers and trees come to life... Summer where it gets hot and everything keeps coming to life... Fall or autumn where everything dies... And winter, where everything is dead but it's snowy and it's fun to play in... When everything is alive, though... It's beautiful... All of the colors just go together..." He smiles at me as I talk and I eat, blushing a bit.
"Nothing can be as pretty as you, though." He smiles and I blush more, eating.
"Thanks..."
"What else did you like about Terra?"
"Hm... The hills... It was so much fun to roll down them in the summer or spring... Oh, and the leaves during the fall... They'd fall off of trees and you'd gather them up... It was so much fun to jump in piles of leaves... And Halloween's my favorite holiday on Terra! You get to dress up as whatever you want and go door to door to get free candy! It was awesome!" I smile brightly and he smiles back. "There are so many holidays that were fun! There's Independence Day, where you launch fireworks into the night sky to see them explode into colors among the stars! And Christmas where you'd get gifts from Santa Clause! Oh, and Thanksgiving was kinda cool, you got to eat as much as you wanted without looking like you had too much. I guess that birthdays were pretty cool, too... You got cake."
He chuckles, listening to me, and I smile at him. "When's your birthday?"
"I'm not sure exactly when but I think it was in the fall or winter or something." I shrug and he looks at me. "My grandparents didn't celebrate my birthday for me, they just kept track of how old I was. Kat and I always celebrated mine in winter, so I'm guessing that's when it was." He nods and pulls something up on a holopad, showing it to me.
"Which part of Terra were you on?" I show him and he clicks it. "It's on the side farthest from the solar star. What does that mean?"
"It means it's winter there and my guessed birthday. I guess I'm eleven now." I chuckle and he puts the holopad up before looking around nervously. "What are you doing?"
"I have a present for you. Since you're sorta eleven now." He leans over the table and pecks my lips quickly before sitting back down, smiling at me with a blue face.
"You know, that was a pretty good present..." I blush and he chuckles. I hear people coming and we both quickly finish eating before dumping our trays on the cart. We start to leave the mess and I run into some of the bigger Ravagers, making me lose my balance. Jay catches my arm and rights me before quickly moving me out of the way as the Ravagers continue walking.
"You have to watch where you're going." He scolds me and I roll my eyes as we go back to the hangar. "I can't have you getting squished by the big guys before we're able to go out on a date when we're older." He smirks at me, blushing a little blue, and I laugh a bit, blushing too. We go into the hangar and start to work on something together.
"Girl!" Someone yells and I jump, hitting my head, before quickly standing straight to glare at Taz. "Wha' are ya doin' with 'im?" I look at Jay and he looks at me.
"Tuning up Captain's M-ship," Jay says and I nod. "Unlike the rest of you, I want to make sure all of the ships are ready for any missions and Rogue agrees with me." I nod again and Taz looks at me.
"Wha'? Ya lettin' 'im speak fer ya?"
"No, he just phrased it well and I agree. Also, I have a damn name. So start using it cuz my name ain't 'girl'. The only ones who can call me that are Captain and Kraglin because they're the two highest ranks on the ship. You, Taz, can start using my damned name, or else I'm gonna find that Orloni from yesterday and shove it in bed with you while you sleep. Got it?" I had my back to the door and don't notice Jay trying to get me to shut up.
"What's going on here?" Someone asks from behind me as I'm yanked away by the back of my duster and I'm greeted by the Lead Mechanic, Fang.
"Nothing, Fang," Jay says and comes over. "Just a little disagreement. They're fine. Right, guys?" Taz nods and they all look at me. "Right, Rogue?" He hisses at me and I nod, looking at Fang.
"Right." He nods and lets me go.
"Get back to work and stay away from each other if you're going to have disagreements that distract you," He says simply and Taz goes to the other side of the hangar while I go back to Jay to continue working on Yondu's ship. "Why are you working on Captain's M-ship?" We look at each other before looking at Fang and I lie through my teeth.
"Captain asked us to make sure it was tuned up for any upcoming missions." He nods and leaves to go do his own thing. I sigh softly and wipe my face with my dirty hand. Jay leans over and wipes grease off of my cheek, blushing a bit when some Ravager whistles at us.
"You had some grease..." He mumbles as he goes back to work and I smile, helping him out. "Your hand is smaller than mine so I'm going to put you on my shoulders so you can get up there." I nod and he picks me up to stand on his shoulders so I can reach what he needs done. I get it done and try to take my hand out but it's stuck. "You OK up there?"
"Yeah, just a second..." I yank my hand out and he loses his balance, causing us to end up in a heap on the floor with a crash of a nearby cart of tools, some tools falling on my leg.
"You OK, Rogue?" He asks, worried, and I nod as I stand, wincing slightly at some pain in my leg. "Your leg's hurt."
"I'm fine." I try to walk but it gives out on me and he catches me before I can hit the floor. "OK, maybe it's a little hurt..." I mutter and he sweeps me into his arms, carrying me to med as he contacts Yondu. He sets me down on a bed and Doc comes over to me, looking my leg over.
Yondu comes in and grabs Jay by the collar. "Wha' happened ta her?" He growls and I look at them.
"Captain," I call carefully and he looks at me, eyes narrowed. "We were working on an M-ship and I had my hand in a small spot when I lost control of my blaster boots. They stopped working and I fell, knocking tools onto my leg," I explain and Yondu looks back at Jay.
"Tha' true?" He growls at him and Jay glances at me before nodding.
"Yes, Captain," He lies, and Yondu nods. Doc goes over to Yondu and they talk. Jay comes over to me and we talk to each other softly, since Kraglin is watching us with narrowed eyes. "If he finds out that's a lie, he's going to kill us."
"No, he won't. He'll just light our asses on fire or give us a bunch of stuff to do to keep us from getting into trouble. Now shut up," I hiss at him as Yondu comes over and he shuts his mouth.
"C'mon, boy. Yer comin' with us," He says to Jay as he picks me up and they start walking back to the hangar. Yondu goes towards his M-ship and Jay and I look at each other nervously. "Damn." He turns and goes to another M-ship, getting on it. He puts me in a seat and pushes Jay into another one. "Strap in." We both do that and he pilots us out of the hangar and through a jump before landing on a planet with a lot of tall buildings.
"Xandar?" Jay looks at Yondu as he unstraps and gets me out of my seat. Jay follows him as he walks towards a building and I look at it. "It's the local healing office. Terrans call them hospitals, I think." He explains and I nod a bit.
"I need a Doc." The lady at the desk looks at him then at me and I manage to look very pathetic.
"What happened?"
"She jumped off of'a ledge, tryin' ta look cool." He lies easily and she taps some stuff on the holoscreen in front of her.
"Xandarian?"
"Terran." She looks at us then taps on the screen again and talks to somebody on an earpiece.
"Set her in this chair and follow it to floor three, room three hundred two." A chair appears next to us and Yondu sets me in it, grabbing Jay's collar as they follow me onto an elevator.
"I was trying to look cool?" I look at Yondu and the look he gives me makes me shut up. The chair moves out of the elevator to a room and a doctor was waiting for us.
"Well, hello there." He smiles at me and he had a couple of metal contraptions in his hands. He presses something on the chair and it suddenly turns into a bed. "So, what happened?"
"Well, I'm not a doctor, but my leg isn't supposed to be causing me this much pain. So, I'm guessing I broke it." I snark and Yondu slaps me upside my head while the doctor chuckles.
"That's fair enough. Let's take some pictures and see what we have, shall we?" He sets the contraption in his right hand down and hovers the one in his left hand over my leg. I watch and was holding the hand that was stuck in the engine close to my chest. "Does your hand hurt as well?" He looks at me and I shrug a bit. He finishes scanning my leg and does the same thing with my hand.
He taps a few things and two pictures pop up above it. "Well, it seems that you broke your leg and arm. How'd you manage that by jumping off of a ledge?"
"A brick fell after I hit the ground and landed on my arm." I lie and he nods.
"What's a brick?"
"A piece of the ledge fell and landed on my hand." I correct and he nods again.
"Well, they're both clean breaks and will heal in a week." He smiles at me and I nod. "Let's start with your leg." He smiles at me and grabs my leg above and below the break.
"Um, what are y- FUCKING BASTARD!" I yell when he sets the bone and he chuckles a bit.
"Well, people say setting the bone hurts less when they don't know it's coming."
"Well, now I want to fucking kill you!" I growl and start to get up only to be pushed down by Yondu and Jay.
"Calm down, Rogue. Just hold still and we'll be out of here before you know it." Jay grabs my hand and moves it away from my body so that the doctor can set it. "Now, breathe and you'll be fine." I try to take my hand back and he stops me by holding my arm while the doctor holds my wrist. "It's gonna hurt for a second then it's done and it'll feel better." He holds my shoulder too and Yondu holds my other one to keep me from moving a lot, nodding to the doctor.
He sets it quickly and I growl through my teeth, digging my fingernails into Yondu's other hand that was near my uninjured one before letting it go. The doctor grabs the other contraption and puts it on my leg, pressing a button so that lasers are coming out of it. He then grabs a second one and does the same thing to my arm. "Alright, bed rest for a week and no hard activity for your leg and arm. Follow those rules and you'll be back to normal in that time frame. She'll be able to walk, just not too far and no running." He smiles at me and Yondu nods. He presses a button and the bed is back to being a chair before we're escorted out of the room.
Once we're outside, Jay picks me up and Yondu lets him. "The guy said I could walk, Jay."
"He also said not too far."
"The ship's too far," Yondu says simply and Jay nods his agreement. "Thought ya'd be happy ta be in yer boys arms." He smirks at us and neither of us says anything, blushing slightly.
"He's gonna have too much fun with that," Jay mumbles to me and I nod a bit.
"Oh. Almos' fergittin' somethin'." Yondu gets on the ship and looks at us, eyes narrowed. "The two 'a ya ever lie ta me 'gain, yer gonna be pickin' yer asses outta tha' solar star. Ya git it?" He growls and we nod.
"Got it, Captain," We say together and he sits as Jay sets me in a seat before sitting in his seat, both of us strapping in.
"Was a good lie." Yondu looks at me and I look back at him. "Need ta work on 'em still, girl." I nod and he pilots us back to the Eclector.